by Salem Cross
I’m heading up. I reached out to Mae first then alerted Diane of my departure. Both responded with requests to stay safe. I hesitated for a moment, using my hearing to make sure everything inside was going well. Both women were to talk up the clerk for a bit to see if they could gather information from him. When it was clear Mae would be safe on her own, Diane would join the rest of us while Mae stayed near the base of the hill to keep an eye out for trouble.
I began my climb up the hill. There was an old hiking trail that I followed up. As I ascended, my senses flared out in every direction. If one of us could catch an unfamiliar scent or sense dark magic, we would catch a break. I highly doubted I would sense the latter. Since we had arrived in this godforsaken park, my ability to sense danger had been ripped away from me. It was disconcerting and left me feeling inept.
As we searched on foot, pretending to be interested in landscape and plant life, the way curious human tourists would, we began trading notes. There were fresh prints of gargoyle footsteps here and there. Certain rocks had been used as perches to watch the land below. Jasmine found a spot where a hex had been cast and left its mark on a greener area of the hillside.
Diane joined us further up the hill. I glanced below to find Mae casually strolling along the edge of a patch of trees. It was not dense, but that did not mean something could not hide there waiting for a victim.
Stay in sight of a Guardian, I warned her. She stopped and looked up at me. With the heightened senses of a Guardian, I could easily make out her eye roll even from the great distance between us. Her nonchalant attitude when it came to her safety caused my anger to rise.
Relax. I’d rather not become gargoyle food. I’ll keep you all in sight, I promise.
My anger vanished the moment she promised to stay within sight. It was replaced by amusement. Gargoyles did not eat food, a thought I did not share with her just so she held onto that little fear.
Rylan, Jasmine’s firm whisper in my head broke my concentration after an hour.
My eyes scanned the bottom of the hill for Mae. I found her scaling a smaller hill nearby. As promised, she was making an effort to stay within sight of us.
What is it? I responded. Her tone alerted me to danger.
There is something-— Her voice was abruptly cut off as the ground beneath our feet began to tremble.
Jasmine was nowhere to be seen, but I knew she was close. I took to the sky. Pieces of my shirt fell away as my wings ripped through the fabric. Rocks exploded and tumbled down the hill creating a destructive avalanche. I twisted in the air searching for Mae and found her rushing to get off her hill as it rose beneath her feet. Just as I began to race across the sky to help her, Nikolas was already there. He scooped her off the side of the hill, away from danger.
Petra thērion, Diane’s voice echoed through everyone’s head as the rock beast rose from its slumber. What once was a rocky hillside was now a monstrous beast not seen in centuries. Its roar was thunderous. Another roar echoed the first. The hill that Mae had been climbing was now that of another petra thērion,
We dove into action. These rock monsters were on the same level of stupid as trolls, but the destruction they could cause by just walking across the terrain could be devastating. With Mae out of the way, I joined the others in the sky as we drew our weapons from our marks and went to battle.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mae
The term, “royally fucked” seemed to have encompassed my life for the past two years. But this was a new type of fucked I hadn’t dealt with yet. Was the term “majestically fucked” a thing? Was that more fucked up than royally fucked? I really didn’t have time to wonder because I was plummeting to my death thanks to a Guardian who thought that killing me while the others were busy was a good idea.
When Nikolas had swept me off my feet, the world around me appeared to be falling apart, and I was relieved to see him. But that relief was put out faster than a lit match in a category five hurricane.
“Whoever is behind opening the gates between the realms will be dealt with. We do not need the help of a god. It is my greatest regret that I must do this to an innocent child and her mate, but a god roaming this Earth will only bring devastation.”
Those were the words he uttered right before dropping me from some crazy height. As I fell, I watched as two monstrosities rose from the ground. It was like watching two snowmen come to life, except these snowmen were made from hundreds of large rocks that had, just a moment ago, been lying utterly still under our feet. The Guardians were already in action. Half of them were attacking the top of half of the largest monster while the others tried to trip the second one by weaving around its feet.
