Discern (Mosaic Chronicles Book 1)

by Andrea Pearson

  So she kept playing.

  The Agarch’s tentacle-like antennae advanced on her once more. She shuddered when the first tendril touched her face, brushed her hair back, sensed her breath as it rushed in and out of her lungs, through her nose and mouth. More and more of the antennae brushed over her face, touching her lips, nose, eyes, hair.

  It took her a couple of minutes, but she finally realized what the Agarch was doing. It was seeing her—feeling her emotions as she played. Discerning her, who she was, through her senses. She wished Will would hurry—she’d be able to play so much better if she had her bow.

  She’d gone through the songs three times before he finally returned. He ran into the room, face flushed, sweat dripping.

  Will chucked the bow to Nicole, and she barely caught it. Half the hairs were gone, but she didn’t care. Anything was better than plucking through those songs a fourth time.

  Nicole raised the bow, about to start, when a thought occurred to her and she lowered it.

  “I won’t do this unless they promise to stop kidnapping people.”

  “Play!” Will flung his hands at her, clearly exasperated. “You aren’t in a condition to make demands.”

  She scowled at him. “How do you know that?” She motioned to Austin and Coolidge. “I’ve got two of the most powerful Aretes in the world with me.”

  Will scoffed. “The power of an Arete pales before my lords and masters. Trust me.”

  Nicole decided to change tactics. “Don’t you want to get back to your family?”

  “They’re dead.”

  “Come on—”

  A wave of energy blasted at Nicole, knocking her cello to the ground with a crack and flinging her off the stool. She landed sharply on the stones, skinning an elbow.

  She didn’t need to look at the Agarchs to know it had been them throwing the tantrum.

  Austin jumped to help her up, and she brushed herself off and turned to glare at the beings. “Fine, I’ll play. But you’re only getting half an hour out of me! And you’d better tell us where the others from our group are when I’ve finished.”

  The words were scarcely out of her mouth before another pulse of energy washed over her, again knocking her down.

  She could tell right away this one didn’t originate from the Agarchs, because they immediately stood in their alcoves and pressed themselves against the stone. For a moment, Nicole thought they were cowering, but when the walls around them sparkled brightly and ripples in the stone flowed out in all directions, she knew they were communicating with the city. The bench Coolidge was still using melted into the ground. He and Nicole scrambled to their feet.

  The wave finally ended and was followed by the same deep, guttural bass note they’d heard the first day in the caverns. It reverberated through the palace, pounding against Nicole’s sternum, making her gasp for breath.

  The room fell silent. No one moved.

  “That’s them,” Will said. His eyes were wide and he stared at Nicole with a crazed expression. “It’s too late to play. Run.”

  Will dashed across the room and out of the palace.

  The Agarchs ignored as Nicole and the others ran to follow, but the city was paying attention. The huge doors slammed shut, apparently knowing the group’s intentions. Nicole knew she should probably start playing her cello—especially if they were about to get attacked—but there wasn’t any way she’d even be able to hold it. She was shaking too bad. Had to find a way out.

  Austin put his hand to the wooden door and closed his eyes.

  Coolidge grabbed Austin’s shoulder, shouting “No!” and trying to pull him back. He wasn’t fast enough. The wood grabbed Austin by the arm and lifted him into the air, tossing him across the room.

  Coolidge reached a hand toward Austin, slowing his descent. At first, Nicole thought he was controlling Austin’s body, but as buttons in Austin’s shirt started popping off, Nicole realized that Coolidge had command over the clothing, not the body itself.

  The shirt stretched from the sudden weight. Nicole dashed across the rippling stone floor, arriving just as the last couple of buttons popped and Austin dropped out of the sleeves, his upper body falling. He wasn’t far from the floor. Nicole grabbed him around the torso, slowing him, and they both tumbled to the stone.

  Coolidge joined them, helping them to their feet. “That was foolish.”

  “What happened?” Nicole asked.

  “He tried to control a living entity. Our powers don’t grant us control over flesh.”

  “I had to do something,” Austin said.

