The Heart of Arima.

by Emma V. Leech

  I sat down beside Rodney and we looked over the beautiful view spread out below us.

  “Pretty,” I said, handing him a rather crumbly packet of Jammy Dodgers. He took one and bit into it with a shrug.

  “Bleedin’ awesome, but I’d still rather be ‘ome wiv Milly.”

  I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. “Yeah, me too. You shouldn’t have come, you know.”

  “Aw, I didn’t mean it like that, you know I’ll always be ‘ere when you need me.”

  I looked up at him and smiled. “I know that. You’ve never let me down yet.”

  I heard a sob on the other side of him and we looked up to see Dimitri dabbing at his eyes with a large handkerchief. “Bleedin’ ‘ell, now you’ve done it.” He sighed. Rodney reached over and patted the big man on the back and Dimitiri waved his handkerchief at him.

  “S’alright, Dimitri is alright. You are big friends though, is good, it touch my heart.”

  “Touched in the ‘ead you ask me,” Rodney muttered in my ear and I smiled but felt sadder than ever. I was going to miss everyone so very much.

  “OK, let’s go.”

  We looked up to see Corvus and Cain gesturing for us to get moving. They were silhouetted against the orange sky, and bathed in the deep golden light. They looked like ancient gods themselves; terrifying in their beauty. Even Cain with all his scars and tattoos, his red hair blazing a fiery bronze, seemed touched by some great power. I felt a little flare of hope seeing the two of them side by side. Together they were so very powerful. Maybe ... Then I remembered just how it felt to stand before Dis Pater and the hope shriveled and died. There was no getting away from him, not this time.

  Corvus offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet, and we began our descent down the mountain side. They had decided we would make camp beside the river early tonight, not that there ever was a night and day here, as the sun remained suspended in the same position throughout all eternity.

  According to the maps we had made camp just a few hours away from the Ekhidna’s lair, a fact that was going to make it hard for anyone to get any sleep. Dimitri volunteered to take first watch and everyone settled down around the fire we had built to get what rest we could. The smell of roast pork lingered in the air as I lay with my head in the crook of Corvus’ arm and tried not to wonder what it would be like to fight a she-dragon. We had a strategy in place, which Cain had made us repeat continually until I wanted to stab him in the chest with something pointy way before we even got to the bloody Ekhidna.

  “Corvus?”

  “Hmm.”

  “Are you alright?”

  There was a moment’s hesitation before he answered. “Of course.”

  “I mean, do you need to feed?”

  “Oh, no, I took care of that at the cottage.”

  “Oh, yes of course.” I tried not to frown and wondered who he had chosen. He had told me he wouldn't feed from me on this journey as I needed my strength. I'd had to agree, albeit ungraciously.

  “Stop thinking, Jéhenne.”

  I sighed and snuggled closer. “Sorry.” I tried to close my eyes and sleep but it was impossible. “You still awake?”

  “With you fidgeting? Of course I’m awake.”

  “Does it taste different?”

  “What?”

  “Faery blood, does it taste different?”

  “Yes, it’s sweeter, it’s the magic.”

  “Is it nicer ...than--than human blood?”

  He chuckled and I felt his shoulders vibrate. “Oh, Jéhenne.”

  “I’m not jealous! I’m just ...curious.”

  “No, my heart, it is very sweet indeed. So at first it is lovely but very quickly becomes sickly. I cannot stomach much at all but the magic makes it more powerful, so thankfully I needed very little.” He turned onto his side and looked down at me. “I would have much preferred to taste you again,” he said, trailing a finger down my neck to my collarbone. “But you need your strength.” The trail of his finger seemed to leave a burning mark against my skin and my eyes dropped to his mouth. I watched as his eyes flicked to the sleeping figures huddled around us and he grimaced.

  I pouted. “Not a lot of privacy here is there?”

  He sighed and shook his head. “No, there isn’t, so stop looking at me like that or I will shock everyone to their bones.”

  I laughed and touched his lips with my fingers. “Sounds interesting.”

  He nipped at my fingers before giving me a stern look. “Go to sleep, you little hussy.”

