Darklight 7: Darkfall

by Forrest, Bella

  “Where are Zach and Gina?” I asked, searching Bravi for any signs of trouble. I missed Zach and Gina terribly. I couldn’t get the vision of Gina out of my head. Bravi brushed off dirt from her gauntlet. She’s got some questions for sure. It was such a relief seeing her, even in the madness of battle.

  “They’re fine,” she assured me. “They returned to the Mortal Plane several weeks ago. Unfortunately, they got stuck there, as our darling tear ate up most of the sky. It’s been highly unstable lately. He waited as long as he could for you to return, never losing hope, but eventually he felt he needed to go and tell your parents what had happened. He didn’t want them to have to hear that you were missing from the Bureau.”

  I fought back the guilt and worry inside me as I looked up at the tear. My family was somewhere in the Mortal Plane without me. I wanted to hear their voices after so long. The tear looked angry. It was massive, as it had been when I first noticed it, but now… it loomed above us like a sentient thunderstorm as I took in its sheer size. We left our friends to follow Ruk to the Higher Plane, for necessary reasons, but the tear refused to wait for anything. It felt aware as it stared back at me, mocking my late arrival with its immense presence.

  “Looks like a monster opening up its jaws to snap us up,” Bravi noted grimly.

  Dorian gave a grunt of agreement. The tear extended over the mountains and the nearby city of Vanim. It unfurled into the distance, like an insidious infection, in the direction of Itzarriol. I can’t even talk to Zach and Gina here. I hope I can tell them that I’m okay soon. My only family being inaccessible to me at the moment hit me with a punch of sadness.

  “So, there’s no travel through it?” I confirmed.

  “Far too unstable,” Bravi replied. “Vampires can’t even use the portals nearest the tear. It’s bad. Navigating the tear itself has been impossible, unless you’re ready to lose a limb or get struck by lightning. Travel is only for emergencies. Luckily, our camp hasn’t been affected, since the tear is entirely in the air… for the moment.”

  But… if the planes continued to meld like they were currently doing, then it would suck up or collapse the training camp first. Not great news. I shot Dorian an urgent look. He clenched his jaw with worry.

  “The other generals will be in soon,” Bravi promised. “Let’s begin. I know you’re going to be impressed with what we’ve accomplished.” She smirked proudly at Reshi, who twitched her bat-like ears as if to agree.

  Reshi eyed Aurora. “Perhaps we should let your friend take his wounded companion to the medics?”

  Ruk pressed his lips into an unsure line, but he changed into his usual humanoid form. The return of his energy had given him a certain new vitality that was hard to put my finger on. He easily held Aurora in his arms, despite her long form.

  “She just needs to rest,” he assured them in a gravelly tone. Bravi whistled, and two medics came running up, a vampire healer with close-cropped black hair and another who I immediately recognized. Sylas shot me a warm smile as he helped ease Aurora onto a makeshift stretcher. It was made from sturdy wooden poles with Hive waterproof fabric serving as the taut surface, likely sourced from what they brought with them. I whispered a soft thanks. Ruk watched them carry her off but kept quiet. If he wanted to, he could easily track her down.

  "Welcome to the Coalition camp," Bravi said, and gestured to the bustling area as we entered it. The smoke had cleared from the air. Vampires and makers were hauling away the wreckage of skimmer remains. Reshi's eyes glittered as she rubbed her hands together. She ran off to help with the scavenging of resources. Bravi added, with a note of humor, "We don't waste anything here."

  Perhaps that was why the Coalition camp had proved so efficient. I admired the overall plan, clearly lit by the lanterns at the moment. The first thing my suddenly hungry stomach registered was a mess hall with patchwork repairs from a previous battle. It had an open bar on the front where I could see makers working to prepare the next meal. Familiar dark green plants greeted me. It must’ve been interesting to plan for so many diets. I had no doubt that the Hive’s seaweed rations were in good use here, since they seemingly worked for all species.

  “Are you guys running on seaweed?” I asked Bravi curiously. “I mean, not you, obviously.”

