Penult (45 page)

“
Alright kiddo. Why don’t
you grab yourself a saddle and go see Urszula. She’s right outside
with her bugs. She’s been waiting on you all this time. Meanwhile,
I’ll arrange to get this transported up top. Take care ,though.
There’s Cherubs in those woods.”

Chapter 47:
Bones

Olivier called down to a unit of
Duster warriors being held in reserve in the clearing.

“
Yo! Can I get some
volunteers up here? We got a cracker here we need to get up to the
plaza.”

“
Why don’t you get a bug to
carry it?” I said.

“
What bug? Every mantid
they can spare is battling Cherubs on the rim.”

“
There’s always … the
dragonflies.”

I heard Urszula call out from outside
the entrance. “Is he finish?”

“
Looks that way,” said
Olivier.

“
Tell him to find another
saddle and bring it.”

I scrambled off the floor and went
over to the wall where they stored dragonfly saddles salvaged from
fallen riders. Someone had swept up the grit that had crumbled off
the ceiling of the grotto and dusted off the saddles. The cleaning
only made their blood stains more apparent.

This time I chose one of the larger
ones. It looked a little cushier than the others, with extra
handholds and storage compartments. It was a little frayed at the
corners, but that could be remedied with a little weaving. They
were basically padded benches were meant to be straddled like
motorcycle seats. The insects they were designed for were too broad
to straddle.

When I pushed through the curtains
that sealed the entrance, the sudden surge of bright natural light
stung my eyes. I found Urszula loitering just outside. She popped
to her feet and smiled broadly when she spotted me lugging the
saddle.

Lalibela and Tigger were skimming over
the cloud forest, hunting leafhoppers scared up by unseen patrols
beneath the canopy. Urszula let out a piercing shriek and both
dragonflies came winging back to the clearing.

Urszula grimaced when she saw my
saddle.

“
What is this? A seat for
some fat man? This is no warrior’s saddle.”

“
What can I say? It looked
comfy.”

Odd pinnacles of stone sporadically
pierced the cloud forest, many manned by lookouts. Lalibela hovered
over one just outside the clearing.

“
Come.” She picked her way
down the rubble-strewn path and made her way across the clearing to
the pinnacle.

She pointed to a puzzled Frelsian
manning the precipice.

“
You. Leave.”

Lalibela alighted the moment the
sentry left, digging her claws into the crumbly stone. Urszula
skipped nimbly up the ledges and hauled herself onto Lalibela’s
back. One slap of her heels and Lalibela lifted off.

“
Now you! Trigger
come!”

She clapped and Tigger took Lalibela’s
place atop the pinnacle. I stared up at his stripy wings,
amazed.

“
What you waiting for?
Saddle him, you fool.”

I clambered up the pitted rock, my
bare feet slipping on the loose gravel, grabbing loops of thick
vine to help me ascend. Once I reached the top, I approached Tigger
from behind and heaved the saddle onto his back. The dragonfly
reacted, beating his wings, threatening to flee before another
shriek from Urszula made him stay put.

“
The straps! Tie the straps
quick!”

I crawled between Tigger’s forest of
legs and beneath his thorax to fasten the first cinch. Once it was
in place, it held together by some kind of nano-velcro. They
tightened themselves securely, like shrink wrap under a heat
gun.

“
Watch the wings! No block
the wings!”

“
I’m … trying,” I said,
through gritted teeth.

There were three sets. I pulled them
all tight, and crawled out from under. Tigger wheeled around to
face me, touching his mouthparts to my head and shoulder, tasting
me, feeling me.

“
Good boy!” said Urszula.
“Now come!” She shrieked again and before I got myself secure in
the saddle, Tigger launched himself like a rocket nearly tossing me
off the precipice. Luckily, the fat man’s handholds saved me and I
managed to hang on.

“
Watch me,” called Urszula,
flying Lalibela directly below Tigger. “Watch my hands and feet. It
is how you tell him how to go. Just do what I do!” she shouted.
“Trigger learns fast. He is a smart one.”

She jabbed both heels against the top
of Lalibela’s shell and the dragonfly dropped like a
stone.

Tigger, playing monkey see, monkey do,
was already dropping and following after Lalibela before I could
even react. I stomped my feet anyway, figuring the beast might make
an association between my signal and the action I
requested.

We fluttered all around the cloud
forest, passing close to the cordon of mantid riders fending off
the Cherubim who had established themselves. I was astonished to
see how many bodies had accumulated on the ledges. And yet they
kept on coming up the cliff face.

“
Too close!” shouted
Urszula, as Lalibela dipped down to cut us off. “Watch out the
slingers!”

A hail of stones came hurtling in our
direction. Tigger again reacted before I could kick, responding to
his own instincts for self-preservation. We easily outraced the
projectiles, cruising back to the clearing below the grotto. Under
Olivier’s supervision, the Dusters had hauled my replica column
halfway up the undamaged stairway. A work crew was already
attempting to repair the damaged section of the stairs.

Urszula motioned for us to return to
the upper terrace and we followed her and Lalibela back up the
cliffs and over the city to the meadow above the main plaza. The
skinny saddle I had picked out the other day was still sitting
there in the grass, but I planned to keep the one I had. Fat man
saddle or not, all the extra handholds made me feel
secure.

When we landed, Urszula hopped off and
came over.

“
Not bad for first flying
but he is still following Lalibela mostly. Did you try for show him
where to go?”

“
Um. Kind of. Not exactly.
He kind of did his own thing.”

She sighed. “Well, at least he didn’t
try to dump you like the other poor fellow.”

“
What other poor
fellow?”

