Unnatural Laws (The Whispering Crystals, #1)

by H. C. Mills

  I put on my most menacing glare as I trail my gaze over their little gang of misfits. “Hey, I’m doing you guys a favour here. Walk away now, while you still can.”

  Sherlock, Weasel, and Emo-kid—which I mentally designate ‘the lackeys’—all seem properly cowed, but Meathead just lifts his brows.

  Lego-ass, meanwhile, seems to have recovered a little from his embarrassment and is now staring at me vindictively. “I’m very curious to hear how exactly you would prevent the lot of us from walking away from all the way over there. I don’t think I’ve heard of any Skill capable of doing something like that.”

  Ugh, this guy is really starting to get on my nerves.

  Thankfully, I had some time to think and prepare during their argument earlier.

  I roll my eye and pull forth a certain plastic bottle from my backpack, and shake it at him. “You see this? It’s the sap from a Moonshade Flower that I plucked a little while ago. You wanna know how I’ll stop you all from ever walking again?” I unscrew the cap and the rich aroma of Moonshade wafts forth. “Stick around much longer and you’ll find out.”

  A shocked silence descends. Weasel creeps back, taking shelter behind the wall of flesh that is Meathead.

  Lego-ass’s expression darkens. “And how do we know that’s really Moonshade? You like lying to people, after all.”

  Seriously, I even reined myself in and rejected him nicely. This is what I get for trying.

  However, the lackey wearing a tattered Sherlock costume suddenly pipes up. “Uh, that’s definitely Moonshade. Just the scent is making me sick again.”

  Heh, no shit, Sherlock. He really is starting to look a little green around the gills. Poor little lackey.

  “All right, fine!” Lego-ass yells angrily. “Even if it is, she’s all the way over there. How’s she going to get it on us, huh? Throw the bottle?”

  Ugh, why must this douche pour all this logic over my bluff?

  “I have my ways,” I say coolly.

  I could probably make that jump. It would look really awesome, too... On the other hand, if I fall I’ll friggin’ die!

  “Yeah?” Lego-ass asks mockingly. “And what way is that? Did you happen to bring a squirt gun to the Con?”

  If only, that’d be super handy right now!

  Actually, that does give me an idea.

  A really dumb, dangerous idea.

  I take a deep breath, then grab on to the twig with my free hand and unleash a jet of Aether at them. Their hair and clothing flutters, and even Lego-ass and Meathead look shocked.

  I may not have Breath Control yet, but I can do at least this much.

  “You ever seen someone breathe fire?” I ask casually. “My fellow enforcers nicknamed me ‘The Toxic Dragon Girl.’ ”

  Shit. I hope that name doesn’t stick.

  From the corner of my eye, I can see Alec clasp a hand in front of his mouth, no doubt trying to contain his laughter. Stop that! I’m improvising, okay?!

  At least it has the effect I wanted. The three guys behind Meathead all start slowly retreating, seeming painfully aware that they’re in my ‘firing range.’

  Meathead himself also seems to be considering a tactical retreat.

  Not Lego-ass though. “No, guys, she’s bluffing!” he yells, pointing his finger at me redundantly. “You really believe she’d put that stuff in her own mouth? She’d die before it even reached us!”

  Ugh! When is this guy going to back off already?

  “Please,” I scoff. “I spent basically all of my time in the First Trial going back and forth between the Moonshade Flowers and the oasis to train my Toxic Energy Tolerance. I could bathe in this stuff.”

  “Oh yeah?” Lego-ass asks, putting his hands on his hips. “Then what’s stopping you from using it on me now?”

  Stop calling my bluffs! “I don’t know, basic human decency?” I ask sarcastically.

  “I think you’re full of shit. Come on Bruce, we gotta take that crystal now before the girl recharges her Qi!”

  Meathead hesitates, but ultimately squares his shoulders and steps forward, with Lego-ass falling into step just a fraction behind him.

  Christ, what a bottom-feeder.

  The three lackeys exchange glances, then cautiously start to make their way back to their positions behind Meathead, while keeping an eye on me. Behind Dave and Alec, Kaitlynn draws herself up, fire in her eye, looking far too combative for my tastes.

  Shit, this is spiralling out of control! If I don’t act now...

