The Fadian Escape Read online

  In the following silence, the women exchanged looks then nodded at Hailmon.

  “It appears we have our rebuttal,” the elder said, nodding to Corbin, “Let Felder know: we have the alpha.”

  The words jolted Egoly from his secure headspace. What did they mean? As he was fumbling for a response, he noticed the boy approaching him with outstretched arms. A silvery light glittered around his hands and the sight of it cause Egoly’s palms to itch.

  “We thank you for our new friend here,” Alya smirked. “He’s quite talented.”

  The color drained from the world and the ground started to spin. A primal scream grew in the back of his brain. There was no way he could survive being imprisoned by the Elders again. He had to do something to save himself.

  “I-I think you might have misunderstood my position,” Egoly held a hand up and the child stopped his advance. “I don’t want to hide here in the village. It will only draw Felder’s wrath.” Egoly made sure to lock eyes with Maya. The young woman did not drop her gaze, but Egoly saw the memory of her ordeal flash in her eyes. “I want the city to be free of his rule. To live without his foot on our necks.”

  He paused, trying to formulate a plan that didn’t end with him bound beneath the village or trapped in a crystal casket.

  “You’ll spy for us, then?” Karen smiled at him. “Let us get the upper hand?”

  “Of course,” The thought of these wretched siblings ruling in Felder’s place chilled him to the bone, but he saw no other way out. “You’ll open a negotiation and say that you only trust me to deliver the messages.”

  “Then be gone,” Hailmon waved his hand in dismissal.

  “And what of your message to Felder?”

  “I trust you’re clever enough to come up with something that will open the doors,” Delaine smiled at him, but it did not reach her eyes. “Your life hangs in the balance.”

  Egoly returned her false smile and added a bow. He turned to Corbin and offered his hand. “Walk me to the street.”

  Corbin took his hand and without another glance at the elders, they set off across the park.

  “We’re going to have our own deal,” Corbin asked once they were beyond the village. “Aren’t we?”

  “I would like that very much,” Egoly nodded.

  “Anything for you,” Corbin smiled. “You saved my life.”

  “I hope so,” Egoly quipped. The child gave him a strange look. “My life in the village was not as exciting. I never sat in on important meetings.”

  “That was another world.”

  “I’m beginning to think it doesn’t matter.”

  Corbin stopped.

  “I’ll leave you here. You have much to consider.”

  Egoly opened his mouth to protest, but the boy was already headed back to the village. He watched for a moment, then turned toward the street.

  Chapter Four

  The walk back to the Union tower felt much longer than the trip to the park. Egoly’s skin itched as if he’d picked up an infestation in the woods. He spared a quick glance at his body to be sure there wasn’t something crawling over him. Perhaps someone was watching him. He looked around as subtly as possible but saw nothing out of place. He looked directly into the camera on the nearest building.

  Did Felder have that level of influence?

  If he decided to walk past the entrance to the Union’s tower and keep going until he reached Ilma’s army, would Felder know?

  Would he do anything?

  Another thought bubbled up to silence these thoughts. Did Felder have a spy in the village already? Someone who was well-positioned to hear everything the elders discussed.

  If so, Jim was right. Egoly was a dead man.

  The only way to get ahead of such intrigue was to reveal the truth of what happened in the village.

  Egoly’s heart hammered in his chest.

  Should he betray the trust of the Elders?

  Coward.

  Ilma’s return was as inconvenient as ever, but it turned his thoughts to Kaleigha and the deck in his pocket.

  He stopped and ducked into an alley where there was no apparent surveillance and pulled out the deck. He did a quick shuffle thinking of Felder. A card popped out. Egoly caught it before it fluttered to the ground and flipped it over.

  Jack of spades.

  A definite no.

  Egoly looked around once more before tucking the deck back into his pocket.

  He entered the tower and got into the elevator. He pressed the button for his floor, but as he expected, the elevator took him directly to the penthouse.

