by Liv Daniels
Leina opened her eyes just a slit, enough to reexamine the situation. The second monster’s feet were still across from the fire, and there was a smoldering log inches from her head. The thought of touching it made her wince, but she could think of nothing better. If I don’t, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life, and be Dangerman’s slave forever. The thought of being slave to Dangerman again was enough to convince her to do far worse.
Leina knew she had to make her move suddenly. She tested her leg by making a small movement. Pain shot through it, but she judged that she could make it. Alright, just do it all at once.
In one swift movement, Leina was up and the log was in her hand, wreathed in flame. The monster whirled around, but too late. Stifling a cry of pain, Leina flung the log at the brute’s face. It let out a terrible shriek and fell to its knees, clawing at its face.
No time now. The other one will have heard that.
Leina had just enough wits left to remember the bag. She spun around and spotted it against the wall of the cavern. There were several tunnels that branched out from the cavern, but there was no time to think about which one to take. She scooped up her bag and dashed for the nearest one.
The light from the fire faded away, but the tunnel was still dimly lit. Hopeful, but not daring to slow down, Leina followed it as it wound gradually upwards. Then she emerged abruptly, and found a stretch of flat desert before her.
Had she known it, Leina was to have many adventures greater than this in her life. But never did she feel such exhilaration as on that day, when she emerged from the labyrinth. She had been in the monsters’ lair, and through the depths of the earth, and had come out alive, alone! The World did not feel quite so big as it once had.
But she was only alive for the moment, and she wanted to keep it that way. She wasn’t sure if the monster had seen which tunnel she had taken, but she wasn’t willing to risk assuming that it hadn’t. She took a moment to check that the letter was still in the bag. It was, still tucked in the inside pocket. In fact, it appeared that the monsters hadn’t touched any of the bag’s contents.
Then, not wasting another moment, Leina took off at a run again. Her whole body was sore, but she ran on heedless. She had come out of the labyrinth.
Chapter 15
Leina had not run for very long before she came upon a lake. It was stagnant and shallow and strange colors reflected off of its surface. She hadn’t seen or heard any sign of pursuit, so she allowed herself to come to rest, panting, by its motionless shore. As her breath slowed, she stared at the water’s surface, transfixed. It was delicately glassy, but there was an oddness to it. She reached out her hand and tapped the surface, and the colors exploded before her in a wild fractal.
"Do not drink the water."
Leina whirled around and found herself face to face with an old weathered man. She started but did not run.
"Do not drink the water," the man repeated. "Like acid."
She nodded, getting up very slowly. Her voice, unused for so many days, sounded loud and hoarse. "Who are you, and whose side are you on?"
"I am called Melvin. As to whose side I am on—that is a dangerous sign to be carrying in this place." He motioned to the insignia that was showing on her bag, which she had tossed aside on the ground injudiciously in her eagerness for rest. She snatched it up.
"So maybe it is. Why do you care?"
He made a low, quiet sound that might have been a chuckle. "If I wasn't on your side, you would be dead by now. Or worse. Any of your enemies informed enough to know that symbol wouldn't find it necessary to play games with you. Of that you can be certain. Come, you look weary. You can stay at my house tonight.”
The offer was like sweet rain in a parched land, and Leina was indeed too weary to refuse. Melvin, though old and weathered, had a kindly face, and Leina didn’t think he could do her any harm.
Melvin’s house was on the opposite shore of the lake, a small cabin in a desolate nowhere. Melvin led Leina inside, and she gratefully sat down at a wooden table as Melvin plated some delicious-smelling food that had been cooking on a stove. She ate in silence, too overjoyed for words to have a hot meal.
"Why are you here?" Leina asked Melvin after she had cleared two plates.
He sighed and looked out the window at the lake's dark waters. "I have lived here a long time. These waters were not always caustic, nor was the Desert always so barren. But a dark shadow came over this land, and still it is held in its sway."
"Oh," she said, dissatisfied with such an answer but unwilling to ask the question again.
The old man, guessing her thoughts, smiled. "By that you mean to ask, 'why do I stay?' I stay because there is hope. It cannot last forever. Out of even the darkest night comes the sunrise, does it not?" But his face was drawn and tight. Outside the sun disappeared behind the horizon in a haze of sullen fumes sprung from the earthen turmoil below the Desert's surface. It was going to be a dark night.
To Leina’s surprise, Melvin began to sing softly. She immediately recognized the melody that had come to her as she lay in Dangerman's lair. She had not remembered the words then, but as Melvin sang they came back to her.
Sing of the dawn, of new light emerging,
Sing of the fire that never grows dim.
Hear now the song through ages unchanging,
Sing of the things that no darkness can shift.
Sing of the evening, when shadows are growing,
But light lingers still and watches and waits.
Sing of the things that hope shall awaken,
Brighter than even when the World knew no pain.
Sing of the journey through the deep waters,
the way that you’ll find when all ways are lost.
Sing of the spirit in us that is moving,
Sing of the flame that outlives the frost.
Sing of the dawn, of light unrelenting,
Sing of the beauty in the song.
