Tater halts in his tracks at my words, and raises an inquisitive brow. “Pray tell, what do you know that I do not? What could possibly sneak up on us out here in the middle of this gods forsaken no-man's land?”
I can tell he's still pissed at me and Mack for dragging him along. He had wanted to stay in Gray Valley with his rosy-cheeked companion, but Mack had insisted he go with his. Mack knew the silver-tongued trader could make all the difference in getting the muties to listen to our argument.
I try to brush off the half man's comment, hoping Finn don't overhear since he'd actually heeded my earlier order and was bringing the supplies. But the boy drops the pot and kindlin' at my feet, his eyes on me and his interest piqued at Tater's comment. Trust him to hear the one thing I don't want him to hear. Not wanting to mention the scorpi-ants if there ain’t no need, I play dumb to Tater's question. “How should I know? I'm just sayin' is all. It's better to be safe than sorry.”
“That's right,” Belle agrees, and I glance over at her gratefully. “Especially since Mack said earlier that there are scorpi-ants still roaming around here. Gotta be careful of… what?”
Belle finally notices me shaking my head at her, and she halts her words, but the damage is done. Finn's eyes grow wide, and he glances fearfully over his shoulder. “Scorpi-ants? Did Belle say there's scorpi-ants?”
“Belle's wrong, Finn. There ain't no scorpi-ants anywhere near here. And even if there were, this lands so open we’d seeing them coming from a mile away.”
“No, I'm pretty sure I heard Mack say—”
“Nope, you heard wrong.” I glare at her over Finn's head, hoping she gets the hint. She don't.
“Mack, did you not mention scorpi-ants—”
“Shut up, Belle. Jeez, cain't you take a hint?”
“So, you're saying there's scorpi-ants around here?” Tater picks up the topic, and I turn my glare on him.
“There ain't no scorpi-ants.”
“Scorpi-ants? Where?” Beanie comes hurtling towards us, his head on a swivel, looking for the unseen assailants and his iron shooter ready in his hand.
“Oh for the love of… there ain't no scorpi-ants, okay? Everybody calm down. Beanie, put that thing away before you hurt somebody. Finn, there ain't no need to worry.”
“Mistress,” Talbert calls to me from the other side of the truck, but I ignore him, concentrating on keeping Finn calm.
“Mack just said there may be some living in certain places here. But you don't gotta worry—”
“Mistress.”
“Talbert, for the last time there ain't no scorpi-ants!” My irritation gets the better of me, and I direct it at Talbert, but he don't seem to notice. His attention ain't focused on me, but at something beyond my line of vision. I whirl around to see what's got him looking so worried. Even with all my belly-aching that there ain't nuthin' to worry about, I almost expect to see the black-shelled creatures scuttling over the parched land. What meets my eyes ain't that, but it's just as frightening.
While we’ve been arguing about the existence or non-existence of the creatures, we got surrounded. Muties, all different sizes and shapes, are on all sides. On silent feet they come closer, tightening the circle around us, and carrying weapons of varying designs: Axes, knives, spears, all pointed in one direction. At us. Where the hell had they come from? It was like they popped up outta the craters in the ground. I spin some more, but there ain't no opening to escape. They have us completely surrounded.
“Finn, Cat, here.” I order the boy and the creature to my side. They both obey, but Cat is growling in the back of her throat. I stick my fingers in her warm fur, trying to calm her down. I know she wants to protect us, but the last thing we need is her attacking the very people we came to enlist.
The muties form a wall, creating a human circle with us on the inside. My people move as well, creating a barrier between me and them. Tater stands with his hands in the air, a tight smile on his face.
“Oh, my. As my dear mother would say, 'This is quite the conundrum indeed.’ Captain MacKenzie, please tell me you recognize these people or at least some of them can validate you. Otherwise, we are in a very arduous state of affairs.”
Not often I find myself agreeing with the little man, but at the moment I agree with him entirely. I glance over at Mack, hoping he has an optimistic reply to Tater's question.
“Afraid not,” Mack whispers as his eyes flit over the deformed faces, looking for one he may recognize. “But let me do the talking.”
