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With Special Forces distracted, I slunk across the inner chamber and peered through the gilded peepholes on the other side. Jack sprinted across the floor, checking the walls for potential exists. Several of the beasties followed, trying to escape, only to have a wispy spirit appear in front of them, stealing their life-spirit in the same manner as what happened to the unfortunate Special Forces agent. Jack doubled back, sparing a glance toward me and gesturing at the door. I grimaced. Our only way out was the way we came in, and the door was blocked by Legion.
Lily shrieked as a wisp surged toward her, vanished, and then reappeared behind her. She stared at the ceiling, her face pale. I held my breath. If she died... I tightened my hand around my flower charm. I’d been the one to suggest how to kill the Legion Spore. It had used me and what little I knew of telepathy. If she died because of that, her death would be my fault.
The wisps swarmed around our team, lunging and vanishing the same as the first. I swallowed hard. Lily was still alive, despite the shadowy wisp’s constant lunges. When I was in the Legion Spore’s mind, it had said it couldn’t be shielded, or it would fall apart. The same concept applied to spirits.
They only lived because of their artifact and their powers...
Legion wasn’t quite the immortal being that the brain seed had taken pride in creating. It still had a weakness. So long as we were shielded, it’s attacks against us were limited.
Lance bounced on his feet, looking between my hiding place and the door as if trying to decide between staying where he was or coming after me. I took a deep breath. I needed to grab the stone and hope Legion didn’t notice. Tentatively, I tucked the artifact under the crook of my arm, and then crouched by the doorway of the inner chamber. I rocked on my heels, preparing for the sprint.
Whatever happened, I would keep running and hope everyone else followed. My heart pounded, blood pulsing in my ears. I launched off the ground, propelling myself from the inner chamber at what felt like a sluggish pace without my speed power. I entered the hazy outer walkway. Closing in and—
Commander Rick’s scream froze me in my tracks.
I spun around, the stone clutched to my chest. Legion stood over the commander, wings extended. Fire crackled along its shoulders and back. Though Commander Rick was tall, the spirit towered above him, its hands clenched into fists.
“No—please! I—” Commander Rick’s eyes bulged and he collapsed, writhing in agony. Dark red boils erupted along his skin, and his screams echoed as the spirit raised its chin, hand over the commander’s body. He kept screaming as the monster above him grinned, using his powers to heal the commander and burn him all over again.
Dear Community...
Horrified, I stepped away from the tortured leader. I shivered. Was that what happened to Tim? No one deserved that. Not even the commander. I’d hesitate to even suggest that Lady Winters had earned that fate.
We needed to get out of here. I spun around...
And came face to face with a glowing lion.
What in the Community?
On its back, a poised lady raised her arms, all ten of them, each carrying a different weapon. Her tunic shimmered with a faint red hue, and she looked on me with not two, but three eyes. Goosebumps crept across my back.
I was holding the stone and the shield hadn’t blocked her.
The shadowy wisps drifted around the two of us in a large semi-circle. Behind me, the commander’s cries were drowned by the screams of his remaining men. The lion cocked its head and opened its mouth to reveal sharp, glowing fangs. I tensed, holding the stone as close as I could. The lion nudged its head against my shoulder. The glow of its pelt left dark streaks in my vision.
Quin said it might be possible to reason with the spirit. I raised my chin to meet the woman’s gaze, a chill running up my spine. “Please help us,” I whispered. “If the Camaraderie gets the stones—”
It is not the Camaraderie you should be concerned with.
Her voice sounded in my mind, strong and thoughtful, and equally fierce. She turned her head toward Legion and raised a bow in one hand, fitting it with an arrow from another. She released the string and let it fly. The arrow struck the flaming spirit’s wing.
Legion jerked, arching its back and vanishing into thin air. Commander Rick collapsed, his body smoldering. I licked my lips. It couldn’t be that easy. It was never that easy—
Giant, fiery wings expanded behind the guardian, sending a whoosh of heated air that nearly knocked me from my feet. Its eyes blazed hot blue. Fire flared across its closed fists.
