Destroyed

by Madeline Dyer

  I pour my magic into him, pour so much of me, my soul, but Corin’s lips stay blue, his skin stays sallow, and his breathing doesn’t get more regular or stop rasping. I decant more of my power into him, pain and emptiness building in my chest.

  What if I can’t do it?

  Because I killed all the Stone Seers. Why should I be able to heal if I kill as well? What if that’s wiped out the healing power?

  But, no, it can’t have! I let out a small wail as I try again and again and again.

  Corin looks like he’s been seriously ill for months. Not… How long has it been? A day? No. It has to be longer than that, I’m sure. But I can’t think straight.

  I scoot closer, press my forehead against his, then the rest of my body, all the way down. I’m shorter than him, and I point my toes, flattening my feet so they press against his lower legs. My right arm goes over his chest, and I hold him. Hold him as tightly as I can.

  He’s sweating, shaking. Feels hot, feverish. His breathing’s labored. He’s still wearing the same clothes he’s had on for days—the Stone Seers didn’t give him clean clothes—and his shirt is sticky.

  My heart tightens. What have they done to him?

  I take a deep breath, call on my powers. See his soul, the threads, just like with Elf. Corin’s, too, are unraveling, but they’re not reaching upward. I take that as a good sign. They’re just floating.

  Energy hums through me, and I transfer it to him, little dots that move from me to him, that join with his, heal him, and—

  They don’t mix with his life-energy. They’re just swallowed. Swallowed by the red marks on Corin’s soul, absorbed completely by them.

  Red parts?

  There shouldn’t be red parts.

  But there are. Huge angry red marks, and smaller, red dots.

  I shake my head, push away the confusion. Try again. But the same thing happens.

  “They’re stopping me doing it,” I shout back. “The Stone Seers.”

  Then I realize I’ve interrupted their conversation, that Elf’s telling them about what the Stone Seers stood for, Jana’s traitorous behavior, how they tried to force me to work for them. And how I set a fire that’s killed the Stone Clan. Everything. Even how Elf and I ended up here, how we found them.

  From the other side of the cave, I can see how they’re looking at me—how dark their eyes are, how Esther’s holding Toivo so close to her, her body angled away from me. She casts a dark look over her shoulder as she assesses me, her eyes flicking up and down.

  Taras’s mouth has dropped open. He lifts a shaking hand. “All of them are dead?”

  “There was an explosion.” Elf’s gaze darts back to me for a moment. “I don’t think Seven did that… The fire was already there. It must’ve hit their fuel supplies.”

  I swallow down the lump in my throat. My hold on Corin tightens. Tears try to push themselves to my eyes. I fight them. I mustn’t cry. Not when I’m still alive. I know Elf is just trying to be nice, but I don’t know whether I commanded the explosion or not. But, either way, it is my fault. I set the flames.

  “So you brought Toivo here?” Esther says after a moment. Her voice is neutral. I can’t read her. “Because he wasn’t—he just appeared and—”

  “I must’ve,” I say. It’s too hot in here, and I’m sweating. “But, uh, Taras, look at Corin. His soul. They’ve marked him, made his soul so I can’t heal him. My healing powers are useless on him, and they shouldn’t be? Those red marks, see?”

  I’m staring at him, waiting for his answer.

  Taras’s frown deepens. “All that life…that power. Seers. Dead. Untamed.”

  “Taras, please. Corin.”

  “Child, I cannot see souls like you. I see nothing.” His voice is blunt. “Preventing one from healing someone is powerful Seer magic. Nonetheless, they are dead, their magic will fade.”

  “But what about Corin?” I shift my weight a little as I lean over him, reaching for his other hand. It’s clammy, and the stone floor is cold, seeping into me.

  “He will get better once their hold on him disappears.” He turns to Elf. “Can we carry Corin between us? We need to leave this area.”

  Elf nods.

  I don’t want to let go of Corin. Everything inside me tells me to hold onto him. Insisting upon it, as if I can keep him alive—after what I’ve just done. All that death. Me, bringing it.

  Maybe I should let him go.

  Steeling myself, I unwind my arms from him. The moment I roll away, cold, icy air wraps around me.

