Sphinx Transformed (The Sphinx Warriors Series Book 3)

by Christine Murphy

  A hand on his shoulder brought him back out of his dark thoughts. Hunter looked at him with concern.

  “Why don’t you catch five? I’ll keep working the forge. I may not have the Power you have to bond with the steel, but I can form a mean blade. I’ll mount and rack them up and you can finish strengthening the blades tomorrow.”

  Joshua glanced at Hunter closely. The man was wound up tight, needing to release some of his pent-up energy. Like the rest of the Sphinx, Hunter would be pinging from the dark energy coming from the Dimensional Gate. At least the energy had stayed relatively level indicating they had a few more hours of reprieve.

  “So what you’re really telling me is I need to conserve the rest of my energy for when the fucking Gate opens back up.”

  Hunter shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, the dark energy doesn’t lie and Ethan has his computer bank up and running again. He’s been bouncing around all over the place, gathering data points. It looks like we might have eight hours tops before we go back to the staging cavern to pound steel on the Wraith again.”

  Joshua sighed, “Just fucking great.”

  He would have continued on with his cursing against the Gate but was interrupted by a very pissed female voice yelling out in frustration.

  “I don’t care what you say, Guardian. I have every right to help and fight against the Wraith. The Warriors need me.”

  Joshua glanced over just in time to see a harassed-looking Ashlyn with Guardian Arik hot on her heals. What she was doing in the weapons section and not with Elder Chloe he didn’t know. The young female rarely left the Elder’s side and acted as a protector and assistant to Chloe.

  Ashlyn stomped right up to Joshua her auburn hair in disarray and her unique gold eyes flashing with fury. She braced her hands on her blue clad hips in an outfit suspiciously similar in design to the Warrior’s battle uniform. Hers, though, consisted of dark blue boots, military fatigue pants, and t-shirt instead of the standard black.

  Guardian Arik stepped up right next to her, frustration clearly written on his bandaged face. “Ashlyn, be reasonable. You’re needed elsewhere and you’re not ready to join the battles. You need training and your…umm.” Joshua waited expectantly for what Arik was talking about but he recognized the closed lip expression on the Guardian’s face. The expression indicating he wasn’t allowed to say any more on a particular subject.

  Shoving her hand directly in front of Joshua’s face, she blurted out, “What the great Guardian can’t or won’t tell you is that the Sefu Element I have won’t cooperate with me. And I need you to fix it.”

  Joshua was surprised at the revelation and Hunter barged his way into the group grabbing Ashlyn’s arm. “What do you mean you have a Sefu? You’re not Sphinx.”

  Jerking her arm out of Hunter’s grasp, she hissed out, “Hell, if I’m not. I’ve kept my mouth closed long enough and am tired of being treated like a child.”

  Ashlyn turned her blue-gloved hand over undoing the hidden Velcro straps and yanked the glove off. Shoving her hand back out she muttered, “See! Tell me I’m lying.”

  Rubbing at his chin Joshua just looked at Ashlyn’s hand and wrist. She definitely wasn’t lying to be sure. There wrapped around her hand and wrist was a Sefu Element. The color was unique. One Joshua had never seen before and was an unusual copper color. He turned to Arik who was rubbing at his eyes.

  “Arik, you may as well spill the beans or we can come up with our own versions which I can guarantee will probably be a hell of a lot more colorful than the truth.”

  Arik dropped his hand and cast a disgruntled look at Ashlyn.

  “Fine! Elder Chloe found Ashlyn a few months back running wild in the streets if you must know.”

  When Joshua would have asked how, Arik held up his hand. “I don’t know how. You know the Elder. She has her own agenda and secrets goings on all the damn time. Annoying if you ask me, but then it’s not my place to judge, I suppose. Anyway, the Elder has been working with the Guardians to do her initial training. I’m not sure what the Elder’s final plans are for her.”

  “And the Element? It didn’t come from my collection and you know how protective I am of the Elements. What’s the deal?”

