The Liar of Red Valley

by Walter Goodwater

  And saw the bridge’s supports start to fail.

  It seemed to happen in slow motion. The concrete splintered and the causeway began to wobble. The tearing at the magic wall slowed as the ground underneath the things’ feet became unsteady. A few of them understood instantly what was happening and started to run for the far side. But the bridge was too long, and too far gone.

  Chunks of concrete and steel began to fall into the River. Then the whole thing bent under the current and twisted unnaturally sideways, like a broken arm. The wall was forgotten as chaos consumed the things on the bridge, but not for long. With an ear-shattering crash, the bridge fell and the things fell with it. The water rose up to meet them.

  There’s your offering, Sadie thought with a shudder as everything disappeared beneath the River’s flow.

  Rage like it had not felt in an age bubbled up in the hunter’s chest. It had sensed the threat the River could pose, but had never expected it to make common cause with the pitiful defenders of the King’s town. And now the hunter’s army was lost in an instant, consumed by ancient waves.

  This was unexpected. This was unacceptable. Blood must be spilt.

  The King would die this night. But first his mortal thralls would suffer.

  The hunter’s eyes lifted from the ruin of its careful plans and took in the far shore. There were some of the things who had resisted its call, traitors who would pay. And there were humans, some living, some dying. But there was something else. A figure burning bright with magic. Human… but not. She had stood on the front lines. She had been the one to command the River.

  They all needed to die, but she would die slowly.

  Cheers went up from the bridge’s defenders, but there was no time to celebrate. People all around Sadie were hurt, needed to get to the hospital; and still the fire burned deeper into Red Valley every minute. What they needed to do now was—

  Undersheriff Hassler’s voice cut through the night, amplified through a patrol car’s speaker. “This is an unlawful assembly. You are all in violation of curfew. Return to your homes immediately or face arrest.”

  “What a dick,” Sadie said under her breath, rolling her eyes. As the deputies started to turn their attention to the crowd, she thought about Beto. She found him sitting on a curb. His skin was ashen, his eyes red with blood.

  “We did it,” he said with a weak smile.

  “We did,” she said. “We saved this shit town.”

  He held up a finger. “We saved our shit town.”

  “You need to get to the hospital.”

  “I… hate hospitals.”

  “Everyone does,” Sadie said. “I’ll help you up.”

  “I’m fine,” he said, though pain creased his face. “I’ll be fine. Just need a minute. Or ten.”

  “Come on,” she said. “We can—”

  But Sadie never got to finish her sentence. A charcoal 1967 Cadillac screeched its tires as it pulled up in front of them. Sadie knew the car even before a tall, gaunt man with sandy hair and a ripped leather jacket got out. Streetlights reflected in his mirrored sunglasses as he faced Sadie.

  “The King requests your presence,” the King’s Man said. “Immediately.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Beto forced himself to his feet and tried to step in between them, but Sadie stopped him.

  “Don’t worry about me,” she told him. “I’ll be fine. Get somewhere safe.”

  “You sure?”

  She looked at the King’s Man, then back. “Yeah. The King and I need to have a chat.”

  The King’s Man opened the rear door. Sadie got inside.

  They drove through the abandoned streets of Red Valley a little faster than she remembered last time. The King’s Man said nothing, just kept his hands on the steering wheel and his mirrored eyes fixed forward.

  “We could have used your help back there,” Sadie said.

  “The hunter in the darkness is no real threat,” said the King’s Man.

  “Maybe not to you, but it was to the people in this town. The people who believed you would protect them.”

  “Sacrifices must be made in war.”

  “From what I understand, Red Valley’s been making sacrifices for you for a long time,” she said as the town sped by outside the glass. The streets, the houses, everything looked empty.

  “You would be wise to consider who you trust.”

  Sadie eased her ledger out of her bag as quietly as she could. “I’ve been making careful consideration of exactly that over the last few days,” she said, her voice covering the sound of her pen clicking. “Finding people worthy of trust in Red Valley can be a bit… tricky.”

