Emmy

  As the battle drew closer Emmy’s whole body shook. Medicine-Asri crouched in a corner of the main hall, hugging himself against the vicious jaws of battle. Medicine-Yarim disappeared into her alcove, as if the flimsy curtains would protect her. Those patients that had remained and were able cowered under their cots. Those that were insensible lay still, oblivious to everything.

  Most of the cots had been cleared and lay empty, awaiting new casualties. At least Emmy hoped they would see new casualties. As macabre as that seemed, it was either that or the building would be destroyed. Then they would all be dead.

  Inside the building there was silence, broken only by the occasional sob. Outside was different. There had been nothing but drums and horns in the distance for some time. But now the first sounds of battle drew closer. Emmy’s heart stuttered.

  Her friends were out there. Charo was fighting on the front line of a war that was not her own, a freed slave enslaved again.

  The enemy edged closer and closer. Emmy gripped the handles of her daggers as the sound of cannon fire boomed ever-louder.

  She thought of Zecha, wherever he was. He had not returned to the healer’s building as Rel had said and instead was still out there following Althemerian command. Hopefully he was somewhere safe.

  Emmy’s neck scales flexed as the cacophony drew ever closer, bringing her mind from her friends to herself. Drums beat and beat. The air was discordant with the sound of the fallen. Soon they would know the silence of death.

  Emmy trembled harder as shadows danced against the walls. She thought of Rel, of her words.

  ‘If you need me, call for me. Concentrate hard and I will hear you.’

  Rel the Bonebreaker was out there somewhere, a fearsome beast wielding Haelo, felling foes all around, coating her right arm in kills. Please come back to me, Rel, Emmy thought. Too much has happened. There’s so much I need to know. And… You’re my friend. I need you to come back to me.

  The battle raged too close now. Emmy’s mouth was dry. Her heart was in her throat.

  The Masvams were upon them, the battle cacophonous in her ears. Screams and screeches grew louder. The sobbing of the healers, protected only by soldiers outside and the walls around them, became ragged with terror.

  Rel, and Rel’s friend. Bomsoi, Emmy thought, please protect me. Please protect us all!

  Emmy leapt backward and screeched as the main door splintered, raining wooden shards in all directions.

  A Masvam burst through, his breath chest heaving with rage. The first thing he laid eyes upon was Emmy. His face was a dark leer, his eyes black with the fury of battle. He dripped with blood.

  The single face struck white-hot terror into Emmy’s heart. She knew it was too late. She knew she was gone, even before the Masvam cast his first blow. There was no hope.

  'Easy prey!’ he screeched.

  His call summoned a hoard of fellow soldiers like a dark enchantment. Masvam warriors swallowed up the healer’s building,

  Before Emmy could run, a sword swung so close to her face she could taste the metal. She leapt backwards, only a frond’s breadth separating her life from death. The Masvams bellowed, further overwhelming the building like a bloody wave.

  Instinct overtook her. Clenching her daggers, a feral shriek built in Emmy’s chest. Determination roared red in her heart.

  She swung her weapons in a wide arc and her attackers were forced back. But the victory was momentary. Undeterred, two Masvams lunged forward with their terrifying scimitars. Emmy dropped a dagger and held up a hand, her eyes closed so tightly that moons danced in the darkness. Stop! she thought. Blades, stop! She envisioned the scimitars stilling, mid-strike. If only such wishes would work.

  Now, all she had left was the brief wait before death.

  But something happened.

  The strange power pulsed through her, the sensation rattling her to her bones. Like when Rel touched her, she was consumed with a stark coldness.

  The scimitars stopped dead, motionless in the air and hovering in a cocoon of blueness. The Masvams stared with dumb mouths.

  ‘M-Moon Rogue,’ one said. His voice lifted to a shriek. ‘Moon Rogue, it is!’

  That word jolted Emmy from her anger. She stared at the weapons hanging in mid-air, the absence of rage giving way to utter confusion.

  ‘What?’ she whispered, breaking her gaze to stare at her hands. She dropped her other dagger. Concentration broken, the scimitars lost their blue and fell to the ground like stones. Emmy’s mouth gaped. ‘How is this possible?’

  But there was no time to ponder.

  ‘Kill it!’

  ‘Tainted!’

  ‘Moon Rogue, kill it!’

  The screeching Masvam swept in, swinging at Emmy’s neck with a new blade. Emmy ducked away, shrieking, but wasn’t fast enough to dodge a second attack. The aim was off but the blade caught her arm, slicing her armor.

  Emmy whirled away with a shriek and as she did, her tail collided with a brazier. The hot coals tumbled from their resting place, onto a nearby empty cot.

  They embraced the rough blankets—which burst into flame.

  Within seconds, bright red tongues shot upward. A Masvam, caught by the sudden fire, tried to flee it. He stumbled sideways, knocking another cot into the flames. The fire took it quickly and soon it leapt up the walls, consuming the beams. It licked and bit and spat, belching smoke, burning what seemed impossible to burn.

