He shrugged out of his jacket and then his body just started growing and turning a vivid green. He kept his focus behind us, not saying anything.
He frowned and moved up on Devon’s other side.
I looked at Ana, slightly worried.
She nodded calmly and then spoke, “When we came into your transition, we were on the other side of the meadow,” she said. “I camouflaged myself and heard some of their plans.” She looked at Devon. “Dani is supposed to distract you while everyone else focuses on Avery. The plan is to keep you separate, but safe, so that your body,” and she shrugged apologetically, “is OK for when Avdar takes it over.”
I felt Devon tense up next to me and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “We’re not going to let him get near you,” I promised and he nodded.
I gave Ana a grateful smile. She wasn’t a warrior, but she did have skills and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Remembering Ana’s training from her father I said, “Why don’t you step over by those boulders, and blend in. Feel free to yell out directions or see anything we need to know.” I said, pulling the bow and arrows that had again mysteriously appeared on my back out and handed them to her.
“I’m guessing you know how to use these?” She nodded, giving the string a quick tug.
“Yeah.” At my raised eyebrow, she murmured “My dad.” With the bow in hand, she climbed onto the first boulder, her skin fading until I couldn’t see her anymore.
“Great.” I turned back around and stepped back up to Devon. Totally confident, “Let’s do this.
Chapter 31
Devon
I had been ignoring my sister, her screams of frustration increasing when she couldn’t immediately break through the shield. Suddenly, I felt the pop as Avery’s shield collapsed under the combined force of the Daïmonid’s laser gaze and Dani’s pummeling it with boulders and rocks.
In the past, my sister’s temper had made her dangerous, but also impulsive. When you are impulsive you make mistakes. As I stared across the meadow at her, we locked eyes. I concentrated on that piece of me that was linked to her and tried to feel for her thoughts. She had always been more eager to please our father, but I never thought that she would betray me like this. Looking into those ice blue eyes, I suddenly remembered an incident from our childhood.
I looked up from my meditation when the door to the library swung open. My grandmother had me practice meditation every day to help focus my thoughts. I now had total control and wouldn’t mesmerize anyone by accident, but I had liked the quiet of the library, so continued the practice.
My sister stood in the doorway. At twelve she was still small for her age. It frustrated her, because she wanted the power and strength that came with size, but eventually she learned to use her smallness to her advantage. She was willful and hated when our father wouldn’t look beyond her petite height but learned quickly to play on her femininity and strike coy poses. My father usually saw through that act, but other people bought into it, and she usually got what she wanted. That coyness didn’t work on me, though. As her twin, I knew the strength that resided within her, and the fact that she had power over an element? Right there, that showed her fortitude. Our lessons were nothing to scoff at; we spent hours honing our skills. Dani was stronger at wielding Earth than most boys her age. That also pleased my father a lot.
Movement at my side had me glancing down and reaching out a hand to stroke over wiry gray fur. The dog growled slightly, nuzzling into my side.
She glanced at her dog and I saw a look of anger cross her face, until she wiped it clear. I gave the dog a pat, then shrugged at my sister. I hadn’t meant to charm him, but it was kind of nice to have him around.
Dani walked over to the chair beside me and flung herself down. One leg slung over an arm of the chair.
“What are you doing?” She had grass stains on the knees of her pants and dirt under her nails. I could tell she had been out playing in the yard again, practicing on her own. It’s been a long time since I was allowed any free time. Handling three elements put a lot of pressure on me. Dani also got her power a couple of weeks ago on our twelfth birthday. She is the only girl to have gotten this power in over a century.
That combined with my own three, and the Mesmer powers, elevated our fathers’ position within Elemental society. In my eyes, this was a good thing, because he was gone a lot more at various meetings and wasn’t around to harass me. I think Dani missed him though.
“I’m practicing.” She looked at Pebble again, then quickly away, biting her lip.
“I said I was sorry!” I blurted out, and she nodded once sharply, her blue gaze darkening.
