Chapter 11
?
C yan stilled, not sure who was terrifying her more.
Steele, who suddenly seemed to be sensing something really uncomfortable, or the fact that she thought she heard laughter, as in somebody having way too much fun at their expense.
She closed her eyes, desperately trying to calm her senses, so she could look at it logically and could bring some order to her thoughts.
When she could, she pulled back and turned to Steele, whose gaze rapidly searched the area around them.
Then he relaxed and whispered, “Whoever or whatever that was is gone now.”
She wanted to scream in frustration but found it hard to do anything. She frowned. “But that would imply that somebody had come through that gate.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “but that doesn’t mean they came through the gate with us. They could have been here before us, and they could have come through when you came through earlier,” he suggested. “So, just because somebody might be here ups the chances that we’re being watched.”
She winced, nodded, and muttered, “Okay, then we really need to go back.”
“Except the gate’s gone,” he pointed out, “and I think it’s gone in order to shove us forward into the way we’re supposed to go.”
“I don’t like this,” she snapped.
He took a deep breath and nodded. “I agree with that, and I don’t like very much about this either.
However, I don’t think it was intended to be scary or shocking or anything else that appears to be upsetting you.
It seems we now have something or someone else here, and maybe they have an energy slightly off from what we would expect. ”
Cyan grimaced. Steele could be right. It was quite possible that whoever had laughed at them had caused the energy to shift.
“I also think,” he added, lowering his voice, “that the energy is also giving us the ability to do other things than we normally would too.”
She immediately shook her head and frowned. “I don’t have a clue what you mean by that.”
“I’m not sure I do either,” he replied cheerfully, “but I can tell you that it feels… more somehow.”
“More?” she repeated, her eyes widening.
“Yes, more, but, no, I don’t know what that looks like.”
She groaned, closed her eyes, and snorted. “I think… this might be something to take up on another day. I’m not feeling as confident as I would like to right now.”
“Okay, and you’re saying that you want to go back, but where does back mean?” he asked, as he turned to look behind them. “The gate where we came through is no longer there.”
“It has to be there,” she argued, staring at him. “It’s just been disguised.”
“Sure, and then there’s a question about why.”
“I don’t know why,” she cried out in frustration, “but more upsetting than the how s and the why s is that damn laughter.”
*
Terk walked the stone pathway around the castle, his senses alert, his mind focused. “Beacon, what are you doing?”
“Nothing against your orders.”
“That’s a smart-aleck answer.”
“I don’t understand the meaning of that comment.”
Terk closed his eyes in frustration. The problem with a creation, such as the Beacon, was it was smart enough to play games. Something Terk hated. “You do know what that means. What is going on in the woods, and why are our communication attempts with those people not going through?”
Silence.
Terk stilled. “Are you willfully interrupting our communication attempts on both sides?”
“Not willfully but something is wrong with one of them.”
“Which one?”
But the Beacon didn’t answer.
Brody stepped up behind Terk. “There you are. Any answers yet?”
“No, only that several people are in the woods that he’s uncertain about.”
“Did he give you a summary of the issues?”
Terk snorted. “No, his nose appears to be out of joint again.”
Brody gripped Terk’s shoulder. “Are you sure we want the Beacon to have this much power?”
“Yes and no. The Beacon is energy, and, therefore, it’s both good and bad in the same instance.
The Beacon needs more energy so we can tweak it the way we want.
He’s close, but he keeps dithering on decision-making when it should be easier for him.
If he had more energy on the one side, he would come from that same perception. We just need to give it more.”