Immortal Essence Box Set: Aligned, Exiled, Beguiled

by RaShelle Workman

  “Well, hurry up.” I tread the water, moving closer to Dervinias, Chev and Palmo. Something bumped into my leg. Chev screamed.

  “There’s something in the water,” Dervinias yelled. At the same moment he raised a writhing green snake. It reached back and tried to bite his hand, but its teeth couldn’t penetrate his kelvieri skin. I breathed a sigh of relief. The snakes couldn’t harm me either. But they could harm Palmo. And Chev.

  “I hate snakes,” Palmo shouted.

  Chev went under. Dervinias grabbed her, and yanked her up. She coughed and gasped. “One bit my ankle,” she cried. The water around her turned red, sending the unseen snakes into a frenzy. It looked like the water boiled.

  “Cret,” I swore, slashing at the snakes with my sword.

  “I’ve got the answer,” Palmo yelled, batting at the water. He didn’t have a weapon and he wasn’t old enough to have gone through the transformation so the snakes were having a hey-day with his body.

  “Tell me,” I yelled.

  “To open the door, use your—” He suddenly went under.

  “Use what?” I moved as quickly as I could through water that had risen to my shoulders.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Palmo,” I hollered, searching frantically for him. Slithering bright green snakes were everywhere. The water changed from dark to an orange red. The snakes were eating Palmo alive. “Cret. Cret. Cret. Dervinias, what should I do?” He didn’t answer and I figured his hands were full trying to keep the snakes away from Chev.

  I searched the water. Palmo had to be close. I ducked my head underwater. Eyes opened, I searched. The water was thick with blood, and snakes. One came right at me, its mouth opened, revealing its fangs. Its jaws clamped down on my nose, but it couldn’t break through. I yanked it away. A slight movement straight ahead caught my attention.

  Palmo.

  I shoved snakes out of my way, and moved. With some relief I saw him, trying to fight the snakes off. They rammed into him, ripping away chunks of flesh, before swimming off, making room for another. It surprised me he continued to fight. He always acted like a simpering chump, a boy who used others to fight his battles.

  Both of Palmo’s feet were almost gone, as was one of his hands, and part of his face, yet he courageously continued to struggle.

  Determined, I grabbed him and pulled him above the water. “Use my what?” I asked softly, worried he wouldn’t be coherent enough to understand.

  “Fist,” he murmured.

  “Thank you, Palmo.” I ached at his misery, wishing for a way to keep the snakes from eating him. But for every one I killed two more took its place. “I’m so sorry I can’t do more. I’ll get us out of here though. Okay?”

  He didn’t respond.

  Letting him go, I ducked under the water, heading toward the door. The gold glimmered against the bloodied water. I noticed the gaping mouth on the face at the base of the tree and understood my fist needed to go in its mouth. How easy!

  The moment I inserted my fist, the door vanished and I was sucked through the opening.

  Falling.

  Falling.

  Falling.

  13. Smells Like Teen Spirit

  I don’t know how long I lay on the ground, staring at the sun. One sun. Not two. Which meant I wasn’t on Kelari. Or I was, but Ramien made this place, wherever I was, different. The ground beneath me felt soft, and I guessed I was on grass, but I didn’t know for sure. Nor did I care.

  Images of Zaren and I together floated through my mind like phantoms. Our first date. He took me to the forest of Heid and we had lunch near Misty Falls. The exhilaration and comfort I felt in his arms. The way he stroked my hair when we talked. The smell of his warm skin. The first time his lips touched mine. We were in my bedroom doorway later that night.

  Right before he kissed me he said, “Every night, as long as I live, I’ll kiss you here.”

  “Why?” I asked, though I didn’t mind. He could kiss me anywhere he wanted.

  “So you’ll remember doorways can yield happy memories too.”

  “Zaren,” I whispered.

  He was dead.

  Because of me.

  “You completed your first test. Barely.” Ramien’s voice filled my ears, sending away the phantoms. “Round two won’t be as easy.”

  The air changed, filled with a crackling energy. A buzz.

  “You better get up.” A girl, slightly familiar, stood over me. “You’re it.”

