All through the test, Luke couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation, instead of the questions.
He didn’t miss the fact that Zeke also looked tired that morning. He noticed a whole lot more than that too: Zeke was brushing off Renee’s concern.
“Didn’t you sleep?” Luke had asked Zeke in a low voice.
“No,” he said tiredly. “There was this-never mind.”
He was so surprised at Zeke’s answer it took him a while before he got the words out. “A vision that made everything cold and dark?”
Zeke’s mouth fell open. “How’d you know?”
“I saw it too. In the Hall of Victory. The air went cold, it went dark and the things appeared?” It had felt good to tell someone. Someone who understood. Unfortunately, it meant it wasn’t his imagination.
“Yup. We were…coming into a classroom. Then everyone just vanished. The things appeared. Said something about ‘we would face its wrath’.”
Luke swallowed. Suddenly, the food didn’t taste so nice. His stomach was ready to get rid of it. “What?”
“You, who have forgotten us, will face our wrath. Prepare for your death,” Zeke had whispered in a barely audible voice.
“Some want flesh and bone, but we want blood.” His voice was hoarse and very quiet.
Zeke gulped. “You know what it means?”
“I-I th-think so.” He was reluctant to say it though. “I think it means they want to kill us. For blood. You ever hear that some creatures are mistaken for mythology in the Human Realm? I think those were inspirations for vam…pipe? Vampire?”
Zeke looked horrified, despite the mistake. He looked around nervously. Luke did too.
“What’s wrong with you both?” Velias was the one who had spoken. Everyone else was now staring at them.
“Nothing,” They said in unison.
“Don’t be silly. Why are you both so like that?” Jynhue questioned, concerned.
“We were just talking about football,” Zeke had lied blandly.
And I know nothing of football. He scribbled all the answers on the next few pages’ questions. They were, in a way, easy. Just needed a little thinking about.
He put down his pen. Finally, he had completed the paper. Now, he just had to wait ten more minutes.
Regrettably, his thoughts started sliding towards the fiery ghosts. He had a million questions about them that he wanted answered, but he wished he would stop hearing the awful voices.
What were they? Why did they talk about us dying? Why were they here? Where did they even come from?
Luke sighed inwardly and rested his head on the desk. He was tired from last night’s sleeplessness. If only I could get some shut-eye…
“Your worst nightmares cannot be compare to us.”
Luke’s eyes snapped open at once and he lurched awake. That voice. No, they can’t be back!
It wasn’t silent and cold like last time, though. Everyone else didn’t mysteriously disappear. He wasn’t transported to the void, and his memories weren’t fading. Still, his heart thumped harder than he thought possible.
The fear was back. He sucked in a breath, but he felt like he couldn’t breathe. The ghosts were back, in front of the projector, glowering.
“Beware,” They seethed.
But in a flash, they were gone.
Luke blinked again. He was so sure they were here, but how could no one else see or hear them? For that matter, why did they come in for one second and vanish the next?
The questions continued bothering him relentlessly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke goggled at the obstacle course before them.
Professor Pirelou had taken them to the stadium after the bell rang, the test over. She led them through a bunch of twisty-turning hallways before arriving here.
The stadium itself was something jaw-dropping. Hundreds of bleachers surrounded the area. Silver and metal shone brightly from the sun’s rays, but not too blinding. The playing fields and ball courts were amazing, all brand new.
Velias had a different reaction, however. He eyed the pits with distaste. “Is this safe?”
Hiljo, who was standing next to him, gleefully rubbed his hands together. “Of course it isn’t. That’s the fun of it.”
Velias shuddered.
The track’s first obstacles were hurdles, which Luke was prepared to bet they would grow larger if you tried to jump. The hurdles were already big enough without growing, not to mention the track was bumpy.
Second were monkey bars hanging over holes that they would drop into if we fall. It glistened, and Luke wasn’t sure if it was just the light; it may have been water, to amp up the danger. Many people were looking apprehensive about that.
For obstacle number three, there were swinging torches, all ablaze, in a criss-cross pattern. How were they supposed to get across without setting themselves on fire, while dodging the torches?
Next, there was several cavern tunnels. They would have to choose one and enter. All looked forbidding, stalactites threatening to pierce them.
Then, there was a colossal spiderweb made out of rope, over a gorge. The rope was thin – it might not support the weight of more than three. There was also swampy muck at the bottom.
