City of Light

by J J Hane

  Serenity chewed her lip, looking back at me. Finally, she nodded. “Yeah,” she said, resignation defining her whole bearing. “I’m with you.”

  Azrael nodded like it wasn’t just the answer he had always expected, but that it was the only answer there could be. He turned away from us, headed back to his two companions. Without looking back, he ordered Derrick and Corey to chain me to the entrance of the mall.

  “Serenity!” I shouted as the two outlanders seized my arms and began dragging me forward. “You can’t do this! Your people will never survive the attack! You have to stop them!”

  Serenity, who had already started to follow Azrael, glanced back at me. Her jaw was set, but I could see moisture in her eyes. She looked away, joining her chief and his companions as they began to leave.

  Chapter 17

  I tried to fight the two guys, but my muscles still didn’t quite work right. They shoved me against an old metal support that had partially rusted through, just beneath the overhanging concrete of the wall above me. There were already chains lying nearby with an old padlock attached. They quickly secured me in place, despite my best efforts. I shouted for Serenity, but she might not have heard me for all the reaction it got.

  “I’m jealous,” Derrick smirked at me. “You’re going to get the best view of everything.”

  He shoved my head back against the cold metal support before walking away, laughing.

  Corey shrugged his heavy shoulders. “Sorry about this,” he murmured before trailing after the other guy.

  Desperate to find someone to listen to me, I started shouting to the group of sickly-looking people still hanging around. “You have to get out of here!” Completely ignoring me, they were fiddling with the derelict cannons, crawling over them like insects on a rotting corpse. That might not be a very kind description, but it was pretty accurate.

  I kept on shouting, calling for help, warning them about the destruction that was about to occur. After a while, I realized why they weren’t responding. They already knew. No one inside would be able to easily discern what I was saying, and they probably wouldn’t believe me even if they could hear me. This group, though, the ones in front of me: they knew that they were about to die, and they just didn’t care.

  I finally learned why a moment later.

  With a rumble that startled me and shook loose dirt and rocks from the structure above, the two huge machines came to life. The ancient engines growled like demons rising from the abyss, and the long barrels began ratcheting upward with a clanging sound that would be heard ringing through the entire forest. Inch by inch, the huge cannons lifted their barrels to point toward the sky.

  My heart dropped into my stomach, which fell somewhere below the earth’s crust. We thought that the Martyrion was safe because the tribes didn’t have access to the kinds of weapons that could reach the city. The cannons here had been ignored because they would never be able to bring them close to the city, even if they were functional. Surely the tribes had just been using them for parts or scrap metal. As I watched them tick upward, though, I finally understood the situation: the guns didn’t need to go anywhere. They were powerful enough to send artillery shells high into the sky, dropping them on the city even from that distance.

  If the spy satellites were still functioning, someone might have noticed. They might have destroyed the cannons before they could fire. Thanks to my stupidity, no one would see it happening until it was too late.

  I fought against the chains, pulling with all my strength. I kicked wildly, jerking my body back and forth, screaming in frustration. My heels dug furrows in the dirt, scraping against hidden concrete. Against my back, the support beam creaked a little, but it still held its ground. I had to stop them. I had to get free! But all I could do was watch as the huge, ancient weapons prepared themselves to fire.

  The barrels stopped rising, the sudden absence of clanking gears making the deep vibrations of the engines into something deeper, pervasive. The outlanders scurried around, picking up various simple weapons that looked absurdly incongruous next to the massive artillery. I could feel the chains cutting into my arms, digging at my torso as I strained against them.

  Then, without any warning, I was falling. I was free of the chains so quickly that I was already on my face before I realized I could move. Shoving the loose links off, I rolled to see Serenity standing over me, a finger to her lips, a long knife in her free hand. The padlock that had held the chains fast was lying open on the ground, a key sticking out of it.

  “Serenity,” I whispered, too quietly. The engines drowned out my voice. Serenity held out her hand, offering to help me up. I looked at her, uncertain how to respond. People were going to die. She had betrayed me.

  At the same time, she had been betrayed by her own chief. Her people were going to die, too. And she had just saved me.

  Maybe. There was still time for us to be burned out of existence by the Archangel.

  I took her hand, let her help me to my feet. “Don’t tell Ab that you rescued me,” I said, just loud enough to be heard over the artillery.

  Serenity winked. “You’re secret’s safe with me, city boy.”

  I got my knife out, studied the nearly two dozen people who had been left behind to protect the cannons. It seemed unfair that I could be free and yet still have no chance of stopping what was about to happen.

  “We can’t take them all on,” Serenity said, pressing up close so that I could hear her.

  Angry as it made me, she was right. I wouldn’t be able to protect my people. Still, there were some people I could help. I turned to Serenity. “We need to get your people out of here. Now.”

  Serenity studied my eyes. I could see the guilt in her expression as she processed my reaction. She nodded once, sharply, as we turned to enter the mall.

  We were both knocked to the ground by the force of the first shots.

  Loud does not even begin to describe the noise of the artillery behind us. The sound wave was a physical force, swatting us both from our feet. I turned to see black smoke billowing out of the two barrels, trailing up into the sky. Both mobile cannons had been shifted out of position by the force of the blasts, and the outlanders lay scattered around, picking themselves up with confusion.

