by S. E. Akers
“Saved my life?” I contended in a harsh laugh, thinking I needed to ring more than just water out of my ears. “Was that when you side-swiped me with that bolt or when you tried draining every ounce of the diamond’s power from my neck? You would have done it too if it weren’t for my—”
“Moonstone?” Damiec interjected. “The one I made sure was placed back on your finger? That moonstone?”
How the heck did he know it wasn’t a tiger’s-eye? I noticed a subtle light radiating underneath his shirt. It had to be coming from the stone I’d seen him with earlier, but I still couldn’t tell what kind it was.
Damiec even acknowledged its glow with a glace. “Let’s just say that I was enlightened to that fact.”
I pondered his peculiar choice of words. Enlightened?
Damiec held out his hand. “The crystal, if you please.”
I didn’t move an inch.
Damiec gave his head a few disapproving shakes. “I can always relieve you of that tiny speck of carbon you hold in your hand and let your dear friend be claimed by the sea. I’m sure Lorelei would relish that.”
I straightened my sword, my arm trembling as I balanced it. “And how do you plan on accomplishing that without your hands?”
“Look at you,” Damiec laughed. “You can barely hold on to your sword.” He approached the tip of my blade. “I could kill you easily,” he vowed.
I pulled the sunstone out of my pocket. “Not when I have this,” I glared.
Damiec’s laughter intensified. “That’s nothing more than a useless rock as it is. Helio’s essence isn’t in there.”
“That may be true, but he’s still inside me.”
“If Helio really wanted me dead, I’d be nothing more than flakes of ash,” Damiec attested. “Don’t you think?”
Dismally, I didn’t have a rebuttal for that.
“Remember, Shiloh. I know everything about your existence to this point. I’ve seen every thought in that head of yours and felt every passionate feeling.” Damiec extended his hand. “Take my word. I genuinely mean you no more harm this evening. I prefer my prey to have a little more fight in them,” he stated with a condescending arch of his brow. “Now, this is my final non-forceful request. The crystal, if you please?”
My only thoughts were of Katie and wanting rid of him. I had to face it. Tanner and Kamya were nowhere around, and I wasn’t in any shape to venture into another round of battle tonight. I threw the crystal at him. “Take it,” I snapped.
Damiec caught his prized crystal. “Thank you,” he grinned and tucked it in his pocket. Part of me had hoped that getting it back would prompt his exit, but he didn’t look like he was going anywhere, anytime soon.
“You have what you wanted. Go!” I ordered with a wave of the wand.
“In due time.” Damiec folded his arms. “You have to be sitting there wondering to yourself, why? Why Helio won’t release his power for you to use on me? Why he chose not to kill the monster that tried to take your power…and your soul?”
I smiled smugly. “Not in the least,” I lied.
Damiec grinned. “He hasn’t spoken to you either… Strange,” he remarked with a hint of amusement. “What have you done to piss him off?”
I didn’t like the way his finger was pointing, nor the direction this conversation was being steered. I sharpened my glare. “I should have poisoned you with the lapis lazuli.”
Damiec nodded his head respectfully. “Yes. I saw your craftiness back there.” He knelt down beside me and whispered in a raspy voice, “But we both know you didn’t feel the need to use such ploys when you kissed me in your dream.”
I pulled back straightaway. I didn’t know which shade of red flooding my face stood out the most — “Shame-in-the-Face Rouge” or “Fire-Engine Pissed”.
Damiec inhaled a deep sniff of air and rose to his feet. “Kamya is close, and I can tell by your flush that your blood is back to flowing as it should, so it is time to say farewell…until our next encounter.” Damiec looked up at the sky and stared at the half moon. “And by my calculation, that will be soon.”
The Bloodstone Talisman disappeared before my eyes, just as Kamya came bustling out of some bushes. While I watched her heated approach, I made the conscious decision right then and there to not breathe a word of this to her or Tanner. A run-in with Damiec was one thing, but me giving him back his phantom crystal — his “lifeline” — in exchange for Katie might not sit too well with either of them.
“Did you go for a moonlight swim?” Kamya teased.
