Secrets of the Tally

by Halie Fewkes

  Most of the Escali forces still stood waiting to cross the bridge, but they now had a contender on their own side of the battle. An aerial formation of nine dragons had taken to swooping over their ranks, jet-streaming fire and carrying mages who could do much worse. I had never seen such a trained force, able to instantly turn and maneuver together as though they shared thoughts. All nine dragons jumped into the sky as one to avoid the Escali’s arrows, then plummeted back down with maws of fire, darting sharply to the left to avoid all predictability, then lurching back into the sky.

  The unit swooped over the bridge, and the power I had often seen blasting opponents across an open field was used to knock entire groups of Escalis into the moat beneath. One mage always seemed to lead the group, and his power was one of crackling white destruction. It was the same energy I had seen glowing in my own hands, and he was using it to cause ruin upon countless Escalis. Lines of them crumpled as the squadron wreaked havoc with each pass.

  A thought occurred to me that never had before. We might not lose this battle.

  I didn’t know what the Escalis did, or how they did it, but a roar resonated across the entire ocean as the moat burst into flames. We all ducked down to avoid the blistering fire filling the air, but it burned down in haste so the flames only licked menacingly on top of the water. The next Escali to fall in looked to be falling into a pit of lava, flaming most brightly where the antiwater continued to spill.

  The archers on our battlement got back to their feet and were about to fire when we had to dive down again and avoid arrows the Escalis had launched up at our turrets. They didn’t fire them one volley at a time, but kept a continuous stream coming, pinning us down.

  The arrows suddenly stopped pelting the sides of the battlement, and when I peered over the edge, I saw why. The gigantic stone spider that lived over the entrance to Dincara had jumped onto the bridge and begun knocking Escalis into the water. I had no idea what had brought it to life, but it was an amazing force to be reckoned with. Several Escalis jumped onto its back, but it had eight swift and flexible legs that could pull them off while striking at any others close by.

  I jumped in surprise as somebody pulled at my shirt from behind and I turned around to see—

  “LEAF! What are you doing here?!”

  “I snuck over in an empty barrel. I’m going to help defend!” he said.

  “No,” I said harshly, “you’re going to get out of this city right now.”

  Archie ran over to us when he saw. “Leaf! You’re supposed to be with all the other kids!”

  “I know, but I wanted to help, and look,” he said as he pulled out a very worn dagger, “I even got a sword to kill the evil Escalis!”

  I heard a great splash and glanced quickly down to see the spider disappearing into the flaming water below. Shanking life. “Leaf, that won’t save you,” I said in exasperation, feeling tears of worry in the corners of my eyes.

  “Come over here,” Archie pulled Leaf over to the edge where he could look through the gaps in the wall and through the cloud of smoke to see the multitude of Escalis in the pit, on the bridge, climbing the walls, and those who were shooting down the aerial squadron on the other side of the bridge. Three of the dragons had been brought down already, and we watched a fourth crash into the Escali ranks. Those remaining were still grouped around the lead mage with my power.

  As Leaf’s eyes took in the battle and began to widen in fear, light exploded in the middle of the pit, announcing the appearance of Prince Avalask. He hovered over the battle for no more than a second before his outstretched arms used an amazing force to rip the entrance door out of the wall from a distance. He hurled the entire doorway at one of the combat dragons above the pit, killing it instantly.

  Sir Avery was on him in seconds, and the ensuing battle between the Epics became a blur, taken up into the sky, where the clouds darkened and stray fireballs and thunderbolts came hurtling down at the rest of us. Archie turned Leaf to face him and I could sense his frozen shock at the magnitude of the situation. He was suddenly not so eager to be involved.

  “Now listen to me,” Archie bent down until his face was level with Leaf’s, “Allie’s going to take you down to the escape tunnel, then you’re going to get away from this fortress as fast as you can. There will be no arguing whatsoever. Got it?”

  Leaf nodded quickly.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” I mumbled to Archie before I grabbed Leaf’s small hand.

