Page 56 of Triplets for the Barbarians

Looking back now, I can certainly imagine Solomon coming up with the idea of a black cloud looming over the city to ward off predators. He knew what he was doing, madman or not.

“The queens are safe below the city,” Yossul tells me as he prepares to deploy his few troops to the western gate. We’re at the base of the palace steps, making the last adjustments and resupplying our platoons for the incoming invasion. “Should the Sky Tribe breach the northern gate, they know to use the tunnels and head out into the mountain. They’ll be with their people, but they insisted on staying here, just in case.”

“Just in case we miraculously defeat over three thousand enemy troops?” I chuckle dryly.

“There aren’t enough of us, I know,” Yossul replies. “But we don’t have any other choice.”

“Yeah.”

“Jewel wants us back alive,” he says. “You heard her.”

“I did.”

“What’s the matter, Fadai? You’re usually the upbeat one. When did our roles get reversed?”

I give my brother a long and tired look. Where do I start? “I’m exhausted, Yossul. But I will not falter in this fight. I’m just ready to accept my fate, whatever it may be. We’ve both learned by now that we cannot control everything that happens to us.”

“We cannot control anything that happens to us,” Yossul replies. “We can only control how we react to it and what we do about it. And right now, we’re not entirely fucked, which gives us enough wiggle room to put up a good fight. Let’s see how many of them we can take down before they breach the city gates. What do you say, brother?”

“A competition, you say?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

He responds with a dry smirk. “It’s been a while since we kept count of our kills,” he says. “If I remember correctly, I beat you by two the last time we did keep count.”

“You didn’t beat me by two; I beat you by one. Remember Lieutenant Darza, the Butcher of Emerald City?” I shoot back.

Our laughter soon dissolves into the same old silence, despair still testing our resolve as we glance back at the surviving Kreek fighters under our command. They seem weary and scared. After what happened to our river settlement, I can’t exactly blame them, yet I remain thankful for their presence.

“Perhaps we can sway some of the Sky Tribe soldiers, at least,” I tell my brother, watching as he loads laser clips into his satchel. He’s packing as much ammunition as he can carry for the western gate while his men load the buggies with fuel and supplies. “We could tell them about the cure, that it worked, that we have proof. It might hold some of them back, I don’t know.”

“Normally, I’d have told you to forget about it,” Yossul says. “But desperate times… Yes, we can try to tell them, if not to reason with them per se. At least we can try to distract them long enough so we can kill them.”

“Ever the practical one,” I mutter.

“I’m tired of the killing, too,” Yossul sighs. “But what other choice do we have? Look at them, coming our way, armed to the teeth and determined to wipe us out. These are our people, and they’re coming to kill us while we’re still trying to save them.”

I nod slowly, gazing back at the northern gates. They look like sullen giants made of black limestone and covered with thick plaques of obsidian that shimmer beautifully in the waning light. I can almost imagine Opal City in its heyday, with its black buildings and brass towers and its cobblestone alleys peppered with flowers and plum trees in neat, round granite pots. These days, the pots serve as trash cans. The streets are empty, and dust rolls off them with every breath of warm breeze.

We’ve got about a hundred men on this side of the city, aside from the royal guards that have already been dispatched into the labyrinth. I see the younglings patrolling the city walls, constantly looking north to see the Sky Tribe army approaching.

I hear the drums getting louder with every passing hour, and each thud echoes deeply inside my rib cage.

“Are you boys ready?” Yossul asks his platoon.

I watch them as they give him subtle nods in response; their voices are barely whispers. My brother doesn’t appreciate anything short of a resounding roar, however, so he proceeds to straighten his back and raise his voice.

“I don’t think you’re hearing me,” he says. “I’m not asking you whether you’re in the mood for a glass of spiced wine. I’m asking you if you’re ready to fucking die tonight. Because that’s what’s going to happen. Nobody is coming to save us. We’re on our own, a few hundred men who swore to give our lives if it meant saving our species and our honor.

“They will not build statues in our memory. They will not light a single fire. Chances are that history won’t even remember our names, yet here we are, facing about three thousand bloodthirsty fiends who wish to destroy us,” he adds. “Are you ready to give your lives for justice and honor?”

“Yes,” one of his men replies, raising his chin in defiance. We’ve seen what the Sky Tribe is willing to do and what they’re willing to do it for. We’ve rejected their creed before, and we will reject it again—one last time.”

“One last time,” Yossul says, echoing his Kreek fighter. “Well said. One last time, my friends, my brothers in arms. One last time for us to switch the safety off our laser weapons and fire at will when the fuckers come for us. One last time for us to stand together and go down fighting. Who knows, we might actually survive,” he laughs, and his men laugh with him. “But if we don’t, let us leave this world a better place than we found it. Let us leave this world with a light heart and an easy conscience. Let us go out like good men who have done terrible things for the right reasons.”

Yossul turns to face me. “I’ll see you on the other side, Fadai. Either the other side of this city when it’s over or the other side of life.” He offers me his hand, and I give it a firm squeeze. “You give them hell, brother.”

“Oh, I will. But what’s the prize if I win?””

A playful grin stretches across my brother’s face. “Oh, I have a suggestion. The winner gets to name our firstborn.”

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