The Column Racer (37 page)

“But what about you?” asked Yats, “I won’t leave you. Not like this. Not now. Not after today.” A tear rolled down the side of her face. She grabbed his hand and squeezed, remembering how Fides used to do it.

“I’ll be fine,” said Areli. Yats leaned down next to her.

“I don’t believe you. I’m sorry – I can’t.”

“Please,” said Areli, tears making a mess of her voice, revealing just how fragile she had become. “Please, Yats.”

“Is that what you really want?” He brushed a tear cascading down her cheek. Areli looked at him, eyes as red as blood, and nodded her head. “Fine. But only for tonight.” Areli’s body shook as she reached for his hand. He looked down at her and her escaping tears. She was shaking her head.

“Yats,” said Areli, trying to sound strong, “Yats, I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

“
What?
” said Yats, his voice shaky, “is this about Brynn. Areli, I said I was sorry. I thought . . .”

“Yats – don’t make this any harder than it already is. Please, I beg of you. Please, just . . . please, just go.”

“You can’t be serious . . . look at me. I love you, Areli. Areli, I love you so much. Please, we can get through this. But we have to do it together.”

“No – no . . . Yats, I can’t be around you anymore. I can’t even be around myself. I want you to leave. And I never want you to come back. This is too painful, Yats. We did this. We’re responsible.” Tears were flooding out of her eyes, and she felt like her heart was being torn from her. Yat’s hastily walked to the door.

“Areli . . . just remember – I love you. I will always love you,” said Yats, “this isn’t my fault. This isn’t your fault. We tried to save her, Areli. We did the best we could. Brynn . . . he’ll get what’s coming to him. But don’t let this be the end of us. I’ll allow you your space . . . for now. But I’ll never allow you to give up on us. I love you too much for that. It hurts now, Areli. I know it hurts. And I’m sorry. But just . . . remember that night. Remember our first kiss. We’re meant to be Areli. Just remember that, okay. I love you. I love you more than anything,” and then Yats turned and walked out. All that remained in the room was loneliness. Areli broken on the floor. Her mind going back to Fides. Back to Talon. Maybe she and Yats were
never
supposed to be. Maybe she was supposed to be with Talon. Maybe he could have helped her save her friend. Her sister. But now he was dead. They both were.

After a while, Areli found the strength to stand up. She trudged up to her room and plummeted to the floor. The weight of her loss chewed pieces away at her heart. She cried. She cried so hard and her shoulders shook so violently that she could have died right there. She looked to the space beneath her bed and reached beneath it.

Her fingers found the folder Haskel had given her. Her throat tensed up as she opened it. There were no papers for her to trudge through. The only paper that meant anything was left on top. She lifted it from the rest with trembling fingers. A tear rolled down her eyes as she read the report.

Location: Sector D, Orion Riding Community, Townhouse #1

On further inspection and compliance from a select group of servants, we were able to locate a hidden room. Servants confessed to harboring a Messenger of Degendhard during the final month of column racer, Areli Roberts, stay, and two months after that. Messengers name is Talon. Last name is unknown. Servants freely gave coins given by messenger for their help and services. Coins have been held as evidence. Further investigation is required.

A tear splashed down onto the parchment. She should be dead. Not Fides. Anger shot through her. She grabbed the document and ripped it into tiny pieces. Pieces so tiny that no one would ever be able to piece it back together. Then she ripped up every piece of parchment in the folder, until finally, she destroyed the folder as well. Tears ran from her eyes, like water falling from buckets into baths. She wiped her hands across her checks, and then reached under her bed again.

She pulled out the wooden box that was placed in her locker after the Sorting Competition. How far could a note with a few words on it and a knife go? Areli now knew the answer. It could bring about death. Loss. An agony that rips at the soul. Areli opened the box and ran her fingers down the smooth gold object, its edges and tip sharper than the axes used to kill Fides and her family. She gripped the knife into her hands, feeling the full weight of it. She pressed her fingers firmly around it, as if to squeeze the handle into nothingness. She closed her eyes, determined to send the blade back to its owner. Determined to give it back to Sofi. To stop her wretched mouth once and for all. Her every waking breath, her every waking moment will be to get revenge for the one taken from her. Leaving her empty. Cold. Hard.

