Under the Winter Sun (Elemental Enchanters Series Book 3) (25 page)

She froze.

From the east, the first of several saberwolves crashed through the trees, knocking them over like they were small weeds. Like dominos, the trees went down, breaking the icicles. The saberwolves grunted and snorted sinisterly, ready to devour. Their eyes trained on the group. The group scattered as the trees fell near them.

Ava shot water from her hands. Fireballs volleyed toward the saberwolves. Waves of energy blasted some wolves. Bombs exploded. Ava wanted to create a tidal wave, but couldn’t focus long enough. Torrents of water hit some of the beasts. There were so many. Then something knocked her into the snow. Her chest stabbed with pain. She quickly got to her feet, and Gabriel held out an arm in front of her.

The saberwolves closed in on the Aureole and then stopped moving. They ranged in color from jet-black to sandy to red to snow white. Figures dressed in black sat atop each one. The people looked like the same ones she, Gabriel, and Eric encountered in the deserted town. 

“I knew it was only a matter of time before you all came,” a bulky man said, his voice booming through the forest. 

Ava glanced at Gabriel, Thomas, and Gillian and saw the determination in their eyes. 

“We have no problem defeating you,” Aaron told him.

The man gave a hearty laugh. “Sir, we have fifty saberwolves. And our own powers. Give us the Elementals, and we will not kill you.”

“We will never surrender,” Aaron insisted.

The man shrugged. “Your funeral.” He held up a hand which signaled about ten of the mounted saberwolves to move forward.

The saberwolves crept closer, snapping their razor sharp teeth. Ava and the others held their ground waiting to make their move.

A cluster of saberwolves charged toward the group. Some of the hooded figures stood back, watching.

“Follow my lead,” Gabriel shouted.

As the group split, screams, yips, and growls echoed off the boulders. Ava followed Gabriel as he darted toward one of the beasts and crashed into it head on. She gasped, but the saberwolf fell over. He’d slammed into its chest.

One came at her, swatting its giant paw. She dodged, and it roared, the sound reverberating in her ears. With one punch toward the chest, she broke the skin and stopped the heart. The ground shook as the saberwolf collapsed. The person on top fell off and jumped onto Ava. Scars covered his face, and his dark eyes were sinister. She struggled with him, grabbing his neck. Water flowed down her arms and rushed over his face. 

The man choked and scrambled to his feet. Then, his icy fingers seized her neck and lifted her above him. As she gasped for air, he grinned smugly and threw her against a nearby tree as if she were nothing more than a doll. Snow collapsed on her as she pretended to be dead. Ava opened her eyes and imagined him under water with waves falling on him, knocking him further into the water. He dropped to his knees, coughing up water. Then, he rolled to his side and fell limp. She stayed in her spot a few more seconds until she was sure he was dead. She jumped to her feet and saw a giant fireball escape Thomas’s hands. It slammed into a man who let out a blood curdling scream before he dropped in the snow. Three men headed toward Gillian but she quickly controlled their minds into making them attack each other.

Ava turned her head, and a jolt of electricity paralyzed her. She wanted to cry out, but her teeth clenched as her body became rigid. She fell backwards onto the snow. 

“Ooh, did that hurt?” a short blonde woman purred.

Ava’s body tingled and she regained her feeling. “No, but this might hurt you.” She summoned water from the snow, and forcing it to melt into large puddles. She bolted upright. She snatched the woman’s legs, making her fall into the water. The woman flicked her wrist, a blue glow formed and she shocked herself. Her body thrashed as if it were seizing and then her face froze in horror as her body smoked. “Told you,” Ava said. 

She sneaked behind a hooded figure and punched his back. Bones cracked through his skin as he cried out. He collapsed with a hard crunch. Dark red blood soaked through the snow. Someone from behind tackled Ava to the ground, shoving her face in the snow. She felt small burning pricks all over her body that quickly amplified.

“You should give up,” the man said in her ear.

“Never.” She focused on turning the snow around them into liquid and soon they both sank into a pool of water. She willed the water to cover the attacker all over, and the burning sensation ceased. She moved out from under him and watched him drown.

