by Everly Frost
“We have to leave now,” Quake rumbled, silencing the others.
“One of us has to stay behind,” Blaze said. “If he wants the branch so badly, he could come back for it once he knows he’s got a fake. We can’t leave the tower undefended.”
“But that means I have stay behind too.” I was unable to restrain my frustration. The bears. Always it came back to the bears.
I was tired of being pinned by them.
“I’ll be okay,” Blaze said. “I’ll … hide out underground.”
“No, those beasts will tear the tower apart trying to get to you.”
My fists clenched as I became resolute about the path I had to take. “I want you to get everything you need and meet me back here in half an hour. We’re all going south and we’re going through bear territory. I’m going to end this once and for all. Tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I REACHED the mountain peak as we entered bear territory. My brothers and Michael followed close behind with the leopards slinking cautiously after us. The animals were laden with nectar pouches, held tight against their sides by their strong wings. Snowboy and Blaze balanced each other out—heat and ice trailing through the snow; Rift and his shadows scouted at the edges and Quake strode nearby. Pip and Michael were closest to me. I needed Pip’s eyes and ears and I needed Michael’s belief in me. They were also the most vulnerable and it was safest to keep them close.
As we emerged over the peak, the heart of the bears’ home spread out before us in the wide valley below. Caves were hewn into the rocks, deep tunnels that, when I looked as far as I could with my enhanced eyesight, appeared to be miles long. Each opening was empty, icy, with stalactites descending from them like teeth. The valley was quiet. To the eye of a passerby, it could have been abandoned. There was no way to tell where the bears actually were.
Pip stopped me before I made a start down the slope. “Let me try to sense them,” he whispered. “I’m stronger with you here.”
With one hand on my arm, his eyes shut, he concentrated. His palm against my arm suddenly shuddered and he pointed with his other hand.
To the right, ten feet away in the snow.
Then … to the left, five feet away.
Right again … left again…
They were everywhere, concealed in the snow drifts.
“Well done, Pip,” I breathed, but in response, he shuddered again.
He pointed to our feet.
I yanked him backward, pushing him behind me and to my relief, Michael went too, giving me a nod, trusting me.
Without a word, Rift, Blaze, Snow, and Quake spread out, ready.
The bears feared nothing and had been defeated only by strength, by me beating them in battle. I had to display that same strength now or I’d lose before I’d even begun.
I took a deep breath, drawing icy air into my lungs. Pressure built within, building and building until I released it with a scream that contained all the flame I could muster.
Fire exploded from my body and roared across the snow in front of us, gouging deep into the hillside toward the valley below. With a thump, the suddenly-exposed bears were hurled away from us by the force of the fire, tumbling and crashing down the slope.
I raged after them. “Where is your leader? Show me your leader!”
The rolling bears righted themselves, clumsy balls becoming sleek as they drew to their feet. A hundred bears emerged from the caves, covering the entrances. One of them was Nine, who shook his nose in the air. A quick glance told me that dozens had numbers on their chests—the original thirty—but many more didn’t.
I reached the bottom of the valley with my brothers behind me and the bears lining up in crescent rows, waiting for me to reach them. “Come out!”
A moment later, the bears to my right parted.
A giant bear lumbered through the line, easily another foot taller than any of the others, as tall as the construction mech. The jagged bones on its limbs were as sharp as moss thorns and its fur was dusted silver. When it rose up and up, the number “1” on its chest became visible.
Its mouth opened in a snarl that revealed double rows of jagged teeth like a shark’s. None of the other bears I’d encountered had teeth like that. Its nostrils quivered as it inhaled, drawing my scent deep into its lungs. The snarl turned into a growl as it towered over me.
But I wouldn’t cower. I stood firm, glaring up at it. My only movement was to wave my brothers back farther still.
The bear leaned down, ever so slowly, drawing eye level with me as it dropped its front paws into the snow with a thud. The other bears edged backward. Only Nine hesitated at the front, tossing his head. Whatever message he was trying to convey was lost on his leader.
With startling ferocity, the leader pounded his right paw into the ground, splashing up newly melted snow, leaning forward at the same time, roaring at me with all his teeth bared.
I stood my ground as the bear’s breath gusted over me.
“Leave my brothers alone,” I said. “Leave my home alone.”
The leader snorted and in his eyes was the inner war—a mountain of fear raging against the stronger instinct to pulverize me into oblivion. The bear began to circle me, batting at the air, baiting me, but I wouldn’t strike unless it did.
“Leave my brothers alone!” I roared.
It rounded to the front and leaped, claws extended, but I was poised, ready, dropping at the last minute to push up from beneath it, using its own momentum to hurl it away from me. At the same time, I conserved my energy, allowing it to build again. I’d defeated Nine the first time by exploding everything I had into him and I had to be prepared to do the same now.
The bear rolled and jabbed with its claws, trying to pin me.
As I evaded it, something brushed my leg.
At the same time, Pip cried, “Ava!”
I whirled, ready for any threat, only to find myself staring into a pair of bright eyes. A young bear stretched up with its paws against my thigh, nudging my leg, trying to get my attention. It mewled at me as I froze in surprise.
