Gripping my sword tightly in front of me, I searched for any signs of movement. But the only sound meeting my ears was the softening footsteps of the others walking away. And then it was only the four of us. We reached another branch and Aurora looked towards me. I bit my lip, staring at her nervously, but it was she who nodded firmly, steeling her jaw as she turned and moved with Finn down a narrow twisting walkway, disappearing beyond a curve only a moment later.
I continued forward with Coal and though he didn’t touch me, I could feel his presence by my side, could feel the way my body wanted to gravitate towards his, to follow him. But I couldn’t. Sooner than I was ready, we reached the next branch. I glanced up at him. We had to split now; to continue in the same direction would be suspicious, though we were so far from the entry at this point, I wasn’t sure they could even see us anymore.
Coal hesitated for the briefest of seconds before reaching out and giving my hand a squeeze. Warm and reassuring, I grasped tightly, our eyes clinging to each other’s for a moment. With an almost imperceptible nod, our fingers slipped apart as he turned, and I listened as his heavy footsteps faded into the distance.
I was alone now.
I moved forward slowly, the pressure of the knife and sword attached to me more obvious than ever before. Hugging myself against a particularly damaged building, I peered around, searching intensely for any sign of movement. But there was none. I saw no one.
Thoughts began racing through my head as I crept forward. What would happen if I actually found any Rogues? Would I be able to kill them, as we were instructed? If they were attacking me, if it was my life versus theirs, then the answer was -- yes. Yes, I would. But what if they just stood there, defenseless. Then what?
I didn’t know the answer to that question.
I didn’t want to have to find out.
But as I rounded the next corner, it happened. Quick as a flash. A man, only ten paces from where I currently stood, darting away. I froze, watching as he ran several more feet before ducking into small nearby building. I twisted my head rapidly, hoping there was another Combatant who would follow him so I wouldn’t have to.
No such luck.
Swallowing the lump of fear building in my throat, I withdrew my sword, gripping it as tightly as I could. I quietly crept over to where he had disappeared and waited, surveying the area. The building was only one story tall and smaller than most. Hopefully there wouldn’t be many places inside he could hide. That would make it easier. Taking a deep breath, I realized it was now or never. And never wasn’t an option for me.
I darted forward through the doorway, sword held out in front of me, my other hand moving to rest over the hilt of the knife strapped to my thigh.
And staggered to a stop, letting out a small gasp.
Not one as I’d expected, but two males stood in front of me, their jaws dropping open in shock at my sudden entrance. Both stood taller than me, one slightly more than the other. Although thin, neither were scrawny. Limp strands of hair hung down past their shoulders, straggly and disheveled. Neither had seen a pair of scissors in several years by the looks of it. The shorter one held an arm out, his open palm facing me, motioning me to stop. Raised areas of purple scarred flesh wound its way down his entire limb.
The taller one, the one I’d chased after, was staring at me. Staring with such intensity. He opened his mouth, about to speak, and the first words that flashed through my mind were Scorch’s: ‘Do not listen to their lies… if you corner one, they will lie to you…Don’t or you will pay the price.’
Gritting my teeth, I stepped forward. It was me or them. And no matter how disgusted I felt by the mere thought of it, no matter how much of me would be ripped apart by taking another’s life, I wasn’t going to let them take mine.
And then the taller one said a single word. A single word that had every bone in my body go rigid, my breath still, my heart stutter. A single word that changed everything.
“Sage?”
Chapter 39
I stared at him in shocked disbelief. How could he possibly know my name?
“Sage, is that you?”
Another pulsating shock rocketed through me at the sound of my name on his lips. Leaning the tiniest bit closer to them, still not lowering my sword, I studied their faces.
There were slight familiarities there I hadn’t noticed before. The slate-colored eyes in the taller one. The narrow jawline and thin lips in the other. The looks of relief starting to play over their faces.
The sword landed on the ground with a crash as it slipped from my fingers. I stumbled backwards, tripping over a large crack in the stone floor and fell, landing hard on my bottom.
The taller one walked closer and bent, taking my fallen blade into his own hand. Passing it back towards the other boy, he knelt into a crouch before me. I whimpered, scurrying backwards, trying to put more distance between us, but only managed a couple feet before my back hit against a wall. His eyes raked over me, slowly brightening, like sun finally shining through storm clouds. “It’s true,” he whispered quietly.
The edges of my heart tugged painfully, each breath aching in my chest as I drew it in. I was looking at a ghost. Two of them.
Juniper.
And Shale, standing behind him.
They were alive. They were here. And only moments before, I’d been readying myself to run my sword through their flesh.
Moisture welled up in my eyes. Juniper cast a backwards glance towards Shale. “It’s her. It is really her.” Twisting around, he faced me once more. “Sage,” he said softly, as if trying not to frighten a small animal. “It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you.”
That’s when I started to laugh, and though they exchanged worried glances, I couldn’t stop. Because it was such a ridiculous thought.
“I know you won’t hurt me, Juniper,” I managed finally, speaking for the first time. A wide familiar grin spread across his face at the sound of his name and he rose to his feet, offering me his hand. I grabbed ahold and he pulled me up, dragging me forward against his warm chest, Shale wrapping his arm around my shoulders a moment later.
