Morning Rising (8 page)

“Everyone in our worlds has the same problem
with iron as you do. The metals here are different, there’s no iron
in anything that people could come in contact to every day. The
only things with any iron in them are weapons.” Baron took her arm
and led her toward the stairs. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Okay,” Kara said, allowing him to pull her
forward even as her mind rebelled against the idea. She still felt
trapped in the small stairway and wanted out as soon as possible.
Iron or not, experience made her wary of that much metal. “The
handle to Demitar’s office door was made of iron,” she said,
remembering the slight burn to her hand.

“I don’t doubt that,” Baron said. When he
frowned, his angular face seemed harder. “The rules are Demitar’s
own to make and break as he sees fit. He might have a man killed
for breaking a law that he himself breaks daily.”

Their footsteps sounded like they belonged to
a whole army as they clattered up the metal stairs. Kara did her
best to move quietly, but every noise echoed wildly in the cramped
stairway. She didn’t realize how stuffy the stairs were until they
stepped out onto the roof and the cool morning air hit her
face.

It was like the first real day of fall when
the air seems crisp and welcome after summer’s heat. She breathed
in, expecting the smell of fallen leaves, but only getting car
exhaust and wet animal. She wrinkled her nose and tried not to take
such deep breaths.

“It’s not so bad as long as you don’t try to
suck it in,” Baron said. He smiled at her. “You get used to
it.”

“I’m not sure I want to get used to it,” Kara
said, looking around. “What are we doing up here?” Looking out over
the city, it was apparent how high up they were. Kara couldn’t help
but feel vulnerable and exposed to the world around her.

The city itself lay desolate beneath them in
the half light of morning. The buildings were gray and few stood
out from the rest in size or shape. There was the occasional
blaring of a car horn or cry from some animal, but otherwise the
city was relatively silent. A thin layer of smog hovered above
everything like it was waiting to drop unsuspectingly on those
below. Kara turned away from the city, hating how hopeless the
bleak landscape made her. Baron was watching her intently.

“What?” Kara asked nervously.

“It’s just so strange to see you this way,
almost a woman. You’re still just a kid in my mind,” Baron
explained. He shook the thought away. “Anyway, here you go.” He
held out a small black rock to her in the palm of his hand. It was
flat, round, and looked as smooth as polished metal.

“What is it?” Kara hesitated without picking
up the stone. Baron kept his hand out to her, and she stared at the
innocent looking stone.

“It’s an awakening stone,” Baron said. “It
will awaken all the memories of what you were meant to be in the
Daylands and help you remember your time with Morning in the human
world.”

“Dylan,” Kara corrected absently. The wind
whipped across them, blowing her hair into her face. She pushed it
back behind her ears before gathering her courage and reaching for
the stone. She hesitated, pulling her hand back. “Will it help me
remember everything about the human world?”

“What do you mean?” Baron pulled his hand
back, looking at her in the dim light. He frowned, waiting for her
answer.

“I’m forgetting things,” Kara said. She
shrugged and looked back out over the city. “I mean here I am a
world away from home and the only person from there I really think
about is Dylan. I didn’t worry what my mom would be thinking, or if
school would miss me.”

“That’s the way it was meant to be,” Baron
said. Kara turned back to him. He looked uncomfortable as he spoke.
“When you were sent to that world your mother was charmed to see
you as her own, and everyone you came into contact with just
accepted that you had always been there. It wasn’t meant to be
permanent. That’s why your mother wasn’t the best. Now that you are
gone-” Baron sighed, finding it hard to get the words out- “they
don’t remember you being there.”

It should have been like a punch in the
stomach. Kara turned away from Baron and waited for the pain to
well up inside her at the thought of her mom and a few other family
members forgetting her. The pain never came. Instead, a sick sense
of relief flooded through her. It was okay that she wasn’t thinking
about her mom, because her mom wasn’t thinking about her. No one
from her old life would miss her.

“Are you okay?” Baron asked. He reached a
hand out to comfort her, but Kara turned to him. For a moment Kara
thought he would grip her shoulder, or pull her into a hug, but he
dropped his hand.

