I went after the other soldier’s eyes. He was strong, stealthy. His only sounds were grunts every once in a while as he blocked or launched a particularly strong blow.
“Dervinias,” I shouted, noticing the water reached my knees. “Figured out the riddle?”
“Yeah. Yeah. We’re working on it.”
I let out a howl. Stepping forward, I shoved my elbow upward, into the soldier’s nose. He stumbled backward. As he fell, I sliced off his sword-bearing arm. It landed in the water with a splash the same time his body did. Ignoring the black blood bruising the water, and the look of suffering on the soldier’s face, I jabbed the edge of my blade into each eye. When I finished, the body shuddered and vanished.
Shaken, I turned to see if Zaren needed any help. Highly unlikely, but I wanted to make sure. His face was a mask of determination. Palamina mocked him.
“Do you remember that night under the layatha tree, the night you first told me you love me?” she asked, her voice laced with condemnation.
“Don’t talk like her,” he growled.
“Zaren?” I whispered, afraid.
He heard me and turned slightly. “Venus, don’t worry.” He gave me a quick smile. “Love you,” he mouthed.
It was as though everything went into slow motion. Zaren blinked and a droplet of water rolled off his long, dark lashes. He flexed his sword-bearing arm as he prepared to face Palamina. The muscles in his abdomen and along his waist tightened.
Before he had a chance to defend himself, Palamina used his distraction—me—to her advantage. I knew what she intended as she proceeded to step behind Zaren. The water splashed against her boots, and thighs. A great sadness overtook her face, but didn’t slow her down. She brought up her sword and drove it through his ribs, directly into his epsis. A look of disbelief passed over Zaren’s face, followed by softness, and then peace.
“What? No.” It was like I watched a movie in slow motion. One where I knew the way it ended. Knew the good guys conquered all, and the hero would win. The guy and girl would triumph and be together forever. But the ending had suddenly changed. The hero died and evil won. No happily ever after. No love conquering all. Not even close. My feet wouldn’t move. I cursed myself as I watched Zaren fall into the water. The soldier—Palamina—caught him before he went under, cupping his head in her hand. She lowered herself so their noses were only inches apart.
This was all wrong. I wanted to scream. But nothing came.
“Palamina,” Zaren whispered.
“I’m so sorry, Zar-Zar. Forgive me, darling.”
What the cret? In this ending, the guy loved another girl, and that girl called him Zar-Zar. I suddenly wondered if I had died and this was my own personal hell.
“Only if you can forgive me, my Mina,” Zaren choked out, a smile splayed over his lips.
A smile! I was so confused.
Zaren closed his eyes.
The soldier lightly touched his lips with hers. “I have,” she whispered, and then she let out a huge, mournful roar.
I matched hers with one of my own. Crashing through the water, I raged toward her. She stood, lifting Zaren’s body over her shoulder.
“Palamina, is it?” I seethed.
“Yes.”
“By the gods, if you don’t put him down, I will destroy you.” My words trembled with a fury hard to contain.
“Sweet, Venus. I’m already dead. This body is one Ramien gave me. I am a Kyonshi.”
I couldn’t help but pause. The Kyonshi were better known as the Warriors of the Dead. But they were the demons of fairy tales. Make believe. “You-you killed him,” I stated matter-of-factly because I felt too numb to do anything else.
She dropped her sword, and nodded. “Only his body. Consider that. Stay strong, Venus.” With her words, she and Zaren vanished.
12. Barely Breathing
“I think we’ve figured it out,” Palmo said.
He sounded like he was far away, at the other end of long tunnel.
“Venus?”
I was being shaken, but couldn’t snap out of it. I kept seeing Zaren drop, hearing him whisper to the Kyonshi, watching him die. My guardian. My personal Formytian. My Zaren.
Gone!
A storm brewed. Lightning struck, burning my immortal heart, ripping it to shreds. Tears pressed against my eyes. Trapped by a barrier, they grew higher and higher, the pressure getting stronger and stronger. I wanted to burst.
“Venus, the water!”
