Promises
“For every promise there is a price to pay.”
~ Jim Rohn
“For every promise there is a price to pay.”
~ Jim Rohn
They were ready; poised in the high, thick, sturdy branches of the immense trees of Central Dark Forest. A group of twenty or so people, made up of various species of humans that inhabited Mentieth, crouched among the branches of the trees, waiting like shadows, silent as the coming of night. The atmosphere was tense; the members of the group could feel the thick weightiness of the torrid air around them as they sat, impatiently waiting, watching the pathway below, their bowstrings stretched taut and their arrows ready to fly.
Shade, a tall, dark dragonsayer youth, shifted uncomfortably on his branch. They had been crouching there for almost twenty minutes now, and his legs were beginning to ache. He was dressed all in black and dark green, and his clothes felt sticky and scratchy against his skin. When he shifted, ever-so-slightly, his back scratched against the tree branch behind him. He had chosen this particular spot because of that tree branch, because it meant he could lean back and it would prevent him from falling from such a scarily dizzying height. He had always been afraid of heights. He had also chosen this spot because it was the furthest from the rest of the group, and there was enough room for another person to sit only a branch away. This person was Kalea, a small, slender mage, who was out on her first scout mission ever. She had been rescued by the Rebels only a month ago, after an Imperialist raid on the village where she had lived with her older brother, now missing – or worse. Incensed by the unfairness of her situation, Kalea threw herself, mind, body and soul, into her combat training and lessons. She wanted to do something for the Rebellion, but more than anything, she wanted to find her brother.
~
Hundreds of years ago, Earth had been covered in huge, bustling cities and millions of people. Technology was at its finest, and when it seemed that there couldn’t possibly be anything better, something new always popped up, amazing absolutely everyone. New technology, designed to help solve the Earth’s problems, was developed, and concerns such as poverty and pollution became things of the past. Humanity was at its peak, its pinnacle, and many were happy just to bask in the glory of their time. But when one reaches such a high, there’s only one place to go afterwards: down. After a few years of absolute perfection (as far as historians are concerned), scientists began to find mutated human bloodlines, caused by the dangerous amount of chemicals consumed by humans regularly. These bloodline mutations caused differences in parent-child similarities that were so drastic that it could not even be proved through DNA testing whether or not the child did in fact belong to those parents. New species of humans evolved, many of them possessing or able to control magic of some sort. Along with the magic-blood humans, came magic-blood animals, many of them fascinatingly dangerous. Technology took a turn towards magic as well, hoping to push past what was thought to be the highest point it could have ever reached. Pushing it, however, pushed it only towards its demise.
Afraid to admit what they had discovered was happening, scientists frantically searched for a way to deter or even mask what only they knew was happening to their precious technologically-advanced world. But before long, they had no choice but to give in and admit to the general public what they had feared for so long was going to happen: the world was de-evolving. Over time, the cities shrank and disappeared altogether, as the forests increased in size. Records were lost, and at one point the human race nearly faced extinction. War was rampant. Poverty and pollution returned full-force. The seas even rose up and swallowed most of the land for almost two decades. Those humans who were lucky enough to survive were now a minority among the other species of magical humans that existed and thrived during these times of trouble.
After two hundred years, the Earth regained some sort of balance. There were no more disasters, and humans were able to settle themselves into some sort of community among the mages, wizards, dragonsayers, sorcerers, and other magic-bloods that had evolved. Human parents no longer had to worry about their children being born magic-bloods, and everything was almost wonderful again. Technology was discovered from ‘The Golden Days,’ when everything was perfect, but because no one knew how to use it, it rusted and became broken or obsolete. What little technology humans could figure out how to use helped them to rebuild parts of their long-ago magnificent empire. It was this technology that sparked a young man named Galyen to do what he believed to be the only way for humans to again rise to their former glory.
