Empire Island, Exile the First

Chapter 27

We ran out of the trees into the clearing near the yurts along the cliff's edge and I reached out to grab Calla's arm.

We skidded to a stop and she whirled around. "What? Why did you stop?"

"What if it's a trap?" I asked.

What I didn't want to tell her was how exhausted I was. I had used up every ounce of energy I possessed to destroy Mara, and I had gone beyond what was necessary because of my lack of control. It was like pouring yourself a glass of milk and holding the carton tilted until it was empty. There'd be a mess and nothing left for later.

That's how I felt, the empty milk carton with nothing left and a massive mess to clean up. It wasn't even the bodies we had to move from the cave, it was the disaster I felt inside. The emotional nuclear bomb that'd gone off inside my head.

My incompetence as a guardian and a magic holder had possibly hurt my mom. And that's why it made sense that Calla had told me my mom may still be alive. She'd tried to spare my feelings.

"We don't know if it's a trap, but we also don't know if Day needs help right now," Calla replied.

As if on cue, another ear shattering scream tore through the twilight and I shuddered at the sound. It was so primal it triggered something in me, an urge to run the other way or protect who was being attacked. Flight or fight at the most cellular level.

"Was that her?" I blurted, immediately regretting it when I saw the fire rise in Calla's eyes.

"I'm not gonna take any chances," she said, taking off running. There wasn't any stealth in her path, she cut across the wide open area around the main compound buildings, careening through piles of stacked lumber and leaping over garden beds.

I followed, but took the longer route. I had almost no energy left, so I wasn't about to waste my small reserves getting over a wheelbarrow.

She made a sharp left around the corner of the main building, I followed and ran square into her back. She braced herself and I bounced off, stepping around her to find out what had brought her up so short.

"Is that...?" I asked, my question unfinished as the sight in front of me overwhelmed my senses.

"It is," Calla replied.

Directly in front of us, just a few feet away, stood a large group of people. Everybody I'd seen in my time in the group. They all stood motionless and silent, facing the center of a large circle.

Inside the circle, the ten girls I'd rescued from the well surrounded a central figure.

It was Mike.

He was frozen in a moment of pure agony, etched in the features of his face and through the contorted way his body was twisted. And he hovered several feet above the ground with sickly, dull orange and yellow coils of thick magic wrapping around him.

I searched for the source of the magic and realized the girls were doing it, their hands were held wide open at waist level and the snaking coils sluggishly pulsed out, increasing in thickness as they merged, joining up around Mike's body.

I scanned everywhere for my aunt and found Day across the circle, motionless and staring up at Mike's figure. She was on the other side and the sickly yellow light gave her a jaundiced pall.

"She's there," I whispered to Calla, but Calla stared intently at Mike, her face growing slack even as she fought it. I saw her fingers twitching and small sparks of blue light burst forth, but her body responded to whatever call was blasted by the girls.

"Calla," I whispered harshly, afraid to catch attention with my voice. "Come on, man, don't do this. Fight this."

Her eyes rolled in their sockets and she tried to focus on me from the corner. Tears sparkled there, from pain or emotion, I wasn't sure.