4

Evazee was wheezing from the run. The air felt thin here, as if they were high in the mountains. She doubled over to catch her breath and felt Peta do the same next to her. Without Kai’s light, the dark was deep and solid. Evazee reached out to Peta, and the girl didn’t pull away as she had been doing.

“That was too close. How is everybody?” Evazee’s words bounced off the trees and fell to the leaves at her feet. “Hello? Kai. Ruaan! Zap?” She stepped closer to Peta, slipped an arm around the girl’s bony shoulders, and waited for one of the others to respond. She checked the ground with her feet, but it didn’t seem as though anyone was there either.

“I think we went the wrong way. We’re going to have to go back.” Running from the graveyard had happened so fast, yet Evazee had a vague memory of the road branching off in two directions. They’d been the first ones out, and she’d stuck to the left without thinking. Now it seemed that all the others had probably travelled to the right. They simply had to retrace their steps, and they’d find them.

Evazee dreaded facing the Grave Keepers, but maybe if they crept quietly, they could move past undetected. After all, it was only the two of them, and they were both small and light on their feet. Peta said nothing but followed her without resistance.

They retraced their steps and soon saw flickers of blue flashing through the gaps in the trees.

“That doesn’t look right.” A few steps closer showed the forest blazing in blue fire. White ash filled the air and burned their throats and noses. A burning tree had fallen across the path, blocking the way. They wouldn’t be getting back to the others this way. Peta took in the flames with no comment. Another tree went up in flames, sending sparks flying in a shower of blue and white.

“Let’s get out of here. We’ll have to use a different path to find the others.” Peta stood rooted, her eyes on the fire. She still said nothing. Surely, she understood what this meant? A wave of homesickness washed over Evazee, but she tucked it away and turned back toward the dark path. She dragged Peta with her as though the girl had grown roots, mesmerized by the flames. Only once they were out of sight did she turn and follow.

They walked in silence, testing the perimeters of the path as they went. They could cut across the forest and keep walking until they found the other path, but Evazee broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of it. Straight lines had become circles back in the graveyard, and there was no way of predicting where they’d end up if they left the path. If they just kept on until they cleared the trees, they’d find the others waiting for them. Surely.

As they left the crackling fire behind, silence fell as deep and complete as the dark, until all that filled Evazee’s ears was the sound of her own breathing.

Her brain ran wild. The last time she’d stood in this place, she’d been full of light and could do all sorts of things. Now things were different, but what had changed? The possibility that she’d burnt out her gifting while opening the gate on the rooftop was becoming more real than the ground beneath her feet. It might come back to her with rest—

Wait.

What was that noise?

She kept walking as if she’d heard nothing, but she slowed her pace. There it was again—rustling in the trees just next to them. It could be the others coming to find them, or it could be something looking for a snack. Evazee had no intention of being eaten just yet.

Leaning down, she whispered in Peta’s ear. “Can you run?”

Peta did not respond.

Evazee tightened her grip and broke into a run with her arms stretched out in front of her as her only guide.

~*~

Kai couldn’t think straight. As they walked, thoughts buzzed inside his head like LightSuckers trapped in a bottle. If he were a superhero, his superpower would be losing things. Correction, people. He lost more people on any one day than others lost in a lifetime.

The three of them walked in a row, the path too narrow for any other formation. Ruaan trailed at the back, humming a tune that Kai strongly suspected he might recognize if it had been anybody else humming it. Kai didn’t know what to make of this tall boy who had been ready to rip his head off back at the OS, but since then had been nothing but friendly and helpful. The fierce confrontation was still too fresh in his mind.

Something growled in the gloom behind Kai. He stopped walking to listen.

Zap inched closer. “Did you guys hear that?”

Kai shoved a finger to his lips, “Shhh!”

Ruaan coughed, “Sorry, guys. It’s just my stomach. We left before I could have breakfast.”

“Wow. Is that even normal?” Zap’s question was innocent enough, but it came out with as much force as if Ruaan had sprouted an extra ear on his head.

“What are you saying? Don’t you ever get hungry?” Ruaan’s voice dropped in pitch. He puffed out his chest and sounded more and more like the boy who’d solved things with his fists.

Kai had no desire to play referee for a daft argument. Diversion might work. “I’m wondering if we should cut straight through this forest to the other path. I’m not happy leaving the girls alone with no light.”

