Chapter 9
The cages that held the twenty were individualized, and suspended like bird cages. It was not clear what structure held them suspended. The cloudscape rolled like a troubled sea above them. The landscape was harsh and seemed barren of life. Each cage was suspended above a bubbling, sulfur smelling, rainbow slicked pools of waters. The ground ranged from blood red to orange, and streaked with yellow veins. It seemed to go on forever. A land pockmarked with boiling springs and human sized bird cages seemingly into infinity. There were empty cages surrounding the twenty. There were cages with skeletons in them. If there was any question to whether a human might arrive in a cage that had been previously occupied, the twenty had it. There were bones in some. Rotting corpses with maggots in a few. One had a cadaver that was a human body with an octopus head. That man screamed and retreated as far as he could from the creature. The eyes seemed to be staring at him, even though they were oddly placed compared to human eyes.
The cages were gold and jeweled.
Kea sat down in her cage and stared at the ground beyond the bars. Cockburn shook his cage and discovered he could open it. Jewels in the cage flared. A wing serpent descended from the sky and tried to eat him, but Cockburn retreated back into his cage. The serpent encircled the cage, rattling it. It hissed fiercely, revealing shark like teeth, and went back into the sky.
“What fucking level of hell is this?” Cockburn asked.
“Hell is hell,” Man said.
“This is all your fault, bitch!” Afansy snapped.
“Justice is justice,” Kea mumbled.
“What did I ever do to you?” Afansy said.
“You raped me,” Kea said; the statement came with no emotions- it was a level of acceptance that mirrored her original acceptance of the assault. “You robbed me. You left me with an unwanted child. Every day I see him, I am reminded of my fear, my hate, my disgust. I hate you and I hate myself for not loving the child because I see your fucking face hovering over me. That child doesn’t deserve me. It didn’t deserve what you brought.”
“I have never met you before in my life!” Afansy said.
“Perhaps you couldn’t see me under the tarp, lying in the lavender? You told me to take it or you would kill me and pleasure yourself with my daughter,” Kea said.
“I would never…” The jewels of his cage flared and it dropped towards the boiling water.
He clutched hold of the cage and it burned it hands. He let go.
“When we get out of this, I am going to kill you,” Man said. His cage did not fall.
Afansy was quiet.
“Unless you want to keep denying it,” Man said. “Spare me the trouble.”
“I remember having consensual sex with a woman that escaped the city with me. But I would never harm a child,” Afansy said.
The jewels flared and the cage dropped again.
“It would likely be best if you hold your tongue,” Kea said.
“As if you care,” Afansy said.
Kea met his eyes. “I’ve been dead for a long time. Are you ready to die again?”
“No one’s going to die today. We’re going to get out of this,” Man said.
“We are?” Cockburn asked.
“Did my cage fall, or did I speak truth?” Man asked.
“Death is an out,” one of the twenty said.
“I don’t want to die,” Cockburn said. “I was enjoying life. Why did we all get punished for the sin of those two?”
“Either I failed to use greater clarity in my request for justice, or in tolerating a murderous, raping bastard in our party, we all became suspect,” Man said.
A scream in the distance echoed across the landscape. Gilded cages tinkled in a breeze as they collided like wind chimes. Silence fell and then the soft, silent churning of water below them became noticeable.
“I am sorry for everything I did wrong, knowingly or otherwise,” Cockburn said.
His cage fell.
“What the fuck?! That’s truth!” Cockburn pleased.
“It would be best to do what the lady says. Hold your tongue,” Man said.
निनमित
Kimber emerged from the tent. The fire had long sense faded. Lakin was asleep, his head resting on his pack. He was likely not aware that he was clutching his stick in his sleep- corpse pose.
She walked to the center of the clearing and studied the sky. The trees were silent. There was a stillness so solid that the trembling of leaves could be discerned. It was a pitch softer than tinnitus, softer than snowflakes landing on a blanket of snow. The great mother was above her.
The Emissary was tracking one direction. Silhouettes of dragons tracked in the other direction.
Her wand began to glow.
“Lakin?” Kimber asked, breathlessly. Her heart pounded in her chest so loudly she didn’t think she uttered his name at all.
“What?!”
Kimber looked back at him. He was spinning in a circle, pointing his stick as shadows.
He had yet to realize what those shadows were. He turned to Kimber, staring angrily.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Did your trouble come at you as dragons?” Kimber asked.
He was quiet. “No. Why?”
A shadow passed over them. He looked up. The Great mother hosted silhouettes of dragons.
