by A N Martin
“Why did the Manicks choose to stay here, why not somewhere that has more to offer?” She kicked at the dry ground.
“They didn’t just choose to be here,” Kurtike laughed at the idea. “When the Manicks were run out of their villages, most became travelers, but few still insisted on a place to live permanently. They were denied most locations. When they requested this spot they were granted it without question. No Print wanted it.”
“Why this spot?”
“You can know if you choose to stay.” He nudged her arm.
“Why are you here?” Dominaze nudged back. “A Print among Manicks.”
“I’m not always the only Print here. Others come and go. Not all Prints wish a hard lifestyle on the Manicks, so we come to help. My dad brought me here for the first time three years ago, when I was a hazardous Print. He said it would help me gain control of my authority and give me great purpose. So, once a year I come to cleanse the village before winter months and bring some supplies.”
“Cleanse it?” She wrinkled her forehead. “From what?”
Kurtike turned and looked at her.
“How is it you know so little about everything?” He shook his head. “Were you raised under a rock? I’m a Dust Print.”
Dominaze’s mouth dropped open, but she shut it quickly as Kurtike was still staring at her. Suddenly feeling ashamed for wishing she would never imprint with the dust, Dominaze remembered the large book said they were important for keeping places clean.
“Sorry.” She turned away, “I was a bit isolated growing up.”
“Obviously,” Kurtike whispered.
Being raised outside of Domicile seemed to be more of a disadvantage than Dominaze originally thought. Again, she felt the resentment that brewed inside for her mom. Dominaze would never survive this place because of her. Kurtike didn’t say anything else, but she could feel his eyes scrutinizing her.
“Help!” A cry in the distance saved her from his stare.
Coming over a hill was a limping man carry something large. Kurtike and Dominaze ran to him. As they got closer they realized he was carrying a girl.
“What happened?” Kurtike grabbed the girl as the man collapsed.
Both were filthy and covered in cuts and bruises. A massive welt wrapped itself around the man’s back and arms. Dry blood covered their clothes.
“They attacked us,” the man gasped.
“Who?” Dominaze stared, bewildered.
“Who do you think?” Kurtike glared. “The Elders.”
The man nodded. “They were sent by the Elect. They called her the Demon Print.” He pointed to the girl in Kurtike’s arms.
The blood drained from Dominaze’s face as she stared at the beaten girl. Kurtike turned her over to see her slit. Covering her mouth, she gasped into her hand. The skin was rigid and blood seeped from it. Leaning over the man, Kurtike checked his too. It looked the same.
“He called her the Demon Print?” Kurtike looked at the girl and back at the man.
“Yes, but she wasn’t. I swear,” he cried. “She was a Stone Print. Her markings were grey and bold. I wasn’t even aware there was a Demon Print born.”
Kurtike looked at the man. “Neither was I.”
Everyone sat still for a moment. Dominaze’s heart raced and a cold sweat covered her body. Kurtike looked at her.
“Please tell me you are at least familiar with the Demon Print.”
All she could do was nod. Her chest was tight as she looked between Kurtike, the man, and the unconscious girl. The girl coughed and gasped for air.
“Please help her. She’s all I have left. The Elect have taken everything else from me.” Tears spilled down the man’s blood-stained cheeks.
Without another word, Kurtike scooped the girl up and ran into the village calling for the others. The man shivered next to Dominaze.
“Can you walk?” She took his arm.
“Yes.” His muscles shook, but he managed to get to his feet. “I hope there really is a Demon Print.” The man spat as his eyes narrowed and jaw tightened. “I hope she survives long enough to make the Elect pay for all they have done to us.”
Shocked, Dominaze turned to look at the man. She was sure she had heard him wrong.
“You want there to be a Demon Print? You’re not afraid of her?”
The man shrugged. “Part of me could easily fear the Demon Print. One being with that much authority can do anything; be anything. That being said, nature must have its balance and if a Demon Print has been born then the Elect have offset the balance so much that nature has created one to fix it.”
