by Melanie Ray
That’s when someone odd walked in. He was dressed in a warm overcoat and a hood. His tail was tucked inside, and Xiam couldn’t tell whether it was a warno he knew in disguise, or a waryes looking to start trouble. He quickly signaled to Iri to be careful.
Iri nodded and went to the stranger who took a table. “My name is Iridescent, and I’ll be your waitress for this evening. Would you like a drink to start off with?”
“Sure, anything plain.”
Xiam lifted his head as he heard the voice, and Iri caught it even faster. He rushed over to the stranger. “Yed?”
He held his hand out, signaling quiet. “Why don’t you show me what you have over at the bar?”
Xiam and Iri quickly followed his lead. The figure sunk behind the bar, out of sight of the public before he pulled his hood down.
“Yed!” Xiam whispered excitedly. “You came back?”
“I wanted to see how safe this place was,” Yed said. “Ezra and the children are fine, I have them in my safe house,” he whispered back. “Have you been in the rain?”
“It’s removing covetall,” Iri whispered. “I think everyone is carrying extra now. I have it on extra thick too.”
“I didn’t ask that,” Yed said as he looked toward Xiam. “Have you been out in the rain?”
“It’s not raining anymore.”
“When it was green and greasy, were you out in it?” Yed was getting more anxious by the minute.
“Once,” Xiam said. “We slept here last night, so we didn’t go back out. Some warnos have been found, and no one knows if it will begin again.” He met him, eye to eye. “This is waryes technology, isn’t it? They want to flush us out of the covetall.”
“Oh, I wish it were that simple.” Yed looked in each direction around him once before pulling out a pouch. “I’ve got two extra coats like mine. I’m not joking around, you need to get out of here. Now.”
Xiam nodded. “I love my town, but I’ve already had someone killed in my bathroom, and rain that reveals more of us every day. Who knows when it will start again?” He looked over toward Iri. “I think we have to go.”
They each grabbed the coats.
“Tuck your tails in, and keep the hood on. No matter what happens, don’t look back.” Yed covered his head again.
“Don’t look back?” Xiam didn’t understand. “Is the rain going to start again?”
“This is acid slime, a concentrated product created by the waryes. It was just in testing, but it looks like the testing is now live. I can’t explain how it works, but it involves large vats of dangerous acid being evaporated and the result being sent up into the air.” Yed pointed upward. “It’s not for removing covetall. The more often you are in it, the less resistance your body will receive against it.”
“Less resistance our body has?” Xiam asked. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t explain it right now.” Yed pulled his hands from his sleeves. “Waryes are stronger than us, and they’ll get third degree burns. For warnos, it goes deeper, into the bone. The first bones will start to break around here soon.” He stood up. “Let’s get out before the rain starts again. My car is parked around the corner. Move fast, but don’t run.”
"Bones. Bones are going to break? It looked normal at first,” Xiam said. “It felt normal.”
“It was acceptable back then, it’s the green that counts. The next time it rains, it will be even worse. It’s been resting in the clouds.” He motioned for them to follow as he went out the door.
Xiam and Iri followed in their heavy hooded coats after Yed. They moved inside, and Yed wasted no time in taking off.
“They want to make our bones brittle?” Xiam asked. Since they were out of trouble, he wanted to finish their conversation. “I don’t understand.”
“How do you stop able bodies who are hiding?” Yed asked rhetorically. “Eventually everyone walks back and forth several times in that rain. They get weaker each time. Then, all it takes is one attack. While running, bones will start to break. Even warnos who are hiding can’t stay out of the rain forever.”
“It’s a dirty trick.” Xiam crossed his arms. “Leave it to them not to play fair. When did you start seeing the rain?”
“Are you kidding? You don’t get it?” Yed pulled at his sleeve. “This isn’t only over Fallensworth. I don’t even know how much rain the car can take, we have to get back to safety.”
“Wait. Wait, how awful is this rain going to get?” Xiam asked anxiously.
“The safety house is protected enough. I figured that trick into the plans of it,” Yed said as they left the town’s now leaving sign.
