Herobrine's Legacy (The Wielder Chronicles Book Three)

Chapter 14 || Wish Me Home

Chapter 14 || Wish Me Home

-

-

-

- Kai's POV -

-

Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.

The starry woman's voice, insistent and hushed, drove me forwards as I ran towards home. I was breathing heavily, my muscles were aching, my lungs were stinging but I could hardly notice, not over the adrenaline, not over the panic.

She's just beyond this street, the starry woman's voice whispered. Yes, there. She's so close, Kai. Please help her.

There was something in her tone that made me shiver despite the raging fear – she was guilty. There was guilt in her voice – obvious as daylight and loud as screaming. I tried to not think about why the starry woman would feel guilty over what she was saying, and instead ran onwards – faster and with more power than what I could have mustered before I unlocked my fire.

I thought I heard yells from up ahead. I was panting and it was difficult to hear over the intake of my own frantic breath, but there was definitely yelling. Hurry! The starry woman hissed this time. Move your ass, Kai!

I'm trying, I spat back in my head. Fire was burning in my lungs stronger than usual, making moving painful. It screamed for release, for escape, but I had to hold it back until I found Mum.

The Child is here, the voice whispered, softly, painfully. She is here, Kai, kill her, kill her please!

Sound exploded in my mind when the starry woman's voice picked up a million degrees of volume, and I gripped my head between my hands to keep it from splitting apart. White hot pain flashed across my vision. I can't see, I thought. I can't hear. Where's Mum?

HURRY, KAI. HURRY.

People were running by me but I couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, HURRY, not over the voice of the starry woman who wouldn't stop screaming. Fire flared up in my stomach again, KILL HER, furious and vengeful. KAI! PLEASE KILL HER. PLEASE. Stop screaming! I cried, clutching my head with shaking knees. I can't think!

An abrupt silence suddenly began ringing in my ears. Slowly, the sounds I was supposed to hear, the yelling of people and the stampede of their running, came rushing back into me. I looked up – most people were gone, but up ahead, I could see something dark, something black and . . . something orange? Fire?

I bit my lip, straightened myself and started moving forwards again, slowly and then speeding up, thankful for the room in my mind to form thoughts. But what had made the starry woman so – so scared?

I followed the fire – it was two blocks down, on the road, swarming and swirling in masses of uncontrollable flares. The voice returned, and although I was expecting deafening noise, instead it was soft and guilty and sad and broken; I can't save her, Kai. Help me.

One block away. A suffocating, thick darkness was smothering the world up ahead, an aura so strong it was staining part of the street black. I could hear other voices, now – two of them, one louder than the other; a voice I knew too well from my nightmares.

Titles. Stars. The Child. Endermen. Dying.

"You can't fight forever, Nya Analove," The Child said coolly. "No one but me can fight forever."

Fire flared from a spot in the ground in reply – I saw my mother, a figure shrouded in orange light, arms raised, covered in huge black patches – patches that looked evil and consuming.