Page 272 of Interion

I shuddered. By the gods, if we couldn’t kill them, what would we do when more of them caught up to us?

“It’s back!” I heard Breno shout from up ahead.

At the same time, I felt and saw a film expanding behind us. A strong, rigid barrier. I exhaled in relief, marveling at that power—I had never seen Breno use his gift on such a large scale. From that moment on, we just needed to reach the barrier, and he would protect us until we got there.

“Zion?” I called out, euphoric. The barrier was still far away, but it was only a matter of time.

“I’m here, my ray of sunshine, and I’m proud.”

My heart pounded from the adrenaline and my feet barely touched the ground as I silently thanked the gods for all the circuit training Zion had forced us through. Otherwise, I never would have had the endurance for this.

“Breno’s power is back.”

“I know. I’m watching through the drone above you. Zafira and I are positioned to the west. Kaori sent two squads to your location. As soon as the barrier drops, run and don’t stop until I say so.”

“Why is the aikanã glowing?” Aish asked, pointing at Adele, who wasn’t even looking around—just running, all her attention focused on keeping her feet moving.

“Long story!” I pulled on the bond again.

“Zion, tell your men to aim for their eyes. It won't kill them, but it'll hold them off until you can contain them,” I warned, scanning our surroundings once more for any monsters following us. The power in my chest remained still—there weren't any.

“I'm passing along the information.” Zion sounded focused on something at his end. The uneven terrain forced me to break away from the group, zigzagging between rocks and toxic water. Thick fog blanketed this stretch of the region. “Be careful in this area—there's a trap near the lake. Veer west, then get back on the path.”

I shouted the directions, calling out coordinates for my friends to head west, though I couldn't actually see them through the fog.

“How are the other students?”

We passed alongside a deep, toxic lake, the mists swirling in spirals, disturbed by our movements. I watched them in terror, afraid something would burst out at us.

“Safe. They're running toward the barrier and have already reached quadrant 10. They're warning everyone else along the way. The drones have also rallied the smartest ones.”

“I'm relieved,” I admitted, dodging trees and leaping over a rock-strewn stream. We'd left the swamp behind, along with the fog; here the ground was dry, hard, and rocky.

“Just three more hours of running,” he warned, still issuing orders at his end.

Three hours! I thought I could handle the run, but I wondered if Adele and Breno could keep up. I glanced around to check their pace, focusing on Breno—our key to getting out of there—and felt relieved to see him holding steady at the front of our group. But when I shifted my gaze, the obvious hit me. Where was Adele? I stopped, skidding across dirt, rocks, and snow.

“Adele!” I shouted desperately. My friends stopped too, looking around in confusion.

“ADELE!”

She wasn't with us.

“Did you see her?” I asked in shock. The drone guiding us flew back toward the path we'd come from.

“She was beside me until five minutes ago. I think she got separated when we passed through the fog,” Breno said breathlessly, creating a fixed protective barrier around us.

“ADELE!” I shouted again, staring into the dark, empty forest. My voice drifted through the snow floating around us, but found no answer.

“She fell into the trap. She went east instead of west,” Zion said with regret.

Despair struck my heart as I remembered that Adele didn't understand cardinal directions at all. When I said west, she must have gotten lost.

“She fell into a trap,” I relayed to my friends, then ran back along the path we'd come from. “Keep going without me. I'll catch up with you.”

“No way!” I heard four voices shout around me, including Zion's.

“Go on! I can handle this—they're not nearby. We're wasting time standing here.”