The Regenerates (11 page)

“Fine. What are we going to do?”

“You focus on him,” said Kayn, pointing to the captive man. “I’ll take care of the rest of them. Oh, and take this,” he added, handing Ven his bag. “The dagger is inside it. If it gets stolen, I’m going to shoot you myself.”

Ven ignored his remark and took Kayn’s bag, slinging it over his shoulder with his own.

Kayn pulled out a blaster and a long knife and tucked them into his shirt. Ven did the same, holding a knife in one hand and a brass pistol in the other. Kayn then crept forward, closer and closer to the groups of tents. Ven stayed close behind him. Kayn clicked the blaster, peered around the largest tent and fired, not stopping till three of the bandits had fallen to the ground. The others jumped to their feet at the sight of their fallen comrades.

“It’s an ambush, get the guns!” said the bandit who had interrogated the prisoner.

They dove into their tents and pulled out swords, spears, and pistols. Feeling that he and Kayn had bitten off more than they could chew, Ven clenched the weapons in his hands. He tried to remember what Albar had taught him, but conveniently his mind had gone blank.

He took a deep breath and looked out from behind the tent to discover that Kayn was just as skilled a fighter as everyone had claimed. He was slashing, shooting and punching quicker than Ven’s eyes could keep up. While the bandits were distracted, Ven looked around for the man. He eventually found him struggling against his wounds, crawling away from the campsite.

“Psst,” said Ven, beckoning to him. “Hey, we’re here to get you out!” Once the man spotted Ven, it was though he had forgotten all his injuries. He scrambled as fast as he could in Ven’s direction.

Ven helped him to his feet. “Come on, let’s go, into the woods.”

“How can I thank you?” cried the man.

“I’m from Cor,” said Ven once they had dived behind a large rock amongst the trees.

The man stared at Ven, dumbfounded. “You…what?”

“I’m the one who arranged the exit from the tunnel on Abolition Day. I was working with that man, Markis.”

The man’s eyes widened.

“Listen,” said Ven, “we don’t have any time. Among the other Sentenced, there was a girl with her parents. What happened to them?”

“There was so much going on when the bandits attacked us. Some of us didn’t make it and we were forced to leave them behind. The ones who managed to run away scattered in different directions.”

“And what happened to them? That girl and her parents? Do you remember?”

The man appeared to be straining, trying to recall what had happened. “Oh, wait, I do remember! There
was
a girl. She had ginger hair, I think. She ran up north. I don’t know where she was headed, but I overheard the bandits talking about a small town called Renneth that was somewhere in that area. I don’t know what happened to her parents, though. I’m sorry.”

Ven took a deep breath. “Right, listen. The man over there, the one fighting the bandits. He’s…he’s Kayn Stafford.”

“What did you say?”

“I can’t explain everything. I’m sorry. He really doesn’t like me. I didn’t think he’d let me get you out of there, but he’s made it clear that I’m not allowed to help you beyond this. You’ll have to find your own way to safety.” Ven handed the man his pistol. He needed it more than Ven did.

The man looked thoroughly confused, but didn’t ask any more questions.

“Go, run before they realize you’re missing. And thank you,” Ven added.

The man nodded, and disappeared into the woods.

So Coralie was alive, and she had managed to escape, but she had been separated from her parents. It wasn’t much, but it was still a lead.

“He ran into the woods! Someone go after him!”

One of the bandits was pointing in Ven’s direction. He dove back down under the rock, and crouching low, he sidestepped from rock to tree, staying hidden.

Something grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him out from behind his hiding spot.

“Hey, there’s someone he–”

Before the bandit could alert his companions, Ven took the knife in his hand, lunged forwards and drove it into the man’s chest. The bandit collapsed to the ground and didn’t move. Ven could feel adrenaline coursing through him. There was no time to ponder what he had just done. Where was Kayn?

He pulled out the knife and crept back towards the campsite. When he reached the largest tent and looked around it, he found Kayn struggling with a hulking man who was almost twice Kayn’s size, and wasn’t even using a weapon. He seemed to be the only bandit left. Kayn’s blaster lay forgotten, hidden behind the pile of loot and corpses, and Ven edged towards it. The massive bandit was clearly winning; Kayn was sweating, visibly strained, trying to slash him with the knife in his hand. As Ven watched, Kayn drew back his fist and aimed it at the bandit’s nose. The bandit expertly ducked and twisted Kayn’s arm, and the knife fell to the ground, leaving him unarmed. The bandit threw a right hook at Kayn’s face and sent him crashing into a tent and out of sight.

