by S.E. Akers
Once the initial shock had subsided, I shifted my stare back and forth between my two would-be assassins. Lazarus was charging up the stairs after me, wielding a diamond sword and ready to drive it straight through me, and the Onyx was waiting patiently outside to claim my powers as his own, as well as seek his revenge for our run-in last night.
I let out a frustrated grunt as I slammed my foot down on the rocks. Can’t I catch a freakin’ BREAK?!?
Lazarus was getting closer. My mind scrambled for a plan while I stared at the sinister black haze, whose form tonight resembled more of a ghostly-looking man. I knew the enchantment Adamas had put on the cave kept the Onyx from entering, but I really needed to get out. Gallia had claimed that the blue chalcedony would bind a Talisman’s powers for a while. Surely he was still without them or weak at the very least.
Hopefully, I prayed.
I checked on Lazarus one more time and then redirected my gaze to the Onyx. The situation had exasperated me to the point where I just fired off one hell of a combative scream. I threw my hand up towards the night sky and speedily summoned a bolt of lightning. The Onyx had anticipated my move and saw the lightning streaming towards him. He moved out of its path, leaving the doorway wide-open. But what he hadn’t realized was that the bolt wasn’t meant to hit him. As soon as the lightning came streaking into the cave, my awaiting hands caught it on the spot. With the Onyx now back in front of the cave’s opening and Lazarus approaching, I swiftly split the scorching bolt in two. I threw half of it at the Onyx, knocking him from my path. The other half I hurled towards Lazarus, who was now just a few feet from me. He used the wand to protect himself, for the most part. The bolt only grazed him, but it did send him tumbling halfway back down the spiraling stone staircase. With a much clearer path, I made a mad dash out of the cave and headed into the woods as fast as I could.
I shot through the forest knowing I couldn’t slow down, not yet. I didn’t have a clue as to which one of them would catch up to me first. Lazarus? The Onyx? I hoped Tanner was having better luck back in the cave with Ferrol. My situation had gone from bad to worse, pretty daggone quick!
I spotted a cluster of trees that would provide some decent cover up ahead. After camouflaging myself behind one of the larger pines, I peered out from behind it and began surveying the woods.
The scene was lifeless. It was like even the animals knew something was amiss and had cautiously sought refuge elsewhere. An eerie hush stagnated in the air that chilled my bones straight to their core. It was so quiet you could make out every scratch the leaves were making as they rustled in the wind, no matter how faint. And it was dark — distressingly dark. There wasn’t a single bright star to be found. In fact, the only thing illuminating my woeful way was a muted patch of light hiding behind a clump of heavy gray clouds.
My hands rested sorely on the tree as I continued searching the woods. Then suddenly, they felt cold — freezing cold. I took a curious, closer look at the tree. Its rough bark was starting to ice over. Several snowflakes hit my cheek as I stepped away from it. When I turned around, a turbulent stream of bitterly cold air slapped my face. A thick coat of snow was blanketing the forest at an uncanny rate, right before of my eyes. This was no freak blizzard. It was Lazarus.
He had to be close. I clambered up the side of the pine tree, growling and wincing the entire way. Regardless of the stabbing pain that throbbed from the open cuts on my hands, I had to keep an eye out for his exact location. I scanned the forest in a diligent manner. The snow was now falling violently, and a steady blast of chilly air was whipping through the woods. Its force was so powerful that even the massive pine I was hiding in started to sway. Soon, I spotted a gleaming light approaching on the horizon. The wand. A menacing roar of laughter echoed through the trees as he drew closer. The intensifying energy from the wand was leading him straight to me like supernatural GPS.
From behind the veil of a snow-covered tree limb, I watched Lazarus prowling the ground below me. Thankfully, the snow had started falling after I’d stopped, so I hadn’t left any tracks. Lazarus passed by the tree I was perched in and headed off in the distance. He looked down at the wand and stopped. Its light was beginning to fade. Lazarus dug his foot down into the snowy ground, pivoted around with the tenacity of a soldier on a life or death mission, and then started marching back my way. My heart pounded as I braced myself for his next move.
