Crais (12 page)

While she continued to
talk and giggle, Talina was speaking over her.

“They have the best drink, Abby, you have to try some ...
it was all burny ... and I can’t feel my eyes or my lips.” Talina tried to look down while pursing her lips. “Do I still have lips? Where did I lose those sneaky blowfish?”

I wanted to laugh and sigh.

“It’s been two hours. I was this close to knocking them both out.” Lucas stood there, completely sober, holding his index finger and thumb barely an inch apart.

“Why aren’t you making an ass of yourself with these two?” I was surprised.

“I don’t like to lose control,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “And I wasn’t thirsty, thankfully, since they didn’t tell us what was in the drink. I think they were hoping it would calm Lucy down. She was a little … annoyed at our forcible removal.”

Well
, that didn’t mesh with the carefree, playboy persona he had going on. And I could imagine how crazy Lucy would have been.

“I’m tired, Abby.” Lucy rested her head against my side. Before strai
ghtening and bouncing off me. “Let’s dance.”

Talina laughed. “Wow, you’
re annoying, Lucy.” She looked toward the back of the cavern to the where the Crais people were gathered. “Can we get some more of that drink over here? I think I’m going to need the energy to find my lips. They’re gone.” Her lower lip began to quiver and it looked as if the tears were about to start.

Okay, what
was I going to do with these two now? They continued to jump around, knocking into me and each other. Finally Lucy tripped over, taking Talina down with her.

“We need to leave before the nomads come back for Fury
,” I said to Lucas, wishing he wasn’t the only one normal enough to talk to. “But she needs to gather them first so they know she’s leaving. I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to manage all of this with idiot one and two over there.”

Lucas smiled. “I
’ll wrangle the girls. You do what you need to do.”

“Lucassssss.”
Lucy, back on her feet, had grabbed his hand and was spinning him around. “Lucasssiee, dance with me.”

A pained expression crossed his icy features.

“Regretting that offer already?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m the future Emperor
. I can handle two drunk girls,” he muttered to himself as he gathered Lucy under one arm and Talina under the other.

“Fury.”
I raised my voice in her direction. “Say your goodbyes; we’re leaving now.”

“I
still hate you,” was her reply from somewhere in the centre of her tribe-mates.

“
I still don’t give a flying crap.”

Eventually our
group, including Luiz, the loyal best friend of Fury, was heading along the elevated path back to the surface. By the time we were halfway through, Lucy and Talina were passed out and Lucas had them draped over his shoulders, one on each side. I smiled. Those two were going to have sore heads in the morning.

We stood near the exit that would lead out into the Crais suns. I had the shield back around the four of us. The air had become unbreathable about halfway along.

“So what’
s the plan, Fury? Can you just bring the fire thing on at any time?” Luiz stood close to her, his dark features crinkled with worry. Flashes of light shone off his scaled skin.

“I don’t know
. I’ve never tried to initiate it, but it’s only way to draw the nomads and ensure they see me leave.” She sucked in a ragged breath.

“Why can’t I come with you?”
he asked quietly.

She smiled, but her eyes were sad. “According to super Abby
, this is a dangerous situation and I can’t knowingly risk your life. I’ve got no choice. I have to escape the nomads and make sure our world is not affected by these Seventine.”

His lips pursed
and I knew he wanted to continue arguing. Instead he shook his head and turned away.

“I’ll miss you,” h
e said roughly.

Fury b
linked a few times. I thought I saw a tear before she spun away. She moved into the shadow just before the sunlit entrance and stared out into the brightness, her eyes wide open.

“Bring your power up from the centre of your b
ody. You will feel the energy there.” I attempted to help her.

She
twisted to glare at me. “If I wanted your assistance, I’d ask for it.” She gritted her teeth. “I can do this.”

I held my hands up and retreated a few steps.

“Oh, shleee’s delightful.” Lucy lifted her head slightly. “Lemme down so I can kick her ass.” She passed out again.

Lucas’s shoulder’s shook as he suppressed his laughter. I couldn’t help the snort that
escaped; Lucy and Fury were going to have some battles in the future. Suddenly, with no warning, a brightness flared through the dark. Fury had found her power and was covered in flames. And the heat was back, intense and biting along my exposed skin.

“It was easier this time
,” Fury said to me. And then she stepped out of the door.

“I thought she couldn’t
go into the sunlight?” I had to stop myself dashing after her.

