Crusade Across Worlds (35 page)

And then I jump.

Except I’m not falling this time.

I’m
flying
.

Weapon in hand, I jet around explosions and
through slow-motion needles, launching myself from Vermix to Vermix
as I send the whip’s sharp end flying across their eyes and necks
and the soft patches of their lower stomachs. Pain only begins to
register when I’m leaping to the next target, crawling my way up
the invading Dofinikes like a ladder in mid-air.

Things creep by, the scene gradually
changing, but I’m taking advantage of it. I understand how to slow
down time when it really counts. Before, it only happened when I
was feeling something too intense, like too much fear or panic or
confusion. I was able to take my moments and slow them down so I
could handle them, so I could take control and understand what was
happening. So I could make sense of it. But now that I’ve mastered
the technique, I don’t need a severe feeling or emotion to occur. I
just need to focus.

It’s probably been a total of five minutes,
although it feels like an hour that I’ve been out here, slaying
Vermix after Vermix, helping clear out the city. Some have already
fallen to the ground, plummeting in super slow motion so that their
shock and confusion is painted across their faces. A second ago
they were mid-jump and now they’re gutted and blind, no longer
mid-leap but falling to their deaths.

It’s when I’m moving onto my next target
that I notice three familiar faces. Ascending the Eckle by way of
the Yulus, their stunned expressions latch onto me. On my movement.
On what I’m doing. Utter relief rocks my senses and that’s all it
takes for me to lose focus. Time speeds up again, everything
rushing back to its current stream of chaos and violence and
suddenly, something sharp slices through my left arm. Startled by
the pain, I lose balance, lose footing, and plummet through a
bundle of Yulus when my great-great-grandfather catches my right
hand. The whip falls past me, but I can’t think about it. I’m
dangling in the air and my bicep is stinging, glowing with a
thousand buzzing burns. With Jace and Werzo’s help, Clarence pulls
me onto the branch.

“Fallon!” Jace crouches next to me,
examining my arm, which is starting to go numb from the pain.

“Is it one of the lethal darts?” Werzo looks
to Clarence.

Before he can answer, Commander Leoh lands
on our branch. He retrieves something from one of the brown leather
straps and jams it into my arm. A whole new agony takes over and I
shut my eyes, trying to close out everything. I want to scream. I
want to scream at the top of my lungs. My arm feels like it is
literally on fire. It feels like my muscle and bone are being
ripped open by flames, by shards of glass. Tears fall from my eyes
and it takes everything I have not to start bawling
uncontrollably.

“This should neutralize the poison,” Leoh
says. “She will survive.”

I grip my arm, trying to block out the pain.
Leoh moves for my great-great-grandfather and the two start
talking. But I don’t hear them. I can’t. I can’t concentrate on
anything other than the agony ripping through my bicep.

“Fallon,” Jace holds me by my shoulders. He
puts his face in front of mine, forcing me to look at him. “Just
hang in there. It’ll be over soon.”

Unable to help it, a sob breaks free. Tears
pour down my cheeks, my body quivering from the unimaginable ache.
I know Jace is saying something, but I can’t hear him anymore. He’s
growing blurry, coming in and out, the edges of his face fading
into pixels. More indecipherable words and the three others are
looking at me too. Something is being said.

Suddenly, I’m swept up.

My head falls back and the Zinnollo ceiling
comes into view. Lime Yulus swing softly, soaked in bright orange
flames. Then everything goes dark.

“
Is she coming around?”

“
Fallon.”
Someone snaps
.
I
feel it inches from my face, just above my nose
. “Fallon—you
with us?”

“
Give her a moment.”

“
Fallon.”
Another snap.

My eyes pop open.

Reid is here. Reid and Able and Pratt and
the others. Their faces hang over mine, all pressed together and
frowning down with concern. Beyond them is a wooden ceiling.
Familiar golden veins travel through the thick dark bark, rays of
sunlight peeking through the cracks in the wood and holes in the
corners. I’m not outside. I’m
inside
, in someone’s home.
Mine? Sampson’s?

Reid leans in. “Can you hear me?”

I manage a nod.

“I’m going to sit you up, okay?”

