Arcene: The Island (32 page)

"Exactly! And it was the best chicken I ever ate."

They were silent for a moment, the laughter somehow breaking the spell of intimacy while Arcene told of her life. Stories of danger, her upbringing, or lack of, her travels, adventures, how she got where she was today, of hot air balloons and blue castles and naked Fasolt with his dreadlocks and so much more. Of her child, the man that took him and how he had almost obliterated what remained of humanity.

Things Talia had no idea about but explained the complete lack of people on the mainland. She'd known The Lethargy had devastated humanity, but expected to find sign of at least a few people. Arcene told how things were slowly getting better now. People were coming out of hiding, but it had been close. Near extinction.

"We could be friends," said Arcene.

"We could. It's too late for that though, isn't it?"

"Your choice." Arcene shrugged.

"I don't know that I have one."

"That's the only thing you always have. A choice."

Talia thought for a moment. "I suppose you're right."

"You think of me as a child. But I'm not, not really. I have sliced off men's heads with a wave of my sword. I have burned women alive and I have turned my back on those that have needed my help. I live in the greatest construction ever built and my friends are the most powerful people in the history of the entire world. I have witnessed space and time break apart and been there when others have walked through the gaps in the timelines, and followed paths that scare me so much I wouldn't dare do it myself. I have screamed on roller coasters and once I got caught in a robot machine designed to turn monkeys into soldiers and I will not be dismissed."

"You never will be," said Talia. Who was this girl? The tales she had told, her life so full of adventure, so rich. And all in just a blink of an eye.

"You'd be surprised."

Talia sat, enjoyed the silence for a moment. "Oh no! I've been away too long, I have to go."

"I wondered when you'd think about that. Won't they be waiting for you? Coming to look for you?"

"Yes, yes. Aren't you worried? About what will happen if they come to find me and find you too?"

"Of course, but Leel will warn me. And besides, what will you do? What would you do if Vorce and your friends arrived right now?"

Talia remained silent. What would she do? This was a nice girl, odd for sure, but how she had lived! So much, like she had lived so many lives already compared to her own quiet existence. "I don't know what I'd do. I Judged you, found you guilty. This is The Hunt."

"You came to me, I didn't ask you to. I'm hungry but I think we both need to go." Arcene stood and Talia understood that they were both in danger.

"Me too. I'll try to stop them, I promise."

"Hmm. Maybe."

Talia watched as Arcene jumped down and splashed through the water. She moved to the entrance, and whispered in the dog's ear.

They left.

They didn't look back, or say goodbye. Talia didn't expect them too. It wasn't their style.

They were gone.

Talia sat for a moment in the dark.

What a strange girl.
She smiled. She kind of liked her socks though.

A Telling Off

Talia took a hard look at herself as she wandered back to camp, praying she hadn't been missed. What must she and the others look like to Arcene? Here she was, dressed in clothes that made her look sinister as hell, but Arcene hadn't batted an eyelid. Because she could see past the supposedly intimidating garb to the heart of the person behind it all.

It wasn't power via The Noise, it was just that Arcene seemed to somehow understand who you really were, know the kind of person you were. Was that why she had managed to sit and talk with her rather than fight? Probably.

Talia hated the black combat trousers, the boots, the shirt and the waistcoat with more pockets than seamed sensible, but Vorce had given them all identical clothes. The sheer wonder of clothing that was pristine, unworn, and even somehow smelled new was too much to even consider refusing. Now she thought about it she felt silly. She was no assassin, no killer of girls, so why was she dressed like this?

For the show, that's why. Had to make an impression, look the part. She was trying to be something she clearly wasn't.

"What am I going to do?" she said aloud.

"Sorry?"

Talia almost jumped clear out of her skin. "Oh, Vorce. I, uh, didn't see you there."

Vorce stared at her for a moment, like he knew what she had been doing. "Why are you here alone? You are not to leave the others, I thought I made that clear?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. Call of nature."

