“Unless this is it?” Elf suggests. “What if this means he attacks our group with your powers, and we’re the only survivors? Just the Seers because we can fight back?”
The hairs on the back of my neck lift, make me shiver. I look to Taras for confirmation of Elf’s theory, but Taras doesn’t give anything away.
“Or it’s warning us of something else but this realm cannot show us what it is.” My words are too fast, tumble out all together. “But we know we’re in danger in our current location.”
Dream Land warnings are always of immediate danger to one’s group. So it has to be where we are… Unless all Untamed are now counted as my group? I think of what Quinn and Siora saw, other Untamed being killed. And we’ve seen drones, bombings.
But if this warning was about other Untamed, why would Taras and Elf be here? Why not other Seers? Why not all the Seers?
Unless there really aren’t any others… If the Stone Seers were the last Seers out there… Bea said the Seers in Melissa’s group all died.
I swallow hard.
“So, are we going to get back to the real world now?” Elf asks. “Now we know we’re in danger?”
We look around at each other. The cladded trees seem more like figures now—the cobwebs are their clothes—but every time I look at one in particular, I can’t work out why I think it.
“I can get us out of here,” I say, tilting my head to the side, assessing the feel of this world. It’s not quite stable, as if its walls are made of paper. “I have to have a power that can.” Or at least I hope I have. I mean, we have to get out. I can’t save the Untamed from here, can I?
But if Raleigh’s got the powers he needs to save his people, I won’t be needed….
“You have to be careful with your Seer powers,” Taras says.
“We can’t stay trapped here. And I feel fine now.”
“It’s the after-effects that are most potent in Seer instability, child.”
“So you think we should stay here?” I take a step back and a small twig cracks under my foot. “Even if this is the Dark Void?”
“Just get us out.” Elf steps nearer, his brows furrowed. Then he frowns and points behind me. “What’s that?”
I turn and—and the land is changing, right before our eyes. The trees shrink back, and the texture around us, the air itself, gets harder. Huge sections of the land rise, stone formations appearing. But not like the Origin Cave with the Living Rock.
These are squarer, man-made shapes, against a large expansion of stone. A cliff? The broken edge of a mountain? A tor? But the smaller shapes, they’re buildings.
“A town.” My eyes widen. An Enhanced town. “That has to be what this warning is about.”
Elf shields his eyes. “As if we’d go to a town anyway.” He laughs. “That would be asking for trouble. That would—”
Run.
The voice booms out of nowhere, but I turn, look at the bison. Look as he fades—disappearing into the pale blue sky.
Then he’s gone.
A loud bang cracks the sky, and a line draws itself across the pale blue, slicing steadily, confidently. The two sides of the sky bulge, and slime edges out of the cut.
My eyes widen in both horror and fascination.
“What the hell?” Elf grabs my arm. He’s shaking, makes me shake.
A drop of slime falls. Somehow, it’s like we’ve moved forward—or upward and we’re looking down—because I see where it falls. I see what happens.
Hear the sizzling and hissing.
There are still cobwebbed trees farther back, and as the slime hits them, they turn a sickly yellow. Then they crackle and fall.
Then there’s so much slime, and it’s spreading…spreading rapidly, racing nearer and nearer. Toward us. And I’m not looking down at it now, I’m back here. And it’s coming for us, the slime.
The sea is made of dark green slime that burns and burns.
“Get us out,” Elf yells, and Taras is shouting too, grabbing my other arm. “Get us out now!”
I draw on my powers, feel all the Sarrs within me wake, try to pull us out. But—
But nothing happens.
I’m sweating. Sweating so much.
What? We can’t get out?
But my powers, I can feel them. We need to go. The slime, it’s getting closer and closer, and—
A bird falls from a tree, falls into the slime. The liquid bubbles as it dissolves the bird, bones, feathers, muscle.
My stomach twists.
“Seven, now!” Taras screams.
