by J R Devoe
Jinny bends to grab a platinum short sword from the sand, gives it a test swing, then smiles as she proudly shows me her new weapon. Her smile levels, however, when her eyes meet mine.
A hard ring pushes down on my head, and I reach up to feel the smooth antlers of Ko Skadia’s black headdress.
“The Krown of K’lora,” she says from behind me.
A tingling energy blasts my scalp and shoots down my spine.
“I think it fits you better,” Ko Skadia says as she steps up beside me. She looks to Jinny. “Wouldn’t you say?”
Jinny’s cheeks rise with a prideful smile. Tears glisten her eyes as she gives me an approving nod.
“Now,” Ko Skadia says, pointing her hammer at the Great Pyramid, “go finish what your mother started.”
My heart swells with each beat, pounding strength out to my toes and to my fingertips, infusing each atom of my being with the violent energy of a lightning strike. I lock eyes on Jexa standing on the causeway ahead. With Jinny and Ko Skadia to my right, and Kassini to my left, I step up onto the elevated walkway and begin my march toward the Watcher net.
Sand swishes to both sides of the causeway as my force flares out into a wedge. The Watchers standing before the moat follow the advancing rebels with their spear tips. Hisses rise from the line as they rock back and forth. My skin prickles when we cross into their range.
Jexa spreads her arms wide in welcome. “Well, isn’t this nice. A day of reunions.”
I stop and check behind me to ensure we have the numbers in tight formation to storm the bridge. We must be two thousand strong in the wedge, with thousands of Ori stretched out in an extended line to face the Watchers before the moat. Ori banners of red and black stream in the breeze over their front rank. We are enough.
I grip my mother’s spear and narrow my eyes on Jexa standing alone on the bridge. Having just witnessed the devastation my Entropath kin inflicted upon flesh and bone, I know the Marshal risks more by dueling with me. All I’ll need is one clean hit with a well-timed blast of vibration. Anywhere on her body will do.
I set my feet marching forward, but a hand grabs my shoulder to halt me.
Jaleera steps up beside me. “Leave Jexa to me,” she says. Her expression is stolid, but I see something in her eyes that, until today, I’d thought impossible for a Watcher. It’s the look of fear.
Her gaze locks onto Jexa, but her words are meant for me. “What are you going to do?” she asks. It’s in the tone of an Elder ensuring I understand my task before we part ways.
Topple the Capstone, is what I want to say. Instead, I tell her what she wants to hear. “I’m going to turn that gate key into dust.”
“Good girl. You have enough of your sisters here to do the job safely.”
Should have enough, I want to clarify. Breaking sacred chains is no exact science to those of our level, even Ko Skadia. Only the makers who’d set them truly know what it will take to undo their work, and they are long gone.
“You have to be quick, Nya,” Jaleera adds, and I realize she’s stalling, “no messing about.”
“I got it.” My teeth are clenched so tight my temples ache.
I’m not sure if it’s to stall more, but Jaleera kneels next to Jinny and whispers in her ear. Jinny’s nostrils flare and her eyes widen as she listens to Jaleera while watching me. She swallows hard and accepts Jaleera’s round shield absently, and when Jaleera stands, Jinny’s expression hardens. She straightens the blue skull helmet on her head and stares up at the Capstone.
Without further ado, Jaleera marches up the causeway toward Jexa.
I let her go without protest. If anyone on our side has the skill to out-parry the Watcher Marshal, it’s the one who has served lifetimes as her right hand.
Jexa narrows her eyes on Jaleera and smiles. “Traitor, you make things too easy. I thought I’d have to hunt you down.”
Jaleera veers to the right edge of the causeway. Jexa moves to meet her, which leaves a gap on the bridge that several Watchers quickly fill. Surely how Jaleera had intended.
Ko Skadia leans over my shoulder from behind. “Let’s make dust of them,” she says. Though we are not physically touching, I sense her whole body vibrating. All of my sisters are charged, ready to blast away anything in our path. One, Doria, marches forward while waving her cudgel at the line of Watchers. Ko Skadia rushes out to drag her back into our wedge’s left wing.
