by J. Thorn
Dia cried out, “Decker, no!”
The dog caught the guard on the left by surprise, having leapt at her face. The warrior wore a mask, and so Decker dug his teeth into her throat. The warrior screamed as she fell to the ground, blood shooting from the side of her neck.
The other guard turned to face the gruesome scene, and raised her spear.
“No!” Dia said.
Hado grabbed the spear from Ree and reared back, but it was too late.
Decker cried out and whimpered as the guard drove her spear through his body. He let go of the guard he’d attacked, who lay motionless on the ground, her wide eyes staring straight up.
The guard pulled the spear back and Decker toppled down onto his side. She raised her weapon again, but Hado threw her own spear. It pierced the warrior’s neck, the tip of it protruding from the other side. The woman stood for a moment, dazed, and then fell to the ground.
Tears flowed down Dia’s face as she called Decker’s name again, but Hado knew the reality of things. The dog was dead. Dia had started to go to him, but Hado held her back.
“He’s gone. We have to go.”
“No! We can’t leave him!”
“We can’t let him die in vain. He did what he did so we could escape.”
“Decker.”
“Get on the horse, Dia. We have to go.”
Dia climbed up, and Hado looked back as she heard shouting. Arina was now twenty yards away, running at them along with ten armed warriors.
Hado mounted Ree. Crying, Dia took off ahead, looking back at Decker’s dead body as she passed through the gate.
Hado settled into her saddle and took one last look back at Arina. The woman’s eyes flittered with an icy madness, and Hado stared back at her momentarily before glancing up to the second level of the settlement—where Eneka stood at the railing, watching the scene unfold below. Hado’s heart nearly stopped when she saw a second woman emerge from the stairwell and come to a stop at the railing.
“Sunji?”
Her hair hung in her face, and the second level of the settlement was a few hundred yards away. Yet, there could be no mistake. It was her. Hado thought she saw the woman slowly shake her head before turning her back on the scene—and on Hado.
“Come on!”
Dia’s voice snapped Hado’s head around. Arina’s warriors had made it to the gate, and were only yards away.
Decker was dead. She had only one arm to fight with and was riding without supplies toward a blistering-cold mountain pass with vengeful Venganza warriors in pursuit. Hado blinked, and despite the chill she felt a slow burn radiating from the stump of her amputated limb.
Self-pity wouldn’t keep Dia alive. She took one last look at Eneka, and at where Sunji had stood. Then she kicked Ree’s ribs, and fled through the gate and out of the settlement.
Chapter 34
Sunji watched as Hado and Dia fled the settlement. The warriors taking chase raced past Arina and then by the dead bodies of the two guards and Decker as they gave pursuit. Sunji doubted they had any chance of catching the women on foot, but they had followed Arina’s orders, not having horses ready to saddle at the moment.
“The innocent wouldn’t flee,” Eneka said.
“You’d already given the order. We don’t arrest innocent people.”
“Brought in for questioning. There is a difference, Sunji. But it matters not, now. Hado killed two of my people. We don’t know if she killed any others this morning, or if she killed others from your clan on her way here.”
“She didn’t kill anyone else from Erehwon.”
Eneka’s brow creased. “And how can you be so sure of that?”
“She didn’t. Trust me.”
Eneka laughed. “As you say. But don’t be naive. It could be the thing that gets you killed.”
Sunji looked down on the scene below, her mouth shut and her arms crossed. A crowd had gathered near the gates. The guards worked to hold them back as several women arrived to carry the bodies away.
“What happens now?” Sunji asked.
“The bodies will be honored and given to the spirits. I’m not sure what the ceremony is in Erehwon, but here we have three days of mourning and then a day of celebration. I will say, your fellow clanswoman has already put a damper on those plans—many will not feel up to celebrating multiple murders instead of natural passings.”
“No, I mean with Hado and Dia. What will happen to them now that they are gone?”
