Everyone in the cage looked astonished.
“Who are you three?” a different legionnaire asked.
“Nobody important,” Jace said. “We’re helping her. Or trying.”
“We have to get to that woman inside of Carnag,” Cole said in a hushed tone.
“Good luck,” the oldest of the legionnaires said. “We have our weapons. The monster didn’t bother to confiscate them. We tried to chisel our way out. The creature is really solid. When we finally made a little progress, it just shaped away the damage and shook us around.”
Carnag was walking again, moving through the woods, her long arms pushing trees aside like bushes. With each step, the cell swayed and the surroundings creaked.
“I may be able to help,” Liam said quietly in Cole’s ear. “I’ll have to get closer, but I should be able to open up Carnag for you, at least briefly.”
“We’ll be ready,” Cole whispered, his heart thumping.
“Where is she taking us?” Twitch asked.
“To put us with the others,” the woman said.
“What others?” Jace asked.
“That’s all she told us,” the oldest legionnaire said. “Presumably, the other people she has taken. You heard her. Carnag collects people.”
Twitch put his ear to the beam. “I think the woman is talking again. It’s pretty soft.”
“Try to catch some words,” Jace urged.
Cole drew near to Jace and used his quietest whisper. “You heard Liam?”
Jace gave a nod and put a finger to his lips. “I’d try to pry it open with my rope, but this thing is too solid.” He kicked the back wall of the cell, then winced and hobbled for a moment. He sat down by Cole, his golden rope in his hands. “Looks like we’re stuck. We’ll have to wait and see where we end up.”
Cole wondered if Carnag bought the theatrics. The giant gave no indication one way or the other.
They passed out of the woods and started across open fields. Cole looked down at a barn and a farmhouse. The buildings appeared vacant, but cattle and sheep roamed some nearby pastures.
He noticed a speck in the distance. It grew rapidly, as if heading straight for them. He nudged Jace, who looked up with a start.
By the time Carnag stopped walking and turned to confront the oncoming threat, Cole could see that it was Liam. He flew straight at Carnag, only swerving when one of those long arms reached for him.
“Get ready,” Liam said as he streaked around behind the giant, not speaking loudly, but plenty loud with the earpiece.
Carnag chased Liam in earnest now, twisting and leaping, both arms swatting. Everyone clung to the cage’s bars as best they could.
“The woman isn’t far from you,” Liam said after a series of dizzying evasive maneuvers. “Be quick! I’ll try to distract it.”
The back of the cell suddenly opened up into a tunnel that sloped inward and down. Wasting no time, Cole dashed into the opening. Jace and Twitch joined him, a step or two behind.
Carnag gave her most enraged roar yet. The overwhelming echoes came from everywhere. Staggering forward with his hands over his ears, Cole could feel the bellow as clearly as he heard it. The ragged walls of the makeshift tunnel quaked.
The tunnel wasn’t very long. Cole reached the end quickly. He was in a simple lit room. A woman sat on a fat cushioned chair. She was middle-aged, with long dark hair and a loose black dress. Her physique hinted that she sat in a chair a lot more than she exercised. Her eyes were wide with alarm as she rose to her feet.
“They’re in—” she started screaming, but Jace’s rope whipped forward and wrapped around her head at the level of her mouth several times. All she managed after that was muffled fury.
“Shut up!” Cole ordered, brandishing his Jumping Sword. “Sit down, or I’ll chop you in half!”
“I’ll do more than that!” Jace promised.
The woman dropped into the chair. Behind him, Cole noticed the tunnel close up. He, Jace, Twitch, and the woman were now trapped in a fairly small space illuminated by glowing stones.
The room lurched sideways, and Cole fell to his knees. Jace went down as well, but he kept hold of the rope. Twitch gave a little jump, fluttered his wings, and stayed on his feet. The chair slid a short distance, but the woman remained in it.
“What are you doing in here?” Cole asked.
The woman glared at him and pointed at the rope over her mouth.
“Right,” Cole said. “Call for help, and we’ll show no mercy.”
