Staffs spun through the air as the mass of bodies shifted all around. The crack of weapons striking each other echoed over the chaos, the Questioner's staff whirling around to block every attack Quentin and Suyef brought against him. Hope just began to blossom that the pair could overwhelm him. It died when the Questioner finally struck. Quentin, turning to bring his staff around to strike Colvinra's head, found himself facing a body flying through the air. Then another lifted off the ground. He ducked the first and dodged the second; too many came. As Suyef pressed his attack, Quentin dodged body after body. Finally, one struck him, knocking him to the ground and pinning him down. Colvinra tried to level an overhead strike at Quentin's head, but Suyef knocked him off balance and shoved at the body on top of Quentin with his leg. The Nomad continued past the rising Quentin to press another attack at the Questioner. More bodies lifted from the ground and soared at Suyef's back.
Quentin, back on his feet, held out a hand and the bodies halted midair, wavering. His body shook, the bodies shuddering toward him as he stumbled, but his hand held firm. With an obvious effort, he threw his hand to the side and the bodies flew off in that direction.
"That's going to make things difficult," Mortac said as he helped me to my feet.
"Did he ... did he just ..." my brother stammered.
"Yes, he Scripted," the warden hissed. "In front of a Questioner. If Colvinra and Quentin survive this, that will cause problems.
"But, the Seeker Scripted too," Donovan cried out, downing another prisoner that charged at him. My side of the circle appeared calm for the moment.
"The laws don't apply to them, idiot!" Mortac yelled, shoving us away from the fight. "Now, move!"
I craned my head to watch the battle. Colvinra, his face twisted in rage and a sadistic smile, continued to fling bodies at Quentin, who deflected them and sent them off to either side. Suyef kept his staff on the attack, forcing Colvinra to defend himself. As he did, his attention toward the bodies flagged and Quentin faced fewer. The mass of the crowd shifted around them, swallowing them from my view. I turned to run with my brother and ran headlong into him. We fell to the ground, and I rolled instinctively to keep from being trampled. Once back on my feet, Mortac stood there, not moving, eyes locked on something above and behind me. Donovan pointed as well, face twisted in horror. I turned, looked up, and my mouth fell open.
A flight of green dragons, as large as the red already there and led by the giant creature we assumed was the Dragon Queen we'd seen before, flew into sight. As we stared in awe at their beauty, glimmering in the core-light shining up from below, the green dragons attacked.
#
As a mass of bodies soared through the air at Suyef, I had no choice. Bringing the symbols to mind and crafting the column sentences to feed them into reality, I erected a wall of air before us. When the bodies struck that wall, my body shook and trembled. The wall leaned back against the force of Colvinra's pull. I wanted to lower my hand, to let the wall fall, but I could not let that happen. I pushed back against the wall, leaning my weight and will into it, compelling it to exist in this reality. With the wall stabilized, it was possible to alter the code, allowing me to fling the structure to the side, dragging the bodies with it. As they fell out of the way, my legs nearly collapsed in exhaustion, but more bodies lifted off the ground. Behind me, Suyef and Colvinra's staffs struck with alarming speed. The Nomad must have pressed his attack, trying to overwhelm the Questioner to prevent him from being able to Script like that again.
Still the bodies came at us, forcing me to change my strategy. Instead of a single wall of air before us, I erected two at an angle, the tips just before me, reaching past us. As the bodies struck the new walls, they deflected to either side, bouncing off like balls hitting a solid surface. Colvinra grunted with each effort. I spared a glance and saw the Nomad's staff was almost invisible with the speed of his attack on the Questioner. Colvinra's hood had fallen, a sheen of sweat glistened his pate, and the look of concentration on his face told the tale. Fewer bodies lifted off the ground to fly at us.
Something green flashed past me overhead, and I looked up to see the last thing we needed. More dragons.
