Halve Human

by Stephanie Fazio

  The gold-clad man leans over the table to better stare at me. Even seated, I can tell he’s tall—probably even as tall as Jadem. His skin hangs off him as it would for someone who used to be very fat, and the man keeps one hand hovered over the slight protrusion at his midsection as though he’s resting it on the phantom of a potbelly. Even so, there’s something overbearing about this man’s very presence. His chair is shoved back, and his legs are spread, making him take up more space than he needs. When he smiles at me in a way that is not at all friendly, his gold teeth flash.

  “Hemera,” Aunt Jadem says, “meet Tut, the Banished leader of the North.”

  “Ekil, Hemera,” Tut grumbles. “Who isn’t at this table?”

  “Can we get down to business?” It’s Dayne who has spoken. “Given the nature of this meeting, I suggest we forego the usual formalities.”

  “Young people are always in such a hurry.”

  The hoarse, quavering voice belongs to an old man as small and frail as Tut is imposing. White hair springs up in unkempt tufts across his scalp. He sits on three cushions piled atop each other to reach the level of the table. His eyes are red and watery.

  “Tut is right, though,” the old man continues. “It’s a Halve. It can’t talk,” he points a gnarled, unsteady finger at Ekil. “It can’t help. Toss it out, I say.”

  The old man reaches under the table and produces a small silver flask. He takes a quick, furtive gulp. Whatever is inside the flask makes him cough. His already-watering eyes spill over.

  “Hemera will translate on Ekil’s behalf.” Aunt Jadem crosses her arms.

  “That’s Valior, Banished leader of the East,” Dayne leans over to whisper to me, pointing to the old man. “And that’s Liglette,” he nods at the third Banished leader, a woman wearing an animal hide dress. “She’s the Banished leader of the West.”

  Liglette’s plaited hair is so long it hangs over the back of her chair and sweeps the floor. She has warm brown eyes and a round, friendly face. I can already tell that of the three, I’m going to like her best.

  “Let us vote on whether the Halve can stay,” Liglette says.

  “This topic is not up for a vote.” Aunt Jadem’s voice is all authority. “Hemera, go ahead and tell Ekil to speak. It’ll help clear the air.”

  Valior raises a bushy white eyebrow. “Your niece speaks the language of the Halves?”

  Aunt Jadem quirks her lip. “See for yourself.”

  I feel more self-conscious than ever as I translate for Ekil, aware of every grunt and snarl and how it must make me look to the Banished leaders.

  As he speaks, Ekil’s nostrils flare. He points a long finger at the Banished leaders. “Stupid humans waste what they have. Never share. Kill us when they can. They are enemies.”

  “What’s it saying, Halve girl?” Tut demands.

  I ignore the barb.

  “He says the Halves are starving since the Duskers took away their water,” I lie.

  Translator’s prerogative.

  “And that’s supposed to be our problem now?” Tut demands, spit flying from his mouth.

  “The Duskers are intentionally sowing fear and dissent among you,” Aunt Jadem says. “Your quarrels with the Halves are meant to weaken you both.”

  Ekil nods his head up and down when I repeat this last part. “Halves will fight to kill gray cloaks,” he says, “if they,” he points at the Banished again, “stop attacking us.”

  “There, you see?” Aunt Jadem says, when I have repeated Ekil’s words for the rest of the council. “We’re all on the same side.”

  Valior huffs, but no one argues.

  “Now that that’s settled,” Wade says with undisguised impatience, “can we discuss the matter of our impending doom?”

  “Very well.” My aunt steeples her hands before her on the table. “Who wants to start?”

  “I called the council,” Wade says. “I’ll go first.” His gold eyes sweep the room once, and then settle on the other Banished leaders. “As you know, our position in this fortress is precarious. We know the Duskers are preparing to attack.”

  Authority radiates off Wade. I’ve never seen him like this before. I don’t know what to think about it, but I find I can’t take my eyes off him.

  “The question is,” Dayne interjects, “what are they waiting for?”

  “They’ve got a new weapon.” Valior, who has taken another sip from his silver flask, is coughing too hard to continue.

