Crusade across worlds, p.18
Crusade Across Worlds, page 18
“Best not to fire that unless you can see,” Perio’s voice is menacingly low.
“And you can?” Walker asks as Jace, Able and Booker work on lifting the rocks from Werzo. He grunts from the pain, but they get him free easily enough, and together, the four move back through the narrow gap behind us.
“This is my home,” Perio says. “Not yours.”
“And you’re attacking it,” Tucker growls, rage boiling in every word. “You killed Sansa…Queen Ravan…you tried killing all your people with the Nhazual—”
“We are cleansing,” Varielle snaps, a sense of hysteria in her tone. “This World has gone astray! My family were traitors to their own people! I am righting their wrongs; I am restoring what they have dishonored!”
“You’re bat-shit crazy is what you are,” Walker says.
“You think the Shadow Bag will kill all the Arizals?” Tucker growls again. “It won’t work for you. You need the other Gifts.”
“Oh I am aware of how it works. That is why when Reuzkimpart secures the Floating Ruby, I will slit his throat and take it from him.”
“You still won’t have the last Gift,” I say. “The Glass Chamber was destroyed.”
“I do not need to know what I want,” he scoffs. “The most ridiculous of Gifts. I know what I want to do. I just need to know how and with what.”
“You’re outnumbered,” Tucker says. “There are four of us and two of you. And we’re at the only entrance.”
“You think you have outsmarted me?” The Musko laughs and then his voice grows bored. “Younger creatures can be so dumb.”
A sharp zap hits my back, immobilizing me. My instinct is to scream, but I have no voice, no way of responding. I drift to the ground, helpless, vulnerable. Reid curses and then another body falls next to mine—I think it’s Tucker. White blasts flash back and forth but I’m too distracted. Everything is numb, like my body isn’t mine, like I’m just a pair of eyes, lying here, watching this.
A terrifying thought hits me.
Oh God…what if I’m paralyzed?
Sampson, we’re at the Gorgen Fields. There’s a rock formation in the middle and an entrance that leads inside. The Shadow Bag is here.
You are sure?
We’re here. But Perio and Varielle are too. Reid and Walker are fighting them but Tucker and me…we’re hit. I-I don’t know. I can’t feel my body.
Stay calm. I’m nearly there.
You are?
Maris and the others are watching the city. Clarence and I are almost there. We’ll get you out.
I try looking at Tucker, but I can’t feel my head. I can’t feel anything except for my eyes, which continue to dart about, watching the fight as it flashes with each white blast above me. Reid and Walker shoot past the center boulder that holds the Shadow Bag, lighting up the other end of the small cave and sending rock crumbling around the Muskos.
Reid glances over at me. “Fallon!”
My lips won’t move. I can’t tell him that I can’t feel or move a thing. I also can’t tell him that Sampson and Clarence are on their way. Right now, I’m useless.
Reid continues shooting at Perio and Varielle when a painful cry erupts and Walker falls next to Tucker, motionless.
Shit.
It’s Reid against the two of them. How much longer can he—
And then Reid is on the ground next to me, his eyes piercing mine with panic. An eerily chipper laugh rings through the darkness and the next moment, a bright white glow illuminates the tiny underwater cave. Perio and Varielle are at the other end of it, and casually making their way over, the Musko leader presents a hand-held object shaped similarly to the Enidd. Except it’s glowing white and filled with some soft, jelly-like liquid.
“Word of advice: if you are going to follow your enemy into a dark corner, make sure you bring the better weapon,” he smirks. Swimming between us, Perio examines our motionless states with satisfaction. “Do you like how that feels? It is my own creation—a serum that immobilizes you, yet you are able to feel every ounce of pain I wish to inflict,” his gaze falls on me. “Shall we start with the female?”
Grabbing the front of my suit, Perio jerks me from the ground and my arms fall back.