Areli placed the knife back into the box and stored it back beneath her bed, ready to be used when the moment arose. And the moment would come. Areli would make sure of it.

“I will avenge your death, Fides,” whispered Areli lying down on her bed, her eyes looking to the top of the canopy above her, “My friend. My sister. I will not rest until I make them suffer. I will not sleep until they all meet their end by my hand. Goodbye Fides. Goodbye my dearest friend. Goodbye my beloved sister. Until the day we meet again – know that I love you. I love you.” A tear escaped each eye. She didn’t wipe them away. The pain was her only reminder that she was still alive.

Areli didn’t know how long she had been asleep. She looked to her bedroom door, which had become alive with a hammering fist. Her heart hammered inside her chest. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to return the knife to Sofi after all. Maybe the cousins had shared their information with their dying uncle. Areli froze in her bed. If it was death truly calling – she didn’t want to answer.

“Areli?” said her mother, “Areli, are you awake, darling? There’s someone here to see you.” Areli took in a deep breath. She didn’t ask for any visitors. She knew it wasn’t Yats. He would give her her time to grieve. Areli laid back onto her bed, turning her back to the door as a tear escaped into the softness of her pillow. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. She didn’t know if she wanted to talk to anyone ever. “I’m so sorry, Aquilina,” said her mother, “she’s had a terribly rough day. You understand. Is there any chance you can come back tomorrow?”

Areli turned her head slightly from its soft landing spot. More tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she stared into the blanket of darkness that had overtaken her room. She wanted to talk to Aquilina, but she also
didn’t
want to talk to Aquilina. She wanted loneliness. She needed silence. She turned back again to the door. The knocking had subsided, and the voices were no longer present.

But in the silence, a voice found her that she had not expected. Its request was simple. Areli shot up in her bed, looking to every corner of the room. She heard it again. It spoke the same words and in the same gentle tone. Areli clasped her hands to her ears. She heard it again.
Ask her.
She grabbed her pillow and tried to cancel out the sound. But it still found her ears. That is when she knew. The request wasn’t external, but internal. Something she had to do. Something she and Fides had promised each other to do the next time they saw Aquilina. Areli’s lips trembled and more tears found the surface. She had to honor the words and life of her sister. She couldn’t let her walk amongst the living with unanswered questions. Areli had to complete every promise, every request. Areli glanced at the gold statue constructed from Fides’s determined hands.
I will make you proud, Fides
, thought Areli, still looking at the statue.
I will do as I promised. I will uphold every word we had ever spoke. I will love you always. I will cherish you always. I beg of you. Give me the strength needed to complete my promises. Make me unafraid of the consequences of the actions I must take. Be with me, my sister. Be with me always.

Areli sprang from her bed, and ran to her door, unlocking it. She ran barefoot down the hallway and then down the steps.

“WAIT!” yelled Areli, “WAIT! DON’T GO!”

“Areli, what is it?” asked her mother, trying to dry her eyes as she stood next to the door.

“Where’s Aquilina?”

“She’s just about to get in her carriage,” said her mother, “why?”

“I just need to ask her something,” responded Areli, who then swung open the front door. Aquilina’s driver was about to shut her carriage door. Areli told him to hold it, and then she ran into the cab. Aquilina was surprised by Areli’s presence, her face black with watered-down mascara.

“Areli, I thought . . . I’m so . . .”

“Aquilina,” said Areli, “this is not the time. There’s something I have to ask you.” Aquilina looked hurt by Areli’s harshness. But she tried to compose herself for a totally different conversation than the one she expected to have when she first left her house.

“Okay,” said Aquilina, hesitant, “what is it you need?” Areli took in a deep breath. Her mind was so occupied with catching up to Aquilina that she had no idea how to formulate the question. Would Aquilina be mad? Would they no longer be friends? Areli shook the thought from her head. She thought about Fides, finding the strength to honor her friend. Finding the courage to face another. She had no time for friends anymore. Her life served only two purposes now, and being anyone’s friend wasn’t one of them anymore.

