Legions

by Karice Bolton

  Chapter 13

  We quietly rode back to the house. The pain in my arm was beginning to throb more and more as the adrenaline wore off. I wasn’t sure whether to fill them in on my earlier encounter before the fight just yet or not. I was leaning to the side of divulging everything but was afraid of their reaction. Cyril drove our Jeep into the driveway, and I decided to broach the idea.

  “Thanks again for coming to my rescue. I don’t think I’d have lasted much longer.” I was rather blunt in my delivery.

  “Don’t be hard on yourself. I’m actually quite impressed. The fact that you held your own with her for as long as you did was pretty amazing.” Cyril’s tone was completely recovered from the day before, and I couldn’t detect any hostility from my latest escapades either.

  “You never know. You might have been able to finish her off yourself. You just got a silly little scratch.” Arie’s always optimistic spin made me feel instantly better.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I think we need to continue training with her ASAP since she insists on doing things her own way.” Cyril spoke every syllable very slowly, as if that was my punishment in itself.

  “Thanks for that, Arie… and yes, Cyril, I couldn’t agree more with you. Training is a must!” I won. Finally, they were going to let me in on some of these secrets.

  Looking down at the exposed bone on my arm reinforced how badly I needed combat training. I would finally learn how to fight. Because they gave me a little, I felt I should give them something too, honesty. “I saw Athen.”

  “We all did.” Arie turned around to stare at me.

  “No, I mean before that.” My voice trailed off.

  “How so?”

  “First of all, last night I actually fooled myself into believing I could forget about Athen and valiantly save the world. In my panic, anger, whatever it was, I made myself believe I needed to detach from Athen – start fresh, et cetera. Well, I got to the hospital thinking I’d get her away from him - make my attack, but to my dismay, she was expecting me. The elevator was even set to his floor. It felt like the entire place was frozen in time. None of the workers were around. She knew when I was outside of their room, and she pretended I was her sister once I entered. I went right in, and before I knew it I had my hand on his shoulder, and I felt the electricity between us. It was incredible. Something I know I shouldn’t have done, but it was absolutely incredible. Not only that, when she touched him he retracted from her.”

  “Really?” Arie seemed genuinely excited about this news. Rather than scold me for this, she was more interested in hearing about Athen’s reaction to the demon. Thank God. But, I definitely decided to leave out the part of me telling him that I loved him. “It seems like he’s far more receptive than I’d have thought. Luck could be on our side.”

  “Except for the fact that he stumbled upon the scene and darted.” I mumbled.

  “Well, yeah. That’s a definite complication. But, honestly, nothing is going as it has in the past; so I don’t think we should think the worst. I mean, he has already felt that something was other than it seemed. There was something clueing him into the idea of Angels and Demons at the library. My guess is right now he’s trying to come to grips with everything he has felt and most recently saw. I think oddly enough, he’s intrigued, not scared.”

  “Intrigued? I’d guess suicidal. If I had stumbled onto something like that while I was working up in Whistler, I’d have locked myself away on behalf of society.”

  “Yeah, well you weren’t even thinking that we existed. I doubt your coffee table books dealt with Fallen Angels either so things are definitely a bit more complex with good old Athen.”

  “I just hope he didn’t split,” I was wrestling with getting the key into the door as I spoke, “for good.”

  My arm was throbbing intensely.

  “I’d be willing to bet he’s at his place right now trying to figure out what his next steps should be and literally Googling every possible notion that he’s coming up with.”

  “You think Lilith’s gone from here?”

  “For now, yes. I don’t think we should waste time, though, to get him back. I know she’ll show up again.” Arie took the keys away from me and let us all in to our house since I couldn’t apparently function.

  We all piled our stuff on the living room couch and wandered into the kitchen. Cyril grabbed some Rockstar energy drinks out of the fridge and snapped them open for us all, shoving them at us. I didn’t realize how thirsty or tired I was until I started gulping from the can. He grabbed some medical supplies and began working his magic on my arm.

