Creatures of Snow (38 page)

“Be quiet.” She tried to
sound strong, but the quiver in her voice said
otherwise.

“You’re hurting me.” His
voice was calm, but strained. “It’s a mistake.”

Sara backed away, her face
arranged in an emotion he couldn’t place. “Master Rinten.” Tears
threatened at the corner of her glassy eyes, “Finish
it.”

The pain that ripped
though every fiber of his being came out in a long, wailing scream
as Rinten spat out the last, burning words of his incantation.
Something ripped within his soul and the agony within his body had
reached a point that his brain could no longer accept it and became
numb to it.

He was empty.

There was a pull at the
back of his skull that slowly began to spread down his spine,
spreading out through his nerves, out into his limbs. The world
around him grew still and quiet as the colors started to shift into
primary states. He felt it then - the ebb and flow of the energy
surrounding him and how it opposed the steady pulse of his own
life. The holes of reality spread apart as the space between space
became apparent before him, revealing what lay beyond.
That’s the Snow.

“What’s happening?!” Sara
screamed into his mind.

A stab of pain ripped into
his chest once again; it was the subtle pinch of a blade driving
up, under his sternum. His vision snapped back into focus for an
instant and left the twisted, tear stained face of Sara burned into
his brain as the darkness claimed what was left in his
mind.

Chapter
Twenty-
Seven

It had only been a few moments ago that Al had
stepped out onto another planet for the first time. What should
have been a moment of wonder and excitement turned out to be one of
dread and anxiety. Sky's screams reverberated from the belly of the
ship out into the open forest air. If Zero hadn't been stationed at
the entrance, Al would have already been back inside.

“
It shouldn't be that painful.” He
had said more than once.

“And you know that because you've
done it before?” Zero's snarky reply succeeded in shutting him up
for the time being.

Al wandered away from the group
toward the tree line. With the way the clearing hugged tightly to
the ship it was safe to assume that it must have been made
specifically for the
Regan
Fortuna
. The air outside was thick and
muggy, it was unlike anything he had felt before. He took in a lung
full of the heavy musk of damp leaves and mossy wood; he found it
almost calming as the chirps and twitters of the forest creatures
carried away his worries, for a brief moment.

The screams came again and pulled
him back toward the ship. Al clutched his arms tightly to his body.
He just felt so helpless.

“This is taking longer than
anticipated.” Roland sighed with a tone that verged on boredom,
“Master Zeph, can we please just go? I am rather anxious to see the
portal.”

But, Zeph hadn’t heard him, or if he did, he chose
not to acknowledge it. He stood near the edge of the forest,
staring off into the distance with a look of reflective
concentration etched into the smooth contours of his face. He
neither looked troubled nor at ease, but held a strange middle
ground that gave him a look of a scholar contemplating the
brutality of the universe.

“
Victor.” A harsh hiss came from
near the entrance as Zero pulled back the Captain.

The Captain gritted his teeth and
shook off Zero’s grasp, his eyes trained steady on the ground.
“What if something’s gone wrong?”

“
It’s fine.” Zero widened his
stance and narrowed his eyes, “All you’d do is get in the way.”
Zero gestured over to Roland, “Why are you still here you little
prick? You want to go, then go. Lee,” Zero flicked a hand in Lee’s
direction, “go with him, make sure he doesn’t wander off and get
eaten by a mountain lion. That trail will take you to the
compound.”

“
Yes, sir.” Lee straightened with
a salute.

Roland sneered a look of concern
towards Zeph, “Master-”

“Always move forward. Go with the
oversized lad.” Zeph waved him off in Lee’s direction.

Unable to disobey, Roland trudged angrily behind
Lee, throwing a look of disapproval back towards Zeph as they
walked on down the trail and out of sight.

“
Al,” Zero started, but when his
vigilant eyes hit Al’s, he must have known that nothing could make
Al leave and let his sentence hang with an unfinished
thought.

A shuffling inside the ship called for attention as
a disheveled Rinten emerged out of the dark and into the bright
mid-afternoon sun.

