Light Speed by Arkadie, L. (accelerated reader books .TXT) 📕

I’m coughing tryingto stop myself from suffocating. All I see is black and I feel thecreatures press against my chest, both sides of my head, and mybody. At first, I’m befuddled because I’ve never been this close tolosing my life, but an instinct to survive grips me. I gain controlof my mind and tell the light that I want these creatures torelease me and I want them gone.

The power pours out of my skin like ageyser. Suddenly waves of powdery ash explode all around me. Thelight doesn’t simmer, it intensifies, following the command of mywill. My arms swing in every direction. The light stabs thecreatures before they’re able to get near me, and they explode intoblack particles. Suddenly their screams turn more abrasive. Thosethat remain alive, retreat to the mountains, which suck them intotheir depths.

Silence prevails.

It’s still again.

Chex and I are alone, hovering above thedeserted land below.

I’m still jittery as I look down at myselfall soiled by grime, then over at Chex. He doesn’t have a speck ofash on him. I’m praying to God that they don’t come back. I don’tever want to see them again.

“Are you alright?” Chex asks, studying mewith a deep look of concern.

I’m holding myself, shaking. I shut my eyestight, forcing myself to stop shivering. It takes a few moments butfinally I stop.

“Yes,” I’m only barely able to say. “But whyare you not soiled?” I manage to ask. Sometimes, I’m surprised bymy own curiosity.

“Because I’m an artist, Darling,” hemumbles, taking me seriously as he stares out into thedistance.

He takes a deep sniff and then slowly,carefully, releases the air out through his nostrils.

“I don’t know what the hell we’re in for butwhatever you just did, keep it up. And your sister is out there,”he glances down at me, “I can smell her.”

“You can?” I’m surprised by that. “Then whycan’t I sense her?” I mumble to myself.

Rightfully, Chex doesn’t answer. He’s quiteintuitive. Instead he says, “Let’s go,” and starts toward themountains. Once again, I follow where he leads.

We’re standing in a field of grass that’s socoarse the blades pinch my bare arms and legs and scratch my cheeksbecause they rise high, most extending past our heads. And there isa white, smoky haze that settles all around us. The mist is amixture of low hanging cumulus clouds and settling smoke from theraging fire-pits that are plopped throughout the field.

I’m skittish because I thought I sawsomething peculiar when we made our descent into the grass.

“One second,” Chex says. His ears and eyesare on alert. He takes a deep sniff.

I tug at the ends of my hair, lifting it offmy neck. It doesn’t help. The heat is still torturing me.

“What is it?” he asks, frowning down atme.

“I’m uncomfortable,” I groan. I’m stillholding my hair above my neck, even though it only gives me alittle reprieve.

Suddenly Chex is behind me and my hair istightly pulled at the back of my head. I reach a hand around totouch it.

“Oh,” I pull a long woven braid forward andlay it across my shoulder, “Thanks,” I say, surprised that hecommitted this act of kindness toward me.

“You’re welcome,” he says grinning,displaying that toothy smile of his.

I’m processing how different I feel aboutthat expression of his when flames start to ignite beneath ourfeet.

“Up!” I shout and wrap my fingers aroundChex’s wrists. But he swiftly changes the position of our hands andpulls me up into the cloud.

We hover over the area we just escaped.Orange flames soar, crackle, and pop in the place where we laststood. That’s exactly what I suspected when we first landed in thefield; the bowls of fire are not static and they’re not done withus yet. The blaze beneath us explodes, shooting flames up high intothe cloud. I watch the molten heat heading for us with widenedeyes. There’s no way we can escape.

Then, all of a sudden, I’m bolting acrossthe atmosphere above the field, being pulled along by Chex. Pits offire ignite beneath us, chasing us until we clear the wildmeadow.

Soon we’re standing on a narrow, dusty roadthat cuts between two clay walls of structures that looks like theabandoned ruins of the Earth’s ancient Mayans. As we stand out inthe open, I can finally feel Na’ta. She’s like the warmth of homeflooding my insides. Our souls connect and all I can feel is thepath that guides me to her.

I leap off the ground to allow my body tocarry me to her, but I slam right into Chex’s chest. He grasps meby the shoulders to hold me still and then, in a flash, he has mehemmed up against the wall in a tight dark corner.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”he whispers. His very strange and unnatural black eyes shine in theshadowy crevice.

I fidget against the strong hold he has onme. “Na’ta, she’s here!” I exclaim.

“Quiet,” he warns me. “Do you thinkwhatever the hell’s been trying to kill us has given up becauseyou’ve got a line on your sister?” he gruffly whispers.

“I came here to get my sister.” I jab him inthe chest with my freed hands, attempting to push him out of my waybut he’s unyielding, like a boulder.

“Keep, your, voice, down,” he scolds me in awhisper.

His black eyes gaze deeply into mine. Then,he dips his face forward to position his nose between my lips. Hetakes a long and indulgent sniff and then closes his eyes to savormy scent.

“I’ll follow that,” he says on a deepexhale.

I can’t move and can barely breathe. My eyesare focused on the sharp angles of his face. I believe he said,“I’ll follow that,” but I’m not sure. I am mesmerized. Oh my, hasthis Selell just bewitched me?

“What did you say?” I breathe.

“Don’t move.”

“But…”

“Stay, here,” he softly demands.

I can feel my eyebrows pull toward thebridge of my nose as I acquiesce by nodding.

He’s gone. I’m alone here in the crevice.Every cell of my body feels constricted and while I wait for thisfeeling to free me, a loud chirp, like a very huge bird, echoes inthe distance; then another, and another. The sound continues, butnever more than one chirp at a time.