Buried

by Emma Shelford

  When we have moved halfway up the widened tunnel, one guard turns. It’s Jeremy Barnum, the man I impersonated to gain access to March’s key. He scans the tunnel and must see movement, for he releases a strangled yell. Before he can summon a spirit, Wayne flies out of nowhere and tackles him to the ground. Jen is right behind him, and she ties Jeremy up with rope she must have packed in her backpack. She really was prepared for everything.

  The other guard shouts and rushes to Jeremy’s aid, but Alejandro leaps out of the shadows toward him. The guard is too quick. Before Alejandro can reach him, brown lauvan boils out of his shirt and into the ground. A split-second later, the roof above Alejandro trembles, then it cracks into a thousand shards of jagged rock and plunges down to bury him.

  My heart pounds and my fist clench. No. We are here to save Minnie, but I’ll be damned if I lose Alejandro in the process. My lauvan stream outward, shooting straight for Alejandro. It feels like when I’ve lost control in the past―objects fly around me, pictures rip off walls―but today, I pour my intent into their movement. I want to lose control of them. Only in that sensation can I find the power to bend them to my will. It’s a strange juxtaposition that I have no time to dwell on.

  All this happens while the rocks still fall. My strands find the lauvan of each tumbling rock and latch on. There is a minor struggle with whatever spirit controls the rockfall, but I brush it away as I would swat a fly. The energy of each shard, the force of their falling, fuels my own movements. My eyes narrow in concentration, and the rocks halt their trajectory. They begin to swirl, slowly at first, but soon they form a maelstrom around Alejandro. When they have enough speed, I send my intent.

  Each piece of rock launches itself toward the guard, whose slack-jawed wonderment allows him no time to respond. Within seconds, he is buried under a pile of stones until only one twitching leg remains exposed. Soon, it stills.

  Silence reigns. All eyes are on me, but I seek out Jen’s first.

  “Should I have done something differently?”

  Jen shakes her head slowly. Her face is hidden in shadows.

  “I don’t see what you could have done. You were defending Alejandro. They were going to do the same to him.” Her breath hitches, then steadies. “You had to save Alejandro.”

  I nod. Perhaps I could have knocked the man unconscious, where he would have stood a chance of recovering, but controlling strands the way I just did is new to me. Do I have that finesse yet? I doubt it, and I am not willing to play around while the lives of my friends are on the line.

  “Is everyone all right?” I ask and look at Alejandro. He nods, shaken but determined. There is a small chorus of yeses. “Then let’s face the music. We’re here.”

  CHAPTER XXIV

  The entrance to the tunnel, where the guards were standing, is the top rim of a huge cavern. It’s almost as wide as a playing field, and it is shaped like a giant soup bowl. The cable from our tunnel slinks down to join five others at the center of the bowl, where a large dome of multicolored lauvan covers the center. The cables pulse with energy, and the ground shivers with greater and greater intensity. We can see clearly in the heart of this mountain only because Potestas has set up three large spotlights that shine up and create a soft glow that reflects off the cavern’s ceiling. At least fifteen people mill about in the bowl, but my eyes are drawn to the still figure kneeling in the center of the multicolored bubble at the intersection of the cables.

  Minnie’s eyes are wide and there are tear tracks on her face, although she is dry-eyed now. She watches March and Anna, who prepare something near the bubble. My heart squeezes. We’re so close, but she’s in the barrier. How can I get her out?

  Shouts and yells alert me. We’ve been spotted. I fill with rage and determination. We’re getting Minnie out of this. I look to each side and see the same grim resolve on the faces of my friends.

  “Ready?” I ask. They nod.

  “Let’s get the bastards,” Wayne says and leaps down the slope with a yell.

  I’m right behind him and catch up shortly. A dozen Potestas members stand between us and the barrier. Most look terrified and run behind the dome. Three, however, look smug with the knowledge that they have a weapon that we don’t. I glance at each as I run and notice that those three have elemental lauvan swirling around their wrists. Only three? We can get past that. I hope.

