Sisters of the Sands

by Villinger, James

  “I assumed I would be fighting other Acolytes.”

  Maya puzzled for a moment. “Hmm, let me put it this way. If your life was in danger, would you kill to defend yourself? What if it was your brother, would you kill anyone for him?”

  “If it was to defend me or someone I cared about, I suppose I would. But I don’t intend on killing ever again if I can help it. That first time was a mistake. I panicked when I shouldn’t have. I’ll find another way.”

  Tau stepped forward and pulled on my shoulder. “As much as I hate it, war is all around us. It’s unrealistic to expect zero casualties.”

  Maya was becoming frustrated. “Exactly, and wouldn’t a quick death be better than a prolonged imprisonment for some people? You have no idea what it’s like in those mines. Sometimes I think my father would be better off dead. They suffer so much down there. Would you prefer the people you captured to be tortured and worked until they were nothing but a sack of skin and bones?”

  What was Maya talking about? How could she possibly want her family members dead? Then it hit me, it was her brainwashing. She still loved her family, but she had been forced to think men as evil, and “better off dead”. Was I going to end up like her if I kept taking these assimilation sessions? Would I ever want Eno dead?

  I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense, Maya. I’m never giving up on Eno, if that’s what you’re getting at. I’ll find a way to free him. As for your father and brother, if you want them dead so badly, then you truly have given up on them.”

  My harsh words had cut into her. Maya turned away from me and folded her arms.

  “I’m sorry … I didn’t mean …”

  Tau glared at me. “Maya loves her family, Sacet. She just doesn’t want them to be in this pain anymore.”

  “No, let her find out the truth herself,” Maya interrupted. “One day she might get to visit Eno. Then she’ll see.”

  I shrugged. “Either way, I’m not going to kill anyone.”

  Maya faced me again. “Okay, so what are you going to do on tournament day when you’re forced to execute an innocent, unarmed man in front of tens of thousands of people?”

  17. Harvest

  Eno

  The Prison Quad

  Pilgrim, Toroi, Toroi’s father and I all hopped into line, waiting to be fed. There were several lines already in front of the cafeteria. Even here, we couldn’t escape the red lines on the ground, which led along designated paths to and around the tables.

  A large, steel grate separated the servers from the lines. There was only a small opening at waist level to collect our food on our trays. The food appeared to be nothing more than a paste-like gruel.

  Toroi turned back to me. “Best part of the day.”

  As the four of us shuffled up, I took a look at one prisoner’s food as he walked passed.

  “Is that even food?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Not really, but that’s not why this is the best part of the day,” Toroi’s father said, shuffling forward again.

  “Look around you, Eno,” Pilgrim said. “This is the first time today that we’ve been allowed to talk to one another.”

  Like all other sections of the Prison, there were catwalks above us with guards patrolling along them. And yet, all of the prisoners were talking freely along the long row tables. It seemed like this was the only place where that was allowed.

  We finally reached the front of the line, and Toroi went up first and took one of the trays from the hole. I was up next, and the woman dumped the tray down next to the hole so hard that some of the gruel splattered out of the bowl and onto the tray. I inspected the food, concerned that it looked more spit than sustenance.

  “It’s not going to look any better if you look at it longer,” Pilgrim said, bending down and giving me a slight elbow to the ribs.

  I picked up the tray of odourless food and followed Toroi back through the lines. He took a seat at a table and I placed my tray down and sat next to him. Pilgrim and Toroi’s father joined us shortly after, plonking their trays down, too.

  As the others scooped up their sticky food with their hands and shovelled it into their mouths, I gazed around the chamber. There was a guard standing next to our ugly Overseer, and whatever she was saying to the Overseer was making her smile and laugh.

  The woman was much younger; had short, black hair, with yellow-tipped, purple streaks coming from her fringe. She had a small, see-through device in her hand, which she inspected closely. It lit up with colours and shapes when she touched it.

  “Eno, don’t look at them so obviously,” Pilgrim said, nipping me in the arm.

  “What?”

  “You’re asking for trouble by staring them down, just don’t look at them,” he replied, staring at his food.

  “He’s right,” Toroi said. “The safest thing you can do is focus on your work, or in this case, your food. Whenever I see that Overseer treat us cruelly, I’ve wanted for nothing more than to beat her skull in with a rock, so believe us, we know how you feel.”

  “So how do you two know each other,” Toroi’s father asked. “Don’t tell me you’re father and son, too?”

  “We’re from the same village,” Pilgrim lied, staring at me and giving me a warm smile. “And that’s the same as family to me.”

  I forced a smile back, even though I still felt guilty inside.

  “How were you captured?” Toroi asked.

  Pilgrim frowned. “The Male Dominion flushed us out of our cave, and then the Female Dominion ambushed us as we fled. Funny, was almost like they were working together.”

  Toroi looked anxiously back. “Did they attack with Acolytes? Did you see who they were?”

  Pilgrim shook his head.

  I stared down at my food. “There were three of them that captured us.”

  “Did one look like she was of Nomadic descent, like us? Dark skin?” Toroi’s father asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, she could turn things into water.”