As Jexa and Jaleera near swinging distance, we all watch to see who will make the first move.
Jaleera starts the duel with a leaping thrust of her spear—
I break into a sprint.
Jexa bats Jaleera’s attack away and jumps into a spinning back kick. Her foot hits Jaleera’s chest and sends her flying off the side of the causeway. Jexa leaps down after her as I race past.
As Jexa and Jaleera wrestle for top position on the ground, I focus on the line of Watchers blocking the bridge. They stand twenty across and two ranks deep. Those in front unsling shields from their backs and hold them in front. Each rectangle of gold locks into place with those to either side, fitting neatly like a puzzle that forms a wall from ground to neck. They duck their heads and brace for impact.
I don’t slow even the slightest. Instead, the slapping of several hundred feet on the stone walkway behind emboldens me to run harder so that, when I ram the center shield with my shoulder, it nearly knocks me unconscious. I’d bounce back if not for the wall of bodies slamming me from behind.
The shield wall slides back against the initial impact, but quickly steadies. The Watchers plant firm and don’t give up another inch.
Ko Skadia presses her hammerhead into the shield over my shoulder and sends through a steady vibration. The rattling makes my teeth chatter and vision blur. Several of my sisters join in, holding their weapons to the shields and blasting the golden wall with vibrations.
The shields of gold hold up admirably against our disruptive frequencies. The bones behind them, however, not so much. I swear I hear the snap of a forearm before the nearest golden plate tips away from me. The shield-bearer falls under her shield, and I’m forced through the opening with a stampeding mass of Fori, Ori, and Entropaths, everyone howling like raving lunatics. The flood of rebels forces the other shield-bearers over the bridge and into the moat.
I sprint on to the wooden stakes at the pyramid’s bottom level. A few swipes of my spear and Ko Skadia’s hammer clear our way to the head-height stones. When I touch the ancient blocks, a fuzzy feeling spreads through my body. It comes from the pulsating energy that surges from the planet’s core to fuel the open gate above, from which Watchers still fall in groups of a dozen or more. Jexa’s call stretches far and wide.
I step back to get a running start at my climb, but the weight of my whole army shoves me forward and squishes me against the stone. Everyone’s backs are to me and the pyramid, suggesting the Watcher lines have followed us across the bridge.
Jinny weaves through the rabble to join me.
“Only one way to go,” she says, looking up the two hundred stone courses.
To our right, a junior dust maiden climbs up onto the bottom level. A spear zips from the crowd’s outer edge and cuts her nearly in half at the belly.
As I watch my sister roll down into the crowd, Jinny drops and crawls through the chaos of feet and legs. She returns a moment later dragging a shield and straps it to my back. It’s a large, rectangular plate of gold that covers me from crown to heels. While I adjust the arm straps to fit my shoulders, she hefts Jaleera’s shield to her shoulder and kneels, then invites me to use it as a step.
I lift a foot onto the curved plate, and Jinny pushes me up to the first level, where I lie on my belly and cling to whatever hold I can find. The rumbling pyramid threatens to shake me off and sends a vibration through me that makes my whole body feel as if it’s made of fur.
Jinny’s fingers claw at the edge for purchase, so I reach down and pull her up to join me. She follows my lead by staying low
.
From this vantage point it’s clear we’re in trouble. The Watchers form a semi-circular snare around our entire force, which tightens against the pyramid base as they hack and slash at our outer edges. Our rebels on the fringe are so desperate to escape the onslaught that they shove their way toward the pyramid, leaving themselves exposed while cramming everyone too tight to fight. Anyone climbing up now must stay on their bellies, or they’ll eat a flying spear. Even now, projectiles ricochet off the shield arched across my back. A few Fori manage to scramble up and then scoot to flank the perimeter, trying to drop outside the snare, but they make easy targets for Watcher spears.
We’re right where they want us.
“Protect the flanks!” Jinny yells. She rises to a knee and points her sword at an inward bulge in the snare to our left, nearest the pyramid base, where the Watchers are having great success against the Fori there.
