A
Prologue
“Likaru’s body is
dead, but his spirit lives on, in me!” the ritual words had a proud ring to
them. Miache’s head was high, her eyes flashing. “My Brothers and Sisters,
welcome to the new world!” she thrust her left fist into the air over her head;
the silver and onyx ring glinted on her finger.
A hundred fists
were touched to foreheads and hearts in the Gang Salute, then pumped into the
air with a shout.
“The Dragons will
lead the Serpent Gangs to victory!” Miache shouted over the cheers. “We will
reign supreme over the entire city! Other gangs will bow before us, and we will
oust the Stone Gangs once and for all!”
“Dragons! The
Dragons!” someone yelled.
“Victory to the
Serpent Gangs!” came the cry of someone else.
Then came the
shout that turned into a roar, “Miache! Miache! Miache!” Over two hundred
voices were raised together in the booming chant.
Miache stood on
the raised platform, absorbing the adoration of the five Serpent Gangs, her
short hair wild, her eyes blazing.
A sudden explosion
rocked the building. Dozens were thrown to the floors. The cheering roar turned
into screams.
Miache had barely
moved. Her arms were held out in front of her, palm up with spread fingers, as
if to call upon some power to stop the chaos erupting around her.
I stood at the
base of the platform, unmoved, since I had been leaning on the raised boards.
I’d yelled and shouted earlier, with the rest, but I’d watched Mia closely
since she’d left my side to challenge Likaru. When the explosion went off, I
thought I had seen an almost insane look play across my friend’s face, but
almost instantly I’d changed my mind: I saw fear in her eyes before she closed
them and lifted her face to the ceiling, of that I was sure. And that moment
when she had raised her red knife to the sky, when she was cried, “Draco
victor!” I had seen that flash of fear hidden in the pride of conquest.
People rushed to
the exits, jamming doors and causing even more confusion.
Triana, my closest
friend after Miache, let go of my arm (she had grabbed me when the explosion
went off). “Blockheads,” she muttered angrily.
“Hush, Tri,” I
murmured, still with my eyes on Miache. “You’ve no proof it was the Stone
Gangs. I doubt it was.”
“Come on ‘Kar!”
Tri hissed. “Who else would it be? The Blockheads know we have it in for them,
Miache even said we would. They knew Likaru would never manage, but Mia…”
“Tri, we call them
Blockheads for a reason,” I snapped. “‘Sides, tons of gangs have it in for us,
what better way to prove we’re not ‘all that’ than to prove that they can scare
us?”
“What’s Miache doing?”
Triana demanded, changing the subject.
“It’s what she’s not
doing that worries me,” I replied. Miache still stood with her face uplifted,
her eyes closed, and her hands out. “Mia!” I yelled.
Miache didn’t even
twitch.
“The hell with
this,” I muttered. “Vipers!” I screamed. ”Cobras! Pythons! Dragons!
Rattlesnakes! Calm DOWN!” my voice carried well in the vaulted chamber, and
gradually the noise subsided. “Airmid, Samhain, Oimelg, get your gangs in hand,
then get yourselves to the den upstairs,” I commanded. “I want everyone calm
and ready for anything. Patrol the streets. Cover your turf, but stay in
groups, I don’t want anyone to be badly outnumbered. Watch your backs. If
anything happens, someone will be here to give orders. I want ten members from
each gang to stay here, guard our exits. Nagai, take charge of the Dragons for
now, Miache has more important things to do right now. You should also have
your people see to Likaru’s body – Octibe’s
Triana flicked my
arm. “What do I do?” she asked.
“Make Miache go
upstairs,” I said, “I don’t care how. And do it fast. Then organize the
Vipers.”
Triana stared.
“I trust you,” I
smiled. “I want to see what’s going on outside.” I gripped her hand, smiled
again, and left her.