Lazarus stopped beside the tree. He turned around in all directions, scanning for any signs of me. “There’s nowhere for you to hide. The wand will seek you out, child,” he called out, never looking up.
I wanted to hurl a bolt of lightning down on his arrogant ass so bad, but I knew he would just use the wand to drive it away…even though that big head of his provided an excellent target. Then there I would be, vulnerable and my cover regrettably blown.
“There’s no one to come to your rescue. Tanner could be dead by now, and as for the other one . . . Well, I’m afraid that little old birdie won’t be up to flying anytime soon.”
I instantly clamped my lips together and held my breath to keep from gasping. Apparently Lazarus knew about Beatrix, and by the wicked tone in his voice, a horrible feeling came over me that he’d done something heinous to her.
I just left her almost an hour ago and she was fine, I reflected nervously. What is he talking about? The only way I could look into his mind was by touching him, and that was simply out of the question. His ambiguous declaration was driving me crazy with worry. I could only hope that the self-righteous bastard would end up gloating about it.
“We followed you to her house. Personally, I knew there was something about her I didn’t like when we met last week.” Lazarus laughed. “I just thought it was because she was a bitter old hag. But then I discovered today that she is also a Talisman. But not just any Talisman. Oh, no . . . She possesses the golden topaz and reigns over the air, as do I.”
Lazarus started circling the tree, which only heightened my senses.
“Ferrol wanted to charge into her house and hash it out right then and there. But I told him, ‘no’. There was no need for such violence. He’s a bit of a sadistic barbarian when it comes to matters like these. I prefer a more civilized approach. So, I snuck in through her back door and poisoned the pot of cider on her stove.”
I tried to restrain my escalating anger. My body was trembling, and I could feel a tear starting to form in my eye. Oh no! Bea!
“I would love to possess her golden topaz . . . almost as much as the diamond,” Lazarus announced brazenly. “It makes her nearly as impossible to kill as you. But I would choose a more majestic creature to change into. Anything but a common falcon. Dreadful, savage creatures. If the poison she drank hasn’t finished her off, I’m sure stopping back by her house tonight and driving my new wand through her chest will, that is . . . after I’m finished with you.”
Unconsciously, my fingernails began to dig into the bark of the tree while I listened to his taunts about Beatrix’s unknown condition. Lazarus placed his hands on the trunk of the pine tree.
“We were in the cave almost the entire day, but you never showed. It’s not polite to keep someone waiting, you know. Then when Karl called and told us that he’d captured you, I instructed him to bring you to me . . . But alas, you never arrived. When he didn’t answer my calls, we went back to the guesthouse. That was disappointing. He was one of my best men.” Lazarus let out an exaggerated sigh. “Have you figured out how we finally caught up to you?”
I knew he realized I was close, but the way he spoke made me question “how close” he thought I was.
From behind the cover of the branches, I peered down to see his fingers running across the tree trunk. Something glistening on its bark immediately caught my eye.
I looked down at my hands—my blood-covered hands—that were sparkling with the same diamond residue. No sooner than I remembered laying them on
the tree when I’d climbed it, Lazarus jerked his head up and stared me dead in the eyes where I sat perched on a large limb.
“Your trail of blood, of course,” Lazarus declared with a triumphant grin.
With that said, Lazarus brandished the diamond wand like an ax and in one swoop, sliced clear through the base of the pine. Instinctively, I catapulted myself from the toppling tree into another one nearby. That seemed to only excite Lazarus. He proceeded to chop it down as well. I hopped from tree to tree, desperately trying to escape while maintaining my safe cover. The woods rumbled with the sights and sounds of trees crashing swiftly to the ground like dominos. An open clearing lay just up ahead. My natural shelter was quickly coming to an end. I jumped down to the ground before the last one fell and dashed across the field, heading straight for another cluster of trees. I tried to strategize a plan as I hurried across the mountainside, but my options were running out. Without my amethyst, I couldn’t contact Tanner, and according to Lazarus, there wouldn’t be a falcon swooping down to save me either. The wand deflected my lightning, so that was useless, and the Onyx was probably still out there somewhere, waiting for Lazarus to break me down, so he could casually pick me apart like a buzzard.