I don't wait for Mack to do any sort of talking. Instead, I step forward toward the crowd. “We don't mean you any harm. No need for the weapons. We just wanna talk.” I'm met with stares of suspicion. I move closer, ignoring Mack's warning of, “Tara, don't.” Yanking my neck wrapper offa my head, I release my mane of hair so the muties can see. “My name is Tara. I'm a New Blood. A mutie, like all of you.”
A murmur breaks over the crowd, and I take comfort as a few of them lower their weapons. It emboldens me to move even closer. “We're here to speak with your…” I glance over at Mack. “Who do I ask for? Elder? Old folk? Do they even have a leader?”
Mack nods. “The word they use is Maven, I believe.”
“We need to speak with your Maven. Can you take us to your village?”
“Why do you have an army truck?” The question comes from the back of the pack, and I turn in surprise, amazed at the clarity of the words more so than the question. From what I remember of Po and the other mutants at Sanctuary, speaking ain't high on their list of priorities.
“We stole it,” I say, not even bothering to lie. “The soldiers were attackin' a village, and my people and me stopped 'em. Stole the truck and all the supplies. We brought some to share with your village.”
“The soldiers?” the female voice asks again, and I peer through the crowd trying to see the speaker.
“Dead. The villagers killed 'em.”
This seems to please the crowd as my answer is met with a chorus of chuckles.
“You're of the light,” the voice says and I nod.
“Aye. I'm of the light. That's why the Prezedant hunts me, the same as he hunts you and your kind. That's why he needs to die. But we need your help. Will you take us to your Maven?”
The muties crowd around the unseen speaker and mumble among themselves. There’s a lot of grunting and shrieking and finger pointing my way. Finally, they part, and a young girl steps outta the cluster, no more than fifteen born years. Long, dark hair frames her pale face, and other than the strangely overlarge eyes, you wouldn't reckon her to be a mutie at all. I guess she got the good genes in the family.
“We've talked it over. We have heard your name spoken by Po and the other rebel mutants. You and your people are not strangers to us, Tara New Blood. Plus, Horax here says you are who you say, and that you and another freed him from his confinement on Royal Island.”
She points to the mutie standing next to her, and I suddenly recognize the face. It’s one of the muties Old Mister Camon had locked away in his garden of horrors. The mutie smiles at me, showing his toothless gums, and I cain't help but smile back. I ain't sure how he did it, but I'm real glad knowing he made it back to his people.
“Once we've done a sweep of the out lands to make sure you haven't been followed, we will take you to our Maven. While we wait for the lookouts to return, you will cook us some of your stolen supplies, yes?”
“Uh… okay,” I agree, and the girl grins and rubs her hands in anticipation. The other muties have a similar look, and I try to count the number of them in my head. Had to be at least thirty or more of 'em. I glance down at the iron pot still waiting for a fire to be built. We're gonna need a bigger pot.
The girl, who introduced herself as Cee, solved the mystery of how they managed to sneak up on us without us seeing them. They did come outta the craters. Apparently, the whole area is littered with a maze of underground tunnels that lead to certain craters, giving them access to roam the out lands wi
thout being seen. Leftovers from settler days, they reckon. I wonder if the tunnels resemble the one we'd used to escape Royal Island, but Cee don't let us find out. As much as she is okay with taking us to her Maven, she ain't eager to show us the entrances to their tunnels. A secret they wanted to keep hidden. I don't blame 'em, really. It was hard knowing who to trust.
Another secret they wanted to keep hidden was their village entrance. None of us were thrilled with the fact that Cee wanted us to ride in the back of the truck while one of her guys drove us into the village. It was kinda hard giving up control, but argue as much as we like, Cee wasn't gonna give in. For someone so young, she was strong willed. As much as I argued, I now found myself riding in back along with the rest of my crew with Cee and three of her people, keeping watch on us and making sure we don't peek. I couldn't peek even if I wanted to.