Elf yells something, squeezes my arm so much it throbs. I summon my powers again, switch into soul-viewing and see our three souls. I reach out to move them and—
“Seven, get us out!”
“Now!”
But I can’t! I can’t and—
My heart pounds, and I lose my vision on our souls. The slime, it’s right there.
I push Taras and Elf behind me, face the slime head-on.
The green sludge grabs my foot.
I scream and—
I wake, heart pounding, sit up. People are shouting. Yani and Corin and Esther and—
Corin! He’s here. He’s—
I freeze, feel every part of me tense up. My breathing gets harder, sharper.
Corin—but no, it’s Raleigh!
I jolt.
No. It is him. Corin. It’s not Raleigh. This isn’t a trick. I know it’s him. I can tell. The Sarr powers tell me it’s him. I don’t know why I thought that. Because I’m disorientated, scared?
But this is Corin. My Corin. Yes.
Then I see Taras and Elf. Both are sitting up, shaking. Sweat drips from them. Their eyes hold shadows. Siora and Quinn are staring at them.
“What the hell?” Elf mutters.
“What’s going on? Sev?” Corin touches my arm, all earlier anger gone. There’s only tenderness now, concern. But it makes me flinch, the touch, and I look at where his hand is still on my arm and—
I go cold as I look past his hand, past my arm.
My right foot.
What the hell?
Suddenly I’m aware of the pain.
I stare at my foot. My tennis shoe has gone. Burnt off. Angry marks cover my skin.
“Sev?”
“That’s not like the Dream Land.” I look past Corin, to Elf and Taras. I point at my foot. “We—we get hurt in real life if we’re hurt there…” My vision wobbles, and I take a deep breath. But the air is stuffy, like it’s too heavy, not enough oxygen present.
“Yes, the Dark Void, though a spiritual realm, is more than that. This—” Taras points at my foot. “Shows that more than our souls go there.”
I touch my chest slowly, feel sicker than ever. “Did we disappear?”
“No,” Corin says. “You were here. I heard Esther scream, and I came running and—”
“Scream?”
“When the three of you dropped down,” she says, breathless. “I thought you were dead.”
“Interesting,” Taras says. “Two bodies, but both are connected. Physical changes transfer.”
“What’s going on?” Esther asks. She rocks Toivo a little, but he starts crying.
Bea and Siora look worried, and then Taras is speaking, telling them all about the Dark Void.
I swallow hard, can’t stop staring at my foot. Can’t stop feeling the pain.
We could’ve been killed.
But I got us out.
We’re alive. I try to concentrate on that.
“What does it mean then?” Esther asks. “We’re going to get overrun with slime?”
“Green slime is said to be part of the Dark Void itself,” Taras says. “It wasn’t part of the warning.”
I look around. The air is completely still. “It could be part of our warning though. The slime’s supposed to be the sea—and then it appeared in the woods. Could be part of our warning, metaphorical.” I struggle to think. “I had a Seeing dream before that was symbolic. It was g
reen—and then we came across illness.”
“So that poisonous slime means we might get ill again?” Esther frowns. “Or could it represent the poisoned augmenters?”
“Or your Seer instability?” Siora’s voice is quiet, and Quinn flashes her a look. “Are you going to turn on us?”
I wrinkle my nose. “No. The warnings are about Enhanced. Not me.”
“But you—”
I glare at her.
“The bison said to run,” Taras says.
“We’re not safe here?” Corin looks down, sees his hand is still on my arm, and removes it.
I stare at where it had been for a few seconds—and that simple movement, the lack of his touch feels like fire burning me. He hasn’t forgiven me. He only touched me because he was worried? And now he knows I’m not trapped there anymore, he can’t bear to touch me?
“The land we saw didn’t look like here,” Elf says. “There was a town in the distance.”
We all look around, and I half expect to see one.
