by Halie Fewkes
I felt something else in a higher dimension of thinking. Thoughts were being projected through the air toward each other, while nobody could hear them but the two Epic receivers.
Don’t do it, Avery, you know this isn’t right — It isn’t for me to decide — It isn’t for your king to decide either! Kelian is misleading all of you, and you know it — It’s my responsibility to follow what he says. Don’t you dare try to interfere. — You know I will — Your people don’t want abominations among them either — Then consider her mother — Her mother is a traitor — She did nothing wrong! — I can see as well as you, but it isn’t my decision!
“Sir Avery!” the man shouted again to an open spot on the stage. Sir Avery broke off his mind-conversation with Prince Avalask to become visible, and everybody gasped. “Show us where she is!” he repeated. Sir Avery hesitated but reached out to touch the minds of everyone in the crowd. He looked straight at little-me, but Prince Avalask materialized haphazardly in front of the Human Epic and blasted Sir Avery into the wall. Sir Avery recovered quickly and countered with a wall of ruthless fire, springing into action with inhuman speed.
The entire crowd screamed and scattered as lightning struck around the two Epics, dark clouds forming over their battle. Two Escalis and a Tally climbed up and over the walls with bows drawn, searching the commotion. The Tally was clearly the leader of the rescue, there to help me because of our similarities. They climbed into the crowd as I saw my mother run and jump onto the platform with the Escali.
In the widespread panic, nobody noticed her withdraw a knife from the folds of her dress to cut him loose. One of the Escalis ran to help her while the other ran straight for me to take me from the second woman. The overseer was also on his way over to me.
There was no confusion left about which little girl they were looking for once the Escali had me in his arms, but the overseer wasn’t about to let him go. He got to the Escali and hit him over the head with a block of demolished cement, dropping him straight to the ground.
The woman who had taken me tried to stop the hook-nosed man as I bit and kicked at his legs, but he threw her down and picked little-me up. A ferocious growl resonated off every wall, coming from the blond Escali my mother had cut free as he spotted me in the hands of the overseer. The Escali leapt over the heads of everyone left and knocked the man down, catching me in the same movement. He set me on my feet but then was distracted by the king’s soldiers lining the ramparts and aiming bows down at the scene. The overseer jumped back up and threw a rope around the neck of the Escali, pulling him back from me.
I heard my mother screaming as the overseer tried to strangle him, and little-me had latched onto his back, sinking teeth into him. The archers on the battlements held at the ready, watching the commotion play out, but the overseer’s assault ended when the Escali thrust his elbow back and sent an arm spike through his stomach.
It wasn’t a victory, but rather a cue for the archers to take aim and fire. The Escali jumped over little-me to block the assault, and though I was fine after the arrows finished falling, he wasn’t. He hadn’t lost a drop of blood, but something about the arrows left him unmoving. My mother tried to get over to us, but her way was blocked by the king’s soldiers who had been called to action, preventing her from going anywhere.
Another volley of arrows launched toward both me and my mother, but Sir Avery and Prince Avalask broke apart long enough for Sir Avery to shield my mother and Prince Avalask to deflect the arrows intended for me. Prince Avalask blasted the wall next to me apart before Sir Avery returned to battle with him, causing him to leave me. Little-me was overwhelmed and looked at the Escali lying on the ground next to her. I could sense that my small self vaguely knew him.
I had lost all track of the Tally until he ran over and grabbed little-me in one arm. He jumped onto the rubble of the demolished wall and sprinted away from the commotion. The archers turned to get him before he was out of range, but he was too fast. Little-me threw a fit as the Tally carried her out of danger’s reach. She didn’t want to leave her family.
King Kelian’s soldiers began to nervously close in around Sir Avery and Prince Avalask, having already disarmed my mother. I could sense Prince Avalask realizing it was over, and he broke away from the Human Epic, disappearing and reappearing next to the Tally and my younger self.
