Falls

by Melinda Kucsera

  Dirk hopped on one foot, afraid to look at or put any weight on his singed appendage until a cool hand touched his throbbing foot. It leeched the pain but left the charred meat alone.

  “Can you stand?” asked the Adversary.

  Who knew he could heal. Flabbergasted, Dirk could just set his blackened foot down and very slowly, put weight on it. His leg quivered but held his weight. Nor did his injured foot complain. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything below his ankle.

  “What happened?”

  “Did you think she’d just put up a single shield?”

  Well, he hadn’t thought about anything except finding his friends. “What now? I must go down there. How do we get through that shield?”

  “Watch and learn.” The Adversary smiled, and it was sharp and slanted like a scythe as he gestured to the blank-eyed crowd gathering around the chasm.

  Dirk’s heart sank as he regarded them. He closed his eyes not wanting to see what would happen next.

  “Oh, but you must see. Every sacrifice needs a witness.”

  Invisible hands, colder than ice, plucked at Dirk’s eyelids, prying them open. He tried to close them, but they forced his eyes open.

  The half of the Adversary still in this cavern had become transparent and thin. If he turned sideways, he’d vanish into a shadow. Looking at him made Dirk’s eyes ache, but he couldn’t look away. The Adversary floated out into the center of the pit and smiled when the shield didn’t react to his presence.

  “And why would it? I’m but a spirit passing through this plane,” said the Adversary as if he’d read Dirk’s mind. Then he threw his arms wide. “Come, sinners, to your dark Father fly. Come, sinners, claim the peace long-denied.”

  The Adversary’s quiet voice echoed in blood and bone, propelling Dirk to step forward when the first row did. Only a glance from those cold eyes stopped him in his tracks, but not the first row of thralls. They stepped off the edge, and the shield flared.

  Tears tracked down Dirk’s face as they vanished into a puff of smoke. The Queen of All Trees must know. She’d made the shield. She must sense the people throwing themselves at it. So why didn’t she stop it?

  “Sinners fly, and sinners fall, the ones dear to me hear my call. Fly sinners, I won’t let you fall. Come, dear sinners, heed my call.”

  Dirk turned away as the Adversary waggled his skeletal fingers like a conductor directing an orchestra—or a mage weaving a wicked spell. He was trapped with a mad spirit of incredible power who was bent on sacrificing thousands of poor Indentured souls.

  They pushed past Dirk, moaning in ecstasy as they threw themselves off the edge into the white fire jetting up from the chasm. Its clean light reduced them to ashes before they could even scream. Over all that death, the Adversary floated, still now that his spell was set. His skeletal hands hung at his sides and his head lolled as the Adversary shifted his focus to somewhere outside of the Ægeldar.

  This is my chance, now while he’s distracted. But his chance for what? Dirk limped through the crowd, moving against its implacable current. He fell three times before gaining even a few precious feet away from the light that kills. The silent screams of the dead echoed in his soul. What can I do against such senseless death?

  “Are your friends worth such a price?”

  “Who said that?” Dirk climbed up a rubble pile until he could see beyond the crowd.

  Shadows shifted to block the lone exit. So there’s no escape after all. He shook his head, though he’d expected as much. The Adversary wasn’t one to leave things to chance.

  Just as he was beginning to give up hope, a gleaming white cross appeared in the crowd and in its light, there was the suggestion of a crucified man. Dirk fell to his knees before a power for good.

  “I don’t deserve your help, but give it anyway, Divine One, for their sakes. They’re innocent. Help me set things right. I didn’t mean for things to go so wrong. I just wanted to make a little coin to set by. What’s the harm in that? I’ve worked hard for four decades and I have nothing but a ratty blanket and a drafty cave to show for it. Please help me make this right.”

  “Come, child of light, your repentance is in sight.”

  “Can’t you stop this?”

  “I would stop it, but free will trumps all. Your greed set this in motion. You must cast the first stone. Child of light, your repentance is in sight.”

  The Crucified Man’s right arm swept over the crowd and stopped when his index finger pointed at a wiry man with white whiskers moving against the crowd.

