Godling (Kairenz Jistora Book 1)

by Dusks, Rydre

  I couldn't see anything ahead of me, but I heard her shift and drop out of the hole, her shoes landing with a dull clunk and scraping against old wood. There were more shifts, a small gasp from a voice I didn't recognize, then Blank breathing, "It's me. Turn on the light, please."

  I inched forward, running my fingers over the top of the burrow and finding the mouth to be bigger than the actual tunnel itself. I could situate myself into a crouching position, ready to drop out when given the cue.

  "Blank, we shouldn't--"

  "Is it just you down here, Terra?"

  "Yeah, but--"

  "I have an emergency. The light."

  There was a click, and a bare bulb flickered on, spreading out light into all corners of a modest-sized cellar. Standing with one hand still on the pull chain of the lightbulb was a short, curvy blonde in a familiar grey jumper like Blank's. Her hair was tipped with purple dye, and her brown eyes had a brilliance in them that I found familiar.

  She and I stared at each other for a second, then she pointed and opened her mouth to scream. Blank was quick to press a hand over her lips to stop her, but she pulled it off.

  "Blank! There's a man--!"

  "I know! Hush! His name is Crow, and he needs help. Please go get Kazlynn."

  The blonde gazed at me with huge eyes for another couple of seconds before hurrying for the steps of the cellar and disappearing through the doors.

  Blank glanced back at me as I finally dropped out from the tunnel and staggered back into a straight position beside the dirt wall.

  "Terra?" I asked as I took a glance around. The interior was dusty and slightly dank for being located in a desert. A couple makeshift beds rested to the left, wedged between stacked crates full of broken bottles. The girl must have been sleeping on one of those when Blank had entered.

  Blank took one more glance toward the cellar doors before taking a couple hesitant steps closer to me. "Yeah, she's a good friend of mine. A thief."

  I smirked a bit. "Do you have a th-thing for thieves? Y-You and Rook are close, too."

  Blank took my arm and led me over to a couple sideways barrels, letting me sit down on them. "Just hang tight until the doctor comes. Your tremors are worse."

  In the light, my red veins were much more visible, especially at my elbow and near my throat. Blank examined them with a face of concern. I took that moment to gaze at her grey suit.

  "I-Is there a reason you wear prisoner's clothes?"

  Blank shrugged. "It's what's available. I had some clothes my mother had given to me before she passed, but I grew out of them. And my father doesn't care enough to order me anything new."

  "D-Doesn't seem like your father cares about much at all c-concerning you," I uttered.

  Blank bit her lip as she gazed at me, saying nothing.

  Not long later the cellar opened again, and two people rushed back down the steps after closing and latching the doors. The tiny girl Terra came back into view, along with a much taller, short-haired brunette woman with serious eyes. She didn't wear a grey uniform. Rather she had on a khaki duster over a blue button-up. Her face and image spoke authority, though there was something different about her. She didn't give off a feeling of impending murder like the authorities on the men's side.

  Blank stretched out my arm for the short-haired woman to see, and I hissed a little in pain. My elbow had begun to stiffen, and the movement felt tight and hard on my muscles.

  "When you said someone needed help, you didn't specify that it was a man, Terra," said the woman as she pulled out a pair of specs from an inside breast pocket and slipped them over her eyes.

  "My father poisoned him," Blank explained, indicating my infected veins and trembling body.

  The woman looked me over for a moment, her hands casually in the pockets of her duster. She looked up at my eyes. "I'm Kazlynn--the doctor here in Roavo. You are?"

  "Crow," I spoke in almost a whisper, strangely awed by the air she gave off. "The m-men's s-side doesn't have a resident d-doctor."

  Kazlynn's eyes half lidded at my statement, one corner of her mouth growing tight. "Residential, no, but they have one. Radley just uses him personally to take care of the guards and himself--not prisoners." She was quick to change subjects. "So tell me what happened, exactly."

  Carefully, I ran through the details with her, feeling a little strange to be surrounded by women for once instead of men.

