Akasha 4 - Earth (44 page)

Shawn pushed himself off the ground,
spitting blood. He glanced at the fire tornados, which were closer
now, and then at the mountains, continuing to crumble under
avalanche after avalanche. "Not all the Elementals have run off
screaming."

Kaitlyn cocked her head. "No. I didn't
have time to meet everyone in person."

Shawn stood up all the way, taking a
deep breath. He tried Akasha once again. It never came.

Kaitlyn answered with her own magic,
weaving a ball of Akasha, and shooting it straight toward Shawn.
The charged energy slowed then stopped, midair. It was Shawn's
tunnel – his only natural magic, and it was strong. Akasha remained
suspended as Shawn squeezed the channel closed on his
end.

Little by little, it began to move
back toward Kaitlyn. Micah, still on his knees, forced himself
forward.

"I still have this." Smiled Shawn, his
face growing puffy.

Kaitlyn moved her lips. As words rode
out on her breath, she mixed them with a tiny puff of wind. One
wavelength and the magic floated by Shawn's ear. He shivered
visibly. When the magic floated past Micah he heard, "Then you have
nothing."

Moments later, Kaitlyn shoved another
burst of energy toward Shawn. The tunnel pulsated out once, then
again. It burst, spraying Akasha up and out. Shawn was thrown,
landing hard on his back. Some of the spray hit Micah's bare skin.
It felt like chemical burns.

Shawn stood. "I'll find her…you bitch!
I'll finish you if I have to and then I'll find her. You can't hide
a Gaia."

Kaitlyn went still. "What would you do
with her?"

Shawn paced, limping across the plaza
and rubbing his arm. Bruises blossomed across his body. "I'll find
her and…and…I'll raise her. As a daughter. She'll be loved…and
protected. And I can teach her."

"She has all those things now,"
Kaitlyn's voice cracked.

"I would die for her, Kaitlyn." Shawn
squared his shoulders.

"Why wait?" Micah stood behind Shawn,
a piece of rock lifted over his head. When Shawn turned in
surprise, the rock came down. Shawn crumpled to the floor. Micah
followed seconds later.

Kaitlyn rushed to Micah, kneeling down
by his side.

"Why do you keep toying with him?"
Micah asked, exhausted and shaky. "Just finish him off."

Beside them, Shawn groaned. His arms
twitched but his eyes were shut tight.

"Because," said Kaitlyn, glancing at
Shawn. "He's toyed with me plenty."

Chapter
71

Retaliation

Micah lay in front of me, clutching
his midsection but breathing. His face was going white. He'd lost a
lot of blood. A fact, up until now, I had done my best to ignore. I
looked over at Shawn, who was just beginning to blink. His usual
bright blue eyes were going dull. For the first time, I recognized
Cato in him.

Still sprawled out on the ground,
Shawn turned to me and swallowed. "What will you do?"

"I should kill you." My answer was
instant, without thought.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why?! Because you
raped
me –
repeatedly!"

He blinked, but didn't answer. I
wanted to shake him.

"You hurt me Shawn." I tried to drill
the pain I had incurred into him – willing him to understand what I
had gone through. "You almost killed me. Not to mention everyone
else who has died for your own selfish reasons. Power, control,
greed."

He nodded, almost encouraging me. "How
would you have me punished for your rape? How would you retaliate?
You are the Gaia, Kaitlyn. How does Mother Earth retaliate when her
children rape her lands, slicing down her trees and emptying her
soil of precious minerals?" Shawn looked down, and picked up the
Athame. "Here," he said, holding the knife out, handle
first.

I got up and walked around Micah, then
kneeled in between the two men, still on their backs.

I grasped the Athame; it quivered with
energy. Shawn lifted his chin, baring his neck. I could see his
pulse throbbing right underneath his skin. My hand twitched,
itching to make a clean cut. One swipe, and it would be
over.

"Kill me, Kaitlyn – because you are
Mother Earth. You understand why natural disasters target human
population. This is what you were meant to do; stop those who harm
you. For once – embrace everything that you are!"

I hesitated, even more so with each
word he spoke. Movement at the corner of my eye caught my
attention. Micah lifted his head. "Kaitlyn, you know what to
do."

"No, I don't, Micah." I pleaded with
him to get me out of this mess.

He shook his head. "This is your
decision, and you've always known what to do. Look inside
yourself."

The knife quivered even more in my
hand. My eyes widened. I touched the knife to my forehead. With the
magical energy surrounding us, that was all it took. As I fell
back, losing touch with my conscious body, Shawn's smile was the
last thing I saw.

Chapter
72

Another Shade

Micah's voice followed me into the
cavern, "No, Kaitlyn!"

I landed on the platform like I had
been doing it all my life. I looked around; it was completely
empty. There were no glimmering life forms on the stairs or in the
air. I walked to the edge and peered down at the water beneath me.
No Shades there, either.

"Arianna?" I called out. My voice
echoed off the walls.

I heard a scuffle above me. Still
riding the high of power, I was connected to my physical body.
Micah tried to shake me awake. Shawn pushed him away, then stood
over my unconscious body, waiting to fend off further attempts by
Micah.

Good to know they both
found their feet.

Light gleamed out from a cavern high
on the wall.

I thought Shawn released
Sarah.

I leaped, covering the distance and
landing solid on my feet. I threw my arm over my eyes, squinting at
the sudden intrusion of light in the otherwise dark cave. The light
rotated, sending alternating spikes of blue and white along the
cavern walls, until it shimmered and pulled in on itself. A human
form stepped forward and the light dwindled until it blinked out
behind her.

It wasn't Sarah. It was me.

I stepped forward to meet her – to
meet me.

