21

Kai knelt on the floor of Torn’s office with his hands tied behind his back. His friends were tied up in the same way on either side of him.

Zulu knelt along the wall with them, but his hands were unbound.

An older version of Zulu paced the floor in front of them, swinging a carved ebony stick as he walked. His bald head gleamed in the pale lamplight. Glowing purple dots were painted along the crease of his frown lines and dipped to trace a circle around each ear.

He rumbled as he walked, a deep thrumming from his chest cavity that unnerved Kai much like nails on a chalkboard. The noise seeped into his skull and made it vibrate. The man stopped in front of Kai and slammed the stick down hard enough for the vibrations to shiver through Kai’s legs.

“Where are my people?” he asked softly, but anger simmered close below the surface.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Kai’s back stiffened in defiance.

A strangled noise came from Zulu, but Kai was in no mood for tip-toeing around the whims of a dictator. He knew where the amulets were, keys to freedom for all the OS kids. They were so close to being completely free. To come back to find them all missing and then being bullied by this despot was too much.

Zulu coughed. “Will you see me?”

“I see you.” The whites of the man’s eyes were bloodshot and tinged purple.

“If we find the boys, will you return the others?”

Zulu’s dad pointed a bony finger at Kai, though he spoke to Zulu. “Find the boys and come home, Zulumange. The curse on our village is from you. The wells are dry. You’ve been unfaithful.”

“The wells were dry before I left home. You can’t blame that on me.”

The old man slammed his staff into the ground. “Your body was home, but your spirit was wandering. That brought the curse.”

Zulu fell silent. The violent clash of emotions were clear in the tight clench of his jaw.

The old one stopped pacing in front of Kai. “This one, he leads here. Yes?”

A faint sheen of sweat broke out on Zulu’s forehead. “Yebo.”

“Let me think.” He took his cohorts just outside the office where they spoke in low, rumbling voices.

Kai didn’t need a gift of foresight to know where this was headed. He hadn’t had a chance to examine Evazee’s amulet, but if Ruaan’s could make such a difference, then Evazee’s might too. He cleared his throat and motioned to Ruaan to come closer. “Take this. Keep it safe until you can give it to Evazee.” He tried to get to his pocket and failed.

Ruaan shuffled closer on his knees, angled himself sideways to reach in, and drew out Evazee’s amulet. He’d just slipped it into his back pocket when the priests trooped back into the office in a straight line of serious faces.

Zulu’s dad came in last. “We keep him as surety.” His bony finger flicked sideways and the priests moved in on Kai.

In seconds, Kai found himself with his nose on the floor, wondering what had happened. The rope around his wrists bit into his skin, but the pain sharpened his hearing. It was hard to protest from your belly on the floor.

A boot smacked into his ribs.

“Onto your feet, skinny one.”

Fight or comply? Kai rolled over slowly, using the time to weigh his options. He rolled onto his knees, wobbling as he stepped up onto his feet with his hands tied behind his back.

Ten priests stood in the room, the harsh angles of their dark faces gleaming in the gloom. Faint purple rimmed their eyes.

Kai kept his eyes on priests, but spoke to Zap and Ruaan, “This is wasting time. What should we do?”

A sharp smack to the back of the head sent pain through his skull and his knees went limp. He was slung over a broad shoulder and carried like a rag doll, bouncing helplessly on the back of a priest.

~*~

Cold from the floor seeped into Evazee as she sat squished between Paintbrush and the wall. Bree sat opposite with her legs tucked tight against her chest and her head down. The room was small and as more groups arrived back from the arch, they were thrown into this same room and locked in. Evazee didn’t think they would be able to fit in too many more. Her heart sank as the door opened.

Ruaan came in first, his hair more messed up than usual.

Zap followed soon after, his face grim.

“Over here.” She waved them over, hoping for good news.

The guys picked their way between all the bodies on the floor and made space to sit down.

Evazee waved towards the room full of prisoners. “I’m assuming that whatever you guys went to go get to free these kids didn’t work out so well.”

