Sisters of the Sands: Book 1 of the Acolytes series

by James Villinger

  The four girls descended through the pews and climbed the steps around each of the arenas, going to their respective centres.

  Maya pulled on my shoulder. “Sacet, you might want to look away for this one.”

  “What? Why?”

  “When we first captured you, we traced you from where you were before and …”

  I turned away from Maya and my heart skipped a beat. In the four arenas, four men from separate tubes were rising from an underground platform. In the same arena as Iya, the weathered and scarred face of Pilgrim rose from its underbelly. He stared down at his bound hands and then up to Iya.

  “I thought you’d be bigger!” I could hear his deep voice yell, even from here, eliciting laughter in the pews around us. He spat on the ground in front of him. “Do your worst!”

  “Pilgrim!” I shouted as a loud bell rang.

  My face was burning. I tried stepping out of the row but was pulled back by Maya.

  “Sit! I told you not to look,” she said as I took quick, deep breaths.

  Iya raised both of her hands in front of her eyes with palms facing one another. She clapped the two palms together in one disgusting movement, and Pilgrim’s body exploded into a grotesque mess of pulp. She released her hands, causing the crushed remains to sluice onto the ground in a heaping mess.

  “No!” I screamed. “It’s horrible. How can they expect me to do this? I’m not doing it!”

  The other Acolytes around me were eyeing me with suspicion.

  Maya placed a hand on my shoulder to keep me in my seat and to calm me down. “You know the consequences if you don’t. These men have suffered enough as it is, and if you don’t kill them, someone else will. It’s best to just close your eyes and put them out of their misery.”

  I closed my eyes as Maya suggested. But I could still hear the ripping and slashing continue, followed by the shouts and applause of the soldiers. I peeked through the Acolytes sitting on the benches in front of me as Iya made her way back to her seat. As she sat, she nudged one of her friends and pointed over to me.

  Maya pointed towards a tall pole in the centre of the stadium. “Look, that’s how we know if we’re up.” At the top of the pole there was a screen with the four participants’ names listed. The names on the screen changed to another four.

  Standing next to the pole was Tau, waiting to help any who needed medical assistance, any except for the victims, of course.

  “How long is this going to last? This is disgusting.”

  “Try not to think about it.”

  Neva was one of the participants climbing the steps. She whipped her long, blonde hair and posed for the crowd.

  I pointed her out. “That’s Neva, right? The one that …”

  “Yeah, that’s her. Not a good idea to challenge her either, if you were thinking about it.”

  Another group of men was raised up to the arena. The one in Neva’s arena fell to his knees and appeared to be begging for mercy. The bell sounded and I watched as Neva’s skin morphed and changed its texture into granules of sand. As if she was being blown away by the wind, the particles flew up and out of her armour, leaving her empty suit to fall to the floor.

  Like a miniature desert storm, the plume of sand whipped over to the man and enveloped him. He screamed as his body dissolved at her touch. His flesh was being shredded away from his bones.

  “What? Since when can sand do that?” I asked in astonishment.

  Maya shrugged. “It’s definitely not sand.”

  The cloud returned to the armour and entered through its cavities, leaving what remained of the man’s body clumped on the ground in a steaming pile. As if it had a life of its own, the armour stood straight up. The “sand” refilled the missing head and hands and reformed back into Neva, who waved at the cheering crowd.

  My stomach churned, I was sick from the smell of the burnt flesh that had wafted to the benches. As the four women climbed down the steps of the arenas, another four names appeared on the screen above. Herathi, Nyar, Wrai and … Sacet.

  Maya slapped me on the back. “Go! Get it over with!” But I bent over and vomited onto the ground at my feet. “Yuck. Quick! Wipe your mouth and get up there!”

  I got up from my seat and side-stepped to the nearby aisle, wiping my mouth as I went. This was it, my only chance to rescue these men. I staggered through the aisle and walked over to the arena steps. I wasn’t going to let them do this.

