Death and Resurrection (The Ballad of Broken Song Book 1)

by Simon Birks

  “A ghost from my past,” Hoep told her.

  Orsa stood next to him. “She looked pretty real to me.”

  “You don’t have to be dead to be a ghost.”

  Paths

  Pinto finished his food.

  “Is Sogal coming with me?”

  “It’s best if he stays here,” Berra said.

  Sogal looked up on hearing his name. Pinto patted him on the head.

  “Stay here, boy,” he said to the dog.

  Berra handed Pinto a hat. It was the same colour as the uniform, and had a hard brim sticking out at the front.

  “You’ll need to wear this,” the woman said. “Do not take it off. These, also.”

  The woman pushed something dark across the table. Pinto picked it up. On the back two arms folded out.

  “What is this?”

  “They call them glasses,” she said. “The arms go over your ears.”

  Pinto looked at her in confusion.

  “Just try them!” Berra said.

  Pinto put them on. They fitted comfortably, although his view was somewhat obscured by the tinting.

  “Why do they wear them?” the warrior asked.

  “It protects their eyes from the sun,” the woman said. “Plus, it helps the disguise.”

  “What happens now?”

  “There’s a path between here and the prison that you can follow. It’s not a complete path, so you’ll need to use this.”

  She held up a rectangular piece of glass, which Pinto took.

  “Um…” Pinto said.

  “It’s like a moving map.”

  Pinto raised his eyebrows.

  “Oh!”

  The lady nodded.

  “If the plan works, it should be fairly risk-free.”

  “Very well,” Pinto said. “And if it doesn’t work?”

  “Just make sure it works,” she said. She pointed to the device, “Follow the arrow?”

  “Follow the arrow.”

  Pinto crouched and stroked the top of Sogal’s head.

  “See you soon,” he told him.

  The Ra turned and walked through the open door. He looked at the arrow. It was pointing along a path that started nearby.

  “Fair weather,” the woman said, and if he hadn’t been concentrating on the device, this might have struck him as odd.

  Harvest

  As Jenza made her way steadily north-east, the start of the mountain range grew ever closer. Jenza had already overtaken the old lady, if Harrar’s position was correct. She was surprised, impressed even, by her level of stamina after having been so ill in the desert. Jenza stopped for a moment and breathed deeply. The evening air was still warm, and she could feel it expand in her lungs.

  As she made headway to the Crown of Kings, more rocks appeared on the ground in front of her. She knew that if she continued to run, there was a good chance she’d twist an ankle, or worse. She arched her back and looked up at Harrar’s position; Aponser was at least an hour’s walk behind her, she thought. That was good.

  Jenza checked her position. The mountains started to rise from the floor a few hundred yards in front of her. Not as steep as they were nearer the peaks, but hard work to climb, nonetheless. The sky was getting dark, and it was unlikely Aponser would be able to see her. Even so, Jenza didn’t want to take any chances. She moved to her left where the coverage from the trees was greater, and approached the rise from there.

  *

  The Harvesters waited on the mountain.

  The group that followed the old woman was little more than insurance. They were there to stop her turning back. The young one was the real prize.

  It was always better to lay a trap. The Harvesters’ power was strong, but it had very little range. The girl needed to be close, very close, for them to use her. She would be such a good catch; she’d allow them to live for quite a while. So would the old woman. They would both be a good catch.

  There were five of them waiting. They couldn’t afford any more. The Harvesters were dying. Some of them said it was about time. They called their practices barbaric, but what else could they do? It was either Harvest or die.

  They looked down on the girl, just starting out on the climb up the rise. It was good. She would be tired by the time she reached them. She would be easy to overpower.

  If the Harvesters could have smiled, they would.

  *

  Jenza’s hands began to shake, and it wasn’t exhaustion. Something else was wrong; was warning her. It could be Lacquishan, come to ward her off again, but she didn’t think it was. Lacquishan didn’t seem like someone who’d give second chances.

  It was unlikely to be Aponser, either. The woman was too far away to trouble her.

  No, it was something else. Something she was approaching. The woman surveyed the slope in front of her. There was nothing she could see. She turned, and whistled for Harrar to come and help her. She hoped it’d be enough.

  *

  Harrar twisted in the wind, and sought out the woman. She was there, near the mountains, looking up at her. Harrar took one last look at the old woman below, dipped her wings, and then headed over to her friend.

  *

  Aponser heard the call from in front of her, and watched as the bird responded and flew out. So, she had been overtaken. Played at her own game! She stopped. She couldn’t catch up. She might have been belligerent, but she wasn’t fast.

  She tried to think of a backup plan, but she didn’t have one. She had been expecting to use Jenza to find the spear, and now the woman had got ahead of her.

  The spear, the voice in her head said. There is something you can do.

  Aponser smiled. Yes, there was something. Why hadn’t she done it before? Because she’d been too focused on the girl, and now the girl was out of the equation.

  The old woman set her pack down and looked behind her, away from the mountains. The Harvesters were there, and they would catch up if she wasn’t quick.

