by J J Hane
Most of them were engaged in one sort of fighting or another. They were sparring with swords, with spears, or with bare fists. Some were using the mat, but a lot of them were just bouncing around the bare concrete floor, striking at each other as though their lives depended on it. Maybe they did; more than one of them sported dark bruises or deep cuts from their ‘practice’ fights.
“What are we doing here?” I asked Serenity quietly. I drew the attention of a lot of the fighters simply by being there.
“You wanted to know what the world outside your cozy walls is like, yeah?”
“Um. Yes?”
Stepping up to the mat, Serenity took off her jacket and turned to face me. “This is the most important part of life out here,” she told me. She spread her hands in challenge. “Come find out what it’s really like.”
I looked nervously around. Most everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch, some crowding closer to get a better view. “I don’t think this is a good idea…”
A rough-looking girl nearby laughed. “You afraid, city boy?”
“Don’t worry,” Serenity assured me, grinning. “I won’t mark up your face too much.”
Several others called out, taunting me, laughing as Serenity stretched in preparation.
I sighed, stepping up onto the mat. “I’ve never had any training in how to fight,” I told her.
“This will be your second lesson, then,” she said. “The first was when I busted your head open in that alley.”
There was a chorus of laughter and more jeering from that. I decided that I liked the little kids more than these people.
“Am I supposed to hit you now?” I asked.
Serenity shrugged, relaxing into a comfortable stance. “If you can. First one to pin the other, or make the other give up, wins. Got it?”
I wanted to ask what other rules there were, but Serenity suddenly moved. She went for a punch to my face. I had just enough time to start to raise my hands in defense, only to realize an instant later that it had been a feint. With my hands up, I couldn’t move fast enough to block the kick that she aimed at my stomach. I staggered backward, nearly falling off the mat. One of the guys who had gathered around to watch shoved me forward.
Serenity darted in close, delivering several blows in rapid succession along my arms, stomach, and chest, before backpedaling out of my reach. It took my body a second to realize that it hurt, giving me the impression that everything just started throbbing at once. I tried to catch my breath while the others in the room cheered, laughed, and mocked. Apparently, my lungs were offended at my inability to protect them and had temporarily gone on strike. For her part, Serenity didn’t taunt me. She just stood back, patiently observing, preparing her next attack.
Deciding that being on the defensive was not going to work well for me, I charged forward, throwing a pair of clumsy punches as I went. The outlander expertly deflected both, dropped to the ground, and swept my legs out from under me with a smooth kick. I landed on my back, confirming my suspicion that the mat wouldn’t do much to protect a person in a fall. Serenity landed on top of me, driving her knee into my sternum.
Although she was a lot faster and a much better fighter, she was still smaller. Not to brag, but I had more mass, and more of that mass was muscle. I caught hold of her arms, twisted my body, and flung her off of me. There were cheers and boos to that. Unfortunately, Serenity didn’t give me time to get to my feet. By the time I had rolled onto my hands and knees, she was already up. She dealt me a swift kick in the ribs, caught my arm, and twisted it roughly behind my back, forcing my face into the mat.
“Give up yet?” she asked as she drove her knee into my back this time.
I tried to say ‘yes.’ Thanks to my face being squished against the mat, it came out more like ‘mmph.’
Serenity let go, and I felt the sharp pressure of her knee lift. I rolled onto my back, groaning. The young woman offered me her hand. I took it, allowing her to pull me to my feet. It was more than a little embarrassing, but I supposed that I had already lost any sense of dignity in front of the outlanders when she beat me up. Also, my entire rib cage felt bruised, so a little extra help was nice.
“Well,” I grumbled, wiping dirt off my shirt. “You’ve proved your point.”
A chorus of laughter echoed through the concrete room. Even Serenity smiled one of her genuine smiles. As I felt my face heating, I was grateful for the fact that it was already red from exertion.
“I see why you people hide behind your technology,” Serenity said. The comment was met with more laughter, though this time it was tinged with something darker. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she looked away as though ashamed.
“Maybe we should get you back,” she said, a little quieter. The others in the room had already begun to drift off, resuming their own training.
“That might be a good idea,” I told her. I was just able to keep from wheezing.
After a moment of walking, I asked her, “Where did you learn to fight?”
Serenity smiled. “Where did you learn to talk?”
“What?”
“Out here, we don’t have a choice. We learn to fight just like we learn to walk and talk. It isn’t about specific training or lessons or whatever, although there is some of that. It’s more just…” She searched for the right word.
“Life?” I supplied.
Serenity shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”
I didn’t know what else to say after that.
We headed back through the ancient structure toward the entrance I had first come through. From the basement, we had to go up two floors to reach the exit, giving me a chance to look around a little more as we walked.
“Does your whole tribe live here?” I asked as we passed a group of men and women working on the carcasses of animals. My stomach squirmed a little at the thought of turning those foul-smelling remains into the leather clothing so many outlanders were wearing.
Serenity shook her head. “A lot of us do, but there are many scattered throughout the area. Most don’t live as close to the city as we do.”
“That makes sense. How many tribes are there?”
