Fragmented

by Madeline Dyer

I turn my head, and that’s when I see them: four figures.

  The women are all dressed in white. Three of them, in long white dresses that seem to flow and flow and flow. They’re standing with their backs to me, and their red hair billows out.

  The fourth figure also has his back to me, and he stands a little way off from the women—the Goddesses, because that’s what they are.

  The man is Death. I know it’s him instantly, and the realization makes me feel strange. But hopeful. He’ll help me, tell me what to do.

  Blood. Blood. Blood. We want your blood, the land says.

  I swallow hard and walk closer to them, my heart fluttering. They haven’t seen me, don’t know I’m here. As I near them, I hear their words.

  “Sever the connection, sever the contact, sever the warnings.”

  “Revoke the access now.”

  “Complete the banishment.”

  Flames emerge from the Goddesses’ fingertips, and dark, black smoke shoots from Death’s fingers. The flames and the smoke meet, start to sizzle then shoot upward twenty feet into the sky. The sky that’s now a swirling mass of purples and navies and oranges. Spirits.

  “It isn’t working!” one of the Goddesses screams.

  “It has to work!”

  “It isn’t! She’s too strong!”

  “It will work,” Death’s voice booms out. “The banishing will work. She may be strong, but she is not that strong.”

  Banishing? My eyes widen a little, and a part of me wants to run. But I don’t. I take a step forward, feel something crunch under my feet. I look down, see gravel. And I’m wearing shoes. Rubber soles. I stare at them—but I felt the gravel, as if it had been against my skin….

  “She’s there!”

  My head snaps up, and—

  They grab me. So quickly. Hands everywhere, and white light and threads that wrap around me, against my blistered skin. I scream, but Death’s right by my head, and he turns, and then there’s pain, so much pain and I can’t…can’t breathe.

  “That’s why it’s not working! She’s sensed it and is trying to stop us!” one of the Goddesses cries, and suddenly her nails are on my face, scratching, pulling as she turns to glare at Death. “How is it possible? You said she wasn’t that powerful! That no Seers can sense the moment they’re being banished, let alone try and stop it!”

  I can’t move. I’m rooted to the spot. My legs…they won’t work, and—

  “Finish the banishing! Get her out of here before she lets the others in and they kill us all!”

  I stare at them, try to breathe, but the air’s too heavy. It’s not right. I start to move backward, still sitting on the ground, hunched up so my spine’s curved too much, and pain shoots down it.

  “Banish the Enhanced Seer!”

  And…and my chest tightens. The world stops. The land screams, and all I can do is stare at them. Stare at them and try to speak, speak words that won’t come out, that don’t have any substance.

  They…they think I’m an Enhanced Seer.

  Me. Me.

  I stare at them—keep staring at them—the seconds dragging, then I start screaming, telling them I’m Untamed, but they don’t listen. Or maybe I’m not saying the words.

  Death bares his teeth. “You’re on their side. Do not lie. Death knows all. Death sees all.”

  He’s wrong—he hasn’t—he doesn’t—he’s wrong. “But—”

  Death roars at me. “You ignored Death’s warnings. You ignored Dream Land visions—”

  I gasp. “What? No!” Coldness runs through me. “I didn’t… I didn’t know that was going to happen, the attack! I haven’t had any warnings!” I cry. “Not about this! Not anything… Something’s gone wrong, the warnings—I haven’t—they’re—I don’t understand… There was that one of Three, my brother, but I don’t even know if that was one… But the marks on me, here, they’re—”

  And I’m trying to show him the marks, because I know they’re important and he’ll understand even when I don’t—because he’ll know. He’ll know something’s gone wrong because these marks have to be linked to my lack of Seeing dreams, and then he’ll know it wasn’t me.

  They say Gods only see or foresee things in our world relating to their chosen Seers, but even then, they see a distorted version, or only fragments. Soraya’s words turn me cold.

  The look in Death’s eyes gets sharper. “Do not lie to your Gods and Goddesses. You are an Enhanced Seer, Seven Sarr. Death is very disappointed in you. Death warned you that he sees all, knows all. You can hide nothing from him.”

