by T. E. Joshua
Wait, I thought, the elementary school near Red Valley. It was abandoned and outside of a small mountain town. Alope and I had to spend a night there before we left for our next hunt. That was months ago. It was perfect—almost too perfect—yet risky as hell. The town was maybe fifty or sixty miles from Red Valley. It would be too close for comfort, but I suspect they wouldn’t look for us in their own backyard, so to speak.
Then I saw Natalie rush outside, place a black suitcase on the porch, and run back inside.
“To befriend an Awakened Reborn is to die. To love one”—I could hear the voice of my father and his would pause—“is to step into an era of oblivion.”
“Father, I am sorry for failing you,” I muttered in shame.
I remembered a story told to me by Inca Manwolf some time ago about a second-class warrior letting go of his hunt. It was a girl—not an Awakened Reborn, just a Reborn. After the encounter, he returned to Red Valley and reported his failure. His reasoning was never revealed to anyone except to the Tribal Council as he pleaded for her life. My father remained undecided about his fate, but he was executed—by us, the Lakota clan. It was a swift beheading. He willingly died. I never knew his name, but he was young like me. I could see the emotions in his eyes. Something had happened on his hunt, a dark secret he would never tell.
“Do you have any last words?” I had asked before I cut his head off.
He was down on his knees, his hands bound together with rope, and he glared up at me and said, “Bodaway, never let your target go. Don’t make the same mistake I have.”
“I’m sorry, friend.”
“I’m sorry as well,” he muttered as his final words. Then I sliced his neck with my sword. His head rolled in the dirt. The expression on his face wasn’t surprised or frightened of death. It was sad. I never knew why he had failed to kill the Reborn. But now, with Natalie, I thought I was beginning to understand. Maybe he’d … loved her. Maybe he’d felt sorry for her. Maybe he’d befriended her. Who knew?
The Reborn was let go. Later she was hunted down and blown to pieces with an energy wave by another clan. That was almost a year ago. At the time, I didn’t ponder too much about it since I had never known the warrior. Killing Reborns was what I did—what we did. Hunting down Reborns across the world was just a part of everyday life—sneaking onto ships, traveling to distant islands, and even looking for one in vast deserts or small caves. I had particularly enjoyed what I’d done. But now, times had changed. I no longer cared for the joy of killing Reborns. The Covenant didn’t make a difference to me. Only pleasing my father mattered—but as of now I would disappoint him. At this point in my life, Natalie’s safety was the only thing that mattered to me. She was good person and, more importantly, a good friend.
Would the same fate happen to me, a swift beheading? It was likely, but I wouldn’t go down so easily. Natalie Schultz wasn’t going to suffer the same fate as my previous victims. I seriously doubted the Tribal Council would try to execute me, the Promised Child of Naiche. They needed me alive. Father wouldn’t allow them to kill one of his children. Even though my actions were considered unforgivable, the Promised Child wasn’t expendable. I considered myself somewhat safe; however, Natalie was promised death. Proclaiming to my father that we were friends would infuriate him. Regardless of what might become of me or how I pled, he would have her killed.
As the morning dwindled and the afternoon approached, I took a deep breath and prayed a quiet pray to Lucian. “Dear Lucian, father of us all, lord of the Naiche, forgive me for what I’m about to do. I know you will understand, in your great wisdom.”
“Wisdom?” a demonic voice said. I froze.
“Lucian?” I asked.
“It is I. Killing the daughter of Schultz is what matters. Come back to me, my Promised Child, and you will be forgiven. There is no such thing as good or evil, light or darkness, right or wrong—there is only power. Glorify me and your clan will be spared.”
I froze. Give her up to him? No. No! Never! I refused.
“Don’t be foolish. You can’t survive against me or my people. I am the most high,” Lucian said.
Then I unleashed 10 percent of the dema. There I saw a black entity gawking at me with reddish pupils and catlike eyes, dark and morbid. He rose from the ground like a vapor, its mouth as wide as its face.
“No!” I yelled, smashing the dashboard with my right hand.
Then I awoke. It was a nightmare. I must have drifted off to sleep. I hadn’t really heard Lucian’s voice, had I?
“Come on, Bodaway. Don’t lose it. You can get through this alive,” I whispered to myself. “Come on, where are you, Natalie?”
I heard the sound of a door shut. Natalie walked over to my car with two suitcases. I motioned for her to put her luggage in the backseat. I stepped out to help her.
“Finally,” I spat.
“Sorry, I had to get the most important items,” she explained.
“Listen, we might have to pick up my car and leave yours at the house.”
“Won’t your family be waiting there for us?” she pointed out. It was a reasonable concern.
“Possibly, but they will be able to track us in your vehicle. Your scent covers the metal and fiberglass, leaving an odor to trace. It’s a risk we can’t take. At least with my car, they won’t be able to track us. As long as you don’t get out of the car, the scent won’t wonder into the air and they’ll pick it up.”
“I guess so. I didn’t realize my scent was that strong?”
“It is. Did you say anything to your father?”
“No, but I left them a note that I will be gone for a few days. I said a crisis came up and was going to visit a friend in Dallas over the weekend. My father was busy taking a business call in his room. I’m sure he’ll call my cellular phone later.”
