Vyx stepped on my head, squishing my cheekbone into the cold stone floor, and gave his last orders before he left.
“Time for dinner boys,” he chortled to the three Màrmann left behind as he stepped off my face and left the cavern.
♦♦♦
Anabel
I cautiously walked down the stony path, curving toward a white sandy beach, spotted with jagged boulders jutting out from the shoreline, bearing toward the Nuckelavee, and heading toward my death.
My head swirled, my whole world had become a big mess. I didn’t have Blane to protect me or to love me anymore, no Edgar, no Izzy, no Granny, not even my mad mother. I had no one to rely on anymore, only myself.
Stay in control, Anabel, I whispered as I wandered into the belly of the beast. The moon laid low along the horizon, it even seemed to skip along the sea, streaking across the orange and pink speckled sky.
My brain ached, wondering why my world was empty, why all the people I thought I loved were estranged to me. The palm of my hands pushed away some prickly bramble as I continued my descent onto the beach.
Maybe Izzy was right? Maybe I do just want to control the Moon Pendant for my own selfish reasons. But, something inside of me stirred, guiding me. I could sense the swirling energy of the Moon Pendant, leading me, driving me to do its will.
My ears perked up, hearing the wind rustling through the coarse beach grass. My heart raced faster. I knew the Nuckelavee was watching me, but from where I did not know.
I remembered when Blane said the Nuckelavee could not cross moving water. My eyes skimmed the area in the fading sunlight. There was no running water to be found, just the great expanse of the open sea, its rippling waves cresting on the sandy beach.
My heart shuddered inside thinking of Blane. He was so kind and sweet, always by my side. I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. I wondered. When I did have Blane’s love, why did I choose the Moon Pendant’s power over spending the rest of my life with him? My heart sank into my gut, leaving me hollow inside. I shook my head. I guess that wasn’t important anymore either. Blane fell in love with me because I looked like, Rose.
The back of my neck prickled, sending a flood of goose bumps all over my skin. My head shot to the right, knowing the Nuckelavee was stirring nearby in the shadows.
Stay in control, Anabel.
Remember not to use your powers unless you absolutely have to. The Nuckelavee cannot cross running water, I told myself over and over again.
My eyes squinted hard, surveying the steely-gray horizon. In the distance, I could see a white pulsing light underneath the salty water, it lay about fifty feet off the shoreline. I felt the Moon Pendant tug against my chest toward the illuminating light. That had to be where I needed to charge it. It was the only thing that made sense to me. I had to make it to the luminous light, which lay submerged underneath the briny deep sea.
My head spun around, instinctively, hearing the thundering sound of a massive creature galloping toward me.
It was the Nuckelavee.
All I could see was a skinless horse with one eye, on top a thin rider with his upper torso centered on its back, the rider had no legs, but its long ape-like arms seemed to scrap the ground with its sharp claws as it charged toward me.
I whirled around, darting up the sand dunes, doing exactly what Blane had told me to do when I saw the Nuckelavee, and that was to, run!
My feet sprinted through the shifting sand, running frantically inland, hoping to find some sort of running water to cross over. I could hear the clip-clopping of webbed hooves behind me.
Then, thick fleshy fingers clasped onto my ponytail, snapping my head back. I jolted backwards, landing on the edge of the gritty sand dune. Peering up, I could see the fearsome snout of the Nuckelavee breathing heavily down at me, its fiery hot breath blasting into my face. I quickly rolled to my side avoiding the flames, its heat singeing the tapered end of my ponytail.
The Nuckelavee curled his sharp fingers into a fist, slamming it down at my face. I pivoted from side to side, wobbling back and forth, avoiding each repetitive strike as he hammered his powerful clenched fist into the powdery earth, spraying tiny bits of sand into my face, and temporarily blinding me.
He stopped for a brief moment, its muscular hind legs rearing back. I scrambled backwards on my hands and feet, crab-like, trying to escape its pounding webbed hooves. My hand scooped up a fistful of fine sand, flinging it into the horse’s burning eye blinding it. It let out an unearthly wail, causing its horse’s torso to stagger backwards.
