Fire

by Cheryl Twaddle

  "And it's still hidden?" asked Robert.

  "Yes," answered Gregorius.

  "That's nice, but it still doesn't explain Amelia's knowledge of the portal," I pointed out.

  "That was Mitchell's doing," Gregorius smiled. "He's the one who wrote the legends, anonymously, of course. The legends foretell the return of the Fire People, that they will come from different worlds through a portal into the city. They will make their judgements on the people of Algar and pass their sentence on the guilty."

  "Pretty dramatic," I said.

  "It was meant as a warning to the Huxleys," he said. "He wanted to make sure that their murder of these beings did not go unnoticed and that, one day, they'd pay."

  "So, how does Faelen fit into all of this?" I asked.

  "I told you, Faelen is a Returner," he said. "His job is to gather a group of people who can help him change the future of our world before the Corrupters take over."

  "Who are the people he chose for his group?" asked Colonel Al.

  "You are," he said, indicating all of us with a sweep of his hand. "Well, not all of you, but most of you. The rest are bonuses. He told me he selected you very carefully."

  "What do you mean, he selected us?" I asked.

  "I'll have to let him tell you that," he said.

  "How is he going to tell us?" I asked. "Is he coming to visit us here in jail?"

  "You'll see," said Gregorius. "I think you should get some rest. It might be a long night." He walked back to his cot and sat down, resting his head against the wall and closing his eyes.

  Chapter 16

  Max and Howling Wolf

  Max started to wake up and felt the sun on his face. It was morning already? He must have passed out after he saw Barker in the tall grass. Seeing the dog that Nicky loved so much had given him a small amount of solace. He wasn't alone. Even though Barker was just a dog, he was a part of their group and had not given up on him.

  He opened his eyes just a bit and saw that he was still facing the tall grass, his back to the rest of the men. He quickly closed his eyes again; if Howling Wolf thought he was asleep, maybe he'd leave him alone. He really didn't want to be kicked or punched at the moment. The longer he could avoid more physical abuse, the better. Instead, he tried to listen to the men around him. Maybe he'd hear what their next move would be. Obviously his friends had not come back through the portal to rescue him. Maybe they couldn't or maybe they wouldn't. It was just as well, unless they came back with an army, there was no point. With Howling Wolf and his men now camped out by the portal, anyone suddenly appearing in the middle of this field would be met with guns, arrows and anything else they could get their hands on. He wondered if Barker knew of any other portals. He seemed to know all about this one and if he could have talked, probably could have gotten everyone here a little quicker. The dog seemed to know an awful lot about this world.

  "I think we should just kill the guy and be done with it." Max heard one of the men say. "It's cold out here and there's a perfectly good house back there. I bet we could all fit in it, most of us, anyway."

  "Yeah, but who do you think decides that?" said another.

  "He does," said the first one and Max could detect a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Could these men be starting to question their leader? He knew that leadership by fear could only last for so long. Maybe a little longer down here but, sooner or later someone would get fed up and fight back. Howling Wolf had always been good at picking his followers. He only picked those who were already broken and would do anything they were told. He wanted people who he could manipulate into believing that their only chance of survival down here was to follow him and his gods. If anyone started to question his motives, he would sacrifice them in front of everyone to let them know who was in charge.

  Usually, when you have a leader like Howling Wolf, there's someone who wants to be their second in command. Someone who wants to put themselves above everyone else but still below the leader. Men like this are loyal when they have to be but, given the opportunity, will take the leadership for themselves. Howling Wolf never allowed that. His hatred for everyone kept him on his own with no deputy to help him plan his battles. No assistant to discuss what should be done next. So, being that he couldn't possibly hear every conversation going on and he didn't trust or want anyone else helping him, he had no idea his men were starting to question his motive for keeping Max alive or that they were wondering why they were wasting their time waiting for six people to suddenly reappear. Max liked this little wave of uncertainty. If he could, he'd use it.

  "That's right, he does," said the second man. "And if he hears you questioning him, you know what will happen."

