The Conduit (Gryphon Series) (20 page)

“I knocked you out. You sliced my arm. That makes us even.”

Gabe’s topaz cat eyes flashed. “
Nnooo wwaaayyyy
…”

I lost my warrior posture and indignantly snapped straight up. He’d been practicing talking in his feline form. It assaulted my ears worse than nails on a chalkboard. “Ah!” I wagged my finger at him. “None of that! That creepy voice sounds like Satan! Or a blender. Or a blender possessed by Satan. You start that up again and I’m leaving. Understand?”

He rolled his eyes and clamped his mouth firmly shut. With a pointed stare, he made it clear that he would adhere to my rule.

“Thank you. Now, where were we?” Simultaneously
, we returned to our prowl. We trailed each other, both looking for an opportunity. Mine came when Gabe stepped wrong and gave me a straight shot at his ribs. I took advantage of it and bolted directly at him. He started to turn, but didn’t make it in time. I hit him square in the midsection.

His air escaped in a loud “Huynh!”

I wrapped my arms around him and took him down, just as I had seen him do countless times on the football field. I bounced to my feet, bubbling with pride. My whole life I had been the wallflower, the awkward kid that watched from the sidelines just to spare herself the humiliation. For the first time, I came out on top. My happy dance was required. I bebopped around and gloated.

Until I noticed Gabe hadn’t gotten up. He lay motionless on the ground where he fell. Fear coursed through me. I hurried over to find the burly lion gasping for air. I knocked the wind out of him
, and he couldn’t seem to reclaim it.

“Oh, geez! I’m so sorry
, Gabe. You okay?” I bent down next to him, trying to figure out how to give CPR to a lion.

In an instant his breathing stabilized. His head lifted off the ground
, and he grinned wickedly at me. A monstrous paw whacked me square in the chest and sent me tumbling. I turned my tumble into a back somersault and was back on my feet in seconds.

I shook my head in disdain, “I knew you’d fight dirty.”

He pulled himself up to full height and roared. I gave him the evil eye then swooped in for another attack. I only made it two strides before the shrill call of an eagle stopped me in my tracks.

“Someone’s coming!” I yelled to my brother.

I started one way, then darted the other, not quite sure what to do with myself. I settled for the log by the stream as my destination. I scurried over and sat down. I crossed my legs, sat up straight, and tried to look casual. I realized too late that my pose would seem odd for someone sitting alone in the woods. (Gabe must have hidden by now.) The rustle of leaves coming from the path told me I didn’t have time to come up with anything else. Whoever the hiker was, he or she was going to find me sitting there looking like I was waiting for a bus. Brilliant.

Through the leaves
, spiky, disheveled, platinum hair appeared. I didn’t recognize who it was until she ducked under the branch in front of me and gasped.

“What the heck?! I’m going to have to claw my own eyes out! Gabe! Why?! What possible reason could you have for being
naked
!” Kendall exclaimed and covered her eyes.

Completely bewildered, I swiveled around. There stood Gabe, stark naked. The only thing he could cover himself with
was his own hands. With a beet-red face, he cringed as if in pain.

I immediately spun back around and shielded my own eyes. “I could have happily gone my whole life without seeing that!” Sitting there with my hands over my eyes, I addressed our new arrival. “Kendall! You hacked your hair off!”

Her voice was muffled by her arms, “Actually, Marcie at the only beauty salon in town cut it for me. Do you like it?”

“Can’t tell yet. Gabe, is it safe to look?”

“No!” He yelped. “I’m still standing here naked.”

“Why? Why are you naked?”

“I don’t know!” He snapped. “You said someone was coming, so I changed back. But I couldn’t find my bag of clothes.”

“Why didn’t you just hide?”

Silence. Then, “I didn’t think of that.”

Kendall and I
both erupted in laughter. “You… thought of… naked, before… hiding!” I choked out.

“Yes. Shut up. I’m going to change back now.”

