Jacob muttered some words and opened the door. Rather than going through the link, however, he and the others looked at Nicole. Oh, right. She had to go first.
Taking a breath and praying the glowing path would show up as soon as she stepped through the door, Nicole walked past the others and entered the iron world.
Even though she’d known to expect it, Nicole was still shocked by the incredible heat. It pounded into her, practically knocking the wind out of her. Just how hot was this place? It had to be more than 115 degrees. How could people survive such high temperatures day in and day out, year round?
They’d keyed to the same place where Jacob had taken them before. Nicole fanned her face, inspecting the scenery. True to what Jacob had said, there wasn’t much of anything living there.
The door they’d come through was huge—tall and wide. Big enough for an Agarch. It was made of what looked like matted grass. The building was more of a mound of hardened mud. Short, leafless shrubberies lined the top of it, and Nicole wondered how they were nourished without leaves and direct sunlight. Probably through their roots.
A few other buildings, similar to the first, dotted the landscape. From what Nicole could tell, the little village had been abandoned. Good thing too. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Agarchs and hoped she and the others would be able to avoid them completely.
Something told her they wouldn’t be that lucky, though.
The heavy red clouds weren’t very far above—they felt close enough to touch. Nicole wondered if they were acidic, then wondered if they produced rain, for that matter. Acid rain wasn’t high on her list of things to experience.
Her eyes quickly grew tired of the colors that made up this world. She began to ache for the sight of green, blue, yellow. Anything to break up the reds and browns.
Once the others were ready, Nicole prepared to follow the glowing trail that led off to the left and down a path through some shrubberies. She glanced at Jacob as he pulled the door shut. “Can you see any emotions?”
He gazed out over the endless landscape of mud fields and shook his head. “No—there’s nothing.”
“How far is your range?” Coolidge asked.
Jacob shrugged. “About a mile. What about yours? For sensing pulses?”
“It depends on the strength of the pulse,” Coolidge said. “If the magic of the object is extraordinarily strong, I’ve been able to sense it from several miles away.”
“What about from other Aretes?” Jacob asked.
“I’ve never felt someone from a distance of greater than a mile,” Coolidge said.
Nicole glanced around, making sure the others were ready, then she started down the path. Everyone fell silent, and a still-bearded Austin took Nicole’s hand. She was glad he was beside her—so glad they were together again, even if they were about to see Agarchs.
They followed the glowing path for over an hour before the road dropped over the edge of a hill and disappeared from sight.
Jacob perked up. “I see emotions ahead.” He motioned to a dense thicket of shrubberies on the right side of the road. “Let’s take cover while I Time-See.”
Everyone moved into the bushes, making sure they weren’t visible from the road, while Jacob fell silent.
“I sense an Arete there,” Austin said, his eyes closed.
Coolidge nodded. “Same. But what type? I’m having a hard time narrowing in on this one.”
Austin didn’t respond for several moments. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Coolidge. “I can’t tell. It’s . . . muddled. Almost like the Arete hasn’t Restarted yet.”
“I was getting the same feeling,” Coolidge whispered. “And if that’s the case, he or she can’t be far away.”
Nicole nodded, understanding why her professor was whispering. Most Aretes, prior to Restarting, only carried a tiny pulse—one which many others couldn’t sense at all. And if Coolidge and Austin sensed this one already, this Arete had to be nearby.
Nicole concentrated hard, but could only feel snatches of the magic pulsing in their direction.
Jacob returned. “At the base of the hill is what looks sort of like a military compound. Lots of short buildings.” He paused, a concerned expression crossing his face. “You guys can sense Agarchs, right?”
Nicole glanced at Austin, shaking her head. “No, we can’t.” She hadn’t felt anything from the Agarchs that they hadn’t wanted her to feel.
“Well, that sucks,” Jacob said, “because it turns out I can’t see their emotion colors.”
From the expression on Coolidge’s face, this was important.
“Has that happened before?” Nicole asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
Jacob shook his head. “Not with anything intelligent,” he said. “It’s my way to gauge the intelligence of something. If I can’t see its emotions, it’s not a creature that can reason or really think.”
He took a breath. “This is going to complicate things. Because there are at least ten Agarchs down there, along with a few humans. It’ll be difficult to get around.” He looked at Nicole. “And the glowing path is still leading in that direction, right?”
Nicole bit her lip. “Yes. I wish it would show alternative routes, but it doesn’t.”
“Any chance the talisman is in this compound?” Austin asked her.
She nodded. “Of course—I just can’t see that far ahead.”
“Can you feel its pulse now?” Coolidge asked.
Nicole closed her eyes, concentrating, separating the magical pulses that washed over her from the Aretes here and the Aretes in the compound as Austin had taught her to do so long ago. She could feel several separate sources, and it took a moment of hard concentration to recognize what they were. She opened her eyes. “I can feel the Arete you guys sensed earlier, along with three others. Four Aretes in total. And I can sense at least two magical objects there. But from this distance, I can’t tell what they are.”