Lastly, there was a steep hill, craggy with small rocks skidding down. There was a bell at the top, presumably for them to ring once they arrived. A single rope dangled down.
Luke bit his lip. Suddenly, it didn’t look that cool anymore.
“Those who are capable of flight, please get ready at the other track,” Professor Pirelou directed. Four students left. She pointed at another side, where Luke could see a huge pool. “Those who prefer water to land, there.” At least five of them ran there and waited at the edge.
“I believe this is obvious about what we will be doing today,” Professor began. “This is a test of your powers, which you will use to your advantage. Hidden traps will be released once you start. The first ones who reach the top and ring the bell will be awarded full marks.”
“You have a time limit of one hour. If you do not make it to the mountain, you will lose marks.”
“Do not worry, none of you will come to harm. It is challenging, but definitely safe.”
“Okay,” Velias muttered, unconvinced. “Believe that when this is finished.”
“Stop worrying about that and worry about trying to win instead,” Hiljo said cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He loved the thrill of running, embraced the danger. Action, at last!
“When the whistle blows, you start,” Professor Pirelou stated, giving a sharp look at Julian, who gave her an innocent look that wasn’t fooling anyone.
Almost at once, a shrill whistle echoed around. Everyone took off at top speed.
Luke’s feet barely touched the ground, running as fast as he could. His heart beat harder to keep up. Since he had longer legs than most, he could stay in the lead. If only my boot wasn’t forming a hole…
The first hurdle was looming in front, dark and intimidating. If he timed it right, he could jump over it before it grew. Or maybe I’d be turned into a squashed Luke kebab.
Someone yelled. Luke turned his head. Velias had attempted to vault over, but his timing was wrong, so he smashed headfirst into it. He’s alright-
He skidded to a stop.
The most massive wall he had ever seen erupted from the ground. He cursed. Too slow, Luke. You’ll never jump over that.
Then, the wall turned to sand.
“Oops,” Hiljo said, with a lopsided grin. His outstretched hand had sprinklings of dust around it. Apparently, he had disintegrated the wall. And not by accident, by the looks of it. He zoomed off at once, running faster.
Luke sprinted off. His legs were starting to burn though, turning into putty. He wished he could fly.
The second wall came out of nowhere.
He nearly slammed into it. Backed a few paces. A running start might do it, since this wall was smaller than the last. Get ready. He grabbed the wall top and swung himself to the other side, rolling and coming to a halt.
Behind him, Farionze wasn’t so lucky. She had jumped at the same time as him, but fell down so hard he could hear a thwack. Vines grew out of nowhere and pulled her up. They wrapped around Badie’s tentacles and pulled her back, allowing her to catch up.
Luke ran faster, pouring speed. So full of adrenaline, he didn’t even need to think as he blasted each obstacle with lightning, leaving a charred mess behind.
He slowed down at the edge of a hole and looked up. The bars were too high up. He would need to jump to catch hold of it. But if he slipped…into the hole he’d go.
Frustration activated his magic. If he couldn’t reach the bars, the bars would come to him. He gritted his teeth, his mind clenched with concentration. The bars, quite literally, bent to his will, lowering themselves.
He had to swing myself all the way to the other side. His arms felt like they were transforming to pudding, wanting to give up. The only thing that made him carry on was fear of falling. The rhythmic slapping noises as someone grabbed hold pounded in his head. An ugly squelch was heard when someone fell.
He let go the moment he reached the other side. He crashed down, but there was no time to feel sorry for himself. Even if my arms are cramping.
Just as he stood up, he almost got brained by a swinging pendulum of flame.
He scrambled away, narrowly missing the gorge. He could feel the tips of his hair burning. Luke got to his feet. He needed a plan to get across now, not just blindly running ahead.
This time, fear didn’t help him. His mind was screaming from his close encounter, making it hard for him to think.
The path was obscured by blazing torches, swaying to and fro. The flames weren’t burning anything else except them. It was so hot, he could feel his skin burning even at a distance.
Everyone else – those who were left – were standing near the gorge too, with clueless, despairing looks. Luke suspected his face looked the same. Despair, though not as great as it was at the void, was rendering him helpless.
“I’d never thought I’d say this,” Julian, one of the remaining, wiped his forehead. “But I wish I was a Sakhowistz. They can control water.”
Control water. Unbeknownst to Julian, he’d just given Luke an idea.