  She unpacked the bag, placing some of the items in a circle in front of her. She repeated incantations in her head as she did so. She thought them to be spells, but no one had ever taught them to her. They helped her to relax, to concentrate. She bent over the circle, and touched each object in turn. Once round the circle, twice round, and a third time.

  She stepped back, paused for a moment, and then stepped forward into the circle. The spell was more powerful than she’d been expecting. She felt the push and tug on her clothes. In her experience, a push meant she should head away, a pull meant she should move towards. The message was clear. The push came from behind her, and the pull from the mountains.

  But there was another push, and this was also coming from the mountains. It meant danger. She didn’t think it was Jenza.

  The Harvesters.

  A pain shot through her, from the top of her left shoulder, down and out through her right leg. A long pain, sharp, pointed.

  Like a spear.

  Aponser hadn’t felt anything like it before. She concentrated on the pain, tried to embody it, and control it. It responded like it understood. This wasn’t just a pain. It was an intelligence.

  In an instant, she understood. She knew what would happen, and what the spear was. Jenza was going in the wrong direction. The spear was here. It had been here for a long time.

  There was a choice Aponser had to make, and she knew what she wanted to do. Still, she let it sit for a few seconds, to make sure she was happy with her choice. Then she opened her eyes, and took in the world one last time. She had led a long, tough, life. One that had been robbed from her by the Harvesters. Now it was her turn.

  Aponser, as at peace as she ever had been, let go.

  The spear felt it. It cracked and spread and filled.

  It was the weapon, and it was the reason.

  And now someone worthy of it had come.

  And now it would exist once more.

  *

  Ja Jenza watched Harrar circle in the sky, and was sure the b
ird had sensed something wrong, too. There was something up on the mountainside.

  Whatever it was, it held the higher ground. Slowly, carefully, the Ja made her way back down the slope. As she did, stones started to roll down from above her. Small stones, dislodged by feet. Not just one set of feet. By the looks of it, there were at least three.

  She whistled to the bird, and it flew closer to her. Jenza took bigger steps, a risky manoeuvre; she had to. On one or two occasions, her feet threatened to slide from under her and she had to steady herself. Still, the stones rattled down the mountain.

  “I’ve got to get out of this,” she said.

  She was nearly at the bottom of the slope when the first rock was thrown. It missed her, but not by much. Then more were raining down, and she used her bag as a shield. She whistled to Harrar to go higher, she didn’t want the bird hurt.

  Still, Jenza didn’t increase her speed. That was likely to cause more harm than good. The stones hit her bag. One bounced up and hit her just below the knee. It hurt, but she kept on going.

  Then she was at the bottom, and she ran. She didn’t know where to at first, but then she remembered Aponser, and realised whatever their differences, she was the only other person she could trust.

  Jenza ran. Behind her, there was footfall, and she assumed her would-be assailants were on the flat ground, too.

  She thought of Lacquishan. Perhaps she had been right. But right was just a matter of perspective. In an argument, doesn’t every side think they are right?

  The Telar-Val ran. She had unfinished business. She could not end here. The stones were no longer raining down, and she put her bag on her back. How far was Aponser? She didn’t know. She hoped it wasn’t too far.

  What about the others? She thought, the ones coming in the other direction. She shut that thought out. Thinking about too much meant you didn’t think about anything at all.

  *

  She didn’t know how long she had run for. Her legs were aching, and her knee was throbbing where the rock had caught it.

  “Nowhere to go,” came a voice from behind her.

  It was closer than she was expecting.

  “Time to stop.”

  She didn’t give them a reply. They weren’t worthy of one.

  “It’s time to stop,” came a voice to her left.

  “We are here,” taunted another from her right. “We will take you.”

  She was tired; she started to slow.

  Something touched the back of her arm. Something rough, and she stifled a scream.

  Keep running, a voice in her head said. It sounded like Aponser, and yet it didn’t sound like Aponser.

  Find the circle, it said. Find the circle.

  Jenza didn’t know what that meant, but she tried to pick up speed.

  “That’s it, tire yourself out.”

  Something got close enough to push her, and she was thrown off-balance. She went sideways, staggering to get her stability back. She looked down at the ground, and saw something.

  Another nudge from the other side. It was like they were playing with her, like a cat plays with a mouse.

  She dived. It wasn’t graceful, but it served its purpose. Jenza hit the floor, tumbled and rolled, ending up flat on her back.

  “They never get away,” said a voice.

  Jenza pushed herself backwards with her feet.

  “Sometimes we have to be patient, but patient is what we are.”

  “Cowards are what you are!” Jenza said.

  “We are not cowards!” came at least ten voices from around her.

  “Yes, yes, you are!”

  Jenza pushed herself backwards once more. She felt something under her hand.

  “You are ours, now,” a voice said, almost next to her.

  Then, there was a new voice, just beyond the others. An assured voice, confident and angry.

  “No one will ever be yours again.”

  Something moved around the edges of her vision. Jenza wondered whether she was unable to see it, or just didn’t want to.