  “You’re back,” Jim greeted him as the elevator doors opened.

  “As planned,” Egoly stepped into the vestibule and gestured for Jim to lead the way.

  The dining table was empty except for Felder. A modest spread lay before him, but his plate was empty.

  “Join me, gentleman,” Felder offered after a long moment. “Let us discuss today’s business.”

  Egoly didn’t want to sit with them. He strode over to the windows and took in the view of the city.

  “Not hungry?” Felder began to add polite amounts of food to his plate.

  “Just eager to get to business,” Egoly lied. His stomach was in knots and he wasn’t sure he could go through with the lie.

  “Don’t let me stop you.”

  “Right,” Egoly fought the urge to remain at the window. He turned to Felder and forced himself to look the man in the eyes. “The elders responded, but it was not promising.”

  Felder nodded and continued to eat, never once breaking eye contact. Egoly mirrored his nod then continued.

  “They say to keep the lines of communication open.”

  A spark of rage skipped across Felder’s face. It terrified Egoly, but he didn’t change his demeanor.

  “Sometimes no answer is the answer,” Felder said finally. Then he took the bait. “How would you respond to that, Egoly? You know the elders better than anyone in this city. What’s our next move?”

  Egoly’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. He’d only just thought of the response while in the elevator.

  “Keep the lines of communication open,” Egoly repeated himself, changing the inflection so the answer sounded different.

  The anger flashed across Felder’s face again, followed by a hollow smile. “And in the meantime?”

  “The meantime?” Egoly looked away.

  He heard Jim chuckle and the sound made his cheeks prickle with shame. Felder had him cornered and if he didn’t give the right answer, he’d fail Kaleigha and himself. “We start putting the world back in order.”

  Egoly walked over to the table and took a seat. He followed Jim’s lead and heaped piles of rich food on his plate. This did not distract Felder.

  “And what does that entail?” Felder put his utensils down and stared at Egoly. “How do we find order?”

  Egoly took in a mouthful of food to give himself time to think. Whatever he said it had to end this line of questioning.

  “Easy,” he shrugged once he’d swallowed his food. “We subtract what wasn’t here before.”

  “Easy?” Jim scoffed between forks of food.

  “Certainly no harder than altering the memory of an entire tower,” Egoly shifted his gaze to Jim.

  “And what exactly are you proposing we subtract?’’ Felder asked.

  It’s simple,” Egoly tried to remain casual. “We eradicate the settlement.”

  “The insurgents?” Jim let his fork clink to the plate.

  “Yes, the insurgent settlement. The people who are living outside of the Method. The ones who rise from the ashes each time you send the enforcers to burn them out of their huts. "

  “I know what it is!” Felder sneered. “I can’t, I just can’t see how you could carry this out.”

  “Well, it’s simple,” Egoly said “I’ll go out and offer them a chance to surrender. Those that agree will become part of the Tower or your pris
oners or whatever you do with those who oppose you. Those who remain simply no longer exist.”

  Felder leaned forward and Jim stopped the endless shoveling of food into his mouth. The men looked at Egoly like he was a person for the first time since he’d come to the tower.

  " And you would do this, Fadian, on your own with your powers?”

  “Yes, easily and with little effort,” Egoly leaned into his bravado. “I mean after all the practice I’ve gotten here with Jim, what’s a few unsuspecting insurgents?”

  “They are hardly unsuspecting,” Felder said after a brief silence. “But I’m pleased to see you’re showing interest in the work.”

  “You hardly know your way around the block,” Jim shifted in his chair. “I’m surprised you made it to the elders and back.”

  “Yet here I stand,” Egoly relished in Jim’s sudden jealousy and confusion.

  Felder smirked, seeming to enjoy Jim’s sudden discomfort as well.

  “Then it’s concluded,” Fleder did little to disguise his sudden pleasure with Egoly’s plan. “You’ll leave at first light.”

  “Now, boss,” Jim started, but Felder put up a hand to silence him.

