Crusade Across Worlds (23 page)

Reid shoots back easily but another Musko
appears and another and soon, a thick blanket of the army sits
overhead, like an armed ceiling for our escape.

“They’re trying to block us in,” I squeeze
Reid just as an orange blast shoots past, nearly hitting the
Muskos. But they move in time, firing back down at us and the
encroaching Gorgen below. Reid swerves to the side and the Rogues
follow, but with the turn of direction, we’ve entered the area
above the fields.

My heart stops.

It’s a whole nest of them. Black limbs crawl
over one another, launching themselves up, colliding into the
Muskos and Arizals that fire at each other with white blasts. How
they thought this could work is beyond me. Both sides are being
pummeled by the giant, beastly creatures. Orange sludge flies
through the water, igniting screams as Mybyncian and Millix bodies
fall into the wavering green stocks below.

“We’ve got to move!” Reid shouts, jerking us
to the left, then to the right again.

I’m about to demand our return to the city
when I notice something up ahead. It’s another rock formation, just
like the several surrounding the field, but this one sits in the
direct center of the nest, nearly camouflaged by the tall,
billowing Dilly weeds. None of the Gorgens are near it—they’re too
busy fighting their intruders, spitting orange acid and leaping
onto herds of smaller bodies. But something is moving around the
central boulder. I squint, trying to get a better view, but with
the helmet, it’s difficult to make out. And then, as quickly as I
noticed it, the movement disappears.

Lalu, what is that place up there?

She dodges back, avoiding a blast of orange
sludge.
It is the Gorgens’ home.

I thought this was the Gorgens’ home? Here.
This field.

They breed and nest and feed here.
But
that
is their origin
, she swims higher,
that is
where they first emerged.

Is there an entrance?

Yes.

Then that’s it. That’s where the Gift
is.

“Reid,” I point past his face. “Over there.
That’s where the Shadow Bag is. There’s an entrance.”

“What?” Doubt colors his tone. “That
rock?”

I nod, even though he can’t see me. “That’s
where it is. We have to go—if only to keep Perio from getting
it.”

“You found it, Fallon?” Able asks then darts
to the side, narrowly avoiding a white blast. “
Holy son of a
bitch
that was close! If there’s an indoors anywhere around
here, I say let’s go!”

“We don’t know what’s in there,” Tucker
says.

“We sure as hell know what’s out here,”
Walker quips.

“I vote inside!” Werzo shouts. “Like
now
!”

A bright orange flare comes straight for us
but we all duck at the last second, waves of water rippling us
closer.

“Alright,” Reid decides, motioning Lalu
forward. “Come on!”

We take off for the rock formation in the
middle of the field. Once we shoot pass the last few Gorgens on the
outskirts, we head for the dark structure in the distance, and to
the black gap toward the bottom, nearly camouflaged in the wavering
green stocks. The opening sits maybe six feet in height and less
than that in width. Reid dismounts from Lalu and swims up to the
opaque darkness. He peeks in and then glances back at me. Anything
could be in there. Anything. Perio, the Muskos, baby Gorgens
waiting for willing prey to wander in. There’s no way of knowing.
But the Gift—the ancient Shadow Bag offered to this World eons
ago—sits somewhere in its dark depths. I know it. We’ve made it all
the way here, and we’re too close to turn back now.

Armed with his Enidd, Reid enters first. I
follow and Walker and the Rogues enter after us, blackness taking
over. Outside, in the Gorgen Field, the water is lit up with white
and orange blasts but in here, there’s nothing. No light. No way of
telling if we—

A blast shoots overhead and we duck, grazing
the rock floor.

“Strange that our Gift is hidden in such a
place, no?” Perio’s voice calls from the other side of the
blackness. “Although…perhaps it is not so strange after all. The
Shadow Bag is hidden amongst the darkest of the shadows. Perhaps…it
was more obvious than we realized.”

Another bright flare comes our way, hitting
the rock structure behind us and sending pieces crumbling. Water
ripples around and suddenly Werzo shouts, a string of curses
following.

“What hap—your leg!” Booker announces.
“Boss, Werzo’s stuck.”

“Did someone get hurt?” Varielle pouts, the
tiniest hint of remorse in her voice. “Too bad. I was hoping for
everyone.”

