by Brandon Mull
“Get out of here!”
“Run for it!”
“Go for help!”
As overlapping voices shouted desperate advice, Cole realized that the cages making up part of Carnag’s body were occupied. One cage served as most of its right shoulder, another was embedded in the left side of its chest, and the third took up much of one hip. The people inside, many in legionnaire uniforms, waved and yelled.
Carnag took a step toward Cole. Though the meadow was large, the giant was only three or four steps away.
“Split up,” Jace advised, using his rope to launch himself to the left.
Twitch took off to the right.
Cole held his sword tightly. Should he keep still? If he followed Jace or Twitch, they wouldn’t be splitting up very effectively. Carnag took another step in his direction, the ground trembling beneath its creaky weight. Cole wasn’t sure what move to make. Should he fall back? Should he try to juke the giant at the last second?
Another step. The jolt to the ground made Cole’s teeth rattle. Carnag reached out its free hand, crouching toward him. One more step and the hand would grab him. Cole decided to gamble on a last-second jump between the legs.
Still on horseback, Mira emerged from the trees beside Cole. “Carnag!” she called. “We have to talk!”
Carnag froze, then drew up straight and tall, all attention now on Mira. “You!” Carnag said, the female voice deep and raspy. The word repeated like an echo in reverse, growing louder through the final rebound.
“What have you been doing?” Mira demanded.
Cole could not believe her boldness. For the moment, her courageous accusation seemed to have stalled the monster.
“I do as I please,” Carnag finally responded, the words echoing backward again, the last reverberation the loudest.
“You belong to me,” Mira said. “You were taken from me.”
“I belong to myself,” Carnag rasped.
“No!” Mira insisted. “You’re part of me. You’re not whole. Neither am I. We need each other.”
A long pause followed. Cole began to wonder whether Carnag would respond. Then the words came. “I’m more now, not less. You were my prison, as was another. Come to me. I will not harm you.”
“Come to you?” Mira asked.
“You will belong to me now,” Carnag said, crouching and reaching.
Mira drew her sword and jumped from her horse, landing on a high limb in a tree. “I’m not yours!” she yelled. “You’re mine! You come from me.”
This prompted a slow laugh that resembled the unsettling sound a mine might make right before a cave-in. “I am much, much more than you.”
The giant hand grasped for her again, and Mira jumped a great distance to land in another tree. Cole noticed Jace casting out his rope. It lengthened more than Cole had ever seen, thickening as well, and wrapped three times around Carnag’s shins.
As Carnag tried to take a step, the golden rope held, and the huge monster toppled forward, knees hitting first, then both hands. Jace immediately reeled in his rope. Mira sprang to another tree.
Carnag stood, tilted her head back, and roared at the sky. Jace covered his ears, but the punishing echoes of the cry pulsated through his body. The leaves and brush around him trembled.
The branches of the tree where Mira perched suddenly closed around her, like a thousand fingers making a fist. The ground where Jace stood surged up on all sides, trapping him in a mound with only his head visible. Carnag whirled and stuck out an arm, catching Twitch in midair.
Twisting, Carnag faced Cole. As the ground heaved up around him, Cole thrust his sword skyward and shouted, “Away!” He soared upward, soil brushing against his legs, but not quick enough to entrap him.
Cole was still rocketing up when he realized his mistake. In his haste to avoid getting swallowed by the ground, he had aimed for the random sky and jumped with everything he had. There was nowhere to land. He had just killed himself.
Near the apex of his flight, Cole looked down from a dizzying height almost level with Carnag’s neck. As he started losing altitude, a huge hand appeared beneath him. Landing on Carnag’s palm, Cole jabbed his sword toward Carnag’s shoulder, yelled out the command word, and jumped before he had settled.
Carnag’s fingers closed too slowly, and Cole rushed toward the earthen shoulder. Upon contact, Cole pointed the sword at the nearest tree and kicked off, yelling the command again.
