"I don't want you two to go," I said firmly. "Ruk's people told me that these things might come true. If you stay here and help Ruiz, we may be able to prevent that possibility."
They exchanged a long look.
“Lyra, I signed up for the Bureau knowing that I might one day die in battle in order to protect others,” Gina said softly. “If it were any other battle, I’d agree to sit it out, but with the stakes so high… what if you need me, and I’m not there? We can’t lose this battle. I want to do everything in my power to help, even if it means risking my life.”
Zach sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes went serious, the mirth in them lost. "Gina’s right. I know you’re worried, but we’ll take precautions. From what you said, it’s only a possibility. How is this different from any other battle?”
"I much prefer fighting to remaining behind," Gina added. "It’s kind to think of me and your brother, but we’ve realized that we can’t help as much at the Bureau anymore. We don’t want to stay behind." I stared at them. My brow furrowed with confusion. They seemed… calm. Resolved?
"I don't understand. You can prevent disaster by just staying here." I shook my head. "Why do you think that fighting is better than potentially saving your life?"
Gina and Zach glanced at one another. It was the kind of look I knew well, because it was the same one I often exchanged with Dorian. It hummed with a thread of understanding between them. Cold water poured over my confusion and left me numb.
"You've already discussed dying in battle," I guessed. It flew out of my mouth. Gina nodded soberly.
"We knew there were risks when we signed up for the Bureau life. We knew the risks when we went rogue with you." Her eyes glistened for a moment. "Zach and I often talked about the upcoming battle while you were gone. We've already accepted that we might die."
Of course. It was a conversation I’d had with Dorian myself at various points during our journey. Had Zach and Gina clung to each other in the night, discussing what it might be like to live without the other? My heart broke for a moment, and I felt a rush of shame. My journey always felt so immediate. I often risked my own life with a borderline frenzied obsession in order to move on to the next step of our plan. I had become self-centered in my obsessive rage against Irrikus and the Immortal Council. Gina and Zach were ex-soldiers, just like me. They knew what they were doing.
"This doesn’t change anything we knew from the beginning," Gina assured me gently. “We still need to go. I know it will be hard on your parents, but they’ll understand.”
Zach reached out and flicked my knee. "You can't keep us from the fight."
A sad smile played across my face. He was right. There was nothing I could do if they wanted to come. They were good warriors, and we needed them. Still, I clung to hope and added, "Maybe knowing will allow us to prevent it from happening."
"We'll try," Zach promised. "But we need to be on this mission and see it through."
There was one more task we had to do, and there was no sense putting it off. In the somber air, I pulled out my new phone to call our parents. Zach wiped his hands clean from his work of packing explosives as I dialed their number. It was time to tell them that he and I were headed back to the Immortal Plane. My mother answered first and went to fetch my father.
"What's wrong?" Mom asked. She must've already heard the tightness in our voices. Leave it to mothers to pick up on the smallest clues. After we told them, there was a long silence. For a moment, I thought they might've dropped the phone.
"We knew this would happen," my father confessed. His voice was croaky with emotion. "We just hoped we'd be able to work together for a while here, first."
"Here?" I echoed. I had no idea what he was talking about.
"The Bureau evacuated the few civilians in the area," my mother cut in. I could almost picture her blue eyes staring at my father. "They've taken over Black Rock. It's in western Utah and was basically a ghost town up until now. It's directly in the path of the expanded tear. The Bureau's board called for employees to relocate temporarily to the Black Rock base so we can support them with our technology and logistical operations."
"They're studying the tear from there," Dad added. "They also want to be prepared in case more monsters manage to slip through."
My mind raced. My parents were heading into this mess? Zach grabbed the phone and angled it closer toward him.
"You're putting yourself in front of that storm?" he asked, sharp-tongued.
My mother snorted uncharacteristically. "You've done nothing but the same for the last year! We want to help the Bureau's effort. Don’t forget, we’ve been doing this kind of thing since before you were born."
