by Jason Letts
“Someone pulled a cart through here,” she concluded. “Where else could they have gone but our destination?”
Feeling some renewed optimism, they turned onto the cart’s trail, leading to the northeast. Continuing on, not a living tree remained and most had collapsed and been reduced to ashes. The cart lines became more pronounced and eight pairs of footprints clearly formed alongside them.
Now that they no longer wanted to be found, the footprints became a problem, and Mira called on Will to cover their tracks. Shocked that his power would actually be put to good use, he walked behind the others, blowing against the ground and wiping out the evidence of their steps.
“We’re there,” Mary announced pensively as soon as a congregation of decrepit tents appeared through the thinning ashen forest. The Sun camp seemed strikingly similar to Shade Base Camp. Surveying the dreary surroundings, Mira explained that the forest would give them enough cover to get there. That was if none of the people milling around caught them first.
Mary was looking at the glowing embers within a tree when she felt Mira grab her arm and pulled her down against it. The impact shook the tree and a branch broke off and fell on the other side. Not only did the bump hurt, but the tree felt hot, and Mary worried about her hair catching fire. But she said nothing, entranced by Mira’s eyes, which were full of fervent animosity. Her words quivered with desperation and need.
“It’s now, Mary. You must help me find him. We’ve come so far, and with one knife stroke I can fix everything. Find him and tell me where he is. It’s energy. He is what makes the sun burn. You have to search.”
“We’re too far away. There are too many of them,” Mary shuddered, and Mira winced.
“There’s something else that might help,” Mira said. “It’s not just his ideas that drive on his army. Commander Carmichael told the group leaders that all of his spies end up fighting for the other side. And Widget said he controls people through an unnatural coercion, something in his words that is irresistible. Whatever the Warlord wants you to do, he talks you into it.”
At this, an outcry of discontent came from the rest of the group. Mary only shook her head, having no idea what to do.
“We didn’t know that, Mira!” Aoi complained. “You can’t hide information from us like that.”
“Shut up, all of you! This was my decision to make. I’ve got it all figured out. For what he has done to me, my family, to all of us, I don’t need to say a single word to him, and there’s nothing he can say in his defense. I just need to get close enough for justice to work itself upon him.”
Mira lifted Mary onto her feet. Looking at the others, Mira held out her hand to Chucky, who had no trouble figuring out her intent. He placed his knife in her hand and in exchange she gave him her mace. Scanning the surrounding area, she seemed satisfied they could move forward.
Still dragging Mary by the sleeve, Mira snuck alongside a row of trees. They saw faces amongst the tents clearly now. A few stood watch on the outskirts, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Having no other choice, they crawled through the ashes to reach a group of burned trees huddling together on the forest’s edge.
“Where, Mary? Where?” Mira begged.
Mary closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and exhaled her tension and fear. She tried to feel for the energy that Mira talked about. She tried to find where it radiated from and echoed within her. A great many swirling emotions crystallized in her chest. Some of the powers she sensed made her tremble. She squeezed her eyes shut as her heart tasted the wellspring of malice and suffering before her. But for everything that resonated within her, nothing seemed to match what Mira described.
“I don’t think he’s in there,” Mary said.
“What? He has to be. Try again!” Mira barked.
“Can a master ever really live with those he commands?” Aoi asked. “What’s that over there?”
She pointed to a tiny tent, a teepee on the southern end along the scrub forest’s edge. Some distance separated it from the main hive. Mary had only to shift her attention to it to know that it contained their target.
“It feels like thorns growing on a summer’s day or kissing a cactus. Somehow there’s always a knife’s edge slicing into happiness and unleashing a raging torrent of hatred and anger beneath. But there’s something else. It’s eerie and I can’t put my finger on it,” Mary said.
“OK, that’s it. I’m going,” Mira declared.
“But those guards will see you. You can’t possibly do it alone,” Vern protested.
