Destroyed

by Madeline Dyer

  I stare at the rocks. They’re huge. It will take an extortionate amount of energy and strength to move them.

  I don’t have superhuman Seer strength. Not like that. Moving the beam that had fallen on Viktoriya was nothing compared to the strength required for this. And the only Seer I know who has superhuman strength is Raleigh.

  I press my lips together. “I don’t think we should give clearing the way to it priority,” I say. “Not at the moment. We can get food elsewhere, for now, and—”

  We hear a scream.

  Elf’s scream. Not far away.

  Bea and I look at each other for a second.

  Enhanced?

  They’re here?

  We run. My heart pounds, lungs burn and—

  Elf screams again, and I hear other shouts as well, but from the other direction. The others have heard too?

  I pump my arms faster. Shit, I haven’t got any weapons.

  What do you need weapons for? You’re a Seer.

  But Bea’s not and—

  I trip on a root, my momentum throwing me forward. Land on my knees, hard, wince.

  Bea skids past me, her dark hair splaying out as she turns back, looks at me.

  I pull myself up, start running again, but I’ve lost my speed, and it seems to take an eternity just to move.

  “Where is he?” Bea yells, looking around.

  He’s stopped screaming. No sound. Only my labored breathing, the gasps and roaring in my ears.

  I clap a hand to my chest, touch my Seer pendant.

  “That way!” I point to our left, and then we’re running downhill, snaking between huge tree ferns and low-lying plants, vines and grasses.

  Exhaustion hovers as I run, farther and farther. Time seems to speed up, and energy pours through me, but not in a welcome way. In a way that tires me and—

  Where are we?

  I flick my head back, can’t even see the buildings now. It’s just the trees, the forest. We’re the only ones here.

  Then we see Elf.

  His body.

  On the ground.

  Lying.

  Like he’s asleep.

  Spirits make a wall behind him, tendrils interlocking, a wall that stretches up. But one spirit is separate. It hovers above him, a wicked grin on the face that it shouldn’t have, doesn’t have.

  A grin that gets bigger as it feeds from him, as it wraps Elf’s gold threads around it, squeezing him for energy.

  I skid to a stop, grab Bea’s arm. She jumps and cries out, turns on me, pulls her arm away, eyes widening. Then she turns, looks at Elf. Her face pales.

  I pull on my spirit-controlling power—

  But, shit, I haven’t got it. Raleigh has.

  Bea covers her ears with her hands and shrieks. Her body starts to crumple. “Do something!”

  Power surges up inside me, and I plow forward.

  The spirit’s gaze locks on me, and—

  You’re here. You made it.

  It’s all right now.

  But watch them all.

  Be the hawk.

  Don’t let them run too far.

  We won’t let them run too far.

  Someone’s screaming, and I don’t understand the words—the words the spirit said because the screams are so loud.

  I look around. Trees and shadows and people.

  Elf, and the spirit—it comes back to me, and I jump up and—

  The spirit’s gone.

  “How the hell did you do that?” Bea stares at me. She’s covered in tiny cuts. I stare at her, confused, feel like time has jolted or something.

  “What?”

  She points at Elf, then lifts her arm to the sky.

  I try to follow, but can’t. My head hurts.

  “You killed the spirit,” a voice says.

  I turn, see two of the reindeer herders. Makar and Ru, I think their names are. Makar shakes his head, disbelief on his face.

  “You pointed at the spirit, and it exploded.”

  “It did? I did it?”

  Bea nods, and I stare at the cuts on her face. And Elf’s. I look down at my own arms, see them there too, as if tiny pieces of glass have flown out.

  I frown and rub the back of my neck. No, I can’t have killed a spirit. There are others around here—making up the wall, and that dome shape over us. If I’d killed one, the rest would be down on me in an instant. They’re not, they’re just…floating.

  “Elf, what happened?” I stare at him. “A spirit was feeding from you?”

  Oh Gods, is he okay?

