by Linsey Hall
I saluted, then began to show Lachlan the different features. Besides the fighting platforms at the front and back, there were two bench seats, one behind the other. They were built for fighting more than comfort, and it was possible to stand on them and fight. Mini Mouse wasn’t that different from our own buggy—we’d based ours on Uncle Joe’s designs, after all. Most people who lived in Death Valley owned a buggy like these, but Joe’s were the fiercest. Ours, too.
I was just finishing up when Bree arrived, stepping into the dimly lit barn. She looked right at Uncle Joe and grinned, then ran to him and gave him a big hug. They chatted for a moment, then Bree looked at me. “Rowan hasn’t shown up yet?”
“Nope.” It’d been about twenty minutes, too.
“Three of us should do it. We have enough to make it across,” she said.
“Let’s get started.” I wanted Rowan on this job, but we couldn’t afford any delay. Not with so many lives on the line.
Uncle Joe handed us four harnesses that would strap us onto the rails surrounding the fighting platforms for safety. I took mine and strapped it around my waist and legs. I tossed the extra into the car. Always good to have a spare, just in case. Uncle Joe handed up gallons of water, then ran into his house to make a quick batch of sandwiches.
He delivered them, then stepped back toward the wall. “Be careful.”
“We will.” I climbed into the buggy and took the driver’s seat, shooting Bree a grin.
She scowled. “My turn next.”
“I wouldn’t dream of hoarding driving privileges.” I grinned and revved the engine.
Bree climbed onto the front platform, while Lachlan climbed onto the back. I waved at Uncle Joe, then pulled out onto the street. The sun was inching toward the horizon, but there were still hours of daylight left.
Daylight was the most dangerous time to cross the valley, but we didn’t have a whole lot of choice in the matter.
I sucked in the dry desert air as I drove down the main street.
“Just like old times,” Bree said.
“Can’t wait.” It was true. The desert was dangerous, but I loved it.
We’d just left town when a voice shrieked from behind. “Hey!”
I grinned and turned, catching sight of Rowan, who’d just appeared. There was no one with her, so she must have had to borrow a transport charm to get out here. She sprinted toward us, hair blowing in the breeze.
I swung the vehicle around and picked her up. She joined Bree on the front platform.
“Just in the nick of time.” I tossed the fourth harness to her.
She nodded and strapped the thing to her waist “Thank fates. I was worried there. The seer had a possible lead, but Cade was nice enough to take over for me so that I could join you.”
“Good, we could use you.” I grinned, glad to have the gang back together for one last trip across the valley. “Time for an adventure.”
4
Because Uncle Joe’s buggy wasn’t much different from our own, it didn’t take long to get the hang of things. Soon, we were zipping across the flat desert, leaving Death Valley Junction behind. The little wooden town disappeared into the distance as the mountains rose tall in front.
Memory was quick to return, and I spun the wheel to the right as we neared the huge mountain.
I pointed to it and shouted to Lachlan, “The real Death Valley is behind that ridge. Not the one the human tourists visit, but the one that deserves its name.”
“How big is it?” he shouted through the wind.
“It’s a few miles across and about a hundred miles long.” I directed the buggy up the side of the steep mountain, the huge tires eating up the ground and rolling right over rocks and scrub brush. “Once we drop down into it, the danger will come.”
“We just don’t know what that will be,” Bree shouted.
“My favorite part!” Rowan cackled like a loon. “It’s been years. I can’t wait to see what the valley has in store for us.”
Sadness pierced my heart. So many of the missions I’d run across the valley hadn’t involved Rowan. She’d been there in the beginning, before her abduction, but there’d been years without her.
She was here now.
I shook away the grief over the lost years and focused on what was ahead. We’d need all our wits about us. The sun blazed down as I crested the ridge.
Suddenly, the valley was spread out below us, beautiful and austere. The mountains on the other side of the long valley glowed brown and red and tan in the sun, while the valley floor was swept with all variety of color. Some magic, some natural.
