Chapter 19

Their resolve is changing.

As the days go by and I listen to their conversations, it’s becoming clear that Yossul and Fadai’s drive has shifted toward something more selfish. I don’t think it’s wrong. I think people do whatever it takes in order to cope with the toll of a bloody and miserable war.

The brothers have lost too much, and having to bury and burn the bodies of so many of their brothers and sisters at once must’ve made something snap within them.

Truth be told, I have somewhat the same mindset—whether I’m ready to admit it or not. It’s what mindless violence does to one’s heart. You fight for a noble cause. You try everything in your power to protect those who cannot defend themselves. But when the enemy attacks sneakily at night, when they resort to kidnapping and dirty ploys, why be righteous? Why fight fair? It doesn’t make sense. Fairness only gets you killed in a war with such adversaries.

I used to think it was a nasty thing to do, warping public opinion with half-truths and white lies. Because the truth is, we are responsible for the ship that exploded over Pearl City. We blew it up. We’re the ones who were ready to do that even though we knew precisely what it would lead to.

Yet, we are also the ones who are prepared to spin that story in a different direction. Like Yossul said, we’ll feel guilty about it after we’ve won.

The Sky Tribe will never let us live out here in peace. Only doom and misery await under their rule. I want my happy ending, too, dammit. I want Yossul and Fadai to be with me for as long as we live. I want a family and something wonderful to look forward to in the future. And I want my friends to keep their happiness and their families, too. Their soul bonds. Their prospects. Much like the Kreek brothers, we never asked for any of this, but we’ve been fighting the war, nonetheless.

Tensions rise throughout Opal City in the coming days.

As more news pours in from Sapphire City and our allies across the continent, we are able to draw a coherent battle plan—during the day, of course, in the company of Solomon’s widows.

At night, we make love until we’re spent and until we melt into the sheets and curse the suns when they rise in the morning. Every sunrise brings us closer to our potential doom, after all. I’d give anything to stop time altogether. Alas, it doesn’t work that way.

All I can do is make the most of every moment I get to spend in Yossul and Fadai’s strong and loving arms.

“How’s it looking in Sapphire City?” Yossul asks as he and his brother come into the main operations room of our military base. They’ve been busy reassigning men to the western ridge of Kaos Volcano to cover our asses in case Sky Tribe fighters come through there while I’ve been checking and double-checking the laser weapons and our ability to fire them anywhere on this continent. “How close were the Sky Tribe’s armies this morning?”

“About two hundred miles and approaching fast,” I say. My heart feels heavy with concern about the girls, but I can’t do anything to protect them. They have their men and thousands of Fire Tribe warriors ready to kill anyone who tries to get anywhere near them. “Growing in numbers, too. Almost eight thousand now. Worse even, troops are gathering outside Ruby City and Diamond City. Intel counted at least three thousand near each, but we don’t know where they’re headed just yet.”

“Likely Sapphire City. Shaytan will keep a smaller force for his other mission,” Fadai says, “and he certainly won’t risk having so many soldiers marching to where he’s keeping the starship. It’s probably already heavily guarded.”

I motion toward the meeting table, where a map of Opal City awaits. I managed to find some military-style figurines from Solomon’s old desk in one of his private studies—they’re perfect to illustrate the positions of our troops in and around the city.

“This is what we look like right now,” I say. “We’ve reinforced our defense on the eastern and northern gates. That is assuming, of course, the labyrinth’s defenses aren’t enough to deter invaders.”

“I think we all know they’ll only serve to excite them further once they figure out it’s supposed to keep them out,” Yossul mutters.

I shrug in return. “Fair enough. We’ll need more men at the southern gate, though. I think the new recruits will better fit there. If Shaytan’s forces invade, they’ll likely come from the north or the east.”

“And with a handful of men on the western ridge, one of our guys up here will be able to aim the long-range shooters at them and blow the fuckers away,” Yossul says, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, seems sensible enough.”

“It’s the best we can do with the little we have,” Fadai says. “I’ve put in a request to the other clans to send us any men they can spare, but I’m not holding my breath, not when Sapphire City is about to be invaded. We don’t hold a majority in the tribal council, either.”

“It’s fine,” I say. “It was to be expected. They’re banking on Opal City still being a secret, so they’re focusing the majority of the Fire Tribe’s forces on Sapphire City.”

