Down Among the Dead

by K. B. Wagers

  Sou’s face was clean of expression, but I caught the tremble in his hand as he slapped it on the tabletop. “The Pedalion has convened to issue a decision on reopening the negotiations between Faria and the Shen.”

  “And those who follow the Star.”

  I slid a sideways glance at Fasé’s quiet declaration before returning my eyes to the Pedalion, watching the emotions that played out over their faces.

  The angry red flush was spreading up Adora’s throat. Rotem was stone-faced. Yadira and Delphine shared a look I couldn’t quite decipher.

  “Yes.” Sou cleared his throat. Of all of them, he hadn’t blinked. “Your little rebellion is duly noted, Fasé.”

  “That’s telling, isn’t it?” I subvocalized to Emmory on the com channel.

  “Very much so.”

  Sou cleared his throat. “Your Imperial Majesty, it is—”

  The doors at the far side of the chamber opened and a group of guards ushered Hao, Gita, and Talos through. I caught Hao’s eye and the very deliberate wink he gave me.

  “Here we go,” I whispered, and tightened my grip on my gun, turning away from Emmory. “What is—”

  The hand that came down on my neck was colder than ice, freezing through me to the bone, and I heard Mia call my name even as Emmory grabbed me and jerked me away.

  I clung to him for a second before I got my feet underneath me and turned around. “Sybil.”

  The Farian seer smiled. “Hail.”

  “This is unfortunate.” I reached back when I felt Emmory shift and put my hand on his before he could pull his Hessian 45 free.

  Sybil shook her head. “I would not draw your weapons, Ekam Tresk. There is a great potential for violence here and very little reason for any of us to expend our energy to clean up the mess afterward.”

  Adora rose; the triumphant smile on her face made me long to pull my Glock and shoot her.

  “Your arrogance, Hail, is your undoing,” she said.

  “Adora, what are you doing?” Rotem seemed truly shocked by the turn of events. “This is not what we agreed on.”

  “I am done with this Pedalion wringing their hands and worrying about the opinions of humans.” She waved a hand out in a grand gesture. “We have before us the leaders of the Shen, the leader of the rebellion, and the Star of Indrana. It is time to see this done.”

  “What’s your grand plan, Adora?” I asked.

  “A politely worded message to your heir about the tragic explosion that took the lives of the empress and all her people.” Adora folded her hands together and shook them at me as she came down off the dais. The mocking gesture was expected; however, she made the mistake of passing too close to Gita, and my Dve spit in her face.

  There was a moment of violence. The guard behind them struck Gita with his weapon and she went down on a knee; the only thing that prevented Hao from moving was the gun pressed to the back of his neck. He met my gaze and I gave a little shake of my head, watching the fury flare for just a moment before he acknowledged me.

  “Aiz Cevalla and Fasé Terass.” Adora wiped her face with a disgusted smile. “You are traitors. Heretics. You will be trapped forever in the vault of souls.” She snapped her fingers and the guards converged on Aiz and Fasé, grabbing them by the upper arms and dragging them across the floor away from us.

  “We moving, Hail?” Jo asked the question under her breath.

  “Not yet.”

  Adora was knee-deep in her awaited revenge and snapped her fingers again. “First, you will see that abomination you dare to call a sister perish.”

  I stepped in front of Mia. “How could you?” I demanded of Sybil, who’d moved to stand next to Adora. The bags they’d taken from Hao and Gita lay in a pile at her feet. “I thought you believed in this? In the future?”

  “In that ‘everything dies’ line I fed you, Hail?” Sybil asked with scorn on her face. “We don’t. Farians were made in the image of our gods and we are godlike because of it. I don’t expect you humans to understand, with your brief, flickering lives.” She sighed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “In all this, you never once asked why you were so important, did you? Even they didn’t ask. Only Adora had the sense to see what needed to be done. You are chaos, churning away at our foundations with every step. It cannot be allowed to continue.” She flung a hand out at the Pedalion as she crossed to the front of the room and slapped her hand into the center of the curved white table.

