Renegade: A Young Adult Dystopian

by Mallory McCartney

He had never pushed her like Adair had. He had never confused her like Memphis did. And so, she laid still as a roaring wind sounded all around her, and she was lifted and her world became a spinning entity. The wind was warm, like she was standing on a coastline bathing in the sun. She spun, faster, faster, faster. Until gently, she drifted back down, finding her feet underneath her. Her hair was tangled and wild, and she opened her eyes, swaying slightly as she croaked at the disheveled prince, “Thank you.”

  Marquis dipped his head and stepped back as Memphis shot forward, gripping her in a crippling hug, whispering in her ear, “I thought I had lost you. I thought you had...” His voice became thick with emotion, and she hugged him back.

  “I’m here.” Breaking from his hold, she looked at Brokk, looking rough but nonetheless alive. “How did you all find me? I saw you fall Brokk... and Adair...”

  “We split apart because someone wanted to be the hero of the day.” Memphis rose a pale eyebrow at his friend. “But it didn’t take me long to figure out you weren’t in the Academy. I used Brokk’s secret tunnel and headed for the woods. That’s where I found Marquis and Tadeas.”

  Brokk cut in, “Adair has some control over the army. I knew the Gortach had you, and I barely got away, but I did.”

  She pieced the rest together quickly. Looking over her shoulder, the suspended roaring orb of controlled water churned behind them, the limp body of the Gortach floating within it. Shivering, she looked back at the group. “Thank you. I owe you all my life.”

  Tadeas looked to his son before surging toward her. “Emory, we have to get back to the Isles. Right now, this country is lost to the Strattons. You can all come with us, find sanctuary with us.” Chewing on her bottom lip, she looked to Brokk as his gaze darkened. Her heart dropped into her stomach, but she knew she had to hold firm.

  “Thank you, Tadeas, but no. Protect the Isles, and I will call on you when the time comes.” She stuck her hand out toward him. “For all our sakes, I hope you respect this alliance.”

  He shook her hand firmly, his voice gravelly. “We will uphold our end. You will always find sanctuary on the Isles. Where will you all go?”

  Her pulse jumped, her heart battering against her chest unevenly as she whispered, “Into hiding. Adair won’t stop...” She trailed off, all of them understanding the unsaid words.

  Nodding, he bowed to them all. “There are dark times ahead. I hope that we will all meet again on better terms.”

  Marquis mimicked his father, wincing against his splintered wrists. He caught her eye and quirked a smiled. “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

  She huffed. “Yeah, same to you.”

  He shuffled uncomfortably, but in a clipped tone whispered, “If you see Adair again, don’t immediately try to kill him. He is still in there, whatever happened.”

  Anger licked at her heart, confusion and frustration battering against her will. She bowed her head. “I can’t make any promises.”

  His face darkened, and he dipped his head. “Until next time, Princess.”

  And with that, the King and the Prince of the Shattered Isles walked away. Marquis faltered, looking back at Emory, and the burst of energy emitted from him made the water crash down toward the ground, but just before it hit, it burst back into downy snowflakes. The snow drifted lazily, as if it had its own mind, curving and blanketing the world in its wintery state once more. Her throat became thick, and sincerely hoping they didn’t die, she was met with a scowling Memphis and pale looking Brokk.

  Memphis stepped forward, seething. “Why didn’t you agree? What do you think is left for you here?”

  Whipping around, she yelled, “Memphis Carter, my parents just died back there. Our home has fallen. One of my closest friends just betrayed—” She shakily sucked in a breath. “Do you honestly have the nerve to think I would let my parents’ dream die? For nothing?” Her voice cracked like a whip, and Memphis pressed his lips in a thin line. Howls cut through the air, falling and climbing over one another in a haunting tremble. Spinning, she searched the fading light, her hair standing on end. “We don’t have much time.” The howls grew, sounding too close, too fast.

  “Brokk.” It was just his name, a whisper, and she could feel his tension crackle like lightning behind her.

  His voice was husky. “No. Absolutley not. We are in this together. We have always been in this together.”

