Comatose: The Book of Maladies

by D. K. Holmberg

  “What other things can I do, then?”

  “There are many things, and you will discover those in time. For now, you should continue to observe those who have mastered their abilities.”

  “Even if that means learning from Marin?”

  “Why do you think we’re chasing her?”

  “I thought we were chasing her so that we could bring her back to the city to face punishment for what she did.”

  “There would be value in that, but even more important would be gathering Marin so that you can have someone else to guide your instruction.”

  “Why not you?”

  “There are things that even I haven’t mastered,” Elaine said.

  “Then where is she? How are we going to find her?”

  Elaine nodded into the distance, and Sam followed the direction of her gaze, staring out. The steam made visibility difficult, but as she stared through it, watching in between the gusts of wind that sent the steam billowing northward, Sam saw the faint sign of movement in the distance. It was nearly to the mountain, far enough away that, if it was Marin, she wasn’t sure they would be able to catch her. And if she wasn’t alone, she likely had her Scribe with her. According to Elaine, she didn’t need augmentation, but having her Scribe with her might mean that she was.

  “Are you sure we should go after her without any enhancements?”

  Elaine nodded. “I am certain that we should.”

  With that, Elaine flipped forward, and raced across the rocky ground. Sam had no choice but to follow.

  13

  Finding a Kaver

  They reached the base of the mountain late in the day. Sweat streamed down Sam’s brow, and she no longer even bothered to wipe it away. She was tired, but not nearly as tired as she thought she would be. Elaine had traveled with a mixture of jumps and sprints across the ground. The combination had carried them quickly forward, and they reached the lower foothills of the mountain as the sun disappeared behind clouds high overhead.

  “I don’t see her anymore,” Sam said.

  “No, but we should overtake her soon.”

  “If we overtake her and we’re exhausted, I’m not sure that it will be much of a fight.”

  “There are two of us and one of her.”

  “And yet she will be augmented,” Sam said.

  “You still put far more stock in that than you need to.”

  Sam wasn’t sure that she did. She had seen the way Marin was able to handle her even when Sam had augmentations. Without them… she wasn’t sure she would be able to defeat Marin even with Elaine’s assistance.

  They continued up the slope of the mountain, and as dusk began to fall, Sam noted shadows in the distance.

  She said nothing, only nodding. Pockets of steam were rarer now, and as they climbed, she had only to worry about fatigue, not the danger of crossing the steam field. Then again, fatigue was enough of an enemy that she knew better than to dismiss it too easily. She was tired, exhausted from everything they had done, and now, she somehow had to face Marin and figure out a way to capture her—and her Scribe.

  Even when they did, how were they going to get the two of them back out?

  Sam tried not to think of that. It did no good other than to make her more anxious.

  Elaine scurried forward, and as they neared the movement of shadows, she swung her staff, connecting with a loud crack.

  Sam swore under her breath.

  She joined Elaine in the fight, swinging her staff at the same time. “I guess we’re not going to wait, are we?” Sam said.

  Elaine grunted and jumped over a sweep of Marin’s staff. “You could help,” Elaine said.

  Sam looked around. Where was Marin’s Scribe?

  Elaine might dismiss the benefit of augmentations, but Sam knew better than to dismiss it out of hand. There were far too many benefits to completely dismiss the possiblity. But where was he?

  She glanced back to Elaine and Marin and saw that Elaine seemed to be managing well enough, so Sam raced forward, searching for Marin’s Scribe.

  Master Jessup. Bushy Brow. She remembered his voice and the scornful way that he had taunted her when he’d caught her, though she was pleased to have returned the favor.

  She jumped with her staff, launching into the air. For a moment, she considered adding an augmentation. If she took only the briefest pause, she would be able to scratch a few things onto the easar paper she had in her pocket, which might help as she tried to find this man.

  He wasn’t the one she needed help with, though. He wouldn’t be much of a threat, if any. He might have captured her, but he hadn’t been the one to trap her. That had been Ralun.

  She jumped on top of her staff, perching for a moment. There was value in holding this pose, and she wondered if maybe that was the entire reason Elaine had demonstrated it for her. She saw no sign of the Scribe.

  He had to be here, somewhere.

  “Samara!”

  She glanced down and saw that Elaine was on the ground, trying to fend off Marin.

  She jumped forward, flipping around as she did, and swung her staff toward Marin. The other woman spun around, catching Sam, deflecting her attack.

  “Isn’t this sweet,” Marin said. “Mother and daughter, fighting together.”

  Marin twisted, moving faster than Sam could keep up with. There was no question that she was augmented, though she would have limits to it, wouldn’t she?

  Then again, if her Scribe was still out there somewhere, the only limits would be the amount of blood they had. Maybe that was Elaine’s plan. If she could delay things long enough, they would run out of their blood, and there would be no way for them to replenish it, at least not while Marin was fighting them.

  Then again, if Marin defeated them because of the augmentations, it wouldn’t matter. She needed to delay Marin.

  “You don’t seem all that concerned with seeing me here,” Sam said.

  “And why should I be? You pose no threat.”

