Warrior from the Shadowland (23 page)

“I’m
fine.  Are you guys okay?  I heard Gion showed up.”

“He
did.  But, then Ty had a panic attack and he left.”  Tharsis came over, his too
perceptive gaze on Cross.  “You been taking care of my sister?”

“I’d
die for your sister.”  Cross knew when he was being measured.  Over and over in
life, eyes had skimmed past him, adding up the sum of his parts and finding him
lacking.

Tharsis
slapped a hand on to Cross’ shoulder.  “I’m going to hold you to that.”  He
warned, good naturedly.

And,
for once, Cross saw only wary acceptance in someone’s face.  Tharsis wasn’t
going to try to keep him from Nia.  That was good, because Cross knew that Nia
loved her family.  She wouldn’t like it if he was forced into a swordfight with
her twin.  But, it also felt… nice that the Water House seemed willing to let
him try and prove himself before coming after him with swords.

Ty
gave Cross a very tentative smile and, having seen some of her history, Cross figured
that was amounted to a “welcome to the family!” party being thrown in his
honor.

“Ty.” 
Nia didn’t seem surprised by Cross’ sudden popularity.  Instead, she focused on
her cousin.  “Honey, you had a panic attack in front of Gion?  God, Thar, he’ll
tell Parald.”

“I
don’t think so…”  Tharsis began, thoughtfully.

“Gion
knows about the Quintessence.”  Ty interrupted.  “We have to find it before he
does.”  She looked over at Melanie.  “You are Uriel’s Match?”

“He’s
my
Match.”  Melanie corrected.  She gestured towards the computer. 
“Here, you’re the hacker, right?  Go to work.”

“You’re
taking this all very well, Melanie.”  Nia mused.  She glanced down at the fern
on the desk, which seemed to have doubled in size and general wellness since
Melanie had been sitting there.  “Are you sure you’re a human?”

“She’s
mostly human.”  Uriel reiterated.  He came to stand next to Melanie, as Ty
began typing on the keyboard.  “Her grandfather was Wood Phase.  Parson, one of
our Elders.  He left us and never returned.  He must’ve come here and Phazed
with a human.  They had children and Melanie is of their line.”

Everyone’s
mouths dropped open.  Having a human Match was shocking enough, but
interbreeding?  Humans and Phases couldn’t interbreed.  It said so in every
Elemental biology text ever written.  Yet, Melanie existed.  Defy all their
laws and confirming that interbreeding could actually happen.

“Surprise.” 
Melanie shrugged.  “I was kinda freaked out, at first, but after the pine
trees, and the Phazing, and the memory thing… Well, the ‘finding out that
grandpa was part alien’ thing was just sorta ‘meh
,
whatever.’  Ya know?”

Cross
squinted, trying to decipher that.

“We
aren’t aliens.”  Uriel sounded like he’d been patiently repeating that all day. 
“We are Elementals.  We control the interconnected…”

“I
know, I know.”  Melanie held up a hand.  “Sorry, I know you’re touchy about the
UFO stuff.”

“There
are no aliens in this galaxy.”  Uriel said the words with Melanie mouthing
along.

Tharsis
swallowed.  “This is… amazing.  I mean,
really
amazing.”  He leaned
forward to study Melanie, careful to not actually make contact with her body
and set Uriel off.  Phases really did not like other Phases touching their
Matches.

As
it was, Uriel stiffened slightly at another man standing so close to Match.

Cross
knew exactly how he felt.

“Everyone
always said that humans and Phases couldn’t interbreed.”  Tharsis shook his
head.  “But, here you are.  Proof that we can find Matches outside the
Elemental realm.”  He was quiet for a long moment, just staring at her and
Cross realized that the guy was being serious for once.  “Thank you, Melanie.” 
He finally whispered.  “I thought, I must have lost my Match in the Fall. 
Seeing you, though… It shows me that she could still be out there.”

“You’re
welcome.”  Her mouth curved.  “You might want to not mention your criminal
tendencies to your dream girl when you find her, though.”

“The
Council won’t like it.”  Cross felt compelled to point out.  “Interbreeding
with humans is just not a plan they’re gonna support.”

