by Sophia Sharp
The sudden move caught the shadow off-guard. It froze for the barest hint of a second. It was just the hesitation Nora needed.
She flew through the air, arms extended, and met the shadow’s torso. Her fingers wrapped around the precious stone and she swept through, splitting the shadow as if it were mere mist. Just as she was about to fall through to the other side, the heel of her foot caught something sharp. Horrendous agony radiated from the spot.
Nora fell to the floor, caught herself in a roll, and landed on her feet. Another jolt of pain from her heel nearly fell her, but she remained steady. She held the gemstone in one hand. She didn’t know if taking it had done anything. She turned back, expecting the worst.
What she found, instead, gave her hope. The shadow was frozen in place where Nora grabbed the jewel. She looked at her hand, and saw the light fading from the stone. She looked back. There was a gaping hole in the shadow’s chest where she had gone through. But then she realized the creature’s blade had a small red spot on it. Her blood.
All at once, the darkness that surrounded her started to swirl menacingly. She heard a cry of pain, of anguish, and the shadow creature compressed into a tight ball. The darkness swirled into it. The very fabric of reality in this place was wavering, and the black that coated the walls, the surroundings, everything, got sucked into the compressed ball, leaving wavering trails of black fog. The ground started to shake, and there was a brilliant flash of white. Nora shielded her eyes instinctively against it. When she opened them, she was back in the vault.
The pain from her foot crashed into being, and she staggered forward. She looked down and saw blood staining her boot. The shadow’s blade had reached flesh. Agony of the worst sort radiated from the spot, and it was completely out of proportion with the actual wound. Nora shifted her weight gingerly onto the foot and cried out in pain when her foot touched the floor.
She heard pounding from the other side of the door. Hunter and Alexander. She limped toward the door, moved the mechanism in place, and pushed it open. Then she fell to the floor.
Hunter was the first to her. He knelt down beside her. “What happened? Are you alright?” He framed her face with his strong hands. “Nora, what’s going on? Why did you lock us out?”
“The shadow,” Nora said, in a voice weaker than she expected. “It lured me inside. It…tried to kill me.” She held out the gem she still had in her hand. “It used a torrial to take on the shape of a man. I managed to rip it away, and it disappeared.”
“You’re safe now,” Hunter said. He cradled her head between his arms. “You shouldn’t have done that, but you’re safe now.”
“Her foot,” Alexander said solemnly. Hunter looked down and gasped.
“What is that?” he demanded. “What happened?”
“A small cut,” Nora said, trying to dismiss it as nothing. She didn’t know why she felt so sapped of strength. Or why the cut was so painful. “The shadow nicked me with its blade.”
“You shouldn’t be bleeding like that,” Hunter said seriously. “Let me see.”
Nora tried to kick him away as he took her foot in his hands, but he didn’t waver. He pulled her shoe off. Gently, delicately, he rolled her sock down to expose the wound. Both he and Alexander inhaled sharply at what they saw.
“Nora, this isn’t an ordinary cut,” Hunter said gravely.
“The wound is festering,” Alexander put in right behind him.
“So?” Nora demanded. She didn’t like feeling weak, especially in front of Hunter. Feeling or appearing weak. “It’s a small cut. It’ll heal.”
“Is it very painful?” Hunter asked.
“No,” Nora lied.
Alexander considered her. “If that’s the truth…well, we can’t do anything about it now. We’ll need to wrap it tightly to contain the blood flow. Nora, this was not done by an ordinary blade.”
“Of course, I know that!” she snapped.
Alexander tsked. “The point is, it may be dangerous for you. You have to watch for any symptoms, and let us know immediately what you feel.”
Hunter nodded in agreement. “We’ll do the best we can. Can you walk?”
“Of course I can—” Nora had to bite off the end of the sentence as Hunter applied pressure to the cut. Pain such as she’d never felt before pulsed through her entire body. She willed herself not to show it. “—walk,” she finished sourly.