  But he’s wrong! He hasn’t seen all—he doesn’t believe me! He hasn’t seen what’s really happened—that I’ve had no Seeing dreams, no Dream Land visions.

  And, before I can say or do anything, another Goddess steps right up to me. She reaches out, and then suddenly—too quickly—her hands are on my face, and—

  I scream.

  The world goes dark, and there’s pain. So much pain. Under my nails, digging in at the soft flesh. And in my nose, the delicate tissue. And—

  My neck. The noose… There’s a noose. A noose around my neck. There, now.

  My hands claw at it, frantic. I feel the rope, tough, fibrous.

  The world moves, lifts me up, higher. I’m suspended in the air, and I make the mistake of looking down. The Goddess screams and the rope tightens and the darkness gets—

  “Banish her!”

  “We’ve not got enough power, not now she’s here.”

  “Get her out of here and complete the banishing!”

  “Throw her out!”

  “Waskabe, we need your power—join us!”

  I fall, crash to the ground, gasping. A deep ache in my chest, an ache that spreads and spreads, numbs me. Dead? No. I try to turn, try to see where the Goddess has gone, but can’t. And then—then there’s a flurry of movement. Something washes over me, makes my insides squirm. I throw up bile.

  Sudden heat pours over me. Too hot. Burning.

  I pull myself to the side, just as the flames leap out toward me.

  I scramble backward, shaking. The smell of burning flesh fills the air, and I scream, try to turn, but can’t. The eyes are on me, the glowing eyes—another God. A short man with a gold cloak; he’s just appeared. And more are coming. More and more Gods and Goddesses, more and more power, directed against me.

  And the spirits? I look up, see more flashes of angry colors, swirling and mixing together, only feet above me. I shriek, and they shriek back.

  “Get her out of here!”

  “But I’m Untamed!” I cry, and I leap up, somehow manage to get to my feet, fight it all. A flash of angry red light dives toward me, and I jump out the way. “You’ve got it wrong!”

  Death’s in front of me now, and he watches me with eyes that bore far too deep. “No true Untamed Seer lets innocent people be converted without at least trying. But you ignored the warnings—multiple warnings. You let your brother be converted.”

  My heart sinks. That was real… That was a warning after all… My brother….

  “And then you allowed multiple conversions to take place after that. You let this large-scale conversion attack happen.” He points at me, and smoke erupts from his hands, dives toward me, stains my dress with gray patches. “You are a traitor.” He punctuates each word with a snarl. “Death does not take kindly to traitors. Your soul will suffer for this setback.”

  A bolt of fire zigzags toward me, from the hands of one of the Goddesses.

  I cry out, try to move, but my legs won’t work. The fire hits me. I barely feel the pain, and then the Goddess is in front of me. Her hair strikes me, strikes me hard—and it’s metal. Her hair’s metal. I start to fall, and my arms jerk out, but the metal rods just get me, and—blood, so much blood….

  I fall, hit the ground hard, taste grit. Spirits shriek. My head jerks up, but I can’t see them. They’ve gone? And then…then the Goddesses stand over me. Their faces get bigger, eyes, noses, mouths…all stret
ching.

  They start chanting again. All the Goddesses. “Sever the connection, sever the contact, sever the warnings! Send Seven Sarr far away! Block her access! Sever the connection, sever the contact, sever the warnings!” And they shout it over and over again, and they’re looking at Death, waiting, and I don’t understand.

  One of the Goddesses breaks away, points at Death. “Waskabe, complete the banishing now! You’re giving her too much time; she’ll summon the others, and they’ll kill us and—”

  “The others?” I blink. And I imagine Raleigh suddenly storming in here, killing the Gods and Goddesses, and I start to choke. “No! I’m not bringing anyone—I don’t understand! I’m Untamed!”

  “Prove it then,” Death says. “Make sure the Untamed win the war. ”

  “What?” My word is a squeak. Make sure the Untamed win the war? How? I don’t understand, don’t get why I’m so important. I know I’m the key to one race’s survival—the bison told me that—but I don’t understand.

