Without any warning, he flung them into the trunk of the closest tree. As they connected, a loud thud echoed. Nearby, birds screeched before evacuating the treetops. I stared for a moment, fascinated by the huge animals as they flew out of sight. They were so bright, two blue and yellow, and one dark pink.
Brace distracted me by throwing another set of stones. He seemed to enjoy the noise.
I smiled at him. “They’re hollow?”
He nodded. “When I was young, Father carved me a tree house in the hollow of a large trunk. They’ll still continue to grow, even after that.”
As we started along the path again, I realized I was enjoying having Brace as our guide, and my instincts urged me to confess our secret. We needed someone on our side; we needed answers. And if we continued with our obvious lack of local knowledge, he was going to figure it out soon enough anyway. As he led us through the forest, I couldn’t help but follow him with my gaze.
For a big guy, Brace moved almost silently – his strength was clear – and my traitorous heart already trusted him. I shook my head.
You don’t know him, Abby, I reminded myself for the tenth time that day.
“So, Deralick mentioned yesterday that things have been pretty rough around here lately.” Lucy had her innocent face on. She was digging for information.
Brace nodded as he continued ploughing through. “The last twenty years have seen changes I never expected from First World. Of course, after a hundred-year peace during the rule of Emperor Christian and Empress Elisnarra, it’s been extra hard to adjust.” He paused to move a large branch off the path.
I took that moment’s pause to contemplate how anyone ruled for a hundred years.
When we could move along the path again, he continued. “Now, with the emperor’s illness, it won’t be long before responsibility falls to Lucas and, at this stage, he’s not ready.”
Quarn hadn’t been kidding when he said these worlds were parallel. “It’s been chaos back home since ... well, our lifetime,” I added.
Brace grimaced. “Darkness continues to spread throughout the land. It started at the black mountains.” His eyes dulled, his expression grim. “The pure energies are being leeched away.”
Lucy looked at me in confusion. She wasn’t the only one baffled. I understood about a third of his words. But I knew the black mountains from my dream.
I had to ask. “Pure energies?”
“The energy of our land. The energy of our people. Those with active gifts have found a huge depletion in their abilities.” He glanced toward me, holding my gaze. “Have you noticed the change? Or has it always been this way for you?”
“We’re seventeen–”
Lucy interrupted. “Almost eighteen.”
I eyed her. “Yes, Lucy ... almost eighteen.” I let the sentence trail off.
A thoughtful frown crossed his features. “Well, I’m ... around twenty-two ... and I vaguely remember when things were better. But I’ll say you’ve never known the best of First World. Do either of you have a specialty?”
Around twenty-two? Who spoke like that?
I focused on his questions and, thinking quickly, replied, “Well, we aren’t really into ‘categorizing’ ourselves. What’re your favorite specialties?”
I’d go with the same half-truths and diversion tactics he was using.
He laughed. “Quite the individuals, aren’t you? There are many, but I do have a few favorites. Animal Affinity: they’re usually out in nature with their animal guides. A little scary when riled – you don’t want to take on the animal kingdom.”
I exchanged wide-eyed glances with Lucy as he continued.
“Nature Spirit: plants bloom in their presence. Moonlighters: walk only at night to use the energy of the moon.” He shook his head. “They’re quite the strange ones.” He looked around. “What else? The Flecho: love anything manmade. They’re generally the inventors of our gadgets. Felens: read the emotional resonance of any place ... its history ... memories ... past emotions. And speaking of that, Emoters: manipulate all forms of emotion, best to be avoided.”
I shook my head for a moment. Information overload. I wasn’t going to remember any of this. But I’d love some paper. The nerd inside me wanted to jot all of this information down.
Brace continued. “Another group to avoid are the Mesmerizers. Hypnosis is their skill, depending on the strength of an individual’s mind and shield.” His voice lowered. “You should always be wary of the gifted. Power corrupts.”
I speculated whether everyone on First World was ‘gifted’ in some way, or only a select few.
“Word.” Lucy nodded at Brace, her head bobbing vigorously. In typical Lucy fashion, she was just going with the flow, no qualms about people with powers. “Our entire city was corrupted, and there isn’t anything special about them.”
“Well, I’m glad you escaped.” There was intensity behind his words.
I liked that.
“So what’s your gift, Brace?” I was curious. There was no way he wasn’t packing something serious. I could feel ripples of electricity every time I was close.