  Rolling onto my hands and knees, I pushed myself to my feet. “What?” I brushed off my backside, noting the way my clothes were crunchy from the saltwater.

  “The game,” she answered, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

  “Where am I?” I asked, turning in a circle, taking in my surroundings.

  “School, silly,” she bubbled. Upon closer inspection I noticed her left cheek was bruised, her shirt was torn, and her knuckles were bloody.

  “What’s the object of this game?” I asked, searching for a weapon.

  “Don’t get killed.” She smirked before she evaporated.

  I remembered who she was. The girl who kicked me in the shin during gym class. Tawny was her name. This was the Sough High football stadium—from Earth, I realized, stunned.

  I stood in the middle of an enormous grassy field. Bleachers filled with people surrounded us, blocking out anything beyond. An electronic scoreboard stood at one end. Giant halogen lights encircled the field like sentries guarding the outlying areas. Goal posts were at either end of the grassy arena. A light mist hung in the air along with the acrid sweetness I’d grown to associate with Ramien.

  An announcer’s voice bellowed from loud speakers. “Welcome. Welcome. Let’s give a big round of applause to our newest players.”

  The crowd roared.

  Players? I examined the field. Chev lay on the ground next to a body I guessed was Palmo. Dervinias kneeled next to Chev.

  “You have one rule in Slaughterball.” The announcer paused and chuckled. “Survive until the timer runs out.” A big gong sounded, and ten minutes popped up on the scoreboard and began counting backward. The crowd cheered, a deafening frenzy. I looked around, wondering what to do.

  Several fist-sized balls began falling from the sky like rain. I dodged, and watched them land. Within seconds the ground was covered with them.

  “Any ideas, Dervinias.” I stepped over one of the round balls, accidentally kicking another. The ball was hard, like a shell, instead of pliable, the way a ball should be. Dervinias didn’t answer, and as I got closer I realized why. Chev panted, the sure sign she was in labor. Her body bled everywhere. A rattling escaped her lips every time she breathed. Portions of her clothes were gone as were some of her fingers. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. She was in this mess because of me, and I had to help. “What can I do?” I bent down next to Dervinias, and patted an undamaged spot on Chev’s forehead.

  He didn’t answer.

  “I’m sorry.” I indicated his brother’s corpse. “Did you love him?”

  “I barely knew him,” he choked out. Then with a sigh, he touched my arm, and said, “I’m sorry too . . . for Zaren. I know he loved you.”

  I nodded, forcing myself not to crack, not to crumple into pieces. At Palmo’s side, I leaned over and closed his vacant eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered, pushing back a lock of his white hair. Palmo’s body trembled and vanished.

  “It’s my fault,” Dervinias cried. Tears ran down his cheeks, and though I knew he’d committed many abhorrent crimes, I felt a pang of sympathy. I understood what it meant to be responsible for the suffering of others.

  I patted Dervinias uneasily. “I know the baby is coming, but there’s a timer for,” I blew out my breath in frustration and continued, “Slaughterball.” I picked up one of the balls near my knee. “I don’t know what to do. Honestly, I’m worried I might not care enough to do anything.”

  His eyes found mine. They were filled with fear. “I know you’re hurting
. I get that you want to mourn, and you should. But not right now. Please.” His gaze moved to Chev, and I followed. Chev looked frail, like a paper cutout of her original self. “Fight, Venus. If not for you or me, then for her.” His eyes pleaded with mine.

  I clenched my teeth together tightly, biting off the grief ready to burst at the slightest whim. “I’ll fight. I won’t give up.”

  His face relaxed slightly. “Thank you.”

  “Chev didn’t ask for this. But if we get out of this mess, you owe me.”

  “Agreed.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a self-conscious embrace. As quickly as he hugged me, he pushed me away. “Listen very carefully. Those aren’t balls, but the shell of a dorvey infant.”

  “Um, what’s a dorvey?” By the look on Dervinias’s face I knew I should be afraid, but I’d never heard of the creature.

  “They are the guardians of the rhlanges, the inhabitants of—”

  “Mars,” I finished for him. I’d heard of the rhlanges before. Not the friendliest sort. They lived near the planets’ core. “These dorvey, they’re mean?” I asked, though I guessed if Ramien created them as part of his game, they would be.

