Chapter 16 #2
Eleos sighed. “Maybe we can find a better deal in Cynthus.”
“Well, I’m content,” I said. “Shall we head for the tree, or did you need something, El?”
“El?” he repeated.
“Nobody ever called you that before?”
“Only one.” His face flickered, briefly touched by nostalgia. “No, I’m alright. Let’s get away from this crowd.”
Jealousy flashed in my heart, but I shoved it down. He could be talking about anyone—a parent, a sibling, a friend.
Grabbing my horse, I followed him down the street, but a malaise grew in my bones. Rubbing my neck, I tried to place the sudden discomfort. Flinching, I looked around wildly as the sounds of chatter and footsteps muted, as though plunged underwater.
Unease blossomed amidst the silence, and nostalgia heightened in my breast. Halting mid-stride, I gasped in terror.
Seth grabbed my arm. “What’s wrong-”
I stared into his eyes, seeing only the red of his irises and the disaster behind us.
A black spot appeared on the dirt road, a perfect contrast to the beautiful marble stores. Red haloed its infinite embrace, casting light on the single drop of water sitting quietly at its base.
Everything fell silent. The birds stopped singing, and the people’s voices ceased. Everyone halted, the world stilled, life and time froze for a fleeting moment.
It all burst back to life, far too loud, all at once. Screams tore through the air as the people noticed the pocket of Empty.
The abyss surged in all directions, buildings disintegrating beneath its touch, roads collapsing into the sharp canyon, people vanishing into specks of dust. Chaos erupted as people scrambled to escape.
Seth’s horse reared in fear, tearing from his grasp and charging forward. It clipped me as it ran past, throwing me to the ground. My head struck the stone steps of a shop, and the world blurred.
Screams echoed through the fog.
Sheer terror captured their voices. The screams of the dying.
Someone grabbed my wrist and hauled me up. The world spun before my vision snapped back into clarity.
Seth yanked me roughly, spinning me around to face the void. “Stop it!” He shouted.
Focusing, I thrust my palm forward, fingers trembling. The void advanced, dropping the city into a chasm filled with still waters. The blackened sky consumed the clouds, tearing the very aether asunder. But nothing happened. Nothing in my breast stirred, no magic sparked at my fingertips.
The Empty advanced, uncaring of my futile attempts to stop it.
“I. . .” I stuttered, watching our doom approach.
Seth pulled me away from the Empty and pushed me ahead of him. “Run.” He barked.
Finding my footing, I sprinted away from the growing void, glancing over my shoulder to see a child trip. My heart pounded, but the horror was over in an instant. The bounds of the abyss reached the boy and turned him to dust before his mouth had fully opened to scream.
A solemn weight crashed through my body as I stared at the spot where the child had been. Throat going dry, I forced myself to keep going.
Where were the others? My head snapped forward, but all I could see was a throng of people, loose horses, and cattle. Relief sang through my heart when Eleos pushed through two men ahead of me and dashed to my side.
He touched my arm, and his voice rang in my mind. “Can you stop it?”
“No.” I thought back at him, nearly screaming the word aloud.
Seth slammed into us from behind, propelling us forward. Keeping his grip on my arm, Eleos heeded the order and ran.
The ground quaked beneath our feet, tossing me off balance. Tremors raked through the mountain as the Empty destroyed it. Cracks ran through the road, and I looked up to see boulders falling from the cliffs above.
If the Empty didn’t reach us first, the landslide would sweep us away.
A baby’s cry rose above the cacophony. Just another noise, to me.
But not to Eleos.
He stopped. Dropping my arm, he spun on his heel, quickly finding the source of the noise. A pregnant woman had tripped, a swaddled infant clutched in her arms. Resigned to her fate, she buried her face against her child, shrouding it with the falling locks of her blonde hair.
I reached out to stop him, but my fingers grasped air. Eleos flew to her side.
Another thud shook the road, and the dirt ripped apart. Seth grabbed me, pulling me back as a boulder crashed into the store behind us, splintering its roof before tumbling onto the road. I ripped from his grip, only to see a growing crevasse separating me from Eleos and the young mother.
No! Raising my hand, I stared down the approaching abyss, willing myself to do something. How had I stopped it before? How had I saved Percy and me from certain death? How?
Nothing happened. Nothing. Why? Beads of sweat ran down my forehead as the Empty closed in. All I could see were its endless shadows.
Ten paces away. Eight. Six.
“Aethra!” Eleos’ voice screamed in my head, at once with a noise beside me.
“Aethra!” Seth shouted.
Something slammed into my stomach, shaking me from my trance. Seth roughly threw me over his shoulder as he sprinted down a side road. A horrifying wall of darkness closed in on the spot we’d been standing, tearing asunder the building I’d leaned on but a few moments ago.
It would have consumed the spot Eleos had been standing, too.
“Eleos?” I shrieked in my mind, hoping he heard. Hoping he could answer.
But I heard only silence.
“Shit!” Seth cursed, glancing behind him as the Empty pursued us. “Shitshitshit.”
Gods, was it moving quicker? I hung uselessly over Seth’s shoulder, watching the abyss in despondent horror.
Seth slammed into something, crashing through wood. I was jarred loose from his grasp and rolled over tiled floors, landing on my back to see a statue of the Maiden looming above me.
Water trickled through her fingers into a basin at her feet—water meant to represent the Empty she could destroy.
Whisper leaped onto my chest, furiously nuzzling my face. Snapped out of my trance, I grabbed his neck to let him know I was alive.
Shooting to my feet, I dashed through the pews, catching up to Seth in time for the bounds of the void to crash through the far wall.
Still cursing under his breath, Seth rammed through the other door, grabbing my wrist to haul me out with him.
He paused, whistling urgently for Whisper, who shot between our feet.
From the top of this cliff, I could see the crowds of people and animals fleeing through every street in every direction. One beast broke from the throng and raced up the road towards us: A blonde horse with a flowing white mane.
Seth intercepted it, grabbed its reins, and reached for my hand.
He threw me up first before mounting behind me, jerking the reins to turn my mare around as the church splintered into dust and fell away into the silent sea.
Slapping the reins against the horse’s neck, he drove her into a frenzied gallop.
Spinning in the saddle, I stared at the Empty, trying again to stop it. My fingers trembled, my shoulders shook. Fear raced down my spine in sharp splinters, and worry pounded at my heart.
I couldn’t think. Couldn’t focus.
I couldn’t do a damn thing.
My head whipped violently around as the horse took a sharp turn, fleeing from the village down a steep road leading into the wilderness.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked.
“Getting us out of here!” Seth snarled.
“We can’t-” I stuttered. “We have to-”
“Go back?” He barked. “To what?”
A building high on the cliff crumbled as the landslide swept over it. I watched the debris rain down the mountainside, striking people and buildings in its path. Meaningless destruction and death. The Empty was upon them a moment later, turning their blood and rubble into nothing.
Raising my palms, I stared at them in horror.
I was supposed to wield the Maiden’s power.
I was supposed to stop the Empty.
But when it mattered most, I failed.