Ascension (51 page)

“
Looks like you
had some luck,
”
my father joked in
reference to the weapons as he dusted off his hands and approached
us. I was always amazed at the way my father handled stress. He was
able to make jokes in the worst of it all and make everyone feel
safe. I, on the other hand, seemed to forget how to swim when the
water turned rough.
“
Did we get enough
for everyone?
”

“
I
’
d say they did! Look at all them
swords! And that mace,
”
Heath eyed the
mace longingly, and I figured that we
’
d be seeing him wield it later
on in the day. I had no doubt that he knew how to do some real
damage with that weapon.

Mr. Harris stood
by and ran his finger down the blades of one of the swords and said
simply,
“
These are fine weapons. Army
grade.
”

My father
inspected the spears and the bows, kneeling down to feel the
points. He stood up and asked,
“
Should I
gather everyone together?
”

Erik
nodded,
“
Yes. We will stay here and
organize all the weapons.
”

“
Here, Father,
I
’
ll help
you,
”
I said, joining his side. I felt
useless for having slept while everyone else was busy getting
things together, and although I knew I needed the rest, that
didn
’
t give me
an excuse to slack off now.

My father and I
made our way through the camp, sending everyone to where Erik and
his men had unloaded the weapons. It took us a good two hours to
get to everyone, as we were frequently having to stop and answer
questions, ease people
’
s worries, and size them up to make sure they got the
appropriate weapons. Erik was giving basic instruction on how to
use the weapons, but with such little time, we would most likely
end up depending more on strength than skill. Years in the mines
made for thick bones and strong muscles, and an ability to wield
tools with ease. In a sense, our oppression might very well lead to
our success.

“
No, that sword
it much too large for you. Yes, you may be able to carry it, but
how does your swing look? Exactly,
”
my
father was trying to convince a the young, rather thin man to
switch out a sword nearly as large as himself for a smaller dagger,
but the young man seemed to have his sight, and pride, set on the
larger weapon. However, when he tried to swing it, he could barely
heft it off the ground, and the swing was so wild it left him off
balance. I had an idea, and returned from the weapons pile with a
bow and arrow.

“
Why
don
’
t you try
this,
”
I offered the bow and arrow up to
him, but he just looked at it skeptically. We
hadn
’
t had many
people take up the bows and arrows, because other than the
occasional slingshot toy that the younger boys fashioned out of
leftover scraps of leather, there wasn
’
t any equivalent to bows in the
colonies.

“
What
’
s
your name?
”
I asked as the man inspected
the weapon and played around with it in his hand.

“
Derrin,
”
he said, slinging the arrow and pulling the bow
back. I ducked as he slid his aim over my head, but slowly rose in
astonishment as I watched the arrow sail across the field and into
the trunk of a tree.
“
Wow. That felt
good,
”
he said, putting the bow
down.

“
How did you do
that,
”
I asked, still shocked that his
arrow ran true.

“
Well,
I
’
m from
Weldar, and in the center of our colony is a large harp. I used to
play around and use the strings to fire rocks and such at my
brothers. When I got older, because I was a bit, well, scrawnier,
than the other boys, I was trained as the colony
’
s musician. The shape of the
harp is very similar to this bow,
”
he
shrugged, embarrassed.

“
Do you know if
anyone else who came with you would know how to use the
bow?
”
I asked, suddenly
excited.

“
Most of the
women of my colony were trained on the harp. Many of them remained
home to care for the children, but I can find the ones who came
with me,
”
he offered.

“
That would be
very helpful, Derrin. Thank you!
”
I
smiled at him and he blushed, nearly sprinting away from me to find
the women.

“
I think he likes
you,
”
Erik teased, doing up from behind
me.

“
Does that make
you jealous?
”
I teased back. I leaned
into him, feeling safe in his warmth.

Is this the calm
before the storm? I thought to myself. In just under an hour, we
would be at the wall, either fighting for our lives or negotiating
with the King. It
’
s really the same thing, isn't it? We would still be
fighting for our lives, just with words rather than
weapons.

“
If everyone
could gather round,
”
my father called us
all together, and the crowd quieted. I looked around to see that
everyone had a weapon of some kind in their hand. Heath was
lovingly caressing his mace, while some of the less mature men were
aiming their swords at each other, play-fighting with their new
weapons. The older members of the group looked more solemn, some
even holding their spears and swords away from them as if they
could separate themselves from the violence their weapons would
inevitably bring.

“
We
’
ve been brought together here
for a purpose greater than ourselves,
”
my
father begun. His voice carried over the crowd, taking his message
to each individual.
“
Centuries ago, we
were forced to live underground, exiled from society on the basis
of our wealth, our jobs, our appearance, our disabilities. While
those on the surface have prospered, we have toiled away
underground, making the best out of the worst situation. We have
been beaten and abused, mistreated and taken advantage of. But now,
because of my daughter, Faradene,
”
he
extended a gesture in my direction,
“
we
have all been brought together to fight for a better
future.
”
My father called me to the
center, but my legs didn
’
t seem to be able to carry me. I
felt a hand take mine, and I looked to see my mother holding my
hand tight, tears in her eyes.