Fan-freakin-tastic!
As I charged across another small clearing, I tripped coming up a small embankment and fell to the ground. Suddenly I felt dizzy, and a wave of exhaustion came over me while I lay on the snow-covered ground.
What NOW?
My hand was resting on something — something hard. The railroad tracks… The iron railroad tracks, I pondered. Since I knew Lazarus’ stone reigned over the air, the iron would weaken him just as it did me. My eyes followed the tracks. There was a tunnel roughly a hundred yards to my right. It dawned on me where I was — about a mile from the one of the coal tipples. As I stared at the face of the dark tunnel, a sound in the distance commanded my attention. It was the whistle from a train that was heading this way.
I looked back down at the tracks. That’ll work.
I jumped to my feet and quickly covered the iron rails back up as best I could, kicking chunks of snow feverishly until they were completely concealed. I didn’t even spy a single drop of my own blood. Perfect. My trap was set, and now all I had to do was wait for Lazarus to take the bait, and “the bait” unfortunately was me.
Before long, a soft glow of light began to creep over the hill. Undoubtedly the wand was leading him straight to me. Lazarus appeared within seconds. I stood still as he trekked closer, heading down the hill with his sights set on me.
He stopped a few feet from where I was, on the other side of the tracks. I wanted his eyes focused solely on me, to distract him from the unforeseen and treacherous nature of what lay at his feet.
“You haven’t given up have you?” Lazarus asked snidely. “I’ve rather enjoyed our little game of cat and mouse. This certainly has been more enjoyable than my incident with your father. He really didn’t put up much of a fight. Pathetic really.”
My eyes glared at him, but I said nothing and remained motionless. Just a few more feet…
Lazarus raised his head arrogantly. “See, I knew you didn’t deserve to claim the wand’s powers. Anyone who truly understands its nature would fight to the bitter, bloody end for it . . . and I’m afraid to say, child . . . that’s not you. Why it chose YOU, I have no idea! Your father wasn’t even a Talisman! I’ve never heard of such a preposterous thing. The essence of a Talisman is like being a blue-blood, from the highest of classes,” Lazarus scoffed as he prowled towards me. “It’s not reserved for common, hillbilly trash such as you.” He shrugged his shoulders and flashed a haughty smile. “But I guess even a diamond goes slumming now and then.”
Lazarus flourished the wand in the air. Its brilliant glowing blade was now about a sword’s length from me. He held it combatively, gripping the hilt tightly up by his chest.
“You were right about one thing, child. Some people don’t have a price, but then again, they’re the ones who end up paying a steep one.”
Lazarus scowled as he aggressively swung the diamond wand at me, forcing his feet forward and onto the tracks. Deftly, I ducked down out of the deadly blade’s sweeping path and quickly grabbed his legs. Once I’d yanked up on them, his body dropped down hard onto the perilous iron tracks. I leaped on top of him, clenching his wrists against the iron rails and used all of my strength to immobilize his body.
The Lapis Lazuli Talisman immediately realized what was he was lying on. Violently, he twisted and turned, trying to release himself from my grasp. He still held the wand in his hand and tried waving it at my head a couple of times, unsuccessfully. Good thing for me, the iron was taking a toll on his stamina, so he soon found his hands virtually limp, useless, and unable to swing the weight of the wand.
“You think THIS will stop me?” Lazarus growled.
Just then, the sound of a train whistle blared in the distance, and a slight vibration began to rattle the railroad track. We both looked towards the tunnel. A faint light was drawing closer.
Lazarus tightened his scowl. “I’ll take you with me! I SWEAR IT!” he vowed in a rage.
The next thing I knew, Lazarus blew a quick puff of poisonous blue powder in my face. I turned my head as soon as I realized what it was, but some of it found its way into my mouth. I could taste the foul venom and felt its fiery burn trickling down my throat. Straightaway, the poison’s ill-fated effects started to ravage my body. I struggled to ward off its sickening impact with the diamond’s healing defenses, though without any luck. I even tried to make myself throw it up, to get it out of my system, but that didn’t help. None of it would come up.
