CHAPTER NINE

 

Brent jogged ahead, laughing like he was on some sugar high. Gabriel had to admit, it was pretty awesome—and freaky—to walk through Beachy Cove Falls with the water parting like they were Moses or Neptune or something.

Gabriel’s gaze wandered left to right, up and down. Funnels of water circulated all around, but didn’t touch them. The pounding of the water as it crashed on the sides of the riverbank echoed as their shoes crunched against the gravel riverbed.

As they walked through the archway, Gabriel lifted his hand in awe toward the rainbow that curved around the top of the portal. “It’s like all that’s missing is an old pirate ship filled with gold,” Gabriel joked.

“Or filled with pizza,” Brent added. Gabriel looked at him questioningly, and Brent shrugged. “I’m hungry, dude.”

“And you’re sure there’s no more gruocks?” Piper yelled out from behind them. Gabriel’s step faltered. He’d almost forgotten that Valta wasn’t as safe as it looked—gruocks or not.

“Completely sure,” Prince Oliver called over his shoulder to her. “But we have to be on the watch for the Solarians and their curse.”

Ice shot down Gabriel’s spine at the word curse. It made it even worse that they still didn’t know what the Solarians looked like. But before he had a chance to ask, Dane’s voice rose from behind them.

“Let’s go, Tahlita!” he said, his voice urgent.

Gabriel whipped his head around. Tahlita had stopped walking. Even though Dane and Piper were tugging on her arms and trying to convince her to keep moving, she wouldn’t budge. She stood trance-like beneath the archway separating the two worlds.

She widened her eyes, moving her head side to side, looking like she was deep in thought.

“We have to hurry,” Prince Oliver warned, waving them forward. “The portal is about to close!”

Dane grunted, scooped Tahlita up, slung her over one shoulder, and rushed through the portal. Piper snapped to attention and ran beside them. Dane sat Tahlita on the Valtan side of the riverbank, then climbed out with the rest of them just before the water came crashing down with a thundering splash.

The prince checked his pocket watch, then tucked it away. He looked around, his face serious.

As Gabriel scanned the area, his gaze landed on a large bush a few feet away. His mind drifted to memories of the last time they’d been sucked into Valta. There had been a seeker picking berries from that same bush when they’d showed up. The few fall leaves littering the ground in a mix of colors was the only thing that looked different this time. A cool breeze rushed past Gabriel’s face. Autumn was slamming down on Valta, but in Willow Creek, it was spring. Things were backward like that here—the first time they came, it had been the end of summer in Valta and winter back home. Just like before, Valta was the polar opposite of Willow Creek.

Gabriel pointed to the bush with the multi-colored branches and berries. “Stay away from the berries,” he reminded Piper and Brent. Piper scrunched her nose and Brent jumped away from the nearest bush like it was electric. Last time they’d both puked after eating the Valtan fruit. Gabriel hadn’t gotten sick, but only because he’d been wearing one of the crystal Divinities around his neck. Now that he didn’t have one, he’d be staying away from those toxic things, too.

“I’d never be hungry enough to eat those,” Brent said, mock-gagging.

Then a weird sound zapped through the air, buzzing up the sky in the distance. Something the color of straw swarmed the sky, heading their way. The zapping, static-like sound seemed to magnify as it got closer. Gabriel jerked his head up.

Poisonous locusts, Gabriel thought, remembering the Solarian curse.

“We need to move,” Prince Oliver said, in a low but urgent voice. “The locusts are mechanical and deadly. Move fast, but quietly. They’re attracted to noise.”

Mechanical locusts? Gabriel’s mind raced, but he didn’t hesitate. “Let’s go,” he said to Brent. Remembering his new super power, Gabriel hoisted Piper onto his back piggyback-style, then rushed into the tall grass, running hard. His legs moved at lightning speed, the grass and the cool wind skating past his face with each stride. He couldn’t believe the agility of his body with his new super power. His human speed had been like a legless turtle compared to the new lightning swiftness.

When the grass towered higher than their heads, Gabriel stopped and looked back, worried about Brent. Piper slid off his back and began pacing, mumbling in Spanish.

