Page 58 of Kingdom of Tomorrow
A body slammed into the windshield, shaking the entire vehicle. I gasped as I bounced with Cyrus. Feeders swarmed from every direction, as if the soldiers had driven into a trap.
The driver floored the gas, mowing down anything in his path.
“There are too many feeders. He won’t be able to stop,” Cyrus told me. “If he does, feeders will glom the vehicle, and we’ll get stuck. I’m going to jump and roll, which means you’re going to slam against your bars. My apologies.”
“Don’t worry about me.” How could he survive hurling himself into a horde of the infected? “Do what you’ve got to do.”
He did, following two of the four guards out the tail of the vehicle.
Cyrus rolled across a rocky tundra, and as predicted, I thrashed back and forth against the pole. Dizziness crested as he popped to his feet and swung, his glowing swords arcing through the air. I had no control of my body as he sliced and diced his way forward, with the soldiers doing the same at his sides.
Light flicked with their every movement, revealing details I would have missed otherwise. The skill Cyrus displayed awed me even as the sights inspired only horror. Heads flew without bodies, and blood sprayed in arcs. Severed limbs plopped to the ground. Hisses, grunts, and panting breaths packed my ears.
If the “true” purpose of the Annex was to keep these feeders from Ourland, I would be forever grateful toCured.
“Go, go,” Cyrus commanded, and he sprinted off.
As he jumped and dodged the maddened, I jumped and dodged. As he climbed pieces of fallen carnival rides, I climbed, pushing my stamina to the brink. Muscles burned and shook. No wonder we were forced to run obstacle courses.
He utilized weapons I’d handled in class and, when necessary, wedged himself in a safe cubby to give himself time to observe and think. Visibility increased as rays of stark white light beamed from a castle in the distance, surrounded by a large body of water. A structure I didn’t recall seeing in videos or textbooks.
Cyrus veered right. “Glowers,” he shouted to the other soldiers as he decapitated a feeder. He switched his attention to the next challenger. And the next. “They’re protecting the berries.”
I scanned the darkness, finally spotting an attractive fortysomething man casually plucking weeds near a lush green plant. At his side was a woman—I gasped, astonished to my core. Ember. Ember was here, in Theirland. Had she followed me?
Both Soalians looked like they’d swallowed pritis stones. Gold light speckled with red emanated from the circles etched into their flesh. How unbothered they were, taking no account of the battle that ragedaround them. In fact, they displayed the very peace I’d craved during my entire existence.
Yearning squeezed me. Oh, to have a little of what they had, without having to join team evil.
The unknown male extended his arm, palm up, offering the still-fighting Cyrus a small red fruit from a hand missing a thumb. “We have something for you and the girl. Come. Take.”
In that moment, I registered his identity. John Victors. Leader of the glowers.
The realization triggered an emotional defense. A wrecking ball to my already-fragile calm, obliterating any sense of tranquility.
“Arden, listen to me—our comms—okay?” Cyrus slayed two more feeders as static overshadowed the bulk of his words. “The glowers—so don’t—”
Our connection cut.
Chapter Fifteen
Follow the light and find life.
—The Book of Soal2.4.8.12
I waited on the pedestal for my connection to Cyrus to reactivate, tension mounting.
Waiting.
Too agitated to remain immobile, I disengaged the metal bars and paced in the POD.
Still waiting.
Hours passed. One after the other, soldiers completed their shifts and abandoned their cubbies, either shell shocked or jubilant. Foreboding stabbed me. Where was Cyrus?
Roman, Titus, Lark, and Jericho remained behind, engaged in major conflicts by the looks of it. Still I waited, not letting myself shout for help or demand answers. I needed to know Cyrus was okay.
Again and again my heart rate bypassed the threshold necessary to awaken his transmitter, but nothing happened. In desperation, I jogged in place. I wasn’t sure what to do, what to think.