Lazarus tried blowing another puff of the lapis lazuli’s poison at me, but it didn’t work this time. He even tried to lick my mouth several times, but because his mind had revealed his next move, I was ready for it. As much of a struggle as it was to keep the bastard on the tracks while steering clear of his poison and trying to avoid any contact with the iron myself, I also had to concentrate on sending the train engineer a message to speed up, and not slow down if they saw something ahead. But the worst thing had to have been that I could hear and feel everything going on inside his head. He knew it too. He focused on thoughts of torturing Daddy in hopes of mentally wearing me down.
I could feel my body weakening at an alarming rate. My muscles were starting to loosen up from the toxin I’d ingested, forcing me to secure the grip I had on his wrists by holding on tightly to the rails myself. The iron’s contact with my skin was unfortunately making me just as weak as he was. The train was almost at the mouth of the tunnel. I just need to hold on for a little longer.
In one last desperate attempt, Lazarus grinned at me and started seeping poison from his wrists into the cuts on my hands, knowing the wand had sliced them open just after he had revealed the hilt.
I screamed out in a tearful rage. The poison burned so badly, like he’d shot blistering acid straight into my veins. I could hardly catch my breath, but I kept fighting to hold on.
Lazarus rallied some extra strength and started infusing more poison into my wounds. Between the iron weakening my own powers and the toxic effects from his lapis lazuli, I was becoming alarmingly incapacitated. I felt every ounce of the toxin consuming my body and the pain was now unbearable.
Seriously pissed off, I rallied a bit of my own strength and used my head to cold-cock his. Knowing that I needed to curtail some of the torturous pain besieging my body, I released my hands, letting go of the iron rails and his wrists. Quickly, I threw myself backward and rolled down the side of the snow-covered embankment.
My eyelids fluttered as I turned my head towards the tracks. Once they had opened fully, I saw Lazarus sitting up on the rails with the wand in his hand, ready to hurl it at me. Just as he was about to throw it, the speeding train charged past, right before my eyes. The wand was knocked from his grasp, and he was driven
down into the rails, knowingly bloody and very much dismembered.
As soon as the train had passed, I observed a trail of blood and fragments of flesh littering the tracks. Though I was still in an excruciating amount of pain from the poison, I managed to rouse a grateful smile. The Talisman who had murdered my father was now nothing more than a line of lumpy, pink-tinted snow.
The lapis lazuli’s poison had just about taken its toll. He’d used so much, and it had been allowed to flow freely throughout my entire body. At that moment, a feeling of déjà vu overcame me. The last time I’d felt this way was when I’d fallen into the cave and found myself knocking on death’s door.
I desperately tried to roll over, but I could no longer feel any movement from the muscles in my body. I couldn’t tell if it was mostly from the effects of the poison, or because I was numb from lying in the icy-cold snow. I managed to lift my head, barely. I spotted the wand, glowing in the snow on the other side of the tracks.
At least it’s safe, I thought.
While I lay there immobile, Tanner’s voice called out to me telepathically. As relieved as I was to know he was still alive, hearing him ask over and over, “Shiloh? Are you okay?” and then telling me to use the amethyst to let him know where I was had me reeling with an enormous amount of regret. Out of nothing more than petty revenge, I’d unknowingly destroyed my lifeline — the only means of salvation I could’ve had.
Unexpectedly, the ground began to quake. I didn’t hear any train whistles blowing, but whatever it was, its force was increasing at a disturbing rate. It seemed to be coming from the other side of the tracks. Not a second later, the ground exploded abruptly. Once the cloud of earth and snow had settled, the source of the anomaly was revealed. Rising from underneath the ground in a haze of darkness was none other than the Onyx. My mind began to drift, and my body was so weak I couldn’t even muster a curse in my own head.
I watched helplessly frozen as the Onyx located the wand and began making his way over to the spot where it lay glowing in a snowdrift. Disheartened, I couldn’t bear to witness the scene unfolding any longer. I turned my eyes towards the cold, night sky and focused them on a cloud bank covering the moon. My mind flashed with a random thought.
There’s a full moon tonight. A lot of good it had done me. Bea had said that it would be a spectacular sight—a true blue moon—like a supernatural’s Fourth of July. Well, I joked to myself, maybe I can at least catch the show before I die.
