New World Ashes (6 page)

Five armed guards waited outside of the elevator, eyes and guns trained on what little of my face they could see behind their comrade. No one moved.

“Back off or I shoot her.” I twitched the gun, regarding the woman I held before me. Her breathing had become more labored, making a strange gurgling noise. She sagged a little and I cursed for having hit her so hard. If I had to carry her weight as well as work the gun I would be in serious trouble. I pulled up higher on her arm forcing her to walk forward.

The guards moved with us. As I stepped to the edge of the elevator, I risked a quick glance of our surroundings. It was a small lobby of sorts, mostly painted grey and white with minimal furniture. It was empty but for the seven of us. Something moved to my left. A door off of the room opened and The Minister walked through. His face was smug, his white suit pristine as ever. The brass cane was tapping at his side. A pulse of hate rushed though me. Shoving my human shield to the floor, I took aim at Fandrin’s chest and pulled the trigger.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

My finger reflexively pulled the trigger again. Rapidly. Desperately.

Nothing.

I just caught a glimpse of Fandrin’s superior expression as the butt of someone’s gun smashed into my right temple.

I didn’t remember falling, but I was suddenly on the floor with The Minister standing over me. He was twirling the gun I had stolen in his hand. I blinked back the blood flowing from my temple, trying to maintain eye contact with him.

“Great little toys these guns,” he affectionately patted the firearm. “Your mother actually gave me the idea for them. Each gun is specifically formatted to work only with its rightful soldier. Every member of the guard has a unique microchip implanted in their wrist when they enlist. Each chip is then calibrated to its matching firearm. Ingenious really. No one other than a soldier can ever fire a weapon here.”

He pressed the barrel of the gun to my head and pulled the trigger. Despite the knowledge that it wouldn’t fire, I still flinched. Fandrin laughed while tossing the gun to the nearest soldier. As he began walking away he spoke over his shoulder. “Take her back down to the training room, I have a
specific
lesson in mind for my granddaughter.”

I DIDN’T EXACTLY
black out as the guards dragged me along the white halls. To my surprise they didn’t bother putting a bag over my head this time, but the truth was it didn’t really matter. With my vision going in and out, it was unlikely I would remember much anyway. 

It startled me when my face hit the black sparring mat that smelled of blood, sweat and rubber. It took a moment for the familiar stink to completely infiltrate my hazy brain. It wasn’t until I heard the whispers of moving feet around me that I realized we were already in the training room.

Had we really gotten here that quickly? How much time had passed?

Someone was talking but I couldn’t quite make out the words. I twisted my head to the side and pushed myself up onto my palms and knees. Big mistake. My eyes popped open, roving the black surface of the mat to find purchase, to find something to ground my spinning head. Blinking twice, my swimming vision finally fell on something small and white. I stared hard at the oddly shaped object until it stopped moving. The instant my vision focused I regretted my choice of anchor. It was a tooth… and based on the size, a child’s. Red blood was still fresh on the porcelain surface. I breathed deeply through my mouth to quiet the roiling in my stomach.

Something in the room had changed. It was silent now. Staying on all fours, I tilted my head to see young Gage standing at the edge of the mat. A manic grin spread across his face as he gestured to me like a psychotic ringleader. I was to be his next performer, the main attraction of this freak show. Something white shifted next to him and my gaze slid to the man standing to his side. The Minister’s hand was cupping Gage’s bony shoulder like a proud father. Hatred welled within the pit of my stomach.

Pushing the nausea aside, I focused on that hate and pushed myself unsteadily to my feet. My temple pulsed where the blood continued to ooze, but I stood my ground. There was a bigger crowd than usual. There were many older soldiers now mixed with the young ones. This was not merely a sparring class. It seemed my punishment was to be a spectacle for the entire academy. Well, if they wanted a show, then I would give them a show.

Assuming my fighting stance I grinned at Gage, letting the blood trickling from my temple run over my lips and into my bared teeth. Surely I looked crazed. I stretched out my hand beckoning him to come fight me. The result was exactly what I had wanted. Several cadets took tentative steps back while Gage lunged hungrily forward, eager to contest me. All I needed was fifteen seconds in the ring with that psychopath. Fifteen seconds and I could snap the neck of the Minister’s prize pet. An all-consuming rage surged within me, a fiery desire to put that rabid dog down.

