Shattered Souls (The Toren Series, Book 1)

by Lola StVil

  It was the wrong thing to say.

  RJ roars and rushes Ryder again, but this time, he’s ready for him. They go down in a tumble of writhing limbs and curse words.

  I break myself free from my shock.

  “Stop,” I say, running to them and trying to pull them apart. Nix follows suit.

  I grab Ryder and Nix grabs RJ. We struggle to separate them.

  Ryder pulls and twists in my grasp.

  “Stop,” I say again.

  Again, it has no effect.

  Parker moves closer to us and positions herself between RJ and Ryder as they continue to try to get to each other.

  Nix manages to wrestle RJ to the ground and attempts to reason with him.

  “Come on, man. This is Ryder. Your best friend. At least hear him out.”

  It occurs to me that Nix knows nothing of the situation and probably thinks it’s a simple misunderstanding.

  He fails miserably as peacekeeper, and RJ breaks free.

  “Move,” he tells Parker, his voice dangerously low.

  “No.” she says, “You two need to talk about this. Fighting like this? It’s not us.”

  “Yeah?” RJ says. “I used to think screwing each other’s girlfriends wasn’t us either. I guess we were both wrong.”

  He reaches out and pushes Parker aside. She stumbles, and without thinking I let go of Ryder as I reach out to steady her.

  RJ and Ryder are locked into another fistfight. I’m dreading the moment one of them gets so angry they use their powers on the other. My money is on RJ losing it.

  Once they do that, there’s no going back, and I can’t let that happen.

  I have to find a way to end this, but I don’t know how.

  Fists are flying so quickly there seems to be hands everywhere. They move so fast it’s all becoming a blur.

  I can hear muffled cries as blows hit their targets.

  I try to move between them, but this time, there’s no stopping them. I feel a fist hit my mouth and my lip explodes with silver blood.

  I stagger back slightly, blood pouring freely down my chin. I wipe it away. I can feel my own temper flaring now, but I have to stay in control of myself.

  I can hear Parker trying to talk them down, but she might as well be singing a nursery rhyme in German for all the effect it’s having.

  Nix ducks in and out, trying to get a hold on one of them, but he’s having the same luck I had. None at all.

  Only Fish does nothing. She stands to one side, watching the action unfolding like she’s watching a movie.

  As I move back towards them for another try, I hear footsteps approaching. Before I can say or do anything, Summit appears in the clearing, her face barely concealing her rage at what she sees before her.

  “Enough!” she shouts. She fires a ball of bright white light into the air to punctuate her command.

  Her voice carries an authority that floors us all.

  The leader in Summit just came out to play; that’s hot.

  It does the job, and Ryder and RJ both drop their fists to their sides. They continue to glower at each other, and I know it won’t be long before they start again.

  Summit catches sight of my bloody lip.

  “Are you alright?” she asks.

  I reach up and wipe the blood from my chin. I nod.

  She whirls on RJ and Ryder.

  “What the hell are you two thinking?” she shouts.

  “He’s screwing my girlfriend.”

  “He just came at me.”

  They both speak at the same time, and Summit holds up a hand, silencing them again.

  “I don’t want to hear it. This isn’t the time or the place for this.”

  “It’s exactly the time and place for this,” RJ sneers, and he throws himself at Ryder again.

  Before any of us have a chance to react, I hear running footsteps and within seconds, the clearing is filled with guards. They must have seen Summit’s power and figured there was a fight going on.

  They pour into the clearing, firing their powers around and shouting.

  Well, that escalated quickly.

  I go to take a step towards them and try to explain that we’ve got this handled, when I feel a hand on my arm. I glance around and Fish nods towards the castle.

  She’s right. The guards are out here. This is our chance.

  I quickly grab Parker and Nix.

  “Keep this going as long as you can. Cause as much of a scene as you need to to keep the guards out here.”

  They nod, and instantly, Parker springs into action.

  “This is all your fault. How could you?” she screams at Nix.

  He follows her lead.

  “Don’t start on me, you little bitch,” he counters, firing a stream of red plasma over her shoulder and into the side of the fountain.

  I almost laugh at Summit’s comical expression as she watches in horror as the plasma beam burns a hole through the fountain and water floods everywhere.

  “Is that the best you can do?” Parker sneers and launches into the air, flying straight at Nix.

  Fish grabs my arm and we hurry away from the rapidly escalating scene before us. I go to head back the way we came, but Fish pulls me away.

  “There’s an open window around here,” she says. “It’ll save trying to get through the crowd with your lip bleeding all over.”

  I let her lead the way.

  “Nice diversion,” she says as we run towards the furthest turret of the castle.

  “That wasn’t the plan,” I admit.

  Her eyes widen in surprise.

  “So RJ and Ryder were really going for it?” she asks.

  I nod.

  “Wow,” she says. “I might have helped if I’d known.”

  She pauses a moment.

  “Nah, I wouldn’t. Don’t want to ruin the dress.”

  I shake my head at her and she grins.

  We reach the castle and she points out the open window as she slips off her heels and pushes them close to the wall. I think this is a good move.