  I look at his soul, wrapped up again now. No signs of damage, of anything.

  “I was just checking out the forest.” He rubs his forehead, smears blood across. It looks like war paint. “The spirits were there, and I thought I could get past them. But they didn’t let me.”

  My eyes widen.

  “What?” Bea looks at me.

  I pick up a thin twig that has rough bark, throw it at the wall of spirits. Bright light rushes forward, an orb, burns the stick. Sparks fly.

  I look at the others, my eyes wide. “We can’t get past them.” My voice sounds odd. This is the edge of the dome.

  “Of course,” Makar says. “They’re protecting us.”

  “We’re trapped here?” Ru looks worried.

  “It makes sense. A truly safe Untamed settlement, at last.”

  “And the Enhanced can’t get in?” Ru says, and he looks at me. They’re all looking at me.

  I nod. The bison said we were safe. If the Enhanced physically can’t get in, then we can’t get out.

  Heat rises in my body. How do I end the war if I’m trapped here, miles from Raleigh? I can use my powers when I’m body-sharing—I did that with Viktoriya, helped their group escape spirits before—but now body-sharing also causes me to lose my powers…or at least it does with Raleigh.

  So how do I kill all the Enhanced?

  What if no more Untamed can get in?

  And how do you save Corin?

  I gulp. “Let’s get back to the base.”

  The others nod. I walk back with them, until we’re almost at the buildings. But then the thought of going inside, of being enclosed in there, even more than I am out here, makes my skin crawl, and I don’t know why because I was in there before, and I felt fine.

  “Aren’t you coming?” Elf asks.

  “In a bit,” I say. “I need to think first.”

  He nods, and they all head in. Laughing now.

  My chest tightens, and I wish I could laugh with them. They’ve all got futures. They’ve got everything.

  It’s like a tap has been turned inside me. All this darkness rises, resentment.

  I try to swallow it down, but staring at the settlement makes the ache deepen. This is their home. Where they’ll live once the war’s over? But the spirits would let them out then, wouldn’t they?

  I turn and look around. Our own kingdom. Untouchable, for now. Elf’s glee gets to me. How he doesn’t see it for what it is: a prison. I don’t know why there’s so much darkness fueling me or how my mood’s changed so quickly.

  I turn and run, dodge trees. Yes. I need to run.

  The air batters my face, lifts my hair around me. My heart pounds.

  Running feels good, sprinting along narrow trails, foliage and leaves brushing at my arms. My footwear isn’t the best for running, but I barely notice. I spot a white leadtree—a species I’m familiar with—and it makes me smile. Then I’m heading uphill. A small animal rustles in a small bush, but I sprint past it. The land seems to get greener, brighter, and the air hums with the sounds of the forest. A waterfall—I can hear, it not far away. I follow its sounds, find a small stream first and then—

  Spirits. A wall of them. Like those that were at the other side, where Elf was attacked.

  This is the other side.

  The other side of our settlement? I’ve run this far? Several miles, in that time?

  The spirits are a barrier in front of me, soft whi
sperings, warnings. I ran that fast, that quickly?

  A flycatcher watches me, then lifts up, disappears into the upper forest. High above, the spirits stretch thin—a filmy layer that shows the darkening blue of the sky through it. But they’re still there.

  You can’t get out.

  I press my lips together. I really have to beat Raleigh from in here?

  I turn and run again, and again and again, running until the trees blur under my gaze, and darkness has fallen. Doing something so meaningless feels good.

  Only when my body buzzes with energy and fatigue, hours later, do I go back.

  The settlement is quiet. It’s been a busy day, and many will be asleep. Won’t they? Is it that late? I think it is.

  Yet Corin hasn’t come to look for me.

  I frown a little. Weird.

  But I’m not one of those people who needs others out looking for them.

  I wipe sweat off my forearm and straighten up as I stare into the nearest building’s doorway. The windows either side still have glass intact, and my reflection shows how sweaty I am. Attractive.

  I head inside, listening.

  Still quiet.