He grabbed them both, and the three vanished, ending the vision.
Prince Avalask’s hall was back. I felt numb, and Prince Avalask hardened his face to hide the emotions he had relived with me. I didn’t know what to think.
“What happened to them?” I asked, dumbfounded.
Prince Avalask’s hand shot to his head as though he felt some pain we couldn’t. “Ask Archie. He’ll tell you.” Prince Avalask disappeared and I turned my eyes slowly to Archie. He couldn’t have looked any sorrier.
“It’s not like it’s your fault,” I said to him as I sat on the smooth obsidian floor, leaning against a pillar.
“I’m still sorry. You and I actually had a conversation once, about the things we wished we could forget… I wish he wouldn’t have shown that to you.”
As I reflected bitterly on the memory, Archie sat next to me. He let us fall into silence, waiting for me to talk. “You know what I need?” I looked at him. “I need an enemy. I need someone I can blame all of this on, someone I can hate eternally.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice.”
I stared at the ground, knowing my blame and wrath had no target. “So… what happened to them?”
“Are you sure you want to hear about it right now?”
“I’m sure. I want to know.”
Archie took a deep breath and clenched his open hand into a tight fist, as though telling me what happened would hurt us both. “Well… Your father died on the spot—”
“So that Escali was my father?”
“He was. Sara — your mother — lived to give birth to her baby, but we were told she died in the process. Liz’s father wanted nothing more to do with the mess, and he left.”
“So the baby she was carrying at the time was Liz?”
“Yes. Fully Human, but sent to Kelianland anyway for being a mage,” Archie said, sighing. “And then the other woman with your mother was given ten thousand years of Time for treason…”
“Of course.”
“Then Prince Avalask brought you here, where the rest of us eventually joined you.”
“Right.” I gazed at the ground dejectedly. “You know what I think? Both sides can go ahead and blow each other into oblivion. It won’t hurt my feelings.”
Archie was quiet for a second. “I used to feel that way too.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Family. You wouldn’t want Liz dead.”
“Liz is the only exception.”
“No, she isn’t. You wouldn’t be detached if something happened to Terry or Michael, and what about Leaf? You weren’t alright after we lost West either.”
“So there are a couple of exceptions,” I grumbled.
“And then everything gets more complicated. You start making friends with Escalis and you don’t want anything to happen to them either. So then what do you do?”
“That’s when you go out, live in a cave secluded in the woods, and just let everything play out.”
Archie laughed lightly. “One of our Tally friends, Robbiel, tried that. You should ask him how it went.” Archie looked at the ceiling as though a new thought had occurred to him. “Do you want to come meet them?”
“The other Tallies? I think I’ve had enough sulking for now, so yes.”
“Believe me, if they can’t get your mind off this for a while, nobody can.”
Chapter Twenty One
We walked, and each time we passed an Escali in the narrow corridors, I felt just a little less alarmed. “So… they’re more similar to us than to Escalis, right?” I asked. “Because Tresca was… more civil than I was expecting, but talking to her was a little dry.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the other Tallies have more of a sense of humor than anyone you’ve ever met.” He smiled to himself. “You’re going to love them.”
I knew we had arrived when we reached a white marble door mounted in the wall, so I stopped.
“I have a question,” I said, preferring to stall for time rather than admit I was afraid to enter.
“Really? You have a question? Out of everything happening, you only have one question?”
“I have lots, so maybe we should go one at a time. Those powers we were both using when we were fighting in the cave… Have we always had those?”
Archie grinned and I saw a hint of admiration. “I’ve always had mine, but I’ve never seen you shoot lightning before. Congratulations on finding your gift.”
“I can’t use it now though. It only works when I’m freaking out about something. And is that what it’s called? Lightning?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never actually seen someone do that. I think Prince Avalask calls it destruction. And just give it time. You’ll be able to use it when you want. It takes practice.”
