by Bridget Ladd
Nampier changed direction of the gun and opened fire.
I tore my eyes away long enough to check on Xander. The tips of his boots now hung dangerously from the edge of the crumbling platform. He was running out of time.
Hoping that Nampier and Sir Norbert could handle the Shadow Kane situation for a little while longer, I hustled towards Xander’s direction.
As I ran, I heard the Requiem’s intercom system blare. “Kill the girl and we will relinquish the Shadow Kanes into your service for your next match.”
Briggins again.
My nostrils flared. That man seriously hates me to the very core to go this far. Why was it that he was calling all the shots now? Where was the Magistrate? Briggin’s proposed offer to Nampier and Sir Norbert would be difficult for the best of human beings to refuse when their lives stood on the line.
I tried not to lose focus as I neared; catching the intense admiration in Xander’s gray eyes. I skidded to a halt as I reached the ledge he was chained to—both his arms and legs were shackled. Raising my axe, I swung at the first set of chains on his left arm, effectively breaking through the links.
—Xander’s eyes went wide in alarm. With his free hand he quickly reached around me and grabbed my shield, positioning it behind us. Bullets thudding against the metal seconds after he had secured it in place.
My eyes narrowed. Sir Norbert had changed tactics and was now focusing on removing me from the equation.
A proposition accepted. Fantastic.
Rolling away from Xander, I brought my shield up to block the newest wave of bullets, crouching low behind the shield. Though, the storm of bullets never ceased—the force of them knocking me further and further towards the Edge no matter how much I dug my boots and shield into the mud.
Sir Norbert was trying to force me off the side.
Urging myself out of my panicked horror, I calmed my racing mind and focused. Time seemed to slow around me as the bullets thudded heavily into the earth. Mud spraying into arcs around me.
I will not let him push me. I will not fall.
The Gravity Defyer.
Quickly and without thought, I slammed my fist into the circular disk on my chest, activating the Defyer.
Immediately—I felt two hundred pounds heavier.
The air quaked with power around me and forced me lower and lower to the ground like a servant being forced down from under their master’s wrath. I could feel the power gathering to a point that was almost intolerable to withstand, my vision vibrating uncontrollably.
“Release it!” I heard Xander cry out from behind.
Through the fog of intense pressure, I vaguely remembered the release was a small button underneath my right palm. Curling my heavy fingers down, I felt the button with my middle finger. Not knowing what to expect, I clenched my teeth and pushed.
The pressure left my body in a rush, sending me barreling forwards against my body’s wish. To my luck however—Sir Norbert just happened to be standing in my path. I reacted quickly, swinging my axe downwards in an arc, slicing clean through Sir Norbert’s Gatling gun as I came upon him in that initial rush.
The front half of his golden gun dropped to the mud, splashing brown water onto the both of us. He looked even more horrified than Nampier had, knowing that he was now weaponless. Norbert dropped the useless half of the Gatling gun and backed away, nearly tripping over his own feet. “You’ve killed us . . . you’ve killed us all,” he managed to choke out before turning to race towards the relative safety beside Nampier.
My eyes widened in dread—the semi mud-covered Shadow Kane was rushing us now. It barreled past Sir Norbert, using the hilt of its massive sword to send him sprawling. One of his legs bent at an unnatural angle as he landed and the shrill cry he released sent my insides curling.
“Lily! Your axe, give it to me!” I heard Xander call out from behind again, awakening me from my daze. I turned and saw that both of his feet and shins were now hanging in the air behind him.
“Hold on!” Dodging the Shadow Kane, I saw a second pair of footprints appear beside me. I dodged again, hoping I wasn’t running directly into a downwards swinging blade.
Finding an opening, I turned and tossed my axe towards Xander, praying it had landed within his reach. Now weaponless, I felt the air move in front of me and saw sparks fly as one of the Shadow Kane’s blades skimmed the surface of my breastplate. I cried out, raising my shield to block a second connecting blow. —I flew backwards from the attack, landing heavily into the dark mud. My helm soared in the opposite direction, causing my hair to plaster itself to the sides of my face, obscuring my vision even more.
