Ender, Chapter Ten
Ashley sat at the dining room table, drumming her fingers on the smooth surface. She wasn't bored, but worried and scared. Just over two hours ago, she had been giddily kissing her savior, Mitchell Donald Ralph Hughes. She had been so happy, her worries were gone, her fears replaced with happiness. Then Adam had collapsed, had a seizure, scared them all to the Nether and back, and opened eyes like Natara's. He'd been carried out of the Midsummer Festival on a stretcher, laughing like a hyena the whole time. Jason and Quentin had gone with him to the hospital.
Adam's crazy, maniacal laughter still rung in her ears.
Beside Ashley sat Lyssa, still in her party dress. She stared blankly at the wall opposite her as if it held the key to the world's secrets, and she would learn them all if she concentrated a bit harder. Mitch was pacing behind them, muttering to himself. Every once in a while, he would look up at Ashley and give her a pained smile that said, everything will be all right, I hope. His caramel eyes were full of worry. Ian stood at the stove with his back to them, violently mixing the batter for his third batch of cookies. Apparently baking calmed his nerves. Ty sat at the end of the table with an untouched glass of water. His head lay on the table on top of his arms.
After a while of waiting, worrying, and angry snickerdoodle-baking, Ashley finally heard a key turn in the lock. Jason and Quentin stumbled in, looking tired and sad. Quentin walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to change out of his suit. Jason fell into the chair beside Ty, grabbed the water glass, and downed it in one gulp. He took a snickerdoodle from the plate that held Ian's fourth batch of cookies. He was now baking a sixth batch. Ashley had no idea what they were going to do with all of the baked goods.
After a minute, Lyssa broke the silence. "How is he?" she asked Jason, who sighed and scrubbed a hand through his already messy brown hair. "Physically he's fine," he said. "Mentally…" he trailed off, looking at Mitch, who had stopped his pacing and sat down beside Ashley. "They just can't tell. He talks, but he pretty much insulted me Quentin, and Dr. McNulty and told us we were going to die soon. He said a bunch of stuff about Miners and Mystics and a black dragon, but none of it made sense. And his voice doesn't sound like it normally does; he sounds like an adult man."
"His eyes are still white, aren't they?" Ashley asked, thinking of Natara. Jason nodded glumly. "The doctors can't explain it. They tried to get a closer look, but he flipped out and wouldn't sit still. I'm not sure how it happened, but one of the nurses – Erin Aureylian, do you remember her? – she got thrown through a stone and plaster wall." He shook his head. "They had to chain him to his bed to keep him from hurting anyone else."
"They did WHAT?" Lyssa roared, jumping to her feet. "They can't chain up a person! That's – that's inhumane!"
"Lyssa, they had to do something-"Jason protested, but Lyssa had already stormed out of the room. Ashley hard her door open and slam shut again. Jason sighed again. His pale blue eyes were tired and dull. Ty looked at Jason sadly. "I'm really sorry I didn't go with you," he said quietly to his friend. "It's just…"
"I know, it's fine," said Jason, before Ty had to finish the sentence and reveal his secret. Ty nodded, his auburn hair flopping into his red eyes.
Ian collapsed into the chair beside Jason's, exhausted from all of his anger baking. He was covered in flour. "We have to figure out how –"he began, but was cut off by a series of sharp knocks on the door. There was a quick exchange of puzzled looks among the group – who would be calling at this hour? – Before Mitch got to his feet and opened the door. A young man, perhaps nineteen years old, stood on the other side. His black hair was shorn very close to his head. "I'm Ryan, Dr. McNulty's son. This is the house where Adam Dahlberg lives, right?" Mitch nodded. "Well then," he continued. "May I come in? I have to tell you something rather important."
"Um, sure," Mitch said uncertainly, backing up so as to let the boy in. Ryan walked to the table and sat in the sixth and last chair, to Ashley's left. He helped himself to a few snickerdoodles before beginning to speak.
"There was an explosion at the hospital about a half hour ago," he said. "My dad's there right now, treating the casualties." Jason, astonished, spoke first. "Casualties? What do you mean an explosion?" At the same time, Ty blurted out, "Is Adam all right?"
