by J. R. Ford
Small victories in dark times.
Her bra broke the surface of the water. I tried not to stare.
Ana confirmed what I’d already known: it’s easy to notice someone staring. She laughed. “I see you leering. What would Heather think?”
“That we’re wasting the time she bought with her life.”
“That wasn’t what I was talking about. Do I have to spell it out for you?” By the blank look on my face, she did. “She’s head over heels for you, Pav.”
My gut twisted further. “Quit pulling my leg.”
“You’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
I hadn’t, and I blushed. “You trying to make me feel worse?”
“Never. I feel bad enough already. Between what’s happened to my legs, what Heather had to do, and Farrukh…” Her voice went small. “Why does he hate me?”
As if I hadn’t felt guilty enough. “I don’t think he likes buy-ins. He grew up on Standard and was determined that this game was his ticket out. Then we came stomping through.”
“I didn’t choose my station any more than he did.”
“It’s not that, I think. He said you act like you own the place.” I thought for a second, “Like how you hadn’t asked me to come, at first. You’d just assumed.”
“And I apologized for that!”
“To me, yeah.”
“Well I’m not going to apologize to him! I’ve done nothing wrong. And when things got hairy, I went last, and I got got for it! I’ve killed myself for you three, and he acts like I deserved it! And now he’s joined the Enlightened. Edwin should be who he has a problem with, not me!”
I tried to cut in, but she kept going. “Edwin and his cronies can hate me, I don’t care. But Farrukh…” She blushed. Ana, flustered? First time for everything. “It’s not like that, but I wanted him to like me. He seemed like a good person, before he betrayed us. But if I see him again, I’m going to kill him! Only, I’ll be dead first.” She gave me a meaningful look. “You’ll have to do it for me, Pav, and kill Edwin while you’re at it. I’ll be watching.”
I doubted Farrukh would mind me relating what he’d told me in confidence. In fact, he might thank me, if we ever spoke again. “He said he admired you.”
Her expression softened from rage to something like resignation. “Well, that changes nothing now, doesn’t it? He’s the enemy. Maybe…” She paused. “Maybe, don’t kill him, if you can help it. But Edwin still has to go. It’s up to you now. He’ll have the Storm’s Breath — your best chance is to drop off his radar and wait for a chance to assassinate him. Maybe find a new party to help you. You’re a good friend. Any party would be lucky to have you.”
Heather had told me not to look back. Ana told me to hold a grudge. And I’d thought my insides had been thoroughly shredded already.
Her words sparked a fire in me, though, and I could pretend it wasn’t just because she was mostly naked. “You’re not dead,” I said. “Stop acting like you are.”
“I will be soon.” Her voice was soft. “When I was thirteen, my mom hired me a dancing tutor. I was ecstatic. Up until that point, I’d been terrified of school dances.”
“You, terrified?”
“It was four years ago, okay?” She laughed. “Of course, no matter how old I get, the me of four years ago is always naïve and stupid compared to my now-mature self.”
“You and me both,” I said. “Is that when you found your love of dance?”
“Yeah, in a way. The tutor was awful. Everything had to be straight-backed, every step perfect, my grip neither too limp nor too tight. I wasn’t even allowed to smile.”
“Rich people have weird dancing rules.”
“He said it was ‘proper.’ We stepped back and forth for a couple hours, and he left. I was so angry that I danced all night. My way, not his.” She smiled sadly. “It was freedom, of a sort. My future might lie with the company, but my body is my own.” The smile wavered, and her voice caught in her throat. “And now, I’ve lost it. I can’t dance, I can’t fence, I can’t even walk.”
“You can try.” I splashed out, went over to our bundle, and took out Heather’s spare dress. “Remember the letter? All we need is a Nullifier.”
“We don’t even know what that is.”
“But we know the warlock had one. The hike might be painful.” I chopped at a branch of a gnarled tree at the pool edge. A few hacks later, I had a crutch. I started on another.
