Map of the Impossible

by J. F. Penn

  “This way,” Titus shouted and headed away up the hill, joining the throng.

  Finn nodded at Sienna. “I’ll help Perry. Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Whatever was unsaid between them could wait. She turned and jogged after Titus, merging with the crowd and ducking down as they passed the mutant guards. But the sentries were distracted and waved everyone on, eyes fixed on the burning temple and the ruins of the plaza beyond.

  At the top of the hill, Sienna turned to see what had them so mesmerized. The waters ran red at the edge of the lake, bodies torn apart by the giant eels that writhed in the shallows, razor-sharp teeth slashing soft flesh in a feeding frenzy. The explosions must have driven some of the crowd into the water, only to be met by the monsters that lurked just below the surface.

  Sienna stifled a sob as she thought of Mila down there with the children. “Please make it back,” she whispered, then turned and ran once more.

  She caught up with Titus on the edge of the shantytown as he easily carried Zoe’s slight frame over his broad shoulders. He turned to greet her, and she noticed the stain of blue on his fingertips.

  He noticed her look and raised an eyebrow. “I’m a chemist.”

  She smiled. “Useful skill. Was that—?”

  Titus nodded. “Our explosions. Yes. We came to the camp to destroy the manufacture of the drug these bastards peddle in the trader towns, but then Finn saw your friend dive into the lake. He can recognize an Earthsider from a mile away and had an inkling you might be close by.” Titus hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “To be honest, I haven’t seen him this alive for so long.”

  Warmth spread through Sienna at his words. Finn had missed her just as much as she had longed for him and that gave her hope.

  Zoe stirred. Titus gently lifted her off his shoulders and set her down on the ground. She rubbed her eyes, blinking as she took in her surroundings. “What happened?”

  Sienna knelt next to her. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  Zoe reached up and grasped her hand, eyes wide in desperation. “Elf. We have to stop her. She’s found a way to drain and concentrate magical power.”

  “I know,” Sienna said softly. “That’s how she killed Xander. She almost killed Perry back there and who knows how many others.”

  Titus frowned. “She must be the one responsible for adding the mutation magic to the Liberation.”

  Zoe nodded. “Yes, but it’s much more than that. I heard her telling the old man, Sir Douglas, how she could use the shadow portal in the Tower of the Winds to reach all the Borderlands at once. How she could somehow bleed power from everywhere, then use it to finally blow apart the border and retake Earthside. I saw the look on his face, Sienna. He was scared. It must be possible. We have to stop her.”

  21

  Together, they made their way back to the cave. Titus helped Zoe and Sienna over the wall into the rubbish heap beyond and Finn half-carried Perry, who grew weaker with every passing minute.

  No one tried to stop them. No one even paid any attention as they climbed away from the mutant camp into the sanctuary of the cave system.

  As they approached, Sienna kept looking up at the opening, hoping that Mila might have already arrived. But there was no sign of the Waterwalker, and when they made it inside, Mila had not returned.

  Finn helped Perry to rest against the back wall and Zoe curled up next to him, both exhausted. Titus pulled food from his pack and shared it out with water from his canteen.

  Sienna sat at the lip of the cave entrance and scanned the hill below for any sign of Mila or approaching danger from the camp. Finn came to sit beside her and she leaned into his warmth.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered.

  He put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing her hair. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it earlier. You should have told me you were coming.”

  Sienna closed her eyes, and they breathed the night air together. Whatever anger and misunderstanding had passed between them mattered little now. There was only the moment and in this crack of time, Sienna belonged to Finn alone.

  She raised her head and looked up into his dark eyes, stroked his cheek. He leaned down and in their kiss lay the promise of possibility, the hope that Borderlander and Earthsider could live in peace. A world where the moon rose on all kinds alike.

  Sienna wanted to stay in that moment forever, lost in his soft mouth, but the sound of scraping on stone came from below, then the tumble of loose rocks on scree.

  They broke apart and looked over the lip of the cave.

