by Mari Dietz
He cried out, and his hand smashed over the wound.
“A reminder. Now you should run.”
He waddled away and glanced back to see if she followed. When he turned the corner, Vic sank to the ground. “I’m sorry, Mads.”
The heavy burden settled on her shoulders. Even though it grew dark, she didn’t move.
“I need to gather my thoughts, then I can leave.”
But her mind raced, and her body remained limp. Night fell.
16
William
William shifted in the hard wooden chair, but his arms stayed tightly tied to his sides. He blinked, wishing he’d fallen into a dream and this wasn’t his reality. In his foggy mind, he remembered seeing masked figures, then trying to get out of the doorway. Even though it smelled of wet dirt, the floors were stone. The room was made from the same black stone as the Haven sewers. He was the only thing in this room and couldn’t see any doors. Small pockets in the ceiling let in the stagnant air. At least they let him breathe. There was no breeze to speak of, and moisture clung to his skin and clothing. William had heard of steam rooms, which those with money sat in for pleasure. If it felt anything like this humid box, he didn’t see the appeal. If the rich wanted to feel sticky, it was their money to waste.
His fingers couldn’t reach the rope binding his arms. Even if he untied himself, he didn’t think he could fit through the small vents. He would need a wand to get out of this room, and his captors wouldn’t be handing those out. The passage of time meant nothing as he nodded off. His head jerked when he almost reached sleep. He ached from who knew how many hours he’d stayed knocked out and tied to the chair. Sam would be okay, and he hoped Vic would check in on him. She would be the first to notice he was gone, but on her list of people to rescue, his name would be at the bottom.
A loud scrape got his attention, and dust rose from the ground, making him choke as it billowed out. As though it had formed from nothing, a door opened in the wall. In the room’s bleak light, he thought it had formed from magic. When the door opened, he realized it fit perfectly in the wall. Small latches covered the ridge, almost invisible to the naked eye.
Two people dressed in black appeared, with only their eyes showing from behind their masks and hoods. They stared at each other. The hall behind them was only a tad brighter than his cell, but it still made him squint from the change in light.
“This the special one?” The man’s tenor voice came out muffled from behind the mask. William couldn’t tell what color his eyes were since the hall light cast the two men in shadow.
“Yeah, they ordered us not to change this one.” His voice sounded gravelly, like he enjoyed smoking in his spare time. He stood taller than Tenor.
Smoker and Tenor untied him but held him firmly in their grips and then retied his arms and hands behind his back. The whiff of smoke coming off the one man confirmed William’s theory.
“Do we need the wand?” Smoker asked.
“Grab it, just in case. They probably want us to hand it off to them.”
William shifted, and their grips tightened. “What’s going on?” After hours of monotony in a closed room, he had grown more nervous about being taken outside it. They could be taking him somewhere to kill him for all he knew.
Tenor snorted. “Look, this one wants to know what’s going on.”
“Just like everyone else, the special one.”
William cleared this throat. “If you’re going to kill me, there’s no harm in telling me.”
They exchanged a look, then burst into laughter. “That’s new.”
They yanked him out of the stone room and down a hall that matched the sewers.
“Where are we?” One long tunnel stretched in front of him. If he escaped, he could run forward or backward. Not many options. His wand was tucked away in Smoker’s harness. To have a better chance, he could try to grab it. The stone glowed, showing him it had recharged.
“Hush and let us deliver you.” Smoker shook him.
“Yes, be a good package.”
William gritted his teeth. How long had he stayed in the room? Would Vic worry about him? Would Sam notice that he hadn’t come home? How would anyone find him? He could try to trip Tenor and use his body weight to get out of Smoker’s grip.
On their way through the tunnel, they met more masked figures. With more people appearing, his plan to lose his two captors got more difficult. He didn’t think he could take on two men, let alone four or more. William peered at their eyes. If he got out of here, he might recognize them. He noticed that the people who escorted him would nod to some but not others. Squinting in the dim light, he noticed that those they didn’t acknowledge had dull eyes in the light. He bit back a gasp. Those were radiant eyes. What were the radiant doing down here? He hoped he was mistaken. It had to be the lighting. He could barely see eye color, so how could he confirm anything? Were the masked people using the radiant to gather people to turn into mogs? Boiling anger coursed through him. The purpose of the radiant was to live and work together in uncorrupted peace. Using them like this made them no better than slaves and polluted what the radiant believed.
He’d left when he’d seen the corruption his father had started, not wanting to be part of it. He already had to deal with the guilt of forcing the change on his brother. Had these people chosen this? When they picked the radiant path, they knew what awaited them. This felt like an abuse of their bodies and souls. A sick feeling grew in him the farther they went down the tunnels.
Sam had told him once that maybe neither side, magic or radiant, had the right answer. “Then what’s left, Sam?” William had whispered. Was there a third option?
“What are you muttering?”
“Leave him. We’re almost there.”
They came to an open room that contained piles of junk. Twisted metal formed broken statues, and stones littered the floor. A horrible smell grew stronger, and William knew they must be close to raw sewage. A burble confirmed that flowing water was nearby.
