It wasn’t the first time Kal entered Kydalim’s house, however he’d always seen at most the main entrance hall, which was now deserted. He’d have to look for the old aunt in the other rooms.
He was about to call for her, when he finally, finally realized something that made him feel very stupid.
«Kal… what is that old lady’s name?» Fyra asked, to his right, as if to echo his own thoughts: she had realized it too.
«I… I don’t know.» he replied, dejected. He had never heard his neighbor nor anyone else in the family call her by name, everyone called her “Auntie”.
«What does it matter? She wouldn’t hear us anyway.» Elef said. Kal had explained the matter to him. Now that his injured shoulder and arm had been bandaged, haphazardly as they were, the young man’s temperament was back the way Kal knew well. However, his pale complexion, the beads of sweat on his brow and the dark circles around his eyes belied the fact that, no matter the airs he put, his friend was still weakened.
«She’s mute, Elef. Not deaf.» he answered him. «We might draw her to us if we called her.»
«If she’s home, you mean.» his friend said, in a tone that implied: “Which is not as likely as you think”.
«Let’s pray she is.» Kal concluded. If she wasn’t there he’d really have no idea where to look.
«Fyra, you check the rooms to the right. I’ll check those to the left. Elef, you…»
«Hey, I’m the highest in rank here.» Elef interrupted him. «I’m giving the orders.»
«Ah, alright.» Kal answered, unperturbed because he expected that reaction. «What are your orders, then?»
Elef looked surprised, as if he were the one not expecting that response. After a brief, confused silence, he said: «W-Well, I’ll go check the rooms further back. You and Fyra do as you said.»
The three of them immediately got to work.
Kal opened the first door to his left: he entered a bedroom, small but in which someone had nevertheless managed to cram three beds. Wooden toys lied scattered and abandoned on the floor. No trace of the old lady.
He passed to the second door: another bedroom, this time with a single bed. On a small table close to it he found a book, and also a strange object: to Kal at first it looked like a small square box, of the right size to be comfortably held in one hand, but it was too slim to contain anything that came to mind. Out of curiosity, he opened the lid: inside there was nothing, only a flat surface, of a pale blue color. He noticed small strings of cloth attached to the lid. Through those strings, a metal cylinder had been inserted, pointy at one end and flat at the other. It reminded him of a pen.
Following a sudden presentment he could not explain, Kal decided to take the strange item with him.
The third and final room on the left side of the entrance hall looked like a dining room. On a modest table, set for one, Kal saw an unfinished lunch, as if the person who had been eating had been forced to leave in haste.
Set for one. Maybe it meant nothing. Or maybe…
Kal left quickly and met Fyra, who was just then leaving the third room on her side. Seeing him, she shook her head.
«Hey, don’t run! I found her! Come here!» They both heard Elef’s voice.
The two immediately ran in the direction of the voice, passing from the hall to an inner courtyard surrounded by a sloped canopy. In its center, under the open sky, there was a small garden. Kal noticed it had started raining.
They found Elef in a corner of the courtyard. In front of him there was a small, short and crooked figure: her gray hair was messy, her fearful eyes locked on the boy in front of her.
«Come on, granny. Come with us.» Elef stepped forward.
She vigorously shook her head.
«Listen, we don’t have time for this.» Elef grabbed her arm.
The old lady shook him off and slapped him on the cheek.
«Ah! Why, you…!» the boy raised his fist.
«Elef, stop!» Kal intervened. «Can’t you see she’s terrified?»
For an instant, Elef’s face showed something similar to remorse. Then the young man looked away, lowered his arm and stepped back.
Kal tried to talk to the woman: «Don’t worry. We’re here to help.»
All that did was make the old lady move her suspicious gaze to him. He understood her. After all, from her point of view they were nothing but three intruders.
«Do you recognize me? I’m Kalos. I’m your neighbor. We’ve met a few times.»
On the old lady’s face, hostility gave way to uncertainty.
Kal had an intuition, and took out the strange item he had found in the bedchamber.
«This is yours, right?»
