The Boys of Fire and Ash

by Meaghan McIsaac

  One, two, and three. Fiver, Av…and the little waver: Cubby.

  Before I could smile, the withered old prisoner began to scream again. I was learning she startled easily.

  “Shh!” I begged her.

  She kept right on wailing, staring up at the three dark shadows of my friends.

  “Shut her up!” whispered Av. “There’s a thousand sleeping Tunrar up here!”

  “Quiet, lady!” I begged.

  She ignored me and kept right on crying.

  Terrified and angry, I kicked my bound legs wildly, spraying water from the floor at her. The splash barely reached her, maybe only a drop or two made it all the way across the room, but it had got her attention. She looked at me with a frightened face.

  “Be quiet!” I begged her.

  She smacked her cracked lips and bobbed her head up and down, suddenly no longer afraid and more interested in an unattainable drink.

  At the window, Cubby and Av were climbing their way in. Av moved carefully, clinging to the vines growing up the wall, Cubby slowly copying his every move.

  When they made it down, I thought my heart would burst if I didn’t get to hug Cubby in that instant.

  He hopped off the vine and ran over to me, turning off the spout and flinging his arms around my neck.

  “I knew you’d come back for me!” he whispered, barely able to contain his excitement. “I knew it, Urgle!”

  I cried, overjoyed to see him, to feel his boney arms around my neck, to smell his fuzzy blond head. I wanted to hug him, to squeeze him as tight as I could, but my arms were held by the hoops.

  Somewhere outside, the sound of a growling Tunrar broke the stillness of the night.

  “Come on, you two,” whispered Av. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Where’s Fiver?” I asked as he and Cubby began working on freeing me from my golden shackles.

  “Distracting Tunrar, hopefully. Where’s Lussit?”

  “Urgle?” Blaze was awake and groggy. Cubby and Av jumped at the sudden voice. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Blaze,” I told Av.

  Av stood rigid, unsure of what to do.

  “Help him,” I said. “It’s our fault he’s here, Av.”

  With nothing but a harrumph, Av hurried over to where Blaze hung, and using vines for support, he boosted himself up to undo his bindings.

  There was the scream of Tunrar, more than one now, and I glanced up at the windows, worried I’d see them crawling in. Cubby wasn’t bothered, and he kept trying to break open the hoop around my torso.

  “Shh!” I told him.

  Cubby stopped and stood up, staring at the windows. We watched and listened until the crouched, naked form of a Tunrar Goblin showed itself in the window. It sat there, trying to see into the dark with no success. It sniffed the air and growled. We were caught.

  “I’ll be right back,” whispered Cubby.

  “What? No! Be quiet.”

  “Don’t worry, Urgs,” Cubby giggled, and grabbed my face in his little hands. He was grinning and I noticed his adult tooth was replacing the empty space where his baby tooth used to be. “They can’t catch me now!”

  “What?”

  Before I could stop him, Cubby yelled a big “Hello!” and waved his arms, jumping up and down.

  The Tunrar sure saw that. It let out a scream, and a second popped its head in the window.

  “Cub!” My heart was pounding, the Tunrar coming for him all over again. “Cubby, hurry. Get out of here!”

  He ignored me and kept on waving his arms.

  “Come and get me!” Cubby taunted.

  The Tunrar didn’t need an invitation. They barreled down the wall like spiders and Cubby squealed and ran off into the dark hallway.

  “Cubby!” I yelled, but he didn’t answer. All I could hear was the pitter-patter of his bare feet slapping the wet hallway as he ran.

  I tore at the bindings, pulling and tugging even though I knew they wouldn’t give.

  “Av!” I shouted. “Av, go get Cubby!”

  There was a loud clamoring of chains as Av let Blaze down.

  “He’s all right, Urgs,” said Av, having difficulty supporting Blaze’s weight. “He told us he does this all the time.”

  “Does what all the time?” I said. “Runs from the Tunrar? Are you insane!”

  Av dropped Blaze and leaned him against the wall before hurrying over to work on my bindings. “He said he makes them mad for fun. They chase him but they never hurt him ’cause of the blue mark thing on his forehead.”

