Resonance

by Dianne J Wilson

  “You are kidding, right?”

  Zulu put a dark finger across his lips. “Shh!”

  Evazee clucked her tongue and tried to settle down for a long wait. Knowing that Peta was in pain made her impatient. Whatever Zulu was waiting for needed to happen, and it needed to happen now.

  The priests unhooked the first bottle of glowing purple. Two of them held the little boy steady, and the third tipped the bottle until some of the contents ran down his throat. The boy swallowed, and within seconds began shaking violently. He fell to the ground, twisting and writhing in pain. A high scream tore from him, and Evazee nearly passed out.

  “Stop them. You have to stop them.”

  “The boy won’t let me. He wants to be there. He wants to be priest.”

  The boy passed out, and the short priest lifted a lid to check his eyes. He mumbled something to the others, and they nodded and smiled. Passing the bottle around, they each drank long and hard.

  Zulu’s eyes narrowed. “Watch.”

  The first priest that drank the purple water keeled over sideways, landing with a dull thud. The second two followed at the same time, falling half on top of each other.

  “Oh my word. It killed them.” Evazee was horrified.

  “Not dead. Part of testing. Come. Now’s our chance.” Zulu pulled his bark from under the shack and steered toward the central landing where the action had all happened.

  13

  Zulu hauled himself onto the platform and gave Evazee a hand up. “They could wake up any second. Take a bottle and put it on the middle, just like they did.”

  “That’s not right. We just need blue.” Evazee wasn’t sure she’d heard him right.

  “No time for argue. Blue is too potent. You need the mixture. Small one needs the mixture.” It must have been the look on her face that made up his mind. He pushed her out the way and took a bottle himself. He placed it on the centre section which began spinning as the glass touched it.

  One of the priests twitched and moaned. They were waking up. Evazee ran to the pile of bottles, uncorked one, and knocked off Zulu’s half-full mixture. It hit the ground and shattered. Evazee ignored the mess and placed her bottle under the stream of pure blue.

  Zulu’s nostril’s flared. He was angry, and Evazee’s heart pinched. Peta was her friend, and there was no way any of the purple was going anywhere near her. Evazee’s bottle was full. She slipped it out from under the trickle of blue and corked it. All three downed priests stirred. A pile of leather harnesses hung from hooks along the wall. Evazee grabbed one and slung it across her body. She slipped the bottle into the harness and pulled it tight.

  “Let’s go.” Evazee jumped off the platform onto the bark. She landed too hard and nearly tipped off the edge. Zulu was close behind her. One of the priests sat up rubbing his eyes, and Evazee’s heart pounded in her chest. She steered her bark boat beneath the closest hut, pulling herself in far enough that no part of her or her boat could be seen by the priests.

  Zulu had one leg off the platform, foot stretching towards his bark.

  Their eyes locked, and Evazee saw raw fear. Zulu’s toes hooked the wood and it slid closer. The priest behind Zulu sat lost in a stupor, his eyes glowing a deep purple where there should have been white. He blinked and shook his head, rubbing his hand over his face.

  Zulu fell onto his bark raft and pushed off the platform with all his might. It was a good push. The bark slipped through the water easily until it came to rest against Evazee’s with a gentle bump. The other two priests were also awake, shaking their heads as if to try to clear away the fuzz. They moved across to the boy and poked him. His body lay lifeless between them.

  Zulu motioned to Zee to sit dead still.

  The three priests staggered to their feet and resumed their chanting and swaying with their arms looped roughly around each other’s shoulders, dancing around their fallen apprentice. Their eyes were shut and their chants boomed out in a deep baritone that echoed in Evazee’s ears.

  It was time to leave. Zulu motioned to Evazee to go first. She sat frozen in shock at what she’d just seen, and he had to nudge her three times to get her attention. Shaking herself, she pushed the image of the little boy’s body aside and resumed her awkward style of non-paddling. She felt about as elegant as an elephant in a tutu. Zulu manoeuvred his boat behind Evazee in complete silence. Only the ripples drifting past her told her that he was close. It felt like two lifetimes passed trying to reach the bank of trees.

  They were nearly there when someone from behind shouted, “Zulumange!”

