by Holly Martin
I turned to face Persia, wearily. ‘Can you block them out? The Oraculum’s Guardians?’
Persia nodded. ‘I’ll give it a go.’
‘What do you need us to do?’
‘Just stand close together, I need someone to test it out, someone not to be included, at least at first. If it works I can encompass that person as well.’
Noah moved away from me, standing apart from the rest of the throng as they all shuffled closer to me again.
Persia formed a golden light in her hands, and let it rise in the air above us. It fractured and I thought for one minute that it had failed, but it broke into several beams of light, criss-crossing over us, around us. The core of the light came down to rest on me, dissolving into me and each beam of light directed into a different Guardian, until every Guardian had a path of light leading from them to me. The light dissolved and we all blinked, trying to get our eyes to get accustomed to the daylight again.
‘That’s it, that should be it anyway,’ Persia said, shyly.
I looked at Eli. ‘I’m going to release the shield round my mind now, so we need to be prepared just in case the Oraculum’s Guardians can find me.’
Eli nodded and I saw all my Guardians tense.
I released my shield and faced Noah. ‘Noah? Can you feel me?’
Noah paused for a moment, but then shook his head. ‘Nothing Eve, and I can’t feel these guys either.
I beamed at Persia, who blushed furiously.
Noah shuffled closer to me and Persia repeated the process again, this time to encompass him.
‘Where now?’ I asked Eli.
‘Somewhere remote, somewhere that’s not exposed like this place, somewhere we can guard easily,’ he said.
I racked my brain for somewhere fitting that description but I came up with nothing.
‘Loch Dochart,’ Noah suddenly said. ‘It’s a great lake, well a river really that opens up into a lake at one point. There’s an island in the middle with a castle. It’s in ruins now, and completely inaccessible. There’s nothing around it for miles. Well, there’s a road that passes by the side of the Loch but no one ever really stops there. I grew up near there.’
I bit my lip. ‘A castle? A big one?’ We didn’t need anywhere obvious, I’d be quite happy with a tiny hut somewhere, something small and inconspicuous.
Noah shook his head. ‘The island it’s on is almost completely overgrown, and the castle is more of a dwelling, a three storey building with a few smaller buildings around it. It had some sort of round tower, but you can barely even see it from the mainland and no one ever goes there.’
It sounded perfect, apart from the fact that it wouldn’t have a bed, or hot and cold running water, but I didn’t mind roughing it for a few days, until we found somewhere more permanent. I nodded.
My head was suddenly filled with an image of the ruins of a small building, surrounded by trees and I closed my eyes and slid us there.
We landed on the island, surrounded on all sides by thick trees. Even if there was someone on the mainland looking at the island they wouldn’t have seen us arrive.
We made our way through the dense overgrown trees and soon reached the building. One of my Guardians made very short work of the door and we were inside. It had been completely gutted; there was nothing here to show it in its former glory, no furniture, just walls and stairs leading up to a second floor. My Guardians split up, running up the stairs, some of them doubling back up to check the island for anything suspicious.
I climbed the stairs slowly, wearily. The second floor was split off into different rooms and the stairs led up onto the third floor, but judging by the amount of light that flooded down them, I guessed the third floor was missing most, if not all, of its roof.
One of the Guardians came out one of the far rooms, one that still had a door, and I walked into it. There was nothing in here except a large open window that looked out onto the mountains and woods beyond. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t find it in me to admire it right now. I felt numb.
A movement in my pocket stirred my reverie. I dug in there and pulled Quinn out, placing him gently on the floor. He immediately shifted into a dog and ran out to explore like the rest of my Guardians. I was alone.
I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall, beneath the window. The breeze played with my hair, as I closed my eyes.