“I know.” She reached forward again. Pebble had been her dog before I accidentally mesmerized him. The dog scooted away from her huddling behind my knees with a soft growl. She frowned and then looked towards the window.
I stroked the dog’s back again, wishing I could return the love of her pet. I didn’t blame her for still being unhappy that her dog wouldn’t go near her anymore, but well, she needed to get over it. I saw her straighten her spine and when she glanced at me again. Her eyes had turned their normal lighter shade of blue. I leveled my gaze on her, curious, and reached out with my mind, but came up against a wall. I concentrated on that wall, trying to reach beyond it to find out what she was feeling.
My sister was always testing me. She said it was for practice, but I think she wanted to best me. I was more talented, and if she could intimidate me into a reaction and misuse my abilities she’d be able to report to my father. I prepared myself.
My hand lifted slightly off my knee, my fingers undulating slightly. Our gazes clashed. My hand tightened into a fist. Dani’s hand, resting in her lap, also tightened into a fist. She swung her leg off the arm of the chair and sat up straight. Staring into her eyes, I could feel our gazes lock in with a snap. She still had that wall up, so this time I focused inward. Maybe there was a way to break down her wall, but by using the tie of life energy we had, as twins. I’d created a safe spot in my mind that I could mentally escape to when my father was being especially difficult. It looked like the room I was sitting in, with a fire burning and the chair I was sitting in next to the fire. But this room was in my mind. The library in my mind was not only a safe place, but a room where I put the minds of those I wanted to mesmerize. I did not want to see my sister in that compartment, but it may be time to show her that I could put her there.
I hummed a tuneless melody, feeling the heat from the flames in the fireplace, as I drew on that energy, heating up the room. I kept humming, and fluttered my fingers, creating a wave of heat in the air between us. I focused on the room in my head, throwing that vision through that wave of heat, at the wall in Dani’s mind.
She rocked back slightly, her pupils widening. I stopped the hum of sound and snapped my fingers. “Dani?” She sat staring straight ahead. Took a deep breath and then shuddered slightly. I’m not sure it worked, but she looked scared. Staring at me with wide eyes. I had told her to stop testing my powers. If I had wanted to, I could’ve captured her mind. I’d never do that, of course, she was my twin sister, but these games needed to stop.
I looked at the flames leaping in the fireplace, letting the heat wash over me, I opened my mouth to reassure her, but when I turned back to the chair across from me, she was gone.
Now, looking at her across that meadow, hearing Ana speak of their plans they’d made for me, I wondered if four years later, it was possible for me to take her out of this battle. If I could use my Mesmer powers, I wouldn’t have to hurt her.
A flock of crows swooped out of the sky. I heard a quick succession of pops, and the meadow filled with Daïmonids, and at the center of them was Avdar. He grinned at me and then narrowed his gaze on Avery.
Keeping my eyes on them, I said out loud, so Avery could hear me, “I need to try to take my sister out of this. I would never forgive myself if I hurt her.”
I could feel Avery looking at me,
probably thinking of our battle with Cole, and the horror of his loss. She slowly nodded. “All right, if you think you can do that?” she asked, and I nodded.
She looked over at Summer and Ben. “Guys, we are seriously outnumbered. This isn’t really your battle, so why don’t you sit this one out.”
A loud hiss came from Summer’s direction and Ben gave a loud sound that was a cross between a war cry and a hiccup. I laughed, yeah, nice try. I moved away from Avery, nodding at my sister.
She nodded back and stepped to the right side of the meadow, away from the other Daïmonids, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her shoulders as she shook her head. “You need to get back in the game Devon. It’s not too late for you to switch back to our side!”
“Who are you kidding Dani?” I said shaking my head at her and glared my disappointment. “Why would you think I’d agree to this mad plan?”
She looked shocked, which for some reason I found really funny. This was just like Dani. She always agreed with everything our father did, but never thought things through. “Dani, think. I won’t be here anymore. Just my body.” I pointed over at Avdar across the field, who was viewing the fight between the Daïmonids and Avery, Summer, and Ben. “He will be in my body. I, my soul, will not be in it anymore. I’ll be gone!”