  “Things are not always as they appear,” said the King’s Man.

  Then, with an ear-splitting screech of tearing metal, the world started to spin.

  At first, Sadie thought the hunter had caught them, but she then realized it was another car. It had hit them on the side, blowing through a stop sign and moving at high speeds along wide-open streets. The King’s Man’s car was heavy, made of steel, but the angle of impact was just right to send it careening into a lamppost, where it came to a sudden, sharp halt.

  What in the hell was that? Then she saw the flashing lights. Red and blue, red and blue.

  Smoke filled the car: rank, like burning oil. Sadie reached through the broken window and opened her door from the outside. As she stumbled out, she was met by a glaring spotlight and the unmistakable voice of Undersheriff Hassler.

  “Put your hands in the air,” he demanded from somewhere in the flashing night. More patrol cars were quickly converging on them. “You are both under arrest.”

  Her head was still ringing from the impact. She must have misheard that. The town was literally burning down and Hassler was trying to arrest one of the King’s Men? And her?

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she heard herself shout.

  “Put your hands up!”

  “No.” This was the King’s Man. He didn’t raise his voice, but still the word cut through all the noise like a thunderclap. “The King tires of your interference. He reminds you that his patience is vast,” the King’s Man said, “but not infinite.”

  Hassler stepped out from behind the spotlight. He ignored the King’s Man and looked right at Sadie. “You’re probably proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

  “We just saved a lot of lives,” she said. “So yeah, I am.”

  “Do you know how much that bridge cost? How long it will take to rebuild? No, of course not. You don’t care about the destruction you cause. Or did you think you could just tell a Lie that would make it all go away?”

  Sadie shook her head. “You really don’t see it. They would have killed you.”

  “I warned you not to interfere,” Hassler said. “And now you have to—”

  The hunter in the darkness landed with all its bulk directly on top of the undersheriff, with a sickening crunch. The force of the impact knocked Sadie off her feet. It spread its wings, blotted out the sky and the pulsing lights. Gunfire erupted all around, but the hunter did not seem to even notice it. Sadie scrambled away, her palms scratched raw on the broken pavement, until she backed into the smashed car.

  The hunter said something in a language that made Sadie’s bones itch, then reached for her with a bloodied black claw.

  Then the King’s Man struck. Sadie saw only a blur, but heard the hunter’s pained roar as the King’s Man tore at its eyes with his bare hands.

  Sadie jumped to her feet and ran. She did not look back. The night was rent with screams and roars and the sound of the creatures’ feet slapping on the road. Her heart slammed against her ribcage and her ankle began to throb. None of that mattered. She just had to run. She just had to keep going faster.

  More gunshots. More screaming.

  Behind her, there was a rush of wind and the sound of massive wings flapping.

  I really hope this works, Sadie thought. Only time to try it once.

  She turn
ed onto Jefferson Avenue. Washington was just one street over. Most of the way down the block, there was an empty dirt lot with houses on both sides. But no matter how fast she ran, it was just so far away. Just keep moving. Just keep moving.

  The hunter struck just before she reached the empty lot. Sadie felt the rush of air and the horrible weight of the hunter’s presence as it came down from the smoky sky. But as its great hooked talons swiped for her, she dropped. The ground chewed up her hands and elbows, but the slashing claw found only the space above her head.

  The hunter rose up into the air. It was already turning, coming back around. Sadie’s cuts burned as she moved, but she wasn’t about to stop now. She ran for the lot. Her ankle flared, but she shoved that pain aside too; there would be time to hurt later. When she couldn’t wait any longer, she screamed. The words tore out of her throat and into the emptiness ahead of her. Was she close enough? Would they hear? Would they be in time? She screamed and hoped. And ran.

  Dust kicked up around her. And black wings followed.

  Washington Street was just ahead. She had to reach the sidewalk.

  The hunter swooped low, skimming the ground as it came for her.

  Almost there.

  And then she smelled roses.

