Heir of Pendel (A Pandoran Novel, #4) (73 page)

I slumped to the ground, my body suddenly cold all over, and I closed my eyes.

50

ALEXANDER

T
he blow didn't come. And then I heard Eris scream. The scream was full of so much agony, so much fury and defeat that I looked up, panting, to see Daria at war with the shield.

The beam of light enveloped her, turning her body so white, it was as if she were some ethereal being caught between two worlds. I felt the pain in her body, pain and power. So much power—too much power, it burned her up. Why was she doing this? Why was she letting it overwhelm and destroy her?

Her eyes suddenly burned white, and Eris yelled. And I…my head cleared, and I didn't feel cold anymore, or hopeless. Was she…was she harnessing the power of the shield? Yes, the pain wasn't overwhelming her now, but it was exhausting her fast. She was…manipulating it, somehow, pouring all of it back into the shield. Pouring all of
herself
into the shield, and if she didn't stop, it would kill her. And she…wasn't stopping. Horror wrapped around me and squeezed tight. She screamed and the shield exploded. The force hit so hard it threw me back, right into Thaddeus and the guard he'd been fighting with. A terrible wail sounded from above, as if every demon that was and ever had been howled in fury. But where was Daria?

And then I found her thrown a few yards away from the shield, lying on the floor, unmoving.

I suddenly realized what she had done: She had destroyed Gaia. She had used the shield to channel Gaia's power and rip the shield apart. It was the one thing that would keep Mortis from taking over this world and Earth, because Mortis was tied to Gaia, and if Gaia didn't exist, then neither could Mortis. Which also meant we had to get out of here.
Now
.

The floor shook from the force of a terrible earthquake, and the rest of the dome came crashing down.

"No!" Eris screamed with so much fury that fires spontaneously sprang to life over every fallen wooden beam. His face flickered and distorted into something horrifying and demonic, and he lifted his sword and ran at me. I tried standing, but my legs wouldn't move.

A crossbow bolt landed right in his chest. Eris staggered back, eyes widened on his son. Thaddeus kept Ehren's crossbow raised, his expression one of fierce determination and despair.

"After everything I've given you," Eris growled.

Thaddeus swallowed, clicking the trigger. Daring his father to take another step. Not wanting his father to take another step.

With a roar, Eris ran at me again. Another bolt landed in his chest. And another and another. He jerked back with each impact until at last he slumped to the ground, his sword clattering upon the marble. Thaddeus didn't lower the crossbow. He didn't move, period. He stood, transfixed on his father, whose face now reflected the monster inside. His skin was so white it was tinged blue, and where his eyes had been were two black and empty sockets. An alien scream left his body with a blast of air, and then it was gone. All that remained of the great and powerful Eris was a pile of black robes.

Vera slowly, gently reached around Thaddeus and took the crossbow from his hands, and gave it back to Ehren, who stood behind them. I scrambled over to Daria. Her skin was white and she wasn't breathing. I pressed my ear to her chest. My breath hitched. No beat. She…she was…no…

I pressed the heels of my hands to her chest, pushing against her ribs, trying to get her heart to move. Needing it to move.

"Daria…come on…" I pushed harder. "Daria, don't do this…
please
…"

A great explosion rattled the world. The world was breaking apart, but I kept pushing.

"Alexander, we have to go!"

Someone pulled on my shoulders, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.

"Del Can't!" Thaddeus yelled.

Vera kicked me in the ribs. "Get up, damn it!"

"I'm not leaving her!"

The ground shook, even more violently this time, and part of the floor collapsed, taking a couple guards with it.

"V and I will carry her," Thaddeus said, then shoved a finger at Ehren. "You help Del Can't."

I felt nothing. Not even as Ehren pulled me off her and helped me stand. He held on to me, but I couldn't feel his arm. I watched as Thaddeus and Vera flung Daria's limp body over Thaddeus's shoulder. Daria's hair bounced as they ran with her out of the hall and down the corridors, which were all collapsing around us.

