by J R Devoe
“No,” I say with a grave shake of my head. I dread my next words, but it is the only way to stop the Black Tide from flooding this planet and spreading across the Universe. “We must rally at the portal gate and allow Jexa to bring the Capstone to us.”
“Those pyramids are in the wide open!” someone says.
“And they’re on sacred ground!” Ko Tora points out. “Spilling blood there would be blasphemy.”
I raise a hand to demand silence. Much to my surprise, I get it. “To take land from the rightful custodians is a blasphemy even worse than that, great Elder. Yet how long have you directed your followers to break this sacred law?”
My accusation draws skeptical glares from Ko Tora’s followers.
Ko Tora steps toe to toe with me. “Careful, dust maiden. There is much you don’t understand.”
“All I need to understand is that, right now, this planet’s rightful inhabitants are fighting Jexa against extinction. When we make this clear to the Magister, he will condemn her and her followers to the Dark.”
“Summoning the Magister will require us to open the portal without a Consul,” says Ko Zola. The conflict in the Ori Elder’s eyes suggests she wants to support my idea, but some inner wisdom is creating resistance.
“And let’s not forget about the Anomaly,” says Ko Tora.
I was hoping no one would think of this. The area surrounding every planet’s gate contains a gravitational phenomenon that prevents all but the Aeri from flying over. Without this ability, we’ll have to drag the Capstone up the whole pyramid.
“The Watchers will face the same disadvantage,” I point out. “If we rally at the pyramids first, we can secure the high ground and fortify our position.”
Ko Tora crosses her arms and gives me an appraising look. “You suggest we allow Jexa to bring us the Capstone, and hope our defences hold up against her attack. She is a master of war. Who knows what tactics she’s learned in her lifetimes exterminating races. We can’t let her anywhere near the gate with that key. It’s too risky.”
“The Watchers will have to get through us to reach the apex,” I say, “while dragging the Capstone up all those levels. Fighting the Watchers there is the best way to ensure the battle is fought on our terms.” Our presence there will also keep Jexa’s eyes far away from Deka. He’ll be safe in the forest until we summon the Magister.
Many heads nod their approval of my idea. This is good.
“Jexa may have already sent a company to guard the pyramids,” Ko Zola points out.
“Unlikely,” says a senior Fori Elder. I’m guessing by her age and frailty she is Ko Rance, the oldest Servant on this planet. “If she’s been expecting a turnout like this, she’d not weaken her grip on the Capstone by dividing her force. As it stands, we outnumber the Watchers three to one. The New Moon is a week away. That’s seven days of defending both the pyramids and the Capstone. Even a master of war cannot stretch her numbers to guarantee success in both areas.”
Ko Tora closes her eyes and rocks her head side to side. Then, as if someone had declared her Rebel Marshal, she nods her approval. “All right, then. We fly at first light to the pyramids. Get some rest, children. You will need it for the trials ahead.”
Fori loyal to Ko Tora kick dirt over the fire and stomp out the coals.
A strange feeling rises in me while I watch the party die out, as the growing army obeys Ko Tora’s command without question and retires to make their nests for the night. I rallied us during the battle, turned the tide of attack in our favor, squared off with Jexa without backing down. They should be looking to me for direction.
And yet… none have defied a single command from me, for I have not issued one. I’d told Jaleera I don’t want that responsibility. My mind reassures me that I’d spoken true in that, but my heart says otherwise.
A walk around the growing perimeter reveals more sentries on watch. A majority of their eyes look inward more than out. I’m not going anywhere without Ko Tora’s approval, but I am not without options. While the lookouts have keen eyes for the skies and the trees, they cannot see what happens underground.
I find Mora sleeping among her cohort, entangled in two dozen sets of arms and legs. As their leader, her position in the middle makes her hard to reach. Many stir at my fluttering wings as I hover low overhead. When I grab Mora’s shoulder, she wakes with a sour expression, which softens upon seeing me. She looks to her sleeping juniors warily, so I nod for her to join me off to the side.
