Destiny (Experimental Heart Book 1)

by Shannon Pemrick

  I shrugged. “Some aren’t that bad. Even if they were gross, it was better than nothing.”

  The three of us stopped walking when we came to a large, intricately designed iron gate with two hanging lanterns emitting a blue light. Beyond this, gravestones of various styles and ages were aligned in rows. A statue of a tall woman with long hair stood on the far side of the graveyard, surrounded by tended flowers, shrubbery, and ornately carved stones.

  The woman wore ancient swordsman attire I had only seen in books, and was adorned in magnificent jewelry. Several katanas—curved, single-edged bladed swords with squared guards and long hilts—were tied to her hips, and in her hand, she carried a bamboo pole with a lantern attached to the end. By her side sat a magnificent wolf carrying a matching lantern in its mouth. Goddess of spirits, Arcadia, and her faithful helper, Maiyun.

  Shva’sika pulled me into the graveyard, my mind desperate to fight her, but my body followed. I looked back at Raikidan when I noticed his footsteps missing from my hearing, to find him remaining outside. He watched us, but showed no signs of following. I let it be. Dealing with the dead or being near a place like this wasn’t something everyone was capable of, and his reasons for staying out were his own.

  I followed Shva’sika to a stone structure ornately decorated in an elvish flair. Above the door to the building, carved into the stone, was the symbol of the Lightshine family. Shva’sika’s family’s mausoleum. Shva’sika pushed open the heavy door and led me down long winding steps lit by sconces on the wall. The smell of herbs, death, and decay bothered my nose, but I followed nonetheless.

  The stairs led to a single room, several sarcophagi filling it. Each sarcophagus had ornate Elvish script around the base and a sculpture adorning the lids. Shva’sika handed me the bouquet of flowers and went about clearing out old flowers left in vases and moved them to other vases filled with ash. I stayed out of the way when I could. She may call me family, but that didn’t make me official family, so I had no right to assist in the care of the family crypt, unless specifically asked. Had I accepted Xye’s proposal, this would be quite different. But he was foolish to think I’d be capable of reciprocating such luscious feelings. Love… what a joke.

  Shva’sika faced me when she’d finished cleaning. “If you could place a bundle of flowers in each vase for me, while I prep herbs, I’d appreciate it.”

  I nodded, and went about the task requested. Once done, I was asked to help place herbs in the ash-filled vases as well as add them into a few special sconces. Shva’sika pointed to the ash-filled vases and I complied with her unspoken request. Using my fire control ability, I pulled a small ember from a sconce, binding the chaotic element to my will, and then lit the herbs and dead flowers from Shva’sika’s previous visit. A strong aroma filled the air, masking the smell of decomposition to those with less sensitive senses of smell. For me, it just bothered my nose even more.

  Shva’sika knelt down in front of her brother’s sarcophagus and glanced at me for only a moment before closing her eyes. Her breath slowed and then after a moment her eyes flew open. They glowed with a blue-white light. A lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t go that far. I couldn’t face Xye after what happened. But I could pay my respects.

  Kneeling down, I bowed my head and prayed to the gods for his soul to rest.

  “Don’t blame yourself,” a masculine voice whispered.

  My prayer stopped. Xye? It couldn’t be him. After what I did, there was no way he’d come to me briefly to say that. I went back to praying.

  When I finished, I waited for Shva’sika to finish her walk on the spiritual plane. The longer I waited, the more my nerves begged me to leave, but I was stronger than that.

  What I guessed to be thirty minutes passed before my elven friend returned to the living plane. She peered at me with soft eyes, and I looked back at her with a silent “time to go?” expression. I didn’t hide how uncomfortable this place made me feel, and she nodded.

  Linking arms with me, the two of us left, rejoining with Raikidan, who hadn’t moved. He didn’t ask questions and fell in behind us as we headed back for the village.

  The silence didn’t last long, as Shva’sika went back to chatting; catching me up on events I’d missed in the village during my absence. That is, until a shrill scream pierced the air.