“Thanks. Thank you for coming back for us.” Xiam looked out the window. When would the rain start? “If it isn’t over just Falllensworth, so many warnos are going to get hurt.”
“So many?” Yed almost scoffed. “They are switching it on and off, weakening here and there. Never lasting long enough to make people dread being outdoors. Everyone will assume it’s about the covetall.” His hands tightened on the wheel. “They could literally kill everyone if they decide to turn it up higher. Our structures will start to get weaker, cars won’t work, and nothing will stop it. Everything succumbs to acid.”
“How long have they had this technology?” Xiam asked. “Yed?”
“Why do you think we have such alcoholic water? They’ve been testing for a long time.”
“Then why didn’t anyone tell us?” Iri yelled. “Why didn’t King Sheward tell us they had this?”
“This?” Yed stared forward. “It’s just one more thing they have."
“Wow. Wow, they undoubtedly have some power,” Iri said as she looked out the window.
“I should have gone with you,” Xiam said. “You just acted so weird.” He looked toward Yed who didn’t meet him back with even a glance. “Are you feeling better?”
“I don’t remember,” Yed said, “so let’s get that out of the way right now.” He looked over at Xiam. “I don’t remember the past few days. I don’t remember getting Ezraponia out.”
“You don’t remember?” Xiam repeated after him. “Really?”
“Look at the rain, Xiam. They are experimenting, toying with us,” Yed said. “They must have been blocking our way to the inhibitors. Not completely, but they did something. They had to have because I can’t believe what Ezraponia said.”
“Why, what did Ezra say?” Iri asked curiously.
Yed tapped on his wheel. “That I was from the future.”
Xiam rubbed his eyebrow and looked away. From the future? Why would Ezraponia say he was from the future? “Whatever they’ve been doing, it must have affected her too.”
“Like no other. She changed the name of Tiger as well. Wanted to call him Wye. Then, she wants me to call her Ezzy, and you should see her with King Regwallis.” Yed rolled his eyes. “Treats him like an everyday child. He’s the only thing keeping this kingdom officially a kingdom.”
“Prince Regwallis? Er, I mean the new King Regwallis?” Xiam didn’t know what to say to that. The tiny prince was now the king. “He’s too small, he can’t run a kingdom.”
“Does he even read yet?” Iri complained. “We need a real king, not a child.”
“Now isn’t the time to be picky. Be thankful that the new king survived,” Yed said as he turned another corner. “If we had no bloodline left, there’s no telling what could have happened.”
Yed stomped on the brake as a warno ran across the road. That set his instincts off. He quickly took off again, this time ignoring any speed limits, but watching the corners for others running off. He narrowly missed another warno who ran into the road. “Hang on, you two!” He laid down on the accelerator knowing that something was happening as screams started. The rain began and the waryes were ready. “Don’t look out the windows, and get down.”
Xiam didn’t listen as he kept looking out the window.
“Xiamipoc Cattral, get your head down or I will do it for you!” Yed yelled. “You
too Iri, I’m not kidding around.”
Xiam and Iri both kept their heads down. Yed attempted to keep his head lower as he continued to drive. There was no reason to keep their head down, there was no fire power and they weren’t showing their colors. However, the streets were unmerciful. The rain came down in thick sheets, piercing the car with their sounds, as well as individuals trying to hide beneath coats. Waryes were grabbing the ones seeking shelter. Seeing all their colors, waryes were opening fire. Warnings were given out into the streets that waryes should uncover themselves. They were shooting anyone with bleeding colors showing through the black, or those covering themselves.
Executions and screams were heard all over. Yed saw the sign for leaving Fallensworth just ahead, but a warno ran out in front of him. With no time to curve fast enough, he had hit him. Did he kill him? Did he injure him? He wanted to know, but he had to keep going. To stop and help would have put Xiam and Iri at risk. He looked back only a second, and saw the warno move slightly against the ground as a waryes held a gun to his head. Yed didn’t need to keep looking back. He heard the shot ring out at the cry. Even in a crisis warnos needed to watch where they were going. If that warno had just watched where he was going! If only Yed could have swerved more. One more death to the waryes, but this time he had contributed. He looked at Xiam and Iri who kept their heads down. They would probably never know.