The old lady violently took it from his hands, holding it like a precious treasure, then her gaze passed many times from the item to him. Finally, she gave him a smile, which he saw as grateful and, maybe, trusting.
With the agility of someone who had made those gestures endless times, the woman opened the object, took out the cylinder and started to pass it on the blue surface, holding it indeed like a pen.
After a few moments, she handed the object to Kal. On the surface she had written a few words, hastily and with little care for grammar, but with precision and in such a way that they’d be easy to read.
“Woke up late. Nobody home. Noise outside. Everyone, where?”
Kal had confirmation of what he had presumed: the boject was a writing tablet, the way the old lady communicated with the rest of her family.
«Everyone is at the harbor. Come with us and we’ll lead you there. Kydalim and the others are waiting for you.» he told her, giving the tablet back to her.
She opened her eyes wide and looked at the courtyard, at the garden, at the canopy, then she started writing again and a few moments later gave once more the tablet to him.
“Are we leaving?”
In those few words, Kal felt a deep sadness and worry.
«Yes, we have to leave. But we’ll come back.» he answered her, handing back the tablet.
The old lady’s shoulders slumped and she pursed her lips, but she nodded and held out her hand. Kal took it, hoping to transmit her a sense of security he himself had little of.
«Kal! KAL!» at that moment, he heard the voice of Agatha coming from the entrance hall.
Immediately afterwards, she and Mak barged into the inner courtyard.
«Kal! Ark is… he’s…!»
The raining had stopped, as quickly as it had begun.
Ark was on the ground, his back against a wall. His face was covered in bruises and blood trickled from his mouth.
«What the…?» Kal heard Elef exclaim behind him.
«Don’t get any closer.» said the man who had a mikra pointed at Ark’s head. He was clad in a black coat: this was enough to identify him as a spathar.
«I only need to pull this trigger and your friend is dead.»
He was talking to Fyra, who was already trying to rush at him.
From behind the man, other soldiers were approaching.
«You there, kid.» now his light eyes were on Kal. He had called him “kid”, but from what he could see of the man’s face under his dark hair he didn’t seem much older than him. «Something tells me you’re the leader of this leader of this little bunch. Am I wrong?»
Kal didn’ t answer.
«You look very close to each other. I’m sure you’d feel bad if something happened to your friend here. And right now I am feeling unusually merciful, so let’s make a deal: Those who cannot fight surrender to us; those who can, do what they must to suppress this rebellion; and nobody gets hurt…» he glanced to Ark «…nobody gets hurt further.»
Kal had no intention of agreeing, but he needed to buy time. So he asked: «Can I trust you?»
«Kal, don’t even think about it!» Ark cried, clearly straining himself.
«You stay quiet!» the man said to him, before going back to Kal without moving his mikra: «You have my word.»
Kal had to find a way to disarm him. He pretended to be pondering the man’s offer, or at least he hoped he was giving that impression.
«Kid, my patience is running thin. I will count to three. Yes or no.»
Kal panicked: I need more time!
«One.»
«Kal, take the others and run!» Ark said.
«Two.»
The man moved the mikra’s barrel closer to Ark’s head.
«Three.»
Kal heard a sound. Not the crack of a mikra though, it was more similar to the thump of something heavy falling down from above. That sound reached his ears before his eyes could comprehend what had happened in front of them.
Between him and the man, a figure had appeared. A huge frame, covered in a dark cloak. The first thing Kal clearly identified was that the figure brandished a large sklerygron sword.
«What…?» the spathar was unable to finish the sentence.
As quick as lightning, the figure was on him, covering him from Kal’s view. The boy heard a strike, a scream, a second strike and then a thud.
The figure moved, and beyond it Kal saw the spathar lying on the ground: he wasn’t bleeding, but he was unconscious. Looking again at the figure, Kal realized the sword was blunted, like a training weapon: it was unable to cut anything in that form.
Fyra rushed to Ark, followed by Agatha, and the two of them helped him stand up.
In the meantime, the cloaked figure moved between Kal and the soldiers, who were still startled by its sudden appearance.
It turned, and finally Kal recognized him.
A hollow-cheeked face, on which the boy had never seen a smile, framed by a thick and unkempt gray beard.
