AllFreeNovel
Share Us
14
ANYA
Strappedto the seat in the back of the ship, I watched with abject horror as Silas struggled against the storm. Each time he began, his voice grew quieter. I could see his strength being depleted at every turn. He'd hardly had any time to rest after Kiango initiated him in the pools. It was no surprise that he was feeling weak already.
I closed my eyes and prayed for him. First, I prayed to my own god, begging for mercy, begging for help. Then I prayed to Re'Utu for protection. I needed protection, but more than anything, Silas needed it.
When I was done praying, I sat there, watching the storm boiling unevenly. I had never seen a storm in person before. No one but the Guardians had, according to the stories. In Re'Utu's Word, it said that the storms were sent to exact revenge upon planets that had strayed. They were Re'Utu's final admonition, and the Guardians went to fight them, to protect the people of those planets and give them one final chance. But if there was a storm here, in Ke'Thal, what could it mean? Had Re'Utu turned his back on the last of his people? Had He given up hope?
The thought that Re'Utu might be acting on behalf of Imrys, hoping to give Imrys the throne, made my stomach turn violently. I refused to believe that even an angry, alien god like Re'Utu would see anything redeemable in Imrys. If so, he wasn't worthy.
The next time Silas made the call, I stared deep into the storm, trying to make sense of the chaos. I strained my eyes, fighting the urge to squeeze them shut and block out the bright glare. But when I squinted, I spotted something strange. There was something glowing at the center of it all. No, not glowing. It was reflecting the storm back to me from within. All at once, I realized what I was seeing.
Imrys's ship was in there, buried among the storm's many coiling tendrils. He was controlling it. He was the storm.
Driven by pure adrenaline, I snapped the straps free and lunged from my seat, almost tackling Silas where he stood, calling the storm to him as the ship tipped unexpectedly through another blast of heat. He roared in pain as I ripped him out of his trance and we fell to the ground.
I didn't slow down. I pulled free of his arms and lunged for the pilot, grabbing his arm in desperation.
"What the hell are you doing?" Silas screamed, grasping at my ankle and dragging me backward.
I kicked free of him and made another attempt at getting the pilot's attention. He looked down at me, startled by my sudden appearance at his side.
"We have to go through it!" I shouted, struggling to be heard over the noise.
The pilot shook his head at me. A refusal? Or did he just not understand?
"Listen! Imrys is in there! He's calling the storm! We have to take out his ship! The only way to do that is to ram him or something. If we stay out here, it'll just keep coming. Silas will be killed!"
"How do you know it's him?" the pilot asked, watching the roiling storm doubtfully. "If we go in there, we aren't coming back out."
"I don't have time to give you all the details, but if we don't do something, the whole palace is going to burn to the ground with the people in it."
"Do what she says," Silas spoke up with a shaky voice. I hadn't even noticed him crawling up beside me and pulling himself to his feet. He was coated in a heavy sheen of sweat and looked like he might collapse at any second.
The pilot was still hesitating, eyes locked on the heart of the storm, fingers poised on the control console but not moving. Feeling Silas's weight sag against me, I closed my eyes and thrust my arm forward, jamming the pilot's hand into the console and pushing the accelerator all the way up.
Despite the ship's aged exterior, the engines responded. Both Silas and I were thrown backward, and the pilot cursed as he struggled to keep the thing straight. I hit the ground an instant before we were enveloped in blistering heat and blinding light, and then I was tossed again as our ship collided with something solid. Flying blind and disoriented, I threw my arms out, hoping to catch hold of anything that could protect me.
"Silas!" I screamed.
Before I could even begin to panic about where he had landed and if he was okay, my shoulder and head slammed into a solid surface, wrenching my whole body sideways before everything went dark and quiet.
