by Ben Hale
Now she was gone.
The well of emotion surprised him, and it struck him in way he could not have expected. The ache in his chest did not subside, and only seemed to solidify as the seconds passed. He had not realized how much he had believed in Tess until now, and watching her die felt like a death knell for more than just him. It marked the end of hope.
Should he contact Hawk? No, if it was already on the news then he would know. No doubt he would be contacting Tess's parents by now. He imagined how that would go—and his mind turned to his daughter. Would Hawk come to him if Rox had been killed? Would anything he say matter? Breaker's jaw tightened. He had to get her out.
"Let's go," he said, and rose to his feet.
"That's all you can say?" Rox asked. Her eyes widened.
"This changes nothing."
"This changes everything," Rox yelled the words at him.
"I cared about her too."
"Then you should have let me stay with her."
The vehemence in her eyes caused him to flinch. "So you could die too? I can't allow that. It's my job to protect you."
His voice sounded empty, so he stopped trying to argue. Instead he picked up her pack and handed it to her.
"Let's go."
He could see that she wanted to scream at him, to shout until her voice went hoarse. He even prepared himself for it. But then she wiped the tears from her cheeks and yanked her pack onto her shoulders. Without a word she followed him out. The look she cast him was the worst he'd ever received from anyone.
Like a physical blow, the hatred smashed into him. He tried to shake it off, but the image of her eyes did not leave his mind. He'd faced death, fought assassins, thieves, and been tortured by Harbingers, yet that single look hurt more than anything he'd ever experienced.
The pain sank deeper as he led the way on the route he'd mapped. He threaded their way onto Sentre and past the roving guards and Voidlings. Chosen with extreme care, the route appeared random, and yet it bypassed all of the enemies. After several practice runs over the last week, the darkness of the night did not slow him.
The memory of her look continued to hurt. He'd told her they couldn't talk on the way, and yet her silence felt purposeful, as if it formed a chasm that would never be healed. Thirty minutes later they came in sight of Northpoint.
One of his old friends had turned, and had joined the Harbingers. He'd owed Breaker a favor, though, and had agreed to help him escape the city. Now as he looked at the newly fashioned gate he found his desire to leave was gone. He looked at Rox, but she did not meet his gaze.
In that moment he realized that if he got her out of the city, he would lose her. She would never forgive him. He would never feel her slim arms hug him, or see her eyes light up with excitement at seeing him. It would be like she had already died. He groaned, and pulled her into a small cave formed by the giant roots of a tree.
"I can't lose you, Rox," he said. How could it be so hard to speak?
She reached out to him. "I may have Mom's magic, but I'm all you, Dad. I want to fight."
"You are my little girl," he said. "I can't have you die. I have to protect you."
"You can't," she said. "Not from this. You can only prepare me, and then trust me."
"What if you don't make it?" he asked. "If someone came to tell me you had died . . ." he worked his jaw, but couldn't finish the statement.
"You can't protect me," she said. "You have to let me go."
"I love you too much to do that." His voice trembled. "You are my little girl. Ever since I held you in my arms you have owned me."
She fell silent, and then said. "I wish I could tell you that it will be okay, but I can't. We both know the truth. But did you raise me to hide? Or to stand up and resist? Wouldn't you rather die on your feet than live on your knees?"
"Of course," he said, "but how can I wish the same for you?"
"I'm not your little girl anymore," she said softly. "Like it or not, anyone who isn't a Harbinger is a battlemage. That's what I am now. That's what we all are."
He looked at her, and realized that as small as she was, right now she stood taller than him. He swallowed at the conflict of emotions, and pulled her into a crushing embrace.
"I can't lose you," he whispered.
"Please, Dad," she murmured into his ear. "Let me fight beside you."
He held her for a long time, unwilling to let go. In the end he could not deny her courage. Giving her a last squeeze he stepped back.
"If you die, your mother will kill me," he said.
"If you died, Mom would kill me."
He couldn't stop the grin. "Let's get you back to Tryton's."
Her smile was the brightest he'd ever seen, and seeing it solidified his decision. As he led her through the trees he wondered when his daughter had grown up, and how he'd missed it. In spite of his choice one thing remained the same. If she died someone was going to pay for it.
And he would kill them.
Chapter 47: A Friend Returned
Derek was sitting on an empty bench when the others came into Siarra's Refuge. He didn't respond as they approached and addressed him. After a few attempts they stopped trying. Then they began to speak in quiet tones behind him.
"Is your mom alright?" Shorn asked.
"For now," Iris said, "but she's still stuck in the Spirus. I don't think she really understands what happened."
"I'm just glad they let you go," Shorn said. "Frankly I was surprised they did."
"Alice didn't have much use for me anymore," Iris said, her voice heavy with regret. "They still don't believe that a bunch of underage kids are a threat—not without Tess anyway."
"I just keep seeing her fall into the Dark," Shorn said. "Is there any way it's a trick?"
"If anything, the Harbingers tried to erase the evidence that Alice killed her. A handful of students witnessed it. One was a techno mag and he blabbed the news across every thread. I'd bet even the aurens know by now."