  Arie had wandered off to her MacBook and seemed to be intrigued by whatever it was that was sitting in her inbox. I was trying to fight the fatigue that was reaching every part of my body. I was hoping the drink would hit soon before I wound up crawling into bed.

  “Ok, guys. Movement is pretty intense out there. Another family member was taken in Montana. They’re getting ready to track them. It happened while their loved one was alone. We’ve got to take this more seriously, you two. That means you too, Ana. No more sneaking off to handle business. We are stronger as a team anyway.” I could feel her eyes penetrating through me etching her seriousness into my soul. I knew they had been too kind to me with everything that I kept doing. She’s been doing a great job of keeping it quiet.

  “I know, and you’re right. I’m really trying to keep everything in check. I even thought I could detach myself from Athen, but that action didn’t even last 24 hours. I’m not in control like I think I’m, that’s for sure. I apologize, guys, for putting you in harms way. I really do.”

  “Ana, you really need to start sharing more with us. No matter how big or small, honestly. The feelings that keep coming over you are normal, and we would understand. In fact, we’ve been through it with Athen and could probably help guide the choices you’re making a little better. You can’t keep everything bottled up. It’s not healthy, and it keeps leading you in the wrong direction. There is no way you can undo your relationship with Athen. We saw you took down the pictures in the hallway, but that doesn’t do it. You’ve got to be more willing to talk to us, Ana. It may not seem like it, but we can help.” Cyril was crushing his can and tossing it into the recycle bin as he spoke his last sentence. “Athen wouldn’t want you to go through this alone. He didn’t.”

  Arie spun around in her chair quickly with her legs tucked in under her and had the typical Arie smile encompassing her lips.

  “Ok, I just fired off an update to everyone. I think we need to get some things done around the house, possibly rest, and definitely put the pictures back up. Most importantly, though, we need to discuss our next moves. Let’s get some great takeout for dinner and plan on a regrouping.”

  I was relieved at those words as I realized that the energy drink didn’t quite do everything I needed, no fault of the drink. Cyril pressed some sort of oddly smelling compress on my arm, slowly taking away the pain. Thing were starting to look up.

  “You know, Ana, how we told you that we had lived our lives separately? We weren’t all just roommates hanging out all of the time.” Cyril snuck a smile as he headed to the fridge for another Rockstar.

  “Really? Do tell!”

  “This really was your home that you shared, ALONE, with Athen. We had one, too, in Seattle. The problem was as things began to happen, similar to now actually, we decided it would be better to stay together for a little while. Granted, our little while can mean 50 years or so, but in the scheme of things, it’s not so long.”

  “Well, that would explain why so many of my memories only include him and I. Thanks for that tidbit yet again. It makes more sense with the things I’ve been finding while digging around here. So now, how about that training? I’m not going to let you guys off the hook.” I said grinning, the façade of the energy drink beginning to overtake my body at long last and the pain in my arm slowly diminishing.

  Chapter 14

  We had
found a secluded area to begin my training. The goal was to go through some of the fundamentals of fighting. Fighting in the underworld was a heck of a lot different than a few fist-fights and slaps. I think once Cyril and Arie walked in on me while I was giving my best effort against Lilith at the hospital, it became pitifully obvious that the best thing for me, at this point, was to expose me to as much as possible. Demon fighting being one of the topics they wanted to explore - along with a glimpse into shapeshifting. Not knowing what other trouble I could possibly get myself into, I wholeheartedly agreed.

  We had walked about four miles up from Anderson Cove in the Sooke Basin. It was drizzling, making it perfect for the activities we had planned. We hadn’t run into any hikers on the entire trail, and I was pretty sure none would show up since the day’s weather was expected to only get worse. Privacy was best for this type of thing for sure.

