Escape Vo'Arum

by Nicole MacDonald

  ‘Careful Mila! Stay back.’ Mama’s voice pulled her back further. Mila blinked in surprise. Mama no longer faced Papa, but stared back down the way they’d come.

  Toward them walked one of Mila’s cousins. Bryen turned fifteen a month ago. Mama and Papa had joined all the other Mestarns in flowing their gifts through Byren as the Mestarns did for all DeNagas once they reached fifteen. It allowed the DeNaga gift to transmute to a higher level, one almost equal to the Mestarns gifts. Fifteen was a very important birthday in the Manor Lodge.

  ‘Bryen,’ Mama called to him. ‘Are you here to help us?’

  Mila watched for a moment, confused at her cousin’s refusal to meet Mama’s eyes. Bryen wasn’t shy, he was a noisy show-off. Not a quiet boy.

  Mila, hurry, finish the puzzle!

  A jolt of shock at that voice, Nanny’s voice again, made Mila twist back to Papa.

  Mila kept a hold of Mama’s skirt and ignored the situation behind her. She relaxed her mind.

  The glowing structures filled her eyes again.

  Mila simply stared at first, trying to understand how it all worked, what pieces joined with the shining golden threads that held Papa. The more lines she traced, the more convoluted the puzzle seemed. She blinked and focused on the first piece, ignoring the rest. Although it looked huge - the biggest puzzle she’d seen yet - it still had one thing in common with all the other puzzles.

  You started at the beginning and worked your way through.

  The first piece was a long rectangle with a narrow slit in the center. In that slit was a tiny perfect ball of gold. Mila studied the piece, reaching out in her minds eye and gently turned it, examining it from all sides. A notch at one end suggested the ball needed to be wedged in there, but the slit got narrower the closer it got to the notch. The ball wouldn’t fit.

  Mila followed the patterns on the piece instead, tracing them with her gaze, following each line to see where it went. It all seemed like a normal pattern, but a tiny discrepancy caught her attention. Mila followed that broken line around and over to the back of the piece and spied the tiny indent. She reached, pressing the tip of her finger into the indent.

  Nothing happened.

  With a frown, Mila pushed a fraction harder.

  A ringing chime sung through her mind and the piece shivered. Mila pulled back. The slit widened. The rectangle turned, hovering vertically. The tiny ball ran down the center and wedged into the notch at the bottom.

  The rectangle shivered until it the edges blurred then with a PING broke apart, sending pieces of it clattering into other parts of the puzzle. Mila stared in astonishment as those pieces turned the next, and in turn the next. It looked like the time they’d set up playing cards all in a row, carefully balanced, and pushed the first one causing all the others to fold one after another in a beautiful wave.

  ‘Byren, please, I don’t want to hurt you!’ Mama’s voice cracked. Mila became aware of her surroundings and the growing sense of fear in Mama’s energy.

  ‘Then you will die, cousin Dan’iss. You, and Mila, and cousin Zayck.’

  ‘Why Byren? You’re one of our family. Why are you doing this to us?’

  ‘The DeNagas are meant to rule. It is a new age. We no longer need the Mestarns help in reaching our full potential.’

  Mila wrinkled her nose at Byren’s speech and the puffed up voice of bravado. He didn’t look like the cousin she used to play with. He looked like he thought himself much more clever. It irritated Mila.

  Mama gave a sad laugh. ‘Ah child. Be careful what you wish for. Nothing good can come from stealing gifts from others. It is against the rules of nature. Nothing good will come from it.’

  The whirling sounds from the puzzle stopped.

  Mila turned her attention back to it, ignoring the arrogant reply from Byren and let her eyes see the puzzle again.

  Now the puzzle looked a third smaller than when she’d stared, but instead of one beginning point to work from there were three. She regarded the three pieces while chewing on the inside of her cheek. Two circular and one rectangle. The rectangle had a large circular opening, about the size of the smaller circle.

  Mila focused on the larger circle and turned it around, looking for the switch. It looked different to the previous circles she’d worked with, the markings running out from the center like a starburst. One line caught her eye. With a finger Mila traced down it then jolted when something clicked. She froze. Heart pounding in her ears, she watched the circle break apart, opening at all the lines of the starburst. With another click it moved into motion, each piece folding down on itself and merging with the next. A moment later a tiny gold ball like had been in the first puzzle piece hung before her eyes.