“But it will likely not match up with this world, will not be a mirror,” Taras says. “The town may simply represent Enhanced Ones out here rather than their abode. I think we should move on though.”
“Now?” Yani raises his eyebrows.
“We were told to run.”
Just like that, we’re packing what we can, what we have—which isn’t much. Then we’re running. Pain snakes around my bare foot, and I wince as I step on something sharp.
My heart pounds, and I glance sideways at Corin, just as he glances at me.
He holds his hand out.
I take it, feel lighter. I squeeze his hand as we sprint.
All of us. Nine running through the grass. The wind picks up, and then rain pelts down, makes the ground slippery. Coldness seeps into my foot, numbing it, and I’m all lopsided with only one shoe.
“Which way?” Bea shouts. She and Yani are in the lead.
I look ahead and—and the land is changing. Branches are appearing, pushing through the grass. Long, broken branches that try to trip me up, snag the skin on the underside of my foot. The land to my left and right is rising, forming a valley, thick with vegetation.
We’re in a valley?
I trip as a chunky vine appears in front of me, tries to take my feet, but Corin’s hand is still in mine, and he steadies me. The air soaks with danger, with the steady beat of wings and—
Wings.
I look up.
Spirits—above us.
And—
Hundreds of them. Some have no wings. But none are humanoid.
My breath catches in my throat. Lightning flashes. The air pulses, the ground shakes. Raindrops fly. Something sizzles, and the air’s warmer, but there’s thunder. It booms.
“What’s happening?” Esther shouts. I hear Toivo’s wails.
More lightning. A sea of dark green leaves sweeps through the air, whirls round and round. Energy flies at me, and something blasts to my left and—
“Corin!” I scream, as he’s ripped from me.
And…and I’m flying, hurtling forward, toward the…the dark air. A section of it, just dark. Like its light has been turned off, and the air inside is angry, furious. A pit of violence.
I scream, twist, try to—
Rain lashes against me, so much darkness, thunder.
I turn my head. See Yani’s and Bea’s faces in the dark air as well, see them just for a second. But Corin? Where’s Corin? I twist, try to see, but the air’s heavy, too wet and—
A flash of light. Leaves and branches fly at me, and I duck.
A spirit whizzes by. I reach out for it, try to control it, but I can’t.
Elf yells something, but it’s just his words I see, see as they hurtle past me and—
Something grabs me, grabs us all, pushes us—
I’m out of the darkness—away from that dark pit in the air—and there’s light. So much light and….
Shapes in the distance. Blocks.
A town.
No.
No.
No.
I’m flying still. The air’s carrying me, all of us.
And the town—it’s the same one as in the Dark Void. The buildings are in the same pattern, I know it. My heart pounds.
The warning was about the town.
Something bad’s going to happen.
Of course it is.
It’s an Enhanced town.
Raleigh’s plan? He’s reeling me in, using the powers I’ve given him, controlling me that way? Going to parade me in front of the Section, prove he is doing something….
Only he doesn’t need me.
He’s got my powers—the ones needed to end the war?
Maybe not.
But the air—no! The spirits, they carry me toward the town, to him. Carry all of us.
He’s controlling the spirits? My spirit-controlling power?
I inhale sharply.
No.
I summon my powers, feel the start of it inside me, the energy I used before and—
I try and try, but it slips. Broken, gone. A map of life, shrinking.
I can’t control the spirits. It’s that power—he’s got it.
No.
I call on my other powers, but I can’t…can’t grab hold of them. The energies, they slip through my fingers, back into my core… They’re there, but….
My eyes slam shut, yet I see the world, darkness, a circle against a purple light. Life.
Brilliant, bright dots throughout. But they waver, disappear. A map of Untamed that speaks to me, that calls to me, that screams at me as we’re drawn in, faster and faster, by the spirits. The traitors!
The town gets closer, only a hundred feet away. Square buildings, blackened windows, stone walls. And the walls are falling, crumbling, stones hurtling.
