by Tim Kaiver
Mission reward to Cullen: whisper of future class skill. Future class and full skill awarded at completion of Cipher's Quest.
The "whisper" part confused Ehli, and she realized Cullen was just as puzzled.
As he ran to meet her, she considered which bonus to use: telescope to push back any rejects, or charm for any animals that might come. For now, without knowing the closest threat, she saved the bonus.
"You sure this is the way? I haven't seen your bird."
Emmit shared a memory with her of their crossing, of Sprinkles jumping over—barely—and the bridge falling. Ehli passed the vision to Cullen. "This is the way." You didn't think to mention the absence of a bridge? she 'pathed to Emmit. What are we gonna do?
"Sorry, Mom. There are so many. Please hurry. I can't hold them back much longer."
Ehli sensed them too, but their collective power made breaking through like trying to stick a needle into a stone wall. She couldn't gain even one mind.
Cullen turned from the gorge. "So, we need a bridge." He lifted his rifle and aimed it at one of the taller trees. His red laser burst a bright line into the base of the thick tree. Wood grain whined as it leaned toward them. Finally, it cracked at the base and fell.
He and Ehli ran out of the way as the top of the tree crashed in a plume of dust, snapping branches. It landed with its tip not far from their edge of the gorge.
"Help me," he said, and took the right side of the tree, allowing her to use her good arm to tug on one of the branches.
She lowered her center of gravity and heaved on the trunk. It slid and scraped, wood over stone, slow and heavy. The top of the tree went out over the edge, its branches expanding with the freedom of space. Crap. Ehli realized that the only way to get it onto the other edge would be to lift it high enough to clear those branches. That, or shoot them off.
Cullen paused, and glanced back.
Ehli followed his gaze, realizing too late that in concentrating on the tree, she'd let go what hold she’d had of the people behind her.
Maras fled the forest as though escaping a fire. Six, eight, nine! Ehli almost pissed herself.
The first mara headed straight for her, closing to within two strides. It tugged on the rock with the strength of a falling boulder. She applied charm to it, but the beast barely slowed. It was already too committed to its course to be swayed easily.
A flash of memories surged through Ehli, of the failed snake attempt, of when she'd succeeded, of when she parted the ants, and of when she took over the reject. Too much information. One stride left. The mara lowered for the final pounce.
Then Ehli thought of Emmit and how he'd hurt Cullen before he'd been anywhere near him, of how they couldn't touch each other. The conclusion drove strength into her legs as she clenched her fists.
The mara kneaded its front paws and leapt.
Ehli screamed and stared into the tiger's blue eyes, wishing fire to spew from her lungs and lightning to erupt.
Skill learned: Expel.
+5 XP.
Bright blue light rose from inside the mara's throat. In the half second between lift off and its swiping claw reaching Ehli's face, the mara's white and black-striped coat became a sun of blue rays.
And exploded in her face.
Ehli flew off her feet like a flicked bug, her body light as air and floating backward too quickly for the heat on her face to touch the rest of her body. She rotated, and saw that she was soaring too far to hope for a landing this side of the gorge. She wasn't even on a trajectory to hit the tree. She'd played with fire and lost. Her speed overwhelmed her ability to think of anything other than the fall.
Cullen!
32
Ehli's cry made Cullen's brain cringe, and he shot high. The beam soared into the forest instead of hitting and stopping the mara. He lowered his aim and fired blind as he turned to see Ehli.
The sight of her body, arms sprawled, flying over the edge of the gorge almost froze him in his steps. Bonus: strength he told the Cipher as he clipped off his rifle and dropped it at his feet. He rammed the tree in a crook between branch and trunk. His charging legs pushed the tree in a sweep left, pulling every bit of burn his thighs had to get the tree to intercept Ehli's fall.
A claw dug into his chest from behind and ripped him off the tree. He rolled on his back, the mara beneath him. The claw cut through his suit, and warm blood soaked the shirt beneath. Its grip, and the seizing of muscles around it, made the mara's hold too great to break from.
The tree jerked forward and something snapped near its top.
