by Iyanna Orr
The rest of the house was already empty. Max and Michael had gone ahead with Damian’s family. It was then that it all clicked inside Chandler’s head. He hurried from the house, clutching the book tightly in one hand. Damian and Rory began running in front of him. A loud sound echoed from them and resonated throughout the entire city, bouncing off every wall it met. It was only then that the screaming began.
Chandler tried his best to tune it out, but the sounds wouldn’t leave him alone. Babies screamed and cried while parents panicked and prayed to whoever was listening. But Chandler was the only one who could hear them, and he was desperately pushing the voices away. He didn’t want to know that they were probably dying somewhere.
It felt like they’d been running for hours when they reached the doors. Gideon was already there, looking worried as he held his hand flush against the doorway. The doors were open, and a blue film of light covered the entrance, but when a tremor tore Gideon away from the building, it turned red. It stayed that way for just a few seconds, yet there was still enough time to see a woman hurry toward it and try to cross. She disappeared, and left behind on that red film was the even darker color of her blood.
Gideon tried his hardest after that to keep his touch on the building, but the quake was beginning to get much worse. Chandler watched the oversized crowd until Damian and Rory were just outside the door, and then he turned his eyes to Gideon. The man barely glanced at them as he gestured impatiently for them to get inside, but his eyes did turn to Chandler, where he stood hesitant. Nobody was coming toward them from the darkness that had become of everything beyond the power building, but Chandler could swear he heard something coming from out there.
Gideon’s desperate chastising reached Chandler, and he ran up to the doorway, stopping just before he passed through. Chandler jammed the book through and into Rory’s surprised arms. His gaze came up to Chandler, and his mouth moved in words that Chandler couldn’t hear. He just shook his head at Rory and turned away, taking a running jump before he propelled himself higher with his wings. They tore through yet another shirt, and it fluttered to the ground uselessly. Chandler left it as he proceeded into the dark, listening as hard as he could to capture whatever it was he thought he’d heard.
Chandler knew there was no sense in calling out. With the thunderous sounds of the city falling around, nobody would hear him, so he simply ducked and dodged, evading descending stones until a gleam caught his eye. He went higher, reaching out blindly for a chandelier. He gripped it and stopped moving his wings, narrowing his eyes and staring hard at the light that had called him. It was growing brighter as he watched and at first he thought maybe a chandelier had fallen, causing a fire somewhere on the ground. But the dust was thinning, and the sight that met him stopped his breath.
Somebody was struggling with the boulders that had taken home on the ground. Their grunts of exertion reached Chandler before they even knew he was there, but he only let a few seconds pass by. He landed a few feet in front of them. The torch that was held over eventually let him see the too long hair that nearly brushed the ground. As they were about to bump into Chandler, he raised his arms and rested them on the stooped shoulders. The head raised and looked up.
There was no relief in her green eyes, and Chandler knew that she didn’t expect to make it out of this chaos alive. He tried to look reassuring, but she never said a word. She simply held the torch out away from them, enough to illuminate the clear tracks cutting through the dirt on her face. He’d never seen such misery in anybody, but he never thought he’d have to see it in somebody so young. Abruptly, he yanked her forward and swung her up into his arms. Her gasp of surprise seemed to override the sound of the world coming to an end, but Chandler ignored it as he shot away from the ground, flying as fast as he could back to the power building. It wasn’t hard to find, with the bright glow it gave off.
Chandler landed in front of the red film and resisted trying to charge through, knowing he couldn’t be an exception to every rule of Monsil. Even if he were, he didn’t think he could’ve taken the chance holding a girl who hadn’t spoken a word to him since he’d picked her up. He let her stand then supported her with his arm around her shoulders as he waited. Then, when Chandler had started to believe that it really wouldn’t, the film turned blue, and he gently moved her in the direction of the door. She melded through slowly; then, turned around to look at him through it, backing away. Chandler had waited a moment before he followed after her, and as soon as his body was through the blue film, every part of him stopped working, and he collapsed.
Chapter 8 – Taken
Max could only watch, horrified, as Chandler’s eyes rolled back into his head. The whites were glaringly vivid as his body fell, slamming onto the floor and drawing the attention of anyone within five feet. His body began seizing, convulsing until the sound of his body beating the earth echoed. Chandler’s friend, Rory, dropped the book as he rushed forward and knelt by his side. He tried to turn Chandler over, but his muscles had relaxed, leaving his wings to spread how they would. Only seconds later, one of them tore out of his shirt and stretched limp across the room, nearly grazing the doorway.
She watched her brother jump into action. Michael ran over to Chandler and pulled his shoulders, moving him farther away from the illuminated red screen. Her eyes drifted out into the destruction the Monsil city had become in less than twenty minutes. Max had known it was going to happen, but she still couldn’t make her mind wrap around the simple fact that it was happening right then.
