Chapter 22
The next morning, Tabitha didn’t come to Alex’s shelter. It was the first time since they’d begun training so many weeks ago that she failed to arrive on time.
Alex stepped outside his shelter and stretched, looking down on Domus. For the first time in a very long time, he felt a pang of loneliness. Even in Beaver, Utah he hadn’t cared if anyone spent time with him.
But Tabitha was different.
How did this all get so complicated? He’d come to the Under to find his dad. How on earth did he end up with woman problems in the middle of it all?
Alex sighed helplessly and knuckled his sore back. He’d spent what was left of the previous day training alone, furiously putting himself through his paces in an attempt to work out his frustration.
Winston’s reason for delaying the attack on Rasmus was hard to argue with. Alex knew the Marshall was doing what was best for his city. Sure, he could go out and attempt to sway the people’s opinion, but then what? It was clear Winston was respected by everyone. Alex had just started receiving hesitant greetings from people, and those were usually from a distance. The idea that anyone might actively try to convince Winston to reverse a decision made in their own best interests was ridiculous, and Alex knew it.
He’d just have to figure out another way to convince the big man.
With still no sign of Tabitha, Alex ducked back into his shelter to grab his jean jacket. Having no other plan of action, he figured he may as well train some more, even if he had to do it sore and alone. At the very least, it would clear his mind.
A stir of movement caught his eye as he re-emerged and Alex felt his heartbeat quicken with the hope that Tabitha had simply been running late.
But it wasn’t her. A group of warriors were headed up the path from the city, on their way to begin a tour at the Core. Patiently, Alex bowed his head respectfully, silently wishing them safe passage and a speedy return as they went by. Core guards always passed in silence, their eyes straight ahead. In the beginning Alex had taken offense to it, but now he understood. They weren’t ignoring him, they were mentally preparing themselves for the road ahead and the hours they would spend guarding the most dangerous area of the Under.
But this time was different. This time as they passed, their eyes met his. They didn’t speak, but one by one they raised their blades to their chests, tips pointed downward. A brief, silent display of acceptance. Alex was now was one of their own.
That was all they did, nothing more. It was over in seconds, but Alex was left in their wake with a lump in his throat and a swell of pride in his heart. He watched them climb the steps and disappear into the tunnel mouth, his spirit right alongside them.
It had been a long time since he’d felt any measure of acceptance from his peers, and it felt good. How ironic that he’d found it in a place where he couldn’t possibly be any more different than those around him.
Watching the last warrior disappear get swallowed up by the dark tunnel, Alex idly flicked the laser pointer on the body suit on and off, thinking for the hundredth time how drastically his life had changed in so short a time. If he’d made just one decision differently, if he’d have destroyed the suit like his dad had asked, he would never have known the Under existed. He would never have known about Domus or the Core. He would never have met Tabitha.
“Oh!” A tiny voice made Alex jump, startled.
Sarah must have come up the path after the warriors, but Alex had been too mired in his own thoughts to notice. She stood with a bowl in her hands, staring wide-eyed at the spot where the laser beamed out of his wrist. Alex self-consciously hid it behind his back.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” Alex said quickly, knowing how skittish the little girl could be. “I didn’t know you were there.”
Sarah leaned to the side, trying to peer around him and get a look, curiosity replacing her fears.
Standing with his arm behind his back, Alex began to feel foolish. He awkwardly switched the laser off. He took his arm from behind him and let it dangle, trying to look natural. He felt a strange desire to look away and whistle.
“Does it hurt?” Sarah asked.
“What? No!” Alex smiled, holding up his hand and twisting it at the wrist to show her. “Wanna see?”
Sarah’s face lit up. She nodded eagerly.
Alex pointed to the ground, away from Sarah, and turned on the laser. She gave a short, mouse-like squeak and jumped. Thinking he’d frightened her again, Alex moved to switch the laser off, but then she moved closer and he knew her exclamation had been a sound of delight.
Alex grinned and pointed the laser upward, waving it across the ceiling of the cavern. Sarah watched in rapt amazement as the laser traced lines over their heads. With a quick flick of his wrist, Alex flipped it around and pointed it at himself, right in the middle of his chest. Sarah’s mouth opened, her expression alarmed.
“It’s okay!” he assured her hastily. “It doesn’t hurt. It’s just light. Just different colored light.” Holding his other hand up, he illustrated by waving the laser back and forth across his palm.
Sarah’s head moved with the pinpoint of light on his hand and Alex couldn’t help chuckling.
“You remind me of my cat.”
“What’s a cat?” Sarah asked.
