The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3) (18 page)

CHAPTER
32

THE ETHERIC WORMS

In a blink, they were back in front of Manu’s hidden door, and this time Asha knocked with great conviction.

They both stared at the lifeless door for a few moments before frustration grew within Zahn’s heart. They didn’t have time for this. Every passing minute the Vakragha grew closer to his world, closer to his family.

“Vark!” Zahn cried out in frustration. “When is he getting back? We’re on the brink here!”

“Calm down, Zahn!” Asha said. “He’s doing the best he can, just like us. Let’s wait here a bit. He has to return eventually.”

They waited, and Zahn’s eyes narrowed at where the door should have been.

To their shock, Manu’s white, hooded form materialized out of nowhere, just beside them.

“How the—” Zahn blurted but stopped short.

“I’m glad you’ve both returned! What have you learned?”

“Well,” Asha began, “we have a lot to—”

“Wait,” Manu said. “I misspoke. We should go inside first.”

As before, Manu tapped his fingers onto the wall in a complex sequence of finger strokes, and the door dissolved away. Inside everything was as they remembered it, and once the door had closed behind him Manu sat down at the round table in the center of the room.

“Tell me everything,” he said.

Zahn and Asha sat down beside him and shared memory nuggets of all that had happened with the royal meeting, the jagrul, and what it had shown them. When they had finished, Manu closed his eyes and sat in silence.

After a while, the silence grew uncomfortable to Zahn, and he spoke up.

“Well? What do you think?”

“You both have done well.” Manu paused. “Now, we begin the final phase of the mission.”

Asha tilted her head in the way she usually did when she suspected something was wrong. “I sense doubt in you, Manu. What is it?”

“A jump up to the moon is exceedingly dangerous. Mirage City has a barrier, and we’ll only be able to detect its tiny openings at close range. We’ll have to avoid detection until we get close to the barrier, otherwise every perimeter guard in the city will be headed directly to our position. And the moon may be even more hazardous.”

“Why?” Zahn said.

“If I know the Empress,” he continued, “the royal guards surrounding the Chintamani will be special. If the stone is the source of this place’s power, then she will have only her most gifted guardians surrounding it. They will make the perimeter guards look slow in comparison.”

“We can do it,” Zahn said. “Each of us has a skill set. By working together, we can do it. We have to.”

Manu said nothing and pulled out two large energy packets. He studied them for a moment before handing them to Zahn and Asha.

“You’ll need to be in top form for this final phase of our mission. We cannot afford to lose anyone during this operation.”

They both nodded, and as Asha drank her energy packet, she glowed brighter, almost as bright as Manu.

He squinted his eyes at her. “Asha, your radiance is remarkable. How many energy packets have you had recently?”

“Not too many. I only—Oh!” Her eyes lit up. “It must be the ambrosial soup I had! We rushed out of there so quickly that I didn’t even think to try and create something, but I could do that now, couldn’t I?”

“Yes,” Manu said calmly, “but in the memory you shared with me, you only sampled a fraction of what was in that bowl. I would advise you to save that energy until it is most needed. Up there, we may need you to create an energetic barrier to fend them off. Wait until we need it most.”

Zahn smiled over to Asha. “First a healer, and now a true creator. Is there anything you can’t do, Asha?”

She smiled back. “Thanks.”

“We must set out,” Manu said. “If conditions were ideal, I would have a Dagger of Kirin for each of you, but I only have my own. However, I will create another negative energy bubble for each of us to disguise our approach.”

Manu pointed one hand to Asha and one to Zahn, inhaling slowly. Gradually, two greyish spheres grew from his palms, their edges undefined and fuzzy like shadows.

As the bubbles grew, he stretched out his fingers more, and soon one of the bubbles detached and surrounded Zahn completely, slightly dimming the view of his surroundings. Zahn watched as the same happened to Asha.

“Follow me.” Manu turned around, phasing the door out of existence and leading them down the long hall to the right that they hadn’t explored before.

While Asha zoomed up ahead, Zahn slowed down and shot a glance back. For some reason, he was worried that they were being followed, but all he saw was the door materialize once again, its glow fading away until no trace of the door remained. He shook his head and zoomed ahead to catch up.

