by Jaymin Eve
We have to try and figure out how to manage this much power! I was shouting mentally, hoping that someone could hear me.
Maybe we need to use the animals …
That was from Ria, and I thought it was a brilliant idea. Although, I had no idea how to make that happen.
I decided to just throw more tethers in the guides’ direction. Of course, all that happened was some of my energy left for a moment, before returning to me again. The sensations we were battling right then were a lot like the moment we absorbed the Crais sun, a power that would eventually destroy us. We gained no control, and when I couldn’t take it any longer I severed the connection between the seven of us.
My body smashed into the stark ground. I wasn’t the only one. All of us heaved and breathed deeply, trying to regroup.
“Okay, so that really didn’t work.” Eva had a bit of a scowl going on and it was directed at me. “Thought you knew what you were doing?”
“Abby is no god. She knows no more than us. We learn together. The seven of us have never joined. Six was powerful, but seven is too much.” My unexpected defender was Sapha.
It must be Eva’s turn to be the outsider-attitude-problem-Walker. One after the other. I had to go through the same stupid dance each time before I earned their trust.
“It has to be something to do with the animals,” Talina said, defusing the situation.
She stretched out her spine, an attempt to work out the aches. The emerald strands of her hair twisted around her. They had a life of their own. Though they did look a little parched right then.
“The Mother God wouldn’t have mentioned them if they weren’t important.”
She was right. But how was I supposed to connect to them and the females? We all hit the deck again as another sweep from a dragoona came a little too close. The majority of the scaled beasts were forming some type of battle circle above us. They were going to attack together.
“Can you get rid of them, Fury?” Delane had her twin axes in her hands, twirling them around as she took in the scene above us.
“No,” Fury said with a hitch in her voice. “I’ve tried, but it seems that as soon as they appear, you can’t will them away.”
Okay, well here’s hoping everyone else was more circumspect with their thoughts or we’d soon be running from every dangerous creature that had existed across the seven worlds.
A shadow fell over me, the darkness obvious against the white of the area. I dived down, expecting to feel flames wash across my skin. But this time it wasn’t a dragoona; it was Cerberus.
My hellhound stood protectively above me. He was growing in size, and soon would be bigger than most of the Crais fire-lizards. Which was great, but he was only one, and Fury had imagined up dozens to face us. She was an overachiever, our fiery half-Walker.
Then the other sacred animals crowded closer too. All of them could change their size to some degree, although most of them were not as big as Cerberus. Except for Apollo. That water dragon was a massive beast.
As I reached out and ran a hand over the bristly fur of my hellhound, I could also feel his power. Simmering beneath the surface. It gave me a sudden thought.
“Everyone touch your animal,” I barked out.
My tether was already at the ready, and the moment I saw the connection between each female and her guide, I sent the golden cord free.
It was a veritable explosion of energy. The ground beneath us shook. The air around us shimmered. And the dragoonas who had been about to dive and make minced meat of us were no longer in the sky. For the first time since joining all the half-Walkers as seven, we were all able to remain coherent and standing. The massive tidal wave of energy spread between us and our animals. It was almost visible in waves around us, flowing out from one girl and her animal to the next.
I could feel each of them. The same way I sensed the elemental power of my girls, I sensed the ancient power of the sacred animals. Oh, my. We’d had no idea of their energy. It was so well contained, but they were packing a punch. It was an energy unlike any I’d felt before, even unlike the Seventine. Not cold but warm, so intoxicatingly warm that I wanted to run into them and wrap that feeling around myself and never come out again.
The bond between each of the half-Walkers and her guide was visible. The golden tethers joined all of us, and then there were smaller links between each girl and her animal. Cerberus and mine was a red, deep and rich, like the color of my hair and marks.
Oh, hell yeah, this is totally more like it! Fury’s tone was exuberant as she felt the full swell of the power we held.
It was slightly intoxicating. I would have to work hard to keep some of the girls from losing their heads. Blond hair caught my eye and I realized that this was the first time Eva had been in a bond like this. I expected a reaction from her, a comment or observation. But she was strangely silent. I was starting to think she was having a little breakdown, when she suddenly snapped back to life.
You have a weak right knee, she said to Delane.
The slight rise of the warrior-Walker’s eyebrows and slackening of her jaw was enough to show her disbelief.
The Angelica answered, yes, it was crushed during a battle. I regenerated, but it’s never been the same.
I’d never noticed her favor the left leg, or show a lack of dexterity in any of her battles. She was scary at times, my warrior-Walker.
You would never notice. I’m trained to withstand pain, I don’t show my weaknesses. Delane had picked up on my thoughts. How did you know? Her inner voice wavered minutely as she turned to stare at Eva.
The Earth half shifted on the spot. Lugi, her lycan, sidled closer, comforting her. I don’t know. Could this be a part of my power?
Explain to everyone what your power was like on Earth, I said.
I could see dead people, the spiritual essence left behind. They would sometimes warn me of things, depending how much awareness remained.