“Not
even Job has the authority to overrule the will of Gaia.”  Uriel pulled Melanie
closer as if Cross might try to steal her away.  “I was led here to my Match
and now I’m bringing hope to Phases everywhere.  If we have Matches, we can
stop our extinction.  Have you considered…”

“Oh,
shit!
”

Cross
was used to hearing that word in his own mind as he dealt with the world around
him.  He
wasn’t
so accustomed to hearing it bellowed by little red
headed Water Queens.

Ty
slammed her hands down on the desk and squeezed her eyes shut.  “It set us
up.”  She breathed.  “Nia, it set us up!”

Nia
blinked.  “Um… Okay.”

“Don’t
you see what the Quintessence did?”  Ty exploded from her seat. “Why it donated
that blood here in Mayport Beach?  That’s the part that never made any sense to
me.”

“
That
was the part, huh?”  Melanie muttered.  She leaned over to rub the leafy
surface of her fern and made a “whoa” sound as it tried to curl around her
wrist.  “Crap.  Look at this, Uriel. I’m that Batman villain Uma Thurman
played, all of a sudden.  I hated that movie, too.”

“You
are developing some Wood Phase powers, my love.”  Uriel grinned, proudly.  “I
told you the Phazing might affect your dormant energies.”

“Ty?” 
Nia prompted when her cousin just continued pacing.  “What are you saying?”

Ty
slammed her hands on the desk and dropped her head down in frustration.  “I’m
saying that if Elementals become extinct, we take the rest on the universe with
us.  Which is something not even the Quintessence can recover from.  I’m saying
that, being a Divine creature, it somehow knew that humans could give us
Matches.  I’m saying that we haven’t been tracking it.  It’s been leading us
here to
her
.”  Ty gestured to Melanie.  “So we’d see how to save ourselves
and
not
end the world again.”

That
was the longest speech Cross had ever heard the girl make and by the
expressions on Thar and Nia’s faces he wasn’t alone in his shock.

Ty
was pissed.

“It
used me.”  She bit-off.  “It thinks it can pop-up just long enough to get me to
see it and a follow It down the rabbit hole.”  She pressed the heels of her
palms against her eyes and swore softly.  “We have to start the whole search
over.”

“It’s
not in Mayport Beach?”  Nia looked stunned.  “You mean, it’s not here,
at
all
.”

“I
don’t know.”  Ty murmured, tiredly, “It might be here.  Or it might be in
Albuquerque.  Or in Bora Bora.  Or on Neptune.  But, I do know that the blood
is a dead end.  It’s cheese in a mouse trap, Nia, drawing us here so we could
find out about the humans.”

“Well,
it
is
good news for you people.”  Melanie pointed out.  “What with your
extinction and all.”

Ty
didn’t appear to hear that.  She shook her head.  “I should have seen it.  I
had all the research.  All the evidence of human DNA in Elemental lines.  It’s
why some of us were immune to the Fall.  I just never took it to the next step
of considering Matches.  There
has
to be Elemental DNA in the human
population.  How else would the genetic immunity be passed to children unless
somewhere, at some time, Elementals and humans interbred?  Humans would
have
to be potential Matches.  I’m such an idiot!”

“Yeah,
I totally would have put that together.”  Tharsis deadpanned.  “Moron.”

Ty
was silent for a moment.  Then, she gave a small laugh and looked over at her
cousin.  “I just really detest you, Thar.”  Her tone held such affection that
Cross knew it wasn’t just Tharsis and Nia who treasured Ty.  She adored them
right back.  No wonder Job spent so much time with the Water House.  They made
you feel less lonely just by surrounding you with their open, real love for one
another.

Cross
wrapped an arm around Nia, who still seemed shell-shocked.  “You okay, baby?”

“I
was so sure…”  She dropped her forehead against his shirt and sighed.  “I was
so sure we could find it and fix things.”  She sounded lost and sad, and it
broke his heart.

 Cross
pressed a kiss to the top of her head.  “The Quintessence is out there.  We’ll
just have to look harder, baby.”

Ty,
Tharsis, and Nia all stared at him with identical hopeful, turquoise eyes.  Cross
realized that he was somehow being asked to promise Virginia that there really
was a Santa Claus.  What’s more he
wanted
to offer them some
reassurances.  Wanted Nia to go back to her usual scheming self, and Thar to
keep his sudden optimism for the future, and for Ty to stop pacing.  “Um, Ty? 
You said that the Quintessence poked its head up, right?  So, it has to --you
know--
be
here somewhere.  Even if it was just trying to manipulate you
guys, it
exists
.  That’s the most important thing.  You can find it.”

