The Blessed City

Lord Brae smiled wickedly at the beasts. Under the sound of snarling monsters, Maleah watched the lord whisper to the boy who shook his head frantically in response.

The beasts paced the wall growling at their onlookers. Guards and Kings Men drew their swords in prepared defense. From above, several more appeared, arrows drawn and arched. They aimed for the beasts even as the Lord demanded they go unharmed.

Lord Brae shouted at them, beckoning them to stand down. When they did not obey, Lord Brae turned to the boy and watched as the boy and the beasts stared at one another. And when the boy did nothing to tame them and instead buried his face in his hands, frustration replaced marvel. Lord Brae raised his hand to the boy.

The simple action aroused the monsters. Howling, they pounced. In defense or attack, Maleah did not know.

"Kill the beasts!" the Lord commanded over the eruptions of fear and howls. Kings Men charged. Their battle cries filled the yard. Snapping their heads, the beasts reared at death and its sharp delivery. Avoiding the first wave, they turned and swept through the yard.

It was lethal. Fangs dug into the bodies of Kings Men and rattled them as they screamed. Blood dripped from their mouths, stained their claws, drenched the ground. Prisoners fled, running as far from the beasts and the yard would allow even as arrows began to fly and more men spewed from inside the borstal.

Paralyzed, Maleah stood alone in the frenzy and watched in horror. Her guards leaving her to attack and the prisoners scattering for safety. Nothing penetrated their scaly flesh. Uncertain what to do, Maleah looked to the Lord.

His eyes glowed a deep red. Darker than before. But unlike the prisoners, the monsters did not fall to it. Soon, Lord Brae realized it, too. Blinking, he turned to Aedon, shouted at him. At his order, Aedon moved, fire blazing in his hands. He aimed to burn them, yet it did nothing but set light the dead grass with flames.

Catching a guard, Lord Brae shoved the boy into his arms and pointed to the door. With a single nod, the guard plucked the boy from the ground and broke into a run, and disappeared into the borstal.

Away from death.

It made the most sense, she decided, as she followed after the boy and the guard. Get out of the yard, into the borstal; get away from the monsters and to safety. Running as fast as she could manage, she evaded flying arrows and flailing swords. Ducking under hurdling bodies and running through wild fire.

She wasn't fast enough. Caught in a ring of fire, she turned. Panting, breathless, Maleah stopped. In her hesitation, she heard his cry. The rough tautness of his voice barreled over the burning grass. Jerking around, she found Doc clutching his scrolls against the wall. His motionless body sent a fresh was of terror through her.

She wanted to go limp. To fall and weep. To let the smoke claim home in her throat, burn her lungs.

She had to move. It felt like lifting stones but she raised her hands to the fire and burned the rope. It burned green before it broke. Swiftly, she stirred the air, split the fire, and jumped through.

Repeating the same motions, she cleared herself a path to Doc then dropped to her knees. Gently, she raised her hands to his face. His breathing was ragged and slow. The arrow stuck out from his belly and blood pooled around the wound.

Maleah let the tears come, defenseless against her own pain. Pressing her hand around the arrow, she sobbed openly over him.

"Doc." His eyes opened to hers, but he did not move. "What do I do?"

"Maleah," he coughed. "I am sorry I could not prepare you for what is to come."

Above them, the clouds funneled and thunder cracked. A spear of lightning split the clouds, pierced the yard behind her. She paid the storm no attention.

"No one could have known this would happen. It is not your fault." He shook his head once, coughed.

"There is more to come, still. The war has only just begun."

He did not make sense. Fear, pain, grief muddled her mind, clouded her eyes as she watched her best friend struggle for life.

"Dear one, do you remember the stories we've shared? Of lost cities and mythical lands."

Nodding, she said. "My father loved those stories as you did. But what do they have to help us now?"

"Let them guide you." Coughing, blood sputtered through his mouth. Swiping at it, Maleah held his head up. "You will need the name," he gasped. He reached with waning strength and pulled her ears to his lips, whispered, "Sábhille."

Leaning back, Maleah looked into Doc's eyes. The edges glistened, darkened.

"I cannot leave. Not you, not like this."

"You must," he sputtered. "Promise me you will go." She mumbled her promise, uncertain what it was she was swearing to. "Then go. Go now!"