  My perception shifted back down below to the chamber. Hundreds of men were still being kept inside it. Sitting against the side of the chamber, mixed in with the others, I spotted my brother.

  “Eno?” I said to myself.

  Did Tau know about this? Why didn’t she tell me? My face screwed up and I shot a look over to her by the pole. She and everyone else were watching me as I walked. When she noticed my hate-filled expression, she returned it with a pleading stare. It was like she knew I knew. Her solemn face now looked down at the ground, ashamed.

  I felt like I needed to throw up again. Why was he there? I didn’t care what happened to me now, I had to save him. Remembering what Sula had taught me, I kept my hands by my side and focused inside the chamber. I had to get them all as far away as I could.

  The seemingly unlimited distance my portals could reach to would allow me to get the men to anywhere I had already been. But where could I transport them? Where’s a safe place I had visited already? What about Pilgrim’s old village? There would be no one there anymore, surely.

  As I made my way up the steps I felt the Queen’s eyes and expectations upon me.

  The other three Acolytes had already taken their places. I reached the centre of the platform while still focusing on the portal’s destination. I could not afford to screw this up. Without moving my hands, I opened a portal to Pilgrim’s village in the chamber below. Run, guys! Run, Eno! Get out of there!

  The rattling platforms began to rise from below each of the arena floors. My eyes widened as my victim’s head came into view. I had only seen this grey-haired man yesterday in a picture. Like Pilgrim, he, too, had his hands bound and appeared submissive to his fate. It was Maya’s father.

  I turned back to the benches and saw a look of shock on her face. She stood up and made her way down the steps. The Queen’s eyes were still fixated on me. It was as if the whole world was watching in this one horrible moment. The bell sounded.

  The other three arenas lit up with light and fire, followed by bloodcurdling screams. The entrails of a man from one of the other arenas had flown through the air and spilled into mine. The man in front of me seemed indifferent to the horrors around him. The crowd of soldiers cheered with bloodlust. But I stood there, frozen, unable to act.

  I could hear some of the familiar jeers and taunts from when I first arrived here. The crowd was booing at my indecisiveness. My hands shook and my knees felt weak.

  My perception shifted back to the unseen chamber below − all of the remaining prisoners had run through the portal. But several soldiers were attempting to pursue them. Eno wasn’t through yet, nor were a few others. They had been blocked off by three of the guards. The other four guards had already jumped through the portal, so I closed it.

  Without moving my hands, I opened another portal to Eno’s side. He and the others noticed it and ran for it, diving through. I closed the portal again before the other soldiers could reach it. I did my best. Hopefully, they would overcome the four soldiers on the other side.

  “Do something! Kill him!” I heard someone yell from the audience.

  I opened a small entrance portal in front of my mouth. The exit was pointed towards the crowd, and I stretched it as large as I could, as Sula had taught me. “Silence!” My voice was amplified through the small portal as it exited the much larger one, and the crowd became still and calm. The amplified voice was carried throughout the stadium and echoed as if I were a giant. I needed to think of something to say. I wasn’t going to kill this man.

  “There is no honour in
killing an unarmed man. If you want me to fight for my pride, and for the cause, then send me out to fight an enemy who fights back, or bring forth a weapon, a way for them to defend themselves.”

  The still audience gasped and murmured. Queen Antwin rose out of her throne and approached the edge of the upper terrace’s podium.

  There was a lone clap in the audience. I searched for its source and saw that it was Hana. She and Kowi had been forced to sit in the upper rows with the other civilians. Those around her joined in, gathering the applause. Soon after, it appeared that most of the audience in the upper partition was clapping.

  I stared back at the Queen and smiled. Her murderous eyes locked onto mine and her casual grin turned to a scowl of absolute hatred.

  Maya brushed past me and towards her father.

  “Maya? What are you doing?” I said.