  She let out a dark laugh. “That type of sparkling conversation, Lyra, is why I missed you. Yes, the makers created an inner aquatic farm in the mess hall you’re admiring. One side is devoted to seaweed farming. For the vampires… well, we’ve been dealing with quite a few attacks. We feed as much as we can afterward. We get our strongest to take on excess to ration later to the wounded. I suspect many of the vampires here have come to both appreciate and loathe the Immortal attacks on us. You’ll find no shortage of complaints among your Bureau humans who have grown to hate Immortal seaweed, but it’s nutritious enough for nearly everyone but the vampires.”

  I was fine with seaweed, even if I hadn’t tasted any real food in months. It was strange to feel the beginning of hunger gnaw at my tired body, like I was slowly sinking back into my senses.

  An impressive training area flanked the left side of the camp. Reshi helped haul the skimmers to this area with a team of makers and vampires. Stacks of empty shelves suggested that they kept weapons there, but I imagined everyone had grabbed one during the attack.

  "Who are your generals?" Dorian asked.

  "Reshi, Kono. I offered positions to Charrek and Arlonne, but they told me they prefer being scouts. They make a great team. There's a few you won't recognize because they were refugees from the sanitarium. They'll certainly remember you, though." Bravi smiled wryly. "They were a bit disappointed to arrive and realize that the legendary prison-breakers had vanished. You'll meet them in the war room when you give every single detail of your wild adventure.”

  I was amazed and yet nervous for the interrogation that lay ahead. There was so much to explain, so much that we couldn’t say. Guilt crawled over me like a thousand marching ants. Surely, everyone could see the blatant shame pinned to my face. Dorian kept close to me. He was turning something over in his mind. We’d barely discussed how we could tell our friends about Ruk and Sen. Hopefully, Sen wouldn’t object to whatever improvisation came to us. I just hoped she knew enough about the Immortal Plane to go along with our lies.

  Beyond the mess hall, I recognized the partially destroyed barracks that the shrieking decay attacked when we first arrived. Thankfully, there were three other barracks, and they were all intact. Bravi pointed out buildings as people glanced at our tour group moving through the camp.

  “Meeting rooms, armories protected by forcefields, and the wall’s changed a bit but you saw the defense system,” she listed. “Ah, that old rectangular building was a storeroom. It was very dreary and dungeon-like when we first came across it, but everyone worked on it to turn it into a workshop. We use it to build weapons and tools. You’ll usually find Reshi tinkering away in there. She stole a Bureau engineer from the Mortal Plane before the tear got too bad. His mind has been blown, apparently, which he assured me meant he was very impressed with our technology.”

  I stifled a laugh. This was incredible. “You guys did amazing.”

  “Definitely.” Dorian nodded passionately alongside me. “What’s your hierarchy like? You said you usually process newcomers.”

  “More flexible than the Bureau wanted at first, but they yielded to us in the end. We have a malleable hierarchy with positions that involve both warriors and non-warriors within the entire Coalition. We have meetings to decide on strategies, which community members can attend. Then our leaders vote on how to proceed. It’s similar to how the Hive operated but with more input. We have to get a majority before we do anything, but when battle comes, then it’s every fighter to arms.” She lifted her chin confidently. “It works for us.”

  The sheer number of bodies milling about astounded me. Clearly, the fall of the sanitarium had continued to send people their way. Although there were a ton of Bureau
humans running around, there were twice as many vampires, wildlings, and makers than we left them with. In some of the passing vampire faces, I saw haunted looks as they eyed us. A few of them whispered to each other.

  “Is that them?”

  “The ones who disappeared?”

  Bravi snapped her fingers. “Just like that, you’re the talk of the camp. We had plenty of other allies join us as they moved up the coast and heard about the training camp. They all came to help take down the Immortal Council. We’ve had other vampire groups pop out of nowhere too. Apparently, the Hive wasn’t the last haven, but it was the most sophisticated. Most were just surviving, like we did when we were hiding in the Canyonlands.”