Once outside, I
saw a deep pit in the road by the door to the Dragons’ Den. The street itself
was jammed. People, carts, wagons, and horses were all trying to get around the
hole. From my vantage point at the top of a flight of steps I could see the black
and yellow uniforms of the Wasps (the City Police). I snickered to myself. The
idiots were trying to force their horses through the crowd, which was only
creating more problems. Those people unhindered by animals or vehicles were
gradually making their way to the edges of the street, where they could climb
the ladders set into the sides of buildings to the upper road, that led across
the rooftops.
I pulled down the
ladder on the Gangs’ building as a group of Cobras came through the door. They
saluted when they saw me, and I automatically returned the salute, right fist
to my forehead, then to my heart. I nodded to them as I started up the ladder.
“Loyalty and Luck,” I said out of habit.
“Loyalty an’
Luck,” they repeated.
“Gud huntin’,” one
of the girls, Tessa, added.
Jakin, one of the
boys, called out, “Show ‘em wha’ ‘appins ta kids ‘oo mess wi’ da Serpents!”
The other boy in
the group, Sinjun, muttered nastily, “Wi’ ‘Kar a’ter ‘em i’s on’y a madder ah
time afore der mates is searchin’ da ciddy fer der pieces.”
All the Cobras
laughed, and I smiled to myself, still climbing.
Moments later I
slipped over the edge of the roof. I was instantly surrounded by half a dozen
knives. Hiding a pleased grin, I was always proud when my Gang mates were
alert, I affected a stern glare. The blades instantly withdrew.
“‘S ‘Kar!” Ninan,
the tallest of the girls around me, called out. There were twelve others on the
roof keeping watch in all directions, besides the three who had accosted me.
“Loyalty an’
Luck,” Ninan and the two other Python girls, Faith and Mirika, greeted me,
saluting.
“Loyalty an’
Luck,” the others called, without turning from their posts.
“Loyalty and
Luck,” I repeated, saluting in turn. I glanced around the rooftop, taking in
gang colors; besides Python green, I saw the brown shirts of the Rattlesnakes,
and the blue of the dragons: all wore Serpent black as well, of course.
I moved around the
edge of the roof, taking in the crowds below. I saw the red Cobras still at the
front door, and my own Vipers, in their gray shirts, were guarding the back
entrance. Another group of Cobras lounged near the windows that could be opened
from the outside. The other guards would be inside, either making sweeps, or at
the lower exits that led into the ground and the mountains.
Within a few
heartbeats I spotted groups from the five Serpent Gangs moving from the
Dragon’s Den into the crowds and scattering towards their posts. I saw nothing
of any of the other street gangs of Majarah.
“See anything, neski?”
the Dragon girl Sawnia asked. She stood to my right, scanning the crowds below.
“Not yet,” I
muttered, half to myself. I unhooked a small tube from my belt and adjusted the
crystal at the wider end. I closed one eye and pressed my other eye to the
narrow end of the tube. I peered down at the street, my magnified gaze sweeping
the people in the road. My wandering glance froze on a half dozen boys and
girls wearing blue armbands. “Sailors,” I growled. “Sawnia, send a dozen of our
people out there. I want those Sailors kept somewhere safe until Miache or I
can talk to them. And have a bunch of kids come up here as messengers.”
“Yes, neski.”
The girl saluted, then hesitated, “Umm…”
“They’re down
there,” I pointed, handing her the tube. “Next to the green awning.”
“Yes, neski.”
She handed the tube back and saluted again. “Loyalty an’ Luck.” She turned and
headed for the stairway in the middle of the roof.
“Loyalty and
Luck,” I said, turning back to the street. Almost immediately, I spotted a
group of five boys wearing gray armbands, and, barely a dozen paces away, ten
girls with plain silver nose rings. I swore under my breath. “Gina!” I called
one of the Rattlesnakes over. “There’s a group of five Blockheads down there,
and another of ten Harpies.” I pointed the two groups out to her. “I want to
know what they’re doing here. Send out a couple welcoming parties.”
Gina laughed.
“Honor Guard?” she asked, still laughing. “Twice der strength?”
“’Course,” I
agreed, smiling myself. “Only the best for Harpies and the Stone Gangs.”
“Ya got it, neski.”
Gina saluted. “Loyalty an’ Luck, ‘Kar.”