“Father says that this is the only way for our family to...”
“Yeah, right. It’s the only way for our family to gain more status. He means him, not us. And do you really think that Avdar is going to go along with Father’s plan?” Avdar had taken his attention away from us to watch Summer and Ben leap into action against a group of Daïmonids. I heard a few pops but focused on Dani.
“He has his own plans. Who knows what they are, besides world domination, I’m sure.” This conversation was going nowhere. Dani was my father’s tool. He had been honing her as a weapon against me for years, knowing that with her being my twin, I’d have trouble going up against her. True, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take her out of the game.
I started gathering power from the sun, focusing on Dani’s eyes. Before I could look inward to that room inside myself, I saw her eyes widen in horror. She sprinted towards me, and just as she was within arms distance, she leaped forward, pushing her hands against the earth, and doing a back flip over my head. Her ponytail brushed over my forehead and I whirled around to see her knock a Daïmonid flat.
“You don’t touch him,” she hissed, throwing a hand out and backhanding him, at the same time the earth moved behind him and he fell into a trench. She waved her hand and the earth closed over him with a shudder. She yelled at the other Daïmonids who had come closer, and they backed off. I heard a laugh, and glanced over at Avdar, who was looking at Dani approvingly.
She turned back around to face me, her back to the action. Looking over her shoulder, I saw Ben body slam into five Daïmonids, wrapping his arms around them, covering them with bright green goo. They collapsed, disintegrating, and he gave a loud croak, and leaped towards a new group that suddenly sprang into existence.
I heard a twang and saw a Daïmonid get hit by an arrow, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. He focused his gaze on Summer, and she eluded the laser-like gaze. I heard Avery yell and toss some rocks to Summer who used her soccer skills to fly back with a scissor kick, kicking the rocks into the head of one of the Daïmonids. His head exploded with a pop, and his body followed.
Seeing they had the battle in hand, I refocused on my sister. I looked into her eyes again, this time seeing uncertainty. I drew power down from the sun.
Feeling it surge inside me, I slowly reached a hand out to her and said her name. She looked at my hand and reached out her own. I gave a hum of approval and took a step towards her. I pushed my power out, filling the air around us with heat and focused my mind inward. Looking into her eyes, I imagined her in the compartment in my mind.
Mentally, I pushed through the wall she had built around her mind, her eyes widened, and it was then that she realized what I was doing. She stilled, tried to raise her hand to shield her eyes, but I was in front of her, and I captured both of her hands, humming tonelessly. I took that wall down, brick by brick, until I could see the small girl inside, huddling in a corner of her mind.
Humming, I pushed that warmth into her head, thinking, you’re safe, you’re in my care. Her eyes glazed and she lightly gripped my hand, and then that grip relaxed. That little girl that had been huddled into a scared ball in her own head was now in the compartment in my own mind. She was looking around curiously, at the fire that was gently blazing, and at the green armchair that looked exactly like the armchair in the library of our home. A book appeared on the table next to the chair, along with a cup of tea and a plate of cookies. The little girl stepped forward and sank down into that chair. When she did, a small gray dog rushed forward and leaped into her lap, curling up. She ran a hand over the back of the dog and sighed, relaxing deeper into the chair.
I’ve got you, I whispered into my mind, and she nodded. I took a breath and opened my eyes. Dani was still standing in front of me, but the expression in her eyes had changed. She now looked at me with a love that had been missing in her expression since we were very little. Before we had received our powers.
Chapter 32
Avery
Summer and Ben leaped into the battle, hissing and bellowing their cries. Summer slashed, kicked, and rolled, eliminating Daïmonids quickly. As fast as they popped out of existence, more replaced them.