The thing was, he’d never done this sort of thing before. Well, if I can manipulate electricity, why not the elements? He held up his hand and pointed, imagining a spray of liquid. To his surprise, water spurted out of his hand.
Luke directed the stream at the closest torch, extinguishing the fire. He leapt onto it and clung on for dear life as it swayed. There were two hidden handles to hold onto to – Professor Pirelou must have figured some students would come up with that plan.
His plan was to crawl and put out the fires. The torches he could dodge, but not a raging inferno. He focused harder and a larger torrent of water sprayed out. He jetted the liquid at the next torch as he slid off and ducked as another pendulum almost whacked him. He crawled all the way to the other side, sweating and breathing hard, where the others had just arrived.
Soot was flicked off their clothes as they coughed on smoke. Burning embers were stuck on their clothes, along with ash. Their faces and hands were black, some burnt. Luke didn’t have the energy to heal himself; the manipulating water had been new, taking a lot out of him.
He faced the next challenge, looming dark entrances, gloomy and daunting.
Three tunnels lead to different directions. None of them knew where it would lead. One by one, after hesitation, they sprinted off into the caverns. Luke darted into the middle one, not stopping to think.
It looked like any regular cave. Rocks lay here and there. Some pebbles rolled around. Echoes bounced off the walls. He had to bend a bit to avoid the pointy stalactites. He took one step, preparing to run.
Then the world flipped upside down.
He found himself hanging from the ceiling, looking at the floor. Or it might be the floor I’m standing on, and it went upside down too. Or maybe I’m the one upside down.
Blood rushed into his head. Combined with his tiredness, he wanted to just give up. Yet the urge to win overtook it.
He didn’t trust his eyes to tell him where it was – everything is definitely not as it seems here – so he shut his eyes and took one step. He felt the world staying the same. He was getting dizzy, wave after wave of nausea hitting him, disoriented.
Somehow, he sensed the exit ahead. He made a run for it, resisting the temptation of emptying his stomach’s contents. After a while, his feet beating a steady pounding, he opened his eyes and lurched to a stop.
He had made it out of the cave.
Out of the blue, he found himself lying face down on the floor. No more upside down. He picked himself up.
“How…huff…to…huff…get…huff…across?” Someone gasped out behind him.
Rongo scrambled to his feet after being spat out of the cave. His hair was slightly burnt and had he had a wild light in his eyes. Giddiness was making him sway on his feet.
Others came out of the caves too, all panting dogs. They took one look at the mud and seemed ready to give up, go to their rooms and sleep. Luke felt the same way.
Someone collapsed to the floor and just lay there, given up. It was Julian.
He looked a lot like his mother, except with more human features. But unlike his mother, he had an expression of someone defeated.
Luke pulled him up. “This is no time for taking a snooze,” He told him. Yet I want to take one too.
He groaned. “I’m going to have words with my ma about this.”
Bells started ringing loudly from the distance. So loud, it felt like someone was ringing them right next to his ears.
Julian did some creative cussing. “Half an hour’s up, no time. Did I mention I quit?”
“Then we better get going,” Rongo said so quietly Luke wasn’t sure anybody heard him.
With a groan, somebody gingerly put their foot on a rope, grabbing another part and slowly began making their way to the other side. Slowly, all of them followed, treading carefully, afraid the rope would snap any second, or slip. ‘Don’t look down’ became the most prominent thought on everyone’s mind.
Luke envied the Maguez students. They were the one with the least trouble. They simply summoned plants to hold them in place, no fear of falling.
All in all, it wasn’t pleasant, what with the swamp, rope that felt it might snap any second, time running out and the squelch as some people accidentally let their foot slip into the mud. This will never be on my to-do list.
Luke leapt off the rope with a twang when he reached the other side, barely avoiding slipping. He breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. I made it!
Two people weren’t so lucky. They fell in halfway when they misplaced a leg or unintentionally let go. Luke could hear the sucking noises as they climbed out even from here.
He hurried off. His hair was still burnt and his clothes stained with unknown substance. The only thing left to tackle was the mountain. Should be a piece of cake after all the other obstacles.
He beat the others to the mountain first, racing to the summit. The countdown clock ticked, announcing that they had fifteen minutes left. Impossible. Time’s faster! He skidded to a stop. Up close, the mount was even more mammoth.
