walker saga 06 - dronish

by Jaymin Eve

  What. The. Eff? What the hell were these things?

  “I’m extending the barrier,” I said. “Something tells me that we’re going to need the space.” Understatement.

  “We need weapons.” Fury’s voice was higher than usual.

  I shook my head. “You don’t need a weapon. They’re freaking … trees. Just burn them down. I don’t think it’s time to worry about the nomads.”

  Her eyes widened, before she nodded decisively.

  I had no idea what the Seventine had done, but somehow walking in our direction was a forest of six-foot animated trees. They looked ancient, but without any leaves or greenery. Just the knotted, aged trunks. Not to mention they walked on root-shaped legs and had twiggy arms. The eeriest part was the complete lack of visible faces.

  Okay, so Fury was her own flame thrower, but I needed a weapon. Damn, it wasn’t like I could magically materialize a sword like Delane could do from the clouds on Nephilius.

  Wait a minute.

  Thinking of Nephilius gave me an idea. I had done something for the first time I was there; I’d traced the half-Walkers toward me. Could I do the same thing with a weapon? Only one way to find out.

  It didn’t seem advisable to shut my eyes right then, what with the forest closing in, so I just mentally pictured the weapons’ room in the beach house. Josian had it well stocked; there was a lot to choose from.

  Hoping this would work, I sent out my golden tether toward the sharpest blade in there. Something that would have no trouble slicing through wood. My golden cord ended up hovering over a long sword with a thick and razor-sharp blade. It was a little heavier than I liked to use, but I’d be okay for a good thirty minutes. Let’s hope the fight didn’t last longer than that.

  It took me a minute to realize it was much harder to connect to inanimate objects. They still had tethers, of course, but their ties were not searching back for me, as they were when I connected to the girls. I had to do all the work. My golden cord finally intertwined with the glittering cord of the sword. I took a deep breath and reached into my energy well.

  I brushed back the foreign faerie energy which was still situated inside and reached for the same energy I’d used on Nephilius. As with the half-Walker females, I had to will the object to come to me.

  Excitement jumped inside me. It worked. A sword was suddenly in my hand, my fingers closing around the smooth handle, its weight solid in my grip. A grin ripped across my face. Hell, yeah! That was awesome.

  Fury turned and her jaw actually dropped when she finally noticed my new attachment.

  “That is freaking awesome.” She repeated my thoughts as she fist-pumped her excitement into the air.

  Cerberus gave a bark of agreement, but that was the end of our celebrations.

  Suddenly the trees were moving again, their rooty legs reaching us in a matter of moments.

  It was time to battle.

  They moved toward us in a regimented unit, and when they were no more than a few feet away I stared really hard, trying to determine if there was a face hidden in the bark. They seriously just looked like dead trees. If you discounted the fact they were walking.

  I was wondering how they were dangerous; they didn’t have any weapons. Then I was given a first-hand experience of their skills. I was completely unprepared when branches shot off and wrapped themselves around my center, squeezing the life from me. My sword flew to the side, breath was crushed from me, and within seconds my insides were one big aching mass.

  My energy rose to the surface to try to counteract the massive strength and power of the branches. I could feel the blood running down my side as the wood cut into my arms. I knew if my inner strength had not been so huge, I’d have been cut in two by this creature.

  Luckily, I hadn’t dropped the shield around Fury and me yet, so we weren’t burning lumps on the red parched ground.

  Cerberus barked once before bounding across to me. He severed the branches with a well-placed swipe of his massive claws. The branches unraveled from my body, falling to the burning hot ground in a lump. I followed suit, landing next to them. I flinched as my skin sizzled against the scorching ground. Now I could add burns to my injuries.

  I gasped in air as rapidly as I could, exhaling just as fast. I was trying to fill my lungs. All the while my body still screamed from the crushing pains. I forced myself up from the red earth. Cerberus lent me his bulk to lean on. My cuts, burns, and red welts started to heal immediately, and within a few minutes I was ready to fight.

  Fury scurried to my side. “You okay, Supes?” As I nodded she glanced behind her. “Note to self: don’t let them give you a hug.”

  She called her power. The blue flames surrounded her. The heat was suddenly more intense in the protective shield. I knew the nomads would be on our asses soon. Hopefully they were busy with whatever the Seventine were currently up to.

  Fury ran forward. I gasped as she left the barrier, before remembering that she could walk under the suns while covered in her flames. I pulled back my shield so it just surrounded me now. Cerberus had long ago left. The massive hound was in combat with some forest folk.

  Fury raised her hands and shot blue energy at the large tree closest to her. It started to burn, but not rapidly like that of a normal dead tree. I could feel that she had to push more and more power to knock it down. I lost sight of her then, as I had to step up and battle.

  I’d retrieved my sword from the ground, and swung it around in a few strong arcs before I moved to Cerberus’ side. Branches were flying at us again. I jumped to the left, swiping through and cutting them down. Plenty more came at us, but the sword made quick work of them.

  Together my hellhound and I managed to dispatch two of the tree men. They started to fan out, surrounding us from all sides, but then the advantage was ours again as the dragoonas flew in to join the fight.

