“Dinga, how far?” Sebastian urged.
“Not far now.”
I couldn’t see the figure following us, but that was a good sign, or least I hoped. The forest was thick with underbrush, and the putrid rot of wood permeated the air. I pulled my shirt over my nose and picked my way over a huge fallen log. Sebastian hooked an arm around Dinga’s scrawny claws to hold him on and grabbed my hand.
Don’t forget, Alayna, he still might be the bad guy.
I felt a sharp tug on my hand, just as I felt the soft earth give out from under my foot. Sebastian pulled me back just in time to avoid a gaping pit, a black, bottomless stain on the forest floor. I couldn’t make out his face in the darkness, but I could hear his chuckle.
“What’s with the laugh?” I fumed. How dare he laugh at me?
“You’d think it was a twelve legged spinder-beetle instead of just a shallow pit.”
I pulled my hand from his and wrapped my arms around me. I was still damp from the disgusting moat. “Spinder-beetle? Twelve legs?” I nearly choked on the words. “That sounds eerily like a spider. I hate spiders.” My eyes darted around the dark forest. What kind of spiders did this world hold? Ugh, if I had to step on one, I would lose my mind.
“Spiders are delicious,” Dinga interrupted, “Spinder-beetles are not for eating, they are bigger than Dinga.”
“Seriously?” I blurted.
Sebastian shrugged, leaping to the top of a log and helping me over it. I pushed his hand away and did it myself. “There’s more in here to eat us besides these demons,” he quipped.
“I don’t like the sound of those spinder-beetles,” I murmured.
“Don’t be inane,” Sebastian whispered. “At least there aren’t dragons.”
“Dragons?”
“Calm yourself. The dragons only live in the mountains and by Radio City.”
I didn’t have any words for him. Was he being serious right now? Ignoring me my freak out, Sebastian threw a worried glance at Dinga. “I hope we don’t find anymore traps. It’s too dark to see them.”
“Do your people have any more between here and the village?” It was my turn to interrupt.
“It’s hard to tell, mistress. My people don’t set traps. It was placed there, mistress.”
“I’m not your mistress anymore; you don’t have to call me that.”
“You saved Dinga, and so you are mistress.”
Even in the dark I could imagine he had a smile on his face. I reminded myself to ask him later about why hadn’t he used the marlita stone himself? Especially if he knew how powerful it was?
I shook my head. I certainly didn’t want to experience another wall being blown up. So we stumbled through the forest in mostly darkness, I’m sure all of us too scared to talk anymore. We tried to be quiet at first, but it was like a bull in a china shop, as my mom used to say. We thrashed and picked over logs and through thorns that tore at my already ripped jeans. It was awful. Even though we were being followed it was clear to me that Sebastian was trying to hurry, but I wondered just how long it would be before they found us, and we’d be screwed.
Finally, we reached the edge of a clearing. A perfectly circular, empty, forest floor clearing. What was wrong with that?
The forest around us fell suddenly silent. No birds cackling through the treetops, no rodents scurrying in the underbrush.
“I don’t like this,” Sebastian whispered.
I sat heavily on a log near the edge and looked up at Sebastian. “What should we do?”
“It’s perfectly simple.’ Dinga was scrambling off Sebastian’s shoulders. “Go into clearing, surrender. They will find us.”
“Who, Dinga?” I asked.
“Who? Your people?” Sebastian pleaded at the same time.
“Mistress, it might hurt.” Dinga hopped on one foot and he was smiling again.
“What might—”
I felt sharp pain at my neck like a huge bee sting. Not two seconds later, I felt my vision go blurry and the world, the clearly, tipped sideways. “Sebastian...” I reached for him but met only air.
Beside me I heard the soft thump of my companions as they toppled over. I slid to the ground in a heap, the softness of the leaves catching me as darkness washed over my vision.
