by Raven Snow
Holly got to her feet with Michael’s help, taking in the man that had appeared a few feet from her. His rugged, angular jaw, shoulder-length black hair, and the glow of hay-colored skin al would have made him look handsome. Desirable, even. However, the jeweled, blood-red eyes that glinted in his eye sockets made him look utterly terrifying.
“Viteri,” Duncan said as he pulled Holly away from the man, leaving Michael standing before him.
“For now,” Viteri smiled. “Soon I’ll be a god.”
CHAPTER 25 - Dude, Stalker Much?
Leonardo Viteri smiled as he turned away from the group of failed heroes before him.
All of his housekeepers, his disciples, his family members, and his friends—every single one of them—had been fired, sent away, killed, or worse. Viteri knew that if he ever hoped to accomplish his goal, he would first have to remove all distractions.
The Eye of Horlune had transported him to the Fusion Obelisk, a temple that existed outside of time and space. This was where Viteri would find the magical power that he needed.
However, Viteri’s meticulously planned rise to power had come upon one problem when he had reached the grand finale.
He needed an audience for his ascension.
That is why he had allowed this ineffective team of fools reach this far.
If anything in this world could stop him now, it surely wasn’t going to be these kids.
“You’re crazy,” Holly growled. She brushed aside Duncan’s arm and took a step forward.
“That is beside the point,” Viteri mused as he turned away from them.
“Nothing can stop what is already in motion. I can defeat the five of you even without the Eye.”
Viteri raised his right arm into the air, his palm open wide. All of them tensed, waiting for him to attack. Holly’s arms burst into blue flames as she fell into an attack stance.
“What hope do you have when I have absorbed this?” Viteri cackled as a loud bang erupted thirty feet above the ground in front of him.
A large, roughly cut, blood-red jewel fell to the hard stone floor with a loud thud. The jagged edges on its underside dug into the stone, sending cracks trailing outwards.
“Behold! The Eye of—” Viteri began to shout madly at the truck-sized jewel that stood before him.
“Behold this!” Holly shouted. Her flaming blue fist collided with the back of Viteri’s head, sending him flying into the Eye of Horlune.
A low thud rang out as Viteri slammed into the jewel. Holly had hit him with the same amount of power that she had used to blow a hole in the reinforced wall.
As Viteri fell to the floor, Holly’s eyes focused on the jewel behind him.
Her gaze was drawn to an oddly familiar silhouette that was beneath the glistening surface. It was the silhouette of a woman.
“Paulie,” Holly muttered, her eyes widening with horror.
Paulina Winterheart, her aunt, was encased in the large, blood-red jewel before her. Her aunt’s eyes were closed, and there was a peaceful look on her face as if she were sleeping – or worse.
Holly shook her head wildly, trying to get rid of the dark thoughts that were invading her mind. After years of searching she had final y found her aunt, the sole reason why she had started this mission in the first place.
Holly gritted her teeth as she tore her gaze from the motionless body of her aunt and glared at Viteri. She was going to save Paulina.
“Kill them!” Viteri bellowed as he rose to his feet, fuming but unscathed.
Holly instinctively turned her face away as a slender, black-clad foot came flying out of nowhere. The kick lifted her off her feet, sending her flying a few feet away.
“Gwen,” Duncan and Megan whispered simultaneously.
Standing where Holly had been was Gwen, the girl they had come to save. Gwen bared her teeth at Duncan as he called her name, an animalistic snarl escaping her lips.
“My plan needed the specific type of magical energy that oracles have.” Viteri smiled as he ran a hand over the Eye of Horlune. “The only reason she was abducted was because she just happened to be an oracle.
Imagine my surprise when the secret parts of her mind were filled with details about Valor Incorporated and my activities around the world. Imagine my surprise when I found out that she had friends who were going to foolishly try to save her.”
“What did you do to her, you monster?” Megan shouted.
“Thank you for surprising me again,” Viteri said. He spun around to face the bolt of crackling electricity that was hurtling towards him. He raised his hand and swatted it away, sending it crashing through a nearby wall.
“You have brought me dessert—another oracle.”
Viteri raised his arm again to swat away the second bolt of lightning that Michael had hurled at him.
“Come!” Red tendrils of energy sprouted from Viteri’s hands. “Your magic shall fuel my ascension!”