“I thought the Martyrion was supposed to know everything.”
“Relax, Snarky,” I said, smiling to show I was being playful. She arched an eyebrow before punching me in the arm. I laughed like the ‘playful’ blow hadn’t just set my already aching ribs on fire. “The Martyrion probably knows everything, but I’m just a farmer, and only sixteen.”
Serenity cocked her head, considering that information. “There are eight tribes near enough for us to worry about,” she told me. “There used to be nine, but that one was mostly destroyed during the last war five years ago when Azrael brought peace to this region.”
“That’s… interesting,” I said cautiously. Serenity looked at me. “I mean, he doesn’t seem like the sort of guy to negotiate peace talks.”
Her mouth quirked up in the corner. “Why do you think there are only eight tribes? He might not be a nice guy, or even a good one, but he knows how to control the tribes.”
“Does he lead them all?”
“Not really. He just sort of…” she waved her hand vaguely. “Encourages them to behave.”
“I see…”
“Don’t give me that condescending tone,” she snapped, although her heart wasn’t in it. “He isn’t perfect, but he’s done more to help my people than the whole damn ‘City of Light’ has done in its entire existence.”
I said nothing. She had a point, which really annoyed me. We were the good guys, after all. We were the ones preserving civilization through all the accumulated knowledge of humanity. It wasn’t the Martyrion’s fault if the tribes were tearing each other to pieces. Was it?
Instead of replying, I asked her, “If he is so good at keeping the peace, why were you worried about someone attacking us on our way here?”
“Not everyone is part of the tribes,” she said with a shrug. “
There are some people out there who live on the edge. They don’t answer to anyone.”
“Like the man who tried to kill you when we first met?”
Serenity stumbled, tripping over nothing. “Uh, yeah. Like that guy.”
My eyes narrowed. Streetwise I may not be, but even I could tell she was suddenly hiding something. “Where’d he get a gun?”
“How should I know? He probably stole it from one of our guards.”
“Guns are pretty rare, aren’t they? Wouldn’t Azrael have noticed if one was taken?”
“I’m not Azrael’s friend,” she said bitterly. “What makes you think I would know any more about what’s in his mind than you do?”
“Maybe because you’re part of the tribe and I’m not?”
Serenity opened her mouth as if to reply, shutting it before saying anything. She tilted her head in concession. We walked in silence for a few minutes.
“So,” Serenity said with that tone of voice people get when they are about to say something they know they’re going to regret. “You’ve seen where I live, what our lives are like. When are you going to show me the city?”
It was my turn to trip in surprise. “I didn’t think you’d want to go back to the city.”
Serenity shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “I’ve always wondered what it’s really like there.”
Her words sounded true, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was lying to me. “I don’t know if it would be a good idea…”
“Why not?” she demanded. “I brought you here.”
“In exchange for medicine,” I pointed out.
“Do you want an award?” she asked sarcastically. “When are you going to show me your home?”
My response was not exactly eloquent. In my defense, I didn’t have much experience dealing with pretty girls, and they never asked me to show them where I live. All I said was, “Later.”
She regarded me with skepticism. “Later?”
Well, I had just effectively agreed to bring her back into the city. Crap. “Next week?”
Serenity considered that, then nodded firmly. “That will work.”
“Okay…”
“Are you coming back tomorrow?” she asked, suddenly straightening and forcing a vapid smile onto her face, as though she had forgotten that she was being nice to me and only just remembered.
“Oh. Um. Sure. I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring more medicine, though.”
“That’s fine,” she insisted. “Azrael says you’re always welcome here.”
“Yeah… about that. Why do I get the feeling the two of you are lying to me about something?”
As we were talking, we had walked out of the compound and into the fresh air of the woods. Before Serenity could answer, there was a commotion nearby. We had exited on the south side of the building, an area which I hadn’t had a chance to see before. There was another large clearing, but this one was occupied by two black objects roughly the length of one of the Martyrion’s solar powered busses. They were a little taller, with huge, broken treads at their bases and long, hollow cylinders mounted on top. Rust covered much of the metal, although the material looked thick enough to not be bothered by it. Detritus was scattered around them haphazardly, making it look as if the machines had started falling apart where they sat.
The source of the noise that had first drawn my attention was a group of twenty or so people standing around the objects, arguing loudly. Not just arguing, but actually waving their weapons in each other’s faces. What they were arguing about was a mystery to me, but I could clearly see that they were divided into two opposing groups.
“What’s going on?” I asked Serenity. There was a sense of danger surrounding the situation, even without the swords and spears being brandished angrily. I did not want to risk getting involved in it.
Serenity swore under her breath. “We need to go back inside,” she said, grabbing my arm. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Not paying attention? What are you talking about?”
She started pulling me back to the door. “Not now,” she hissed.
I jerked my arm free, annoyed at her tone. Pointing at the huge machines, I asked, “Are those cannons? I’ve never seen anything like them before. Not in real life, anyway.”
“Let’s go,” she insisted, reaching to grab my arm again. Facing the door we had just come through, her eyes widened. Instead of pulling me back inside, she shoved me roughly to one side.