  The palace quaked as something struck it. The sound of falling rock filled the air, so close it had to have been in the next room. Nicole wished she could see what was happening. She only had the Agarchs to look to for an idea, and they hadn’t moved since pressing themselves up against the walls of their alcoves.

  Coolidge rushed around the room, trying each door, finding them all locked. Nicole and Austin followed.

  They’d made it back to the main doors when another magical pulse pounded through the room. Nicole and the others were flung back, and the wall that housed the main doors suddenly caved.

  Nicole scrambled away from the falling stone. She couldn’t see what had knocked the wall and doors down.

  The floor beneath them rippled. They backed into a corner, avoiding the great drops of blood that fell from the injured stone.

  Something just outside the palace roared. The sound was like a Hollywood-created T-Rex roar mixed with the weird organ-like note from earlier.

  Suddenly, Nicole’s stool and the fallen stones started moving toward each other, melting into a huge mass that rose and grew until it was as tall as the room. It glided forward, the stones in the rear shifting back into neat lines as stones in the front were taken up.

  Nicole was surprised to see that the city had formed a humanoid creature, complete with a head and two arms, one of which wielded a huge club.

  The club swung through the air, knocking away part of the wall above Nicole and her friends. They jumped back as several large chunks crashed around them.

  “We have to get out of here,” Coolidge shouted.

  Nicole barely heard him over the sound of the stones forming and moving. Before she and the others could attempt to leave, they were yanked against the wall. Stone tightly encircled them, keeping them in place. The city, though very preoccupied, was determined to prevent their escape.

  Just then, a huge monstrosity of a beast slammed through what remained of the wall, crunching the stones with massive tentacles.

  Nicole shrank back, staring up at the creature. She couldn’t possibly be on earth anymore, right? Nothing like that existed on earth.

  Half of the beast looked gooey. The other half was crustacean. Tentacles sprouted from the back of the creature’s head and waved frantically. The front of the creature had hundreds of eyes that grew, popped, and sank back into the beast, only to grow again.

  The stone monster swung its club at the beast. The Shoggoth’s soft, moist face was replaced with the crustacean shield that had once been its back, and the beast was suddenly facing the other direction. The thing had completely reformed itself!

  The Shoggoth whirled, the tentacles on top slashing off at least half of the stone monster’s mass. The Shoggoth swelled in size until it filled nearly the entire room, smashing Nicole’s cello and the stone monster in the process. Nicole and the others pressed themselves closer to the wall, barely avoiding getting slimed by the beast.

  The Shoggoth shrank. The Agarchs quivered in their alcoves, and Nicole watched multiple ripples flood over the stones as they apparently tried to reform their monster.

  The Shoggoth raised a massive webbed foot and slammed it into one of the alcoves, smashing the Agarch inside. The ground quaked and the stone monster reared up again, forming itself in the middle of the Shoggoth.

  With a roar, the Shoggoth turned and twisted, but couldn’t seem to get away from the stone monster.
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  Slime flew through the air. The stone beneath Nicole quivered.

  The Shoggoth started growing again, and another webbed foot appeared and smashed into a second alcove, killing the Agarch there.

  The stone monster roared and hissed, shrinking. There were only seven Agarchs left, and Nicole found herself cheering them on.

  She knew they’d fail, though, when the wall opposite the door crashed down and a second Shoggoth joined the first, killing three Agarchs in its progress forward.

  From there, destroying the rest wasn’t difficult. Both Shoggoths attacked at the same time. Two more Agarchs went down.

  The original Shoggoth started changing texture, seeming to reflect the stone surface around it. Nicole held her breath, thinking that the city’s monster was going to win. But she realized that the Shoggoth was assimilating the stone into its mass. It was growing in strength and power.

  It turned on the last two Agarchs with a roar and plunged itself into the stone wall, knocking the alcoves back.

  Suddenly, the city stopped fighting. The stones that held Nicole and the others in place crumbled.

  The Shoggoths roared so loud that more stones toppled to the ground, scattering everywhere. Nicole dodged a falling rock, barely avoiding getting crushed.

