by Beca Lewis
I gathered Pris and Cil in my arms and found a wire for us to sit on, and then I passed out. My last thoughts were that I would never get to tell Zeid that I remembered him and that I would never be Queen of Erda.
Shatterskin Fifty-Eight
“Why didn’t you use the safety button Teddy gave you,” Beru asked.
A few days had passed since I had awoken back in my old room at the Castle. When I had first opened my eyes, I was astonished to find myself in my own bed with Beru sitting beside me holding my hand.
“Shh,” she had said, “Go back to sleep.” And I had. Off and on for days, and with only Beru there to take care of me, I knew that meant there was something terribly wrong. Where was everyone else?
I tried to ask, but when Beru didn’t answer, I followed her instructions to go back to sleep. I had decided that for the time being it was best not to know what had happened to my friends because I knew if they were safe they would be there with me.
When Beru finally asked me a question I knew she was ready to answer mine.
I figured that I was better because she had helped me sit at a small table at the foot of the bed. The metal toadstools had appeared with food, and I had to restrain myself from patting their heads I was so happy to see them.
“Well,” Beru demanded again. “Why didn’t you use it?”
“If I tell you, will you tell me where everyone is even if it is terrible news? I am imagining the worst, and it would be better to stop imagining and just know.”
Beru didn’t answer me, just sat there with her arms crossed, frowning at me.
“Because,” I said, and then stopped.
“Because, what?”
“I didn’t know if that meant I could take Pris and Cil with me. I couldn’t leave them there. Makes me a foolish person I know, because obviously, I should have tried it.”
I started to sob. I had been trying not to break down from the moment I had woken up the first time. Finally, I couldn’t keep it in anymore.
“What are you crying about?” Beru asked.
I answered Beru in the most snarky voice I had ever used. I didn’t care anymore. I had already hurt everyone else. “I lived, but no one else did? What was the point of doing any of this?”
Beru sighed. “Kara Beth, perhaps before you make up your mind that you did the wrong thing, you might want to hear a story.”
“Sure, go ahead, tell me one, but I doubt it is going to make me feel better.”
I drank whatever strange drink the metal toadstool had put in front of me and staggered back to bed. My left arm was wrapped in a bandage from my shoulder to my wrist, but it worked, and I found a sliver of gratitude for that.
Lying back against the pillow, I closed my eyes and waited, prepared to fall into a depression and never come out again.
*******
As Beru began to speak, I waited for her to tell me everyone had died. Instead, she told me the story about what had happened to the rest of the team.
“After you dived through that hole in Shatterskin, we waited for Lady to come with us, but she insisted on circling above to wait for you. It turns out, that was a wise decision, but that’s the end of the story, so I’ll get back to it.
“The rest of us flew on to the plant where we knew Abbadon was making the Shrieks. As you know, Earl, Ariel, and the Priscillas’ insects had destroyed every visible Shriek, but we knew there were more inside the factory.
“However, we believed that it was not just Shrieks inside that building. We thought that Abbadon was using villagers to make the Shrieks, so we couldn’t just destroy the building. We planned to stun the remaining Shrieks the same way we had in the woods, rescue whoever was inside, and then let Coro and his storm destroy it.
“It was a good plan. Except what we discovered inside was so much worse than we thought it would be.”
By then, I was sitting up in bed anxious to hear what had happened.
“So you made it into the wasteland safely?”
“We did. But the ground around the building was so shattered it made it difficult to get inside without falling into one of the crevices. The building itself was levitated a few feet off the ground, so Aki had to help all of us who don’t know how to levitate up into the building. Thankfully we were invisible behind our shields, and inside the building there was no shrieking. Most likely so the beings inside wouldn’t die from the Shrieks. Instead, they were dying from something else.”
When Beru saw me start to ask another question she said, “Let me tell it my way, please? I need to tell the whole story, because maybe then I can begin to forget it.”
I nodded, but my fists were clutching the sheets, and I felt as if the breath in my body was clogged up inside my chest.
“It was a huge, open space, like an Earth factory. At the end of what resembled an assembly line, a Shriek would pop out and then slither over to another room where they waited. Maybe to be called into action. Or they had to dry out or something before they worked. For whatever reason, we could see that it would be fairly easy to kill them off if we could stop the machines.”
Beru held up her hand reminding me not to ask questions. “I know. Just turn them off. But we didn’t know how because the machines were not run by energy from the trees, or nature. Remember there weren’t any trees or nature, the Shrieks and Shatterskin had killed all the life they could find.
“Abbadon needed another form of energy. We suspected what that source was when we realized that when Shatterskin destroyed villages, we rarely found the bodies of the villagers. We had a suspicion he was using them to run the machines. We were partially right and partially wrong. They weren’t running the machines the way you might expect.
