Children of the Ark by Teo Xue Shen

Author:Teo Xue Shen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Epigram Books

FOURTEEN

WE SIT AND rest for twenty minutes. We retrieve our weapons and take stock of our situation. It doesn’t look good at all.

“I think we’re in the Core,” Ray says. “The place I’ve tried so hard to find but couldn’t because it was underneath the Forbidden Paths all along.”

He sounds excited. He gets up and begins exploring. Not wanting to be left behind, I follow suit.

“But what about the Pentagon…the mission?”

“This takes priority. If we haven’t found the Pentagon within half an hour in real time, ARK will assume we’re dead and send in another team of Trackers.”

For someone who’s just shaved off a couple years from his life, he seems pretty chill. I, on the other hand, am not.

“If you’re still brooding about me expending my lifespan, forget it.” He waves a hand in front of my face, easily reading my expression. “I told you. It was my choice.”

“Your life isn’t some…some currency to be spent!” I burst out. “It’s precious! If you keep using your power…then you’ll…you’ll…”

“I know what will happen better than most.”

The calmness of his tone infuriates me. I open my mouth to scream some sense into him, then pause. His eyes, damn it. He does understand. He does. And yet, he chose to use it. He chose to save my life when all I ever did was hate him for what he never did.

“I’m sorry.” I drop my gaze, my voice a ghost of my previous outburst. “I—”

“Let’s leave it at that, okay?”

“But—”

“Look, buy me a meal when we get back and call it even, all right?”

“Is your life worth a simple meal?”

He actually has the nerve to smile. “As long as you’re buying.”

I sigh, not knowing what else to say.

We’ve walked under Path after Path, each supported in its own way by the glowing blue network. He isn’t even listening to me anymore. Running ahead like a child among toys, he approaches a sphere made of tightly coiled veins. It’s probably at least five metres in diameter and looks cool to the touch. There’s no question about it. It’s that Core they’re looking for. Without warning, Ray swings his naginata at the sphere.

“Hey!”

“What?”

“Don’t just—”

“Hit it? Doesn’t matter. I can’t damage the damn thing.”

It’s true. The razor-sharp edge of his naginata glances off the veins harmlessly as though it were a plastic sword.

“Well, I mean, if you think about it, it’s holding the entire Forbidden Path network together,” I reason. “Can’t be that easy to destroy, can it?”

“Stand back.”

I know what he’s about to do. The Pentagon on his hand begins glowing, as do three diagonal lines across his face. I wince as he hoists the naginata over his shoulder and brings it down upon the sphere with all his might. Nothing. Not even a sound. It’s like the energy just vanished. Newton’s laws apparently don’t apply here. I’m not surprised. The glow fades from Ray’s sierg. He doesn’t look surprised either.

“I guess we can’t destroy it at the moment,” he muses. “Tina should have other ideas.

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