Shame flooded through Finn. “Please, go tend to Fate,” he muttered.
With a frightened nod, Gerdie picked her way past the roots and broken stone to Fate where she lay on the floor. An agonizing mixture of rage and sorrow thrashed in his chest at the sight of her motionless form.
Painful memories rushed in to torment him: Fate lying in the mud, broken and wounded, after Mugloth had dragged her underground. She’d been so close to death then. All because he’d failed to see that he was the reason she’d put herself in danger. Was he forever cursed to keep repeating the same mistake and reliving the same agonizing punishment?
His answer came in a torrent of fiery spears. Finn dove to one side as the bolts struck where he’d been standing. Azure foxfire laced the trunk of the tree. Feeling the tree’s pain as if it were his own, he buckled at the waist and groaned. He lifted himself to check on Kaliena. She’d escaped the tree’s grip and was closing in.
Finn invoked Air and commanded the Whitethorn Tree to release its barbs. Within seconds, countless thorns streaked through the chamber, hailing untold poison down upon Kaliena.
Kaliena screamed and shielded her face. Dark blood stained her pale blue skin as the wall of thorns stabbed her. Weakened by the massive assault, she fell onto the rubble and Wodrid shuffled to her side.
Finn wanted to finish the job, but his concern for Fate was too great. He rushed over and knelt next to her. Her armor was scorched, but there were no visible burns or wounds. She had suffered some kind of energetic injury, of which he had no idea how to heal. He smoothed his hand over her soft hair and swallowed. The deathly pallor of her face tore at him as he checked her pulse.
Gerdie looked at him and shook her head. “She’s hurt bad. But I don’t see any wounds. I’ve ever seen anything like this before.”
“Her pulse is weak, but she’s still with us. She’ll be fine,” he insisted.
The doubt in Gerdie’s eyes stretched him thin with terror. “We gotta get her back to the sanctuary. Hopefully Farouk will know what to do.”
Finn gathered Fate in his arms and kissed her forehead. “I’m with you, love. You hold on. Hear me?” He stood and looked for Kaliena and Wodrid. They were gone, as well as Jessie.
Gerdie stood and brushed the dust off her knees. She caught the vengeful look in his eyes. “There’s nothing more we can do here.”
Finn nodded and carried Fate as fast as he could toward the exit. They entered the curved, narrow corridor. “You’ll have to lead the way, Gerdie. I wasn’t exactly awake when Wodrid brought me here.”
“I’ll try but I’m not sure I remember the route.”
Finn followed her through the narrow passageway. “Is this a maze?”
“A complicated one.” Gerdie stopped and turned. “Dead end. We have to go back the other way.”
Finn’s heart thudded with panic as he turned around. “We don’t have time for all this backtracking.” He had to get Fate topside. Now.
He traced the path back to the two-way split, taking a right this time. Something wasn’t right about this. When he’d connected with the Whitethorn Tree, he’d sensed the tree’s sacred connection with the Druidic Order. He remembered something his grandfather had taught him in his many lessons to become a druid. You enter a maze to lose yourself and a labyrinth to find yourself. If druids had built this place, this would not be a maze. It would be a labyrinth.
He took a deep breath to control his mounting fear and pushed his senses outward. With each step, he followed the natural flow of energy, feeling for where the energy was stopped by walls and avoiding them. His movements became more fluid as he followed the energy to the center.
He stepped onto the center tile in the small chamber he found himself in. He knew he was in the right place when he saw the two flight packs Fate and Jessie had left behind.
Gerdie stepped in beside him. “How did you know the way?”
The sound of stone grinding against stone, echoed as the tile rose slowly toward the opening in the ceiling. Finn gave her a grim smile. “I looked for my center and found it.”
They were halfway up when something sliced into Finn’s shoulder. He reeled with pain–almost losing his balance and dropping Fate. Regaining his footing, Finn checked his shoulder and saw a smoking gash.
A red beam streaked past his head before he realized where the shots came from.