  Evazee swung around and saw panic in Zulu’s eyes. The three priests stood on the edge of the boardwalk, dark skin gleaming purple as if it had been injected into their veins.

  “We’re seen. Move!”

  They gave up trying to hide the signs of their passing and grabbed at any reed to propel themselves away from the menacing priests who bellowed from behind.

  “Zulumange stop! Get back here!” Their voices were deep and amplified, filling Evazee’s head.

  Something whizzed down from the sky and clipped her ear before landing in the water with a plop. “Ow!” Evazee didn’t stop to cover her ears. More stones pelted down from the sky.

  “They’re waking the sandworms. Faster!”

  More stones rained down at them from behind. Each one that sank into water sent out rippling circles. If there was anything alive down there, these stones were bound to bring it out of its rest. Another hit the water just next to her raft and instantly a small whirlpool the size of a dinner plate spun open. In the space of a blink, it had doubled its size. Evazee felt the tug of it on her makeshift raft. “Zulu, help!”

  She got caught up in the current and felt her bark begin to turn in a slow circle. Zulu turned back, saw her, and shouted, “Get on mine! That raft is going down.”

  He stood, wobbling, and grabbed her hand to help her across. As her feet left the bark, it tipped upright, twirled and disappeared, swallowed down into the noisy throat of the whirlpool. Evazee swung wildly, struggling to balance on his piece of wood. Zulu held her with one arm, and with the other, he swung them around and pulled them toward the line of trees.

  A second whirlpool started up on the left. Evazee shouted, “Look out!”

  Zulu gritted his teeth and pulled on the reeds to get away. Their raft dipped into the water under the weight of both of them. Zulu’s muscles bulged with the effort. They reached the cover of the overhanging trees, but the land was still ahead. The bark vibrated beneath their feet. The whirlpool was sucking them in. A layer of sweat beaded on Zulu’s forehead, but no matter how hard he pulled, they were going backwards.

  They were stuck in the spinning current along the edge of the whirlpool, held there by Zulu’s muscles and the sheer force of his will. Evazee glanced back into the vortex, saw sharp teeth and shrieked. If Zulu let go, they would plummet straight into the gaping mouth of a sandworm with its three rings of gnashing teeth. Zulu’s hands slipped, and they jerked closer.

  “I can’t hold it. Look up. Vines. Grab one.” Zulu’s neck muscles bulged with strain.

  Evazee found a vine and jumped to grab it. She missed and jumped again. Her fingers wrapped around the cold tendril as the bark bucked and jerked. Zulu leapt, too, and they hung together.

  Their raft tilted wildly and spun toward the sand worm’s gaping maw. The sand worm made short work of the raft, chewing through it with the ferocity of a chainsaw. The stench of rotten things dredged up from the riverbed washed over them. This worm smelled rotten all the way through.

  Evazee’s hands were slipping. Zulu moved as if the vine were monkey bars, swinging one hand forward at a time, knotted muscles gleaming in the purple glow. Evazee doubted her hands would hold her body weight. One end of her vine snapped, and she dropped. Her feet hung inches away from the worm’s mouth.

  “Swing!” Zulu had made it to solid ground.

  Evazee tucked her feet up underneath her and then shot them out, leaning b
ack the way she used to do on the rope swing at home. Back and forth, she tilted and leaned. Each swing brought her closer to Zulu and then out over the monstrous mouth that seemed to track her movements. She kicked hard and flew.

  Zulu caught her at the highest point. “Let go of the vine. I’ve got you.”

  “I can’t. My hands are stuck.” She stared at the vine. She gripped it so tight, her fingers had locked in position as though frozen stiff. She tried to pry them open with her teeth, but they were stuck.

  Zulu wasted no time. He found a sharp rock and severed the vine. “Bring it with you then.”

  Together they turned and ran.

  ~*~

  Baldy returned from the guardhouse with a silver device in his hand. It was shaped like a gun but with less sharp angles and more curves. The tip was a round glass dome the size of Kai’s thumb nail. “You’ve been cleared for entry. I need to make it official.”

  Kai didn’t like the look of the silver thing. “What is that?”

