by S. E. Akers
“A—Acid?” Katie muttered. That came as a complete shock, but I owed her the crap-free truth — every flesh-eating bit of it.
“Katie?”
“Is that ALL?” she posed rather cheeky.
“I’m not kidding. It’s that bad.”
“Don’t give him anything!” Katie ordered. “I mean it, Shi! I’ll haunt you every day of your life!”
“Katie—”
“I swear I will!”
I lowered my head compliantly and gave the hilt a tenacious squeeze. “Well, one thing’s for sure. Tonight, one way or the other, our fate will be the same.”
“And I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Katie vowed.
“Me either,” I replied, absolute with my words.
“Now, before we go off that cliff, hand-in-hand…the least you could do for me is go kick his grave-robbing ass!” Katie urged.
My mouth cracked into a grin. “He has to come out here…FIRST,” I yelled brazenly, egging him on. I had barely taken a step when a prickly feeling shot down my spine.
“Where is he?” Katie asked.
“Right behind me,” I whispered back. The Onyx jerked me around before I could even think about summoning the wand out of its hilt. I screamed as his searing, knife-like touch coursed through my body. Ugh! The harrowing pain felt even worse than before, like bathing in blazing-hot razor blades! The next thing I knew, he had snatched Katie’s diamond pendant off my neck and was hurling me across the cavern. I smacked the wall in harsh “thud” and crashed to the ground, taking a huge chunk of it with me.
I rallied as fast as I could and peered out from behind some boulders. The Onyx was strutting back and forth, twirling Katie around his hazy finger, while he manipulated the mound of dirt supporting her body to sink even quicker.
I crouched back behind my cover. Talk about upping the freaking ante!
“Shiloh,” Beatrix called out.
“Bea,” I replied, thrilled to hear her voice. At least I attempted to answer. No golden topaz.
“I’ve mended my wing, but I need a diversion, if you please?”
No problem, I thought confidently as I peeked out at the Onyx one more time and started churning a small funnel of air in the palm of my hand. It packed nowhere near the punch that Bea’s did, but it would do.
I sprang out from behind the boulders and hammered the whirling gust into what looked to be his chest. The blow knocked him down and blew Katie out of his grasp. I watched with a crisp eye as one of the dwindling streams carried her diamond pendant up to a high rocky ledge.
I slammed my foot on the ground. Great!
I spotted a reasonably safe way up the side and charged towards the base of the rocks. With a good speedy run, I leapt over the Onyx’s ghostly form that lay in my path. Something wrapped around my ankle as I started my climb. An excruciating pang shot up my leg as the Onyx’s hazy arm jerked me back to the ground. One brisk kick to what I thought was his face and I was free. I scaled the rugged walls to a cluster of rocks, well out of his savage reach, and summoned the diamond out of the hilt with a determined wave.
“So you’ve finally embraced your lapis lazuli,” the Onyx snarled. “Good. You’re going to need it.” Instead of clambering up the rocks after me, I watched him casually dip his hand down into the smoky haze that trailed away from his form. Not a second later, he lifted his arm up and slowly pulled a ferocious looking battle-axe out of the magical mist that stretched a good five-feet. I acknowledged the unquestionable “sparkle” glistening on each of its sharp double-blades with a nauseating cringe. Clad to the other end of the horrifying weapon was a diamond in the shape of a pointy spear. That was bad enough, but I seriously thought about driving my own sword through my gut when a mystical makeshift-armor appeared out of thin air. It now covered his entire free-flowing spectral body and glinted traces of virtually indestructible diamond-dust in the light.
I stood there, brow furrowed, feeling like he’d already served me up my own ass. You have GOT to be freakin’ kidding me!
“Only one of us is walking out of here ALIVE!” the Onyx pledged with a blood-thirsty growl.