Alex frowned, momentarily saddened by the thought that a little girl as sweet as Sarah would never know something as simple as the love of a pet.
Sarah lifted her finger hesitantly, like she wanted to touch his hand where the light was.
Grinning anew, Alex flipped it around and pointed the laser at her. Sarah shrieked and dropped the bowl, which Alex couldn’t help noticing didn’t contain fish for the very first time, and began swatting at herself in an attempt to wipe it off. She danced around in circles, over and over trying to avoid the light and soon they were both laughing hysterically.
Alex kept it going for a while, until they were both so out of breath all they could do was laugh silently. He finally shut it off, eyeing the scattered mess of his breakfast strewn on the ground.
“Oops,” he said, smirking at Sarah. Whatever it was—mushrooms, maybe?—it didn’t look very good. And then they started laughing all over again.
“So,” Sarah said after they’d calmed down again, her expression serious. “What about the other part—does that hurt?”
“The other? You mean the…” Alex still couldn’t think of a word to use for teleportation. “The, uh…”
Sarah lifted her tiny fists, opened one and then closed it, then opened the other. “Ffft, ffft!”
Alex smiled. He couldn’t have described it any better. “No,” he told her. “That doesn’t hurt either. It’s more like—it just feels funny.” He squinted. “It’s hard to describe. Tingly, I guess.”
Sarah nodded. Alex could see was thinking hard about what she was about to say next.
“So why didn’t you use it?” she asked. Her voice was small, like she was afraid he was going to get mad.
“Well,” Alex sighed. “I wanted to, but…”
I’m in love with your sister.
Alex jerked his head up. Where had that thought come from? He blinked, sputtering, “I just couldn’t leave them there to fight alone.”
In love with Tabitha? Alex didn’t even know what love was! Did he?
“That’s not what I mean. Why didn’t you fight with it?” Sarah prodded.
Alex’s inner turmoil was cut short in an instant.
It was such a simple question. Such an obvious question. Why hadn’t he used it to fight? What a weapon the suit could be!
The Nocuous and their thralls had two main advantages: their speed and their strength. But with the suit, Alex could be faster than any Nocuous ever dreamed. If he could learn to use the suit and his blade together, there would be no stopping him. Then he wouldn’t even need Winston’s help.
Well, maybe he would still need some help. He still had no idea how to find Rasmus’s den.
“Sarah,” he said, ruffling her hair, “you just might be a genius.”
For the next hour, the two of them gathered flat stones to stack one on top of the other. It took a long time to find the sizes and shapes they needed, but eventually they’d stacked them as high as an average person. In the end, it looked like a big, clumsy snowman made of rock.
“Well, it’s not pretty,” Alex noted.
“I think it is cool,” Sarah answered with an emphatic grin and then turned serious an instant later. “Did I say it correctly?”
Alex gave an appreciative nod in return and ruffled her hair. He paced around the rock-man thoughtfully. “I can’t practice on a rock,” he murmured. “My blade would chip or break if I swung too hard.”
“Oh!” Sarah said excitedly, hopping up and down clapping her hands. “I’ll be right back!”
She ran off without waiting for Alex to respond. When she returned, she was triumphantly carrying an arm-full of ragged, torn animal skins.
“What are we going to do with that?” Alex asked.
Sarah dropped her armload to the ground and sifted through it until she found what she was looking for. Grinning, she held up a fist-sized stone she’d bound tightly with skins and lobbed it to him.
It was soft, having been wrapped quite a number of times. To Alex it felt like a slightly larger, harder version of a softball.
“And I brought extra scraps in case you chop up what’s covering the rock now,” Sarah told him.
“It’s perfect,” he told her gratefully, bouncing the stone in his hand. “Absolutely perfect.” Carefully, he placed the bound rock atop his rock-man. “This is going to take me some time,” he warned Sarah. “Like, probably a long time. You might get bored, and I don’t want you to get in trouble for missing your chores because of me.”
In truth, he was sure he was about to make a fool of himself and preferred to do that alone.
“It’s alright,” Sarah assured him. “I did my chores before I came up here.”
Of course she did.
Giving Sarah a wry look, Alex shrugged out of his jean jacket and took up his blade. He went to the rock-man and turned around, putting his back to it. In order for the suit and sword combination to be effective, he needed to perfect the backswing Tabitha had taught him. He wanted to teleport behind his opponent and attack from the rear, but most of all he had to learn to be quick. As soon as he appeared, he had to be swinging his blade. They’d never see him coming. Literally.
