Smoke and Ruin

by Tiffany Daune

  In the distance, she spotted three bodies lying side by side in the sand; Hunters’ arrows aimed at their chests. She pushed harder, passing the stag. As she neared the bodies, she spotted her sister’s dark hair spread along the sand, and next to her lifeless body—Asair. Her thoughts raced, if the Hunters’ had arrows pointed at them, then her sister and Asair weren’t dead. She beat her wings, calling the winds with her magick to propel her. She darted for Ezra, knowing Otho wouldn’t spare her sister’s soul. She pecked his head, cutting his scalp with her beak. He swatted her away, with a heavy blow, and the gold arrow shot into the sky. Next, she darted for Aurelia, clipping her cheek bone with her wing.

  “Stupid shifters!” Aurelia swatted Halen, but she dived before she made contact.

  The other Hunter, she did not know this one by name, but he had the same thirst in his eyes as his brothers and sister, nocked a gold arrow and aimed for her. Magick wouldn’t divert the power of the gold rod; she had tried and failed before. She zigzagged, but he mimicked her every move. She swerved, when he released the tension on his string, but before the arrow broke free, a growling beast leapt in the air, shoving the Hunter to the ground. Halen caught the gaze of her furry friend, his eyes shining with pride, but the reunion lasted for only a moment when Tasar turned and bounded across the sand toward the stag.

  A geyser spurted from the desert. Lina stood on the edge, pulling the portal closed as a wolf battled with Jae. They tumbled rolling, when Jae transformed with claws and scales. Her silver wings spread over the canine. The wolf lunged, but Jae thrashed the shifter with her claws, skinning the wolf from head to foot in the blink of an eye. Jae flew over, hovering their three bodies. Halen fought for a place in the sky as Jae’s wings stirred the winds. Jae drifted higher, then parting her jaws she released a whooping cry. A glittering dust rained from her nostrils falling all around the bodies.

  Natalie rolled to her side coughing. Jae drifted higher, then darted for the cougar heading their way. Halen fluttered over Asair pecking at his hair, but he remained still as stone. Wake up! She wanted to scream, but only chirps escaped her throat. Her little heart beat so fast she was sure it would burst through the bird’s chest. An arrow sailed past her and she turned to find Aurelia with a gold arrow nocked in her bow.

  Aurelia didn’t even see Vita approach from behind with her dagger. She twisted the blade in her sister’s shoulder, shoving her back with all her force as Emil tended to Natalie.

  Natalie shoved him away and reached up to her. “You have to connect now!” She shouted over the whirl of wind and sand.

  Connect? She glanced at her body now coated in sparkling dust.

  “Now, Halen!” Natalie waved her hand, harnessing the wind and sand so they spiralled above her lifeless body. “Feel the magick!”

  Halen dived into the current of her sister’s magick, the sparks at once swirling around her feathers. The waning magick in her body called to her new magick, and together they twined lacing in and out. She gasped as her soul pushed air into her lungs and her sparks ignited. As her soul reconnected with the fibers of her body, her magick surged. She squeezed Asair’s hand, forcing every part of her into him, working through his cells, his blood, winding her magick through his heart, but still she couldn’t find him.

  “Asair!” She screamed. “Come back to me!” Her toes caught, and when she glanced down she found her feet tangled in threads; water washed over her feet.

  Asair bobbed in a wooden boat, far out of her reach. She had found the seam of his soul, but they were not alone. “Dax! What are you doing here? You’re not Asair’s Guardian.”

  He smiled. “When you shared a body, I learned the way into Asair’s seam. It’s a fascinating place. You really should have a look around.”

  The sky churned with dark clouds. Asair clutched the sides of a boat bobbing in the dark water of his seam. “Release him.”

  “Promise to protect me.”

  “You’re a coward. And a murderer.”

  He shrugged. “And you’re a puppet.”

  His words fueled her rage. She harnessed the water, cupping her hands beckoning the boat to her. The wooden vessel fought the waves, while Dax stood with his arms crossed. A wave rolled over the boat. “Asair!”