  Joshua didn’t like any of the Elements coming up missing or being given to someone who wasn’t responsible with them. The Sefu Elements died very easily if they were discarded after bonding to a Sphinx. He would string anyone up who was irresponsible with one.

  “Once again, I don’t know. Elder Chloe performed the bonding with no one around and refuses to reveal where the Element came from. I can tell you this, Elder Chloe became very emotional when I tried to inquire about it.”

  “Hello!” Ashlyn shouted. “I’m still here. Tell me what to do with my Sefu. I’ve tried everything.” Her voice waivered slightly, her frustration showing.

  “Alright.” Joshua reached out to her. “If you would let me see it. I can check the Elements health and see what the issue is. If you’ll allow me.”

  Hesitantly, she reached out to him, and he could tell she had very little faith in anyone. Her trust would be difficult to win. Her life had to have been incredibly rough if she had lived the majority of her Sphinx life outside the complex. How long she had lived he didn’t know, especially if she wasn’t pure blood and he doubted the information would come from anyone in this room even if they knew.

  Carefully, so he wouldn’t startle Ashlyn, Joshua grasped her arm and placed his hand over the Element. To better concentrate, he closed his eyes and pushed his energy out just enough to brush along the copper Element. He stood there a moment just reading the patterns and then withdrew his energy. Before he released Ashlyn’s arm he looked at the section of the Sefu above her wrist. It was smooth and flat but didn’t bare any Power Signature.

  “Ashlyn, the Element isn’t ready yet. It’s doing fine and has bonded with you, but…and I do say this with all honesty…your Sefu has the same personality and energy rhythms as you. Putting it bluntly, you’re both stubborn headed and until you learn to work together, the Element will not reveal your Power Signature or respond to you. You have to work together, not make harsh demands of each other. I’m sorry. Until that is learned, you won’t be able to form a Power Sword and fight.”

  Joshua felt sorry for the young woman. With all of her fiery bluster when she heard his findings, she cradled her arms against her chest and looked like she was ready to cry.

  When she noticed she was being watched, though, she yanked her blue glove back on and gritted out. “Fine.”

  The slamming of the weapons section door captured everyone’s attention. Glancing over Ashlyn’s head, Joshua watched while Raven stomped past all of the weapon’s storage sections until he stood over Ashlyn. His blue eyes glittered ominously but Ashlyn stood her ground before him.

  “What do you think you’re doing here?” Raven’s voice was level, but ice dripped from the words. “One of the Gatherer’s showed up at the Warriors’ master quarters demanding to know where you were. Evidently, Elder Chloe needed you and when you couldn’t be found, she locked herself in her rooms and won’t answer to anyone. I would suggest that you get your little ass back to her and if anything has happened to her, I’ll personally see to a punishment for you myself.”

  Joshua would have told Raven to back down, but he was obviously beyond upset about something even after heavy drinking. He could smell the alcohol all over the Warrior, but even drunk, Raven was still irate. Partly amused, Joshua watched Ashlyn stand firm and lift her chin. After a moment though, when Raven growled at her, she yelped and sprinted out of the weapons section.

  Raven watched her hasty departure, flexing his arms until his shoulders popped. He glanced at Arik, “Fucking hard-headed females. The whole lot of them.” Joshua couldn’t agree more with him.

  Hard headed, but soft hearted. That was Joshua’s Alexandria and he missed her. One way or another he would find time in this battle crazy life of his to spend time with her. He needed to tou
ch her physically and through their Link to reassure himself she was doing okay.

  ****

  “Oh, Arik, I’m so sorry.” Alexandria was horrified at the realization of the damage she had done to Arik when he had tried to restrain her before the suppression. The bandage he was gingerly pulling off his cheek was soaked in blood and the long gouges underneath were red and inflamed. The injury looked infected to her. The healer in her cried out to help him any way she could.

  Just when Alexandria would have approached him, Jenny stepped between them moving to provide care, but Guardian Arik held up a hand, stopping Jenny in her tracks.

