Warrior's Destiny

by Allie Burton

  “You don’t get it, do you?” His lips formed a thin line. “Your power comes with responsibility.”

  “You’re being a downer.” I turned away from him not wanting to think about consequences and responsibility. Just wanting to enjoy my new-found power. At least for a few minutes. Responsible had been my middle name.

  Responsible for learning Fitch’s trade.

  Responsible for not getting caught.

  Responsible for the younger kids in the family.

  With power I could do what I wanted. I wouldn’t have to listen to others. To Fitch.

  I’d control my own life. Put my powers to good use once I figured out how to use them. I could help Tina and Doug, and other kids like them improve their lives. To get an education and someday a real job. I inhaled deeply and puffed out my chest with an air of self-satisfaction, finally feeling good to be me.

  You must move, a voice whispered in my mind right before a strong force pulled at my feet.

  “Whoa!” I stumbled off the paved path and crashed into a bush. Air whooshed out of my lungs. “What the heck’s going on?”

  My body straightened, jerked to the right and moved on. My heart revved like I was a remote control car and someone else had the stick. But I didn’t feel like a non-feeling car. Electricity zapped my entire body. Numbness invaded my limbs. Still I kept moving, marching, at a pace I hadn’t set.

  “Where are you going now?” Disgust filled his voice as he followed me again.

  Disgust because he thought I was joking around or because I stole his power?

  Hurry, the voice inside my brain commanded.

  “What?” Too overwhelmed to digest what was happening, my brain short-circuited. Voices in my head, my body moving on its own, Xander’s anger.

  He caught up with me. “Can you hear me now? I asked where you’re going.” His words sounded like they came out between tight lips.

  The force moved my legs, while the voice inside my head urged me on. We must discover their scheme.

  “What scheme?”

  “What are you talking about?” He trotted to keep up.

  “Don’t know where I’m going.” But I knew I didn’t want to go there. I wrapped my arms around the trunk of a tree. My perfectly trimmed nails bit into the bark trying to hold tight. The rough surface scratched my arms. “I can’t control myself.”

  My earlier thoughts about being possessed returned. I might not be lusting for human flesh, yet, but I had no control of my feet. Shivers crawled across my skin leaving scratches of fear. What was next?

  My entire body shook. I marched in place with jerky movements. This thing inside me now had control. I imagined the trouble it could cause. “Help me!”

  “Quit playing and let’s find the bus.” He kicked at the ground. “I’m cold and I’m hungry.”

  “I can’t help it.” My feet kept moving. Unlike Xander’s brain which didn’t seem to understand my desperation. “How do I stop?”

  He looked at me. Really looked. His mouth opened slightly and his eyebrows lifted in shock. “He’s taken control.”

  Xander’s reverent whisper sent goosebumps traveling across my skin like ancient warriors on a quest.

  “Who’s taken control?” My shrill voice hurt my ears.

  You didn’t listen therefore I must force you to obey.

  “Didn’t listen to what?” Because I heard the voice loud and clear now.

  We will be forsaken, the commanding voice boomed.

  I reached a hand to my forehead. My legs slipped away. Slapping my hand back around the tree, I shouted, “Xander, what aren’t you telling me?”

  My heart quivered as if it had been given an overdose of caffeine. Was this a real possession of the horror-variety or a trick? I grasped at any logical explanation even if it meant accusing Xander. He’d shown me one of my abilities and I’d begun to believe him. Believe in myself. Normally, I don’t trust strangers so easily and I still didn’t completely trust him, but extraordinary circumstances called for desperate measures. He was supposedly the expert.

  And I was desperate. Very desperate.

  My lungs raked into shreds of pain and confusion. My breathing grew shallow, so shallow I sucked in each breath as if sipping air through a broken straw. “I’ll give back your stupid powers if you’ll make my feet stop.” My legs continued to move without going anywhere. I kept pulling them back. My arms ached from holding onto the tree and fighting my own body. I couldn’t hold on much longer. “Tell me how to stop this!”

