Page 26 of The Enduring Universe (The Rages Trilogy #3)

IRAVAN

Iravan fought gravity. The air dragged him down, clawing at his limbs like a thousand hands. He breathed fitfully, as though inhaling mud. Was he ascending? The ground was still so close, chasing him. His eyes drew upward, to the slash of distorting trees, the snatch of blue skies, a streak of clouds. The everpower rushed through him, and he unleashed a burst of speed to try to break away, as rocks shot up toward him like arrows, slicing into his cloak.

The consciousness meld tried to suck him in. He could hear them, Ahilya, Dhruv, Airav, and the citizens of Irshar murmuring in his ears all together past sanity. Unable to pull up his shield, Iravan fell into his Etherium, his past lives cycling. He seized the first one he saw.

Isanya crept inside him like a set of bones. She flipped mid-air, and Iravan felt her curiosity and wonder bloom in his heart, just for an instant, before they were the same. He cried out as she brought up their arms in a straight line, shooting into the sky. Trees streaked past, rocks pelting them, scoring Iravan’s limbs, and Isanya burst through the cover, into free air. Iravan didn’t trust them to look back. He kept them pointed upward, Isanya rising them ever higher until it grew harder to breathe.

He spun around, facing the jungle again.

It astonished him how normal the terrain looked, the day bright and clear, the jungle as motionless as he’d left it.

Then the planet shook, filling his eyes. A massive orb that writhed restlessly in his vision, cracking into two, blowing into smithereens.

The vision lasted only for a second. When he blinked again, Iravan saw the jungle just as still as it had been. He clutched Isanya, not understanding, and the planet shook again, shrieking, a high-pitched whine in his ears.

Trees undulated in the wind. Through the stillness, Iravan saw giant tree trunks from the forest rise, then hurtle toward him like spears. The evervision shivered, the power of the three realms weakening. Isanya took over, turning them again, flying faster.

The planet followed.