A Raven's Plight, page 37
“Not a chance, and I don’t plan on starting anytime soon.”
“There’s your reason.”
Gaige chuckled, enjoying a bit of light-hearted banter. It was good to talk like old times, but much like the beautiful sunset, at some point, they were always reminded of the ruins their lives held. Jacob had been particularly hard hit, and though he appeared to be holding together on the outside, Gaige sensed much more happening beneath the surface. “What’s brought you up here this evening?” He asked, trying to steer the conversation toward some answers.
Jacob walked to the front of the platform and leaned against it, letting out a heavy sigh as he stared toward the fading light. “A week and a half ago I thought I knew who I was.”
Gaige shooed Jasper away, and leaned beside his friend, following his gaze. He suspected more happened while Jacob was captive on the enemy ship than he admitted to before, but he also understood that some things took time. Sometimes there were good reasons for holding back information, and given Jacob’s training, Gaige didn’t doubt his judgment. “You’re eighteen. My dad is forty-five, and still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he ‘grows up’, let alone know who he is. No one expects you to know any better, especially not when the world is crashing down around us.”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s… it’s about Ayla, and what we discussed before. You know… just before everything came ‘crashing down.’”
Gaige had to think for a moment. It had felt like a lifetime since they were marching through the forest on their way back to Skycity62. “That she can’t stay with us?” He asked, feeling a similar sense of unease like he had during the first conversation.
“Yes,” Jacob replied. There was a minute of silence between them as Gaige waited for him to say more, knowing that his friend was struggling. “If Ayla comes to us, and the enemy knows she’s here, we’ll be a lot more than just an annoyance to them. I know we’re working to make weapons and teach people how to defend themselves, but the balance is not in our favor. They have infiltrated our government, Gaige. They have a nearly endless supply of human pawns, and who knows how many of the giants there are lurking in the skies above. Even if Ayla does have her power, what hope do we have of resisting them?”
It was a question that Gaige had tried his best to ignore. The greatest hope their camp had of survival was either to remain undetected, or not worth attacking. As it was, they were a bunch of ragtag survivors that had nothing of value to offer. But… “They know Ayla will try to return to us, don’t they? That’s why they’re still down here, isn’t it?”
Jacob wouldn’t meet his gaze, casting his eyes down into the branches below. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, giving a slow nod instead.
“They’re setting a trap,” Gaige realized, his friend nodding once more. “But they’re afraid of the forest. Aria thought we would be safe here from them.”
Jacob shook his head. “For how long, Gaige? Why was Tony trying to bring her to some cave in the mountains if she were totally safe in the forest?”
Because of this sickness, he wanted to say, but then, if that really were the case and the forest was safe, then why didn’t Aria leave the mystery antidote with Tony to start off? The illusion of safety that Gaige had worked so hard to construct for himself seemed to be chipping away, and the sense of security in Ayla’s return began to dissolve. What would happen when the trap sprung? Perhaps more urgently, what did they think it would take to reel Ayla in?
“What happened on that ship, Jacob? You’ve got to tell me.”
The other young man hung his head, grief and shame lining his features. “I told them the truth. If Ayla returns to us, we have no choice but to surrender her. The consequences of resistance are devastation.”
Silence hung thick between them as Gaige tried to digest his words. Surrender? How did it come to this? When Eldereth had taken Ayla before, it was with the hope that she would come into her power, and fight against the forces of evil. What happened? At what point had it all gone awry? There were too many unanswered questions, he realized. Things he should have asked the moment Jacob informed him of Ayla’s return to Airhee, but he had been too distracted by the circumstances. “She was supposed to be safe with them,” he said instead. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jacob answered. “She was in transit for some reason, and the ship went down. I wasn’t told much more than that. All I know is that she would stop at nothing to return to us, and now that is exactly what they’re hoping for.”