She gave a nod.
The coils of the rope loosened, sliding down to encircle her neck. Her eyes stayed on Cole. She curled her fingers at him and glowered. “How did you get in here? That was a strong act of shaping, yet I sense no active power in any of you.”
“None of your business,” Cole said. “Tell Carnag to let us go.”
She grinned and gave a smug laugh. “Let you go? Are you trying to hold me hostage? You haven’t seen Carnag mad yet. But you will.”
One wall of the cell bulged, and Mira stepped out, a tendril in her back. Up close, the semblance was uncannily lifelike. “What are you doing in here?” fake Mira asked.
“Let Mira go,” Cole said. “Let all of us go.”
“Do you see what I’ve been telling you?” the woman said. “You resist killing them, but all they want is to destroy you! To destroy me! They were strangling me! You have to fight fire with fire!”
“Stop yapping!” Jace yelled.
“Be polite!” fake Mira commanded, pointing at Jace. She glared at the woman in the chair. “Quima, I’ve told you not to pressure me to kill.”
“This Quima woman lacks full control over Carnag,” Liam said in Cole’s ear. “There’s at least some resistance.”
A tunnel opened opposite from where Cole had entered. It angled downward.
“Great,” fake Mira said. “Like it wasn’t hard enough to concentrate already.”
Mira came racing up the tunnel. She had no tendril attached to her. Cole felt pretty sure that meant she was the real thing. The tunnel closed behind her. The little room rocked steeply to the side, making everyone stumble and crouch. The room swayed the other way, then steadied.
“Who is this guy bothering me?” fake Mira asked. “He’s the best shaper I’ve come up against. Not more than I can handle. Pesky, though.”
The real Mira stormed over to the woman in the chair. “Who are you?”
“Mira,” fake Mira said, performing the introductions, “this is Quima. Quima, Mira.”
“We all need to settle down,” Quima recommended.
Fake Mira scowled. “I can’t get ahold of this guy. He’s slippery. I’m trying to unshape his flying pad, but it’s really resistant.”
“Let’s call a truce,” Mira suggested. “Miracle, tell Liam you want a truce. Tell him I want him to stop attacking so we can talk.”
Cole heard the big Carnag voice offer a truce to Liam. Almost immediately, the confined room became more stable.
“He agreed,” fake Mira said. “But the truce only lasts as long as I choose.”
“That’s how every truce works,” Jace muttered. “And it goes both ways.”
Fake Mira scowled at him. “Get that rope away from Quima. If you hurt her, I can’t be responsible for how I’ll react.”
The rope shrank to its smallest form, and Jace held it behind his back.
Fake Mira walked over to Mira. “You didn’t have to force this discussion. We would have talked soon. I just wanted to put the others with my collection first.”
“The other people you’ve taken are all imprisoned?” Cole asked.
“Would you rather I killed them?” fake Mira asked.
“Miracle, this is crazy,” Mira said. “What has Quima been telling you?”
“Quima is the one person on my side,” fake Mira said. “I didn’t collect her. She came here on purpose. She wants to be here. She wants me to be free. You want to destroy me. Who would you trust?”
&n
bsp; Mira was at a loss.
Cole jumped in. “Quima might not be your friend. She might have helped take you from Mira.”
“Then I thank her for my existence,” fake Mira said.
“You existed as part of me,” Mira said.
“Not like this,” fake Mira countered, laughing softly. “I’m whatever I want to be now.”
“And what is that?” Mira asked. “A pile of dirt and tree stumps that kidnaps people?”
“This is just the beginning,” fake Mira said. “The next step is for me to become truly free of you. Completely. Quima will help us achieve it. You’ll have to help too.”
“Dream on,” Mira said.
Fake Mira’s laugh had a menacing edge to it. “You’ll do it. Or you won’t be free either. Ever. You or your friends.”
“Mira, your shaping talent is flowing to you like never before,” Liam said, his voice soft in the earpiece. “I don’t know if it’s because you’re surrounded by your power, or some other reason, but try to keep Carnag talking.”