Speeding through the air, Cole watched for where he would land and prepared for his next jump. He’d never really tried stringing jumps together like this so rapidly. It took some of the jolt away from the landings. Or maybe that was the adrenalin.
Just before he landed, Carnag’s giant hand closed around him, snagging him in midflight and holding him tightly. Cole squirmed, but there was no give.
Carnag slapped Cole into the cage in her chest. The door clanged shut before Cole could react. Five legionnaires shared the cell with him, their uniforms torn and soiled. One of them helped Cole to his feet. There was also a woman, and a child of maybe eight years.
The door open again, and Twitch was flung inside as well. Jace came a moment later. They both looked stunned.
“Welcome to your home away from home,” one of the legionnaires said.
“You better hope it doesn’t trip again,” another added, rubbing the side of his forehead.
“Do you hear me, Cole?” Liam asked in his right ear. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” Cole said softly. “We’re trapped, but not hurt.”
“Looks like she’s out to capture you rather than squash you,” Liam said. “I’m going to hang back for now.”
The back of the cage was the wood, stone, and dirt of Carnag. Thick metal bars composed one side and the front, including the hinged gate that allowed access. Cole went to the gate and tugged on it to no avail. He still had his Jumping Sword, but he wasn’t sure what good it would do behind bars.
When Carnag turned and started moving again, Cole clung to the bars to avoid falling. Creaking and swaying, Carnag stepped toward the tree that still held Mira. Carnag reached for the tree, and the branches unfolded.
“Flail, attack!” Mira cried. The Shaper’s Flail went for Carnag’s hand, whirling wildly to bash away clods of dirt, fragments of stone, and chunks of wood. After flinching away from the initial onslaught, Carnag snatched the flail out of the air, like a person grabbing a bug, and kept her hand tightly closed.
Mira used the diversion to shout the command word and leap to the ground. When Carnag rounded on her, Cole felt like he was looking down at his friend from high on the wall of a cliff. Carnag crouched to reach for her, making the cell tilt forward.
Cole wanted to close his eyes. If Carnag caught Mira, this was basically over! They were all getting captured too easily. It would be up to Liam.
Mira wasn’t pointing her sword to attempt another jump. She glared up at the giant stoically.
“No, Carnag!” Mira yelled. She put the tip of the Jumping Sword to her throat. “Back off, or I end us!”
Carnag stopped reaching. Cole wondered if Mira had planned to use this bluff, or if it had occurred to her out of desperation.
The giant stood up straight. “You really would,” Carnag said, mildly puzzled. From where Cole sat, the mounting echoes soaked in from all directions. “I feel your resolve.”
“You bet I will,” Mira called. “Better that I die than you rampage around Sambria, hurting my friends.”
“I haven’t killed,” Carnag said.
“I find that hard to believe,” Mira replied.
“I don’t kill,” Carnag repeated. “I collect.”
“Is that true?” Mira shouted.
“I haven’t seen it kill anyone,” one of the legionnaires in Cole’s cell called back.
“Me neither,” a woman answered from below, probably in the cage at the hip. “But it isn’t gentle.”
“I collect,” Carnag maintained.
“Y
ou can’t collect people,” Mira scolded. “That’s no way to act. We belong together. Come back to me.”
Carnag didn’t respond.
“Do you hear that?” Twitch asked.
“What?” Jace wondered.
“A faint voice,” Twitch said, moving toward the back of the cell.
“I’ve heard it too,” one of the legionnaires said. “Like it comes from inside this thing.”
Twitch leaned up against the back wall of the cell and placed his ear against a wooden beam. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s a woman. Her voice is muffled. I can’t understand her. But she’s talking a lot.”
Carnag crouched and knelt on one knee, giving Cole a closer view of Mira. She kept the point of her sword at her throat.
A tendril snaked forward from Carnag, slithering over the ground toward Mira. She watched it with wide eyes. “I’ll do it!” she warned.
“Talk first,” Carnag said, the words reverse-echoing strongly.
