Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Deacon
“ W hat is that?” Ode asked as she reached around me on the onworlder and pointed ahead.
Old smoke filled my lungs. The scent of a fire extinguished. Staring at the charred ruins of an unknown thing, I shook my head and slowed down.
“I am unsure.” We stopped when the skeletons became visible in the moonslight and we left the onworlder to examine the site. I flashed my gauntlet driver’s light around and mumbled, “What happened…”
“Deacon.” Ode’s voice was morose. “It’s Rex’s ship.”
My stomach clenched and the world seemed to spin out from beneath me when my knees crumbled. I fell onto my ass in grief. But then I scurried to my feet, searching for any sign of survivors. Ode chased me through the wreckage, trying to get me to stop. I could not. Not until I found the smallest skeleton.
It was face down on the ground, limbs askew. I fell once more, this time on my hands and knees on the soot-covered ground. I didn’t have the strength for anything else.
My voice sounded hollow, even to my own ears. “No…”
“It’s not her.”
I looked up at Ode, tears burning in my eyes and my heart breaking in two.
“It’s not,” she insisted. “That’s a male body.”
I looked again, this time more thoroughly. She was right—the limbs were too long. And fine tail bones were intact.
Relief swept through me, and I tried to hold onto hope. We searched the crash site further. No human skeleton to be found. And then I discovered a jem’hora feather and picked it up, a calmness settling in my ghost.
“Sarah did this,” I told Ode, confident of the fact. “Just like when she called them to her before. Jem’hora, they are large enough to gum up the engine of any of our ships.” I smiled and quietly said, “I know she did this.”
Ode looked equally relieved. “Then she’s most likely on foot. I bet we can catch up to her before she gets to Faithless.”
We ran back to the onworlder with renewed energy. The headlamp of the vehicle shone just enough to illuminate a dozen meters ahead. Not much of a warning, when tree stumps occasionally sprang from nowhere in the middle of the path. They were not a problem for ghosts on foot, but for the living, they could be a hazard.
As we swerved around another one, I shouted over my shoulder, “Who maintains the path?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know much about Halla.”
In truth, none of us did. Since we had arrived on Halla, we had met surprises at every turn. I should have known we would. Despite the Ladrian tendency to embrace death as a part of life, we did not openly discuss Halla and all of its quirks. Talking about the microplanet felt like courting death or a prayer for bad luck. As we drove up the path, I wished my people were not so superstitious. It would have been nice to have more intel on the planet where my consort would live.
If we saved her from Rex.
I was lost in my thoughts when Ode gripped my shoulder and demanded, “Pull over.”
I did, immediately. “What’s wrong?”
She didn’t respond. Instead, she hopped off the onworlder and ran into the trees with her rucksacks.
I followed, unsure of her intent. We weren’t two meters off the path before we came across a man. He was listless, blood on his face. Ode began to check him out. “Your name?”
“Who are you people?” he asked hoarsely.
“Were you with Rex’s ship when it went down?” she asked.
A flash of recognition lit his eyes in the dark. The corner of his mouth twinged upward. “Rex Terian? He’s a friend of yours?”
Ode did not answer the question so I did.
“An ally,” I lied.
He laughed sharply. “Rex is no one’s ally.” He stood up and loomed over Ode, almost as tall as me. “You’re a liar, boy.”
“I am here to help you,” Ode said firmly, “sit back down and—"
He backhanded her into the dirt. I lunged for him, but in my concussed condition, he easily shoved me back and knocked my head against a tree. I fell onto my side. My eyes tried to focus and failed. There was two of everything. And then, almost nothing. Fuck.
I only saw flashes of him. He stood over Ode. She scrambled to get away and he reached for her. Her arm shot upward suddenly. Then blood sprayed. I could not tell if it sprayed up or down, or if it was hers or his. But a breath later, a blood-covered Ode came to me and helped me to my feet. I fell to the ground once more, nearly taking her with me.
The next thing I knew, everything went black.
The world was slipping away. No, it is not slipping—I am being dragged. Pebbles and twigs ground against my uniform and tried to tear it. One scraped my bare hand. Feminine grunts of exertion filled my ears, until finally Ode said, “Alright, hold still.”
Then the onworlder’s engine took over as I was lifted upwards. Weightlessness, and then I was draped across the back of the onworlder. A tether was cut, and I went limp. Seconds later, Ode drove us from our attacker.
I blacked out again and did not come around until the engine stopped. By that time, I could see again without double vision. We were at the gates of Faithless and it was still before dawn. But I couldn’t move much at all. Not without retching.
“Who goes there?” a guard demanded.
Ode shouted, “He is Deacon Ladrang, Sarah Hollinger’s companion, and I am Ode Hrimp. We need a proper infirmary.”
“A moment,” the annoyed guard replied.
Then a familiar nasally male voice responded. “Another one? How many companions does she have?” he asked in an irritated tone as he came closer. “What is wrong with him?”
