Invisible Rider Page 2

  “Where are you going?”

  “To help Rane. I’ll be back.”

  The forest swallowed the body of my lithe sister right up, and I was left wondering how I could’ve meant so well, and yet said the wrong things so often.

  I hugged Rosie, and she lifted her face to nuzzle it against my side. “You’ll help me, won’t you, girl? I promised to take care of you, but it looks like I’m the one who’s going to need help before this is over. Will you help me?”

  Rosie didn’t answer, but I was sure she’d help, as I was sure everyone else I loved would too. Now that the time was close when I’d likely have to give my all to protect them, I didn’t know if it’d be enough. It had taken all the faithum I could grab hold of to break Pumpoo’s enchantment, and that was with the force of the entire Alpha Team working with me.

  We’d taken Pumpoo by surprise then. He didn’t know what the Alpha Team was capable of, and he didn’t know I even existed.

  He still might not have learned much about us, but he knew enough to prepare to defeat us. A prepared Pumpoo was more than I wanted to fight against.

  You won’t be taking on Pumpoo alone, a voice said in my mind, and Dean took Rane’s seat.

  2

  “How did you know that’s what I was thinking about?” I said.

  “Do you really need me to answer that question?”

  “I suppose not,” I said, both thrilled and unnerved that Dean seemed to understand me better than I understood myself. I was used to sharing much of myself with my twin, but I’d never had to share all of myself with him—one of the few advantages of having spent seventeen years invisible to everyone.

  Dean’s connection with me allowed him to detect my mood, and therefore predict my thoughts. At least, that’s how I assumed it worked. Anything more than that would be reading my mind directly, and that was something he’d claimed he wasn’t doing.

  “It’s a natural extension of our power,” he said without my having to ask. “We’re all no more than energy vibrating in different ways. Once you begin to see everything around you broken down into its energetic makeup, it makes it easier to sense things otherwise impossible.”

  “So you see this energy we’re all made of?” I’d realized Dean was amazing, but this went beyond that.

  “Not yet, but I feel it. I believe it’s there, and believing is half the battle.”

  “So I’m beginning to see.”

  “Good, because you need to believe now more than ever before.”

  “I guess that shouldn’t be too hard, given I didn’t really believe before.”

  He chuckled with little mirth. “Don’t worry about what’s going to happen. Worrying just makes everything harder. Trust, let go, and watch the faithum unfold.”

  “You make it sound so easy.” I knew far too little about faithum for someone who was considering using it to save her people, but I realized it wasn’t safe. It had already nearly killed me once, and now Pumpoo would be prepared for us this time, which meant the danger had just escalated a hundred fold.

  “Working with our faithum is easy.”

  Yeah, right it is, I thought, but didn’t bother saying.

  “It’s our natural state. Pumpoo made us believe it wasn’t, but all of us who’ve tried to access faithum have achieved it, with varying degrees of success. Every single one of the Alpha Team has managed it.”

  “But you’re talking about the Alpha Team, the elite of the elite, the best of all the dragon charmers. You aren’t normal people.”

  Dean stared at me, those bright green eyes momentarily free from their burdens, alight with mischief. “Are you seriously going to offend us like that, saying we aren’t normal people?”

  Before I could answer, he broke into laughter. “Oh you should see your face. I’m just kidding. Who’d want to be normal, anyway? We’re something far better.”

  “And what is that, exactly? What are we? What am I?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Not at all.”

  “We’re warriors, protectors both of the dragon race and the Ooba people. But that you already knew. We’re also faithers.”

  “Faithers?”

  “Aye, I just made the word up. People who can use their faithum.”

  “Faithers.” I tested the word out.

  “Yes, it’s perfect.” He seemed very happy with himself. “Because if you don’t believe, if you don’t have faith in yourself and in your ability to do the extraordinary, then there’s no chance in hell that you’ll be able to connect to faithum. You have to have faith to do faithum. A faither.”

  “So now you’re a forcer and a faither?” I was trying hard not to laugh. There seemed little to laugh about in our current predicament, and maybe that’s what was making it so tempting to laugh anyway.

  “Most definitely.” He grinned.

  A few beats passed before I asked, “How much farther do we have to go, you think?” I hoped Traya could keep up with us, but I didn’t want to say it. I wouldn’t do anything to make Dean see her as lesser than anyone else. But we ran with the charmers and tamers, the most seasoned of the Dragon Force. They’d been training for experiences like this one for decades. In Dean and Shula’s case, centuries. Rane and I were lucky that running was something we naturally did, but it couldn’t be expected of Traya, not when she only just joined the Force.

  Dean looked away from me, into the forest in front of him it seemed, but I suspected his gaze was somewhere much farther away than that. “I don’t really know. The scouts that went out didn’t find the shadow people nor any signs of settlement.”

  “Really? Then why are we going this way?” At full speed, no less.

  “Because if there is such a thing as the shadow people, then it’s the only place they can be. There’s no other spot for them to live, we’re too familiar with the rest of the area. It’s the only direction we’ve never had reason to travel. If they exist, then we’ll run into them at some point.”

  Well, that isn’t particularly reassuring.

