Burnt Read online

  He would never reach his parents. He was on the wrong side of the wall, tossed back just a few feet from the home he was born in. There wasn’t anything left of it now. He did nothing but stare. For a minute. For ten. Maybe for an hour. Time was meaningless.

  At some point, he noticed the curve in the blaze. The burning wall was no straight line, dividing the village in two. It was a loop. He wasn’t high enough to see but he was sick with certainty. Not just his parents. Amorette’s family home deep in the center of the village would be ensnared by this fire. And Sojun.

  Gods! Sojun! How could he leave Sojun behind? Sleeping alone, in a part of the village that was almost entirely vacant, waiting for children to enter adulthood and move in. Did the screams that alerted him even wake his friend? Was his heart’s brother burnt to ash underneath the rubble of his home? He needed to follow the curve of the wall back to the southern end, find how far it went. Maybe Sojun was ok. Maybe he needed help.

  His home, his parents, his friends. They were taking everything, and he was helpless. He couldn’t even stop one man from taking Navin.

  Navin. Pleading with him.

  The man’s words struck him suddenly. He cursed the soldiers, the gods, himself. He needed to go help Sojun. Except…

  “Save the Lemme.”

  That’s what Navin was telling him. That’s what was more important than the man’s own life, more important than any other life in the entire village. She was the tribe. Without her the Zetowan were dead. With her, they lived. He was on the north side of the wall along with a handful of huts, all marked by blood smears and wreckage suggesting the soldiers came and went already. If he didn’t save her there was every chance no one else would.

  Climbing down from the tree was significantly easier than getting up. Also a lot more painful. But Kaie was long past caring about scraped knees or broken fingers. It was all because of him, because he drew Kosa’s eye to their village. He couldn’t stop it, couldn’t even see a way to slow it. But he would not let his people die. Not like this.

  “I’m sorry Jun,” he whispered to the wall. Then he turned back to where it all started. The Lemme’s hut.

  Seven

  The Lemme’s door cracked open. Inside was only darkness. His heart, hammering pell-mell since the he first caught sight of the soldiers, stopped beating entirely. Whatever was happening to the rest of the family might be his fault, but if anything happened to the Lemme certainly was. He was with her and he left her. “Please, gods…”

  “Here!” The call came from somewhere behind the hut and it made him jump in surprise. Kaie shot a quick glance around looking for soldiers responding to her outburst, but they seemed to be gone. Satisfied they were relatively safe for the moment, he slipped around the back. The Lemme was crouched there, only partially concealed in a smaller elderberry bush like an elephant hiding behind an elm tree. She was breathing hard but there didn’t seem to be a scratch on her.

  Breathing a small sigh of relief at finding her unharmed, he knelt close enough that they could speak quietly. They got lucky with her shout going unheard but he knew they weren’t alone. He was still terrified his voice would carry over the roar of the fire and bring the locusts down on the two of them. “We need to get you out of here!”

  She shook her head, her eyes wide and darting, looking more like a cornered animal’s than the spiritual leader of the tribe. She murmured something too quietly for him to hear. There was no time to sort out her objections. No matter what she might see for the plan forming in his mind, they couldn’t stay there. The bush barely concealed her, and there was nowhere else to hide. Worse, they were in a spot where the earth dipped just enough to drastically limit his sight of the surroundings. Anyone could sneak up with very little effort.

  Kaie reached into the bush and, gripping her unburned left arm tight, yanked her out. She fought him for a minute, as he pulled her southwest, toward the woods that circled their village, but it was feeble and ended quickly. It didn’t slow them much.

  Kaie dragged her through the long shadows, his every muscle tensed for discovery. When they reached the first trees he let her rest behind it just long enough to catch her breath. The forest was dangerous; it offered far better cover for the fit, trained men who might be hunting them. And there was no end of root, vine or branch waiting to entangle their feet. It was not such a hazard when walking, but at run that could lead to a broken ankle. That was not something they could afford. So he let their pace slow far more than he liked.