Ana’s face showed a tinge of anxiety.
“Come on, you’ve been the strongest of us this far.”
“I had my legs then. I had everything. Pride alone can’t carry us.”
“Don’t give up on us now, just because it’s the easy thing to do. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
“I got going!” she shouted. “Across the plain with acid burns, then all the way back with an injured foot, and now here after two lashes from Edwin’s whip! Did you hear me complain?”
Her words carried an unexpected sting. I sat down at the pool edge. “Why didn’t you? Too proud?”
“Maybe that was part of it. But I couldn’t show weakness, not when you two were relying on my strength.”
“You didn’t think we had it in us!” I kicked my legs to splash her. “You thought we needed you so badly, that if you so much as wavered, we’d collapse!”
She turned away from the waves. “Can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t have?”
My legs stilled. “I don’t know! But what kind of team would we be if we didn’t support you the way you supported us when we needed it?”
She wheeled on me. “What about you? You looked like you hated every step, and you didn’t say a word!”
There I went again, being a hypocrite. “I was ashamed. I didn’t want you to know what a weakling I am.”
“So now that I’ve told you my feelings, you think I’m weak too?” She splashed me back.
“I didn’t mean… No, I don’t. But you kept going anyway! What else could I do? Complaining would do nothing but drag you down. On my way to Bluehearth, I had a guy whining the whole way. I hated him by the end of it! Admittedly, I was in a bad mood from my injuries and Farrukh’s departure…but I didn’t want to annoy you. At least when I’m silent, I’m the only one who has to hear myself.”
“And how would me complaining have been different?” The splashing increased in ferocity.
I shielded my face from the water. As soon as the assault relented, I sputtered, “The difference is, I care about you!”
“And did you ever consider that maybe we care about you too?”
There she went again, making me believe her. My words were hot with renewed determination. “You care about me? Then get out. You’re coming with me to that castle.” I clacked the crutches together.
“What’s the point? Endure all that pain, just to be humiliated and killed? All I have left is my pride — I can’t lose that too. I give up.”
Heather’s words rang in my ears, “Are you trying to die?”
“If you don’t walk with me to that castle, there’s no way we can get back to you with the cure in time. Maybe you’ve given up on yourself, but have you given up on me? On Heather? We’re not going to die. We’re going to live, all of us.”
It seemed I’d finally learned not just to do whatever a pretty girl told me to.
18
Every heavy footfall drew a soft exhalation from my companion, followed by the rap of crutches on stone. The sun cast brilliance across the pools and waterfalls of the Vale, but the northern storm clouds were closing in. Birds squawked overhead.
“I hate walking,” I said.
“At least you have legs.”
“Keep your chin up. Think about the look on Edwin’s face when you run him through.”
“He’ll be shocked,” she wheezed.
I groaned. “I’m going to nab one of those crutches.”
“I’d probably still beat you there.”
“That’s your problem, not mine.�
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We both chuckled. She said, “Think about Heather. You’re already her hero. Imagine the action you’ll get when you rescue her.”
I tried it. It was strange, and kind of nice, hearing a word other than “no” from her imaginary lips. “You just assume I like her back?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her every time she saves your life.”
“She’s pretty amazing, sure, but do I really want someone with such low standards?”
The discourse didn’t make the walking less painful, only more bearable.
We hugged the sides of hills, only peeking over the crests to search for the Enlightened army. About an hour in, I got a glimpse of them marching into the village at the foot of the waterfall cliffs, their yellow robes still discernible in the storm’s shadow.
Some people don’t have a single thread of moral fiber throughout their bodies — everything they do is for their own gain. The philosophy becomes muddled when someone suggests that everything everyone does is for their own gain, one way or another, but either way, these people are predictable. I kept my eyes peeled for antagonists.
We walked along a desolate path of weeds, gravel, and boulders. On our left, a hill rose. On the right, it rolled down to a bubbling spring.