A green flight as massive as the red one already attacking us swarmed into the air above the entire battle. They dove down, and I prepared myself for an even greater onslaught on the ground. Another body hit my wall of air, pulling my attention back on keeping those walls as real as possible. Ahead, a red dragon dove low, sweeping along the ground toward us. As the beast reached out to grab at a mass of fleeing prisoners, a green dragon crashed down into the red monster, knocking it to the side. All around us, the green dragons attacked the reds, driving them away from the prisoners. The red dragons cried out angry bellows, unleashing fireballs at their green brethren, who came back with cries and fireballs of their own.
Just as another body flung by the Questioner bounced off the air wall to my left, two smaller green dragons dove low, heading right at us.
"Suyef!" I called out, pointing at the approaching monsters.
Colvinra and the Nomad halted, their staffs held across their bodies and pressed against each other's weapons, their heads turning to me. When they saw me point, their eyes shifted to see the diving greens.
"Run!" I yelled, but I never got to do so.
As I turned to move, one of the monsters grabbed me and the ground fell away.
Chapter 20 - Weeping
The green dragons, sweeping in above the entire battle, dove down and struck at the reds, driving them away from the mass of people. A red dragon flew low to grab at a fleeing man, only to have a green crash into its side, sending it careening off to the right. The fleeing man dove low to the ground, the grasping claws just missing his legs. All around us, the greens interfered with the reds, forcing them away from the panicked crowds.
"They're helping us!" Donovan cried out, cheering. "Get 'em, greens! Get 'em!"
I smiled slightly but remained wary. This had happened before and the possibility of the result repeating itself filled me with dread. Donovan huddled close to me, each of our pulse guns aimed at the sky even though we knew they were useless. The massive dragon flew back and forth above the fray, her cries bellowing through the air. The smaller greens, small only when compared to her, dove down at her cries, following her commands. Dive after dive, the greens thwarted the reds from lifting off with any more people. My spirits rose, just a bit, thinking we'd been saved.
A second later, that thought died. Two of the green dragons dove down toward the ground. The people scattered in all directions and, for an instant, Quentin, Suyef, and Colvinra came into view. The Nomad and Questioner stood facing each other, staffs pressed together, eyes locked on the diving dragons. Quentin, nearer the beasts, turned and yelled something at them, making to run. He didn't move a single step. One of the beasts snatched him clean off the ground, soaring up and over us. The other struck at the combatants, knocking Colvinra to the ground and grabbing Suyef, climbing to join the other.
"Quentin!" I screamed after the ascending beasts. "Suyef!"
Something tugged on my arm. I wrenched my eyes from the sky to see Donovan, one hand tugging my sleeve, the other pointing behind me. The look on his face sent a chill down my back. I turned to see another green dragon flying down over the battlefield, heading straight for us.
The thought to run, to dive away, to do something, never came. I just stood there, watching, a numb feeling falling over me as the claws grasped me firmly. My body twisted in their grip, facing down. The receding forms of Mortac and his guards fell away. And I saw my brother, crying out to me. The next moment, something struck at my core, a tearing seared my insides like something ripping itself free from my heart. I held out a hand to my brother and watched, tears filling my vision as a green dragon swept down toward him.
The beast never made it. A pair of reds knocked it to the ground, sending it crashing down into the fleeing masses. As one red landed atop the green, blasting fire
in its face, the other flew past and scooped my brother up in its claws.
I screamed as my brother's face slipped from my sight in a flash of red.
#
Micaela stumbled to a stop, a haunted look filling her face. I glanced down at the recording device, thinking of pausing it.
"Do you need a moment?" I asked, motioning at the device. "We can take a break."
Micaela stared at the padd, her mouth moving. She stood up from the sofa and moved across to the window. There she stood, back to me, her body shaking as she wept. I reached to turn the device off.
"Leave it," she hissed between sobs. "Just a moment."
I leaned back down, leaving the device on, unsure of what to do. My heart felt for her, and part of me wanted to go comfort her. As much as she'd shared with me, it still wasn't clear to me how that action would be taken. This seemed like a private moment, a memory she'd been forced to dredge up, and my going to her at that moment would probably make it worse. It was my fault she'd had to bring it up, to relive that fateful day.