  “Alexandria, it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do the damage, the Wraith within you did, and I should have known better than to grab you like I did. It was an idiot move and if anything it’s my fault.”

  Warren handed Arik a clean gauze which he pressed to his face before continuing. “The wounds had actually stopped bleeding but chasing Ashlyn around during one of her temper tantrums raised my blood pressure enough, the injuries started bleeding again.”

  Alexandria heard Warren laugh from the far corner of the lab area. “Ashlyn can be quite the challenge, that’s for sure. Her fiery auburn hair suits her to a T.”

  Jenny interrupted the conversation trying to inspect Arik’s wounds again. “Arik, will you stop avoiding and let me clean your wounds again.”

  “Jenny, no offense to your skills, but I want our healer to see what she can do. We all know the gashes won’t heal with the Wraith’s poisoned energy imbedded in it.”

  Arik focused on Alexandria, and as soon as she realized what he wanted, her nerves got the best of her.

  She backed up from him even as the impulse to heal him screamed in her veins. “Arik, I’m too unpredictable. I could harm you even worse. You can’t be serious. I could come up with some type of pharmaceutical to draw the poison out.”

  Guardian Arik shook his head. “You know there is no medicine that will cure this. The poison will just continue to eat at the flesh. Only you can heal me. Alexandria. I trust you.”

  Alexandria looked at the hand Arik held out to her awaiting her decision to help him or not.

  Fear of her own Powers swirled within her. She was terrified to try and heal him and didn’t want to cause more damage to an honored Guardian who had always stood by the Sphinx no matter what odds were against them. But on the other side of the coin she knew if she did nothing the damage would continue until it was quite possible he could die either from infection or the poisoned energy.

  Taking a deep, fortifying breath, she warily moved over until she stood right in front of him. Carefully, she took the new gauze away from the injury and wanted to cry out at the deep slashes covering his face from eye through his crystalline Guardian ankh on his cheek and ending at his jaw. Her hand shook as she lifted it to cover his cheek. Arik grimaced when her hand rested directly on the wound even though she had been as gentle as possible.

  She didn’t have a choice but needed the direct contact to read the injuries and push her Power directly into him. Her Life Power ramped up and swirled into the wounds immediately upon detection of the pain Arik was experiencing. Alexandria was amazed at the strength Arik had in not showing how much pain he actually had been in. Visibly, she could see his muscles relax, but that was the only give away of his true discomfort.

  Closing her eyes, she allowed her energy to flow into the gouges and assess the damage. There was a lot. Pushing onward she realized she wouldn’t be able to heal the flesh until she purged the poison. Diving into the matrix of the dark energy, she aligned her own healing energy with it. Without her Sphinx side, she wasn’t sure how successful she would be, but she had to try. Alexandria weaved into the dark energy and began pulling it apart and out of Arik. The process was slow and tasking, her heart rate increased, her breathing became labored, and she started to perspire, but she continued on.

  So focused she was on the task of healing, it took Alexandria a moment to pick up on her own internal darkness. Just as before when her dark side sensed the possibility of an energy meal, it turned its interest on what she was doing. She hissed at the inner Wraith pushing it back down into her subconscious. Don’t fuck with me right now, damn it. She couldn’t risk her dark side surfacing while she was so entwined in healing Arik.

  Just in case, though, she directed, “Warren, make sure you’re ready just in case I have any detected Wraith surfacing. Zap me if you have to.”

  Several minutes passed while she continued to remove the poison. Her body began to shake from the effort and she almost jumped out of her skin when Arik placed his hand over hers.

  “Alexandria, if this is too much you can stop. I don’t want to risk you.”

  “No. I can do this.” She growled. “I caused this damage. I’ll fix it.”

  Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. The last of the poison fell away from his system and Alexandria finished breaking it down and shedding energy back out into her surroundings in its neutral form. Switching over to the healing of the flesh was easier because she could work with her own pure Power as well as Arik’s energy. However, it was also more compelling to the suppressed Wraith within her.

