by M. Street
The tendrils bleeding from Eli’s feet breached through the force field. Like water seeping into tiny cracks, his violating touch conducted on our unwanted sibling connection. His core gushed with sick excitement, knowing I was inside the nest. He loved the hunt as much as the kill.
“If we can take out one of the bishops charging the dome, Piper could punch through,” Sabina suggested valiantly. She dropped her unexplained anger toward Dev, feeling the pressure of our chilling predicament.
“No,” Safe replied strong enough to sideline a debate. “Eli is too strong.”
“Why can’t we core through the mountain? Go under the dome, then leap?” I asked simply. I knelt down and put my hand on the floor. The dense fortitude of the rock was undeniable, but so was my resolve.
“It would take too much current,” Safe answered.
“Try me,” I said, refitting my clothes, exposing more skin. I revved my light, deafening the hangar space in pearl for proof. “I used to graft into Mom’s casts. It’s how she taught me how to throw. Together we can do this.” I pushed confidently. The earth began to rumble violently.
Eli was in the air above us. He extended his arms, holding his hands together, drilling shafts of light into the protective yellow field. The harmonic field weakened under the pressure, sending dense streamers of light corkscrewing in all directions.
“Come on, we don’t have much time. You steer, I’ll push,” I said, keeping it simple.
“Let’s try,” Dev said with the confidence of an only choice.
Safe spun a spade of molten light with a long, sharp snout. His platinum ramped, putting him under strain. I put my hand on his bulging lateral muscle, physically locking touch with him as though our flesh were made of lodestone. Conducting over his metal, I pushed the pedal to the floor.
“Oooh,” Safe let out, bulging his already popped eyes. His blade accelerated in multiples, beaming a pearlescent white and humming like a million wasps. Safe pulled me and we flew toward an interior wall, bypassing the rocking and cracking floor. The yellow field encasing the walls blinked, flickering to purple. The field was failing.
We bore against the grain, slicing through the granite like a sharp spear through blubber. Our handcrafted curious-charge combo pushed forward, coring a clean tunnel to freedom. Dev formulated into the black-and-white sabertooth cat, preparing to cover from behind. Sabina and the two escorts stayed on the other side of the room.
“Excellent, go!” Sabina yelled.
“Why aren’t you coming?” Staying behind made no sense. I disconnected from Safe, stopping our advance into solid rock.
“Ozwald is safe,” the queen said with the knowing of a mother. “His purpose is to carry the Avian race forward. Mine is to defend and protect it. I will remain with my flock and fight.”
My heart ached knowing I could not change her mind. Her feelings were set.
“When the dome drops, everyone should run,” I said not giving up, stitching possibilities out of thin air. The blue in Sabina’s eyes relit hearing my hard-to-believe suggestion.
Before Safe could voice a question, I slapped onto his side, ramming forward.
We tunneled downward through solid earth at a sprinter’s pace. The light of the earth swirled over the spinning pearl spade, creating purple and indigo spirals. Arcs of white flashed, jerking through veins of glittering ore.
I grunted, feeding the enormous and relentless load. Safe and I were both channeling hot. His feelings flooded into me from our melded energy. He was running unnervingly scared; not for himself, but for me. We cored clear of the Avian force field. Responding, we changed direction, coring up, over, and out. I hadn’t been so afraid about being physically able since I did an open-water mile swim in Lake Michigan on a dare. Like I did back then, I put my mind into chugging locomotive tempo to keep from thinking.
Like the relief I felt when I heard Lisa yelling from the shoreline, we broke surface in the surrounding valley, tossing rock everywhere. A marigold halo burst around Safe’s head, cutting perpendicular to overhead moonbeams. We were clear of Eli and the Arbitri.
The black-and-white cat galloped out of the tunnel, formulating into Dev. I moved fast to kiss him. The untimely show of affection left him befuddled.
“What?” he asked, going pale, feeling me pull a trigger.
