There was just enough light raining down in wavering rays that he could see creatures coming toward him. Long, powerful leviathans that swam with their back fins beating against the current like the tail of a dolphin. But these monsters had arms and burning red eyes, and Tick knew they wanted to grab him and stop him from reaching whatever was tugging him forward.
The monsters reached out, swimming in all at once. Clawed hands reached viciously for his body, snatching and scratching as their fingers tried to gain purchase. Tick lashed at them, swinging sluggishly through the thick liquid as he continued his ascent. The creatures kept pace with him, trying their best to grab hold of his limbs or clothes. Kicking and squirming, he spun his body to make it harder to catch, and when one of the creatures latched on, he fought it off. He couldn’t see much of their faces—they were all shadows and angles—but their red eyes burned like rocks of lava.
Two of them grabbed his legs, wrapping their arms tightly around one each. They squeezed, and their claws dug into his skin. The unseen forces still pulled him toward some unknown destination through a place he didn’t even understand.
He burst through the surface, the two creatures still holding onto his legs as he rocketed toward a bright blue sky. The jellied water cascaded off them in blubbery droplets, and Tick looked down to see the faces of the monsters clearly for the first time. They weren’t human at all: their bodies looked like sharks with arms, and their heads were smooth and glistening. Their eyes seemed to glow even brighter.
They flew toward the sapphire sky far above, but the weight of the two creatures and the pain of their claws and desperate clutches were making the journey unbearable. Tick punched down, smashing his fists into those odd faces. There was a piercing, awful screaming sound, but they held on. Tick punched again and again, those horrific cries ripping through the air, louder each time. He slammed down his fists once more, and they finally let go, dropping to the swiftly receding waters below them. He watched as they fell, listening as their screams slowly faded.
Tick continued launching toward the sky.
He looked up, a prickling sensation covering every inch of his body now, not just his insides. Forces pulled at him, like a magnet pulling a chunk of metal or Earth’s gravity pulling a skydiver. Except he was flying up, heading toward a dome of brilliant, blinding blue.
Tick hurt. He’d been hurting for what seemed like days. But the closer he got to the blue wall of the sky, the more pain ripped through his body. He screamed like he’d never screamed before, the wind ripping at his face.
And then he hit the sea of blue, and it all went away.
Part 2
The Void
Chapter 20
Hugs and Kisses
Tick’s eyes were closed.
He opened them up and blinked a few times. He lay on a hard surface, and above him he could see the grooves and lines of a ceiling carved from black rock. Faces peered down at him, women in robes with the hoods pulled up over their heads. The women were old, and several of them made a circle around his spot as they looked at him with both wonder and fear.
“Hey,” Tick said. His body ached from what he’d just been through—the flying and Chi’karda-laced battles, the plunge through liquid, the sharklike creatures, the lightning ropes, all of it—but not nearly as bad as it should have hurt. He felt almost at peace, though more confused than he’d been in a long time.
And then there were the sounds of commotion, people being pushed out of the way, calls of his name from two female voices that he recognized. More than recognized. Voices he knew as well as the sound of his own.
Lisa’s face appeared above him first, then his mom’s. Tears streamed down their faces as they came at him, pulling his body into hugs. Stunned, he hugged back, both of them in his arms, their arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck, his mom kissing him over and over on both cheeks. Somehow he managed to sit up, and they huddled for a long, long moment before anybody even spoke. Tick was overwhelmed, a part of him thinking it was all an illusion, terrified it might be and that he’d wake up any second. But sobs shook him as he fiercely hugged his mom and sister, a reunion that he’d begun to think might never happen.
Finally, his mom pulled back, as did Lisa. They both wiped tears from their eyes and cheeks.
“What . . .” Tick began, but his words were choked up in more sobs. Embarrassed, he wiped his own tears from his face.
“Happened?” his mom finished for him. “You’re wondering what happened?”
“Uh, yeah,” Lisa replied. “I think we’d all kinda like to know that.”
Tick had begun to compose himself, and he suddenly felt like he needed to stand, get some fresh air, breathe. He got to his feet and looked around. The old women in their robes and hoods had backed away, gathering into groups of two or three and staring at him with questioning faces. They all stood in a small chamber carved from black rock, a place Tick had never seen before. He noticed a Barrier Wand lying on the floor by one of the slightly curved walls.