"That is no excuse. You should have brought the others with you. Come, back to camp, I have found no sign of her. We shall have to wake Elder Janean, although she is exhausted."

"Maybe we should wait until the morning, get a fresh start. She could be long gone by now anyway."

"Hmm, maybe. How are you finding all this, Talia?" Vorce looked deep into her eyes as he indicated the world at large. "Are you coping?"

"Yes, Vorce, it is very beautiful. Do you not miss it?"

"Haha, of course. Sometimes. But our life, how we live, is for the best, Talia. There is no peace here, nothing but danger and things best left buried. This is not the future. People act bad, they don't care for each other. They want what was lost, not what the future could bring them. Ours is a better way, a better life. Ah, here we are."

They were back at camp. Cashae and Erato stood as they saw Vorce — they looked as guilty as hell. Talia shook her head, indicating Vorce didn't know where she had gone.

"From now on nobody goes anywhere without my say-so, is that clear?"

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. Vorce frowned before going to check on Elder Janean.

"How did it go? Did you find her?" asked Cashae as they gathered round.

Talia cast a nervous glance at Vorce and whispered, "Yes, but she's not the type to back down. We talked and... Well, I think it's us that need to leave. She seems, er, like she isn't bothered. It's hard to put into words. She doesn't want to fight, at least I don't think so, but she won't let us treat her with disrespect either. And the life she has led, the stories she told, it's... I don't know how to explain. It's so different here. The freedom, the adventure. Later, let's talk later. What I will say is if I had to sum her up then intense would be the word. Kinda cool too."

They nodded, rather nonplussed, but didn't pursue it further.

Talia sat and tried to get her feelings into some kind of order. What were they to do? What would Arcene do? Nothing had been decided, but Talia was pretty sure Arcene wasn't about to just run away now she felt at home out in the raw world where she knew her way around and could fight if need be. Under her own rules, not those of Vorce.

It didn't bode well, for any of them. Arcene may have been confident but she didn't understand how powerful Vorce was. Talia doubted any of them really knew what he was capable of.

They sat in silence until Vorce joined them a few minutes later.

"We will stay here tonight. Janean is in no state to continue tracking and the night is drawing in. Tomorrow we shall rise early. This Hunt shall be finished. Talia, are you ready to deliver your final Judgment?"

"Yes, Vorce, I am ready."

"Good."

Talia didn't feel ready at all, but what was she supposed to say?

Back to the Beginning

Arcene and Leel left the sanctuary of the cave without saying goodbye to Talia. Yes, she knew it was dramatic, and yes, she knew it made her seem badass, but she also couldn't bear to look at the woman any longer. Arcene had opened up in ways she would have never dreamed of in her younger days, always keeping her emotions hidden, her feelings secret, but there was something about Talia that she connected with.

She wasn't a bad woman, just confused and overwhelmed. When you got right down to it, she was indoctrinated.

Was that the right word? Wasn't everyone the product of their upbringing? Was she herself wild because of her lonely childhood? Probably. But could she be turned into a person who enjoyed watching others be stalked, killed for entertainment? Maybe. How would you ever know?

Isolation, and the pressure of others, can do funny things to a person. What would the result be after generations where occasional extreme violence was the norm, the focus, the only outlet for the claustrophobic and weird life lived on The Island?

She had seen so much in her brief spell as a human being, and understood people were capable of anything. She witnessed firsthand how humanity had drifted, warped, became something else in many cases, far removed from what she thought of as normal life now, let alone what it had been in the old world.

People were isolated, weird beliefs arose and took hold, inbreeding and lack of people led to mangled gene pools and traditions that would seem ridiculous to those looking in from the outside. But as long as they hurt nobody then Arcene never interfered. If they did, well, there was always the sword.

After a restless night's sleep under the stars, with thoughts of The Hunt and her pursuers running like a roller coaster through her tired mind, Arcene decided to go back to the city and deal with things.

