Bella Read online

  Wasco looked up then traced his gaze to the floor.

  “That'll be more than a twenty-foot drop onto a lot of sharp bones. I ain't sure we’d all make it,” he said.

  A door being kicked in followed by gunfire interrupted the discussion and snapped me out of my breakdown. I ran over and peeked around the corner. They were standing by the cage doors Li had jammed. Some were human, some were something else. One small man with a disturbingly rat-like appearance worked his way to the front of the crowd, looked at the doors, then started squeezing through the space. Literally.

  I could see his rib cage compress unnaturally, his shoulders twisted in a way no person should be able to move, but he did it without apparent discomfort and slid right through. When he turned and saw me he grinned and pulled out a long straight-bladed knife. I shot him in the crotch. I tried to shoot him in the chest, but I couldn't shoot the damn pistols, so I shot him in the crotch. It was messy, but I was numb to it all by then. He slumped back against the bars whimpering, which knocked into the guns that tried to fire my way and I jumped back. I had dropped the damn gun from the kick, but I wasn't about to stick my head around to get it.

  “Topher! You okay?” Jacob called.

  “Shot him in the balls,” I said. “But they're gettin’ a hacksaw I heard one of them say.”

  Jacob just stared at me.

  “What, I didn’t mean to! I told you I couldn't shoot a goddamned pistol!” I said.

  He didn't say anything, just turned back to Wasco shaking his head.

  “It's all we got Wasco, we either go out that door or we go against them things head on,” he said.

  “Maybe we can climb from the opening to the roof?” Li offered.

  “Rather do that,” Wasco said. “Let's check it out. Ain't gonna take them fellas long to get through that gate. Jacob, wanna send some lead their way so they think we're makin’ a stand? Only way up is them boards, I don’t know if I trust them to hold any of us adults.”

  He looked at me.

  “Topher, can you get up there and hang a rope, make it easier for us old broke-downs?” he asked.

  I looked up and nodded. My brain tried to find something smart-ass to say, but I was too tired.

  “Ok, git up there and crack that door a bit and make sure they ain't watchin’ it. If it’s clear, see if there’s something up there to tie this rope to. Gonna kill the lights in here once you’re past the hard climb so they don't see the door opening.”

  Jacob started shooting while I climbed. I was never afraid of heights and loved to climb so that part was easy, but soon I was eye level with that horse. It was all I could do to keep from heaving my guts out again. Then Wasco thankfully put out all the lights. It took some looking to find the mechanism to open the door, and then I pushed it just a tiny bit and peeked out. There were five men down there.

  Well sort of men, some of them were that mix of animal and man. They were looking into the door below. I guessed that some of them were supposed to be watching up here by their posture but got distracted by the bullets Jacob was sending at them. I looked up and saw the ledge of the roof within easy reach, pushed the door open a bit more, and saw the pile of bodies below me.

  The sky spun around. I started heaving again, trying to be quiet but I couldn't do it. This was crazy. I was a damn kid. What the hell was I doing? I was going to end up in that pile, or worse, one of those things! I had to get out of here. Jump. Maybe I could jump over the pile and run. I had to run. If I didn't, I was going to fall into that pile and just die.

  A light off in the distance stopped the spinning and the thinking. What was that? A small fire maybe, but it was growing. Not huge, but big enough for me to make out a shape. The shape of a dragon. A dragon made of fire that spread its tail out and waved it, like the one I had seen with Ying.

  Ying was out there!

  It took to the air and started to fly straight toward me. When it got close to the camp it veered away and plunged into one of the tents, setting it ablaze, then poured out into another and was gone. But it left two tents burning and that sent many of the men scrambling for water. I grabbed the ledge and pulled myself over and onto the roof, then started looking for somewhere to tie the rope off. As I turned I saw a dark shape in the sky. Like a big square. Like a sail. Sonofabitch! The sky ship! I tied the rope off to the chimney, tossed the other end back through the window, and then followed it in.

  “That ship is coming back, hurry up!” I called.

  The rope snapped taut and Wasco came up. I heard Jacob exclaim in pain, then more guns.

  “Go, I'll hold them.” Jacob’s voice sounded strained.