We meet up under the stringy curtain of a willow tree.
“I need your help with something very important,” I say.
Mora nods. “My Ori are yours to command.”
A tingle of pride touches my heart.
“I need you and a few others to head back west.”
“West? The battle lies east, where we’ll need every sword swinger we can find. What sort of trouble are you sending us to?”
“An envoy from the surviving species is set to arrive at the western forest edge. He may already be there.”
Mora shifts uneasily.
“Consider it a favor,” I say. “I’ll focus on Jexa better if I know your folk are watching over him. We need him alive for the Magister’s arrival.”
Mora looks around warily and fidgets with her forging apron.
I take both of her hands in mine. “Please, Mora.”
She glances at the breathing mounds of nests covering the forest floor. “You’re becoming more like your mother with every breath.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Fine, we’ll watch over it.”
I place my hands onto her shoulders. “Thank you. And, its name, is ‘Deka’.”
• • •
When I watch the last of Mora’s six workers-turned-guardians burrow underground, I breathe a sigh of relief. I’d love nothing more than to go see Deka myself, but my place is here. And it’s not only Ko Tora’s orders that keep me. If we don’t summon the Magister, Deka’s people and mine will all die at the hands of the Watchers.
I find a cradle between two large roots, where I curl on my side. Two Fori join me and wrap their arms around me. They smell of smoke and the tang of blood. They fought the battle with me earlier. In the dark I recognize Kassini’s purple hair.
I’m slipping off to sleep when whispers drag me back from oblivion. Heated words waft through the smoke of the dead bonfire, the intensity of them drawing me to sit up on my side. I’m rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I hear my name. There is venom and fire in the voice that hisses it.
I slide from between my sleeping companions and tiptoe toward the voices, taking cover from tree to tree until three figures come into view. They’re huddled close in the haze, perhaps to smother their words, but the heat of the conversation blazes too hot to contain it completely.
Crouching behind a tree trunk, I listen.
“It’s our surest chance,” Ko Tora says. “Leaving the initiative in Jexa’s hands will end with our defeat.”
“There must be another way,” says Ko Zola, but her words lack the conviction of Ko Tora’s.
“None that guarantees us victory. You both know this. We must get Nya to destroy the Capstone the first chance we get.”
Cold sweat covers my skin. She can’t be serious!
“Doing so will trap us on this planet,” Ko Zola says gravely.
“You think I haven’t considered that? But with the force we’ve rallied here, we’ll be able to carve out a piece of land that no surviving Watcher would be foolish enough to trespass upon.”
“K’lora’s Dream,” one of the others says. By the rattle in her voice, she is an Elder proper. Ko Rance.
The mention of my mother’s name by a senior Elder gives me goosebumps. Though, I’ve never heard her name spoken with a word other than folly or fool before. What is this dream of which they speak?
I move closer, crawling from around the tree and staying low among the ferns.
“You know what destroying the Capstone will do to the you
ng dust maiden,” says Ko Zola.
I freeze in my crawling, desperate to hear Ko Tora’s response. Though I don’t need to hear the words. The first rule I learned about dusting was to break a sacred bond comes at the cost of undoing my own. I got a taste of this as a youngling, when I tried dusting a diamond throne. You should have seen me. It felt like I was getting electrocuted! The mere memory has me shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.
“I know just as well as you,” Ko Tora spits, “but we’re at war. A war she started. If she must sacrifice her life to end it, then we’ll see she’s given all the honors and remembrance she deserves. Besides, there’ll be no place in our new paradise for her destructive nature.”
My throat tightens as if a hand is choking me. So much so that I rub my neck to ensure this is not the case. My heartbeat drums so loud in my ears that it muffles the following words, but I’ve already heard enough. Too much, actually. They intend to sacrifice me to stop Jexa.
I scramble back to the glade and look to the treetops. I’m searching for the widest gap between sentries through which to make my escape, pondering places to hide so the Elders cannot use my powers to strand us on this planet, when squealing stops me.