“Booker,” Reid keeps his words low, “get the
rocks off Werzo’s leg. Able, Jace, help him. Then get back to the
city.”

“But—”

“Now.”

“It is not wise to send away half your party
when you are here in the dark with us.”

“Yes…” Varielle coos. “You should let them
stay so we can kill you all at once.”

“Fuck you, you psychotic murdering bitch,”
Tucker fires his Enidd into the blackness ahead.

It lights up the space for only seconds at a
time, like bolts of lightning illuminating a night sky. But in the
few seconds of visibility, Perio and Varielle’s faces appear closer
than I expect. They’re maybe twenty feet away and on the opposite
side of a soaring boulder that sits between us, right in the middle
of the tight space. The rock is constructed like a pyramid, growing
narrower as it rises, with a flat shelf occupying where the tip
would be—maybe thirty feet up in the water.

“Best not to fire that unless you can see,”
Perio’s voice is menacingly low.

“And you can?” Walker asks as Jace, Able and
Booker work on lifting the rocks from Werzo. He grunts from the
pain, but they get him free easily enough, and together, the four
move back through the narrow gap behind us.

“This is my home,” Perio says. “Not
yours.”

“And you’re attacking it,” Tucker growls,
rage boiling in every word. “You killed Sansa…Queen Ravan…you tried
killing all your people with the Nhazual—”

“We are
cleansing
,” Varielle snaps, a
sense of hysteria in her tone. “This World has gone astray! My
family were traitors to their own people! I am righting their
wrongs; I am restoring what they have dishonored!”

“You’re bat-shit crazy is what you are,”
Walker says.

“You think the Shadow Bag will kill all the
Arizals?” Tucker growls again. “It won’t work for you. You need the
other Gifts.”

“Oh I am aware of how it works. That is why
when Reuzkimpart secures the Floating Ruby, I will slit his throat
and take it from him.”

“You still won’t have the last Gift,” I say.
“The Glass Chamber was destroyed.”

“I do not need to know what I want,” he
scoffs. “The most ridiculous of Gifts. I
know
what I want to
do. I just need to know how and with what.”

“You’re outnumbered,” Tucker says. “There
are four of us and two of you. And we’re at the only entrance.”

“You think you have outsmarted me?” The
Musko laughs and then his voice grows bored. “Younger creatures can
be so dumb.”

A sharp zap hits my back, immobilizing me.
My instinct is to scream, but I have no voice, no way of
responding. I drift to the ground, helpless, vulnerable. Reid
curses and then another body falls next to mine—I think it’s
Tucker. White blasts flash back and forth but I’m too distracted.
Everything is numb, like my body isn’t mine, like I’m just a pair
of eyes, lying here, watching this.

A terrifying thought hits me.

Oh God…what if I’m paralyzed?

Sampson, we’re at the Gorgen Fields. There’s
a rock formation in the middle and an entrance that leads inside.
The Shadow Bag is here.

You are sure?

We’re here. But Perio and Varielle are too.
Reid and Walker are fighting them but Tucker and me…we’re hit. I-I
don’t know. I can’t feel my body.

Stay calm. I’m nearly there.

You are?

Maris and the others are watching the city.
Clarence and I are almost there. We’ll get you out.

I try looking at Tucker, but I can’t feel my
head. I can’t feel anything except for my eyes, which continue to
dart about, watching the fight as it flashes with each white blast
above me. Reid and Walker shoot past the center boulder that holds
the Shadow Bag, lighting up the other end of the small cave and
sending rock crumbling around the Muskos.

Reid glances over at me. “Fallon!”

My lips won’t move. I can’t tell him that I
can’t feel or move a thing. I also can’t tell him that Sampson and
Clarence are on their way. Right now, I’m useless.

Reid continues shooting at Perio and
Varielle when a painful cry erupts and Walker falls next to Tucker,
motionless.

Shit
.

It’s Reid against the two of them. How much
longer can he—

And then Reid is on the ground next to me,
his eyes piercing mine with panic. An eerily chipper laugh rings
through the darkness and the next moment, a bright white glow
illuminates the tiny underwater cave. Perio and Varielle are at the
other end of it, and casually making their way over, the Musko
leader presents a hand-held object shaped similarly to the Enidd.
Except it’s glowing white and filled with some soft, jelly-like
liquid.