  Some attacked from the air, landing on the trees and snatching the trunks up into the sky. Suddenly we had a path right into the mountain.

  “I’m going to try and make it into the cave,” I shouted to Fury and Dune. “We have to stop the Seventine.”

  There was nothing more important.

  Of course, I had no idea how I was going to stop them, but I’d cross that mountain when it came up.

  Flinging my heavy sword away I wasted no more time, ducking around the last of the trees, Cerberus right on my heels. The hound had to shrink quickly to fit through the doorway. I dropped the shield as soon as I was a decent way into the cave, wrinkling my nose at the disgusting air, but managing to breathe without too much drama.

  The tunnel was long, thin, and winding. Dark enough that without a small energy ball I’d be running blind. I was trying to calm my nerves, but facing the Seventine was not something to take lightly. I knew they wanted me to join them, but they could just as easily turn on me if I became a nuisance.

  And I hadn’t forgotten that we needed their help. I had to make sure they couldn’t get this energy so they’d have no option but to agree to the laluna plan. So my goals: stop them stealing the sun, and get them to agree to lock away the lalunas in exchange for the release of their fifth brother. Should be easy as.

  I reached the end of the tunnel. There was a cross-road, and I had to choose to go left or right. I paused, unsure what to do.

  “Do you know the right way, Cere?” I looked over my shoulder.

  Both of his heads started to drift left and right, before finally, with a short bark, he indicated we should turn left.

  Trusting his judgment, I sent my light ball in that direction and we started to move again. It took a while, but as we traveled through this arterial, I started to feel the Seventine. And along with their massive power was something else. Something strong and ancient. Something that gave me chills and had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I was guessing this was the center line, the one which was allegedly part of the tethering of the suns.

  The air cooled and cleared as we traversed further insid
e. My heart rate increased as the power level around us rose. No point lying about it: I was freaking scared. I wasn’t a warrior. I’d been thrust into this life, with only the basics of training from my time on Earth. Running on the streets with the gangers had taught me skills, but the Seventine were leagues above in evil.

  Thank the gods for Cerberus. Just having him by my side gave me the courage to keep powering ahead. That and the fact that I couldn’t let my friends and family die.

  In the end, I’d rather be the one who was killed than the one who stood aside and let my loved ones be destroyed. I inhaled a lungful of dirty air as we neared what looked to be the hub of this mountain. It was time now to suck it up and stop these guys.

  Cerberus pushed me to the side, taking the lead for the first time. It was a tight fit in this tunnel, so I was a little plastered to the wall, rocks littering around me as the hellhound squished his bulk in front of me.

  Yep, buddy, you’ve made your point abundantly clear. You protect me.

  I totally loved this puppy.

  My ball of light was suddenly useless as we rounded a corner, and the tunnel was flooded with both heat and intense brightness. I threw my shield around myself again, before gasping and slowing when I reached the edge of the center line.

  It wasn’t the suns. Instead the light was from a glowing beam that shot upwards through the rocks. I dropped my shield as I stepped closer. The four Seventine stood around the beam, their hands linked as they poured power into the stone.

  “No!” I screamed, pushing forward.

  Cerberus tried to stop me, but I ignored that.

  “You can’t do this; you’ll destroy Crais. I have another offer for you.”

  They didn’t halt their actions but the four faces, with their fissured skin, turned toward me.

  I held both hands in front of me. “The lalunas plan to imprison you again after you sever the last tether. They won’t let you be free in the rebuilding of the worlds. I want your help to lock them in the prison. In exchange, we’ll free the fifth of your brothers.”

  God, I hated making this offer. I did not want to free the fifth. I had to keep reminding myself that the pros outweighed the cons of our plan.

  With a sigh, I looked from one to the other. “It’s in your best interests to help us. If the lalunas are gone, you will be the most powerful.”

  I could see that they were considering this as they exchanged glances. Mulling over my words. Just when a sliver of hope entered my heart, it was dashed by the first shaking his head.

  “Normally, I would take you up on that offer. We do not like the control of the lalunas; we want them gone. But we can free all of our brothers with the energy from this sun.”

  One of the others laughed. “And there is no stopping the severing of this center line. We have already started the process.”

  I’d seen them sever the tethers to the sacred tree on Regali, but the sun was a much larger and more powerful object. It powered an entire world. I had no idea what I could do to stop them. I gathered masses of energy and shot it toward the closest Seventine. But the energy just rebounded at me. They were in some sort of protective ring, which was trapping all of the power around us. I needed something else. I needed the girls.

  I threw out my mental tethers and connected to the five other half-Walkers.

  The Seventine are severing the tether which connects to one of the Crais suns. I need your help to stop them. My words were fast and furious.

  Just a little warning to the girls before I yanked all of the tethers straight toward me. Thankfully, the five of them landed in a tumble in the tunnel behind Cerberus and me. There wasn’t much space in there.

  Jumping to their feet, they all crowded into me immediately. Sapha was the only one who seemed scared or unsure. Of course, she had no idea how she’d just appeared on Crais.

