SURVIVAL
Thanatophobia (noun): fear of death.
DAY 36, HOUR 3
Through our guardian-angel connection, I saw through Aran’s eyes.
She was surrounded by dozens of infected, pain radiated through her body from multiple contusions, and Sadie was naked on the ground behind her.
She crouched low and inhaled enchanted smoke.
She swept over the infected with a disturbing nonchalance as she analyzed the situation. Her thoughts were freakishly calm.
“Where are you?” I screamed through our connection, but the sound was jumbled and fuzzy.
Helplessness filled me.
Please not now.
I choked on guilt. It was my fault that our connection was inconsistent.
Desperate to do something, I grabbed my crutches and pulled myself upright out of the leather chair.
I spent the battles alone in the strategy room, mediating, and Warren knew not to disturb me. HE spent the time exploring the forest as a ferret.
Now I wished I weren’t alone.
I needed help.
Someone.
Anyone.
I clutched at my temples with trembling fists because I couldn’t think. I was panicking. My heart pounded in my chest as I struggled to breathe.
I was Aran’s guardian; I was supposed to guide her in times of distress.
This situation went beyond mere peril.
Her odds were impossible.
My crutches slammed into a chair, and I tipped over. I barely noticed.
“Can you hear me? Aran, can you hear me?” I screamed repeatedly through our link.
Nothing.
Sadie groaned with pain as she became conscious, and Aran whispered down at her through the corner of her mouth, “Don’t make any sudden movements or noises.”
Dragging my crutches in one hand, I crawled across the floor toward the enchanted pad built into the desk. I needed to alert the High Court.
Sadie’s eyes shot open.
They glowed bloodred.
She tilted her head slowly to the side, face blanching as she took in the portal on the unreachable high ceiling, and the crowd of infected with enchanted swords.
“Can you shift?” Aran whispered. “Can you shift and leap against the wall and throw us through the portal?”
Sadie scrunched her face like she was concentrating, then her expression shuttered as she looked at Aran dejectedly.
“No,” she whispered. “My cat form sustained too many injuries. It’s happened before. I won’t be able to shift until I’ve rested and healed.”
Aran swore under her breath.
Using the table legs to hoist myself up, I slammed my palm against the enchanted pad. It warmed under my fingertips and projected the High Court’s logo onto the chalkboard.
I hit the symbol.
The projection shimmered as it called.
My heavy breathing was too loud in the quiet room as I waited.
There was a loud click, then the symbol turned into letters that read “Members of the High Court military council are currently occupied. Please call back later.”
I screamed with frustration and punched the tablet.
The projection turned off.
How in the realms could the military council be busy during a military battle?
I watched through the connection.
“I can stand.” Sadie pulled herself upright.
Aran hissed under her breath, “Move slower. We don’t want to agitate them.”
“Don’t we want to kill them?” Sadie whispered as she moved with painstaking care.
I gritted my teeth and spat aloud, “No, you imbecile.” How she’d managed to remain so dumb, even after what had been done to her, was beyond my understanding.
“Not if we don’t have to,” Aran whispered softly. “We want to survive. Best-case scenario, we climb back up and out the portal without disturbing them.” She paused as an infected shouted something and made an unfamiliar hand gesture. “Worst-case scenario, we kill them and they shift into ungodly. We can’t fight off this many and live.”
Sadie grimaced as she realized their predicament. “You’ll survive,” she mouthed.
Aran shook her head and said under her breath, “They could still eat my heart.”
Sadie’s eyes filled with moisture. “They probably wouldn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Aran whispered coldly. “Either we both walk out of here alive or we both die. There is no third option.”
Sadie gulped, her bloodred eyes widening at whatever she saw on Aran’s face. She rasped, “I love you.” It sounded like she was saying goodbye.
“I love you more.” Aran’s voice was hard as steel.
Sadie’s eyes shone with moisture. “I love you most.”
“Impossible,” Aran replied.
There was a loud scraping noise as an infected took a step toward them, its boot scuffing across the floor. Its gaze was mindless.
Aran took a step back protectively.
“What do we do if they attack?” Sadie asked, voice quivering.
Determination flooded through Aran. “Then we fight, and we try our best to maim but not kill.” Her voice was barely audible, and her words were clipped like it hurt to speak them aloud. “We keep them all alive.”
“That will be difficult with your sword.” Sadie nodded to the weapon in Aran’s hand.