I glanced down at my midnight blue dress and stepped into an offensive stance. Here goes another one…
Just as I started to jump down into battle, something ripped his axe right out of his hand. Thank you, Bea! With her now distracting the Onyx invisibly, I lowered my blade and resumed my climb up the rocky wall, headed for the ledge where Katie had landed. The racket from their heated clash boomed throughout the cave as I climbed. My smile stretched wider every time I heard another one of his thwarted roars. After all, Beatrix was a cunningly fierce opponent. She had kicked my rear plenty of times. Several more feet and I’d arrived to the spot where Katie lay. An irksome feeling gripped the back of my neck, triggered by an odd silence that now engufled the cavern. I didn’t hear anything coming from below. I looked down to find that both the Onyx and Bea were nowhere in sight.
That can’t be good.
In a hasty fit, I turned to get Katie so I could get back down there to help Bea. From out of nowhere, a horde of bats swooped down on me. Ugh! I was crawling with the nasty winged things, trying to swat them away. I finally had to drop and roll the relentless varmints off me. With all of them now crushed or gone, I grabbed Katie and tried to fasten her back around my neck. The clasp was broken, so I ended up shoving her down inside the bodice of my dress. No pockets.
I worked my way down the sides of the cavern and then jumped the rest of the way to speed things along. “Bea?” I yelled as soon as I’d landed. She didn’t answer, out loud or telepathically. “Bea?” I called out again, fearing the worst.
I spotted a few feathers lying on the ground, but still she wasn’t anywhere to be found. Neither was the Onyx. As I bent down to pick one of them up, a round of shrill screeches flooded the cave. I rose up to see Bea in her falcon-form rocketing through the air, being chased down by a faithful legion of vicious bats with only one thing on their minds.
“Looks like it’s just you and me,” the Onyx’s voice rumbled. I spun around to see him slinking out from behind some boulders, twirling his battle-axe. “The way it was meant to be.” One of the bats doubled back and landed on his shoulder. The Onyx took something out of its fangy little mouth and held it up. “You won’t fare too well this time… Not without this,” he laughed.
My mouth fell open as quickly as I jerked my right hand up to my face. I could feel the heavy creases forming around my eyes as I stared at my bare ring finger. My moonstone was gone. Little winged bastards!
The Onyx hurled his axe not a second later. I blocked his first strike with my wand, but he leaned back on its shaft and ripped into my side with the diamond-speared tip on the other end. I dropped to knees from the brutal jab. Fighting through the pain, I conjured up enough air to stir a swirl of dust into his face. It only blinded him for a second or two, but that’s all I needed to hop to my feet. I whirled my diamond wand hard against his back. Other than vibrate me enough to rattle me back on my butt, that was all my overly-optimistic move produced. I even swung it at his legs, eager to find some breach in his armor. It didn’t work either. And I could tell it was made of iron by the way the light in my wand dimmed when it struck the protective metal sheath. From my vantage point, my glorious and powerful diamond wand may as well have been and old paddle-less, wooden canoe — ’cause I sure felt like I was up shit-creek.
I glanced over to Katie’s body. A wave of rage coiled my muscles like a spring. A good foot of ground had already eroded away. She didn’t have much time before there was nothing left. With a cavalier tip of my enemy’s head, another few inches sunk into the acid.
I glared at the Onyx and gave my wand a bold twirl. “I may die tonight, but there’s no way you’re walking out of here whole,” I vowed.
Obviously, Kamya had rubbed off on me.
We stormed towards each other — both armed and eager. Our weapons clashed over and over, sparks flying ev
ery which way. I was holding my own, until another wicked slice from the tip of his axe scored my arm clear down to my elbow. I retaliated with several sweeps of my blade despite the grating sting from the diamond-dust or the blood gushing from my veins. Though the moonstone wouldn’t have healed any of my gashes, it sure would’ve helped keep my strength on par. Every cut he inflicted took a gruesome toll on my energy and every unsuccessful move my muscles made steadily drained my optimistic soul. He knew it too. Part of me thought he was having just as much fun wearing down my spirits as he was shredding my skin.
After another savage slice to my thigh (this time with one of the axe blades), it was painfully obvious that I was getting nowhere with my blows. Nothing could touch him, not with that impervious diamond-coated armor he was sporting. I would have to hit the same spot a hundred times before my blade would wear enough of it off to even make a dent.