It wasn’t going to be easy. Alex was right-handed, and the laser pointed from that hand. If he was going to attack immediately, he’d have to use his left hand for the attack stroke and that would make it awkward, at best.
For the first hour, Alex did nothing but pivot and turn, pivot and turn, until he was certain he wouldn’t lose his footing. Next, he added the backhanded swing to the move, slowly at first and then with increasing speed as he grew more and more confident. He worked methodically, and soon one hour turned into five.
It turned out to be easier than he’d expected, all things considered. Tabitha’s training regimen proved to be his greatest asset, because he already had confidence in his moves and his body was in as good a shape as it had ever been. He couldn’t exactly call his backhanded left-side swing agile, not yet, but he was getting there.
Of course, it was one thing to do it in practice, over and over, and another to have only one shot at getting it right. And that’s exactly what he’d have to do. His life would depend on it.
They took a break to eat lunch, he and Sarah eating in companionable silence, stopping only to stand respectively as a group of warriors returned home from a tour at the Core. Their rock-man got more than a few curious glances, but no comment was made.
“You had better get back out there,” Sarah commented, watching the warriors disappear into the city.
“Oh really?” Alex chided and gave her a light nudge. “Oh really?”
“Yes,” she replied seriously, looking up at him.
He paused, looking out over the city. “So, uh… I don’t suppose your sister said anything to you?” he asked. “You know—about me?”
When Sarah didn’t answer, he glanced down at her. She gave him a mischievous smile but didn’t answer.
What was that supposed to mean?
Grumbling about the way even the youngest women seemed to want to frustrate him, Alex rolled his shoulders to loosen up and went back to his place next to the rock-man. He’d worked all morning on his technique, and it was time to see if the work had paid off. He needed to improve his momentum, to turn his careful swings into killing strokes. In the Antechamber, when he’d tried to take the Nocuous’s head off, he hadn’t even managed to slice halfway through its neck. Alex needed to learn precision, yes, but just as importantly, he needed a strong, even swing.
Alex took a deep breath, lifted his right arm out at an angle as if he were pointing the laser, and slowly down from five.
5… 4… 3… 2…
“Just do it!” Sarah called out, popping a last chunk of mushroom in her mouth.
Nearly stumbling without ever having moved, Alex completely lost his focus.
“I am!” he shouted back. Sarah gave him a helpless shrug and a grin as he refocused.
5… 4… 3… 2… Now! Turn and…
He swung with all he had and his blade whizzed almost a foot over the skin-wrapped stone. Alex stumbled, fell into the rock-man, and knocked over the top-most stones. Back on the path, where Sarah sat with her empty bowl of mushroom chunks, he heard her gleeful cackling.
Pushing back to his feet, red-faced, Alex gathered up the fallen stones and took up his stance once again.
Over and over, he worked on his swing. Before long he began to connect with the skin-wrapped stone regularly, but not consistently. If he didn’t hit it at just the right angle, in just the right spot, his blade would careen off the top or gouge into the rock underneath it. He was aiming for the center, and that’s where he needed to hit. Every time.
Alex worked with a fever, spending so many hours at it that when he finally looked up again, his arm was throbbing. Sarah had gone. He wasn’t sure when she’d left. He assumed she must have gotten bored or simply had to go and didn’t want to interrupt him.
He slept, and when he woke he went right back to it. By the end of the second day, Alex could hit the stone every time.
And, by the end of the second day there was still no sign of Tabitha. Briefly, Alex considered going into the city to look for her, but he feared he’d just end up doing more harm than good. If she wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, he’d be patient and wait until she was.
On the third day, Sarah returned and Alex was ready to take his new swing to the next level. He was ready to begin using the suit.
“Sarah,” he warned. “I don’t want you to worry. This is going to look scary, but it’s not. I promise.”
Sarah looked anything but scared. Her big, bright eyes were wide with anticipation.
Alex stood on the path just outside the training area, blade in hand. It was still a little awkward holding it in his off-hand, but much less so than it had been.
He gave Sarah a wink and switched on the laser. Turning to face the rock man, he carefully pointed to a spot directly behind it and tightened his grip on the hilt of his weapon.
Slowly, he let out his pent up breath and clenched his fingers together. The suit lit up and he was washed over with the familiar dull light of its transport. A moment later, the rock-man had disappeared and Alex was staring past it, toward the far end of the cavern. With a start, he realized he was standing right where he was supposed to be and swung, his left arm arching behind him in the move he’d practiced time and again over the past two days.
He connected solidly with the skin-wrapped stone and sent it flying. It landed dozens of feet away with a dull thud.
