Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (13 page)

He felt the sand suddenly moving under his feet and realized he was being dragged when he came to a stop at a coral ridge that sloped up to an incredible height. The number of fish that hovered over and around the coral was staggering, and their numbers seemed to increase with each passing second.

They swam down and swarmed about him in a maelstrom for several seconds before breaking away. That’s when he saw her.

He could barely see her face until her hair parted to reveal a pair of eyes above a button sized nose. She slowly emerged from the coral and was hesitant to come any closer. She smiled, and then turned away in embarrassment. She looked back to raise a hand to her chest and spoke in a voice that sounded like a distant whisper. “Just breathe.”

He nodded and took in a deep breath as air filled his lungs. He continued, feeling more invigorated with each breath. The girl smiled encouragingly and motioned for him to continue. He raised a hand and beckoned her to come closer. She smiled sweetly and took a hesitant step forward, then froze as panic spread across her face.

“Breathe,” she whispered and made a sweeping motion from her belly to her mouth.

Breeze nodded and mimicked her, sweeping his hands up to his face when he stopped and stared at them. Then he touched his face.

The girl shook her head vigorously while motioning to him to continue breathing. He wanted to obey her, but he couldn’t stop touching his face. Then it dawned upon him that he was no longer wearing his mask and snorkel. He became even more disturbed at the fact he was communicating with a girl underwater. He didn’t know how he could breathe, let alone hear her voice. He opened his mouth to speak and took in a lungful of saltwater.

The girl rushed to him, and then threw her hands up as he was immediately enveloped in a cloud of bubbles that rocketed him to the surface.

He broke through and took in a lungful of air as he choked and hacked. He flailed around until he regained his senses and was able to tread water. He reached up to touch his face and felt the mask. He tore it off to examine it, stunned as to how it could have reappeared. He looked up and saw the sun had dropped to the horizon and the light was fading fast.

He realized he was drifting out into the ocean and began swimming back with an awkward doggy paddle, all the while wondering how he could have dived so deep with such little swimming experience. As he approached the rock island in the middle of the cove, he saw Sally and Ray frantically running up and down its edge. Ray then dove into the water and resurfaced several seconds later, then dove back down again while Sally anxiously peered over the edge and shouted his name.

Breeze began to wave and yell.

She saw him and waved back, then yelled at Ray and pointed as soon as he surfaced. He turned to look at Breeze and shook his head in disgust.

When Breeze arrived at the shoreline, Sally and Ray were there to meet him and bombarded him with questions before he could even get out of the water.

“Where were you? Have you been swimming this whole time? Do you have any idea how late it is? We’ve been looking for you!” Sally was in a rage, as she went from relief upon seeing him to outright anger.

Breeze crawled out of the water and stood up. “You wouldn’t believe it! I dove and saw a girl down there!” He told them of his encounter.

Sally’s anger subsided as she listened intently, but Ray held up a hand and cut him off.

“You’re insane. No one can dive that deep and hold their breath for that long. And now you’re saying a girl was talking to you while underwater? Right, and while you’re at it, you can also tell us an even bigger lie about how you’ve got some girl waiting for you at home. Listen, desert boy, you put a real fright into Sally, and I don’t appreciate it. She had me running around like a moron looking for you.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her away. “Come on, it’s getting late and we need to head back.”

Sally protested. “Ray, I saw someone earlier on the shoreline. I—”

“Probably just personnel who work here. Let’s go,” he said and together they waded into the water and began swimming. Sally stopped to look at Breeze with eyes that seemed to convey she could relate to him about what he experienced, but it was for a fleeting moment as she turned away to continue swimming.

Breeze stood and watched as they arrived at the shoreline of the cove and stepped into the cluster of palms where they grabbed their towels and shoes. They then headed into the mangrove forest along the footpath that led to the dormitories.

He wanted to be mad at Ray for being cruel to him, but he couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling of enchantment from his encounter with the girl.

The sun was succumbing to the horizon, and he had the urge to fly. He didn’t want to swim in the dark. He stood straight up with his hands along his sides. He closed his eyes and began breathing deeply. He raised his arms and expected to feel the rush of air over his face signaling he had lifted off the ground. Nothing happened.