“Oh, you need not worry about them, dear. They have no supplies—no weapons, no food, no proper clothing. If the storm doesn’t take them, then we will catch up to them eventually. I understand you suffer winters on the shore of the Great Lake, but you don’t have to deal with the altitude we have here. The air will become thinner as they traverse the summit, and that is a challenge even in ideal situations. And if they happen to survive by the time we catch them…”
“They’ll be killed?”
“Perhaps not on the spot. If they are brought back here and given a proper trial, then I can assure you they will be executed, yes. They’ll be hanged in front of the entire settlement.” Eneka put her hand on Sunji’s shoulder. “Your journey here and personal sacrifice have not been in vain. I understand the brutal hardships you endured to arrive before them. It must not have been easy.”
Sunji glanced down at the hand on her shoulder. She stepped away, allowing it to slide off.
“I’ll be in my quarters if you need anything else from me.”
“You go and rest. You’ve done well.”
Sunji headed for the room she’d been given on the level of the stadium they stood upon. Her room had once been some sort of office when the place had operated in the old world. She ignored the accusatory eyes of the passing women who headed down to the village to see what all the commotion was about, and when she got to her quarters, Sunji slammed the door. She put her back to it and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, then opened them again as she exhaled. A basket of winter squash and bitter greens sat on the floor. Crying out as she ran forward and kicked the basket as hard as she could, she scattered its contents all over the room and sent the basket into the far wall. Then she sat down on the edge of her bed and buried her face into the palms of her hands, running her fingers over her eyes as she let out another deep breath.
Sunji couldn’t get Hado’s face out of her mind. She had seen her, hadn’t she? Sunji had only been following orders, racing Hado and Dia to Denver. So why was she feeling so much guilt now?
As Sunji glanced around her room, drowning in tears of regret and confusion, her watery eyes fell on the table beside her bed. She eyed the drawer, then opened it. There was only one thing sitting inside of it.
The letter.
Sunji pulled the sealed envelope from the drawer and eyed the front of the envelope, with Hado’s name written in a beautiful script. Flipping it over, Sunji ran her hand across Lanette’s raised seal. She remembered Lanette’s threat about not opening it, and how Eneka would know if someone had.
But Eneka hadn’t received the letter.
And she never would.
Sunji ran her fingers under the seal, breaking it. Then she lifted the flap to find a single piece of paper inside. She bit her lip, curious now what the letter said. But, sighing, she put the letter down beside her bed.
“I can’t do this. It’s not my business, not my concern.”
And then she thought of her long journey to this point, leading up to her betrayal of the woman she loved. Because of her, Hado and Dia would probably die or be killed by Eneka’s warriors. Sunji shook her head and narrowed her eyes as she grabbed the piece of paper again.
And this time she read the letter.
Lanette’s handwriting had deteriorated as she’d written the note, as if she’d been hurrying to get the words onto paper before changing her mind. Sunji had to remind herself to breathe, facing the realization—and stupidity—of her decision not to read the letter sooner. The old hag
had bested Shiva, using the woman’s own intentions to get a word of warning to Hado. One that Sunji now held in her hand… too little, too late.
Lanette’s letter had warned Hado of Eneka, telling her to take Dia through the Rocky Mountains and to the West. But Hado had already fled, and Sunji couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry, with the fate of those two seemingly sealed both by Shiva and Lanette—going West could save Erehwon while it would probably kill them both.
Sunji let her arms hang at her sides, the letter still in her hand, and stared at the wall.
Then, abruptly, she jumped to her feet, folding the note and stuffing it back into the envelope. She put the letter into her bag and rushed out the door.
Chapter 35
21 Days West of Erehwon
Hado looked back again, staring through the storm with her eyes stinging from the snowflakes. They’d ridden hard for hours and she just wasn’t sure how bad Arina wanted them.
Where are her soldiers?
She rode several paces behind Dia, brushing snow from her face and trying to feel the numb spots on her cheek. It had lightened up some, but the snow still came down like an unrelenting white wall of cold silence. As the sun dropped behind the summit, so did the temperature. Rapidly. The adrenaline that had flooded Hado’s system when they’d ridden through the gates of the Denver settlement had dissipated like thin smoke, leaving her with the beginnings of frostbite on her toes and an unholy burning in the stump of her amputated limb. She knew they would have to stop soon, although where and with what remained a mystery.