“Take Dev, I’ll meet you in Madagascar,” I said quietly to Safe, exponentially charging my aura. My heart could not let the Avians take the fatal brunt for harboring me. Not waiting for the oncoming feud that would rival the one between the Hatfields and the McCoys, I launched into the air. I was a maiden warrior, adverse to battle.
11
The Vampacoti Queen
“P
iper!” Dev shouted, roasting a blackened red against the purple peaks. The potential loss of Avian life blew away the insurmountable danger I was putting myself in. Packing in deep breaths, I corkscrewed up into the vulnerable sky. Swirls of charge built around my hands as I remembered Mom teaching me how to cast a life-taking bolt of light in Norfolk Island. Sadness from missing both Moms had become my norm. I had come a long way in a short amount of time, but I was barreling down a winding cliff road with no guardrails. I was becoming an adult overnight and it hurt.
I gulped down my intensifying fear, clearing the peak. Tossing out strategies from the hip, I distracted my guts, balking at the lopsided attempt. Eli was deep in carnal concentration, using all his force. He was old, clenching his long teeth. Seeing him in person again caught my adrenaline on fire. Rivers of light from his hands slammed the force field, rattling the ground for miles. His dark exhilaration and sparkling, misused royalty gave me the shivers. For once, I wished I couldn’t feel another’s soul so intimately. From the flickering yellow force shield surrounding the Avian nest, the Arbitri were seconds away from committing a merry massacre.
Most of the mountain cover had been blown off leaving the pyramid nest sorely exposed. My determination took a hit as more Arbitri arrived on the scene. Besides the six platinum soldiers circling Eli, six more Guardians—accompanied by their silver and bronze sidekicks—surrounded the nest, salivating for the field to fail. Three large Vampacoti prowled the perimeter, roaring with extended silver fangs and claws. The spell-charged cats ferociously scratched at the yellow force field, flinging foot-long sparks in every direction. Bucking wildly, three enormous bronze horses reared, neighing into disturbing growls. I had not been formally introduced to the bronze-valence race with roasting red backlit eyes.
The aggregated aggression caused me to question the rationality of my impulse. The majesty of seeing so many matures at one time gave me goose bumps. The combined glory of metallic auras under the starry night sky looked as if heavenly creatures had fallen to earth, but my heart pumped blue knowing the beauty was bad. From the show of force, Eli was taking no chances with my apprehension and untimely destruction.
My tactical senses fired, slowing the clock. Knowing the only advantage I had was surprise, I wasted no ticks of time. I ramped in charge, holding my breath as though I were lifting dead weight. Enormous nebulas of light built around my outstretched arms, my fists tightly pressed together. Before anyone could catch my exploding aura, I fired massive machine-gun bolts. My mind decisively aimed the opulent rounds, targeting the three Guardians generating the dome over the nest to free the trapped Avians.
The first searing discharge slammed the Guardian closest to me, turning him into a screaming spray of boiling water and platinum mist. The next shot solidly hit the second man feeding the imprisoning bubble, knocking him airborne and unconscious. My heart sank watching my third bolt get blocked by another Guardian. Although the shield she cast deflected my bolt, the impact senselessly slammed the Guardian woman to the ground. Though weakened, the platinum vault over the mountain nest stood and my advantage of surprise was disconcertingly over. Straightaway, the landscape darkened into a disturbing wartime red, hailing an insurmountable counterattack.
Eli dropped his pen
etrating assault, focusing all his wits on me. The scarlet rage in his blue and green-backlit eyes was uncomfortably physical. Flight responses rushed through my body. Choirs of deadly bolts aimed at me fired out from under the dome. The huge cats divided, blurring over the landscape like rushing water, flanking my left and right. The mammoth horses backed up, bucking as though they were getting ready to jump into the air. Multiple Guardians launched high and low, charging my wide-open position. Heeding my scuttling intuition, I flew backward. I raised my hand to leap, but instinctually I cast a thick gel-like shield of energy in defense.
Unexpectedly, the failing yellow field surrounding the nest dropped, generating a lifesaving disruption. Birds of prey, beaming life-or-death gold auras, shot through the confined space under the platinum bubble. The air was filled with dazzling gold ribbons, shining loud feelings of valor, and trumpeting battle caws. The winged warriors launched a brave and directed offensive, casting countless spells at the last remaining Guardian generating the imprisoning dome.
