by Hanna Peach
“Where are the others?”
“Sparrow was able to warn most of them. They’re safe. Not far from here.”
“Take me to them.”
“But Sparrow… He never listens to me.”
“Where’s Sparrow?”
“No. No. There was nothing I could do.” Piki fluttered his wings violently, his chittering becoming incomprehensible as he got more and more flustered.
“Calm down, Piki. I can’t understand you.”
“Sparrow was so scared. He hid in the stables. He’s still trapped inside.”
Chapter 25
“Sparrow!” Alyx screamed into the gaping hole in the horse stables. They were located on the grounds of the castle but separate from the main building. The community didn’t keep horses here so the stables were empty. They should have been empty. Inside, fire was licking up all the pillars and doors, the whole structure being made of wood.
She squinted through the smoky darkened haze into the stable, praying to see him. There! She spotted the small limp body of Sparrow down the far side of the stables, half hidden with hay. A beam of wood had fallen on his leg, pinning him down.
Alyx had promised Sparrow she would look after him. She had promised him a better life when she took him from the RaceKeeper. Her heart crackled like it was being dried out by the fire. Please, please, don’t let him be dead.
She glanced up towards the flaming roof of the stables and the wooden beams, all on fire. She wasn’t sure how much longer it would hold up. She had precious seconds to get him out.
“Piki, you stay here. Guard the entrance.”
Piki chirped in agreement.
“Hang on, Sparrow!” she yelled even though she was sure he couldn’t hear her. She climbed through one of the open stable windows, her gaze now focused on Sparrow and the fire inching closer and closer to him.
Inside the air was thick with smoke that stung her eyes. The fire radiated heat like she was too close to the sun. She moved through towards the back of the stables, weaving around and through sections where the flames had taken over.
She heard a crack above her. A beam broke, swinging down towards her. She leapt forward, rolling on the hay-strewn dirt. The beam splintered behind her with a smash. She didn’t look back. She kept going.
Finally Alyx landed on the hay near the boy. “Sparrow!” she screamed over the roar of the fire. He didn’t answer nor did he move. Please, be alive.
She didn’t have time to check for life. Alyx grabbed the thick beam across his leg with both hands and pulled. It was too heavy. She couldn’t get it off him. What now? Around her the hungry fire roared as it consumed the structure. It would consume them both too if she didn’t think of something quickly.
She had no WaterBearer magic left… But she did have part of an EarthSifter mark. She got an idea. Aiming her palms at the ground, Alyx let out a long wave of the EarthSifter. The earth underneath Sparrow’s legs began to blow aside, removing a layer of dirt from underneath him. She felt the last of the magic leave her hands. She prayed it would be enough.
Sweat rolled off her forehead and back from the heat of the flames. Her clothes were sticking to her. Alyx grabbed Sparrow under his armpits and pulled. He slid out from under the beam and she stumbled back.
Thank God, it worked.
She rolled Sparrow up into her arms and aimed for the exit. She could barely see the open window through the smoke now. The beam that had smashed down around her now blocked the path that she used to come in. She would have to go another way. She spotted a path near the side of the stables. She kept moving, using her arms to keep Sparrow tucked in close to her body.
She was almost at the opening now. She could feel lashes of cool fresh air coming in from it. Piki was fluttering at the opening, urging her on with his chirping.
There was a loud groan as the wooden pillars of the stable buckled. Alyx pushed up off the ground and leapt out of the opening, gripping Sparrow’s limp body tighter in her arms and covering his body with hers. The buildings collapsed behind her with a horrible crash as soot and ash and embers spat out in clouds around them.
Only in the cover of the forest nearby did Alyx stop and lay Sparrow down. Piki landed near the side of Sparrow’s head and rubbed his earlobe with his small head. Alyx placed two shaking fingers to Sparrow’s neck. Her heart skipped for joy when she felt a pulse. There was an egg-sized lump and bruise on his forehead, probably where he was hit when the beam fell on him. Apart from that he looked unharmed.
