After Olin and Yetic practically drag me the last few blocks, the three of us arrive at the gates of the Shadows. All of the buildings within a block of the wall are abandoned, despite not looking the part. Every few years, a Masa team cleans the area and makes repairs, in an effort to keep the fear from spreading further into the city like gangrene.
The hill on which New Teo resides was chosen both for its natural defenses from the outside, as well as its natural defenses from the inside. A ridge bisects Worker City from Immortal City. At the crest of that ridge, the Palace Tower supports the highest point of the shield dome.
Aside from that natural divider, there is a smaller bowl, a walled depression within the confines of Worker City. Since the founding of New Teo, that bowl has served as the final living and dying place for chadzitzin actively infected with the twitch. The walls built around the bowl are the only structure, other than the Palace Tower, to rise all the way to the shield dome.
I’ve only looked upon the unguarded gates once before. That time, I hadn’t entertained the misconceived notion of passing through them. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
Yetic rests a hand on an iron foam buttress built into the sixty-meter-high wall. “Huatiani knows who you are. It won’t take him long to find the weakness in the blockade. He’ll come in person, and when he finds you, he’ll administer his brand of justice immediately. We all know what the sentencing will be. What other option do you have?”
“You mean other than suicide?”
“You’re accused of a storm that took over thirty lives. Staying here is suicide.”
I gasp, clutching Olin instinctively. I feared lives had been lost, but so many?
“By the looks of it, your brother might possess that much ability and more.”
“My brother is innocent,” I pound my fist on Yetic’s chest.
“Hey, I’m on your side,” he raises his hands in surrender. “I mean it as a compliment.”
I grip my brother’s arms and stare at him until he blocks out everything except me. “You didn’t attack the city. You protected it. You protected me, do you understand?” I’m surprised by his lack of emotion. His hard expression makes him appear older. “Because of you, we’re still alive.”
He nods, “I know.”
“Good.” I turn toward Yetic. “Now that we’ve got that settled, explain to me how entering a prison from which no one has ever escaped is a good way to get from point A to point B.”
“Who says no one has ever escaped?”