Earthbound, p.26
Earthbound, page 26
Thankfully, the source of the explosion turned out not to be from the shop itself, but from old fuel barrels Gorrde had stored behind it. Thick flames engulfed the barrels, but so far they had not threatened the structure. His relief was short-lived. The barrels were inside the barrier. The brecka gathered itself once again to attack the electric perimeter.
Knox cursed. The craft’s more powerful probes had convinced it the only escape was through the very place they’d hoped would be a refuge. It rushed the yard again in a raised tunnel of earth and then veered off as it neared the energy line. The probes were obviously a deterrent, but only time would tell if they would hold up under the mindless fury of the wall of stone.
Knox pushed the heavy craft forward, over the probe line, and into the yard. Gorrde waved at him, running from the main house toward the shop.
“Gorrde, no!” he shouted. “Go back!”
Gorrde gave no indication he’d heard Knox but kept right on lumbering toward the shop. Knox growled a curse, parked, and jumped to intercept the man. Gorrde barely paused before barreling around him and swinging the door wide.
“Perfect timing,” Gorrde shouted, making straight for pipework along the one wall. He spun a large valve and barked instructions. “These lead to the outside hoses. We can still save the building.”
Knox didn’t move as he watched the man hurry around the shop gathering items. “Gorrde! Forget the shop. The beast breached the barrier. It’s only a matter of time before it does it again.”
“I know,” Gorrde said with a frank look and then turned. “Grab the hoses.”
“Where are the others? We need to get everyone out of here!”
Gorrde didn’t look up and kept moving through the shop gathering items. “They’re already heading into the mountains,” he said, voice raised over the din. “I wasn’t confident in the barrier; we don’t have enough power. It didn’t take much convincing to get people to leave. Loghin’s leading them. We loaded up the craft we had with supplies and sent them off.” He paused to set down the items in his arm and pulled out a thick canvas bag from beneath a shelf. “It’s just us left.”
“Us, who?”
Gorrde’s eyes flicked up. “Maven, Kipp, and myself.”
“Why are you still here?” Knox shouted, frustration and worry making his stomach feel stretched and thin.
Gorrde finished with his pack and tossed it over his shoulder. “Kipp wouldn’t go. Loghin tried to take her, but she threw a fit. Haven’t seen the likes of it since Emilia was young. Maven was able to calm her, but only with the promise we would wait for you.”
Knox groaned. “You were going to let the beast bury you because a child had a tantrum?”
“No.” Gorrde thumped Knox good-naturedly on the shoulder as he moved back to the door. “We know our way around a strong-willed little one. I suppose we were holding out hope you would return in time. And you did.”
Knox cleared his throat as sudden warmth filled his chest. “Right,” he stuttered, even as the ground trembled again. “Let’s go.”
Gorrde’s face set into a firm line. “Not until I get these hoses running on the roof. I don’t want fire to take what the beast leaves.” He ran ahead and started up the ladder at the side of the building, a thick hose in tow.
The land outside of their thin boundary was unrecognizable. Trees that had surrounded this home for generations lay snapped and hewn from their roots. He stumbled as the earth shook beneath him and the brecka’s liquefaction stirred the ground beyond the probes.
“It’s coming back!” he shouted. “Gorrde, get down from there.”
Heedless of the burning fuel, the beast rushed the barrier, slamming through the protective line as it breached, and crashed into the shop. The back half of the building crumpled.
“Gorrde!” Knox yelled and jumped for a portion of still-standing roof. He landed near the ladder to see the destroyed pieces of the building being swallowed in the earthbound’s thrashing liquefaction. The roof shuddered and swayed and Knox crouched to keep his footing, scanning the roiling mess below for any sign of Gorrde. At the torn edge of the roof, the hose Gorrde had been towing hung taut. Knox scrambled to the line. Gorrde hung below, gripping the woven cord.
“Gorrde!”
Gorrde looked up, relief filling his pinched features. “Pull me up!”
“Hold on.” Knox grabbed the hose and hoisted him as fast as he could.
