Scars of the Earth

by C. S. Moore

  The stream was rather small but it was fast moving and fairly clean of contaminants. She could see that she would have to pull a few minerals and bacteria out of the water before drinking it, but it was better than she had hoped for. She knelt down on the moist bank enjoying the refreshing cool air that seemed to linger around fresh water. Her left hand fumbled at her side searching for Madgie’s leather canteen. Her hand moved around more urgently, checking her right side, and then searching her back.

  It’s gone, I must have dropped it. She thought. That was the only thing that we had to carry water in. How could I lose it? Her mind raced trying to place when she had dropped it, but she couldn’t remember something that she never noticed. She looked around and saw a plant with long skinny leaves and thought of Cole.

  Maybe I could weave them into a basket. She thought moving towards the bush.

  Leaving the poor plant almost naked she sat on the bank attempting to weave the leaves into something useful. Her fingers wouldn’t move like his had, with a sort of skilled delicateness. And after five minutes, half of the leaves were crumbled beyond use and her cramping hands had cuts all over them.

  And people whine about paper cuts! She thought rubbing her hands and glaring at the uncooperative leaves.

  A quiet laughter reached her ears and she spun around quickly. Standing behind her was a tall boy with golden blonde hair and an impish smile. He didn’t look like he meant her any harm and he wasn’t wearing the uniform of the Guard. But it didn’t matter she could sense the dark absence in him.

  He is a member of the Guard! She thought getting to her feet.

  “Here, this might be of use to you. I don’t think that’s working out.” He said offering her the missing canteen.

  Her feet told her to flee, but she didn’t know where to run to. I can’t go back to the cave; I’ll lead them right to Cole and Madgie. She thought worriedly.

  “You’re not too good at making decisions, are you?” The blonde boy asked rather sarcastically. He wore a bright charming smile that she wanted to slap off of his face. “I can see the wheels in your head turning. Run, or talk, run, or talk? Let me help you come to a decision. I will catch you if you run,” She was about to object when he lifted his hand. “And I think that we need to talk.”

  “You are a member of the Guard, you and your buddies almost murdered my friend a few hours ago! What could I possibly want to discuss with you?” She shouted, surprising herself. She always had a temper, but he ruffled her feathers quicker than anyone she had ever met. Even after she yelled at him he still looked annoyingly cocky.

  “Well, we could discuss the person that sent me here…” He paused letting a dazzling smile dance on his handsome face. “She was under the impression that you were seeking her, but perhaps she was wrong.” He said shrugging his shoulders and letting the corners of his mouth turn down. “She isn’t usually wrong.” He said thoughtfully.

  Amanda’s head was spinning. What is he talking about? She asked herself. She looked up at him and could tell that her befuddlement was amusing to him. Shiphra? The name was almost past her lips when she stopped herself. He’s trying to get me to talk about her. Do the Ancients want to know if I can find Shiphra?

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.” She said quickly. The boy shook his head, sending his golden locks into a tizzy and held up his hands reassuringly.

  “Listen, I know that you are scared and confused right now. But I am not going to hurt you. You think that I am a member of the Guard and two days ago you would have been right, but I am not a Guard member anymore…Thank God.” He said in a sweet voice, she wished that she could ignore his sincerity but she couldn’t. She believed him.

  “I haven’t been a true Guard member for three years now.” He said.

  “What do you mean a ‘true guard member’?” She asked in puzzlement. He took a step forward gesturing towards a rock. She nodded and he took a seat. The muscles in her body loosened as he sat. Sitting wasn’t a very tactical position if meant to attack her, and she felt less threatened.

  “I will get to your question in a second, but can you answer me something?” He asked.

  “Umm. Depends on the question.” She said curtly. She didn’t know why she was so short with him; he really hadn’t been anything but nice to her. But something about his good looks and darkness reminded her of Frey.