The giant bear struck from behind, thumping into me so hard that I fell forward over the baby bear. It yelped, pinned under me, and I attempted to roll, holding the baby close and bringing it with me, grateful that the older bear hadn’t pierced me with its claws in that moment.
Across the opening, another bear appeared beside Nine—a smaller, more delicate bear whose roar was full of fear. She screamed at both of us, lurching forward, but Nine grappled her to the ground. At the same time, the older bear pounded the ground where I’d been, missing me by a hairsbreadth.
I rolled to my feet with the baby bear in my arms, knowing I couldn’t do anything with it in the middle of the fight. I ran toward Nine and the startled mother bear, but the little one gripped my arms as I tried to peel it off me.
The giant bear thundered behind me and I had only a moment, but … the tiny bear looked up at me with wide eyes, inhaling deeply. Pip had said I had a scent and that was what had brought the bears after me in the first place. The baby’s instincts were strong. It snuffled against the crook of my arm, snuggling up to the curve between my neck and shoulders, opening its little mouth to gum at my shoulder. It tickled but was sharp at the same time.
As the giant bear reached me, I caught sight of tiny rows of shark teeth pushing up from the baby’s gums.
I spun with the bear in my arms. Its father was only a few feet away, but I threw out my shadows, shoving at the older bear with all my might, one hand up.
“Stop!” I shouted. “We have to stop.”
The bear was blinded by rage, thrashing at my shadows as they bore it down and down, and I understood. I understood how hard it was to contain the anger once it was unleashed. It struggled against the snow, growling, roaring, thrashing, but my shadows pinned it, holding it to the spot as I walked carefully toward it.
The bear’s ears pricked as I neared. The baby bear whined. The giant’s eyes widened and its nostrils flar
ed. It stilled for the first time.
I knelt beside it and coaxed the baby from my arms, nudging it toward the giant. For a moment, I was afraid it wouldn’t go, but then it caught the movement of my shadows and jumped down to bat at their edges, pouncing, unaware of its imminent danger. Finally, it snuggled in against its father’s side.
I eased my shadows up and away, releasing the bear, knowing I was taking a risk, but I had to make my message clear somehow. The giant regained its feet, the baby nudging against its legs.
“Your cub,” I said, pointing at the baby. Then I pointed to my brothers. “My brothers.”
The giant bear’s gaze swung from one to the other and back to me.
“Your cub. My brothers. I won’t hurt your cub. You won’t hurt my brothers.”
At the same time, Nine and the female bear raced up to us, growling from one to the other. They huddled toward their leader, who, to my surprise, deferred to them while keeping his eyes on me. Finally, he tossed his snout at me, baring his teeth one last time. The shark teeth made me shudder, but I held my ground.
Then he plodded forward and bent his head low to the ground in front of me.
I wasn’t sure what to do. Was I supposed to touch him? He hadn’t placed himself close enough for me to bend and pat his head. Doing something like that seemed out of place with such a ferocious creature. I glanced at Nine, who lowered his head a moment and then looked up at me, repeating the motion.
Hoping it was the right thing to do, I knelt in the snow too, leaning forward to expose my neck, my head toward the ground mere inches from the bear’s. The bear’s perceptive eyes met mine and in them was the depth of its ferocity tempered by an astounding intelligence.
“Don’t hurt my friends,” I whispered.
It gave me the barest grunt and I wondered, even though it couldn’t speak, whether it could understand me. There was nothing in the files about communication, only instinct and design, but as much as I couldn’t sense its quiet heartbeat or know what it was thinking, I realized it was likely it could sense mine.
And in that moment, I realized that there was an army of bears around me. An army of bears … that were trained to defend, designed to attack, that were aching to fulfill their purpose. Enough of them to repel even the worst invaders…
I said, “I can give you a purpose. You can fight for something. You can protect Starsgard.”
The bear lifted its head, alert, and that’s when I decided it could understand me after all. I shuffled backward, calling for Michael, waving him toward the ground, sensing him scoot down beside me.
“Ava? Are you okay?”
I pulled him close, tugging on his gray clothing, his Protector’s suit. “I need your facemask.”
He slid it toward me and I held it in front of the bear, who rose onto his paws again.
“This suit belongs to Starsgard. These are the people you need to protect. Don’t attack anyone wearing this.”
I handed the facemask back to Michael as the bear nodded its head with a gleam in its eye.
“Come with me,” I said to the bear. “Fight with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
OUR BODIES were a blur as we ran. Twenty fully-grown bears, including Nine, rounded out behind us, descending the mountain in a near avalanche of snow and fury.
Already the sun was rising and Olander’s attack was imminent. We traveled the cliff line, staying at the edge, where the Starsgardian population was sparse. Michael had told us that the border towers had been evacuated. We passed many of them, empty, quiet, waiting.
While my brothers and I used our speed to cover the distance, Michael was carried by Avalanche, holding on as the sleek leopard navigated snow and treacherous rocks.
Confident that the bears were no longer a threat, Blaze had returned to the tower to stand guard. Pip went with him, but not before running to me, hugging me so tightly the breath stopped in my throat.
“Be safe, Ava,” he’d whispered.