  The prison break seemed like years ago, at this point. More vampire groups? Dorian’s parents were in the Immortal Plane somewhere, according to the window we saw in the Higher Plane, but they must not have made it to the Coalition. Bravi would’ve opened with that news if they had.

  “What happened in the city after we escaped?” I asked. When we originally connected with Juneau and Laini after the initial escape, we’d learned a few things, but I had no idea what really went down.

  “It was mass chaos, according to the survivors. Plenty of freed vampires attacked the rulers, but they also worked to free any enslaved Immortals they ran across. When the bound servants saw their chance to escape, many of them jumped to take it. We’ve earned several fighters among our ranks thanks to that, but we had vulnerable groups and plenty of vampire refugees fleeing with their families. There were quite a few reunions between escaped prisoners and their families when they reunited with us at the camp. We sent the most vulnerable back through the tear to Scotland, but then the tear got too bad for that.”

  I surveyed the numbers and shook my head in awe. “So we’ve got groups from the sanitarium fallout, hidden groups, and the Mortal Plane? Impressive.”

  “Well, there was also a wildling-led community somewhere up north that sent us several members. It’s a commune of sorts, for all castes other than rulers, but they don’t want to fight. Most are content to hide from the rulers, but some have come around to our line of thinking. They send non-fighters as support, but they’re an invaluable help to supply production.” She brightened for a second. “I’ve managed to convince a few of the vampires who tried to renounce their violent ways as much as possible to a path of restorative justice through fighting. It’s a work in progress.”

  More impressive than the numbers of people inside the camp was the way they all fully threw themselves into work as soon as the battle ended. I admired the sight of makers as they immediately began repairs on the destroyed barracks as we passed them. There were a few buildings still in the process of being constructed, which workers hastily returned to now that the battle had died down. My eyes caught on some sort of corral being protected by a magical forcefield. The forcefield was a faint amber color, but I could see through it to make out the towering figures of… rulers?

  “You have rulers here?” The incredulous question flew out of Dorian before I could get my thoughts in order.

  Bravi gave an awkward cough. “Funny story about that. They’re not evil, I promise. They’re dissenting rulers like Juneau, but they never had the strength to resist until the sanitarium fell. They’re currently in isolation until we can figure out what to do with them. The forcefield stops them from hearing any planning, and our valiant prison warden keeps watch over them.”

  “Prison warden?” I pictured a tough-faced maker with a badge.

  Bravi smirked. “Well, Juneau is the only ruler who has been allowed free access to the camp, since he’s demonstrated his loyalty. Warden is a strong word. He’s been a great help, but mostly he goes to engage the rulers in conversation to make sure they’re legitimate. He thinks they could be useful, once they prove we can trust them.”

  They were right to be suspicious. It was plausible that a ruler might be willing to submit him or herself to the mercies of the Coalition as a spy under Irrikus’s directions. It was possible, but something told me Juneau was onto something.

  We looped back around the medical tent. It was fully warded in case of another attack, Bravi explained. The makers we’d seen casting forcefields ensured that the shields held. I waved to Sylas and saw that he was helping to clean the cuts of another person I recognized. Lily smiled softly at me, and I called a greeting to her, but I didn’t want to bring my dirt-covered self into the tent.

  We asked if we could help with the cleanup while Bravi checked in with Reshi on the comm. The warriors turned us away, saying they had all the help they needed. Fortunately, it seemed the Coalition had only suffered a handful of casualties. I hated that I didn’t know them, but I whispered a silent wish for them to find peace in the afterlife.

  Hopefully the arbiters have started on their own tasks, back in the Higher Plane. We need an afterlife, whatever it is.

  “I’ll make more introductions later,” Bravi told us. Her gaze lifted over my shoulder. “Although, we have a few more people waiting to see you.”

  A shadow fell over me. I tensed, but it was merely a redbill swooping down to the ground. Violet eyes, glassy with tears, met mine.

  Laini leapt from the redbill’s back and barreled toward our group. She charged into Dorian, embracing his towering body with surprising strength, and then pulled me in. Her arms squeezed us into the tightest group hug I’d ever been a part of. The smell of salty tears burned my nostrils.

