Chapter 24: A sack o' taters

“What… what did you call her?” John asked. His expression softened with confusion. 

I cleared my throat. “Eh, Mirror girl?” 

“My name is Nea!” she growled. Colour streamed back to her face as his grip loosened. 

“Great, well, I didn’t know that. I just damn well got here, and you’re not the most friendly person, you know?” 

John’s eyes hardened. “You’re right. You did just get here. And everything went to shit as soon as you did,” he bit off each word with vitriol. “This… this is all your fault!” 

I groaned and mumbled, “Why does everyone seem so damn hellbent on pinning the blame on me?!” 

I looked around, the house walls were close to each other, entombing us. I didn’t have any idea what his blessing could be. A small part of me hoped it had something to do with his good looks. A much larger part knew it wasn’t even remotely true. He was an officer in a group of almost a hundred people. You didn’t get a position like that based on looks in a place where lives hung in the balance. 

I stepped closer. “Come on John, let’s think about this. Why would I do something like that? I fought alongside your friends. I’m still working with them. Not against.” 

He glanced at Nea. His eyes hardened, so did his grip. With a swing of his arm he sent her flying into the wall with a loud crash. The impact cut her breath short, replacing it with wheezing gasps. 

John shot at me like an arrow leaving its bow. The speed was nothing short of superhuman. The air rippled and bent to make way for his furious charge. 

I leapt to the dagger with burst. Even with the enchantment I wasn’t nearly as quick as him. Glass crunched in my fist as I scooped it up. The warmth of my blood flowed into the engravings, like water through snaking canals. 

I whipped around to point the dagger at him, but he was already cutting down with the blade. The swing was eerily silent as the air moved from out of his way.

He gazed down at me like I was the most vile thing he’d ever seen. Then his eyes glazed over. He crumpled to the ground like a robot with its power cut. 

“Good job,” Samara called out and approached. She had been hiding in the same corner as I did.

“You were here all along?” 

She shrugged. “No. I just got here a few moments ago. You alright?” she asked and hurried to Nea, kneeling down beside her. “There was no reason for me to make things worse. We’ll talk to him when he wakes up. Besides, we don’t have time for this … inconvenience.” 

Nea fought for every lick of air. I scampered to my feet and walked over. 

Samara studied me out of the corner of her eye with indifference. 

The softness of Nea’s previously doll-like appearance had been thrown for a loop. Her pony tail came loose, strands of hair covered her vision and she had a patch of soot on her cheek. “I’m alright,” she gasped and nodded at the unconscious man. “What do we do about him?” 

“We can’t leave him here. Cal will have to carry him. Maybe even use that magic thread of his,” Samara quipped. 

“Why me?” I sneered. “I’m busy enough helping Yusuf.”

I was the biggest one of us, but I wasn’t a muscular man in any way, shape or form. Becoming the default choice for physical tasks was both flattering and dreadful. 

“Because we are busy keeping you safe.” 

I clicked my tongue. “What a great job you’re doing.” 

Samara smiled. “You’re both alive, aren’t you?” She helped Nea to her feet, and walked off before I could retort. 

I kicked at a pile of glass, looking down on John. Not only was he larger than me. He wore plate armour too. “Fucking fuck.” 

I tied him up and heaved hi onto my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. My usually soft steps became leaden and heavy. I grit my teeth and took it one step at a time. It had been a long time since last I felt the rush of lactic acid running through my body. It used to accompany me every run, and was always a pain. This time, however, it helped me get my mind of the others forcing me into doing shit like this.

Samara turned and gave me a sharp look. “Are you coming?” 

I bared my teeth. “I am. But he’s heavy as hell. If one of you would help, this would go a hell of a lot quicker.” 

She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Shut up and just do your job. I’ll make sure nothing gets to you.”

“I won’t,” Nea mumbled.  

I frowned. “Not cool.” 

We spent the rest of the short trek in silence. By the time we got back to Yusuf, he had finished the can of food. He flashed a large smile at us, then noticed the man lying over my shoulder. 

“John?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” I said,  “he thought we were part of the insane cult.” 

Nea spat on the ground. Her red speckled saliva mixed with the deep dark of the soot layer.

Yusuf raised his eyebrows. “Why?” 