Zap grinned, a savouring-the-moment kind of grin. “Mostly. But we do have...”

Ruaan dug in his pocket and drew out Evazee’s amulet. It swung from his fingers as if he was trying to hypnotize her.

Zap gaped like a goldfish. “Were you born rude, or is it a skill you’ve been perfecting your whole life?”

“I’ll assume that question is rhetorical.” Ruaan bounced the amulet in the palm of his hand. “Do you want this?”

Evazee glanced around the room. They had caught the attention of everyone in the room. Not a difficult thing to do with nothing else happening. She dropped her voice low, leaning close to the boys. “I guess so.”

Zap’s face scrunched up. “Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”

“I’m sorry. Runt’s pendant caused such trouble.” The back of her neck itched as she thought of the events that lead to her being branded. It all started with an amulet.

Ruaan hauled his out from under his t-shirt. “If you ask me, the problem with Runt is that she meddled with a necklace that wasn’t her own. That’s a stupid thing to do, you know?” He bounced his on his flat palm. “This one is mine. I can feel it with every cell in my body. So far there’ve been no negative effects. In fact, I’ve never felt better.”

Evazee reached for her amulet and slipped it over her head.

A guy sitting close to them with close-cropped black hair sat up straight from a deep slouch. “Hey! I also want one. Surely we’ve all got one. Where did you find yours?”

Ruaan and Zap exchanged a worried look. Zap answered, slowly, mulling over every word. “The amulets are being kept in a vault deep in enemy territory. You can only get your own out. Kai nearly lost his hand getting to this one.”

Ruaan rubbed his chin. “Maybe we need an old-fashioned field trip.”

“And maybe you need your head read.”

~*~

Kai sat shivering in the sludge at the bottom of a well so deep, the sky was a tiny blue circle above that could have been the moon. Zulu’s dad had been right. This well hadn’t seen water for a long time. He considered climbing out with his legs propped up on one side and his hands on the other, but the thought of breaking a few bones when his muscles failed was a little off-putting.

Impatience and frustration burned through his veins. He’d fought on his captor’s shoulder, but all he had to show for it was a swollen egg on the back of his head that had knocked him out for the entire trip. He’d woken up in this hole in the dark and yelled until his throat burned, but nobody came. Hours—days?—later, the sun turned the sky a blushing pink, then orange, settling into the moody blue that hovered over him now.

Being able to see felt better for a little while, but then it all seemed much worse as he was fully aware of how deeply buried he was.

The atmosphere was heavy, yet his Affinity was off the charts. Every second blink brought a wash of green over everything that surrounded him. Was it even possible for a place to be this broken?

Right now, he should be back at the OS, dishing out amulets and watching chains fall off. Instead he was stuck down here, more useless than pond scum. He slammed his foot into the well bricks in frustration. Instead of a solid thunk, the sound bounced around inside the well wall as if it were hollow.

Kai got onto his knees and pressed each stone carefully. Running his fingers along the grooves, he felt for anything that would give way. It didn’t feel like the spiritual realm, but he’d long ago stopped expecting anything to be what it seemed.

He’d been trapped in rocks before, and he’d sung his way out. The rock had exploded, which would be disastrous in this situation. He would end up buried. Kai rubbed his temples. Things were so much simpler when he was little. See the green, follow his gut, and sorted. It was all more complicated now.

Or was it?

He shoved aside the frustration and panic of being stuck. Took a deep breath and thought of Tau. Jesus. Tau melted through rocks with his fingers in the spiritual realm. But this was normal life. Rocks don’t melt unless there’s lava-inducing heat involved.

Kai placed his fingertips on the stone in front of him and leaned in close with his ear against the cold stone. He hummed, a middle-pitched vibration from deep in his lungs. He raised the level, going higher, but nothing happened. He drew a deep breath and dropped the hum low, and his chest vibrated against the smooth surface. A vibration rippled through the side of the well, a mere dragonfly breath on a lake. Was it real? Or imagination?