A few hands reach under my shoulders and
pull me from my reclined position. Everything is spinning and it
takes a moment for it all to be still again. Placing my hands on
the edge of a cushion, I lean forward and let out a dizzying
breath. I feel like I’ve been asleep for a thousand years. More
than a thousand years. Forever, maybe. Bringing the heel of my hand
to my head, I suck in a sharp breath and look around.

Hozfin’s home.

I’m back.

Except all the Rogues are here this time
along with Clarence and most of the Dofinikes. But they weren’t
before. It was only a few of us—not even half. What happened? How
did they get here? And how come I can’t remember?

“You hit me and left,” Walker reads my
confusion. “Then got yourself shot with a dart. Clarence brought
you back here.”

“Uh—we helped,” Jace scoffs and then nods in
my direction. “How’re you doing, Fallon?”

“Thank God Leoh gave you the antidote,” Reid
crosses his arms, a hint of anger burning behind his eyes. “You
would’ve been dead in minutes if he hadn’t.”

“It felt like—”

“Like you were burning from the inside out?”
The honey-haired commander pokes his head through the others. “Yes,
I would imagine so. It was the poison being destroyed while still
in your body. You handled it well, I might add. Some Nerwos have
broken down in cries and spasms. You merely conked out.”

“How come you had the antidote?” Pratt
asks.

“The Zingfinolds supplied us with some,
should we find ourselves in the crossfire,” Leoh turns to me. “It
was lucky I was able to keep track of you.” He must sense my
confusion because he goes on. “You requested that I obtain a whip
for you. I did not understand what you meant to do until I saw it
with my own eyes.”

“Yeah,” Able chuckles. “She does that.”

“On your own, I believe you managed to
eliminate over fifty Vermix in the span of a few minutes. You moved
so quickly—so
effortlessly
—I believed you might be
transcending the Spirit. I thought perhaps…you could fly. With your
assistance, the king’s home and surrounding areas were sufficiently
cleared. You gave us the advantage that we needed.”

“That’s my girl,” Clarence winks. He’s in
his human form again and places himself between the Nerwo commander
and Reid. “We saw you when we were heading here. I almost couldn’t
keep track of you, you were moving so fast.”

Commander Leoh clears his throat. “Thank the
Mother I did, because the second that dart hit you, I knew you were
in for a great deal of pain. Tell me…” he glances to my bicep, “how
are you feeling now?”

I rub my hand down my arm. “Better.
Thanks.”

“Thank
you
for helping us,” he opens
his palm and reveals one of the Vermix whips.

“You found it.”

“I do not believe it is the same, but it
will do the job.”

I reach for the offered weapon and with
little difficulty, jump to my feet. The others move back, giving me
room and now that I’m standing, I can see how crowded Hozfin’s home
has become. More Zingfinolds have been evacuated here and with all
the Rogues and most of the Dofinikes, the space—as big as it is—is
tight. Almost suffocating. “So what’s going on? Are they gone?”

“The Vermix aren’t in the city anymore,”
Clarence sighs, “if that’s what you’re asking. Ehan had an
additional fleet sent over to clear out Zinnollo. It’s been free of
Vermix for the last fifteen minutes or so, about the same time we
arrived here.”

I turn to Reid. “What about you guys?”

“Came right after you left. Walker was
nursing a bloody nose,” he doesn’t bother hiding his smirk, “and
told us you jumped ship. We must’ve just missed you.”

“I needed a whip.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I needed to be armed.”

“You had your Traxpire.”

“It’s not the same.” I glance past him, to
the other side of Hozfin’s home and then back through the Rogues. I
turn to Clarence. “Where’s Sampson?”

He lets out a sigh, hands on his hips. “He’s
still out there with Blovid. I’ve tried contacting him and he keeps
saying ‘it’s not a good time.’

“But the Nerwos are with him, right? They
were supposed to be stationed in the trees between the valley and
the city.”

“They’re helping as best they can…”

“But?”

Clarence exhales. “But Reuzkimpart wants
Sampson dead almost as much as he wants the Gifts. The entire plan
of simply luring him to the valley has backfired. All of our forces
are trying to deal with Reuzkimpart’s redirected invasion while
attempting to get to and aide the Fychu. Everyone is sort of
scrambled.”