I would have been impressed by the way they were able to come together so quickly and work like a unit if I weren’t about to die. There was no time to scream out for help; no one would be able to get to me in time. I was on my own, and somehow, I had to save myself.
As I flailed around in the air, I forced myself to stop panicking. I closed my eyes and reached for my power. I couldn’t fly, but maybe I could at least break my fall. With an ease I would have been excited about not given the circumstances, my power answered me. I twisted so I was free-falling like a professional skydiver and held out my hands in front of me. Just as I was about to hit the treetops of the nearby woods, I let my power free. Immediately, the blast of energy shoved past the trees and against the ground. The moment my power hit the ground, I began to slow down. While I couldn’t stop the fall entirely, when I did hit the ground I didn’t die. Instead, the breath was forcibly knocked out of me, and my bones were painfully jarred.
“You should have let the fall kill you. It would have been less painful,” Nikolas’s cool voice said a few feet from me. Before I could ask, “Less painful than what?” he was standing over me with one of the small daggers he’d pulled from his tattoo along his forearm. He held it high above his head.
I rolled out of the way just as he brought the dagger down. Without even realizing I had reached for it again, my power blasted out of my hands. I threw Nikolas backward as he attempted to stab me again. I got to my feet and faced the coldhearted Guardian. I watched as he pulled the two other daggers from his forearm. His gaze never left my face.
“Nikolas, stop this,” I tried to stay calm. I wanted to reach out to Rylan, but he was in the middle of something. I couldn’t let the others be down one person while he came to my aid. It would be devastating to learn that Diane or Jasmine got hurt or killed because Rylan had come to save me.
“You do not belong here,” he told me. His expression was grim and full of determination. “Lay down your life for the good of mankind. I have seen the trepidation and fear you have of yourself. I saw how it affected you when the ranger took his life. You have goodness in you. Do not let it fade as your power continues to grow. Your presence on Earth will only cause destruction and mayhem. Do not allow any more lives to be lost on your account. Allow me to provide you with a merciful death.”
“You wouldn’t be just killing me. What about Rylan? If one mate dies, so does the other!” I snapped.
“It is an unfortunate loss, but it will be for the greater good,” Nikolas answered calmly. Without warning, he threw all three daggers at me. His move was so swift I didn’t have a chance to defend myself other than drop to my stomach. Two of the blades sailed past me, but one lodged into my shoulder, just where my heart would have been before I’d fallen to the ground. I cried out in pain and rolled onto my back. I reached for the dagger in my shoulder to pull it out, but let it go when the pain was too much.
Mae, Rylan’s voice was suddenly there in my mind. Of course, he would know when I was in trouble. To think I could hide it was absurd.
However, I didn’t have time to answer him. Movement in my peripheral vision was my only warning another attack was coming. I threw my power outwards and knocked Nikolas away from me again. He snarled his rage and lunged for me. Surprising Nikolas and myself, without hesitation I
yanked the dagger embedded in my shoulder and threw it at him. He had thousands of years of experience under his belt throwing the weapons he’d been born with. I had about a second to figure out the weight of the blade before it left my fingertips. It flew past him harmlessly.
Nikolas slammed into me with all his might sending me backward. He used his knee to pin me to the ground while he reached up with both hands to grab my head and snap my neck. His eyes were glowing red now, his face had hollowed, and his fangs poked out from his lips. Death was a promise that swirled around in his eyes. This was going to be an easy win for him. Who was I to stop a warrior who had been alive for so long, with the strength of ten men, and a hatred so strong that he wasn’t seeing me for me but as one of the gods he used to serve?
I wasn’t the enemy here. I never had any intention of becoming a god, playing the role of a god or throwing my weight around like the gods of Nikolas’s time. While I knew life wasn’t fair this felt extra unfair. How dare he decide that I was someone who should die? I had done nothing but try to hide from what I was. When I ran into Arthur and Rylan, I hadn’t been searching for answers, but when they offered to help me find some, I leapt at the opportunity. Not because I wanted to justify my role in this world, but so I wouldn’t become the monster I knew I could be.
