by Lenore, Lani
5
Finn was not an experienced flier, but he had a few tricks left. One could not survive in this world without them, and he had learned that even before the darkness had come.
He pulled back the coat of fur, revealing the glowing chunks of Tikilin infused in his vest. His goggles were on to magnify his eyes, setting two lamps in his face that shone out like small suns. He was to play a role that a certain fairy wisp had served in the past, and he needed to be as flashy as possible to draw the nightmare’s attention.
He jumped up and let the enchantment from the fairy ash carry him to the cavern wall where he latched on, proceeding to scale it like a determined insect. Finn had full confidence in his climbing skill, though he was not sure if he trusted the strength of the blessing. He had already been wearing the ash for a while, and he was not sure how much was left on him. Finn may have been a bit reckless in the past, but he knew the value of taking precautions.
He turned his head to see that the nightmare was submerged, but near the surface, swimming docilely through the water, waiting for prey to come close. It was long and lean – fishlike perhaps, with a wide mouth. Finn would draw it out.
This would be fun – like the old days. That, at least, was what he told himself.
Clinging to the wall, he held out his arm, aiming for the ceiling. With his thumb, he released a lever at his wrist and squeezed it, and a long chain with a hook shot out from the Tikilin suit beneath his clothes, attaching to the rock above. He hadn’t been confident enough to try this tool on the way across, knowing it wouldn’t reach the ceiling without quite a boost, but with the ash to guarantee that he wouldn’t fall into the monster’s jaws, it was worth the risk now.
Making sure that the chain was sturdy, he let go, swinging away from the wall. His body aglow, he dipped toward the surface of the water, and the nightmare lunged upward to snap at him, just as he’d intended for it to. He could almost feel those sharp teeth cutting past him through the air, grazing the edges of his clothes. Even so, he was not caught, but he’d gotten a better look at the beast. He’d seen its gray fleshy skin, slick with water. He’d looked into its gelatinous eyes, round and clear. They were locked, intent to make him a meal. It was only as he swung past that Finn noticed his calculation was slightly off. The mouth had come a bit closer to him than he’d intended.
I won’t do that again.
Pulling the lever, the hook released and he shot a second one from his other arm, clearing himself of the beast’s jaws as Nix and Calico began to fill it with holes, bullets and arrows in kind. The nightmare took a few hits before retreating into the water, and Finn moved back to the wall to steady himself. He needed to test his confidence in the blessing.
Finn landed on the far shore where Toss was waiting, and the hail of projectiles ceased, Nix and Calico concerned that they would connect with their allies instead.
“Took you long enough,” Toss said jokingly as Finn swung past.
“Want to trade places?” The beast snapped at him, launching onto the shore, and Toss was swift with the hammer. The etched head connected with the nightmare’s face, turning it aside.
“Stay on the move, Finn! Bring it back to this side!”
Nix was calling for him from across the way, the echo distorting his voice.
He let go of the wall and engaged the chain hooks again, sweeping around to get the nightmare’s attention with the glowing lights of his Tikilin suit, but the angry beast lunged at him faster than he’d been accustomed, and even though he’d tried to be careful, it was for naught. The vice-like jaws latched into his leg, crushing and tearing, and Finn’s roar of anguish echoed across the cavern.
Even through the pain, his instincts became focused on survival. He drew his gun quickly, twisting to fire into the beast’s face, damaging its eyes and shooting into its mouth, but the harm had been done. The nightmare slapped him into the wall, where he hit with an impact that nearly crushed him. He tasted blood.
Finn could not think of trying to recover. There was pain, and then the oblivion of darkness as he fell into the cold water below.
6
Wren had been watching Finn’s Tikilin glow as he propelled himself through the air like a swinging monkey. Everything was jumbled as the beast roared and Nix shot his gun and Calico sent numerous arrows toward it, but Wren kept her eyes on the boy who was moving agilely as a wisp, as if her attention alone would keep him safe.
If she had believed that, she was swiftly disillusioned.
Beneath the sound of a gunshot, she thought she heard a shout, and then Finn’s lights were flung across the cavern. He fell toward the water and before she could protest, he disappeared into the darkness.
“Finn!” she cried, jumping up without thinking of what she would even do to help him, but she didn’t get far before Nix had caught her arm.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s Finn! He fell! I think he’s been hurt!”
Nix turned, taking up the whistle around his neck and putting it to his lips–
– but the creature had already turned on them. The beast flung itself onto the shore, its jaws snapping because it could not see. It had been blinded by Finn’s bullets, but they were not aware enough to know it. Nix and Calico threw themselves aside, but Wren had not moved quickly enough. The end of her gown was caught in the creature’s teeth. It did not seem aware that it had caught her, but it jerked its head, pulling her from her feet as she shrieked with panic.
Wren hit the ground on her back but did not waste time in trying to pull herself free, yet the snapping of the jagged teeth only pulled her closer. She leaned up to pull at her gown, hearing it rip, but did not come loose.
No! she thought forcefully as her foot drifted too close to the gnashing teeth. The nightmare likely did not even know what it had caught, but Wren was determined that it would not have a taste of her.