  “Vicious protectors of their young.”

  Chev let out another cry.

  “How do I fight them?” I asked hurriedly.

  He pulled a sword from the sheath on his back. I recognized it immediately. It was Zaren’s Ostwallow sword. The one he gave Michael to kill Dervinias. The one Michael left on Earth.

  “I had other plans for this, but . . .” Dervinias held it out for me to take.

  “If we make it out of this alive, I’ll expect you to fill me in on those plans.”

  “Promise,” he half-heartedly smirked. “If you meet a mamma dorvey, you’ll have to pierce its heart to kill it.” He gave me a pointed look.

  “Okay.”

  “Now get your alien ass on that field and slay some dorvey hide.” He placed a hand on Chev’s bloodied cheek.

  “I will,” I said, gripping the sword in both hands. Its death song hummed against my palms, honoring me with a connection, filling me with its strength.

  When I turned toward center field I knew I’d need it. Thousands of dorvey rolled out of their shells. They looked like the strange monkeys from the picture on the golden door. Long, hairy brown arms and legs. Empty, soulless eyes. Instead of a monkey’s nose and mouth they had curved yellow beaks. Webbed wings beat against their backs. Sounds similar to the chirp of a baby bird came from them. Above the cheeping was Chev’s screams. The baby would come soon.

  A dorvey hopped onto my leg, and bit the meaty part of my calf. Its beak tore into my flesh.

  I shouted out in pain.

  Excited by the noise, a thousand sets of eyes looked at me, all of them hungry. In frenzy, they came at me. Through their hairy bodies I checked the timer.

  Seven. More. Minutes.

  14. Get Off

  With one hand I pulled the clinging dorvey off my calf and delivered a deathblow. As soon as it died, it vanished. Many more clung to my body. One by one I fought them off. It sickened me, all of the carnage. But it was kill or be killed. Celestrum gushed from several places on my body where a dorvey got a piece of my flesh. Obviously these creatures were able to harm kelvieri. I momentarily deliberated whether I should let them eat me. What would happen to Ramien’s precious plan then? But I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Chev and Dervinias depended on me. I couldn’t save Zaren. Or my parents. Or Sadraden. Or Palmo. This time I had to win. I had to save the child.

  Chev’s screams told me her labor was nearly ended. I hoped the timer ran out before the baby was born.

  Three minutes.

  Dorvey after dorvey sprang at me. Their sharp teeth and claws piercing my flesh, their high-toned squeals grating against my nerves. Using Britorent, I moved quickly, killing one after the other. Hundreds of them. But hundreds more appeared, making a travesty of my work.

  I let out a frustrated howl. “How’s it going?” I shouted, hoping Dervinias would talk to me.

  “Almost,” he said.

  That gave me little to hold on to.

  The timer said two and a half minutes.

  A dorvey bit down on my hand. I yanked it off, and kicked it into the menagerie of its siblings. It got up, shook its head, and ran away. I wanted to watch where it went, but twenty more dorvey leaped, blocking my view.

  They’re a distraction, Tortevia roared into my mind.

  “From what?” I huffed.

  Tortevia didn’t have to answer. The remaining dorvey infants quieted, the only noise Chev’s moaning. Even the ones still clinging to me jumped off and skittered away, making a path.

  When I saw her, I marveled at how I’d missed her. She was huge. A dorvey, I guessed the mother, over ten feet tall. I wiped some hair out of my eyes.

  “Get away from her,” Dervinias yelled.

  “No duh.” I shot a glance over my shoulder. I intended to stay as far from the enormous mother as possible. But he wasn’t talking to me. The girl from Earth, Tawny, circled Chev and Dervinias. She spoke, but I couldn’t hear the words.

  “Dervinias?” I shouted, hoping he could handle Tawny.

  “Don’t worry. Remember, penetrate the heart,” he answered.

  How would I reach it, I thought sarcastically.

  The mamma dorvey walked slowly, lumbered really. Perhaps I could keep away from her until the timer ran out.

  Fifty-nine seconds.