  “No worries, Jim,” Felder put his hand down. “I won’t have you ruining your clothes mucking about the woods.”

  Jim and Egoly breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Mantua is much better suited for such dirty work.”

  The laughter spilling from Jim’s mouth hid the whimper that escaped Egoly’s mouth. The last time Egoly had seen Mantua, his body was on the ground at his feet and Mantua’s ghost was in Ilma’s thrall. Egoly felt Felder’s eyes upon him, so he attempted a look of scorn aimed at Jim.

  It worked.

  “Our Fadian friend is learning,” Felder smirked. “We’ll see if the lessons stick.”

  Cold crept into Egoly’s bones. What had Felder done to bring Mantua back into the fold?

  “I think you’ll be pleased,” Egoly raised his fork to Felder then to Jim before shoving it in his mouth. It was more bravado, but it made space for him in this shark tank. “But I want something in return.”

  “If you succeed, you’ll have your life,” Felder’s tone was casual, yet threatening. “That’s far more than enough.”

  “I want to see Kaleigha,” Egoly was undeterred. “I want to speak to her and know that she’s not in distress. "

  Egoly thought he saw compassion in both men’s eyes, but it was gone before he could be sure.

  “I’m sorry,” Felder shook his head. “It’s too dangerous to wake her.”

  “I don’t think-” Egoly started.

  “That’s my final word,” Felder stood and threw his napkin on the table. “Don’t ask again.”

  The next morning, Egoly put on layers of outdoorsy clothes and strapped on the matching gear before meeting Mantua on the helipad atop the Union’s tower. In the weak pre-dawn light, Mantua’s blond hair looked gray giving him the appearance of an old man.

  And like a cranky old man, he gave nothing more than an ugly grunt in response to Egoly’s greeting.

  “Hello,” Egoly ventured, studying the man’s profile. A few jagged scars remained from the wound that killed him, but it was definitely a flesh and blood man standing on the roof of the Union tower.

  Mantua had never been part of Felder’s circle, but the distance he stood from favor showed on his gaunt face. Egoly stopped sizing the man up and took a moment to reach out for Kaleigha instead. There hadn’t been time this morning to pull any cards, but he hoped she was conscious enough to hear without their aid.

  Kaleigha was awake and while her energy was no longer chaotic, she was confused about where she was and how she got there. The image of her tiny rowhouse with her family standing on the doorstep flickered across her mind at uneven intervals. A word emerged from the slow morass of her mind, ‘home.’

  Kaleigha wanted to go home. Not to the posh penthouse that she’d earned as she shifted paradigms, but the warm, tidy place she’d known most of her life.

  The strength of her longing brought tears to his eyes. A strange fluttering in his gut urged him to run from the rooftop and break Kaleigha from her prison. He wanted nothing more than to see her face light up in a smile.

  I will free you.

  Stop bothering that poor girl.

  Egoly’s mood soured.

  Don’t you ever sleep? He asked Ilma.

  Sleep is for fools.

  Clearly, you’re delirious.

  Egoly studied the horizon where a sliver of orange marked the beginning of the sunrise.

  “All clear!” The pilot waved them over and they hustled into the helicopter.

  Jim joined the flight just before take-off. He sat opposite Egoly and Mantua, studying them.

  After they cleared the city and swung over the river, he spoke.

  " The plan is simple. We’ll drop you off five miles from the target, then cover the excursion by buzzing the settlement,” he grinned at them. “Maybe we’ll start the job for you by spraying a few huts? You’ll make your own way back to the city via the park. Skirt the village and whatever you do, don’t get too close to that hag’s army. If you’re not back in twenty-four hours, then you will meet your fate. Am I clear?”

  Mantua grunted again, but Egoly remained silent.

  Egoly wondered if he’d chosen the right thing.

  Does it matter? They’ll be dead soon, anyway.

  Egoly willed their connection closed.

  Chapter Five

  An hour later, they were on the ground with Mantua angrily slashing through the underbrush.

