by Jason Letts
But before Roselyn could finish, Mira had already started off.
Needing no more direction, Mira left her bag near the outpost gate and started along the rock wall to the adjoining town. The others followed at a safe distance. They passed the outpost and came to the wooden buildings composing the small town. Many of the buildings had a symbol painted on them, a crescent moon and a cloud, which represented the army of their people, the Shade army.
Though blocks away, Mira could hear the commotion in the packed town square. Music played and games added to the rabble. Clearing the last building, she beheld the entire population of the town, hundreds of people, mulling about amongst different stands and tables. An empty stage sat in the middle of one side by a broad building. A few people noticed Mira, immediately quieting down to watch her.
Without a firm grasp of what she should do, Mira marched to the stage while her friends remained in the square’s corner. Climbing the small steps, she stood alone over the crowd. Her presence swept through them, and they quit their games to gaze at her. All she had to go on was the burning drive to rescue her sister. Unsure what to say, she just opened her mouth and the words seemed to come effortlessly.
“None of us are safe. The tragedy that we live sticks us with too many thorns to count, but there is one stake that drives straight for the heart. For those who wish to inflict harm upon us, there is only one answer: retribution. I am not like you, but we have all lost something to this war. I expect to go and die like the waves you have sent before me, but until that time I will wreak such vengeance upon them that they will think the dawn will never come!”
The crowd offered a mixed reaction for her speech. Some cheered in approval, some seemed taken aback by her ardent tenacity, and some stared blankly ahead without knowing what to make of it. Mira did not know what to do next, so she stood firmly on the stage, the sun bearing down on her. But neither did she need to do anything, since the speech’s traditional purpose was to solicit support from her companions. Vern stepped onto the stage even though she hadn’t called for him. Now that the ceremony had gotten back on track, the crowd cheered wholeheartedly. Vern lowered his head to Mira, and Mira slightly tilted hers to him.
Chucky, whose unfortunate power was to sweat oil, took to the stage next. He received another ovation, nodded to Mira, and then gave Vern an exuberant high-five. The three of them stood there for a moment, waiting to see who would be next. Someone worked through the crowd to get to the small set of stairs. Suddenly emerging, Dot joined them. A sizable girl, she waved at Mira and the others and then pulled out a few stones and began to juggle for the crowd. When she threw things, she would never miss. Mira now realized they were joining her in the order from the Final Trial back at the end of their days in the academy.
Confirming Mira’s assessment, Aoi climbed onto the stage next. Holding her hands, she nodded to her friends and to the crowd, appearing calm and content. Though they had long thought her power made her strong, she discovered during The Shadowing that she could absorb energy as well. Just behind her, Roselyn hopped the steps and began blowing kisses to her friends and the crowd. Her blonde curls and the aqua topaz around her neck shimmered in the sun. Aoi’s applause had not yet ended, but everyone renewed their vigor for Roselyn, the village elder’s shadow.
Though a fair group had assembled on the stage, there were more to come. As radiant as Roselyn though playing to the crowd in a much more manly way, Rowland raced up the steps and leapt into the air only to stomp down on the hardwood flooring, releasing a fierce yell. Joining his old friends, he bumped chests with Vern and then gave him a hug. He shouted to the crowd and tried to stoke their cheering. His power was to mold things. Will, who could expel strong gusts from his lungs, climbed on stage next, breaking their order as he crossed to the other side of the stage.
“I just really don’t want to be near Jeremy,” he whispered to Mira.
Everyone quieted down and the group on stage began to look through the crowd to spot Jeremy, the most loathsome of their classmates. Would his army of flies carry him through the air to the stage? But a minute elapsed and there was still no sign of him.
“Where is he?” Mira grumbled to Vern, trying to keep her comment from the silent audience.
“Not everyone survives the Shadowing,” Vern replied, but Mira had ended his climb herself, leaving him alive, so she knew there had to be another reason. No, Jeremy had chosen to desert her for another group because he believed she would get him killed. The truth of it stung her, and she fought to suppress it.
“Good riddance to him then,” Mira said before addressing the crowd. “Who’s next?”
Though the order followed that Dennis would be next, they saw no sign of him either. Kurt, who had short red hair and could never get tired, hopped onto the stage, reviving the crowd a little. Roselyn and Rowland started clapping to drum up some excitement. But another lull came, and it appeared no one else would come. After all she did in the academy, Mira wondered, how many of her classmates still had no faith in her? Looking down the row, she realized it was mostly her friends who stood by her side. The feeling they stirred was so sickeningly sweet, and she stifled it too.
Roselyn pointed to her best friend Mary, hidden in the crowd, and beckoned her forward. Mary could sense the powers of others. The two girls engaged in a rapturous hug, creating a flurry of blonde and brown hair, and the crowd picked up again to cheer their town’s ten soldiers.
Mira watched as those next to her waved to the assembled townsfolk. The happier they appeared about marching off to war, the harder she steeled herself against the pain that would come. Her arms crossed, she stared out through grave eyes at Vern as he shouted and Roselyn as she sang the notes that could instill any emotion she desired. They all had bright smiles on their faces, looking like their happiness would lift them off the ground.
