Final Fieretsi: Part I of the Fabula Fereganae Cycle

  Chapter XXII: All Our Dreams Torn Asunder

  A huge wall of iron, more like a city’s gates than doors, loomed potent and foreboding above those chosen to rescue the ferrets. A large lock adorned its center, but, glancing at Cédes, Stefi realized there would be no need for keys. The Furosan could open any door.

  “This is the only way in,” Djidou said, and then added so quietly that the others barely heard him, “or out.” He rummaged about in his pockets and removed a variety of tools: a lock pick, a hammer, a screwdriver, and several tools Stefi had never seen before. “If you’ll just give me a moment I should have th-”

  Before he could finish, an explosion knocked him off his feet and scattered his tools in all directions. He looked up to see the doors blown inwards, their metal that was moments ago cool and solid now warped and melted, and Cédes lowering an outstretched hand.

  “We do not have a moment,” she said and breezed past with Stefi in tow. Once through the blasted doors she stopped, her ears twitching. “Stefi, can you hear them now?” she asked.

  Stefi shook her head and, realizing that Cédes couldn’t see it, said, “No.”

  “Then quickly, put your blindfold on. Just like when you found Shizai, listen for them. It will be hard to filter out two little ferrets from the whole world, but I believe you can do it.”

  Stefi hurriedly obeyed and, despite Djidou’s protestations that having two blind members would utterly cripple them, she shut off the world from her eyes. Immediately the voice of the world sprang to her ears, the infinite threads and traces of each Furosa-bearing being weaving their way about her.

  As Djidou and Rhaka hurried them onwards through the corridors of the building, Stefi plied through the endless voices, the voices at the same time both one and many. Nowhere could she find Gemmie and Maya’s.

  “Hey!” A startled voice cut through the eerily peaceful air, jolting Stefi’s concentration. “You’re not supposed to be here!” It was answered seconds later by a rolling crack that echoed off the walls, then a scream of pain.

  “C’mon!” Djidou said. “They know we’re here. This guy won’t be walking for a while but that won’t stop the others. Let’s hope kitty and the Kalkic do their job.”

  “Heh. Heh heh.” Ifaut’s nervous laughter grated against Sansonis’s ear. “Here they come. Are you ready?”

  Indeed, at least two dozen soldiers like those at Valraines hurried from the nearby streets, short swords and crossbows already drawn, attracted by Cédes’s opening of the door.

  “More than ready, kamae. Do you think you can handle them?” He grinned. It was an eerie sight with his darkened eye.

  “Heh. Of course not. But I think we can!” She leant forward and her lips briefly brushed his, sending a painful yet pleasurable tingle throughout his body like nothing he’d ever felt before. He wanted it to continue. Now wasn’t the time. Later, perhaps. Later when the ferrets were safe in Stefi’s arms and Ifaut in his. Or more than likely he in Ifaut’s.

  “For our friends,” he said as half a dozen crossbows leveled directly at him and Ifaut.

  “Yeah, for our friends.”

  Then the calm ended. And the storm began.

  The Fieretka who had entered the building along with Djidou hastened up staircases and through winding corridors. Each time they came to a possible place where the ferrets might be, Djidou kicked open the door with his weapon at the ready, while Rhaka crouched in preparation to strike and Cédes blazed with ferocity. But after many rooms, still nothing.

  “Wait!” Stefi shouted and brought everyone to a halt. “I hear something!” She strained her ears. There it was again.

  Stefi… Gemmie’s faint voice came. Find us… room… up… with shiny keys…

  Hearing the familiar voice, Stefi laughed with relief. “It’s Gemmie! They’re near the stone.” What Gemmie still referred to as keys, of course.

  Djidou nodded. “Follow me. We’re going upstairs.”

  “To the airship already?” Rhaka asked.

  “Soon. The stone’s always kept high up, near the roof. It likes being near the sky.”

  “Then we must hurry,” Rhaka said and cocked his head. “For here come several men from below now.”

  Stefi swore and tore off her bandana. “Dammit! Didn’t those other two do their job?”

  All at once several crossbow bolts flitted towards the kamaes upon fletches of death. Ifaut darted backwards with a squeal. The bolts never found their mark. Through her wide eyes she saw them ricochet harmlessly away before Sansonis’s outstretched hand.

  “I didn’t know you could do that!” she said and laughed nervously.

  “Neither did I…” the Kalkic muttered. “Guess that’s two you owe me now.”

  Before they could further ponder Sansonis’s strange act, the swordsmen advanced.

  Ifaut sprang forward, sword extended and tail bristling. “No one tries to hurt Sansonis but me!” she yelled as she slipped amongst the men, her sword dancing, slicing air and flesh with equal ease. Although she had never truly fought before, she found the movements surprisingly natural. Her lithe body flowed under blade and limb, delivering short slashes and low kicks whenever an opening presented itself. And she found, much to her disgust and excitement, that she was having fun. It was just like playing, but the danger only heightened the fun, made it worth winning. Because the alternative was not good.

