Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Suddenly, the air becomes buoyant, liftin’ me up. Makin’ me float. I can no longer right myself. I spin, helpless, in a sea of spark.
Then—the first one hits me. The jolt of electric current penetrates my soul, jerking my body through the mist, like a toy boat floatin’ on a ragin’ sea.
Clara! I call again—but it’s still silent, because there’s no air left in my lungs.
But she’s not here. And I want to panic about that, but there’s no time because the arcs of spark keep hittin’ me. One, after the other, after the other.
Everythin’ burns.
I’m screamin’.
Clueless as to what the actual fuck is happenin’.
Helpless to stop it.
I… surrender.
But still, I beg.
Clara…
Because I have a plan, just get me out of here! Give me a chance to save us!
A great sonic boom pulls my body into millions of parts. Splits my mind into billions of pieces. Renders me nothin’ but darkness.
But still, I float.
Everythin’ silent now.
Mist, all around me.
And the women.
Maidens, I realize.
Like them, I am empty. Only here, only manifest, by an outline of glowing, blue spark. Inside me, there is nothing but black.
What do you want!
I scream it, but it comes out as silence.
What do you want! I try again. Because that’s all I can do. It’s either keep goin’ or give up. And I will not give up. Not without Clara by my side.
This time, I hear a voice…
A woman floats out in front of the rest. And for some reason, I think I know her.
She smiles at me, reaching for me.
I pull away, but it does no good. I’m floatin’, so all this movement does is make me spin.
An arc of lightning stops me. Stills me. Rights me. And then we’re face to face.
Me, and her.
She’s reaching out for me, offering a hand. And when I look past her, I see that there’s a woman behind her, reaching for her. And behind her, reaching as well.
My eyes follow the long line of Spark Maidens, all holding hands to form a chain. And at the end of the chain, when I look past this realm, this place—I see through the worlds and find… the Source.
The crystals we found in that cave.
I blink. Look down at myself. Fightin’ like crazy—but still losin’. I can already see how it ends.
“There’s something really wrong with me now,” I tell the woman who’s reaching for me.
She smiles, and for the first time, she speaks. “Clara…”
I want to stop this now. I want to stop the ride and get off. Because this name comin’ from this Spark Spirit’s mouth, kills me.
“I need her,” I say. “Or we’re both gonna die.”
The woman just shakes her head, then she lifts up a finger, spark flashin’ out of it like glowin’ blue static, and touches me on the arm.
Burning pain sears my skin. I want to scream, but I have no breath to do it. When she withdraws her finger, the pain lingers, but slowly, as this pain dissipates, a mark appears.
A symbol.
One that looks very familiar because I’ve seen it, burned into the body of my love when she lights up for me at night.
I look up at the women. “What is—"
But that’s as far as I get, because they’re all around me now. Millions of them. Billions of them. All tryin’ to touch me.
All tryin’ to leave their marks burned into my skin
The pain is so intense, I just blink out.
Floatin’, floatin’, floatin’.
But… also… pretty fuckin’ full too.
My eyes snap open and I’m me again. There’s one small moment between mutant attacks, and I use this moment to look up, trying to find the mist. Trying to validate the spark.
I’m stronger, I can keep going now, I know it was real.
I also know something else—something they didn’t explain, but implied.
This is not mine.
This spark belongs to them.
It’s a debt I accept. I can deal with paybacks later.
Right now, I just need to live.
After that, I need to win.
And I do not have enough.
It’s just not enough.
“Clara,” I beg, lookin’ down at my right hand—trying, trying, trying to make it work. “Please, please, please…”
And then the next attack hits, stealing my happy ending.
41 - JASINA
And now… it’s my turn to save you.
I wake with words on my lips.
Blue butterflies swirl around me, gently brushing powder against my skin with their flutter wings.
The God’s Tower Stage is to my left, the Maiden Tower to my right, and directly in front of me is the God’s Tower Waterfall. This is the source of the canal. I am eight years old and it has been months since Imogen Gibson walked through the God’s Tower Doors. Long enough for people to forget about her.
There is a special gala tonight and Auntie invited me so I could mingle with the up-city children. “If you could manage to fit in,” she’d said, “you could be one of them. I could bring you up here, educate you in the ways of the rich, and you could mount the Rebellion from a place of privilege.”