Strix came barreling down from the sky and was aimed for the beast. His claws were wide open and ready for attack when he landed on the back of the beast’s neck. I watched as Strix dug his claws into the beast’s bristly fur and ripped chunks of it out.
Strix looked up at me and then pecked at where he had just removed all the hair on the beast’s neck. The beast kicked his back hoof up and struck at Strix but missed. Strix pecked at the area on the beast’s neck again and then flew back into the sky.
“I think Strix just showed us where the beast’s weak spot is,” I called out. “Everyone, aim for the bald spot on its neck.”
One after another, we hit the beast several times each, but I still wasn’t seeing it weaken. While we kept throwing powerful orbs, the beast was sending painful flames right back at us.
“Why don’t we connect with Kali again?” Tiana asked.
Lucas glanced to me and I immediately saw the tension set in his body. He didn’t like that idea, but it was a good one.
“Let’s do it quickly,” I said before Lucas could object.
One by one, they all connected with me, but this time I had Lucas at my side. Once I felt everyone’s magic flowing through me, I pushed the magic out of me like before. The stream of it hit the scorched, bald spot and penetrated the beast’s skin.
I watched in amazement as our powerful magic took over the beast and it finally collapsed. I didn’t let up though. That thing might’ve collapsed, but it wasn’t dead yet and I had a feeling if I stopped, it’d get right back up.
Strix landed back on my shoulder and we gave one final push of magic. The beast trembled on the ground like it was having a seizure and then turned to dust. About damn time.
“Lesson learned,” Jordan said. “When dealing with evil like this, just connect our magic and let the Arelia do the work.”
“Gee, thanks best friend,” I laughed. “I’m so glad I can be of assistance to you.”
“Me too, I really like this outfit.” Jordan glanced between the two of us. “I would’ve been rather upset if it got burned and I looked like you do right now.”
I looked down at myself and cringed. Half of my tank top was gone and my hair was singed at the ends. Lucas, Ryan and Tiana didn’t look any better than me either. They were covered in black ash and each had at least one nasty burn mark.
“Let me see your arm,” Lucas said. “We need to wrap it for now and when we’re done, we can go back to Lorelle and she’ll heal it for you. If you don’t wrap open wounds, it’ll leave you susceptible to whatever dark magic is lingering in the forest.”
I gave Lucas my arm, but before he could wrap it, Strix landed on my arm with some type of leaf in his claws and pressed it into my burn. I instantly felt it soothing and healing my arm. Whatever he’d done was amazing and we needed more of that plant. He removed his foot and hopped back up on my shoulder.
“I can’t feel any pain there anymore.” I lifted the leaf and there was only a faint red mark left. “Strix, can you get more of those leaves?”
Strix nodded and flew off. He was gone for just a minute and dropped the leaves on the ground before flying back to my shoulder. Lucas picked the leaves up and passed them around. There were a few extra that he stashed away in the pack in case we needed them later.
When Lucas was done, he grabbed me and wrapped his arms around me. I was starting to realize this was my favorite spot in the world to be. My shoulders released the tension I didn’t even realize they held and I let out a deep breath.
“We need to keep moving,” Oliver said. “Are you guys up for it or do you need to rest? If we’re staying, we need to put shields up.”
“Before we keep moving,” Lucas said. “we need to decide soon if we are taking watch shifts tonight and staying out here or if we should port back home.”
“I say we stay the night here,” Jordan said. “We can start a campfire and tell scary stories and pretend we’re not in the middle of our own scary story with beasts that breathe fire.”
“I agree we should stay,” Lela said. “but I don’t think we need the scary stories. I think that beast will give me enough nightmares. I don’t need scary stories to add to them.”
Lela was right about that. I couldn’t even watch scary movies on a good day surrounded by sunshine. No way in hell did I want them after today.
“Let’s keep moving until we find a good place to sleep where we’re not exposed on all sides” I said.
“So, it’s decided,” Lucas said. “We’ll keep moving until it’s closer to nightfall and we find a good place to rest for a few hours each.”
With that, we all paired up with our Merakis and continued our journey further into the forest. I hoped there wouldn’t be any more beasts to contend with. I just wanted to find Damien and make him pay for all that he had done.
We’d been traveling for almost an hour further into the forest and hadn’t come across anything else that wanted to fry our heads. I kept to Lucas’s side and tried to keep calm. I was beginning to sort through the memories I had received and they were incredible.
I watched memory after memory of important dates in history for Arvata. I watched past Arelias find their Merakis and fall in love, but I also felt their devastation as I watched some of those loved ones die in times of war.
“What’s wrong, blue eyes?” Lucas wiped a tear from my face with his thumb.
I hadn’t even realized any tears were falling, but I couldn’t help it.
“I see the memories and I feel what they felt,” I said. “It’s amazing and emotional. I thought I would hate it, but it’s also surprisingly comforting.”
“I can imagine,” Lucas said. “Anything I can do for you?”
“You’re already doing something,” I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Being right here with me is all I need for now.”
