by Lydia Deyes
We didn’t have to wait long before the building began to tremble. What is that? I looked at Anna beside me, whose face was morphed into fear. What did she hear? I peered down the hall, but there was nothing but shadow. Then two red eyes opened in the middle of the shadow. It was far too large for a crow. My heart felt like it sank into my gizzard. A bear!
I turned my head from side to side and could see more. That explained the shaking building: they’d scaled the brick exterior. “Bears!” I shouted. “He brought bears!”
So that’s how Bruce helped.
The enormous grizzly bear closest to me swatted away the beetles and bats, unaffected. He rose on his hairy hind legs but had to stop short to avoid putting his head through the ceiling. He opened his gigantic jaw, baring his long, yellow teeth, and roared. I felt the vibrations shake the walls, then his saliva land in my face. I fell backwards out of the air. The bear didn’t see me, but charged straight for Anna. The lynx healer was frozen in fear.
“Run!” I shouted, but she didn’t hear me. I had to take matters into my own claws. I flew onto the bear’s head, clutching at his face. He was so much bigger than me, I could only aim for one eye at a time. I grabbed onto his thick fur, holding on as he spun around and tossed his head violently in an attempt to fling me off. He sank to his belly, pawing at his head to get rid of me.
I hung on for as long as I could, but he was strong and soon shook me off. Anna had brought her wits back together, though, and was fleeing to the great hall. The bear took up almost the entire hallway, and I was pushed along as he pursued her. I managed to right myself and fly ahead of him once he entered the much larger room in the center.
I flew beyond Anna, who had turned to face the oncoming bear, but didn’t know what to do to help. I was much too small in comparison. I watched as the bear charged, my focus unwavering. Suddenly, he fell backwards with an earth-shaking impact, as if he’d run into an invisible wall. I drew closer to him and found him unconscious.
Did I do that?
If so, I’d somehow kept him from moving. Was this the same ability that had helped me shift the landslide at the waterfall, just in reverse?
I didn’t have much time to ponder how I’d immobilized the bear. There were struggles and fights all across the floor. Anna had control of this area, for now.
As I exited the great hall, I looked around at the devastation. Walls were crumbling, animals I knew were slaughtered everywhere, and the bears and crows outnumbered those we had left. I flew through the crowds, scanning the battle for areas where our own forces were most severely outnumbered. My mysterious power had finally come in handy.
XXII
First, I came across a rabbit and mouse fighting against four crows all by themselves. One of the crows had caught the mouse and was gripping her by her tail. The crows didn’t hear me approach and were caught off guard when I used my body, plus a bit of help from my ability, to push them over. The one holding the mouse dropped her, and she sunk her teeth into his leg. The rabbit gave each of them a swift kick to the chest, sending them flying into the wall and falling unconscious.
As soon as those four crows were gone, two more filled their place. I knew the mouse and rabbit could handle them now, so I moved on to a fox who was cornered by a bear. I used my ability like I had in the great hall. It worked — the bear stopped moving, standing frozen like a statue. The fox was able to get on top of it, gaining the advantage.
While I continued to help in unfair fights, I began to search for Spike. I needed to fight him and end this battle, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I flitted from one struggle to another as swiftly as possible, like a shadow.
Next I saw two falcons, pinned down by yet another bear. This time, I used my power to lift the bear off them for a moment. They squeezed out and attacked the bewildered bear without questioning how it got there. They were too caught up in the action to care, and took advantage of their new position.
I moved on to help Amery and a couple other sparrows, who were far outnumbered by crows. The crows saw me, and I joined in fighting against them. With more claws and beaks, and my own added tricks to hold back the crows’ attacks, we managed to gain the advantage and defeat them. Amery and the two other sparrows knew nothing of my power but thanked me for my assistance. I simply nodded and went to help another struggling group.
I came across another lynx, cornered by two nasty bears, and used my power to halt them.
Two crows were pulling a rat in opposite directions. I plowed into one, freeing the rat, who bit into the wing of the other. Again, I was thanked, but again, all I did to respond was give a curt nod.
A few beetles were being chased by crows, who were snapping at them. One crow managed to catch the beetle he was chasing and chomped down hard. He then went after another. I flew in front of him, distracting him, which allowed more beetles to come in and help. I repeated the maneuver for the other two crows.
A bear was preparing to rip off a bat’s wing. I jumped onto his face, clawing at his left eye. He released the bat and pawed at me instead. His claws grazed my wings, but the bat and a swarm of beetles came and helped me attack the bear’s head from all sides. He leapt out of the nearby window in frustration. We flew back in to continue warding off the enemy’s army.
All the bears were now either unconscious or on the ground at the base of the building. The humans below were probably disturbed at this point, but we didn’t have time to worry about that. They would have to deal with the situation.
Since all the bears were gone, that meant only crows were left. Even though we’d defeated so many, we were still outnumbered. I still hadn’t seen Spike.
Nyoka was clawing at three crows, who were pecking at her tail. I rushed in and knocked one over. He fell into the one beside him, who fell into the third crow, and they all toppled onto the ground.