“Dude, stalker much?” Capricorn pointed her hands out towards Viteri, sending large spikes of ice shooting out to block the tendrils. “Meggy,” she called back to Megan, who was still staring at the snarling Gwen. “Stop staring at your girlfriend and help her!”
Holly jumped into action, diving through the air as she called back to Duncan. “We’ve got this loser; save your sister.” She landed next to Viteri, aiming two more punches at him.
“Sis,” Duncan said. He tried to inch closer to Gwen. “Gwen, listen to my voice.”
Gwen lunged at him, raking at his face with her fingernails.
“Gwen, no!” Megan shouted.
Megan lunged at Gwen, pushing her off of Duncan. Megan rolled over and placed herself firmly on top of Gwen’s chest, trying to restrain the girl, who was both stronger than her and enraged.
“Duncan! The spell!” Megan screamed. Gwen had begun to cut Megan’s skin with her fingernails, leaving behind thin streaks of red along her face and arms.
“I need your help as well,” Duncan said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “She trusts you.”
“Gwen,” both of them began to chant in unison. The sound of thunder erupted from the battle that was raging around them. ”Listen to my voice.”
CHAPTER 26 - Is it Over?
Gwen came back to consciousness through the rhythmic chanting of her brother and Megan.
“I hear your voice,” she croaked.
Megan kissed Gwen the instant she realized the girl had returned to normal.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Megan cried as she helped Gwen to her feet.
“I missed you, too,” Gwen groaned. She shook her head groggily and looked over at the Eye of Horlune.
The huge, blood-red jewel sat awkwardly in the center of the temple as Holly, Michael, and Capricorn all tried to defeat—or at least hold off— Leonardo Viteri.
“But we still have things to do,” Gwen groaned. “I saw it.”
“Saw what, sis?” Duncan asked. He was gazing over at the clashing flashes of blue and red that were erupting from Holly and Viteri. and the flashes were occasionally accompanied by a bolt of electricity or shards of ice. Duncan was tapping his foot impatiently, itching to join the fight.
“I saw how to destroy Viteri’s connection with the Eye,” Gwen finished
Megan and Duncan stared at her, dumbfounded.
“You sure?” Megan asked. “How?”
“Viteri is a djinn like you,” Gwen said to her brother. “When he was intruding in my mind I saw glimpses into his, and I saw how to defeat him.
Your magic can destroy the connection to the Eye.”
“What do I have to do?” Duncan shouted as Holly was flung through the air over his head. Megan ran over to her and helped her to her feet.
“You can’t do it alone. It has to be with someone that you love. You have to use them as a conduit, a weapon. You have to channel your magic through them to destroy the connection.”
“Gwen, I just got you back. I’m not going to use you as some—”
“I am an oracle. Magic from me and my kind is what was used to start this mess. My involvement would only fuel the flames.” Gwen looked over at Holly as she and Megan stumbled over.
“I’ll do it,” Holly declared.
“It could kill you,” Gwen stated plainly.
“So could he,” Holly gestured towards Viteri, who was being attacked from either side by blasts of electricity and ice.
“You can’t do this,” Duncan protested.
“Don’t you dare,” Holly growled. “Not only is this psycho going to destroy everything, but that’s my aunt he has there.”
Holly looked over towards the huge jewel that encased the lifeless body of her aunt. “We don’t have the time to argue about this.”
“Ok, Gwen. We’re ready,” Duncan replied.
Holly pressed her open palms onto the cold, smooth surface of the Eye of Horlune. Holly looked up at the peaceful, frozen face of her aunt as Duncan positioned himself behind her, placing one hand on each of her shoulders. Suddenly, the emotions that she had been trying so hard to hold back from the moment she laid eyes on her aunt came bursting out of her like a huge wave of water.
As the explosions from the battle sounded around them, a silent stream of tears began to pour out of Holly’s eyes as she unblinkingly stared up at the jewel and her aunt.
Holly could feel Duncan’s magic coursing through her, moving through her body and into the huge jewel. She could feel Duncan’s mind connecting with her own; she could feel his thoughts dancing into the parts of her mind that were bringing these emotions to the surface.
“We’re going to save her,” Duncan’s voice echoed in her mind.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl around them as their minds connected with each other and the sounds around them slowly died down.
As Duncan comforted her, the fear, panic, and anger that had been invading Holly’s mind began to melt away. All of these negative emotions were being replaced by one thing: love.
That was what Holly felt moving from Duncan into her: Duncan’s love for Gwen, his love for his father, and his love for her.