  I sighed, wishing we were back at the cottage again. “I can’t, I keep seeing that bloody monster every time I close my eyes.”

  “Shall I help you?”

  “Yes please.”

  I didn’t even hear his command, but I drifted into sleep and didn’t dream about dragons.

  The next morning everyone was edgy, and Inés and Cyd very nearly came to blows until Corvus lost his temper and told them both to shut the hell up. Cyd shut up instantly and looked suitably chastised, whereas Inés glared at him and I saw the sparks flickering at her finger tips until she saw the look on my face. She smiled sweetly at me and carried on packing up her things. Only Corvus and Cain appeared unaffected. With Corvus I realised, whatever he looked like, he was worried for my safety, though he knew better than to fuss, but Cain ... Who knew? He could be looking forward to the fight or scared to death. I had no idea. I decided to ask him.

  “You OK?”

  He nodded, while going through his morning routine. For most people thats would mean, shower, clean teeth, breakfast. He did all those things too but his included a military style check of equipment, potions, the blades on his many, many knives and throwing stars. It was kind of unnerving. It was obviously all the answer I was going to get so I offered him one of the biscuits Raeshe had given us. They were the same as Corin had once given me, what seemed like a lifetime ago. They provided all the nutrition your body needed for a day, just in the one biscuit; handy for long journeys. He shook his head.

  “I’ve eaten.”

  My brother, the conversationalist. I sighed and decided to admit defeat when he drew out a soft cloth from his bag and unwrapped it carefully. I felt my heart stop when I saw what it contained. The knife of Belial glinted in the everlasting sunset.

  “What the hell are you doing with that?” I demanded. The last time I had seen it, it had been buried in Rafael's belly.

  Corvus looked round sharply.“Put it away, Cain.”

  I looked up at him, surprised at the anger his voice. More surprising was the look Cain returned before stowing it safely back in his bag.

  “We need it, Jéhenne, to kill the dragon,” Corvus said, kicking dirt over the embers of the fire

  I nodded. Of course, the knife could kill anything, no matter how powerful, no matter whether they were immortal or creatures of magic. The knife would take a life of any kind.

  “But I though Sariel took it?”

  “I asked for it back.”

  "He gave it to you to kill the dragon?"

  Corvus nodded silently and gave the fire one last kick, looking around at everyone. “Let’s go.”

  With collective groans and muttered curses, everyone got to their feet and followed him as he led us closer to Arima, the lair of the Ekhidna. Apart from the occasional swear word as someone tripped over a plant, no one said anything, though it was mostly me tripping. We were all too wired. In all honesty I wasn’t the least concerned for my own safety, and that wasn’t due to any as yet undiscovered heroic tendencies. It was simply because I knew Dis Pater wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I had to keep my deal with Sariel, then I was his. He wouldn’t give a damn about my friends though, and killing Corvus, hurting the people I cared for would just make his day complete. I had to keep them safe.

  We were following the river as it twisted and turned, writhing like a great, golden snake amongst the rich foliage. Birds chattered and sang and we saw bright flashes of colour as they flitted b
etween the trees. Moths the size of my hand flew up in great clouds as we disturbed them on our journey, sending the dust from their wings into the air and making Dimitri sneeze. He took out his handkerchief again, blowing his nose enthusiastically and I hoped he had some clean ones in the massive back pack he was carrying. We were walking through what felt like a dense jungle now, the river still rushing along with us on our right.

  From out of the trees a tiny monkey appeared, chattering madly and ran up my leg to my arm, where it clung to me, trembling.

  “Oh, how swee--”

  “Don’t touch it!” Corvus and Cain yelled in unison and my hand hovered just millimetres from the creature. Too late though, as the little bastard reached out its head and bit into the fleshy part of my thumb. “Son of a bitch!” I yelled flinging my arm out and sending the monkey flying into the undergrowth. There was some indignant chattering and a rustle of leaves before the bloody thing scurried off into the jungle.

  “Would you stroke a monkey at the zoo, you moron?” Cain demanded.

  “It was cute!” I yelled back.

  “Don’t try and pet the damned Ekhidna, OK?”

  “Ha bloody ha!”