  She and her friends took advantage of the chaos. Without a glance backward, they raced over the rubble and out of the palace.

  They ran down the road as quickly as they could, passing Will along the way. Nicole glanced at his mangled body, obviously dead.

  Just then, Nicole heard a roar behind them. She looked back.

  “Um,” she said.

  “It just caught sight of us!” Austin said.

  The first Shoggoth was staring at them from the ruins of the palace. It roared and lumbered after them. Nicole hoped its massive size would slow it down, and at first, it did. They were nearly to the edge of the city, however, when the Shoggoth shed the extra stones it had taken up and put on a burst of speed.

  The crumbling arch was in view. Nicole ran as fast as she could, keeping up with Austin and Coolidge.

  Judith Ann stepped from behind the wall and screamed. Austin reached her first.

  “Come on!” he shouted at her as he ran past.

  “Oh, no! Oh, no, oh, no,” Judith Ann said over and over again.

  Nicole grabbed her arm. “Run, girl!”

  Judith Ann didn’t respond.

  “Austin!” Coolidge said.

  Austin raced back, and he and Coolidge grabbed Judith Ann between them and charged into the forest with Nicole taking up the rear. She glanced over her shoulder. The Shoggoth was nearly on top of them, crashing through the trees. There was no way they’d make it to the campsite in time.

  “Here,” Coolidge said to Nicole, dropping Judith Ann. He dashed off to the side, taunting the Shoggoth. It followed.

  Nicole grabbed Judith Ann’s arm and yanked it over her shoulder. She felt Austin tugging the girl, trying to get Nicole to continue, but she wanted to see what Coolidge planned to do.

  He ran into a small clearing by a hill and then made a swelling motion with his hands, leaning forward. Suddenly, the entire mound vibrated. Rocks and trees tumbled down the side. Fog swirled around its base.

  The Shoggoth hesitated.

  The hill rose. Coolidge stumbled to his knees. The hill fell. Nicole suspected she knew what he was attempting. Was it even possible?

  The Shoggoth bellowed and grew in size, its hundreds of eyes popping, then reappearing.

  Coolidge lunged to his feet and with a massive shout, raised the mound again and slammed it into the side of the Shoggoth, burying the monster in dirt, trees, and bushes. A great wind rushed past, forming a tornado above the Shoggoth, sucking in more debris, covering any part of the beast still visible.

  Nicole’s ears rang as the tornado grew in intensity. The mound doubled in size.

  Then the tornado dissolved away. Coolidge’s shoulders sagged, his arms dropping.

  Nicole shook her head in disbelief. She knew he was powerful, but he had actually thrown a hill. He’d created a tornado!

  Professor Coolidge turned back to the students, falling again to his knees. “So . . . tired.”

  Nicole let go of Judith Ann and rushed to his side to help him up. “Should we keep going? Do you need to rest?”

  She glanced at the hill—it wasn’t moving. They might have a moment before the Shoggoth got free. If it got free.

  Coolidge yawned several times, scratching his ears. He was exhausted.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said loudly. “Must continue.”

  Nicole rejoined Austin, and together they dragged Judith Ann back to the tunnels and caverns, Coolidge following at a slower pace. He seemed distracted and kept pawing at his ears. She wondered if he’d damaged them. The tornado had been loud, after all.

  She kept looking, but the Shoggoth didn’t follow. Coolidge traded places with Nicole, and the four of them stumbled down the narrow tunnel into the darkness. Nicole and the others turned their lights on—she had forgotten she was still wearing the headlamp.

  “Take a break,” Coolidge said, panting.

  Nicole slumped to the ground, her hand over her chest, sucking in deep breaths. Her lungs burned and her calves were on fire. Sure, she was in shape, but she’d never actually had to run for her life before.

  “It’s not going to be able to follow, after what you did to it,” Nicole said.

  “And if it does, the tunnel will stop it,” Austin said. “It’s too small and the Shoggoth’s too big.”