He groaned as he stared at the surface of the cove. He knew he wasn’t a very good swimmer and he didn’t like the idea of trying to swim across it at night but he had no choice. He scrambled along the rocky shoreline and waded into the water. As soon as he stepped in, a feeling of calm swept over him. He paddled his way back and was stunned at how quickly he made it to the beach. It was almost as if the water had carried him across like a cloud floating across the sky.

He gathered his belongings while wishing he had a towel to dry off with. He stepped onto the footpath in the looming darkness as fear crept into him, only to dissipate as soft glowing orbs of light appeared and illuminated the path. He headed to the dormitories after taking one last look at the cove.

On the far side of the cove, Oslo emerged from the mangrove forest and watched Breeze disappear down the path when he spoke out. “We have been watching them this whole time, and yet you’ve said nothing to me. Do you have any thoughts on what has transpired?”

A woman in a white flowing dress emerged from the palm forest and stood beside him. She stroked her hair as she spoke. “They have managed to not fight amongst themselves. At least not physically.”

Oslo snorted. “After all you have seen, that is the only pearl of wisdom you have to offer?”

She continued stroking her hair, pulling harder with each pass of her hand. “The girl seems to be smitten with Breeze. I wonder why, as there is nothing much to him. A simpleton really.”

“I disagree. With the right training, he could become a valuable asset to the team. I see great potential,” Oslo countered.

The woman sighed. “Potential, yes. But time is of the essence for what you wish to accomplish and there is not enough of it to sufficiently develop and refine him. What you require are assets that are ready and able to perform now. Relieve yourself of the boy. Send him back. Better yet, send them all back.”

Oslo shook his head. “Kera, I need all the help, or assets, as you put it, that I can get. Besides, there is nothing to send them back to.”

Kera stopped stroking her hair and turned to stare at him. “You haven’t called me that name in so long. You must be more serious than I had anticipated. Excort is quite right. You have gone mad.”

Oslo arched an eyebrow. “And since when did you and that angry dwarf ever start speaking to each other again?”

“Ever since-,” she paused. “Ever since you came back and re-opened the base—”

“It’s a school now,” Oslo interrupted.

“You can call this island what you want Oslo, but the history of Perihelion cannot be erased. Sooner or later they will know. They will find out. The truth has a nasty habit of bubbling to the surface, no matter how hard you try to smother it. You see yourself as their savior but did it ever occur to you they wouldn’t want to be saved? Send them back now so they can be with their families and perish together.”

Oslo leaned down to look her in the eye. “You speak about truth and revelations. Are your ready to reveal yourself to them?”

“In due time. Oslo, you will not be able to get them to do what you want unless they know everything. The world as they know it is real to them. They are not aware of the past. Perhaps it’s for the best. The glorious yesteryears you often talk about, the ones that you wish to revive, cannot be brought back. It’s over. Those above control this world. They won. All we can do is mitigate the damage and survive as best as we can.”

“No!” Oslo roared at her.

Kera shrank back. She had never seen him this angry.

He waved his hand. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I refuse to give up. Ever.”

“Then begin their training, but understand what you are getting yourself into. There is still time to end this madness and send them home. You decide. I’m here for you. Always.” She touched his arm and looked into his eyes. Her eyes always captivated him. Without another word, she turned and glided back into the mangroves.

Oslo was alone in the dark as the creatures of the forest began to stir. This always happened after Kera left; wildlife would lay still and quiet whenever she was present.

He looked across the cove in a trance. In his mind, the scenery began to change. He found himself standing on a hilltop overlooking the island. Night turned into day. Huge white clouds filled a brilliant blue sky as a squadron of fighter craft flew overhead in tight formation. He heard the sound of a ship’s horn. Down in the harbor a destroyer was approaching the docks, her entire complement of sailors standing proudly on deck as hover tugs labored to push the vessel into berth.

He heard a deep rumble from above and looked up. A cruiser descended from the sky and approached the landing facility. She hovered over the tarmac for a moment, and then landed like a feather. Her belly opened and an automated ramp rushed up to meet her as soldiers poured out of the ship and marched toward their barracks.

