by Clara Woods
Again she could find the weak fog of the approaching minds. During their journey down to the planet, she had pondered what she wanted to show these creatures. Now, she sent them the image of stopping their approach and attacking each other. She used the images she had seen up in space of them opening up hatches to project the visual of them ripping at each other’s shiny gray limbs instead.
They reacted. Within seconds, they turned on each other, ripping apart arms and legs, even heads, which came off neatly, not fleshy at all, more like stone statues. Lenah shivered and struggled to hold her influence. Gray torsos, like deformed snowballs, crashed to the ground. When only two of them were left, a streak of laser blasted out. When Lenah checked, she saw Cassius lowering a pistol.
Lenah took a deep breath, trying to shake the shivers. Something amazing had happened. There was hope.
A grin spread on her face as she looked at Cassius and the others, who were breathing a sigh of relief. Getting rid of almost two-dozen enemies had been easy. He flashed his own grim smile before walking over and looking down at her. All remains of his smile had vanished. Her belly churned. What was he going to do?
“I want you to be careful out there,” he said, his voice solemn. “I know you think you’ve got this. And I know you feel at least partially responsible for what’s happening. But you need to be careful.”
The truth of his words sobered Lenah. Especially coming from him after he’d been so cold to her since the elevator scene. A coldness that she had deserved.
A little bit of fear, probably healthy fear, bubbled up in her belly. She had defeated twenty now, but there were so many more. Hundreds, if not thousands. She was going to have to confront humans as well. Evil turned-to-stone humans. It was dangerous, and she still had so much to do. She reached out with her gloved hand to touch his.
“I’ll be careful. Will you too? Will you keep the others safe?”
His eyes darted over toward the group, and he didn’t say anything at first. Finally, he nodded and wrapped his second hand around hers. This small moment of intimacy felt so good, and Lenah wanted to hug him, but a hovering vehicle appeared in the distance from the direction of the park. It was a sturdy, black box, unmarked, but Lenah knew who was in there when she saw the tendrils of mind magic seeping out of it.
Like a swarm of angry makkah crickets, a handful of Syrr and one Bartoc swept at the vehicle and started to target the doors. It shook and almost toppled over in the air.
Lenah gathered her concentration and sent the idea of attacking each other toward the Muha Dara again. But this time, nothing happened.
“Why is this not working?” she hissed toward Zyrakath. “I can see their minds. But I cannot influence them. It was easy with the other ones.”
Zyrakath looked around before answering. “I do not see any Cava Dara close-by. Are you doing anything differently this time?”
“No, I have their minds, and I’m telling them to attack each other. Just as I did with the other ones…” she trailed off, trying again. Nothing. Instead, the driver’s door snapped off its hinges with a sound of crunching metal. She watched the man’s panicked face as he was pulled out of the flying vehicle and started to fall. A moment later, the brown tone of his skin turned gray, and he simply stopped in the air, hovering.
Frantically, Lenah thought again, trying to re-step exactly what she’d done before. She was sending the same suggestion—attack the others—but was she short-cutting it? Hadn’t she imagined it more vividly before? She made the effort, sending an image of the same group of Muha Dara getting away from the hovering vehicle and ripping off each other’s limbs. They complied. A few seconds later, Cassius fired at the last few. Lenah allowed herself a moment of hope. Corinna had really come.
Her group watched in silence as one of the passengers scrambled into the driver’s seat and the vehicle set down. The back door opened and Corinna stepped out first, her blonde hair tied into a tight top bun, lips painted a red so dark it was almost black. Guards filed out behind her; guns raised. Lenah wasn’t too surprised to find them pointing the guns at her instead of the sky. She hoped this was only a precaution and Corinna had been honest in her agreement to cooperate.
“Nice suit,” Corinna said, eying Lenah and Persia with a smirk.
Right, Lenah had forgotten they were wearing stolen Cheung Corp suits. An obvious proof of where they had recently been. She also assumed that Corinna already knew.