Hunter nodded, not really listening, and tore a piece of fabric from the sleeve of his shirt. He used it to bandage Nora’s foot. Nora winced and looked away, determined not to let them see her pain.
“There,” Hunter said finally. “That’s the best I can do right now. Do you need a hand up?”
“No!” she said irritably. Hunter frowned at her response, and Nora forced herself to be gentle. Why was she so irritable now? “I mean, no, I’m fine,” she said in a softer tone. “Thank you for taking care of my foot.”
“It’s nothing,” Hunter said. Then, in a half-whisper, he added, “I should have been the one to go in first.”
Nora stood up, and Hunter rose beside her. For the first time, he looked beyond her to see the repository in all its glory. “Wow,” he breathed, “this is it, huh?”
“Yes,” Nora said. Her foot was crying out in pain, but she forced herself to ignore it. “You did it, Hunter. You found it for us.”
Alexander stepped between them and approached the first row of items. He bent down, brushing his fingers gently over the artifacts. “These torrial have the power to destroy the world,” he said to himself. “What is it we’re meddling with? We are nothing but children, clueless to the real power and blind to the danger of any of them. But yet, we need them. It is the only way to attack the elders.” He rose and turned around. “I’ll go get Madison.”
Chapter Eight
~Madison’s Breakthrough~
Alexander returned with Madison before nightfall. Nora and Hunter dared not touch any of the torrial while they waited, for fear of what they might do, but jammed the door to the vault to make sure it did not close on them.
“Where’s Jacob?” Nora asked, when she saw Madison coming up the stairs. The cut on her foot still hurt, but she had learned to ignore the pain. Well, maybe not ignore, but she could cope with it better.
“Still recovering in the tent,” Madison said coyly. “Even though he’s helped us this far, I thought it a bad idea to introduce another Vassiz to the angels after what happened with Rafael.”
“The angels? Does that mean the tonic you’ve been working on is ready?”
“Yes,” Madison said. “You and Hunter will both be able to enter the dream realm again.”
“That’s unbelievable!” Nora exclaimed. She got up, biting down the pain, and staggered over to embrace Madison in a hug. “Everything is finally coming together.”
“Quite,” Madison said. “Now, the only thing we have to worry about is finding the angels in the dream realm.”
“What do you mean?” Hunter asked. “Didn’t they say they were going to meet us at the repository once we found it?”
“Yes,” Madison said, “but how will they know when that is?”
“I’m sure they’ve been monitoring it,” Nora said assuredly. “Or us. It was their suggestion, after all. Perhaps they’re able to sense when one of us enters the dream realm.”
“Let’s hope so,” came Madison’s reply. She pulled out a vial from her pocket. “Here’s your ticket there.” She tossed the vial to Hunter, who caught it easily.
Hunter examined the container, which was maybe half the length of his pinky finger and was less than a quarter full. “There’s enough here for the both of us?”
“It’s a very delicate balance,” Madison said. “Very potent, too. One drop and either of you will be out in minutes.”
“How do you know this will take us to the dream realm?” Hunter asked. “And not…what happened last time.”
Last time was the previous time Madison had claimed to have perfect
ed the mixture. Hunter had been the one to try it, then, and ended up passed out for the better part of three days. When he finally awoke, he had no recollection of what had happened the entire previous week. Needless to say, he had been unable to enter the dream realm under the concoction’s influence.
“For one, like I said before, I finally got the pure ingredients I needed,” Madison answered. “And two, while you all left to find the repository, and I was back in the tent with Jacob, I had time to test it on myself. It worked.”
“And you were able to wake up when you wanted to?” Nora asked. “You were in full control?”