“Please do!” Kendall and I said in unison.

It only took a second b
efore the Gabe-lion gave a rumble indicating that the need to avert our eyes had passed.

“Thank you! Now let’s just hope m
y corneas can recover from that,” I joked and dropped my hands. The giant cat snorted in response.

With the traumatizing image of my exposed brother gone, I checked out Kendall’s new do. She looked totally different. She’s one of those infuriating girls that could shave her head and still be gorgeous, so it wasn’t a bad different. But, her long locks were gone. Now, purposely messy blonde spikes darted off her head in an array of directions.

“So? What do you think?” She asked expectantly. Before I could answer, she held up one finger for me to wait, then snapped open her wings. “There, now you get the full effect.”

I evaluated the look for a minute. “You look like a punk rock angel.”

Her eyes flashed. “Perfect!” She raised her hand in the air with her index and pinkie finger extended, then stuck her tongue out to complete her “rocker” look.

“What brought this on, Keni?” I chuckled.

A painful shadow crossed her face. “When I brushed my hair this morning, I knew I needed a change. Running the brush through my hair reminded me of the Seeker’s hand being wrapped in it. He used it to hurt me. So, it had to go. At least for right now while the memory is still fresh.”

The lion and I both nodded our understanding but said nothing. This was something she would have to work through to be able to put the whole ordeal behind her.

“So, how do we train with all three of us here?” I asked.

The incoming flap of glowing, transforming wings marked Alaina’s arrival. “I can help with that. I would have come down sooner, but it did not seem appropriate.” She looked at Gabe with raised eyebrows.

Come to find out, lions can blush. Or, at least this one could.

“That was some show.” Was it my imagination or was her face flushed?

“One that I’m sure we can all agree we don’t ever, ever want to see again.” I ruffled Gabe-lion’s mane. He ducked away then batted at me with the soft pads of his oversized paw.

“Here, here
,” Kendall agreed.             

Alaina cleared her throat and pointedly changed the subject. “I have a special training exercise for all three of you.” She expanded her wings
wide, then reached behind her back and pulled out a small box.

“Where do you suppose she pulled that out of?” Kendall whispered to me. I stifled a giggle.

Alaina took the box to the dead center of the clearing and laid it on the ground. “The Gryphon gave me this for when you all had been activated.”

Gabe, Kendall
, and I gathered round. The deep burgundy box was exquisite, its faded paint complimented beautifully by shiny brass hinges and an intricate clasp on the front.

“Activated? What are we
…a phone card?” I asked.

She turned and flipped the fancy latch. “I meant that you each had active powers.”

“Oh, he got us a present!” Kendall gave a little golf-clap.

Alaina sucked air in through clenched teeth. “Um, not exactly. Unless you consider three shadow monsters programmed to try to destroy you a gift.”

“Wow, that’s like the worst gift ever. Gift cards are always safe. He should’ve gotten us one of those.” Kendall’s funky ‘do seemed to have added an edge to her humor.

Alaina smirked and continued on. “These phantom demons have been given the directive to attempt to overcome the three of you. Your challenge is to work as a team to get them back in the box.”

“Are they going to try to kill us?” I asked.

Alaina folded her hands in front of her. “We need you to save the world, Celeste. That tends to work best if you are alive. They will fight relentlessly and possibly wound. They will not actually take your life. The whole point is to get you experience at working together. Understand?”

We nodded.

“Good. Let us begin.” She flipped open the lid then quickly backed away from the box.

Grey fog erupted from the box like a geyser. “Any tips on how to defeat these guys?” The flap of her wings as she retreated to the safety of her branch was the only answer I got. “I’ll take that as a no.”

The thick haze continued to course out of the seemingly bottomless container. It compounded together to form a thick, solid wall of the grey smog. When the last of it finally spit from the box, we waited and watched for whatever nasty being was going to burst out at us. Nothing happened.