So that was it then. The Oraculum had broken, although it wasn’t totally my fault. Matthias had told me to ask them to pledge to me, though I wasn’t sure why. And in reality, the Oraculum was going to break anyway, there was nothing I could do about that. Nereus and Samuel were dead. That only left Cain, Matthias and Leon fighting in my corner, but none of them were yet to pledge to me. And now the Oraculum’s Guardians were joining the long queue of people wanting me dead, right behind the fanatical, twisted, sick Putarians it would seem. Mason had left, and I had now had approximately thirty five Guardians to protect me. Whereas the people wanting me dead had just doubled. I could no longer use my powers to save the innocent, as that was interfering in fate. And I was homeless. Hungry and tired and homeless. Not bad for a morning’s work.
I sighed deeply. I knew I wasn’t alone anymore. Without opening my eyes, I leaned against him as he sat down next to me. He wrapped his arm round me, pulling me in. It was safe here though, in his embrace, my own haven, my sanctuary in the storm. I breathed in his glorious woody scent and listened to his heart.
*
After the breaking of the Oraculum, the day passed quite quietly. Apart from the sound of the odd bird, there was silence. No one trying to kill me, well, at least not yet. The peace seemed at odds with what had happened just a few hours before.
I had slid my Guardians to the mainland and they had come back a few hours later with blankets, bedding, some gas stoves and enough food to feed a small army. It seemed like we were moving in here for a while.
Lucas, Quinn and Persia had come and gone throughout the day, trying to keep me company, though I didn’t really feel like talking. I wasn’t sure if they were angry or not. Eli hadn’t mentioned the fact that me and Seth had gone to Mexico without him knowing and I didn’t know if that was still to come.
It had grown dark and Seth and I were cuddled up under blankets in the corner of the room. Due to the lack of space, my personal guard, Persia and Quinn were also sleeping in here too.
‘Idiot,’ Seth muttered.
I looked up at him and Seth realised he’d said it out loud.
‘Sorry I was talking to Zach.’
‘Zach? You two are talking now?’
Seth tutted. ‘The boy’s an idiot.’
I ignored the insult on my friend. ‘How are you two talking, I thought the other Guardians couldn’t communicate with us, because of the bond that Persia put on us?’
‘It’s a brother thing,’ Seth scowled.
I was surprised at this connection where all other forms of communication had been severed. ‘Do you have that connection with Trey as well?’ Seth’s older brother had only been around when we were little, I hadn’t seen him since I was about seven, but close proximity didn’t seem to be a factor for Seth and Zach.
‘If I wanted to. I haven’t spoken to Trey for years; I don’t even know where he is.’
I thought back to Zach. ‘Is he still at the fort, is he ok?’
‘Yeah, he was just keeping me updated with what’s happening there.’
‘What is happening?’
‘Well after we left, they were all in a bit of disarray. The only goal the Oraculum’s Guardians had was to kill you, and your Guardians were there to defend you. Once you left they weren’t really sure what to do. They weren’t really inclined to kill those they had stood alongside for all this time. The Oraclings… sorry that’s what Zach’s calling them, the Oraculum’s Guardians have moved to one side of the fort and your Guardians have moved to the other. A large amount of your Guardians have left to come to England. They got a few helicopters and are o
n their way here now.’
‘How do they know where we are?’
‘Well they don’t, but they know we are in the UK. They figured it would be better if they were near to you, rather than thousands of miles away in Tibet. If we stay here for a while it may be possible to round them up, to contact them.’
‘So why is Zach an idiot?’
‘He and the other Guardlings plan to retake the fort, they plan to kick out all those that are not pledged to you so you can come back.’
I sat up in alarm. ‘No he can’t, he’ll get himself killed.’
‘He is a Guardian. A bit young but, as much as it pains me to say it, he’s strong and skilled. He stands a good chance.’
‘Well he might be ok, but some of the other Guardlings are still children. I don’t want anyone else to die for me, tell him not to do it.’
‘He’s stubborn, he won’t be told.’
I bit my lip angrily. The guardians were stubborn and I didn’t have the energy to fight against someone who refused to back down.
I closed my eyes and forced myself into a deep sleep, hoping that I would have peace from erratic dreams and any more blasted prophecies.