  I wasn’t convinced. Today was different. Today Cubby was with the enemy. He was their target. I was squirming to run after him.

  The tight hoop around my torso gave out when Av released the latch that kept them locked, and my arms were free. I frantically pulled and tugged to free my wrists, but Av was still working on them.

  “Take it easy!” he ordered, but I couldn’t. Cubby needed me and I couldn’t let him down again.

  My hands were free and I reached for my bound legs, tearing each hoop off with Av’s help.

  “Urgle, wait!” he said, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Lussit. Where did they take her?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted.

  The sound of bare feet smacking wet tile echoed from the hallway and Cubby trotted in, out of breath and wheezing, sporting a proud grin that stretched from ear to ear. “See?” he said. “They’re not that scary. And they’re dumb too.”

  He ran over and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the exit. “Now let’s go, let’s go! Take me home!”

  My eyes were watering again and I kneeled down just to look at his face. Moments ago I was sure I’d never see it again, but it was here, right in front of me.

  “Not yet, Cub,” said Av. “We need to find our friend, remember?”

  “But it’s just a girl!” he whined. I had to smile. I would have told Av the same thing before this all started.

  “Cubby,” I said, squeezing his hands in mine, “she’s our friend and she’s in a lot of trouble.”

  “Do you know where Krepin would keep her?” said Av.

  Cubby shrugged. “This is where he takes all the blasphemers….” He trailed off and his brow knotted into his classic “thinking hard” face and I wanted to hug him again.

  “But there’s a room,” he said, finally. “It’s up near the north side of the Temple. That’s where the devoted go to pray before…Aju Krepin sacrifices them.”

  “Take us there!” said Av.

  Blaze stumbled into our huddle and waved his hands in our faces.

  “No!” he said. “No way, Urgle. I am out of here.”

  “Will you go back?” I asked him.

  Blaze scratched his neck and I knew he didn’t want to. He only wanted to run. After everything, I couldn’t blame him.

  “Back where?” said Av.

  “Home,” sighed Blaze.

  “The Pit?” Av was fuming. “You’ve already brought enough trouble there, don’t you think?”

  “No, Av. There’s a problem.”

  He looked at me like I was crazy.

  I sighed. “Krepin plans to invade the Pit.”

  The color drained from Av’s face and I thought for a moment he’d faint.

  “Without Cubby, he’s going to be looking for another Brother.”

  Av swallowed, and I knew all that he could think about was Goobs.

  “He’ll take someone, and destroy the rest of the place until he finds his Abish shroud,” I went on. “Blaze hid it there.”

  “Where?” said Av, doing his best to stay composed.

  “In the Pit.”

  “No, I heard you. Where in the Pit?”

  I looked at Blaze, who was wincing with pain as he held his arms close to himself. “In the Platform,” he grunted. “There was a loose floorboard.”

  My hand flew up and hit my forehead.

  “Third from the left, two up,” the words came out of Av and me in sync. Everyone
knew about that floorboard. It was not a good hiding spot. Not to the Brothers.

  “Urn…” Cubby was pulling on his thumb nervously, and his big green eyes looked at me the way they did when he’d done something wrong. “It’s not there anymore.”

  “What?”

  “I moved it.”

  “What?” Blaze stumbled, and I thought for a minute he’d wring Cubby’s neck. “When? How?”

  “I—I just wanted to play with it.” He took a couple steps back from us, afraid he was about to be punished, but all I wanted to do was hug him, kiss his fuzzy head, and make that scared face go away. “I took it out to show Goobs, but Wasted saw me and wanted me to hand it over.” His lip quivered and his eyes refused to look at us. “So we ran from him, but he chased us.”

  My stomach churned. “Cubby, are you saying you had the Abish shroud the night they took you?”

  He nodded.

  “Do they have it now?” said Blaze frantically.

  “No! No!” he cried. “I hid it! So Wasted wouldn’t take it, I hid it.”

  “Where!” Blaze demanded, his voice echoing off the walls.