“Are…are we supposed to fight the big wall of fog?” A bewildered Kendall whispered.

Before I could answer
, the haze started moving, swirling, and gathering into three distinct locations. “No, look, something’s happening.”

The fog came together to create three identical shapes—gargantuan, hulking, menacing bodies
, their size double that of Gabe’s human form. The freakishly large arms that took shape were the size of my entire body. A lump grew out of each set of bulky shoulders, forming a makeshift head. Empty holes with glowing, red centers were the closest they came to having eyes. A black slash echoed a crude mouth on each. Their formation complete, they moved with soldier precision into a line opposite us, standing side by side, slightly hunched, posed for battle.

“Well,
that’s alarmingly intimidating,” I blurted out.

“Can we ask them to try for another shape? Like maybe fog bunnies?” Kendall peeped.

A low, rumbling growl came from the monsters. Then, in trained unison, they marched toward us.

“Here we go
,” I said.

Kendall whimpered and Gabe growled. Together, the three of us braced ourselves.

Gabe and I charged at them, leaving a hesitant Kendall behind. Gabe-lion sprang into a pounce at the same time I leapt into the air for a side kick.

It amazed me that my body knew how to do this. Before my little “upgrade
,” I tripped over my feet at the mention of physical activity. Now I jumped high enough into the air to be head level with the monsters with no difficulty at all. But my abilities didn’t make me impervious to harm, as I found out when I passed right through the foggy creature and landed flat on my back with a painful thump. My own groans didn’t drown out Gabe’s howl of pain as he crunched to the ground not six feet from me.

I rolled to my side and saw the monster stomp straight at me. Still smarting from my fall, I didn’t rush to dash out of the way. His balled up fist would just slip right through me, so I saw no reason to move. I had time to regroup before I got up and played along with the little charade.

I noticed a second too late that his incoming fist suddenly had pallor and texture to it. The monsters could solidify. He punched me in the face with a fist bigger than my entire head. Black spots danced before my eyes and warmth dribbled from my split lip and bloodied nose. I curled into a ball and covered my face with my arms just in time for the next blow to come. The crunch and shooting pain that followed told me he cracked at least one of my ribs. I tried to shield myself as much as possible from the kicks and punches that came like rapid fire. Every exposed part of my body was sore from the beating I took.

I peeked through the cover of my arms to see Kendall. She knelt on the ground, her wings encapsulating her. One of the monsters pounded away at her as well. I envied her impenetrable wings because they made the beating painless for her. As long as she kept her shield up, she would fare a lot better than Gabe and
me. I couldn’t see Gabe, but the occasional snarl and yelp told me he wasn’t doing so hot either.

Stealing a look between her feathers, Kendall met my eye. “You okay?”

“Ooof! Getting my butt…hunh!…handed to me,” I wheezed. “How’s…ooww!…Gabe?”

“Somehow he’s still standing. He’s battered but standing.” A loud howl of pain echoed through the clearing. “Uh…not anymore.”

A scream tore from my chest as the creature delivered a sharp kick that must have cracked a rib.  Searing pain  stabbed into my side.  That was one kick too many. Fury built in me, motivating me to get off the ground and put an end to all of this—just as soon as I figured out a way to move.

“Keni?” I called, my t
eeth grinding in pain. “Can you…get to…Gabe?”

She hesitated before answering. I assumed it was to assess the situation. I didn’t risk another look toward her. Instead
, I tried to find a way out from under the barrage of attacks from this nasty smog being. “I’ll try,” she answered, but her voice lacked conviction.

Her wings beat against the air
, followed by a shrill, nonhuman wail. The howl caught the attention of my attacker, who paused and turned to look toward his troubled buddy. I rolled out of striking distance and put some much needed space between myself the bowling-ball-fisted monster and me. Rising onto my shaky legs, I had a moment of panic that they wouldn’t support me. They did, but I was going to need some ice packs later. Lots of ‘em.