Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (56 page)

The
truth was clear then.  The demon was in the smoke – just as it had come over
Nevermor all those years ago – and it was headed for Wren.

4

Whisper
was sobbing, crying her tiny eyes out to produce glittering tears, but Wren
could not have cared less.  There was no reason she should have been sensitive
to the evil wisp’s torment, and she did not allow her heart to soften.  She
inched closer to the branch where her enemy was perched, and Whisper did not
notice her.

Closer.

Closer
.

Wren
stretched out her hand, letting her fingers extend as far as they would.  The
fairy was quick, as she had learned before.  One false move and she could be
gone, out of Wren’s grasp forever.  Wren moved carefully with malice in her
heart, only leaning forward a bit, and then in a swift motion, she swiped at
the fairy.

She
was almost afraid to look directly at her hand, fearing that she would not have
caught the wisp after all, but there was solid warmth in her fist, and she could
hardly doubt her capture.

Whisper
let out a shriek when she’d been snagged, and when she looked up to Wren
peering down at her, her extreme grief would not allow her to struggle.

“There
was a time when I looked away from what you did to me,” Wren said to the wriggling
creature in her grip – not so dangerous anymore.  “You tried to kill me more
than once, and I never thought of revenge – no, not for myself.  But what you
did that night was unforgiveable!  I know you hate me, but what reason did you
have to kill
them
?”

Whisper
spoke in her quiet language that Wren did not understand, but that did not
matter to her.  She had no need to hear it.  Wren remembered what Mach had said
to her before about his own revenge, putting this idea into her head, and she
was certain she felt exactly what he had when he was on the verge of it – exactly
what Rifter had felt every time he fought the Scourge.

Now
she understood it all.

“Despite
the darkness and tragedy,” Wren said with an odd smile on her mouth, “I do
think today is the most beautiful day of my life.”

The
fairy wisp took a struggling breath within the confines of Wren’s fingers, and
inside Wren, something snapped.  The demon’s fire flared inside her and she had
no remorse for what she would do.

She
gripped the whistle that she had stolen, raising it slowly to her lips, wanting
to see the horror in the fairy’s eyes as she awaited her excruciating fate –
but Wren had not managed the deed when she heard something in the sky, a deep
humming noise that approached her, and in her uncertainty, Whisper slipped from
her grasp.

What’s
that?
Wren
was led to wonder.

The
thick burning smell of some putrid matter wafted past her nose.  She forgot
about her enemy for the moment, and the hated fairy fled from her.  Wren turned,
finding that the air all around her was thick with black smoke.  This smoke was
thicker than she’d ever seen, and smelled worse than the tainted sea
surrounding the island.

It
was the darkness itself – the very same that had covered Nevermor years ago.

This
is pure evil!
she realized, and her heart began to pulse with fear.

Wren
turned away from the smoke and began to rush down the slope.  Her jumbled
thoughts were hardly able to focus on the many dangers that awaited her if she
did not take care, for all she could think of was the smoke that seemed to be
moving faster to catch up to her, and the uneasy rumbling of her stomach.  Sly
had been able to sense the fire within her.  The Tribals had sensed it as
well.  She had not even understood the truth of what it was until now, and now
was too late.

She
moved faster, but the smoke did not fall behind.  It gained like a thunderhead
on a high wind.  She took a deep breath for her efforts – and could not stop
the black cloud from rushing into her mouth, stealing her senses.

Wren
was blind and breathless in that moment.  She could not smell or taste, or feel
anything, even the ground beneath her feet.  All she knew was blackness – and
then her eyes opened again, and she took a deep breath of the hazy air,
bringing more of the smoke into her.

She
was quiet – calm – and then she awoke.

With
a musical laugh from her throat, Wren looked up with shimmering amber eyes,
glowing with the fire inside her.  Her hands reached beneath her gown, removing
the protective Tikilin from her body.  The way it burned her skin now was
unacceptable, and she did not need it any longer.  No one was going to hurt her
now; that was certain.

The
demon in Wren’s body had one thought in its mind – distant, but seeming so much
like reality now.

The
Rifter, chained and bleeding beside my throne like a loyal dog.

The
demon smiled, a sweet mouth now so sinister.  Yes, that was appropriate.

1

The
smoldering pirates were not smart enough to clear themselves of Mech’s guns. 
Mach, Finn, and Toss had darted behind the large trees, and when the gunfire
had begun to rip into the bark, they were spared.  Their undead enemies,
however, were not so lucky.  They were cut down in the hail of bullets, and
those that could still move were left only to crawl.

The
shots rattled on, as if there was no end to the amount Mech held inside him. 
Toss stood stiffly behind one tree, while Mach and Finn pressed their backs
against another, praying for life and begging for the moment they would hear that
dry click.

“What
the fuck did you do to him, Mach?” Finn asked, aghast.  “Clearly he’s not
human!”

“I
used the crystals,” Mach said breathlessly, still feeling deeply shamed. “I
told you we were with the pirates.  They found out our secret – that we had
been with Rifter – and they tried to kill us.  We planned to turn it back on
them, but Mech went and got himself
blown up
, his hands and from the
waist down.  He died…  But I couldn’t stand to live without him, so I infused
his body with crystals and machinery, and it worked!”

“No
shit?” Finn asked, impressed. “How did you manage–”

He
was quickly reminded that they were in a dire situation when a bullet flew past
his head, nearly taking his ear off.

“I
think he was corrupted all the more for it,” Mach went on. “I never really
wanted to leave the den, but I followed him.  When I was ready to call it
quits, he wouldn’t.”

“How
do we stop him?” Toss yelled over to them.