He pushed her away with the last of his strength. Trembling and unsure, she turned away. The courtyard was in chaos. Prisoners crouched in shadowed corners, curling into themselves as they had before. All guards and Kings Men battled furiously with the shadow monsters. Fire raged untamed everywhere consuming limp bodies and feeding off the blood-soaked ground. Rain forged war against the fires, whose tongues continued to burn with the aid of Aedon.

Think, she demanded of herself. She couldn't. Every thought was crowded by images of death and Doc.

How was she to fulfill her promise when she could not escape the impenetrable borstal when she hadn't a map to guide her through its everchanging halls?

Nearby, the door to the yard stood ajar; Kings Men filtered in and out swords drawn and mouths hung in cries. Occupied with the ensuing battle, no one watched the door.

One step at a time, she decided. Safety, then freedom. She needed to be safe to think. Sucking in the air, Maleah sprinted across the yard. Stepping over limp bodies, avoiding rings of fire, soaked with by the raging rain.

In its frame, Maleah stole a last glance to Doc. A shadow monster stood over him, sneering at him. "Doc," her heart cried then she ran blindly into the borstal.

Each intersection presented a new challenge. One she had not the strength to linger on. Her only thought was her cell. If she could get there, she could plan her escape and keep whatever promise she had made to Doc.

Taking each corner on impulse she guessed her way through the labyrinth. Until somewhere mixed with her adrenaline and grief, she felt the hum she knew so well. She followed it to the foot of her cell. At the door, she leaned against the bars and yanked.

"Argh!" she growled. Of all the days, of all the times, why lock it? There was no threat to leaving it open when she was not there. She banged her fists against the bars. Hope fled as she tried to open it with sheer willpower. Safety lay just beyond the bars. She wanted that, needed that.

Feet scraped the floors, echoing down the halls. Searching either side, Maleah pressed her back against the door and prepared to meet the brutal strength of a guard. She'd surely be punished for deserting the yard unattended. She shut her eyes and waited as the steps grew louder.

"What you've shut your eyes for? This isn't the time to surrender."

Confused, Maleah peeled her eyes open and stared at the red-headed stranger standing in front of her. Her hair grew in wild tangles on her head, filled the canvas of her back. Her breath was calm, but her eyes were sharp violet and swam with desperation.

"Ah . . ." Maleah managed.

"Thought perchance I'd seize the opportunity to escape, too."

What? Maleah was speechless, her mouth hanging loosely. "I, ah." She glanced behind her, into her cell.

The girl ignored Maleah's silence and plowed on. "I will make you a deal. I will get you into your cell if you tell me how to escape this wretched place."

"I am not escaping," Maleah protested.

"Right." She pursed her lips, dug her fists into her hips. "I must've misheard then."

What? Maleah repeated to herself. "I cannot get you out. I hardly got myself here."

Sighing, the stranger looked Maleah up and down. "You aren't going to make this easy, are you?" Nodding, she looked up and down the hall, leaned to glance inside Maleah's cell. "A different deal, then? Take me to the safety you seek and I won't tell another soul your secret."

Maleah's face hardened. "I do not know what you mean."

"You may as well save your breath. I know when people are lying. You've secrets you haven't shared with the guards. Ones that would land you somewhere near the King with certainty if they were to find out. I take it, you would prefer to remain as far from his notice as possible."

Only one person knew her secrets in the entire world. How did this stranger know of the one thing the other did not? Was it fear or anger that she battled inside herself? A small storm gathered in her eyes as she considered the strangers' threats.

Her tone was hot. "What would you know of my secrets?"

"More than you realize. Now, if you'd prefer your secrets and value to remain unspoken, you'll open that portal again and get us out of here. We haven't much time. They are strong, but I take it the beasts are stronger. They won't hold for long."

Her mouth pinched. Staying in her cell was no longer an option. If she stayed, the stranger would follow through and she'd be in more danger than she'd ever been. But if she did as the girl wanted...

However, "I cannot. The door is locked."

From inside the shirt she had tied tightly around her chest, the girl pulled out a key. "Not a problem." Nudging Maleah aside, she clicked the key into place and pulled the door open. When inside, she locked the door and tossed the key to the ground. "Where is the portal?"