The sounds of the crowd began to pulse as they siphoned into Mira’s ear. The undistinguishable cheers merged into a single raspy voice.
“Mira,” it said. “What has become of you?”
While everyone else carried on, the sound of Corey’s voice startled Mira, who braced herself and set an even icier scowl on her face. Mira had thrown his blood stone, his link to hear her, over the side of Shadow Mountain before pursuing Neeko on the peak. Now he would speak to her whether she wanted to listen or not.
“You can hate me, you can blame your parents, but it’s your friends who will suffer most for your spite. More than anyone else, you hold their lives in your hands. If you’ve turned your back on them, you are already looking at corpses.”
She turned her head, trying to shut him and his painful accusations out. Her vicious actions continued to bleed her heart dry, and yet she knew they would be nothing compared to what she would have to do. These people she had called her friends, Mira believed she could hold onto their lives, but she could not prevent the war from purging away their hope. The things they would have to do to succeed would pulverize their spirits in ways no one could imagine. And for that she had no cheer within her.
The soldiers left the stage only to be greeted by the townsfolk, including family members, friends, and neighbors. It seemed merciful to Mira that Corey did not speak to her again, but his words haunted her. The flood of people enveloped her as well when she stepped down onto the town square’s worn grass. She couldn’t fake a smile, but she could nod in return for their good wishes and heartfelt prayers. Many looked up in spiritual reverence to the web, hidden within the daylight high in the sky, for guidance. But Mira knew determination would do much more than faith to rid them of her long-lost sister’s captors, something she had staked her life on.
Someone tapped Mira on the shoulder, and she turned around to see a girl with pigtails and a shiny earring in one ear. Though Mira looked at her intently, knowing she had never met her before, the girl still had a big smile on her face.
“Ms. Mira, I just wanted to tell you how much you’ve inspired me. I’m about to start my sen
ior year, and my gift is only to stick things together, but I want to become class leader and I think I can because of you,” she imparted, a tear glistening in her eye as she spoke her heart.
Seeing this frail, gawking girl before her, Mira couldn’t refrain from matching her honesty.
“If what you want is this, your stupidity will get you killed long before you obtain it,” Mira said, turning away and leaving a stunned, shattered expression on the girl.
But she couldn’t take two steps without running into someone else who wanted to talk to her. At least she knew the next one. The old man lumbering in her path was Mert Bogger, and his expression seemed almost as grim as hers. She noticed something strange about him but then remembered he did not need to breathe.
“Enjoy your farewells while you can. It won’t be long before you’ll wish you had them back,” he said.
“And why should I wish I had them back?” Mira asked, staring him down.
“Because where you’re going nothing will seem so precious as the time you’ve spent with loved ones,” he reasoned, a shrewd look in his eyes.
“Fighting will bring me closer to my family. So what would you have me do? Refusing to fight would only delay the inevitable,” she snapped.
“You’ve grown a lot in a year,” Mert said. “I hope for you and you’re family’s sake it’s enough.”
The old man brushed past her as he moved on through the crowd. Mira watched him, curious to see if he would talk to any of her friends, but he turned away to head for the road home.
The games and stands of the Equinox Festival became active again. Music started playing. Mira remained in the square not too far from the stage, where all nine of the others were talking, playing, or crying with their families. Mira knew her own parents were somewhere nearby, waiting only for her to choose to meet them. She stood still for a moment, watching her friends tease younger siblings or squabble with parents. It dawned on her then what Corey meant. Her friends were her responsibility, whether she wanted them or not. Their families would be devastated if Mira’s fears came true and she wasn’t strong and vigilant enough to protect them. But for now they all looked happy, and Mira could not rob them of that.
Roselyn had her head on her father’s shoulder. This blonde-haired man was the only family she had. She clutched the back of his shirt in a hug and then pulled away to look at him.
“Corey told me I have to make a difference. He said I’m strong enough to,” she imparted, though Mira was not the only one to overhear her. Suddenly, Vern appeared beside her.
“Westley said the same thing to me, and there’s no way I’m going to let him down,” he said, referring to his own mentor.
Kevin and Jeana Ipswich stood near a small, unmarked tent by the edge of the square. They faced the bustling, cheerful crowd with a melancholy reserve. Jeana let a small bag dangle from her fingertips. Kevin bit his lip, head hanging slightly and hands in his pockets. When Mira begrudgingly approached them, their expressions didn’t change. Mira expected them to say something to her, but they didn’t. They continued to wait.
“I’ll bring Clara back,” Mira declared, “whether her abductor, Pyrenee, or anyone else stands in my way. Whatever punishment the human body can withstand, I will welcome it so long as I can retrieve her and make everything go back to what it should’ve been.”
“Just don’t lose yourself in the process,” Jeana quivered before breaking into tears. Kevin put his arm around her as she put her head to his chest. Mira watched them. Kevin took the bag hanging in the limp arm at his wife’s side and held it out to Mira.
“We cleaned out the basement. There were a few scraps, a few batteries. You might need them,” Kevin said.
Mira took the bag without looking into it.
