by Hanna Peach
There was movement, more scrambling of warriors’ legs, all rushing to evacuate the hut.
“Elder,” a female voice sounded. It took a moment for Symon to recognize it as belonging to Elder Bezebel. “I came as soon as I was alerted.”
“She took Mayrekk’s prisoner’s apex and the charm that Raphael left for her. I was so close to figuring it out,” said Michael. “Damn her and that godforsaken Rogue, Jordan. I should have killed him while I had the chance. And her, too.”
What in the hell? Symon felt his whole body growing cold, as if the blood in his veins had stopped rushing from the shock of what he had just heard… Mayrekk’s prisoner’s apex…the charm that Raphael left… There had to be a reasonable explanation for this. This was an Elder talking. There had to be reason behind it…
Unless…
Unless Alyx was telling the truth.
Prickles of fear began rolling down Symon’s neck. This was not a conversation that was meant for his ears. If he were discovered…
* * *
In Mayrekk’s chaotic hut, Michael felt himself vibrating with anger. He barely restrained himself from throwing another innocent jar from the shelves. Alyxandria. The name burned in his blood like acid. Oh, the depths of pain that he would put her through once he had her caught would make the last time seem like a flight to heaven. That wretched warrior – this mere seraphelle – was becoming more than just a nuisance.
Damn the prophecy. He didn’t follow prophecy, he made it.
Alyxandria. Oh pretty, pretty. She had already made a fool out of him. Twice. But how did Alyx find his Eden and his Tree of Knowledge? How did she discover its existence? Only he and a select few knew…
He turned his glare towards Elder Bezebel. He studied her long, honeyed hair and amber eyes. The face of a youthful woman. But was it the face of a betrayer? His eyes narrowed as he considered this thought.
“We will find them, Michael.” Elder Bezebel gazed at him with what he recognized as stoic confidence. On the surface she showed no nerves, but he noted the hard swallow at her throat.
His words were as cold as the deep Arctic winter. “It would be a very unfortunate thing if I found one of my most trusted to have betrayed me.”
Her face showed her shock. “What?”
“Only a few know the location of my chamber of Eden. You included.”
“Are you…accusing me, Elder?”
“Somebody is to blame. Somebody will pay for this. Gather the others. I want council in my chambers.”
She nodded – the fear evident in her eyes – before she left. He noted there was no guilt. He doubted very much that she was the reason for Alyxandria’s breach. Another breach. Another God damn breach.
He turned back to the rock wall and ran his hand across it. Where was that MirageWeaver? Frustration grew under his skin. He hated waiting for someone else’s magical assistance. But – his thoughts turned back to his precious Tree of Knowledge – once he had it working to full capacity, he wouldn’t have to…
Soon, soon. He was almost there.
Chapter 19
Alyx had returned to the small room behind Mayrekk’s hut. Everything was deathly still. To pass the time while she was waiting for Jordan to return, Alyx searched the shelves for bloodink, but all the wire baskets were empty. She wondered how long it had been since Mayrekk had been strong enough to distill any Seraphim blood.
Alyx frowned. What about the warriors then? Did they not get issued bloodink anymore? Or were their issues limited? Alyx gripped her hands in fists. Selfish Michael. Did he not realize that by taking away the bloodink from the warriors it would make their patrolling more difficult? Did he not care?
Something Passar said to her repeated in her mind.
“Didn’t you ever wonder why we only patrole the mortal cities closest to Michaelea? The Elders don’t care about keeping the mortals safe, they just want us to keep the Darkened away from them.”
Oh, Passar, she thought. You were right about the Elders. You were right to turn away from their dogma but you still went about it the wrong way. Samyara is no better master. You just traded one devil for another.
As Alyx pulled back from the shelves, something caught her eye. Peering into a corner, she could see that it was a vial covered in dust and cobwebs. It must have fallen out of its wire basket. She pulled out the small glass container and brushed it clean. The silver liquid inside looked like melted stardust and gleamed even in the dim light. MirageWeaver bloodink. Alyx tucked the precious vial in her pocket.
