Page 29 of Kingdom of Tomorrow
—The Book of Soal1.5.31.6
Head high, I slipped into classroom 2, a sterile enclosure with gray walls, a digital board, and twenty student desks. Roman, Lark, Jericho, and Titus had arrived first and chosen their spots.
Roman waved me over as if we were the best of friends. Lark watched me with an arched brow. Jericho blew me a kiss. Those three were neighbors. On the other side of the room, Titus stared at his desktop.
I shook my head at Roman and aimed for Titus. Having taken the HP’s critique to heart, I planned to learn more about each of my teammates. Especially those I already admired. In the ring of pain, Titus had stood his ground until the very end, never wavering in his resolve.
“Hi,” I said, and he closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. “I know you’re awake.”
“I just want to rest,” he muttered, ending any hope for further conversation.
I tried not to take the rejection to heart. Yes, I tried.
Other soldiers arrived, moaning as they sank into seats, sore and exhausted thanks to two hours of nonstop exercise. From jogging inplace to jumping jacks, sit-ups, and squats to catching and throwing different objects. I admit, I wasn’t without aches of my own. High Prince Dolion had made sure we utilized muscles I hadn’t even known human beings possessed.
A bell sounded as Archduke Heta strode through the door. A lord in a blue uniform kept pace behind him, an overstuffed bag hanging from his shoulder.
“Welcome to Realms and Travel 101.” The archduke stopped in front of the desk, and Titus cracked open his eyes. “Or, as formers students have called it, ‘Fears and Tears.’ I suggest you pay close attention. When you know the world around you and its rules, you don’t have to be the biggest and the strongest to thrive during a mission.”
Like many others, I sat up straighter and gave the man my full attention.
“Let’s jump right into the deep end, shall we? Theirland is a realm of perpetual darkness. A dimension within a dimension, just as Ourland is. When the invisible veil between the two disintegrated, the worlds fused and blended. At the time, Theirland was abandoned, its people extinct. What lived on was EOS, or what you know as ‘the Madness.’”
EOS, the technical name I’d heard in passing on occasion. I had no idea what the letters stood for.
With a wave of the archduke’s hand, the wall behind him turned into a full-size screen, lighting up. A long stretch of terrain appeared, showcasing an uninhabited nightscape similar to our own. From the looks of the buildings, many were an amalgamation of Ourland and Theirland construction, with carnival rides sprinkled throughout. Everything from roller coasters to poles with swinging carts.
Huge statues made of gold, marble, and crystals loomed in every direction, far more opulent than the ones in Ourland. They topped structures and lined streets, depicting a mishmash of humans and animals. I spotted no section of the Rock, however.
“As you can see,” the archduke said, “the other world mimics our own. The problem is, many of our maddened found their way intoTheirland, making them more difficult to catch. They go without treatment, allowing the infection to reach a point of no return.” He waved again, and a new image filled the screen, wringing a chorus of horrified gasps from the students. Me included. “They become mindless killers far more dangerous than those you’ve encountered here.”
A massive number of infected congregated in the streets, each exemplifying the most advanced case of Madness I’d ever seen. They no longer appeared human. Their eyes had no irises or pupils, only lines of crimson branching through the whites. As rumors suggested, worms grew from their scalps and eyelids, with thinner strands wiggling from their ears and noses. A foamy white substance coated their mouths.
Revulsion and panic gripped me. Soon I would be forced to fight these ... these ...creatures.
Three of the maddened stepped from the screen to stand next to the archduke. A lady yelped. That lady was me. Several of us leaped to our feet, prepared to bolt.
“They are merely holograms,” Archduke Heta admonished, fluttering his hand through a creature. “Sit.”
Bile scorched my throat as the trio moved forward, prowling along the aisles, hissing at us. I eased back into my seat, knees quaking, and made myself as small as possible. Keeping my gaze on the instructor, I did my best to tune out the unwanted visitors.
“Once a host dies, the worms slough off and poison the soil and plants. Even burning the bodies causes problems, though it’s our only option once a kill is made.”
No wonder we struggled to grow enough food here and in Theirland.
Juniper raised her hand.
“There might be a time for questions later.” The archduke continued on as Juniper slunk back into her seat. “There are two strains of the Madness, and they are at war. The holograms you see here are the Chrysaor, street namefeeders. Believe it or not, they aid us in ourfight against the worse strain, the Pegi, also known asglowers. Chrysaor eat Pegi.”
A hologram swiped at me, and I screamed, jumping in my seat.
The archduke didn’t miss a beat. “Glowers appear as human as we are. Mostly. In the dark, they radiate light.” A video of everyday, average humans appeared on the screen. They smiled and chatted. “Don’t allow their outer shell to fool you.” He showed a series of images, showcasing symbols that blazed in each person’s skin as sunlight faded. Circles with swirling lines inside. The same marks found on the Rock. “Glowers can hide among us. They exhibit supernatural strength derived from the Rock and prefer to massacre crowds rather than focus on a single victim, like the feeders.” More slides. “Speaking of the Rock, we know it is otherworldly, just as the Madness is, and that it’s more dangerous than we can fathom, but we don’t know much else.”
A hysteria-tinged laugh attempted to explode from me. Through some miracle, I strangled it.
“Prepare yourself. You will face both feeders and glowers in Theirland.”
I couldn’t breathe, and I really needed to breathe. But I also needed to not have a panic attack in this classroom.
