Broken (Disappeared #2)

Chapter Thirteen

The smoke was gone. The mist too. And the fire had vanished. The baobabs were blackened and singed and still smoked a little at their tips. At the end of the road were three small figures, standing stock still as if they had forgotten how to move.

Theodosia felt exactly the same way. It was as if her legs were two sacks of flour. She forced them forward, walked a few feet, and then broke into an awkward gallop down the road towards her friends.

"I did it," she yelled hysterically. "I did it!"

She fell into Ahuil's arms, sobbing and panting and completely drenched in sweat. He picked her up and held her tight, kissing anything he could reach. He felt a bit softer to the touch than usual but she ignored the feeling. He was probably still suffering the aftereffects of the mist.

Ahuil put her down and cupped her cheeks, his eyes wide. "Theo. Theo, you stupid fool. You angel. You could have died..."

"I know. But I didn't! Ahuil, the sphere worked. I felt the energy coming from Helenshire and then it flew out and there was this unearthly noise. And look, the fire has gone out. Perhaps we've done it. Perhaps the half-beings are gone!"

Xochitl came over then and wrapped both of them in a hug. They all squeezed together so tightly that tears came to Theodosia's eyes and she could hardly breathe. The two guards stood off to the side, shoulders hunched, eyes uncertain.

The pressure from their arms lessened and she thought they had pulled away. Yet when she opened her eyes they were still holding her.

Her heart nearly stopped in her chest. Something bizarre had happened to her friends. Their upper halves had faded away so much they had almost disappeared. Their lower halves were illuminated as if a gas-wick lantern glowed within them. The effect was beyond eerie.

"What?" asked Ahuil. "What's wrong?"

"I ... I think something happened. You don't look right."

Ahuil, Xochitl, and the two guards turned towards each other and flinched.

"What the hell..." came Tipelli's voice.

All of the triumph within her drained away. In its place was a cold, hard feeling at the bottom of her stomach. "Something is out of balance," she whispered. "What should I do?"

"It could be a temporary effect," came Xochitl's reassuring voice. "I mean, I feel alright. A little lightheaded, but that could be from the smoke. Let's head back to the settlement and see what's happened there."

"I agree," Ahuil put in. He nodded at the twins. "How do you guys feel?"

"Well I'm half-gone so, not amazing," Izel said.

"This had better be a temporary effect," Tipelli grumbled. "I hope your girlfriend hasn't done some witchcraft on us."

Ahuil tensed. "My girlfriend just risked her neck for you sorry idiots and all you can do is sneer?" He exhaled slowly. "Let's go before I punch somebody."

Theodosia grasped for his hand, trying to suppress the ridiculous smile that was breaking across her face. She didn't exactly know what girlfriend meant but it sounded romantic.

They walked down the rutted road, the baobabs smoking around them. The sky was as gray as ash. The strangeness of their surroundings quickly killed her spark of happiness.

"I don't like this," she said in an undertone.

She looked up, expecting to see his gorgeous eyes and handsome face. Instead, there was just a shadow where his upper half had been. She reached towards him and felt something like skin, though her fingers seemed to be sinking through it. She shivered and quickly withdrew.