Fall

Kane

Kane’s leash was a short one, but often extended in loopholes. He and Flint were continually scheming to figure out ways to help the king’s attack against Nora from the outside of the palace.

Today, they were with Cooper. This request had taken four automatic no’s within the week, and it was only a triple guard and Cooper’s agreement that he would not let them out of his sight that they were with him now.

The triple guard were dressed as ordinary soldiers, spread out along the rocky outcropping to reduce suspicion. If they had been clumped around him, it was just as well as a target for the danger below.

Kane was also in disguise. He wore a blue flapped hat in the style of an aviator, and a common coat to blend in with the others. Flint’s royal saddlebag had been replaced with the sheet gray blanket of a service fera.

He straightened as Poppy made her way down the line, questioning his guards here and there and laughing with others. Her sheep fera with its artificial horns followed quietly.

When she reached Kane and Flint, who was a little off to the side to further reduce connections, she nodded. “Everything okay?”

“Everything outside the palace is okay.” Kane grinned.

Poppy chuckled. “If you don’t pull any cliff jumping exercises like our heroes of Elbe, I think you should be safe. I have to check on the city’s guards. I’ll be back soon.” She turned on her heel, and went to the trail leading down the mountain.

Cooper had a twinkle in his eye beside him. He waited until Poppy was gone to speak. “Now that the boss is gone, we can have some fun!”

Kane peered over the rail of the cliff. He could feel the eyes of his guards follow him, ready to run to his aid.

Thousands of feet below them, a cluster of tents were burrowed into the ground. Twin flags of the East and West flanked the camp. Directly next to the tents, a glint of silver could be seen. Gear, Kane had learned, that Nora was using to scale the Northern Mountains. They worked at night, and often moved their climbing camps to avoid detection.

Cooper and Griffin had been assigned to getting rid of the camps by long-range means. Griffin was currently at the other end of the mountains, working with his team to find and uproot the threats.

“How do you think we should take them out?” Cooper shouldered his koala, and walked over to his vitrum desk, which barely fit between the wall of the cliff and the safety rail. “Colorful? Silent? Explosive?”

“No avalanches,” Homer said. He had been moved just that morning back to Kane’s unit. Kane was happy to have a familiar face back on his team. “I don’t want to bring the whole mountain down.”

Cooper stroked his mustache. “I would like to have a little fun with this. I’m sure the prince would agree?”

Kane shrugged.

“See,” Cooper said. “Now you can’t argue with the prince.”

Flint went close to the rail, then backed away. If we’re too loud, wouldn’t that alert other invading camps?

That’s the point, sort of. We want them to be wary. Kane watched Cooper tinker with a vitrum sphere. There was no liquid inside, as he remembered from the last battle, but resembled a clear marble. We want them to stop doing this.

“You can choose the parting gift this time, Prince Kane.” Cooper brought a pen to him. There were tabs on the side of the pen in a variety of colors. Mint green, dark blue, light pink. As many colors as the jam his mother made on ceres night.

“What do they do?” Kane asked.

Cooper adjusted the fera on his back. “You’ll find out. Just pick a color.”

Kane twisted the pen around, observing each option he had. What do you think?

Hmm… Flint closed his eyes to see through Kane. What about the red?

Kane saw the tab his fera was speaking of. It was a deep ruby, the blood of jewels. Something seemed final about the color, as if nothing would make it move from its secret intention, whatever Cooper had that be. It seemed dangerous.

“Ah, the red?” Cooper said, following his gaze. “You might like the show that one puts on.”

With a tinge of reluctance, Kane handed over the pen. Cooper deftly stabbed it into the vitrum sphere, and pressed the pen hard. The sphere filled a quarter full with red liquid before Cooper removed it. He offered the sphere to Kane. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Kane stepped back. “No.” Flint was of a shared mind with him.

“Very well.” Cooper went to the railing, and dropped the sphere unceremoniously over. Kane rushed over to see what would become of the camp.

He saw the vitrum sphere bounce down the mountainside, and then break like an egg on the bottom rocks. The red liquid looked black on the earth as it seeped underground. They didn’t have to wait long for the show.

The earth bubbled and became soft. Already the rocks around it sank into the soil and the climbing gear was folded into the earthy batter. Then the softness radiated out to the tents, and the thin canvas and stakes began to sink. People moved inside, awoken by the shift in the ground. Yells immediately followed. Words in Kinnish. Words in what Kane believed to be Seinish.

One man struggled out of his tent, but couldn’t escape the trap around him. He too, was quickly swallowed.

The earth bubbled again, and then was still.

“I wouldn’t go down there for at least three days. Spread the word,” Cooper said.

Kane was horrified. “Would it have taken the mountain?”

“No.” Cooper scratched his head. “At least, not just one sphere with the red filling.”

Flint was frozen beside him, no longer a distance away. This… is a new warfare.

Cooper’s good at doing that, Kane thought grimly. To the inventor, he said, “When did you come up with this?”

“After Piper’s experience with the vitrum incarnate, I wondered if the liquid inside each weapon could be enhanced. After varying degrees of pressure, I found the power of the vitrum could be changed. The colors are for classification purposes. Really, they’re all as clear as glass.” Cooper was proud as he looked over the railing again.

Kane gulped. “This is very powerful.”

Cooper winked. “It may change the outcome of the war, even as we are outnumbered.”

They did not find another Nora camp the rest of the morning, and Kane reported to King Asher in the afternoon. After that, he went to the king’s study to read.

Stray thoughts tugged and worried at his concentration like mad fera, until he was forced to consult Flint. I don’t think there’s anything in these letters anymore. The king was right.

Flint nosed the book Kane was reading, keeping his antlers far from skewering him. What are we looking for, exactly?

A way to end this war faster. I thought… I thought maybe the past could help. They seemed to have something right.

Do you think Cooper’s new weapon will solve that? Flint wondered.

I don’t know. Kane closed the book. It’s a way to make them stop attacking us, but what will we do after that? Will they ever listen to us? Respect us?

I think, the deer said, that we will have to unravel more layers before it comes to that. With Queen Celia a mystery, we can’t talk with her. You can’t negotiate with a myth. And with her pulling the puppet strings, we will have to cut them off to find her.

Kane was unnerved by his fera’s answer. He didn’t like the idea of a slow fight. It would mean more lives, more strain on their territory. It would cripple them.

After they grew free of Nora, the king had hinted at going to the East. Kane was behind him on this. They would have to go, and dig out Queen Celia.

Find the head of the snake, and grind it under their heels.