All dangerous.
“Wow.” Lachlan’s low voice echoed from behind me, wonder clear in his tone.
“I know.” I pressed the gas, and the buggy climbed over the ridge, then descended.
Bree and Rowan rubbed their arms, obviously uncomfortable. Then the feeling hit me. Dark magic, prickling against my skin. The magic that cloaked the valley—protected it—was full of dark and dangerous things. I thought we’d fought almost everything there was to fight here, but I was sure I’d be proven wrong on that.
There was always something new in the valley.
I shaded my eyes and wished I’d brought sunglasses. Or my usual sand goggles. The heat and sand were always an issue here, but we’d been in a hurry.
“Bad Water up ahead!” Bree pointed.
I squinted, catching the telltale sight of the shimmering silver water.
“The Bad Water is one of the most famous challenges,” I shouted back to Lachlan, giving him a weird and deadly tour of my childhood. “All kinds of monsters come out of the old salt lake.”
“Is it deep?”
“Depends. Usually it’s only a few inches, but a giant serpent can still jump right out of it.” I pulled the wheel to the left, directing the buggy around the Bad Water.
It didn’t always work—the water could expand to follow you. But this time, we seemed to get a bit lucky. The water stayed where it was, and we skirted around the edges.
When the dark magic in the air began to prickle harder, I stiffened.
Yeah, we hadn’t gotten that lucky, after all. Something was coming.
“The air to the right is shimmering,” Lachlan shouted.
I stole a glance, catching sight of the telltale shimmer between us and the Bad Water. It was almost like a mirage. When the first tiny figure appeared out of the hazy air, I blinked.
“Is that a child?” Rowan shouted.
“Hell no!” Bree replied. “It’s a bit like a miniature zombie creature. I think they might be the Nimerigar, from Shohone legend. The name means people eaters.”
“Perfect,” I muttered, squinting toward them. But they were too far away for me to make out the details of their forms. Bree had amazing sight and hearing, a gift from the Norse god Heimdall, so I trusted her.
“Is he armed?” Lachlan asked.
“Looks like a bow and arrow. Tipped in bright green.”
“Poison,” Lachlan said.
“Probably. And the little bastard is fast.” She pointed. “There’s another! And another!”
I stole another glance, now able to make out the weird features of the Nimerigar.
I turned back to the view in front of me, not wanting to plow the buggy into a stray rock, then lay on the gas to get away from the little monsters.
“They’re gaining on us!” Bree shouted. “And there are more!”
Another stolen glance revealed that there were now about twenty. They raised their bows, evil grins stretched across their faces.
Oh, shit.
“Duck!” I shouted.
My sisters unclipped their waist harnesses and dived over the front safety bars into the driver’s area. They squeezed in next to me on the bench seat, huddling behind the side door of the buggy. Lachlan followed, jumping into the footwell of the back seat.
The Nimerigar released their bowstrings, and the arrows surged through the air. I threw out my ha
nd, creating a shield to protect us. The magic tugged at my soul, more difficult than ever to use. It was no longer natural—not like the powers given to me by the Celtic gods.
But it still worked, thank fates. The shield burst to life, a shimmery white veil that deflected the arrows. They bounced off, each one pinging against the shield and draining a small bit of my magic. It took all that I had to hold on to the protection and keep it standing.
Finally, it faded from me, impossible to hold on to.
It was true, what they said. Dragon Gods really did lose whatever magic they had before they transitioned. But I was holding on to it somehow, if only the dregs.
I vowed to practice harder.
“They’re reloading!” Bree shouted from where she peeped over the edge of the door.
I looked right, just in time to see the monsters release their arrows.
I tried to call upon my shield magic, but it faltered, refusing to come forth. Twenty arrows were sailing through the sky, headed right toward us. They had the perfect amount of arc—just enough that they would sail over the buggy doors and rain down on our heads.