Ben’s strategy was to use the strength in his legs. After his leap, he would jump over the Daïmonids and approach them from behind. I saw him tap one on the shoulder, and then just wrap his hand around his neck and kill him with the essence that oozed off his skin. He had the same problem as Summer though, as quickly as he killed them, they were replaced with more Daïmonids.
I heard twang after twang and saw Daïmonids being hit with arrows that seemed to fly out of nowhere. As soon as they were hit, the Daïmonids would snap the end of the arrow off and continue with their fight. I did notice one that had been hit multiple times start to take on a purple hue. He lit up from within, then burst into lavender fire.
I yelled back towards the boulders, where Ana was shooting, “Hit your target three times!” I heard three quick twangs and saw another Daïmonid quickly burst into lavender flame. Those Daïmonids weren’t replaced by new ones, leading me to believe that there was a connection between the amethyst arrowheads and the fact that they weren’t coming back after being eliminated. I twirled around, not spotting any more amethyst lying around. I scoffed at myself. Come on Avery, like amethysts would just be laying around waiting for us to use them as weapons. What could I do? I looked around again and walked over to a pile of rocks.
I wrapped my fingers around one of the stones and as I touched it, the rock began to glow. I concentrated on the stone, making it heat up and glow brighter. Feeling more confident I slowly got to my feet, and as I did, the stones on the ground around me started floating in the air, taking on a warm purple hue. I pictured these stones hurtling towards the Daïmonids as projectiles, shooting through their bodies. As my vision faded, the hovering stones shot outward and hit the Daïmonids chests. I continued to propel these amethyst missiles, yelling for Ana to hit those same targets. We worked together rapidly taking out multiple Daïmonids.
I heard a screech, and saw Summer go flying backwards to hit the pile of boulders Ana was hiding against. Avdar stalked forward, his robes plastered against him as he pushed against the wind. Ben snuck up behind him, but as he raised a hand, Ben became trapped in a box. Frantically he beat against the sides of it and jumped up trying to push his way through the top. The box was sealed tight, not allowing Ben to escape his prison.
Devon stepped up next to me and I looked at him, while grabbing his hand. “Where’s your sister?” I asked quickly, and Devon nodded over to a tree stump behind the battle, across the meadow. She was sitting quietly, looking out on the battle like she was watching a q
uiet historical movie. Her hand was slowly petting the air above her lap.
I raised a brow at Devon. “I’ll explain later, after we kick this guy’s ass.” Devon said without taking his eyes off Avdar, who was stalking towards us.
I threw up a shield, but Avdar blew right through it. Devon and I started funneling our power between us, sharing our abilities. We continued to try to distract Avdar and stop him from advancing.
I pictured some more boulders, with their amethyst light, and as they rose from the ground, I felt someone stop their movement, holding onto the power I had generated. It was as if a hand held them down, and I pushed upwards with my power to try to push by that hand.
Only one escaped, and it flew towards Avdar, missing him but landing at his feet. It exploded and created a small crater in the earth, making him take a step back. Arrows flew towards him in quick succession, the first one striking him in the chest, but the others struck a shield he flung up. He growled and looked towards the boulders.
I yelled, “Ana, get down, Go! Go!” Panicked, I watched Avdar throw a block of Earth power at the boulders, and they cracked and flew apart. I heard a scream, and then silence.
Summer, who had fallen against those boulders, now lay underneath the rubble. Ana was silent, and I could only hope that she was all right. Avdar had started advancing again. Devon and I used the pieces of rubble he had created, and started flinging them at him, one by one. I didn’t have time to turn them into amethyst missiles, and they struck harmlessly. The wind picked up and plastered my shirt to my chest, also making my hair whip around my face. The stones kept dropping around him, and the meadow was pitted with holes, some of which started to fill up with water. I glanced at Devon and saw that he was sweating. I funneled power through my ring into his, and saw steam start to rise up from the holes. The water began boiling and spitting into the air. Avdar laughed, and stopped where he stood, about 30 yards away from us.
Midnight Metamorphosis (Daughter of Prophecy Book 1) Page 19
