The three guardians ignored me. “Twenty is more than enough for an Angeni.”
“She had no clue she was an Angeni an entire moon ago.” Kasey argued.
I raised my hand. “Excuse me?”
“It shouldn’t matter.” Tsiyi continued. “She should be faster, keener, and stronger. Even more so now that she had mated with Gawonii. Did you see what she did to that Yracs the night of the Spring Moon?”
“She didn’t know what she was doing! It was just luck!” Kasey cried. “She has no control, and I’m sorry but I’d rather not have her defend herself with the same type of luck she used to kill the Yracs.”
I thrust my hand on my hip. “Hey! I’m right here.”
Onacona laughed and spoke for the first time since that ugly day, “If I were you, Your Highness, I would take this opportunity and run.”
I looked from him, then back to the two debating guardians. As they discussed me, everything in me screamed for me to heed Onacona’s warning and … Run!
I took off running for the trees as fast as my legs would take me. Then I realized that I didn’t have any kind of a weapon.
Damn!
How in the hell was I going to outrun three super beings? My heart slammed against my ribcage when I came to the brook, I found a few weeks ago, and I realized that I had nowhere to go but across. There was no way I was going to make it across without being seen.
For all I knew, they could have already been here, watching my every move. Running was pointless with them, and they knew it. They were toying with me back there, and like an idiot, I fell for it. So, new strategy …
I sat down on the ground and waited. I wasn’t quite sure how long I was waiting, but I knew when I was no longer alone.
“You know, the whole point of this training exercise is to not be a sitting duck,” I heard behind me. I looked up to see Kasey sitting in a tree.
I smiled. “I’m not. I just waiting for you. There was no point in running because you were going to catch me anyway. Why prolong the inevitable?”
I actually saw a smile crack on Kasey’s face just as she dropped down to the ground. “True. You may not be quick with your gifts, but I can say that you are quick with wit.”
I looked around me. “Where are the boys?”
She walked over until I had to tilt my head back to look at her, the sun shining in my face. “Waiting for me to bring you back.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me up. “You’re worse than I thought. Let’s go.”
I pulled my arm out of her grasp. “No, I’d rather stay here.” I sat right back down on the grass. “If you want me to go back, you’re going to have to drag me back.”
I finally got a good look at Kasey’s face. She was no longer smiling.
“Is that how you want it?” she asked through clenched teeth.
I shrugged, looking out over the water. Maybe I was nuts playing around with a guardian like that when I didn’t know very much about the powers I possessed, but I was curious on what she planned to do about it.
Kasey paced beside me with her arms crossed. “Just like you figured that you couldn’t outrun us, I am also aware that I will not be able to defeat you once you tap into your powers. So, I recruited some extra help. Adsila!”
It was moments after Kasey called out when the ground shook underneath me.
Stumbling to my feet, I tried to find something to hold onto. “Kasey! What’s going on?” I’d just started to run before a thick, root-like plant surfaced from the ground, wrapping itself around both my legs. I fought to pull my legs free, but another appeared, rising above me to whip around my body and take me down to the ground.
“Kasey, tell whatever the hell this is to stop!” I yelled.
“Tell her yourself,” I heard her say. “She hears perfectly well.”
Roots, vines, and dry brush merged together form into a woman, entirely naked with the exception of her long brown hair that skimmed the forest floor.
A scowled marred her beautiful features as she glared at me.
“Yes,” she hissed. “Tell me yourself, Ama. What has your lover done with Ahyoka?” She approached me, menacingly.
Confused, I tried to take a step back but fell. “Lover?”
“Yes!” she yelled. “That time-shifting, arrogant fool!”
I looked to Kasey for help. She stepped forward, standing in between me and the hostile plant lady. “Adsila, she has no clue what you’re talking about. Remember, she doesn’t have any recollection of whom or what she was before.”
The woman, Adsila, shifted her pupils to focus on the guardian. When it sunk in what Kasey said, her features changed. A scary smile crept up on her face. I couldn’t tell you what was worse, her earlier reign of terror or the insane smile she now wore.