Gaige scanned the border below again, thinking of Belle, her smile, her laugh, and her safety. If anything were to happen to her, he would be crushed. Life was hard, but it was worth living so long as he had her. As he looked at Jacob, he wondered just what it would take to give up that kind of love. In his mind, Gaige envisioned himself leaping through flame walls, walking on shards of glass, fighting off hordes of monsters, and more. “What do you think will happen if she doesn’t surrender?”
“Killing. I think they’ll start killing.”
He suddenly understood. Jacob saw Ayla’s surrender as an exchange. Her life for everyone elses’. Mathematically, it made absolute sense, but the emotional toll… He didn’t even want to think about it. More than anything, he wanted Jacob to be wrong. “What if she isn’t willing to surrender?”
“I don’t know,” he said softly, a breeze picking up as darkness fell. Upon the wind rode the sound of wolves howling, somewhere deeper in the forest. Gaige turned his head for a moment toward Mt. Fremier, never having heard the pack on the near side of the mountain. Perhaps they realized that the city had fallen, and there was new prey to be had. The idea made him shudder, giving him the distinct sensation of walls slowly closing in. If Ayla was out there somewhere, he hoped it was far from the predators that lurked in the deepwood.
“There is a lot we won’t know until she manages to return to us,” Gaige replied, his eyes still toward the sounds of howling. “If she returns to us…”
Damion was slow to come to, the warmth of the orb still encompassing him much like a mother’s embrace. Safe… He rolled to one side, his eyes landing on the still-sleeping form of Ayla. She must go home… How could she not see that? Even as he thought it, the girl began to stir, and the quiet relaxation he felt evaporated. It was all building to an impasse now, a decision had to be made. But I won’t force her. Whatever she chooses is her choice. The consequences are hers to deal with.
Ayla’s eyes fluttered open, the grass green color still obvious in the dim light as she gazed at him. He wished he could stare into those eyes everyday, never doubting that she wanted the same thing, but sometimes, he understood, life was unfair. He had been charged with the duty of returning her to Zvalvadoria. Without her, how many civil wars would start over diminishing resources? The whole of their species might gradually dwindle until there was nothing left.
“Good morning,” she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes and looking up to the orb. “Sleep well?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet. How was he supposed to say what needed to be said, especially when he didn’t want to? He wasn’t ready to sever the connection, to cut the string that beckoned him to pull harder and explore what might be waiting on the other end. But what other choices were there?
“I can’t believe how well I slept,” Ayla continued with a yawn, before staring out over the lake. Though her voice was pleasant, her face seemed troubled. “Just odd dreams…”
“What about?” He asked, hoping that perhaps his work had already been done for him.
“Oh, nothing. Just silly things. You know how dreams can be.”
She must go home… “Unless they’re not dreams,” he said softly.
“What did you say?” She asked in surprise.
“Unless they’re not dreams,” he repeated, meeting her gaze. “What did she tell you, Ayla?”
A defensive expression crossed her face before she shrugged it off. “What do you mean?”
“Your mother, Ayla. I know she spoke with you last night.”
“Come on Damion, that’s ridiculous. You must have had some crazy dreams too.”
For a moment he was both annoyed and briefly hopeful, but quickly assured himself that what he’d experienced was real. This was an unwanted conversation on both ends. “She told you to go to Zvalvadoria, didn’t she?”
At this, Ayla looked down at her hands, her brows bent forward in anger. “I will not abandon my friends,” she said. “That is not who I am.”
“Then protect them,” he offered. “Without you, they are of no interest to Giska. Without you, maybe she’ll even overlook them. Who knows, but so long as she doesn’t know they’re important to you, she can’t use them against you.”
“And what? Spend the rest of my life wondering about them? Spent the rest of my life knowing that the enslavement of humankind is my fault? That I could have done something, but didn’t?” She stood up and brushed her pants off, walking to the now-dead fire and setting it alight with fresh kindling and some matches.
Damion took a deep breath and tried to find his footing. He walked to the opposite side of the growing flames, careful to choose the most impactful words he could. “You can’t be with him…” Her eyes snapped up at this, but Damion continued before she could reply. “Even in a world where there was no threat, he would grow old while you remain young. The years would pass, Ayla, and he would wear time in the wrinkles on his face, the stoop in his back, the cane in his hand, until eventually he returned to the dust from whence he came, all while you remained the same. Is that what you want?”