I hadn’t been paying much attention to our surroundings with the memories flowing through my mind. I glimpsed around finally and noticed the branches in this part of the forest were not only drooping like the others, but they were also turning ash gray. I was certain if I reached out and touched one, the whole tree would crumble.
Tiana and Lela were upfront laughing about something, but I couldn’t hear what. Jordan looked up too as she noticed they were having entirely way too much fun without us.
“Should we join them?” I asked Jordan.
“We can’t stay attached to their hips the whole time,” Jordan nodded to Oliver and Lucas. “We’re overdue for some girl time.”
I walked over to Jordan and linked arms with her. We were about five feet from Tiana and Lela when the ground started trembling. I braced my legs and looked around for what might be coming, but couldn’t see anything. I hoped it wasn’t a herd of those beasts.We had barely survived just one. Everyone was stopped and completely silent.
“Ladies,” Oliver called out. “Why don’t you come back a little closer to us?”
The four of us turned around and only took a couple steps before the ground split open. I heard a scream and turned around. Tiana was lying in the dirt, leaning over a divide that appeared in the ground. and Lela was nowhere to be seen.
“Lela!” Ryan screamed as he ran to where Tiana was holding on to Lela to keep her falling into the abyss.
Oliver followed him, but just as Ryan was about to reach Tiana, the divide opened further and both Tiana and Lela were gone.
What the hell just happened?
Chapter Eleven
I just stood there frozen. I couldn’t comprehend what just happened. Tiana and Lela were standing there laughing one minute and then gone the next. I had no idea what to do. We could not lose them.
Oliver and Ryan were screaming the girl’s names while leaning over the jagged divide. Half their bodies were leaning into the hole and the ground was crumbling beneath them. If someone didn’t get them both back, they’d be joining the girls.
Lucas was the first to recover from the shock of what happened and went over to
Oliver and Ryan.
“You guys need to get up,” Lucas said. “The hole is getting bigger. We need you here to help us get them back. You have to be strong for them right now.”
That got their attention and mine as well. I didn’t know how we were going to get the girls back. They went into what I thought was a black, endless hole. How would we even figure out where they ended up? Hopefully we’d figure something out before they were seriously hurt.
“How are we going to get them back?” Ryan snapped. “Do you even know where they went?”
Ryan’s voice was deep and dripped with anger. His eyes were wild and his whole body was trembling. I didn’t blame him. If that had been Lucas that fell, I don’t know what I would’ve done.
“This is likely a forced port that Damien set up,” Lucas said calmly. “They’re not a threat to Damien, so he has no reason to hurt them.”
I wasn’t sure who Lucas was trying to convince, Ryan or himself.
“I’m not leaving Lela to deal with a psychopath on her own.” Ryan turned back to the hole and looked down. “I’m sorry.”
I watched in horror as Ryan jumped into the divide.
Cheese and rice!
“Damnit,” Lucas shouted. “Oliver, I swear to the Fates if you step near that divide, I’m kicking your ass.”
Oliver had been Lucas’s friend and a Guardian longer than Ryan, so I hoped he would be smart enough to stay with us. We were going to be in big trouble if we lost all of four of them and our group was split in half.
“As much as I want to,” Oliver said. “I know I’m of more use to my girl by staying with you guys and figuring out a way to get them back, but someone better have a plan or I might change my mind and follow Ryan.”
How much more were we going to have to suffer through? This was worse than what I had imagined we might face. I never would have thought some psycho would mess with my head, we’d face off with a ginormous beast, or that a black sink hole would take people to an unknown place. I didn’t want to think about what might be next. My body was trembling and it was not from the cold.
“We need to keep moving,” Jordan said. “The sooner we find Damien, the sooner we get our friends back and can send this asshole into the dark depths of nothingness in the Otherworld.”
“Jordan’s right,” Lucas said. “It’s almost dark and we can’t be wondering around with all these traps in the forest. There’s a spot about a mile ahead that should give us enough cover to rest for a few hours. We can come up with a game plan when we get settled.”
Everyone looked exhausted, mentally and physically. I wanted to curl up in my bed with Lucas and forget about all of this. I knew we couldn’t, but it would certainly be nice. I walked over to Jordan to give her a hug. My best friend looked destroyed.
“We’re going to get through this,” I whispered. “There’s no other option.”
“I know,” She sighed heavily. “I just didn’t expect it to be this hard. We should have been more prepared.”
Jordan was always the one to break the tension. It broke my heart to see her this disheveled. She walked back to Kane with her shoulders hunched over like she carried the weight of the world on them. I turned back to Lucas, ready to get going so we could find the girls sooner rather than later.
Lucas led the way to where we would be staying and I prayed to the Fates we wouldn’t have to face anything else tonight. I held on tight to Lucas’s hand for comfort. I wouldn’t survive if something happened to him as well.
The spot Lucas had remembered was perfect. There was a massive boulder that curved slightly and provided enough coverage that we wouldn’t have to worry about someone or something coming up behind us.
There were a couple of fallen logs and the guys rolled them over to the boulder so we’d have somewhere to sit. The ground didn’t look very comfortable since everything in the forest was dying, but I was so exhausted from today, I doubted I’d notice later when we slept.
