by Zamil Akhtar
The Marshal clenched and opened his fist twice, the hand signal to take cover.
The black monster disappeared, reappeared at the top of the stairs.
It’s taking the height advantage!
To the right of the banister, there was a side exit that led to other rooms on the first floor. The group ran behind its wall for cover and a choke point.
“He’s the one we fought on the Maymanah.” Merv couldn’t control the tremble in his voice. “Fucking Magus.”
The Marshal spoke with calm and command. “The Magus Asha. I fought him that day, I know how to kill him. It can manipulate light, but not matter. If I get in close, one blow is all I’ll need. You two stay here and provide cover fire.”
“You crazy!?” Merv said. “You can’t go against him alone!”
“Some of us have valor.” The Marshal raised his blade. “Now stay here and cover me!”
Merv charged sunshine within him, fired a beam at the Magus as Jahangir dashed out of cover.
Missed — the Magus vanished and reappeared at the bottom of the stairs. Jahangir jumped, swiped at the monster. His blade hit something unseen. A butterfly sword materialized in the monster’s hands, too big for a human to carry. But was the Magus even holding it, or was it floating?
Jahangir landed, put his hand on the floor, and released an earthquake. It erupted, set the fish on fire. Such ability. Electric current surged through the air, toward the monster.
But it wasn’t there. It wasn’t anywhere. Where’d it go? It materialized atop the stairs. There was only one way for Jahangir to go: up.
He released a flashbang burst, scorching everyone’s vision. Merv didn’t close his eyes in time. Blinded, he heard the sound of clanging steel. Sword to sword. Jahangir’s close. One blow.
And then it stopped; the flashbang cleared, and Merv saw his brother lying at the base of the stairs, blood gushing through his blacksuit. No Magus in sight.
“Jah...you okay!? Say something!”
Merv stepped out of cover to save him. Aymin pulled him back.
“Stop!” Aymin shouted. “It’s an obvious trap! He’s left him there to lure us out!”
“We can’t leave our commanding officer to die!”
“Don’t be an idiot thinking you’re a hero!”
There was an obvious logic to what he was saying.
“Commander Jahangir!” Merv shouted. “Say something!”
I have to save him. Remember. We are of Nur. Our souls, in union, are the soul of Nur. The sons and daughters of Elkaria are the lights of heaven. One light goes out, and the whole sky dims.
Merv pushed Aymin’s grip off and ran for his brother. He kept one eye on the top of the stairs, expecting the Magus to strike.
His brother’s intestines shone through bloody black threads. Merv grabbed his legs to pull him to safety.
“You pale piece of shit,” Jahangir choked. “Can’t you see a trap with those vile eyes?”
“Come on! I’ll drag you out of here!”
Jahangir’s eyes lit up, he glared at something behind Merv’s back.
“Now you’re dead too.” He smiled a disappointed smile. Almost brotherly. And then Jahangir kicked Merv, right in the torso, thudding him backward a yard. A beam of light pierced the air, straight through his brother’s chest.
The Commander of the Emigrant Fleet, Marshal Jahangir, lay dead.
That was meant...for me...
Char and blood smoked off his blacksuit.
No...how can such a man die?
“Surrender,” said an unknown voice from above. “Lay your weapons on the floor.”
I could have shielded you from that blow. You hated me. But because we’re brothers of the Emigrant Fleet, of Elkaria, you saved me. Right? Isn’t that right?
Shirmian soldiers streamed down the stairs, as if they were there the entire time. Aymin came out, hands in the air.
The voice spoke, “Don’t worry, we treat our prisoners well on this side of the Wall.”
This guy’s speaking perfect Kalamic...just who is he?
They separated the two remaining team members and didn’t even bother clamping the decoy aperture on Merv’s wrist. They simply bound his hands, pushed him into an elevator, then left him in a room with a table and two chairs.
He sat in a chair and waited. A man entered: Almarian, elder, unarmed, wearing a simple robe.