  The window is pretty high up. I’ll have to carry her up. I unfurl my wings, but before I can grab her, she’s gone.

  She shimmies up the castle wall like a spider on a drainpipe, using hand and foot holds I wouldn’t have even spotted. I watch her flip through the window and I fly up and join her.

  She strides away and I follow.

  “How do you know where you’re going?” I ask, suddenly afraid that we’ll end up lost.

  She smirks at me. “You think I’d come here unprepared?”

  I shake my head. I should have known that she’d have found a way to learn the layout of this place like it’s her own.

  I follow her along a series of winding passages. She stops at the top of a winding staircase.

  “The vault is down there. It’s guarded by four Quos at all times. They have a mental link to their superior officer. I don’t know exactly how it works, but from what I do know, we can subdue them, but if we go too far and kill any, it triggers an alarm with their superior and we’ll have the full squad down here in minutes.”

  My mouth drops open in awe.

  “I see you continue to underestimate me,” Fish says.

  “I just…,” I start. “Never mind.”

  I position myself in front of her and creep down the stairs. I move as quietly as I can, but compared to Fish’s catlike silence, I might as well blow a trumpet and shout here I am.

  We reach the bottom of the staircase. Two doors open off a small hallway. Fish nods to the one on the right.

  I motion for her to open it. She seems to understand and puts her hand on the handle.

  She holds her other hand up with three raised fingers. She brings one down, then the other. She throws the door open as wide as it will go, and I rush into the passageway ahead.

  At the end of it is another large door. That’s all I have time to take in as the four Quos who were standing at attention, two at either side of it, like s
tatues in a museum, burst into life.

  The hallway is unusually narrow, and as the guards form an orderly line I see why. They can’t be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

  They run towards me and I start to rush forward.

  “Don’t go any further,” Fish hisses at me.

  Something in the urgency of her voice stops me and I stand still, waiting for them to reach me.

  The first one fires a ball of orange light into the air, and it explodes, revealing a large orange snake that hisses angrily and strikes towards me. I fire at it, and it disappears with a hiss of anger. A small dart flies past my ear, and I allow myself a quick look back.

  Fish stands just behind me, her feet firmly planted and what looks like a miniature crossbow aimed at the guards.

  I don’t even want to imagine where she had that hidden.

  The dart hits the snake Quo in the thigh and he goes down.

  “One down, three to go,” Fish says.

  I relax slightly. She can handle herself, and I don’t have to be so vigilant about where she is.

  The next guard in line steps over the body of his fallen comrade and I fire at him. My ball of light hits him squarely in the chest and he too goes down.

  This isn’t going to be so hard, I think.

  I thought it too soon. The next guard is a huge hulk of a man. I fire at him, but my power bounces off as harmlessly as if I’d thrown a peanut at him. I fire again, to no avail. Fish fires off another dart. It goes in his neck, but he just keeps advancing, the dart sticking out of him not even slowing him down.

  He wears a menacing grin as he comes closer. I give up firing at him as I see that his power is a shield. The only way to defeat him is to find the one vulnerable spot.

  I have to let him get closer. The vulnerable spot will be small, and I’ll only get one shot at this.

  As he gets closer, I concentrate and see the light blue sheen to his skin that shows his protection. I need to find the spot that’s uncovered.

  It’s hard to concentrate though when he raises an axe above his head with both hands. His smile never falters.

  He’s practically on me, and I still haven’t found my target. I fire another couple of useless balls of white light at him. I aim for his face, hoping to distract him.

  He lets go of the axe with one hand and rubs at his face. He doesn’t show any sign of pain, only irritation. It looks as though he’s walked through a cobweb.

  He swings the axe with his one remaining hand and I fire again. The ball of white light explodes against his eyes, and he’s momentarily blinded by the light.

  The axe swings wildly. I spring up into the air, narrowly missing having my legs cut off at the knees.

  I come back down, still searching frantically over his body.

  Suddenly, Fish leaps into the air, vaulting up and landing on the giant’s back. She pulls her arm back, a war cry escaping her lips as she plunges the arm down towards his.

  He does down. He lands face-first with a huge thud, and I see Fish behind him. A dart handle protrudes from the back of his arm, its blade buried to the hilt in the one weak spot.

  Fish grins at me and I can’t help but grin back. I’m in my element here, fighting through the enemy, and I have to admit Fish is a good ally to have by my side.

  We turn to face the final Quo.

  She is short and thin and she looks about as slippery as Fish is. Something tells me that underestimating her because of her size would be a mistake.

  She runs at me, and as she does, her eyes turn wholly red. A beam of intense red light pours from each eye socket, one coming towards each of us. I launch up into the air, grabbing Fish as I do.

  I fire back, deflecting the beams and momentarily stunning the Quo. It doesn’t last long.

  She comes at us again, and this time, her eyes go blue. Without warning, I find myself surrounded by blue light. I don’t feel any pain, but I know this can’t be good.

  Tentatively, I reach out to touch the blue light. As soon as I touch it, I feel a jolt go through my body. I pull my hand back, but not before I smell my arm hair singeing.

  She’s encased me in a ball of electric-like power.

  It’s all on Fish now.

