by S. E. Akers
Kamya spun around on her heel. “And that, Shiloh, is what you call a desperate act by a desperate fool,” she groaned. “A stubborn one to boot.” Kamya started pacing in a frenzy. “I can’t believe he actually went in there. Idiot!” she yelled at the entrance.
I grabbed Kamya by her shoulders to pin her to one spot. “How bad is it in there?”
“That depends on the sins of your past and your darkest fears. Let me put this into perspective for you… Even I would not dare venture in there.” Hearing that out of her gung-ho mouth sent my stomach into a sharp heave. Suddenly I couldn’t catch my breath, not for the life of me.
“Kamya!” Federo bellowed. “The young one is obviously too polite to say it, so I will… Shut your damn mouth!” The Ruby Talisman didn’t acknowledge his warning with even a look. She stomped off to help Tatka put the finishing touches on a fire he was building. Soon the flames roared out of the pile, shedding some much-needed light on our creepy backdrop and fretful moods.
“Ignore that overly wary mouth of hers,” Federo urged. “There is cautious, and then there is Kamya.”
“She’s just worried about him” I defended. “That’s all.”
Federo let out a laugh and pointed towards her with a tree limb he had retrieved. “She worries for no one. There isn’t a warm vein running in that frigid body of hers.”
From what I’d seen, I thought his remark was more than a stretch. Not wanting to butt heads, I opted to change the subject. “So how long does it typically take?”
Federo looked deep in thought as he wound a cloth around one of the ends of the limb. “It could be minutes, but it could be hours as well… Even days,” Federo answered.
Days? And I thought waiting for Samuel at the hospital last fall was long. Crap! “Seriously?” I questioned.
“What we know as time is warped inside a vortex. I’m afraid everything about it skews every aspect of our life. I heard a story long ago of a Talisman who went inside one and when he emerged, twenty-eight years had past.”
I forced down a sharp gulp.
Kamya took me by the hand and led my dazed body over to the fire. “I’m surprised at you, Federo!” she fussed. “Shiloh, he’s blowing smoke up your ass.”
“Yes,” Federo teased. “But only about that last part. Tanner is a fierce soul to be reckoned with. He shouldn’t be longer than a couple of hours at the most. My sincerest apologies, young one.”
“Why don’t you make yourself useful, Federo? Go check the perimeter!” Kamya ordered with a sharp grunt. “And don’t come back until you have ditched your twisted sense of humor.”
“Yes,” Federo agreed and lowered the cloth-wrapped end of the limb into the fire, setting it ablaze. “That will also give you a chance to work on that boorish etiquette of yours as well.” We watched as he disappeared into the jungle, until the glow from his torch had faded from our sight.
I’d no sooner plopped down in front of the crackling fire (preparing for a long, grueling wait) when Tatka scooted beside me. The child sorcerer started tugging on a braided strand of rope that was hanging around his neck. He removed it and dangled the strange necklace in the air. There was something bound with strips of suede on its end. Before I knew what was happening, Tatka threw it around my neck like he was playing a game of Ring-Toss.
“How sweet,” Kamya praised as she scooted closer. “He’s giving you a gift, to make up for the sneaky spell he placed on you. A very thoughtful gift too.”
Curiously, I began to uncoil the nappy cloth until the surprise came into view. It was a surprise all right, or should I say, “shock”. There in the palm of my hand lay a perfectly preserved dead bat. Gross! Its beady-black eyes and fanged mouth were open too. A shiver coursed down my spine.
Kamya shook her head discreetly. “Don’t take it off,” she mouthed so he couldn’t hear. “You’ll offend him.”
I looked at Tatka and flashed my best “I-love-it” smile that I’d ever had to fake in my whole entire life.
Kamya took the bat out of my hand. “This is a special amulet. It ferries clarity from the dead. If a fallen soul wishes to get a crucial message to you, their spirit can do so with this. No amount of earthly magic can hinder its course. The secrets they reveal are those that only our subconscious can sense, when our minds are clouded. This totem helps us clear the air. The bat embodies the blindness that blocks our minds and symbolizes our haze lifting when the truth sets us free. Its wings mark the carrying of the knowledge. Yes… This is a very valuable amulet indeed.” Kamya threw Tatka a teasing pout. “I don’t even have one of these.”