  Licking her cracked lips, she clenched her fists. This. This being the Academy, their friendship. And love. Because love wasn’t always clear, wasn’t always easy. Love was their support. The fact that it killed her inside to imagine life without them. Love was their adventures, their bonds, their loyalty, their banter and the way they had gravitated toward one another. They were her best friends. Would always be her best friends. And that could never be broken. She locked her eyes with Memphis, his ice blue eyes cutting into her, his chest rising and falling heavily. For him, friendship wouldn’t be enough.

  Chewing the inside of her cheek, she growled. “Adair killed my parents. Do you really think he will stop until any threats are out of his way? The entire school, gone.” Her voice cracked. “I will not let everything wither into nothing. For the madness of one family. For the lust of power.”

  Memphis jokingly snapped, “You wish to disappear but not to be brought back? Impossible. Where could we hide from his new army?”

  She locked eyes with Brokk, not saying a word. Their silent battled raged while Memphis’s gaze flickering between them.

  Memphis’s voice dropped into a dangerous whisper, “What do I not know?” The howls climaxed, and she could practically see their gleaming teeth, how they had ripped flesh so easily. How in hours, they had demolished some of the strongest people in Kiero. Her voice cracked. “Brokk, I am begging you.”

  “You do know that I barely understand it myself? That this power is unstable.”

  “I think you understand it better than you know, but you are afraid to give into it.”

  He surged forward, hands shaking. “I’m afraid? Yeah, I am. Our world literally just entered another war that we barely understand because of forces rushing against us. We just lost our friends, our home. We all almost died. Your parents did die. Our only safe passage just left because you are banking on me to do something I’m not even sure I can do.”

  The cold air formed into fog as she exhaled hard. “I get that you are scared. I am too. But you didn’t see Adair. Didn’t see the look in his eyes as he saw his own mother and destroyed her without barely batting an eye. The Gortach—” she waved her hand at the lifeless body, “—a seer who only knows the truth, assured me that Adair is the reason this is happening. I lost him weeks ago, and no one, especially me, saw the change because we were all so wrapped up in what was happening around us! About kings and queens and a legacy!” Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her voice cracked as she jabbed a finger into his chest. “This isn’t our time to step up and save the world. I’m begging you please, come with me. We can leave this world, this monarchy, this war.”

  The snow drifted down softly around them, the afternoon bleeding honey-colored light around them, and if they were suspended in this moment forever, it would be chaos trapped in the breathtaking beauty of their world. Brokk was visibly vibrating, tears shimmering in his eyes. He whirled to slam his bloodied fist into the nearest tree trunk. It exploded, bark splintering around them, disappearing into the drifts.

  He didn’t turn around as he snarled, “Something happened when Bresslin had us. Whatever this is in me, I have always felt it there, but I don’t want to be more. I think you would all be scared if being a shifter puts people on edge. But to also…” He paused as he whispered, “But to also have the power to manipulate time. To jump through it.” Memphis tensed, looking at his best friend as Brokk faced them, darkness sweeping through his features. “It’s torture to feel that alive when all I want is a shot at a normal life. A shot of feeling peace. But this, this is more of a beast than my other form. And I have n
o idea why it has to be me.” He stepped forward, looking behind them as roars now thundered through the air, shattering their illusion. Taking away their time. “But I do know two things for certain. That for you, Emory, I will go to the ends of this forsaken country to keep you safe. And that your parents—” His lips quivered as he snapped through his anger and welling sadness. “Even though I don’t understand why this is happening, I trusted their dream. I trusted that they wanted for Kiero to flourish into and it’s not this. It got twisted with their secrets.”

  Memphis was so still, he looked like a statue carved from the ice around them. Her heart welled, and she croaked, “Then keep their dream alive. But come with me. Both of you.”

  Focusing on Memphis, Brokk nodded. “I can do this. Jump through time, to keep her safe. But will you stay with me?”

  Panic flashed through her. “What do you mean?” She looked to Memphis, grave, as he ripped his gaze from Brokk. He looked like a ghost as he walked toward her. Snow crunched underneath his foot as she whispered, “Memphis?”