“Protect the flanks!” someone else shouts, but the order dissipates before actually reaching the outer edges.
Jinny screams directions, pointing to thin spots in the Watcher enclosure for our troops to break through and relieve the pressure, but her words are lost to the screams and ringing steel.
Several spears should have skewered her by now, but even those aimed dead at her shield never make contact. Instead, they curve away at the last second and smack the second course blocks behind her. Jaleera’s shield must be made of antimagnetic steel. Jinny is unaware of its effect, however, as she nearly pulls her hair out in frustration while watching the butchery below.
Then her crazed eyes and frustrated expression set. Her whole body relaxes, as if she’s just accepted some fated news she’d been denying. She stands tall and forces a smile, but it’s the saddest smile I’ve ever seen.
“Thank you, Nya, for letting me fight at your side,” she says.
“You’re not done yet,” I say from my belly. “I need you to help me unseat the Capstone.”
She shakes her head and backs away. “I can’t climb as fast as you. I’ll only slow you down.”
“No!” When I reach out to grab her, a zooming spear smacks the face of the second level between us. I close my eyes to shield them from the chipped stone, and when I open them again I see Jinny has backed beyond my reach.
“Goodbye, Nya,” she says. “It was an honor.”
I’m on my feet in half a blink despite the bulky shield weighing me down. I lunge to grab Jinny, but she turns and leaps before I can snag her. All I can do is watch in horror as she lands in the rabble nearest the outer edge, right next to the Watchers who jab and swipe their spears without mercy.
Jinny doesn’t waste time making her presence known. On the outer edge to my left, a Watcher keels over and disappears under the chaos of jabbing spears. Jinny steps over the body with her round shield held over her head, swinging wide with the short sword in her other hand. It takes the Watchers squeezing the perimeter a moment to realize she’s there, and by then she’s already cut down five at the legs in her outward drive, like a rogue electrolyte forcing its way out through a cell’s membrane. A hostile, merciless membrane.
I watch her movements in awe. This is a fight where Jinny’s size is actually an advantage. At Watchers’ stomach level, the round shield she holds over her head is at too awkward a height. They try stabbing under it, but their packed ranks make this difficult. She easily deflects the jabs, some of which she redirects into Watcher legs. They resort to slamming their sword hilts onto the shield despite its deflective field. These frequent impacts knock her around, but they don’t slow her sword swinging. Watchers clear away, stretching the noose in this one tiny spot.
Some Ori see Jinny’s technique and gather shields from the fallen enemy. They rush to add more pressure to the outward bulge, and their shorter stature is even harder for the Watchers to defend against. A few Ori teams hold back and use single shields as hand catapults, launching Fori and Ori through the air and onto unsuspecting Watchers. The blitz from above and below is too much for our enemy in this one spot, and soon the feverish cell bursts wide open.
“Jinny, you little devil,” I say with a relieved smile.
The Watcher ring disintegrates all around the perimeter as both sides mingle into melee. I’ve lost sight of Jinny in the chaos, but I don’t have time to find her.
I climb onto the pyramid’s second course. As I crawl to my knees to scale the third level, a familiar voice nearly stops my heart.
“Oh, Nyaaaa!”
I turn to see Bercidia the Butcher marching toward the base level, all four arms wielding blades that mow down any who stand in her way. She minces Ori and Fori without taking her eyes off me and climbs onto the bottom level effortlessly with her four arms.
I have no chance to out-climb her, so I kneel and point my spear at her face.
She slides the four blades against each other to sharpen their edges. “I’m gonna eat you alive,” she says, “then pick my teeth with your bones.”
I hold my spear tight to keep it steady, but it’s no use. My hands shake so bad at the sight of those four blades that my spear tip rattles.
A voice rises from the battle below: “BUTCHER!”
Bercidia turns and, when she sees it’s Jinny calling her out, laughs and turns back to me.
“Everyone, look!” shouts Kassini from the melee. She points her axe at Bercidia and says, “The Butcher is afraid of a little runt!”
Then Kassini bursts out laughing. Jinny shoots Kassini an angry look, but it’s only brief. She nods and shouts, “Yeah, Butcher, you better run!”