“My name is Lacan, I’m a researcher here at TEX,” he said. “What’s your name?”
Merv told him. “You people have Zauri. I want to see her!”
When he closed his eyes, he could see her blueness on a higher level of the Tower.
“So you’re the one. You know, she doesn’t want to see you. To the girl, you might as well be Angra Mainyu Himself.”
Lacan sat, tossed a book onto the table. The Double Palm Tree Emblem of the Emigrant Fleet adorned the cover, “The Way Home” written in calligraphy across the spine.
“Where’d you get that?” Merv asked.
“It was a good read. But obviously written by someone with grandiose delusions.”
That man is dead today.
“I want to see Zauri.”
Lacan picked up the book, flipped through the pages. It looked like it had been drowned in a bathtub, then dried. “You know, nowhere in this book is there any mention of a plan to annihilate Almarian cities. So why did you burn Qindsmar?”
Why? “I don’t know. Those were the orders the Marshal gave us.”
Wetness filled Lacan’s eyes. Tension erupted in his stare. “Orders? Orders? I’m an Almarian. I lived in Qindsmar. I had a neighbor with a red-fur cat. I would take care of it sometimes, feed it. It was a very lazy cat, it didn’t do many tricks. But when I slept, it would crawl to my ears and warm them. I miss that cat.”
“A cat? Really? That’s what you choose to remember from that ant hill? I guess they are a gift of Nur.”
Lacan got up, pushed in his chair, and leaned against it. “You are an ant gnawing at an intricate carpet. You simply don’t know the beauty of what you destroy. The order of what you see as chaos is incomprehensible to you.”
“And that means what?”
“The pain your people suffered,” he tapped the book, “documented in this manifesto, swirled upon itself for three generations. And now, a people who don’t know what was done to them have inflicted that pain on a people who don’t know what they did to deserve it.”
“They deserved it,” Merv said. “The Almarians were the first to betray us during the War of the Poets, when they put down their weapons like cowards.”
“Sure, and who will the people of Qindsmar take it out on? Who will suffer their pain for them? This is a cycle that will never end, unless someone ends it. That’s what we will do.”
“I want to see Zauri.”
Lacan sat, calmer after that outburst. “According to the book, you’ve failed your mission. ’Secure the land up to the river, then build a wall.’ A wall like the Barrier of Iskander. She can build and break walls, am I right?”
Merv swallowed a dead lump. “How could you possibly know that?”
“I know a lot. And I know why she fears you. Because you can make her do things she doesn’t want to. Your Word speaks to the deepest part of her. And that’s how you can help me.”
“Why would I help you?”
Lacan leaned back, rubbed his hands. His red beard made Merv think of that red-fur cat from the story.
“Do you know what it’s like to be tortured by a Magus? They can get inside your mind, connect themselves to your senses, and inject you with pain that will make you yearn for a drink of hellfire as relief. Do you want to go through that? Do you want your Zauri to go through that?”
“She doesn’t deserve it. She’s suffered so much as it is. Just, leave her alone.”
Lacan laughed a grainy laugh. “I’ve tried to gain her trust, but after what you did, she may never trust a man again. Since it’s your fault, one Word is what I want. On
e Word, whispered in her ear.”
One Word...
“Do that for me,” Lacan said, “and I’ll tell you what I know. You may just decide that working for me is more advantageous for two half-Haemians.”
“So, you know about that too.”
Lacan raised his index finger. “One Word.”
Thinking back, this boating adventure wasn’t such a great idea. Rain wrecked their enthusiasm, and it only got fiercer. The boat was a dot in the middle of blue, being pushed about by determined waves. Saina sat at the bow, holding the railing as the ship swayed, while Kav helmed the vessel, his aperture connected by wire to the ship’s sunsink.
“Maybe it’s best if we head back to land,” Saina said.
That massive tower wasn’t far, the seaside of Hyseria beneath it.
“I’m gonna get us to Necia,” Kav replied. “We can’t go back, there’s only war where we came from.”
