by Jason Letts
She stopped in front of Aoi, who sat cross-legged along the path. In front of her, she had a heavy looking rock and a pile of toothpicks. Some of the toothpicks were broken. Her eyes closed and her breath steady and calm, she picked up a toothpick and bent it with her fingers. Satisfied that it would not break, she snapped her eyes open and dove for the rock, straining to pick it up. She heaved for some time before it finally left the ground. Only when she had it raised did she notice Mira before her.
“When my mind controls my heart, I’ll be able to switch from absorbing energy to expelling it in the blink of an eye,” she said.
Mira gave her a strange look and left her to her training. Before she entered the tent, she noticed the spinning shield hanging low in the sky, ready to crash into the ground. The shade became genuine darkness, and most of the other soldiers had retired for the evening. Mira had not forgotten about her engagement early the next morning, and the thought of what it might entail weighed heavily on her mind. That’s when they would find out what peril waited in store for them. Her mind reeled at how likely it would be their plans would foretell her own death, but she was fighting to rescue her sister, and she only had to remain alive long enough to do it.
Slipping inside, she saw the rest of her group lounging around the tent, bored to tears for the most part. A couple had nodded off. Roselyn used a stick to draw in the dirt. A few others talked without any particular topic or motivation. Mary sat on the crate next to the table and her candle. She waved Mira closer.
“You know he’s here, right?” Mary asked, leaning back against the tent wall. Mira’s brow furrowed and she shook her head.
“Who’s here?” Mira asked.
“Jeremy. Sensing him feels icky like stepping in stale water. I keep thinking I must be wrong, but there’s nobody I know better than our old class. Do you know what it means?”
“No, I don’t,” Mira lied. Mary had just confirmed her suspicion that they’d been deserted by a third of their class. Anxious to end the day before she could get any more bad news, she turned to the group. “It’s been a long day and a long trek, and everybody needs to sleep while they can. So why don’t we go to bed?”
“Do you mean “go to mat?” You can’t mean go to bed, because my bed’s all the way back in Corey Outpost,” Mary remarked.
“Fine, go to mat,” Mira ordered, leading by example and sliding onto the mat near her bag. Releasing an annoyed groan, Mary complied. She blew out the candle, stepped on Chucky while stumbling to her mat, and dropped down.
“If this mat were any less comfortable, it would come with a heart-to-heart talk with your parents about puberty,” Mary said, prompting a few giggles.
“Do you think that’s why they never told us anything about the war?” Will asked. “I mean, who would come if they knew it’d be like this?”
“Have you seen the bathrooms? If I wanted to wave my butt over a big hole I’d live in Darmen,” Roselyn said.
“And why are all the officers so boring?” Vern asked. “It can’t be everybody’s power to have an invisible personality.”
Before long everyone’s complaints had them all laughing together in the dark. No aspect of what they had experienced so far escaped their criticism and mocking. Mira, still wide-awake, was too preoccupied to laugh. She couldn’t get her mind off of her fated meeting with her family’s destroyers. It would only be a matter of time before she found her sister’s captor, Pyrenee, and she fervently hoped they would be strong enough for it. These nine people were all she had for help, and though they were so close, she couldn’t imagine being any further away.
“I’ve never seen a more ridiculous looking piece of clothing in my life,” Will went on. “It’s hard to have any mercy on someone who willingly dresses up like a cheese Danish.”
“Is anybody else completely unable to stop staring at the big wheel in the sky? I keep waiting for it to fall but it never does,” Kurt said.
“Oh, I figured out how that works!” Chucky cut in. “Somebody in one of the towers holds it up with a string that never bends. He twirls it like an umbrella while blocking out the sun. That’s all he does all day.”
“That sounds like a great job. His parents must be proud,” said Vern sarcastically.
“What is it even for? What’s so bad about the sun?” Will asked.
