walker saga 06 - dronish (16 page)

“I’m starting to see the family resemblance.” I raised my brows at Latinti’s equally smartass daughter, Lucy.

Her smirk said it all. “We haven’t progressed to father-daughter terms yet, but he’s growing on me slowly.”

“You should go and reassure your mother that you’re okay.” The faerie, who showed no displeasure at Lucy’s words, inclined his head. “I can feel her sorrow from here.”

I followed his line of sight across to the air space above the pixie zone. I stilled. Okay, clearly sorrow wasn’t the only emotion Malisna was experiencing. Heavy, angry dark clouds had formed in a small spot above her area. She had called energy and this storm was the result. All fey were in touch with elemental powers, and right then Malisna was unhappy – yeah, let’s go with that understatement of the year.

Colton hadn’t said much. He was doing his usual staunch arm-cross, I’m-a-badass-wolf-Walker thing that he had down. From the first moment I’d met him, when he’d wandered into the Angelisian beach house, he’d been cool, calm, and confident.

Not much had changed. Walkers were pretty unchanging with the times. Although his pixie was known to fire him up on occasion and his hair was much shorter. It used to be shoulder length, tied back in platinum locks at the nape of his neck, but now he’d gone for shorter on the sides and a little length on top falling over his masculine features. He said it was easier to manage and, strangely enough, he was less shaggy in wolf form now too.

“Did you find the half-Walker?” Colton’s words reminded me that Lucy and I had been apart longer than usual and she knew none of the happenings of the last few hours.

I quickly launched into the story of Dronish and the standoffish Sapha.

“Still sounds like a step up from Fury.” Lucy flicked her curls over her shoulder.

She seemed to have gotten used to the huge increase in hair length after coming into her pixie powers. Which reminded me of something.

“Did you unlock your faerie side?” I wasn’t too nervous to ask since she was before me looking safe and healthy.

She exchanged a glance with Colton. It was quick, but I caught the flash of amusement. “No, we all decided that right now is not the time to be unlocking new abilities.”

Translation: Colton was going to kick the faerie prince’s ass if he touched Lucy in any way geared toward violence.

“And I don’t know how the new energy will react since I’m bonded to Colt now,” Lucy finished.

“Good point.”

They already had pixie, Walker, and wolf joined together. Add faerie into the mix and it could be an energy disaster.

Lucy’s eyes flicked to the pixie area. “I have to go and see Mother.” She leaned in and gave me a hard hug. “Where are you going?”

My heart hurt a little in that moment. Lucy and I had once been so inseparable; we had no one but each other. Now we seemed to be heading in different directions. I supposed it was inevitable. We both had so many new responsibilities and families, but I wasn’t cool with this. Not cool at all.

“Promise me that we won’t drift too far apart,” I whispered as I held her tighter. “No matter what direction life takes us, we have to make time to be with each other.”

Lucy pulled back from me, her expression sending a slight trill of fear through me.

She was pissed. “Abigail Swish. How could you think for even a second that you could get rid of me? Never. Ever. Ever. Going to happen.” She emphasized each word with a stamp of her tiny foot. “I’m your guide; I keep you from doing stupid shit like this.”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. “I just meant that we have new lives and responsibilities. We’ll probably end up spending a lot of time apart in the coming months … we need to make more effort.”

She sniffed, her eyebrows bunching together. “I already have it all worked out. This is how it’s going to go … lots of crap will happen, blah, blah, big battle and in the end we’ll imprison the lalunas and the Seventine. Then you and I will live next door to each other on Abernath. Neighbors and sisters for life.”

Her words filled me with a hope and joy that had been sadly missing of late.

“Did your powers of premonition tell you that?”

Latinti shifted in a strange manner then. “Premonition … sounds as if you have some faerie abilities already.”

We all faced him. I was surprised Lucy hadn’t asked this already.

“So these little flashes of the future I have on occasion, these are from the faeries?” she asked, eyes wide as she looked up at the imposing male.

Josian had planted some of the major prophecies, courtesy of his bonkers laluna. But Lucy still had an affinity for seeing the future, just small glimpses. Malisna had explained that was not a pixie power. We’d guessed it was faerie, and now it was confirmed.

Latinti reached out and took his daughter’s hand. His fingers were long and delicate, like an artist’s. I wasn’t sure manual labor was part of the faerie philosophy.