Others were already scaling it, clutching onto the rope. Some shoved or kicked, hoping to eliminate competition. Blasts of power bounced off the rocky surface, sometimes slamming into an unsuspecting victim. Hiljo was climbing it with surprising speed.
Here goes nothing.
He grabbed hold of the rope and placed his feet on two small ledges. Slowly but surely, He made my way up. He manoeuvred away from falling pebbles, ducked blasts of power and stamped off the vines Farionze was growing to kick them off.
He fixed all his attention to willing the stone to remake itself into handholds and footholds. They bent to his will, and he climbed up slightly faster than the others. It was hard though; showers of gravel fell down and knocked off his focus. Sometimes he missed a rock and nearly dropped to his certain demise.
Sweat dripped of him. Luke was terrified of letting go, so he clung on tightly, an animal clinging on to a tree. He scrabbled around, testing the ridges before putting his weight on it. He was running out of time. But maybe I could make it.
Snap.
The rope slipped out of his hand and he almost fell off in shock, had he not grabbed a handy ledge sticking out just in time. His heart thumped fast, breathing fast and rattling. Everyone else who had been using the rope managed to hold on too, except for an unlucky three.
“Sorry!” Someone shouted from the top in a panic-stricken voice. Velias leaned from the ledge he was standing on to check on us, with an equally panicked expression. An aura shimmered around him. It looked like he had unwittingly snapped the rope.
“You fool!” Someone yelled back from below. Luke looked down; it was the boy with black circles under his eyes. He looked really anxious, even though his voice was insulting.
“There is no way we are going to make it now,” Renee fretted on his right. “And I can’t believe I’m saying this! I’ve got four hands! One hour is almost up, we’ll drop to our death if we climb any faster!”
“We will not,” Hiljo protested, but he didn’t sound convinced. Even he, the ever-energetic, danger-loving Hiljo, was losing hope.
They struggled to keep climbing, as the clock ticked ominously…
A bit more and he would reach the end of this treacherous hike. His arm reaching out, fingers scrabbling for a hold, mind struggling to shape the rock, ignoring the rain of stones, legs scratching on the ledges, he climbed like this methodically, slowly, lying to himself it was almost over.
And at last, it was.
He grabbed the edge and boosted himself as quick as he could. Almost there… He scrambled to the top, sending some rubble down, cutting his palms: he did it!
Elation coursed through him. Luke stood up triumphantly. He threw his head back and made the sound of a crowing bird, the way Leonard and he would do when they won. He snatched the rope and was about to pull. His fingers slacked a little, weak from all the challenges...
Someone tugged it out of his hand.
“That, I believe is mine,” The boy from the next class, the one with dark circles under his eyes, said mutinously, with a smug grin. He’d been pestering Luke at class, and now he was back to pester him yet again.
He gave Luke a look. Luke glared at him furiously. It was not fair! He’d arrived here first. Fine, it made him sound petulant and petty, but he didn’t care. He’d work too hard to fail! Luke pointed that out to him.
“Well, you shouldn’t have let it go then,” he argued.
“You took it out of my hand!”
A strange sound made them both turned around.
The bell clanged as Farionze pulled the rope with a victorious and evil grin. She looked rather worst for wear, but her smile was bright. The last of her plant magic was still curling around her fingers. She’s laughing at us.
Luke stared at her in disbelief. What? Not only do I lose to him, I lost to her!
“No fair,” The other whined, sounding like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum.
Farionze made an odd grunt, sounding like an “oomph”. It conveyed the message clearly though: she thought they were idiots for not ringing it sooner.
Luke watched as the other two began to have a duel, vines against levitating stones, Fraionze serenely smiling as her opponent blustered his case. The situation began to seem funny to him.
Luke grinned tiredly and laughed. He sat down on the edge and gave Farionze a thumbs-up. “You devious, creeping monkey.”
Farionze’s yelp-grunt of a cackle was answer itself as the bell’s sound boomed around. Scuffling noises announced the presence of someone.
“Good one.” Velias pulled himself to the top. He slapped her back before gesturing at the frayed end of the rope. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” Hiljo told him, joining us at the top. His murderous expression warned them all to run. “You’ll want to spend the last moments of your life happy, because I am going to kill you for breaking the rope.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zeke trudged to the canteen. He was tired, mentally, physically and magically. Although Faergo weren’t as powerful as other races, they possessed the ability to fly almost at the speed of light. It took him little effort to fly fast, but dodging obstacles and flying for so long was exhausting.
