by Liv Daniels
As Max spoke, Leina noticed that the aircraft was descending slightly. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Looking for a clearing in the woods,” said Max.
Leina was silent for a long time, trying to figure out where they were in relation to the Agency, and the Desert. They had been going south when they came to the sea, and they must have turned, but they were not back where they started. So now they were going east. That could only mean—“Why are we going to my house?”
Leina expected Max to be surprised that she had figured it out, but his reply was nonchalant. “I want to see those books you keep talking about.”
At the mention of her books, Leina smiled broadly. “I like that idea. Can we take them with us?”
“As long as you won’t let them distract you,” Max teased. “Either way, with the shortage of books, I think they may prove very useful to us.”
Soon Max spotted a small clearing in the trees, and sent the airship into a descending spiral that allowed him to land there without a runway. The craft came to a smooth landing in the long forest grass.
“No house here,” Max observed. “Does it look familiar?”
“Oh, yes,” said Leina, without hesitation. There was the huge many-branched tree that she had climbed up so many times, and read books in its heights through the summers, and across from it was the cracked boulder that she had pretended was the entrance to a perilous vortex, and the little stream where she had so often found cool refreshment from the heat of the day. The familiar sights brought to her heart a pang of bittersweet remembrance, all the sweeter for the bitterness. “We’re very close.”
They got out of the aircraft, and without difficulty Leina found the footpath that she had so often followed home at the setting of the sun. It was a strange feeling, to be back in this place. She was not the same carefree, daydreaming girl that had last tread this way. Now she knew things that had never troubled her mind before, and she had seen things that the pages of a book had never spoken of. If given the chance, she wondered, would she go back to who she had been? If she could, would she forget that there was a World that stretched away from here in every direction, forget the darkness, and with it forget the shreds of good that were left? Would it be enough for her now simply to exist, and to dream, and to pay no heed to those who knew and cared nothing of her existence?
She wished that she could see the forest with the same eyes that had known and loved its every leaf and twig not so long ago. But was that what she really wanted? And if not, was it wrong of her to want anything else? When she came to the Agency, she had wanted nothing but to help—to help fight the darkness that Grandmother had spoken of. Now she had her wish. She was going to Estlebey. But had it been wrong of her to insist on helping, when there were people so much more capable like Max and Sasha? They didn’t need her. For all she knew, her hunch about Estlebey could be wrong. If she didn't find anything useful there, she would only have been a drain on their time and energy, a “risk” like Sasha had said that didn’t pan out. If that happened, after it happened, why should she not be happy to go back to living as she once had? Why should she not be content that there was nothing she could do? Why did she feel so personally responsible, when maybe the problem had never been her own?
If Leina had not known the path well, she would have strayed from it when she became lost in her thoughts. But her feet had tread this way so many times that they did not need guidance. Now, just ahead, were the last dip and rise in the path before her home would come into view. Leina half expected to see Grandmother watching her from the doorway when the familiar clearing came into view. Then she would go in and have some of the hot soup that had been simmering all day, and settle down in bed with a candle and a book—
What she actually saw was quite different. All that was left in the clearing was a black charred mess.
Max came up behind her. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
Leina was too dumbstruck to answer. When she entered the Desert, she had known that there was no going back. But still, she hadn’t been prepared to see that reality before her very eyes.
Max paced into the clearing and picked up something that lay on the ground. It was a red flag, with “Dangerman” painted on it in a decidedly uncaring, unartistic manner.
“I see that he finally got his public relations team up to speed,” Leina said grimly. She looked down to banish the sight from her eyes, but they were only met with huge clawed prints that defiled the blackened dirt. It took all of the effort that she had in her not to cry.
“This is bad.” Max said. “I’ve never heard of Dangerman’s creatures coming anywhere near this area before. His reach is lengthening.”
Leina turned. “Can we go now?”
Max nodded, and hustled past her down the path. “We shouldn’t be here. If they see us, our entire operation is as good as over.”
Leina ran to catch up with Max. She let the trees and the branches pass in a blur, and kept her eyes fixed unseeingly ahead. Don’t think. Don’t feel. Just get out of here.
Chapter 25
Leina didn’t remember much of the ride back to the Agency. She had felt the need to make conversation, to act like she wasn’t bothered.
“Why do you have all of this—the airships and everything, I mean—if you must remain in hiding?” she had asked. “Surely you can’t let anyone see them.”
Max had replied, with an unusual degree of quietness, “We are saving them. Saving them for the time when secrecy can no longer avail us, when we will come out of the shadows at last. That may not be too far away. I fear that whatever is going on in the Desert may soon come to a point.”
Now, as Leina lay sleepless in bed at some deep hour of night, she wished that it would. She didn’t want to hide anymore. Why could no one march out in the sun and confront whatever power had taken the world and be done with it? That was what always happened in the books that she used to read.
When you go to Estlebey, you’ll still be hiding, but it will be in plain sight for a change. Not in a corner. That will be good enough, she thought. Then there was an afterthought. Maybe if you learn too much of the World while you’re there, you’ll want to come back and hide again.