I WOKE CURLED ON MY side, unable to stretch out my legs. My neck ached and burned from whatever had hit me just before I passed out. I opened one eye, then the other, and looked around. Blinking a few times didn’t reveal much in the darkness, escape that I was inside something like a pup tent and there was a reflection of a fire just beyond it.
“Sua etorri...”
The eerie chanting was soft, like a hiss. Like a pit of vipers.
“Sua etorri da...”
A loud hiss echoed through the night, louder than the rest.
“Sua joango...”
My breath hitched in my throat. Where were we? And what about Dinga and Sebeastian? Had they been captured, too? It was then I realized awfully that my hands were bound in back of me and tied to my legs. My thighs burned at such an angle and I wanted to cry but I swallowed a sob. The rope felt thin and fragile but was tight. It burned into my wrists as I struggled. I could hear breathing behind me and I rolled over, right into Sebastian.
“Sua joango DA!”
I shivered. The chanting was a din now. What if we were in some cannibal camp and they were going to eat us? What if they wanted to put in the pot with veggies and stew us up?
“Sebastian!” I breathed his name. As the chanting reached a crescendo, there was no telling how close they were, or if they could even hear us.
He was so close I could feel his breath, so I knew at least he was still alive. Thank God for that, I thought. I nudged him with my knees, as much as I could bring them up. “Sebastian!”
He moaned.
I slammed my knee into his waist this time. “Wake up!”
His eyes flew open this time, and he attempted to sit as I had. “What? Alayna, what’s going on? Where are we? I felt a sting, on my leg, then I—”
“I don’t know, okay?” My voice was shrill, and louder than I wanted it to be, but I didn’t care.
“Where are we?” He asked again, flipped to one side, then over toward me again. His wavy hair flew behind him with each movement.
“In a tent,” I added, mostly because I was sick of him repeating himself.
“Oh, ladies and gentlemen, a genius she is!”
“Oh, stop it,” I felt tears prick my eyes, and I blinked rapidly. “The cannibals could come get us any moment. How are we going to get out of here?”
“What the gear are cannibals?” Sebastian demanded.
“They eat people,” I told him, “and I bet they are coming for us.”
“You’re ridiculous,” he protested. He flailed for a moment but stilled and sighed before I could ask what the heck he was doing. “These cords are like nothing I’ve felt before,” he said. “What I could do with these, some wheels, my engines, maybe a few remote controls, and—”
“Excuse me, inventor sir, can we focus on the here and now please?” I snapped.
“Oh, yeah, right.” He flipped over to face me, and the eerie light reflecting on the canvas bounded from place to place above us. “Sod! Can you reach my pocket? My contrivance is in there.”
“Your what?”
“Contrivance. It’s a, like a contraption with tools. I never leave home without it. I made it myself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Where was that invention when we needed it in the jail cell?”
“I forgot it was in my possession,” he barked. “Can you reach my front pocket or not?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” I flipped over and faced away from him, reaching behind me.
He laughed quietly. “You’re a little off.”
I pulled my hands back and could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. “Oh my god,” I breathed, “I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay, no complaints from me.” He was clearly amus
ed at my expense which annoyed me. How dare he. Before I had time to fume at him, he sadded, “To the right, you’ll feel the button.”
I felt across his belt, then down to his hip and across to the buttoned pocket. I slid my hand inside and grasped a metal oval. It felt like a pocket knife but was the shape of a pocketwatch.
“Is this it?”
“Yes.”
I pulled it free, turning it in the palm of my hand. One end was pointed; sharp like a knife, but the other was smooth and flat. There was a groove along the center, and I could feel a few metal tools tucked inside. I heard a rustle as he turned his hands toward me. Grabbing my hand, he shoved the pointed end against the cords.
It burst easily with a few grinds, and Sebastian sat up, his head nearly colliding with the top of the tent. With one motion he clipped my binds and I sat near him, rubbing at my sore wrists.
“Hey,” I said suddenly, still trying to keep quiet. “Where’s Dinga?”
“That’s a very good query.” He crept on his hands and knees to the tent flap, which had been sewn shut with a thin leather thong. As soon as he lifted the bottom to peer out, the tie ripped apart.