Anger flashes in Bercidia’s eyes. To a Watcher, fear from their Servants is everything, so to have one laugh at you must be the greatest insult.
The Butcher leaps down into the crowd, and everyone between her and Jinny trip over each other to clear the space between them. Any who remain are diced up by the Butcher’s wild swinging as she advances—Fori and Ori and Watcher alike. But the beast has eyes for only one in her midst, and may the stars bless that heart of hers, Jinny only allows four backward steps before stopping herself. But there’s no hiding the terror on her face, and when she checks all around her, I’m sure she’s looking for a way to disappear into the crowd. I’d not fault her for that. It’s exactly what she should do.
But no. Taking stock of Bercidia’s four blades, her expression sets and she drops her shield to pick up a second sword. To even the odds, Kassini falls in beside her with an axe in each hand. When Bercidia stomps forward, both raise their weapons and rush in to meet her.
I can’t watch. Instead, I honor the time they bought me by climbing.
From the fifth level I look to the Capstone above. It sits so high, higher than most mountains. That doesn’t matter. If someone small enough to be called ‘runt’ their whole life just single-handedly broke the Watcher offence and turned the whole tide of battle, and then faced down one of the most ruthless Watchers to have ever lived, then I can climb a mountain of stone.
Oh, Jinny. I can’t avoid it any longer. I look back to see Bercidia holding her up by her four limbs. Kassini lies in pieces at her feet, but by Jinny’s agonized expression, she’d met the easier end of the pair.
Bercidia’s four arms pull outward, every muscle in her upper body flexing against the tension of Jinny’s body, which gives way with a sickening release. She flings Jinny’s remains away and sets her eyes back on me.
A surge of strength and duty flood through every particle of my being. Jinny’s final moments were the bravest I’ve ever witnessed, and will be for nothing if none of us make it up this pyramid. I resume my ascent and promise to not stop until I reach the apex.
Easier said than done.
Climbing with the shield is a chore. Not only does the weight add to my burden, but its size makes it hard for me to bend my legs to climb up over the ledges. I’m gasping by the time I conquer the tenth level. Even breathing at rest is no easy task while being forced to remain on my belly with the heavy shield pressing down on me. An
d I still have over two hundred levels to go! But I dare not shed my protection.
When I get moving again, a punch to my back shoves me against the next course wall. My shield deflects the spear into the stone beside me. Another hits with a deafening clang. I’m right in their red zone. I need to get higher, and fast.
The fresh memory of Jinny rises to fight off my defeat. Her last moments are all I need to keep going, but a new motivation appears before me. About thirty levels above, Ko Skadia is making good progress in her climb up the pyramid steps. She’s above spear-launching range and has just shed her shield two levels below, which allows her to scramble up much faster than I. This is not good. With her mighty hammer she will shatter that Capstone all on her own. In doing so, she will eliminate any possibility of us ever leaving this planet. My only chance at ever seeing home again, however slim that may be, relies on keeping the gate key intact.
Luckily, Ko Skadia stops for a rest. Climbing is no easy task for any of us. As winged creatures, we’ve had little incentive in our evolution to put our legs through such trials. Right now my thighs are burning fiercely, but I must seize this chance to catch up to my Entropath Elder.
Up I climb. I make it ten more levels before I’m due for another rest. Here I risk a look below and catch sight of Jexa. She stands alone on the moat bridge watching our climb with great intensity. Or, so I think. A closer look reveals her gaze is actually fixed on the portal above. She doesn’t seem worried about us at all. She’s more interested in what may come through that gate, which inspires me to climb faster. Whatever she’s expecting can’t be good.
It turns out that Jinny had found me the perfect shield. Its curved face deflects spears much better than that on the back of the sister to my left, who is three levels above me. A spear slams square in the center of her back with a THUNK! She sprawls onto her belly and doesn’t get up.
“Doria!” I shout. Although only three levels separate us, she will take time to reach, so I must let her know I’m coming.
She lifts her head to look at me. “My back,” she cries, her face twisted in pain, “I think it’s broken!”