Cullen glimpsed a second paw swing at his face, claws extended. He ducked left, and the razor-sharp claws scraped his head. The pain made his head spin. He found the hilt of his knife, unsheathed it and swung the blade upward. It buried into something. The furry mass of muscle under him snapped and whipped out. The force flipped him side over side.
"Cullen! Help."
His forehead smashed into a rock and he slid on his stomach as the blow rocked his head back. Ehli wanted his help, but he hardly knew where he was. All motion ceased. Three seconds of strength boost remained. Cullen pushed through the pain in his chest and scalp to stand.
Four maras were hunched, forelegs lowered, back ends high, in a half circle around him. Growling, electric blue bulbs at the tips of their tails were charging.
Crack!
The tree slid closer to the edge. Its top end had snapped, and clung on by rope-like tendrils. Ignoring the maras, Cullen ran to the cliff edge, dug in his heels, and pushed against the tree's progress over the edge. It slowed only a little, and his strength bonus expired.
Ehli clung to a branch as thin as her arm. That she hadn't fallen into the darkness below astonished him. The tree, still heading over the precipice, forced him to let go and choose a better groove in the wood to push against. His wounds screamed. He needed more weight to stop the tree. His rifle lay on the ground, but shooting another tree wasn't a solution, even if he could pull it over without the snarling maras in his way. His progress without the boost was barely noticeable.
He faced four maras. Ehli, can you get them to jump on the tree?
"It's taking all I have keeping them from killing you. If I don't make it—"
No. Keep your focus. Use your bonus if you need to. Don't give up. Cullen lifted his hand as a snapped branch scratched his palm and wrist on its way over the edge.
Then he realized that the tree spanned more than half the gorge's width. An idea spawned.
He dropped his backpack, retreated to his rifle, twisted it around and fired at a branch about twice his height in. The smell of burning wood coursed through his nostrils, and the streams of blood dripping off his brows began to itch. He leapt over the tree and picked up the branch. The tree slid forward. Another one or two meters and its weight would pull it over the edge.
He hefted the branch over his shoulders, and screamed as the gash in his chest lit like fire. He took the base of the branch in his right palm and ran toward the edge. Could use another boost right about… He cast it as high and far as his strength could manage.
The branch wobbled. A gust of wind spun it sideways and shoved it onward, to clack and scrape over the rock on the far side. He picked up the backpack with the serums for Schaefer, and whipped it clear over the gorge. The hard landing made him cringe, but he'd had no other choice. Hopefully the vials were still intact. The Cipher didn't say he'd failed the mission….
Hold on, Ehli.
"Hurry."
Now it's my turn. Cullen climbed onto the tree and let out a weak laugh at the ridiculous odds of him succeeding. Steeling himself, he ran with careful steps along the ridges and over the branches. As he neared the edge of the cliff, one high step over a branch caused his balance to sway. He stretched and caught a branch to right his steps. Pain in his chest fueled him forward with a grunt. Two quick steps later, the tree tipped downward, and he leapt for the impossible.
He rose over the gorge and its seemingly bo
ttomless shadows, swinging arms and legs in a flying run. As his momentum waned and his trajectory fell short of the ledge, a surge of panic met the bottoming out of his stomach. He searched the gorge's side for any grooves, but it was mostly flat. He'd leapt to his grave.
As he neared the edge, a gust of hot air spat dust in his eyes. He tipped forward, and a hot thermal lifted his backside, throwing his feet over his head and casting him toward the ledge. As his body rotated, he twisted to get his feet under him, and landed with a hard jolt that reverberated up his spine. The air caught in his lungs. He rolled free of the edge and looked at the maras watching him from the other side. Ehli still had them under control, preventing them from shooting him.
Whisper of future skill used.
+15 XP to group – extended to Emmit and Ehli for defense.
Huh? What skill?
"Cullen?" Ehli cried out.
Coming!
With his strength waning, he retrieved the branch he'd thrown over and headed for the cliff edge. His head spun. Once there, he dropped to his knees and extended the branch out over the gorge and toward Ehli. It took all his concentration to keep hold of the branch, and he worried that he couldn’t manage both it and Ehli's weight.
