A Dome of Blood

by Bella Forrest

  “I walked through the redwood forest with my parents, back in The Shade,” I said. “Then I was having dinner with Hunter. Then I got here. We’re in Hawaii, right?”

  “We’re right where you wanted to be.”

  “In a movie theater, with a throng of paparazzi and adoring fans outside?” I replied, raising a most sarcastic eyebrow.

  “Dreams aren’t meant to be taken literally, Kailani. You should know that by now. They’re a distorted reflection of your subconscious. Your deepest desires, translated in elements you’ve seen out there, in the real world,” the Word said. “You should look past the glitz and the glamour, past the food and the vintage cars, past the people you think you know and love. Peel away at the layers, then tell me what you see. What is left is what you want.”

  That made me think. But the Word was right—shockingly.

  If I were to go back through everything I’d seen in this peculiar dream state, and if I looked beyond the obvious and the familiar, I was left with things that made me happy like nothing else. In the redwoods, I found tranquility and knowledge. At the terrace in Hawaii, I found comfort and a light heart. Outside the movie theater, I found adoration, respect, and sheer awe.

  It took me a while to figure it all out, as I went over my actions—everything I’d done, from the moment I’d first met Lumi, until I’d made the decision to become a swamp witch.

  “What drives me?” I asked myself out loud.

  “What do you want, Kailani?”

  I raised a hand to shush the Word. I realized I did it a second too late. Thankfully, the Word didn’t seem to mind. “Hold on,” I whispered.

  Closing my eyes, I let everything go for a moment. All my fears and desires came tumbling down, intertwined in hot and cold threads that made every atom of my body vibrate. I followed the threads into the deep unknown of Kailani… and, at the very end, I saw everything so clearly, it brought tears to my eyes.

  The silhouette cocked its head to the side, as if fascinated by my reaction.

  I couldn’t help but laugh lightly, shaking my head in astonishment.

  Minutes went by in utter silence, but neither of us was bothered by it. At least I had the momentum here. I had the clarity for which I’d been subconsciously yearning for months, if not years.

  “It’s funny what a moment of silence will do to one’s brain,” I said.

  “What do you want, Kailani?”

  “Good grief, you sound like a broken record!” I retorted, fearless and more determined than ever to snap out of this blackout and get back to business. People were relying on me, dammit. “First of all, you need to stop messing around in my heart. No amount of Word mojo will ever change the fact that I love Hunter like I’ve never loved anyone before. I love my parents. My grandparents, on both sides. Elonora. Heck, even Snow-Mountain Nevis. I love them all. So maybe quit fiddling with my emotions, okay?”

  “I’m surprised to hear you still have feelings of any kind,” the Word replied. “This dream state is the last stage of your apprenticeship, where you must remove yourself from anything that might tie you down. This is where your fate is decided. Where I determine whether you deserve to be a swamp witch or not. Whether I should wipe all your memories forever simply for talking to me in such a disrespectful manner… or not.”

  Fear clutched my throat. My heart got tiny, a painful marble beating well beyond its capability. I’d pissed the Word off. I could add that to my repertoire of “Things Kailani Does When She Blows a Fuse.”

  But I was too far down this road to go back. This was my one chance to make something of myself, in the eyes of the universe. In the eyes of everyone who needed me or who would need me in the years to come.

  “You’ll never be able to wipe the love from my heart,” I said, more determined than ever.

  “Fine. Let’s work with that. I suppose your witch genes are more powerful than I originally thought,” the Word replied. “Tell me. What do you want?”

  As if saying it for the first time, with more pathos than I’d ever been able to summon before, I let loose.

  “I want to be a swamp witch, like none before me ever were. I want to serve the Word and the universe. I want to help people, especially those who can’t help themselves. I want the knowledge of everything that was, is, and ever will be to surge through me like wildfire. I want to wake up, perform a most awesome bilocation spell, and destroy anyone who stands between me and my freedom. I want to hold Hunter in my arms and tell him how much I love him. I want my parents and my grandparents to live long lives, happy and at peace. I want the Perfects to get a better shot at life, without the poison of their creator clouding their judgment. I want freedom for the Faulties, who are beautiful in every single aspect of their biological and aesthetic diversity. I want the Draenir to call Strava their home again. I want… I want everything! And if I can’t have everything, I want nothing!”