The golden spells hit the entranced Guardian from every side, causing him to seize uncontrollably, dissolving the platinum bubble holding the nest hostage. The takedown and subsequent release energized the aerial soldiers. Golden war birds abandoned the damaged fortress in every direction, confusing the Arbitri. Teams of Avians screamed around my attackers at tremendous speed, slashing with deadly talons.
The assault occupied the Arbitri but did nothing to slow Eli. He armed himself with swaths of light, sending shockwaves through the air. My brother charged at me, smashing the powerful Avians like pesky flies, turning any attacker into gold vapor.
Escorted by seven colossal peregrine falcons adorned in black and gray, Sabina fled the nest in hawk form in a dazzling display of flying gold. They launched into the thin air and down into the floor of billowy clouds. The squadron escaped under the distraction of the attack. With their queen and flock safely away, all the golden soldiers selflessly dove in between Eli and me. I lost my focus for a split second watching Sabina’s getaway. A Vampacoti lynx had slinked himself close. He hissed a silver spell at the same time Eli cast a vaporizing bolt.
Arriving on the border of too late, Safe shot next to me with Dev strapped to his back. Dev fired a counter spell, hitting the incoming lynx’s crippling shot head-on. The silver spells smashed, exploding into countless disarmed silver sparks, but I couldn’t move faster than Eli’s discharge. His sharp cast pounded my shield, quaking light into the fourth dimension. My shield began to collapse against the sheer force. Safe slammed into action. Like coring through the mountain, he melded into my light, fortifying and manipulating the shield separating us from death. Glowing into infrared, we repelled Eli’s repeated debilitating casts. Together we were almost stronger, but the closer Eli flew toward us, the harder it was to deflect his piercing bolts. Safe grew exponentially brighter, like Mom did when she gave her life for mine. The similarity froze my heart.
“Leap now!” Safe yelled loud and clear, pushing against the weight of the world. The veins in his arms pumped, moving like huge earthworms under the strain. I did not hesitate. Taking Dev from Safe, I slit open a leap point. I caught a glimpse of Safe opening a leap point before letting go of my cast into the failing shield. Dev and I instantly sped upward, escaping with the next nano-pulse of time.
We smacked down in Madagascar, impressing the ground a clear five inches. The leap mists were as thick as mucus. Before I could take my first breath, Safe slammed down to my sweet relief. He impacted much harder, rustling the canopies of giant baobabs, dispersing critters in every direction. His platinum light randomly flickered like a faulty connection. We both were tapped from the emergency escape and leap, but Safe was critically cashed. The juxtaposition of possessing more brute force than he did hit me like a two-by-ten. Size didn’t matter. My mind had been holding me back. I am the queen’s daughter.
The smell of burned flesh permeated the air, spinning my stomach and splintering my heart. Siphoning the oxygen out of the air in wheezing gasps, Safe sluggishly turned. He staggered toward the closest baobab, exposing a smoldering laceration across his back. Dev and I ran to the hunching, towering man, each taking an arm. A small healing charge dribbled from me to him. I didn’t have much light to give. However, torrents of Safe’s emotions poured into me. Helplessness rolled in his recoiling fear causing me to wince like witnessing a bone breaking firsthand.
“I got you,” I said, stabilizing Safe with my pearl aura. Once again, I held my giant protector in robes of light. This time I colored them pink with feelings from my heart. Safe’s cue-ball eyes rolled independently before settling into mine. He struggled not being able to talk in between gasping breaths. Besides the post-apocalyptic gravity of the near capture, something else was eating away at his outlook.
“Let’s put him on the bed.” Dev nodded at the menagerie of rugs I had slept on. I floated Safe over, gently laying him down on his side, making sure not to disturb the angry cauterized slash on his back. Using my hands, I placed his feet touching the oversized trunk. His lids closed as energy from the baobab ran into his depleted aura.
