Lies
Come now, Sanguine. Are you even trying?
Kai screamed as he pulled himself out of sleep. He thrashed at the darkness around his head, fighting the specter of his fading nightmare.
This is all you're good for, you know. Anyone with as much beauty as you does not deserve dignity.
Balling his hands into fists, Kai arched his back, feeling the burn in his ever-sore bones. Get up. Everything's fine-
Make some noise, Sanguine.
Without any strength of will or mind, he surrendered. Rolling onto his side, he curled into a small, small ball and forced himself into silence. If he made any more noise, Besai might wake up and…
Pathetic. You're out of practice, it seems. Ah, well. I'll help you remember. Scream!
Panting, chest convulsing as though from a seizure, Kai opened his eyes. Not that it helped him to see; the blackness was thick enough to choke him.
He wasn't in his bed. Besai wasn't there, sleeping soundly on the mattress beside him. And that hadn't been just another nightmare about his hallucinations in sensory deprivation, or his experience with the plinking water torture.
It had been real, physical pain. True terror and helplessness unlike anything he'd ever thought possible.
"Kai?" Kyle said, causing Kai to freeze mid-breath. "I heard you scream. Did you have a nightmare?"
I heard you scream... Nya's voice whispered in his mind. Did you have a nightmare?
They had been on the Black Bounty. Kai had awakened from a bad dream, and Nya entered the room, trying to comfort him.
What's wrong? she asked.
Nothing. I just...hurt myself. That's why I shouted.
Where are you hurt? A pause, a look of distress. Why can't you trust me?
Lies, lies, and more lies. Fragile walls built to protect his heart of porcelain. Dirty, stained porcelain handled by too many soiled hands.
Nya's hand on his sweaty arm. I hate seeing you like this...
I can't change.
You don't have to change, Kai. But you should at least try to be a little more open about your pain.
Pain? A forced laugh. What pain? I'm fine, Sis.
Then she scooted closer, reaching out to touch his face. I only want to help...
Then, as always happened with lies, this one became too big for him to handle. He slapped Nya.
Nya. His dearest sister with a heart of gold: pure, unmarred.
He'd hurt her.
And then he'd killed her.
Stop struggling, Sanguine. You aren't getting free.
All those thoughts ripped through his mind in an instant. A horrible instant that seemed to stretch on for an eternity.
"Kai?" Kyle whispered again. "Are you awake?"
Kai released his breath. "Y...Yeah. I'm awake." Reaching out, he fumbled in the darkness until he found Kyle's leg. He held it- his only link to the world besides the warm stones beneath him- as he forced his chest in and out, trying without much success to alleviate his anxiety.
"That was fast," Kyle said. "You were only asleep for a few minutes, I think. Why don't you lie down and try to get some more rest?"
"N-No!" Kai said it too fast, and he stuttered as he tried to force out his next sentence. "I-I...I'm fine. I don't need sleep."
I despise you, Sanguine.
Kai pulled himself closer to Kyle, hiding his face in the Nindroid's tattered cloak, which did a decent job of absorbing his tears as he wept.
He had been listening to Kyle recite that book for hours before falling asleep. During that time, Overlord had passed their cell thrice, each time stopping and peeking in, but never entering. Kai did not understand it. Why had Overlord's eyes been narrowed so as he listened to Kyle's voice? Why had he looked ready to tear Kyle limb from limb, only to shrink back and resume his march down the tunnel, faster than when he'd come?
"Would you like to resume?" Kyle asked. "Time is running out. I only have a day left, at best. Not enough time to-"
"No, don't." Kai hated himself for allowing his voice to waver, as though he were a frightened child.
He could hear the sad smile in Kyle's voice as the Nindroid spoke. "All right, then. I'll wait."
Kai continued to cry into Kyle's side, feeling frail and exhausted.
Besai, he thought, feeling the earring still clutched in his right fist. He did not dare set it down, or even slip it into a pocket: his hand was the safest place. Anywhere else, the Overlord could find it and take it back from him.
How could she ever love me after this?
Kyle began to hum a song. He spoke no words, but his voice still rang clear and sweet. Kai could feel the Nindroid's body vibrate softly with the noise.
He almost begged Kyle to stop wasting his energy. But the song...it gave him a little bit of peace. Allowed him to stop trembling as much.
I'm so weak. How did I ever get here?
Tonight is the night.
Ilka quickly finished grinding her final bowl of baked coconut. The whitish bits stuck to her hands and got under her fingernails, but she hardly cared. She'd be out in the rain in just a few moments, anyway, and it would all wash away.