Vaguely, he heard a high-pitched sound growing in volume, getting louder by the second and then he was barreled into by Sarah, who’d been screaming triumphantly as she ran to hug him.
“That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!” she squealed. “It was most cool! The very most cool thing ever in the Under!”
Alex didn’t have the heart to correct her, he was far too excited himself. He raised his blade over his head and bellowed exultantly, the sound echoing off the cavern wall. He could only imagine what they must be thinking down in the city.
But it didn’t go like that every time. After Alex and Sarah’s initial celebrating calmed down and he was ready to try it again, Alex whiffed completely, his blade sailing over the rock-man’s ‘head’ by half a foot. But he didn’t let it dampen his spirit, he went right back and tried again. And again. And again.
When lunchtime came, Sarah not only brought food back from the city, but also a small group of kids who wanted to see if she was telling the truth. At first they whispered to each other quietly, but before long they oohed and aahed openly as they watched him work with the suit and the sword. By the end of the day, a small crowd had gathered. At first, Alex was self-conscious about having so many eyes on him, but when they laughed with him at his failures and applauded his successes, he found himself beginning to thrive on their attention and funneled it into motivation to do better. Abner showed up and was a great help. He volunteered to retrieve the rock each time Alex hit it and he was also the one who suggested that Alex try it from different spots, different angles, because certainly in a fight an opponent wouldn’t always be standing in exactly the same place, waiting to be killed.
By the end of the day Alex was exhausted and sore, but exhilarated. The people who’d come to watch now numbered close to a hundred and congratulated him on his progress. When they bid him farewell, it was with a fondness in their voice and a promise that they would come to watch again.
The only gloom in his otherwise wonderful day was that Tabitha never made an appearance. He would have expected that she would be among the first to come when word spread about what he was doing. He’d thought about questioning Sarah more, but doing so might only alienate Tabitha. He’d learned firsthand how protective she was of her sister.
Despite all the positive things that had happened that day, Alex went to bed with a hollow, lonely ache in his gut that was still there when he finally drifted off to sleep.
When he emerged from his shelter the next morning, he could scarcely believe his eyes. Sarah was waiting, as usual, with his morning breakfast. But past her, standing in a crowd around his rock-man, were so many people that it appeared the entire population of Domus had come to watch.
What’s more, standing front and center of the crowd was Winston, arms crossed over his chest.
“How long have they been here?” Alex whispered to Sarah.
“A long time,” she whispered back loudly.
“You sleep like an old man,” Abner said from behind, causing Alex to jump. He hadn’t noticed the young warrior waiting there.
Alex took his breakfast from Sarah, distractedly stuffing it into his mouth as he descended toward his practice area. When he neared, the crowd amicably parted to give him space. No one said anything except Abner, who seemed more than happy to speak enough for everyone.
“I thought you would like to start simply,” Abner said. “From where you stood so often yesterday. I told everyone where that was and asked them to stay clear.”
Alex glanced at Winston as he passed, but the Marshall said nothing, following him with his eyes, his expression blank.
“I re-wrapped the stone for you, as well,” Abner continued.
“I helped!” Sarah piped in.
“Yes,” Abner smiled down and ruffled her hair. “Sarah helped too. We wrapped it a few extra times to be sure there would be no more damage to your blade. Have you examined your poor weapon?” he chided, but didn’t give Alex a chance to answer. “It needs to be sharpened, at minimum. Replaced, more likely. You must have swung into bare rock at least a hundred times yesterday.”
Abner handed Alex his blade and ushered him toward the stone dummy, talking nonstop the entire way.
Halfway there, Alex stopped and interrupted Abner. “Is Tabitha here?” he asked. Abner finally shut up. “Where is Tabitha?”
“She didn’t come,” Sarah answered with a solemn expression.
“Did she say why?”
Sarah shook her head slowly.
Abner put a conciliatory hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Let us proceed,” he said cheerily, “we have much more pressing issues! All these people have come to watch!”
When did this become ‘we’? Alex wondered. He began to shrug out of his jean jacket, but Abner was right there to help, taking it from him and carefully draping it over one arm. Alex pursed his lips in annoyance, close to saying something, but held his tongue.
The crowd backed away as Alex moved to his usual spot on the path, giving him a wide, clear line of sight to the rock-man. He shifted his blade to his left hand and switched on the laser, drawing a chorus of gasps from many of the people watching.