“He needs Hibiscus,” Dev said like he was bothered, scrutinizing Safe’s wound. “Stay here with him.”
“What?” I asked, curious by his unhappy frankness.
“You must balance your impulses with reason.” He was close to yelling. “You are going to get yourself birthed.” His silver reddened quickly.
“I’m not going to let Sabina or her flock give up their lives for mine,” I said steadily, firmly reflecting his heated waves despite being overexerted.
“You don’t understand. The Arbitri operate outside of what you know. They have no conscience,” Dev said with an unyielding look on his face. He opened, exposing more of his under light. Inside of me, his trenching ache made real the seriousness of his statements. “The costs are too high. I cannot lose you, nor can the world.” He twisted the knife. He walked backward, flipping into the air, blazing into the white-and-black silver fire. The beautiful beast zoomed away toward the rising halos of the early morning sun, cracking the blues in the baobab auras.
My insides tightened watching him disappear into the horizon. Not having him by my side after the darkness that continued to surround us deadened my already downed state. Safe lying crunched, dripping blood from burned scabs, damaged my fortitude. The throbbing strain in my light from fighting Eli hurt way less than my heart. Dream flies randomly circled around Safe’s head, replacing his halo. I knelt next to the slumbering giant, caressing his shoulder. With my touch, I stopped the oozing crimson drooling down his back. His batting eyelids shooed away the twinkling dream lights as he slowly came to.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said, plastering a smile over my fractured mood. Safe grunted, trying to get up before exhaling and giving into the weighted chains of his fatigue. My lifeline was too weak to keep him sustained for long.
“Where is Dev?” Safe muttered. Despite being injured, his eyes moved like a hunter’s.
“He went to get Hibiscus, whatever that is,” I answered.
He should not have left you unattended,” he grumbled, reddening his dimly lit aura.
“Close your eyes,” I said gently. To my delight he complied, easily shedding the upset I felt so clearly through our contact. Although many times his size, Safe’s fetal position reminded me of Charlie. Like catching a falling fragile piece of china, I reached through time and distance to my baby brother’s heart in Oak Creek. His feeling of destitute abandonment shot barbs through my blood. My absence was causing him pain. Tears ran down my face and my light wavered wildly. The cost continued escalating as the ends further unraveled.
“What’s wrong?” Dev’s words echoed in Doppler stereo from his speedy approach.
“Nothing.” I evaporated my cheeks dry.
Dev put aside my fake answer, holding in his concern and questions. Bending down he pulled out deep red flowers with cloth like petals from a satchel. The blosso
m radiated a soft, jazz-soothing, blue-green hue. He placed the fleshy petals, carefully applying it to the charred slash dividing his skin. I held Safe’s hand, numbing the pain. Dev’s act of nursing rocked my tumbling emotions. The flower glowed a luminous, vibrant green, stimulating rapid cell repair. It didn’t take long for my protector to drift off and the circling sleep sparkles to appear.
With the dust temporarily settling, weariness set into every fiber of my being. I broke my connection with Safe, putting my back against the enormous tree trunk. The energies of the baobab family suspended me in fizzy bathwater. I sighed. A tear raced with more thoughts of Charlie, Lisa, and all things infant. Part of me was missing. Despite impossible odds, I had to stop thinking about my little brother. It wasn’t safe for him.
Safe mumbled in his sleep as Dev continued painting his angry burn with more Hibiscuses. We were living in a warzone. Everyone around me was getting hurt. Double agents existed on both sides. No place was familiar or safe. The more exposure to my new world, the less I believed in happy endings. What was to become of us was undefined. Then there was Dev’s era-spanning history with secrets down every unlit corridor. The weight of all I didn’t know yet hit me like cement blocks.
Dev finished covering Safe’s wound. He sat facing me, resting his hand on my bare foot. His touch conveyed the torrent of energies silently crashing inside him, causing me to quicken. Throws of anger, loss, and love took turns erupting from his heart to his fingertips. We all had aged. Safe’s skin and muscle drooped. Dev grayed at the temples, adding lines to his eyes.