My skin chilled as I tried to divert the buggy. But it was too slow, and the arrows too perfect.
My heart thundered as my foot pressed on the gas hard enough to hurt.
Oh fates, we were screwed.
But then Lachlan’s magic swelled on the air, bringing with it the scent of leather and pine that was so unfamiliar out here in the desert.
In midair, the arrows froze.
Time froze. Everything except for us.
At the last minute, the buggy sailed away from the arrows, headed to safety. We used the few seconds of frozen time to put distance between us and our attackers.
“Fates, that was close,” Bree said.
“No kidding.” I wiped a hand over my sweating brow.
“Let’s finish it.” Rowan scrambled back onto the front fighting platform, and Bree followed.
I steered us away from the oncoming army, full speed ahead. Bree’s magic swelled on the air as lightning cracked in the sky. She sent it down toward the Nimerigar, zapping one on the spot.
Rowan drew a bow and arrow from the ether—not her preferred weapon, but she’d been training with everything—and aimed for the monsters. She fired quickly, but the arrows didn’t seem to affect them like the lightning did.
Lachlan’s hold over time ceased, and the Nimerigar roared.
Oh, crap.
There were too many, and only Bree’s lightning seemed to affect them. But it was too slow.
My heart thundered as they gained on us, so fast it was hard to believe. Each one had a poison arrow nocked in their bow.
They charged after us, a tiny army silhouetted by the silvery glow of the Bad Water behind them.
The Bad Water.
I glanced at Lachlan, who’d climbed onto the back platform. “I’ve got a plan. Can you manipulate the Bad Water from this distance?”
“Should be able to.”
I looked toward my sisters. “Rowan! Take the wheel!”
Rowan scrambled into the cockpit and took over for me. Though we hadn’t done it in years, the transition was seamless. Her foot replaced mine on the gas and her hands were quick. The buggy never even slowed as I handed over control and climbed onto the back platform with Lachlan.
“Together!” I cried. “Let’s wash them away.”
His magic surged, nearly bowling me over with the strength of it. I called on my own, this time commanding my new gift over water. It came so much more easily than my shield power.
This was natural.
It surged within me, filling my chest with strength and light. The magic flowed out from my heart and through my arms, my golden tattoos seeming to push it along.
I imagined the Bad Water rising up as a silvery wall and washing away the army of attackers. Lachlan was already making half of it rise. The rest of the water obeyed my call, rising high in the air.
The Bad Water was nearly to them when they released their arrows. Twenty of them flew through the air, bright green tips gleaming in the sun. I dived low, trying not to lose control of the water, while Lachlan threw himself in front of me.
Arrows pinged all around us on the platform. Pain flared in my calf. Through teary eyes, I saw the water crash down on the monsters and sweep them away.
It had worked!
But my leg hurt like hell.
Lachlan climbed off of me, panic in his gaze. “You’re hit!”
He’d tried to protect me, but one of my legs had been sticking out from the shield of his body. I didn’t mind. Last thing I wanted was for anyone to be hurt on my behalf. I mean, yeah, the pain and the poison sucked, but I didn’t want to live if someone died to protect me, that was for danged sure.
“You okay?” I shouted to my sisters.
“Fine!” they echoed back.
In the distance, the monsters were gone. The Bad Water had sucked them up, no doubt taking their bodies as a tribute.
Grimacing, I sat up and yanked the arrow out.
“That was hardcore,” Lachlan said. “You sure that was the smartest thing to do?”
“Hardcore and dumb, huh?” I grinned but knew it didn’t reach my eyes. My leg ached like hell.
Bree climbed over the railing to the back platform and knelt by my side. “Let me see.”
I tilted my leg toward her. “Think you can fix it? I kinda need that leg.”
“Yeah, they’re handy, legs.” She hovered her hand over the wound, her brow knitting. “I think I can help.”
“Good.” One of the first gifts she’d gotten from the Norse gods had been the power of healing. I hoped to hell it worked on this poison, because I wasn’t going to be very useful if I was dead.
