by M. Street
On Dev’s left, Haruz and Namid held the closest position just inside the jungle, giving the most descriptive holographs. The equatorial setting sun soaked the eastern trees, providing blinding cover.
Junjari was old and haggard, hissing out commands to five big cats. The Vampacoti responded sharply, rearing their teeth and snarling to her shrilling cackles. Dev’s return from centuries of hiding to protect me had taken a toll on her. Her nose was longer and hooked, her ears were big and pointy, and gray spokes broke out from her wiry black hair. The hot glow in her aura advertised her fuming hurt over my man.
“Yes. Five Vampacoti and three Equuians.” Jeremiah’s whisper surrounded us, acknowledging Ozwald’s request.
“Any Guardians present?” Safe asked assertively, bright from the circumstance.
“No. None observed since we arrived half an hour ago,” Jeremiah whispered secretively. As my inkling confirmed, they had made incredible time.
“Crystals?” Safe requested from Dev with an open hand. Dev returned the remaining communicators to Ozwald, Luja, and my Guardian bodyguard. Luja put her crystal away without activating it, while Ozwald and Safe powered up, projecting personal views from the Congo.
“Plan delta.” Safe called our offensive play, scrutinizing the photographic light field displays.
“Check,” Jeremiah concurred, voice heightened.
“Check,” Sabina confirmed, voice deepened.
“When Piper and Dev leap in, neutralize the nearest Equuians and Vampacoti. Piper,” Safe turned to me, racing with high amperage of concern. “Are you ok with taking out both Junjari and her two guards?”
“Absolutely.” Mini silver bolts buzzed around my left wrist, loading the spells in the chamber. Strange new fight instincts pumped my adrenaline, crisping my senses and arming my light.
“Ozwald and I will be right behind you, securing the area,” Safe assured confidently.
“Find the ivory as fast as you can,” Safe said to Dev pleadingly.
“Watch for loose ends,” Safe ordered Ozwald.
The pulsating giant turned to me, putting his hands on my shoulders. “You don’t have to do this,” he said slowly and deliberately, remaining incredibly cool to the touch despite the mounting pressure. The up-surging ground light vibrated wildly around all of us.
My thoughts branched out, spawning concern for everyone involved. I had worked and trained hard to be part of this fight. Planning, practicing, and building my abilities gave me confidence, but executing for real caused crackling anticipation to quake through my body and aura.
“I’m ready,” I said confidently, keeping my head steeped in the logic of the attack.
Dev faced me, taking both my hands in his, strobing color in his silver aura. Protection, love, fear, and helplessness took turns filling his heart. My soul gushed love and anger, feeling his willingness to die for me.
“I love you. You are my miracle and I will never allow you get hurt.” His pink surged inside me, causing pressure.
“On my count,” Safe stated, sweeping the screens one last time. He raised his arm ready to leap, encompassing Ozwald in swaths of light. The tip of Safe’s index finger glowed, ready to slice a leap point. “Piper, on the count of three.”
I lifted Dev into the air, harnessing my love in ribbons and bows. My heart pounded like a sledgehammer to sheet metal when something inside me suddenly silenced my spinning nerves, producing a deafening focus. My eyes flicked to Raven’s vantage.
“Stop!” splattered out like a squashed ketchup packet. Releasing Dev, we dropped to the ground.
“What is it?” Safe asked, alarmed, putting Ozwald down.
“I’m sorry,” I said in a panic, not knowing what to make of my twisted guts. “Something doesn’t feel right.” I looked to Dev.
“Did you see something?” Luja asked.
“No.” My eyes pulled back to Raven’s tip-top perch.
“There!” I pointed animatedly, sending a line of light through the projection into the mouth of the cave. The sight caused fast inhales followed by extreme silence. Only the music of the forest could be heard. A well-groomed gentleman wearing a black, full-tailcoat tux, ready for a formal dinner and night of ballroom dancing, glided out of the cave. He was masked and as pale as an infant.
The city-slick man stopped in front of Junjari, hovering several feet above her, putting on white gloves. “If you detect any sign of the criminals, send an alarm immediately.” He stopped, driving his eyes into hers. “That includes Dev. Do not fail like last time.” Eli must have thrown a raging fit after we got away on the Tahitian beach. “You stand on thin ice. Do you understand?”
