"That's a terrifying thought," I said aloud.
"What's that?" Denevik asked.
"Meerius thinks it could have been crashed on purpose, with whatever or whomever was on board infected with Prophet's disease."
"Damnation to Jufaleh," Denevik cursed. "Is there no end to his wickedness?"
Help me, a voice called out. It was so weak, I barely heard it.
It's Corez, Meerius cried. She's here, close.
"Fucking hell," I snapped. "Meerius, tell me where to go."
Galk
Rajeon
We found water—a lake filled with it—but it was stagnant and undrinkable. "This isn't good," Morrett looked about him. Only a few clumps of weeds, mostly dead, covered the shoreline. Farther out, dead stumps of trees emerged from the ground like grave markers—a testament to an entire planet and the lives lost upon it.
Command me, Sirenali, a small voice filled my mind. Morrett gasped; he'd heard it, too. Pod'l-morph, a drop of your blood. Please, the voice continued.
"Who are you?" I demanded aloud.
Galk, the voice wheezed.
"The planet spirit is dying—we have to find him," Morrett began to search the area, desperate to find the owner of the voice.
Dig deep, came the next words. Pod'l-morph. Help me.
With the idea in my head that this could be the worst kind of trap, I became a tree and began to sink my roots into the sandy soil beneath my feet.
Falchan
Drake
The blast fired at us almost took Drew and me down, we were so weary. Ahead, Gavin was nearly knocked off his feet; only the digging into the ground with his claws kept him from flying backward with the force of the power leveled against us.
Drew was faster than I was at firing back; I hadn't considered it until he tossed a fireblast against the second one hurled in our direction. Both met halfway and detonated, knocking down trees and flattening anything else in their path.
I see them, I shouted as drifting smoke and falling debris cleared enough. Four attackers stood farther inside the stand of trees; Drew's fireblast surprised them and took them unaware. Three were rising to their feet as a fourth rocked on his heels while attempting to sight us again.
No! Gavin rushed forward so fast, I wondered how he still had enough energy to do so. Two died.
Two escaped.
One, in his haste to fold away, dropped a vial of shining liquid.
Poison, Drew informed me.
How do you know that? I demanded.
Falchan told me.
Jerking my head around, I stared at my brother, who was walking toward me. On the bare skin of his chest, just above his leather vest, lay a gold coin. I went still. Travis and Trent had gold coins on their chests.
Drew carried Falchan—the spirit of the planet.
"We have to find a way to get that vial to the Larentii," Drew said, bending down to carefully lift the clear container. "Falchan says there are three others buried here, and we need the Larentii to lift them from their burials and take them away."
"How do you propose we do that?" Gavin growled at us. "We can't fold space."
"Nefrigar?" Drew spoke aloud and sent mindspeech at the same moment.
If he answered, it would be Nefrigar from the past, most likely, but Larentii had a way of sorting things out where time was concerned.
"You called?" Nefrigar appeared nearby. "Ah, Falchan," he greeted the coin on Drew's chest.
"He says we need Larentii to pull up the other three of these that those two buried, with their two friends, who managed to get away," Drew said, pointing toward decapitated bodies.
"Of course. I imagine that is a poison designed to kill Falchan and others like him?" Nefrigar surmised.
"Yes."
"Who do we have here?" Nefrigar strode toward the bodies in question. "Ah," he said, as if expecting it, "Stone Wicke. Nicely done, vampire," he told Gavin.
"Who's the other one?" I asked.
"A child of Yaredolak Cordrifith," Nefrigar surveyed the body carefully. "I imagine Zaria would know more by searching his features."
"Wait—are you from now, or the future?" I asked.
"The future," Nefrigar shrugged as if I should have known it. "Drew is now powerful enough to send mindspeech into your own time, should he desire it. Apparently, he did just that."
"Now it works," I rolled my eyes.
Nefrigar smiled. "Shall we search for the poison, before we forget it's here?" he asked.
"I suppose we should get on that," I agreed.
Kwark
Rylend Morphis
"This is the only fresh water I could find within walking distance," I said. I'd had to scry for it, too, although once we were close enough, Teeg could scent it for himself.
"Is it drinkable?" Teeg asked.
"I don't find anything wrong with it," I answered after performing another scrying spell.
"Then we'll hope for the best," he said, dipping hands into the small stream and lifting water to his lips. With a sigh, I did the same, trusting that there wasn't anything there that could fool my spell and kill us anyway.
"This water is still safe," a voice sighed beside us, making us jump in surprise. "It is all I can do, now. Nothing else lives here; I lost everything else last year."
I stared at the image of the man—that's all he was. A ghost of something that had once been powerful, if my warlock's gifts told me anything at all.
"I am Kwark," he introduced himself. "Although I feel myself fading with every sunset that passes across this stream."
"What happened?" I asked, while Teeg stared and attempted to get a scent off this wispy stranger.
"I hear he calls himself the Prophet," Kwark shrugged fading shoulders. "I have a favor to ask," he added.
"What favor would that be?"
"I need to restore what I have lost. I beg you to allow me stay with you until I am myself again."
"Your power, you mean?"
