Outlier

by L. J. Hachmeister

  The old woman stiffened, but as Sen continued to work, she eased up. “You’re a strange one, you know that?”

  After finishing, Sen reached into her satchel and pulled out one of the strings that had held down the cherry dumplings inside the rice paper and used that to tie off her work. “Better.”

  “Better?”

  “Yes.”

  Natsugra shook her head but didn’t undo Sen’s creation. “Go now. The storm has almost passed, and I must keep my focus on Chenzin.”

  “Okay,” Sen said, sitting back on her heels and staring at the ground.

  Running her fingers along her new braids, Natsugra studied Sen’s face, and deduced her worry. “Nya asked you to go with her, didn’t she? Is that why you came to my tent?”

  Sen nodded.

  “I see. You’re worried why she wants you?”

  Picking at the toe of her boots, Sen sighed. “Not me. She wants Akoto. It’s not like I’m a fighter.”

  “Maybe not like Nya, no.”

  Sen couldn’t find the words to go on. Instead, she dropped her gaze so that the medicine woman wouldn’t see what she couldn’t express.

  “You don’t want to go back at all,” Natsugra said.

  “I want to make sure my parents are okay, but…”

  “Being afraid doesn’t mean you’re a coward, Sen.”

  “You don’t know my father,” she whispered. Shame made her hesitate. No—Natsugra has to know. They should all know.

  She removed her boots and socks, and held up one foot at a time for the medicine woman to see.

  “You tried to channel lightning?” Natsugra said, inspecting the exit wounds on her feet and then reaching for her hands.

  “My father insisted that I practice.”

  Tracing the branching scars on her Sen’s palms, she didn’t accept what she saw. “Even before your Determining? How could he know you were favored for the Guild?”

  He didn’t, she thought, too embarrassed to answer out loud.

  “What he did is forbidden. You could have been killed!”

  Sen took back her hands and sandwiched them in her armpits. “That doesn’t matter. The Guild, and upholding his denom’s place as the greatest world power, is all that he cares about.”

  “How does electrocuting his only child make the Guild strong?”

  “He wanted to prepare me. For battle, I guess. To be stronger. To be like him.”

  “I see,” Natsugra said, her voice quieting.

  As the rain continued to patter against the tent cloth, Sen listened for thunder and watched for a flash of lightning, but none came. The battle’s over.

  That meant that Nya would want to leave soon—if she hadn’t already talked to Osan, and gathered Sahib and Kaden.

  Natsugra folded her hands across her lap. “Why did you come to me, Sen?”

  Lips trembling, she forced herself to look up as she pleaded for her best friend. “Will you watch over Akoto if I get taken back? He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  Natsugra reached around Sen and pulled back the front flap to the tent. Breaks in the clouds allowed for beams of yellow sunlight to fall from the sky and illuminate the wet sand and dirt.

  “He seems just fine on his own,” the medicine woman observed. Growling and digging at the base of a weeping cacti, the gigantic black beast uncovered a nest of squirming white grubs. Within seconds he devoured the entire nest, and the unprotected roots of the cacti. “Even if he doesn’t have the best tastes.”

  “Please,” Sen said, tugging on the end of Natsugra’s dress.

  “Fine,” she huffed, squaring herself back to Chenzin and shooing Sen with a wave of her hand. “Be off now. Stop pestering me.”

  Sen paused before ducking out of the tent, feeling something left unfinished. As she crawled back to Natsugra’s side, she gazed upon Chenzin, drawing closer and closer to the sick woman’s body until she found herself holding her icy hand.

  “What are you doing?” Natsugra asked.

  If she had an answer, she would have responded, but Sen didn’t know herself what force drew her in.

  Sensing a distinct gap between herself and Chenzin, one much greater than the space between them appeared, she called out, only to surprise herself by projecting the thought instead of speaking the words. Hello?

  No answer.

  Stupid—what did I expect? she thought, ready to pull away.

  But then she saw something, a twinkle of light superimposed against Chenzin’s chest. Without thinking, she reached out, grasping for what couldn’t exist, feeling ridiculous as her fingers raked through air, and then came to rest on the sick woman’s chest.