“What’s the plan?” Oliver asked anxiously.
His hands were fidgety and his eyes darted around the forest behind us. The toll from being separated from his Meraki was showing and I didn’t ever want to know what that felt like.
“Unless anyone has a better idea,” Lucas said. “We need to rest and then leave at first light. We’ll travel as fast as possible and get to the Falls before the sun has fully risen. I’d bet my life that Damien is there and that’s where the forced port hole took them.”
“What is a forced port hole?” I asked.
“It’s something that can only be formed with dark magic,” Jordan said. “It’s the same as when we port by ourselves, but the person going into it has no control where they end up.”
I didn’t even know what to say to that. I still didn’t quite understand how everything in Arvata worked, but this was unbelievable.
“It will be light in about eight hours,” Lucas said. “Kali and I will take first shift. The rest of you try to get some sleep and we will wake you in four hours.”
Jordan and Kane went to claim a spot on the ground and Oliver just sat there. My heart was breaking for him. I didn’t like to see him so distraught and alone.
“Why don’t you talk with Oliver for a few minutes,” I whispered to Lucas. “Make sure he is hanging in there and that he knows we will get Tiana back.”
Lucas glanced to Oliver and nodded his head. He walked over to Oliver and gave him a pat on the back, then gestured toward the trees. Oliver got up and followed him. It was good to see Lucas was able to be there for him because I knew that Oliver had been his friend for a long time and was there for him when his parents had died.
I walked over and sat on a different log to give Jordan and Kane some time alone, and started sorting through the memories again. Strix snuggled into my neck and I appreciated having him with me while Lucas was with Oliver.
Ten minutes later, the guys came back and Oliver seemed a little better. His face wasn’t as tense and body just slightly more relaxed. Lucas saw I had moved and headed straight for me while Oliver stayed by Jordan and Kane and laid down.
“Is he doing okay, all things considered?” I asked.
Lucas leaned down and gave me a kiss before sitting next to me and answering. “He’s going to be okay as long as Tiana is back in his arms tomorrow.”
“Good, I want them all back too,” I said. “How much further do you think we need to go before we arrive at the Falls?”
“Not much further,” Lucas said as we sat down away from the others. “Probably only another thirty to forty-five minutes of walking. I want to be able to scout out the area before we approach Damien, so going in at night wouldn’t have been helpful.”
“Too bad I can’t communicate with Strix,” I said. “Then we could send him ahead to fly over the area and let us know which way would be safer.”
Strix had already helped us so much and I was grateful, but this would give us the edge we needed. Especially now that Damien had Tiana, Lela and Ryan.
“Actually, I was thinking about that earlier,” Lucas said. “I think you can.”
“How?” I asked eagerly.
“How do you access the information passed along to you from the previous Arelias?”
“It’s hard to explain,” I said. “When the memories came at me, I was overwhelmed, but once I calmed down, I made a mental filing cabinet of sorts. I don’t know how it works, but I’m able to tell the difference between whose memories they are and put them in their own area.”
Lucas thought about that for a moment before continuing. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but hopefully what he was thinking would help us.
“There was an Arelia named Anastasia,” He said. “Her guide was not Strix but an eagle named Peta. It was said that they could mentally communicate. Nobody ever knew how, but maybe if you can access her memories then you could figure it out and do the same with Strix.”
“If I can concentrate enough without any distractions, I might be able to sort
through everything.” I rubbed my temples. “More memories are still showing up, so hopefully what I am looking for isn’t something that hasn’t come to me yet.”
I’d been to my fair share of yoga classes and knew how to center myself and focus pretty easily. I was counting on those classes to help me right now.
“What can I do to help you?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t think you can do anything,” I sighed. “Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious so I don’t have to worry. I’ll have my eyes closed to help block everything out to concentrate on going through all the memories I’ve received today.”
“Do what you need to do, babe.” Lucas leaned toward me and gave me a quick kiss. “I’ll make sure you’re safe, always.”
He always knew exactly what to say and when to say it. I was falling hard and fast.
“I love you.”
Cheese and rice! Did I really say that out loud? I covered my face with my hands hoping I’d just disappear.
“And I love you,” Lucas removed my hands from my face. “I’d been waiting to tell you when we weren’t in danger or surrounded by other people. Don’t look so freaked out,” He laughed. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
Lucas lifted me up and put me in his lap. I yelped in surprise, then snuggled in. He was right, everything was going to be fine. We could do this together.
“Okay, enough of that or I won’t be able to concentrate on what I’m supposed to.” I pulled back and stood up. “You focus on standing guard and I’ll worry about how to communicate with an owl.”
I laughed a little at that. My life had gone way off the deep end into crazy town.
I settled down onto the ground and tried to get comfortable. Since I hadn’t had time to go through everything I’d inherited from previous Arelias, memories were still scattered around my mental filing cabinet. I needed to clear my mind of anything else, start from the top, and work my way through the memories. It was amazing what I could do with my mind now. The Arelia magic made everything easier to compartmentalize.
To the Falls Page 9
