by D P Rowell
Branches cracked, and Ace jerked his head up. His eyes followed the sound of feet crunching the ground until he caught the shadow of Naneg creeping through the woods. He ran to catch her and grabbed her wrist.
She jolted in a fright. “Oh!”
“Shh,” Ace said, and whispered, “Come with me.”
He guided her through the woods to a space he’d prepared for their meeting.
“Enough!” She said, yanking free from his grip. “Why bring me out here to woods like this?”
“Because you don’t know who’s listening,” He whispered, getting close.
“I don’t understand.”
“Have you ever heard of the council? “Ace said.
She smirked at him, a goofy smile played around the highlights on her skin from the yellow moon. “You’re kidding.”
“Think about it, Naneg. They want power. Oglen is friends with the Mayor, you said it yourself. That’s why they threw Jegri in prison, because he was calling out the Mayor’s wrongdoings, and the Mayor has the town’s minds poisoned to never question him.” Ace’s heart drummed in his chest. All of this was his best guess at what was happening, and if he was wrong, he would look like a fool in front of the elite. But . . . if he was right. He leaned close. “I think Oglen is influencing the mind of the Mayor.” He knew this was a long shot, going straight for the ultimate truth. And the risk had him riding a nerve-wracking, electric tsunami in his brain. “Don’t you think this is true?”
Naneg laughed a little. She shook her head, placed a hand on her forehead and breathed deep. “Of course not! You’re crazy. I’m leaving.” She turned to leave, but Ace grabbed her by the wrist. She stopped and turned to him, fear and uncertainty in her eyes.
“Am I?” Ace said. He bent down, hand still gripping her wrist, and swiped his finger against the ground. Just under her feet, a pool of black dust had fallen to the ground. Ace stood, rubbing the black dust between his thumb and first finger, looking at her with victory in his eyes. “Because usually parcels have witches working for them. And you just confirmed both for me.”
Her face scrunched like a rotten fruit, and black smoke began emitting from her skin. Her disguise was breaking down. But before she had a chance to react, Ace yanked her with all his might and threw her into a hole he’d burrowed out earlier; while he’d been awaiting her arrival. Her body hit the lever he’d fastened in the hole with rope he carved from tree bark (something Grandpa had taught him to do on hunting trips). The cage of tree branches closed in on top of her like a jaw clenching its dinner. She squirmed and moaned and wined, but he made sure the tree branches were soaked in enough anti-magic substance, so she couldn’t do anything to get free.
“What iss thiss? What have you done?”
“I caught you,” Ace said, a wide grin on his face. After moments of her squirming and twitching, the simulation froze, faded to blackness, and the lights turned back on, so he found himself standing in the simulation room once again.
* * *
Ace stood in the simulation room silently for a moment. He anxiously tapped his fingers against his jeans, wondering when the next simulation might start. He found himself growing a little frustrated he didn’t have the chance to find the parcel and take him down. Why’d they stop the simulation so soon? The metal door groaned and echoed through the room.
Ihana stepped inside and said, “Good job, kid. That’s it for today.” She turned around and walked away. Ace tilted his head.
Uh . . . okay?
He hesitantly made his way to the watch room. The whole place was empty, save for Keele, who was shutting everything down.
“Hey, Keele,” Ace said. The woman turned from the chair to look him. “Where are the others?”
She chuckled. “They’re butthurt.”
Ace scratched his head. “Butt what?”
“Angry. Jealous. Envious.” She said as she swiveled on her hover chair to finish shutting down the screens and computers. “You showed them up and they don’t know how to deal with it.”
Ace took a couple steps forward. “What’re you talking about?”
She sighed, stood, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I got a little secret for you. That whole catch a witch without a rifle thing is supposed to be a prank for newbies. No one has ever successfully caught a witch without an anti-magic weapon before. It’s impossible. Or, at least we thought.” She laughed. “Not only did you catch the witch, but you identified the parcel. That was impressive, kid. How did you know about the trees and the trap and all that stuff?”