  By the time I was done talking, my knees were made of jelly, and my hands were shaking. I’d let it rip, and it felt incredible. By saying all those words, I’d removed an entire mountain of pressure from my chest. I took a deep breath again, only, this time, it felt like my first—like the air I’d inhaled as soon as I’d come out of my mother’s womb.

  Pure. Perfect. Unforgettable.

  The shadow dissolved, like black ink in a glass of water, until a clear figure emerged. I recognized the champagne-colored sequin dress. The diamond earrings. The chocolate curls. The orchid behind her right ear. It was me.

  Well, a peculiar version of me, with white, glowing eyes.

  Inside me, peace reigned. Bliss flooded my consciousness as I gazed upon myself. The Word was me, in more ways than one.

  “You continue to surprise me, Kailani,” the Word-me said.

  She glowed from the inside, as if thousands of fireflies buzzed beneath her caramel skin. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen, and it had nothing to do with my vanity. She could’ve looked like a ghoul, for all I cared. It was as though I was looking at the truest form of the Word, and it was so stunning that I found myself crying.

  “I knew I was doing the right thing when I took a chance on you,” the Word-me added, smiling. There was so much warmth emanating from her. Liquid sunshine bottled up in this superbly crafted version of me. “If we do this, Kailani, there will be no turning back. I will open the doors of the universe to you. Not all at once, of course. It will take a million lifetimes for you to understand and learn everything. Then, by that time, there will be a million more lifetimes to learn everything new that has, since this moment, happened. Being one with the Word will not be easy. Sacrifices will be made. And you’ll need a strong stomach for what comes next.”

  I nodded once. “I’m ready.”

  “You must be ready to let go of the people you love, too, when the time comes,” the Word said.

  “Can we just cross that bridge when we get there?”

  I was eager to get this over with. Had my circumstances been different, I would’ve certainly enjoyed the full pump of a final swamp witch initiation. But the clock was ticking out there, in the real world. I was needed.

  Word-me scoffed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Now, any last words?”

  “What… What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly confused.

  “These are your last moments as… Kailani. Once I open myself to you, you will die and become something else entirely.”

  There was no more time left to waste. On top of that, I had a feeling the Word would appreciate what I was about to do, later. I didn’t think about it for a second. With a heart filled with love and a mind driven by clarity and sheer strength of will, I darted forward.

  The move took Word-me by surprise.

  I wrapped my arms around her, and I held her tight, welcoming everything with nothing but joy. I exploded like a star. Every atom of me was conscious and fully aware as the dream state warped out and opened into the endless string of universes.

  I was a spark. I was a fli
cker of life. A thread of Kailani. A particle of love.

  Above it all, I was the Word.

  Elonora

  Time seemed to move slower than usual. Much like a snail on a windshield under the midday sun. Tick… then, an hour later… tock. Even my breathing felt heavy, as I, like the others in the diamond dome, waited for Kailani to wake up.

  We’d worked hard to get this far. So much was hanging in the balance.

  Surrendering and pretending to be prisoners had been our best option in this war against Ta’Zan. We wouldn’t have done it if Amal hadn’t provided us with the collar cheat codes, despite Ben and Rose’s predilection to do it anyway, since their mother’s life was at stake. None of this was easy on any of us.

  “When did Araquiel check in with us last?” Nevis asked me, keeping his voice low.

  The silence in the dome was almost deafening. We were all sitting down, knees to our chests, waiting for our luck to finally turn. We’d been through enough already.

  “About ten minutes ago,” I replied, checking my watch.