I had landed so forcefully into the patch of mud that I was now suctioned deep inside, and sinking further still. No matter how I twisted or turned or tried to claw my way out, I was rendered helplessly immobile. This was it? This was how I was to die? After coming so far? To have it all end because I couldn’t free myself from a bit of blithering mud?
The thought alone infuriated me.
Glancing up, I wanted Xander to be the last thing I saw before leaving this life. To let him read my emotion of remorse and sorrow at not being able to save him.
My heart sank.
He wasn’t there. The platform gone.
A sound made me look up. The mud-covered Shadow Kane approached my front, only a mere sword’s length away.
I tensed my body and closed my eyes, expecting the final blow to come at any moment. But nothing seemed to matter anymore. I didn’t save him. I’m sorry . . . . I’m sorry . . . .
Three seconds passed. Nothing happened.
I opened my eyes in a rush to instead see a chain wrap itself around the invisible neck of the Shadow Kane closest to me.
Xander!
My heart swelled with pride as I watched Xander run up the length of the Shadow Kane’s back, using the chain for leverage. The creature thrashed as Xander successfully found every joint and weak spot on its body with the razor sharp blade of my axe. It too was now fully visible. Perhaps it wanted to reserve all its power to try and deal with the foe at its back.
It would have to try harder. A Shadow cannot hide from another Shadow.
Movement from my side caught my eye. The second pair of Shadow Kane prints approached me from the right, positioning itself between myself and the Edge. While Xander kept the closest Shadow Kane busy, I judged the distance to the Edge as another crazy idea came to mind.
A supremely stupid idea.
Xander would need my help if we were to beat these creatures. Before I could give it any more thought, I braced my body and slammed my fist into the circular disk on my breastplate, deploying the Defyer once again.
I sank so heavily into the mud that I was afraid I was going to be all together consumed by the sludge. My chin tilted upwards and I gritted my teeth against the pressure. But I needed to hold out for a few seconds longer than I had with my first experience.
When it felt as though my skin was beginning to shred inwards across my bones, the mud creeping in towards my eyes—my finger reached for the button on my palm and pushed.
An intense bolt of energy shot out from me, slamming squarely into the invisible Shadow Kane. A brilliant white light imploded into it as it came into contact with the darkness of the creature, knocking it from its feet and shooting it backwards through the sky. The dark mass of its body swirled into view just before it fell beyond the Edge and disappeared below the horizon.
For a brief moment, I pitied the abomination as it fell. Even a Shadow Kane did not deserve a death such as that. A death falling into the unknown. Just as I had hoped, the mud held me firmly in its grasp even though it felt as though my skin had been peeled away from my body.
I looked up just in time to hear a thud at my side as the second Shadow Kane was taken down. Its breathing was labored and wet. It struggled for a few seconds more, one claw twitching uselessly, before it stopped moving.
We did it. We survived.
“Just so you know, I’m ap
ologizing in advance . . .” I heard Xander say as he approached my side, his breathing heavy. He offered his outstretched and bloodied hand to me.
I nearly cried out in relief when I saw him. His tunic was tattered and dirty and clung to his chest from the rain, the broken chain from his wrist dragging the ground.
I reached up weakly, “Apologize for wha—” and before I knew what was happening, Xander was pulling my muddy armored body up against his chest—the suction of the earth no longer having the restraint it once had.
My knees went weak and threatened to buckle when I looked into his eyes—an unyielding loyalty held within them.
He brushed the side of my temple with his thumb. “For this,” he whispered.
With nothing holding him back, he brought his bruised lips to mine. They were soft—much unlike the rest of him, though firm. Determined.