In her foggy mind, a movement caught her attention. She turned and gazed curiously at Gideon, who was slowly edging his way around the boys and Damian. Max watched him closely, wondering what he was doing, but he gave no indication. It was easy to see that she was the only one who had seen him move. Most of the people, who Max assumed were the power wielders, were moving over to Chandler to see if there was any way they could help. She followed Gideon until he finally stopped, eyes wide with excitement as they fixed on something on the ground. Small children and even the livestock that had roamed the streets blocked her from seeing what it was until he stooped down and picked it up.
Max’s mind cleared, and then she could feel the magic that had been so dormant for the last two weeks. It raged an ocean’s storm inside her until she threw up her hands and sent Gideon flying. She could see him for only a minute before he disappeared into the crowd of people who’d climbed the stairs into the hall of training rooms. Feeling the eyes on her, she darted forward and grabbed the book, holding it tightly against her chest. Turning, she faced Damian and the others. Rory hadn’t looked away from Chandler, but Damian was studying her with a burning curiosity that couldn’t be hidden. Michael, though he looked worried, grinned and gave her thumbs up. Max frowned at the very human gesture and shook her head. She walked over to them and looked down at Chandler.
“Is he going to be all right?” she asked. He’d stopped convulsing, and his eyes had closed, but his fingers were twitching, and he eyes rolled wildly under the lids.
“We’re not sure,” a Monsil woman said, looking up. Max could see the strain of the magic in her eyes. Suddenly, she felt guilty for not having the normal symptoms of her power. She couldn’t bring herself to look her in the eye. “So far, what we have done has calmed his body down, but we don’t have the power to stop this. This is an Earth illness, and we’ve rarely dealt with it. We might be able to come up with a new spell to stop it, but that could take hours.”
“It can be done,” Damian said. He gave the woman a nod. “Thank you, Heather.”
“Anything to help, Damian,” Heather replied. She had nodded to the rest of them before she melted back into the crowd. Damian took his wife’s hand, and Nimue came to stand with the rest.
“It looks like most of the families have already chosen rooms. We’d better go.” Michael and Rory picked up Chandler from the floor. He hung limply from their arms, and his dark wings dragged over the overbearingly white floor a
s they walked. Max watched them go but didn’t follow, knowing she would catch up later. Instead, her eyes turned slowly to the girl that Chandler had gone out to rescue.
The girl stood oddly just next to the door. Her eyes were focused downward, on something Max couldn’t see. The slight protrusion coming from the girl’s stomach soon drew Max’s eyes, and she gazed at her curiously until she looked up, and their eyes met.
“You’re not from here,” Max said as soon as it came to her mind. The girl immediately shook her head, looking down again.
“I was visiting relatives when Monsil was attacked. My father was born here, but he decided to leave.” She glanced up at Max and shrugged. “He didn’t like the way the planet was run.”
“Who was your father?”
“From what he tells me, he was just another citizen, another person with an entire lifetime of prophecies he didn’t want to see. My grandma once told me he was too sensitive to them. The power he was given as a Monsil citizen gave him the curse of seeing how events would lead to the conclusion of someone’s life.” The girl studied Max until her eyes widened, and she shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry. I should’ve introduced myself. I’m Alexandria, but I prefer Alex.”
“Maxine, but I prefer Max.” The two had shared a short smile before they realized that the main hall of the power building was nearly empty. “I should go. I need to find my brother,” Max told Alex. The other nodded and looked around at the doors that lead to the training rooms.
“Me too,” she answered. “I hope your friend is okay. I’m going to have to thank him for saving me.” She turned and walked away. Max watched her curiously before going to find Damian and the others.
The atmosphere was tense inside their room. When Max found them, she’d noticed that their room had expanded enough to fit all seven of them inside. The beds were lined along the wall, but only one was actually occupied. The rest were sitting on the single long couch on the other side of the room, staring in Chandler’s direction.
“Do we know why it happened?” she asked, still holding onto the book. Everyone, except Michael and Rory, jumped, but the latter did look over at her. A relieved look took over his face as he stood and moved over to her. He held out his hands questioningly, and Max placed the book in them. She gave him a companionable nod and then turned back to them.
“No,” Damian answered, shaking his head. “There was nothing that could have triggered it, not even by Earth standards.”
“Could we try looking in the book?” Nimue suggested quietly. She was curled into the arm of the couch, looking like a small child instead of the seventeen-year-old she was. “Maybe we could heal him like he healed Michael.”
“No,” Michael answered, knowing that neither Claudia nor Nimue had been partial to their conversations about the book. “Nobody besides a direct descendant of Haakon could open it. He was very specific about that.”
“Do you think he’ll wake up then?” she continued.
“No way to know until that spell is finished,” Damian answered. He sighed heavily and stood. “We should all get some sleep while we can.”
It came slowly, but everyone drifted to their beds and waited for sleep to take them. Max didn’t feel herself fall under until she was sure everyone else had fallen asleep. When she did finally let the unconsciousness take her, she was lost in the place that she left so long ago. The land that she had grown up in had always rejected outsiders. For as long as she could remember, it had wanted to have reason to show them their magic; to chase them back to the world to which they belonged. But Max stood where she was, staring at the people who’d just appeared before her. She wondered if this was supposed to tell her something, but she watched closely as Chandler stumbled from the car.