Through a copse of tall pines, though, Hado spotted the black mouth of a cave superimposed upon the snow-covered granite.
“Let’s stop there.”
Dia glanced back at her to see Hado gesturing toward the opening, and nodded once before jumping off of her horse and walking slowly toward the cavern.
Long, massive shards of granite jutted out above the mouth of the cave, which gave Hado some hope that they’d be protected from the storm—but then again, so would any other wild animal that had found this dark oasis in a white sea of snow and ice.
“Could there be bears or wolves in there?”
“I hope not,” Hado said. “But we don’t have much of a choice.”
They walked into the cave together after tying up the horses, collapsing on the frozen earth just far enough inside of the cave to be out of the snowstorm. Dia immediately walked back out, scavenging wood from nearby and bringing it into the cave. She then stacked it and started a fire. Warmth immediately filled the cave’s mouth, casting light and heat at the darkness which now seemed to be relenting slightly. Hado sighed as Dia joined her once more, sitting on the other side of the fire pit and absorbing the heat as the flames licked at the weathered pine.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Hado heard a sniffle. She looked over to see Dia with her head down, her hands running through her hair.
Hado had spent her life as a hardened Venganza warrior, training for such a life long before she’d reached Dia’s age. Shiva had drilled the compassion out of her and all the other warriors of Erehwon, as it was the only way. It would have been impossible for Hado to lead the raids on the ruins and fill the killing fields if she had been the least bit compassionate toward Los Muertos.
Her biological mother’s reappearance and subsequent escape had shifted something in Hado, though, if ever so slightly. It had led her to question Shiva, which had itself uncovered the truth of what the Venganza had been doing to the people of the ruins. And now, Hado knew she was dying. Her arm throbbed and the fiery pain had spread to her shoulder. But whether it was days or weeks which she had left, Hado would see her final mission through. She had decided to seek redemption by saving Dia, first by getting her out of Erehwon, and then by protecting her on their journey west. And yet, things seemed more dire than they ever had before. They would probably die in this cave or be buried in the unending snow falling from the sky. In whatever time they had left and in whatever challenges they faced, however, Hado would do right by Dia. It wouldn’t make up for a lifetime of brutality, but she believed the descendants of the Venganza would benefit from her sacrifice. She had to.
Hado stood up and walked around the fire, sitting down next to Dia and wrapping her arm around the girl with a silent wince. When she’d settled against her, Dia put her head on Hado’s shoulder.
“I let him die. How could I let him die?”
“Decker made a sacrifice for you. You had no power over him or any other being.”
“Katy left him to me because she knew I would take care of him. I owed that to her, and I failed.”
Hado felt the silver charm on her chest tingle when Dia mentioned her birth mother, but stayed focused on Dia. “Decker loved you, and I believe he knew the stakes. He gave his life for you because you have to solve a problem, maybe the most important one the human race has ever faced.”
Dia wiped her eyes. “I just want this to be over. I want to quit running. I want to be home.”
“So do I,” Hado said, leaning her head back against the cool cavern wall. “So do I.”
The crack of a branch outside caught Hado’s attention, and she snapped her head around. A figure stood in the shadows just outside the cave, the silhouette highlighted by the orange flames. Hado reached automatically for her spear, which she had leaned against the wall when they’d started the fire.
“Please don’t. I’m not here to fight.”
The familiar voice rang in Hado’s ears, and she froze. The woman stepped into the light cast by the fire.
“Sunji?” Dia asked. “Is that really you?”
“Oh yes,” Hado said. “It’s her.” She hadn’t had the chance to tell Dia that she had seen Sunji with Eneka inside the Denver settlement.
“What?” Dia looked back and forth between the two women.
Hado put her arm in front of Dia. “You’re not taking her. I’ll kill you before I let that happen. I might kill you anyway.”
