Crusade Across Worlds (30 page)

“Curhio waits for her. Always has.”

“This is pointless,” Blovid turns to
Sampson. “He will not help us and if he is even able to,” he leans
in with a whisper, “he may not know where it is hidden.”

Sampson responds but I don’t hear it.
Everything goes silent. Then fuzzy. And faint. My head lightens and
I lose balance, Clarence spinning toward me the last thing I
see.

I’m almost there.

Just a little further and it’ll be done.
It’ll all be over. Cupping my hands to my chest, I keep running.
The gown shuffles around me and I trip over it more than once, but
I continue on. Faster. Faster. Blonde locks bounce around,
obstructing my view. I peer through them. I can barely see but I
keep running through this endless stretch of darkness. My eyes
hurt. They’re dry and tired from stinging with tears, but I force
them open.

I have to find him.

And then he appears. He’s still bleeding
from his head, where the guard knocked him back. My poor Curhio.
I’ve even brought pain to my only friend.

“
Nhazual?”

I drop to my knees, bringing us eye to eye.
“Curhio—you must hide this.” I open my hands to reveal the tiny red
sphere. It’s so fragile, so intensely delicate that I’m weary of
handing it over. But I can’t leave it where it was. I’m sure he’s
told others of his mission and when he doesn’t come back, they’ll
come for him. They’ll come for it.

With a deep breath, I offer the precious
stone to my only friend.

“
What does Nhazual present to
Curhio?”

“
It is a Gift. The most precious Gift in
all of the World. It is sacred to me, and so, it should be sacred
to you.”

Curhio’s eyes grow as he carefully selects
the red stone from my palm, examining it.

“
You must hide this, Curhio, in a place
only you will know. You must hide this and never tell anyone where
it is. Not a single person. Can you do that?”

He scowls at something over my shoulder and
withdraws. “Blasted bugs.”

I follow his gaze.

And gasp.

Three Lynzees circle one another, fluttering
inches from my nose. I can’t believe it. Lynzees—actual Lynzees.
There have been stories of their existence, tales of those who have
seen them passed down through generations, but very few have
actually seen the messengers. The Spirits rarely appear, so what
are they doing here?

Oh.

To punish me, of course.

“
Curhio will kill for Nhazual—”

“
No!” I throw my arm out, stopping Curhio
before he can lunge. He wasn’t brought up with an education of our
World. He doesn’t know who they are. “They are not bugs. They are
holy spirits, messengers of the Lost Princesses and the Mother,” I
bow my head, shutting my eyes as tight as they can go. Surely the
Lynzees have come to pass judgment on my crimes, to punish me for
breaking the one vow I swore never to break. And they should.
“Forgive me. Forgive my treachery, my blindness. I have disobeyed
you.” I sink my head lower. “I have ruined it all.”

“
You have such sadness in your heart,” I
hear the words in my head. “Such pain.”

“
I have betrayed you. Betrayed my
people,” my voice quivers, followed quickly by my body. Guilt
wracks my shaking limbs and then hardens into pain that doesn’t
feel like quite enough. The Lynzees have come for justice—something
I’m only too eager to give—but they can’t take it before I’m able
to make it right. I turn to Curhio, eyeing the Gift held between
his fingers. “Never let anyone find it.”

“
Another will come,” one of the Lynzees
says. “One who will need it to save the Worlds. He must give it to
her.”

“
Another?” I blink.

“
She will come from a great distance,”
the second Lynzee says. “She will travel across the universe to
complete the cycle.”

“
And only
she
will be able to save
the Three Worlds,” the third adds.

I hang my head, confusion and grief circling
with the pain. “Will there be such a time of chaos? Will the Worlds
descend into need of such protection?”

“
There will come a time when great
sorrow, fear and pain blanket the Three Worlds. It is the Great
Unbalance—the reason that the Gifts were created and given. The
Worlds can right themselves, but will be unable to do so without
her help. When she comes, it is imperative that Curhio give her the
Gift; she will need it to complete her mission.”

“
How will he know it is her?”