He collected his food, wondering where the others were. Jynhue, the only one in the flight track with him, collected hers and drifted off, motioning for him to follow, having seen their group.
He folded his wings and walked behind her. Humiliation still stung, so he kept his head down. He couldn’t help colliding head-first with the stupid force field and falling to the ground, could he?
He hoped his sisters didn’t hear of his failures.
Patricia would shake her head at his loss, telling him he’ll do better next time. Disappointed. Beatrice would fuss, wanting to know if he was hurt, any injuries, worrying to the point of telling their parents.
But of course, older siblings couldn’t miss their disappointing little brother in a crowd.
“Zeke!” Beatrice exclaimed, pulling him to her table, not realizing he had his own table. “For goodness sake, next time be a little more careful! You could have been hurt, falling from such a height!”
His cheeks heated up, but he lifted up his chin. “I’m fine. It wasn’t even that far up,” He protested.
Beatrice was on a roll. “What were you thinking?! You should pay more attention to your surroundings, be more alert! It’s and obstacle course, not a pleasure flight!”
Zeke had had enough. “Is it my fault that the force field came out of nowhere?”
Finally, Patricia, who had been staring mouth wide open throughout the entire time, seemed to rouse herself. Zeke assumed she was going to scold him too, but she surprised him.
“He’s thirteen, Bea, he can handle himself. Besides, he’ll learn to pay attention next time,” Patricia said soothingly. “She’s been having kittens about you since we got here,” she said to Zeke in a low voice.
He squirmed out of Beatrice’s grasp. “I’m fine, I’ll be careful next time,” He quickly said. The only way to leave now was to assure Beatrice.
Suddenly, the air in front of him shimmered and distorted, like pixels rearranging themselves. Jynhue appeared, the pixels fixing themselves. “Where have you been?” she demanded.
Startled, he blinked stupidly before answering. “With my sisters.”
Jynhue made a ‘pfft’ noise. “We’re at the table near the tree.” With that, she faded away, pixels scrambled once again.
“Who. Was. That?” Beatrice asked, taken by surprise.
“Never mind, why don’t you let him go find his friends,” Patricia interrupted, kicking Zeke’s leg and shooting him a pointed look.
Zeke grabbed his tray and ran off as fast as he could, eager to go find the rest and steer clear of his overly protective sister. Is there such thing as helicopter sister?
He dropped his tray on the table and sat down, breathless. Velias, who was eating, barely paid him attention. Renee had seemingly fallen asleep. Farionze picked off her meat and cocked an eyebrow at him. Jynhue and Luke were the only ones who spoke.
“That’s your sister?” Luke asked, gesturing.
“Yes,” Zeke replied, staring at Luke’s hair, which was all standing on an end as if he had stuck his finger in a socket. Did he suddenly decide to be a porcupine?
“You both don’t look alike,” Luke mused.
Velias, now paying attention, slapped his shoulder. “You’re one to talk. Just because your brother and you are identical to the last detail doesn’t mean every sibling is.”
“He’s right, actually. My mom said only Patricia and I look alike,” Zeke revealed.
Jynhue flicked a lock of hair away. She speared a fruit and ate it. “Given a choice, I wouldn’t want to look like my father. He sucks.”
Farionze nudged her, making a curious whining sound from her throat.
“Yes, I know,” Jynhue said, with an eyeroll. “But it’s tiring.”
“What’s tiring?” Renee opened her eyes, yawning.
Jynhue replied by turning the air into pixels. When they rearranged themselves again, there were two Renees sitting side-by-side. What in the world?
Luke, Farionze and Velias didn’t look too concerned. They laughed instead. One of the Renees and Zeke, however, both let their jaw drop.
Jynhue flickered back to her old self. “I can change into anything I want.”
As if to prove it, she changed her hair from long, silky and blue to frizzy green hair.
Renee nodded. “I’d love to do that! It’ll be an epic joke to impersonate teachers. Except the only power I have is four arms,” she sighed.
Luke waved his hand. “It’s been thirteen years, and you haven’t realized your power? Have you been living under a rock?”
“What power?” Renee asked, giving him a sideways stare.
“Well, you could lift the entire mountain at the course if you wanted to,” He patiently said. “Sedadimertex have strength beyond imagination.”
“So we have a strong girl,” Velias said, pointing at Renee. “A strangle-happy planter, speedster with wings, shape shifter.” He jutted his chin at Farionze, Zeke and Jynhue.