At the end of the tendril, the ground swelled up. A perfect duplicate of Mira emerged, wearing the same clothes, holding a matching sword. The tendril was lodged in the center of her back, tethering her to Carnag’s foot.
“Hello,” the fake Mira said.
“What is this?” Mira asked.
“We need to talk,” fake Mira said calmly, her voice just like Mira’s. Cole didn’t have to strain to hear. It seemed like Liam must be using the clay earpieces to help broadcast the discussion.
“You’re not me,” Mira accused. “You’re a semblance.”
“I’m not you,” fake Mira said. “I’m me. You can’t beat me. You’re the weak part. I could protect you.”
“You’re not anything!” Mira said angrily. “You’re phony! You’re made of stuff you found! Dirt and wood and junk!”
“I can be whatever I want,” fake Mira said. “Whatever I need to be. We all shape ourselves. I’m just better at it.”
“You were taken from me,” Mira said. “Shaped away from me. I don’t know how. Do you?”
A second tendril slithered forward. When it neared Mira, the ground bulged, and the tendril became attached to a man in fine clothes. “I did it,” he said.
“That isn’t funny!” Mira spat. “No more puppet shows. You’re not him! You’re not my father!”
Cole scowled down at the well-dressed semblance. From his current vantage point, it was hard to see all the details. But assuming the man had been shaped as accurately as the fake Mira, it was his first view of his enemy, the High King.
“Are you sure?” the false High Shaper said. “I’m close enough. This entity spent a great deal of time with me. Much more time than you did. And much more time than it spent with you.”
Mira turned to her double. “You weren’t part of him. You were his prisoner.”
“She was part of me,” the fake High King said. “And she was my prisoner.”
Mira stepped close to her semblance clone. “Don’t you see? He took you. My father stole you. But now you’re free. We can be together again. We’re supposed to be together.”
There was no reaction from Carnag or the tethered semblances.
“I hear the talking again,” Twitch said. “This is messed up. Someone is in there saying stuff.”
“Can you make out any words?” Jace asked.
“No,” Twitch said, frustrated.
“You want to own me like he owned me,” fake Mira finally said. “You want to drown me inside of you! If I go back to you, I die. You’re coming with me. We’re both going to survive.”
“I’m not bluffing about the sword,” Mira said.
“I’m not bluffing either,” fake Mira answered. “What if I love my freedom? What if I’d rather end than go back?”
“Twitch is right,” Liam said in Cole’s ear. “I’m fantastic at discerning physical compositions. There’s a woman inside of Carnag.”
“Mira!” Cole called. “Ask Carnag about the woman inside of her! The woman talking to her!”
Both the fake Mira and the semblance of Mira’s father abruptly looked up at Cole. Their expressions told him he was on to something.
“The boy lies,” the fake Mira and fake father asserted in unison.
“What woman is inside you?” Mira asked. “Is somebody controlling you?”
The semblances paused.
“I hear her again,” Twitch said. “Quieter.”
Cole pressed his ear to the beam below Twitch. The murmur of hurried conversation was faint but definite.
“I hear her!” Cole said loudly.
“We hear the woman,” Mira asserted. “Who is she? Don’t listen to her! You’re part of me! Listen to me!”
“You’re unworthy, Mira,” her fake father accused. “You would have squandered your power. You let me take her, and you ran away!”
“I ran because my father was after me,” Mira cried. “I ran because I didn’t understand what happened. I used to shape so many things! Then it was gone. Stolen.”
“Then use your shaping,” her fake father challenged. “If you’re worthy, take back what’s yours. If not, accept her protection and let her live. Let her thrive. Let her be all the things you were too inept to make her.”
“I can barely shape anymore,” Mira said. “I’d be lucky to change the color of my shirt. Why? Because my shaping power was taken.”
“Interesting,” her fake father murmured.
“More talking,” Twitch called.
“Can you make out what she’s saying?” Cole whispered, hoping Liam would understand that the question was meant for him.
“Sadly, no,” Liam replied.