Strange feelings circled his insides. Pride? Anger? Joy? He smirked at Keele and shrugged. “Well—uh—Grandpa used to take us on hunting trips all the time. Taught us how to make ropes from certain types of trees. As far as the anti-magic thing, Rio told me that anti-magic was made from trees.”
She half smiled and nudged him, so they started walking to the door. “Good for Rio. I love that drake. Smart move, kid. How’d you know she was the witch?”
“Well, the biggest thing that caught me off guard was the fact that she was supposed to be in love with the jag who said the thing about New Realm’s Age. But, whenever the police came and took him, she didn’t try to stop them. And, unlike Oglen’s girl, she didn’t jump in the fight and try to stop them. Made me think she was lying about loving him. That was the immediate truth.”
Keele stopped and gave him a strange look. “You know the difference between immediate and ultimate truth?”
Ace nodded. “Rio taught me.”
“And what was the ultimate, then?”
“Oglen and Naneg were working together to get Oglen to take over the Mayor’s position. They were fighting for power and influence.”
Keele smirked and shook her head. “Good job, kid. Good job.”
She opened the door to find a large group of trainees standing in the hall. They were staring at him and watching the replay of the simulation on screens over the doorway. When he entered the trainee hall, everyone went still and quiet. So, the sound of a pen would’ve echoed like thunder, had one fallen to the floor.
“I think everyone else knows who the new Halder is, kid. Now we just have to convince the elite,” Keele said softly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Interim Halder
“Alright, everyone,” Keele shouted to the trainees. “Show’s over. Get to the Great Hall. The recall is about to begin.” The crowds dispersed like ants on a hill and their voices grew loud enough to fill the halls. Keele nudged him along and they followed the crowds to the recall.
While Ace enjoyed his new fame, a different question had been pressing him since the first simulation. He looked at Keele, finally ready to get his answers. “Keele. These simulations. Are they—you know—real?” Ace said.
She chuckled. “Well they wouldn’t be called simulations if they were, kid.”
“You know what I mean,” Ace said.
Keele sighed. “Yes. Some of these things really happened. But we fiddled with them and put witches into the simulations for training.”
“And Rio?”
Keele didn’t say anything, she just looked ahead nodded softly.
“But, why?” Ace said.
“Listen to me,” Keele said. She stopped walking and turned him to face her. “After the recall, I want you to head home and wait for me there. Tell Rio to expect me. I need to speak with him.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Just do as I say,” She said firmly.
He nodded, his eyes still playing with uncertainty. “Keele,” he said. “I’m not sure I can do this.”
“Do what?” Keele said.
“This hunter thing. I mean, if I’m put in a position of defending someone’s life or chasing a witch, I’d feel too compelled to do something about the person.”
Keele paused for a moment before responding, “You shouldn’t have seen that simulation. You weren’t ready yet.”
“But I did,” Ace said. “Is it really right?
I mean I thought we were supposed to help people.”
“You weren’t taught properly. Ihana and George threw you into an advanced simulation with no training or context.”
“You didn’t answer me.”
Keele glanced at him, grunted, and stopped. “You need to understand who the real enemy is. Especially in the case of Kar’s election. Rio trying to shoot him is only one piece of the larger picture. There’s a greater evil that hunters have chosen to fight. We already have policemen. The world needs hunters.”
“That’s not good enough,” Ace said. “We’re sacrificing innocent people at the end of the day.”
“We’re sacrificing ourselves too, Ace.” She buried her head in her hand. “You need to trust the police to do their job, and you need to focus on yours.”
“But it’s my responsibility to help!” Ace said, clenching his fist by his side.
