They’d only been out for a moment when voices drifted their way from up ahead.
Everyone jumped into the scrub oak on the opposite side of the tunnel entrance. Both voices were male and they huffed between words—obviously very out of breath.
“Rebecca should have thought . . . to send someone much earlier,” a deep voice said.
“She’s too busy.” This was a higher, though still masculine, voice.
“Seth, you know she’s dead—she don’t need to sleep.”
“I’m just saying,” Seth said. “It was a bad idea . . . And now they’ve gone and done . . . what she didn’t want to have done.”
Silence for a moment, then, “You think they’re still in there?”
“She said if the machines are working correctly . . . they’ll be frozen in place for quite some time.”
The man with the lower voice grumbled something Nicole couldn’t hear, then said, “Well, all I know is I’m awful . . . uncomfortable with how things are going . . . You saw that our guns don’t work down there. . . And Rebecca hasn’t explained why.”
“Maybe Tiffany knows,” Seth said.
A snort reached Nicole’s ears.
“Tiffany’s still in Texas—she wouldn’t dirty her hands coming up here.”
“I think she’s scared of the Great Ones,” Seth said.
“And you’re not?”
“Why should I be?”
“Boy, you have no idea . . . what you’re in for if you ain’t scared.”
The men had come into view by now, and Nicole wondered how they’d made it up the canyon in the dark. Both carried rifles, and other guns were strapped across their backs. They were wearing the armor she’d learned about at the world convention.
She looked up to where Coolidge was hidden in one of the bigger scrub oak. He glanced down at her, slowly moving a finger to his lips.
Nicole held back an eye roll, though she did smile. Of course she wouldn’t say anything and give away their position.
Seth and the older man eventually reached the tunnel and started inside, cussing the blackness of its interior. Nicole was grateful she and the others weren’t still in there.
Once the voices were sufficiently muffled, Coolidge dropped to the slanted ground next to Nicole. “We have to trap them in there,” he whispered to her and the others. “They’ll find out really quickly that we’ve left.”
“Just tell us what to do,” Nicole whispered. The others nodded.
“We’ll request the branches that surround the tunnel to cover it and hold them in. But they won’t stay like that for long, and we’ll need to combine our powers for it to work.”
Nicole raised an eyebrow. “I thought Aretes couldn’t control living things.”
“They can’t, but the outer layer of bark is dead. If we control that, we can force the living parts inside to bend to our will. But like I said, it’ll take all of us working together, and we’ll have to be careful not to break the bark or we’ll lose control.”
Everyone got into place, holding a hand over the trunks of several scrub oak.
Just then, the voices started up again. They were angry. And coming fast.
“Go!” Coolidge shouted.
Nicole closed her eyes, envisioning the branches that were connected to the trunk she touched. She sensed magical pulses from Dave, Elyse, and Coolidge and opened her eyes—they were already getting stuff done. She wished she were faster at this!
Thank goodness she wasn’t out of practice, though, with wood. Her magic came quickly, and soon she was able to ask her bark to intertwine with the branches of the other Aretes.
Lizzie was the only one unable to help, but she did figure out that she could light a fire even with the embryonic manipulator disrupting light sources. She held it up, helping the others see what they were doing.
Nicole felt it when the Tarians reached the branches. She sensed the living parts of the branches straining against her, wanting to be released. She pushed harder with her magic.
“That’s good enough,” Coolidge said. “We need to save our powers for when the Great Ones come.”
The five Aretes raced down the narrow path, past the lantern, and back to the creek, keeping a magical hold on the branches. They pounded down the trail, Nicole expecting the Tarians to break through at any moment.
They’d only been away from the tunnel entrance for maybe a minute when Nicole felt her powers give up on the bark. The men were probably breaking through her section. She hoped the more experienced Aretes were holding better.
Gunfire started cracking through the air, making her ears ring, and Nicole quickly realized what was going on. The men were shooting their way through the rest of the branches that covered the tunnel.
“They’ll only hold for a moment longer,” Coolidge called over his shoulder. “Run faster!”
Nicole picked up speed, keeping pace with the others. She’d always hated running downhill, and this was definitely no exception. The trail was incredibly steep. She felt like she was about to tip forward and fall against the ground with every step.
The men behind them cheered—the rest of the branches probably gave way.
Just then, the light that shot up into the heavens suddenly died, and sunlight flooded the landscape. Nicole stumbled, blinded, nearly falling. She grabbed a tree branch to slow herself, noticing that the others were also pausing.
Not wanting to wait for their eyes to adjust, the group continued forward, but at a much slower pace. Nicole glanced behind them, shielding her eyes, but the trail had too many turns to see where Seth and his friend were. She hoped they’d be slowed down by the return of the sunlight too.
Going down was much faster than hiking up, and after only ten minutes, they’d reached the truck.
They pulled the camouflage branches off the truck, then hopped inside. Dave revved the engine, then pulled around and raced down the bumpy dirt road at a reckless speed.
A gun boomed behind them and the back window shattered. The men were outside of the perimeter still.
Nicole and the others crouched down.
“Stay down,” Dave barked. “There’s more to come.”