“There’s
only one way, I just–”

Silence
had fallen around them; the shots ceased.  Mach craned his neck to peer behind
the tree cautiously.  Mech was gone.  He’d not retreated, surely not.  He–

Mach’s
eyes widened at his twin’s sudden appearance, stepping directly out from behind
the tree he was leaned against, taking him by surprise.  Fear clenched Mach’s
heart, and he knew no uncertainty or old love in that moment.  He only wanted
to survive, and the destruction of Mech would only come about by the doing of
one thing.

“Remember
du–!”

But
the word lodged in his throat when Mech’s hard, metal fist connected with his
face.  Mach fell over onto the ground as if he was no more than a tiny,
frightened animal.  His gun fell away from him, but it was of no consequence. 
That instrument would do him no good against his brother.  Even with the pain
in his jaw, he struggled to get up, but quickly felt Mech’s foot pressing
against his face, making his mouth unable to form coherent words.

“A
fair try,” Mech admitted in his strange, resonating voice, not forgetting about
Finn or Toss who had scrambled to their feet.  He revealed one of his guns from
within his hand and pointed it in their direction.

“I
imagine enough of my bullets would kill you, even if they won’t break your
skin,” he said to Finn.  Then he looked at Toss. “And I don’t know how many it
would take to kill you, but if you’re interested to know, my legs are full of
bullets.  The supply is nearly endless.  Now, I’d really like to be left alone
with my brother if you don’t mind.”

Finn
and Toss remained there for another moment, staring down the barrel of the gun
and down at Mach before glancing at each other.  They remembered something, and
were both using their eyes to ask if the other remembered it too.  When Mach
had first said he wasn’t coming with them, he’d told Wren something.  There was
a message that Mach had asked her to deliver to his brother – two mysterious
words.  Now, the phrase had meaning.

That
phrase could only be one thing: an uttered curse trapped in the crystals – a
trigger for self-destruction.

It
might have helped if either of them could remember what those words had been.

Mech
was waiting for them to walk away, but how long would that be before he simply
decided to shoot them down?  Mach had just said the first word himself:
remember
. 
Now what was the second?  Finn nodded to Mech, parting his lips as if he was
going to make a verbal agreement to leave.

“Don’t
open your mouth!” Mech commanded.

Finn
said nothing, clamping his lips shut.  Mech’s eyes had narrowed, and he was
looking even less tolerant than he had before.  Finn and Toss tried to appear
obedient, though they had no intentions of being so.

“Back
away so I can see that you don’t open your mouths,” Mech ordered, and they
began to do just that, very slowly as they thought the situation through.

How
hard can it be to remember one little word?
Finn wondered.

Why
can’t I remember even the simplest things?
Toss scolded himself.

They
stepped carefully away, trying their best not to fall over the burnt pirate
bodies, and after another moment, Finn was sure that he had it.  The word was
resting there in the center of his mind, and he threw caution into the wind.

“Dubiety!”

He
saw Mech’s snarl just as his gun began to fire.  One bullet hit Finn in the
back before he managed to get behind a tree, and Mech’s focus on him allowed
Toss to get to safety as well.  If they had one thing on Mech, it was that the
crystal-infused monstrosity could not afford to take his foot off his brother’s
face.  Mach certainly knew the word they were only trying to guess, and because
of this, Mech was forced to remain stationary to keep his twin from saying it.

Finn
winced, touching his back lightly.  A few more of those and he might be
completely black and blue.

“I
thought for sure that was it!” he insisted over the sound of the shots.

“What
if he kills Mach?” Toss asked, very concerned.

“He
won’t.  Not yet.  Think of more words! 
Durable
!”

The
gunfire continued on, punishing the trees they rested against, splitting their
bark.

“Duple!”
Toss tried.

“Duplicity!”

Finn
thought of words in every language that he knew – even finding some passing his
mind that were hand motions instead of verbal expressions.

Toss
tried to focus, but his thoughts wandered constantly.  He thought of Mech and
his mad frenzy of bullets.  He thought of Sly and Calico being alone out there
to battle the other pirate creatures.  He thought about Rifter struggling with
the demon imposter, and of Wren, who’d been left all alone.  How could he focus
with all that going on?

“Duel!”
Finn shouted, even though he was sure that wasn’t it.  It was a longer word,
something–

Not
Duel
,
he thought.  
Dual!
  It came to him then.

“
Duality
!”
Finn yelled as loud as he could, listening to the sound as it echoed through
the trees.  He yelled it again for good measure.  “Remember
duality
!”

2

The
gunfire ceased.  Finn and Toss were still unsure of their safety, but could not
hold in their curiosity.  They gradually turned to observe what had happened,
breathing out their panic in slow breaths.

There
was no mistake that Mech had heard the words, and he turned his face toward
Finn before he froze.  His body began to quake, and it appeared that Mech might
have liked to open his mouth to curse them all, but his jaw would not unhinge. 
His joints began to lock, his guns unusable, but somehow he managed to look
back down at Mach.

Mach
was clenching his brother’s ankle that he’d built himself, and had been trying
with all his might to remove the foot from his cheek.  He could see his twin’s
face as it began to turn a hot, red color, and he did not mistake the evil
smile that passed across there – even as he was dying the death he should have
only known once.

The
metal foot began to burn into the side of Mach’s face, and he was sure that his
twin was pressing it harder into his skin just for sadistic pleasure.  He
yelled out for the searing pain, but it did not do much damage before Toss had
hurried over and crashed the hammer into Mech’s self-destructing body, knocking
him away.  The boy fell, jerking as the mechanics within him halted, and finally
he passed away as he should have done long ago.