  “Halen,” he shouted over the howling wind. “You have to leave.” Asair blew, so the boat drifted farther away and when she opened her eyes, she found herself back in the desert, with Asair lying motionless by her side. She gathered him up by the shoulders, drawing him against her chest.

  Natalie hovered in the air, her legs swaying in the turbulent desert winds now flowing from Lina’s water vortex. “Leave him. We need you.” Natalie sailed toward the SUV’s where Tarius and Tasar battled. Tasar struck the stag from the back, but Tarius bucked him off. The great bear twisted, bending. Each bone snapped, reverberating in her eardrum.

  She squinted when a sharp glare hit her sight. The rays bounced across Tasar’s body, and when she focused, she found the source; flat on his stomach, Lacelle by his side, was Orca hidden beneath the SUV, his eye shinning. The bodies of Harry and Boris lay broken in the sand; a gold arrow stabbed Faisal’s chest. She scanned the vast landscape for Luke, but it was Tarius who spotted him first. Luke rushed him, but Tarius charged, pinning Luke to the SUV with his antlers.

  “No!” Halen shouted, and the desert rose to her call. The sand spread, and her mother’s sedan rose out of the desert. The wand illuminated the interior with a brilliant glow as the stone cried out to Halen. Her hands throbbed awaiting its power. She set Asair down, building a protective circle of sand around him.

  As she made her way to the water stone, the ghosts of the slaughtered shifters and sirens twisted through her memories. Their blood called to her thirst for revenge. She glanced back at Asair’s listless body knowing his mind and soul were Dax’s hostage. Her gaze shifted to Luke squirming in Tarius’ grip. She waved, and the wand flew into her hand. Even in the heat of the desert the wand warmed in her palm, the magick intertwining with hers.

  “Tarius!” She called, her voice thunder in a cloudless sky.

  The stag turned, releasing Luke. Blood stained Luke’s shirt spreading as quickly as her rage. Lacelle and Orca darted from the SUV and pulled Luke inside a car parked beside.

  Tarius struck the ground and the earth rumbled beneath her feet.

  She widened her stance to steady the force rising inside her.

  His challenging smile matched hers.

  She clutched the stone, inhaling a deep breath. Her magick charged along her skin ready to strike, when Tarius retreated, darting the opposite way. What the hell? This didn’t make sense. He bolted toward the road, targeting a black van set apart from the SUVs.

  "Halen," Natalie shouted.

  She turned as a mountain lion bounded for her sister. She thrust the sand blocking the beast before its paws hit.

  Natalie flew up in the air toward Tarius.

  Halen’s heart skipped with terror. Tarius didn’t care what happened to Natalie. He would kill her without hesitation. "Nat, stop!"

  "Dax is in the van," she screamed.

  Her words slammed Halen like a tsunami hitting the shore. If Tarius reached Dax, then he could possess his body. He’d have control over her—Tarius would have the power of her magick and the stone. She raised the wand, parting the sand, rushing Tarius. Her body ached with the heightened pressure as he opened the van doors.

  Jae swooped from above, lifting the vehicle into the air and out of the stag’s reach.

  Tarius’ spirit united with the sand before Halen’s next breath. The grains spun, tearing up the desert. Halen shielded her eyes with the crook of her elbow, peeking as the sand elongated to a golden dragon. The sand dragon rose with fluid motion, striking Jae. As the van dropped, Tarius shifted the sand, cradling the van. But Jae struck him once more. The two rolled in the air, the sand binding and unbinding, as the dragons fought for space in the sky.

  When Tarius slammed Jae to the ground,
the water stone sung with a high-pitched squeal. She glanced to Lina’s geyser, sprouting from the desert. Water. She was half Elosian; water was hers to command. With a strike of the stone against the air, Halen called to the droplets, forcing them to spread.

  Lina jumped back at once, spinning to her bird form as a wave crashed against the sand.

  The salt water called to Halen’s magick, and she tugged the geyser, stretching it wider until an ocean streamed across the desert.

  Fighting the diminishing desert, Tarius gathered the sand; the dragon’s body grew in girth and strength.

