“Then what do you suggest?” Sidney’s voice was sharp with frustration and exhaustion. “We can’t go back to the house — that’s where this whole mess started. We can’t reach Brigid and Kenji in town without crossing open ground. The portal site is the only place where I have any chance of doing something about that drill before it kills the Dragon and takes all of us with it.”
Rebecca was quiet for a moment, her dark eyes calculating distances and odds and probabilities in a way that Ben found both impressive and slightly unnerving. When she spoke next, her voice was calm, almost clinical.
“What if we split up?”
“What?”
“Half of us make for the portal site — you, Ben, maybe one or two of the guardians. The rest of us will create a diversion and draw their forces away. That should give you time to do whatever it is you’re planning to do.”
It was a solid tactical plan, Ben had to admit. And it might be their only chance. But the thought of separating from the others, of leaving Rebecca and Finn and the rest of them to face Gregory’s mercenaries alone….
“I’ll lead the diversion team.” This from Finn, his voice steady despite the fear Ben could see in his eyes. “I know this forest better than anyone except Sidney. I can keep them chasing shadows for hours if I have to.”
“Dad — ” Sidney began, but he only shook his head.
“I’ve spent seventeen years protecting you from the shadows.” Finn got to his feet and tucked his tablet into his jacket. “Let me do it from the front lines for once.”
The moment stretched between them, father and daughter, seventeen years of distance and silence compressed into a single exchange of looks. Ben watched Sidney’s face cycle through what seemed like a dozen emotions — anger, grief, worry, hope, others he couldn’t identify — before settling into a kind of resigned acceptance.
“Don’t get killed,” she said quietly.
“Same to you.”
Rebecca was already organizing the split, dividing the group with quick, decisive gestures. Finn would lead the diversion team — himself, Rebecca, and Priya’s uncle. Emily, Josie, and Priya would go with Sidney and Ben to the portal site, their combined power hopefully enough to give Sidney what she needed to reach the ley line.
“The electromagnetic weapon,” Ben said, pushing himself upright with a wince. “They’ll use it again.”
“Then you’ll absorb it again.” Sidney’s hand found his, her bioelectric field wrapping around his battered one with something that felt almost like an apology. “I know it’s too much to ask. I know what it costs you. But if you can keep them off us long enough for me to reach the network — ”
“I’ll do it.” He squeezed her fingers. “However many times it takes.”
The rain had started again, a cold drizzle that plastered his hair to his forehead and made the footing in the ravine even more treacherous. Above them, Ben could hear the mercenaries regrouping, their voices carrying down into the stone channel. They were running out of time.
“Go,” Rebecca said, and checked her weapon one last time. “We’ll give you as much of a head start as we can.”
Sidney hesitated for just a moment, her gaze moving from Rebecca to her father. Something passed between them — not forgiveness, not yet, but possibly the beginning of understanding.
Then she turned and started downstream, pulling Ben with her.
They splashed through the cold water, the guardians following close behind. Above and behind them, Ben heard Rebecca’s voice ring out — a deliberate shout, drawing attention — followed by the crack of gunfire and the answering roar of the mercenaries giving chase.
Ben focused on putting one foot in front of the other, on maintaining his grip on Sidney’s hand and keeping his battered body moving through the pain and exhaustion that threatened to drag him down. The electromagnetic weapon was still out there, waiting to be deployed again, and when it was, he would have to be ready.
He would have to be the lightning rod once more, no matter what it cost him.
The ravine wound on through the darkness, carrying them toward the portal site and whatever waited there. Behind them, the sounds of battle faded into the rain-soaked night, while ahead, the Dragon’s pain pulsed through the earth like a second heartbeat, growing stronger with every step.
They were almost out of time.
But they weren’t out of fight.
Chapter Fifteen
The ravine opened into a shallow basin where the creek had carved a natural amphitheater from the stone over millennia of patient erosion. We emerged from the water and scrambled up the bank, my boots sliding on wet leaves as I pulled myself over the lip and reached back to help Ben follow. His face was gray with exhaustion, his scars flickering erratically beneath his soaked shirt, but he managed a grim smile when our hands connected.
“Almost there,” I said, even though I wasn’t entirely sure that was true.
The Dragon’s agony still pulsed through the ley line, a constant throb at the base of my skull that made it hard to think clearly. Gregory’s drill was still operating — I could feel it, a wrongness boring deeper into the earth with every passing second — but the feedback seemed to have stabilized somewhat, or maybe I’d just grown numb to the pain. Either way, we were running out of time.