I sprung to my feet, bolting out of there as fast as I could, racing inland toward a large outcropping of stones, leaping over the tall beach grass, and then spotting a small stream in the distance. The Nuckelavee was in hot pursuit, galloping after me, trotting at a quickened pace.
My heart raced beneath my breast. I could see the rippling water within the stream. It was my only hope, just another five feet away.
The Nuckelavee’s hand walloped the crown of my head, knocking me back down to the ground, my head barely missing a cold slab of rock. I lay there silent, spread-eagle, face-down with blood trickling from my mouth. He wasn’t going to give up until I was dead just like, Rose. So, that’s what I did. I played dead.
Be still, Anabel.
I could smell the foul stench of the Nuckelavee’s brutish breath as he towered above me, waiting for me to move. He hovered above me like a vulture, swooping in, poking me with his sharp claws, testing to see if I was dead or alive. His hot breath tickled the back of my neck, and in a quick motion, his raw leathery hand flipped me over onto my back.
I just needed a teeny-tiny second to make it over the stream, a mere five feet away. I needed a divergent, a decoy. If I could just use a small amount of the Moon Pendant’s power so I could get away from this devil of the sea.
The Nuckelavee’s snout inched closer to my face, growling, flapping its fleshy lips over my head, saliva dripping from its incisor teeth.
I centered myself, eyes shut tightly, remembering the outcropping of stones I saw while I was racing toward the stream. And with that thought, an avalanche of stones crashed down, startling the Nuckelavee. My eyes popped open, noticing the Nuckelavee’s head cocked toward the sound of rumbling stones. I leapt to my feet, dashing through the beach grass on the balls of my feet, and then in one long stride, hurdling over the trickling stream to safety.
I stopped abruptly, landing on my bony knees on the other side of the stream, knowing the Nuckelavee couldn’t cross it. I could hear its heavy breath panting behind me.
I needed to see the face of the thing that was chasing me. I needed to finally confront the demon. Slowly, I twisted my head around, watching its webbed feet, sidestepping along the stream.
There it was before me, its stature ten times larger than any mortal, a vile hybrid of half-man and half-horse, a hideous skinless creature, its body covered in raw living flesh, just muscles tethered together with great white sinews, its blood black as tar pulsing through its yellow veins, a single fiery eye centered above its horse’s head, while two eyes blazed on its monstrous human head, it lolled down to its shoulders, too heavy for its frail neck, rolling side to side, its elongated arms hung low, scrapping its knuckles along the ground, its sharp claws curling inward.
I swallowed hard. My eyes stared into its red-hot eye, sending a shiver through all the bones in my body, its venomous breath blowing heat onto my cool skin, while little beads of sweat snaked down my face. I kept calm and stayed in control, showing it I knew its weakness.
The demon let out a wild unearthly howl, shaking me to my very core. Its powerful hand shot out like a whip over the stream, slashing its razor sharp claws against my cheek, knocking my head to the side.
My fingers trembled touching my skin as I slowly felt the stinging gashes on my cheek. I winced as it burned red-hot.
I raised my head up to the Nuckelavee, gritting through my teeth. “That’s gonna leave a scar!” I screamed, curling my
fingers into a tight fist and pounding it into its pig-like snout.
I shook my hand out after the intense blow, my fingers covered in slimy goo, and then frantically wiped the salty gunk off on my khakis. Oh my, goodness. I suddenly realized, I’m turning into Izzy, throwing punches left and right. But, I do have to say that felt darn good!
The Nuckelavee stumbled back on its webbed-like feet from my wallop, steaming from its horse’s mouth. The mounted rider’s oversized head circled around to me, its skull dangling off its slender neck, its fiery eyes licking with flames.
“Waiting for you, I’ve been…” it said in a deep froggy voice, “…Guardian.”
The demon’s words startled me, causing me to shuffle backwards clumsily.
“Last of your kind,” he croaked eerily, “ran away when I struck her.”
I swallowed hard. He must be talking about mother.
Its bloodied webbed hooves pranced up and down along the edge of the waterline. “Stupid girl,” he muttered, lolling his amphibian head to the side, “had her mother run back… and fight me. Will you call mummy, Guardian?” The demon chortled, its blazing eyes sweeping over me.