I tripped, landing next to a stack of heavy crates waiting near the entryway that looked at least as old as the cannons. “What the heck are you doing?” I demanded angrily. She dropped to the ground beside me, scooting back behind the crates.
“Shut up,” she snapped. “You do not want to be seen.”
I nervously glanced around, scrambling back behind the crates to join Serenity. Belatedly, I realized that she wasn’t just being typically hostile; she was worried. That, of course, worried me much, much more.
A moment after I had my legs out of sight of the doors we had just come through, Azrael strode out with four wiry, dangerous looking men who carried themselves like personal guards. Glancing back at Serenity, I saw her place a finger to her lips. Her eyes were wide with fear, which was more than enough to scare me right out of thinking. Serenity wasn’t the type to be easily frightened. If she was worried, I knew that I would be stupid not to be terrified.
Chapter 8
Azrael stopped a few feet from the arguing group. He waited patiently, still as a snake, for them to notice him. When they did, several of them stepped back to join him, leaving twelve men and three women facing off against Azrael and his nine.
“What is going on here?” he asked. His voice was almost too quiet for me to here as I peeked cautiously around the crates. Serenity, I noted, was also trying to get a good view.
The man who was evidently leading the group, a burly guy maybe ten years older than Azrael, stepped forward. He lifted his chin arrogantly. “I’ll tell you what’s going on.” His voice was gravelly, defiant. “My boys and I are tired of carrying all the weight here. We’ve been doing more work than any of your people. This was supposed to be a partnership, Azrael!”
Azrael tilted his head slightly. “I was under the impression that you wanted to be a part of this new future that I am building. That is why you’re here, isn’t it, Brandon? To help all of our people?”
Brandon sneered. “You can pretend this is all out of the goodness of your heart if you want, but you won’t fool me, kid. It’s all just a power play. Well, you’re not getting any more out of us until you’re willing to give. I know you’ve got medicine. It’s time for you to share it.”
“No.” Once again, Azrael simply spoke. He didn’t yell, he wasn’t overbearing: that single syllable was all he needed to get his point across more firmly than anyone I had ever met.
Brandon got the same feeling, evidently, as his overgrown eyebrows sunk lower on his craggy face. “Listen here, boy: you can’t just start making demands just because you got all the fancy guns. You’ve got to talk to the rest of us. If you ain’t willing to talk, you and I can work it out right now.”
Serenity sucked in a breath. I glanced at her.
“He’s challenging Azrael to a fight,” she whispered.
Looking back at the confrontation, I saw that everyone looked as surprised and anxious as Serenity. Everyone, that is, except for Brandon and Azrael.
“Well?” Brandon growled, hefting a heavy shortsword in his right hand.
I couldn’t see Azrael’s face from my vantage point, which meant that I missed whatever expression he had that caused both his guards and Brandon’s to tense with apprehension. He smoothly drew his long, jagged knife from his coat, holding it loosely at his side. Brandon smiled, lifting his own weapon into a guard position.
For a moment, nothing happened. The two men just stared at each other, Brandon shifting his weight while Azrael remained nearly motionless. Finally, they moved.
I had always thought that duels were supposed to be dramatic affairs, filled with suspense as the participants circled, slashed, and taunted. There was none of that. Azrael launched himself forward, caught Brandon’s blade on his own, twisting it violently. The bigger man staggered, nearly losing his grip on his weapon. Azrael pivoted, striking the other man’s face with his free left hand. I could hear bone crunch on impact. Before Brandon could recover, the Chieftain of the Tribe of the Jackal rammed his long knife into the challenger’s belly. He hopped back, yanking the weapon out at an angle. Brandon swung his sword belatedly, completely missing the smaller man. Azrael turned his back on Brandon, bending to clean his weapon on the grass. Brandon collapsed to his knees, staring down at the hideous wound in his abdomen.
Azrael stood without looking back at the little crowd, all stunned into silence. From my hidden vantage point, I could see calculations running across his face as he made a decision in the span of two of Brandon’s wet coughs. “The rest of you should get back to work while I’m feeling generous.” With that, he strode back into the mall, leaving his guards behind to keep an eye on the others.
Serenity tapped my shoulder. It took me a long moment to look away from the dying man whose blood was quickly staining the earth. When I finally turned to face her, she studied my face with an inquisitive expression. I had to look away from her as I felt bile rising up in my stomach.
In that moment, I sensed something about her. In her expression, her bearing, I saw envy. Serenity envied my reaction to death. To her, this sort of thing was almost normal. I understood, then, that she didn’t want it to be. Serenity wanted freedom from violence. Her eyes fell for a moment as she saw the revulsion in my own.
In addition to the nausea threating to empty my stomach of the outlanders’ odd food, my heart twisted in sadness for the girl. Empathy isn’t a strong enough word for it.
She placed a gentle hand on my arm. “We need to go, Raph,” she whispered. I nodded, swallowing hard a couple of times. I followed her stealthy movement out from behind the crates and around the building. We stayed outside, walking around the area so as not to be seen.