Page 29 of The Surviving Sky
He stood up.
Outside, the storm picked up intensity, but he gathered the magnaroot in his mind and it responded, its will destroyed completely. Ahilya and Oam stood as far back from him as was possible. Oam stood in front of Ahilya, shielding her, but she stared at Iravan, reaching out a hand. Her eyes were wide in fear. Iravan watched them both dispassionately.
Beyond the now-stationary magnaroot nest, the earthrage screamed and roared, dust and earth making it impossible to see too far.
He trajected, but it wasn’t trajection, not really. Hedesiredit, and the plant changed its form; it leaped to obey. Branches twined around the three of them, wrapping their legs, torso, arms. Thick wooden armors of magnaroot covered them. In seconds, the three stood completely shielded, facing each other. Through his armor’s eye slit Iravan saw the churning dust.
Ahilya’s voice came to him, muffled. “I-Iravan?”
“All right,” he said quietly. “Let’s try this again.”
9
AHILYA
Ahilya’s body shook uncontrollably. Goosebumps covered her skin.
Her heart thrashed in her ears. What could she do? How could she protect them? She was helpless. Her decisions had already cost them precious time.
She glanced at Iravan nervously. He stood a few feet in front of her, arms loose by his side. Trajecting light shone dimly through his own wooden armor. To be visible at all, she knew he had to be bathed in the power. Only a few moments before, he had been on his knees, close enough to ripping his hair out, his eyes feral, unearthly screams tearing through him. What had happened? She resisted the urge to touch him lest she disturb his concentration.
The nest dissolved. A whimper escaped her. Vines grew from her suit, anchoring her to the ground, but the fury of the storm was mere inches away. It pushed her heavily, pulled at her, and she gasped, trying to balance herself. Debris flew everywhere. Grit seeped in through the armor and she tasted wet earth. She couldn’t see clearly past the blur of dust and her own terrified tears. Twice,something—aboulder, a treetrunk—splita handsbreadth above them. Clods of heavy earth and pieces of vines ricocheted off the armors. Luck that they had missed?
Iravan. He was trajecting the jungle, crushing boulders before they hit. They were standing in a small bubble of protection. Awe filled her. Thispower…Even with trajection, it should not have been possible.
Something nudged her: thick vines growing from the forest floor. They encircled her waist and tied her to Oam so the two stood back-to-back. She’d told him she’d keep him safe. What had she done? They should never have left the city.
Oam shouted something; she couldn’t hear, but she could guess from his terrified voice. Where would they go? Was Nakshar still there? Her citizen ring was silent. Had Nakshar survived? What was Iravan doing?
Iravan stood there, his head tilted to a side.
He’s listening. Did this armor amplify sound to him? What was he listening for? What could he even hear in this maelstrom? Ahilya swallowed, her breathing quick and shallow. She twisted her head to look at him. Iravan’s gaze was directed to where the city had landed. Slowly his head moved, gazing up as though he could see something fly through the storm.
He barked something, a raw laugh. The vines tightened around them.
Ahilya burst through the obliterating jungle.
Tied to Oam, unable to move at all, she was flung into the air. Something grabbed the pair of them; they twisted, gasping, bangs echoing inside her armor, locket pealing wildly. Nausea gripped her. She squinted through the eye slit but only saw dust and gigantic tree-trunks flash by. Her body spun, changed directions. An abrupt lurch swirled deep in her stomach, and she saw in horror a gigantic piece of debris heading for her.NO, she cried. Her body turned at the last second, a narrow miss. Blue-green light leapt midair from boulder to tree. Iravan.
Ahilya burst through the canopy and soared into the air. Vines thickened around her legs, keeping them restrained to Oam’s.
Tied together, the two of them surged through the debris, rotating and flipping. Branches and trees whipped past, only just missing them. Iravan ascended next to them in his own armor, a vortex of vines snapping and knitting underneath him, carrying him like a tornado from the jungle.
Ahilya’s body spun and she saw. Less than a hundred feet away from them, hovering like a giant bark moon in the sky. Nakshar.
A sob of relief escaped her. They had waited. Iravan was going to save them.
Iravan wasn’t looking at the city. He faced Ahilya and Oam, rising above them. His arms thrust out forcefully in front of his chest, and he rotated them like wheels.
Ahilya glanced down. Her mind spun. Boulders sailed through the jungle canopy, crashing into trees, churning in the wind. Giant balloons of dust mushroomed, exploded, collapsed. Rocks hit the vine vortex that carried her and Oam, but the vines knit themselves almost immediately. A state of unreality gripped her. Her muscles tensed.
Ahilya’s neck whipped as her body twisted. Nakshar appeared in her view again. She moved her arms, bracing, reaching. So close.
The vines tying her to Oam split.
Her arms flailed. Her stomach plummeted. She spun head over heels in midair, too shocked even to scream, dropping. Glimpses came to her, Oam’s vines untying, horror in his midair roll, the passage of wind, the writhing jungle becoming bigger.
Below—thenaboveher—lightexploded.
