Ascension by Sophia Sharp Page A

doing it alone.  It is not how Laura imagined things would be when this all began.  What if she survived, but Logan didn’t?  Could she live with herself after that?  Then again, the whole expedition was nothing more than a glorified suicide mission: if but one of them failed against the elders, all would be lost.  It had to be a unified strike, everyone had to succeed, and it had to happen fast.
    Laura did not know what she would find in the elders’ dreams.  She knew how corrupt the Vassiz were, how scathing and manipulative the majority of the race was.  Even if, thanks to the torrial , the elders did not have full control of their dreams, they still would know the landscape better than any of them.  How much of an advantage was it, really, to have the torrial on their side?
    Of course, Laura knew that without it, their slim hope of success would have wilted away to nothing.  The torrial was essential, and yet not even she understood how it worked.  Madison said it had been both feared and revered in her pack’s histories.  Was it because it annihilated the control one had over their dreams?  Because it could suck others into the dream realm and leave them there, helpless?  Or was there an even more sinister side to it?  What if, no matter Gabrielle’s best intentions, the torrial malfunctioned, and brought them into the elders’ dreams but left the elders’ powers unchanged?  A swift death would be the best outcome.  But that was not within the realm of reality.  Laura knew the elders would squeeze every drop of life out of her, and then string her out as an example to all Vassiz of what happens to those who do not conform.
    She couldn’t let that happen.  She had her whole life yet to live.  She wouldn’t let it be cut short on somebody else’s watch.  There was so much she hadn’t done, hadn’t seen, hadn’t experienced… and there was only one way to ensure that she could do those things.  Win. 
    Laura climbed the final flight of stairs leading to the vault.  It was only a matter of minutes, now, before they would begin their inconceivable fight against the elders.
    She looked around.  The room was quiet, and everybody looked solemn.  Gabrielle was sitting cross-legged on the floor by the torrial , eyes closed, focusing on it.  The female angel he had chosen as his partner in activating the torrial was across from him.  She was just as focused.  It was the first time Laura had seen any of the angels not standing up.
    The other angels were off to one side as a group.  Their bodies were still, but their eyes flashed from one another rapidly.  Laura wondered if it was a way of communicating.
    Madison and Alexander and Logan were standing around the small collection of torrial that Gabrielle had picked out.  Laura went to them.
    Logan noticed her, and squatted down on his heels.  He reached over to pick up a torrial – one of the three dancing figurines.  Seeing them for the first time close up, Laura realized that the depictions were not clothed.   But, the way their hands and hair streamed around their bodies made them look exactly as they were meant to me.  Free.  Free in expression and in flight. 
    “Gabrielle said that one of these allows you greater control over the dream,” Logan said.  “All three, and there will be nothing that can touch you.  We spoke—” he motioned around himself to Madison and Alexander, “—and want you to have them.”
    “All three?” Laura asked.  “What about you?”
    “You are the least experienced of us,” Alexander explained.  Then he added quickly, “No disrespect.  You may be the strongest, due to the circumstances of your feeding, but we know the dream realm far better than you.”
    “Not only that, but you are important to us,” Madison added.  “Without you, the prophecy fails.”
    “And I need you to be safe,” Logan said earnestly.  “These won’t guarantee it, but they can help.”
    “No,” Laura