  "A little bottle of filmy white liquid," Kazlynn reiterated with a tone of deep thought. "Slow acting." She'd had her hand to her lips, but she dropped it to her side and straightened. "Sounds like Rove scorpion venom. How's your pulse?"

  "Fast."

  She nodded in affirmation. "I'm gonna need my kit and a bottle of antivenom from my office."

  "I'll get it for you, doctor," Terra offered, already heading for the stairs.

  "Would you? My kit's just next to the door. The antivenom is in the cabinet beside the examination room. It's pretty obvious."

  Terra scurried back up the steps as Blank took my hand. "The minute he told me what my father had done, I brought him here."

  Kazlynn glanced at her only for a moment before looking closely at my upper arm and throat. "And it's a good thing you did. A couple more hours like this and we wouldn't have been able to do anything."

  My teeth chattered as I inhaled.

  Kazlynn was delicate as she tugged the hasty bandages off my fingers to check them over. My nails were blotched with black and crusted with blood, the tips of my fingers purple and swollen. The slightest touch hurt them.

  "S-So who watches o-over this side?" I asked.

  "We get daily orders from the warden," Kazlynn answered, biting her lip every moment or so as she checked me over. "By request of Blank, he doesn't visit this side."

  "M-Must be nice," I sighed.

  Blank shook her head sadly. "Not really. The guards aren't much better over here despite there being less of them. The only benefit is that the girls have Kazlynn."

  Terra shut the doors and bounced back down the steps, carrying with her a leather doctor's bag and a bottle with a skinny label in her other hand. She handed them both to Kazlynn, who turned away from me to set the bag down and open it up.

  "Luckily for you, scorpion stings happen every so often in the Rove, so antivenom is easily accessible so long as you're on the women's side," Kazlynn stated as she took out a pair of gloves and slipped them on before pulling out wipes. I watched her then draw out a fresh syringe and uncap its tip. Poking the needle into the bottle of antivenom, she filled the syringe up halfway with the clear counter-acting substance and turned toward me to wipe at my throat.

  "What a-are you doing?" I breathed.

  Her eyes flicked up to meet mine for a moment. "I just need to cut off the venom from spreading further. Sit up straight, please."

  I obeyed, keeping my back erect and my head bent to the side. She wiped at the designated spot and sank the needle near my collarbone. It was a bearable pinch, and I barely noticed when she withdrew and began cleaning up and putting things away.

  "Th-That's it?" I wondered, looking over my arm.

  "That's it," she confirmed. "Sleep off the rest, and you should be pretty much back to normal by midday."

  She completed her work by giving me new bandages over my fingertips.

  "Good," said Blank. "I have something I need to do, so we need to get back soon. Thank you so much, Kazlynn. And you too, Terra."

  Terra smiled and gave a small, slightly lopsided smile with a tilt of her head. "I do my best."

  "Tell me though, Blank, I'm curious," Kazlynn stated as she picked up her bag. "What makes Crow here so special that you would risk bringing him to the women's side to save him?" Blank's cheeks went a little red, and the doctor smiled. "Oh really?"

  "Kazlynn, please," Blank insisted. "My father has been very cruel to him since he arrived. I'm just trying to make things right."

  "Of course you are. You always are, and you do a great job." Kazlyn
n started back up the steps. "Terra, would you come with me?"

  Terra looked back at her, then turned to Blank and I once more. "May LasNuk keep the both of you safe." She then wheeled and headed out.

  Blank helped me off the barrels and back to the tunnel. "Terra prays to LasNuk every night for good fortune," she commented. "She's pretty fixated on believing that out of all the Crei, he's the one that would answer pleas. Anyway, you go first, Crow. I'll get the light and follow you."

  With care, I hoisted myself back into the burrow and started to make my way back toward the men's camp. Blank turned the light off and followed.

  "Interesting," I commented, no longer as bothered with the passage as I was previously. "Y-You don't hear of many people praying to the gods nowadays. That's kind of an old-world-y thing."

  "A lot of prisoners pray to the gods silently. Terra told me she had a few friends that did the same. When public hangings were common on the men's side, a lot of the executees used to pray aloud to SiyariDendo before they were walked to the gallows."