  Chapter Seven

  My heart pounded in my chest as the three of us looked around. Where had that scream come from? Another scream pierced the air, and Raikidan and I both focused on the direction of the village.

  “Something is wrong back in the village,” Raikidan said, more for Shva’sika’s sake than mine.

  My blood ran cold. What if… it’s under attack?

  The air smelled of burning wood… plants… bodies. There were a lot of bodies on the ground.

  I took off into a full sprint. I could reflect on that thought later. The village needed help, and I wasn’t going to run this time. Raikidan followed, but fell behind as my design pushed me faster than he could muster in his form.

  My heart raced as the forest blurred past me. Bursting into the clearing, I looked around. This whole scenario was sickly familiar.

  I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but when a woman screamed and a sound of a man crying out in pain crossed my ears, my feet moved again. Turning around the corner of a house, I found a grisly sight. Bodies of shamans lay out across the ground. Valene lay on the ground as well, though propped up by her arm, flowers strewn about her, her eyes stricken with fear as she stared at something.

  My gaze followed hers, to find an odd creature standing over a man cowering in fear. The creature had long raven hair, fair skin, two sets of horns growing from its head, talon-like hands and feet, and a tail and large wings coming out of her backside. Even with the odd features, the creature was busty and had an alluring female form that wasn’t covered much by clothing. Succubus.

  A hand grabbed my pant leg and I almost jumped. I looked down at the Guard grabbing my clothes, to realize it was Ken’ichi. Based on the trail of blood behind him, he’d dragged himself to me while I was taking in the situation. I knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping my voice down. “Stop moving. You’re going to kill yourself. I’ll take care of the demon, so healers can tend to everyone.”

  “T–there’s more than one,” his shaky voice said.

  “I can take on a succubus. Their hypnotic gazes don’t affect women.”

  Ken’ichi pointed a shaky hand to a female guard lying face down, unmoving. My blood ran cold. “Not a… succubus. I–incubus. He doesn’t… toy with us like she does.”

  “Kill them for what they’ve done.”

  I patted him on the shoulder and stood up. While it wasn’t Hunters like I’d expected, two demons weren’t good either, especially since I couldn’t see the other one Ken’ichi mentioned. I didn’t have time to think about him. The succubus was going after the frightened man, no longer enjoying her toy. I drew a dagger from my arm and flung it at her.

  It whistled through the air, alerting the demon of the oncoming attack, and she jumped out of the way, though she wasn’t fast enough in her reaction and the blade sliced across her cheek, sinking into the building behind her with a thunk. She screeched and looked about wildly.

  “Over here, ugly!” I needed to take her attention away from the villagers.

  “Bitch, I’ll kill you for saying that!” the succubus screeched. “And I’ll make it twice as painful for damaging my flawless skin!”

  She came at me. Drawing the dagger Shva’sika had just returned to me, I charged in. As the distance between the demon and me lessened, I thought of a weapon that was much larger than the dagger. As the thought came to me, the dagger morphed into a claymore.

  The succubus’ talons sliced the air. Using my momentum to my advantage, I sliced through her arm and the succubus screeched in pain. Sliding to a halt on the cobblestone, I looked at the sword; black blood dripped off the blade.

  Turning
, I faced my opponent and was disturbed at what I saw. Her arm was regenerating, and it was by no means a fast process, or pretty for that matter. The tissue fused together in small strands like living thread. The succubus looked at me with malice in her eyes, but her expression changed to a twisted happy smile that sent chills down my spine. “Hold her for me.”

  A presence appeared behind me and before I could react, an arm wrapped around my body, binding my arms to my side, and a clawed hand reached up and threatened to pierce my throat. Shit. This had to be the incubus.

  “What a beautiful woman,” his unnaturally smooth voice cooed. “Shame we have to kill you, but my darling is the jealous type, and you’ve harmed her. That is unforgivable.”

  His darling?

  The succubus took deliberate steps toward us. “I want to hear this pretty little bird sing.”

  Shit, what do I do? I should have been more aware while fighting the female demon. I wouldn’t be in this avoidable predicament had I not acted so rashly. So much for being a well-trained assassin deserving the commander rank.