It feels off, though. I’m not sure why.

Fadai quickly points out something I’ve dreaded even thinking about since the base’s destruction: “If one of the Yellow Gang did give away our riverside position, there’s a chance they told Shaytan and Blaze about Opal City, too.”

“Dammit, I wish you’d kept that to yourself.” I laugh nervously. “I’ve considered the possibility. I’m not rejecting it, but don’t you think he would’ve said something while I was their captive? Given how much he and Blaze enjoy gloating and bragging about their victories against us, I don’t know. Don’t you think they would’ve mentioned it if only to crush my spirit? I know I certainly would’ve.”

The brothers look at each other for a brief moment. “Maybe. But they would’ve bragged about our riverside base, too. We were there, unable to do anything about it. If Shaytan wanted to crush our spirits as you said,” Yossul says, “there’s the possibility our man didn’t give everything up.”

“And there’s the possibility he did,” Fadai insists. “Shaytan might’ve simply chosen to keep that information to himself. We cannot guess what was going through his head. We cannot predict his behavior. He’s proven that much by now.”

“It doesn’t really matter either,” I say. “Maybe it’s best if we operate on the assumption that they do know about Opal City or that they will learn about it soon enough. If they still have our man in custody, it’s likely they’re still drilling him for information, which is why we haven’t seen the whole fleet of the Sky Tribe circling the area just yet. It’s a matter of when, not if.”

The doors slide open, prompting the three of us to straighten our backs and turn around—just in time to watch Sarin, Neya, and Leela glide into the room.

“How is the planning going?” Sarin asks.

“As smoothly as it can go in these circumstances,” Yossul politely replies. “I suppose you’re here to tell us about the new recruits?”

Sarin smiles broadly. “It is my pleasure to announce that we have two hundred of them, not the originally anticipated one hundred.”

“Oh, how’d that happen?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “The people here never struck me as the warrior types.”

“They’re anything but. Yet they are determined to protect their home and their way of life,” Neya chimes in. “We asked who would join the guards and the Kreek soldiers in this endeavor. We didn’t wish to force anyone into it, even though we were ready to do so if the enthusiasm was less than we hoped for. They came through better than I had imagined.”

“They are quite young, though. Some of them are only fourteen,” Leela says. “But they wouldn’t stay back. And in these troubled times, we figured the more hands on deck, the better.”

“You thought right,” Fadai says. “What of the civilians? Will they be ready to make their way into the escape tunnels if they have to?”

The widows nod simultaneously. “Yes. There were some objections to the whole operation, but they understood the gravity of the situation. It’s been the talk of the town for long enough for reality to have sunk in.” Leela exhales sharply. “There are times when I wish we’d stayed ignorant and under Solomon’s rule, but that wasn’t right, either.”

“It wasn’t. It was cruel and delusional. You had no idea what you’d be up against if Shaytan figured out Solomon’s game. And you know he would have sooner or later,” I reply. “Solomon’s dream was madness from the very beginning.”

I still can’t believe he’s the one who practically started everything. He created the viral strain that all but wiped out his entire species and plunged his world back into the dark ages. He fooled his people into thinking they were the only survivors while the civil war raged on beyond the Opal City labyrinth.

I shudder to think what would’ve happened to these people if Alicia and the Tallas men hadn’t stumbled into their midst. Solomon had already lost his mind and was drunk on his own power and authority, ruthlessly executing anyone who dared to disobey him. He’d become an authoritarian madman who would’ve led his people to their doom.

“We cannot promise you victory,” Yossul tells the widows. “But we can promise you that we’ll do everything in our power to keep your people safe. We’ve yet to see Sky Tribe troops headed our way so that counts for something.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Leela mumbles.

“The same cannot be said about Sapphire City,” I reply bluntly. “My friends still won’t leave, but they did send the kids into hiding, at least.”

Sarin gives me a worried look. “Where to?”

“We don’t know yet. But it’s not here. As long as we have the long-range lasers here, we’re subject to violent and deadly retaliation from the Sky Tribe. It would be too risky to send the children to us.”

Fadai raises a curious eyebrow. “I think they sent them farther down the shoreline. There’s a small town about fifty miles south that could serve as a decent shelter. It used to be a fisherman’s haven, and there are plenty of boats that could be used to take the kids deeper south, away from the land. The Sky Tribe jets rarely venture far out above the Crimson Sea.”