  That man rushed away from the Ægeldar and the shield flaring up to kill every person who threw himself into its heart. But how was that possible? How could he escape that summons?

  As if he heard Dirk’s unspoken question, the aberrant man paused to take his bearings. It was Jersten. Dirk dropped from the rubble pile to the ground and gave chase. Thank you, whoever you are, I know what I must do.

  I Know How to Stop It

  “What was that?” Ran cringed as the grating sound grew louder. When J.C. didn’t respond, he tore his gaze away from the widening hole in the ceiling and searched the tunnel. He found J.C. standing stock-still. His eyes were pure light, but J.C.’s mind wasn’t ‘home.’

  “Papa? Please wake up. I need you.”

  Papa’s arm curled around him, but he remained silent and staring—not good. “Bear? Can you hear me? If you can, please come help me.” But just in case the fickle spirit failed to show, Ran fumbled in his pocket for his slingshot.

  The metal plate slid aside revealing a gray-eyed woman crouched beside the opening above their heads. When Ran saw her, he smiled.

  “Rat Woman!”

  Ran rushed to her, but her smile upon seeing him changed to horror, stopping Ran in his tracks.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Ran spun then he backed up until his calves bumped into Papa’s long legs. He sat on Papa’s lap, his gaze fastened on the crowd.

  A contingent had broken off and was heading toward them. A shadow led them—likely one of the Adversary’s many henchmen. Its head turned, scanning the tunnel, but its black-on-black eyes skipped over Ran.

  He let out a shaky breath in relief. Something’s hiding me.

  “Give me your hands, and I’ll pull you up. Hurry.” Rat Woman reached down, but Ran clung to his staring father and shook his head.

  “I won’t go without Papa.”

  “Then I’ll come to you.” Rat Woman dropped through the hole and landed in a crouch. She pulled something from behind her and held out a ratty-looking bear. Ran’s eyes lit up, and he rushed to her with his arms outstretched.

  “Bear!” Ran hugged his toy then hugged Rat Woman. She smiled fondly at him as they embraced. When they separated, he tugged her hand.

  “Help Papa. A bad man cast a spell on him.”

  “Come on, brother, throw this off. You’ve got to move.”

  Auntie Sovvan flickered into view beside Papa as the blackness gobbled up the glow of his left eye then it ate the whites too. When Ran stretched out a finger to touch that matt black orb, Auntie Sovvan batted his hand away.

  “Don’t touch it. I don’t think it can spread to you, my spotless lamb, but let’s not temp the Adversary, okay?”

  Ran stared at her for a moment. What's a ‘spotless lamb?' He put the question aside for later. “Auntie Sovvan, why’s the Adversary testing Papa?”

  Ran squeezed Bear, but Bear didn’t squeeze back. Why aren’t you here Bear? Bear’s eyes stayed dark and devoid of intelligence. The spirit guide wasn’t ‘home' either, but holding his fuzzy vessel comforted Ran. Maybe the ghost will come back.

  “Not so much testing as tempting. Power can corrupt or cleanse. It’s up to the mage, which.” The angel tapped her temple. “The fight’s all in here.”

  “Can you help?”

  She shook her head regretfully. “I can only whisper and hope the devil doesn’t drown me out. Help me whisper.”

  “No, Papa!” Ran broke from Ra
t Woman’s hold. Papa was reaching toward the shadow rushing toward them.

  “No, stay behind me.” Rat Woman stepped between Ran and the crowd holding a short knife and a pink sphere. The latter item she addressed. “We’ve got a problem. If you can manifest, I suggest you do it now.”

  She threw the ball into the air and it swelled up, shattering when it reached man-height. Insects flew, crawled and swung to the pale figure, merging as they struck it. Inside-out, a green-skinned body formed and Ran stared at the process in fascination. He pointed.

  “Is that—”

  “Insect Man? Yes, stay behind me. I don’t like the look of that crowd.” Rat Woman pulled Ran behind her again.

  This time, he was too fascinated to argue. A pink flash consumed Insect Man and when it faded, the front rank of those entranced people had reached him.