Something about Chandler was difficult to understand, and the effect he seemed to have on Monsil made Max uneasy. Once Chandler’s feet touched the ground, something transformed. She saw as the land seemed to bathe in the purity of the light surrounding him. Its physical appearance had been something she and Michael had caused, just by being born, but she watched as the essence of her world swarmed with new life. Since they escaped the damage that was inflicted, Max had never seen it more hopeful than it was at that moment. Whispered voices that used to speak to her in her dreams as a child started to whisper once more, telling her the secrets of the prophecies.
Max wished she could say that it came as a surprise to her, but if she were telling herself the truth, she had known he was the salvation of her world the minute she and Michael crawled from the ocean. Alone in her personal heaven, she closed her eyes and listened as Monsil whispered to her.
Moments later, Max was stolen from sleep. Her eyes snapped open, and she stared at the ceiling, still glowing even though the lights inside were out. The glow was dim, though, and couldn’t be what had woken her. She tossed aside her blanket and looked over to her brother’s bed. As usual, he’d taken off his vest. It was resting across the room, probably on the couch, since she could still see the beams of the swords. Slowly, she got out of bed, not bothering with the shoes she’d abandoned and went toward the vest. She began to pull one of the swords, but then Michael was there, dropping down casually on the couch as if he hadn’t been sleeping only a few moments ago. Max scowled at him, and he brushed her hand away and pushed the sword back into its sheath.
“And where are you going, little sister?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m two seconds younger than you,” she snapped before answering. “I heard something. Now, go back to sleep.”
“I think not,” he answered. He stood and picked up his vest, swinging it on and leaving the swords out of Max’s reach. “Where?” he asked.
Instead of arguing again, she turned, her silver hair flinging over her shoulder to hit Michael. Behind her, he rolled his eyes. Max, feeling the movement, scowled at the path in front of her.
She led him into the main hall of the power building where everyone had waited after coming inside. Her eyes rolled over the doorway, stopping as she saw nothing but darkness. “How long do you think it will take for it to rebuild itself?” she asked her brother, sidetracked.
“We can ask Damian or Claudia when they wake up,” Michael answered, not so easily distracted. “Do you hear anything?”
“No,” Max said, pulling her eyes away. “It was a small sound. Hardly cause for concern, but you know me. Everything is suspicious.”
“And usually, you’re right,” he answered. Max turned as he pulled both swords out and then handed one to her. “I guess we’re going to go find out what it was.”
“Wait,” Max suddenly said. The sound had started again, and it was just as quiet. She knew that Michael wouldn’t be able to hear it as well as she could, so she didn’t ask him. Instead, she listened closely, pushing her hair away from her ears so nothing would block the sound from reaching her. Suddenly, her eyes illuminated, and she felt something boiling up inside though she didn’t know what. Michael simply watched, knowing that she was onto something. But when she started running back in the direction of their own room, he drove himself in front of her. Max caught up with him easily, and they both returned to their room, standing in the doorway as they caught sight of the figure leaning over Chandler in the bed.
Max glared at the girl who’d called herself Alex. The girl turned to look at them over her shoulder, but then they were gone. Chandler’s bed was empty, the blankets and sheets still settling as Michael cursed behind her.
Chapter 9 – Haakon
The room was small and barely lit. The walls were crawling with bugs as they made their way in and out between the badly tied wood. Dark, dry mud did its best to cover the holes, and yet, I could see small snakes slithering between. The floor below his bare feet was loosened dirt and dead weeds. Chandler knew that something wasn’t right. This wasn’t like any of the other dreams he had; when he was himself. Now, he was staring out through somebody else’s eye, and the body he inhabited didn’t feel fam
iliar at all. Chandler cautiously moved through his limbs, finding that he was in complete control. He started to probe inside his own mind, only to startle and retreat when he felt someone else stirring inside there.
Just then, the instructor appeared, and every in the room straightened simultaneously. Their eyes grew hard, and they stared forward, seeing through the very walls of the studio. The instructor — Theodore, the alien mind supplied — walked along the line, and when he got to Chandler, at the very end, Theodore turned and faced him head on. Chandler was half a head taller than the man was, yet he could feel the presence cowering, and he fought it. Chandler clenched his teeth, and suddenly, that presence — that person — knew Chandler was there. Chandler felt his surprise, yet he didn’t fight. He thought that maybe this was what Theodore was waiting for every day.
As the presence — Haakon — dissolved into the background and watched like an eager puppy, Chandler brought his eyes down and looked right into Theodore’s.
And he smiled.
The boys in the line dissolved, and the hut melted away. Bright light filled Chandler’s borrowed eyes, and he blinked as he got used to the sudden change. Theodore was across the room, and Chandler looked over at him as he started to stride forward.
“I take it you are wondering why you are here,” Theodore said as he stopped in front of him. Chandler nodded slowly, trying to concentrate on what the man was saying as Haakon marveled over what had just happened inside his head. “You are in the year 1838 B.C., exactly sixteen years after Drake was born and after your prophecy was written.”