  Excitement ran through Mila when she realized how the pieces went together. She picked the golden ball up and dropped it into the center hole of the other circle. Instead of falling through it stopped as if caught by an invisible thread. With a ringing chime the ball flicked open, starbursts spreading till it filled the center hole. When it stopped ringing Mila guided the piece toward the opening in the rectangle piece. A sharp pull yanked the piece from her hold into the opening. With a vibrating hum the circle twisted one way then the next. The center part that had been the tiny ball turned in the opposite direction.

  A sharp metallic hum grew louder and louder, making Mila’s teeth ache. She shook her head, unintentionally pulling away from the puzzle, back to where she stood beside Mama.

  An explosion right beside her ripped a shriek from her throat.

  ‘Byren! Stop this! You’re not like them!’ Mama’s voice wavered between anger and pleading.

  ‘Don’t tell me what I’m like, you don’t know me!’ Byren’s face twisted with anger and he hurled another bolt.

  Mama growled hands extended as she shielded the blows. ‘I will stop you,’ she muttered.

  Mila sensed the pull as Mama extended, blending her life energy with everything around them. Drawing strength from it, Mama created a swirling ball of energy that crackled between her hands.

  It scared Mila to see Mama holding that. The crackling energy would hurt, it might kill Byren!

  ‘Mama, you can’t!’ Mila tugged her skirt.

  ‘Stop it, Mila. I have to do this. Before the others come.’

  At her words the rhythmic sound that slowly grew was suddenly recognizable.

  Footsteps. Lots of footsteps.

  Mama flared the ball wider and sucked a breath in as she lifted it, readying to release.

  A blinding flash of energy whipped past them, hitting Byren in the chest. The strength of the blow shunted the boy into a wall. He hit it with a massive thud and dropped to the ground.

  Mama spun with a gasp, and Papa stood there, hands extended from the release.

  ‘He’s unconscious.’

  ‘Zayck! How did you?’

  ‘Mila released me.’

  Her parents both looked at her in astonishment.

  ‘Mila? How did-’ Mama began before Papa interrupted her.

  ‘No time!’

  He snatched Mila up in his arms and pressed a hard kiss to her forehead before he gestured to Mama with his head. ‘Run!’

  Mila jolted away on Papa’s hip but hung on tight as her parents raced along the wide corridor just as shouts rang out from behind them. Papa shouted something at Mama and jerked to the left, flinging open a skinny door. The narrow dark corridor had stairs all the way down and Papa shifted Mila to his front, one hand on the banister.

  The jolting while being carried backward down stairs made Mila’s toes curl and stomach shrink. She hung on tight.

  Papa hit the bottom of the stairs with a jolt then darted ahead. Mila heard Mama right behind them. The sound of a door opening made Mila twist to look as her parents burst out into the open air of the Manor Lodge grounds.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Papa and Mama’s footsteps sounded loud on the gravel path that led away from the Manor Lodge and into the forest that edged the
valley floor.

  ‘Papa,’ Mila whispered. ‘Why aren’t we going out the gate?’

  He folded his arms beneath where she hung on his back and hefted her a little higher. Mila settled her arms around his shoulders.

  ‘Because it’s too open, Mila. We can’t be seen.’

  Quiet now, lovey. Mama’s voice was soft in her mind. Clever girl at releasing Papa. You must show me how you did that when we’re far away from here.

  ‘Okay Mama,’ Mila whispered before pressing her mouth to Papa’s back when both parents made a shushing noise.

  The crunch of gravel vanished as Papa and Mama moved onto the soft ground cover that led into the dense forest. Mila’s tummy made strange twists. The forest was scary in daytime. At night it was worse! The sharp ends of branches poked Mila’s legs and back, twigs tangling and yanking her hair. Mila winced, keeping her mouth pressed tight to Papa’s back. She didn’t cry out when several hairs got pulled out. Mama’s hand brushed over her head, and untangled her hair.

