Chaos (The Realmwalker Chronicles Book 1) (35 page)

Chapter 59

It starts with
that gentle plucking at the back of my mind. A mild sensation. I nearly dismiss it as that nagging feeling you get sometimes when you know you’ve forgotten something.

I had just sent my mom off to “AZ” after a long and much-needed week together, and things had been looking up for the Walkers lately. The number of Lesser Shades was dwindling and there had been only a couple encounters with Greater Shades. They’d all been dispatched with relative ease, none even coming close to being as formidable as the Elder Shade. No one had even seen him since that last battle in the rainforest. There had been talk that maybe he abandoned Chaos. Maybe having failed, he returned to the Nether Realm to face judgment from the Circle of Elders.

Regardless of the talk, I never believed that. I’ve been in his head. I know the terror he feels for the Circle. The power they have over him is complete.

No, he’s out there. Perhaps he’s biding his time, waiting for us to drop our guard. My gut tells me this is exactly what he wants. And I’m worried it may be working.

“How do you DO that?!” Timothy asks from over my shoulder. I’m working on my latest art piece, a charcoal sketch of my grandmother as she was in a black-and-white photo taken in the sixties. Her hair’s pulled back from her face and she’s wearing heavy cat eyeliner and looking like a true diva.

“Don’t bother her, you’ll mess her up,” Simone chides Timothy. The two of them are here at L.A. base on “vacation.” To everyone’s surprise, they’ve been spending a lot of time together. Timothy himself remains the most astonished of all.

Also surprising, Simone hasn’t changed her appearance in quite a while. She’s still the same delicate strawberry-blonde water nymph she was a few weeks ago. Maybe she’s finally okay with herself, and maybe Timothy has something to do with that.

They’re all gussied up for a night on the town and asking if I’d like to go dancing with them. While I’m thrilled they seem to be enjoying themselves, their lax attitude makes me nervous. This kind of carelessness—going out and partying—is exactly what we should be guarding against. But seeing Simone so cheerful and, well, KIND stops me from voicing my concerns.

“Sorry guys, I hate to be a stick in the mud, but I think I’ll hang out here tonight. Have a good time though!”

The gentle plucking sensation I nearly dismissed earlier has grown into a steady tug.

“Uhhh, guys?” I call after them before they can get too far.

Simone pokes her head back into my doorway. “Please do not say what I think you’re going to say.”

“Sorry Simone, weak spot.”

“Damn it all to the Nether Realm!” She stomps her foot like a child. “I spent the last hour getting ready.”

From behind Simone Timothy holds up two fingers and mouths the words “two hours.” He puts a hand on her arm. “Let’s take care of it quick so we can still go out tonight.”

They hurry back down the hall, I assume to find the nearest bed. As I’m about to send out a mental alert and the location of the weak spot to every Realmwalker, things quickly go from bad to worse. That steady tug is now an urgent alarm.

Realmwalkers,
I send it out forcefully to ensure I have everyone’s full attention.
We have a weak spot. You’ll find it here, in this area.
I show them where I mean.
It’s deteriorating much faster than it should. You’ll most likely find a Ripper there working on it. Good luck and happy hunting.

I’m convinced the others have understood my urgency when I sense them start to pass, one by one, into Chaos. I lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling. I always go to Major Calm when this happens, to be nearby and on hand just in case. When I feel the last of them leave this realm, I close my eyes and join them.

“We need a sealer on site now. Kira, you’re the fastest. Go. Lang, you watch her back. We’ll head that way as soon as we’re equipped and ready.” Lang and Kira turn on their heels and run toward the garage.

We’re in the armory getting outfitted. Sam continues to instruct the remaining Walkers while he selects his usual handguns from the arsenal. I try to make myself useful by helping some of the others fit into their armored body suits and distributing gear.

“I’m ready to go now, Boss,” Faye tells Sam. “There really should be a healer out there.”

Sam puts a hand on her shoulder affectionately. “Not alone.” He looks around the group. His eyes skip over the faces of my friends, and he’s disappointed when he doesn’t find the one he’s looking for. Sam must be starting to realize how much we all rely on Mikhail’s skills. Our eyes meet briefly. He knows I saw him looking for the Russian.

“Ember, Crank. You two ready?”

“Yes sir,” Crank says.

“Got my weapons right here, sir!” Ember grins as she holds up her hands.

“Go with Faye. I want a situation report as soon as possible,” he says, tapping the com unit on his ear.