“Fuck me,” Lakin said, breathlessly. He quickly joined Kimber by her side.
“We should return to the city. They might need our help,” Kimber said.
“What?! Are you nuts?” Lakin asked.
“We are the troubled, not the cowards,” Kimber said. “Trouble doesn’t court that kind for long.”
Lakin looked at her. Kimber offered her hand.
“I am not trained for this,” Lakin said.
“No one ever is,” Kimber said.
Lakin resolved himself quickly enough. He put his hand in hers. Kimber led him to the road. She looked towards the city through arch of trees. She whispered something and proceeded forwards. Lakin walked as she walked, hand in hers, wand in hand. The tunnel of trees seemed to elongate- a telescopic effect on the focus. It seemed like the city was awash in lightening- blue streaks disappearing behind billowing clouds of smoke. They took maybe three steps and were suddenly in the city. A fireball rose into the sky- a dragon came out of the flames and the beating of its wings snapped in their ears. There were people screaming and running, while Kimber and Lakin stood mid street.
Kimber let go of Lakin’s hand. Glass exploded from a building. She brought her wand up and captured the glass, bringing it together. It glowed red hot becoming a ball. Glass from all over the street came off the ground and joined the hot mess. It spun, elongated into a glowing rod. It dissipated heat, shooting rays. It solidified into a glass staff. It did not look like glass. She pocketed the spoon and summoned the staff to her. She twirled and spun and fired lightening into the sky. The bolt was huge. The world was bright and quiet and there was no shadows.
Lakin was on the ground looking up at Kimber when the sound of air rushing back in fell on them, deafening. His mouth said ‘what the fuck’ but no words were heard. He struggled to his feet. A woman running by caught his gaze. She stopped, ran towards him, tackled him to the ground and was kissing him before he understood what happening. A dragon swooped down and caught the woman up. She was still reaching for him as she was taken away. Kimber shot at the dragon. Lightening illuminated its body, making the bones prominent in a glowing red mass. It darkened and crashed into a building.
Lakin again got to his feet trying to talk to Kimber. She didn’t seem to hear him. Every time he thought he might be getting his sense of hearing back- he was engulfed in thunder. He yelled for her to quit.
“She can’t hear you.”
Lakin heard that and turned to the voice. It was Della. He brought his wand up, aiming it at her. She held her hands up, ‘I surrender’ gesture.
“I know how to use this,” Lakin said. Blue light illuminated them- chasing shadows away to such a degree, every object stood out prominent. The world didn’t look real. It was if all of space was illuminated revealing the orbit of every single atom- all things separated and immersed in light- and yet all connected. The thunderous sound seemed muffled, a storm that had receded miles away, and yet- he remained clearly in the center of the storm.
“I believe you, love,” Della said.
“Don’t call me that!” Lakin snapped.
“Oh? What should I call you? What name have you adopted?” Della asked, tracing her necklaces towards the jewel that hung in her cleavage. She tracked his eyes to cleavage, and ran the finger into it and back to the jewel. She laughed as he forced his eyes back to her eyes and reemphasized his posture- holding her at bay with the stick. “Don’t tell me. I like the game of hide and seek.”
“What?!” Lakin asked.
“People are weird. The lengths they will go to in order to avoid trouble,” Della said.
“They think taking on amnesia and being born into obscurity will help. They think changing their names will help. You and I are eternal. This dance of nothingness is birthed and gone in an instant. Come, let’s end this. You’re tired.”
“Stay back!” Lakin demanded.
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” Della asked. “Come on, just let me kiss you. I will even give you an out. If you can put the tip in without coming, I will give you year reprieve…”
“Fuck you!” Lakin snapped.
“Exactly,” Della said. “Why do you resist me? You know you want me.”
“I have friends now. We will defeat you!” Lakin said.
Della laughed. She walked towards Kimber, giving Lakin a wide birth.
“Don’t go near her!” Lakin said.
“Oh, relax. I can’t touch her,” Della said. “Have they taught you nothing? Once a person has identified their trouble, they are off limits to others of my kind.”
“You lie. Everyone knows trouble comes in packs…”
Della nodded. “Fair enough. There are caveats.” She turned bemused. “You like her.”
“No I don’t!” Lakin said.
“Lie to me again and I will make our love affair a threesome,” Della said. She smirked, inching closer. “Caveats. I bet you liked to watch. I wonder who would cum first…”
“Stop sexualizing this!”