Silence had fallen. Ava weakly got to her feet. Her entire body throbbed, and she winced from the prickling pain in her back. She looked around and saw several dead saberwolves and bodies strewn about in the red snow. It looked as though a bulldozer had come through and knocked down hundreds of trees. The large winged creatures that had been circling them during the whole battle, swooped toward the ground to claim their dinner. Vultures, she realized as they devoured the dead bodies, ripping the skin and fur from the saberwolves and pecking at their insides. With a sigh of disgust, she searched for her group.

Ava saw Savina healing injured Enchanters. Moira flung her arms around Thomas. Link placed little kisses all over Nicole’s face.

“Ava!” Gillian cried. She released Lance, and ran toward her, throwing her arms around Ava’s neck. Ava hugged back, and watched Eric holding Natalia. She froze. Where was Gabriel? Her heart stopped, and she frantically searched for him. She dropped her arms from around Gillian and started walking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone doubled over on his knees rocking back and forth. She narrowed her eyes and jogged to him, ready to attack.

He looked up, and Ava almost didn’t recognize him, until his crystal blue eyes locked onto hers.

“Gabe!” Her jaw went slack as her eyes roved over him. Acid had eroded bits of his clothes and left bubbles on his face, arms, and legs. His facial hair had fallen off. His body trembled and Ava was afraid to touch him. “Savina!” she cried.

“The damn Enchanter…made…acid and poured it on me,” he ground his teeth and his breath came out in short gasps. “You…you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine.” She couldn’t believe he thought of her while he was in so much pain. Savina was taking too long.

“Omigod, Gabe,” Gillian said as she, Lance, Eric, and Natalia walked up.

Ava took his arm and held it carefully. She didn’t know if it would work, but water from her arms trickled down. Instead of sizzling, the water crept over his wounds and sealed them. The boiling stopped, and there was no more blood. His skin returned to normal, and he leaned forward in the snow, taking deep breaths.

Ava heard sighs of relief behind her. She was glad. “I can heal again.”

“Thank god,” Gabriel said. “That was excruciating.”

“Are you okay?” She gripped his hand.

His eyes met hers. “I’m better now. It’s your turn.”

“I’m fine. I got electrocuted—.”

“You’re bleeding.”

She looked at herself and saw that blood had seeped through the front of her clothes and her arms. “I’ve never healed myself.”

“Let the water cover you,” he said. “That might work.”

Calling the water within her, she asked it to trickle through her pores. The prickling and  weakness vanished. She let out a relieved breath.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded.

“That was incredible.” Ava looked up and saw Ilya, smiling.

Gabriel stood and helped Ava to her feet. “Is everyone okay?” he asked the group. 

“Yes, we all made it just fine,” Aaron said. “The scavengers will have a nice meal for a few days. Peter and Katarina protected us well, but we all need to be more aware.”

“How did the vultures know what was going to happen?” Gillian asked.

“They can predict or sense when death will come,” Aaron said.

Gillian’s eyebrows furrowed. “So anytime we see a vulture we can assume someone’s going to die.”

“Yes.”

“Well, can we please go?” Natalia asked, her eyes shut. “I really don’t want to see the vultures eat their food.” Some of the birds had already made it to the bones on the corpses.

“Yes, we need to keep moving,” Aaron said.

“She’s always had a weak stomach,” Gabriel teased. 

Lance smiled. “Gillian, too.”

“Well, who wants to see that?” She waved her hand over the bodies and paled. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She moaned as she lost her balance. Lance steadied her and they moved around the carcasses.

“Any minute now Natalia will faint, too,” Eric joked.

She narrowed her eyes at him for a second then turned to Ava. “Thank you for healing Gabriel.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh, you missed a spot on my arm.”

“I did?” she asked, studying his arm, but saw nothing. 

“Don’t get too cocky,” Natalia said. “Or next time she won’t heal you.”

Gabriel winked at Ava.

“Always the kidder,” Ava playfully punched him.

“Thank you though. That was agonizing. I can’t believe there’s not even a scratch,” he said, examining his arm through his tattered sleeve.

“You’re welcome. Though, I’m sure Savina would have healed you had it not been for me.”

“Somehow it’s not the same.”

She glanced at him. What had he meant by that? He stared straight ahead, but a playful smile flickered across his face.

Just as the group moved forward, she caught a glimpse of Peter watching her. He had a yearning look in his brown eyes.

