by Jaymin Eve
Fury crawled across to my side. Her hood shifted left to right as she followed the action in front of us. “Can you connect and find the female?”
I knew which of the girls was which from their energy. Their elements gave them distinct power.
“She shouldn’t be hard to recognize if we can move in the general direction … I mean, if she has two eyes and all.” I didn’t care if she had one, two or six eyes; it wasn’t important.
And in fact the single eye was large enough that it actually didn’t even look that weird. Okay, it was a little weird.
I gestured for the girls to move closer to me. We snuggled together.
“I’m going to tether to you all. We’ll probably find ourselves with a little too much attention, but if you all don’t mind a bit of battle, well, who am I to argue?”
Delane shifted to her side, turning her hood in my direction. “I was born ready to battle.”
No doubts at all about warrior-Walker. I was sure I could hear Lina whinnying in agreement.
There were nods all round, so without pause I flung my golden cord. It split and extended, connecting to the other four girls. I took a deep, satisfying breath as the energy flooded through me. The different texture, scent and feel of each girl was unique, but they blended seamlessly with each other. Like the air blew the fire toward the earth, which was nourished by the water. And back the other way, but in a different order.
I focused on the two transparent tethers. They were weaker, unknown. One was so slight, I could barely even feel the energy; the other was much stronger. The Dronish half was close.
Instead of speaking mentally as we usually did, I spoke out loud. “We all set?”
“Ye … Yes.” Fury stuttered her word a little. “You know it’s a little hard to force the words through the energy, but once I start it gets easier.”
“M .. me … me too,” Talina agreed.
“Okay, follow me.”
I got to my feet, my outward senses blinded as I searched for the last girl. I could see the cord now. It was faint, but there was a path I could follow. The other four around me had their weapons held aloft, but I wasn’t sure any of them, besides Delane, were much use in battle. The Angelica and I seemed to be the only two with fight training.
Thankfully the cord seemed to lead away from the city, back toward the Walker doorway. I followed the thread, secure in the knowledge that the others had my back. I knew they couldn’t use their power. I was the one in control right then, but they could physically attack. Or at least give me some warning of an ambush.
The unknown cord was just starting to darken, the gold definitely less translucent, when we were set upon by a group of eight Dronish inhabitants.
Fury roared at me. “Abby, attack!”
I pulled my senses from the cord and back to our immediate surroundings. It took Delane no more than a minute to take out five of them, her sword cutting through the darkness in flashes of steel and death.
One had managed to attach onto Talina, its sucker extending into her hood.
Gathering energy, I sent a wave of power toward the Spurn half. In seconds the Drone was surrounded in a whirlpool of water, the torrent flinging the lithe form far into the distance. Another went the same way from Fury’s fire, burned to a cinder within moments. The last was strung up in Ria’s hair vines.
I flinched at the thought of killing these alien creatures, but there wasn’t much I could do while they were attacking us. Thankfully, we had a reprieve after this ambush, managing to camouflage our movements behind some rocky mountains. That lasted only about a minute before we were back crossing some open plains.
It was clear, even in the semi-darkness, that this land was leeched of life, just like on Crais. Although here it was the icy cold and lack of sun. The gravity felt a little heavier than First World’s, and the air was pretty musty. There looked to be very little life in this land. No trees or grass, just weird rock-style formations and mountainous planes. The cord continued leading us around the back of the city wall, and out into a darkened and flat plain.
Fury grumbled, “I … I hope this cord isn’t leading us into the middle of nowhere. Supes seems a little off her game since Josian.”
The cloak hid my eye-roll.
“Abby knows what she’s doing.” Talina, my most loyal half-Walker.
There was some truth to what Fury had said. It wasn’t just Josian, although that had thrown me off balance. But being unmelded to Brace had definitely weakened me. Which was why the laluna was determined that we would stay that way. It was also clear that the longer I was without Brace, the weaker I was becoming. As if something inside me was fading away without my mate.
Using gloved hands, I rubbed my temples as that thought assaulted me. Was I losing something by not being with Brace? Surely I could be strong on my own? Surely I didn’t need a man to define me? It was nice to have his strength to lean on, but I wanted to be able to stand on my own also. It didn’t seem as if Brace was weakened without me. I’d certainly never noticed anything.
My thoughts were cut off as a shadow rose beyond us. A structure in the distance. It took us a few more steps before the shape came into focus. It was a cave system, or some sort of large rock overhang. I couldn’t tell if there was an opening or not – it was far too dark – but we’d see soon enough.
I don’t like the feel of this. Ria had reverted to mental speak, her hood swishing as she glanced left and right. Anyone get the feeling that we’re being watched or followed?
I couldn’t sense anything specific; I was too flooded with all of our energies. But I had a similar awareness going on. A tingle at the back of my neck that was slowly trickling down my spine.
Maybe it’s the Dronish half, I said. I’ll just keep following the golden cord.
The cord of the unknown sixth half was solidifying further. It was almost the same density as the ones connected to the girls by my side. Cerberus snuggled closer to my neck, distracting me, and by the time I glanced up again we were almost at the entrance to the tunnel.