“Word of advice: if you are going to follow
your enemy into a dark corner, make sure you bring the better
weapon,” he smirks. Swimming between us, Perio examines our
motionless states with satisfaction. “Do you like how that feels?
It is my own creation—a serum that immobilizes you, yet you are
able to feel every ounce of pain I wish to inflict,” his gaze falls
on me. “Shall we start with the female?”

Grabbing the front of my suit, Perio jerks
me from the ground and my arms fall back.

“So many ways…” he sighs. “I could remove
the headgear and watch her turn blue as she drowns. But that is…too
fast. Would you not agree? Hmm…” he strokes his chin in
contemplation. “Any removal of the suit and it would crush her
bones…a definite possibility, but she would most likely pass out or
die from too much crushing pressure and I need her awake for
this.”

Sampson…please hurry.

“So many options…”

“Just kill her and get it over with,”
Varielle snaps. “There are three more to play with.”

“Oh this is not a game, sweet princess. This
is justice.”

“You can seek justice on all three. In fact,
I believe
that
,” she points at Tucker with disgust, “is the
human who had the audacity to court Ariana.”

Still clutching me, Perio scowls. “Filthy
mongrel. I shall save you for last. You can watch your friends die
and then I will feed you to the Gorgens.”

“We must make this quick, Perio. The
fighting will not last too much longer,” Varielle swims for the top
of the central boulder and after a moment, returns with a
seaweed-knit bag like the kind we used to collect the Dilly. “If
you wish to take your time, bring the humans back and we can give a
show to the Muskos. They deserve a reward for their service.”

“Hmm…” he scratches his chin again. “Perhaps
you are right. We shall bring the mongrel back and fillet him
alive. That will prove entertaining indeed. But you,” he snarls at
me. “
You
will die here, female. You tried to convince my
Ariana that I was evil, that she should be with a human—a
human!
”

“Perio—quickly.”

“Shall I fillet you, too?” his livid eyes
flicker between mine. “Cut you up piece by piece and feed you to my
army? That would serve for your misdeeds. Or should I just slit
your throat?” he retrieves a black blade. “So many options…”

Sampson!

“There are many things I would like to do to
you, but I am afraid I need to make this quick. Have no fear,” he
brings the blade to my throat, right below my helmet, “I will make
this as painful as possible.”

A loud boom erupts and Perio hisses,
dropping me and the blade.

“Hands off, asshole!” Pratt fires her Enidd
again, knocking him back a second time. She keeps going, firing
round after round until Perio finally jerks behind the boulder for
shelter.

“Why you little…” Varielle jumps out just as
Sampson and Clarence race in, Enidds raised and pointed.

White blasts fill the cave again and
suddenly, Arizal Mybyncians rush in, filling the small space.
Varielle and Perio back up as far as they can, scanning their
limited options. Grabbing something from his side, Perio retrieves
the same tiny sphere-like object that Lolin threw at us during our
first night in the FH. He tosses it up. When the device reaches the
ceiling, it explodes, sending pieces of rock crumbling down. I’m
shifted back, cradled by someone’s arms as black dust settles.

“No!” I hear Varielle scream. “I have
dropped it!”

“Now!”

“But we must—”

“NOW!” Perio roars and the two of them swim
out of the new opening above, taking the light with them.
Everything is opaquely dark again.

“Fallon?” Clarence calls.

I can’t speak…but I’m here. Someone has
me.

A white blast goes off and in that fleeting
moment, Clarence spots me along with Reid, Tucker and Walker, who
are propped up beside me. “Pratt,” he turns to her, “I need you to
stand here and shoot upward every three seconds. Right into that
hole they blasted. Understand?”

“Yup,” she says and fires the first
round.

In the flash of light, I see Clarence making
his way over.

You can’t speak
, he says,
why
can’t you speak? What did he do to you?

Shot us with something. Some serum that
immobilizes us. Says he made it himself.

Another flash of light and he’s in front of
me.

Well, if it’s home-made, I’m sure it’s
not permanent. We’ll have the Healers take a look
, he sweeps
his arms under me and cradles me against his chest.