Another deep breath, and Kai shut his eyes, allowing the sound to come out. The rocks trembled violently, and Kai stopped, fearing a cave-in that would bury him alive. All around him, bright green cracks showed around each stone. He touched one and it shot open, not just a rock, but a drawer.

Hardly daring to breathe, Kai peered in. The inside of the rock drawer was a midnight-sky velvety-shade of black. An amulet lay tucked inside the rock drawer. Kai peered in at it as if it were a live snake. There were markings on the amulet, but they didn’t mean anything to Kai.

He moved over to try another one. This one popped open within seconds, another amulet tucked away inside. This was not an ordinary well, this well was a cupboard. A safe. A vault much like what they’d found at The Crux. Without warning, the first rock drawer he’d opened slid shut. Within a minute, the second one did too. They seemed to be on a timer.

His insides crawled at what each of these harmless-looking amulets represented. He opened a drawer again, and a sideways thought hit him. That drawer was just big enough for him to step on. He hooked his foot up and lifted off the ground. The drawer carried his weight. This was promising.

Slamming his hands against the rocks, he buzzed open a row of drawers, each higher than the last. If he timed this right, he might just be able to make it out. If not, he might fall to his death. By the look of it, they were leaving him in this hole anyway, so what did he have to lose?

Kai rolled his shoulders, clicked his neck to the side and hit the wall. Five steps, working clockwise around the well, each higher than the last. He climbed up, cautiously at first, but soon feeling more confident, hitting more drawers open as he went.

He kept his focus down, swinging between the drawer beneath his feet and the next drawer in. About two metres up, the amulet in the drawer caught his eye. The mark on the front matched the scar on Zulu’s face. All of them glowed green, broken—but this one pulsed and shone. He hesitated for a split second before dipping down, grabbing it, and shoving it in his pocket.

The wait was a split second too long, and the drawer slid shut, pushing his foot off. Kai scrambled for the open drawer above, but he missed, slipped and fell, crashing to the floor of the well, landing on his knees in the ooze with enough force to topple him sideways. His head hit the side, and he landed with a smack that knocked his wind out.

~*~

The door opened. It was a priest—the one built like a warrior. He sauntered through the room, studying each person up and down before moving on. When he got to Evazee, he stopped.

“You. Come.” He didn’t wait for her to comply but just leaned down and lifted her by an arm. His fingers were cold steel on her muscles, numbing them. There’d be no quick pull away from this guy. She caught Zap’s eye and shook her head. She could see his mind working overtime in his gaze. Now didn’t seem like a good time to pick a fight.

His face dropped and took on a resigned look that she’d seen sometimes when he lost an argument. He must have eavesdropped on her thoughts, and he didn’t seem to like what he’d heard.

A second priest came in. The warrior motioned towards Runt, Paintbrush, and Peta, calling them out with a hooked finger. They came out willingly, no doubt to keep their friends safe. Well trained by this harsh environment.

The two priests marched them all down to the basement where the other priests waited in a semi-circle around the testing arch. A low, rumbling hum came from their chests that made the walls quiver.

The Warrior forced the three to their knees and half the other priests left their arch-guarding duty to surround those on floor.

The other priest pointed at Evazee. "You. Go fetch boys. Come back. Otherwise...” He motioned to the younger ones and ran a thumb across the base of his throat.

Evazee knew exactly what he meant.

The thought of stepping into that arch again, only alone this time, was enough to make Evazee break out in a cold sweat. But it was that, or the little ones would suffer. She stepped towards the arch, her legs quivering like jelly.

The priests gave her no time to think or hesitate.

A firm foot in the small of her back persuaded her it was time. She toppled through the opening and fell for what felt like forever.

When she finally landed, it was dark and soggy. She came down with a splash of cold water that instantly soaked her jeans up to mid-thigh. Thick darkness pressed in, lit purple in the distance by dotted, glowing splodges too far to be identifiable, but Evazee knew exactly where she was.

She’d stepped out of the arch straight into the marshes of the village of Benan. Zulu’s own village. The testing arch was so far beyond broken, Evazee nearly laughed, but then she thought of the sand worm that had tried to eat her the last time and she wanted to cry.