“I always found you intriguing.” Mastyx continued. “I had no desire to see you cast from The Void.”
“You had me Bound.” The memory made me momentarily sick.
“Yes. I thought with time you could be made to see sense. Your desire to help the mortals was naive but your power…Ah!” He threw his arms into the air and stretched backwards along the spine of the Sphinx, his pelvis drawing closer to the head of the stone beast. He gazed at me from this position. “Your power was intoxicating. We received just a trickle of it that day, a tiny drop to melt on our tongues. It tasted so good.” He closed his eyes and let his slim tongue play across his mouth. “I thought that if we could just get you to release your ideals, you would be a formidable tool.”
The thought of being this creature’s Lackey made me want to draw blood. I focused my attention on the cold stone under me. I let its solid presence move through my body, cooling my rage. I had to play this conversation carefully. Perhaps if Mastyx thought I would work for him, he would help me get my other wing. He might also know how I could free Sid and Yeren. As he lay against the stone revelling in the memory of my taste, I could hear his servants on the ground, entwining their bodies as they shared in his memory. I had to choose my next words carefully.
“Help me get it back,” I whispered. His eyes shot open. “Please.”
I put just a little bit of heat to the word, trying desperately to flare my power. A faint beam of blue light coursed from my heart to hit him momentarily in the chest and then was gone. Mastyx took it in with a moan that was chorused behind me. He arched his back into a deeper stretch before he sat up and swung around to face me.
“I know where your wing is.” I had to swallow my tension before answering.
“Will you take me there?”
“Oh no, not yet.” His mouth widened into a grin that showed fang. “First you must do something for me.” I gave him my best ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ face as I took in the smooth expanse of his groin. He followed my eyes. “Oh no! No, no, no, Phoenix!” He shivered. “No!” He made a gagging sound.
“You sure know how to flatter a girl,” I said dryly.
“My apologies, I simply prefer the feel of scales under my hands.”
His eyes travelled to his servants. I looked over to see them sliding over and under each other, emulating the snakes they so closely resembled. I watched Mastyx as he looked at them, tongue flicking, and was reminded of my memory of his hands on Cosima. Scales it was. Thank god for that.
“Then what?” My words broke his revelry.
“Hmm?”
“What is it that you want me to do?”
“Oh yes…” He pulled his eyes away from the show. “I need you to collect a very precious item for me.”
“Go on,” I said dryly.
“Well, don’t sound so excited about it.” He replied equally deadpan. “Another member of our Guard, Cosima, you remember her I’m sure.” He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Well, she has my First Moulting, and I need…”
“Your what?” I interrupted.
“My First Moulting, the first skin that I cast off. It has amazing intimate…” He emphasised the word, and I tried not to visibly gag. “Properties and I would like it back.” I stood up, my back had become stiff sitting on the stone, and I paced to loosen it.
“Why don’t you just ask her to give it back?”
“I have.” He made an impatient sound. “But our affair has cooled, and she wishes to keep it for herself. I would take it from her, but we have a sticky little rule about Guards homes.”
“Which is?”
“I cannot enter without her permission.”
“Like a vampire?” I joked.
“No, once a Vampire has permission they are free to come and go as they please. Besides, they are not Travellers. To protect our sanctuaries we Guards require invitation every time.”
“Shit,” I whispered. “Vampires do exist. I don’t know why that surprises me.” I shook my head like a dog, trying to remove the thought. “So you can’t enter and I can.”
“Exactly.” He smiled.
I thought about all the visions my wing had shown me. Cosima played a large, and violent, role.
“No way. No fucking way. She’ll kill me. Get one of the snake boys to do it.” I grabbed the bat from the ground, rammed it in my bag and made for the exit.
“But how will you find your wing?” He called in a singsong voice. I stopped walking. “And further, how will you leave this Time? Without your wings, you cannot Travel.” He had me there, but he also told me that he didn’t know I had lefty. I turned around but did not advance. “She will be alone, and Cosima is nothing without a gaggle of creatures to do her bidding.” He looked me up and down taking in the fur coat hanging haphazardly around my body, my wild hair and dirt-smudged face, worn knees, and baseball bat. He smiled. “You can take her.”