***
At some point, Leina must have dropped off to sleep, because when she gradually gained awareness it was morning, and a little bit of sun was streaming in through the high window in her room. This place feels like home, almost, she thought to herself.
A dull reminder of yesterday was immediately there in the back of Leina’s mind, but her mind felt clearer. In only a few days, she had a job to do, and that was enough.
Thinking about that reminded Leina of the idea that had been formulating in her head. She knew that it was time to tell Max about it, but she cringed to think of how she knew he would react. Nonetheless, she had been unable to banish the thought from her mind over the past few weeks. If she didn’t at least run it by him, she knew that she would regret it.
So, when she slipped into her desk a few minutes later, Leina immediately began speaking before Max could begin that day’s lesson.
“So, I had an idea,” she blurted out, much less tactfully than she had intended.
Max set down the stub of chalk in his hand and crossed his arms. Leina could tell that the reaction was coming on already. “Not about Estlebey?” he said, a little warily.
Leina nodded meekly. “It’s just an idea, of course.”
Max was clearly not impressed by Leina’s quickness to apologize. There was no question about it: she had chosen the wrong day to ask. Why didn’t I think to analyze his mood before I brought this up? she wondered. Either way, there was no going back now.
Max was tapping his fingers rapidly on the wooden desk at the head of the classroom. “Well, what is it?”
“Well, I …” Leina began, hesitating.
“Go on.”
“You know how when I go to Estlebey I’m supposed to be undercover? Acting like an
innocent kid who knows nothing?”
Max nodded curtly, prompting Leina to continue.
“Well, I was thinking that the whole charade might appear more natural if I had someone else with me.”
Max grunted and threw his hands up in exasperation. He didn’t need Leina to tell him who the candidate was. “Bad idea, Leina. There’s no way you’re going to get me to let my daughter go with you. You were a stretch. But Ruby? She’s only fourteen. She would probably let some detail slip and give us all away. And she would hinder you, without a doubt.” Max had started the speech calmly through gritted teeth, but by the end he was raving and gesturing violently.
“Haven’t you seen how much she wants to help? She’s got more passion then you think, nothing like those last students of yours. I don’t think she’ll slip. She’s smart. And … even if she did hinder me, wouldn’t that be more realistic? If I appear to be any more of a spy than her, I don’t think I would be doing the job very well.”
Even Max didn’t have an answer to that.
Chapter 26
“This,” Sasha said, “is what we call a debriefing.”
Leina nodded solemnly. “I’ve read about those.” It was the day before she was to leave for Estlebey. She and Ruby, that is. To her utter astonishment, Max had actually agreed to her plan. Now, as she sat in Sasha’s office and listened, she was tingling all over with excitement and anticipation.
“I’m going to tell you everything that you need to know about Estlebey and your mission there,” Sasha continued. “If you have any questions, ask. It’s crucial that you are explicitly clear on the operation and feel well-prepared after this.”
Leina nodded. “Okay.”
Sasha pushed a dark lock of hair out of her face. “So. Estlebey. I hear that Max has already given you a history lesson, but he’s left it to me to fill you in on the current situation there. King Drakus II—the Appeaser, that is—has reigned there for a very long time, and ever since his ascension to the throne, the city has undergone constant decay. Things aren’t as bad now as they were when I was a child, but they could easily get a lot worse, and quickly. Learning, art, morality—all things integral to humanity—have suffered and fallen far from their heights of old. Add to that the constant abrasion of the monster raids, and we have before us a city in an effective dark age. Its people have become an unthinking mass all too eager to follow anyone who promises that he can protect them. Of course the Appeaser is only hurting them further, but they can’t see it. It’s a dangerous situation.”
“But Max said that The Appeaser isn’t dangerous, only a petty liar,” Leina broke in.
Sasha shrugged. “True. He doesn’t look beyond his own bubble of power, and never will. He’s not a danger to the World beyond Estlebey. It’s the forces that support him that worry me. We know very little about them, except that they exist, and that it is they that they are tearing the world apart. They will not hesitate to use him if he can be of benefit to them.”
“You said that the situation in Estlebey was about to go ‘critical.’ What does that mean?”
“We intercepted a message stating that the Appeaser intends to close Estlebey’s borders sometime in the future. We don’t know how soon. If and when this happens, it will mean that no one can go in, and no one can go out. For us, that would mean no more newspapers, no more informers. It would cut Estlebey off from us entirely.
“We don’t believe that this is something that the Appeaser would do of his own accord. It doesn't serve his own interests in any way. So we think—we fear—that the mandate came from outside. The motivation for such a move can only be guessed at, but it’s possible that someone or something has caught wind of our existence and is seeking to cut off one of our main sources of information. This is only a guess, but if it is true, it would be… concerning, to say the least.” Sasha was silent for a long time, and Leina didn’t dare speak. “Does that all make sense?” Sasha said finally.
“Yes,” Leina said simply.
“Good,” said Sasha. “Now for your assignment. This is the first time that we have sent one of our own agents to Estlebey, and with the situation there it may very well be our last. Your main job is simply to observe, to see those things that we have been unable to since we left so many years ago. Remember everything that you see, even those details that are most trivial. Often they are the most important.”