  "Yeah," said the first but Max didn't hear any fear in his voice. "I don't get why we don't just rush him and kill him."

  "I'd be glad to but he's got all of them believing he's on a first name basis with whatever god sent us down here," said the second.

  "Bullshit," said the first, trying to keep his voice down. "You and I both know there's no god here. This place isn't anything like heaven, it's hell and, if anyone has any power down here, it's Satan and that man is his lackey. A scary, sadistic lackey but a lackey just the same."

  Max tried not to smile but it was hard not to. Could there really be dissent in the Blood Demon camp. He knew that only a fraction of Howling Wolf's men had come north with him. He had no idea where the rest of them were but, if he had to guess, he'd say that Howling Wolf convinced them to either stay where they were or head off somewhere else. Maybe he actually believed he would settle in these lands and didn't want to share it with so many men. Maybe he would get rid of these men, too. His thoughts were interrupted by the icy voice of Howling Wolf. The two men had not been as quiet as they should have been.

  "Questioning the gods is not a good thing," he said, obviously catching the two men off guard.

  "We weren't questioning the gods," said the man who had spoken first. "We're just trying to keep warm is all."

  "No?" Howling Wolf said. "I didn't hear you call this world hell?"

  "Well, yeah," said the same man. "I did say that. This place is hell! I mean, look at it? Everything's so grey and miserable and it's so fricking cold! I can't even keep my hands warm."

  "Oh, is that all?" Howling Wolf said. Even with his back turned, Max knew what was coming next. "Let me help you warm up." Max heard the horrible sound of flesh being cut and then felt warm liquid hit the back of his neck. He lifted his hand out of impulse and touched the liquid; blood.

  "Please, please, no," it was the second man, pleading for his life. "It was him! He didn't like being out here! He thought that keeping this guy alive and waiting for these people was stupid! It was all him!"

  "And what do you think?" asked Howling Wolf. "Do you think I'm being stupid? Do you think I should just kill this man?"

  "Well, it has been two days and nothing's happened yet," he said and Max knew the man had just signed his death sentence, not that his words could save him anyway. "Maybe we could go back to that house and start..." Again the sound of ripping flesh and then silence.

  "Anyone else think we should kill this man and move on?" He spoke to the rest of the men in a low threatening voice. Nobody spoke, no sound at all. "Good." Max heard the leader walk away without checking on him to see if he was awake. Perhaps his anger had shifted. Max didn't care. Right now, he was happy. If Howling Wolf kept killing his men, Max might be able to fight his way out of this mess after all.

  Chapter 17

  I started pacing again like when we were stuck in the room at the Healing Center. I kept looking over at Gregorius and wondering if he was going to tell us anything else. It seemed like a real inconvenient time to be taking a nap! I put my hands on my hips and let out a sigh. Emma Lee was sitting on the cot in our cell and Marshal was lying on the cot in his. Robert and the colonel looked just as anxious as I was. Robert was sitting on the floor with his leg out. His knee was swollen but he was able to bend it and put a littl
e weight on it so, he didn't think it was broken. Colonel Al was pacing back and forth like I was, trying to keep calm. I went over to them and leaned my head against the bars.

  "What do you think?" I asked.

  "I think we need to get the hell out of here," said Colonel Al.

  "I agree," I said. "But how? It looks like naptime for everyone. Ahh! This is so frustrating!"

  "So, what should we do?" asked Robert. "How do we get out of these cells and go back and get Max?"

  "Finally!" I said. "Finally you agree with me! We go back, hopefully Howling Wolf is nowhere near the portal, we go back, do a sneak attack on the Blood Demons and rescue Max."

  "And then?" asked Colonel Al.

  "And then what?" I asked.

  "Do we come back here?" he asked. "Do we come back and fight this battle too?"

  "I don't know," I said. "We'll talk about it when we have Max back with us."

  "Your plan won't work," said Gregorius. I guess he hadn't been napping after all.