  “We’ve gotten word the Duskers are working on a weapon,” Liglette says when it’s clear Valior is in no state to finish his thought. “Rumor has it they’re waiting to attack the Solguards until it’s ready.”

  “That would make sense,” Dayne says.

  “Whether that’s true or not,” Wade makes eye contact with each of the Banished leaders, “we can’t survive separated anymore.” He pauses to let his words sink in. “Which is why we need you to join forces with the Solguards.”

  “With the Halves and the Banished added to our own numbers,” Dayne adds, “we’ll be a true match for the Duskers. We can defeat them, together.”

  Liglette and Valior exchange a glance. Tut twirls his goatee.

  “Your people are starving,” Wade says. “You need to either join forces or die.” The look he gives Tut makes it clear he would add something like you idiot if it weren’t for Jadem’s warning glance.

  “Which is why we have decided to join forces,” Tut says.

  We all shift forward in our seats.

  Tut holds up a hand. “Just not with you.”

  CHAPTER 12

  The table erupts.

  “What?!” Wade is on his feet, understanding something I’ve clearly missed.

  “Sit down, boy,” Valior chides.

  “Tut speaks the truth,” Liglette says. She turns to Jadem, an apology in her eyes. “The Dusker Supreme made us an offer—protection in exchange for our labor. Our people will be saved.”

  Aunt Jadem looks at me. We heard those same words from Dellin and the rest of the Banished on their way to Malarusk, but until now, I don’t think either of us really believed them.

  “You do recall,” Dayne says, “that the Duskers are your oppressors?”

  “We can’t afford to hold grudges any longer,” Valior says. “The smaller settlements have already pledged their support. Most of them are already safe in Malarusk.”

  “There is no safe in Malarusk,” Aunt Jadem says. There’s a bitter edge to her words.

  “Times change, Jadem,” Valior replies.

  “So, you’re going to put your trust in the ones who dried up your river and are making your people starve?” I ask.

  Wade smirks in satisfaction.

  “The Duskers’ quarrel is with the Halves,” Liglette says.

  When I translate this part for Ekil, the Halve shakes his head. “Banished and Halves share the river,” he says. “Duskers trying to kill us both.”

  “They’ve set you against each other,” I tell the Banished leaders. “If you joined forces—”

  “Hah!” Tut laughs. “I’d rather be at the mercy of the Duskers than the Halves.”

  “But,” I begin, but Valior cuts me off.

  “We’ve got a history,” he nods to Jadem, “and the sun knows I’d rather throw in my lot with you than the Duskers. But we,” he gestures at the two other Banished leaders, “have an obligation to keep our people alive.” He inclines his head in Wade’s direction. “The boy can tell you this is a war that can’t be won.”

  “You old cowards.” Wade turns his fury from Valior onto Tut and Liglette. “All of you!”

  Aunt Jadem puts up a hand, and the table goes silent. “I would have thought,” she says, looking at Valior, “that I wouldn’t need to remind you that Crowe does not give something for nothing.”

  Crowe? I’ve never heard that name before.

  At the confused look on my face, Jadem adds, “The Dusker Supreme.”

  No one except for me seems sur
prised my aunt is on a first name basis with the Dusker Supreme.

  “You deaf?” Tut asks my aunt. “He said we were trading our labor.”

  Aunt Jadem shakes her head. “They’ve never allowed anyone but their own into the citadel before, and now, when they’re stronger than ever, they invite the Banished into their realm? Use your head, Tut.”

  The way my aunt says it, I think she must know something she isn’t saying out loud, but I can’t imagine what it might be.

  “Well, maybe,” Liglette offers, but my aunt cuts her off.

  “Crowe is always ten steps ahead, and she does nothing unless it will further her own gains.”

  The Dusker Supreme is a woman? Again, I’m the only one who seems surprised.

  “She’s the first woman to be Dusker Supreme,” Dayne says, noticing my expression.

  “Not only that,” Aunt Jadem adds. “But she’s the only Dusker Supreme to win her title through battle rather than birth.”

  “How do you know so much about her?” I ask. I’ve only ever heard about the Dusker Supreme in reverent whispers, and never anything specific.