The dagger, she thought finally. In her panic, she had forgotten it. She could cut herself free! Her fingers reached for it now, but she had not quite wrestled it from the sheath before salvation came.
Nix rushed in, replacing his gun with his blade – an uncommon move for him. He drew it with precision, his intent fixed, and he hacked into the nightmare’s neck. It roared, jerking its head enough that it ripped the threads of Wren’s gown and she instinctively crawled back as Nix continued his work toward beheading the monster. Two good chops had killed it, and three had done the job. Wren might have marveled at that, had she not been so horrified and breathless. Her palms were scratched by the rocks beneath her, but she hardly noticed the pain. Frankly, she was surprised to be in one piece.
She could scarcely focus on Nix, even though he was standing in front of her. He stood upright, breathing hard for the first time that she could recall. The two-sided blade in his hand was caught there, stuck in his grip, his knuckles white around it. He stared at the monster beneath him – at the ribbons of its neck that he’d slashed through – seeming entranced, but finally he broke away and was at her side, pulling her to her feet.
Wren threw her arms around him, clinging with fingers and nails until her heart rate began to slow – until she became aware of herself and accepted the truth.
I’m alive. Once again, I’m alive.
“It’s alright,” he told her lowly, reinforcing her own thoughts. “You’re alright.”
When she was finally calm enough to stand on her own feet, she saw Calico nearby, but the huntress did not appear disapproving at the way she and Nix were so close. Instead, she seemed troubled.
“I don’t see Finn,” she told them.
Wren felt that her heart stopped for a moment. She had been too caught up in her own troubles to even think about what had happened to Finn, and now she felt guilty for it.
Finn! Is he alright? Where is he?
They began to call for him – Finn! Answer us! – searching until even Toss had made it across to their side with the raft. As they continued to search without a
response, Wren began to fear the worst, even though she did not want to believe it.
“You don’t think he’s– I mean, he can’t be gone.”
None of them responded, looking somber, and she knew they all feared this as she did. Involuntarily, her mind began to gather all her memories of him, showing them to her in flashes. She couldn’t believe he was gone – couldn’t accept it!
“Finn!” Nix barked, trying again, but with an air of insistence instead of concern. He was demanding a response, not begging for one, and Wren understood that he did not want to believe this outcome as adamantly as she didn’t.
They waited, and as their breath hung in the backs of their throats, they finally received an answer.
“Here!” came a strong, but somewhat pained voice from down the shore. “I’m here! I’m alright!”
Relief flooded over them. They rushed toward the sound of Finn’s voice, but when he came into view, the relief was not what Wren had hoped it would be. Finn was sitting upright near the edge of the water, soaked, clenching his leg. The cloth of his pants was ripped to shreds and there was blood coating his hands. He was injured, but the extent remained to be seen.
They knelt around him promptly. Nix drew his knife and cut away the excess material to reveal long gashes beneath, the flesh ripped by a row of sharp teeth. The sight was gruesome and Wren looked away, turning her attention to Finn’s face instead.
“You got lucky,” Nix commented. “It could have been much worse.”
“I’m alright, I swear,” Finn claimed, but winced as he said it.
“Way to be a hero,” Toss scolded, but there was relief in his voice.
“You know me. I always have to impress the ladies.”
Nix looked back to Calico. “Help me bandage him up?”
“And we’ll need clean water, Toss,” Calico instructed.
They began to dig in their satchels for bandages, and Wren let him lean on her for support.
“Nix, mate,” Finn said, drawing his brother’s attention. He was wearing a crooked grin. “Hell of a trophy! Ow…”
“Be still, you idiot,” Calico chastised mildly, but there was a little smile on her mouth, glad as the rest of them that he was not dead.
Though Finn had been hurt, Wren finally began to feel relief once again. His wound did not look good, but he would survive it. They would fix him up and then get out of here to find a safer place for him to rest. Everything was going to be–
The sound of a gunshot echoed through the cavern and they all came to attention, but the best she could tell, it had gone over their heads. This shot had been a warning, and had not come from any among their company.
Someone else is down here with us.
“Who are you?” a firm voice demanded of them, sharpened along the edge with intolerance.
They turned toward the words to see that there was a stranger in their midst: a young man, perhaps around their same age. In his hand there was a large gun, aimed their way, but they had not been aware of him before he fired in their direction, too consumed with their wounded friend. He’d caught them fully by surprise.
Nix and Toss stood to shield the others, their movements gradual but noted by the stranger, his gun trained on them. Wren had to peer past the two to keep her eyes on him.
The one before them had black hair, greasy and long, kept away from his face by a soiled bandana. He wore goggles much like Finn’s, and was dressed simply in a billowy white shirt he’d ripped the sleeves out of and black pants – nothing elaborate, and no armor of any sort like the others. His gun, however, was most impressive. It was an almost futuristic assemblage, fitted with a scope and embellished with gold. He held it steadily. Wren couldn’t see how she might have known him, and the others didn’t seem to either.
“Who are you?” Nix asked in return.
