Whisper (Whisper #1)(89)
We’re en route to the door, when Keeda, struggling with my weight, gasps out, “I don’t get it. Kael told me you’re a Creator — you could have wiped the floor with them.”
I can barely raise my head right now, and I tell her as much. In case my slurred words aren’t proof enough, I also point out the Karoel walls and how they’re dampening my abilities and making it even more difficult for me to Speak — making it impossible, in fact, given my current state.
“No rock has that kind of power,” she pants.
I trip over my own feet, again almost bringing us both to the ground.
She grunts, “Karoel’s not real, Jane — Lyss — whatever I’m supposed to call you.” She’s now practically dragging me along. “Ward was meant to tell you that after the first week of training. The limitations of its so-called effects are all in your head. It’s just a training tool, a way to help new Speakers learn control. It makes you think you can’t do something, and like everything to do with Speaking, what you think, you imagine, and what you imagine, in your case you create.”
Disbelief floods through me. Confusion, too. “I don’t — I don’t understand.”
“The human mind is easily manipulated,” she says, panting louder now. “If you believe Karoel is suppressing your power, then automatically you’re the one suppressing your own power. Whatever you felt was imagined.”
“I don’t — I — Wait, if Karoel’s not real, then what is that?” I throw my free hand toward the walls, barely able to raise it high enough for her to see where I’m pointing.
She shrugs and almost drops me in the process. “Some kind of mineral. Onyx, I think.”
“So, you’re saying —”
“I know you’re weak and exhausted,” she acknowledges, “but right now that’s your only limitation, not a rock with fake magical powers.”
I can’t believe what she’s telling me. But it makes more sense than the alternative I’ve never thought to question.
With another grunt of effort, Keeda continues, “You need to tap into whatever strength you’ve got left, because —” She looks back over our shoulders and curses quietly. Her voice is urgent as she finishes, “Because we could really use your ability right now, or else we’re both screwed.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
A shout comes from behind me, harsh and guttural.
“Stop them!”
The words are Manning’s, and the power behind them raises the hairs on the back of my neck.
Keeda swings us both around just in time to see the Exodus recruits leap into motion. They charge at us, and she pushes me roughly away before running fearlessly toward them. Helplessly weak, I teeter until I collapse onto the ground, where I can only watch as she attacks the other Speakers with both her body and her hypnotic words, keeping them from getting to me. But it’s ten against one, twelve if Vanik and Manning are included. And since Manning is now bending over Vanik and trying to wake him, it won’t be long until the two of them jump into the fray, as well.
The room is filled with a cacophony of voices and bursts of light as Speakers throw words — and fists — around like javelins. I don’t know what most of them are able to do, but even just watching Crew aim his slaying words in Keeda’s direction, accidentally slicing other Speakers in the process, is enough to force me to rally. I draw my feet under me, only just managing to stand.
I try to think of something I can do to help, but my thoughts are scattered and disjointed — I can hardly hold an image together, let alone attempt to create it into being. I struggle to remember anything I’ve learned in my training with Ward that would help in this situation. Haystacks, alpine villages, paintballs and petting zoos — none of those can help us. I could create some ferocious animal, but it would be just as likely to injure Keeda and me as anyone else, and despite the fight they’re putting up, the recruits are innocent. I don’t want anyone getting hurt — not because of me.
Useless, I stare in horror at the battle taking place. Pandora told me that if I found myself in trouble, I should be creative with my ability. Ward repeatedly tells me to use my imagination. There has to be something I can do.
I press a hand to my throbbing head and will my thoughts to clear enough to form a solid idea. Or any idea.
“Got you!” cries a voice from behind me, and two semitransparent arms wrap around my midsection.
I cry out in pain when the arms tighten, placing pressure against the wounds on my back.
“I’ve got her!” Sneak yells out again.
In his nearly invisible state, he must have been able to slip past Keeda’s notice, and he’s right — he does have me. But not for long. Because without the Karoel’s fake suppression, this is something I can summon enough intent for, if little else.
“Release me!” I say, and even though my voice is but a breath of agony, I still manage to infuse my command with enough power for light to flash and his arms to let me go. I turn around as fast as I can on my wobbly legs and look in his blurry direction, following that order with another: “Leave. Now.”
It’s only when I see his barely visible body take off that I realize I should have asked him to send help. But before I can call after him, Cami lunges for me, having detached from the group of Speakers surrounding Keeda.