Ty
digested that for a beat.  “I can find it.”  She echoed.  Her gazed narrowed
behind the cat’s eyes lens of her glasses.  “It set things up for
me
to
follow the breadcrumbs.  Me.  It knew I was researching humans and it used that
to get me right where it wanted me.  The Quintessence thinks it’s smarter than
me, but it’s not.  I might not have a lot else, but I’m
smart
.”

“You
have plenty else…”  Nia began.

An
explosion of power cut her off.

Overhead
lights blew out.  With a surge of energy, a small army of Reprisal soldiers
filled the police station.  And all of them were armed.

Shit.

The
element of danger adds zest to it all.

Walt
Whitman-"In the Sleeper"

Nia’s
eyes widened as she took in the mass of Reprisal soldiers filling the police
station. Her mind went blank for several heartbeats, stuck in a “what the hell
is this?” brain freeze as she tried to process the invasion.  When she started
thinking again, she immediately panicked that they’d come to murder her
cousin.  “Ty!”  She screamed.

And
then Nia was being shoved backwards, so she landed on the far side of the
desk.  She hit the floor with a ‘thud’ and had the vague thought that this was
the second time that day that she’d been under a desk during a fight.  Only
this time Cross had pushed her there.  Nia poked her head up and saw her that
Match had pulled his sword free.

Cross
was slamming through the not-so-small army of Chason’s men, but there were just
too many.  Uriel waded into the fray, his own blade slicing a path of
destruction.  Wood Phases loved to battle.  It was actually pretty impressive
to watch him thrust and parry against his opponents.  He was an artist with
that blade.

Cross
was a lot more direct in his attack.  Every move he made was designed to be a
death blow.  His sword sliced through one of the soldiers’ necks, sending a
head flying through the air.  It bounced off the far wall with a horrible
“splat” and a smear of horror movie quality blood.  Two more soldiers were on
him, almost instantly.

“Damn
it.”  Nia was looking around for a weapon so she could help him, when she heard
a two gunshots blast out right above her head.

Both
of the Phases going after Cross now sported bullet holes in their skulls. 
Perfectly round holes in the center of their foreheads that were just never
going to heal properly.  They looked at each other and then turned in
choreographed precision to scowl at Melanie.

“Well
damn.”  She lowered her gun.  “Bullets don’t work of you guys, huh?”

“Not
so much.”  Nia hefted a metal stapler and heaved it at the groin of the man
closest to her.  He doubled over with an “oomph” of pain.  “Staplers work,
though.”

“Nia,
get the hell out of here!”  Cross bellowed.

She
ignored that because it was stupid thing to say.  She wasn’t about to leave her
family and her Match to face two dozen Reprisal goons.  “Ty!”  She shouted
instead, looking around the mayhem for her cousin.  Ty would be their main
target.  Ty was always everyone’s main target.  No wonder the poor girl was in
therapy.

Nia
spotted Ty across the room.  A Reprisal solider had her by the hair and was
trying to drag her forward.  Four more men shoved their way over, preparing to
jump Ty to the Magnet Kingdom.

“Stop!” 
Nia rounded the desk, heading straight for them.

Tharsis
got there before she did.  He tackled the man holding Ty and Nia felt the swell
of her twin’s powers.  He drew every drop of moisture that he could from the
air-conditioned air, which was an incredible drain on his powers.  “Thar!”  She
shouted, right before her brother blasted out a colossal surge Water energy. 
All five soldiers’ heads snapped off in unison like they’d been cut with a high
pressure water saw.  Tharsis fell over, dazed and panting.  His hand still
reached out to grab Ty and pull her behind him.

“That’s
too much power!”  Nia crouched down beside him.  “You’re completely drained
now, you idiot.”  It always took the Water Phases more energy to commit
violence than the other Houses, especially when they were cut off from
liquids.  Phases weren’t supposed to use their powers against each other,
anyway.  But, Water Phases were the most peaceful of the Elementals.  Their
powers were strongest when they
weren’t
decapitating people.