Galyen was born in a small village called Thay, on the southwestern edge of Dark Forest, in a land called Mentieth. Mentieth was one of the more advanced areas around the world, as it was where Central North America used to be, and it had not been covered by water when the seas rose. Galyen was an only child who lived with his human mother, his wizard father having left them when Galyen was only two. He grew up hating his father for leaving him and his mother, and he vowed to find his father one day so that he could tell him how terrible of a father he was.
When the technology was found, Galyen was in his early twenties, and he traveled to the capital, Sessan, to see it. He changed his name, a magic-blood one meaning “darkness,” to Mercian, a human one meaning the same thing. It was then that Mercian knew how he was going to exact his revenge on his father.
He joined what weak government ruled Mentieth, starting at the bottom and slowly, patiently working his way up towards the top. Eventually he usurped power by overthrowing the weak and persuadable government leader, who was found dead only a few days later. It was believed that Mercian killed him personally, or prearranged his death in order to take over Mentieth; ‘The Beginning of the End,’ as many liked to call it.
He changed the name of the capital to Carmathae, a human name instead of a magic-blood one. He called himself the Supreme Lord Mercian of The Empire of Mentieth, and blamed everything that had happened to humans and the Earth on the magic-bloods, using the fact that they had thrived during The Floods as proof. He began ordering raids on the magic-blood communities, saying that any magic-blood left alive was one more obstacle to overcome on the humans’ journey back to the top. Many took his words to heart and joined forces with the Empire, aptly naming themselves the Imperialists. Their slow takeover of Mentieth forced the magic-bloods into hiding. A small collection of humans sympathetic to the magic-bloods began to group together to form what was to be called the Rebellion. They were working towards defeating the Empire and, ultimately, Lord Mercian.
~
Back in Dark Forest, Shade noticed Kalea shift her weight on her tree branch. It was more from nerves than anything. And she had every right to be nervous, because even though she had done exceptionally well during training, this was simply not the same; this was the real thing. Shade knew it was nerves because he also knew that Kalea was ridiculously patient, and that she could sit in the same position for hours, however uncomfortable. He attributed this to her having magical blood. So when she shifted that day in the trees, he knew that something must be wrong. The Imperialist group they were supposed to be taking out should have been here by now. Had the scout group been misinformed? Was this a trap, or worse? Surely not.
Kalea shifted again. Shade wondered if she had heard or seen something. Her acute mage’s senses had made her an asset both as a base scout and on the few minor search missions she had joined. As soon as she was ready, she was immediately put on a scout mission. It was a scout’s duty to make sure that no Imperialists, other government affiliates, or nomads got too close to the Rebels’ hidden base, and her heightened senses were deemed ideal for just such a job. Thus, she now sat with Shade in the upper branches of a giant maiyna tree of Central Dark Forest, not ten miles from the Rebel base, waiting to take out a group of Imperialists on their way to the capital.
Shade tightened his grip on his bow, ignoring the sweat dripping from his hairline. He was certain now that Kalea had seen or heard something the others had not, and sure enough, not two minutes later, a group of around fifty Imperialists appeared, trudging along the path below. Due to their government affiliation and the dangers of this area of the forest, Shade was surprised that they were so noisy; the scout group could hear them before they could even see them. They were dressed as nomads, head to foot in simple, animal-skin clothes, but it was easy to see that they were not; they were too clean to be nomads, and they didn’t have nearly enough equipment with them. Besides, they were ranked. Nomads didn’t have ranks.
Shade glanced at his watch: ten minutes behind schedule, according to the tip. No matter; they’re here now… He held his bow ready, aimed, and slid his eyes, only his eyes, over so that he could see the tall, stocky form of Mairk, the leader of the scout group. As soon as he gave the signal… Shade looked quickly over to Kalea. She was biting her bottom lip and her brow was furrowed in a look of utter concentration. The prettiest frown Shade had ever seen. A small smile played about Shade’s lips; she had nothing to worry about: her aim was spectacular. She silently took a deep breath, as if about to plunge into a pool of water whose temperature she’d not yet tested, and looked to Mairk. Shade followed her gaze, and just in time: the signal. Mairk looked around at his fellow scouts and nodded, flicking his hand downward to point at the unsuspecting Imperialists below. The instant he gave the signal, bowstrings snapped against the air as they were released. Arrows flew, straight and true, into the bodies of the men below, who broke rank and yelled as the leaders called for order and to prepare for battle. The arrows still flew, and in rapid succession; Shade was about to fire his eighth before he realized that Kalea had not yet fired even one.