  “Sen—what is this?” Natsugra said, pulling her hand off and holding her away.

  “S-sorry, I don’t know,” she said, cheeks burning red. “I thought I…”

  What’s wrong with me?

  A thousand excuses ran through her head. Maybe there’s still cradel poison in me—I’m hallucinating. No, it’s from Nya’s mixed-up medicine.

  I’m crazy. Stupid. I don’t know—

  “Chenzin?” Natsugra said, bending over the sick woman.

  Chest rising and falling more rapidly, Chenzin’s limbs tensed, her hands and feet curling in on themselves.

  “Give me that,” Natsugra said, pointing to the wooden bowl full of a purplish ground paste. “Hurry!”

  Sen knocked over all of the bowls and pitchers in between, but managed to grab what Natsugra wanted and handed it to her just as Chenzin arched back, all of the muscles in her neck bulging and taut. Taking a scoop of the paste with her fingers, the medicine woman applied it to Chenzin’s lips, chanting in a foreign tongue.

  “Give me your hand,” Natsugra said.

  Sen complied, allowing the medicine woman to raise her left arm, following suit with her right as Natsugra’s chants escalated.

  Frightened, Sen shut her eyes and held her breath. Did I hurt her? What did I do?

  The same light, much brighter than before, appeared behind her closed lids, illuminating the outline of Chenzin’s body. Next to her, a second light emerged, one that gave form to Natsugra.

  Sen squeezed her eyes shut even harder. Not real—

  Golden light branched out from her chest, connecting with the shining stars to her left and in front of her. A wave of energy stole the breath from her lungs, and she gulped for air, opening her eyes and lurching forward.

  “I’m sorry,” she said between breaths. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “Be quiet,” Natsugra said, leaning down and putting her ear to Chenzin’s lips. The sick woman, no longer animated or tense, laid in front of them unmoving.

  Heart beating in her ears, Sen waited for what felt like eternity. Please be okay. Please be okay!

  Chenzin gasped, and sat up at the waist, eyes wider than saucers.

  “Peace, Chenzin,” Natsugra said, trying to get her to lie back down. “You’re safe.”

  “Stars, no sky …” the sick woman said, her voice rising and falling. Turning her head, she saw Sen, tears brimming over her eyelids. “You… sunlight…”

  Natsugra mirrored Sen’s confusion as she tried to quiet Chenzin. “Please—”

  “So beautiful,” Chenzin said, reaching out to Sen with quivering fingers.

  Feeling the pulse in Chenzin’s wrist, Natsugra’s insistence turned to panic. “Your heartrate is too high, Chenzin. Please, you must lay back!”

  But no matter what Natsugra tried, Chenzin stayed sitting up, her eyes locked on Sen, arms extended. Torn between what she felt and what she feared, Sen froze in place, not knowing what to do.

  “Na…nas…” Chenzin sputtered, her arms dropping to her side. Falling back, Chenzin’s eyes rolled around in their sockets.

  “What’s she saying?” Natsugra said, bracing the woman’s shoulders.

  “…ci…nas…ci.”

  Sen tilted her head to the side. “Nasci?”

  “No—that’s not possible—”

>   A sigh, long and relaxed, escaped from Chenzin’s lips. Her eyelids closed, and her movements stilled.

  Natsugra laid her hand on Chenzin’s face and whispered a prayer in her native tongue.

  “Is she…?”

  The old medicine woman pulled an animal skin blanket up over Chenzin’s face. “She’s gone.”

  Sen’s legs took charge before her mind could catch up. Bursting out of the tent, Sen sprinted into the rain, the droplets hitting her exposed skin like cold needles.

  What did I do? Guilt clawed at her heart, making her legs pump even faster. I killed her!

  Directionless, she didn’t care where she went, as long as she got as far away as she could from the red sands and dirt, the imposing judgements of the towering rock spires, and the whispered words of the dying woman.

  Stars, no sky—

  Sunlight.

  Nasci…

  Running faster, she came upon the last of the Chakoan tents. Nya and Osan stood outside arguing but stopped when she sprinted by. “Sen! Where are you going?”