Coolidge nodded. “The three Aretes must have just arrived because I feel them now, but I didn’t earlier.”
“Yeah, a convoy of sorts was just pulling up while I was scouting out the area,” Jacob said.
“Okay, let’s talk logistics,” Austin said. “Assuming the talisman isn’t in the compound and that the path keeps going that way, we just need to get through it and continue onward.” He hesitated. “Course, if this is where the talisman is located, we’ll need a completely different plan.”
“I vote that Nicole goes ahead and the rest of us stay here,” Jacob said. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, and he put his hands up. “Hear me out. This is the last place where we can hide—I checked. And it’ll be much more difficult to explain four free humans instead of one if we get caught.”
“I don’t like it,” Austin said. “What if they kill her on the spot? Or what if they kidnap her and turn her into a slave and we all die trying to free her?”
Nicole put her hand on Austin’s arm. “Jacob has a point. I’m the only one who can see where to go, and if we run into trouble, it’s a lot harder to save four than it is to save one.” She grinned. “Besides, I’m a Wind Arete. I can start up a storm, if necessary. I’m strong enough. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Austin relaxed somewhat, but he still had that worried expression on his face, so she kissed his forehead, hoping to ease the tension away. “I’ll be back fast,” she said.
Without waiting to hear what Coolidge and Jacob thought, Nicole sneaked out of the brush. She knew Austin wouldn’t come chasing after her—he was smarter than that. And Jacob would keep an eye on her and let the others know what was going on.
Even though the compound was still out of sight, she hadn’t gone far before she started hearing noises from it. Butterflies immediately came to life in her stomach. She crouched and peered over the edge of the hill when she was near enough to see the compound.
Panic welled up inside Nicole’s chest when she saw the first Agarch. How sh
e’d hoped never, ever to see one of those again!
The monster was already swelled out to its full size—the tube-like torso was at least six feet around and probably fifteen feet tall. The antennae wriggled from the top of the tube, and it glided around an inner courtyard on powerful, root-like appendages.
She couldn’t believe she’d gone up against these things and had come out unscathed.
Course, Agarchs were nothing to the Shoggoths. She pushed away the immediate visions of the scaly beasts with hundreds of popping and reforming eyes. So disgusting. Despite the intense heat, she shivered. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on the current situation.
The compound was made up of fifteen of those squat huts. There wasn’t a clear way through—the road led to the first hut, then it disappeared and everything was trodden.
In the center of the compound was a courtyard that made up a sort of gathering area. And in the center of that courtyard was a bigger building—a main one. That was where the first Agarch had been when she’d looked. It must have just come out of the building, as now there were several more Agarchs with it, and a fifth was just leaving that building.
Nicole did a double take when she saw two humans there—a youngish man and an older woman. They were chained up and unhealthy—the dark circles under their eyes were visible even from where she crouched. It made her heart ache, thinking about what they’d gone through.
The man was farthest away, but Nicole immediately knew he was the one who had created the weird magical pulse earlier. He was definitely a Wind Arete—his hair was so light, it looked almost silver. His bright head was lowered, his shoulders down—beaten, resigned. Had he ever experienced freedom?
The woman was probably fifty. She was closer to Nicole and looked to be a Water Arete. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and hadn’t been washed or combed in ages.
Nicole took a deep breath, trying to tuck away for now the compassion she felt for these people who were so miserable and downtrodden. She needed to focus—in and out. Get the talisman before Keitus showed up. Come back later to help. Keitus getting the talisman would definitely ensure the misery of these people.
Speaking of the talisman . . . if it was here, where would it be?
Nicole closed her eyes, concentrating, trying to pinpoint the magical pulses from the non-Arete sources. Nothing specific was there. She needed to get closer.
She opened her eyes and the glowing path shimmered before her, still illuminating the way.
Crouching, she slowly started down the hill.
She’d only moved maybe five feet when she sensed Austin’s magical pulse move, leaving their hideaway. What was he doing?
She swallowed. She was out in the open and if any of those humans or Agarchs looked up, they’d spot her immediately. She continued half sliding, half crawling down the side of the hill toward the compound.
She’d moved off the path about ten feet—not enough to lose the glowing trail, but enough where she wouldn’t be spotted right away if someone were to look at the road. She wished there were some sort of cover, though—she hated feeling so out in the open.
Austin’s magical pulse faded, then disappeared, and her breath caught in her throat. She relaxed when she saw him far away on this side of the compound, but across the road from her, just a little speck. He must have run to get there so quickly, and he was far enough away that she couldn’t feel his pulse anymore. What was he doing?
Nicole had her answer when the earth beneath her shivered and groaned. A massive crack appeared far out in the field on the other side of the compound. Mentally thanking him for the diversion when the Agarchs and humans turned to see what was going on, Nicole rushed the rest of the way down the hill before freezing.
The ripple in the ground must have caught everyone’s attention, and from the center building where the five Agarchs had come, at least twenty more emerged, with four Aretes in tow.