Much as she felt at home in the natural world, something had been nagging at her and she knew it was an itch she had to scratch. She'd been in enough situations to know that when her heart told her to do something then it was the right thing to do.

So here they were, walking back toward the ruins of a people that felt at home with the ground covered over by concrete and the buildings built so high they never felt sunlight on their faces and there was never any space or silence. What must it be like to live in a world where there were always the sounds made by other people? Maybe you got used to it?

There was little doubt in Arcene's mind that she could pick off her pursuers out in the countryside, but she was being drawn back to the city. Too much remained undone. Too many loose ends. And anyway, they would follow her. Arcene had spent a lot of time in towns and cities over the years, scavenging or looking for adventure, so she was confident that now the tables were turned she would do just as well as she could out in the open.

She had to know where this city was in relation to The Island. How far was it inland and how had she got there? Something had to be done about this perverse Hunt and she wasn't about to walk away from the situation.

She almost had, especially after talking with Talia, who seemed like a nice woman even though it was mostly her fault, but there was something about her, that maybe she hadn't realized the truth of the situation and the reality of what it was to be a human being even though she was Awoken. That she had succumbed to pressure from her leader and from the existence she had led thus far. Not that she was excused, but she wasn't quite as guilty as Arcene had first thought.

Arcene had almost decided to leave them far behind and make her way home after their talk, to maybe let Talia and her friends slowly change how their people thought, but as she mulled it over she realized that was very unlikely — nothing would break them from their stupor, especially with a man like Vorce leading them. No, something had to be done to wake them up to the truth. Arcene returned to the city.

At least, that was the idea.

It went wrong almost immediately.

By late morning, with some distance put between them and her Hunter's camp, although they were probably on her trail again by now, Arcene got a funny feeling in her belly that wouldn't go away.

At first she ignored it, dismissing it as hunger even though they had eaten a hasty but large breakfast of thinly sliced deer she flash cooked by throwing slices onto the coals of her tiny fire and eating as fast as possible.

As they walked, Leel bounding off ahead to keep lookout and search for lunch, the feeling persisted. It was a knot, like her belly was all bunched up and close to cramping. What was going on?

As the city revealed itself and a pain in her side had her almost doubled over, Arcene's eyes widened in shock as realization hit. She was nervous! She didn't get nervous like this, not when it came to problems she was confident she could deal with by using her sword. So what was going on? This was something different, a feeling inside trying to tell her something.

Had she made the wrong decision? Should she turn back, leave her pursuers and those on The Island to it? Just get home, cuddle her son and feel the warm embrace of her friends?

No, she had to try to help those that wanted her help, or needed it. Was it her place though? They obviously thought what they did was right. Their "Justice." She had to try, that was her nature, and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she failed to at least attempt to stop such madness.

So why the nerves?

They kept on walking. The city dominated the skyline and even Leel stopped her running about and kept close to her side, as if she could sense Arcene's inner turmoil.

Soon, the wilderness morphed into the beginnings of the city, grass turning to patches where it ate through the asphalt, and the occasional building was replaced with streets of first nice houses, then the endless terraces of homes for the masses. And the closer they got the more depressing it was, the more claustrophobic, the more wrong it felt.

The gnawing in her belly grew more intense, and Arcene's confusion grew as her pace slowed while her mind tried to process information she didn't know what to do with.

"Ugh." Arcene had stopped as realization hit, and Leel, distracted, had walked right into her.

Woof?

"Sorry, Leel, my fault. I just realized why I'm nervous, and you know me, I don't get like that often."

Woof?

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Um, I think I'm scared of failure. Can you believe it? I think that once I decided to come back and try to put this thing right somehow, well, I think I'm worried I won't be able to. I haven't got a plan, I'm not sure exactly what to do, and I'm a little scared that if I don't do the right thing, whatever that is, then in the future some poor person will be a victim of The Hunt and it will all be my fault. Does that make sense?"