Aran nodded, unease chipping away at her determination. “We’ll try our best. If we have to fight the ungodly, then we will. You will not die here.”
Sadie smiled sadly.
Aran’s unease became outright horror.
They both jolted as an infected woman standing a few feet away screamed something at them. It sounded like a swear word, but her accent made it impossible to decipher.
Aran slowly raised her sword higher.
“Where do you think we are?” Sadie asked as she grabbed Aran’s hand and squeezed. “It feels familiar somehow.”
Aran looked up at the high ceilings, then her eyes lingered on the portrait-covered walls.
In the strategy room, I held my breath as I waited. “Please say the location aloud. Please say it aloud. Please say it aloud,” I sent down our connection fervently.
Sun god bless Sadie and her ridiculous need to ask questions.
This was it.
My only hope.
I could feel Aran’s brain processing patterns and connections at a familiar lightning speed. For all her faults, Aran wasn’t an idiot. She had more brains than the rest of the other champions combined.
Now it was their only hope.
Sweat dripped down the side of my face, and my chest pounded so hard against my sternum that I felt lightheaded.
Aran whispered, “The floor sounded hollow. The heat. The portraits.”
“What?” Sadie asked with confusion.
“We’re in the basement of where we first battled,” Aran said with horror as she wiped at her brow.
Feet shuffled, and there was an ominous rustle as infected brandished their enchanted swords. The dimly lit room glowed blue.
“They’re moving closer.” Sadie’s hand trembled in Aran’s grip.
Aran squeezed her hand. “I’ll try to fly.” She went to pull her hand away, but Sadie wouldn’t release her.
“No.” Sadie’s voice was uncharacteristically serious. “We both know you can’t fly. Don’t waste your energy.”
Frustration welled up inside Aran, and she bit down on her pipe, jaw grinding with frustration.
“I might not be able to shift”—Sadie’s voice darkened—“but I’m not useless.” Her eyes glowed bright as she grabbed the shaft of Aran’s enchanted sword with her bare hand.
An infected screamed and threw itself at them, the crowd charging as one.
Sadie pushed Aran behind her with surprising strength as she flung her blood at the faces of the charging infected. Blood dripped into their open mouths and eyes.
“Defend us!” Sadie roared.
The three closest infected turned with their swords drawn, and they clashed with the charging crowd.
I pulled out of the connection.
The strategy room was too bright, and it was eerily quiet compared to the screams of the infected and clangs of enchanted swords.
I was slumped over the table.
Ears ringing with faraway battle sounds.
Eyes wide and unseeing.
I was paralyzed, unable to function.
I slammed my palm against the table, then pinched my hand with all my strength—the pain helped me focus.
As I looked around, my thoughts went a million miles a minute as I went through possibilities and plans.
I knew their location, which meant I could get help for them.
The problem was all the soldiers were in battle halfway across the realm.
I frantically grabbed my crutches and moved across the room, almost falling on my face a few times in my haste. Yanking open the RJE drawer, I desperately checked the remaining devices.
There were about a dozen, all with different coordinates. They were programmed for Elite Academy, the third battle location, the second battle location, and the first battle location.
I searched desperately, but those were the only locations.
Through gritted teeth, I screamed.
The one I needed was missing—there was no RJE device for the current battle, they’d taken them all. I had no way to alert any soldiers.
Not bothering with crutches, I hopped the few feet over to the shelves of binders and started tearing them off the shelves.
I couldn’t find where they’d put the coordinates.
Curse the sun god. Curse the constant incompetence in the realms. Could nothing go right today?
I threw a binder across the room with frustration, then followed its trajectory with my body back toward the open drawer.
I grabbed one of the RJE devices labeled “Elite Academy” and activated it.
Crack.
Reality shifted.
I fell forward as the shelf I was leaning against disappeared beneath me. My hands slapped against black marble. Lightning streaked down the walls, and my hair levitated from the electricity.
“Lothaire?” I screamed down the empty marble hall. Crystal chandeliers hung unlit, and maroon light streamed through stained-glass windows.
Crawling forward on my hands and knees, I screamed, “Is anyone here?”
Lighting slammed against the floor.
Marble burned hotter beneath my hands.
I rolled onto my back and bellowed with everything I had, “Lothaire?” Chest heaving, I lay still and waited.
Please, sun god. Please let him be here. Let him hear me.
Precious seconds turned into minutes.
Nothing.
Of all people, I should have known that prayer wouldn’t work—not to him. Never to him.
