Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2) (6 page)

“You’ll understand one day,” I told
her. “Trust me. There is so much to learn, so many fun things. Boys
on the outside… they dress different. Their hair is short.”

Sophie gasped. “Do the girls have
short hair?”

“Some.”

Another gasp. “I want to keep my long
hair.”

I ran my fingers down her golden
locks. “You will.”

“Are we safe, Vala?”

“Of course.”

“Are bad things coming?”

“No. I will always make sure you are
safe.”

“Promise?”

I leaned forward and kissed her on
the forehead. “I promise.”

“Why would Nito say you will make us
hurt?”

“Nito is a fool…”

Mother must have been listening,
because she gasped from where she stood in the doorway. “Vala!
Enough. Let her sleep.”

That was the extent of the
conversation. As if she were mad at me, she walked away.

What grudge would my mother hold
against me?

I told a story to Sophie, one about a
little furry man named ALF. After a hundred questions, she yawned
and went to sleep. I tucked her in and kissed her.

After watching her a little while, I
walked to the living area.

My mother again was pacing and
looking out the window. She had done that all throughout the
evening meal. She was nervous about the neighbors and she still
really hadn’t spoken to me yet. She hadn’t welcomed me back,
embraced me, or asked me anything.

“What are you doing?” I asked
her.

“They’re watching the house,” she
said.

“Let them watch. It isn’t like they
are going to bring torches and burn the house to the ground.”

“You don’t know that.”

I laughed in sarcasm. “They are sheep
to Nito. She doesn’t want me dead, she just wants me at any cost.
Of course, this is something you already know.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I shook my head and moved to sit on a
chair.

“Vala, answer me.”

“People will do anything to make sure
she gets me. Including my own mother.”

“I beg your pardon. How dare you talk
to me like that. As if I would sell you—”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“No.”

“How about giving her your blood in
good faith? Or taking bribes?”

My mother gasped. “Where did you hear
such things? Iry? Did Iry say this to you? He makes up tales.”

I bolted from the chair and ran to my
mother, taking hold of her arm, unfolding it to expose the blood
withdraw wounds. “Do his ‘tales’ cause this?”

“V-Val, I-I did this to keep you
safe,” my mother said, trembling. “I did this to keep her away from
you.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. Or else she would have hunted
you down.”

“Guess what? She did.”

My mother stepped back. “You are
speaking differently. Where were you?’

Again, I laughed. “Finally you ask?
You didn’t welcome me home, didn’t ask how I was. I’m going to bed.
Since I will be chosen tomorrow.”

I wasn’t tired, however, I
could tell my mother wasn’t being honest. I witnessed her betrayal
of me, and yet, I couldn’t tell her. It hurt. She was my
mother
and I loved
her, despite what she had done. I prayed there was an ounce of
truth in what she said, that she really did give her blood as a
distorted means to protect me.

“Where were you?”

I stopped. “With Davis.”

She blinked. “Davis?”

“You know, the man you left behind in
Angeles City? The man whose child you gave to the Sybaris?”

“It was our passage for a better
life. How dare you?’

“
No, how dare
you
? You took his
child.”

“I wanted you to grow up. To be a
woman. To be safe. To not go hungry or be afraid.”

“So you sacrificed your own son?”

“I did so for you. For us. Davis
could not provide what we have here.”

“
You’re right. He would have
done much better for us. I was there. They aren’t vagrants or
runners, they live their lives. Much like we do, only
they’re
free and
happy. It’s where I want to be and it’s where Sophie should
be.”

“Do you really mean that?” my mother
asked. “Is it better there?”

“Yes. It is.”

“Then we’ll go,” she said with a nod.
“We’ll leave before the ceremony, we will go at first light. All of
us, to Angeles City.”

“I can’t.”

“You said you want to live
there.”

“I do. I want to live there without
the threat of Nito, the other Ancients, the Savages or the Day
Stalkers. That will only happen if they are all defeated by the
rebellion. And they will be, with my help.”

“You give yourself too much credit,
Vala. How do you plan on helping?”

