Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (26 page)

Alex began to argue his point.
“Coralie – we've been through this.”

“I know, it's just that –”

Alex stopped and turned Coralie toward
him. “Look, Coralie … you may not realize this, but your safety and
protection means a whole lot to a whole lot of people, including
me...”

Coralie not knowing what to say stood
silent.

Alex continued, “... you mean more
than you'll ever know...”

“To whom?” she whispered.

Alex just stared at her
intensely.

Coralie was at a loss for words. But
there was something in his intense eyes which made her agree.
Without much more than an agreeing nod, the two of them began to
walk in the direction of the Collier’s house.

They had been walking for a few
moments, with not more than a few murmurs exchanged between them.
Thoughts continued to fly through Coralie's mind. Thoughts of
Court. Thoughts of Alex. Thoughts of the last few weeks. Trying to
put together all of the pieces to this puzzle, also known as her
life, had been so tiring.

Coralie realized that
this
felt
good. Really good.

A normal, easy, conversation about
nothing. Nothing to do with powers. Nothing to do with secrets.
Nothing to do with stolen and lost memories.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted
by Alex's voice. “You seem to be pretty deep in thought. Anything
you want to talk about?”

“No – Sorry, just random thoughts, I
guess.”

Coralie stopped suddenly at the sound
of something close to them. She noticed that Alex had stopped too,
but assumed it was due to her own abrupt halt in step. Though she
assumed it was a coincidence, she asked her question
anyway.

“Alex, did you hear that?”

Alex didn't say a word, but Coralie
felt him take a protective stance, closer to her.

A slow crackle of earth.

Then another.

Coralie looked ahead, then gasped, as
she watched a dark, slim, silhouette of a body step out against the
shadows of the empty, tree-lined road.

* * * * *

Court sped as fast as he could across
town on his motorcycle.

Visions sweeping in, one after
another. Plans were being made. Targets were being set. All of them
having to do with Coralie.

He had to stop
them. A
ll of
them.

The first was coming ...
soon.

They
would be quick. Court knew
that he had to be quicker.

He saw visions of
black
.

Black silhouettes and black shadows
swirled around, seeking
her
out. Her existence had surely
spread like wild fire. Or at least it would after this encounter.
He had to find Coralie before
she
did. Before any of the
Others
did.

Visions continued to flow freely
through Court's mind. This was the part about his Gift that he
loathed. Especially now that things were
different
.

Though Coralie had always been a part
of his life, this was the first time that he had been a real part
of hers. He had been waiting on this, on
her,
for such a
long time. But now,
everything
was at stake. The love of his
life was being threatened and he would do anything to protect
her.

Anything
.

He couldn't just sit back and leave
this to her
Protector.
He would have to take matters into
his own hands.

Court searched through any thought
that may be swirling around in close vicinity of
her
. He
continued in jumping from thought to thought, when he suddenly saw
her.

His search was over.

He’d found her, or
them
rather.

He could hear
her
thoughts
along with
his. His
were filled with
her.
Hers
were fearful and confused. He knew that he had to hurry. Court sped
faster, along the dark tree-lined street, trying to reach them in
time.

He would not allow this to be the
end.

Coralie watched the slender, dark figure step
out of the shadows and onto the paved road ahead. Then she saw,
what looked like shadows, follow the figure, hovering behind
it.

The dark figure stepped into a beam of
light cast down by a street lamp, showing
herself.
All along
the while, the shadows remained what they were – shadows, even in
the beam of light. The willowy woman was dressed all in black, with
sleek, long black hair pulled tight into a slicked back tress that
trailed all the way down her back. She was dressed all in black
clothing that looked tailored made to fit her every curve, as
though she had any. Her look was finished off with matching black
stiletto boots – which, Coralie decided, was an intimidation
maneuver.

“Ah, pity that you had to bring your
loyal, liable sidekick,” the woman said, directing her words to
Coralie. She then turned to Alex, “Though my fight is not with you,
it'll be fun taking you out as well, Alexander.”

Coralie glanced at Alex, questioning,
not understanding, but turned back to the woman quickly.

“You don't know how long that I've
waited for this moment, for this challenge… that is,” the woman
paused, glaring at Coralie, “... if you can call it a
challenge...”

“Wait, Tempest … it doesn't have to be
this way!” Alex shouted, desperately.

“Oh, but it does, Alexander...”she
began to explain, “... you know
who
she is ... you know
what
I am and what I'm here
for...”

“But Tempest … I don’t understand. Why
now?”

“It was all for this
moment...”

“It was all a lie?!?” Alex
roared.

“Ah, little puppet, of course, it was.
Don't you realize the legend that I will become, the power that I
will obtain when I destroy her.”

“Alex,” Coralie was finally able to
mutter out amidst all of her misunderstanding.

Avoiding having to give a fearful
answer to Coralie’s certain, but unspoken question, Alex continued
as if she had remained quiet.

“You won't!” Alex growled. “I won't
allow it!”

Tempest laughed at his intensity.
“Step aside, puppet ... she's mine...”

Tempest unleashed her fury in the
means of the shadows that surrounded her. The shadows that began
traveling in their direction, had begun to take form into about a
dozen overgrown, mutated arachnids of some sort. Their spiny,
prickly legs began making their way toward them.

