The Regenerates (14 page)

Coralie didn’t break free. She turned to him, a betrayal on her face that only worsened the grief that was already there. Burying her face in her hands, she slid down to the ground and began to cry again. This time, Ven knew they weren’t tears of joy.

Kayn was expressionless.

“She’s coming with us, Kayn,” said Ven. “No matter what.”

T
hey left Renneth the next morning. The Ambassador had clearly sent someone to look for them. Late that night, Ven saw the Ambassador’s men stop and ask people for their whereabouts. If his window hadn’t been open, Ven wouldn’t have heard them, and they’d be in trouble.

Kayn had gotten directions to Lamparth from one of the women at the bar. With a clear route now laid out for them, they had no reason to linger.

So far, Kayn had refrained from saying anything to them. Perhaps he realized something horrible had happened, or that this time, no amount of threatening or intimidation was going to prevent Ven from ensuring that Coralie join them.

Weighed down by grief over Rex’s death, yet filled with joy at being reunited with Coralie, Ven felt unusually rejuvenated. Whenever Kayn appeared as though he wanted to interrogate Coralie, Ven shot him down without any trace of hesitation. Kayn seemed perplexed at Ven’s sudden change in behavior, and kept shooting him strange looks.

To Ven’s surprise and relief, Kayn eventually began to keep his distance from them. Ven didn’t know how long it would be before Kayn started giving him a hard time about Coralie. All he could do for now was avoid talking to Kayn as much as possible.

As they trudged along the rugged coastline leading away from Renneth, Ven slowly recounted to Coralie every event that had taken place since Abolition Day, from Markis betraying him by stabbing him with the Magistrate’s Dagger, to the Elders Council sending him and Kayn to Roth’s tomb to purify the dagger so they would be allowed to return home.

Coralie explained her story, too. She told him that they had headed in the direction of the camp Markis had told them about. In the middle of the night, a group of bandits ambushed them and managed to kill some of the other Sentenced, including Coralie’s father. After being separated from her mother, she had run away and ended up in Renneth, where she met Meek and the other children. Figuring that she would need money, she had started a job as a gardener for Flora, disguising herself as a boy in case the bandits came looking for her.

Ven didn’t know how much more grief he would be able to bear. He understood now how much pain it must be causing her, being within feet of the person who had enforced her and her parents’ sentencing. Now her father was dead.

The hot summer air had turned crisp, and the nights had become chilly. The backdrop of greens hills against Renneth’s coastline had turned dry, and the black beach was now lined with sharp sandstone cliffs that cast a towering shadow on the sea. The water had eroded away the rock faces, leaving them smooth. The cliffs were a mixture of colors, pink, beige and brown, and were enormous and majestic.

Despite all that had happened, the journey had become easier with Coralie around. For the first time, Ven had no reason to keep his guard up. He now had a support system.

When night fell, Ven and Coralie reminisced about home in a small cave by the water. The moonlight reflected on the black sea, casting light into their quiet resting spot. The sound of the waves and the scent of sea salt was calming.

While Ven enjoyed Coralie’s company, Kayn had become moodier than ever. His temperament had cooled down since that episode at the bar, but Ven couldn’t shake the feeling that Kayn was a bomb that could blow at any time. He had been dismissed from his title because Ven had stolen the dagger to save Coralie, and now Coralie had joined them. They made the world’s strangest traveling trio.

Coralie expertly managed to convince a trade farmer on his way to Lamparth to let them hitch a ride on his pitifully small airship. They weren’t about to complain. Slow as it was, it was better than walking.

They reached Lamparth the next day. It wasn’t what they had expected. Lamparth was a large mining town whose unnaturally tall, metal buildings hunched forwards, forming a canopy that must have made the town rather dark, even in broad daylight. In between the rows of buildings lay murky canals, the water an inky black. Miners pushed carts along the damp, cobbled roads and a strong smell of tobacco and brick dust filled the air.

The journey from Renneth had been long and tiresome, and they once again found themselves in need of somewhere to stay. When they found an inn and Ven opened his wallet to pay, it tinkled pitifully. Kayn’s did the same. Coralie had left behind the little money she had earned in Flora’s mansion.