  Baldy lifted Kai’s sleeve and aimed the dome at his upper arm. “What? This thing? It’s just a tagger. It won’t hurt.”

  Kai pulled away. “I’m not scared of pain. I just want to know what it does before I let you do it. We won’t be here for long. Why do we need to be tagged?”

  Zap shuffled in behind Kai. “I’m scared of pain.”

  Ruaan folded his hands across his belly. “I don’t care about pain and I don’t care if you brand me, tag me, whatever. All I want to know is will we get food?”

  Baldy sighed. “Guys, I can understand your wariness. If I don’t do this, you won’t be allowed into the city. Everyone in the city is tagged.” He turned to Ruaan. “You will get food.”

  Ruaan didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward and lifted his sleeve, shoving his arm under Baldy’s nose. Baldy placed the glass dome on his upper arm.

  “Hold very still until I say you can move.” He pressed the trigger and purple sparks flew between the tagger and Ruaan’s upper arm. Ruaan flinched but didn’t pull away.

  The skin on his upper arm glowed purple, flashed in dazzling brilliance and faded. Ruaan swung his arm back and forth. “It’s all good. I can’t feel a thing. Let’s go. I want lunch.”

  Kai wasn’t entirely convinced. He pulled up Ruaan’s sleeve and ran his fingertips across the branded skin. The circle was slightly raised and warm to the touch, the surface a tiny bit glassy, but otherwise it looked normal.

  Baldy held out the gun. “I’m not smart enough to explain the science behind it. My job is my job. I do, however, have to get back to the borders. So, who is next?”

  Zap chewed his lip. He pointed at Kai with a nervous grin. Baldy shrugged and lifted Kai’s shirt for the second time, pulled the trigger, and sparks flew once more. Zap cringed as he watched.

  Kai couldn’t resist. He doubled over, clutching his arm and bellowing. Blood drained from Zap’s face and he looked ready to pass out. Kai straightened up and slapped him on the back. “Just kidding, man. It’s fine.”

  That wasn’t completely true. Kai’s arm felt odd, heavy—but not in any way that he could explain. He’d decided that if Bree were here in this city and getting this bizarre tag-thing was the only way in, then he’d get tagged and be done with it. He caught Ruaan’s eye and motioned toward Zap. They moved in, grabbed his arm and presented him to Baldy.

  Seconds later, it was all over. Except for Zap’s hurt feelings. Those would probably take a good bit longer to come right.

  ~*~

  Evazee pushed through the overgrown path, trying to keep up with Zulu.

  “Zulu, slow down a bit. Those worms. What on earth?”

  “Ordinary worms that live in the riverbed sand. They’ve mutated from years of living in mushroom infused watery sand.”

  “What is Zulumange? Why were the priests shouting that at us?”

  “How are your hands? Still stuck?”

  “You’re avoiding my question. It’s your name, isn’t it? Those people know you. Was that your village?”

  Zulu shrugged as he held aside a low branch for her to pass under.

  “Why did you run away? Don’t look at me like that. It’s not hard to put two and two together. How else would you have known about the blue water? I won’t even mention how much you look like those guys.”

  “You won’t understand. It’s messy.”

  “I need to think about something other than the fact that I may never use my hands again, so go right ahead. Try me.”

  “Benan is my village. I am the chief’s son. I was in training to be the next high priest. You need to see to do that job, and I can.”

  Zee wanted to ask what he meant, but now that he was finally talking, she didn’t want to interrupt in case he dried up. So, she bit her tongue and held on, hoping for more answers and less mystery.

  “Some...things...happened and I came to see that the power they worship in that village is dark. It made me”—he scratched his head, trying to find the right word”—unsettled. There are many things they made me do. Dark things, wicked things.”

  “Like the boy.”

  “Yebo. I exiled myself to find a better way, to find light.”

  “Have you?”

  “I found light with Beaver and Shrimp. But when you came, it was like I’d been in night for my whole life and when you came the sunrise filled me up and swallowed me whole at the same time.”

  “Wow, is that good or bad? I can’t really tell.”

  “My heart told me to stay with you. We are close now.”