  . Li was up next and moved to Wasco who was moving to go back down.

  “We must get away from the edge of the roof. Now. He is hurt. She need not see what is to come,” Li said.

  They stared at each other for a long time.

  Wasco nodded.

  “Reckon so. Let's go Topher. Jacob's got work to do then he'll be along.”

  He spit over the side, before turning. I stood there a minute trying to decide what to do. We couldn't leave Jacob! I turned to yell that at Wasco and met his eyes. They were like rocks pinning me in place.

  “Ya swore to me girl,” he said. “Now let's go. Ya need to trust me. To trust him.”

  I went. Damnit I went. We ran across the roof for a ways, and then Wasco stopped, brought his rifle up to his shoulder, and started aiming for the ship. After a second or two he squeezed the trigger. I don't know what he hit, but the ship dipped sharply to the right and I saw the silhouettes of men falling from the side. Damn he was good. We ran across the roof to the other end of the building. Wasco reloading and firing on the run at men on the ground. Another fiery dragon came shooting in and set more tents on fire. When we reached the edge, we scooted down to lowest part and Wasco shimmied off. He hung by his fingertips then dropped. Li was next, then me. I was too scared to be scared. Wasco and Li made sure I landed okay; the fall wasn't that far on this side.

  We were getting back to our feet and ready when a man with the head of a desert lion came around the corner. In the blink of an eye he leapt at me, clawed hands reaching out. Li cut it down with one swipe of his sword, blood making an arc in the sand. Wasco bent and took the pistol from his belt and gave it to me with a shrug.

  I scowled and said, “I can’t shoot these things!”

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  We rounded the corner and came to another door. Li stopped.

  “The fire rifle is inside, I must retrieve it,” he said.

  He kicked out at the door and it swung off its hinges, and then he ran into the building and down the hall. We followed. The first room was an open area that looked like sleeping quarters for animals and men. Or men that are part animal. There were stalls with hay on the floor, beds, and a pit with sand covering the floor.

  We ran on, Li leading the way. Everyone must have been outside fighting fires because we didn't encounter anyone. A roar shattered the night and set the hairs on my neck on end. Then gunfire erupted in earnest at the other end of the building where Jacob was.

  “What was that?” I said.

  “Don't matter girl, we got to move,” Wasco said and gave me a gentle shove after Li, who had disappeared into another room.

  He came out holding the rifle. “No ammo, but at least I have recovered it.”

  “I have some. Found it on Wasco's horse.”

  “Good girl. Li, give her that thing, she can shoot it.” He handed me some powder loads.

  Li hesitated until Wasco turned to face him. He handed me the rifle and I loaded it.

  Wasco said, “Save at least one of them fire rounds Topher; need to make sure we burn this madhouse to the ground before we leave. Now, we got no choice. That ship might have a lot of monsters and men on it. We got to get clear of here before that ship lands. You up fer this, kid?”

  “Yeah, I can shoot monsters, and I ain't sure the men that made ‘em ain't the worst
of them,” I said, sounding braver than I was.

  “Good girl. Li?”

  Li was tucking the pistol I had been carrying into his wide cloth belt. He looked up and nodded.

  “All right then. We keep shooting until we run out of ammo. Grab guns as you go. Topher, you get down to that last round, you shoot it into this building.”

  I nodded my head.

  “Li, I ain't gonna tell you how to do what it is you do, but if you can keep ‘em off me while I reload, I'd be much obliged”

  Li nodded. “I will do what I can.”

  “Make for the front gate; if we get separated we meet back where the camp was. Topher, best you stay near me.”

  Out the door and into hell we went. There were flames everywhere; I thought I saw little figures dancing in them, fanning them larger. Around the corner from the pile of bodies was a ruckus that had men running toward it and then away. A giant snake with a man’s head came flying over the building and landed in a heap. Wasco brought the rifle up and fired and a half-man half-horse fell. Then Li was out amongst them cutting men and monsters down. Most were too busy with whatever was around that corner to know we were there at first. By the time they figured it out it was too late for most of them. I only fired one shot. I don't even know if I hit the thing I was aiming at. The path to the gate was clear, most of the fighting was over, and what was left was around the corner. I turned to ask Wasco if I should shoot the building, then he was gone.