  Just in front of her, a low stone wall and iron gate began to appear. She pushed even harder. She stumbled, but caught herself before hitting the dirt, then threw herself onto the sidewalk just as the Gray House returned to its place in time.

  A massive bloodied hand splatted onto the sidewalk next to her. The rest of the hunter in the darkness—the part that had been within the boundaries of the Gray House when it returned—was gone.

  The front door of the house burst open.

  “Sadie?”

  Thomas looked down at her, puzzled.

  It worked. Holy shit, it worked. She let out a shout of pure triumph, her voice echoing to the sky. You come to my shithole town with your stupid wings and ugly face, stirring up hate and starting a war, and this is what you get. Hunter in the darkness? More like hunter in pieces.

  “Sadie?”

  “Out here,” she called back.

  Thomas came running. He crashed through the gate, his eyes wide with panic. He stopped when he saw her, and then noticed the severed claw. “I trust we arrived in time?”

  “Your timing was impeccable, Mr. Gray,” she said as he helped her to her feet. “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome. Though I do feel compelled to ask,” he said, toeing the claw, “what in damnation is that?”

  “Dead,” Sadie said. “That’s the important thing.”

  Before he could reply, they were both blinded by approaching headlights. A sheriff’s patrol car slowed and stopped in front of them, blocking the road.

  It was no deputy who got out, however, but the King’s Man. He limped, seemingly not from pain but rather a nearly ruined leg. Deep gashes had been ripped across his neck and chest and blood pooled at his feet.

  “The King really must insist,” the King’s Man said.

  Thomas drew a revolver from his jacket and leveled it at the King’s Man. “Take another step and I will decorate your windshield with the contents of your skull.”

  Sadie put a hand on his arm and lowered the gun. “I’ll be alright,” she said softly. “Trust me.”

  “Sadie, the King should not be—”

  “There’s a lot of hurt people in Red Valley tonight,” she said. “They could use your help, if you’re willing to give it. Don’t worry about me.”

  Thomas stiffened. He didn’t raise the gun again, but neither did he put it away. “This is madness.”

  “Trust me,” Sadie said, “I know.”

  “Very well,” he said through tight lips as he glowered at the King’s Man. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” She tightened the straps on her bag and nodded to the King’s Man. “Let’s go chat with the King.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  From the King’s hill, Sadie could see Red Valley burn. There was no night sky, not tonight, just a solid, unending expanse of ash and smoke. The fire line stretched from one horizon to the other. The whole town—what was left—was lit up red and black. And from what she could tell, the flames were converging on the hill.

  The King’s Man urged her forward. He was in tatters, but she had no doubt he could still break her with his bare hands, if she gave him a reason.

  The inside of the manor was as hollow as before, though it was harder to tell in the dark. Down below in the basement, she noted that most of the alcoves were empty. What had become of the other King’s Men, she did not know or ask.

  At the mouth of the deep well, the King’s Man stopped. And so did Sadie.

  “The King waits below.”

  “I’m not going down there unless you make me,” she said firmly.

  The King’s Man stared at her, perfectly still.

  “I’m trying to save this town, and frankly I don’t need—”

  The King’s Man grabbed her arm and shoved her forward. They descended, Sadie only a few feet in front of her escort as they went. It took some time; neither of them were in top form and Sadie was in no hurry.

  Before she was ready, the path flattened out and she was standing on the cavern floor once again.

  “I sorely underestimated you during our last visit,” boomed a familiar voice like thunder. Two giant red eyes began to glow in the deep. “If I had guessed at your true nature, I suspect it would have gone very differently.”

  “True nature?” Sadie asked innocently. “Whatever do you mean?”

  “I was distracted,” said the King. “I sensed your magic but took it to be your powers. But now I see you are more than a Liar: you are a Lie.”

  “Who knew we had so much in common?” Sadie said. “I bet you wish you had just drained me of my magic then instead of waiting to do it now, am I right?”