Yes, I remember because of the storms. The sea itself is rather choppy by nature, but when one of the eastern storms hits with heatwaves and thundering yellow clouds, it becomes too dangerous to fly anything through there. I only hope the children will be safe.

“Where do we stand in our defenses?” I ask the widows. “Weapons-wise, what’s the news from the royal guards? Will we have enough ammunition to fight invaders?”

I don’t like the widows’ expressions.

“We have plenty, but I don’t think ‘enough’ is a term we could use,” Sarin says. “Solomon never paid much attention to this aspect. We never had people coming in, and the ones who tried died in the labyrinth. A lot of the ammunition we did keep stored in the halls beneath the city hall has expired, I’m afraid.”

“What do the guards think? Could they take on a thousand men?” I reply.

“A thousand, yes. More may be a problem,” Sarin says.

“Then we’ll have to rely on the long-range shooters and on finding the starship,” I tell Yossul and Fadai. “If we can figure out where it is, we can take it down, one way or another. And then it’ll be over, more or less. Morale will drop, and the Sky Tribe fighters will lack the motivation to keep killing in Shaytan’s name.”

“I’ll reach out to our scouts,” Yossul says. “Perhaps there are some intel avenues we’ve yet to explore. A bribe here, a favor there. We may have to promise a high-ranking position within the future government to those willing to turn against Shaytan now.”

“So be it,” I growl. “The new world will weed the weaklings out quickly. Even if we do grant them a role within the governing structure, they’ll have to work in order to keep it. And then it’ll be their fault if they fail. To the future former Sky Tribe affiliates, they’ll be considered spineless traitors. Even if they do attempt to hurt us, they won’t have the support they’d need for a coup. And for everyone else, they’ll always be the turncoats. Nobody will trust them. For now, however, yes, promise them high-ranking positions if it gets us the intelligence we need.”

Yossul and Fadai look at me with a blend of astonishment and admiration, subtle smiles stretching across their lips. They both nod in agreement while Solomon’s widows move closer to the map, their eyes darting from one set of military figurines to another.

“What do you think?” I ask them.

Leela points to the southern gate. “Perhaps we could send a few more of the new recruits down there. The gates may be strong, but the labyrinth’s mechanisms are scarcer on the south side. Solomon designed it with a focus on the northern and eastern areas since that’s where invaders were most likely to come from. I’m afraid Shaytan Hull might get a bit more creative.”

“You may be right,” I concede with genuine appreciation. “We’ll fortify positions on the southern gate, then. A couple of dozen of the new boys for sure.”

“You know, in the olden days, before the laser weapons and whatnot, our ancestors used all sorts of tricks to keep soldiers from climbing the city walls,” Sarin says. “I remember reading about it when I was a child.”

Neya gasps, her eyes widening with excitement. “Yes, you’re right! Molten tar, boiling water, that kind of thing. There was a story about one of Opal City’s original founders having dug an underground channel through which lava could pour out directly from below the volcano. I think we still have a map of the original pipes and stone tunnels that relied on the lava to keep the city’s water reserves warm. We could use that, couldn’t we?”

“You bet your sweet ass we could do that,” I chuckle dryly.

It’s gruesome, an awful thing to do. If I were to try that on Earth, I’d probably go on trial for crimes against humanity. But this isn’t Earth, and the stakes are far too high for my morality to intervene in any manner that doesn’t secure a resounding victory. Whatever it takes, we’ll do it. And if the old channels are still functional, then we could very well profit from the volcano looming over Opal City to save us.

For the first time in a long time, I can almost feel the wheels in my head turning, countless possibilities swirling in my mind as the prospect of a future with Yossul and Fadai seems less of a wild dream and more of a potential reality.

What will I do for it? What am I truly willing to do for it? In my mind, I talk a big, ruthless game. But how far am I ready to go in order to survive and secure my own life, my own happiness?

How far are the Kreek brothers willing to go? They’ve been warring with the Sky Tribe for years. They were at it long before I came along, and I know they went too far more than once to protect their clans and their people.

What will they do for their soulmate?

For the possibility of a family together?

I guess I’ll find out soon enough.