  He stepped closer and peered at me like I was under a microscope. “They warned me about certain side effects. That’s why everything tonight had been planned so precisely.”

  Except they didn’t plan on me.

  My raw left hand slipped from around the trunk. I felt like a rope in a game of tug-a-war.

  We must hurry.

  “Shut up.” I wanted the voice to stop, almost as much as I wanted my feet to stop.

  “I didn’t say anything.” Xander continued to stare, his dark pupils rolling around in a bewildered way.

  “The voice in my head. My feet. They’re moving by themselves— Ahh!” Both of my arms slipped from around the tree and my feet dragged an unhappy me with them. “Help. Me.” The plea ripped out. I had no control, no thoughts, no solution.

  “Your legs must be moving under King Tut’s power.” Xander kept pace beside me. His forehead scrunched as if I was a curiosity.

  “Eek!” I veered around a tree. “Where does Tut want me to go?” Was that his voice in my head?

  “Don’t know.”

  I fought each step. My muscles trembled with tiredness. “Thought you trained for this.” I wanted to shout at Xander. Except, he was my only hope and I couldn’t make him mad. “Don’t you know how to control King Tut?”

  “He’s a guy. Maybe if it was me—”

  “Aha. So, you’re jealous.” Breath huffed in and out of my chest. I wasn’t used to running except on a job. I didn’t do sports. Didn’t want to get sweaty.

  Another choice taken away.

  Happiness had lasted only seconds. Why should that surprise me?

  “I was brought up to host the soul and you stole it. How do you think I feel?” Xander didn’t sound mad. He sounded more relieved. Maybe now that he’d seen the side effects, he was glad not to go through this ordeal.

  Here I thought I was all powerful and could help others, and instead I had no control at all. This was worse than being under Fitch’s threats. At least with him I knew where I stood. With Tut, I didn’t know what he wanted or where his loyalties lay.

  “Can we…can we argue about this later?” My limp body lagged behind my feet and my mind. I just wanted to stop.

  Stop the running, stop the voices, stop the madness.

  Unfortunately, my feet didn’t. They kept running through the woods and my body went along with them. Wind rushed past my skin. Branches snagged at my hair.

  Thank goodness the trees thinned out.

  “Can you help me?” I hated my desperate tone.

  “I don’t know what to do.” Xander didn’t even breathe hard as he jogged beside me. “I was expected to finish my training after I received the soul. The Society was going to meet. There was going to be another ceremony. I don’t have all the answers.”

  My shoulders slumped so low I’d be dragging them soon. “I just need one answer.” At this second. “How to stop?”

  My feet accelerated, jumped over the curb and dashed onto Highway One cutting through the middle of the huge park. Cars swerved around me, honking their horns. Inside, I jumped at the sound and tried to move out of the way, but my body didn’t listen to my brain’s commands.

  I ran a straight path, uncaring if a car drove in my way.

  Actually, I cared. King Tut didn’t. He probably didn’t even know what cars were, or how dangerous they could be.

  My heart zoomed like the cars racing past. Terror streaked though me like multiple bolts of lightning. If I�
�d been in control of my body, I’m sure I would’ve been paralyzed by fear. Instead, I kept moving forward, my feet pounding on the blacktop.

  I looked to the right and my neck stiffened. The front grill of a Muni bus bore down on me. The vehicle was so close I could pick out the dead bugs on the windshield. I saw the registration tags in the window. And I understood the driver’s horrified exclamation as his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened.

  My heart squealed as if putting on the brakes. My life had just started and now it was going to end. Hadn’t King Tut died after being hit by a chariot? Was I to suffer the same fate?

  As the vehicle came within a few feet, I swallowed the lump in my throat and closed my eyes.

  Awaiting impact, I whispered, “I found the bus.”

  Chapter Five

  Olivia

  Xander’s bare arms wrapped around me, tackling me from behind in a quarterback sack. And I was the quarterback.

  At his touch, a spark shot through me. Energy exploded. My skin heated like a flame had burst inside. The momentum propelled both of us forward like linked rag dolls. We started falling to the blacktop in the right lane of the highway, but the motion from his tackle pushed us out of the way, avoiding the bus by mere inches.