“Who are you talking to?” Mira demanded. “Who’s in there?”
“Give me the sword,” Mira’s fake father said, holding out a hand. “We don’t want a tragedy.”
“Come an inch closer, and I’ll cut my throat,” Mira promised.
“She’s serious,” the false Mira said.
“I know,” the fake father grumbled.
“What do you call yourself?” Mira asked her double.
Fake Mira hesitated. “Some call me Carnag. I suppose that is a good name for my exterior.”
“Is that what you call yourself?” Mira asked.
“No,” fake Mira replied. “I call myself Miracle.”
“She’s the true miracle,” her fake father said. “She does wonders you could never have achieved.”
“I didn’t get much chance,” Mira said. “I was eleven. I’m still eleven.” Mira turned to her duplicate. “You call yourself Miracle because you come from me. My father stole you. Was the woman inside of you involved?”
There came a long pause.
“I don’t hear anything,” Twitch reported. “She could be whispering.”
“Is she still talking to you?” Mira asked.
“Maybe,” fake Mira said.
“Why are you listening to her? Who is she?”
Fake Mira held up a hand to stop Mira from talking. “You wouldn’t understand. She’s . . . she’s my mother. Not your mother. Not Harmony. My mother.”
“Your mother?” Mira exclaimed. “Does that mean she made you? Is she who stole you?”
“I freed Miracle from you,” her fake father said smugly.
“Did she tell you she’s your mother?” Mira asked. “Who is she really? I’m more your mother than anyone! You came from me!”
“Don’t be absurd,” Mira’s fake father growled.
“I want to talk to this woman,” Mira said.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” fake Mira said. “Not yet. Later. After you come with us. She’ll help you understand.”
“I’m not coming with you,” Mira said.
“You’ll see,” fake Mira said. “You can free me. Fully free me. Free us. From each other. Cut all ties. We can go our separate ways. She can teach you.”
“You’re my shaping power!” Mira shouted. “We’re not meant to be separated. How would you like to lose your shaping power?”
>
“I can’t,” the fake Mira said simply. “I am shaping power.”
Mira gasped. Her fake father stepped forward and took hold of her. Mira struggled, but he was stronger. Carnag reached down and picked her up.
It took Cole a moment to realize what had happened. Mira had dropped her Jumping Sword. It was no longer a sword. It was a stick.
CHAPTER
33
MIRACLE
“Carnag turned her sword into a stick!” Cole exclaimed.
“I know,” Liam replied in his ear. “That’s bad. The rendering was designed to be difficult to tamper with. And I was taking countermeasures to hold it together. It took some time, but Carnag figured it out. That means everything we have could be vulnerable.”
Jace and Twitch crowded the bars and watched as Carnag loaded Mira into the cage at her hip. On the ground, the semblances of Mira and her father approached Carnag’s foot, merged with it, and disappeared. The colossus stood up.
“Put me with my friends!” Mira yelled.
“Privileges are earned,” Carnag replied emphatically.
“Can you guys hear me?” Mira whispered. “Are you all right?”
“We’re caged inside a giant monster,” Cole replied. “Otherwise, we’re fine.”
“How do you hear one another?” Carnag bellowed. “Silence!”
The cage shook brusquely. Cole clung to the bars to stay on his feet.
“Don’t make it madder,” one of the legionnaires advised.
“I haven’t lost all of my shaping skills,” Mira called.
“Is that Miracle down there?” another of the legionnaires asked. “The Miracle, from all those years ago?”
Cole considered the legionnaire. Apparently the conversation between Mira and Carnag had provided him with enough clues to guess what was really happening. If he was adding up the facts, Cole figured it would be best to put the whole truth into circulation.
“Her father stole her powers,” Cole said.
“You don’t mean the High King, do you?” the same legionnaire replied.
Cole nodded. “He stole the shaping powers from all of his daughters and faked their deaths. Mira’s been hiding all this time. Her father started losing the stolen powers, and Mira’s powers turned into Carnag.”