"By 'casualties' I mean 'people injured in a war or accident,'" said Ryan. "By 'explosion,' I mean 'explosion.'" He paused to scratch behind his ear. "As for your friend, they don't know if he's all right."
All five of them said "What do you mean?" at exactly the same time.
"I mean exactly what I say," Ryan said. "They don't know if he's all right because they don't know where he is. Adam is missing."
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An Hour Later
Bodil sat against the stone wall in the red glow of the dying fire. Everyone else – even Bacca the green dragon – was sleeping peacefully. Bodil himself couldn't sleep. He didn't know why. Something about the silence just seemed wrong.
The night itself was eerily quiet. No jungle creature stirred or made noise. Not a roar or squawk came from the trees. Not a single plant rustled in the wind, because there was no wind. The only sounds were the deep breathing of his companions and the faint crackle of burning wood and disintegrating charcoal.
Suddenly, a new, faint sound broke the unnatural silence – the quiet crunch of leaves as something heavy moved across them.
Footsteps. Human footsteps. They found us, Bodil thought desperately, his heart beating like a rabbit's. Kramer and the guards... they found us.
He acted immediately. As silently as possible, Bodil threw his blanket over the fire, smothering its light and plunging the room into shadow. He threw himself onto the hard stone floor and clamped his eyes shut, praying as hard as he could that they wouldn't be discovered.
Prayers had never really worked out for him.
The footsteps moved closer and closer, growing louder and louder. They never slowed, never wavered. Then, when they were so close that they sounded like thunder, they stopped. Bodil cracked an eye open the tiniest bit, enough to see the silhouette of a human in the doorway of the building, a black outline against a navy sky. The person uttered a strange word in a strange language that Bodil didn't understand, and suddenly the room was illuminated in purple light. The source of the light was a glowing, pulsing amethyst set in a gold amulet. The amulet hung around the neck of a boy, perhaps a year younger than Bodil. He had curly brown hair and wore a dark suit with a purple tie. He wore sunglasses, so Bodil couldn't see his eyes. Whoever he was, he wasn't sent by Kramer.
He laughed, and the sound seemed to chill Bodil's soul.
"Five Miners, fresh for the picking. Wonderful!" He said, in a voice that was too old and too deep for his body. "And here I thought it would be difficult to find one!"
He began to circle the sleeping refugees, like a big cat circling a cornered antelope. "Well let's see," the boy mused, observing the sleeping forms of Gabrielle and Louise. "I don't need a girl, or I would have taken the pretty blue-eyed one from the village." Ashley, Bodil thought frantically. He's seen Ashley. She's alive, thank God.
The boy turned his head from the girls and looked Jerome and Bodil over carefully. Bodil did his best to appear like he was sleeping. The boy passed them by, and his gaze landed on the last Miner. Bodil's best friend.
Bashur.
"Perfect!" said the boy in his strange voice. "Strong, athletic," he laughed, a chilling little chuckle that froze Bodil's heart. "He even has unique eyes. Just like me."
Bodil didn't know what was wrong with the stranger's eyes. He also didn't know how the kid knew about Bashur's mismatched irises. But when the stranger pulled a serrated knife from the pocket of his suit and began to chant, Bodil knew that he needed to act fast or his best friend could be killed before his eyes.
As the boy chanted, the purple light changed colors – green, gray, and purple flashing rhythmically throughout the room. Bodil, quiet as a cat, got up from his spot on the floor. He leapt at the boy and tackled him to the floor. The knife flew across the room and embedded itself in Jerome's backpack. The other boy's eyes flew open, and he stared at the scene in front of him – Bodil on top of the stranger. "Stay where you are!" Bodil yelled, blocking a blow from the boy. He pulled back his fist and slammed it into his opponent's face. He felt bone and cartilage shatter as the boy's nose broke.
The stranger didn't cry out when he was hit, even as blood began to flow from his nose. Instead, he laughed again and snapped his fingers. There was a flash of red, and Bodil – tall and strong from years and years of mining – was sent flying through the air as if he weighed no more than a kitten. He hit the stone wall hard and slid to the floor, groaning. The other three were awake now, staring at the stranger with a mix of hatred and terror. Gabrielle's sword, Nike, was clutched tightly in her hand.