  Mama and Papa climbed, heading up and along, following a path Mila couldn’t get even the slightest glimpse of. She could feel her parents using their energy, touching various areas of the forest, looking for some kind of markers. A low sonorous cry made Mila grip Papa tight. He patted her hands and his voice entered her mind.

  Just a hootling, Lea, don’t worry.

  Moments after his thought a soft sweeping noise from overhead drew near, the hootling flew over their heads and further into the forest. Mila peered after the sounds of its wings and caught a slight glimpse of the glowing eyes on its tail feathers before it vanished into the darkness. Mama and Papa navigated their way through the trees. They stiffened and froze when a twig snapped a way back from them. Mila felt Papa make some kind of gesture at Mama and they both crouched down.

  One of Mila’s feet jammed into the earth, Papa pressing low against the ground. More snaps and crunches echoed in the darkness before something else.

  The murmur of voices.

  Papa’s energy sparked in alarm then Mama’s too.

  Mila twisted to stare back at the way the sounds came from and spotted a bobbing light.

  Torch light.

  Mama and Papa kept low and began to move again, almost crawling. Mila crunched up against Papa’s back, squinting at first then kept her head down to avoid the lower branches.

  The sounds of those approaching grew. Papa moved faster, Mama right behind. They scooted up higher, scrambling, and tucked against cold stone. Not a moment later the torches bobbed past, following the track they’d been on.

  The bobbing lights moved closer then away, and closer again. The voices, questioning but too quiet to make out the words, sounded near.

  Crouched against the narrow stone ledge, Papa and Mama held hands. The soft touch of their energy surrounded all three of them.

  The bobbing lights came closer, close enough that Mila saw the faces of those who held them. Five DeNaga men, armed with swords, axes, and clubs.

  Mila shivered at the sight of the weapons that gleamed in the torchlight.

  The torches came closer yet, and the DeNagas peered at where they sat.

  ‘See something?’ one of the men asked the man at the front.

  ‘No, it must have been an animal.’

  They turned, climbing down. The torches bobbed further and further away.

  Papa and Mama didn’t move.

  The night air grew colder as they waited, listening to the cries of the nightlife. It made Mila drowsy, Papa’s body heat keeping her warm enough to doze off.

  She jerked awake when Papa stood, almost falling. He caught her legs and hefted her back into position.

  ‘Hold on, little one,’ he said quietly.

  Turning to help Mama down from the ledge, he stiffened when Mama gasped.

  ‘Look!’

  Papa twisted and Mila saw a tiny sphere of soft pink energy bobbing just down from them.

  ‘Dan’iss do you recognize it?’

  ‘It’s mother’s!’

  Mama sounded close to tears. Papa grabbed her arm, his other arm holding Mila in place.

  ‘C’mon, let’s follow.’

  The pretty light waited until they reached it then set off, keeping close to the ground as it led the way down and over, taking them out of the forest.

  When they reached the riverbed on the far side of the valley, they turned to look back at the Manor Lodge tucked behind its walls. Some of the windows were black, others light, and some flashed. Muffled screams carried on the still night air.

  ‘Oh Zayck.’ Mama said.

  Papa reached for her hand. ‘I know. I know. Don’t think about it yet. We have to keep moving.’

  Mila watched the pink light as her parents talked. It hovered like it waited and seemed to get impatient, swirling in circles before bouncing in front of Mama’s face.

  ‘We’re coming!’

  Her parents followed the light over the rough ground that edged the village and the narrow riverbed. It went for some distance, taking them past the village. Mila stared from her papa’s back, looking at the high fence with its little huts for those on watch. A night bird called, its long echoing cry ringing out. Every other hut perched on top of the fence had a dim light of someone keeping watch.

  Mama and Papa walked quietly past the fence. Papa motioned Mila to be quiet and pointed at the little watch huts. They walked right around the fence, past the archway that signaled the end of the village and the beginning of the long road to the outer cities.

  In her whole life, Mila had only once gone further than that archway, but not by much. Yet Mama and Papa kept walking, following that light.

  Minutes later the light stopped moving, hovering in mid-air then flashed twice and vanished.

  Papa and Mama griped hands, not moving.

  Soft footsteps drew near. Mila hunched tight to Papa’s back, eyes wide and ears alert, knees wobbly with nerves.

