Soulshifter

by Barbara Pietron

  Jack caught the pack and set it aside, then opened his arms. “Now you.”

  Natalie eyeballed the expanse he expected her to cross and then peered at the ground. “Maybe I should take my chances and jump straight down.”

  Jack shook his head. “No, you’ll twist your ankle or break a leg. You don’t have to stand up, just squat low on top of the wall so you can push off with your legs. You can do it, Natalie,” he encouraged. “You’re a runner. Your legs are strong.”

  She stared at him for a moment, until the spine-chilling scream of a hellcat broke her consternation. Then, flipping one leg back over the wall so she straddled it again, she worked her way from there up to her knees. Turning toward Jack, she pulled her feet under her one at a time.

  Jack planted his feet and bent his knees, but as soon as Natalie flung herself outward he knew she wasn’t going to make it. She plummeted toward the rough edge of the rooftop with a small squeal. Jack rushed forward and shot his arm out to snag her torso, jerking her to him. They both tumbled backward on the roof.

  Natalie rolled off him and lay there for a minute panting, hand on her heart.

  “That’s not how I thought it would go,” Jack said raggedly, “but at least you had a soft landing.”

  She turned to him and breathed out a shaky laugh. “Yeah, thanks for that.”

  They fell silent as they heard voices from outside the wall. A raspy, garbled voice barked out something Jack thought was another language until he made out the word ‘escaped.’ The angry snarl that came in reply, however, needed no interpretation. “All I know is that an alarm was sounded. Anyone or anything roaming the grounds that’s not a sentry needs to be brought in for questioning.”

  Jack met Natalie’s eyes. He rolled to his knees and helped her up. “This makes getting in to see Zalnic easy. I’ll let them catch me. But we have to find Emma first.”

  They dropped off the flat roof and skulked along the perimeter of the wall. Jack wondered if the compound was as it appeared to be—a giant rock formation. Most of the dwellings were hollows bored into stone, reminding Jack of the pictures in his history book of Anasazi cities. The place seemed largely deserted, though there was no telling if the alarm had caused the potential inhabitants to take cover or join the search.

  Far from the front gate they came across a smaller version of the stone dwellings with a distinct ghost town quality. “We need to get out of sight,” Jack said in a low voice.

  Natalie scanned the row of dark openings. She swallowed. “I… I’ll go. See if it’s safe.”

  “No. I’m a better fighter.” Jack took a step forward but Natalie yanked on his arm.

  “But I’m invisible.”

  He didn’t like it, but she was right. Jack crouched behind a patch of black, spiky bushes and watched as Natalie disappeared into the nearest dark hole. His pulse pounded as he waited for her return. A minute later he detected light and then breathed a sigh of relief when she appeared in the doorway. She motioned him inside.

  They crept as far back as they could in the cave-like hovel. The dusty stagnant air reeked of decay and despair. Jack knew he couldn’t stay there for long without feeling like he was suffocating.

  “Ugh,” Natalie muttered, covering her nose and mouth with a hand.

  “I know. We won’t stay long though, just enough time for the excitement to die down so we can look for Emma.” Jack took off his backpack and sat against the wall.

  Natalie joined him, staying close to his side. “Why did the amulet work for me but not for you?”

  “Apparently, I’m not a ‘warrior pure of heart.’ ” His tone was grim. “I initiated this rescue because I wanted to get something out of it.”

  “Still, it doesn’t seem fair. I mean, you’re risking your life.”

  “For my own gain.” Jack snorted a bitter laugh. “Except now I’m trying to figure out how to get out of what I thought I wanted.”

  After a few moments of silence, Natalie spoke up. “So if you changed your mind, why are you still here?”

  He was there because he’d told Natalie they’d get Emma back, but he wasn’t going to admit it. If he died here, he didn’t want her to carry that burden the rest of her life. So he answered generally. “Integrity, I guess. Respect, you know, from my parents, Brody, the sect.”

  “Honestly, I think you had both of those things before doing this,” she said quietly.

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter if the amulet works for me. If they’re bringing intruders in for questioning, I need to be seen.”

