Destroyed

by Madeline Dyer

  Elf shakes his head. “But Bea is still alive—I feel it. It doesn’t mean anything that she’s not here now, because she will be. She will come back. She has to. We’re the last two left, and families stick together—so I have to be here. I have to stay.” He scratches his arms, then shakes his head in an exaggerated motion. “You may want me to give up on her, but I won’t. She’s going to find me.”

  Then he freezes.

  His head turns toward me slowly. His eyes seem darker. “Why didn’t you tell me that last night?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “That Keelie’s a spirit.” Elf’s voice is a hiss. “You weren’t going to? But we can see her? Speak to her?” He stares at me for a moment, before his eyes narrow. “You don’t want to… You never did like her, did you? You were jealous of how close she was to Five, how you didn’t have a best friend, but she did.”

  “Elf, no—”

  His eyes narrow even more. “You don’t want Keelie back here, do you?” He snorts. “But she’s going to come back. She is.” He turns and looks around, then back at me. “We need a Turning. You’re a Seer, make a Turning happen.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Won’t do that.” He glares at me, then runs out of the shack, pushing past Esther.

  Corin, Esther, and I stare at each other. Outside, we hear Elf screaming Keelie’s name, screaming for her to get back down here, to show herself.

  The three of us run after him. Elf’s pointing at the sky, trying to jump, his face contorting in pain as he grabs at his side.

  “Keelie, get down here now! That’s enough of the hiding, come on, get down here!”

  My mouth dries. I look at the others. “What do we do?”

  “We leave.” Corin’s voice is flat.

  Jana and Taras head over to us, and we all watch Elf, wordlessly. We can’t leave him. I know that, know it in how fast my blood is pumping.

  “He can’t start a Turning, can he?” Jana asks.

  Taras shrugs. “Unless he can summon spirits.”

  Elf grabs a stone from the hearth.

  “No!” I yell. “That’s hot.”

  But he ignores me, doesn’t seem to notice. His face reddens as he yells again, then he hurls the stone into the air. It zooms upward in a slight curve, going faster, faster, seems to change color, getting darker, but glowing at the same time, emitting a halo of light and—

  Everything changes.

  Screams fill my ears, and I turn, can’t see who the screams belong to—because it’s not one of us. Red light flashes across the sky. A blink of darkness, and glass feathers catch my shoulder.

  I turn, heart pounding, see shapes and—

  No.

  He’s done it? Called her here?

  My mouth dries.

  The spirit is not Keelie. None of them are.

  At least not in any recognizable form—and recognition is what I’m searching for. My brother is what I’m searching for. But a myriad of color dances above, all jagged edges and triangles.

  “Keelie! Get down here!” Elf yells, hurls another stone up.

  They descend in a herd of flashing lights.

  Something hits me, and I stumble, fall back, dazed.

  “Sev!”

  Corin’s by me in an instant, hauling me up, and I clash heads with him, start to trip again. A spirit whizzes past me, shrieking a high-pitched squeal. Everything in me tightens.

  They’re not humanoid at all.

  Too far gone.

  Degenerated.

  A lone eyeball rolls toward me. I stare at it, feel sick.

  “Get inside the hut!” Corin yells, pushes me to the left. “He’s started a bloody Turning!”

  Started it so suddenly. Too suddenly.

  I run with Corin, but then I stop, look back, see Elf with spirits hurtling toward him. Teeth snapping. They’re going to—no! I shoot white light, hit the nearest spirit that’s going for him. He’s totally oblivious, standing there, his face upturned to the sky, screaming Keelie’s name.

  Cold water pours over me just as something hot splatters over my right leg.

  I twist, heart pounding and—

  Eat them!

  Déjà vu. My gaze jerks up. Hundreds of them, hurtling toward us. An army. Uncontrollable, angry, hungry.

  “Inside!” Corin yells. “Sev! Now!”

  There are more flashes of Seer power—Jana and Taras. I turn, see Esther in the shack’s doorway.

  My heart pounds, and I turn, scrambling forward. I reach Elf, slam my hand onto his shoulder, try to pull him backward, just as a spirit dives on us. Teeth scratch my shoulder—my bad one, the one I was shot in—and the pain’s instant, like ice pumping through me.