Of
course
, I thought.
I was marked with the Athame same as any. Why did I not think
my Shade existed?

The woman before me was not a mirror
image. She stood tall, with shoulders held back. Her skin glowed
and her eyes sparkled.

"I have something for you," she
said.

She reached behind her neck,
unclasping a silver chain, and pulled a charm out from under her
shirt. She handed it to me. I took it, rubbing the pad of my thumb
across the smooth, blue butterfly. The gift from Micah to me, and
something I thought I had lost in the waves of the
Mediterranean.

"I didn't ask for this." My hand
closed around the necklace, squeezing tight. "I didn't ask for any
of it."

She smiled. "No one ever does. But
you'll do what has to be done."

"Why?" I asked, in a whisper. Tears
ran down my face.

"Because someone has to." She raised
one hand, and paused, waiting for me.

I wiped my nose with my shirtsleeve. I
took a deep breath, and raised my hand opposite hers. The light
came back encompassing us both, growing brighter as our hands
joined.

I clasped it, and our bodies merged,
thrust together by the light.

* * *

"Get out of the way, or I swear
I'll—"

"What? Bleed to death on me?" Shawn
interrupted Micah's threat. He bent down to retrieve his singed
shirt. "I might've cut a little too deep at your stomach. At least
put some pressure on it."

Micah caught the shirt, then grimaced
at the pain the sudden movement caused. "What do you
care?"

"I watched my father die – I don't
want a repeat with my brother."

Micah rolled onto his back. "Then
close your eyes." The gray, turbulent sky was going darker. Micah
was sure it wasn't part of the storm.

"Micah…Micah!" the voice echoed with
varying degrees of volume.

"Micah!" This one was Kaitlyn's. It
brought the world back into sharp focus. "Can you stay with me just
a little longer?"

Micah shifted his gaze. Kaitlyn
kneeled over him, using Shawn's shirt to apply pressure. She still
held the Athame. Shawn stood behind her, hands hanging limp by his
side.

"I…" her voice caught, and she
swallowed hard, fighting back tears. "I still need you."

His hand went up to her cheek. She
followed it with her own hand and something hard hit his knuckles.
She relaxed her grip, and part of the lost butterfly necklace fell
out.

His eyes darted to Shawn. Shawn didn't
answer the unspoken question. Instead, he rubbed his neck and
looked away. A stray wisp of Kaitlyn's hair drew Micah's eyes back
to her. He tucked it behind her ear, then took the necklace from
her hand. He clasped it around her bowed head.

When she rose, the butterfly fell to
her chest just beneath her neckline. Blue swirls on the wings
matched the angry swirls of dark grays in the sky behind her. But
her eyes, a deep brown shimmering with golden specks, were
inviting; peaceful, almost.

"Beautiful," Micah said.

Chapter
73

Earth Falling

Power thrummed, and it was all I could
do to keep it contained until Micah clasped the necklace around my
neck. When the butterfly hit my chest, it was warm. It countered
the cool burn I felt from Shawn's scar on the back of my
shoulder.

A lump rose in my throat. Micah didn't
have much longer. His eyes, a blend of rich greens, were infused
with the amber-like spots. Spidery veins interconnected, laced
through the color.

Like a
leaf
, I thought.
How did I never notice that before?

I squeezed his hand. A static shock
jumped from me to him.

Micah smiled. "Just like when we first
met."

A smile spread across my own
face.

Behind me, Shawn cleared his throat.
"She wasn't there, right? I already sent her off…"

I turned, looking at him over my
shoulder. "No, Sarah wasn't there." My thumb stroked Micah's cheek
as I looked at Shawn. "What will you do now?"

He looked up at the sky. The clouds
were beginning to dissipate, revealing the aurora borealis above.
"I don't know. I'm very tired."

"There might be a way for you to get
Akasha back." I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "For
good."

Micah moved under my hand, probably
ready to protest. I squeezed his shoulder, reassuring
him.

"How?" Shawn asked.

I held out my other hand to Shawn.
"Help me."

He hesitated, but only for a second.
What choice did he have?

Shawn's hand was cool. Shawn's cold to
Micah's hot. Balance. Because too much of one thing was never
good.

I closed my eyes, calling the elements
and letting power envelope me. It threatened to tear me apart, but
outside forces squeezed in, pressing against each other, holding
everything together.

Akasha formed above us – a brilliant
sphere, infused with color and charged energy. The three of us
squinted as we looked up, our hands squeezing tight. I raised it,
using more energy sent willingly by Shawn and Micah.

Akasha surpassed the height of the
monolithic cliffs and peaked. I held it there, suspended, like a
miniature sun in the sky. The rumbling avalanches and fire tornados
ceased. With amplified senses, I felt Elementals retreating. Many
took cover.

I pulled Akasha back down, bringing it
in between the cliffs. I clenched my insides, forcing more and more
energy up. I drew magic from the Earth. I borrowed it from the
moisture-filled sky, and the wind that blew in. I called on what
energy had almost dissipated from the fire tornadoes. All of it
combined, and I made adjustments to Akasha along the way. It held
together, expanding.

I was growing weak, and still needed
more for the final infusion. "I need the rest of what you have," I
told both Shawn and Micah.

I felt a boost from Micah almost
immediately, but I held it back. Both needed to come at the same
time.

"Will we survive it?" Shawn yelled
over the howling winds.

"I…don't know," I answered honestly. I
couldn't lie about something like that now – not with Akasha
hanging over my head.

He looked at me, then nodded. He
obliged with more energy. I would have happily drawn from him only,
leaving Micah alone. But it wasn't about what I wanted – it was
about what I needed, and I needed balance.