Jessie stormed forward, unemotional as she fired her laser gun at them. Gerdie hugged herself and cringed as Finn turned away from Jessie to shelter Fate. Another shot hit the heel of his boot, hot as it melted the sole.
The tile leveled out with the floor of the vault, cutting Jessie off. Finn glanced at the giant druid statues staring down at him. He carried Fate to the entrance of the vault. The only way he was going to get her out of there was to fly. He set her down gently and went back for the flight pack and started strapping it on.
“Do you even know how to fly an aeronaut pack?” Gerdie asked.
“Not at all, but what choice do I have?”
“None, I guess.”
When he finally had the pack fully secured, he tested the gear on the handlebars and shot straight up, letting off the speed before he bashed into the ceiling. He hovered for a few seconds, steering sideways then up and down. When he was satisfied he’d mastered the controls enough to fly Fate to safety, he descended.
“I’m sorry, Gerdie, but I’m going to have to leave you here. I’ll send someone back as soon as I get Fate to the sanctuary.”
“I know. Just go. And be careful.”
Finn nodded as he lifted Fate, adjusting her limp weight with his free arm until he had a firm grip around her waist. “Gerdie, take my belt and run it through her utility belt.”
Gerdie worked as fast as she could, then stepped back and gave him the thumbs up. “Go.”
Giving her a nod, Finn lifted off the floor and floated slowly past the entrance, looking around to see which direction he needed to go.
All of a sudden, the terrible rending of stone filled the vault. He turned with a start. The center tile had been blown open. A cloud of sparkling pollen and pulverized stone filled the chamber as Jessie climbed out of the hole.
“Gerdie, run!” he shouted.
Gerdie raced from the vault as Finn rose higher. Through the billowing dust he could see Jessie strapping on the other aeronaut pack. He wouldn’t stand a chance once she was in the air. His only option was to get as big a head start as he could.
“Move another inch, and I’ll blow you out of the sky.”
Finn turned. It was Brune and she had a laser gun aimed straight at him.
49
Something’s Flawmaged
“LAND AND LET HER GO!” Brune shouted as she flew in close to Finn. She hadn’t changed since he’d last seen her in the infirmary, except she and her head full of snakes were awake, and she was dressed in the same enhanced armor Fate and Jessie wore. Thankfully, she was wearing goggles with thick red lenses, which he guessed were protecting him from her Gorgon gaze.
“Brune,” Gerdie yelled from where she was hiding down below, “that’s Finn! Let him go so he can take Fate to the sanctuary.”
Brune stared at Finn, her head cocked to one side and forked tongue flicking from her mouth. “Hmm, you must be the boy I conjured when I summoned Fate. Guess your face went the way of my brain cells when I was inconveniently undead. Sorry about the gun.” She nudged her head at Fate. “I thought you were the reason for her being unconscious.”
Finn swallowed back his guilt. Brune was closer to the truth than she realized. Fate was in trouble because he’d been stupid enough to get himself caught and she’d had to come rescue him.
A laser beam burned into Brune’s thigh. With an angry hiss, she turned as Jessie hurled through the air, shooting at them both.
A deadly beam arced past the wing of Finn’s aeronaut pack.
“Go. I’ll take care of this.” Brune turned in Jessie’s direction.
“Don’t kil
l her,” Finn said. “It’s not her fault. She’s under Kaliena’s control.”
Brune dodged a beam aimed at her head and shot back. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not. Knock her out if you have to. Just don’t kill her.”
“I’ll try, but no promises. Now go!”
Finn climbed high as fast as he could, searching for the breaching door to the sanctuary, which he knew was located within the nexus point of the colossal hoops. Only, he couldn’t spot the hatch he’d so rashly jumped from. The hoops swept overhead, crackling against the atmosphere’s firmament without yielding the location he so desperately needed to find.
Panic almost took over before he caught movement from the corner of his eye–two specks flying through the air toward him. Finn sped toward them, relieved when he recognized Sithias and Mason. A few minutes later, they met in the middle and Sithias slowed down, flapping in place, his amber eyes round with worry when he saw Fate.