Sparrow moaned. Alyx called his name and his eyelashes fluttered slowly open.
“Alyx,” Sparrow choked out. He began to cough. Alyx pulled him to a sitting position and patted his back until he stopped. “Israel and I…then Tii’la…and then bad men…and…”
“I know, Sparrow. It’s okay. I saw it through Israel’s eyes.”
“It’s all my fault,” Sparrow said. “It’s all my fault they have him.”
Alyx pulled back and grabbed the sides of Sparrow’s face. Her grip was firm but gentle and she forced the boy to look straight at her. “It’s not your fault.”
“But I didn’t even try.”
“You couldn’t have done anything, Sparrow. There were three of them and one of you.”
“But I just… I just ran.”
Alyx nodded. “I know. You did the right thing, Sparrow.”
“No I didn’t.” His little voice shook with fierceness. Alyx could read the shame on his face as if it were painted on. “I left Israel behind. I ran without trying to save him.”
“But you managed to warn the guys at the castle.”
“Yes, but−”
“You saved an entire community. They managed to get out because of you.”
“When they stormed the castle, I just hid,” Sparrow said bitterly. He pushed his face into his hands. His next words came out muffled, “I’m such a coward.”
Alyx brushed a lock of hair back from his forehead. “Sparrow, you were outnumbered, outsized and you don’t have any combat training. You made a strategic decision and sometimes the strategic decision is to run and hide. You did the right thing.”
He snorted. “I bet you’ve never run or hidden from a fight.”
“Actually, that’s not true at all.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“In Atlantis I was ambushed by two warriors and betrayed by a friend. I ran instead of fighting them so they got away with something very important. But I’m alive right now because I ran and hid. I’m alive, which means I can try and get it back.”
Alyx told him of how she and Israel ran from Yael and Do’hann in the streets of Saint Joseph and hid in the sewers instead of fighting them. She told him of how she and Jordan hid from passing night guards in Urielos as they sought to gain entry to the library.
“Okay, alright. I get it,” Sparrow said. “You choose not to fight sometimes. You choose instead to hide.”
“That’s the decision you made and it was the right decision because here you are, alive.” Alyx grabbed him suddenly and pulled him into a hug, all the previously restrained emotion ebbing out from her all at once so she couldn’t dam it back. “Thank God you’re alive,” she whispered in his ear.
To her surprise, Sparrow gripped her back just as hard.
Piki led Alyx and Sparrow to where the community of Castle Speranza were hiding. They were all huddled and dirty like scared sheep in an abandoned barn several miles away. The air in here was their collective breaths, smelling sour with fear.
Alyx stood talking with Jordan and Tobias a little away from the crowd. Sparrow stood slightly behind Alyx. “Thank God you’re okay,” Alyx said.
“We managed to find our way through the secret passageways. Most of us did.” Tobias lifted his eyes and guilt shone through them. “I should have seen this coming. I should have posted guards on the towers to watch out for attacks. After Samyara was killed, I just didn’t think…”
Jordan hushed at him. “Tobias, this
isn’t your fault.”
“Alyx,” Tobias grabbed her arm, “they found our piece of the Amulet in my office and took it. It was like they knew it was there. They killed anyone unlucky enough to get in their way and left.”
“They did know. Tii’la told them.”
“Tii’la?” Jordan gasped. “Are you sure?”
Alyx nodded and told them of what happened in Atlantis. “And now he has Israel.” Her heart sank into her toes. So now Michael had all three pieces. And Israel. He had everything he needed…
“Luckily, they didn’t search the surrounds of the castle for us,” said Tobias. “It’s the only reason we’re all alive. I guess we should be thankful for that.”
