The Blade of Shattered Hope 1r-3

by James Dashner

  “What’s wrong?” Sofia asked.

  “Yeah,” Paul added. “You look constipated all of a sudden.”

  Master George folded his hands together-they’d been twitching slightly at his sides. “Our Realitant spies have recently been providing Mothball with information on the Factory.”

  “And you didn’t say anything?” Sofia shouted. The echo of her voice seemed to hang in the tops of the trees for a full five seconds.

  “Calm yourself, goodness gracious me,” Master George snapped back, Sofia’s outburst having brought back some dignity to his face. “We need to go there no matter what I know, and I was merely waiting for the right time to speak on it. But, if you must hear it now, what I have to say will only make our reasons for going forward even stronger.”

  “What?” Tick asked, not bothering to hide the impatience that came out in his voice.

  Master George kicked a bush near his feet. “Oh, how it angers me. This, more than anything she’s ever done. Jane is stealing children from towns and cities across the Thirteenth Reality and keeping them in the Factory. We suspect she is planning to use them somehow to create her abominations at the Factory. She’s currently using her powers of Chi’karda to deconstruct various animals on a quantum level and put them back together again to serve whatever purposes she’s dreamed up with her evil mind. Horror is the only word I can think of to describe such a thing.”

  The Haunce had told Tick about this when discussing the overall plan, but the reality of it hadn’t hit until he heard his boss explain it in such stark terms. An emptiness expanded inside Tick, a void that should’ve been filled with a long list of terrible emotions but instead felt numb.

  “She can’t be that sick,” Paul said. “She can’t be.”

  “I’m afraid our sources are very reliable,” Master George said. “I believe what happened to Jane in the Fourth Reality”-he shot a nervous and quick glance at Tick-“has driven her past a point from which I can’t imagine anyone could ever return. Her life has been consumed by hatred and evil, encompassed by a delusion that she can still find her utopian reality and bring an endless peace to the universe. Bah! She’ll have every last one of us dead. The woman’s insane, I tell you. Insane!”

  Tick had a disturbing thought pop into his head. “Well, I guess if we can’t stop the Realities from going kaboom, at least Jane won’t be able to steal any more kids.”

  “Don’t let your mind wander down that path,” Master George said, stepping closer to Tick. He put a hand on his shoulder. “Instead, let’s focus on accomplishing what the Haunce has sent you to do. Once done, we’ll stop Jane’s madness and free the children.”

  Tick looked at Sofia, then Paul. Both of them had stern faces, made all the harsher by the sharp shadows from the flashlight. “What do you guys think?”

  “What do you mean?” Sofia asked, an edge to her voice. “What do you think we think?”

  “No,” Tick said. “I just… does this change anything? We knew we had to get in there and convince Jane to help us. After we do what the Haunce wants…” He didn’t know how to finish. Despite what George had said, every potential pathway that flickered inside Tick’s mind seemed to head for disaster.

  “Dude,” Paul said in his gimme-a-break tone. “This only makes it clearer. Crazy Jane can do all the hokey-pokey stuff she wants, but if she’s messing with little kids now… we gotta get in there and stop it. Simple as that.”

  Sofia was breathing as if this latest news had pumped up her adrenaline. “And Sato will come-just like you asked him to in your note. We can do it, Tick. You’ll save the universe with your fancy powers, then we’ll get the kids out, then we’ll burn the whole place to the ground. Let’s go!”

  She didn’t wait for a response but marched off into the dark woods, toward the east. Paul stepped in line right behind her.

  Tick looked at Master George. “Guess I’m not in the lead anymore.”

  “Well, I think they could use your flashlight. Let’s go, Atticus. Lots to do.”

  Tick nodded and started walking, shining his light up ahead so his friends could see. As they made their way forward for the next few minutes, the shadows leaping with every movement and the eerie sounds of the forest haunting the cool air, Tick realized his earlier choking fear had disappeared. It had transformed into impatience, an eagerness, even.

  Sofia stopped, holding her hand up to signal them to do the same. Paul almost bumped into her, letting a branch loose as he caught his balance. It hit Tick square in the nose, but Sofia cut off his cry of complaint before it got started.