  ‘Dan’iss?’

  The whispered question from the person who stood near caused a tiny cry of delight from Mama.

  ‘Mama!’

  A soft light grew. Grandma’s face appeared. Her white hair, normally tucked into a neat bun, hung in tangled messy strands around her face. One of her eyes swelled with a bruise while scratches had drawn blood across her cheeks.

  ‘Oh Mama!’ Mila’s mama said as she reached a hand out to her. A moment later the bruise and scratches vanished. ‘Didn’t you notice them?’

  Grandma made an attempt at a smile but her eyes filled with tears. On Papa’s back Mila whimpered, wanting to get down to comfort her. Papa squeezed her legs.

  ‘Stay Mila,’ he murmured. ‘Let Mama talk.’

  Mama embraced Grandma, hugging the older woman tight. As she did more people emerged from the surrounding darkness. All Mestarns, the men, women, and children crowded close. Mila smiled to see her cousins, aunties, and uncles all well.

  But some weren’t there.

  ‘Papa,’ she whispered. ‘Where’s Grandpa? And Auntie Syrena, and cousin Halena?’

  Aunty Graca stepped close to Papa and reached for Mila, touching her face while smiling.

  ‘Hello little Mila, I’m happy to see you well.’

  Mama burst into tears.

  Papa set Mila down glancing at Aunty Graca and moved to his wife’s side. Mila went to move but Aunty Graca stopped her. ‘Here now, your aunty needs a hug from her Mila to make her feel better.’

  Mila hugged her aunty but her eyes watched Mama.

  Grandma and Mama hugged tight. When Papa touched Mama’s shoulder she pulled away from Grandma and said something to him. He hugged her tight.

  Aunty Graca picked her up, turning away from the scene so Mila turned her head to watch.

  ‘No, Mila, give your mama and papa a moment.’

  ‘Why? Why is Mama crying?’

  Aunty Graca didn’t answer.

  The other Mestarns crowded around Mila and Aunty Graca, everyone wanting a hug or to kiss her on
the cheek. It was like a strange family event, one where people cried lots. Not a funeral though, not a thing like the funeral. Sadder somehow. Mila hugged tight, pleased to see people who didn’t want to hurt them but upset at the constant sense of sorrow from everyone.

  It was cold too. Mila shivered in the dark and hugged Aunty Graca around the waist. Her aunty put her arms around her, rubbing her back.

  ‘Oh little, Mila, are you cold?’

  Mila nodded.

  ‘Mila.’ Mama’s voice made her turn. Aunty Graca released her. She walked to her mama and reached out, wiping all the tears off Mama’s face.

  ‘Don’t cry, Mama.’

  ‘Thank you darling.’ Mama started crying again. ‘Mila, lovey I’m sorry to tell you, but your Grandpa didn’t make it out of the lodge.’

  Mila stiffened, staring at Mama. ‘Like Nanny?’ The words felt strange, sounded strange, almost like someone else said it, not Mila.

  Mama nodded, her face creasing with sadness. ‘Yes lovey. Like Nanny.’

  A loud gruff noise distracted Mila, and she turned. One of her uncles had everyone’s attention.

  ‘We should be moving. They’re not likely to stop, and we’re too close to the village.’

  ‘They won’t harm the villagers?’ An aunty near Papa asked.

  All the adults exchanged long glances that made Mila’s tummy twist again.

  ‘Children in the middle, women next, men outer ring,’ Papa said, directing his words at the uncle who nodded.

  Everyone moved. It surprised Mila how many people were here, but so many seemed to be missing too.

  Mama took her hand. On her other side was her younger cousin Paiga. Normally she annoyed Mila, with all the questions she asked, but the scared expression in her eyes reminded Mila of Addy. She offered her other hand to Paiga, who took it with a tentative smile.

  The group began to walk.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mila hadn’t realized until now how tired she was. She stumbled over the riverbed the rocks stubbing her toes as she held Paiga and Mama’s hands. It made tears run down her cheeks, but she didn’t stop. On and on, picking her feet up, tripping, Mama’s hand stopping her from falling. Paiga tripped and Mila managed to hold her arm high enough to stop her cousin from hitting the stones.