"I'm sorry," she said from the window, back still turned to me. "I thought I'd be fine."
"Don't apologize. Losing someone is hard enough …" I whispered.
"Losing several is even harder," she finished my thought. "Especially in the way it happened."
"So, your brother.…" She turned to look at me, a quizzical look on her face. "The reds took him?"
She nodded. "The reds took him and, as you know, the reds and greens don't get along at all."
"That's putting it mildly."
Micaela turned to look back out the window. "We're not even sure which shell they claim as their primary nest," she said. "They've spread over all the minor shells in the inner core system, like vermin. The Queen and her flight have tried for years but have never breached where they take their captives." She looked over at me. "You know all that."
"Hence the code to protect," I stated, nodding at her. "To keep them from controlling the core."
Micaela shrugged. "Not that keeping them from taking that has helped me."
"You know we don't know what happens to them, right?" I asked.
She shook her head. "We know what happened to him."
"Wait, he's alive?" I asked, my eyebrows rising, feeling hope swell inside me.
Her eyes moved to look at me and that feeling slipped away like a breeze.
"The brother I knew died that day," she whispered. "That day, my world ended."
"But that's not the end of your story."
She looked out the window, not speaking for several moments.
"No, that's just the beginning. How my world ended." She looked back at me. "Just because mine ended, however, doesn't mean everyone else's did."
I glanced at my notes. "Both of your siblings were taken by dragons, yes?"
She nodded. "That's the theory, at least, regarding Maryn. The Queen insists she knows nothing, but I have my doubts regarding that creature."
I frowned at her. "And here I thought you were friends."
"That's a loose term for what we are," she replied, turning to face the window. "Let's just say we're allies by circumstance, and not enemies, not yet."
"You blame her for what happened?"
Micaela remained facing the window. "She and those her size are large enough beasts to carry ten people in their claws, yet that creature chose to leave the task of carrying us to smaller dragons. Why? Why did make that choice? Why leave my brother below? In all these years, I still can't answer that. Someday, I hope to understand." Micaela sniffed and shrugged. "Same answer as always." Her shoulders slumped, and she stopped talking.
"Should I return later?" I asked, hoping the offer of a rest might help her.
She sighed and turned away from the window. "Food, then we continue." She nodded at my notes. "This part isn't over."
#
The dragon flew from the battle, taking from me any hope of seeing my brother. As I craned to see what happened to him, the greens continued to push the reds away from the outpost, driving them back out over the shell's edge. The dragon turned, pulling away from the outpost and taking the battle out of my sight. It dawned on me a moment later where we were going. Turning my head to the front, despondence beginning to take hold of my soul; I spied the energy shield closing fast. I braced myself, and a moment later we crossed into the Wilds.
A blast of wetness hit me square in the face and blinded me. While I'd never seen it before, my studies had discussed weather and its various forms. Most of the shell enjoyed a steady weather pattern, owing to the Citadel and its weather control machinery. It hardly ever rained, and then only in controlled places in the Central Dominance. Clouds were virtually nonexistent, as were sleet, fog, and any other kind of precipitation. Most people had never seen what they look like outside of the network images and videos.
When we crashed through that energy shield, what greeted us seemed like every kind of weather possible. Fog flowed over us, a billowy, moist substance that left me drenched in seconds. After that, we dove down toward the ground and left the fog behind. As soon as we did, rain began to pour down around us. My hair stuck to the side of my face and water streamed over my eyes. Wind whipped the falling moisture up into my face, making it hard to see. Blinking the water from my sight, I saw the ground zooming up to meet us. The claws let go, dropping me a few feet into the mud, a cold, mushy substance that swallowed my limbs and nearly my face. The retreating form of the dragon vanished into the storm raging over me.