“
I
’
m so proud of you,
”
she said, and holding my hand like she did when
I was still a child, she brought me to my father in the center of
all the colonists. Although my knees were shaking, I walked with my
head held high, and when I spoke, I was relived that my voice was
strong.

“
Over half a year
ago, I was brought to the surface as a slave. It was there that I
learned that I wasn
’
t alone, that my people weren
’
t alone. There were many others
like us, who suffered at the hands of the guards, who toiled away
in the name of the King, who never got to see the light of day
because we were deemed unworthy. Although I grieved that there were
so many others who shared our fate, I also found hope. I knew that,
if we all found each other, we would have a standing chance against
the King and his men. We could make a case against him and earn our
freedom. Not only will we win the right to live on the surface,
where we belong, but we will also have the opportunity to mend the
broken bridge between ourselves and our brothers and sisters on the
surface. We will replacing all the prejudice, the lies, the
stereotypes, with the truth.

It is my wish
that we may achieve this without ever drawing our swords, readying
our arrows,
”
as I said this, I looked at
Derrin and the group of women he had organized, all armed with bows
and arrows. I looked at Heath with his mace, Erik with his sword,
my father standing with our family
’
s staff, and everyone else with
their weapons in hand.
“
In a perfect
world, it would be so. But this isn
’
t a perfect world, which is why
we are now prepared to fight. I thank each and every one of you for
putting your faith in me, and I can only hope that I will prove to
you that it was worth it. So today, may we fight for our rights,
may we fight for our honor, and may we fight for our
people!
”
I raised my sword and everyone
around me did the same, cheering.

We were ready.

Chapter
40

“
Wow. That
’
s a lot of soldiers.
”
We had made it to the border of the forest, and
I could see the camp of the King
’
s army. Along the way, Erik had
filled us in on some of the information he gathered during his
weapon run, and although he told me that there had been around a
thousand soldiers, the number didn
’
t look so overwhelming in my
head.

“
We should still
stick to the plan,
”
I asserted. Earlier
on, we had agreed that we would first send out a small party made
of myself, Erik, my father, a few other Nether leaders, and some of
the newly farmed archery unit. We would present our case, ask for
an audience with the King, and hopefully everything would run
smoothly after that. If not, well, that
’
s why we have the weapons.
Hopefully the element of surprise will give us some advantage,
being that there were at least three times the amount of soldiers
as there were Nethers.

“
Faradene, before
you go,
”
my mother came up to me through
the crowd,
“
I have something to tell
you.
”
My mother took my hands in hers and
looked at my father, who nodded at her.

“
I wanted to tell
you the origin of your name,
”
she said to
me. I was confused at her timing. Couldn
’
t it wait for when we
weren
’
t heading
straight into battle? But knowing my mother, she had a reason for
telling me this now.
“
Faradene is a name
that has been passed down from generations on my side of the
family. It was the name of your great, great, great grandmother, a
powerful warrior from before the Purge. The storytellers refer to
her as Fara. She fought against invaders trying to enter Ahrenia,
back before we had all been sent underground. She never failed to
fight for justice, and when the King decided to banish us all to
the colonies, she stood up against him. Because of this, her entire
family was sent to live in the colonies alongside the people she so
courageously sought to protect.

She was a war
hero, known for her beauty, her loyalty, and her strong will. From
the moment you were born, your father and I knew that you were
something special. And I am so proud to say that you have earned
your name, that you have lived out Faradene
’
s legacy.
”
My mother had tears in her eyes at the conclusion of her
story, and I couldn
’
t help but feel mine water as well. She gave me a strong,
firm hug, and I held on tight, knowing this may very well be the
last time I saw my mother. When she released me, we both had tears
streaming down our faces, contrasting the smiles on our lips. She
kissed the top of my head, wished me luck, and went back into the
rest of the group to finish the last
preparations.

As I geared up to
enter the field, I couldn
’
t help but feel my heart swell.
This whole time I had thought that my parents had always bemoaned
having a daughter like me, who couldn
’
t contribute to her fair share
of work, who couldn
’
t seem to do anything but get herself in trouble and make
trouble for everyone else, whose mouth seemed to run faster than
her mind and somehow managed to find the perfect words to cause
harm to those she loved. But I could see now that all their
punishment, all their admonitions and overprotection, came out of
their love for me, their concern for my safety, their belief that I
was made for something more. I wasn
’
t going to prove them
wrong.

I walked into the
field with my head held high, Erik in step next to me, my father
and the Nether leaders behind us, and the archers in the back. It
didn
’
t take
long for the soldiers to spot us, and in just a few moments we were
surrounded by weapons. We made no motion to draw our own, kept
partially hidden in order to not appear as threats as well as to
keep them from being taken from us immediately. A man on a horse
approached us, and I assumed he was a general of some sorts by the
proud way which he carried himself.