Reaping the Aurora

by Joshua Palmatier

  “He’ll have better luck convincing any Wolves he finds to join him if he’s partially transformed,” he said curtly, then faced Bryce and changed the subject. “What did Kara tell you before we left?”

  “That we were to scout out Erenthrall, determine the lay of the land, and return. If we ran across any food or supplies, bring them with us, but that wasn’t the main goal.”

  “That’s the gist of it. But there’s something more. Besides rescuing that family from the shard that was left behind, and seeing what groups have survived and how they’ve changed without the distortion blocking the center of the city, we’re also supposed to see if we can find some allies.”

  “Allies? Here? Everyone has either tried to kill us or has traded us away for food.”

  “Not everyone. The Temerites left our scavenging parties alone.”

  “That’s because we stayed clear of their enclave when we were here. You know they clashed with the Rats and some of the other groups to the east.”

  “Kara’s got it in her head that we should be trying to work with the groups here in Erenthrall, rather than fight with them over the resources released from the distortion. Before we left the Needle, she told me to try to contact the Temerites to see if they’d be interested in some type of arrangement.”

  “What kind of arrangement?”

  “Mutual trade between the Needle and Erenthrall. Help establishing a more solid presence here in the city. A coalition against the less desirable groups here, like the Rats.” Allan shrugged. “Whatever I can work out.”

  “And you think that’s possible?”

  Allan didn’t want to admit that he’d given Kara the idea while they’d been captured by the Tunnelers, so he simply raised his eyebrows. “Why not? As you said, we steered clear of the Temerites when we were here before. Now that we have the resources of the Needle, maybe we can use them to regain some control of the chaos here.”

  Bryce broke into mumbled curses, then planted his hands on his hips in resignation. The tension in Allan’s shoulders relaxed slightly; he hadn’t looked forward to arguing with Bryce if he’d taken exception to the idea. “How are you going to approach the Temerites? Just walk up to their wall—if they still have one—and knock on their door?”

  “If necessary. But if another opportunity arises, I’ll take it. I wanted you to know, so that the Dogs and enforcers would be prepared.” He began to walk toward where Gaven and the others were now stirring the contents of a pot resting on the heating stone, two hares rotating on the spit to one side. Bryce hung back a moment, then followed. The scent of roasting meat struck and Allan’s nostrils flared as he involuntarily sucked in a deep breath. He picked up his pace, even though he knew the meal wasn’t ready yet.

  Bryce caught up to him and asked, “What’s the plan for tomorrow, then?”

  “Unless Grant reports something unusual after his excursion tonight, we’ll cut across Erenthrall, through some of the districts that were trapped in the distortion, and try to free those Wolves and that family from the shard. After that . . . we’ll see.”

  “What did you find?”

  Grant had barely emerged from the gray shadows of dawn, but Allan had been watching for him. The large man huffed as he stalked forward, his furred face creased with a scowl of worry. Allan’s eyebrows rose when five Wolves emerged from the darkness behind him. “Two more of our brethren. There were others, but they fled like prey.” His lip curled in disdain. “We will find them.”

  “What about the Gorrani?”

  “We hunted their old territory, but they were not there. Their scent is strong in that area, though, and in the part of the old city that used to be trapped in the distortion nearby.” His gaze shifted toward where the rest of the camp had begun to rouse, Gaven already cooking by the heating stone, Bryce’s men donning swords as they ate. “Are we moving?”

  “Any idea where the Gorrani went?” Allan countered.

  Grant returned his attention to the ex-Dog. “To the cliffs to the south. We could see their fires.”

  “Will they be a problem?”

  “Not if we skirt their territory. They are foraging, like rabbits.”

  “Then, yes, we’re moving.” Allan spun back to the camp, giving Bryce a signal, the Dog calling out orders. The activity in the camp picked up, everyone scarfing down what they could, while Gaven scrambled to collect everything and load the wagons.

  “We aren’t staying here?” Grant asked.