  The comms line was open and quiet. Using my True Sight, I glanced around the diamond dome. I could see Herakles, the Faulties, and the Draenir out by the southwest entrance. They’d scattered farther into the woods in order to reduce their casualties. The jungle was their friend and protector. It was their home when Ta’Zan kicked the rogues out.

  The trees and the thick, rich foliage helped conceal the more vulnerable fighters. It also made it easier for the Draenir to fire their pulverizer weapons, then bounce from branch to branch, avoiding detection. There were plenty on the ground, dead in pools of their own blood.

  Isda had told us that the upper-echelon Perfects were equipped with pulverizer weapons of their own. It was only a matter of time before they’d rush to assist their southwest-exit guards. Then, the tide would turn, and not in our favor. Our offensive time was limited, and the more time Kailani spent out cold, the smaller that window got for everyone involved.

  “They’ll be done soon,” Nevis said. “With the explosive charges, I mean.”

  “I know.” I sighed, then looked at Kailani.

  Still soft in Hunter’s arms, her eyes glowed like two stars. Her body hummed gently, and the sound made me quiver. I could only imagine what was going through her head, or what she was doing there, deep in her subconscious.

  Lumi, Corrine, and Ibrahim sat by her side, staring at her. Waiting.

  “We’re almost done with the mass memory wiper,” Amal announced through the comms channel. “But we haven’t seen Ta’Zan in over an hour. We don’t know where he is.”

  I pressed the main button on my earpiece. “I don’t think it matters where he is. Once the charges get detonated, over seventy percent of this place will go down. Hopefully, he’ll get jammed in the rubble. Squished like a bug.”

  “You’ve disabled your collars already, huh?” Amal replied dryly.

  “I couldn’t take the heat. Besides, as long as they’re on, we’re fine,” I said.

  “Once they come off, you’ll have to move fast to get them on your copies,” Amal reminded me. “They are all connected to a central system. I only made them to be monitored on a basic level, as in, whether they’re on or not. I’m not tracking their functions, nor did I allow for them to be used as recorders.”

  “You played dumb, in other words,” I said, smirking.

  “More like… I blamed my sister’s absence for my inability to upgrade the collars more,” she said.

  “Smart move. Comes in handy now.” I sighed, even more aware of Amal’s previously hidden efforts to sabotage Ta’Zan from the inside.

  “How is Kailani?” she asked.

  “Still out,” I replied. “I don’t know for how long. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Just let us know when the charges are about to go off. Amane and I will be ready.”

  “I will. Thank you,” I said.

  Dmitri came on the line. I could see him sitting about twenty yards from us, huddled with his grandparents, Jovi, and Anjani. The gloom on his face said more than his words ever would. He was miserable without Douma.

  “Have you seen Douma recently?” he asked.

  “Not since we last saw her and Raphael,” Amal replied. “Isda is supposed to deliver their food soon. I made sure to slip her a skeleton key. It opens any glass box. I made it before you guys took me, but I never had a chance to test it. We’ll need Ta’Zan to be busy or away from their room, though, if we want a clean escape.”

  “Or, alternatively, let them out as soon as the charges go off,” Ben interjected on the line.

  I searched for him in the crowd. He and Rose were sitting with Derek and Sofia, closer to the center, surrounded by most of the prisoners. They seemed like beacons of hope, in a way, as the majority of those stuck in this place looked to them for a direction.

  “They’re strong and will be fast to make their way out as soon as the diamond structure starts collapsing,” Rose added.

  “Yes. I agree,” Amal said. “I will let Isda know. Ta’Zan gave me a calling device for Isda. I’m in awe of how willingly he trusts her, when she’s literally the most loyal to the outsiders.”

  “She’s worked hard to get to this point,” Derek muttered, not necessarily for Amal to hear, but rather for our clarity. “She kept her nose clean and didn’t get involved.”

  “Amal did help by not ratting her out about the rebellion, though, didn’t she?” Rose asked, and Derek replied with a nod. “Okay, Amal, we’ll stand by for news from you and the others. Hopefully, Kailani will wake up soon.”

  A click followed. Amal was offline.