  “Quiet!” she snapped in a harsh whisper, finally lowering her hand as she looked back at them. “Something just… whisked across our path. Up ahead.”

  Ice began to fill Tick’s chest again. He stepped to the side so he could shine the light forward without his friends being in the way. He saw gloomy, towering trees and thick bushes and ivy, all the greenness muted and pale. The shadows stretched and retracted as he swept the area, but nothing out of the ordinary came into view.

  “Hear the silence?” Master George whispered from behind Tick, startling him. His voice seemed louder than it should have, and Tick realized why. All those creepy sounds they’d been hearing earlier had cut off. Completely. The sudden quiet reminded Tick of being outside after a heavy snowstorm back home-all sound sucked in by the cold, white stuff.

  Tick caught a glimpse of something flashing toward him from the right-a wispy trail of fog that he barely saw. He imagined he could see the faint image of a head and a long body, an outreaching hand, when sharp tingles pricked the skin along his forearm, making him suck in a breath.

  There was a popping sound, and then the flashlight went out.

  Chapter 38

  Smoky Embrace

  The needle pricks vanished. Tick instinctively held up the flashlight to take a look, but the darkness was too complete; black engulfed everything. He flicked the switch back and forth. Nothing. Then he shook it.

  Shards of loose glass tinkled together and fell to the ground. The light bulb hadn’t burned out; something had smashed it, making it useless.

  “Tick, dude, what happened?” Paul whispered, though it sounded like anyone within a hundred miles could’ve heard him.

  “I don’t know.” Tick looked around but couldn’t see a thing. He remembered the ghostly image of what he’d seen from of the corner of his eye. Those long, smoky fingers of fog reaching out…

  Leaves crunched a couple of times where Sofia had been standing.

  “Sofia!” Tick shouted, a boom in the silence that echoed off the tree branches.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered back harshly. “Sheesh. I’m just feeling my way toward you.” Another couple of steps, more twigs breaking. “I heard glass break-how did you smash your flashlight?”

  Tick could see the shadow of her figure right in front of him now. He reached out and found her shoulder. “Okay. So, I was standing there, and then I saw something to the right. Something like a trail of fog. But it was kind of shaped like a… like a stretched-out human with really long arms and fingers. Then it felt like a hundred needles stabbed my arm, and something popped, and the light went out. It’s broken.”

  “Wait a second,” Paul said as he also took a couple of tentative steps toward Tick and Sofia. “What did you see again?”

  “I guess it must’ve been a Sleek. Kind of smoky and long, looked human-like. What do you think, Master George?”

  Silence answered him. Chills swept over Tick. He looked in the direction where he’d last heard George’s voice. His eyes were already adjusting to the darkness, but he saw nothing except the tall, dark shadows of trees and more trees.

  “Master George!” he called out, wincing at the loudness of his voice. Again, no answer.

  “Those creepy things took him,” Paul said in a fierce whisper. “And we’re next!”

  Sofia shushed him then spoke in a quiet voice. “That’s we want to happen, remember? We just
have to-”

  A twig snapped to Tick’s right, silencing Sofia. A few leaves rustled in the same spot. The swell of chilling panic crept up Tick’s chest as he looked in that direction, straining his eyes to see.

  Something stood there, a dozen or so feet away, its shadow splitting the space between two huge, towering trees. Thin but man-shaped, the thing had to be as tall as a basketball standard. The edges of the shadowy figure wavered like a reflection on water, ripples of darkness running up and down. The slightest glint of silver shone where its eyes would be, and something about the light-maybe the hue, maybe the angle-made the creature look very angry.

  “Who-” Tick’s voice caught in his throat. “Who are you? Are you a Sleek?”

  The thing’s silver eyes flared brighter for just a moment, but it was long enough to reveal more of its features. Streamers of dark smoke were packed tight and swirling through and across each other, compressed together to form the tall body that stood before them. Tick thought they looked almost like worms being held back by some invisible force until they could be unleashed to seek out food.