  Archie took my other in a quick grasp, tight enough to kill a small animal. “I’ll see you soon,” he said.

  I nodded wordlessly and he let go. I turned with Leaf to dash down to the escape tunnels.

  The descent of stairs seemed immense as I heard crashes and screams outside the walls. We reached the end of the stairway and started across a long corridor, only to violently startle the mob stationed to guard the archer’s battlements. We hurried past, but stopped momentarily as a voice called out to us from the group.

  It was Jesse’s hateful tone, asking me, “Where are you going?” and thinking himself entitled to a response. I turned around and stopped for a moment, just long enough to cover Leaf’s ears and tell Jesse in a less than pleasant tone how much I cared about what he wanted to know. Then I proceeded on towards the tunnel entrance with Leaf in tow.

  We rounded a corner in the hallway just as a huge smash sounded behind us and another of the impenetrable doors was busted down. The sounds of outside’s battle clearly filtered into the fortress through the breach, and the din of the guard we had just passed echoed loudly off the walls. The Escalis were advancing quickly now that Prince Avalask had broken them in.

  Leaf was considerably slower than any Escali, and I began to worry that we might not make it to the tunnel before they caught up to us. Finally though, we rounded the last corner and flew into the room with the trapdoor, which I wrenched open for Leaf. He jumped down onto the ladder, and I quickly wished him luck and told him I’d see him when the battle was over. I slammed the door shut, and then tore back out into the hallway to rejoin where I could.

  I didn’t have to go far. At the first corner, two people smashed headfirst into the wall in front of me, both trying to inflict as much pain on the other as possible. I jumped in without hesitation and tried to pull the Escali off a man I didn’t recognize. The man was, of course, dazed by the collision with the wall and passed out within seconds, leaving me with an angry Escali.

  I jumped back and pulled out my short swords, not to attack with obviously, but to defend myself. The Escali turned toward me and either didn’t recognize that I was a Tally, or was really good at not showing it since he pulled out his own bladed staff and struck so fast that I almost lost my head. I would have lost some sort of limb in the next few seconds if not for my Tally reflexes. Before he struck again, somebody grabbed me roughly from behind and held a dagger to my throat. “Drop the swords,” she growled.

  I did and saw that further down the hall, the battle wasn’t going much better. The one who had been about to kill me growled at the loss of his prey, and my captor dragged me backwards around the corner, away from him. She opened a door and threw me inside, slamming it shut again so we were alone in a brightly lit room of book shelves.

  “Are you trying to die?” Tresca growled. I felt sudden relief when I saw her.

  “Thank you,” I said. Another crash sounded outside, making the walls rattle and dust fall from the ceiling beams.

  “You don’t leave the room until this is over,” she commanded, sheathing her dagger. “You’re far from being out of danger.”

  “What danger am I in now?” I asked. I had no intention of remaining with her, but I wondered what could be worse than the already dire situation.

  “Savaul and Gataan are here, and you have to pretend you’re a captive until the bitter end. I know them, and they won’t pass up the chance to accidentally kill you before this is over.”

  “Who says I’m going to be the captive? O
ur side could still pull through and hold Dincara,” I said. Tresca raised her eyebrows at me.

  “We’ll probably have the entire fortress in another ten minutes. The Shadow’s Doubt has already docked and your forces are falling. They did well preventing us from entering, but they can’t match us in battle now that we’re in.” Another blow outside shook more dust off the ceiling and two books toppled to the floor in a rustle of pages.

  “So what now?” I asked restlessly.

  “Now we wait,” she said. “When the fighting dies down, we’ll go back out, and you can be a prisoner along with everyone else.”

  “I can’t stay in here,” I said as another yell from outside penetrated the wall. “What am I supposed to do? Pace?”

  “Pace all you want. Pace a hole in the floor, but I’m not letting you leave to get yourself killed.”

