Page 110 of Crossing Between
"The undead army," I gasped, remembering Shanna's warning.
Dozens of figures staggered toward us, their movements jerky and uncoordinated. Some wore the tattered remains of police uniforms, victims from the station attack. Others were civilians, their clothes modern or ancient depending on when the Essencefeaster had claimed them. All had the same vacant, glowing eyes and gaping mouths that emitted a terrible,unified moan.
"Keep the ritual going!" Varon shouted. "We'll handle them!"
Kenji was already moving, his oni form fully manifested now. His skin glowed with magic as he drew symbols in the air with his fingers, leaving trails of blue-gold light. "Ancestral binding!" he roared, completing a complex pattern that shot outward.
The symbols expanded and wrapped around a group of approaching undead, freezing them in place. Their bodies strained against the magical bindings, but Kenji's magic held firm.
Meanwhile, Elias had abandoned his human form entirely. His kraken nature emerged in full glory, tentacles erupting from his back and sides, his skin shifting to a gray-blue hue that gleamed with an otherworldly iridescence. Where his tentacles touched the corrupted undead, cleansing flames erupted, burning away the taint without harming the bodies themselves.
I watched in awe as he grabbed a spirit hovering at the edge of the Veil, his tentacles glowing with healing magic. The spirit shuddered, then seemed to relax as Elias gently guided it toward a natural transition.
Varon moved with the preternatural speed of a vampire lord. He darted between the approaching undead, his hands moving in complex gestures.
Protected by my three anchors, I focused on channeling the soulfire. I closed my eyes, reaching deep within myself for that core of power Shanna had helped me unlock. It responded eagerly, rushing to the surface in a torrent of golden light that surrounded me in a pillar of radiance.
The power was intoxicating, overwhelming in its intensity. For a moment, I feared I might lose myself in it, become consumed by my own magic. Then I felt them, the three distinctpresences in my mind, three heartbeats synchronizing with my own. Varon, Elias, and Kenji, their souls connected to mine through our bond, anchoring me to myself.
"I'm ready," my voice echoed strangely through the chamber.
The three men, still fighting off the undead horde, nevertheless managed to position themselves at the points of our diamond. Golden threads of magic connected us, forming a perfect geometric pattern with the Essencefeaster trapped at its center.
"NO!" the creature roared, thrashing against the invisible bonds of the ritual. "YOU CANNOT DO THIS!"
But it was too late. The soulfire erupted from my hands, flowing through the golden threads to my anchors, then rebounding back to create a cage of light around the Essencefeaster. The creature howled in agony as the purifying flames licked at its corrupted form.
I stepped forward, my body moving of its own accord, guided by knowledge that came from somewhere beyond my conscious mind. My hands reached out, palms forward, as I approached the boundary of our magical diamond.
"What are you doing?" Elias' alarm spiked through our bond.
"I have to go in," My voice eerily calm. "I have to find Ryan."
Before any of them could protest, I stepped through the boundary and into the cage of light surrounding the Essencefeaster. The creature lunged for me, but the soulfire held it at bay, creating a small bubble of safety around me.
"You'll die here," it hissed, its voice a blend of Ryan's and something ancient and malevolent. "And your brother will die with you."
I ignored its taunts, focusing instead on thetask before me. Reaching out with both hands, I placed my palms against the Essencefeaster's chest, directly over where a heart would be and just above the hole Varon had created. The contact sent a jolt of agony through me, like plunging my hands into acid, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain.
"Ryan," I called, not with my voice but with my soul. "Ryan, I'm here. Show me where you are."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, miraculously, I felt a response, a flicker of familiar consciousness reaching back to me through the corruption.
"Z?" Ryan's voice, weak but unmistakable, echoed in my mind. "Is that really you?"
"It's me, Ry," I promised, tears streaming down my face. "I've come to take you home."
"Why are you doing this, Z?" His voice grew clearer, more distinct from the Essencefeaster's rage. "Let me go. You don't owe me this."
"You're my brother. I'll always come for you." It was as simple as that.
Through the connection of our touching hands, I could see into Ryan's mind, into his soul. I saw the terrible truth of what had happened and I saw how wrong he had been.
The Essencefeaster had consumed him from within, using his body, his memories, his love for me as weapons. It had fed on his soul, growing stronger with each passing day until Ryan was little more than a prisoner in his own mind.
But he was still there. Still fighting.
"I can save you," I told him, pouring my love and determination into the words. "But you have to fight with me. You have to want to be free."