“It’s a facet of the power in our royal line. Most do not possess this ability. We are special.”

I managed not to snort out my laughter. Lucy was special all right.

“Shut it, Abbs,” she said, clearly reading my mind.

I waved a hand at her. “Anyways, I have to bail now. Fury needs my help with something on Crais, and then I have to get to Earth and find the next half-Walker – like immediately.”

At their confused look I quickly detailed the information we’d found in the library, the timeframe and rituals which required all of the half-Walkers or original powers. I wasn’t sure the faeries understood everything of my rapid babble, but Lucy would definitely have followed along. We’d had a lot of years of babbling – we were experienced.

The last sight, as I bade them goodbye and walked back toward the Doreen area, was a range of heavy and worried faces. Lucy especially looked torn between finding Malisna or following me. In the end I think it was only because it was more strain for me to shield extra people on Crais that stopped her coming along.

As I walked away I rubbed the spot right above my heart. My chest felt tight. I hated when people were upset. I should start demanding everyone be positive and happy at all times, because it was hard for me to stay sane and optimistic when their worries piled in on me too.

I ignored the curious looks which followed me across the field. I was used to it. Especially from the Abernaths. They all remembered now that I was bonded to their princeps, that they had sent energy into me during the initiation ceremony. But since Brace and I were currently … whatever we were … they didn’t know how to approach or address me. I needed to deal with that as well. Sigh. Add it to the list.

Fury pounced on me the moment I walked back into our zone, and Cerberus licked the side of my face. My hellhound looked happy after his time with Apollo. I quickly explained to the massive puppy that Fury and I were going to Crais, and that it was harsh there and I’d be back soon. Of course, like all the others in my life, he completely ignored me, shrinking himself back to tiny size and bounding along my arm and up onto my shoulder. Okay, apparently he was not staying behind.

“Ready?” Fury held out her hand. She’d be tracing since she knew where to go.

I nodded. “Do we need to shield?”

“Nope, I’ll take us into the cave that borders the area.”

Sounded good to me.

I closed my eyes and held on to her arm tightly. It was strange not being in control. I’d never been traced by someone else. I had no idea how it felt. Surprisingly enough, it was very similar, just a little jolt and we were there.

The stifling heat hit me hard. We were definitely back on Crais.

I opened my eyes, shaking my head as I tried to adjust to the air. It was like breathing in heavy dirt. The taste and texture was not pleasant.

Fury sighed. “I’m starting to think I could never live here again.” She was uncharacteristically somber as we started to move through the hot cave.

The red rock walls seemed familiar, but everything on Crais looked the same. It could be any of the cave systems.

“Living with this heat, the disgusting air, the inability to run in the sun.” She shook out her white mane. “I know, deep down, Dune wants to be here, with Cleo. It’s not the same for him. This land rejuvenates him.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand. It didn’t matter which couple, we were all facing our obstacles.

“The fact that you can instantly trace to and from a place … well, that should alleviate some of the barriers to wanting to live on different worlds.” I tried to find a silver lining for them.

Sure, because it’s always simple like that.

Her dark gray eyes met mine. “I hope we can reach some sort of compromise, but in the end I won’t be without Dune. So maybe I’ll live here, and just trace for some girl-time visits with you guys.”

The emotions hit me hard. I hadn’t really thought ahead to the moment when I would no longer be fighting the Seventine. But I completely hated the thought that the half-Walkers and I would live on different worlds. We felt like family, and while we didn’t need to exist in each other’s pockets, residing on the same world would be nice.

I was going with positive thoughts on this one. “I have faith that after we finish this battle and prevent the complete destruction of the worlds … well, things will fall into place.” I nodded decisively.

“I like your confidence, Supes.”

We were moving pretty rapidly through the tunnel. I used my shield a few times to clear the soot from my lungs. I wondered at first how deep we were going, but then as the light appeared across the way, I realized we were heading straight through to the other side. The brightness became more blinding as we moved closer.

“Shield time, Supes.”