I didn’t want to engage it in conversation. I didn’t want to give the demon too much power. So, I remained silent, biding my time.
Its head lifted up, wobbling around like a drunken sailor. “Now I see…” it uttered throatily, studying me, “…you look like her, the one before that...”
Rose? I thought to myself.
“A smart one she was,” it mumbled, its horse’s head ticking restlessly, waiting for its moment to attack. “She sat long… on boulders,” its razor sharp finger pointing toward the collection of barren stones. “Then, Lainahwyn came… spoke to her.”
I gazed over my shoulder at the massive rocks, and then my eyes squinted back to the Nuckelavee. “I don’t believe you,” I declared.
The Nuckelavee’s snout thrust forward over the stream, inches away from my face, breathing its stinky breath from its mouth, its dangerously long arms swiping at me repeatedly, barely missing my face. “I do not lie!” it bellowed.
“Then what did Lainahwyn say to Rose?” I asked curiously, one part wanting to know what happened, the other part trying to figure out a way to get past the Nuckelavee, and making a mad dash to light glowing beneath the sea to charge the Moon Pendant.
“She told her the truth!” it squawked loudly.
“What is the truth…?”
The Nuckelavee’s lips curled upward. “You’re all murderers…”
My eyes widened. The demon was trying to get me to do something rash, to lose my cool, so I switched the tables on him.
“You’re a murderer too, Nuckelavee,” I said waving my finger him, “you killed, Rose.”
The Nuckelavee let a howling laugh, jostling its shoulders up and down. “She killed herself,” it snorted. “Her sister appeared…” It paused for a moment, its head teetering around from side to side. “…swinging an iron flail…” And then it inhaled sharply. “…frightening Lainahwyn.” He coughed up a ball of seaweed and gagged. “She stepped over the stream and froze. One swipe…” He clenched his talon-like fingers tightly. “…across her throat…” It sneered. “…she died willingly.”
I couldn’t believe it, was the Nuckelavee telling the truth? Did Rose freely give up her life? What would make a woman voluntarily give up her own life?
I sneered back at him. “Liar!” I yelled.
The Nuckelavee bucked backwards, jerking violently up and down at my words. I backed away from the stream. The Moon Pendant’s drain soon began. I trudge toward the pile of stones, sitting down on top of a chilly rock, cradling my chin in my hands. My body felt woozy, but it didn’t last long as I began thinking about what to do next.
The Nuckelavee sauntered along the flowing stream, waiting for its moment to devour me and to slice my throat just like he did to Rose.
My décolleté tingled. The Moon Pendant’s energy swirled, urging me to make a move, drawing me toward the dazzling sea light. Somehow, I had to get to the radiant light beneath the water, but without using my powers there was no way I could escape the Nuckelavee.
The dang thing paced back and forth on its fin-like legs, breathing its foul breath into the air, snorting loudly, waiting for me to step across the stream. I wasn’t going to give up as easily as Rose. Time was of the essence. I had to charge the Moon Pendant and return to the standing stones before 11:11 p.m., before the full moon aligned with the MääGord standing stones and close the Portal, while fighting off the stone faeries.
It was ‘do’ or ‘die.’
If I used my magic, it would weaken me for my next task, but if I didn’t use my power, I’d never make it to the next task.
I blew out an aggravated breath and studied the movement of the grotesque Nuckelavee as it patrolled up and down the glistening stream. I shifted my eyes to the outcropping of stones; a few large rocks lay scattered around it.
I focused my mind on one of the heavy rocks. It quivered for a moment and then quickly it fired into the air, smashing into the horse’s flaming eye of the Nuckelavee, knocking it back a few feet.
I sprung to my feet, dashing down the sandy hills, racing across the gritty beach, and diving into the cold sea. My body shivered in the icy water as I swam out toward the luminous light, my arms freestyle swimming against the rough sea, paddling them as fast as they could go, kicking against the waves, and gulping down air.
The Nuckelavee gave chase, sliding underwater like a massive seal and torpedoing through the frigid water, its sharpened claws tearing repetitively at my legs.