  “Sybil, what are you doing?” Rotem demanded. The other three members of the Pedalion wore equal looks of horror.

  I stumbled away from them as the floor opened up, almost falling into Emmory again in the process.

  “The gods have demanded this. There will be no quick, easy death for any of those who will stand against us.” The ground shook at her words, and Adora smiled.

  The dark hole in the middle of the sixteen-pointed star shimmered. I looked across it at Hao and flicked my eyes downward. He tipped his head toward it, a wordless question that was followed by a soundless curse when I gave a slight nod.

  “Throw them in.” Sybil’s voice carried through the room, echoing off the ceiling with a strange power.

  Hao grabbed Talos and put his shoulder into Gita, sending them both into the shimmering blackness. Fasé grabbed for Aiz and the pair followed them into the portal.

  “Go!” I ordered, shoving Emmory and Zin toward the hole. Kisah was already sprinting across, Iza and Indula on her heels. They all dove into the black without hesitation.

  Johar liberated a gun from the guard on her side and blew a chunk out of the wall across the chamber. The guards who’d been streaming into the room went scattering for cover. I kicked at the guard closest to me, sending him sprawling into Sybil, and grabbed for the bags, sliding them across the floor toward Mia, who dragged them with her into the hole.

  “Jo, move!”

  She fired again. The Farians closing in on us scattered, and together we turned and jumped into the abyss.

  48

  Hitting the water was a surprise, and I came up coughing and sputtering from my accidental inhale. Several pairs of hands grabbed me and hauled me from the water, but it was Emmory who thumped me on the back.

  “I’m all right.” Wiping the water and tears from my eyes, I looked around. We were in what looked like an underground cavern, but unlike the sharp angles and stark white of Faria, these walls were smooth as glass, curving endlessly into soft waves and spirals. The color wasn’t just black, but it shimmered the same as the surface in the floor of the Pedalion chamber with all the colors and stars winking in and out of existence.

  I looked up at the smooth ceiling above us and laughed. “I have never had a plan come together so well.”

  “If we survive this, it’ll be one for the stories. Though I’m not gonna lie, for a second there I was pretty sure Sybil really had betrayed us.” Hao reached down and along with Gita helped me to my feet. “We’re lucky there was a pool down here. That landing would have been hard otherwise.”

  I patted his face with a smile. His hair was slicked back and a bruise decorated his temple. “It stood to reason, if the portal was for petitioners they wouldn’t want them to end up in a pile of squishy bits before they got to see the gods. Who hit you?”

  Hao waved a hand. “One of the guards. We had to at least make it look like we were putting up a fight when they stormed in. I’m impressed that we pulled that off without any of Fasé’s people being hurt or arrested.”

  “Sybil is going to be okay?” That question came from Mia as she and Aiz joined us.

  “She’ll manage. The Pedalion thought she was on their side from the beginning; there’s no reason for them to question it now. They are going to be way too busy fighting with Adora about her last-second theatrics.”

  “I owe you an apology, Hail,” Aiz said, holding a hand out to me. “I did not think any of that was going to work. My only question is, why did we go to all that trouble of having a backup plan?”

/>   “No offense, but I will always trust my gut.” I took his hand with a wink. “Backup plans are only unnecessary if you have them.”

  “If you don’t have them, you’ll need them,” Johar said, wading to the edge of the pool, her arms full of weapons and bags. “I think I got them all.”

  “Give them a bit to dry out, we’ll be fine,” Hao said. “The only one I don’t know about is that cannon you stole from the guard. I made sure to pick our weapons out based on what would survive through almost anything. Including getting waterlogged.”

  I moved with Gita farther away from the water’s edge as Johar and Hao started in on a detailed inspection of what little gear we had.

  I’d known that part of the plan was risky, but there’d been no reason for us to have anything else with us. Sybil couldn’t tell me what we would be facing once we passed through the portal, only that we would have to journey to the gods and there was no way of knowing what trials we would have to face before we reached them.