“Got it!” Ember calls behind her as they leave.

After everyone’s geared up, I walk with them to the garage and marvel at their composure. My nerves are always a rattled mess until the tear is fixed and everyone’s back safe and sound.

As I reach the bottom of the stairs leading into the garage, I’m suddenly overcome by the level of intensity coming from one of the Walker’s “frequencies.”

“Whoa,” I breathe out, reaching out to Sam for stability.

“What is it?” he asks, concerned.

“It’s Kira. She’s in some kind of trouble.”

Sam touches his earpiece. “Kira, what’s your status?”

Silence.

“Kira, respond.”

When she doesn’t answer, he looks to me. “Tell me what’s going on out there.”

I close my eyes and send my full awareness toward Kira. What I find fills me with dread.

There, right outside the quickly eroding fabric between Chaos and the Nether Realm, is a void of darkness. A black stain. A malignancy so filled with evil that it can be caused by only one thing. I rapidly retreat to my own mind and open my eyes. The remaining Walkers are circled around me, waiting anxiously for my answer. The silence is thick, heavy with anxious anticipation.

“It’s him,” I whisper.

“All right, everyone,” Sam says, galvanizing us into action. “You all know how important this is,” he shouts as they hustle to the bikes. “If we fail tonight, Chaos will fall. We must protect Earth Realm no matter the cost.” He looks at each of us gravely. “To the very end.” His eyes settle on mine. “To the very last of us.”

There are no shouts of assent this time. No cheers of encouragement. The atmosphere is quiet and grave as each of the Realmwalkers mounts their bikes for what, in their minds, may be the very last time.

The Walkers rev their bikes and begin to pass through the threshold to Chaos.

“Addy, go grab your body armor!” Sam shouts at me over the roar of engines. “I’ll wait for you here.”

“There’s no time! I don’t need it anyway!”

Sam considers for a second then nods and holds his hand out to me. “Come on!”

I stare at his outstretched hand for a second. Then another. I take a step backwards towards the stairs.

“Addy NO! There’s no time.”

“I have to!” I yell over the noise to be heard. “We can’t do this without him. Go, they need you. I’ll catch up!”

“Damn it, Addy!”

I turn and dash up the stairs before he can stop me.

Chapter 60

Outside the door
to Inner Silence, I unbind the wards. My mind is in so many different places already, observing and worrying, that this simple task is much more difficult than it was the first time.

Will Mikhail listen? Will he be willing to help? This is my last chance to get through to him.

When the wards are gone and the last metal bolt clinks from its socket, I heave open the prison door and hurry inside.

“Mikhail!” I shout, nearly breathless.

He looks at me, startled, from where he sits on the edge of the bed, his chin in his hands.

“Mikhail, it’s happening. Right now. We have to go!” I motion for him to follow me. Instead he looks horrified and backs farther onto the bed.

“I cannot, Addy. You are wrong about me. If all of
you
cannot stop him, there is no way
I
can. I am no better than any of you.”

A hot rage floods through me. I run at him and grab the front of his shirt in my fist.

“Damn it, Mikhail. There’s no time! They could be dying out there!”

I’ve startled him, but he’s still not moving.

“You listen to me.” I push my face close to his. “You can either sit here and hide while the rest of us fight to defend our home—OUR FAMILIES,” I scream at him, “while we give all we have to protect Earth Realm from being torn apart by evil, while we battle to the last one of us,” my vision swims in angry tears, “or you can do what you’re meant to do and stand with us. You’re the only one who can do this and you KNOW IT! I can see it in your eyes, Mikhail! You already know what to do. Why the HELL won’t you help us?”

“It will change me, Addy. You cannot understand. I will be ruined. Darkened.” The sheer terror in his eyes alarms me. “I would be better off dead.”

“If you stay here any longer, you will be. We all will be.”

I see the conflict raging within him, but I can’t wait around for him to make up his mind. I’m out of time. If I want to be able to help my friends, I must leave now.

“What’s it going to be, Mikhail? Will you let us all die? Or will you do what only you can? Will you be the man I know you can be?” Before I turn to leave, I try one last time to get through to him.

“Think of your mother, Mikhail. Do you think she risked her life for you, shielded you from your father’s wickedness, kept you as far away from darkness as she could, only to have you give in to it right when it matters most?”

I whirl around and run as fast as my legs can carry me through the empty halls. I clamor down the stairs to the garage, taking them two at a time, praying I got through to Mikhail.

