by K. R. Bowman
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Callum’s body radiated heat next to mine. His tension was almost palpable. He didn’t trust Morgan. I looked around at everyone, “So you’ve been out here all this time?”
He lifted a shoulder, “Yes after I left, your grandfather came to see me a short time later and told me the secret of the sword. He asked me to stay and guard it until his son came for it,” He gestured to me with a flick of his hand. “Of course, your father wasn’t the one to come.”
Callum measured him closely, “I assume you are a Hunter, then?”
Morgan nodded, “Yes, I am. Although my Czar and I have not seen much in over twenty years.” He seemed almost sad when he admitted that. “I miss the battles and the killings.”
I shivered.
“So, what have you been doing?” Ashlen asked.
“We have been here guarding the sword and its secrets.”
I studied him for a moment. His deep black eyes were focused away from everyone as if he might be ashamed.
“Do you know the secrets?”
His head jerked up, and his eyes locked onto me. He seemed to be studying me as well.
“Only time will tell what secrets I have been given, and that time will only present itself when or if you are the chosen one to pluck the sword from the shallow grasps of which it is held.”
We all sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes. Our little group managed to move closer together silently. Morgan’s eyes leveled at me, and I tried not to look at him, afraid he might take it as a challenge.
Callum cleared his throat, “So your Czar doesn’t try and come out on its own? Or try to speak to you?”
Morgan’s eyes locked onto me, “My Czar is always with me.”
His eyes filled with despair, pain, and maybe anger. Pretty sure he had gone a little crazy. I don’t know if I could let myself be so consumed by something like he had been. Callum studied the floor pretty hard and leaned in closer to me. Our shoulders were touching at this point, while Ashlen and Harris whispered to each other. Raleigh made designs in the dirt with her finger.
“It takes a lot of energy to form a Czar, though it makes traveling a lot easier. The moment the Czar dissipates, your energy levels sink to zero, so the majority of the time, people choose to use their Czar for dire emergencies.”
“Hey, I have a question. Why were snakes having a party in that river?” Raleigh had stopped doodling and looked expectantly at Morgan.
Morgan chuckled. From what I could tell, it sounded like a chuckle and replied, “We’ve never really been able to figure out why they are in the river, but from what some scientists guessed is there’s something in the water. They don’t stay at the river all year long. It's mostly during the summer months, but as I’m sure you noticed, they don’t bite. Their main goal is to jump in the river and then slide back; they’re on a continuous cycle. I mean, look at the world we live in.”
Our little group fell into silence again. Morgan studied the fire and poked it with a long stick.
“How about telling me something about my family? Something about my father, James?” Somehow, I couldn’t resist asking.
He watched me for a moment, “Well, what would you like to know?”
I shrugged, “Anything would be great.”
He nodded, “Okay, your father drove me crazy.”
I laughed, “Yeah, I’ve heard that from some other people.”
“Before I became a Hunter, your father, uncle, and I were good friends. I will tell you something though, Jacob was pretty jealous of your father.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really? No one ever said anything about jealousy.”
“They were only candid around their friends, and they didn’t get close to people, because, according to them, they were here to fight, not to make friends. Your father was… great at everything when he applied himself. Jacob always tried to please Charles, but it seemed like whatever he did never satisfied your grandfather or James would do it better. Charles blamed a lot of what happened on himself, so I’m glad that in his final days, he was sorry for the way he had treated Jacob.”
“When I met him, he said to tell James that he was sorry.”
“When you met him?”
I gestured to Willow, “When I first touched the sword, it transported me into some other dimension of time where Charles was waiting.”
He tilted his head. I couldn’t help but think of how odd the motion looked on him.
“That’s interesting. Well, those three years after your father came back, he was a very different person from when I knew him as a kid. He was very upset about your mother. He practically stopped talking to Charles. I know he never forgave Charles for not letting him go back to your mother.”
I nodded. It was weird, but it felt like some weight had lifted from me. At the same time, more mysteries and confusions wove together. I never imagined that jealousy might be a part of my father’s history.
“Wait, you were part of the dirty dozen. Weren’t you?” My heart felt like it skipped a few beats.
Morgan looked at me sideways, “Haven’t heard that name in a long time.” He dug through his beard to scratch his cheek.
I scooted forward, “What can you tell me? Who were the others?”
He blinked at me for a few seconds before speaking, “I don't remember much of those days.”
I thought my heart was going to either implode or I was about to shake the man to make him talk.
“Please, anything you can tell me.”
Morgan seemed to wrestle with his thoughts, his mouth worked back and forth as if he was turning the thoughts around in his mouth.
“We had Georgie, Bails, beautiful Ava, snarky Samantha,” he paused thinking some more. “Chris and Alvaro.” He shook his head, “that’s about all I can think of.”
I looked excitedly at Callum. He nodded his head and smiled.
“Samantha and Alvaro are new. Thank you for telling me.”
He nodded, “Georgie, Bails, Ava, and Dorian all died.”
Crap. I felt like time wasn’t on my side.