  The Seventines’ energy ring was starting to move higher up the glowing cord. They were getting closer to the rock above us.

  “Join with me!” I shouted. “Let’s shoot every bit of force we have at them.”

  I had no idea what else we could do. The girls didn’t hesitate, even Sapha. One by one they called their element: fire, water, wind, earth, and shadow. I threw out my tether and their powers flowed through and into me. I didn’t hesitate to blast a shot right at the four nomad-shells in front of me. The color of our blast was a mix of blues, reds, blacks, and greens. Swirls of our elemental energies and, of course, the gold of the conduit threading all.

  As the point of our blast hit the Seventine, my eyes were forced closed by the explosion of light.

  After a minute or so, I drew back to see what had happened.

  I couldn’t believe it. The four of them were laid out on the floor. We had knocked them down. Unfortunately, they seemed to be right about stopping the severing of the cord. The glow was still rising without their ring of energy.

  As the power continued to rise, the rock above our heads started to break apart. All of us were pushed into the ground as the cracked dirt started to shake under us. The bonds between us broke as we fought against the strength of the energy which was ricocheting outwards.

  Ria screamed, “What’s happening?”

  “This is the center line. The tether to one of the suns is about to be severed.” My words were muffled, my face pressed into the rock. “With this energy, they’ll be able to free the remaining Seventine.”

  Delane started pushing against the energy, trying to force her body up. “We have to stop them.”

  None of us could stand. I was making no ground in gaining traction. This was a power beyond anything I’d felt before.

  Talina reiterated my thoughts. “Even the Seventine are unable to stand.” Her eyes shifted toward the four inert bodies that were scattered away from us.

  I managed to twist my head enough to see them better, and I knew immediately that they were now just dead nomads, their split skins lifeless. There was no spark left.

  “The Seventine are gone,” I choked out.

  Brace! I screamed for him, projecting my energy.

  Red. His voice was in my head, and suddenly it got a little easier to breathe. His power was immense, counteracting some of the energy holding us. Do you need me?

  Yes. I didn’t wait for his compliance. Instead I traced him straight to me.

  Brace resisted at first; I’d taken him unawares. He started to fight my pull, but then realized what was happening. I think he had the power to stop my trace, but thankfully he released the hold and allowed me to pull him from Abernath and into Crais.

  He landed beside me, and within moments the winds started to build up. He was morphing into his secondary power, which is in many ways a lot like Delane’s. A whirlwind, cyclonic force that lifted all of us half-Walkers and allowed us to stand back on our feet. As his power surrounded us, the energy from the tether severing was eased.

  “I need to find the Seventine,” I shouted at Brace.

  I could barely see him, my hair flying around my face, blinding me with the masses of red curls.

  Brace leaned his head backward, following the path of the breaking rock above us. “They’re following the center line. Once the junction between this world and First World is reached, they’ll be able to take the power from the sun.”

  I could just make out Brace through his tornado.

  “Hang on,” he said.

  Wait, what? Hang on to what exactly?

  Then I started to lift in the air. I swallowed my shriek as my feet left the ground. I managed to keep it together by wrapping my arms around myself, as if that would keep me safe. I was now the one following the path of the center line. As the rock continued to crumble apart, crashing down to the floor below, the middle of the mountain opened right up. I pulled my shield around myself as the first rays of light beat down.

  From what I could see, squinting through the whirl of wind, there was only one single sun visible, with a strange shadow of the second behind it. Crais’ day had
reached the point where the larger but weaker sun crossed over the front of the other. And circling this eclipse were the four shadows of the Seventine.

  You’re too late. The first was in my head again.

  I didn’t reject him this time. Instead I used his voice to pull me closer. The tie between us was a real thing. A tangible link. Something I’d fought against and ignored, but right then, I needed it. If I could get close enough to break their link to the center line, I could stop them absorbing the energy. Or so I hoped.

  Brace’s power continued to stay with me. Either he was in my head, or I had a certain control over the whirly wind. It was weird to fly like this, but also quite exhilarating. The Seventines’ power rocked against me as I joined their little circle. I was right next to one of them, no idea which, but I guessed it was not the first, since the connection between us was still a little stretched.

  The untethering was almost complete. I could tell by the rising energy: it was almost at the two suns. And so were we. I could feel the pressure on my shield. This close the heat was so much more intense, and it was taking a real effort to maintain my bubble.

  Then, as the last of that energy released from the Seventine hit the suns, the world stood still … before dissolving beneath us. A howling scream cut through my eardrums: the sound of the land of Crais shattering. Then the larger sun drained before my eyes. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as my teeth cut into my lip. I’d bitten down in panic. The Seventine held the end of the tether. I needed to take it back from them. Without thought, I projected my golden thread, the well inside me jumping with excitement.

  I didn’t stop to think about the fact that I was just one half-Walker. That I was about to absorb the energy of a freaking sun. And that if I managed to wrench this energy from the Seventine it was probably going to kill me.

  In that moment the golden cord connected and my heart stopped beating.