An idea dawned on her. "We could trap it, somehow, so it would break when they go on it."
Helix's grin widened. "Now you sound like my cousin," he said, and she felt a flush of pride.
"No," Lyseira insisted. "The fifth Sacred Principle says, 'In all things, thou shalt seek the righteous path.' Your mom," she said, pointing at Helix, "said you're supposed to go home. The book of Zian says that part of the Principle means obeying your parents."
Lyseira was always quoting scripture at them; it drove Syntal crazy. This time, though, she had an answer. "But the Seventh Principle says, 'Mind your brother's sin like it was your own'," Syntal rejoined. "We have to go and see if Baler is going to do anything else bad today."
"Baler ain't my brother!" Helix protested.
"Not yet, maybe," Angbar quipped.
"Never mind that," Syntal insisted. "I know my Canon too, Lyseira. You're not the only kid who listens at church, you know."
"Yeah," Seth put in.
"But, what if Baler is up there again, with his friends this time?" Lyseira pled, exasperated. "We'll all get beaten up then."
"Lyseira, you don't have to come with," Helix said in a consoling tone. "But if you don't, I'll tell your mom what you said last week when you fell in that mud puddle."
Lyseira's face burned. She crossed her arms as Angbar snickered. "Fine," she said tightly. "Fine, let's go."
They chatted and teased each another as they made their way through town. Syntal did her best to keep up with the banter, but she was the outsider. Helix had always been nice to her, but she didn't know his friends as well as he did. She fell silent eventually, watching the houses trail past with longer and longer stretches of empty grass between them, until she recognized the old Samson farm: a long-abandoned ruin that marked the southeast edge of the village. Something about the place, slowly crumbling beneath the sun's glare, gave her a sudden pang of homesickness.
Dad would laugh, she thought. I beg him for months to let me come visit, and then my first week here I want to go back.
With the village behind them she finally saw Pinewood, lazing in the breeze on the other side of the road. Thakhan Dar looked even taller here, brooding over the forest like a stern father. She had hoped that passing the Samson farm would help ease her longing for home, but it didn't; the unbridled wilderness, the disappearance of civilization, only made her more wistful. It won't be long, she imagined her mother saying. You'll be back before you know it, and then you'll start missing Helix and badgering us to give you a brother. So enjoy it while you can. The mental scolding helped, a bit. She drew a deep breath, and tried to put on a brave face.
Seth and Helix were first off the path, pelting toward the ragged line of trees. Helix got there first, crashing through the underbrush like a wild gorilla. Syntal raced after him, not wanting to be the last one in.
Within the wood, the murmur of the distant village faded to nothing. Faded green sunlight drifted through the tree cover like a waking dream. Only an occasional glimpse of Thakhan Dar, looming beyond the branches, confirmed she was still in the same world.
"How are we even gonna find it?" she said, picking at a burr caught in her dress. "Do you even know where it is?"
Seth pursed his lips and peered through the underbrush.
Angbar glanced at her. "Helix said it's by the lake, right?"
"Yeah," Helix muttered, ducking under a low branch. "That's where we're goin', I think. I didn't know it was so far! I never been this deep in the woods before." He squirmed. "I gotta pee." He glanced at a likely tree. "I'm gonna—" He cut off abruptly, staring.
"Ha!" he cried.
A dark clearing spread out just beyond the tree. The ground, mostly bare dirt, was littered with pine needles and fallen branches. A great oak towered from the middle of the small meadow, making the dappled light dance across the ground in time with its waving branches. A few feet up, its trunk split into three gnarled, winding boughs, each ascending in its own direction. One bore a ladder made of crude, wooden boards, leading up and along the side of the massive trunk to a hand-cut wooden ledge broad enough to support everyone.
Angbar laughed. "That's it! Look, there's a ladder on it! This is it! This is their secret hideout!"
Helix grinned and started forward, his bladder apparently forgotten. Syntal grabbed his arm.
"Shhh!" Suddenly, coming here seemed like the stupidest thing they could have done. "They might be up there!"
Seth ignored the warning and burst out of the tree cover. He was already up the first two rungs of the makeshift ladder when Helix broke free of Syntal's grip and bolted after him. Hanging from the side of the tree, Seth shouted back, "It seems strong enough!"