He was about to grab for the door, so I hastily asked, “That shield thing you were using to protect yourself, can you use that whenever you want?”
“Yeah, I’ve had my magic for a while, so I’ve had plenty of practice. Here, try to touch my hand.” Archie dropped his hand from the door and held it out to me instead. I was strangely nervous about trying to touch it, but I tried. As soon as I got close, I was slightly repelled, and when I tried to push my hand closer, a strong force simply wouldn’t let me. When I looked closely, I could see a faint golden shimmer along the otherwise invisible barrier.
“Can you make it stop?” I asked.
“Sometimes I can,” he frowned in concentration, “but it’s hard.”
“This can’t be right,” I said as the barrier remained in place. “I’ve touched you before.”
“You’ve touched me once, the time Sir Avery attacked me and destroyed my every defense. The catch is, nothing can touch me, but it doesn’t keep me from doing anything.” He moved his own hand and touched mine.
“That’s… weird.”
“Allie?” A girl with long dark curls pushed the door cautiously open. She may have had the lightest skin I had ever seen, and it made her beautiful.
“This is Karissa,” Archie said. Karissa put her finger on the tip of her nose as her eyes questioned me. I had no idea what that meant, but I did the same and she nodded as though I had just acknowledged something significant. “Well, come in! We’ve missed you.” She pushed the door open as wide as it would reach.
I took a slow step through the doorway as Karissa told Archie, “It’s good to see you,” and gave him a hug. Bitter feelings boiled up within me when he hugged her back, and I found I didn’t want to swallow my jealousy back down. Archie was the only person I knew in this world of Tallies and Escalis, and he was not allowed to like someone else when I needed him.
They broke apart, and I moved on to see that Karissa was one of six friends in a room with four long walls, a high ceiling, and a fireplace. One of the six sat on the top of a large pole in the center of the room, and along the wall next to me was a table of food, plates, and utensils.
The girl balancing on the pole jumped off and landed next to Karissa.
“I’m Nessava,” she said, grabbing my hand to shake it wildly. Stray strands of hair fell in front of her large eyes and teeth, and I immediately knew I liked her.
“I’m going to go, Allie,” Archie said as I glanced at Nessava’s elbows. All of the Tallies in the room had arm spikes about half the size of Escalis’, but just as sharp and deadly. “I’ll see you later.”
Of the two guys who stood across the room, the shorter one with the square face said, “Archie, you’re leaving?”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to speak with Izfazara. I probably shouldn’t keep him waiting.”
“That’s too bad. We were just thinking of stealing Robbiel’s book and setting it on fire.” A dark haired boy looked up from his book, raised his eyebrows just enough to let us know he wasn’t impressed, and went back to reading.
“Save it for next time I’m here, and I’ll help.”
Archie turned to me once again, “I probably won’t be back for a while. If nothing else, I’ll just have to see you in the morning.”
“Okay, have a good life,” I said. Archie bid farewell to everyone and left.
“So is it true?” Nessava asked at once. “Can you really not remember anything about us? You had no idea you were even a Tally?”
I shook my head with a hopeless smile. “Never did a stray thought come across that idea.”
“We all wanted to come help you, you know,” Karissa said. “It actually turned into a giant fight between all of us — but doesn’t everything?” Nessava nodded as though truer words had never been said, and Karissa added, “We eventually let Archie do it since he’s the only one able to hide his thoughts from mind mages. None of us would have stood a chance entering the Dragona.”
“It’s just… Wow…” Nessava mused. “I can’t believe you have to start all the way over. You can’t even remember that time Karissa put a giant spider in your bed?”
“I thought we were past that,” Karissa said. I laughed slightly and then shuddered at the thought. I would kill somebody if it happened again.
“Soooooo,” Karissa restarted the conversation, “I’m guessing you’d probably like to know who everybody is?”
“Yeah, I really would,” I replied.