  I got this, I thought. But I was wrong. Suddenly the dorvey soared through the air, closing the distance between us, and landed with only inches between us. A wave of sour wind assaulted my nose. I blanched. Stunned. Without a moment to contemplate, the super-sized dorvey picked me up, and swallowed me whole.

  On my way down her throat, I felt the esophagus constrict. I guessed I was heading toward her stomach. Acid burned my skin. Darkness permeated. And the smell. Ugh! Like putrefied flesh.

  Some light in the darkness, Tortevia snarled softly.

  An indigo light erupted from my buckle, allowing me to see.

  You’re going to have to cut through the esophagus to get to the heart, Tortevia said.

  Which way, I wondered, and wished Michael was with me.

  Now, Tortevia roared.

  I jabbed the sword downward, and began to cut. The membrane ripped away easily, and I fell through, landing with a thud on something hard.

  It’s a rib. You’re close. Find the heart, and hurry. Time is almost up.

  I stood and looked around. To the left, and down I picked out the heart. It beat rapidly, pumping blood through arteries, into veins, leading to other organs.

  Life is precious.

  Yes, it is, Tortevia purred.

  I heard the thunder of the crowd outside. They were counting down the last few seconds on the timer.

  “Five.”

  “Four.”

  “Three.”

  I raised the sword high above my head and dove. With a thwunk, the blade buried deep into the heart. Blood spurted me in the face. My hands became soaked in it.

  Another life ended. Because of me.

  Shaking, I pressed the blade in further.

  The dorvey evaporated, and I tumbled into darkness.

  15. Killing Me Softly With His Song

  A furious heat raged against my skin. I opened my eyes, and immediately knew where I was. On the bridge from my dream. Its reflective surface mirrored the fiery lava boiling below. My hands gripped the railing. If it’d been glass, it would’ve shattered.

  A nauseating sweet smell filled the air, and I knew Ramien was close. He appeared to my left.

  “Round two was most interesting, don’t you think?” he asked simply, as though we discussed the weather.

  “If that’s what you want to call it,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

  “Letting the dorvey eat you. Exquisite entertainment.” He patted one of my hands and I flinched.

  “Glad you enjoyed it
, Ramien.” I wasn’t going to tell him I didn’t let her eat me. She sprang so swiftly I had no time to react.

  “I did. I did.”

  “What happened to Dervinias, Chev, and her baby?” I mostly worried about Chev and the baby? Had they survived?

  A shadow crossed over his face. “A strange turn of events.” He shook his head.

  “Are they alive?” I persisted.

  “Oh, no. Dervinias and Cheverly are dead. The dorvey made quick meals of them.

  “The baby?”

  “So, so strange,” he answered.

  “Is. The. Baby. Dead?”

  “A very curious turn of events.”

  “Tell me.”

  He shook his head. His confidence faltered. “I’m not quite sure. No matter,” he said, dismissively. Angling his back to me, he raised his arms out to his sides. The palms of his hands faced upward. “This last round will be the most difficult of all, I think.”

  I snorted. Deep down I hoped he was wrong. Though my body didn’t tire easily, emotionally, I was exhausted.

  Just as in my dream a movement in the lava caught my attention. I peered closer, and as before, she burst from the water.

  The girl with the ruby lashes.

  The girl who reminded me of my sister.

  Amberlee.

  As I thought her name, she opened her eyes. I sucked in a breath, afraid of what Ramien had planned. Wondering why she was a ferrikat.

  “On one side we have your sister, Amberlee. Isn’t she beautiful? Only a ferrikat can navigate lava without much pain. She has been doing my bidding. And she’s been most helpful.”

  I leaned over the railing. “Let her go,” I shouted.

  He snorted, as though my words were nothing more than a minor irritation. “On the other side, we have Michael. The boy the gods believe is your soul mate. The boy who is more similar to you than you know. The boy who loves you harder, stronger, and with more commitment than I’ve ever witnessed. Which will you save? Which do you love more?”

  At Ramien’s words I peered at Michael. He lay on his back, the medallion at his throat shimmering in the light. His eyes were closed, his face peaceful, as though he slept. Or he was dead.