“Is she…?” He trailed off and gulped.
“No, but she’s in trouble,” Finn told him.
Mason stopped and hovered. “Where’s Gerdie and Brune?” His expression filled with concern as he regarded Fate.
Finn nudged his chin. “Down at the tower. Brune’s fighting Jessie.”
Mason screwed up his face. “What? Why? Has Brune gone dark already?”
“No, Jessie’s under Kaliena’s control. You’d better get down there and make sure Brune doesn’t kill her.”
Giving Finn a nod, Mason sped toward the tower.
Sithias watched him leave then turned his anxious gaze to Fate. “I came to see how I could help down there, but I think its best if I lead you back to the sanctuary.”
“Agreed.”
With a vigorous nod, Sithias flapped furiously, weaving through the air until they reached the hatch what felt like hours later, even though it was only minutes. He pressed the button, pushing it over and over again, even while the iris of the hatch was sliding open. Finn passed through the opening, landing slowly and gently.
Eustace was next to them in an instant, his face chalk-white as he checked Fate’s pulse. Relief softened his expression when he confirmed she was alive, but his gaze transformed to stone when he looked at Finn. “What happened? Where are Jessie and Gerdie?” He kept his voice carefully low but it was edged with fury as he took Fate from Finn.
Finn unbuckled the last strap and set the aeronaut pack down. He did his best to explain the sequence of events, but he grew more and more ashamed with every word. The entire situation was his fault. He’d failed to protect any of them, and he could see that Eustace felt the same.
Eustace eased Fate onto the table and looked at Farouk. “Can you help her here or should I take her to the infirmary?”
Farouk set a box down on the table and unlatched the lid. Several tiered drawers sprang up to offer their belongings in an orderly fashion. He reached for an instrument with lots of buttons. Turning it on, the contraption beeped as he held it over Fate’s head before moving it down over her chest. When it reached her heart, the small panel lit up and the beeps became one long alarm. Farouk set the instrument down and turned it off with a grim expression. “My diagnostifications show gimmensive cellular destructalization.”
Finn’s hopes sank into despair.
“Which is easy enough to repair.” Farouk reached for another gadget.
Finn, Eustace and Sithias all sighed with relief at the same time.
Farouk activated the device. A spray of golden green light shot from the end and he proceeded to run the beam along the length of Fate’s body. “Who did this to her?”
“Kaliena blasted her with some powerful energy. I’ve never seen its like before.” Finn looked at Eustace. “I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do at the time.”
Looking sick with grief, Eustace wavered in place. “This is your doing.”
Finn nodded. “I know.”
“You never should’ve gone after Wodrid the way you did. You didn’t give us the chance to come up with a strategy. Is this how you do everything? Is this what my daughter has to look forward to?”
“No, sir. I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll never–”
“It’s too late for that. The damage is done.”
The tension grew thick in the room. Sithias fluttered his wings nervously as he watched the heated exchange. “Uh, how long will it take before Fate wakes?”
Both Finn and Eustace turned their attention to Farouk, who looked up from his examination with a puzzled expression. “The restructification is completified. She should be waking by now.” His ears sagged as he shook his head. “Her vitals are slowing. Something’s flawmaged. Hurry, we must get her to the infirmary and on life support.”
Eustace gripped the edge of the table and slumped in desperation.
“I’ll take her.” Finn scooped her up in his arms and headed for the door. His heart hammered as he rushed down the hall. His worst nightmare was coming true and none of it made sense. Why was this happening?
As he raced forward, he dove deep, questing for the red-gold flame of Fate’s spirit essence. It wasn’t there. She was a shell. Her spirit had abandoned her. If he didn’t chase after her spark and anchor it to the living, Fate was going to die.