Once they passed the sign, Yed felt slightly more relaxed. He had Iri and Xiam, but the trip was far from over. There were more towns to pass through, and the rain hadn’t even started again yet.
Chapter 66
NEW WORDS
“Ezzy mother?” Wallis asked as he helped Wye calm down during a diaper change. “Like this?”
“Yes, keep wiggling his toy.” Ezra removed the old diaper and replaced it with a new one. Trying to think about the present, she tried not to dwell upon Yed. His future self. Oh, she craved that kind of attention again. Future Yed knew so much, why did he have to give it up? Why did he believe another Yed knew better? How could he have such little confidence? She picked Wye back up. “I bet that feels better without that sticky on your bum.” Wye laughed at her and she laid him down next to Carressella.
“Ezzy mother?” Wallis asked. “When will Yed father come home?”
“Oh, soon.” Ezra cleared her throat. Yed wouldn’t be happy with what she had done, but she didn’t care. Wallis was alone in the world, just like she had been. He needed a family too, and he was still young enough to adapt. He would always remember his true mother and father, but he needed someone to believe in and trust. For the longest time, Ezra had not called Scented only mother, she had called her Scented mother. Io father was how she addressed Io. As she grew older, she dropped the first name to the addressal, but it was a polite way to remember and not push. A family would not bloom over night.
Especially with Yed. They were not married, but he was Wye and Carressella’s father, which meant he would be grandfathered into the role of adoptive father. Ezra wasn’t going to let Wallis grow up without any family, only to please Yed.
She looked toward the window. It was still raining. A Protector’s house of safety could withstand about anything, but she would feel better when her family returned. Xiam and Iri were out there with him, in that awful acid rain.
“Ezra?”
Ezra heard her brother’s voice out at the door. She gathered Wye and Carressella, bringing them down. She met halfway down the stairs with each other in an attempted side hug.
“I was worried about you. I’m so glad you came back.”
“We are too,” Iri said as she came up the stairs. She greeted the children with a handshake. “Hi, Carress. Hi, Tiger.”
“Actually, his name is Wye now,” Ezra corrected her. As Yed approached the stairs, she knew the moment was coming. Wallis stood right beside her, waving innocently at him. Yed, Iri, and Xiam all bowed their head toward him.
“The new king.” Xiam tapped his hands on the staircase banister. He whispered toward Yed, trying not to be heard, but Ezra still picked it up. “He is really small.”
“Still king,” Yed answered him. He saluted. “Sire, have you been well in Ezra’s care?”
“Ezzy. You are supposed to call her Ezzy,” Wallis reminded him.
Yed shifted his feet. “Have you been well with Ezzy?”
“Yes, Yed father,” Wallis answered.
Ezra glanced at Yed’s mouth as it twitched involuntarily. His eyes moved straight to hers. She ignored it for now, heading back down. “Come on down, Wallis. You need to meet your Muinela Aunt and Xiam Uncle.”
Wallis started to jump down the stairs, but Ezra scolded him and made him stop. As everyone went down the stairs, Ezra could feel everyone’s eyes fall upon her form. She handed Wye to Iri, and Carressella to Xiam. “They have missed you.”
“Ezraponia.” Yed had not stopped staring at her. He naturally crossed his arms, not appearing happy. “Ezraponia Cattral.”
“No.” Ezra wasn’t getting into this, Yed was not winning the battle. She pulled Wallis gently in front of her and held her hands upon his shoulders. “Xiam. Iri. This is my new adopted son, Wallis.”
“Uuhh...” Xiam couldn’t manage much, while Iri couldn’t say anything. “Adopted? You adopted the king of the Warno Kingdom? Is that even possible?”
“Ezraponia Cattral, my room.” Yed pointed up the stairs. “We need to talk. Now.”
Ezra bent down and hugged Wallis. “Why don’t you go fix a sandwich? There’s a good boy.” As Wallis took off, she looked around at everyone. “Like it or not, he is part of this family now.”