  “Maya …” Toroi said. “That’s my sister. She said she joined the military to make it easier on the family, but I think she joined to make it easier on herself.”

  “Toroi …” his father started.

  “It’s true,” the boy continued. “She probably has it all, everything she could want. And she barely visits us anymore.”

  “We’re not going to start this again. She was probably forced to join. And she’s confused, deep down she’s doing what she thinks is right.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Pilgrim said.

  I glimpsed at the Overseer and her friend out the corner of my eye. The small device the other woman was carrying glowed with a list of words. The two women started walking towards our table, so I stared down again.

  “This is the one here,” the Overseer said stopping next to our table and pointing at Toroi’s father. “I have good news for you, Turen, you’re moving up in the world. We have a special job in mind for you.”

  Turen locked eyes with his son before looking down at the table. Toroi’s eyes widened. All colour was drained from his face.

  “It’s okay, you have my permission to speak. You can show us some gratitude if you’d like. You’re going to the Commercial Quadrant.”

  He closed his eyes and gave a small bow towards the Overseer and the black-haired woman. “I am honoured I have been chosen.”

  Whatever this special job was, it couldn’t be good. The other woman was grinning at him. She inspected the list on the thin device she was carrying again, and looked back up.

  “I want that one, too,” she said, pointing at Pilgrim and smiling.

  “That one?” the Overseer said, confused. “But I just got him. At least let me get some use out of him in the mines first?”

  “No, he has been specifically requested. By Mira herself, actually,” the black-haired woman said, bringing her free hand to her chin and examining Pilgrim more closely. “Guards, these two.”

  Several guards had been waiting near the cafeteria e
ntrance, and they approached our table as the other two women took a step back. Turen looked at Toroi again and hugged him.

  Pilgrim stood up and looked at me. “Keep your head down, Eno, alright?” He walked over to the guards while nodding at me. “Stay with Toroi.”

  Toroi began to bawl, and squeezed his father tighter. The Overseer’s smile turned to a look of disgust, and she looked at the guards and gestured towards Turen. As the guards surrounded the two, they pulled on both of their shoulders, attempting to separate them, gently at first, then forcefully.

  “No, please. Don’t kill him! Don’t kill my dad!” Toroi screamed as he tried to reach out for his father and grasped at thin air.

  “Stop it, son. Please, for your own sake. We don’t have a choice.” Turen looked back at the Overseer briefly. “There’s no need to worry, I’m just going to be working in the Commercial Quadrant now.”

  Toroi’s eyes were filled with tears. “No, you said it to me yourself. They do this every cycle. No one has ever come back from it!”

  “Enough of this,” the Overseer said, and the guards collected the two men by their arms and began leading them out of the cafeteria.

  I looked around the cafeteria at all of the other men. They stopped eating. Although some looked furious, they all stared down at their food, trying to ignore what was happening. The Overseer was staring me down, and so I did the same as the others and looked at my food.

  “I’m sorry, son,” Turen yelled back as they forced both of them along and around the corner.

  18. Discipline

  Sacet

  Two days later

  The Science Quad

  The smooth laboratory table was cold. As the scientists prepared me for yet another assimilation procedure, my mind drifted. We had only been doing this for a few days now, and already I could feel myself changing. I felt stronger, healthier, and I wasn’t as angry at everyone anymore, but I still wanted to rescue Eno, and to leave this place.

  Maya sat by the entrance as she waited for me to finish, but she wasn’t happy about it. She was still upset with me for what I had said outside the Citadel.

  Other than keeping me fed and taking me to weapons training in the Military Quad, she rarely spoke to me. When she did, it was about the tournament and how I had to kill someone. Each time, I protested the idea, and we ended up arguing at length before I was brought here for assimilation. Aside from Tau visiting us at dinner time, the past two days had been unbearable.

  I was never going to kill an innocent person. I would need to escape before tournament day. Maybe there was a way I could stop this tracking device from transmitting?

  I assumed this Science Quadrant would have some sort of power facility here. Maybe everything depended on that power, including my tracking device. Having something that important situated outside the city wouldn’t make sense, it would be a prime target for the enemy.

  The range of my special vision had increased tenfold since I woke up that day in Maya’s apartment. I was finally comfortable with it, the environment that surrounded me felt balanced, in a perfect equilibrium. I saw inside people’s pockets, underneath the ground and through solid walls.

  My second perception flew around the room and jarred inside of the walls and ceiling. I was finding this extra sense difficult to master, but it was definitely useful. My mind scouted the facility, searching for points of interest.

  In the adjacent building there was a large, ring-shaped tube. The tube was closed off, and inside it the floor and ceiling glowed. Even the air inside of the tube appeared to glow as well, as if being heated. Outside the tube, numerous scientists examined readouts on screens and adjusted various mechanisms. Was this what was powering the city? If it was, what was the fuel?

  Before I had a chance to think about it, one of the scientists made her way over and injected me with another sedative, and I blacked out.