  It happened so fast I didn’t register what had transpired at first. One second, he was there, the next he was just gone. Then my brain caught up to my eyes and I saw it. Where Wasco had been stood a hulking mass of meat and muscle. A man with a bull's head stood bent over from the charge that had landed Wasco fifteen feet away. It wore fine looking trousers and boots with a button up shirt that had little triangle-shaped buttons that looked familiar. I remember thinking he should have a ring in his nose. Bulls always had rings in their noses. It looked at me, and snorted dismissively, and then it looked to Li.

  It said, “Well, do you want to give up, or do you want me to kill you?

  It didn’t sound anything like it looked. It sounded cultured, like an Englishman.

  Li’s sword snapped up almost in a salute, and then he fell into a fighting stance, sword held straight out, eyeing the monster cautiously.

  Me? I shot the son of a bitch.

  Fire blasted across the thing’s broad chest and engulfed its face. I didn't wait to see what happened next. I was already reloading. Li jumped at it, sword swinging in to disembowel it. It connected but only left a small line of blood, the tough hide and muscle turning most of the blade away.

  Li reversed his momentum and came back in with a series of stabs and slashes that opened little lines of blood all over its arms that had been raised in a protective posture. It looked to be on its heels until one of its muscled arms shot out with frightening speed and snatched Li’s sword hand in a huge leathery hand, crushing Li's hand around the sword’s grip. I heard the bones crunch and Li was lifted from the ground and into the flames still licking up the monster’s chest.

  The bull brought him face to face and said, “Little man. I gave you a choice. You chose wrong.”

  The massive arm snapped, and Li flew the length of the courtyard before slamming into the side of the building with a sickening crunch. I was reloading as fast as I could, but I was no Wasco. It took two steps and the same hand snapped out and knocked the rifle from my hands. The rifle clipped me in the chin as it flew, and I reeled. The Bull, who I guessed was Bull McCain, ripped the flaming shirt he was wearing off and threw it at me. I rolled away.

  “I don't like hurting kids. But you shot me. You burned me. You burned my shirt. And it hurt. So, I am going to make an exception and stomp your scrawny ass into the ground,” it said, and its giant hoof of a foot scraped the black sand.

  “Reckon that would be a mistake,” Wasco said walking towards the Bull with purpose, Bella already at his shoulder.

  The gun roared and so did the Bull. Where the fire annoyed him, Bella made him bleed. The bullet hit him in the chest with a burst of blood and bone chips, but I heard it go whizzing off into the night. The wound bled, but it wasn't critical. Wasco was already reloading when the Bull charged him. Wasco proved faster, stepped around to the side, and got another shot off. This one caught the flesh on Bull’s massive bicep and left a hole clean through. It roared and spun faster than seemed possible.

  I finished reloading the rifle I hadn’t even known I’d picked up and was watching for an opening when I saw horses come around the corner. Or what I thought were horses at first. They had horse bodies, but instead of horse heads they had men’s upper torsos. They stood in two perfect lines and wore uniforms I didn't recognize. Each carried a new-looking steam rifle tipped with a blade, which they lowered at me and Wasco. I knew I was dead. Wasco looked at me and I read sadness in his eyes. That scared me more than anything ever had.

  Then something crashed into their line. It was giant, massively muscled while being oddly emaciated, and antlers grew out of an almost human-looking head. It dove into them with hungry abandon. The force of its charge knocked one off its feet and it tore into its horse flesh with gnashing teeth and clawed hands before leaping onto the back of the next one. There was chaos and blood and gore in seconds. It lifted one of the horsemen over its head, ripped a chunk from its belly with impossibly long teeth and tossed it into the rest, then followed it in, entrails trailing from the body and the monster’s jaws. I watched, unable to look away as a creature that had to be from Hell bit, chewed, and swallowed huge bites from anything it could get its hands on.