  I freeze, sudden nausea overwhelming me.

  “Keelie!” Elf bellows. “Get down here! Don’t hide from me!”

  How’s he done it? How the hell has he called spirits to him?

  Teeth gnash at his arms, and I can’t do anything—too much pain in me and—

  I feel it building in me. A wave of power, the Sarrs working together.

  I shriek, turn, send it out. Orange sparks and flames fly forth, hit the nearest spirits. They squeal.

  Jana dives in front of me, grabs Elf, yanks him back.

  Colors hurtle past me, and something hits the back of my head. Dark patches in my vision. My next bout of flames goes wonky.

  “Come on!”

  Somehow, we all make it back to the shack.

  Corin pulls me in—I’m the last—and then he and Esther stretch a blanket across the open doorway, try to peg it in place. Gusts of energy blow against it, ripple it, and I reach for an edge of the fabric, hold it taut until they can secure it.

  “Is that going to hold?” Esther asks.

  “It’s the best we can do.”

  “But are we safe in here?” she says. “They’ll know we’re in here—they’re just as clever as us. We talked to them. I talked to Three when he—”

  “It’s the degenerated ones out there,” I say. “No human forms. Maybe they won’t realize we’re in here.”

  But saying it seems stupid, judgmental, and patronizing.

  Elf looks at me, accusingly. “You said they were us, the spirits? You said Keelie was up there, but she’s not. You lied.”

  “Hey, don’t speak to her like that.” Corin stands between us.

  “Elf, they were us,” I say. “They’re Lost Souls now. They’re in pain. They’re degenerating, stuck here. It rips them apart.” I gulp, think of Three. And Clare. And Jed. All of them. Even Rahn—how desperate he was for me to send him to the New World, to end his suffering. “I didn’t say Keelie was here—or even any of them. I mean, none of the spirits were here…not until you summoned them.”

  And it’s crazy. Elf can summon spirits? He’s not a Seer.

  “But they attacked us,” Elf says. “They can’t be on our side.”

  “They attacked because you attacked them,” Taras says. His makeshift sling has gone, and he holds his arm tenderly.

  Corin’s eyes narrow. “You nearly got us killed. They’re spirits—they’re still the most dangerous wild things out there. There’s a reason we don’t go out in the Turnings.”

  Elf opens his mouth again, as if to speak, but doesn’t. His lips form soundless words. One word, over and over. I think it’s Keelie’s name.

  I wipe the back of my hand across my mouth.

  “How long are the spirits going to be angry for?” Esther grimaces as she shifts her weight onto her other foot. She winces.

  “That is anyone’s guess.” Taras grunts then clears his throat. “This isn’t a normal Turning.”

  “Then what is it? How is it different?”

  “I do not know, child. Few things in this world are known. But we do know those spirits are hungry.”

  “We can’t stay here though.” Jana’s eyes meet mine. “You can feel it, can’t you? The danger. This place is not safe.”

  Not safe. As soon as s
he says it, I feel it. The thrumming pulse. The countdown. The Enhanced. Raleigh. Coming here.

  I nod. “But we can’t go out in this.” My voice betrays me. It’s too high-pitched. I know maintaining calmness is everything in situations like these, but my insides are churning. Raleigh—he’s on his way. I know he is. I can feel it. He’ll always be able to find me.

  “Seers could.” Jana’s voice has an edge to it, and she suddenly looks older than she is. “We can fight our way through the spirits, protect ourselves. We could go.”

  “No.” I shake my head. “We’re not leaving Corin, Esther, or Elf—we’re not.”

  “But it’s his fault.” Jana gives Elf a dirty look. “At least we could travel before with only storms to worry about. What if the spirits never calm down?”

  “They will,” Taras says. “It’s good we have them for cover—from the drones. We just have to wait for the calm to come.”

  But sitting, waiting, it’s not what we should be doing. Not when I’m the most-wanted person out here.

  Esther grimaces again, places her hands on her lower back and leans backward a little.

  “Are you all right?” I ask.