"Seth!" Syntal hissed, but the rest of the kids boiled past her and into the clearing. Syntal followed, her eyes darting around the meadow. Baler and the others weren't supposed to be here until nightfall, but she kept expecting them to appear at any second.
Seth clambered up the remaining wooden rungs, wincing once as a sliver stuck into his thumb. The diagonally-leaning ladder didn't look safe—every board wobbled as he scrambled over it—but he reached the ledge quickly enough. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed onto the available branches and pulled himself up onto the tree house floor, then grinned in victory.
"Seth!" Helix panted. The smaller boy reached down to give his friend a hand.
Syntal watched Lyseira and Angbar climb up next, but didn't follow. Constantly throwing glances from one end of the small clearing to the other, she sneaked to the tree's far side and leaned against one of the massive trunks, cringing as excited chatter rattled from the ledge above.
"Look! They got buckets up here for water 'n' stuff!" Angbar exclaimed.
"We could stay up here forever, as long as we did hunting," Seth declared matter-of-factly. "No one would find us."
"Hey." Lyseira was quieter, apprehensive. "There's some more boards here, and nails. You think they're still working on it?"
Syntal's ears pricked at a rustling from the woods. Twigs snapping, maybe? And...
Her heart leapt into her throat. Voices. "Helix!" she whispered.
"We should take all this stuff," Seth said.
"Pf," Angbar scoffed. "Take the nails and leave the wood. That'll leave 'em up a creek."
Lyseira was indignant. "I didn't show it to you so you could steal it."
"Helix!" Syntal repeated. The voices from the forest were louder now. One of them was a deep, rumbling baritone.
Finally, Angbar's head popped over the edge of the fort above her. "Syn! What are you still doing down there? You gotta see this! They have buckets, and extra wood... even a basket of apples!"
"Angbar!" Syntal hissed. "Baler's here!"
v. Helix
Helix picked up one of the nails and peered at it. "You think this is one of my dad's?" he asked Seth, who shrugged.
"No other smiths in town," he said around a mouthful of apple.
"If they've been stealin' from my dad—"
"Syntal says Baler's here!" Angbar exclaimed, a sound somewhere between a whisper and a gasp.
Helix's blood went cold.
"What? Where?"
"I don't know—down there!"
Helix took a tentative step toward the edge, crouched like a burglar, to see if he could make anything out—and froze at the sound of laughter.
"What a sehk-eater," Rake said. "So he ran right into you?"
I shoulda listened to Syn, Helix realized. We shoulda just gone home, but now we're trapped here, and all three of them are down there, and Lyseira's mom ain't gonna save us this time.
He cast about for some way down. Taking the ladder was too slow. If he jumped down, he'd probably just break his ankle, plus they'd hear him. Maybe it was safest up here. If he waited until they were on the ladder, coming up, maybe he could ease over the side, and—
"What in Hel?"
Helix whipped toward the voice below, and saw Baler staring right at him. Rake and Esiah glanced up, sl
ack-jawed.
"Smith!" Baler roared. "I'm gonna sehking kill you!"
"Run!" Angbar cried, breaking for the ladder. Baler and Esiah bolted beneath the ledge, while Rake leapt into the nearest gnarled bough, a sheet of red, greasy hair swinging behind him.
"Grab a board!" Seth ordered, hefting one of the loose planks. "Grab a bucket!"
Helix snapped up the basket of apples and lobbed it at Rake. The redhead turned away, wincing, as the spinning volley of fruit pelted him—then swung upwards on his branch and grabbed the next one.
Angbar recoiled from the ladder. "Baler's coming up!" he squeaked. "Baler's coming up!"
"Jump!" Helix screamed, his heart racing with panic. "Run!" He lurched toward the edge, ready to take his own advice, but drew up short at the sight of the ground swimming dizzily below. It's too far. Sweet Akir, I can't jump that, I—
Lyseira suddenly shrieked behind him, and he whirled around to see a square section of the fort's floor burst open. A trap door? he thought in sick horror. I didn't even see—
Esiah's head popped through the hole, his face contorted with rage, and Lyseira kicked the door closed, squealing. It smashed into the back of his skull and bounced back to her foot, so she kicked it again, squealing some more. He wailed in pain and fell away. The door dropped shut behind him.
