“Be careful!” I call out after him.
“Always!” he yells back, slamming his sword into the head of the first monster he meets.
Vicky breezes past me, and I’m relieved to see the poisonous drops flying through her too. But it’s too early to breathe easy, since I know it requires a lot of concentration to fight and stay transparent at the same time. One slip up, and there’s a gaping hole in my girl.
One of the toad monsters crashes into my leg, pushing me over. It opens its ugly beak, ready to spit, but I bring down the shield and crush its skull. Slimy skin splatters in all directions. Thankfully it doesn’t burn.
I risk a quick glance over my shoulder and see Gisella cutting off limbs and Jeep’s hat soaring back to him, dripping with blood and slime. Maël still has her wand raised, aimed at the army that Vicky and Taylar are fighting. But they’re not slowing down one bit. Maybe I was wrong about her strength returning.
Another weight knocks into my shield, and I shove it away while reaching for my Morningstar, which I must have dropped when I was trying to avoid the venom. Without unraveling it, I swing it down on top of the toad’s head. The spikes penetrate the leathery, slime-covered skin. Its bulky legs slide sideways, and the thick head hits the ground.
It takes some strength to pull the ball out of the toad’s skull, and I almost tumble backwards. I sway on my feet, and from the corner of my eye, I can see two monsters storming in from each side.
Instinctively, I conjure a lightning bolt in my left hand while aiming the Morningstar on the monsters to my right. Then I remember what happened when I blew up the venom drops and close my hand. I need a different approach. A different kind of weather condition.
“How about some nice big hail stones?” I say out loud, and I turn my eyes on the sky, imagining icy stones the size of golf balls dropping on the toads’ heads. As they waddle closer, the sky gets even darker than it already was. Hail starts falling down, but it’s hardly ball sized. More like Mentos.
I concentrate harder, envisioning the hail stones growing and flattening the monsters’ bodies.
More hail rains down, and just like I imagined, the stones hit only the toads. Although they’re not nearly large enough to do any damage, they do slow them down. Some of them squeak in pain as hail hits their bulging eyes.
I focus hard on the hail continuing to fall before I lash out with my Morningstar and whip out my athame with my other hand. I take out the two toads in front, but the others are tougher, and about a dozen others are closing in on me fast.
My heartbeat quickens as I hit and kick furiously at anything that comes near. Pretty soon I’m out of breath. My arms are heavy, and my head hurts from trying to keep the hail pouring down.
There’s too many of them. We’ll never win this.
And then the thing I feared most happens.
An agonizing scream reaches my ears. This one is different from the deep ones that the toads produce. It’s not a human battle cry either. It’s the sound of a girl in pain. My girl.
I see her, hunched over in agony, a hole the size of a coin in her chest. Something inside of me breaks. It feels like a lid is lifted, a rope cut. All my self-control shatters in that moment. I have no more limits, nothing that holds me back. Rage boils to the surface, pushing aside any other feeling.
A loud voice I barely recognize as my own drowns out all other sounds as I raise my arms. “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
It seems to go on forever, fueling the power bursting out of me.
Images of flattened toads and pieces of slimy skin scattered everywhere fill my head.
The sky above me rumbles. Solid clouds suck up almost all the light. Then the sky turns white as hail stones the size of footballs crash down. The toads jump around in panic, their screams like music to my ears. I want them all to die, die, DIE!
A deafening crash makes the ground tremble, and I sway on my feet. The haze in my head clears up as silence descends. I blink and turn my eyes back to the scene before me.
There are hail stones everywhere, slowly melting on top of bodies that are reduced to mush.
I stare at it in shock. Did I do that?
Then Jeep rushes past me. “Vicky?”
I inhale deeply and dive forward.
Jeep kneels beside her, afraid to touch, but I can’t just leave her lying there.
She weighs less than she should, and she flickers in and out of view. Her face is contorted in pain.
When she meets my eye, her lips curl up. “I messed up, babe. I wanted to stay with you until we beat Satan, but I messed up.”
“No, you didn’t.” My eyes burn as I pull her closer and kiss her forehead that keeps disappearing. “Just stay strong, Gisella will heal you.”
I look up as rapid footsteps approach.
Sad faces look down on us. Gisella’s hand flies to her mouth, and Charlie bites his lip while Taylar turns away. D’Maeo and Maël, the strongest in my Shield, just stand there with hunched shoulders.
“She’s not lost yet!” I yell, all control over my voice lost.
Tears drip from my cheeks and fall through Vicky’s blinking body.
I reach out to Gisella and pull at her hand. “Heal her. Please hurry.”
She bows her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
“Of course you can!” My voice is shrill.
She blinks. Her eyes are wet. “I’m sorry.” She pulls her hand from mine.
I grab her again and yank her closer. “Don’t be sorry! Heal her!”
“Dante.” Charlie’s calm voice barely registers. “Dante, listen.” He kneels down beside us and waits for me to look at him. “Are you listening?”
His shape is hazy as tear after tear wells up in my eyes. My words are no more than a whisper now. “Please help her.”
“She can’t, Dante. Gisella can’t heal ghosts.”