We clung to each other, limbs trembling, breaths hitching. Eventually we broke apart and stood silently. Staring, studying one another.
Both of them. Alive. Standing in front of me.
All these years later.
But as I continued to watch them, guilt reared its ugly head, ripping its way through me. From abandoning them four years beforehand to almost killing them moments ago. It slashed its way around inside until I could no longer stand it.
“I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry,” I whispered, my vision blurring as my eyes filled further with tears. “Please forgive me.”
Expressions of shock crossed their faces. “For what? What do you have to be sorry for?” Shale asked slowly.
“I deserted you. I didn’t go down the path with you. And…and you stopped, to see what happened to me. You got caught, waiting for me to join you. You were caught because of me!” I cried out, my breath hitching. “And now here I am, years later, coming after you. With a sword!” My eyes caught upon my blade, still dangling from Shale’s scarred hand. Bile rose in my throat. What had happened to him? To both of them?
With that, my eyes overflowed, tears streaking down my cheeks. Shale rushed up, trying to quiet me. Talking in a low voice, he hurriedly whispered, “No, Sage. Don’t say that. We still would have been caught, even if you came. Those guards were waiting for us. They knew what we were about to do. We had no chance.”
“We’re glad you stayed there,” Juniper added firmly. “Otherwise, instead of just us two, all three of us would have been trapped all these years. Don’t you dare blame yourself for what happened.”
They were talking just like Coal. And though his words had relieved some of the guilt I’d felt, hearing it from Shale and Juniper absolved it. Happiness that they were alive surged inside of me. But the moment was brief.
Running footsteps suddenly
sounded outside. Someone was coming. And they were close.
The gleaming point of a sword came through the doorway first, followed by an arm encased in black leather armory. A large boot moved around the corner. Brown hair swung through, followed by narrowed blue eyes.
Coal.
✽✽✽
The look on his face was pure fury as his eyes flashed around the room, assessing it rapidly, looking at each of us in turn. I gasped in surprise, realizing he must have been near enough that he heard me cry out.
When they landed on Shale, his eyes darkened further as they swept down. Coal tightened his grip on his blade, knuckles growing white from the force alone.
I twisted towards Shale, the fear inside me rising violently. He was still holding my sword. And had instinctively raised it towards Coal who now stepped forward menacingly.
“Coal, stop, you don’t understand!” I shouted, trying to get his attention, but he didn’t even give a glance in my direction. Instead, his eyes remained trained on Shale and Juniper.
“Sage, get out of here,” he bit out, his voice a low growl.
Nothing I could say would stop him in time. I knew that. But I had to get his attention somehow. So doing the very first thing that came to mind, I ran forward, positioning myself between him and Shale. And found myself staring down at the tip of Coal’s sword, pointed directly at my chest, wavering only inches from my body.
His eyes widened in shock, lips parting slightly as he inhaled a sharp breath. Immediately he lowered the blade, his sword dropping to his side. Relieved, I glanced back towards Shale. My sword still dangled from his disfigured hand.
“Put the sword on the ground, Shale.”
He looked at me, speechless at my words. “But…,” he sputtered.
I shot him a serious look. “Do it. Now.” The sword clattered to the floor a moment later and I let out a slow breath. At least now they couldn’t kill each other so easily.
“Sage!” Coal’s voice was sharp, grabbing my attention. “What are you doing?”
Though his whole body appeared rigid, a visible tremble jittered through his arms. He looked ready to attack them at any minute, with his bare hands alone.
“Coal, listen to me. Look at me.”
His gaze reluctantly traveled back towards my face. As he shoved the dark strands of hair from his eyes, I saw the beads of moisture gathered on his forehead, the nervous sheen of sweat. His blue eyes shone with agitation and fear. He didn’t understand. Not yet.
I cleared my throat, keeping my eyes trained on his. “Coal, I want you to meet Juniper and Shale.”
That one sentence had the impact I desired. Confusion reigned over his face. Stepping back, he stared at the three of us with suspicion.
“Juniper and Shale. Juniper and Shale?” He mumbled the names over and over, realization slowly growing in his eyes.
“You mean….,” his voice faltered.
I nodded in silence.
“But how? Why?”
“I don’t know. The only thing I know is that I was running after a Rogue and it turned out to be Juniper. You came in only moments after I did.”
He looked frustrated now, trying to make sense of this new information.
I turned back to the other two. Wary expressions marked their faces and I noticed that Shale kept glancing towards the ground where my sword now rested at his feet.
“Juniper. Shale. This is Coal. We were together during the Training and he came to Combatant with me. He is a friend and you can trust him.” Slowly nodding at my words, their posture relaxed. Barely. I looked over to Coal who had just replaced his sword into the sheath at his side.
“Okay,” he said slowly, forcing his voice to remain calm though I knew he was anything but. “I want to know what is going on right now. Sage told me about what happened the day you were taken. But why are you here?”
“What do you mean ‘why are we here’?” Juniper replied, a hint of bitterness touching his voice. “If you know what happened the day we were taken, then you know why we’re here.”