I turned to Tatka and extended an even more meaningful “thank you” for granting me such a precious gift. It was really just a harmless prank. He didn’t have to give me anything to make up for it. Then again, he may be buttering me up for a diamond? He surprised me with a hug and then hurried back to his spot to play with a swarm of moths fluttering around the roaring fire, just like a typical child.
Kamya took the bat and dropped it under my shirt. “There. That’s better,” she announced. “Now you don’t have to look at it.”
My shoulders caved with a cringing jerk. Yeah… That’ll ease my sceevies. I needed to get my mind off the hairy thing resting against my skin, smack dab between “the girls”. I nudged Kamya. “Can I ask you something?”
“Whatever is on your mind,” Kamya hummed like a gentle breeze.
Maybe it was my newfound toy or some lingering curiosity, but a certain Talisman was weighing on me. “I’m curious about…Damiec.”
Kamya tilted her head back, straight up to the sky. “Ugggh! He cannot sprout furry wings and turn into a bat,” she groaned. “Oh, how I love the rumors. The way a creature’s lore distorts with every speck of sand that falls. Casts no reflection… Detests garlic… Sleeps in coffins… I think my personal favorites are holy water and wooden stakes. Now those I wish were true.” Kamya holstered her amusement and looked warily at me. “Though some of them carry their weight in gold, and since you are now Damiec’s radar, so to speak, I think it would be wise for you to know.” Kamya revealed, “He and his underlings have their limitations. It is true that they may only roam when the light fades and cannot enter a domicile without having an accord with a member of its household. The silver lore is accurate as well. Just as iron weakens us, silver will do the same to him. There are only two things that can kill him… A weapon of formidable power, driven straight into his heart, and of course, the sun…or even better, a single pure ray of light from the sunstone.”
I clutched my chest. “Since Helio is—”
“I’m afraid not,” Kamya laughed. “You may have one of the necessary ingredients to conjure a ray, but you are still missing the stone. Its power must be at one with its source and beam must shine from one of its facets… Sorry.”
That figures.
Kamya continued, “But those certainties will prove useful when you encounter him again. They are the same limitations of the beast that cursed him.” A silence fell between us. “And only Damiec has the power to sway an unprotected mind. That power he still draws from his bloodstone.”
“What cursed him?”
“An ancient creature… A Chupacabra,” Kamya revealed.
“Like an animal?” I questioned.
“NO…like a hideous, bloodthirsty beast the size of a bull with scaly gray skin, razor-edged horns that ran down its back, and a mug that looked more gargoyle than canine,” Kamya corrected. “And those were just its offspring. The pack leader was three times as large. Those creatures used to prowl these very lands centuries ago. They were many in numbers and had a territorial reach that stretched from each of the earth’s poles. Damiec killed the last of its kind, but it infected his soul before it died. It would have killed a normal man, but his bloodstone prevented it. Though he remains a Talisman, his soul now torments him into becoming something else.”
“But why does he think Adamas had something to do with his curse?” I asked.
> “Because he did, in an indirect way. But a way nonetheless,” Kamya insisted. “The Mayan leaders sought the help of Adamas to rid these vile beasts from their lands, once and for all. Too many of their people had fallen prey to these creatures and their culture was dying out. There were fewer animals for the Mayans to hunt and they could only seek food during the day. They became prisoners in their own dwellings at night. They feared there would be no humans left before long, only savage beasts roaming the lands whose only desire was to wreak havoc and incite terror through bloodshed. Adamas knew these supernatural beasts would be difficult to kill, so bringing Damiec along was a necessity. His bloodstone absorbs a being’s soul. It was designed that way so one could be cleansed from the indiscretions that tortured them. Absolution is a powerful healing mechanism for many, my dear. Some people can never be right without its merciful resolve. Damiec’s bloodstone also allows him to delve into your thoughts and memories like he has been watching you all of your life. It even enables him to borrow a supernatural’s powers for a brief while. The more blood he takes, the longer he has them. Even robbed of a small amount is draining on the supernatural. Your powers fade until your strength gradually returns. He can even choose to take it all… Stealing your powers and leaving you fleshly and human. You wouldn’t even have to willingly relinquish any of your power to him, nor your wand,” Kamya warned. “Anyway,” she went on, “this was crucial, since the Chupacabra were many in numbers. One draining slice from the blade of Damiec’s bloodstone sword would weaken them enough so the rest of the Talismans could finish them off.”
