Discovery at Nerwolix (43 page)

“Why are they here?” I pant.

“I don’t know…” he shakes his head, equally
confused. “I don’t know.”

“Who are they?” Able exhales. “Jace sleep
with a girlfriend and piss one off?”

“It’s the Muskos…” Mae frets. “They—they
were the ones who abducted Pratt. They kidnapped Ariana. We have to
find her,” she looks at me. “She has to be nearby.”

Mae is right. Perio wouldn’t go anywhere
without Ariana. He must’ve brought her along. But the entire beach
is covered with battling Dofinikes, Muskos, Zingfinolds and a fresh
wave of Nerwos.

“It might be our only chance,” I turn to
Reid. “We have to find out where they’re keeping her.”

He looks like he wants to argue but keeps
his mouth shut. A thought flashes behind his eyes as he looks
around and then presses me against the tree. “Stay here.”

“Reid—”

“I’ll be right back,” he holds me in place.
“I’m going to get a Musko to tell us. Stay right here, okay?” he
jets through the Eckles without another word.

“You guys okay?” Able looks at Mae and I,
still gripping his Traxpire.

Mae nods, cupping her elbows in her shaking
hands as she falls to the ground with her back to the trunk. I
throw Able a worried glance as I crouch down next to her.

“Mae, look at me. Look at me.” When she
does, I keep her focus. “Reid’s going to get a Musko for us, okay?
We’re going to find Ariana.”

Again she nods, but keeps silent. She’s
probably on the verge of losing it. Who knows what she saw back in
the city. She was with Pratt, well protected behind Sampson but
here, right now, she’s out in the open, exposed to the harsh truth
of what this war has become. Rising to a stand again, I frown at
Able.

“So what was that back there?” he half
laughs, a nervous tone tainting his chuckle. “You turn into some
Dofinike ninja or something?”

He’s referring to my newfound talent with
the whip. But I don’t know what it is or why I can handle it so
well. Offering Able a shrug, I peer past the tree and into the
yellow eyes of a Vermix. He hits me before I’m able to yank out my
Traxpire or whip and I land hard on my back, the impact jolting my
body. One set of talons grip my neck, suffocating my air while the
other clutches his gun. He holds it to my face but a loud boom rips
through him, splitting his head open and he falls off me. Mae
screams, throwing her hands around her ears.

“Th-thanks, bestie,” I gulp a full breath of
air and push myself up. Cupping my neck, I take another deep
inhale. “I owe you.”

“No,” he laughs his nervous chuckle again,
throwing his hand out and pulling me to his feet. “We’re even.”

“Can we go back to the city?” Mae is
quivering against the tree. “Please?
Please
can we go
back?”

“Maybe you should take her,” I look at Able.
“Have Vix or Qippert bring her back.”

“Sampson wants us all in one place.”

“We’re kind of scattered right now.”

Jace rushes through the Yulus the next
second with Booker, Werzo, Walker and Pratt. The blonde commander
heads over first. “Boss said you were back here.”

“Where is he?” I ask.

“Trying to cap us a Musko,” he catches his
breath. “Also trying to keep Rogue Leader from going ape shit on
all of them.”

“Tucker was beating one to death,” Pratt’s
eyes grow wide, terrified. “He kept yelling ‘where is she? Where is
she?’” she shakes, wrapping her arms around herself. “Scary…”

I bite my lip, glancing past the group. “I
hope Reid can bring one back here before Tucker kills him.”

“I don’t know,” Walker shakes his head.
“Your Rogue Leader looked pretty pissed. Like he—whoa! What’s
that?” he jerks back as the familiar set of wings flutters past his
nose and toward mine.

We can take you to what you seek…

Come with us, Fallon
, another sings,
we will lead you to the princess.

“Are those…” Able’s eyes widen, his hand
involuntarily rising as if to touch one, “… the Lynzees?”

“They safe?” Walker reaches for his
Brulily.

“Yes,” I grip his hand, holding it down by
his waist. “They’re messengers of the Lost Princesses and they say
they can take us to Ariana.”

“Really?” Pratt jumps up.

Reid flies through the lime foliage with
Tucker on his heel, both baring sets of bloody knuckles. “We
couldn’t…” he slows, shaking his head as he glances at Tucker
behind him. The Rogue Leader wears a mask of fury, like he’s
reining it in, keeping it together with every ounce of will power
he has.

