Infinite Sacrifice (15 page)

Theodon calls to them, “Stop
running! I order you to face this beast together! It’s our only
chance!”

They gather and steady for the
command to throw their spears. The elephant comes into view and
speeds right toward the cluster. I spring up, pull away from
Ophira’s tight hold, and run out the door with Nereus’s knife in
hand. I stand on the steps of the building as the men release their
spears and dash out of the way to every direction. I watch as the
furious beast turns around and charges at two of the men, crushing
one under its feet and throwing the other with its tusks. I gasp as
Theodon catches the elephant’s back leg with a rope, stands on it,
and sticks his spear into its flank as it turns on him. The beast
tries to get away, but Theodon pulls the spear back out, runs
around to the other side, and thrusts it in its flank with an
earth-shaking death cry. He steps back as the elephant staggers and
falls onto the statue of Leonidas, tipping it over and shattering
the hero king into meaningless pieces.

My eyes well up with pride as I
look upon the baby who was once too weak to cry.

Satisfied he’s safe, I start back
up the stairs but halt when I hear another trumpeting. I turn to
see a different beast coming down the other direction, handlerless
and out of control. It has a spear stuck deep in its flank,
painting its stone-skin with blood. Theodon has little time to
react but manages to raise his shield in front of him as the
elephant tosses him against the building. I fly down the steps with
Nereus’s knife raised, hoping I can get there in time to protect
him. Theodon lays motionless as the beast steps back to charge
forward with its head down, intent on crushing him. I hit its head
at full speed and stab into the spongy flesh of the snake. The
elephant reels back trumpeting, shakes its massive head, and throws
me. I hit the ground so hard I hear my bones crack on impact. I
can’t move. I can only watch as Theodon struggles with the beast,
spearing it, and hear its thunderous fall.

“Mother!” he screams, rushing to my
side. “Are you hurt?”

I try to move but can’t, for the
pain is unbearable. I lie back down but realize what he
said.

“Mother?” I gasp.

“Ophira told me. She came to me
weeks ago.” He then laughs slightly. “And only a mother would fight
an elephant like that.”

He tries to lift me up in his arms,
but I wince at the pain of the movement.

“Put me down. Leave me
here.”

He places his shield under me, lays
me gently back down, and his voice begins to crack. “I should’ve
come to you, but I was so ashamed—”

I interrupt. “I’m proud of you and
who you’ve become. I only gave you to Ophira to save
you.”

He nods. Tears escape down his tan
cheeks as he kisses my head. “Rest now. Someone will come, and
we’ll move you back in with the women.”

He removes his cloak and bundles it
under my head.

But, tasting the blood in my mouth,
already I know I don’t have much time. I cough weakly, registering
sharp pain at doing so.

“You must promise me something,
Theodon.”

“Anything.”

“You must go and bring back Kali
before she marries. Bring her back and marry her.”

He looks confused. “She’s my
sister?”

“Yes, but no one else knows. You
must marry her once you’re granted citizenship so she can own one
of my houses. You can both marry others after, but take care of
your sister.”

He thinks about it for a moment. “I
promise.”

“Tell Ophira I’m sorry, and tell
Kali I love her.” I cough more through the pain; it’s getting so
hard to breathe. “And I love you, Theodon I always
have.”

I can hear his tears
now.

“Don’t go,” he whispers.

I shut my eyes to rest.

* = Not present in that
life

Third Life

Pirates of the North

Chapter 1

“What a wonderful wee man, Liam!”
my mother says over my shoulder.

“It’s me and you and Da,” I say,
finishing up the last, much larger figure, my tongue half out in
concentration.

I scribble away in the dirt on the
floor before the hearth where my mother is baking bread for the
week. The whole room smells of warm yeast.

“I better not be the giant one,” my
mother jokes as she cradles her hands around her enormous
belly.

My father, walking behind me,
stoops to tousle my hair. I swat at him with my stick playfully,
but he snatches and breaks it over his leg. He laughs as he throws
it in the fire.

“I was making pictures with that!”
I cry.

He brings his steel-grey eyes
close. “Then you can go pick another fine one when you gather more
kindling for your enormous ma there.”

She pretends to be offended. “Well,
lucky for you both, I won’t be getting any bigger. I’ve been
getting sure signs this baby’s well on its way.”

“Make sure to get to the old
midwife, then.” He smiles and pats her on her backside as he
strides out the door. I run out, trying to help him gather his
fishing net. He pushes me aside and says, “Stop that now. You’ll
get your wee feet tangled.” He throws the net behind his back.
“Mind your ma and fetch her wood.”