  "Why not?" I asked as I went to the front of my cell so I could look across at him.

  "Well, first of all, you guys aren't going back," he said.

  "What?" I said. "Of course, we're going back! We're not staying here!"

  "You have to stay here," said Gregorius. "I told you, Faelen gathered you together for a reason. We all have to stop the destruction of this planet and the only way to do that, is to stay here."

  "How are we going to stop the destruction of the planet?" I asked. "Aside from Colonel Al, none of us know how to fight."

  "You want to fight the Blood Demons," Gregorius pointed out.

  "That's different," I said. "That's more like a brawl. This is a war! I don't know how to be a soldier and, other than the colonel, I don't think any of us are skilled in warfare. Whatever war is going on here, is too big for any of us to fix."

  "The war here is almost over," said Gregorius.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "This battle has been going on for a long time now," he said. "Both sides are tired and both sides are running out of soldiers. Unfortunately, there are more numbers on the Huxley side by a great percentage but the people will never give up."

  "What do you mean by a great percentage?" asked Colonel Al. "Give me the numbers."

  "Five years ago our population was over half a million people," said Gregorius. "Quite remarkable when you think that only dozens were left when the Fire People arrived. My sister has now lowered the population to just over three hundred thousand."

  "Your sister killed two hundred thousand people in five years?" Colonel Al could barely get the words out. "How?"

  "My sister is a very evil woman," said Gregorius. "She has no sense of empathy nor does she have a regard for morality. Very dangerous qualities when you command an army. She has sent her men to destroy villages and to strike the heart of the city. She's also sent sickness where soldiers could not go. The Foes of the First and the Returners are the only hope we have."

  "Wow, that's cheery," I said. "So, where're all the Huxleys then?"

  "What do you mean?" asked Gregorius.

  "Well, shouldn't they be here, in this house?" I asked. "I mean, we've been all over this house and I haven't seen anyone besides Amelia, Cici and those guards that brought us here. Where're the rest of the Huxleys?"

  "Some take up residency in the other houses in the court," he said. "But most are with the rest of the army in the encampment that's been set up between the old and new part of Algar."

  "The old and new part of Algar?" asked Colonel Al.

  "The Collapse left a lot of destruction," explained Gregorius. "More than anyone could clear away so, the part of the city with the most destruction was left and new buildings were built in the part of the city that could be cleared."

  "So, there's an army encampment set up in the middle of the city?" I asked. Gregorius nodded. "So, then, where are we? When we were up in that glass room, I never saw an encampment anywhere. All I saw was debris and destruction."

  "That's because the Court and the Healing Centre are in the old city," said Gregorius. "It was built with destruction all around it. That way it would be easier to defend. It's kind of hard to lead a charge against us if you have to go through tons of debris. Besides, no one has been allowed in the old city for over fifty years. Anyone caught here is sent to the Dark Lands."

  "But isn't the portal in the old city?" I asked.

  "Yes, it is," he said. "That's why it was important for me to find you guys before anyone else did. Sometimes the elder Huxleys take certain punishments into their own hands. Catching someone trespassing in the old city is such a minor thing. Why trouble the First with it when they can easily send them to the Dark Lands themselves?"

  "Okay, you found us, we're here, now what?" I asked.

  "We help Faelen," said Gregorius. "Time is running out."

  "What do you mean?" asked Robert.

  "The atmosphere is collapsing, has been since the Fire People left," he said. "We only have weeks, maybe days, left before we lose our ability to breathe the air. The toxins in the air are overtaking the oxygen we need."

  "How the hell are we going to fix the air?" I asked. "We're not scientists!"

  "You don't have to be," said Gregorius. "Your job is to help me get my father back."

  "Whoa," I said. "You said your dad's in the Dark Lands."

  "He is," Gregorius answered, "and we're going in there after him."

  "But it's dangerous in there," I said. "You said it's full of criminals and nobody ever comes back from there. What makes you think we can go in there, find your dad and come out without getting killed?"

