XX
“How amazing.” Mama said in awe.
“It’s better than I ever thought.” Dala agreed.
“It’s actually real.” Peter exclaimed.
“So this is what’s on the other side. It’s cold out here.” Orin said.
My excitement in getting out was overshadowed by Morome’s injury. Lace was tending to him nearby. An excited shout came from up ahead. Nara was running towards us.
“You made it!” She said as she came up. “I knew you would.”
“Morome is hurt badly.” Said Lace. She looked around confused. She was not sure which emotion to show, excitement over being in Azureland, or terror at her brother’s condition. She managed both at the same time.
Nara’s glee ended when she saw how we all looked. We must have been a sorry lot to look at. Everyone was covered in blood and dirt. And I just noticed long splinters sticking out of everybody. “Stay right here, I’ll get some help.” She ran off.
I felt woozy. My vision was spotty and I could feel my legs start to give way beneath me. “Hey Mama, we made it.” I saw her excited reaction as I fell to the ground, unconscious.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was back in my room in the government building. For a minute I thought that I hadn’t even gone back in yet. I groaned at the thought of going back into the wall. I sat up and saw Mama sitting on my bed. I jumped up, wide awake.
“You look great!” I shouted.
“It’s only been the first treatment, but I feel loads better.”
“It worked.” I laughed in amazement. “It all really worked, and here we are; in a better world.”
“Morome is still being treated. His injuries were worse than we thought.”
“But he’s here, I’m sure they’ll get him better.” His condition no longer concerned me. He was in good hands with their medics.
Mama gave a small smile. It was so good to see. “I hope so.”
“How long was I asleep?” I stood up. My muscles ached. I could see the small scars from the splinters. I had at least twenty.
“You went out yesterday afternoon, and now its morning.”
“Have you been outside?”
“No, I’ve been in treatment all morning.”
“There is so much stuff in this building. What did they do to you?”
“They hooked me up to this machine and I just sat there. They also gave me food, real food!”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. “That’s fantastic.”
She put her arms around me. “Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
“No problem.”
There was a knock at the door. Mama answered it. Nara came in, looking out of breath.
“Good, you’re awake. Gilik wants to talk to you, he says it’s important.”
Nara led me through the building to Gilik’s small office. He looked anxious about something. There was another man there.
“Hello Hardin.” Gilik said dully.
“Hello sir.”
“I’m glad to see you made it back alright.” He didn’t sound it.
“Thank you.”
He straightened some papers on his desk, stalling for time. “News however is not so glad. This here is the President.” He pointed to the man standing beside the desk.
“It is nice to finally meet you.” He said. “I have heard a lot. I am very interested in this whole situation.”
The president looked stiff and unapproachable. If I had seen him anywhere else I probably would have turned and gone the other direction. He nodded at me. I wondered what could be so important that the president had to show up. Then I thought that Morome must have died, but that fear was proven unwarranted.
Gilik continued. “We have had more questions concerning what was inside the wall than ever before. You gave us great insight when we spoke that night you came out.” He shot a gloating look at the president. “We thought most of our questions were answered. That is until we spoke to your team and that Bozlin boy last night. They told us what you told them and what they knew, and we became increasingly disturbed. I thought that it would take years to decipher the whole mystery, but I believe you brought the biggest clue with you.” He reached under his desk and pulled out the case that Mama had kept her stuff in. “Does this look familiar?”
I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “Yes, my mother kept her stuff in there.”
“No, does the symbol look familiar?”
I looked closely at the blue triangle with an orange eye in the center. I had never seen it anywhere else. “No.”
“It is the symbol of Dizuria.”
My mind searched for the memory with that word in it.
“. . . And then a tiny country called Dizuria.”
Was it possible that the tiny country of Dizuria was killing the hunters and burning towns? According to the faces of Gilik and the president, it certainly seemed like it.
I don’t remember how the meeting ended. The next thing I knew I was wandering through the building in a daze. We finally had an enemy. Why would Dizuria do such a thing? It was about time I learned a little about that tiny country. I wasn’t sure if that building had a library but I looked for one anyway. Several minutes later Nara caught up to me. She led me out onto a balcony to discuss what Gilik told me.
The air was bitter cold that day. Snow was flurrying around. I looked out across the vast city, uncertain of what to do.
“So they think it was Dizuria?” She asked.
“They’re certain. They say that that seal is too new to have existed before the wall was put up. They were the ones to create the bracelets and they are the ones killing everyone.”
She sighed. “I wonder why?”
“You know what? This was a lot easier to deal with when I thought I could keep the enemies in the wall and be done with it. But now I know that can’t happen because the enemies are inside and out.”
We sat in silence for a while listening to the sounds of the city.
Nara grabbed my hand. “Hardin, don’t go looking for trouble.”
“How do you mean?”
“I don’t want you seeking out these people. Now that we know for certain who is behind this Azureland can handle it.”
“Nara, these people have killed so many of my people. What do you want me to do? If I can help then I will.”
“And what of your plans to get everyone out?” She asked.
“You didn’t see those flying things; there is no way that I can get everybody out with those things flying around.”
“Alright, but how about for now you just let the President and Gilik come up with a plan?”
I agreed to this. Nara led me back inside and I went back to Mama, only one thing on my mind. A tiny country like Dizuria would surely not attempt to attack Azureland. As long as we were there, we were safe. I made plans to take the team and Mama around the city and maybe even around the country by rail. This brightened my spirits slightly. That’s all I could ask for at that time. After a while I realized that perhaps the Dizuria news was the best I had gotten for a while. At least now we had a real enemy.