  Shifting my focus back to Kailani, I felt as though I was watching a movie I wholeheartedly hated. I was being forced into a scene I didn’t want to be a part of. Kailani was one of my closest friends. Her heart was mine, and my heart was hers. It had been like this for years, now. I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again, or, worse, of this whole swamp witch apprenticeship making irreversible changes to the wonderful creature that she already was.

  “We have to address the possibility of her not waking up in time,” Nevis spoke up. “I know nobody wants to consider this, but we clearly have to.”

  “She’ll wake up!” Corrine snapped, obviously aggravated.

  “I’m not saying she won’t. She always does,” Nevis replied. “But the timing is now critical.”

  “Give her a little more time—” Hunter tried to say, but was abruptly interrupted by Kailani wheezing as she took a deep breath. It sounded like the first after minutes underwater. “Holy crap!”

  “Kale! Baby!” Corrine exclaimed.

  In a split second, Kailani was sitting up, panting as if she’d just run a marathon. Her curly hair covered most of her face, and her hands were shaking slightly. Hunter tried to hug her, but she gently pushed him back.

  “Give me a moment,” she murmured.

  I shot to my feet, my blood rushing to my head. That didn’t sound like Kailani. Not the Kailani I knew, anyway. Her voice was raspier and lower, quite different from her usual vibrant tone.

  “Honey! Are you okay?” Corrine asked, wide-eyed as she looked at her granddaughter.

  One by one, the others in our crew, along with the rest of the prisoners, got up. Derek, Sofia, Xavier, Vivienne, Lucas, Marion, Cameron, and Liana motioned for everyone to maintain their position and not get too close.

  “Give her room to breathe,” Derek said out loud.

  “We don’t want to tip off anyone watching us,” Xavier added.

  I completely agreed.

  “Kale. Talk to me,” Hunter murmured, visibly concerned.

  Kailani finally looked up, and my whole world was temporarily shaken. She looked like Kailani, but she wasn’t the person I knew anymore. Something fundamental had changed inside her. There was a faint, peculiar golden glow that had settled into her tanned skin. Her breathing was now even, and her eyes…

  “Your eyes,” I said, pointing a
t her.

  Corrine and Ibrahim followed my gaze, then stilled.

  “Oh, something’s definitely different,” Ibrahim croaked.

  “She’s transformed,” Lumi replied, beaming with pride as she took Kailani’s hands and helped her stand up.

  Kailani’s caramel eyes were gone. The pupils were pearly white, with a golden contour—much like Lumi’s, with the only difference being that Lumi’s pupil contours were blue. But the energy oozing out of her was the most noticeable change of all.

  Judging by the expressions around me, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

  “Kale… Talk to us,” Corrine said, her voice trembling. Fear and curiosity burned through her aura, but love was still the predominant shade. I had a feeling that, no matter what happened to Kailani, Corrine and Ibrahim would still love her more than anything in the world. The same could be said about Arwen and Brock. Hunter. Heck, all of us who knew her.

  “Grandma,” Kailani replied. There it was! That change in her voice! It was permanent. I knew, deep down, that Kailani would never sound like her old self ever again. “I’m… I’m okay.”

  “The Word accepted her,” Lumi said. “Her chrysalis stage is complete.”

  “She’s a full swamp witch, now,” Ibrahim concluded.

  The moment we’d all been practically praying for had ultimately arrived. Despite the fears and constant concern. Despite the knot in my stomach whenever she blacked out. Despite everything! Kailani had pulled through, and she’d come out victorious in the end, with the power of the Word flowing through her.

  Kailani

  I’d fused with the Word.

  The bond between us was unbreakable. My existence in this world had become indelible. I was infinitely stronger, more confident in my powers, and, most importantly, more awake than ever. Everything was crystal clear. Every atom, every molecule, and every damn particle around me—they all made sense.

  Every word that was ever written. Every breath taken. Every sunset and sunrise… Good grief, there was so much of this entire universe that I was deeply connected to!