Powers of the Six by Kristal Shaff

Author:Kristal Shaff [Shaff, Kristal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-03-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

NOLAN STEPPED INTO a sea of white mist. It curled around his legs and filled his vision. Mind racing, he pushed aside one thick cloud only to have another take its place. It covered reality in a formless shroud.

He walked faster, unable to see his feet, as he searched the infernal fog. With each step, his heart jolted: Would the next step be off a cliff? Would another step equal death? Yet he pressed on, searching. The fog closed in.

Finally, in the distance, he saw a shape. With breathless excitement, Nolan ran toward it and stopped abruptly. A man towered out of the whiteness, as tall as a living monument, standing like Brim himself.

Nolan closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his hands into his sockets. When he opened them, the man was still there.

Nearly twice Nolan’s size, the man’s muscled arms crossed over a massive, plate-covered chest. His armor glistened pure gold and shimmered with hidden light. The bracers strapped to his thick arms, and the intricately decorated greaves on his legs, appeared to be gold as well. He looked down at Nolan. Tight, brown curls hung down his face, framing his square jaw. But the most unnerving feature of the man was his eyes: Where normal eye sockets should’ve been, white light shone.

Nolan swallowed. “Are you …?”

“Brim?” His voice rumbled. “No.”

“What are you?” Nolan asked in a breathless whisper.

He blinked slowly, studying Nolan with his light-filled eyes. “I would ask the same of you.”

Nolan jerked back. “Me? I’m only a human.”

“Are you?” One side of the warrior’s mouth turned up.

Despair filled Nolan. “Crows! Did I … die?”

The warrior chuckled. “You are not dead.”

Both relief and confusion flooded him. If he hadn’t died, what happened? And if this wasn’t Brim, then who—or what—was he?

Nolan gasped as realization hit him. Alec had described him: a warrior glowing with light. And Jared had given him a name. “You’re a Guardian!”

The smile left the warrior’s face. “No. Not anymore.”

The mist circled, surrounding them in a white tunnel. Steadily, it increased in speed, so much so it appeared solid and whole.

“What’s happening?” Nolan asked.

“Our time is up.”

“Time? What time?”

“You must return.”

The tunnel increased its speed like a tornado as it darkened from white to gray.

“Please. Who are you? Do you have a name?”

The warrior took a step back into the swirling tunnel. “I am Greer.”

He disappeared, and with him his light, leaving Nolan in darkness. Then faint voices pierced through it. They were familiar somehow, and grew louder and clearer.

“Any change?”

“No.”

“You can’t do anything?”

“I’ve tried,” a woman’s voice said. “There’s nothing physically wrong with him.”

Nolan gasped, filling his lungs with air. The overpowering smell of bacon surrounded him. His eyes flew open, but everything was unfocused. He closed them quickly as the blurry images swam.

A soft, warm bed hugged him. Opening his eyes again, several people stood over him, but he couldn’t see clearly enough to recognize them.

“He’s awake!”

“Thank Brim.”

Nolan opened his mouth to speak, but it was dry as wool.

“Relax, Nolan,” Alec’s familiar voice said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.