by M. Street
Two security guards rushed toward us. Jeremiah squared off in front of Dev, unconcerned with the incoming infants. “Meet me in the Sagano forest when the sun is directly below.”
“How can we trust you?” Dev asked, elongating his teeth.
“Dev!” I jumped after his ridiculous accusation. I knew the Canites were more than allies. Along with the Avian royalty, they were part of my unworldly and diverse family. They had been loyal to Mom for centuries. I felt their copper devotion.
Jeremiah snarled, spinning around casting dual copper spells before the security guards could reach for their radios. Copper bolts of emotional electricity circled around his right wrist as the incantation dropped them to the floor in eye-clenching fear.
“Go someplace remote. A place powerful enough to blanket her pulse,” the king ordered Dev. “We must stay a step ahead of Eli. He will know our first priority is to construct another mask, and he will have felt where the gems and metal came from when he destroyed the pendant. If we don’t secure the locations, we’ll be walking into a fatal snare.”
“Agreed,” Dev said, displaying his feelings of protection for me.
Jeremiah glanced over at the security guards trembling on the floor. “I assume you can also cast Canite spells?”
“Yes,” I answered confidently.
“You truly are the next jump in maturation,” Jeremiah said, slightly raising a corner of his mouth, sparking a smidgen of hope. “I suspect your Vampacoti spell keeping the Guardian enchanted at the poles will break when you leap, drawing Eli instantly. I’m sorry, my lady, but I will need time. When you see my spells on the guards break, I will be clear. Leap directly after.” He touched my shoulder with his calloused fingers, sending waves of paternal concern.
“Of course,” I said putting my hand over his, echoing our parting sentiments with gratefulness. I turned blue before he was gone. Jeremiah gave Dev an apprehensive eyeful before zooming out of sight down the hallway of gorgeous auras.
“Do you know where Madagascar is?” Dev asked.
“Yes,” I answered. My mind flew to the world map pinned above my abandoned bed in Oak Creek.
“On the west coast there are baobab trees. You should be able to feel them.”
Something amazing happened as my mind’s eye zeroed in on the western edge of the island, sitting off the coast of mother Africa. I felt like I was floating high above the island, where the baby blue faded into endless twinkling and singing stars. My mind traced the stiletto of the landscape with delicate, fingertip thoughts. The protruding mountains felt like a lizard’s back. Abruptly, I twitched, sensing great surges of energy. It felt as though my hand held the aorta of a stampeding elephant. Instinctually, I grafted into the intelligent life. Just like the great redwoods of California Mom had introduced to me, the baobab trees were ancient, shooting sky-high geysers of ageless tranquility and strength.
“I can feel them,” I answered excitedly, amazed by the pulses of reverent life.
Without notice, the copper spells broke, releasing the guards from their petrified prisons.
“The Canites are clear. Now.” Dev hurried, keeping watch on the awakening men.
Following the signature feel of the baobab life, I gripped Dev in layers of light and opened a leap point. Before the security guards could formulate a single thought, we skipped up into the currents of pink rivers, falling blisteringly fast toward veils of brilliant white.
The quickness of a leap was absolute and without reverse. As we plummeted at an unmeasurable speed, something went terminally wrong. The silver Vampacoti spells holding the Arbitri Guardians at the Poles were stripped clean, throwing a catastrophic exception. The stutter in rejoining time clipped my mass balance. Like losing a wing during supersonic flight, we fumbled out of control.
Fighting to hold onto Dev, we shot down at a million miles per hour, spinning uncontrollably toward an unsuspecting Madagascar.
5
Another Broken Cosmic Law
T
he air whistled around us with the strength of a thousand tornadoes as we sped out of control. Dev slung around me, sending my normally phenomenal sense of balance completely out of whack. He fumbled aimlessly, requiring huge levels of concentration to keep him from moving faster than I was. Magnificent yellows, oranges, and violet ribbons swirled all around us, barring directions. If not for what was left of my broken gyroscopic senses, I would have thought we had leapt to another planet. I slipped into panicked scrambling, completely disoriented and blinded by the smearing colors.