  Evazee knew there was something wrong the moment they stepped through the trees where they’d left Elden and Peta. Elden was pacing, wringing his hands.

  “Where’s Peta?” Alarm prickled down Evazee’s spine. The little girl was nowhere to be seen. “Has she gone to the loo? I have medicine for her legs.”

  Elden stopped pacing, his features contorting. “There were drums, so many drums. I tried to stop her, but...”

  “What are you talking about? Stop fooling around. Where is she?”

  Zulu was down, studying the ground. “Many feet passed through this way. Did small one go with them?”

  Elden shut his eyes and nodded. “I couldn’t stop her. I’m sorry. I’ve never seen or heard anything like that.”

  Evazee gasped. A scratch ran down Elden’s cheek and it bled enough that his collar was red. “What scratched you?”

  “Like I said, I tried to get her back. They were too strong for me, there were too many. I can’t rest until we’ve found her. First Bree and now Peta.” Elden’s face looked ashen in the pale lamplight.

  “Zulu, can you track them?”

  The whites of Zulu’s eyes had turned purple and he was already examining the bushes and leaves. “Yebo.” Still bent over, he followed the trail in between the trees.

  Evazee’s heart nearly stopped when she saw the colour of his eyes. Following him didn’t seem like the best idea any more, not after what she’d seen in the village. Elden took Evazee’s hand. His fingers trembled, and his palms were clammy, but she let him lead her back into the forest.

  Zulu followed the trail until he was almost out of sight. He turned around to wait for them, his eyes glowing luminous in the dark. Evazee clung to Elden’s hand, but Elden pulled her along to catch up. Evazee understood his desperation to make up for his mistake, but she couldn’t help the dread rising in her belly at the thought of trusting Zulu’s purple eyes.

  ~*~

  “Gentlemen, welcome to Rei Lex, the city of stone. This is as far as I go. When you get across, present your arm tag to the light scanner on the right-hand side. Someone will be along to help you.” The gates to the bridge swung open, and Baldy waved them through. The light on the other side of the arched gateway was brighter still than what was on the road. Water shimmered beneath the bridge, reflecting the soft light that glowed from within the stones of the walls of the city. The water reminded Kai of the water from the Healing Stream, though here it was contained. The si
ght was breath-taking.

  The gates swung shut behind them with a clang that made Zap jump and squeak in fright. The bridge ran straight from the road that surrounded the city, to a stone archway built into the wall on one side. It was built straight and smooth and carried an age in each stone that hinted at just how long the city had been there. Kai stuck to the middle of the bridge. Two paces either way would take him to the edge, and no railings ran down the side of the bridge. He didn’t need to go close to know that the drop was sheer and deep.

  Ruaan wasted no time admiring the view. He led the way, growls coming from his belly as if he’d tucked a wild animal under his shirt. Kai followed him with eyes trained on Ruaan’s back, walking in his steps, determined not to even look to the sides. Zap walked in a zig-zag, peering over one side and then walking over to the other side to peer over the edge. Each time he got to the drop, he whistled and uttered inane comments. “If you fall off here, you’re history. It’s so far down, not even water will stop you getting creamed. Maybe they throw their enemies in here. Do you think there are mermaids?”

  Mermaids were too much for Kai. “Stop it! Get over here.”

  They made it across to a sealed stone doorway. Zap rapped on the door with his knuckles. “Helloooo. Now what?”

  “Wait a moment.” Kai ran his fingers up the side of the doorframe. He found a small knob and pushed it. A beam lit up and Kai lined it up with the top of his shoulder. The door beeped and opened with a swish. Kai walked through. The interior was cool and lit by the glow from the walls. No sooner had he stepped through when the door shut behind him and the lights dimmed. He thought about banging his fists against the door, but both of the others had been tagged and should get in as easily as he had.

  The room he stepped into was small, not much bigger than a shower cubicle. It had holes drilled at regular intervals throughout the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. Liquid bubbled out of the holes and began to fill the chamber. The liquid quickly moved past hip height before Kai reacted. He turned and banged on the door so hard his palms stung. “Open the door! It’s a trap!”

  The water kept rising, past his chest, up his neck. Kai gulped a deep breath just as it closed over his head. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t...