There wasn’t a second to lose. None of the monsters were looking toward her. Nicole needed to find out where the glowing path was leading her, and fast. She skidded the rest of the way down the hill, then flat-out ran across the field toward the first building.
Her heart skipped a beat when the thought occurred to her—what if the talisman was where that ripple in the earth had formed? The Agarchs would probably be getting close to it by now. What if the glowing path led her there?
She pushed those thoughts aside. The only thing she could do right now was to cover as much ground as possible and as quickly as possible.
Up close, the mud huts were much larger than the one they’d entered the world through—these were at least ten feet tall. She dashed to the left around one, then around another to the right.
After skirting at least six mud huts, the path led her to the door of a very large building—the biggest one she’d been next to yet. Nicole backed up. This was the mud hut where all of the Agarchs had come out. What was she supposed to do? Go inside?
Hesitating, knowing just how much danger she was in right then, Nicole pushed the door. It opened noiselessly on its rope hinges.
She reached out to her magic, just in case, then entered the black interior.
Chapter Ten
The nasty smell was the first thing Nicole noticed. It was horrible. Pungent, worse than a toilet that hadn’t been cleaned in years. She could imagine it coating every inch of her, mixing with the sticky sweat that dripped down her back and legs. And she recognized it immediately. The last time she’d smelled it had been in Arches National Park. Burnt sewage was the closest description for the odor she could come up with.
It was awful.
The second thing she noticed was the candle burning at the opposite end of the empty room. Steps led down into that room. The door perched almost precariously at the top of them.
Nicole descended, trying to see clearly, her eyes burning from the sweat that dripped into them.
The glowing trail led her toward the candle, then skirted it, going down another set of stairs just beyond.
She followed.
Nicole thought of all the things she’d rather be doing at that moment. Puking from an epic case of the flu. Talking to Tiffany, her mom. Dealing with Tarians. At least she could understand or know what to expect from humans. But Agarchs?
Nicole paused at the bottom of the second set of stairs and peered into a dark hallway lit by several candles on either end. She tried to minimize her breathing. The less of that stench that entered her nose, the better. But her poor lungs began screaming for oxygen, and she was forced to swallow huge gulps.
She might get her “would rather be vomiting” wish after all. Now that would be fun. Dealing with Agarchs while puking. Yeah . . .
The hallway ended with a thick blanket. Nicole paused, biting her lips, then carefully pushed the coarse material aside with her finger. She peered through the slit.
A brightly lit room with several blanket-covered doorways greeted her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found the place empty.
Nicole quietly strode forward, shielding her eyes from the glare of several torches that lined the room. She hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the blanket she’d come through. Like the rest, it was red and brown. Would she be able to remember it so she could get out?
Looking down, she saw that the glowing path led to the opening directly across from where she’d come. That would have to be enough, and she prayed the path wouldn’t take her much farther. She couldn’t afford to get confused.
The trail then led her down a very long hallway. Had she reached the end of the building yet? Or were these tunnels to the other huts, rather than halls? That was likely, given that none of the other huts seemed to have doors.
The glowing path stopped in the middle of a room full of pillows and blankets.
She felt the magical pulse of the talisman. Where was it? Turning, her eyes now adjusted to the darkness, she tried to spot anything that would help—anything that would signal the mag
ical item’s location.
Nothing popped out at her.
Her palms were already sweaty from the horrid heat, but she felt a cold sweat rush over her, giving her chills. She had to find that talisman! The Agarchs would probably return at any moment, and there was no telling what would happen if they discovered her here.
A light flashed right next to her. Nicole shrieked, then clapped her hand over her mouth. Early floated in the air.
“Nicole, they’re coming! Hide!”
She didn’t need to be told twice. But where was she supposed to hide?
Nicole ran to the edges of the room, feeling the walls, searching for a door. There wasn’t a way out. She was trapped!
She could run back to the room with all the blankets, but without knowing where each doorway led, that would only confuse her and get her lost. And with her luck, she’d choose the one doorway all the Agarchs came through.
A wild, crazy idea occurred to her. She stepped to the nearest wall, running her hand over it.
“How much time do I have?” she asked Early, sensing her magic there, ready and waiting for her to direct it.
“A minute, no more.”
It would have to be enough.
“Tell Jacob and the others where I’m hiding,” Nicole said.
Not waiting for an answer, Nicole sent her powers to the hard-packed dirt of the wall. She focused on a section that was just a bit taller and wider than her. The dirt glowed, shimmered. Her eyes ached from the sudden light. When she had a firm grasp of it mentally, she pulled out the entire section of wall.
It was packed so hard, it didn’t crumble. Good—that made things easier. Nicole then sent her magic to the softer dirt beyond. She commanded a large section of it to break down and spread around the room, then to hide under the pillows and rugs. Then she backed into the hole she’d created.
Just as she was pulling the solid chunk of dirt back to cover her hiding place, Nicole spotted the talisman—the metal object was pressed into the ceiling of the compound. Nothing covered it. No magic held it in place. Did these Agarchs not know what it was capable of or did they not care?
Obscure, Mosaic Chronicles Book Seven Page 11