I found Hazel in the cooking room next to the great hall. She was chucking nuts at about ten nasty-looking crows. I used my power to keep them still for a moment so she could hit them more easily. When I released them, they fell to the ground, knocked out by nuts.
A group of crows were advancing on two small white mice. I snuck up behind them and banged the sides of their heads together as I flew past. Although it wasn’t strong enough to hurt them, they all spun around quickly and bonked their heads together, and each fell to the ground. They would have serious headaches when they woke up.
I helped a couple of hummingbirds whose beaks had been stuck in the wall by some bully crows. I helped a few more squirrels, several mice and rats, sparrows, robin, foxes, raccoons, rabbits, beetles, bats, and others. I helped Rebekah, who was struggling against three of her own kin. At some point, I figured I must have helped every single member of the thirteenth floor at least once. Again and again, they thanked me; again and again, I left with no more than a nod.
As I looked around now, I could tell we were slowly but surely beginning to win the battle. Knocked out crows were strewn everywhere. Some larger animals were gathering the unconscious crows, taking them to the windows… and tossing them out. “Hey!” I shouted, charging over. “Don’t do that! We aren’t savages. We shouldn’t cause more casualties than necessary.”
“But Sheer,” a badger responded, “you said to…”
“I said to put them outside if they were injured, not if they’re unconscious. You can take them to a room on the outer edge instead. If they start waking up, then you can put them outside. I don’t want them to hit the ground before they’ve gotten a chance to fly away. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” the badger replied. “I understand.”
“Good.”
Finally, I found Spike in the great hall, fighting a couple of squirrels. He flung one of them around by the tail with his good talons, knocked over the other one with her friend, then released the poor creature. The squirrel skidded on the enormous table and came to a halt just before falling off the edge.
Spike was moving in for another round of tor
ture when I attacked him. I used all of my might to get him onto his back, out of breath and distracted. I was tempted to kill him, right then and there. He’d taken Barrie from me, and my mother and sister. But deep inside, I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. What would Samuel have said? Instead, I got up and used my power to constrain the old crow within a spherical boundary just large enough for me to understand what he was saying through his body language.
When he stopped trying to escape, I knew it was time to attempt to sever his connection to the darkness that clung to him. I’d done it before with Nyoka; perhaps I could do it again.
“Spike, this is enough. Don’t you see the devastation you’ve caused?” It was incredibly difficult to speak and hold him there at the same time. My power faltered, and he dropped a bit, but I corrected and held him up again.
Spike snarled. “Why should I listen to you, Sheer?” I tried to impose his accent in my mind, but it was too hard, especially when I was also trying to restrain him. Instead, I refocused on holding him still and interpreting what he was saying.
“I don’t recall telling you my name.”
“Nivek told me, and he knows everything. Besides, I have a spy on the thirteenth floor. You think Gander is loyal to you? You’re a fool.”
Despite my normal difficulty of picking up names out of context, this one popped into my mind almost unbidden.
Nivek?
I vaguely remembered hearing the name before. Samuel had told me the animals in my visions were the enemies, and after Spike, only one was left: the wolf. Nyoka had also mentioned being controlled by darkness…
The wolf must have used the darkness as a weapon to control the other two.
Spike spat, forcing me to pay attention to him again. “Well? Have you nothing to say?”
“You’re the fool,” I responded. “Gander is loyal to me. He told me when you were going to attack. And now hundreds of dead bodies are scattered all over the thirteenth floor. When will this be enough, Spike?”
“When Nivek says it’s enough.”
“And why are you following Nivek’s orders?” I asked. “Don’t you have a will of your own?”
“Nivek’s will is my will.”
XXIII
This was going to be harder than I’d thought. If Nivek really had been in control of Nyoka, he’d done a much better job with the crow. Spike’s mindset was refusing to budge.
Maybe talking about the damage isn’t enough. I focused on the invisible barrier I’d created around Spike, and it started to move. I brought him out of the great hall, through one of its many arches, to where I’d seen the most destruction. The animals who were collecting crows hadn’t arrived in this area yet, so the floor was littered with bodies from both sides of the battle.
“Do you see this, Spike?” I pressed, allowing my focus on his barrier to relax slightly now that we were still. “Not only have you brought destruction to the thirteenth floor, but also to your own army. How many of these crows were related to you? You even fought against your own niece. Would you still be standing with pride if you had killed her in battle?”
“I…” A glimmer of remorse flickered in his eyes, then vanished. “What’s done is done. If many must die to accomplish Nivek’s goal, then so be it.”
Now that I’d glimpsed the good heart inside this ancient crow, I knew there was hope. I pressed harder, trying to exploit this sensitive issue to bring him back the same way I’d saved Nyoka. “Sure, Nivek’s goal would be fulfilled. But what was yours? What was your goal in all of this? To kill me? To destroy all of us? To murder half of your own army… your own species? Rebekah fought valiantly against you, against the darkness that has its hold on you. Fight back with her.”
“No, I… I didn’t plan on killing so many. That was not my goal at all.”