Seen from this distance, the war was eye candy. Lightning would fall from the clouds, cutting the sky. Thunder would crackle seconds later, and sometimes things would burn. But the prettiest were the pillars of light that ascended to heaven, the wondrous firepower of lev bombers.
Saina stared the other way, where the blue waters met a red horizon: the Barrier of Iskander, a wall separating worlds, miles high and made of something eyes could only wonder at — beyond which dwelt the Plane of Haem.
“We can go back and leave when the weather clears,” Saina said.
In the distance, there were black-metal ships: TEX gunboats, by the look, guarding the shoreline.
“See that.” Kav pointed to the ships at the shoreline. “We go anywhere near them and they got us, and who knows what they’ll do?”
Kav channeled his being into the boat, feeling it glide on wetness, feeling the pounding waves. It was a weak connection because his eyes were open and his body still occupied most of his mind. But he could feel the oneness — his soul as a boat on water.
A light hit their bow. A horn sounded in the distance. Kav turned to see.
One of the black gunboats was coasting toward them.
“Oh no,” Saina said, “what should we do?”
“Shit. We can’t out run them, they’ll shoot us out of the sea.”
The boxy ship slid at them over the water. Before they could figure out a maneuver, it was here. The black hulk parked at Kav’s stern. He messaged Saina.
Stay close to me. We may have to jump, so wait for my signal.
Jump? In the water? And go where? She responded.
The ship’s metallic hatch opened; four TEX officers boarded Kav. He disconnected from the little boat, awareness pouring back into his flesh.
I’ll try to lie as convincingly as I can, but we may have no choice but to jump or even fight, so stay close.
Don’t. Please Kav, we’re badly outnumbered.
Saina grabbed his arm and hid behind his shoulder. The TEX men approached.
“I don’t want to make this hard,” the commanding officer said. He was the only one not wearing a hat. Rain soaked his hair into a black goo. “You got any contraband onboard, smuggler?”
The gorillas full of twicrys...
“Actually,” Kav said, “my wife and I were just trying to escape the war, and get somewhere safe.”
One of the officers went into the lower deck. Seconds later, he came out, empty handed. “All clear. Scans don’t show anything abnormal.”
Good thing we threw ‘em all out.
“Somewhere safe, eh?” The gooey-haired commander snickered and shook his head. “So while me and my boys are out there fighting your kind, you think you can just ignore the law and wander into the sea, wasting my time and our company resources? Another method of resistance for you fish?”
Saina...prepare yourself...
She clung harder and buried her head in his bicep.
“No sir, like any of you, I care about my family,” Kav said. “I didn’t want my girl to get caught up in any of this. You got someone you love, you understand, right?”
This was it. Kav resolved that their next words would be their last. If he could grab the scimitar in the man’s sheath, a wide-area burst could take out all four.
Here we go...
Saina crept her head out.
“Oh! An Almarian girl?” said the gooey-haired commander. “I served six years with the Continentals stationed in Almaria, that’s where I met all four of my wives. If you can bridge the race gap for the one you love, well, I think that’s something.”
Saina glared awkwardly at Kav.
“I love Almarian girls,” Kav said. “I can respect any man who appreciates fine Almarians. Why, I also plan to marry three more.”
The gooey-haired commander blushed at the compliment. “It takes a lover of the exquisite to appreciate how fine Almarian women are. But that doesn’t change anything. You can’t be roaming these waters while we’re trying to fight a war. Tell you what, there’s a ship about to leave from the Settlement to Necia carrying evacuated residents. I can get you and your girl seats. There, we’re not so bad, are we?”
Is he for real?
Kav’s muscles relaxed. “No, you guys are alright.”
“Relay that to your fellow fish once this war is over.” The gooey-haired commander gestured to his subordinates. “We have to tow this boat to shore. Get it done.”
They rode with the soldiers in the gunboat to the Hyseria Settlement, their vessel tugging along in tow. Next to Kav, Saina seemed relaxed and relieved. She sent him a message.