Feeling the absolute nearness of the baobab auras, I we were out of time. Locking brakes, I forced a last-chance stop. The amount of crude energy I channeled twisted my guts. We blurred to an airbag halt within seven feet of the rocky ground. Dev was slightly ahead, facing me. Residual inertia slammed into me like a storm surge, bending physics, time, and the space around us. The recoil generated waves of circus-mirror distortions while a bang went off in my head. The side of my face went numb and I lost all control of light. Gravity went thinner than air.
Dev flipped precisely, landing on his feet as though he’d planned it. I smashed face-first into the ground.
“Ughfff …” squashed out from the deep recesses of my lungs.
Too cashed, I didn’t feel the pain from hitting the dirt. This miss-leap exacted a debilitating toll. Forcing my eyelids open to the supersensory view and colors required releasing both sides of my brain into the endless fields of impossibility. The sky was drenched in sunflower-yellow light churning into poppy orange that drifted into a pulsing boysenberry blue. My view spun wildly, inducing seasick dizziness.
“Piper?” Dev’s heart drew my droopy eyes. I faintly followed the violet rings around his irises amidst the circling colors.
Grunting an unintelligible response, I cemented a mental note of epic proportion not to leap while feeding a spell. I had broken another cosmic law I didn’t know existed. My mouth did not respond to my will and I was losing the match to keep my eyelids cracked. Dev lifted me into a sitting position. His racing concern transferred in his wrapping arms. It was so easy to fall further in love with him.
“Rest now,” Dev tenderly whispered in my ear. Although my body was comatose, my hearing and brain remained tauntingly awake. With so much unconcluded and my eyes cemented shut, my mind raced down dark possibilities. Abandoning Charlie with no prospect of returning caused ache in my head and heart. Not only did I miss my little brother, but the probability that he was in danger was through the roof. The mess I was forced to leave slanted my spent stance.
My abrupt leaving mirrored my infant mom’s dying. Charlie and I both had to grow up again, but this time solo. I was scared to read his emotional state for what I would find. Not being able to mother him caused my breathing to jump pace. Who I was brought disastrous consequences for the people that I loved. I whimpered.
“Shhh.” Dev kissed my forehead, causing me to quiver. He wiped away a rolling tear that broke free from under my lids. He shared my cracking heart, shouldering the burden of the lingering loss. Being alone with him relaxed me. The way he made me feel was not of this world and was something I would continually crave.
I missed both of my moms, Lisa, and the rest of my life in Oak Creek. Despite Rob being a lousy infant dad, the thought of not seeing him again amped my emotion. Even the monotony of school sounded really good right now, and waitressing at Malts and Shakes felt like a dream job. Playing my bass, tennis, or going swimming were luxury items that I could not afford anymore. Disappearing without explanation was going to cause everyone I loved a lifetime of unanswered sadness. I wondered if I had been declared missing or if the police were involved. A cold ache invaded the chambers in my bones.
Every muscle in my body had been pulled, twisted, and snapped, keeping me down. Sedation stopped every nerve like I was bathed in novocaine. I lay as vulnerable as an infant. With all my light turned inward, I was barely aware, skipping across consciousness like flat stones agains
t a placid lake.
My drifting mind snagged, unsure how to get my life back. My body uncontrollably twitched, flashing back to when Eli attempted to kill me. My inherited light was still permeating through my senses, body, and memories, adding new perspectives to old recollections. I swallowed, reliving Eli’s light tightening around my neck and my heated resistance. My centuries-old brother was the most powerful. No one could out-channel, out-leap, out-sense, or outperform him. He was given the gift of an uncontestable will. His myopic ways were stronger than any Guardian platinum, Avian gold, Vampacoti silver, Canite copper, Equuian bronze, and any other colors that existed in the metallic rainbow.
For some unknown reason, Eli’s absolute might didn’t freak me out. Unlike the rest of the mature world, I wasn’t imprinted with his original, obligatory fear. In addition, a purpose to love had birthed in me the day I heard Dev’s voice in the school corridor, filling me with blind bravery. The drive to protect him was stronger than my drive to survive.