  “Are you all right?” Gita murmured as she lowered me to the ground, and I gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

  “Tired, if I’m being honest.” I smiled up at her and touched her face. “Are you all right? That guard cracked you.”

  “It was worth it.” She grinned.

  “I am going to sleep for a month once this is all done.”

  “I like that idea. Do you need me for anything, or would you rather have a moment alone?”

  “I’m good. Go help Hao.”

  I leaned back on my elbows, the rock smooth underneath me, and watched as my crew moved around the patch of land at the edge of the water. Fasé, Mia, and Talos moved among everyone, making sure any injuries were taken care of, though I saw Hao try to wave them off until Gita said something sharply to him and he held his hand out to Mia with an exasperated sigh.

  Emmory was already covering our perimeter along with Zin and the rest of my BodyGuards.

  There were twelve of us, plus me, and though I knew the risk we were taking, I was also determined to bring everyone back safely.

  Mia came over and sat down next to me, putting her hand over the top of mine. The minor aches from the fight above were swallowed by the soothing rush of her power, and I turned my hand over so I could thread my fingers through hers.

  “Thank you.” I leaned in for a kiss, and the pleased murmur that slipped out when she kissed me back made the desire I’d so carefully banked flare like a sun going supernova. I pulled reluctantly away, pressing my cheek to hers for a moment before resting my head on her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I am glad to be here,” Mia whispered back. “We have a long way to go, we should get moving.”

  “I know.” With a sigh, I looked around, catching Aiz’s eye. “The question is, where are we going?”

  “According to Sybil, the petitioners move forward from this point, but she couldn’t tell us how.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair and spun on a heel. “I am Aiz Cevalla and I am here to speak with the gods.”

  His voice echoed off the rock, fading into silence as we all waited. For a moment there was nothing; then a low grinding sound started and I scrambled to my feet, pulling Mia up with me as the wall behind us began to move. It slid open, revealing an arch filled with the same shimmering black as the hole in the Pedalion’s floor.

  “Okay, I didn’t think it would be that easy,” I said with a laugh. “Hao, guns?”

  “Yup.” He tossed them to me. “Check ’em yourself, but they look good on my end.”

  I ran a quick diagnostic with my smati that confirmed his words and then shoved the Glocks home. “All right, people, we should get moving.” Squaring my shoulders, I gestured to Aiz and followed him through the archway.

  “Easy, easy, Hail. Lights on low.”

  I blinked at Portis in confusion as the lights came up. “What?”

  “Bad dream.” He smiled, leaning over me and touching my face. “You’ve had them a lot since Candless.”

  “I was—no.” I looked around the room. It was my room, our room on Sophie. “That wasn’t a dream. This is.” I slid from the bed and looked down at the black tank and pants I was wearing. I exhaled and rubbed a hand over my face.

  “Hey, take it easy. You’re okay.”

  “You’re dead.”

  It was Portis’s turn to blink in confusion and the look on his face broke my heart. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “You’re not real.” The words were painful, but I managed to spit them out where they landed glass-sharp and glittering in the air.

  “Why would you say that?”

  I rounded the bed and dropped to my knees in front of him, cupping his face in my hands. “Because it’s true. You’re not real. Sophie is dust. You’re gone. This isn’t my life anymore.” I couldn’t stop the tears even though I was smiling at him.

  There was no panic, no fear hammering away at my chest. Only the simple certainty of what was real and what was not. I’d said my good-byes to Portis in bits and pieces. He’d always be with me, a little whisper in the back of my head and a warm glow buried in my heart.

  I knew he was gone and this, whatever it was, was the Farian gods’ doing. Aiz’s lesson from before had done its job.

  “You have to realize you can’t trust anything you see. The Farians can do this. The gods can do it. They will trick you and play with you and you have to be prepared for it.”

  “Besides, you called me Hail when you woke me up.” I shook my head. “Portis never slipped, not once. The only time he ever used my name was right before he died. I loved you, but it’s time for me to go. You’re not real and I want to go back to my friends.”