“
She will arrive with a group; a Fychu
will be among them. Curhio will know her because she will tell him
that she is the one he has waited for, the one who seeks Nhazual’s
Gift to him. She will then follow Curhio alone. She must be the
only one to know the location for she will be the one to return it
there once the Gift has been used.”

“
I understand.” I turn to my friend,
aware he hasn’t heard any of the exchange. I cover the red stone in
his palms with my hands, hiding it in his. “Curhio, you are to hide
this from everyone, everyone except
one
. She will arrive in
a group with a Fychu. She will tell you she is the one you have
been waiting for, the one who is seeking my Gift to you. And you
must give it to her—only her—do you understand?”

“
Nhazual wishes Curhio’s Gift to be given
away?”

“
No, no of course not. She will need to
borrow it only, and then, when she is finished, she will return it
back to you. It will always be yours, hidden wherever you choose to
hide it. But you must give it to her when she comes. Remember this,
Curhio. She will tell you that she is the one you have been waiting
for, the one who seeks my Gift to you.”

Curhio closes his hands around the tiny red
sphere and brings it close to his chest. “Curhio understands.”

“
Good,” I wrap my arms around him one
final time, squeezing tight. “You have been my best friend, dear
one. You alone are honest and pure and true. Never let this World
darken you. Never let it break you,” I squeeze harder and then pull
back to look into his glass blue eyes.” I shall miss you
dearly.”

“
Nhazual will come back…” he shifts from
side to side. “Nhazual always comes back. Curhio waits. Every
time.”

Wiping a tear from my eye, I get to my feet.
“That’s right.”

“
Curhio hides Nhazual’s Gift to him. Then
Curhio awaits Nhazual’s return. Curhio
always
waits. Every
time. Every time.”

“
Every time,” I nod, wishing I could say
more, wishing I could tell him the truth. But I can’t. Instead, I
offer the only words I can muster. “Goodbye, Curhio.”

With a deep breath, I turn around.

“
You do not need to do what you intend,
Princess,” one of the Lynzees floats closer to my face. “It is not
required to make amends.”

“
I cannot live with what I have
done.”

“
Your life is a gift. To take it will be
to curse it and any that taste this decision.”

“
I do not wish to do anymore harm,” I
rush past the Spirits and out into the dark night, only stopping to
scoop up one of the slick black blades. But I don’t look at him. I
can’t. I’ll be with him soon enough, if my courage holds
out.

I break into a run.

The Lynzees effortlessly keep pace with me
as I head for that place, that very special place that I need to
be. I can’t go home; home doesn’t exist for me anymore. Nothing
else exists for me except the only place I can go. “That is why I
must do this.”

“
Remember,” one of the Lynzees says, “if
you curse your blood, it will curse those who taste it. You have
the power in your hands.”

“
I know,” I grip the blade handle and
come to a sudden halt. My heart pounds furiously as I look out,
both terrified and pained.

I’m here.

I’m right where I’m meant to be.

Pink and green buds cover the field, the
sight filling me with bittersweet emotions. This was once my
salvation, my escape, the place I dreamed about. I gaze into the
distance and take a deep breath, letting the comfort fill me for
the last time. This is where I first saw him. This is where I fell
in love. Tears burn my eyes and my heart constricts. This is where
I will stay forever. Shaking, I lift the blade, my hand wobbling in
front of me.

I bring the point to the center of my chest.
I have to do this. I have to make this right. I betrayed my people
and my oath to the Mother. There’s no escape for my actions, no
penance for my sins. There’s only one way this can end. “I intend
on making it right.”

I plunge the dagger inside.

Pain.

Immediate. Instant.

It’s all I feel—the breaking of this body,
the stiffening, the sharpening. The pink and green buds blur in
front of me, the field growing fuzzy.

But then I see him.

Sellyan.

He’s in the flowers, not more than a few
feet away. He walks towards me, brushing the stocks aside, a smile
on his face. My chest tightens. I love that smile. I love it more
than anything. I look forward to it every day, and dream of it each
night.

“
Sellyan…” I reach out to him.

Everything is disappearing, everything is
fading except his face, his smile, his eyes. He moves closer, his
fingers barely touching mine.

