Marked Chaos

by Niki Livingston

“Cool it, Zoe Dawn,” the woman snapped at me.

  I froze, finally recognizing her voice. Twisting to face her, my eyes narrowed in the direction of her voice.

  “Aly?” I hissed her name with venomous disdain, but my rage dissipated slightly, knowing it was her and not a stranger. “You have abducted me? Why?” The ropes snapped and fell to my feet. I rubbed my wrists where the skin was raw, cursing Aly under my breath.

  “Be still, sister.” Aly’s voice was farther away. “I need you to be calm. We will arrive shortly and then I will reveal what you need to know.”

  Light spilled in from the other side of the room, and for a split moment, I saw Aly’s face. Her expression was sullen. Then the small opening closed and she was gone. Darkness swallowed me whole. I could not see the hand in front of my face, but I knew my fingers were trembling. So was my bottom lip.

  “Aly?” I whispered, knowing she was no longer there but hoping I was wrong.

  Tears brimmed in my eyes. I pressed the palms of my hands against them, then as my blood boiled to the rim of my mind, I furiously wiped away the tears. Rage was once again filling my chest. A scream shook from my lips. My saliva spewed from my mouth, but I did not care. I screamed again and moved forward, feeling my way until my hands finally touched something solid.

  A wall maybe. It was so smooth and cold, unlike anything I had touched before. I walked alongside it for several feet, but it remained consistent in texture with no indication there was a door. I continued walking all the way around until I was fairly certain I had gone in a circle. There weren’t any corners in this room. How was that possible?

  Panic set in and I slid to the floor, gripping my chest as my heart beat furiously against it.

  How could Aly do this to me?

  When she had seen me before the equinox celebration, there had been no indication of her being anything but my ally and friend. She was Mum’s closest confidant. Had this been her plan all along? Years of living in our village... just to abduct me during the mating ceremony? None of this made sense.

  What had changed?

  The new tribe from the skies had created fear and worry in many villagers, but not Aly. Did she know them? Was their arrival her signal to begin planning my abduction?

  The tall girl hiding in the trees spiraled back to my thoughts. My entire body had ignited with heat when I saw her. Why?

  And there was Kia Lynn. She had been limping and had refused to talk about it. What had happened to her, and why all the secrets? She’d said something before she had fallen to the ground. It sounded like “something is wrong,” but I was not sure. Pure agony was the last look I saw on Kia Lynn’s face, and it was tearing me up inside. Did it have something to do with her limp?

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my forehead to my bent knees. So many questions...

  The device I had stolen from the new tribe pressed against my back. My eyes popped open as I sat up straight. They hadn’t taken it. A sense of hope washed over me as my trembling fingers tugged it from the band of my trousers.

  It was still cool to the touch. I ran my fingers around the edges, digging in and hoping I would finally find a way to open it. Maybe this was one of those moving picture machines Aly had told me stories about when I was young. She said they also had the ability to communicate with others around the entire world.

  There was a jolt and I slid forward. My free hand pressed against the ground to hold myself steady, while the other held firmly to the device.

  A light flashed on the other side of the room, and I leapt to my feet while shoving the device back where it had been tucked away. The room became brighter and I heard a click. A rounded section of the wall across from me slid forward and then over, revealing a doorway with Aly standing on the other side.

  “You traitor!” I shrieked. Stomping toward her, my thoughts of strangling this woman with my bare hands invaded every corner of my mind, but a flash of orange caught my eye. I slid to a stop and stared wide-eyed at my hands.

  They were searing hot. I had only lifted them slightly toward my face when flames burst from my palms. I stumbled back, tripping over my feet, and landed on my back before the fires extinguished themselves. My gaze flashed between each of my palms, bewildered by what I had just seen.

  Aly appeared above me, and my eyes narrowed when they met hers. “What did you do to me?” The malice in my tone surprised even me.

  She shook her head before leaning down and hauling me to my feet. “I have done nothing to you, sister. Get ahold of yourself, before you light yourself up again.”