“You mean what’s so bad about the sun that they would name this war ‘The Day and Night’s War’ and call one side the Sun and one side the Shade? We might not understand it, but I’m sure there’s a reason for it,” Aoi said.
Their conversation gradually ran out of steam as one by one the mounting fatigue pulled them under into sleep. There were a few “goodnights” and a few more grumbles about the living arrangements, but the deepening silence finally prevailed. Mira remained conscious for a while longer, enduring a mixture of anger, frustration, fear, and loyalty. Her heart raced even as she fell into a thin, troubled sleep.
Early in the morning, Mira and the other academy leaders entered the still-dark assembly hall, which had tenting stretched overhead to enclose the roof. They carefully descended, fumbling about in the near darkness and yet sensing that their host demanded the strictest proprieties. A merciful officer lit a candelabra hanging from the ceiling, giving them their first glimpse of the Shade’s revered commander.
He stood at the bottom of a small amphitheater carved into the earth. A tall man in his late thirties, he fidgeted and twitched as he wrung his large, clammy hands. He cracked his knuckles, washed his hands, and patted his fingers against his thighs. One foot tapped against the ground to an imagined beat, and his legs and arms shook along in constant motion. His head bobbled on his neck, carrying wired, blood-shot eyes that caught everything in sight.
A few officers scurried along near the entrance, and then the sound of voices rippled through the air. In perpetual motion, the commander struck the young group leaders as a volcano ready to erupt at any moment. His confidence and focus intimidated them. The hall was only half full and Mira had only just entered when he burst into action.
“Where is the leader from Cypress Mill? Get your hand up. There you are. You’ve got big shoes to fill, boy. Last year’s group is still out there, still intact. Heroes, every single one of them. Invaluable. I’ll be keeping my eye on you. Don’t let me down, you hear?”
After accosting the stunned leader of Cypress Mill, who could do no more than nod his head at the flurry of words, the commander sensed a presence at his side. He instantly jerked around to find another young man of the same age, this one stringy and white-haired, awaiting his attention. The commander cracked a big, toothy smile when he saw Neeko, and immediately drew him in for a crushing hug. Neeko leaned in, trying to whisper something.
“Welcome, welcome! Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ve got it all taken care of. You’re home now. Just have a seat here in the front row. You, get out of the way. Now listen carefully. The importance of what I’m about to say can’t be stressed enough,” the commander jabbered.
Fighting through another twitch, he stepped back to address the settled crowd. His arms raised high in the air, he seemed to admire the crowd before him like an immaculate canvas.
“In case you’re unaware, the champion of this year’s Rite is none other than our own Neeko Bitako from Darmen Elite Academy. No, this has none of us surprised in the slightest, but that takes nothing from the grandness and significance of his achievement. He’ll be on the fast track to becoming an officer. I implore all of you, look to him for guidance and learn from his example.”
The charge that raced through his jittery body came through in his voice as a sharp jolt that lashed at his listeners. Following his example, the crowd clapped for Neeko with matching enthusiasm. Mira, making a face and looking away, mockingly threw her hands together. The speaker standing below wasted no time cutting off their applause to continue.
“Let’s move on to more urgent matters. My name is Carmichael, and I’m the commander of this entire
operation you’ve just joined. Many of you have left home for the first time to get here and are probably unsure about what’s going to happen to you. You’re worried about your families back home. This war seems like a problem that destroys anything it touches.
“But war is not the problem. It’s the answer. And I have the answer! But I’ll get to that in a minute. The problem lies with those ragged marauders who insist upon stealing our peace of mind, confiscating our health and safety, and robbing our friends of life. Is it right that we allow them to do such things? No, it is not. They started this war because they envy the society we’ve built. And to protect it is why we fight and you have been called here to, if need be, make the ultimate sacrifice.
“Now there are two targets that must be taken down at all costs. The first we know all too well and of the second we know nearly nothing. First, the field captain. Her name is Pyrenee and she is always the first to strike at us. For ten years we have watched her mature on the battlefield, and nothing we have thrown at her in all those years has touched her. She appears indestructible, her armor and weapon of unknown materials. If there is one being on earth who keeps the web above full of the powers of the dead, it is she.