Oslo blinked rapidly and the vision was gone. He shook his head ruefully and headed into the mangrove forest.

Later that evening, Oslo was sitting at his desk and staring at the sailor man lamp. The sailor held his eternal grip on the helm and seemed to peer into the murky future. Oslo looked into the shadows that lay beyond the reach of the lamp’s light. “I wish you could tell me what you see,” he said to the lamp, then chuckled, realizing how absurd he sounded.

THE MORNING SUN BARELY
rose above the horizon when everyone in the dormitory was awakened to the wail of a siren. It started off with a low moaning sound that gradually rose to a high pitched crescendo before settling down to a warble.

Breeze woke up as his bleary eyes tried to focus in an unfamiliar room as he recalled a strange dream about his home. He was standing on a mountain ridge that loomed over his hometown of Conception when he suddenly stepped over the edge and plummeted. He felt a moment of panic that was arrested by the sensation of weightlessness as he floated like a feather. He stretched out his arms and flew gracefully over the city as its lights bathed him in an angelic glow. He loved being in the sky and gazing down over the landscape that seemed to stretch forever into the horizon. He would try to figure out what street or hilltop he was flying over as he constantly tested his navigational skills. He looked down at the nav-compass on his wrist, but it was missing.

His flying became choppy and he plummeted to the ground. He scratched and clawed at the air but it was futile. A feeling of sheer terror drowned him as the earth drew closer. He heard a loud wailing sound from behind and turned to look. He caught a glimpse of his home just before a flash of brilliant white light engulfed it. He woke up.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to make sense of it but the unfamiliar surroundings of his dorm room didn’t help him. The wailing siren was becoming tiresome and he couldn’t figure out if he was still dreaming or if this was an alarm he should be concerned about.

He rolled out of bed and almost stumbled as the sheets stuck to his legs. The humidity was something he wasn’t used to. Living in the desert all of his life he was accustomed to the dry air. Here, it was thick and almost impossible to breathe.

He headed to the balcony and grimaced as his bare feet stepped across the cold stone floor. He looked out across the bay and felt the warm gusts of air blowing across it. Off in the distance he could see a lighthouse, its rotating light gradually fading from the encroaching rays of the sun. He began counting how many seconds elapsed between each flash of light, which made his dream drift back to the forefront of his mind as he recalled the sheer terror of falling. It frustrated him that he was in control of his flight one minute, and then as if a switch had been flipped, he was heading into the ground. It also reminded him how the dream ended with his home being swallowed by a burst of brilliant white light. He shook his head. None of it made much sense.

He heard a commotion outside his front door. He headed over and flung it open.

Excort was walking down the breezeway carrying packages under one arm while knocking on each door with the other. He knocked on Ray’s and shouted “package!” before dropping it on the floor. He did the same with Sally’s.

Breeze grinned as the dwarf approached him. Excort dropped the package at his feet and reached over to knock on the open door.

Breeze grinned. “Let me guess—”,

“Package!” Excort shouted at him, and then walked to the end of the breezeway and down the steps.

Breeze was beginning to wonder why he even came here as he stooped to pick up the box when

Sally’s door opened slowly, and she peeked out from behind it with hair that was a rumpled mess. She clutched her robe with one hand while reaching down to grab the package with the other.

“Good morning!” Breeze announced cheerfully.

Sally looked at him with disgust as she angrily snatched the package and slammed the door shut. Breeze sighed and stepped back into his room.

He just couldn’t figure out Sally. She could be incredibly friendly with him one minute then suddenly go cold the next. And it didn’t help that Ray was always around her. Though she never said he was her boyfriend, he acted as if they were a couple. Whenever he showed up she became a different person.

He shuffled back to his bed and touched a glowing stone on the wall. The room was immediately bathed in a soft white light. He opened his package and spread its contents across the bed. It contained a shirt, jacket, pants, boots and a utility belt.

A voice crackled over the intercom system followed by several seconds of static. Eventually, someone spoke.

“Is this thing on? Are we broadcasting?” It sounded like Oslo, but Breeze wasn’t sure.