  "And did any of them survive? B-Besides Rook?"

  "Well... Not usually."

  I scoffed. "Then it's silly to pray to fictional gods, Blank."

  She was quiet for a minute or so. When she did speak, her voice was soft. "You know, Crow, you may not believe in the Crei, but I at least believe that there's a guiding force that's keeping you alive."

  "Yeah," I answered. "It's called Blanca Stone."

  She made a small sound of amusement. "Whatever."

  Another couple of minutes, and we'd made it back to the loose floorboards of the decimated house. As I pushed one of them over I heard Rook jump and let out a colorful curse. I climbed out and moved the boards more out of the way to let Blank through. Rook sat to the side of the burrow next to a dresser in a reclining position, tucked away and out of sight.

  "You nearly scared me shitless," said Rook. "I was napping."

  Blank fixed the floorboards before straightening her back. "Excuse me, boys. I need to go take care of some things."

  Without waiting for Rook or me to reply to her, she turned from us and rushed out, back toward the most occupied side of the men's camp.

  Rook and I exchanged looks. I dusted myself off as he stood and stretched. "Weird. Wanna go see what she's up to?"

  "We're already ignoring the rest of our duties," I said with a shrug. I was relieved to find that my shakes had almost died down completely in just minutes.

  As we walked back toward the tents the sun had finally risen a good distance from the far-off mountains. "See any beauties?" Rook asked me while noticing my new bandages.

  I smirked. "A tall brunette and a curvy little blonde."

  Rook brightened. "How little?"

  I chuckled at his animated expression. "Littler than you."

  As we neared the warden's cabin, I paused in confusion to see that the two guards normally stationed outside of the entry door were not there, and the door was wide open. Rook was quick to investigate, sneaking up to the corner and peering inside. I followed him as the curiosity was contagious.

  Faintly, I heard Blank's voice, and Rook and I crept inside to listen further. We pressed ourselves against the entryway wall, and I managed to steal a glance around the corner.

  Stone sat behind his desk, Blank to the side of him. The office light glinted off a silver revolver in Blank's hand, the barrel against her father's temple. The sight stunned me for a moment. The sheer hatred and fury expressed through all corners of Blank's face scared me a little.

  "And if you ever... ever touch Crow, Rook, or any of my friends like that again, I'll make sure the dusters will be cleaning your brains off the walls." She cocked the gun and pushed it harder against his head. "I'm serious. Touch him again, and I'll make sure you stop breathing."

  Rook and I left the cabin in a swift manner. Rook was wide-eyed and grinning. "She just had her own father at the end of a gun!"

  "I know," I replied briskly, heading back toward our tent. "I'm going to pretend I didn't see anything."

  I then knew what made Blank scary, and that was quite enough for me.

  12

  To Agastay

  Stone spent several weeks after that silent. Though he gave orders, he was never seen in person, and his guards seemed a little more lenient toward Rook and I specifically. Blank was back to her usual self after that crazy morning, and I didn't let her know I'd witnessed what she'd said and done to her own father. From also seeing what the guards had most likely done to Blank, I didn't condemn her at all for taking it out on the man responsible for most everything within the camp.

  With Stone and most of the guards aside I could spend a good chunk of my time devising my escape plan with all who were involved. Blank, Rook, Click, and I met regularly in the theater--dubbed really the only place safe from eavesdroppers. Since Click could hack into almost any machine he was voted in on getting inside the guard-house and turning off the power. Blank would distract the guards, and Rook and I would slip out.

  "There're lots of holes," said Rook. "If Stone does send robots after us, wouldn't it be safer to steal a vehicle?"

  "Like what?" Blank wondered. "The only vehicles allowed inside are shipping trucks and shuttles, and those are needed. You can't just fly off with all of Roavo's goods, Rook, as much as I'm sure you'd want to."

  "What about the guard trucks like the one Crow stole some time ago?"

  I shook my head. "There's no way I could do that again without getting caught. They've amped up their watch over their trucks since then."