“
Sellyan,” I whisper, “We’re together
forever now…”

“Fallon?”

I’m on the ground, my legs outstretched in
front of me. Clarence’s arms are wrapped around me, holding me up.
He gently shakes my shoulders, nudging me awake.

“You with us, kid?”

I look between him, Sampson and the others.
Even Curhio is peeking through, a wrinkled brow of confusion
sitting atop his bald head. “What happened?”

“You blacked out on us there. You need to go
outside—get a breather?”

That’s the last thing I need. I can’t go
back. This moment has been three thousand years in the making. It’s
shatteringly clear now. I’m meant to be here, in this tunnel with
the others, with Sampson and Curhio. This is all part of the plan.
With Clarence’s help, I get to my feet. Moving past the others, I
head straight for Curhio and drop to my knees in front of him. I
study his glassy blue eyes and he does the same to me. Gesturing
over my shoulder, I motion to Sampson. “That’s Fychu Sampson.”

Curhio’s eyes widen before his focus shifts
back to me.

“
I
am the one you have been waiting
for.
I
am the one who seeks Nhazual’s Gift to you.”

Curhio stares at me a moment, saying
nothing. Finally, without so much as a nod of understanding, he
turns and heads into the darkness. I stand. I start to follow but
when the others move to join me, I spin and shake my head. “Just
me.”

“Fallon,” Sampson clears his throat. “It
would be wiser if you had someone else. Some… protection.”

“You’re not meant to go. Any of you,” I
glance around. “This is my responsibility; he’ll only reveal the
location to me. I have to do this alone.”

“Why?” Clarence steps forward. “Think about
this, kid.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You better,” his face grows stern. “I mean
it.”

I glance over my shoulder to Curhio
disappearing into the darkness, and then back to the others. “I’ll
see you soon.”

Following the ancient Nerwo, I use my Callix
to light our way. I keep behind him as he slowly skulks forward,
moving at his own slow, unhurried pace. Finally, he pauses. Placing
his hand to the stone wall, he barely pushes it and the thing
withdraws, moving back. He glances at me.

“This way,” he murmurs.

Curhio slips through the opening and I
follow him inside. In here, it’s just as dark as outside—if not
darker—and I wonder how he is able to see so well. Of course,
having lived here for three thousand years helps. With the same
unhurried skulk, Curhio moves through the tunnel, which quickly
turns into two and then three. But he selects each one without
hesitation, like Reid when he navigated the labyrinth beneath
Harrizel.

“Curhio visits Nhazual’s Gift to him often,”
he says.

“You do?”

“Curhio waits for her return.
Always
waits. Do you know,” he stops suddenly and turns to me, “do you
know?
”

“Soon. It will be soon, Curhio.”

He nods, and for the first time, I see the
weight of despair fill his ancient eyes and rest on his fragile
shoulders. “Curhio always waits for her. Every time. Every
time.”

“You must love her very much.”

“
She
never harmed Curhio. No, no. She
never would. She would never harm Curhio. She and Curhio are
friends,” he turns and heads down the tunnel, mumbling to himself.
“She and Curhio are
best
friends.”

I follow for another few minutes until he
finally comes to a stop.

“It is here. Nhazual’s Gift to Curhio,” he
scampers up the wall and pulls out a small rock from the ceiling,
letting it fall to the ground with a loud smack. Reaching into the
whole, he feels around for something before slowly lowering his
arm. His hand is clutched tightly into a fist as he drops to the
ground again and shuffles toward me. “She presented it last time
Curhio saw her.”

His fingers unfold like flower petals in
bloom and there, in the center of his palm, rests a tiny red stone,
no larger than a marble.

“You cannot keep it. You must return to
Curhio.”

“I will,” I gently select the Gift from his
hand. “When I am done, I will return it to you and you will hide it
again.”

He grunts in agreement, watching as I close
my fingers over the Floating Ruby.

“Thank you, Curhio.”

I turn and head back when his gravelly voice
calls behind me. “You have seen the bugs too. They call to you…like
they did her.”