Sparks

by McCoy, RS

  When the third pushed his spear towards me, I raised my own to block and pushed both towards the spot the fourth man aimed. Quickly, I swept my spear shafts in an arcing motion until the two attacking spears were pinned to the ground beneath mine. Each man dropped his spear in a flash and pulled the knife from their sandal. Much better.

  Pushing my own spear toward the ground, I grabbed the knife tucked into my pants and ducked under the first swipe. From a crouch, I turned around with my leg extended to drop the third attacker to his back. Completing my turn, I pulled the knife up enough to plunge it into the thigh muscle of the fourth and jumped to sink it into the chest of the third where he lay on the ground.

  With the three men lying helplessly on the ground and the first already dead, I began to move to each in turn and slide the blade into one of their eyes until I felt it hit the solid ground beneath them. Before killing the fourth man, I pulled the bracelet off his wrist and read him cleanly.

  He had been on the ship that had collected us; I saw his memory as we were pulled from the sea like drowned rats. He had laughed at Tototl’s attempt to escape, thinking how humorously strong men reacted when their fate had reached them. He wasn’t the feathered man, but he had watched as Khea was taken below to be delivered to Yaotl. He had participated in administering the blows that blacked out the rest of our group.

  My anger boiled over when he thought of Khea, marveling at what a splendid offering she would make at the ceremony that evening; that had been three days ago. I heard him disgustingly wonder if she was pure, so as to make a more ideal gift for his dog god. It was then that I let the blade sink into his eye, cutting off the repulsive images but it was too late. They would be seared into my mind forever.

  “Lark. Holy shit, man,” Micha said when he came up next to me. It hadn’t taken more than a few seconds to disarm and kill the four men, an impressive feat according to Micha’s thread.

  “I couldn’t–” Leave them alive…

  “I’ve never seen you move like that. What were you doing all that time in the Oakwick?” I remembered then that a significant amount of time away from Myxini was spent fighting Avis. Micha had no idea how hard I worked to improve my skills in combat against people I couldn’t read and those that could read me. It brought the image of Khea from the Moonwater to mind, followed by the rock ledge in the woods, and the grove at the end of River Street. I saw her sitting on Jasper with Citrine perched on her shoulder, waving her hand over the snoring Quauhtil, and sleeping soundly next to me on the deck of the Turtle. It was all I could do to stand up and stay up.

  Micha’s strong hand grasped my shoulder and I was thankful for his steady grip. I knew he was reeling from her loss as well, but no one could know what I was going through. I knew he loved Iseut and would be destroyed by her death, but this was different in a way I couldn’t explain. My Spark was connected deeply to hers, and I would feel her absence for the rest of my life.

  “Come on. We have to keep moving.” Again it was Micha’s grip that pulled me forward and kept me in motion. I held the blood-smeared blade in my hand, and I noticed later that Tototl had picked up one of the spears. The rest of the run through the city was lost as my vision blurred and my mind began to close from the pain.

  At some point we reached the docks, apparently missing all the people who were at the center of the city at the ceremony. Dozens of Nakben ships dotted the harbor. Some had the orange sails merchants, or green of transport vessels. Even the blue sails of a regal charter vessel that bobbed on the violet water. Unfortunately, everyone who operated the ships seemed to be in the city center; no one was around to bargain transport to Uxmal.

  “What do we do? Can we just take one?” Jhoma asked, though he knew there was no way the five of us could run a ship. Maybe with a small boat and an experienced crew, but most of them had never been on a boat before the Turtle.

  “I don’t know. I guess wait for someone to come back. When the captains return, we can barter for passage to Uxmal,” Micha offered.

  Tototl pointed to a small ship with green sails nestled between several larger ones. He intended to operate the transport vessel with just the five of us, and he would act as captain.

  Thankfully, no one required a translation of his intentions, and we ran over and quickly boarded. There was no disagreement in stealing a ship considering the circumstances. It was empty of any crew and Tototl had the presence of mind to check for freshwater and a small supply of foods. Without Khea, we would have to take what we needed beforehand. A deep, resounding pain began to settle into my chest.