Fury winked at me, and I threw out the barrier that would not only protect us from the heat but also keep viable the small amounts of oxygen available, you know, just so we could breathe. Well, so I could breathe; Fury was adapted to this world. Stepping free of the doorway, I used my hand to shield my eyes from the brightness. The heat seeped into my boots from the cracked red ground beneath us. If anything, the intensity of the two suns seemed even stronger than the last time I had been here. I hoped the soles of my shoes weren’t going to melt. Just to be sure, I slipped a layer of the shield under our feet. I hadn’t done that the last time, afraid I wouldn’t have the strength to complete our task. Today my energy was a hundredfold stronger than it had been all those months ago. I could have shielded us for days. I barely even felt the strain.

Fury spoke in a rapid succession of words. “Dune is close by. I can feel the nomads scattered around, but they’re staying clear of this area. I can’t use my power unless I want them all over my ass, but your energy seems to be okay … undetectable.” Her point was loud and clear: if things went to crap in a can, it was up to me to take care of it.

Yeah, I could totally do that. She didn’t call me Super Abby for nothing.

The land of Crais was unchanging as we crossed the long unbroken expanse of red dirt. There were still craggy, mountainous overhangs scattered around, large rocky cliffs, and a few scraggly trees, but all in all it was a depressing expanse of red. Under the suns – which were halfway up, on opposite sides of the sky – Fury’s hair looked whiter, her skin redder, and I wasn’t sure if she realized it, but vitality poured off her in waves. Her half nature was showing itself.

My thoughts were cut off as we started to move closer to what was a widespread series of cliffs. I’d thought they were a very long way away from us, but in actual fact they were just smaller than most of the others. As we moved closer the first slivers of disturbance could be felt in the land. There was definitely something going on here. We were about a hundred yards away when I sensed the Seventines’ presence.

“The Seventine are here,” I told Fury. “I can feel the first, and he’s going to know I’m here now.”

Sure enough, as we moved into the shade of the cliff, from a small opening emerged four nomads. But they weren’t just nomads. The energy gave them away first, followed closely by the fine fissures spanning the red skin of the poor possessed souls.

The first stepped forward. “Hello, ancient one.” The puppet he was possessing started to talk. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Oh, hell, this was going to be bad.

Fury and I were unmoving as we watched the Seventine span the entrance. I wouldn’t make the initial move toward them. We couldn’t do anything to stop the Seventine right then. They could sever tethers and possess anyone, and there was no way to halt them until we could trap them back in the prison.

I clenched my fists against the feeling of powerlessness. The pain from my nails brought some clarity, clearing the waves of anger that had flooded me.

For now we just needed to figure out what their plan was for Crais. Because they were running out of time to free their brothers and desperation was a scary mother.

“We’re so glad you’re here,” the first waved one hand in an arc, “I wanted to show you our power again, the tethers which are ours to possess. You’ve arrived just in time.”

One of the other Seventine stepped forward then. “We have the energy at hand now to free the last of our brothers and end this little dance. In a few short hours, all seven of us will be released from our prison and we’re going to rain destruction and desolation on the seven worlds.”

Another spoke. “None will stand before us.”

Finally the fourth of the group finished their gloating. “None will survive. We have no more mercy. Our power has been contained for too long.”

I cut to the chase. “How are you going to find enough energy here to free the last three?” It was my understanding that they would need an exorbitant level of power for these last Seventine prisoners.

The first grinned and unease swirled through every cell of my body, from the blood right to the bone marrow.

“Greed needs to be punished. This world has two of something. Why do they have two, when they only need one?”

Great, he was a freaking poet now.

Fury and I exchanged a single, holy-shit-balls look, before turning back to the Seventine. Were they talking about the suns?

“We can’t let them take the energy,” I murmured to her.

If they freed the three before I found the last half-Walker, it was all over; we would never catch up in time. They would start unraveling the worlds, continuing on to the convergence. Then the end would come for all of us.

Fury angled her low words toward me. “Dune is on his way, with distractions.”

The powerful thrusts of the winds were the first indication of his arrival. I didn’t want to take my eyes from the four evil beings before me, but the need to see what was coming up behind my back was too strong. I lifted my chin and shifted my gaze over my right shoulder. The sight pretty much took my breath away.

A large group of dragoonas filled the sky.

“I’ve never seen a pandemonium of dragoonas.” Fury’s voice rose into an excited crescendo as the beasts moved closer to us.

A pandemonium … I liked that.