I pressed my lips together out of determination, “You gave me some new names so that helps.” I smiled reassuringly at him.
We sat around the small fire that Callum had made, trying to keep warm. The waterfall didn’t sound as loud. The moonlight reflected off the water and into the cave. Something crossed in front of the moon, making the cave fall into darkness for an instant. All of our heads whipped to the outside. Morgan got up and shuffled to the edge of the cave staring out through the breaks in the waterfall. Callum jumped up and moved to stand behind Morgan; his hand was bracing against the rock, his face tilted up toward the sky.
Callum talked over his shoulder, “You all need to see this.”
I hurried to stand beside Callum. He moved to the side so I could stand in front of him. At first, all I could see was the moon and a dark sky, but then something moved across the moon. The shape was immense and black. My eyes followed the movement. The form became a bird, a very large bird. My eyes seemed to adjust to the night, allowing me to see that the whole sky was filled with birds. On closer look, we realized they were not birds, but Nightlins. My mouth fell open, and my neck started hurting from leaning my head back.
Callum turned quickly away, walking toward our bags. He began throwing things in the bags with no consideration of what went where or how they fitted into the packs.
“We need to leave now,” he pointed toward the outside, “those things are going to Kingston,” he jabbed his finger at his chest, “and I have to be there. I’m not going to let those people die without me there trying to defend them.”
I stood at the mouth of the cave watching Callum pack. Harris had his hands on Ashlen’s shoulders, both of them watching Callum too. Raleigh was peering outside, watching every movement that the Nightlins were making. Morgan sat, staring absentmindedly at the waterfall.
At some point, my body and mind started moving again.
I found myself automatically moving and ended up standing beside Callum. I knelt beside him, “What about Willow?”
He glanced at me. His face held fury, “Don’t you get it? People are going to die, and they are going to need every single kind of defense.”
I nodded, “We’ll come back for her.” I turned to the others, “You heard the man we’ve got to go.”
I stood up, placing my hands on my hips. They seemed to come out of their daydreams and moved frantically around the cave. Dirt and dust flew up as we maneuvered around the cave. Morgan stayed seated at the cave entrance. All of the packs were filled and ready to go. I slid the pack onto my back, securing it around my chest and middle. I made sure the fake Willow was secured and moved to stand beside Morgan. He looked at me for a second, then focused his attention back to the waterfall.
“You’ve got a long road ahead of you.” The words came slow and filled with sadness.
I looked down at him, “Yes, I know. We’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”
Morgan kept his eyes on the pool, “The Willow you seek is buried. Buried deep inside of the Willow. This Willow you will find deep in the pool, deep in the caverns. You will have to use all of your power and the things given to you to pry her out of the cold fingers of death.” He turned to me as he spoke the last words. “You won’t find me here the next time you come.”
“We won’t?”
He shook his head, “No, something is coming.” He stared fixedly on nothing of importance; he was thinking very hard. I could almost see thoughts running through his mind. “I can feel it.” He looked up at me, “You take care of yourselves.”
I reached out and grabbed his arm, “Why not go with us? Fight with us?”
He studied me for a moment, and his black eyes stared straight through me, “I can’t. I can’t be part of that world anymore.” He lifted his bag up to his shoulder. Stopping at the edge of the cave entrance, he looked back at all of us, like he was trying to memorize our faces or the moment, but sympathy etched into the lines of his face. He turned his back on us and jumped through the streaming water. Hopping around the rocks and sprinting through the dense trees, he moved quickly and with determination like he was on a mission.
27
I stood behind the falling water, watching him run through the forest. I waited until I could no longer see him darting between the trees. I looked over my shoulder at Harris, Raleigh, Ashlen, and Callum. All of their eyes were on me, waiting.
I spoke softly, “Let’s go.”
I grabbed one of the rocks, pulling myself up one inch at a time. Someone took hold of one of my feet and lifted. Callum pushed my feet upward. I lurched upward and grabbed onto whatever I could find. A short laugh came out of my mouth as I was propelled up. It felt like I was flying. I cleared the top. I grabbed hold of a tree root and pulled myself up with all the strength I had in me. I collapsed on the ground with my arms spread out and one foot dangling over the edge. Callum jumped up beside me. My heart almost leapt out of my chest.
“You scared me.” I pulled the hair off my face and was shocked by how breathy my voice was.
He was kneeling beside me. He pulled some strands of hair from my cheek, “You’re a mess,” his eyes glittered with a smile. Adrenaline pumped through both of us. If one of us leaned forward a little, something could happen.
“Thanks.” I sat up on one elbow. We both heard a noise.
He smiled and went back to the edge of the cliff to help Raleigh scale the rocks. He wrapped his hand around her forearm. She clambered up and practically fell onto the ground. She lifted up with a huge toothy grin on her face.
“That was graceful.”
I smiled back at her, “That is your middle name.”
Ashlen appeared at the edge of the rock. She had her arms under her pushing up. Callum and I reached out to help her. We each grasped one arm and pulled her up, her stomach sliding along the ground.