  A blurred mass caught my peripheral, and a fist slammed into the succubus’ face. She screeched in pain and fell to the ground. I stared, my eyes wide, at Raikidan, who stood in her place. I can’t believe he hit her.

  The incubus snarled and pressed his claws to my neck more. “How dare you! No one touches my darling.”

  Raikidan gestured to me. “You’ve touched mine, so it’s only fair.”

  Oh, he did not just call me that!

  “Rip out his tongue for such words.”

  To my surprise, the incubus’ grip loosened, though not enough to escape. I glanced up at him to find him… conflicted? Focus, Eira. Now’s my chance.

  With him distracted, I changed my claymore back into its dagger shape and then slammed the weapon into his thigh. He roared in pain and pushed me away from him, his claws scraping against my exposed neck. I managed to roll away from the attack some, stopping him from killing me immediately. I put some distance between myself and the incubus and touched my neck, noting the blood from the wound he’d managed to create. Not deep, I’ll live… for now.

  Raikidan rushed the male demon, the incubus swiftly moving away. But Raikidan wasn’t bent on attacking. He stood in front of me, blocking a direct view of the incubus, but I was able to get a quick look at his true demon form. His features were very much like the succubus, except he had light hair, tan skin, only one pair of horns, and he wore a bit more clothing—barely.

  Raikidan glanced back at me. “You okay?”

  I nodded and pressed my back to his, focusing on the succubus, who was now getting to her feet. “We’re the villagers’ last defense. I’m counting on you to deal with the incubus while I deal with his partner.”

  He looked ready to question me, but this wasn’t the time. I focused on the succubus, her wound now completely healed. Not waiting for the succubus to gain any more time, I rushed in. It wasn’t going to be easy to take her down. I didn’t even know how to kill something that could regenerate at will, but I had to try.

  My weapon changed back into a claymore and I attacked. The succubus dodged the swing of my sword with ease. I tried again, and missed once more. She’s too quick! I wasn’t going to be able to catch her this way. That’s it!

  “Valene!” I shouted, stealing a glance back at her. “Help me.”

  “B–but…” Her eyes tightened, her voice quivering. “I–I can’t…”

  “Yes, you can. Get on your feet and help protect this village.” I prayed to the gods she’d find her wits and at least give it a shot. I only needed this demonic bitch to be rooted.

  Roots erupted from the ground. Unfortunately, they weren’t close enough and receded back into the soil. Well, she tried like I told her to. Valene tried again, but nothing seemed to happen.

  “Not me!” Raikidan complained.

  “Sorry!”

  He fell to the ground and went back to chasing the incubus, who was just as fast as his counterpart. Damn, are all demons this slippery? I’d been called many things in my life, demon was one, but not even I could ever hope to be this quick.

  Raikidan managed to coerce the incubus into hand-to-hand combat when he threw out a few insults, but he wasn’t the only demon engaging. The succubus came at me with a ferocity that matched her counterpart. It didn’t match up with her previous fighting form. It was too… strength based. My brow furrowed, and I pushed her back, the female demon switching to dodging and evading, as did her counterpart. Wait a second… “Raikidan! I think they’re linked somehow.”

  He glanced my way. “You sure?”

  I nodded. “Trust me on this.”

  Raikidan focused on the incubus. “Great. So, what do we do?”

  “If we can immobilize one, it should affect the other.”

  The succubus screeched and attacked, preventing any further planning. I blocked her talons and swung my leg out, planting my foot into her face.

  “Bitch.” I turned to see the incubus on the ground, holding his face. Their connection was stronger than I had thought.

  “Valene, I really need your help here,” I called out again.

  “I–I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. “I–I’m not good at this…”

  Dammit. I was asking too much of her. I hating doing it, but this kind of situation demanded it. I was just going to have to find another way.

