Asunder: A Gathering of Chaos by Cameron Hopkin (children's ebooks free online .txt) 📕

The fuzzy glimpse of the room he was able to catch through a slitted eye did not reveal a vengeful madman ready rain death on him. In fact, he couldn’t see the man at all, only that strange mountain of pillows. No Guyrin, no Nira... nothing. Where is he? The pile of cushions shifted, and his heart leaped. Maybe she had hidden in the pillows! It was a short-lived hope, for the head that poked out of the base of the mountain was pale of skin and brown of hair. It was some other girl, and she looked as terrified as Kest felt.

She wormed her way out of the pile, trying to be stealthy. She was barely covered by a sheer white shift, and her dark eye makeup tracked down her cheeks in gray runnels. Her darting eyes passed over Kest, but he kept himself still. No point in frightening her. And then, with a little more self-honesty: If she doesn’t know I’m alive she can’t give me away. He hated the cowardice that implied, but he wasn’t here to help her.

“You!” thundered the unseen chaos wielder. Kest barely kept himself from jumping. The love worker didn’t have quite the same level of restraint – she shrieked and spasmed, trying to get to her feet. Guyrin strode into view next to her and planted a solid kick in her ribs. He must have still been feeling the effect of his drugs, because he overbalanced and went sprawling to the floor alongside his victim. Kest saw the skin on his chest and buttocks writhing in a totally unnatural way, and purple-edged lesions opened all across his back even as he watched. The fat-bellied young man scarcely seemed to notice.

The woman coughed and cried, nearly retching with fear. “Please,” she sobbed. “Please don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything! Help!” She screamed it at the top of her lungs. “Someone help me!” The piteous cries pulled at Kest, but he laid still. If he moved, Guyrin would see him.

The naked man pulled himself unsteadily to his knees beside her and slapped her hard. “Shut it,” he snarled.

The girl clutched at her face and tried to stifle her sobs, eyes wide.

“You were with them,” he accused. “You were going to kill me.” He spoke with the paranoid conviction of the truly insane.

She shook her head. “Please, please, Guy, I don’t know what happened! I was sleeping! We were having fun and I passed out, and then the noise woke me. I promise! I just wanted to have fun with you! That’s my job, we have fun, please please Guy, you have to believe me–” Her words died as he clamped a hand roughly over her mouth.

He was breathing heavily, and he kept darting glances at the corner of the room. “I know better. You’re jealous, all of you. You want it, you want to take it from me, they tell me all the time, I can hear it, they want the Chaos!” His voice rose steadily as he grew more frantic, his eyes as wide as hers were. “You can’t have it! I found it, it’s mine! He told me, he told me, he is in me!” Spittle flew from his mouth, landing on the girl’s face. “Say what you like, but I know! You want it. Say it. Say it!” He was leaning over the poor girl, screaming in her face, his hand still holding her mouth shut. She was sobbing and shaking her head.

Suddenly Guyrin quieted and sat back, letting go of her. “Right,” he said calmly, clearly. “You don’t want to say it. That’s all right; I understand. Instead… you’re going to have to tell me how you want to die.”

“Guy, please – I don’t want to die,” she pled. “Let’s just have some fun, and then I’ll go. Please. You’ve always been so nice. I love coming here, Guy. Please.” She reached out a trembling hand and touched the naked man on the leg.

Guyrin smiled sadly, taking her hand and kissing it. He left a red smear on her hand; he was bleeding from the mouth. “I’m sorry, Lee, but I have to protect it. He told me so. But I’ll be nice – just tell me how, and I’ll be quick.”

Kest’s wrestled with himself. This girl is nothing. I have to find Nira and get us out. Only that. He repeated the words in his head as the girl wept and pled for her life. They were wise words, and it was the truth – he had a mission.

Who are you fooling? He couldn’t lie there and watch the woman die; he was incapable of it. He would rather die himself. And I probably will.

Guyrin hauled the woman to her feet. The strap of her slip fell off one shoulder, and he gently pulled it back into place. “Just walk toward the light,” he said calmly, pointing toward the burning hole in the building. He stroked her hair. “You won’t feel a thing, I promise.”

Sobs wracking her frame, the overwhelmed girl did as she was told, shuffling toward the open wall of the building. Most of the ceiling had caught fire, and she coughed at the smoke.

The chaos wielder seemed unconcerned. “Just walk. I’ll take care of everything.”

“No, you won’t,” growled Kest from right behind him. He swung the stolen club with all his might.

The hardwood cracked into the back of the crazy man’s blond curls, and he went down in a boneless heap. The girl whirled around at the sound of the club, and Kest offered her a weak smile as he leaned forward with his hands on his knees. “That went better than I expected,” he admitted.

The woman immediately showed Kest just how much smarter than him she was by bolting out of the room. He decided that following her example was a great idea. Nira first. The servants or other house guards could arrive at any moment. Likely they were frightened of confronting Guyrin