  Tototl untied the ropes holding the transport ship to the docks and pushed off to prevent anyone else from being able to board. Once we were too far off shore to be in danger from anyone on foot, he began to instruct the four greenhorn seamen to unfurl the sails and which way to tie them down. I had to put aside my own anguish for several minutes to translate and help with the ropes.

  Our Nakben addition had been supremely correct in his selection of the ship. It was small enough for us to manage and simple enough in design to allow us time to learn how to handle it. He took the helm and began to maneuver the ship out of the cove and in the direction I assumed was north, though with the sun completely gone below the horizon there was no way of telling.

  The transport vessel we stole from the docks had only one room below deck for the person who was being transported. It had a relatively large and comfortable bed, with decent amenities considering the tiny ship, but there was nowhere else to sleep. Each of us agreed that Tototl should get the room, as he was captain of the ship. The rest of us tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible on the hard, wooden deck with the sea breeze floating past.

  Knowing what types of things go on in Chimalma, we were all relieved to be on our way out, but each of us knew it was too soon to be completely at ease. As the sky darkened and the stars began to shine, Tototl noticeably relaxed as he hoped his worst fear had been avoided. Given his size, strength, and youth, he was correct in his worry; he would surely be a target for sacrifice.

  Tototl easily adapted to his new role, and seemed comfortable being responsible for our crew, as small and inexperienced as we were. I briefly wondered if perhaps he had a Spark associated with ships or the sea, but it only brought me back to Khea. She had had control over the water and the wind, fire and earth, thoughts and feelings. None of us could hold a candle to her, and she had been the one we had lost. How was I going to explain it Avis?

  Avis.

  I hadn’t sent a thread to him since the day we left, but I knew it was well within my Spark to reach him. I wondered if he had been keeping up with us, if he already knew. A moment later, the thread connected to my old friend and mentor, and his agony was nearly a match to my own. He was destroyed when he sensed my read of the attacker’s memories of Khea. He was consumed with empathy for my loss, could feel every ounce of my torment. I easily sensed he had a fair amount of his own grief as well.

  Almost at once, I could sense he was reading me as I was reading him, caught in a loop that returned me to my own thoughts and feelings of loss. When he realized it, he immediately produced an image of a copper ring with a hawk molded into the surface–my father’s ring.

  With my hand reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the ring to look at it as best I could in the dark, moonless night. Khea had charmed it, I remembered that much. It would block her from being able to read me, but I hadn’t worn it as long as she’d been alive.

  It blocks all Readers. Avis’s thought came pouring out as he revealed the significance. He produced images of Khasla locked in a stone restraint, the blow of a knife hilt to my head, Khea’s pulled below deck of the Chimalman ship, and the group of Nakben men that had found us in the deserted streets. Someone was still reading me, finding out what I knew about my group and our objective. The ring would block them all, and I quickly slid it on my finger.

  After a moment of silence, I almost smiled at my own
foolishness, but my heart was too heavy to go through with it. I pulled the ring off just in time to hear Avis grumble at my stupidity. Noted.

  Avis hated that Khea had been sacrificed, and that I would have to experience her loss for the rest of my life. It was somewhat comforting to know there was someone else who felt similarly affected by her death, but I knew it wasn’t the same. There was a consuming absence, a hole that seemed to spread as I lost all hope of ever seeing her again.

  I let the tears fall into the darkness of the deck for a few minutes, before wiping away my despair. Avis sent me what comfort he could, but eventually changed his thoughts to the stone restraints, perhaps just to get me to think about something else.

  He showed me the weak point at the left wrist of Khasla’s restraints that would allow them to be removed, as I went to find a hammer. Khasla had fallen asleep with the stone cuffs set on his chest, but he wasn’t upset when I told him why I had woken him. Just as Avis had shown, the stone fractured into two pieces when struck near the left wrist, and fell with a loud thud to the wooden deck. Khasla rolled his wrists in circles before standing and tossing the stone fragments over the side with satisfaction.

