by J. Thorn
Just before she passed out, she considered praying to the bones to spare the water whisperer’s life. The girl had too much responsibility, so much potential and so many to save. But Lanette stopped and let the blooming migraine drag her into unconsciousness.
Prayer hadn’t saved the old world, and it wasn’t about to save the new one, either.
Chapter 29
Snowflakes peppered the horse’s mane, turning into a light powder as they landed on the warrior’s gloved hands. She’d been traveling for days, rarely stopping to rest, but she’d finally made it. The horse had held up, having been trained for long-distance riding even though the woman had had no way of preparing the beast for the extreme cold of the mountain highlands.
Sunji’s back ached, and her fingers had grown numb. From exhaustion or from frigid temperatures, she couldn’t tell. The result was the same—a punishing chill that not only dulled her senses, but had dehydrated her, as well. The cold, dry air had drawn the moisture right out of her body.
She squeezed the horse with her calves as the first outlines of the ruins appeared on the high plain. The switchbacks and deep passes had slowed the horse down, but now they could ride on ground that was relatively flat and open.
As Sunji approached the buildings, she noticed that they had deteriorated faster than the Cleveland ruins. Many of the structures stood as nothing more than skeletal frames with piles of rubble left scattered across the city streets. The freeze-thaw cycle had wreaked havoc on the untended structures of the old world, and things were not any different here than they were elsewhere.
Her stomach grumbled, and she reached into her satchel and pulled out a squirrel she had killed the previous night. The meat tasted oily and its texture was stringy—cold, too, but edible. Another day in the satchel and it would have either turned or froze.
As the warrior closed the outer flap, she glanced at the envelope she’d been asked to messenger. Every night since leaving Erehwon, she’d thought about this letter. Still, she’d disciplined herself to keep the sealed envelope in the bag and deliver it to the Venganza head in Denver, as she had been tasked.
She closed the flap on the satchel, keeping the message hidden from others—and herself.
“Just get there. And pray that you’ve made it first.”
Sunji steered the horse around a snowdrift that stood two-women high. On the other side, the mesa opened before her, revealing the ruins of a once massive settlement.
Denver.
The clear, blue sky and brilliant sun masked the frigid extremes of the high-altitude ruins. As she had seen several times over while crossing the continent, the old high-rises remained and appeared pristine until one came closer. Windows had been shattered by ancient violence or the bitter bite of uncounted Januarys. In some places, vines had taken hold and wrapped around the bases of such a structure like a leafy scarf.
The warrior followed the tracks. Most of the city seemed to be buried in a white tomb. She saw the dark speck of an occasional bird flashing across the landscape, but otherwise, the city sat in an utter, cold silence.
The wind had blown snow across the rails, and Sunji estimated that, in another week or so, they would be completely impassible—the snow piling so high that no human or beast could traverse the mesa. At lower elevations, travel might be possible, but she hadn’t seen any tracks ascending to this summit from the east.
When the woman saw the structure’s outline against the other buildings, she knew in an instant it was the place she’d sought.
Unlike many of the other buildings, the old baseball stadium appeared structurally sound, even from a short distance away. In fact, it was in better shape than Progressive Field in Cleveland. Sections of the old structure had been repaired with wood, the fixes having been performed by the Venganza tribe. But the stadium—formerly known as Coors Field, according to a nearby sign—appeared to have made the perfect fortified ‘castle’ for the Denver Venganza.
She squeezed her calves against her horse’s ribs and it stepped more quickly toward the stadium.
Based on what she saw at the east gate, it appeared as though all the entrances had been barricaded with wood and sheet metal. Four warriors stood guard at the east gate ahead of her, the main entry point into the settlement. They raised their spears as the rider approached, but quickly lowered them as she got closer and they noticed her mask.
“Stop!” a guard said as she moved within twenty yards. “We don’t recognize your mask.”
“I come from the Venganza settlement of Erehwon, in Ohio.”
The guard slid her mask up, as did the others. “Ohio? You came all this way alone?”
“I was sent by the Council to alert them of a threat and deliver a written message to Eneka. She is the head of your tribe’s Council, correct?”
The guards whispered to each other until the leader turned again to Sunji. “What threat and what written message?”
“I am not permitted to share that with you. Only the head of your Council.”
Again, the guards whispered. The leader shook her head as she looked back at Sunji.
“We cannot let you pass. We don’t know who you are and what your true intention might be. And believing you rode all the way from the East? That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“But I am Venganza. You can see that.”
“I can see a mask.”
Sunji glanced down at her satchel, reading the ragged script on the envelope. If the guards took the news to their Council, the warrior believed it would be enough to get her inside. That was, if the guards didn’t turn her away first—or attack.
“Wait here.”
The lead guard motioned to the others. They untied the rope that had held shut the entrance and began pushing the door open against the growing mound of snow on the ground.
“And who should I say is delivering this news from the east?”
“Sunji,” the warrior said. “Of Erehwon.”
Sunji waited in the cold for several minutes until the two guards who had retreated into the settlement returned. They’d brought with them another woman. She came through the gate with confidence, almost strutting as she made her way toward Sunji. Two of the other guards followed her at first, but the woman turned and held her hand up for them to stop.