Zach and I exchanged a tense look. It might be hypocritical for us to condemn our parents when we were about to plunge headfirst into harm's way, but neither of us liked this. I sighed.
"We’ll be leaving tomorrow… We love you," I told them.
My mother let out a tearful breath. "I'm just sorry that we haven't been able to see you since before you went missing, Lyra." Her words wavered with grief. "I didn't know whether you were alive on your birthday."
My birthday? I hadn't even thought about it. My age felt meaningless to me at this point, but it hurt to know that I’d missed a celebration with my parents, especially because I couldn’t see them again before I left. I didn’t know if I would be returning this time…
"I'll do my best to contact you guys as soon as this is over." It was the only thing I could think to say as my mother dried her tears on the other end of the line. Definitely not the time to mention my engagement…
My father took the phone while my mother collected herself. "You two be safe out there. You mean more than the world to us, you know."
* * *
The next morning, our group gathered on a flock of redbills. Drigar preened his feathers as we loaded him down with supplies. Bryce had arranged it so that our strongest fighters traveled lightest, in case we needed to break apart and attack any oncoming enemies. Unfortunately, the tear itself was more of a threat than oncoming hunters. I doubted they would be anywhere near the tear on the other side, since the training camp had given the last group a beating that Irrikus wouldn’t soon forget.
We took off. I surveyed our troops as we ascended. Every redbill carried supplies. Bryce had specifically warned us to make sure the birds stayed clear of the lightning, for fear the explosives they carried would result in “roasted redbill,” as he put it. We had several soldiers with us, who we’d paired with seasoned vampire refugees who were used to traveling through the tear. Gomez helped get them in line, although I suspected he didn’t know what he was in for himself.
Inkarri had been placed on the back of a redbill with Kane, who seemed both pissed and flattered to be tasked with guard duty for the ruler. Her sheer size was awkward on the redbill, but Kane’s strong frame helped to support her weakened body. Still, she lifted her head with as much dignity as she could.
I’d been surprised to see Sonia among our group this morning. She’d joined at the last possible moment, volunteering her services as a medic and researcher. Sonia explained that this was probably her only chance to see the Immortal Plane, expressing her desire to learn everything she was able to, in order to help the Bureau before the tear closed forever. I asked if she had family, but she just laughed and said her husband would’ve done the same, if he could’ve. I liked the determined look in her eye. She flew with Roxy and a vampire.
We flew onward to the tear. Our plan was to cross much farther away from Moab than before, closer to the southern area of the Canyonlands, where the tear seemed more stable. I hoped to avoid turbulence and silently thanked Arlonne for coming up with this strategy. I hoped she was right.
Before we entered the storm, Dorian signaled for everyone to circle up on a nearby mesa. We wanted to make sure the tear was relatively stable before we charged in. Ruk would make sure the journey was possible. Arlonne and Bryce landed on a large rock outcroppin
g underneath the nearest arm of the tear.
My heart seized as the image fell into place like a cog in a machine. I had seen this before. I cried out for Arlonne and Bryce, but I was too late. Bryce nearly fell as the rock wavered beneath them, abruptly disappearing. Immortal trees swam into view, surrounding our group for a dreadful moment. Arlonne yanked Bryce back through the vanishing rock. Their redbill stumbled onto the solid surface that still remained. Gasps and murmurs spread through our group as we witnessed the sight of Canyonland rocks, interspersed with the savage beauty of trees from the Immortal Plane.
15
Lyra
The immortal trees flickered and faded until Dorian's shifting startled me back to reality. As quickly as the unnatural trees appeared, they gave way to rocks and canyons. It was as if the Immortal Plane was merging with our Mortal Plane. Eerie storms gnawed at the sky around the tear. The tear itself looked like the mouth of a beast cracked wide open to swallow us whole. I shuddered with dread, already imagining the return trip through that monstrosity.
Arlonne guided her redbill beside us. Her face was tight with worry, and her knitted brows communicated just how frightened she was. The rock had existed one second, and then the next, it was gone. And Bryce could have been gone, too.