She set aside her flat grinding stone and poured the bowl of flour into a large underground silo, which she and about a hundred other women had been busy filling for the past hour or so. The rainy season was upon them. That meant the end of the harvest, so they needed to preserve as much food as possible to last until spring.
The stone warriors overseeing their work gave the signal- they were done working for the day, and it was time to go to their delegated buildings for sleep. As part of the younger class- Ilka was nine winters old- she slept in Building Two. But not tonight.
Tonight, she would choose two slaves and guide them to freedom.
Ilka took a step back, giving the room a final sweep. She had been thinking about it all evening, and still she struggled to come to a conclusion. Should she choose Terrwyn, the twenty-two winters woman with the baby boy strapped to her back? Or Kaniz, the pregnant fifteen-winters girl who struggled to stand from the floor so she could dump her grindings into the silo? Or maybe that boy, Amzi, who was only two mornings away from the day of his Transforming.
The stone warriors were getting impatient, scaring slaves out of the storehouse by waving their swords and shouting.
Ilka couldn't take Kaniz; they had far to travel, and the woman would not be fast or strong enough to make it.
Terrwyn and Amzi, then.
Ilka kept her head down as she passed the stone warriors. Outside, it was dark and raining. Thunder rumbled overhead. Water immediately soaked her clothing. Not that she minded; she loved rain. Here in the tropics, winter was her favorite season.
She found Amzi bending to pick up a small rock under a drooping avocado tree. He noticed her as she approached, straightening, rock in his palm.
"Yes?" he said. Like all boy slaves, he wore loose pants and a vest, leaving his chest- and the brand he'd received as a much smaller child- exposed.
"Come quietly," Ilka said, offering her hand to him.
"Where?" Amzi asked, thumbing his pebble with both hands to loose the mud.
Ilka looked over her shoulder at Terrwyn, who was just exiting the storehouse. "No time," she said. "Hurry. Please. To the lake."
"Curfew," Amzi said. "I must go to Building Two, same as you."
"No!" The storm muted Ilka's squeal. She took his arm. "Do you want to be free?"
This got his attention. He blinked at her, nodding once.
"Then follow me, please." Ilka let go and ran to catch Terrwyn.
This entire plan, as always, relied on secrecy. No one knew that there were slaves working undercover to free their companions- even most of the slaves themselves were oblivious to the workings of this secret group. This had kept the operation safe from Overlord's terrifying, all-knowing eye for years.
"Tryunjesh?" Ilka said, tapping Terrwyn's arm. "Miss?"
The woman gasped and leaped back, startled by the touch.
"Come with me, quickly," Ilka said. "You dropped some laundry by the water this afternoon."
A lie, but a convincing lie nonetheless. Every woman had forgotten laundry on the rocks at one point in their lives. It was a terrible crime, punished more severely than most others because fabric was difficult to produce here on the Dark Island.
Terrwyn's eyes widened. She pushed a dripping strand of hair from her face and nodded, following Ilka and Amzi through the shadows of the trees, down the path to the lake.
Just around the bend stood a stone warrior. It seemed surprised to see the drenched trio standing there.
Ilka thought fast. "A child," she said. "I am sorry. A child ran this way. Let us through. It might drown in the flooded river."
The stone warrior let them pass without a word.
That lie had been slightly less convincing- three people were never put in charge of the same child- but stone warriors tended to have underdeveloped faculties. Probably because they had been Transformed while their tender twelve-winter brains were still developing.
They reached the boulder pile by the lake- upturned because of the mysterious misadventure with the Dark Knight a couple months ago- and Ilka urged her two companions forward.
"It's about time you got here, plu'uto," Galya said, standing. "We've been waiting for-"
Ilka cut the woman off with an upraised hand as she walked past. "Yes. Yes. I am sorry, silo work ran later than I thought it would." She skirted the rock and inspected Galya's two slaves, sitting in the wet sand: one with two shivering toddlers on her lap, the other several months into pregnancy.
In total, they- Ilka and Galya- were rescuing four slaves and three children. Not as much as she'd like; there were several thousand slaves in the camp. But Overlord had been in a foul mood every time he came to the surface lately, making new rules and redoubling patrols, so they dared not take more than this number at a time.
Because they all knew what would happen if they were discovered. Several different people had been caught in their escape over the years. Each had died a slow, painful, public death.
Ilka shuddered, looking back to Galya. "You have supplies?"
"Of course," Galya replied. She lifted four packs from a hidden place in the rocks. She shouldered one, dropped the second at Ilka's feet, and handed a third to Amzi. The smallest one went to the expecting mother, who stood quickly and put it on her back. She looked at the faces around her with wide, disbelieving eyes. This was normal: in a civilization with no hope, suddenly being jerked out and dragged to freedom was...disconcerting, to say the least.