Junjari hissed, spitting.
“Eli will be here in the morning to personally dispose of the remaining ivory.”
Dev growled low. Without the ivory, we knew I wouldn’t last much longer. The man took off a platinum ring embedded with diamonds, exploding into a cold, calculating star. The magnitude of his light indicated a bishop, most likely on Eli’s court. My brother gave status and rank based solely on might, nothing on heart or head.
“I will be waiting,” Junjari said with clenched teeth, straining to obey.
The platinum titan rose, spinning slowly, scanning for miles. All of our views hunched and froze. I lowered like a defending cat, seeing his face so clearly. In a trailing flash, the bishop leapt away, lowering our gate.
“The cave camouflaged his heat signature so he did not show up on thermal scans,” Miguel reported.
“How do we know there aren’t more Guardians present?” Dev asked sharply. The knots in his light squeezed a bead of sweat. The falling drip of intense scent rolling down from his combed brow ran fire through my veins.
“It’s clear.” I spoke my muses’ whispers, knowing I could not provide proof. “I’m sure.” I was strangely slipping into animal-like instincts of attack. Losing my fear was exhilarating. I carefully put my heart on the shelf.
“Wait another thirty minutes,” Sabina said cautiously.
Safe held my wrist. His eyes bulged, touching my drive. The light around us vibrated as if a freight train chugged above and a subway bellowed below.
“Negative, let’s proceed.” Safe overruled.
“Are you sure?” Jeremiah asked.
“Yes,” Dev answered. His faith in me was more like a knowing.
“On the count of three,” Safe said gripping Ozwald in waves of light again, jumping into the air.
“One.” The Guardian and Avian dramatically disappeared, rising into the roaring Black Forest. Safe needed to break clean of the thick solstice auras to accurately pick up my call when Dev and I rejoined time.
Luja formulated into the immense brindled owl, taking to the sky. She circled Ozwald, guarding her prince. My senses hydroplaned to a new level. I grabbed Dev, facing him close. We slowly ascended on an angle into the orange-red sun shower. He pulled me in. His beautiful face was incredibly serious. The pink in his heart raised every stake.
“I love you,” he said heavily.
“Two.” We heard Safe a mile up.
“I love you more,” I said before succumbing to my intensified wits. Exploding into a pink so bright it looked blue, I ramped off the setting sun above and the colorful fires of auras below, building a massive charge. Calm rained down on me, knowing no force in the universe made me stronger than the bonds of love.
“Three.” Safe lifted my safety.
Cementing a last holographic image from Dev’s crystal into my battle-calculating mind, I opened a leap point. Tactically plotting my play, I tapped the trigger.
“Now!” echoed at the same time Dev and I cascaded up, racing toward our first strike.
25
Auntie
T
he apex of leaping had to be splashing into the pure white timeless dimension that enveloped our universe of mass. Fleetingly experiencing life without distance and space was euphoric, like the weightlessness of a free fall but a million times more inten
se. Nothing existed, so nothing felt real, except my love for Dev. That intensified. My firing nerves, finalizing strategies, and fibrillating heart froze. Although I could not see him, I held Dev close. There was nothing in this world, or the next, that was more important.
Light spun in the distance, compressing back into the constraints of three dimensions. My eyes dilated and nerves ratcheted, telescoping on the Congo floor. Junjari’s crooked face came in live and up close. Slowing a fraction, we cut back into time, moving through the portal’s event horizon. Drawing a battle lesson from Raven, I skimmed along the slant of the evening shower, conjuring silver spells.
Everything roared back to reality. The realness of the situation hit, shooting barbs of electricity throughout my body. Regaining awareness, Dev burst into the black-and-white sabertooth. I positioned him behind me. My scopes locked on my final trajectory, building to cast out Junjari and two spotted leopards the size of Mack trucks shadowing her. We materialized behind Junjari and her sentinels, positioning perfectly for the surprise attack. Before Dev’s ex could turn her head to see what was happening, I discharged three high-caliber Vampacoti spells.
