by D. S. Murphy
“You first,” I said to Trevor. “You’re the heaviest.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Better test it now rather than have you go last. If it’ll hold you, it’ll hold the rest of us.”
The bridge groaned under Trevor’s weight, but after a few tense minutes, he made it across as well.
Camina followed next. She was still crossing the planks when I felt a puff of hot air against the nape of my neck, and a deep growl that shook my bones.
I spun around, confused at first by the wall of coarse, black hair filling my vision. For a second I thought it was Trevor in slagpaw form, but he was in front of me, and this was no slagpaw.
Gnarled hooves as big as my skull prodded the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. I backed up slowly, knocking into Luke’s shoulder as I stared up at the creature. The black mountain goat was twice the size of an ox, with four red eyes and spiraling horns that pierced its matted fur like corkscrews.
I shoved Luke out of the way as it stomped the ground and swung its massive head, sending the tip of its long horn straight towards my chest. I pivoted just in time to avoid being skewered, but the whip of coarse hair from its beard a second later swept me off the ground, tossing me into open air. I barely managed to grab a fistful of the demon goat’s beard, and use it to fling myself back over the chasm. I caught the side of the wire just ahead of Luke, and swung myself onto the bridge.
“Run!” I shouted, turning and chasing after Camina, assuming he was right behind me. I’d only taken a few steps when I felt the goat’s weight on the bridge, snapping the wires like a strung bow. I clung to the wires as the first one snapped.
“Hurry!” Trevor’s voice cut through the air. Arrows flashed by my head, followed quickly by a spinning blade. But they bounced off the creature’s shank, barely drawing blood through the matted fur.
Luke was frozen, his arms wrapped around the wire, his eyes closed tightly. I crawled back to him, gripping the charred wooden planks with my hands. The goat shrieked in panic as its hooves broke through the wobbly boards. Its eyes were wide with fear and rage, which made it even more dangerous.
I grabbed Luke’s arm and pulled him forward.
“Let’s go, we’ve got to move.”
“I can’t,” he whispered.
“You go first. I’ll hold it off. Focus on the wires. I’m right behind you. Go!” I shouted.
I put my weight against his and pushed him until his hands and feet were moving again. I kept my eyes on the goat, taking careful steps backward with my eyes on the goat.
I was still carrying the curved sword I’d stolen in Sezomp, and I brandished it in front of me, balancing carefully on the wobbly boards under my feet.
Light glinted off the blade, which only seemed to enrage the creature. It pawed like it was going to charge, puffing its nostrils. The foolish beast was going to run us right off into nothing.
I grabbed Luke by the back of the neck and we tripped forward to the end of the wooden planks, feeling the thunderous hooves beat behind us as the bridge whipped up and down like a plucked wire.
We weren’t going to make it.
Suddenly, a dark blur leapt past us. Camina stabbed a long spear at the beast’s chest. It reared up on its hind legs, tilting the bridge dangerously.
“Hold on!” I yelled at Luke, wrapping my arm around the wire as the bridge flipped upside down. I clung to the wire, feeling the cable bite into my palms, tearing the flesh. I pulled myself forward hand over hand, my feet dangling in open space until we reached the rocky ledge. Trevor was leaning out as far as he could, his hand grasping towards us. He gave Luke a hand up, then came back for me. I’d just grabbed his palm when I felt the last bridge cable snap behind me.
I looked back, wide-eyed as it began to fall.
“Camina!” Jazmine screamed.
We watched in slow motion as the goat’s legs kicked and bucked in the open air. Camina fell headfirst after it, plunging into the canyon. She grabbed one of the curly horns in midair and flung herself onto the creature’s hairy back, burying herself deep in the fur. We heard the sickening crack of bones as the animal hit the ground and split open like a watermelon.
Camina was thrown to the side and tumbled towards the walled compound. I held my breath as the dust settled, my heart pounding in my chest. Slowly, we watched her pick herself up and wave a shaky hand.
