The Edge of Nothing_The Lex Chronicles_Book 1

by Crystal Crawford

  They had barely gone ten steps before the bulging shapes emerged around them, dark pillars rising from the sand like living statues. The horses reared and halted, suddenly surrounded by columns of black leather which, Lex realized, were actually creatures, their dark wings wrapped tight around them. They emerged in a scattered ring around the three riders, blocking them in, then let out a hideous, unified screech, their wings snapping outward to reveal black, batlike bodies. Lex cried out as the edge of a dark wing swiped his face, slicing it open.

  The creatures were large as cows but with furry, two-legged bodies and long, leathery wings tipped with small, clawed hands. They surrounded the riders and their horses, long wings outspread and blocking them in. The one that had sliced Lex leaned toward him. Its face was that of a giant bat but with dark, almost-human eyes. Its thin lips peeled back into a grimace as it eyed him, revealing yellow, needle-like fangs. Lex had the distinct feeling the creature was sneering at him.

  Suddenly the creature nearest Lex let out a haunting hoot and shot upward toward the sky. The others followed it upward and the night echoed with their answers to its call as the creatures all circled above the riders.

  They screeched again and Lex’s horse bolted. He struggled to get control of it while also protecting Amelia from slipping, but the horse was too panicked to slow down. Acarius and Lytira pulled up beside him and his horse calmed slightly, falling into stride with the others. Overhead the creatures followed, continuing to circle above them.

  Lex shivered and leaned forward, pressing Amelia tight to his horse and urging the horse to go faster. “What are they?” Lex yelled to Acarius over the sound of the horses' hooves and the creatures' hollow howls above them.

  “Wrasseks,” Acarius yelled back, then turned to Lytira and called out, “Where do you want to stop?”

  The creatures were taking turns diving down at them, as if it were a game.

  “Here!” Lytira yelled. Her horse reared as she tugged its reins.

  “Why are we stopping?” Lex yelled.

  “We could never outrun them,” Acarius answered, turning his horse. “We have to fight.”

  Lytira hopped off her horse into the sand as Acarius and Lex circled back toward her. The creatures were upon Lytira before the others reached her.

  Lytira fought the wrasseks with swift grace, the blades of her daggers flashing in the moonlight as though extensions of her arms. One creature crashed to the sand as her dagger struck between its ribs and another dropped as she sliced its throat, but the rest swarmed above her in a raging flock, another swooping down to replace each one that fell.

  Acarius paused only a moment before plunging straight into the middle of the swarm. The creatures covered him but he fought from Mare’s back, his sword like a glinting blur amid the dark mob, as Lytira stabbed at the creatures from below. They were killing many of the wrasseks but getting battered in the process, and more kept swooping down from the night sky to join the fray. There were just too many of them.

  I have to do something to help, Lex thought, but he didn’t dare leave Amelia unprotected – the creatures could shift their attention to her at any moment – plus he still wasn't fully confident in his sword-craft. Instead, he closed his eyes and went still, reaching for the darkness.

  It was there, a small thread hiding in his chest. He gripped it and then opened his eyes, focusing on the wrasseks as he drew it gently outward.

  An ear-splitting shriek sliced through the night. Lex almost lost his grip on the dark thread.

  Acarius turned to him. “No!” he yelled. “Don’t stop!”

  Lex re-focused his vision on the creatures as his mind probed inward, adjusting its grip on the darkness. He tightened his mind around it and drew it steadily outward again.

  The wrasseks dropped to the ground, their bat-like wings thrashing as their bodies writhed in the sand. Lytira jumped back, and Acarius eased Mare out of the middle of them and dismounted. The wrasseks continued to screech in pain as their bodies flailed in the sand.

  Then the creatures fell silent and Lex’s vision immediately began to go dark. He swayed, and his arms slipped away from Amelia against his will.

  “I’ve got you,” he heard Acarius say as firm hands pushed against his side, steadying him on the horse.

  Lex closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “I feel weird,” he said.

  “It’s the dark energy,” Lytira said. “It needs release. Bring him down to the ground.”