“Loyalty and Luck,
Gina.” I swore again. “Gina! Send twenty more to bring in the Black Widows in
the alley behind the weaver’s. Hurry!”
Gina didn’t stop
to ask questions. She left at a run.
I resumed my look
out, and by the time Sawnia returned with a group of younger kids (of between
ten and twelve passes) I had returned to watching the Blockheads, the Harpies,
and the Black Widows. Interestingly, the Sailors hadn’t raised any fuss when
they had been surrounded.
I beckoned one of
the little boys over.
“Loyalty an’ Luck,
neski,” he said, saluting nervously.
“Loyalty and
Luck,” I responded. “It’s Jamaal Python, right?”
“Yes, neski,”
he replied, looking startled that I knew his name.
“Good lad.” I
smiled. “Now, I have some important matters to attend to, with Neski
Miache. But I need someone up here on the lookout for other Gangs invading out
turf.”
“Yes, neski,”
he repeated.
I handed him my
glass tube. “I want this back by Beta rising,” I told him. “But you may use it
until then. If you see anyone from another gang down there, or on the
“N-no, neski,”
Jamaal stuttered. He held the tube almost reverently.
“Good.” I favored
him with another smile. “Loyalty and Luck, Jamaal.” I left before he could
respond. I hurried down the stairs in the middle of the building, making no
noise out of habit.
When I entered the
meeting room (the den) on the second floor of the building, I saw Miache and
the other neskis of the Serpent Gangs, Airmid of the Cobras, Samhain of
the Pythons, and Oimelg of the Rattlesnakes.
Salutes and
greetings were exchanged, except from Miache, who seemed to be ignoring us. It
hurt that Mia didn’t even seem to notice me, but I hid it, of course.
Airmid gestured
towards the table in the middle of the room, and I nodded.
It was just the
five of us; Miache looking out the window while the rest of us settled down.
She still hadn’t spoken to me.
She glanced at the
four of us sitting down, then back out the window. Something was bothering her,
I knew her well enough to see that, but I couldn’t tell what. I wished she
would say something, I would have thought she would, close as we were, but that
would have been one gamble I lost.
I didn’t know the
girl standing at the window, she was different from the Miache I knew.
Something had changed when my Miache had slapped Likaru across the face with
her glove. Up until the last moment I hadn’t been sure Mia was going to go
through with it, and when she had, I was sure that either Mia or Likaru would
surrender before the duel was decided with death. But Mia had knocked Likaru to
the ground, and he’d been pinned. He hadn’t surrendered, I don’t think he
believed Miache would do it, even then. He probably figured she just smack him
(for show, not to inflict pain), and take his necklace, ring, and armbands, and
remove his hoop earrings. It had been done before. And for a heartbeat, it
looked like everything would be fine, and better. He said something to her (not
surrender, we would have heard that), and she smiled and nodded. Then, to the
surprise of many, Miache leaned in and kissed Likaru on the mouth. Suddenly,
her right hand shot forward, a knife appearing in it as if by some evil magic.
She thrust the knife into his chest then pulled away bringing the dripping,
reddened blade with her.
Into the silence
that fell, Miache rose to her feet, away from the corpse of her friend and
one-time lover. It was then that she raised her cry of “Draco Victor!”
shooting her bloody knife to the sky as if to cut the silence. It was then that
I, standing at the closest edge of the crowd, had seen, deep in the pride and
excitement of her conquest, the faintest flicker of fear in her eyes. I had
expected her to seek me out, to look for my approval, or an affirmation of my
love, or something. But no, she didn’t even glance in my direction.
So there the five
of us were, the most powerful members of the Serpent Gangs. And four of us sat
waiting on the fifth and, supposedly, the most powerful of us all.
Well, that was the
glitch right there, staring me in the face, unlike Miache. Mia was supposed to
be the most powerful of us, but deep in my heart, and cruelly worming its way
into my brain, was the fact that I didn’t believe it. I thought I was stronger
than Miache, quicker, smarter. And the worst of it was, I didn’t just think
it: I knew it.
TBC
A/N:
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