The Desert fumes had killed me.
I was falling out of my body, heading towards a terrible light. I was being sent to Sun to be punished for my sins. For failing to save my people. Everything around me was bright and hot and my eyes wouldn’t work right. My ears were stuffed with heat and I couldn’t hear; there would be no songs of my Ancestors. My Khol was burning somewhere in the black, knowing its owner would never track it down.
And then my mouth tasted a clean breath.
My whole body shuddered with relief.
I was out of the space, Sett looming over me.
How long had I been inside? The colours and sounds of the Clock Chamber were so vibrant I had to close my eyes. I sucked down the clear, cool air with the kind of release I’d never felt before, although my throat had nearly pinched closed from fear. I gasped. I wheezed. My limbs felt rubbery and stiff at the same time.
Sett grabbed me by the throat and lifted me to my feet. She was much stronger than she had let on before. Her face was filled with calm fury, and she whipped out a dagger, pressing it against my forehead. Pain shot through to the back of my skull as she drew blood. Then she loosened her hand, allowing me a small moment to fill my lungs.
Before I could get much, two fingers were shoved under my chin, just like she’d done before. No one else was in the chamber around us, and even if I was able to scream for help, I wouldn’t get any. Sett was Melekah. Her decisions would be law.
‘Why you here?’ she asked between her teeth. Her face was diamond at the edges, but boilweed soft in her eyes. Her hands were trembling. I couldn’t tell why.
‘I don’t—’
She jabbed the blade deeper into my forehead, a small whimper coming to her throat instead of mine. I held back my scream. The pressure was extraordinary and pain cleansed my mind of any thoughts.
She snarled this time. Her fingers were pressing hard enough under my chin that sharper fingernails would have emerged through my mouth.
‘Why. You. Here?’ she snarled.
I was barely able to make the words. I gasped: ‘It was an accident.’
‘You sneak in Langria and ask where Desert. This is thing spy be doing. You is spy and you being lied to me.’
‘No,’ I said, wincing against her blade. I couldn’t get away. ‘I swear, I’m not a spy!’
‘What is Khat’s plan?’
‘I don’t know!’
The blade went deeper and a flash of white light cracked through my head.
‘How you get in?’
Blood spilled down my forehead and I could only see red. ‘I flew! Fly!’
‘Who you are?’
‘Huh?’
She spun the blade around and struck me in the side of the head with the handle. My world cracked.
‘Who you are!’ she screamed.
‘I’m Jadan like you, trying to help!’ I couldn’t think clearly; I didn’t know what she wanted from me. ‘I’m Micah from Paphos.’
I couldn’t see her face clearly through the bloody haze, but I could have sworn she’d begun to whimper.
‘You spy,’ she cried. ‘You have be spy.’
‘I’m not!’
She hit me again, but there wasn’t much force behind it this time.
‘Who you are?’
‘My name’s Micah! I’m just a Jadan!’
‘Who you are!’
A surge of passion rushed through me. The word came out before I could think too long on the matter. It was time to stop running. I had to embrace the possibility. The Crier had done everything to keep me alive. To bring me here. To show me all the secrets. It was time.
‘MESHUA!’ I screamed. ‘I’m Meshua!’
Sett’s fingers pressed harder than ever. She paused, trembling, concentrating with all her being.
She released me, stumbling backwards. She dropped her blade. Beads of my blood splattered against the stone at my feet.
‘Is true,’ she gasped. ‘You no lie.’
I collapsed to the floor, crawling away. I needed to be away from the smell of the Desert. I needed to get away from the place I’d been ready to die.
‘It’s true,’ I choked out.
There was a long pause as I wrenched my body across the floor.
‘I’m sorry. I had being sure.’ Sett remained stoic, but her blank face was shattering. ‘Why World Crier sending you after all this time? So many pain. So many suffer. Why Drought end now of all times?’
I paused, collapsing on my stomach. I’d been drained of all my fight.