  Halen dived into the ocean, inhaling the salt water, and pulled it deep into her chest. When she surfaced, she blew out with a forced breath fuelled by her magick. The water rushed the sand dragon, splitting the grains, but Tarius was faster. He bounded for the desert, seeking more sand to rebuild his body. She thrust through the current, charging him. At the base of his tail, she leaped onto the dragon’s back. She ran up the sand scales while Tarius shook her. She dug her fingers in the beast’s back, the sand gliding through her fingers as she climbed, but he tossed her up and away from the water.

  She tumbled to the ground, her skull hitting with a heavy thud. The water stone rolled from her grip. She crawled toward the stone, but Tarius struck her. The dragon’s foot pressed into her back, pushing her into the sand. The grains cascaded around her as she sunk farther and farther. “No!” She cried, reaching up to him.

  The dragon’s head cocked to the side, its golden stare penetrating. “I don’t need Galadia’s love when hate feels this good.” His voice shook the ground, forcing the weight of the desert against her.

  Halen clawed the sinking ground. “You need me!” She reached toward the stone.

  He blew the stone away from her reach. “Oh, I will have you. I will have every thought, every wish, every dream of yours will be mine to command. You will rule by my side.” With a sweep of his wing, the van containing Dax appeared. With one swift bite, he sliced the roof, revealing the boy inside. “We will be as one.”

  “Halen, help!” Dax cried as Tarius plucked him out with his teeth. Dax dangled in the sand dragon’s jaws.

  No way would he be her master. No one controlled her. No one told her what to do and no one would mess with her magick ever again. With her focus on the stone, she shook the ground, dragging the sand toward her until the stone slid within her grasp. When her fingertips brushed the crystal, the stone flew into her hand. She needed the power of the stone, her only salvation the twisted hunger of death. The song so familiar, she accepted the call, allowing the darkness and light to merge in her soul.

  With Tarius focused on Dax, she crawled from the sand trap. When she surfaced, she found her sister, both hands stretched outward, harnessing the salt water into a towering wall, keeping the shore at bay.

  “Let it go!” She ran toward Natalie.

  Natalie clenched her fists at once. The water wall collapsed sliding over the desert.

  Halen pulled the force of the ocean, using the water stone to guide the raging water toward Tarius. The wave slid up the dragon’s tail, eating the sand scales away.

  Tarius dropped Dax in the water at once.

  Dax dived, vanishing in the waves.

  As the water swarmed the dragon, the sand fell flat. Her breath hitched as she faced the stag; its grand antlers glowed bronze against the sunlight. Tarius shook the sand and water from his coat as he reached toward the sky. He pulled the clouds, turning her desert ocean into a turbulent storm. A wave swept her under, but this was not his to command—water belonged to her.

  She thrust through the water, riding the next wave heading toward the stag. She rushed him, sweeping the ocean beneath him and dragged him into her storm. His hooves clipped her side as he fought to keep his muzzle above the water. Throwing one arm over the other, she swam even though her ribs ached with the punch of his hooves. As he drifted toward her, she flicked her wrist, summoning the water and pulled him under. When the tips of his antlers faded in the water, she dived. We’re not done, she channeled her thoughts.

  I wouldn’t have it any other way. His voice filled her head as the water wound behind him forming the head of a serpent. Its watery jaws spread.

  Halen spun the water, kicking back. She shielded the water stone against her chest. When he spread his jaws once more, she dived between the jagged teeth. Creation and death both lived in the stone, neither one existing without the other. Halen finally understood the symbiosis; the stone required life and death to cast magick. She would give the wand enough power for eternity, and in return, the stone would give her retribution. Halen thrust the wand outward and the water crackled to ice. She blew all around, coating the dragon’s insides with her magick, and with a crying wail, Tarius exploded. Halen spiralled downward with the force of her magick as the infinite pieces of the serpent floated to the surface, melting in the warmth of the desert sun. The water stone hummed, fading to silence as her hunger waned with the fullness of vengeance.

  ASAIR WOKE TO the tortured sobbing of a girl, her sorrow twisting his gut. When he rolled to his side, he found Natalie clinging to Emil’s body or what little was left of the siren Hunter. Emil shook in her grip, his skin withering to the bone. His legs jerked. His chest rose and fell with rapid breath. Natalie patted his chest, working her hands beneath his shirt. “No, no, no! Don’t die on me. Crysolo, malo, bastan!” She shouted, but nature was deaf to her spells. Emil’s eyes rolled back.