And a blur of shadow, which looked a lot like a foot, was coming straight at my face.
Instinct and training kicked in. I hit the ground a second before my nose would have been foot mush. As I landed, Cerberus was up and off me, and he was massive again.
I heard a shriek and the blur was gone. I broke the tethers to the other girls. Our visible energy dissipated.
“Did you see it?” Delane asked.
Lina hadn’t appeared, so she must still be on Delane’s shoulder.
“It was a shadow, but there seemed to be a shape inside it.” The Angelica had her sword held aloft, steady in her capable hand.
“It might be the half-Walker or something that can lead us to her. Don’t kill the shadow,” I warned as we walked into the cave.
It was darker in there, but our eyes were already adjusted to see in low light. We crept along the path. As we moved further in I noted there were small glowing circles dotted high on the wall.
“Just like Crais,” Fury murmured.
This place definitely gave the same vibe as the underground area of Fury’s home world. I heard weird scraping and thudding noises as we rounded the corner and came upon an open area. The space was sparse, just a few padded mats and what looked like black sheets scattered around.
Cerberus started to growl low at my side. I took his warning seriously, lifting my hands in preparation. I’d sheathed my sword; I wouldn’t risk killing the half.
I felt the air whoosh first, before noticing a shadow which flew from my right. My head snapped back as a hard object landed solidly on the fleshy part of my cheek. Most definitely a fist. I felt every single knuckle as I hit the deck.
Holy eff, how was I going to fight a shadow? More movement caught my attention, and I swung out blindly from my spot on the floor. My fist grazed something solid. Okay, so it was not really a shadow. Just, uh … wearing a shadow.
This had to be my half-Walker.
/> Shadow was one of the seven original powers that Jedi had mentioned, and the fact that Cerberus was not tearing the shadow a new … um, shadow … well, that told me it wasn’t really an enemy. I threw my hood back and gestured to the others to do the same. Then I jumped to my feet.
“Stop fighting us,” I yelled. “We’re not your enemies; we’re here to help you –”
My words were cut off by another smack in the face, my lip this time. It split instantly and blood poured out in a gush. Damn these prickly half-Walkers. Thankfully, the wound was healed within moments, although the metallic taste in my mouth lingered a little longer.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.” Fury was standing with the others.
They were all fidgeting on the spot, looking torn about jumping in.
“Abby’s getting her ass handed to her by a freaking shadow.”
“Stay back,” I said, my words mostly for Delane.
The Angelica had that look in her eye; she’d gone into warrior mode.
“I think it’s the half-Walker. Remember, shadow is one of our abilities.”
A blur of movement came at my side again, but this time I was ready. I’d tuned in to the way she fought. For some reason she continued to come at me from the side. The shifting of air alerted me that I was about to get hit again.
I flung my head to the side and at the same time I spun out my right leg and collided with something solid.
The shadowy figure fell to the ground.
I jumped on her before she could move. It was weird. When I started looking for the person in the shadow, I could see her, but before that she’d been nothing more than a blur. If she hadn’t attacked me, I would never have noticed her.
The thin yet solid shape thrashed and fought beneath me, but I was stronger. In fact, she felt so light and frail under me that I was worried about crushing her. Although, I knew I wouldn’t kill a half-Walker by squashing her. After three minutes of struggling she started speaking or spluttering out random words. Some were English, others not.
“Marl,” she shrieked over and over.
“Who is Marl?” I asked her, keeping my voice calm.
Her body bucked beneath mine again. She was not giving up. “What have you done with Marl? I’ll kill you.”
She made her point perfectly clear as her nails raked across my exposed skin.
“You need to calm down. We’re not here to hurt you, and we don’t know any Marl.”
The shadow girl did not calm.
I held her down the best I could and hoped she’d give up soon. It took a long time. I think in the end she only slowed because she tired herself out. I pulled my weight back a little, both hands still wrapped tightly around her forearms.
Talina stood over my back. “I think Abbs has gotten a little more ruthless.” Her voice held laughter. “She never tried to wrestle and hog-tie any of us.”
“I think she came close with me.” Fury was also laughing.
“Nah,” I said. “I was going to knock you out.”
Fury and Talina lost it then, falling down on each other.
“We had shadow beasts on Nephilius,” the always serious Delane said. The sword had not left her hand, and she was also very close to me. “They were nearly impossible to kill. We had to wait until they morphed out of shadow and back to solid.”
I glanced down at the very definite image of a female under my hands. The shadows still mostly cloaked her, but I could see her outline. And then right as I was squinting to see her better, she appeared, in all her fascinating glory.
She spat words at me. “I don’t become a shadow. I use them to hide me only.” Her English was heavily accented, hard to understand.
We all stared at her for long moments. She was amazingly interesting. She had two eyes and they were the color of blood, before fading out to something golden on the outside. Her hair was purple, a deep rich midnight purple. It was long and wavy, caressing her very delicate but sharp features.
I could see the Drone in her. She was more angular than any Walker could hope to be, but somehow it worked. Her skin was dark, the color of rich soil, but it seemed to lighten and darken at will. She had glittery stones, similar to those which had adorned the Drones outside, around her eyes. This half was quite spectacular.