“So many ways…” he sighs. “I could remove the headgear and watch her turn blue as she drowns. But that is…too fast. Would you not agree? Hmm…” he strokes his chin in contemplation. “Any removal of the suit and it would crush her bones…a definite possibility, but she would most likely pass out or die from too much crushing pressure and I need her awake for this.”
Sampson…please hurry.
“So many options…”
“Just kill her and get it over with,” Varielle snaps. “There are three more to play with.”
“Oh this is not a game, sweet princess. This is justice.”
“You can seek justice on all three. In fact, I believe that,” she points at Tucker with disgust, “is the human who had the audacity to court Ariana.”
Still clutching me, Perio scowls. “Filthy mongrel. I shall save you for last. You can watch your friends die and then I will feed you to the Gorgens.”
“We must make this quick, Perio. The fighting will not last too much longer,” Varielle swims for the top of the central boulder and after a moment, returns with a seaweed-knit bag like the kind we used to collect the Dilly. “If you wish to take your time, bring the humans back and we can give a show to the Muskos. They deserve a reward for their service.”
“Hmm…” he scratches his chin again. “Perhaps you are right. We shall bring the mongrel back and fillet him alive. That will prove entertaining indeed. But you,” he snarls at me. “You will die here, female. You tried to convince my Ariana that I was evil, that she should be with a human—a human!”
“Perio—quickly.”
“Shall I fillet you, too?” his livid eyes flicker between mine. “Cut you up piece by piece and feed you to my army? That would serve for your misdeeds. Or should I just slit your throat?” he retrieves a black blade. “So many options…”
Sampson!
“There are many things I would like to do to you, but I am afraid I need to make this quick. Have no fear,” he brings the blade to my throat, right below my helmet, “I will make this as painful as possible.”
A loud boom erupts and Perio hisses, dropping me and the blade.
“Hands off, asshole!” Pratt fires her Enidd again, knocking him back a second time. She keeps going, firing round after round until Perio finally jerks behind the boulder for shelter.
“Why you little…” Varielle jumps out just as Sampson and Clarence race in, Enidds raised and pointed.
White blasts fill the cave again and suddenly, Arizal Mybyncians rush in, filling the small space. Varielle and Perio back up as far as they can, scanning their limited options. Grabbing something from his side, Perio retrieves the same tiny sphere-like object that Lolin threw at us during our first night in the FH. He tosses it up. When the device reaches the ceiling, it explodes, sending pieces of rock crumbling down. I’m shifted back, cradled by someone’s arms as black dust settles.
“No!” I hear Varielle scream. “I have dropped it!”
“Now!”
“But we must—”
“NOW!” Perio roars and the two of them swim out of the new opening above, taking the light with them. Everything is opaquely dark again.
“Fallon?” Clarence calls.
I can’t speak…but I’m here. Someone has me.
A white blast goes off and in that fleeting moment, Clarence spots me along with Reid, Tucker and Walker, who are propped up beside me. “Pratt,” he turns to her, “I need you to stand here and shoot upward every three seconds. Right into that hole they blasted. Understand?”
“Yup,” she says and fires the first round.
In the flash of light, I see Clarence making his way over.
You can’t speak, he says, why can’t you speak? What did he do to you?
Shot us with something. Some serum that immobilizes us. Says he made it himself.
Another flash of light and he’s in front of me.
Well, if it’s home-made, I’m sure it’s not permanent. We’ll have the Healers take a look, he sweeps his arms under me and cradles me against his chest.
Is everyone at the city okay?
They’re fine. His intention was always to bring the army here, he turns around. Speaking of… “Sampson—did you hear what I did? Did Varielle say she dropped it?”
“You mean the Shadow Bag’s here?” Pratt fires another white blast. “In this rubble somewhere?”
“Just keep shooting…” Clarence nods, still cradling me to his chest. “I’ll take the kids back if you want to look for it.”
“We shall help, Fychu,” three guards swim closer. “It would be our honor.”
A bright flash and I see Sampson nod, indicating that Pratt should return with us. A guard switches places with her and she joins Clarence’s side.