  Cain shook his head and muttered, "Idiot." I was about to open my mouth in reply when Corvus butted in.

  “That will be all, children,” he said, taking my thumb to inspect the damage. He sighed and rolled his eyes, looking at me despairingly. “He has a point, Jéhenne.”

  “I know, I know. It was idiotic," I said, pouting. "It was cute though.”

  He chuckled before taking my thumb in his mouth and sucking it gently. I felt the colour rush to my face as heat pooled south of my navel and saw Cyd turn away smothering a grin. Damn vampires and their freaky ability to smell emotions, she’d know exactly what that just did to me. She wasn’t the only one. “All better.” He gave my newly healed thumb a final lick with the tip of his tongue and I saw his eyes glint as I drew in a sharp breath.

  “Tease,” I muttered before picking up my back pack and then jumping out of my skin. My blood froze in my veins at the sound that rent the air, sending the birds screeching out of the trees in terror.

  “Bleedin' ‘ell.” Rodney stepped closer to me and the group closed up as another roar ripped through the trees.

  Cain looked at me and, for once, I saw his eyes glittering with excitement. “We’ve found it.”

  Chapter 50

  “I’ve changed my mind, I want to go home.”

  It was a feeble joke as it was far too near the truth but Rodney gave me a smile. “Yeah, let’s nip home, ‘ave a nice cup of tea ... come back later eh?”

  “Sounds good.”

  I watched as Cain got the knife of Belial out and arranged it amongst various others on the many belts and straps that crisscrossed his body. We stashed the bags out of sight, only taking the items we might need. Rodney and Cyd loaded themselves up with metal stakes and ropes which had cost Corvus enough to buy a small country. Apparently they were elvish in origin, and magically strong enough to bind even an Ekhidna. Inés carried a small first aid kit that she had prepared to cover emergencies of the kind we might encounter. Dimitri, Corvus and I didn’t need to carry anything at least. I looked up to see Cyd scenting the air.

  “It’s about a kilometer away.” She pointed into the jungle. “That way.”

  I could now hear a low rumble in the distance and looked at Cain. “What’s that noise?”

  “Just a waterfall, Jéhenne.” Corvus came over to me and squeezed my hand; taking my face in the other, he kissed my forehead. “Take care, my heart.”

  I nodded. “You too.” I couldn’t say any more but I knew he could see the worry in my eyes. No words could cover the fear that was beating in my heart.

  We trod carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible. For the vampires it was no problem, and Cain seemed to move with the stealth of a panther. The rest of us however, crashed about and simply tried not to fall over. Vines hung down from the trees and wound across the ground and they seemed determined to trip us up, and for the last few miles the ground had been becoming increasingly boggy. Large areas of thick, black mud hid beneath the undergrowth and sucked you down if you trod in them by accident. Not so deep to be a danger in themselves but they would slow me down if I got stuck and I couldn’t afford that. I was paying so much attention to my feet that I discovered in alarm the next roar that rang in my ears was now appallingly close by. We’d obviously covered more ground than I realised. The deep rumbling sound was becoming almost deafening now but the hiss and roar of the monster was still easily discernible over the din.

  I tried to swallow down the biscuit I had eaten earlier but it seemed to be permanently lodged in my throat. My stomach was churning with fear, my heart sending the blood rushing through my veins at such a rate that my skin was alive with sensation. My fight or flight instinct was on full alert, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, and every sense screamed at me to turn around and get the hell away from whatever was making those noises. Sadly, it just wasn’t an option.

  Sariel wanted his heart back, and his heart was in the belly of the Ekhidna. Apparently it was a part of his punishment, for something as pure as an angel’s heart to be laying in the filth of such a wicked creature’s insides, amongst the churned remains of her victims. In all honesty I had my doubts about Sariel’s heart being pure. He was too terrifying himself to be considered all goodness in my eyes, and he had sent me here after all. Maybe it was the lack of a heart that was the problem?