I laughed. “Sure did. It didn’t live up to the hype.”
“I went back to the cave. Tanner’s got Federo tied up with his tin belt. Padimae is watching him.” Kamya scanned the beach. “Where did he go?”
“WHO?” I blurted.
“Tanner,” Kamya clarified. “Who did you think I was talking about?”
“Tanner, of course,” I fibbed, thinking she saw Damiec before he left. I pointed towards the Gulf. “He’s out there…somewhere, trying to get the fire opal back from Lorelei.” I shied away from her gaze. “Tanner had to use the red chalcedony to save me.”
Kamya chuckled, not even attempting to hide her boastful smile. “I tried to tell you all. The stone knows what is best, more than its seeker.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Tanner said that you were right.”
Kamya gasped. “He said those exact words?” she mused. “You didn’t by chance get a recording that I could play for Beatrix?”
“No,” I said with a nudge. My nerves guided my eyes back to the placid waters. “Do you think he’s okay?” Her silence was disturbing, so I turned to her eyes for an honest look.
Kamya’s expressionless face began to glaze with certainty. She nodded toward the Gulf. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
I whipped my head around to see Tanner staggering towards the beach. His clothes looked like they had been put though a shredder with him still in them. He collapsed at our feet. I ripped away what cloth remained for a closer examination. Bite marks covered both of his arms and ran up and down his back. He extended his hand and laid the bracelet in the sand. Not only was he alive, but there lay Gallia’s fire opal, at long last.
He pointed to the bracelet. “I need a serpentine,” Tanner groaned.
“You lost another one?” Kamya snapped. “Why am I not surprised?” She knelt down to reach for the bracelet.
“No!” I ordered as I grabbed her hand, remembering what Padimae revealed about the tainted one Lorelei had given to Ms. Lá Léo. “Use mine,” I insisted and handed Kamya my sopping wet purse. She paused to give the one she was about to choose a thorough inspection. Without further delay, she pitched it into the sea.
“Untrusting,” Kamya grinned as she rummaged through my purse to find my unspoiled, healing serpentine. “I like that.” Once located, she tossed it straight to me. “I’ll let you do the honors, now that your powers are back.” Kamya grimaced at Tanner’s wounds. “I think he could use an extra boost anyway.”
I held the stone in my left hand and used my diamond’s energy to amp up its effect while my right one stroked every one of his wounds. I knew the very second Tanner was feeling like his old-self when he instructed, “Harder…and a little to the left.” Needless to say, that prompted a playful, but firm smack to his head.
“She’s not giving you a massage,” Kamya chimed in.
Tanner lifted his head. “Ferrol got away, didn’t he?” Tanner barbed.
“OH, SHUT UP!” Kamya raged as she kicked some sand at him. “You know how slippery he his.” Kamya crossed her arms. “I tried, Shiloh. I know how badly you need that howlite.”
I roused a half-hearted grin. Granted, its tracking ability sure would have been the icing on the cake, but all in all, I had the fire opal back. That’s what really mattered most to me. “That’s okay,” I assured her. “We’ll find her body.” Eventually, I hoped silently.
Tanner may have been feeling up to speed after a
while, but my wounds were far from healed. Even with my moonstone back where it belonged, the stone had its limits. It could quicken the healing time of every supernatural ailment except for one — a diamond’s sting. Salt-water would have helped, but there was no way in Hell I was going to venture a dip right now.
Before long, we trekked back to the volcano to find Padimae waiting patiently inside. She was guarding a bound-in-tin Federo with Valisco’s machete pointed at his throat.
“I am keeping this blade,” the Voodoo Queen claimed.
“I think you’ve earned it,” Tanner acknowledged. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his very one stones. “And this,” he added gratefully.
Padimae smiled. “I never thought I would ever see one of these. Thank you, Tanner.”
He simply nodded his head and then turned his stare to Federo, who was now on the receiving end of Kamya’s backhand. The Amber Talisman smacked ground in a harsh “thump”.
“All done?” Tanner questioned her.
“Just getting started,” Kamya laughed and started to pounce on him again.
