Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [196]
She shot her arms towards the sky and as she brought them down Rosette felt a glamour settle over them.
‘Who are we hiding from out here, Nell?’ she asked.
‘Trackers. Plenty of them. Hurry. There isn’t much time.’
‘Trackers?’
‘ASSIST. Run if you can! Teg, to me.’ She stretched out her arms.
Shaea brushed her hand past the plasma field as she raced through the portal, purple veins of light dancing towards her. ‘Get me out of here! Get me someplace safe! Hurry!’ She pressed against the back wall, panting, her clothes soaked through, her body shaking. She kept her eyes on the entrance. Any moment the raven would streak in, talons bearing down to slit her throat. She squeezed the vial, the edges digging into her palm. Rain sheeted down outside. The portal blurred, the streams of coloured lights swirling as if someone mixed them with a stick. Her legs gave way and the ground came up to meet her. ‘I made it.’
She’d outrun them—the wolves, the warriors and Rosette. She’d even outrun Rall and the raven, if the two weren’t one and the same. There was a moment she thought to turn back, when she heard Xane call out to her. She’d nearly faltered, thinking he was caught in the battle somehow. But that was a trick. A glamour. It had to be. Xane was dead. She’d buried him herself. Rall, or Makee, was trying to stop her with his voice. She didn’t fall for it.
She wiped her face with her sleeve; in her hand, the blue light of the vial pulsed. ‘Xane is gone.’ She squared her shoulders, pushing them hard against the wall. ‘And I am going away. Far away.’ She opened her palm and stared at the vial. ‘Who are you, my fancy-coloured friend?’ The crystal changed tone as the many facets caught the light. She secured the silver chain around her neck. ‘Not some minor trinket, that’s for certain.’ Shaea laughed. ‘Whatever you are, you’re all mine now.’
Makee would be furious, of course. This spell, as she called it, was very important to her, and to those others no doubt. They’d come after her, tried to run her down. She had to find somewhere safe to hide—somewhere safe to live. She looked back at the portal. ‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, directing her voice to the plasma energy. It was sleeping, indistinguishable from rock. ‘Not talking any more? You were vocal enough when you told me to mind Rall. Do her bidding.’ Shaea chuckled. ‘I’ve lost my place in that apprenticeship, I imagine.’
The walls were silent, but she felt warm, finally out of the wind and rain and torrent of the battle. She loosened her cloak and stretched her legs out long, tapping her toes together until the cakes of mud fell away from her soles. She took off her boots then wrung out her wet socks. She hadn’t worn shoes much in her life and it felt good to free her feet. It also felt good to own a pair of fine boots. ‘Take me where you will then, Entity. Just make it far from battle, hunger and cold. Take me somewhere I can call home.’ She stared at the bare rock. ‘If you would, please.’
Jarrod spotted the trackers before anyone else. There were two of them, and judging by their movements the glamour was working. ASSIST trackers, Rosette. Behind and northwest. Can you see them?
Drayco’s and Scylla’s hackles went up. ‘Not yet. Where are they heading?’ she whispered.
‘This way. Fast.’
‘I’ll go.’ Nell crouched for an instant. ‘Keep moving—and, Rosette, keep the glamour up.’ Nell passed Teg over to Jarrod, the Lupin leaning hard on his shoulder. Nell launched, shooting skyward. The ripple in the glamour was palpable as her falcon form tore through it.
‘Did they spot that?’ Teg asked.
Jarrod watched their approach. ‘Doesn’t appear so. They’re covering ground too fast for stealth. I’d say we’re nothing but empty space to them.’
‘Until they catch up. They’re coming straight