  His arms slackened and dropped. The bus whizzed past, its horn screeching.

  I put my hands out to block my fall, but never hit the ground. My body adjusted on its own, straightened and kept moving like a puppet being yanked by strings.

  Xander continued to tumble. He flopped to the ground and kind of bounced off the pavement as if he couldn’t put his arms out to protect himself. Like the time he’d fallen at the museum.

  Guilt foamed like the rabid dog’s mouth living in the alley. Xander had saved me and I’d zapped him. The force that had surged through me was more powerful than the first time I’d touched him. I was alive. But what about Xander?

  I twisted my head to see. He lay in the lane nearest the curb. The whiteness of his tunic glowed from the now completely un-shadowed moon. Another car could hit him.

  A scream tore from my throat, “Xander!”

  Turning at the waist, I tried to steer my body back toward the road. My feet kept going away from him, crunching the gravel lining of the roadway and then hitting the wet grass. I wanted to help him like he’d helped me. But I couldn’t.

  So much for being in control of my own destiny, for having power. I couldn’t stop my feet. I had voices in my head. I couldn’t turn around. And I couldn’t help Xander.

  I wasn’t powerful. I was powerless.

  My eyes stung and I struggled to take a breath. Who was I kidding? I’d never held any power. Not now, not through the foster homes, not in Fitch’s house.

  There, I wasn’t allowed to go to school. I ate what was put in front of me. I wore what he gave me and never got to decide on the heists we pulled. At least I’d been in charge of my own body. Now, I’d lost even that ability.

  My ragged breath heaved in and out. My feet kept moving. I felt lost in my own life. And now I’d taken Xander down with me.

  I needed to find out what had gone wrong at the museum. On past jobs Fitch had waited for the others until he’d had the stolen object in his hands. I knew because I’d waited with him. Why hadn’t he waited for me? Did he believe I’d failed my first heist? I needed to get back, give him the amulet, and hopefully he’d help with my situation.

  Of course, I couldn’t get back to him if I couldn’t control my feet. They hit the ground making a slap, slap, slap noise. Heading into a bunch of trees on this side of the road, I bent low trying to avoid the branches. With the distance, I couldn’t see Xander lying on the road anymore. I’d abandoned him, too. I scrunched my face, trying with all my will to stop the running. Determination ran, ha ha, through me. None of my efforts worked.

  Feeling stupid, I commanded, “Stop feet, stop.”

  But no one heard or I was being ignored. So much for the voices in my head.

  “Olivia!”

  Did the soul know my name? But this voice was different, familiar.

  “Olivia!”

  Xander? I twisted my head to look behind.

  He half-ran, half-limped. His pale face winced. His jet black hair stood straight up like he’d been electrocuted.

  A heavy weight lifted from my soul. Not Tut’s. He still had some explaining to do.

  Yeah, right. Like I could force King Tut’s soul to do anything. He commanded me, telling my body what to do. Jitters rocked me at my lack of control. “You didn’t get killed.”

  “No. I fell because we touched.”

  My ribs tightened, holding my heart hostage. Kind of like my legs holding my body hostage because they kept running. I’d caused Xander pain—not the Muni bus. He’d touched me, pushed me out of the way, and I repaid him by dehydrating him. If he was smart, he’d run far from me.

  “I’m sorry.” Tears stung my eyes again. At this rate, I’d dehydrate myself.

  My feet slowed. Perhaps the running, the crying, the emotions, had drained the power within. I stumbled and then crashed onto a patch of grass and fallen leaves. Like an old car in the hot summer sun, I overheated. A tremor ripped through me. I did not want to think about the sun.

  Lying there, I let the dampness of the ground cool my body. Bursts of steam rose around me like I’d been in a long, hot shower. I breathed in and out to control my thoughts and emotions.

  My feet had run amok. I’d almost died. Xander had almost died trying to save me.

  Listen.

  And I had voices in my head. Was I going crazy?