“Kalea, what’s wrong?” Shade asked, lowering his bow and turning to face her. She was white as a ghost and shaking, though she still held her bow and arrow ready to shoot.
“Kalea?” It was Shade’s job to look after her, as this was her first mission and he had already been on many. Besides, she was considered very valuable as she was one of the few remaining mages in Mentieth, and the only one in all of the Rebellion. Her magic was very useful around the base, healing, fixing, finding, and creating, but even more useful outside of the base, where her keen senses came in very handy.
~
In the organized chaos that ensued as the scout group readied to leave base, Mairk had pulled Shade aside to talk to him about Kalea, who looked pale and nervous as she packed her arrows into her quiver and tightened the string on her bow.
“I want you to keep an eye on her, okay, Shade?” Mairk said, putting a hand on Shade’s shoulder. Shade nodded. He knew it wasn’t really a question, but a request, or, more likely, an order.
“Keep her close, and if anything happens, I want you to forget everything, take her, and get the hell outta dodge.”
“But what about you?” Shade protested. During training, recruits were told that no matter what happened senior officers were to be protected first. In the scout group, that meant Mairk and then his second officer.
“Forget about me,” he replied, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand. “I’ll be fine. I want you to focus on Kalea. She’s a mage, after all, and it’s only her first mission. I know it’s a lot to ask, and I doubt it’ll even come to this, but if worse comes to worse, Shade, promise me that it’s your life for hers, okay? I trust you, Shade; you’re the most competent person in my squad. Not to say these guys aren’t competent,” he added, throwing his thumb over his shoulder to indicate to the rest of the group, still getting ready behind him. “But,” he continued, now pointing at Shade. “I honestly think you’d make a better second officer than that oaf Jakkan.” As if on cue, Jakkan, a short, stout dragonsayer of about forty, stumbled backwards into a carefully stacked pile of crates, which had been brought in with a rescue mission that had returned that very morning. The crates crashed to the floor of the base’s front hall, some of them shattering and spewing their contents all over the shiny tile floor. Jakkan spluttered from where he had fallen among the crates, calling for them to be cleaned up as he attempted to rise.
“See what I mean?” Mairk said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, all the while smiling amusedly. “He needs to retire,” he joked, and then was suddenly serious again: “So look after Kalea and I’ll see what I can do, alright?” Shade nodded again as Mairk moved off to help Jakkan. Shade walked over to where Kalea was on the other side of the hall. She had jumped out of fright when the crates fell and had accidentally snapped the string on her bow.
“Here,” Shade said, taking the bow from her and removing the broken string. He then helped her put a new string on by holding the bow for her so she could tie the new string around the notches on either end.
“Thanks,” she said smiling nervously at him.
“Not a problem,” he replied, giving her a warm smile. “Kalea, right?” She nodded. “Nice to meet you, Kalea, I’m Shade.” He extended a hand to her and she took it saying, “Nice to meet you too.” They shook hands, just as Mairk called for everyone to line up to leave.
“Nervous?” Shade asked Kalea, who was looking around and wondering what to do. She nodded again. Shade smiled at her and said, “Stick with me, alright? I’ll look after you.”
~
“Kalea?” Shade asked again as the Imperialists below them finally regained order and began fighting back. Kalea’s eyes were squeezed shut and she was biting her bottom lip harder than ever. She pulled back on her bowstring as if about to shoot, but suddenly she lowered her bow and looked over to Shade with wide, fearful eyes. She clutched her bow to her chest and let go of the arrow, which fell, forgotten, down through the branches of the trees, towards the earth far below.
