Tragedy (Forsaken Lands)

by Cooper, Sydney M.

  She felt dizzy. She wanted to give up, suddenly, just throw her hands in the air and quit everything. There were too many blood-soaked lies for her to accept between the Kaldari armament and this new revelation.

  Once she was plunged into the mayhem that was the University prison, she snapped out of her daze. The pandemonium reminded Aia of her busiest days in Nivenea's clinics.

  The prison was arranged in a large square, with cells lining the periphery and a large, windowed guard station in the middle. It was all gray slabs and cold metal, the flickering lights casting the scene in monochrome. Justices, as well as some unmarked people dressed in Justice robes, were locked in the cells. Prisoners ran free. Many of the prisoners had the triple-diamond tattoo on their arms indicating that they, like Adreth, were Justices themselves. Some of them were criminals, as well. The thoughts in the room were a cacophony of desperation and confusion.

  Most of the prisoners were talking, arming themselves and being ordered about by what seemed to be more senior Justices. Moans of pain mixed with hushed, urgent voices made a steady hum of noise throughout the space.

  There were almost a hundred escapees in total by her estimate, many of them injured from the initial altercation. A cohort of the able-bodied escapees were in the process of dragging the wounded closer to the guard station, lined up in rows. Aia approached an older female Justice who hovered over another female Justice, the wounded woman's life force gradually fading. Her resonance was discordant as if she was capped, but in a way which was somehow more profound. Her triple diamond tattoo was visible underneath a swath of blood. A wound that pierced very near her heart was oozing with the too-infrequent throb of her heart. A bloody shadow outside her body.

  Aia pressed her lips together tightly. The wound, which the makeshift medic was trying to pack with linen torn from the wounded woman's shirt, was circular. It was too similar to the holes left in the Colita corpses to be a coincidence. If she had to bet, she would wager that the Celet were the source of the strange wounds.

  Logging the thought away, Aia knelt beside the pair. The woman packing the wound jumped at her presence. Her dirty brown hair was all stuck out and in need of a washing, deeply creased sun-worn features drawn together.

  "Who the hell are you?" the woman huffed, her hands working quickly to try to stop the bleeding.

  Aia lit a hand over hers hand gently. "I'm a healer," she said softly. "You have to let her go. Others can be saved. She's already too far gone."

  The Justice swallowed, her hands clenched and covered in blood. "She's too young."

  The wounded Justice, who could not have been more than 18, was already unconscious. Aia shook her head, forcefully pulling the medic's hands away from the victim. "You have training in aid?"

  "I've rarely used it."

  "Better than nothing. I can save some of them, but I need your help. Can you do that?"

  She nodded. "My name is Leadra."

  "Leadra. Good. Start with her," Aia pointed to a woman sitting up two bodies over with a stab wound in the shoulder and two additional slashes at her waist. "Bandage the wounds and make sure nothing else is wrong. Call me for anything complicated. I'll work on him, alright?"

  Her medic obediently split off to do as she asked. There was something to be said of militaristic training and obedience.

  Aia could feel that two of the wounded were severely injured, in addition to the young woman who was almost certain to die. The man she took on first was a pale red-head, roughly her age. He was clutching his thigh where one of the cylindrical wounds had pierced him. He had no tattoos that she could see. He groaned as she drew near, his eyes squeezed shut.

  Aia laid hands on him to survey the damage, greeting him with kind words. "It's alright, I'm a healer."

  He didn't appear inclined to argue with her, slowly moving his hands out of the way for her. He gave a start when she brushed the wound to tear his clothing away from the injury. "Name's Simon," he wheezed.

  "Hello Simon." She fought a frown off of her face. Her experience with trauma was rather limited. She palpated the area around the wound, close to the knee.

  Simon shouted. He had sensation, at least. Pulses were present but weak in the leg, and there was a lot of blood, and the way the hole was angled it looked like the bone could have been involved. It went all the way through - she couldn't decide it that was a good or bad thing.

