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“I don’t know why you do the things you do, Buck. Frankly, they’ve never made sense to me,” Brett snapped.
“Guys, come on. Brett, we’re not going to keep her prisoner. We’re not like that. You know that Zeke wouldn’t want us to,” Mason said, trying to be reasonable. He came over to stand beside Brett and his presence softened the tension. He looked at me directly and smiled. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to keep you here against your will. Brett is just… he worries too much sometimes.”
Brett muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
“But you don’t need to be in such a rush to leave either,” Mason continued. There was something about the way he spoke that made things seem easy. With Buck, I was on edge, thinkingthat something exciting and thrilling might happen at any moment. With Mason, it was as though I was sitting upon a cloud, drifting idly by in the sky without a care in the world.
I wished that life could be like that all the time.
“You came here to tell us something, and I know it must be important because it’s not like your kind to leave your thunder. So, what is it? What did you come here to tell us?” Mason asked. I glanced at Buck, who nodded. Brett leaned against the wall, his gaze turned away from me, trying to give me the impression that he didn’t care. But he would care. They had to, because if they didn’t then, this world was doomed.
Chapter Eleven
Mason
There was something captivating about her. I had noticed it as soon as she had arrived. She was elegant and graceful, and emanated an aura that was undeniable. Trust Buck to get there first. It made me sick sometimes, the ease with which he waltzed through life. Nothing ever stuck to him, and it was all some grand adventure. I bet he had been having a whale of a time out there in the world, away from this dreary place that was so shackled to history I wasn’t sure anything new or exciting could happen again.
Then Kadie told us what Ilvar, leader of her thunder, was planning. My face turned ashen, and I felt sick to the stomach.
“Impossible,” Brett said, his attention back on our guest. He had been leaning against the wall, but now he stood up straight and wore the same stupefied look on his face that was on mine.
“I wish it were,” Kadie said. She bowed her head, a guilty messenger, even though she had nothing to do with this. “He’s possessed by the idea; he thinks that his legacy will be finding a way back to Drakon. It’s what he wants to be remembered for. He’s not content with merely surviving, and he’s willing to burn anything and everything to make sure his ambitions are fulfilled.”
“I would have thought that any of your kind would be eager to help him bring his plans to fruition,” Brett said.
“That’s not me,” Kadie snapped back. I could hear the emotion in her voice.
“She’s good, Brett. She’s not like the rest of us. She cares about things,” Buck piped up.
“That certainly makes her better than you, although that’s not hard,” he said. I rolled my eyes. As soon as Buck had returned, I knew it was going to be like this. Perhaps, it was the only way it could be, but for how long was I going to let them snipe at each other?
“This is bigger than whatever problem you have with me, Brett. We’re talking about the world here,” Buck said.
“And I suppose you’ve just started caring about things now?” Brett asked, raising one disbelieving eyebrow. Buck stared at him for a moment.
“I’ve spent more time with them than you have. I’ve actually been a part of this world. I haven’t been hiding like you,” Buck said.
“Hiding is what keeps us safe,” Brett growled.
“Sure, I heard that many times. It might keep us safe, but it doesn’t keep us alive,” Buck said.
“And sometimes, it doesn’t even do that,” Brett said, and that was enough to silence Buck.
“Guys, there’s time for all this later. Right now, we need to take what Kadie said seriously,” I turned my attention back to Kadie. “Do you know when he’s planning to start this? Do you know where?”
Kadie shook her head. “Soon though. He was excited about it. He’s not going to want to wait too long to usher in this new era. He said that when this starts, it’s going to break this world and allow us to leave for the stars again. I’m not sure there’s going to be anything left behind. I don’t care how badly he wants to get back to Drakon, he can’t just sacrifice an entire planet. It’s wrong.”
I was charmed by the earnestness in her voice, but it was impossible not to feel daunted by the threat.
“Well, that’s it then. I guess we just have to say farewell to everything we know and love. I had a feeling it was always goingto end up this way. So much for a happy ending. Everything is just going to burn,” Brett said, the words dropping from his mouth like stones.
Kadie stared at him, mouth agape. “Are you not going to try and stop him? I came to you because I thought you could help.”
Brett sighed and shrugged, looking defeated already. “What’s the point? We’ve always been inferior to your thunder. We can’t beat them in a straight fight. We don’t have any hope of stopping them. Thanks for giving us the heads up though. At least we can prepare for the end now.” He turned and slunk out of the chamber, his heavy footsteps fading as he passed into the distance. I huffed.
“I’ll go and speak to him,” I said.
Buck stopped me. “No, I need to go and talk to him.”