If I thought Belle was a reckless driver, the mutie in control of the wheel now was even worse. My stomach backed up into my throat with every bump and swerve, and by the time the truck finally pulled to a stop, I felt like no amount of mint leaves would ever help it calm down. Only blessing was Beanie had at least managed to keep from puking this time. Small win but still a win.
I fall outta the truck as soon as it stops, glad to be back outside. The sun is dipping past the horizon, bathing the sight in front of me with a fiery orange glow, adding to the strangeness of this place Cee has brought us to. She joins me at my side and smiles, her gigantic eyes sliding over the landscape with an obvious fondness. “My village,” she says, before she bellows, “Keem-cha,” to the people that seem to be appearing outta the mounds of rock and sand in fronta my eyes.
Numerous echoes of, “Keem-cha,” float back to us, and I realize it must be their form of greeting. I also realize the villagers ain't sprouting outta the ground like I first thought. Now that my eyes have adjusted to the dimness, I can see there are openings in the hills of rock and sand, which ain't really hills at all, but what must be the villagers’ homes. Their homes were built right into the landscape, camouflaged so you cain't see 'em unless you was on top of 'em. Well, I'll be.
Strangers in the village must be a rarity, since more and more muties start popping outta the ground and eyeballing us with curiosity and more than a little unease. Some are braver than others and approach us, staring at us and the truck like we's carrying the scurvy. I guess I cain't blame 'em for their distrust. I reckon the only time they see trucks is when they get captured and carried off to Skytown and the fighting arenas.
They ain't the least bit scared of Cat though, and I swear to the gods I see some of 'em actually licking their lips. My hand moves for my weapon, but then Talbert and Beanie catch it too, and they move closer to Finn and Cat, their hands wrapped tight around their shooters. Those two grow on me more every day.
The muties themselves range in severity of deformation. Some remind me of Po with the stretched, veined skin and nose-less faces, while others look almost normal, like Cee. The more normal looking ones seem to be the younger ones as well. Whatever had scarred these poor bastards seems to be lessenin' in the younger generation.
One older mutie with a few tufts of white hair sticking outta his scarred, bruised head, waddles up to us, and glares at Cee with lashless, beady eyes. He mutters something that don't make a lick of sense to me, but Cee answers his glare with a grin.
“It's okay. She's the New Blood Po and the others have spoken of. She is here to see our Maven.”
Another line of gobbledygook followed by the young girl's “No, we weren't followed. We know what we're doing.”
He snorts at this like he somehow don't believe her, then eyes me up and down like I'm some sandbiter about to take a bite outta him. Just ewww.
More gobbledygook starts rising up all around us. Howls and shrieks as more muties pile outta the holes in the ground to surround us in a circle three bodies deep. There had to be a hundred of 'em by now, and Tater glances over at me in worry as Cee tries to calm them, but her voice gets lost in the roar of the others. One old mutie, a woman I think, pushes her way to the front of the mob and spits a gob of green phlegm at our feet, and Tater steps daintily away from it.
“I don't mean to be condescending, my dear, but this is not quite the greeting ceremony we were expecting, now is it?” The half man murmurs at me, and I can almost hear the “I told you so” in his tone.
“So not the time, Tater,” I growl back, trying to appear unconcerned, but my gut is doing flip-flops of fear knowing he is right. This is so not how I thought they were gonna respond to our presence.
The mob crowds in closer and through the words being yelled I can pick out “Army” and “spies.”
“Please, I assure you, we aren’t either of those things,” Mack says, but his voice is lost in the growing turmoil.
“Cee, tell them we ain't Army,” I cry in alarm as more muties make their way through the front carrying axes and knives. Shizen. Why cain't anything be easy for once?
“Stop it,” Cee cries at the weapon wielders. “These people mean you no harm. It's the New Blood we've heard of. I said stop. We need Maven! Go get her,” she yells at her own men, and they wiggle their way into the crazed mob to do her bidding. I only hope they make it in time before we get overrun. One mutie towers over Tater with a rusty cleaver, and the half man backs up into me, muttering, “This brings back a very unwelcome memory, I must say.” I make a mental note to ask him about it, if we get outta this alive. His frightened eyes turn my way. “Maybe now's the time to summon your powers, my dear?”