“It was a distraction,” Alyx said. “They just wanted Israel and the Amulet piece. And they got them.” Her voice grew cold. “Michael doesn’t see the rest of us as any real threat. The attack on the castle was just a warning for us to stay away and not to fight against him. That’s why they didn’t bother finding the rest of us.”
Alyx looked out among the Seraphim. The FreeThinkers of this community had gone through so much over the last few months. They had lost friends, family, loved ones, and this was the second time they all lost their home. Their faces were all strained and desolate.
“Unfortunately,” Tobias said, “I think it worked.”
* * *
Lukas glanced down at Ana’s unconscious form. The only way he had been able to calm her was to send her to sleep with borrowed DreamWalker. He had carried her out of the castle in his arms and now stood watching over her high in the hayloft of this barn as the other Seraphim milled about below with a nervous energy.
Vix flew up to where he stood and stood near him, but she didn’t speak. Lukas remained staring at Ana, asleep in the hay. She looked like the woman he loved. He could almost convince himself she hadn’t changed, that the love she had for him was still there. But now that he had killed Yael…
As he stood there gazing at Ana, he could tell that Vix was staring at him.
“Just say it,” Lukas said finally.
Vix swallowed and cleared her throat. “Say what?”
“Whatever it is you’ve been thinking for the last two minutes as you stare mournfully at me.”
“You noticed, huh? Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” He sighed. “Even I feel sorry for myself.”
“It’ll work out, Lukas. You two are perfect for each other. You love each other so much. This is just a blip in the road.”
A blip in the road. Lukas snorted. “Vix, she’s in love with someone else.”
“Someone who she got over once, remember? She got over him once and fell in love with you. She’ll do it again.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. And I believe that history repeats itself only because some things are inevitable. You and Ana are inevitable. She may have loved Yael once, but he wasn’t her true love. If he was then she would have never gotten over him. She would have fought harder to be with him twelve years ago.”
“This time…” He shook his head. “This time things are different.”
“How different could they be?”
“I killed him, Vix.”
Vix’s shoulders tensed up. “Killed who?”
Lukas closed his eyes and in his mind he went back to the moment when he truly lost the woman he loved. The moment when he killed any chance that she could ever learn to love him again. When his sword pierced Yael’s heart. Don’t do anything stupid, Jordan had said to him. But that’s exactly what he had done.
“I killed Yael.”
“Oh.” There was a pause. “Shit.” It slipped out, a single word that encompassed his situation.
Shit indeed. It was an impossible situation. If it didn’t break his heart every time to be reminded of it, he would have laughed at the absurdity of it.
Lukas stared back at Ana. When she woke she would be Siana again and she would remember why she hated him. Until then, he would stand guard over her and keep her safe and imagine that she was still his Ana.
* * *
“Where do we go now?” Jordan heard someone cry out. The crowd of FreeThinker survivors had mostly gotten over their shock at being attacked − again − and their relief at staying alive; now they were starting to get restless. They needed a plan − and a good one − to rein them all in, otherwise there would be chaos among them.
Belle and Aaban looked to Tobias. Even though the three of them ruled as one, Tobias was the unofficial leader. Other Seraphim followed suit and hundreds of pairs of eyes peered at Tobias, waiting for his word. Jordan didn’t wish to be Tobias in that moment; how heavy that burden must be on his shoulders now.
To his credit, Tobias was holding his chin high and still held the air of confidence that he always exuded so naturally and that made people instinctively want to follow his lead.
“Well,” Tobias started slowly, “it’s clear what needs to be done. We need to find a new community, but for the meantime some temporary emergency accommodation will do.”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it?” someone yelled out. “So where do we go?”
“None of the other communities will have us. Twice attacked. We’re cursed,” called another voice.
“It’s that Guardian and her mortal half-breed,” someone spat out. Instinctively Jordan searched around the crowd for Alyx and he spotted her at the back edge of the crowd. He began to slip towards her. A grumble spread through the crowd and Jordan could smell dissent coming. He had seen this before. He feared this might turn violent. His hand went to his sword. He didn’t want to use it but he would if he had to.
