by J. G. Massie
A streaking figure stormed up beside me, causing me to lash out on reflex. Isaac casually blocked my blade. In one smooth motion he slashed to his right, using the same momentum to disrupt two more with a single strike. I shrugged my apology as he shook his head at me. “You are so stubborn.” I shrugged again, hoping I at least looked cute doing it. “So, so stubborn.”
“But that’s why you love me, right?” I flashed my most innocent smile. Well, as innocent as I could make it while tearing my blade through the next wraith trying to ruin our moment.
“Pfft... Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn.” But try as he might, Isaac couldn’t even pretend to be mad at me. Eyes dancing with amusement, his tightened his lips in a failed attempt to hide his grin.
“Hey, you two, could this maybe wait until later?” I glanced back at Turner, who was tearing through stunned wraiths like a hot knife through butter.
No doubt he was still kicking ass like a machine, but I hadn’t stopped to consider that he, too, had his limits. His face glistening with sweat, chest heaving with heavy breaths, this fierce pace was beginning to take its toll on him. I sort of forgot that while the rest of us were just trying to make physical contact with the wraiths, he was the one who had to finish them off each time.
Mandla and Amber galloped around us in circles, slashing wildly at anything that moved. Again, Turner had to streak from side to side, capitalizing on the tiniest of windows provided by those two as well. It didn’t seem like a single stun was wasted, but each kill came at a price. I wished I could help him in a more meaningful way.
When we approached the village, my blood went cold. It was bad the last time we rode through, but nothing like this! Wraiths were spiraling down in endless streams, twisting and turning like funnels of bats dive-bombing the shifters. Lura had them organized and ready, making sure they fought hard with tact and precision. But with each one killed, the blackened sky seemed to belch out three more.
It was endless! How much longer could we possibly hold out?
My blades danced, slicing through wraiths that shimmied in place. But now they were getting the chance to recover and continue on with their assault. Turner was running out of gas, and he was missing a lot of cleanup duty that had been a cakewalk earlier in the battle. Amber was doing what she could to pick up the slack. Teeth and claws ripping, she stuck to my side and moved like my shadow.
More and more funnels came rolling down from the sky. Shimmering glitter littered the ground, making the whole area look like a silver beach as the fight raged on. But as long as they kept on coming, it wasn’t going to make any difference. The more we killed, the faster they came, it seemed.
And to make matters worse, my own fatigue was beginning to set in. Sweating profusely, arms and shoulders burning, it was like all the blood in my body had suddenly turned into battery acid. When a rare window of slowing action presented itself, I took advantage and looked around to try and locate where everyone was at.
Isaac remained glued to my other hip, cutting and slashing right along with me. Margie and Lindsey were still doing a fair job evading, bobbing, and weaving before popping off bolts whenever they got the chance. But they were mostly defensive at this point, sticking and moving while trying to take cover in nearby bushes. Mandla rumbled about, his hard slashes driven with enough power to shatter boulders. But of course, his mind-blowing power was wasted on creatures such as these.
Face red, clothes drenched with sweat, Turner was really beginning to slow now. And worse, the wraiths now fully recognized the hardened warrior as the only true human threat. Converging like vultures, a mass of smoky black dropped down on top of him. The urgent threat produced a savage response as his whirling blades sent streams of white glitter blooming in all directions at once.
But I knew the burst of energy was just a last-ditch adrenaline dump. It was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed him completely.
Recognizing the urgency, the ladies came storming out from a nearby bush. Moving circles around him, their blades flashed while attempting to scatter the wraiths any way they could. Isaac raced up to join them, then all three attacked wildly as Turner kept up his endless killing streak.
But his power and speed were long gone now. Heaving his weapon from the shoulder, his blade looked heavy in his hands. He was still killing wraiths, but at a pace far slower than they were coming.