"Just lower it. I have a plan."
***
Ehli had both hands clasped around a groove between the trunk and a branch. The ache that pervaded her muscles begged for her to relax and let the inevitable have its way. The maras' and rejects' pulsing anger at her restraint only added to her fatigue. For Emmit's sake, she refused to back down.
Cullen's branch edged closer to her. She spotted a hook she thought she could grab.
Okay. When I grab hold, pull back. Don't think about pain, only about getting me over the ledge.
"All right. Let's do—"
Ehli swung backward, and cried out as the muscles in her underarms burned, the pain almost blinding her. Releasing her sweaty grip, air blew across her face and her stomach bottomed out as she stretched her aching fingers for Cullen's branch and grabbed it. The branch dropped a meter under her weight. No.
Cullen grunted and growled. She locked onto the sound and linked with his mind. Confidence and strength filled her mind. Giving him strength, convincing him that he had the power to save her, required her to take on the pain.
Searing heat rose from her chest. Pain lashed across her scalp. She screamed.
Cullen's strength waned and the branch sank before she cut off her scream and drove it from his thoughts. As her pain increased, his strength grew, and she rose.
Skill learned: Transfer.
+5 XP.
The Cipher's message was like an afterthought as she was lifted toward safety. Her knees scraped on the ledge. She kicked away from the edge and fell onto her back. Her body sank in exhaustion as her head throbbed and her heart pounded.
+15 XP to group (including Emmit for the Telescope assistance).
"Mom, don't let go."
Emmit.
"My bonus expired. I can't hold them without you."
Ehli let go of her connection with Cullen, releasing the pain she'd transferred back to its source.
"Come on, we're not safe yet." Cullen took her hand while his other arm hung limp. His eye squinted under the blood flowing from a nasty gash in his scalp.
She rose with his help, and picked up his pack while he gathered up his rifle.
The large boulder blocking the path to their left had a small gap between it and the ground. Cullen stumbled as he led her to it. His hand in hers helped her to bolster the wall she and Emmit held up to keep the maras and rejects on the other side.
"It's too far," said one reject.
"We'll catch you."
"I'm going straight for your son."
Like Void you will, Ehli responded.
Cullen eased her low enough to crawl, and she went through the hole first, pushing his pack ahead of her. As she did, she felt his hand fall and saw him collapse onto his hip. He stopped his head from hitting the boulder, but just barely. She grabbed his arm and pulled.
Cullen grunted.
She stopped. His bad arm dragged underneath him. Beyond him, on the edge of the far cliff, a mara charged its tail. She pushed into that direction, but her abilities couldn't stretch that far and she'd already used her level-up bonus. "Come on."
Cullen's eyes rolled toward her but didn't lock on anything. Drops of blood fell from his brow onto his cheek.
She fought through her migraine to pull him on, but using her Transfer skill weakened the wall holding back the maras and the rejects. As he crawled into the hole, several of the mara's tails brightened and rose.
She grabbed hold of Cullen's belt and pulled him through. Not a moment too soon, as an explosion of light hit the ground behind him. Losing her grip on his belt, she flew backwards and rotated in the air. Landing on her shoulder, she tumbled over uneven rock until her side caught an edge and she came to a stop. Dust clung to the sweat on her face and peppered her eyes. She wiped them clean on her shirt and found Cullen lying close by, groaning but otherwise fine.
The blue bird waited on one of the trees at the entrance to the jungle like a tease, reminding her the fight was not yet over. Their quest was incomplete.
Ehli rose like she had done every morning for the last six years, refusing to accept defeat. She pulled Cullen up. We're close.
"Hurry, Mom. They're too much for me."
We're across the gorge.
"I know, but they're far from done. More are coming from another direction."
Hand in hand, they ran into the jungle. The slight incline made her cringe. Her mouth was as dry as a cotton bud, but she didn't have time to stop or let go of Cullen. She slowed to climb over a fallen tree. Cullen was in worse shape, so she helped him over.
You know the maras and rejects are free? If we have to go much farther and they find a way over the gorge, we won't make it.