I found myself well on my way to being cornered at one point, so I had to work my way backward up the rocks while I fought off several tactical swings to my legs. I’d almost reached the top when I noticed his axe blade was about to whack into my left foot. In a panic, I flipped off the mound with as much power I could whip up from my lapis lazuli. He missed, luckily. I found myself a good fifty feet away in the air, but my energy started fizzling out too soon and dropped me like a brick towards the pooling haze of acid.
I twisted around as much as I could before I smacked the ground, barely escaping a corrosive splashdown. My hand started throbbing not a second after I’d landed. I jerked up and looked at my hand, which had grazed the edge of the mist. Thankfully my skin was still intact, but it was as red as a cherry and stung like a bad baby-oil sunburn. I could even see some fluid blistering in spots under my skin. A thought raced through my mind. Maybe it could wear away the diamond coating on his armor? It wasn’t painlessly covered in soot like when Bea had given me my first “fire safety” lesson, but it sure felt a lot weaker.
Without a second to lose, I funneled a guided gust down into the misty yellow cloud. I was able to scoop enough of it up with the last shred of energy I had from my lapis lazuli powers and aimed it straight at him. It ended up spraying his arm, sizzling and bubbling on contact.
The spot on his armor seemed duller once the reaction had ceased. It certainly wasn’t sparkling anymore. I seized my chance and guided my blade toward my mark. The diamond wand sliced open the metal armor effortlessly. With a firm jab, I punctured his exposed spectral form that was pouring out and wrenched the wand with a firm jerk as I pulled out my blade. The Onyx’s seething roar let me know just how much he’d felt it too. Straightaway, he dove under the earth in an explosive cloud of dirt. I scanned the ground warily, preparing for his next move. Suddenly, two arm-shaped sections of earth latched onto my legs and started spinning me around like a top. After enough woozy twirls, he flung me across the cave where I crashed face-first into some boulders about the size of a coal truck. I rolled off the side and onto the ground like I’d just wobbled off a Tilt-A-Whirl from Hell.
I was struggling to get my bearings when something tapped my leg. I automatically whirled my blade around.
“Easy, dear!” Beatrix exclaimed.
Boy was she as sight for sore, dizzy eyes. “It’s useless, Bea. I can’t touch him! Not with that armor protecting him. The acid is the only thing that’s made a dent, and I doubt I’ll get the chance to do that again. And Katie’s going to melt away if I can’t get to her soon!”
Beatrix arched her brow as she dug her hand down into her pouch. “Yes, well…We’ll see about that. Here. Hold this for me,” she instructed as she pulled out a black onyx.
I was more than hesitant.
“It’s okay,” Beatrix insisted and placed it in my hand.
“What will this do to him?”
“Nothing,” Beatrix replied and then whipped out the hideous voodoo doll Padimae had picked out for me. “Not until we place it in this.” The Golden Topaz Talisman tucked the Onyx’s stone inside its stuffing and bound it securely with its cord. She plucked her antique golden brooch off her chest and angled the pin toward the gruesome little doll. “Well get back out there, dear. I’ll take care of him while you save your friend. I think we’ll fare much better this go-around.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Beatrix insisted and pointed to a dark spot that stained the center of the witchy doll. “Whose blood do you think that belongs to?” she hinted with a devious grin.
I peeked out from behind the rocks. The Onyx was nowhere to be found, above ground at least. “Bea, I can feel the diamond’s energy fading, but I think I can jump to her safely.”
“Just get over to that mound. I’ll make sure the two of you get back,” Beatrix promised.
I rose up and started to make my run when a twinge of curiosity pulled me back down. “I mean, it’s not like I can melt… Can I?”
“No… But enough of it will turn you as red as one of Kamya’s rubies and you’ll have more welts on you than an old horned toad.”
I.E.— Don’t fall in, I thought as I hopped to my feet. I threw Bea a nod and then took off, barreling across the cave. A tremor quaked under my feet. I glanced back to see a mound of dirt charging at me like a high-speed train. Not a second later, the hump of earth stopped on a dime and burst out the ground with a horrific growl. I watched Beatrix saunter out from behind the rocks holding the voodoo doll in her hand as she gave the pin several twists. The Onyx arched his form in a fit and began clawing at his own armor, desperate to locate the source of his pain.