Once I reach the garage, I can’t believe what I find. A very anxious Sam waits on an idling Big Bike. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. This show of support for me must have been so difficult for him, knowing how badly he’s needed by the others.

We know each other so well now that all it takes is a glance for him to see how much it means to me. In that moment, all is understood between us. Without wasting another second, I climb onto the back of his Big Bike.

“What happened? Is he coming?”

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

He nods and faces forward. “Hold on, Addy. We’ll be going fast.”

I reach my arms around his torso and squeeze him tight. Sam switches gears and the Big Bike rises up from the ground then we’re off and climbing into a cloudless, brightly lit sky. I look down and find a spanning, powder-white beach to the left and a calm ocean to my right. I could almost mistake this place for the beaches along the California coast if the washed-out colors didn’t give it away. Behind us, the entrance to Major Calm is marked by the dark opening of a massive rocky grotto.

I can feel the Walkers far ahead of us. Their moods are a frenzied mixture of distress and fear and exertion and, in some, even pain. I think of the ones that are hurting. I can’t stop my mind from seeing them in the worst possible ways. Awful images, scenarios of them dying play out over and over in my head.

Sam,
I send directly to him,
if this doesn’t turn out the way we hope—

Stop Addy.
He directs his thoughts to my presence in his mind.
We can’t think like that.

He’s right, of course. We need to stay positive. Still …

I lay my head on his shoulder and feel his warmth. I move my hands up his chest until they rest over his heart. I can feel it thumping through his whole chest.

I love you, Sam.

He takes one hand off the bike and rests it on mine. After a few seconds with nothing but the sound of wind in my ears, he responds.

I love you, Addy.

I wish those words carried less weight, had less finality behind them. This can’t be the last time he tells me that. It can’t be.

As we get closer to the battle, I’m able to get a clearer image of what’s happening. It seems we were right to have been weeding out as many of the Lesser Shades as possible. It feels as though the entire Shade population of Chaos is there fighting, and they’re still managing to overwhelm the Walkers. I can’t imagine how awful it would be if we’d been less vigilant.

I can feel the Elder Shade’s presence strongest of all. His evil carries a uniqueness I’ve grown familiar to. What’s unfamiliar to me, though, is the feeling I’m getting from the tear site.

I can feel the threads being swiftly unwound by the Elder Shade, and I can feel them being repaired just as quickly by Kira and Mel. This I expected. What surprises me is that, as the barrier between the realms warps and flexes, I can feel something just behind it.

An enormous pressure is building up on that side. The burgeoning barrier stretches out, threatening to burst open, making Kira and Mel’s job all the more difficult. From the tear seeps a coldness that rivals any to be found in Earth Realm. It permeates down into the marrow of my bones, filling me with its icy chill, pulling my soul into despair.

The worst part is that I know what’s causing it. Behind that tear awaits every dark and creeping thing, every monster from every fable. Very soon, there will be enough hate, rage, and bloodlust to fill an entire realm. I can feel them—their yearning, their hunger. I know that among them, the Circle wait impatiently. Perhaps they wait at the front of the line.

“There they are!” Sam calls over his shoulder. I lean around him and can just make out the group ahead. The sounds of battle ring through the air. Bellows and roars. Gunfire and explosions. A grenade goes off, sending a vast pillar of sand into the air.

“Drop me by the Elder. I have to help the sealers!”

“Okay Addy. But please,” he squeezes my hand, “be careful.”

As we approach, I quickly scan the area to get an idea as to what we’re up against. The actual tear site is in the water, right above the surface and about twenty feet from the shore. The Elder Shade is waist deep in the ocean, his gnarled arms stretched out in front of him. His head is down as he concentrates on his task.

Kira and Mel are about ten feet away from him, one on each side. It takes all their focus to keep the tear from bursting, and the waves tug and pull at them as they work.

The other Walkers are all over the beach. The splashes of black Shade blood are a striking contrast to the white sand. Most are doing what they can to keep the Lesser Shades away from the sealers, but a few Walkers, including Timothy and Lang, are directing their efforts toward the Elder.

Timothy lobs another grenade at him, but as it explodes, sending water in all directions, it’s clear that he’s once again protected by an unbreakable barrier. Through it all, he never moves. He doesn’t falter even a little, and he never turns his attention from the tear.

We’re almost to him now.

“Are you ready?” Sam shouts.