  I pushed myself forward. I couldn’t give in to the urge to run, no matter how strong it might be, and finally I emerged from the jungle. In all I had read about the Ekhidna I had known there would be a mixture of truth and fantasy but nothing prepared me for the reality of what we were facing. Some of the descriptions had depicted her as the mother of all monsters, as half snake, half woman. Typically the woman half was usually drawn as a beautiful, large-breasted maiden; the truth was rather more ...real.

  We had spread out and myself, Dimitri and Inés were ranged around a steep cliff top where the ground fell sharply away in front of us. To my right, the river we had been following crashed over the edge of the drop, roaring down into the deep ravine where the monster appeared to be waiting for us. The cliff we were standing on curved around in a semi-circle, and I could see from my vantage point that her home, a deep, dark cave, was sunk into the cliff face.

  This was Arima, the lair of the Ekhidna.

  It was a sheer drop of maybe two hundred feet down the cliff, and yet we still had to look up to see her face. It was far from the face of the beautiful maiden of some of her descriptions. It was true, there was the semblance of human shape to the top half of her body. She had a torso, very short arm-like appendages, and the suggestion of a face, with two pitiless black eyes. My research had told us those eyes were blind. She hunted by taste and smell. Her forked tongue darted out, tasting the air, searching, searching.

  I watched with my heart in my mouth as Corvus and Cyd leapt down into the ravine. Cain and Rodney followed, though they climbed down, their feet sending debris and small stones skittering down the cliff. The noise or maybe their scent drew her attention and the monster began to turn in their direction. On the cliff top Inés, Dimitri and I began our work.

  Fire rained down into the ravine from our hands and the monster roared again. As the noise subsided I could hear the terrified screech of animals and birds as they fled in all directions. The noise of the beast deafened us once more, shuddering the ground at our feet. Suddenly growing in size, she pulled herself up, uncurling part of her massive, scaled body, glinting dull red in the sunlight. The tail flicked and smashed to the ground. The armoured, black snake skin sent rocks and debris showering down on the three now in the ravine.

  Following Cain’s instructions we attacked her without cease, aiming for those unseeing eyes and the interior of her mouth where she was most vulnerable. She roared again as Inés struck home with
a fire spell that erupted on impact by her eye, and Dimitri and I followed the attack, sending more fire into the open mouth, past the great fangs that glistened with venom. Suddenly striking, her head darted forward and I screamed as Dimitri leaped to the side. One fang missed him by inches but the venom flicked out splattering his legs and burning through the material of his trousers. I could hear him screaming in pain but could do nothing to help except try and distract her. I could hear the rush of fire exploding all around the creature’s head and the undergrowth at our backs began to burn too, sending smoke curling into the sky. It made my eyes sting and I struggled for breath as I worked.

  From down in the ravine I could smell the overpowering scent of Cain’s magic, drifting up to mingle with our own as the fire blazed from my hands. Inés was diagonally across from me, her hands also alight with magic.

  I saw the creature raise its head, ready to strike again. I braced myself as the head began to turn in my direction when there was an explosion down in the ravine and the monster’s head was thrown back as it roared in agony. Not letting up the attack, I glanced down to see a large wound in the snake’s body and blood oozing sluggishly down the black scales to pool on the ground. The tail thrashed out as the creature writhed in pain and hit the wall of the ravine, sending a landslide of rocks heading towards my brother. “Cain!” I screamed at him to move, though he would never have heard me over the roar of massive boulders as they tumbled to the ground. He was moving, fast but not fast enough, as a blur of movement snatched him out of the way. My heart leapt when I saw he was standing with Corvus as the rocks swallowed up the space where he had been only moments before.

  As we kept the fire spells burning around her head from the cliff, Corvus and Cain resumed their attack, focusing on the wound they had created while Cyd and Rodney threw ropes across the thrashing tail. Cyd held on to one end of the rope for all she was worth, while Rodney tied off the other end to large metal pin he had hammered into the ground, before rushing to Cyd. She had been dragged off of her feet, sliding on her back as her heels tried to find purchase on the floor. Rodney leapt for her, grabbing hold of her under her arms and hauling her to her feet. She braced herself again, arms straining with effort as Rodney hammered in another stake and together they hauled on the rope, tying it off before Cyd threw down a new coil of rope to repeat the process.