by Lenore, Lani
Finn looked up, amazed. He laughed. “Oh no, I did not think he was dead, darling. I thought he was changed. I thought he’d lost his mind.”
He said this as if it were pleasant humor, but it made Wren uncomfortable. She felt no need to tell him that she knew a thing or two about madness. Did he really think she would appreciate it? Even though she did not like it, his charm made her want to forget it quickly.
“You are against Rifter?” she asked, fearful of his answer.
“I simply exist in this world,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll be honest: I haven’t given much thought to Rifter in a long while. I assumed that chapter of my life was over. I’ve roamed over the island to my heart’s content and now I’ve settled here. I care about these people. We may be a group of misfits, but we are safe, and we protect each other from whatever the danger is that crosses us. I have replaced my brothers with them, and I have put Rifter away from me.”
Wren was saddened to hear that. He had given up? He had no interest in reuniting with Rifter?
“Actually, I hardly even remember what he looks like,” Finn went on thoughtfully. “I guess that’s the way of it. This realm takes your memories after a while. Nix and Calico – they’ve both changed so much! And honestly, I never expected to see you again, Wren.”
His expression then was one she understood well, even without words. He gazed at her with a longing for former days and a distant memory of how things had been.
“But here you are – and Nix is with you. That’s a change from how things used to be. In fact, the two of you and Calico are probably the least likely group I might have imagined – unless of course you were keeping company with the Scourge.”
“I’ll admit, it is strange for me as well,” she admitted, “but Finn, may I speak very openly with you?”
“Of course,” he bade. “I have no secrets from you, love.”
“Could you tell me what happened back then?” she asked. “What happened when you left Rifter?”
Finn lowered his radiant eyes, but nodded in understanding.
“When I left him, it was only Toss and I. The rest had already gone. I wasn’t fit to stand on my own back then. I suppose I thought it would all just go away eventually – like the Scourge. If I held out just a bit longer, it would be over. It didn’t work out that way.
“Rifter was in and out, leaving for days at a time before coming back, claiming he had no knowledge of where he had been, smelling like blood and death. I stayed, believing that eventually the others would come back, but one day I realized that they weren’t going to. It was like I woke up. I knew I had to go, as the others had done. I wanted Toss to come with me, but he wouldn’t leave Rifter, and so I left him there.”
Finn paused, shrugging. “It’s a shame our brotherhood had to end that way, but it did. We outgrew each other. And I didn’t leave to search for answers. I’d decided that there were none. It wasn’t anything more profound than that.”
Finn stopped, smiling apologetically. He didn’t even mention the demon, she noticed. Perhaps that detail had not been important to Finn. He’d simply seen Rifter change, whatever the reason, and his family was dismantled.
When she didn’t speak, Finn went on. “So now it is your turn. Tell me everything.”
Wren did as he asked. She recounted how Rifter had finally come for her after so many years. She told him of her surprise at his appearance, to see how Nevermor had changed, and to learn that the Pack was no longer with him.
“Rifter asked me if I would help him. What he wanted me to do was find all of you and bring you to meet him. He did not tell me exactly why, but apparently he wants to explain some things to all of us. He says he has a plan to save this place, but he needs our help.”
Finn tilted his head, looking at her with interest as she spoke, and after she had finished, he remained quiet.
“That’s interesting,” Finn uttered, but said no more. He rose up then, pacing around the room. Wren was unsure whether she should stay quiet, speak further, or change the subject.
“Nix has agreed to meet with Rifter?” he inquired.
She could have lied concerning that, but she saw no need to. She owed it to them all to be honest – she only hoped they would be honest with her in return.
“He’s undecided. He comes only to see how it will go, he says, but I’m hoping that I can convince him. Unfortunately, I think he still hates Rifter very much.”
“I would imagine,” said Finn with little hesitation.
“Do you remember what happened, exactly? Between them, I mean.”
She looked to him with hope. Could he tell her the truth that Nix would not reveal?
“I can’t recount the events to you,” he confessed. “I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but I know there was a fight. You will have to ask one or the other.”
Nix or Rifter. She smiled knowingly, despite her obvious disappointment.
“Then may I ask about your eyes?”
Finn smiled, pleased with this particular question. He rose up and turned back to his desk, lifting a small glowing ember in his hands. He brought it to her so that she might examine it more closely. When she set her eyes on it, she noticed that it was a smaller version of the stones that lit the room – the very same that were in the pieces of his metal suit.
“They glow because of this. It’s called Tikilin, and it is a powerful substance few know about. I discovered it. Tell me: do you know of the crystals that grow on the island?”
“Yes.” Wren had seen them, but they were not as bright as they had once been.
“Not only are they natural sources of light, but when refined, they become this. It’s an amazing substance infused with power. Our glowing eyes come from exposure to it, but it’s good for so many things, how could we not take advantage?”
She moved to take it into her own hand, but hesitated when he told her that. She wasn’t so sure she wanted her eyes to glow.