I tried to ignore the Nuckelavee as I came up to the water’s surface for a gulp of air. The Moon Pendant’s power increased tenfold, drawing me down toward the white fiery light.
I resisted the pull of the Moon Pendant, trying to stay in control of my own destiny. My eyes scanned the water for the Nuckelavee as it began to circle me like a shark, waiting for the perfect time to strike its victim.
My mind raced around madly, not knowing to dive or to fight. And yet still, the Moon Pendant grew stronger urging me down toward the bottom of the ocean. I swallowed a full breath of air and began my descent into the murky sea. The Moon Pendant’s energy pushed me down toward the white pearly light.
The Nuckelavee descended full force after me, its claws slashing across my body in a repetitive assault, tearing at my delicate skin, hacking its talon-like spears across my legs, ripping against my torso and gorging into my stomach, a swell of blood expelled from my body, and then my head grew light.
I knew I needed air or I’d die, but my body lay listless after losing too much blood. I finally surrendered control over to the Moon Pendant, its spirit guiding me, allowing my weakened body to softly float down toward the light.
Somehow, I realized it didn’t matter anymore, Blane, Izzy, Edgar, Granny, Mother, Hilda the Gorilla, not even the Nuckelavee. Why was I holding on to all my pain? My anger? My discontent? My whole life all I wanted to do was to control every aspect of my life – right down to what I ate and drank, the clothes I wore, who I hung out with, how much I studied, who was an acceptable mate for me, where I should live? It didn’t matter anymore. All that control didn’t stop life from happening to me. It sure didn’t stop me from falling love with Blane, or from Izzy knocking me out cold, or from the Nuckelavee shredding my skin.
It was time to let go, peacefully, and to let go of my control.
The Moon Pendant pulled my body down onto a huge iridescent pearl, nestled beneath a massive seashell. My body crumpled over its smooth surface as the shell’s hinge closed over me, protecting me from the Nuckelavee’s wrath.
All I saw were a few flashes of light, beaming around me wildly like a laser light show. I could sense the Moon Pendant charging with the element of water, its power surging through my veins.
My eyes flicked open, feeling alive again, a burst of strength pulsing through my tattered body. Izzy suddenly popped into my
head, an image of her snapping pictures in Granny’s room and her muttering something about the Mither of the Sea.
The seashell cracked open slowly, the Nuckelavee’s fierce claws were waiting for me outside in the bubbling sea water. My mind still harped about the Mither of the Sea and then I remembered. The only thing the Nuckelavee fears is the Mither of the Sea.
I had no choice. I knew I wasn’t going to make it out alive, unless I used all my powers to fight off the Nuckelavee.
I summoned all my strength, lifting my bloodied palms outward. The sea water began to churn, spinning around me like a whirlpool.
The Nuckelavee hesitated, fearing the white foaming water swirling around me. It waited on the edge of the water funnel that lifted me out of sea.
I rocketed out of the frothy sea, floating high above it, my eyes stormed, steadying them on the Nuckelavee’s scorching eyes. Lightning bolts pierced through the grey thunderheads above my body, lighting the night’s sky on fire as I hovered on top of the sea in a violent vortex of wind and rain.
“I am the Mither of the Sea,” I bellowed out in a deep commanding voice.
The Nuckelavee howled aloud in a wraithlike cry, flaring his sharp teeth at me still unaffected by my power.
I tipped my hand up, commanding the sea again, a massive wave rose from the ocean, cresting into a tidal wave of a hundred feet. The Nuckelavee’s face shivered for the first time, fearing my power and fleeing for its life, scampering off toward the shoreline as the white crest of the wave pounded down on its naked body, obliterating him from my view.
That was the last I saw of the Nuckelavee.
I soared along the top of the sea and across the sandy beach, landing near the stony path. I was relieved, I had survived, but I knew it wouldn’t last. I had used too much of my power, and it was only a matter of time before the Moon Pendant began to replenish its energy from my own.
Still, I ran as quickly as I could to Blane, who waited for me on the other side of the embankment.
My face beamed when I saw Blane standing there in a shaft of moonlight. My body crashed inside, still heartbroken that he fell in love with an image of Rose and not me.
Guardian of the Moon Pendant Page 19