“By being chosen.”

I suspect she didn’t understand, and
the expression on her face showed that. I started to go to my room,
but I paused, turned, and walked to her. I gently placed my lips to
her cheek and said my goodnight. No matter what, she was still my
mother.

She claimed she wanted what was best
for all of us. I did, too. I guess in more ways than I wanted to
admit, she and I were truly alike. Both of us selling out and
sacrificing for the sake of those we love. Only, hopefully, I would
do so without any further hurt to the ones I cared about.

The smoke from the bodies of the burning Day Stalkers was thick,
black, and it stunk. I kept thinking that we were sending out a
smoke signal, but the only ones to follow would be other Day
Stalkers. The Savages were well aware of where to go.

It was just about evening, and we
were finishing the cleanup. Thankfully, we didn’t suffer any
casualties in the Day Stalker attack, however, the men and soldiers
were worn down.

That was after battling only
sixty.

The people that remained in Lyons
Estates wouldn’t leave for a safer location. Contrary to what Davis
wanted, they insisted that if the guards on duty sounded off the
alert, then they were safe in their safe rooms or basements.

After Davis was informed that the
people of Lyons Estates and other neighboring communities were
opting to remain, he flipped.

“You need to go back there and try
harder!” he roared.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Tell them this is what they have to
do. Get on the transport and get into town.”

“So we’re just put everyone in one
place?”

“It’s the best way to keep them all
safe.”

“It’s the best way to get them all
killed.”

“That’s insane. And that is immature
reasoning at best,” Davis scolded. “Lyons Estates is your security
detail. You wanna take that risk?”

“I will. Because anything less with
these people is taking away their freedom.”

Davis shook his head. “We need to
enforce this.”

“So you’re saying don’t give them a
choice. What’s next, Davis. Hiding in the subway? Living down there
in garages?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“That’s no way to live.”

“What else is there? What do you want
us to do? We are outnumbered by the Sybaris, the Savages, and the
Day Stalkers.”

“Fight.”

“I am.”

“No, you aren’t,” I argued. “You’re
defending. Fight for our freedom. Let me tell you something, Davis.
Let me tell you what we, the young people, see. We see the older
soldiers giving up. Becoming complacent in just surviving under
their wrath.”

“Oh, that’s bull and you know it,”
Davis scoffed.

“
Do I? I remember being a young
boy and watching you plan. That plan has changed. You had a plan
here recently to let the Stalkers and Savages battle the Sybaris
and we pick up the pieces. Well now they’re battling
us
and if we let
them go on, there won’t
be
enough of us to attack and destroy the
Sybaris.”

“I’m out of options. I have a plan in
motion with Vala. What else can I do?”

I smiled. “Have you ever thought of
going after them?”

“What?”

“They’re coming from somewhere. I’m
not talking about some queen bee bringing in a truckload of Day
Stalkers. I’m talking about the Savages. Where do they go during
the day? We find the nest, and take them out.”

“I can remember thinking about doing
that years ago,”

“Why didn’t you?”

“No one wanted to do it. They felt if
we took out one nest, another would emerge.”

“We have explosives, Davis. We need
to find them. They are close enough to fly here, so they sleep
somewhere nearby, at least within a hundred or so miles. Will you
at least think about it, work on it while we wait on Vala? We can’t
live underground.”

“I’ll think about. I will,” Davis
assured me. “Right now, we have to get ready for our nightly ritual
of Savage attack and possibly more Day Stalkers. You said you saw
hundreds on the road heading this way.”

“Yeah, and at their pace, they’ll be
here by tomorrow night.”

“Then tomorrow night, like it or not,
our citizens retreat.”

“Why do we have to do that? It’s time
to take an offensive position, Davis. We don’t want to live like
this. I know where the Day Stalkers are,” I said. “Let’s take them
out, the whole lot of them, before they even become a threat.”

Something was wrong with Davis. He
looked distant and drawn, worn down, and possibly ill. I had taken
that quiet moment and used my abilities to transport to him. He was
at his desk, slumped to the side, his left leg kicked out, and at
first I thought he was sleeping. I called his name.