  I swallow hard, feel sick. A wave of self-hatred rises inside me. I try not to think.

  “He’ll be all right,” Taras says. “We’ll get him better. We will. Seer power like that can’t hold on for a long time.”

  But it can. I know that. I think of how long Raleigh had my eyes. Then how long he had control of my soul. It only stopped because I died and Death sent me back.

  What if… I look at Corin.

  No.

  The Stone Seers are dead—because of me. It has to stop.

  But why wasn’t the connection broken instantly?

  No. Corin will get better. He has to.

  Elf and Taras lift Corin between them. He’s delirious, sweating profusely now, and shaking. He doesn’t look like Corin, and something about it stirs deep within my heart.

  “I can Seer-travel again,” I say, reaching out. I know I can do it. My mind is strong. I’m used to wielding great power now.

  “No. You’ve used your powers enough,” Taras says.

  “But—”

  Taras shakes his head, stopping my words. His face looks redder, as if more blood vessels have broken in the last few minutes. “We do not want to tempt fate. Seer instability is a dangerous thing.” But his voice is low, and I don’t think that’s why he’s saying I shouldn’t use my powers.

  “So which way do we go?” Esther looks at me. “If we’re walking?”

  “That way,” Taras says, before I can answer.

  We move on.

  Hours pass, and I try to heal Corin again and again, but I can’t. The red sections of his soul absorb my power before it can help him. They’re still just as strong.

  We stop to get water at some point, and I look around. And—

  An augmenter at my feet. So suddenly there.

  No.

  “Raleigh?” I yell, turning.

  A bitter taste fills my mouth. This is ridiculous.

  Esther jumps.

  “Where are the Enhanced?” Taras demands.

  I turn around, looking again, because they have to be here. Raleigh has to be. He has to.

  I point at the augmenter at my feet.

  Esther’s nearest, holding Toivo, who’s crying again.

  “What?” She steps nearer, frowning.

  I stare at her. “You don’t see it?”

  Oh Gods. I’m going mad.

  Really going mad. Seeing augmenters—of all things! Seer instability? But no, I’m fine.

  I shake my head. I can’t be going mad.

  “I made a mistake,” I say, but I see how Taras watches me, how he keeps watching me as we continue walking. It’s not just the outright disapproval anymore.

  No Enhanced jump out on us. Raleigh’s not here. It’s safe.

  But it doesn’t feel safe.

  Something tells me these augmenters are real—that Raleigh wants me to see them, that it’s not a sign of anything wrong with me.

  When we stop for the night, Taras insists on assessing me, even though he looks like he can’t stand to be anywhere near me. His hands are on my temples, and he looks for signs of my mind stretching, but he doesn’t find any. He says I’ve grown into my powers, and my mind has adapted, but that doesn’t mean I should use them more than I have to.

  Still, I try to heal Corin again, but it doesn’t work. It’s those red marks.

  “You need to get some sleep,” Esther says, and I look up, realize how late it is. I’ve been trying to heal Cori
n for nearly an hour. “I’m not saying that because of your mind or powers or anything. But because you’re human. We all need sleep. Elf’s doing the first guard.” She pauses. “Try not to feel too bad. You saved our lives.”

  Slowly, I nod. I look at Elf. “Wake me if anything changes with Corin.”

  He nods, and I settle down, curling up for warmth.

  Sleep comes surprisingly easily, and I expect to see the faces of all the people I’ve killed today, for them to swarm me, scream at me. For their hair to fly out at me, twist around my neck. For their words to burn into my skin so my guilt is there for all to see.

  But, instead, I dream of my terrier. He’s curled up in a basket, on a plush red cushion, his eyes half-closed. He looks happy, content. Healthier too. His coat is shiny, and his eyes are bright. He doesn’t scratch, doesn’t have fleas.

  As I watch him, I expect Raleigh or some other Enhanced to walk into the room, step on the flag-stone floor, expect to see mirror eyes looking after my dog. See mirror eyes glistening with glee and evil. See them hurt my dog. Because something bad has got to happen. It has to.

  I’m a bad person.

  But no one comes.

  It’s just me and my dog, together, dreaming, safe.