  “These three have spirits,” I shout to the others. “Green shirt is water, carrot top is fire, and black boots is air.”

  “Got it!” yells Wayne and sprints with Alejandro close behind toward the red-headed man, who raises his hands in reply. Orange strands coalesce in the air and swirl in front of him. Wayne dives below the forming ball of fire and takes out the man’s feet.

  I would love to watch more, but there are others who demand my attention. Jen and Gary have teamed up, her with a pepper spray in each hand and him with his baseball bat. Both yell with fury and barely masked terror, but they don’t hesitate. Liam follows Jen and Gary to the man in the black boots, so I focus on the woman in the green shirt. She paces toward me with a grim smile. Her outstretched arms glimmer with blue water strands and her own gray ones. They rise to meet a tendril of blue descending from the distant ceiling. I look up. What was once a drip has turned into a gushing torrent, which pools in the air above green shirt’s head. She grins wider.

  I’m not interested in a bath quite yet. I edge sideways until Wayne and Alejandro and their fiery opponent are directly behind me. Perhaps they would like to cool off.

  “What are you waiting for?” I shout. Green shirt scowls.

  “Nothing,” she says, and makes a throwing motion with her arms.

  At the last second, I dive to the side. The jet of icy water barely misses me, and mist wets my face. Carrot top doesn’t fare as well. His fireball is doused instantly, and he shoots across the cavern floor to land insensible in a sodden heap. Wayne and Alejandro are drenched from the spray but are otherwise unharmed. Wayne’s face is covered with red blisters, but he grins.

  “Thanks, Merry!”

  It occurs to me that in the chaos, I have grown close to Minnie’s cage. I glance at it.

  Minnie strains against her lauvan bonds. Her mouth opens and closes soundlessly as if she shouts, but the barrier won’t allow sound to pass. She stares at me through the swirl of elemental lauvan. I try to infuse my returning look with hope, but I can’t look for long. Green shirt has decided to make another move.

  We’re close to the barrier now, very close, and when I backhand her, her head swings around rapidly and she stumbles to the glowing lauvan bubble. Horror crosses her face. She staggers, almost rights herself, then falls hard through the barrier.

  Her confused eyes widen then roll back until the whites show. Her limbs spasm, and her lauvan twitch at random. Her mouth opens in a silent scream. With a last, savage jolt, she stills. Her blue and gray strands cease their random movements and drift away from the body into transparency. She looks naked and strange without them.

  On the far side of the barrier, barely visible through the swirling threads, March and Anna prepare the ceremony. They hold the grail together with their eyes closed, and their lips move in synchronous chanting. They are in their own smaller bubble of protection adjacent to Minnie’s larger one. Esme stands behind them, her eyes darting nervously between them, Minnie, and her fallen comrades beyond. Lauvan on the grail swirl with agitation and connect one by one to strands in the cluster of cables that join beside it. There is even one cable that descends straight into the earth below us.

  I’m distracted from this disquieting sight by a chorus of voices. My eyes focus on the barrier before me. Dozens of figures emerge from the swirling dome in the shape of humanoid torsos that sway in a breeze not of this world. The voices speak with the grumbling of earth, the ethereal nature of air, the sibilance of water, and the sharpness of fire.

  “We want to be released.”

  “Let us be one of you.”

  “D
on’t deny us what you already have.”

  “The successor is waiting to speak to you.”

  “Then bring him out!” I shout, fear and exasperation sharpening my voice. More figures bud from the barrier-dome and sway, attached by their legless torsos.

  “We cannot,” a brown figure growls. “He will only be free once the ceremony is complete. Only then can he tell you everything. Then, you can join him and be one of us. You can have everything you desire.”

  I pause to gather my thoughts. The spirits wait for my response. I shake my head slowly.

  “If Minnie Dilleck survives today, that is all I desire. Nothing you can offer would compare, would be worth the loss of her life.” I look into Minnie’s eyes, with their mixture of terror and hope. Although she can’t hear me, I speak with my eyes locked on hers. “I may not be fully human, but I can use my spirit nature to further my humanity. I can save the woman I love.”