Sing of the fire in hearts that is burning,
Sing of the things that were there all along.
There was a long silence. At last Leina worked up the courage to ask another question. "Where did Dangerman come from?"
Melvin turned from the window, drawing the shabby curtains closed, and laughed bitterly. "Dangerman? That doesn't matter. He's the least of your problems."
Though Leina couldn't guess what Melvin meant by that, she didn't ask any more questions. There were many things she wanted to know, and some that she didn't want to know, but she decided to let them rest for that night. So she only sighed and wondered how vast and confusing the World could be. In the morning she would get answers, and think again about her errand. Had she known what would befall that night, however, she would not have been so complacent.
***
It was midnight when she heard the first sound. Thumping like many heavy footfalls. She sat up on the cot where she had been sleeping, and listened. It was getting closer. Melvin wasn't there.
At length Leina shook herself as if out of a daze and got dressed. On an impulse she went to the mantle and pulled down one of two swords that were hanging there. It was a big clumsy thing, worth as much in her hands as a pen in a dog's mouth. She tried to give it a swing, but it slipped her grasp and went clattering to the ground. Won't do me any good. She took both of the swords and hid them under a blanket on the cot. There they couldn't be used against her, at least.
Then she slid to the floor and waited. What for, she didn't know. Maybe the monsters had found her. Maybe Melvin had betrayed her and sent for Dangerman. She shouldn't have been so trusting. Now something was coming and it was too late. The thumping quickened. They were close.
The door burst open. Leina shrunk against the wall. It was Melvin, but when she saw him she trusted him again. The look on his face was akin to that on her own.
"Why are you still here?" he exclaimed. "They're coming. Get away before it is too late."
"Who? Who is coming?"
"I'm telling y
ou to save yourself. Go! Out the back. They won't see you in the dark if you're quick."
The wood on the porch outside groaned under some heavy weight. Leina snatched up her bag and yanked the back door open. But then she stopped and turned. "Thank you," she said quickly.
"Go!" Melvin hissed.
Leina didn't look back as she fled. The hoarse yelling and pounding were enough. Thanks to the moonless darkness that night, and the fact that she had forgotten her shoes, she went unnoticed. The terrible sounds faded into the distance. Whether Melvin was killed, or taken, or lived to see the dawn as a free man, she never knew.
Chapter 16
When the sun rose, Leina found herself sitting with her back to a lone boulder far from Melvin's home. She hadn't slept. The last few hours felt blank, like a bad dream that fades from waking memory, leaving only an impression. She didn't want to remember it.
The sun's light revealed things that she had not seen in a very long time. Tufts of grass, broken shards of water-worn stone, stubby trees and shrubs grappling at life's fringe. To many it would have been a dismal sight, but after journeying so long in the empty Desert it seemed an oasis. More importantly, it brought her hope. She was near the border.
Leina had a quick breakfast. As she packed up what remained, she stared at the symbol on her bag. There it was: her only hope, and yet she knew nothing about it. She had not given much thought to what would happen after she reached the Agency. In the beginning she had even believed that she would simply deliver the message and move on to some unknown future. But now she did not believe that would be so. For better or for worse, her life was tied up with this Agency, if only for a little while. She wished she had asked Melvin more questions. Now she could only trust, and hope that she was not being used for some ulterior motive. What a strange place the World was! But anything was better than what she had come from. Sighing, she got up and continued west, away from the rising sun.
It was cooler here, although in another time Leina would have considered it stiflingly hot. She traveled as fast as she could. She knew the end of her journey was near, and it gave her energy as she had not felt for days upon days. Before long, hazy shapes appeared ahead of her on the horizon. And then they were in front of her—the mountains.
They stood like dark, lonely sentinels at the border of this rain-shadowed land. Their tops were flat, as if some giant had hewed them off with a cleaver. What they had seen, silent, always watching, in the countless years since they were formed, Leina did not know.
She scaled the side of the nearest mountain eagerly, and reached the summit in less than an hour. Before looking beyond the mountains, she turned and regarded the flat expanse of desert behind her. It stretched on for what seemed an immeasurable distance, but she had crossed it. And now she could leave it, and the monsters, and Dangerman utterly behind. “Goodbye, Desert,” she said quietly. Then she turned.
She had almost forgotten about trees during her time in the Desert, but now they were before her in multitudes. Though the one side of the mountain that she had scaled was bare, the other was laden with vegetation and greenness and life that existed in total oblivion of the desperate expanse that was just barely obscured from their view.
A strip of green pine forest extended past the slope of the mountains. But beyond that forest, a lush terraced hill-country stretched as far as she could see. Far away to the right there was a glimmer that Leina guessed was the sea. For a moment she thought that the vision would fade away. It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.
Just as Sam had said, she spied two nearly identical hills next to each other, each with a lone aspen tree on top. She hurried toward them, her bag dangling and blowing like a flag in the breeze. She soon struck a little-used footpath, with mossy stones lined up neatly on both sides. It wound on before her for some way before it snaked between the two grass-covered hills. She followed it eagerly, anxious to see what lay beyond. Though so far everything had been just as Sam had said it would be, she feared that all she would find past the hills would be a field of grass. Was there really such thing as the Agency, or had this all been some kind of cruel joke?