He didn’t reply.

When I walked around to the front of
his desk, that was when I noticed how badly he looked. It was dark,
and the shadows made it look as if his face was bruised.

“Davis.”

He wasn’t sleeping. He couldn’t hear
me. After a moment, my presence took him by surprise and he jolted.
His lips moved but there was no sound. Why was that? Why couldn’t I
hear him nor he hear me?

Surely, Davis had to wonder. Was I
real or had I passed on and my apparition was present.

I lifted my hands, then indicated
that I couldn’t hear him.

He nodded and turned.

Tanner walked in the room. He froze
instantly, seeing me immediately, then rushed my way.

“Vala… you’re …” he paused. “You’re
not dead, right?” He, too, looked bad.

“No. I came to say I made it safely.”
It was then I noticed Davis saying something to Tanner.

“Yeah, I hear her,” Tanner said. He
turned to me. “He can’t make out what you’re saying. You made it?
You’re okay?”

“Yes. The ceremony is tomorrow. Nito
is relentless. She is going to stop at nothing to get me.”

“I thought… I had hoped we killed
her.”

I shook my head.

Tanner turned to Davis. “She was
saying she made it. She’s okay, but the queen bee is really being
tough.”

“Is something going on, Tanner?” I
asked. “Both of you look tired and worn.”

“We…” He hurriedly looked at Davis.
“No, we’re fine. We’re just recovering from the Lyons Estate
attack. That’s all.”

I heard a thump, and when neither
Davis or Tanner reacted, I knew it was coming from my home. It was
a loud hit, one that was breaking my projection concentration. “I
have to go.”

“Vala, be careful.” Tanner said.
“There’s—”

I shot back fast and furious, and
that was never good for my physical being. I sat up in bed gasping,
unable to breathe, to move, locked into some sort of temporary
paralyzed state.

I heard a gurgling, panicked scream.
Was it my mother?

I couldn’t move to do anything, the
seconds seemed like eternity, and the banging grew louder. It came
from above, from the roof, and when I heard the familiar, squealing
squaw, I know what caused the racket. Something that never that
never entered Akana.

A Savage Sybaris attack.

The people of Akana were clueless and
sitting ducks in the wake of the attack.

Finally, I could breathe, and I swung
my legs from the bed. As I did, my mother flew into the
bedroom.

“Something is attacking. We have to
get Sophie and get out.”

“You know what it is,” I said. “It’s
Savage Sybaris.” I rushed by her and to Sophie’s bed. She wasn’t
there. “Where is she?”

Buried in the squealing and cries
outside I heard my sister’s whimpers and, my heart racing, I
followed the sound. I found her huddled in a corner of the living
room. I swept her in my arms and carried her to the back
bedroom.

“What are you doing?” my mother
asked. “The barn is the safest structure.”

I lifted my head to the ceiling, I
could hear them ripping at our home. “Yes, it is. Still, we’ll
never make it through them and you know it.” I carried Sophie to
the corner closet of the bedroom, and placed her as far back as I
could. “Don’t move. Don’t run. Don’t make a sound until I come for
you.” I concealed her with clothing and closed the door.

“You can’t keep her in there,” my
mother said.

“Get under a bed. Hide.” I moved by
her.

“Where are you going?” she
shouted.

“Ending this.”

I needed something for my
concentrated energy to focus on, to direct my abilities through,
and I grabbed the broom by the fireplace. It would do.

Bracing myself for attack, I opened
the front door.

It screamed at me, swooping my way,
and with a simple swing of the broom, I flung it back ten feet.

When it attempted to stand, I
concentrated, swung out, and sliced it in two.

People were racing about, and Savage
Sybaris swept down, attacking them. It was a scene I had witnessed
before, the Savages flying in, grabbing hold of anyone small, and
taking them off somewhere to feed off of them. The ones they killed
too fast or killed right there dropped to the ground and instantly
rose as Day Stalkers.