Halve Human

by Stephanie Fazio

  “I’m afraid it’s not that easy.” The sheer exhaustion on his face makes me feel something like desperation. He’s been tracking my father all this time, and what have I been doing? Leading my army to slaughter and letting the place that was supposed to be the salvation of the Solguards be ruined….

  “Nephew.” Aunt Jadem hesitates for just a moment before pulling Dayne into a one-armed hug.

  “Jadem,” he says without returning the embrace.

  Their time in Malarusk and shared feelings of blame for our mother’s death has made for a strained history between them.

  “Alright, my turn!” Ry’s grin stretches across her face as she wraps her arms around Dayne, taking care to avoid his bandages. She’s nearly a head taller than my brother—two heads taller, counting her frizzy bun.

  “This is Dellin.” Ry waves the girl over, who is hovering at the edge of our group, looking out of place.

  Dayne gives her a short nod. He doesn’t ask any questions about who she is or where she came from.

  “It’s safe, I promise.” Ry is saying as she practically drags Dellin into the fortress. “Not a single Dusker.”

  Aunt Jadem is absorbed into a group of Solguards as Ry guides Dellin into the fortress.

  “And Stanly.” Aunt Jadem looks over her shoulder at one of the archers. “Please be sure to feed Vlaz before he swipes every fish in my ponds. And help the Halves settle in to their quarters.”

  The unfortunate archer’s face turns a little green as he looks at Vlaz, whose tongue is lolling out between his fangs and is groaning with pleasure as Dayne scratches his flopped ear.

  “He’s not here.”

  I hadn’t even noticed Dayne watching me as I scanned the soldiers in blue.

  A blush creeps up my neck. “Who?” I ask, fooling no one.

  “Wade. He’s not here.” Dayne looks pointedly at the Solguard pendant hanging around my neck. “Went out with the scouts to track some Dusker recruits sniffing around the border.”

  “Oh.” I turn away from my brother so he doesn’t see my disappointment.

  “Dayne!” Wokee darts between soldiers as he beelines for my brother.

  “Be careful—” I begin, but it’s too late.

  Wokee flies straight into Dayne’s arms, oblivious to his injuries. Dayne winces, but lifts Wokee off the ground. Hysterical laughter bubbles up from Wokee.

  “I’ve gotten taller,” Wokee says as soon as his feet touch the ground. “Did you notice?”

  “I sure did,” my brother replies, keeping a straight face. “You’re becoming quite the young man.”

  Wokee puffs out his chest. “We rode Vlaz here. Did Jadem tell you?”

  “Good boy,” Dayne nods his approval. “You did a fine job training him.”

  “Quit fishing for compliments.” Ry swats Wokee’s backside. “You’re blocking the entrance.”

  “It’s a good thing Jadem made these tunnels big enough,” Wokee observes as Vlaz crouches to pass under the stone archway into the fortress.

  “Jadem did that on purpose, you know, in case a hyenair ever wanted to stop by for a visit,” Ry says.

  “Really?” Wokee’s eyes widen.

  Laughing, Ry ruffles Wokee’s hair.

  Dayne and I hang back to let the others go through first.

  “It’s good to see you, little sis,” Dayne says.

  “I missed you, big brother,” I reply.

  As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I feel the truth of them. An enormous weight I hadn’t even noticed I was carrying lifts at the sight of my steady, constant brother.

  The sun’s oppressive heat fades as soon as we descend into the cavernous tunnels of Jadem’s fortress. The waterfall pouring across the entire width of the tunnel bathes us with a delicious cool mist. I stop under the water and open my mouth, letting the water cleanse the dust coating my lips and tongue.

  Unlike the Subterrane tunnels I grew up in, which were dark and confining, these are wide enough for ten people to walk abreast. The tunnels are so tall that the pocked ceiling allows the angled beams of sunlight to just make their way onto the highest parts of the wall. It’s enough to illuminate the space without any of the rays of sunlight filtering low enough to put anyone at risk of the Burn. The light filters through the waterfall mist and throws thousands of tiny rainbows on the slick stone walls high above our heads. Kynthia birds, the little black birds my mother loved so much, flutter overhead and serenade our company with their melodic chirping.