  Lex felt himself dragged from the horse and placed in the sand. His head throbbed and his eyelids felt too heavy to open. The darkness was pulsing with him, crushing his lungs. “What’s happening to me?” he wheezed.

  He felt soft fingers press against his forehead. “You can absorb dark energy, but you are not meant to hold it indefinitely," Lytira said. "If you absorb too much and do not release it, it will destroy you.” She paused. “As it did last time.”

  “To be more specific,” Acarius said, “you will explode.”

  “Acarius!” Lytira chided.

  Memories of his time as Marcus flooded in. Those final moments – was that what happened? Had he absorbed so much darkness it ripped him apart from the inside? But no; in those final moments he had pushed it outward purposefully; he remembered that. He had grabbed whatever had been holding it back and intentionally torn it wide open. He had exploded himself on purpose. But… why?

  Lex felt the darkness inside him receding suddenly. He let it drain away, feeling it all funnel into a condensed space, like a small box within him, upon which he quickly shut the lid. The pain in his head vanished and the weight on his chest lifted. “Actually,” Lex said, opening his eyes, “I knew I exploded. Nigel told me that part.” He blinked a few times. “I think I’m okay now.”

  Lytira removed her fingers from his head and stared down at him. “Are you sure?”

  Lex pushed himself up to sitting. “Yes, it’s gone. I feel fine.”

  Acarius and Lytira exchanged a look.

  “What?” Lex asked.

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Acarius said to Lex. “Marcus – you – always had to do something to release the energy when you absorbed too much. Some of it you channeled out while fighting – I never was sure how – but the rest… well, I was too close one time and it felt like being in a small blast. My chin hair didn’t grow back for a week.” His voice grew thoughtful. “You said it was only a fraction of what you could hold. You called it spill-over.” He paused. “Are you sure you feel okay now?”

  Lex rolled his shoulders then stood. “Yeah,” he said. “I feel fine.” He could still feel the small cube of darkness inside him, but it was cold and still, no longer stirring.

  Lytira stood too, and peered at him. “Well, you do look better,” she said, though her expression was still uncertain. She moved toward her horse. “We should continue our journey. The wrasseks are a bad sign. We still have at least two more days in The Fallows at the pace we’ve been riding, and more trouble could be coming.”

  Lex glanced around. The cow-size bodies of batlike creatures littered the ground. “Why are they a bad sign?” he asked. “I mean, they’re bad enough by themselves, but… does it mean something?”

  “The wrasseks do not live in this part of the world,” she said. “If they are here, it means the Aiacs have partnered with Galgor.”

  “And Galgor is…?”

  “A place you should hope never to go.” She turned her horse toward the gain-star. “I’m going to ride on a ways and make sure things are clear. I’ll wait for you up ahead.”

  “Lex, are you sure you’re okay to ride with Amelia?” Acarius asked as he mounted Mare. “Mare and I could carry her for a bit.”

  Lex mounted his horse behind Amelia’s slumped form and brushed the hair from her face. She looked peaceful, her chest moving in slow breaths as though sleeping. “No, I’m good,” he answered.

  He and Acarius eased their horses into a steady gait
, following the trail Lytira’s horse had left in the sand.

  They caught up to Lytira and the next few hours were calm riding, though with nothing but sand and darkness for scenery, Lex began to grow bored. No one seemed in the mood for talking. As the night went on – far too long, it seemed – the silence and Lex's concern for Amelia turned his boredom into anxiety. When the morning sun finally broke above the horizon and Acarius announced they should stop to share a small breakfast, Lex sighed in relief.

  “We should also get some rest while we can,” Lytira said as they dismounted. She handed out small, pressed cakes from the bags that seemed not quite the right consistency to be bread. “The day grows hot quickly, so the morning hours are the best chance we’ll have for sleep with any level of comfort. By noon we must be moving again. It is not good to linger too long in any one place in The Fallows.”