"I only have a few soldiers left," Schaefer said, "and they're busy holding off our west entrance. I showed you the back-way in. You're not far, but we don't have much time before they break through."
"We'll make it," Cullen said. He looked at Ehli. "Keep your strength for holding back those behind us. There's nothing he can say now that can help us."
The bird soared through the space between trees. This section of the jungle, cut off from the rest by the rocky outcrop behind them, was thinner and easier to navigate. Still, she hoped it wasn't far.
33
Emmit waited in the command center his dad had shown him in the neuronet. He sat at one of the chairs in front of black screens and action screens his dad had told him not to touch. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he'd told Emmit at least fifteen minutes ago. "Don't reach out to your mom," he'd added from the doorway. "Trust me. She'll be fine making it in. Plus, you'll need your strength."
Emmit took a drink from the vitamin C juice his dad had left him, and ate a bite from a peanut butter-flavored energy bar. His head still hurt from helping his mom and Cullen cross the gorge. The 15 XP he'd earned in the recent assist put him at 135/155 to Level 3. He still had half of the firecone branch in his backpack, but wanted a break from the extra-sweet plant. The chair squeaked as he fidgeted. Dy took slow steps on the counter of the action screen in front of him. At least one of his friends had made it this far. The ache of Adi's loss felt like it would hang from his bones for as long as his spirit held them up. How did I crack up so bad that I lost you, Adi? I'm so sorry.
"Is this where you've been hiding?" Adi's voice sounded so real, Emmit thought he'd lost his mind. He spun toward the voice.
Adi ran in from the doorway, no scar or hole in his chest. Emmit tripped on the leg of his chair as he rose. Adi's hug hit him so hard he lost his balance and took his friend to the floor.
Emmit squeezed his friend back hard enough to probably hurt him. He didn't care. "How's this possible?" Emmit shook with sobs. He pushed Adi back to look him in the eyes, then held his face, shocked that the fl
esh was real. Dad!
Adi cringed, stepped back, and put a hand to his head. "Ouch, Emmit. Not so loud."
"I saw you die." Emmit fought between ecstasy and anger. Someone had lied to him, but with his best friend here, alive, it was hard to stay mad.
"I'm the one to blame." Sara appeared in the doorway, hands folded at her waist in apparent contrition.
"You?" Emmit didn't understand why she would betray him like that. "How? Why?"
He found himself back in the jungle. The reject he’d killed was alive, and handed Emmit the spear while Adi stood beside him.
"Emmit," Sara called, and tossed him the injection stick.
The memory shifted to her point of view. He saw himself running for her while the reject led Adi in a different direction.
Emmit blinked, and was back in the command center, bewildered.
What? "Why would you do that? How did you do that?"
"Well…" She grinned, and her face lit up. "I kept a few secrets of my own." She parted her hands and walked toward Emmit. "Including one even your father doesn't know."
She raised a slow hand to rest on his face.
He wanted to move away, swipe at it, but his body failed to respond. Her touch landed on his temple like the kiss they'd never share. In that touch, he learned that she was stronger, not an enemy, and that any feelings he had for her were not reciprocated.
"I too am an ultra," she 'pathed. Her lips moved only in a smile. "I had to get Adi to safety, but you had to stay."
So, you let me think he died? His anger pushed against their blossoming friendship.
"It was our idea," his dad said as he walked in, a handheld device in his palm. He wore a sad expression and lowered the device to his side as he approached. "The lies are over from here on, I promise."
Betrayal hollowed Emmit's stomach as if they'd shoved swords into his gut. "And how am I supposed to believe that?"
His dad shrugged. "Because now that you're here, and have seen the power you're capable of... That could only have happened by following exactly the plan that I… we—" He glanced at Sara with a smile. "—prepared. Sara surprised me with the news that she'd given herself ultra-treatment for the last two years, and that it had worked. In telling me that, she shared that she had a reject inside Willo's gang. Willo's real name is Oniz, but it doesn't matter. I knew who you were talking to. Sara's inside man offered us a chance to save Adi's life while you honed your skills."