“They are nice. Don’t worry, you’ll get it back once this is over,” Lenah answered, trying to regain her footing, unsure what else to say. It seemed she never got the time to express what she now thought of the woman she admired for so long.
Corinna clenched her fists, a fire burning in her eyes, and Lenah was pretty sure it wasn’t about the suit.
“Thank you for coming.” Lenah changed the subject.
Corinna regarded her, then the broken pieces of stone scattered around.
“As I just saw, you seem to have spoken the truth.”
37 Muha Dara
They entered chaos. Screams sounded everywhere. People were running. An elderly man in a blue business suit stumbled, but the ones behind him didn’t falter in their steps. Lenah ran forward to help him up, but she was pushed over by the heaving masses going the other way, and his body vanished from her sight before she’d even closed half the distance.
Up above, it was no better. Shadows covered the perfectly blue, late-afternoon sky. Flying figures came swarming down, a constant downpour, all directed toward the office district, but the running people hardly looked up. Everyone was trying to get away as fast as possible.
Asturis I’s business district was the city’s prime real estate. High rises, several hundred stories tall, housed the offices of every corporation and company that had any importance on Astur. Tens of thousands of commoners worked for the families right here, within one square kilometer. The glass towers were immaculately clean, their fronts shimmering and reflecting off each other. The plaza in the center of the ring of ten high rises had been planted with exotic trees and flowers. Now, the flowers were trampled as hundreds of people tried to escape at the same time.
Something crashed onto the concrete floor nearby with a deafening shatter. A window. Ripped off to give the Muha Dara access into the building. Lenah turned in a circle, unsure where to start. There was so much work to do, so many Muha Dara.
She ducked behind an overturned hovering car. “How are we supposed to get closer? We can’t run against that. Not without hurting anyone,” she said, thinking of how she, Persia, and Cassius could probably hold against the crowd with the fighting suits and his cyborg strength.
“Easy,” Corinna said. “We make them give us room.” She sounded like she was talking to a child.
“How?” Lenah asked, trying not to let the arrogant tone get to her. She’d chosen to work with this woman. Now she had to actually work with her. Clearly.
Corinna didn’t say anything else. Instead, she got up. A moment later, the masses parted in front of them, leaving a narrow corridor. Corinna walked toward it, waving them on. Reaching out with her senses, Lenah followed. She could see a wall of force emanating from Corinna, like a shield. A suggestion to not step there?
She’d love to know, but asking Corinna was out of the question. Maybe she should go to the Guild after this, as Lorka had suggested. One thing at a time.
Walking behind Corinna, Lenah looked up to the closest group of Muha Dara. They were flying toward a low window in the tower next to them. She concentrated, imagining how they’d turn on each other with an emotion of hatred that she didn’t have a hard time conjuring up. They stopped and started attacking each other in a heap of flying arms, legs, and torsos.
As Lenah watched a Syrr rip off the arm of another, her own arm was suddenly pulled hard, and she was jerked sideways. With a burst of adrenaline, she realized that she’d stepped sideways and it had been Cassius pulling her back and not a Syrr ripping at her. She nodded her thanks
and looked back up, conjuring the same images again.
A high-pitched scream right behind her head brought Lenah’s attention back a few moments later. She turned to find its source and realized that Zyrakath was hovering low behind her as if using her back for cover.
“Lenah,” Cassius yelled, pushing her over. What? She hadn’t stepped out again. Looking around, Lenah noticed a bright streak—a laser—being fired at her chest. The suit was apparently fully absorbing it because she didn’t feel a thing. Behind her, Zyrakath gave a shrill yelp, and she turned, trying to protect him with her body, but it was too late. He stared at her in horror, eyes wide while clutching his blackened leg. Lenah turned again, trying to find the source of the fire. Why were they even being fired upon?
Before she could answer that question, a weight crashed into Lenah. She went down, taking Zyrakath with her as she tumbled. Barely able to avoid him getting crushed under her, Lenah managed to get up again.