Seconds felt like minutes as I lay there, and my curiosity had gotten the best of me. Regrettably, I looked back at the Onyx to see him approaching with the wand in tow, dragging the tip of its glowing blade through the snow. It was only a matter of time. One calculated blow from its blade would send me well on my way. I lay on the ground, trying to shut everything out and thinking only of seeing my father’s face once again.
The Onyx’s billowy black form was now hovering above me, though I never looked at him directly. I tried my best to keep my eyes focused on the sky. However, I did notice the wand casting an unusual glow. Its light was still brilliant, but strangely, it seemed to be radiating an energy that was washed in a subtle shade of blue.
Unexpectedly, the clouds rolled away from the moon. Its striking reveal hypnotized me instantly. Bea was right. It was magical. I’d never seen the moon looking any bigger or more beautiful in my life. It was actually blue, a peaceful shade of blue. Strangely, I sensed something odd about its appearance. For it to be such a magical sight to witness, I found it to have an air of sadness about it. The striations shifting within it resembled tears, and it looked as if it were somehow crying. I almost turned my head away because it invoked so much sadness (and I already had enough misery of my own).
The Onyx raised the wand and held it like a dagger, aimed directly at my chest. Just under what appeared to be his eyes, I was able to make out a vile smirk within the haze of his spectral face. The Onyx was assuredly overjoyed by tonight’s turn of events. He had the wand, and now, he was about to kill me. His deepest and darkest desire was about to come to fruition. And to add insult to injury, his battle for the diamond wand had been won all without the use of his supernatural powers.
I braced myself for his eminent strike. However, the first thing to fall upon my body wasn’t the diamond’s blade, far from it. It was the moon, a beautiful bluish moonbeam, as a matter of fact. It glowed and illuminated with such fervor that even the Onyx was taken aback by the peculiar phenomenon. Its touch warmed the core of my soul as it surrounded my body with its bewitching aura. I couldn’t help but feel that if I had to go, this was a delightful way to do it.
My peaceful trance was interrupted by the Onyx, whose full attention was now oddly directed towards the sky. He pointed the diamond wand at the moon.
“This day was INEVITABLE!” the Onyx yelled out.
I lay on the ground dumfounded. The Onyx appeared to be engaged in a bitter argument with the moon, or quite possibly, the Talisman who reigned over the moonstone that Bea had mentioned.
A voice, an enchanting voice of a female, began to cascade down from the sky like an enticing whisper.
“No, Dunamis . . . I cannot allow this,” the beautiful voice called out.
The Onyx scowled back at the moon. “Turn your eyes away from here!”
While I listened quietly as their argument ensued, I suddenly felt something under my hand that wasn’t there a second ago. I clutched it with a firm grip. It was round and smooth, like a small tumbled stone. Since the Onyx was distracted, I carefully flipped my hand over to see what it was. It was a stone — a milky-white, opaque stone that appeared to have several deep layers of varying shades of gray and shimmered with a misty-blue sheen when the light struck it. I had no clue how the glistening little wonder had got there, but as I held it in my hand as I lay in the moonbeam’s graceful warmth, I noticed my body seemed to be mending itself. My strength was returning, and I couldn’t feel any of the poison’s lingering effects. In a miraculous turn of events, within seconds — I was healed, completely. Even the deep gashes carved into my hands by the diamond wand were gone. And as an added bonus, my golden topaz was fully charged and glowing like it had last Saturday night. It was now obvious to me that this wasn’t some random coincidence. For some reason, the Talisman who reigned over the moonstone didn’t want me to die at the hands of the Onyx; though as I listened to their argument coming to an end, I didn’t feel the need to hang around to find out why.
Without delay, I tucked the moonstone in my jeans and used the golden topaz to turn invisible. With my body now glowing and safely concealed under a mystical veil of golden light, I snuck into the woods noiselessly and climbed into a tree to hide. I heard the Onyx cursing fiercely at the moon and then all around. He’d finally realized that I had escaped, but he wasn’t stupid. The Onyx had the wand, which was still glowing. He knew I was close.