A sudden tremor made her jump. Crumbs of dirt and loose rock fell from the low roof and pinged against the ground. What was that?
The tremor was followed by a wave of heat coming off the mirage wall separating her from Mayrekk’s hut. Alyx felt her heart begin to race when she realized what it was. A MirageWeaver was trying to break through the shield. The tremor and blast of heat came again. Alyx backed away from the shield. Could they get through?
If they could…if they did…she shuddered. The memory of being tortured covered her body in sweat and caused a knotted ball of dread to roll around in her stomach. If she were found, there was no doubt that the pain Michael would put her through would make the last time seem like child’s play. The tremors were getting louder and more insistent, like a battering ram on a door. She couldn’t stay here. She had to take her chances out in the forest.
She bypassed the shielded wall at the end of the room using Mayrekk’s keye, which she had around her neck, and stepped through to the dark corridor. Just as she looked back through the small room, she heard a crash and a shattering like glass. The rock mirage separating her and Mayrekk’s hut broke into pieces. Through the shower of magic she saw a Castus she recognized, Cassandra, a powerful MirageWeaver, standing with palms raised and a steely look to her gray eyes.
Behind Cassandra, Alyx’s eyes caught the fiery glare of Elder Michael. A current of fear shot through her, rooting her to the spot. No demon had ever looked so evil to her as he did in that moment. Go, her mind commanded her body, snapping her out of her frozen fear.
She magically slammed the second shielded wall shut, praying it would keep Michael from her for as long as it could. She sped to the end of the dark tunnel. Her fingers fumbled with the keye as the tremors began again. Come on, come on, she urged herself. The second wall began to shudder and crumble, this one not being as strong as the first.
Gripping Mayrekk’s keye with shaking fingers, she deactivated the final shielded wall. It faded to reveal the thick cover of leaves beyond. Alyx shot through without a look back. She cringed at the rustling that her haste made as she pushed through the bushes, but she didn’t have enough time to be slow and silent. She paused for a mere moment, peering through the final layer of leaves, before pushing out into the open.
It didn’t take long for them to spot her.
“There she is.” Alyx heard the yell of one warrior from somewhere behind her. The noise sent Alyx’s blood roaring through her ears. She sped away through the air, zooming in and out of trees as she went.
She could hear them coming after her. Chancing a glance back over her shoulder, she could see the blur of two black-clothed warriors. She refocused ahead of her. She veered, dodging a tree. A movement to her left caused her to turn to her right. Another warrior had joined the chase. A fourth black figure to her right caused her to curse and swerve back to her left.
Her heart thudded as she realized they were shepherding her as she and her flock mates had done so many times to Darkened on the run. What now? Alyx searched desperately for an answer as she sped through the forest, the warriors closing in on her, slowly but surely.
“Give yourself up, Alyx. Make this easier on yourself,” one of the warriors called. She recognized Do’hann’s taunting voice. She gritted her teeth, refusing to answer back. Even as she could sense they were closing in on her, she kept pushing forward. Maybe if she could make a dash for it out above the canopy in the open?
Out
of nowhere, something large and heavy knocked her out of the air, taking her breath with it. As she fell towards the ground, a hand clamped over her mouth before she could scream.
* * *
Under the cloak of his mirage, Jordan had seen Alyx barreling out of the mountainside and being chased by the warriors. He had followed them, knowing that if he didn’t get to her first, the warriors would have no mercy. He had gained ground by sprinting out above the canopy. Then, at the right moment, he dropped down on top of her, knocking her from the air. The ground was coming up towards them. Jordan halted them both, hovering just above the low ground shrubs. The fullness of her skirt continued to drop. Jordan grabbed at her skirt to stop it from falling into the leaves below, leaving his other hand over her mouth. Any rustling of leaves would give them away. Still with the skirt in his fist he secured his arm around her hips.