“Get lost, this isn’t a homeless shelter,” said the concierge, brushing them away. Ven glared at him as they left the inn and stood in the middle of the street.

“This is a mining town,” said Coralie, “and a big one. There has to be an abandoned warehouse or something that we could use as shelter.”

It took them a while to find somewhere where all three of them could fit. Finally, they stumbled across a massive, abandoned storage facility on the edge of a large canal. It was very cold inside. Large metal beams towered across the endless ceiling and cobwebs covered the hundreds of storage boxes. Exhausted, Ven and Coralie scanned the area for a soft spot and lay down to rest. As he closed his eyes, ready to take a nap, Ven found himself looking for Kayn, who was huddled in a corner, already asleep. For a moment, he pitied him. Without Coralie around, Kayn was in a position of power. She didn’t need to be physically strong; it was the fact that Ven now had a companion and Kayn didn’t. What he couldn’t understand was why Kayn hadn’t said a word about it.

When Ven and Coralie awoke, a little more refreshed, they went out to town to look for food. Ven and Kayn combined what little money they had left, but all they managed to buy was a small bag of sweet potatoes which they divided amongst themselves.

They now had only one thing left to do: find a route to Hygon Pass from here. The Ebony Region and the Kantor Region weren’t far from each other, so Ven hoped the task wouldn’t be that hard. However, shortly into the day, he felt he had spoken too soon.

Lamparth had a different atmosphere than Renneth. In Renneth, the people had been relatively friendly, but here no one seemed willing to help them. Either they claimed to have no information, or the disheveled demeanor of the trio caused them to be rudely sent away or completely ignored. Unwilling to give up, they walked up to two men who were seated on a doorstep reading a newspaper. One of the men had a cigar in his hand.

“Excuse me,” said Kayn. The men looked up lazily. “We need directions to Hygon Pass.” He took out their map and handed it to the men. “Do you know which route would be the fastest?”

The men looked at each other, laughed, and went back to their paper. Kayn bent down and seized one of them by the scruff of his neck. His cigar fell to the ground.

“I’m asking you a very simple question. All you have to do is answer yes or no, understand?”

The man’s friend stood up and shoved Kayn hard to the ground. Kayn jumped to his feet and punched the man in the face.

Moments later, a small crowd of tough-looking miners had assembled around Kayn and the two men.

“This isn’t good,” Coralie whispered to Ven.

“We need to get him out of there,” said Ven. “I don’t care if he says he can take them, this is ridiculous. Getting into a street fight isn’t going to get us what we need.”

Ven pushed his way past the miners to Kayn, who was squaring off with the two men. “Let’s go. This is stupid. You left me alone to do the investigating last time. We won’t get anywhere if you pick fights for no reason.”

“You aren’t alone now, are you?” Kayn said. “Go on. I’ll catch up with you.”

“Fine, get beaten up. You deserve it.”

As Ven turned to leave, a powerful blow struck him on the side of his head. He spun around to see Kayn with his fist drawn back, ready to hit him again. Furious and without considering their difference in strength, Ven lunged and tackled Kayn to the ground, hitting every part of him he could reach. Anger coursing through him like a heat wave, Ven drew back his fist and connected it with the side of Kayn’s head. Next time, he’d have to hit where it would hurt a lot more. Everything was a blur, and the cheers around him were hazy and distant.

“Hit me again,” Ven seethed. “I dare you.” He slammed Kayn’s head to the ground, feeling pleasure fill him as Kayn cried out in pain.

The miners began to cheer at the scuffle. Kayn clenched his jaw and grabbed Ven’s collar, striking out before Ven could pull away. Ven’s vision blurred as Kayn’s blow hit him square in the eye.

Coralie seized Kayn’s outstretched arm, twisted it back and pulled. Kayn yelped and Ven took the chance to throw Kayn off of him and scrambled to his feet, panting.

“Are you both idiots?” said Coralie. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She turned to the crowd with a dangerous glower. “Beat it.”

They muttered to themselves but dispersed. Then she turned back to Ven. “What was that about not getting into stupid street fights?”

Sporting a brilliantly black eye, Ven frowned at her.

“And you,” she said to Kayn. “What’s your problem? Do you want to go home or not? Get it together.”

Kayn scoffed.