  Odd.

  I frown, look in the next room off the hallway. No one. Empty.

  The hairs on the back of my arms stand up, protesting against the sweat. Whereas I felt hot with the running, I now feel cold. My sweat is an unwelcome blanket over me, drowning me, suffocating me.

  Something’s wrong.

  “Hello?” My voice echoes.

  No answer.

  My stomach cramps a little, and I head forward.

  Enhanced? Have they been here?

  But I didn’t hear anything when I was running, and this place is supposed to be safe. The bison said it would be safe.

  I run between buildings, into them, through corridors, rooms, going faster than before, even though I thought I was running as fast as I could outside. But this is nothing compared to that. My heart pounds a countdown. My steps shriek fear.

  A weapon. I need a weapon. I pat my belt but know already I haven’t got anything. The room Corin and I found the Glocks in… Where is it? I can’t think.

  But my powers. Yes. My hands are ready.

  I reach more rooms, check them. All empty.

  I start to call out again, then stop.

  Enhanced Ones are here. Have to be. I should be quiet.

  Or everyone’s disappeared? The time-jump thing has happened again, but this time it hasn’t taken me with it, with them? My breath catches.

  No.

  I’d know if it was that, wouldn’t I?

  It feels too hot in here.

  I skid into the next room.

  But that’s empty too.

  The whole building is.

  I retrace my steps, find the doorway. Race to the next building, my heart going mad.

  I need to find someone and—

  Voices.

  I duck behind a chunk of stone—fallen from a wall—my instincts taking over. You don’t just reveal yourself to a bunch of Enhanced Ones, no matter how powerful you are.

  I crouch down, a rushing sound in my ears. Panting too heavily, feel the blood firing everywhere, up and down my limbs.

  The voices get closer. Female voices.

  I see light, lift my head a little, then duck down. A torch. They’ve got a torch. Two figures, I think.

  My heart pounds.

  They get closer.

  “So we just lie?”

  “It’s not lying,” the other one says, her tone harsher.

  “It is.”

  “Not revealing the truth isn’t lying. There’s a difference. It’s not the same thing.”

  The voices… They’re familiar and—

  Siora and Quinn.

  My chest sags with relief. My people.

  I start to stand up and—

  “You can’t tell her about this,” Quinn says, and her voice is darker than I’ve ever heard it. “You’ve got to be strong. Be objective. Don’t let personal stuff get in the way.”

  Siora shakes her head, bites her bottom lip. “But she needs to know—”

  “No, she doesn’t.” Quinn snorts. “Are you really that thick? Do you think Seven would be happy for us stay here if she knew who we really are?”

  Me? Let them stay here? Who are they? My mind spins.

  “She’s going to notice though,” Siora says. “It’s better to tell her early on rather than later, else she’s going to wonder why we haven’t said anything before.”

  “No, she’s not going to find out later.” Quinn lets out a frustrated noise. “Anyway, she wouldn’t understand, whatever time we tell her, she’d use it against us.”

  “She would understand,” Siora says. “She’s—”

  “Stop it! Just leave it. We can’t risk it. We’re not telling her.”

  I inhale sharply. They’re….

  No.

  But Siora’s voice, her words: She would understand.

  I will understand? What?

  You’ll understand why they did it, a voice says inside me.

  My eyes widen. Because I was….

  I tune into my Seer powers, see their auras, and—

  There’s nothing.

  They’ve blocked them.

  Because of Taras—because they knew I could see his addiction, that I saved him and—

  But their eyes!

  But Marouska’s mirrors were hidden—the Marouska who wasn’t Marouska.

  I drag the back of my hand across my mouth. Why else would the girls hide their auras from me?

  I swallow hard. That dream. I saw them in that dream! Yet another dream I didn’t act upon, like with Corin. It was a warning. The Sarrs in me were showing me them, warning me, and I didn’t realize. I misinterpreted it.

  Shit.

  They’ve done something to my people.

  Siora and Quinn are Enhanced.