  “I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it back, so we’re taking everything with us. I don’t trust Erenthrall anymore.”

  Within twenty minutes, they left the three-story building behind, dawn’s light pulling the ruins of Erenthrall from the shadows. Grant’s Wolves vanished, although their pack leader stayed with Allan. Bryce sent out scouts. They headed straight toward where Kara had described the shard she’d left behind, even though it would take them through part of the released section of the city.

  They reached the churned-up edge of the circle where the distortion had been by noon without encountering anyone. The demarcation between the earthquake-cracked roadway and the utter destruction caused by the distortion’s collapse was dramatic. The road simply cut off, the ground inside the collapse splintered and broken, granite sliced into random blocks and thrown into a haphazard pile. The rubble had been dragged toward the center of the distortion—toward Grass—churned into a heap a hundred feet wide before Kara had managed to heal the distortion from within. Gaven groaned when he saw the pile of stone, but a quick glance to either side revealed that there would be no going around it. The residue of debris arced off in either direction, nearly uniform in height. The only option was to climb over.

  They cleared the worst of the shattered stone, creating a narrow path for the horses and wagons, then continued onward, losing an hour of time. But once they’d passed inside the ring, spirits improved. This part of Erenthrall had been caught inside the distortion and hadn’t been affected by the quakes. Buildings were more intact, the damage caused by the Shattering. Bryce sent out his enforcers to scour the closest buildings as they moved, most reporting back that many of the homes and businesses hadn’t been looted yet.

  Then they crossed a threshold and the tenor of the buildings changed. Allan thought at first that they’d passed into a new district, the stone of the cobbles and the surrounding buildings suddenly ancient, his skin prickling with age. He drew in a deep breath of unease, the air tainted with dust and decay, the scent thickening.

  “What happened here?” Bryce asked, drifting closer to Allan as they progressed.

  They passed a reddish-brown building, the stone façade sliced diagonally across two floors. The stone below the slice was a vibrant color, that above faded as if bleached by sunlight.

  Allan grunted in sudden understanding. “This section was in one of the shards where time ran faster. The bleached stone feels older because it is.”

  Bryce shuddered and unconsciously picked up his pace.

  They slipped from the decaying stone into a new section.

  A few hours later, they neared an area where all the buildings were shrouded in a fine layer of spider’s silk. The enforcers clustered about the wagons as they slid past, the horses snorting and stamping their feet, eyes wide in fear. Holes penetrated the layered silk, boring through doorways and windows into darkness. Staring into those depths, Allan’s skin crawled, his palms suddenly clammy. Something deep in the darkness shifted with the scrape of skittering feet, and a section of the webbing trembled, although Allan saw nothing.

  Beside him, Grant bared his teeth and growled, the sound a low and dangerous rumble in his chest. “Don’t go any closer,” he said, his voice quiet. “It’s watching us.”

  They edged beyond, Allan not relaxing until they’d turned a corner and the eerie tenements were left behind. “What was it?”

  �
��Men were transformed into more than Wolves after the Shattering.”

  They never entered Grass, passing by the truncated towers a few districts away. But dusk began to fall before they were near the ring of destruction on the far side of Erenthrall. Allan ordered a halt, and they camped in the gardens of what was once a lord’s manse, behind its walls. Once again, they could see firelight to the northeast, closer now. To the south, fires lined the walls of the cliffs that surrounded the city, Allan marking the Gorrani’s location. Overnight, howls broke the quiet, Grant and the other Wolves perking up, the two newest members pacing near the wrought iron gates of the wall and whining. Ley light also punctuated the darkness, some sections near Grass glowing with a low steady pulse, others throughout the city sputtering fitfully. Most were mere pinpricks, like stars.

  “We didn’t see any of those ley lights last night,” Allan commented.

  Dylan pointed toward the steady section. “Those were likely blocked from view by Grass.”

  “They’re near where the Temerites were camped before the distortion was healed.”