  March and Anna’s chanting grows louder, until they almost shout the words. Their barrier must not be soundproof the way Minnie’s is. The strands of the barrier swirl faster and gleam with a pulsing brightness. The torsos of the spirits begin to sink into the fluid dome.

  “Pretty words,” the earth spirit says before it disappears. “But you are too late. The ceremony is nearly complete. When the earth tremors cease, we will be free.”

  CHAPTER XXV

  Half-formed ideas push to the forefront of my mind, none of them of much value. The spectacle of green shirt’s demise in the barrier crosses my mind in full detail. How do I avoid her fate? I wrap my fist in my coat and attempt to push it through the barrier, but the elemental lauvan travel straight through the fabric. The skin of my hand smarts from the contact, then the sensation fades. I pull away my sleeve and look closer.

  My own strands have divided themselves neatly in two. My thicker, human strands cringe away from the barrier, rolling themselves up my wrist to escape. The thinner threads, those that I now know are of my spirit nature, pass through the barrier easily. My mind churns. The spirits plan to transfer their lauvan to a human host once the ceremony is complete. Is there any reason I can’t do the same with my human strands? The spirits need a ceremony to complete their task, but my physical form can manipulate lauvan without that need. And with my human lauvan safely stripped away, nothing would stop me from entering the barrier and disrupting the ceremony.

  “Alejandro!” I shout. He sprints over.

  “What do you need, Merlo?” he asks with panting breath.

  “Hold still.” I comb through my center, attempting to tease out every thicker strand I can feel. Beside me, the barrier releases flashes of electricity that must be visible to Alejandro, because he jumps, and his eyes grow wide. “I need you to hold onto my human lauvan for me. Then I can go through the barrier.”

  “What?” Alejandro’s brow creases in confusion. I forgot that only Jen knows about my big revelation.

  “I’ll explain later. Just, stay alive, please. For both our sakes.”

  The ground rumbles below our feet, and the light show from the dome increases in splendor and horror. To Alejandro’s credit, he doesn’t shift from his position, simply bends his knees to absorb the shaking. Even the Potestas members huddled on the side of the cavern have frowns of fear at the phenomena.

  I finally hold a cluster of thick brown strands in my hands. I’m certain that when I pull it away from my body, the rest will slither out and follow the cluster. I take a deep breath―I hope I’m right in my theory―and tug gently away from my body.

  My eyes darken. Sound muffles then winks out entirely, leaving only a void of silence. I feel nothing, not the clothes on my body nor the discomfort of my injuries. My senses have disappeared.

  Instead, the world exists as if I’m in a lauvan cable. I can sense the strands of everything around me. The barrier looms large, its elemental lauvan fiercely strong. Clusters of other strands bob about the cave, indicating the location of my friends and the Potestas members. Alejandro’s lauvan, his life essence, is clear in front of me. Although I can’t feel my arms to move them, I concentrate on pushing my cluster of human strands up and closer to Alejandro’s. My body must respond, for my cluster drapes over Alejandro’s and latches on as if happy to find a body once more.

  I am now free of my human lauvan and concentrate on moving toward the barrier. My spirit strands remain in the approximate shape of a human body, so I presume my physical form is walking with me. The elemental strands of the barrier boil angrily at my approach, but I continue. As I pass through, they attack as one.

  My lauvan are pushed and battered, but there is no pain―I have little connection with my body in my current form, beyond motion―so the spirits’ attack is less effective now. I endure the barrage of sensation for a moment, sensation that is entirely new to me, as it has no connection to the five senses I am used to. I gather my will, my concentration, my desire to get through, and with a mighty force, I push. The spirits soar away from me, their confusion evident in my mind. The last to go are a few stalwart earth spirits, who seem more stubborn than most, but I have their number. I’m part earth spirit too, and I can dig my heels in with the best of them. At the insistence of my pushing, they eventually release their hold and fly away.