  As I lay back onto the deck, I slipped my father’s ring back onto my fourth finger and thought about the irony of it. My thoughts had been the cause of Khea’s death, and now her charm on my father’s ring would help me prevent it from happening to anyone else. I kissed the cold copper in the only thanks I could offer her, and let my injured mind attempt to find some semblance of sleep.

  Xiuhpilli

  The little, green-sailed transport vessel that was confiscated from the docks in Chimalma was a sanctuary for the frightened and damaged crew. It turned out to not have a name inscribed on its hull anywhere we could see, and there was no indication in the single room on the lower deck. Captain Tototl decided to name it Layotl Xoco, or Little Turtle.

  He was quite pleased that he took to being captain so easily, but he regretted it had been at the cost of all the other members of his crew, including Captain Mitzli and a broad-shouldered young man he cared for quite a bit. Tototl proved to be an advantageous asset to our group. Without him, we may have never gotten out of Chimalma.

  As I sat on the deck with my knees pulled to my chest, absorbing the sun’s heat and looking at the strange, violet water, Micha approached. I sensed he wanted to talk about her.

  “Don’t,” I said in hopes of cutting him off before he gained any traction.

  “Lark, you have to eat something. You didn’t eat breakfast or lunch, and you won’t go on much longer like this.” Again his heavy hand fell to my shoulder and squeezed in a mixture of worry and caring. It wasn’t as if I was trying to kill myself, but I just wasn’t in the mood to eat.

  In the four days since leaving Chimalma, I hadn’t slept much. I guess I was still subconsciously waiting for Khea to come lay beside me, warm me with her heat, but of course she never came. Once I thought I saw Citrine circling past, but once she was gone I couldn’t decide if she had really been there at all. Maybe I was just losing it.

  I could tell Micha was getting fairly anxious. After all, he had worked up the courage to come over and confront me about it. He sat down next to me and pretended to find the water as interesting as I did.

  “Hey, man, I know you miss her. But skipping meals isn’t going to bring her back.”

  “I know,” I answered more sharply than I meant to. Deep down I knew he was just trying to help me, being the good friend, but I wasn’t in the frame of mind to be helped. Before I could say anything else, Micha stood up and walked away. I would have to make amends for that someday. He didn’t deserve my anger or my pain, but there was just so much; I couldn’t help but let some out.

  Traveling was much slower without Khea’s wind to continually push us in the right direction. For a three-day stretch, we lost the wind completely and sat idly in the midst of the purple expanse just waiting for the end. We were running low on food and water and had no bows or arrows to catch a meal. Khea was gone and could provide no freshwater rain. We knew if it lasted much longer we would have successfully escaped Chimalma for nothing.

  On the fourth day since the wind died, a light breeze picked up and it was just enough to get our Little Turtle to limp along to the north. The silhouette of the third island came into view that night. We had no choice but to pull in and get supplies despite the late hour. I laughed at the irony that we should end up there after all, though immediately the laugh felt wrong, a luxury reminiscent of a less caustic past.

  Tototl managed to get his novice crew to tie down the sails and get the ship in close enough that Khasla could walk it in to the beach. It took all of us to bring it up to shore enough that the tide couldn’t reach it. Unlike the beaches of the Andover, these had sand I was sure was black even in the light of day.

  “Dangerous Silver Spring,” Tototl said as we caught our breath from the exertion of carrying the small ship ashore; it looked much lighter than it actually was. He brought to mind images of several large animals that occupied the island, one with orange and white stripes, one silky black, and a snake with a diamond on its head. I passed along the message to the others before we split up to gather supplies.