  Av dived onto Blaze and covered his mouth as a screech rang out overhead.

  “My special place,” Cubby said quietly. He looked at me quickly, then went back to pulling his thumb, waiting for me to yell. I’d told him not to go there, that I thought it was too dangerous. Cave-ins happened all the time on the slopes of the Fire Mountains. But right now, I didn’t care about any of that. I just wanted to keep him safe.

  The four of us watched the windows as several deformed shadows poked their heads in for a look.

  We were running out of time.

  So was Lussit.

  “Cubby,” I said quietly, “we have to get to our friend.”

  “This way,” he whispered, heading for the corridor.

  Av and I followed, and after a moment’s hesitation, Blaze fell in behind. Just before we left, the withered old woman moved in the water and I could hear it splash as she propped herself up. She was dying, I knew that…but somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her there, all by herself, with no hope at all.

  I rushed over to her, with Av growling at me to hurry up. I crouched down in front of her and she was shaking with fright, doing her best to shield herself from whatever horrible thing she expected me to do to her.

  Her legs were so thin, I slid the gold hoops off them easily, the same with her torso. I unhooked her hands and she sat there, dumbfounded, slowly waving her arms back and forth, trying to remember how they worked. Then her glazed eyes wandered up to my face and I gave her a smile, a part of me certain that in this moment, I would see that glimpse into her old soul, the core of her that was still a human being. There was nothing. She just smacked her cracked lips and then slowly brought her head to the floor and slurped at the water.

  Sad for her, I got to my feet and rejoined Cubby and Av. There was nothing else I could do.

  “Through here,” whispered Cubby. He was barely able to contain his excitement, thrilled to be the leader for the first time. I felt myself standing a little straighter. If only Fiver could see. Would a scroungee be able to outwit the Tunrar?

  “How did you get him?” I asked Av, keeping my voice so low I could barely hear it over the trickling of water.

  “Farka,” said Av.

  I knew she was with them, but the thought of her really helping us, of saving Cubby, made me nearly stop in my tracks.

  Av grinned. “She helped us track you down. We got here just as Lussit was being dragged inside. We wanted to come after you but we weren’t sure how to do it. It was her idea. She watched the Tunrar on the rooftop and she pointed out how they were doing it.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Getting on the roof. We figured it’d be our best bet for sneaking in.”

  “But it’s crawling with Tunrar!”

  “Yeah, well, that’s where Farka came in handy. She said she’d distract them for us if we let her go so she could get back to her Sisters.”

  “You just let her go?”

  Av shrugged. “She was kind of panicking about Lussit. She wanted to go back for help and I figured more help couldn’t hurt.” He was right about that. “Anyway,” Av went on, “before we went for it, we were watching the place pretty closely, trying to figure out where Krepin might be keeping you. That was when Fiver spotted Cubby walking across some bridge towards one of the towers with a whole pack of little guys. There were only three windows on that tower, all opening to the same room, so we figured we might as well try and grab him while we knew where he was.”

  Cubby froze and threw out his arm to tell us to stop. We stood absolutely still, Blaze nearly bumping into us. There was nothing to hear, but I could see that the light from outside was getting brighter. Dawn was coming.

  Finally, Cubby started moving again and we followed.

  “How’d you avoid the Tunrar?” I asked.

  “Like I said, Farka. She went ahead of us and just started screaming and hollering, working the Tunrar into a frenzy. They flew at her, ten at a time. I have to tell you I thought she was a goner, but she gave them a pounding. Anyway, when she made a run for the Baublenotts, most of them chased after her and it cleared the way for me and Fiver.”

  Ten at a time. I made a private wish that Farka would come back. Anyone who could fight off ten Tunrar alone would be a big help when we tried to get out of this place.

  Cubby came to a narrow winding staircase, the walls barely wide enough for our shoulders to fit. “Up here,” he whispered.

  He scurried up the steps and out of view, and Av and I were ready to follow him when Blaze tapped my arm.

  “This is it for me, Urgle,” he said. “I’m getting out of here now.”

  “To go back?”