  They keep saying that, Lex thought, but he shared their desire to be out of this place. “Okay,” he said. The idea of rest seemed prudent, but he was wide awake. “I’ll take the first watch while you two get some sleep.” He moved Amelia gently to a blanket on the ground and found a water-skin and a pail in one of the bundles. He poured some water onto a cloth and squeezed a few drops into Amelia’s mouth, then poured some liquid into the pail and watered his horse and settled down into the sand beside Amelia. He ate his pressed cake while Lytira and Acarius watered their horses then spread blankets on the sand to sleep.

  Lex stared out across the desert while his friends slept, his eyes sliding toward Amelia often. As the sun rose higher, the glare across the mustard-colored sand became almost painful and the air seemed to grow twenty degrees hotter. The horses began to shuffle their legs, and their coats were moist with sweat. Lex grabbed a now-warm water-skin from Lytira’s bundle and refilled the pail. There were dozens of water-skins inside her bundle. It seemed excessive, but if the rapid warming of the morning was any indication, they’d probably need all of them to make it across The Fallows. But the horses were doing most of the work, and he felt for them. He emptied two whole water-skins into the pail and allowed his horse to drink until the pail was empty before refilling it and moving to the next horse.

  Mare was the last horse to drink, and she was gulping up the last of her water when she stiffened and her eyes went wide.

  Lex fell still – he could feel it, too, a slight static charge in the air. He set down the pail and looked around. His eyes stopped on Amelia. Her back was arched and she was breathing rapidly, small tremors running through her body in waves.

  “Acarius! Lytira!” Lex yelled as he rushed over to Amelia and crouched down beside her.

  Acarius was on his feet, sword drawn, too fast for Lex to see how it happened. “What?” he said, his eyes darting around. “Is there–” He stopped as he saw Amelia. “Oh.” He moved toward her.

  Lytira appeared beside him, tucking her dagger back into its sheath at her belt. “This does not look good,” she said, kneeling beside Lex. “It’s starting again.”

  Amelia suddenly fell still. Her body relaxed and her breathing turned slow and steady again.

  Lytira stood. “We should be on our way soon. I’m not sure how much time Amelia has.”

  “Until what?” Lex asked.

  Lytira turned to him. “That is the problem. I do not know. Her energy is unique; I haven't seen one like it before.”

  Acarius placed his hand on Lex’s shoulder. “You didn't sleep, and you won’t do anyone any good if you’re falling off your horse from exhaustion,” he said. “Lie down and rest for a bit, and then we’ll go. I’ll watch over Amelia for you and wake you if anything happens.”

  Lex could feel weariness coming from the deepest part of his bones, but he couldn’t imagine sleeping with Amelia’s condition so uncertain. “No, that’s alright,” he said. “You both need more rest, too, and I don’t think I could fall asleep right now. You two lie back down, and I’ll wake you when the sun’s all the way up so we can go.”

  After a moment of hesitation, Acarius nodded, and he and Lytira moved back toward their separate blankets.

  The next thing Lex knew, Acarius was shaking him awake. Lex sat up, brushing away the sand which crusted his sweaty face. Amelia still slept peacefully on the blanket next to him, though her breathing was a bit more rapid than when he'd last checked.

  “It’s almost noon,” Acarius said, gesturing to the sun above them. “We need to get going.” He moved back toward Mare, packing his folded blanket into his bundle. Beside him, Lytira did the same.

  Lex turned back toward Amelia, preparing to lift her back onto his horse. Was it his imagination, or was her breathing getting even quicker? He leaned down and brushed her hair back from her face. Her eyes darted side-to-side beneath her closed eyelids. A worm of anxiety worked its way through his chest as he knelt beside her and studied her more closely. Her lips parted, as though she were trying to speak. “Amelia?” Lex whispered.

  Mare let out a shrill whinny.

  Lex spun around to see a small sinkhole opening up beside the horses. He jumped to his feet. The horses scrambled away from the hole, only to have the new sand beneath their hooves start to crumble, too. The hole was the size of a large washbasin, and was spreading outward.

  “Lex!” Acarius shouted, running toward him with Mare at his heels. “We have to go!” He helped Lex lift Amelia onto the horse and secure her, then pulled himself up onto Mare.