The Captain’s face twisted up into a mess of concern
“What happened?”

“It’s been done. I’ve sealed the
mark.” He stated with such a lack of vigor it sent a chill to Al’s
core.

“
What happened?” The Captain
stated with a strained sternness in his voice.

“He’s alive but…unresponsive…”
Rinten’s words died in the still air.

The Captain stepped back, his
whole person shrunk away from Rinten’s words. “What does that
mean?”

Rinten lowered his head and his eyes, “It means we
wait. We take him into the compound and we wait and see.”

The Captain shook his head, his mouth pulled down in
a desperate frown, “No. No, we don’t wait. Unseal him. Unseal him
now.”

“
I won’t.” Rinten lifted his head
with a stern and determined air.

“
You will!” The Captain shouted
and stormed up the ramp towards Rinten.

Zero grabbed his arm once again and pulled him back
down. “Knock it off.” He scolded.

Al hadn’t realized he had been holding his breath
until a wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to inhale
sharply.

“I’m not losing him.” The Captain
shouted into Zero’s face, “He said he could control it.”

“Calm down, Vic.” Zero spoke in a
firm, yet gentle voice, his hand steady on the Captain’s arm. “He’s
a strong kid and he can fight through this. Just give it some
time.”

Al hugged his arm’s closer, biting hard on his own
lip to try and drive down his fear. He wanted to move forward, he
wanted to run towards the ship and cry out to his friend - but his
feet were frozen to the ground.

Al jumped as a hand came down upon his shoulder.

“Worrying is for old women and tax
evaders, Allen.” Zeph spoke with as much sincerity as he could.
“Have faith in your friend. I do.”

Al stared up at Zeph in wonderment
as suddenly he realized what it was that everyone else saw in the
strange, old Iko. He may have been a bit mad and out of touch after
centuries of life, but Zeph, for all his pitfalls,
understood
. And he was
right.

Al stood up as tall as he could,
“I do too.” He said with confidence.

“Good.” Zeph glanced down at him
with a toothy smile, “Go join the others,” He nodded towards the
trail that Lee and Roland had taken, “Skyden will be just
fine.”

Al smiled up at him, enjoying the feelings of
security the Iko gave off, “I know.”

Al took off down the trail without another thought.
Sky would be fine. That kid was indestructible.

He thought he might be able to catch up with
Lee, knowing Roland’s scrawny legs would keep them moving at a
snails pace, but, as it turned out, it was quite a short run to the
fortress.

As he came upon it he found himself gasping,
taken aback by the looming structure made of dark stone and iron.
The only hint of color came from the stained glass windows and lush
gardens that surrounded it.

“Welcome! Welcome!” Ixanna
called out as soon as he reached the lavishly landscaped courtyard,
complete with fountains and walking paths and even a small pond. He
hadn’t known she was going to be there, but she was always a
welcomed addition.

She came at him with open arms, “How are
things going over there? We’ve got dinner started.” She embraced
him quickly, “Oh, Allen, it’s been so long. Have you gotten
taller?”

He laughed out of the pure need to. She said
that every time she saw him – maybe someday it would be true.

Movement behind Ixanna caught his attention
and he noticed the two other girls that stood within the doorway,
looking out at him with anticipation.

“Allen,” Ixanna gestured
for the girls to join them and they obeyed instantly. “I would like
to introduce you to Amaya Alverez and Joanaquinn of the Owah.”
Ixanna announced proudly. “They are students that I’ve been
mentoring here at the compound.”

The tall one in front,
Amaya, was dark and beautiful with waves of raven hair highlighted
in shades of pink and blue. She couldn’t have been any older than
him, but had the air of authority about her much like that of
Sonya; mixed with the softer edge of youthful innocence. “Where are
Sara and Skyden, I wanted to meet the other Axis students.” She
said, sounding disappointed as she looked Al over, head to
toe.

“
Attitude, Amaya.” Ixanna
quietly scholded, “Allen here is a very bright, up and comer from
REALM – Zeph told us you were at the head of your class
already.”