"Yes. Or I will die with my planet and will never be reborn."
"Vik carries a world spirit," Teeg pointed out, as if attempting to convince me.
"Vik?" Kwark asked, suddenly interested.
"Our brother," I explained. "He came by it because he works with Randl."
"Reviendus," Kwark breathed, as if the title was a holy one. "How I wish I had gone to him. Now, it is too late, and he will not come for me."
"I am here, now," I said. "How can I carry you? My brother holds his in a gold coin on his chest."
"I no longer have enough energy left to do that for myself. I can only send you the image of the coin I wish to be. You will have to do the rest."
"Are you sure about this, bro?" Teeg asked.
"I think I need to do this," I said. "Send the image," I turned back to Kwark, who was now so transparent I could barely see him. He was fading fast, likely from the energy it took to remain visible and speak to us.
The image formed in my mind—an ancient coin from Kwark itself. Gathering power, I formed the spell that would lock Kwark inside gold, then scryed for the closest source of that metal.
"Hurry, he's almost gone," Teeg warned. I felt Kwark slipping away as I Pulled a chunk of gold from farther upstream.
Had he known or hoped that someone would come to this particular stream, where gold still lay hidden?
I didn't have time to consider that idea—not if Kwark were to survive.
Almost there, I sent mindspeech to him, begging silently that he wouldn't die while I hastened the spell to form gold into a coin.
A rushing sound came the moment the coin was fully-formed and hanging in midair in front of me. Before I could do anything else, the coin slammed into my chest and I felt my power being drained—so rapidly that I dropped to my knees from intense pain and sudden weariness.
If Kwark survived, would I, also?
Murazal
Nissa
We stayed where we were until the last of the bodies were loaded onto the shuttle
and it lifted from the ground, eventually flying out of sight.
"Where to now?" Trik asked.
"Water and food, Toff suggested. We won't last long here without water first."
"I can try Looking," I said. I saw water in my mind, but it was nearly two miles away and I couldn't tell whether it was safe to drink. I relayed my findings to Toff and Trik.
"We'll take a look," Toff said, sounding determined. "If it's not drinkable, we'll find the next closest source."
"We have to leave this road behind," I told him.
"I think we've seen enough sick people for today. Dead ones, too," Trik pointed out.
"You're right," I agreed. "Let's go."
Corez
Vik
She's there—in the water, Meerius shouted. Wait, she's sick.
I'd reached for the gold coin shining in half a foot of water when Meerius warned me.
Please, I need blood to counteract the poison, Corez sounded as if she were weeping.
"What's wrong?" Denevik slid to a stop next to me, his boots splashing the water around us.
"Meerius say Corez is sick. Corez says she needs blood to counteract the poison."
"High Demon blood, then," Denevik frowned at the coin in the water. "What are we waiting for?"
"It could be extremely dangerous," I said. "Deadly, even."
Emotion crossed Denevik's face. "When I started this mission, I was looking for an honorable way to die," he said. "But I've seen that there may be something to live for, thanks to Zaria and you. Corez," he spoke directly to the coin, "I will do my best to live, if you will do the same."
Denevik turned to his smaller Thifilathi, and with a clawed hand, ripped open the skin at the center of his chest. "Come, then, my lady," he lifted the coin and slapped it onto bloody scales, "we will attempt to survive together."
Meerius and I shouted our dismay as Denevik dropped to his knees in the water and roared in pain.
Chapter 16
Toad
"Where am I?" I demanded.
"In a cage, where you will do no more damage," the man informed me.
"Where is the cage, then?" I rephrased my question.
"That is not for you to know." He slid a plate of food beneath the lowest bar, then followed that with a cup of water. The bars of the cage didn't harm him like they did me when I attempted to touch them. I'd also been prevented from using any of the power normally available to me.
This man—so far, he was the only one I'd seen, although I knew there were others somewhere. I couldn't say how I knew that; my cage was in the middle of a field, or so it appeared.
The dark-haired, tall man who tended me would walk away until he vanished behind a shield or barrier of some sort, while the vision of the field continued uninterrupted. If this were the Prophet's way of punishing me for D'slay's death, he'd chosen well. I wanted to weep at my isolation, except at meal times.
Those, at least, were not neglected and the food was good. Often, I worried it would be poisoned, but hunger always won. If it killed me, perhaps I would be better off anyway.
I expected to be tortured and questioned, in that order. Nothing of the sort had occurred as yet, and that only ramped up the fear of what my final fate would be. Perhaps this was the form of torture they'd chosen; to keep me uninformed and frightened.
My stomach growled, reminding me that food was waiting. I sat cross-legged on the floor of my cage and pulled the plate into my lap. This time, there was fruit on the plate, in addition to cooked fish and vegetables.
Better fare than I'd ever gotten with D'slay, and I doubted the Prophet's people ate this well, too.
Where was I, and why had I been brought here?
Galk
Rajeon
As a tree, I'd hollowed myself and formed steps so Morrett could descend until he came to the coin which held Galk's spirit. Once there, I'd open a huge root so Morrett could grasp the coin. Then, I'd pull us both up until we reached the surface.