Zap shrugged. “It can’t be too far.”

Ruaan was already shaking his head as he eyed the tall trees. Deep shadows hung thick between the trunks, resistant to Kai’s bottle light. “Are you both nuts? We don’t know what’s in there.”

“Let’s rescue the girls. We’ll be like heroes.” Zap’s chin tilted up, and he stared off into the distance. “We need a theme song.”

Kai held the bottle up towards the trees. “We don’t know what waits at the end of this path either. We could be walking straight into a trap.” Kai shrugged. “Besides, it’s two to one. Sorry, Ruaan. You’re outvoted. Look, I’ll even carve a mark in this tree to make you feel better.” With that done, he aimed himself between the trunks and plunged into the thick. Zap followed him without question.

“Wait! We didn’t even vote! That’s not right. Come back here.” The thought of being left behind must have gotten the better of Ruaan. He followed them, muttering under his breath.

~*~

Evazee lost track of how long they’d been jogging. In a moment, the darkness around them felt different, and she knew they’d cleared the forest. They stopped to catch their breaths and figure out what to do now. As far as she could tell, whatever had been rustling in the trees had stayed put and decided not to follow them.

A low rumble passed underneath their feet and the rock began to glow in gentle, broken light. Evazee knelt down for a closer look.

They stood on a flat stone surface, pock-marked and rough, shot through with random sparkling patterns that glowed and pulsed. Raised bumps the size of bowling balls dotted the ground at regular intervals like miniature volcanos, complete with a hole at the centre. The light given off by the rock barely reached their knees, but after being sightless for so long, Evazee drank in the sight gratefully. Peta stared off into the distance. She may as well have been blind. Evazee was losing the girl.

“Come on. Let’s see if we can find the boys.” Evazee aimed right and followed the line of the trees.

If the boys kept walking along the right fork of the path, they would soon be out of the forest as well. Unlike the silence of the graveyard, this place hummed in a way that was almost musical. Evazee kept her eyes on the ground as she walked, fascinated by the tiny sparkles in the rock. Must be minerals, though not any she’d learnt about in school. Whatever they were, they made her heart happy…and that was more than she could say for anything else they’d come across in this grim place.

“So, Peta, I was just thinking that we don’t know much each other. How about we pick out some things to chat about?” Evazee didn’t wait for the girl to respond. “What about happiest memories?”

Peta trudged along next to her and didn’t answer.

“I’ll go first. I was home sick from school one day, and my mom had to work, so she brought my gran over to keep an eye on me. Gran moved all the lounge couches and made the lounge into an aeroplane. She pretended to be the air hostess and brought me snacks and let me choose the in-flight movie. She nearly set the carpet alight with the tiny candles she used to mark the runway. We had to put it all back before Mom came home, but Gran giggled and told me that it would be our little secret. I’m sure Mom knew what we’d got up to, but she didn’t mind and never let on.” The memory warmed Evazee. “How about you?”

Peta continued her walk in silence. Evazee’s usual response would be to fill the awkward dead air with a stream of chatter, but she bit her tongue and waited. Suddenly, with no warning, Peta began wringing her hands, her face crunched up, and she shut her eyes. “I don’t remember good. The sun has gone down in my brain. There is only night and memories of darKounds, LightSuckers, and the man who fixed my ankle.” A sigh shuddered through her, and her face went slack as she turned away from Evazee.

Evazee watched helplessly as the window of opportunity slammed shut in her face. Her hand on Peta’s back seemed like cold comfort. She’d seen Shasta bring a dead LightSucker back to life, only to watch it die a few minutes later. Shasta led the OS training school and even though Evazee hadn’t had much to do with him, she’d seen enough to know that his miracles were a sham that came at a high price. With the grim reality of Shasta’s failed LightSucker healing fresh in her brain, she’d watched him go to work on Peta’s broken ankle. Her bones may have knit back together, but something else had been let loose in her body that made Evazee’s skin crawl.

There was nothing else to do but find the boys, and maybe together, they could find the Healing Stream.

~*~

“You know, maybe this wasn’t our best idea. We’ve been walking this forest forever. We’re not getting through.” Zap cleared his throat. There was a quiver to his voice that Kai knew well. He was terrified. “Maybe we should just go back.”

Ruaan patted his growling stomach wistfully. “Can I just remind you both that I was against all this in the first place? Maybe next time you should consider listening to me.”

