Chapter 22

The hours pass in excruciating silence as my brother and I delegate lieutenants all over the city. We’ve given the labyrinth over to the royal guards—they’ll keep additional defense positions in between the trap sections, making it harder for the invaders to come through.

I’ll handle the northern gate, and Yossul will handle the western gate. Should the city fall, should I perish in my endeavors, Yossul will be there to hold the Sky Tribe back, hopefully long enough for Jewel to do her thing. All we have is hope.

And it will have to do.

Gloom hangs heavily over the streets of the city. Once a thriving and sparkling citadel, it’s eerily empty and quiet on this late afternoon. The twin suns prepare their slow descent into the western horizon, the sky turning dark red and fiery pink in their presence.

Above, the black cloud lingers ominously. It should be thick enough to keep the Sky Tribe jets at bay. It better be because if they get eyes inside, they’ll figure out precisely how understaffed we really are.

Looking back now, I can certainly imagine Solomon coming up with the idea of a black cloud looming over the city to ward off predators. He knew what he was doing, madman or not.

“The queens are safe below the city,” Yossul tells me as he prepares to deploy his few troops to the western gate. We’re at the base of the palace steps, making the last adjustments and resupplying our platoons for the incoming invasion. “Should the Sky Tribe breach the northern gate, they know to use the tunnels and head out into the mountain. They’ll be with their people, but they insisted on staying here, just in case.”

“Just in case we miraculously defeat over three thousand enemy troops?” I chuckle dryly.

“There aren’t enough of us, I know,” Yossul replies. “But we don’t have any other choice.”

“Yeah.”

“Jewel wants us back alive,” he says. “You heard her.”

“I did.”

“What’s the matter, Fadai? You’re usually the upbeat one. When did our roles get reversed?”

I give my brother a long and tired look. Where do I start? “I’m exhausted, Yossul. But I will not falter in this fight. I’m just ready to accept my fate, whatever it may be. We’ve both learned by now that we cannot control everything that happens to us.”

“We cannot control anything that happens to us,” Yossul replies. “We can only control how we react to it and what we do about it. And right now, we’re not entirely fucked, which gives us enough wiggle room to put up a good fight. Let’s see how many of them we can take down before they breach the city gates. What do you say, brother?”

“A competition, you say?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

He responds with a dry smirk. “It’s been a while since we kept count of our kills,” he says. “If I remember correctly, I beat you by two the last time we did keep count.”

“You didn’t beat me by two; I beat you by one. Remember Lieutenant Darza, the Butcher of Emerald City?” I shoot back.

Our laughter soon dissolves into the same old silence, despair still testing our resolve as we glance back at the surviving Kreek fighters under our command. They seem weary and scared. After what happened to our river settlement, I can’t exactly blame them, yet I remain thankful for their presence.

“Perhaps we can sway some of the Sky Tribe soldiers, at least,” I tell my brother, watching as he loads laser clips into his satchel. He’s packing as much ammunition as he can carry for the western gate while his men load the buggies with fuel and supplies. “We could tell them about the cure, that it worked, that we have proof. It might hold some of them back, I don’t know.”

“Normally, I’d have told you to forget about it,” Yossul says. “But desperate times… Yes, we can try to tell them, if not to reason with them per se. At least we can try to distract them long enough so we can kill them.”

“Ever the practical one,” I mutter.

“I’m tired of the killing, too,” Yossul sighs. “But what other choice do we have? Look at them, coming our way, armed to the teeth and determined to wipe us out. These are our people, and they’re coming to kill us while we’re still trying to save them.”

I nod slowly, gazing back at the northern gates. They look like sullen giants made of black limestone and covered with thick plaques of obsidian that shimmer beautifully in the waning light. I can almost imagine Opal City in its heyday, with its black buildings and brass towers and its cobblestone alleys peppered with flowers and plum trees in neat, round granite pots. These days, the pots serve as trash cans. The streets are empty, and dust rolls off them with every breath of warm breeze.

We’ve got about a hundred men on this side of the city, aside from the royal guards that have already been dispatched into the labyrinth. I see the younglings patrolling the city walls, constantly looking north to see the Sky Tribe army approaching.

I hear the drums getting louder with every passing hour, and each thud echoes deeply inside my rib cage.

“Are you boys ready?” Yossul asks his platoon.

I watch them as they give him subtle nods in response; their voices are barely whispers. My brother doesn’t appreciate anything short of a resounding roar, however, so he proceeds to straighten his back and raise his voice.

“I don’t think you’re hearing me,” he says. “I’m not asking you whether you’re in the mood for a glass of spiced wine. I’m asking you if you’re ready to fucking die tonight. Because that’s what’s going to happen. Nobody is coming to save us. We’re on our own, a few hundred men who swore to give our lives if it meant saving our species and our honor.

