The Silver Sphere (37 page)

Shelby engaged a swarm of soldiers. From the corner of her eye,
she spied General Krupp cleaving Nightlander necks with his powerful axe. A dagger
bounced off her shield as two Disembowelers bowled over a Battleswine and swiped
their claws at her. She ducked and smashed one in the face with her shield, and
then drove her blade into the other.

Milo stood ahead of her, embroiled in a mob of black.

The fight raged on, and an hour passed before they reached the
walls of Meracuse.

They battled west toward the main gate from there. The Nightlanders
swarmed in, pinning the Kin to the wall as they struggled to gain ground, separating
them from Throg and the Stonecoats. Several Battleswine fought beyond the ebony
scourge that surrounded them.

Gunther's mammoth form reared up from the mass of black warriors.
Three clung to his back and another tried to take him down. The gigantic Battleswine
swung two war hammers, knocking his foes to the mud with thunderous impacts.

Max doubled over in pain after receiving a crack to his ribs,
and slipped from his steed. Shelby and Emily dismounted and dragged him back as
Riley and Stuart stepped in their wake, thwarting their dark pursuers. The sound
of the hand-cannon firing was deafening.

They fought with their backs to the wall as the throng of Nightlanders
grew and held them in place. The dark soldiers railed them against the stone, and
the Kin struggled to hold their ground.

Zach breathed heavily as the Assembly rode to the outskirts of
camp. Battle cries and clanging steel erupted from over the trees.

"They have begun," said Bianca.

The Assembly dismounted their horses and Zach followed. Macklin
and Satchel knelt down and lifted a large, well-hidden lid from the ground.

Bianca lit a torch and descended into the dark burrow.

Macklin waved Zach forward. "In you go."

Zach nodded and followed Bianca. The shaft stood encased in old
wood and mud, and the only light that illuminated the passage was lodged in Bianca's
grip. The ceiling hung so low that Zach had to crouch as he strode.

Sweat dripped off his brow as he walked behind Bianca. He lost
track of time while trudging forward. A sharp pang hit his belly, and his head throbbed.

My Kin are in trouble.

"You all right, laddie?" Macklin asked from behind.

Bianca stopped in front and turned the torch toward him.

"Th-the Kin are in danger. I can
feel
it." Zach
placed his forefingers at his temples.

"Then help them," Bianca said.

"How? I... I am nowhere near them. They—"

"I sense you have a strong connection to the Fugues now—the
strongest I have ever felt. They are the guardians of the Silver Sphere. Use that
bond."

"But I don't know h-how to... to...."

"Concentrate, Zach. Call to them. They will respond to you."

Zach shut his eyes against the glare of the torch.

I need you, Fugues. Please answer me.

Chimes and bells rang inside his head.

"We hear you, dear Kin,"
the voices spoke.

The rest of the Kin are in peril. I beg you, please help them.

"We cannot last long on the mortal plane without your
presence. But we will go to them,"
they answered.

A ringing melody swished in his ears, and they were gone.

Zach opened his eyes. "Okay, they said they would go to
the others."

"Believe in yourself, Zach. You are needed." Bianca
turned back down the mucky corridor. "We must continue."

Torchlight bounced off the walls of the cavern in time to the
steady dripping of water from the ceiling to the floor.

The Kin stood pinned against the wall. Nightlanders came in dizzying
waves as the Kin battled for their lives. Shelby held her shield high, repelling
blow after blow while stabbing back at anything in front.

Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, angelic voices filled the air,
blocking out the violent sounds of clanging steel. The walls of Meracuse turned
bright red, the soil, golden. The ceiling of the world shifted, no longer azure,
but now a deep indigo. Several pairs of shimmering blue eyes surrounded the Kin.

Shelby whipped out her blade, preparing to fight this new foe.

"We are the Fugues, summoned by Zach to protect you."

The dark warriors milled in confusion.

Shelby lowered her weapon as the Fugues created a bubble encompassing
the Kin.

"Go now," the voices chimed. "Follow the wall
to the main gate. Throg and Milo are right ahead of you. Quickly, as we cannot insulate
you long without Zach present."

The Fugues followed the Kin as they bolted around the massive
wall. Max's face contorted as he gritted his teeth. They ran into Throg, who battled
furiously. As they joined him, the Fugues ensued and clustered closer to the Kin.

"The Fugues! Thank the stars," said Throg. He was drenched
with blood and sweat, his chestnut hair frazzled.

They moved onward to the main gate, the Fugues protecting them
and changing the landscape as they raced. The Nightlanders could not penetrate their
ranks. The Fugues soon came upon Milo and approached him with their ethereal shield.

Then, one by one, the beings shimmered and began to vanish, the
shield slowly growing weaker.

We must hurry,
Shelby thought.

"Excellent! The gate is right around this bend," said
Milo.

They stormed forward unimpeded, and arrived at the main gate
to the sound of wood splintering and men shouting, heaving, and groaning.