“Fine. I’ll do it.” I stalked towards him. “But first I need some answers, a little insurance.” He nodded. “Why did The Guard cast me out?” He looked at me with true sorrow in his eyes.
“I may be devious, my dear Phoenix, but I would never have engaged in such an act. I was not there the day The Guard took the vote…” Under his breath, he added, “…And I was not the only one. Had we all been present I believe things would have been different. But fear is a powerful thing, and it was working against you.”
“So you don’t know.” He just looked at me, silent, I tried another angle. “Who else wasn’t there? Who was missing from the vote?” Maybe they would help me. He gave me dark eyes.
“The meetings of The Guard are secret, only our rulings are spread throughout The Void.” His voice softened playfully. “We should be going.” He walked towards me.
“One more question.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “What about my friends?”
“Friends? Oh, the Minion and the Yeti.” He smiled. “All in good time.”
I groaned.
“Will you at least tell me where my wing is?”
“Not now…” He ran his hand up my arm. “…Later.”
“So I get nothing.”
His hand continued up my body until he was caressing my face. I worked really hard not to pull away. His servants slithered their way to stand behind him as he hissed his words.
“I have to know you’ll come back.”
He grabbed me by the neck, hard. The three of them hissed, fangs bared. Then everything went dark.
19
Mastyx still had me by the neck. The light around me was dappled but bright. Wherever we were, it was morning.
“Here we are, my darling.” He released me, and I dropped to the ground, rubbing my neck. I could feel tiny drops of blood where his claws had pierced my skin. Mastyx crouched beside me turning his next words into a macabre nursery rhyme. “This is the island where Cosima lives. To get back my skin, you’d better be quick.” He laughed at his own game.
I looked around me. We were in a thick grove. The trees were thin and twisted with sparse foliage, and scrubby grass grew in the loose dirt. Through the trees, I could see a beach covered in coarse white sand and beyond the sand was the most beautiful turquoise water I’d ever seen shimmering in the sunlight.
“We’re in the Mediterranean.” I mused.
“Very good!” He clapped his hands in mock praise. “The island of Lesbos to be exact! A fitting place for a Siren such as Cosima.”
“Siren? Like a ‘lure people to their death’ Siren?”
“Don’t worry; the song only works on humans.” He continued so quickly that I didn’t have time to question his assessment of my humanity. “You’ll find it just as ghastly as the rest of us.” He laughed, and his attendants chorused him. Mastyx slithered closer and pointed through the trees. “Do you see there, just off shore?”
I followed his instruction and peered through the trees. If I leant a little closer to the ground, I could see it. Cosima’s compound. I would say home, but
that’s too weak a word. It was a three-building complex that protruded from the water like a giant’s hand reaching for the sky. Each building was raised on stilts and connected by short bridges.
The one nearest to shore faced the beach and was closer to the water’s surface and had broad wooden steps that disappeared down into the surf. It was an open circle with a fluid roof that looked like the sail of a ship. This was connected, via rope-bridge, to the first floor of a two storey cylindrical structure that I assumed was the main house. Only the bottom half of the walls were solid. The tops were open to let the ocean air breeze through, and cream curtains billowed in the cool wind. Pale grey tiles covered the pointed roof. The second storey of this main house had yet another rope bridge that draped across to the third and final building. This building stood as high as the main house but was only one floor. The room sat atop very long posts, and when the sun glinted in your eyes, it gave the illusion that the building was floating in the air. It was a similar structure to the others yet protruding from the roof was a small lookout tower. No doubt the place where Cosima screamed to her prey. If I didn’t know that she lived there, I might have found it beautiful. A glint of red caught my eye. Cosima was walking up the steps, out of the ocean. I quickly threw myself, belly down, on the ground.