  He shook his head. “To get help.”

  “Help? From who?” But I already knew who. “The Resistance?”

  “They need to know what’s happening,” he said. “It’s too important.”

  “But you don’t know where the Abish shroud is,” I reminded him.

  He let his head drop and I knew he was losing his strength. He rubbed his shoulder and I wondered how far he would get on his own.

  “You’re hurt,” I said.

  “Krepin doesn’t know where it is either,” he told me. “But he’s coming just the same. I won’t abandon my Brothers.”

  He was right. Blaze had done enough for us. Now the rest of his Brothers needed him. He was Ikkuman, and I’d never forget that.

  I nodded and he turned to leave.

  “Hey, Blaze?” He stopped and looked back. “Don’t mention my name.”

  A smile spread across his face. “For you, Urgle, I can’t make that promise.” And with that he disappeared into the shadowed corridor, limping his way to freedom.

  Av and I climbed after Cubby in the dark, but we nearly ran into him at the top of the stairs. Cubby was frozen, staring straight ahead. Two Tunrar stood just a couple of feet in front of him, snarling and waiting to pounce. Behind them were two men holding spears.

  “Run!” shouted Av.

  The three of us turned and threw ourselves down the steps as the Tunrar screamed and tore after us. The two men were shouting, alerting the entire Temple to our escape. I grabbed Cubby and pushed him in front of me, forcing him to run faster than I knew he could.

  We flew out of the staircase and down a wide corridor. Torchlight glowed at the end where several more guards were waiting.

  “Here!” screamed Cubby, ducking down a hallway to the right.

  Av nearly missed the turn, grabbing the wall to stop himself and hurling around the corner.

  Our feet thundered along the marble floor, water flying up in all directions. My foot slid out from under me on the wetness and I fell face-first onto the ground.

  “Urgle!” screamed Cubby.

  Behind us, the guards were closing in.

  Av ran to me, grabbing my arm and dragging me back to
my feet. I nearly slipped again, and every moment wasted to find my footing was a moment the guards used to draw closer.

  They were nearly on top of us when the leader of the group came to an abrupt stop as something hit his nose. His friends stopped too, holding up his arms to try and block the string of stones smacking them on their heads, legs, and arms.

  “Move it!” I heard Fiver roar overhead. I looked up and saw him perched in a high window, a fistful of stones gripped in his hand.

  He didn’t have to say it again. We ran after Cubby, careful not to fall, and he led us through small hallways and winding staircases. I had no idea where we were or where he was taking us. I doubted he knew.

  Cubby stopped at the top of yet another staircase, grabbing his thumb and pulling on it over and over as he tried to decide which way to go. He was lost.

  “Where are we going?” I yelled at him.

  Cubby just kept pulling his thumb, and his eyes welled up with tears. “I don’t know,” he whimpered, doing his best not to cry.

  I was so mad at him then, just like I would have been at home, just like the old me. I couldn’t be like that to Cubby again. Not now, not ever.

  I squeezed his shoulder gently. “Come on, Cub. You can do it.”

  He gulped in air to try and calm himself down, and Av was bouncing on his feet, ready to flee from the gang of guards that were clambering up the stairs towards us.

  “There!” Cubby shouted, pointing to the left, and he darted off, followed by Av. I ran after them, and Cubby stopped abruptly at a door. He turned the knob and opened it. “Get in, get in!”

  Av and I rushed inside and Cubby quickly closed the door.

  The room was immense. Much bigger than the chamber they’d held me in, and the space was filled with massive shelves, packed tightly with rectangular objects.

  Cubby led us down the middle aisle and swerved in behind the last giant shelf and curled up in a dark corner. He held out his frightened hands to me and Av and we joined him on the floor.

  “Where are we?” I asked him.

  “The library,” he whispered. “All their teachings and stories are written down in all of these books, and they keep them here for Krepin and the scholars to study.”

  Av didn’t care, he was thinking like a hunter. “What do we do now?” he said. He didn’t see the size of the shelves or that there were more writings and stories than a person could count. All he saw was a dead end. We were trapped.