By now the Imperialists were really fighting back, throwing daggers and firing their own arrows. As Shade made his way over to Kalea’s branch, a dagger somehow found its way up into the upper tree branches where Kalea and Shade sat, spiraling dangerously end over end. It landed with a loud, resounding thunk in the tree trunk, having barely missed both Shade and Kalea. Without stopping to think, Shade took his bow, Kalea’s bow, and the dagger all in one hand, and Kalea’s wrist in the other hand. Leaping from branch to branch, he led Kalea deeper into the forest, away from the fray. When he could no longer hear the sounds of the fighting behind them, he helped Kalea down from the trees and into a small clearing, handing her bow back to her. She looked shaken and was still very pale.
“Kalea?” Shade asked. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She looked down at the bow in her hands and then slowly, one by one, opened her fingers and let the bow fall to the ground at her feet. Shade opened his mouth to say her name again, but she began to speak, so he stopped.
“I c-couldn’t do it,” she whispered, barely audible.
“What?” Shade asked, confused. “What couldn’t you do?”
“I couldn’t shoot him,” she replied, tears now forming in her eyes. “I know that this is exactly what they did to my village, but I just couldn’t do it. Not in cold blood. Oh, gods, Shade, I just couldn’t!” Her voice was stronger now and tears were streaming down her face. She was wringing her hands in front of her. She felt like she had not only let the scout group down, but also her brother, who she had sworn to avenge, whether dead or no.
Shade felt sorry for her. He also felt that anyone else in his place would probably be annoyed with her for feeling this way and not sucking it up and just shooting the guy. Maybe he should have been annoyed too, but he just couldn’t stop the feeling of admiration for her that was swelling in his chest. Despite everything, despite the raid on her village, her brother’s disappearance and potential death, and her wish to make right again the wrongs that had been committed against her, her heart, or her conscience (or perhaps even both) had stopped her from shooting an Imperialist simply because she did not know him and had no specific reason to want him dead. Shade almost laughed but caught himself just in time; he doubted Kalea would appreciate that very much. Instead, he opted for putting his arm around her shoulders and saying, “Kalea… I think that’s the noblest thing I’ve ever heard come out of a Rebel’s mouth.”
“R-really?” she stammered, wiping the back of one of her hands across her eyes.
“Absolutely,” Shade replied. “Most of them wouldn’t think twice about shooting an Imperialist because they think they’re doing the right thing, but you stick to your morals instead of letting your anger get the best of you. That’s noble.”
“Th-thanks,” she said, smiling through her tears. “Hey, Shade?” she asked, a moment later.
“Mmhm?”
“Where are we?”
Shade started. Where were they? “Well,” he began. “I think the base is somewhere back…that way.” He pointed to where he hoped south was. He knew for sure that they were north of the base, but after that, he had no clue where they were.
“Can you hear anything?”
Kalea concentrated for a second. “Nothing out of the ordinary,” she said.
Damn, Shade thought. He was hoping she’d be able to hear the rest of the scout group so that they could find their way back with them, but they must have been too far away for her to hear. Now they were lost.
“I hear running water, though,” she added. “Isn’t there a river that passes by the base? I can find the way to the river and we can just follow it back to the base.”
Not only is she noble, but she’s clever too, thought Shade. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll–”
“Wait,” Kalea said, cutting him off. “I hear someone coming. Just one person, I think. Right…there!” She pointed into the trees, towards where she had also said the river was.
“Quick!” Shade said. “Up here!” He helped Kalea up into a tree and climbed up after her, passing her the bows and dagger that he still held. Moments later, an old bent wizard man hobbled into the clearing, looking around for something. He had grey hair and a full grey beard. He was wearing a set of old, tattered navy robes and carried with him a long wooden staff. After a moment the man stood in the middle of the clearing and closed his eyes.