I had found my answers. I knew who my parents were. I knew now where my powers derived from, and I knew control was possible. I knew my purpose in life was to save lives, not take them. I might stumble, and I might fall a few times in the process of learning, but that didn’t make me like the other demi-gods. I was not a monster. The knowledge that I was not and could not be a monster bubbled up in my chest. I was here to save lives… The thought swirled around in my mind as something in me clicked.
I felt a confidence in myself I hadn’t felt in a long time. I wasn’t a monster, I wasn’t going to be killed by some bigoted Guardian, and I wasn’t going to let the doubt in myself stop me from finding out who was going to open the gate between the realms.
The power under my skin seemed to feel my confidence come to life. It roared to the surface as my resolve solidified. I was going to stop a monster, not become one. So Nikolas could just fuck right on off with his lack of faith in me. I didn’t need it. I had faith in myself.
My power sparkled along my skin, and my veins began to glow. I clenched my jaw as the strength of my power caused my body to jerk. Just as Nikolas attempted to snap my neck, I shoved the palm of my hand up into his face and connected with his nose. With my power behind the force of my hit, Nikolas was suddenly airborne, blood trailing after him. I got to my feet and turned to the warrior who had all three daggers in his hands. He launched them at me while shooting forward.
With my power surging through me so strongly, everything around me felt like it was moving in slow motion. Without a thought, I knocked the blades aside with a simple backhand motion. I threw my fist forward and struck Nikolas down with my power. His body slammed into a tree, but he was on his feet in an instant and moving towards me again.
But just like his last attack, he appeared to barely be moving. I put power behind a roundhouse kick and struck Nikolas square in the jaw. All without me physically touching him. He snarled and took to the air. I refused to allow that unfair advantage. I called up a lightning bolt that hit Nikolas before he made it past the treetops. He crashed back down to earth.
As he fell, he twisted and flew at me, knocking me to the ground again. I slammed a fist full of power into his jaw, and he grunted in pain. He hit me back, but I felt immune to pain now. His fist, which should have shattered my jaw, deflected off me. I kneed him in the groin, but he didn’t flinch. His fist repeatedly struck my face before I could attack again.
After being hit a fifth time, I realized I wasn’t immune to pain. Shock kept me from feeling his blows at the moment. I knew that if I survived this, I was going to regret every punch he dealt. I slammed my fist into his side, effectively knocking him off of me.
I climbed to my feet, but Nikolas was there, and he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and threw me a few feet away into a tree. I slammed into it, the breath leaving my lungs forcefully. I sat up while trying to drag a deep breath in. Suddenly, Nikolas was above me trying to shove one of his daggers into my gut. I grabbed his wrist with one hand and shoved at his chest with the other.
With my power actively charging through me, I was able to keep the dagger from moving any closer to me despite Nikolas’s best efforts. I had to stop this fight before he killed me. But could I kill him? I recoiled from the thought. Even as he attempted to kill me, I still wasn’t able to consider taking a life. My strength was waning as I tried to keep the dagger from piercing me. I stared into his red eyes and saw the victory there. He knew I wasn’t a killer. All he needed was to wait for me to weaken, and he could finish what he started.
But I also saw, deep within those gray eyes, regret. He may hate what I was, but that didn’t necessarily mean he hated me. He had said he saw me as an innocent victim in all of this. That I was a death that had to happen. That didn’t mean he wanted to murder someone innocent. He just believed it was the best thing for the world.
An idea popped into my head. I knew I couldn’t kill him, despite the situation, but I couldn’t let him kill me either. I needed to stall for time. I would let the other Guardians dish out whatever punishment saw fit for Nikolas when they realize what he had tried to do. I wasn’t a killer, and I wasn’t planning on changing that today.
I summoned all my power inwards. The small violet sparkles that danced along my skin grew bright and an intense heat filled my chest. When I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore, I let my power go. An explosion erupted from my chest outwards, throwing the Guardian off me. Nikolas hit a tree, and it cracked under the force. As Nikolas landed on his feet, the tree toppled over on top of him, pinning the Guardian to the ground. At least, momentarily.