“But she is not the one who turns the sun into a scorching weapon, and she is not the one who has gathered her forces. That much we know. There is someone beyond whom this putrid horde fights for, someone we have only glimpsed. We call him the Warlord, and the spies and assassins we send after him only end up charging against us in the next battle. He himself has only appeared to fight in those rare moments when we felt victory within our grasp. He seems to be the key to all their efforts, the force that drives the army of the Sun to a willing annihilation.”
Mira, entranced by Commander Carmichael’s tantalizing details, nursed a dire thirst to know how she would seek atonement for the injustices against her and recover her sister. For as much knowledge as she squeezed out of his briefing, it never provided enough to satisfy her. She could not wield this information alone and be victorious.
“But the days of playing cat and mouse have come to an end! No longer will we be content to offer up measly resistance during the day only to brush them back with little effort at night. I’ve put something in motion that will finally tip the balance in our favor. They’ve made it clear they will hold nothing back, and we have no option left but to do the same. We will no longer let our young men and women bleed when a divine solution has been in our possession all along,” Commander Carmichael bellowed, his voice ringing in every ear.
Whispering broke out amongst the crowd. Was the end of the war really at hand? The crowd remained skeptical. The commander’s glowing eyes relished an opportunistic vision, and the way he said it made it sound too terrible to be believed.
“That’s right! We’ve got to throw out the old playbook. Our old plans have only brought us loss of life. It’s time for risks, for bold moves. It’s time to let them know that they will pay a price for their atrocities. It’s time to see who among you will sink under the mayhem and who will swim. And for the first daring feat that our new soldiers will attempt—can you see it with me?—is a devastating early morning advance that will stop them in their tracks. I’m talking about one team provoking their army to draw them away from our primary charge from the opposite flank.”
It took so few words to draw gasps of concern from the crowd. “It’s a suicide mission,” someone called out. The understanding that he meant a single team bearing the brunt of the enemy’s entire force sent a tremor of terror through everyone present, but that image brought a cool smile to the face of the one person in the room who was not suddenly at risk.
“Silence!” Carmichael growled. “Don’t imagine that you can understand my methods. What you call a suicide mission, or hopeless and impossible, I call an opportunity for heroism and courage beyond anyone’s dreams. This team will provide an opening for our larger force, distracting our enemies for as long as they can, drawing them out of the scrubland for just long enough to set upon them and rip them apart. But who should we entrust with the privilege of this special mission? I can think of only one group represented here that deserves such a chance, Dustfalls Academy.”
Mira snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the name of her academy. She jerked so feverishly she almost slipped off of the ledge she sat on. Whispering swirled around her, and Neeko had turned to glare back at her. Fully aware of the only way a mission like this could end, Mira jumped to her feet, feeling as though she stood on the edge of a great precipice.
“That’s outrageous! What makes you think you can order us to do this? There’s as much military strategy in that as there is taste in the food. There’s just no way, no way anyone should be expected to do this!” she howled. This would not bring her a chance to find her sister. It would only bring her death.
“Sit down this moment and don’t ever speak to me like that again! You are either a member of this army who follows my orders or you are part of the enemy’s and will be dealt with accordingly. Now which do you choose?”
Mira stared him down from her place within the crowd. Everyone watched her, studying her pinched and stricken face, and Mira could feel the hostility grow among them as they already began to regard her as an enemy. The only tool for her defense was the bottle of her mother’s tears forever tied to her hip. Holding her stare with the commander, she realized at that moment she owed him no allegiance.
“Fine,” Mira said through her teeth and she returned to a seated position. Despite his homage to bravery, it was clear that the only reason he proposed the mission was to mark her group for death. Mira had but one question on her mind. Why?