"I've never seen anything like that," Bryce cried over the breeze. A constant wind whipped around us, from the tear hovering above. Ruk and Sen landed nearby to take stock of the situation. The redbill's talons against the solid rock gave me some comfort. Ruk yelled over to us, a stormy expression of worry written across his red face.
"The meld is close." He ran his long fingers over his head in a frantic movement. "I can feel it. The barrier failed completely for a moment." I swallowed the grit in my throat, thinking about how terrifying it was that the tear grew more aggressive with each passing hour. We had no way of knowing when it would collapse completely; we just had to push on.
"Let's keep going," Dorian said, saying what we were all likely thinking.
Before it's too late to even try…
We aimed our redbills at the tear again and flew in a tight-knit V-formation with the entire group. Drigar circled the flock as Dorian got people and redbills into line. We turned toward the tear as a group and hovered for a moment in the air. Arlonne gave the signal, and the redbills shot toward the tear. Drigar let out a disgruntled squawk as we flew forward. I ran my hand over his feathers, sorry to have to drag him through this again. His loyalty to Dorian proved to me more than ever that we still had friends we could count on, even feathered ones.
I tried to brace myself for what the oncoming flight was about to hit us with. Over the whipping winds, I heard Arlonne growl at Bryce to hold on tight. I wrapped my arms around Dorian, and he squeezed my hand. We flew toward the tear and passed through those awful black clouds. The ozone smell came back with a vengeance. I tried to breathe shallowly. Once again, the energy of the tear flashed toward Ruk and Sen like they were lightning rods. Ruk veered to the side to guide the lightning away from us but stayed close enough that we could keep eyes on him.
The winds increased as the lightning came. The cracks of thunderbolts were so loud that I wished I'd brought earmuffs. A huge gust of wind struck us from the side, and we careened left. Soon, our group had completely split, with Ruk and Sen now trying to pull to the front to lead. The lightning stayed on them, illuminating the way forward, but the winds forced our groups farther and farther apart.
Arlonne and Bryce led one flock, Harlowe another, and Dorian and I managed to lead a third group. Dorian's body was stiff in front of me as he desperately tried to focus. He needed his concentration to imagine himself moving forward. I leaned away from him as best as I could to shout to the other groups, trying to keep our group formation together in the wild winds. My throat grew sore as I did, but Harlowe swung her bird closer to us, as did Arlonne. My heart hurt for poor Sonia. She rode with Roxy and a refugee vampire, whom she clung to desperately. Gina and Zach were paired with another vampire behind Harlowe.
Abruptly, a surge of wind came from beneath us. I gasped as my stomach went up and up. My butt left Drigar's back for a moment, and the bird surged upward to catch us. Cries rang out from everyone in the group as we were thrown like rag dolls, and the birds did their best to steady us. I clutched Dorian as I settled back onto the redbill.
"Almost there," he yelled. I concentrated on the image of the training camp in my mind, channeling just a tiny sliver of energy into the necklace to produce a counter-wind behind us. At last, we broke through a gust of ugly black wind. The smell of decaying earth struck my nostrils and burned them with the scent. I held my breath as we tumbled from the dark clouds into the forested area near the training camp and Vanim.
My heart seized as I realized how low to the ground we were. Some of the redbills lost their balance as we came flying over the treetops. One bird’s talons got caught by the trees, bunched tight together like a woven blanket of leaves. Leaves and debris flew into the air. Drigar squawked, and we barely avoided crashing into a tree, but someone else wasn't so lucky. I heard another collision with leaves as we swooped down to a nearby clearing.
Inkarri landed safely with Kane. She swung her leg off the bird and wobbled for a moment, standing on her own feet for the first time since I’d seen her in that cell. Her skin darkened as I watched, taking on its healthy shade of pale blue.