Suddenly, the ground beneath us trembled. It cracked open, and I screeched as the ground under my feet suddenly disappeared. I fell into darkness, followed by dirt and debris. My head hit something hard as I fell, and I slipped into unconsciousness.
***
A terrible throbbing in the back of my head woke me. As I regained consciousness, I began to feel every blow Nikolas had landed and more. Everything hurt. I was sure I had a broken rib, a broken jaw, and a ton of internal bleeding. When I attempted to move, I hissed in pain. My hiss was followed by a round of coughing as I drew in the dirt that was floating around in the air. I opened my eyes and blinked as they adjusted to the darkness.
All around me pieces of earth lay crumbled and broken. Large rocks were lying dangerously close to my face. I looked up and found that a few trees had somehow smashed together to form a tent-like structure to block the ground that had fallen into the Earth after me. Sheer luck. That was all that kept me from being crushed under tons of dirt and rock. Not a single ray of sunlight peeked through the debris overhead.
So how could I still see? I turned my head, wincing as I did, and noticed I was in some sort of tunnel. At the far end of it, I could see a bluish hue. For a moment I panicked. A light at the end of a tunnel was never a good sign if you were wondering whether you were still alive. I squashed the thought of possibly being dead though. I wouldn’t be in this much pain if I were.
Hadn’t Rylan mentioned something about this area being a coal mining town? The fight between Nikolas and I must have made part of an old mining tunnel collapse. Now I was stuck down here. How long had I been out? I shifted, and despite the protest from my body, I sat up. My head swam, causing me to feel nauseous. I brought my knees up and hung my head between them while the world righted itself. Was the battle with those stone creatures over? Where was Rylan?
Rylan? I reached out tentatively. A tremendous amount of relief rushed through my connection to my other half.
Mae, where are you? The fear in his voice was laced with concern. Why could I not reach you?
I fell in some sort of
tunnel and hit my head. I just woke up, I lifted my head and looked at the blue light. I thought these mines were abandoned? I think someone’s been down here recently. There is a light not far from me.
Don’t move towards the light! Rylan snapped. I snorted out loud, knowing he was thinking the same thing I had. We are above the area where the ground caved in. How did this happen? Where is Nikolas? I thought he had you. No one can reach him.
The ground caved in underneath us when I used my power, I explained to him but paused as I realized something. Rylan, I don’t know where Nikolas is. I hope he’s not down here with me. He tried to kill me. I was defending myself when the tunnel collapsed. He was pinned under a tree the last I saw.
A rage blew through me like a fireball. I shuddered under the intensity of Rylan’s anger.
Mae, there are no trees fifty yards in any direction, Rylan told me with despair. He must be down there with you.
At his words, my stomach dropped. Nikolas was somewhere in the rubble with me? Guardians were nearly immortal. If I’d lived through this fall, so had he. I had to get away from him before he found me.
Get me out of here, now! I didn’t want to die in a dark hole. Gingerly, I got to my feet. I braced myself against the wall as the world swayed. I left all pride at the door. Please, Rylan, get me out of here.
I will be with you as soon as I can, Rylan promised. He sounded calm, but I could feel his terror and anger swirling in my gut. We need to figure out how to move the debris without causing the rest of the tunnel to collapse. Unfortunately, it will take some time.
Can you find another way in? There has to be an entrance somewhere, I said, panicky.
Jasmine is trying to pull up maps of the mines, but it will do us no good if other sections of the tunnel have collapsed, Rylan explained. Just hold on. Don’t touch anything in case it triggers debris to fall on you.
Okay, I wouldn’t touch anything, but I wasn’t going to stay here where Nikolas could be regaining consciousness at any minute. I took a step towards the blue light, but my legs trembled hard, threatening to buckle on me. The movement caused pain to ripple through me. I clenched my teeth to keep from moaning. Unfortunately, my jaw hurt the worst, and clenching my teeth only made it hurt more.