“It’s okay,” I say. “The Lynzees are here.
They say they can take us to her.”

“To Ariana?” Tucker rushes forward, putting
his face in mine. “
Where?
Where is she?”

“Whoa,” Reid slips between us, causing me to
take a step back. He holds his hands up, nearly pressing them
against Tucker’s chest. “Back off, man.”

“But if she knows…”

“I don’t…” I gesture to the three flying
servants. “But
they
do.”

Come with us, Fallon. We will lead you to
the princess
, one sings,
but you must come with us now. She
will not be there long.

“Guys, we need to go
now
,” I follow
the shimmering wings which continue to move parallel to the beach.
Reid grips my hand, steadily keeping to my side but Tucker passes
us quickly. He’s right behind the Lynzees that fly swiftly through
the lime Yulus, in and out of the Brulily darts still raining
overhead.

“Pratt? Mae?” I call behind me.

“We have them, Boss Lady,” Booker says, the
entire group loyally on our feet.

“Why are they even here?” I throw Reid a
confused look, still trying to piece together the last half hour.
“The Muskos despise outsiders. And now they’re working with the
very people who invaded their home?”

“I don’t know,” Reid shrugs, growing tense.
“I don’t get it.”

Tucker is moving faster than I thought
possible, nearly passing the Lynzees as they lead us toward the
clearing through the trees up ahead. Tucker rushes out into the
open just as Reid releases my hand and calls for him to stop.

But it’s too late.

Tucker is on the beach and a second later, a
loud, painful groan escapes. Reid curses, whipping out his Traxpire
as he fires on the group of Muskos lining the shore. Walker, Jace,
Booker, Werzo and Able are right behind him, already firing as tiny
blades spiral back towards them. Able yelps, falling to his knees
but keeps shooting. Werzo swears next, grabbing his arm as he dives
back behind one of the trees, using his left hand to continue
firing.

“GET BACK!” Reid shouts, clutching Tucker
and dragging him behind the tree line. But the Rogue Leader is
still fighting, still attempting to race back onto the beach and
toward the purple-haired Musko smiling in the middle.

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU, PERIO! WHERE IS
SHE?” Tucker yells at the top of his lungs. “TELL ME WHERE SHE
IS!”

“BACK!” Reid calls, Walker and the Rogues
seeking shelter behind the Eckles with Pratt, Mae and me. The tiny
blades continue spiraling toward us, hitting the trunks with loud,
sharp cracks. One of the blades narrowly misses Jace and another
flies just past Booker’s knees.

Perio smiles in the center of his small
army, his wicked eyes narrowed on Tucker. Raising his hand, the
Muskos stop throwing their blades as their leader takes a casual
step forward.

“Who is this ‘she’ you speak of? Surely it
cannot be my bride—there is no reason for you to have such
knowledge of her whereabouts.”

“Tell me
God damn it!
” Tucker swears.
“Perio—you fuck! You
motherfucker
—”

“
My
bride is perfectly safe, you
unintelligible ape. You are all
nothing
,” he casts a look
over us, “nothing but a mistake. It is with pleasure that I end
you. It will take Ariana time to understand this,” he paces, “as
she is gentle-hearted, but with my comfort she will one day
understand that this is the way it needs to be.”

Fallon,
it’s Clarence’s voice,
where are you?

We’re on the right side of the beach.
Everyone’s with me—but the Muskos are here too… they have Ariana.
We’re trying to get her back but we’re outnumbered.

Right side of the beach, you say? Sit tight
for a sec, kid. I’m sending in reinforcements.

Reinforcements?

It’s time we
end
this.

I’m about to ask him what he means but
Tucker’s guttural roar cuts off my concentration.

“YOU PIECE OF—”

“Enough!” Perio snaps, his orange eyes
blazing. “There is no reason to delay this any longer. It is time
for you humans to die.”

With a wave of his hand, the Muskos race
forward, blades slicing through the air toward us. Reid jerks
Tucker behind a trunk just as one of the small spirals flies past,
nearly clipping his nose. Carefully peering past the trees, the
Rogues start firing at the approaching miyons as blades and orange
explosions exchange at the edge of the forest.

“Every one of them dead!” Perio calls from
the shore. “I want the females killed first!”