“Come out, come out,” he said, his voice a lot deeper and stronger than Shade had imagined it would be. “I know you are there, I can sense it. Please come out.”
Kalea began to climb down from the tree, but Shade stopped her. “Are you crazy?!” he asked, whispering frantically. “He could be an Imperialist!”
Kalea gave him a withering look. “He’s a wizard, Shade,” she replied, calmly. “He can’t possibly be an Imperialist.”
“He could be a double agent!”
“If the Imperialists even knew he existed he’d likely be dead. Besides, he’s an old man and only a wizard. If he is an Imperialist, as unlikely as those chances are, I could take him out with one casting.”
“You couldn’t shoot a real Imperialist but you’ll cast magic on a poor old man,” Shade said annoyed.
“Self-defence isn’t the same as killing in cold blood,” Kalea replied matter-of-factly, looking up at him from the branch below. “He’s not an Imperialist and he already knows we’re here, so I’m going down. There’s no point in hiding.”
Shade sighed as she hopped down to the ground. If he wasn’t annoyed with her before, he sure was now. How was he supposed to protect her if she was just going to give herself up to complete strangers and potential threats to her life? She was too trusting. But then again, he didn’t really seem all that threatening. On the contrary, he seemed kind and wise.
“Ah!” said the wizard, opening his eyes and spying Kalea coming across the clearing to him. Shade began to make his way down from his place in the tree.
“A mage, I see!” He indicated to the green tattoos all over Kalea’s bare, thin, muscled arms. She smiled broadly at the man as Shade came to stand next to her.
“And a dragonsayer?” the man inquired.
“How did you know?” Shade asked, baffled. There really was no way to tell a dragonsayer simply by his or her physical appearance.
“Just a guess, just a guess,” the wizard said, smiling. Shade was suspicious of him, but let the matter drop.
“And just what, may I ask, in all the great gods’ names, are a young mage and dragonsayer doing out in the middle of Dark Forest on their own at this time of day? It’s quite dangerous here, you know, especially once night sets.” Indeed, it had grown late in the day. The sky was already stained pink, orange, purple and red as the sun began to set. That was another thing about the Earth de-evolving, keeping track of time was nearly impossible on anything other than a day-to-day basis. It could be mid-day one minute and the next, the sun was setting, and it was different nearly every day. One never really got used to the sporadic days and nights.
Kalea and Shade looked at each other. How much could they tell this man?
“We got lost,” Shade said. Not exactly the truth, but certainly not a lie, either; they were lost, after all.
“Ah, I see, I see,” the wizard said. “Well the sun will set soon; do you have somewhere to go?”
“Yes, actu–” Shade began. Kalea cut him off: “Shade, we won’t make it back before it gets dark.” She looked uneasy.
“Not to worry, not to worry,” the wizard said. “You can stay for the night at my house if you would like.”
“That would be nice,” Kalea said, smiling.
“Sure, but we can’t,” Shade said. He didn’t want to trust this man. It was too convenient that he had showed up just when they needed a place to stay for the night. “Kalea, we have to get back.”
“But, Shade, I…I don’t want to get caught out here in the dark! What if...what if they’re still around?” Shade knew she meant the Imperialists, and he had to admit that she had a point there; they couldn’t risk getting caught.
All the while, the wizard was watching the exchange with a look of polite interest on his wizened face. Finally Shade turned to him and said grudgingly, “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble…”
“No trouble, no trouble,” he replied. “None at all. I’m sure you’d do the same for me if I were in your situation. Come along, come along, now…” He headed off into the forest towards the river and Shade and Kalea followed. Kalea could hear it gurgling merrily far in the distance. All the way back to his cabin, the little wizard man chattered on about the forest, his cabin and himself. Kalea followed close and listened intently, perhaps only half-feigning interest, but Shade was distracted and his mind wandered. The only thing he was fully aware of was Kalea’s long red plait swinging across her back as she walked just ahead of him.