  Her hand rested on my arm but I shook it off, then pushed past her and out the door. What was on the other side stopped me in my tracks.

  “What is this place?” I asked, staring at the pristine and perfectly angled furniture and tables.

  I twirled in a circle, taking in everything around me. Lights on the floor were lit up like tiny suns, leading down a narrow hallway and up a staircase. I stepped toward it but was dragged back by Aly.

  “We need to talk first,” she said, pulling me toward a set of gray chairs secured to the floor.

  I shook her grip off again and took a seat. My gaze drifted upward at the ceiling lights embedded within the silver material. Muted colors seemed to be a theme in here, and they reminded me of the anaman room I had stolen the device from.

  “Whoever lives here is terrible at interior design.” I snickered to myself, happy to have learned a reference from the ancient’s literature that would help me ridicule these thugs.

  Aly sighed and leaned forward in her chair. “No one lives here, Zoe Dawn.”

  “Still.” I wanted to stick my tongue out at her but rolled my eyes instead. “What do you want from me?” I asked, leaning back against the cushion and glaring at Mum’s friend.

  “Do you want to know why those flames erupted from your hands?”

  “Why would I want to know? Oh, I get it. It’s because you want to know?” My fury had returned, and I wished my newfound fire would scorch Aly, but it also scared me too much to let it happen again.

  “Zoe Dawn, I am your friend and, quite frankly, your only one in these parts. Everyone else sees you as a tool for Mother Gaia’s life force.” She hung her head as if she had been defeated by her own words.

  I did not like the sound of that. “Please explain.”

  “You are about to find out,” she replied, lifting her gaze to meet mine. She reached over and grabbed my hand. “Did you meet someone recently, then shortly after sense something inside your body you had never felt before?”

  I pulled back from her. “How did you know?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

  “When this happened, were you with Kia Lynn?” she asked, ignoring my question.

  I scooted forward in my chair, squeezing Aly’s hand. “What is happening? Tell me, now.”

  “You are changing.” She let my hand drop to my lap and cupped my chin in her hands. “We always suspected it would be you and Kia Lynn, especially with her birthmark giving away her elemental power, but we never believed it would be an anaman girl who would be your missing link.”

  “What in the world are you gushing on about?” My voice rose an octave as I pushed away from her and leapt from my seat. “You are not making any sense, sister. What do you mean I am changing?”

  “There was a prophecy. It was written after the stars fell from the skies many hundreds of years ago while the people hid in the black mountains.” She shifted in her seat and crossed one leg over the other. “Please sit down, Zoe Dawn. This could take a moment.”

  “Who wrote this prophecy?” I asked, sinking slowly onto the chair.

  She shook her head. “I do not know the name of the seer. I am not sure anyone does, but we have the platform these words were written on. It was clear who would revive Mother Gaia from her dormant state.”

  “Our planet?” I asked. “Why in the world would you believe she is sleeping? Have you not seen the wild vegetation that grows across our l
ands? We can barely contain it.”

  “Exactly. And there is more to it than that.”

  “Then just tell me already,” I snapped. My gaze flashed back to the hallway. I had to escape.

  Aly drew in a long breath, then exhaled with a huff. “Zoe Dawn, you will not make it out of this ship.”

  My eyes met hers, and I could see that she truly believed I could not make it. Obviously she did not know me well enough. I folded my arms over my chest and stared back defiantly.

  “You were saying?” I asked, not hiding my vile disdain for her.

  “She was saying”—a giant man filled the entryway from the corridor—“that it is time for you to join us outside.”

  My arms fell to my sides, and I knew by the way Aly was looking at me that I needed to pick my jaw up from off the floor. He was massive. The black shirt he wore clung to his chest like it was painted on, as it nearly matched the tone of his skin, and when he moved his arms, the outlines of his muscles pressed against the fabric. I knew I was staring, which was embarrassing, but it was impossible to tear my eyes away.