We’re good, right?
Don’t let your guard down yet. You can’t trust these TEX people, they’re only in it for the money. At least when I lived here, it was the Continentals in charge.
But you can’t fight them. You’ve no weapon and there’s one of you and four of them.
When you have surprise, you have the advantage. Something I learned from Shar.
You’re not Shar.
They sped into the mouth of a cave. It was well lit, and an array of piers, some with boats, lined the shore. A massive metal door waited beyond.
The boat parked at the closest pier, in front of the metal door. A heated discussion erupted between the four officers. One of them stood still, as if transmitting. Then they all took out their blades.
“What’s going on?” Kav asked.
“Nothing,” said the gooey-haired commander. “Time to go.”
The soldiers escorted them onto the pier.
“No response,” said one of the officers. “We can’t get in.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” The gooey-haired commander paced back and forth.
The metal doors were clamped like sideways teeth. There was no other way out the cave.
Everyone silenced. Drilling. There was the sound of metal being drilled. No, not drilled. Sheared. Sawed.
“You hear that?” said one of the officers.
It got louder.
Flashbang. White light filled the cave and scathed Kav’s eyes. To protect her, Kav pushed Saina onto the boat. He hit the floor and shielded his head. Metal exploded. Blades clanged, conduction sheared. Men screamed.
The flashbang’s mist receded. Kav looked up and saw four uniformed bodies, including the gooey-haired commander, torn on a bloody floor. A rabble of Keldanese men stood over them.
Sons.
“You! Identify yourself or your dead!” A fiery-eyed Son approached.
Sons, no doubt about it.
“You saved me, brother.” Kav rose, hands in the air. “Got caught, was about to get the blade’s edge. You brothers got here just in time.”
Would they buy it? Surely Kav could act a Son, considering he’d been one.
“Right,” the Son said. “So what troop you with?”
Troop? Shit. He said the only thing he could think of. “Mezzin...I’m with Mezzin.”
The fiery-eyed one got in his face, grinned. “Well you’re in luck, brother. He’s here, your boss, the man who won us thi
s war singlehandedly.” He turned, whistled. “’Ey Mezzin! We found one of your herd!”
He’s here?
Smoke still steamed off the metal door. Several feet thick, how could a human have blasted through? A man with a metal arm walked through the smoke. Kav locked eyes with him. This was a reunion four years in the making, and Kav had only one thing on his mind.
Mezzin, for what you did, I won’t spare your life this time.
Zauri didn’t understand what she was.
I’m something tall, something huge.
The sun made her glass body pink. Lavender rainbows reflected off clouds, which sat on her head like a pillow.
Everything is so small again.
Firecrackers? They buzzed through the air, fizzled, and flung lightning at the ground. Little things caught fire. Zauri was afraid one would hit her.
Ants. Everyone and everything.
She stood in a water puddle that led into an endless stream. A miniature city of sandcastles surrounded the puddle. Beyond it were jungles to be stepped on like grass.
Why am I this?
A message hit her. From Merv.
Zauri. I need you to listen to me very carefully.
She wanted to cry, but whatever she was could not shed tears. She wanted to run, but whatever she was did not have feet.
Do you see it? Look up, look far, into the western ocean. Can you see the black sky?
She could see it. The Wall — a murky whirl, like a hurricane of blood. Its mouth opened at the top of the sky. Beyond it, there was only black. The black world of the Haemians.
You’re going to feel sunshine flowing through you, just like before.
Her glass skin absorbed the light waves. The sun’s spectrum connected her to the universe. Her soul blazed like the core of a star. Such a familiar ease to it all.
I hate you.
Zauri, I didn’t want to do this. They made me do it. They said they would kill you if I didn’t.
Then let me die.
Her blood was oil in a lamp. One match would set it alight. That inferno would ride through the seas and eviscerate whatever it touched. One strike of the match — one Word.
If you die...then I’m alone. Now, Unleash.
CHAPTER 14