I ripped four more daggers from my chest, each one seeking a separate target as they tumbled through the air. Four wraiths fluttered on impact, but only one paid the ultimate price when Turner heaved his blade upward like a sack of potatoes. His energy was spent, and it was all he could do to survive the onslaught.
I looked left and right, desperately searching for aid or inspiration. The shifters were holding their own, and Lura was kicking just as much ass as all the rest put together. Rocking her full-sized lion form, she was tearing up wraiths like an all-you-can-eat buffet. But she still had her hands full and was not in a position to help Turner. He was quickly running out of time.
I chucked two more daggers as panic set in, each one kissing one of the dozens of wraiths floating above him. There were so many now that I couldn’t even see him. Buried beneath a sea of billowing smoke, I didn’t even know if he was still alive. The others worked feverishly to free him, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Turner was doomed.
“No!” I shrieked, ripping off another dagger. The futility of it all made me want to scream. What kind of Keeper couldn’t protect the ones she loved? It wasn’t fair. I couldn’t let him go out like this. “Why won’t you come to me when I need you most?”
Because you don’t respect it. Turner’s words echoed around in the back of my head.
But I did respect the power. At least, I thought I did. Heck, it turned me into a human torch one time already. How could I not respect it? But there was no time to reason this out, no time to ponder what I had been doing wrong all this time.
I had already tried reaching out with my mind, and that didn’t work. I tried letting it in, attempted to absorb it like a sponge, and that didn’t work either. Up until now, nothing I tried ever worked. Had I been arrogant? Was Turner right about that? But I was willing to cut off my own arm with a spoon if I thought it would help. He was going to die, and I was willing to sacrifice anything to keep that from happening.
Time was up, and I was out of options. In what felt like the lowest point of my entire life, I threw up my hands and did the only thing a beaten, desperate woman could do...
I surrendered.
Chapter 19
Consumed by fear and desperation, I mentally hurled myself into the black void surrounding my mind. In many ways it was the opposite of trying, the same way falling out of a plane was extreme, yet took no real effort. You just...fall.
Up until now I had always given my all when it came to my training. Hard work equaled results, and that was supposed to be true with just about anything, right? How much effort you put in was what separated the elite from the average. But what do you do when your goals aren’t realistic in the first place? What happens when hard work and doing your best simply aren’t good enough?
A leap of faith, belief in a higher power perhaps? Call it what you will, but it’s a humbling thing to realize that the universe sees you as nothing but a fly. Turner says I don’t respect the power, and perhaps he was right. But as of now I’m practically on my knees groveling, offering it my very soul if it will come to me just this once.
“I refuse to stand by and watch my friends die! Use me, then discard me like yesterday’s trash if you wish. If my life is the cost, then I will gladly pay it. But I’m asking, no, begging you, please don’t abandon me!”
Nearby wraiths turned their shadowed faces as if just now noticing I was there. Standing helplessly with my hands stretched to the sky, I made no move for my weapons. It was too late for that. I was fully committed, and ready to pay whatever price.
I had surrendered in every sense of the word.
&n
bsp; Wraiths converged, their red eyes flashing with the promise of a fresh soul. A Keeper’s soul at that, and one who apparently showed no signs of fighting back. A flood of smoky black came crashing down, driving me straight to the ground beneath its crushing weight. The only reason I was still alive was because they were basically just getting in each other’s way, each trying to take the Keeper’s soul for itself.
From beneath the pile I heard Isaac scream, a desperate wail born of fear for my safety. The cutting wail broke my heart, yet my fate had already been decided. I had no regrets, but still I had privately hoped I might face my gruesome end without anyone noticing. It was my sacrifice to make, my choice alone. He didn’t deserve to see this.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled into the smoky mass smothering my face. I could feel my ribs collapsing under the pressure. “You deserved better.”
Thump thump... I could actually feel my heart pounding against my ribcage. Thump thump... It was strange being able to feel my own death happening in real time, to be so fully aware of my impending doom. Thump thump... Pressurized blood coursed through my veins, blood...as well as... something...else. Something different... Alien, even. A strange sort of power I had never felt before.