“It still doesn’t sound like something that warrants a torturous death-wish for the wand’s current owner.”
Kamya continued, “On the night before the group arrived, Adamas had a vision. A vision of someone who was to betray him.”
“Damiec,” I stated.
“Correct,” Kamya confirmed. “At the close of their battle, all the chupacabras had fallen except for the alpha. Its life force was even a match for Damiec. The sun was about to rise when the alpha fled back to its secret lair in the mountains. Damiec followed it so he finish it off for good…the last of its kind. Adamas found Damiec with his sword piercing the creature’s heart, but the Bloodstone Talisman had already been infected by its lethal bite. Damiec begged Adamas to help him. But, at the request of Adamas’ closest advisor, the Diamond Talisman seized his chance to curtail Damiec’s treacherous plan to kill him and take his wand. So he left him where he lay suffering and sealed the entrance without any way of healing himself from his injuries, not the moon or any trace of salt, and left him to die.”
“But he didn’t die.”
“No. That was unforeseen. The creature itself was an unearthly demon, so when Damiec’s stone absorbed its affliction, it cursed his soul with evil, binding him to that same fate. The sheer fact that Damiec’s stone can plunge into the souls of others through their blood…well, that fed the monster that grew inside him. Any other Talisman would have died, but his stone was the perfect recipe for the creature’s legacy to live on…in human form.”
“And Damiec can create others like him…other vampires?”
“An eloquent name for the ghastly monsters they are,” Kamya sneered. “I’m afraid modern literature has romanticized them to the point of it being downright comical. But yes, Damiec can turn a human into a blood-sucking creature of the night, but he is the only one who can. And his progenies only desire blood and death, like the chupacabra. They seek nothing out of a soul but to drain it to its core. That’s the only way they can exist…feeding off the life-force of others.”
“If he was sealed in the mountain, then how did he escape?”
“That would be a question better suited for Tanner one day,” Kamya replied.
“Now I see why he wants his revenge, since Adamas isn’t around. I guess he’s got to take ages of suffering out on somebody.” Lucky me.
“Oh, you’re not in the vengeance boat alone, dear girl. He despises the lot of us. Even his own father is as much a part of his plan as you.”
“Why his father?”
“His father was the advisor who presented the idea to Adamas.”
Sounds like something Charlotte would do.
Federo came rustling through the brush. “The perimeter is secure…for now.” He picked up on the lingering vibe from our intense conversation. “What were you talking about?” Federo inquired, sounding particularly paranoid.
“A very dark, sinister Talisman who will stop a nothing to claim what he wants most,” Kamya stated vaguely, aiming to get a rise out of him.
“And just who would that be?” Federo posed with a furrowed brow.
“Damiec, of course,” Kamya purred.
Federo’s eyes shifted into daggers. “Must you speak of him? NOW?” he snapped. He choked back a grunt and looked mindful of his hasty outburst. “I think we have enough Talismans on our doorstep to worry about!”
“He might be in Veracruz,” I admitted. I saw him coming off the elevator the other night. I’m not so sure he was just a vision anymore.”
Federo slid an amber dagger out of a holster strapped to his side. “I’ll be ready for him too if he appears. This should serve nicely to carve out his heart!”
Kamya jumped all over his sudden burst of vigor. “That pitiful device won’t make a scratch,” she laughed. “But tell me how it fares with others? Will it sever the flesh of those kin to you?” she cross-examined.