  “It is your choice,” Death says. “The winner—the surviving side—it is your choice. It is written in the augury: the Seventh One, born of Light, holds the strongest Seer powers. Her side will win the War of Humanity. The rest will be destroyed, and Death will call Seven Sarr back to him at the end of the war.” He looks at me pointedly. “That is the only way this war will end. You are the Seventh One, born of Light. Prove you’re Untamed and make sure the Enhanced do not survive.”

  He pauses, and his elbows glow a deep purple. I stare at him, feel my eyes glass over. And I hear what he’s saying, but there’s too much… My head… My Seer powers are crucial… I’m the strongest? I start to choke. My side will win the war…and the other side will be destroyed?

  Because I’m a Seer of Death….

  “Seven Sarr, you will always belong to Death, and Death will have your soul when you die. You’d do well to give Death fewer reasons to hate you. If the Enhanced win, Death will make sure your soul is trapped in your rotting body for an eternity—and when an eternity is up, Death will find another way to punish your soul when your body can no longer contain it. There would be no escape. Only pain. Death would torture you forever.”

  Oh Gods. I try to clear my throat, but can’t. I stare at my hands, my tingling fingers, and try to concentrate. The Goddesses are shouting, telling Death not to talk to me like this, that I can’t be given another chance. And I don’t understand. I try to step backward, but my legs won’t budge. I move my arm, pull my sweating fingers through my matted, bloody hair. My breaths come in a series of short bursts.

  Me. It’s me. It’s got to be me who ends the war? I squint. My powers? And I look at them—so powerful compared to me.

  “Why can’t you do it? You’re Gods and Goddesses—can’t you kill the Enhanced? Why’s it got to be me who—”

  Death growls and fury lights up his eyes. His elbows glow even brighter. “Gods and Goddesses cannot kill mortals nor walk the mortal planes—you cannot get out of this. It has to be you, else the war will never end and the suffering will continue. You were born to end this war—”

  “Stop it!” a Goddess screams. “Waskabe, she’s buying time with her questions. She understands this perfectly! She’s stalling, trying to get the Enhanced Seers in here! We must complete the banishing before she kills us all.”

  Death’s eyes narrow, and his face pales rapidly. He turns back and joins hands with the other Gods and Goddesses. And then they’re all chanting those words and—

  I scream at them, I shout. Tears pour down my face. “What are you doing? I’m not… I’m Untamed!”

  “Prove it, you know what to do. The Untamed must win,” Death snarls. “Give Death one less reason to hate you when he collects you at this war’s end.”

  The green fire appears out of nowhere.

  I don’t see it in time.

  It slams into my body.

  Traitor, a voice screams. Be gone, and never return.

  I gasp as jolts run through my body, forcing me awake, coughing and spluttering. Eyes flutter open. I’m lying on the ground. In blood. Steam’s everywhere, but not as much as there was in the caves. I hear screams. Bright light. All around me. Above. The sky. I’m outside. And I’m on my own.

  I look around, head pounding. Too much stuff in it, foggy. Can’t think.

  You’re a traitor. You didn’t stop the conversion attack. You didn’t even try.

  I gulp and narrow my eyes against the bright light. The cave entrance is to my left, the trees are in front of me. The air’s foggy with steam. Somewhere, I can hear water….

  But I’m alone. Left behind. No one’s here….

  Dread fills me. Corin, Esther… Did they leave me? Did they think I was dead? That I’d died from the steam eruption when I was….

  When you were being exiled from the Dream Land?

  My breath drags in, hurts my throat. And…my mouth, it tastes different. My teeth aren’t… I frown. Something’s different.

  Exiled.

  I stare at my hands. I’ve been exiled, banished. I’m a traitor?

  What? No. No. No. I shake my head, and then I see it all. See the memory, but it’s all mixed up. The Goddesses in white, and the falling. The flames and the glowing eyes. Death’s threats and his anger. The voices, the words…the pain.

  I shake my head. Oh Gods. I’ve got to get back there.

  And I try to get back to the Dream Land but I don’t know what I’m doing, how to do it, yet I’m climbing something, and nothing feels real anymore. It’s like I’m not here, not in my body, and I’m getting higher and higher, and I don’t understand, start to feel sick, and—

  Something hits me hard across the chest.