“I asked you first, and I expect an answer,” the boy said menacingly. “Because all I see are a few trespassers, and around here, that’s considered a punishable crime.”
“What isn’t?” Finn sneered lowly.
The boy aimed his gun towards them, his arms taut. He was affixed and ready to fire if any made a move against him. Wren examined the stranger, trying to find something familiar, but though he was near their age, she could not get him to match anything that she’d been looking for.
There were people on the island besides the Wolf Pack, she reminded herself.
“We’re just passing through. We don’t want trouble,” Nix told him.
“This doesn’t really seem like a nice way to greet the people who just did you a favor,” Finn called, his teeth still clenched in pain.
“A favor?” the boy asked. “That nightmare was my tool! I lured it in here. It kept the lesser beasts away! You just killed a valuable asset, my friend.”
The stranger drew up his lip, and with that expression, the shroud of doubt was lifted from Wren’s mind. She recognized him.
But can it be?
“Mach?”
At the sound of that name, there was a slight change in his face – recognition. The name, at least, was familiar, whether or not he was a twin.
“I don’t know you,” he said, trying to sound firm, but Wren heard a clear note of doubt in his voice.
The rest of them just stared at him. They did not seem to see what she saw.
“Are you sure, Wren?” Nix asked.
“It’s him,” she insisted.
“I said I don’t fucking know you!” Mach growled, growing hostile at the accusation.
“Just be easy,” Toss encouraged, holding up his hands in hopes that the boy would lower his gun. “We just need to sort this out.”
“There’s nothing to sort out. I’m telling you I don’t know who you are!”
“Either way, we don’t mean you any harm.”
Though Toss was a giant, there was something soothing and calm about the sound of his voice, and it worked on Mach like magic. He calmed down a bit – just a bit. He did not lower the gun.
“We wound up here by mistake,” Nix said, still guarding Wren, “but if you could offer us any aid, we’d appreciate it. Our friend here is injured.”
Mach eyed them all, perhaps examining them for vile intent, but finally, though he claimed not to know them, he relented. He lowered the gun, and they were all relieved.
He walked back toward the cavern wall, twisting the gun strap to hang the weapon on his back, and reached a wooden contraption with a winch. Turning it, a series of ropes and pulleys led a few wooden slats to open up in the roof of the cavern, letting in natural light. This relieved the darkness, and they could have a clear look at each other.
He stared at Wren, and his expression softened.
“You can bring your friend back toward my camp,” Mach offered, losing his former hostility. “I’ve got some supplies to bandage him up.”
Chapter Twenty-One
1
That night, gathered in the cave, the fire was warm. Wren hadn’t expected the heat to go very far, but after the ceiling lights had been closed, the warmth radiated within and it was quite comfortable. The water remained calm where the nightmare had been slain, but they were away from that, farther into the cavern that she and Nix had explored earlier. They just hadn’t gone far enough to see the truth of it.
This open cavern was apparently what had been left of a pirates’ cache. There were piles of open crates and barrels, though if there were any valuables left, they could not be seen. There were several old tents, perhaps indicating that there had been other people here before, but Mach was alone now, and he had made a place for himself here.
There was a pallet bed, boxes of equipment, animal skins and many other strange gadgets in what appeared to be the living quarters of this place. He also had some contraption that purified the water, and everyone had been given the chance to bathe in a large wooden basin with a continuous pump, which Wren was thankful for. Food had been prepared, which was also well-received – some sort of cave toad, but
Wren tried to pretend she didn’t know that.
Finn was resting here with them, bandaged and in good spirits. Calico had been tending to his leg, administering herbs to kill the pain when she cleaned his wounds. Already, it seemed he was improving, and Wren guessed it was his prolonged exposure to Tikilin that made this possible. She didn’t want to rush this, but she also felt the need to hurry on. It wouldn’t be safe to linger in one place.
They had all kept silent for the most part as they’d eaten. Mach watched them carefully, and Wren found herself observing him.
While she could not deny that he might have lost his memories of the past, there was no doubt in her mind that he was one whom she was looking for. He may have been separated from his brother, his hair dyed black, but she knew him by the freckles on his nose and the curve of his haughty mouth. She thought that the others could see it now as well, though they’d likely never spent much time trying to tell the twins apart. But how could he have forgotten them?
Maybe he wanted to forget. Just as Rifter used to.
“I suppose you know I’m wondering what you’re all doing down here,” Mach spoke up suddenly, tired of pleasantries. “Passing through the caves? I can think of several better ways to travel.”
“We’re on a quest,” Finn said good-naturedly, as if handing off some great secret.
“What kind of quest?”
“Oh, just the standard kind. We’re out to save the world and all that.”
Toss gave a little chuckle, and Wren smiled. She had once shunned their humor in bad situations, but now she was grateful for it.
“So your name is Mach, is it?” Nix supposed.
“Yeah, but I still can’t imagine how you know that.” But he didn’t ask. “Who are you? I might as well know your names since you know mine.”
“I’m Finn and this is Toss. That’s Nix. This lovely, vicious lass is Calico–”
The huntress glared at him for his comment.
“What?” he asked innocently. “Not like you were going to offer up.”