  Once they were deep inside Kaie turned more south. By that time the fire itself was hidden, though the light of it still filtered through the trees. There was a lot less smoke and after another few rounds of hacking, much of the bile worked its way out of them. That made it easier to breathe. He hoped the distance meant they were out of sight. Encouraged by that and that they weren’t revealing themselves with the coughing fits that plagued the earlier part of their flight, Kaie let the pace slow more. The Lemme didn’t say anything, but he got the sense she was grateful.

  Ten or fifteen minutes into their escape they pushed into a small clearing. The hunters used it frequently to pool supplies and agree on territories before heading out deeper in the woods. It was surreal, standing in a part of his home completely untouched by the devastation not half a mile away. He could almost believe it was all a nightmare standing there, if it weren’t for the flickering orange light still flickering between the trees.

  He stopped next to a large, flat rock. He had a hard time not thinking about all the time he and Amorette wasted there while they waited for the others to sort out who they would follow that day. Those thoughts were dangerous. He couldn’t keep moving if he let them in.

  The Lemme dropped down onto the rock with a wheeze. Kaie took the opportunity to lean against a tree. Among the list of things he was trying his best not to think about was his increasingly insistent dizziness. Whatever was wrong, there was no time for it. He could be a mess later. Just the same, it was good to have a minute or two while he worked to make the world stop spinning.

  At first, he thought the sound of cracking branches was just his imagination. Then he was certain it was just the noise of the inferno. But the noise kept getting closer.

  Kaie didn’t waste a second. He was in no shape to battle an armed, armored man. But they couldn’t expect to run. The woods would slow them nearly as much as the Lemme’s health. Neither of which would pose nearly the same obstacle to a man with a sword. Two options that weren’t options and one that was almost as bad. But it was the only one available.

  He yanked the Lemme to her feet, ignoring her grimace of pain. “You have to keep going south,” he hissed. “Fast as you can. I’ll win you as much time as I can.”

  She stared up at him, her yellow eyes showing no hint of understanding.

  He wanted to shake her, get the agreement out. If he was going to give up his life for hers, he would be damned if she threw it away staring instead of running. But there wasn’t even time for that. Either she understood, and he might save her, or she didn’t and they would both die. He shoved her away, hoping the momentum would get her moving in the right direction. His heart dropped. She went exactly as far as the tree line and then sat. Peering back at him. Waiting.

  There was no time to shout at her, no time to regret his decision. Kaie got exactly enough time to reach down to pick up a rock – the only weapon available – before the weight hit him.

  All his plans, everything he was hoping to accomplish, were gone in an instant. The attacker hit him hard and the two toppled backwards. Kaie was down without one second of fight, the rock slipping out of his fingers and gone. He lost before the battle even started. He closed his eyes, waiting death.

  “Rosy?” His eyes fluttered open again.

  Sojun’s face was dark with soot and streaked with blood. It was the most amazing sight of his life. They laughed and embraced and for a few moments nothing else mattered.

  Sojun got up and offered him
a hand. It was necessary. Kaie’s legs didn’t want to work. The bones turned to gel and he almost collapsed. Jun caught him before he could topple face-first.

  “You’re hurt.”

  Kaie gestured to the dried blood. “You too.”

  Sojun shrugged and gave him half a smile. “I was dressing to match.”

  In spite of everything, or maybe because of it, Kaie snorted. Then his gaze drifted over to the rock again. For a second he dared to hope. “Amorette?”

  His friend’s face clouded with a pain so sharp it shattered something deep in Kaie’s heart. It was more than answer enough. “I tried. Gods forgive me, I tried. But the fire and the soldiers…There was no way through.”