Now that he was covering her with his mirage he rendered her invisible to the warriors who had paused, confused, not several meters away. They had a chance of getting out of here alive, if she would just stay quiet. Understandably she was fighting against him as he held her.
“Alyx, relax,” Jordan whispered into her ear. She stopped struggling.
He released his hand from her mouth. Her arms slid out from her sides and her fingers found his. She pulled his arms tighter around her and he let his shoulders curl around her in a protective cage. She seemed to melt into him with relief, causing a warmth to grow in his chest. She was safe. And he made her feel that way.
“Where the hell did she go?” he heard a warrior call out.
He could feel Alyx tense along him. Jordan rolled them both in the air so that they were both facing the sky instead of the ground, and Alyx was now lying along his body. God, she was so light and small, she fit on him completely. Jordan glanced around and counted the one, two, three warriors. Wasn’t there a fourth one?
“She has to be around here somewhere.”
The warriors began to slash at bushes and leaves around them with their blades. Jordan held Alyx tighter to him. He could sense her holding her breath as a warrior floated over them.
* * *
Alyx could barely breathe as she eyed the worn bottoms of the warrior’s boots. It was Stantanople, another warrior in Leader Varian’s flock. He was so close. So close that if Alyx just reached out with her hand she could clip out the mud caught in the tread of his boots. Alyx dug her fingers into Jordan’s arm. Jordan squeezed her lightly. I’m here. It’s okay. Just don’t move.
Stantanople passed over them and the warriors continued though the bushes. As the warriors moved out of sight, Alyx couldn’t help her exhale of relief, which made her relax even more along Jordan.
As the fear faded, her awareness of his body beneath hers became heightened. He still held her skirt in his hand so her legs were exposed. The air against her bare legs seemed to heighten these sensations. Her heartbeat continued to race and the insides of her body continued to swirl in a dance that started from her core. She couldn’t stop herself from brushing her fingers along his arm. Just an innocent reassuring touch, she told herself.
He moved his fingers along her ribs, finding bare, recently-healed skin where Michael’s dagger had made a hole. She flushed. This felt incredibly intimate. The knuckles of his hand gripping her skirt brushed against her hip, shooting a sharp longing through her. She chewed her lip so as not to gasp for him to rip the whole damn skirt away.
Two thin pieces of cloth separated their bodies. Her hands became bolder and began to run up and down the length of his arms. She didn’t think it was possible, but he managed to pull her tighter against him, his lips brushing lightly along her ear and neck. Visions of running various naked parts of her skin across his warm muscular body played in her head. It was all she could do not to rub up against him like a cat.
Dammit, Alyx. What’s gotten into you? she scolded herself. We’re in the middle of the Michaelea forest. It must be all that adrenaline, she assured herself. Didn’t the other warriors say that a bad night out on patrole made them…frisky? Others maybe. But Alyx had never felt that desire arise in her after she had cheated death.
But the longer she remained lying against Jordan like this, the harder it became to lie to herself that her body was reacting to some strange physical reaction over the fear of being caught and not to Jordan himself. No, this shouldn’t happen.
But why? A part of her argued. Why do you keep reacting against him?
Because Jordan didn’t have relationships, he had understandings. Yes, that’s why she shouldn’t get involved. She squeezed her eyes shut and stilled her hands, willing her body to behave. It didn’t. Stupid body.
He seemed to sense the sudden tension in her body, and his stilled as well.
“We should probably get going,” she whispered to Jordan. She hoped that he hadn’t noticed the way her breathing had become unsteady.
“Definitely. It would be too dangerous if we stayed.” Was it her, or did his breathing sounded ragged as well?
He pulled them both to an upright position. Alyx moved away from him as quickly as possible, untangling their limbs and fingers and hips.
“Alyx,” he began.
“Hmmm?” She made a show of brushing off her dress, taking care to avoid his eyes.
He sighed. “We’re better off getting out of this forest and making a dash for it in the open air. I think we have enough magic in this Miragecharm to get far enough away to safety.”
