"I'll definitely make it last then." I said, as we headed down the stairs and towards the gym, the knot in my stomach growing with each step. To my surprise, Felix grabbed my hand, not caring about what others might think.
Chapter 24
Felix proudly held my hand all the way to the gym and even up to the stage they had set up for us. A few Lovac gave us curious looks but there were no questions asked. The crowd in the gym was small and I felt my heart sink at how little our army was. With Felix and me, it made eighteen Lovac here to fight a large group of Zhulik. I knew there were at least fourteen Zhulik we could expect but if the cave extended further down than my power was able to sense then it could be much more.
The council called Felix and I up to the stage and everyone quieted down. I looked into the small crowd and recognized Riley and Axel standing next to the tall blonde Lovac they called Leslie and another shorter Lovac girl I hadn’t met. I smiled at Riley and Axel winked at me. I rolled my eyes at him but sent up a silent prayer that they would both survive this.
"I want to thank all of you who have come to help fight," Rema said. She was apparently in charge of this small meeting. "Avery, can you tell everyone what the layout of the cave looks like and if you have a suggestion on how the attack should start."
I nodded and stepped up to the front of the stage. "The cave has one main path that goes on for miles. My power was not able to sense how far the path went and there is a possibility that there might be more Zhulik deeper down than I was able to sense. The main path has smaller paths that lead off into little caverns where Nesmyr are being held captive. The young girl we rescued was in a cage but I can't say for certain if all of them will be. From what I was able to sense, there are at least six Nesmyr still in there being guarded by two or three Zhulik each. I think that in order to conserve energy, small groups should go into the closest caverns and clear them out before another group moves in. I don't think it would be smart to try to attack all of the caverns at once."
"That's a good idea," Felix said. "Once we get there, we'll send a group of three into the closest cavern. Once that one is cleared out we'll move onto the next cavern with another group of three. This way the ones who fought previously have some time to relax and build their strength back up before having to fight again. Does everyone agree with this plan?"
None of the Lovac argued but they all looked uncertain. I didn't think they were worried about my plan as much as they were worried about staying alive. Felix had told me that nothing this big has happened in years. Then I remembered Riley's vision about something big happening. This had to be it.
Once everyone was all settled on what was going to happen we were urged to eat and pack whatever we would need. We would be leaving in forty-five minutes to start the drive to the caves. By the time we got there the sun would be going down.
As we were leaving the gym I ran up to Riley, who was walking out with Axel and the other two girls.
"Hey," I said when I caught up to them. "Are you sure you're all prepared for this?"
They gave each other nervous glances then Riley said, "Yes. We're nervous, of course but we were raised to fight and protect Nesmyr. We have to do our job."
"Were you expecting this?" I asked Riley. I didn't want to come straight out and ask if this is what she had a vision about but she knew what I was really asking.
"Yes and no. I don't think this is what my vision was about but this is the start of it. When this is over tonight, don't expect it to be truly over. There's more to come."
My stomach churned. I had hoped that once we killed the Zhulik in the caves and rescued the Nesmyr we wouldn't have to deal with anything this big for a long time. I needed to stop assuming that this was going to be quick and easy.
I let the subject drop for now though. I needed to focus on what was about to happen, not what might happen after this. Most of the Lovac went back to their rooms to get ready; others went to the cafeteria to build up their energy with food. I went with Riley and the rest of the group to the cafeteria. I had already eaten and packed what I needed but I had to wait for the rest of the Lovac before we could leave.
Felix had already prepared to leave before going to the gym too, so we just sat and talked while everyone else ate. We both kept glancing at the clock, anxious to get going and get it over with.
Forty-five minutes passed slowly but by the time everyone had finished eating it was time to leave. All of the Lovac that would be going met in front of the facility by the parking lot. We all piled into three large vans and headed out. To my surprise, Rema, Carson and Sunni were accompanying us. They would be our drivers but wouldn't go into the caves unless they were absolutely needed. They all felt they were far too old to be of any use when it came to fighting.
The drive to the caves felt longer than it had last night and I was impatiently twitching. I was sitting next to Felix, who put his hand on my leg, trying to calm me down. Riley was in the front passenger seat by Rema, deep in thought. Behind us sat Axel, Leslie and Tahlia, who was the shorter Lovac girl. Axel was sitting in the middle, holding on to both of the girls' hands. That's when the severity of the situation really hit me.
I knew what was about to happen was big and I was scared but I was still new at this. All of these other Lovac had faced Zhulik many times and came out alive. The fact that they were just as scared as I was made me even more nervous.
By the time we reached the caves I had worried myself so much that I was convinced we were all going to die. Then I started panicking.
"I don't know if we can do this," I spoke to no one in particular when Rema put the car in park.
"We have to try," Felix said. "You're the one who said that."
"It's our job to protect Nesmyr," Riley said. "If you sensed an accurate number of Zhulik then we technically out number them right now. Most of us are more nervous at the possibility of there being more Zhulik somewhere deeper in the caves that you couldn't sense but we don't know if there actually is. All we can do is go in there and do our best."