  “After we find Emma.”

  “Exactly.”

  As expected, they found Emma in a pit.

  Since they hadn’t seen any sign of the pits before taking shelter, they continued along the fortress perimeter. Not far from their Anasazi hide-out, they heard chatter and an occasional shout combined with scrapes and bangs of activity. They crept forward until they reached a low stone wall. Taking advantage of the cover, they hunched down and followed the enclosure in search of the source of the noise.

  Jack peered over the stone wall at a settlement of underworld sentries. Unlike the hollowed-out shelters they’d seen elsewhere, the guard’s dwellings were built of irregularly shaped stones piled together. About five or six deformed humanoids were erecting a new structure in front of a long, squatty building resembling a stable.

  He touched Natalie’s shoulder and pointed to the long building. Her face appeared ghostly pale but she nodded without hesitation and crawled back the way they’d come. Once they were out of the sentry’s sight, they clambered over the wall. A quick dash brought them behind the stunted structure. They stole along the sidewall until the group of guards came into view. For all the attention the creatures paid to what was going on around them, Jack imagined he and Natalie could have sauntered into the stable-like area unnoticed. As he was about to round the corner, he heard Natalie draw in a sharp breath followed by a muffled squeak. He spun, expecting to see her captured, but she stood alone, with large round eyes over her hand covering her mouth.

  “What?” he whispered.

  She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, dropping her hand from her face. Then she looked at Jack. “They’re… bones. Human.”

  He peered around the edge of the building. How could he have missed it? The structure wasn’t being built of stone but of human bones—the skulls made it obvious. He swallowed over a lump in his throat and squeezed Natalie’s hand. He raised his eyebrows and when she nodded they slipped around the corner.

  In the building’s gloomy interior, Natalie nearly stumbled into the first pit. She threw her arms out and pinwheeled them for a moment before Jack grabbed the back of her jacket and hauled her backward. “Thanks,” she breathed. “I think we found the pits.”

  Jack crouched down, making sure his flashlight was well past the rim of the hole before he turned it on. The glow of his light reflected off of the stark white bones of a human skeleton. Peering over his shoulder, Natalie dug her fingers into his arm.

  “It’s old,” Jack assured her.

  The next pit was empty. They found Emma in the third. The floor of the cavity was furnished with a small three-legged table or stool and a thin mattress atop a layer of hay. Natalie called softly to her friend, but Emma didn’t acknowledge the voice or the flashlight. She sat on a ledge carved into the wall, with her face turned toward the dirt. Her knees were drawn up with her arms wrapped around them. She wore a faint smile.

  “That’s disturbing.” Natalie’s voice wavered. “She must be delusional. What if I can’t get her to come around—or even listen to me?”

  Her question revealed a raw fear she’d kept at bay thus far. Jack wrapped his hands around her forearms and gripped them firmly. “All you can do is try.” He locked eyes with her. “You didn’t come all this way to give up, right?”

  She responded with a quick nod. “Right.”

  He smiled and released her. Then he pulled a bundle of rope from his pack. “Ready?”<
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  At her nod, Jack tied the rope around Natalie’s waist. He looped it around the wooden frame of the building and twisted the end on his arm. “The walls look rough, like the wall we scaled to get in. See if you can find hand and foot holds, but if you slip, I’ve got you.”

  Natalie nodded but she didn’t move. “Jack, I…”

  “What? It’ll be okay. You can get her back. I know you can.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not that. I feel like I should…”

  Jack had a hard time reading her expression in the murky half-light. He waited.

  “The kiss… you know, when we crossed over…”

  “Yeah. See, that was a great idea. You’ll do fine with Emma.”

  Natalie sighed. “It wasn’t an idea, Jack. I thought you were going to go through without me. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again. That’s why I kissed you.”

  “Oh.”

  Even in the low light, she must have been able to make out the dumbfounded look on his face because she actually laughed a little. “I just wanted you to know,” she said softly.

  His brain worked to put together a response though he could hardly process what she was trying to convey. “Thanks, I… I’m glad you told me.”