She stood up, uncontrolled anger etched into each angle of her face. “How dare you,” she whispered, but he cut her off before she could say more.
“How dare I what? Tell you the truth that you’ve been too stubborn to admit to yourself? If you’re going to make a decision, make it with clear eyes at least.”
“You have no right to talk about things you do not understand.”
“What don’t I understand, Ayla? You love a human boy, and are very attached to your family. If you go back to them, they will die.”
“And if I don’t, they’ll live out the rest of their lives as slaves!” She countered, her voice shaking. “How long will they live then? Does Giska deal mercifully with her slaves, or does she grind them into the ground? They’ll have what, five, maybe seven years? Less? How should I know? All I know is that Giska is evil, and I cannot allow her to rule over humankind.”
“Then return to Zvalvadoria with me!” He pleaded. “Ayla, maybe Giska has the throne now, but if you fool her long enough, maybe one day you can claim back what is rightfully yours!” The words were pouring out now before he could even screen them. “You can return to Airhee, and liberate humankind forever. Isn’t that what your friends would have wanted? Don’t you think that’s what Jacob would want?”
Her eyes were ablaze as she paused, her voice full of accusation when she finally spoke. “You played the game well, Damion. I’ll admit you had me deceived, but now it’s obvious where your true loyalties lie. I will not surrender, and nothing you say will change that.”
Frustration welled up on him, bursting into anger. Was she really so foolishly blind to the truth that was right in front of her? Even after her own mother told her to return to Zvalvadoria? Was she so willing to throw the lives of millions of Umanei away for a few close friends and family? Was she so selfish? “What then, Ayla? What’s your plan? To find your friends? To fight with them? What do you think is going to happen? Giska has developed technology that shields against psarma and bullets alike. She can take them alive, and destroy their minds, making them slaves whether they want to be or not. If it’s a war you want, she will spare no flourish to destroy everything you know and love in front of you, until you’re begging her to take you too. One way or another, you will end up in her possession. Do you want captivity with hope, or an imprisonment of destitution? Don’t be naive.”
“I was naive to trust that you’d changed,” she said bitterly. “You can trust that I won’t make that mistake again. I was wrong about you Damion…”
“I have changed! Everything has changed about me,” he shouted, “but nothing has changed about Zvalvadoria, or our needs as a people. Your choice will have consequences, Ayla, and I don’t want to see you hurt!”
“Enough!” She screamed. “I’m done talking about this, and if you can’t drop it, then just go! I will not surrender!”
His frustration and anger fused. “You’re condemning them all to die. I’m trying to warn you!”
“You’re trying to manipulate me.” her voice dropped, her next words clear and pronounced. “Perhaps you and Anash aren’t so different after all.”
Damion clenched his teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight back the anger, but when he opened them, his vision was already red as fury took control. All his compassion and empathy shattered like glass against the hot anvil of his wrath, and suddenly all he wanted was to hurt her. He clenched his fists tightly, and reached for one of the long branches within the fire, pulling out a torch. For a tense moment, he and Ayla merely stared at each other, before he turned and walked toward the south exit. He paused before leaving the cavern and spoke over his shoulder to her. “I want you to remember this moment as you watch your friends being slaughtered. Remember that you could have saved them, but chose not to.” And then he left her.
Ayla thought she knew what silence meant. All those warm days relaxing by the pond, the stiflingly hot hiking trips in late summer, or the long winter nights in the tree house. But now as she sat alone in the massive cavern, she realized what silence truly meant. There were no birds singing, no bugs chirping, no water trickling, no wind blowing through the trees, no patter of rain against the leaves… There was just the sound of her breathing, occasionally interrupted by sobs.