He was right. Soon, a volley of bullets was striking the truck. A back tire went flat, then the other. Nicole hoped Dave had good insurance on the rental vehicle.
If the ride was bumpy before, it became bone-jarring after the truck lost those two tires. Nicole held on to the door as tightly as she could, hoping her seatbelt would stay attached.
It did, and moments later, they were barreling past the field and perimeter where the Tarians were gathered in their groups around bonfires. Nicole was happy to see that the bonfires had gone out and guessed it had happened when the elixir had been used on the machine. Good.
When the Tarians realized what was going on, they pulled out their guns and tried to shoot the truck too.
It didn’t take long for them to realize their guns didn’t work. Nicole saw a lot of angry people. She stayed low, just in case, not wanting to risk an arrow through the head if someone had brought a bow.
They pulled up in front of the farmhouse, jumped from the truck, and raced inside. Joe and Austin were waiting at the door and shut it behind them. Nicole knew that the Aretes who surrounded the Tarians had been instructed not to do anything unless it was absolutely necessary. She prayed this would end up being a peaceful day, with the Tarians leaving and never knowing they’d been surrounded by their enemies.
Nicole’s legs trembled and she nearly fell, but Austin’s arms were suddenly around her, supporting her weight. Out of instinct, Nicole pushed away, then gasped, realizing there was no accompanying nausea with the contact. She turned in his embrace, putting her arms around him as well, holding him tightly.
They were touching again! Oh, it was so wonderful. The elixir was gone! It was gone. And so was the grip the Great Ones had maintained on her for so long.
Austin lifted Nicole’s chin, his brown eyes full of concern. �
�How are you doing?” he asked, oblivious to the people who rushed around them to see what was going on outside.
Nicole shrugged. “Fine, I guess.” She smiled at him. “I destroyed the embryonic manipulator.”
Austin grimaced. “Yeah, I know. That’s not a pain I ever want to experience again. It burned so badly . . .”
“It forced me and Elyse to the ground.”
Austin smirked. “I’ll bet it hurt worse for me than it did for you.”
Nicole mock-glared at him. “Does it have to be a competition?”
“Only if I have a chance at winning.” Austin’s eyes strayed to her lips, and suddenly, he dipped down and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.
Nicole sighed, her arms tight around his neck. She met his lips willingly, eager to feel his kiss again, and not caring that others were in the room with them.
She sighed to herself, loving the way his lips molded so perfectly to her own.
The kiss ended abruptly when someone started pounding on the door behind them. Nicole could tell from the magical pulses that it was an Arete.
“Let me in!” a guy yelled.
Joe pulled the door open, and the man rushed into the house. “The link just opened. We need help.”
Coolidge turned to him. “We’re coming. Get into your ranks. Start fighting to keep those demons in their own dimension.”
The man nodded, then raced back outside. Austin set Nicole down, a frustrated expression on his face. Nicole totally understood how he felt. They followed the experienced Aretes outside, Austin holding Nicole’s hand tightly.
Lizzie hesitated, and Nicole glanced back at her. She couldn’t help but be worried for her best friend, who hadn’t focused on perfecting her abilities. Would she be safe?
“You might want to stay in the farmhouse,” Nicole said.
Lizzie didn’t say anything, but she did nod.
Nicole turned forward again, and all thoughts and concern for her best friend were swallowed up in the sudden fear that cascaded over her when she saw the link.
It was immense. Huge. It went for what had to be miles into the sky and several hundred feet in either direction. It totally blocked all views of the mountain Nicole and her friends had just been on. Tentacles poured from it, reaching through space and time, curling around the edges of the portal, seemingly keeping the link open.
And monsters—hundreds of them—were barreling through to Nicole’s dimension.
In the other dimension, Nicole could see explosions and fighting as the Aretes that Elizabeth led fought to keep things contained.
Aretes on this side had frozen in place, probably due to fear. They’d left their hiding places and now lined the field, staring at the beings that were flowing through. The Tarians were also petrified, but they got over their surprise quickly and started dancing around the fires they’d relit. Nicole realized the fighting would most likely happen between the monsters and Aretes and not Aretes and Tarians—the non-magical humans were too distracted with worshiping.
Nicole still hadn’t taken a step off the back porch of the farmhouse. She clung to Austin’s hand, watching the Aretes gather into their units.
Then the fighting started. Instead of the roars and rushing forward that Hollywood always showed, most of the Aretes dropped to a crouch, heads down. It took Nicole a moment to figure out why—they were relying on their magical senses rather than their physical.
And for good reason. Pulses flowed from the creatures, giving away their positions and speed.
Suddenly, arrows started flying through the air, striking the beasts. Rocks and water too. Nicole looked around, trying to see what was going on. She quickly caught on—each unit had several Aretes in the backs of their groups who were creating the weapons while others used them. A couple of felled trees were broken down and shaped into arrows. A huge rock had been smashed into pieces. Water seeped from under the dirt.
Many monsters fell to the ground, no longer moving.
The first wave of the attack seemed to catch the beasts off guard. Perhaps they’d expected no resistance? They probably thought all Aretes would be dead by now.