I sat on my beach for a while, and smiled to myself when I saw the shadow standing over me. Cain had found a way to find me, even though I was protected. I shielded my eyes to look at him, and the smile slid off my face when I saw who it was.
Adam. The boy who had stood outside my cell when I was held by the Oraculum. The boy who said I would beg him to kill me before the end, or I’d be pledging to him. He still wore that cold arrogant look of hatred on his face. He looked so familiar; I knew I had seen his face before, even before we had met properly in the cell.
I sighed, closing my eyes and willed myself to move away from this dream. I wasn’t in the mood for bad dreams tonight, and someone standing over me with a look of pure hatred was certainly not going to be the start of something good.
I opened my eyes again and Adam was still there. His lip was curled with derision. ‘You can’t get rid of me Eve, you can never get rid of me.’
‘Adam, right?’ I asked, maybe being polite to him would help this dream.
He smiled cruelly. ‘You remembered.’
I nodded, smiling warmly back. ‘Can I help you with something?’ It helped to talk to my manifestations sometimes. It could be my subconscious trying to give me a message.
He laughed, an empty, cold laugh. ‘There’s only one thing I want from you, I want you to die.’
I sighed. Maybe I’d just wake up instead. I willed myself to wake up, but nothing happened.
Adam suddenly lunged forward with a knife, and plunged it into my stomach. The pain was immense and I screamed out. I watched in horror as blood seeped out from the wound, thick dark blood, gushing out over my clothes and staining the sand.
‘It’s said that if you die in a dream, you die for real, the shock of seeing yourself die is too much for the brain to take. So we can put that to the test today. It will take you a long time to bleed to death, but it will be painful, excruciatingly painful. And then when you die, here at least, hopefully you would die for real,’ Adam pulled the knife out of my stomach and the blood pumped out, even more. Adam sat down on the sand to watch, a mild expression of curiosity on his face.
I held my hands tight over the wound, blood quickly stained them, seeping through my fingers. Adam was right the pain was sickening, waves of it engulfed my body and I groaned. But he was also right about something else. This was a dream. I just had to wake up. I focussed all my energy on waking up, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t do it.
But this wasn’t like any ordinary dream. Where I had dreams of the Putarians or the Reapers, chasing me, trying to kill me, even attacking me, I had never had dreams that caused me so much pain before. This was so real.
Adam tutted. ‘I have to say I expected a bit more screaming.’ He studied the knife in his hand. ‘Let’s see if this will help.’ He leaned over and cut into my arm, slowly dragging the jagged knife over my skin.
I gritted my teeth, as the sharp, burning sliced into my skin. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream again.
He jabbed the point of the knife, angrily into my arm, pushing down hard on the handle, twisting it maliciously, through my muscle, my bone. I grunted, but refused to let any other sound come out. As he pushed the knife through the other side of my arm, I punched him hard in the face, feeling a satisfying crunch to his nose. He staggered back, leaving the knife in my arm.
I slowly, carefully pulled the knife out of my arm and rolled to my knees. I staggered up onto my feet, holding the knife in one hand and pressing the wound to my stomach with the other.
Adam stared at me, incredulous, furious, as he touched his nose gingerly.
‘It might take me a really long time to die, but I’m not going to lie down and wait for death to come. If you want to me to die, come and get me,’ I growled, through the pain.
Adam eyed the knife in my blood stained hand. ‘You know, I’m not really that bothered about seeing you die, that will happen soon enough for real anyway. What I really want is to see you in pain.’
‘Good luck with that,’ I hissed.
Adam smiled, a hard satisfied smile and vanished.
I fell to my knees, the pain so intense. I coughed, finding it hard to breathe. I had to wake up. I pushed myself back to my feet again, as Adam reappeared holding Lucas round the throat.
I ran forwards to stop him, but holding his hand out towards me, I ran into a solid wall. With his eyes firmly on me, he clamped a hand to Lucas’s head, just like Nereus had done to Samuel and I screamed as a wave of liquid fire erupted from Adam’s hand and engulfed Lucas’s body, burning him to dust, that blew away in the gentle breeze.