“Instead, there were hundreds of beings hooked up to the devices on the assembly line, unable to move. It was their life essence that was running the machines. Abbadon was draining them, one at a time, to build the monsters that destroyed their land and killed their loved ones.
“It was the most horrific thing we had ever seen, and I know that I will never be able to forget it. The beings stared at us with unseeing eyes, and the only way we could tell that they were still alive was they were still hooked up to the machines.
“The floor was littered with dead bodies that had been unhooked once their life force was gone. How could we shut off the machines, Hannah, if we didn’t know what would happen to those poor beings?
“Someone had to decide what to do. Someone had to take responsibility because we didn’t know how long it would be until the newly made Shrieks in the other room would awaken.”
“Who did?” I whispered and then realized that I already knew the answer.
I took Beru’s hand, and we cried together.
Shatterskin Fifty-Nine
“It killed some of them. Right then. We could see it. The last of their life force drained out, and they were gone.”
I pulled myself closer to Beru and hugged her. “It had to be done, Beru. You couldn’t rescue them with the machines on. But I’m sorry.”
We stayed that way for a long moment, then Beru pulled away, wiping her eyes, although the tears still ran down her cheeks at the memory.
“We had no idea we would find so many beings there. They were from all different villages. But they were barely alive and couldn’t help us rescue them. We figured out how to unhook them from the machines, and once we did that we took the ones that were still living and brought them outside to the dragons.
“Niko had alerted Professor Link as soon as we had stepped into the building and he had sent more dragons to transport the bodies.”
Beru’s face brightened at the memory. “You wouldn’t have believed it, Kara. There were hundreds of them waiting there, watching the way that they do, cocking their heads back and forth. We had no idea t
hat there were that many pileated dragons in Erda. At the most, we thought maybe besides Lady there were ten more like her, but not hundreds. It was beautiful to see. So much life. So different from what we saw all around us and inside that building.
“We found rope in the factory and did our best to tie one person on each dragon. As they flew away, we could see their wings flashing white and black, and the red on their heads was like a living beacon. The dragons were flying low as they could so that they wouldn’t freeze their passengers. We prayed we were doing a good enough job roping their passengers on. ”
Beru got up and went to the table and picked up one of the drinks the metal toadstools had left. She took a big swallow, paused, and slowly returned to the chair by the bed. I knew that whatever she was going to tell me next was not going to be good, and I steeled myself for the news. So far everything she had told me sounded like a horrible memory, but here she was. I reasoned that they must have succeeded. But when Beru looked at me with the saddest eyes I had ever seen, I was terrified all over again. Something terrible had happened. What was it?
“Something terrible did happen, Kara. We have been living with terrible things for so long I thought I could handle anything. However, the news we would hear was from far away. People in villages were dying. The land was being destroyed. Trees were shattered everywhere. Abbadon was living up to his name as the destroyer.
“We were used to that news. And even though some of us lost relatives who had lived nearer to Shatterskin’s Riff, we hadn’t seen it. However, at the plant, we were surrounded by shattered brown earth. There was no visible life anywhere except for us, the dragons, and the half-dead beings we were trying to rescue.
It was hard work, but we were getting it done. What we had forgotten was the room full of Shrieks. We could have dealt with them as soon as we got there. We could have taken the salt and water we had brought with us and sprinkled it over every one of them while they stood there immobile. But we didn’t.
“The sight of those beings hooked up to the machines took all rational thought away. All we could think about was saving them, and we forgot the Shrieks.”
I waited, holding my breath.
“They woke up and started Shrieking. Most of us had laid our shields down to make it easier to move people. Some of us had slipped the earmuffs off and had them hung around our necks, or had put them by the door to pick up on our way out. Niko and Aki were the only ones who had kept their shields on their back and their earmuffs on. It was a good thing because if they hadn’t, we all would have died.”
Beru ignored my gasp as I fell back against my pillow. She must mean some of them died. Who?
“At the first blast of the Shrieks, those of us who had our earmuffs around our necks got them on before it did too much damage.
“James was one of them. He grabbed all the earmuffs by the door and got one on his brother. But in the short time it took for him to get them on all the men, the damage had been done. Niko and Aki rushed the Shrieks and threw salt and water on them.
“They managed to stop the shrieking, but not before all the remaining beings we had not gotten onto the dragons yet had died. Even if we had earmuffs for them, the shrieking was too much in their weakened state.
“Most of the dragons had taken off with their passengers, and only a few were left on the ground when the shrieking started.
“All but one managed to lift off before they were too stunned to move. Once Niko and Aki stopped the Shrieks, the dragons returned, and we helped them tie the wounded dragon onto her sisters. I hope she survived.”
“And the rest of the team?” Beru knew what I was asking. Did they live? Where were they? Did Ruta save them?”
This was the secret. Ruta was a healer. Ruta had asked me to keep it a secret after the Oracle had told me. I had agreed because we were afraid that there was a traitor in our midst, and Ruta would be targeted because of his healing abilities.