Derek didn't turn around. It had been two days since Tess had plummeted into the Dark, and this was the first time he'd managed to sneak into the refuge. After Tess's fall the Voidlings and Harbingers had clamped down on the students movements, apparently trying to quash the expanding rumors. The effort had been futile, and a wave of despair had spread with the news.
"I can't believe she's gone," Iris said.
"She always seemed so . . . strong," Shorn said. "I guess I never thought she could die like that."
"I know," Iris said.
"I just hope the Dark didn't take her," Shorn said quietly. "Anything is better than that."
Derek couldn't bear their comments any longer. "No," he said. He rose to his feet and turned to face them. "Stop talking like that. She's not dead."
Iris stared at him. "You want to see the video? You can see her plummet into the Dark." She shuddered. "She never comes up."
"I don't believe it," Derek said.
"You want to make this harder than it already is?" Iris asked, her voice rising. "She was like a sister to me. Losing her is worse than when Dad left."
"I. Don't. Believe. It."
"Then you are stupid, brother!" Iris screamed. The lights flickered from the burst of static energy. "Our only hope to beat Alice is dead! And I don't care because she was my FRIEND!"
Derek looked away from the searing guilt and rage in his sister's gaze. "I know," he muttered. "But I still don’t believe it."
Iris turned on her heel and stormed away, cursing him under her breath. After twenty feet she sank to the floor and held her knees.
Shorn shook his head. "I don't want to believe it either, Derek, but you can see it for yourself."
"No," Derek ground the word out. "I don't care what the memory shows. I don't care if it looks like she fell to her death, or if the alternative is that the Dark took her. It doesn't matter. She's alive."
Shorn’s look contained pity, and Derek turned away before it could undermine his faith. "I don't have to
convince you right now. We have more important things to consider."
"Like what?" Shorn asked. He spread his arms at the empty chamber. "Iris is right. Without her we are dead. There is no way we can fight Alice alone. Hawk has been kicked out of the city, and there is no one else willing to fight back. Even the mighty battlemages have been subdued."
"Is that the extent of our resolve?" Derek said, his voice rising now. "Our plans revolve around Tess?"
"She was the oracle," Shorn said.
"She is the oracle," Derek spit the words at him. "Or do you not even care about her?"
Shorn's expression clouded. "You know I do—or are you forgetting our conversation? I agreed to back off so you could pursue her. I know exactly what she meant to you. Don't be stupid enough to think you're the only one that's hurting."
"This isn't about what she meant to me," Derek yelled. "It's about what she means to everyone. Didn't you see the way everyone is walking around? They're lifeless. Tess disappearing is just the endpoint of everything that has happened.
"First they find out that there is a new oracle, and then suddenly they lose Brokins to an auren assault. The next thing they know the High Council takes on a new leader—that they then discover is a Harbinger—right before he is killed. Then the Dark is released and starts to take over the world. Kids are being held hostage so their parents obey Alice, millions of aurens are dying, and no one is doing anything!"
Derek clenched his fists and looked away. When no one spoke he forcibly controlled his tone. "They act defeated. With Tess gone they have lost the symbol of hope, the promise that things would work out. After everything the mages have gone through, this has finally robbed them of the will to fight."
Shorn shook his head. "I see it, but what are we supposed to do about it?"
"I don't know," Derek said. "I only know we can't stop. I just wish there was a way to make them see that someone still wants to fight."
"That's assuming the Order still wants to," Shorn said.
"I do," a voice called from the side, and the three of them turned to see Rox. She grinned at their shocked expressions and lifted the orb that Shorn had given her. "Thanks for leaving me a key to get in."
Shorn closed the distance in a rush and lifted her into a spinning embrace. "How did you get back?"
"My dad," Rox replied. "I convinced him to trust me."
Shorn put her down. "I didn't think anything could change his mind."
Iris moved in and hugged her. "I'm glad you're back," she said. "It hasn't been the same without you."
Rox smiled, but turned to Derek. "You're right. We can't let the Harbingers take our will. I would bet anything that most of the Order feels the same."
Iris issued a bark of grim laughter. "The others may be discouraged and afraid—but they're not stupid. Tess taught us better than that. We will keep fighting—even if Tess is gone."
She cast a searing look at Derek. He didn't care. If every shred of evidence said that she was dead, he wouldn't believe it. It was the only thing holding his heart together.
"How many do we have now?" Derek asked. "Eighty? Ninety? That's enough for us to act."
"We're hardly ready to go public," Rox said. "We need to do something more subtle than that."
"I like that idea," Shorn mused. "Something to reveal we are here, but not who we are."
"He's got a point," Iris replied. "We know that the rumors are circulating as to who we are—why don't we take a step out of the shadows? At the very least it might encourage the other students not to give up. It could give them something to hold onto."
Until Tess comes back. Derek didn't voice the thought. He would not allow their doubt to reach him.
Rox released a sigh. "But what? We can't exactly fight the Voidlings, and the Harbingers are out of our league too."
"We don't have to fight them to show we are here," Shorn said. "We need something more like a . . . demonstration."
Derek's mind flicked to Hawk. "What about a phoenix?"