“You can touch it,” he promised, smiling at her pause. “It won’t have an effect on you unless you spend years around it, as I have. This is what our suits are made of. They help us jump higher and to move more quickly. The suits also protect us from deadly wounds. They accelerate our healing.”
“Your tribe is quite inventive,” she said, examining the glowing material in her hand. She was surprised to find that it was cool when it hit her palm, but then began to grow hot.
“We have to be,” he said. “It is not safe for us to be any other way.”
Wren looked over the Tikilin closely. After which, she let her eyes trail back to Finn, who was staring at her with those glowing eyes. It made her feel a bit strange. Strange – because the way he looked at her was not quite reminiscent of a long-lost friend.
“What is it?” she asked him. Her face grew hot beneath his scrutiny.
“Nothing,” he said, then changed the subject. “So you say you were looking for me – that Rifter wants us back together.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“What a coincidence,” he mused. “Perhaps the world has guided you here. Maybe it is not so dead after all.”
He paused, considering, but quickly dismissed it.
“I have to admit, I’m curious about it all, Wren. But at the same time, I’m not so sure that I can leave this place.”
This was not what she wanted to hear him say. Had all this time they’d spent talking been pointless? Even after all that, he was still going to refuse?
“These people… They need me. They need me more than Rifter ever did.”
“It doesn’t have to be forever,” Wren spoke up. “If there is a possibility that you can have a part in fixing this world, how can you deny them that? You think of your struggles, but wouldn’t it be worth the effort to guarantee that none of those misfortunes would ever happen to these people again?”
Wren hoped that her argument was enough to convince him. Finn took a deep breath, and in the course of that, he considered her words.
; “I will give you my answer in the morning,” he told her. “Despite what I’ve thought about Rifter, seeing is believing, but I have to decide whether I’m willing to give him a chance to change my mind. I do want to see my brothers again, but…”
He trailed off, but did not return to that thought.
“For now, there’s a place prepared for you tonight,” he said. “You should get your rest.”
She gave a short nod, interpreting this as a dismissal. It was very late in the night by now, and even if she did not sleep, she would appreciate a few hours of safety – and she knew Nix would be waiting for her outside. She stood to go.
“Wren,” Finn piped up, drawing her attention back to him. He was looking at her with a sad sort of smile. “It is good to see you again. It makes me feel like there may truly be some hope left.”
Chapter Fifteen
1
‘What do you want from me, Rifter? You want me to beg? I never beg. So do it if you’ve got the balls. Do it! Kill me!’
The violence of that memory shook Nix awake. Standing there, leaning against a post on one of the platforms, he had dozed off as he waited for Wren. The memory was still lingering now, but he shook himself free of it.
Don’t do this, he scolded himself. Not now.
A light drizzle of rain had begun to fall in the Silent Woods, cool and constant, but not a hindrance. Nix stood beneath it as if he did not even notice the brief splashes across his skin, but he rather liked it, to be truthful. It reminded him of a former day when he was younger, when he would sit beneath the leaves, hunting, and his brothers had never been far away. Could he imagine such a life again, with his family all in one place, living their lives alongside him? He didn’t think so, for there was a determinant factor missing. Youth. He could never have those years back.
‘Do it! Kill me!’
He clenched his teeth and stared forward, swallowing hard and trying to focus on a few of the silent dwellers in order to distract himself. They were certainly still watching him.
He had agreed to let Wren speak with Finn alone, but he felt a bit uneasy to be away from her. He still hadn’t figured out exactly why she was here after so much time, and every moment he had to observe her was important. Perhaps she didn’t suspect there was any secret behind it – he knew she didn’t – but he believed otherwise, and simply could not part from her until he knew what it was.
What do you think you’re doing out there? he sent silently to the one he loathed. What do you have planned for us? He received no answer.
“I still cannot believe she even got you out of the woods.”
The voice that rose up near him was smug, but in much better English than the painted huntress had spoken in former days. Calico was standing opposite him on the other side of an archway which led to the next platform, but he did not look at her, save for what he could see from the corner of his good eye.
She was considerably cleaner now and had been given new clothes – a dark-colored shirt and pant suit that fit her well – but he did not give her much regard. She stood beneath the rain as freely as he did, letting it dampen her loosely braided hair and wash away the past day.
“She’s a poor little fawn to you, isn’t she?” Calico accused with a shake of her head. “Something helpless to shelter. I only imagine you see in her what Rifter saw. I, myself, do not see it.”
Nix took a deep breath of the damp air. He was not going to allow this to get him angry. He had more important things to worry about than this. He kept silent, unwilling to let her lead him on.
“Perhaps you have fallen in love with her as well,” she went on disgustedly. “That, at least, would explain your willingness.”
“I would imagine that none of them could deny love for her,” he said. He made sure that his voice remained flat. There was no need for her to suspect that it wasn’t a sincere answer.
