Divided

by Madeline Dyer

He leans forward, looks at me intently. “A people-leaper, a message-giver, a Seer-traveler. You must’ve heard one of those names? No? It’s an old Seer power for delivering messages.” Taras’s eyes flash. “It’s written in the ancient stories, and I’m the current Keeper of Lore. You body-share to protect a loved one, to help them. To warn them. I can sense your powers and you’re learning; but the lore says the first strong and complete soul transferal is always for a reason, and it’s that reason—perhaps the knowledge of an attack—that feeds your powers, that makes sure you’re strong enough to pass on the message to the one you love. So what is it? Why is my granddaughter in danger? Tell me, have the Enhanced found my group, child? Have our missing men compromised our location? Have they been caught? Is Marina right? Is that your message?”

  “No—no, I don’t know.” I shake my head, feel flustered, too hot. Strangely hot. The fur on the hood rubs against my face—Viktoriya’s face—makes me feel itchy.

  A body-sharer?

  I look back down at Viktoriya’s gloved hands, at her arms, her legs, everything bundled up.

  “Why’ve you come here? Think. Come on, girl. Talk. There has to be a reason, especially for the first strong connection—the time when your Seer powers have been forced to strengthen, forced to become strong so you can protect your loved one.”

  My loved one…?

  But what about Corin?

  And now I’m Viktoriya.

  This…this is absurd.

  “Come on, child. The warning—”

  “There’s no warning.” I shake my head.

  “There must be. I do not have the power myself, but I know Marta’s stories. Body-sharing is for the transferal of warnings to the one who you are the closest to, should they be in a different location to you. That is what the stories say. A body-sharer forges a connection with their most treasured person—or sometimes two people—to keep them safe when they’re apart. That is why it is valuable to be the loved one of a Seer who has the body-sharing power. Extra protection.”

  The one I’m the closest to?

  And I’ve connected with a girl I’ve never met before?

  But I’m connected to Corin as well?

  And that Zharat man too….

  Taras looks at me carefully. “You and my granddaughter? How do you know her?”

  My lips feel strange. “I don’t.”

  “But you’ve connected with her—something that requires a great emotional bond.”

  A great emotional bond?

  I shake my head again. “No…it’s… I didn’t even know you were all out here, let alone know her. I’ve never met any of you.”

  Taras’s brow furrows. “No warning? And you do not know your host? Then perhaps she has not become important to you yet—but she will. The body-sharing connection proves her worth to you—you connect to one or two whom are the most precious to you. Perhaps she will be your only host. And you do not even know her yet?”

  I frown. “One or two? No. She’s…this has happened before. But in flashes. Little bits. Not like this. With other Untamed.”

  “How many?”

  I squint. “This is the third…maybe the fourth,” I say, thinking of the time I saw the blue-eyed Seer too. Was that body-sharing too?

  “Three or four hosts.” His eyes narrow. “But that’s unheard of in Marta’s stories…” He rubs his chin. “Unless you were testing…looking for the right host…” Then he shakes his head. “No…the first few times are when your powers are just emerging and are unstable, flighty—it’s you adjusting, getting ready for the first proper sharing. And then a sudden fear or dream of danger is said to prompt the first major body-share, and the Seer uses all their energy and risks dominating their host in their overexertion…which must be what’s happening here. But it’s always the same person in the tests as it is for the first connection, always the same host. Always a message too, life and death… Marta’s stories say that a powerful body-sharer can sometimes forge a new connection later on, but only years after the first, once the first connection is strong enough to support itself.” He blinks rapidly. “But you say you’ve got multiple connections already, before this current journey? Child, you need to tell me everything.”

  And I do. It pours out of me, like a tap’s been turned. About who I am, the augury, how I must’ve body-shared before, how the Enhanced have got me, and how they’ve got drones going out after Esther and the Zharat.

  When I finish, Taras is silent for a long time. He stares at me, and his eyes take on a distant look.