  Fine,” I snap, trying but perhaps failing to hide my frustration. “You brought this on yourself.”

  Meathead stops in his tracks and narrows his eye at me.

  Lego-ass sneers. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  With my most convincing, condescending harrumph, I pour some of the glowing liquid into the bottle’s cap. This much should be okay, right? I’ll just have to quickly wash my mouth afterwards or something.

  [Emma? Do me a favour and be careful with that, it’s very Toxic.]

  Ah, there’s that sting in my nostrils. I’ve almost missed it. Almost. I lift the cap in a mock toast, staring Meathead down all the while.

  [Emma, what are you doing? Emma, stop!]

  Sorry, Suri, no can do. I take a deep breath, bring the cap to my lips and take the deadly liquid into my mouth.

  [Oh, Emma...]

  The three lackeys go scrambling. Meanwhile, my mouth is on fire, but I forcibly keep a straight face. It’s like the burn from a shot of absinthe, multiplied by five.

  As I’m about to launch my mouth’s deadly payload at Lego-ass, who’s looking at me wide-eyed, the image of Josh’s lifeless corpse flashes across my mind’s eye. Frig. I can’t do it.

  Instead, I aim at a door-sized leaf above him and force a stream of Aether out between narrowed lips. My cheeks billow with the pressure as a spray of deadly droplets leaves my mouth. Their bright purple glow stands out clearly in the canopy’s shade.

  The spray hits the leaf and covers it. For a split second, nothing happens. Then, the leaf flashes purple all at once and rapidly shrivels up.

  Holy shit! I may have underestimated this stuff.

  Lego-ass pales and he moves back a few paces from the slowly spreading and thinning cloud of Toxic Energy.

  I smirk at him, trying hard to keep my voice steady as I say, “Aww, leaving so soon? Would you like me to blow you a kiss goodbye?”

  Meathead glances back at the lackeys, who are now scrambling away even faster, and clenches his jaw again. “All right, that’s enough. Let’s head back to the base, lads. I’ve had enough of crazy chicks for today.”

  Pfff, yeah sure, call us ‘chicks’ crazy. Fragile male ego much? My mouth may still be burning from the Moonshade Sap I just had in there, but that’s on me, not my gender!

  Gritting his teeth, Lego-ass bows his head and defers to his master like the shitstain he is and starts to retreat as well.

  I unconsciously smack my lips, trying to ease the burn. Huh. My tongue feels kind of numb...

  A wave of vertigo washes over me, and I fight to keep from visibly swaying.

  Oh man, I don’t feel so good...

  I stiffly walk back to the main branch I was on and somehow manage to stay upright as Meathead, Legolas, and the lackeys move from tree to tree over the network of branches and fade into the distance. As soon as they’re out of sight, I shakily grab a bottle of Hydrum, then gargle and rinse my numb mouth several times. The Hydrum comes back less purple each time. Soon I’m just left with a numb tongue and the ghost of the Moonshade Sap’s burn in my mouth.

  With their path cleared, Dave, Alec, and Kaitlynn move up their tree and make their way over to my branch. Alec is the first to reach me, his arms spread wide.

  “Oh my god, you were amazing! Thank you so much, Non—”

  The bottle of Hydrum slips through my powerless fingers, and he reaches me just in time to catch me as I keel over.

  Well, this is awkward. Thankfully, I promptly
pass out.

  I wake on a hard surface, with a sweet liquid in my mouth. I turn my head away from the source with a groan, because my stomach doesn’t like it.

  The liquid persists in entering my mouth, so I lift up a hand to fend off the source. My fingers are stiff and numb, and I’m kinda cold.

  “She’s coming to!” a female voice calls.

  I groggily crack open an eyelid, and I’m met with a close-up view of a storm-grey eye and a deep red eye-crystal, surrounded by a head of blue hair.

  So this is Kaitlynn. I wonder if the curtains match the drapes. I giggle at the thought.

  Dave is on my other side, holding a crystal that shines a familiar, refreshing white light on me.

  “Emma!” he exclaims. “You were growing colder and colder, we were so worried! Drink up quick, then check your Lavi flows.”

  I groan. “Don’ wanna. Leave me alone, I’m sleepy.” I turn over, away from his annoyingness.

