by D. S. Murphy
“We actually set traps sometimes. Torches can store an infinite amount of energy, and once they become leeches they’re easier to kill, since they’re all alone,” Maddie said. “They get reckless. They’re dangerous, but not too bright. If we can bring one of them down, it’s enough to fuel a hundred devices.”
Puriel shifted uncomfortably and Maddie put her hand on his arm.
“You’re safe here,” she said. “A leech wouldn’t have passed through our defenses. Plus they always travel alone, though most torches do, too. And you lot are all human,” she gestured at the rest of us.
“Now why don’t you tell us who you are,” Taylor said gravely, crossing his arms. “Hunters usually avoid public confrontations. The less unexplained miracles that point to the existence of magic, the better. I’ve never seen them send a whole team like that, which leads me to believe there’s more to you than meets the eye. No offense, but you don’t seem all that remarkable to me.”
Puriel and I exchanged glances, but neither of us volunteered information. Maddie and her friends had saved us from the hunters, but that didn’t mean I trusted them. On the other hand, we still didn’t have any way to get to Europe to look for Zetico’s painting, and allies would be useful if we ran into more hunters.
“We want to stop Zeus,” I said finally, deciding to lay my cards on the table. “But we need to get to Italy.”
“You lot?” Taylor smiled. “What makes you think you have any chance at taking down Zeus? You couldn’t even handle a team of hunters. Besides, stopping Zeus is like trying to catch the wind. He’s basically pure energy. He can take a corporeal form, but even then, you couldn’t hurt him. With that much energy, he heals instantly.”
“Plus, nobody’s even seen him, like ever,” Madeline said. “He sends his hunters down to do his bidding. Stay with us for awhile, we’ll train you to fight. If you work together, you might be able to take out a hunter or two.”
“We have something he wants,” I said. “And we’re after something that can hurt him. With your help, we can end this war once and for all.”
The men who’d been driving the bikes had formed a circle around our group, and they huddled together, speaking quietly. Taylor said something to them, before turning to face us again.
“We’ll think about it,” he said. “In the meantime, relax, you’re safe here. My son Max will show you around. We’ll talk more tonight.”
Max was twenty-one, with dark hair and an easy smile. He led us to a couple of spare tents that were set up between some trees, with a view of the lake.
“You all get settled in,” Maddie said, stripping off her leather jacket and tight jeans. “I’m going for a swim.”
She walked straight into the water until it was up to her knees, then threw a coy look over her shoulder at Puriel and winked. He blushed and turned away quickly, pretending to inspect the woods. Of course he wanted her, she was practically Edenic. She exhuded raw sex appeal. She might as well have offered him a juicy apple.
Max offered to teach Sarah to fish, and the three of us sat watching the light ripple off the water until dusk. There was a casual sense of freedom here, I could feel it in the air. At Nevah, everyone was protected by Able’s magic. Here, they made their own. They were scavengers, scrapping artefacts and storing magic, and probably nomadid. But it was so peaceful here, it was easy to forget we were on the run.
“What if they decide not to help us?” Jessie asked finally. I’d been pondering the same question all afternoon, and I had an answer I knew she wouldn’t like.
“$800 is enough for a flight for one person,” I said. “I go by myself. I look at the painting, and I come back. Simple.”
“Don’t even think about it,” she said. “Plus, we still don’t know who sold us out. What if everything Jadius told us was a lie, just to kill time until the hunters got here? Even if the painting is real, he could have told the hunters about it also. They could be waiting for you there.”
“Going alone would not be smart,” Puriel agreed.
“What choice do we have?” I asked. “If Jadius did tell anyone else about the painting, then we need to get there quickly, before it disappears for another few centuries. And at least you’d be safe here. Look how happy Sarah is. Don’t you think this would be an amazing place to grow up?”