This part of the tunnel system was more unpredictable than the others, and he had to anchor himself to Asha’s ident just to keep up with the chaotic series of turns that left him completely at a loss as to what direction they were pointing.

At last, they reached a corkscrew ramp which led upward until Manu abruptly stopped at a section of the rocky tunnel that had collapsed.

“We are near the pinnacle,” Manu said. “Beyond here, you must not speak. If you must communicate, use a narrowband exchange of thoughts as before. Otherwise, the perimeter guards
will
detect us.”

“The pinnacle?” Zahn said. “The pinnacle of what?”

“Of the mountain range, of course. It’s the closest jumping off point to the shield barrier. Quite an excellent view, as well. Anyway, remember to be silent.” Manu turned to Asha. “I’ll handle the perimeter guards. It’ll be best if you save your manifesting energy for the battle at Rundikha, for there will surely be one.”

Asha furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “But Manu, don’t they let you drink the ambrosia too?”

“Yes,” he said, “but I’ve already depleted that power in service to the Empress. And there won’t be a replenishment until tomorrow. Asha, as strange as it may seem, you are the only one among us with ambrosial power. Wield that power wisely.”

“I will,” Asha said, her expression stiffening.

“And you, Avanian,” Manu said, “without your spirit and determination, I doubt we would be here now. Both of you have been priceless in this mission. I knew I made the right choice when I requested your help.” His white robe pulsed in brightness for a moment. “Now, listen carefully. Beyond this rocky debris is a lookout point. From there, we shall move upward as one. Once we reach the barrier, which you’ll feel as a springy wall, we must spread out and search for any irregularities. When one of us finds one, we shall signal the others and shrink down to pass through. Any questions?”

They both shook their heads.

“Stay close,” Manu said, gliding through the rock.

Zahn and Asha followed close behind, directly into darkness where the strange outlines of the rocks produced an unpredictable wavering sensation. The darkness gave way to a narrow overlook covered in a thick layer of snow, appearing like a white haze in his eyes. He moved upward through the snow until he saw a starry sky, and Zahn gasped as the majesty of the entire sea was laid out before them.

From here, it was obvious that Mirage City covered only a small fraction of the surface of the sea, and even from a distance, Zahn could clearly discern hundreds of small domes and bizarre buildings that he couldn’t begin to describe. He looked over to his left where the snowy mountain range hugged the edge of the sea, gradually losing elevation in the far distance, and beyond that he saw a smaller range and a narrow valley.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over. Asha pointed toward a brilliant white disc in the sky: the moon Jyana had called Rundikha.

It hung higher than he’d seen before, nearly at its zenith, and Zahn studied it in silence. The constellations, while utterly unfamiliar, were nonetheless beautiful to him, and to his surprise, he spotted the thin crescent of a second, smaller moon hanging low above the white mountain peaks.

He shook his head in awe.

How remarkable this galaxy is, to produce beauty in such variety and abundance.

Manu turned back around and made a swift pointing gesture toward the brilliant white disc. Zahn and Asha nodded, and Manu bolted upward with both of them close behind.

As they headed upward, Zahn looked around for any of the guards that Manu had mentioned, but saw no one. He glanced back, noticing the mountain range shrink rapidly behind them.

When he glanced forward again, Manu and Asha abruptly came to a halt, and Asha yanked his arm back to stop him.

Hey, what’s going on?

Manu pointed to the space above their heads.

Zahn studied the area. From this close, the stars rippled and distorted, as if they were in a bowl of water looking upward; and he studied the barrier for imperfections.

Carefully, they spread out, gliding below the barrier. Yet no matter how hard Zahn looked, he couldn’t find any irregularities. It seemed to be a continuous fluid, unbroken; and every few seconds he couldn’t help but glance around, acutely aware that a patrolling guard could show up at any moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement.

To his relief, it was Asha, excitedly waving them over. By the time he reached her, she was already as small as his palm and still shrinking. Yet the opening was utterly invisible to him.