  “Fare enough.” He said with a smile. “Cole is traveling with you isn’t he?” He asked, tensing her muscles again. She thought about lying, but didn’t see a point. Everyone had to know that he was.

  “Yes.” She replied.

  “Sorry to get you on edge again, don’t worry. I like Cole; I looked to him almost like a brother at one time.” He said wistfully. “Anyway, I can tell that you are close to him.” Her mouth fell open. “Well your hand did turn into a fist at the mention of his name.” He said with a smile. “Either he is in trouble, or you were planning on hitting me in the face. And since Cole never gets into trouble…”

  “Get on with it!” She yelled. God this guy is exasperating!

  “Okay, well since you are close, you probably know that he used to be a member of the Guard. He got out, had a nice binding spell put on him and all that. Well I tried to get out too, only I wasn’t about to ask permission from The Ancients. I wasn’t going to kneel before them and ask to be reassigned. So, I ran. I left the Hovel when I was thirteen…” He paused hearing her intake of breath.

  “I know, I know. You and I are almost kindred spirits.” He smiled.

  “But, you said…two days ago. You stopped being a member two days ago.” She stuttered.

  “Yeah well, three years ago I found Shiphra. She asked me to remain at the Hovel. Remain a Guard member.” His voice had become sharp and she saw the darkness within him come out. He shook his head and replaced his smile. “It was a hard thing for her to ask of me, I could tell. But they needed people on the inside to watch and help those that needed helping.”

  “How do you mean, how would posing as a Guard member help anyone?” She asked skeptically.

  “I gave Shiphra information that I learned by being close to the Guard members, and The Ancients. And I helped Healers get out, Healers like you and me that didn’t want to be there. I helped them find their new home.” He said.

  “Wait a minute, other Healers left? I wasn’t the only one?” She asked breathlessly feeling a weight lift off of her chest. He stared at her with understanding eyes.

  “Yep, you and me were the only ones stupid enough to go back that’s all.” He said with a grin. “People leave that place pretty regularly. It tears The Ancients up that they can’t stop the steady leak. The thing that makes them really crazy is that they know only one thing could put the Healers beyond their reach. Shiphra has them under her wing.”

  “Shiphra is hiding Healers from them?” She was baffled, how was it possible that she knew nothing about this person a week ago?

  “Why wouldn’t she? Unlike us, she never ran from responsibility. She just stood up to oppression. When the other Ancients started to look at the Healers as their possessions, she said no. Anyway she was forced to run and has been trying to save as many Healers as she could from a distance. Leading them to her.” He said. The tone of his voice showed his admiration and devotion to his leader.

  “That’s how I found New Hovel. After I ran away, I just went were my feet took me. And a few weeks later, I was standing next to her.” He shrugged.

  Why didn’t my feet end up next to her? She wondered. I was wandering for nearly two years, and the only thing my feet did was stay cold.

  “So, why are you here?” She asked.

  “Oh! I’m sorry, I thought I made it clear earlier. Shiphra sent me to fetch you.” He said with a proud smile. She looked him up and down ignoring his devilish good looks. He was tall and seemed very confident in his abilities, but she didn’t think that this baby-faced boy was special enough to be a one man task force.

  “Why did sh
e send you? Just you?” She asked in bewilderment. His smile faded and he puffed up his chest.

  If we run into another thirty Guard members I don’t think that one guy is going to be much help. She thought.

  “She had her reasons.” He said in a light voice. “You are more trouble than any refugee that I have ever helped, do you know that? Nell told me that you two were practically sisters…I thought maybe, you would be more like her. You know, helpful. But you couldn’t be more different.” He said shaking his head.

  “Nell? How do you know Nell?” She asked in a high voice that made her cringe.

  “She was in the last group that I took out of the Hovel, actually she is kind of the reason that I couldn’t go back to being a Guard member. I beat a guy down and apparently word spread that I couldn’t be trusted. I will forever be grateful to her.” He said dreamily.

