An ear splitting crack rang out on the night air; I looked up to see the great tower itself leaning perilously. With a shudder, it broke free from the foundation that had held it secure to the earth for countless years. Picking up speed, it rushed towards us.
That would be how it ended. Fitting somehow. The tower that killed Pike. The tower that we found Little Sae's body hanging from. And now, the tower that would bury us.
I could hear millions of tons of stone whipping through the night on it's final journey.
"Henri," he said.
I looked at him. Everything became quiet.
"I—"
"Shhh," I said, not wanting to lose a thought that was forming in my head. My eyes shifted to Claire's wrist, staring at the bracelet shimmering in the moonlight.
A vialus. Claire had a vialus like Evan's.
I opened my mouth to speak, to tell him that he could save us by crushing the vialus with his sapience. But the tower was almost on us. There was no time for words.
It was up to me.
I didn't hesitate. I didn't think about how I wasn't a sapient like Evan. I didn't worry about what might happen if I did it wrong. I just let go.
Clenching my fingers into a fist, I imagined the vialus crushed in my grasp.
The glass shattered.
With a thundering roar, the tower plummeted towards us, just feet away from burying us alive.
Claire and Evan's eyes grew wide as a wisp of grey vapor swirled out of the vialus and seeped into our skin. A gust of wind rushed through the courtyard.
The stones crashed.
A cloud of dust rose high into the air as the earth shook with the power of a thousand charging elephants.
And there was silence.
Except for a voice. I can't be sure, but I thought I heard a child singing.
It was a girl. She was singing the birthday song.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Henri
The Falling
I found myself in a kingdom of stars and clouds. It was endless. Deadly. And blue as blood.
Stretching from one side of the world to the other without blemish, perfect but for three black specks.
Evan Burl. Claire Amadeus. And me. Henrietta.
Just Henrietta. I didn't have a last name because I was just an orphan. Well, not just an orphan anymore.
I was a sapient.
It was impossible to believe so I said it again in my head.
I was a sapient.
And now I was falling.
I had been here before.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I could remember a falling. Had it happened only once. Or many times?
It's not any easier the second time.
For what felt like hours, the whole world seemed frozen below me. Except for the wind, everything was silent. I felt as if I could stay up there as long as I liked.
I had a lot of time to think.
I thought about how I would soon be smashing into the ground at about 214 miles per hour. My heart beat a little faster. Where will we find ourselves? Will we even be together? I watched Claire, her long hair billowing in the wind, the sadness and confusion gone from her face, replaced with a wild fearlessness I envied. She was flying. What ten-year-old doesn't want to fly?
I thought about the chests that we were found in as babies. How was it that Cevo had sent us all to Daemanhur castle? Was he the one who sent the chests full of diamonds to Mazol? Had Cevo sent all the clankers that we'd be forced to work on for the last 4 years? None of it made any sense, yet Cevo hadn't argued with Hagnus. Maybe it was all true. I shuddered to think of how black Cevo's heart must be to enslave his own children under Mazol's whip.
I thought about the man who was supposed to be my father. I'd rather be an orphan than have Cevo for a father. I'd gone the first fourteen years of my life without one, I'd be just fine without a father for the rest of my life too. I decided I would never think of Cevo again.
I thought about Hagnus. Could she really be my sister? Cevo had taken her life, but I didn't even know her. I wish we could have had the chance to become friends. I would keep her memory by finding my sisters and taking care of them like I know Hagnus would want me to. I had no idea where the other seven girls had gone, but we would find them, I was sure of it. Wherever it was, I'm sure it was better than Daemanhur Castle.
I thought about the castle falling. What would happen to those we left behind? Would Mazol and Yesler and Ballard run away? They had the money, as long as they could escape from Cevo. Would Terisma survive? She was Claire's sister; I hated to think she was beyond saving.
I thought about the countdown in Evan's letter. Somehow, Terillium knew when Evan was going to fall. We thought it was a countdown for when Evan would turn into a monster; Terillium was convinced Evan would become something terrible when he fell. But Terillium didn't count on Evan fighting against the sapience. Or maybe he didn't think Evan would be strong enough.
I wondered what would have happened if Evan found the spider before me. It was meant for Evan, but I'm not sure it would have mattered. The sapience inside Evan was strong, but he was stronger. He fought the evil and he won.
I caught his eye and we smiled at each other. He told me he loves me, at least that's what I thought he was about to say when I interrupted him. All I've ever wanted was to disappear from Daemanhur with him, to spend the rest of our lives together somewhere else. If we remember all of this, we'll have to talk about what that means for us—assuming he really was going to say he loves me.
We aren't kids anymore, not that I can tell by looking at him now. He looks like the boy I knew before Pike died. Only, his eyes are even brighter now, like a fog has lifted. He is seeing clearly for the first time since discovering sapience.
I thought about what I did to the rubric. I used sapience to crush the vialus. I had the spider—something so powerful that a man like Cevo desperately wanted it—pulsing inside me. This scared me more than anything, but I have Evan to help me. We'd figure it out together.
I thought about what was on the other side of a falling and the craziest idea popped into my head. What if we were traveling back in time? Back to Daemanhur. Back to when we were children. Like nothing had ever happened. What if it was all just a big loop, that we were destined to repeat forever.
Well, if that's how it went, I knew one thing: we survived before, we would survive again.
I took a long breath of cool air and forced myself to stop thinking.
The moment would soon be over and I didn't want to miss it.
It was beautiful really. I could see the whole world, curving away below me. And above, stars and endless darkness.
I didn't really even feel sick to my stomach.
Until the last thirty seconds.
First, the rolling mountains and hills, which I'd always thought so solid and unshakable, were now sauntering up towards me as if they were great bullies begging for a fight with anyone who defied their gravity.
Then houses and barns began popping out of the ground everywhere, like grasping hands from a fresh grave. Pulling me down into the earth where I belong.
Ten seconds later, what I thought was a bit of lint stuck to my eyelash transformed into a living human. Before I knew it, there were more. Dozens, even hundreds of people. Working, eating, doing whatever people did when they weren't looking up and noticing me plummeting through the sky directly towards them.
Far too soon, another ten seconds had passed and the whole world was rushing up at a speed that would turn even the stoutest stomachs to acid.
But it was the last hundred feet that really tested what I was made of.
Part of me was happy I'd made it so long without losing consciousness, but I realized in those last few moments I was far less brave than I gave myself credit for.
I tried to keep my eyes open, but right before the end, I gave in and snapped them shut.
Because no one can watch a falling.
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Justin Blaney, Evan Burl and the Falling
Evan Burl and the Falling Page 35
