5.1
11/5/2009
Jelani and Nikki walked down an unusually empty Hoodsdale sidewalk, watching as the stores they once knew struggled to bring any customers in their doors.
For five days, the city had been in turmoil. Government officials were being mysteriously killed. Oppressive restrictions had been placed on the agricultural operations, and it wouldn't be long before the people began to starve.
No one ever saw the culprit, but they all knew who was responsible: the tenth city, Bone Creek, and their heartless leader, Skye Stane.
Jelani was wearing a headband and face paint to mask his scars, but the disguise was hardly necessary. Hoodsdale had realized that, for the first time in thirty years, they were facing actual danger.
It wasn't robbery or some other petty crime–people were being murdered within the city's walls. And as if that weren't enough, the future looked even darker. There was a rumor raging through the city that Bone Creek's people were on the move.
The walls had always felt so safe.
"Hahhhh," Nikki sighed, eyes dark and tired. "I hope the others are doing ok."
She turned sadly towards Jelani's expressionless side profile.
"What're we gonna do, Jelani?"
He didn't meet her eyes. "I've already said that I'll go look for it."
"You can't!" Nikki pleaded. "That would fix nothing, and you might get hurt!"
Jelani clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Then how long are we gonna wait?"
"I-I," Nikki mumbled, "...I don't know. I was hoping they'd just appear at some point but… oh, Jelani! Do you think they're ok?"
Jelani's response was delayed, but he spoke with complete confidence.
"Yeah. Echo's with them."
Nikki's face finally softened.
"Yeah, you're right," she said. Smiling a little, she added, "You really get along well with that family, don't you, Jelani?"
Jelani blinked in surprise, but he still didn't turn in Nikki's direction. Suddenly, he felt heat flush his face, and he instinctively raised a hand, feeling the temperature of his glowing red cheeks.
"Are you blushing??" Nikki asked breathlessly.
Jelani's mouth hung open in an expression of disbelief as he turned to meet Nikki's eager eyes.
A soft smile slowly crossed his lips and he looked away, still holding a hand against the warmth of his cheek.
"So you're still soft, huh?" Nikki teased giddily.
– – – – –
That afternoon was when the news hit.
Jelani and Nikki didn't know anything until they walked into a pub, set on learning anything they could from the civilians' gossip.
But they didn't even have to try.
The pub was in chaos. Red-faced men were shouting over each other, and a group of usually well-mannered women were on the verge of physical combat, palms raised and at the ready.
"Woah!" Nikki exclaimed, hurrying forward with Jelani at her side.
"I HAVE KIDS, YOU FUCKER!" one of the men screamed.
"SO WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO?" another fired back. "LOCK YOUR DOOR?"
"ONE THING I KNOW FOR SURE IS THAT I AIN'T GOING ON SOME SUICIDE RAMPAGE!"
"STAYING HERE IS SUICIDE!!"
The first man raised his fist, every one of his yellowed teeth showing as he thrust his full weight at his opponent.
But his punch stopped short, and he opened his furious eyes in shock.
"What are you so mad about?" Jelani asked calmly, holding the man's outstretched wrist.
"He-hey!! Let go of me!" the man yelled, yanking his fist against Jelani's iron grip.
Jelani released him, and the man flew backward, clattering to the floor with his wooden stool beneath him.
"What are you all so mad about?" Jelani asked, now turning to the other men.
They glared at him, and one finally grunted, "Do you not know? Bone Creek is attacking tonight."
Jelani's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "What kind of attack?"
"We don't know," another man replied, "but we do know it's gonna be bad."
"AND THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO BAND TOGETHER!!" the man who Jelani had just saved yelled. "BAND TOGETHER AND LEAVE THE CITY! IT'S SAFER OUTSIDE THE WALLS THAN INSIDE!!"
His screams were met with silence. A few men stole weary glances at each other, and a few just turned their eyes to the ground.
"He's right," one said, "but it's not our choice. We have to hope the army will escort us out."
"HOPE? HOPE THEY WON'T COME IN AND KILL US?"
At this, another scuffle broke out, and Jelani stepped back.
He grabbed Nikki by the arm and dragged her out the door.
Outside, under the final glow of the setting sun, he turned to face her.
"Nikki, I'm gonna go find it. If a battle is going to happen, we might as well hit first."
Nikki looked at him with tears in her eyes.
She bit her lip and nodded, watching as Jelani turned his back to run.
But the sun dipped beneath the horizon.
A massive crash sounded in the distance, stopping Jelani dead in his tracks.
Shrieks erupted in the north, tearing through the air like steel blades.
Jelani pushed off the ground and sprinted in their direction.
He sprinted north, in the direction of the gate.
Wrenching his knuckle dusters out of the pockets in his pants, he clenched his fists and looked up.
The sky above the buildings was dark, but he could see the smoke, illuminated by fire as it curled up into the air.
Jelani turned a corner, and his stride lost all of its vigor at the sight he saw.
Buildings were burning, and people were dying.
The whole street was chaos–all Jelani could see were dark silhouettes darting in and out of the flames.
Inside of his mind, two images of burning streets beneath dark skies melted together.
His feet stumbled to a stop, and he stared at the flames in silence.
Two choirs of screaming voices interlaced in his head.
Everything that he saw and heard blurred into one seething mass, and the next step that he took was fueled by pure hatred.
Forgetting who he was and what he was doing, he walked forward, mind wrought with violence.
A scream at his immediate right caught his attention. When he slid his eyes in its direction, he saw a girl crouched against a wall with her head in her hands.
He also saw the dark shape darting towards her, but the thought of saving her life never crossed his mind.
The sobbing girl peered through the gap between her arms at the beast barreling her down. She was too young to die.
But before the creature collided with her, something collided with it.
A sudden impact blew the animal into the air like it weighed nothing.
Jelani stopped walking.
His eyes were quick enough to see roughly what had happened–they were quick enough to see the spiked ball flying around on the end of a chain.
The girl craned her neck to see her savior, but they were long gone, already off to protect other innocent lives.
There was only one living person in sight: a young man standing in the center of the street, arms hanging heavily at his sides.
The girl flinched as his eyes, illuminated by the flames, met her own.
She was certain that he was an enemy. He must have been one of those Bone Creek soldiers, responsible for the burning city that was her home.
As he approached her, she was prepared to die.
But his eyes drifted away and he continued into an alleyway behind her, not paying her any more attention than a painting on the wall.
Jelani lengthened his stride, breaking back into a run as he flew across the dark alley.
He felt like he'd been hit by a tidal wave when he leapt out onto the street on the other side.
The sheer volume of screaming voices forced him to bow his head and cover his ears. Instead of one, there were hundreds.
Hundreds of people were flailing about, chased by hordes of darting black shapes.
There were no flames on this street, so everyone was practically blind as they ran for their lives.
But it wasn't so dark that they didn't notice the flying mace soaring through every inch of open space and eliminating the attackers one by one.
Eventually, they all simply gaped at the mysterious force that was saving their lives.
Jelani marched across the street, following the chain carefully with his eyes.
Whatever was holding the other end of that chain was constantly moving, and Jelani chased it from one building to the next.
From one street to the next, it cleared every rogue and saved nearly every person.
The night wore on, but Jelani was patient. His mind had gone completely blank, hypnotized by the swinging chain.
He could have caught the mysterious hero faster, but it wasn't until the chain finally stopped swinging and the screams finally stopped sounding that Jelani closed the distance completely.
There, beneath a dim street light, the massive man stood.