As much as I didn't wanna harm anyone, this mob is riling themselves up and outta control. Tater’s right. Talbert and Beanie are getting itchy trigger fingers, I can tell. Even Cat is getting harder to control as Finn strains to hold her back and keep her from attacking the threatening mob. It'll be kinda hard to convince 'em to join our side if Cat has a mutie hanging from her chops.
The flame in my gut ignites at my command, and I let it flow like hot liquid through my blood. Concentrating hard, I hold back on the power, even though I can feel its desire to bolt outta me unconstrained. Not wanting to harm the muties, I focus my Chi on the very ground instead. “Back off,” I warn as I drop to a knee and slam the palm of my hand into the ground. The tremor starts deep in the earth but quickly escalates. Like ripples in a pond it spreads outward, buckling the ground and shifting under the mob’s feet. They fall back, barreling into each other and crumpling to the ground into a pile of twisted bodies.
Silence falls. No one in my small radius is affected, but they've gone silent just the same. I reckon after all I've done, it still shocks 'em to see what I'm capable of. I rise slowly as Cee stares at me with her huge eyes and a wicked grin, but before she gets a chance to say anything, a shrill clapping breaks the silence. I swerve toward the sound, and gaze over the shuffling bodies trying to right themselves back to their feet.
A tall frame weaves toward us. She's dressed in a long, flowing sand-colored robe that almost blends into the background. If it weren't for the piercing dark eyes staring at me above the gauze covering the lower half of her face, I woulda thought it was a ghost coming our way. The figure doesn't break stride, still clapping as the muties crawl out of her way, opening a path for her to come through. A high-pitched, almost girly laughter floats through the air, and Cee joins in, adding to my edginess. They both sound mad as hatters, and from the way the muties are treating the newcomer with reverence, I reckon she's their Maven. Cee ain't scared of her at all, so I'm hoping we ain't gotta be either, but I keep my Chi lit in my belly just the same.
“Wonderful. Wonderful. Well done, Tara. Your Chi is impressive. You are your mother's daughter indeed.”
My mother's daughter? This leader of the muties knew my mother, too? Seems Rease obviously got around.
“I'm glad you're impressed,” I drawl back. “Mind tellin' me why your people wanted to attack us when we come in peace?”
“Pffft, they weren't going to attack. And even if th
ey did, you are powerful enough to swat them away like mosquitoes. You were never in danger.”
I look around at the muties back on their feet now. The hostile looks from earlier are replaced with smiles and expressions of wonder. I reckon it was my show of Chi that did the trick. The old woman that had spit at us earlier approaches again, and I step back not wanting to be hacked on again, but she bows her head and mutters “sorr-eee”. I nod at her, and she scuttles back into the crowd.
The figure in the robe stands almost in front of me now. Dark hands appear outta the voluminous sleeves and reach up to unwrap the gauze around her head. A face appears, and I almost expect it to be... not so pretty, because not many of these muties could be called fetching by any standard. But the coppery face and brown eyes that stare back at me are quite winsome and very familiar. My heart jumps in hope, even though my mind tells me it cain't be. I blurt out, “You look like—”
“Yes,” she says. “I do, don't I? My name is Maya, Maven of the out landers, mother of Cee, friend of Rease, and sister of Lily. Nice to see you alive and well, Tara.”
10
Dreams
The underground homes are much bigger and cooler than I expect 'em to be. The stone room Maya leads us to is rounded, the smooth walls adorned with shelves holding various pots and bottles of herbs. A small cot occupies a space beside the shelves, and seems to be the only semblance of neatness in the room. The rest of the space is filled to overflowing with old settlers’ relics. It reminds me a lot of Orakel's underground home in the iron bones city.
Mack says it's like walking into a museum... whatever a museum is. But it's surprisingly comfy, and Maya motions us to the low stone benches on the dirt floor, placed around the small firepit in the middle of the abode. There ain't enough benches for all of us, so Talbert and Beanie stand off to the side with Cat, keeping an eye on the entryway.
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