A tiny body flew at me, knocking Sebastian to his back and coming to rest in my lap. “Mistress!” It squealed and threw spindly arms around my neck.
I had never been gladder to see the little blue monster thing. “Dinga! You’re okay!”
“Okay?” He bared his pointy teeth in a wide smile. “We found my village!” He jumped up and grabbed my hand. “The younglings, you must meet them!” I struggled to keep up as he dragged me from the tent. “Come along Biggie boy,” he shouted to Sebastian, who was still laying on his back struggling to re-catch the wind Dinga had knocked out of him.
“Dinga, wait,” I resisted his pulling. “Why did they tie us up?”
“The Anual, he thought you were dangerous Biggies, but I convinced them you’re not.”
“Anual?” Sebastian looked confused.
“He’s the leader,” Dinga said simply.
“All right, I’m coming.”
We followed Dinga to the source of the mystical chanting I’d heard earlier. The tent was one of many that size, all strung in a circle. In the center four of the smallest logs I had ever seen encircled the wide fire that blazed at the heart. Little demons occupied every log space, all nearly identical to Dinga.
“I told you they weren’t bad Biggies, Anual Elinar,” Dinga announced us.
They all turned to look at us.
The myriad of blue and purple skinned demons, locked eyes with me. A crowd of smaller ones sat around the edge of the camp. They were all identical, with canvas flaps tied around their waist. A few had sparse hair on their heads, cut into a variety of designs. The younglings crowded around these, what I thought might be the females.
All this and it still did not terrify me as much as what lay on the other side of the fire.
At the far side of the camp sat a tiny throne made of what looked like shaved tan sticks, with a demon sitting primly in the center, his naked legs crossed curtly. He wore a headdress of sunbird feathers, bright yellows and blues.
I wondered how he held his head up; it was nearly bigger than his small frame. I stifled a nervous giggle that it might knock him over.
Around his neck, several necklaces of shining black metal, much like the marlita that had helped us escape, and strings of tiny bones.
Yet even this priest wasn’t what shook my knees.
In his lap was the dagger.
My dagger.
The one that brought me here. How did he have it? They took it from me before they threw us in jail?
He held it up and the crowd silenced immediately. Plumes of dust fell from the demons as they threw themselves prostrate to the ground. Even Dinga ducked to his stomach at the sight of the sword.
“Dinga,” I whispered down to him, “how does he have my dagger?”
“Dinga very sly and grab from knight before going in that dark cell, mistress,” he smiled at me again. “Dinga very good at sneaking things. No one ever pay much attention to Dinga.”
I should have liked to have you by my side in that grocery store, I though idly. I bet he was a better thief than I had tried to be. Just then, the small figure on the throne boomed a command, much louder and deeper than I would have expected.
“Alayna, the one our Dinga called queen, step forward.” His voice was so deep and commanding, so unlike Dinga’s, I wondered if it had truly come from him.
I took one step, and Sebastian grabbed my hand. “Don’t do it, we don’t know if they plan to kill us.”
I glanced at Dinga, who dared to turn his head to peek up at me. He nodded.
I stepped over the log and skirted the fire, coming to stand before the tiny chief in the absurdly small throne.
“Sit,” he motioned with the sword to a spot in front of him.
I closed my eyes and folded my legs under me. Bile rose in the back of my throat. Please, if he kills me, let it be swift. If they eat me, I hope I taste good.
I felt the cool metal tip under my chin, and he lifted my face toward him. His face was smooth and did not hold the cruelty of the Keeper. “Alayna,” his voice was quiet and hopeful now, “I saw it in the stars you would come.”
My eyes opened, and I looked into his black, beady ones.
“What?” I blurted.
He laid the sword across his lap once more. “I am Elinar of the Zespar demons, the Keeper of the Great Stone, the reader of the stars for my tribe as chosen by my ancestors.”
“You’re their leader?”