  But she didn’t stop. She kept running straight to her father, the man’s face lit up and he raised his bound hands into the air as she approached. As she embraced him, he brought his arms back down around her, and the nearby audience continued to boo.

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” Maya said, while bawling.

  “I’m sorry, too, Maya. I love you,” he said. He looked at me as he was holding his daughter and smiled. “Thank you.”

  He turned back to his daughter and held her in a tight embrace. As he closed his eyes, his face burst into reddish water vapour, followed by the rest of his body. His liquified remains spilled through Maya’s arms onto the arena floor at her feet.

  30. Push

  Eno

  The destroyed village

  “What is this place?” the Overseer said as she got to her feet and drew her pistol.

  The other three guards got up as well, looking around in astonishment. All of the rescued men inspected their surroundings, too.

  We were in a large cavern, surrounded by pieces of scrap metal and demolished shacks. Daylight streamed in from the cave skylights above us, illuminating the whole village. This was Pilgrim’s old home and we were standing in the centre of it.

  “All of you, sit down where you are,” the Overseer yelled, stepping forward and waving her pistol around.

  The men remained silent and still, so the Overseer fired up at the cavern’s ceiling. “Now! Do it!”

  The noise of the blast echoed off the cave walls and rang in my ears. All of the other men sat down where they were, but I remained standing. The Overseer noticed me and ambled closer.

  “Spread out,” she told the three soldiers before focusing her attention back on me. “Sit down, Eno.”

  “No,” I whispered, clenching my fists and looking down at the dirt.

  She aimed her pistol at me. “What did you say? You don’t have a choice, boy. This was your sister’s doing, wasn’t it? She was the one that makes portals, right?”

  I looked back up at her and felt a tear forming in my eye.

  “Well, she’s dead now, no doubt about it,” she said. I could sense her depressing the trigger. “And so are you.”

  “No!” I screamed as loud as I could, flinging my arms at her.

  She fired her gun and the laser projectile streamed through the air. The ground rumbled. Everything shook. The laser slowed until it had stopped in front of my face. I didn’t stop screaming.

  The hissing laser hung in mid-air, and then slowly shifted backwards. The whole cavern quaked. The Overseer and her guards were launched off their feet. They tumbled away from me, along with the nearby debris. The laser sped into the cave wall in the distance. The dirt beneath my feet rolled like waves.

  The broken shacks tore further into pieces, and fragments barrelled along with the tumbling soldiers, back towards the edge of the cave. I could see the roof of the cavern collapsing, large rocky chunks breaking free and flying into the sky, allowing more light to pour in from above. I didn’t stop screaming.

  The women smacked into the side of the cave with strong force, and the walls themselves were starting to crumble. The shards of metal and stone flung through the air and covered the women; one particularly large spike flew into the Overseer’s chest and impaled her. The rest of the wall collapsed on top of them as it all continued to push away.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I stopped screaming. I looked back to see one of the men, shaking from the destruction. Indeed, all of the men were shocked, but somehow the devastation only affected what was in front of me, leaving them all unharmed. Tears were rolling freely down my cheeks, but I didn’t cry out any longer.

  “You saved us,” the man said, before looking up at the enormous open skylight.

  I looked up, too, and the sun warmed my face. Perched on top of the new cliff that had been created, a solitary silhouette loomed in front of the sun, casting a shadow down into the crater. It looked like a man holding a rifle.

  I felt a sharp sting. A dart was sticking out of my chest. A strong shock travelled through my body, causing me to seize up. Words escaped me. I collapsed to the ground and my face met the dirt.

  31. Catalyst

  Sacet

  In the stadium

  Maya had fallen to her knees and was scooping up puddles of what was left of her father. From the sidelines, Tau climbed into the arena and ran over to her. All I could hear was the booing crowd. Some of the Acolytes on the benches surrounding the arena started to stand and make their way over.

  The Queen was still watching me. One of her commanders approached and whispered into her ear.