“
I had no idea you were
part of Arche, let alone Axis.” It was hard to imagine Ixanna
agreeing to any sort of employment.

“Well, we’ve been keeping
it under wraps until now. We are the ‘secret weapon’ of project
Moira.” She boasted. “Say hello, girls.”

“
Hello.” Amaya shrugged
with a flirty smile.

“
Joey.” Ixanna coaxed the
young girl.

Joanaquinn was very young
and very small. She stood halfway behind Amaya, clutching a creepy
looking rag doll with shaking hands. Ixanna placed a hand on
Joanaquinn’s thin shoulder and gently pried her from Amaya’s side.
Her straight brown hair hung over her tan face, as if she was
trying to hide behind it.

“Say hello Joey.” Ixanna
said a little more forcefully.

The young girl pulled her
doll up in front of her mouth and stared at him with wide, dark
eyes. “Hello.” She whispered in a strangely mechanical
voice.

“
Is everyone else on there way?”
Ixanna leaned around him, looking down the trail.

“
Didn’t Lee and Roland come this
way already?” Al glanced quickly around the courtyard, wondering
how on this world they could get lost on such a short
trail.

“
Who?” She asked with a shake of
her head.

“
Tall red head and skinny nerd
with glasses. No?” That was odd.

“Ixanna,” Amaya’s face dropped
with the sudden look of worry, “I don’t think Rinten undid the
cloaking before he rushed off. Human’s won’t see the
fortress.”

“Oops.” Ixanna giggled, “Joey,
would you be a dear and go fetch the boys.”

With a quick nod the small girl
dashed off towards the entrance.

“Well, come on in.” She smiled and
gestured him forward but he could clearly see the anxiety behind
her smile.

Amaya stared a bit longer than
what would have been considered polite when he walked by. One would
think she would be used to seeing the strange and unusual by
now.

They followed Ixanna into the compound. The large
wooden door with threatening metal rivets reminded him a bit of
home, as did the smell of old stone as they crossed the threshold.
The entrance opened up into a large foyer decorated in warm reds
and gold that gave an inviting, homey feel that his home never
had.

“You don’t look anything like him.
Zero, I mean.” Amaya matched his pace. “He’s your uncle right?” She
glanced quickly up ahead at Ixanna who was well in front of them.
Amaya shifted her focus back to him before giving him a
no-so-subtle once over. “It’s probably because you try to look
human.” She shrugged in the sort of arrogant way that suddenly
reminded him of Roland.

The thought of the others made his steps falter.
What was he doing acting like nothing was wrong? His stomach
twisted and he backed up towards the door.

“What’s wrong with you?” Amaya
looked back at him.

“
I’m just worried about the
others.” His jaw clenched. He should have told Ixanna right away.
Now it was just awkward.

“I’m sure they’ll be along soon.
Don’t worry, these woods aren’t dangerous. Joey will find them.”
Ixanna waved him off and turned back around.

“Rinten sealed the mark, but Sky’s
not waking up.” Al backed up more as both Ixanna and Amaya stared
him down. Al swallowed hard. “They said we have to wait and see,
but think he’ll be fine...” It was the truth, but their petrified
looks let the doubt creep back in.

“Yes, he will be fine.” There was
no mistaking Lee’s deep voice as it echoed through the entryway. “I
have faith in that.”

Al nodded in relief. Lee could have said anything at
that point and Al would take it as absolute truth.

Roland pushed his way in and proceeded to introduce
himself to Ixanna and Amaya while handing them questionnaires to
fill out at their convenience.

“Joanaquinn states, with humor,
that the man with the glasses is rather odd.” Lee announced quietly
to Al with what could be considered a smirk.

Al then noticed the small figure
of Joey hovering closely behind Lee, clinging loosely to the back
of his shirt. Her doll dangled from a loop in her belt. He should
have guessed what her weird-looking doll was after Ixanna had said
she was from the Owah tribe, and certainly after he had heard her
‘speak’.