I slapped my palm against the now cold marble as I thought about the dates. It was around the time when the academy had a break. Lothaire would be elsewhere.
Screaming through gritted teeth, I stared up at the intricate crystal chandelier and accepted—unless a miracle happened in the next few seconds—there was no way I could retrieve timely help for Aran and Sadie.
The High Court hadn’t answered, which wasn’t a good sign. The military council tended to disappear for days while they handled “top-secret” business.
There was no one to alert.
No one to rescue Sadie and Aran.
I was the only one who knew where they were.
I activated the RJE device.
Crack.
I was lying on my back next to the table in the strategy room.
Grabbing the furniture, I hoisted myself to my feet using the table legs. I pulled open drawers and grabbed a different RJE device. I desperately searched for the weapons prohibited by the Official Peace Accords that the High Court “supposedly” kept for demonstration purposes.
Thank the sun god that weeks ago I’d paid attention to Dick’s presentation.
I’d bet he knew exactly what he was doing when he’d left them.
Finally, I opened the correct drawer. Rifling through the various canisters of chemical weapons, I sobbed with relief when I found the circular enchantment.
It pocketed the high-caliber explosive.
In a fog, I threw myself forward toward the blackboard. Slamming into furniture on one leg, I half hopped, half crawled toward my destination.
At the board, I did the only thing I could do.
Once I was satisfied with my work, I reopened the connection to Aran.
My heart rate skyrocketed.
Sadie was on her knees—hands extended forward toward the now five infected she’d enslaved with her blood—like she was physically pushing them forward.
Infected screamed as they died, and ungodly chittered as they erupted.
Sadie’s army of five wielded enchanted swords with much more dexterity than the average infected.
They cut through the crowd.
Slain bodies were strewn across the floor: pincers, hands, scarlet splatter, and vibrant green gore.
From the number of ungodly and infected corpses, they’d given up trying to wound and had resorted to killing.
Sadie had been extremely efficient.
About half the infected were slain, there were a few dozen left.
It was still too many.
Aran stood beside Sadie and killed the infected and Ungodly that got past their enslaved army.
“You’ve done enough!” Aran shouted at Sadie. “You’re going to hurt yourself. Release them.”
“No,” Sadie snarled.
Her golden skin had a green tint, and blood dripped from her eyes, nose, and mouth. White hair clung to her naked body and was slick with sweat. She shook forcefully with exhaustion.
“Release them now,” Aran ordered as she stepped in front of her protectively.
“No!” Sadie shouted as she bowed her back and bellowed like controlling the infected was ripping her apart from the inside. Blood gushed out of her mouth.
Aran screamed an expletive and whirled around. She slammed the hilt of her sword against Sadie’s temple, and she dropped unconscious.
In a blur of movement, Aran grabbed her body and dragged her back into the corner. She propped her against the wall and stood over her body.
The five enslaved infected dropped dead.
The room went uncannily still.
There was a loud ripping as ungodly tore from their corpses. Every creature in the room turned toward Aran. Pincers snapped. Swords glowed.
I pulled out of her mind, gasping, stomach churning as I processed what I’d seen.
The urge to go get Warren and get his help was overwhelming, and I almost acted on the impulse, but I stopped myself. He was skilled, but he was still just a teenage boy. He didn’t possess nearly as much power as the soldiers who fought against the ungodly.
Stronger people than him had been killed in this war, and this was not a battle—it was a slaughter.
I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt another person.
Plus, I didn’t have the time to search for him in the forest. Every second was precious.
Before I could think, before I could panic, before I could remember I wasn’t a soldier, before I could change my mind, I grabbed my crutches and slammed my hand down on the second RJE device I’d grabbed.
Yet again, time and space warped.
Crack.
I was in a musty brick corridor that reeked of death. Rotting gore was splattered everywhere.
Gagging, I slammed my crutch against the brick floor. It sounded solid.
Ignoring the leftover substances from an old battle, I lowered myself down awkwardly and pressed my ear to the floor.
I distantly heard the muffled sounds of war.
Patting my pocket to make sure I had what I needed, once again, I didn’t give myself time to think about what I was doing.
I started to use my crutches to move forward, then stopped.
Looking down at the rubble, I awkwardly bent down and picked up a jagged piece of broken brick. I pulled my pants up and sliced it deep across my leg.
Then, as fast as I could, I crutched into the darkness.
Toward the screams.