She sucked in a breath. "I'm going to help them," she told Kane, who fell in behind her with a grunt of acceptance. I followed her gaze and saw a redbill's tail feathers sticking out from a forked tree. Inkarri pulled Sonia off the redbill while Kane helped Roxy and the vampire rider. Roxy shook her red hair free of twigs as Kane set her on the ground. Inkarri looked like a giant when she set a reassuring hand on Sonia's shoulder. The woman’s face had drained of color, but she was standing, at least.
“Uh, thanks for grabbing Sonia,” Roxy offered gruffly to Inkarri, and went to help Kane get the poor redbill out of the tree. It was strange to have Inkarri on our side, but she was clearly trying to make herself useful. I wiped sweat from my brow, checking in with the others.
Everyone else in the group seemed all right, but we were missing half our flock. Arlonne, Harlowe, Ruk and Sen were nowhere to be found. Maybe their aim had been better than ours. Okay, we need to get in touch with them. Right after I made sure Sonia wasn’t going to lose it. She had started to hyperventilate, scanning the Immortal Plane and experiencing its strange effects on the senses for the first time.
"You need to pull yourself together," Inkarri told her, bluntly but not unkindly. "You're an important team member, and you were brought here for a reason. You cannot serve your purpose if you fall apart."
For a moment, I remembered the way Inkarri had desperately tried to save her falling companions in the Restless Desert, and the way she’d mourned them afterward. Inkarri's comfort was rough but oddly effective on Sonia, who straightened her shoulders and even managed a weak smile. The researcher must have found some way to connect with her while working with her in the Bureau. I just couldn’t shake the feeling of how weird it was to see Inkarri dispensing well-intentioned advice, instead of trying to gem blast us across the clearing.
Dorian and I went over to check on them. I worried for Sonia. The researcher's face had turned ghostly. She shook her head from side to side.
"I'm not sure I should've come," she muttered, and took an uneven breath. "Is it always so stuffy in this place?"
"You get used to it," I promised her as warmly as possible. I had no doubt that when we settled into the camp Sonia would find more comfort there, but she wasn't a warrior. Inkarri pulled her hand away, and I watched her carefully. So far, she hadn’t caused any problems… but I didn't trust her fully. How could I forget the many times Inkarri had tried to brutally murder Dorian and me, after all?
"I'm activating the comm to find the others," I announced. "They can't be far from here." I pressed the magical comm to my ear. It sparked to life with a soft golde
n glow, warm in my ear. Meanwhile, I rubbed Dorian's back. He slumped forward, tired, like he’d been the last time we went through the tear.
"Are you all right?"
He gave a weak nod. "I'll be better once we get to the camp."
Arlonne's voice sparked to life on the comm. "Where'd you fall?"
"Great question," I replied, glancing around. "I'm seeing a whole lot of sad trees. We're not as close to the training camp as you guys, I'm guessing. Vanim seemed closer."
Arlonne glared past me. "Can the big hunter recognize our location? She’s patrolled this land far more than we have."
The big hunter? I glanced around before realizing Arlonne was referring to Inkarri but not dignifying her with a name. "I'll ask." I looked at Inkarri. "Can you tell where we are? I bet the other group landed closer to the old hunter training camp, now our Coalition base, but it seems like we landed quite a distance away."
Inkarri hesitated for a moment. Roxy and Kane watched her warily as they smoothed down the feathers of the redbill who'd been caught in the trees. Sonia's color slowly came back into her face as Inkarri took a few steps forward, then suddenly rounded on us.
"We need to hide. I can hear the sounds of a skimmer coming toward us," she announced gruffly. "Now. In the trees. There’s a patrol coming.”
We scrambled into the woods without another word. Swiftly, Inkarri hauled us behind a man-sized bush several yards into the trees and pulled several branches into place to hide us. I noted that she was careful to only touch the bush with her gloves, which currently had no magic. She motioned for everyone to huddle together. The redbills plucked at nearby berries. A soft thud of footsteps came from a short distance away. They must have landed their skimmer nearby. They grew closer for a moment, and the redbills chirped, as if upset that someone was interrupting their scavenging.
Darklight 7: Darkfall Page 15