The Light Thief

by David Webb

  They stopped at one of the shacks, and Kira opened the door. Aniya followed her inside and closed the door as Kira lit a candle.

  The light illuminated a man who had been sitting down at a table in the pitch black.

  “Kira, you’re home!” The man stood up and slowly approached as a small red light crept across the floor. “And you’ve brought a visitor. Who’s this?” He looked in Aniya’s direction, but slightly over her head.

  “This is Aniya, Papa.”

  Aniya stretched forth a hand, but the man didn’t take it. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, withdrawing her hand.

  The man smiled. “Glad to have you here, young lady. My name is Urich, and you are welcome to join us for supper.” He turned to Kira. “I don’t suppose you brought bread?”

  “Sorry, Papa. The man with the bread didn’t come today. But I did bring you a present.” Kira grabbed her father’s hands and placed the leftover half of the apple in his palms, ignoring Aniya’s questioning glance.

  “What luck! It’s very difficult to make these treasures grow down here.” Urich took a large bite from the apple and took his time enjoying the snack. “Don’t worry about the bread, Kira. We can try again tomorrow.”

  Aniya pulled the package from her rucksack. “Actually, we brought something better.”

  “If my nose does not deceive me, that is mole meat!” Urich clapped his hands. “A rich dinner tonight indeed. Kira, would you start a fire?”

  Kira handed Aniya’s cloak back to her and walked across the room to a fire pit, grabbing a new shirt from a closet and clothing herself as she moved.

  Urich’s excitement over the mole meat was almost amusing to Aniya. Back in Holendast, it was the most readily available food, one that Aniya had grown accustomed to years ago. It was far from tasty, and the meat was difficult to cook without making it too tough to eat comfortably.

  But to a family that had next to nothing, it must have been rare to have the opportunity to enjoy mole meat for dinner.

  Aniya continued. “If you’ll accept this as payment, I was hoping to stay the night tonight.”

  Urich’s smile doubled in size. “A guest! Our luck is good today, Kira. You are most welcome to stay here as long as you need, child.”

  “And I would be happy to help in any way I can.”

  “Don’t worry about that, dear girl. Between me and Kira, we manage.” Urich took another bite of the apple, and Aniya couldn’t help but smile when juices slipped from his mouth as he tried to chew and grin at the same time.

  “Anything interesting happen today?” Urich turned and walked toward a small table as Kira stepped away from the fire and lit more candles.

  As he walked, Aniya again noticed the red light that flashed near the floor. In the candlelight, Aniya could now see the source of the red flash.

  Urich walked with a cane, but not for support. On the tip of the cane was a small light that flashed whenever the cane tapped the ground.

  She realized what his disability was, the reason he couldn’t work anymore. She realized that the light wasn’t for himself, but for other people—he couldn’t see it anyway.

  “No, just the usual.” Kira turned to Aniya, shaking her head.

  “Good. I heard a whipping all the way from here, and I feared the worst. I haven’t had to listen to that in months.” He turned back toward the girls. “Aniya, you are welcome to rest on my bed while I prepare supper. It will take some time, and if I’m not mistaken, given your breathing, you are quite tired.”

  Urich was right. Aniya’s legs ached from her earlier run, and the rest of her body was beginning to shut down as well, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. She carefully hugged her new friend and lay down on the bed Urich had indicated. Within seconds, she drifted into a deep sleep.

  24

  “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

  Aniya’s eyes slowly opened, revealing Kira standing above her.

  “How long did I sleep?” Aniya sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes.

  “Just a few hours,” Urich said from across the room, sitting on the other bed and fumbling with his shoes. “I asked Kira to wake you because I didn’t think you wanted your food to go cold. I’m sure you’re hungry by now, and it’s your food anyway.”

  Aniya smiled. “I’m happy to share with you. It’s the least I can do to repay you for the bed.”

  “Enjoy, and take care of Kira while I’m gone.” Urich stood up and shuffled toward the door.

  Kira frowned and left Aniya’s side. “Where are you going, Papa?”

  “We need food before morning, sweetheart. I doubt our friend’s stay is a permanent one, and her food will be leaving with her, I’m sure.”

  “But I can get what we need,” Kira said, pulling on his arm. “You don’t have to beg for us.”

  “I don’t like you doing it either, Kira, especially since it usually turns into you stealing. We both know how dangerous it is. I couldn’t bear for you to be whipped by the Silvers.”

  Kira bit her lip and hugged her father tightly, wincing as he returned the embrace.

  “I’ll be back later,” Urich said as he kissed Kira’s forehead.

  With that, he turned and left the shack, letting his daughter close the door behind him.

  When she was sure that the blind man was out of earshot, Aniya spoke. “I see why you didn’t tell him what happened earlier today, but I’m not so sure you should have hid it from him.”

  “It would hurt him more than it hurt me.”

  Aniya stood up and approached the table where Urich had left her food. “He’s your father. I just think it’s something he should know.”

  “What’s your father like?” Kira asked quickly, turning away.

  “He’s dead,” Aniya said, lowering her voice. She sat down and began stuffing her mouth so she wouldn’t have to elaborate.