“And an electrical idiot,” he finished, looking at Luke.
“Electrical what?” Zeke asked.
In answer, Luke held up his index finger and thumb. Electricity crackled between them. He could even see it. Awesome.
Luke dropped his hand. “I guess I’m the only person in all the Realms who can do that,” he said wryly. His expression was wistful.
“Why?” Zeke wanted to know. “Surely your race can do that.”
“The Kiantz died out. My father’s dead. I’m the only one left, and my blood is not pure,” Luke said flatly. “So, the Kiantz are no more.”
Zeke stared, aghast. Words abandoned him. They died out? He’s the only one left? Why do our conversations always turn to these morbid subjects?
He was starting to believe these conversations were cursed.
Luckily, the others had been ignoring them. With a look, Luke and Zeke simply stopped talking and joined in the others, coming to an understanding – this conversation would be forgotten.
But he was wishing he didn’t join in with the others.
“Why don’t you talk?” Velias was asking Farionze curiously.
Farionze scowled, just a little bit. She pointed at Jynhue, wanting her to explain.
“The Maguez Council cut her tongue out,” Jynhue stated baldly. The shock silenced them all. “The usual punishment for criminals is sending them to the Realm of Exterion, but Maguez will also decide another punishment, depending on the crime. Since Farionze’s parents sold some secrets to another Realm in exchange for money, they cut all their tongues out so they would never spill the secrets again.”
The pure cruelty of it all made Zeke’s insides tie themselves to knots. It was hard to believe people would go to such lengths of punishment, let alone punish a child like that. Did they not feel remorse? He wouldn’t have believed that macabre story if the proof wasn’t in front of him.
His dad rarely talked about other Realms and races, admitting he had not travelled around. But he went to the Realm of Qyentinne once. According to his tale, he had to stay in hiding, lest the Maguez find him. He remarked he was lucky to get away, lest the Maguez burn him to death.
Zeke hadn’t thought much about it. After all, didn’t the races hate each other? But the Maguez apparently would inflict these punishments on their own kind.
They really are like plants. They look beautiful, kind and graceful on the outside like roses and other flowers, but on the inside, they were as deadly as poison ivy, as poisonous as Belladonna.
Now I really believe in the phrase ‘Never judge a book by its cover’.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke turned away from the conversation. The idea of Maguez heartlessly cutting out Farionze’s tongue made him feel sick.
It didn’t help matters that he kept seeing a darting red glow everywhere around the room.
He watched the flicker of ominous crimson hover above a laughing student’s head, unsure if he really was imagining it.
The student, probably a sixth year, was unaware of it. She talked and laughed with the others. With a start, Luke noticed Rongo sitting at that table.
Weird. He told me he sat alone.
He watched the way the group talked with each other. Clearly, all of them were family – maybe adopted or foster. Yet, Rongo never mentioned anything about them.
Luke felt someone tap his shoulder. Turning around, Farionze stared at him expectantly. She slipped him a paper under the table, unnoticed by the others. He looked down and unfolded it.
Do you see it too?
He pulled out a pen from his pocket and scribbled back, dawning on him that Zeke and he couldn’t only be the ones who saw it.
Yes. Zeke saw it too.
Where? I mean, other than here?
I saw it at the entrance hall and the classroom. Zeke saw it in another classroom. How about you?
In my room.
What did it say?
There is no escape, you brought it upon yourselves. We shall feast on your corpses soon enough. Not the point though; do you notice that it only hovers above others at that table, but it avoids him?
Luke frowned and glanced behind. Now that Farionze pointed it out, he could see that that spirit seemed to stay away from Rongo, as if it was repelled by him.
He faced Farionze again. She jutted her chin at Zeke’s direction, implying she wanted him to give him the note. With a nod, Luke leaned over to Zeke, who was chatting with Jynhue. He nudged him and tucked the note into his hand.
Farionze put her finger to her lips. Don’t talk about this yet, she seem to say. Luke was fine with that; he never wanted to bring up that subject again.
He was afraid of the nightmare he had, and he was afraid of dreaming it again.
Maybe it’s a warning.
Or maybe something’s haunting us.
I wish I could believe I was just imagining it…
…But how do you explain three people sharing the same vision?
Dinner ended with the others laughter and good cheer.
Of course, they didn’t know of the thoughts of ghosts hanging over them like a storm.[Ma1]