I tried not to stare at her nakedness as she circled me, looking me up and down.
“You don’t remember anything, Ama?”
I shook my head. Bits and pieces were coming back, but she didn’t have to know that.
She returned to her original spot in front of me. “Nor what happened?”
“No, now let me go.” I ordered, now pissed off.
Adsila threw her head back, laughing. “No memory.” Her eyes bore holes into my head. “I’m going to take pleasure in this.”
It all happened so fast, I barely had time to register the blow that made my head snap back, taking me completely off guard.
If it weren’t for the steadfast vine holding me in place, I would have toppled over. I glared at the woman.
“You practically destroyed an entire nation, you power hungry whore!” she said, seething with rage. The ground began to tremble again, the earth floor splitting open. “You just had to have it all.” The over-grown weed around my midsection tightened, pinning me to the ground as ground fell apart from underneath me while the mad woman ranted.
This woman scared me, and I needed to tread cautiously with her. I wasn’t sure what she’d do next—or what she was capable of.
Scared that Adsila, or whoever she was, wasn’t going to stop until she hurt me or worse, killed me, I searched for a way to get myself of this nightmare. The vine tightened further, and I gasped for air the minute the thought of escaping came to mind. I needed to get loose before I was crushed.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment to have you on your knees? Weakened by me?”
I rolled my eyes at her pettiness. “Self-absorbed much?” I said, unable to help myself. “No wonder you’re pissed. Is this all you can do? And have you looked in a mirror lately? Key word: clothes.”
She lunged for me, going for my throat. Unable to dodge the attack, her hands made contact again, the length of her nails digging into my skin. Excruciating pain registered in my head along with another assault of obscure visions. Out of all the emotions I was feeling and things I saw in the visions, one of them was clear: I didn’t like her back then, and I definitely didn’t like her now. The deeper her nails sunk into my skin, the weaker I became.
In a desperate attempt, I went to mind-power my way out of this, but something was wrong. I tried again, but my head spun. Dizziness overtook me, making it hard to get a good fix on her. Why wasn’t it working?
Then my answer came. “None of your mind nor body control works on me. That is what else I can do, Your Highness.”
My God! What the hell did I do to this woman?
“Get off of me, you lunatic.” I spat. How the hell did I get myself in this position, I screamed internally. I looked to Kasey for help, but Kasey observed in amusement, sitting by a tree not too far away from me with her legs crossed.
“Any time now, Lai-Ama,” I heard her say. I turned my sights on Kasey, now pissed that she would continue to betray me. Well, my one gift may not have worked on the crazy one, but I knew it worked on Kasey.
Kasey’s hands flew up around her neck, and she fell to her knees as I choked the life out of her. “Coward,” she coughed out. “You don’t stand a chance fighting me with y
our hands.”
I dropped her to the forest floor.
“Get her off of me!” I yelled, done with the games. A surge of energy churned at the core of my body, and I could feel it expand outwards. It felt deliciously raw and powerful, and I opened myself for it to take control.
And then I knew who I was.
My restraints disintegrated, releasing me.
A smile crept onto Adsila’s face. “There she is,” she cooed, sharp spears sprouting from her fingertips.
I leapt for her only to find myself entangled in the thicket of vines that protected Adsila like armor. As we struggled, I was grabbed from behind and tossed into a nearby tree. Screaming in pain as the bark cut into my flesh, I spotted Kasey crouching a few inches from me, ready to fight, her dark eyes watching my every move.
Adsila attacking me was one thing, but Kasey …
I fought back the tears that threatened to fall and made a change to go for Kasey, but I was yanked back a few feet by a member of Adsila’s vine army.
Struggling, I sought to use the only thing I knew would get her to back off.
The brook.
I pivoted and ran towards the brook, clutching my side in pain. The closer I got to the bubbling water, the more I desperately willed my mind to call to it for help.
I was almost there before my legs were knocked out from underneath me and I was slammed against the rocks along the bank, the wind knocked right out of me.