All of City Prosper disappeared from us in that moment. The void of despair and hopelessness was repaired in my heart and not even a Shadow Kane’s mind trick could deny me of the lightness that now filled my chest. He smelled of iron, and earth, and for a moment, I thought we were back in the Outlands.
But then the deepest recesses of my mind started whispering:
No. No. No. Danger.
A wry smile edged across his face. Xander hesitantly relinquished my lips and looked at me. “I’m not that bad, am I?” His gray eyes were almost silver in the rays of light that began to break through the passing storm clouds. A look that usually meant he was reading me.
I groaned inwardly, looking to the sky. There was no hiding anything from him.
“What you have done for me this day cannot ever be repaid.” His smile turned serious as his eyes captured mine again. “I vow to live out the rest of my days protecting you and your happiness.” Bringing both shackled hands to the sides of my face, his mouth moved close to my ear. “Partners. For now, and always.” He dipped down once more and kissed me tenderly this time. A promise sealed within it.
This will get him killed. My mind again.
He gave a sad smile before wrapping his arms around me, pulling me even closer in the chance that someone may overhear. “I feared for your safety if my plans were to fall through. Seeing us . . . like this, would give the Council another excuse to see you as a threat because of my actions. Your life is precious to me, Lily. Always keep that knowledge close to your heart, even in life’s darkest moments.”
Life’s darkest moments. My heart flooded with despair after hearing this from him. It made me realize that things were only going to get worse. A lot worse before they became better. And from the way he said it—Xander already knew this too.
Xander solemnly removed his battered hands from my shoulders and backed away somewhat, giving me my space. The shackles and chain from his wrist rapped lightly against the metal of my armor, breaking me from my daze.
“Xander . . . I—wait. What happened to Nampier?” I asked, suddenly coming back to full alert.
Xander eyed me and smiled knowingly, not pressuring me into speaking my feelings. “He forfeited after seeing what happened to Sir Norbert.” Xander pointed to a distant and weaponless Nampier, walking with a stricken posture beside a gurney that now exited the Requiem.
Or perhaps the Shadow Kane’s despair got to him.
“I had to distract my eyes with something while I sat there useless. Otherwise I would’ve pitched myself off from sheer boredom alone.”
I shook my head, feeling guilty I sent the Shadow Kanes Nampier’s way.
Xander raised my chin gently with his fingers. “You were brilliant out there. Don’t even think what I know you’re thinking. You did what you had to.”
I swallowed and looked at him with wild eyes, adrenaline still coursing through my veins. Blinking through my mud-caked eyelashes, I regarded him directly for what seemed like the first time today. My eyes widened upon seeing the black and blue splotches around his right eye and mouth. “What did they do to you?” I managed to ask as I searched him, running my hands down the sides of his arms, trying to distract myself from the fact he had just kissed me and professed his love to me.
“I’ll live,” he said, a grin upturning the corners of his mouth.
So he probably knows I’m diverting the issue of ‘us’.
I sighed heavily from the tumultuous thoughts. “How are we supposed to do this again? Two more rounds like this we have to survive through. Two! I don’t think I can handle it.” I turned my head, focusing on nothing. “Especially with what Briggins is now throwing our way. He wants nothing more than to see us both dead,” I added in an exhausted tone.
Xander ran his palm over the back of his neck. “Something’s happened in the Council. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was due to an upheaval of power. It’s as if Briggins is calling the shots now over the Magistrate.”
“Even over my parents?” I asked, turning back to him, not wanting to confirm my own suspicions.
Xander’s jaw shifted in thought. “I cannot be sure, though while I was detained, I heard whispers. Your mother did something to upset the authority. The Council didn’t approve and Briggins is trying to bring them down for it.”
“What authority? My father is the authority.”
“No, Lily, the authority of the Law.”
Xander raised his hand to forestall further conversation. “We cannot speak of this here,” he said, eyeing past me suspiciously. Eyeing past me to the stadium full who cheered us on. Cheered for our victory.