Just at that moment, a loud noise made the guards standing around the tent run in the opposite direction. From the edge of the forest, the group heard someone cry out in pain and watched the guards race toward the sound. Nothing but dirty, sandy burlap tents obstructed Mira, so she started for her target. Before she got away, Vern put his hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s do this together,” he said to her. “We came all this way for you. You can’t just leave us here!”
“This is my burden, my responsibility, and it’s something you can’t understand. It doesn’t matter what happens to me so long as the same thing happens to him, and that’s why I’m going alone. Go home to your families. They are the only ones you owe anything to,” she snarled, leaving seven bewildered and confused faces crouched in the small thicket.
Running quickly but quietly, Mira sped over the open ground on her way to the tiny outlying tent. The others, far from turning away, trailed along the forest’s edge, where they could watch from a distance.
The closer she got, the slower she ran. Soon she tiptoed with knife in hand to the side of the entrance. Crouching around the few trees that remained standing in the ashen forest, Mira’s friends watched her, transfixed to her every movement. They could hardly sit still for all their jitters. Mary’s sniffles seemed to paralyze her. She spoke, gazing at Vern who could not take his eyes away.
“Something’s wrong! It’s that feeling. It’s like he can see into me. He can see me!”
Shaking, she got to her feet and fled into the forest. Vern motioned to stop her, but he let her go. The rest of them appeared itching to run, but they couldn’t turn away from Mira.
Sidling along the side of the tent’s pale exterior, Mira felt the sweat collect in her hand. She adjusted her grip on the knife, imagining the throat she would slash with it. If this thin strip of metal failed to find its mark, it would mean her life.
Inching around to the entrance, she strained her ears for any sound of life. For all she could tell, nothing but empty space awaited her inside. Bringing her head closer and closer to the opening, she dared to let her eye drift past the edge.
A furious tyrant waiting to unleash his attack didn’t accost her, her eyes instead sweeping around the inside canvas with impunity. The candlelight imprinted shadows of frizzy hair and heavy shoulders against the walls. She stood plainly in the entranceway after seeing his back to her. The dreaded abomination, his hair burned and his clothing ragged, sat in front of a small altar.
Breathless, Mira brought the knife back to her head and stepped toward him. His large frame, unprotected and waiting, called out for her to strike. The rage and desire intoxicated her. Another step and she would exact her revenge.
“We are the same, you and I.”
The words made her flinch as if awakening her from dozing. His voice, so deep and forceful, echoed against her chest. In an instant, he rose and turned to her, but his face so disturbed her it seemed she would never be able to forget it. Charred hair surrounded his heavy, forlorn cheeks crowding along droopy eyelids and vicious eyes.
“They made us hide for years. Not a soul knows who we are. That’s why they hate us.”
Mira’s mind screamed to swing the knife, to cut into the bulky chest just in front of her, but her arm wouldn’t move. Her mouth hung open and she felt so far away from her body. A disconcerting sensation swept over her, one that inexplicably drew her closer to him.
“Just you and I, girl,
we know the way they look down on us. We can’t get free of them. Your friends don’t trust you. Your ma and pa don’t love you.”
His lips hardly seemed to move as he spoke. His simple words disarmed her, and she couldn’t help but recognize how they echoed her deepest fears.
“That…that’s not true!” Mira squealed. It felt strange to talk and she shifted her jaw around in circles. Her head drifted to the side, and she stared placidly. Her arms hung limp at her side.
“Think of what you do to your friends. You drive them on. You leave them dead. And the rest will make you pay for it. But you did what you had to do to live. That’s what we do here, take back what is ours from those who shun us. We will show them what it is like to be us.”
Mira, trembling, stumbled back as he pressed through the opening. His intense, emboldened eyes pierced her skin and resounded against her spirit. She could feel his words touch on her memories, tasting their meaning with every recollection of her feeble weakness and hopeless struggle. She felt so useless and forgotten. The look in his eyes told her he felt the same way too.