  But the face was different. It didn’t seem to be made of the smoky substance. It looked… human. Real skin, though misshapen and scarred. Every cell in Tick’s brain screamed at him to run.

  The light of the creature’s eyes dulled again, throwing the tall figure back into shadow.

  “Ask it again,” Paul whispered.

  Tick didn’t know if he could bring himself to speak. Sofia saved him.

  “What are you waiting for?” she yelled. “We know you’re a Sleek, so get it over with! Quit standing there all spooky, you haunted-house wannabe!”

  Tick looked over at her, wishing he could see her face. Sometimes her bravery completely stunned him.

  A noise from the creature pulled Tick’s attention away from Sofia. A whispery, raspy sound. Harsh and guttural. It continued on for several seconds, but if the thing was trying to communicate, Tick didn’t understand a word of it. The metallic glow of those silver eyes seemed pinpointed on him.

  The Sleek quit talking, leaving them all in an eerie stillness. The sounds of the forest remained silent, as if every living creature had long since run away. Then everything changed in an instant.

  A wind swept through the woods, sudden and violent. A torrent ripped at the trees, sending leaves shooting through the air like flaky bullets. Tick threw his arms up to protect his face, catching a glimpse of the Sleek’s silver eyes flaring again before they disappeared altogether. Darkness took over, leaving the world black and consumed by the rushing sound of wind.

  Sofia screamed, the screech of it barely begun before it whisked away into the distance, fading and gone. Something had taken her. Paul yelled several terror-filled words, but Tick only caught his name. Then a scream even higher-pitched than Sofia’s rang out, followed by a thump and the crack of a broken tree branch. The sounds of a body being dragged quickly across the forest floor were soon swallowed by the overpowering wind.

  Sofia-gone. Paul-gone. Master George-gone.

  Leaves and small twigs pelted Tick’s body. The howling wind ripped at his clothes and hair. He risked a peek, lowering the arm he held tightly across his upper face, but he saw only darkness in front of him. Flecks of debris hit him in the eyes, making him squeeze them shut. He rubbed at them with his other hand, then opened up again.

  He let out a cry of terror when he saw two silver lights right in front of him, looking out of a hideous, mangled face. With a swirl of black smoke, the Sleek grabbed him by both ankles and squeezed them like a metal rope cinched tight enough to break skin and crush bones. His feet flew out from under him as the Sleek pulled. Tick’s back crashed to the ground. Then his whole body jerked forward, dragged across the rough forest floor.

  ~

  Master George knew what was happening the instant the tingle first sprinkled across the back of his neck. Someone at headquarters had finally locked onto his nanolocator and was winking him back to the Bermuda Triangle station. Sally, probably, having likely broken a hundred things in the process before finally figuring out how do it.

  And Master George knew what he had to do.

  As soon as the dark forest vanished, replaced by the inner workings of his cramped Control Room with its bright monitors and blinking instruments and metal piping, he threw his hands up and started shouting.

  “Don’t wink the others! Don’t wink the others! Don’t wink back Atticus or the rest of them!”

  Big Sally-dressed in his usual plaid shirt and overalls-stood at the main computer, a Barrier Wand clasped in his huge hands. The look on his perplexed face was almost comical, and somewhat pitiful as well.

  “I’s waitin’ on that brain a’yorn to figger it out anyhoo,” the burly man said. “’Bout chicken-fried my noggin gettin’ you here as it was!”

  Master George finally felt a bit of calm. “Excellent work, Sally, excellent work! We mustn’t wink the others back quite yet-they have a very important task to accomplish first. But we need to get to work straight away.” He walked past Sally and headed toward the door.

  “What’s on that mind a’yorn?” Sally asked as he set the Wand down and followed George.

  Master George reached the door and entered the hallway. “We’ve got things to collect before we move out. As many weapons as possible.. and nanolocator patches-we’ll probably need hundreds of patches. We must hurry!”

  “Where you reckon we’re goin’ then?”

  “We’re going to meet up with Sato at a place called the Factory. We have to rescue Sofia, Paul, and Atticus.” Master George turned to face Sally. “Not to mention a lot of children.”