  Ignoring Nya’s shouts, she ran even faster, her lungs burning, her eyes blurring with wind, rain and tears. A dark shadow appeared just behind her, but she didn’t need to look back, hearing his limping gait and occasional snort.

  Akoto—

  Canine jaws clamped around her ankle. Falling forward, she face-planted into the ground, sucking in sand into her nose and mouth. Coughing, she yanked her leg back and freed herself, only to have him bat her back and hold her down at the chest with his giant paw.

  His baritone growl rumbled across the desert, shocking the cry from her lips. Teeth bared, he raised his hackles, pressing down on his paw to her chest.

  Can’t breathe—

  Pounding her fists against his paw, she squeaked out her last breath. “Get off!”

  Dark spots danced across her vision.

  Why?! You’re my friend!

  Lowering his head to hers, she saw into his eyes, one scarred and pale, the other clear yellow as the sun. The distance between them vanished as did the pain of his weight on her chest and the grating sand against her skin. As the world stilled, she heard her mother’s voice whisper across the expanse.

  Nasci…

  Chapter 10

  Twin blades drawn, Nya soared through the air, ready to deal a death blow to Sen’s attacker. Forgetting everything else—Sen’s professed friendship with the midnight beast, the strange bond between the two—she zeroed in on the meat of his neck where sliceable arteries would make for a quick kill.

  But as she came down, time slowed, so much that she perceived more than just her target, but the animated world around her; the wind soughing through the spires, rain still sprinkling from the skies and hitting her cheeks, the insect sibilance humming across the desert sands. Her own heartbeat transformed into a visible pulse behind her eyes, and the sweat flying off her forehead and the back of her neck connected her to the environment around her.

  Akoto snapped his head in her direction just as her blades hissed down within inches of his neck. As soon as she saw into his golden eye, an explosion of light, energy and sound blasted her away. She hit the ground hard, knocking the air from her lungs, and tumbled across the sands, losing her weapons in the fray.

  She looked up, vision see-sawing. A fire-yellow halo swirled in and around Sen and Akoto, binding them together as the beast growled and bared his teeth at the young outcast.

  “Nya!”

  The chief’s strong arms got her to her feet, but she couldn’t seem to make them work. Leaning on Osan’s shoulder, she watched in silenced awe as Sen hugged Akoto’s paw and rested her forehead against his muzzle. The light around them surged, then faded away.

  Other clan members caught up, standing beside them, weapons drawn.

  “What happened?” Kaden said, axes in hand.

  “I don’t… Akoto… light… exploded,” Nya tried, but she couldn’t organize her racing thoughts into an intelligible sentence.

  “Sen!” Sahib took a few steps closer to Akoto and Sen than the others braved. “Are you okay?”

  Sen looked their direction, a confused expression upon her face until Akoto released her, and she rolled out from beneath his paw.

  “Sen! Explain yourself,” Osan demanded, handing Nya over to Kaden. Keeping his walking stick out in front of him, he approached the strange girl and her beast. Sahib trailed close behind the chief, notching an arrow in his bow. Infuriated, Nya shoved off Kaden and stumbled to her weapons lying in the sand, picking them up and teetering to the side as she tried to assume an attack stance.

  “Nasci!”

  The old medicine woman’s cry pierced the frenzy.

  “What did you say?” Osan put out his hands to stop his advancing warriors.

  Nya looked back and forth between Osan, Sen, and Natsugra.

  What the… did Natsugra braid her beard?

  “Don’t harm either of them,” the medicine woman said, hobbling along as fast as her arthritic knees would carry her. “I saw something—we all saw something.”

  Osan huffed. “And you believe ‘nasci?’ There hasn’t been one in a millennium.”

  Kaden and Sahib acted just as dismissive. “It’s that monster!”

  “Maybe he’s from the Wastes—could be a mutant of some sort.”

  Other clan members gathered around, whispering and pointing at the young outcast still hiding beneath the midnight beast. Sensing the rising tension, Nya reaffirmed her grips on her blades, and dug her heels into the sand, ready for even the slightest provocation to battle.

  “Don’t hurt him,” Sen said. Her feeble voice hardened as she knotted her fingers into Akoto’s fur. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Then why did he attack you?” Nya said.