At the ladder, Baler crested the ledge, swung one leg over the side, and flinched as Angbar bounced a wooden bucket off his skull. "Sehking nog!" he thundered. Seth swung his board down like a sledgehammer, crashing it into the monster's thigh, but Baler grunted and heaved himself upward.
Seth's follow up caught him full in the face. He plummeted backward, screaming.
"Nice, Seth!" Helix heard himself yelling, giddy, then felt the whole ledge tremble as Rake leapt from his branch and landed, snarling, right behind him. He whirled around, thought too late to duck, and saw the world explode as Rake's fist connected high on his cheek.
The blow spun him from his feet and crashed his face into the wood.
Somewhere beyond, Esiah exploded through the trap door again. Lyseira shrieked and kicked at the door, but this time he caught it on his hand and shoved back. It smashed into her shin and knocked her on her butt with a stunned shout.
Behind her, Baler's hand shot back onto the ledge. This time, it was clutching a knife.
"Lyseira!" Helix called, scrambling to his feet just in time to catch Rake's knee full in his gut. He doubled over, dropped to the floor in a sea of pain, and felt a kick blast into his back.
As Helix fought for breath, the world spinning, he saw Esiah climb through the trap door—but Angbar loomed behind him with a board just like Seth's. It caught the blond on the back of the skull, clapping his teeth together and shoving him downward with a surprised woof. He caught the edge, though, hanging by his fingertips—and Lyseira again slammed the door shut, this time jumping on it with both feet as she tried to jam it closed.
"Eyeaagh!" Esiah shrilled. Lyseira jumped back off the door like a burnt cat, horrified, and he fell away.
Helix heard him crying beneath them as Baler's other arm swung over the ledge. Seth kicked at it, knocked it loose so the monster was hanging by the hand with the knife, then hammered his board into those fingers until they spasmed and dropped away, leaving the weapon on the floor. Seth stuffed it into his waistband.
Gasping, Helix tried to lever himself to his feet, and saw Rake towering over him once more. He flinched, braced for another blow—and Seth hurtled into the monster like a bull, roaring, bearing him over the fort's back edge. Both boys disappeared.
"Seth!" Angbar screamed.
Helix dragged himself to his feet, still fighting for breath, and got to the ledge's far side in time to see Rake deliver a savage kick to Seth's stomach on the ground below. The ruddy boy rolled in the dirt, clutching at his gut and whimpering.
"Seth!" Helix called, a hoarse echo of Angbar. Rake snapped his head up, then ran for the ladder.
"Baler's coming again!" Angbar whimpered, peering down at the ladder. As Helix limped over to join him, Angbar lifted his board over his head and hurled it.
"No!" Helix shouted, but too late: the last weapon they had clattered dully to the ground.
"Missed! Crap!" Angbar squeaked, throwing a wild, searching look at Lyseira and Helix. "What're we gonna do?"
Baler was halfway up the ladder, eyes burning with murder. Rake was right behind him.
Helix blanched and whipped his eyes around the fort, but there was nothing left. It was hard to think. He hurt all over, and he still had to pee—when Rake had kicked him in the gut, he'd thought he was going to burst.
Then he had an idea. The best idea he'd ever had in his life.
Grinning, he pulled down his breeches.
Lyseira backed away, her eyes widening. "What—what are you doing?"
"Hey Baler!" Helix called down the ladder. The bully looked up, snarling. He locked eyes with Helix.
A shot of piss took him in the forehead.
Helix barked laughter as Baler screamed, revolted. "Agh! You little sehk!" He sputtered and jerked up a hand, but Helix swayed the attack all over his face and chest, being sure to share some with Rake. There was no escape.
Baler's other hand slipped off the ladder. He pinwheeled backwards, his hind end smacking into Rake's face behind him. Both of them crashed to the ground.
Angbar howled in laughter, chortling so hard he was gasping for air. Helix crowed as he kept the flow coming. "Eat sehk, Baler! You seem to like piss well enough!"
"Agh!" Rake squealed. Like a girl, Helix thought. "God! Agh!" He broke toward the lake, spitting and pawing at his face.
