Cursed Lands

Cita stared up at the monstrous wall surrounding the capital city. Metal plates protruded broken antennas. More plates were bolted erratically over gaping holes. Red and green lights blinked randomly across the edifice.

High above the monstrous wall, large black birds flapped and cawed.

Beyond the wall, shattered skyscrapers and highrises stabbed the twilight heavens. The red sun flirted with the horizon behind the riders, staining the buildings a bloody hue.

'I haven't seen anything like this since I came here. It … it almost looks like home, except …'

"Broken," Cita whispered.

Kody and Ash stared at the city, trepidation written on their faces.

Rashida gazed ahead over the guard captain's shoulder. Each time he smiled over his shoulder and offered a light-hearted comment, she pressed close and whispered in his ear.

Nocturne sidled sideways. The guards' horses, weary from a hard day's work and deadened to the flame wraith's presence, held their ground.

"Mah isn't broken! The Dorfs have fought hard to restore this land!" The closest guard puffed his chest out.

"He patched a skyscraper with wood!" Cita pointed at the first building inside the open gate.

The guard bristled.

"Lord Baron Dorf has done what he can with the resources at hand," Rashida cut in. "Don't insult our hosts because you lack their vision."

Cita glared at the blind healer. She shook her head minutely.

"Sorry," Cita ground out. "It must be my brain damage talking."

The guard eyed him warily and nudged his horse away.

Cita looked down and snuffed the flames flickering up his arms. He tested that his bow rode unencumbered from its sling, checked his quiver, and brushed a finger over his daggers.

"Cursed land." Ash shuddered. "Nothing good will come of this."

"Hush!" Rashida said. Her hands, laced together in her lap, trembled.

'I thought she wanted to come up with a different plan if we were led to their cursed lands?' Cita eyed her surreptitiously.

The captain scoffed, "Superstition has no place here."

'That's what Ron said. Did Bilal know of this place?' Cita scowled at Nocturne's fiery mane.

They dismounted at the city gates. The guards that greeted them whispered and pointed at Nocturne.

"The horses stay here," the captain explained. "Er … even the flaming one."

"You can't expect me to leave my packs here, and I can't carry them myself," Rashida protested. She folded her arms across her chest.

The captain jerked his gaze away from her cleavage. He glared at his snickering subordinates. "That won't be necessary," he said. "I will ... err … my men will follow with them."

Cita rolled his eyes and dismounted. His knees buckled.

"Cita!" Kody started toward him.

"I'm fine!" Cita forced himself straight. He patted Nocturne. "Thanks, buddy. Take a break, okay?"

Nocturne reared in place. His flames flared before he faded out.

Though exhausted, the guards' horses still shied, and the guards swore as they brought them back under control.

Ash and Kody moved to flank Cita.

He brushed their hands away.

"It's okay to ask for help, you know," Ash murmured. "We're going to need to stick together if we want to make it out of this alive." He eyed the city walls and patted his pack.

*You didn't ask,* Mr. Smith said. He strolled past the guards into the city. *You never ask what you should. Or when you should.*

"What should I ask?" Cita ground out. He pressed both palms to his burning eyes, shutting out the brothers' questioning looks.

*Why are they here?*

Cita could hear the smug smile in his voice. He clenched his teeth. He scrubbed his hands through his short-cropped hair and tugged as if to pull it out.

'Don't scream at him. Don't give him that satisfaction.'

"Do you mean what sort of help? We're pretty flexible, Cita," Kody said. His brow furrowed, but he tried to laugh. "Maybe don't push us away so hard?"

"He's tired. We all are," Rashida offered as an excuse. "We should meet Lord Baron Dorf in the morning."

Cita glared at her. 'Is she trying to fill in for Bilal? It's not working!'

"No," the guards' leader answered. "I was ordered to take you directly to Lord Baron Dorf. This way."

'Still with the Lord Baron?' Cita frowned. 'What the heck is wrong with everyone? Whatever. Let's get this over with.'

He led the way through the gate. A trolley waited, resting on rails with a cable attached to each end.

Cita looked up. No cables arched overhead. He shrugged and climbed aboard. He slumped onto a worn bench and stared out the hazy window.

Rashida allowed the leader to assist her into the trolley. She sat next to him and flirted coyly.

Ash and Kody eyed it skeptically before following. They sat next to Cita and looked around as the trolley lurched forward.

"This is what the Elders' records talk about," Ash whispered. He eyed the guards, trying to make sure they weren't paying attention. "The great beasts that crawl the land without devouring anything. Towers that stab the sky. This is a cursed place."

"What?" Kody slapped his shoulder.

A guard looked over.

Kody and Ash straightened and looked out the window.