‘Because it can.’ I closed my eyes. The cool stone felt wonderful against the side of my face. ‘Because it finally can.’
Sett returned to my side with water and Wisps. She rolled me over and dragged my upper body into her lap, as if I were a small child. I didn’t struggle. She wiped my forehead with fresh boilweed. She cleaned my cheeks and neck.
‘I sorry,’ she whispered. ‘Fear only way sometimes to truth.’
‘I understand,’ I said, my chest heaving up and down. ‘I would have done the same thing. I did ask for Desert and Asham to be brought into Langria. I understand.’
‘Yes, and now I’m being sure, I get them for you. Desert and Asham.’
My body trembled. I couldn’t help it.
‘You able get up?’ she asked.
I checked, finding some strength back in my legs. The cool water had taken away some of the fire in the back of my throat, but it was still present.
She helped me to my feet and headed for one of the locked cabinets. The chains came away easily in her touch, and they coiled neatly at the base. Sett took a long breath before opening the doors. I couldn’t see what was inside, as her back was in the way, but it was clear she was taking time with a decision.
Her hands returned holding an old cloth. The beige fabric looked so worn I thought it might twist apart with the slightest pressure. Sett held the cloth more carefully than she did the glass-tipped arrows.
This must have been quite the weapon.
She peeled back the fabric layers with care. One by one, the strips were removed, revealing a final layer. Sett kept undoing the folds, but there was nothing inside, making me think it was the ancient garment itself she wanted to show me.
And then a dull brown bead appeared in the folds.
I almost laughed, wondering if the buildup had been one of her jokes.
‘That’s a Wisp,’ I said matter-of-factly.
‘Yes,’ Sett said, staring intently. ‘Is right. A Wisp.’
I paused.
‘Yes,’ I said again, feeling out of sorts. ‘It’s a Wisp.’
‘This is first Wisp of Langria,’ Sett said. ‘Very sacred. Very holy.’
My whole body stiffened. ‘The first Wisp?’
Sett nodded. ‘When Adaam climb up top of Great Divide. This first Wisp he find in new Cry Patch. He save as blessing. Is being passed down from Melekah to Melekah since beginning.’
She held it out further. I almost felt afraid to touch such a relic.
‘It’s beautiful,’ I said, keeping my hands at my side.
In truth it looked like every other Wisp I’d ever seen, but now that I understood its place, it made my eyes water. I was looking at the history of our people. The story of our survival. It was fascinating that the same thing could be so different depending on context. Cold was life itself, yet too much of it at once could burn the skin black. A piece of Desert was death in the ground, but the secret to flight in the sky; possibly even the secret to our salvation. As with myself, perhaps Meshua had always been inside, waiting, shifting, and I just had to figure out where to open.
‘You have it,’ Sett said.
‘I have what?’
Sett folded the cloth back over itself, trapping the Wisp back in the deep folds. She knelt down in front of me, on both feet, and placed the shroud at my feet.
‘You are Meshua,’ she said with severity. ‘You be having everything.’
‘No, I couldn’t possibly—’
‘You be having everything.’ Sett dipped her forehead against the ground. ‘I being your warrior. I being council. I being lover if you is needing that. I serve anything you is needing.’
‘I—’ My tongue was as heavy as a barrel of figs. I was more uncomfortable now than when I’d been in the Desert chamber. ‘I—’
‘I belong you, body and Meesh-Dahm,’ Sett said. ‘What you command, Meshua? You is wanting pleasure? Sinniah understand. She pleasure too if you wishing. My body is being older, but I having wisdom and pleasure for you.’
Sett remained on her knees, but her hand ran tenderly up my ankle.
‘Um. Thank you,’ my throat went too dry. It was as if I hadn’t had a drink of water in years. ‘But I can’t possibly …’
And then Sett snorted out a laugh.
And then the whole room began to giggle.
The laughter erupted from behind inventions and in dark corners. I couldn’t see where the sounds were coming from.