My brain buzzed, cycling through the rapid-fire events executing in parallel. Religiously sticking to the plan, I vaporized the leap mists while calling to Safe in the Black Forest. I polarized my shell, arming against possible spells thrown our way. My milky, silver incantations slammed Junjari’s backside and the spotted cats’ hind ends. Supercharged from the realness, I had used a little too much charge. The unofficial Vampacoti queen plowed face-forward into the ground and the huge leopards rolled with loose limbs. Dev hit the ground, covering my back before blurring past a saber-toothed lion and a muscular bobcat. The two Vampacoti lunged after my man as though he were a bleeding rabbit. My wilds took over, protecting my love.
As quick as nature, actions rapid-fired. Nebulas swirled around my flickering fingertips, riffling into the sky. Raven led the ground ambush below. The black wolf jumped through the dense jungle, discharging a potent fear spell from her grimacing mouth. An unsuspecting Equuian dropped, crunching with fear.
Following the plan, Sabina dove from above blasting a high-dose shot from her liquid black, falcon eyes, slamming another Equuian. The black-and-white horse convulsed, crumbling to the ground. The golden spell had overloaded her electrical system.
The Avian queen hit the ground, cawing with her hypnotic striped wings extended like bows. She drew opponent attention, generating strong updrafts. Capitalizing on the piercing distraction, Miguel smashed through the jungle snapping thick branches like toothpicks. He took down the third and last Equuian with curdling yips of toxic copper. The gnarly wolf snapped his bear-claw mouth on the downed horse’s snout before guarding his king, beaming fierceness. My confidence flew seeing all the Equuians neutralized.
My attention divided further as Safe and Ozwald leapt into the scene. I pinned the crazed, burning Vampacoti gaining on Dev with fire lines of force. I smashed the cats to the ground, stopping them instantly. Like earth-bound blue angels, Haruz and Jeremiah raced toward Dev. Silver and copper fireworks exchanged in the whisker-tight passing. The Canite king and Haruz yacked fear spells, hitting the Vampacoti I held pinned. Feeling the copper bite take its effect, I dispelled the spokes pinning them down
Dev formulated human, sprinting to get to me. Ozwald landed hard on his talon feet, priming his glittering gold brilliance. With everyone engaged, Safe went airborne, blasting a thin bubble of light over the graveyard.
“Can you sense anyone in the area?” Dev asked, compressed by his fast approach.
“Let me see.” I sent tentacles all around, in the sky and underground. The tranquil light rising from fired spells floodlit the dazzling Congo forest. Breathing fast, I circled midair, taking in the temporarily insane state. I finally noticed the incredible auras of the Congo rainforest. It looked as if the sky and stars had fallen. Like the Black forest, this congregation of nature was sacred.
Although teetering with instability, the site was neutralized. The weird calmness of jungle light was deafening. Safe was entranced, funneling the dome far and thin, shielding our heist. We all burned bright, fueled by the deadly risk stretching thin. Namid shadowed me. The charcoal and brown horse was primed, her bronze ready to crack distortion waves for an emergency getaway. Uncharacteristic vibrations of apprehension leaked from her worn bronze aura. Everyone except Dev and Ozwald spun dazzling spells, keeping the site secure.
“I don’t feel anyone for miles,” I said, detecting only wildlife. The plan was on track and it was about to get a big push.
“I hear the ivory,” I said to Dev as I spun to face the cave entrance. A resonance echoed from the purple earth, amplified by the cavern aperture. It sounded like a French horn doing circular scales. Not waiting, Dev flashed into the cave, chasing after my line of hearing. Sabina, Raven, and Jeremiah formulated human, rushing over.
“Do not stop. Get the ivory and leave,” Safe mumbled slothfully, briefly coming out of his channeling trance.
Before I could think, Sabina moved up next to me. “Most the ivory is stacked behind the cave entrance,” she said rapidly. Ozwald slid close to her, flicking his head at incredible speeds. Worry overflowed from his private chamber, clumping the glitter in his gold.
“I hear the ivory. It’s in the cave.”
“Are you certain?” Jeremiah asked. He and Raven ran to join us. Haruz and Miguel swept the site.
“It’s definitely in there.” The taste of success trickled down my throat like sweet nectar.
“Most excellent,” Raven said feverishly. Her nose ballooned to the size of golf balls, tracking the scene in scents.
“Let’s go.” I skipped into the air, not fighting a grin of being eighteen again. Angling up, I peered down the one of the many wombs of mother earth.
