Pure Surrender
Page 23
“Hang on.”
Eveline hung on.
Cloud took two long strides to the edge of the cliff and leapt right off the edge.
Eveline clung to his neck so tightly, she almost choked him, strong for such a slight female. But she didn’t screech with panic like he feared. She simply gulped in a breath and held it.
He let them free fall for two seconds before angling his body and kicking out his legs to change their trajectory.
Just when it seemed like they were about to crash sideways into the cliff wall, he threw out his arms and dug the spear and the dagger simultaneously into the thick rock, slowing their downward momentum.
He kicked his feet at the same time against the wall and sent them hurtling toward the opposite wall, still descending at a rapid pace, though less breath-stealing than before.
He did this several times, lunging from one wall to the other as they descended, controlling the speed and direction. Until finally, he was close enough to the water’s surface to see it.
Aella was doing the same, he could hear from the sounds of metal digging into stone. He didn’t bother to look up at her as she followed his descent.
That woman could always take care of herself.
“Take a deep breath,” he ordered, and heard Eveline immediately obey.
A second later, they dove beneath the inky water.
Cloud twisted the handle of his spear and flooded the well with a pale blue light as he headed beneath the rock into the long tunnel.
He didn’t use his arms to swim, holding them in front of him to guide them with the light. He didn’t need to. All he had to do was undulate his lower body the way he did in his natural form. It was powerful enough to propel them through the tunnel much faster than the fastest Olympic swimmer.
Well under two minutes later, Cloud broke through the surface of the water on the other side of the cavern.
Eveline gulped in a breath and loosened her hold around his neck.
“You all right?”
“Oh, peachy!” she gasped between coughs. “Remind me never to volunteer to come on one of these adventures again. I’m not made for horse riding, cliff diving and underwater tunneling.”
Cloud swam to the water’s edge and hauled both of them out.
As Eveline let go of him and stood on her own wobbly legs, Aella broke through the water’s surface.
“That was fun!” she said with a beatific grin.
Then, she aimed her wrist light at Cloud and looked him up and down.
“Wet looks good on you, baby,” she purred.
He wanted to frown and smile at the same time. He was getting too used to her teasing, damn it.
She swam to the edge of the pool and stepped out.
Wet looked good on her too. Her already immodest clothes molded to her perfect body like a semi-transparent wrapping.
He wondered what it would be like to be completely naked against her, skin to skin.
His errant cock pulsed hard and heavy between his thighs.
But again, Eveline’s muffled shriek broke through the fog of lust.
He and Aella turned together toward the Seer—
As she slowly backed away from the most enormous snake they’d ever seen.
*** *** *** ***
An Egyptian cobra, if Aella wasn’t mistaken.
But unlike any she’d ever encountered in her entire existence.
First, it was gigantic.
The circumference was probably thicker than Aella’s waist, over forty feet in length, its scales obsidian black, looking as thick and impenetrable as a metal armor over hard leather casing.
Second, its eyes were strangely human.
Instead of a bulging, reptilian black that always gave Aella the heebie jeebies, they were starburst blue with large pupils, shrewd and intense.
Assessing.
Part of its body was poised straight up from its lengthy coil, as tall as a man, showing an underbelly of parallel scales that shone like moonstone.
Whoever said a snake’s belly was vulnerable never met this snake. It looked no less impenetrable than its back.
But as Aella pointed her light at the rest of the snake’s body, she saw that its scales looked wet.
Of course, all snake scales looked wet and slippery to Aella, even though Eveline had earlier explained that they didn’t actually feel that way. But this snake really did look wet. There were large areas that looked much darker, creating a stain that didn’t match its otherwise beautiful, methodical patterns.
Beautiful?
Aella couldn’t believe she would think such an adjective about a snake of all creatures, but it was indeed quite beautiful. Perhaps because its eyes looked so human.
I have been waiting for you.
Aella looked around.
Where did that deep, raspy voice come from? It practically echoed through the cavern. Surely Cloud and Eveline heard it too.
Eveline caught her eye, and Aella saw that the Seer’s own were round like an owl’s, practically popping out of her head.
Yeah, it wasn’t everyday one encountered a Beast, which the snake seemed to be. Aella didn’t know what else to make of it.
“I am here now, cousin,” Cloud answered.
Cousin?
Aella’s thoughts bounced around in her head like ping pong balls.
Cloud was the snake’s cousin?!
Or was that an expression of comradery?
Somehow, Aella didn’t think so.
Cloud shone his light on the snake as well, careful to avoid flashing directly into its eyes.
“Am I too late?”
The snake lowered its head and sank entirely down into the giant coil. It was a motion that showed it no longer perceived them as a threat, Aella could tell.
It also seemed as if the snake was too weary to prop itself up any longer.
I am still here, am I not? But not for very long.
“Is there nothing we can do for you? Your Mate—”
Is dead. They killed her.