She knelt on the shore, her arms wrapped tightly around her torso as she rocked back and forth. It had been easy to pretend she was an adult in the face of her enemies, but now all alone in the dark, she felt more like a child than ever. I want to go home… I want my Dad… She believed she was doing the right thing by returning, but letting Damion walk away felt like the biggest mistake she’d ever made. There were so many words that had passed between them, and she knew that many of hers were spoken out of anger. She had wanted to hurt him, to make him go away. But now that she was alone. I want you to remember this moment as you watch your friends being slaughtered…
Ayla stood to her feet, her eyes turning toward the south exit as she felt a wave of fear thrill through her. I have to warn them… I have to help them… I can’t wait here for disaster to happen. She glanced at the orb, and then ran to the shelves against the back wall, grabbing a small sack and filling it with food packets, before grabbing a torch and making for the exit.
“Ayla…” came an ethereal voice, tendrils from the orb drifted down and encircled her. “It is not yet safe for you to leave…”
“Why should I sit here safe and warm while my friends remain in danger? I can’t sit idle any longer.”
“I cannot guarantee your protection outside of this place.”
“I didn’t expect you would. Thank you for what you’ve told me… but I can’t stay here and do nothing.”
“Did you hear nothing of what I told you?”
Ayla felt a flicker of annoyance. “I will not let my life be controlled by your ideas of destiny. This is my life, and I will leave now.” She continued toward the exit, when a gentle breeze ruffled her hair, accompanied by a sigh.
“Oh, my sweet little fool… Know that I love you, and will always do what I can to protect you, no matter how defiant you are…”
Ayla spun in shock as the tendrils of psarma circled faster, the orb twisting into strand after strand, until she was completely surrounded by light. “What are you doing? Stop! Please!”
“I will protect you…”
Just as the tendrils finished joining to form a solid wall, the light blindingly bright, everything just stopped. Time seemed frozen as Ayla stared into the wall of power, the air almost thick as she reached out a finger to touch it. Just before her finger brushed against the edge, the light suddenly shot forward, throwing itself into Ayla from every direction. The impact was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, her skin like fire, her bones like shards of glass, her eyes like sawdust… but as quickly as it came, the pain was gone. Ayla found herself gasping on her knees with nothing more than a pounding headache, and the cavern was dark, save for the fire behind her and the torch beside her.
“Mom?” She asked, standing up and squinting. There was nothing. The warmth and sense of safety had vanished. Her mother was gone. Feeling more alone than before, Ayla stepped out the exit and made her way up the tunnel, desperate for the light of the sun.
Chapter
Twenty
The soft patter of rain against leaves greeted Ayla as she emerged from the cave, and even though the sky was heavy with dark clouds, the light made her squint in discomfort. Her headache had returned with a vengeance, and the reprieve she’d experienced in the cavern made her feel like she’d lost some of her earlier tolerance.
Unlike the opening on the other side of the mountain, the south exit merged straight into dense wood, trees and underbrush. Ayla stumbled as she climbed over some of the tall ferns, until finding her footing on softer moss and pine needles. I can’t afford to shamble along, Damion could be miles ahead of me by now. Just run, just do it. Without further hesitation, she threw herself into a steady trot, aided by the fact that most of the trek was downhill. As Ayla peered through the trees ahead, looking to the sky for the familiar marker of the skycity chords, she was suddenly thankful for the dense cloud layer. She wasn’t sure she could handle seeing the stark emptiness of a city-free sky.
Regret poured down on her in tandem with the massive wet droplets of water. Even without trying, she’d somehow given too much of herself over to the enemy, and now he was walking away with it to his master. How? And what would happen once he reached Giska? What act of betrayal would he commit against her? I shouldn’t have let him go… But I couldn’t have stopped him either. Even if I had that kind of power, I couldn’t have used it… Not on him. A flicker of doubt caused her to pause as she looked down on the increasingly familiar landscape. What If I can’t save them… What if Damion is right? Fear ran up her spine like a massive writhing spider. I can’t think like that. I can’t afford to lose faith. She made to move again, when a long howl sounded from somewhere further south, followed by a chorus of responding yelps. Instantly, Ayla assessed that the wolves were perhaps a mile southwest of her, and judging by her previous experience, they were closing in on some sort of prey.