My wound warmed as Bree fed her magic into it. Rowan kept us on track, diverting the buggy around pillars of salt that rose out of the earth.
“Remember that salt monster we fought?” Bree asked, no doubt trying to distract me from the pain.
“Yeah. Mean bastard. You got him good, though.” I winced as pain shot through the wound. Green poison began to seep from the cut, which then started to close up. Finally, the pain faded. I grunted. “Nice work.”
“I think you should be good.” Bree removed her hand.
“Just in time.” I stood, feeling no pain. “You’re the best, Bree.”
“I’d like that in writing.” She grinned and climbed over the seats, taking up her position in the front once more.
“Are you all right?” Lachlan’s concerned gaze met mine.
“I’m fine. Thanks for trying to protect me.” I scowled at him. “But I wouldn’t have been particularly pleased if you’d been hit in the back.”
“I wasn’t, though.”
“You could have been.”
“Still wasn’t.” His grin was cocky as he pulled me close and pressed a quick kiss to my lips.
“Get a room!” Bree shouted.
I pulled away from Lachlan and glared at her.
“There seems to be a distinct shortage of those,” Lachlan said.
“Leave it to my sister,” I muttered.
“Guys, I think there is something up ahead,” Rowan said. “Ever seen anything like that?”
About half a mile in front of the buggy, the air shimmered with brown light. It was different than what we’d seen before. Different than anything I’d seen in my life.
Quickly, it coalesced to form a thick rock wall.
“Well, hell,” Rowan said.
“We have to go through that?” Lachlan asked.
“Yep.” I frowned, inspecting it. The wall stretched infinitely in both directions, cutting across the valley and blocking our path.
“I’m going to fly up and see if I can get a better view,” Bree said.
I nodded. “Always handy to have a Valkyrie around.”
“We’re quite rare, you know.” She gave a cheeky grin, then her silver wings unfurled from her back. They glint
ed in the sun, nearly blinding.
She crouched low, then shot into the air, flying toward the wall and making a big circle as she inspected something on the ground.
“What do you see?” I shouted.
She was far away, but her hearing would pick up the message.
“Symbols!” Her voice was faint, shouted from far away.
I looked at Lachlan. “Symbols? Like petroglyphs?”
“Rock carvings?” He frowned, his brow creased. “Maybe.”
Bree wheeled on the air, then returned to the buggy, landing gracefully on the front platform. “There were four petroglyphs. Each different. They looked like a seed, a sapling, a tree, and a pile of wood.”
I frowned, then understanding dawned. “The phases of life.”
“Makes sense.” Rowan slowed the truck as we neared the first petroglyph.
Up close, I could see that it was carved deep into the rock of the ground. We’d arrived at the seed—the youngest one.
“Circle it.” I moved to the edge of the platform, peering out over the petroglyph.
Rowan drove the buggy in a circle around the glyph as we inspected it. The glyph was huge—at least forty feet across, and the middle of the seed looked like it contained a deeper indentation. I needed to see it closer.
“Stop, please,” I asked.
Rowan hit the brakes, and I jumped off, running quickly across the glyph, avoiding the indentions that created the shape. I’d have to move fast since the ground was so damned hot. But I didn’t want to drive the buggy over something this important.
“Hurry up!” Bree shouted.
“I know!”
“Sisters,” Rowan muttered.
In the center of the glyph, there was a basin. Dried-up round rings coated the inside. I leaned over them and squinted. Water rings. That’s what they were.
Which meant we had to put water in there.
Lachlan and I could control water, but we couldn’t create it. At least, I couldn’t yet. I hadn’t practiced enough. Fire was easier, it seemed.
I spun back to the buggy and raced for it. “Toss me a gallon of water!”
Bree ducked down into the floor well of the front seat and pulled up a plastic gallon jug. She tossed it at me, and I caught it. “Ooof. Heavy.”
