Noise.
That was the first thing I noticed as the silver glow of eather faded, revealing that I stood among a small, sun-dappled cluster of four or five trees. So much noise came from every direction. What sounded like trumpets blared almost continuously, interrupting the shouts and voices coming from every direction—voices that seemed to grow louder, get closer, and then quickly fade away.
And the smell? That burnt-oil scent had increased, mixing with a damp, fishy aroma and something that reminded me of the cramped streets and crowded homes near the Rise in Masadonia.
My heart thumped as the voices grew closer, but they sounded strange. “… a flow of ash, rock, and gas that can move upward of four hundred miles per hour. There’s no escaping an eruption of this magnitude. It’s…” The voice choked, and then a throat cleared. “It’s devastation on a scale we haven’t seen in…”
I turned toward the voice, spying the shadow of someone walking quickly past the trees. I couldn’t place the accent and its sharp, quick speech pattern.
“…the loss of life will be significant.” Another voice reached me, this time feminine, and it came from behind me.
“How could there be no warning?” someone else questioned from my left. The way the man had saidwarning, it was like he’d dropped ther. “No signs?”
Although I had no idea what event these people were speaking of, it had to be what I’d felt.
Throat dry, I walked from the grouping of trees—
And jerked to a halt, my eyes widening and lips parting. I couldn’t process what I was seeing. Absolutely none of it made sense.
My body flashed hot and then cold as I stared past a neatly trimmed lawn filled with people scattered about, some alone and others in small groups. None of them wore anything Irecognized. Gone were the graceful or even drab gowns I was familiar with. Women here wore odd, snug trousers made of some sort of strange blue material or tight skirts that skimmed the knees, exposing what many would consider a scandalous length of leg. Men seemed to favor shirts with peculiar insignias rather than fitted tunics or waistcoats. Some of the breeches were short—really, daringly short—no matter the sex. Some blouses didn’t even cover the wearer’s stomach and appeared more like a corset sheared in half. The footwear was also puzzling. Their shoes were either pointy and heeled or flat and brightly colored.
The strangeness didn’t end there. I saw hair the color of the sky and other unnatural shades. Many had tiny, often white objects in their ears, and nearly everyone held a rectangular object in their hands that they either stared down at or spoke into.
Those who passed me seemed to either be unaware of my presence or would merely glance toward me with an expression I imagined mirrored mine before quickly looking away.
Bewildered, I lifted my gaze past the people. Dizziness swept over me. I was before some sort of river full of choppy, dark water. It wasn’t the uninviting inlet that held none of the beauty of Saion’s Cove that caused my heart to thump as if it were trying to break free of my chest. It was a large vessel moving across it. A type of ship I’d never seen before, with more than two levels and taller than many homes. It had an open deck that people stood on. Beneath them were what I could only describe as several metal boxes with wheels larger and thicker than anything I’d seen on a carriage. There was more than one of the drifting platforms in what appeared to be a harbor of sorts. I could see at least three of them, one traveling in the opposite direction.
But it was what stood across the river that caused the air to slowly leak from my lungs. I gaped at the towering structuresof steel and glass that reached far above the clouds, dwarfing everything around them and casting long shadows over the earth below. The buildings were as tall as mountains, yet many appeared slim, and I couldn’t even begin to fathom how they’d been built. Surely, the gods had to be involved in such a creation. But something about them seemed too cold to have been shaped by anything with blood coursing through its veins.
I took another step forward, my toes curling into the damp grass. Where in the actualfuckwas I? A seed of panic took root, stroking the essence. My hands fisted as I scanned what I was beginning to think was some kind of park—
My mouth completely dropped open as my gaze landed on a colossal statue standing proudly on an island. I couldn’t decipher how far away the towering lady in flowing robes was, but it couldn’t bethatfar. I didn’t know what material she had been crafted from, but it carried a green sheen. She held a torch, thrusting it into the sky high above her, and a crown sat upon her head. It must be a depiction of a goddess. Perhaps she had been responsible for these impressive structures. However, she looked nothing like the renderings of the goddesses I’d seen.
I dragged my gaze from the statue and saw a bridge raised in the air like a suspended pathway with enormous stone pillars anchoring thick, web-like cables that seemed to hold it up by sheer force. It stretched far across the water and was packed with those strange metal boxes on wheels.
“…the city, located about five miles away from the eruption sight, includes the neighboring towns,” a male, speaking fast, his tone harried, caught my attention. “…has a population estimated to be three million.”
Three million…people?
I pressed my hand to my churning stomach, my gaze landing on a brown-skinned woman with honey-colored hair cut close tothe skull. She wasn’t speaking as she eyed a device in her hand, but the male’s voice became louder as she drew closer.
“…with the limited warning to allow for effective evacuation, we’re looking at tens of thousands—possibly over a hundred thousand—casualties.”
Pressure clamped down on my chest. Over a hundred thousand deaths? That had to be what I’d felt. But that event clearly wasn’t here. So, why had I been drawn here?
The woman looked up, her brows rising the moment she saw me. Thick, dark lashes fluttered once and then twice as she stared.
I glanced down at myself, realizing I wore only the gown I’d been sleeping in. It was highly inappropriate to be seen in public dressed as I was—even in Atlantia, where the attire wasn’t as modest as it was in Solis.
But I could see the belly of a woman running past us—though I had no idea what she was running from—including hernaveland a good portion of her breasts. So, why did this one look at me so strangely?
The woman pressed something on what she held, and the male voice cut off as her steps slowed. I felt her concern before I tasted it, which caught me off guard. I couldn’t even say exactly how I knew. I just looked at her andknewshe was worried.
“Are you all right?” she asked in that strange, clipped manner that made ‘all right’ sound like thelandrwere missing.
I nodded as a breeze lifted the shorter strands of my hair, tossing them across my face. My gaze was drawn to the golden hoops dangling from her ears.
She frowned slightly. “You sure?” she asked, unease radiating from her. I didn’t think it was my scars that made her uncomfortable. “Do you need help—?” She gasped, looking down at the exact moment I felt the tremor beneath us. “What in the hell?”