  Sansonis found the experience considerably more difficult. With only short knives and the terrible, unpredictable darkness at hand, he had to act defensively.

  As one soldier attacked he stepped with the arc of the blade’s swing, catching the hand that held it and wrenching it back so hard that the soldier hit the ground. Now, with a long sword in one hand and a knife in the other, he entered the fray alongside Ifaut. Each blade seemed to swing of its own accord, the darkness inside him knowing just what to do. For now, as long as it kept Ifaut safe, he was content to let it be.

  After felling several more soldiers, he waded through the sea of blood and steel to find Ifaut at its center

  “Hey,” she panted, her chest heaving as the remaining few soldiers withdrew. “Come to help me out? I feel dizzy…”

  “That’s just the battle rush,” Sansonis said as he took hold of her. Her body was soaked with sweat, and drops of blood splattered her skin. And she was warm. Very warm.

  “Did… did I do good?” she asked breathlessly as she surveyed, through unfocused eyes, the dead and wounded Sol-Acriman soldiers sprawled on the ground.

  “Yeah. Yeah you did. Are you hurt?”

  She laughed giddily and stretched out her arms. “I dunno. I can’t feel anything except sickness!”

  “Good. C’mon, we’re going before more of them show up.” He took her hand and pulled gently but she remained rooted to the ground.

  “Sansonis,” she said, her voice calm yet cracking. She sheathed her bloody sword and, with her newly freed hand, touched Sansonis’s chest. It came away sticky with blood. “You’re hurt!”

  The Kalkic looked down to see a slash in both his shirt and skin, dark with blood. The next moment stinging pain hit, now making its presence known.

  “It’s all right,” he said. “I’m fine.”

  Her wide, blue eyes seemed immune to his easing words. “No, it’s not all right. We’re going to the others now. We’ve done what we can here.”

  Four men burst forth from the stairwell door, sending Stefi sprawling backwards onto the floor. The force sent her staff skidding across the floor out of reach and her head hit the unforgiving floor. Hard. But before she could get up, a heavy foot landed on her stomach. Lying on the floor with the air forced from her lungs and her head ringing from the fall, the world about her exploded in a distorted mass of color and sound.

  A loud crack splintered her thoughts. It was followed by a terrifying roar and several dull thuds like heavy sacks had fallen to the floor.

  “Say… say…” Stefi gasped, unable to draw enough air to call to C
édes for help. But the Furosan must have heard, for a few seconds later a blast of light and heat knocked the weight from her, and delicate yet strong hands found hers. They pulled her to her feet.

  “Come, dear heart.” A reassuring voice penetrated the painful haze that enveloped her head and Stefi found herself stumbling up the stairs. She didn’t know how either she or Cédes made their way up the zigzagging stairs, one blinded by nature, the other by pain, but she was aware of more shouts as they were spotted. And each time Djidou’s gun barked out searing metal, Rhaka’s teeth and claws found their mark, Cédes’s flames scorched flesh and clothing.

  “This... this is it,” Djidou panted as they finally cleared the stairs and entered a long hall of gray tiles lit only by high windows that filtered the morning sunlight. And at the end, like a silent, imposing creature, loomed two tall iron doors.

  “Stefi is bleeding,” Rhaka said matter-of-factly, although the Otsukuné too appeared to be. The blood was not his own.

  Stefi felt the back of her aching head. Her hand came away sticky and her black hair clung to the congealing blood. “I’ll be okay…” she said as the world began to settle back into its proper position. “The ferrets… they need me.”

  “Not in that state, they don’t,” Djidou said. “I’ll fix you right up.” He leaned his weapon against the wall and carefully tied Stefi’s bandana about her head like a bandage.

  “Thanks.” She looked up to see a foreign expression written across Cédes’s face. Even though she still couldn’t read the Furosan like she could read humans, she could’ve sworn it was jealousy. But why?

  Suddenly Cédes breezed past and, leaving a cold wind in her wake, continued down the hall alone.

  “Hey!” Stefi called to her back. “What’s the matter?”

  “The ferrets must be saved,” she said brusquely. “And after climbing two hundred and seven stairs I would like to get this over with now.” She stomped onwards, so blinded by emotion she forgot to feel her way and walked straight into the doors.

  Stefi giggled despite the circumstances as Cédes took a few puzzled steps back.

  “Of course I saw it,” the Furosan muttered. “I was just too busy to stop.”

  “That’s sar-” Stefi started, only to be cut off as Cédes blew the doors inward. “-casm…”

  Djidou readied his gun once more and he, Stefi, and Rhaka hurried after Cédes as she picked her way through the glowing, twisted metal.

  “I bet she saw that those doors had a very obvious handle too,” Djidou said as they slipped in after the pale Furosan.

  In the middle of the room sat a large machine, a beast of metal bristling with tubes and other strange looking pieces of machinery. It seemed to be an affront to nature and Feregana itself. And right in the middle of the monstrosity, upon a pedestal and hooked up to several wires, was the dim stone of Fairun.