She rolled her eyes. “I had a friend
try to ride him yesterday when you were busy. No worry. He will be
okay. Bones can be fix.”

“
Bones? You know could have
told me.”

I climbed off the saddle and hopped
down onto the grass.

“
If I tell you, you too
scare to fly him, no?” She shrugged and walked back to her
dragonfly. “So tomorrow … we go.”

Chapter 48:
John

I blinked at Urszula, my nerves
surging and waffling between anxiety and excitement.

“
So it’s decided? We’re
going? Tomorrow? For sure?”

“
That is Yaqob’s wish,”
said Urszula, as she unstrapped Lalibela’s saddle. “Zhang wants to
wait some more time. He think somehow a truce still possible. I
don’t see how. He send emissary. But the War Council is meeting
again at sunset. We should both be there.”

I didn’t know how to take this news.
It would be good to get out from under this siege and off this
mountain. The Cherubim were getting way too close for comfort. But
I had friends at risk in New Axum. Family. Bern and Lille. Karla.
Maybe even my mom.

For once, being a Hemisoul seemed a
detriment instead of an easy escape from unpleasant
responsibilities. For once, I wanted to be here when the big stuff
went down.

“
You know, it’s been a
while. What if I fade?”

Urszula shrugged. “No way to predict
or prevent. If we go, there is nothing to be done. Whoever of us is
here, will go. If I am not here. You take Lalibela. Leave Tigger
behind for me. She easier to fly.”

“
Sheesh. I wasn’t counting
on doing this on my own.”

“
We will not be alone. We
will have Yaqob and Olivier. The scouts. Some others. It is not
left up to us. But you should realize, once we leave, maybe we
don’t come back. There may be no New Axum to return to here. I am
not happy about what we saw on the lower terrace. The Cherubim make
too much pressure. Our fighters cannot hold out for much longer.
And once they have the cloud forest they will take this city
easily.”

“
Are there any plans to
evacuate?”

“
Not official. But some are
already leaving,” said Urszula. “But it is a long trail to the
marshes. Very exposed to attack. If everyone goes they will be
harry, every step of the way. The loss will be big.”

“
The marshes can’t possibly
hold all of these people.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Where else
is there to go? Everywhere else is desert or ruins.” She pursed her
lips. “There are hills around the bog. Maybe some can go
there.”

“
What about …
underground?”

“
Of course. There is always
that. Back to the Reapers we go. Not too many will be happy about
that. But maybe there is no choice. Maybe this is the end of life
on the surface. Or maybe we go back to the Deeps?”

She shared a smile that bore equal
parts mischief and grief.

I was thinking I had to warn Bern and
Lille right there and then. Maybe if they got a head start they
would have a better chance of reaching the next refuge unharmed.
The problem was, I had no idea where to find them. I hadn’t seen
them we arrived in New Axum.

“
I go now,” said Urszula.
“Come back here once the sun is down. Yaqob needs you there. We
need you. You need to have your say.”

***

For hours I wandered through every
nook and cranny of New Axum searching for Bern and Lille. I plunged
deep in to the Warren, turning corners at random, not caring how
lost I got as long as I kept covering new territory. All those calm
and cheerful faces puzzled me. So few realized or cared how close
they were to being slaughtered by the Cherubim and their overlords
currently driving our fighters back across the lower
terrace.

I have to admit, I kept my eyes open
for Karla too, but somehow I was not as eager to find her.
Something had shifted inside me. The warmth and thrill that
thoughts of her used to inspire me had dwindled and cooled like the
embers in an untended fireplace.

The blue sun hung low in the sky, but
still had plenty of room to drop when I crossed over the wide lane
that bisected New Axum into the ruined eastern sector where most of
the newest refugees had settled because that was all that was left.
So many able bodies here, I wondered why not all of them had
mobilized to fight the siege. Did they not realize what was
happening? Had nobody bothered to tell them?

A young man with wild and frizzy hair
hopped through a window and ran straight up to me. He held out his
hand for me to shake. I was taken aback because I did not recognize
him.

“
James! Do you not remember
me? The name’s John. I was with you guys on the long march.
Remember? When we brought the Seraph here?”

The man looked only vaguely familiar
but I pretended to know him.

“
Oh. Hey! I’ve been looking
for you guys! Is Bern here with you? Bern and Lille?”

“
Bern. Oh no, they’re
settling up in the heights past the plaza. Near the
gardens.”

Of course, that made sense. Those two
liked their privacy. They were never the type to settle near a
crowd, expect for Frelsi where they had no choice. Bern, in
particular, liked to have himself a modicum of elbow
room.

“
Can you … show
me?”

“
Of course,” said John. He
wheeled around and started up the lane. “Follow me.”

***

This time, my friends had no quaint,
little cabin, no pastel-painted cottage with a porch suitable for
hosting tea with guests. They didn’t even own a teapot. I found
Bern and Lille huddled under a sheet of canvas suspended from the
branches of a tree with feathery leaves.

They were deep in conversation when I
found them and when they saw me, only Bern rose up to greet me.
Lille just stared at me all red-eyed, her face streaked with
tears.

“
Hey guys! Uh. What’s
wrong?”

“
I’m so sorry you have to
see me in this state James,” sobbed Lille.

“
We’ve just gotten a bit of
bad news from the other side,” said Bern. “Lille’s doctors are
planning to take her off the respirator. It seems she filed a
living will not to be kept alive by artificial means. In her few
lucid moments she has tried to rescind it, to no avail. One of her
family members has appealed the decision, but it seems she might
have only days left.”

“
You guys are both still
Hemisouls?”

“
Yes. Which would mean, of
course, that Lille is about to be yanked out of this existence. Off
to the Deeps, most likely.”