  “Okay. Now I’m ready.” She sat down on the lip of the hole, flipped over on her belly, and began wriggling down. Jack backed up and pulled the rope taut. Natalie met his eyes and then slipped over the edge. He pushed her recent revelation to the back of his mind—this wasn’t the time to get distracted.

  Jack slowly let the rope play out. He wished he could watch her progress, but to have the best leverage, he needed to stand back from the edge. If she slipped, he’d feel it. When the rope went slack, he’d know she reached the bottom.

  He debated on leaving the rope behind. The area must be patrolled periodically. The rope would raise questions, possibly give Natalie away. Jack gazed out toward the tall citadel in the center of the compound. No doubt that’s where he’d find Zalnic. He may need the rope to escape. Then he shook his head. He’d find alternatives. If he took the rope from the pit, Natalie would have no way out if he didn’t make it back. He had to make sure she had every chance to leave this place alive. The thought of her trapped at the bottom of the dark cavity caused a lump in the back of his throat.

  He should have said something before Natalie went over the edge—told her how much he cared—but he wasn’t prepared. He’d just have to make sure he got the chance later.

  The rope jerked and Jack gripped it tightly, leaning back. In his mind’s eye he pictured Natalie dangling at the end and scrambling for purchase on the rock wall. Finally the strain on the rope eased. Jack counted to ten and then continued the feed until the line went slack.

  After confirming that Natalie had, indeed, reached the bottom, Jack secured the rope to the frame of the building. Then he kneeled at the edge of the pit. Natalie had pulled a small electric lantern from her pack and turned it on. She saw Jack and gave him a thumbs-up. He pointed to the rope, giving it a jiggle. Then he pointed to her and Emma and walked his fingers up the rope. She nodded.

  He was about to get up when he thought Natalie said something. He paused and waited for a repeat. This time he read her lips. “Be careful,” she mouthed.

  He gave her a thumbs-up, then a quick wave. He watched for a moment as she extracted a large binder from the bag.

  Photo album. Jack hoped it worked.

  He turned toward the center of the compound and once again sized up the citadel. Then he dodged around the side of the building and made for the low stone wall. He intended to be caught as far away from Natalie as possible.

  Jack crouched on the side of a structure behind the citadel, eavesdropping on the guards’ conversation inside. Oddly, the shed-like outbuilding appeared to be constructed of wood, though what kind of wood, Jack couldn’t say. The boards seemed charred, as if pulled from a fire. He swiped a finger across the matte black surface, surprised when his glove didn’t come away with a smudge of ash. Remembering the quarters built of human bones, he decided not to ponder the black wood further.

  “… didn’t find nothin’ so we checked the prisoner.”

  Jack’s heart skipped a beat. Oh God, no. Natalie. The rope would give her away!

  “Everything was status quo, so we think it might be somebody coming in, not out.” The voice cackled. “Go figure. Anyway, we’ve been ordered to search the grounds thoroughly.”

  Jack breathed a small sigh of relief—apparently the guards had checked on Emma before Jack and Natalie found her. But Natalie would no doubt be discovered during the next search. He’d better get caught and cut off the hunt before it went any further.

  His keyed up muscles twitched as adrenaline surged through his veins. He took a couple of deep breaths, contemplating his next move. Then, trying to block out the ramifications of what he was about to do, Jack rounded the corner and stepped into the guard shack. His eyes went round with fear and then he darted back out at a full run.

  He had to make this believable.

  Though he’d had only the briefest glance inside the rough shelter where the guards sat, he had no problem appearing terrified. The sentries inside looked like men—hideously disfigured men—but not beasts. A rotund figure sat at a table jawing on a bone in a shape that Jack was happy not to have the time to identify. The pudgy hands gripping the obviously raw piece of carcass seemed to have as many stumps as full digits. Jack’s impression of the guard draped on a chair tipped back against the wall was that the left side of his face appeared melted. His left eye socket was merely a sag of skin.

  A yelp, followed by the sounds of a scramble, convinced Jack they’d taken the bait. He took off in the opposite direction of the prisoner pits.

