Extraordinary (The Extraordinary Saga #4)

Chapter 15

The golden not-shadows were everywhere.

They covered the entire cave, one in every line of sight, making it impossible to think clearly. The eight of them stumbled backwards, trying to escape through the hole that Rowan had created, but the not-shadows simply followed them wherever they went.

Caeden's voice rumbled deep next to Rowan's ear.

"What did you do?" He whispered.

Even though she was laser focused on the cloud of golden not-shadows directly in front of them, Rowan still found the energy to scoff.

"That was not me. If anything, it was that other girl - Hope." She paused, choosing her next words carefully. "But I think that guy, Peter, might have been right. This was coming anyway."

"Because of the summer solstice? I highly doubt that."

Hope's gaze drifted away from the glowing gold for a moment, long enough to focus on Rowan and Caeden. "You know we can hear you, right?"

The two of them didn't answer Hope, but they stopped conversing amongst themselves.

Nobody said a word. After the initial panic had subsided, they came to the realization that none of the not-shadows were moving in any particular direction. They seemed to wander around aimlessly.

"They can sense magic," Rowan whispered, her words soft as they were echoing across the cavern. "If you don't use your powers, they can't find you."

Luna looked down at the compass still in her hand, realizing the thing was radiating the same magic that had drawn a single not-shadow to them earlier. Then she looked around the cave, seeing all the artificial light that was her creation.

"We need to go," she said plainly.

But it was too late. Whether it was because of Luna's light or because of the compass or both, she couldn't tell, but the golden cloud seemed to be drifting towards her.

"Luna," Onyx told her as the not-shadows gained speed. "Drop it. Now."

For once, she obeyed her sister. The compass dropped from her grasp, landing on the dirt with a soft thud.

The second it had settled, every single one of the not-shadows made a mad dive for it.

Luna scrambled backwards, tripping on a rock and landing on her back, watching as the ghastly golden figures all melded into one immensely large golden ball - one single cloud of magic particles.

The ground began its ominous rumbling, warning the eight people to stay far, far away. The air grew hot but not unbearable, and the amount of energy in the room started to multiply, buzzing with that unmistakable sound.

Onyx pulled Luna to her feet as someone - Hope, they saw - yelled, "Run!"

Hope started running with the rest of them, but she stopped just a few steps later. Clenching her fists, she turned towards the figures - or, figure, rather, since they all had combined into a singular not-shadow.

She closed her eyes and took in the surroundings. She was underground, after all; there had to be plant roots everywhere around the cave. After barely a second, she knew she was right. Stretching out her hand, the ground rumbled even more as hundreds of plant roots all extended out of the walls and blocked the gold from their path.

"Peter!" Hope yelled, trying not to gasp with the pain that filled her shoulder. Thanks to Aether, she'd broken her collarbone a few months back. When she pushed her limits, sometimes she still felt that pain. "Fill in the gaps!"

At the sound of his name, Peter stopped in his tracks. His eyes were wide.

"I can't!"

"What do you mean you can't?" Hope yelled. "That's literally exactly what you do!"

"I-"

"Peter, can't you do something?" Jay shouted.

"No!" Peter protested. Nobody understood the logistics of his power. Except him. "If I do, the whole place will come down."

"What..?" Jordyn started, but she didn't give him time to explain. "Peter, you have to try. We can't outrun those things."

Peter took another look. He wasn't convinced what he could do would be any good. But then he saw the giant not-shadow starting to work its way through Hope's plant barrier.

"Okay. I'll do what I can."

Peter had learned there was a delicate balance between his magic and the world around him. While it was true he could move the earth around him to do what he wanted, it wasn't always safe to do so. Especially underground, there was a chance the movement could destabilize his surroundings into collapse.

But this time, Jordyn was right. He had to take that chance.

He focused his energy, imagining what he wanted the barrier to look like. Usually that was all he had to do for a small movement. But for this, he had to specifically picture where the rocks would move from. It was more exhausting than he expected, his knees buckling under the amount of energy he had to expend. It was like the aftermath of sprinting a mile, just without the running itself.

When he opened his eyes, a solid barrier of earth stood floor to ceiling. He turned around.

"That should buy us some time."

Rowan stared wide-eyed at the wall in the cave that hadn't been there a moment ago. She glanced behind her, craning her neck for a view of the way out. "The hole is this way. Come on, we need to get out of here."

"And just leave this down here?" Hope countered, gesturing wildly at what was behind the wall. She thought she could even see some gold working its way through the solid barrier. Despite Peter's assurances, they really didn't have that much time. "No way."

"It's not safe to stay down here," Caeden argued, flexing his hands to keep in his fire. "We have to leave."

"No," Peter said with such ferocity that Caeden flinched. His eyes went to Jordyn and Jay, who were holding hands in the flickering light provided by Luna. "I don't know what they told you, but this is bigger than you can imagine."

A tremor shot through the ground, one that was noticeably more forceful than the constant quakes and buzzes that had been shaking the cave since the not-shadow combined.

"Bigger?" Onyx asked, skepticism apparent in her voice. "How?"

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but Rowan cut him off.

"I'm leaving," she announced to the rest of them, worry in her mismatched eyes. "If you're smart, you'll come too."

As if on cue, dirt and debris began raining down, a sure-fire sign that the cave was about to collapse. Peter's expression tightened as he readied to give commands to keep the place from crumbling.

"Okay. Here's what we're gonna do."