  “The Temerites might have Wielders. They could have stabilized the ley once the nodes were freed. They might be actively using the ley again.”

  “What about the other lights?”

  “Ley lines that were left open at the Shattering are now active again because their connections to the inner nodes have been restored. The ley runs where it can. If ley globes were attached to its flow and left on, they’d light up again, assuming they survived the surge. They won’t be glowing as strongly now because the Nexus isn’t there to augment the strength of the ley.”

  Allan thought about all the lights that had once lit the city, recalling the web of ley lines he’d seen from the hills over a year before, how the city had glowed in the darkness of the plains with a strange brilliant beauty.

  The glow of ley he saw now was nothing compared to that.

  The next morning, they followed the edge of the river, crossing it eventually on a cracked but still standing stone bridge. The waters flowed dark beneath them.

  Then they climbed the distortion’s ring of debris and entered the territory near where Allan, Kara, and their previous group had run into the Tunnelers and the Rats. Bryce stepped forward, taking the lead, and Allan let him, knowing the Dog knew how to handle his men. With Dylan’s help, they angled toward where the shard containing the trapped Wolves and the family they had been chasing stood, moving slowly, everyone on edge. But they saw no one and heard nothing.

  They entered the square where the shard glowed with a faint orange-pink light, even beneath the sunlight. Bryce barked out orders, and the enforcers spread out around the square as Allan, Grant, Dylan, and the wagons pulled up alongside the shard. Stepping up to its edge, Allan could see the cart trapped inside, the man who drove it tensed in grim determination, the horses lathered with sweat, eyes wide in terror. Another man, a woman, and two children cowered in the cart behind him, three Wolves hounding the cart from behind, caught in mid-snarl. When they’d been here last, Kara, Dylan, Artras, and Carter had healed the shards that surrounded this section. But they’d been unable to free the people trapped here, because it would also free the Wolves.

  And because this shard was really composed of multiple pieces, some of which sliced through the woman, the small boy she clutched to her chest, the driver’s legs, and the horses.

  “Can you release them?” Allan asked as he felt Dylan halt beside him.

  The Wielder sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll have to heal the breaks inside the shard first; otherwise, it will cut those poor people in half. Then I’ll release the shard. Which means the Wolves will be freed at the same time.”

  From behind, Grant said, “I’ll handle the Wolves.” He whistled, the sound sharp, and all five Wolves loped out of the shadows of the surrounding buildings, trotting toward them. Allan hadn’t even realized they were that close.

  Grant turned back to Allan. “Tell us when you’re ready.”

  Allan signaled Bryce, the enforcers drawing in closer around the shard, Gaven and his crew stepping down from the wagons as well. Bryce’s men focused their attention outward, while Gaven and the Wolves focused on the trapped people and Wolves.

  “Whenever you’re ready, Dylan.”

  The Wielder licked his lips, then closed his eyes. Allan stepped back, keeping his distance. He knew he could affect the ley in odd ways and didn’t want anything to interfere with the release of the shard. But he tensed, ready to charge forward as soon as the shard released.

  Nothing happened at first, until Allan noticed that the fractures inside the shard were slowly fading. The face that cut through the people and the horses dissolved, sinking back on itself, toward a focal point to the right of the cart. Sweat broke out on Dylan’s forehead as he worked, a droplet trickling down to drip from his nose. He raised a trembling hand—

  And then the entire shard collapsed. Screams, snarls, and the desperate shouts from the driver slammed into the silent square as the cart leaped forward. The Wolves in pursuit lurched forward as with a splintering crack one of the cart’s wheels faltered. The cart sagged sideways, spilling the woman and the boy she clutched to the cobbles, her scream cut off. The man in the bed clutched at the headboard with one arm, roaring in defiance as he snatched for the girl and missed. She tumbled out a breath after her mother as the bed’s corner struck stone and jerked sideways. The horses screamed as they fought the suddenly cumbersome weight, the entire rear axle cracking, the second wheel spinning off to the side.