Nea shrugged. “Don’t know. We’ve known each other for ages,” she bit her lip and balled her hands into fists. “Honestly. Fuck this place.” 

Samara placed a hand on her shoulder. “I can’t even begin to understand how you feel, but we have to keep moving.” 

Nea wiped her face from the streaming tears and nodded. Yusuf looked at me with confusion.

“I’ll explain later,” I sighed. “Let’s just find some place to rest.” 

The others grunted in unison. 

Everyone was beat. Being on the losing side of a fight was draining, probably more so than winning. There was always a price to pay for violence, this time it had been costly. I could still see Anna’s lifeless body when I closed my eyes. I shook my head.  

There was no rest for the wicked. 

Samara took the lead with Nea bringing up the rear. Most of the walk, she glanced down at her feet. I’d seen the look more than a few times. In fact, I still saw it every time I looked in the mirror. 

People who say that time heals all wounds probably never had to watch their family die. 

It wasn't losing someone that hurt so. It was the feeling of powerlessness that washed over you after the fact. The feeling of having to watch their life get snuffed out while you’re unable to do a damn thing. 

I walked with Yusuf leaning on one shoulder, the useless oaf occupied the other. Still very much unconscious. Mid stride his face bobbed into view. I flinched at the sight of his rolled back eyes. 

I shifted his weight and looked at Samara. “Uhm… What did you do to him? I thought you could only read emotions.”

Samara didn’t break her stride. Without turning, she stated smugly. “And influence them.”  

“How did you do it?” 

She glanced back and flashed a smile. “I overloaded him with emotion. Most blessings can be used in unexpected ways. It just takes some creativity.”

I mulled over her words. How could emotion knock a man out cold? Let alone someone with a physical blessing.

Her eyes turned into slits. She was obviously taking glee that I didn’t understand. Yusuf chuckled. “You’re gonna have to give us more than that, oh magnanimous leader.” 

Samara sighed and wagged her finger. “Oh fine. But I won’t tell you all of my tricks. Physical sensations and emotional states are connected. Emotional pain, in great enough quantity can cause actual physical pain. I overloaded him with one of those emotions.”

“Can you use your smoke like that?” I asked.

To my side, Yusuf shook his head. “No. Though I hope to one day. I’ll gladly increase my chances of survival.” 

Samara snorted. “As you should. These lands are viciously deceptive. None is what it first appears to be.” 

I raised an eyebrow. “You sound familiar?” 

She chuckled. “Well. Yes. We have been here longer than the rest of you. But we are far from being the only ones. Families like mine have fought in the Forgotten lands for a long time. You really ought to be thanking us.” 

Her condescending tone made me seethe. “Yeah, what for? Keeping this shit to yourselves? You could have educated people, prepared them!” 

“Tsk‌. So quick to anger. You know, a guy like you should really watch his temper,” she stretched her arms behind her back and moaned. “We hoped to keep civilians out of this mess. But for some unknown reason, the ruptures started appearing more frequently... If got indoctrinated like how things are usually done, you would have learned all this in an anchor-town.”

“You knew this?” I asked Yusuf. 

“Hell no. My family didn’t tell me a thing.” 

“And why should they? Before this whole ordeal, you were dying. Well, you still are,” Nea mumbled. She still stared at the paved streets. 

An awkward silence spread. Just as things started to feel natural. She wasn’t wrong, though. He was dying, that became more apparent the more time I spent with him. He was far from the same person I ate breakfast with. 

Breakfast… 

Things were moving so fast. I only just found other survivors. I only just started learning what others knew as common knowledge. We walked in silence until Samara chose a house for us to rest in. No one complained. I, for one, didn’t know a thing about squatting in the Layered Empire, and the library had been a nice enough spot, so I found no need to complain. 

We settled down and took stock of our supplies. Nea scurried off alone. Yusuf slumped down in one of the rooms on the bottom floor. He just barely managed to stay awake. Samara handed him some food. It looked to be some sort of dried fruit. My mouth salivated at the thought of something sweet, but he needed it more than I did. The sugar would do him good—I hoped. 

That left only me and Samara to keep watch near the entrance. Not counting John. He wasn’t very talkative, anyway. 

She eyed me like a cat eyed a mouse before pouncing. 

“So…” she began, “what’s that inside you?”