  The Masvams kept fighting through the fire but more were caught in the blaze. They howled, wrapped in a blanket of flame. Others called to its power.

  ‘Moon Rogue!’ a Masvam cried. ‘Let it burn!’

  Emmy’s breath came in strangled gasps as she choked and guttered, turning and turning, looking for a way out. The once-familiar building was now a black maze of confusion. She saw nothing. There was only the heat of the blaze. In desperation, she swung wildly with her hands.

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  I refuse to die today! I refuse to die today! she chanted. Rel, Bomsoi, whoever you are, help me!

  Death came at her head-on as a Masvam in blood-lust raised his sword above her.

  ‘Moon Rogue!’

  Emmy couldn’t stop the blade. There was no cold power this time. All she could hear was the rush of blood in her ears, the clang of metal on metal, and the screeches of battle and death all around. Her nostrils filled with the stench of burning building and blood. Heat and smoke and fear choked her.

  She waited for the killing stroke.

  The Masvam jerked forward. His eyes widened, and his arms stilled before he had the chance to strike. Emmy stumbled away, flames licking all around. When her streaming eyes focused, her heart stopped. The point of a sword jutted through the Masvam’s chest. Blood bubbled from his lips and Emmy leapt aside as his body slumped forward. The blade that had come so close to ending her life clattered to the ground. Emmy looked at it and then up again.

  Who had saved her?

  Charo grinned, standing over the body with a bloodied sword. Zecha, at her side—bedecked with a bow and quiver he got from who knew where—smiled fiercely.

  ‘You’re both alive!’ Emmy breathed, coughing through the smoke.

  Her friends grabbed her uninjured arm, twirling her from the path of another sword. With a skill akin to a hero of old stories, Charo parried the strike and slew another foe, her right arm growing heavier with kills. Zecha swirled and unleashed arrows at impossibly short range, his arm reaching to his quiver so fast Emmy couldn’t even see it. His would be another heavy arm.

  ‘Stay close!’ Charo commanded.

  Her throat tight and her hands empty, Emmy did as she was told. Masvams bore down on them and even the defenses of Charo and Zecha began to crumble. There were too many attackers and soon they were backed together, a three-petaled flower of green and red and blue, surrounded by glinting blades.

  Emmy tried to block the terror of the roaring flames.

  Why is this happening? she thought. Why must life be so cruel? Why must we suffer such torment?

  The same cold power grew again like vines snaking over her skin. Focusing, she tried to harness whatever the strangeness was. She thought of Rel and her glowing eyes, of her blue coldness. She thought of Rel’s friend.

  Bomsoi, help me! Emmy pleaded. I don’t know who you are, but I’ll do whatever you need. What am I supposed to do? How can I save myself and my friends?

  Blue and jagged spirits swirled around her. Coldness consumed her, tracking her body like frost. The power was breath-taking. Rel’s influence shone forth brightly. Emmy could see her in her mind’s eye, powering towards them, cutting down Masvams as she passed.

  ‘I am coming, Emmy! I promise, you will not perish!’

  The words were so clear in her ears, it was like Rel was with her.

  Emmy lifted her hands to the moons. Unadulterated power pulsed through her. Everything shone bright and blue as the noon sky. Succumbing to it, brightness and might pulsed to Emmy’s very core.

  Dato, I am small but make me brave, she thought. Rafa, give your strength to my heart. Akata, give me speed and give me the wisdom to know what is right. By the Goddess, help me!

  Everything stopped.

  Every flame stilled, shining blue like shards of ice. Emmy counted her breaths. One, two, three… In the stillness, she could feel everything. Charo and Zecha’s hearts beat in time with one another, together like stacked moons. Their thoughts echoed, the words unclear but the tones undoubtedly theirs. They dropped their weapons, claws slack.

  ‘What—?’

  Emmy crossed her arms over her chest. A jolt of energy burst from within her, the power of the moons flowing through her. It shot up like a lightning strike. The building’s roof disintegrated, and power lifted her until she was suspended high in the air, hanging between reality and disbelief.

  Around her, Masvams and Althemerians alike screamed.

  ‘Moon Rogue! Moon Rogue! Evil!’

  She could taste their terror as they fled through shards of fire. The words echoed. Moon Rogue. Moon Rogue. Evil…

  Emmy’s eyes snapped open and she grinned.

  Perhaps I am a Moon Rogue after all.

  The Masvams fled. With their enemies’ backs turned, the Althemerians broke from their stupor and pursued their enemies with bloodied blades

  .

  Emmy’s victorious grin wavered, however, as a Masvam appeared before her, surrounded by a halo of flame. The vision flickered in and out as if he was a shadow. He was regal, bedecked with horn jewelry. His claws, covered in many rings, reached out for her. Fire cast from his fingertips. When he spoke, his mouth did not move.