“I’m good,” she assured him. “Let’s do this.”
Baron grinned and held out the stone. Kara reached for it, but a
trickle of fear ran through her. She paused with her fingers just
above the stone and glanced back up at Baron. “Will it hurt?” she
asked in a small voice, ashamed to be asking.

“Some,” Baron said with a small nod. “Take
it. It won’t do anything until it’s activated.”

Kara took the stone from him. It was warm and
surprisingly heavy in her hand. She wrapped her fingers around it,
enjoying the feel of its smooth surface and warm weight. “So, how
does it work?” she asked.

“Put it in your other hand, then back again
and back again to the other. Left, right, and then left again,”
Baron said. “Then it will start.”

“You’ll be here?” Kara asked. She didn’t want
to be alone on the roof while her memories came back. She couldn’t
shake the image of herself stumbling off the edge of the roof in a
fit of madness.

“Of course.” Baron nodded, his face as
unreadable as stone. “I’ll be right here.”

Taking a deep breath, Kara did what he said.
She passed the stone to her left hand, and it seemed to grow
slightly warmer. Once back in her right hand, it was definitely
edging toward hot. Once more to her left hand and it began to burn.
Reflexively she opened her hand, shaking it to release the stone.
She expected the stone to drop as she cried out in pain, but it
didn’t leave her hand.

She watched, crying without realizing it, as
the black stone sank into her hand. It should have hurt, but once
the stone sank inside her, she could no longer feel it. Black
tendrils ran up her arm, wrapping around it in curling swoops and
heading for her shoulder. The black continued up her shoulder and
onto her face. When half her face was coal black, and her vision
went dark, the memories started. They came so quickly she barely
registered them. The only thing she noticed was the pain.

Kara’s head throbbed as the memories took
root in her brain, falling back into their rightful places. She
gripped her head with both hands and fell to her knees moaning,
unaware of anything in the outside world. As the pain inside her
head threatened to consume her, Kara dropped her hands and head to
the ground. She was oblivious to gravel digging into the back of
her shaking hands. It was the most intense pain she had ever
experienced, seeping deep into her bones before twisting to be let
out.

Kara let her hands drop from her head as the
last memory fell into place. She stayed on her hands and knees,
taking deep, shaky breaths. If she tried to stand, she was sure she
would collapse.

Slowly, the blackness began to seep out. It
withdrew from her head, leaving her panting as her breathing evened
out and the pain faded away. She sat on her knees, watching as the
tendrils ran back down her arm, following the same path they had
moved up. They stopped at her wrist, all the blackness pooling
there. It wrapped again and again around her wrist until she felt a
flash of white hot pain that made her gasp, and then nothing.

Kara sat staring at her wrist. There, where
the blackness lay only moments before, was a strange design, one
line, three dots in a row, two lines, and one large dot with a
smaller one underneath. She looked up at Baron. He watched her with
a pained expression. Her own pain had subsided as quickly as it had
started.

“What does it mean?” Kara asked, her voice
was barely more than a whisper as she looked at the design.

“Truth, in the old language,” Baron answered.
“I’m sorry it caused you pain.”

“I’m okay,” Kara said. She pushed herself to
her feet only to stumble and be caught by Baron’s waiting arms. She
felt light headed and weak, like she had just been sick for a
week.

“You need to eat something,” he ordered. He
put an arm around her waist, and pulled her arm up to his
shoulders. Supporting her, Baron began to move toward the
stairs.

“Okay.” Kara nodded, head swimming. “But I
just ate.”

Baron chuckled low in his throat.

“That’s okay, the stone takes a lot out of
you,” Baron said. “When we find. . . Dylan-” Baron seemed to have
trouble with the name, “-it’s going to be harder for her. You’ll
have to help her carry the burden of the memories.”

“Why harder,” Kara breathed as they wound
down the stairs. This time she hardly considered the metal around
her, but the echoing of their steps was bringing her headache back
to her threefold.

“You gave your memories willingly the first
time and the second time they were only pushed back. By law,
Demitar couldn’t truly take them from you. “But Dylan is his by
law. He ripped Dylan’s memories from her. Putting them back will be
like shoving salt in fresh wounds,” Baron said, his voice grim.

“Sounds nice,” Kara said sarcastically. After
the pain she had just felt, she didn’t want to think of it being
any worse for Dylan. Her pain had almost been too much.