The lion roared telepathically and the spirit—Durga, I assumed—swung her sword, cutting through and dispelling several of the wisps beside us. I staggered out of the way as she drew back a trident and struck at the spirit’s chest. Legion dodged. A tendril of liquid silver extended from the ball in its chest, wrapping across its arm like circuits in a circuit board before reforming in its hand as a dark, shadowy sword that emitted a harsh, purple hue.
Take the stone and run, the guardian’s voice commanded. While you are on temple grounds, I will protect you.
Legs shaking, I stumbled through the wispy spirits, watching them vanish the moment I touched them.
“Jenna!” Lily ran toward me, refitting her gun holsters over her hips after taking them from a fallen agent. Quin and Jack hefted Dad in their arms, moving for the doors. Behind us, Durga continued her battle, demolishing the black wisps as if they were made from sand. “We’ve got to get your dad to safety.”
I nodded and ran after Lily. Smoke stung my eyes. Pumping rotors and terrified screams filled the air, backed by gunfire and crashing metal. Smaller airships and drones darted above us, trading fire. The sky was a hazy red, lighter than it had been when we came in.
I pushed my way to the front, trying to see Dad. Before I got there, Jack and Quin stopped near the side of a building. They sat Dad on the ground. “What are you doing?” I hissed. “We have to—”
Dad turned his head toward me, his eyes dull. I stumbled to a halt.
“Dad?”
“Get over here, Jen.” Jack jerked his head. I dropped to my knees beside him and set the stone aside.
Dad put his hand on mine. “Jenna, I can’t make it like this.”
Panic stabbed me. He couldn’t die, not like this! “Dad, please—”
With forceful effort, he placed his hand to his lips to shush me, and then rested his head on Jack’s lap. “I need to heal. The shield... needs to be removed.” He took a ragged breath.
I shook my head, numb. Whatever Special Forces had done to help must have been short-term.
“Maybe we could call the Oriental Alliance.” There were plenty of them around. Surely one of them had healing powers.
“They’re busy with their own wounded.” Quin pushed himself away from Dad, moving to stand with Lily. I stared at him. This couldn’t be happening.
“Jack,” Dad whispered, “please remove the shield. I don’t care if it hurts. Let me try... to heal myself. Jenna—” His hand went to his wrist, clumsily unfastening the watch. “If I fail, take this to your mom. Please.” He grimaced, still holding onto the watch.
“Dad...” My vision blurred, my eyes burning. I couldn’t lose him. Not after I’d just gotten him back.
“He won’t live if we try to carry him out,” Jack said. “He might live if we remove the shield.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing hard. “Give him that chance.”
I wrapped my arms around Dad, ignoring the warm blood seeping into my shirt from the open wound on his chest. I gritted my teeth, listening to the irregular thud of his heart. “Dad...”
He kissed my forehead.
“I love you,” I whispered, then crawled back, making sure I wasn’t touching him. I couldn’t let my shield affect him. Jack grimaced as he pried his clawless fingers around the shield in Dad’s chest.
“Good luck,” Jack whispered, placing his other hand on Dad’s shoulders. He grunted, and then yanked the shield free. Dad gasped and jerked. Jack stumbled away, tossing the bloody mess of metal and muscle tissue the other direction.
Twisted metal and muscle... all coming together to form a single vessel—
I bit my knuckles, dizzy from nausea. The smoke around me clogged my nose and my mouth. I wished I had my plants. Wished we were back in the jet, or the airship, where it would be safe. Where everything would be all right.
A pair of arms wrapped around me, but I was too numb to care one way or another. “Come on, Dad,” I whispered.
Dad breathed, his chest barely rising. His fingers clutched the watch Mom gave him. Then, without warning, he relaxed. His chest didn’t move, his lips didn’t twitch.
“Dad?”