To my utter disappointment, The Minister’s hand clasped tighter, holding Gage back. Fandrin’s white head tilted as he whispered something in his left ear. A glint sparked in Gage’s eyes that made my scalp prickle.

“Private Riggs front and center.” Gage bellowed, grinning at me.

My heart stopped.

Struggling to keep my stance firm, I felt the entirety of my body run hollow. A tiny child had stepped into the ring, her brown hair pulled into a low ponytail, her large brown eyes wide with fear. Her tiny frame shook slightly, but her mouth was set in a thin line of determination. She was so small, the youngest child yet, maybe seven at the most. I choked back the tears threatening their way to the surface… it was Mouse. My nightmares were becoming reality. They had captured her!

No… no that couldn’t be right.

I stared harder at the little girl. Her eyes were too light, her mouth was too small. I knew all of this, but still, all my exhausted mind saw was Mouse. The girl’s mismatched features blurred from existence and standing before me I saw only my friend.

A door banged open at the far end of the room and while every head turned toward the sound, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the child standing before me. I could hear the crowd parting, the steady march of heavy boots. It wasn’t until I heard ragged breathing through his broken nose that I realized Major Ryker James had finally made it to the party. He stopped close, his body’s heat radiating against my back. Ryker’s labored breathing was the only sound in the room for a few seconds. Then there was a hiss of fabric and whoosh of moving air. I recognized the sounds of an arm raising to strike.

Please… yes, let him end this.
I couldn’t help the thought as I stared at the child in front of me.
Not her…

“NO!” The Minister’s voice rang out. My hair moved with the force of Ryker’s swing as his fist came to an abrupt halt.

“
Please
sir,” Ryker’s voice was distorted by his broken nose.

“Your carelessness, Major, is what started this little fiasco in the first place. Now stand down and let a true leader show you how to handle a hostile criminal.” The Minister’s words were simple, but I knew their true meaning. He was tired of playing with me, tired of being patient. He meant to break me, tonight. “Cadets pay close attention! This fight will show where true loyalties lies, that desire for self-preservation will always wither under The Sanctuary’s power. We fight for the
many
, not the
few
.”

Liar
, I thought.

Ryker hesitated a moment longer before stepping away. While I could no longer feel his presence against my back, I knew he had not removed himself very far. The tension and anger emanating from his body was still hot against my skin.

I only vaguely heard Gage call out to the cadets around me. “Who do you fight for?”

“The Minister!” The resounding cry echoed off the ceilings. A clap of thunder made from hundreds of voices.

“And what do you trust in?

“The Sanctuary!”

“And how do you fight for it?”

My ears began to ring so loudly I didn’t even hear the response, but I read it on the girl’s lips.

TO THE DEATH!

My palms felt slick, while my throat went dry. I could feel the muscles in my neck spasming as I tried to swallow.
To the death…

This wasn’t just another fight in which I could break an arm or render someone unconscious. The Minister meant for me to kill the child or to succumb and let her kill me. Which we both knew would never happen, or at least it couldn’t happen… could it?

Before my mind could fully process the lethality of the situation, the tiny girl was advancing. Her blows were calculated and surprisingly fast. The child fought better then most others twice her age. I backed away, losing my ground as I parried her advances. I was trying to think, to figure some way out of this, but I couldn’t focus. If I let the child win I would lose everything. I would never see Triven or Mouse again and I would be turning this little girl into a murderer, for what? To appease my demented grandfather? To ease my own conscience?

I lashed out twice unconsciously. My survival instincts were clawing their way to the surface. The girl fell back cradling her head before resuming her stance. She spat out a mouthful of blood and began advancing again muttering, “For The Sanctuary.”

I could hear Fandrin laugh from somewhere nearby and my vision went red. Someone had to make him pay for this. I
had
to live, if just to see that he died.

I remembered moving toward the girl, closing my eyes so I didn’t have to look at her face—at Mouse’s face—but I didn’t remember any of my actions after that. It was as if someone else took over my body and I let it happen. It wasn’t until I heard the clatter of the knife at my feet and the call to “Finish it,” that I felt the blood on my hands. My eyes fell to the floor. A small body lay at my feet. It was like watching the world from the end of a long tunnel. My breathing was angry and ragged, while the girl’s was shallow. I stared at the black handled knife that lay between my feet. My fingers slid together, her blood slick against my skin. This was the point where every other fight had stopped. The point when they carried away their comrade and placed another before me to break. But it was different this time. There would be no reset, no going back. The knife at my feet proved that.

