The Wild Beasts of Anthony Mannis

Due to the constant presence of savage Tzolkhan invokers in Northern Forest Zone, North Forest rangers forego the standard-issue Chesswinder rifles and are instead equipped with KA-DT Railguns and Mark I Aegis Armor—a revolutionary Borges innovation.

- Information Available to Borges Citizens, Pamphlet IX

Raffick stepped quickly down the pasty hallways of Borges Command. Warden Tan will love this intel. She must, if I am—if she is— to capture this Anthony, this invoker. His brisk footsteps echoed. He rounded the corner to Warden Tan’s office. The Jester was lounging outside, twiddling a stiletto lazily between his fingers. The two made eye contact. Try to use that dagger on me, Raffick thought, and I will pin your tongue to the back of your head. He rapped on Warden Tan’s door.

“Enter.”

Raffick did, shutting the door behind him.

“Well?” The warden leered, mouth full. She was eating at her desk.

“Ma’am,” Raffick straightened to attention, “reports from North Forest. North Third ranger squad has found the invoker Anthony and his two companions in Tzolkhan territory. They were deterred but are armoring up for a raid later tonight. Three North Forest squadrons—two, five, and six—will be involved. This intel came directly from a Spectre Man who fought against Anthony himself.”

“This I know.” Warden Tan said in almost a whisper. She placed her knife and fork down without breaking eye contact with the Elite Spectre Man.

“And you know I know. Information comes to me as quickly as it does you. Yet you feel the need to appear before me. I know why you are here. Speak.”

Raffick had to look away on the pretense he needed to clear his throat. “I request a second chance to capture the invoker.”

“Third chance.”

“Third chance. His power when I fought him near Lagulina was greater than we had anticipated. Ordinary squads will not be able to bring him in. Alone, I could take him. But his companions—”

“A boy and a girl.”

“Do not be deceived. They are—”

“Do not presume I am easily deceived, Raffick!”

“Yes ma’am,” he faltered, “they are a formidable trio—they are indeed greater than the sum of their parts. I need SSI.”

Warden Tan raised an eyebrow. “I am sure you do.”

“Let me use The Grim. Or The Black Death— ”

“Hah!” Warden Tan’s abrupt laugh was unrestrained mockery, “Need I remind you that your case completions are down? And after that…debacle with Warden Krall, you dare ask for reinstated leadership over The Black Death? Rojas has more important things to do than suffer you.” She spat the last word out vehemently.

“I have worked with her predecessor to great success,” Raffick replied stiffly, “the Black Death are stationed in Forest Zone, it would be quickest to deploy them.”

“Quite the coincidence that they are the most powerful as well.”

Because I was once their commanding officer, Raffick thought, but did not dare say aloud. Warden Tan would have talked over him regardless.

“…You would have me deploy The Black Death led by an Elite Spectre Officer that has twice failed me already. The Trichor would have my head for tossing the most decorated SSI back into the hands of a…disappointment. I should have your rank for insolence.”

Raffick’s jaw tightened.

Warden Tan stroked her chin with slender fingers. “What of that new invoker you picked up in East Forest? Where is he placed?”

“He is assigned to the Nosferat,” Raffick said hesitantly, “but he is not ready. The induction processes are not yet complete. His full power is unascertained as of yet; he is too raw. If you ask me, he belongs in The Black Death…”

“I did not ask you. And I did not ask for a lifetime of excuses,” her pen scratched on a Tech-Rec, “normally, Elite Spectre Officer Typhon commands the Nosferat, but he is currently on an away-mission, so you will take that SSI squad and be glad of it. Besides, the Nosferat are stationed in Forest Zone as well, so they would be quick to deploy, no? Forest invokers to catch a forest invoker. A poetic justice, really. Dismissed.”

A poetic mistake to service your ego. Still, the Nosferat are reliable.

“Gratitude,” he bowed, an expected obeisance.

“One more thing,” Warden Tan said, almost as an afterthought. Raffick was nearly out the door; he paused and turned.

“Marceau will be going with you.”

Raffick’s blood went cold. He heard cackling from the hallway.

#

It was dark when the hunting party got back to Tzolk’in, though the village was already abuzz. Galvarino had returned early on Lautara’s orders and warned the villagers of the imminent attack. Spears were being sharpened, traps were being set, battlements quickly erected. Two sun-browned children ran up to Philip and Anthony and thrust burlap sacks of food at them, then ran off.