  In the weeks since he’d seen Insect Man last, the construct had become more adept at shaping a human form. A segmented iridescent carapace armored him and absorbed the blows the crowd dealt him. Unlike Rat Woman, he didn’t bother with clothes.

  Ran felt around in his pockets but found no more ammo. He pulled out the Queen Tree’s seeds and their filaments tickled his fingers. They were bigger than his usual ammo of small metal spheres, but they’d once belonged to her, and some of her power lingered in them. Maybe she can help.

  Loading his slingshot with a seed, he aimed and fired then repeated the process with the second seed. One struck a man and the other a gray-haired woman. Both blinked hard for a moment before succumbing to the Adversary’s will again. Ran backpedaled and crashed into his father.

  “Papa? We need your light and magic.” Ran shook his father’s shoulder, but there was still no response.

  Papa has lots of pockets. He’s always squirreling away interesting things. And he has more seeds. Ran dug through them and withdrew a half-dozen glowing rocks. Papa’s pockets were loaded with still-lit lumir. Somehow the black mist had missed them earlier. Shrugging, Ran fitted one to his slingshot then paused, remembering what J.C. had said.

  “A mind divided cannot stand against the Adversary. Neither can a heart.”

  And that’s what they were—divided against themselves. Shadows wrestled with flames inside each man and woman. Were those flames the hearts or the minds of the blank-eyed people reaching for him? Ran hefted the lumir stone then shoved it back into Papa’s pocket for safekeeping. Papa hates darkness, and so do I.

  But those people didn’t choose to darken. Before Rat Woman could dart into the knot of blank-eyed people again, he grabbed the hem of her tunic. Her knife flashed, as the wall of bodies closed in on them.

  “Don’t hurt them. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re under a spell. A bad man called the Adversary made it, and he’s after Papa now. We have to get Papa away from here.”

  Rat Woman jerked her tunic out of his hands. “If we do, he’ll wake up?”

  Ran shrugged, but it sounded like a better idea than staying here. So, he grabbed Bear. “I want to go now. Bear, please jump us away.”

  Rat Woman and Insect Man exchanged glances and hopefully plans since Bear didn't wake up and save them this time. A shadow shoved between them, knocking the two constructs to the ground. It headed straight for Papa, and he was reaching toward it.

  “No, Papa!” Ran pushed his arm, but it wouldn’t budge. Papa was too strong.

  “What is that thing?” Rat Woman pointed at a black wave rolling over the entranced crowd. Wizened faces played peek-a-boo with grinning skulls.

  “Ghosts and ghouls and sallow fools—oh, how they cool. Oh, how they cool 'neath the land where nulls rule!”

  “It’s the magic-stealing mist. It’s back, but I know how to stop it.” Ran fished around under his father’s tunic.

  “How?”

  “With a crystal—it helped before. Where is it?” Ran felt for the leather thong the thing hung on.

  How can it not be there? Papa never takes it off. But his pawing fingers found just Papa under his tunic. Ran peered down Papa’s collar to look for its glow, but all was shadow under there.

  “Where’d it go?”

  “Where’d what go? What’s happening?” Auntie Sovvan held out her fading hands right before she dematerialized.

  “Auntie Sovvan?” Ran patted the space she’d just occupied. She was gone, but J.C. was still here. Maybe he could help. Ran tugged his pant leg. “J.C.?”

  He stood there silent as the walls holding up the ceiling, and his cross flickered in and out of view.

  “J.C.? Are you all right?”

  “Did you find it?”

  Rat Woman pushed three men back, and they stumbled into the people behind them. Insect Man swept the legs out from under several more people, knocking them down, but the slack-jawed crowd kept coming no matter what they did.

  The black wave hit Rat Woman and Insect Man at the same time and both collapsed. They shook as the spells holding them together broke, dissembling their bodies. Rats and bugs of all types fled the area.

  “No! Rat Woman! Insect Man!” Ran huddled against Papa’s chest, squeezing Bear and his cheek touched a hard object. There you are! Ran reached in as the black mist boiled around him, draining him. He pulled out Papa’s pendant. It shone like a captured star, and its light shoved the wraiths and that magic-stealing mist back. But that black stuff surrounded J.C., and the grinning wraiths laid their power-stealing hands on him.