“OK!” Carmichael shot back, anxious to continue. “Good to know we’re all working together here. You’ll move out at fifteen hundred hours. That will give you time to get to the forward station and put you in position along the scrub forest at daybreak. The rest of you will prepare your teams to join the main thrust and leave a short time later. Now, all of you, get out of my sight!”
Commander Carmichael ordered them out like they had all just been found guilty of a crime, and they jumped and began to climb the rows for the exit. Mira still felt shocked at the sudden turn of events. Why had she been picked out of everyone present? She couldn’t explain what had happened, and she couldn’t figure out what to do. Looking around at the people near her, she wondered if they too could see the wrong that had just been committed against her. Gloria, the red-haired girl she had encountered near the top of Shadow Mountain, passed by on her right, wearing bags tied over her poisonous hands.
“I can’t believe what just happened,” Mira gasped.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to kill his shadow on the peak,” Gloria said.
Mira froze, her mouth hung open, and she stared blankly at the earthen step below her. Gloria too stopped, amused by Mira’s panicked reaction.
“What?” Mira panted.
“You didn’t know?” another leader laughed as he moved past them. Mira looked dead into Gloria’s green eyes, which had more than a trace of mockery in them.
“Neeko was Commander Carmichael’s shadow. Did you think you wouldn’t be punished for trying to kill him?”
Chapter 3: The Condemned
Shaken by the sudden revelation, Mira elbowed past them and finished climbing to the exit. But before she could skulk away in shame, she looked over her shoulder at the man who had sealed her fate. Commander Carmichael engaged Neeko in a lighthearted conversation, both of them looking as though they were perfectly at ease. For Mira at that moment, seeing proof of their relationship was like a blast of salt to her wounds. How could she have known, and yet when everyone else seemed to, how didn’t she know?
The leaders emptied out of the assembly hall and returned to their quarters. Mira kept her head down, slowly trudging through the sandy pathways. She dragged her feet to buy time, lost for how she would face her friends and deliver the news of their mission and the reason behind it
. Her mind spun. She had failed Corey, and now there was no reason to think any of them would survive. Worst of all, her mission to save her sister had spiraled completely out of control. She gulped her breaths, unable to breathe normally. Soon her slow pace left her alone in the street.
Turning into the residential area, the sun-blocking shield hanging in the sky behind her, she closed in on the tent and the inevitable meeting with her friends. Now that the morning was well under way, scores of people wandered in the pathways. To her surprise, most of her group stood out in front of their tent. They were not waiting for Mira’s return though. Something else drew their attention.
“Of course I wouldn’t give up the honor of fighting for my country, but I’m going to go about it smart, which is more than I can say for all of you,” proclaimed a haughty voice.
“You are a coward for abandoning us,” Will spat.
Mira came close enough to spot Jeremy, their former classmate who had deserted them. He could control whole swarms of insects and small creatures, but right now only a few flies perched on his shoulder.
“A coward? The one who stands aside when others walk off a cliff is not a coward. It is a fool who follows. You see, I had an epiphany on Shadow Mountain during the Rite. The epiphany was: not a soul who follows Mira Ipswich will make it out alive. So instead of waiting for my head to get lost, I did something about it. Neeko let me join Darmen Elite’s team,” Jeremy explained.
Groans and howls from all nine of Mira’s troop filled the air.
“You would, wouldn’t you?” Vern snarled. “You’d think it’d be hard to find so many people who only care about themselves in one place, but Darmen Elite seems to be a magnet for them. You’ll fit right in, and I have to say we’ll be better off without you.”
“You have to? Do you?” Jeremy said, mocking him. “I wouldn’t be so quick to make any judgments about who will be better off without who. Sounds like you haven’t heard about your very own ‘special assignment’. What? I think you’d better fill them in, Mira. They’re probably the only people left in the whole army who doesn’t know. And, by the way, thanks for opening my eyes on the mountain. Seriously. Looks like you saved my life.”