Jordan led them through the canopy. The cool night breeze brushed across her face as they broke through to the open air. Alyx flinched as she eyed the eagles circling above them. No doubt looking for them. She had to remind herself that they were invisible under this mirage.
They flew side by side towards the edge of the wards. Maybe, just maybe, they would make it out of Michaelea alive.
“Did Vix and Mayrekk get out okay?” she asked Jordan.
“Yes. I left them well beyond the wards. Vix has taken Mayrekk back to Saint Joseph so someone can look at his wounds.”
Alyx felt a coil of apprehension as she thought about Mayrekk’s wounds. They had been worse than when she and Jordan had DreamWalked Mayrekk. He was barely conscious when they had found him. He had lost so much blood. What might have happened if they were a day later in rescuing him?
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“Mayrekk’s survived for longer than you and I combined. He’ll be fine.” But Alyx swore she could hear a note of fear in his voice.
Suddenly, a pulse of air ran through them knocking them both forward, and there was a whooshing sound like a low bass reverberating through her ears. It shuddered the mirage around them like a bass note through a ball of glass.
“What the hell was that?” Alyx said.
A second pulse moved past them with a rumble. This time the mirage skin began to show spider web cracks like brittle glass.
Jordan swore. “It’s MirageWeaver magic. It’s breaking through our mirage. We have to hustle. Now.”
A third pulse boomed past them and the cracks grew bigger. The next pulse would shatter their mirage.
“Jordan, we can’t stay out in the open like this. They’ll find us in a second.”
Jordan nodded and pulled them both down towards the canopy. Just as they dove through the first layer of leaves, the fourth pulse shattered the mirage. They were now visible and still within Michaelea wards.
“Stay close,” he called as they whizzed around on opposite sides of a large tree trunk.
They sped through the forest, darting in and out of trees towards the patrole lines. If they could just get through the patrole lines, they would be out of the greatest level of danger. She heard a triumphant call to her left alerting her to the warrior who had just spotted them.
“Just keep going,” Jordan cried.
Alyx focused on the trees in front of her. She could hear the sound of several warriors chasing after them.
They
burst through the wards, the popping sound a familiar relief. A surge of hope filled Alyx. They were going to make it. Alyx shot a quick grin at Jordan to her right.
A sudden surge of magic and heat made her jolt left, narrowly missing a tree trunk. A small explosion of fire on the trunk sent a scatter of splinters into her skin.
Another explosion to her right caused Jordan to disappear behind a small billowing cloud. Alyx coughed and waved her hands in front of her face as she burst through the smoke. The warriors were throwing Fire magic to try to stop them.
“Jordan,” she screamed. Oh my God. Did they get him?
A figure to her right made her heart skip a beat and she heaved a huge sigh of relief. Jordan swerved towards her.
“I’m okay, Alyx, but we—”
He was cut off by another explosion that forced them to jolt apart. Alyx squinted through another cloud of smoke.
When she could see Jordan again, she yelled, “We have to do something.” Alyx swerved to let a pulse of magic pass her. “They won’t stop ’til they hit one of us. Or—”
She noticed too late that the pulse of magic that had passed her was Air magic. It twisted up a net of vines and leaves which she suddenly found herself tangled in. She tugged at the vines, tearing at her skirt, but it wouldn’t let her go. Alyx glanced back at the warriors coming for her. Panic gripped her as tightly as the vines did.
She grabbed for her boot dagger and slashed at the vines, but they continued to wind around her legs and wrists from the Air magic swirling around her like a hurricane. She heard Jordan calling frantically for her. The vines were like desperate arms of drowning men and she was in too awkward a position to get a good slash at them. Her vision was clouded by leaves.
A second blade swiped down and cut clean through the vines. Part of the net of green fell away to reveal Jordan’s face. He reached a hand in and grabbed her, still slashing at the vines with his other hand.
“Come on.” He tugged so hard she felt her arm might wrench off her shoulder, and she was dislodged her from her prison. A whooshing noise aimed for them was another pulse of magic.