The others trickled in a few minutes later, all out of breath. “Duck.” Dane dropped to his knees, pulled Tahlita beside him, then lay flat on the ground. “Blast,” he said with a groan. “What have the Solarians done?”

They sank down, the soaring, thick grass their only shelter. Prince Oliver pressed a finger to his lips, warning them to be quiet. The buzzing got louder, echoing off the mountains that surrounded them. Gabriel covered his ears and stuck his face into the blades of grass. He concentrated on its earthy smell and on not being stung, bitten, or whatever the stupid, poisonous locusts did. He wanted to keep running, to get away as fast as he could, but leaving his friends behind wouldn’t work either.

Piper squeezed Gabriel’s arm and he tilted his face up. Thanks, she mouthed.

Gabriel smiled at her, then rolled onto his back so he could watch for the locusts.

Prince Oliver unsheathed his sword and held it flat against his body. He watched the sky with a scowl. Gabriel wasn’t sure what a sword could do against thousands of bionic locusts. A few small stones lying in the grass lifted into the air and flung toward some locusts. Gabriel was sure Tahlita was responsible for that, but there were too many locusts for the few little rocks.

The buzzing intensified and the sky above them grew dark. There were so many insects it seemed like they almost blocked the whole freaking sun. Gabriel pushed his panic down and thought about his choices. He could grab Piper and run, but what about Brent and the others? He didn’t wanna ditch them. Maybe if he ran and made noise, he could distract the locusts and draw them away.

He stood, prepared to race away when the swarm of locusts dive-bombed the field. The bugs, as big as sparrows, swooped down on all sides.

Gabriel jumped into a runner’s stance ready to take off, when Brent kicked his feet out from under him. He landed with a hard thud.

“What’d you do that for?” Gabriel snapped.

Brent’s face darkened, then suddenly his limbs shifted, changing … clicking.

Gabriel blinked. “Whoa.”

“Wh-what are you doing?” Piper asked.

Intricate netting, made with what looked like metal mesh and attached by a silver rod, slid out from where Brent’s arm had been. “Everyone get together. I’m going to shield us.”

Brent flung out the netting, then lowered it on top of Gabriel. Piper gasped and rolled against Gabriel, squeezing under the netting just before it touched the ground.

“Sick,” Piper said, looking both terrified of the locusts and impressed with Brent at the same time.

“Ssh,” Tahlita whispered, as she huddled with Dane and Prince Oliver.

With his other limbs, Brent created more nets. The hard-wire mesh covered him and the others. “Don’t move,” he whispered.

The buzzing intensified, the noise burning Gabriel’s ears until he thought they’d bleed. He cupped his hands over them again, sweat slicking his skin.

“I can’t hold it much longer,” Brent said through gritted teeth as the locusts swarmed the netting. The net started to shake. “There’s too many of them. I can’t hold it.”

Gabriel’s stomach knotted. In between the mesh of the netting, one of the locust’s wings got caught. It twisted and gyrated inches above Gabriel’s nose. Gabriel’s heart pounded. Long, hairy legs stuck out from its pale-yellow body—only the whole thing looked like it was made of steel, like a robotic-winged creature. Its antennae stretched high over black bulging eyes. The worst part was its teeth. Even though they were small, they creeped Gabriel out. Fangs stuck out from its mouth in a row of jagged, shark-like edges. Piper clasped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

A shrill whistle sounded out in the distance.

The locusts silenced for a split second, then shot off toward the sound. The loud buzzing drifted away … except for the one caught in the mesh above Gabriel’s and Piper’s faces. Its round eyes peered down at them. Gabriel gulped. Piper trembled beside him.

A drop of saliva oozed from its mouth, hanging from a pointy, razor-sharp tooth.

Gabriel remembered the note from Dacho, the leader of the Solarians that Prince Oliver had showed them in their minds.

Poisonous locust.

The saliva dripped, then sizzled against the netting. Gabriel shifted, dodging an inch to the side as it slipped through the small hole of the mesh, barely missing him. The grass singed as the venom hit the earth. A small puff of smoke seeped into the air; the smell of ash and something disgusting hit Gabriel’s nose like a stink bomb.