Coal’s lips pressed together in a thin line, annoyance simmering just below the surface. “I want to know how you ended up here. What happened during the time between that day four years ago when you were taken from Earth Society and the day you arrived here?”
“Nothing.”
An incredulous look passed over Coal’s face. Juniper rolled his eyes before continuing. “I’m serious. Nothing happened. We were brought here the same day they took us away. And they left us. No explanation. Nothing. Just left here to die. At the hands of Combatant trainees.”
My mouth dropped open. “This entire time? You’ve been here this entire time?” I gasped.
They both nodded grimly.
“But…it’s supposed to be only murderers, killers, who are living here. That’s what they told us.” My voice trembled as I thought back to Bay Winterton’s words.
Juniper’s expression grew stony as he stared at me. “They lied to you, Sage. No one here is like that.”
Horror filled me. Lies. More lies.
“But...but how did you survive?” stammered Coal. “How could you possibly survive this entire time when you have people coming through here, every few months, literally hunting you?”
A heavy pause lingered in the air as they looked towards each other. “We were lucky,” Juniper murmured. “We were very lucky.”
Shale stepped forward, pushing back his long, disheveled hair. “In the beginning, when we were brought here, that very first day actually, we befriended a couple from Air Society. They’d been here a long time. They showed us where to hide. And every time when the new Combatant trainees came through, we hid with them. We would never have made it without their help.” He paused a moment, then said, “They never did tell us what happened that forced them to come here, but after a while, it just didn’t matter anymore. They kept us safe.”
It didn’t escape me that he spoke about them in the past tense. Coal caught it too.
“Where are they now?” he asked slowly, as if he were afraid of the answer.
Shale shook his head, sadness growing clear in his eyes just before he turned from us, wandering towards the back corner of the nearly empty room we stood in. Juniper stared at him a moment before twisting back to face us.
“They aren’t here anymore. They were...they were killed. Several months ago.”
Silence. “What happened?” I asked quietly.
“The newest group of Combatant trainees was coming through. We were preparing to hide. But just as we were about to go, we heard a noise. A small girl was running around, crying out for help. Completely exposed. She was new, had just been dropped off the week prior and we thought she’d already taken shelter with the others. The woman from Air Society that we were with, Dove, ran out. Tried to get to her before the others did.”
He shook his head sadly. “We tried to stop her. Begged her to stay, but it was too late. Her husband, Skye, told us to stay put. And then ran after her.”
He stopped and looked down at the ground, swallowing with effort. Moisture gathered in his eyes and he dragged a hand across them, wiping it away roughly.
“The screams started only moments later.”
I stood there, my heart wrenching at the idea of everything they must have been gone through. Shale was still facing away from us, but I could see his shoulders heaving, his breaths unsteady at the weight of the memories.
“But how did you survive? How could you eat? How did you have clothes to stay warm?”
“They leave us supplies every few days. We’ve been saving what we could, gathering a stock of them in case they ever stop.”
“If you’ve been gathering supplies, why didn’t you ever try to escape from here?” Coal asked, curiously.
“We can’t escape. There isn’t a way to escape. There’s an electric wire barrier in place around the entire perimeter of the city. It’s always on, constantly. It’s impossible to leave.”
Co
al looked at me, his eyes narrowing, and I knew what he was thinking. What I was hoping. They turned the electricity off when we entered the Zone of Rogues. Maybe it remained off during our time here. But that thought faded as another entered my mind.
“I have another question,” I began, frowning at the two of them. “You said you always hide when the Combatants come through. That’s how you survived this entire time. So how was I able to find you? I mean, you ran out right in front of me Juniper. What if someone else had seen you? Why were you out in the open like that?”
He looked down at his feet, his worn shoes scraping against the rocky ground. “It’s stupid,” he said, shaking his head. “Honestly, I just thought we had more time. Most Combatants that come through here stay towards the front of the city. I was running back towards our usual hiding place when you caught sight of me.” He paused, then asked, “Why did you come so far back anyway, Sage?”
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know. I didn’t really think about it. I just…did.”
Juniper nodded slowly, and another beat of silence filled the air.
Suddenly, an image of Aurora and Finn still stumbling around this ancient city filled my mind. I had no idea where they were. Hopefully they were still together. A dark thought crossed through me. What if they found someone? What if they found someone and hurt them? Or worse.
“So, everyone here is innocent,” I whispered. “At least…no one is a mass murderer. No one has committed such heinous crimes that they deserve this sort of treatment. They are just as innocent as you and me.”
Juniper nodded in confirmation.
Well, that settled it.
I moved towards the doorway, looking back at the three of them. “We have to find Aurora and Finn and warn them. We have to stop them before they hurt anyone. They will never be able to forgive themselves if they end up killing an innocent person.”
Chapter 40
Leaving the confines of the small building, Coal and I led, swords drawn in front of us. I searched the street ahead, but there was no one in sight. The bright sun poured down, reflecting off the marble stone, and I squinted against its rays. I strained to hear anything indicating someone was nearby, but silence reigned.
Awakening Earth and Fire: Earth and Fire Trilogy Book 1 Page 35