50
Enough Cheering Up For One Day
THE WORLD LOOKED STRANGE to Fate. Everything had taken on a silvery smudge, as if her surroundings had turned into an old black and white movie. The details of objects around her blurred whenever she tried to focus on them, just as her memory blurred when she tried to remember where she was or what she was supposed to do.
The muffled sounds of voices, like people speaking in the next room crept into her awareness. They were familiar. Though when she tried to identify who was speaking, the name eluded her. The only thing she could be certain of was the tension in their voices, two of which stirred a storm of emotions.
But exhaustion had settled in and she didn’t have the strength to face the distress the voices were causing her. She turned away, allowing herself to recede into the nothingness, where the slowing beat of her heart drowned out the voices. The rhythmic noise came in the form of a thin whooshing sound, much like distant waves ebbing and flowing against a sandy shore.
A thread of fear unwound at the back of her mind. Why did her heartbeat sound so weak?
A heartbeat should be strong. Like when she was a knight and her heart had beat so boldly it glowed bright through bone, muscle and armor. She’d been invincible then. Not just in body but in mind as well. Living fire had surged through her veins and had burned away all memories of her former existence. She’d been unencumbered by debilitating emotions. Unlike this agonizing sense of loss that had her locked in endless sorrow.
A yearning for indomitable strength and emotional freedom pushed to the surface. With the wishing, she suddenly found herself clothed in silver armor. She lifted her gauntleted arm, smiling at how easily it bent, like a malleable second skin. The booming roar of her heart filled her ears and had her glancing down at the luminous red glow emanating from her chest.
A dead calm came over her, washing away the unnamable grief that had been torturing her. She had her armor back on, nothing could ever hurt her again.
Something disturbed the silvery shadows swirling around her. A figure emerged. He stood tall, muscular and unmoving as she stared at him. Was he friend or foe? She couldn’t tell. His features were smudged within the shifting gray shadows.
“Fate?” His voice rang throughout the void, an echo from the past that brought the heartache back.
Widening her stance in preparation for a fight, she drew her sword. “Stay back.”
“It’s me, love. It’s Finn. I’m here.”
Her heart thudded and skipped. Love and loss clashed inside her chest. Thin lines cracked over the breastplate of her armor, and it hurt. Unable to bear the anguish, Fate resisted with a howling shriek that sent the intruder hurtling through the air.
He va
nished within the twisting, churning shadows. Shaking from head to toe, she turned and walked in the other direction.
He stepped from the thrashing darkness. “You can do your worst to me, but it won’t make me leave you. I love you. So much that I’d rather cross over death’s door with you, than go back to the land of the living alone.”
The memory of Finn encased in sickly green flames, dying before her very eyes, stopped Fate in her tracks. Losing him all over again had ended her.
It was all too much. She didn’t want to remember. Remembering meant pain. An incredible amount of agony she could no longer endure. Fate squeezed the hilt of her sword and turned to look at him. “You’re a ghost. You don’t exist anymore. You’re just a cruel trick of my mind.”
“No, love. I swear I’m here with you.”
She wanted to believe him with all her heart, but another let down would shatter her into a billion pieces. As much as it killed her to do it, she needed to rid her heart of this tempting trickster.
He moved toward her.
The second he was within striking distance, she targeted his chest and plunged her sword. As the blade drove deep, Fate let out a strangled cry and the air locked in her lungs. Never again, would she feel the warm touch of his lips against hers. Not even in a dream. Finn was gone. Forever.
The shifting surroundings came to a standstill. His blurred features became crystal clear, bright with silvery hues glancing off the peaceful planes of his face. She’d never seen anything more beautiful. His luminous green eyes gazed straight back, piercing her heart with immeasurable guilt.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was so thick with tears she could barely speak.
“For what? You didn’t hurt me. See? I’m still here.”
Fate dropped her sword. Nothing could make her do again what she’d just done. It had taken everything out of her. She dropped her face in her hands and cried. Her throat burned with each sob. “Stop torturing me. You’re not real. Wodrid killed you. I watched you die.”
Fate's Keep (Fate's Journey Book 2) Page 38