"Rake!" Baler roared as he stood up, but the redhead didn't stop. "Smith! I am gonna kill you!"
"By yourself?" Seth wheezed from the ground.
"I'm not—" Baler began, but cut off suddenly. Rake was gone, driven by his disgust to the lake; Esiah's whimpers were still echoing back from the woods as he floundered toward home, nursing his broken fingers.
"Sehk on you, Smith," Baler hissed, still trying to wipe his face and neck. "This ain't over."
"Probably not," Helix rejoined. "Angbar could probably manage a piss, too." They locked eyes again, just long enough for Helix to start wondering if his final taunt had been one too many. Then Baler turned with a dismissive grunt and walked away.
As Helix brayed laughter at Baler's back, Syntal ducked out from behind a moss-covered tree stump and hurled a rock at the fleeing boy's head.
It cracked into his skull with a sound like splitting timber; a fine mist of blood burst from his scalp. He staggered forward a step before crumpling to the dirt.
Helix's laughter turned to ash in his throat. Syntal covered her mouth.
The only sound was the twittering of birds in the trees.
"What...? By Akir, Syntal," Helix breathed. "What'd you do that for?"
Syntal just stared.
"Why'd you throw the rock at him?" Angbar accused. "He was running away, you didn't have to kill him!"
"I just—I didn't mean to... he came after us!" Syntal protested.
"He was running away, idiot!" Seth yelled.
"Shut up, Seth!" Syntal yelled back.
"Shut up, everybody!" Lyseira screamed. She barged past Helix, climbed down the ladder, and knelt by Baler's body. As she held her hand near his mouth, she announced with a tremor, "He's not dead—he's still breathing."
"See?" Syntal whined.
"Good," Helix said as he swung down onto the ladder. "We can just leave him here then. When he wakes up he won't know what happened anyway—he didn't see Syntal hit him, maybe he'll think he just tripped."
"Maybe his whole memory will get forgot," Angbar said, following Helix. "That happened in a story my dad told me once. And then he'll become nice."
"That's good," Seth said as Helix jumped to the ground. "Yeah, now we don't have to worry about him."
Lyseira shot to her feet, her dirty dress twirling as she turned to face th
em. "We can't leave him here if he's alive! He got hit in the head—he could be in a longsleep!"
Helix shrugged. "C'mon, Lyseira—if he's in a longsleep, we can't help him anyway."
"The Abbot can! 'Thou shalt not slay thine fellow man' is the second Sacred Principle—if we left him here it would be like killing him, that's what the book of Golath says."
"He ain't a man anyway," Angbar pointed out. "He's only sixteen."
"Yeah." Helix started to chuckle at the joke, but his eyes snagged on the slowly darkening dirt around Baler's head, and the laughter died.
Lyseira's eyes flashed, her bottom lip quivering. "Fine!" she barked. "Fine!"
She stalked toward Seth, who started to back away, and snatched the bully's knife from his waistband.
"I'll take him back myself!" she snapped, marching back to the unconscious body. "But if you think no one's gonna know about this, you're wrong!" She knelt next to Baler's head, smoothed her dress out in front of her, and started awkwardly trying to cut out a swath of it for a bandage.
"I'm going to tell my mom, and all your moms," she seethed as she sawed at the hem. Abruptly she stopped and glared at Helix. "And you can tell my mom I said 'poop' if you want, because I don't care, and Baler's going to die if you leave him here, and Akir will send you to Hel!" she shrieked.
"M'sai, Lyseira. Calm down," Angbar said.
She kept cutting at her hem, finally tearing off a ragged strip. She wrapped the makeshift bandage, grimy with mud, wood slivers, and urine, around Baler's head wound and tied it tight.
Syntal came over wordlessly and extended a hand to help her up. Lyseira grabbed it. "Are you gonna help?" she demanded. Biting her lip, Syntal nodded.
"We might as well help her," Angbar said. "She's gonna tell everyone anyway." He grabbed Baler's hands, grimacing at the weight, and looked plaintively back at the other two boys. "He's heavy."
Seth shrugged and went to help.
Helix sighed. "Better than he deserves," he drawled, "after stealing my dad's nails."
Chapter 5
i. Lyseira
Children of a Broken Sky (Redemption Chronicle Book 1) Page 9