“This is where they want him?” Smoker asked.
Tenor guided them to a large scrap of metal sticking out of the ground. “Tie him up. We’re behind on our quota from dealing with this one.”
They tied him to a metal pole.
“Should we leave it here for them to pick up?” Smoker pulled out the wand.
Tenor glanced across the room, and William couldn’t see what he looked at. “They aren’t here yet. We can’t wait all night. Is he secure?” They placed his wand far out of his reach. It stayed within William’s sight. They glanced between William and the wand.
“They’ll get mad if we take it back. I’d rather avoid their misplaced anger.”
They walked to a wall and opened another invisible door.
“Hey, what’s going on?” William’s voice echoed in the room of discarded ruins.
They ignored him and shut the door behind them.
William shifted against the rope, hoping for some give in the material. His gaze darted around the piles of junk. Tied like this, he felt like a sacrifice to some animal. He shivered and bent his knees, trying to rub the rope against the metal bar.
Would they go through all that trouble to feed him to something? He tried to convince himself that it would be troublesome for them to do this, even though they’d only relocated him and tied him up.
“If they wanted to kill me, they could have done it in the cells.” That sounded convincing. The chilly air hit his sweaty forehead, and he rubbed the rope up and down the pole to wear it down before the next person or thing came for him.
The sound of water bubbled in the gigantic room, along with him sawing at his bindings. He couldn’t see a river, but maybe if he got out, he could follow the water out of here. He hadn’t adapted to the smell, and it only got harder to breathe. It might be the only way out.
“If Vic can take a sewage bath, so can I.” He wanted to vomit thinking about it. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he stopped s
awing and leaned against the metal pole, breathing deeply. There was no way to even see if he’d made any progress.
No joy overcame him when voices sounded over the rush of water. Then one voice he recognized rose above the others. His father’s.
“Thank you for finding him. We’ve been looking for him for a few weeks, and I was getting worried.”
Another voice replied, but William couldn’t make out the words.
His father replied, “No, he will stay with us. My wife was worried about something, and I need to look into it.”
Around the corner, his father appeared, followed by a masked figure and Sam.
“Sam?” William jerked forward, but the rope held him back. “What are you doing down here?”
His father’s face tightened. “Someone found him wandering in the streets. It looks like you didn’t do a very good job of taking care of your brother. You abandoned him the first chance you got.”
William pulled against the rope. Scrapes formed on his skin and burned at his weight. “I didn’t abandon him. Sam, are you okay?”
Sam didn’t answer.
William’s father turned to the masked man. “I’ll take care of this quickly and join you. I’ll grab the wand.”
The man glanced between the family members. He paused, then he nodded and left them.
Their father let out a long breath, stepped up to William, and slapped him across his face.
William’s head jerked to the side and hit the metal pole. A ringing sound buzzed in his ears, and he tried to orientate himself again.
“My disappointing son. You were supposed to be in charge of all this, but the false promise of magic has warped your mind.” White patches appeared on his father’s face from where he clenched his jaw.
The copper taste of blood ran over his mouth, and he realized he’d bitten his tongue. He spat at his father, splattering red on his white uniform. That earned him another slap, and his head banged against the metal pole again.
William took a rattling breath, then laughed, causing blood to dribble out of his mouth and onto his clothing. “All this? In charge of the sewer? Are you the shit king?”
Two more slaps and William felt his left eye swelling.
His father’s face reddened. “You have no clue who holds the power in this corrupted city.” His father snarled. “I did everything for you ungrateful sons, and now there’s no one to leave my legacy to.”
“Your legacy of forcing people into the radiant life? You made a mockery of people’s beliefs in something better.” The ropes cut into him, and he lunged at his father. His head throbbed as he shouted, “I believed! I believed you had honor. I chose that belief over my brother. You betrayed me and him.” His throat ached, and his voice bounced off the stone walls. “We don’t want your legacy. Leave us alone. You’re not my father anymore. I will live the rest of my life trying to make up my mistake to my brother.” His heart ached as he looked at the man he’d once called father. When had it become like this? Magic and power corrupted. How could this man not see what he had become? William stared at his father and saw the fervor in his stance. There would be no reaching him. He remained steadfast in his beliefs.
His father’s mouth thinned. “Well, that won’t be very long.”
“You’re going to kill me?”
His father held out his hand. “No. I will save you.”
William stopped pulling against his bindings and pressed back into the metal pole. “You aren’t serious? You’re going to force purification on me? Can’t you let me leave?” He shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, that’s what his father had demanded of Sam. Why did he still look for hope in this man?
His father twisted the ring around his finger, and it flickered slightly. “I can’t let my son become what I hate. It saddens me that you don’t get a choice.”
A panicked gasp left William, and his father’s hand drew closer to his forehead. The ring glowed as it rested on his head.
William didn’t turn his face away. His father blocked his view of Sam.
What color is the sky, Brother?