  “J.C.! Please wake up. You must come into the light, or Papa’s pendant can’t protect you.”

  But not even a flicker of awareness passed over J.C.s slack features. Then those bony hands covered his face and J.C. was buried under a pile of wraiths.

  Bear, help us, please!

  The ground sucked at Shayari’s feet. Lifting her foot and taking that next step became more and more difficult. It’s just the land. It’s been stripped of the magic it needs, so it’s taking some from you. She brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and trudged on until the earth welled up, trapping her foot. She pulled on her leg, but it was stuck.

  “Let go of me.”

  “No,” a woman’s face formed in the earth. It was larger than Shayari was tall and it was angry. “Go back. The mountain and all your hopes and dreams are in grave peril. Go back before it’s too late,” said Gaia, speaking through the land.

  “What are you talking about? The greater danger is the black lumir crystal. It’s in the hands of those loons, the Seekers.”

  “Look.”

  Rocks hurled toward her and piled up into an outstretched arm pointing southwest to a dark lump.

  Shayari sighed and turned her gift of far-sight on the mountain. Aralore and her flunkies were on a parallel course for it. Between the two circles of menhirs, a shield flickered, but it wasn’t as strong as before, and its golem-keeper was gone. Who set it free? Beyond it, a rainbow moiré pattern blocked her sight.

  “Who activated the standing stones?”

  Was it Sarn? They would react to him since he was of Litherian blood, but why would he need to invoke them? All the danger was out here. What in God’s name was happening back there?

  What could have triggered those stones? Not the Adversary. He was locked out. Even with a mortal doing his bidding, there was only so much mischief he could get into, and none of that was as destructive as a black lumir crystal.

  Shayari felt suddenly cold despite the sun baking the trees moaning on the ground. Am I chasing the wrong villain?

  She just didn’t know and the not knowing worried her. Kneeling by a fallen tree, she laid her hands on its graying bark and sought its connection to the rest of the forest and its Queen. She grasped hold of it before it could fade and pulled. She shifted back to the Queen of All Trees’ ruined glade.

  “Something’s happened at Mount Eredren.”

  “I’ll check. I have eyes inside the mountain.” The Queen of All Trees stilled, but something about her wasn’t right. Her aura was dimmer, and her bark had lost most of its shi
ne. In fact, her crown looked shredded. Many branches had no leaves at all and were those cracks in her bark?

  Shayari laid her hand over one and traced a healing rune. The Queen of All Trees shifted her roots.

  “I’m all right.”

  “For how long? Why didn’t you tell me it was hurting you?”

  “Would knowing have changed anything?”

  “No, you’re right. Tell me how you have eyes inside the mountain. That shield is programmed to keep you out.”

  “I made friends with a local, but she’s not seeing anything. The problem must be below ground where the Indentured live.”

  “A place you can’t go without help.”

  “But you can. You have some Litherian blood in you.”

  Shayari nodded, but the mountain wasn’t where she wanted to go. “What happened to the golem? He’s gone.”

  “He is? When did that happen?”

  “Take a good look at the menhirs. He’s abandoned his post.”

  “Sarn,” they both said in unison.

  “His son is calling me.” Bear lumbered into view and spread his paws. “I’d go, but without magic, I’m not much use except for moral support. I think they need more concrete help than that.”

  “Don’t look at me.” Shayari backed away waving her hands. “I have a date with a Seeker and a black, magic-stealing rock if I could just get close to them.”

  But Gaia, that meddlesome spirit, had other plans. The ground parted under Shayari’s feet and sucked her under before she could draw breath to scream.

  “You must go back to the mountain,” Gaia said, but her voice faded as Shayari shot through the ground.

  I hope you don’t mind. I caught a ride on you, Bear said mind-to-mind. I miss the little rascal.

  He meant Sarn’s son, of course. She’d only had a brief glimpse of the child and his father in the Ægeldar earlier today. Before Bear broke their connection, he sent her a packet of images, so she could get to know her distant descendants a little better.