  “Who are you?” I lifted my gaze to meet his deep-set, dark-brown eyes.

  His stony expression did not change as he stared at me. “I am the keeper of the prophecy, the guardian of the seers.” He stepped into the room and waved me over. “If you would like to know more, follow me.”

  “Keeper of the prophecy. Is that right?” I murmured as I rose from my seat. The edges of my lips quirked up in amusement. He really took this role seriously. “Is that your name? Keeper? Guardian? What do I call you?”

  His brows twitched slightly, and I saw a brief glimmer of amusement in his eyes. I internally gave myself a high five. I succeeded at changing his expression, if only for a moment.

  “Malcolm. You may call me Malcolm.” He pointed to the hallway.

  Aly pulled me past the massive beast and down the corridor. The stairs led to another gray room. This one was filled with anaman machines and more chairs bolted to the floor, but Aly dragged me quickly by and down another corridor before stepping out into the sunshine.

  “How long was I out?” I asked, staring at the brightened sky. It had to be close to mid-meal. My stomach growled from the thought, and I suddenly realized how hungry I was. “What do you have to eat around here?”

  I looked back at the giant—I mean Malcolm. His stony expression had returned, but I was not worried. I would crack him if it was the last thing I did.

  Aly grabbed my arm and tugged me forward. “They have food inside.”

  That was when I really took in my surroundings. We were walking on a hard surface unlike anything I had seen before. I glanced down at the silvery ground. It was smooth like the device lodged between my back and trousers. What astounded me even more were the buildings surrounding us. They were clean and undamaged. The vegetation had been cleared away and the structures rose high above us, stretching for the stars. Right behind them were red-and-orange mountainsides. It was a stunning view.

  I twirled in a circle, taking in each building. A few were shorter, but several others rose so high I could barely see the tops of them. They were how I imagined the ancient world’s structures to be, but even better. The ship we had been in was small compared to the buildings, but more significant than any home in our village.

  My gaze met Malcolm’s. “Where are we?”

  “Far from the black mountains,” he replied with a flat stare. “Here you will learn more about Mother Gaia, and your purpose in this life, than anywhere else on the planet.” He wrapped his hands over my shoulders, and I felt a flutter in my stomach. “Zoe Dawn, we have been waiting for your flame to spark for many years. All of this”—he waved his massive hand toward the buildings—“was built for this moment, and you will finally begin the most important process of our lifetimes.”

  I sputtered out a laugh. He was too serious. And what was this garbage he was spewing?

  He ignored my outburst. “Once you are all united, the three of you will move the heightened energy across our beautiful lands. Welcome to Zion.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Ice Storm

  ALEX

  “Alex!” Mom cried, rushing toward me.

  The cold metal was removed from my head. One of Dad’s guards circled around me.

  “My apologies, Alex,” he said, stuffing his firearm behind his back. “It was too dark to recognize you.”

  I nodded, and when Mom reached me, I threw myself into her arms, crushing her against me. Her fingers combed through my hair, and she planted a kiss on my forehead.

  “I thought you were hurt or, worse, dead,” I mumbled against her shoulder. “After seeing Dad attacked by Andy—”

  “What did you say?” Uncle Henry asked as he strode quickly toward me. “Andy attacked Jax?” His focus shifted to Dax and it was then I realized how closely his name resembled Dad’s. “Who is this?”

  “This is Dax,” I blurted, unraveling myself from Mom’s embrace. “He helped me get here unseen.”

  Uncle Henry shook his head, and I knew I would hear about this later. “Forget it.” His gaze met mine. “For now. What happened to your dad?”

  “Andy betrayed him. He knocked Dad over the head from behind, stopping him from saving the rest of our people.” I dropped the backpack onto the ground. “I loaded as many weapons as I could into the bag. We need to save all of them.” Dax leaned forward to peek inside, but I pushed him back.

  “How many?” Uncle Henry asked. He held up one of the weapons, before sliding it against his lower back and securing it with the band of his trousers.