  “No threat? I defeated you the last time we were together,” Sam said.

  “You didn’t defeat me, your augmentations did. And without your Scribe, how do you intend to replicate that?”

  Sam spun around, swinging her staff down toward Marin. The other woman blocked, her movement fast and the follow-up brutal. Sam staggered forward, barely able to keep on her feet.

  Marin grinned. “See? You might have some training now, but you’re still not fast enough.”

  “Face me without your augmentations.”

  Marin cocked her head, grinning widely. “What makes you think that I’m not?”

  “Because you’re moving too quickly.”

  “Only because you fail to understand the full potential of your abilities, Samara,” Marin said.

  Marin jumped, and while in the air, she spun around, her staff twisting rapidly. She brought it down, and Sam rolled, missing one end, but she didn’t miss the other. Marin’s staff slammed into her stomach.

  When had she separated the two ends?

  Pain roared through her, but she tried to ignore it, focusing only on finding a way to stop Marin.

  She needed to do more than simply stop her. If they managed to capture Marin before the blood ink ran out, it wouldn’t matter. The Scribe would be able to counter anything they did, and he would be able to use whatever remaining ink he had to offer another augmentation to Marin.

  Buy time.

  That was all she had to do. Somehow, she had to find a way to bide her time.

  And where was Elaine?

  Sam pushed off to the side and tried to get to her feet, but she couldn’t. Pain in her stomach made it difficult. Even if she survived, would she be able to make it back to the city?

  Marin kicked at her, and Sam brought her arms up, blocking, and threw her back. She shoved with the force of her frustration and her anger, and Marin went flying.

  Sam frowned to herself. How was that possible?

  She didn’t have an augmentation; al
l she had was her irritation.

  She heard a grunt and staggered to her feet, readying for Marin’s attack. The sound that she heard likely meant that Marin had knocked Elaine down, in which case, all that stood between Marin and escape—or her death—was Sam.

  What had Elaine been thinking? There was no way the two of them would be able to defeat Marin without any augmentations.

  A shape approached, and Sam brought her staff up.

  It was Bushy Brow.

  “You,” she said.

  “You shouldn’t have come after us.”

  “You shouldn’t have tried to attack me. Then, maybe I wouldn’t have come after you.”

  He took another step, and she noticed he had a sword in hand.

  Sam smiled to herself. What were the odds that he knew how to handle a sword? She figured they weren’t very good. Most of the university master physickers were only able to handle a pen, and not much more than that. Alec couldn’t do anything with a sword, so she doubted that this stupid man could.

  She took a deep breath, steeling herself for a surge of pain, and flipped toward him, spinning her staff around in midair and cracking him in the back of the head. He staggered forward, dropping his sword when he did. Sam jabbed him on the back of the head once more for good measure, wanting to keep him immobile. It wouldn’t do for him to come around and help Marin again.

  “Good, you found her Scribe.”

  Sam jerked her head around, as Elaine appeared from behind a tower of rocks. She carried Marin as well as Marin’s staff.

  “You survived?”

  “You didn’t think that I would?”

  “I didn’t know. With what she did, I wasn’t sure you would have been able to.”

  “I think your distraction was enough.”

  “Yeah, I’m… I’m sorry. I should have listened. I was trying to find her Scribe.”

  “And I told you that didn’t matter.”

  “But he’s here. She was augmented.”

  “She wasn’t.”

  “The way she moved—”

  “The way she moved is the way any Kaver can move, especially with the right training. In time, you can have that training, but if you go rushing off without waiting for it, and if you go off thinking that you know enough, you will suffer. Do you think Marin needed her augmentations to challenge the Thelns? Do you think she needed her Scribe in order to face the rest of us?”

  “I… I guess I did.”

  “She didn’t need augmentation. Even if they had easar paper, Samara.”

  “Her Scribe would have had access to easar paper.”

  “He wouldn’t. He wasn’t known as a Scribe. That’s how he was able to remain hidden within the university.”

  Sam frowned, but realized Elaine was right. Marin hadn’t revealed the presence of her Scribe, which meant that without others knowing, it was just as likely that he wouldn’t have had access to easar paper. Without it, she couldn’t have had any augmentations.

  “Then she did all of this without them?”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  Sam stared at Marin. She breathed regularly, and a massive knot had formed on the side of her head. Elaine crouched down next to her and tore strips from Marin’s cloak, and began wrapping her wrists with the fabric. When she was done, she moved on to her legs.

  “That should hold her for the most part,” Elaine said.

  “If she doesn’t need augmentations, then how do you expect that to hold her?”

  “I didn’t say that she didn’t need augmentations at all. All I said was that she didn’t have them when she faced you. In order for her to tear free from this, she will need more than what she can generate on her own.”

  “Will I?” Marin rolled her head to the side, looking up at Elaine. “That was a nice hit, Lainey.”

  Elaine sighed. “Marin, why did you make me do this?”

  “Has it always been about you, Lainey?”

  “You know that it’s not.”

  “And yet you concealed from me the connection you had to Lyasanna. Me. I was your commander.”