'It's not a tourist destination — that's for sure.'

Aki sank onto the bench next to Cita and rubbed his arms with shaking hands. His leather vest was stained dark and his pants were slashed in several places. He flickered and slumped weakly against the pitted glass. He reached up and began to trace the buildings' outlines on the window — adding what was no longer there in trails of blood.

Cita turned from the youth back to the city. 'He'll be fine. He always is.'

The top floors of the buildings seemed to have been blown away. Twisted wreckage remained. Cita imagined the buildings had been encased in mirrored glass windows. Now, the glass had run like melted wax and what remained had cracked like hot marbles shocked in cold water. In some, holes had been plugged with wood. Support pillars braced upper floors, and Cita saw a few workers dousing torches as they cleaned up for the night. The streets were blacked and fissured and the cable car lurched from side to side.

"How many of the Elders' records did you read?" Kody hissed as the guard's attention strayed.

Ash smirked. "As many as I could, of course."

"It's just a city," Cita sighed. "They're everywhere. Back home, anyway."

"Everywhere?" Kody breathed.

"Like this?" Disbelief filled Ash's voice.

"No, not like this. The buildings stand straight and tall, and they shine in the sun. The streets are white cement or black asphalt. Cars and trucks and buses drive people where they want to go. And the people! Hundreds and thousands of people!"

One of the guard's heads tilted toward their discussion.

"Cita, there's no way there could have been that many people," Kody argued. "We don't even have a hundred in the steading, but when all the cousins are home the Elders have to meet twice a week to settle disagreements."

"Yeah." Cita nodded. "That happens when there's a lot of people. They cheat each other and shoot each other and stab each other and rape—" Bile rose in his throat. He swallowed it down.

**You make it sound so bad,** Aki whispered. **But all I want is to go back. Back to Gran. Is that wrong?**

Cita shook his head.

"That's terrible!" Kody protested.

The guard's head twisted toward them, and then jerked away.

"What if …" Ash mused.

Kody whispered, "What if what? Spit it out!"

"Nevermind." Ash turned to Cita. "So this would be called a 'city' where you're from?"

Cita jerked. "Well, yeah. What would you call it?"

*Still not asking the right questions,* Mr. Smith snickered. He leered at a guard who had bent over to adjust his boot. *Do you think this one would play with us?*

Cita gagged. He glared at his oppressor.

Aki threw a flaming dagger.

The shadowy figure batted it away. Laughing, he faded from sight.

Cita rested his head on his knees and tried to breathe through the dizzy nausea.

"Cursed lands," Ash whispered.

The trolley ground to a halt. They disembarked into a courtyard featuring an ivy-cloaked, empty fountain. Blackened marble pillars supported the overhanging building. A narrower tower rose above the base. Sweeping glass panes were inset in stripes going up the tower, offset by darkened concrete. The setting sun reflected off some sections of glass panels, while others soaked in the dying light. High at the top, strange characters hung.

ଽ DMEZ

**What the heck is that supposed to mean,** Aki asked as he craned his neck back.

"The letters are falling off," Cita murmured. He peered into the darkness beneath the overhang. A pool of light flickered, and he couldn't help but snicker at the wooden doors the lanterns illuminated.

In front of the ornately carved doors, a liveried servant waited with a tray of drinks.

"Welcome. Please, partake of this small libation to seal the hospitality pact." The servant proffered the drinks in four tiny chalices.

Cita hesitated.

"Hospitality pact?" 'No one has said anything about a hospitality pact before.'

"Ah," the servant smiled. "An old tradition we have revived. We offer the drink to show we mean you no harm. You accept the drink to show you mean us no harm. A small thing."

Cita met Kody and Ash's eyes.

Rashida accepted a silvery chalice and downed the drink.

Ash shrugged and took his own chalice. Kody did likewise.

Cita stared at the remaining chalice.

Rashida twitched her fingers before gripping her staff tightly.

"If you won't make the pact, you will not be permitted to see Lord Baron Dorf."

Cita grabbed the chalice and slugged back the contents. The bitter, astringent taste cut through the ash in his mouth and made him gag.

The servant smirked and retrieved the cups. "This way, please. You'll need to wash before the lord will see you."

He led them through the wooden doors into a foyer. Cracked marble tiles gleamed with a high polish. A bank of bisected metal doors rested in the far wall, surrounded by buttons and crowned by distinctive arrows. They gleamed in the light shed by multifaceted chandeliers festooned with candles.

"You have elevators?" Cita asked. His stomach snarled angrily and he flushed.

The servant arched a brow.

"I'm not certain what you mean. This way."

A heavy side door opened into a stairwell. The utilitarian concrete and metal had been cloaked in a runner carpet and adorned with ornate lanterns. The metal safety rail shone.