I snapped out of it. The water was at my chest. My clothes clung to my body, the way my grief clung to my insides. “Have you figured out the riddle yet?” I asked, breathless. If I wanted to save the others I needed to concentrate.
“Almost. So far it says: To open the door.” He shrugged.
“Well, hurry up.” I tread the water, moving closer to Dervinias, Chev and Palmo. Something bumped into my leg. Chev screamed.
“There’s something in the water,” Dervinias yelled. At the same moment he raised a writhing green snake. It reached back and tried to bite his hand, but its teeth couldn’t penetrate his kelvieri skin. I breathed a sigh of relief. The snakes couldn’t harm me either. But they could harm Palmo. And Chev.
“I hate snakes,” Palmo shouted.
Chev went under. Dervinias grabbed her, and yanked her up. She coughed and gasped. “One bit my ankle,” she cried. The water around her turned red, sending the unseen snakes into a frenzy. It looked like the water boiled.
“Cret,” I swore, slashing at the snakes with my sword.
“I’ve got the answer,” Palmo yelled, batting at the water. He didn’t have a weapon and he wasn’t old enough to have gone through the transformation so the snakes were having a hey-day with his body.
“Tell me,” I yelled.
“To open the door, use your—” He suddenly went under.
“Use what?” I moved as quickly as I could through water that had risen to my shoulders.
He didn’t answer.
“Palmo,” I hollered, searching frantically for him. Slithering bright green snakes were everywhere. The water changed from dark to an orange red. The snakes were eating Palmo alive. “Cret. Cret. Cret. Dervinias, what should I do?” He didn’t answer and I figured his hands were full trying to keep the snakes away from Chev.
I searched the water. Palmo had to be close. I ducked my head underwater. Eyes opened, I searched. The water was thick with blood, and snakes. One came right at me, its mouth opened, revealing its fangs. Its jaws clamped down on my nose, but it couldn’t break through. I yanked it away. A slight movement straight ahead caught my attention.
Palmo.
I shoved snakes out of my way, and moved. With some relief I saw him, trying to fight the snakes off. They rammed into him, ripping away chunks of flesh, before swimming off, making room for another. It surprised me he continued to fight. He always acted like a simpering chump, a boy who used others to fight his battles.
Both of Palmo’s feet were almost gone, as was one of his hands, and part of his face, yet he courageously continued to struggle.
Determined, I grabbed him and pulled him above the water. “Use my what?” I asked softly, worried he wouldn’t be coherent enough to understand.
“Fist,” he murmured.
“Thank you, Palmo.” I ached at his misery, wishing for a way to keep the snakes from eating him. But for every one I killed two more took its place. “I’m so sorry I can’t do more. I’ll get us out of here though. Okay?”
He didn’t respond.
Letting him go, I ducked under the water, heading toward the door. The gold glimmered against the bloodied water. I noticed the gaping mouth on the face at the base of the tree and understood my fist needed to go in its mouth. How easy!
The moment I inserted my fist, the door vanished and I was sucked through the opening.
Falling.
Falling.
Falling.
13. Smells Like Teen Spirit
I don’t know how lo
ng I lay on the ground, staring at the sun. One sun. Not two. Which meant I wasn’t on Kelari. Or I was, but Ramien made this place, wherever I was, different. The ground beneath me felt soft, and I guessed I was on grass, but I didn’t know for sure. Nor did I care.
Images of Zaren and I together floated through my mind like phantoms. Our first date. He took me to the forest of Heid and we had lunch near Misty Falls. The exhilaration and comfort I felt in his arms. The way he stroked my hair when we talked. The smell of his warm skin. The first time his lips touched mine. We were in my bedroom doorway later that night.
Right before he kissed me he said, “Every night, as long as I live, I’ll kiss you here.”
“Why?” I asked, though I didn’t mind. He could kiss me anywhere he wanted.
“So you’ll remember doorways can yield happy memories too.”
“Zaren,” I whispered.
He was dead.
Because of me.
“You completed your first test. Barely.” Ramien’s voice filled my ears, sending away the phantoms. “Round two won’t be as easy.”
