Dark Calling Read Online Free PDF Page A

goes about it.”
    Beranabus sighs. “You could be right, but we might never get a better shot at Juni. If she’s not expecting us, it’s the perfect
     time to strike. If she is and this is a trap, at least we can anticipate the worst. The magic in the air means she’ll be dangerous,
     but it serves us as much as her. If Lord Loss doesn’t turn up, we can match her. If he does cross, we’ll make a swift getaway.”
    “Are you sure of that?” Sharmila frowns. “If we have to open a new window…”
    “We won’t,” Beranabus says. “Kernel will stay here and guard our escape route. You’ll know if any other windows open, won’t
     you?”
    “Yes,” I say confidently.
    “Then keep this one alive and watch for signs of further activity. If you sense anything, summon us and we’ll withdraw. Is
     everyone satisfied with that?”
    Sharmila is still dubious, but she shrugs. I’m not happy either. I don’t want to stay by myself, surrounded by corpses. But
     we need to protect our only way out. Besides, I’ll be safer up here than down there. Beranabus is doing me a favor, though
     I’m sure he’s thinking only of his own well-being, not mine.
    As they make their way across the deck, I move closer to the window and pat a couple of patches back into place. Windows never
     remain stable for more than a few minutes, but I have the power to keep them open indefinitely. If demons were able to manipulate
     the lights like I can, mankind would have been wiped out long ago.
    The minutes pass with agonizing slowness. The sun is relentless and my mouth is dry. I could easily find something to drink
     but I don’t want to abandon my post. I’m sure I could open another window if this one blinks out of existence but I don’t
     want to take any chances. I’m not sure how lodestones work. Maybe Juni could use its power to slow me down.
    As I’m concentrating, trying not to obsess about the mounds of corpses around me, the smaller, unpredictable patches of light
     begin to pulse. “Not now,” I groan, but the patches ignore me. Moments later come the whispers. Faster, more urgently than
     before. I tense, expecting to find myself acting against my wishes. Maybe they’ll make me close the window or head after the
     others, to die with them in the ship’s hold.
    But nothing happens. If the lights are trying to influence me, they’re failing. Ignoring them, I focus on the window, holding
     it in place, keeping the shape.
    Something flickers to my left. I turn and see a group of the small patches click together. They swirl over and around one
     another, a mini vortex of various hues and shades of light.
    More patches are attracted to the cluster. It grows and spins faster, changing shape, pulsing rapidly. The whispers grow louder,
     become shouts. I don’t know what’s happening, but it can only be bad news. I wish the others were here, so we could abandon
     this place immediately.
    When almost all of the small lights have joined and are whirling around, they suddenly zip towards me. Yelping, I throw myself
     aside. I expect them to chase me, but then I see that I was never their target. They were aiming for the window. They slap
     into it and shimmer across the face of the white panel. As I sit up and stare, the window becomes a multi-colored rip in the
     air.
    The whispers die away. Silence falls. I stand but don’t approach the window. I study it cautiously, fearfully. The lights
     pulse rapidly, then slide towards the center, all the colors angling to the focal point, drawn to it as if by gravity.
    Then—an explosion. A ball of light bursts from the heart of the window and shoots across the ship’s swimming pool, circling
     it in a spiral pattern, like a punctured balloon careening across a room. The window resumes its white color.
    The ball circles the pool a few more times, then drifts towards the deck and comes to a halt three or four feet above it.
     The ball is rainbow-colored, about the size of a large dog,