The cabin they eventually came to looked small and decrepit. It was covered in ivy and part of the roof looked like it had caved in ages ago, not to mention all of the windows were either broken or missing. Once they had stepped inside, however, they could see that the outside appearance of the little house was just a façade, probably to keep out intruders or unwanted guests. The inside was pristine and tidy, the ceiling was whole, and all of the windows were present and intact. There were four full rooms, instead of it just being a one-room shack, as it appeared to be from the outside. It was a quaint, cozy little cottage, complete with a fireplace and underground cellar, as was evident from the trapdoor on the floor in the corner. The first room they entered was a little living room, with a couch, and old patched armchair, and a small coffee table, which had one leg that was different from the others. Across from the front door was another door, which led to the wizard’s room. The kitchen was connected to the living room, with a small dining space in between, and there was another bedroom on the other side of the kitchen. A corner of the living room next to the master bedroom was occupied by the cabin’s tiny bathroom.
“Please, please,” said the wizard, shutting the door securely behind them. “Make yourselves at home and I will make us a nice pot of tea.” He disappeared around into the kitchen as Shade and Kalea settled themselves on the couch. A few minutes later, the wizard returned and sat in the armchair.
“I am afraid I did not catch your names,” he said. Shade knew this was a blatant lie; he had heard their names when they were arguing back in the clearing. Shade didn’t say anything, so Kalea did.
“My name is Kalea, and this is Shade.”
“Very nice, very nice,” he replied. “My name is Fayrn. I humbly welcome you into my home.” He smiled at them. “The water for the tea is boiling. After tea, you may retire if you wish. I have an extra bedroom around behind the kitchen.”
“Thank-you very much,” Kalea replied.
“Not at all, not at all,” Fayrn cried, waving it away with a dramatic sweep of his hands. Shade found it very annoying how he kept repeating things. The kettle began to boil and Fayrn brought them their tea.
Kalea seemed to enjoy it, but Shade found it to be much too bitter for his liking. Just to be polite, he took another sip, anyway.
“So,” Fayrn said. “Rebels, are you?” Shade nearly spat out the tea in his mouth. How had he known?! He knew he had been right to be suspicious. There was something about this guy…
Kalea looked politely surprised. “Why, yes. How did you know?”
“Is it not obvious?” Fayrn replied, winking. “Not to worry, not to worry, your secret is safe with me!”
Kalea smiled nervously at him and then shot Shade a worried glance. She finished her tea and announced that she was going to bed.
When she was gone, Fayrn turned to Shade.
“She’s too trusting for her own good.”
Shade began to get nervous.
“Fear not, fear not, I will not do anything to the two of you. You are perfectly safe here. But she needs to be much more careful.”
“I’m ready to go to bed now.” Shade was feeling slightly sick.
“As you wish.” Fayrn cleared the cups and saucers and made to retire to his room. Before he shut his door, he turned back and said, “Be careful with her; she is very valuable. Goodnight, Shade.”
Shade settled on the couch but could not sleep. Fayrn was creepy and Shade was unnerved by how strange he was. He was just glad that he was in between Fayrn and Kalea. He would not sleep that night; he would lie awake all night keeping his promise to Mairk and protecting Kalea. His life for hers. And as soon as dawn broke, he would wake her and they would leave and go back to the safety of the base, away from this creepy old wizard forever.
Just to be sure that she was okay, Shade quietly crept through the kitchen to the room where Kalea was sleeping. He slowly pushed open the door and peered in to see Kalea sprawled across the large double bed. She was sleeping peacefully, a blank, serene look on her face. Shade let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully there would only be a few more hours until dawn…
~
The warmth of the sun on his face woke Shade from his doze. Sunlight streamed in the window and across the living room in sharp shafts. Dust motes drifted lazily through the light, making it surreal and beautiful. It looked exactly the way Shade’s mind didn’t feel. He was tense and alert. Fayrn wasn’t up yet; they could get away unnoticed. After getting their bows, arrows, and the Imperialist dagger from the table in the living room, Shade slipped quietly into Kalea’s room and shook her awake.