  The next day

  The Military Quad

  Maya and I walked up the steps to the mess hall. She hadn’t said a word to me since we left her apartment. Nearby soldiers noticed us passing and nodded at me. I nodded back, confused.

  Sula was waiting at the top of the steps, anxiously looking around. She spotted us approaching and her worry turned to a smile, looking quite hideous on her misshapen face.

  Maya gestured at her. “Off you go, I’ll pick you up after training.” Without even looking at me, she turned and went back down the stairs.

  I reached my hand out towards Maya, trying to think of something to say, but she had already descended the stairs and disappeared around a corner.

  “Sacet,” I heard from behind, and turned to see Sula.

  She still wore the same odd armour as the other day, and was propping herself up with her walking stick. But her expression was completely different, almost remorseful.

  Sula sighed and glanced over her shoulder through the mess hall doors, as if embarrassed. “Sacet, I … apologise about the other day. I promise to be a more … patient instructor. Now come on.”

  We went through the doors and started walking through the hall. It wasn’t as full as it was the other day when we met, but we still caught the attention of a few soldiers. I locked eyes with one sitting nearby, who glanced away and appeared more interested in her food again.

  I caught up and walked alongside her. “I’m sorry, too, for what I said. I appreciate you trying to help me. I just know for a fact I don’t work well under that kind of pressure.”

  “Oh, is that so? What about the pressure of a real battle, hmm? How long are you going to last if you’re not conditioned for fighting?” She gestured at the eavesdropping soldiers around us. “How do you think the rest of the soldiers here are trained? Unlike Nomads, they live a disciplined life.

  “But that doesn’t matter now. When I’m done with you, you’ll be the most feared Acolyte in the Female Dominion.” She glanced back at the main entrance. “Didn’t you have a full escort last time? Why isn’t anyone here holding your little hand?”

  “Maya brought me here, but we haven’t exactly been getting along,” I replied.

  Sula shrugged, and continued forward. “Well, boohoo. Make new and better friends.”

  As we passed the tables there was very little talk to be heard, no jeers and slurs this time around. The soldiers had their heads down and were turned away. Was it fear, or was it because I had a rank now? We reached the end of the hall and entered the corridor.

  “I don’t get why the Queen has taken such an interest in me,” I said as we walked. “Do you?”

  She kept moving forward, tapping along with her walking stick. “At first I didn’t understand it either. There are hundreds of Acolytes in this city alone. Why did she focus so much attention on you?”

  “You said ‘at first’?”

  She hesitated, perhaps hoping I would drop it, and then sighed. “They see something special in you, that’s all I can say.”

  What was Sula hiding? Her whole demeanour had changed since our last meeting. From time to time I caught her staring at me, as if afraid.

  “So let’s talk about what you can do so far,” she said, changing the topic. She held out her fingers to count. “Teleporting yourself and objects, levitation, crushing things and some basic optical illusions. Did I miss anything?”

  I shook my head and she continued: “I’ve had some ideas that we can try. Have you ever tried to make more than one set of portals at a time?”

  “Hmm, no.”

  Until recently, making one set was hard enough. I had never imagined it was possible for me to do more than one. We reached the end of the corridor and entered the same training room from the other day and walked to the centre.

  “Why don’t you give it a try now? Make one set to your left and another to your right,” she suggested, pointing at the walls on both sides.

  I approached the centre of the room and tried to concentrate. The left set of portals came quickly and more natural, but I struggled to focus on both set
s at once. How could I look both left and right at the same time?

  When I was about to quit, an idea came to me. Instead of trying to look at both at the same time with my eyes, I would use my normal eyes for the left and my second perception for the right. As soon as the realisation came to me, a second set of portals formed on my right side.

  “Good, there’s hope for you yet. Can you curve your portals?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Instead of a flat portal, can you bend it around an object?” she said as she walked over to a hanging punching bag on the side of the room. “Bend one around this.”

  I closed the portals that were in front of me and made my way over to the bag. I then created a single set of portals, this time on either side of the object.

  “Now slowly bring them together around the bag,” she said, mimicking her instructions with her hands.

  I brought the portals closer and closer to the bag until they were touching it on both sides, then I forced them further towards one another. Instead of crushing the bag like I anticipated, they warped and curved around the surface.

  “That’s it. Good.”

  The portals had now wrapped themselves around the bag, and their edges had joined one another at the sides like a cylinder. From one side of the bag, I looked through the portal and saw the wall from the other side. Aside from the slight visual distortion, the optical illusion that had been created caused the bag to appear almost invisible!

  Sula nodded at me. “See? So taking what we’ve learned: if you wrap a set of portals around yourself, you’ll become see-through.”

  “But, will I be able to see? Or breathe?” I wondered aloud.

  “Oh, well, you’ll need to practise making an eye hole for yourself or something. All suits come equipped with an oxygen system in case of emergencies, so that’ll be fine. Anyway, forget about that for a second. I’ve just remembered another idea I had.”

  I unwrapped and closed the portals around the bag.

  She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, which was still in its walking stick sheath. “My powers allow me to quickly move up to an enemy and …” she paused and vanished into thin air.