  "Here," Aia pulled a vial from her satchel. "Drink it."

  "What is it?"

  "Do you care?"

  He downed the drought swiftly.

  "What did this?" she asked, curiosity burning through her duty as a healer.

  "Those... things..." he looked at one of the senior Justices who held one of the long, hollow devices. "The new guards called it a pistolet. Never seen one before I got locked up in here."

  She tore strips from his pants, fashioning a bandage. She'd never heard of it before, either. "Why are you here?"

  "Knifed a man when I was stealin'. Now I feel kinda bad ael font>

  "I'm going to try..." did her gift work for this? She hoped. Usually she could speed the healing process by weeks, keep a person from dying, but bones were a strange case. She imagined that another healer might end up removing the leg. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands over the wound tightly.

  His body was a vacuum to her energy, calling for more than she could give in one go. The wound approximated under her hand in seconds. The air fled from her lungs and she nearly collapsed on top of her patient; she hesitated to cut him off from the rush of healing that left her. When she caught her breath and looked down the wound was still bloody, but no longer actively bleeding.

  Simon's mouth hung open. He sat back on his elbows, the tension in his face easing with his pain. "What... did you do?"

  "Don't worry about it," Aia panted with the wave of her hand. "Keep it compressed and cleaned, and see to a healer when we get out of here."

  "I've never seen anything like it."

  "Like I said," She replied sharply, "don't mention it. I have other people to see."

  "Thanks," he offered meagerly.

  "You're welcome." She hurried away, but eyes and thoughts followed her.

  What is she? Leadra was thinking, paused from her task of dressing her colleague's wounds. Aia hunched, uncomfortable under scrutiny. She didn't use her gift prolifically for exactly that reason - the stares and conjecture were far too dangerous.

  She moved on. There was one more patient with severe wounds, and more than a dozen with non-lethal ones. There was a stunning lack of casualties given the number of prisoners; she counted only eight dead so far.

  The man she moved to next was bleeding from wounds in his sides and a long gash across the head, injuries made by swords, which she was far more comfortable with. His breathing was quick and his skin sunken. The Justice recoiled when she came near.

  "I'm not going to hurt you," Aia said, cautiously sitting beside him. "I'm just here to help."

  "I don't know if I want it from you," he wiped the blood from his forehead only to have it replenished. He cursed. "I don't know that I have a choice."

  "You don't." Aia said, trying to lighten the mood. "I promise; nothing bad is going to happen. I-"

  She felt Les's presence before she saw him edging toward her. He looked more sullen than before, somehow. His bow was loose at his side.

  "What is it?" She asked, slowly starting her examination. She applied her salve to his more severe wounds. The distraction of another person seemed to help reduce her patient's anxiety.

  "I don't know...I don't nowtion of aknow how-how anyone doesn't... know... that there is a third civilization," Les shook his head, looking as dazed as Aia felt.

  "What about the Kaldari? What does he want to do about them?" she asked.

  "Kaldari?" Aia's patient said with a laugh, "The Celet make the Kaldari look like children. They make us look like children."

  "What do you mean?" asked Aia.

  "That g
irl you saw, the one who died with an open chest? That's one of their small devices. They have more than that at their disposal."

  "You've seen them?"

  "Why do you think I'm here?" the Justice gestured around the prison. "I was going to be in charge of Alta's garrison. I was going to be in command, and then I learned too much. They threw me in this hole because they can't let people know the truth, because if they knew in advance they might put up a fight when the Celet come to take us."

  "Take us for what?"

  "Haven't figured that out. Not my job. All I know is I've seen their people and how they fight and it doesn't look good for any of us. Gods be merciful to the Kaldari who run into the Celet on their way into Nivenea."

  Aia sighed. Glancing over the patients she still had to see, she held a bottle out to Les. "You have time to pitch in?"

  "I don't know how useful..."

