Weavers (The Frost Chronicles) (10 page)

“Where is Adam?”

“He had other duties. He said you could handle this one. In fact, he insisted.” Atticus paused.

“Oh,” I said.

Atticus’s eyes gleamed. “Was his faith in you misplaced?”

“No,” I spoke firmly. “I can do it.”

“Good. Now get home. Adam said your brother has the instructions. Get them from him, and meet me inside your barn tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“There is no time to waste,” he said. “Tonight must be the night. Now go!”

I stumbled for the door.

“YOU CAN’T BE serious,” Jonn said after I’d delivered my news.

“I am.” I felt frozen inside, calm to the point of deadness. My mind was focused solely on what I’d been told to do—get the PLD, get my instructions, meet Atticus in the barn—because otherwise I would crumble into a thousand pieces.

“And Adam—”

“Something happened. He isn’t going to do it.” My voice threatened to crack, but I pushed on. “And now Ann is in Astralux.”

“
Astralux
?”

“Jonn. There’s no time. We have to do this now.” I spoke the words sharply, because otherwise I would tear into two. They had cut me out. They had gone on without me. It was done. Now, I had my duty to fulfill.

Jonn nodded. He gathered the journals and put them in a pile. Gingerly, he picked up the PLD case and handed it to me. His face was a mask of shock and confusion.

“You won’t starve, brother,” I said, desperate to reassure myself as much as him. “Ivy’s at the Farther school, and without my mouth to feed, it’s only three people. Ivy can take the quota into town, and Everiss can check the traps when she’s strong enough, which should be any day now. You’ll be fine until I get back.”

He pursed his lips angrily. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

“I
have
to do this,” I said. “I’m in this all the way, just like you. And you’ve already risked your life and health. Look at what Ma and Da did. Now I have to do the same. Besides, there’s no one else.”

Adam and Ann were gone. I was alone in this. I was reeling.

“Are you sure—?”

“I’m sure.”

He was silent a moment. Slowly, he nodded. “All right, then. Here are your instructions.” Carefully, he explained exactly how to activate the device. “There isn’t much time to go through after you’ve turned it on, and it will only fire once until the window of opportunity is open again,” he said. “So don’t do it until you’re absolutely ready.”

I nodded, committing everything he told me to memory. “Did you find all this in that journal?”

“Yes. Lia...do you know where you’re going?”

I shrugged. “To wherever the gate leads.”

“The journal...I know a little about where—”

“Don’t bother telling me the details,” I said. “There isn’t time. I’ll see it when I get there.”

“Wait,” Jonn said, before I could go. “I...there’s something else.”

“Hurry,” I said. “I need to get going.”

“This has nothing to do with the Thorns,” he said. “This is something else.” His tone was strange, and his eyes slid away from mine. He held out a sealed piece of paper. “There’s someone who you need to find once you’ve traveled through the gate. He has something I need. You need to get him to give it to you.”

“Who? What...?”

“It was in the journal. The one we found in Echlos,” Jonn said. “Where you’re going...I’m not sure, but I think there may be an important man there, Meridus Borde. I’ve read about him in the journal I found at Echlos. If you find him, give him this paper and tell him to follow the instructions exactly. It’s very important, but I can’t explain why. Do whatever you have to do to get it, Lia. Please. Trust me on this.”

“All right,” I said. “I will.”

He nodded and sat back, exhausted. His face shone with sweat. “You’ll say goodbye to Ivy before you leave?”

“I’ll say goodbye,” I promised.

~

Atticus sat cross-legged on the floor, smoking his pipe and waiting. He didn’t rise when I entered. He took stock of me, noting the PLD case in my hands. I’d already slipped Jonn’s paper into my pocket so he wouldn’t see it and ask any questions.

A puff of smoke escaped his mouth as he spoke. “Did your brother show you how it works?”

“Yes.”

“Open it.”

I knelt and opened the case. The device itself—long and cylindrical, like a fat metal chair leg—was nestled inside like a snake’s egg in a nest. The metal shell gleamed. The wires around it glistened. I drew it out and held it in my hands.

It was heavy, the metal cold against my skin.