“You sound like you’re planning on ditching us here,” Jessie said. “Which would be an unforgivable offense. Sarah already has abandonment issues. You think leaving her behind would be good for her? She was a mess when you disappeared from JDRI. I can’t calm her the way you can. They had to put her in the basement for three days until she stopped wailing.”
My eyes widened. While I was at Nevah, dining with silver cutlery, Sarah had been locked up by herself.
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“No shit. But now you do. So don’t think you can sneak off to Europe on your own. You won’t be protecting her, and I don’t want to have to pick up the pieces or try to explain your absence to her. Not again.”
Jessie went to help gather wood for the campfire, leaving an awkward silence behind her.
“Still glad you decided to join us?” I joked, trying to relieve the tension. When he didn’t answer, I glanced over at him. His expression was so solemn it was almost pained, like he wrestling with himself. I wondered if he’d also been thinking of leaving. I couldn’t imagine what we’d do without him, but I also didn’t want him to feel trapped with us.
“You don’t have to stay, you know.” I said quietly. “We made a deal, and you kept your end of the bargain. You don’t owe me anything. You don’t have to be here—”
“It’s not that,” Puriel interrupted, turning towards me. His gaze was so intense I had trouble looking away. His eyes sparkled like amber crystals.
“You were right, before. I need this. Without a master, without a purpose, I would probably give in to my misery, my anger. I would rage against the world, consuming magic, trying to restore my former glory, when Zeus’s light flowed through me. But eventually I would lose myself, and become a mindless beast, preying on innocents. That is what I fear most of all.”
“But why help us? You’ve served Zeus your entire life, and we’re trying to take him down. Don’t you feel… conflicted?”
He breathed a sigh of relief then, and looked at me with wonderment.
“Yes,” Puriel said. “And it’s been eating me up from the inside. I’ve never felt conflicted loyalties before. I was made to serve Zeus with blind allegiance. To kill, without asking questions. But after spending time with others, with you…” he drifted off, looking out at the lake. I waited for him to finish his sentence, but instead he changed the subject.
“I don’t really believe that the shears exist. That Zeus is vulnerable, or that you could ever defeat him. The weight of something like that, the responsibility—deciding to kill a god. I wasn’t built for those kind of decisions. I can’t even begin to comprehend it. But I will protect you, and your friends, as best as I’m able, for as long as I can. I don’t know if it’s right. I was taught to obey, not to consider. But it will give me purpose, and prevent me from turning into a leech, especially now, when I’m vulnerable to temptation. For the moment, that’s all I can do.”
I didn’t know how to respond to Puriel’s confession. I was glad he was on our side, but if he didn’t believe in our mission, could I trust him when it mattered most?
“I haven’t actually decided to kill Zeus yet,” I said. “Because of my ability to see death, for most of my life people have seen me as a murderer. Even my own parents. That’s why I wear the gloves. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else’s life. I don’t want to bear the knowledge—who is going to die and how—and wonder whether, if I can’t save them, their blood is on my hands. I don’t want to kill anyone. I just want Sarah and Jessie protected. But I also only found out about magic recently. When Able told me about my abilities, and what he wanted me to do with them… I refused. I was actu
ally planning on leaving Nevah, before you told me that my friends were in danger.”
“But these people,” I said, gesturing at the camp. “All they want is to be left alone. The right to exist, without being hunted down and destroyed. I don’t think magic has to be evil. I think it depends on the person wielding it, and what they hope to achieve. If I had to pick a side in this war, I’d choose this one.”
The campfire was roaring now, and people were gathering around it. I heard laughter and the sound of a guitar. The sky was dark blue, and a handful of stars twinkled out patterns. Puriel and I sitting alone in the dark, sharing our intimate thoughts and fears with each other, it felt like we’d had a moment—like something out of a romantic movie.
“Can I ask you something else?” Puriel said. I felt his body shift next to me.
“Sure,” I said, biting my lip. My pulse raced with anticipation.
“What’s a wink mean?”