But now, it had to be known. Ruta would have arranged for the dragons to bring the wounded to him. We would deal with finding the traitor later.
Beru looked away, perhaps arranging her face. I prepared to hear the worst.
“Many of the people from the factory didn’t make it. They were almost dead when we found them. Even Ruta couldn’t save them.”
I waited.
Beru gulped and whispered, “One of the men from my village didn’t make it.”
I couldn’t ask, so I waited again.
“It was Kit.”
“And that’s it?”
Beru knew what I was asking. I felt grief for Kit, but also an overwhelming sense of relief flooded over me thinking of the people that were safe. As I started crying, I asked a question I had been reserving for last.
“And the Priscillas?”
“They have been helping Ruta. Everyone has been helping Ruta or resting from their injuries. You will see them tomorrow.”
Seeing that I had dissolved into a hopeless pile of weeping, Beru rose to go. I wanted to shout with joy, but I had to ask the question that had been eating at me since I had woken up.
“One more question, Beru. Would the button have worked for all of us?”
“No. Only the person who was wearing it. You did the right thing, Kara Beth. You saved Pris and Cil.
“Now rest. It’s a big day tomorrow.”
Shatterskin Sixty
A week later, all of us were having dinner together in the Castle’s atrium. I thought back to the first time I had dinner in the Castle with Beru, Ruta, Suzanne, and Earl. I had been so clueless. No wonder they called me “little one.” I was a child. A child who had no memory of ever living in Erda.
Now I had memories I wished I could forget, and I was no longer a child. I couldn’t afford to be anymore. Knowing where my thoughts were taking me, Suzanne reached over and squeezed my hand. I looked at her gratefully. Without her, I wouldn’t have any connection to my past life in Earth. Even though I would probably never be able to return, I knew she would let them know how much I missed them and had treasured my time with my Earth family.
Just thinking about them brought tears to my eyes, especially thinking about Johnny. Suzanne and I had met privately before the dinner. She told me the portal was to be opened briefly and she was going to make a quick visit to the Earth dimension. Was there anything I needed her to say to my Earth family and friends while she was there?
Trying to be as brave as possible, I slipped my friendship bracelet off my wrist leaving only the bracelet from Professor Link. I had to return the one from Earth and set Johnny free. Johnny needed to move on and not wait for me. What might have been would never be. Even if we destroyed Abbadon and I was able to visit the Earth Realm again, I could never live there, and Johnny could not live in Erda. He was needed in Earth, even more than he knew.
And then there was Zeid. Even though I hadn’t seen him yet, I knew who he was now. Beru told me Zeid was taking care of some business with his family, but I knew he was waiting. Waiting until I had taken care of what I had to do. My arm felt empty without my friendship bracelet from Johnny, but it had to be done, for Johnny, for me, and for Zeid.
I brought my attention back to the room and the crowded table. Except for Zeid, everyone was there including Pita and his brothers, and Teddy. James and the remaining men from the village were there too, although now that they were rested they were returning to their village in the morning.
Even with all the joyful laughing and talking that was circling the table, there was an undercurrent of sadness. Kit had died. Everyone had scars. Lady’s friend had also died. However, if it hadn’t been for Ruta, there would have been so many more deaths.
“They would have wanted you to feel joyful, Kara Beth,” Professor Link said.
This time Link was not in my head but sat on the other side of me
. “You did well, young lady,” he whispered, and I bowed my head so he wouldn’t see how much his praise meant to me.
I knew he was right. We had to live and not slide into depression. No one who had lost their lives would want that for any of us. They had fought so all of us could be safe.
The Shrieks and Shatterskin were gone. Earl and Ariel had leveled the plant with the last remaining Shrieks inside. But Abbadon still lived. Until he was stopped we were still in danger. We knew Abbadon must be planning something even if we didn’t know what it was. He was not going to give up his desire to destroy just because we had killed his machines.
Looking around the table, I couldn’t believe that one of the people sitting there could be a traitor. I prayed that it was a mistake. I knew everyone on our team, and until I knew otherwise, I would treat them as the treasures that I knew they were. If there was a traitor, they weren’t sitting at the table. I was sure of it.
Earl held up his glass and yelled, “How about a toast?”
“Yeah!” we all yelled back and held up our glasses too. Even the metal toadstools raised their trays into the air.
“To this faithful, loyal, and brave community,” Earl said, smiling at me. I smiled back and said, “So say we all.” I loved this saying from one my favorite TV shows back in Earth. It was a response that I had taught everyone, so I wasn’t surprised when they all responded, “So say we all.”
Putting my glass down, I asked, “So, I know that most of you were brought to Ruta’s Healing Center by the dragons. But how did the Priscillas and I get back here?”
The three fairies were taking turns sitting on my head, or at the table staring back up at me, and when all three of them turned to hear the answer, I knew they didn’t know how we got home either.