Mira closed her eyes and took a breath. Cole knew she was pretending to think while listening to Liam. When she opened them, she spoke calmly and earnestly. “They stole you from me. My life has been a nightmare ever since. You were with my father. You know what he put me through. Now you want to steal yourself from me too?”
Fake Mira frowned. “Do you think I like you? Do you imagine that I owe you? Do you think I’m sorry I’m free? I don’t feel like part of you, Mira. You aren’t my missing half. If I came from you, congratulations for making something wonderful. But I don’t belong to you anymore. I never will again. Until you cut all ties with me, I’ll make sure you won’t be free either.”
“Your power wants to be with you,” Liam coached Mira. “It’s the mind of this semblance that stands in the way. You have to defeat her. Don’t give up. Carnag still has the vast majority of your ability, but more escapes to you every second.”
“What will you do after you’re free from me?” Mira asked.
Fake Mira glanced at Quima. “Whatever I want.”
“Whatever you want?” Mira questioned. “Or whatever Quima tells you? You’ve been a tool for my father. How do I know you won’t just become a tool for her? Do you even know what you want?”
Fake Mira paused, glancing nervously at Quima. “I want to be me. I want to be myself.”
“You keep saying you want to be yourself,” Mira said. “Who is that?”
Fake Mira faltered. “Someone independent of you.”
“You’re my shaping power,” Mira said. “You became a self-shaping semblance. You know why we call them semblances, right? Because they resemble living things. They’re not, but they resemble them. Think of the semblances you make. They seem like they have identities. But they don’t. They’re whatever you make them.”
“I’m different!” fake Mira exclaimed. “I’m what I make myself.”
“Then why do you use my name?” Mira asked. “And why do you look like me?”
Fake Mira fell silent.
“Don’t bother her with dull questions,” Quima said. “You’re her prisoner. You’re only talking to her by her permission.”
Fake Mira held up a hand. “We’re talking so I can convince her to set me free. Mira, I look like you out of habit. It’s convenient. But I can look however I want. There are many names I could use. Carnag is one.”
“You could fake an identity,” Mira agreed. “That’s what semblances do. You can look like me or my father. You can pick up pieces of things you see and make them part of you. That doesn’t mean you’re alive. If you think about it, looking any way you want is the opposite of having an identity. You’re a complicated, powerful semblance. But you are a semblance. Semblances are extensions of the will of their creator. Unless somebody else takes control.” Mira turned her attention to Quima.
“How could anyone control Miracle?” Quima asked. “Everyone in this room only lives thanks to her generosity. I lend her advice. I give her friendship. And I think she has the right to exist. Is that a crime?”
“It is if you’re tricking her,” Mira said. “It is if you’re only trying to be the next person who steals her from me.”
“Nobody can steal me,” fake Mira said. “I make my own choices.”
“Do you?” Mira asked. “When did you choose to leave me?”
Fake Mira offered no answer. Her eyes strayed to Quima.
“When did you choose to be born, Mira?” Quima snapped.
“Yes!” fake Mira agreed. “Some choices aren’t ours to make.”
Mira gave Cole a nervous glance. The quick look told him that she was about to gamble. “When did you decide you’re better off separate from me?”
“It was . . . ,” fake Mira started, then hesitated. “It was after talking with Quima.”
“Really,” Mira said.
Fake Mira flushed. “Quima gave me good advice. I chose to take it.”
“Do you take a lot of her advice?” Mira asked.
“She’s a friend,” fake Mira said. “Like a mother. I don’t do everything she wants.”
“For example?” Mira pressed.
“She wants me to kill people who attack me,” fake Mira said. “I . . . don’t like that idea. If they can’t hurt me, I’d rather just collect them.”
“You got that from me,” Mira said. “I hate the idea of killing anything. Even bugs. But I did have lots of collections. Before I left the palace.”
“I know everything about you,” fake Mira said. “I don’t need reminders.”
“You’re letting an enemy exploit you,” Mira said. “She’s manipulating you.”
