Waymakers (Champions of the Crystal Book 9)

Chapter 23.2

Seuréa let out a cry of distress, and Sabrina opened her eyes. "Shield! Now!"

She'd meant it for Seuréa, but as she closed her eyes again to access the Crystal, she heard Stecklan shouting into his comlink. The shield over Dansestari would help, she knew, but it wouldn't save them from what was coming. The huge wave of dissonance would shake the planet apart if she couldn't stop it. She could sense that it was already hitting Deltarr, and she threw a blast of Crystal resonance at the planet to try to cancel it out.

"Evacuate Deltarr," she gasped out. "No, wait! None of our ships will make it." She gasped with the effort to understand what was going on in the solar system.

"I've got it!" Seuréa cried.

Alarms started going off nearby, but Sabrina ignored them. Seuréa had managed to throw a curtain of resonance around the side of Deltarr facing the wave, but it was a huge effort she might not be able to sustain. She wouldn't be able to help when the wave hit Praxatillus.

Sabrina opened her eyes to find Stecklan grasping her shoulders, holding her steady. "Launch everything in orbit," she said urgently. "Get them out of the system. I need to focus on the planet."

"We'll evacuate the orbital platforms," he assured her. "Can you tell me what's happened?"

"Massive resonance disruption, l think from the Wayshipyard," she replied.

"Should we get people underground?" he asked.

"No, that won't be safe. The far side of the planet, maybe, in case I can't—" She broke off, realizing that Bathir wasn't on the safe side. Lily wouldn't be safe. "I'll hold it. Somehow."

She vaguely felt Stecklan ease her into her chair as she began trying to head off the wave. She quickly realized it was useless, though. She would have to create a bubble around Praxatillus to protect it.

"It's not Kyan crystal," Seuréa said. Sabrina frowned, not understanding until Shariara repeated it in her head.

"No, if it was the Wayshipyard, it'd be ours," Sabrina agreed. "But they've corrupted it somehow, changed it."

"Can we change it back?" Shariara asked.

"I don't—" Sabrina broke off as she realized she didn't know how to finish the sentence. "Seuréa?"

Seuréa was frowning; Sabrina could feel rather than see it. Shariara must be connecting them—this was a stronger tie than she normally felt working with Seuréa in the Crystal. She could almost see the Inheritor visualizing the competing resonance patterns and trying to find the way they might cancel each other out. It was more than Sabrina could wrap her head around without Ford's mind to translate.

She tamped down a spurt of panic about his safety. She could not afford to lose herself in a tangle of heart-stopping speculation about why she couldn't feel him any longer. He would be the first to tell her to focus on saving Praxatillus—saving Lily.

Seuréa said, "I don't think we have time. We have to wall it off, at least the initial wave of it. What got through to Deltarr is having terrible effects, and they're a small population. We can't survive that here. I'm doing everything I can to help them, but I don't know if it's enough."

Sabrina let out a long breath. "Then let's do it." She hoped she had the power and stamina to hold such a large shield for long enough. Rosie, this is it, baby girl. Keep yourself safe!

Shariara thought, I'll get you all the help I can. I'll start with the Councils.

Sabrina thought of Mara's advice to trust her instincts and didn't try to calculate what she needed. She just reached into the Crystal and grabbed as much energy as she could, then flung it into orbit, shaping it into a bubble around the whole planet. For a moment she was terrified that it wasn't sustainable, but after a momentary flicker, the power source stabilized. She heard a cacophony of thoughts in her head, echoing both in the Crystal and in her link with Shariara. Some were familiar—she caught Aurora's voice—but most were not.

We've got this, Aurora told her. Just hold it!

I've got it, Sabrina thought back. But in the next second, she doubted her own words as the dissonance hit her bubble and began eating away at it. Her own doubt and fear were echoed back to her by the Miahns trying desperately to protect their homes and families.

No, she realized. They could not focus on failure. We've got this, she thought to them firmly, willing them to believe it. All the long history of Praxatillus and the Miahn people could not end here, in this way. She knew that in her bones. Miah would not have put her through everything she had suffered just to fail now.

Hold fast, my people, a voice cried. I gave my life to save you—it cannot be in vain!

Sabrina recognized the voice of Shariara, Mara's mother. She did not know the other, older voices that took up the cry, but she sensed they were Guardians from previous generations, one after the other, emerging now to encourage their descendants. The other voices faded, minds bent to the work with no room for distractions, until at last one final, faint voice spoke: Hold, my children! Hold together!

Miah, came the single thought from a million minds, tinged with awe.

At last, Sabrina thought in amazement. You're here.

I have always been here, my child. And always will be, as long as the Great Crystal, my Heart of the Trees, endures. Do not let our ancient enemy destroy us.

That is all, the young Shariara thought. There are no more to join us.

Where's Mara? Sabrina wondered, swallowing her spurt of fear about her friend.

Shariara hesitated a moment before responding. She is here, but she is weak. We must lead.

Sabrina felt hysteria nudging at her consciousness. Lead? We're barely hanging on. If this lasts much longer—

Don't think about it! Seuréa urged her. Don't doubt! Just hold the shield!

Don't look down, Sabrina thought, wishing Scotty were there to say it.

Her body tugged at her awareness, and she gave it just enough attention to realize that someone was making her drink something. Probably Ranja. She decided to ignore it and let her friends take care of her body. Rose was holding her own, and that was all that mattered.