by A N Martin
“Help!” She screeched, but quickly realized her call was in vain.
Even if someone was there to hear her, they wouldn’t want to help. To the Cut-Throats, she was a mere Demon who deserved the worst she got.
Dominaze kicked as violently as she could. “Get…off…of…me.” She twisted back and forth.
She was spun around to face her attacker. He held both her wrist.
“You know,” his deep breath spat, “perhaps dragging you up would be more fun after all.”
Before she could figure out what he meant, he shoved her backwards down the stairs. Dominaze was air born flying over nothing but jagged stairs. She gasped as butterflies flooded her stomach while she fell back. She couldn’t see to have even a chance of catching herself. Tucking her head, she waited for impact. Her back hit first, knocking the wind from her lungs. Her feet flew over her head and she continued to roll down the stairs until she hit a solid wall. Her ears were ringing and her heart felt like it would burst from her chest with every beat. Catching her breath, the delayed throbbing pain erupted throughout her body. She couldn’t move.
The sound of heavy slow footsteps coming down the stairs toward her sent chills down her spine.
~18~
ATTACK
“I was right,” the deep voice taunted her. “This is going to be more fun.”
He grabbed her hair and lifted her off the ground.
Dominaze cried out. She felt like her head was spinning.
She was yanked backwards back up the stairs. She clawed at the man’s hand holding her hair and tried to get her feet underneath her, but he wasn’t fazed by her scratches and she couldn’t get a foothold. Each stair scraped at her skin as she was dragged over it.
“You know,” the man spoke calmly, “I’ve been thinking.”
Dominaze could hardly focus on what he was saying as she was dragged.
“A Print only removes their own strip when trying to protect it under perilous circumstances, which, undoubtedly, is what you have done.” He kept his pace, dragging Dominaze as he spoke, “But, what if, in the end that decision lost you your strip forever?”
“I don’t understand.” Dominaze grit her teeth together.
The man paused and a heavy creaky door opened. He tossed Dominaze inside.
“It’s like this,” he explained. “For reasons I can’t understand, the Hummington sisters have kept you alive and though I know better than to disobey Thora and Adora, there is still another way I can ensure the worlds are safe from a Demon such as yourself. And,” he paused to think, “I guess I would be saving you from yourself at the same time. You see, a strip gives a Print authority when it is placed within its slit. But what if the slit was no longer there for it to be inserted into?”
Dominaze carefully touched the empty slit on the back of her shoulder.
“No longer there?” She didn’t know what he had planned, but she knew she was in trouble. She turned away and screamed as loud as she could. “HELP!”
But it was too late. The man was suddenly on top of her forcing her face down onto the ground. She tried to call out, but her voice was lost under his weight.
She couldn’t fight.
“You may have hidden your strip from us, but you will not be a threat if you have no slit for it to return to,” the large man growled.
He pulled Dominaze’s shirt from her shoulder and held her still.
“Please don’t,” she begged.
She could hear him feeling through the lose rocks on the ground and pick one up.
“Hold your breath,” he sneered.
He pressed the jagged rock down over her shoulder blade and brutally began rubbing it back and forth on her skin. Dominaze screamed at the burning that erupted, but as fast as it started it stopped. A sudden jolt knocked the man over, freeing Dominaze. She sat up and backed away until her back was up against a wall.
“What is going on here?” Adora shrieked with rage and the room immediately froze over.
Dominaze couldn’t have been happier to hear her voice, even if she was suddenly shivering uncontrollably.
Adora’s shrill voice pierced the icy air. “What part of we need her alive was too hard for you to comprehend? She was only thin when you left with her. Now she’s a filthy, bloody mess.”
“I’m not ashamed,” the deep voice shivered. “Erasing her slit eliminates the threat. You and Thora gamble with lives keeping her alive. You know she will be the destruction of us all and still you protect her.”
“You imbecile. You could have ruined everything.”
“What, exactly?!” he yelled, his voice echoing through the stone room. “What could I have ruined?” His breathing was heavy. “You work in secret, even from your own family. You must be smarter than to actually believe Thora’s plan will be successful.”
Adora didn’t answer.
The man continued, “The Elect will not walk unsuspectingly into a trap and they definitely won’t be overtaken by a Manick mass and handful of Prints, so what is your plan? Will you actually hand over this Demon? They won’t leave with anything less.”
Adora’s voice was barely loud enough to hear as she hissed through her clenched jaw, “You’d be wise to not interfere again, especially when you know so little about the big picture. It’s not about winning one battle. It’s about ending a war. The Demon Print is a fraction of what we’re up against. The Elect have had advantages over us for centuries and they fear the birth of the Demon Print and they lust at the idea of having her strip. I wouldn’t be so quick to destroy the single advantage we have over them. You will not lay a hand on her again, do you understand?”
There was a shuffle followed by heavy footsteps retreating down the stairs. The room warmed back to its regular chilly temperature.
“How badly are you hurt?” Adora asked from across the room.
“I’m not sure.” Dominaze reached over her shoulder and flinched at the sting of the scrapes across her slit.