More hisses erupted over the intercom followed by a finger tapping on a microphone. Then, a voice spoke clearly.

“Ladies and gentleman, um…students, please wake up and look outside your doors. You will find a package containing your new uniforms. Please don them and assemble in the Training Auditorium in one hour. Thank you.”

Breeze held up his jacket and noted how it had a rugged military look to it. He got dressed and admired himself in the reflection of the balcony glass door when he was startled by a scream from Sally’s room.

He rushed out into the breezeway where he ran into Ray who was also in uniform. They hesitated and looked at each other for a moment, then raced to Sally’s door.

The door flung open just as Breeze was about to knock as Sally stepped out clutching her uniform with trembling hands while still dressed in her robe. The look on her face was that of abject horror as she spoke in a quavering voice.

“The colors, the materials, the stitching…,” her voice trailed off as she shook her head at the garments.

“I rather like them. It’s a great looking uniform,” Breeze said as he adjusted his jacket.

Sally glowered at him for what seemed like an eternity. When she finally responded, it was in a low and menacing voice. “
They’re hideous
.” And she slammed the door in their faces.

They could hear her yell and scream as they stood in the breezeway dumbfounded by her behavior when the door opened a crack and she poked her head out. “Ray, do something about this!” she hissed at him.

“Well, like what?” his face was a blank slate.

“Useless!” she shouted and slammed the door.

“Does she always get like this?” Breeze said.

Ray threw his hands up and sighed.

They stepped over to the railing and gazed at the ocean in the distance. A mountainous avalanche of brilliant white clouds were rolling toward the island with their underbellies scorched red from the rising sun.

Sally’s door whipped open. She stepped out in her uniform with the jacket unzipped, the sleeves pulled back, and the pant legs rolled up to just below the knee.

“What is Oslo thinking with these uniforms? Is he seriously kidding? Is there any sense of style around here?” Her hands were on her hips as she glared at them.

Ray spoke up. “Sally, these are just for training—”

“Of course!” she said as a hand flew up, then turned with a huff and marched down the breezeway.

They watched her walk away, and then turned to each other. Breeze started to speak, but Ray cut him off. “Yes, she can be this way,” he said and turned to follow her.

Breeze shrugged and fell in line behind him.

They made their way down a maze of corridors to the Training Auditorium several floors below. The only guide they had were stones embedded in the floor that glowed a lime green and provided them a path to follow. They wound their way down several stairwells as every elevator they encountered was either broken or malfunctioning.

“I think I’ve had enough training with all of this walking. I’m sweating and I want to go back,” Sally said.

The guys said nothing and continued on.

She then sighed loudly hoping to get Ray’s attention. He didn’t respond which only served to annoy her more.

They reached the end of the last set of stairs and stepped into a narrow corridor. The air grew heavy and dank the further they went and the lime green stones faded quickly with each step they took.

Ray was in front with Breeze trailing behind Sally when he stopped to touch the walls of the corridor. The limestone felt cool to his fingers, and then warmed up instantly. He pulled his hand back and was stunned to see an imprint of it glowing on the wall. He touched it again when the lime green stones in the floor pulsated and turned blue, then a violet hue.

“Breeze!” Sally called out as she stood at the end of the corridor glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

He looked at her and had to admit he was having a tough time dealing with her beauty. He also had an even tougher time coming to terms that she wasn’t interested in him.

The floor glowed a solid red, and he didn’t need any more hints that it was time to move. He trotted down the narrow corridor and grinned at Sally as he approached her. She turned her back to him.

Ray touched a pulsating outline of a door on the wall, and it slid up. They hesitated, and then stepped into a circular room with curved walls made of stone and a dome whose peak was just a few feet above their heads. The entire space seemed as if it could hold no more than ten people.

The panel door slid closed and faded away when the dome began to glow with a golden hue. They squirmed restlessly and tugged at their uniforms as they waited for Oslo. It was no surprise that Sally complained first.

“Are we being trained to be patient, or bored?” she said when a section of curved wall faded and Oslo stepped in. Behind him was a long and narrow corridor much like the one they walked through. The wall quickly reappeared and sealed off the entrance.