  The dark inner Wraith suddenly fought against the barriers containing it within her mind and body. The creature pushed at her consciousness whispering into her mind, Life Power. Give us the Life Power. Now!!!

  Keeping her focus on the healing and fighting back the Wraith was almost more than she could take. She pushed her Power harder to speed up the healing fearing she was going to lose control. She bit at her lip hard using her own pain to focus. If only Joshua was here, his very presence calmed her and gave her the resolve and strength.

  She had not meant to open the Link between Joshua and herself, especially since Joshua had been so overwhelmed with his responsibilities. But there he was. His deep voice floated within her mind soothing her. Alexandria, what is it? I feel your distress. I’ll be right there. His warmth and strength suffused through her calming her enough so she could continue. She wanted to answer him and tell him everything was okay but she just didn’t have the focus beyond the healing and holding back the beast.

  Finally, she felt the last of the wounds seal and the skin beneath her hand was now smooth. She knew there would not even be a scar on Arik’s face which was exactly the way she had wanted it. The life energy within him was evened out and so smooth. Alexandria just wanted to bask in its sparkling light for just a few minutes more and perhaps taste a bit of it.

  Her eyes snapped open realizing where her thoughts were headed. The dark side of her had quietly surfaced while she had been focused on the healing. She noted that Arik slowly and cautiously slid his hand away from hers dropping it to his side in a non-threatening manner. The expression on his face made her suspect her eyes had reverted back to the blackness of the Wraith. In the periphery of her vision, she detected Warren fiddling with the Collar remote in indecision. Her breath rushed in and out faster and faster while she fought to remove her hand from Arik and disengage from his energy. The Wraith within her urged her to pull just a taste for it and all she could do was stay frozen fighting with all her might but she was losing the battle.

  “Lexi, you’re stronger than the darkness. Let go of Arik and come back to me.” Hope bloomed in her. Joshua was so near she could feel his breath against her ear and the internal screeching of the Wraith told her she could win against it even in her weakened state.

  With every bit of concentration she could muster, Alexandria slowly extricated her Power from Arik’s energy and pulled her hand away from his cheek. She fisted her hands, and afraid to touch anyone else, she crossed her arms over her chest. Shaking from head to toe, she tried to move away from Joshua, not wanting to turn against him, but he refused to let her go and instead encircled her in his arms.

  The contact instantly calmed her and the Wraith faded partially into her subconscious. She could still hear it whining in frustration for the missed opportunity
for a meal, but at least, it was mostly suppressed. Covering her face, she just wanted to hide from everyone. What an evil animal they must think her to be.

  Joshua wouldn’t let her stew in her self-abuse, though. He gently grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face.

  “Look, Alexandria. Your healing is extraordinary. Guardian Arik has his old smirking mug back again. Perhaps you should have at least left a scar or two on him to knock down his over confidence a notch or two.”

  Bless Josh. He was trying to make her feel better. And she did when she glanced at Arik. The side of his face was perfectly unmarred and the Guardian marking of the crystalline ankh on his cheek was flawless. Guardian Arik was giving Joshua a scowl too at his comment. It almost made her feel light enough to laugh, but not quite.

  She whispered, “He looks the way he should. Not scarred by a Wraith.”

  No sooner had she said the hated word, the Wraith shrieked within her and she slumped in Joshua’s arms grabbing at her head.

  Joshua lifted her in his arms taking her over to the nearest medical gurney and gently laid her on it. She would have preferred to just stay in Joshua’s arms but she was shaking so violently now it probably wouldn’t have been possible to stand anyway.

  Through her degrading concentration, she head Joshua growl, “Warren, I know healing can take a lot out of her, but what the fuck is going on with the Wraith suppression? I thought you were going to give her the suppression injections while I was dealing with the battles and weapons issue.”

  “I did. The Wraith genetics appears to be building up a resistance to the injections.” Warren came over and placed two syringes on a nearby surgical tray pulling it up to the gurney. “It’s still early but with the healing she’s weakened her ability to fight the inner Wraith off even more. I have to go ahead and give the suppressant to her.”