We burst out of the castle to witness the chaos beyond. Great fissures shot from the earth, dirt and rock flying everywhere while the people screamed. More sonic booms rippled through earth and dark sky as the power of the shield slowly tore this world apart. The shadowguard were gone except for a few dozen humans, who our army quickly took care of. The gargons still screeched above, but the dragons were finishing them off, clearing the path for us to run. Mercedes and Lord Costa Dommelier had given the orders for our forces to head for the portal, and they were fleeing fast.

We had to hurry before this world crumbled with us still in it.

Ehren helped me as I limped in a run, Vera and Thaddeus scrambling behind us with Daria between them. The ground rocked with more explosions. The sky turned brown and grey, and pieces of debris floated above and around us, as if there were no longer any gravity holding it down, yet miraculously we were still rooted to the soil. Soil that crumbled right behind us.

The last of our troops ran through a glimmer up ahead. The portal. It glowed in an arch, open and waiting for us. It was still a few dozen yards away. The earth trembled with another massive earthquake, and we stumbled as more ground and rock split off on either side of us. And then the ground shook so violently, Ehren and I tripped and tumbled forward.

I landed on my open wound. Pain seared through my leg and I cried out, rolling on my other side. My leg throbbed with each pulse. Ehren climbed back to his feet, bent over to help me up, and I heard Thaddeus yell, "Del Can’t!"

I looked back. It took me a moment to find Thaddeus. There was too much sky. Far too much sky, filled with floating debris and small islands of earth and mountains of floating rock. The ground where we lay had crumbled into a cliff—a cliff Thaddeus bent over, straining to hold on to Daria while gripping Vera's hand. Vera had slid right over the edge.

I hobbled forward but Ehren moved faster. Another quake and Ehren tripped, pitching forward, colliding with the ground. Thaddeus strained, gritting his teeth and yelling, as Vera's hand slipped and slipped. Wrist, palm, fingertips…

I dove, sliding, grit and rock digging and burning into my thigh, and Vera slipped free of Thaddeus's hand.

I caught her wrist.

Her legs swung above a cauldron of endless brown, filled with swirling chunks of debris.

"Grab hold with your other arm!" I yelled at her, holding tight, my grip aching, the old lacerations in my arm on fire.

She reached with her other arm but missed. Her wrist was too slick, and she started slipping again.

"Do it!" I yelled again.

She screamed and kicked and reached again. This time, she caught my hand. Rock dug into my armpits, my chest, and my arms pulled taut as I strained against her weight. We were both sliding over now. And then Ehren grabbed hold of my ankles and pulled. And pulled and pulled. We winced, strained, and yelled until we dragged Vera back on solid ground—solid ground that was disappearing fast.

Vera staggered back to her feet, helped a pallid Thaddeus hoist Daria back up between them, and we bolted for it. A narrow land-bridge was all that existed between Gaia's disintegrating world and her portal, as if Gaia herself was helping us escape. The bridge collapsed behind us as we ran and ran, sonic booms sending shockwaves through the air. And finally, we reached the portal, and the rest of the bridge collapsed.

"Go!" I yelled at the others, who stood paralyzed at the sight.

We pushed through the shimmering arch. There was no room of doors waiting for us, and as we ran through, a cool rush of energy slid over my skin as if I were passing through water. Sights and sounds blurred, my senses cleansed and renewed, and we all ran out onto the other side.

51

DARIA

I
knew this room. I knew the double black bookshelves and the simple black dresser and the taupe walls with the fat white molding and baseboards. I knew the wide window with the dark wood shutters that were currently closed. I knew this room because I had spent so much of my childhood inside of it. I knew this room because it was Alex's room at his home in Yosemite, on Earth.

For some reason I couldn't quite draw together, I didn't think I should be on Earth. I couldn't remember why, though. My head ached as I lay there, in Alex's bed, and the more I tried sorting through my mental sludge, the more my head ached.

The lamp burned warmly on the nightstand beside his bed. Alex had made that lamp. He'd constructed it by welding together tubes of old bronze, and he'd fitted the lighting mechanism to hold one of those vintage filament bulbs. I'd loved it so much I'd asked him to make one for me, but that had been right before he'd vanished for three years. And then I thought about how long it'd been since I'd seen
any
light bulbs, and everything hit me with the fury of a storm.