Though I’d turned invisible, that didn’t mean my tracks were hidden. I scanned the ground and saw that they led straight to the tree I was tucked away in. Frustrated, my hands sank automatically into the pockets of my jacket as I weighed my options. My eyes lit up as my hand hit something inside my right pocket. A sly grin stretched across my face as I pulled out the tiny bottle of ruby cologne.
Carefully, I twisted off the dainty crystal bottle’s ruby stopper and waited patiently for the Onyx to locate my tracks. Once they had been discovered, he followed them, blazing a hazy black trail of fog towards the base of the tree.
Still invisible, I yelled down to him. “HEY!”
The Onyx abruptly shot his stare upward, peering into the tree.
“Someone once told me that this hurts like a bitch,” I called out and then dumped the entire bottle of the ruby-laden concoction on top of him.
It was a direct hit. Within a second, the Onyx was engulfed in the ruby’s fiery red flames and screaming in terror. This time, the flames were much fiercer. I jumped ou
t of the tree and landed beside of the now, cloud-like inferno. Knowing I couldn’t get burned, I reached for his hand that held the wand and forcefully yanked it from his frail grip. With the wand now in my possession, I gave it a quick twirl and started to swing it towards the Onyx. As I watched the blade whirl around to strike him, the Onyx swiftly vanished down under the ground in a cloud of fire, earth, and snow. I stared down into the deep hole that he had bored into the earth’s crust. The light from his fire-engulfed body was starting to vanish from my sight.
I contemplated going after him, but before I could decide, a familiar voice called out, “Let him go, Shiloh.”
I turned around to see a battle-worn, but still undeniably dashing, Tanner Grey trudging through the snow.
“That’s his domain down there,” he warned sternly. “He would have the advantage, even injured and without his powers. He won’t be back . . . at least not anytime soon.”
Happy to see him, I rushed towards him to throw my arms around him, completely forgetting that my wand was still drawn. He stepped back to dodge its blade.
“Watch it. That’s not a toy, little girl,” Tanner scolded as he lowered my weapon and shook his head.
After hearing those two words I hated so much, the thought of greeting him with an affectionate hug left just as soon as it had arrived.
“Nice to see you’re still in one-piece,” I announced coolly as I spied several cuts on his face and body, as well as his extremely singed clothes. I noticed his belt was missing.
“Where’s your tin belt?” I asked curiously.
“Destroyed,” Tanner announced with a deflated grin, clearly displeased.
I couldn’t contain my giggles. “Sorry,” I replied sarcastically. “Where’s Ferrol? Is he dead?”
Tanner’s brow furrowed. “No. The bastard ran off, and it was either go after him or look for you . . . Though now, after seeing this scene, I think I made the wrong choice. Of course, you could’ve helped me make that decision if you had returned my messages.”
I hesitated. In light of leaving the cave’s entrance open all day, I’d also destroyed the amethyst stone Tanner had given me. I was sure to get an earful.
“I don’t have the amethyst anymore,” I confessed. So much for being responsible, I thought quietly.
“Why not? Did you lose it?” Tanner posed.
“No. I destroyed it . . . accidently, when I dropped it in Charlotte’s bottle of wine right before I got to the cave.”
To my surprise, Tanner grinned. He seemed more amused than annoyed by my reckless act and didn’t question my intentions. That’s a relief…
“How did you know where I was?” I asked.
Tanner gently brushed back my hair, leaned in, and sniffed my neck. “I just followed the scent of freesias.”
I shied away, still clueless as to why I couldn’t smell anything. Tanner spotted my golden topaz glowing.
“I’m glad to see you finally got that thing charged, and not a minute too soon I’d be willing to bet.”
I nodded back.
Tanner eyeballed me curiously. “Come to think of it, you really don’t look a bit worse for wear, considering when I saw you last, you were dripping in blood and having a rough time fending off Lazarus. Then I show up here to discover that you’ve driven away the Onyx?” Tanner tapped his finger against his chiseled chin for a moment. “Let me see your hands,” he demanded.
I smiled proudly as I revealed my perfectly healed hands to him and wiggled my fingers. Yeah. Judging from the stretch of his swirling violet peepers, I’d say he was a more than a little stunned.
