The Dusk of Dawn

Chapter Six- The Tide (4)

Jackson made a twisted expression of disgust but then realized her melted arm had turned into water. It seeped across the ground toward Jackson and unlocked the cuff on his neck with a clear click. Then the water shot back to Kitty’s shoulder, took the form of an arm, and slowly solidified.

“I assume you can go up there by yourself,” she said simply. “I’m escaping.” Then her whole body collapsed into a puddle of water. Jackson watched with the odd twisting look so hard that his face became sour as the puddle climbed up the walls and disappeared through the sky-hole.

He stood up and grabbed a broken chain, braced himself, and leapt up to about halfway to the sky-hole, and climbed up for the rest.

A soldier came for him instantly, he dodged the spear and wrapped the chain around the soldier’s neck, and hurled him over. He whipped his chain in the face of another and spotted Driya doing fly-kicks at another few smug-looking ones. He quickly ran forward to join her.

“Hey! Did you saw Fluffy?” He asked, punching away another opponent and coming to a stop beside Driya. Despite living in Ling City, which was very advanced and sophisticated where they— as well as Chinese— spoke a lot of English, his English was kind of broken. 

“No! They put me to sleep cowardly and I woke up in a prison! Then they tried to bring me to see their boss or something— but these bendans are not moving me around like a prisoner!” She yelled and stubbed a soldier in the face with her elbow. He swooned onto another one, then both of them rolled away down a dungeon hole. “Not in their life!”

Jackson did another all-white eye roll and punched a soldier so hard that he busted right through the wall behind.

“But then where’s Fluffy? Could he fight to keep himself safe if he’s in trouble?”

“I don’t know if he can even run,” Driya replied callously. “If he were to defend himself he’d probably do that by playing dead.”

Jackson sighed. That was true. He turned and saw the iron door of the prison closing slowly, and there were no windows anywhere else.

“Run.” He instructed quietly to Driya and rushed off for the slit of the door. Driya shot down a soldier in a gap in the armour, just under his neck and above his left collar bone, then turned and followed closely with soldiers closing up behind them like a hive of angry wasps.

Jackson bit his lips, the door was closing. They wouldn’t make it before it shut completely.

But suddenly, the lights in the prison sizzled and dimmed, and the door stopped moving.

Everyone stopped for a second as a few electrical lines zipped across the ceiling with sizzling sounds and sparks filling the place. But at last, Jackson pulled himself back into reality, grabbed Driya, and sent her crashing through between the door slit.

Doing his best to ignore Driya’s angry complaints from the other end, he kicked away another soldier and jumped out of the door after her.

He felt himself running through layers of branches and wet leaves, with startled birds screeching in alarm and strange hissing from insects ringing in his ears as he smashed through the prison tree and landed hard on to the wet, fern-grown jungle floor. He could see Driya’s anger about him tossing her out.

He sat up, wiping the blood away from his nose and lips, then looked up at the jungle to see what happened. The architecture of their prison, in fact, was built into a large tree. He’d just burst through the entrance of the prison, and instead of taking the stairs that spiralled down the trunk, he came crashing down the vines and undergrowth instead. Trees higher than one another covered the whole space, their thick, ancient roots covered the ground with lumps, houses shimmering with lights and noises spread across the jungle. In the distance, he could see the vague outlines of two giant trees twisting together and shooting up higher than any of the others.

The Spiralling Tree. One of Fluffy’s most successful designs. I wish I could see it closer up.

“How long are you planning to sit here dazing for?” A cool but familiar voice said behind him. Jackson turned around and saw Kitty, leaning on a large tree beside him.

“None of your business,” Jackson huffed, standing up and looking around, but wincing as a sharp pain shot through his leg.

“A broken bone, nowhere to go, chased by soldiers…” Kitty said smoothly. “Are you sure you’d want me to leave you alone?”

Jackson looked around and tried to see if Driya was anywhere, perhaps fighting a bunch of other people.

“She’s not here,” Kitty smiled. “You’re all alone.”

“What have you done?” Jackson snarled, turning around to glare at her. What does she want?

“I sent her back to your boat. And told your friend on the boat to help you, then take him back.” She shrugged, “Who else did you think hacked into the Flow Jungle’s systems and stopped the door from closing?”

Jackson squinted. He couldn’t exactly see things clearly anymore when he did that. Right… Fluffy could probably do something like that.

“What do you want?” He questioned, watching Kitty uncomfortably as her legs liquefied and coiled themselves around the tree.

“A trade,” She said. “I will heal your leg and help you escape. In exchange, let me join you.”

Jackson frowned. That was a weird offer. Did she want something? But he didn’t quite have a choice now. “Fine,” He grumbled. “I accept.”

Kitty formed a wicked smile that made Jackson really want to kick her. She held out her hand and a water droplet slowly formed on top, spiralling slowly. She opened her palm and the droplet shot for Jackson’s leg.

In a wave of cool, wavering ripples, the pain on his shin vanished. When he stepped, the leg worked perfectly and did not bend or contort in any way.  He looked up and saw Kitty spiralling, then she collapsed into a puddle of water again, rushing through the forest floor.