Zahn sighed, dreading the feat he had to perform. Manu must have noticed his frustration, because he put his hand on Zahn’s shoulder.

Remember, this does not require any strain, only clear imagination. Your imagination is the only limit. You can do it, Zahn.

He nodded and tried to focus more clearly on growing smaller and smaller.

At first, Manu appeared to grow huge, until Zahn managed to shrink along with him, following him up to the opening. From up close, the opening looked like a clear window surrounded by murky water.

Manu, now tiny, pointed to something behind him, and Zahn turned around. A perimeter guard cloaked in grey was approaching them.

Zahn was still at least ten times too large to fit inside and closed his eyes for a moment. Instead of growing smaller, he imagined everything else growing bigger, and as he focused, the opening gradually grew.

Come on, Zahn. He’s almost in range!

The tiny Manu flew up to him and took his hand, sending a surge of new energy through him. Manu pulled Zahn into the opening, and Zahn strained to see the opening grow larger, just barely fitting through.

Once inside, Zahn noticed that the opening was more like a tunnel than a crack, and Manu flew up ahead of them, leading them down a tunnel whose walls seemed to be made of a strange liquid. Zahn flew up to Asha and pointed to the wavering walls, but she only shrugged.

To Zahn’s shock, a long worm-like creature raced along the edge of the tunnel with great speed. Manu barely had time to react before it wrapped around his leg, pulling him down into the watery barrier. Zahn wanted to call out, but he held back. The perimeter guard would surely hear him.

They both rushed up to Manu as he wrestled with the creature, a kind of translucent grey worm, but they were unsure of exactly what to do. Manu pulled out his dagger, but Zahn noticed that it had no effect on them.

Without any better options, Zahn ran up to the creature and started pummeling it. With a series of swift kicks and punches, the creature seemed only mildly distracted by Manu’s attempts to break free.

Fighting while out-of-body felt strange to Zahn, as if he didn’t have the same strength. Then again, perhaps strength wasn’t the same here, at all.

Perhaps creativity was the real strength.

He looked over to Asha who had cupped her hands together and watched as they radiated a soft light. He prayed that she was using her newfound ambrosial powers to create a weapon, perhaps a dagger.

Zahn managed to kick the creature in what he could only guess was its head, and it responded by biting his foot, sending a sharp pain into his leg.

Hey! What’s your deal, anyway? We don’t want any trouble. Just let us through!

In frustration, Zahn shot it a thought-nugget, but got no response. Farther down the tunnel, another worm was fast approaching. Manu was almost free, but by the time he was free, the second one would be right on top of them.

Asha darted ahead, and to Zahn’s relief, wielded a small weapon. She plunged a small blade into the worm wrapped around Manu’s leg, cutting it away. Now free, Manu pointed up to the other creature racing toward them.

The second creature was a new kind of worm. Instead of a tiny mouth, this creature had a circular mouth lined in triangular teeth flexing in anticipation, reminding Zahn of a childhood nightmare. Could this be the etheric equivalent of a leech?

Only moments away from Manu, it lunged ahead as he stretched out his open palm toward the grotesque entity. Just as when Manu had trapped Zahn a few days before, a wave of light shot out of his palm and curved around the creature, encasing it within a glowing ball of energy.

Zahn heaved a sigh of relief as the trapped creature drifted by them, smacking his tail against the sphere in uncontrollable rage.

He and Asha exchanged relieved glances, and she flew up to Manu to examine him. There were a few dim areas around Manu’s body, and Zahn watched as she applied her hands to where he was dim, incrementally restoring vitality to his body.

Manu smiled.

Thank you, Asha. I apologize. I received no word that these openings had been infested with such pests. Are you both okay?

Asha took a second to gain her composure.
Yeah. You? I noticed your dagger didn’t work on them.

I am much better, thank you. Yes, those entities had no silver cord, so the dagger had nothing to sever. Are we ready to proceed? The end of the tunnel is near.

Zahn waved them ahead.
The etheric worms were just a chance to warm up.

As they zoomed forward, Zahn noticed a few bits of debris floating around in the tunnel, including an odd object that he guessed was a tooth, perhaps from one of the leech-like entities.