“That’s right,” Madison said. “Like I told you, everything’s ready. It turned out to be great timing, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely,” Nora agreed. What were the odds that they would find the repository on the same day Madison finally perfected the herbal mixture? It looked like the last three weeks had not been wasted, after all. If any of them had found the repository earlier, they would not have been able to make use of it before Madison finished her task, anyway. The rapid succession of successes made Nora more optimistic about the task at hand.
“So show me the vault you found,” Madison said, “and we won’t waste any more time. We can go into the dream realm immediately.”
“Of course,” Nora said. “Alexander, you want to take her there? After she’s seen it, come back here, and we’ll go meet the angels.”
Alexander agreed and started leading Madison up the stairs to the highest level. Just before she left, though, Madison turned around.
“You should probably take a drop of the mixture now,” she told Nora and Hunter. “The effects take a few minutes to kick in, and about ten before you’re actually asleep. That’s more than enough time for me to see everything.”
“One drop for both of us?” Hunter asked.
“One for Nora, and half for you. Like I said, it’s potent. Since Nora fed more recently, she’ll need a higher dose.”
“Alright,” Hunter agreed, and Alexander led Madison away.
When they were gone, Nora looked at Hunter. “This is finally it, huh?” she said.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet,” Hunter answered. “This is just the first step. Who knows what we’ll have to do next.”
“But it was our biggest roadblock for so long,” Nora said. “I can’t believe we’ve finally made it here. To have the repository before us and the angels on our side… I feel like we can take on the world, Hunter. The elders won’t stand a chance against us!”
“Maybe,” Hunter said thoughtfully.
“Maybe?” Nora frowned. “What do you mean, maybe? This is what we planned to do, and we’re finally here. We’re finally ready to take on the elders once and for all!”
“I mean, I’m glad you’re enthused, Nora. I am too, of course. But you don’t know the elders like I do. They’re strong. And cunning. It’s best not to underestimate them. We’re talking about the most powerful Vassiz in existence. No matter what advantage we may have, it’s always better to expect them to be able to counter it full-force.”
“That wasn’t your opinion before,” Nora said sourly.
“It was always my opinion,” Hunter said.
“Not before you pushed me into doing this! Not before you agreed to doing it!”
“I’m just saying we need to be cautious,” Hunter countered. “And come on, you know as well as I do that our chances of success were always low. All we can do is pray that somehow, someway, it’ll be enough.”
“But you don’t think so anymore,” Nora said. “Why? You weren’t so pessimistic before.”
“Seeing the repository for the first time made it so much more real for me,” Hunter admitted. “When we were looking for the torrial, our path wasn’t yet defined for us. I mean, yes, we were all striving to find them so that we could take the next steps, but I guess… I guess there was a part of me that was holding out hope we wouldn’t. It’s stupid. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into. And now it’s real. Now it’s there. Before we found the repository, it was just off, somewhere in the future…” he waved a hand absently. “But now we have to face it head on.”
“At least we’re doing it together,” Nora said gently, touching his arm.
Hunter smiled at her. “Yes. Together. You are the reason I’m here. Never forget that.”
“I won’t,” Nora said. She moved closer to him and placed her head on his shoulder. He brought his arm around and held her tight.
“No matter what happens,” Hunter whispered, “I’ll always be here for you.”
“I know you will,” Nora sighed. What happened next would determine their fate for their entire lives, for their entire future. If they succeeded, she could finally live in peace. Together with Hunter. And if they failed…well, Hunter’s candor made that possibility seem much more likely. If they failed, at least they would do it together. It was a somber thought, but oddly comforting.
“Shall we?” Hunter asked, rotating Madison’s vial in his hands. Nora nodded, and he popped the top open. Nora stuck her tongue out, and he placed a drop carefully onto it. Then he opened his mouth and swallowed the remainder of the mixture.
“Five minutes, right?”
“Something like that.”
“Then we have enough time…” Nora trailed off and traced her finger gently along Hunter’s jaw. His eyes lit up, and he moved his head toward hers. He ran his hand up along her arm and then down her body. She gasped and then pulled his face close to hers to kiss him.
