tortures he
performed on her. Or maybe she feared realigning with
him if he commanded it. Whatever the case, that part of her is gone. She is
really and truly free.
She
takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. Then she’s on her feet, clipping her
hammer to her belt and acting as if nothing at all happened.
Message received , I think, don’t talk about it.
I’m
pretty sure Mira picked up on the cue, too, because she moves on to a new topic
without missing a beat. “So what’s next? We need to get to the FOB, right?”
“Yeah,”
I say. “Your parents will be happy to see you.”
Mira
gets a concerned look on her face. “Have...you heard about your parents?”
Fear
grips my chest. Adoel didn’t want me to know, one way or the other, about my
parents, but that was right before I was to face Ophion in battle. Maybe it
would be alright to know now? But I already know, don’t I? If what Mira
described about the crustal displacement event is accurate, and I believe it
is, then the coast of Maine where my parents lived wouldn’t have fared any
better than New Hampshire. “They’re dead, right? They must be.”
“Actually,”
Mira says. “I have no idea. But...they moved to New Mexico a few years back.
From what I understand, the climate is pretty nice there now.”
“Oh,”
I say. “That’s...good to know.” Once again, Hope delivers. And that’s where I’m
going to leave it. No more wondering, speculation or worry. If I dwell on the
fate of my parents, I’ll never be able to focus on what needs to be done next. “We
should get going. The FOB is three days from here and we have no idea how long
it will be before—
The
floor shakes beneath my feet.
I
stop and listen.
The
shaking returns, this time with an audible rumble.
“Maybe
this is a dumb question,” Mira says, “But what is that?”
I
look at Kainda and see my fears reflected in her eyes.
I
sigh.
“Footsteps.”
9
“You said
we were hundreds of feet underground.” Mira glances around the dull blue cavern.
I can see a good distance in far less light than this, but she probably can’t
see more than fifty feet, which is probably disconcerting. “Is something down
here with us?”
“Actually,”
I say, “it’s above us, and I’m pretty sure it’s still a ways off. Hold on.”
I
close my eyes and focus on the stone around me. A shiver runs through my body
as I allow myself to feel the Earth itself. Strata of stone,
veins of water and shifting air. Then a footstep. I feel the compression. Massive. Water is squeezed down
through the ground. The air in the cavern shifts. The weight is immense.
As
I expand my senses, I hear Mira speaking to Kainda.
“What
is he doing?” Mira asks.
“I’m
not really sure. He can...feel the land.”
“Can
he see through it?”
“If
the land had eyes, maybe,” Kainda says. “It’s like the Earth becomes an
extension of his body. He experiences the changes on Antarktos the way we might
on our skin or in our bodies.”
Listening
to Kainda’s surprisingly accurate description of what I’m doing, I start to
lose focus and drift back to the cavern, but not before feeling the thunderous
impact of a hundred thousand more feet.
“So
that’s how he’s able to control the elements?” Mira asks. “Because
he’s part of them?”
“Something like that,” Kainda says.
I
return to my body with a gasp, shifting the women’s attention immediately to
me.
“What
is it?” Kainda asks.
“I’m
not sure,” I say. “But I think it’s an army. I couldn’t tell how many, but
some...” I shake my head, trying to comprehend the weight I felt compressing
the layers of Earth. “They’re so big.”
As
though punctuating what I’ve said, the ground shakes. A rumble rolls past, and
I suspect the distant sound is reaching us thanks to the cool underground
air—which I can’t feel, but I know the ambient temperature is somewhere around
fifty-five degrees—and the acoustics of
performed on her. Or maybe she feared realigning with
him if he commanded it. Whatever the case, that part of her is gone. She is
really and truly free.
She
takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. Then she’s on her feet, clipping her
hammer to her belt and acting as if nothing at all happened.
Message received , I think, don’t talk about it.
I’m
pretty sure Mira picked up on the cue, too, because she moves on to a new topic
without missing a beat. “So what’s next? We need to get to the FOB, right?”
“Yeah,”
I say. “Your parents will be happy to see you.”
Mira
gets a concerned look on her face. “Have...you heard about your parents?”
Fear
grips my chest. Adoel didn’t want me to know, one way or the other, about my
parents, but that was right before I was to face Ophion in battle. Maybe it
would be alright to know now? But I already know, don’t I? If what Mira
described about the crustal displacement event is accurate, and I believe it
is, then the coast of Maine where my parents lived wouldn’t have fared any
better than New Hampshire. “They’re dead, right? They must be.”
“Actually,”
Mira says. “I have no idea. But...they moved to New Mexico a few years back.
From what I understand, the climate is pretty nice there now.”
“Oh,”
I say. “That’s...good to know.” Once again, Hope delivers. And that’s where I’m
going to leave it. No more wondering, speculation or worry. If I dwell on the
fate of my parents, I’ll never be able to focus on what needs to be done next. “We
should get going. The FOB is three days from here and we have no idea how long
it will be before—
The
floor shakes beneath my feet.
I
stop and listen.
The
shaking returns, this time with an audible rumble.
“Maybe
this is a dumb question,” Mira says, “But what is that?”
I
look at Kainda and see my fears reflected in her eyes.
I
sigh.
“Footsteps.”
9
“You said
we were hundreds of feet underground.” Mira glances around the dull blue cavern.
I can see a good distance in far less light than this, but she probably can’t
see more than fifty feet, which is probably disconcerting. “Is something down
here with us?”
“Actually,”
I say, “it’s above us, and I’m pretty sure it’s still a ways off. Hold on.”
I
close my eyes and focus on the stone around me. A shiver runs through my body
as I allow myself to feel the Earth itself. Strata of stone,
veins of water and shifting air. Then a footstep. I feel the compression. Massive. Water is squeezed down
through the ground. The air in the cavern shifts. The weight is immense.
As
I expand my senses, I hear Mira speaking to Kainda.
“What
is he doing?” Mira asks.
“I’m
not really sure. He can...feel the land.”
“Can
he see through it?”
“If
the land had eyes, maybe,” Kainda says. “It’s like the Earth becomes an
extension of his body. He experiences the changes on Antarktos the way we might
on our skin or in our bodies.”
Listening
to Kainda’s surprisingly accurate description of what I’m doing, I start to
lose focus and drift back to the cavern, but not before feeling the thunderous
impact of a hundred thousand more feet.
“So
that’s how he’s able to control the elements?” Mira asks. “Because
he’s part of them?”
“Something like that,” Kainda says.
I
return to my body with a gasp, shifting the women’s attention immediately to
me.
“What
is it?” Kainda asks.
“I’m
not sure,” I say. “But I think it’s an army. I couldn’t tell how many, but
some...” I shake my head, trying to comprehend the weight I felt compressing
the layers of Earth. “They’re so big.”
As
though punctuating what I’ve said, the ground shakes. A rumble rolls past, and
I suspect the distant sound is reaching us thanks to the cool underground
air—which I can’t feel, but I know the ambient temperature is somewhere around
fifty-five degrees—and the acoustics of
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