“Do you see her? There, on the sun deck.” Mastyx hissed softly, gracefully placing his body beside mine as we watched her towel off. “Why do the hot ones always go crazy?”
“Yeah, I see her. Damn it, Mastyx! You can’t expect me to go out there while she’s home!” I spit the words in his face.
“Calm yourself, Phoenix. She will go out again soon, and then you will strike.”
“So I swim out there and rummage through her house until I find a man-sized snake suit.” Hiding my distaste for his ‘First Moulting’ was proving difficult.
“No need to rummage, my darling. The skin will be in her bedroom.”
“Her bedroom?” He opened his mouth to answer, and I held up a hand to silence him. “Nope changed my mind. Don’t want to know.”
“Suit yourself.” He chuckled. The hissing was answered by his two henchmen who lay in the grass somewhere nearby. “The bedroom is located in the third tower. The one with the lookout. Just wait until she has gone and you’ll be fine.” He got to his feet. I jumped up too.
“How will you know when I have it?”
“My servants will call me.”
“Your servants…wait! You’re leaving them here with me?” I looked over at the two snake people entwined in the shade of a tree.
“Yes, they will be my eyes and ears. Tegus.” One of the creatures lifted his head. “Boaca.” The other followed suit. “Come.” They came crawling and slithering across the grass to kneel at his feet. “You keep an eye on the Lady and keep her safe.”
“Yesssss master.” They hissed in unison.
“And please, don’t pester her.” He sounded like an exasperated father pleading with his children to be good for the babysitter.
“Yesssss master.” They turned sinister smiles to me.
“Good. I’ll be off then.” He winked at me. “See you soon.” He ran his scaled hands over the smooth skulls of his servants and disappeared. The two snake boys stayed where they were; heads bent back with pleasure. When it became obvious that they weren’t going to move, I cleared my throat.
“Okay.” Their eyes snapped open, and they stared at me. “I’m going to sit over here and watch for Cosima to leave. You two can go back over there.” I pointed to the tree they had been lying under. “And do whatever it was you were doing. Quietly.”
“As you wish.” Tegus, or was it Boaca, hissed and they slithered back to the tree.
The sound of their scales in the grass was grating, and I shivered as I turned towards the water. It was so blue and the sky so clear. It would have felt amazing to strip down and lie in the warm sun, but no! I had to wait for the crazy Siren to leave her home so I could break in and steal the skin of a snake man. Wow, my life is strange.
The air was warm, so I dropped the bag and took off my fur. I found a place where I could sit with my back against a tree and watch Cosima’s lair. I folded the coat and buried it in my bag and then pulled out some food and water. There were still some nuts, a good apple and quite a bit of water left. I ate the nuts first and then took a few slow sips of water. I crunched the apple down to the very essence of the core, tossed the remains into the trees and, after taking one last swig, put the water bottle away.
I settled back against the tree as the ocean breeze played against my skin. It felt so good as it pulled away the tension of the tomb.
As I watched Cosima’s red silhouette meander around her home, my mind wandered to Benyst. He would be very worried by now, and if he returned to the temple, he would find the lamp on the ground of the tomb, and the table smashed. That’s if he came back to look for me. The strength he had in his hut was dowsed by fear when we got to the temple. Whether he stayed at his home or went back to the tomb, he would be safe. Without my presence or the wing, there was no need for my enemies to be there. Once I had both wings, I would go back to his hut and let him know I was okay. Hopefully, by that time I would know where Sid and Yeren were, and we could rescue them. But first I needed my wings, without them I couldn’t get back to Benyst let alone go rescuing people.
I watched Cosima cross the bridge to her bedroom. She did not continue up to the lookout but walked across to the other side. She bent down, and the half wall hid her. I didn’t take my eyes off that spot, I stared at it till I thought my eyes would melt, but she did not reappear. I assumed she was taking a nap or doing something on her bed. I shuddered as I tried not to go through the possibilities. I mean, to each his own, but used snakeskin? That’s a new one.