Gaia…the dragons…Valdon…Eris…the shield. I couldn't remember anything after the shield—nothing except searing pain. Was I…dead? I thought I should've been. I'd experienced some traumatic wounds in my life, but nothing had compared to the pain I'd felt when trying to destroy that shield. Maybe this was heaven, and maybe heaven for me was in my memories of Alex. But…if this was heaven, then where was Alex? Or maybe I should be thankful he wasn't here, because if he were here, that would mean I'd failed and he'd died, too. Or maybe I'd screwed up so badly that this was actually hell, and I would spend the rest of eternity alone, in his room, tormented with my memories of him. I grabbed at my neck, reaching for the necklace he'd given me, but it was gone.

I glanced down at myself. I was wearing…a royal blue, long-sleeved T-shirt with the word "Pink" stamped in black across the front.

Apparently, hell came with the Victoria's Secret Pink line.

That's also when I noticed the tubing snaking out of my hand. I followed the tube to a bag of clear liquid hanging on a short stand beside my bed, equipped with an IV monitor. And then I noticed the bag of yellow hanging on a lower hook of the IV stand. Urine.
My
urine. Someone had stuck a catheter in me, too.

So I wasn't dead. I needed to know what was going on, but here I was, hooked up to this thing like a cyborg at a recharge station. Well, at least it had wheels. I made sure my tubing wasn't in a tangle and then I sat up.

My world whirled, and I gave myself a moment to collect my bearings before I threw up all over the bed. The nausea subsided, and I carefully peeled back the white sheets and slid my legs over the edge of the bed. My joints were stiff and my muscles felt like Jell-O, and then slowly, awkwardly, I stumbled along as I rolled my little stand to the door, and I hesitated. Partly to steady myself, but also because I had no idea what to expect once I opened this door. Was the rest of the house here? Was anyone else in this house with me? And if there
were
other people, how did I know those "other people" included Alex? I still didn't even know if he…if he…

I pressed my forehead to the door and took a slow, steadying breath. There was only one way to find out. I placed my hand on the doorknob and looked down at myself again to make sure I was decent—just in case. My shirt fell almost to my knees. The only thing embarrassing about me was the bag of urine. I turned the handle to the door, my heart suddenly pumping faster, and I held my breath as I eased the door open and peered through the crack.

I sighed with relief. It was only a hallway—a dark hallway—but it was the right hallway. Low murmurs drifted to me from downstairs, and with renewed hope, I stepped out onto the soft runner that covered the hardwood flooring. I held on tight to my little cart, my other hand pressed against the wood paneling along the wall for support, and I made my way down the hall toward the stairwell. The murmurs grew louder and louder, but I didn't recognize the voices. Not at all. But the house seemed to be in order, so who was here with me?

Well, I didn't trust myself to carry the cart down the stairs. The grandfather clock at the base of the stair said it was four, and considering the darkness beyond the windows, I figured that must mean A.M. The voices continued, and I had no idea who was talking or what they were talking about. And then someone screamed.

Holding tight to my cart, I crouched as low as I could so I could see into the room where the scream had come from. A commercial played on a television. The sight of a television startled me so much that I didn't notice the people on the couch beside it. It was Thad and Vera, and my heart swelled at the sight of them. Vera slept, stretched along the couch with her head resting on a pillow in Thad's lap, and Thad had one arm behind her, absently stroking her hair with his other hand while he watched the commercial. Only, it wasn't a commercial anymore—their movie had come back on, and Lindsay Lohan appeared on stage at her homecoming.
Mean Girls
? Seriously? And…was Thad wiping his eyes?

A door creaked farther down the hall on the first floor, and soon Alex appeared and ascended the stairs. My heart skipped a beat. He was alive. He was healthy and whole, and he was wearing sweatpants and a fitted grey, long-sleeved thermal. It was odd seeing him in normal clothes—Earthen clothing—after living in Gaia for so long. He glanced up and saw me just as I pulled myself up. A slow smile stretched across his face, and then he bounded the rest of the stairs, two at a time, and I was in his arms.

"Of course you wake the second I step away," he said at my ear. His warmth seeped through my thin cotton shirt, and he smelled deliciously of soap and aftershave. He squeezed me tightly for a long moment then pulled back, his eyes roaming all over my face, my hair, my body, drinking in the sight of me. "How are you feeling?" he whispered.