  A cheer began, rising over the ringing in my ears.

  I felt sick.

  Forcing myself to my feet, I grabbed Serenity’s arm as she stared in awe at the weapons. “We’re on a deadline here,” I shouted. I couldn’t tell if she heard me or not. I wasn’t even certain that I could hear me as we ran into the mall.

  Inside, everything was chaos. There were dozens of people, mostly either very old or very young, wandering toward the entrance we had just come through. There were also warriors, younger men and women clutching their swords and spears with wild eyes, as confused as the civilians, yet still trying to maintain order. I could see more people out in the main walkway.

  How many were there? Hundreds? More?

  Serenity paused, but I knew we had no time. I took a deep breath, hopped onto a fallen crate, and shouted at the top of my lungs, “Azrael has betrayed you all!”

  That got their attention. “Azrael has betrayed you!” I shouted again. “The Archangel is going to fire on this place! You have to get out! Now! Run!”

  I earned a lot of confused looks, but nobody seemed to be running.

  A young man not much older than me stepped forward. He looked reasonably healthy for an outlander, holding a spear in a firm grip. “What do you think you’re doing, monk?” he spat at me.

  “I’m trying to save your life,” I said. Maybe I shouted it. It was difficult to tell with my ears still ringing from the artillery. “Azrael left you here to die. He wants you dead!”

  The young warrior laughed. “We are here because we’re the ones who did all the work to get those guns working. Our reward is to not die on the battlefield alongside him.”

  “The city boy is telling you the truth,” Serenity snapped. “T
heir council has already decided to destroy this place. Azrael didn’t evacuate because he wanted to get rid of everyone who might cause him trouble. Don’t you see how few of the Jackal Tribe are still here?”

  “What are you doing here, then?” the warrior sneered. “You’re his pet. Why aren’t you with him?”

  “Because she’s trying to save you!” I interjected. “Look, we don’t have time for this: either get moving or get out of the way!”

  I started to lead by example, freezing in place when I saw a familiar, scarred face approaching. Margot, Azrael’s general, was stalking toward us. An old handgun hung from her belt, and she had a long sword strapped to her back. Despite the fact that she did not have either of her weapons ready, I knew that she could kill me before I got off the box I stood on. Evidently, Serenity felt the same way, as she tensed beside me, her hand disappearing into a pocket in her jacket where she kept another knife.

  I noticed, too, that Margot looked healthier than the last time I had seen her. The medicine Azrael had forced her to take had already had an effect. That would mean that his warriors who had taken the medicine would be feeling better, as well, which could in turn mean more danger for the city.

  “What proof do you have?” Margot asked when she was standing within arm’s reach of me.

  I was so surprised by the question that I couldn’t respond.

  Fortunately, Serenity was not as easily disoriented as I was. “We overheard the Martyrion Council members talking about it,” she answered for me.

  “Yeah,” I confirmed. “The device Azrael had for disabling the satellites only took the surveillance satellites offline, and that’s probably temporary. They still know where this place is, so all they have to do is type in the coordinates manually and turn on the Archangel. They don’t need to be able to see this place to destroy it.”

  Margot squinted at me. “Why would Azrael leave me behind?”

  “Because you argue with him,” I said, the words coming out before I could consider whether or not they might elicit an unpleasant response. “I, um, get the feeling that he doesn’t really like that.”

  A loud clanking informed us that the artillery were adjusting their positions outside. How much time was left before the Archangel fired?

  “We don’t have any more time for this,” I added, involuntarily glancing at the ceiling as if I could see the satellites moving into position.

  Margot finally nodded. “We go, then. If you are lying to me, I will cut out your stomach and tie you to a tree.”

  I swallowed nervously.

  The Bay Tribe warrior shook his head. “We’re not going to go running through the forest at the whim of some monk. We are staying here, out of danger. We’ve paid our dues.”

  “Then stay,” Margot spat. She turned on her heel and began pacing back through the mall.

  I hopped off my box and started walking quickly toward the center of the mall, behind Margot. “This is your only chance to survive,” I told the young man as I went.

  Serenity caught up with me, walking slightly behind me like she was ready to protect me from attack. She started shouting, as loud as she could, “Evacuate! The Archangel is going to fire!”

  “Azrael has betrayed you!” I shouted.

  “We must flee!” Margot added. Somehow, her voice lacked the panicked, fearful tone Serenity and I had, instead conveying a forceful command. Azrael, in my opinion, had made a big mistake in leaving this woman to die.

  We picked up speed, running through the mall, shouting warning to everyone to get out. When little Cassidy heard us, she joined in, running alongside us. We warned everyone, told them to get out, told them that they were all about to die. Some of the elders, a few of the children, and several of the Bay Tribe warriors joined us. By the time we were out of the mall, there were a few dozen others with us.

  It was a surreal experience, hurrying through the ruins of the mall with a warning of coming destruction while almost everyone watched us with a mixture of skepticism and bewilderment. I could see hundreds of people, some standing in the main area, some lingering at the doorways to the big rooms that once served as stores. Most of the outlanders ignored our warning, despite Margot’s presence. Azrael’s disfavor, it seemed, had been made known.