Tanner held her back. “He’s had enough and it’s time,” he stated. Tanner turned to me. “Draw your wand and run it straight through his heart.”
His out of the blue, offhanded order threw me for a loop. “What?” I choked out.
“You heard me. We can’t afford to let him live.” Tanner shot Kamya a cold glare. “It’s bad enough that Ferrol is still running around out there, not to mention the Onyx. Your enemies will always seek you out.”
“Then why didn’t you kill him?” I posed.
“Because you need—”
I cut him off. “I know. I need to be the one who does it. Kamya touched on that,” I revealed. Tanner rolled his eyes at the shoulder-shrugging Ruby Talisman. “I want to know why?” I posed, standing my ground.
“It’s not important,” Tanner said impatiently.
Federo started booming with laughter. “Not important? That is a good one,” he cracked. “It’s merely one of the most important pieces of the puzzle that lines her path. Be a wise girl. Demand the truth. There’s a good reason your mentors are leaving you in the dark.”
Tanner scowled at Federo and directed Kamya with a nod. She didn’t need any egging on. Her boot was already half-cocked. Her kick to his jaw sent him rolling towards the edge of the ravine, minus a few teeth.
“What is he talking about?” I asked. Tanner and Kamya may have acknowledged me with their eyes, but it was their frozen lips I wished would have responded.
Federo whipped up his head. “Despite your wishes, I will not make her road an easy one,” Federo grumbled and then looked at Kamya. “Nor enjoyable for you,” he scowled at her. Not a second later, Federo flung himself over and rolled right off the cliff. My two mentors raced to the edge. I followed suit only to witness his slow and horrifying submersion into the fiery hot lava. The Amber Talisman’s gruesome screams screeched through the cave relentlessly, until the molten rock had finished claiming his flesh as its own. I didn’t know who looked more disgusted — Tanner or Kamya?
“She needed that stone!” Tanner raged.
“You think I don’t know that?” Kamya barked back. “He took his life! It’s now up to fate.”
I cleared my throat. “Why was claiming his amber so important?”
Tanner remained quiet, but still seething as he stared into the ravine.
“Not his amber…the turquoise,” Kamya revealed.
Padimae whispered, “It is a very powerful earth stone, child. The guardian Gaia was instrumental in crafting its powers. It would have strengthened your advantage.”
“My advantage for what?” I mouthed back.
Padimae brushed off my question with a heedful shake, pointing out that Tanner was headed our way. I purposely widened my eyes, waiting for an answer to my question.
“Not a word,” Tanner remarked with a shake of his finger and then turned to Padimae. “Let’s get this over with.”
The Voodoo Queen nodded compliantly and took my hand. His back may have been to me now, but I couldn’t have cared less if he caught the slightest glimpse of my thwarted scowl.
Padimae gave my hardened cheek a firm smack. “Save the evil-eye for later, child. We need to focus on putting Helio back where he belongs.”
Finally, I thought. I shelved my frustration and pulled out the sunstone. “What do I need to do?”
“Not much,” Padimae replied. “You only need to lower your mind’s defenses and keep it clear. I must have complete access to communicate with him.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” I assured her.
“I didn’t think I would have to,” Padimae remarked with a grin. The next thing I knew, Padimae had lit the tip of a small stick and started waving the flame around my head. Tanner and Kamya flanked my sides. With my eyes fully opened, I watched and waited patiently for a change. I figured full mental cooperation would be best, and I didn’t want any hitch in this mystical exit-plan. I stayed still too, but that was more because I feared the possibility she might accidently singe my hair.
Minute after minute passed. My tolerance may have been in full swing, but I could tell my mentors’ had already run out by the stares they were passing between themselves. Just as Kamya started to say something, Padimae lowered her hand and blew out the flame.
“He is not coming out,” the Voodoo Queen announced.
“WHY NOT?” the three of us blurted.
“I do not know, but he requested that I stop chanting,” Padimae replied.
“But I don’t want him in here anymore,” I pleaded.
“That is not up to you,” Padimae insisted. “It is his decision. I may be many things, but stupid I am not. He is one of the Guardians of the Guild. I will not defy his request.”