“Come on, guys. We need to get back to the city,” he carries me out of the cave and toward Lalu who is outside, waiting. Three other guards bring the boys behind us as Clarence peeks back. “And you four need to get un-immobilized. It’s weird not hearing anyone talk,” he places me on Lalu and jumps on, securing us. “Boy this is going to be one long, quiet ride.”
Chapter Eleven: Back to Basics
“So how’d you guys make it back?” Walker’s the first to ask.
We’d all been wondering it. Ever since returning to the FH, Walker, Tucker, Reid and I were whisked away to the Healers without any word about the others. But it’s not like we could’ve talked. Not for the first few minutes at least. We were with the Healers for about ten minutes before Perio’s serum wore off. Hillay, who removed the Gorgen poison from my leg last time, said the substance was devised from a plant-based numbing toxin that only lasts for an hour or so, and by the time we got there, most of it had left our system. Good thing too because not being able to use my motor functions was driving me insane.
Clarence thought we should’ve stayed longer. He wanted to be sure every last bit of the serum was cleared from our system, but the four of us rushed out the second we could, eager to locate the others and hear what happened after they left the cave. We found them in the Dining Hall, lounging around the table, shooting the breeze.
“You have any trouble getting out?” Walker scans the seated Rogues, his eyes falling on the one on the end. “And how’s your leg, Werzo? Can I sign your cast?” he smirks.
The Healers wrapped Werzo’s leg in white gauze although they already repaired the bone. The injury was reversed—even the swelling—but they bandaged it mostly because he’d asked them too.
“Ha-ha,” he rolls his eyes. “It still hurts.”
“We know,” Able agrees. “You wouldn’t stop complaining about it the entire trip home.”
“It was broken!” the copper-haired Rogue throws his arms up. “With no anesthesia—”
“Glad to know you took it like a champ,” Walker winks. “But seriously,” he plants his hands on the table, “how’d you guys do it? Weren’t the Gorgens right out there?”
“Actually it was perfect timing,” Able says. “The battle was still pulling them toward one side and we just snuck out the other. Smooth sailing.”
“Except for crybaby over here,” Jace nudges Werzo.
“It. Was. BROKEN!”
“Alright guys, settle down,” Clarence appears in the tunnel, a humored expression lighting his features. He enters the Dining Hall with the other Dofinikes behind him. We all take our seats quickly, Vix placing Mae in the chair between Pratt and I.
Sampson shifts forward. “Lots to talk about.”
“Isn’t there always?” Jace grins.
“Certainly,” he nods and steeples his fingers. He waits a moment before beginning again. “We have some news.”
“Oh?” Able sits up.
Sampson glances around the table and inhales. “We have recovered the Shadow Bag.”
“What?” Mae’s eyes pop.
“Really?” Jace asks.
“How?” Booker wants to know.
“It seems Varielle dropped the Gift when she and Perio were forced to flee. We searched the area… and we found it.”
Silence descends and for a long moment, we all sort of stare at each other, and then back at Sampson. But he doesn’t elaborate. He’s giving us a moment to grasp the weight of the situation.
Pratt shifts forward. “Is it here?”
“Yes. It is in the FH and right now, only we,” he gestures around the table, “and a handful of guards know it is here.”
“So what does this mean?” I ask. “Are we going back to the original plan?”
“That,” Blovid answers first, “is undecided. The question of what to do with the Gift also needs to be addressed. It cannot stay in its current location for much longer.”
“Correct,” Sampson nods. “We know the Muskos will come looking for it here sooner or later. Unless we take it off-planet, another strike against Pryncbia is inevitable.”
“So that’s it then,” Walker shrugs. “We’re back to plan A. Lure the Vermix to Nerwolix with the Gifts.”
“We can’t just take it off-planet,” Clarence leans forward, threading his fingers together. “We have to get permission from the queen.”
“When’s she due back?”
“She may not even give permission at this point,” Sampson frowns. “Spending the last few days with Chancellor Keller might have changed her opinion on the matter.”