  “Hey hey, no!” He grabs me by the shoulder and wrenches me back. “No sleeping, or you’ll never wake again. Now sit up.”

  I frown, but sit up a little and scoot back to rest my back against the wall. The world spins funnily, prompting me to giggle again. I’m in some kind of hut, lying on a bed of leaves that may as well have been made of wood, for how comfortable they are.

  The other guy—can’t remember his name, I’ll just call him Babyface—rushes inside, looking relieved to see me alive, but unsure what to do. He hovers by my feet nervously.

  “I’m cold!” I complain when the world around me stabilises a little again.

  Kaitlynn pushes the waterskin she was feeding me with up to my mouth again, but I turn away.

  She grabs my chin and forces my head back. “Drink,” she commands. “It’s good for you.”

  I frown at her, but reluctantly obey. She looks a little younger than I, but not much—twenty-one, maybe?

  The drink tastes unfamiliar and very sweet and I can tell it’s full of Lavi. It kinda reminds me of some kind of high-sugar energy drink.

  I hope dental plaque isn’t a thing in this dimension, because I didn’t exactly pack a toothbrush.

  The thought almost provokes another fit of giggles, but Kaitlynn’s stern gaze helps me suppress it and take another sip.

  Babyface looks at me like I’ve grown another head. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Dave shakes his head. “Must be a side-effect of the Moonshade Sap. Emma, I need you to look at your Lavi Flows Window.”

  Kaitlynn pulls the waterskin back and I let out a burp. Of course, this prompts me to gigg—

  “Emma, focus!” Dave yells.

  “Sheesh, all right,” I grumble. “Suri, could you, ehm, show me?”

  [Of course, Emma,] Suri chimes, sounding kind of sad.

  The window sobers me up a little.

  A Toxic Energy Lavi consumption of 16?! Wow, that Moonshade Sap is potent!

  Wait, how much Lavi do I have left? I check my Status Bar.

  Frig.

  “And?” Dave asks worriedly.

  Right, they can’t see it.

  “Sixteen Onkh of Lavi left, net intake minus two,” I mumble.

  So much for being the Toxic Dragon Girl.

  CHAPTER 25

  Pornithology

  THE BLOOD DRAINS from Dave’s face. His hand, the one holding the crystal that shines a refreshing white light over me, trembles. “Shit! We don’t have anything stronger than that drink! Sixteen Lavi at minus two gives us only eight minutes; I need more time!”

  “I can”—I cough weakly—“Meditate, conserve Lavi.”

  Dave nods frantically. “Right, I have that Skill too. Should save 1 Onkh per minute, right? That’ll buy us some time, but—”

  “1.5, actually,” I interrupt smugly.

  Dave’s brows rise in surprise, but he doesn’t question me. “That’ll give me about thirty minutes... that might actually be enough time for me to stabilise you under these circumstances, but once we run out of zirot juice you’ll be in trouble again, and we only have the one waterskin.”

  My belly protests at the idea of having to stomach more juice.

  [The honeycomb yams, Emma,] Suri reminds me.

  Oh yeah. I had those.

  “Yams, in my backpack,” I mumble.

  Babyface scrambles for it, clearly happy to be able to do something useful.

  “Yams,” Dave mutters. “Those won’t be as potent, but they’ll last much longer. I need a way to monitor your Lavi Flows.”

  [I can show him your window, if you’d like?] Suri chimes.

  “Yes please,” I mumble back.

  Dave glances over at me with a frown. “What are you—oh.” He looks directly at the window still hovering in front of me, apparently able to see it. “Yes, that will do nicely.”

  Kaitlynn pushes the waterskin containing the sweet liquid against my mouth again, and I reluctantly sip from it.

  “Alec,” she calls out at Babyface, “there’s a Blue Angel in my bag, could you grab that too? It should help detoxify her.”

  Right! Alec! How did I forget that? Well, whatever.

  “Blue Angel, in your bag. Got it, Kaitlynn!” Alec answers as he rummages through my bag. Dave nods, muttering to himself, still transfixed by my Lavi Flows Window.

  Kaitlynn turns to me with an apologetic smile. “They’re kind of bitter. Think you can stomach it?”

  I give her a small, wry smile. “I’ve had one before, and I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

  “All right,” Dave says, looking calmer, more determined. “We can do this. Eat quickly, then Meditate.”