It was among the rocks of the hilltop that I noticed a tuft of yellow. I dragged Ana behind a boulder and heard two arrowheads ping against stone.
I glanced out. Two apprentices in yellow and thick Yao in orange were descending the slope. The apprentices had bows.
I growled. Guilherme and Kim.
“I knew we should have killed them,” Ana hissed.
“Then they would’ve sent others. Be grateful we got a kid and an injured.”
Ana drew her Lightning Blade, her other hand still holding a crutch.
“Stay here,” I said.
“Three opponents, Pav?”
“You taught me well.” I hoped.
I popped out, ducked back as two arrows flew my way, then stepped again onto the road. “Guilherme, Kim, stop! Can’t we talk about this?”
Hands hesitated. “Why didn’t y’all run?”
“You killed Min, you bastard!” Kim screamed. “And Lukas, and Don!” Min, bled out on the floor of the inn. Lukas, Guilherme’s friend, consumed in the blaze that had destroyed the Enlightened guild hall. Don, one of the first Enlightened, slain by Ana’s hand in that dark corridor.
Guilherme looked at his feet. “I promised. If you’re watching, Lukas, I love you.” He tightened his grip.
Beefy Yao stood passive, holding his broad-bladed sword in two hands.
“They were trying to kill us,” I began, then realized the headwind was too strong. I changed tack. “Who do you think got the points for Lukas’s death? It wasn’t any of us! It was Edwin! How can you be happy working for him? He’s nearly gotten all of you killed — you two in the inn, and he left you to burn!” I directed the last at Yao.
He shook his head and pointed at me. The gesture was unmistakable. No, you almost killed me. You almost killed Guilherme and Kim. You killed Min and Lukas and Don.
I could see the hurt and pain on their faces. No words could convince them. We were us, and they were them.
Time to give the viewers what they wanted. Death, theirs or mine.
Classical strategy advises killing the adds as quickly as possible, so one must only worry about the main enemy. Guilherme was fumbling with an arrow when my rapier entered his chest.
Too loyal for his own good. He gasped and fell back.
I dashed away from a chop of Yao’s cleaver and maneuvered to keep him between me and Kim. Frustrated, she threw down her bow and drew her sword.
Yao advanced on me with great cleaves, any of which could probably bash through my parry and kill me with what was left. I darted away, keeping my point dancing, searching for openings. After a horizontal stroke, I lunged in and pricked his shoulder, and after dodging the backswing, a quick swipe bloodied his hand. But then Kim attacked, and I had to retreat in earnest. The two pressed me with no opportunity to riposte until we reached the boulder behind which Ana waited.
Kim struck for her immediately. Ana swept up with her Lightning Blade, blocking the attack and landing a horizontal cut against Kim’s head. It happened too quickly for me to prepare for the flash. I was momentarily dazed, but when my eyes recovered, Kim’s corpse jittered on the gravel. The move had cost Ana her balance though, and she fell against the boulder.
Yao advanced on her, but I interposed myself. He took a moment to consider, then backed off. An invitation. I accepted, hearing Ana clamber up behind me.
“Don — was he your friend? The one who stood with you and Edwin, back in Pradeep’s Square?”
He nodded. His visage was taut with rage. A tear rolled down his cheek. Or perhaps it was the first drop of rain from the cloud looming over us.
“Did you hear what Edwin said that day? Did you laugh?”
One nod, then one shake of the head.
“Why? Why do you follow him?”
He signed some words. I couldn’t read sign language, though, so that was that. I nodded at him and raised my weapons.
We both advanced. I tried for a quick jab, but he swatted my blade aside and retreated.
Exactly where I wanted him. My rapier was about half a foot longer than his cleaver of a sword. I could attack with near impunity.
I flicked my point around, but he remained in a stalwart guard position, not to be baited. I thrust, just with my arm, and this time he parried. Excellent.
I recovered and tried the same thing. Only this time, I let my point dip under his sword and rise on the other side, right before his chest.