“Well then she can tell us what she wants to do with it,” Walker shrugs again.
“Is there any chance of putting it back?” Mae suggests.
“It may have been wiser just to leave it there, Fychu.”
“We could not simply leave it, Blovid,” Sampson sighs with a look at the Arizal Leader. “The Muskos would look there first. You know this.”
“And once they find it missing—”
“I agree, and that is why I think it best to be taken off-planet. They can rejoin Reuzkimpart in his invasion on Nerwolix and try to obtain it then. And they’ll face three fierce armies instead of a wounded city.”
“But Queen Ariana still needs to approve,” Vix says. “She may not see the reason in your decision. She may wish to prepare her kingdom for another assault.”
“And that is why we must talk to her as soon as possible,” Sampson glances around the room. “She is due back the day after tomorrow. We can discuss everything that has occurred and advise what will happen if she demands that the Gift remain here, in Pryncbia.”
“She may simply wish to relocate it somewhere on the planet,” Qippert offers.
“But during a domestic threat?” The Fychu shakes his head. “She may have only been a queen for a week, but she is wiser than that. If the Queen decides to reposition the Shadow Bag, it will be when no one is seeking it.”
“And if she allows it off-planet?” Blovid asks. “You still only have the one Gift. There is no convincing Hozfin or Thias to reveal the Floating Ruby’s location because neither knows. It has been lost for centuries.”
Sampson nods, resting his chin on his clasped fists. After a long moment, he looks at the Arizal Leader. “The other night nearly everyone here said it was likely impossible to obtain the Shadow Bag, and yet we have it in our possession. I believe the Mother wants us to find the Gifts and use them to lure Reuzkimpart to his capture. The Lynzees said the Vermix would be coming…” he smiles. “Who am I to doubt them?”
Blovid lets out a sigh and sits back. “This is madness you know.”
“I know.”
He waves his arm around. “This whole day has been sheer—”
“Do not say luck. You and I both know luck is not real.”
Blovid frowns. “Your good fortune may run out once the Queen arrives. We will not know any more until then.”
“Then we will put this discussion on hold until she does.”
***
“Queen Ariana,” Sampson approaches the edge of the pool in the Docking Station. He smiles warmly, a genuine greeting. “Welcome home.”
“Thank you, Fychu,” she nods in return as Chancellor Keller climbs off the Stancimis, offering her his hand. She takes it and dismounts, the guards moving around her in a protective huddle.
“I trust you had a good trip?” Sampson keeps to her side and the two start for the Great Hall. Chancellor Keller and the guards follow behind.
“It was very beneficial.”
“Wonderful. I do not suppose you would have time—?”
“The queen is on a very strict schedule at the moment,” Chancellor Keller inches closer to Ariana. “She has only just returned and much needs to be done.”
“Yes, of course…but you must be made aware that there was another attack near the city—”
“Another attack?” Queen Ariana stops and everyone halts with her. “When?”
“Two days ago.”
“Why was I not notified of this?” She faces the chancellor.
He throws Sampson a look before focusing on the queen again. “I, myself, was only informed of this a short while ago. There are items needing to be discussed, your Highness. Although,” he leans in, lowering his voice, “it is best to do so in private first.”
“Of course,” Sampson agrees. “But we have information the good chancellor does not and it is vital that it be shared immediately. Once you have finished discussing in private, I would request opening the conversation to include a few more members?” He gestures behind him.
Ariana follows the Fychu’s focus to us, the humans in the back. She must see Tucker because her face softens the tiniest bit.
“Yes. Of course, Fychu. I will retire to my chamber for some rest, but tonight we shall meet to discuss everything you wish to. Chancellor,” she turns to him. “If you would not mind, please prepare this.”
Yes, your Highness.”
Ariana nods and with a final glance back over us, she heads for the Great Hall, Chancellor Keller and the guards enveloping her again. Sampson moves to the side, watching as the group disappears into the tunnel.