The bandit began to advance on him.

“Dammit,” Ven whispered, inching closer to them. He dove forwards, grabbed the blaster and fiddled with the knobs till it clicked. Once the bullets were in place, he peeked around the pile of loot and aimed the blaster at the bandit. His hands were shaking, but he steadied himself.

Ven fired several times at the bandit’s shoulder.

The bandit bellowed in pain and looked around for his attacker. Ven ducked back down into his hiding spot. When the bandit was turned in the other direction, Ven aimed for his head this time, and fired several more rounds. This time the bandit fell to the ground and did not get up.

Ven was panting and his palms had gone sweaty. He wobbled over to Kayn, who was coughing and struggling to get to his feet. His left cheek had a large bruise on it from where the bandit had hit him. Ven handed him the blaster.

Kayn seized it and stared blankly at him. “That was generous of you, saving me like that. I should probably thank you.”

“If you die, I don’t go home,” said Ven, “That’s the only reason you’re alive right now.”

His brazen comment surprised him. Still, it was the truth. He wouldn’t make it very far with his current combat skills. He decided he would try and use Kayn, if he could.

“True,” said Kayn. “So, where’s that prisoner?”

“He ran into the woods. I got what I wanted, though.”

“Never again,” Kayn rubbed his head.

“Why not, you were doing great,” said Ven sarcastically, ignoring Kayn’s glare. “He told me there’s a smaller town called Renneth that’s only a few hours from here. It’s a little off course on our way to Lamparth, but since we can’t trust our map it might be safer to stop there first.”

“Fine. As long as you know what you’re doing.”

Ven smiled to himself. Kayn didn’t realize he had an ulterior motive for wanting to take a detour to Renneth. His heart leaped at the idea of meeting Coralie again.

He suddenly looked down at his hands. They were still shaking from the shots he had fired at the bandit.

Maybe I’m not that bad after all.

V
en and Kayn made sure to walk in a straight line and not look back. Ven was determined not to waste any more time, although he couldn’t call their ordeal with the bandits useless. It was thanks to them that he now had a lead on Coralie.

They stopped at an airship fueling station to recuperate. Ven greedily eyed the small transport pods parked at the station, stretching his aching legs. Thankfully, the gash on his leg had begun to scab and the pain was mostly gone.

“I can’t walk anymore,” he told Kayn. “If we could just take one of those to Renneth…”

“Then steal it,” said Kayn.

“I’m not stealing from anyone, thanks,” Ven said incredulously. “Why don’t you do it? It was your idea.”

“It’s not my feet that hurt. Why should I risk getting in trouble?”

Ven glared at him. “Fine. We’ll walk.”

“Wait.” Kayn pulled him back. “Look. That might motivate you.” He pointed towards the fuel station owner, who appeared to be engaged in a scuffle with a small girl and her mother in the convenience store.

They walked closer.

“The sign says it’s five Koins for the packet of fruit,” said the mother, “You can’t charge us ten, it’s cheating.”

“Oh, stuff it,” said the owner, snatching the packet of fruit from the young girl’s hands. “Prices change all the time. If you can’t afford it, then get lost, before I throw you out.”

“What’s his problem?” said Ven.

Kayn sighed. “Alright. I suppose I owe you for before. You deal with the owner, and I’ll steal the pod.”

Ven raised his eyebrows, perplexed. He didn’t see Kayn as someone who believed in repayment. “Thanks…”

Kayn headed to one of the pods, pulled out a knife and fiddled with the chains. Ven made for the convenience store, trying to look as tall as possible.

“The sign really does say five Koins, you know,” he told the owner, after glancing at the shelf. “Are you so poor you need to charge them another five?”

“What did you just say to me?” the owner snapped. The girl and her mother stared at Ven, widening their eyes.

“How about I give you
my
five, and that’ll make it ten,” said Ven. “Sound good?” He pulled out some Koins from his pocket and slammed them onto the counter, then snatched back the packet of fruit.

