I give her some distance even though she knows I’m still following her. I find it ironic; I am following Follower. Although technically I am chasing Follower who is chasing Chaser…while following Follower who follows Chaser. I roll my eyes at myself and continue to watch as she moves.
Knowing her, she’s probably trying to lead me away from him. I was more patient than she thought. She’ll go back to him eventually. She has to. She doesn’t have anyone else, and there’s no way she’ll go back to the Half Twelve and my six.
I look up at the buildings, crooked and crumbling but still standing. Perhaps there is an easier way to follow her. I shake my head. Best not to deviate now. I glance around, and my eyes widen. Damn, where did she go?
“Lina.”
I yelp as a foot solidly kicks my spine, and I fall forward into the dust. Follower steps in front of me. I look back over my shoulder and see Chaser’s boots. I pull my hands beneath me to hoist myself off the ground—grabbing some sand and dust in the process.
“Well, that was faster than I thought,” I say, rising to my knees and then my feet. I watch the two of them. They are almost identical, but I know which one to fear. “You kept close, Chaser. Were you looking after your slave?”
Follower makes a noise, but Chaser doesn’t react. “You were stupid, Lina,” he says. “No more than usual.” He folds his arms across his chest. “You followed Follower.” He jabs his thumb back over his shoulder. “But who followed you? Do they even know you’re gone?”
Chaser reaches into his pocket. “Remember this?” He slowly pulls out a book bound in brown leather. “I can’t read the writing, but I am well-trained in reading maps. I know where the other half-heart is. But there is something else that this map leads to.”
“You want the half-heart, don’t you?” I ask.
“Not yet,” he says. He opens the book to a certain page and holds it out to me. I can see the map that he has glanced over thousands of times. “You see this? This map leads to more than the portals between Ether and the Lost City and the locations of the half-hearts.” He glances over my shoulder at Follower.
That seems to be some sort of signal. She walks past me, moving back towards the boys. As she brushes past Chaser, she turns to face him. They look at each other for a moment before she continues, pulling her hood up.
Chaser clears his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “You seem to be distracted.”
“So do you,” I reply. “What do you want, Chaser? If not the half-hearts? You said you want power, but that isn’t something you can find on the earth or in the ground.”
He tilts his head. “You and I are thinking of two different kinds of power. Mine is something that has to be given and taken; yours is something you have to be born with. But you don’t have power,” he says, stepping closer to me, “so why are you lecturing me?”
“You mistake cruelty for power, Chaser,” I say, resisting the urge to back up. “You think that hiding your face behind a hood shows power? You think that not showing emotion is power?”
“Revealing my face does? Showing emotion is power?” He retorts. “I have warned you before, Lina. Don’t test me.” He closes the book with a snap. “Even you have heard of this. You know about the power it gives.”
“Heard of what?” I ask.
“Life Tree.”
My eyes widen. “You found Life Tree?”
He pulls his hood down. I stiffen. He’s imitating me now. “I found Life Tree. Or…what’s left of it.” He gestures to one of the ruins. “Buried inside the Lost City, restricted from growth. I don’t have the power to free it or give it light or water.”
“You…” I trail off. “You want to take care of Life Tree?”
His face—er, my face—darkens. “It should have been cared for by the Half Twelve and the Six.”
“Until the thirteenth power,” I say. “That’s you, isn’t it? You’re the thirteenth power, aren’t you?”
Chaser didn’t answer.
I hear a scream and whirl around. I recognize that. Without glancing back at Chaser, I turn and run back towards the other boys. I recognize that voice.
“Tao!” I shout. “Tao!”
I run forward onto a ghastly scene. Follower is once again disguised as Chaser. Kai was on the ground, clutching his chest. He’d been cut. Tao fell to the ground, holding onto his arm. Blood spurts between his fingers.
I see Dai shoot lightning towards Follower. Instead of hitting her, it goes through her—and hits Chris.
“Chris!” I shout, running forward as it hits him.
“NO! CHRIS!” Dai roars, swinging at Follower. “DAMN YOU!”
Chang lunges and throws balls of fire at her. His eyes are practically glowing, lit with his power. She shields her face briefly before throwing the disc again. Chang doesn’t see it coming; it bursts through one of his fireballs and slices through his side. He cries out wordlessly and drops to his knees.
Lae is frantic and scared. He doesn’t know what to do. He’s completely in a panic, just like Suho. Lae decides that Kai needs help first and runs over to him.
“Follower.” A voice comes from behind me. She stiffens and turns around. Chaser moves forward until he is past me and squared up to her. His hood is pulled back up. He leans forward and hisses coolly, “I need them alive. What use are they to me dead and injured like this?”
She doesn’t say anything. She’s made a mistake, and she knows it. I shake my head and run over to Tao, who has made his way to Chris.
“Chris! Tao!” I cry, falling beside them.
Chris groans and sits up. “Damn… I’ve never been hit that hard before…” His eyes fall on Tao’s arm. “Tao! Your arm!”
“Just a scratch,” Tao rasps. He’s turning pale. “How hard did Dai hit you?”
Chris stands up. He’s wobbly. “I think he wanted to kill Follower,” he says. “If it weren’t for his little shocks every now and then, I’d probably be dead. He’s lucky I’m at least partially immune to his shocks.” His eyes widen. “Tao, look out!”
Tao lets out a yelp as Chaser kicks him in his injured arm. Tao falls to the ground. Follower draws her blade and points it at Chris and I. “Don’t move.”
Chaser reaches for Tao’s hand and pulls off his ring. “You’ve always been afraid of your power, haven’t you?” He says. He pulls down his hood and shows a face identical to Tao’s. “You never explored it. You were too scared to go forward and never wanted to go back. You don’t know the extent of what your power can do.”
“No!” Tao says. His voice was full of pain. “You don’t know what you’re getting into…”
“I have everything I need,” Chaser says almost gently. “Would you like to show me exactly what this ring can do?”
“No! Chaser!”
Follower lowers her blade slightly as Chaser slides the ring on his finger. He grabs my arm. I hear a familiar hum. I start to struggle and kick. “NO!”
“We’re not going anywhere, Lina,” Chaser says. “But you’re going to go back.”
My vision gets blurry. The sounds around me grow faint, all except for that hum. Chaser’s grip on my arm doesn’t loosen. I hear one word before everything goes black.
“Forget.”