A soft hand touches mine. “Babe?”
I look down at my girl. Her beautiful face is a mask of pain and sorrow. The sheer thought of losing her cuts off my breath. ‘Don’t leave me,’ I want to tell her, but all I do is cough and sob.
“It’s okay, babe. I’ll wait for you on the other side.”
No! I can’t do this without you.
Slowly she closes her eyes. My whole body goes cold as she stops moving.
CHAPTER 12
I’ve been sitting in the melting ice and slime in total silence for several minutes when a thought hits me. “Quinn can heal anyone, right?”
Charlie turns his head to me with a start. “What? Oh… yeah, I think so.”
The clouds high above us dissolve, and I squint against the sudden bright light. “Well, go get him! Go back home and call him! Take Mona back with you too, just to be sure.”
Maël clears her throat. “We still can’t leave, Dante. I just tried.”
“But…” Nausea rises in my throat as I wrap my arms tighter around the body in my lap. I shake my head violently. “We can’t give up! Do you hear me? I’m not losing her!”
D’Maeo takes a step closer and opens his mouth, but I raise my finger to silence him. “Don’t you dare tell me we all knew the risks, or that casualties are inevitable. Those are things they say in the movies. But this is real life, and this is my girl! She doesn’t deserve to go like this. She’s supposed to fight by my side until the end. I can’t-”
My voice is cut off abruptly as Vicky’s body trembles and rises an inch from my lap.
Her eyes are still closed, her arms and legs stiff, her whole body so transparent it’s barely visible.
She rises a bit further, then falls back into my lap.
Before I can wrap my arms back around her, she’s lifted again, pulled up by an invisible cord around her waist. The sight of her being moved like a ragdoll sends chills down my back.
Once again, the pulling stops, and I catch her.
“What’s happening?” I ask, looking up at D’Maeo for an explanation.
<
br /> It’s the African queen that answers. She points at a bright light in the sky that’s slowly getting bigger. “That is the heavenly light. It is calling her.”
A sharp pain shoots through my heart. “What? No!”
Charlie rests his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t panic. I think it can’t get to her here.”
“Why? What do you mean?” My voice is strained. Tears run freely down my cheeks, and I don’t bother to wipe them away.
“Do you see the way she’s pulled up and dropped down over and over?”
I slap his hand away. “Of course I see it!”
“That’s the light trying to pull her in and failing.”
Vicky’s involuntary movements get less frantic. She’s only lifted an inch by the waist now and slowly let back down. Lifted, and let down.
“I think Charlie is right,” Maël says. “We are still trapped. There is only one way out of here for us, and the Beach of Mu knows where it is.” She points up at the sky with her staff. “That light of Heaven does not know. It is unable to take Vicky from here.”
Taylar scratches his head. “But why? Isn’t Heaven like the most powerful world in the universe?”
Maël looks at him without even the slightest spark of joy in her eyes. “One of the most powerful, yes. But the balance of the universe has been disturbed.” She rests her gaze on me. “We have caused a rip in all worlds, even Heaven.”
Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the universe getting screwed up because of us. I know it’s selfish, but all I want is for Vicky to get up and give me that cheeky look I love so much. For her to tell me we’ll be fine and to steal a quick kiss.
“Does this mean she’s not lost yet? Can we bring her back?” I ask hopefully.
Maël gives me a silent stare before finally responding. “Perhaps.”
A thought hits me. “Maybe that beach has a solution.” Gently, I place Vicky on the ground and stand up. My limbs are stiff from the cold and shock, and I stretch them a little while I look around for the sand. “Where is that thing when you need it? It keeps running off.”
“There.” Charlie points at the sky, which has turned darker, not just because the Heavenly light has left, but because night is falling in. With every shred of light that vanishes, my body gets heavier.
“As soon as we get Vicky up again, we should find a place to rest,” I tell the others.
The beach is dancing through the sky again, as if nothing is wrong at all. I wave at it with both arms. “Hey, Beach! We could use some help here!”
It responds immediately, coming down with the speed of a rocket and halting at eye level.
I come straight to the point. “Vicky is hurt. Can you help us?”
It tilts its snake head as if thinking about it. Then it slips down, wraps its body around Vicky’s and hoists her up.
I exchange a look with the others, and when no one says anything, I shrug and start following the beach. “Let’s go.”
To my surprise, the sand snake soon turns right into the forest of dead, white trees. The moment I step from the path, cold mist clings to my hands and neck.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I call out to the beach.
It doesn’t respond, leaving me no choice but to follow it.
My legs are getting heavy, and my breath creates puffs of smoke.
I come to a halt when the clouds rising from my mouth turn into solid ice.
“What’s happening?” I wave at the sand leading the way. “Wait! Beach of Mu!”
It stops and turns its snake head.
“Some of us won’t be able to survive in this cold for long,” I explain, rubbing my arms hard.
The snake nods before slithering onward.
I run after it. “Wait! We have to turn around.”
It doesn’t respond anymore, and I try to grab its tail. When my hand touches it, the grains just slip through my fingers.