“Ty.” 
Tharsis whispered.  “They were going to jump with Ty.”

“It
was my fault.”  Ty agreed.  “Thar?  Are you okay?”

“I’m
okay.”  He looked towards the door.  “We gotta get out of here.”

Nia
shook her head.  “I have to help Cross.  You two go.”  She started to stand up
again, when a soldier grabbed her from behind.

Nia
cursed as her feet came right off the floor.  “Cross!”  She shouted,
instinctively.

Tharsis
tried to help her.  She felt him gathering more energy, slamming it at the man
and then the Water gave out.  Thar’s power stretched too far and then snapped
back at him, knocking him unconscious.

“Thar!” 
Nia used her own powers to gather up Water energy.  It was hard to get enough
Water in the dehumidified air to do more than smash it into the man’s face.  He
stumbled backwards, losing his grip on her.  Nia fell forward and turned just
in time to see Cross come up behind the soldier.  With a massive swing of his
sword her Match beheaded the man who’d touched her.

Cross
stood there, breathing hard.  “Okay?”  He asked.

Nia
nodded.  “Yeah.  Good aim.”  She crawled over to check on her brother, who was
out cold.  “Thar!  Wake up.”  She slapped at his cheek trying to bring him
around.

Ty
covered her ears with her hands and looked like she was seconds away from a
complete breakdown.  “Oh, God.  Oh God.”  She chanted, helplessly.

Cross
was fighting another Reprisal soldier who’d come dashing up.  “Just
leave
already.  I’m not sure how much longer I can keep them off of you guys.”

Nia
ignored him, again.  She didn’t have a choice.  She couldn’t carry her brother
outside.  “Ty, don’t move.”  Nia grabbed Tharsis by the waistband of his pants
and dragged him towards the wall, away from the stomping of feet.

Unfortunately,
three Phases had pinned Uriel against the wall.  He was still fighting,
brutally stabbing his sword into their bodies.  Melanie pushed her way through
the battle, reaching her Match and raising a gun at the biggest man.

“Bullets
don’t harm us, human.”  He reached out to grab her, a smirk on his face.

“This
one doesn’t have bullets, asshole.”  Melanie shot her police issued taser right
into his chest.  The electrodes pierced through his clothing and sent thousands
of volts of electricity pulsing through him.  His muscled spasmed, contracting
uncontrollably.  He went down hard, shaking like a possessed man in a revival meeting. 
His two friends turned to gape at him.

Uriel
used their momentary distraction to finish them off with his sword.

“I
thought that might work.”  She said, smugly.

Uriel
stared at Melanie with something like wonder.  “You are a marvelous warrior, my
love.”

“I
know.”  She agreed.  “You wanna kill this electrocuted guy or should I cuff
him?”

“I
think I should kill him.”

“Whatever.” 
Melanie loaded another air cartridge into her taser.  “I’m pretty sure I don’t
have jurisdiction over aliens, anyhow.”

Nia
finally secured Thar against the wall and headed back for Ty.  Looking around
at the fighting, though, she realized that something was wrong.  The Reprisal
never tried to inflict serious injuries on them.  Chason knew that the Water
Phases were too important to the preservation of the universe.  They couldn’t
die or it would doom everyone.  But, to send this many men --men who weren’t
delivering any lethal blows no matter how many of their comrades fell-- was
just bizarre.  What was Chason up to?

A
Phase pushed his way in front of Nia as she started back to Ty.  The olive
stripe in his hair marked him as part of the Stone House.  He wore a perfectly
pressed suit and a demonic smile.  She took an instinctive step back from him.

“Hello,
Nia.”  He said, calmly.  “I’m God.”

*****

While
the battle raged around her, Ty fought monsters of her own.

Panic
attack.

Panic
attack.

Panic
attack

The
pull of it threatened to drag her under, but she couldn’t succumb.  Stumbling
to her feet, she tried to follow her cousins and ran straight into trouble.

Three
Reprisal soldiers came at Ty, cornering her as she tried to evade the swinging
swords.  Her breathing was coming too fast, the edges of her vision waving, as
terror swamped her senses. Oh God.  Oh God.  Not again.  Not again.  She
struggled against her fear, trying to resist the downward pull of a panic
attack as she backed away.