Fingers tightened around my shoulder. He was still.
“Dad!” I screamed, starting for him, but the arms held me back.
“The shield,” Quin reminded me. I froze.
Maybe it was one of those moments where the heart stopped and restarted. Maybe—
“Ron—” Jack inched around him, careful not to touch his body.
No... He was too still. My cheeks burned hot. The morning was too warm, but I felt cold, like someone had dumped ice on me. Everything around me felt unreal, completely unreal. I whimpered, my fingers tight around the wrist of whomever was holding me. “Dad?”
Jack took a deep breath, and then gently pressed two fingers to Dad’s neck. Fear flashed through me. Please be all right...
Jack winced, removed his fingers, and looked away. “I’m sorry, Jen.”
“No!” I pushed whomever was holding me away and I grabbed Dad’s hand. He didn’t respond. “Dad!” I choked back a sob, burying my head in his shoulder. I whimpered, holding him, the world dark. Sobs racketed through me, the pain of the shield implanted in my shoulder horribly clear. Commander Rick and his Special Forces had killed him. I glanced at my dad’s face. He could have been sleeping, if he weren’t so pale.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I’d failed him. I’d meant to save him and Mom from the Camaraderie. Instead, I’d gotten him killed.
“Jen—” Lance’s voice betrayed panic. I turned, and my lips parted, soundless.
Legion stood across from us, its obsidian wings outspread. The rest of my team stood between me and it, but terror coursed through me. A ball of fire formed in the spirit’s hand.
Quin pushed Lily out of the way as the fireball roared overhead. The ball slammed into the building behind us and the fire burned, twisting metal and cracking wood. Quin hurriedly brushed his sleeve to put out singed burns.
I dragged Dad’s body away from the pyre, sweat forming on my neck. The watch—I grabbed it and shoved it deep into my pocket. I’d get it to Mom, one way or another. Another fireball soared overhead, and Jack ripped me away. “You want to die, too? Run!” He had the stone, and the others already raced across the bridge.
I took one last look at my dad’s body. This shouldn’t have happened. He had life-spirit powers. He had probability on his side. His wound should have healed; how could he die?
Tears blurred my eyes and I swallowed a sob.
Inese, too. Inese was dead.
I wiped my face of the tears as I ran. Once across the bridge, the guardian’s voice sounded in my head. She still rode her lion, but now she struck Legion with blow after blow from her sword. The dark spirit fought back, patterns of fire dancing around its feet where its wings dropped smoldering coals.
Restore order from this chaos, Durga told us. Take the relics to the circle of stone in the North. You have the translations—now flee!
Her sword sliced through the spirit’s wing. Dark vapor rose from the wound. Legion retaliated, bringing its dark silver and violet blade across the guardian’s chest and through her neck. Light shimmered across her wound, sparkling with red and white flecks and spreading outward across her body until the shimmer encompassed the lion. The light grew brighter, and then the guardians exploded like shattered glass.
Do not fear, her voice whispered. When the time is right, I will return, and we will stand against this asura together.
Bright spots danced in my vision, but I still saw the burning demon cross the bridge, its wings lighting the railing and frayed garlands on fire. Chunks of wood fell into the river below and sizzled upon impact.
Legion stopped on the other side of the bridge. The shadowy wisps soared past me, disappearing into the forest. The monster turned its head to the sky. A pink, fleshy amalgamation of tentacles and tissue hung overhead. Small drones flew past the remaining Legion Spore, firing rockets and failing to get past its shifting metal armor.
The spirit vanished. Wind whipped past me, stirring the trees, but I couldn’t feel the plants around me. And Dad...
I chased after Jack, stumbling over roots and twigs, falling to my knees and smearing my hands with rotten leaves and dirt. I scrambled to my feet. We kept running, following the river until we broke from the jungle and found the path we sought.
The battle raged around us, but no one paid us attention. They were too busy. Soldiers from both factions fled the dark wisps, suffering the same fate of the commander’s troops. Even the beasties ran in terror, trying to flee.