“There’s your reason.”
Gaige chuckled, enjoying a bit of light-hearted banter. It was good to talk like old times, but much like the beautiful sunset, at some point, they were always reminded of the ruins their lives held. Jacob had been particularly hard hit, and though he appeared to be holding together on the outside, Gaige sensed much more happening beneath the surface. “What’s brought you up here this evening?” He asked, trying to steer the conversation toward some answers.
Jacob walked to the front of the platform and leaned against it, letting out a heavy sigh as he stared toward the fading light. “A week and a half ago I thought I knew who I was.”
Gaige shooed Jasper away, and leaned beside his friend, following his gaze. He suspected more happened while Jacob was captive on the enemy ship than he admitted to before, but he also understood that some things took time. Sometimes there were good reasons for holding back information, and given Jacob’s training, Gaige didn’t doubt his judgment. “You’re eighteen. My dad is forty-five, and still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he ‘grows up’, let alone know who he is. No one expects you to know any better, especially not when the world is crashing down around us.”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s… it’s about Ayla, and what we discussed before. You know… just before everything came ‘crashing down.’”
Gaige had to think for a moment. It had felt like a lifetime since they were marching through the forest on their way back to Skycity62. “That she can’t stay with us?” He asked, feeling a similar sense of unease like he had during the first conversation.
“Yes,” Jacob replied. There was a minute of silence between them as Gaige waited for him to say more, knowing that his friend was struggling. “If Ayla comes to us, and the enemy knows she’s here, we’ll be a lot more than just an annoyance to them. I know we’re working to make weapons and teach people how to defend themselves, but the balance is not in our favor. They have infiltrated our government, Gaige. They have a nearly endless supply of human pawns, and who knows how many of the giants there are lurking in the skies above. Even if Ayla does have her power, what hope do we have of resisting them?”
It was a question that Gaige had tried his best to ignore. The greatest hope their camp had of survival was either to remain undetected, or not worth attacking. As it was, they were a bunch of ragtag survivors that had nothing of value to offer. But… “They know Ayla will try to return to us, don’t they? That’s why they’re still down here, isn’t it?”
Jacob wouldn’t meet his gaze, casting his eyes down into the branches below. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, giving a slow nod instead.
“They’re setting a trap,” Gaige realized, his friend nodding once more. “But they’re afraid of the forest. Aria thought we would be safe here from them.”
Jacob shook his head. “For how long, Gaige? Why was Tony trying to bring her to some cave in the mountains if she were totally safe in the forest?”
Because of this sickness, he wanted to say, but then, if that really were the case and the forest was safe, then why didn’t Aria leave the mystery antidote with Tony to start off? The illusion of safety that Gaige had worked so hard to construct for himself seemed to be chipping away, and the sense of security in Ayla’s return began to dissolve. What would happen when the trap sprung? Perhaps more urgently, what did they think it would take to reel Ayla in?
“What happened on that ship, Jacob? You’ve got to tell me.”
The other young man hung his head, grief and shame lining his features. “I told them the truth. If Ayla returns to us, we have no choice but to surrender her. The consequences of resistance are devastation.”
Silence hung thick between them as Gaige tried to digest his words. Surrender? How did it come to this? When Eldereth had taken Ayla before, it was with the hope that she would come into her power, and fight against the forces of evil. What happened? At what point had it all gone awry? There were too many unanswered questions, he realized. Things he should have asked the moment Jacob informed him of Ayla’s return to Airhee, but he had been too distracted by the circumstances. “She was supposed to be safe with them,” he said instead. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jacob answered. “She was in transit for some reason, and the ship went down. I wasn’t told much more than that. All I know is that she would stop at nothing to return to us, and now that is exactly what they’re hoping for.”
Gaige scanned the border below again, thinking of Belle, her smile, her laugh, and her safety. If anything were to happen to her, he would be crushed. Life was hard, but it was worth living so long as he had her. As he looked at Jacob, he wondered just what it would take to give up that kind of love. In his mind, Gaige envisioned himself leaping through flame walls, walking on shards of glass, fighting off hordes of monsters, and more. “What do you think will happen if she doesn’t surrender?”