He smiled, his teeth sharper than Dinga’s, with at least two extra rows. “Yes, you may call me such, little one.”
“Little one?”
“Yes, you have much to learn about our world.”
“Why did you say you saw me come? Can you tell me why I am here, what this place is?” I glanced behind me briefly. Sebastian and Dinga had squeezed onto the crowded log in front of our prison tent. Dinga was grinning widely, but Sebastian looked worried, and possibly a little scared.
“It is a place between your world and the next.”
Tired of the vague statements, I blurted out, “Oh, for God’s sake, am I dead?”
Elinar threw back his head and laughed heartily. “No, very far from it.”
“Well, good.”
“We plan to keep you that way.”
“And how do you intend to do that? Some welcome you gave us. Tying us up and throwing us in a tent!”
“For that, I am sorry. We could not take Dinga’s word alone before I had time to confer with the council.” He nodded to his left, then his right, the feathers bobbing dangerously low on his slender head.
It was then I noticed the three Zespars sitting on each side of him. Though none of them sported a headdress like him, they were wearing similar necklaces, as well as shiny gold bracelets and rings. A few of the ones with ornate carved hair had large bronze hoops hanging from their pointed lobes.
I nodded to them each in turn, ducking my head in respect.
They responded with curt head bobs.
Before he could throw out another riddle, I asked again, “And what do you mean you saw I would come?”
“I saw you would come kill the Keeper.”
I didn’t faint, I didn’t feel woozy.
I did what any normal person would have done, having just discovered they were, apparently, appointed to assassin.
I stood up.
It was agony getting to my feet, on painful ankles still wearing the scars from tight bonds. I ducked my head out of respect for the elders, licked my lips, and prepared for the speech of my life.
I couldn’t do it, I’d say, I’m just a girl, from nowhere. My father beat me nearly every day of my life, even when my mother was powerless to stop it. I dropped out of school because I couldn’t take the looks and gossip from our small town. My future was bleak, a dark path I couldn’t even look down. I had no future.
>
I’m nobody, from nowhere, who will never amount to anything.
But as soon as I opened my mouth, the Anual cut me off. “Who will accompany Alayna on her quest to regain the seat of Elestra?”
“Now, hold on a second—” I tried to protest.
“I will,” Sebastian stood. He was an imposing figure in a circle of three-foot-tall demons.
Dinga leapt up beside him. “I will follow the mistress anywhere she demands!”
Anual Elinar looked from Sebastian to me. “Who is this human you travel with?”
“Sebastian Cross.” His voice had changed. It was deeper, more concentrated. This was the voice of a leader, not the boy I’d met in Clock City.
I looked at him sharply.
He was standing with clenched fists at his side, his chin thrust out. Who was this new Sebastian?
Hmm. I liked it.
A murmur passed through the crowd. Even Dinga was looking at him with wide eyes.
“Cross?” Elinar’s voice held an edge of reverence, as if he was in the presence of a god. “Of Matthias Cross?”
“My father.” Sebastian jumped off the log, his planted feet sending dust up into the fire. His face was highlighted orange and red from the flames, an imposing figure. “Well, my adopted father, technically, but—”
More murmurs, this time louder, followed by the hissing of forked tongues. The Zespar looked mostly nervous, with shifting eyes, and grasping their younglings close. But the males? They gazed at him as if he was a hero.
Elinar rose from his seat, beckoning Sebastian closer. He came and stood next to me. He tried to grab my hand, but I shook it off.
“Sebastian Cross, son of Matthias, I have seen you in the stars. You have come to lead the rebellion,” Elinar spoke firmly, “that will overthrow the Timekeeper and return Elestra to the once great rule of its queen?”
Sebastian looked down at me. A crooked smile crossed his face, briefly, and he turned to Elinar with all seriousness. “That’s why I am sworn to protect the queen.”
“She is not the queen, you are aware?”
“That’s what I’ve been telling everyone!” I exclaimed, but no one was listening to me anymore.
Clock City Page 6
