Escape from Harrizel (54 page)

I’m just at the edge of the greenery when I
push my way through, flying over the bubbling roots with ease. It’s
not as difficult as the first time but for someone who’s never been
out here, it could be just as fatal as the Vermix. My thoughts turn
to Pratt. When was the last time I saw her? Before the dust cloud?
But she’s smart. She’d know to find cover—wherever she is—and keep
herself armed. I’ll go back for her once I regroup.

Sweeping through the trees—very unlike my
first time out here—I find one further in with a wide trunk and
stop behind it, catching my breath. The jungle is alive with
stomping feet and rustling leaves, screams crying out everywhere
now. The pitches, so terrible and shrill, pierce through me. This
is it—the second massacre of Harrizel.

But this time, we’re prepared. This time,
we’re fighting back.

Another scream—this one not too far
away.

A quick swishing of leaves to my right and a
frantic girl flies past, rushing through the oversized greenery as
a lone Vermix leaps from trunk to trunk behind her, passing mine
without pausing. My heart races, ticking like a time bomb and I
hold my breath. Lifting my Chaisle, I wait for him to give me a
shot—just one shot. But he soars ahead, pausing on a tree only a
few yards from mine. He draws a long black whip and with a loud
crack, sends the tail end flying. The rustling ahead ceases.

I bring the Chaisle to my eye, aiming for
the middle of his back.

I pull the trigger.

He drops, shaking the leaves on his way down
and lands in a hard, grassy thud. Peering out, I survey the
stillness, giving it a second. If they let him out as a pawn, to
scour the jungle first, the rest will be here any second, ready to
exterminate the threat. I give it another moment but nothing
happens.

Finally, I dart toward the fallen Vermix,
moving through the lush greenery as silently but quickly as
possible, surveying the jungle as I go. When I get to the Dofinike,
he’s out cold, red seeping from the hole in his chest, his hand
still clutched around his whip. A Chaisle, like I have, lays tucked
onto a strap that crosses his chest diagonally. And on his hip—

A Traxpire!

I snatch it, instantly shocked at its
weight. Heavier than I would’ve thought, the triangular device fits
awkwardly in my hand, talon indentions where my fingers grip it. I
debate taking his Chaisle and leaving the lethal weapon but decide
against it. Even if I haven’t practiced with the Traxpire, it’s
better protection than what I’m carrying now. But I can’t leave our
Chaisles out in the open and available for a passing Vermix. Taking
the Dofinike’s Chaisle along with mine, I tuck them behind a nearby
bush, camouflaged under long, tongue-shaped yellow leaves.

I start to turn for the Castle but
something—the familiar voice in my head—demands I go further,
deeper into the jungle.
Right now.
It’s the same voice that
called me to Ellae, a voice that’s both part of me and not. I fly
forward at the request, petrified at the immediacy. What’s
happening? What will I find? I run as quickly as I can, racing over
unruly roots and wildly large and overgrown vegetation. The closer
I get, the more fear strikes my heart. It’s right—whatever the
voice is.

I need to be somewhere
right
now.

Plunging through the wild shrubbery, I
immediately halt, hearing sounds just past the tree ahead. Slowing,
I peer past the trunk and find Tetlak with one arm raised, ready to
strike. I only have a moment to spot Reid. He’s feet from Tetlak
and empty-handed. The Vermix’s talons swing down, sending him
soaring to the dirt.

Without thinking, I pull out the Traxpire
and squeeze the trigger three times.

Tetlak turns at the sound of the clicks,
actual terror emitting from his yellow eyes. He tries jumping back,
but a sudden orange flash rips through his right bicep, erupting a
tiny explosion in his arm. He yelps, the second and third orange
flash ripping inches apart into his shoulder. Two more tiny
explosions break through his hardened shell. Tetlak falls to his
knees, his unharmed arm clinging to the other as he howls
mercilessly.

Reid’s eyes fly to mine, soaked in stark
bewilderment. Questions flash across his face, so transparent he
could be asking them.
Where did she come from? What did she just
do? Is Tetlak down for good?

No, he isn’t.