With her back to a trunk, Mae slinks down,
eyes wide and terrified. Wrapping her arms around herself, she
starts shaking as Pratt looks to Jace, Booker, Werzo and Able. Even
with all four Rogues creating a barrier around them, Mae tucks her
head into her knees, covering it with both hands. She’s rocking
back and forth while Pratt stands beside her, gripping her Traxpire
with unease.

“Pratt—you don’t use that unless you have
to!” Reid barks, whipping towards me. “Fallon,” he yanks me close
to him, pinning me against a trunk. He’s on one side with Tucker on
the other and Walker is going back and forth between our tree and
the Rogues.

“I just heard from Clarence. He said—”

“FALLON!” Walker yells, jabbing a small
blade in the neck of a miyon trying to round the Eckle. The Musko
falls and Walker pulls his knife free, turning to fight off another
one.

Mae screams somewhere in the distance and
Pratt quickly follows. We’re getting overrun. Fast. Sage bodies
swarm us, invading the lush trees and there aren’t any Zingfinolds
over here to help us. Where are these reinforcements?

Tucker is suddenly thrown back and Walker
sends his blade flying right into the miyon’s chest. It stops him
moments before he’s able to strike into me. I don’t even have a
moment to catch my breath. More and more Muskos rush forward and
Reid is spinning, unloading his Traxpire on all that approach. The
Rogues are doing the same, fighting to keep their small circle safe
while Mae and Pratt quiver in the center, screaming as each blade
spirals past.

“Oh fuck this,” I say, reaching for my whip
again.

And just like the other times, everything
seems to slow. The miyons were racing mere seconds ago and now
they’re moving in inches, giving me plenty of time to throw my whip
back and let it crack toward each and every one. It almost seems
too easy, like I have an unfair advantage of time manipulation.
Maybe I do. Maybe that’s a side effect of being part Dofinike.
Except, wouldn’t all Dofinikes be able to do that? Even the Vermix?
So how come they weren’t able to slow time and dodge
me
?

It doesn’t matter.

If I can help out, if I can save everyone
here—I’m going to do it. Right now. With everything moving so slow,
I’m able to crack the whip at the five miyons about to overpower
the Rogues before snapping the neck of the Musko trying to slice
into Tucker. Each sage body comes forth and he’s put down as
quickly as I spot him. I only stop because Reid takes my wrist,
gently turning me to him.

“Fallon?” he breathes, his eyes flickering
between mine. “They’re gone. You okay?”

“Yeah,” I turn and search for more miyons
but there are no more. Instead, I meet everyone’s intense stare,
the same bewilderment marring their faces like they can’t believe
what they’ve just witnessed.

“Where…” I start.

“Something’s going on down at the beach,” he
says, holding my face in his hands. “They’re retreating right
now.”

“Retreating?” I gulp, replaying the word and
applying the meaning. Oh that’s right. I meant to tell him that
would happen. With the adrenaline pumping through me, aimed at
keeping all the Muskos away from my friends, I need to slow down
again, to the normal time everyone else is on. “Clarence sends he’d
be sending reinforcements.”

“He did?” Reid raises a brow.

“He said it was time to end this. Who…” I
jet past Reid and Walker even though they try holding me back.
Passing the trunk, I stop at the dizzying scene ahead.

Whoa
.

The shore is covered in Mybyncians—more than
just the Muskos. There are at least ten times more then there were
before and they’re not storming us, but rather, each other. The
beach is filled with sage-skinned bodies fighting sage-skinned
bodies as blades fly and cries of pain soil the early morning air.
I almost can’t believe it. There must be around fifty Muskos but
they’re quickly getting overrun, miyons and mayans coursing over
them like a tidal wave.

“What…” Tucker whispers next to me.

“Is that…” Jace starts.

“Yup,” Clarence appears next to us,
startling the group which has slowly emerged past the safety of the
trees. “I wasn’t here yesterday because I was working with Queen
Ravan and Chancellor Keller on putting together a sizable force to
bring back with me. They’re still regrouping from their own assault
and the queen wanted to make sure her kingdom would be well
protected in our absence,” he sighs. “It took some time, but we
figured it out.”

“How many?” I ask before the others can.

“Enough,” Clarence nods. “
More
than
enough.”

“And they’re…” I motion down the shore.