  "Make them drink it, cover wounds, put some of this-" she handed him a cleansing salve, "in the bloody parts. You can handle it."

  "I'm a baron, you know. Everyone seems to forget that. I'm not a soldier and I'm not a medic."

  "Well, she's a medic," Aia nodded off towards the Justice who had already moved on to a new person. "Go learn."

  When Les moved out of the way Aia saw that Garren, Teveres and Adreth were emerging from the weapons room. Adreth was keeping Garren a few steps ahead of him, close by, while he went to discuss things with the groups of Justices assembling near the guard station. Teveres paused and made an unsuccessful attempt to appear as if he wasn't keeping an eye on her.

  Aia scowled and continued her task, pressing a hand against her patient's chest. The energy he took was less painful, less massively hungry under her fingers. He stared at her when she let go, flexing his arms and gingerly touching his sides where the wounds already closed.

  "Whatever you are, you're good," he said.

  "I... well, I try."

  He stood, rubbing his head where the blood was caked over his face. He smiled at her. "You take care of yourself, healer."

  His gratitude warmed and grounded her even in the midst of her confusion.

  A Justice a few feet away was moving a dead man towards one of the cells. Something about the dead man's shape and the color of his chestnut hair made her look twice. Dread struck her hard.

  "Wait," she called to the Justice. She sprung to her feet to investigate.

  Telani, Baron of the Healer's Guild, lay on the ground. A giant scar across his face made him almost unidentifiable, but the strong jaw and the exceedingly dark, unseeing eyes gave him away. She clasped a hand over her mouth.

  "You know him?" The dark-skinned Justice let go of the dead baron's shoulder.

  "I did, once..." she swallowed.

  The hole in the center of his chest gave his blue robes a bloody starburst pattern. A black powder laced the edges of the wound, his hands clutched in from of him. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

  The Justice hesitated, choosing between human concern for Aia and the orders he was given to move all the dead and too-far-gone bodies out of the way. Aia felt Teveres come up behind her.

  "I'll take care of this one," said Teveres. "Don’t worry about it.”

  Relieved, the Justice left them alone. Aia was trying so hard to pull herself away, to look at anything but Telani's face, still set in determination. She was frozen. It was one thing to see dead people that she didn't know, to leave the nameless to die when they were too far gone. She didn't know him well, but she liked Telani, what she knew of him. He cared about people - about healers and the blight touched and what was right for Nivenea.

  Teveres's hand hovered over her shoulder, warmth emanating from his palm. She bowed her head to hide the tears, leaning towards him just enough to communicate her acceptance. Their quarrel was meaningless next to the insurmountable suffering and secrets they were up against.

  He slowly closed her into an embrace. Though he’d touched her before, he had never hugged her. He was fastidious with his hands, keeping them locked on her shoulders, his head careful not to lean against her hair. He was respectful, chaste. The strength in his limbs centered her, the sound of his heartbeat, strong and fast, was strangely seductive. After a moment she pulled away, physically shaking herself off.

  "I'll be fine. I'm okay." She cleared her throat and forced a smile.

  "You’re a bad liar." His words were joking, but his face was serious.

  "You can sense lies. Your opinion hardly counts."

  "We're going with Adreth upstairs, or at least that's what you agreed to." He cocked his head to the side in his curious way. "Do you think it was a good idea to reveal your abilities to him?"

  "He's one of the good guys. He wouldn't hurt us."

  "There's no such thing." Teveres's eyes, empty ofeyeeres's h optimism, sent a pang of fear through her. "You should be more careful with who you reveal yourself to."

  "Well, thank the gods I have you here to look out for me."

  His hurt tugged at her, making her wish she hadn't been so brash. He began the grim task of moving Telani's body.

  "Hey," she said quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I'm just afraid of this. All of this."

  "I'm the last person you should worry about. Go."

