Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 27 - To Kill a God - III

  Alden was surprised when Rachel suddenly switched direction. He'd noticed a few odd things about the forest around them, as if they were running in circles, but she seemed to know where she was going. As he could barely make out a lighter space ahead, Rachel appeared to change her mind and turn, following the curve of the clearing to come at it from the other side. He didn't question her. Rachel had a plan, and Alden was just a piece of that plan. He'd do his part and it'd all work out in the end, or so he hoped.

  "How far can you reach?" she asked suddenly.

  "Huh?"

  "To interfere with him. What range?"

  "Ten feet?" Alden guessed.

  "Can you be exact? We're only going to have one chance here."

  Alden took a second and focused, mentally jumping to the line he recognized as time. Instead of pushing himself onto the line, he hurled it away from him like a ball. As it moved away, he could feel its strength slowly diminishing. At a certain point it dropped off a cliff, becoming totally inert. He reeled it back in to that point, which to his surprise was almost precisely at his guess.

  "Ten feet," he reported with a touch of pride.

  Rachel raised her eyebrows. "You're sure?"

  "Positive."

  "Wait until I signal you, then hit him with everything you can." Rachel had explained her signal to him when they'd started out, since it would be quicker than speaking and listening, and less prone to any mistakes. "You've been practicing it since you learned it?"

  "As much as I could without burning myself out. I used up a lot of Jessica's gems, but we've still got enough." The spell was a lot easier to cast than he expected, too, at least for brief sprints. He wasn't sure if that was because he'd learned it from the Scrap, or simply because it didn't take much energy in the first place. Either way, he wasn't about to question it.

  "Good." Rachel stopped at a set of thick fir trees with branches all the way down to the ground level. They were at the edge of the clearing Alden had spotted earlier, if his sense of direction wasn't playing tricks on him. The trees were so thick and clustered together that he couldn't see through them at all. It was a wall of green branches and pines. She pushed through slightly to check the view. "This'll work."

  "And you're sure he's coming? We're in the middle of nowhere."

  "He's already on his way." Rachel reached into her bag and pulled out the pistol. She double-checked it and clicked off the safety.

  Alden felt a burst of excitement and fear. His pulse was picking up. "How are you going to get him to come over here?" he asked nervously.

  "He'll come." Alden started forward, but Rachel held up a hand. "You should stay back."

  "Why?"

  "Just trust me." Rachel's voice caught slightly. She sounded like she was struggling to speak. "No matter what you hear, just stay there."