“Tonight,” he added close to my ear as he walked past.
He looked back at me with a mock smile, his eyes lighting up. “Besides I am a free man now thanks to you and I would like to do free man things: eat, sleep, set my eyes upon one such lovely lady, prepare for another battle. You know, the typical Wodnesdæg.” His brow furrowed. “Wait—is it mid-week already? I was having so much fun watching Scottie struggling to take a proper punch at me while detained that I must’ve lost track of time.”
I frowned at him. “You’re unusually chipper for someone who almost just died.”
Xander shrugged uncaring, which made me smile. I always felt better when Xander made light of a difficult situation. I suspected he knew that too. “Let’s just get out of here before they chain you up again.”
I started walking, feeling better, though now the thought of something happening to my parents was creeping its way up from my stomach like a sour piece of meat.
Xander slowed, taking my arm in his. I didn’t object, finding comfort that he was once again by my side. His brows pulled together. “Where’s your helm gotten to this time? Do I need to find a way to bolt it to your skull?”
I sighed and threw my hands up in wane aggravation. After turning around and finding my helm halfway submerged in a puddle, I approached his side again. He smirked warmly, his white teeth shining brilliantly against the mud that covered his face. He reached over, ruffing up the top of my wet and mud-caked hair with his own dirty hand before I could swat him away.
We walked supporting each other as we neared the exit to the Requiem. Though each step was accompanied by a worrisome thought. Were my parents safe? What’s happened in the Council? Did Xander really just kiss me?
I frantically tried to pull my mind together.
My nerves were so rattled from the fighting that I was struck quite dumbfounded by his kiss. He deserved better than the responses that were coming to mind. Glancing up at the quiet calm demeanor on his face, I knew he didn’t expect a response from me now. Or ever, if it came to that: another quality I respected from him.
As we approached the curved arena, the crowd went utterly silent, not even a word was spoken, not even among friends.
Xander and I both looked up, drawn curious to the quiet stillness.
We caught eyes with Dex who hung over the ledge of the stadium with others at his side. People all from different Sectors intermingling together for the first time it seemed. He began clapping his approval, softly at first, like a distant
sound in an endless chasm. His praise quickly turned however into a chain of boisterous applause from behind, a wave of approval, row after row, that neared even the sky itself.
My heart swelled after seeing the enamored faces of the citizens filled with hope. The Council had offered us a hopelessly impossible scenario, and still, we had overcome.
And the citizens knew this.
It was all worth it. The pain, the sweat, the constant threat of death. To see their faces now was all worth it to me.
Xander reached between us and lifted my right arm—the dirtied hand that still gripped my axe—into the air. The act sent a shiver down my spine. It was so much like the images of the past victors that were carved upon the Requiem’s door.
The crowd’s favor and praise increased, reverberating around us in a thunderous roar. My throat clotted making me both smile and cry as I looked to Xander gratefully.
If there was to be no one to shine the light for them during these dark times, then I would fight my way to that remaining ember, crawl on bloodied knees with enemies lurking close behind to shelter that last flicker of dying hope. If I didn’t champion myself for the people then who would? Risking my life was such a small price to pay for helping to guide them to find their true Prosperity.
Xander looked at me with a new tenderness in his eyes. “If you thought Briggins and the Council loathed your existence before . . . I hate to break it to you. This isn’t going to help,” he said, tipping his head towards the arena full of passionate faces.
I lowered my axe. “We’ve won this battle today in more ways than one. Though—I’m afraid to even think of how ugly this is going to get,” I said softly.
Xander nodded and looked down to my hands as he carefully placed them in his. “In that case, we’ll have to show them just how ugly we can be.”
.
Part Three
We all wear masks. We forget who we are. What we’re meant for . . . driven by a solitary desire. For me? It’s revenge. The darkened hatred clouded my mind and rationale for so long. It took me from who I was, and made me into who I am. What I am.