  Stefi’s eyes were drawn elsewhere, towards a prize much more important: a cage in the corner holding two frightened sable ferrets. “Ferts!” she shouted, and a great weight lifted so suddenly from her heart that she felt she might float away. She ran over and tore the cage open, and the ferrets flung themselves into her arms.

  Stefi! Gemmie said. We were so scared. But look, we found the keys.

  “Yes, yes you did. And I’m very proud.” She sniffed as tears and emotion welled up from inside. “You know, this is the second time I’ve saved you two from being trapped,” she teased.

  Yeah, but you took your time both times, Maya shot back jokingly.

  “I know, and I’m sorry,” she said. Her eyes clouded with tears. “It won’t happen again.” She buried her face in their fur and took in their warm, comforting aroma, a scent more reassuring than any other.

  Djidou, meanwhile, contended with both the device holding Fairun and an angry Furosan.

  “Destroy this whirring contraption and just take the stone,” Cédes said as she listened to the new and irregular mechanical noises of switches being flipped and buttons pushed. She didn’t like anything about this device, from the hum that made her want to grind her teeth down to the unnatural, metallic tang–almost blood-like–that it gave off.

  “I would,” he said, “if someone would just relax already. If we just pull it out now, the unstable power flow could destroy the entire stone. And us. I never imagined they’d still have the damn thing hooked up. The poor ferrets couldn’t have taken it anyway…”

  Cédes let out a “Hmph” in reply. “If this someone is you, then heed your own advice and relax. We cannot afford any…” She trailed off as understanding hit her. “Oh. You were referring to me.”

  Djidou sighed. “Yes.”

  “And referring to me impersonally is another form of human humor?”

  “Yes. And annoyance.”

  The Furosan thought for a moment then turned to where she smelled Rhaka’s presence nearby. “These humans certainly have strange ideas of humor, do they not? The things they say, such as sarcasm, are hardly funny at all. Except due to their own absurdity.”

  “Young Furosan,” the Otsukuné said and wagged his tail, “we have found another thing upon which we can agree.”

  At that moment Djidou let out a triumphant cry and pried the stone from the device. “Stefi,” he said, “I think this belongs to you.”

  Stefi shifted the excited, writhing ferrets into one hand and plucked the stone from Djidou’s. The moment her fingers brushed the cool surface a pained roar like a gale shot through her and foreign images erupted in her head like a thousand stars bursting into being. Shattered and disconnected shards of sight flashed past: a young man and his sandy-colored ferret; a small town on a vast plain near a forest; people wearing faces ranging across the whole spectrum of emotion, and a hundred more sights that made no sense. And just as suddenly it was over.

  “Did you guys see that?” Stefi gasped, breathless and still getting over the shock.

  “I did,” Cédes said, and an awkward silence followed. At length Stefi broke it.

  “Aren’t you going to say ‘sarcasm’?”

  “No. But in all honesty I saw nothing. Why?”

  “I touched the stone and… never mind,” she said. She knew very well what she’d seen: the stone’s true owners. It wasn’t hers, as Djidou had said. It belonged only to the people of Acharn.

  “Mr. Djidou,” Cédes asked as they turned to leave, the ferrets and Fairun’s stone now safe, “could that whirring monstrosity be used again for the same purpose?”

  “Yeah, why do you ask?”

  His only answer was a deafening boom and blast of heat that nearly knocked him and Stefi to the ground. They all turned to see the draining device was now little more than a pile of twisted, smoldering metal.

  Cédes gave him a bitter smile, raising the corners of her mouth just enough for one pointy canine to stick out. “Curiosity.”

  “C’mon, Ifi,” Sansonis said as another group of soldiers hurried through the streets towards them. He clutched his kamae’s hand and pulled. Maybe now she’d know what it felt like.

  “Please, take it easy,” she whimpered, and her eyes moistened with tears.

  “Why?” he shot back a bit more harshly than he intended. “You always drag me around. And if we stay here, we’ll die.”

  The Furosan sniffed, a sound that for some reason grated against Sansonis’s already raw nerves.

  “This is no time for crying!”

  Ifaut took in a sharp breath as if she’d just been punched in the gut. “Are… are you angry?” she asked and broke into a jog behind him.

  “Yeah, but at those people who want to kill us, not you.” He flashed what he hoped was a reassuring smile over his shoulder.

  “I… I don’t wanna stop because I’m tired,” she continued. “You’re losing a lot of blood. I’m worried.”

  He gripped her hand even tighter and she was aware of what the strength behind his grasp meant. She didn’t have to ask. ‘I’m fine,’ it told her. ‘It’s better than losing you.
’

  The odd pair made to enter the blasted doors of the facility, but a terrifying sight met their eyes. Several dozen men, more than a match for even twenty of them, barred the way, more formidable than the cold metal Cédes had torn asunder. It was nothing compared to what they saw overhead.

  As if in slow motion, Djidou’s ship, their only means of escape, pulled away from the building like a sea-faring ship leaving its moorings. Its sleek form rose into the air and began to head towards the sea.

  “They… they…” Ifaut sniffed. “They left us behind…”