“Killing. I think they’ll start killing.”
He suddenly understood. Jacob saw Ayla’s surrender as an exchange. Her life for everyone elses’. Mathematically, it made absolute sense, but the emotional toll… He didn’t even want to think about it. More than anything, he wanted Jacob to be wrong. “What if she isn’t willing to surrender?”
“I don’t know,” he said softly, a breeze picking up as darkness fell. Upon the wind rode the sound of wolves howling, somewhere deeper in the forest. Gaige turned his head for a moment toward Mt. Fremier, never having heard the pack on the near side of the mountain. Perhaps they realized that the city had fallen, and there was new prey to be had. The idea made him shudder, giving him the distinct sensation of walls slowly closing in. If Ayla was out there somewhere, he hoped it was far from the predators that lurked in the deepwood.
“There is a lot we won’t know until she manages to return to us,” Gaige replied, his eyes still toward the sounds of howling. “If she returns to us…”
Damion was slow to come to, the warmth of the orb still encompassing him much like a mother’s embrace. Safe… He rolled to one side, his eyes landing on the still-sleeping form of Ayla. She must go home… How could she not see that? Even as he thought it, the girl began to stir, and the quiet relaxation he felt evaporated. It was all building to an impasse now, a decision had to be made. But I won’t force her. Whatever she chooses is her choice. The consequences are hers to deal with.
Ayla’s eyes fluttered open, the grass green color still obvious in the dim light as she gazed at him. He wished he could stare into those eyes everyday, never doubting that she wanted the same thing, but sometimes, he understood, life was unfair. He had been charged with the duty of returning her to Zvalvadoria. Without her, how many civil wars would start over diminishing resources? The whole of their species might gradually dwindle until there was nothing left.
“Good morning,” she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes and looking up to the orb. “Sleep well?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet. How was he supposed to say what needed to be said, especially when he didn’t want to? He wasn’t ready to sever the connection, to cut the string that beckoned him to pull harder and explore what might be waiting on the other end. But what other choices were there?
“I can’t believe how well I slept,” Ayla continued with a yawn, before staring out over the lake. Though her voice was pleasant, her face seemed troubled. “Just odd dreams…”
“What about?” He asked, hoping that perhaps his work had already been done for him.
“Oh, nothing. Just silly things. You know how dreams can be.”
She must go home… “Unless they’re not dreams,” he said softly.
“What did you say?” She asked in surprise.
“Unless they’re not dreams,” he repeated, meeting her gaze. “What did she tell you, Ayla?”
A defensive expression crossed her face before she shrugged it off. “What do you mean?”
“Your mother, Ayla. I know she spoke with you last night.”
“Come on Damion, that’s ridiculous. You must have had some crazy dreams too.”
For a moment he was both annoyed and briefly hopeful, but quickly assured himself that what he’d experienced was real. This was an unwanted conversation on both ends. “She told you to go to Zvalvadoria, didn’t she?”
At this, Ayla looked down at her hands, her brows bent forward in anger. “I will not abandon my friends,” she said. “That is not who I am.”
“Then protect them,” he offered. “Without you, they are of no interest to Giska. Without you, maybe she’ll even overlook them. Who knows, but so long as she doesn’t know they’re important to you, she can’t use them against you.”
“And what? Spend the rest of my life wondering about them? Spent the rest of my life knowing that the enslavement of humankind is my fault? That I could have done something, but didn’t?” She stood up and brushed her pants off, walking to the now-dead fire and setting it alight with fresh kindling and some matches.
Damion took a deep breath and tried to find his footing. He walked to the opposite side of the growing flames, careful to choose the most impactful words he could. “You can’t be with him…” Her eyes snapped up at this, but Damion continued before she could reply. “Even in a world where there was no threat, he would grow old while you remain young. The years would pass, Ayla, and he would wear time in the wrinkles on his face, the stoop in his back, the cane in his hand, until eventually he returned to the dust from whence he came, all while you remained the same. Is that what you want?”