  I needed to get out of here. They were going to find out what I had done any moment now. I had hoped that I could rescue the men without the Dominion knowing that it was me, but it was obvious. The guards in the chambers below had seen the men escaping through a portal. It was time for me to leave.

  I thought back to Maya’s apartment and pictured her living room. Using what Sula had taught me, I opened a portal under my feet and one in Maya’s apartment, and lifted both at the same time. As soon as they were above my head, I closed them behind me, and sat down onto the soft carpet of the dark living room floor.

  The Queen would want me dead. I could never come back here. That’s okay, I’ll find my brother, along with the other men, and we can hide out in the desert. But how could I escape with this tracking device still inside me? What if they decided to detonate it any moment now?

  I ran my fingers over where the scarred tissue was. I could still feel the lump, but I found the scarred tissue was now smooth. It had been healed by Tau. How was I going to get this out? What if it released the acid as I was trying to remove it?

  The lump inside the back of my neck pulsated. They were probably trying to track me down. I had no choice, it had to go. Using my second perception, I looked inside my own flesh and examined the device. It was small and metallic, and appeared to have barbed antennas spreading out into my neck tissue. I pictured a point on the other side of the room as a destination and carefully made another portal around the device inside my own flesh.

  In one quick motion I tried to guide it through but each pull made me jerk in pain; the barbed antennas had caught on my muscles. The device pounded inside of me quicker than before, as if it knew what I was trying to do. I didn’t care what damage it did, I wanted it out! I tried pushing it through again, this time with greater force. The portal tore through my flesh and spat the small gadget out the other side.

  I rolled on the floor, screaming in agony. The tracking device landed on the floor with bits of my neck muscle sticking out of its barbs. A small green light appeared, steady at first and then flashing. There was a puff of air, then a spray of liquid onto the floor. The green substance quickly corroded the surface, leaving a large, sizzling hole.

  I brought my hand up to the back of my neck. I hadn’t broken the skin, but I felt a large cavity had been left underneath. It was excruciating. My head felt woozy. All the blood vessels around the wound had been drained. I tried standing up again, leaning on the couch for support, but my legs gave way and I fell to the floor again.
No! I had to get out of here. I could not let them capture me again.

  “Wake up!”

  Someone gave me a strong kick to my legs. I opened my eyes and sat up. The back of my neck was still throbbing. My blurry eyes adjusted and I saw Maya standing in front of me.

  She crossed her arms. “How did I know you’d be here?” Her was face pale and grim.

  I pulled myself up using the couch. “Maya? Why? Why did you do it?”

  “Even after all you’ve been through, you still don’t understand.”

  “No! You don’t understand. How could you could you kill your own father? I was trying to save him. I tried so long to understand you, Maya, I really did. But what you did was unforgivable.”

  She scoffed. “I’m sorry I can’t live in your naive and perfect world, where the genders magically get along. I heard about what you did. The whole city is after you now. You know, I really thought that you would come around. I hoped we could be friends, but you ruined everything. Why did you turn out this way?” Maya said as she stepped closer to me with her hands outstretched.

  I slowly backed away. “Maya, now, don’t do something else you’ll regret.”

  “Shut up! I’m not going to be associated with you anymore. You’re either going to come with me peacefully,” she said before jumping forward and forcibly grabbing my arms. “… or you’re going to die right here.” I tried squirming out of her grasp but it was too tight, she was too strong.

  In the commotion, my second perception flew outside and across the walkway to the rooftops of the other buildings. Iya and a group of heavily armed soldiers were pointing their weapons in our direction. I sensed Iya use her powers to break off a large piece of metal architecture on her roof, and she flicked it towards our apartment window.

  “Get down!” I yelled as the massive piece of roof smashed through the window and into the living room.

  As it did, I jumped backwards with Maya to the wall, causing the improvised missile to miss us. We both fell to the floor behind the table. The missile tumbled through the apartment, tearing up the tiles and flinging furniture about, until finally it came to rest. A gaping hole had been created in the balcony’s place.