For
once, the anxiety was the least of her problems.  The advancing men didn’t look
like they were intent on just taking her to Chason or using her as bait for
Parald.  They wanted to kill her.  They blamed her for the Fall and they wanted
her to suffer.  Ty could read it in their cold, hate filled eyes.  They didn’t
care about the third of the Water House she supported.  All they wanted was vengeance
and they planned to wipe her out of existence.

They
were bigger than her.

So,
much stronger.

Too
weak.

She
was always too weak.

One
of the Phases made a grab for her, his fingers biting into her arm.

Ty
cried out, trying to pull free of his grasp as he yanked her forward.  
Remembering the self-defense lessons Uriel had drummed into her head, she aimed
a kick for his knee.  He loosened his hold, but one of the other Phases was
there hitting her.  His fist slammed it her jaw and Ty slammed into the wall. 
Dazed, she tried to stay on her feet as the first man got her, again.  He threw
her to the ground, his sword held high.

Beheading.

Ty
stared up at him and only one thought went through her scattered mind.  An
instinctive reaching out to somebody, although she had no idea who.  Ty was a
scientist.  She didn’t believe in any sort of psychic, mindreading weirdness,
except as the natural connection between Matches.  And truthfully, she wasn’t
completely sold on even that.  Parald’s energy touching her had always felt
wrong and intrusive and dirty in a very visceral way.  She never had the urge
to try and connect with him on any level.  The words in her head now were just
automatically screamed to someone.

Help
me!

It
wasn’t so much a request or even prayer.  It was an order.  The words actually
seemed familiar, as if she’d sent them out into the universe before.

Help. 
Help.  Help.  Help.  Help.

Ty’s
eyes went wide as she scrabbled backwards, chanting in her mind, preparing to
feel the slice of the sword across her neck.  Memories and her current horror
mixed so she wasn’t sure where she was anymore.  The Fall.  The mob attacking
the Water Palace.  The Reprisal.  It was a blur of images and panic.  She
couldn’t breathe.  She was going to die.

The
sword came chopping down and… stopped six inches from her neck.

The
blast of Air hit the Reprisal soldiers with the force of a cannon, sending them
flying like kindling in a tornado.  The sword, which had been headed right for
Ty, clattered to the ground.  More light bulbs blew out, rushing winds pounded
around her, and then Gion appeared.

Dark.

Lethal.

Invincible.

Scarier
than even the Reprisal, Gion’s energy scoured the atmosphere around them,
charging the air.  Still on the floor, Ty’s hair whipped furiously in the
windstorm of his power.  She stared up at Gion and, amazingly, felt her panic
recede a bit.

Gion
was focused on the Reprisal soldiers.  Even if he planned to kill her himself
or, worse, turn her over to Parald, he’d never let Chason’s men get her.  There
might have been three Phases facing him now, but it didn’t matter.  Ty had
absolutely no doubt who’d be left standing at the end of the fight. 
Truthfully, Ty would have bet her money on Gion no matter what the odds.  He
was ruthless, utterly without morals and he always won, regardless of the rules
he had to break.

He
was the most terrifying creature that she’d ever met.  The Reprisal Phases
didn’t stand a chance against him.

Gion
didn’t even glance in Ty’s direction.  He just stepped forward so that he was
standing over her; one foot braced on either side of her body as he focused on
the Reprisal men.  It was an almost animalistic stance, a wolf protecting his
prey from the pack.  Ty swallowed at the move.

On
the ground, staring up at the width of Gion’s back, Ty felt something stir
beneath the fear.  Something primal and instinctive that she couldn’t really
identify, but made her heartbeat kick even higher and her breasts tighten. 
That
realization had Ty panicking, again.  She tried to get to her feet.

“Stay
where you are, Tritone.”  Gion ordered absently, still not looking at her. 
“I’ll get to you in a minute.”

Ty
had the almost overwhelming urge to push him over.

Gion
twirled his pure black sword around in a graceful arc as he faced the
Reprisal.  They were gaping at him in a combination of awe, loathing and fear. 
No one had expected him to show-up and they were clearly at a loss on how to
proceed.  The Reprisal hated Gion as much as they hated Ty.  Maybe more.  But,
unlike Ty, Gion had the capacity to eviscerate them without trying real hard. 
Their desire to kill him warred with their desire to run.