  Mila scrambled up the incline, two children behind her.

  Sienna wanted to shout in excitement, but the sound would echo in the valley and might alert the guards. She restrained her happiness by kissing Finn once more, her smile reflected in his glad expression. The team was wounded, but they were not finished yet.

  Mila soon made it to the lip of the cave. She hugged Sienna and Finn, but the children hung back, their faces curious but shy.

  “It’s okay.” Mila beckoned them forward. “These are my friends. You’re safe now.”

  She introduced them, and the children solemnly nodded in greeting.

  Titus pulled out some more food, and the children were soon chattering away happily with the big chemist. Finn went to join them, leaving Mila and Sienna to talk.

  They sat at the cave entrance under the light of the moon, the camp below them calm now as the night wore on, intoxicated revelers sleeping off the carnival and the stress of the day, blood and chaos chasing them through nightmares.

  “I thought you might not make it back,” Sienna said, taking her friend’s hand. “I saw what those creatures did to bodies on the shoreline.”

  Mila squeezed her hand with a rueful smile. “It was pretty crazy down there.” She shook her head. “I just had to go after them … And it’s more than that.” She paused, a moment of silence before a sigh of acceptance. “I need to take the children to Ganvié and to be honest, I want to go home. To my true home, that is.”

  Sienna heard the longing in Mila’s voice and wished she could feel that certain about where she belonged.

  Mila continued. “I felt something rare under the lake. An elemental joy that has always been out of reach on Earthside. I can’t leave that behind again. I can’t go back to living outside my true nature.”

  Sienna smiled. “I know that leaving Ekon was difficult for you. I saw how you transformed when you were with him.”

  “I think more of my kind still exist under the waves, but they’ve become one with the water somehow. Perhaps I can find them with Ekon and the twins by my side — after we finish this mission, of course. I’ll come with you to the Tower of the Winds first. We’ll finish this together.”

  Sienna sat silent for a moment. She thought of the woman in the mosaic on the cave wall under the impossible mountain. She had been alone — and perhaps that was the only way. Perry and Zoe were injured. Finn and Titus had no magic. Mila would be the only one who could stand with her — but the path ahead was dangerous and Sienna knew she had to face whatever it was alone. If Mila came to the Tower of the Winds, she might not make it out again. She had a chance for happiness, for a life fulfilled, and Sienna wanted that for her friend. Her own future was uncertain, but Mila and the twins could start anew.

  “I don’t want you to come,” Sienna said, pushing down the tears that threatened. “I don’t need you, anyway.”

  Mila frowned. “What do you mean? I can fight by your side. We’re a team.”

  “Not anymore.” Sienna looked into Mila’s eyes. “I don’t want you to bring the children and they need you more than I do. We’ll be fine, Mila, really. I want you to go to Ganvié. If we need you, I’ll send word somehow.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  “I am.” Sienna put every ounce of confidence into her words, knowing that Mila would follow if she did not dissuade her.

  “Then I’ll go to Ganvié tomorrow.”
Mila turned to look back into the cave. The others were too far away to hear them. She leaned in close. “But be careful, Sienna. I know something calls you from the Tower of the Winds. I know the marks on your skin have spread.”

  Sienna flushed. “Is it obvious?”

  “Not to everyone, but you and I … well, we’ve discovered a lot on these last missions. I’ve seen you change to become a powerful Blood Mapwalker. Your destiny draws you on, as does mine.”

  “But not together anymore,” Sienna whispered as she leaned in and they hugged, clinging to each other for a moment, then they parted.

  “I left Zippy with a friend who loves him,” Mila said. “And a letter for Bridget in the canal boat explaining everything, but I won’t go back this time. I am not of Earthside anymore. Perhaps I never really was.”

  Sienna hugged her friend again, hiding her tears against Mila’s hair, smelling the fresh water of the lake on her skin. They sat for a moment, holding each other tight, both aware of an ending they hadn’t expected to experience so soon.