  She was more than happy to get away from the corpse of the man she once knew. Between Les, Leadra, and herself, they made quick work of the rest of the wounded. Aia noted that some of the groups of prisoners were making their way back into the tunnels, while Adreth, Adria, and their group were collected at the guard station.

  Aia looked up when Adria's shadow cast over her.

  "Mind reader," she addressed Aia curtly, her sword drawn. "You're coming with us, over here.”

  Aia rubbed her hands on her pants, leaving streaks of red. She frowned. "Not a problem."

  Les followed. Teveres stood talking with Adreth with Garren close by. There were ten other Justices with them, men and women with varying weapons at their sides. Only Adreth and Adria carried pistolets.

  "Thank you for your work, Aiasjia," Adreth's voice rumbled. "You stay in the middle of our crowd; you do not show your face to anyone. You gather all the information you can and you run when we say run, do you understand?"

  They had obviously stepped into the middle of an already-formed plan, and Aia was not about to challenge it. She sank bank further into the group of men and women. "Completely."

  "Then we're going up, comrades." Adreth raised his eyebrows at the group, one fist banging on the guard station's metal door. "It's time."

  Behind the door was a gray slab room with reams of paper, locks, keys and weapons, and a large, square metal box in the center. The box was big enough to fit several people. It had a criss-cross of metal rods attached to a chain leading up... and up. When Aia craned her neck back, she was hit by vertigo.

  The guard station was a room surrounding the center portion of the pyramid. Aia knew that there was a cylindrical core that went through the entire University on all floors, but she did not realize that the core contained the box on chains and pulleys, lightly pulsing with the glow of kelspar. It was something built by the engineers - an energy-laden machine of great sophistication. A kelspar control panel gleamed on one of the box's walls; a single crystal shard behind a clear window, surrounded by dials.

  Adreth led them into the box. Apprehension transferred between the Deldri as everyone crammed in beside each other, warm bodies touching. Aia wanted to ask what they were doing, but she wasn’t sure she would like the answer. The door to the metal box slammed shut, and she felt movement.

  The box was lifting them. She could barely see through the tall guards all around her that the walls were moving and the ground was getting further away. The Justices seemed all too comfortable with the situation, even when Aia wanted to scream let me off let me off let me off.

  The chains jangled to a halt. Aia realized that she had been holding her breath for what seemed like an hour, but could only have been mere seconds. T
he machine door opened, and Adreth kicked open a second door made of the same stone as the halls of the University.

  Light, shining through like an answer, flooded into the University's core. Aia could tell by the familiar curve of the hallway and the quiet, closed doors that they were on the second floor, the students’ lobby. It was still too early for most students to be up, so no one saw the prisoners step out of the core armed to the teeth.

  Once they unloaded, safe on solid flooring, Adreth nodded to Adria. "Jam it," he told her.

  There was the shattering of glass and a powerful wave of energy from inside the lift machine when Adria slammed weaponized kelspar against the control panel. Aia jerked at the feeling. She had no idea that the disharmony of weaponized kelspar could afflict machines.

  No one would be using that lift, that much was certain. The energy humming along the edges of the metal box died. Adria grinned.

  That was their plan - cut off transportation via the lift machine so they could get control of the second floor. It would be less visible than the first, and was only staffed by students. They had an easy escape and cut through point if they guarded the stairs. Adreth had done nothing but perfect his plan for finding Leniq for 6 months; he would not tolerate mistakes or miscalculations.

  Adreth led them through the corridors confidently. He knew the layout just as well as Aia did. They encountered one young student, a Green - he made the intelligent choice to go straight back into the room he came from as soon as he saw the hodge-podge of prison attire, justices, and blades.

  They stopped at the stairwell. It was sizable, six men wide with an open ceiling making it easy to see who was coming from above. The lobby opened out in front of them, where Aia had once taken the oath of the healer, once stood with Kyren proud to be a part of Nivenea, a Child of Elseth. Tables and chairs littered the room, the podium and pillows locked away in some storage closet with all the other lies.