We all knew her ability was ‘spirit’ and I was starting to get a pretty decent idea of what that entailed.
What are you thinking, Abby? Ria’s keen observations missed nothing.
I think that Eva sees the spirit or soul within us all. On Earth, where her powers were muted, she could only sense the powerful resonance left behind by those who were no longer physically present. Josian had told me once that the physical body blocked much of the spiritual from our sight. But here, joined with all of us, she sees our souls. And the soul keeps no secrets.
Eva’s eyes almost bulged out of her head at this information. Yes, it’s clearer now. I’m … sensing your injuries, weaknesses, fears.
She could sense weaknesses? Well, now things just got interesting.
Chapter 13
“There has to be a way to use this to our advantage.” Delane had switched it up, speaking outside of our link. She believed that changing our communication method from internal to external strengthened our bond. “If Eva can find the weaknesses of the Seventine then we have a much stronger chance of beating them.”
She was right. “Okay, since we’re running out of time.” The Mother of All could send us back at any moment. “Let’s try these powers out.”
Our past experiences as a joined unit of power had me as the one who controlled the energy. I could push it toward any of the girls and then together we would ignite her elemental power. Since this was what we knew, we started out the same way. The six of them reached for their energy. Eva took a few moments longer, but quickly caught on.
Boom! The world exploded; fire, water, wind, shadows and plants wrapped around us all and within seconds the sky was no longer visible. Okay. Well, apparently the girls did not need me to control the power any longer. As a unit of seven – plus our guides – the power was complete and we all held equal control.
The swirl of energy continued above our heads. We had done this once before, joined our elements together. The last time we had formed a storm of sorts. It was brutal and uncontrollable. I had cut off the ene
rgy before we could do any damage. Today, though, on the Mother’s realm, I was no longer the one to control the push and pull of power. We had an equal balance. And as the storm above us raged, I knew it would take all of us to bring it back within our grasp.
This is wicked! The pitch of Fury’s voice rose. She had been a little pissed at me last time; I was the spoil sport who wouldn’t let our weird powers smash out of control and destroy planets.
No, it’s not. Uncontrollable power can just as easily turn back on itself. We must gain control. The queen in Ria was out in full force.
“Yes, we must,” Delane agreed.
Those two were always on the same page.
My well inside continued to cycle the elemental energy between all of us. The power from the six girls swirled in arcs and fed the storm cell. I should know what to do to help them manage this merged power. I was the conduit. It was kind of my damn job to keep us together and in control. In a desperate move I started to suck some of the energy into my well, hoping to lessen our output. Within moments my well was filled, so then I moved to filling the filing cabinet.
“What are you doing, Abby?” Sapha asked.
Her voice was partially lost in the mess of winds and shadow, but I heard her. I also noted the genuine curiosity in her voice. She was more inquisitive than the others; I think because her world was so far removed from what all of us had grown up with.
I raised my voice to be heard. “I have this place inside where I can store energy. Like a battery cell that sits there until I’m ready to use it.” Yeah, she was totally not going to know what a battery was. “Like I’ve got a box of power inside, and can tap into that energy whenever I’m feeling low.”
I heard a brief “Okay” in reply.
I noticed then that the storm had stopped its massive spread. Was I actually helping them control their powers?
I concentrated again on moving the energy around in equal amounts between the girls and the sacred animals, while still storing large chunks within my compartment.
The fire which had been a plume skyrocketing above us tapered back to a nice arc of flame. Fury’s blue fire was equal parts mesmerizing and deadly. I was grateful that half-Walkers seemed to be immune from the burn.
I smiled at the Crais half. “You controlling your flames now, Fury?”
Her return grin was all sparkling teeth. She was pleased with herself. “Hell, yes, I can feel that control is back with me.” Her flames swirled and danced in the air. “I think I could use it as a weapon again.”
She had had some elemental training. Grantham in particular had helped her a lot. He was a master at controlling his earth power. Though, this was the first time she’d ever controlled the flames while we were all together and so much power fueled us.
The storm was less intense.
I could feel that the other girls were also starting to control their elements. I was just about to suggest we start experimenting with our power storm, when a large crack appeared in the ground.
My breath caught as I waited for the next obstacle to appear.
“Is this from anyone here?” Delane asked. “Or is the Mother of All messing with us?”
That was a very good question.
Our focus remained locked on the large hole. It started to widen even further, before a sudden mass of greenery shot up from below. It was a veritable wall of vines, thorny brambles, shrubs and small trees. Ria threw back her head, mahogany hair flying in the breeze, ivy vines twirling around, dancing to the energy.
Her warning came sharp and fast. “This is not friendly greenery and cannot be controlled. We need to destroy it.”
She blinked rapidly and, I’ll admit it, I was surprised. Ria never wanted to destroy her beloved plants. She protected them at all costs.
Everyone was on alert now, but before any of us could react three of the sacred animals stepped forward – Cerberus, Apollo and Lina. Because we were still connected to them, I had a sense of what was going on – it kind of felt like they were gathering energy.