  My thoughts traveled around the group, taking in their exhausted expressions. “Thirteen, I think. Plus Andy.” I grabbed Uncle Henry’s arm as he secured a few daggers onto his belt. “You are all tired. How do you expect to take them by surprise?”

  “We don’t have a choice, Alex.” His hand covered mine, which was holding his arm. “Do you know why they have attacked us?”

  “They want the cloaking device in the ship,” I replied, glancing at Dax who only stood a few feet away. “And I would not trust anyone at this point if they believe the device is that valuable.”

  Now that I was safely with Mom and Uncle Henry, I realized how much I did not trust Dax. His people were looking to steal the cloaking device as well, and I intended to find out why. If anything happened to Dad, I would hold the charming rebel personally responsible.

  “I knew cloaking our ship would draw others to us,” Uncle Henry mumbled under his breath. “All the old anaman ships in this dimension are either nonfunctional or barely usable. With the cloaking device, they could hide their whereabouts from one another and the more primitive establishments.”

  My gaze met his, and he blinked several times as if a realization was bubbling around in his brain.

  “If they want the cloaking device, then they want the ship as well.” He whirled around to look in the direction of our smaller ship, which was our only transportation to the larger ship in orbit. “Did you make sure the ship was secure before leaving?”

  I gulped back a ball of dread, thinking back to when I flew out of the ship. Did the bay door close completely? My eyes were widening, and I could feel Henry’s sharp stare searing against my face.

  “I think I did.” My voice was barely a whisper. I fiddled with the top of the dagger I had at some point pulled from its sheath against my hip. “What if I didn’t?”

  A crimson flush was climbing up Uncle Henry’s neck, and his clenched jaw spoke volumes. What had I done?

  Mom’s fingers settled over my fidgety hand and gave it a squeeze. “We will send a team back to the ship.” She looked pointedly at Uncle Henry, and her reassurance seemed to calm him, as his coloring returned. “We cannot waste any more time discussing this. We need to run off our attackers and shield our new home as soon as possible.”

  I nodded fervently, as if this were the best plan ever. How they intended on accomplishing this feat seemed to be a po
int that did not need to be discussed in front of Dax. I trusted Mom and Uncle Henry with my life. They always found a way to fix what seemed to be impossible to overcome.

  “Chance,” Henry called, waving at one of the other men from our group.

  “Good choice,” Mom said as she pulled me in close. She whispered in my ear, “Stay close when we go after these people. You are my number one concern.”

  “Should I return to the ship with the others?” I asked, hoping she would say yes. I did not care what Henry and Mom said. I was not capable of fighting others or being a hero in any capacity.

  Mom smiled and shook her head. “No, this will be a good lesson for you. This dimension is far more volatile then we imagined. This area in particular seems to have the least evolved humans across the world that we know of so far.”

  I sighed. Then why did they ask me to pick our new home? I eyed Uncle Henry giving Chance and a few others instructions on what they might expect when returning to our ship, and I wished I was going with them.

  Mom’s hand cupped my chin and pulled my attention back to her. “This place is not all that bad.” Somehow, she was reading my mind. “The reports from our other ships around the globe state that human and anaman life is beginning to flourish and cities are being rebuilt, but there seems to be an amalgamated delay in the vegetation growth. Being here, where that is mostly what the local tribes rely on, will teach us about the missing link for the rest of the world.”

  “Is that why the colors are dull?” I asked, pointing at the nearest tree. “The ridiculous amount of vegetation is a hundred times more than in my day, but the colors are muted as if they are not entirely thriving.”

  “What do you mean ‘in your day’?” Dax stepped closer to me and Mom. It was clear he had been eavesdropping on our hushed conversation.

  My eyes narrowed at his rude behavior. “None of your business, Dax.”

  Mom squeezed my arm. “Chance is leaving for the ship. We need to prepare for our fight.” She raised her brows at Dax and then shot me a sideways look. “Take care of this.”