She was the head of the serpent that needed to be decapitated.
Davis, I believe, would understand my reasoning. As leader of the rebellion, he may not like it, but would know it was their best option.
I knew Davis before I arrived in Akana. He was there when I was little, when my mother took me away. He was a welcome sight when I arrived in Angeles City.
I also met Tanner. He was the first one from the rebellion side that I came in contact with. A year or two older than me, Tanner was different than the males in Akana, or even Esperanza Straits. All males in the Sybaris villages had long hair, and everyone dressed the same.
Not Tanner.
He wore tan pants with big pockets. His shirts had short sleeves with writing on them. Tanner was colorful. He spoke fast and lazily, using the word ‘man’ to address everyone.
I liked Tanner. When I received another warning that his life would be taken next, I couldn’t take that chance.
He found my letter, chased after me, and begged me not to go.
His eyes cried out to me, and I turned away.
I didn’t look back, I kept going, praying that he would forgive me and understand my decision.
My journey from the town of Lyons Estates was a long one. I had to make it to the Salton Sea and then cross it to Akana.
The gatekeepers, hideous monsters with minds, would decide my fate. Surely they would let me in, if only to let Nito choose me.
Davis and Marie had gone to great lengths to integrate me into Angeles City, to make me like everyone else. They taught me and showed me things. I was educated on the history of Man. Everything I had learned in Angeles city, the mindset, the clothing, the way of talking, would have to be traded once again for the way I was expected to behave in Akana. Silent, proper, and subservient.
It would be an act, but one I’d take on.
When I left Lyons Estates, I took with me the best clothes I could find, rations, my time capsule box that I brought with me, photographs of Marie, and a smaller version of the book called The Bible that Davis gave me to read.
I prayed to their God because I was certain my gods had abandoned me.
Without a direction, I followed my heart and rode east, hoping to find the sea.
I did not want to return to that life, however, it was what I had to do.
FOUR – TANNER
Vala’s note was the final strike in the battle against the Day Stalkers.
After all of the training, all of the caring we showed her, breaking down walls, reprogramming and reaching out to her, she still left.
The day of the attack, she stopped being angry at me for whatever it was she was mad about. I liked her, I told her that. Before anything further could transpire between us, the battle began.
Both of us were too busy fighting.
I saved her life. Marie was gone, Vala was in the throat grip of the top Sybaris chick, and I saved her.
Vala was devastated. I understood that. She wanted to be alone. I understood that, too.
She said nothing about leaving.
I discovered that she was gone just after the first light of the day, and she had left a message for Davis. Without reading the letter or knowing what it said, like a fool I sought after her, chasing her down, begging her not to go.
She just rode away as if nothing I said even mattered.
This was a girl who fled for her life, ran to us, wanted to be a part of our side, and then went back. My mind raced with thoughts that she had used us, that she came to us, found our weaknesses, led the battle our way, then after finding out for the Sybaris how to take us down, she left under the guise of self-sacrifice.
I didn’t buy it.
Davis scolded me with his typical, “oh, you’re nuts, you’re just pissed because she left.”
“Why don’t you care?” I asked him.
“I do. She left for a reason.”
“No kidding. Do you buy it?”
Davis locked a stare on me. A serious one. “Yes. She had good reason to go. And I think... I think with Mindy gone, this is our best option.”
Mindy was supposed to be our link, our connection so Vala could do her projection thing, find Mindy, find the City of the Ancients, and plan an attack. Then Mindy was killed and Davis found it logical for Vala to replace her.
Should we trust her? I asked that of Davis.
“Do we have a choice?” he replied.
Yeah, yeah, we did.
I was so filled with anger about her leaving, I could only choose to let it go.
We were still reeling from the loss of life and she just up and left.
The battle was us against the Sybaris, and no longer did it include Vala the Magic Mare.
Until I was positive otherwise, I wasn’t even factoring her into the equation when it came to counting on her to fight.
FIVE – VALA
My journey from Lyon Estates to the Salton Sea was not a short, especially by horseback. Even after crossing the sea, which was the safest way, I had still had hours on foot because I was unable to take the horse on the floating device.
It was, by my best guess, a two day journey, if I stopped and settled just before the sun set.
When I had fled Akana, I was injured and my blood was tainted with the poison from the Sybaris’ arrows. I floated on the sea until Tanner found me and took me to their camp. It was there I met Marie and Snake, who issued fast medical care and we ‘hunkered down’, as Snake said, for the night.
The camp was in a rundown building called Fred’s Bait Shop. Outside, it looked like every other building buried beneath the foliage and brush. A structure left to be encompassed by nature since Man no longer could keep up with every building and every road.
Inside, Fred’s Bait Shop was a safe haven. It was completely reinforced with metal walls, and the windows were hatched and secured tightly to keep the Savages out.
It was used frequently by ‘retrievers’, they were individuals like Tanner who ventured out toward the Salton Sea to search for those fleeing the Esperanza Straits.