  Asair placed his hand on her shoulder forcing his magick through her. “What’s happening to him?”

  “Tarius broke the curse.” She sobbed. “The Hunter’s lost their immortality. He’s dying.”

  Asair scanned the desert, finding a vast ocean before him. To his right a swirling orb, where birds, coyotes, lions, and bears made their way through to the charred remains of Etlis. “Where is she? Where’s Halen?” His fingertips sparked.

  “Damn it.” She shoved his hand off.

  “Sorry.” He shook his hands, now flowing with the full force of his powers. “Where is she?”

  Emil gasped.

  "Help him," She called to Asair.

  “I have to find Halen. There’s nothing we can do for him now.” Emil had helped him, but he also killed hundreds of sirens over the years. His loyalty belonged with his kind, not with a boy who should have died centuries ago.

  “I need you.” Natalie tugged his pant leg. “Please just try.”

  Asair also understood the agony of death. Emil wouldn’t be the one to suffer. His soul would move on, but Natalie would be left with the emptiness for the rest of her life. Grief always searched for a scapegoat; if he didn’t try to help her, she would blame him. He knelt, placing his hands on the Hunter’s chest. He closed his eyes, searching now for an ember to fan.

  Let me go, Emil’s voice filled his mind. There’s nothing you can do.

  “Fight for this girl.” Asair shoved his hands harder against Emil’s heart.

  We both know this is my fate.

  A force shook Asair’s hands riding up his wrists to shoulders. Asair fell back against the sand, shaking his head.

  “No! Try again!” Natalie cradled Emil.

  Emil’s’ skin peeled from his cheek. When the dry air touched the bone, the side of his face disintegrated to dust. "Rebuild Etlis, my love. Carry on my work."

  "No, no, no, don't leave me." She cried, her tears falling in the hollows of his skull.

  Emil transformed to bones in her arms, quickly crumbling and becoming one with the desert sand.

  Asair turned away, her sadness too much to bear. He scanned the waves, inhaling the salt water, taking the power of the ocean deep in his breath. The taste of Halen’s magick was sharp on his tongue. He hated to think what must have happened while he lay unconscious, and what still lay ahead. He stood. "I have to find her."

  Natalie nodded, though she wouldn’t meet his gaze. She scooped the dust of Emil’s bones and sand in her shirt, trying to hold onto the re
mains of her love.

  "I'll stay with her." Jae swooped down and landed beside him. When she shook her wings, the air cracked with her magick; she stood before him once more in her human form. Lina and Tasar approached with Ezra by their side.

  "I'll go with you." Ezra bowed his head. With Otho no longer in control of his body, he had returned to the siren boy Halen was so fond of. "Let's go get Halen."

  Glad for the help, Asair nodded. He admired Ezra for the sacrifice he made in the name of love. But he needed magick now. He needed Natalie, but when he glanced back to the shattered girl scooping sand into her pockets, he accepted Ezra’s offer.

  "If you encounter Tarius, stay back. He will need a host. A siren body would be perfect.” Lina leaned into her brother’s side. Her legs were bloodied, her palms glowing a brilliant blue hue.

  “You opened the portal to the ocean?” Asair asked.

  “Halen needed the strength of water. It was the only way,” Lina said.

  He turned to the waves, beating the newly formed desert shore. “She’s in there.” He whispered under his breath. “I can feel her.” He turned to Ezra. “I’ll handle Tarius. You get Halen out safely.”

  "She'll never leave you behind," Ezra said.

  "She already has." Asair removed his shirt, his magick surging ready for a fight.

  Ezra pointed. "Wait—it’s her."

  His sparks swelled as his gaze landed with Halen. Thick, inky sludge—residue of dark magick and death—coated her body. He witnessed demon possession before and knew better than to look hell in the eye, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. His magick skipped from one cell to the next, igniting in in his veins as he tried to contain the urgency to strike.

  Lina and Tasar both widened their stances, while Jae gathered Natalie, scooping her into her arms.