"You always sound so wise," I told her. "It's hard for me to believe you’re only twenty."
She laughed, but it was a hollow laugh. "Our job tends to mature us pretty quickly."
"Are you ready to do this?" Rema said, looking back at me from the driver’s seat.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down before I nodded. We all piled out of the car and grouped together with the Lovac from the other vans. We were parked by the road that was by the caves but it would still take us a little bit of walking for us to get there. Before we started the walk, they all turned to me for the plan.
"I think we need to break up into our groups of three before we get there. Once we're closer, I'll use my power to sense where we need to start. It'll be easier to start sending in the groups once we get there, then trying to decide all of that when we’re close enough for the Zhulik to hear us."
"I think the best option is to break up groups in teams that know they can work well together," Rema said. "Most of you have already worked with the other Lovac here and know who you work well with. The sooner we get this figured out the sooner we can get this finished."
Rema didn't have to ask twice. The Lovac immediately started picking their own groups and it was amazing how organized and professional they were about it. I was expecting it to be like grade school where everyone fights over who they want to be in their group but it was nothing like that.
Axel, Leslie and Tahlia all stayed in a group together. It seemed to me that Axel cared about those girls a lot more than he would probably admit. He looked at them with a sort of brotherly affection. Felix and Riley came and stood next to me. The numbers worked out perfectly and we had six groups of Lovac.
Before we started our walk to the caves, Rema pulled out a cooler from the van and looked grimly at us before she said, "I know many of you prefer to stay away from blood, but you’ll need as much strength as possible for this. I won’t force you to drink, but
I brought bags for anyone that wants one."
It took me a minute to understand what she was saying. She wanted us to drink blood to increase or strength and our chances. I looked around and saw a lot of disgusted faces from the other Lovac but everyone got in line for a bag, even Felix and Riley.
"You don’t have to do this, but I think you should give it a try," Felix said, holding his hand out to me so I would join the line.
I wasn’t a wimp when it came to blood. I never fainted at the sight of it or threw up but the thought of actually putting it in my mouth and drinking it made my stomach churn. But I was technically leading this group and I had to show a good example.
I took Felix’s hand and stepped into line next to him. I didn’t let go of him until Rema handed us our bags. The red liquid looked like dark cherry syrup and I did my best to tell myself that’s all it was. I followed suit with everyone else and tore one of the edges open.
Everyone chugged theirs down, some made faces, some didn’t. There were a few Lovac who even seemed to enjoy it. I brought the bad up to my mouth, smelled the metallic scent and almost changed my mind. Felix took my hand again and squeezed for encouragement.
"We’ll do it together," he said, bringing his bag up to his lips. "Ready?"
I nodded, not sure if I could really handle this. Felix tilted his head back and let the blood flow into his mouth, swallowing it down quickly. I took a final deep breath and did the same.
I expected to gag and spit it out or start throwing up everywhere. I expected the taste to be awful and to have to force myself to swallow. But it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t exactly good either, but it was tolerable. There was a light metallic taste but it was mostly just salty, like drinking thick salt water.
The effects of it were instantaneous. Not only to my body, but to the other Lovac’s bodies as well. Everyone looked bulkier and healthier. I felt better already about our chances of winning this.
Once the bags were all empty we made our way to the caves. My group led the way. The sun was just starting to go down and it was becoming darker by the minute. We walked slowly and quietly and it took us about ten minutes to reach the caves.
The familiar headache that alerted Lovac to Zhulik, greeted me just before the caves came into view. I knew everyone else was experiencing the same headache when everyone started to shift uncomfortably.
I signaled for the group of Lovac to stay near the trees while I got closer to the cave entrance to get the most accurate sense of where the closest Zhulik were. I crouched against the stone and concentrated on my senses.
What greeted me in my mind was shocking. My power was able to sense all the way into every cavern of the cave. The fairy elixir that Rema had given me really had enhanced my power and I wondered if the blood enhanced it even more. It was so strong that it almost made me light-headed. Unfortunately, what I sensed was not good news.
Like I had feared, the caves extended far beyond my original sensing power and there were far more Zhulik than I had estimated. They were no longer in the smaller caverns that led off from the main path either. There was a large cavern at the bottom of the main path where a group of at least forty Zhulik were gathered. In the center, I could sense eight Nesmyr. Something was about to happen to them and we would have to hurry if we wanted to save them.
I jumped up and ran back to the group of waiting Lovac. I wished I had more time to explain what was happening but we needed to get down there and save those Nesmyr as soon as possible.
"Change of plans," I told everyone, who gave me nervous looks. "It seems like whatever the Zhulik have planned for the captured Nesmyr is happening right now. They're all gathered in the largest cavern at the bottom of the main path. There's a lot more Zhulik than I originally thought too."
They all glanced around nervously. Felix was staring at me with a disbelieving look. Riley was looking nervously at the cave entrance.
"Then we should get down there and start kicking some ass," a hefty looking Lovac guy said. I had seen him around the facility before, but I didn't know his name. I was grateful for his efforts to get everyone motivated but they fell short. No one cheered or got excited. They only nodded in agreement and took deep breaths to brace themselves for the battle to come.
