The Ashen Wrath (Watty's SHORTLIST recipient 2018) CHAPTERED VERSION

*51

The plot had become mine alone. Somehow, it seemed appropriate. I changed into a fresh set of coveralls and waited with bated breath until the drones left the village. Without delay, I walked ten paces south of the tent and began to dig in the dirt, just as granddad had instructed. My hand contacted something a few inches down. After a few frenzied scratches, I liberated the book from Earth—dirty, but intact. Thankfully, the datastick was still inside the cover.

I ran. Faster than I ever had before. Through the village. Across the plain. My lungs burned and my feet throbbed. Deep in the prairie I saw Daun waiting for me, standing next to Rastin. My head felt light.

I woke up in Sheln's cabin with Daun hovering over me. "You passed out," she told me, taking my hand in hers.

I sat up with a jolt. "Oh, my skull."

Daun hugged me tight and gave me a kiss. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I muttered, pushing the ordeal I had just endured away from my thoughts. Seeing Daun instantly lifted my mood. "I may have overexerted myself a bit." I saw Sheln in the corner of the cabin, hunched over the book. She plucked the datastick from the cover and inserted it into a dull looking box on the desk next to her. An inscrutable slab on top of the box began to glow. "What is that?"

"Sheln called it a screen," replied Daun.

The only screens I had ever used sifted grain, but this one sifted pure light. "Is that a...computer?" The glowing window reminded me of the symbols flashing on the faces of the drones.

"Yes," said Sheln, turning her head toward me. "Welcome back. I see the cloak worked."

"Barely," I replied.

Sheln shrugged. "You weren't lying. Sanar actually found the datastick. For him to have held on to the damn thing for all these years—it's almost ludicrous." She laughed. "Was he surprised to hear you had located me?"

It was time to face the truth. "Granddad is dead. The stilt striders gave him the Rake after finding the clippings he used to write his book. He didn't survive his wounds." I could barely form my words.

"I'm so sorry," said Sheln.

Daun held me close and kissed my cheek. "Oh, Danth."

"He died knowing we were on the verge of saving the Thrall and I won't let him down. I got the book out of the village. We did it." I locked eyes with Sheln. "Right?"

Sheln smiled as she turned away from the computer. "Somehow, the data on the stick was still intact. The missing piece of the formula was so simple—I'm shocked I couldn't figure it out on my own. Perhaps I was overthinking everything."

I stood up. "That means you can produce The Ashen Wrath?"

"Yes," said Sheln.

"How can you use it to stop all the Privus?" I asked. "I still don't understand."

Sheln stood up, looking stern. She said nothing.

"Sheln?" asked Daun, becoming nervous.

I heard clanking steps. Ratcheting limbs.