“Holy shit, she’s alive,” Luke said.
“She used the beast to break her fall,” Trevor said.
I smiled with relief, just before the sirens tore the air. They seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once. Flashing red lights filled the city, casting it in a deep red glow. Shouts came from the closest ramparts as guards rushed to peer down at the giant creature, still tangled in the wires and wooden planks of the bridge. Gleaming ribs poked through the hairy carcass like a pincushion. Camina ducked into a thorny briar patch against the compound walls.
But already a patrol was weaving their way down a set of steep external stairs, their swords raised and weapons drawn.
“They’ll find her,” I whispered.
“Em,” Trevor turned toward me. His deep brown eyes flecked with amber, cut into my soul.
The guards spilled across the rocks, forming a circle around the bloody carcass and slowly pushing outwards, hacking their swords into the brush.
“We have to help her,” I said, biting my lip. I cast another look up towards the mountain summit.
We were so close.
“Do what you came here to do,” Trevor said suddenly. “We’ll hold them off.” He kissed me on the mouth, crushing my lips, then slipped off the edge of the cliff. He used the hanging wire to lower himself down at first, then slid his feet across the dusty surface of the cliff face, which angled slightly. He was going too fast, but somehow he jumped from ledge to ledge without losing his balance and tumbling head first.
“He’s right,” Jazmine said. “You got this. The path is clear from here on up. We’ll fight our way out and meet up with you later.” She stepped off the cliff with a battle cry, flourishing both swords.
I looked at Luke, my eyes wide.
“Maybe I’ll just stay here and see how things turn out,” he said, peering over the steep ledge.
“Good luck with that,” I said, turning my back on him and heading up the hill. I hated leaving the others behind. But now that the alarm had been raised, I knew we’d never get another shot at this. The compounds must have a way to alert the king in emergencies. He could already be on his way.
It was up to me.
I ran up the path, ducking as arrows peppered the rock around me, shattering dust and pebble, biting my face. But I was fast, and by the time the guards aimed and fired, I was well out of danger.
29
Thunder split the sky and a flash of lightning, suddenly blinding, cast shadows through the burning ash. The steep slope of the mountain was ankle deep in pumice and lightweight volcanic rock that crumbled beneath my boots. Slow rivers of thick toxic sludge oozed down the ravines and crevices, taking the path of least resistance.
The air was so thick with ash I could hardly breathe. There was so much sediment in the ash, mixed with the wet rain, it felt like I was drowning.
Still I pushed on. The heavy rain hissed and sizzled as it collided with the ground layer of ash, sending up puffs of poisonous dust, or where the earth was hot enough, burst into a billowing clouds of toxic steam that not even my mask could filter out.
I felt dizzy and light-headed, and my knees trembled with each step, threatening to give out completely. The hot rain felt like it was coming from all directions, at one point even up from the earth, scorching the bottom of my arms and elbows.
The thick leather of my coat protected most of my skin. The sizzling embers would have burned holes through my cloak, but luckily it was heavy from rain, soaked and dripping down my legs. My tangled curls hung heavy from beneath my hood, sticking to the side
s of my face and neck, coiling around my ears like snakes.
But then my vision cleared as I neared the lip of the roaring volcano. The ash was going up, shooting past me in one direction, a wall of fiery embers, a burning river, spewing into the sky like a dragon. It rolled out above me like a mushroom cloud, evaporating the rain and spreading out before falling into the valleys. I was in a pocket, an in-between space of surprising stillness. I unfastened my mask and pulled down my shawl so I could see. The noxious air stung my sinuses, and the blistering heat blurred my vision.
Then a shadow darkened the ash, looming large over me. The shape filled my vision, before consolidating on a single figure that seemed to melt out of the wall fire.
He was wearing a dark suit and padded fur coat, studded with spiked armor of black metal, and a golden crown that shone like a halo. A crack of thunder announced his arrival, and rays of light rippled off his stark silhouette like rising steam.