Most of them were in dark colors: reds, blacks, grays, with a few other shades scattered amongst them. Cleo was still the only green one, and there were one or two bluey purples. I could see clearer as they closed in, the brightness of the red sky and dual suns fueling their descent toward us. There were at least fifty magnificent and utterly scary dragon animals heading in our direction. Varying in size and color they were, but each brought the same sharp teeth and flames.

I spun my eyes back to the Seventine. They were still in the same spot, looking a little mesmerized by the pandemonium.

Fury raised her hands, as if she could embrace the beasts. “They’re amazingly resistant to magic, energy manipulations, and Walker attacks.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

Fury stepped a little closer to the male who had just dropped down off the only green dragoona. Dune. I extended the shield so she could continue stepping closer to him. It was as if there were a magnet between those two, something intangible that drew them toward each other. It was a magical quality, possessed only by those of us with true mates.

Despite her ‘Dune’ distraction, she still answered. “My father told me. He explained many of the things he learned about the mixing of our cultures. He said the dragoonas were most probably descended from the Walker sacred animals.”

Apollo, most likely.

Her words reminded me of Cerberus, who was still curled up in the crook of my neck. I had completely forgotten he was there. Damn, he could be so still and quiet when the situation warranted it. Still, it gave me a moment’s relief to know that he was with me. He had my back, and since the Walker guides were filled to the brim with ancient energies, they could definitely help against the Seventine. If it came to that, of course.

The first sneered. “You can’t stop us. This show of intimidation is laughable.” He sounded calm, unruffled and definitely amused. Insufferable bastard. “We’ve been searching for many eclipses, and finally we found the center of this world.”

“What’s the center?” Fury barked the words at him, hands on her hips.

Although her irate look lessened as Dune finally reached her side. He entered my protective shield and wrapped his arms around Fury. Her tension immediately lessened. Leaning down, the nomad murmured a few words, which brought a true smile to the Crais half-Walker’s face.

“What’s the center?” I repeated her question. 

The first leveled its gaze on me. Well, the gaze of the poor nomad who’d involuntarily become a living bomb. “You’re lucky that the energy of the originals runs within you … which we find useful. Otherwise the minuscule years you have lived and the tiny pockets of information you contain would be … intolerable.”

A vision of me punching him fair in the face was a nice little reprieve from the arrogance.

“Every one of the seven worlds is built on tethers, and during the convergence all of these will join to allow us an easy, one-step severing.”

I already knew that; must be included in my tiny pocket of information.

“But within the individual worlds are lines of energy. They interconnect and link across the globes. The center line is the most important. It’s the tether to the suns, moons, and orbiting stars of that world. It’s the life force of the planet.”

I had a horrible feeling that I knew where this little conversation was going. We’d guessed at it before …

“You’re going to take one of the suns?” My question was blunt.

Fury and Dune exchanged a glanced filled with disbelief and fear.

It had to be the suns. They’d referred to Crais having two of something that they felt should only have one. What else could it be that would have enough energy to free the remaining Seventine?

The first grinned. The ivory teeth common to this world flashed in the bright sunlight. “Finally some of the originals’ intelligence shines through.”

He gave me a slight dip of his head. Then the four of them turned on the spot and, using their hosts to move, fled back into the mountain.

The three of us exchanged a wide-eyed look. There was no way in the world we could let this happen. But how the hell did you stop something like that?

“The dragoonas can’t follow us into the mountain,” Dune said, “but they will wait here in case we need them.”

He was right. As we moved toward the entrance, I could see the gap was way too small for even the tiniest of the scaled beasts. I jumped as Cerberus yelped close to my ear. For the first time since arriving on Crais, he was shifting on my neck.

I stopped moving forward. I could sense he was about to jump free. Sure enough, he was off me and huge within my next breath of stale air. I peered around his bulk, trying to determine what had initiated the menacing growls coming from his muscled figure. Something not fun was heading toward us.

Sure enough, before we could escape the intense suns into the cave, shadows rose out of the entrance and burst out. As more of the forms poured free, we moved backwards in a rapid series of steps. My eyes were cataloguing the features of those coming at us, but my brain hadn’t caught up with what I was seeing.

What. The. Eff? What the hell were these things?

“I’m extending the barrier,” I said. “Something tells me that we’re going to need the space.” Understatement.

“We need weapons.” Fury’s voice was higher than usual.

I shook my head. “You don’t need a weapon. They’re freaking … trees. Just burn them down. I don’t think it’s time to worry about the nomads.”