I watch him take large steps down
to the lough, where the faded wooden fishing boats wait for him. As
soon as he is out of sight, I go behind the house and start
cracking and bunching sticks.

“Come, Liam, and eat your
breakfast!” Ma calls out from the door. I hurry in with my sticks,
some falling out along the way, and when I bend over to pick those
up, more fall. Once inside, I throw them in the wide basket and
look at my plate. The fresh butter is dripping off the steaming
bread.

I stuff my mouth as I watch her
knead some risen dough, punching it hard with her fists. My gaze
drifts out the open, blue-shuttered window to the clear sky, and I
hear children playing and screaming. I push my small stool over and
cling to the window frame to steady myself. I search for the
shouting children but see none. I try to follow the noise and see
it is coming from an old woman who lives much farther down the
path, closer to the water. She is screaming something I cannot
recognize. Then the horns of alarm blow, sending chills up my
little back. I feel my mother dash up behind me, and she grabs my
shoulders in fright.

“What is she saying,
Ma?”

“Oh my lord!” She begins to scream
strange little yelps I have never heard her make before. “They’ve
come again!”

I follow where she is looking, and
out on the lough where Da fished are ten long ships with massive
sails gliding into the harbor. Ma grabs me up, and my legs straddle
her hard stomach. I clutch onto her wooden triangle necklace to
steady myself and thumb the large blue stone in the center
nervously.

She shrieks out the window,
“Seamus! Seamus!”

Women go running by our house with
their crying children dragging behind. The scariest, most
horrifying noise then comes echoing over the water up to us, as all
of whatever is coming on that ship roars out. I begin to cry now,
and my mother paces the floor, breathing too fast. She opens the
door and cries out louder, “Seamus!”

I look down to where he should
come. I wish I would see his face appearing up that path, but
nothing comes, only an old woman hobbling up the way.

“Get on your way to a safe place,
Keelin; it’s the Danes!” She keeps limping up toward the hill but
screams back, “Run, my girl! Run!”

Ma screams, drops me on the ground,
and squats. I clamber on top of her, still crying. She screams
again, grabbing her stomach and gritting her teeth. She shrieks
out, “Seamus!”

She begins to weep on the ground as
I hold onto her. I put my head up and try to call out as loud as I
can, “Da! Da!”

When I look at Ma, I know I have to
stop crying and help her. I try to rub her shoulder as she pushes
off the ground to get back up. She takes me by the hand and begins
to waddle up the path in the direction the old woman went
scurrying. A booming sound thunders out. I turn to look down to the
harbor, where the ships are sailing right up on the sands, like
beached whales. Many men bound off the ships with shiny swords and
spears raised, making that terrible noise again. My mother pulls me
faster so I cannot look back any longer and my little legs can
hardly keep up. Ma stops again, drops my hand, and clutches her
middle. She bends over and cries. I begin crying again
too.

“Hurry, Liam!” she screams, then
tries to run again, holding her stomach, but shortly after has to
stop.

On her knees with her face drawn up
in pain, she looks back to the invaders who are now going into the
houses right onshore. We hear desperate screams as the men kick
their way inside. Smoke begins to plume up as men with torches
light the thatch on fire. My mother looks back up the steep hill to
the stone church up top, still much farther than we now are from
our home. She turns her head all around her, looking for a place to
hide, but there is only some underbrush and a few large stones. “I
can’t make it, Liam. We have to go back and hide.”

I help her back, and as soon as we
get home, she rushes to grab the key from above the fireplace and
runs to the large, black chest. She unlocks it, takes out Da’s
sword, and all of the bowls and linens. She yanks a blanket off the
bed but leans on the post as she grimaces in pain again. As soon as
she can move again, she unfolds the blanket and lays it in the
chest. “Get in, Liam.”

I don’t understand. Why does she
want me to get in the place I wasn’t allowed to ever
touch?

She grabs herself again and yells,
“Get in now!”

I try to get in on my own but catch
my foot on the side and fall in. When I lift my head, her face is
much softer. I look into her large, worried, brown eyes and see her
many little spots I love so much.

She gives me a white, flashing
smile as the tears fall down her cheeks. “Be a good boy, now, Liam,
and stay quiet. Bad men are coming, and you’ll be safe in here.
Don’t make a peep.” She makes the sign of the cross. “God help us
now.”