  She nods, but we all know it’s a lie.

  Outside, the howling gets louder and louder, so loud. Cold air blasts through the holes in the roof, and Esther jumps. Everything’s vibrating. The blunt knife Corin grabbed before is on the box, and it stutters, moves along. Jana grabs it before it falls off the edge. She pockets it in one quick movement.

  I wince with the volume of the thundering out there, the intensity of it. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and goosebumps cover my arms.

  And then—

  It stops.

  All of it.

  Everything.

  Just silence.

  The six of us stare at each other, even Elf. Every sound inside the hut seems amplified: the crack of my neck as I turn, the tapping of Jana’s fingers against her thigh, Esther’s heavy breathing, the dog as he shuffles toward Elf.

  “Can you feel anything?” Corin whispers to me.

  I feel like I should be able to, and I let my senses run free, tendrils growing from me, but nothing wraps around me. I shake my head and look to Jana and Taras, but they shake their heads too.

  My eyes narrow. There should be something. But it’s like the outside world doesn’t exist. Nothing beyond this hut does.

  And it has to.

  My dog looks up at me. I watch his hackles rise.

  My feet feel like lead as I turn. My hands shake as I reach for the blanket over the doorway.

  “Sev, no.” Corin’s voice is low.

  I peel the blanket back.

  A cloud of dust flies in, coats me. I cough, stumble back a little, drag the back of my hands across my eyes, try to clear them, but I only rub more of the dust in.

  Outside, something whirs. An engine?

  No.

  My eyes stream, my vision wobbly, scratchy. Corin says something, and so does Esther, but I can’t make their words out, just step farther forward, into the swirling ash and dust and debris.

  I blink, try to see.

  Then I do see.

  A pair of eyes stares back.

  Mirror eyes.

  I scream, send white light at the man. Behind me, everyone shouts.

  The Enhanced stumbles back, disappears into the gray mist—but then it lifts, so quickly and—

  Hundreds of Enhanced smile at me.

  My mouth dries.

  Taras and Jana surge forward; white light bolts toward the mirror eyes. Men and women fall, and I shoot out more power, try to get more and more—but there are so many.

  Corin shouts something, but I miss his words. A gun goes off, and I flinch. An Enhanced One falls, blood splatters over me. The four Enhanced nearest to me step forward.

  “No, you’re not getting in here!” Taras yells, sending more Seer power forward.

  Esther screams something about a knife, and I turn, see her, just as a flash of light explodes behind her, darting forward—toward me. I duck, breath ragged. Sounds grate my ears as the white light hits the Enhanced behind me, and I stare at Elf, my heart pounding.

  He’s a Seer?

  Of course—the spirits! He summoned them, started the Turning! But every Seer, Untamed and Enhanced, was in the Dream Land—and he wasn’t. I connected to some of the non-Seers out there, to him. So he became a Seer between that point and the end of the Dream Land? A God or Goddess chose him? A last act of desperation before they died? How many others have been created?

  Because so few Untamed Seers got out?

  I balk, look at Elf—who’s staring at his hands, eyes wide—but there’s no time to think.

  “They’re at the other side too!” Jana shouts.

  I turn, heart pounding, see her at the back of the shack, looking through the grainy window.

  “We’re surrounded?” Taras’s voice is hollow.

  Another gunshot. I blanch, turn, see Corin with the Luger—only he hasn’t fired, I know it instinctively. His mouth drops open, and he stares at me.

  “They’ve got guns!” I yell. Shit.

  The Enhanced have got guns. Again. My heart pounds, and I turn, gesture at the others to get back, hide behind the hut walls. Esther moves, and Jana’s already by the window. Elf? Where is he? I can’t see him, but I know he’s not out there. Can feel his presence.

  Taras blasts more light through the doorway, and I lift my hands, do the same, draw on all the power within me. The nearest row of Enhanced Ones flies backward, screaming, but more rise up behind them, eyes flashing, teeth gleaming.

  “What do we do?” Corin yells.

  Sweat runs down my spine, sticks my shirt to me. We’re trapped. No escape. My heart pounds.

  “Stop!” a deep, booming voice shouts.