Her eyes widened, before she nodded decisively.

I had no idea what the Seventine had done, but somehow walking in our direction was a forest of six-foot animated trees. They looked ancient, but without any leaves or greenery. Just the knotted, aged trunks. Not to mention they walked on root-shaped legs and had twiggy arms. The eeriest part was the complete lack of visible faces.

Okay, so Fury was her own flame thrower, but I needed a weapon. Damn, it wasn’t like I could magically materialize a sword like Delane could do from the clouds on Nephilius.

Wait a minute.

Thinking of Nephilius gave me an idea. I had done something for the first time I was there; I’d traced the half-Walkers toward me. Could I do the same thing with a weapon? Only one way to find out.

It didn’t seem advisable to shut my eyes right then, what with the forest closing in, so I just mentally pictured the weapons’ room in the beach house. Josian had it well stocked; there was a lot to choose from.

Hoping this would work, I sent out my golden tether toward the sharpest blade in there. Something that would have no trouble slicing through wood. My golden cord ended up hovering over a long sword with a thick and razor-sharp blade. It was a little heavier than I liked to use, but I’d be okay for a good thirty minutes. Let’s hope the fight didn’t last longer than that.

It took me a minute to realize it was much harder to connect to inanimate objects. They still had tethers, of course, but their ties were not searching back for me, as they were when I connected to the girls. I had to do all the work. My golden cord finally intertwined with the glittering cord of the sword. I took a deep breath and reached into my energy well.

I brushed back the foreign faerie energy which was still situated inside and reached for the same energy I’d used on Nephilius. As with the half-Walker females, I had to will the object to come to me.

Excitement jumped inside me. It worked. A sword was suddenly in my hand, my fingers closing around the smooth handle, its weight solid in my grip. A grin ripped across my face. Hell, yeah! That was awesome.

Fury turned and her jaw actually dropped when she finally noticed my new attachment.

“That is freaking awesome.” She repeated my thoughts as she fist-pumped her excitement into the air.

Cerberus gave a bark of agreement, but that was the end of our celebrations.

Suddenly the trees were moving again, their rooty legs reaching us in a matter of moments.

It was time to battle.

They moved toward us in a regimented unit, and when they were no more than a few feet away I stared really hard, trying to determine if there was a face hidden in the bark. They seriously just looked like dead trees. If you discounted the fact they were walking.

I was wondering how they were dangerous; they didn’t have any weapons. Then I was given a first-hand experience of their skills. I was completely unprepared when branches shot off and wrapped themselves around my center, squeezing the life from me. My sword flew to the side, breath was crushed from me, and within seconds my insides were one big aching mass.

My energy rose to the surface to try to counteract the massive strength and power of the branches. I could feel the blood running down my side as the wood cut into my arms. I knew if my inner strength had not been so huge, I’d have been cut in two by this creature.

Luckily, I hadn’t dropped the shield around Fury and me yet, so we weren’t burning lumps on the red parched ground.

Cerberus barked once before bounding across to me. He severed the branches with a well-placed swipe of his massive claws. The branches unraveled from my body, falling to the burning hot ground in a lump. I followed suit, landing next to them. I flinched as my skin sizzled against the scorching ground. Now I could add burns to my injuries.

I gasped in air as rapidly as I could, exhaling just as fast. I was trying to fill my lungs. All the while my body still screamed from the crushing pains. I forced myself up from the red earth. Cerberus lent me his bulk to lean on. My cuts, burns, and red welts started to heal immediately, and within a few minutes I was ready to fight.

Fury scurried to my side. “You okay, Supes?” As I nodded she glanced behind her. “Note to self: don’t let them give you a hug.”

She called her power. The blue flames surrounded her. The heat was suddenly more intense in the protective shield. I knew the nomads would be on our asses soon. Hopefully they were busy with whatever the Seventine were currently up to.

Fury ran forward. I gasped as she left the barrier, before remembering that she could walk under the suns while covered in her flames. I pulled back my shield so it just surrounded me now. Cerberus had long ago left. The massive hound was in combat with some forest folk.

Fury raised her hands and shot blue energy at the large tree closest to her. It started to burn, but not rapidly like that of a normal dead tree. I could feel that she had to push more and more power to knock it down. I lost sight of her then, as I had to step up and battle.