  “Kosa take me.” He slumped back against the tree again, everything that kept him moving drying up in an instant. His parents, his home, Amorette. They were still so close to the soldiers. He wanted to go to them, to throw his rock or his fists. Anything. He would be cut down in a minute, he knew that full well, but it wouldn’t matter. Just so long as he got one good hit in, one small retribution for everything the men were taking.

  Except if he went Sojun would follow. He knew his heart’s brother wouldn’t let him go charging off to death by himself. Kaie wouldn’t either, if the situation were reversed. They couldn’t leave the Lemme alone out here. She would be found soon enough. And when that happened the family would truly be lost. “Jun, we have to get her somewhere safe,” he said.

  “Where?” Sojun asked. “They’ve got nearly the whole village surrounded by that crazy fire. And there are soldiers everywhere…There’s nowhere to hide. Not even if it were just the two of us.”

  He suspected that already, when he saw the curve to the fire, but hearing it was different. But he couldn’t think about it now. Couldn’t imagine Amorette’s face as she and her family fled only to come up against the wall of fire. Lemme first. Then he could fall apart.

  “The burial vault, on the other side of our hill.”

  Sojun’s eyes went impossibly wide, the brown there looking golden in the fire’s light. “Kaie, we can’t disturb the dead!”

  He grinned instead of the grimace he felt. He shared Jun’s sentiment. They chose their hill because it was far from the village, but still inside the clearing. And because it made them feel daring, sitting so close to the spirits of their ancestors. But even in their boldest moments they never considered opening those great stone doors. “Our hill keeps it out of sight until you’re right on top of it. There’s a good chance we won’t be found there. And if we are, maybe the soldiers won’t want to disturb the dead either.”

  “There’s a reason! What if a spirit didn’t find its way to the Abyss?”

  “Jun, what else is there?”

  Precious seconds, ones they couldn’t spare, ticked by. Kaie realized Sojun was never going to agree to his plan. But he would follow. Into the fire or into the vault, Jun would follow. So he turned back to the Lemme and where she was waiting for him by the tree line.

  “Am I right?” Kaie murmured as he helped her back to her feet. “Will we be safe there?”

  Her voice was little more than a whisper. “For a time.”

  It was assurance enough. Better than anything waiting for them in the woods. So he took her hand in his and started pushing south again.

  There wasn’t far to go, but it took too long. Everything in him was screaming to run but Kaie held back. He was unsteady and the Lemme was tired. And they would all need their energy. Sojun followed.

  Eventually he turned them east again. There was no way to be sure of their position. Even with the smaller clearing for a guide, Kaie’s internal map was sketchy. When they finally reached the big clearing again, they were further north than he hoped. Outside the village, thank the gods, but still a good ways from their hill. There was no cover. The mostly empty huts, or what was left of them, seemed to be free of soldiers. But he wasn’t ready to deem it safe.

  He tightened his hold on the Lemme’s arm, gritted his teeth, and charged into the clearing. For a few moments he ran as fast as he could. The world blurred around him, all streaks of orange and black, the hot air slapped at him, and he saw nothing. It didn’t last long. It couldn’t.

  More and more, the weight on his arm slowed his mad dash for safety. The Lemme was old. She was sick. She never left her hut. She couldn’t keep up with a small sixteen year old boy. Not even a dizzy one. Her breathing was thick and labored. He slowed, but it wasn’t enough. She stopped moving, dropping her hands onto her knees and gasping for air.

  Sojun was at his side in an instant. Kaie met his friend’s eyes. Jun wasn’t as fast as him, not even when he was dizzy. But the other boy was so damn strong. He wanted desperately to be the one to save the Lemme, because all of this might be his fault for being what he was. But now wasn’t the time for redemption or pride. “You have to carry her!” Kaie said.

  Jun looked surprised. “I won’t be able to fight. If they come for us…”

  Kaie shook his head. “If they do, we’re dead. You can’t fight steel with flesh. One of us has to carry her and we both know I’m not strong enough!”