I had promised Triven I would survive for him, promised that I wouldn’t abandon him and Mouse, but at what cost? Could he forgive me for this? My whole life had been about nothing but survival. Seventeen years of doing anything it took to survive, but was
this
worth it? If I killed a child for my own selfish motives I would be no better than my grandfather… My head snapped up and I met the old man’s eyes.

That
was it.

That was what he wanted all along. To prove how much I was like him. To prove I would do whatever it took to survive. Just like he had taught me all those years ago. He wanted to prove to me that surviving for what I thought was right, was more important than the lives of others. He wanted me to see that I was the same as him, that I was still of his blood.

For one spectacular moment I fantasized about throwing the knife into his skull, but there were at least forty guns pointed at me and as my vision swam I could not guarantee actually hitting my target. I stared back down at the knife again and then at the child.

I smiled to myself. He was right about one thing. One life was not as important as the cause.
Please forgive me
. I silently pleaded to Triven and Mouse.

I stooped for the knife, swiftly snatching it up and with a mighty thrust aimed the blade directly at my own heart.

“NO!
”
THE MINISTER’S
cry could be heard above the ensuing chaos, but it barely reached my ears.

A large body collided with mine, grabbing for the knife in my hands. The blade nicked the top of my collarbone, scraping across the bone as it split the skin. Muscular arms wound around me in an attempt to crush me into submission. My body reacted to the assault with violence of its own. My hand flashed out, redirecting the blade toward my attacker. I caught a flash of jet-black hair as the knife found purchase, nipping Major Ryker James in the arm. Everything I had been holding back exploded to the surface. My fists moved with a speed and mercilessness even I had forgotten they were capable of.  Ryker was equally skilled, our hands and limbs colliding violently, hard enough to break most people’s bones. With the knife in my hand, I was gaining the advantage. He couldn’t take my death from me and if he was a stubborn enough to try, then he could join me. I wouldn’t kill a child, but I had no aversions to killing monsters.

Our entangled bodies crashed into the crowd of onlookers, sending them scattering in every direction. The running children were soon replaced with armed soldiers. Little red lights began flickering to life, dancing over our bodies as we fought.

A cry broke out over the din, “ARMS READY!”

My head turned in the direction of the cry and I caught Gage’s eye for a brief second as his mouth twisted into a vicious sneer. Something moved behind Gage and I faltered. The Minister’s arms were raised, in a silent attempt to halt the escalading disorder. There was something in his eyes I had not seen before, something he had kept hidden, but I saw it now.

I had lost focus. I had made dire a mistake.

In the seconds of my brief distraction, Ryker’s hand grabbed my wrist holding the knife. The world flipped as I was lifted into the air and then slammed face down on the mat. The knife slipped from my hand as my arm twisted unbearably high behind my back, but that pain was nothing compared to Major Ryker James’ knee colliding with my forearm and snapping the bones in two. I screamed in agony. In some kind of accidental, sick-minded mercy, Ryker granted me asylum by punching me in the head so hard the world and the pain slipped away with the darkness.

MY BODY JOLTED
awake as the ice water burned against my skin. I gasped and sputtered, choking on the freezing water. My arms threw wide in self-defense, only to be pulled back instantly with a stifled scream. My arm felt like it was ripped in two. I shuffled backward until my back hit the wall, cradling my broken arm to my chest. It felt over-sized and heavy. I glanced down to see a clumsy black cast covering my right arm from elbow to knuckles.

“I figured the pain of slow healing might be a good reminder of who created you.”

I turned my head toward the door of my cell. A dark figure stood blocking the doorway. Even though I couldn’t see his face through my swollen eyes, I knew the voice.

I laughed through gnashed teeth. “I suppose a broken arm is a pretty accurate representation of a pitiful,
sick
old man.”

The responding silence was heavy in the tiny cell. I looked down at the floor, smiling. “What’s the matter Gramps? Not the response you had been hoping for?”

“You
will
respect me child.” He snarled. “You wanted death today, but I
chose
to spare you. Without me you are
nothing
. I own everything your life is made of. I own
you
. Like it or not it is
my
blood in your veins,
my
voice that speaks in your mind and you
will
obey me. Or I will personally see that the end you so obviously desire comes as a long, drawn-out process that will make you wish your
mother
had never been born.”