She stood up, uncontrolled anger etched into each angle of her face. “How dare you,” she whispered, but he cut her off before she could say more.
“How dare I what? Tell you the truth that you’ve been too stubborn to admit to yourself? If you’re going to make a decision, make it with clear eyes at least.”
“You have no right to talk about things you do not understand.”
“What don’t I understand, Ayla? You love a human boy, and are very attached to your family. If you go back to them, they will die.”
“And if I don’t, they’ll live out the rest of their lives as slaves!” She countered, her voice shaking. “How long will they live then? Does Giska deal mercifully with her slaves, or does she grind them into the ground? They’ll have what, five, maybe seven years? Less? How should I know? All I know is that Giska is evil, and I cannot allow her to rule over humankind.”
“Then return to Zvalvadoria with me!” He pleaded. “Ayla, maybe Giska has the throne now, but if you fool her long enough, maybe one day you can claim back what is rightfully yours!” The words were pouring out now before he could even screen them. “You can return to Airhee, and liberate humankind forever. Isn’t that what your friends would have wanted? Don’t you think that’s what Jacob would want?”
Her eyes were ablaze as she paused, her voice full of accusation when she finally spoke. “You played the game well, Damion. I’ll admit you had me deceived, but now it’s obvious where your true loyalties lie. I will not surrender, and nothing you say will change that.”
Frustration welled up on him, bursting into anger. Was she really so foolishly blind to the truth that was right in front of her? Even after her own mother told her to return to Zvalvadoria? Was she so willing to throw the lives of millions of Umanei away for a few close friends and family? Was she so selfish? “What then, Ayla? What’s your plan? To find your friends? To fight with them? What do you think is going to happen? Giska has developed technology that shields against psarma and bullets alike. She can take them alive, and destroy their minds, making them slaves whether they want to be or not. If it’s a war you want, she will spare no flourish to destroy everything you know and love in front of you, until you’re begging her to take you too. One way or another, you will end up in her possession. Do you want captivity with hope, or an imprisonment of destitution? Don’t be naive.”
“I was naive to trust that you’d changed,” she said bitterly. “You can trust that I won’t make that mistake again. I was wrong about you Damion…”
“I have changed! Everything has changed about me,” he shouted, “but nothing has changed about Zvalvadoria, or our needs as a people. Your choice will have consequences, Ayla, and I don’t want to see you hurt!”
“Enough!” She screamed. “I’m done talking about this, and if you can’t drop it, then just go! I will not surrender!”
His frustration and anger fused. “You’re condemning them all to die. I’m trying to warn you!”
“You’re trying to manipulate me.” her voice dropped, her next words clear and pronounced. “Perhaps you and Anash aren’t so different after all.”
Damion clenched his teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight back the anger, but when he opened them, his vision was already red as fury took control. All his compassion and empathy shattered like glass against the hot anvil of his wrath, and suddenly all he wanted was to hurt her. He clenched his fists tightly, and reached for one of the long branches within the fire, pulling out a torch. For a tense moment, he and Ayla merely stared at each other, before he turned and walked toward the south exit. He paused before leaving the cavern and spoke over his shoulder to her. “I want you to remember this moment as you watch your friends being slaughtered. Remember that you could have saved them, but chose not to.” And then he left her.
Ayla thought she knew what silence meant. All those warm days relaxing by the pond, the stiflingly hot hiking trips in late summer, or the long winter nights in the tree house. But now as she sat alone in the massive cavern, she realized what silence truly meant. There were no birds singing, no bugs chirping, no water trickling, no wind blowing through the trees, no patter of rain against the leaves… There was just the sound of her breathing, occasionally interrupted by sobs.