  Allan darted forward, heading toward the girl. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gaven and the others doing the same. They’d known they’d only have seconds before the Wolves would be on them, even before the wheel gave in.

  Even those few seconds wouldn’t have been enough if it hadn’t been for Grant and his own Wolves.

  Before Allan had made it halfway to the girl, a blur of gray fur sped before him and launched itself at the snarling Wolves in pursuit. Eyes fixed on the girl, Allan heard two heavy bodies slam into each other, a vicious snarl cut off with a sharp, startled yip, which instantly devolved into a mess of thrashing growls. He snatched the girl—no more than six—from the street, dragging her to his chest in a protective huddle, then shouted “I’ve got her!” before sprinting across the space toward where some of Bryce’s enforcers waited on the far side. As soon as he passed their line, he spun, breath heaving.

  Behind, Bryce was dragging the woman and her son, younger than the girl, back from the edge of a snarling mass of Wolf teeth and claws. Grant’s pack had attacked the three Wolves that had been in pursuit of the cart and blood now slicked the cobbles. Grant had stayed back, although he stepped forward as soon as Bryce, the woman and child, and the rest of their men retreated from the fray.

  A low growl churned up from his chest, building in intensity until it cracked and broke into a shouted, “Enough!”

  Grant’s pack broke free of the fight, twisting and rolling out of their attackers’ reach, pulling back in a rough circle. Some of them were bloody, bites and claw marks on their sides. One of them limped slightly. All of them had teeth bared and were growling.

  The three Wolves left rolled into defensive stances, fur bristled across shoulders, lips drawn back. Their feral eyes glared at their fellow Wolves before latching onto Grant.

  One of them stepped forward, head lowered, body bracing for a leap.

  Grant barked out a command, mostly snarls, and the two Wolves behind their leader flinched. The leader didn’t.

  The girl in Allan’s arms began to struggle. He loosened his hold and shot a glance toward where the cart had headed, glad to see Gaven and a few of the others had the panicked horses under control but were keeping their distance. The two men in their midst looked confused, but he trusted Gaven to handle it and turned back to the Wolves.

  Grant stepped forward,
to within arm’s reach of the lead Wolf, and knelt. The Wolf’s growl deepened and one paw stepped forward.

  Without warning, Grant’s hand moved forward and cuffed the Wolf hard enough to shove him to the side.

  Those watching gasped. The Wolf’s head snapped back, teeth flashing. But Grant’s hand wasn’t there anymore. The Wolf’s jaws closed on air, and Grant cuffed him again from the other side. He yelped this time, rounding on Grant again. The two stared at each other, until the Wolf leader’s rumbling growl of defiance broke off, and he dropped his head with a plaintive whine and attempted to lick Grant’s hand.

  Tension leeched out of the square as Grant stood and gave Allan a curt nod. Allan sighed, then glanced down toward the girl in his arms.

  She looked up at him with wide-eyed curiosity, her eyes a penetrating green, her hair a silky yellow, like corn tassels. Blood had beaded along a scrape on one cheek where she’d struck the cobbles while falling from the cart, another more serious scrape along one forearm, but she didn’t appear to notice either one.

  “Are you here to save us from the ley?” she asked.

  Allan strode toward the girl’s mother, who stood next to Bryce, her face frozen in shock. That transformed as soon as she saw Allan and her daughter.

  “Ellie!”

  She stumbled forward, snatching the girl from Allan’s arms and bending down to set both the boy and girl on the ground as she kissed their foreheads and checked them over for injuries.

  Bryce had come up behind her. “Looks like we managed that. Now what?”

  “Now we regroup and find a place to settle in for the night.”

  He glanced warily at the Wolves, Grant and the others still surrounding the three new additions, although they weren’t bristling at each other anymore. “We should probably keep them separate, don’t you think? Until we know if the newest ones are going to follow Grant’s lead?”