He followed her just as the soldiers roared and spotted them. He picked up his speed and jumped through clusters of undergrowth until he reached the cliffside.

There was a loud bang that rang behind and he flinched a little.

Guns. He realized, glancing back. The old wound on his shoulder seemed to be hurting again. They’re really aiming to kill us.

But Kitty jumped and the bullet shot right into her. However, she didn’t bleed. Her expression was blank. She reached inside her chest and fumbled until her hand came back out with three black balls. She then threw them back towards the crowd of stunned soldiers. Ignoring the small explosions and screams, she grabbed Jackson and tossed him down the cliff.

Jackson gasped for a moment, thinking that she’d finally decided to stop pretending and kill him anyway. But she jumped after him and her liquefied arm wrapped around his body. So when he hit the rocks beneath, it felt more like falling into a puddle of water.

Kitty’s puddle plopped onto the rocks behind and disappeared. But soon water droplets rose and swirled around until they took the form of a human and solidified, then Kitty was standing there, unharmed.

“Bu Hao!”

Jackson turned around and saw Driya looking extremely grumpy on their boat’s front, with Fluffy looking nervous and scared, standing behind her.

“How dare you throw me! Ni zen me gan!” She screeched and punched Jackson on his head again as he boarded the ship.

“Ouch! I was just saving your life, thank you very much!”

“How many times do I have to repeat that I can take care of myself?!” She demanded. “I can beat five of you all together! I don’t need you ‘saving’ me!”

“Sure,” He shrugged, then nodded at Kitty, who was looking at him with a really smug face. “She… She’s joining us.”

Fluffy nodded, Driya raised her brows. “Oh! Really?” She said. “Hmm. Looks like I’ll have to prepare more food now.”

Fluffy bristled. “That’s not true,” he objected. “I cook our food all the time!”

“Only sometimes,” Driya corrected. “Fluffy.”

Jackson rolled his eyes at their fight and walked back towards the sail, setting it down.

“Well, finally another female! You know these bendans— well, Fluffy’s alright but this Bu Hao— argh, I SWEAR!” She directed at Kitty. “I feel like you and I are gonna get along real well…” She finished mysteriously, with a small smile on her right cheek, forming a dimple that penetrated her flesh making it look like a crater.

Jackson rolled his eyes. Another trouble to deal with. 

The soldiers at the Flow Jungle crowded around the cliff’s edge, roaring and shooting arrows at them. Jackson had to admit their skills were completely rubbish after he saw Driya’s— who, case on point, shot an arrow and broke a soldier’s arrow in half while it was still midair, shouting ‘bendan!’ after him.

Kitty jumped into the water, and seconds later the boat sped up and shot right across the sea. Jackson glanced down and saw that she had made the water spiral around her to push the boat forward, speeding away from the Flow Jungle.

She was later joking with Driya and telling her about an old math teacher of hers whose name sounded like ‘Lagez’. It looked like Kitty had explained her ‘Stone’ to Driya and Fluffy before she came back to meet Jackson in the jungle since the two of them didn’t look surprised when Kitty melted into a puddle of water to make her performance of Jackson being wounded more dramatic. He tried to push her off the boat for that, but his hands went right through.

It turned out that her mathematical knowledge seemed to be well enough to help Fluffy with navigation, making their travels a bit more accurate. They decided to go for Town Nile as their next destination since that international place would probably have the least chance of groups of people coming to imprison them.

Nightfall arrived. The four of them sat around the hull of the boat, sharing a tuna Driya managed to shoot.

They shared their goals with each other, Kitty seemed to be really interested in Driya’s out-of-mind plan.

“Cool! Definitely call me if you want to punch anyone,” Kitty offered. 

“But you?” Jackson asked. …Maybe to be the most annoying person in the whole world? I could SO see how that would work. “Don’t tell me you haven’t even got a plan. You must’ve joined us for a reason.”

Kitty nodded and sighed. “I want to be free,” She said finally.

“You… Are.” Jackson staggered.

“No,” She shook her head. “I want to do it to the extreme. A day where I can ignore every limit and only follow rules that I want to.”

Jackson blinked, then realized how hard that could be. In order to do that… She can’t fear anyone, she can’t greed for anything, she can’t be weaker than anyone, she can’t have any secrets others might threaten her with.

“But how do you expect to achieve that with us?” Jackson demanded. Fluffy was being expressionless but mildly surprised as he usually was. Driya looked like she was still pondering about what was mentioned. “We’re probably the weakest group of people. None of the four territories wants us or cares about what happens to us, and you’ll have to be the strongest in order to be the free-est.”

“No. You’ll have to be the free-est in order to be the strongest,” Kitty corrected him. “And that’s exactly why I joined you. Where I’d have a chance to do that.”

“But people who aren’t ruled over can be dangerous,” Driya said suddenly. “We’ve seen many of them. Rulers who don’t have rules over them. They do whatever they want and mess up the whole place. Anarchy…”

“Mm-hmm,” Kitty murmured. “Debatable question. But no ruler is free, in my opinion. That’s why I don’t want to be one. A person who’s being judged by everyone and all their decisions are based on ‘what would my people think’ or ‘how would it affect my people?’”