Federo felt the shock of her electric query. He lowered himself down to meet Kamya’s cynical glare. “Believe me when I say, this blade dulls for no man, brother or not…nor woman,” he added with a directed scowl.
“Touchy,” Kamya teased with a sassy smile.
Federo rose to his feet slowly, never breaking his gaze. He finally abolished his unsavory look and threw me an apologetic nod before taking a seat on the other side of the fire, well out of her reach.
“Your brother’s turquoise could do it,” Kamya badgered. “If an arrow personally from him were to plunge into Damiec’s cursed heart, then that would certainly take him out.”
Federo remained still, though I sensed he was struggling to keep his composure.
“He definitely has the stronger stone,” Kamya nagged. “You know, I take it back. I’m sure you would jump at the chance to claim your brother’s turquoise. Then you would finally have some real power.”
“You’re very chatty,” I commented to Kamya, specifically to change our circle’s awkward course after feeling the heat from Federo’s glare. “A lot more than Tanner or Bea.”
“That’s where we disagree. I’ve been a Talisman for a long, long time and I’ve seen a lot of things. But I have never been under the delusion that ignorance is bliss.”
“How long have you been a Talisman?” I asked.
“A lady never tells her age,” Kamya remarked.
“HA!” Federo laughed. “Lady.”
The speed and way in which Kamya’s eyes ignited screamed for another intervention. I kind of wished we were in a roped-off ring. That way I would’ve at least had a bell to officially “ding”.
“No. I mean, if you don’t mind me asking…when did you find your ruby?”
“I was a little older than you and living in a small village in India. I was to be married. It was the happiest time of my life, until…” Kamya stopped and took a deep breath. “Until the ruby called to me.”
“Why?” I asked.
“My love left on a quest to find a ruby as beautiful as I was in his eyes. While he was away, the king that ruled over our lands paid a visit to my village. He wanted to add me to his collection. When I found out he had tried to purchase me from my father, I spit on him in front of the entire village. He had his guards shackle me in irons and took me to his palace where he locked me in one of his chambers. When I kept refusing his advances, he tried to beat me into submission. Day in and day out, he had his men tie me to a stake where I was whipped…repeatedly.” Kamya rem
oved her jacket and had me lift up the back of her shirt. She wasn’t kidding. The skin from her neck to the small of her back was marred with countless scars.
“That’s horrible,” I gasped as I imagined the agonizing pain she had to endure.
“You would think so,” Kamya remarked. “But when my love came to the palace looking for me, the king dragged him into the chamber where I was being held. Sanja begged the king to let him buy me back, but he refused, and then…he slit his throat. He had his way with me while my love’s blood spilled all over the floor. I wanted to die right then and there. But something kept whispering in my ear…telling me to be strong. After the king had left, I found what was calling out to me. My ruby…still clutched in my love’s hand. Sanja promised he would return with the most perfect stone, and he did. When I touched it, I’d never felt so alive in my life. I just thought it was my anger making my blood boil, but it was the fire burning inside the ruby. The next evening, when the king came calling on me, I spit in his face again. But this time, my saliva burnt his eye like acid and my touch melted his skin. He ordered his men to tie me to the post to be whipped again.” Kamya pulled out her two whips and ran her hands over them like prized trophies. “I’ve had these things since that day. Once I’d taken care of his guards, I used these to sever the flesh from his bones, inch by painful inch… But I didn’t kill him right away,” she added. “Not until I made him watch me serve his manhood to his favorite Bengal Tiger.”
Hell hath no fury, I thought quietly as I stared at the Talisman whose smile was beaming with an almost euphoric sense of delight.
“Out of tragedy, a Talisman is born,” Kamya cooed. “It’s ironic. From the moment I touched that ruby, it embodied everything about my life like it had been made for me. It won’t allow someone to harm its owner, it absolved me from the love I felt for Sanja. Even a part of the king’s desire for me and his lustful heart merged with it that day. Helio once told me that it was punishment for my vengeance,” she added.