“Unng…” she mumbled. “Leave me alone, Shade, I want to sleep some more.”
“Kalea, get up!”
“Just a bit longer…”
“Kalea! Let’s go!”
“Okay, okay…” she grumbled, sitting up groggily. “What’s the rush?”
“I don’t like this guy,” Shade replied. “Can we please just go?”
“Alright, alright, let’s go.” Kalea climbed out of bed and straightened her clothes, which were wrinkled from her having slept in them. The two of them quietly stole out of the house and off into the woods, Kalea leading the way towards the stream.
“Fayrn wasn’t even up yet,” Kalea pointed out as they walked. “I don’t understand.”
“He was creepy, Kalea,” Shade said, shivering despite the sun already warming the air around them. “I feel a lot safer out here.”
“Funny,” Kalea replied, somewhat sarcastically. “Because I think we’re probably in more danger out here with Imperialists running around than we were back at Fayrn’s house.” She yawned, not yet fully awake. “Do you still have the dagger and bows?” she asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Good, we’ve got company.” She stopped and Shade nearly bumped into her back. She reached back and took the dagger from him, listening carefully. Suddenly, an arrow appeared seemingly out of nowhere and struck the tree to their left. Shade pushed Kalea down from behind and the two of them lay there as a few other arrows rained down around them.
“Get behind that tree, quick!” Shade cried, pulling Kalea up and dragging her after him behind the tree, where they crouched in safety, however temporary. He peered around the tree. The arrows had stopped.
“Here, let me look.”
“No!”
Kalea had moved to push past him and peer around the tree’s wide trunk, but Shade had pulled her back.
“Don’t,” he said. “I’ll look.” He remembered what Mairk had said: “I know it’s a lot to ask, and I doubt it’ll even come to this, but if worse comes to worse, Shade, promise me that it’s your life for hers, okay? I trust you, Shade…”
“But I can see farther than–”
“That’s okay, they’re right there anyway.” My life for hers, my life for hers. “Give me the dagger.”
“Arrows are better–”
“Give me the dagger!” She gave him the dagger. Something on the hilt scratched his hand, and he noticed that the jewel-encrusted handle was missing a small gem. If the design was symmetrical it was a sapphire. Or a fake one, anyway.
“The dagger’s heavier and will fly straighter. Not to mention it’ll do more damage than arrows will. Besides, there’s not enough room to shoot arrows from here without putting us both at risk,” Shade explained. Kalea still looked reproachful. He had no reason to yell at her like that.
“Careful,” Shade said, leaning past her and counting the men he could see. Imperialists. There were at least four of them, probably more. Imperialists were known for traveling in larger numbers. In this day and age, the phrase “safety in numbers” was truer than it had ever been before.
Shade took careful aim and flung the dagger at the closest Imperialist he could see. It hit the man in the chest, roughly where his heart was, and the man fell backwards, screaming bloody murder. The three others rushed over to him as he lay dying. One pulled the dagger out and examined it.
“This is one of ours,” he said gruffly. They broke off into muffled conversation as the one who had been hit slowly died among their feet.
“How many of them are there?” Kalea asked quietly, trying to see around Shade.
“Probably tons,” Shade replied, pushing her back less-than-gently. “We need to get out of here.”
“We can sneak through the tree branches,” she suggested.
“Too risky. We’ll have to make a run for it and hope we don’t get hit.”
“Your plan sounds worse than mine!” Kalea retorted.
Shade looked at her seriously.
“Okay, okay, we’ll go with yours.”
“When I say ‘now,’” Shade said. “I want you to run to that tree over there, okay? We’re going to try and head back so that we can get around them.”
Kalea nodded, ready to run for all she was worth. Shade watched the men, willing them with all his might to turn away for one second. They did.