“And the monster raid?”
“Yes, the monster raid. I assume Max has given you some training on how to stay safe?”
Leina tried to remember. She had been working so hard with Max that all of his lessons were beginning to blur together. “A little, I think. Not much. He said that he didn’t want me to appear like I’d been trained, since I’m undercover.”
Sasha let out a long breath. “We’ll have to trust Max on that one. Anyway, you’ve been around monsters before.”
Leina nodded, shivering a little. She didn’t want to remember.
“Just use common sense,” Sasha continued. “If you get captured or hurt, there’s nothing we can do for you. While you are there, we have no connection to you whatsoever. We cannot risk exposing our operation for you. It’s dangerous, but… this was your idea. You understand that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Above all, look for signs of Dangerman’s connection. We need to know how deeply he is involved. Oh, and one more thing. We haven’t told Ruby more than necessary, and I suggest that you don’t either. We want her, at least, to remain just as she appears: a clueless fourteen-year-old girl, on a trip to Estlebey’s market. That’s the pretense for both of you. You are headed there to buy medicine for your sick aunt…”
“… who has smallpox and lives in Drexel,” Leina finished. Max had already spent more time drilling the backstory into her head than she wanted to remember. “That would make Ruby my sister.”
Sasha seemed to flinch. But in an instant she had regained her composure, and Leina wondered if she had only imagined it. “Yes,” Sasha said. “Good. Now, is there anything else?”
Leina hesitated. It was a silly question, and she half-expected Sasha to laugh at it. But before she went to Estlebey, she felt the need to ask. “Sasha, if someone wants to help do good, but they only hinder it by doing so, is it wrong for them to try?”
Sasha considered for a moment, her insightful eyes shimmering under the surface. “Doubt is one of the things that has torn this world apart. The Appeaser encouraged his people to doubt everything that they once held true, even truth itself, but that was only a lie contrived to make it easy for him to justify his every wrong. So much pain and confusion have been caused by that desperate charade. The World needs to learn to believe in the absolute again. It needs people who are sure that they stand for the right.
“Goodness has a way of turning every contribution, however feeble, to good. Sometimes even our failures have a meaning in the end. We can’t understand it all. We are called simply to give what we can, and trust that our side will prevail. But don’t underestimate yourself. That’s the surest way to make your fears come true. We trust you, Leina, and we don’t place our trust lightly. I know that we were hesitant to take you in at the beginning, but that is only the nature of our work. And now I see that we were wrong to hesitate at all. Never allow yourself to believe that any trial that comes your way is too great. If you do, you’ve already surrendered to it. When you are in the right, you can do anything.”
As she listened to Sasha’s answer, Leina felt a little of the tension inside of her release. She was glad that she had heard that. Now she was ready. “I suppose tomorrow, then, I’m off to the Appeaser’s kingdom,” she said.
“If you meet him, don’t call him the Appeaser, darling. That’s just our little nickname.”
“Why do you always call me darling? I’m a spy.”
Sasha shot her a wry smile. “Right, agent.”
Chapter 27
As the aircraft lifted off, the long grass on the hills was ruffled in the blast
of air. Leina and Ruby stared as the sleek shape glided away through the air and was lost to their view in a matter of seconds.
“I wish he could have dropped us off closer,” Ruby said.
“He can’t, remember?” said Leina. “If anyone from Estlebey sees one of those flying machines, they’ll know about us. Anyways, from now on, we don’t know a thing about the Agency. It’s just a myth.”
Ruby smiled crookedly. “Right. Just a myth.”
Leina studied their surroundings. The green hill-country around them was dotted with small trees and wildflowers. The wet air smelled of dew and greenness. Shadows of night lingered at the feet of the hills, and wisps of mist hung over the landscape, reluctant to give way to the day and fade out of memory. Leina shaded her eyes from the first rays of the sun, and finally spied what she was looking for in the distance: a single stone atop a hill, rising tall and thin toward the sky. Max had said that Estlebey was in that direction.
“Did you get the money?” Ruby asked as they began to make their way in the direction of the stone.
Leina patted the leather bag that hung from her side, the same one that had journeyed with her through the Desert. She had carefully, and a little regretfully, removed the eagle insignia from inside the flap last night. Without that patch, she and Ruby looked like they could have been two very ordinary girls. “Yes, I have the money. But I have no idea what kind of medicine to buy for smallpox.” She laughed.
When they reached the stone, it seemed to Leina that it was even taller than it had appeared from the distance. Looking up from its base, Leina could not see the top, and it seemed like it stretched away to some infinite length. She remembered what Max had told her about the stones—they had been put in place long ago, during Estlebey’s height, as beacons. They could be seen for miles around, and served to guide travelers to the great city. Now that she was up close, Leina could see that the pillar was covered in intricate carvings made up of elegantly curving lines thinner than spiderwebs. Artful designs surrounded depictions of different scenes that looked like illustrations for a story. Leina supposed that the story in question was the history of Estlebey, but none of the events looked familiar to her. There were only wars and kings and other such things that were as distant to Leina as the clouds. At the bottom of the pillar, on every side, arrows had been carved and painted in black.