“Cousin…”
They captured her first and tried to take her from here, but she fought hard. She refused to become fodder for experiments. I couldn’t save her. At least they didn’t get what they really came for.
“Who’s ‘they’?” Aella asked, speaking up for the first time since they walked into this surreal underground world.
“Medusa’s soldiers,” it was Cloud who answered.
How did he know? Aella wondered. Cloud kept so many secrets from her. From all of the Dozen, it appeared.
He looked around them, and she did too, scanning with her light.
Piles and piles of ashes and dust littered the ground surrounding the pool. The surface of the pool itself was coated with a filmy layer, which Aella hadn’t paid attention to before. She’d thought that it was algae.
It definitely wasn’t algae.
She cast the light around the cavern walls.
More wet stains.
Blood stains.
The dark red discernable against the lighter stone of the cavern, unlike the snake’s black coat.
Cloud approached the giant snake and crouched down beside it. As he did so, the snake grew smaller until it was relatively normal sized, though still the largest fucking snake Aella had ever seen.
I don’t have much time, the snake said, its breathing shallow, its voice getting fainter with each passing moment.
I cannot live without my Mate. I do not want to. I am only waiting to fulfill my role.
What was this “role” people kept talking about? Aella thought with acute frustration. First Cloud, now the snake.
Cloud extended his arm.
“Do it.”
Do what?
Involuntarily, Aella got closer to the two males. She wanted to be near Cloud in case…
She wanted simply to protect him.
The snake marked her approach with that same assessing gaze. But there was also kindness.
And a
bittersweet sadness.
It said something in a language Aella had never heard before. But Cloud obviously understood, because he stiffened all over, shooting a strange look her way.
“No, she is not,” Cloud growled.
He sounded suddenly angry again.
Aella bristled. Whatever the snake said to him had angered her Cloud.
The snake softly chuckled at her reaction, its voice eerily rumbling through her mind though there were no outward sounds.
Cloud shook his head and glared at the snake, thrusting his arm forward again.
With a sigh, the snake slowly moved toward Cloud, and began to wrap its long body around Cloud’s arm.
“What is it doing?” Eveline asked nervously, coming closer as well, her voice an octave higher than usual.
Aella wondered the same thing. She braced herself to intervene.
Cloud didn’t reply, his attention completely focused on the snake.
When it had coiled all the way around Cloud’s arm from hand to shoulder, the snake pulled back slightly to look into Cloud’s eyes.
Staring intensely, it began a rather lengthy monologue, almost like an incantation, in that strange language Aella didn’t understand.
Eveline gasped beside her.
“What is it? Do you know what it’s saying?” Aella whispered.
Eveline shook her head.
“I do not understand the language, but I can feel the import of the words. The weight of the Balance bearing down upon us. This event must have been foretold in the Zodiac Prophesies. I can feel it.”
“Great,” Aella muttered sarcastically. “I hope this doesn’t mean we’re one step closer to the Apocalypse.”
“Or one step closer to preventing it,” Eveline murmured.
At the end of it, the snake’s eyes blazed fiery blue, so bright, Aella couldn’t look directly into them.
Without warning, it struck.
Sinking dagger-like fangs into Cloud’s throat.
Aella immediately leapt forward, only to find herself suspended in motion mid leap. Even with her Gift of speed, there was nothing she could do to escape the invisible hold.
A gurgle drew her attention to Eveline, who was also paralyzed mid-step.
Calm yourself, Pure One, the snake communicated to Aella, sliding its eerie eyes to meet hers, while keeping its fangs in Cloud’s neck.
Aella’s heart pounded like a jackhammer when she saw a trickle of blood leak from the bite, down the long, strong column of Cloud’s throat.
Cloud’s eyes rolled back and closed. His body grew limp, his muscles lax.
Oh Goddess! The snake was killing him!
I am not killing him, it disputed the second she had the thought.
I am giving him the last ingredient so that his physical shell can withstand his transformation.
What the hell are you talking about?! Aella shouted in her mind.
I think you know, if you search your heart and your memories. You know what he really is. He is not meant to stay here in the mortal realm with you, Pure One. When the time comes, and he transforms to fulfill his role, his soul will return from whence it came.
Return? Return where? His home is here!
Is it, Pure One? The snake clearly doubted her assertion.
Aella refused to let it shake her convictions.
His home is here with me, she stated with more confidence than she felt.
Ah.
Was all the snake said in return, continuing to pump its venom into Cloud’s jugular.
Aella could see Cloud’s veins clearly beneath his pale skin, coursing with something black and thick. He seemed unconscious but was still upright, sitting on his knees, his head thrown back to give the snake better access.
My venom will make his body strong, strong enough to survive the transformation. It will be inserted with a new soul the second Cloud’s departs. You can keep it if you wish. You seem rather attached to the male.
Attached to…Cloud’s body? Was that what the snake was talking about?
Aella burned with fury.
She didn’t want the body without Cloud’s soul! The male would no longer be Cloud!