But the wisps ignored us. The shields that killed my father were saving us.
As the clearing came into sight, an explosion ripped across the forest. I stumbled to a halt, staring at the leafy canopy above me. Through the wavering leaves, flesh and metal fractured the sky, hanging in midair, reforming, surrounded by shadowy wisps.
I let out a breath. The other Legion Spore had been destroyed, too, and now it was forming another Legion.
“The keys!” Jack snapped. “Get your keys ready!”
I fished through my pocket and searched the key ring, my fingers fumbling to take the small object. I dug my glasses out from a different pocket and a faint red outline of the jet appeared in front of us. A cold weight settled over me as I took the seat in the cockpit and temporarily made the jet visible again so everyone could find their seats. I had to fly this thing alone. The levers and dials felt unfamiliar. The engines whined as they started. Jack checked that everyone was strapped in before closing the ramp.
He plopped into the chair next to me and I turned the jet invisible again. “You can do this,” he said, but I wasn’t sure he was convinced. After a moment of sightless fumbling, he laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. The watch settled heavily in my pocket, but at least it was there.
I urged the jet off the ground, checking the GNSS for ships above us. The screen was a mottled mess of color—enemies and allies alike. I gritted my teeth and urged the jet forward, maneuvering around the first few drones.
Time to go.
My head spun as I put the jet into a hybrid mode between hover and the first flight mode. I pushed the jet faster. It was all I could do to see straight. Jack glanced my direction, nervous. “Jenna? Let’s not have a memory attack now.”
“Not that.” I swallowed hard. “I don’t have my speed powers.” I steadied the jet, dodging another drone. Just a bit faster, and...
To my right, a cluster of dark, smoky wisps disappeared into the center of a large OA carrier ship. A red beam of light shot out from the ship’s hull, stretching outward until fire exploded inside and the ship ripped apart. I dropped the jet into a nosedive, dodging flying pieces of debris. Vertigo rushed through me. Jack cursed as I banked a hard left, and then we were back in the sky.
Jack clamped his hands on the edge of his seat, sitting back as far as he could. “Ahead!”
Another red laser beam split through the largest of the COE command vessels. Fire erupted from the windows, smoke billowing. A dark object spun our way. One of the airship’s rotors had dislodged from the wing. I thrust the throttle as far as it would go, my heart pounding. We careened through a pillar of flame, barely dodging the rotor. Metal chunks crashed against the front window and wings. Warnings beeped on the console. The jet wavered, nearly impossible to control as flames crackled around us.
We plummeted into the smoky haze. The sky blurred with trees. Frantic, I searched for the joystick. The ground raced toward us, red lines of the jet wavering.
Up! We needed to go up!
The jet lurched, skimming the upper layer of branches, and then we were back in the air. I guided us underneath an OA helicopter, then soared past the mechs.
Free sky appeared on the horizon. Bright with dawn’s light, clear of smoke and debris.
The helicopters, dozens of them with red dragonfly symbols, flocked against the clouds. I gasped for breath, dizzy, but the worst was over. Behind us, smoke and fire marred the dark, western sky. Lightning crackled in the distance, mixed with flashes from the battle’s explosions.
I set the jet to autopilot, steering us on a roundabout course back to the airship, and then I removed the watch from my pocket and traced its smooth glass surface. Dad... I’d spoken with him less than an hour ago.
Now he was gone.
Tears streaked my cheeks. I let them come. No one could see me. No one spoke, so it wasn’t like my voice would betray me. Commander Rick’s voice echoed in my head: her choices, her consequences.
I’d chosen this. I’d chosen to be a rebel, and this was the consequence. I clutched the watch between my fingers. The time stone sat in Jack’s lap.
I gritted my teeth. We would figure out how to work the stones. Either we’d go back in time, and we’d prevent this from ever happening, or we would convince the guardians to help us.
Either way, the world would be safe.