Once it looked like everyone was ready to start the decent into the cave we started the long walk. The main path was miles long. I wanted to start running to get there faster but I knew we all needed to conserve our energy, so I settled for walking quickly. We also needed to be quiet so that we could keep our element of surprise.
We went around every corner cautiously, making sure there weren't any Zhulik hiding out. I didn't know if Zhulik would set booby traps but I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for anything suspicious. We managed to make it all the way down the path without any incidents.
The closer we got to the large cavern the worse my head started to hurt and the better my power worked. I was starting to twitch in anticipation of the fight and it was much harder to control now that my power was enhanced. I knew we were almost there when I started to slowly jog. If it wasn't for Felix tugging me back, I would have run straight in there and started fighting.
"What are you doing?" he whispered to me.
"I'm sorry. We're almost there, I can feel it. My power is starting to take over and it's a lot harder to control with that fairy stuff in me."
"How close are we?"
I didn't answer. Instead I paused just before turning the next corner. The rest of the group paused behind me. I slowly peeked my head around the corner and saw the gathering of Zhulik in the large cavern just down the hall. The cavern looked just like the cavern from my nightmare, only there was no pool full of blood in the center. Instead, the group of eight Nesmyr were in the center of the room, their backs towards us and facing the steps that led up to the podium where Lucas was sitting at. There was no Kamila in sight.
My rage burned and I took one step forward, about to run into the room, when I remembered that we needed to be sneaky about this. I took a deep breath and turned back to the group of Lovac. I was nervous to talk with the Zhulik so close but we had to have some kind of plan.
"The Zhulik are at the end of the path," I barely whispered loud enough for everyone to hear me. "We need to sneak as close to the edge of the cavern before we start attacking. We need to be almost on top of them before they know we're there. Once they noticed us, we need to be in full attack mode. I want half of you to attack the closest Zhulik and I want the other half to run through and start attacking the ones further away. Those that are closer to the front should run forward while the ones behind start attacking the closer ones. Do you understand so far?"
They all nodded and waited for more information.
"The group of Nesmyr are in the middle of the cavern. I need one of the groups of three to immediately head towards them and start protecting them. Any volunteers?"
One of the groups of Lovac who I didn't know very well volunteered to protect the Nesmyr. Once that was all settled, there was only one more thing to discuss.
"The Zhulik named Lucas seems to be in charge of all of this," I said, glancing at Felix to see the surprised look on his face. "I don't know if any of you know this, but he is the Zhulik who got my mom pregnant. He's also the reason she was killed. I’m going straight for him."
A lot of the Lovac gave me surprised looks, some of them even looked a little frightened, but no one argued. I didn't think any of them wanted to go up against Lucas and they were more than happy to let me deal with him.
"Alright. Wait for my signal when we get to the edge of the tunnel before we start."
"What's the signal?" one of the Lovac asked.
"When I start running out there. Any questions?" They all shook their heads. "Then let's go."
Before I could step around the corner, Felix pulled me into a quick hug. I was shocked at how open he was being with his feelings for me, but when I looked over his shoulder, I saw a few other Lovac giving hugs to each oth
er, too.
"I love you, Avery," Felix whispered into my ear, making my heart stop for a second. I really hadn’t been expecting that but I didn’t hesitate in my response.
"I love you, too." And it was true. I may not have a complete understanding of love, but my feelings for Felix were stronger than any feelings I had ever had. I squeezed Felix as tightly as I could one last time and we both pulled away. I tried not to let the tears wetting my eyes be noticeable and I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I turned the corner a moment later with everyone following me, and started quietly walking towards the cavern.
Chapter 25
The closer we got to the cavern, the stranger I started to feel. I almost felt sick, like I had butterflies in my stomach but it was all over my body. I didn't know if it was some kind of reaction to being around so many Zhulik or if it was my power trying to take over completely. I glanced around at the other Lovac and didn't see any unusual looks coming from their faces, so I decided it had to be part of my power.
With each step we took, we moved slower and slower until we were just outside of the large cavern. We were still inside the shadow of the path, so I didn't think any of the Zhulik could see us yet. Now that we were closer, I could hear that all of the Zhulik were chanting. Their voices echoed off of the walls of the cavern and gave me goose bumps.
I took a short moment to gaze at my surroundings. There were gas lights hanging all over the walls and not much else in the cavern. It was a little dark and musty and reminded me of what a really large jail cell might be like.
The place where the Nesmyr were kneeling on the ground was sunken in a little bit from the surrounding earth and I had a feeling that Lucas planned to use it as a blood pool like my dream had predicted. Whatever was happening was some kind of ritual that would make life very difficult for Nesmyr and Lovac.
I also noticed that the group of eight Nesmyr weren’t actually all Nesmyr. The magic that I sensed in one of them was similar to the magic I had sensed in Thistle, the fairy. Another one of the creatures gave off a different kind of magic that I had never felt before. It was almost like every creature had their own frequency of magic. The other six were definitely Nesmyr though.
Avenging Amethyst (Immortal Eyes) Page 16