“You must ride,” Lautara said to them, “it is thirty miles to Oaktown. From there it is easy to get to Free Crossing, and into Ocean Zone, or Cirk Malpy if you so desire. The children of the forest will protect you to the edge of Tzolkhan territory.”

“Lautara…” Hayley said worriedly, “we brought this on you. Let us stay and fight.”

The leader of the Tzolkhan shook her head.

“No. We brought this upon ourselves when we accosted you on the wrong pretenses that you were Borges. You would have been through our lands and on your way…”

She observed her warriors preparing for battle. Ikoa was carving three fresh cuts into his left arm. Huskar was tying spearheads to shafts, amassing a large pile next to him. Ten Faces was applying war paint to a line of warriors.

“…Now we must pay the price. It is no matter. It was a long time coming.”

Anthony watched a woman deconstruct her hut. It collapsed into an easily managed bundle of cloth and stick, and her child helped her strap it together. The woman smiled at him, as if it were his fault that they had to move. He turned away.

“Your people will be alright?” he asked Lautara, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“They will manage. It is not the first time we will have moved. The Tzolkhan are strong.”

Her purple hair flashed in the firelight. “We have been in Hoemba—the forest—long before it was declared a Zone of the Borges; we will be here long after.”

Hayley gazed wistfully at the transformation undergoing the tree-city. “Hoemba. I haven’t heard it called that in a long time. Beautiful.”

Ma’s voice echoed in Anthony’s head. Never forget our people’s history.

“I would have loved to live here,” Hayley said.

Lautara placed a hand on her shoulder. “I will expect your return. In the meanwhile, I would have you keep the bow I gave you. You show skill.”

Hayley hugged her tightly, and Lautara returned the embrace. Anthony nudged Philip.

“What a sight, eh?” he pointed at them; Hayley in her straw jacket and Lautara in her black-cat pelt. He felt a twang in his chest and realized he missed his mother.

Ahwhoooooooooooo came the horn. Lautara lifted her head.

“They are here. You three must move. Can you ride out?”

Anthony nodded.

“Then let us go. Ikoa! You have the command until I return. Children, to me. Tzolkhan! We were born in the woods where the winds whisper free. The moon is our shield and the sun is our sword. Let them try to take it away! For Hoemba!”

She held her bow above her head and the Tzolkhan roared, shaking their weapons in the air.

Ahwhooooooooooo.

The first attack skydrone buzzed overhead, its spotlight searching, and a purple glow emanated from a mounted railgun but was immediately shot down by a ballista. The Tzolkhan warrior manning it howled his victory—the first casualty of the battle went to the Borges. More skydrones appeared, well above the treeline, hunting for targets. The colossus made of vines struck them down.

Anthony could hear the clank of stalkers and the tramp of soldier’s boots as he was lowered to the ground. Hayley, Philip, and Lautara dropped next to him.

“Your advanced way of life will not be forgotten,” Philip said to Lautara. It was his way of apologizing.

“Hopefully yours will,” was hers. She smiled though, and pressed something into his palm.

“Here is your revolver back. I expect you to repay the Borges sixfold for whatever they do.”

Ikoa clapped a massive hand on the young invoker’s shoulders, looking at all of them. “See you soon, little foresters.”

Huskar grins. “They are not just foresters anymore. They are Hoemban.”

“I thought we were Haazads.” Anthony snarked.

“You can if you want to be,” Huskar replied. Hayley shrieked laughter and hugged him.

Anthony summoned a mount for them, a six-legged rhinoceros with bony plates of armor underneath its skin. It kneeled so the three could climb on. Lautara summoned Wild Moon. The white tiger was different than before; by moonlight, the beast was near thrice as large, its stripes a glowing silver instead of black. Its eyes glowed a deep aquamarine. Lautara mounted, her pelt swirling about her. Awestruck, Anthony felt compelled to bow. She was every bit a forest queen—the pair would not go down easily.

A trio of North Forest stalkers crashed through the brush, four Spectre Men behind them. The sound of seven railguns charging filled the air with crackles of electricity. Lautara turned to Anthony.

“Go,” she said.

Their rhinoceros bellowed and charged, heading away from Lautara, Ikoa, and Tzolk’in, but towards Oaktown. Hayley glanced back, anger on her face; Anthony kept his eyes forward. They were both thinking the same thing: I don’t run.

Wild Moon absorbed shots from the railguns as it tore apart a stalker. A glowing green elephant rammed through the Spectre Men, and a giant tribal warrior command swung a tree-sized club at another stalker, demolishing it as if it were nothing more than a dandelion puff.