Cita looked up. 'Yep. That's a lot of stairs.'

The servant climbed briskly. Rashida, Kody, and Ash followed.

Cita forced his legs to move. Before the second flight, he struggled to conceal his rasping breath. His stomach churned. He swallowed down bile. He gripped the cold round rail and dragged himself upward.

At the door to the third floor, the servant paused. He looked down at Cita struggling to keep up. The brow arched again.

Ash and Kody turned back, hands outstretched. Cita shook his head and stubbornly finished the ascent.

"Come along," the servant commanded. He opened the door.

A short hall led to an open area with the bank of three elevator doors. A wooden door to the side swung open under the servant's hand.

"Tidy yourselves. Someone will come for you when the lord is ready for you."

The four entered the room. A row of sinks sat along the length of the wall. Graceful pitchers sat next to each with carefully folded towels. The customary mirror reflected the worn travelers, marred by black specks where the silvering had peeled back.

Cita glanced away from the sinks. 'The toilets are missing.'

The stall partitions had been removed. Smooth flooring was unmarred by the porcelain thrones of Cita's expectations. Instead, a wooden chair sat with a small covered pot tucked underneath.

A pneumatic wheeze and soft thud announced the door's closing. Rashida dropped her staff, letting it fall to the tile with a clatter, and grabbed Cita's arm.

"Hey! Don't—"

"You boys stand over by the door and turn your backs," Rashida spoke over him. She dragged him to the nearest basin.

Kody and Ash shook their heads in confusion.

"I mean it now. Turn around!" She forced Cita's head down, pried his mouth open, and shoved ruthless fingers into his mouth.

He gagged and fought to push her off.

She twisted her fingers.

"Hey!" Kody shouted.

Rashida shook her head and jerked her chin toward the door.

"Uh … you haven't got anything I haven't seen before, you know," Kody finished lamely.

Rashida pulled her fingers clear as Cita vomited, emptying his stomach in violent spasms. The noise was mostly drowned out by Kody.

"Be that as it may, you've not seen mine. Let's keep it that way." Rashida continued in a whisper, "Keep it up. Don't let them hear him being sick."

"Rashida, don't use all the water," Ash improvised. "We need to clean up too."

"Tsk. If I do, we'll ask for more."

Cita's dry heaving subsided and he sagged against the counter.

Rashida gave him some water to rinse his mouth. She splashed some water on her face and scrubbed her hands, using the excess water to rinse the sink.

"Your turn. And hurry — we don't want to keep our host waiting," Rashida called out. Then she whispered to the Peacefallows, "We can try purging your stomachs as well. I'm not sure if it will help. Staryu's sight is badly limited here; she whispered of the danger after you had drunk. She screamed when Cita drank."

Kody jerked.

Ash frowned. "Yes, let's hurry and scrub," he announced.

As he stepped toward the sinks, the door swung wide again. Guards streamed in, filling the room to the brim.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Kody demanded. He shoved a guard's hands off but lost his pack in the process.

"The Lord's orders. We must collect your weapons before your meeting."

They collected Rashida's staff and approached Cita.

"No!" Cita shouted.

He fought the hands that pulled his bow's sling. Still dizzy from the stairs and emptying his stomach, he lost. Relentless hands immobilized him and confiscated his arrows and daggers as well.

Cita glared and concentrated. The fire didn't answer. 'What? No!'

"Aki!" Cita jerked against the hands and searched the room. "Where are you?"

Everyone looked around.

"Who are you calling?" Kody hissed.

*He's always telling you not to drink things.* A shadowy figure merged with the guards. *Yet, time and again, you do.*

Mr. Smith smiled mockingly.

*Despite your protests, you truly enjoy it, don't you?*

"You bastard!" Cita twisted free and charged.

The guards recaptured him before he reached Mr. Smith's smirking face.

He hung in their grip, panting and wide-eyed.

"What are you doing? Control yourself!" Rashida ordered Cita like an unruly pup. She continued in a softer tone, "Please excuse him. He's extremely attached to his toys. You will keep them safe?"

"Of course," the guard who held Cita's weapons agreed.

"Very well. Please leave so we can finish washing." Rashida's chin rose.

The guards shuffled their feet.

The same one spoke up, "I'm sorry, but you have no more time. Lord Baron Dorf commands your presence now."

The guards released Cita and stepped back.

Cita sank to the ground as his trembling limbs refused to cooperate.

Ash and Kody exchanged a glance. Wordlessly, they knelt, bracketing Cita, and pulled his arms over their shoulders.

Surrounded by the guards and stripped of possessions, they exited the refurbished restroom.