9. TALIESIN #3
So, even with a “Great Awakening,” the status quo holds firm. It’s still them versus us. The world exploded, and yet the Masters simply adjusted their cufflinks and carried on.
Dimitry smiles, and the frantic energy that has been eating at him for the last week smooths out, replaced by that familiar, superior confidence. “Some things are truly immutable. Natural selection is a stubborn mistress, Bevan.”
Beside him, Heinz and Gleb smirk, already looking at the Diggers knowing we’re still the serfs in their kingdoms.
They could be wrong though. Maybe my mom is a hydra. Maybe I am. But innate powers are moot here.
Dimitry turns his back on me and walks back to the top of the bleachers.
Fucking Dimitry.
I watch them go, my jaw tight, then turn and click my fingers at Clay. “Explain the fresh-fish rules to them.”
Might as well get on with the game. What other choice is there?
Clay nods and starts the spiel. “To become a Digger, you challenge a male member, usually the lowest ranked.” He crooks his finger to one of our guys. The kid, who already looks half-defeated, reluctantly gets to his feet.
“Name?” I ask him.
“I’m Smith, Bossman.”
Well, that’s memorable. “If you don’t want back in the no-men, you’d better bring your A-game. Hector looks like he doesn’t take any prisoners.”
The Peruvian grins and cracks his knuckles.
I climb back to my perch and sit heavily next to Aurora. I’m trying to keep my face a mask of indifference, but my blood is still simmering from Duke’s report. The world is on fire, and here I am, managing a dirt-lot scrap over cot space in a basement dungeon.
“You OK?” Aurora speaks so softly, her voice barely audible over the rising chants of the yard.
I don’t look at her, keeping my eyes fixed on the two men circling each other in the yard. “Just focus on the fight, Princess.”
I’ll wait until we’re back at the cell to tell her about her father.
The fight going on below us is messy and brutal. Hector is slow but solid, moving with the heavy, deliberate power of the beast he claims is trapped inside him. Eventually, he has Smith pinned, hammering his face into the grit until Clay steps forward and hauls him up.
“Welcome to the Diggers,” Clay announces, pointing Hector toward our section.
Smith the loser is left curled in a ball, soon to be stripped of his gray jumpsuit and dressed in No-man red. I watch the transition with a hollow feeling in my gut.
I want to be free. I want to find out if I have wings. I want to tuck the girl next to me under my arm and fly far away from this shithole.
The sound of Heinz’s grating voice brings my attention back to the yard.
The second “fish”, Duke, doesn’t have to bleed for his spot. He talks confidently, something about stolen jewels and coordinates to a hidden cache. Dimitry gives a slow, satisfied grin as Heinz relays the report, and Duke is welcomed into the ranks of the Guild.
It’s just more of the same. We bleed for our place, while they buy their way in.
I turn back to Aurora, trying to shake the bitterness. “That’s the entertainment for the morning,” I grunt as I settle back into the bench beside her.
But unexpectedly, the gates open and a third new inmate is thrown into the yard. Her hair is thin and tangled, hanging lankly on either side of her face, and she’s skinny enough that the wind looks like it might blow her over.
The girl stands there, arms wrapped around herself, staring at nothing.
Beside me, I feel Aurora go rigid.
“Taliesin,” she hisses, her hand catching my sleeve. “Do something. She’s terrified.”
Though I don’t like it, there’s not a lot I can do. “She can choose to fight if she wants.”
“You can’t be serious. I thought girls didn’t have to fight to be a Digger.”
“Wrong. A fresh-fish cannot choose a female digger as his opponent, but other than that women fight their way in, like Layla did, and Dot.”
“But I didn’t.”
“No, I fought for you.”
Aurora glares at me. “So you can fight for her then!”
“I’m not doing that. If she chooses to, she can challenge the new guy, Hector.”
“Him? That’s ridiculous, you can’t be serious.”
“It’s her choice,” I say, my voice hard. “She fights to be a Digger, or she stays a no-man. That’s the way it goes, Princess. We don’t have any more slots.”
“That’s barbaric, you fucking coward.” I wince at Aurora’s words as her grip on my arm tightens. I know it’s shit, but I have to think about the whole block, not just one girl.
“Please, Taliesin, do something. You’re the Boss. Take her under your wing.” Her voice rises in a frantic plea.
“No,” I snap, shaking her off. “I already risked my neck for one fragile female. I’m not running an orphanage. And we don’t have the room for her.”
The look she gives me isn’t just anger; it’s one filled with disappointment and disdain. “Gang politics over human life? Got it. Thanks for showing me who you really are.” Her eyes burn right through me, but I stay silent.
“Fine,” she spits, standing up suddenly. “If you won’t do it, I will.”
Before I can grab her, she’s moving. She runs down the bleachers, and skids out onto the concrete expanse, her chest heaving, and eyes burning with a fire.
“I CALL A CHALLENGE!” she screams.