At the base of the tree where I’d left her, Kassini cries in her sleep, no doubt haunted by images of the recent violence and the loss of her dear Leeta.
I lay beside the pair and wrap my arms around them both. Kassini squeezes my hand and stops fussing. Did they join me because I make them feel safe? Can I abandon them now in the uncertain hours to come?
I’ve never known the comfort of a Hive’s nest. The warmth of my companions and their rhythmic breathing soothes me, and is enough to smother my woes and ease me to sleep.
17
—
NYA
I WAKE to wood clacking and the rhythmic ringing of steel. I sit up and find myself alone among the roots, my two nesting companions nowhere in sight.
It’s still an hour before sunrise, but the forest is alive with activity.
A quick look around reveals Fori and Ori practicing melee drills with spears and axes. A few seniors drift between sparring pairs, offering tips and playing coach as if they have a clue. The Aeri must think they’re already good enough and above coaching the others, because they watch in amusement from the canopy.
Those not practicing gather dry wood to feed the dozen blazes that roar from stone fire pits spread all around, their flames burning bright beneath the indigo sky. Steel hitting steel rings loud from Ori hammers as they beat glowing orange pieces into spear tips and axe heads.
A familiar voice draws my attention to a lineup of Fori waiting for weapons.
“I hurt it in the battle,” Jinny says insistently. She wears a cow skull she’d painted blue as a helmet, and when one of her antagonists flips it off her head, I see she’s shaved her brown hair into a mohawk.
Those gathered around her laugh as she bends awkwardly to pick up her helmet. One limps in a circle to mock her while another crouches in for a closer look at her mangled leg.
“I don’t see any marks,” notes her observer.
“Get out of here,” another says. “These weapons are for fighters only.”
Jinny holds her helmet to her chest, and I can see she’s about to burst into tears. The bullies at her Hive had stopped bothering her years ago because she’d later find them on their own and pester them relentlessly, day and night, until she actually drove one crazy. These Fori haven’t learned that yet.
I storm toward the group lined up at the hearth.
When Jinny sees me coming, her eyes light up. “Nya!”
She limps my way to welcome me with a hug, but stops herself short. She realizes I’d just heard her lie about being wounded in the battle. “I was just telling them…” Her breathing speeds up and her eyes well with tears. “I was telling them…”
“How you dragged that Watcher down to her death, all by yourself?” I close the distance between us and throw an arm around her. “I thought for sure that fall had killed you. How are you even standing right now? You must have bones of steel.”
The expressions from those around me lower in shame.
“I’m glad you’re still kicking,” I add. “We’ll need you on those pyramid steps.” I pretend to notice her taunters for the first time. “Who are your friends? Did they fight with us yesterday?”
A few hug themselves and turn away in search of better conversation. Others offer Jinny a shoulder squeeze or a pat on the back.
Jinny ignores them and wraps both arms around my waist.
“It’s nice to see you,” I whisper in her ear, “you little devil.”
She squeezes me tighter.
I scan the crowd for more of Ko Mirah’s Hive. “Did you come alone?”
Jinny releases me. “Ko Vera forbid us from fighting, on account of Ko Mirah’s last wish, but a few of us snuck away. We’re going to make Jexa pay for all she’s done.”
“Nya.” I turn to see Kassini approach with a spear. “We got up extra early to make you this. You like?”
I accept the weapon and glide a hand along the polished shaft, admiring the silver tip. “It’s wonderful.”
“Next time you face Jexa, you can ram that right in her eye!” Kassini says, thrusting an axe in imitation.
The idea of facing Jexa again makes my belly clench. The feeling, however, vaporizes when I remember how many allies fill the forest around me. Even now, word drifts through the pre-dawn air, claiming outrageous numbers.
“Lots more arrived during the night,” Kassini says. “They say we’re five thousand strong, with more on the way.”
Her eyes dart erratically back and forth as she bounces on her toes, barely able to contain herself.