  Alec hands me the Blue Angel first. I weakly bring it to my mouth and attempt to bite it. My teeth don’t even scratch the surface.

  “Uh oh,” I mutter. “Status Window.”

  “What? What is it?” Dave asks.

  I giggle helplessly. “I can’t chew. My Strength is down to 1!”

  Dave frowns. “Damn. Maybe we can, like, dice it up for you?”

  Kaitlynn grabs the Blue Angel. “There’s no time for that—leave it to me.”

  She takes a bite and starts chewing.

  When she’s finished, she leans over to press her lips against mine and push the bitter mush straight into my mouth.

  All trace of humour leaves me as I undergo the treatment in shock. What are you, a mother bird?!

  I struggle weakly against her.

  Finished with her initial deposit, Kaitlynn leans back to shoot me a disapproving look. “There’s no time, Emma, we need to hurry so you can do that Meditation thing. Just let me feed you, okay?”

  Dave swallows, and nods. “She’s right, this is the best way.”

  His words are serious, but his stare when Kaitlynn bends over me for the second time is very intense.

  Is it because of the odd bird-like feeding method? Come to think of it, didn’t Dave say he wore a bird costume to Con? Oh god, is he some kind of weird bird-fetishist?!

  Alec lets out a low whistle. “Oh man, that’s definitely the best way!”

  Dave punches him in the shoulder and hisses at him, “Dude, be cool. This is serious.” Yet I catch him glancing at us repeatedly when Kaitlynn leans over me again.

  Oh, I get it. It’s just a ‘look it’s two girls kissing’ thing. I snort in laughter at my misunderstanding, prompting Kaitlynn to look weirdly at me before closing in with her fourth mouthful.

  This time, when her lips touch mine, I have kissing on my mind, and the blood rushes to my cheeks. Not that that’s what we’re doing. I mean, this doesn’t count. It’s more like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and that doesn’t count either. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. ’Cause I don’t swing that way.

  [You should start Meditating, Emma. There’s no time to waste. You may actually still live through this.]

  Right, Meditation. I don’t really need to wait till I’m done eating; I can do a lucid trance.

  Though with great difficulty—due in no small part t
o Kaitlynn’s highly distracting delivery method and the blue mushroom’s bitterness—I eventually manage to sink away.

  At some point, after Kaitlynn’s fed me the entire mushroom and the first hexagonal yam, I lose focus and slip into a deep trance.

  Sometime later, Kaitlynn rouses me for the second yam.

  Though I feel a little stronger and less giggly, I unfortunately still can’t chew. Thankfully, Kaitlynn is a little more prepared this time around.

  Instead of pre-chewing the second yam, she crushes it with a rock in a kind of bowl-shaped leaf. Her new delivery method is also an improvement: she feeds it to me with rudimentary chopsticks, which of course she’s very handy with.

  Meanwhile, I take another glance at my Lavi Flows Window.

  Looks like Dave managed to bring my Toxic Energy Lavi consumption down to 10.5 Onkh of Lavi per minute. Good thing too, since the yams only provide 5 Onkh of Lavi per minute, compared to the juice’s 8. I must’ve really slipped through the eye of the needle. Let’s hope Dave can shave off a bit more before this new yam wears off, ’cause it’s my last.

  In between bites, I glance around. Alec seems to have fallen asleep seated against the wall. Dave is sitting on my other side, staring at my Lavi Flows Window with bloodshot eyes and still clutching his white Focus Crystal, even though it currently isn’t shining.

  I frown at his appearance and shoot Kaitlynn a questioning glance.

  “He’s waiting for his Qi to recover,” she explains quietly as she feeds me another bite of yam-paste. “It takes about thirty minutes to generate the five Onkh he needs to use his Skill, and then it lasts for about ten minutes.”

  I swallow down the sweet mush. It’s actually pretty good, now that I can focus on the flavour. Sweet and a little nutty, not bad. “How long has he been at it?”

  “Well, you Meditated for about eight hours, so...” She trails off wearily, but follows it up with a small smile.

  The next bite goes down with a little more difficulty due to the lump in my throat. I can tell from the bags under Kaitlynn’s eyes that she’s been up for a while as well. And yet, she still smiles so gently at me.