As the forming figures approached the
two of them, Alex sprang into action, violently striking at them,
sending the mutants in the opposite direction of their contact
point.

Coralie's instinct was to fight,
though she realized there was no need. One by one, the arachnids
were defeated by a slice or jab from Alex's forceful arm or leg.
When the arachnids were harmed enough, they disintegrated into thin
air, leaving behind only a fading dark fog in their place. After
all of them had dissipated, Alex began his trudge toward
Tempest.

“Alex, no!” Coralie shouted in
desperation, but Alex disregarded her plea.

Tempest grinned sinisterly as Alex
approached her. “They said that you would try and protect her
–”

Alex said nothing.

Coralie watched as Tempest seemed to
form shadows from the palms of her own hands. With a snap of her
fingers, the shadows formed into tiny daggers. She motioned slowly,
with her frail-looking fingers, turning the daggers in the course
of Coralie and Alex, who stood protectively beside her.

Coralie's breath caught in
fear.

A moment of silence hung in the night
air.

With a sneering grin, then a slight
bite of her lip, Tempest flicked her fingers forward. The minuscule
daggers began their destined travel straight for the place where
the both of them stood.

Coralie, without thinking a second
more, threw her hands up in the air and gritted her teeth,
compelling her strength outward. The daggers stopped in mid-air.
Tempest's eyes widened with fury at first, then with fear, as the
daggers began to turn toward her in focus.

Everything was true. Everything
Tempest had heard about this Warrior was true. She had to be the
Great One. She had to be the Great Warrior.

“Coralie, you don't have to do this!”
Alex shouted.

Anger was coursing through Coralie's
veins. Pent up anger from weeks, months, even years, of secrets
sourced through her. “She wanted to kill us, Alex! She wanted to
kill you and me, both. I won't allow this! I won't allow her to
repeat her attempt. This ends now!”

“Now look at that ... spoken like a
true Warrior.” Tempest added, snidely.

Coralie kept her stare upon
Tempest.

“You're not like them ... you are
different, so different. You are so different in so many ways.”
Alex continued, pleading with her, knowing that she wasn't ready
for this just yet.

Why did Tempest have to plan this now?
Element of surprise,
he guessed. She would have had to have
an inside source ... But who?

“Am I, Alex? Am I so different?”
Coralie distressfully cried out in angst.

“Come on, Cor … trust me...”Alex said,
resounding.

Coralie began, skeptical and
untrusting, “Trust you? But you knew ... you knew and you didn't
even –”

“Cor – please!” Alex pleaded with her,
with intensity in his eyes. He pleaded because he knew what was to
come if she followed through with her actions.

Tempest kept her eyes fixed on Coralie
in the same fashion that Coralie's were fixed upon her. Only
Tempest's eyes were filled with alarm.

Coralie stood silent,
unmoving.

Finally, after a few moments, she
began to slowly lower the suspended shadowed daggers. Just as she
did, Tempest let a grin spread across her face. Not in gratitude
for her life, but as an opportunity for another attack upon the
supposed Great Warrior.

Tempest quickly formed two shadows in
the palms of her hands. She allowed them to take shape and form
into two cinquedea blades, each of which resembled ancient short
sword blades.

Coralie's fear set heavy in her chest,
knowing she had been fooled.

Tempest flicked her delicate, slender
fingers in Coralie's direction, sending the two cinquedea blades
directly toward her.

This time she was after the
kill.

With all of her strength, recoiled in
an instant, Coralie with outstretched hands held the two blades
each affixed in mid-air. She then re-lifted the daggers that she
had begun to lower to the ground.

Coralie quailed with ire as she slowly
turned the blades and daggers back in Tempest's path.

“Coralie –” a voice shouted, causing
Coralie to drop her concentration along with shadowed blades and
daggers. She turned toward the sound of the voice, in the midst of
the sound of crashing metal on the paved road.

“Court?” Coralie shouted, questioning
his presence.

“Coralie, don't –” Court shouted,
panicked and running toward her.

When he reached them, he muttered
annoyed words toward Alex, gritting them through his teeth. “I
thought you said that you had
this ...
that she would be
protected?”

“I do! And she is!”

“Court?” Coralie questioned
again.

“Well, isn't this nice,” said Tempest
entertained with the feeling of regaining some position, or at
least she thought as such. “It seems that my two for one special,
has just become a three for all...”

Shadows arose from behind the dark,
slight silhouette of her body and began to surround her. As the
shadows began to take their form, Coralie acted upon her Warrior
instinct once more and didn't hesitate a moment longer. She held
out her hands, not wasting time or strength on grasping anything in
mid-air. She did not even wish to waste it manipulating the shadows
that targeted her and her friends.

Coralie, with outstretched hands and
all of her strength, gave a cross, miming, shoving motion, sending
a forcing blow toward Tempest and the shadows that surrounded her.
The forcing blow caused Tempest to stagger backwards and the
shadows that were swirling around her to dissipate.

Coralie quickly summoned one of the
cinquedea blades and grasped it in mid-air, then immediately
forcefully sent it travelling in Tempest's path. Before the soaring
blade sliced through her, Tempest disintegrated into the dark night
around her, leaving behind only a dark miasma that lingered for
only a moment before doing the same.

Coralie stood, motionless, unbelieving
of the events that she had just witnessed. Events that she had just
been a part of. Events that should not be real, but she knew
without a doubt that they were.