I was not an anomaly; many before me had left for Angeles City, refugees or asylum seekers. They were people like me who wanted to see the Sybaris destroyed. Or even those who wanted nothing more than to live like humans instead of well kept pets.
Fred’s Bait Shop would be the best place to stop and rest, and when the sun rose again, I would finish the final leg of my journey.
The roadways, like everything else, was overgrown. Except where the ‘retrievers’ drove their vehicles. Embedded tracks were a road map to the secluded hideaway shack.
By the time I arrived the sun had already began lowering behind me.
I secured the horse outside before securing the shack. I knew for certain the horse would be safe if the Savages came; they feared horses. The blood of a horse made them deathly ill.
I did have the ability to destroy them, just by thinking about it, however, I wasn’t in control, not a hundred percent. That left anyone or anything living thing around vulnerable to my destructive defenses.
I carried my belongings inside and shut the door. I could tell the shack had been used a few times since I arrived. Retrievers went there in search of the refugees from the Straits.
The next morning would be the last leg of my journey home. Or rather, back to Akana. Akana stopped being home for me when I arrived in Angeles City. My little sister was there, and my mother. I did need to speak to her, to find out if she truly was taking bids on me or if she were trying to outsmart the Sybaris.
It was, however, where I grew up, lived, and learned, even if I was not taught all the correct things.
Nito had vowed to get me, to have me, and I believed to kill me. I was a threat to her more than I was a trophy. While my trust wavered, I had to place it in Iry. He was my source of safe passage and information about what was going on in Akana.
Iry was a Sybaris. He had become my educator for the last of my schooling. The adulthood schooling where we prepared
for life and primped to be chosen. He was young by Sybaris standards, soft spoken. His hair was light. It brushed against his shoulders and wasn’t worn long like every other male.
The girls in my class pined for him, considered him a beautiful specimen. I saw nothing but a Sybaris. He tried to friend me, I just couldn’t let him get close. He was different than the other Sybaris though. He shared wit and humor, spoke to me and the others like equals and not like animals, slaves, or livestock. He had given me warning that the Day Stalkers would be coming, which I ignored.
He told me Nito was coming for Tanner.
That warning, I heeded.
I needed to speak to Iry. He was many days’ travel from me, and once I settled into Fred’s Bait Shop for the night, I relaxed and concentrated. I knew there was a way to reach him.
I was limited in my outer body projection in that I could only go to places I had been before. Iry had transported me to the City of the Ancients and to his home there. That was where I arrived. His home.
After passing through the realms of projection, I arrived at his garden and meandered through toward his huge home. I wandered into a grassy area, and beyond that was a body of water surrounded by stones with skimpy lounging chairs placed around it. It was close to the house, and I wondered why Iry, who could not handle large bodies of water, would have such a danger so near to his house.
Approaching, I heard laughter.
It being only a physical projection left me unable to feel any temperatures or elements. I could only assume it was extremely hot, because four scantily dressed human house mistresses were sitting in the chairs around the water.
The clothing barely covered their bodies. Triangles of cloth covered their woman parts and that was all. Such an indecent amount of clothing would only cover my calf.
I felt somewhat embarrassed as I passed them.
A few dipped in the water, saw me, and looked at me peculiarly.
“Where is Iry?” I asked.
One pointed to the house, and as I walked there, I heard her laugh.
Two glass doors were fifteen paces from the body of water, and I approached them. I reached for the handle and my hand went through. I realized again I was just a projection, a ghostly apparition, and I stepped through.
Inside, another woman, older and more appropriately dressed, moved about the kitchen preparing food.
During my transitional training to be ‘Angeles City’ normal, I was showed things called television programs. They enlightened me about human behavior and antics. My favorite was a moving short show called ALF. ALF was a furry little man with a big nose and sarcastic attitude. The people on that show looked like the photos in my time capsule box.
I loved ALF. He was witty and smart. In one episode he talked about having a harem. I asked Marie what that was and she told me it was a group of many wives of a sheik.
Stepping into Iry’s home made me think of a harem. There were so many women. Some glanced my way, clearly seeing me. I did not know if I was visible to the others, or if they did not care or notice me.
Making my way from the kitchen I saw Iry approaching a double set of doors, stopping to speak to a woman.
“You know my rules. I’m not in here.”
“I have not seen you.”
Iry smiled. “Thank you.” He stepped inside the room.
Once the doors were clear, I walked over and slipped easily through. I expected to see Iry. Instead, I stepped into a large room void of much furnishing.
There was a desk and two chairs, and an open bottle of wine.
However, there was no Iry. Where did he go?
That was when I noticed the shelving. It contained vases and statues. The one behind the desk was crooked. As I moved a little closer, I discovered it was more than just a shelf, it was a passageway.
What I saw when I stepped inside shocked me.
The hidden room was huge. It could have been three rooms. It was tall as well, with a second level. What was shocking about the room was the contents. Rows and rows, wall to wall, shelves with books. More books than I saw in Angeles City.