Every slave- even the boy Amzi- shared this look as they gathered around Gayla, the one clearly in charge. She stood tall and strong, despite her thirty long winters of life. Not many women lived to be as old as that. If over-breeding fatigue didn't kill them, death by stone warrior savagery usually did. Galya had avoided any grisly deaths because of her cunning.
"Were you seen?" Galya asked Ilka.
"Yes," she replied. "One guard. I told the child story."
"Good enough," Gayla said, turning her attention to the woman with the two children, wrapping them tightly in a water-resistant blanket.
Terrwyn processed everything with disbelief. "So...it was a lie. No laundry. You only wanted to take me away to death."
Gayla put a hand on Terrwyn's shoulder. "You were like a bird in a cage," she said. "Trapped and in fear. Now, we are opening that cage for you. You can fly."
"It is not safe," the woman with the two toddlers said.
"Of course not, Ovela," Galya said. "There is always a chance of predators snatching you up again. Just keep your wits about you, and you will be safe enough." She let go of Terrwyn and hit Ilka's scalp with the back of her hand.
"Get going, runt. Scout the river for patrols. We must cross quickly and leave this place."
Cole stood in the corridor outside Section Four's central chamber with Pixal, gathering his nerves. If Aysha's information was to be trusted, then on the other side of this door was a company of fifty stone warriors, led by an adolescent boy. They had taken captives, but were being suspiciously quiet about it. Why the silence?
"Don't tell me you're going in there with your baby," Pixal whispered.
"Nope." Cole dropped Chedva in her arms.
"Hey! I never said I would-"
"Shh!" Cole patted his side to make sure his Blade was still there. It thrummed at his touch.
Pixal lowered her voice again. "Cole, don't do this alone."
"I have to," Cole said. "They probably came for me and Kai. I don't want to get anyone else involved. Okay?" He put a hand on Chedva's fuzzy scalp and kissed her nose. "If they try to take the fortress, don't even try to fight back. Just run. Help people get out as fast as possible."
"But Cole-"
"This is serious, Pixal." Cole touched Chedva's tiny fingers, and out of reflex she gripped his thumb. "If Overlord gets Chedva, he'll probably kill her."
"He'll kill you, too."
"I won't go down without a fight, and you know it," Cole said. "Don't worry. I'll try to negotiate with the boy. But if that doesn't work..."
Pixal shuffled her feet uncomfortably, but nodded. "...Fine. If there's trouble, I'll run."
Cole held his child's hand for longer than he should have, given the circumstances. Chedva stared back with sad gray eyes, her lips puckered between sagging pink cheeks.
Then he let go and opened the door, shutting it behind him before anyone could see that Pixal was listening on the other side.
Cole blinked at the scene before him. At least seventy stone warriors stood in the chamber, staring at him. Aysha said fifty! Did more enter, or was her information faulty?
At the chamber's center were six people; five on the floor, the sixth- a boy- standing behind them. The boy in charge of this attack, most likely.
Cole did a quick sweep to make sure no one was injured. Jay had his back against one wheel of Cyrus' chair, looking uncomfortable but unharmed. Merv was next to him on her knees, crying softly. Besai looked numb and disconnected from her environment- she was probably the only one staring at the wall instead of at Cole. On the other side of Cyrus' chair was Liana, jaw set bravely despite her position in the midst of this horde of heartless enemies. All five captives were bound in those terrible, thick, coarse ropes intended to cut the skin and leave scars.
Cole approached, examining the boy. Fifteen, sixteen winters old. Blond hair, wet from snow. His round eyes represented a literal absence of color. Not white, but not gray either. Transparent, perhaps? He'd never seen anything like it before.
"You're Cole?" the boy asked, stepping around his captives.
"I am," Cole said, stopping a few paces from the boy.
"Good," the boy said. "I see the girl Nindroid found you, then."
"What do you want with these prisoners?" Cole asked.
"I've been told not to take Cyrus and Liana back with us," the boy said. "But I'm holding them for now so they can't raise an alarm. I'll let them go when I'm done here." He flushed, not meeting Cole's eyes. "I'm Senzo, by the way."
"I don't care who you are, kid," Cole snapped. "What about Jay, Merv, and Besai? What are they here for?"
"Witnesses," Senzo said. "They saw us as we were walking down the hall, and I didn't want an alarm raised. I'd planned to release them as soon as I had you. But...if you know them..." He bit his lower lip. "I have orders to take anyone you know, too."
Cole scoffed despite his lack of confidence. "That's it, huh? He wants me back. And he wants a fresh batch of friends to use against me because he's killed everyone he knows about."