  The views were absolutely breathtaking, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Peninsula, it made me a little homesick for our Kingston home. Seeing the edge of the Olympic Peninsula, remembering everything wonderful that took place there, I wanted Athen to magically appear by my side and tell me it was all another bad dream. Taking in the lush rain forests from this vantage point also gave me an entirely new respect for the forests that could someday help or hinder us in our fight against the demons. The jagged cliffs were a severe reminder of the danger presented both by human nature and the apparent otherworld that existed in between.

  “Alright, daydreamer.” Cyril shouted, competing against the howling wind and crashing waves from below. “It’s time!”

  Before I knew it, he jumped through the wind and disappeared. My heart started pounding because I had never seen any of them do that before. I was pretty sure it was possible, but I had never seen it. I whipped my head in all directions and couldn’t find him. He literally vanished before my eyes. I hollered for Arie and craned my neck to where she was last standing but all that was left was her backpack.

  “Ok, guys, not cool. Where are you?” I was backing up away from the cliff trying to stay somewhat centered. I was staring intently into the air and nothing was surfacing – nobody was around. All I heard was the wind and possibly laughter.

  The laughter was getting louder and louder, but I still saw nothing. I kept backing up until I was on the edge of the dark forest, not a place I wanted to enter at the moment. Before I knew what happened, I felt my entire body being pulled with a hurricane force. I was no longer on the ground. I saw Arie swirling around in front of me. I felt for what was holding me up and finally found Cyril’s hand around my waist. I reached up behind me, and he was holding onto me. How he was able to grab me so quickly was hopefully one of the many tricks I’d soon be learning. I looked around and realized we were above the forests. I wasn’t just a foot or two off the ground - I was above the Douglas firs and Hemlocks. We weren’t flying. We were floating. I scanned below and saw the crashing waves at the bottom of the granite ledge I had only left moments before. The feeling of freedom was beginning to spread throughout my entire body. This was a real possibility for me. At the moment, yes, I was being held up, but I knew soon I’d be able to do this myself.

  “Watch this, Ana.” Arie shouted as she dove back down to the ground in a swooping motion almost more graceful than the bald eagles we spied on our hike up to this locale. I was in total awe. In the next moment, she shot back into the sky with such energy she turned into a blur. However, she was coming right at us, blur or not. I squeezed onto Cyril’s arm as the threat of her crashing into us became very real.

  “Don’t you worry about us, Ana.” Cyril spoke, attempting to calm my nerves and doing nothing of the sort. She shot right past us and disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing in her trace.

  “Where are you guys going when you do that? I don’t get it.” I asked Cyril.

  “We are still here, but we are so fast, we can’t be seen. It takes some getting used to.” He replied.

  “Well then, how can we trace each other when we are in battle? It seems like it could be a real disadvantage if we can’t see one another.” I felt our bodies slowly begin to descend back down to stable ground. It felt like the most bizarre elevator ride I had ever encountered. I just prayed Cyril didn’t let go.

  “You’ll learn to be able to track energy. See,” Cyril said pointing to a boulder resting on the far edge of the cliff, “Arie is over there.”

  I followed his finger and saw nothing but a moss-covered boulder.

  “Really?” I said a little perturbed.

  “Yeah, I promise. Think of it this way, what do you feel most when you think of Arie? What pops into your head about her?”

  “I’d have to say her positive energy. She gets excited over everything, doesn’t seem to matter what it is. She’s really a bundle of positive energy.”

  “Alright, well, close your eyes and really feel that. Think about Arie, and what she means to us and to the world. Concentrate on what she leaves behind wherever she goes. Feel the vibe she gives off to people around her and her surroundings.”

  My eyes were closed tightly, and I was thinking hard about the infectious way Arie had about her. She was the life of the party and always cheered me up for sure by mere proximity. I thought of her bouncing around in excitement when we were all at the Christmas tree farm when Athen was with us. My heart immediately began warming with these thoughts of her and Athen. I did my best to push him out of my mind for this exercise.