“A simple moonbeam couldn’t have done this so quickly, even one from a blue moon,” he announced with a frank air of suspicion.
“No . . . But I think a special healing moonbeam could,” I replied coyly and then pulled the white pearlescent stone from my pocket. I hoisted it up in the air proudly. “Sent from the Moonstone Talisman, herself,” I added, beaming.
Tanner took the moonstone from my hand. His eyes were shining brighter than the smile illuminating his face.
“So,” Tanner began, “Seraphina healed your injuries with one of her personal stellar beams and granted you a moonstone?”
“It appears so,” I confirmed. Well now I knew the name that belonged to the enchanting voice that had saved me.
“Do you know how fortunate you truly were?” Tanner posed. “She doesn’t personally heal just anyone, nor does she hand out her stones frivolously. Moonstones are extremely rare. She’s only allowed to give one stone away on the night of a blue moon. She has thousands upon thousands of supernaturals to choose from when she grants one of her stones . . . Those who are only allowed to roam the earth under the moon’s light or find themselves at the mercy of its ominous power . . . Even those who cast their magic under its mystical glow . . . And of all these creatures she turned her gaze on you.”
I became overwhelmed with a deep appreciation for the stone, as well as the generosity of the Moonstone Talisman’s selfless act. I knew her special moonbeam had been instrumental in healing me, but I had no idea of what an honor “choosing me” to receive one of her moonstones truly was.
“There’s typically an order of succession she follows when bestowing one of her sought-after stones,” Tanner revealed. “Trust me, Shiloh . . . Whoever was originally slated to receive this moonstone is probably furiously foaming at the mouth right about now,” he warned and then tossed it back to me.
“Oh,” I mumbled. Tanner’s declaration left me feeling a little uneasy, but considering the graveness of my life-or-death situation, I honestly didn’t have a shred of guilt. Not a lick.
“As long as you have that moonstone on you, none of your stones’ powers will ever fade, and your body will heal itself instantly from anything — except a diamond’s sting, of course. The moonbeam she generated actually healed your hands, not the stone.” Tanner nodded to the moonstone and added, “She may have put some of her other powers in here, but you’ll have to discover that out for yourself. You can talk to her, of course . . . But since she doesn’t have one of your diamonds, she can only answer you on the night of a full moon. Though it doesn’t have to be a blue one necessarily.”
“So, I can thank her, Seraphina? Right now?” I asked as I pointed up to the moon.
Tanner nodded his head.
Without further delay, I held the moonstone in my hand and sent her the most heart-felt thank you that I’d ever expressed to anyone in my entire life. I stood there, eyes closed for a few minutes.
Tanner finally gave me a nudge. “That’s a pretty long thank you.”
“I was waiting to see if she would answer,” I replied. “Maybe she didn’t get the message?”
Tanner looked up at the moon and then back at me with a smile. “I think she got it.”
Funny, I thought to myself. This Seraphina was awfully chatty with the Onyx earlier. She just saved my life, but didn’t want to answer me? Then again, knowing what Tanner had said about having to “assume my affliction”, she’s probably bandaging her hands and puking up blue poison right about now…possibly regretting her decision. After feeling that crap running through my own body, I think I might have a couple of second thoughts myself!
I looked back up at the moon, which seemed to be noticeably more buoyant and now beamed brilliantly against the dark canvas of the night sky. If the moon had actually been shedding any tears earlier, you would never know by the way it looked now.
“Where’s Lazarus?” Tanner asked as he scanned the woods.
I motioned towards the railroad tracks with a proud sweep of my hands. Tanner put his arm around me, but instead of turning to head towards the cave, he started leading me down to the bloody scene where the remaining bits and pieces of Lazarus Xcavare littered the ground.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You need to claim your stone,” Tanner replied frankly.
I
didn’t take another step. “What are you talking about?”
Tanner snapped his fingers in my face. “The lapis lazuli. Lazarus’ origin stone. You killed him, so now it’s yours. You have to ‘officially’ claim it.”
Paralyzed by his announcement, I stood beside the railroad tracks and watched while Tanner sorted through the tiny pieces of flesh in a nonchalant manner.