A laugh barked out of my chest sounding more like a cough. I could taste a coppery tang in the back of my throat. Closing my eyes, I let my head fall back against the wall. A weak smile crept to my lips and the words fell drunkenly from my mouth. “Seeing as how you can’t even catch a librarian bookworm and an innocent little child, I’m sure you can understand why it’s hard for me to take your threats seriously.”

I was fishing and the rash old man took the bait. His polished shoes tapped across the cement floor stopping just as his hands clasped around my throat. I nearly blacked out as he yanked me to my feet, pulling me toward his face. “
No one
can evade me forever, child. Your mother is proof of that. I saw it in your eyes today, you’re giving up. Little by little you are wasting away here and you have two choices. You can either remember where you came from and rule obediently by my side,
or
be disposed of like the disease-riddled vermin you have let yourself become. You
are
disposable, child.”

My eyes flickered open, trying wildly to focus on his.

“You know
Grandfather
, I saw something in your eyes today too.
Fear
.” Grabbing the front of his shirt with my good hand, I pulled myself closer to him so my blood tainted breath washed his face. He began to recoil, but I held fast. “You can lie to yourself all you want, but I saw it. You
need
me. You are losing control of your city. Your people are turning against you, aren’t they? The revolution my mother started didn’t die with her.”

My voice was rising both in pitch and volume as a manic high spread through me. Even as I spoke the crazed words, I knew they were true. Fandrin’s hand began to shake with anger against my throat, trying to choke the words but I only yelled louder. “I can read it all over your face. You reek of fear and desperation. You need someone the people will love again. A long-lost prodigy bloodline that you rescued from the depths of hell itself, only to bring back to life and raise as your beloved successor. HA!” I cackled with sick delight. “You can’t kill me, you
need
me.”

“I DON’T NEED ANYONE!” The Minister screamed in my face, spit flying from his quivering lips.

My demented crowing echoed off the barren walls of my cell. “Yes, you do old man. But you know what? You will
never
have me. I have so many more reasons to live than to die for, and you can never take them away. There is nothing you can do to me now. I know your weakness. I own
you
old man and I will
never
be your lap dog. Trust me, the second you think you’ve got me trained, the instant you take my collar off I… will… rip … out … your… throat.” I articulated each of the last words then lunged, snapping at him. My teeth just grazed his nose as he hastily shoved me back to arms length. True fear now burned in his eyes.

The crazed laughter filled the tiny room again. It vibrated the air and hurt my ears, but it didn’t stop, not when he dropped me back onto the water-soaked mattress or even after the door closed. The hysterics lasted for what felt like hours and as sleep finally began to pull me away from my own deranged cackling, I realized this was what it must be like to lose your mind.

“PREA…”

I moaned, feeling the pain in my broken arm. I was shivering on the cold, still damp mattress. The room was finally quiet.

“Prea…”

My eyelids felt heavy with sleep. At first I could not tell if they were open or not. The cell was so dark it mirrored the backs of my eyelids perfectly. Surely they were still closed tight, but just as I thought that, a face came into focus. It was close to mine, laying on the pillow next to me, watching me with warmth in those hazel eyes. Tears welled in my swollen ones.

“Triven.” I reached out to touch him but my hand fell on empty space. The tears began to fall in earnest now. I choked out a sob. “You’re not real are you?”

He smiled softly, shaking his head. I closed my eyes, wanted to shut him out, but his face was still there. Swallowing, I opened them again.

“I’m losing my mind aren’t I?” My voice broke and he nodded, frowning a little. I knew that lying here indulging in my mind’s sick torments would only hurt me more, that I would awake in the morning still alone in this hellhole with no one to help me. I knew that keeping my sanity was the only way I might survive, but it didn’t matter. I needed him anyway. Lifting my good hand, I laid it on the mattress next to his, not quite touching what I knew wasn’t really there.

“You’ll stay with me?” I asked the specter. He nodded, smiling sadly. Unconsciousness began to claim me again. “As long as you’re here I will never give in to him… I’m trying to keep my promise…”

My sanity was slipping away and I was letting it. He and Mouse were my only reasons to survive, but I knew the truth. No matter how strong my will to survive, no matter how much I loved them, if help didn’t come soon I was going to die in here.