“I have an idea,” called out a feminine yet authoritative voice. The crowd hushed as everyone became distracted trying to figure out who had spoken. “Let me through.” The crowd started moving as someone began to walk towards the front of the crowd.
Jordan felt his heart skip a beat. He knew that voice. He knew it so well he would know it if she spoke to him in his sleep. But the seriousness and authority with which she spoke…it was so unlike her. It couldn’t be Cleo, could it?
Jordan craned his neck, trying to confirm who it was. When the crowd parted enough that he could make out her dark bob, he knew it for sure. It was Cleo. What the hell was she doing?
Cleo stopped when she reached the front and stood near Tobias, turning to face the crowd.
“Who is she?”
“She’s mortal!”
“She’s that mortal…”
“Why is she living with us?”
Whispers could be heard throughout the crowd. Although Cleo had lived and fought among them for the last few weeks, she had mostly kept to herself as she detoxed from the drugs that she had been addicted to while she had been living and working in Purgatory. Jordan knew because he had been the one to spend the most time with her in her room. Their community was a large one, so many of them may have never seen her before.
“Yes, I am mortal,” Cleo addressed the crowd. “Many of you don’t know me or why I’m here among you. Those of you who do, probably won’t admit it. My name is Cleo and I used to work as one of Lady Bluesette’s girls in Purgatory.”
There was a clipped hush that went through the crowd as well as a couple of leers, which she ignored.
“Regardless,” she continued, “I owe a debt of gratitude to this community, a few Seraphim in particular, for saving my life and giving me a second chance while I…recovered.” Her eyes found Jordan’s and oddly a lump developed in his throat, which he pained to swallow away. “You’ve let me into your home and have become something of a family to me. So I’d like to let you into mine.”
“What is she talking about?” Jordan heard someone near him whisper.
“I own a large property in the English countryside, not two hours south from here by flight. It’s been sitting mostly empty for a decade or so, but with a bit of elbow grease we can make it something wonderful again
. I’d like to invite you all to stay there with me.”
She owned a what?
Tobias turned to Cleo, the surprise evident on his face. “Cleo, this is beyond generous. But are you sure? We’re a large community and we’d take up a lot of space. You’ve seen what can happen to the places that house us. Do you want to take that risk that we may get attacked again?”
She nodded. “I’m sure. Did I say I own a large property? I mean I own an obscenely monstrous mansion on grounds the size of a small country. Trust me, the property will fit you all.”
Tobias blinked several times before he pulled her into a hug. Cleo patted his shoulder awkwardly. “Thank you,” he said when he pulled back. “We are forever in your debt.”
Cleo waved her hand dismissively. “It’s the least I can do. Besides, it’d be nice to create some new memories for me in that house.” Her voice grew quiet. Jordan wasn’t sure that anyone else noticed the sadness that appeared in her dark eyes. But he did.
As Tobias, Belle and Aaban began making preparations, Jordan squeezed out after Cleo and grabbed her hand before he remembered, too late, that she was angry at him. She turned her face towards him. He waited for the onslaught.
Her face showed some relief before that familiar snarky pout was back. “Well. Jordan. Looks like you survived.”
Jordan snorted. “It’s good to see you’re alive too.”
Cleo rolled her eyes. “Great. We’re both alive. Anything else you want to say to me before we go on ignoring each other?”
“Cleo,” Jordan tried to grasp for words to express the confusion, awe, surprise and all of the above that was swirling around in his chest. “I wanted to say…”
“Yes?”
“That is, I realized…but…”
Cleo placed her hands on her hips. “What do you want, Jordan? Spit it out. I have several hundred guests I need to accommodate.”
“I just wanted to say…” he lost his nerve. “What the hell?”
“Dear Jordan, as straightforward and clear as ever. Perhaps you can get back to me when you are properly able to explain yourself.”