  Sojun gave him a strange look, one he didn’t recognize. But, whatever else it might signify, it meant an end to their briefly shouted argument. Jun scooped up the Lemme in one smooth movement, making her look no heavier than Amorette.

  They were moving again, albeit slower than before. He longed to stretch his legs again, to taste the freedom of those minutes, but Kaie would not leave his heart’s brother behind. Not again.

  They reached the path fast enough. It was the same one he walked with his friends earlier that day, but Kaie wouldn’t recognize it if he weren’t searching the ground for any sign. His whole world cracked right down the center and one side slid out of place. Nothing was familiar anymore. Momentary relief washed through him when he spotted it. He pointed for Sojun and then they headed up.

  As they passed over the spot where they were laying hours ago, he heard voices that would mean an end to their escape.

  “… thought he said there wasn’t anything out this far.”

  “Maybe not. But it doesn’t hurt to look, does it?”

  “It will hurt, if the Cat thinks we’re wasting time.”

  He and Sojun exchanged a glance, neither one of them looking around to find the men talking. With a burst of pure adrenaline, both boys surged forward over the hill.

  His foot slipped, just as those stone doors came into view. Kaie’s mouth flew open in a silent shout as he tumbled. His body curled into something resembling a ball and he rolled. Dirt and grass hit his tongue and rocks hit his body. Once again, the world was a blur, but this time there was no comfort in it. He wasn’t in control and that made all the difference.

  Kaie hit hard. For a moment, a precious, expensive moment, he could do nothing but gasp for a breath that wouldn’t come and stare at glittering lights dancing behind his eyes. He felt a hand wrap itself around his wrist, and then he was sliding. He nearly cried out as the movement scraped his back and bounced his battered head against the earth.

  He gathered up his senses just in time to watch Sojun, the Lemme now slung over his shoulders, drag him into the vault. Jun set her down on the ground beside him and then, clearly straining from the effort, slammed the doors closed. A second later he was on the ground as well.

  They were safe.

  For a time.

  Eight

  His whole body was shaking. He wasn’t cold but every bit of him was shaking like it was. Didn’t matter. Time for that later. Time to be sick later. Take care of the Lemme first.

  Taking more effort than it should, Kaie crawled the short distance between them. The Lemme’s eyes were closed, her face drenched in sweat and her breathing was raspy. Fearing that she wouldn’t respond at all, he gently shook her shoulders. “Are you alright?”

  Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she took in her surroundings with a sluggishness that worried him. He pressed a hand to her cheek and
wasn’t surprised to find she was running a fever. Kaie looked around them for some source of water to give her but there was nothing.

  They were in the small entrance space before the vault proper began. It was his first time on this side of the doors but he saw this much of it years ago, when his mother’s father was laid to rest. He watched from their hill, unnoticed by the adults. It was one of the only times he did anything like that without Sojun, but it seemed terribly important to be on his own that day. Now he regretted it. With his friend there was always the push to go further than he would by himself. The hill would be unsatisfactory, and now he might possess some knowledge of what lay down the two tunnels branching off left and right.

  The light on the wall was made by Toman, Jun’s father. He was the light giver for the village. It was his job to craft the lanterns used on the rare occasion someone was lost in the woods at night or a harvest ran late and to set up the torches in the center of the village for ceremonies. And to keep the path out of the vault lit for confused spirits clinging too long to their bodies, so that they might find their way out and to the Abyss. Sojun told him once, before his friend’s mother left the family, that this light was special. One of Toman’s own inventions, inspired by one his mother brought home from a visit to a city for a negotiation with the Empire, designed to burn for weeks untended. Kaie prayed that this one was newly lit and soundly crafted. He didn’t mean to be down here weeks, but the thought of even an hour in the darkness set a crazed panic to work clawing to escape his mind and the vault both.

  “We need to find water for the Lemme,” he told Sojun, who was watching him with the intensity of someone fighting to stay awake. “And some way to bar the door. Just in case those soldiers come looking down here.”