Invigorated, my eyes snapped open as my lungs expanded with a burst of air. Resisting the downward pressure, I pushed back until I was up on my knees. I could hear everyone now, even Turner to my great relief, yelling and tearing at the living mountain that had me buried. I should have known they would all come for me no matter how helpless it seemed.
I didn’t deserve my friends, not a one of them.
I surged to my feet in a burst, the force sending wraiths tumbling in all directions, most of them gushing white glitter. I glanced down at my body, confused at what was happening here. My arms, my legs, I didn’t even recognize them. Coated in some sort of hardened mud shell, I was basically wearing plated armor from head to toe.
“Earth elemental?” I gasped, looking my arms up and down.
“That would be my guess,” Turner said, sounding nowhere near as horrified as he should have. He was pretty roughed up, but I suppose that was just another day at the office in the life of a Keeper. “How did you—Hell, even I can’t do that.” His hands were on his hips, with his head cocked to one side. If I didn’t know any better, I might have thought he was jealous! “Looks as if the power has finally accepted you. Now it’s time to prove whether or not you’re worthy of it.”
The power has accepted me. His words rang true, yet I hadn’t even thought of it that way until now. How arrogant it was of me to try and manipulate it, to try to control it the way I had. Now I knew better, and it was an honor and a privilege to be allowed to wield such force. Now, whether or not I was worthy was another question altogether.
It was time to find out.
Rocking my fashionable new mud suit, I was pretty eager to test it out. Seeking out the largest concentration of wraiths I could find, I threw up my fists and stormed right into them. My mud suit might as well have been made of fiery razor blades the way they reacted on contact. Sprays of white glitter bloomed left and right as I flailed about like a scene from Flashdance.
Throwing caution to the wind, my reckless, chaotic attack must have looked completely ridiculous. Rather than looking like Bruce Lee, I looked more like a five-year-old having a tantrum, but that was the point. All I had to do was make contact and it was one and done.
I couldn’t get over how was strange is was being so aware of my own heartbeat. The rhythmic thumping inside my chest was like a beating drum, each pulse sending the crackling energy of nature coursing through my body. So sweet, so spicy, so intense I feared it may burn me up from the inside. With a final spinning spasm, I managed to clear the immediate area.
I clapped my hands against my chest and the rock-hard mud shell flaked away like caked sand. It was strange knowing what to do with no prior knowledge of how this power worked. Natural, instinctual, it all came so easy for some reason.
I opened my hands, palms glowing with a sort of bluish light. Body temperature plummeting, my breaths pulsed in icy waves of mist. Filling to the point where I thought I was going to burst, I dropped to one knee and slammed my hands against the ground. The thunderous release was savage as the light blue ring raced away from me, the ground icing over just beneath it.
Wraiths in its path suddenly went stiff, their red eyes bulging with horror just before taking on a bluish hue. Even those hovering above the ground were affected, their suspended bodies starting to steam and hiss as tiny cracks crawled along their frosted black cloaks.
From the top of my head down to the tip of my toes, the power rolled through me like an ocean wave. With every inch of my body swelling with energy, I couldn’t decide if the sensation was wonderful or frightening. I could move it, shape it, manipulate it at will. But it needed an outlet or I was likely to burn up from within, so an outlet I would give it.
Again the sensation began to change as icy, cool mint was replaced by white-hot energy. Swelling in my chest, I felt it rolling about like boiling lava. It was like Taco Tuesday night at Freddy’s, and everyone was about to share in my suffering. Eyeing the dozens of frozen wraiths scattered around, for a second there I almost felt bad for the living popsicles.
Aww...poor little fellas. The least I can do is warm them up.