Crushing disappointment filled my chest, and then I felt stupid for getting my hopes up. What was I expecting anyway? Of course he was still thinking about Madeline’s saucy walk into the lake earlier. And it’s not like I’d let him touch me anyway.
“It’s a sign of… companionship,” I said. “Like, there’s a secret, and only the two of us know it, and nobody else does. We’re both inside the loop.”
“Like a conspiracy,” Puriel said.
“Kind of.”
“No wonder Zeus doesn’t like them.”
I shivered and rubbed my arms, then stood up to join the others by the fire. I was a little pissed at Puriel for ruining the moment, and a little angry at myself for fantasizing about something impossible. It was easy to forget that Puriel and I had been thrown together during tragic circumstances, and confuse emotional profoundity with something deeper.
My mood worsened as the night went on. Max was playing the guitar. He was younger and scrawnier than Taylor. Not small, just lean. His dark hair was shaved on the sides but long and unruly on top. He and Jessie seemed to be hitting it off.
And Madeline was all over Puriel, laughing and touching his arm. I wanted to hate her, but she wasn’t doing anything wrong. It’s not like Puriel and I were a thing. But watching everyone else having a good time just made me feel isolated and alone. Even Sarah, stuffing her face with roasted marshmallows, filled me with bittersweet melancholy. I found myself missing my brother. He would have been Sarah’s age now. He would have loved it here. I felt for the chunk of legos I wore around my neck, to remind me of him. Suddenly I felt exhausted. I said goodnight to Sarah and waved to Jessie. Puriel and Maddie, I ignored. They probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone. Then I returned to my tent and drifted off to sleep.
***
I woke up to a dark shadow gripping my shoulders. My eyes widened and I flailed my arms, until I was awake enough to recognize Jessie. She put a finger to her lips and helped me stand.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“We’ve got company.” We ducked between the tents and peered out at the open space in the center of camp. The fire had died down to burning embers, but I could see several figures standing around the fire. I recognize Taylor, talking with someone else who looked familiar. When he turned his head towards us, I recognized his face. Sitri.
I was unprepared for the flood of feelings I experienced at seeing him again. Relief. Joy. My first instinct was to run to him and confess everything. But then I saw the girl standing to his side, looking around at the tents. Priya. How could I tell her the truth—that Matt’s death was my fault. That I let Puriel loose. That I betrayed them all.
“We’re looking for a torch,” I heard Sitri say. “He killed one of the heirs at Nevah and kidnapped a girl. She’s very important to Able.”
“I haven’t seen them,” Taylor said crossing his arms. “Besides, why would we harbor a torch?”
“See, the funny thing is,” Priya said, “we got our hands on some surveillance footage from Seattle. It shows a redhead and a bunch of bikers helping them escape from a hunter attack, using an interesting device. So we figured, you know, it’s probably a bunch of seekers trying to help out.”
“This is one of the largest seeker communities,” Sitri continued. “If you did help them, we’re grateful. We’re actually prepared to offer a large reward—Able can give you more magic than you know what to do with. You just have to tell us where they are.”
Maddie grabbed my elbow and I jumped.
“Is it true?” she whispered. “Did he kidnap you?”
“No,” I said. “Kind of. It’s complicated.”
“Well you better get out of here. Unless you want a fight.” She nodded to the right, and I saw two torches creeping through the camp, checking tents. Sitri must be keeping Taylor busy so they could search for us.
“Where would we go?” Jessie asked.
“Florence, duh. We can get you there. Grab your shit and follow me.”
Puriel was watching Sitri from the darkness, with one hand on his sword. I waved at him to follow us. Jessie picked up Sarah, who was still half asleep, and we headed to the back of the camp, up a narrow path through the woods. We came to a small clearing with a large barn. Maddie opened the doors and I heard a rustling of feathers. I thought it was a chicken coop of some kind, until I saw them.