  “Because I helped her depose the previous Supreme.”

  I assume she’s joking, but when I look at her, my aunt is serious.

  Valior grins his toothless grin. “They got on rather well. That is, until Crowe found out Jadem was a Solguard and took her eye.”

  A million questions churn in my head, but Aunt Jadem shakes her head as if to say not now.

  “What about all the Dwellers in the Subterrane territory?” I ask.

  I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. I spent almost my whole life in Subterrane Harkibel, and when it was destroyed by the Halves, it meant the end of everything and everyone I had ever known.

  Still, there were five other Subterranes. For all I know, they could be in as bad shape as the Banished and be waiting for someone to make them a better offer than the Duskers. I know it’s a longshot—the Dwellers live and die by the Duskers’ laws—but maybe, if we could offer them something in return, they could be persuaded to join forces with us.

  “Never going to happen.” Tut waves a dismissive hand.

  “Most of the Subterranes have been abandoned,” Liglette says. “After the Halves ravished their Subterranes, the surviving Dwellers fled to Malarusk.”

  The three leaders glare at Ekil, but I know the real reason the Halves attacked the Subterranes. I feel my cheeks flame as I think about how my own father used the Halves’ fear of the Zeroes to force them to attack the Subterranes.

  “No, the Dwellers wouldn’t help us, even if they could,” Aunt Jadem says, crushing my hopes.

  “What we need,” Dayne’s quiet voice somehow captures the room, “is to return to our original plan.” He faces Aunt Jadem. “Now that you’re back, you can convince the Solguards to go to Tanguro. It’s farther from the Dusker territory and more defensible than this place. It’s big enough to offer refuge to all the Banished.” He looks at Tut, Valior, and Liglette. “We can fight the Duskers from there, together.”

  “No, we can’t.” Once the words are out of my mouth, I can’t take them back.

  Everyone looks to me for an explanation. I can’t meet Dayne or Wade’s questioning gazes. They’ve each done what they promised; Dayne found my father, and Wade kept Solis alive. I alone have failed.

  “There is no Tanguro,” I say, forcing the words out one by one. “The Duskers destroyed everything and killed everyone.”

  “Everyone?” Wade’s face has gone ashen.

  “Ry and Wokee are alive,” I say, “and Jarosh. But the rest….” I trail off, not needing to finish the thought.

  “We did not expect them to come for us so soon, and to strike with such a large force,” Aunt Jadem says.

  “You see,” Tut points at my aunt, a note of triumph in his voice. “Our only option is surrendering to the Duskers before Crowe does to us what she did to Tanguro.”

  “Now that the location of this fortress has been compromised,” Liglette says, “you have no choice but to do the same.”

  The silence in the chamber is deafening. And then everyone begins to speak at once.

  “There might be a way.”

  I think I’m the only one who hears my aunt, who has been brooding while the rest of the council argued.

  “Council members,” her voice is loud enough to make the others quiet down. “We’ve been talking about advantages in terms of numbers of swords, but there are other kinds of strength.” She looks at me and gives me a small smile before turning back to the others. “Your concern,” she looks at Valior, Tut, and Liglette, “is that the Duskers are a more formidable enemy than the Solguards.”

  The Banished leaders nod.

  “What if I could find a way to put Crowe at our mercy, rather than the other way around?”

  “Bah,” Tut says.

  Valior grins, showing his missing front tooth. “Only way I can see to do that is to kidnap Crowe and force her to give up Malarusk to us.” He scratches his stubbled chin with a trembling hand. “Now, why didn’t I think of that before?”

  “Crowe never leaves the citadel,” Dayne says. “And she’s always surrounded by a hundred soldiers, besides. We wouldn’t get within a mile of her.”

  “It was a joke, dear boy,” Valior says with a wheezing laugh.

  “We’re not kidnapping Crowe,” Jadem says. “But there is someone just as valuable who we might be able to secure.”

  “Jadem—no—” Dayne’s face reddens.

  Some kind of silent argument rages between them. After a moment, Aunt Jadem turns back to the rest of us. “Hendrix, Crowe’s second. He has fewer soldiers guarding him.”