“Quima wants me free,” fake Mira said. “You want me trapped.”
“If I die, so do you,” Mira said. “We’re fundamentally linked. How can Quima change that?”
“You have to be willing to let me go,” fake Mira said. “Then she’ll use her shapecraft to separate us permanently.”
“What’s shapecraft?” Mira asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Me neither,” Liam inserted.
“One of many things you don’t know,” fake Mira said condescendingly. “Shapecraft is to shaping as shaping is to everything else.”
Mira looked somber. “Quima can mess with the shaping power itself?”
“Exactly,” fake Mira replied.
“Which means she can mess with you,” Mira said.
“I would never—” Quima began, but fake Mira held up her hand.
“She can free me from you,” fake Mira said. “That’s all she wants.”
Mira emphasized her next words. “What if she just wants you free from me so she can take control of you?”
Cole thought Quima looked like she was trying to act unflustered.
Fake Mira glanced at Quima with a hint of suspicion.
“You’re on to something,” Liam encouraged. “Keep going.”
“Hmmm,” Mira continued. “Why would Quima care about helping pure shaping power find freedom as a semblance? It isn’t her power. She would have no reason to feel attached. Why mother it? Guide it? What would be in it for her? Not much. Unless the goal was to trick it. Maybe she was partners with whoever stole it in the first place. Maybe the whole plan was for her to take control of it.”
Fake Mira stepped close to Mira and put a hand on her shoulder. “Drop it. If it’s a trick, it worked. I’d rather be with her than with you. My choice will never change. I don’t care if you think I have no identity. I’m content with who I am. So is Quima. If you refuse to set me free, I’ll do whatever it takes to change your mind. Stop clinging to me. I’m not yours anymore. Let me go.”
Cole could tell that the conversation was unraveling and that it wasn’t going to go their way. What was their next move? How could they fight something so huge?
“Quima holds the reins,” Liam said, his voice urgent and hushed. “She has Carnag’s mind. But the substance of Carnag belongs to you, Mira. At some level, she
knows that. You keep soaking up energy.”
“You get that Quima could have shaped you to feel this way,” Mira said, her tone resigned to failure. “You get that you’re probably only feeling what she planted with her shapecraft. You’re not making choices. You’re reacting as designed. She probably started molding you the second you were on your own.”
“Enough,” Quima said. “Don’t be selfish. I can end this right now. Give me your permission, and I will free you and Miracle from each other.”
“I’ll die first,” Mira insisted.
Mira’s fake father stepped out of the wall behind Jace and held a knife to his throat. “She doesn’t worry about herself,” the tethered semblance said. “How much do you care about your friends, Mira? Those abilities you lost haven’t belonged to you for most of your life. Let them go, and you and your friends will live.”
“What about not killing?” Mira cried.
“I never had enough motivation to take a life,” fake Mira said. “You told me I inherited that trait from you. I may have been wrong to resist Quima on that point. My hesitation must have been you talking. Fortunately, I have the power to change.”
“Don’t give in,” Jace said.
“If she doesn’t, you’ll die, and I’ll move on to the next one,” her fake father said. “It won’t end with your friends, Mira. One by one, innocent after innocent, we’ll apply the needed pressure. You have until I reach five. One.”
“I can’t open up Carnag,” Liam said. “I’m trying to tunnel in, but she won’t let me.”
“Two.”
“How did she improve so fast?” Liam lamented. “I can’t even make a dent now. She adapts so quickly!”
“Three.”
Cole didn’t know what to do. If he attacked the semblance of Mira’s father, the fake king might slash Jace’s throat immediately. Who knew how else Carnag might attack? After all, they were inside of it.
“Four.”
“You want to hurt my friends?” Mira asked. “You want to cross that line? You asked for it.”
She pointed at the tendril tethering her fake father to the wall. Part of the tendril disappeared, and her fake father immediately dissolved, sword and all.
Mira extended her palm and a tunnel opened straight to the outside. “Jump!” Mira yelled.