Adora crossed the room and sighed loudly as she bent down to examine the area. “I’m not good at compassion, not anymore.” She gently touched Dominaze’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Just minor scratches really.” She stood and looked down at Dominaze. “You look terrible. Your rescuers will be furious.”
“I’ll tell them it wasn’t you. I’m lucky you came when you did.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. Bain told me.”
“Bain?” Dominaze shook her head. “I didn’t think anyone was near. Why would he get help for me?”
“Bain fears Yorik, the Manick you just had the pleasure of getting acquainted with. When Bain heard your cry for help and saw Yorik he ran to me. I suppose...I am supposed to apologize for leaving you with him,” Adora stuttered.
“Don’t bother.”
“Oh, good.” Adora quickly breathed relief. “I haven’t the slightest clue how to.”
“Well as entertaining as it would have been to hear you try, I’m still grateful you showed up when you did.” Dominaze touched her throbbing head and leaned back. She was suddenly dizzy and tired “When do I get out of here?” she slurred.
Adora knelt next to her and looked into Dominaze’s blind eyes. “Very soon. You may have a concussion. You need to stay awake.”
Adora’s voice echoed in Dominaze’s ears and she struggled to understand. She wanted to answer but it was too hard to move her lips to talk. She felt her body slip to the side, but the ground never came. Images of her life in The Keep flashed through her mind, memories of her mother and sisters. She almost felt as if she were waking up from a bad dream. She welcomed the usual scowls her sisters stared at her with and longed to comfort her tear-streaked mother.
Her mother reached out her hand. “Dominaze, wake up.”
Dominaze tried to lift her arms to take her mother’s hand, but couldn’t find the strength.
Again her mother urged, “Dominaze, you must wake up.” Her mother unexpectedly looke
d panicked. “Wake up!”
There was a distant popping and someone was suddenly shaking Dominaze. She opened her eyes and saw nothing. Groaning, she knew she was awake. Bain’s black shadows once again covered her eyes.
She rolled over. “I’m awake,” she moaned.
“Dominaze, they’re here.” Adora kept shaking her.
“Who?”
“Everyone.” Adora got to her feet. “I can’t stay. Dominaze, if you survive this keep your promise.” Quick footsteps receded down the stairs.
The distant popping quickly became loud explosions that shook the tower, causing loose sand to shower Dominaze. Screams from below filled the air. The room grew warm, startling her after feeling nothing but the cold for so long.
“Adora who is it?” Dominaze called, suddenly very alert.
Unable to see any danger, Dominaze scrambled on her hands and knees, feeling the stone wall as she moved. There was a narrow gap in the stones letting a strong wind rush through. She had no way of telling if the commotion below was caused by her rescuers or something worse. Clenching her mouth shut, she pressed her strip tightly to the roof of her mouth in an attempt to protect it from whatever was coming. She held her necklace medallion and listened quietly. More eruptions shook her violently and suddenly the darkness that engulfed her for so long dissipated and she was blinded by bright lights.
“Urgh.” Dominaze covered her eyes.
She blinked rapidly trying to get her eyes to adjust to the painful light. Bain’s shadows were suddenly gone. Maybe he had actually run to safety after all, leaving Dominaze to face the light she’d lived without for so long. Tears spilled down her cheeks and her head spun more than before. Dominaze tried to make sense of the blurred images around her. She could barely make out the open door to the stairway that led down the tower. She swayed back and forth as she made her way to it.
Thora’s screeches came from far below. “Do not let them get her!” she barked.
Dominaze moved cautiously down the stairs. She had no way of knowing who was here for her, but she wasn’t about to wait around if it was the Elect. She had to get out, with or without help.
She had barely made it down the first few steps when a cloud of billowing black smoke rose from the bottom of the stairs. It surrounded her in seconds, choking the air from her lungs. She dropped to the ground in search of fresh air, but the smoke settled around her. There was no time to waste. She could either choke to death on the thick smoke or take her chances facing whomever awaited her below. Dominaze lay on her stomach letting gravity help her slide down the jagged stairs. She needed air quickly. She coughed in agony with each breath. Just when she was sure she would choke to death, a faint glow caught her eye just a few feet in front of her. She let herself fall down the stairs toward it. To her relief it was a narrow window. She stuck her head through and gasped at the fresh air outside. It was little relief as the smoke she had already inhaled lingered in her lungs. She blinked into the light, still trying to get her eyes to adjust to it, but as they did she almost wished they wouldn’t.
The war scene outside was nearly enough to make her want to pull her head back inside and take her chances against the suffocating smoke. Elements of every kind were firing across the broken stone rubble below. Manicks caught in the middle of the cross-fire were huddled in any crevice they could find and those who did brave the attackers didn’t last long. They were instantly struck by debris or overtaken. The stone foundation shook, threatening to collapse the only two towers Dominaze could see standing, one of which she was in. She had to get out before it gave way.
Months of malnutrition had slimmed her dramatically and she was sure she could fit through the window. The fall didn’t look to more than a fifteen foot drop, though her eyes were still struggling to focus. Reaching for the edge of the window she barely had her shoulders and an arm through when she was abruptly pulled from behind.
“Oh, no you don’t, you little demon,” a deep voice coughed.