I released her arms, holding my hands out in front of me for a few seconds so she could see I did not mean her harm. I got to my feet, my movements slow. Everything about her screamed flight risk. We needed to move slowly to try to earn her trust.
She followed my movements and stood too. She was tall, at least six feet, very thin, and was wearing the sheet thing like the rest of the Dronish inhabitants. Her skin looked sort of shiny, like oil. I rubbed my hands together but no oil coated them from when I’d held her.
“What are you?” She blinked her red eyes a few times, looking from one of us to the other. She lingered extra-long on Cerberus and Delane. Which was understandable: two heads and wings were certainly worth the additional stare. Delane would have to get her wings tucked back into her coat before we left here.
Ria stepped forward. “We’re the same thing you are.” The Regali half was full of diplomacy. “Half-breeds, born of Walker father and a mother from our home planets.” Her hands opened in a warm and enticing motion. “This is why we all look different and yet are the same.”
Ria had been quiet since we’d arrived here, the lack of plant life throwing her off balance, but as always the queen in her rose to the surface when needed.
The female continued watching us, her wariness never falling from her scrunched features. “I’m not sure what to make of you all, but right now I need to find my Marl. He is missing.”
“What is a Marl?” I asked.
“He’s a Drone,” she answered readily. “I left to observe the fighting, and when I returned he was gone.”
“We can help you search?” Talina offered, her emerald hair moving around her slowly, but looking quite limp in the dry and frigid Dronish air.
“No.” She was firm. “How could you help? You immediately stand out, and we will be mobbed. I can call the shadows to hide me while I search.”
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
She stared at me blankly.
I tried again. “What do they call you here?”
A flash of something sparked across her eyes. “My mother called me Sapha, and Marl does also.”
Sapha.
“Great, Sapha.” I smiled. “Well, we have a lot to tell you. There’re events happening outside of Dronish, star-system battles which could spell the end of every single world. Including yours.” I gestured to us girls. “We’re half-Walkers. There’re only seven of us in existence, one from each planet. We’re the ones to stand and fight. To save everyone. We need you to join us, help in the battle.” I glanced behind me. “I understand you won’t want to leave until we find Marl, but we really need you to listen to our story.”
Sapha simply stared at me for an extended moment. Before shaking her head. “Dronish is already dying. What do I care for saving other worlds? I have accepted this fate, and am fine with the end.”
Great! She didn’t care about dying or the fact her world was already on its way out. Those were my big selling points. Before I could say anything more, she pulled the shadows around herself and took off.
Shit.
“Well, that went well.” Fury flipped me a grin.
I groaned. “I know. We better follow her.” Cerberus had shrunk again, so I picked him up and he settled into my shoulder groove.
As we started to run we pulled our hoods up. Delane’s wings were flat against her back again, hidden from view. I knew I could tether to Sapha now, but I didn’t want to disable her while she was in the center of that fighting chaos. Walker vision allowed me to see the spark of her essence – even while she wore her shadows – as she darted across that open plain. We followed her right up to the back of a huge fence, a barrier which seemed to be made of stone or even b
ones. It towered high in the air.
“This is where her shadow disappeared, right?” Delane was looking left and right, her weapon waving as she turned.
In a smooth motion Lina flew off Delane. We jumped back as all of a sudden a massive unicorn filled the space. Striding forward, the sacred animal used her horn and shifted this strange covering to reveal a decent-sized hole in the fence. Thank the gods for Lina. The hole had been cleverly disguised. I very much doubted we would have found it on our own. The unicorn returned to Delane, leaving us to crawl through one at a time.
Once we were all on the other side we stepped cautiously toward the noise of battle. It was so much louder within the barrier. It didn’t take long before we reached what seemed to be the center of Arotia. The ten or so skyscrapers which appeared to make up the town were circled around a large area. The battling Drones paid us no attention. At that moment we were safe, covered by cloaks, our powers contained.
“The area doesn’t look too large. We should see if we can spot Sapha. Last resort, we’ll connect again,” I murmured loud enough so the girls could hear me.
The Drones were involved in major battles. I had one hand on my sword, which was strapped into a back scabbard, but I hadn’t drawn it yet. Delane had sheathed her massive sword and now held her favorites, the tomahawks. I could just see the tips. Most of the handles were hidden up her sleeves. How many weapons did warrior-Walker have on her?
We stayed to the outer areas, creeping slowly and avoiding direct contact with any of the fighting, energy-sucking creatures. There were lumps and dark shapes littering the ground, mostly made up of the sheets the Drones wore. If they lost the energy battle there wasn’t much besides skin left.
A scream echoed across the space, which drew our attention, mostly because there had been no yells or shouts previously. The prevalent noise had consisted of running, falling, and collisions as the Drones fought. I turned toward the scream and ground to a halt, before taking off again at a sprint.
Sapha was no longer cloaked in shadows. Oh, hell no. Now she was cloaked in all kinds of pissed-off, and she was bringing the smack down to some female Drone.