  Coolidge shook his head. “Don’t be so sure,” he said loudly, confirming Nicole’s fears that he’d damaged his ears. “You saw it change shape and size as it absorbed and discarded things. It’ll do the same again.”

  Austin hesitated and then nodded.

  “We shouldn’t have gone there,” Nicole said. “I should never have followed those magical pulses.” She expected Judith Ann to agree, to say something snarky, but the girl only stared at the light filtering down from above.

  Coolidge put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “There’s no way we could’ve known. We hoped to find survivors, and instead, we walked into a trap.”

  Coolidge didn’t let them rest for long, and after a couple of minutes, they continued running. He paused every now and then to listen.

  It was on their next break that they heard something coming. A low note sounded somewhere far behind them.

  “It’s entered the caverns,” Coolidge said.

  He and Austin grabbed Judith Ann, hoisted her up, and started forward again.

  By the time they reached the large cavern, they could feel the Shoggoth gaining on them. Magical pulses slammed into their backs, coming faster and faster as the Shoggoth drew nearer.

  The group raced out of the tunnel and past the city. The place was teeming with search and rescue people, still carrying body parts to the surface and collecting evidence.

  Coolidge shouted, “Run, people, run!”

  Everyone hesitated, stopping what they were doing, and stared at Nicole and the others, but the roar of the Shoggoth as it crashed out of the tunnel woke them from their stupor.

  En masse, the people turned and raced for the exit.

  Instead of following, Coolidge led Nicole and Austin to the side of the cavern. He met eyes with Austin.

  “We need to do something. Any ideas?”

  The two men quickly talked about options while Nicole watched the Shoggoth race back and forth, momentarily distracted by the puny humans that scampered beneath it. Judith Ann started wandering away, still completely out of it, and Nicole had to grab her arm to make her stay put.

  The discussion ended seconds after it began, and, apparently satisfied with whatever plan they’d made, Coolidge and Austin shut their eyes. They held their hands over the rock wall.

  A rumbling sounded overhead, and the ceiling began caving in.

  “That should do it,” Coolidge shouted over the noise.


  He grabbed Judith Ann by the armpits while Austin supported her torso and Nicole picked up the girl’s legs. They stumbled toward the exit of the cavern, joining the others. Some of the search and rescue people noticed and helped carry Judith Ann.

  Bellows sounded behind them, and Nicole looked back. The Shoggoth was slogging through the falling stone. How was it still moving?

  She turned and continued forward, entering the small cavern, shielding her eyes from the bright sun as they raced up the ramp.

  Nicole wasn’t surprised to see that many more official-looking people had joined the others while she, Coolidge, and Austin were gone. They were obviously panicked.

  “Go!” Coolidge shouted at them. “Now!”

  They stared at him with blank expressions.

  Coolidge had Nicole and Austin get in the Jeep while he tried to make the others leave. Many of them did, spinning out of the campsite in their various vehicles, but several refused.

  Coolidge gave up. He hopped into the Jeep and revved the engine just as the Shoggoth burst out of the small cavern, roaring in the sunlight.

  Screams filled the air.

  “Do something,” Coolidge yelled to Austin as he turned the Jeep around. “We can’t leave yet—have to make sure it doesn’t follow.”

  Austin rolled down his window. He held his hand out of the Jeep and closed his eyes, concentrating.

  A huge windstorm swept into the campsite, swirling around the Jeep and the Shoggoth. Massive amounts of dirt and debris flew through the air, pelting the beast.

  Nicole felt the magical pulses flowing off Austin—they were powerful, even dangerous. They mingled with the pulses coming from the Shoggoth and brushed up against her, then billowed past. But the Shoggoth’s magic was stronger, and Nicole felt Austin begin to quake beside her.

  Realizing that her efforts would probably be in vain, Nicole closed her eyes for a moment, wanting to do something, wanting to help. She couldn’t control magic itself, but maybe she could add to Austin’s, strengthening it. She breathed deeply, feeling her hands and toes tingle as she exerted and pushed out, imagining herself adding to the power that forced the dust to blow around the Shoggoth.