  “And she was the crown.”

  “She is not the crown,” Marin said, a sneer twisting her face. “She might have you convinced that she represents the crown, but she does not.”

  “And now look at you, little Samara, you stand here, thinking that Lainey has taught you everything that you need, but she hasn’t. And she can’t. As much as Lainey wants to, there are only so many things she can teach. Isn’t that right, Lainey?”

  Elaine sighed again and jerked Marin forward until she was seated in front of them. “I captured you, didn’t I?”

  “You captured me, but I’m curious whether you could do it alone or whether you always need someone else with you. First, it was Haffar, and now, you have Samara.”

  “Don’t talk about him.”

  Marin glanced from Elaine to Sam. “No? And why shouldn’t I speak of him. Have you chosen not to share with Samara the details of her father?”

  “No more than you’ve chosen to conceal from her.”

  “Ah, but I did that to you, not to her.”

  Sam stepped forward. “You did that to me, not to my mother. You took my memories, you took who I am, not anything from my mother.”

  Marin looked over at her. There was a hint of the woman that Sam had known, but it was hidden behind a mask. “I’m sorry that you were caught in the middle, Samara, but everything that happened to you is your mother’s fault and not mine.”

  Elaine shook her head. “Why do you continue to spread those lies?”

  “Because they are not lies,” Marin said. “No more than the lies that you have tried to spread about Tray.”

  “I know the truth,” Sam said.

  “Oh, I’m sure that you do, now. I’m sure that because Ralun bothered to come to the city again, they were forced to tell you. Someone had to know.”

  “Why? Why did you do this to us?”

  “Why? After everything that you’ve been through with me, I can’t believe you can ask that question.”

  “Everything I’ve been through? Marin, you are the reason I have no memory of my childhood!” Sam jabbed her in the chest, pushing far harder than she intended. Marin’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t wince or make any other expression. “You forced a connection between Tray and me, making both of us believe that we were brother and sister. Why?”

  “Someone had to look out for him,” Marin said softly.

  “I thought you were supposed to look out for him!”

  “And who told you that?”

  “Lyasanna told me that. She said that you were assigned to bring him from the Theln lands. She said that—”

  Marin started laughing, and Sam shook her head, not even certain what to do or say. How was she supposed to react to someone like Marin, someone who couldn’t be reasoned with?

  “Lyasanna told you that I was supposed to rescue Tray?”

  Sam nodded. “She told me that Elaine and others rescued her from the Theln lands. She told me that several were sacrificed in order to do so.”

  “And did she tell you the full details of my assignment?”

  “Marin—” Elaine cautioned.

  “Lainey. I think it’s time that your daughter understands the truth of the Anders. She needs to understand just what kind of people she’s serving. She needs to realize that her master—your Scribe—ordered her newborn son to be murdered.”

  14

  Answers and Questions

  Sam stood frozen. She couldn’t even take a breath. Her body trembled, and she resisted the urge to look over at Elaine, not trusting herself. She knew better than to believe Marin, but there was a ring of truth in what she said. Regardless of everything that she’d been through, Marin had never wanted to harm Tray. She had used Sam as a way to protect him, forming a connection—a bond—between them.

  It all made a sick sort of twisted sense.

  “Is it true?”


  Marin looked up at her, and Sam finally turned her attention to Elaine.

  “Is it true?”

  “Marin would have you believe that it’s true, but why would Lyasanna have ordered her son to be murdered?”

  Marin laughed darkly. “You didn’t know. Oh, blessed Kyza, you didn’t know.” Marin shifted back and propped herself up on her arms. “All this time, I thought she had shared with you, her most trusted advisor, her Kaver, and now I can see it on your face. You had no idea.”

  “Lyasanna wouldn’t have given such an order.”

  “And why not? She wanted to protect the family. She was the first Anders Scribe in generations. Her presence was a disruption, and of course the Thelns wanted to form a connection with her. She couldn’t have the Anders know that she had succumbed to the temptation of the Thelns. No one could know. So, she sent me, the only person she thought she could trust to complete a task that she thought was necessary. She sent me in, telling me that the child needed to be lost. None could know that he existed, or he would be used against the Anders.”

  Sam dropped to the ground next to Marin. “Is that true?”

  Elaine stared at Marin, and she barely breathed. “She wouldn’t have sacrificed her child.”

  “Then you don’t know her nearly as well as I did.”

  “Why? And why take Samara?”

  “I believed you complicit in her instructions. Since you were willing to take a child, I decided that I would take a child.”

  “How did you do it?” Sam asked. She was barely able to speak, and her voice came out in a ragged whisper. “How is it that you took my memories from me? How is it that I didn’t know my mother? That I can’t remember anything from my childhood?”

  “I didn’t take all of your memories. I took away your recollection of your mother. And I ensured that you and Tray knew of the other, and that you would grow up believing that you were brother and sister. You would protect him, and he would protect you. Your presence ensured that the other was safe.”

  Sam had a sick feeling in her stomach and looked around the bleak mountain. Darkness had set in full, leaving only the faint light from the moon.