Tetlak’s talons grip his shoulder’s wound,
his chest heaving as he looks at me with ominous eyes. He goes to
stand but fumbles again as I keep the weapon pointed at him. It
doesn’t seem to faze him. As if the only thing that matters is me
now. Killing
me
. Tetlak staggers back up as I pull the
trigger two more times, missing him once, but hitting his thigh.
Another tiny explosion and he falls again, howling with heaving
grunts and grabbing for his Chaisle.

I glance to Reid who watches in horror as
Tetlak shoots. It whizzes past me and I know I need to run. To lead
him away. To the somewhere else I need to be right now. A sting of
fear as Tetlak launches himself forward but I turn and run, flying
deeper into the jungle. I’ve left Reid alone but Tetlak’s after
me
now—he won’t go back to finish him off. If anything,
Tetlak will chase me until I’m dead. Which may be soon.

My heart races, terror and adrenaline
pumping. I pray I can make it before he catches me. He’s badly
wounded, but it may not be enough to keep him down. I don’t risk
turning to shoot again until I’ve made it where I need to go. Until
I’ve put enough distance between Reid and us.

Moving swiftly, never faltering, I fly
through Ellae and beyond, into the Banyan Trees. I have to go
there—I have to lead Tetlak, though I’m not sure why. A symbolic
setting for the villain’s death? The hero’s? He’s dragging himself
but keeping up, closing the distance between us. But I’m moving
fast too.
Very
fast, almost like the jungle is guiding me,
helping me clear her rough terrain.

We’re nearly to the disfigured lot when I
hear Tetlak’s growl approaching dangerously close. A quick shiver
creeps down my neck and onto my spine.

Just make it to the lot. Just make it to Raj
and the others.

Crashing through, I stop just in front of
Hinson’s tree, but it doesn’t look the same. It’s
black—
charcoaled
black. I suppress a gulp realizing
everything’s like this. All the trees have been burned, including
all the bound Kings on the ground between them. What happened?

A lone figure sits hunched in front of
Hinson’s previous form, his head low and unmoving. Glancing between
her charred features and him, I take a cautious step toward
Griffin. He looks up at the sound, life drained from his eyes. He
automatically lifts his Chaisle, pointing it at me.

“Griffin…” I place my palms up in
defense.

He lifts the Chaisle higher and pulls the
trigger.

For a second I think I’ve been shot, but
then I hear the thunderous collapse behind me. Spinning, I find
Tetlak on the ground, a small hole drilled through the center of
his forehead. A perfect shot. Kicking him for final confirmation,
his body lies limp, vacant. I grin, turning to Griffin for
sincerest gratitude.

The smile’s wiped clean.

Griffin’s on the ground, shaking violently.
He stops suddenly, lying as still as Tetlak. It takes everything I
have not to run out to him immediately but instead to wait, wait
for the predator to reveal itself. Nothing happens for another ten
seconds.

Glancing out first, I dart for Griffin’s
motionless body, dropping by his head. A single tear rests on his
pale cheek, imprinted forever, his eyes open and heartbroken.
Wiping my nose, I try to tune out the muffled screams carried
throughout the trees. A quick rustling and I jump to my feet. With
the Traxpire ready, I keep it aimed to the sounds ahead.

Suddenly, Beshib steps out from between a
set of trees, a bundle of babeebs atop his head and two armed
Vermix behind him. He doesn’t see me at first. In fact, he looks
right past, as if searching for something else, something in
particular. It takes a moment, but when he spots me, he looks as
startled to see me as I am to see him. What do we do here? What’s
the protocol? Start firing?

I keep aimed between him and the two armed
Vermix. Beshib raises his hand, signaling his guards to hold off as
he glances at what I’m holding. They lower their weapons, Beshib
retuning his focus to me.

“If you fight for us,” he steps closer, the
same uneasy smile plastered across his face. “You won’t have to
die. As you can see,” he gestures to the lot, “the Vermix have
failed in creating an indestructible weapon. But,” he perks up,
using the same tone he does for Lecture, as if we should be
grateful to his bright side of things. “We can still use your
help.”

Silence.

My finger twitches on the trigger. I should
just do it. Right now. One right through his head. The other two
would probably just shoot me down—and that’d be fine, because
Beshib would be gone. The Arizals would have a chance. And it’s not
like there’s much more to lose right now. Yes, this may be the very
way to go. I count myself down when he starts again.