“They will not build statues in our memory. They will not light a single fire. Chances are that history won’t even remember our names, yet here we are, facing about three thousand bloodthirsty fiends who wish to destroy us,” he adds. “Are you ready to give your lives for justice and honor?”

“Yes,” one of his men replies, raising his chin in defiance. We’ve seen what the Sky Tribe is willing to do and what they’re willing to do it for. We’ve rejected their creed before, and we will reject it again—one last time.”

“One last time,” Yossul says, echoing his Kreek fighter. “Well said. One last time, my friends, my brothers in arms. One last time for us to switch the safety off our laser weapons and fire at will when the fuckers come for us. One last time for us to stand together and go down fighting. Who knows, we might actually survive,” he laughs, and his men laugh with him. “But if we don’t, let us leave this world a better place than we found it. Let us leave this world with a light heart and an easy conscience. Let us go out like good men who have done terrible things for the right reasons.”

Yossul turns to face me. “I’ll see you on the other side, Fadai. Either the other side of this city when it’s over or the other side of life.” He offers me his hand, and I give it a firm squeeze. “You give them hell, brother.”

“Oh, I will. But what’s the prize if I win?””

A playful grin stretches across my brother’s face. “Oh, I have a suggestion. The winner gets to name our firstborn.”

Our firstborn—that’s something to look forward to, something worth killing thousands of the enemy for—is our future child.

The sound of rushing footsteps makes us all turn around. Scouts come running from the eastern gate, short of breath and wide-eyed. Their dark red uniforms are tattered, and some of the threads are coming loose, but they wear their Fire Tribe colors with honor and pride.

“You need to see this,” one of the boys says.

I know him. I watched him grow up over the years. Rossen is only fifteen but eager and strong-willed. He’s seen his share of fights and skirmishes.

“What is it?” I ask.

“You just need you to see it,” Rossen insists. “Both of you.”

A few minutes later, we pull the buggies over outside the eastern city gates, having left our men behind to await their dispatch orders. When Rossen told us what to expect, I dared not get my hopes up, but as Yossul and I climb atop the wall, I can’t help but exhale deeply and wholly as a wave of relief washes over me.

“Unbelievable,” Yossul breathes, his eyes wide with shock.

The labyrinth traps were temporarily shut off to allow the passage of about a thousand of our men. Fire Tribe colors from all over Sunna: blue and orange from the Hadana clan, red and gold from the Mal clan, blood orange and green from the Tallas, black and silver, white and scarlet, yellow and gray… I can’t believe it.

“Whoever they could spare, whoever they could gather from all the plains and crevices of Sunna,” I say. “They sent them to us.”

“And look farther back,” Rossen adds. “We’re not beaten yet, brothers.”

Yossul and I follow his gaze to instantly recognize the survivors of our Kreek pack at the very end of the convoy. The ones who have been missing since the riverside settlement was attacked, the ones we’d hoped had made it out alive and somewhere safely to regroup.

“That we are not,” I say and immediately climb down from the wall.

We order the guards to swing the eastern gates wide open.

Danno Mal, a lieutenant of Binzen and Izzo’s, leads the convoy. He smiles broadly, the steel armor plates glistening on his broad chest and shoulders as he approaches. “It took us a while to get here,” Danno says, “but it seems we made it just in time.”

“You can say that again,” Yossul says and hugs the man as tightly as he can. “I cannot express how grateful we are to have you!”

“Danno, what gives?” I ask. “I thought you were all focused on Sapphire City.”

“We are. But the human women insisted that some of us head down here to help you,” he says. “Opal City is precious, particularly because of its long-range guns. Jewel has been communicating with her friends the whole time, as you know. We understand what’s at stake, and we also know that the Sky Tribe is coming at us with everything they’ve got.”

“I’m counting about a thousand,” I reply, watching as the soldiers march sternly into the city to the delight and astonishment of those of us already present. Rossen rushes to the end of the convoy to greet the Kreek survivors, teary-eyed and thankful to see them. “Where did you all come from?”

“We gathered by the Five Pointed Star, south of Ruby City,” Danno says. “Our drones and scouts have been spotting Sky Tribe movements throughout the week, and when we saw the deployment in two different directions, we realized they were angling for both Opal and Sapphire City at once.”

“You took the riverside route?” Yossul asks.

Danno nods once. “It was difficult without campfires along the way, but we had to keep our movements as stealthy and as quiet as possible. I’m just glad we beat those bastards here.”

“Not by much. They’ll be at the city gates by sundown,” Yossul says.

“That’s all right,” Danno replies. “We’re at your service, brothers. Tell us where you need us, and we will go. We’re ready to fight to the death or end this nonsense once and for all.”

I can’t help but shudder at the thought of what’s coming. “There still aren’t enough of us,” I warn Danno.

“I know,” he says. And it’s okay. We’ve made our peace with ourselves, with our spirits, with our fates. There isn’t a speck of doubt among us.”