The building lurched to the side as a load-bearing wall gave way. Knox fought to keep his balance as rafters swung down in violent arcs beneath him. One of the beams swung around and slammed into Gorrde. The hose jerked up, suddenly free of the man’s weight.
Instinctively, Knox threw himself over the edge after him, holding tight to the heavily braided hose and letting it swing him through the now open space. He caught a half-wedged rafter with one hand and pulled himself clear of the chaos. The ground shifted and heaved as it fluctuated between a liquid and a solid, the creature writhing within the probes. It seemed to be trying to retreat. With an arched flash of light and spray of sparks, one of the probes broke in the circuit. The brecka quieted as if relieved.
A rust-coloured strip of fabric below caught Knox’s eye. Gorrde’s limp body draped over a remnant of wall. One eye on the still fluctuating liquefactions, he dropped, moving to the man. A piece of the roof pinned one of Gorrde’s legs and Knox leaned into it, ignoring the warm rivulets dripping from his hands as the edge of the sheet metal sliced into his skin. It would heal as quickly as it cut. Gorrde groaned, and relief surged through him. “I’ve got you. Hang in there.”
He pulled the larger man onto his shoulders, adjusted his footing, and crouched. Knox jumped between debris until they were clear of the half-demolished building. As he stumbled into the yard, another subsonic tone was emitted from the creature, making his bones tremble with the frequency.
Next to the Tumultian hovercraft he’d commandeered, Maven clung to Kipp, watching the scene with a horrified expression. He ran towards them. Without waiting, Maven pushed Kipp up onto the craft.
Knox took pains to cushion the impact of his own leap aboard the large craft before lowering Gorrde gingerly onto the deck. Deep crimson stains bloomed from Gorrde’s thigh, joining the smears of blood on the deck left from the afternoon’s earlier victims.
The sound of the brecka’s attack dimmed as it retreated underground. Crackling pops from the fire punctuated the silence in its sudden vacuum.
Maven, oblivious to it all, murmured over Gorrde while her hands moved with lightning efficiency, gathering gauze, bandages and healing salve. Several bags of gear were already on the transport. She had no doubt loaded up the moment he arrived. A good thing too.
“How can I help?” Knox asked.
Maven glanced up but didn’t stop her work. “Get us into the mountains. I’ll keep him stable and sedated. Lin and I will have to work on him at camp.”
He let out a pent-up breath. “He’ll live?”
“He better,” she whispered and then paused her work to look up. “I can’t find anything other than broken bones right now. The blood is from a puncture, but it missed anything vital. He’s unconscious, but his pulse is steady.”
Knox let out a relieved huff. “Where am I going?”
“Cyrl’s place.”
“That’ll be interesting.”
A wry twist pulled her mouth as she returned her focus to Gorrde. “I’m sure it will be.”
Knox stepped back and bumped into something small tucked behind his legs. He looked down.
“Kipp,” he breathed and dropped to her level.
She let out a small cry and tucked into his arms, keeping her eyes fixed on the boundary where smoke still billowed.
“I heard you wouldn’t leave without me,” he said, scooping her up and strode back to the pilot’s pit.
She met his eyes and shook her head.
“Loghin would have kept you safe,” he gently admonished. “You should have gone with him.”
“Only you,” her small, clear voice chimed like a bell.
He froze and stared down at her as the unexpected words, paired with a lilting Outer Reaches accent, washed over him. “Alright, then.”
Above Reproach
Emilia
Emilia’s heart rate slowed, and her mind cleared as she followed Venier out onto the quiet street. I was about to challenge the Elevated of the whole Mercurial. The scope of her actions only now struck her. Venier had seemed to sense that was her intent and had quietly crooned consoling words until they were well out of earshot of the others. Now alone, she seemed content with silence between them.
The neighbourhood was an affluent one, and Venier guided them towards a common green space a few blocks from Solace’s house. The occasional vehicle whined in passing, and the few people walking near them recognized Venier’s dark blue setka, a long draping cloth identifying her as an Elder, and gave the two women a wide berth.