  ‘Who…are…you?’

  His voice was strangled as if her power constrained him. She did not know who he was but she knew he was not of the Light.

  Emmy spoke without moving her lips. Gesturing to her frozen flames, she grinned again. A confidence she had not known before molded her words.

  ‘I am Emmy,’ she said, ‘and I will help to stop you.’

  Anger consumed the male in the vision. His halo of fire flared, though the vision began to fade.

  His words echoed as he disappeared.

  ‘The Dark will prevail!’

  'Not if I can help it,’ Emmy replied.

  Then he was gone.

  Suddenly fatigue fell heavy on Emmy’s shoulders. Her power waned. She returned to the ground, her entire body aching with the effort of what she had done. The words she had spoken came back to her, and she shook her head. Could that have been her? Simple, strange, nobody Emmy?

  Time for introspection was impossible.

  Rel appeared at her side, having fought through waves of retreating Masvams. Zecha and Charo were with her too. They didn’t run but lingered back. They were trembling, looking at her with a fear that had never been there before. Emmy’s stomach sank.

  ‘What… What is this?’ Charo whispered. ‘Emmy, what?’

  Emmy shivered. The absence of the strange power left her empty. Alone. The vision of the Masvam haunted her, as did his words.

  ‘The Dark will prevail!’

  ‘I…’ Emmy started. But she couldn’t finish.

  Rel sheathed Haelo, then planted firm hands on Emmy’s shoulders.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Emmy said. ‘I… I asked Bomsoi for help and…’ She broke off, suppressing a sob. ‘I don’t know, Rel!’

  Rel pulled her in for a brief hug, then withdrew.

  In that moment, Emmy blinked and stared at the carnage around her. Masvams still retreated, disappearing in harried waves. But not all the Althemerians pursued them. Some half-turned, their eyes fixed on Emmy, glinting in the light of the frozen flame.

  She knew that look too well. She knew what they would say before any of them moved.

  They kissed their fists and tapped them to their chests, a sign to ward off evil. A burly female with a heavy right arm raised her sword in a point, a long extension of her ire.

  ‘Moon Rogue!’

  Another female, with blood crusting at her temples, spat onto the churned earth.

  ‘Evil!’ she called. ‘May Ethay and Apago forgive you for your sin!’

  Emmy stepped forward, away from the safe bower of Rel. Indignation rose bright and hot in her throat. She knew her words were futile, but she could not hold them in.

  ‘I saved your lives!’ she said. ‘How can that be a sin?’

  Althemerians encroached, creeping like hunters encroaching on prey. The line of retreating Masvam backs thinned as the Althemerians moved forward. Emmy pointed over their heads.

  ‘I’ve driven the Masvams away,’ she continued. ‘I’m not evil!’

  Still the Althemerians slunk forward, weapons held at the ready. It would only be a matter of moments before one’s fear snapped and then they would all be upon her.

  Rel grabbed Emmy’s elbow and pulled her back. She gathered Charo and Zecha to her, cocooning the three friends in her strength.

  ‘It’s time for us to leave before they kill us all,’ she said. ‘Consider your Althemerian debts repaid. Now, come!’

  She pulled them all backward.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Zecha asked, his words half-muffled in Rel’s grip.

  At Charo’s sharp look, he said no more.

  The air was thick with the stench of smoke and blood. The sounds of the dying pierced air. They cut to Emmy’s core. Her job was to help, to heal, not to run. But the Althemerian soldiers encroached, faster now, all weapons poised to slice Emmy’s throat.

  Rel propelled Charo and Zecha forward and they fled for their lives, as fast as their legs could run. Rel grabbed Emmy’s arm and thrust her forward, wrenching her gaze from the Masvams.

  ‘We must leave,’ Rel said. ‘They’ll kill you. They’ll kill us all!’

  The truth broke Emmy’s hesitation. It didn’t matter that she had saved them. It was how she had done it. In their eyes she was a Moon Rogue. There was no redemption from that.

  Nodding, Emmy broke into a sprint and soon was close on the heels of Zecha and Charo. Rel was just behind her. Just behind Rel was an encroaching mass of righteous Althemerians.

  ‘One day things will change,’ Rel panted as she ran, ‘but not today. Now, hold onto me!’

  Rel, her Belfoni mask shedding, grabbed Emmy’s arm in a vice grip. Immediately, they were enveloped in freezing wind. They rushed forward, Rel gathering Charo and Zecha within her influence. All four lifted from the ground, carried upward on burnished silver wings of wind and cold and power.

  The burning camp below them disappeared as they rose into the air. The righteous fury of the Althemerians faded away, replaced by the solace of the sky.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Charo cried.

  But Emmy had no words to explain. She said nothing, instead imbibing the sudden joy of their flight.

  Enveloped in Rel’s wings, they made their escape.