  I tried that for a couple minutes. I tried pacing, I tried looking at the books lining the walls, but I couldn’t do it. I needed to know what was happening. I needed to be involved! What if we weren’t losing after all?

  Tresca was scanning through the titles and had her back turned to me, so I made my way slowly toward the door and silently turned the knob.

  “What will leaving here accomplish, Allie?” she asked without even turning to look at me.

  “I don’t know, but more than standing patiently will!”

  I wasn’t sure if she would let me go, so I opened the door and darted away from the library. The hallway ahead was empty, but I could hear sounds of a skirmish somewhere off to my left. I headed in the direction of the noise, but I couldn’t find anybody. I stooped and picked up my swords, which were still on the ground, and then the commotion I had been hearing suddenly stopped. I had no idea whether that was good or bad.

  Every corner I rounded filled me with dreadful anticipation, but I still found no one. I decided I might as well make my way back to the archer’s tower and start there. I walked cautiously, but the lack of noise on the way was disconcerting. Maybe the fortress had been taken. It was horrible not to know.

  I found a barred opening in the wall that looked into the pit, and quickly pressed my face into it. The battle hadn’t gone well in my absence. The remainder of the Escalis were now crossing the bridge unopposed and either climbing the sides of the pit to access the rest of Dincara, or entering through the gaping hole in the wall where Prince Avalask had extricated the door. Gigantic boulders littered the pit along with dead Escalis and a slain dragon. A group of about fifty Humans were on their knees in the middle, more so than were dead, but they were certainly unable to fight any longer. With a sunken heart I stepped back and turned around, violently startled to see Tresca had come up behind me as silently as falling dust.

  “It’s over, let’s go,” she said, holding the tip of her sword to my heart. I took a deep breath, swallowed my pride, and then dropped my swords on the ground at her feet.

  She marched me out to the pit and sat me down with the group of Humans already there. We were left to listen as the Escalis took the remainder of Dincara. Nobody could bear to look at each other.

  I could do nothing apart from bite my lip and wring my hands together behind my back as the shouts, clangs, and panicked voices echoed from the tower where I’d been stationed. The tower where Archie was still stationed.

  I had no idea if the Escalis had reached Liz yet.

  With my head hung low, I found myself whispering, “Please be alright. Please be alright.” More than anything I just wanted a hand to grasp right now, the bone crunching grip of somebody who could understand and share my overwhelming anxiety.

  Time truly seemed to freeze in that misery. I waited an eternity to find out what was happening, and only at the end of that eternity did the Escalis finally bring another group of Humans to sit with us in the pit. After what felt like years, they marched in another small crowd. However, the only person I recognized so far was Jesse.

  He clearly had tears in his eyes, and he coped by hissing through a sob, “Why did you have to survive?”

  “Stop talking,” one of the Escalis told him. I didn’t realize until later that he wouldn’t have understood the Escali, but he stopped talking all the same.

  I looked around to see who else I knew, and as they escorted in another group of captives I saw Archie, to more relief than I have ever known. He didn’t seem to like being put on his knees one bit, but I managed to get his attention.

  ‘Liz?’ I mouthed to him.

  He shook his head to say he hadn’t seen her.

  I dug my fingernails further into my palms, and then told him silently, ‘Sav and Gat are here.’ He frowned to say he couldn’t understand me. “Sav,” I whispered aloud—

  “And Gat?” he finished my thought, looking to the ground in worry.

  He asked me something in return, but I couldn’t tell what. Before he could repeat it, the Escalis made everyone get up to relocate so they could fit more people into the enclosed area. I immediately moved over next to Archie, and he whispered, “Did you see Sav and Gat?”

  “No, Tresca told me they’re here.”

  “Maybe we won’t run into them.”

  “They’re going to be looking for us.”

  “Nobody’s looking for us. Everybody’s been killed or captured.”

  “What?” I replied, confused by his answer. That wasn’t what I had been saying.

  “There is no rescue coming, because everybody’s in the same boat right now,” he continued.