It was hard not to be intimidated, even though I’d seen the newspaper articles from the Before, of the thin scientist he’d used to be, before all this began. The man who left his wife behind and kidnapped their son.
I glanced over my shoulder, but I couldn’t see anyone else. It was just King Richard and me. The jewels of his crown sparkled with dazzling light as he rushed towards me. I raised my bow and fired three arrows, but each time he vanished in a swirl of ash and smoke, moving so quickly I couldn’t see him.
My heart pounded in my chest.
“Now now,” he said with a smirk. “That’s no way to greet your father-in-law.”
His voice echoed in the fiery maelstrom, appearing to come from everywhere at once. I hissed at him, stepping back warily, clutching my bow.
“I’m not your daughter,” I spat. “Legal or otherwise.”
When he smiled, he looked so much like Damien my heart ached. The fine lines around his mouth and eyes gave him a cruel countenance, and a gray streak running through his dark hair revealed his age. Now that I’d met his mother, I knew where Damien got his sensitive features.
Thunder rumbled above us, trembling the ground. A blast of hot steam made my stumble back, clutching my weapon.
“I did warn you how this was going to end,” he said, drawing his long sword slowly from his belt with a scrape of metal on metal.
“Did you?” I asked. “I probably couldn’t hear you past the iron bars between us. Remember, after you killed my mother and locked me up?”
“Hardly,” he said, holding up a hand. “And you got the events a little wrong. First, you lured my son into a trap by feigning concern for your mother, and nearly killed him.”
“That’s not what happened,” I said, tightening my grip on my father’s bow. If I could distract him enough, I might be able to move closer.
“You were caught with an illegal firearm. My guards can be overzealous, but it was clear your mother and boyfriend were working with the resistance. Honestly, I’m disappointed. I thought you were smarter than this. I thought you understood.”
“You tried to kill me in the trials,” I said.
“Of course I didn’t. The other chosen, I could have spared. What I wanted was for you to win, kill the rebels, and make my son happy.”
“But then you did something unexpected,” he looked me over thoughtfully, pursing his lips. “You resisted. Honestly nobody has been able to do that for a long time. It made me careless. That’s when I knew I couldn’t control you, that you’d always be a danger to me. To be clear, I wasn’t trying to kill you then. I most definitely am now. Especially now that you know about this.”
And then he struck, cutting through the ash like a guillotine. I felt heat blast by me, before I even realized what had happened.
I gasped for breath, checking myself over. I was still in one piece, but my father’s bow was split in half, dangling from the string. I dropped it on the ground and reached for my knives.
I held them close to me, like barbs on a rose.
“You lied about everything,” I growled. “You said you were protecting us, from the ash, from the slagpaw. You made both, to keep enslaved.”
“I am protecting you,” he snapped. “Humanity’s doom was always written. Elite were showing no restraint, burning through their food supply. Humanity was the weaker species, bound for an inevitable extinction. We would have bled them out, then slowly starved ourselves decades later. It was already happening. I was just the only one who could see it.”
“If that were true, why the ash? Why block out the sun? If nature meant the elite to thrive, surely they wouldn’t have made you so vulnerable?”
“The elite were being hunted down. I’d discovered a cure for cancer, and the humans were drinking it to get high and hunt us down in the streets. The race wars would have been the death of everything.”
“So yes, I created the ash. It wasn’t that hard to do, actually. We took a dormant, natural volcano and turned it into a massive engineering project; drilling it open with reinforced steel. By that time I’d made billions selling immortality to the wealthy. Of course, nobody could know the truth. My communities are built on trust and consent. The burning sky, though a necessary component of lasting peace, wouldn’t have been understood. The price of freedom is too complex for my people to understand.”
“If that’s true, it’s only because you haven’t educated them. They only feel free. They aren’t really.”
“What’s freedom, if not a feeling?”
“It’s not real. You made all the decisions for them. They’re like rats in a maze, playing out some cruel experiment.”