  I fall.

  Your access to the Dream Land has been revoked and destroyed.

  I start shaking, looking around again, trying to peer through the steam.

  I touch my head. My temples throb, and I can feel something pulsing under my skin, like a heartbeat. My heartbeat. Too fast. My chest’s going to explode. Pain.

  But I’m alive.

  And I’ve been blocked from the Dream Land.

  No true Untamed Seer lets innocent people be converted without at least trying. But you ignored the warnings—multiple warnings.

  I shake my head. No. Something’s gone wrong. The Dream Land’s gone wrong, it’s mixed up. They didn’t summon me, not for Seeing dreams—I haven’t had any, not after the one of my brother! The marks on my skin prove that! Something’s gone badly wrong. I would’ve known if they’d summoned me. It’s a mistake. It’s all a big mistake.

  I swallow hard.

  I need to move. I try to think logically. The Enhanced could find me….

  Raleigh will always be able to find you.

  My skin crawls. No—that’s not right, is it? My head hurts. I can’t think about Raleigh. No, I need to get away, somewhere where I’m safe. Once I’m safe, I can sort out this Dream Land mess.

  I manage to pull myself to my feet, holding my bleeding hip. I gasp, crying loudly as I tense my leg. I put my weight on it. Just about holds.

  Then I hear footsteps. Crashing through grass. Behind me.

  My head whirls… They’ve come back for me. Of course they would! They wouldn’t leave me! They wouldn’t!

  He said he’d always protect me, he wouldn’t leave me.

  A figure moves toward me, blurry.

  I try to see him, but the light’s too bright. He’s just a figure… A figure that gets clearer, clearer.

  I blink, blink again, feel my mouth dry up completely, until there’s no saliva, and everything’s just dry and cracked and—

  No.

  I shake my head. My eyes are wrong. It can’t be him. Not him.

  “You are badly blistered,” he says, and he’s holding something out to me. A cup, a cup with liquid in. “Drink this, you need painkillers.”

  I take the cup. It is heavy, and the water swirls round and round on its own. I look up at him, and his face wobb
les a little, makes him look like he’s not really here.

  Then I look around. The others….

  “They are regrouping, just up there,” he says, and his arm goes around me. “I need to move you. It will be easier if you do not feel the pain.”

  I try to turn, try to look. Need to find Corin, Esther… I blink against the harsh light. For a second, I think I see murky figures but then the shapes dissipate until there’s nothing there.

  Gone….

  “Drink it now, S’ven.”

  I drink it. It tastes bad, too strong. I start to gag, but he holds the cup at my lips, tips it up more. I try to press my lips together, try to seal them, but can’t.

  “All of it, S’ven. You are badly blistered. It will heal you.” His tone changes, but I can’t concentrate, can’t work out what it means. “Quick, drink it. We have not got time for this. The Enhanced Ones will get us.”

  I swallow a few more gulps.

  Jed’s talking to me, telling me how he’s going to heal my burns. My blister burns. Says he can use his Seer powers, but all of a sudden I can’t focus on his words.

  The sky is gray and dark. I stare at it; my eyes feel strange, too heavy.

  Jed lifts the cup back to my lips, tells me to drink more.

  My eyes start to close again. I blink several times. My head rolls forward for a second. Something’s happened to my neck.

  Traitor, another voice says.

  My eyelids are too heavy, they make my vision blur. I blink, trying to….

  Prove you’re Untamed.

  Something pulls at my chest.

  “Drink it, S’ven. Come on, hurry up.”

  He’s holding me upright, trapping me against his body with one arm, and I stare at the last dregs. Only it’s not dregs. It’s half a cup full. And the colors are swirling… Round and round and round and round….

  Banished.

  I’m sweating. Sweating so much, can feel it… It’s pouring off me. I’m shaking… The cup, I’m going to drop the cup… And my eyes… I try to keep them open, but there’s something stopping me….

  “It will be all right if you drink all of it,” Jed says. His voice is strange, too fast, too high-pitched.

  But it won’t be all right… It’s him. Him.