“Welcome class to your first training session. How are we this morning?” Oslo asked.

Sally immediately spoke up. “Has a woman ever worn these uniforms? They have such a horrible fit. And the style?” Her hands went up and down the uniform to emphasize her point.

Oslo stared at her blankly, and then cleared his throat before speaking. “Class, today we are going to perform a basic demonstration of your skills. I want the three of you to have a general idea of what your fellow students are capable of. Breeze, you begin.”

If there was one thing Breeze hated it was to be called on in class. He would always break out in a cold sweat. He was used to blending into the background than being the subject of attention and it was one of the reasons he was always skipping school back home.

He stepped into the center of the domed room and the curved walls immediately began to slide away from the center and expand the diameter of the room. The gold tinted light faded away to pitch black.

He stood in darkness for a moment, then he was instantly bathed in a shaft of light that emanated from the peak of the dome. He could barely see Oslo when he spoke to him from beyond the glare.

“Begin your demonstration,” the old man said.

“Well, um, I’m a flier. I suppose I could just hover…here…in the center of the room?”

“That would be a good start,” Oslo replied from the darkness.

Breeze shrugged and closed his eyes, then stretched his arms and took in deep breaths.

Ray snickered and Sally giggled.

He whirled around. “Shut up! I need to concentrate!” He shouted in the direction of their laughter as he couldn’t see them.

The giggling stopped, but his nerves were rattled. He never had much confidence in his abilities and performing on command was almost impossible for him.

He resumed his routine. Moments later, when he felt light as a feather, he opened his eyes and saw he was hovering a few feet off the ground.

He floated up and the domed ceiling expanded above him. The brilliant white light faded into a more natural glow. The training room disappeared, and suddenly he was in the wide open desert. The sky was a brilliant blue with a mountain range in the distance.

His confidence soared as he began to carve out a simple circular pattern in the sky. He glanced down and saw the others watching him from the desert floor.

The sight of Sally only encouraged his desire to show off. He gave up the circular pattern he was making and flew up as high as he could go. He stopped, hovered for a second or two, then raced back down to swoop over them

Letting out a whoop of joy as they ducked, he accelerated up to repeat his performance when a black streak ripped past him and the turbulence from its wake threw him into a deadly spin. He struggled to regain control as he plummeted and eventually pulled himself out of his death spiral. He angled up to gain altitude when a bolt of lightning struck him. Stunned, he fell from the sky and impacted the ground hard.

He laid there as the desert faded away and the dome reappeared. The shaft of brilliant white light returned to shine upon him. He looked about and saw that he was lying at the bottom of a shallow pit. He sat up when he felt the ground rising and stopped when it was level with the dome’s floor. He got to his feet puzzled as to what just happened. The walls returned to their gold tinted glow, letting him see Ray and Sally staring at him in stunned silence.

A booming voice spoke. “Well, what started off as a mediocre demonstration ended in failure. What went wrong?” Oslo demanded as he stepped out of the shadows.

“What kind of place is this?” Breeze said.

“Never mind that. We need to discuss your skills. Or lack of them. What transpired up there?”

Breeze shrugged. “I seemed to be doing pretty good until something streaked past me. The turbulence from it was like getting hit by a hover truck at full speed.”

“So that’s it then? One little distraction and you lose all control?”

“Distraction? That thing almost killed me!” Breeze shouted.

Oslo held up a hand. “First, nothing here will kill you. At least I don’t think so.” He looked around for a moment, then resumed. “Second, concentration is the key to everything you do in this life. Stay focused and cease your thinking over matters that do not pertain to the task at hand.”

“I was focused. Completely.”

“Really?” Oslo turned to look at Sally.

Breeze’s face flamed a beet red, and it felt as if his skin was on fire. He knew he wasn’t as proficient as the others, but now Oslo had to embarrass him. He shuffled away from the center of the dome and stood apart from Sally and Ray.

Oslo addressed Sally. “Ms. Trumbull, step into the center and let us receive a demonstration from you.”

Sally proudly stepped forward and with one hand on her hip she casually looked over her shoulder at Oslo. “What exactly do you want me to do?” she said.