“No, it’s not!” Keele demanded. Her voice bounced off the trainee hall walls and half the hunters stopped and stared a moment. “People like Kar are placed in those simulations to prepare you. Your mission is much larger than saving them. Witches hurt people all the time. Parcels send their slaves after anyone in the way of their road to power. Witches are placed all over the world, distorting the minds of millions into believing that wrong is right, and right is wrong. People who fall victim to a witch’s deception may end up defending the assassin or thug or criminal. And one parcel may have hundreds of witch slaves.” Ace stood silently as Keele ranted. The woman exhaled deeply and calmed herself. “If you were closing in on a witch, they would love for you to be distracted. Stop chasing them to save an old man, or help a lost child find his parents. Sacrifice one innocent, save hundreds more. That’s the way I see it.”
Ace grit his teeth. “I know my Grandfather.” He stepped close and placed his nose in her face. “He would never trade an innocent life for another. Ever.”
Keele furrowed her brow. “You’re missing the point.” She sliced the air with her hand. “Never mind. We’ll have to talk about this later.” She led him down the trainee hall again. He let what Keele said resonate with him. It wickedly boiled his blood. He couldn’t agree with it no matter how hard he tried. Neither could he remove the image of Rio trying to shoot a president from his head
“Ace!” Yelled a voice. Ace turned to find his older brother coming out of a set of doors in Trainee Hall.
“Hey, Cameron,” Ace said. “How did your first day go?”
Cameron shrugged. “Well, I didn’t do much shooting. Just a lot of learning and stuff.”
Keele nudged Ace. “That’s where you should’ve started as well.”
Ace ignored Keele. “Learning about what?”
“How witches operate, what witchcraft looks like, the two kinds of truths, things like that.”
Ace smiled. Having Cameron next to him knowing all these things made him feel less alone. And even though he disagreed with Keele, he still trusted her. Cameron and Ace conversed about witch hunting as Keele led them to the Great Hall. Hundreds of chairs had been laid out in front of a stage. Hunters spilled into the room in and took their seats.
“You two find your seats,” Keele said.
Ace and Cameron nodded, but just before they began walking towards the chairs, she grabbed Ace’s arm and leaned in his ear. “Remember,” she whispered, “expect me to arrive at your house, and tell Rio; but no one else.”
Ace nodded and turned to enter the Great Hall. He and Cameron found empty seats a few rows back from the stage. Keele made her way to the stage and sat with the rest of the elite; including Rio. They elite sat behind raised desks, a name tag placed in front of them. In the middle was an empty chair behind a desk raised taller than the others. The name tag read Marty Halder: Founder. Another name tag read Sebastian Yvonne. Also empty. Ace read the other name tags. George Slider, Keele Adams, Ihana Tryackolo, and of course, Rio Atarion.
The elite waited patiently for the room to fill with guards and trainees. Ace looked around and caught a glimpse of Marg coming through the doors of the Great Hall. He turned back to his seat and had just begun to speak with Cameron when a male fae sat next to him. The fae looked to be Cameron’s age, had a buzzed head of silver studs, and no tattoos. Instead, scars hugged his bone structure where the tattoos used to be.
The fae glanced back at him. “Problem?”
Ace shook his head. “No. Sorry.” He hadn’t realized he was staring. He turned his head to face the front again, but his questions kept bothering him. Rio had said scarred faes were okay to talk to. Now was his chance to learn more. His curiosity took over once again, and he looked back at the fae. “Hey. I’m sorry—I mean—I don’t mean to be rude or anything. It’s just, you’re a fae. Right?”
The fae looked at Ace with a smile loaded with sarcasm. “Nothin’ gets by you, does it?”
“I’m sorry,” Cameron chimed in, leaning his head over Ace. “Don’t mind my brother.” He grabbed Ace’s arm.
“I don’t mean to be too forward,” Ace said as he yanked his arm from Cameron’s grip, “but didn’t you have to leave all fae culture behind to join the Indies?”
“Gee, why would you think that?” the fae said, then gave him the cold shoulder.
Ace scratched his head and wrinkles formed at his brow. He was just curious about the culture, and the fae’s sensitivity to the matter was starting to anger him. “Uh . . . Your tattoos are gone?”