If that is your wish, to keep him, then you had better convince him to stay, the snake said in her mind, not unkindly.
How? She asked desperately.
He must never transform into his true form. Which means he will never fulfill his role on earth. Will you demand that sacrifice from him? Will you make him choose between duty and desire?
I…
But before Aella could formulate, much less complete, her thought, the snake finally released Cloud’s throat and unwound from his arm in the same motion, as if its body suddenly lost all strength.
It lay limply on the ground, while Cloud’s body collapsed as well.
Aella and Eveline were released from their paralysis and also crashed to the ground.
Immediately, Aella rushed to Cloud’s side, holding his head in her lap.
“Cloud! Baby… Can you hear me?”
No response from the male in her arms. But his entire body was burning with a strange fever, causing him to shake uncontrollably.
My venom is changing his genetic makeup, fusing with all of the other ingredients, the snake explained in a whisper-thin voice in Aella’s mind.
He will need you before the integration is complete.
Aella could only nod, clutching Cloud to her tightly, stroking her fingers through his long hair, trying to give him whatever comfort she could.
The snake slid closer to Aella and rested its head wearily on her leg.
She was too concentrated on Cloud to even notice, much less object.
I saw his memories, the snake said. He knew you, but he doesn’t any more. You caused him too much pain.
Tears welled unbidden in Aella’s eyes and plopped silently onto Cloud’s face as she looked down upon him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
She felt Eveline’s hand on her shoulder as the Seer stood beside her, radiating sympathy and concern.
A word of advice, Pure One, the snake murmured, its voice so soft, Aella could barely hear. A being like Cloud is the purest of all the Goddesses’ creations. When he gives himself to another, he gives everything. Forevermore. If you cannot match his devotion and sacrifice, then release him from the attachment. Let him forget the pain. Let him return home.
“His home is with me,” Aella said stubbornly. “Now that I have found him again, I will never let him go.”
The snake seemed to smile at her words. Even as the blue fire in its eyes dimmed, and finally the lids slid closed.
On a quiet exhale, the snake’s body became weightless, the solidity shifting into air, effervescing in glitters of stardust upwards toward the ceiling of the cavern, and then beyond.
Good luck, Pure One, Aella could hear a faint whisper of the snake’s voice floating through the air around them.
Aella smiled a happy-sad smile as she looked up into the darkness of the cavern, watching the stardust sparkle and disappear one by one.
Happy, because she knew that the snake was going home too, to rejoin its Mate.
Sad, because, deep down, she realized that she’d just witnessed the passing of a great, fabled Beast—
The Snake King.
“Having access to both the Dark Ones’ Ecliptic Scrolls and the Pure Ones’ Zodiac Scrolls in my time with each Kind has allowed me to distill the truth from misleading lies. Or, rather, ‘stories’, as historians would call them. The secrets of the races…the Dark Ones’ Blood Curse, the Pure Ones’ Cardinal Rule, even human mortality…All lies…”
—New journal entries by an unknown hand
Chapter Seventeen
Xiao Yun, you must learn to control your powers. Striking your cousin’s backside with a lightning bolt because he took your peach is not good behavior…
Cloud twitched as his Celestial Master’s reprimand echoed in his ears.
Xiao Yun, make it drizzle over the gardens. How many giant rainbows can you make? Take us riding through them all!
The tinkling giggles of xian nǚ whispered through his mind, making him smile.
He loved the freedom of frolicking in the skies with them, giving them rides on his back as he undulated over and below the rainbows he made through fluffy white clouds and warm mists of rain.
Xiao Yun, you’ve let your temper rule you again. Those rivers were never supposed to flood. You will mediate on your lapse of good judgement until I see fit to release you…
Duly chastised, Cloud remembered retreating to the lightless bubble within the Celestial Palace with his tail tucked between his legs. It was a place he visited infrequently, save the last time he was incarcerated there.
That last time had lasted thousands of years.
Remember: Life on earth, is like a body filled with thorns. If the heart is not moved, the person is not rash, therefore there will be no harm. You must learn this lesson well, Xiao Yun. Beings such as you are not made for attachment…
One by one, memories from Cloud’s youth in the Celestial Palace paraded before his eyes.
He almost felt as if he was reliving them, they were so real.
Even though he’d existed tens of thousands of years as a dragonling, it took only a moment to “grow up.”
The moment he met her.
“Tell me your name…Your name,” she repeated, gesturing to his chest, then pointed to herself.
“My name is Aella. It means Whirlwind.” She twirled her finger in tight spirals and whistled like the wind.
Cloud’s heart beat faster, thumping with an excitement he’d never felt before, just like the first time he met her.
His beautiful dragonfly girl.
She’d taken a kiss from him.
His first.
Demanded that he kiss her back.
He did.
And for three years hence, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“There you are, gorgeous. Welcome back to the living”...
“I have never met anyone like you before. But isn’t it strange? I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
She brought the palm she was still holding to her mouth and pressed a kiss in the center.