  “She is safe in this New Hovel, right?” She asked.

  “Yes, she is safe. Much safer than she was at the old one anyhow. I wish I could have gotten more out, you don’t know how bad things have gotten back there. It was like The Ancients were being wound tighter and tighter every decade, and this thing with you finally made them snap.” His blue eyes bore into her. “They aren’t pretending anymore, they openly killed a Healer in front of everyone. Guard members line the hallways, preventing escape. It’s crazy; I never thought that I would see it. But then again, Shiphra is never wrong.” He said unbelieving.

  “What do you mean? She knew this would happen?” She asked. He closed one eye and scratched his head.

  “Well I don’t know if she knew exactly how it would go down, but she knew that The Ancients would snap. She worried that every Healer they lost was just another straw on the camels back, and she was right. I suppose she knows them a lot better than any of us.” He said.

  “Yeah, I can see that. Baal actually told me that he thinks he is a God. I could see the way he looked at the Healers and he thinks of them as power, not people.” She said moving over to him.

  “Wait, he actually said that to you?” He asked in astonishment.

  “Well, he told me in my mind so that no one else would hear-but yeah he did. He was thinking that I would be dead though, I think he likes showing his true colors to people that aren’t going to be around anymore.” She guessed.

  “You have no idea.” He said standing up. “The things I saw when I was on the Guard, man does Baal love the sight of blood…” He stopped himself and looked at her apologetically.

  “Don’t worry I know that you can’t talk about it, neither can Cole.” She said. He shook his head and moved to the stream, dipping the canteen in the cool water.

  “No I can talk about it, I just don’t want to. The things that I witnessed aren’t topics of civilized conversation.” He said quietly.

  “But, Cole can’t talk about it.” She said furrowing her brow.

  “Funny thing about the Ancient’s magic, if an Ancient has done it an Ancient can undo it. Shiphra told me it was like Sir Isaac Newton’s law of physics. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction and all that. It takes the same amount of energy to do something as it does to undo it. So she just took the binding spell off of me.”

  So she could take it off of Cole too? Would he want to talk about those things, even if he could? She wondered, spending a moment in thought before realizing that the blonde boy was still talking. In fact she wasn’t sure that he was able to stop.

  “That’s why they locked Shiphra up instead of killing her you know. I am sure they would have given all of the Healer’s lives to put her down, but it doesn’t work that way. It takes an Ancient to take out an Ancient” He said looking back over his shoulder.

  “Why is that?” She asked.

  “It just takes so much energy to kill an Ancient-probably would have taken more than most to put her down too.” He chuckled to himself.

  “Seems like it would have been easy, five against one.” She said.

  “Sure they out numbered her so they could have, but it wouldn’t have been easy. I wouldn’t want to be on the other end of a fight with Shiphra; she understands and controls magic and energy like no one else. In the end, they just wouldn’t risk their own lives.” He laughed shaking the excess water from his hands as he stood up.

  “My name is Armaan by the way. If you are done interrogation me, we can go now.” He said looking into the darkening forest. She followed his gaze and thought that they probably should head back.

  Madgie needs fluids.

  “I’m Amanda, but I am sure you already know that.” She said introducing herself awkwardly. “I need to head back to Cole and Madgie, you can come with. Just stay behind me incase we’re attacked.” She moved her eyes from the forest back to Armaan. The right corner of his mouth was turned up in a half smile.

  How many damn smiles can one person have? She wondered, annoyed at herself for even noticing.

  “You want me,” He said gesturing to his large frame. Blood rose to her cheeks and she was about to argue, when he continued. “To stand behind you,” His hand rested on the top of her head, which was a good foot lower than his. “In case we are attacked?” He finished with an eyebrow cocked skeptically.

  “Yes, you idiot! And get your hand off of my head.” She said swatting away his big palm.

  “Wow, calm down. I just had to make sure that I had it right.” He said moving behind her and crouching down. “Onward bodyguard!” He whispered.