The air changed, filled with a crackling energy. A buzz.
“You better get up.” A girl, slightly familiar, stood over me. “You’re it.”
Rolling onto my hands and knees, I pushed myself to my feet. “What?” I brushed off my backside, noting the way my clothes were crunchy from the saltwater.
“The game,” she answered, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Where am I?” I asked, turning in a circle, taking in my surroundings.
“School, silly,” she bubbled. Upon closer inspection I noticed her left cheek was bruised, her shirt was torn, and her knuckles were bloody.
“What’s the object of this game?” I asked, searching for a weapon.
“Don’t get killed.” She smirked before she evaporated.
I remembered who she was. The girl who kicked me in the shin during gym class. Tawny was her name. This was the Sough High football stadium—from Earth, I realized, stunned.
I stood in the middle of an enormous grassy field. Bleachers filled with people surrounded us, blocking out anything beyond. An electronic scoreboard stood at one end. Giant halogen lights encircled the field like sentries guarding the outlying areas. Goal posts were at either end of the grassy arena. A light mist hung in the air along with the acrid sweetness I’d grown to associate with Ramien.
An announcer’s voice bellowed from loud speakers. “Welcome. Welcome. Let’s give a big round of applause to our newest players.”
The crowd roared.
Players? I examined the field. Chev lay on the ground next to a body I guessed was Palmo. Dervinias kneeled next to Chev.
“You have one rule in Slaughterball.” The announcer paused and chuckled. “Survive until the timer runs out.” A big gong sounded, and ten minutes popped up on the scoreboard and began counting backward. The crowd cheered, a deafening frenzy. I looked around, wondering what to do.
Several fist-sized balls began falling from the sky like rain. I dodged, and watched them land. Within seconds the ground was covered with them.
“Any ideas, Dervinias.” I stepped over one of the round balls, accidentally kicking another. The ball was hard, like a shell, instead of pliable, the way a ball should be. Dervinias didn’t answer, and as I got closer I realized why. Chev panted, the sure sign she was in labor. Her body bled everywhere. A rattling escaped her lips every time she breathed. Portions of her clothes were gone as were some of her fingers. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. She was in this mess because of me, and I had to help. “What can I do?” I bent down next to Dervinias, and patted an undamaged spot on Chev’s forehead.
He didn’t answer.
“I’m sorry.” I indicated his brother’s corpse. “Did you love him?”
“I barely knew him,” he choked out. Then with a sigh, he touched my arm, and said, “I’m sorry too . . . for Zaren. I know he loved you.”
I nodded, forcing myself not to crack, not to crumple into pieces. At Palmo’s side, I leaned over and closed his vacant eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered, pushing back a lock of his white hair. Palmo’s body trembled and vanished.
“It’s my fault,” Dervinias cried. Tears ran down his cheeks, and though I knew he’d committed many abhorrent crimes, I felt a pang of sympathy. I understood what it meant to be responsible for the suffering of others.
I patted Dervinias uneasily. “I know the baby is coming, but there’s a timer for,” I blew out my breath in frustration and continued, “Slaughterball.” I picked up one of the balls near my knee. “I don’t know what to do. Honestly, I’m worried I might not care enough to do anything.”
His eyes found mine. They were filled with fear. “I know you’re hurting. I get that you want to mourn, and you should. But not right now. Please.” His gaze moved to Chev, and I followed. Chev looked frail, like a paper cutout of her original self. “Fight, Venus. If not for you or me, then for her.” His eyes pleaded with mine.
I clenched my teeth together tightly, biting off the grief ready to burst at the slightest whim. “I’ll fight. I won’t give up.”
His face relaxed slightly. “Thank you.”
“Chev didn’t ask for this. But if we get out of this mess, you owe me.”
“Agreed.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a self-conscious embrace. As quickly as he hugged me, he pushed me away. “Listen very carefully. Those aren’t balls, but the shell of a dorvey infant.”
“Um, what’s a dorvey?” By the look on Dervinias’s face I knew I should be afraid, but I’d never heard of the creature.