Then it all clicked into place for Holly; this is what Gwen had meant.
To defeat someone as twisted and evil as Viteri they needed to use magic that he had overlooked, magic that someone like him would obviously think was unimportant and weak.
I love you. Holly’s mental voice echoed towards Duncan.
Then she pushed her thoughts outwards to her team—to her friends.
Megan, Gwen, Michael, even Capricorn were al here with her, fighting together with her.
I love you. Holly pushed the thought out towards them and could feel the jewel shuddering beneath her hands.
She stared into the face of her aunt once more, trying to push her thoughts towards the frozen woman.
I love you.
Just as Holly was about to remove her hands and tell Duncan that this wasn’t working, a small crack started to move up the side of the Eye of Horlune.
Holly… a woman’s familiar voice spoke in her mind.
Her aunt’s eyes snapped open as the cracks in the jewel quickly became larger and more prominent.
“Paulie…” Holly whispered as she stared back into the calming blue eyes of her aunt. “It’s working!” Holly shouted at Duncan.
A large explosion sounded behind them as Capricorn flew into the column directly to their right.
“What are you doing?” Viteri screamed. He was flying through the air at Holly, a cone of blood-red magic swirling around him.
Holly swung around gracefully, letting the momentum and her magic carry her fist forward to meet Viteri. The blue flames that encircled her fist were now dancing with the pulsating, blood-red energy from the Eye of Horlune, creating a purple glow that lit up the entire temple.
“Beating you,” Holly answered. Her fist slammed into her mark, sending a blinding flash of white light flashing throughout the temple,
followed instantly by a loud explosion. As this all happened, the severely cracked Eye of Horlune shattered, sending a fine cloud of red, glitter-like dust floating into the air.
Duncan jumped forwards, catching Paulina’s limp body as she fell.
“Is it over?” Megan asked as she look around. They were standing in the deserted basement of Chateau Viteri, facing the hole that Holly had previously punched through the wall .
“Yes, Megan.” Michael groaned as he walked over to them, a slight limp in his step. “I think we’ve actually won.”
CHAPTER 27 - As Long as We’re Together
“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” Holly asked. She looked at Capricorn, who sat atop the hood of a sleek, black sports car. “You’ve earned your place on the team. You’re probably the second strongest one here.”
“Second?” Michael smiled as he threw his travel bag over his shoulder.
“Don’t tempt me, Ms. Willow.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Holly could hear Duncan coughing loudly from the driver’s seat of the minivan behind her.
“Don’t worry,” Michael said loudly so that everyone could hear him.
“I’m sure that you'll see us again soon.”
“Hopefully not too soon,” Capricorn teased as she sauntered over to Michael. “I want to get a tan after we deal with your secret mission, darling.”
Holly eyed him suspiciously. “Don't let her get you killed.”
Michael chuckled as Capricorn stuck out her tongue. “Capricorn has shown me that she can handle herself. That’s why I asked her to join me.”
Holly frowned slightly at his words.
Michael leaned in closer to her. “Remember what I said about noble actions,” he said to her. “Where I’m going…Let’s just say people like Capricorn and I can handle it.”
He turned away from her and began walking back to the sports car, Capricorn following slowly behind him. Michael had told them all to keep their eyes open, that Viteri was still out there somewhere. They had wounded him, but he would be back.
“You’re a part of this team, Michael,” Holly shouted to his back as she, too, started to turn to walk away. “Call us if you need anything.”
Holly slowly made her way over to the black minivan where Megan, Gwen, Duncan, and her aunt were waiting for her.
“Well that wasn’t awkward,” Megan teased as she shut the door.
“Yeah.” Gwen giggled. “You should have seen Duncan’s face.”
“Shut it!” Duncan snapped. He looked over his shoulder to the seat behind him. “Where to now, Holly?”
Holly looked over at her aunt as the van began to move.
For what felt like forever, Holly had been living in a world that was incomplete, broken. She had felt lost for so long that being lost had become a normal part of her life.
But now she had succeeded in her impossible mission to find the only family that she’d thought she had, and she had found a new family along the way.
She wasn’t lost—not anymore.
“Anywhere.” Holly smiled. She looked from Gwen to Megan, and finally at Duncan. “Anywhere, as long as we’re together.”
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 11 - Why Did You Come Back?
CHAPTER 12 - Wallace McGregor
CHAPTER 23 - Click Here To See More