The sun grew brighter overhead. It bounced off the ocean almost blinding me. I closed my eyes to give them a rest, felt my head nod and forced them open again. It had been so long since I’d slept. I heard a soft hiss and turned quickly to check on Tegus and Boaca. They were fast asleep in the shade of a tree, their sleepy hissing soothing. I turned back to the water and closed my eyes again. I tried to fight the pull of sleep, snapping my already sore neck, but it was no use. The sound of the ocean was too soothing and the breeze too comforting.
I fell asleep.
20
The Archer marched through my dreams. He said nothing, but I could feel him at my back, following me. I turned periodically to look back at him. He was beautiful and dark, his platinum skin shining in the grey light of The Void. I could not read his expression, but there was something, a kind of spark when our eyes met. Silver and blue colliding. I kept moving forward, knowing in my dream world that he would always follow me. As I explored The Void, I began to feel something moist dart across my face. It left a shimmery line like a snail in its wake. I looked around for the source, but there was only The Archer, ten steps behind me. I looked at him, and he said my name. It came out like a screaming hiss.
“Phoenixxxxxxxxx!”
I cried out as I woke, sitting up and swatting the air. My hand made heavy contact with something before I opened my eyes.
“Ow!” Followed by a sibilant giggle.
“I told you not to touch her.”
My eyes finally open, I surveyed the scene. Tegus and Boaca were huddled around me. The one that I had hit was curled into a ball holding its chin; the other sat back on its heels giggling. I could feel moisture on my cheek and wiped at it to come away with a palm full of snake spit.
“Ewww, guys!” I wiped my hand on some shrubs. “Couldn’t you just poke me or something?!”
“I told Boaca not to, but he wanted a taste.”
“Not true!” cried Boaca. “I thought it the most soothing way to wake you.”
“Liar.” Tegus teased. They began to move close to each other again. Before they could get too into things, I interrupted.
“Uh, guys?” I snapped my fingers between them, and they turned to me. “How lo
ng have I been asleep?” The sun had moved, it wasn’t as blinding, but we were definitely nowhere near sunset.
“A few hours, no more.” Boaca cooed.
“Good.” I pushed Tegus out of my line of sight. His skin was cold and smooth; he ran as much of it as he could along my hand as he moved. “Did you see her? Did she leave?”
“We were also…” they exchanged a look, “…asleep, My Lady.” Boaca inched closer hoping for his own feel. I peered through the trees.
“Shit.” There was no sign of her anywhere, and I needed to get this done before sundown. “Well, I’m going across.”
“What if she’s still there?” whispered Tegus.
“I don’t know. But thanks to our brilliant siege I have no choice.” I gathered my bag to me. “Stay here and out of sight. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Yesssss Mistresssssss.” They chorused.
I shuddered, something one does a lot around these creatures and headed off into the trees.
I stayed amongst them for as long as I could but soon the beach butted against a rocky cliff, from here I would have to swim out to the compound. Now I had to find a place to hide my bag. I had considered leaving it with the gruesome twosome for about half a second, but they would definitely riffle through it. So now the question came of where to hide it.
I looked around me. I could jam it in a crevice in the rock face, but that didn’t really appeal. What if something crawled inside my bag? Ew. Burying it didn’t make any sense like I’m going to dig a hole. That left the trees. But how could I get it to stay up? If only I had a bit of string. Then it hit me.
The string! I had totally forgotten about the string Benyst had given me! It was a good thing I’d forgotten. It would have given Mastyx an even clearer line straight to me. I rummaged through my bag and found it quickly. I put my boots and socks in the bag and then tied the open end of the spool tightly around it and then wound it around a few more times. Once I was sure the bag would not open, I tossed the spool over the strongest and highest branch I could find. I pulled on the string and hoisted the bag high above the ground until it was obscured amongst the branches. I tied the spool off to a tree nearby and stepped back to survey my work. Since the thread was fine silver it became practically invisible and, unless you were looking for it, I doubted you would see the bag.
Torn From Stone (The Phoenix Series Book 1) Page 11