I expected him to whip back in a desperate parry. Instead, he struck, and I had to skitter away out of the middle of my lunge.
The whoosh of air whistled in my ears. Only half a second had prevented that sound from being the thud of my decapitated head hitting the ground.
“If I’d attacked, we’d both be dead,” I said. “Do you care about killing me that badly, that you’d die to do it?”
In response, he rushed in, faster than I could retreat. I crossed my weapons and caught his strike with a clang that sent me reeling. I staggered away from another strike, lunged for his extended leg, and felt steel bite into his thigh. I recovered away from his wild counter.
He seemed barely fazed, but he breathed deeply, in through his nose and out his mouth. As I watched, the robe flaps over his thigh darkened.
“Do you really think Edwin cares about you?”
He nodded.
“He doesn’t. He doesn’t care about anything but power.”
He beat his chest, as if saying, “I am power.”
I couldn’t let him go, even if he wanted to. If he told Edwin we were coming after him, there was no way I could rescue Heather. Either way, I saw in his eyes that he’d never surrender.
How did I deal with someone who would rather kill me than live?
I circled, intending to use my reach to herd him toward the slope edge, but he just kept plodding toward me. He held his sword high in both hands. I retreated, back and around until I was at the edge myself.
He ate the bait and rushed in. Instead of flinching like he probably hoped I would, I stepped in, catching him before he could cut me down. His cross-guard pummeled my shoulder as my dagger found his side. I slipped around and shoved him off. He fell hard onto the slope and rolled down, gravel bouncing in his wake. At last, he splashed into the shallows of the spring. The water lapped at his face. “Kill a player: +5” popped up.
I gritted my teeth against the pain in my left collarbone. Under my shirt, a black bruise was already forming.
I couldn’t help glancing at Guilherme’s corpse, though it sickened me. In different circumstances, might we have been friends?
But my real friends needed me. There was no remorse.
19
An hour of hillside winding later, we snuck into a gully at the foot of
a hill. Atop it sat a village in the shadow of the Durg. The ditch ran with rainwater into an overfull spring pool. The waterfall roared in the distance, and the thunderhead above rumbled.
The storm had picked up as we neared the Durg. Our clothes were soaked. My wet trousers chafed, and my cloak hung heavy on my shoulders.
Ana plopped down with a grunt. “It’s getting worse,” she said, rubbing her legs, which had taken on a gray tinge and seemed coated in slimy goop. Her toes flopped back and forth. “That’s not me,” she whispered. “I can’t feel my feet. Ugh.” She scooched to the edge of the pool and submerged her legs.
As I set down the party backpack, something disgusting and terrifying clicked into place. “You’re not transforming into one of those things, are you?”
“I probably have a few hours left.”
No time to waste. “I’m going up.”
She unbelted the Lightning Blade and handed it to me. “If they find me, I’m done for. But maybe you can use it to bring down the giant.”
It was heavy. “Unless it’s resistant, like the Mollusking was.”
“A river to cross when you come to it.”
A few pines eked out a living in the shadow of the cliffs, one with foliage thick enough that I felt comfortable climbing it to gaze over the village. The rain obscured my vision, but the scene was plain. The army was limping out of the cave at the foot of the cliffs. Their yellow cloaks were singed, dark with soot and blood. I didn’t doubt that fewer left that cave than had entered. I saw Edwin in his bright red, unfortunately whole, and Farrukh near him, distinctive in his green tunic and black mantle. He clutched his left arm close. Good. He deserved it.
Then I saw her, behind Edwin, in her pale-blue dress, unharmed.
The army holed up in the village inn. Light spilled from the windows. I scrambled down and hustled, bent over, up the hill. The rain pattered on my back and ran in rivulets through my hair, onto my neck, down my shirt.
Two yellow-clad Enlightened were smoking under the eaves, turned in so the storm wouldn’t extinguish their cigarettes. An outhouse stood across the stone lawn from them. I circled to the side of the inn. Those inside had shuttered the windows.