My body began to shiver as I struggled to crawl toward what looked like solid ground. Tall stalks of some green substance whipped at my face, one sharp enough to slice my cheek. My hand grasped something solid and round and I pulled myself toward it. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be about the width of my arm, dark brown, very knobby, and reaching up from the ground. It led to a more solid version of the same and realized I was leaning against a tree. Above me, the branches of the giant plant waved around in the wind and rain. I clung to the tree, the only solid thing available to me, squeezing my eyes shut. Rain flowed down the trunk and onto my head. Every inch of me was soaked, covered in mud and grime. Worst of all, my insides felt hollow and empty.
"Micaela!"
I turned my head, forcing my eyes open. Wiping the flowing rain from my eyes and shielding my face with a hand, it was a struggle to even look around. In every direction, plants of various sizes and shapes danced around in the wind and rain, a chaotic mess that made the madness of the fleeing prisoners seem calm and mild. Shadows shifted in random patterns, giving the illusion of things moving toward and away from me all at once. I squinted, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Micaela!" the voice called again.
I jerked my head to the left, trying to focus on the source. The sounds of the storm made locating anything almost impossible. I pulled myself up, leaning my back against the tree, one hand still shielding my eyes from the driving rain. No wonder the Ancients had built the Citadels. At that moment, I never wanted to see another storm again, and those machines had all but eliminated this kind of weather.
Something shifted through the dancing shadows just ahead of me, something solid and large. I shrunk back against the tree, hoping whatever it was wouldn't notice me. The reports detailed what called the Wilds home, all manner of nasty creatures, the only true wildlife to exist on Colberra. Wild beasts that had probably never seen a human before. Suddenly, I found myself wishing for that pulse gun lost to me when the dragon scooped me up.
The figure moved closer, clearly walking on two feet. I pushed myself to the right, trying to blend into the roots of the tree at my back. The figure stopped and lifted something to its head.
"Micaela!" the figure called out.
"Over here, Quentin!" I screamed into the storm, lunging out from the tree toward the figure.
We collided and clung to each other. I pressed my face into his chest as he pulled me back in the direction he'd come from. We shuffled
along, me glad to be led, my eyes closed tight, arms clinging frantically to his torso for fear of getting separated.
After a very long hike, water pouring down into every crevice of my clothing, wind lashing my hair and plants across my face, it all faded away. The sounds, the feelings, everything. I dared to peek and I saw Suyef standing over me, smiling down. We were in a small cave, lit by a fire device. Quentin had fallen back on a rock to lean against a wall, me clinging to his chest. Part of me felt I should move to let him up, but, at that moment, it all hit me. The arena, the dragons, Donovan. All of it.
I buried my face in his chest and wept.
The End of Rise: Paths
Transcript of Quentin’s Interview
Attached is a transcript from my initial interview with Quentin. I've included just a sample as his rambling tends to go on forever. I provide this simply to give you, the reader, an idea of what it was like interviewing him. Audio of this sample will be provided soon.
#
I need, that over there, yes, that window. Move here. Why are you moving like that? No, don’t touch that. Okay, there. See that out there? Look, out the window. What do you see? Yes, yes, all that. Man, your brain is full. I know someone who can help you with that. Well, I used to. Somewhere. What happened to him? Ah, never-mind.
Empty sky. That’s what I meant. Now, what’s out there in the empty sky? Shells! Lots of them, with millions of people living on them. Millions. Think about that. Even after all this world went through, we’ve still managed to repopulate all these shells. Testament to the Ancients right there. Not that they stuck around to help us. Useless ketches. What’s the point in building all this amazing technology then leaving us to figure it out alone? Anyway, I digress.
Point is, all of those shells are really far apart. You could fly around and around, again and again, big giant circles. Course, how would you know where you’d been? You could fly the same orbit over and over and not realize it. Maybe you could leave a trail. Some kind of colored smoke. But it would dissipate. That’s useless to you. What’s that? The computers? How would you communicate with them? Still, the ones on ships could do the plotting. So there you go. Just use a ship with a computer. Problem solved. I like having you around. Quite useful. Help me stay focused. What was I saying?
Rise: Paths (Future Worlds Book 2) Page 19