  “Oh.” Kira sat down on her bed. “I’m sorry. When did it happen?”

  Aniya swallowed, horrible images racing through her mind. “Not long ago, actually. My mother died around the same time. I lost our home shortly after that, so that’s why I asked to stay the night. I’ve been wandering around, looking for a new place to call home.”

  She continued eating, somewhat impressed with her own improvisation, but her stomach churned as she recalled finding her parents dead just a few days earlier. The food was good, but her appetite was waning.

  “I’m very sorry,” Kira whispered. Then she perked up. “Well, I’ll have to ask Papa, but I’m sure he’d be more than happy to have you stay as long as you’d like. He really likes you, you know.”

  “You think so?”

  “He said you remind him of me, and I’m pretty sure he likes me a lot. So that’s something, right?” Kira beamed.

  “Well, I really like him too.” She finished eating, and she rose to wash her plate. “I would love to stay with you, but there’s things I need to do.” She took a jug of water from the counter and poured a small amount into her dirty bowl, letting the contents rinse out into a hole in the counter and onto the ground beneath the house. She then picked up a rag and wiped the bowl. “Do you know anything about the Hub?”

  “Where the Lightbringers come from?”

  “That’s the one. I need to go there.”

  “What in the Web for?” Kira’s eyes widened.

  Aniya grimaced. “I have friends there, and I need to bring them back.”

  “No one ever comes back from the Hub.” Kira grabbed Aniya’s arm. “Please don’t go there. You’ll get caught.”

  “I have to. If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t planning on taking the train. Too heavily guarded by the Silvers. But I was hoping maybe there’s another way?”

  It was a tough ask, especially of a child, but transportation was very restricted in Holendast. Maybe things were different here in Shyvale.

  “Well, there’s the caves, but they collapsed a long time ago.”

  That was out of the question. There was no
way to know if any tunnel was safe now.

  Kira shrugged. “That’s the only way I know of besides the train tunnel.”

  “Yeah,” Aniya said, sighing. “I thought so too.”

  She was trapped.

  There was no way she could make it on the train and out of Shyvale unseen. The only way into the Hub was back through the caves. Back past the Silver Guard.

  Even if Salvador had managed to defeat the Lightbringer invaders, Aniya would have no way of knowing. Besides, as soon as she stepped inside the tunnels, she would probably trigger the earthquakes near the entrance, which would undoubtedly warn the Silvers, whether or not they had taken over the caves. The quake devices may have been turned off temporarily to allow the Guard to sneak into the caves, but surely they would be turned back on to help them find her.

  She would have to wait until someone came looking for her.

  According to Tamisra, Salvador’s scouts would travel to the sectors every so often, so it wasn’t out of the question.

  Of course, that was assuming there was anyone left alive in the caves.

  So, her choices were either wait to be rescued or wait to be found by the Lightbringers.

  Aniya looked at Kira, who still seemed to be deep in thought about another way into the Hub. Aniya smiled. At least she had a friend in this new place.

  Let the waiting begin.

  Part III

  Confrontation

  25

  Two Weeks Later

  In the top floor of the Citadel, the Chancellor stood in front of a massive window, staring out at the Hub below.

  Thanks to the glow of the fires within, he could see smoke rising from countless factories in neat columns and rows on the valley floor. If there was any consolation amid these troubling times, it was that production would not cease. It didn’t take electricity to maintain most of the factories. Simple fire would do the trick.

  The Chancellor craned his neck, hearing a pop come from his spine. He licked his dry lips and sighed. Between the power outage and the saboteur’s sister, there seemed to be no end to the stress.

  He touched a device on the side of his head and activated his earpiece.

  “Add a session with Malena this week.”

  A female voice responded. “You already have a weekly appointment with the masseuse, sir. Are you sure you—”

  “Put it down. In fact, until things improve, schedule an additional one every week.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The Chancellor licked his lips again and went back to quietly surveying the Hub.

  “Your Excellency?”

  With a sigh, the Chancellor turned back toward the room for the first time in nearly ten minutes.

  A dozen men sat at the long table in the center of the room, most of them avoiding eye contact with the Chancellor. The one exception was one of his engineers looking back at him timidly, pointing his finger in the air.

  “We were discussing the power situation?” The man’s finger shook slightly as the Chancellor glared at him. After a moment, the man dropped his finger and looked down at the table. “I was just wondering if we were finished, sir.”

  The Chancellor remained silent and folded his arms.

  “But we can start again whenever you’re ready, sir. Sorry, sir.”

  At the far end of the table, a man in a gray cloak sighed and let his forehead fall into his palm, shaking his head slowly.

  After several more minutes of awkward silence, the Chancellor finally spoke.

  “Come here, Mr. Stroud.” He laced his words with a sweet, disarming tone, and he beckoned with a finger gently.

  The man who had interrupted the Chancellor froze.

  “Come now, I don’t bite.”

  Slowly, the engineer stood up and joined the Chancellor at the window.

  The Chancellor threw an arm around Stroud, grinning as the man flinched. With his other hand, he waved grandiosely at the window.