  “You’re back,” she whispered in a quivering voice of disbelief. “You’re alive!”

  8

  Lyra

  Laini’s joy was short-lived. She pulled back and glared at us. “You absolute jerks! How could you leave us for months without sending word that you were alive?”

  I struggled to keep up with her whiplash-inducing emotions. She was furious, rightfully so, but she couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Her violet eyes went glassy, and she blinked away tears, shaking out her dark hair. She had cut it into a short bob that ended at her chin. War has made everyone simplify their look.

  Dorian let out a bellowing laugh as Laini released her vise-like grip on us. As Laini scanned us for injuries, her eyes softened.

  “You two look… better than you did when you left, actually.”

  Bravi grumbled in surprise, joining Laini in scrutinizing us. Under both pairs of critical eyes, my skin flushed. The arbiters had completely healed us, but nobody had noticed during the heat of battle. Laini clapped her hands together.

  “Good,” she muttered. “I’m glad. Wherever you were, I’m just glad you came back. We were so confused when you left… We kept trying to cheer each other up, but eventually we lost hope. I was expecting to hear that you’d been captured or killed, or that we’d never find out what happened to you. I’m so relieved that you’re alive.”

  An arrow of guilt landed square in my chest. The underlying assumption was, what else would keep you guys away? The lies we had to fork over to our friends were inevitable. Dorian and I had worried everyone, but I could scarcely believe months had passed. I hated that our friends were left waiting without knowing, and I couldn’t help second-guessing everything we’d done in the interim, searching for anything we could have done to get back sooner.

  “I’m so happy to see you,” I breathed. She hadn’t been the only one who worried. I tried hard not to think of the awful vision I’d seen in the Higher Plane, the one which showed Laini bleeding to death from multiple wounds. I would sooner fight endless troops of invisible hunters than see it again.

  “We promise to explain everything,” Dorian said. Laini opened her mouth to speak but caught sight of Ruk behind us.

  “This is the Gate Maker,” I said, introducing Ruk to the group. My words left her speechless. She ran a hand through her hair, nothing short of complete awe in her eyes as she reevaluated him. She had been the first to learn of his existence, from the journals we’d found in Juneau’s storage room.

  She dropped into somethi
ng like a small bow. “It’s a wonderful thing to meet you.”

  Ruk cracked a smile for the first time. “I see that my reputation precedes me.” He gestured to Sen and made a light introduction, referring to her as his colleague.

  “Greetings, vampire,” Sen said. “You have a pleasant fragrance even after battle.” Laini blinked awkwardly. I shrugged. Laini would soon pick up on the strangeness of the arbiters.

  Laini coaxed the redbill to take off toward a roost. “I saw you and Dorian on the battlefield. Good to see that you’re working together better than ever. I can’t wait to show you everything we’ve done. Juneau and I have been leading a spying task force. Turns out, I’m a good fighter, but I’m excellent at espionage.”

  Bravi bit back a smirk. “A little too good. Juneau makes the finest camouflage for her.” No surprise there. Anyone can see the way he looks at her.

  Laini blushed faintly but squared her shoulders with confidence. “I’m just falling into a new line of work well. There’s so much we have to catch up on. Juneau and I recruited Oz, Kono’s scout from the Hive. He’s been excellent on our spying missions. He has an uncanny ability to memorize our surroundings, and he works with Juneau to create fabric that mimics the nearby landscapes. It’s incredible, really, and we—” She stopped, realizing she was babbling. “Well, we’ll have time to chat later.” I hadn’t realized Laini and Juneau had positions in this new hierarchy, but it was clear from the way she spoke that she had a lot of responsibilities.

  “She is being modest. She’s not a general, but she holds a high rank in our system,” Bravi added. “Laini, we were just doing a tour for them.” Her eyes darkened a shade. Laini glanced behind me, at our last location. It was a sturdy building constructed of black wood. It seemed familiar to me, even though it appeared to have been recently constructed.