The children of the forest, Hayley thought to herself.

“Hayley! Focus!” Philip shouted. He pointed ahead of them with his pistol.

Though rangers could not keep up with their pace by foot; the stalkers and attack skydrones could. A blast from a skydrone railgun narrowly missed them.

“Sorry, sorry.”

She unslung her bow and loosed an arrow, knocking a ranger out of his stalker. More stalkers appeared, keeping pace with them on either side. They trained their guns at the trio. Philip shot at one and missed. Skydrones hummed overhead. Their railguns glowed purple.

A colossal gorilla grabbed a stalker by one of its legs and dragged i into the forest. A giant asymmetrical stone golem—endearingly grotesque—tackled another. Above, a great glowing eagle shredded the skydrones into scrap metal.

The children of the forest. Hayley drew back an arrow, its fletching touching her cheek softly. She tracked a skydrone, zen-like, and shot it down.

#

The minutes went by like hours as they fought their way to the edge of Tzolkhan territory. Stalkers and skydrones snapped at their heels every so often, but the children of the forest drove them away and eventually the rangers withdrew. Soon, the only sounds were the rhino invocation’s steady gallop and the sounds of the forest invocations escorting them.

“I’m getting tired. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this command going,” Anthony said, beads of sweat on his brow.

“It’s okay, I think we’re through the thick of it. The rangers have turned away,” Hayley said, flexing her hand, “which is great, because my arm’s shaky—I can’t aim anymore.”

“I still have some bullets.” Philip piped.

“Did you hit anything?”

“Maybe.”

“Look,” Anthony said, “the children are turning back.”

“If they are clever, they will circle around and tear the rangers apart before they regroup,” Hayley mused, “we stretched them pretty thin.”

They hopped off their rhino mount and Anthony unsummoned it, breathing heavily. The forest was quiet in the night. No Tzolkhan, no rangers—as far as we know.

Hayley stretched her arms and legs, her gangly frame making her appear a dancing scarecrow.

“All right team,” she squatted and bounced a few times, “time to go by foot. Nice and quiet like, eh?”

Philip was hesitant to move. “Shouldn’t we wait for light? Do you know which way we’re going?”

Hayley spread her arms out, half in stretch, half in amusement. “Too dark? Hey, we went this far on a rhino, right? All we have to do is follow this trail and we’ll get to the main road to Oaktown. I would estimate we’re about halfway there. I bet we could be at the gates by morning.”

“Oaktown,” Anthony said, “closer to Cirk Malpy. Closer to Ma.”

Philip pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes resolutely. “Closer to Free Crossing. Let’s go.”

They moved along the trail quietly. Though Anthony was a natural chatterbox, the stillness of the forest made even whispering seem blasphemous. Still…

“Hayley, have you ever been to Oaktown?”

“I have,” she replied, “many times. Papa sold armor there.”

She sighed wistfully. “The best shepherd’s pies are there, on Dante Street. The crusts flake off with a fork. Papa and I would always split a venison pie.”

“My Ma makes the best shepherd’s pie,” Anthony said proudly. Hayley cocked an eyebrow and wiggled her head in mock haughtiness.

Philip nodded. “It’s true. She adds wild rosemary to it, it grows everywhere around Mint Village. Surprisingly, there’s not a lot of mint.”

Hayley giggled, the first time in a while. In the still hours of the night they conversed, at first in hushed tones but every once in awhile a laugh would ring out, and the forest would swallow the sound as quickly as it came. From far away, one would have mistaken the voices as forest spirits playing in a magical hour.

Their hunting trail led them to the edge of the forest, connecting to a giant dirt road. The sky was turning from a deep black to a dark blue. Hayley peered out across the clearing, across the farmlands, and towards the sleeping city of Oaktown. No one was awake, not even the field hands. She studied the brightening sky. The sun would soon rise.

“I told you,” she said, swaggering out. Anthony and Philip followed her. They wandered amongst the wheat fields, cutting through to the road.

She held out her hand, letting the heads of wheat brush against her palm. “Got here right before dawn. Perfect timing.”

“Perfect timing indeed.”

The scarred helmet was the first thing they saw as Raffick stepped out from behind a cherry tree. His black armor gleamed and his railgun was already primed, glowing a threatening purple. Behind him a Spectre Squadron and three children uniformed in black rose up out of the grasses. Hayley frowned, staring at each of them in turn. Then her great gold eyes widened and she froze.

“You.”

The red and purple harlequin bowed deeply and facetiously, his cap touching the ground.

“Hello, little girl.”