Cerberus moved first, blurring away. He was soon joined by Apollo on one side and Lina on the other. The three of them stayed close right up until they neared the start of this jungle.
Then they split off from each other.
The flora’s first line of defense was a bramble filled with thorns the size of my forearm. Thick, dark and very pointy-like; thorns that size could easily impale a person or animal and cause untold damage.
“They’re going to be okay, right?” Talina’s large brown eyes widened even further, a shine emerging as her protective lenses slipped up and down. A sight which still on occasion had my stomach rolling.
Crete – who was in his prehistoric panther-size – shifted his head, fluffy black mane swaying in our storm. He stood beside Fury and growled. Every single one of us could tell he was scoffing at Talina.
“Pretty sure Crete is spending too much time with Fury,” I said. “The attitude is starting to rub off.”
I received twin scowls before everyone turned back to the battle scene. The sacred animals were stalking around, trying to find a weakness. Which was difficult as the mystery foliage was acting like it had sentient thought. As the three guides moved, the large thorns followed their path.
Cerberus shot up in size. He was now at least twelve feet tall, and almost as wide. Both heads were low and pointed forward as he scanned the greenery. I was just wondering what power he might have to destroy something like a forest, when I felt the pull on our power. My head spun around. Which of the girls was using her element?
Six faces were doing the same confused thing as I was. It wasn’t from the half-Walkers.
Heat drew my attention again, and I felt myself take a step back as flames shot out of Cerberus’ mouth. Dude, he was a hellhound, not a fire-breathing dragon. What the heck just happened? Then Lina and Apollo decided to shoot out their own set of flames. This three-attack began a circle of blue fire that surrounded the crack in the ground and forest which had emerged from it.
“Holy great suns of Crais,” Fury said, her tones breathless. “When they’re joined with us, they must be able to use our power.”
And use it they did. The sacred animals had much greater control over the elements than we did. They managed to make fire work between them, like a circle of death that linked all three and obliterated everything that lay in the middle.
Once the smoke had cleared, there was nothing left of the greenery, just a blackened pile of ash. The pull of power started again, and winds blew up to blast the ash away. Now they were using Delane’s ability.
I exchanged a look with the warrior-Walker and she nodded twice. We needed to take what we had just learned from our guides, and figure this out for ourselves. I had been saying it for a long time: the key to beating the Seventine was a strong bond between the half-Walkers. It was the most important weapon we had. I’d known it when Josian tried to keep us apart; it was the lalunas’ greatest fear for a reason.
If we managed to sync our powers then we had a chance. It was a small one, but better than nothing. I reached into the darkest recesses of my mind. It was time to imagine some of the creatures which haunted me. I was looking into my fears. Top of that list was the Seventine, of course, but we needed to work up to that. First: gangers and zombies. Then, with no more than a thought, a mass of tattoo-faced thugs and undead popped up into existence.
This world was both awesome and scary-as-heck.
Around us more fears were willed into existence and we were soon surrounded by a plethora of nasty-looking beings.
Okay, so we had our obstacles. Now we needed to figure out how to eliminate them.
Let’s start with everyone grasping your power and reeling it back. The storm was starting to rage again. I know it’s tempting to just throw everything at them at once, but let’s try our elements individually. I’ll act like the conductor in the center. Wait for my signal before attacking.
Someone needed to take the reins he
re, and the conduit was the natural conductor. I sensed no outright objections to my plan, which was the best I could hope for.
The first creatures we faced were zombies, which I knew from First World were not that difficult to kill. You simply needed to take their heads off. We didn’t have swords right then. The key was to figure this out using just our elements.
Eva, what are their weaknesses?
My voice snapped them all to attention. The Earth half did not hesitate. Her time on the streets of New York had her mind battle-ready.
Fire is number one. They’re quite flammable. And then decapitation. Most other injuries won’t weaken them, and they can regenerate anything but their heads. So don’t waste your time trying to maim them.
I was glad I’d checked, because these zombies seemed hardier than the ones we’d fought in the dark mountain.
Eva’s power is wicked and awesomesauce.
Fury had been spending way too much time with Lucy. That was something I would expect out of my pixie friend’s mouth. But she was right: it was wicked awesome.
Delane’s command rang out, cutting off any replies. We must all focus now. Focus is something we lack as a group and it’s a weakness for us. Abby’s our general. She’ll give the orders and we’ll follow them.
I could feel some dissension amongst the group. Most of these strong, independent females did not like to follow orders, but for now they knew Delane was right and did not argue.
If fire is a weakness then we’ll use Fury’s power for this one. We need to figure out how the sacred animals managed to share the one power between the three of them.
The zombies were advancing on us. We didn’t have much time.
Fury pulled on the collective power and shot the blue flames around. I sensed her focus as she tried to ‘share’ the flames with the other girls. The circle formed easily, but faded off just as fast. We didn’t know how to hold on to each other’s power.