  "Faelen gathered the five of you for a reason," he said. "He told me that each one of you has a special skill that will be needed to save this world."

  "Do you happen to know what these skills are?!" I asked.

  "All I know is that we have to retrieve my father," he explained.

  "Your father, why?" asked Robert.

  "I told you, Mitchell Collins hid all the information that the Fire People had when they cleared out their spaceship," said Gregorius. "That information contained the instructions and equipment needed to restore our atmosphere and water. My father knows where everything was hidden. We find it and restore our atmosphere and water. Then we introduce plants and animals from the DNA taken from their home planet and we create a new world. One built in peace and harmony. That's the only way we can save everything."

  "And the Huxleys and their supporters?" asked Robert.

  "The only way we can make a new world work is to put an end to the Huxley bloodline," he said.

  "You mean kill them?" asked Emma Lee and I could see a tiny glint of joy at the thought of Amelia being gone. She certainly is a scary kind of jealous, I thought.

  "Yes," he said. "That seems to be the only way. We'll have to kill all of them."

  "All of them except you," I pointed out. "I mean, you're a Huxley but a good one, right? We don't need to kill you."

  "Nicky," he smiled, "don't tell me that you're beginning to like me?"

  "Don't test me," I said. Just because this guy was redeeming himself didn't mean I still didn't want to punch him the face when this was all over.

  "No," he said. "Hopefully, I will escape the Huxley massacre but if I don't, then I will die knowing I did everything I could to save this world."

  "So, now what do we do?" asked Emma Lee. "Amelia must have finished questioning Marshal and put him down here for a reason. Does that mean she's done with him now and is going to come and get rid of us?"

  "Yes, I think so," said Gregorius. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

  "How?" I asked.

  "The Foes," he answered. "Some of the Elder Brothers should be here any moment now."

  "How are they...?" I started to ask but was interrupted by a huge explosion somewhere on the floor above us.

  "That would be Niko," said Gregorius. "Quick, help Marshal and get ready to ge
t out of here! Everybody follows me okay? No matter what, don't lose me! Robert, how's your knee? Do you need help?"

  "I'm okay," he said as he got up and limped over to the door of the cell. "I'll keep up!"

  "B-but Cornelius?" Despite how he had been treating her over the last few hours, Emma Lee still didn't want to leave him behind.

  "We don't have time," said Gregorius. "We have to go! Your friend is in Amelia's hands. She'll never let him go now."

  "Then I'll stay here," she went over to the cot and sat down.

  "Emma Lee, no!" I said to her. "You heard Gregorius, Amelia won't let him go. If you stay, while the rest of us escape, who knows what she'll do to you. You have to come with us. We'll come back for Cornelius when we can."

  "Like we'll go back for Max?" she said it like it was never going to happen. "Or how you went back for Madge?"

  "Madge was not my fault," I said but her words filled my heart with the guilt I had buried away since Robert's wife had been murdered by Sarah. "And we are going back to get Max. Now, please, let's go!" There was more noise from above and then I heard footsteps racing down the stairs.

  Chapter 18

  "What about Cornelius? I want to see Cornelius. Where's Cornelius?" I kept hearing the words over and over again. Like a trumpet playing in my head, the sweet southern lilt of Emma Lee's voice kept repeating over and over in my head as I leaned against the cold metal of the inside of the van we were travelling in. I squeezed my eyes shut to try to block out what had just happened in the basement of the Huxley House.

  The explosion that Niko had orchestrated for our escape didn't happen as close to us as I had first thought. It did, however, bring down part of a wall on the east side, one floor above us and caused enough chaos for us to get out. Niko had two other men with him who raced through the crumbled wall and down the stairs to our cells. They had some kind of gadget that they pressed against the locks on our doors and burned a hole through the metal. The cell doors were thrown open and the men urged us to hurry before the First and her soldiers came. Amelia, it seemed, was still busy entertaining Cornelius. At least that's what Barney, one of Niko's friends told us.