I screamed a loud, agonizing scream, as I sagged to my knees.
Adam stood over me cruelly. ‘That’s the pain I wanted to see.’
Chapter 17
I woke up crying.
‘Evie, baby it’s ok,’ Seth said, holding me tight against him.
I fought against him in the darkness, and he released me.
I formed a ball of light in my hand and let it float above me, searching the room for Lucas. Was he here, was he alive?
All my personal guard were standing round me, looking concerned but as soon as I saw Lucas I threw myself into his arms, calming down almost instantly as I felt his embrace tighten around me.
‘Eve, are you ok?’ Eli asked quietly.
‘Are you hurt,’ asked Noah.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mumbled, my face pressed against Lucas’s chest.
‘What happened?’ said Eli.
It had felt so real. Adam had entered my dream, I knew that, just as Cain had on many occasions. It was real because Adam had made it real.
I pulled away and sat down next to Seth who immediately wrapped his arm round me.
‘Does anyone know who Adam is?’ I asked, quietly.
Silence. Long and ominous. They knew who he was.
Quinn knelt down by my side. As I looked at his face, lit up in the flickering light from my ball of fire, my heart leapt with a sick recognition. Why hadn’t I realised this before.
‘What happened Eve, it was just a dream,’ Quinn said, taking my hand.
‘You know Adam don’t you?’ I asked. Why hadn’t Quinn told me? Why hadn’t I seen it when I first met Adam? I should have known it all along.
‘No, I’ve never met Adam before,’ Quinn replied. The look of confusion on his face told me he was telling the truth.
‘He’s your brother,’ I said. And as soon as I said it I knew it to be true. The resemblance between Quinn and Adam was startling.
‘What?’ Quinn looked startled. ‘I don’t have a brother; you’re the only family I have.’
Eli sighed, heavily. ‘Technically that’s not true Quinn.’
Quinn stood up, anger and confusion on his face. ‘I have a brother?’
; ‘Yes, a full brother, Eve’s half-brother,’ Eli explained.
Quinn’s mouth fell open and as he had no words to fill the silence I decided to fill it.
‘And why does my brother hate me so much?’ I asked quietly.
‘It was just a dream baby, it didn’t mean anything,’ Seth said, stroking my back.
I shook my head. ‘No it wasn’t just a dream, he entered my dream just like Cain does. The first time we met, when I went to the Oraculum for the first time, he hated me then, said I’d be begging him to kill me before the end.’
‘Where was I when you met him? Quinn said, quietly.
‘You were asleep,’ I said. ‘He loathes me so much, but I don’t understand why.’
Eli shook his head angrily. ‘Because you’re the Sentinel and he’s not.’
Noah stepped forward. ‘He was born a year after you were, using Quinn’s Mum and Dad’s DNA to blend with the Donum, Oraculum and Guardian DNA. The more shape shifter in the DNA the more likely it would fuse with the other chromosomes. You were quite sick when you were born, with the weird cocktail of DNA in your body. They didn’t think you were going to survive, so they made another child just in case, hedging their bets I think. You soon got better and by the time Adam was born it was quite clear how strong you were going to be.’
‘So what? He’s jealous? Jealous of all the people wanting me dead, of putting my life on hold so I can be strong enough to save the world?’ I sat up, my voice getting unnaturally high with anger.
‘I think he’d quite like the adoration,’ Eli said, quietly.
‘I never wanted any of that; I never wanted the people bowing to me, obeying my every whim.’
‘Yes, but he did.’
I shook my head, wearily. I had never imagined that anyone would be jealous of me. I hadn’t asked for any of this and I would be quite happy if none of it had ever happened, if I had gone on, blissfully unaware of the end of the world, and carried on at school, went to university, trained to be a doctor, and married Seth. How could he be envious of what I had? The only cool thing was the powers but he had that and I wasn’t allowed to do what I wanted with them anyway.