“I heard the Demon Print was an abomination.” Dominaze looked at the ground.
“Perhaps from the eyes of those who have benefited from the Elect’s reign, but from those who have suffered under it,” he gestured to the Manicks working in their yards, “perhaps she is a long-awaited rescuer.”
Dominaze watched the Manicks as she passed. They still had smiles on their faces, but she saw them differently now. Their eyes were sunken and tired from work. They were thin from malnutrition and their bones were wrapped in stringy muscles. How had she not seen their suffering before? Reaching the large cabin on the end of the street, Dominaze brought the man to the side of the building. Manicks were running in and out of a room. Kurtike stood in the doorway looking in. Myze came and took the man from Dominaze.
“Come with me.” She led him into the room.
Seeing Dominaze, Kurtike came over.
“The girl won’t make it.” He put his hand on Dominaze’s shoulder and looked down. “The dust settles in her lungs.”
“What?” Pressure built behind Dominaze’s eyes. “What do you mean it settles? Unsettle it. Can’t you do something? Give her CPR?”
“CPR?” He shook his head, “What are you talking about? Dommi, she has no breath.”
“Right, so give her breath. Breathe for her,” Dominaze begged.
“Hemrick is.” Kurtike grabbed her and held her still. “He’s passing the wind through her lungs while her father says his goodbyes. There’s nothing else we can do. There’re no Prints for miles who can heal body tissue. She’s bleeding internally.”
“Wait. A Print can do that? Can heal a body’s tissue?” Dominaze thought of her strip hidden in the shallow cave.
“Of course there are Prints who can do that.” Kurtike dragged her away from the building. “How is it you know so little? Who are you? I know your strip wasn’t pulled. You just saw what it looks like when a strip is forced from its slit. Your slit is clean, unwounded. I was told not to pry, but I can’t act oblivious to the obvious.” He shook her. “You pulled your own strip. What are you doing here? Are you a spy?”
“Dominaze?” Hemrick’s voice came from the doorway of the room.
Kurtike dropped his arms, but continued to glare at Dominaze.
Hemrick came and stood by her side. “Is there a problem?”
“I think you two should leave.” Kurtike flexed his jaw as he continued to look at Dominaze.
“Very well.” Hemrick put his arm around her.
Without another word Kurtike left. Hemrick didn’t say anything, for which Dominaze was grateful. She didn’t want to hear that they had overstayed their welcome or that she really didn’t belong here.
“Just give me a minute.” Dominaze’s heart hurt as she walked to the room where the wounded girl and her father were.
Peeking in, Dominaze saw that the girl and her father were the only two there. The atmosphere was heavy, leaving a weight on Dominaze’s chest. The girl’s father looked up at her. His eyes were wet and his breathing shaky.
“I have nothing,” he whispered. “They’ve taken my family and authority.” He paused. “My purpose for living—it’s all gone. The Elect have left me with nothing. My only hope is that there really is a Demon Print.”
Dominaze couldn’t comfort him. If he knew who she was he would hate her. Sure he
wanted the Demon Print to save those the Elect hurt, but here she stood in plain sight, hiding from who she really was while others died in her place. She was the reason his daughter was gone.
“What’s her name?” Dominaze looked at the girl, already pale from death.
“Zapora Regerson.” Letting his face fall onto her lifeless body, he wept bitterly.
“Zapora,” Dominaze whispered.
Looking at her features, the weight on Dominaze’s chest grew heavier. Zapora looked more like her than Dominaze’s own sisters and brother did. Her long dark hair was wet around her young face. Her skin was pale with a few freckles from the sun and though her eyes were closed, it was easy to imagine them a sweet caramel color—the color Dominaze was so used to seeing in her own reflection. Shuttering, Dominaze looked away. Why did she have to look like her? She flexed her jaw as she thought of every girl whose life would now be endangered all because they might look like the Demon Print.