Giant, black birds, as big as horses, with feathers like obsidian. Their enormous claws scratched against the wood floor. One of them lifted its head, and I felt like it was sizing me up with its yellow eyes.
“Minokawa,” Maddie said. “These are the last of their kind. Legendary creatures, said to be able to swallow the sun and the moon. They can get you to Europe in a few hours.”
She grabbed what looked like a saddle and started strapping it onto the creature’s back.
“Um, no thanks?” I said.
“You don’t have a lot of options. It’s either this, or you go chat with your friends and sort your own problems out. Oh, and Max and I are coming with you.”
I was about to protest but she was already helping Sarah and Jessie into their saddles. A flash of metal caught my eye and I saw a pair of torches cutting through the trees towards us. There was a shout, and the minokawa beat their massive wings. The torches stumbled backwards. Puriel climbed on one of the minokawa, then reached down and offered me his hand. I took it just as Sitri came into the clearing. Our eyes connected and I could feel his confusion, staring at my gloved hand in Puriel’s white fingers, as he lifted me up onto the giant bird.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed. We took off, and I looked down to watch Sitri’s jaw drop open, and the trees bending under the dust kicked up from the beating of wings. Then we cleared the trees and were gone.
6
I was terrified for the first half hour, as the minokawa climbed impossibly high, and the landscape shrank away below us. We passed constellations of electricity—small towns and large cities as we made our way east. But once we’d crossed North America and started over the Atlantic ocean, everything was silent and dark.
Other than a half moon reflecting over the dark water, there was nothing for the eye to fix on in any direction. The minokawa flew silently, with only a quiet ruffling of their inky black feathers. I was afraid of hurting them at first, but during the rushed takeoff I reached deep around our ride’s neck and clung to the soft, wooly area underneath the plate-like armor of their feathers.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I called over to Maddie. She was riding another minokawa to our left. Sarah clung on behind her. I would rather have Sarah riding with me, but we hadn’t had time to choose our riding partners. Jessie was riding with Max. I could hear them chatting and every once in a while she giggled at something Max had said.
“This is right,” Maddie said. “Can’t you tell by the moon?” I had no idea where the moon was supposed to be, so I didn’t respond.
“How are we even controlling these things?” Puriel asked. He didn’t seem afraid of heights—he used to have wings himself,
after all. But without reins or anything to steer from, it was easy to feel like our trajectory was being decided for us.
“I told them where we were going before we left,” Maddie said.
“You told them?” I asked. “They understand you?”
“They can read minds,” Maddie said. “I just pictured where I wanted them to take us.”
The sun glimmered on the horizon as we neared London. I squealed when I recognized the Eye—the giant ferris wheel on the Thames River. Our minokawa felt my enthusiasm and swooped down for a closer look. We spotted Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, then followed the course of the river around past the Tower Bridge and Tower of London.
“I wish I had a camera right about now,” Jessie said.
“You’d probably drop it anyway,” I teased.
She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Can’t people down there see us?” Sarah asked. I thought she’d been asleep. It was past dawn now, maybe the light had woken her.
“Minokawa’s wings are reflective, kind of like a chameleon,” Maddie said. “That makes them nearly invisible.”
“Like Priya,” I mused, mostly to myself. Priya, who I’d widowed, and then run away from when she came to save me. The guilt burned in my stomach. Even if we managed to find the shears and return to Nevah safely, she’d want to kill Puriel for sure, and probably me as well—once she learned the truth.
Less than an hour later, the giant birds landed in Florence. They set us down in a wide garden, with wide pools around decorative fountains and dozens of outdoor statues.
“Boboli Gardens, and that’s the Palazzo Pitti,” Puriel said, pointing to a huge, three floor rectangular building that looked like a fortress. “We’re south of the Arno River. We just have to cross Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge, to get downtown.”
“You’ve been here before?” I asked.
“Once or twice,” he smirked. “Florence during the Renaissance was something to see.”