At first, Nicole couldn’t understand why something on a bigger scale wasn’t being coordinated—a storm, perhaps. The land disappearing underneath the beasts. Water flooding the fields. But it occurred to her that those sorts of things would also kill Aretes and would be very difficult to maintain. Not only that, but they would tire everyone present, keeping them from holding their defenses as more beasts came through the link.
The front row of Aretes in all the units surrounding the field seemed to have the same task—that of preventing the monsters from reaching the units.
Austin released Nicole’s hand and joined his parents in a huddle. Thick fog swirled around them, then began expanding. Nicole wondered if her earlier guesses had been incorrect about wide-scale operations, but this seemed to be different. She could tell from their combined powers that the fog wasn’t requiring a lot of magical strength, since there wasn’t much resistance to it—no wind, hardly any heat. It expanded, thickening, and soon began covering everything and everyone with its darkness.
Nicole struggled, trying to see through the fog. She realized something, however. The fog masked the Aretes from the Tarians and the monsters. She felt general unease from the monsters as their pulses showed that they were hesitating. The Aretes didn’t pause their attacks, however, using their powers to locate the creatures.
This led Nicole to believe that even though the beasts were magical, they couldn’t sense magic from other beings. If that were the case, it gave the Aretes a huge advantage. They didn’t need to be able to see to attack, whereas the monsters did.
Nicole reached out with her senses, following Austin and his parents’ activity. They continued with the fog, then seemed to let go of it, allowing it to hover, but not build. Then another Arete took over while they turned their attention to helping keep the monsters from reaching the lines of Aretes. Nicole felt their powers rushing to Aretes who were weakening. The Youngs lent a portion of their magic to them.
Coolidge figured out what they were doing and dropped down next to them, helping.
What could Nicole do? Yes, she could assist like that, but she hesitated. Was there something else that would benefit the Aretes while allowing her to use her natural abilities? She wanted to maintain her strength for as long as possible, especially now that the elixir was gone and not lending her more powers. Somehow, she knew that if she did what Austin and the others were doing, it would tire her far more quickly.
Remembering her bracelet, Nicole pulled it out and fastened it.
Lizzie joined Nicole, putting a hand on her elbow. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Nicole closed her eyes, concentrating on pulling her magic to herself, wanting to be ready for when she knew where to direct her powers. While doing so, she recognized Robert’s magical print. She hadn’t seen him since going to Anna Morse’s dimension. He was the one who’d taken over the fog just now. She’d missed that somehow.
Nicole heard it when the Tarians’ fires went out—probably suffocated by the fog. They began screaming at the Aretes. She heard them issuing orders to each other, their voices carrying easily through the fog.
An idea popped into her mind. She sat on the porch steps, getting ready to put it into action. It didn’t take long to send her magic out. She grinned, imagining the expressions on the faces of the Tarians as their voices inexplicably disappeared. One by one, she silenced all of the non-magical humans within her reach. She couldn’t see them and didn’t know if it was stopping them from rushing the Aretes, but she hoped it was.
Lizzie giggled. “I know what you’re doing, Nicole.”
Nicole smiled, not breaking her concentration.
“Too bad I can only start fires. The fog definitely would prevent me from doing that right now.”
“You’re fine, Lizzie,” Nicole said.
She kep
t tabs on the others while continuing what she was doing. Austin and his parents still had vast amounts of energy at their disposal, as did Coolidge. The Aretes who were fighting the monsters were tiring, though.
Something needed to put an end to this. Nicole looked up—the fog didn’t cover the entire link, and she could see monsters still coming through. What could happen to stop them? Elizabeth’s Aretes were definitely exhausted—she could see that there were fewer of them fighting now than earlier.
She sensed it when Robert’s magic flowed to an end. She hoped he hadn’t overdone it! She wanted to take over the fog, but knew that doing so would require a bit of control over water, which she hadn’t mastered yet. And besides, the advantage it had given the Aretes was coming to an end as Nicole heard—and sensed—monsters approaching the farmhouse. She realized that they didn’t have a unit protecting them there.
The fog dissipated in a rush as someone—a Wind Arete she couldn’t see and whose print she didn’t recognize—pushed away the monsters from her and the others. That person had obviously recognized the danger Nicole and her friends were in.
The scene that was revealed as the fog dissolved sickened Nicole. Beasts had already reached the Aretes and were fighting—using tails, claws, and wings to attack the magical humans. Some of the Aretes were fighting back, but most were scattering. Without weapons and armor, they were defenseless against the more powerful creatures.
Nicole wrung her hands. What more could she do? She definitely wasn’t equipped to rush down and enter into combat.
Despite the thousands of demons still coming through the link, there were thousands dead already. Their bodies covered the ground surrounding the link. And these didn’t come back to life like the beasts Nicole and the rest had fought in Anna Morse’s dimension.
Suddenly, Nicole felt something grab her around the waist. She looked down, but couldn’t see anything. The grip tightened and she was lifted into the air. She screamed, then squirmed and roiled, kicking at whatever held her. Nothing she did worked. For a moment, panic blinded her—she was at least twenty feet up and still couldn’t see what carried her.
Reclaim, Mosaic Chronicles Book Five Page 16