Prince Oliver shoved Brent’s net off of him, then jumped to his feet. He searched the area, then zoned in on the bug stuck in the mesh above Gabriel and Piper. With a low growl, he dug the tip of his blade into the insect. The blade pierced its hard, artificial shell with a crunch. Prince Oliver tugged his sword back and examined the thing. “These locusts aren’t anything like the ones from your world or mine. They are manufactured in a lab.”

The locust flapped its wings, trying to escape the blade. They beat wildly, then slowed until it stopped, as if dead. “When they land on you,” the prince continued, “one drop of their saliva will immobilize you, temporarily paralysing your limbs. After that, if they bite you, you will die.” He scowled. “Avoid them at all costs.”

“Thanks,” Gabriel said to the prince. “It almost got me.” He snuck a peak at Brent who still pinned them down with the mesh. “Seriously, dude, that was so sick with the netting stuff.”

“Um, thanks, Brent,” Piper added. “That was amazing, but you can let us out now.”

Brent nodded, then retracted the nets and wished his arms and legs back. Everyone stared as Brent’s arms and legs shot back out like water from a hose.

“Perfect. Just perfect,” Brent said, standing with a sigh. “Killer locusts.” He paused, twisting his arms around and shaking his legs as he examined them. “I feel weak, but that was way better than a wimpy fish tail, huh?”

Gabriel jumped to his feet with a shake, thinking he’d be freaked out for the rest of his life. If killer locusts weren’t bad enough, his friend had turned into Octopus Man. Not wanting to freak Brent out, too, Gabriel bumped shoulders with him. “Seriously, you just saved our butts from maniacal, other-planetary bugs!”

Dane stood and brushed himself off. “I knew giving you those powers was smart of me.” Leave it to Dane to take the credit. “But after you use those powers you’ll need to recharge a bit—gather strength—especially since you haven’t gotten accustomed to them yet. It takes some getting used to.”

Brent rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “I can tell. My arms and legs feel like Jell-O.”

Piper shifted across the grass and slumped beside Tahlita. The girl was sitting, staring off into space. “You okay, Tally?” Piper asked. “You looked confused back there at the portal, and you seem upset.”

“I’m okay. It’s just … I had another memory.” Tahlita tugged on a blade of grass, then looked at Piper. “Something about Duke Malgor.”

Prince Oliver spun on his heels. “What do you remember?”

“The portal Duke Malgor pushed me through,” she said, looking dazed. “There were two of them side-by-side.” She pinched her brows together. “Why would that be?”

Prince Oliver seemed to think about her words, but didn’t reply. He tugged his watch out again, checking the time. He must have been worried about getting back to the castle to guard the Divinities.

“Anything else?” Piper asked Tahlita.

“He was with a—a man. A man that looked odd.”

“Odd how?” Dane asked, pulling a canteen from his jacket, then guzzling a mouthful of water. He held it out to Tahlita, but she pushed it away so he tucked it back under his black trench coat.

“I mean he looked like a man, except his skin looked like he had a terrible sunburn.” She kneaded her fingers into her forehead. “It happened close to Ericville.” She glanced at Dane. “I was delivering the letter to the gate in Ericville like you had asked me, Father.”

Dane gave her a quick shake of his head, warning her to zip it.

“What letter?” the prince demanded.

Dane groaned and threw his hands up in the air. “She was to attach a letter to the gate demanding the humans to surrender.”

Gabriel gasped. “What?” Ericville was a place where all the humans lived separated from the rest of Valta. “Father!” Tahlita snapped. “You said the letter was announcing a truce! You lied to me!”

“Duke Malgor made some good points, and when you went missing, the duke was the one who agreed to help find you.” Dane fisted his hands. “Now I know it was all a lie.”

Prince Oliver stepped forward. “The humans were to surrender to whom?”

Dane reached out for Tahlita, but stopped. “I was following Duke Malgor’s orders. Never once did I think you’d be in danger. I only thought you’d pin the note on the gate, then return home. I thought the humans had taken you. But I searched high and low all over Valta with no sign of you. So, when I discovered the other portal hidden near Ericville, I took my chances and decided to search through there …”

“Surrender to whom?” repeated the prince, a scowl on his face.