Dominaze knew it was Yorik. She couldn’t let him take her. The odds of surviving him again were certainly not on her side. She held to the windows edge and kicked at Yorik.
“Get off me!” Dominaze struggled to hold on.
Just then she saw what looked like a familiar figure moving below. Someone with dark hair streaked with white and grey, his skin covered in speckled swirls. The black smoke filling the tower was exploding from him and engulfing anyone who came close.
“Kurtike!” Dominaze screamed over the battling chaos.
He was creating a spectacular dust storm. It wasn’t smoke filling the tower choking everyone, it was Kurtike’s dust.
At the sound of Dominaze’s scratchy scream, Kurtike looked up.
“Dommi?” Kurtike’s eyes were big with surprise.
He sent one last blast of dust into a crowd of approaching Prints and ran into the tower. For the first time in a long time, Dominaze felt relief—someone was coming to help her. Someone she trusted. She couldn’t hold on any longer and was pulled back into the dust-filled tower. Yorik choked on the dust as he struggled to drag her away, but Dominaze knew she wouldn’t have to fight long before Kurtike would be there to help.
She kicked and clawed at every part of Yorik as they both wheezed and struggled for breath. Seeing him for the first time through the dust, she could barely make out his thick untidy dreadlocks. She grabbed a handful and pushed his face away from her. There were scars running down the right side of his face and neck. The pigment in his right eye was lost. He looked menacing and she suddenly understood why Bain had feared him. He was a monster. Yorik’s veins bulged under his skin as every muscle flexed. Dominaze was surer than ever that he was going to kill her.
“Kurtike!” Dominaze choked, trying to call out and kick at Yorik.
The air suddenly cleared and Kurtike was standing over her. Turning his dusts on Yorik, he blasted and choked him, until he finally released Dominaze. Yorik lunged at Kurtike and they both fell down the stairs and disappeared into the dust.
“Kurtike!” Dominaze cried out and ran after them.
As she approached them she was surprised to see Yorik dry heaving on all fours with Kurtike just out of reaching distance. Dominaze ran to Kurtike and watched in horror as every time Yorik moved toward them, Kurtike filled his nostrils with the thick dust. Finally Yorik couldn’t take it. He backed away from them, but not before glaring at Dominaze one last time with his one good eye.
“You haven’t seen the last of me, Demon,” Yorik spat and disappeared up the stairs.
Kurtike grabbed Dominaze and lifted her. “Dommi, you’re alive!”
Dominaze clawed at her chest. “I can’t breathe,” she gasped.
“Oh, right.” Kurtike put his hand over Dominaze’s face and pulled away dragging all of the dust from her lungs. Dry chunks rose from her throat. The feeling and taste was too much, she couldn’t help but gag. There was nothing to vomit. She was empty and her stomach muscles ached as she heaved with no relief. Finally the dust was gone.
Dominaze gasped and looked at Kurtike. “I will never underestimate a Dust Print. That was awful.” She tried to smile.
“We’ve got to get you out of here.” He put her arm over his shoulders and led her to the door.
The heat coming from outside was unbearable. Dominaze shrank down, unable to hold her weight.
Kurtike tried to lift her. “We need to keep going.”
“Wait,” Dominaze took a deep breath, “I need to do something.”
Finally able to see where she was, and who she was with, Dominaze knew she could do what she longed to for so many months. Kurtike wasn’t a threat to her. He had just risked his life to save her. The least she could do was help in any way she could to get them out of here. Opening her mouth she carefully pinched her hidden strip between her fingers. The flesh around it burned as she tugged it from its hiding place. She held it up in front of her.
Kurtike’s jaw dropped. �
��You still have your strip?”
“Finally.” Dominaze couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
Without another hesitation, she reached over her shoulder and placed her strip into its slit. Her body absorbed it immediately and the blackness she’d come to miss so much pulsed through her. She watched with relief as her black stripes covered her skin. Her blurred vision finally refocused and she knew her black eyes were back. She felt empowered on the inside, but as soon as she stood she was quickly reminded how weak she still was.
Kurtike grabbed her arms and braced her. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? The Elect are out there.”
“I’m ready.” Dominaze held her chin high.
~19~
INFERNO
Kurtike peeked out from the tower at the battle raging on then turned back to Dominaze. “We have to avoid the far east and north sides. The Elect and their army have them overrun.”
Dominaze shook her head. “So much for the Elect coming alone.”
Kurtike wrinkled his forehead. “Did someone actually think the Elect would show up to a meeting place without even a small army standing behind them?” He laughed. “That would never happen, especially now that Martinetta Scott is Soomi’s understudy. The Scott’s army is at Soomi’s disposal.”
“Is Marinetta here?” Dominaze didn’t want to fight the first friend she had made in Domicile.
“I wouldn’t doubt it. She never leaves Soomi’s side.” Kurtike peeked back out. “If we can get to the west side, we can meet up with Hemrick and Brike.”
“Hemrick and Brike are here together?”
“Well, yeah,” Kurtike snorted. “When Hemrick found out Brike received an anonymous letter explaining when and where to find you he wasn’t about to let him come alone.”