  I wanted to jump up and run again. Run away from these insane thoughts, run away from this impossible situation.

  “You okay?” Xander plopped down next to me. Perspiration dotted his ashen face. Yet the disheveled-ness only made him look more male.

  I nodded, not really meaning it. I wasn’t going to admit to hearing voices and thinking crazy thoughts to a stranger. I wasn’t okay, but he’d be the last to find out.

  “What made you stop?” He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more.

  “Ex-ex-haustion?” I breathed hard, each breath rasping like wind going through a tunnel. I’d never run that hard before. Sure, I was fit for short sprints through dark buildings. Jogging in the park? I think not.

  “Pharaohs do not tire.” He sounded like he quoted from a textbook or an ancient scroll.

  At his arrogance, my earlier sympathy evaporated. “I’m not a pharaoh.”

  “You host one.”

  I didn’t want to. Not anymore. I tugged on the chain of the amulet bringing the ugly thing out from under my shirt. I didn’t care if Fitch got mad I’d given the prize away. “You can have this stupid bling. I don’t want it.”

  “Taking the amulet off now won’t change anything.” Xander held up his hand in a commanding way. “King Tut’s soul is inside of you. His essence is—”

  “Where are we?” I didn’t want to deal with Xander’s mystical teachings.

  He pinched his lips together as if he disagreed with changing the conversation. “It looks like a hidden corner of Golden Gate Park.”

  The trees clustered together making going forward difficult. No paths led to this spot of the woods. We were isolated.

  Xander’s wide eyes made him look lost and frantic. I’d caused him nothing but trouble. First stealing the amulet, and because of that he’d been kicked out of the Society. And I’d inflicted additional pain by touching him. Twice. “How do you feel?”

  “Thirsty.” His lopsided smile caused my heart to ba-bump. I liked that he joked at a time like this. Sounded like something I’d do.

  “I can’t help you with that.” Panic rose like an overflowing river because no water would be overflowing near me. “Will I be able to drink water?”

  “Yes. Drink, eat, fart, poop. Just like normal.”

  “Disgusting.” Only guys talked about bodily functions. “Manners, anyone?”

  “You a
sked.”

  “What else do I need to know about these powers?” I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of hosting Tut or his powers like I’d first thought. My how things change. One minute disbelieving, then ecstatic, and now just plain scared.

  “I wasn’t told everything.” Repeating himself, he tore a dead leaf into tiny pieces. “They trained me physically so my body could handle Tut’s soul. They coached me about the night of the transfer and what I had to be careful of and avoid.”

  Hosting Tut’s soul sounded complicated and I wasn’t prepared. “Are you angry with me? For taking all that away?”

  “Not your fault. You didn’t know.” Xander leaned away and his gaze zoomed in on me. “But who did know? Why steal this amulet? Why tonight? Why you?”

  I shrugged and then fidgeted with the necklace under my shirt. “A new client of Fitch’s commissioned the amulet and said the job had to be done tonight. At a specific time.”

  “The night of the summer solstice and a full lunar eclipse. A magical night.”

  “Doesn’t seem magical to me.” A war waged within. Happy versus sad. Excited versus scared. Normal versus crazy. “The client was in a hurry, but very precise. He planned how to do the job and the exact timing. Fitch even had to deliver the piece right after the heist. Usually, we lay low and let things cool off for a day or two.”

  No way did Fitch know of its magical properties. If he had, he would’ve done the job himself.

  I needed to get home and hand over the amulet. I wanted to hug Tina and Doug. Their hugs comforted me, too. Fitch would hide me from the Society. He had to. I needed to learn all I could before Xander and I went our separate ways. Separating would be best for both of us. Fitch didn’t like strangers. “What else do I need to watch out for?”

  Xander examined the full moon as if analyzing its dips and craters. “The Society said I’d learn everything once I received the power at a special anointing ceremony. Besides telling me after tonight that I couldn’t touch anyone.” He shrugged, but the shrug looked stiff not casual. “That’s why the Society kept me away from people because they didn’t want me to get used to a person’s touch.”