“Geez! Be careful. I’m delicate.” She rolled over onto her back, placing her hand on her stomach. She pulled her shirt up to show that her skin was turning red.
“Sorry, Ash, we didn’t mean to.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” she grimaced then, slowly sat up.
Harris hopped over the rim of the overhang, “That was fun. Used to go climbing all the time back home.”
Ashlen glared at him.
“Hey, you okay?” Harris stooped down and took her hand, pulling her up.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I decided I needed to exfoliate.” Ashlen narrowed her eyes at Callum and me.
I rolled my eyes at her, “Stop being such a baby. We need to get going.” I looked toward the sky. The Nightlins were still flying overhead. “And be quiet,” I gestured toward the sky, “we can’t afford for them to hear us.”
They became quiet. Callum stepped in front of me and started leading the way back to the city. We started out at a brisk jog. Leaping over rocks and sticking close to the river. The moonlight painted the path so we could see. We were moving pretty fast. It had taken us maybe five hours to find the waterfall. We were going to make it back to Kingston in less than two hours.
My hair became untied, so it was whipping around my neck and flying out behind me. My legs stretched to cover the most ground. I pumped my arms hard to help propel me faster. Every now and then, a small branch would whip across my face, stinging my skin. A humming whispered through my mind. Every leaf, rock, and detail down to the creases in Callum’s clothes were thrown into high definition. A headache throbbed behind my eyes. I started moving faster. Grass and trees became a blur. I overtook Callum, passing him breathlessly. We were almost to the city perimeter.
I stopped.
Dirt and grass flew around me as I braked. The sight of the Kingston mountain was astonishing. I had stopped where the thickness of the trees dissipated. We stood on the edge of the line of trees, watching the massacre unfold. Black portals dotted the sky above the ridge. The Nightlins were savagely attacking the city, swooping down and snatching people up before they dropped them again. It was a scene from a nightmare or a horror movie. It was surreal. Screams erupted. We could hear shouting and some roars and bellows. Nightlins swarmed around the highest point of the city, like giant black vultures circling the dead.
I heard the others stop behind me. We were stunned from disbelief. Callum was the first to move again.
“Come on. We can enter at the river portal.” He took my hand and pulled me forward.
We ran along the bank of the river, keeping low and in the shadows. Nightlins flew overhead. They circled over the mountain then dove straight down. A black hole formed, and the Nightlins disappeared through it. Screams echoed as the Nightlins vanished.
What the literal fuck? How did they do that?
“How the fuck did they do that?” Harris yelled.
Callum shook his head, “No time.”
We made it to the small raft. Callum didn’t hesitate; he jumped into the river. We followed him, eagerly jumping off the edge. The portal swallowed us whole. We broke the surface and ran to the wall.
People yelled, trying to escape. Arrows shot into the air intermittently at the Nightlins, some hitting their targets and some being an annoyance. Nightlins constantly attacked, catching people in their large teeth.
Something exploded within the city, causing my heart to beat faster. Harris and Ashlen moved so they would have some safety against the wall.
Callum peered around the edge of the building. His dark hair plastered to his head and dripped with sweat. I crawled over to him and looked over his shoulder—several bodies laid in the street. Fire consumed the houses, as it leapt from one house to the next. Callum glanced back at me.
“We need to get to the main building. That's where everyone will be holding up. I think our best chance is to go through the cemetery.”
I know my face showed surprise because he smiled slightly and shook his head.
“Listen, it’ll be okay. It’s the safest way to go without having
Nightlins dive bomb us.”
I nodded, “You have a point. Show us the way.”
He smiled and looked around me at the other three, who leaned heavily against the wall. “Hey, everyone get ready. We’re about to go to the tombs and get inside the main building from there.”
They nodded and sat up either resting on their knees or by squatting. The air was so dry because of the heat from the fire that our clothes were nearly dried out.
Callum stood up, “Stay close.”
He took off around the perimeter of the buildings. He skidded to a stop by one large building. He held a finger up to his lips and pointed around the corner. I was right behind him, so I leaned around him to see why he was gesturing.
A large black creature came out of the building. It was taller than an average man and yet looked like a man except it had immensely large wings folded against its back. The bend of the wings extended a foot or more over its head, and the tips barely brushed the dirt as it walked. Walking didn’t accurately describe its gait; it was more staggering. The creature’s two legs, which were thick with muscle, were bent at the knee, making the rest of its body lean slightly forward. Its back was rounded and broad. Large painful-looking nodules covered its whole body. Its arms were large and corded with muscle, so they looked too big for its body. Long shiny talons and fingers were at the end of the arms.
What disturbed me the most was the creature's face.
A shadow of humanity was etched into its features. You could tell that at one time, whatever this creature was now, had at one point been human. But now its face was hollow and stretched. It had nothing where its nose should have been and no ears. The face was a combination of bone and taut skin. Like dried leather. Its skull and the parts where it was supposed to have eyes were made of bone, but the rest of its face moved with no structure to hold it together.