Turning, Lenah realized it had been Corinna falling into her. She’d been flung backward, at least six people overrunning her as they made their panicked escape from the buildings. She’d dropped next to Lenah, who rolled over, putting her suit protectively in front of Corinna. Their gazes met for a moment before Corinna’s gaze became absent of emotion. A moment later, the trampling stopped. People were leaving a corridor for them again.
“Thank you,” Corinna panted as Lenah helped her up. “Lost concentration when someone started shooting at us.”
Lenah nodded. She could relate to that. She turned to scan their surroundings. Who had been shooting? Had it only been a stray laser?
“Over there,” Persia shouted and pointed, having taken Lenah’s position in front of Zyrakath. Lenah followed her outstretched arm. A man dressed in a guard uniform was squinting and aiming a weapon straight at them. He was part of a whole group of guards, who were all firing lasers up at the Muha Dara. What was this one doing, shooting right into a mob of running people? Then she understood. “Hide, Zyr,” Lenah said to the drone. “This guy thinks you’re a Muha Dara.”
“What?” Zyrakath wheezed, his voice a squeaking tremble. He was clutching on to something that he held cradled in his arms. His leg had fallen off.
“Zyr, oh no. Is that going to—err—interfere with your functioning?” Lenah asked him, unsure how to phrase such a question to the drone.
“I’m still in full hold of my mental capabilities,” the drone said, hovering more upright. If he was trying to look like a dignified Elder, he wasn’t successful. The charred leg in his arms saw to that.
“Let’s get shelter over there,” Cassius said and pointed to a pagoda rooftop that stretched over a market stand. A fallen sign read out the price list of the available drinks: mostly wine, kaleh, and beer, each offered in several tastes. “And you, stay low,” he added, pointing at Zyrakath.
“Shelter?” Corinna asked. “You call it shelter to go up and expose yourself to those things?”
“Do you want to use all your concentration on those things or keep making this corridor?” Cassius asked, looking annoyed.
He didn’t even wait for an answer, but instead jumped on the roof as if it were no more than a stair. He held his hand down, offering it to Corinna. She snorted, but took it. Next to Lenah, Persia jumped straight up, landing easily on the roof next to Cassius.
Lenah bent her knees, then jumped with all her strength. Suddenly, she was soaring high above Cassius’s head. She landed softly next to Corinna, who arched her brow.
Ignoring that, Lenah addressed Corinna. “We need to picture them attacking each other. They don’t react to language or any fuzzy ideas. The images you send have to be as vivid as you can make them.”
Corinna nodded, looking up to a nearby swarm of Muha Dara. Moments later, they started attacking each other. Of course, she’d get it on her first try. Lenah snorted and got to work as well. After a few minutes, she found a steady rhythm. So had Corinna, it seemed, judging by the constant rain of stone chunks she was causing to come down.
“Would you mind if we went to help out down there?” Cassius’s voice interrupted Lenah’s concentration.
Lenah looked away from the sky to see him pointing at the masses of people still fleeing below them.
She nodded. He was right. They could be more useful down there. A moment later, he jumped from the pagoda roof, followed by Persia. They helped Uz and Doctor Lund down; Lenah was left with Zyr, Corinna, and her guards.
She concentrated back on her own task.
“Try to unite your powers.” Zyrakath interrupted her. He was hovering above the pagoda roof, still cradling his leg like a baby.
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Corinna frowned down toward the drone.
“My books didn’t specify how,” Zyrakath answered, looking unfazed by Corinna’s skepticism.
“Books?” Corinna echoed. “That’s your reliable source? An ancient machine that read some books?”
“Yes,” Lenah said flatly. “If you haven’t noticed, Zyr is no ordinary drone.”
“Elder Zyrakath,” he corrected, but Lenah ignored him. If Corinna were already not taking him seriously, his talks about his elder wisdom surely wouldn’t help.
She continued, “He’s no mere machine but the soul of a real Syrr. A full-blown person in all but body.”
Corinna blinked, then thoughtfully looked down at the drone. Lenah hoped she wasn’t plotting Cheung Corp’s next great invention and make Lenah regret sharing this information.