  Portis smiled, but there were tears in his eyes or maybe they were in mine. “I am really going to miss you.”

  “You’re right here,” I replied, pressing a hand to my heart. “Until the heat death of the universe.”

  “Same, baby.” The vision of Portis smiled, leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine, then wavered and vanished. As I wiped the tears from my face I spotted Mia clinging to Aiz.

  We were in a wide tunnel, the walls slick black rock that sparkled with lights that stretched far enough above my head that I didn’t feel the least bit claustrophobic. I spotted Hao and Zin at the far end of the tunnel talking quietly, and the others stood frozen like statues around me.

  “They are seeing whatever the gods have chosen for them,” Aiz said. “Some break the spell more easily than others.” He had one arm wrapped around Mia but pointed behind me with the other, and I looked to see Emmory shaking his head. Indula followed suit, rubbing both hands over his face. Talos and Johar were just behind him, also coming out of the daze.

  “I’m good,” Johar said as I passed, patting me on the shoulder. “That was wild. I’ll get these two.” Kisah and Iza woke simultaneously and Johar moved to reassure them, Indula right behind her.

  “It’s all right.” I reached Emmory as he put a hand on his gun. Emmory frowned at me as I touched my forehead to his. “Whatever you saw wasn’t real and you recognized it; the gods are testing us.”

  “We’re not here to see their gods,” he replied. “You are. Why are they testing all of us?”

  “I know, but they either don’t know or don’t care. We’re here, that means we’ll go through the trials.” I squeezed his arm. “Zin’s over there.”

  Aiz was talking to Talos and touched the Shen’s face with a smile and an approving nod. I crossed back to them, reaching for Mia, and she slipped away from her brother to bury her face in my shoulder.

  “It’s okay,” I murmured against her damp hair, feeling her shake against me. “I’m here.”

  “I know,” she said, and choked on a laugh. “That’s how I got out of it; you weren’t there, and I didn’t believe a reality that existed without you.”

  I tightened my arms around her, words sticking in my throat even though they weren’t needed. We stood that way for a while until Mia released a shuddering br
eath and stepped back. I let her go, feeling the space between us like a fresh wound as she rejoined her brother.

  I left the Shen alone to their quiet conversation and joined Hao. “What’s the details?”

  “You’ve all been locked up for half an hour or so,” he replied. “The hallway goes on for forty-three meters before it hits a T junction. We didn’t explore beyond that.”

  I glanced behind me to where Gita and Fasé still stood like statues. “Can’t wake them up from this end, can we?”

  Hao shook his head. “Zin and I tried. None of you reacted. Aiz might know more, but I suspect it’s the kind of thing you have to fight on your own.”

  “You came out of it fast.”

  Hao smiled a wry smile at me. “When you don’t trust anything, it’s hard to fall prey to illusions.”

  “True,” I said, looking at Zin. “What about you?”

  He was holding Emmory’s bare hand, rubbing gently at the back with his thumb, and the sweetness wrapped itself around my heart. “Reality is an illusion.” He winked at me. “I know what my illusion already is. Makes it easier to pick out a manufactured one.”

  Gita gasped, and Hao moved like a ship hitting full thrusters, catching her as she started to collapse.

  “Go on,” Emmory said. He’d let Zin go and was pulling his glove back on. “We’ve got this.”

  I made it two steps toward Gita when Fasé came out of her trance, and I felt the power surging under her skin as I grabbed her by the shoulders. I could have easily held her upright, but I lowered her to the floor, sliding my hands down to hers as I knelt in front of her.

  “Take a breath,” I ordered. “Another.”

  She obeyed with difficulty and I was surprised by the haunted look in her golden eyes. I let go of a hand and brushed her red curls away from her face.

  “Are you all right?”

  Fasé blinked. “I was—no, I am not all right. I owe you another apology, Hail. I’ve always thought it was easy to tell what was real and what was not, but that was far more difficult than I believed.” She looked up at me, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “You endured six months of that. I don’t know how you are still standing.”