I huffed and I puffed... Heck, I needed to belch in the worst way. Circling my lips with two fingers, I reared back and let loose. A flaming inferno rolled from my mouth, a whirling tornado of flame engulfing everything in its path. Frozen wraiths hissed and popped before their bodies vaporized into nothing. Within a second, the only things left were minute traces of black ash drifting upward like smoke.
Still spewing liquid flame like a demonic geyser, I threw my head back and swept from left to right. Whirling flames licked the sky above, the rolling funnel disintegrating anything it touched. Hovering wraiths squealed like pigs, but the horror etched in those eyes only lasted a second before their bodies charred into black dust. Their deaths were virtually instant.
How many had I killed already? It had only been a minute or so, but it seemed like I had wiped out hundreds all by myself. I didn’t even take the time to see how the others were doing. I knew they could handle themselves, and this was no time to take my foot off the gas.
Yet again my body started to feel different, light, as if I was floating on a cloud. Rolling my shoulders back, my staticky hair stood up on end. Waving and flapping straight up over my head, it was as if a stiff wind were rising straight up out of the ground.
My clothes flapped vigorously as swirling air whipped around me. A living entity, the wind itself was now at my command, and I could feel its violent strength building up inside of me. When I flexed my hands, a gush of released pressure came pouring out of each fingertip. Living whips of crackling energy went rolling across the ground, their white, crackling illumination reminiscent of flexible lightning bolts.
And Wolverine thought his claws were cool...
I flicked my wrists, snapping my lightning whips overhead with a mighty crack. All eight flashed with a blinding blue light followed by a deafening boom. Oh yeah, these babies will work just fine!
I rolled my wrists straight up and the weightless strands followed, each seeming to have a mind of its own. Seeking out wraiths at will, they snatched and wrapped, squeezing tight, burning through them like soft butter. The wraiths didn’t even have time to scream before their bodies imploded.
Sometimes lashing like a cutting blade, others times wrapping up and squeezing like a boa, it took no more than a thought to make it happen. What seemed like energy snakes acting on their own free will was actually them just responding to even my most vague thoughts. It was Christmas, and these were by far the coolest toys under the tree this year.
“Let’s go!” I called out to anyone who was listening, and I took off running. I was feeling like a total badass, and didn’t really feel the need to wait for anyone. Whips flashin
g, I sliced and diced the air above my head as I ran, sending sprinkles of white glitter sprinkling about like falling snow.
I flinched when a flash of blue whizzed past my left ear. Spraying sparkles like a busted-open piñata, half a wraith hung in the air right next to my head. The red light faded from his eyes, and what was left of his body withered up and blew away. I didn’t realize one had gotten that close to me.
“Instead of being so cocky, perhaps you pay more attention to your surroundings,” Turner warned, his blade circling back to cut down another creeping up behind us. “Just keep your eyes open, all right? Just because you’ve finally embraced the power doesn’t mean you’re invincible.”
Looks like someone got his second wind. I guess all he needed was a little breather to get back in the game. Still, point taken. New powers or not, I needed to be more careful. I could still die just as easily as before.
“Oh, right, you’re one to talk about someone being cocky.” I flicked my finger, its rolling whip taking down another one straight ahead.
“Fair enough... But at least I’ve earned it, young blood.” A flash of his sword and another one bit the dust.
Bolts and daggers went streaking over our heads as we ran side by side. That was the first time I realized our friends were also hot on our trails. They did what they could, but the lead Keepers were the real show here. Us... Turner sliced while I diced as the two of us carved a path straight through them. Those stunned by bolts were especially easy, like shooting fish in a barrel as they say.
Suddenly, I felt the ground shaking beneath my feet as the rumbling gallop of shifters came up from the rear. They must have cleared their end of the village already and decided to come join up with us. The battle had turned completely in our favor, and the rout was on.
“Take the right flank,” Turner pointed just as he veered left. At first, I didn’t know who followed who as we broke off in opposite directions. That is, until Isaac appeared on my left side and Amber came galloping upon the right.