“So what’s our next move?”

“Getting the Gifts to the moons.”

I glance between the four Dofinikes. “Then
why don’t you take them?”

“Sampson doesn’t think we need to just yet.”
Reid sneaks a glance at Clarence. “He still thinks this is
manageable.”

“So we’re just…waiting around?”

My great-great-grandfather nods. “The little
I’ve gotten from him is that he wants everyone here, together. He
doesn’t want to enact the contingency plan yet, and the only other
safe place is Thias’s kingdom. And I
highly
doubt Sampson
wants us somewhere he can’t go.”

It seems ridiculous to just wait it out,
simply because Sampson doesn’t want to go with plan B. But it’s
quiet outside. No more blazing blasts or thundering explosions. The
fighting seems to have stopped. For the moment, at least.

I glance around the others, stopping on Reid
last. “Is everyone else okay?”

“Everyone’s fine. We all made it back
without a scratch.”

“Unlike some,” Walker touches his swelling
nose. A wide, flat bump has grown between the bridge and his eye,
an obvious indicator of my practiced right hook.

Heat sweeps my face. “Sorry I hit you.”

The tribesman manages a smirk. “You should
stop making a habit of it.”

Reid frowns at the exchange, but before he
can ask, Norhra jets past the curtain, breathless and in a hurry.
“Clynse,” she crosses the space in three steps, “the city is
surrounded again. The Fychu and Blovid are nearly here but the
Vermix keep cutting them off. We have deployed at least five
hundred to the surrounding trees but—”

“Can you spare more?”

“King Thias wants our troops stationed as
planned.”

“It will do him no good to keep them at the
Hylas. If the Gifts are in endangered, we must—”

“He fears the Vermix will return and
slaughter the remaining troops at the mountain. He wants everything
to commence as planned. He wants no surprises, no changes…if extra
help is needed, he believes the Mybyncians or Zingfinolds will
assist.”

“Says the king with a hundred thousand
strong,” Walker mumbles.

Norhra shoots him a glare, but I cut off her
response with a question. “Can Chancellor Keller redirect some of
his forces to surround the city?”

“We have already been in contact with him,”
Norhra shakes her head. “He is also holding his men at the Hylas.
Everyone believes this is just a distraction. No one wants to break
rank in fear of losing control over the upcoming battle. And with
the Fychu unable to give the order—”

“Then we need to help,” Clarence heads for
the curtain as Vix, Qippert and Jothkore follow, with Norhra and
Leoh bringing up the rear.

“You’re all going?”

“Sampson’s not responding and that should
tell you what kind of trouble they’re in. Fallon,” he looks over
his shoulder at me. “I need you to stay here with the others. I’ll
send you updates when I can. If you call to me and I don’t answer,
it’s because I’m off planet. I’ll try and let you know before I go,
but if I can’t,” he pulls back the curtain, “let the others know.
I’m counting on you.”

I nod.

The four Dofinikes leave, Norhra and Leoh
right behind them. Warze, who has been silently standing besides
Hozfin’s throne, leans over and whispers something to the king. The
two Zingfinolds dive into a quiet dialogue, the intensity of the
air almost palpable.

Pratt lets out a breath. “This is not going
at
all
how we thought things would go.”

“You’re telling me,” I rub my arm, but pull
back at the sensitive spot. Even though the swelling has gone down
a bit, it’s still pretty red and the stinging, though light, hasn’t
completely faded.

“I can’t believe Keller and Thias are
refusing to send help,” Jace throws his arms through the air,
swatting at nothing.

“They’re afraid the second they do,
Reuzkimpart will redirect and butcher the others left behind.”

Fallon!

The shout takes me by surprise. I almost
plug my hands over my ears but it wouldn’t do any good. Clarence is
calling me internally, mentally, and there’s shock in his tone.
Fear. Shutting my eyes, I block out the others, focusing on my
great-great-grandfather’s voice.

Get out of there! Now!

What is it?

The Vermix are here—Reuzkimpart’s
entire
army. They’re all here. They’re going to flatten
Zinnollo. Get to the moon! Go! Now!

Which one?

Larupip. Go! I’ll meet you—

But his words are cut off.