I spun around, Sett’s hand falling from my leg.
Sett’s laughter grew. Suddenly the whole room was abuzz with laughter, coming from all the cracks.
‘I don’t – what is happening?’ I asked, stumbling back.
Sett bit her bottom lip. Her face was bright and trembling. ‘Is joke. Free Jadans good at jokes.’
Her laughter burst out again. She slapped her palm against the floor.
And then a huge portion of the Langrian army revealed themselves, practically appearing out of thin air. Their cheers and laughter were deafening as they rose from behind chests and stepped out of shadows. There were at least fifty warriors clapping their hands and whistling, the noise shifting to appreciation.
More figures spilled in from the tunnel, whooping and beating their chests. Some waved Opened Eye flags. Eli and Lop were near the front of the crowd and they raced in, holding hands, impossibly broad smiles on their faces. Sinniah was in the corner, buckled over and gasping for air, slapping her hand against her knee.
I’d never been more confused. All I could do was blink and stare.
Sett rose to her feet holding the sacred cloth. She clapped a hand against my shoulder and then pinched my cheek.
‘Welcome Meshua,’ she shouted over the din, stepping aside with a small bow. ‘You family now.’
All at once the free Jadans began to swarm me, talking of ‘Meshua’. They shook my hand and kissed my cheeks. They offered weapons and food and Wisps. Some of them bowed, some of them cried, but all of them seemed genuinely happy. I’d never experienced anything like this reception; not even with the Flock. It was more elated than reverent, which I much preferred.
A thin Jadan man came to me. He had a burn scar covering the lower portion of his face and was missing a hand. He touched my shoulder with a stump of wrist, smiling brightly. He wore his wounds with confidence.
These truly were warriors.
The Langrians continued to swarm me, trying to speak in the common tongue. I understood some of it, but most of their accents were too heavy or their words too disjointed for me to follow. I nodded politely and smiled.
Eli came over and handed me some knuckleberries, his face wrinkled from laughter. Sett handed me back the camel necklace and then turned to the crowd, gesturing for order.
The celebrations quieted and Sett clamoured something in Langrian and then put the Wisp back in the cabinet, locking it up. The warriors began to form ranks, order quickly restored out of the chaos. Sett shook her head, picking up one of her spears.
‘That’s not really the first Wisp,’ I said quietly, putting the necklace back on. ‘Is it?’
Sett clapped her hands and called out a burst of throaty Langrian. The warriors answered by swiftly marching out of the room. Three of them stopped at the tinkering table with the glass arrows. Others grabbed a few Spin Swords and crossbows, looking back with grateful nods or gestures of encouragement; both at Sett and myself.
Sinniah came over and stroked Sett’s hair, whispering something into her ear. Sett blushed like a child, colour rushing to her already dark cheeks, and then she laughed again. She flashed me a wink.
I gave Sett an embarrassed smile. ‘You got me.’
‘Warriors came while you trapped. I already being know how long stay inside clock and live. I went longer for my test. You okay. And people of Langria see your truth in fear. They believe you Meshua now.’
My throat was tight with emotion. I couldn’t speak.
‘Sinniah capture Asham for you,’ Sett said. ‘She promise many tears.’
Sinniah gave a serious nod at her side. The severity returned to the woman’s face – the same as when I first met her – her eyes wild and lips thin.
‘We start making your plan,’ Sett continued, gesturing to the tinkershop. ‘You and me. Two makers.’
I held up my hands. They were slick with sweat and dirt and dried blood; and not just my own. The free Jadans had welcomed me as one of them. They were counting on me to make good on my word and bring them a miracle. To make Langria real. Not just a war-torn city clinging to life, but the place it was always supposed to be.
And it wasn’t only Langria.
If I could get enough Khol, I could plant Cry Patches for all the cities in the world. The seeds of hope would return to the world, and once again the Jadans would know their worth. I flexed my bronze fingers, relishing the sound of creaking metal.
‘Let’s get started.’