  Her palms tingled as her breaths came in quick bursts. She could practically feel the ground underneath them quake, the distant army closing in on them. Her pulse flew unevenly, sweat collecting at the base of her neck, as she absorbed Memphis’s pinning gaze. She flicked her eyes to Brokk and he nodded once. Memphis was before her, dissolving the space between them. His voice was gruff and thick as he leaned in, his breath hot against her cheek, as both of his hands cupped her face gently. “I love you. Please, just never forget that.”

  Ice ran through her veins, and the world dropped away. Her stomach felt like it was being ripped from her, and she had the illusion of warm hands supporting her. Labored, sickening wails echoed around her... or maybe that was her. The forest became a blur, ivory bleeding into everything, leeching it all of color. In the distance, a voice bounced toward her, like cutting through a fog. “Em, hold on.”

  And then her world cracked into thunderous light. She was falling, wind roaring around her, but she felt another presence and knew she wasn’t alone. They spun and spun, brilliant golds, greens, and blues fracturing around them like diamonds or blazing embers. Ice ruptured through her, numbing her, until she was tearing through a sea of light. The golds bled into silvers, curling and twisting like liquid metal. The blues and greens softened into teal, and it reminded her of crashing waves. She wasn’t sure she had ever been to the ocean. The thought struck her violently, and she tried to twist, but gravity lurched her down faster, her hair tumbling around her. Where was she? Where had she come from? Who had she been? With each thought she spun faster, dislocating her sense of self, until there was the sweet scent of damp grass and the trickling warmth of sunlight on her skin. Her body slammed, cracking against the hard ground, violently. There was a whisper of words, Brokk’s soft voice dying, and then there was nothing but pain. Nausea and throbbing raked through her, and she was distantly aware of the world churning around her. She was blissfully greeted by the darkness with open arms as she knew no more.

  21

  Emory

  “Miss? Hello?”

  “Do you think she is dead?”

  “Will you shut up, Aideon, and call 911?”

  The two voices bantered around her. There was a pause, and then a series of clicking as the male voice, Aideon, spoke smoothly, “Police.” A pause. “Yes, hello. My wife and I are pulled over on Gore Road, just outside the city, where a young woman looks to have been beaten and is unconscious.” Another pause. “Yes, visible wounds, dried blood, bruises. Okay, thank you, and yes, we will wait.”

  The padding of soft feet sounded farther and farther away. She felt the cool tickling of grass underneath her, a soft wind brushing across her face. Unfamiliar sounds whirled around her, all too sharp, too fast, and too much. Groaning, her eyes fluttered, catching snippets of the scene around her. A piercing blue sky, and downy clouds. The woman stood beside her, her blond hair tumbling around her shoulders, her features pinched with worry. A strange shaped box was behind them, pulled off to the side from the winding paved pathway crawling with more people, and some form of... carriage? Coughing, she shut her eyes again, feeling dizzy.

  The woman crouched down, her voice gentle. “Hold on, sweetie, it won’t be long now. Everything is going to be okay.”

  She didn’t know what she meant, but she was happy to lay here, her body radiating pain, and drift on the sea of sounds and smells circulating around her. Concentrating on her breath, shallowly in and out, she was comforted by the rattling wet sounds of her lungs dragging. She winced, her eyes flying open as piercing wailing noises sliced through the air.

  The man, Aideon, stated, “There’s the ambulance and the police. Is she awake?” Her heart clawed faster at the strange words, ambulance, police? Tears seeped from the corners of her eyes, burning as they trickled down her cheeks. There was an intense squealing and then chaos erupted around her. Overlapping voices collided around her, questions being shot every direction.

  She winced away as another man and woman came into her view. “Can you tell us your name and how you got here?” She squinted, taking in the big white box with red flashing lights blinking on it. They carried a strange bag. The man took out several tools, and she bared her teeth at him in a feral way. Her heart pounded as they came closer, panic immobilizing her. My name. The world spun. What is my name? A spark bloomed in her chest, becoming an inferno.

  “Emory Fae. Emory Reia Fae,” her voice crackled, sounding a thousand miles away.