«Old Man.» he called him, with the only name he knew.
The man threw a glance at someone behind Kal, then looked once again at him and said:
«Take her to safety.»
Just that. Then he rushed toward the soldiers.
It took a while to Kal to understand that he was referring to the old lady, behind him at that moment.
He had a great number of questions, but now was not the time.
He turned to Mak and Elef and said: «We have to go.»
Once Fyra and Agatha came back with Ark, who luckily was able to walk, Kal took the old lady’s hand and set off for the harbor.
But after a few steps, Mak turned in another direction.
«Something came to mind.» he said, before disappearing behind a corner, apparently heading for the South Gate. «You go on to the harbor. If you still find a boat, fine. Otherwise wait for me there.»
Compared with an hour before, the harbor had emptied. The vast crowd of people had vanished, and so the boats. Kal wanted to believe everyone had managed to escape.
One single vessel remained.
«Artor! Over here!» someone on board that was waving their arms in their direction.
Semna Tritina’s only reaction to seeing his son’s bruises was a disappointed frown, as if she expected that. «Come on, get on board.» she said. «This rabble wanted to leave you behind, but I told them your father would know of it, so now this last spot is reserved for you. Let’s move.»
Kal looked at the boat: it seemed to be already almost overcrowded, there probably really was one single seat left.
Most of those on board were keeping their head low, yet some looked toward them. Among these, Kal noticed Helena Dorina and captain Astor. In their eyes, he saw pity and a tinge of shame.
He looked at the old lady beside him. But before he could say anything, Ark spoke.
«Good.» said the young man to his mother. Then he approached the old lady. Held out his hand and accompanied her to the boat.
«What on Earth are you doing?» his mother protested. «I told you it’s the only spot left!»
«And I heard you. I’m bequeathing it to her, I’m staying.» he replied, and without a moment of hesitation he helped the old lady sit down beside the flabbergasted woman.
«Artor! Do you have any idea how hard I’ve had to fight to convince these people to wait for you? Any idea of how many wretches I’ve had to drive away so that there’d be still a place for you?»
«No, I don’t.» Ark’s tone was cold as ice. «And frankly I do not care.»
«Artor…»
«Enough, Mother. This woman has a loving family to go back to.» Then Ark turned to Helena: «Kydalim and the others are safe, I presume.»
«Yes, the whole family has already left on one of the other boats. I made sure of that.» she answered.
As Semna sat down dejectedly, muttering something in a low voice, the Exarch’s daughter added: «What is your name, citizen?»
Ark took a while to answer, as if the question had caught him by surprise, but he finally said: «Artor Deutarid.»
«Artor Deutarid.» she repeated. «Are you sure about your decision?»
«Yes.»
«There will be no more boats after this. You will be trapped on this side of the river.»
«I know.» Ark looked at Kal and the others. «So will they. One way or another, we’ll manage.»
Helena nodded, as if there were no need to say anything more. «I will make so that the woman you entrusted me with rejoins her family. Whatever happens, know you have performed a most noble act. May fortune assist you.» then she spoke to Kal and the rest. «May fortune assist all of you.»
Ark left the boat, while Helena motioned captain Astor, who immediately said, in a steady voice: «Oars ready!»
The boat left the shore.
As he watched it get farther and farther until it became a vague shape in the distance, Kal realized that now that Kydalim’s aunt was safe he had no idea what to do.
Fyra seemed to share his uncertainty, as she asked: «What now?»
His first thought was to tell her they had to leave the city and follow the river to the south, looking for another landing with boats to board somewhere. However, how could they evade the assailants?
Then he remembered.
«Mak told us to wait for him here, And that is what we’ll do, for now.»
Elef appeared to be about to complain, but right at that moment everyone hears a weird noise, like a low buzz, similar but not identical to the one some tetracycles made.
Turning his head toward the source of the noise, Kal saw something incredible. Or rather, something that would have been incredible if he hadn’t heard about it the day before.
Mak was coming toward them flying.
The large metal disk Kal had seen in Filel’s workshop, now was floating in the air, with Mak piloting it via the handlebar-like equipment on it.