  Chapter 39

  The Surge

  The wind in the forest stopped suddenly, cut off like a giant door slamming shut. Tick could hear the scrape of his body against the leaves and scattered debris underneath him. Things poked and scratched. His shirt ran up to his shoulders, leaving his skin exposed and vulnerable. Pain lit through him. The Sleek’s grip didn’t loosen; if anything, it tightened as it pulled Tick along.

  He tried to look at it, but saw nothing except the occasional glimmer of silver light reflecting off tree trunks. He tried to pull himself up, crunching his abs as he reached for his legs, his ankles, but the speed and roughness of the way was too much. He fell back, his head slamming against a fallen log just as he popped over it.

  Scratches and scrapes, bumps and bruises. Tick felt the warmth of blood trickling in his hair, wetting his entire back. The sounds of crunching leaves and snapping twigs as his body was dragged across them filled his ears. Darkness surrounded him.

  His instincts had him reaching for Chi’karda before his mind formed the thought. Wrapping his arms tightly around his body, he rolled to his side, trying to give his back a break and let his shoulder take some of the abuse. Then he forced himself to close his eyes, searching and probing for the heat of the power within him.

  There. A spark.

  He reached for it with mental hands and grabbed it, squeezed it, embraced it. Quicker than ever before, the Chi’karda burst through him, filling his body with a raging burn. It pulsed and throbbed. Tick felt like it was about to explode out of him, devouring first his flesh and then the forest in flames. Tick heard the woods around him shake, heard the same odd bee-buzz sound from months ago when he’d unwittingly unleashed his power in fear, wreaking havoc with molecular structures, melding trees and other things together. The same had happened in Chu’s mountain building.

  Tick knew he was losing control.

  He screamed and opened his eyes.

  The first thing he noticed was that he’d stopped moving. An orange cloud of sparkling mist surrounded him, illuminating the forest. The Sleek had released his ankles and stood several feet away, its silver eyes wide and bright, maybe out of shock. Tick could see the thing’s body clearly now-the seething tendrils of black smoke that coiled and wrapped together to form the elongated body, the hacked up face, the wispy trails of its
fingers.

  Tick was trembling, his hands balled into fists. He didn’t feel pain anymore, only the surge of Chi’karda threatening to scorch him and everything around him. His jaw clenched as if it had locked closed forever. He wanted to kill the Sleek. Chase down the others and kill them. Rescue his friends. Run away. He almost boiled with the desire.

  With a scream of rage, he jumped up and pounced on the Sleek, grabbing it by the neck just as it tried to break apart and whisk away. Tick slammed the creature against the closest tree, knowing he shouldn’t be able to do this, knowing that he was somehow using the Chi’karda to make the Sleek maintain its structure and solidity. The thin neck of coiled smoke felt like shifting sands under his fingers, churning and slipping but staying in one place.

  Tick squeezed, feeling the neck crackle, as if it were sand and hardening to glass. That creepy, cackling whisper of a voice escaped the Sleek’s mouth, saying things Tick couldn’t understand. But it seemed desperate and terrified, the sound of it chilling.

  The buzzing sound intensified above them. Chi’karda blazed inside Tick. The orange mist swirled around him like a tornado of fire. A wind picked up, seeming to blow from all directions at once, though it did nothing to the cloud of Chi’karda. Tick felt as if the entire world were about to melt into a pool of lava.

  He squeezed the Sleek’s neck even harder.

  Something tried to click inside Tick’s brain. Tried to tell him that he’d forgotten the whole point of what he’d come here for. That in the pain and terror of being dragged through the forest, he’d let his anger take over. That he’d lost it, completely lost it.

  And yet… he was controlling the Chi’karda more than ever before. He was controlling it! Kind of…

  “Tick!”

  A voice. A girl. From somewhere to his right. He barely heard it. He didn’t want to look, didn’t have time to look. The Sleek was almost dead, and then he could go after the others. Maybe he could experiment with Chi’karda, see what he could do with it. Strike out with it somehow? Maybe shoot beams of fiery lasers? Yeah, that’d be awesome.