  There’s a spirit in the sky when I wake. Taras, Elf, and Esther are a few feet away, pointing at it.

  I sit up, my head a little too groggy. Corin’s lying next to me. I say his name but he doesn’t respond. His lips look even bluer. I summon my powers, try again to heal him, but nothing. Still. What did the Stone Seers do to him? What if it is permanent? Because they’re all dead, gone, and so whatever hold they had on Corin should’ve gone too.

  Or maybe it’s because of me. Maybe it’s my punishment. Because of what I did.

  Darkness closes in around me, squeezes my neck. I gasp, shake my head, hard. No. Corin can’t die. This can’t be a punishment. The world can’t work like this…can it?

  The spirit moves, and I catch the movement in my peripheral vision. It’s a small spirit, all sharp angles, like broken glass. I focus on it, wonder if I can move the spirit, like I did with that bird-spirit.

  My powers feel eager, and it’s easy. I make the spirit move to the left in a wide arc.

  A shadow falls over me: Taras.

  “You’re awake.” His voice is neither friendly nor harsh.

  I point at Corin. “Those red patches on his soul still haven’t faded. He’s getting worse. The Stone Seers have intentionally stopped him from getting better.” I run a hand through my hair. It’s a tangled mess, though the tangles make it seem longer. “How do I undo it? I must be able to undo what they’ve done. I must have a power that can.”

  Taras shakes his head, his eyes resigned. “I will check Marta’s Lore for any stories involving such matter.” But he doesn’t sound hopeful.

  “Shouldn’t you know Marta’s Lore?” Esther asks. She’s nearer than I thought. Toivo’s in her arms, asleep, and Elf’s just behind her.

  Taras doesn’t answer.

  I turn back to Corin and—

  That’s when I see them: figures in the distance.

  Mirror eyes glinting in the sun.

  My mouth dries.

  I hold my hand up in the stop! gesture we used at Nbutai.

  “Get down!” I hiss, but there’s not much vegetation to hide us. Just the odd low-lying bush and short grass.

  Elf’s on the ground in an instant, and Esther hunkers down, careful of the baby.

  Wind rushes through my hair, slaps my face. I splay my fingers between blades of grass as I crouch, as if connecting to the earth will help me know more about the approaching Enhanced.

  “What is it?” Taras asks. He’s having trouble crouching low, grimacing. His joints, must be. He’s old, after all.

  “Enhanced are on the horizon.” I lift my head up a little, peering forward. How didn’t we notice?

  “Have they seen us?” Esther’s voice is low, her words fast, worried.

  “I don’t know.” They’re far away, very far. “Possibly not.” It was just the small glint of the mirrors I saw.

  I look at our clothes. All relatively neutral colors—apart from my shirt. The one the Stone Seers dressed me in. It’s red, but it’s covered in dirt and dried blood too now, and parts of it are blackened with soot. I pray the original color’s hidden enough so I don’t stand out.

  “What do we do?” Elf asks. “Are you going to kill them?”

  I flinch. My heart pounds, and the roof of my mouth feels dry. “Avoiding the fight’s best.” Especially now we’ve got a baby with us. Esther won’t be able to fight—they’ll become easy pickings if the Enhanced are trying to separate us, convert us. I don’t want to embrace that power again. It needs to stay squashed up inside me. Has to. “If we can get away without them noticing us, we need to do it.”

  “But how are they finding us?” Esther groans, and then she whispers something to Toivo. The baby’s awake now. “This is worse than… than it’s ever been,” she says. “Even when we left Nbutai, they didn’t find us this quickly—and we were easier to track. No Seer-travel or anything then. I mean, we’re in a different section!”

  “The real question is what do we do if they don’t walk away, if they see us?” Elf says. “How do we get away safely?”

  I glance at Taras, but he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t look at me though.

  “We’ve got no car,” Esther says. She glances at me. “Has to be Seer-travel. We need to get out of here.”

  “Okay.” I reach for them, try to ignore the way Taras looks like he’d rather touch anyone but me, and get ready to summon my powers.

  “Wait.” Taras’s eyes are narrowed as he looks ahead. “Oh, Divine Ones! This isn’t… They shouldn’t be… Look. They appear to be leaving.”