William’s vision blurred. The ring warmed. Something stretched into William, and instead of pulling, something tightened around his mind.
I’m sorry I failed you.
William closed his eyes and accepted his fate. A loud crack made his eyelids shoot open. Sam stood before him, holding a long metal rod smeared with their father’s blood.
It took William a moment to realize what had happened. “Sam?” He leaned his face toward his brother. “Samuel, was that you?”
His father moaned, and Sam took another whack at his head. William flinched.
“Let’s not kill him.”
“Do what you must.”
His father didn’t make another noise, but William saw his chest rise and fall. Let the bastard stay down here by himself. “Can you untie me?”
Sam stepped behind him and quickly got the ropes off. William bent his fingers and flinched as blood flowed back into his arms. He grabbed the wand from where Smoker and Tenor had left it.
He pulled his brother into a hug. “Thank you.”
Sam’s arms stayed at his sides.
William stepped back. “That was very un-radiant of you.” He didn’t want to stay down here any longer. “I don’t suppose you know the way out?”
Sam walked into the pile of junk and stopped at the edge of the sewage water.
William covered his nose and took a shaky breath. “So do you have the boat you arrived on?”
Sam didn’t answer.
William glanced down the dark tunnel. A tiny ledge hung over the river. “We better get moving.”
The brothers placed their feet on the small ledge. William’s mind raced with questions his brother couldn’t answer.
William slipped on the ledge and almost fell into the murky water. He swore his heart stopped. Sam remained calm behind him, and the tiny ledge didn’t seem like a problem for him.
“How are you managing this?” William asked his brother.
He only smiled.
“It’s not like I’ll die if I fall in.” He took a deep breath of putrid air and gagged. “I’ll never be clean again.” No amount of showers would undo the sewage bath if he fell in. He admitted there were more important things than staying clean, but he almost didn’t mind the distraction from his father’s plots.
“Should we have …” He couldn’t say the words. “Let him go?” He’d left his father, knowing he purified others. Was it his responsibility to stop him? Could he stop him? Maybe they could turn him in to the officers and call it good.
“I might as well go in the cell next to him.” William inched along. If he turned in his father, his father wouldn’t hesitate to turn him in too. The thought of going to jail for what he’d done to Sam didn’t bother him as much as he’d thought. It was only right. While with Vic, they’d operated more in shades of gray, but he could admit he found more comfort in the black and white. Slowly, his stance had crumbled the more he’d seen his father for who he really was, but that didn’t change the fact that forcing purification on someone was wrong. Vic would agree, and she would understand if he ended up in jail.
“That is what I’ll do.” After all this was over, he would turn himself in for justice.
“Do what you must.”
“Now you talk?” William flinched, and he slipped again. He swallowed. “I never heard a radiant so fixated on a phrase.” They responded in simple sentences and mostly didn’t communicate. Sam had stopped their father and repeated a phrase that cast constant judgment on William. “I deserve it too.”
The river splashed and lapped at his boots.
“When will this tunnel end?”
His breath shortened at the thought of what coated his boots. He would burn them if they ever got out of here. Maybe he should’ve looked harder for a boat. His fingertips hurt from gripping the smooth wall. His entire body pressed against the cool stone, and the tension in his l
egs caused them to cramp, yet they shuffled on down the tunnel. If they ended up on the Haven side, who knew if they could even get out, but they pressed on. Up ahead, a black hole in the wall grew larger. William wondered if he was imagining it. As they crept closer, the hole looked like a tunnel. The landing tapered down, forming a ramp into the sewage river, like it could be a stopping point for loading boats.
“I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.” If anything, his fingers could use a break, and maybe they could find a different tunnel to walk down. They made it to the dock, and he glanced around before jumping off the ledge. He groaned as he flexed his stiff fingers and stretched out his legs. He’d lost years of his life being that close to falling into a river of defecation.
“Any clue from here?” Even though it was deserted, they shouldn’t stay in one place too long. When Smoker and Tenor had taken him to his father, they’d met many masked people in the tunnels.
Sam walked back to the river like he was saying he’d come from there. William moaned and went to the other side of the entrance. This time, there was no ledge to walk on.
“We need a boat, unless we want to swim upstream.” The water waste flowed rapidly. William eyed the path away from the dock. “We may have to try our luck.” He pulled out his wand. The stone glimmered, and he had a bit of magic to work with. “Maybe we can make our own tunnel.” He spun in a circle. “We need to find out where.”
Maybe Vic could handle being coated in sewage, but William would rather take his chances in the tunnels.
The closer to an outer wall the better, if he could even find one. “Maybe a grate or window would be better.”
Sam stood still, and William walked down the tunnel. “If we find a boat, we can come back.”
Sam followed without questioning him.
The stone ramp led up, and William stuck close to the side. It leveled out, and crates were piled on the edges. He couldn’t see inside them, but he breathed easier at having more cover. The sound of the river faded behind them, and they walked silently together. Another large opening grew in front of them, and William ducked behind the crates with Sam to listen. Only a dripping noise and the strange smell of rot mixed with sewage.