“What does F.B. stand for?” asked Areli, “on the hidden cream and shots in your closet. What are they?” Aquilina’s eyes went wide. Areli thought she saw rage burn below the surface of the retired rider’s eyes. She caught Aquilina clench her hands into fists.

“You looked . . . you and Fides,” said Aquilina, her tongue infused with bitterness, “who else knows about this?”

“Only me and Fides,” said Areli, telling the truth, “if it makes you feel better, it wasn’t my idea. And I wasn’t even the one that found it.”

“It was Fides?” asked Aquilina, trying to take the tension out of her fingers.

“She had meant to ask you,” said Areli, “the next time . . . the next time she saw you. But seeing – b-but seeing that that i-isn’t going to happen. I am asking you now.” Tears rushed down Areli’s cheeks. She tried to wipe them away, but they were coming down too fast to stop. Her shoulders collapsed, and pain and despair engulfed her. Aquilina caught her, and held her dearly, stroking her long, slender, and soft fingers through Areli’s blonde hair. They seemed to sit in Aquilina’s carriage forever. Areli’s head buried into Aquilina’s shoulder. And Aquilina’s arms wrapped around Areli’s body, her chin resting on the young rider’s head.

“Fire’s Breath,” whispered Aquilina, almost out of nowhere.

“What did you say?”

“The initials,” said Aquilina, “that’s what they mean.” Areli repeated the initials meaning under her breath.

“But what do they mean? What are they for?” Aquilina hesitated. She ran her fingers like a comb through Areli’s hair, trying to buy time. She took in a deliberately long breath, as if contemplating whether or not to continue.

“They counteract the shots given by the veterinarians,” said Aquilina, “they allow racing dragon’s to breathe fire.” She lifted Areli by the chin, and stared right into the young rider’s brown eyes. “With their speed and quickness, those shots and creams make your dragon just as deadly and lethal as any battle dragon, if not more so.” She let go of Areli’s chin, and they resumed their positions in the cab. Areli looked up at Aquilina questioningly, but either she didn’t notice or chose not to notice, afraid of the words that might escape Areli’s mouth. The words that were prancing on her tongue that very moment. Areli needed those shots and creams. She was going to burn the Empire to the ground.

She was going to burn everything to the ground. She was going to set the world on fire. Sofi was going to pay for what she had done. They all were.

Talon screamed as he continued to strike the pick-axe against the wall. His hands were blistered and bloody. He didn’t care. The pain made him forget. It made him forget the deaths of the Bird family. It made him forget about the mistake with Areli. He continued to strike. The wood handle vibrated in his hands, and stone and dust flew into his face.

He was crying now. He screamed at the destruction in the wall he was creating. His arms were tired and his black hair was matted down onto his face. He swung the axe wildly. Again and again and again. He was in pain. He was in so much pain. He fell to the ground and looked at what was left of the wall. He was almost through. He screamed and picked up the axe and swung as if that one swing could bring Edsel back from the dead. He swung again, hoping it could bring Edsel’s wife back to life. And again and again. Hoping Edsel’s daughter and her dragon could be amongst the living.

He breathed heavily, looking at the wall. A tear rolled off his cheek, making a smudge on his stone colored boots. He swung once more. With the hope Areli would find her way back to him. Wishing for another chance at love. A hole burst through the wall. With whatever energy he had left he continued to swing. He made the hole big enough to walk through.

Inside the secret room, Talon fell to his knees. His eyes scanned across all the gold that Edsel had stolen throughout the years. The medium-sized room was full from floor to ceiling with small purple bags with gold string. The Emperor might have killed Edsel . . . but he didn’t kill Degendhard the Great.

JEFFREY JOHNSON
is a graduate of UW-River Falls and currently lives in Rochester, MN. His soulmate, Ali, urged him to take up writing seriously after he wrote her dozens of love letters. With her encouragement, love, and support, he found a passion he never knew he had. You can visit Jeffrey at www.johnsonbooks.blogspot.com.