“He is dying,” Ode said urgently. “I need to get him to a proper infirmary.”
“Is that his blood all over you?”
“No. We were attacked. Stop wasting time—he needs—"
“Yes, yes, alright.” The nasal voice told others to get us a fast carriage. “Help me get him loaded.”
Many hands picked me up, but I couldn’t make out who was who. Despite the absent double vision, everything was suddenly blurred.
“Take them to the manor immediately.”
With that, we were off. Ode held my head in her lap and whispered, “If you die on me, Deacon, Sarah will kick both our asses.”
I almost laughed but retched instead. Then, I passed out.
When I came to, the room was familiar. Empty, but for a few books and vials on the walls. White and gray and nothing more. No decorations, no sign of life. Just sterile. The doctor at Rex’s manor—the one who had fixed my hands.
I tried to sit up, but Ode said, “Slowly. Be careful.”
My legs dangled off the side of the exam table. I held my head, which did not ache for the first time since I had been shot during the battle with Rex’s mercenaries. “What…where…”
“We are in Rex’s manor. Apparently dropping Sarah’s name was enough to get us here.”
I looked Ode over. “There is no more blood.”
She smiled. “I had a shower, and they gave me clothes. I didn’t leave you until I performed my own examination after his doctor healed you.” Her eyes subtly flashed to someone behind me. “When I knew you were safe, I showered. How are you feeling?”
“I do not…odd,” I said, trying to make sense of things. “There is no pain.”
“That should be expected,” the doctor behind me stated flatly. “Your brain required reknitting. The odd feeling will fade within the hour.”
“Thank you for your help.”
The doctor walked around the exam table to see me. His face was as unsettling as the first time I had met him, like his face was a mask that clung to his real face. “You are welcome,” he said, and left without another word.
Remembering what had brought this about, I glanced back at Ode. “What happened out there with the man in the forest?”
Her lips smoothed into a flat line. “I killed him.”
“How?” I frowned at her. “I do not mean to be impolite, but Ode, you are not a fighter.”
She shook her head and mumbled, “No, I am not.” Then she met my eyes. “But I am a doctor. I know where to shove a scalpel to make sure someone will never get up again.”
Guilt wracked me. “I am so sorry I was not there to defend you—"
“Stop. Deacon.” She put a hand up. “In the last day, you’ve been shot in the head, severely concussed, terribly stubborn and out in the forest when you had no business being out at all. And you were attacked and hit your head again. Just like I said might happen.” Her expression was steely, until it softened again. “My point is, you would have defended me, had you the choice. You always have defended me. But this morning, it was my turn to take care of you.”
I gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Of course.”
“One thing still troubles me though,” I said thoughtfully.
“What’s that?”
“How did you manage to lift me onto the onworlder?”
She laughed. “You think I don’t have enough brute strength to do it myself?”
I blinked. “To be honest, I did not think you could.”
“Well, I did.”
“I sit corrected.”
She hesitated, then admitted, “Okay, it was mostly physics that lifted you. After I dragged your heavy ass close enough, I tied a rope to the back of your belt, threw the end over a tree, and used the onworlder to pull, until I could lower you onto it.”
I laughed, impressed with her ingenuity. “I will take your brilliant mind over brute strength any day.”
She smiled, then grew serious. “There’s something else you need to know, Deacon.”
“What is that?”
“Per Helios, Sarah is here,” she said carefully. “And so is Jac.”
I hopped off the table, aiming for the door. “Where?”
Ode followed close behind. “Rex’s bedroom.”
My body flinched at those words. “Why there ?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But also, Sovereign is parked out front.”
“Then we have much to learn.” I glanced back at her as I tried to remember my way around Rex’s manor. “Until we have more information, we should stay together.”
She nodded. “I could not agree more. Where are we going first?”
“Rex’s bedroom,” I said, trying not to assume anything, but when it came to Rex, anything was possible. “Is it safe for me to run yet?”
“Run, fight, whatever you want,” Ode said. “The doctor here…”
As much as I wanted to race toward the bedroom in question, the concerned look on her face shot ice through me and I came to an abrupt halt. “What is it?”
“He’s not a doctor. He’s a magician. What he did—that was not healing, as I was taught it. That was purely magical work.” She exhaled a deep, but troubled breath. “You’re completely healed. As in, no down time, no recovery needed. Outside of feeling odd, you’re in perfect health.”
I gulped, understanding her worry. “Do you think…did it cost me my ghost?”
“I do not believe so,” she said, and after a brief pause continued. “But I would not be surprised if it cost you something else. I’m just not sure what it might have been. I tried to stop him, but it was that or you would have died.”
I nodded solemnly. “I understand, Ode. You have no reason to fret.”
She smiled sadly. “I…I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You made the right call. I promise.” I hugged her and hoped I hadn’t lied.