  “He didn’t. Well, no. He was…” Close to tears, Sen struggled for every word. “He stopped me from running away. I got scared. Sorry.”

  “All of you—go back to your tents, now,” Osan ordered. “Nya, Natsugra—stay here.”

  As the rest of the clan returned to the tents, Nya kept her eyes on Sen and the beast.

  Something’s changed. She sensed it in her gut, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what as she stared down the girl. Nothing in Sen’s eyes, or the awkward way she carried her skinny frame; just something around or about her—a spark in the air, a new lightness to her step.

  “Stand your beast down,” Osan said as Akoto stood protectively over Sen.

  Whispering to Akoto and pulling on his fur, she got the dark giant to lay down behind her, though he let loose an unusually long grumble.

  Finally feeling steady, Nya re-sheathed her swords, but kept her hands by the throwing knives strapped to her waist as she joined Osan’s side across from Sen.

  “Sit,” Osan commanded. He waited until Sen, Nya, and Natsugra took their places until he assumed his cross-legged posture.

  “Do you know what a nasci is, Sen?” the chief said, watching her every move.

  Stupid question, Nya thought. No kid ever knows about that dumb legend until they escape the wall.

  To her surprise, Sen nodded. “My mom told me about it once, but she made me swear not to speak of it, especially in front of my father.”

  Osan looked as shocked as Nya felt. “What do you know?”

  “She said that a ‘nasci’ is an emergent being; the first person to form a harmonic bond with a spirit. Someone who awakens a power.”

  “She’s right. There hasn’t been a nasci since the awakening of the last denom, the Swarm, over 1,000 years ago. And as far as the people inside the wall are concerned, there are only the five denoms: Virids, Lightning Guild, Order of Nezra, Swarm, and the Shifters. To even speak of a sixth denom inside the Realm would mean lifetime imprisonment. I’m curious: how would your mother come to know this? Only we shadowless can whisper of such legends.”

  Sen wound the frayed ends of her shirt around her fingers. “Dunno. Maybe because she needed find somethin
g to believe in. About my uncle, about me.”

  The sadness embedded in Sen’s words made Nya cringe, then curse. “Rubbish,” she said, smacking the ground with her hand. “It’s the beast, for bloody sake. That thing isn’t from these lands. Kaden’s right—what if he’s from the Wastes? What if he’s some sort of mutant with new disease?”

  “Nya—” Osan said, raising his hands to calm her.

  “No—there’s no way that kid is a nasci. To even entertain that idea is an insult to every Outlier that’s ever lived and died out here!”

  Sen’s shoulders got lower, her brow knitting together, but Nya didn’t care if she hurt the kid’s feelings. A nascent being wasn’t anything to joke about. It opened up possibilities she didn’t want to consider, especially after learning to survive on the one thing she could always count on in the harsh outlands.

  “Set aside your anger, Nya, and consider what we all saw,” Osan said. “That light surrounded both of them.”

  “And you did something to Chenzin,” Natsugra added, looking at Sen. “She came back, if only for a moment.”

  Nya flung a handful of sand outside their circle. “This is a waste of time. Don’t you remember Ostora, Kenzin, or Eray?”

  “Who are they?” Sen interjected.

  “Dumb kids—like you—from other clans. Everyone thought they were nasci—that they could elevate all of us from shadowless to… to…”

  She couldn’t think of what.

  “Screw it!”

  Storming back toward camp, Nya determined not to let any more distractions stop her mission. Not the weather, not Osan—and certainly not some stupid kid.

  “Nya?” Kaden said as soon as she rounded the tents and came to the central fire. Both he and Sahib sat cross-legged, sharpening their weapons with their backpacks stuffed and ready to go besides them.

  “We’re going. Now.”

  But both warriors looked past her, eyes narrowing, no longer interested in tending their weapons or listening to her command.

  Instinct kicked in. In one fluid motion, she spun around and drew her swords, ready to take down whatever diverted their attention.

  “Sulo, no—”

  The words barely left her mouth as she sprinted toward the bully bear stumbling across the sands. Bloody and beaten, she wouldn’t have recognized him if not for the sharp green of his eyes, and what remained of the golden quills descending his back.