That’s when she heard Alexander bounding down the stairs.
Hunter cursed and pulled away from her. Nora let him go sadly. At this rate, they wouldn’t get a moment alone until after they faced the elders. If they got out of the confrontation alive.
“Madison’s found something,” Alexander exclaimed. “Come. Quickly.”
“What is it,” Nora started to say, but he was already gone.
Hunter pushed himself up. “Better check it out,” he said. He started to help her up, but she shrugged him off. She could do fine by herself.
They went up the stairs to the highest level, where the vault stood open. Alexander was already inside. Nora followed Hunter in. Inside, standing at the far end of the vault, she saw Madison. She was staring at something hidden from view.
“What’s going on?” Nora asked.
“Come, look at this,” Madison said. She spoke as if in a trance.
Nora started toward her, but Hunter held her back. “Let me go first.” Nora hesitated, then nodded. Hunter approached Madison slowly. “What is it?” he said.
“That.” Madison was pointing to something on the floor. Nora got closer, and saw a solid sphere. It was about the size of a large watermelon. The outside was made of thick, heavy-looking glass, dark and nearly impenetrable by the light. Nora blinked. For a second, she thought she could see past the surface, into the very heart of the sphere. There were dark, angry clouds toiling there. When she blinked again, they were gone.
“What is it?” Nora asked.
“A torrial of immense power,” Madison answered. “I recognized it the moment I saw it. From my pack’s history.”
“I didn’t know packs had a history?” Nora said.
“Some do. Some are more cultured than others.” She shot a look at Alexander, who shrugged. “Mine did. They spoke of a device like this one, both feared and revered in the past for what it could do. It was passed down from pack leader to pack leader. Then it disappeared. To…end up here.”
“So what does this torrial do?” Nora asked.
Madison looked at her gravely. “With it, you can bring anyone into the dream realm. From absolutely anywhere in the world. And you are in complete control of what happens to them there.”
Nora yawned despite herself. She had no idea where the need to do so came from. “Why was it feared?” she asked.
“Dreams are a private thing, Nora,” Madison answered. “To be able to bring
someone into the dream realm, it allows you to see into their mind. It gives you the power to have absolute control over someone else. That type of power is dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“Wait, so can’t we…” Nora started, but paused when she had to suppress another yawn. Her eyes started closing, and she fought them open. “Can’t we use it to bring the elders into the dream realm? That seems…” she yawned again, “…perfect for us.”
“Let’s see what the angels say,” Madison replied.
Nora nodded, and just at that moment a wave of drowsiness washed over her. She had to grip onto the wall to avoid falling over. Lowering herself down slowly, she hit the ground and instantly fell asleep.
Chapter Nine
~The Dream Realm~
Nora jerked to herself. She had to blink a few times to realize where she was. She had awoken in the same spot she had been before, but she was the only one there. Madison’s mixture had worked – she had gotten into the dream realm!
Nora looked around to get a sense of her surroundings. For some reason, focusing on anything around her proved…difficult. The walls of the vault, the ground and the ceiling, and the very air around her shimmered and distorted itself in odd patterns. She was reminded a bit of the darkness that surrounded her when she fought the shadow.
Suddenly, Hunter popped in beside her. He blinked a few times, dazed, but when his eyes rested on her, he smiled. “You made it,” he said.
A second later Alexander came to them and then Madison. Their transition into the dream realm was much smoother than hers or Hunter’s had been – Nora suspected it was because they didn’t need to use the potion.
Nora stood up to try and clear her head. It didn’t help. When she looked at Hunter or Madison or Alexander, their bodies were constantly twisting and shimmering, like she was looking at them through a body of water.
Hunter must have picked up on her unease. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Sure,” she lied. The cut on her heel started to throb, shooting waves of pain up and down her leg. She clenched her jaw to avoid showing discomfort. The world continued to swirl before her.