She knelt on the shore, her arms wrapped tightly around her torso as she rocked back and forth. It had been easy to pretend she was an adult in the face of her enemies, but now all alone in the dark, she felt more like a child than ever. I want to go home… I want my Dad… She believed she was doing the right thing by returning, but letting Damion walk away felt like the biggest mistake she’d ever made. There were so many words that had passed between them, and she knew that many of hers were spoken out of anger. She had wanted to hurt him, to make him go away. But now that she was alone. I want you to remember this moment as you watch your friends being slaughtered…
Ayla stood to her feet, her eyes turning toward the south exit as she felt a wave of fear thrill through her. I have to warn them… I have to help them… I can’t wait here for disaster to happen. She glanced at the orb, and then ran to the shelves against the back wall, grabbing a small sack and filling it with food packets, before grabbing a torch and making for the exit.
“Ayla…” came an ethereal voice, tendrils from the orb drifted down and encircled her. “It is not yet safe for you to leave…”
“Why should I sit here safe and warm while my friends remain in danger? I can’t sit idle any longer.”
“I cannot guarantee your protection outside of this place.”
“I didn’t expect you would. Thank you for what you’ve told me… but I can’t stay here and do nothing.”
“Did you hear nothing of what I told you?”
Ayla felt a flicker of annoyance. “I will not let my life be controlled by your ideas of destiny. This is my life, and I will leave now.” She continued toward the exit, when a gentle breeze ruffled her hair, accompanied by a sigh.
“Oh, my sweet little fool… Know that I love you, and will always do what I can to protect you, no matter how defiant you are…”
Ayla spun in shock as the tendrils of psarma circled faster, the orb twisting into strand after strand, until she was completely surrounded by light. “What are you doing? Stop! Please!”
“I will protect you…”
Just as the tendrils finished joining to form a solid wall, the light blindingly bright, everything just stopped. Time seemed frozen as Ayla stared into the wall of power, the air almost thick as she reached out a finger to touch it. Just before her finger brushed against the edge, the light suddenly shot forward, throwing itself into Ayla from every direction. The impact was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, her skin like fire, her bones like shards of glass, her eyes like sawdust… but as quickly as it came, the pain was gone. Ayla found herself gasping on her knees with nothing more than a pounding headache, and the cavern was dark, save for the fire behind her and the torch beside her.
“Mom?” She asked, standing up and squinting. There was nothing. The warmth and sense of safety had vanished. Her mother was gone. Feeling more alone than before, Ayla stepped out the exit and made her way up the tunnel, desperate for the light of the sun.
Chapter
Twenty
The soft patter of rain against leaves greeted Ayla as she emerged from the cave, and even though the sky was heavy with dark clouds, the light made her squint in discomfort. Her headache had returned with a vengeance, and the reprieve she’d experienced in the cavern made her feel like she’d lost some of her earlier tolerance.
Unlike the opening on the other side of the mountain, the south exit merged straight into dense wood, trees and underbrush. Ayla stumbled as she climbed over some of the tall ferns, until finding her footing on softer moss and pine needles. I can’t afford to shamble along, Damion could be miles ahead of me by now. Just run, just do it. Without further hesitation, she threw herself into a steady trot, aided by the fact that most of the trek was downhill. As Ayla peered through the trees ahead, looking to the sky for the familiar marker of the skycity chords, she was suddenly thankful for the dense cloud layer. She wasn’t sure she could handle seeing the stark emptiness of a city-free sky.
Regret poured down on her in tandem with the massive wet droplets of water. Even without trying, she’d somehow given too much of herself over to the enemy, and now he was walking away with it to his master. How? And what would happen once he reached Giska? What act of betrayal would he commit against her? I shouldn’t have let him go… But I couldn’t have stopped him either. Even if I had that kind of power, I couldn’t have used it… Not on him. A flicker of doubt caused her to pause as she looked down on the increasingly familiar landscape. What If I can’t save them… What if Damion is right? Fear ran up her spine like a massive writhing spider. I can’t think like that. I can’t afford to lose faith. She made to move again, when a long howl sounded from somewhere further south, followed by a chorus of responding yelps. Instantly, Ayla assessed that the wolves were perhaps a mile southwest of her, and judging by her previous experience, they were closing in on some sort of prey.