“It’s okay,” Alex told them uncertainly, feeling out of his depth. “It’s just—”
“It’s just colored light!” Sarah piped in, grabbing his hand and waving it so that it crisscrossed over her. Another round of gasps coursed through the crowd. She giggled, looking expectantly at them, but trailed off uncomfortably when no one said a word.
Alex cleared his throat loudly, turning back to the rock-man.
“Tough crowd,” he muttered.
“You’ll be terrific,” Sarah leaned up and whispered loudly. She patted him on the back and backed away.
Nothing like a little pressure.
Alex raised his arm and pointed to his now-familiar spot behind the rock-man. Without giving himself time to feel any more nervous, he clenched his hand into a fist. The next instant, he was automatically swinging his blade in a back-handed stroke. He connected solidly with the skin-wrapped stone and it went flying into the crowd, striking someone three rows back solidly in the gut. The man doubled over with a wide-eyed grunt.
And still no one said a word.
“Sorry!” Alex called out, raising his hand apologetically. The laser swung out into the crowd. They gasped and ducked. “Sorry!” he said again and hastily turned it off, blushing now.
It wasn’t like yesterday. There were no congratulations, no words of praise. He felt like a buffoon. Worse yet, he didn’t feel comfortable practicing any longer, not with all these people around, and he knew he needed to.
He stood there awkwardly, wondering why it was so quiet and at same time trying to figure out a way to ask everyone to leave without alienating them, when Winston stepped forward.
Of course. The stoic leader would naturally make the people of Domus more subdued.
“I would speak to Alex,” he said in his deep, resonating voice. “Privately.”
Quietly and respectfully, the crowd retreated back toward the city until the only people left in Alex’s practice area were Alex, Winston, and Sarah.
Winston looked down at the little girl expectantly.
“Me too?” Sarah asked disappointedly. Alex was sure if there had been a pebble nearby to kick, she would have.
Winston smiled indulgently. “Yes, but only for a short while.”
“That was very impressive,” Winston said once he and Alex were alone. “When my people told me that you were training to go to war alone, I had to see it for myself.”
Alex had most certainly not been planning to do that. Did Winston think he was crazy? There was no way Alex would last ten minutes in those tunnels alone, suit or no suit.
“Your determination and zeal will not diminish, I can see that,” Winston continued. “More importantly, I now see that your suit might give us the advantage we need to eradicate the Nocuous and someday retu
rn to the surface.” Winston leaned forward, his voice insistent. “If you could train our warriors to use the suit as you’ve shown today, we would be unstoppable.”
“Um…” Alex stammered.
Winston bent so close it made Alex nervous and he reflexively leaned away. The Marshall was imposing enough from a distance. The idea that Winston might consider taking the suit by force flashed through his mind.
Hurriedly, Alex replied, “You know I can’t give you the suit until I find my dad and take him back to the surface. It works for me, but there is a machine that makes it do what it does, and only for one person at a time. I can’t change the suit from down here. It won’t work for anyone else without that machine.” He gulped. “And I need my dad to show me how to work it.”
Winston nodded sagely and stood straight again, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Alex could tell he didn’t fully comprehend what Alex had said, but certainly he understood that the suit wouldn’t work for anyone else.
“You will scout a smaller den on the fringe first, far from Rasmus’s lair,” Winston finally said. “We will choose carefully, and make certain that it is the home of a weaker Nocuous. It will be a test to see if you are capable of infiltrating Rasmus’s den without alerting him to your presence.”
Alex was already nodding, a mixture of hope and relief filling him.
“When?” Alex asked. “When will we go?”
“If all goes well,” Winston told him, “we will return from this test and carefully plan the assault on Rasmus.” He fixed Alex with a steely glare. “There will be no unnecessary loss of life,” he warned. “We have never been the aggressor, always the defender. I do not make this decision lightly, but I cannot deny that I see the future of Domus before me and I would be remiss in my duty as Marshall if I did not take advantage of it.”
“I understand,” Alex answered carefully. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want anyone to get hurt on my account.”
Winston squinted, as if he were weighing the sincerity of Alex’s words. There was a tense moment when neither of them spoke, and then Winston laid a hand on Alex’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. Alex could not help comparing it to the kind of gesture his father might make when he was proud of him. “We will attack with volunteers only. I will announce it to the populace today. Tomorrow we will see who steps forward and, if enough are willing to join you on this mission, you will leave the day after.”
With one last pat on the shoulder, Winston turned away.
As Alex watched Winston make his way back into the city, he knew that something he’d done or said had finally made Winston change his opinion of him. He should feel elated. He’d finally gotten what he wanted from the Marshall.
Or was it the other way around?
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