The boy gently brought his machine down to earth.
«Sorry I took this long.» was the first thing he said. «But I got a little excited. The machine works, you see? It works!»
«What… what is this?» Agatha asked, watching the strange contraption with interest.
«Oh, I’m glad you asked!» he answered, still with a large smile on his face. «I haven’t decided how to call it yet, but it it a machine of my creation that-»
«That will allow us to cross the river!» Kal said, happy for his friend but also for the fact that now they had a way out.
But then he heard voices drawing closer.
«Oh, I think they saw me.» Mak said, suddenly serious. «Come on, everyone get on board!»
Luckily, the disk was wide enough for all of them. Once he confirmed that everyone had boarded, Mak grabbed the handlebar once again and pushed a switch that Kal had not noticed the day before. Immediately, the machine rose through the air.
It felt unusual, and not entirely pleasant. Kal grabbed the handrail, looking for a bit of security, and saw that the others were doing the same.
«Ready?» asked Mak. «Let’s go!»
The boy pushed the handlebar forward and the disk tilted slightly in that direction, beginning to move as it kept rising.
Kal watched the buildings of the harbor slowly grow smaller and smaller beneath him.
«So, what do you say?» Mak asked, clearly having the time of his life.
«Aren’t we a little too high up already?» Fyra asked, in a worried tone.
«If the water touches the crystals under the disk, we’re done for!» he explained. «We’ll fall in the middle of the river! We have to rise even higher to be completely safe! Don’t worry and enjoy the view!»
Now there were soldiers gathering at the harbor. One pointed his finger at them, another took up his dolikos.
Kal was distracted by a vibration he suddenly felt under his feet.
«What’s happening?» he asked, an instant before the machine violently tilted to one side.
«Curse it!» Mak pushed the handlebar in the opposite direction, as if trying to compensate. «Something must have given way again! Move to that side, we have to keep it steady!»
At that moment, one bullet bounced loudly against the underside of the disk.
And right after it, a second one.
The disk jumped up.
Kal held to the handrail with both hands, and so did Agatha and Fyra and the other passengers.
But Mak had been using one hand to point, and the other one had been on the handlebar.
Kal saw him lose his footing, dragging the handlebar with him. The disk tilted even further.
A heartbeat later, as if Mak had realized what he had been doing, Kal saw him deliberately let go of the handlebar.
It all happened in a few moments.
Kal acted without thinking. Before Mak fell out of the flying vehicle, he grabbed his hand. At the same time, Fyra reached out to the handlebar and pulled it toward herself, without letting go of the handrail.
Somehow, the machine was once again level, although it was slowly dropping down and Mak now dangled out of it in an extremely precarious position.
As Kal pulled him up, he heard Elef say: «Curse you and this deathtrap, Mak!»
Despite the situation, surprisingly Mak laughed.
«You called me “Mak”! How long was it since-»
The sentence stopped there.
A bullet hit him in the back.
And the hand Kal was holding lost any grip.
The boy saw him fall, without a sound, his face frozen in apparent astonishment.
Mak fell in the water, disappearing from view.
One breath later, the disk was shaken by a vibration stronger than all that preceded it, and started spinning.
Kal lost any sense of direction. He was vaguely aware of Agatha preventing him from falling, but the rest of the world had become a swirl of screams over the merciless blowing of the wind.
Eventually there was a strong impact and his face was splashed with water, as the machine gradually slowed down. Kal came back to his senses, realizing the vehicle had crashed in the river.
Without the crystals’ push, the disk soon stopped. For the moment it was floating, but Kal had the feeling that wouldn’t last long.
He looked around. Agatha was still holding him, with a worried look on her face. Fyra seemed to be catching her breath, all color gone from her face. Elef was holding his injured arm, groaning. Ark was looking at something in the distance, to the north. Kal folloed his gaze and saw Elis harbor, farther than he expected. He judged they were about half a mile down the river. Then he saw the eastern bank, covered in trees. It was close, but not close enough to say getting there would be easy.
They were trapped, adrift among the river currents.
And slowly but surely, they were sinking.
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