  My focus is now on Minnie. Her lauvan call me from the center of the dome. I can sense them shivering with fear, and dancing with excitement at my approach. I wish I could interact with her somehow, tell her it will be all right, even simply smile in reassurance, but I don’t know how to control my body beyond forcing it forward. It will have to be enough.

  Her strands reach out to me, yearning. My own respond willingly. Now, how to take her out of this barrier? Above us, the swirling elementals have reached feverish motions, and every few seconds, all strands shake from earth tremors. Whatever the ceremony entails, it is almost complete. I must remove Minnie before it is too late.

  Her human lauvan won’t tolerate passing through the barrier. The spirits will attack and destroy her. But what if I could protect her? I will my arms to collect her strands, comb over her body until they are central in a cluster on her front. I am as gentle as possible, but the disruption must affect Minnie, for the cluster drops as if she has collapsed on the ground. I hope I can get her through on my own.

  I push my senseless arms to wrap around the space where I estimate her body to be and lift until her cluster is chest height once more. I will myself to move to the edge of the dome. On the way, my spirit strands weave themselves around and over Minnie’s cluster. It’s the only protection that I can think of. I hope it is enough.

  The spirits wait for me at the barrier. Their agitation is palpable. They are already fired up from the near-completion of the ceremony, and now I threaten to take away a key piece at the crucial juncture. They attack with everything they have.

  I bend under the onslaught, but it’s not only my own survival that I defend. Minnie relies on me, and that thought fuels my rage. I force every scrap of willpower I can muster into my defense. They’re strong, too strong, and I waver.

  Then I think of Minnie’s beautiful eyes gazing into mine, and her declaration.

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  I push back with everything I have. One by one, the spirits falter and fall away. When the last one whirls away in a flutter of strands, we burst through the other side.

  Alejandro’s strands are right there, surrounded by my own brown threads. I try to lower Minnie’s body carefully to the ground, then reach out to grab my own strands. They slide away from Alejandro as if eager to rejoin their spirit counterparts. I mash them in hastily―they will fall into place on their own―and when my sight and arm dexterity return, I comb Minnie’s lauvan back into place.

  Sound reappears, shouting that has little meaning to me. As the dimness of my eyes fades, Minnie’s supine body appears. She is pale and unmoving and looks so fragile. I tease her strands outward as gently as I can. When they are in place, she still hasn’t woken. I
stand and survey the cave.

  Potestas members press against the wall of the cavern, tied together by their wrists and guarded by Liam. The barrier is gone. Did the spirits leave when their mission had no chance of being completed? Anna is pinned to the ground by Wayne, who wraps duct tape around her ankles while she curses. Gary holds Esme’s hands behind her back. She looks angry but resigned.

  Jen is in a tug-of-war with March over the grail. March’s look of livid concentration is matched by Jen’s fierce purpose. They aim kicks at each other, but neither gives an inch.

  I start toward them. March looks over at my approach. Her eyes widen. She gives one more attempt at a pull, which Jen counters, then she lets go and turns to run. Jen flies backward with the grail and lands on her bottom with a gasp.

  March is gone in a flash, scrambling up the embankment and disappearing into the tunnel. I reach down to pull Jen to her feet.

  “We’re letting her get away?” she asks. Incredulity raises the pitch of her voice. I shrug.

  “What does she have now? No grail, hardly any followers, a loss of trust with the spirits―she’s toothless. Let her run.”

  Jen shakes her head but doesn’t comment further. I turn to look at Minnie. To my intense relief, she is sitting up on her own. Alejandro kneels beside her and speaks in a low voice. Whatever he says must be soothing, for Minnie only nods with a dazed expression.

  “I’m sorry,” I say to Jen. She looks at me with surprise. “For the way I’ve been acting. Seeking vengeance, not only saving Minnie. Although it looks like I’m only half human, so I suppose it should be no surprise if I don’t show much humanity sometimes.”

  Jen elbows me. The familiar gesture takes me by surprise and reminds me that it has been a while since Jen has acted that way with me.