After another long day, Aaron decided to set up camp several miles from the scene of the fight, promising that they were far enough away that they would not be found. They had to bring out their tents and Savina charmed the place. They gathered around a fire in the center of their campsite.

“How’s your arm?” Ava took Gabriel’s arm in her hands to examine it once again. Dark hairs spread all over his pale arm, but not a single scratch showed.

“It’s fine. You healed it. Do you think it’s going to go back to boiling or something?”

“This is still kinda new for me.”

“It’s fine. I assure you. It still amazes me. We need to keep this a secret from Havok, though.”

“He already knows. I healed Colden.”

“But he also knows you lost your powers.”

“Okay. Keep the healing to a minimum. Got it.”

They were silent for a few minutes.

“I wasn’t expecting that today,” Gillian said.

“I don’t think any of us were,” Thomas said.

Tears filled her eyes. “Any one of us could have died.” She drew her knees up to her chest and rocked.

“Don’t think like that,” Eric said. “You should look at the positive that none of us died.”

“I know. I just…I need Jeremy. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I was really scared. I could have died back there.” She wept, her shoulders shaking.

Ava crouched down next to her and held her. Gillian clung to her. “We will find them,” she whispered in Gillian’s ear. “We have to.”

“What if he’s used their souls? What if it’s hopeless? What if they’re dead?” They were everyone’s concerns, but she was the first to voice them out loud.

“Come on, Gillian,” Thomas said. “Have a little bit more confidence.”

“It’s hard right now.”

“I know.”

“I mean, what if we get there and they’re all dead. Our attempt would be fruitless.”

“They aren’t dead,” Natalia demanded.

“When we get there, we still have to kill Havok and the Cimmerians,” Thomas told her. “We kill them, and there’s no more fighting. That’s not fruitless.”

“Yeah, until someone else decides to start up another army.”

“It won’t happen. You think any of us would do that?”

“I don’t know what any of us are going to do. Apparently, you and Ava will be Cimmerians soon. Who knows what will happen. Maybe you two start a revolution.”

That stung. Ava knew Gillian was just expressing her worries, but she didn’t want her Aureole believing she would become a Cimmerian. “No, we won’t,” Ava insisted. She looked around at the worried faces. “Come on, let’s go to sleep. We’ve had a long day,” Ava told Gillian and helped her stand.

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“Of course.”

They crawled into Gillian’s tent and Ava sat next to her as she slid inside the sleeping bag.

“I’m sorry. I wish so hard that it won’t happen to you. That you’ll be strong enough to not cave into him, but he’s so powerful, Ava.”

“We’re powerful, too. Together. Remember that.”

“I’m glad you’re here. I know I haven’t made it easy for you in the past few months. I feel like I’m always distrusting you. It’s so wrong. And I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Please forgive me for the rotten way I’ve treated you.”

“There’s no forgiveness necessary.”

“Please just forgive me.”

“Okay, I forgive you.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“I’ve been seeing Jeremy,” she said.

“In your dreams?”

Gillian shook her head. “No. He’s too real for that. Every night this week he’s come to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Ava hoped she hadn’t completely lost her mind.

“He visits me. He tells me to join the Cimmerians and says it’s amazing. And that we’re fighting for the wrong side.”

Ava froze. “Are the Cimmerians getting inside your head again?”

“No. At least it doesn’t feel the same as it did before. You never see him?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Gillian frowned. “Maybe it’s all in my head. I miss him so much.”

“I know. Me, too.”

“Were you scared at all today?”

“Of course I was. A Cimmerian grabbed me by the throat and threw me into a tree. It’s a wonder my brain still works.”

Gillian cracked a smile.

“I saw you control three men all at once.”

“I think of Jeremy. He would always tell me sweet dreams before going to sleep. He never let me down, you know. No matter how I treated him, he always treated me the same.”

“And he always will. He’s still out there.”

Gillian frowned. “Sometimes I have thoughts that he’s really gone. Like I’ll never see him again. Or when I see him he’ll have become one of them.”

“Jeremy will never turn dark.”

“What will happen if Havok takes his soul? He’ll never be the same.”

“You have to keep your faith.”

She sighed. “I know.”

Ava nodded. “Easier said than done. Trust me, I know.”