“Let’s just go back to the warehouse and cool off,” said Coralie. “We’ll start again late afternoon.”

Back at the warehouse, Coralie began dabbing a damp cloth she had found over Ven’s bruised eye. Kayn had stormed off somewhere.

“Of all the things I expected to see in my life, you of all people throwing punches at Kayn Stafford was not one of them,” she said.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I don’t know how to throw a punch?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Ven scowled.

They curled back into their corner of the warehouse. As Ven napped, he dreamt of his mother. It had been a while since he had dreamt of home. The dream was the best he had had in a long time. His mother was smiling and Florentine was trying to stuff cake into his mouth. Hans, for some strange reason, was poking him over and over again.
Stop it. Stop…–

“Get up.”

Ven jolted awake. Kayn was prodding him in the shoulder. He jumped to his feet in battle position.

“Stop, I just want to talk to you,” said Kayn. “Let’s go over there where we don’t have to whisper.” He gestured to Coralie, who was curled up in a ball, fast asleep.

Ven narrowed his eyes. Kayn looked strange somehow. He seemed disoriented and his cheeks were flushed. As they headed to the other end of the large warehouse, Kayn seemed unable to walk in a straight line, bumping into the wall and clutching at the large metal pillars. Shocked, Ven stopped.

“Kayn, have you…have you been drinking?”

Ven suddenly found himself on his back on the warehouse floor. Kayn closed his hands around Ven’s neck and began to choke him. Ven tried to call out to Coralie, but he couldn’t make a sound. He struggled, but it was no use. All he could do was flail his arms around pathetically. Now, in a very perilous situation, it hit him how sheltered his life had been. He hadn’t even witnessed a street fight before today. He remembered thinking how unnecessary and ridiculous the prospect of fighting someone was. How naïve. He began to feel dizzy, and colors flashed across his vision.

“I’ve had enough of you both,” Kayn whispered dangerously, squeezing tighter and tighter. A strong smell of alcohol lingered on his breath. “I should have done this from the start, should have finished you off for destroying my life. But it’s alright, Ven. I’m going to make you pay for it now.”

Ven could no longer make out what Kayn was saying. He could feel himself slowly sliding out of consciousness.
This is a pathetic way to die…

Then something strange happened. Ven began to feel oddly light and weightless, as though he was floating. Something had begun to pull him, higher and higher. For a horrific second, he thought he had died. Ven opened his eyes and gasped. Kayn was nowhere in sight; neither was the sleeping Coralie or the warehouse floor. Instead, he was in what appeared to be a large, musty library.

Disoriented and once again doubting whether he was still alive, Ven sat up and glanced around the room.

“Wow, that could have ended badly,” said a voice from behind him. Ven turned sharply. A boy was sitting cross-legged on the threadbare carpet. He looked no older than eleven and had a messy mop of sandy-colored hair.

“Who are you?” said Ven, “What is this place? Am I–”

“You’re not dead, I promise,” the boy laughed, “although if I hadn’t seen you it would have been a different story.”

Ven stared blankly.

“It was weird,” the boy began. “I was just sitting here minding my own business when I suddenly heard voices. I’ve been here for a really long time and I’ve never heard anyone else but me, so it was definitely strange. Anyway, I just looked down and there you were! I could make out other people there, but they looked blurry, like foggy silhouettes. You were the only person I could see clearly, but I could see this other foggy fella who was choking you and I had to do something. I didn’t think it would work and I’d never ever done this before but something told me I should try anyway, so I kind of reached down and pulled you up here and here you are. I’m Elias, by the way, and going by your conversation down there, you’re Ven.”

He spoke very fast. Ven stared at him, even more confused than before. Elias seemed to sense this. “I’m sorry. I’m not always this jumpy but I haven’t spoken to anyone in probably decades so I’m a little excited.”

Ven tried to pick which question he should ask first, but there were far too many. “Er, I still don’t get it. What do you mean you ‘looked down’? Are you sure I’m not dead, because this doesn’t make any sense.”

“I told you, you’re not.
I’m
dead, but you aren’t. Look at your foot.”

“My foot…?” Ven looked. A silvery, wire-like cord was protruding from the top of his foot. It appeared to be going through the floor and he couldn’t see what else it connected to.