Kamya walked towards the discus.
Padimae raised her hand. “No, Kamya,” she said, halting the Talisman’s stride. “Helio wants the flame to remain here.”
“What?” Kamya gasped. “It was given to me to guard.” The corners of her mouth fell flat. “Is he displeased with me?” she queried, almost in a panic.
“I do not know the answer to that,” Padimae answered casually. “He requested that the flame stays here, and we are to seal the cave.”
“I want to speak to him!” Kamya demanded. “He entrusted me with the discus. I have kept it hidden for centuries…successfully until now. Is this my punishment?”
Padimae looked distracted. “No,” she assured Kamya. “You are not being punished, but Helio says it is of the utmost importance that the flame remains here for the time being.” Kamya looked more relieved, but still clueless. “And there’s one more thing, he asks of you,” Padimae added.
“Anything,” Kamya pledged.
Padimae looked directly at me, and then shifted her stare back to the Ruby Talisman. “For the time being, you are not to give Shiloh one of your rubies. He has taken that choice from you.”
I didn’t quite know what to think. Neither did Kamya or Tanner. I hadn’t asked her for one, though I had planned on giving her one of my diamonds. Now I was the one left feeling penalized. Helio hadn’t spoken to me — at all — and “facts” were “facts”. I was the one who had handed Federo his sacred sunstone on a silver platter and kicked off this whole supernatural mess in the first place. There was no other logical reason. He’s definitely pissed at me.
Kamya looked at me, her eyes heavy with regret. “So mote it be,” she stated willfully to Padimae. Without even looking me in the eye, she turned and walked straight out of the cave.
Tanner motioned for us to follow her out so he could fulfill Helio’s request. While he tended to sealing the cave, I seized my chance to question Padimae.
“Is Helio angry with me?” I asked.
Padimae stroked my cheek. “I cannot answer that,” she replied.
“He won’t come out of me, he won’t say anything, and now he’s ordered Kamya not to give me a ruby…H
e hates me,” I stated irrefutably. “There’s no other reason it could be.”
“Child, only Helio can answer that question. However, I find it hard to believe that he would keep shelter in a vessel he found disagreement with,” Padimae assured.
“Maybe he plans on punishing me?”
“For what?” Padimae inquired.
“I set all this into motion.”
“No, Shiloh. You did not. Neither did Lá Léo. This was fate. Helio is all knowing and all seeing. Even he recognizes that.”
Maybe, I mused. “Do you think he’ll ever leave?”
“For whatever reason he has chosen to stay, this is a secret you must keep. It would be very wise of you not to reveal it to anyone.” Padimae gave me a long, tender hug. “Now, child, it is time I must leave, but I hope to see you again one day.”
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I have been cooped up in that shop for many years. Too many to count. Now that you have given me back my life, I’m free to roam wherever the spirits guide me. I’ll eventually head back to N’awlins, but there is so much my heart longs to see,” Padimae laughed as she lowered her head.
I smiled. “Like what?”
Padimae tilted her head coyly. “Spain,” she replied.
“What’s in Spain?”
Padimae raised her head high. “Julio Iglesias,” she admitted with an unabashed grin. “I have had a crush on him for years.”
I gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered, “Please leave your love potions at home.”
Padimae grinned as she walked into the brush. “I’ll try, child,” she called out, “but I cannot promise a thing.”
Tanner and Kamya approached me. “It’s done,” Tanner announced. “Just as Helio commanded. I think it’s time we go.”
Kamya couldn’t even look me in the eyes. “Yes,” she huffed. She quickly shot a ball of fire at a bush. I grabbed her arm before she could teleport.
“Wait,” I pleaded. Kamya stopped, but she still wouldn’t look my way. “Helio may have forbidden you, but he didn’t forbid me.” I sank my nails down into my arm. To my delight, I pulled out the largest diamond I’d ever carved and blessed it with every power I could grant. I even hailed a bolt and magically fed it into the stone. I handed it to Kamya, blood and all. “I want you to have this. I owe you so much. You saved my butt more times than I can count, and I consider you a dear friend. There’s never a contingency when it comes to friendship.”