Fire.
          Everything was burning...
          No, not everything, just...
          I could hear the chanting in the air, loud and angry, a sound I knew too well.
          “Death! Death! Death! Death!”
          No... it could not be happening again. Kael... And there it was, that horrid group of masked murderers, with the small child tied to a post over fire like... some kind of sacrifice. The fire had reached his torn clothes and licked hungrily at the frayed edges of his pants. Not again, no, not again!
          “Kael!” I bolted out of my forced sleep with the cold fear gripping my chest like bands of steel. Every time... I could not escape that vision, that nightmare, even though it was all in the past. When my eyes were open, I could forget his screams and the cheers of his killers... but when I closed my eyes, I was there again, trapped in an endless loop of watching my brother die and being so helpless to stop it...
          “Sarah?” I looked up into worried eyes and had to force myself to forget again... Kael was long dead and the present was confusing enough without me having painful flashbacks.
           “I... I am all right,” I muttered, wiping the tears off my face. No dream of that was complete without tears and the fear that had never left me, the fear of losing all of my family like I had lost Kael... and now... Oh, gods above! Everything came back in a rush of hateful memories - Alay, the fight, Sadie... Emily... I had lost them all. And there was nothing I could do about it, except take in a shaky breath to calm myself before I began to cry again. This was no longer the time, nor the place, to show weakness. “I take it, then, that I passed out?” I asked, forcing every bit of pain to the back of my mind. I could deal with that later.
          “You’re back in Cassie’s barn,” said Jake. “You did pass out, but we managed to keep you from being captured.” I nodded, feeling abruptly ashamed of the position I had put them all in.
          “I... thank you,” I said quietly. “I had not expected all three of them to be there at the same time. Alay I could have handled alone... but all of them together...” I shook my head.
           asked Tobias privately. I kept myself from nodding.
          Yes... Emily and Sadie used Alay as a... channel, of sorts, and combined their powers. The fact that I am alive now can only be explained by the fact that they did not leave the fog around me long enough to suffocate me completely. Just enough to knock me unconscious... Yeerks. Yeerks with the powers of two Casters and an almost full fledged Weapon. Things could not get worse.
          “So,” said Rachel coolly. “How did you know those three?” Four Gods, of course they could get worse. I was stuck in a dimension where everyone thinks they know me and the ones who know the truth were not going to tell anyone for the sake of everyone elses’ sanity. And on top of that, I did not know how in the Five Hells I was getting home, but I came to get Alay and them and I was not leaving until I had them!
          “Rachel...” I stopped myself before I said something I was going to regret and simply shook my head. “I cannot think straight right now, much less explain those three...” Tobias... I want to go home... my home...
          < Cassie and I will take Sarah back to her house, > said Tobias to everyone. < I know, > he said privately. < But this is the best we can do for now. >
          Veraha... Jake nodded and shot a quiet look to Rachel, who looked ready to protest. She shut up quickly enough, but shot me a glare to end all glares.
          “We’ll meet again tomorrow,” he said firmly. “Here, at noon, all right?” I nodded, though I doubted I would be able to get back to the barn on my own - I also doubted I would be up before noon. So I would be a little late - I did not care. Every part of my ached horribly and I was just so... exhausted. That was what I got for trying to Cast against the powers of Emily and Sadie combined - I had lasted maybe half a minute and used up all my strength while, if it had been them in my spot, they could have held out for hours. Useless little power I had...
          “Noon,” I repeated, nodding. Tobias, by the way, where do I live?
          < We’ll show you, don’t worry, > he said to me and Cassie. < But Sarah, your foster parents are Controllers. > I was silent a moment, the sucked in a deep breath through my nose and shook my head.
          Of course, because it’s not like I do not have enough to deal with suddenly. I was going to personally throttle Emily and Sadie for being the cause of all of this. If they had not formed that damned Transgate...
          But, no, that was wrong. It was not their fault I was here - I had had every opportunity to stop and think about the situation instead of rushing in blindly like I had. This was my fault and I had to take responsibility for my actions. Then again, I could not throttle myself, so blaming Sadie and Emily gave me something to do with pent up frustration.
          “We’ll meet up again tomorrow,” said Jake, giving me an odd sidelong glance. “All of us.” I nodded slowly and brushed a stray bit of hair back over my ear. I wanted to be home, my home, but I could not... I had to retrieve my sister and the other two. That was my mission, I told myself firmly. And Weapons do not abandon missions.

Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Library Front Desk
Academy Front Desk