  I wanted to throw up again, but my body didn't have the energy or the substance. I wanted to run, but I couldn't take my eyes off that strange creature that had saved us in the most gruesome way. I just stood watching, until something knocked all the air from my lungs. I was thankfully thrown to the ground, the rifle again flying from my grasp. The Bull had barely clipped me, its heavy-hoofed foot barely missing my head in its pursuit of Wasco, who was still moving, reloading, and firing with a rhythm and speed that defied the man’s size.

  Wasco's rifle sounded off again and more blood flew from the beast, though it seemed not to notice. I saw at least four bleeding holes in Bull left by Bella, but he hadn’t slowed in the least and was within feet of Wasco now.

  I ran to the rifle and dug for the last fire ball, reloaded, and leveled the barrel at the Bull’s back, tracking him as he gave chase. My focus expanded as he crossed in front of the building where Li had hit. The boards had shattered, and I could see Li’s body lying limp in the debris. I needed to burn that building down, not shoot at a monster that wouldn’t even notice. To do that, I needed to get Li out of there.

  I pulled the rifle from my shoulder, ran to the building and climbed through, the broken lumber ripping my hand open in the process. Li was lying just inside, one of his arms hung ruined on a nail that had torn through the flesh. It looked like he was waving, except his arm was at an angle that was impossible. I didn't know how to help him, I knew nothing about doctoring.

  “Li,” I said, touching his face. “Li, what do I do? Your arm, it's broke. I gotta get you out of here!”

  “No child. You do not. I am not leaving here. Please take my sword to Mistress Ying. Then do what you must. This place is an abomination to the spirits and must be destroyed.”

  His voice was soft, but strong. Stronger than seemed possible given his broken body.

  “Bullcrap Li!” I screamed. “I can't just leave you here! You'll die!”

  “No child,” he said. “I am already dead.”

  With that proclamation I saw what my mind had refused to see before. His mouth had not been moving. He had not been breathing. I looked up from the body and to the faint glowing mist as it collapsed from vaguely human looking into a formless cloud and trailed gently toward the sword that lay a few feet away. It swirled around it as if being pulled in.

/>   The room was blurry through my tears. I don't know how long I cried there alone in that dirty perverted building, but when I came to my senses I knew I had to burn it down. It was, as Li had said, an abomination. Bull was an abomination. He had killed Li without even a thought. I looked out the hole in the wall and saw Wasco take a full-on punch from Bull that sent teeth flying. He reeled but returned a punch that set the massive man-bull back a small step. Bull held a knife now and Wasco had his tomahawk in one hand, Bella in the other. I watched as Bull plunged the knife into Wasco's side. He must have hit something because the blood pumped out, as if in tune to a fast-beating heart. Wasco spun away, grunting as the knife slid out with another gout of blood. He followed his spin around and delivered a fierce backhanded chop to Bull’s thigh with his axe. As he turned I was able to see the wound clearly, or what should have been a wound at least. There was blood, but no longer the spray of a severed artery. Now there was a faint trickle from a wound that could not seriously be called a scratch!

  I stumbled back in awe, both of the incredible things I had just witnessed and the sheer force of the two combatants. My foot kicked the sword lying by Li’s dead hand. It startled me awake and I bent and picked it up. It felt warm. I felt my body relax a little and my breathing slowed. I removed his scabbard, which was not easy, and slung the sword over my back. Its tip was hitting me in the calf when I ran, but I was able to manage. I ran through the building knocking over oil lamps and throwing anything flammable I could into the long center hall. When I reached the last room, I turned and shot the last of the fire bullets into the pile. It went up with a whoosh that pulled the air from my lungs and drove me out the window.

  I rolled, in a not very graceful tumble, and got to my feet, still clinging to the empty fire rifle. All was quiet. The fighting seemed to be over. I didn't hear or see anyone on this side of the building. But for the smoking husks of tents and bodies you’d never know there had just been a horrific battle. I ran back toward the place Wasco and Bull had been fighting. I came around the corner to see Wasco lying in a fresh water tank. Not the blackish crap from the mines but one full of fresh water that was clear, except for the spreading pool of dark blood coming from Wasco. He was still, one arm floating limp in the water, the other holding Bella, his nose and mouth barely above the water. Bull was reaching to take Bella from his hand. He didn't look much better than Wasco, except that he was still standing.