The owner leered at him. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Thanks.” The woman smiled as Ven handed her the packet and they exited the store. “You really shouldn’t have paid him, though.”

“It’s alright,” said Ven. “I’m taking his transport pod. It would have been wrong not to give him anything for it.” He grinned at them.

“Hurry up, Ven!” called Kayn.

Ven nodded goodbye and ran back to the pod before the owner could notice.

He leaped inside and slammed the door shut, just as the owner began to yell. It was too late for him, though. Kayn slammed onto the accelerator and drove off, and the owner grew farther and farther out of sight.

Ven had never seen the ocean before. It was a beautiful, azure blue. The cool sea breeze was a welcoming relief from the hot sun they had been forced to endure for the past several days. Renneth was a quaint, albeit bustling market town. Hundreds of little red-roofed shops lined the road alongside the dock, where fishermen reeled in their catch and anchored their boats.

Kayn parked the pod against a wooden fence. Ven hopped out and stretched his legs.

“We’d probably get quite a bit of money if we sold this thing,” said Kayn.

“Go ahead, if you can find a buyer,” said Ven, his stomach beginning to gurgle. It occurred to him that they could use the money, since they had next to nothing left. It would mean they’d be walking again later, but it was that, or starve.

“I’ll handle this.”

Kayn left Ven with the pod and made for the crowd in the market ahead of them. To Ven’s surprise, it took Kayn all of fifteen minutes to find an eager customer, who dropped a leather money pouch into his open palm. Kayn walked back to Ven with the pouch jingling in his hand.

After heading to the center of town and booking a room at a small inn, they returned to the square to pitifully ask for help. Most of the townspeople were unhelpful. It was as though the world in their eyes was limited to a specific circumference outside Renneth and nothing beyond.

As they entered a store and Kayn went to talk to the shopkeeper, Ven spotted a large poster hanging by the door. It was bright and colorful and the words ‘I’m a Haze Theorist’ were written in bold letters.

Ven frowned. What was this guy doing, blatantly advertising it like that? What if he got in trouble and was killed? He examined the poster more closely. It depicted a king kneeling respectfully in front of an enormous, glowing figure. The figure’s hands were raised above the king’s head, sending rays of light flowing into him.

A million questions swam into Ven’s mind all at once.

Kayn nudged him roughly. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.” Ven walked up to the shopkeeper and pointed. “That poster. Are you sure you’re allowed to hang it up like that? Won’t you get in trouble?”

Kayn followed the direction of Ven’s finger and turned pale when he saw the poster hanging by the door.

“What? Why would I get in trouble? I’m allowed to believe whatever I want, aren’t I?” The shopkeeper scratched his head at Ven’s question.

The only response Ven had in his mind was, “You are?” But he chose to keep that to himself.

“Don’t
you
believe in the Haze Theory? I mean, what’s not to believe, right?” The shopkeeper smiled at him.

“Uh…” Sure, Ven
could
believe in it. If he even knew anything about it. A thought suddenly struck him. He had always been told that the Theory was taboo, but he had never been told why, and the
why
never seemed to matter. Now, however, his curiosity was beginning to explode. It occurred to him that not all cities had the same rules that Cor had. No wonder this shopkeeper looked so perplexed. For a split second Ven envied him. He had the freedom to gain knowledge and apparently, he didn’t have to fear execution.

“We’re going.” Kayn’s voice was dangerously soft.

Ven glared at him but nodded apologetically to the shopkeeper and headed back out to the main street. To Ven’s surprise, Kayn looked confused and disturbed, and it took him a second to get his bearings before he began walking again. Ven was dying to ask Kayn what he knew about the Haze Theory, but knew there would be no point. As if Kayn would say anything to him. Putting the confusing incident behind him, Ven decided to return to the task at hand.

He was beginning to become frustrated at how little progress they were making. As the sun began to set over the sea, Ven felt more than ready to give up for the night. Then, to his surprise, Kayn turned around and made for the market.

“Where are you going?”

“A bar.”

“Really?” said Ven in disbelief. “You’re going to
drink
?” It might have been ignorance, but Ven couldn’t quite see his would-be leader, whom he had first spoken to like a stuttering child, drinking away his troubles at a seedy establishment.