“It does not call the Watchers to the house of the one who keeps it?” Atticus mused, his eyes on the device.

I started in surprise. “No...” I said. “It hasn’t. Not once. And we’ve had it in our possession for weeks.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Atticus mused. “The creatures guard the original gate in Echlos, do they not? They should not consider this one a threat, not if it is the same sort of technology as contained in Echlos.”

I pondered this. Was this why we’d had no Watcher attacks on the house in the last few weeks?

“You know how to activate it?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I nodded, and he watched with careful, precise attention as I unfolded the papers Jonn had given me, scanned the instructions again, and then pressed the raised swell of metal on one side of the device. My fingers trembled as light pulsed across the surface, and the wires sparked. I flinched. Atticus hissed in startled appreciation.

“Magnificent,” he murmured. “A perfectly preserved piece of technology from that ancient age. It’s marvelous. Your brother did well.”

“Yes.” I kept my eyes on the device as it spat blue fire from the tips of its metal tentacles and hummed a strange, high-pitched whine. A blue-green circle appeared above it, casting a perfectly symmetrical pool of light around us. My stomach churned. My heart pounded. Blood pumped through my arms and legs, and I was dizzy.

It was really working.

“Turn it off,” Atticus commanded quietly. I hit the button, and the device’s shrill squeal dropped to silence.

“I wanted to make sure you understood how to operate it,” Atticus explained. “You will, of course, travel through the gate at Echlos like the rest of them.”

I nodded and gulped a breath.

“Get your things,” he said.

~

“You’ll be fine,” I said to my siblings for the hundredth time as I stood by the door, my cloak wrapped tight around my shoulders and a bundle of supplies in my arms. I had no idea what I’d need for this trip, so I’d scraped together another set of clothes and some food. “Ivy will handle all the quota delivery and attend the Farther school in exchange for food supplies as long as I’m gone. Everiss will handle the household and barn chores with Ivy’s help, and do the cooking. Jonn, you’ll attend to the bulk of the quota, but Everiss can help you with that as you need her to. Ivy, Everiss—perhaps you could see to the traps—”

“I can do that,” Ivy said. “I know where they are.”

“All right. Ivy will check the traps.”

They all watched me, wide-eyed, as I fumbled with my bag.

“I’ll only be gone a few weeks. You’ll be fine. Abel Brewer will help you if you need anything.”

“What about Ann?” Ivy said. “Perhaps she—”

“Ann is in Astralux.” Just saying the words made me feel sapped of all my strength.

Everiss’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“What about Adam?” Ivy asked.

“He’s gone, too.”

They clearly wanted to ask more, but there was no time. Coldness seeped through me. Ann was gone. Adam was gone. I felt completely alone as I faced this difficult duty, but I would press on, because what other choice did I have?

I wanted to warn them about everything. I wanted to tell them about Atticus and how I didn’t trust him, but they still didn’t know about him, and I planned to keep them out of it entirely. No, I would complete this mission and return to them and everything would be fine.

“You’ll be fine,” I repeated, and they all nodded at me as if they were reassuring
me
.

“Go in safety, Lia,” Jonn said. He grabbed my hand and squeezed hard. I hugged Ivy, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, Everiss.

“Take care of them,” I breathed into her hair, and she nodded and sniffled. Then I turned, sucked in a deep breath, and yanked open the door to the outside.

~

Echlos glittered strangely in the fading light of day. The sky was beginning to turn purple by the time we reached the shimmery net of deception that hid the ancient ruins from prying eyes. In the distance, the tops of the mountains scraped the sky.

I was the first one to step inside, breaking the seal of dark silence that filled the corridor below. Dust puffed and debris crackled and snapped beneath my boots as I moved forward down the tunnel of impossibly smooth stone. Behind me, I heard Atticus striking a match to light the lantern we’d brought.

“No,” I called. “We don’t need it. Save the fuel for your trip back.”

He lifted an eyebrow questioningly, and I took another step forward. The ceiling glowed in response to my movement, and Atticus’s jaw sagged.

Despite my anxiety, I grinned. Seeing him so astonished was strangely gratifying.