  Sienna pulled away and wiped her eyes. “How will you get to Ganvié?”

  Mila shrugged. “The watercourses will guide us. We’ll travel up river and find our way from there. I’m drawn back somehow, like a compass needle pointing true north.” She looked out at the horizon. “I know Ekon will welcome us.”

  “He will.” Sienna rose to her feet. “But I hate goodbyes so this is temporary. I’ll come visit when I can.”

  Mila smiled and stood up to join her. “Of course.” She gave a cheeky grin. “And bring Finn with you.”

  Sienna looked back into the cave where Finn sat by the fire, the light dancing off his angular cheekbones as he played a dice game with the children. They laughed, leaning on his legs, trusting him instinctively. With their dark skin, they could be his and Sienna was suddenly struck with a glimpse into a possible future.

  Finn looked up at her, a question in his eyes.

  She smiled and went to join him. They all needed to rest before the day to come.

  The rays of dawn reached into the cave and touched Sienna’s cheek. She opened her eyes to see coral light bathing the sleeping group, as if blessed by some heavenly benediction. She nestled back into Finn’s embrace, trying to fix the moment in her mind.

  Sienna thought of her father and Bridget back on Earthside, the same dawn rising over the Ministry. Mapwalking had broken their love apart, taken everything from them both. Her father was a crippled husk, his body and mind shattered by that final mission. Bridget had given her very blood to the service of the Ministry, trapped in the guise of the Illuminated for who knows how many generations. Her grandfather’s skin lay in the Blood Gallery, his life sacrificed for a portal he couldn’t even ultimately defend. Sienna pulled his compass from her pocket.

  The silver gleamed in the morning light and she opened the case to reveal the five-pointed compass rose and the city of Bath etched in tiny lines within. The abbey, the map shop, the Circus, the river, the canal. Five places to anchor her back to Earthside.

  Sienna clutched the compass tightly in her hand. If the border had been open, she could cut herself right now, mapwalk through the power of her blood and take Perry and Zoe home. But she would have to leave Finn behind once more — and besides, the border was still closed, and her fight was here now.

  Zoe’s words about Elf ran through her mind. What did the young woman intend at the Tower of the Winds?

  There was only one way to find out. It was time she faced whatever called in her nightmares.

  “Morning,” Finn whispered, his breath caressing her ear as he shifted position, wrapping his arms more tightly about her. As he pulled her closer. Sienna could feel his muscular body down the length of her back and she longed to stay right there, sheltered in his warmth. But the sun rose higher in the sky and every minute that passed was another minute that Elf traveled before them.

  Titus sat up, yawned and stretched his arms. He looked over and smiled as he caught Sienna’s gaze. “I’ll make coffee. You lovebirds stay right there.”

  He set up a small fire near the entrance to the cave then pulled his pack over, scouring through it for matches.

  “Damn, I must have dropped them when we set off the charges.” He looked over at Finn. “You have any?”

  “Let me do it.” Perry’s voice was weak but Sienna heard determination as he rocked up to his hands and knees and crawled to the pile of wood, Zoe helping him with a steady arm. Sienna sat up, Finn sitting with her, all of them willing him on.

  Perry reached the pile of kindling as the rising sun caught his face with an orange glow, brightening his pale countenance. He reached a hand out, extended his fingers, looked down into his palm. His brow furrowed as he concentrated, curling and tensing his grip until his hand was almost a claw.

  Sienna held her breath, willing him to find that spark, desperate to know what was left of his power.

  22

  The seconds ticked past with not even a flicker.

  Perry tightened his fist and slammed it down on the cave floor. He hung his head and then looked out to the horizon, biting his lip in frustration. Zoe wrapped her arms around his shoulders, silent in her support.

  Sienna wondered whether his power was gone completely or just weakened. In such a state, should she really take him with her to the Tower of the Winds? With Mila leaving, she needed Perry — but he could be more of a liability in this state.

  Finn rummaged in his bag and pulled out a box of matches. He tossed them to Titus, who lit the fire and soon had water boiling for coffee.