They made their way back towards the
apartment silently, Baron lost in his own thoughts and Kara trying
to stay on her feet. Helping Dylan get her memories back would be
painful. Kara had never been able to handle the sight of Dylan in
pain, but if it was best for Dylan, Kara would do it.

Chapter 6

“She took it all?”

Kara stirred on the couch, woken by the sound
of Alster’s voice. He was angry again. Kara kept her eyes shut, not
ready to face the world yet. When Baron sat her on the couch after
the awakening, she had realized she couldn’t keep her eyes open.
She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but it felt like hours.
Kara listened to another few seconds of murmured conversation
before opening her eyes. The ceiling seemed to be miles above
her.

Kara took a deep breath and pushed herself
up. Her vision swam wildly as the pain in her head flared again.
She felt hungover, like the events of the morning were only a
dream. Then her eyes drifted to her left wrist where the small
black mark was still visible. Kara ran a soft finger over the
raised mark.

“Are you alright?” Alster asked as he sat on
the foot stool in front of Kara. He pulled her hand to him and
examined her wrist. “I’m sorry he did this. It wasn’t time for this
yet, you’re not strong enough. She wasn’t strong enough for this.”
Alster glared over his shoulder at Baron.

“I feel fine,” Kara lied. She felt like four
hamsters were chewing through her brain, but she didn’t want to
listen to Baron and Alster fight. Besides, Alster didn’t get to
decide what she was or wasn’t ready for. His eyes flared at the
tone of her voice, but he didn’t comment.

“I told you she was ready.” Baron stood at
the counter, grinning.

“She is as incorrigible as you,” Alster
snapped. “You’re both lucky her mind hasn’t broken from the force
of the memories.” He dropped Kara’s hand.

“You said it wouldn’t be so bad for her,”
Baron said. He sounded a little less sure of himself; his grin
faded.

“I lied,” Alster said. “Of course it won’t be
as bad for her as it will be for Morning, but the sheer amount of
memories could have been too much for anyone.”

“I really am fine,” Kara insisted. Sure, she
felt a bit dizzy and her head was pounding, but she was sure it
would pass.

“Feel like something to eat?” Baron asked. He
held up a plate with a sandwich on it. “We need to get your blood
sugar up after the shock to your body.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Kara said
gratefully. Baron handed the plate to her. She took a small bite to
find the sandwich was made with something like peanut butter, maybe
almond butter.

“Fine.” Alster nodded. His lips were pressed
together tight. “Better that she has the memories now I
suppose.”

“Any reason?” Baron asked. His face was
focused, serious and ready for action.

“I’ve found Morning. She is at the Mission
with Kade. According to my sources she has been there all night.
Apparently they are putting on quite the show with her.”

Kara’s stomach churned, but she couldn’t
bring herself to ask what he meant by that.

“Not usually his place,” Baron said.

“Well I’m sure the little stunt you two
pulled last night might have had something to do with that,” Alster
pointed out with a glare. “Now we are going to have to take this
fight to him. I really would have preferred you confront him in a
place with a few more accessible escape routes. That is no longer
an option.”

“I can always transfer them out,” Baron said.
He glanced at Kara. “We grab Dylan and split.” Kara nodded.

“That may be fine for you, but what of the
people helping you?” Alster asked. “You expect others to risk their
lives for you but leave them with no escape route? Of all the
half-brained plans-”

“What is the Mission?” Kara asked, almost
afraid to interrupt Alster. She didn’t want to be snapped at, but
she couldn’t listen to him berate Baron any longer.

“Years ago, Daylanders tried to bring
religion to the people of Inbetween,” Baron answered before Alster
could. “Alster was among them.”

“It was a noble thought.” Alster sniffed. “We
were all relatively young, none more than sixty or seventy, barely
older than Baron here.” Kara looked wide-eyed at Baron. The idea
that he could be anywhere near that age never crossed her mind. “A
few of us saw the way religion worked in the human world and hoped
that we could perhaps use those same principles to bring values to
the people here. It failed from the start; religion does not come
naturally to us. Even in the Daylands, we know no gods. It was
foolish to believe we could convert the dregs here.”