  I sigh.

  My brother gives me a tight smile. “That’s why they wouldn’t leave.”

  I turn to look at him. “What?”

  “Wade tried to convince the Solguards to come to Tanguro,” Dayne explains, “but they refused. Said they would rather die fighting for their home, and that if they left, they’d be like the Banished.”

  With a sickening jolt, it occurs to me that Dayne doesn’t know about Tanguro yet, and I’m going to have to tell him.

  “Maybe it was wrong of us to think we could make a new rebel fortress,” I say.

  Dayne stops walking to regard me. “The Solguards are the fools,” he says. “The Duskers are going to slaughter them if they stay here. This place wasn’t made to withstand an attack.” He shakes his head. “The Duskers will turn this place, and everyone in it, to rubble.”

  Just like they did to Tanguro.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Dellin’s voice is filled with awe as she stares around her.

  “This place is one of a kind,” Ry agrees. “Just wait until you see the rest of the fortress.” Having won Ry over with her skill with a bow, Dellin and Ry seem on their way to becoming inseparable. It makes a twinge of jealousy curl inside me.

  “I don’t trust that girl,” I say. “She’s hiding something.”

  “We all have our secrets.” Dayne gives me a wan smile.

  “The council leaders are on their way,” Aunt Jadem announces. “Wade summoned them more than a week ago.”

  Instead of relief, annoyance washes over me. “He sent messages to the Banished leaders, but couldn’t be bothered to tell us the Solguards weren’t coming to Tanguro?”

  “I have no doubt he tried,” Aunt Jadem says. “My soldiers tell me our messengers have sustained heavy casualties.”

  My irritation evaporates.

  Dayne nods. “Dusker recruits have been killing our scouts.” His face is grave. “Wade’s had his hands full.”

  And now Wade is out there.

  “We’ll convene the council as soon as they all arrive.” Aunt Jadem is already striding down the tunnel.

  “I’m going after my father.” I hurry to catch up.

  “Not until after the council meeting.” Aunt Jadem stops to face me. “You are the leader of Tanguro, and the others will need to hear from you.” There is sympathy written into the lines of her face.

  I have to tell everyone what happened, I realize. In front of them all, I will need to tell them why everyone I was supposed to protect is dead.

  Dayne gives Aunt Jadem a questioning look, but she just says, “You’ll hear everything at the meeting.”

  “What about my father?” I clear my throat. “If he disappears again….”

  Dayne shakes his head. “He’s not going anywhere.”

  The dozens of questions I have die on my lips at the sound of many pairs of boots thundering down the tunnel.

  Wade, followed by about ten others, tramp into the chamber.

  CHAPTER 10

  My heart lurches into my throat.

  I had nearly forgotten—had tried to forget—how attractive he is. The tie at the top of his white shirt is undone, exposing smooth, coppery skin. The muscles of his arms and shoulders swell against the fabric of his shirt. His dark hair, longer than the last time I saw him, frames his face.

  Wade comes to a screeching halt the moment his eyes land on me. His golden eyes widen.

  Wade’s chest rises and falls as if he ran all the way up the
thousand stairs from the lower tunnels.

  Everything else, from the rush of the waterfall to the scrape of boots on stone, fades into the distance. Everything except for Wade blurs out of focus.

  “Hemera.”

  The way he says my name makes a current run through my entire body. It’s all I can do to keep from visibly shivering. I stand very still, knowing if I try to take even a step toward him, I’ll probably trip and fall and humiliate myself.

  Say something, I command myself. But my mouth can’t form a single word. All I can do is stare.

  “You’re wounded.” It’s all I can think of, but it’s true. There’s a nasty-looking gash across his forearm that is staining the shredded remains of his sleeve. He doesn’t seem to notice it, though, as he stares at me. His hands twitch at his sides, like if there weren’t a dozen other people watching, he would wrap them around me.