Even though a short, stocky warrior jogged toward them, Mira didn’t move. The knife slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. When the man reached them, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
“Warlord, we’ve captured another spy along the north end. What are your orders?”
Rising, it became clear his hands were not empty. The warrior held the crushed body of a scorpion.
“Our strength grows by the hour. Yet one more to add to our ranks.”
“As you wish,” the guard responded.
Mira wobbled and leaned to the side. She drifted farther to her right, tipping over and floating into the air. Her feet off the ground, she coasted toward the scrub forest.
“Halt!” the Warlord roared, his face stricken with a sudden flash of rage.
Seeing her float off the ground, the guard cleared his throat and launched a teeming green mucus that struck her on the cheek. As she twirled through the air, the Warlord emitted a dull groan of displeasure at him.
“She was mine, you fool! Your germs have fouled their last faun!”
“I’m sorry. Please! I’m sorry,” the guard begged, again falling to his knees. As Mira somersaulted away, the Warlord stepped in front of the guard. She flailed in the air, helplessly trying to right herself as she floated toward Vern and the others at the forest’s edge. From behind the body careening at them, a lightning flash and the sound of a pop preceded a flash of red blood filling the air behind her.
By the time they set their hands on Mira, the guard’s headless body had collapsed against the bloodied dirt. Her thrashing distracted them from the horror they’d just witnessed. They held Mira down even as she convulsed and babbled like an animal. The green, bacteria-laden mucus on her face bubbled and spread into her hair and down her neck.
“Get away from me! I hate you!” she screamed, swinging her arm and knocking Roselyn in the cheek. When Roselyn’s eyes welled up, Will left the struggle to tend to her.
“I’ll never let anyone hit you again,” he said to her, brushing her cheek with the back of his finger.
As Mira fought against them, the mucus seeped through the skin on her face until it disappeared completely inside her head. At that moment, her furious fighting gave out, her eyes closed, and she went limp, lost within her own mind.
Astonished and terrified, no one knew what was going on. Vern looked up to see the Warlord in the distance, facing them directly. His mouth opened to unleash another blood-curdling call, and there was no doubt what would follow.
“We have to run. Now!”
Chapter 6: Flight
Driven by a growing roar behind the demonic figure, Vern and his friends turned and fled knowing their lives depended on their haste. Vern swept Mira’s body over his shoulder, and now he lumbered through the ashen wastes. The others raced around him, already passing far enough ahead to kick soot into his face.
“Is she alive?” Roselyn asked him.
“I don’t know,” Vern huffed.
Vern exerted himself, pushing his legs as hard as he could, but he never seemed to be moving fast enough. Mira’s hips blocked his view on the left side, and he couldn’t pump his arms because he held her legs. He reached out to the nearby trees, ready to float effortlessly through the air. But each tree he focused on shattered and collapsed into a pile of coals. Kicking himself, he realized he could not support her.
Calling to Chucky, Vern motioned to share the weight. Chucky held her arms back by his side while Vern supported the legs. They hurried on, but it soon become uncomfortable, and so Chucky supported her from underneath with one hand while holding the mace in the other. They lifted her higher in the air.
“We have to hurry!” Rowland warned.
Looking back, a swarm of warriors emerged from the Sunfighter camp. They swept into the forest, chasing both from directly behind and the northern end. Seeing that Chucky and Vern continued to struggle with the body, Rowland lent a hand. The three of them carried her over head. They stumbled on an odd step and Mira nearly fell.
“Give her to me,” Aoi said, running alongside them. Their pace was nothing more than a light jog for her.
“No, we can do it!” Vern replied, straining to move forward in unison with the others. Aoi waited for him to look at her again, and their eyes connected for a moment.
“OK, you can carry her,” Vern submitted, her placid face helping him give up his foolishness.