“Why did you say Dallas, Texas?”
“Yes, why is there a problem with Dallas?”
“Nothing, just a flash back,” I muttered. “I—well, never mind.” James and I had slaughtered a Reborn family in Dallas last summer.
“What’s the plan?”
I looked away in wonder, thinking of the fight to come between James and me. Leaning against the driver side car door and thinking that they’ll track Natalie’s car. I hoped they didn’t put Naiche medicine on my car. Liyah would be the one do it since she learned how to from her father, Inca Manwolf.
“Leave town. I need to get you away from here as soon as possible. We need to switch vehicles.”
Then she walked around the car and placed her hands on my chest. I jolted back. The sudden touch between us raised my dema a bit.
“Don’t do that!” I exclaimed in rage. “You could set me off.”
“Sorry. I’m just nervous about this whole ordeal.”
“Look Natalie, I know things seemed dark, but we can get through this. We just have to be smart about it. First, we need to get you out of here. Second, once you have a safe harbor, I’ll check in with my people and hopefully work something out. I’ll drive.”
Natalie got into the passenger seat as I sat back down in the driver side. I quickly adjusted the seat to my height and comfort. Now she seemed to be more relaxed. “Then where will we go?”
“Maybe we can go south into the state of Texas. I can hide you at a hotel or homeless shelter—a safe place with lots of people. That should hold them at bay. They won’t attack in public, in daylight, or with potential witnesses. The Naiche like to keep a low profile.”
“But what if …” Natalie trailed off, her mouth wide. “It’s one of the girls from earlier,” Natalie whispered. “She’s behind you.”
Then I sensed her dema. It was Alope. I turned around and saw her peeking out from behind a tree. She had been spying on us the entire time. “No, as I have feared, they’re already on to us.” I leaned into Natalie and said, “We don’t have time. We have to move now!”
I backed out of the driveway and darted out of Cobblestone Manor, speeding toward the
highway.
As we drove off, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw Alope emerge from behind the tree. Her face was sad with a hint of envy. She didn’t pursue us. To my shock, it was just her. She grew smaller in the broken rearview mirror. “Sorry, Alope. I have to do this,” I muttered as if she could hear me.
We left the city limits of Blackfalls, passing the university and downtown area. Yet there was no sign of my clan. I was worried. I was expecting the others to confront or surprise attack me. We were only a few miles away from the highway that led south into Texas.
“No, how could I forget!” I almost forgot about my car, much less my weapon of choice. The thought swept through my mind like a wave of energy. I remembered scrambling through old clothes and small knives the day before. I had popped open the trunk and left my sword in the bedroom, the same place where I slept next to James and Aaron. “I can’t leave without it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need my sword.”
The house of Eis was down the road, about half of a mile away.
“I need my sword,” I said forcefully. “I feel lost without it.”
“What sword?”
“It’s a special sword. Family owned. There is only four of its kind. It’s back at the house where we stayed. Regardless, we have to make a detour to get my car. The problem is the sword is in the house. They could be home,” I explained. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, flustered and out of options. If they decided to attack us with weapons, I couldn’t defend myself with mere daggers. My sword was a part of my life; it always had been. “I’m going to get it once we get there.”
“Are you crazy? Your people want to kill us! It’s a red zone! We would be found for sure, and then what?”
“I know that! I have to risk going inside to retrieve it.”
Natalie sighed. Her mood became edgy. I veered to an exit close enough to the house of Eis Lakota. Natalie grabbed onto the dashboard and ordered me to slow down. I ignored her, speeding underneath a bridge and taking an additional exit down the dirt road.
“Is this sword that important?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed, trying to remain calm. “It belonged to my father and his father before him. It’s been in my family for a long time. I can’t leave it.”
The sword of the Naiches, one of four swords, was my primary weapon. Father, my brother, Lyonell, and I all carried one. The fourth sword was held by the statue of Naiche in the temple in Red Valley. It was never to be removed from the statue’s hands. The dark spirits guarded the temple within the walls, and the Spirit Whispers acted as their slaves.
“Once we get there, I’m going to park in the woods. From there, we have to walk to my car. Load your things while I make a run for it inside. I’ll be in and out—two minutes, tops.”
Natalie kept quiet, looking wonderingly into the dark woods. She rubbed her fingers against the window, mumbling something.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t respond.
“Natalie, what is it?”
Within a few seconds, she uttered, “You, like the others, want to kill me.”
“No, if I wanted you dead then I would have …” I paused, thinking about the next words. She looked back at me with her mouth slightly open. “I would have beheaded you last night behind Leroy’s Place. I almost did.”
“Yet you could be a hero right now, the boy who killed an Awakened Reborn.”
“That doesn’t matter to me. I was merely doing a job, nothing more.”
“You’re lying,” Natalie said vehemently.
“How would you know? You don’t know me like that.”
Then she said, “Not yet.”
The house of Eis Lakota emerged from the black trees. I slowed down. “There it is,” I said. “Good, I don’t see anyone’s cars except my own. They must not be here.”