  “Now, open your eyes, and look where I pointed last.”

  I opened my eyes, holding onto the feelings that I had imagined when thinking of Arie. I looked at the boulder and didn’t see anything. Then I looked up above the boulder towards the cloud-covered sky and saw her gracefully making her way down to the boulder, but she was going warp speed.

  “I can see her!” I squealed. I couldn’t believe it. Her hair was blowing behind her swirling around indicating she was going pretty fast.

  “I knew you could do it, Ana. This is the kind of thing we need. You can see why this is pretty important, huh?” Cyril said smiling as we started walking over to meet Arie.

  “So why don’t we use that all the time?” I asked, kind of wondering why we took the slow way around places.

  “It drains quite a bit of energy. We can do it in quick spurts for sure, but it isn’t something that we want to always do because if we need it, we could be out of luck. That and shapeshifting can leave us pretty drained. In certain circumstances, it’s a must. We don’t want to use it as a crutch though. The real thing we need to focus on with you right now are your fighting abilities and your strength.

  “So is that speed thing something you think I’ll be able to do pretty soon or is that a sneak preview that I’ll have to wait years for?” I asked, unsure that I could ever master that kind of power.

  “Geez, Ana. As fast as you seem to be catching onto things I’d say, with practice, a month or so… Not that far off really.” Arie said, hugging Cyril. “Better get started with the serious stuff now, Cy.” She swatted him on his butt.

  “Gotcha. Ana, stand over by the trees. First thing we want to work on is your running attacks.”

  I walked back over to the trees that were dripping with moss, creating the rich rainforest green the Northwest was so known for. I spun around ready to absorb everything Cyril and Arie were ready to divulge. This time it looked like it was Cyril’s turn to show off. He was positioned in a crouch, not unlike the ones I had seen him in during the attacks when Athen was with us all. He was low to the ground, hunching over with his arm in front of him like he was ready to win a track event.

  He jetted towards me with a speed that rivaled Arie’s acrobatics in the air. I actually wasn’t sure if he was on the ground, or possibly just grazing it as he jetted towards me. In a flash, he was behind me pushing down the towering Douglas fir with momentum from his movements, nothing more. The ground began to shake as the roots were flinging up, releasing themselves through th
e soil like a bucket full of snakes being thrown into the wind. Arie pulled me into the air with her before I was engulfed by the havoc that was being created in mere seconds by Cyril. The loud snapping of the limbs as they brushed against the other trees on their way down was nothing compared to the thunderous crash the trunk of the fir tree made once it contacted the ground. I couldn’t believe that kind of destruction could be done with Cyril only running 30 feet. It also made me wonder with such power, how could Athen have lost against the demons? How much more powerful are they than us? Arie set me back down on the ground where a mini crater was now staring back at us from Cyril’s act of destruction.

  “Good thing a wind storm is scheduled for tonight.” Cyril said, his cockiness not to be missed.

  “Now, I want you to emulate what you saw, Ana.” Cyril said, as if that were a real possibility.

  “Um, right okay. I’ll just start running towards that boulder over there and hope for the best. By the way, should I stop once I get to it or just keep going?” I joked.

  “With that attitude, I’d suggest stopping beforehand.” Cyril said, not amused with my humor. This wasn’t a side of Cyril I had really seen before. “Come on, Ana. Think about what you learned when you saw Arie when you thought you couldn’t.”

  “What… I’m supposed to become one with the rock? Honestly, I’m sorry. I don’t see the correlation between a living person and a piece of stone.”

  “It’s not about living or not living, Arie. It’s about energy. Projecting your energy on an item, and receiving energy from an item. Tell yourself what you want to do, and let the energy begin to consume yourself and the item of interest. You’ll be surprised.”

  Interestingly enough, I was kind of starting to get what they were talking about. If I can see it, and if I can believe it, then I can achieve it - self help 101. Great!