Lorena had been holding Lisa in her arms—the girl had finally dozed off—when she heard the terrible sound in the distance. It was like a great, rushing wind, with cracks of thunder splintering it. And then she heard the screams. Unnatural screams that she knew came out of the mouths of Jane’s creatures.
Lisa’s head popped up immediately, her chance at slumber gone. “What is that?”
“I don’t know, sweetie.” Lorena’s heart picked up its pace, and a swell of panic bulged in her chest, making it hard to breathe. If something was making those awful monsters scream, then what would it do to them?
She heard the scuffle of feet running along the passage outside the Great Hall. Grabbing Lisa’s hand, she stood up, and the two of them went over to the arched exit to investigate. The two fangen that had been assigned to guard them were gone, and dozens of creatures were frantically scurrying past the opening, away from the shattered door that led outside to the castle grounds. Any noise of their passage was drowned out by the sounds of thunder crashing and booming, which were getting louder.
“What on earth?” Lorena whispered, barely hearing herself. She looked at Lisa, whose eyes were wide and scared.
“It sounds like a storm!” her daughter yelled to her. “But how could it be hurting all those people?”
“You mean creatures.” Lorena shook her head. “It has to be something more than a storm.”
“Let’s go look!” Lisa shouted.
Lorena frowned at her, thinking her daughter had surely gone nuts. That, or she was still young enough to let curiosity overrule common sense.
Lisa pulled her mom closer and spoke into her ear. “If it’s not just a storm, and if it’s hurting the bad guys, then it must be on our side. We need to find out who or what it is and let them know that Mistress Jane has Tick!”
Lorena had started shaking her head before Lisa even finished. “No way!”
“But this is our chance! No one’s guarding us!”
“No way,” Lorena repeated. But then she peered into her daughter’s eyes and saw that courage had replaced the fear to a degree. Motherly pride filled her chest and made her change her mind. “Okay, maybe just a peek. But we stop when I say so. Do you understand?”
Lisa smiled, a pathetic little effort. “Okay. I promise.”
Like two spies, they slipped out of the Great Hall and ran down the passage alongside the internal stream, toward the broken door and the gray wall behind it.
Sato pulled up short when he saw the strange anomaly appear right in front of the castle. They’d been marching for several hours, the sun sinking toward the forest on the horizon, the Fifth Army like a slow-moving tsunami behind their leader. Sato had promised them that one day soon, they’d return to the Fifth Reality and take back their world from the Bugaboo soldiers who’d gone insane and ruled with crazed minds.
But for now, the army was pledged to help the Realitants get things back in order. And before even that, Sato wanted to see his friend Tick again. See him safe and sound.
They were cresting the rise of a hill, the land sloping below them toward the castle, when Sato saw something that made no sense, made him doubt his own eyes. Made him wonder if they’d been working too hard and his mind was on the fritz.
Starting at a spot about fifty feet above the ground, close to the ruined castle itself, the air seemed to rip apart like a burst seam, the blues and whites and greens of the world replaced by a stark and empty grayness that spread in a line toward the grasses below. Lightning flickered behind the torn gash in reality, and even from where he stood a mile or so away, Sato could hear the rumbles of thunder. Not just hear it—the noise made the ground tremble and his head rattle.
Tollaseat stepped up beside him. “There’s been rumors of the like, there ’as. Fabric of the world rippin’ apart and whatnot. Sendin’ out destruction for the poor blokes who might be standin’ nearby.”
Sato nodded. He’d heard some of the soldiers whispering about it, but seeing it in person sent a wave of unease through his bones and joints. There was something terribly unnatural about it, and he knew it meant trouble.
“What should we do, sir?” Tollaseat asked. His voice revealed a trace of fear, but Sato knew the man and his fellow soldiers would storm the odd thing if he asked. Which he did.
“We need to know what that is,” Sato said, hearing the strong command in his own speech. “And we need to save Tick. One mission has become two.”
Tollaseat clapped him on the back. “We’ll roll it up and bottle it, we will. Take it back to old Master George with a wink and a smile.”
“That we will,” Sato agreed. “Let’s move out.”
The Fifth Army started marching down the hill.