“Aww,” Della said. “She can’t help you. Your friends can’t help you. You can’t help them.” She admired Kimber. “But her mastery over crystal is impressive. Did you know, glass is actually a liquid? She changed the molecular structure of the glass, crystalizing it even though it should be a liquid at this temperature. It’s amazing how much energies crystals of any nature can channel. But even her full power unleashed would not be able to stop you and me from interacting. I am for you.”
“Maybe she can’t stop you. Maybe I can’t stop. But these people. This city. It needs our help. Please, go away and let me help them,” Lakin said.
Della seemed genuinely confused. “Seriously? What kind of friends did you make that have taught you nothing?”
“I don’t understand,” Lakin said.
“Clearly,” Della said. She smiled and took a step forwards. His grip on the wand tightened. “Dearest love, persons don’t just come in the form of a human. Each cell in your body is a person. Each organ in your body is a person. The heart wants just as much as the brain. A couple is an individual. A family of three is an individual. Every new child changes the family, they become a new person. Every corporation is a person. Every city is a person. Sometimes the city has such a fierce personality that even the individuals that comprise the city can’t change that essence of who it is- which is true for people. Maybe you have a good heart, but if you don’t master the anger in your brain- you will do things your heart would never do. When a city can’t change, when it can’t grow, then it is dead- and the best thing you can do is burn it down and bury it. This city had bargained with trouble long before the first cornerstone was laid. You and your little girlfriend aren’t going to change this. It was written in the stars and the Great Mother will sort her meal and feast well tonight.”
Lakin seemed confused and horrified.
“What? You see the truth of it? Want to argue? Want to tussle? Want to just surrender and get it over with?” Della asked.
Lakin’s brow furrowed. He held firm, if not a little taller. “If I lower my gaze, you come closer. If I question you, you come closer. We’re done here.”
Lakin unleashed the furry of his wand. The energy flowed through a jagged stream and exploded a stature near a fountain. Della stepped closer. Lakin stepped back, his hand trembling. She followed. He fired again, and tore a trench in the road that threatened to swallow Kimber, forcing her to dance. Della came, Lakin retreated. He fired again- hitting her jewel. A bubble of energy engulfed her and she was gone. Lakin was knocked off his feet and lay there looking up at the sky. Smoke and embers and dragons. Kimber looked down at him. He didn’t hear her words, but he knew what she was saying by the way her mouth moved.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“Trouble,” Lakin said.
“Oh. Well. That makes sense,” Kimber said, offering her hand.
Lakin accepted and he was pulled to his feet. He was surprised by her strength. “Thank you.”
Kimber nodded and fired again at a passing dragon. Lakin put his back to her and also fired into the sky. His magic illuminated jagged path through the sky that was hardly a thread of energy compared to the power
निनमित
The storm hit with a fierce suddenness that knocked both Fersia and Lester off their feet, separating them by a few yards, and leveled the wild wheat field they had been passing through. Fersia recovered quickly, back on her feet and looking around for an opponent. The skies were blue, no hint of inclement weather. Not even a lazy, summer day cloud was visible. The wheat field remained flattened, as if the blades of glass had been intentionally laid down.
“Don’t move,” Lester said.
“I feel it,” Fersia said.
Lester removed an object from his jacket pocket. He spoke to it and the object, a small flat disk, illuminated and took flight. The cam footage from the drone was available to both himself and Fersia. They both had immediate understanding of the thing, but neither exclaimed ‘crop circle.’ Multiple vortex swirls, holographically imposed upon their second sight was also available, which corresponded to the patterns in the wheat.
“I don’t think we have all the information we need to extract ourselves,” Lester said.
“I agree,” Fersia said. “My whiskers, tail, and fur are identifying structures not represented on heads-up. Kitty says she can use my sensory input to guide us both out, but you will have to relinquish control of your body.”
“Not going to happen,” Lester said.
“Oh, listen to your suit for once,” Fersia said. “Every significant movement is likely to change the field dynamics and shift a vortex, or create new ones.”
Lester glared at her. “You dare to school me about magic?”
“This is not magic…”
“Of course it’s magic!”
“Hello?” It came from nowhere. No source was identified. It sounded like a child.
Lester swallowed. He mouthed the words at Fersia, “Don’t respond.”
Fersia gave him a look like ‘what the fuck is wrong with you.’ She took a step sideways to the noise. Lester cringed. A female child appeared in front of Lester. He brought up his hand.
“Don’t move!” Lester told her. Fersia froze, but did not look at Lester or the girl directly.