  “Can you tell us what happened?”

  She tried to sit up, and they responded, coming too close to her, too fast. “Get away from me!” She snarled as her mind churned, pulling and tugging at strings with empty endings. What had happened? She was met with a brick wall. Who was she beyond the name? Another wall. Where was her home? Her family?

  Strong hands and a soothing voice pinned her. “You are going to be okay.”

  She was screaming, her nails biting into flesh, dragging down. She was feral, tried to bite, to snap, to do anything. There was a sharp prick on her arm, and in an instant, the world fell away in blanketed nothingness.

  She dreamt of the woods—towering trees weaving a canopy of brilliant leaves. The green leaves were starting to turn color, the tips curling, golden hues and fiery reds and oranges changing the summer into the comforting blanket and refreshing air of fall. She stood, looking up, breathing in musky scents. The dappled light danced across her features and the corner of her mouth pulled up. Her feet carried her, and she didn’t know where she was heading, off into the unknown. And that was the biggest adventure. Crunch, crunch, crunch. The leaves crinkled beneath her. She wore simple black pants and a deep green shirt that flowed in the gentle currents of the wind. As she travelled deeper, the leaves and the light casted her in a golden haven, the vibrancy taking her breath away.

  Golden, like a burning sunset. Golden like his eyes. She scrunched up her nose, her mind bending and falling with the thoughts, her heart picking up its beat. The world around her flashed. Leaves dropped off the trees, and ice raced along the trunks and branches. In the distance, screams and howls mixed into a haunting melody, and she was frozen. Golden, like his smile. She swallowed hard, unable to catch her breath as the smell of smoke filled her senses. Like his heart. The wind howled, blustering around her, sounding like a pack of wolves baying at the moon. Her hair stood on end, but she wasn’t afraid.

  “Em.” It was that voice, familiar yet unknown. Smooth and entrancing. Dark and enchanting. She slowly looked over her shoulder at the icy landscape encasing around her. A figure stood in the shadows, his features blurry. A sword glinted in his hand, and behind him smoke oozed around him like gas, dancing toward her. “You will come for me.” She couldn’t react, couldn’t move, as that darkness roared toward her, a green light cutting through like a beacon, the man watching as it overtook her, biting and lacing into her, and his dark voice commanded, “And you will be mine.” She bowed to it, to him
, as she drowned.

  She woke up screaming—blood curdling, heartwrenching screams. Strange tubes were in her nostrils, draping down her body, and taped to her arm. A persistent beeping sounded beside her. The room was small, drapes cornering her in on the bed, shielding her from the world, or the world from her. Sweat clung to her aching body as the dream quickly faded from her mind. She tried to grasp, to hold on, to remember. But as the room came into focus around her, it left, leaving her breathless.

  “Oh, good. You’re awake. Sweetie, how do you feel?” A woman appeared, holding papers on a board, looking at the instruments around her, her analyzing eyes roaming over her as she took notes.

  Emory tilted her head and regarded the woman, taking in her loose brown hair and kind eyes, her white shirt and blue pants giving no indication of where she was. “I feel... sleepy,” her voice rasped in a gravelly tone.

  “That would be the sedation wearing off.” She flipped the page. “Emory Reia Fae, is it? That’s a beautiful name. Can you tell me your age? Or where your home is?”

  She swallowed, her throat contracting. “Thank you. And, um...” She closed her eyes, trying to fight off the burning panic rising in her. “I’m fifteen years old. Turning sixteen at the end of November.” The woman nodding, smiling softly. “I don’t know where my home is. I don’t... remember anything else.”

  The corner of the woman’s mouth twisted down. “That’s okay, sweetie. Emory, you’re lucky to be alive. You have been in the hospital for a week and were in a coma. It’s not abnormal when your body has gone through... well, extreme circumstances, and your MRI was showing a lot of stress to your brain so, it’s not abnormal to experience amnesia. Or memory loss.” Emory blinked, the words falling around her, not making any sense. The woman continued, “I’m your nurse, but we need to take it slow. The police have released a missing person report with your information, so your family will know where you are. Let’s just get you feeling better, okay?”