“Well, over there, reading the book,” she pointed to the dark haired boy absorbed in a giant novel, “that’s Robbiel. And the one working on the fireplace, her name is Celesta.” This thinly-built girl had wispy brown hair and was working with the tiniest chisel and hammer to carve out an intricate pattern around the fireplace. I walked closer and saw an assortment of tiny, sharply-angled shapes.
“That’s amazing,” I told her.
“Thanks,” she said without looking up from her carving.
“Now, those two boys over there talking,” Karissa pointed to the corner. The shorter one, who had been talking to Archie, had eyes very similar to Archie’s and a smirk I wasn’t sure I trusted. The tall one had his arms folded. “The tall one with the deep voice and dark hair is Jonnath, and that stupid irkbat next to him with the sandwich is Emery.”
Emery didn’t appear to have heard her, but as soon as she had moved on to show me the next thing, he peeled his sandwich apart and hurled it across the room.
It hit her white fur coat and she turned around to glare at him furiously. She pulled the piece of bread off to reveal an awful stain, and Emery only started laughing as Jonnath joined in the mockery.
I looked to see how tightly Karissa clenched her jaw, beyond livid. Her anger was justified, of course. I would have reacted entirely the same — all until she shook her dark curls from her face, reached to the food table next to her, and grabbed a handful of knives.
“Last straw, Emery!” she shouted, hurling one after the next with amazing force and speed.
I gasped, but Nessava nudged me. “Don’t worry, this is normal.” Sure enough, Emery jumped out of the way and the knives buried themselves in the wall behind him. He laughed even harder. Without wasting a second, Karissa launched herself across the room in an attempt to tackle Emery, but he stepped to the side and I thought she was going to crash into the wall. She stopped in plenty of time.
Emery retreated to the other side of the pole, and Karissa went after him. They circled each other, and Emery said, “I get Jonnath!”
“I get Allie,” Karissa spat back.
“Wait, get me for what?” I wanted no part in the madness. Not at all!
“You’re on my team,” Karissa said.
Before I could object, Jonnath had already pulled the knives from the wall and thrown one so fast that I couldn’t see it. My hand flew up to cover my face, and through some miracle, I ca
ught it before it buried itself in my flesh. I dove behind a cabinet to avoid the next one and heard Emery call, “I get Robbiel—”
And then Karissa responding, “I get Nessava!”
“I’m not playing!” Celesta announced before anyone could take her away from her carving.
Nessava joined me behind the cabinet to give me the battle strategy while I tried to comprehend what was happening. Knives!
“Don’t go for Emery, that’s Karissa’s job,” she said. “We just have to get Robbiel and Jonnath. And watch out for Robbiel, the one closing his book right now. He’s a speed mage.”
Nessava dragged me to my feet, out from behind the cabinet as Robbiel and Jonnath finished exchanging words and pulled out their knives. I didn’t realize the four weapons were aimed at me until they were already in the air. I dodged two, caught the third a hairs breadth from my stomach, and was relieved to see Nessava snag the last out of the air before I lost a foot.
I hated to admit it, but I was having fun. In some weird sort of way.
“Aim them at Jonnath,” Nessava whispered as I felt the knives ripped from my hands by Robbiel, who returned them to his side of the room in less than a second.
“I’ll get him next time,” Nessava muttered. I had barely processed the fact that my hands were empty when I had to help catch the round of knives thrown at Nessava. Robbiel immediately ran at us, but Nessava jumped out to knock him to the ground. They both hurtled into the table behind us, knocking it over in a loud clang of breaking tableware and utensils flung across the floor.
We were all distracted when Karissa finally caught up with Emery and they both smashed into the side of the fireplace, shattering Celesta’s masterpiece. She began cursing them in outrage, but when words weren’t getting the job done she picked up a stick from the fireplace, with the end still burning, and joined in the fray. Emery quickly grabbed the fire poker as he got up, forced to defend himself from Celesta. Karissa darted to the overturned table and wrenched a leg off to serve as her weapon.