  Then he leans forward. “You’re… Three or four hosts…” He shakes his head. “That’s power. And you say you’re the one the augury speaks of… The only one who can save us? You must be powerful then…powerful enough for three or four bonds. Maybe more…who knows? And with my granddaughter, a girl you’ve never met… This is… You’re no ordinary body-sharer, Seven Sarr. And you’ve definitely got no message for me?”

  I shake my head. “You’re not in danger, not that I know. It’s Esther and….”

  I go cold. She’s in danger. I saw her—that strange vision—with the child coming out of her stomach, and an Enhanced One there.

  A sudden fear or dream of danger.

  “You can help me,” I cry. “That must be why I came here…why my Seer powers led me here—to find you, another Seer. You can save Esther and the Zharat!”

  The look in his eyes deepens. “But I cannot. I’m a Seer, girl, yes. But if you’ve been with the Zharat, in warm lands, and you’re still there—then you’re far to the south of here. I cannot astral travel, not like the body-sharers. I’m stuck in my body. You’ve come to the wrong Seer.”

  I stare at him. I’ve come to the wrong Seer?

  He tugs on one of his chin-hairs. “But perhaps you came to me because you could feel this power was about to strengthen—that you were about to have your first proper episode—and you needed someone to explain your powers to you. And you found me, because your powers knew that I am the Keeper of Lore, that I know the old stories, and not because you had a message for me. You’re different. But it’s you, child. You chose to come here. You needed the knowledge, to know about the power. Nothing controls your Seer powers apart from you.”

  Apart from me…and Raleigh.

  I grit my teeth.

  Then I go cold. Will Raleigh know I can do this? Body-share with other Untamed…even find them, using my power? Ones I don’t even know exist… My breathing gets faster. Is this how he’s going to find them all—through me?

  My head pounds, and I feel sick. Oh Gods. If Raleigh’s looking through my eyes now, then he could know—because I don’t know his vision is only limited to my physical body. And he could know about these people in the Frozen Lands and—

  And the blue-eyed Seer—if that was body-sharing too, then she doesn’t know I need help. My chest tightens. She’s not going to contact the Gods and Goddesses for me and—

  “You can contact the Gods and Goddesses!” I shout at Taras, and my volume surprises us both. “That’s why I’ve come to you! I can’t get in the Dream Land, because of what happened… And I’m covered in Promise Marks—my real body. I need to stop Raleigh controlling me too—else I can’t do anything, can’t escape, not when he’s going to control me as soon as he—”

  “Contact the Gods and Goddesses?” Taras gives me an odd look. “No Seers can contact the Divine Ones, child. Not at our own will.”

  My lips burr with the cold. “But you must be able to.”

  Taras shakes his head. “We each see our Divine One only twice, child. Once at the beginning, after they’ve gifted us. And once at the end, when our souls leave our bodies for good, when we hope to reach the New World. That’s the only way. We can’t summon them, and they can’t walk in the mortal world.”

  “No—you go to the Dream Land to see them,” I say. I shake my head. “We can see them, not just when we die and… I’ve seen Death—the God of Death, Waskabe—twice already. No, three times.
”

  I grimace as I recall the last meeting: my banishment.

  Taras shifts his weight. “My time is drawing to a close, child. I am old. But I am not done yet. When the Goddess of Morning Song arrives for me, I will tell her your message. The lore says she is close to Death.”

  My mouth slackens. I want to ask how soon that will be, but I know I can’t.

  “I cannot guarantee she will listen. Few will trust a Seer they believe to be a traitor.” Taras wrings his hands together.

  “But you believe me?” My voice rises an octave.

  Taras nods. “Yes, child. I believe you. I can feel it radiating from you. But you need to concentrate on what you can do now. Your body-sharing powers are different, and so you must see if you can find Seers closer to where you are. Maybe they can help your friends? Using your powers should be easier now… That’s your best chance.” He rubs his chin, and all those sparse wiry hairs flick back and forth, remind me of something, but I can’t think what. “But you are the sky, child. Do you realize what this means, if your powers are beyond the scope for a usual body-sharer? You could be the thing we have in common. You’ve connected my group with yours. And I’ll bet you can form a few more connections; the power in you must be strong, for the augury speaks of you… Make a web, child. Start close to home, spread your wings. See if you can connect to others. Unite some of our groups. Unite the Untamed. Give us hope.”

