Cradle

Raymond, Nita, and Cheshin bolted out of the Ambulance and ran to the building's emergency entrance. There were to men laying next to a bench. Raymond believe they were dead.

Nita ordered, “flank him.”

Raymond called his inner strength and increased his speed. The world moved in slow motion as he went inside the building. Nita was faster, but not by much.

“Raymond? Can you hear me?” asked Cheshin.

“You're thoughts are clear,” Raymond answered. Puzzled it was so easy to break through. “How are you communicating with me?”

“When we joined, I left a back door.”

That wasn't right, and he let Cheshin know as much.

“Sorry, but under the circumstances, I didn't want to leave anything to chance,” Cheshin explained.

“I'm sort of busy right now.”

“I can help. I'll help you find Karden. I sense the him close to the other side of the building. He has swapped bodies with a child. We don't want the child killed.”

Killed? “We have no intention of killing anyone,” Raymond stopped short, not want to say how far they would go. “I think I see him.” Raymond put up his mental shield. He didn't want anyone reaching into his mind right now. Not Karden nor Cheshin.

The last thought sent from Cheshin was a question, “him?”

Raymond moved with blinding speed to take the child by surprise. Two men were stading down the hall frozen and in pain. It looked as the two were Oragwains.

The child must have seen him. “But too late,” Raymond said as he crashed into the child. Before actually hitting the child, Raymond had felt an icy tingle that was similar to what he had felt on his first encounter with Karden.

To keep from hurting the boy, Raymond used his body to shield the child's fall to the ground and they slid into the wall together.