Finally, I had his attention. “So when you die,” I continued, “how do you want to be remembered? As a merciless, hateful commander who sent his troops to their deaths and murdered his own niece?”
Spike turned away from the carnage, no longer able to look at the bodies. I released my focus on his barrier and flew closer to him. “Don’t you see, Spike? Nivek has been controlling you. He has been telling you what to do, and you’ve been obeying without question. He used dark magic to hold on to you, to keep you from thinking for yourself. But his magic can’t control your soul. Reach deep inside and find that sense of right and wrong. Use your soul — your heart — not your mind, to decide. Will you be on our side, or his?”
Spike’s brow furrowed. He shook his head from side to side; his pupils dilated and contracted. His talons flexed, and it seemed his entire body was struggling against some invisible force. After wrestling with himself for several minutes, he suddenly stopped, panting. Slowly, he stood, then looked directly into my eyes. His own were strong, clear, and defiant. “I choose your side,” he said.
At that moment, the entire building shook. A hairline crack ripped across the floor and up the wall. Early morning light shone brightly through the walls, and dust rained down from the ceiling. The animals left alive on the thirteenth floor ran around in panic. I turned to Spike. “Are there more bears?”
“No. I’ve never heard anything like this before. It almost sounds like…”
Before he got a chance to finish, a black metal sphere the size of the archway crashed through the walls. Shards of metal, wood, and stone flew in every direction.
“We have to get out of here!” I shouted.
Spike and I flew as quickly as we could, stopping to help slow or injured animals that couldn’t run fast enough on their own to escape the wrecking ball. I dove out of the window at the end of the hallway, planted my feet on the ground, and spun around. Some animals were trying to make their way down the stairs on the side of the building, but many were falling. Channeling all of the energy I could muster, I used my power to slow some of the falling animals. I couldn’t help them all.
When everyone was out of the building, we fled to the forest. I took one last look at the building as it crumbled at the hands of an ungodly metal machine. The humans controlling it looked like mice in comparison to its size. Our home was lost.
Everywhere I looked, evicted animals of the thirteenth floor with their shreds of blue were huddled in clusters among remaining hummingbirds, beetles, and crows. Anna was passing from one patch to another, offering what comfort she could despite having lost the stash of medical supplies she’d accumulated over the years. She turned and looked towards me — no, beside me. I followed her gaze to see Amery speaking to the crowd.
“We need to bind together,” she was saying. “Now, more than ever. With Samuel gone, and our home destroyed, we need a new leader to bring us through this tough time.” She looked at me, and I immediately knew what she was implying.
“No, I don’t want to lead,” I said. “What about Anna? She’s been an established member of the thirteenth floor all her life. Or even Nyoka or Spike. They’ve mended their ways and have much more experience than me.”
A tiny white rabbit kit bounded up to me and put her paw on my wing. “I want you to be our leader,” he said.
“But I…” I tried to protest, but other animals began to stand and voice their approval. Out of respect for my disability, they took turns giving me their reasons. Bewildered, I watched their expressions, full of respect and adoration I didn’t feel I deserved.
“You helped all of us in battle.”
“Yes, and you were with Samuel more than any of us.”
“And you have already led us.”
“You’re the best fit for the job.”
“You’re the smartest…”
“…and the most courageous.”
They all whispered a phrase I couldn’t quite grasp, but the exact words didn’t matter. It was a sort of name, respectful and admiring. I looked to Amery for a final opinion, hoping she’d changed her mind. I didn’t want this power.
“I think you can do it,” she said simply.
“Do all of you really want me to be the next guardian?” I asked, turning back to the crowd.
Many said, “Yes.” Others just nodded their heads, but all were in support of the decision.
“It’s unanimous, Sheer,” Amery told me as I turned back to her. “Everyone really does believe in you.”
I gazed into her eyes, trying to tell her I didn’t want it. Her own eyes softened as she said gently, “I know you don’t want power, Sheer. That’s why you’re the best one to receive it.”
I stood quietly for a moment, then addressed them all. “I guess you have decided, then. I’ll be — I am — the new guardian of…” I hesitated, not sure what to call our group at first. The thirteenth floor certainly wasn’t fitting anymore. But then again, there was only one name good enough for this. Paying tribute to my mentor and the previous guardian, I finished: “…of Samuel’s family.”
Wolf
XXIV
I cleared my throat and hopped onto a large rock to address the crowd once more. “Well, the first order of business should be… order. All the former members of the thirteenth floor have pieces of blue fabric that have helped identify us from other animals and keep us safe. That is more important than ever, now that we are no longer sheltered by the safety of the building and its wards.” I shivered, recalling the other way Samuel’s wards were keeping me safe. I’d traveled outside the thirteenth floor in confidence before, but I’d never stayed in one place for more than a night without him beside me. Now that we were permanently moved outside of its walls, and without the constant presence of the wise lynx himself, would his protective spell on me hold true?
“Everyone who fought beside us in the battle is welcome to join Samuel’s family, if they so choose. Please ask your neighbor to share a piece of their fabric. We should have a few expeditions into the city to try to collect more. Does anyone volunteer?”