I couldn’t move
until Lucas and the girls fell in beside me.

“She can’t.”
Luiz sounded panicked. “Look after her for me,” he said.

I gave him a brief nod
as we left the stone tunnel and moved into the bright red land. I could just see Fury through the glare, her blue flames flickering as she moved. She was strolling along, no problem, toward Dune and Cleo. They were exactly where we had left them. How nice and reliable he was proving to be. My shield was working. The two red suns high in the sky had not burnt us to a crisp yet. Although I wished I could have given it a darker tint or something to limit the brightness.

“Is that a dragon?” Lucas asked casually.

I nodded. “Yep, that’s Cleo.”

“Of course
– Cleo – I should have known.”

I didn’t notice at first, but
as we got closer to Dune it was clear Fury’s power was having an effect on him. His short white hair was blowing around, despite the lack of breeze on Crais. He stood taller, his skin a brighter red and the white sheen glowing. It was as if he had just received a shot of vitality.

We
’d almost made it to the huge shadow cast by Cleo when the nomads arrived. They came from all directions, converging on us like locusts. I needed to get the doorway open before they overwhelmed us and we lost our chance of escape. Keeping a portion of energy locked on the shield, I drew more to cast my doorway. The swirling portal opened in front of us and standing at the other end was Josian. Damn Walkers and their sneaky skills. How had he known we were coming now?

“Stop.” Fury stepped forward, her voice an echoing scream.

I could feel the power bleeding off of her as small flames flickered out. The nomads did pause briefly, but seemed unable to help the
mselves from moving closer.

“I’
m leaving to go to another world now. You will not be able to find me and you will not be able to use the tribal women to gain my co-operation.”

She took a step closer
, and with the flick of her hand encased one of the men in the burning flames. He threw his head back, but instead of the pained expression I expected he showed pure joy.

“Leave the tribes alone, and when I return from my mission, I will share this power with
you.” She pulled her flames back, leaving the white-haired man collapsed on the ground. “If you don’t, I will never return and you will cease to exist as a race.”

She turned to face me
. “We can leave now, super Abby.”

Dune leaned in close to Cleo
. He whispered something to her, and with one last look, her huge yellow eyes shiny, she lifted her wings and took to the sky. Dune would not move until she was barely a speck in the distance.

“Cleo is safe now
,” he said. “I will follow you, Fury, wherever you go.”

I led
everyone into the doorway, only pausing to help Lucas. The vacuum in here would be hard to negotiate whilst carrying the girls. Fury was no longer encased in blue flames, having dropped the energy when she stepped through. Fear and hesitation shadowed her eyes, but she bravely crossed into the doorway.

We exited into the
cave on the other side. At least the decor would have Fury and Dune feeling at home.

“Hello, baby girl.” Josian
enclosed me in his warm arms; my feet left the ground. “You didn’t waste any time finding this halfling.”

“My name is Fury, not halfling.”

Fury and Dune stood just beyond the doorway. I shut it down, hoping the nomads wouldn’t follow. There’d been a desperate need in their gazes. With any luck they’d wait for Fury to keep her end of the deal.

“She has an attitude problem
,” I warned Josian.

He shrugged. “She’s a Walker, goes with the territory.” He glanced at Lucas. “Anyone want to tell me why Lucy and Talina are in
their current state of disarray?”

We all took a moment to
truly observe them. Both had large puddles of drool running out of their mouths and pooling on the silvery material of Lucas’s suit. Lucy was still in her bra. Talina had one side of her shirt off and the other hanging askew. Soft snores were coming from Lucy’s open mouth.

Where was a
camera when you needed one?

“The girls decided to indulge in the local drink. They should wake in a
few hours,” Fury answered.

“Take them into Abby’s room.” Josian waved Lucas off.

The future Emperor raised his blond brow but didn’t comment as he left the room. He showed small signs of strain after carrying them both for hours, but he hadn’t complained so the burden must not have been too great.

“Can you teach me how to di
smiss him like that?” I said.

Josi
an chuckled. “You do just fine.”

“Yeah,” Fury
said, “haven’t you heard she’s super Abby?”

Josian spun around and
for the first time locked his bronze eyes onto Fury’s face. She took an audible gulp at the sight of seven feet of cranky Walker.