All parties converged on the entrance when horrible thuds caused a mass turnaround. An expansive pop coupled with brilliant flashes stopped me cold. The dome keeping us undetectable was gone! Chills of catastrophe permeated my bones. My mouth dried as I turned, taking in the unimaginable blow.
A stunning Guardian lady in a midnight-blue, hip-loving velvet dress floated directly above Safe, who was tossed uncomfortably aside, going unconscious. Bleeding from his nose, Safe was crushed beneath a cone of light coming from the tip of her stiletto heel. Namid was hit, crumpled on the ground. Her long, limp tongue snaked out of her mouth. The ebony horse’s light was shorting and flickering, dangling on the precipice of her next version.
Raising his wings, Ozwald sprang back, formulating back into a warring white kite. Raven followed suit, transforming in a copper explosion. The black wolf scorched predatory fight, jumping in between me and the platinum star of death. Sabina and Jeremiah gasped, but stayed focus.
I hung motionless in the air, shocked numb by Safe’s and Namid’s takedowns, and by what my senses were telling me. Something familiar about the unknown woman suspended my fight. It wasn’t physical. It was the platinum in her grand aura. Her light flowed like mine. We shared the same light. From what Luja taught me about photon heredity, I had to be related to this woman drawing the curtain on our end.
“Theia! Give your niece a chance,” Sabina yelled, signaling Raven to drop her aggressive stance.
Jeremiah wedged himself in front of me. Grimacing, he emanated fearless, self-sacrificing copper and coral.
“Quiet!” the sophisticated woman shouted, firing warning bolts at Haruz and Miguel slinking in for ambush. Her voice triggered a commonality, etching into my brain with her name. Theia.
“Who are you?” I flickered, clogged by curiosity and distressed by the impossible crash in course. My head spun, trying to think through the jolting possibilities. “Give me Olo and Namid,” I said, stuttering back into the game. I slowly cast non-threatening fibers of light to retract my troops. I would have to find out about the unknown relation later. My gut was telling me to run.
The woman boldly blocked my move, easi
ng the age in her face. “I didn’t believe Eli when he told me, but then I felt you,” she said, studying me. With energetic feelings going off all around me, her emotional state was hard to tap. For a millisecond, I sensed seeps of maternal care buried under her well-cultivated seven deadly emotions.
Dev tore out of the cave, stopping in front of me, breathing hard. “Let her go, Theia.” He moved me around himself with his furry arms. “Leap,” he whispered to me.
Although Theia’s charge was impressive, making her a contender, I could take her out.
“Not without Olo.” I pushed up past Dev and Jeremiah, blistering in charge. Intensifying my strands of light, I gradually pushed toward Safe with the force of deep water.
“Piper!” Dev raised his voice, clamping my ramping light.
“Listen to your Vampacoti fling,” Theia said distastefully, openly showing her disapproval for our unique relationship. A blackening redness filled the tighten air. She blasted my reaching fingers, lifting her crystal from a neat, laced pocket. The device flashed an alternating magenta and ice blue. My heart sank, knowing we were in the midst of a head-on collision.
“The Arbitri have been alerted.” Theia’s aura wobbled with surprise. “But not by my hand,” she added harshly, encasing Safe and herself in walls of thick light. My Guardian protector remained lifeless. By the weakness of his platinum, he needed healing. The pressure in his skull was high and rising. Theia leered at everyone present like she was casing suspects. Before I could fire, she grabbed Safe and leapt away. The scabs on my heart tore off, oozing fresh hurt.
Slipping into the worst-case scenario shook my soul. The traitor was within our family of eleven. It couldn’t be Jeremiah, Raven, Miguel, or Haruz. The Canite royalty and pack were earnestly loyal. The Avians—Sabina, Ozwald, and Luja—were losing so much by protecting me. A hot sting poisoned my insides, weakening the gates holding back my fears. My eyes spilled knowing I loved the one that was betraying us.
Feeling Eli’s morbid excitement loud and clear, I bolted into motion. He was coming to cut my many dangling ends. Knowing I couldn’t save everyone throttled my instincts, reshaping my tactics on the fly. Fighting against Dev’s will, I cocooned him in layers of light, intensifying my shell into armor. “Go now! Eli is incoming!” I yelled to all stunned parties.