“It has to be around here somewhere,” Tanner remarked as he picked through the sinister Talisman’s remains. “Nice to see you cut that pompous bastard down a couple of sizes. Really more like a million,” he joked.
“Tanner,” I called out hesitantly. I waited for him to answer, but he just kept on rummaging through the blood-drenched snow around the tracks. In a much louder tone, my voice boomed, “TANNER.”
He pulled what looked like half of a finger out of the snow. “Got it,” the Amethyst Talisman announced as he rose up. “What were you saying?”
“I’m not claiming that stone,” I stated firmly.
Tanner shot me a testy look. “Yes, you will.”
I glared back at him. “No, I won’t. I know what claiming that stone means, beyond its powers. That stone harbors Lazarus’ memories. It’ll haunt me with images of my father’s death. I know it will. I don’t want anything associated with that evil bastard, and I don’t want a mental DVD reminding me of how Daddy suffered. You said yourself that, ‘stones have a mind of their own’. I won’t risk it! Let it be claimed by another Talisman. You take it.”
“Sorry, little girl. The rules don’t play that way in this game. If you turn down this stone, it may end up one day in the hands of another evil bastard who would love to see you dead and claim the wand’s powers. Trust me, Shiloh . . . The fewer Talismans there are in the world, the better. Now claim this damn stone!”
“No!” I yelled back. I shook my head and folded my arms. “Too bad you don’t have your little tin belt — What a shame,” I goaded as the bell sounded in my head again.
Here goes “Round Three”…
Before Tanner could utter another word, we were distracted by a “squawk” echoing through the sky. We looked up to see Beatrix swooping down for a landing. She changed back into her human form as soon as she made her touchdown.
I hurried over to hug her, relieved that Lazarus’ taunts were just lies. “Bea, I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Nervously, she pulled from my embrace. “That’s nice dear, but Shiloh—”
Tanner interrupted her. “Bea, tell her that she has to claim Lazarus’ stone. She was responsible for his death, so she’s obligated to claim it. End of discussion!”
Beatrix looked a little less anxious. “Did you REALLY kill him, Shiloh?” she asked, sounding hopeful.
“I did, but I’m NOT claiming the lapis lazuli, Bea.” I glared at Tanner. “ . . . and no one will MAKE ME,” I declared.
Beatrix grabbed my hand. “I’m afraid you must, dear. I’m so sorry.”
I was taken aback by her announcement. As I stared into her aimless chestnut-hued eyes, searching for a reason behind why she would agree with Tanner, I saw a sadness that set deep within them. It was a look I’d seen there before, when she’d spoken about Daddy at his funeral.
“And you must come with me quickly . . . to the hospital,” Beatrix implored in a dire tone.
The hospital? “Is it Samuel? Did something happen?” I questioned anxiously.
Beatrix shook her head.
My mind raced back to what Lazarus had said. Poison in the cider. My eyes flew open when I remembered Bea had brought us out two cups. I hadn’t touched mine, but a sinking feeling came over me that Ty must have taken a sip of his after I’d left.
Bea’s eyes were tearing up. “I placed a golden topaz on him to stave off the poison temporarily, but its power will dwindle soon. There’s not much time. Only the lapis lazuli, combined with your diamond’s healing powers can reverse its lethal effects. I’m sorry, Shiloh. I know what claiming the stone will mean . . . especially for you.”
My heart sank. That was that. I had no choice in the matter. I threw the wand over to Tanner and gruffly snatched Lazarus’ severed finger out of his other hand. I yanked off the gold band that held the royal blue stone. I took a deep breath and slid it on the ring finger of my right hand. It was way too big, but the metal magically shrunk down to the appropriate size. I flinched as it did. I felt like I’d just been handcuffed and was now a helpless prisoner who waited to be taunted by their captor.
Tanner handed me the diamond wand. “Keep this on you at all times. Never, ever let it out of your sight,” he insisted. With one quick twirl, I flourished the wand and watched its diamond blade magically retract inside the platinum hilt, now protected and secure. With that taken care of, we were off like the wind — headed for McDowell County Hospital and hopefully in the nick of time.
Chapter 27