  I watch as Fish crouches low, avoiding the blue beam that goes for her.

  “Bring it on, sister,” she taunts the Quo as she straightens up.

  Without warning, Fish crouches down again and pushes herself up into a leap that leaves me openmouthed. Her feet make contact with the wall of the hallway, and she bounces from there down onto the Quo, bringing her down to the floor.

  The Quo bucks wildly, pinned down by Fish. I watch in horrified fascination as Fish pulls a vial of green liquid seemingly out of nowhere and splashes it into the Quo’s eyes.

  The sound of her scream will stay with me forever. It is a savage mix of pain and anger. The sound of an animal caught in a hunter’s trap.

  Her eyeballs slowly melt and drip down her face. As they do, the blue light surrounding me fades until it is gone.

  “Shit, Fish,” I comment.

  She stands up from on top of the Quo.

  “Relax. It’s only temporary. We’ve got about fifteen minutes before she’s eyeing us up again—get it? Eyeing us up?”

  I get it. Fish has a twisted sense of humor for sure.

  “Let’s go,” I say, eager to get this over with.

  “Wait here,” Fish says.

  “What?”

  “Just do it, unless you want every guard in the place down here to celebrate your untimely death.”

  I don’t argue. She knows what she’s doing, and for better or worse, my only choice right now is to trust her.

  I watch, not really sure what I’m seeing as Fish makes her way along the hallway.

  She starts by taking a few steps back. She stands up straight, her hands above her head.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve remembered this right. If I’m wrong, I’m dead. When the guards get here, tell them who I am and that you saw me slip away and followed me down here. It might just save you from the torture before they kill you.”

  Before I can ask her what she’s talking about, she’s off in a blur of movement.

  She jumps forward, springing from her feet to her hands and back again. She springs to the left and carefully flips onto one hand, then back onto just one foot.

  She springs up into the air, keeping her head bent low and twisting in a way I didn’t think was possible for anyone. She lands in a crouch and sidesteps twice to the left.

  She pulls herself into a tight ball and forward rolls a couple of paces, then flattens herself onto her belly and army crawls along.

  She stops abruptly and stands back up.

  She carefully lifts her foot higher than her other knee and steps forward with an exaggerated stride.

  She repeats this three times, and then finally, she turns around and bounces up into the air again, finishing the curious routine with a series of wholly impressive backflips.

  I have absolutely no idea what just happened.

  “Well, I’m still alive, so I guess my memory is still pretty sharp.” Fish smiles.

  She turns to a panel on the wall behind her and quickly presses a series of buttons, each making a loud beep.

  I watch as a series of red laser beams cut the air between us. I know now why she told me not to go any further, and why she traversed the hallway in such a weird way.

  “Instant death rays,” she says absently. “Now, I just need to cut them off…”

  She trails off and studies the panel. Her finger comes up and hesitates for a second, then it flies into action, pressing in another sequence. The lasers disappear.

  “Okay, you can come through now,” she says with a shrug.

  I step into the hallway where only moments earlier I’d have been cut to ribbons.

  “Ah good, it worked,” Fish says.

  “You mean you weren’t sure?”

  “Of course I was sure.” She laughs. �
�I just wanted to see your face.”

  I roll my eyes at her. It seems to be fast becoming my standard response to her teasing.

  I join her and look at the door in dismay.

  “Unless you’ve got a stick or two of explosive on you, we’re not getting in there, are we?”

  The door is metal, and a single thump on it reveals just how thick it is. There’s no sign of a handle or any way in.

  “Really? You’re still underestimating me?” she says with raised eyebrows.

  She rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the keypad.

  “The code changes every minute, and in theory, you’re right—there’s no getting in there. But luckily, I have friends who know about these things. Years ago, I broke into a vault that used the same system, and assuming it hasn’t changed too much, I can crack the code.”

  I don’t even ask how. I just nod at her to get on with it.

  We’re running out of time. She said the mixture she used to deaden the last Quo’s powers would last fifteen minutes. We have about eleven of them left.

  Fish taps out a series of numbers on the keypad. When she’s done, she waits and a loud double bleep sounds, followed by a hissing of air.

  The door releases.

  “Ta da,” Fish says with a sarcastic bow.

  I once again roll my eyes at her and step into the vault. It’s cool to the point of cold in here. I swallow hard when I see the rows upon rows of drawers that line the walls. We could be here for an awfully long time. I hope Fish has more of that mixture. I daren’t ask because I’m afraid of the answer.

  “You take the left-hand side, I’ll take the right,” I say.

  We start opening and closing drawers. I find myself amused by the squeaks of delight and longing that issue from Fish at some of the sights in the drawers.

  I’m not surprised she’s impressed. So far, I’ve seen a diamond far bigger than anything I’ve ever heard of, a vial of something that I don’t dare touch, and a gold ingot.

  The next ones contain a mixture of angel feathers and demon hearts.

  “Look at this!” Fish squeals, putting a solid platinum tiara on her head. The rubies embedded in it catch the light and glint majestically.

  “Put it back,” I tell her. “You’re only here for the box.”

  “Spoilsport,” she huffs, but she does as she’s told.