“You.”
He pointed one of his huge fingers at her. “Stop with the attitude right now. If you act like a child I will be forced to treat you like one. Walkers don’t cower before anyone, but we also don’t usually indulge in petty, attention-seeking comments.”

I cleared my throat, knowing that wasn’t exactly true. Josian flashed me a brief grin.
Fury had opened her mouth to respond, but a cautious hand from Dune had her clamping her teeth shut. Josian spoke again, his anger passing by as quickly as it had appeared.

“
Lalli has food prepared in the other room. Let’s all dine and discuss everything that’s been happening.” He left the room.

“Way to have
Daddy fight your battles,” Fury hissed at me.

I reached out and clamped my hand around her thin but muscled bicep
, pulling her to a halt. I got in really close to her face.

“Let us get one thing straight, Fury. I don’t need anyone to fight my battles.
Josian just does not have time for your petty bullshit. And I have chosen to be the more mature person and ignore your outbursts. But if you continue to push me I will respond and it will not be pretty.”

She shrugged my hand off before marching out of the room.

“She just needs some time. She’s never been good at dealing with change,” Dune explained for her as we followed in her stomping wake.

“Well
, she better get used to it, because if the last few months are any indication things are going to get much worse before they get better.” As I trudged along I fought the bone-deep weariness threatening to buckle me. Some days I should have just stayed in bed, or in my case, some weeks.

It took ten minutes for Lallielle to be reassured that I was fine and home safely. She then had to run off and check on the girls as well, returning with Lucas in tow. After that she served everyone an array of food, paying extra close attention to the prickly Crais half. I noticed on more than one occasion Fury’s expression soften as she stared at my caring mother. Yep, Lallielle had a way of working under your skin and, before you knew it, you loved her.

“So
, has Aribella explained the situation to you, Fury?” Josian asked, placing his cutlery beside his plate.

Fury swallowed the food she’d been gulping down.
“She has basically. We didn’t have much time. I know there are seven of us female half-Walkers and that we need to work together to prevent the Seventine release.”

Josian nodded. “Yes, and if they are released you will have to contain them.”

“How?” she asked.

He ran a hand through his red mane. “I wish I knew
specific details. My brothers and I have been combing through all written history of Walkers and Seventine. The only reference we’ve found is some obscure jotted notes about how the combination of strengths will surround the origin and lead the way.”

“So if we don’t know how to contain them, how do we stop them from being released?” Fury quickly put the
information together.

“We need to figure out who, where and how this is occurring. If we eliminate eve
n one of those options then we can halt the release.”

“What do we do about the two already released?” I asked Josian.

“According to the ancient ones, if the remaining five Seventine are not released within a certain amount of time then their gravitational force will draw the free ones back.” Josian’s voice boomed along the table.

“So Que and whoever is helping him are running on a deadline?” That was a relief.

“Yes, they are. From the moment they freed the first Seventine they have approximately fourteen First World months to finish the release.”

And a
ccording to my calculations, they had already used at least four months.

“So we know part of the
‘who’ is Que and we know we can’t stop him, especially without Brace. The next thing to figure out is the ‘where’.”

I
’d managed to say Brace’s name this time without feeling the urge to throw up my dinner.

Josian nodded. “
We’ve always been told that the entrance to the Seventines’ prison lies at the darkness of the mother planet.”

I thought about th
ose words for a minute. They reminded me of something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what. It was one of those annoying memories hanging just out of reach.

“It’s the dark mountains
. The tunnels under them lead to something, let’s assume it’s the prison.” Lucy staggered into the room, one hand held over her eyes, the other tangled in her mess of blond curls. “And could someone turn down the light and noise?”

Yes! That was what my mind had been trying to tell me. Lucy moaned again, muttering about light and noise
.

“
Why do you think it’s the mountains?” Josian asked her.

“Shhhh, Jos, I’
m standing right here,” she groaned out.

I exchanged a grin with my father.

“
It’s the dreams. I keep having them and in the centre of that mountain is this endless spiraling downwards of darkness. It just makes sense.” She collapsed into a chair, one hand still blocking her eyes.

“The zombie dreams?”
I asked her.

She spread her fingers slightly to glare at me. “Has your voice
always been so annoying, Abby?”

“No
,” I boomed louder, “I’m making the effort just for you.”

She laid h
er head down on the table. “Yes.” Her voice was a little muffled. “There’s some type of zombie army or trap preventing people from just entering the mountain.”