“Them? As if you’re separated?” Calico returned with an incredulous laugh. “You’re all the same. And here I thought you weren’t so easily swayed. You saw through her once before, but now you are weak? Were you so mesmerized by her white breasts that you would follow her on like a dog?”
He felt a strong urge to laugh then, but he held it in. The rain helped keep him cool.
“You should be careful of that jealousy,” he warned drably. “It’s terrible on you.”
“Jealous of your pathetic character?” She choked out another laugh. “Humor is terrible on you.”
She glanced at him off and on throughout her insults – he watched her secretly – but when he did not reply to this jab, she turned away again. The quiet settled back in.
“Tell me: how long since you’ve seen Rifter yourself?” he asked, peering at her through the hair that hung down in his face.
Even though it had not been keeping with their subject, the girl did not seem surprised by the question.
“A while.” Her voice had lost much of its volume and disgust. “You know the last time. It was before I went back to my people and came to the woods.”
That was right. The course of events grew clearer in his mind. Years ago, after he had left the others, Calico had followed Rifter to look for him – out of concern. Her involvement had been short-lived, however, and Rifter had driven her away within a couple of months. When she had met up with Nix later on by chance, she had never ceased to trouble him over it.
“Yes, I remember. You took up the scraps Wren left behind. Then again, I do suppose that’s the only way you could get him.”
Calico’s eyes lit with fury.
“It wasn’t about that,” she snapped. “Of course you know it was about you, but I was there when he needed someone to believe in him! When all the rest of you were uncertain of him, I was at his side!”
“If it was such a noble position, why did you leave him?”
This shut her down a bit. After a moment of silence, she folded her arms and turned away.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
She had no warmth for him now, and he didn’t expect any. After everything that had happened, she would always hate him, up until the moment he bowed down to that other – his enemy – and surrendered. But he would never do that. He would die before he had to take orders from that blasted demon! He guessed she would not leave him be so easily, however. She never had before.
I have to be cruel. It’s the only way to have peace.
“Do be honest, Calico,” he said with an air of conceit. “You’re the only witness to the one competition he and I might have never known the answer to. So tell me: which of us was better?”
The Tribal girl looked back at him in shock. Her face became redder than ever before. For a moment – long enough for him to notice – she was at a loss for what to say.
“I’ve gone elsewhere now,” she returned hatefully, turning her face from him. Her refusal to answer was enough to please him, though he knew good and well that Rifter hadn’t had anything to do with her at all, but it had done well to shut her up. Hopefully, from now on she would refrain from talking to him.
Now all that was left to do was enjoy the silence and the rain. Wren would be back soon.
2
It was not difficult for Wren to locate Nix after she’d left Finn’s hut. He was braving the mist of rain, waiting for her at the end of the walkway where the bridge branched out farther into the village. Nix noticed her easily, turning her way, and Wren found herself offering him a smile.
“Here I am,” she said. “Back in one piece.”
“So it seems,” he admitted. “Did you have any luck convincing him?”
“He says he will give an answer tomorrow. He’s reluctant to leave the people here, but I haven’t given up yet.” She said this, but shrugged helplessly.
“It’s no wonder he’s reluctant,” Nix commented, snagging her attention. “Something has attacked them recently.”
“What?”
Nix turned his face to peer across the area, and for the first
time, Wren noticed the signs of damage. There were large branches laying over the walkways, broken from the trees that the village was built upon. A few of the huts had been patched. Why hadn’t she noticed this coming in?
I wasn’t looking for it. I took this safe haven for granted.
“What do you think?” she asked, seeking whatever wisdom he had on the matter, but he did not look at her when he responded.
“Do you trust me, Wren?”
“I…” She was not so sure how to answer that. She supposed, however, that if she did not trust him, she would not have asked for his opinion. Wren didn’t manage to answer before he was going on.
“Well, whether you do or not, hear this: if Finn will not come with us, then I think we should go. It’s not safe for us to stay here longer than we have to.”
On the contrary, this village had seemed like the only safe place in the world to Wren. Furthermore, she simply could not leave without Finn. She was not willing to negotiate for that. Still, Nix seemed serious, and she could not ignore his observations either.
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you see it as we were passing through the woods?” he asked. “There were skeletons tied to the trees. Some were even encased in the trunks.”
Skeletons? She did not have to ask if he meant that they were human. She recalled the moment when the villagers had caught her below – how they’d held her back against a tree and Finn had approached her with a blade. Just a few moments ago, she had asked him what was done with intruders they found in the woods. He hadn’t answered her.
“Trespassers?” she guessed.
“Perhaps. They were strung up almost ritualistically, and then here, there are signs of attack. Finn decided to spare us, but I have a bad feeling.”
It’s just because he doesn’t trust anyone, she thought. Then again, she supposed she could not cast his word aside. She’d had her own suspicions.
“But as you said, Finn spared us,” she reminded him.
“People are desperate, Wren. We should keep our eyes open.”
At that, she simply could not disagree. Yes, they would pay attention.