"Interesting," said the stranger, leaning over Bodil. His nose was completely healed, and there was not a spot of blood on his person. "I've never seen a Miner who would fight when he could run away. Even your Jeb scurried away to hide in his Mines while my dragon ravaged his country."
"Meet another one!" cried a voice from behind him, and suddenly the Gabrielle's sword skewered the boy. He looked down at the blade protruding from his chest as if it were a pimple that wouldn't go away. He snapped his fingers again, and Nike disappeared, the wound closed up instantly, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.
"You stay there," He snarled at Bodil, pointing at him. His amulet glowed blue, and suddenly Bodil couldn't move. He was frozen. "Now to deal with you," the stranger said, turning to Gabrielle. A flash of red and she was sent flying. A flash of blue and she was frozen too. The boy put out his hand, and his knife flew into it. He threw it straight at Gabrielle. No, Bodil thought. He wanted to move, wanted to help, but he couldn't. And neither could Gabrielle. She couldn't move, couldn't get away, could do nothing but wait as her death flew to greet her.
But it didn't.
Bashur ran and jumped in front of the immobile Gabrielle, taking the dagger for her. He collapsed to the ground, with the blade buried up to its hilt in his shoulder. Louise ran to help him. Jerome ran at the boy with his diamond axe. He attacked the boy viciously, dealing a blow that should have decapitated him, Instead, the axe bounced off of the stranger's neck. "As if your pathetic blade could kill me," sneered the boy, pointing to Jerome's axe. It glowed orange under his fingers, and Jerome let go. The handle of his axe was red with heat, and his hands burned and blistered.
Suddenly a great iron cage appeared in the corner of the room, and Gabrielle, Jerome, Bashur, and Louise vanished and reappeared inside it. No, leave them alone, Bodil thought helplessly.
"I wasn't kidding when I said that your people are cowards," said the stranger. "At least the Miners I knew were cowards. Granted, that was two hundred years ago. Maybe things have changed." He smirked. They're about to change again."
Louise stared at him from inside the cage. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice laced with fear. Yes, tell us who you are, Bodil thought. Maybe then we can stop you.
"That depends," Said the man. "At the moment I am most associated with the name Adam."
"Who's Adam?" Jerome asked. The man smirked again. "Would you like to meet him?" The stranger fell on the floor and twitched and spasmed, then stopped. His sunglasses fell off. When he stood up, his butterscotch-gold eyes were visible. "I'm so sorry!" he suddenly cried, in a voice that fit him. The deep, adult voice was gone. "I didn't mean to! Here, I'll try to get you out!"
Adam ran to the cage that Bodil's friends were trapped in and found the door. Of course, it was locked, but that didn't stop him. He pulled at it, pushed it, and pounded at the lock with his fists. The entire time, he apologized over and over.
Bodil suddenly realized he could move. He ran over and tried to help Adam, who turned his golden gaze on the man he'd thrown into a wall two minutes earlier. He opened his mouth to speak, but his face contorted and he twitched.
Bodil gasped in horror. The boy's eyes had disappeared. They were now blank white. Behind him, Gabrielle muttered, "Natara…"
"Yes, I did possess her at one point. Her mind was fragile." Said Adam, but the strange, deep voice was back. He was no longer himself. "I have to possess people you see, for I don't have a body of my own. Right now, it's poor Adam."
He turned to Louise. "You asked me who I was. I answered in one aspect, for technically I am Adam. But my real name is Herobrine." He laughed. There was a flash of blue, and Bodil was frozen again.
"You may call me the Magister."
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U MAD BRUH? I DID THE CLIFFHANGER AGAIN AND I'M NOT SORRY!
Anyway, it's good to be back. I live in New England, and if you watch BajanCanadian you know that there's a huge snowstorm crippling the region. I get today and tomorrow off from school, so I thought, 'what a good time to update Ender!' So I did.
I hope you guys enjoyed. Also – I have decided that Ty's theme song for this story is Crush by David Archuletta. Go listen to it! It's perfect for him!
Anyways, I got to go. If you live in the northeast of North America, stay inside, stay safe, and stay warm.
Love,
Speckle
