Chapter 15:

Father

Galder

"FOURTH!"

My body locked up.

Barrier.

I forced Orka forward, but my hands were shaking too badly. Nothing formed fast enough.

The first sword was already coming toward my face.

Then lightning filled my vision.

KRAAAAAK!

Zaw appeared between us and the blades, his back toward me as one arm swept upward.

SHNK!

The first sword tore across his forearm.

Blood sprayed.

"Zaw?!"

Another came from the side. He knocked it away with his elbow, but a third buried itself deep into his upper arm and made his entire body jerk.

"ZAW!"

More metal curved toward us.

Zaw shifted directly in front of me and Amachi, covering as much of us as he could. One blade sliced across his shoulder, another tore into his side, and something struck his back hard enough to make him stumble.

Blood splashed across the dirt.

"No..."

The old man who had been dodging everything—the man who'd been moving faster than my eyes could follow—wasn't dodging anymore.

He couldn't.

We were behind him.

If he moved, the swords would hit us instead.

This is because we're here.

Another blade shot toward my head.

Zaw caught it barehanded.

CLANG!

The edge split his palm, but his fingers closed around the metal anyway. Pale-blue Orka tightened around his hand before he twisted.

CRACK!

The blade snapped.

A moment later, the remaining swords dropped into the road.

Then Zaw's knee hit the ground.

THUD.

My stomach dropped.

"Zaw?"

Blood ran down his arm, shoulder, and side. Part of a broken blade was still lodged in his upper arm, while the wound near his ribs was spilling far too much onto the dirt.

Even the Orka around his hands had begun to flicker.

"Old man!"

He tried turning toward me, but a rough cough escaped instead.

Blood hit the ground.

My mind went blank.

"Father!"

The word tore out before I realized I'd said it.

Zaw froze.

So did I.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd called him that. Usually it was old man, smelly old man, or something considerably less respectful.

But looking at him kneeling there covered in blood, none of those came out.

"Father..."

My voice shook.

"I'm sorry. I should've moved. I should've used Barrier faster. I should've—"

"Fourth..."

His voice barely carried.

I stopped.

Zaw glanced over his shoulder.

"You're... okay?"

I stared at him.

That was what he was worried about?

"You're the one bleeding!"

His eyes moved toward Amachi.

"...Both of you?"

I looked beside me. Amachi was pale and trembling, but there wasn't any blood on him.

"We're fine, so stop talking!"

Zaw's shoulders loosened slightly.

"...Good."

That one word somehow hurt more than everything else.

(Fourth...)

Shut up.

(I—)

You told us to stay behind him. You said it was safer.

For once, there was no sarcastic answer.

When my other self finally spoke, his voice sounded quieter than I'd ever heard it.

(...I know. I was wrong.)

My anger didn't disappear, but something inside it cracked.

He sounded exactly like I felt.

Zaw tried forcing himself upright.

I immediately grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't move!"

"...Can't."

"What do you mean, can't?!"

His eyes moved past me.

Toward the Raven.

That answered the question.

The Raven leader slowly lowered his hand. He didn't look particularly pleased about what he'd done, but metal was already beginning to rise around him again.

"I didn't want to involve them."

Whatever weakness had been showing on Zaw's face disappeared as he lifted his head.

"But you left me little choice."

Zaw managed a weak grin.

"Cheap..."

The Raven's eyes narrowed.

"...but effective."

Even now?

Seriously?

The Raven extended one hand.

"Give me the Orb."

Everything inside my head stopped.

Orb?

(The thing Shane was looking for.)

The secret meeting. Shane searching for something. The Ravens attacking the village.

Months of questions suddenly collapsed into one answer.

The Orb.

That was what they wanted.

Zaw didn't seem surprised by the demand.

"Hand it over," the Raven said.

"No."

The Raven sighed. "It doesn't need to continue like this."

Zaw reached toward his waist and pulled free a small leather sack.

The Raven's expression changed instantly.

Something solid shifted inside.

Round.

Heavy.

My eyes widened.

"The Orb?"

"Don't," the Raven warned.

Several pieces of metal shot upward.

SHNK!

Zaw immediately stepped in front of me again.

Not quickly this time.

He could barely stand, yet he still placed himself between us and the Raven while weak sparks crawled around his legs.

The floating blades stopped.

Even like this, the Raven wasn't willing to rush him.

He's still scared of him.

Then Zaw turned and shoved the leather sack against my chest.

I caught it instinctively.

"...What?"

His bloody fingers closed around mine.

"Take it."

"What are you doing?"

"Take... Amachi."

He nodded toward the road behind us.

"Go."

My stomach sank.

"No."

Zaw's eyes hardened.

"Go."

"No. Absolutely not."

(Fourth.)

Don't.

I tightened my grip around the sack.

"You're telling me to run? With Amachi? And leave you here?!"

Zaw didn't answer.

He didn't need to.

Blood still dripped from his clothes, and every breath looked painful.

"NO! I can help. I have Barrier, I can use Orka, I can—"

"No."

The word came out weak but firm.

The Raven's eyes remained fixed on the sack.

One blade shifted.

Zaw immediately moved farther in front of me, his leg nearly buckling beneath him.

I stopped talking.

He wasn't simply telling us to run.

He was staying here so the Raven couldn't follow.

He's using himself as a wall.

(Yeah. That's why we have to move.)

Not you too.

(Look at him, Fourth.)

I didn't want to.

(That man couldn't beat Zaw, so he attacked us instead. Now you're holding what he came for.)

My grip tightened around the sack.

Then I'll protect myself.

There was a pause.

(You froze.)

My breathing stopped.

The words hurt because they were true.

(So did Amachi.)

I looked beside me.

Amachi hadn't moved. His face was white, his hands trembling.

(If we stay, Zaw will protect us again.)

My eyes returned to the blood running down my father's back.

(Even if it kills him.)

"Stop."

I wasn't sure whether I meant him or myself.

My eyes burned.

"I don't want to leave him."

For once, the other self didn't insult me.

(Neither do I.)

That nearly broke me.

Zaw grabbed my wrist weakly.

"Fourth..."

I looked at him.

"If... if you can't get away..."

His eyes moved toward the sack.

"...give it to them."

I blinked.

"What?"

"If they catch you... give it up."

I stared down at the leather.

He'd nearly gotten himself killed protecting this thing, and now he was telling me to surrender it the moment it put me in danger?

"But—"

"Don't..."

A cough escaped him.

"...don't die for it."

My grip tightened.

"Run first."

I swallowed.

"...Yeah."

Zaw looked back toward the Raven.

"Go."

I shook my head.

"No..."

"Fourth."

"Stop telling me to go."

His jaw tightened.

"Go."

Panic crawled back into my chest.

"What if he attacks you again? What if you can't dodge? What if you fall the second we're gone? What if—"

"Fourth."

"STOP!"

A cough ripped through him, and fresh blood spilled down his chin.

My stomach dropped.

"Don't talk!"

I grabbed his arm, but he weakly pushed me away.

"Take him..."

His eyes shifted toward Amachi.

"...and go."

My teeth clenched.

I hated the Raven for putting us here. I hated the Orb in my hands. I hated myself for freezing, and some small, ugly part of me even hated Zaw for making me choose.

(Fourth.)

I closed my eyes.

(Please.)

My eyes opened again.

He'd never said that before.

The idiot inside my head sounded almost as broken as I felt.

(Listen to him.)

My vision blurred.

What if he dies?

For several seconds, there was no answer.

Then—

(Staying here won't save him.)