  “What?” My gaze snaps that way.

  He’s—he’s right. The Enhanced—they’re moving back.

  All of them.

  I frown. This is too good to be true.

  “It cannot be,” Taras says. “We must be mistaken. They can’t be leaving.”

  But they are.

  “Maybe they haven’t seen us?” Esther whispers. “They’re just going home?”

  “Or they’re getting backup,” Elf says.

  “No,” Esther replies. “They wouldn’t all go. They’d leave some here, to monitor us. But they’re all going. So we’re safe? Seven? Taras?”

  Taras makes a noise deep in the back of his throat. “It is not just the world that is no longer behaving as it once did.”

  I glance across at Corin. He’s just lying there. Sweat glistens from his forehead and—

  A shadow falls over him.

  A shadow I recognize.

  I jump up, turn to see him and the army—

  But it’s not.

  It’s just him. My eyes narrow.

  Raleigh.

  He looks strong, in better shape than any of us. He flexes his arms slightly, and muscles bulge. More muscular than I’ve ever seen him. No guesses as to which augmenters he’s taken.

  I stare at him. “How are you finding me?” A tracker? Is there a tracker on me? But no, I know there isn’t. My powers tell me.

  Raleigh laughs. “I can always find you. Did you really think I’d let you get away?” He takes a step forward. “You’re the savior, Shania. As if I’d be so careless as to lose you again.”

  “Get away,” Elf snarls.

  Raleigh snorts. “You think these people can protect you? You think these are the people to save? Look at them—oh dear.” He points at Corin. “Well, he’s not much use, is he?” He laughs again, then he seems to notice Toivo for the first time. He takes a step back. “Well, congratulations are obviously in order.”

  “Rot in hell,” Esther whispers.

  Elf throws light forward, but Raleigh deflects it. Elf ducks as the light bolts back at him and hits a rock behind us. I hear it shatter.

  “How are you finding us?” I keep my voice steady,
steely.

  “Oh, Shania. I own the world. I am powerful. My people are everywhere.” Raleigh shakes his head, mock-sympathy on his face. “Not to mention, I have technology. I have cameras, drones, detection systems in place.” He tilts his head to one side. “That’s the problem with you wild ones. You forget we have advanced beyond running around in caves, being hunter-gatherers. You need to embrace the new direction for the human race. Our ancestors did. They moved out of caves, away from living off the land. It seems, you are moving backward though. That is never a good move. You need to embrace evolution.”

  “Even when evolution destroys humanity?” I stare at him.

  What do you know about humanity?

  My shoulders tighten.

  Raleigh shrugs. “Humanity adapts.”

  “You have no humanity.” And I look into Raleigh’s soul—and it’s because I’m desperate. I need to know what evil looks like so I know I’m not it. That I’m not destined to become a killer worse than Raleigh.

  Raleigh’s soul is a dark web of scalding coldness, wrapping around life and thoughts and—

  Red patches.

  Like Corin’s.

  I frown. It’s the same. The red marks on Corin’s soul are—

  It’s the same.

  “It’s you.” I stare at Raleigh. “You’re making Corin ill. You’re the Seer doing it.”

  Raleigh’s mirror eyes flash, and I see myself in them. How confused I look.

  Confusion is weakness.

  “I was beginning to think you’d never work it out.” He laughs, then steps closer. “So, let me tell you how this is going to work, Shania—I think that will be quicker for all of us. You’re not the brightest one out here.” He rubs his hands together. “I have bonded Corin’s life to mine. I can grate the life-strings, make him ill—as you are already aware.” He flicks his hands in Corin’s direction.

  I stare at Raleigh. Why not just convert him and—

  Why’s he even talking to us? Five Untamed here—and he’s not trying to convert any of us? And why is it only him here? Why did the others leave?

  “But making him ill is not the purpose of my action,” Raleigh says. “No, that was just to get your attention. Quite frankly, I’m relieved to stop his illness. Unnecessary suffering cannot be justified. See, I am a good person. He’ll wake up soon and be back to normal in a little while.” He smiles, looks at me expectantly. “You’re not going to ask me what the purpose is?”