No…no…no, they’re going to crush us, going to—
A spirit, under a slab of stone. Broken glass, shattering. A shriek that pierces my heart.
Raleigh’s laughter fills me.
My powers? I try again and—
Corin yells.
The air howls.
The spirits push me faster.
A stone wall in front of me.
I’m going to hit it.
My heart pounds as I brace myself for the impact.
Screaming.
People are screaming.
Slowly, their screams reach me, drag me back from the white lights and gold lines—things I don’t understand, don’t know where they came from or how long I’ve been seeing them. Shapes and movements blur into being, and I become aware of my surroundings, of my body. A cold floor beneath me. A cool breeze against my feet—both are bare. My other shoe’s gone too.
I turn my head.
Corin lies on his back next to me. His eyes are shut.
I fight back the pain, drag myself over to him. See movement to my left—the others.
Others?
We’re all here.
“Corin?” I touch his face. There’s blood there, blood that sticks to my fingertips. His skin, it’s cold, so cold. Too cold?
I feel sick, my heartbeat is in my neck, pulsing faster and faster, and part of me feels like I’m spinning at high speed.
He opens his eyes. Thank the Gods. I sit back a little, look to the others.
Elf and Taras are sitting up, Esther’s trying to stand, and Bea, Yani, and Siora are on the other side of the room. Quinn’s a few feet from them, near some large patches of damp on the walls that have the paint peeling off in long flakes.
We’re together…in a…a room. A wood-polished floor. I press my hand against it, flatten my fingers. It’s cold. Everything’s cold.
Raleigh’s room? It has to be. I try to think… Does it look similar—have I seen him in here? But my head pounds, and there’s too much energy in me. Because I’m waiting for him. Waiting for his footsteps. He’s going to find me.
Esther screams.
I jump up, turn to her and
—
Everything stops as I stare at her heavily pregnant form. Just like before.
“Where is he?” she screams. “Where’s Toivo?”
“What the hell?” Elf mutters.
Bea backs away, her eyes wide. Yani wraps her in a hug, turning her away so she doesn’t look at Esther.
“Where is he? Where is he?” Esther screams, then she’s running around the room, as fast as she can, looking and screaming, and—
Screaming.
“No, be quiet!” I yell. Raleigh’s not here yet. But we can’t have him find us, come here.
But he’ll already know we’re here.
There’s a window near Quinn, and I rush to it, look out. The town looks back, some buildings more ruined than others, their stone blocks scattered, windows missing. The storm’s still going. Trees are trying to overtake the stone walls, spreading, creeping, shaking in the violent air. Behind the buildings, I can see dense forest, stretching over a mountainside.
And we’re here. In a town, their town.
And Raleigh’s here. He’s coming.
I look back at the others—he’s going to kill them all. Or convert them. I draw on my powers, find I can hold onto them this time. They don’t slip. In fact, they feel fine. Is that how Seer instability works? It’s unstable?
In times of need, you’ll have your powers. Yes, Taras said that, didn’t he?
“Time,” Taras says, and I look at him as he points at Esther. Esther who’s wailing, face red, yelling for Toivo. “Our bodies have reverted to how they were before—six, seven days ago. Esther is most noticeable, but, Corin, look you’ve got no cuts there, and the blisters on your neck look like they did just after Raleigh strangled you. We’ve gone back in time, a week. But our minds have not reverted.”
“Time travel?” Esther pales.
“The spirits?” Corin says. “They can change time.”
“No,” Taras says. “This is greater work than that of the spirits. This is Seer work.” He turns to me. “Seven, you’ve done it.”
“What?”
“Time-weaving and manipulation,” Taras says. “You’re in control. Look, you’ve still got the cuts on your face that you had yesterday. You’re the only one whose body hasn’t reverted to its former state—you’re the epicenter.”
“No,” Esther screams. “Toivo!”
Destroyed Page 21