The fae turned toward him, his face hot with anger. “Look man, you tryna fight on your first day or somethin’? Who even are you?”
“Ace Ha—” Ace had begun to say but stopped when Cameron’s elbow jabbed him in the ribs. “Ow!”
“Harrington!” Cameron said. Then he reached his arm over Ace to shake the fae’s hand. “I’m Cameron Harrington. We’re brothers.”
The fae ignored Cameron’s offer to shake hands. “Well keep your distance from me, Harringtons.”
Ace turned to Cameron and whispered, “Why’d you tell him that?”
“Grandpa, like, owned this place, bro. If people find out who we are every hunter here will be looking to outdo us. Either that or they’ll think we’re only getting where we are because of who we know,” Cameron said.
“So? Who cares what they think?” Ace said.
“Attention, all trainees, hunters, and returning fieldsmen,” Said a voice over the speakers. The dull roars of the hunters and trainees talking in the Great Hall came to a silence. Sebastian stood in front of the raised desks, a wireless mic over his mouth. “Thank you for attending the recall today. And let’s give an especially warm welcome to all the fieldsmen returning from duty!” Sebastian said. The crowd applauded.
“Something feels strange about this,” Ace whispered to Cameron. Cameron shushed him as the ceremony continued.
“Recalls are not something we do often,” Sebastian continued. “And I wish with all my heart this one were under better circumstances. However, it is under grave circumstances indeed we elite have gathered you all here today.”
The crowd murmured and stirred in their seats.
“Messengers were sent this morning to those deployed to areas they cannot return from. And many of the deployed are tuning in live, now. After this announcement, all of the Indies will be informed of what has taken place.” There was a dull silence before Sebastian continued. He gathered himself, as if what he was about to say was more than he could bear. “It has been brought to our attention, that Marty Halder has passed away,” Sebastian said. The whispers climbed to gasps of panic in an instant. “Marty was an incredible leader,” Sebastian continued. But even with his mic he was in competition of being heard above the anxious crowd. “And will continue to live on in our hearts. But even more, he will continue to live on in all of you: the Indies. The movement he began will not have begun in vain. Until a more permanent decision can be made, I will be serving as the Interim Halder. I will not let Dodger take us down!”
Dodger? Ace thought. Dodger Girdleg? What di
d the Prime Minister of Heorg have anything to do with the Indies?
“We will stand and grow stronger, I promise you,” Sebastian said. “We’ve asked that all available hands help establish the changes that will be taking place in Marty’s absence. Nothing will change as far as hunter protocol or the order and structure of leadership. We know many of you may have questions and concerns. Your commanders and officers are well informed and would be happy to answer any of these. Thank you for attending. You are all dismissed.”
The crowds stood from their chairs rapidly. Yelling and demanding answers.
“Who killed him?”
“Did Marty choose you as interim?”
“What’s going to happen to the Indies?”
All the elite, one by one, left the stage to the right. Rio caught Ace’s eye in the crowd. It was an awkward exchange between the two of them. Ace found it hard to look at Rio the same way, having possibly been an assassin in his past. But he also noticed something peculiar in the drake’s eyes. It was too rare a look to mistake it as anything else. He saw straight through the mask he wore for the audience. The drake was afraid.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Keele’s Urgent Matter
Ace, Cameron, Rio, and Marg went home after the recall. Ace found time to tell Rio of Keele coming by the house, and Marg told three jokes on the way. One was about a jag and a drake walking into a tavern . . . but Ace couldn’t remember the rest. He had more important matters on his mind. They opened the door to the house to find Julie and Tamara watching TV on the couch. Rio dismissed the guards of their duty: protecting the Peppercorns while everyone else was away.
“We’re not babies you know,” Tamara said.
“Yeah, we’re perfectly fine on our own,” Julie said.
“Something tells me you two would run away the first chance you got,” Rio said.