  Allowing himself to be captured would be one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. There was no guarantee the orders hadn’t changed to ‘kill intruders on sight.’ He also had to assume he’d come to some kind of bodily harm—a daunting thought with the bruises from his last beating not yet faded.

  Jack dashed behind a building and pressed himself against the wall, panting. Then he edged to the corner and peered back the way he came. As soon as he saw the one-eyed guard, he broke cover, grimacing at the glimpse he’d caught of the cudgel in his fist. He was contemplating whether he should slow, or trip, or look for a dead end, when Pudgy seemed to come out of nowhere. The guard threw something, and the next thing Jack knew his legs were tangled in a rope and his ankle screamed in agony as he crashed to the ground.

  He decided to play possum, hoping to avoid a fight. Pudgy boasted to One-eye of his prowess with his handmade bola. “Yeah, yeah, it worked because I herded ‘im to ya,” One-eye argued. “Likes of you woulda never caught up to ‘im.” His cackle sounded more like a smoker’s hack.

  The toe of a shabby boot nudged Jack’s hip experimentally. “He landed hard,” Pudgy assured his partner. Then a cruel kick landed in the soft part of his torso. Jack gritted his teeth to stifle a grunt and willed his muscles to remain limp.

  “Tie ‘im up then.”

  Heavy breathing accompanied the guard’s actions as he stripped Jack of his backpack and bent to pull his arms from under his body. He roughly dropped one wrist on top of the other behind Jack’s back and began to twist a rope around them.

  Jack’s heart hammered in alarm while his brain triggered fight or flight instincts which he struggled to suppress. Then he was rolled to his side and slapped firmly on the cheek. “Wake up Laddie. It’s your lucky day.” One-eye’s fetid breath alone was enough to get Jack to move. He groaned and fluttered his eyelids before opening them fully.

  “On yer feet, Sunshine.” As the one-eyed guard prodded him with his club, Jack managed to roll to his knees and stand up. Pudgy stood in front of Jack, winding his bola around his fat fist. “Whatcha crazy boy? Don’t get too many intruders down here.”

  Jack said nothing.

  One-eye wacked him behind his knees. “Git movin’.”r />
  The guards led him inside the citadel. Though it was what Jack intended, he found he had to force one foot in front of the other. His hesitation didn’t go unnoticed—the backs of his legs would be black and blue. Immediately inside the doors was an area reminiscent of a church vestibule. The entry doors swung closed behind the small group with a clang that rang out like certain doom. Barely visible in the muted light, large double doors dominated the center of the inner wall with a single door to either side. Pudgy opened the door on the left and waited while One-eye prodded Jack through.

  A fire blazed in a small hearth, spreading a welcome warmth throughout the room. As Jack entered, a man rose to his feet in front of a door at the opposite end of the chamber. Instead of hair, the top of the man’s head was mottled in shades of black and red. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he saw One-eye behind Jack.

  “Inform the master. We’ve caught the intruder.”

  The next few minutes seemed to stretch into hours as Jack waited, terrified, for his audience with the lord of souls. They left him alone in the room, though he had no doubt all doors were locked or guarded—or both. Eventually the man with the mottled head returned. “He’ll see you now.” He showed no expression—not even malevolence—while reaching into his tunic to remove a jagged blade. Jack shrank back as the guard stepped behind him. Bony fingers gripped Jack’s forearm and he tensed, heart hammering wildly. There was a jerk on the rope binding his hands and then his arms swung free. That he was allowed to approach Zalnic unbound was particularly unnerving.

  As he passed into the next chamber, a low growl raised the hair on the back of Jack’s neck. Protruding from the dark recesses, he made out a coyote-like muzzle dripping with saliva. A motion from the guard shushed the beast and then he extended his arm out into the cavernous room beyond and gazed dully back at Jack.

  Jack shuffled forward. Chunky black columns rose to the ceiling. As he emerged between them, he saw an identical row lined the opposite side of the room. Centered between the rows of columns, at the far end of the large room, Zalnic’s empty throne stood on a dais.