I was a spark. I was a flicker of life. A thread of Kailani. A particle of love.
Above it all, I was the Word.
Elonora
Time seemed to move slower than usual. Much like a snail on a windshield under the midday sun. Tick… then, an hour later… tock. Even my breathing felt heavy, as I, like the others in the diamond dome, waited for Kailani to wake up.
We’d worked hard to get this far. So much was hanging in the balance.
Surrendering and pretending to be prisoners had been our best option in this war against Ta’Zan. We wouldn’t have done it if Amal hadn’t provided us with the collar cheat codes, despite Ben and Rose’s predilection to do it anyway, since their mother’s life was at stake. None of this was easy on any of us.
“When did Araquiel check in with us last?” Nevis asked me, keeping his voice low.
The silence in the dome was almost deafening. We were all sitting down, knees to our chests, waiting for our luck to finally turn. We’d been through enough already.
“About ten minutes ago,” I replied, checking my watch.
The comms line was open and quiet. Using my True Sight, I glanced around the diamond dome. I could see Herakles, the Faulties, and the Draenir out by the southwest entrance. They’d scattered farther into the woods in order to reduce their casualties. The jungle was their friend and protector. It was their home when Ta’Zan kicked the rogues out.
The trees and the thick, rich foliage helped conceal the more vulnerable fighters. It also made it easier for the Draenir to fire their pulverizer weapons, then bounce from branch to branch, avoiding detection. There were plenty on the ground, dead in pools of their own blood.
Isda had told us that the upper-echelon Perfects were equipped with pulverizer weapons of their own. It was only a matter of time before they’d rush to assist their southwest-exit guards. Then, the tide would turn, and not in our favor. Our offensive time was limited, and the more time Kailani spent out cold, the smaller that window got for everyone involved.
“They’ll be done soon,” Nevis said. “With the explosive charges, I mean.”
“I know.” I sighed, then looked at Kailani.
Still soft in Hunter’s arms, her eyes glowed like two stars. Her body hummed gently, and the sound made me quiver. I could only imagine what was going through her head, or what she was doing there, deep in her subconscious.
Lumi, Corrine, and Ibrahim sat by her side, staring at her. Waiting.
“We’re almost done with the mass memory wiper,” Amal announced through the comms channel. “But we haven’t seen Ta’Zan in over an hour. We don’t know where he is.”
I pressed the main button on my earpiece. “I don’t think it matters where he is. Once the charges get detonated, over seventy percent of this place will go down. Hopefully, he’ll get jammed in the rubble. Squished like a bug.”
“You’ve disabled your collars already, huh?” Amal replied dryly.
“I couldn’t take the heat. Besides, as long as they’re on, we’re fine,” I said.
“Once they come off, you’ll have to move fast to get them on your copies,” Amal reminded me. “They are all connected to a central system. I only made them to be monitored on a basic level, as in, whether they’re on or not. I’m not tracking their functions, nor did I allow for them to be used as recorders.”
“You played dumb, in other words,” I said, smirking.
“More like… I blamed my sister’s absence for my inability to upgrade the collars more,” she said.
“Smart move. Comes in handy now.” I sighed, even more aware of Amal’s previously hidden efforts to sabotage Ta’Zan from the inside.
“How is Kailani?” she asked.
“Still out,” I replied. “I don’t know for how long. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just let us know when the charges are about to go off. Amane and I will be ready.”
“I will. Thank you,” I said.
Dmitri came on the line. I could see him sitting about twenty yards from us, huddled with his grandparents, Jovi, and Anjani. The gloom on his face said more than his words ever would. He was miserable without Douma.
“Have you seen Douma recently?” he asked.
“Not since we last saw her and Raphael,” Amal replied. “Isda is supposed to deliver their food soon. I made sure to slip her a skeleton key. It opens any glass box. I made it before you guys took me, but I never had a chance to test it. We’ll need Ta’Zan to be busy or away from their room, though, if we want a clean escape.”
“Or, alternatively, let them out as soon as the charges go off,” Ben interjected on the line.
I searched for him in the crowd. He and Rose were sitting with Derek and Sofia, closer to the center, surrounded by most of the prisoners. They seemed like beacons of hope, in a way, as the majority of those stuck in this place looked to them for a direction.
“They’re strong and will be fast to make their way out as soon as the diamond structure starts collapsing,” Rose added.
“Yes. I agree,” Amal said. “I will let Isda know. Ta’Zan gave me a calling device for Isda. I’m in awe of how willingly he trusts her, when she’s literally the most loyal to the outsiders.”
“She’s worked hard to get to this point,” Derek muttered, not necessarily for Amal to hear, but rather for our clarity. “She kept her nose clean and didn’t get involved.”
“Amal did help by not ratting her out about the rebellion, though, didn’t she?” Rose asked, and Derek replied with a nod. “Okay, Amal, we’ll stand by for news from you and the others. Hopefully, Kailani will wake up soon.”
A click followed. Amal was offline.
Shifting my focus back to Kailani, I felt as though I was watching a movie I wholeheartedly hated. I was being forced into a scene I didn’t want to be a part of. Kailani was one of my closest friends. Her heart was mine, and my heart was hers. It had been like this for years, now. I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again, or, worse, of this whole swamp witch apprenticeship making irreversible changes to the wonderful creature that she already was.
“We have to address the possibility of her not waking up in time,” Nevis spoke up. “I know nobody wants to consider this, but we clearly have to.”