“I’m so sorry.” Dominaze bowed her head and backed out of the room.
Unable to face Zapora’s father any longer, she knew she had to leave before she learned his name too. Already Zapora’s name was embedding itself deep into her mind. Though it was the Elders who attacked Zapora on orders from the Elect, she was just as much a victim of the Demon Print, the first one. If Dominaze didn’t do anything, Zapora would definitely not be the last to die. She knew that now. Staying in Caba could have kept Dominaze safe, but that meant that others weren’t. She couldn’t hide any more. Not while others were killed in her place.
Hemrick was waiting for her at the front of the building with her black clothes in hand. Taking them from him, she stared into the black fabric. The color made her long for her striped markings. She needed her strip back. A plan was brewing in her mind, one she could never let Hemrick know of. No one else would die in her place. Kurtike appeared around the corner of the building.
“If you’re not gone before the next group of Prints arrive, I’ll have them run you out.” He folded his arm.
“Don’t be an imbecile.” Hemrick flexed at him. “If you had any idea who she…”
Grabbing Hemrick before he could finish, Dominaze shook her head at him. “He’s safer if he doesn’t know,” she hissed.
Taking a breath, Hemrick relaxed. He forced an obnoxious smile and waved to Kurtike. Dominaze tried to walk with her head held high as she planned her own secret surrender to the Elect.
~11~
DEFENSE
Legs crossed and eyes closed, Dominaze sat in silence. There wasn’t much surrounding her besides miles of salt. The sun had just peeked over the tallest mountain and her black demon markings absorbed its warmth. With her eyes shut it was easier to feel the millions of individual salt particles. Each molecule of its structure vibrated silently. Dominaze had memorized the mountains, cliffs, and valleys that surrounded their camp. While attempting to clear her mind and meditate, she could feel everything around her. Running her fingers over the rough salt surface, she grabbed a hand full and threw it into the air, then listened as each piece crashed back onto the ground.
Hemrick’s voice was no surprise. “Is there a reason you’re sitting out here for anyone to see you?”
“Please,” Dominaze kept her eyes shut, “Hemrick, there’s nothing out here. I hope you weren’t planning to hunt today, because the biggest thing for miles is the size of a mouse.” Dominaze took a deep breath. “It’s completely still. The Demon in me is safe for now.”
Hemrick rolled his eyes, but as if to confirm what Dominaze said, a small field mouse scurried away toward the mountains.
“Great.” He sat down next to her. “How far can you feel?”
She didn’t answer. Hemrick had been quick to change his outlook on the Demon Print after Dominaze had told him what Zapora’s father had said about the Demon Print being born to return balance to the worlds. Hemrick admitted to being ignorant to the pain and hardship the Elect caused for so many Prints and Manicks. According to Hemrick, if a single Demon Print was born to bring balance to the entire earth and all its worlds, Dominaze should be able to feel everything at once. Secretly, Dominaze had no intention to expand her authority. The first chance she got, she was planning to turn herself over to the Elect. She just hoped it would be before someone else died in her place.
“How far?” he repeated.
“I can’t.” Opening her eyes she looked at him. “I can’t feel anything more than a few miles each way, not even Caba.”
“You just need to focus and work it like a muscle.”
“No Hemrick,” Dominaze stood up. “I really don’t think that’s how it works. It’s been weeks of this ‘spread your mind’ nonsense and I’m pretty sure it is what it is. Can you feel the winds around the world?” She pursed her lips and glared at him.
“No,” he answered flatly.
“Then why in the world are we still here?” Dominaze threw her hands into the air. “There’s nothing here unless I accidentally make it.”
“That’s why.” Hemrick pointed at her. “There is nothing here, which means no Prints either. It’s the safest place for you to practice.”