“You can’t adopt a king. Adopt a king?” Yed pulled her aside gently by grabbing her arm. “I get it. I know your history, and I know that you think this is best. It’s not. You cannot adopt the king.”
“You started it.” Ezra crossed her arms in the same manner he had. “You pulled out that long whatever claim to make him tell you what he knew.”
“That was different. It was for information, and it was only for a few seconds,” Yed rebutted.
“You were still able to do it, and I am not forcing him in. I don’t care if it’s legal. He can’t be wondering about his future. Who will look after him? Who will shelter him? Basic needs everyone needs satisfied, let alone a child.” Ezra placed her hands back down. “We are looking after him anyway.”
“Looking after as in protecting. I am protecting him,” Yed argued. “Protection does not equal family.”
“Sometimes it does,” Ezra said softly. Her mind drifted back to when Yed was Wye again. All that extra time with Xiam and Muin had created such a tight bond.
“Sometimes, it’s something but...” Yed tapped his heel on the floor repeatedly. “I am Wye and Carressela’s father. I never agreed to any fathering duties for the king.”
“His name is Wallis,” Ezra corrected him. “You are right, but since you are the father of my other children, you have been grandfathered in.”
“Nice, thanks. Did you even think about discussing this with me?” Yed was more than a little frustrated at the moment. “We are in the middle of a strange battle, rain dissolving bones outside, and I risk everything to bring back your brother and sister. This is how you repay me?”
“It’s a name only, you decide how far you want to take it, Yed.” Ezra headed toward the kitchen, but Yed wasn’t done.
“You hated King Sheward with everything in your heart. He was the one who set us up, and murdered all of your family,” he reminded her. “You’re just going to adopt his son like it didn’t even matter? What about your family? What about that slaughter?”
Ezra stopped and turned around. He did not just bring that up! “Yeducavich. Wallis was not responsible for any of that. He is a child, who has been left alone in this world. It doesn’t matter who his father is, just who he is! And, by the way? If you want half a decent king to rule this kingdom when he grows up? Then you better satisfy his basic needs, or who knows who he’ll gro
w up being! Don’t want to be a father? Then treat him as your client, I don’t care. But I don’t want to hear any of this again!” This time, Ezra left and did not come back.
Yed didn’t meet eyes with anyone in the room. Yed father. He was forced into adopting the king. Just great! To add to that, Ezra was mad about what he said. She was right, he shouldn’t have said it, but she had no right to make him the father of Wallis either.
“Rude,” Iri finally spoke.
“I agree,” Xiam nodded as he looked at Yed. “Making you father the king, that’s wrong.”
“What? No, I meant Yed.” Iri gawked at her husband. “Don’t you remember what your sister went through? She wants King Regwallis to have a family like she had.”
“Yeah, but Yed didn’t want another kid. He already had Wye and Carress,” Xiam reminded her. “She should have talked it out.”
“You can’t put feelings on hold, and Yed went after us.”
“That’s no excuse. This was a two person decision.”
“Regwallis needs someone!”
“It didn’t have to be them.”
“Did you want to adopt him?” Iri asked. “Would you like to be a father, Xiam? To a king?”
Xiam’s bravado faded. He patted Yed on the shoulder. “Nevermind. Good luck.”
Yed didn’t respond. This was the last thing he needed to deal with right now. He was trying to concentrate on what to do, not how to father a kid. Ezra could handle Wye and Carress right now, they were too small to ask or get into anything. His troubles just doubled. As Ezra walked back into the room, Yed was about to deal with her again, but her expression changed.
“Before I forget. Someone came.” Ezra gestured behind him. “He is a Protector and his name is Tug. He has been waiting in that room for you.” As soon as she said that, she whipped back around and walked off again.
“Tug?” Yed’s rigid attitude flipped. His old friend Tug? He hadn’t seen him since he left Vellag. He moved toward the door and knocked. The door opened with Tug standing in front of him.
“Yeducavich. One of the best. One of the last.” Tug gave him a small embrace. “If it wasn’t for you, I would be who knows where.” He knocked him on the shoulder. “We need to talk.”