“No!” I heard Adsila scream. “Not this time!”
I scratched and clawed at the ground, my nails breaking as she dragged me over the sharp rocks, denying me any chance of retaliation or recuperation. Pain dug through my palms and fingers, making me wince.
“Gaw—” I coughed, unable to finish, crumbling in fear. Help, my mind finished for me.
The sky darkened, making Adsila look up and Kasey pause.
“They found Ahyoka,” Kasey observed, crossing her arms.
“No, that is not Ahyoka. She has the power to form windstorms, not this.”
No one had noticed that with the distraction, I was able to crawl onto my hands and knees, my body rocking forward until my head rested on the ground. A million sledgehammers smashed against my skull as I wrestled with my growing irritation. Seeing a glow, I shifted my head to see the necklace light up.
The odd symbols on my arm altered their positions on the visible parts of my body, and I could taste the power being pumped through my veins.
I climbed to my feet, dropping my head back to look up at the sky before breathing in the sweet scent of rain. The first drop landed on the dimple over my lips, and I opened my mouth to taste it as it slid down to meet my tongue.
“It’s her,” Adsila’s voice called out over the increasing wind. “That is coming from her.”
Then the sky opened up and let loose rain that stung the flesh, providing life within me. My insides grew warm at the sudden increase of power that overtook it.
I switched my focus to the two women who’d attacked me through a cloud of red fog that glazed over my eyes. Before me, raindrops began to spin, picking up velocity and rotating into the form of a massive sphere. Growing and increasing in speed, the sphere swirled angrily, matching my ever-increasing change in mood. My world became outside in… my body becoming another. I found myself unable to control the actions of the spirit that controlled my emotions of late, and it left me fighting to remain at peace.
Fear replaced the smugness Adsila had planted on her face, and she took a step back, the sphere beginning to crystallize. Suddenly, Tsiyi appeared, pulling Kasey out of the direct line of fire when I drew back and released the built-up energy, making the sphere explode into shards of sharp crystal. The jagged shards spewed outward, striking trees and crushing bark. Adsila shielded herself with a wall of hard clay, barely escaping the razor-sharp daggers. The crust under my feet cracked open once Adsila regained her composure, and I began to sink in the thick earth as the ground softened.
“Come on, Ama. Don’t tell me that’s all you have. You’re nothing like you used to be. This is becoming too easy. And to think I actually thought I was going to have a real fight today,” Adsila goaded, sneering at me.
The sky was damn near black now while the rage inside of me went rampant. There weren’t enough words to described how much I disliked the woman standing before me. Mind control proved useless on her, but maybe that wasn’t what I needed to control. It was what’s inside the body.
Adsila eyes grew wide as she clutched her chest. Water seeped out the corners of her mouth, and she sputtered, spewing clear liquid onto the ground.
I couldn’t help the smile that came across my lips. The earth stopped pulling me under, and I easily maneuvered myself out of the quickly drying clay. The sun was now blotted out, and the wind picked up. Then I paused, sensing a familiar darkness moving at an accelerated rate through the forest towards us.
“Ama,” Adsila croaked as she pitched forward onto the ground, now coughing up blood. “Please.”
Gawonii’s voice vibrated in my head.
Stop! he cried.
But I couldn’t, and I didn’t want to. I lifted Adsila up until she floated over me, losing consciousness. With my mind, I further reached into Adsila’s body and began to expand.
Ama stop it now! Gawonii commanded again, this time inside of me, taking over. I wrestled, trying to keep him from taking my power, and Adsila fell to the ground.
Furious, I stomped over to the Adsila’s lifeless body, determined to finish what I’d started. I leaned down close to Adsila’s ear. “You never could beat me. Not in battle and never when it came to Iswali.” I looked up in time to see Kasey almost on top of me. Water shot straight up in the air from the brook, and with a flick of my hand, it fired off like a bullet at her.
Tsiyi deflected it before it struck Kasey, both of them tumbling onto the earth. Dirt sprayed everywhere where the water had struck, and the guardians stared in awe at a spear of protruding thick ice stuck in the clay.