“Don’t just stand there,” Beatrix said telepathically. “Go! I’ve got this.”
Since Bea seemed to have the Onyx under her control, I resumed my course and hotfooted a path to Katie. My heart thumped like a drum the closer I came to the acid. I forced every ounce of strength that I could into the muscles of my legs when I’d reached its edge. Up and over I went, practically sailing through the air. My glide across the sizzling pool may have been graceful, but I landed on Katie’s body like a daggone train wreck and almost knocked her into the lethal liquid myself. I hoisted her up just as a wave of it was about to smack her toes. Katie’s was body was as safe as her soul (for the time being), so now, all I needed was a quick gust. With Bea busy with the Onyx, I gave the lapis lazuli’s power one more shot. However, like I’d figured, nothing happened. My wounds were nowhere near healed, I’d already used up so much of my energy fending off the Onyx, and I didn’t have my moonstone to keep my powers charged or at least give me a much-needed boost.
I placed my hand over the golden topaz on Katie’s finger. “Bea!” I called out. “We’re stuck out here and could really use a gust.” I scooped Katie into my arms as the acid crept towards my feet. I scanned the cave in a panic. “BEA?” I called out again.
Where is she?
My search stopped when I spied the Onyx heading towards the edge of the billowy pool. Somehow he had gotten the doll away from Bea and had it in his hand. Something about his approach captured my attention — his triumphant-like swagger. I watched his hand slip under his armor momentarily and then he slowly began to pull something out. Instinctively, I narrowed my gaze. It turned out to be a stone, a white one that he held proudly in the air. A fraught-filled vibe pummeled me with sheer doom and gloom. By the way he began to cackle victoriously, I had a sure-fire clue as to “what kind” it might be.
“NOW, DON’T MOVE,” the Onyx scoffed with a telling laugh.
Oh yeah… A white chalcedony. Nope. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not ever! And the truly sad part about it was that even though I had Katie in my arms, we weren’t really going to “die together”. I only prayed that he didn’t keep her soul alive inside the diamond to torture her just for kicks. With nowhere else to go and nothing left to do, I held on to Katie’s frame tightly, hoping at the very least that my body becoming paralyzed would keep her from falling into the acid a little while longer.
With a swift and guided pitch, the Onyx cast the stone str
aight at me. I didn’t close my eyes. I wanted him to see how much I hated him and that I wasn’t afraid of what was coming. Just before the stone was about to strike my arm, something swooped down and whisked us straight up into the air. The startling ride ended a few seconds later when I glanced up to see Beatrix in her giant teratorn-form changing back after she’d just dropped us safely onto the earthy ground.
“Thank you, Bea!” I gasped, trying to catch my breath. I noticed a warm orange light shining on Katie’s wrist. It was coming from the fire opal, actually streaming out of a small crack. It must have accidentally broken when we’d hit the ground. Quickly, I dug her diamond out of my bra and placed it in her hand. I propped Katie’s body up against the rocks and searched for Bea. With the stone’s magic released and no full moon’s light to bind the spell, I feared how long my bosom friend had until the fire opal disintegrated and her chance to reclaim her body would pass.
I found Bea not too far from where she had dropped us. She seemed to be struggling to get to her feet. No sooner than she’d finally managed to rise, Beatrix ended up losing her balance and wobbled right off the cliff.
I chased after her tumbling body. “Bea! What’s wrong?” I demanded.
My mentor didn’t say a word, but simply pointed to her shoes. I yanked them off to discover that half of her feet had turned to stone.
I fell to the ground in a hushed daze. The only thing I could feel was an empty hole in my heart and a weighty pressure building behind my eyes, triggered by the harrowing reality of what had happened. Bea was going to die, just like Gallia. Despite her golden topaz’s illustrious and virtually death-proof defenses, this was one thing she had claimed her magic couldn’t touch. It couldn’t stop her body’s inevitable fleshy petrifaction happening right before my anguished, welling eyes.
Chapter 30 — Shattered
Beatrix gave my limp hand a firm squeeze. “I’m not garden statuary yet, dear,” she insisted with a poised nod. “And you still have a battle to win, so lift that furrowed brow and dry those tears.”