  Jhoma, Khasla, and Tototl set out to get water. It would take all three of them to get the large container to and from the spring. Micha volunteered me to accompany him in the search of something to eat, but I sensed he had ulterior motives. He fashioned a bag out of a bit of fabric from one of the sheets in the lower deck and slung it over his shoulder as we headed out.

  “Back at dawn.” Khasla said to the group as we went our separate ways. The three men heading for water would follow the island inward until they found the spring Tototl had seen as a boy, though I found myself wondering if he still wasn’t one. Fifteen summers was a short time to become a man, but he had proved himself useful and knowledgeable time and time again, so who was I to doubt him?

  Micha and I began to move towards the interior of the island on the eastern side in hopes of finding some small game that would last us the rest of the way to Uxmal. Our only protection was the long-bladed knife I carried; Khasla had taken the spear with the other group.

  Just as I had suspected, Micha didn’t waste any time laying into me about Khea and my lack of interest in anything. “You haven’t eaten in days,” he started.

  “Since when are you responsible for feeding me? I thought I left that to Avis.” I made no attempt to hide my annoyance.

  “He’s not here, and you’re clearly not capable of making that decision yourself.”

  “You should be glad. If I had been eating as much as all of you, we would have run out of food days ago.”

  Micha had nothing to say to that and thankfully let me walk through the midnight jungle in peace. The trees were taller than any I had ever seen and perfectly straight as they shot over one hundred feet in the air without a single low branch. They had narrow, flat canopies with broad leaves that limited what little moonlight there was. There wasn’t so much as a bush or a vine on the ground, only the dead, decaying leaves that had drifted down from the trees. I couldn’t figure out how we were going to find anything in those conditions.

  Micha found the first sign of life, a series of deep cuts into the paper-like bark of a tree. There were four lines that resembled claw marks, but they were larger than any leopard I’d ever seen. I thought back to Tototl’s warning and wondered just how big those animals really were.

  An hour later, Micha reached down to pull a strange looking rabbit off the leaf litter and placed it in his bag. It was already dead with a broken neck but didn’t show any other signs of damage. Only Micha could find an abandoned kill in the middle of this empty jungle.

  Several hours of walking pushed the limits of what my tired, starved body could handle. A few times, I forgot we were supposed to be tracking and began to look around, admiring the scenery as if I was on a day trip to the city. Micha would pe
riodically stop to pick up a dead animal he found on the ground, but I found I didn’t really care where they came from. He pulled me back into place behind him more than once, and I could tell he was getting tired; whether he was tired from being up all night or just tired of me I didn’t have the energy to find out.

  The trickle of light through the trees eventually told us the sun was on its way, and I had still found nothing that could serve as a meal. No fruits, no kills, nothing.

  “Sun’s coming up,” Micha offered as an explanation to turn back. We would have to run to make it the last few miles around the outer edge of the island as it was, and I was sure I didn’t have the stamina to make it. I would go back as fast as I could, but if they left without me, then so be it. I didn’t care about Uxmal or Myxini or a pendant or any of it.

  “Come on. Let’s go back,” Micha said when he noticed I wasn’t following. I turned and began to trudge through the thick leaf litter behind him, kicking up a storm of leaves and wondering how long I could go on.

  A mile or so later, the force of a boulder struck me from the left and threw me to the ground with a searing pain in my shoulder. I didn’t see what happened, but I lay there as something tore into the muscles and released my warm blood into the leaves.

  “No!” Micha shouted loudly from somewhere as the weight lifted and left me staring up at the sunlight beginning to stream through the canopy. Rolling to my right to spare my shoulder, I was just in time to see Micha standing before a large, orange-striped cat that stood nearly as tall as his ribs and looked to weigh at least five hundred pounds. He was looking at the cat and the cat was looking at him, just locked in the moment.

  I quickly drew Micha’s thread to experience the connection between him and the giant cat, just as I had with the bear so long ago. He expressed gratitude for the animals in his bag and asked her to continue hunting. It was amazing to see him speak freely with a powerful predator without fear or anxiety, only total calm and control.