World on Fire (Gaia Files Book 4) by R.J. Sierra

Author:R.J. Sierra [Sierra, R.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2021-03-15T16:00:00+00:00

21

No one else saw Gaia 2’s hand on the edge of the boat. Powerless as I was, dealing with her was up to me.

Leaving Ebon on the deck, I jumped up and darted over to the starboard side of the boat. As I did, a second hand joined the first.

By the time I got there, the top of her head was rising between those hands. Her eyes met mine, brimming with evil intent.

At which point, I hauled up a foot to kick her loose and brought it down hard on the fingers of her right hand. She yowled in pain, and I prepared to kick the left hand, too.

That was when the Sea Lyin’ started spinning, inexplicably.

The air filled with whirling, flashing streamers, and the water around us fell skyward as upside-down rain showers. A continuous roar of thunder blasted from all directions, nearly deafening.

Then, even as the rain fell up from the ocean’s surface, thousands of stars fell down from the sky, which was blazing with fire.

Distracted by the show, I missed my twin as she swung herself, using the boat’s spin for momentum, and flung a leg up high enough to hook over the railing. I looked back just as she was hauling herself the rest of the way over and into the boat.

Heart pounding, I grabbed hold of her arm and prepared to toss her back overboard. She fought me, oblivious to the insanity that was going on around us.

Multicolored fireworks exploded in the sky, showering the seascape with sparks that didn’t go dark when they hit the water. Weird creatures with spiny black wings and mangled, glistening faces flapped around us, shrieking over the thunder.

Gathering my strength for one last effort, I let up just enough that my surge, when it came, would surprise her. The two of us grappled in the flashing, seething light, fighting the spin of the boat as well as each other.

Just as I was ready to make my big push, everything came to a crashing halt. The Sea Lyin’ stopped spinning and dropped down hard, sending everyone tumbling out of the boat.

The fireworks, thunder, upside-down rain, and spiny black creatures disappeared all at once. For that matter, so did the ocean depths.

Shaking off the shock and sitting up, I saw that we were somewhere unknown—a black sand beach rimmed with huts built of clay, with ragged-looking thatched roofs. The clay was as gray as the mid-day sky overhead, which was blanketed with low, dark clouds.

Somehow, we had gone instantly from pitch darkness in the middle of the night to a cloudy afternoon with ample daylight.

Gaia 2 and I took in the scene with everyone else, but her reaction was much different from mine. Even as I puzzled over the nature of our whereabouts, she flung her arms wide, trying to put the local materials to use—no doubt to kill the rest of us.

But nothing happened. The black sand didn’t stir. No chunks of clay burst free of the huts and shot over to pound us.

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