Free The Unfinished World (The Armor of God Book 2) by Diego Valenzuela Page A

very young, albeit physically large—said, accepting a drink from a soldier’s canteen. He was wearing a black jumpsuit, something military, no doubt. “My name is Akiva Davenport, and I need to talk with whoever’s in charge. We are all in danger.”

     

Chapter 5
    Cage of Lights
    Her voice scattered across the forest , carried by the wind.
     
    Some have been lost
    Vanished into broken mists
    Some have seen hope
    Beyond the cage of lights
     
    It was not easy for Jena to sing, Ezra could tell, and not because of an unprivileged voice. He had heard her sing once before, and he didn’t like to remember the scene—the memory had been tainted in more ways than one, a once beautiful painting ruined by the careless blood-red strokes of death’s brush.
    It had been back in Zenith, during a short period of inactivity before a lecture. He had spent the morning training in the equivalency suits with Garros and Akiva, trying to grow stronger and more agile—to become a better pilot, one truly prepared to save the world. After, they walked together towards the lecture hall when the sound of music caught Garros’ ear, and Ezra followed him to its source: Jena, Tessa, and Alice, alone in an otherwise empty classroom.
    The girls never knew Garros and Ezra had overheard their musical session, though he was sure it would not have stopped on account of their presence. Tessa had been playing sad harmonies with her violin, and Alice set a soft rhythm through a small set of drums she’d slap with her hands. Meanwhile, Jena would sing the melody softly, drawing the words from memory. It was an old song, one written centuries before their birth, and it was titled “When I Am Home.”
     
    Bring down the sky, and scatter the stars
    Don’t let hope die, there’s still a path
     
    She was singing it again, now that they had, in a way, returned home—or some sad analog of home. He did not like the memory the scene was invoking, so Ezra’s eyes tried to remain on the floor, on dancing shadows cast by the blades of grass barely lit by weak embers. He was cross-legged and shivering, goose bumps on his skin.
    He looked up. Jena and Garros were closer to the fire, hands raised to catch its warmth. He could see the telling shimmers of tears pooling in Garros’ eyes, swelling with the song.
    Of course Garros associated the song with the same memory Ezra did. He had the same thoughts Ezra had. He remembered Alice through this song, but unlike Ezra, who wished not to hear it, Garros was humming a deep bass to give it more power, to accentuate its sorrowful notes.
     
    And I hope god cries, when I am home
     
    There was a roar in the distance that sent a shiver down his spine.
    Alice and Susan didn’t make it home.
    Barnes and Kat didn’t make it home.
    Ezra shook his head and rose to his feet. He wanted to be closer to the fire, but his wish to rid his ears of the tainted music was stronger, so he joined Erin at the edge of the forest.
    She had left the fire soon after helping start it using some basic equipment she took from Phoenix Atlas’ Apse. For her, there had been a powerful lure in the warmth of the fire, and the company, but it was not quite as powerful as the one created by the unburied creature.
    When Ezra reached the tree line, he immediately saw Erin sitting next to the area that used to be a pool, arms around her bent knees. Her eyes looked up at the giant as though it was the first time she ever saw a Creux.
    “It looks so much like it, doesn’t it?”
    Ezra sat down next to her; the grass was still wet. “It does,” he said. The massive Creux sat at the other side of the clearing, propped up against the deceptively strong trees. Its head hung back, and an opening in its face plate that looked alarmingly like a mouth, was open, like it was screaming at the skies, howling at the moon.
    “I wonder what it is. The helmet, the size, most of the armor—if I didn’t know Milos Ravana as well as I do, I would’ve swore this