Well, the first thing I'm gonna do is harass the information right out of him, Daniela thought as she, Thomas, and Niamh waited in the galley to see Lyse off.
"So I just scroll through the past and try to figure out what went wrong?" Lyse asked.
"You'll know it when you see it," Thomas said.
Lyse nodded.
"Okay, I guess it's now or never."
"Be safe," Daniela said, hugging Lyse tight and then releasing her.
"I'll try," Lyse said, and gave Daniela a wink.
"Be careful," Thomas said, letting Lyse hug him, too.
"Like I said. I'll try."
Lyse took a step back and lifted her arms in the air. A glowing ball of blue neon light crackled in between her hands.
"Well, I guess I'll see you on the other side," Lyse said, giving them a halfhearted grin-and Daniela watched as the orb grew large enough to encapsulate Lyse's entire body.
"Go now!" Thomas said to Niamh.
Niamh didn't blink. She just hurled herself at the glowing orb, slipping inside just as it popped out of existence.
"Holy crap," Daniela said.
Niamh and Lyse were both gone.
And that was when shit on board the destroyer really hit the fan.
Lyse
"Waaaait!" The word was muffled and elongated, as if it were coming from the bottom of the sea.
Lyse turned her head, her view tinged in neon blue. The world beyond the confines of the orb was static, time slowing to a crawl. Niamh, who'd been running toward Lyse before the orb had popped, was still going, her arms and legs caught in an exaggerated pumping motion, one hand extended, the fingers touching the glowing edge of the neon-blue bubble.
Then she saw the tip of Niamh's finger pierce the side of the orb-and the sound it made was like someone breaking a plate-glass window with a ball-peen hammer. Her gut reaction was to end the spell-but she'd never tried to stop it before, not once she'd called it into being. She wasn't sure it was even possible.
This is nuts, Lyse thought. She's gonna get herself killed.
So she did something scary. She attempted to stop her passage into the dreamlands. But she quickly realized that things were already in motion, too far along to be stopped. That breaking the spell might kill them both. Instead, Lyse turned her attention to helping Niamh climb inside the orb.
Grabbing Niamh's hand, she began to pull the other woman through the neon-blue membrane.
"C'mon," she muttered under her breath as she threw all her strength behind her efforts, determined to keep Niamh safe.
Lyse could still see the outside world, could tell Niamh's lower extremities were caught there, trapped between the two realities. She felt Niamh's arms wrap around her, crushing her throat with a terrified clutching that made it hard to breathe. She had to push Niamh away, had to or she would've passed out from the lack of oxygen.
"Let go, can't breathe!" Lyse gasped, tearing at Niamh's grasping fingers.
Niamh was frantic, obviously regretting her impetuous decision, but it was too late. Lyse had to find a way to get her in the orb, or God knew what would happen to her.
"Niamh, calm down," Lyse said. "Let me concentrate on making the circle bigger."
She felt stupid for not thinking of this before, but Niamh's surprise stowaway move had thrown her.
"Relax," Lyse murmured-and she felt Niamh go limp in her arms. "Good."
She needed to focus on making the orb larger.
You can do this, she thought, and closed her eyes, letting all other thoughts drift away. She directed all of her energy toward this one goal, pushing out with her mind, harnessing the psychic energy inside her to expand the orb so that it covered both of them.
A feeling of intense calm settled over Lyse, her breathing slowing down and her focus laser sharp. In her mind's eye, she saw the orb surrounding them, a massive glistening soap bubble in shades of electric blue growing larger to encompass the rest of Niamh.
With a pop, Niamh fell against her, knocking them both backward and onto the ground. Lyse opened her eyes and had to close them again, the bright blue sky above her so intense it was nearly blinding. After a few seconds, she opened them again, giving them a few stinging minutes to adjust, then turned her head to find Niamh a few feet away, also having trouble adjusting to the brightness of the day they'd fallen into.
"You all right?" Lyse asked, and Niamh nodded.
Lyse propped herself up on her elbows, exhaustion flooding her body, making her feel woozy.
"What were you thinking? That was crazy. You could've killed us both," Lyse said.