Dane lifted a shoulder. “The only other species that hates humans more than Duke Malgor—the Solarians. They had promised to help with the duke’s plan.” Dane stabbed at his glasses with his pointer finger, pushing them back on his nose. “To rid Valta of humans.”

Gabriel dropped to his butt, ripped out a handful of grass and threw it with a grunt. Crawling beside Brent, he asked, “This is crazy, right? How can someone hate humans more than the duke?”

“It actually makes sense now,” Tahlita said. “I overheard them saying something about a utopia.”

“A utopia?” Piper repeated. “Is that like a perfect place?”

Tahlita scrunched her shoulders up to her ears. “Yeah, the supposed flawless world.”

“Well that’s dumb. Nothing’s perfect.”

Prince Oliver made a rumbling sound in his chest. “If what Dane says is true, and the Solarians hate humans more than the duke, then a perfect world for them would be a world without humans in it.”

Tahlita inhaled a quick breath. “Holy Valta! That was it! Now I remember. Back when I was going to deliver the note to Ericville, I’d come upon the duke with that weird looking guy. Duke Malgor said he wanted to create a supreme race of Zeverons—yes, that was it. The red-skinned guy said he’d help Duke Malgor get rid of humans and half-breeds.” Tahlita glanced at Prince Oliver.

Prince Oliver and Princess Evangeline’s father, Sir Landon Braddock, was human. That made the prince and princess half human, half Zeveron. They believed their father had been killed by Malgor. They had told Gabriel before that Duke Malgor thought Empress Malina had tarnished the throne when she had married a human. Apparently, that’s what had gotten Malgor all steamy in the first place. He definitely wasn’t happy that Prince Oliver, a half-blood, was heir to the throne.

Prince Oliver cursed under his breath, then a crooked grin flicked over his face. “Getting rid of humans and what he calls half-breeds? That will never happen under my watch.”

“That red-skinned man,” Tahlita continued, her eyes glazed over, “Malgor called him Dacho. The same name as on the note you found.” She looked to the grass, her face pale. “I remember now. Duke Malgor pushed me through the portal because they caught me listening.” She paused, then repeated, “Dacho. He said he’d help Duke Malgor rid Valta of humans if Malgor then promised to help rid the universe of them, too. But not before he could finish something—that part I didn’t hear, but—” She hesitated. Gabriel could tell she was deciding whether she should say anything else.

After a moment, she looked at Piper, worry creasing her forehead. “Dacho told Malgor they’d initiate his plan and the elimination of humans starting with … Earth.”

Piper raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“Well that changes things then, doesn’t it?” Prince Oliver cut in. He yanked his watch out for the third time, checked it, then shoved it back inside his pocket.

“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked Prince Oliver.

“Well, I’d planned to have you three go to Duke Malgor’s castle and wait for the Solarians to show up. They’d be expecting Duke Malgor, but instead they’d meet you with your powers along with three of our winged tigers.” He paused, thinking. “But now that we know where the portals are, I think you must go there,” he said as Dane and Tahlita prepared to leave.

“And the locusts?” Dane asked, lifting a brow.

“Hopefully, once my mother and sister are returned, Dacho will stop the locust curse too. I’ll admit, that seems unlikely, so Leejor is working on a potion just in case. And if that doesn’t work ... ” Prince Oliver’s voice trailed off and he shook his head.

As much as the prince seemed older and capable, he wasn’t emperor yet, or as experienced as Empress Malina. Even though he looked as big as Gabriel’s dad and the dude was cool and everything, Prince Oliver was still a teenager. Gabriel realized the prince didn’t have an answer for every problem. Gabriel just hoped that between all of them they could figure it out eventually.

They had to.

The sound of something rustling in the grass beside them made the hair on Gabriel’s arms stand up.

They’d been talking too loud. The locusts were back.

Except this time, Brent was too weak to use his powers to shield them.

Gabriel twisted around, heart hammering. He tugged on Brent’s and Piper’s arms and sprang into a runner’s stance. “The killer locusts,” he whispered. “Run!”

Before Gabriel could move, black, furry fingers reached out between the blades of grass, grabbing his attention.