Devils | ONC 2023 SHORTLISTER

twelve

The flames rose from the funeral pyre, smoke trailing shapes and rising towards the moonless sky. A cricket was chirping in some distance—a rare occurrence in the Lost City—unaware of the great danger that was drawing near. They had decided to give the dead woman proper funeral rites despite her being a common criminal and, apparently, a traitor to the people. None of them knew anything about her except that her name was Ariya. No one knew if she had any family out there, any children. Now, only Elena and Maverick remained beside the burning pyre, the others left for the main base. A curfew had set over the whole Lost City. As Mordino had said, there was no point in hiding the true level of danger from the people anymore, to which everyone had agreed. That was the first time all of them had agreed to something without trying to tear each others' throats.

"I wonder what happened to the others," Elena muttered, staring at the raging flames.

"They must have run off with the statue," Maverick said. "Nella's tracking spell isn't working anymore either. It's like they disappeared off the face of the earth."

"What if they escaped to the human world?" Elena asked, turning to look at Maverick.

He shook his head, his blue eyes reflecting the flames, turning their colour golden. "Kaz asked that too. But Nella says her spell works on the human world also."

"Can we trust her?" Elena asked in a low voice, an urgent whisper. "Really?"

Maverick sighed, "I don't know."

"What if turns on us again? What if she betrays us at the last moment? What if all this is just a goddamned plan of hers and we are being played?"

"Let's keep an eye on her then," Maverick took her hands. "Don't tell anyone we are spying on Nella, not even Kaz. This is our secret."

Elena nodded stiffly. "Okay."

They stayed like that until the fire started to die down, ash drifting in the wind. The fire had turned the air warm, making their palms sweat but they still held on to each other's hands because that was the only solid thing they had at that moment while the world slowly descended towards inevitable chaos and destruction.

Just two days ago, Elena didn't have any memories and she and Kaz were running for their dear lives, trying to shake off Nella Alden. Now all of them were in the same team and none of them had any idea how to put an end to this without triggering the end of the world. They were going to the fight completely blind.

* * *

"All the agents have reported back to the main base," Commander Mordino was saying as Elena entered the meeting room. "We are sending a troop to guard the Rift."

He nodded at Elena briefly as she sat down. The others—Maverick, Kaz, Nella, Amara and a few troop leaders—were already there.

"And Alden," Mordino turned to Nella who was glaring at her hands. "What about your tracking spell?"

"Still no luck," Nella grumbled.

Everyone looked tired, like a bunch of apocalypse survivors who have been nearly eaten by zombies. Elena knew she didn't look any better either. She had only got about two hours of sleep before an emergency meeting was called in the middle of the night. She had hastily pulled on jeans and a jacket and ran to the meeting room.

"Does anyone know how to stop the Doomsday if we fail to destroy the statue before it destroys us?" Kaz asked leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table.

No one said anything. Everyone was looking at others hoping someone might know an answer to the question that was in everyone's minds. No one knew and that was the problem.

Commander Mordino sighed, running a hand down his face. "Maybe it's better to decide what to do once we are facing the situation."

"You never do anything without a plan," Kaz pointed out. "Mostly, multiple plans."

"We can't plan anything without information, Kazimir," Mordino glared at him.

"So we are diving headfirst without checking for sharks?" Elena asked.

"Let's discuss this later," Maverick jumped in before it could escalate, giving a pointed look to both Kaz and Elena. "First we have a matter of security."

"What do you mean?" Elena looked at him in confusion.

"It turned out there is an inside man, apparently," Nella provided, still glaring daggers at her ring.

Elena felt her gut tighten, dread spreading over her limbs. "Who?"

"A name or any sort of identity is still unknown," Commander Mordino said. "A few of our agents had run away, abandoning the mission and the organization. There seems to be a leader to them."

You've got to be kidding me, Elena thought and caught Maverick eyeing Nella. Elena looked at her too. The woman still looked mad about her spell malfunctioning, now glowering at the empty space. Elena looked away before she could notice her and get suspicious.

What if it was Nella? What if all this working-together-plan is a ruse? What if they are too blind to see it? Too stupid to see it?

"The basic plan is this," The Commander started, standing from his seat and starting to pace. "We already have troops all over the Lost City searching for something—anything—that might lead us to the statue. We have stand-by teams ready to get into action if needed and the second we find something, we are going to investigate. At least we have a clear idea about how the statue works and that's better than nothing."

Before He could continue there was a wild knock at the door that made everyone jump in their seats and turn wide-eyed towards the door.

Mordino scrunched his brows, "Come in."

The door opened and a young agent with wild red hair poked her head in. "Commander, sir, there's something you should see. There's something all of you should see." She panted her eyes roaming over the room's occupants.

"What?" Mordino asked storming out of the meeting room with everyone else hurrying behind him. "What happened?"

Elena's mind was empty, her fear too much to think clearly. Has something happened?

She felt Maverick's fingers touch her elbow and she relaxed, offering him a small smile. Kaz joined them, staring ahead in confusion.

"What do you think had happened?" He wondered aloud. "Don't tell me everything is going to happen slowly like this is going to turn into a post-apocalyptic movie or something?"

Elena raised an eyebrow at him. Where hell did he find movies?

"I don't know," Maverick replied. "But I know this can not be something good."

"Great," Kaz muttered next to her, glaring at his brother. "Thanks for your much-needed optimism."

Maverick rolled his eyes in response.

Elena's heart was beating out of her chest as they followed the agent to the top floor. There was a large crowd—Elena was pretty sure that was everyone who was in the main base at the moment—had gathered at the glass wall. They were looking at something, a fearful whisper rising among them.

"What is happening here?" Commander Mordino demanded.

The whispering stopped at once as the crowd parted to let them reach the see-through glass wall. Elena's hand went to her chest when she caught the sight in front of her. Even the commander looked taken aback.

Below them, in the middle of the street, someone had lit small fires. They shaped a message.

"Worlds will pay for your crimes. The Devils will fall," Nella read it aloud from her place next to Elena, her fists clenched at her sides.

The Commander suddenly turned towards the gathered crowd which was terrifyingly quiet. His face was set, a nerve pulsing on his forehead.

"Destroy the Rift. We are at war."

Total word count 15,710