Her warrior’s mask had been painted with the face of a demon, the eyes black and pointed, with fangs protruding from its mouth. But the mask appeared chipped and battered, as if it had seen countless battles. From the way she walked and the shape of her body, though, Sunji could tell she hadn’t yet made it to her thirtieth year. Maybe not even to twenty-five.
The warrior walked up to Sunji with her weapons stashed and her hands at her sides, a show of either extreme confidence or stupidity. She stopped a few yards from Sunji’s horse and looked up at her. Somehow, her dark eyes glowed from behind the mask. She pulled it off after a moment’s pause, revealing that Sunji had been right about her age. The girl’s brown skin glistened with tiny beads of sweat. She had long, straight, dark hair braided in two strands and tossed over each shoulder. Her dark eyes were narrowed, her thin lips parting slightly.
“Remove your mask.”
Sunji did as the warrior instructed, exposing her bloodshot eyes and dirt-encrusted cheeks.
The woman smiled at Sunji until her face quickly changed—her eyes piercing their visitor’s. “Ohio, they tell me. That is a long way to travel. Alone. In this season.”
“As I told your guards, I have a warning and written message for Eneka. She is head of the Council, is she not?”
“She is. And it has been a long time since she has heard the name Lanette.”
“I have important news.”
Sunji swung a leg over, grabbed the letter from her satchel, and stood before the woman. The other guards had sprung forth with axes raised, but with the raising of one hand, the warrior backed them off before they could get nearly within reach.
“So I’ve been told.” The young warrior looked S
unji up and down. “My name is Arina. I am on our Council. We will take your horse to our stables where he can be cared for, and then we will feed you before you are given several minutes in the chamber.”
After devouring a warm bowl of gruel, Sunji followed Arina through the settlement and to the Council. They had to climb several levels up to a place that Arina called a ‘skybox.’ The name made sense once Sunji was led inside and saw that the room had windows overlooking the settlement. Inside, she saw a large table with a dozen seats, but only one of them was occupied. The woman sitting in the chair had her back turned to the door, and thus to Sunji and Arina.
“Please leave us, Arina.”
“Of course.” Arina bowed, and then left the room.
“Please, have a seat,” the woman said to Sunji without turning around.
“I’d rather stand if that’s okay with you. I’ve been on horseback for a long time.”
“You have. And I’m quite curious as to why the Erehwon Council sent you all the way here. And, why Lanette sent the written message and not Shiva.”
“So you do know her. You are Eneka.”
The woman turned around. “Yes, I do. And, I am.”
Eneka stood, showing herself to be much shorter than Sunji had imagined a powerful warrior to be. The woman wore long robes which cloaked what appeared to be a rather rotund physique. Like Arina, Eneka had dark skin, dark eyes, and long, braided hair. However, Eneka’s hair had been silvered by the years, and the crow’s feet on her face darkened like cracked porcelain. Sunji saw decades of warfare in those eyes, and at the same time there was a calming comfort.
“What is the threat you bring to my settlement? Speak.”
As Sunji stepped forward, she glanced at her satchel. The letter stared back, begging to finally come out of the bag and serve its purpose. Sunji had become so curious about the nature of the letter that she wanted Eneka to read it aloud, right on the spot. Sunji reached in to grab it, then hesitated. The letter was not her primary responsibility even though the curiosity was driving her mad. First, she’d need to explain why she’d been sent by Shiva.
“There’s a Venganza warrior on her way here. She has something very valuable that belongs to Erehwon.”
Eneka smiled. “Possession is a vague concept, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” Sunji said, unsure how to answer the question. “I will tell you more.”
“Yes, you certainly will.”
Sunji knew the guards had told Eneka about her arrival and what she claimed to bring from Erehwon and now Sunji began to second-guess her instinct to instantly hand the letter over to Eneka. Shiva didn’t trust Lanette. The Council had forbidden Sunji from opening the letter. But why? What could be in the letter that couldn’t be seen by anyone except the old and distant head of another Venganza clan?
“And?”
The question jarred Sunji from her thoughts. “And what?”
“You have a written message for me?”
Sunji slid her hand from the bag, without the letter. “Yes. Buried deep in my pack. I’ll present it to you tomorrow.
Chapter 30
19 Days West of Erehwon
She’d drifted in and out of consciousness with the rhythms of the blowing snow. Dia would ask her questions and try to engage her in conversation, but it had become more and more difficult for Hado to respond with any measure of attention.
The mountain passes had been some of the most treacherous trails she’d ever been on, even in good weather. The high-altitude storms dropped inches of snow every hour, too, offering a volume of precipitation to rival the lake-effect snow bands of northeast Ohio. Hado worried for the horses almost to the same degree that Dia worried about her.
“Hado!”
She had nearly drifted off entirely when Dia called out her name. Hado lifted her head and sat up straight on her horse. A gust knocked a sudden wall of snow into the riders, leaving Hado wiping flakes from her face as she looked through the gap ahead of them and on toward the city.
“We’re here?”
Dia nodded.