  Unite the Untamed.

  I nod, breathe out, shakily.

  “Now, child, you—”

  Coldness burns me, and I scream, twisting around and—

  I’m in my cell, sprawled on the floor. Breathing hard and—

  I’m back. So quickly.

  I look at my hands, dark with gold splashes.

  No longer Viktoriya.

  Relief floods me. But my head burns, and I can still see Taras in front of me. Those haunted eyes. And part of me can’t believe I did it. That I’ve just been to the Frozen Lands.

  But I know what I need to do now.

  Unite the Untamed.

  And it’s in my power. I’ll do that—and Taras will get my soul back, won’t he? But only when he dies….

  Something bristles along my back, and I look up. How long has it been? Have I still got time to contact another Seer? A Zharat Seer out there? Or someone else close by? Someone who can save Esther and the others?

  Time is like a clock. Tick. Tock.

  Unite the Untamed.

  Before it is too late.

  Find Seers closer to where you are.

  My shoulders tighten as I repeat Taras’s words over and over in my head.

  And I know Taras is right, but I don’t know if there’s time now—no, there won’t be. I was with Taras’s group for more than twelve minutes, so the Enhanced will have already left—they’ll be out there now, homing in on Esther’s location. And time works the same with this body-sharing, doesn’t it?

  Pain and exhaustion hover in front of me, within easy grasp. And I know it’s a test—that I mustn’t succumb to them.

  “Need to find a Seer,” I mutter, and my voice surprises me. Somehow, I’d expected it to be different. To still be Viktoriya’s, but it’s not. It’s my own and….

  Oh Gods! The Frozen Lands! I was in the Frozen Lands.

  I take a deep breath, and Esther fills my mind again. But it’s not like before—that…that hallucination—my fear, her fear, of her baby growing up Enhanced…it’s just her. As I remember her. And a part of me knows it’s too late to save them—twelve minutes…unless they’ve evaded capture.

  I sit up a little straighter. They’re Untamed. There’s a group of them. They could get away. But they need help. And I have to get help to them.

  I lean my head against the brick wall, and I try to do it again—to body-share. Taras said it would be easier now, but I don’t know what to do, how to start it. Tingles run across my scalp; trying to connect with a Zharat Seer who evaded capture is the obvious choice. I close my eyes and think of the Zharat back in the Fire Mountain. Picture the men with their tattoos. Picture Jed. My gut squeezes.

  Stop it. Concentrate.

  I try again, and I remember the men, but no specific men come to mind—not for Seers. Just faceless men with bison tattoos. The one at our welcoming ceremonies had the bison tattoo on his forehead, but I can’t remember his features. Can’t—I rub my eyes, tired. And I know I need to sleep. It calls to me. But I can’t. Mustn’t.

  It’s like the sleep deprivation…the torture….

  No.

  Stay strong.

  Have to stay strong.

  I try again, force myself to relax. Try to remember what it felt like, what body-sharing felt like in my head. How that power felt. A vague sensation comes to me: my mind divided from my body, planted in another. An egg taken from its nest, given to vultures, and—

  No, not vultures.

  My eyelids get heavier. Corin. Corin’s out there. He’ll be in the area. The same area as Esther and the Zharat who escaped, and I can contact him. Make sure he finds them, then they can work together and make sure the Enhanced don’t get them back.

  I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, and a strange feeling fills me as I try again, try to connect. And I’ve done it before with Corin…that dream…the dream that wasn’t a dream…that was real when I was sick and coming off the augmenters and—

  Waves of darkness touch my eyes, try to push them shut, try to—

  No. Corin. Corin. Corin.

  I grit my teeth, and my jaw throbs. Connect to Corin, have to—

  Sleep falls on me like a blanket. And Elia Jackson’s dead body fills my dreams.

  “You’ll be pleased to know Esther is safe once more.”

  Raleigh’s voice—loud, abrasive, and grating—drags me from my sleep, and I jump, look up, see him. For a second, I’m confused. Hundreds of images flash through my mind. Of furry beasts and tan leather. Of white ground and gray skies. Of a man with a weathered face. Of a golden door, closing with a loud snap, and—

  I jump. The door?