I spoke too soon, as the tailgate of James’s truck came into sight. He parked the truck around the house with the driver side door open. A track of mud trailed from the front porch and into the house. Yet I couldn’t sense his dema.
I parked her car. Natalie grabbed her luggage. We both crept low to the ground and took baby steps toward my car. I saw no one. “Hurry up and get inside the car, they’ll smell your scent.”
Natalie opened my trunk and placed her two bags inside and slammed the trunk. The noise echoed. Great!
“Can you be any louder?” I asked.
Then she paused as if she had seen a monster. He mouth dropped. She stared aimlessly behind me as I barely felt the dema of my best friend.
“He’s here,” Natalie said gruesomely.
Then I saw him. James stood against the front porch. I could barely sense him; he must have lowered his dema to near nothing. But why would he do that? Doing so would make him completely vulnerable and open for attack. He had no weapons on him. The others must be near. This could be a trap.
I halted, standing in front of my car. Natalie walked alongside me, seeming not to fear him.
“James.”
“That’s James? He’s the one who tried to kill me this morning.”
“That’s him.” I looked around to see if I could spot the others. I didn’t see them, nor could I sense them. Perhaps they’d lowered their dark energy as well. They could be luring me into a trap, waiting to raise their energy at the last second before they attacked.
“Stay away from the car,” I ordered.
“Why?”
“You’re much safer outside. They could try to blow up my car with an energy wave. Trust me,” I explained.
Natalie followed my lead, slowly moving away from the car. I stepped out and lit a flame from my new lighter. The fire would protect me if they attacked.
“It’s about time, Tristan,” James said loudly. He appeared to be harmless, but I wasn’t fooled. I quietly raised my demon power to a mere 10 percent. I felt my eyes turn heavy as my vision darkened.
I kept quiet. “Walk with me. Stay behind me but not too close.” Natalie nodded.
“You want to kill me, old friend.”
“No I won’t. If I wanted you dead, then I wouldn’t have hesitated to attack you. We’re still friends, cousin. But I must implore you to lower your dark energy and especially your dema.”
“No!” I said as I revealed the flame in my hand.
“There’s no need for that.”
“I know you and how you think. Putting the flame out would give you the advantage.”
“As the number nine warrior, you could kill me and the others with little effort. I am the twentieth ranked warrior of the Covenant. You are family and my childhood friend. I would never harm you, brother. I’m not interested in fighting you.”
“But you still want her dead,” I said, looking at Natalie.
“That is up for discussion.”
James, the devoted warrior who loved our culture and way of life, scratched his head. He reached for something sitting behind the porch bench. A black sheath came into sight. It was my sword.
“I believe you came back for this. Is that correct?”
I sighed, not answering his question. He tossed the blade to me. I caught it with my left hand. I pulled it from the black sheath and ran my index finger along the edge of the blade. A small line of blood ran down my skin. I had to check the sharpness of the sword. I haven’t used it in a good while. All the while the fire spiraled in my right hand.
“If I wanted to fight you, Tristan, I wouldn’t have given you the sword. It belongs to you and no one else. You know what you need to do with it,” he said as he looked at Natalie. “I was wrong. It’s not my job. It’s yours to complete as you will.”
The Awakened Reborn glanced at me in fear. She began to take a few steps backward.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I muttered.
“You’re still one of them,” she said. Indeed I was.
I turned back to James and said, “I’m not going to kill her. She isn’t like the rest of the ones we killed.”
“So if she were, then wouldn’t you have hesitated to swing the sword at her neck?”
I considered the possibility. My reasons were simple—it was because I got to know her as a person, not as a victim. That was my mistake but one I wouldn’t take back, not even for a moment.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“They are around, but not near here. They’re keeping an eye out.”
“What are you talking about? We are the only warriors in this region.”
James lowered his head and glanced behind me. Then I knew—other warriors were here. Could it be the Naiche clan? Could my father have come to correct the mistakes I had made?
“We have to talk, but not in front of … her.”
“Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her.”
James seemed to get flustered. Something was horribly wrong. Then I sensed Aaron approaching me from behind. Liyah walked from behind the house. Both had no weapons. Their dark energy was surprisingly low. This didn’t make any sense.
“You’re going to have to trust me, Tristan. Lower your dema and dark energy!” He took two steps from the porch. The fire grew and I aimed the acute of my sword at him. I whispered to Natalie, “Stay back.”
“Now!” James yelled. He seemed scared.
“It’s too late,” Aaron sneered, beginning to circle around me. I watched his every move with great intention. “They’re here.”
Then it was as if every muscle in my body froze. Who were “they”? He didn’t seemed interested in harming me but walked pass me and in front of James.
Next, Alope ran though the dark woods. She appeared nearby, sprinting at full speed. Her dark energy was maxed out with a hint of dema. Her eyes had shifted reddish and then back to normal. She walked over to me and demanded, “Tristan, there is no time. We have to leave this area at once.”
I lowered my fire and sword. Natalie looked confused, as, I was sure, did I. “What’s going on? Who is here?”
Then James walked over to us with Liyah and Aaron behind me. He said, “The Wolf clan.”
The Wolf clan! Oh no! My brother, Lyonell, the number eight warrior was here.