“I apologize for the idiocy of Elevated Dareous,” Venier said. “Knox was one of the most honourable Overseers I ever had the privilege of tutoring.”
Emilia’s eyes flicked up in surprise to Venier.
“Go on child, I see the questions all but falling from your tongue. You need not fear. I will tell you whatever I may.”
Emilia nodded and swallowed, wishing for a glass of water to help clear her throat. “You knew Knox?”
“When he came here to study before taking the Primary Oath, I was his languages tutor. He was a bright and earnest young man. He and Tehran were quite inseparable.”
“That’s been true since the moment they met,” Emilia said.
“A friendship such as that is a rare gift indeed. I know many brothers who despise one another and yet, those two were bound by an unspoken oath.”
Emilia gave the older woman a tight smile. “They were.”
“How has Tehran taken Knox’s death?” Venier asked.
Emilia thought of the lost look in his eyes the night he told her he was leaving for the Capital. “He is managing as well as one would expect,” she said carefully.
Venier nodded. “It’s a good answer. The one you should give to the likes of Dareous, but what of the truth?”
Emilia scowled, noting the lack of Dareous’ honorific. “He is doing as well as he can.”
“But—” she prompted.
“He’s shattered.”
“And you, my dear?”
Her voice caught. How did she explain a loss she hadn’t even begun to process? “I don’t know how to exist without him. It’s a void I don’t know how to fill or make sense of.”
“Grief is always such.”
Emilia slowed her steps. The transparency Venier peddled could not be the truth. Is she trying to get me to incriminate myself? She decided to test the Elder’s goodwill. “Possibly, but not everyone has the Order dictating how they are allowed to grieve.”
Instead of tension at the statement, Venier sighed and squeezed Emilia’s forearm in a comforting gesture.
“Very true. The Order is not very forthcoming when it comes to discussing our own shortcomings. We are the guardians of the Sky’s own secrets and are to be above reproach.” A twinkle flashed in the older woman’s eye, but her tone remained bone-dry.
Emilia could hardly keep the look of astonishment from her face, fighting to instead press her mouth into a tight line. Venier laughed a light, birdsong of a laugh.
“Is honesty from an Elder so shocking?” She didn’t leave room for Emilia to respond, shaking her head and continuing, “Of course it is. The shame. Knox being forced to give up connection to the Sky was appalling. There are oaths, and there is the oath. The leadership’s refusal to acknowledge the difference is leading us all into dangerous territory. Territory where good men suffer or die for the sake of dogmatic pride.”
Emilia cast a furtive look around them. They remained alone, yet Venier’s words seemed to echo down the street with incrimination. Wild leaps of logic seemed more plausible than this mild-mannered, white-haired woman shamelessly calling the Order out. “This is treason.”
Venier raised a silver brow appraisingly. “It could be, to the wrong set of ears, but not to yours, I’d gamble.”
Emilia’s lips pinched shut.
Venier sighed. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me, darling. You have been surrounded by secrets for so long, the plain truth is hard to accept.” She reached into the pocket near her chest and pulled out a thick piece of card holding an image. “Maybe this will help.”
The picture was of Venier when she was much younger, her hair a golden yellow, her skin smooth and creamy white. Next to her stood a familiar figure, although Emilia had never seen a picture of her mother this young. Maven’s rich, dark skin had a luminescent sheen, and her eyes a deeper brown than she remembered.
“More than siblings,” Venier said almost wistfully. “Children of the Sky.”
Emilia caught the edge of longing and grief in the statement. “You and my mother were close?”
“We were,” Venier said. “We were raised together much like Knox and Tehran. Inseparable. Sisters and friends.” A sad smile lifted her mouth. “Until your mother chose a different life.”
Venier turned to Emilia, gauging her reaction. “You aren’t surprised. Your mother told you she was an Overseer?”
Emilia inwardly cursed. “I guessed as much, although she would never confirm.”
Venier gave her a frank look and Emilia gave the lie substance.
“Once Knox and I bonded, I started to notice the similarities between the two. She has no history, no family, and was originally from the Capital, with insight into the life of an Overseer. It was deduction, nothing more.”