Maleah nodded her head to the moss. The red-head stepped to it, laid her hands over its flesh. "Remarkable," she whispered. Pressing her hand to it, she met the solid wall, then turned to Maleah. "How do you open it?"

She stared blankly at the stranger. "I do not know. It just happened."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Portals don't just happen. Come," she gestured. "I want you to do exactly as you had before when it first opened to you." She stopped, hesitated.

Maleah witnessed the growing urgency in the girl's face. "What is it?"

"Do as I say!" Panic peaked in her cheeks, reddening her face.

Maleah obeyed the stranger, evading her threats. Stepping to the moss, Maleah laid her hand on it and thought about her father. His stories, the stars, the sky. She let them run through her mind with the hopes that it would work as it had before.

She prayed to the godless skies, to her dead mother, to whatever would listen for the portal to reopen. She prayed to hear the music again. To feel the beat of real drums. When several moments passed without a sound, she began to feel hopeless. Just as she turned to the stranger, and found her eager eyes watching her, she heard it.

It wasn't music she heard though, but rather the trickle of water against rock.

By the look on the girl's face, Maleah knew she heard it, too.

"You have done it!" she exclaimed. "Come, I will go first." Eager, excited, breathless, Maleah watched the stranger step without hesitation into the wall.

Stunned and surprised it worked, Maleah followed the stranger. Behind her, she heard the growl of beasts, their talons scraping the floor as they barrelled through the borstal. She heard the shouts of men and the sharp pitch of metal on metal.

Then, she heard nothing.

. . .

She felt the glossy water drip down her body as she pushed through the moss, drowning her eyes until they were pools of blurred vision. With her hands, she felt her way through the dark. Felt wet turn dry as moss became dirt.

Her hands emerged first, meeting the cold air. With another step, she stepped from the wall. A hand wrapped fiercely around her arm, pulled her back until she pressed against a hard surface. Looking up, she found the red-head holding onto her. Peering forward, she stared into her dreams.

They stood on the side of the mountain overlooking the borstal. Maleah heard the screams of innocents echoed in the wind. Around the borstal, she saw the faint glimmer of pink surrounding the building. Inside, she found the boy from her dreams running. Watched with sadness and reverence as he became a puddle and disappeared into the veil.

"We cannot linger here. Come, we should find shelter before nightfall."

We? Maleah cocked her head to the girl as she carefully began descending the cliff. "Our deal is complete. You are out and there is nothing more for us to do."

"That, need I remind you, was not the deal. You were to take me to the safety you sought and from where I stand, this, here," she waved her hands out, "is not safe. Far from it in fact."

Maleah felt anger rise. "I did what I could. That must account for something."

"You created the portal - which by the way, you should close before someone grows a brain and follows us - and got us outside the borstal, yes. But we are not safe nor is this the place you seek."

"What do you know of what I seek?"

"Enough," is all she said as she trekked down the mountain. Maleah followed behind her, not because she was told to, but because the stranger was right. She could not stay on the mountain. Irritated, she walked in silence.

"Mind your step," the girl said periodically. Often catching Maleah at the last moment before her foot slipped and she fell with it. They moved swiftly as the clouds above bent in shape and blanketed the sky in darkness. Soon, the sound of falling water drew nearer.

As they approached the waterfall, the girl stopped and held up a hand. "Wait here," she said, then disappeared behind the water. Moments later, she reappeared. "There is a shallow cave we can rest in tonight."

Slipping into the cave, they were folded into its cavernous black. Somewhere nearby, Maleah heard the rustle of stone and wood. A fire sparked to life inside a small ring of rocks, casting small shadows onto the walls.

Cringing at the fresh horror, she said, "I don't believe I'll ever look at a shadow the same again."

"That'll happen when your reality is disrupted by the seemingly impossible." Plain and simply put, Maleah agreed.

"Sleep, the day will be upon us before we know it. We will leave at first light." The red-head tucked herself near the fire, cradled her head on her elbow, and slept.

She didn't protest. There wasn't much she could do now but rest, too. She would need it before the day's beginning. Folding herself into a ball, she laid next to the fire and let the subtle glow of orange and red drift her into the safety of sleep.