“They are the guardians of the rhlanges, the inhabitants of—”
“Mars,” I finished for him. I’d heard of the rhlanges before. Not the friendliest sort. They lived near the planets’ core. “These dorvey, they’re mean?” I asked, though I guessed if Ramien created them as part of his game, they would be.
“Vicious protectors of their young.”
Chev let out another cry.
“How do I fight them?” I asked hurriedly.
He pulled a sword from the sheath on his back. I recognized it immediately. It was Zaren’s Ostwallow sword. The one he gave Michael to kill Dervinias. The one Michael left on Earth.
“I had other plans for this, but . . .” Dervinias held it out for me to take.
“If we make it out of this alive, I’ll expect you to fill me in on those plans.”
“Promise,” he half-heartedly smirked. “If you meet a mamma dorvey, you’ll have to pierce its heart to kill it.” He gave me a pointed look.
“Okay.”
“Now get your alien ass on that field and slay some dorvey hide.” He placed a hand on Chev’s bloodied cheek.
“I will,” I said, gripping the sword in both hands. Its death song hummed against my palms, honoring me with a connection, filling me with its strength.
When I turned toward center field I knew I’d need it. Thousands of dorvey rolled out of their shells. They looked like the strange monkeys from the picture on the golden door. Long, hairy brown arms and legs. Empty, soulless eyes. Instead of a monkey’s nose and mouth they had curved yellow beaks. Webbed wings beat against their backs. Sounds similar to the chirp of a baby bird came from them. Above the cheeping was Chev’s screams. The baby would come soon.
A dorvey hopped onto my leg, and bit the meaty part of my calf. Its beak tore into my flesh.
I shouted out in pain.
Excited by the noise, a thousand sets of eyes looked at me, all of them hungry. One by one they came at me. Through their hairy bodies I checked the timer.
Seven. More. Minutes.
14. Get Off
With one hand I pulled the clinging dorvey off my calf and delivered a deathblow. As soon as it died, it vanished. Many more clung to my body. One by one I fought them off. It sickened me, all of the carnage. But it was kill or be killed. Celestrum gushed from several places on my body where a dorvey got a piece of my fl
esh. Obviously these creatures were able to harm kelvieri. I momentarily deliberated whether I should let them eat me. What would happen to Ramien’s precious plan then? But I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Chev and Dervinias depended on me. I couldn’t save Zaren. Or my parents. Or Sadraden. Or Palmo. This time I had to win. I had to save the child.
Chev’s screams told me her labor was nearly ended. I hoped the timer ran out before the baby was born.
Three minutes.
Dorvey after dorvey sprang at me. Their sharp teeth and claws piercing my flesh, their high-toned squeals grating against my nerves. Using Britorent, I moved quickly, killing one after the other. Hundreds of them. But hundreds more appeared, making a travesty of my work.
I let out a frustrated howl. “How’s it going?” I shouted, hoping Dervinias would talk to me.
“Almost,” he said.
That gave me little to hold on to.
The timer said two and a half minutes.
A dorvey bit down on my hand. I yanked it off, and kicked it into the menagerie of its siblings. It got up, shook its head, and ran away. I wanted to watch where it went, but twenty more dorvey leaped, blocking my view.
They’re a distraction, Tortevia roared into my mind.
“From what?” I huffed.
Tortevia didn’t have to answer. The remaining dorvey infants quieted, the only noise Chev’s moaning. Even the ones still clinging to me jumped off and skittered away, making a path.
When I saw her, I marveled at how I’d missed her. She was huge. A dorvey, I guessed the mother, over ten feet tall. I wiped some hair out of my eyes.
“Get away from her,” Dervinias yelled.
“No duh.” I shot a glance over my shoulder. I intended to stay as far from the enormous mother as possible. But he wasn’t talking to me. The girl from Earth, Tawny, circled Chev and Dervinias. She spoke, but I couldn’t hear the words.
“Dervinias?” I shouted, hoping he could handle Tawny.
Beguiled (Book 2 Immortal Essence series) Page 7