"Listen, I don't know what his motives are," Senzo said. "I'm just following orders." He inhaled, then looked Cole straight in the eyes. "Look. I worked hard to keep these stone men under control. But if they get the scent of blood now-"
"I know how stone warriors work, kid," Cole snapped. "I was Overlord's lapdog for years before you."
"Then you understand, I can't let you try to fight them."
Cole nodded once crisply.
"They'll go crazy," Senzo said. "They'll kill everyone in this keep. Over a thousand people, dead. Just like that." He snapped his fingers. "It happened in Genesan, it could happen here, too. Unless you come peacefully."
Cole had a Blade, and so did Jay. But even if Jay's hands weren't tied right now, there was no way they could take out this many men. Not without the rest of the Blade-wielders to help.
Senzo was right. If Cole tried to fight, these men would cut him down and, drunk on bloodlust, go for more victims.
This was it, then? Come quietly, dragging Jay, Merv, and Besai back into hell with him, or fight and kill them all.
To Damnation! Why does it always have to be this way?
"We must hurry," Senzo said. "If we don't get back soon, the connection will cut. And if I'm not back in time..."
Oh, things just keep getting better, Cole thought. He's using the portal.
"You should know that I hate doing this," Senzo said. "But please, save us all. Come with me."
A similar situation had happened before, on the Dark Island. Zane and Jay had just found their Blades in that cavern by the lake, and the group was then attacked by stone warriors. Cole let himself get captured so the others could go free.
But this time, the stakes were much, much higher.
I'm going to die, no matter which option I choose. The only question is, do I want to die now, at the hands of these stone warriors, or later by the Overlord's whips and poisons?
He raised a hand to his left breast, feeling a tremor. Strange, because he hadn't felt any real discomfort since waking up on that day so long ago when Kai restarted his heart.
Kai...
The terrible tremor spread into his gut, churning his stomach.
"You have Kai, don't you?" Cole asked, unable to draw in a breath.
Senzo nodded. "He's...been there for a couple days now."
Besai pulled herself out of the trance at the mention of her husband's name. She whimpered, head drooping.
Jay closed his eyes, the pain evident: the three of them were thinking the same thing. They were supposed to protect Kai. With his slave mark, going back would mean him getting hurt in the worst way possible.
Cole could not restrain himself. He grabbed Senzo by the hair and threw him against the wall. "You bastard," he hissed. "You've condemned Kai to a fate worse than death! You do realize that, right?"
The stone warriors reacted immediately, drawing their swords.
Mindless monsters, Cole thought, spitting on the floor. He reached for his own weapon.
Varasach was probably dead now. Pixal would get Chedva to safety.
Let the whole world crash and burn, for all he cared. He'd failed Kai. He hadn't told Kai the implications of his tattoo, though now he wished he had. Maybe then Kai would have been more careful.
Cole drew Raindancer, and it grew into a slightly curved, long, one-handed sword. Its entire length glowed with a light that chased away the shadows, drenching every exposed surface with a terrible, fiery silver glow that burned the eyes of even the impenetrable stone warriors. Like a white-hot sun in his hands.
But Cole, the Black Knight, was able to stare straight into the center of the light storm he'd created.
"You bastards took everything from me!" Cole screamed, face hot with rage. "My freedom, my family, my pride- I've been broken and put back together so many times, I don't remember what it feels like to be normal!"
He jerked Senzo from the floor by his shirt. The boy's eyes were squeezed shut to block out the light, but the terror was evident in his squinted expression.
"Do you know how that feels?" Cole bellowed, tears running down his cheeks. "I have nothing left! Nothing!"
In the echoing silence that followed this proclamation, Cole heard a whimper. Breathing hard, he turned his head to see who it was.
It was Chedva. Cradled in Pixal's arms, her face covered with a cloth to keep out the light. Pixal had her eyes open, though; apparently Nindroids were as immune to Raindancer's light as Cole was.
But that look in Pixal's eyes, and the sounds from the unhappy child in her arms...
Senzo's shirt slipped from Cole's fingers, and the light began to fade.
"You're better than this, Cole," Pixal said. "Don't be a hypocrite."
Raindancer's light was snuffed out entirely as his rage turned to horror.
What am I doing? he asked himself as everyone tentatively opened their eyes, blinking- probably trying to get dark spots out of their vision. What am I doing?!
His pounding heart crammed in his throat, and he tried unsuccessfully to swallow as he sheathed his Blade. Senzo's just like me. I… He searched Senzo's eyes. Young eyes. Too young.
So this was the tipping point? Sympathy for this poor boy- and whatever family of his that was being held captive on the island- was the deciding factor in this awful battle for his loyalty?
His knees buckled, and he fell.
"Run, Pixal," he croaked.
She ran.