“You’re sure?” I say.
“Fly as far as you can in any direction and you’ll not see the end of our lines. Go on, do it.”
“It’s true,” Jinny says.
“I believe you,” I say. Perhaps Jexa really was trying to deflate my confidence. Maybe she knows we stand a chance. Jaleera did tell me the Marshal sees us as a threat. Either way, if the estimates are anywhere near true, we’ll make an impressive turnout at the pyramids.
“Fall in to your cohorts!” echoes Ko Tora’s voice.
Ferns rustle and feet pound the ground as hundreds of Servants race in every direction in search of their workmates. Party leaders call out names to rally their people, while Ko Elders try shouting some order into the chaos.
I watch the stampede with concern. Even during the calm of a peaceful morning, it’s a difficult task keeping control of this ‘army’. Battle will be absolute chaos. But that’s a worry for another time.
Jinny grabs my wrist and hauls me to the remnants of Ko Tora’s Hive, who have formed a mixed group with three smaller hives. Rag-Tags, some call us. The name quickly gains popularity. A few sullen faces greet me, suggesting they lack Jinny’s enthusiasm over my presence.
Ko Tora walks the lines with Ko Zola and Ko Rance, assigning each group their place in the flying order. Aeri flocks will scout from high up. Fori cohorts will make up the vanguard, with Ori gangs moving over land in reserve. She shouts each assignment for all to hear. Ko Tora is flexing her authority, showing all who commands this great legion.
When she arrives at my cohort, she spares me not even the slightest glance. I am a peasant to her.
“Rear guard,” she says, then moves on.
Tension deflates from my group of forty. Some from relief, others from disappointment.
The Aeri scouts take to the sky before the flying order is decided in full. Squadrons of six fly out in eight directions to cover our move. I commend Ko Tora for this. At least she is not overly secure in our numbers.
A long while passes, everyone shifting nervously, while Ko Tora continues on with her spectacle.
“Have you seen Sheffa?” I ask Jinny.
She gives me a curious look. “You didn’t hear? She wanted to get Squiggs’ spark back, so
she went to Jexa to turn you in. That’s the last anyone seen of her. I’d say Jexa put her to work moving the Capstone.”
Ko Tora flies overhead while shouting, “Rise, children! To victory!”
The WHOOSH of five thousand sets of wings lifts off from the ground. Branches snap as cohorts explode through the canopy into the open sky. It’s here that I see our force in its entirety for the first time. It stops me mid-flight. Never before have I witnessed so many of our kind moving toward a common task, with work parties now flying boldly as battle squadrons. It is magnificent.
“Nya, keep up!”
Ahead, Jinny checks over her shoulder for me. I dart ahead to join her.
My heart drums a victorious tune. There must be a Servant to cover every stone of the Great Pyramid’s exterior. We will stop Jexa, or our blood running down the steps will give her one hell of a climb.
Ko Tora peels away from the head of the force and hovers to the side, watching us parade past. A twelve-point antler crown sits high on her head. This adornment sickens me.
When she spots me in the line, she snatches my arm and hauls me from the stream.
“We have a special assignment for you,” she says. “To guarantee our victory over Jexa, we’ll need the dust maidens at our side. Deliver my summons to your kin. Tell Ko Skadia to round up her Entropaths and join us at the pyramids.”
This order wipes the smile from my face. My kin number less than fifty on this planet—a sliver of the force strung across the sky before us. There is only one reason she wants the dust maidens. She doesn’t care about summoning the Magister. She’d sooner seal us all here and order us to follow her instead of Jexa.
Well, I’ll see that the Magister puts her in her place.
“I’ll fetch them at once,” I say, placing a hand on my belly and bowing slightly. “They’ll be yours to command before the New Moon.”
Ko Tora gives a smug, satisfied smile. “Then go. And be quick about it. I want them at the pyramids in three days.”
She doesn’t spare me a second look as she whirls around and falls in with the stream of black dots stretching toward the eastern horizon.