At the sight of his people, Ophiuchus springs out from his hiding place amid the Ariean Majors and moves desperately toward the creatures.
“KILL HIM!” Blaze shouts, and every Murmur suddenly points to him. Then everything descends into chaos.
I’m jostled among the Zodai as both armies start shooting at each other, and the Ophiuchan creatures jump into the fray, attacking with their sharp jaws and claws. Zodai or Marad, we all look like threats to them, and they don’t differentiate.
I feel Hysan pulling me with him, and I realize Eurek, Neith, Mathias, Skarlet, and Gyzer are ahead of us, and they’re pushing a heavy weight in front of them. It’s Ophiuchus—they need their combined strength to force him away from the creatures he’s so desperate to touch.
Pandora appears on my other side, and she’s already glowing with the blue shield from her Barer. I don’t see many others shielding themselves—most of our Zodai probably don’t have enough focus to pull it on while they fight.
“Rho, raise your shield,” Hysan instructs me, and I reach down for the electricity in my hand and the Psynergy in the air, and I breathe in deeply as I bind them together in my mind. Then I pull the energy across my body. I’m sure I’m leaving some holes, but it’s the best I can do.
Brynda suddenly joins us, her wrist raised as she walks backwards, shooting at the soldiers coming after our group. Bodies are dropping so quickly that I sway, dizzy amid so much death, and Hysan holds me tighter.
Rubi and Ezra and Engle and other Zodai join Brynda, until there’s a wall of people protecting Ophiuchus and me from the Marad as we run to put an end to this.
A loud explosion distracts everyone as an Ariean ship is blown up. “Duck!” shouts Brynda, and we all hit the ground as flaming pieces of metal fly everywhere—but the flames die quickly; whatever brand of oxygen this is can’t sustain fire for long.
Hysan pulls me to my feet right as a maskless Marad soldier breaks through the mob, gunning for us at top speed.
Aryll goes straight for Brynda, who’s causing the most damage to his ranks. She raises her Arclight, but she’s out of bullets, and without giving her time to reload, he tackles her.
He loses his Murmur as they roll on the ground, and Hysan and I tear through the throng of fighters to reach her. Hysan shouts at the top of his lungs to all the Zodai nearby: “Help Brynda NOW!”
But even as we sprint, I know we’re not going to make it. Brynda looks like she’s been dazed by the fall, because when Aryll lifts his head, she doesn’t get up. Rubi is closest to them, and she’s running with her Barer’s shield on.
The Geminin Guardian is still a few feet away when she raises her gun to shoot Aryll, but he yanks down on a masked soldier’s sleeve, using him as a human shield, and the bullet lodges in the soldier’s chest.
Aryll tosses the dead Marad soldier at Rubi, and then he draws a dagger from his waistband and turns to stab Brynda.
But Rubi easily dodges the body, and she uses her suit’s levitation boots to launch herself at Aryll’s head. She yanks on his hair, and he shrieks and raises his blade to stab her, but she flies off him too quickly.
While the diminutive Guardian buzzes around Aryll and distracts him, Hysan, Pandora, and I drag Brynda away from the chaos. I’ve no idea where Mathias and the others have taken Ophiuchus, but I hope they’re safe. Once we get away from Aryll, we’ll locate them.
Ezra charges toward her Guardian, leading a platoon of Sagittarians, and she shouts to us, “Go! We’ve got her!”
Relieved, I turn around to help Rubi, who’s half running, half flying toward us, her copper curls bouncing wildly. I don’t see Aryll, but there’s no time to stick around and search for him.
“Rubi!” I call when she’s within shouting distance. “The Sagittarians will protect Brynda, but we have to go—”
Her eyes grow wide, like she’s seeing a threat behind us, and I wheel around in fear of what I’ll find. But when I hear Hysan shouting “NO!” I realize what’s happening.
I turn back just as Rubi falls, the dagger’s black handle sticking out from her back.
41
“RUBI, NO!” I CRY OUT, my voice breaking as blood spreads through her orange fabric like spilled paint.
Aryll stands too far away, and through the smoke and bodies and flashes of blue light, I see he’s smiling. Then he melts into the mob behind him, growing more dangerous by his disappearance.
A swarm of Dreamcasters descends on their fallen Guardian, and I take one last longing look at Rubi—who gave her life to spare Brynda’s—and as tears spill from my eyes, Hysan and Pandora take my arms and pull me away.
The three of us are shielded as we dodge the chaos of fighters, and I’m startled by the viciousness of the Ophiuchan creatures, who are taking down people in packs and eviscerating them with their ferocious jaws. The corpses of Zodai and Marad Risers lie side by side on the battlefield.
Fear must be the most destructive power in the universe.
It births monsters.
Hysan uses his Scan to illuminate a pathway through the tangled trees, and their branches scratch at our uniforms as we burrow as deep as we can into the silvery swamp. When the noise of the violence fades, new sounds take over.
The high-pitched buzzing and chirping of unknown insects is underscored by the drone of deep and unfamiliar animal calls, all of it muffled and echoing, like we’re underwater. I touch one of the large silver tree leaves, and it’s the strangest texture I’ve ever felt: It feels like water, but it’s a solid, and when I dip my finger in it, my Ring buzzes. This whole planet is living, breathing Psynergy.
Rho? Are you safe?
I touch my Ring at the sound of Mathias’s voice.
We’re in the swamp, and we’re fine. Pandora is with me, I add quickly, to ease his mind. So is Hysan. How are you?
We’re safe, too. We have Ophiuchus, but it’s proving difficult to get him to stay with us—he’s desperate to reconnect with his people, and I’m worried they’ll kill him if he gets too close.
How will we find each other? I ask.
Meet me in the Collective Conscious, and I’ll guide you to us, the way I came to you in the Aquarian palace.
I turn to Hysan to let him know the plan. His brow is furrowed, and I realize he’s also in conversation with someone. When his gaze refocuses, his eyes look pitifully sad. “We’ve lost two thousand already.”
Pandora and I hang our heads for a moment in respect of the fallen. Hysan had the idea to create necklaces with trackers, like the one Sirna gave me, to keep track of our soldiers. Only in place of a pink nar-clam pearl, Hysan’s version holds a pulse reader that transmits Zodai’s vitals to the people we left behind at the International Village.
“Mathias and the others are safe,” I say, breaking the silence, and I see Pandora exhale. “We need to get to Ophiuchus so we can end this. Mathias is going to guide me to his location through the Psy, so follow me.”