  Unfortunately, while I was dealing with Valene, the succubus had taken the liberty of sneaking away and paralyzing Raikidan. Shit! If I didn’t think fast, he’d be demon chow. That’s when I noticed Shva’sika. She stood near Ken’ichi, watching the battle intently. She nodded to me, indicating she could help, but I needed to get Raikidan out of the way.

  Sheathing my weapon, I ran to his aid, pushing the succubus back with a swift blow to the head. She staggered back into her counterpart. Grabbing onto Raikidan, I threw him and myself to the ground, using my body as a shield. I felt the static as bolts of lightning shot over us, and I instinctively shielded him more. I knew how painful those bolts could be.

  Bone-chilling screams pierced the air, and I knew the lightning had finally hit its mark. Glancing up, I could see the succubus staggering to her feet, her body distorted by the savage attack she was unable to dodge like her counterpart had. Her golden eyes burned with fury as she ran at the two of us. Instinct took over. I swung myself onto my back, and as she came into range, I kicked upward, impacting her in the chest. It left her winded, giving me the chance to wrap both legs around her and propel her forward, toward Shva’sika.

  Using this upward momentum, I flipped over Raikidan and landed on my feet in a crouched position. In the process, I had used my free hand to draw my unique dagger again. Using both hands, I split the metal material and each piece formed into two long reverse daggers. The strong smell of blood teased my senses.

  “Kill.”

  Shit, this needs to end now, or these demons are going to be the least of everyone’s worry.

  The succubus hissed and slashed with fury. Claws met metal as I parried her away. My blades slashed and she dodged. Bitch, just stay still!

  The sound of quick feet approaching hit my ears, but they weren’t from an ally. Turning, I narrowly dodged the incubus’ claws. He focused his intense gaze on me, and I averted mine. The hell? Where is Raikidan? Parrying the succubus, I looked to where I last knew Raikidan to be, and found him still on the ground, watching. Seriously?

  Pushing both demons back as best I could, I shouted to him, “Raikidan, get off your ass and help!”

  Pushing the incubus back again, I spun around and landed a swift kick to the succubus’s abdomen, winding her. I need more help. As strong as I was, not even I could effectively deal with two demons alone. With Raikidan not helping, my only hope to get one of these off me was Valene.

  I glanced over to her to find her standing rigid, her eyes glazed over. Perfect. Why must the spirits have such shitty timing?

  “We’re helping, I
promise,” whispered a familiar ethereal voice.

  I gasped quietly. “Xye?”

  “Eira, look out!” Raikidan’s voice rang through my ears.

  The succubus came back for another attack, taking advantage of my brief distracted state. I had just enough time to manage a dodge and block. Regaining my composure, I pushed her back and punched her with the hilt of the dagger.

  She moaned in pain and staggered backward, holding her face. I needed to concentrate. Refocusing, I evaded the demon’s attacks, looking for an opening. It didn’t come.

  The incubus came at me, trying to catch me off-guard. Where’s a gun when you need one?

  “Slaughter them both.”

  The two drew up next to each other, malicious grins on their lips. This forced me to avert my gaze from them both, putting me at a nasty disadvantage. They attacked with a fury I struggled to keep up with. Slashes on my arms, a kick to the stomach, a punch to the face—they were a few of the blows I couldn’t deflect or roll away from.

  The two constantly glanced at each other, reveling in the thrill of fighting together. I used to know what it was like to have that kind of comradery. But no one had had my back like that in a very long time. I learned to rely on myself. I could only trust myself because rarely could I ever fail myself. These two relied on each other, and in that laid their weakness.

  A large thorned vine erupted from the ground and grabbed the startled succubus by the leg, giving a moment of reprieve. It whipped her around and then slammed her on the ground. The incubus hissed and assaulted the vine, successfully freeing his partner. I stole a glance at Valene to find her back with us, eyes focused and determined and an arm outstretched. The spirits gave her the courage she needed.

  “Told you so,” Xye’s ethereal voice whispered in my ear.

  I knew better than to question them. But even I wasn’t above rash decisions and thought.

  Then, a new sound slipped into my ears. The sound of ripping clothes, and I knew they weren’t coming from the demons. A loud roar pierced the sky.