“Okay,” she said, too eagerly.
“You got her?” Fersia asked.
“Of course I don’t have her!” Lester snapped, not breaking eye contact with the girl.
“Please don’t be mad at me,” the girl said.
“Child, I want you to listen to me as if your life depended on it. Do not look away from me. Avoid blinking. Keep looking directly at my eyes,” Lester said.
“Jon said that, too. Are you friends with him?” the girl asked.
“What are the odds?” Lester said, struggling not to roll his eyes.
“You’re friends with Jon and Loxy?” the girl asked.
“Yes,” Fersia said.
“Don’t look at her! Look at me. Fersia, you and Kitty get us out of this,” Lester said.
“Now.”
“The level of complexity has exceeded our ability to calculate solution sets,” Fersia said. “Even with your suit in tandem, we can’t sort all the variables. Maybe if the girl had tech, we could do this. Maybe if you had a rope, we could make the three of us a constant. Don’t you have a rope in your bag?”
“I am into magic, not BDSM,” Lester said.
“BDSM can be magical,” Fersia said.
“What’s BDSM?” the girl asked.
“Ask me again when you’re forty,” Lester told her.
“Why forty?” the girl asked.
“Because you’re not an adult until 40,” Lester said.
“That’s not true,” both the girl and Fersia argued.
“You can’t study the Kabbalah until you’re forty, and even that- you need to well versed in the Torah to even be considered,” Lester said.
“I don’t know about Kabbalah but mom says I can drink at 14 and join the militia at 14, which means, 14 is an adult,” the girl said.
“The reason militia recruit CHILDREN is because adults know better than to hit and kill each other,” Lester said.
“Well, if you’re such an adult, how come you haven’t helped me yet?” the girl said.
“What’s your name?” Lester asked.
“My mom said I shouldn’t talk to strangers,” the girls said.
“Oh, good for her. So shut the fuck up,” Lester said. “Fersia?”
Her mouth suggested horrified surprise.
“We could wait for the fields to dissipate,” Fersia said.
“If she’s been in the field for any substantial amount of time, she goes where the field goes,” Lester said. “You don’t have a rope?”
“I left that on Solarchariot,” Fersia said.
“A leash?”
“I didn’t think you wanted to walk me. Solarchariot,” Fersia said.
“Surely you brought something to entertain yourself. A ball of twine,” Lester said.
“I have some yarn!” Fersia exclaimed excitedly. She produced bundle of pink yarn.
Lester did the math.
“Are you rolling your eyes at me?” Fersia asked.
“No,” Lester said. “Maybe. Yes. Tie one end around your wrist.”
Lester subtly moved his fingers and the drone descended to Fersia in a circuitous route that seemed completely unnecessary. She secured one of the loose ends of the string to her wrist and gave the other loose end to the drone that carried it towards the girl. The drone wound it around the girl and managed to even tie a knot, securing it well. It returned to Fersia, collected the remaining bulk of the bundle and brought it to Lester. He looped it around his wrist, secured it with a knot, and then began winding in both the girl’s and Fersia’s line around his cane, slowing reeling it in till the lines were taught. He paused to consider what might happen. Plucking it produced a tone that illuminated the fields around them, revealing structures that hadn’t seen. To pull it tighter would result in someone having to move-or snapping it under the pressure. Movement would change the field dynamics. Things would change. The harmonics would change.
“Well? It seems secure,” Fersia said.
“It’s yarn, not carbon nanotubes,” Lester said.
“Actually it is,” Fersia said.
“You have pink carbon nanotubes?”
“I wanted to make Jon a sweater,” Fersia said.
“You wanted Jon to wear a pink sweater?” Lester asked.
“He looks nice in pink. I was going to make us matching sweaters,” Fersia said.
“Out of nanotubes?”
“Jon is pretty hard on clothes, so I thought I would make him something that lasts,” Fersia said.
“Can I move yet?” the girl said.
“Wait,” Lester said. “I am going to count to three. You’re going to rush me and grab hold of me. You grab hold, and you don’t let go, am I clear?”
“Yes,” the girl said.
“What about me?” Fersia asked.
“Just hang on,” Lester said.
“Got you,” Fersia said.