"Hawk?" Rox said. "I doubt he could get into the city."
"Not the phoenix, a phoenix."
Shorn flashed a sly grin. "I like where you are going with this. But do you think Hawk will mind if we borrow his image?"
Iris began to laugh, and the devilish sound caused a grim smile to spread on Derek's features.
"Oh, I think he'll enjoy this . . ." he said.
"Even if we could do it, it would make us a target," Rox said. Her eyes were bright with anticipation. "Do you think we can?"
"Leave it to me and the light mages," Iris replied.
Derek knew well the glint in Iris's eyes. When they were kids it had been most often directed at him, and the results had inevitably been awful for him. This time her wrath would be unleashed on the Harbingers. Whatever she had in mind would be fine by him.
"Then let's summon the Order," he said. "It's going to take all of us . . ."
Chapter 48: Mimicry
Derek rubbed the temporary tattoo that Iris and Kent had placed on his shoulder. It felt like a hundred needles pricking his skin, but the nexus charm would allow him to reach every member of the Order with little chance of detection.
"Marcus, how we doing?" he whispered.
His voice reverberated throughout the minds of the Order members. Inaudible to any but those with the same tattoo, his words elicited a quick answer.
"What's with the impatience?" Marcus replied. "Just give me a minute."
"We don't have a minute," Derek replied. He did his best to keep his nervousness from his tone. "Katsuo and the others are already in position. We're only going to get one shot at this."
"Just hold onto your skirt," Marcus replied. "This is going to be big."
"I win," Laura muttered from her own hiding place, and there was audible curse that sounded like it came from her boyfriend, Mike.
Derek tightened his lips to keep from grinning, and touched the nexus charm. A small flick turned it in a full circle, allowing him to speak to everyone.
"Here we go," he replied. "Just remember your roles and we'll get out of this together."
There was a chorus of confirmations and sarcastic comments. Derek could hear the tension in their voices, and did his best to suppress his own. They needed to hear confidence from him and Shorn. Every one of them was risking being expelled, or worse, being Twisted. He felt a flash of envy as he heard Shorn's next comment. How does he sound so collected?
"I'm ready on my end," Shorn said. "On your call, Derek."
Derek looked at Rox, Quad and Iris, the only three that were with him. "You ready?"
"What are we waiting for?" Iris asked.
Quad grinned and threw her a look. "Let's get this party started."
Derek took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It felt like the stillness before a storm, as if the whole world was waiting for a decision that could change it. He wished Tess was by his side, and he tried to imagine how she would be reacting. Had she ever crumbled under pressure?
"Marcus," he said as he released his breath. "Do it."
***
Across the school, Marcus grinned. "You heard him, guys. Let's get this done."
Hand-picked by him, the other light mages from the Order nodded in unison. Collectively, they looked up to the sky and bent the light coming in from the dawn. Adding it to the massive illusion they'd created, they made it flap its great wings and lift into the air. Rising to the rim of the Tempest stadium, the phoenix grasped its ethereal claws onto the structure.
"Are you sure Hawk's not going to mind that we're using him?" Marcus asked.
Iris laughed through the nexus charm. "Trust me. He'll be fine."
"Whatever you say," Erin said, "but if he comes after us I'm saying it was you."
Marcus laughed, partly from the surge of magic through his body, and partly from the idea of a phoenix seeking to punish a bunch of teenagers.
"Katsuo, you're up," Marcus said, and motioned for the bird to flap its great wing
s.
They'd practiced this as much as they could down in the refuge, but doing it with real light was a whole magnitude of difference. Magnified by the predawn glow, the replica of Hawk flickered as William finished the blending spells.
Eight fire flyers followed Katsuo into the image and grasped the various points of solid light that Marcus and his team had crafted. They would keep the fire mages from accidentally tumbling out, and at the same time allow them to work in unison. All but one were Tempest players.
The sole holdout was Kent, a sound mage with a talent for the mimicry spell. In this case he'd prepared something special. Without warning a burst of real fire cascaded off the phoenix's back and wings, nearly reaching Marcus and his team.
"Watch it!" Marcus said as the ambient temperature spiked.
"Just warming up," Katsuo said. To Marcus he didn't sound nervous at all, and the excitement was contagious.
A scream issued from below them, and Marcus peeked over the edge of the stadium. A pair of girls had been headed toward an early class when they spotted the mirage.
"We've been spotted, boys," Katsuo said. "Let's wreak some havoc. Parker, start the countdown."
The phoenix launched itself into the sky with a shudder-inducing shriek. Marcus's skin tingled at the sound that Kent had lifted from the Mt. Elbrus video. It was a perfect mimicry, and would no doubt bring the Voidlings out to play—and there they were.
"Mike, Laura, you're up," he said, and then focused on keeping this diversion alive. If the ruse fell apart, it would leave many of his Order friends to the Voidlings’ mercy.
He wasn't about to let that happen.
***
Mike rose into the sky beside Laura. Every time he looked at her he felt a sense of revulsion. The Voidling turned to him and shuddered.
"I can't get over how you look," she said.
"You and me both," he replied. "Now, what are the odds that we don't succeed in this?"