  Lytira’s horse pranced nervously on the other side of the expanding chasm as Lytira mounted it.

  Sand poured over the edges of the hole as it grew steadily larger.

  “Let’s go. Let’s go!” Lytira called.

  Lex mounted quickly and followed Acarius and Mare in a wide berth around the hole.

  Just as they reached Lytira, the ground beneath all of them began to give way. Lytira screamed as her horse’s back legs slid into the chasm. Acarius grabbed for its reins, but too much of its weight had already tipped into the gaping hole. The horse’s reins slipped out of his reach as it scrambled against the sand with its front legs, but the crumbling ground gave no support. Acarius gripped Mare with his knees and lunged his body sideways, grabbing Lytira’s arm just as her horse lost the last of its footing and toppled backward, disappearing into the abyss. The hole stopped its movement for a moment, as though digesting its prey.

  Mare trotted backward away from the edge as Acarius pulled Lytira up onto Mare behind him.

  Lex stared at the sinkhole, his heart squeezing at imagining the animal's fate. It had not deserved that.

  Lytira shivered, her eyes still watching the chasm. “Be at peace, gentle one,” she whispered, touching one finger to her forehead.

  Acarius looked back at her, his expression sad. “We need to move,” he said.

  More sand tumbled down over the edge of the hole as it grew a bit larger.

  “Ready when you are,” Lex said.

  “Ride, Mare,” Acarius said as Lytira tightened her arms around his waist. Mare took off, this time at a gallop.

  Lex adjusted Amelia in front of him and kicked his horse into motion behind them.

  They galloped for several minutes before Acarius deemed it safe to slow down. Lex was relieved to be moving at a pace less jarring for Amelia. When they galloped, her unconscious body had bobbed in front of him like a rag doll; he had worried about every jolt she took.

  “Let’s stop just for a moment,” Acarius said. “I think we could all use the breather.” He slid off Mare and Lytira followed, sinking down to the sand. She patted it with one hand as though checking it was solid.

  Lex’s pulse was still racing from what happened before, but he was beginning to realize that things like this just happened in Arameth, mostly when he least expected them. He slid off his horse and checked Amelia. She was breathing calmly, no signs of her earlier distress, though Lex couldn't help but wonder if she had any injuries from the riding. It was hard to tell, without her ability to express pain or
discomfort.

  Acarius walked over and handed Lex a water-skin as Lytira stood, seeming to have regained her composure, and began watering the horses.

  Lex watched her, noting the edge of anxiety beneath her movements. The sinkhole had really shaken her. Or maybe it was the fate of that poor horse.

  Then he noticed Acarius standing behind Lytira, looking as though he was fighting back a smile. What’s going on? Lex wondered.

  After a moment, Lytira noticed as well, and turned to Acarius. “What?” she asked flatly.

  His face split open into a wide grin. “You screamed,” he said.

  Lytira’s mouth dropped open. “I did not,” she insisted. “I never scream.”

  Acarius shook his head, still smiling. “You did. Right before I saved your life – which of course you don’t have to thank me for – you most definitely screamed.”

  Lytira narrowed her eyes. “No,” she said simply.

  Acarius turned to Lex. “Help me out,” he said. “She screamed. You heard it, right?”

  Lex glanced between the two of them. “I’m staying out of this,” he said.

  “Because I didn’t scream,” Lytira said.

  “You did and you know it,” answered Acarius.

  They stared at each other for a moment, Lytira’s gaze sharp as a blade and Acarius’ filled with amusement.

  Then Lytira sighed. “Thank you for saving me,” she said.

  “You’re welcome,” Acarius replied. Then, in a serious tone, he said, "I really am sorry about the horse. He was far too kind a creature for such a fate."

  "I only hope he is at peace now and that his death was swift." Lytira said. “I know you tried to save him. I saw you grab for his reins. It was good of you.” She turned back to watering Lex’s horse.

  “If it had been Mare, I’d be devastated,” Acarius replied. “I know you didn’t know the horse for long, but I also know how you feel about animals. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save both of you.”

  “You did what you could,” Lytira said softly, still looking away from him. “Thank you.”