“Look! There’s the path.” Kai couldn’t stop a tinge of I-told-you-so coloring his voice. They stepped clear of the trees, and Kai clicked his neck left and right, stretching his arms overhead to ease out the muscles of his back.

“Well done, genius. We’re back where we started.” Ruaan pointed to a mark they’d carved into the bark of a tree.

Kai rubbed his eyes and held the light bottle up close, “What? That’s not even possible! We should be able to cut straight across. We walked straight, didn’t we?”

Zap had his hands on his hips and a philosophical slant to his eyebrows. “Makes sense, really. Think of the graveyard. There is nothing natural about this place. Back home, you could assume walking in a straight line would get you where you wanted to go. Here? Not so much.”

Kai frowned. “That makes sense. When did you get so smart?” He slapped Zap on the back, “So what now, smartypants? We have to get to the girls.”

Zap crossed his arms. There was just a hint of swagger in the lift of his chin. “Well, if you must ask me...” Moments in the spotlight were not to be taken lightly.

Ruaan slapped him on the belly with the back of his hand. “There’s a path. We follow it. It’s not that hard. They’ll probably be waiting for us when we get through.” With that, he turned and headed into the darkness, leaving the other two gaping in the pool of bottle light.

~*~

A low rumble groaned through the rock beneath their feet, building to a shudder that made Peta stumble. Evazee reached out to steady her, but Peta pulled away as if Evazee’s skin scorched her. The shaking settled, and one line of glowing pattern brightened. It started at their feet and sparked a bright path away from the trees, cutting across the vast expanse of rock. The intensity of the glow was so bright that it lifted the reach of the brightness from their knees, to hips, up past their shoulders.

Evazee felt the light dance on her skin, tingling and sparking, a Jacuzzi of radiance. It washed over Peta, and the muscles in her face visibly relaxed.

“Should we follow it?” Evazee asked.

Peta met her eyes and nodded.

Evazee grinned. It was a hint of the old Peta. This had to be right.

Starting slow, they followed the glowing line as it weaved around the mini volcanoes. Each step they took echoed through the rock. Laughter bubbled up inside Evazee, and she grabbed Peta’s hand as they started to walk faster. Wherever this led was going to be glorious. Maybe it would even take away the gloom that had settled into the girl’s soul.

It began as a slight tremble. A shudder beneath their feet. Evazee looked ahead and saw one of the mini volcanoes in their way. The glowing line they were following went straight across and carried on to the other side. Evazee hesitated. Another tremble shuddered through the rock, this one nearly shaking them off their feet.

“Get off! Get off! It’s going to blow!” Footfall slapped the ground behind them like gunshots.

Dazed and blinded, Evazee squinted. Who was it? In a moment, a tall figure burst through the brightness and threw an arm around each of them, shoving them to the side. They landed hard.

The bubbles left her skin, and she felt cold and empty. “What are you doing? Who do you think you are?”

It was Elden. He was an Affinity trainer, and one that she may or may not be able to trust, but that didn’t stop her heart from double-thumping.

“We’ve got to get off this rock. Haven’t you felt the tremors?” Elden helped them both to their feet. With a hand on each of their backs, he pushed them along.

Evazee let herself be shoved along, still stunned at his sudden appearance, “When did you get here? Were you in the graveyard? Why didn’t we see you? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Good grief, girl! All these whys. Can we get to safety first, please?”

Evazee pulled away from his hand and folded her arms across her chest. “How do I even know I can trust you?”

“Look at it this way. If you are torched by one of these jets, you’ll never know, now will you?” A faint whoosh sounded behind them. Elden spun and peered through the gloom. “It’s started. Run, run now!”

Evazee glanced past Elden. What had him spooked? One of the mini volcanoes shot out a steaming stream of sparks and fire taller than both Elden and Kai balanced on top of each other. As she watched, it spread to the next one and the next, as if it were fed by some underground stream of flame inching relentlessly towards them.

“Running is good. Let’s do that.” Tearing her eyes away from the jets closing in, she grabbed Peta’s hand, but the girl stood rooted, sparks and flames reflecting in her unblinking eyes.

“Elden, help!”

Elden scooped Peta up in his arms, just as the jet at her feet blew. He turned away and hunched over her, using his body as a shield against the rain of liquid flame.