  It isn’t meant to be, Dean said through my mind, startling me and making me realize I must have broadcast my thought without noticing. I’d have to be more careful with Dean.

  His deep voice continued reaching into my mind. I offer you only the truth. I’m no more in control of the situation than you are.

  That’s not saying much, I’ve felt out of control all of my life.

  Once you stop seeking control, realizing it’s impossible to truly have it—not when life surprises us at every turn—then you’ll stop feeling the need for it. Only then will you taste freedom.

  What do you mean? I wasn’t catching on much, even though a sensation tingled through me telling me how important it was to understand all this man had to say.

  I mean that once we access our faithum fully, we can create our reality. Then we’ll be in control. But this can only happen after we’ve mastered our fears.

  Why? The one word was a whisper even from mind to mind.

  Because fear and faith can’t coexist. Both are equally powerful, and both can create realities just as clearly.

  How can this be? I’ve never seen anything that suggests what you’re saying.

  That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

  No, it doesn’t. I’d lived nearly all my life as a resident of he unseen world. I’d be the last person to deny all that could exist beyond the reality our sight processed. I’d never seen any other invisible being, but that in no way meant the invisible world wasn’t teeming with a life I’d never even considered before that moment.

  The energy around Dean shifted suddenly. But what do I know? These are just my ideas, the ones I don’t share with many people because I doubt many are ready to understand them.

  Have you shared them with the Alpha Team?

  Aye, I don’t keep anything from them. They’re the ones who see more than the rest, that’s why I chose them for my team.

  But surely the rest of the forcers would under
stand. I might not, but they could. They’ve worked with dragons for ages. Dragons are filled with faithum, according to Pumpoo.

  Not just according to Pumpoo, that I know is true. I’ve felt it since the start, a reason I’ve worked tirelessly to protect the beasts. They are sacred, but not just for the reasons Pumpoo led us to believe. And yes, many of the forcers understand this to some degree or another, but I wasn’t ready to bring in all of them to something exploratory.

  So you’re not sure any of it is true?

  He hesitated. Let’s just say, I don’t have proof the eyes can see. Perhaps they’re just the confused musings of an old man.

  Except that Dean was far from a confused old man.

  He stood, switching to regular speech. “I just wanted to check on you. Are you feeling any weakness from your surge of faithum to break the spell yesterday?”

  “No, I’m feeling well. I can keep running as long as it takes.”

  “Keep an eye on Traya. If you think she needs to stop, let me know, through here.” He tapped at his temple.

  He didn’t want to embarrass her.

  “And like I said, feel free to ignore the odd musings of a warrior who’s seen as much as I have. A seed of madness lies within me.”

  I stared after him as he walked away, all the way until he reached Shula up at the front of the line.

  He’d suggested I forget his “odd musings,” but I wouldn’t forget a single one. This man might speak in riddles, but he spoke more truth than anyone I’d ever met before—even if I didn’t understand it. I sensed that he was closer to grasping the truth than any of us.

  I’d follow him all the way until he found it, and hope none of us died along the way.

  3

  The scouts didn’t have the chance to return and deliver whatever news they might have managed to collect. I feared they might be dead.

  We’d only just resumed our progress, Shula leading us farther into the unknown at a brisk pace, when all hell broke loose.

  A strident screech interrupted the comforting sounds of footfalls. My heart skipped a beat, but my step didn’t falter. It was the call of the dragons. Slowing down when dragons were around meant death. I didn’t know enough about dragons, but I knew that much.

  The charmers and tamers with us reacted only by picking up the pace. Rane, Traya, and I were the only ones without training. The rest of them moved as a synchronized group, as if they had preplanned courses of response in the event dragons discovered them when they were unprotected.

  If we’d been running fast before, we nearly flew across the rocks and forest floor now. I worried Traya might not be able to keep up, but I couldn’t stop to check on her. A herd of forcers stampeded behind me. She had to keep moving—I had to keep moving, with Rosie flying ahead of me.

  Rosie was a wild factor. I’d already seen how the dragons reacted to her when she cried in my absence. They sought to rescue her and do away with anyone who stood in their way. But Rosie was distressed then, she wasn’t now. Would that make a difference, or would the dragons charge at us as if we’d stolen a baby from her nest?

  Another screech arrived, closely followed by a third, higher pitched one, and I felt as if the blood froze in my veins even while it pumped furiously through them. I didn’t think I could run any faster than I already was, but as a whole, we picked up the pace—even Traya, whose long strides nipped at the back of my heels.

  I wanted to ask what the heck we were going to do now, but there was no one to ask—and I couldn’t spare the breath. Shula was up ahead, still leading us as she forged a new path across mountain passes, and Dean must still be at the back, keeping his flock safe. Safety was no more than an illusion with dragons up above, but I had to trust they knew what they were doing.

  Rane chose that moment to flick a look my way. He was trying to do precisely what I was, and I didn’t need to hear words to realize it. We were trusting in Dean and Shula, trying not to notice how there were no caves around us, that there was nothing to shield us from the dragons’ fury if they chose to unleash it on us. We’d already seen how quickly a forest could burn, and how its foliage was no protection at all—more of a hindrance, because the forest fire would kill us as swiftly as the dragons’ flame.