The method I'd employed wasn't lost on me; it could have been my death long ago, had I been chosen by the Avii Queen—to dig deep and allow her to deposit a collection sphere in a hidden land called Fyris, on a now-dead world called Siriaa. Travis and Trent explained it to me when I asked if they knew.
I hoped my fate wouldn't be that of the pod'l-morphs who'd been selected for that task on Siriaa; as far as I knew, they were all dead.
Likely, it had been the doom of my family, as I appeared to be the only survivor. "I'm here," Morrett spoke aloud, before reaching for the coin. I'd formed a bowl over it, so dirt wouldn't cave in on the coin before he could take it.
"I have the coin," he announced.
Command me, Sirenali, Galk whispered to both of us. Pod'l-morph, a drop of your blood, please. I do not have much time remaining.
Hold on, I told Morrett, and using my strength, I pulled in roots, became a diamond vine and shot toward the surface, spilling Morrett out before becoming myself—except for a diamond thorn on one finger.
Without a second thought, I cut myself.
Morrett held out the coin. I allowed several drops of blood to fall on it. "Live," he commanded the coin, obsession vibrating in his voice.
First came the blinding flash of light, and then Morrett's shriek as the coin tore from his fingers, burned a hole through his shirt and attached itself to his chest.
"Morrett," I shouted, reaching out to catch him as he fell, unconscious, to the ground.
Murazal
Nissa
"This was once a forest." Toff sighed at the number of stark, broken tree stumps surrounding the lake.
"The lake is drying up, too," Trik observed. He was right—parched, cracked mud lay before us, with the water lying many yards away.
"Just looking at it reminds me how thirsty I am," I sighed. "We should use a spell to purify every handful we drink, though."
"Agreed," Toff nodded.
"Shall we?" Trik began walking toward the edge of the water, which lapped against the moist-but-drying perimeter surrounding it.
I followed Trik; Toff followed me.
"What's this?" Trik reached the water first, then leaned down to lift something he'd found there.
I found it difficult to describe what happened next. The gold coin Trik found was sucked from his hand and adhered to his chest in a blinding flash of light. That strange and unbelievable act caused so much pain and confusion for Trik—he screamed and fell while Toff and I struggled as if our legs were engulfed in quicksand to reach his side.
P'loxett
V'dar
Thirty-four dark, sharp spikes dotted my shoulders, representing thirty-four rogue gods I'd absorbed to combine their power with mine. Only when I was alone did I allow my robe to fall away from them—to admire their symmetry.
I'd discovered that should I desire it, I could peel away this one or that, reshape them, and send them elsewhere to do my bidding. I'd done that a few times already, and sometimes, I did so because I missed the spheres I used to clack together in my fingers—as a soothing exercise.
Two of them currently slid smoothly through my fingers as P'loxett approached me, looking pleased. Pulling my heavy robe over my shoulders with power, I adjusted the hood to hide the studs, although P'loxett knew my secret already.
"I told you the formula and my plan would capture those powerful enough to serve you well," P'loxett informed me. He smiled as he spoke, which wasn't usual for him.
"You did very well. How long will it take before they come to me on their own?"
"The mixture was more potent than I imagined and has worked faster than I could ever comprehend. They succumbed so quickly; I felt them stumble and fall. In only a few days, they will begin to straggle in," he bared more teeth in a vicious grin. "Even those planets barely affected will eventually feel the pull and bring you mighty gifts. I have arranged for them to arrive in stages, so you may bend them to your will without interruption."
"Excellent. Well done," I told him.
"We will await this first group before venturing out again. I consider the loss of Stone and Reddy necessary to bring me the one from Falchan."
"I believe you will be quite pleased with him," P'loxett agreed. "And with the others as well. The loss of Toad, however—that must be avenged. I know not where they took him, but I will find him if he still lives."
"He has gifts most wizards only dream of," P'loxett agreed. "Finding him is quite important, especially if we wish to traverse time once more."
"My thoughts precisely. In addition, my people are almost finished with the new escape world, should we be found," I said.
"You will not need it, once your newest slaves arrive. As for Stone Wicke, you will forget all about him when you see his replacement."
"Who might that be?"
"None other than the King of Karathia himself," P'loxett laughed. It was evil and jarring, that laugh.
I liked it very much.
SouthStar, Avendor
Ashe
"You've been watching the events on your planets all along," I told the gathering of world leaders. "Now, it is time for you to go home and take your places once more. As you've seen, all of you are fortunate to be alive, although some have lost your positions—temporarily, of course," I nodded to Doy Haris.
"Aren't we still in danger?" Queen Myriae of Galk demanded.
"Yes, but not as much as before," I told her. "D'slay is dead, and the Prophet has achieved his desires. We have troubles now you cannot imagine. Gather your things; you will be transported back to your planets to make plans for rebuilding."
"Make plans—perhaps," Doy Haris rose from his seat, his face indicating deep thoughts. "I cannot imagine this Prophet allowing anything to proceed normally from now on."
He was right—things could go downhill in a tremendous hurry if we couldn't find a way to avert greater disasters to come.
"You are now in charge of Corez," Haris turned to former Second Assistant Doril. "I assume you understand what must be done?"
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