“Go, Tsiyi! I can hold her until you get back.” Kasey said.
The forest seemed to cower in terror as darkness fell over it. I could tell something was coming and the closer it got, the stronger I felt.
Adsila stood on unstable legs, looking no way near ready for another round. I saw in the corner of my eye that Kasey was coming towards me again. Thinking I was distracted, Adsila turned the earth against me one more time. Attacked on both sides, I took a hold of Kasey first and threw her into the line of fire.
Adsila screamed. “No!”
Kasey was wrapped up into a cocoon of roots and vines, and they hauled her to the ground, crushing her.
“Adsila, your problem is that you care too much about the wrong things. Isn’t that why you’re angry? Iswali never really wanting you.” I laughed, loving this power.
Adsila fell beside Kasey and worked to remove the damage she’d wanted to cause me. “You are the devil incarnate, Ama.”
“I’m the devil, but who attacked who?” I took one of Adsila’s thorn-like plants that covered Kasey and pointed it towards her heart.
Stop! Gawonii screamed in my head. I tried to shut him out, but he was stronger. This is not you, Ama!
Then I heard him in the clearing a few feet away. “Stop!” he commanded.
I looked up to see him and Tsiyi standing on the edge of the forest. Gawonii’s head then snapped away from my direction, looking at something in the trees. I felt it too. It was here, reaching for me, crawling on its belly between the bush and trees, hearing my anguish.
“Tsiyi, get Adsila and Kasey,” Gawonii ordered. “I’ll handle Ama.”
“Handle me, Gawonii? I sneered. “When have you ever—”
I was thrown off my feet, shaken by the power that he executed on me. I shook my head, trying to get up, but I stopped to stare at Gawonii. He had his hands in front of him in total concentration, warding off something I couldn’t yet see. A force knocked him back, and then I saw the murky veil o
f the creature pressing its way to get to me through whatever barrier Gawonii was holding it off with.
Voices started to repeat in my head, crying out to me. Covering my ears with my hands, I tried to block out the cries of anguish. “Stop! You’re hurting it!” I cried as pain tore through my body. Bright light burst from Gawonii, striking the dark mist. Screams ripped through my cranium and sent me spiraling to the ground, gasping for air. My eyes opened to see Kasey standing over me.
“Gawonii!” she exclaimed. Tsiyi lifted my head, and I saw Gawonii kneel down beside me. “She can’t breathe,” Kasey said. “It happened when you struck that … thing.”
I gulped in air, but I could feel my lungs collapsing. Kasey took my hand and whispered under her breath. Warmth spread throughout my body, but the pain remained. Gawonii placed his hands over my chest and more heat warmed me.
“Ama, look at me. Breathe in and out, slowly. Focus only on me,” he ordered. “In and out.”
I followed his directions and slowly took in air, filling my lungs up with oxygen. Sharp pain shot up and down my spine, but the tightness in my chest began to wane, and breathing became easier.
“Why was she affected, Gawonii?” Kasey asked softly.
“I am wondering the same thing, Chitsa, but I feel the answer is already what I fear.”
“Gawonii!” Adsila came up beside him, her expression wary. “She controlled the weather,” she stated solemnly. The fear in her voice only articulated what the others felt. “Bonding with her was supposed to give you control and eliminate this kind of threat. What happened?”
Angrily, he faced the two. “You are what happened,” he snapped, glaring at Adsila and then at Kasey. “By all the gods, what were you two thinking? None of you know what she is capable of and yet you provoke the spirit within her. You let jealousy and vengeance cloud your judgement and put more than yourselves in jeopardy.” His glare remained on Kasey when he added, “I am especially shocked at you.”
He didn’t need to elaborate on why. Those few words were enough to explain. Kasey lowered her eyes to the ground, embarrassed at the public chastisement of her actions.
Turning away from them, Gawonii looked down at me, sadness reflecting in his eyes. “Let’s get her back to the cabin.”
The Ageni Series: Queen Page 4