I couldn’t speak as tears had burned at the back of my eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Pip. I promise.”
After that, I slowed only once during the descent down the mountains to tell Michael about his father. “Hannah said your dad told everyone that he was the one who killed Officer Reid.”
“But … you … that’s not … Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. It can’t be to protect me. Can it?”
He laughed without humor. “That wouldn’t be like him.”
“I thought the same thing.”
He was quiet for a moment, gripping the leopard’s wings. “I won’t ever understand him.”
“Maybe one day, you can talk to him … ask him why.”
“Maybe.” He swallowed and I wanted to ease his worry, but right then, there was nothing to do but keep moving.
We sensed the first signs of Starsgardian life as we approached Tower Twenty-Five. The front of the tower was deserted, but hundreds of concealed bodies waited within and around it. At the same time, the swamp of bodies beyond the border hit us. Evereach was closing in by the minute.
“We need to go carefully,” Michael said, drawing Avalanche to a stop as I motioned for everyone else to slow down.
The bears rolled to a careful halt, looking to me for direction. I was certain Starsgard had detected our presence by now and the next step was to make sure they didn’t see us as the enemy. I pulled my facemask on before we got close enough for anyone to recognize me. The air around the tower would normally be used to take my body print and identify me, but Michael had told me they’d erased my print from the system. I’d be an unknown female to anyone monitoring the systems. Only the Council could identify me.
My brothers drew into a close circle. Snowboy said, “I can talk to them if you want me to.” He had a history with Naomi and would be able to speak with her, but his past was complicated and I knew it would be difficult for him.
I motioned to Michael. “I think Michael can speak for us. They sent him to us. They trust him.”
“You’re right.” Snowboy nodded, looking relieved. Despite his offer, I knew how hard it would have been for him to offer our help to the Council without the weight of anger behind it.
I signaled for the bears to remain at a distance and they crouched, lowering themselves into resting positions. Somehow, that didn’t make them look any less vicious.
Michael kept his facemask off as he approached the tower from the side. His body print would identify him, but it was better they could see his face to read his intentions. As he drew near, the doors burst open and Naomi rushed out, dressed in full-body gray like the others.
“Michael! You made it.” Her gaze drifted over the rest of us as she drew to a halt, lingering on me for a moment. She breathed a sigh of relief. Even without her usual gold and red silks, she was elegant, regal. I’d seen the other side of her too. She’d fought Seth when he attacked me, revealing her iron will.
She said, “You brought help. We need everything to fight the drones. We’re designing a new solar defense system against organics, but it’s not ready yet.”
“They’re here willingly,” Michael said. “But they won’t obey anyone’s orders but their own.”
“I understand.” Her eyes flickered to Snowboy for a moment before dropping again. She leaned forward. Her hair was tied back without its usual accessories, but a flash of gold told me she still carried her scorpion bracelet—the one that transformed into a dagger. “What of the nectar?”
I urged the snow leopards forward and Naomi gasped as they slunk out from behind us. “Oh my…”
The leopards opened their wings at the top to reveal the many pouches of nectar nestled inside.
“Each pouch contains twenty pearls of nectar,” Michael said. “You should tell everyone to conceal a pearl in a finger of their glove. That will hide the nectar from Evereach but keep it close enough to use.”
She nodded and spoke into her communicator, and a group of Starsgardians immediat
ely emerged to carry the pouches inside the tower.
Naomi spoke to them. “Half to our tower and the rest down the cliff line. Divide the supplies and load up the drones—one drone to each tower.” Then she explained to Michael, “Our latest intelligence indicates the main attack will be here, but there will be smaller assaults farther south.”
“Wait … ‘drones’?” Michael asked. “You said, ‘load up the drones.’”
As he spoke, a stream of giant purple flowers sailed through the open tower doors, pausing long enough to be loaded with a pouch of nectar.
As the first one flew overhead and turned south, I spotted violet-colored darts on its underbelly.
“Fight fire with fire,” Naomi explained. “They camouflage in the gardens and carry slumber plant pollen. We detest violence and refuse to cause death, but we won’t hesitate to knock the Evereachers out. We don’t have many of them though, so we need to deploy them carefully. We considered creating a gas that would disperse among the Evereacher army, but once it’s airborne, we have no way of controlling it. It could just as easily backfire on us. So darts it is.”
“Then you know they’ll send troops up the cliffs,” Michael said.
“We found out after you left. They have an army of mechs ready to climb up. It’s the only reason they held off this long—they needed to manufacture enough of them. Now they have.”
“They’ve already started climbing.” I spoke for the first time and Naomi stared at my facemask so hard, I knew she wanted to see behind it. I wondered for a moment whether she would say my name and reveal me to every Starsgardian who was watching us right then.
“They’ll be here in ten minutes, maybe less.” I knew what to listen for now—the snarling moss vines that told me an invader was making an approach. “We don’t want your orders, but we do need to know what you’re planning. We need communicators like the one you have in your ear.”
“Of course.” She continued to stare, but within moments another Starsgardian produced earpieces for us. Michael immediately placed his inside his ear, but my brothers were more hesitant, eventually conceding.