  “Crowe wouldn’t care about losing one soldier, even if he is her second,” Liglette says.

  “She does care about this one.” Aunt Jadem looks down at her clasped hands and then up at us. “Hendrix is Crowe’s lover and the father of her only child.”

  Valior pauses with his flask partway to his lips.

  Everyone around the table sits in stunned silence. Only Dayne doesn’t look surprised.

  “You’re going to steal the Dusker Supreme’s lover?” Tut asks.

  “If he were to fall into our possession,” Jadem says, “I am quite certain Crowe would be willing to bargain with us to get him back. Would that be sufficient leverage for you to pledge your troops to our side?”

  The three Banished leaders exchange a look. Slowly, they begin to nod their assent.

  “Why didn’t you mention this before?” Wade demands. “We could have—”

  “I made promises.” Aunt Jadem looks at my brother as she says it. “But we have run out of options.”

  She’s too kind to say it, but with a jolt in my gut, I realize that the other option was Tanguro. Because of me, we have to do something far more dangerous.

  “Well then, we better get moving.” Wade stands up. “I’ll have a team ready by low day.”

  “It is not that simple, I’m afraid.” Aunt Jadem shakes her head.

  “It never is,” Tut grumbles.

  “If we are going to kidnap Hendrix,” Aunt Jadem makes eye contact with each of us, “we’re going to have to break into Malarusk.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Once Hendrix goes missing, they’ll seal all the tunnel exits,” Liglette says. “You’ll have no way out.”

  “There’s still one way out,” Aunt Jadem says.

  “I don’t believe it,” Wade says, looking from Dayne to Aunt Jadem. “You’re going to do it again, aren’t you? You’re going to escape like you did the last time.” He’s grinning, a sight that reminds me of the Wade I knew before the weight of the entire fortress and all the Solguards rested on his shoulders.

  The first time I met Wade, he was trying to convince Dayne to reveal how he and Aunt Jadem had escaped from the Malarusk dungeons. The memory makes the ghost of a smile cross my lips.

  “No.” Dayne is shaking his head. “We swore we would ne
ver—”

  “It was my own damn brother.” Valior cradles his flask in both hands, as though its solidity gives him comfort. “I know the risks as well as you.”

  Aunt Jadem, Dayne, and Valior stare at each other, locked in a silent debate.

  “Are you going to speak in riddles or tell us how the hell you managed it last time?” Tut demands.

  The three exchange a final look. Dayne hangs his head.

  “There are deep tunnels that run beneath the dungeons,” Aunt Jadem begins. She looks from Dayne to Valior, silently asking their permission to reveal this secret before continuing. “They’re the only tunnels where there won’t be a single Dusker, either inside or guarding the entrances. And one of them leads straight to the Outside.”

  “What makes me think it’s not as easy as it sounds?” Tut asks with a roll of his eyes.

  “The tunnels are for the wormkill.”

  Liglette and Wade gasp. Tut waves a dismissive hand. “Stuff of legends, that is.”

  “My people tell a story about the wormkill,” Liglette begins.

  “Your people have a story about everything,” Tut snaps.

  Liglette tosses her long braid over her shoulder, ignoring Tut. “It’s about a greedy Subterrane Captain who thought he could rule the world if only he made a big enough Subterrane. He dug deeper than anyone had ever thought to go, hoping to claim all the land beneath the surface as his own. But he unearthed a giant flesh-eating worm. The wormkill, as it came to be known, ate the Captain and every Dweller in the Subterrane.”

  Tut snorts.

  “I can’t speak to their origins, but I assure you the wormkill are quite real,” Dayne says, as Valior takes another sip from his flask and shudders. “And one resides in the bowels of Malarusk.”

  “That is the only way out of the dungeons,” Aunt Jadem says. “Through the wormkill tunnel.”

  “So how do you get past it?” Tut asks.

  “The creatures are blind but have an uncanny ability to smell human flesh,” Liglette says. “According to the stories—”

  “There’s only one way to get past it.” Dayne’s face has gone pale and his eyes have taken on a faraway look.