  Heat rises to my cheeks.

  “Wade,” Aunt Jadem gives me an apologetic look before turning her attention back to him. “What’s the report?”

  Like Dayne, Wade has shadows beneath his eyes. His sharp jawline is dark where he hasn’t shaved. He’s all bone and muscle, made of sharp angles like chiseled stone. There is something hard and dangerous about him that wasn’t there before.

  “Did you get my messages?” Wade asks.

  At the look on our faces, he sighs. “I was afraid of that. But every scout I send out either doesn’t return or comes back…” he struggles for the right word, “dying.”

  There is something about Wade I don’t recognize. The smile I remember always playing at his lips is gone, replaced by something steely. There’s no sign of the constant stream of chatter that is just so…Wade.

  A soldier ducks through the waterfall.

  “Beg pardon,” his cheeks flush as his glance slides from Wade to Aunt Jadem. He looks between them like he doesn’t know who he should be addressing. “Tulman just passed. If you’d like to see him before they take away the body, you’d best hurry.”

  Wade’s face hardens into a grim mask I’ve never seen before. Without a word, he motions for us to follow as he strides from the chamber. The soldier remains behind, staring after us.

  When we reach the glide at the end of the path, Wade swings himself inside in a single motion.

  The glide looks like nothing more than a dark hole cut into the side of the fortress, but it’s the fastest way down to the lower levels. I didn’t truly appreciate the glide until I learned the only way back up was to climb the thousand steps.

  “Fourth level,” is all he says before he’s gone.

  After Aunt Jadem has disappeared into the darkness, Dayne nods to me to go next. With far less grace than either Wade or Jadem, I fold my body into the darkness. The metal sheet is narrow. I try not to think about the way the walls close around me as I reach for the lever.

  I push the lever to the fourth notch. There is the sound of metal grating on stone, and then I’m flying.

  My stomach lurches into my throat. I had forgotten the feeling of weightlessness, the complete lack of control, of the glide. A scream catches in my throat as my body shoots down, taking the curves at breakneck speed. A little gasp escapes me as I’m hurled against the metal sheet that will spin me into the right tunnel. I squeeze my eyes shut even though it’s too dark to see anything.

  I’m airborne for several seconds before I realize I’m no longer in the glide. My eyes open and panic fills me as the stone floor comes into focus.

  I only stop rolling when the unforgiving stone wall turns my entire body into a jumble of limbs. Embarrassment, along with a rush of nerves and energy from the speed of the glide, makes it a challenge to disentangle my arms and legs. By the time I finally manage to stand up, Wade and Aunt Jadem are already partway down the tunnel.

  I run after them just as Dayne comes shooting out of the glide behind me. I scowl as he lands neatly on his feet.

  When I step into the healing cave, the stinging scent of Burn ointment, healing herbs, and something else that is both unfamiliar and unpleasant makes acid churn in my stomach. Even if it wasn’t for the terrible smell, this cave is the last place I want to be. The last time I was here, it was because Gwendil was trying to save me from a knife wound in my shoulder. My poisonous blood killed her, which was made all the worse when it was discovered my body could heal itself and I didn’t even need saving.

  I suck in my breath as we step into the dimly lit chamber. The large cave is full. Tools, herbs, and bowls of frothing liquid are scattered over every available surface. Groans of pain echo throughout the room.

  Wade scans the cave. He doesn’t seem to notice the screams or reek of death, or maybe, it’s just that he’s grown too used to them to notice anymore. My heart swells with pity at the burden he’s been carrying. All the anger and fear I’ve carried these last months when I didn’t hear from him are swept away.

  I follow Wade over to a bed pushed against the wall.

  “Oh, Tulman,” Wade murmurs, bowing his head.

  I step up beside Wade and look at the occupant of the bed. I suck in a breath. Tulman’s arms and face, the only parts visible above the sheet pulled over his body, are covered in something black and sticky. The unpleasant smell filling the air when we walked in the cave is coming from whatever substance is covering him. Reflexively, I reach out a hand.