Venier lifted a brow. “Insightful of you.”
“Why did she leave?” Emilia asked, eager to redirect the conversation.
For the first time, Venier seemed hesitant. “I’m sure she’d say love.”
“And you’d say something different? My mother is still bound by oaths and refuses to speak of it all.”
“Bound?” The creases around Venier’s mouth deepened. “No.”
“She’s not?”
“No, dear.”
The numb detachment that had accompanied her through those first days resurfaced. Her legs turned to lead, and Emilia froze. “You’re saying she lied? She could have told me?”
“Likely to protect you, dearest. Secrets become a way of life for Overseers, and however misguided, I’m sure she only acts with your best interest at heart.” Venier looped her arm through Emilia’s and started walking again.
“You’re pretty confident in someone you haven’t seen in thirty years.”
Venier’s cheeks tightened. “I know Maven. What drives her. That does not change so easily, and she always tried to do the right thing.”
“Does this include why she left the Order?”
“It’s not for me to say.” Venier held up her hand to stop Emilia’s protest.
She changed tact. “Why have I never heard of you? If you loved my mother so much, where have you been? The Capital is not that far from Rikken.”
A sad smile flitted across Venier’s features. “Our separation was inevitable. Two lives going in different directions until the only shared language you have is the past. I think we both sensed that trying to preserve what we had was futile.”
“I’m sorry,” said Emilia, hearing the ache in the older woman’s words. Would Tehran and Knox have drifted apart the same way? She couldn’t envision a world where the two of them were not deeply linked. When she and Knox had exchanged vows, it was never a question; Tehran would be in their life. And he had remained there, in everything from shared meals to the day-to-day routines.
Was that why the vow worked so quickly, so powerfully on us? They were already attuned to sharing a life together. Having lost Knox, their common pole, they were like two magnets snapping together across a void.
The two women walked in silence for a minute before Venier spoke again. “Emilia, I want you to know there are those of us who are working to change the Order from within. Knox’s being disavowed highlighted the need for change and I can only feel, with word of his passing, support for such action will increase. His sacrifice and honour will be recognized by those who have ears to hear it.”
Knox, remembered, honoured. The words shook her, and instantaneous tears spilled as she pulled in great cleansing breaths. Venier handed her a delicate square of fabric to wipe her tears.
“Thank you,” she said, when she recovered her voice. She lifted her gaze to meet with Venier’s pale blue eyes. “And Elevated Dareous?”
Venier glanced back in the direction of Solace’s house. “It would be dangerous for both of us if they found out any of what I have spoken.”
“Then why tell me?”
Venier reached out and took Emilia’s hand into her own. “Because if it was my loved one, I would want to know they hadn’t given up everything in vain,” Venier said simply. “I would want to know that someone was working to set things right.”
Emilia’s throat burned. “Thank you.”
Venier patted her hand affectionately. “Of course, dear. It’s the least I can do.” She hesitated and cautioned, “Be careful how much of this you share with Tehran. I would never want a secret to stand between bonded, but his vow to the Order will demand loyalty.”
“He swore to protect me.”
Venier’s brow lifted, but quickly smoothed. “If you trust him, that’s enough for me. I only urge caution as Overseers can have trouble distinguishing nuance in these conversations, and I’d hate for Elevated Dareous to find an excuse to drive you apart.”
The two women completed the loop and started walking back towards Solace’s home. “You don’t think we made a mistake?” Emilia asked.
“Of course not. It was necessary. If you’d come on your own, Elevated Dareous would have arrested you solely to keep news of Knox from getting out. Even if you’d come with Tehran, but unbonded, you would have been at risk. It was a smart move on Solace’s part to meet with Genoa and I first. By doing so, he defused a very volatile situation. You are safe. Dareous will not dare to move against you now. Your bond has been acknowledged and the full nature of your message revealed. Once the Conclave learns of this, they will not want to inflame things further by drawing attention to the lengths you were forced to go to bring Knox’s situation and the plight of the Reaches to their attention. All-in-all, a rather resounding win.”