  “I would like for this to be a surprise attack,” Egoly said. “That’s a little hard to do with you making all that noise.”

  Mantua didn’t respond.

  “How about I lead for a little?”

  Again, no response.

  “Well, where have you been all this time” Egoly tried another tactic.

  “You don’t deserve her,” Mantua muttered.

  “Excuse me?” Egoly had heard him just fine, but he needed a moment to wrap his head around the accusation.

  At this, Mantua turned to give him a glare. “You don’t deserve her.”

  A stab of guilt made Egoly flinch. What did Mantua know of his crimes? Egoly decided to use a Felder tactic and deflect the question. “Why are you so angry at me? I didn’t imprison you.”

  Mantua came to a full stop.

  “No, but you betrayed Kaleigha.”

  “What are you talking about?” Egoly used a Felder tactic, again.

  “Don’t stand there all high and mighty like you’re one of the labor boys. Felder will turn on you just as he does on everyone. He even turned on his own daughter.”

  “Everyone knows Felder’s treacherous,” Egoly laughed. “If you trusted him that’s your own fault. Besides, he’s giving us this chance to redeem ourselves. If you want to feel free to wander off and die under a bush, but don’t try to drag me with you.”

  “If anything I’ll be the one to survive,” Mantua said.

  “Sure,” Egoly started out again. “You and your bullying tactics. I’m sure they’ll do so much to forward our cause.”

  Egoly had taken ten steps before Mantua spoke again.

  “I remember,” Mantua shouted. “I remember everything.”

  Egoly wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but the statement froze him in his tracks. “What do you remember,” Egoly turned to him, trying not to show his fear. “If you’re trying to lose it out here, just wander off. I promise not to tell.”

  “I remember all of it,” Mantua shouted, his voice raspy from the effort. “All three worlds. I remember the shifting I remember who I was before and I remember what it felt like to be loved.” His voice cracked on the last word.

  “All this time all I could think of was her and then I get out to find that she is no more and what’s left of her, well that’s all your fault.”

  “No,” Egoly said. “That’s all Feld
er’s doing.”

  It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth, either. There was no way in hell that Egoly was going to have an open confession with this strange man.

  “I should kill you where you stand,” Mantua said. “But I need this redemption, too.” Mantua opens his mouth to make some other inane comment, but the sudden rumble of the stoner ships filled the air and shook the surrounding ground.

  “Take cover,” Mantua said instead.

  Egoly could not figure out what was happening and stood there with his mouth agape.

  “I said get down,” Mantua dragged him by his collar over to the roots of a sturdy tree. The air grew dense with pebbles, dust, and eventually, small boulders as it rained all around them for a few minutes before gradually tapering off.

  “What was that?” Egoly asked.

  “The stoner ships,” Mantua said. “Have you never seen one?”

  “No, I can’t say that I have,” Egoly remained evasive.

  “Perhaps you really are one of the labor boys,” Mantua said and continued towards their destination.

  He took a few steps and froze. His hand made a strange emotion that Egoly didn’t recognize.

  “Get down,” Mantua hissed, but it was too late. Armed figures wearing hoods and face coverings emerge from the shadows of the trees and surrounded them on all sides.

  “Well, well, well what do we have here?” a figure stepped forward, marking them as the leader. “If it isn’t the alpha fadian himself and some little lackey.”

  “We have come in peace,” Mantua held up his hands.

  Egoly followed suit.

  “No fadian comes in peace,” the figure walked around them as if trying to spot some invisible weapon.

  “Search them.” Someone stepped forward, patting them down while others searched their security gear. The deck of cards got confiscated, along with several other pocket items.

  “We come with a message from the Union,” Mantua dared speak again. “But I can only deliver it to your leader.”

  “You’ll have your chance, Lackey,” the figure said. “Get marching!”

  “The patrol set a rapid pace and they reached the settlement in a short time. Egoly felt relieved to be captured. It made it easy to breach the boundaries of the settlement.