“With one arm?” Sunji asked, glancing down at the loose flap at Hado’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to fight you, Sunji. But I will. I’m not letting you take Dia back to Eneka. Or Shiva.”
“I know,” Sunji said in a calm voice. “That’s why I’m here.”
Hado stood, and pointed at Sunji while talking to Dia. “I saw her with Eneka as we were riding out of the Denver settlement. She is the reason Eneka treated us with suspicion. The reason Arina wanted to arrest us. She is the reason Decker is dead.”
Dia stood up and looked at Sunji with wide eyes. “Is that true?”
Sunji nodded. “After the Council found out what you did, they sent me West, hoping I would beat you to Denver. You had several days’ lead on me, but I used every ounce of endurance and skill I had to reach Denver a couple of days before you. It wasn’t easy, but I made it.”
“Do you want to be congratulated?” Hado asked.
“I was doing as I was told. Like you, Hado. Except for one thing.”
Hado paused, her head tilted sideways as Sunji reached into the pocket of her cloak, and after a moment offered out a dirty and wrinkled envelope.
“What is that?” Hado asked.
“A letter I was supposed to deliver to Eneka. It’s from Lanette.”
She handed the letter to Hado, who swatted it from Sunji’s hand but gripped the brittle paper in her fist.
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because it’s not for Eneka at all. Lanette, the old hag, in all her wisdom, must have known that I would open it. That was a gamble because I almost didn’t. But the letter is for you, not Eneka.”
Hado recognized Lanette’s seal even though she could see it had been broken. When Hado unfolded the note, she recognized Lanette’s handwriting also.
“She was trying to warn you,” Sunji said, speaking of the letter as Hado’s eyes moved from left to right. “Lanette pretended as if she had allies in Denver, but that wasn’t true. She wanted you to get
Dia out of Erehwon, but not to Denver. The letter talks about California—San Francisco. It says they’re working on—”
“A water filtration system,” Dia said, completing Sunji’s sentence.
Sunji’s brow creased in surprise. “Yes.”
Hado finished reading the letter and it confirmed everything she knew to be true. She lowered the letter and looked into the darkness beyond her former lover.
“I can help get you there.” Sunji stepped towards Hado. “I’ve learned how to extend the endurance of a horse, practically living in the saddle for days at a time. I want to join you.”
“Not a chance.”
The words rocked Sunji back onto her heels. Dia was just going to speak when Hado held up her hand, cutting the girl off. “You betrayed me,” Hado said. “Us. You pursued us for Shiva and then alerted Eneka of our arrival. And now you think you can simply hand me a letter written by Lanette and think that I’ll forget all of that? You can’t be trusted, Sunji. No matter what we had or what I felt for you, that’s all over now. We’re done. You’re not coming with us. And if I have to kill you to honor that, so be it. I never want to see you again.”
Sunji shrank, her shoulders slouching inward. “I understand, Hado.”
“Good. Because I don’t. I don’t understand how you could side with Shiva instead of me. Now, leave us. We ride out in the morning.”
Dia looked at Hado and opened her mouth to speak, but then decided it was probably better not to do so until Sunji left.
“I love you, Hado. And I’m sorry.”
“Goodbye, Sunji.”
Hado looked at the dark wilderness, her eyes pointing Sunji in the direction she wanted her to go.
“I’m so sorry.”
Chapter 36
She’d spent days and days following the trail. Through the ruins west, past Chicago, over the mighty river, and finally into the foothills of the great Rocky Mountains. The cold bit at her fingers and toes as each day seemed to get buried deeper in snow. Sure, the lake effect storms that slammed Erehwon had hardened the traveler, but she was weeks from any of the comforts the settlement offered. There had been some thieving at the Denver settlement when Hado and Dia had fought their way through the gate. A moldy piece of bread. A head of wilted, bitter greens. Neither would sustain her through the pass and on the rest of the way to the Pacific where hopefully the hand-chosen warriors waited for her. For now, she had to travel and survive on her own.
