Page 133 of The Garnet Daughter
“We will, Callia.” August senses the urgency in my voice, holding my face with both hands. “Breathe for me. I will tell 99. He mentioned she is near with the priestess order.”
I give him a shaky nod, but he does not release me until I have taken two more long inhales. He seeks out 99 behind me, but I can’t take my eyes off the dark horizon, knowing First Son is out there.
The sound of August’s distant but elevated voice finally draws me away. He gestures wildly, directing frustration at 99, who I will stay near when August leaves.
They love each other as brothers, but it is clear August is worried. Even now commanders come up to 99, asking for orders and showing him data pads, pulling his focus away. Finally, 99 grabs him roughly by the shoulders and speaks so close, if I did not know the nature of their relationship, I would think it was hostile. But August relaxes, surrendering with a strong-willed nod before striding back to me.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Everything is fine. Selene is near the next tower and making her way here,” he says, quickly setting his jaw as if trying to cover the interaction I assume was about me.
We tuck in against the wall again, just enough to look out without being fully exposed.
The temperature on the breeze changes as the conjunction begins its ascension to its final form. Today is the last eclipsebefore Cosima is cast in total darkness. The strange lights on the horizon dance in flaring streaks around Viathan, eclipsing the world as the sun sets, and when it rises on Frith tomorrow, everything will be perfectly aligned.
The soldiers are antsy around us, moving and leaning to look at the scene below. The people lining the front of First Son’s army are shifting, gathering their robes and sitting on the ground. The army is far from the walls, but the eclipse light casts their white silhouettes in a haunting hue.
And then a low sound floats up on the next breeze, a deep, keening tone echoing off the stone wall.
“They’re chanting.” I tuck in closer to August, the distorted melody turning into a long whaling note that makes them sway in a formation like the high grass in Frithian valleys.
August’s wrist comm beeps with an incoming message. “What do you know of them?” 99’s voice comes in with static that was never present before, prompting us for more information than we had previously given him about the people suffering from the delirium in the birthlands.
“The ones we saw were ill, blinded,” August tells him and then holds out the device for me to speak as well.
I raise my voice over the humming chant, willing myself to tune it out. “The one we came across deeper in the birthlands sat very similarly, waiting for the eclipse, but we were not there long, didn’t hear chanting.”
99’s booming voice cuts across the entire wall, commanding his soldiers in what seems like a language of their own. The turrets lining the perimeter begin to move, stretching and engaging as if they are alive and taking commands as well.
“They can detect the front line, even if it is out of reach. An elder priestess showed us where the boundary of the ward ends. They are placed within it.”
August spent days helping wire them to the capabilities they need for this battle. His eyes flick to each one as they whirl to life, moving in synchronicity and adjusting their aim to the distant movements of the people swaying.
“Calliape.” Selene’s voice spins my attention to her. She glances at August for a brief moment before wrapping her arms around me. “Why are you on the wall?”
I hug her tightly, praying she will listen to what I have to say so August can leave before the army advances. “We are leaving for Frith,” I summarize, leaving out the details of when I will join them on the ship.
“Good.” She looks at August again, more approving than she ever has. “When are you departing? Soon, I hope.”
“Now,” I say and detect distance in the way she is speaking, as if she does not intend to leave with us. “You’re coming with us, right?”
“I cannot. There are ends that need to be snipped from years ago, things I should have fixed but ran from. I need to make sure that type of corruption never happens again.”
“Selene, you don’t belong here.” My heart strings tense.
“I will not remain here forever. My home is Frith.”
I hug her tightly again, doing my best not to weep and fall apart. She harbors guilt that cannot be cleansed with the burning of that temple, and even though I want her to come with us, I can’t deny her this opportunity to free herself. We are running out of time for August to leave safely, and now that we know Selene will stay behind, he has to go.
As I pull away from her embrace, wanting to say our final goodbyes, my ears pop as they did when we ascended to Omnesis’s temple.
Then, as if my hearing goes out altogether, I hear nothing, the chanting hum ceasing in a sudden, unnatural close like the flicking of a switch.
Tension slithers through every soldier on the wall, making its way across August’s wild yet confused eyes as he peers down at the enemy now rising from their seated sway.
“They are running toward the wall,” he mutters.
I plunge forward to find white dots moving at a rapid pace toward us, the second row of First Son soldiers standing firm in their position.