We descended into the bowels of the ruins slowly—down spiraling staircases tunneled into the depths, passing tarnished doors of gleaming metal and splashed stains of red and brown. Finally, we reached the massive room that housed the portal. My skin prickled in apprehension, and my scalp crawled. Our footsteps echoed as we entered the chamber.

“Incredible...” Atticus’s voice whispered at the far reaches of the room.

The portal loomed against the far wall like a sleeping eye. I drew in a deep breath and crossed the room to the panel where Adam had activated it before. Jonn had explained how to do everything. I just had to find the switches.

Atticus followed. “Do you know what to do?”

“I know.” I found the panel and tugged it open. Dust floated down from the edges. A cold wind swept through the hole in the roof high above us, ruffling my hair. I wrapped my fingers around the switch and yanked it down.

Nothing happened.

“Are you sure—” Atticus began.

Then, the air around us began to hum.

All the hairs on my arms rose. Light pulsed along the wall, tracing patterns in the gray. The circle began to gleam. The eye of the gate began to open. It unfurled slowly, like a mechanical flower spreading its petals to the sun.

Atticus stumbled back, his face glowing as he stared up.

“Magnificent!” he shouted.

Hot air rushed over us. I stared into the depths of the circle and saw only darkness. My heart plummeted to my feet, and my hands shook. I couldn’t breathe.

Atticus grabbed my arm and tugged me around. “When you reach the other side, find a man called Jacob. He’s from a place called Eos. That’s how you’ll know it’s him. Give him this—give it to no one else.” He put a sealed envelope in my hand. “It’s the names of those we need. Keep your mission secret. And Weaver—” He raised both eyebrows at me. “Bring back only the ones on the list. Do not let emotional weakness compromise your mission.”

Wait—a list? This wasn’t part of the plan at all.
We’re going to get them all back
, Adam had promised. All. Including Gabe.

Atticus saw my hesitation. “This is an important mission. You wouldn’t want to compromise the safety of your family by failing.”

A threat, I was sure of it. My eyes narrowed. But then, he was pushing me toward the gate. There was no time to think. “Hurry, there isn’t much time!”

I shoved the envelope in my pocket beside the paper Jonn had given me.

This was it.

I clutched the bag of supplies tightly as memories of Gabe passing through the portal flooded my mind. I saw a young man, his expression determined as his eyes met mine for the last time, his mouth mashed closed as if to hold in a scream. I felt the rush of sadness and horror and hope that rushed over me as I watched him vanish behind the metal gates. My heart beat a rhythm against my ribcage as I stepped forward to the same place he’d stood. My pulse roared in my ears. The air crackled with an electric intensity, making all the hairs on my arms rise, and I could taste the power on my tongue. All I had to do now was step forward into that darkness. Jonn had explained it all as best as he understood from the journal. I’d fall, he had said, but gently.

All I had to do was close my eyes...and go.

I could hear Atticus behind me, muttering. I sucked in one deep breath, as if preparing to dive into a black lake from which there might be no return. My hands trembled. My stomach curled. My skin squeezed and my lungs expanded and my mind shrieked and the darkness closed around me and...

I fell.

THE WORLD WAS gray as slate and icy as a river, and I was just a speck falling through the silence. Ribbons of cold air streamed through my fingers and wound around my neck. Pulses of sensation fluttered across my eyelids and cheeks and rushed over my arms. I was spiraling, spinning, soaring. Would this ever end? Time was long and short and I was lost in it.

All the air hissed from my lungs with a rush as I slammed into something hard and flat. Pain exploded across my skull and down my neck and spine. My teeth crashed together, and I felt a sputter of something hot gush down my cheek and hit my collarbone.

I lay still, stunned.

Gradually, I came back to consciousness. My head spun. Nausea swam over me in a sick green wave, and I heaved bile. I heard it splash as if from very far away. I tried to move, but my arms and legs weren’t working. A whimper crawled up my throat, and then I was still again.

I cracked my eyelids open and tried to see. Everything was a white, amorphous blur. I fumbled for my sack, for the PLD. When my fingers found them, I relaxed and struggled to sit up, and gradually, my vision began to clear.

That was when I realized someone was reaching down to touch me. The outline of their body loomed like a giant above me.