Lester said “Three” and rushed the girl. He was running towards her with a strange gate as if avoiding puddles and before she could argue ‘what happened to one two’ he was in grappling range of her. She jumped into his arms. He grabbed her up, spinning so that he could fall to the ground. He intended to land on his back, not on the child. He held her tight with arms hugging her to his chest, all the while holding his cane. They were free falling in a void that was neither space nor time, or even space/time. Breathing here was not impeded because breathing takes time. Metabolism and aging and change takes time. There was no thinking, because thinking takes time, but consciousness continued- awareness continued. There was the intermittent sound of a cat. A normal sized cat tied to a string orbited Lester. The tone emanating from the string rapidly increased in pitch. With each pass the normal size cat got closer. The string wound around Lester and the girl, bringing the cat ever closer. When it was close enough to latch on with its claws, it did so. The claw dug into Lester’s pants legs. The impact was the equivalent of a tight end tackling a quarterback.
They fell out of hyperspace and landed in a pile of dead bodies. The smell of accelerant was prominent. Lester and the girl couldn’t get up due to being tied with yarn. Fersia, stood up, mostly human, and reached up to the sky amazed by the snow. She caught one on her tongue and spit it out, gagging. She turned, trying to understand snow that wasn’t snow, and became aware that there was a boy holding a torch looking at her. It dawned on her the grave situation she was in. She put her hands up.
“Wait!”
The person holding the torch hesitated. He even retreated a little. An official stepped forwards. What looked like snow was now identifiable as falling of ashes. Thick, black smoke plume rose like permanent structures, replacing structures that had previously stood tall. Stone monuments were toppled.
“You have touched the dead, you must die,” the official said.
“Seriously?” Fersia asked. “Which one of you piled up all these bodies? Should you be up here with us?”
“You have lain with the dead, you must die,” an official said.
“What? No, we just fell in… Oh! Eeewww! No. What’s wrong with you? I would never…” Fersia said. She seem to be reconsidering. “Just because one of my exes was dead wood, not to mistaken for Deadpool, doesn’t mean I sleep with the dead. I did sleep with Deadpool, but he really isn’t dead, either. He looks like death warmed over, but seriously, not dead.”
“Light it,” the official said.
The lad with the torch stepped forwards. Another man stepped up and pointed a wand at him.
“Step back, or you’re dead,” Lakin said.
The torch bearer hesitated. He retreated as Lakin put himself between the pile of bodies and mob.
“Why are you interfering?” the official said.
“We don’t burn people,” Lakin said.
Fersia purred. “Aren’t you just the most adorable things this side of catnip.”
“The tree of life is full, and can’t take another body,” the official said. “The circumstances permit…”
Kimber stepped up, pointing a crystal staff. “My colleague said no.”
“The bodies must be attended to so that the souls may be expedited…”
Kimber planted her staff solidly in the ground. It flashed. Ashes fell like grains of sand. The pile of bodies was now a scattering of diamonds. Fersia was now standing on the ground. Lester was now lying on the ground, holding a girl, so secured with yarn that neither he nor the girl could free themselves.
“The dead have now been expedited,” Kimber said.
“Who are you?” the official asked.
“I am Kimber, porter of souls,” Kimber said. “And this is my friend, Lakin, fledgling fighter of trouble.”
Lakin did a double take on her, grimacing, not liking his impromptu name.
“Aww, fledgling is so cute. Come here, little bird, and I will take you under my wings,” Fersia said.
Lester coughed.
“Oh, my bad,” Fersia said.
Fersia untied the string from her wrist and gave a quick tug. The entire unwinding of yarn returned to its original bundle state. It did so by unwinding itself from Lester and the girl and the cane, spinning them faster than a mechanized loom. They were on their feet when the ordeal was over. Lester planted his cane on the ground for support. The girl fell to her hands and knees and vomited. Neither Lester nor Fersia interfered with the girl being sick. Kimber and Lakin focused on the official and the lad with the torch.
“We need a place to freshen up and re-orientate to the world,” Lester said.
The official looked at him as if he were nuts. “The city is in ruins! People are dead and dying and you want me to find you a place to stay?”
“Yes, please. That building there should be fine,” Lester said. It was a modest library, stone building, and marble tile shingles.
“We are not…”
“Give me access to the building, and I will heal any wounded you bring to me while I tarry,” Lester said.
“You’re a healer?” the official said.
“I can make it happen,” Lester said.
“It’s yours,” the official said. He turned to the boy. “Tell everyone there is a healer at the library. Go.”
Lester looked at Fersia, nodded to the child, and headed towards the library. Fersia brought the child. Kimber and Lakin followed, keeping a weary eye on the group. As soon as they were across the street, there was a mad rush for diamonds that use to be corpses. People fought, and one person was heard saying: ‘no that’s my papa give him to me…’