Dev’s arms held me like warmed velvet, drawing out the spaces in between my petering thoughts. Faces drifted in and out of my skimming awareness. Knowing someone sold us out anchored a painful window of thought. Whoever it was had the ability to deceptively bend the light around everyone’s eyes, including Mom’s. Every mature I knew resonated with the root of a relative. Sabina, the golden Avian queen, beamed matriarchal care. Her son, Prince Ozwald, flipped red over any mention of Eli or the Arbitri. The copper King Jeremiah was the dad I never had and Princess Raven was my sister in the light. The Canites were my first watchers in Oak Creek. Even the silver Vampacoti Valbeth shone with family alliance. I unknowingly shared light with a person who had craftily fooled an ancient guild, as well as my own intuition. Who was the fake? I caught a whisper of my whimper.
A vision of Safe in my mind washed away like spent spidery fireworks against a murky sky. The halo from the light hitting his bald head made him look like a guardian angel. My heart jumped, knowing I could trust my mammoth Guardian friend. Although I felt close to everyone, Safe’s metallic platinum aura vibrated distinctly higher, allowing for a deeper and wider connection. Like Dev, his light read like brail. I had much to learn from him. Although he was a mountain of muscle, his soft heart is what made him extraordinarily strong.
My intuition fluttered happy, delicate notes fondly remembering how I met Olo and how I’d nicknamed him Safe. His openness, not size, made him feel snug and secure. He had wowed Charlie and Rob by sharing tall tales out of ancient Africa during our impromptu dinner in Oak Creek. The reminiscences raised my energy, inching me down the many miles of healing I gravely needed. With each one of my slow heartbeats, I repeated O-lo in the thump-dumps, wishing he could hear me. I moaned as a fleeting force raced out of me, taking what little consciousness was left.
“Piper, please,” Dev said, holding me incredibly close. “Sleep.” His soft lips brushed against my ear as he cupped my listless, corporal form. His pulse climbed as he formulated into the saber-toothed giant. He curled around me, nestling me with his warm, wet nose and shielding muscles draped in silky fur. Robust, rolling waves of vibration washed weightlessness over my broken body, further fading my thoughts. Like Jazz, this sabertooth could purr!
Just before I was eclipsed by the mesmerizing highway vibrations, I felt a wonderful presence appear out of nowhere. Powerful platinum hummed like high-voltage lines, registering to my invisible senses like a sledgehammer to a tower bell. I knew who had arrived. Using the rush of excitement, I forced my eyes open, but only one broke free. I caught a fleeting glimpse of Safe’s enormous head and wobbling key lime backlit eyes before my eyelid lost power, slamming shut.
“Piper.” Safe’s vibrato voice overflowed my ears. “Excuse me, I mean, my lady.”
I willed myself to object but my body overruled.
“Now is the time to heal. I am here now and you are safe.”
I detected his open wound over Mom as he touched my forehead. The loss of Mom hit sharper, harder, and higher than physical pain. I also picked up on his uneasy astonishment over Dev and me.
The Vampacoti did not elicit warm feelings. The big cat race was synonymous to Eli’s bidding. Being the first interracial couple in the mature world was utterly and completely absurd. I fell in love with Dev before I ever bathed in his silver light. When dealing with arbitrary constructs, I was truly color-blind. The unconventional reception to our love caused my heart to hold on stronger. My enormous cat stayed firmly wrapped around me, keeping me warmer than an electric blanket on a winter night.
With Safe present and Dev washing me in purring waves of peace, my mind settled down, forwarding me into unawareness. Somehow my monumental worries and questions flew away like plastic bags in stormy gales. I didn’t know when I would wake, but I had no choice. My inner eyes closed.
6
Connections
M
y eyes slowly cracked through sleep dust like opening an iced-over window. I was disoriented and groggy like I had been knocked out cold for days. I immediately scanned for Dev or Safe, but they were nowhere in sight or in feel. I stood up, wobbling, not knowing where I was. One thing was for certain—I was far away from the baobabs of Madagascar.
