A Cold and Heartless Lullaby -Chapter 22-

Hoards of reverants descended upon Leper the moment the order was given. Hands grasped from all sides and faces attested savage pleasure. Somewhere in the roiling sea of chaos, Kia was lost among the waves. She screamed.

“Leper!”

It’s too late, the voice said. Leper was forced to surrender to the whims of his captors, and his feet left the ground. It was like he was falling, but this time, he would have given anything to regain control.

Sets of hands seized every limb. Men hollered and chanted. Leper didn’t know where he was until the sun glared into his eyes. Kia’s screams were near, but he couldn’t tell where. He fought to escape, but more hands kept him down. 

A moment later, Leper was tossed into the snow. Flags were sticking out all around him, and it took a moment for him to get his bearings. Kia was already there, crawling towards him with tears streaming down her face. Reverants dug into the snow, finding chunks of gravel and stone. Leper’s soul pulsed.

Before the first stones hit, Leper threw himself in front of Kia, curling up around her as she cowered in her blanket. Stone struck metal, and pain spiked across his back. One hit his leg. His arm. His vision buzzed as another clipped the back of his head. Leper tried to ignore the pain, telling himself he couldn’t feel it, but it wasn’t working. He writhed. 

Another stone hit, and his glass faceplate fractured further around his eye. The ground spun around him. Leper could barely tell which way was up. 

Among the crowd, Leper caught glimpses of the high reverant approaching. The man pushed his way through the mob, looking down his nose in self-righteous approval at the feral display. The image repeated itself in Leper’s head and rage boiled inside of him. He clutched a wayward rock in his fist, and before he knew what he was doing, he had thrown it as hard as he could. 

Leper barely saw what happened. He heard a body fall. Chaos ensued. When he looked up, he saw reverants crowding around a figure on the ground, their boots trampling the limp white trains that trailed from it.

His body ached with pain, but Leper stood, and with no time to think, he snatched Kia and made a break for it. There were wheelers parked up ahead, and Leper made for them without looking back. He lifted Kia onto the seat and mounted behind her. She huddled against him, seemingly unscathed. Thank Sol. 

Leper made to twist the crank before realizing that his forearm had shaken loose from its joint and was dangling from its hydraulic lines. Pain throbbed, and Leper nearly fainted. There was no time. He switched hands and twisted as fast as he could. The reverants, aware of Leper again, were sprinting towards him. The wheeler fired up beneath him, and Leper shot out into the snow moments before they arrived. Shards missed by strides as Leper raced away from The Cathedral, fighting to keep out of range, but the reverants leaped onto their wheelers and closed the gap. There was only one path left to take. 

Leper spotted the signature mountain formation on the horizon and turned towards it. There was only one place the Reverants wouldn’t follow. It was also one of the most dangerous places he could think of. There wasn’t time to weigh the risks. Leper headed straight for Snap-Jaw Alley.

The jagged valley loomed on the horizon, and the reverants had stopped firing. Perhaps they know where I’m going, Leper thought. The ground ahead blasted sun into Leper’s eyes, and before he could react, the snow changed beneath him. There was nothing but ice until the mountains. The reverants had fallen back.

His wheels lost traction, and the wheeler drifted across the frozen lake. Crossing over with his good hand, Leper clutched the brakes, but it was too late. The wheeler was out of control, and it spun out. 

A deep crack rippled across the ice as a hundred fractals appeared beneath the wheeler, less than a stride deep. Leper’s soul shriveled. He grabbed Kia with his good hand and vaulted from the wheeler, not a second too soon. Ice broke, and the wheeler tipped backward, disappearing into the frigid depths. 

Cold fog clung to dark waters as cracks snaked out from the hole. Leper tried to stand, but even as he shifted, tiny fractures appeared in the ice beneath him.

“Kia, move away from me,” he commanded. She scooted away, eyeing the cracks underneath him. 

The Reverants waited, idling their wheelers on the shore. Roman stepped onto the ice, slipping slightly but regaining his composure as he approached. Leper tried to stand, moving as slowly and carefully as he could. He winced as more cracks flickered out beneath him. Leper couldn’t drown, but he couldn’t swim either, and the cold would sap his battery in minutes. Roman advanced with death in his eyes. Ice cracked beneath him, but he ignored it and kept walking.

“YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RUN, ANDRON!” he roared. A thicker fractal flashed out, echoing across the lake’s surface as Roman neared the fissure, and he was forced to stop only strides away from Leper. “You will face retribution for what you’ve done!” Roman screamed, spit flying from his mouth. Leper took a cautious step backward, and more ice cracked. The alley was close. If he made a break for it, he could make it, provided the ice could hold him.

“What do you want from me, Roman?” Leper asked.

“What do I want? WHAT DO I WANT? I WANT YOUR ROTTEN HEAD ON A STAKE!”

“Then come and get it! Maybe the cold shock will kill you before you drown!”

Roman motioned for his guards, “Go and apprehend him!” A handful of them stepped out warily onto the ice. “We don’t have all day!” 

Leper took another step back, flinching as the fractals doubled. One of the guards fell to his hands and knees as cracks split out beneath him.

“Come on!” Roman said, “What do you fear more: a little ice or me?”

“Why don’t you get me yourself, Roman?” Leper taunted, “Or are you too much of a coward?”

Roman chose to ignore him, focusing on his guards, “GET A MOVE ON!” One of them retreated back to the shore, and the others soon followed. “YOU DARE GO AGAINST ME?” 

Leper took another step back. The ice was barely holding, but it was working.

“Give it up, Roman!” Leper said. Roman turned towards him, an ice-cold stare meeting Leper’s eyes.

“Where are you going to go?” he said, “To the alley? You’ll suffer a far worse fate there!”

“I’ll take my chances,” Leper said

 He made a break for it, taking Kia’s hand as he ran for the alley. Every step felt like it would break through the ice, but it held. 

“AAANNDROOON!” Roman bellowed. 

Leper felt the ice shatter behind him. One of his feet was nearly caught. He picked up Kia and, holding her to his chest with his one good arm, he broke into a full sprint, splintering the ice beneath his feet. Behind them, Leper left a wake of destruction. With every step, it nearly caught up. All he could do was keep his eyes focused on the shore ahead. His soul pulsed, and Leper ran for everything he was worth.  

When they reached dry ground, they hit it all full force, plunging into a snow drift. For a moment, Leper lay there, Kia held close as a dull pain throbbed across his entire body. 

“Are you okay, Kia?” Leper asked. She nodded, but she didn’t meet his eyes. Leper stood, his head aching. 

From a distance, the valley had seemed like a sliver carved from the mountains, but now, standing before it, Snap-Jaw Alley stretched upwards to dizzying heights. Its mouth was gaping, jagged, and somehow claustrophobic. From where they stood, the valley floor wandered on in a twisted path until beyond the horizon. 

Leper helped Kia up and took one last glance at the reverants. Roman stood in place, no more than a distant silhouette. Even from far away, his rage was evident.

Leper turned away. I hope you made the right choice.