  “What did I miss?” Mila sat up, her expression confused at the tense silence in the cave.

  “Nothing,” Perry whispered, a hint of bitterness in his tone. “Nothing at all.”

  The twins stirred, their small hands reaching for Mila as they awoke. Sienna smiled to see the way her friend gathered them to her, a Waterwalker family on its way home. At least something good had come out of the camp.

  Titus made coffee, a thick brew in the Turkish style, a shot of caffeine to send them off suitably fired up. Sienna sipped at hers, trying to hold off the inevitable. But as the sun rose higher over the lip of the cave, she knew they had to go.

  There were clouds on the horizon, a gathering storm that would sweep over the camp within hours. Mila could leave in the shelter of its rainfall and the rest of them would be long gone by then.

  “Pack up,” she said. “We need to leave.”

  It didn’t take long to ready themselves, but it took longer for Mila to say goodbye to everyone. Perry clung to her the longest and Sienna had to turn away to hide the tears in her eyes. She had to believe that the team would be together again — sometime, somewhere.

  She put her hands on the wall of the cave, cold stone anchoring her to this place in this moment. Once she took the team through the blood map, her path was set, but she could see no other way forward.

  The border must open once more or Earthside would be wracked by increasing natural disaster. But the opening must be controlled otherwise the Borderlanders would stream over and take what they believed to be theirs. If Elf was truly going after whatever lay in the Tower of the Winds, Sienna had to get there first.

  They had one advantage. Elf had to travel by road, and even with her mutant pack running at full pace, she would still be hours away. The rest had been worth it. Sleep in Finn’s arms had renewed Sienna’s strength and revived her sense of purpose. She was ready.

  She drew on the stone wall with a fingertip, lightly etching a map over the rock. One that seemed carved on her heart. She had seen it so many times in her nightmares. It would be easy to travel there. All she had to do was follow the voice that called and drop down through the clouds to the tower. She could find the place easily. The only question was what waited there — and whether she could resist the pull of the Shadow once inside.

  “Sienna?” Mila touched her arm gently.

  Sienna turned to embrace her friend. “Go
safe.”

  Mila nodded, her eyes betraying both her sadness but also excitement at the start of a new adventure. “One time of life ends, another begins.”

  Sienna smiled. “Perhaps for both of us.”

  Mila stood back by the cave entrance, the twins on either side, hands curled in hers, their faces curious but trusting. They had seen so much of magic, but perhaps never the strange exit of a Blood Mapwalker.

  Sienna turned her back to them so they would not see her pull out the ritual knife, the sharp blade almost a friend to her now. She cut into the side of her palm, blood welling fast, and used it to sketch over the lines on the wall.

  Her fingers moved with accuracy and speed, as if the map was carved inside her, just waiting to burst free. Sienna’s skin itched, and she sensed the dark whorls eddy and throb as they drew closer to their home.

  As she inscribed the last line, she reached out her other hand. Perry and Zoe, Finn and Titus grasped it, palm over palm, holding onto each other as Sienna drew them into the map. As the world shifted, she met Mila’s gaze in one final goodbye.

  The caves fell away. Below them, the expanse of the camp and beyond that, the lake of strange creatures, then the river heading off toward the coast where Mila would swim home. Sienna rose higher, reveling in the sensation of freedom as she reached out across the Borderlands with her magic.

  She flew like one of the giant eagles they encountered in the eyrie back in the search for the Map of Plagues, with keen eyesight that could pick out detail in the expanse below. Beyond the towering sharp peaks, a track stretched out into an arid plain spiked with cactus and patches of scrub. A dust cloud headed east, thrown up by the running feet of a pack of mutants. Elf was amongst them, carried on the back of one beast and beyond, in the distance, the Tower of the Winds.

  Sienna circled up into the clouds that obscured the sun. Without the distraction of the world below she could hear her name more clearly, a whisper that rippled down her spine, causing her to ache for some dark pleasure she could not quite name.