The boys lowered her to their shoulders, Rowland slipped away, and then Aoi jumped in between Chucky and Vern to snatch the body. By the time she touched the ground, Aoi had her arms out in front, cradling her by the back and thigh. By herself, Aoi carried her much faster than the others, who were able to accelerate enough to catch Will and Roselyn.
“Just stay with us,” Aoi whispered to Mira.
They sprinted, approaching denser forest with every step. They thought it would be a relief, giving them cover from the roaring hordes that chased them, but even then they were not out of reach of their enemies.
A charcoal tree collapsed in front of them, forcing them to scramble and scatter. Another bare trunk capsized, and then another. They swerved to avoid the trees, diving out of the way and rolling back to their feet. Will hopped over a falling tree, and Rowland crashed right through a thin one.
A harsh scream caught their ears and they realized Mary was near. Veering to the north, they found her trapped under a tree. Racing to her, Chucky tried to smash through the log. Its core remained tough, and Vern had to pull at it so that Mary could wriggle out. She held her stomach as she began to jog.
“They’re coming for us!” she cried, and yet she could muster little more than a trot. Roselyn pushed her from behind, daring to turn her head and glimpse the legions tailing them. One of the Sunfighters rolled on a large stone wheel and gained on them much more quickly than the rest.
Since it wouldn’t be long before someone caught them, she tried to sing. But singing and running proved to be a difficult feat. They could hear the rolling wheel cruising through the forest behind them, crunching over the fallen logs as its driver ran atop.
Roselyn screamed, alerting the others to the danger. Seeing the large wheel pulverizing everything behind them, their eyes widened and they focused on their running. Chucky, sweating profusely, wiped the sweat from his arms and packed it into a ball. Running alongside Mary and Roselyn, Mary managed to click the lighter to ignite the ball, and he quickly turned to hurl it behind him.
The flaming ball of oil struck the wheel and then instantly got sucked underneath its spinning surface. Out of breath, Will ran alongside them and begged to let him make the next throw. No time to lose, Chucky scooped another ball’s worth or oil and passed it off to Will.
“Throw it over him! Way over him!” Vern called.
Mary ignited the ball and Will flung it as high into the air as he could. As Will turned forward to resume running, Vern t
urned around to see the flaming ball arcing high into the air over the wheeler. As it dropped behind him, Vern caught a hold of it and drew it back toward them. Quickly darting to the right, Vern angled it so that the ball of oil struck the blood-thirsty runner in the back, forcing him to holler out in pain, lose his balance, and tumble in front of his crushing wheel.
“Oh ho ho, that was awesome!” Rowland bellowed.
Though they had staved off one attack, far too many still chased them from further behind. It seemed like they had been running forever and for an instant all at once. Looking back, they couldn’t tell how close those behind them were getting.
“Make another fireball and set it as a trap!” Vern suggested.
Chucky and Mary quickly complied, wiping the flaming mess on a sturdy tree. They left it behind, continuing to race west. Finally feeling like they were doing something to stop those behind them, Vern ordered them to keep doing it.
“You’re just making a trail for them to follow,” Aoi objected.
Vern immediately realized she was right. He felt embarrassed, but there was nothing for him to do about it but run. They’d have to keep going for a few hours until nightfall, at least.
“Where are we going anyway? This is crazy!” Mary whined.
“Maybe a trail isn’t such a bad idea,” Aoi said. “We could lead them right to the Walktopus nest. We’ll try to zip by, but hopefully they’ll have more trouble.”
“Yeah, the nest. I was going to say that,” Vern huffed.
Trying to figure out where they were, it seemed like the large depression must be somewhere ahead. Mary and Chucky lit more signals against trees, careful not to let the fire spread onto Chucky. Roselyn raced ahead and tried to figure out which direction they needed to head in.
The relentless sound of trampling and yelling from behind spurred them on. They ran even though their legs burned and they panted heavily. Eventually, Roselyn veered to the right. The trees seemed shorter where the ground dipped lower. Getting closer, they even spotted a Walktopus foraging around through the leaves and ash.