  Steel fills me, my arms, my legs—gives me strength I didn’t know I had, or that I could possess—and before I can think, before I can do anything else, I leap out from behind the rock.

  They freeze, feet away.

  The shock on their faces—their Enhanced faces—is laughable.

  But their eyes aren’t mirrors.

  Not visibly, anyway.

  Siora’s nearest, and I grab her by the throat, twisting, and slam her against the rock that hid me. She screams, shouts, and—

  “Let her go!” Quinn grabs my shoulder. But her strength is nothing compared to mine.

  Siora shrieks again, and my hands are around her neck, squeezing. Squeezing so hard my fingers ache, feel like they’re going to break and—

  Stop! This isn’t you!

  But it is me. It’s me now, this very second.

  I want to kill her. Need to kill her. Both of them. The desire rages in me. There’s something in her that speaks to me. Enhanced to Untamed. Because two can’t exist together, not any longer. It has to be one or the other.

  “Where are they?” I yell, my voice scratchy. “What have you done with my people?”

  Quinn pulls at my shoulder, and I feel something sharp against my right arm. But it doesn’t stop me, doesn’t lessen my grip on Siora, on my hands around her neck, squeezing.

  Raleigh. Corin. Raleigh’s hands around Corin.

  It flashes into my mind, makes me freeze, my strength slipping and—

  Quinn punches me in the face.

  I stagger back, pain bellowing through me. See black spots for a second and—

  A heavy weight hits me, and I fall, hit the ground with my left side. Then Quinn’s on top of me, screaming, hitting me. She’s heavier, the bigger of the two of them.

  An Enhanced One.

  Fury unfolds inside me, and my powers take over. A blast of energy, of light—and she flies back.

  Dust flies up.

  I hold my hands out threateningly, taste blood as I get up, as I face the two of them.

  Siora’s crying, cowering aga
inst the stone. The darkness hides us all.

  “Where are the others, the Untamed?” My voice is a snarl.

  Siora lifts her arm. She’s trembling. “Over…over there. Esther’s giving birth and—”

  “What have you done to them?” I take a step nearer, just as Quinn stands up. She glares at me. “If you’ve done anything, I’ll kill you.”

  Siora sends a panicked look at Quinn. “We haven’t done anything.”

  “But you’re Enhanced!” I shout. Yes, shouting. That’ll draw attention—the others, because surely Corin’s going to be looking for me? Or someone else. They can’t all be with Esther. She’s not going to want everyone watching her give birth. If that’s even true.

  Quinn stares at me. “Enhanced?” She lets out a bitter laugh, but a smile twists across her face. Like she’s truly amused.

  “I heard you,” I say. Flames flicker from my fingers.

  “We’re not!” Siora shrieks. “You can’t kill us, please! Just listen, we’re your—”

  “No!” Quinn screams, and she goes for her sister.

  Her body slams into her, but Siora fights back, pushes Quinn off her with surprising strength.

  “We can’t tell her,” Quinn yells, and then she’s trying to cover Siora’s mouth with her hand. “I told you.”

  “Tell me what?” Then I snort. Talking with the Enhanced? What am I doing? Just giving them time. That’s all.

  No.

  The Enhanced have to die.

  Lesson three: They deserve to die. Each and every one of them.

  But I think of Taras. What if I can save them all? Take away their addiction like I did with him….

  No, he wanted it.

  These two have shielded their minds, their auras, their souls.

  They’re infiltrating us. They’re here, in our settlement that’s supposed to be safe.

  But you pulled them to you!

  It doesn’t mean anything. I body-shared with Raleigh!

  Blood pounds through my head, and I draw on my powers. The ones to kill, the ones I vowed I’d never use again after the Stone Seers.

  They fill me like a lost breath. Feel so natural, part of me I cannot escape. Because they are me, and I am them. I’m a Seer of Death, and I’ll do what I must to protect my people.

  Scorching heat flies from my hands and—

  Quinn screams.