  “This is the best view in the whole Web. Thanks to this massive window, I get to enjoy an inspiring panorama that excites and calms the spirit all at once. From here, I can see the entire Hub, working in perfect synchronization to maintain and improve our beloved world. I see the scanners zipping through the air, guarding our borders and protecting our assets. And when we have power, that glorious power which two weeks ago you assured me would only take days to fix, I see the ceiling gently turning, painting the sky with a magnificent spectacle to die for.”

  The Chancellor turned to face the engineer. “Surely, you can understand why I am so entranced by the sight of it all. Can you not?”

  Stroud nodded as sweat dripped from his head. “Yes, your Excellency. I mean, no, your Excellency. Wait. I mean—”

  The Chancellor laughed. “I know what you meant. I know you’re new to your position—congratulations on the promotion, by the way—and if you do well, I just might have a similar window installed in your office a few floors down. Be careful, though. These things are rather fragile. Mine actually broke just a couple weeks ago.” He shook his head slowly. “The most tragic incident. Not long after he failed me and the Web was plunged into darkness, your old boss stumbled and broke my window.”

  As the engineer’s eyes grew wide, the Chancellor nodded.

  “That’s right. I couldn’t believe it myself. Ceiling to floor, the whole thing shattered. The poor man fell all the way to the base of the Citadel. It took the janitors hours to clean the mess up. A true tragedy, I know—these windows are quite expensive. What a waste.”

  Stroud’s lip quivered. “I won’t fail you, your Excellency.”

  “Tsk, tsk, don’t say that. The power should be restored by now, no? You already have failed me. You’re turning out to be just like your predecessor.” The Chancellor gasped as his eyes widened. “Believe it or not, he liked to interrupt me during board meetings as well. I’ll tell you what, Stroud. The similarities between the two of you are quite striking.”

  “I’m sorry, your Excellency.” Stroud backed away from the Chancellor. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me, your Excellency.”

  The Chancellor’s grin grew broader as the engineer stumbled back toward the table and sank into his seat. He turned back to the window, licked his lips, and took a deep breath.

  “There appears to be no lasting damage to the reactor, you’ve bypassed the corrupted pillar, you improved the failsafe on the reactor, system strain is down to twenty-five percent, you should have the power back on tomorrow, and this will never happen again.”

  He turned back around to the table and glared at Stroud. “Am I missing anything?”

  Stroud shook his head rapidly.

  “Good. Then we are ready to continue.”

  An audible sigh escaped Stroud’s lips as the rest of the table stirred.

  After stalling for one more moment, the Chancellor waved his hand as he forced down a smirk. “Dismissed.”

  Without a word, the men stood up from the table and left the room, leaving behind only the Chancellor and the man in the gray cloak on the other end of the table.

  “I’m glad they know better than to complain by now,” the Chancellor said, his smirk breaking through.

  The man in the gray cloak stood up and gathered the notes he had spread out on the table. “I’m surprised it’s taken them this long.” He paused and frowned. “Did you really throw Peterson out the window?”

  “Of course not,” the Chancellor said. “I took him out to the balcony and pushed him over the edge. You think I’d destroy this window? Who knows how long it would take for them to make another?”

  “Good point,” the man said. “Can I offer you some advice?”

  “That’s your job, isn’t it?”

  “Indeed. Maybe you should lay off the killing in times like these. For all we know, Peterson could have restarted the reactor by now.”

  “You think I like killing?” The Chancellor grimaced. “My dear Adviser, you should know by now that I only do it when necessa
ry. I barely have the stomach for such acts of violence. You know how I feel about the horrible work we do. You weren’t around then, but I suggested another way a long time ago.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  “But people understand violence. They understand fear.” The Chancellor turned back to the window. “It’s the only way to lead people like this.”

  His Adviser joined him at the window. “It didn’t have to be. You didn’t have to do this the hard way. If you hadn’t turned off the suppressants—”

  The Chancellor waved his hand, and his Adviser closed his mouth.

  “Anyone can lead a Web full of mindless robots. I must understand opposition, embrace it, and overcome it if I am to be a true leader.” The Chancellor nodded solemnly. “It’s what the Web deserves.”

  “Yes, your Excellency.”

  A muffled beep came from the Adviser’s belt, and he raised a finger.

  “A moment, sir. That would be your operative.”

  The Chancellor laughed. “My operative? Given the liberties he’s been taking with my orders, I wonder if my claim on him hasn’t expired.”

  “Tell me about it.” His Adviser stepped aside and pulled his communicator from his pocket. “Go.”

  The Chancellor ignored the discussion behind him and continued surveying the sector below.

  His Adviser could never understand. The intricacies of leadership had taken years for the Chancellor to learn, a lifetime to master. The sacrifices he had made were inconceivable to those who had not been forced to make them.

  To lead is to be misunderstood, the Chancellor recited in his head. It was the mantra by which he had lived for decades. This had turned out to be the case time and time again, and by now, the Chancellor expected no less.

  Such was the curse of leadership, and it was a burden that he bore with pride in times like these. He knew that few others would have the strength to make the impossible decisions that faced him every day.