Crais(38)

“So if we don’t know how to contain them, how do we stop them from being released?” Fury quickly put the information together.

“We need to figure out who, where and how this is occurring. If we eliminate even one of those options then we can halt the release.”

“What do we do about the two already released?” I asked Josian.

“According to the ancient ones, if the remaining five Seventine are not released within a certain amount of time then their gravitational force will draw the free ones back.” Josian’s voice boomed along the table.

“So Que and whoever is helping him are running on a deadline?” That was a relief.

“Yes, they are. From the moment they freed the first Seventine they have approximately fourteen First World months to finish the release.”

And according to my calculations, they had already used at least four months.

“So we know part of the ‘who’ is Que and we know we can’t stop him, especially without Brace. The next thing to figure out is the ‘where’.”

I’d managed to say Brace’s name this time without feeling the urge to throw up my dinner.

Josian nodded. “We’ve always been told that the entrance to the Seventines’ prison lies at the darkness of the mother planet.”

I thought about those words for a minute. They reminded me of something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what. It was one of those annoying memories hanging just out of reach.

“It’s the dark mountains. The tunnels under them lead to something, let’s assume it’s the prison.” Lucy staggered into the room, one hand held over her eyes, the other tangled in her mess of blond curls. “And could someone turn down the light and noise?”

Yes! That was what my mind had been trying to tell me. Lucy moaned again, muttering about light and noise.

“Why do you think it’s the mountains?” Josian asked her.

“Shhhh, Jos, I’m standing right here,” she groaned out.

I exchanged a grin with my father.

“It’s the dreams. I keep having them and in the centre of that mountain is this endless spiraling downwards of darkness. It just makes sense.” She collapsed into a chair, one hand still blocking her eyes.

“The zombie dreams?” I asked her.

She spread her fingers slightly to glare at me. “Has your voice always been so annoying, Abby?”

“No,” I boomed louder, “I’m making the effort just for you.”

She laid her head down on the table. “Yes.” Her voice was a little muffled. “There’s some type of zombie army or trap preventing people from just entering the mountain.”

Clearly Lucy had been having a few more of the dreams, which probably explained all those nights she’d woken up crying.

“Why is Lucy getting this information? She’s from Earth. They don’t have soothsayers, correct?” Lucas spoke up, his brow wrinkled.

“Lucy is an anomaly,” Josian started. “She displays strengths and characteristics of someone not of Earth and yet I cannot determine why that is.”

She groaned, her head still on table.

I laughed. “She’s certainly feeling special right now.”

“I have to go.” She pulled herself up quickly and ducked from the room, hand over her mouth.

I laughed again. Quince’s effect was proving to be very similar to the tales of alcohol.

Fury tapped on the table. “As amusing as all of this is, can we focus on these mountains? I’d like my life back and family safe. Crais cannot be destroyed by the Seventine.”

Was it that time of the month for Fury or was she going for the cranky biatch of the year award?

“Why do you even want to save the planet? Shouldn’t you be trying to convince us to transport everyone to another world?” I asked. “Jordan seemed to think the planet is dying out.”

“The tribes are always trying to escape their fate,” Dune answered. “But Fury and I have accepted that Crais is our home and that way of life is all we will know.”

Fury sighed then, a strange expression crossing her features. “And yet we sit here, breathing the cleanest air, eating food that tastes fresher than anything we could imagine, and suddenly I’m not so sure.”

She faced Josian. “Is there any way to save my people from Crais?”

My father’s expression turned serious, his eyes darkening to gold. “The worlds have a strict balance, keeping them all connected to each other. I don’t believe we could take away the inhabitants of Crais and expect there wouldn’t be a rippling repercussion that could affect every world.”

“Yeah, I never really expected that we would get saved,” Fury said, resigned.