She waved her hand at the sky. “I want to be like Shelly the Dragon. No one dares to judge or rule me!”

“Haha! Yeah, true…” Driya concurred. “So… The Flow Jungle— is it actually a prison? Or…”

“Yep. In every way possible; mentally, physically, literally, and figuratively. That place is simply Lian Yu.” She answered, then quickly added; “Which in Mandarin, translates to pur—”

“Purgatory…” Driya finished sadly.

“Yeah…” Kitty said, and at the same time she and Jackson both questioned;

“Wait— you know that?!”

“I thought you only knew bendan and stuff.” Jackson assumed. 

Driya deeply inhaled, and hesitated, as if wondering where to begin. “I learned ‘Lian Yu’ from my favourite show. It was about a man who got stranded on an island called Lian Yu for a few years. The island was used as a maximum-security prison for the worst and deadliest criminals, hence the name ‘purgatory’. It was a living hell.” She explained thoroughly. 

“He changed completely, and that’s what caused me to change too. I was like him— scared, useless, bendan… And here I am now, practically a killer. And? My signature weapon is a bow and arrow, like him!” She finished with a wide smile, yet spoke solemnly. “I already started training myself since I was a toddler, but I observed the technique from this show and… Developed better skills. 

“I don’t know how I taught myself, somehow I just knew how, and I’ve been trying to figure out how and why ever since then. And when I watched that show… I don’t know… It felt like I had watched it before, especially since I could relate to the main character.”

They all took a few moments of silence, processing Driya’s story thoughtfully whilst munching on the tuna.

Finally, Kitty sat up and looked at Jackson. “Do you know a person called… Zac Ling?”

*

Zac stood with his back to the industrial furnace beneath. He had no more space to back away with, the iron net bridge ended where he stood. 

Jeremy and his men stood at the other end, pointing a g*n at him. The dark hole in the muzzle that extended throughout the length of the barrel felt even more merciless and chilling now.

A scorching wind blew from behind Zac, reminding him of what danger he would face if he dared take another step. He swallowed— he would burn to ash. 

“I do not tolerate betrayal,” Jeremy muttered soullessly. The glowing red light of the furnace beneath lit up his face and revealed the scar that drove from the left of his forehead to his chin. “Now… Either you give me the stone and die quickly… Or don’t give me the stone, and die painfully.”

Zac squinted. He knew how Jeremy treated people who betrayed, but he couldn't stay loyal to him anymore after he found out his secrets.

If both ways meant death… He had to bet on another.

He bit his thumb forcefully, a bit harder than he meant to, and rubbed the blood onto the green, turbid rock shard with spiralling patterns within which he held tightly in his hand.

Instantly the stone disappeared into ash, and an unbelievable wave of pain shot through his body.

He was prepared for this and tried not to scream, but he could hardly keep even his consciousness under the force. Even Jeremy, the head of the gangsters, took a step back and for the first time, fear washed across his face at Zac’s screams. His men were completely frightened and backed away, some of them even fell down the bridge and into the furnace due to shock.

Zac’s brain was trying to fall unconscious, which was the best way to protect himself. But the power of the stone forced it awake and to absorb the full force of the pain that it brought along. Slowly the stone’s power started attacking his mind, too. Terrible memories awoken all at once, he was too shocked by them to scream. He remembered it again, a street full of b****y, dead bodies. He looked down at his white, clean hands, and suddenly they seemed to be covered with blood.

His throat might’ve ripped from the screaming. Jeremy tsked and backed off. He frowned and aimed his g*n at the twisted shape of Zac and fired three shots.

Although he did not need the bullets to add to his wounds, the hole where the three balls went through bled, and scarlet blood pooled around Zac. He staggered, with one wrong step, he slipped in his own puddle and fell towards the glowing red furnace with an everlasting scream.

The Stone of Sickness. The most dangerous and powerful of all gifts that Abronze Lasbender had left. Accordingly, it brought the most painful process in order to absorb and conquer it. 

Jeremy found the stone, but he never even wanted to touch it. The Stone of Sickness did not only bring the power of immunity to every kind of poison or sickness to exist and cast deadly a virus that eliminated enemies in one single stroke, but the stone itself carried the deathly aura of every life that had stopped there. Jeremy did not know how many were killed by the stone, he only knew that there were so many that the Stone was cursed by it. There were so many hating and revengeful souls left on the stone that occasionally it caused direct physical attacks. He had imprisoned people for experiments. Staying in one room with the stone one night, all of his test subjects started bleeding from every opening, behaving weirdly, hurting him or themselves, and babbling things that made no sense.

Afterward, Jeremy did not dare to even glance at the stone anymore. He had no idea how this betraying rat had survived holding it all the way here. But he was definitely dead now. Even if Jeremy hadn't shot him, the stone would’ve killed him.

And also, being the last of Emperor Ling… 

Zac Ling had to be gone.