  “Don’t!”

  Wade grabs my hand and yanks it back.

  “What is that?” I ask, trying not to think about how it’s the first time Wade has touched me in months, and he’s already letting go.

  A soldier in blue comes up to the table and pulls the sheet up and over the man’s head. Another soldier helps him roll the body up in the sheet and onto a stretcher. In a matter of moments, all that’s left is the sticky black imprint of a man on the empty bed.

  “Every soldier who gets anywhere close to the Dusker territory comes back here covered in that stuff.” Wade nods in the direction of the others lying on beds. “Once it’s on your skin, it doesn’t come off.” Wade leans back against the stone wall. “Whatever it is, it cooks them from the outside in.”

  Aunt Jadem leans closer to the bedsheets, inspecting the substance. When she straightens back up, she looks like she’s going to be sick.

  “It’s started,” Aunt Jadem breathes, her one eye roaming over the dying.

  “What’s started? Do you know something about all of this?” Wade pins my aunt with a stare so fierce he almost doesn’t look like himself.

  “I know the Duskers’ assault has begun,” Jadem says. “And if we don’t stop them, they’ll destroy us all.”

  “What do you think I’ve been trying to do all these months?” Wade demands, a muscle flexing at his jaw.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” I say, partly because the way Wade is looking at Aunt Jadem is making me uncomfortable.

  “No one has,” Wade replies, anger making his voice rough. “And every scout I send to find answers comes back looking like this.”

  “Have any of them talked?” Aunt Jadem’s voice is clinical, but her cheek is damp.

  Wade shakes his head. His golden eyes are liquid fire, filled with the pain and anger that burn in my own chest.

  The archer, Stanly, ducks his head into the cave. “The Banished leaders have arrived. The Council is waiting for you.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Three guards, dressed in blue and with the rebel sun tattooed on their right hands, block the wide doorway to Aunt Jadem’s meeting chamber. They step aside as we appear. A loud buzz from many people talking at once fills the tunnel as soon as the door swings open.

  A long wooden table surrounded by high-backed chairs occupies the center of the room. Only four seats are filled, but from the noise they’re making, there should be twice that number.

  It takes only a moment to understand the gist of the conversation. Everyone is pointing and glaring at one seat…Ekil’s.

  Ekil is sitting in a chair too small for him
. His black eyes stare straight ahead as the others around the table shout furious words and grip the handles of their weapons.

  One by one, the voices fall silent as Aunt Jadem enters the room, followed by Dayne, Wade, and me.

  Aunt Jadem sits at the head of the table. Wade and Dayne take their seats. My face is on fire as I take another step into the chamber. A ridiculous urge to run in the opposite direction takes hold of me.

  The room goes too quiet as I cross the room. I stare at my feet the whole time, hoping they don’t stumble and betray me. The scraping of wood against stone as I pull back my chair is the only sound in the room.

  I don’t have time to be grateful I didn’t trip and fall like I normally do whenever I’m trying to appear capable.

  Everyone in the room is staring at me. I force myself to meet the heated gazes of the other people sitting at the table.

  I’ve never met the other Banished leaders before, but already, they’re staring at me with open hostility.

  “So she is the reason we must suffer a Halve on our council.”

  My eyes flick to the man at the other end of the table who has spoken. His ringleted hair is slicked back from his face, as is his goatee, which ends in a stiff point. He is wearing a golden cloak with gold tassels hanging off the bell-shaped sleeves, gold hoops through his earlobes, and a crown of golden leaves. Even his goatee is plaited with gold threads.

  I remember hearing stories of the Northern settlement, and how they used to be rich from trading the gold they mined to the subterranes. After the Duskers outlawed trade between the Dwellers and Banished, the Northern settlement fell into ruin along with the rest. I guess this leader wears the gold for lack of anything better to do with it, or perhaps it serves as a reminder of better times.

  “I have already explained Ekil’s presence,” Aunt Jadem says. “The Halves are also Banished, in their own way, and should have representation on the council.”