“And knowing the truth, it broke you, it brought you here. You couldn’t just go on, knowing about this place. You risked everything to find it for yourself. Even though, you know what would happen next. If you turn off the machines, the skies will clear. And then what? Rather than weekly blood donations, given freely in fair exchange for a nearly magical healing elixir that keeps my citizens strong, healthy and happy – instead of that, they’ll run into the untamed wild, and get hunted down by elite. Slaughtered brutally, violently, until there are none left to remember.”
“Maybe at first. But without the ash, eventually they’ll rebuild. They’ll grow. Until they outnumber you.”
“When is that going to happen? Who is going to have time to bear children and keep them alive? Children smell the sweetest, you know, like fresh strawberries. It’ll be decades of bloodshed, then decades of silence, as we drive each other to near extinction and back again, over and over, like red tides.”
I felt a drift of air against my neck, and spun quickly, slashing with my knives. He batted my wrists away playfully, leering at me and flashing his fangs, before disappearing into the ash and shadows. He was toying with me.
“You’ll never be a match for me, you know. You’ll always be weak, human. Also, you’re wasting your time. Don’t you think I took precautions? Even if you reached the lever, you’d still need this.”
He stood over me, flashing a golden key from a chain around his neck, before tucking it back under his collar.
“Unfortunately, now that you’re here and you know about this place, I can’t let you live. I’m also going to have to kill all your friends of course, anybody you’ve spoken to, and completely wipe out that little infestation above the waterfalls. I wonder if I should leave you here to be pecked apart by vultures, or drag your corpse back to rot in my sanctuary? It might be a nice warning for the next girl Damien brings home from the compounds. And I suppose after you’re gone, I’ll have no reason to hold onto your siblings. Maybe I’ll bury them with you.”
My blood chilled, and I trembled, despite the sweltering heat and the poisonous gases distorting my vision. The king’s form blurred with the smoke, melting like an apparition.
When he charged, I tried to block, but it was like blocking the wind. I moved quickly, raising my arms over my head and deflecting his attack. The blow should have cut me in half, but I pu
shed it to the side with my arm, screaming with rage and lunging for his throat with the dagger in my other hand. He was gone before the blow landed. I felt a throbbing pain, and glanced down at my injured arm. The king’s sword had bit deep, nearly to the bone. I could barely lift my arm, and blood was making my sleeve thick and heavy. Red drops fell into the gray ash, leaving a crimson trail behind me as I staggered forward.
With trembling fingers, I pulled out the last of the vial that Damien had given me and downed it quickly. I’d beaten the slagpaw with a vial of elixir. I could beat him too.
I stripped off my thick leather jacket, exposing my sweaty skin and the thin shirt that hung low around my collar. Warm embers brushed against my bare stomach, but I could barely feel them burn.
I tore off my scarf and tied it around my useless arm to stop the bleeding, pulling the knot tight with my teeth. Then I stretched my spine, cracking my neck to the side.
My bracelet beeped a warning and time seemed to slow down. My vision focused into sharp clarity. I could see each individual clump of ash, patterns in the swirling poison around me. I saw the air shift before the king moved, predicting his movements.
This time, I blocked the blow with my dagger, even though the weight of it slammed me to the ground. I rolled quickly as the blade split the air above me, cutting into the earth just near my ear and ripping out a chunk of my scalp. I lashed out and felt my blade sink into the back of the king’s calf.
He cursed, before retreating again into the ash.
I crawled on my hands and knees, closer to the lip of the volcano. The heat blew my hair, now dry, away from my face, but from this close I could see a narrow flight of stairs, clinging to the side of the raging abyss. Enormous metal rings of the grand machine sank deep into the earth. It looked like the mouth of a screaming giant.
“Careful now,” King Richard teased. “Too much elixir and you’ll die... and become one of us. I designed it that way. You can’t use it against us. No matter how much elixir you drank, you’d never be a match for me. Your humanity forbids it. Meanwhile, the blood of the gods, flows through my veins, this is what I am – elite, in every sense of the word.”