  A voice I’d recognize anywhere.

  The Enhanced stop, and so do we.

  The tide of Enhanced Ones parts, and Raleigh strides forward. He’s wearing a long trench-coat that doesn’t suit him. and its edges stir more dust and sand into the air, partly obscuring his lower-half, make him seem insubstantial, like he’s not real.

  But this is real.

  Very real.

  “Well, well, well.” His voice is slow, and he stops in front of me. A slight smile tugs at his lips. “Weren’t you easy to find?” He tuts.

  “Get away from her,” Corin snarls.

  Raleigh laughs. “Really, Shania, I’d have at least expected a bit of a runaround. Unless you wanted to be found. Tell me, my dear butterfly, you’ve seen sense, haven’t you? You’re going to join us willingly and allow the continued survival of the Chosen?”

  He holds his hand toward me, as if I’m going to take it.

  I stare at his fingers. He’s not even shaking. I could kill him right now. Really could. It’s in me, the power—getting stronger, rising up.

  Corin edges closer to me, with the gun. His shoulder bumps against me.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t,” Raleigh says. “I really wouldn’t. You send a bullet at me, and I’ll grab it and twist it, send it back to you. I can do that now.”

  I inhale sharply. His powers have changed? But mine haven’t… I’ve just lost one and have another that no longer works. The body-sharing and the spirit-summoning.

  “Get away from us.” Corin’s words are steely.

  Raleigh chuckles as he steps even closer, all apparent positivity vanishing as his tone darkens. “And you, Shania, you may be stronger, but I can still block attacks.” He looks behind me, widening his gaze. “Any attacks.”

  I snort. I can’t help it. “That’s not what happened before, at New Kitembu. I used my powers on you when I—”

  When I woke up next to him. When he’d pretended to be Corin.

  My stomach hardens, and I feel it—a burning hatred that radiates from my core. From my Seer powers, fueling them further. Energy floods me, so much of it. My fingers burn. They’re bursting to get out.

  I
stare at Raleigh, swallow hard. My vision blurs with the intensity of my gaze. Behind me, the others move closer.

  “I’d think very carefully about your potential actions here, Shania,” Raleigh says. “My people outnumber you significantly. You may have three Seers with you, and a couple others…” He looks Corin and Esther up and down. “But I’ve got forty-six Seers behind me, and an army well equipped with the latest weapons. Shania, should you even attempt to harm the smallest hair on my head, they’ll kill all your precious Untamed. But I’m not here for violence—violence is bad.”

  Everything in me hardens as he smiles.

  I clench my hands into fists, fight to keep my power under control, so it doesn’t just burst out—because that’s what he really wants, a fight, isn’t it? Even though he’s saying the opposite….

  “How’d you find us?” I ask.

  Raleigh smiles. “I’d have thought you’d have worked that one out already, you being the amazing Seer.”

  “How?”

  He laughs. “I am not here to discuss the intricacies of tracking methods. I am here to retrieve you. You may have escaped, but you are still my property—”

  “I’m not yours.” I glare at him. “You don’t own me. I’m not joining you. I’m never joining you.”

  “Oh,” he says. “I think you will. In fact, I know you will. I may not have command of your soul anymore, but I have ways and means to get what I want. And I always get what I want.” He steps nearer.

  “Back off,” Corin hisses, thrusting the gun into Raleigh’s face.

  “Wouldn’t it be best to do it now?” Raleigh continues, apparently oblivious to the firearm. “Come willingly, Shania, and save all the bloodshed. End the war now, and let your people live. Let them be saved. Let them be happy. You don’t want them to suffer, do you? I promise, if you refuse this offer, blood will be shed. Plenty of it. You’ll lose those you care most about.” He glances at Corin, then Esther. “You’ll watch them die, you’ll feel their pain, their suffering—”

  “I thought your priority was to convert us, not kill us,” Esther says.

  “We do what we must for the greater good.” Raleigh’s tone is low. “And you, Shania, you’ll know you’re responsible for their pain, and their deaths will take hours. You wouldn’t condemn all your people to that, would you? So why inflict that on any? You can save everyone now, you can avoid all that.”