The Nightlanders smacked the doors with a massive stone and wood
battering ram.

The Fugues flickered faster, and a shrill cry pierced the air
as a few of the blue eyes faded out.

"We c-cannot s-stay any l-longer or w-we w-will perish,"
the voices said, and then they disappeared.

Milo and the Stonecoats turned and leapt upon the top of the
battering ram, and attacked the operators on the sides. Behind them, hundreds of
Battleswine spilled forward. Screeches and feral roars filled the air, deafening
the clang of steel and rock.

General Krupp swung his battleaxe. Shelby turned just as a javelin
the size of a small tree flew from nowhere and plunged into the general's throat.
A squeal, unearthly and devastating, echoed, and then was drowned in the hollering
of battle. A Disemboweler latched onto the fighting Swine leader, who tried in vain
to force the creature away, four feet of the javelin still sticking from his thick
neck. The Disemboweler yanked him to the earth.

Shelby froze, but turned again as Gunther raised both war hammers.
He catapulted over his fallen general and slammed the first hammer into a Nightlander's
skull. He then gave a cry, "For Krupp!" and slung across the field the
Disemboweler that had taken the general down.

Gunther bared his tusks and stood his ground against Nightlander
soldiers that hardly came to his chest. All who faced the Battleswine second-in-command
suffered the devastation of his iron hammers.

Shelby scanned the scene as man after man fell, almost all of
them fighting for Meracuse. Desperate, she fought back, trying to stay the flow
of black warriors. She gasped in horror as a villager collapsed into the churned
mud.

"Please," she whispered as she battled closer to the
gate. The enormous doors creaked and groaned. If they collapsed, Meracuse would
fall.

"Please, someone... help us."

The shaft came upon a sharp turn, and Bianca waved Zach forward.
She picked up the pace, and then halted.

"Here," she said.

"Huh?"

She lifted her torch to the wall. A handprint stood etched in
the stone. She placed her palm in the handprint, and a hidden door grumbled open.

"The Silver Sphere is located
under
Meracuse. That
way, Biskara cannot find it, and his sons would search for decades before even learning
of these underground passages."

Zach followed her through the doorway, and the cavern opened,
revealing a wide space. Within, the scents of water, rock, and earth permeated.
A few old pine trees had been melded to the clay walls of the cavern, their white
trunks and branches holding the mud at bay.

Several guards came forth, bowing in the presence of the Assembly.

"The chamber is right ahead," said Bianca, her voice
bouncing off the walls.

They came to another door, and she whispered an incantation.

The Fugues flickered and sputtered around the door, the eyes
pale blue now. Fewer of them appeared, and Zach sensed their pain.

"W-Welcome, As-ssemb-bly members," the voices whispered.

It slid open and they entered. The dank cavity smelled of pine
and mulch, the sprawling floor covered in ancient sentinel needles.

Satchel and Rowen gathered sticks and shrubs and tossed them
into a pile. Macklin sparked some flint and orange fire licked at the air, illuminating
the chamber. The walls of the cave were rough, and stalactites glinted above. Somewhere
farther down, deep beyond a narrow crevasse in the wall, the sound of dripping water
echoed.

In the middle of the stony room stood a shiny black armillary
sphere. Zach walked up to it. The object came up to his chest, and he ran his fingers
across the rings.

"Let us sit around the Sphere," said Bianca.

She led Zach to a spot next to her. The others took seats assigned
to them—Elita to his left, and Rowan beside her. Macklin sank down adjacent to Bianca,
Satchel at the end.

"Now clear your mind. First, we must meditate. Breathe normally
and focus on inhaling and exhaling. Eliminate any stray thoughts. Picture light
all around you. Accept the light and be one with it."

Zach crisscrossed his legs and tried to think of nothing. After
a while, he was at peace, drifting off. Time lost all meaning—he could not have
said if hours or minutes had gone by, but he recalled his hands clasping something.
He opened his eyes and the cave dissolved. He floated in space, clutching Bianca's
palm in his right hand and Elita's in his left. Beaming stars reflected on their
faces in a dazzling radiance.

"Concentrate on the Silver Sphere. Think of a bright silver
orb."

Zach focused on the object. Electricity crackled around them,
then stopped.

"Continue," whispered Bianca. Her voice sounded far
away, but clear, like an echo of an echo.

Zach tried harder. Currents fizzled and something struggled to
appear. He started to panic; was he holding it back? His chest tightened as the
stars spun, and his vision blackened in the center.

Elita tugged his fingers. "Relax, Zach. Take a deep breath.
It will come naturally."

Breathe
. He inhaled in rhythm with the repeated word.

Flashes of light refracted in front of them as sweat spilled
off Zack's brow. Curls of lightning snapped, followed by thunder. Fire bolts shot
through the backsplash of space. Energy swirled, spinning around and condensing
into the shape of a silvery orb. Luminous flakes sparked out of the globe, forming
rings amidst a bluish hue.