  Then I look at Raleigh, realize what he just said.

  Esther is safe once more.

  They’ve got her, got them all again….

  My eyes narrow as I take in Raleigh’s appearance. He looks perfect, not as if he was shot earlier. Or yesterday? I blink. Is it the next morning now? Oh Gods. I don’t know. A creeping sensation encases me as I wonder how long he’s been here. Watching me sleep? I swallow fast as I sit up—does he know? Does he know what I can do? What I was trying to do until I gave in, until I slept, until I condemned Esther and the others to their fate.

  Raleigh smiles, looks happier than should be humanly possible. “And I think it’s time to resume your session.”

  “Resume?” My eyes widen, and I think of David—that little Enhanced boy. I shake my head, a bitter taste filling my mouth. “I’m not doing it.” I glare at him, feel my pent-up frustration rise to the surface.

  “Nonsense,” Raleigh says. “You mustn’t resist, mustn’t feed the Untamed part of you. But don’t worry, we’ll be making huge progress in the labs soon. We’ll have augmenters for you shortly, ones that work perfectly. And after that—one final mind-conversion for you will do it. I’m sure.”

  Those words do not make me feel any better.

  “Come on.”

  Raleigh commands my soul, so I follow him. I must look like an obedient little girl, but, inside, I buzz with energy. Energy that doesn’t feel right. Energy that fizzles away before I can really understand it.

  All too soon, we’re back in the room—the same one as before—and David is here too. He smiles at me, but he doesn’t stop smiling. Just permanently smiles—at anyone, at anything—and it’s eerie.

  I glance at the screen. It’s turned off. Raleigh mustn’t be using that tactic again. I let go of the breath I was holding. Esther’s safe from me—for now.

  Safe.

  David won’t be safe.

  E
lia’s not safe.

  Elia’s dead.

  I taste badness and rust behind my teeth, nearly gag. That wasn’t my fault. It was Raleigh. He made me do it.

  But they were my Seer powers.

  Raleigh’s hands are cold against my head as he stands behind me and tries to latch onto my powers. He doesn’t talk this time, doesn’t even acknowledge David. I squirm and try to get away—Raleigh can’t know what I can do, and he can’t make me kill another child. But, immediately, I have visions of him finding out and controlling me, of him sending me back to Viktoriya’s body, of him making me bring her and the whole group to their nearest compound. Or making me kill them.

  Just like I killed Elia.

  I look straight ahead, see David smiling, imagine David dead as well. Or if Raleigh finds out about my body-sharing, maybe he won’t make me kill David too?

  My stomach twists. Raleigh presses his hands harder against my face. A ring on his finger digs in painfully. I try to move my head, try to free some of the tension in my neck, but I can’t. I look at my legs. I’m neither tied up nor fettered—but when I try to move my feet, I can’t feel them and—

  I feel Raleigh in my head. His presence. His power. Feel him move through the layers and layers of me and—

  He inhales sharply, and I freeze, feel like I’ve been kicked in the gut.

  No.

  No.

  No.

  Heat surges into Raleigh’s left hand. His pointer finger moves and presses against my left eye. Sharp pain. I gasp. Shit. He knows. I wait. Keep waiting.

  He makes a clicking sound in his throat after a moment. Then he lets go of my head and moves forward, into my view.

  “What have you been doing?” He says the words delicately, but there’s force behind them too. “Shania?”

  An acrid taste fills the back of my mouth. I try to look away from him, but he snaps my gaze to him, and pain rebounds through my skull.

  “Your powers are exhausted.” Raleigh’s voice is full of darkness. “They feel weak. They need to regenerate. Why do they need to regenerate, Shania? Answer me. What have you been doing?”

  I meet his mirror eyes, see myself in them—and I glare at him, at myself. But inside there’s a voice screaming in me: He doesn’t know! Doesn’t know about the body-sharing! He’s got my soul, my eyes, but he doesn’t know! And I’m trying not to smile, so I glare harder, concentrate on it because he can’t know and—