“Practice?” She laughed hysterically. “Practice making salt sculptures and mini rock houses? Practice warming rocks so we don’t freeze at night and growing apple trees in the barren ground so we don’t starve? For some reason I don’t feel like this is broadening my authority or making me stronger. It feels like hiding, Hemrick. Doing silly exercises to pass the time. I told you, I don’t want to hide while others are being attacked in my place.”
“You want to fight?” He raised his eyebrows.
“I want to do something more than what I’m doing now.” Dominaze kicked at the salt.
“Fine.” Hemrick got up, walked a few yards away, and turned to face her. “Block my attack.”
Before Dominaze knew it a strong gust of wind was coming at her. Small pieces of salt were picked up and instead of doing something intelligent, she froze. Millions of small salt grains pelted her bare skin.
“Stop.” She coward behind her hands.
“No.” Hemrick’s voice echoed on the wind. “Use what you practiced and block it.”
It was hard to focus with the sting of the salt as it hit her. Squinting, she tried to look around, but couldn’t see anything.
“I can’t!” she yelled. “I can’t see anything!”
“Yes you can.” Hemrick’s voice was like a whisper on his winds. “Close your eyes and see everything.”
Sinking to her knees, Dominaze tried to hide from the pelting salt particles. The stinging was hard to ignore, but she shut her eyes tight and felt her surroundings. There was a large rock formation not too far behind her. Doing her best to focus on just the boulders, Dominaze dragged one forward. For the last few weeks Hemrick had her building ridiculous house huts with them. It was heavy and she trembled under its weight. Forcing it in front of her, Dominaze ducked behind it.
“Okay,” she shouted, “I did it! You can stop now!”
Again, Hemrick’s voice whispered on the wind. “You think that’s going to protect you?”
The wind current changed and wrapped itself around her rock protection. From both sides the salt blasted her. Crouching, she cowered, folding in on herself. Feeling for more boulders, Dominaze dragged them to each side of her. They shielded her from the winds, but she knew it wasn’t for long. Panting from exertion, she dragged the final boulder behind her. Completely surrounded by large rocks on each side of her, she pulled them together tightly. The wind whistled on the outside as it circled her rock sanctuary.
It grew louder and louder, until a continuous hum carried Hemrick’s haunting laughter. The wind rose into the air. Dominaze sat staring up at the rising wind tunnel.
“What are you doing?” she screamed.
Dominaze leaned back and watched. Overhead, the funnel closed and the wind lifted from the ground into the air. It was a spinning wind di
sc directly over her head. Hemrick’s laughter echoed above and then, as if there had never been any wind, it disappeared. Salt rained down from above. As the salt downpour stopped, Dominaze looked up to find Hemrick perched on one of her boulders.
“You have a little something in your hair.” Hemrick snickered at Dominaze’s salt speckled hair.
“What was that for?” She stood up and dusted herself off.
“Hey, you were the one who said you wanted to fight.”
“No. I said I wanted to do more than just sit here. And maybe you could ease up for my first time.”
“That was easy. Would you have preferred hurricane winds smashing you into the rocks? The salt grains could have pierced you like a million bullets. I could have created a tornado to carry you away.”
“I get it. Thanks for the salt bath.” Dominaze finished dusting off.
“Anyway, I’m sorry, but boxing yourself in is hardly a good defense. You trapped yourself. You left no escape from another attack. Not smart, Dominaze.”
“No kidding.” Dominaze wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Is it just me or is it unusually hot this morning?”
Hemrick paused to look at the sun. When he looked back at Dominaze he looked confused. “I don’t think the heat is coming from the sun. We better get out of here.”
Hemrick helped Dominaze out from the rocks and together they headed back to the cave they’d been staying in. They were nearly there when Dominaze stopped in her tracks.
“Wait.” She held still as she concentrated on her surroundings. “There are Prints coming. Three of them, and the heat is definitely coming from one of them.”
“Tivock?” Hemrick grabbed Dominaze’s hand and ran to the rocks. “He’s the Elect Elder of Fire, sort of.”