The Haunted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 5)

Chapter 9: Chain Reaction

"You're the one peddling delusions!" Sabrina retorted.

"I have had enough of this!" the Emperor exclaimed, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her roughly. "Stop it!"

"Hey!" Cynthia protested, stepping forward. She tried to get between them, but only managed to make him let go long enough to shove her away. "Who do you think you are?" she demanded.

"I am the Emperor, and I will be obeyed!" he snarled. "This is—" He broke off suddenly with a look of surprise, then crumpled to the ground. Sabrina stood behind him, her blaster once more in hand.

"Did...did you shoot him?" Cynthia asked, shocked.

"No. He can manipulate energy. I hit him," Sabrina replied. "It won't hold him long. Do you have any sedatives?"

"I've used them all on Wilmik. Um, what happened to the others? Danask?"

"He knocked them out. I think they'll wake up."

"Terrific. I haven't heard anybody on the com. I don't know if there's anybody left to help us."

"I'm not going back there to find out." Sabrina folded her arms and looked mulish.

"There's no point in going anywhere if he's going to wake up any minute," Cynthia said. "I don't think we're going to convince him, Sabrina. Especially after that."

"Then what shall we do?"

"You're asking me?" Cynthia shook her head in disbelief, then registered a blip on her helmet readout. "Someone's coming."

"Help me get him under cover," Sabrina said, bending to lift Ford's arms.

"Why? They're probably just looking for him. Let's let them find him. It'll solve both our problems!"

"I can't just leave him out here!"

"Why not?"

Sabrina gaped at her for a moment. "Because...because somewhere in there, he's still Ford."

"Lovely," Cynthia sighed, bending to pick up his feet. "Okay. On three—are you all right?"

"There's something—my head hurts," Sabrina said. "There's something coming." She staggered a little, then dropped Ford's arms.

Cynthia stood back up and looked around. "Well, that makes three incapacitated and one noncombatant."

Sabrina held out the blaster to her. Cynthia did not reach to take it. "Oh no you don't. If I take that, it gives people permission to shoot me."

"They...aren't going to...care about rules," Sabrina ground out. "Take it! At the very...least...you can put us out...of our...misery."

"Obviously you've never read the Hippocratic Oath," Cynthia replied, but she took the blaster anyway. "Get into the cave. I'll go out and see if I can head them off, whoever they are."

"Shoot first," Sabrina said.

"Are you sure you remember me?" Cynthia replied as Sabrina began crawling toward the cave. When she was sure her friend would make it to shelter, Cynthia set out in the direction of the lifesign in her readout. She could just hear her father's voice saying, "You went to medical school for this?" But, in a way, she was still working to save lives, she reasoned. Even if it wasn't a method she would have chosen. "This is absolutely the last favor I ever do for Scotty Devon," she muttered.

"You're not the first person to say that," came a voice from directly in front of her. Cynthia gasped, jumped back, and then stared in astonishment.

"I—I could have sworn—I didn't see you there! Uh, Your Majesty," Cynthia stammered.

"I'm afraid everyone's perception may be off a bit right now," Mara said. "I'm causing quite a disruption just by being here."

"Why—what are you doing here?" Cynthia asked.

"Solving problems, I hope," Mara said. "Forgive my not explaining. I'm having to concentrate."

"Uh, sure." Cynthia turned to follow as the Queen set off toward the cave. "Would you rather have this?" She held out the blaster.

"No. I have to concentrate."

"Oh. Okay." After a moment, she added, "It's just that I'm supposed to be a noncombatant."

"Consider yourself drafted," Mara replied.

"Um—"

"The retrieval team all appear to have been incapacitated," Mara said. "Until we reach Sabrina, it will be your job to remove any physical threats from my path."

"Okay...uh, sure," Cynthia said, scanning the horizon and taking comfort from the lack of obvious threats. "But Sabrina's not well."

"I know," Mara said.

"You know, you weren't this cryptic when I met you before," Cynthia said, beginning to wonder about clones and hallucinations.

"This environment is inimical to my presence. Or perhaps my presence is inimical to this environment," Mara said. "Or both. It would take too long to explain. Please just trust that I need to not be distracted by conversation!"

Cynthia opened her mouth, then closed it. They retraced her path in silence until they came to Ford's unconscious form. "He shouldn't still be out," Cynthia said, frowning.

"It's the dissonance," Mara said, gritting her teeth. "He is saturated. I won't be able to clear him of it except in Giandrah. Where is Sabrina?"

"In here." Cynthia led her to the cave, where they found Sabrina curled into a ball near Wilmik, moaning quietly to herself. "Sabrina?"

"She is saturated also, but she does not have the ability to retain much resonance," Mara said, more to herself than to Cynthia. She knelt beside Sabrina, hesitated, and then laid her hands on Sabrina's back.

The air turned suddenly prickly, making Cynthia's hair stand on end. Mara let out a harsh breath, as if straining to lift something heavy; then she sucked in a lungful of the charged air and hunched her shoulders. Immediately, Sabrina let out an animal howl of pain, curling tighter into herself.

"Hey! Stop!" Cynthia tried to say, but her words didn't carry in the strange atmosphere, and her body responded only sluggishly. She tried to take a step forward but found herself held back by an invisible wall. She stood there, held immobile, as Sabrina's cry modulated into an escalating shriek that was nearly as painful as the energy in the air. The combination was unbearable, and Cynthia let out a sob of pain and frustration as she struggled to close her hands over her ears.

There was an almost sub-audible pop, as if a bubble had burst somewhere in the distance; then the air cleared. Cynthia blinked her eyes into focus again and saw Mara sitting back on her heels, breathing hard, pale, and sweating. Sabrina lay sprawled like a ragdoll in front of her.

Swallowing twice to clear her ears, Cynthia said, "What the hell did you do to her?" She reached for her friend and encountered no resistance.

"A radical cure," Mara said hoarsely. "I don't have time for anything else. I leave her in your care."

"Hey! Hey—wait!" Cynthia cried in disbelief as Mara got up and staggered out of the cave. "Hey, Your Majesty—you're in shock, wait a minute!"

"There's no time!" Mara shouted back. "Stay here, and protect them!"

"But—" Cynthia broke off in frustration as she realized the Queen could no longer hear her. For a moment she thought about going after her, but Wilmik and Sabrina needed her more. With a sigh, Cynthia put the blaster down within reach and went to check Wilmik's vital signs.