  “Grr.” She grunted. “Have I called you an idiot yet?” She asked moving forward.

  “Yes, yes you have.” He said following in her footsteps. “I think I found the one thing that you and Nell have in common.” He said, sure of himself.

  “And what’s that?” She asked letting go of a branch early, and sending it smack into Armaan’s face.

  “Ouch!” He said rubbing his cheek. “I was going to say bravery. But now I see that you volunteered to lead the way out of sheer jealousy.”

  “Jealousy?” She asked.

  “It’s okay, I’m not mad. I have dealt with this kind of thing my whole life. You are jealous of my chiseled face and want to see its destruction.” He said in an overly dramatic voice. She tried to stop her laughter, but was unsuccessful.

  “Well, I do believe that people have been smacking you in the face your whole life.” She said thoughtfully. It was silent as they walked, and they had just reached the densest part of the forest when he put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped, waiting for him to say something funny.

  What is it now? Does he not understand that I need to get back to Madgie? She fumed. But he didn’t say anything, so she turned around.

  He had his head down, but being so tall, she could still see his face. It looked torn, searching even. His brow was furrowed and most of the light had gone from his eyes. He had his lips pursed together, as if he was trying to prevent himself from speaking. But when he looked up and met her gaze he wasn’t able to stop himself.

  “Why are you so angry with me?” He asked in a breath. His question took her so off guard that she took a turn hiding her face. He looks so miserable. She thought guiltily.

  “I know that is probably a stupid question with all that is going on. It’s just…I have heard about you for so long. I mean you were even a topic of discussion in the Guard before all of this. You leaving the way that you did. Most Healers that run just disappeared without a trace, hoping that everyone would forget them or assume the worst had happened to them in a Scar. But you, you stick a note to the message board.” He paused.

  She was glad to see that the light had returned to his eyes. He seemed so full of life; she wondered how he could exude such excitement. When she reached her energy out to his, she felt only darkness and death. Yet he was standing before her, eyes gleaming brighter than a child’s on Christmas morning.

  How can he do that? How can he be all darkness and a bright beacon of light at the same time? She wondered.

  “Your note is the reason that I lef
t the Hovel. You saved my life.” He said. Her throat tightened and she almost choked on her tongue.

  “How is that possible?” She asked through a cough.

  “I woke up early the morning you ran, no one else was up. But I was usually the first person wandering the halls; the nightmares were so strong back then…” He raised his hand to his head and began to rub his temple, trying to massage out whatever bad memory had worked its way into his mind.

  What did they do to those boys? She wondered, not really wanting to know the answer. He opened his eyes after a moment and smiled apologetically before continuing.

  “I was looking for Cole, he was in the Guard with me and I always felt saner when he was around. He wasn’t in his normal hideouts so I went to grab breakfast early. I was in the dinning hall before all of the shouting and hysterics. When I showed up there was only one person standing in front of the message board, Cole.” The ground seemed to shift below her feet and she thought she might fall, but he didn’t notice.

  “We never cared about what happened around there. So I didn’t understand why he stood there, still as a statue, mesmerized by a loan piece of paper. But when I got to him, I understood why. The words on them affected me, like nothing ever had, and there were so few of them. Just five, five small words. ‘I’m leaving because I can.’ I left two weeks later, you inspired me.” The way he said her words, annunciating everything precisely, made it clear that this scrawled out sentence was of the utmost importance to him. She didn’t want to shoot the wind out of his sails, but she had to.

  “I’m sorry to tell you this, but that isn’t what I wanted to say.” She said honestly. She was glad for a moment when he looked so surprised, and then she reminded herself that he was a good person. Not like Frey, he wasn’t her enemy. They just looked so like one another.

  “What do you mean that isn’t what you wanted to say? You started a movement with those words Amanda. You are the face of freedom and bravery to so many Healers.” He said almost hysterically.