“What do you say?” he slowly strolls the lot
with an ease that makes me uncomfortable. “You could still be of
use. Not of the best, I must admit. These procedures were one step
closer to a Vermix achievement but alas, the mission was to be
aborted. All evidence discarded immediately,” he pauses, glancing
to me again, softening his words so I’d trust him. “You don’t have
to die in vain. Fight for
us
.”

I peek at the Vermix to my right. Not sure
why, but I have to indulge Beshib’s confession with a response.
“Why? So you’ll put me out in the front lines to die anyway?”

His smile vanishes, stricken from his mouth
as though it never existed. “Okay, you’re right. It will delay your
death only. It’s now or later,” he sighs, frustrated I’m wasting
his time with something as trivial as my death. “You choose.”

The moment has come. The moment when nothing
else matters and
everything
matters. The moment for me to do
what I’m supposed to—the one that counts. I aim directly at his
heart.

“I choose life,” I say when something
whistles past my nose, both Vermix suddenly dropping in a colossal
heap. It steals my attention for a fraction of a second before Reid
leaps through the woods, firing at Beshib who takes his natural
form, emerging into a nine-foot Dofinike.

It all happens at once.

Beshib’s transformation, his fatal dive
toward Reid and the unimagined fear that jolts my body at the
sight. Reid’s prepared for it though; his Chaisle aimed at Beshib’s
head but the leaping Vermix knocks the device to the side. He
grasps Reid by the neck, holding him up in the air, his talons
drawing blood. Reid’s feet dangle three feet off the ground, his
hands tearing at Beshib’s grip around his neck.

I’m too shocked—or maybe too stunned—to
move. Too entranced in Reid’s struggle, to move my Chaisle. It was
going to all end a second ago but now it’s different. Now Reid’s
life is on the line and not mine. What happened? The color begins
to leave Reid’s face when I snap out of my semi trance, aiming at
Beshib’s chest again. But I don’t have to pull the trigger this
time either. Just as my finger goes to move, another
Dofinike—larger and familiar—soars through the Banyan trees,
knocking Beshib and Reid to the ground.

The two Dofinikes wrestle, Reid rolling to
the side, gasping for breath. In an instant, he’s on his feet,
surveying the match with terrified confusion. He’s looking for
something, something that should be here. Frantically searching, he
glances around and once his eyes settle on me, he takes off at a
dead run.

At my side in seconds, he snatches my hand
in his and we take off into the trees. “Sampson,” he pants before
I’m able to ask.

Racing, we make it back to the jungle and in
time, to Ellae. The closer we get, the heavier the screams and
cries soak the air. I try ignoring it as we jump through overgrown
vegetation, his hand slipping from mine every few seconds. But
before it’s fully free, he tugs me closer to him, squeezing my hand
harder. So he won’t let go. So he can’t lose me.

Shrieks of terror rain overhead, a
soundtrack to the impending war scene. Glancing up, as though to
locate the sound, I trip, running into the limp body just as I see
it. Reid tugs me along and I half sort of jump over her, whoever
she was, trying not to place her face which lies in the dirt, her
green eyes glazed over. But there’s no time for that now. Back to a
full-on run, I suppress the rise of bile in my throat. The jungle
ground ahead lies littered with bodies. All still. All dead.

Reid does his best to lead us over them
while still keeping to our hasty speed. “The others are holing up
inside the Auditorium. They’re wavering,” he pants, “but some
Arizals arrived so that’s helped.”

“How many?”

“Not sure. But they bought us some time. To
get the others inside.”

“Pratt?”

“Don’t know—lost her toward the beginning,”
he throws me a quick glance, “hoping she’d be with you.”

A guilty pain ignites and suddenly I wish I
hadn’t been so careless with her. So quick to flee to the jungle
alone after the fog lifted. There’s no time to process the horrible
possibilities, no time to wonder
what if
?

I suppress the thought completely, dodging
the bodies on the ground and jumping over more unruly roots. Reid’s
squeezing my hand just as something hard knocks into my side.

I’m thrown, Reid’s touch disappearing
completely. I hit the ground with a heavy smack, rolling through
the fauna which slaps my face with its overgrown foliage. I crash
into something hard and it slams me in the back, all air gushing at
the impact. For a split second, I think I’m dead. Then just
paralyzed. A quick wiggle to my toes secures my relief.