  Everything felt almost like a bad dream. One old-looking man we passed was smoking something in a rough-hewn pipe. When I called out to him to run, he calmly made a rude gesture at me, watching us all walk by as he kept smoking.

  When we reached the far end of the mall, I turned to Serenity. Just before I could speak, the artillery outside boomed again, rattling the mall hard enough to cause a roof somewhere to cave in.

  “There’s no more time,” I told her, breathless. “We need to get as far away as we can.”

  Serenity’s jaw muscles stood out as she nodded, gesturing to a nearby alcove. “This way.”

  She led our small group, barely fifty strong, through a narrow hall and out a hole that might once have been a service entrance of some kind. When we reached the open air, she started to really run, leading everyone through. I stopped, letting everyone pass as I called back into the building for others to flee.

  Still, few listened.

  The last person out was Cassidy, who was gasping for air, face red. She collapsed as soon as she was out, clutching at her chest and wheezing hard.

  “Come on, Cassidy,” I said, trying to sound calm and encouraging. “We need to keep going.”

  She looked up at me through big, panicked eyes as she fought for air.

  With a growl of frustration at the world for its cruelty, I slipped my arms under the little girl, lifting her with surprising ease. She weighed even less than she looked like she should. She wrapped one thin arm around my neck, holding on for dear life as I pelted into the forest after the others.

  The tree cover was thinner on that side of the mall, making it easier to run without much dodging. Serenity had led us to the perfect place, as the ground also sloped gently downward, giving us a greater speed boost as gravity pulled us further from the mall.

  The artillery sounded for a third time. I felt a scream of anger rip its way out of my throat as I ran, helpless before the events that had brought me to that point. How could I have let this happen? It was my fault for helping the tribes, for helping Serenity with her plan. She hadn’t understood the depth of what she was doing, but I had known better. I screamed again, furious, and Cassidy buried her face in my chest.

  When the Archangel finally struck, everything turned red.

  Chapter 18

  It started with a sudden, reddish brightening of the world, every tree and rock and shrub standing out in front of me, casting shadows so sharp they could cut. I turned despite knowing that I ought to keep running. The grey sky was being lit from above the clouds by an almost supernatural glow, and for a moment I remembered why the satellite system had been given its name.

  Then the beam broke through the clouds, thrusting them aside with insolent fury. Unlike the silvery-white beam the Archangel used to power the Martyrion, this was tinged heavily with red. Rather than being narrow enough to strike the top of a tower, it had been widened to create a beam big enough to burn the center section of the mall.

  The fire was accompanied by a roar loud enough to drown out even the artillery. It struck the top of the mall, cutting through metal and concrete as though it was nothing more substantial than tissue paper. The building blew apart from the inside, billowing, roaring, unnatural fire expanding faster than my eyes could track, so fast that I couldn’t yet hear it. Stone walls shattered like glass, enveloped in a roar that shook earth, sky, and Heaven itself.

  It all happened in the time it takes to blink. An instant later, a blast of scalding hot air slammed into me, driving me off my feet. If I hadn’t been carrying the wheezing Cassidy, I would have tried to catch myself, which probably would have broken my arms. As it was, I tumbled backward, sliding along the ground on my butt before flipping over and rolling furth
er down the hill before slamming into a tree trunk with enough force to make the fiery world go dark.

  Had we been running straight, rather than downhill, the explosion would certainly have killed us, despite our distance. When I opened my eyes, the treetops above me were smoldering, some of the loose, dead branches actually on fire. My exposed skin hurt from the sudden, overwhelming heat, and the cool air that rushed in to meet it felt like spears of ice.

  Cassidy had fallen out of my arms when we rolled. She sat up, looking around with owlish eyes, dazed by the blast. “Serenity?” she called weakly.

  I sat up, groaning. As I got to my feet, I saw that the others who had fled were all beginning to pick themselves up off the ground, many of them staring in awe or horror at the blazing hill we had just descended. Then I realized that they were not all getting back up. A few of them were lying perfectly, unnaturally still.

  “Serenity!” Cassidy shouted, panic taking the place of confusion.

  “Over here,” Serenity called, carefully extricating herself from a thorn bush she had rolled into. She staggered over to us. I could see more blood on her tribal jacket than before. Cassidy charged the older girl, slamming into her and hugging her hard. Serenity lost her balance, toppling over into the bushes.

  Margot was one of the first to speak. “That murderous snake!” she cried, watching as the Archangel’s beam winked out, leaving a burning hilltop where the mall had been. Rushing wind and roaring flame met at the top, creating a burning cyclone that flung what little remained of the structure far and wide. “I swear by my own life that I will tear his throat out!”

  Slowly, the dreadful weight of what had just happened settled on the survivors. One at a time, they started weeping, screaming, or yelling. The mixture of fear, pain, and loss came out of the few dozen throats in an undulating wave of misery that reached up into the sky, the only answer they had to the devastating power of the Archangel and their leader who had betrayed them.