  He slumped his shoulders a bit, still thinking.

  "On foot is fine," I said. "Agastay is where we'll be headed, and it's not that far from Roavo. We will last two or three hours of walking."

  "I walked two hundred miles when I first got to Souloroh as a kid," said Rook encouragingly. "A couple hours is nothing."

  "So when is the next shipment?" I asked, turning back to Blank.

  Her grin was crooked. "My father needs more machine guards, so he asked for a new shipment of models to arrive within the next month or two."

  "Can you find out the exact day?"

  She nodded. "Of course."

  Within a handful of days Blank had not only the date for me, but also the time. Also in preparation I had sent Click back to GreyCross to fetch my Jux a few days before. It was all he could carry, but it was enough for me. As for Rook, he kept a close eye on the guards, and spent a lot of time packing everything he thought valuable into his own satchel.

  The month seemed like a long one. Although I carried out my duties in a regular way, inside I was hyperactive with the thought of getting this plan to work. Rook talked every night about the ventures he was going to have once out of prison, but all I could think of was how much I wanted to see Stelliot's face.

  Blank and I grew close. I took occasional trips to her tent, informing the guards of various excuses as to why. Whether they bought them or didn't, they left me alone.

  "You have no idea where your son is. What if he's on the other side of the world by now?" Blank asked me one day while I sat on her bed.

  "It doesn't matter. I'll find him. And if he's... Sol, if he's... not alive anymore, then I will find out what happened. I won't rest until I get down to the bottom of everything," I replied in a determined fashion.

  Blank had been placing a pair of her boots in the corner of her tent. She stepped over to me and sat down beside me. "Traveling the world with nothing but a dingy flying drone and a gun, huh?"

  I looked into her eyes, hoping she would return the gaze. She did. "I'm nothing without the countless people who have helped me. That includes you."

  She scoffed, and my heart ached when she turned away to look at her lap. The infatuated boy inside me urged me to try, and so I pressed my hand to her knee.

  "I'm serious, Blank. You saved my life."

  Her eyes were back on mine, and for only a couple of seconds we kept silent and still. Next my lips were on hers
. The warmth of the connection soothed my energized motivation, telling it to calm for just a few seconds. I found my arms around her midsection as she gently touched my face, urging more of the kiss instead of breaking away. I had been right. She wanted this just as much as I did, and that brought peace to my racing thoughts.

  I drew closer, pulling her to my lap and keeping her secure in an embrace of affection. The tie in her hair dropped as I ran my fingers through the strands. I brushed fingers across her throat--to her shoulder and down her side. The kiss lasted an eternity, and I loved it.

  By the time we finally broke apart, I felt dazed and hungry for more. Blank was already up off the bed, though, unwilling to prolong the experience. A sinking clouded over me, and a coldness replaced the warmth of her body, as I was reminded that she was not mine. She was forced to belong to Roavo until I could break her out.

  But I swore to myself that day would come. After I got out, I would go to the ends of Kairenz to make sure that she would be by my side.

  A day from the scheduled arrival of the shipment truck, I went over the plan several times in my head. The truck would arrive, Click would slip in and turn everything off and head back to GreyCross. I would throw my other incendiary to make a scene, and Blank would keep the guards at bay. Rook would signal if the coast was clear, and the two of us would race out together. With the power off, Stone would not be able to sic his dogs on us, or so I hoped. And even if he did, I was a good marksman. Everything sounded so easy, but I had a nagging sensation that something was going to go awry. A guard would spot us, or Click would get damaged, or somebody would end up hurt. As much as I stressed that it all sounded too simple, Blank and Rook agreed to go along with it. I was lucky that we all had so much faith in each other.

  The day went along like any normal one, although I was on edge for most of it. I stayed close to Rook, and Click hid inside my shirt. The time of action came shortly after breakfast. Instead of going to the theater I pretended I was ill and stayed inside my tent so that I could change out of my prison wear and back into my dusty street clothes and hunting coat. The weight of the coat was familiar and energizing. I felt for my gun, my phone, my charm, and my other various items. A knife, wallet...