With every step, the air gets colder. I can barely feel my face anymore, and no matter how hard I rub my arms or stomp my feet, no warmth reaches my limbs.
D’Maeo catches up with me. “You should turn back with Charlie and Gisella. We will follow the beach and get Vicky back.”
“I… no! We…” My teeth chatter so violently that I can no longer finish a single sentence. My thoughts are getting incoherent, and from the corner of my eye, I see Charlie leaning on Gisella.
Placing one foot in front of the other slowly, I manage to turn and stumble back to them. I don’t want to leave Vicky, but I’m no good to her, or to anyone, dead.
I can’t believe… the beach would…
Turn… go back to warmer places…
Can’t leave… have to…
“Where did it go?”
Crunching sound…. my eyes…?
Moving shadows... Figures... Voices...
“The beach, it’s gone!”
Who said that? I know him.
“Take him and the others back. We’ll go after the beach.”
Pulling… I slide… Feel so heavy…
Bump… Head hurts…
“Dante? Can you hear me?”
Yes… am here…
Feel nothing…
“Dante? Try to stay awake, please.”
Yes… Yes…
“It’s getting warmer already. Can you feel it?”
Cannot feel… All dark…
“We’re losing him.”
Crying…?
“They will not make it, Jeep. We need to find another way.”
“I can try to make a fire. The trees are getting drier here.”
Crack… Howl…
Beast…?
Heat…
“Get away from them!”
Pain… Don’t want…
“Maël? What are you doing? Help me!”
“No.”
Crash…
“Wait, Jeep! I think they are trying to help.”
“By setting them on fire?!”
Lovely warmth… want more…
“The beach is back.”
Nice silence…
“Where is Vicky? What did you do to her?”
Tickling…
“No, you stay away from them. We don’t trust you anymore. You almost killed them! Maël, help me!”
“Take it easy. It is helping. Let us follow it.”
Wind… Tingling inside…
Peace…
CHAPTER 13
When I wake, I can’t open my eyes. Or maybe I can, but everything is still dark. My thoughts are all messed up. Why, I have no idea. No matter how hard I try to remember what happened or where I am, everything inside me remains dark and fuzzy.
My throat is dry, and when I try to move my arms or fingers, nothing happens.
Maybe I’m dead.
But wouldn’t I be able to see something then? Unless I ended up in the wrong place somehow.
My whole body feels sort of heavy and weightless at the same time. It feels like it’s filled with cotton candy fresh from the machine. Soft and warm.
“Did he move yet?”
That voice, I know it. It awakens an urge to do the right thing, to make the person that sound belongs to proud. It’s a low and serious voice, and I picture a man with gray hair in a suit. Do I know anyone like that? I try to summon an image in my head, but there’s nothing. Not even a glimpse of a face. Just darkness.
Did someone answer this man? Maybe I briefly drifted off, because the male voice is speaking again.
“His body is warm again. He should be fine. He probably just needs some more rest. Try not to worry about it.”
“How can I not worry, D’Maeo?”
Another voice. Female.
“The others are already up. Eating, training, trying to find a way back home.”
Who is this? She sounds… important. Confident and in charge somehow.
“And did you see what arrived today?” she
continues.
“Yes, yes.” The man–D’Maeo?–sounds tired. “I saw the Cards of Death.”
“If Dante does not wake up soon, we will have to save the next soul without him. And to be honest, I am not convinced that we can.”
Cards of what? That sounds dangerous. And why would they need me to save a soul? What does that even mean? Save it from what?
“We have no other choice but to try if he doesn’t wake soon, Maël. It will be difficult, but we are strong, and we have Charlie and Gisella at our side.”
Charlie and Gisella. Charlie and Gisella. D’Maeo and Maël. I repeat the names in my head, but they don’t ring a bell. The only name that means anything to me is my own. Dante, that is my name. Right?
A cold shiver runs through me as doubt nibbles at my brain.
My name is Dante. Dante… something.
If I could hit something now, I would.
Dante… Argh! What is my last name?
I should start easy. My Mom’s name, I can remember that, right?
Susan. Yes! And my Dad is… J… Jim? No. James?
I feel like screaming.
Susan and…
Keep calm, Dante, you know this. Just take your time.
“Have you seen Taylar?” the female voice interrupts my efforts. “He is barely hanging on, and there is no one here to heal him again.”
Another name I don’t know. But my heart does, I feel affection for him.
But who he is doesn’t matter now. I should be able to recall my own name first. The rest will follow.
I try saying it out loud. Dante… No sound comes out. My lips probably didn’t even move.
“I know.” The man, D’Maeo, sighs. “And we’ve had to lock up Vicky. The curse has got a strong hold on her.”
“It must be this world. I know the Beach of Mu brought us here to save Vicky, and I am thankful to have her back, but this environment is not good for any of us. Maybe Dante will wake up if we take him away from here.”
I block out the rest of the conversation, because something has changed inside me. When the woman mentioned someone named Vicky, I felt something interesting. A spark, near my heart. A jolt of some kind. Energy trickles through my limbs. I try to send it all to my fingers and lift them.
The Fifth Portal: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 5) Page 8