“We fixed everything,” Jeana stammered. “Cloud Cottage is complete once again. You could…you could come home for a few hours, sleep in your own bed again. You don’t have to leave right away if you don’t want to.”
“Home? The surest way to see something destroyed is to call it home,” Mira said, making Jeana bawl louder. Her mother seemed torn between the desire to comfort her daughter and the agony of witnessing Mira’s frigid behavior.
“Do you remember that day last year, your first day into town?” Kevin asked. “Jeana said you visited this tent to hear your fortune. Maybe you’d like to try it again?”
“Yes, I do remember. It told me I was looking for someone I didn’t know. Though it meant my sister, I have no time for fortunes now. There’s no need to feel the sting of future arrows before they strike.”
“That’s not what you told me. You lied,” Jeana said, the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Mother, don’t let me pain you. There will be plenty enough of those for whom it is intentional.”
Jeana and Kevin grieved over the girl who stood before them. The steady, hard face she wore looked like it could never feel sympathy or love. Mira resolved herself that this was what she had to be if she was ever going to have a chance.
“What happened during the Rite, Mira? Did you kill anyone?” Kevin asked, and Mira paused for a moment. She remembered electrifying the tall girl from Darmen Elite Academy with the Leyden Jar. If they had left her on the foot of the mountain all night, it was probable she would’ve died. Then there was the person she wanted to kill but couldn’t, Neeko.
“Don’t make me lie. You told me it was a dangerous time we’re living in, but I don’t have to be afraid as long as I’m a part of it. We can never have what we want unless we take it, and they will never let us take it as long as they’re alive.”
The horror of her words marring their faces, her parents found themselves unable to say anything. Mira grew tired of this conversation and the effort it took to keep herself numb to it. Couldn’t they see that this was what it took to survive? Kevin and Jeana watched her start to walk away, but she didn’t leave until she had reminded them one more time of what she would do.
“I will find your daughter,” she said. “She can’t stay lost forever.”
“Don’t get lost yourself,” Jeana muttered. “If only we could’ve kept you with us a little longer.”
“You kept me for far too long!” Mira railed, unable to control her ire. “You were wrong to keep me hidden! I may be different, but a determined mind can cut through more than most powers.”
“After they took Clara, we were so scared of losing you too,” Kevin reasoned, but Mira had already stormed away.
Cutting through the happy, playful crowd, she returned to her friends near the opposite end of the square. Vern didn’t need to hear her speak to guess what she would say.
“What’s taking you so long, Mira? It’s time to go!” he said, pre-empting her. She stopped, looked at him, and continued on once his meaning satisfied her. The others rushed through tearful goodbyes. Some even walked backward to the square’s exit, so torn at leaving their town and family behind. But Mira marched impatiently, and the others crowded behind.
Returning to the outpost gate, two figures stood alongside their baggage. Neither was hard to recognize, though one proved a pleasant surprise. Standing alongside Natalie, donning the same strong stature and dollish face, Ogden Fortst waited for them, arms crossed over his trench coat. Smiles lit up on many of the faces of his old students, and they anxiously hastened toward him.
“I wondered if you would show up,” Vern called. “Thought maybe you’d forgotten about us.”
“Tried to forget, but it proved another failure,” Fortst said. He spoke warmly but carried a clear reserve.
“Are you teaching the seniors again?” Mary asked.
“I don’t know why I do this to myself,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But they can’t be as bad as you lot were.”
He finally locked eyes with Mira, taking in her stony gaze and offering a slight nod in support. Others continued to pitch questions at him while a few started laughing about old times back in the schoolhouse. He brushed aside the questions
though, dropping to one knee and urging them to huddle around. All cheer had left him, and only grave sincerity remained.
“That’s not what I came to talk to you about though. You’re not students anymore. You’re not shadows. You’re soldiers now, and you’ll wear it whether it fits or not. There’s a lot I tried to say but couldn’t and a lot I should have said but didn’t, but listen to me now. When you’re out there fighting, you’ll see things you never thought you would and you’ll do things you never thought you could. And when that happens, there’s only one thing you can do. The mind is a big place, and you’ve got to hide yourself somewhere deep down inside. Pretend to be someone else; that’s the only way you can live with it.”
“Do things you never thought you could? That sounds great!” Will laughed. “Why would I ever want to be someone else? I’ll take all the credit for any great deeds I perform, thank you very much.”
Those standing near him started to chuckle in agreement. A couple of boys on the outside started to play-fight. While others whispered of valiant courage and eternal glory, Aoi, hidden among them, looked as though she might cry. Mira felt the gravity in his words, and she gave him a firm nod in agreement. His words were warnings, not cheers, but only Mira and Aoi could hear them. Fortst rose and flinched, perhaps reinvisioning images from his own days of fighting.
“Just do your families proud. If the fear takes hold of you, fight through it with every action that you take. There’s nothing more dangerous to you than what’s in your very own mind. Don’t let it hold you back from being in control.”
Many of the new soldiers applauded his words as though they had been meant for inspiration. They all grabbed their packs and prepared for the imminent departure. Still wearing their white academy uniforms, the smiling bunch looked like they could be headed home from school.
Natalie came alongside Mira, this time having no choice but to disturb her from adjusting her pack.