“I’m sorry.” Hado wiped her eyes. “I’m having a hard time seeing through the snow.”
Decker looked up and whimpered at Hado, staring at her with sad eyes as if he was sensing the woman’s pain. The amputation had left her weak, and she knew that riding for days on horseback through blinding snow squalls wasn’t the best way to recover. But underneath the ghost pain was another itch now—a slow burn that Hado couldn’t deny. The infection had spread prior to the amputation, she now realized, and she had seen this type of illness take down even the hardiest of Venganza warriors.
Dia forced a smile. “It’s all right. We’ll be with the Denver Venganza soon. They will have a place for you to rest.”
Hado sucked at the oxygen-depleted air, this high altitude punishing them for a lifetime spent at sea level. She couldn’t determine what was to blame for her blooming migraine—the frigid weather, the days on horseback, the altitude, or the infection. In the end, it didn’t really matter.
They rode down the trail and through the gap without speaking, wind whistling about them like winter demons. Then the storm relented, and the clouds parted as if they were intent on presenting the ice-covered ruin to Hado personally.
“Look at this place,” Dia said.
Denver reminded Hado of Cleveland—a metallic graveyard slowly being buried by snow and time. The largest buildings stretched into the sky like black fangs, while some of the smaller ones had already begun listing to one side or another. From the top of the ridge they had come over, Hado could see that the city sat in the middle of a high plain surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The mountain range circled the city—the peaks and ridges covered with snow like the white hair and beard of an old wizard. Dark green pines stretched across the plain, a lake of conifer rising to the shore of Denver like the Great Lake on the edge of the Cleveland ruins.
“It’s like Kuno described,” Hado said. “This place looks as dangerous as all of the other ruins we’ve been through.”
“You said we shouldn’t easily miss the Venganza settlement, right?”
“From the way Lanette described it, no. It’s inside what was once a sporting arena. Baseball, to be specific.”
Dia stared blankly back at her, likely unaware of what baseball was. Hado didn’t quite know the answer to that, herself. But still, she scanned the skyscrapers, looking for the rectangular structure she’d heard would be displayed in front of the city like a prized jewel.
The snow picked up again, dropping huge flakes in silent waves of white. Dia had stopped to pick up Decker and let him ride upon the horse with her once again. They’d done this several times during the trip because the old dog couldn’t quite keep up with the horses, but it was more necessary now with the snow accumulating as it was.
Going off of Hado’s descriptions, Dia pointed ahead. “Is that it?”
The squat, rectangular structure stood in the near distance, at the foot of the mountains made of steel and glass—not more than half a mile away. One wall had been either knocked down or intentionally left open, its gap running alongside the railroad tracks. The other three sides came up at an angle and created an impenetrable wall surrounding the settlement. The place reminded her of the stadium on the shores of Lake Erie, a place hallowed by ghosts of competitions past. Venganza had considered starting Erehwon inside of that stadium, but the lake had surged several times and flooded the inside, making it both unsafe and unreliable.
“I believe so,” Hado said.
They squeezed their horses’ ribs, quickening their pace as they cantered toward the imposing fortress. As they approached, Hado squinted through the falling snow. They’d come from the east, and she could see that the brick building had been fortified, its doors covered with hunks of lumber. Hado led Dia and the horses around one corner until they stood before the open side, the one that appeared to be more vulnerable—although she understood that the leaders of the Denver
Venganza could not have survived here with such a blatant weakness in their settlement. Two guards stepped out from behind a makeshift post at the base of a low wall.
Even though they were thousands of miles away and the two tribes hadn’t interacted in a generation, Hado could instantly tell from their masks that these were Venganza warriors. The two guards raised their spears as Dia and Hado approached.
“Stop!”
Dia stopped first, and then Hado.
“Do not come any closer,” one of the guards said.
It was then that Hado realized she hadn’t been wearing her mask. It hung from Ree’s saddle. She reached to grab it as the guards took a step closer, the tips of their spears now pointed at Dia and Hado’s heads. Dia raised her hands slowly as Hado held out her mask to show them.
“We are Venganza. We are one of you.”
“Let them pass.”
The words had come from behind the guard post, near a tall, iron gate. A woman stepped between the two guards and looked up at Dia, then at Hado. She paused.
“You look sick.”
“I lost an arm, but feel all right other than that.” Hado forced a chuckle.
“My name is Arina. Come with me.”
Hado had her knees pulled up to her chin, sitting as close to the fire as she could. She held a hunk of salty, dried venison in her hand, and was trying not to eat so quickly that it would make her sick. Dia sat nearby, stopping her own meal only long enough to offer Decker an occasional bite. They’d been told that the horses would be cared for and Hado had no reason to believe they’d mistreat the animals solely because of their riders.
Arina had brought the two women into a secured area just inside the gated stadium. The fire had been started before their arrival, and Arina had ordered a fellow Venganza warrior to bring the two women some food. They’d brought more than what would have normally been necessary, but Hado wondered if the venison would be enough now, given how hungry she and Dia had become. The increase in altitude and almost constant snowstorms had made it difficult to do much more than melt snow by a meager fire.