“Who are you?”
Leina jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
“Up here, in the tree,” it said.
Leina looked up. Before her were the two hills, and in the branches of one of the aspen trees a young girl was perched. She hopped down. “Who are you?”
Leina smiled as the girl looked her over with unmasked curiosity. “I need to talk to someone at the Agency.”
The girl’s eyes widened. “You must be someone important.”
“I don’t think so. I’m just delivering a message.”
“Hm. Well, I’ll show you where it is. My name is Ruby.” She ran down the hill to meet Leina on the path. “It’s this way.”
Just beyond the two hills, the path took a steep drop. Below was a poppy-dotted valley next to a cove, and there lay the outpost that Sam had spoken of. It was surrounded by sheer mountains on all other sides, making it virtually invisible from any other attainable vantage point on land. The village consisted mostly of small cottages, but a little apart from the rest there was a massive structure with a domed roof of glass. Two low wings spread out from the main building, with a larger building connected to the end of each. An eagle in flight was engraved above the main doors.
“The Agency?”
Ruby nodded. “Yup. My father works there.”
“Oh. If you don’t mind my asking… what does the Agency do?”
Ruby hesitated. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m not really supposed to know. Not too much. When I’m 21 I can go into training, and then I’ll get to know all about it. But I’m only 14, so it’s going to be a while.”
“Ah. They’re nice, though, right?”
“Oh yes. Well, I wouldn’t want to be in Father’s class, of course.” She laughed as if sharing an inside joke.
Leina didn’t get it, but she chuckled quietly anyways. “Well, you’d better take me there.”
They went down to the little town, and walked along a cobbled road lined with houses. The town was small, but Leina had never seen so many houses all in one place. They were well-built and kept very neat. Many of them had small farm plots out front, where lush selections of plants were growing.
“Where did you come from?” Ruby asked as they walked.
“From the Desert.”
Ruby gasped. “The Desert? You really must be important, then.”
They came to the end of the road, and the Agency. Leina found herself face to face with a set of glass panels at least three times her height, with no doorknobs. She reached out tentatively to push them open, but they swung back on their own.
Leina hung back, glancing at Ruby. “Did they just open by themselves?”
Ruby laughed. “That’s what happens when the Agency has too much time on its hands. When you’ve been hidden for your whole life, you have plenty of it.”
“Hidden?”
“Oh, you’ll hear about that later. Come on!”
Leina had read stories about half-imagined technologies from some forgotten age. Now they came to life before her eyes.
They entered a spacious atrium-like gallery with a domed glass roof soaring high above their heads. The glass let in ample light, but Leina could see that the windowed offices and conference rooms that lined the gallery were brilliantly lit with electric lights. One section of the wall to Leina’s left was covered in buttons and dials. All the same it was not a cold, hard place. In the middle of the spacious room there was a fountain surrounded by exotic potted plants, and the floor of immaculately polished wood served to offset the otherwise industrial appearance. At the bottom of the fountain was a large depiction of the eagle insignia that Leina had carried with her across the Desert. Two hallways branched away from the atrium.
Leina was staring at her surroundings, dazzled, when a woman rushed past them.
Ruby called to her, “I found a messenger!”
The woman whirled around sharply. She couldn’t have been much older than thirty, but she carried with her an air of wisdom and grace that is usually only seen in the elderly. It was a striking combination. She looked Leina over. “Come with me.”
She led Leina to a door at the back of the room that opened into a small office furnished with a desk and a few chairs. The desk was covered with papers, but they were all arranged neatly. There was a panel of buttons on the wall much like a smaller version of what Leina had seen in the last room.
“Thank you,” the woman said dismissively to Ruby, who was watching from the doorway. Ruby left with a disappointed look on her face. The woman extended her hand, regarding Leina with a gaze that was intensely perceptive. “Sasha, director of the Agency.”
“Leina Skyvola.” She took the hand and shook it hesitantly.
For a moment Sasha didn’t seem to respond. “Leina Skyvola?” she repeated.
Leina nodded. “I came from the Desert.”
Sasha’s eyes darted back to Leina’s face. “Please sit down.”
Leina did. “Someone named Sam gave me this letter and said to take it to the Agency.” She fumbled around in her bag and produced the thick envelope.
Sasha took the letter and set it aside on the desk, to Leina’s disappointment. “How did you know him?” Sasha said.
Leina tried not to laugh as she attempted to think of how to explain it.
Sasha relaxed. “Good. I can see that you really do know him. His tactics are… unique, to say the least. He is a good actor. You might say he is in deep cover.”
“Oh, yes. I’ve read about that. I didn’t think it was real, though.”
“Have you?” Sasha looked perplexed. She picked up a pad of paper from the desk and began scribbling notes. “I can see your life has been an interesting one. What were you doing in the Desert?”