  I stared at him for a second and then realized what he was doing. Jesse was next to us listening intently, so Archie had changed what he was saying for Jesse’s benefit. He couldn’t just save it for a less important time?

  “But what about the people back in Tabriel Vale? They could do something to help,” I played along impatiently.

  Sure enough, Jesse turned to me. “Nobody’s coming, Allie,” he said, “just give it up!” then he blazed away from us as though trying to distance himself. Archie and I were both glad to see him go, but realized we couldn’t risk talking with people around us. When the Escalis forced us to sit again, we did so silently.

  The worst news was that we had lost the battle, and a lot of lives with it. The good news, which I tried to dwell on, was that so many people had been captured alive, the Escalis couldn’t even fit them all in the entrance pit. The Escalis had hauled the dead combat dragon into the moat in an attempt to make more room. They had also stacked the boulders up for easy access to Dincara’s main outer level, but we still had more Humans alive than the entrance area could contain. Most of the Escalis were now discussing what to do with the survivors. They had a large variety of opinions, most of which disregarded Izfazara’s decision to keep everyone alive and well.

  “That’s Gramsaf, Izfazara’s brother, and the father of Sav and Gat,” Archie whispered, pointing to the leader of the Escali force, who was giving instructions to the Escalis near the shattered main gate. Among the group I spotted Sav’s jet-black hair, but Gat wasn’t with him. I pointed it out to Archie, and we both ducked as far from sight as we could.

  “Probably off killing survivors,” Archie muttered.

  The Escalis around Gramsaf split up, and each went a separate way into the crowd, getting everybody to their feet again to move them. In the commotion of standing, whispering, and fretting, somebody tapped me on the shoulder from behind and I turned around to see the last person I desired.

  “Your group will follow me.” Gat’s words were deep, gruff, and to the point, as though he wasn’t a fan of language. His black falcon, Gyr, had been perched on his arm, but took off at the sight of us.

  “Sorry,” Archie said furiously, stepping in front of me. “We don’t speak your stupid language.”

  “I’ll make it clear for you. From here over,” he put his arm in between us, “comes with me.” He put his hand on my arm for effect, and Archie grabbed Gat’s wrist in a flash while one of the younger girls nearby yelled, “Stop it, you’re going to get us
killed!”

  “You should listen to her,” Gat peered wickedly at Archie. I felt sick.

  “I’ll be okay,” I said as Archie’s thoughts whirred almost visibly, trying to come up with a solution. He suddenly let go of Gat and acted as though he wasn’t there.

  “Ok, keep yourself safe,” he said to me.

  “I… will,” I stammered, taken aback by his unexpected change of mind. He pushed away from us into the crowd, leaving me with Gat who seemed as confused as I was. Groups of people around us were being directed to climb up the boulders onto the upper level. Gat waited and waited, probably for Sav to show up. When the last of the groups climbed to the upper level, and we were the last ones remaining in the pit, Gat demanded the same of us.

  I hoped to lose him by climbing quickly up to the plaza and disappearing in the hustle, but I had no such luck. Gat tailed me closely. He was actually directing our group back to the shipyard like he was supposed to, where all the Humans from Dincara were being loaded onto their own ships. A few Human vessels had already launched into the bay and were just waiting on the rest to leave the dock and join them.

  I spotted Liz just as she saw me too. Yes, my heart grew immediately lighter, but I wished I hadn’t seen her because she surreptitiously left her own group to join mine.

  She said, “A girl in that other group thinks they’re probably sailing the ships out to sea to sink them. Get rid of us and our ships all in one.”

  “Yeah, maybe. Liz, I think it might be best if you pretend you don’t know me,” I whispered, eyeing Gat ahead of us.

  “What? Why?” she asked. Why did I always think I could hear suspicion in her tone now?

  “It’s just…” there weren’t many ways to explain without explaining everything. “I might be in more danger than you are, and I don’t want anyone to know we’re related.” There. I said it. Gat turned around and saw me talking to her, which sank my heart even further.