  The Harvesters screamed, as cowardly things do. They begged. They whimpered. Finally they were quiet.

  “You can come out now,” the other voice said. “It is safe.”

  Jenza stood up and stepped out.

  “Aponser?”

  “She gave her life for me to live,” Spear said.

  It stepped forward.

  Jenza gasped.

  It was the shape of Aponser, Jenza could tell, but that was where the similarity ended. The thing that now stood in front of her was covered in scars. They covered every visible part of her skin. Scars on scars, so that there was no smooth flesh anymore. There was a slash, an opening of sorts, where Aponser’s mouth had been. And where her pupils should have been, there was nothing but white.

  “What…” Jenza started, but found it difficult to continue. “What’s happened?”

  “I am Spear,” the creature said. “Aponser let me use her.”

  “She’s dead?”

  “She knew the risks,” Spear said with little remorse.

  “And the things chasing me; did you kill them?”

  Spear nodded.

  “Oh, yes. For everyone they’ve ever taken, I killed them. Their time was over.”

  Jenza looked around the ground nearby. There was no sign of them.

  “Where are the bodies?”

  “Gone,” Spear said. “We should rest now. We’ve a lot of work to do.”

  “What kind of work?”

  “War is coming, and it’s going to be an annihilation.”

  A Near Perfect Plan

  According to the device in Pinto’s hands, he was nearing his destination. He looked up and saw a small building by the side of the road. The device beeped once and went blank.

  “Hold it there,” came a man’s voice. Pinto looked up and saw a figure step out of the building and onto the path. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Pinto,” he said. “I was told…”

  “That’s enough. You need to come with us, now.”

  Pinto nodded.

  He slipped the device into one of the open pockets and used the metal fastening to do it up. The woman had shown him how before he’d left.

  “Do you have a name?” Pinto asked the man.

  “The less you know, the better,” the man said.

  “How long will it take?”

  “Not long. Wait here.”

  Pinto watched as the man went round the back of the hut. He heard a low rumble, and something metallic started to appear from behind the building. It was long, and about halfway down he saw the other man sitting in a hollow seat. There was another hollow seat next to him. Pinto walked up and got in.

  “What happens…” Pinto started to say, but the words were taken from his mouth, as the vehicle accelerated away over the plains.

  *

  A hole opened up in the wall of a room they called a canteen, and Fijefel was handed a container, which he assumed was food. He had been waiting in the queue for over half an hour, and whilst it really didn’t smell very good, he was extremely hungry.

  He took the container to the far end of the room, where tall chairs were positioned next to metal counters. He hauled himself up on a chair, and opened the container. It looked no better than it smelled.

  Fijefel nearly threw his first mouthful straight back up. In all his years of eating, nothing had ever tasted this bad. His heart sunk. Was this how it was going to be? He shovelled another mouthful in. This time he was prepared. Still appalled, but prepared.

  There was a movement beside him. Fijefel tensed, expecting some kind of attack. Instead, another man, dressed as he was, sat down next to him.

  “Evening,” he said.

  Fijefel looked at him.

  “Evening.”

  “I heard you came through the darkness.”

  Fijefel nodded.

  “How’s your first day?” the man asked.

  “Awful.”

&n
bsp; The man laughed.

  “It doesn’t get any better.”

  “Why do they keep us here?”

  “Because we disagree.”

  “With what?” Fijefel said.

  The man waved his arms around to indicate everything.

  “Enemies of the state. Have you heard of that one?”

  Fijefel shook his head.

  “I’m in here because I fell into a pool,” the hunter said. “Not only that, but I lost the sight in one eye for my trouble.”

  “You did well to survive the Darkness.”

  Fijefel nodded.

  “You know about the Shroud?”

  “It’s a gateway. A way they can travel to your world. Didn’t you know?” the man asked.

  Fijefel shook his head. “Is it magic?”

  “Physics.”

  “Physics?”

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be up to speed soon.”

  “How come I can understand you?”

  “The darkness. It changes you. Allows you to hear what we say.”

  “Oh,” Fijefel said. So that was how he had understand Pinto. They had been close to it when it’d first happened. “How long will we be kept here?”

  The man shrugged.

  “Just until they need us.”

  “Need us for what?”

  “Experimentation,” the man replied. “We are test subjects.”

  *

  The trip to the prison took less than an hour, and Pinto saw all manner of things he couldn’t put a name to. By the time they arrived, it was dark.

  “Put your glasses on,” the man said when they were getting close.

  “Glasses?”

  The man pointed to his eyes.

  “Oh, right.”

  Pinto put them on. Immediately, the outside world looked brighter, almost as bright as it did during the day.

  “Won’t they know I don’t work for them?”

  The man shook his head.

  “Nope,” he replied. “All taken care of.”

  “What are we supposed to be doing here?”

  “Just taking over the shift,” the man said. “Now, keep your mouth shut. You’re a mute.”

  The man pulled the vehicle down and into a space by the side of the prison. They both got out, and walked to the entrance. Pinto kept his mouth firmly shut.