“The projection,” Iry said, startling me from my wondrous staring at all the books, “will only last about seven or eight minutes. I suggest you say hello before you are zapped back.”
Iry stood over a small table, a glass of wine before him and an open book in his hand. He glanced up with a smile. “Good to see you, Vala.”
“All of these books. It is said in Angeles City that the Sybaris destroyed all the books that they could.”
“That’s true. Fools.” Iry closed the book and stood. “The human race is a fascinating and creative species.” He had an edge of excitement to his tone as he walked to a case. “For example, this book.” He withdrew one from the shelf. “It is a very old story about a little girl who drinks a magic potion and falls down a hole into some odd world. Amazing.”
“I wouldn’t know this because I wasn’t permitted to even know mankind wrote all this.”
“That is a shame, because man is a creative genius. Perhaps the Ancients feared you because of the way your minds worked.”
“The Sybaris are not creative?”
Iry laughed. “Hardly. We’re factual and technical. In our time, we built triangle buildings in the sand. Designed monuments. Man…” he lifted the book, “created worlds.”
“You sound as if you actually like the human race.”
“I do. Each person is different and the Ancients have done their best to control that. You spent your life hating us and I spent my life wishing I were human.” He cleared his throat. “And time is almost up. You’ll disappear . There is a reason you came other than to spy.”
“I’m en route, Iry.”
He looked at me sharply.
“I have settled for the evening. At sunrise, I will make my way across the sea.”
“I will be there,” Iry said with certainty. “I will be at the sea when you cross to ensure your safe passage back into Akana.”
“That’s all I wanted.”
“You will choose me, correct? That is why you are returning?”
I readied to answer him, prepared to tell him I didn’t have a choice. I was only choosing him to spare the life of Tanner, so that Nito would not hurt those in Angeles City. But I didn’t get a chance. My out of body projection energy ended and before I knew it I was back at Fred’s Bait house.
Since the windows were sealed I didn’t know if it was dark or light. I’d wait out the evening and when it was safe, I would finish my journey. As sad as it made me to leave Angeles City for good, to give myself to the Sybaris, it was indeed the only way.
SIX – TANNER
“You have got to stop this,” Davis told me that afternoon. We had spent the afternoon cleaning up the damage, burning Day Stalkers, and burying those we lost. Marie included.
It was sad because Marie was a pretty great person. She was amazing, and while she didn’t deserve the fate handed to her, I would have been surprised if Marie had died any other way. In my opinion, she died a hero’s death.
I guess I wasn’t discreet when I conveyed my feelings about Vala and the situation. Nor was I even mature about it.
Davis pulled me aside. “Tanner,” he said. “You have to stop.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, let it go. About Vala. I understand you went after her, tried to stop her, and she kept going. I understand your feelings are hurt.”
“It’s more than that,” I said,
“Is it?”
“We dedicated a lot of time to helping her.”
“Marie did all that. She believed in Vala, and so should you.”
“I really can’t. It’s bugging me.”
“I get it,” Davis said. “But you don’t. Either that or you didn’t read the note.”
“Well I ...”
“You didn’t read it, did you?”
I dipped my head slightly. “No.”
“Then how in the hell can
you pass judgment? It’s not what you think.”
“How do you know what I think?”
“Because of the way you’re acting. You’re taking this as a personal strike against you. It is and it isn’t. Yes, she wants to help us, no, she isn’t a traitor, and yes, she left because of you.”
“Then jeeze, how can you say I am feeling or thinking wrong?”
“Because I read the note.”
“Okay.”
“Okay and... she didn’t want to leave. But after the first warning was issued and I didn’t take it seriously, the attack happened. The boyfriend came back—”
“Teacher.”
“Whatever you choose to think,” Davis said. “He came back and told her that another attack was gonna happen, so to avoid it and keep the rest of us safe, she left. Her leaving will open up that gate to the Sybaris. We’ll get there through her the same as we would have through Mindy.”
“I understand what you’re saying. I do. Can we trust that she would help us?”
“You of all people should trust her.”
“Why?”
“Because of the warning.”
“We’ll be ready. We’ll protect our people, she didn’t have to leave.”
“She felt she did, Tanner, because it wasn’t a threat against our people, it was a threat against you. She left to keep you safe.”
“What?” His answer shocked me.
“When her boyfriend, teacher, whatever, came to her, he said they were coming for you.”
“Why… why me?”
“You shot at and nearly took out the queen bee. They know Vala cares for you. They got Marie already, and she didn’t want to take a chance they would kill you.”
A lump formed in my throat and I nearly choked as tried to swallow. “Is this supposed to make me feel better? Less mad?”
Davis shook his head. “No. it’s supposed to make you feel more understanding.”
“Well, it doesn’t,” I said. “It makes me feel bad. I can take care of myself. I don’t need her protection. I just... I just ...” I tossed out my hand in defeat. “I need her here.”
Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2) Page 2