“Now!” he whispered. Kalea ran and was behind the tree seconds later, but one of the men had seen something. Shade frantically shot an arrow, hoping to distract them at least, and then he ran. The tree was not far away, but it seemed to take forever for him to get to it.
“There!” shouted one of the men. “Get ‘em! Quick!” Arrows rained down around them.
“Run!” Shade yelled, grabbing Kalea’s wrist and pulling her after him. After a short distance, he pulled her behind another tree, where they stood, chests heaving, lungs working overtime to draw breath from the already heat-thick air. The forest around them was dark and silent. Even Kalea could hear nothing. The silence was unnerving. It was too quiet. Suddenly, something spun out of the woods, end over end, cleaving the air and landing with the same sickening thunk that Shade remembered from the day before, when the dagger had struck the great maiyna tree. There was a sharp, terrible pain in his chest and he looked down to see that selfsame dagger stuck fast into his flesh. He clutched at the dagger and gasped, falling forward, his blood already getting everywhere.
“Shade!” Kalea cried, holding his shoulders to steady him. He tugged at the dagger, but it did nothing.
“Don’t take it out,” Kalea said. “Don’t take it out. Oh, gods, Shade, you’re bleeding everywhere. What are we going to do?”
Over the ringing and buzzing in his ears, Shade could hear the men crashing through the forest. One of them appeared across from them, out of the gloom that settled so nicely between the trees. In an instant the man was dead, lying face down on the ground. Shade had not even seen him fall. Kalea’s hands were in front of her, held up to face where the man had been seconds before. With Kalea’s hands no longer there to support him, Shade had slumped sideways into the tree. He slid down and lay on his back with Kalea looking down at him concernedly. The prettiest frown he had ever seen was again etched on her face.
My life for hers, my life for hers.
“Kalea,” he managed. “Go.”
“I can’t leave you Shade!” she cried, tears forming in her eyes.
“Go!”
“No!”
“Kalea…please…” My life for hers.
“Shade, I–”
“It’s too late…now… The Rebels need you… If you…leave now…you can still…make it… Promise me you’ll…get back okay...” My life for hers.
Shade realized that when Mairk gave him the order yesterday to protect Kalea he had not only promised Mairk, but Kalea and himself as well.
“Shade…” Kalea stood and looked down at him tearfully. The men were much closer now. Another minute and they would be right there.
“Promise…”
“I promise.” It was a stupid promise, and both Shade and Kalea knew it.
How could she make it come true? There was no way. Anything could happen…
He tried to smile. “…Go…”
Kalea left. The men came a mere moment later and grinned maliciously down at him. There were only three. Shade had been wrong about the number. He and Kalea could have killed them all without a problem.
“No point botherin’ with this one,” one of the men said. “He’s already dead!” The men chuckled and left. “Where’d that girly get to…?”
Godspeed, Kalea, Shade thought. I kept my promise, now you keep yours.
My life for hers, my life for hers.
And it all went black.
~
Kalea made it back to the base and stumbled inside, scratched, bloody, and crying.
“Kalea!” Mairk cried rushing to her. “What happened? Why are you covered in blood? Where’s Shade?!” Damn it, he thought. I didn’t really mean it, you idiot! I never should have made him promise… I knew he’d stop at nothing to keep it… Oh, Shade… I sealed your fate for you, didn’t I…?
“Sh-Shade didn’t m-make it,” she stammered, burying her face into Mairk’s broad chest as he hugged and comforted her. Her first mission had been a disaster. He would not make her go out again for a while.
“I k-kept his promise,” Kalea whispered.
“What promise?” Mairk asked, holding her at arm’s length and surveying her closely. Had Shade told her of his request to protect her?
“I p-promised I would come back s-safe.”
“That’s a stupid promise,” Mairk said.
“I kn-know,” Kalea replied. “But I k-k-kept it. For Shade.”
“And he kept his,” Mairk said.
His life for yours, his life for yours…