The surrounding view was as majestic as it was enchanting. I was on a pebbled beach, looking out over an endless bay surrounded by towering snowcapped mountains aglow in purples. Enormous spires of aqua-blue glacial ice emitted lemony yellow auras that matched the shallow breath of the calm ocean lapping the gravelly shore. Scattered pines rolled the rocky landscape in drifting mists of pale green light.
“Safe must have leapt us while I was out.” My thoughts strangely spoke out loud. I was having a vision! Like dead weight, I quickly cut my questioning mind free, purposely staying entranced.
The sky was adorned with multiple suns, seven in total, each casting halos and domes of distinctive metallic colors. Each indescribably different, yet together, they blended creating the easiest pearlescent daylight that couldn’t help but dry my soggy mood.
A metallic disturbance far out in the bay netted my attention. As I walked for a better view, the shoreline moved to me. A surge from deep beneath the placid surface created a fast-approaching wake. My interest climbed, taking a step onto the water’s edge. Just as the sea began to part, I heard a high-pitched voice from behind.
The world twirled in an instant, facing me toward the misty entrance to a large family of pines. My eyes darted among the pillars of obscuring light searching for the small child filling the air with short, fluttering sounds. Impatience unraveled my dream state and filled my senses, hearing distant birds singing as though they were miles down a long tunnel.
Just as the mountains began to wash away, a toddler appeared at the entrance to an old grove of pines. An Eskimo child, dressed in a black pelt jacket resembling a parka, stood no more than two feet tall, looking up at me with bewildered eyes. White crocheted geometrical patterns decorated the waist and cuffs of her thick coat. The trim formed a frosted frame around her tiny round face.
“Hello, what is your name?” my mind inquired kindly.
She tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows, watching me stand on the water. I stepped onto the marbled beach as to not frighten her with anything supernatural. Her mouth barely moved, sending airy words in an unknown language.
A profound sadness too heavy for a child burst from her black, protruding eyes. Afraid of me, she ran freakishly fast toward the coastline putting distance between us, looking out to the sea.
“Whoa,” I said. The toddler ran across the mirrored surface of the briny blue, leaving behind footprints of concentric rippling circles on the ocean’s skin.
The metallic suns enlarged, dispelling my subconscious vision. One by one, the spotted balls of fire blended, changing the color of the sky. I was coming out of a heavy sleep.
“Wait.” I launched into the air, holding onto the last seconds of the vision. From deep within the bottomless sea, a large ball of silk
y light screamed toward the surface, bulging the entire bay. An eruption of water and metallic light burst into the air, consuming the running child. I gasped, opening my eyes.
I was lying down, quite comfortably, under the canopy of a gigantic baobab with my bare feet touching the twenty-foot diameter trunk. My wits quickly returned, tweaking my keen senses, easing the vibrancy of my view. Coming out of a vision as well as returning to full consciousness after an unknown amount of time was cumbersome. The strain on my brain felt as if I had been out for weeks.
My eyes dilated back and forth, saturating my view. I felt and watched my aura unfold around me like I had been cocooned. Filaments of my aura unfolded like giant translucent butterfly wings, extending in every direction. My arm took the long way to my face, zigzagging as if the air were thick gel. My body felt as sore as if I’d been weightlifting.
I shared a presence with the thirteen magical trees with fairy-tale trunks. Their life beat through me, healing in me multiple ways. The tops of the grand trees were adorned in paper-white petals. My brain faltered; I remembered learning baobab flowers had an unwanted odor of rotten melons, but this fragrance was incredible. My sense of smell had further developed, transforming what was once gross into something good.
I flashed back with a memory from when I was a kid. My infant mom poured herself a glass of wine. I knew wine was for adults, but I had just finished the third grade, so I asked for a glass. Shocks of excitement ran through me when she handed me her glass. Cautiously wondering what had changed, I tipped the huge goblet into the air with both hands, keeping my eyes glued to Mom for any clue before I ran to the sink to spit it out. It tasted terrible!
“That is why you wait until you’re older.” She smiled, taking a big drink of the bitter red liquid. “Your taste buds won’t develop until you are at least thirty.” She poured me a much-needed cup of grape juice.