“The Syrr library held incredible knowledge. I believe him. We need to figure out how it works,” Lenah said. “Let’s try to unite our efforts. You lead.” She figured Corinna would enjoy that. “And I pour where you pour.”
Corinna looked down at the drone with pressed lips. “Can’t hurt, I guess,” was all she finally said before turning back to the sky.
Lenah saw that she had started to target a group of mostly human Muha Dara who had come out of the open window of a building. She concentrated on the stream of Corinna’s mind magic.
Lenah’s magic flowed up toward the group where she imagined them attacking each other. While most did, some hung in the air, not doing anything. When Lenah concentrated specifically on them, they finally turned on each other. Was this how it was supposed to work? Was she making it worse instead of better? Not willing to give up yet, Lenah kept pouring.
It happened a few more times, but they were quickly able to move on to the next group. Maybe Lenah had overestimated her area of impact before this. She followed Corinna’s lead to target a huge swarm that had arrived on the scene. When a Muha Dara looked as if it wasn’t following their instructions well, Lenah corrected with a targeted push.
After a while—Lenah didn’t know if it had been ten minutes or an hour—her limbs started to feel as heavy as lead. She took a deep breath and looked around the area. Twilight had fallen over Asturis I and was hiding many of the details of the fight, but she could still make out how everything was littered with gray stone, covering most of the ground.
She saw a man run toward the temple area, a thickly walled building with only the occasional slit for windows, where he joined a whole line of people making their way there. Close to the temple entrance, Lenah recognized the suited figure of Persia, waving people inside. Uz and Cassius stood next to her, guns lifted and shooting any Muha Dara who were threatening to get close.
“Keep in line, there’s room for everyone. You over there, come here.” Lenah could hear Persia’s distant voice, enhanced by her suit’s speakers. She sounded perfectly calm, and it gave Lenah hope that they had a chance.
“You’re not uniting your powers. Why?” Zyrakath asked from beside her. He had hovered close, and his stone features were looking concerned.
“What do you mean, Zyr? We’re both pouring in the same direction.”
“You’re focusing separate efforts in the same place, but in order to make a more powerful idea, you need to unite your powers.”
“Is that why I suddenly feel I’m doing worse since she started to do that?” Corinna asked, pointing a finger at Lenah.
“Me?” Lenah huffed, but stopped herself. If Corinna didn’t realize that now was not the moment to fight between them, then at least Lenah would.
“What are we supposed to do differently?” she asked Zyrakath.
He frowned and shifted the leg in his grip. “I’m not really sure. The books weren’t very specific about this, but I believe that one mage yielded to the other and let them use their power.”
“Yield? To her?” Lenah whispered. She caught Corinna’s gaze, who snorted. Yep, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Yes, one of you needs to give the other control over them.”
“I’m not letting her control my mind,” Lenah said. “No offense.”
Surprisingly, Corinna’s mouth spread into a wide smile. “None taken. That’s the most reasonable thing I’ve heard you say.”
Screams and fighting noises pulled their attention toward the temple. All of a sudden, the entrance was clouded by a heaving mass of hundreds of Muha Dara, all trying to keep the stream of fleeing people from reaching the building. It was a dreadfully rational choice.
Persia’s voice stopped giving instructions. She, Cassius, and Uz were standing side by side, steeling themselves against the incoming masses and bombarding them with a constant shower of laser blasts from their guns. But it wasn’t enough. They were going to get swarmed.
Lenah gathered her concentration, reaching out to the Muha Dara. She could no longer see Cassius and Persia. Were they even still firing? She wasn’t so sure.
Lenah tried to cover the whole area of attack with her influence, but hundreds at once, determined to go at the same spot—the entrance to the temple—was impossible. Lenah’s focus kept slipping away, becoming too weak to overwrite whatever internal command the Muha Dara were following.
She saw that Corinna was having similar struggles, targeting the same area.
Suddenly, Lenah saw something fly high. A human figure clad in a sleek suit.