  I attempted to give Rane a reassuring look back, but I realized I failed even before I saw him grimace. We were almost entirely out in the open, far from the familiar, with no shelter that would make any difference.

  And the entire Dragon Force was here.

  If the dragons wiped us out now, there’d be no one left to defend the Ooba people. With Pumpoo loose, there’d be no hope for them. The villagers were aware that Pumpoo was a tyrant and a villain, but that wouldn’t keep him from ruling them, not when there was no one left to prevent it.

  The charmers work with the dragons all the time. They’ll be able to handle this. Thoughts were hard to hold on to as we sped across uneven ground, but I tried. Without some reassurance, I might panic, and nothing good ever came from that. The tamers know how to handle dragons enough to keep them from killing us. All we need is for them to go away, nothing tricky.

  But it seemed all shades of tricky, and even my hopeful thoughts didn’t manage to deceive me into thinking otherwise. Even Rosie looked nervous up ahead. She continually looked over her shoulder at me for reassurance. I wished I had more to offer her than the tight smiles that would do little to convince me.

  A group of calls arrived all at once, and any chance at maintaining calm fled. Move, move, move, I kept telling myself, chanting through my mind in a loop to keep overwhelm from rooting me to the spot, where I’d inevitably encounter a gruesome death. Run, run, run. I prayed Traya could continue with this fierce pace.

  I felt the first dragon swoop before its shadow blotted out the sunlight. I urged myself not to look, to keep my sight trained on the path ahead, where it could be of use. Tripping over one of the stones or tree roots now would translate to death. But I couldn’t help myself. I looked upward, and immediately regretted it.

  “Oh,” I said, causing Rane to look up—exactly what I didn’t want.

  I knew I had to look ahead of me. I was moving far too fast to do so without watching, but I couldn’t get myself to concentrate.

  A slate gray dragon, with eyes that glowed like the devil’s, descended as if it were in a free fall, its entire weight plummeting to the ground, where it would surely crush us all to pieces. Its wings stretched so wide, they blotted out all memory of the sunshine, and all hope.

  The dragon pulled its wings to its sides, diving toward the specks of people moving across the rock, and revealed a swarm of multicolored dragons behind it. If the slate dragon failed to squash us all, there were eager backups that would take care of the job. Whichever way it happened, it spelled doom. I couldn’t fathom how Dean, Shula, or any of the others could spare us from this attack.

  I prepared to accept my death even as I continued pounding across the path. Branches and rocks tore at my flesh, but I didn’t slow. Our progress was reckless, like the true stampede of wild animals, running to escape predators.

  I regretted that I’d barely begun to lead the kind of life I had interest in living. I’d only just become a visible part of my community, and now I’d completely vanish from this world. If the Something Greater did exist, it had a wicked sense of humor.

  A sharp cracking sound rang behind me, and I wondered if the swarm of dragons was destroying the entire forest behind us. I cringed, not just because they were steps from devouring us, but because the forest was sacred to me—more so than the beasts hell bent on killing us. I’d die knowing what I loved went with me. Something about that made me snap, and fury replaced my panic. Determination to do something—anything—overcame feelings of helplessness.

  I prepared to spin on the dragons and do whatever I could. Even if it wouldn’t manage much, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. The sacred purpose of the Ooba was supposedly to protect the dragons with our lives, to give all we
had and demand nothing in return.

  Well, I was calling bull crap on that. The dragons might be amazing beasts, deserving of respect and consideration. But as to the rest of it, I didn’t believe a word that had come out of Pumpoo’s mouth. I couldn’t allow the dragons to kill us off in one swoop—I could, but I wouldn’t.

  “What can we do?” I ground out to my twin, who ran right next to me then when the path was wide enough to allow it.

  “No idea. Something.”

  His words might not have been eloquent, but I understood what his words said between heavy breaths and the urgency of the moment. Rane had my back. Whatever I decided to do, he’d stand next to me. If he decided to do it first, I’d do the same for him.

  The ground shook beneath my feet. At first, I thought I might be imagining it, the soles of my feet whisking across the rock and dirt like fluttering wings. Too soon, it became undeniable, and even Rosie, who flew without touching the ground, felt it. She looked at me, trailing behind her, so often that her flight became clumsy and dangerous.

  “It’s all right, girl,” I reassured her, knowing every one of my words was a lie.

  The ground began to shake so violently that progress was no longer feasible. I tried to keep advancing, but ran into the back of the tamer in front.

  “Stop and face!” Dean yelled.

  As a coordinated unit, the dragon forcers stopped moving and faced the swarm of dragons. Immediately, I identified the cause of the trembling. Three dragons crashed through the forest behind us, cracking and rending everything they touched.

  Dean was at the very back, closest to the three. Half a dozen more descended from above. There was no way we were getting out of there alive, and our leader would go first.

  “Alpha Team!” he yelled. “Anira and Rane. Now!”

  I wasn’t certain exactly what his command meant, I guessed at it. I prepared to link my faithum to theirs, and to Rane, who’d never accessed his own faithum, as far as I knew.