  A chuckle, like the breaking of boulders. “Why, yes,” said the King of Red Valley. The walls pulsed light and the hint of a colossal face appeared in the dark. Sadie sensed more than saw an impossibly large span of jagged teeth, jutting sharp and raw like compound fractures.

  “Oh, your dear mother, or whatever she was to you. I underestimated her as well. She lived an unrelentingly pitiful life, I must tell you. A waste of power and potential. Truly, not a single moment of inspiration. Up until the end, that is. But what an end!”

  “You used her.”

  “The Liars of Red Valley have been tools, yes,” said the King. “In service of a greater good.”

  Sadie backed up and found the King’s Man blocking her way. “That greater good being you?”

  The King sighed. “You insufferable mortals are terrible at so many things, but have always excelled at ingratitude.”

  Sadie pointed up the shaft. “You want to take a stroll outside and see the state your town is in, mighty King? Your enemies have arrived, yet you cower here while we fight your battles for you. Tell me, what should we be most grateful for, the army of monsters trying to murder us or the demonic fire trying to incinerate us?”

  “Your ignorance is a stench in my nostrils.”

  “I know more than most, great King,” Sadie said. “I know Red Valley was full of power long before you came. I know that draining that magic is the only thing that’s kept you alive all these years. And I know it wasn’t enough, so my mom Lied to revive you. Now you’re sucking Red Valley dry in the hope it’ll make you a real boy again.”

  The King’s burning eyes towered high above her. “What stunning arrogance! You think you have discovered a truer history, but you have existed for a week. Your head is full of lies and other people’s memories. I heard your lofty speech to the people of Red Valley, rallying them to your cause. But you aren’t one of them. You are an aberration, a trick.”

  “You’re the same as me.”

  “No,” said the King. His voice filled the cavern. “I have existed throughout the ages. I have toppled mountains. I hav
e commanded the heavens. I am fear and I am fury and I am the sundering wind. I am mighty. I am forever. You are nothing.”

  Sadie waited for his rant to end and for the cavern to fall silent before replying. “You are an echo,” she said. “And you are fading.”

  “I was wrong to let you live,” the King said. “I thought you would be harmless. I actually thought you might prove useful. And in some ways, you have. You killed the hunter in the darkness, no small feat for any mortal. Your defense of Red Valley has given me the time I needed to gather my strength. Soon there will be nothing left for me here and I will move on. But now you bore me, so I think I will take back what I gave to your family.”

  Sadie felt every cell in her body suddenly seize. It was like something was reaching into her guts and pulling.

  Pain doubled her over, and the King’s eyes grew brighter.

  “Perhaps I never should have given this power to anyone in Red Valley,” the King went on. “You have certainly never thanked me for it. Yes, I took it from the land, but I did share it. Perhaps if I had kept it all to myself, it would have been enough to keep me from succumbing to my wounds. But that does not matter anymore, does it? I will be stronger now, truly immortal. A Lie, more truth than truth. How fitting. Though she complicated my plans at the end, I should thank your mother for that, at least.”

  Blotches of white and red light burst in Sadie’s vision. Her muscles spasmed. Her head was suddenly too heavy, her fingers numb and cold. It felt like dying, like her blood was turning to stone in her veins. Blood. That word shoved the pain aside in a brief spark of clarity.

  “You know, for somebody who claims to have created the Liars of Red Valley,” she said as she slid her ledger out of her bag, “you’re awfully cavalier about where you leave your blood lying around.” Sadie stuck her finger into the puddle of black blood around the King’s Man’s shoes.

  “What are you—?”

  She smeared the blood into her ledger, next to the words she’d written earlier:

  The King is good.

  Nothing moved in the King’s cavern for a long time. Those red eyes glared down at her, unblinking, unmoving. Sadie felt the Liar’s power working, but it was different than before. Would a Lie like this even work? The Lies could do much; she knew that well. But could they change the very nature of something like the King? She couldn’t know, but the terrible draining pain had subsided; something was happening.