Becoming: The Balance Bringer (The Balance Bringer Chronicles Book 1)

by Debra Kristi

  “How am I to defeat her?” I ask the dark cavern around me.

  My gaze wanders to Jaden lying a few feet away. He hasn’t moved, but there’s rapid eye movement happening behind those closed eyelids of his.

  Dohlan slips in behind me and lifts me by my armpits. “This, you can do. Best her, and come to me.” His finger travels the line of my neck. “You mustn’t let anything stop you from coming to me.”

  “But how? How do I defeat something that isn’t completely here? By using you to get here, doesn’t that mean she has one foot on each side? She can pull back at any time to protect herself.”

  Dohlan wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. His warmth caresses me and soothes the many aches my body feels. “As she is not complete in this world, neither am I. Yet you can feel me. Touch me. And therefore affect me.” I glance back at him, and he grins. “Go to the source. That is where you will find your answer.”

  His words remind me of something Kaia said as she showed me the crystal cavern. She called it the source. My eyes wander to the crystals embedded in the mountain wall.

  Brushing my hair to the side, Dohlan’s lips trace the curve of my neck, igniting new fire that courses through my veins. “Remember the goal, Ana. Come to me.” With the last word, he vanishes.

  Holding my sword firm and ready, I fly at Dreya with newfound determination. I come at her with all I have, taking her by surprise. Between Ry and me, she’s driven back—but back to what?

  “I need the crystal,” I yell to Ry.

  He looks at me, his head tilted.

  “The huge starburst in the wall. I need it. Can you get it?”

  “On it.” He nods and disappears.

  Dreya turns to follow him. Using the terrain as a tool, I climb, swing from high, jump and leap, making sure she can’t ignore me. Dreya spins and engages. She moves with ease in dark leather armor. Her hair is as red as the licking tongues of an angry flame. It falls in mad, uneven curls, just like the version of Dreya I saw in my dream killing Mom—killing me.

  Ry returns, crystal in hand, drawing Dreya’s attention. He tosses me the crystal just before Dreya’s sword slices into him. The large, clear stone falling into my grasp feels like a minor victory while watching Dreya pull a sword covered in my brother’s blood from his wounded body.

  I scream. Ry’s body crumples to the ground, and Dreya turns her wicked eyes on me. I fall at his side.

  Every crystal in the cavern ignites with light.

  Dreya winces at the illumination. Still, she keeps me in her sights. “Impressive little magic act.”

  “Was it—is it—?” My hands slip through Ry’s blood to his wound, my brain unable to finish the question. I need to know if he’s been pierced by the Fires of Gaurdoone. I need to know if the wound is fatal.

  Dreya watches me search, aware of the confirmation I seek. “Of course it is Gaurdoone, you half-witted child. Who would bother to fight without such a weapon?”

  Tears tug to break free from the corners of my eyes.

  “Let us make sure the job is done proper.”

  Dreya lifts her sword high above Ry, and I feel my face go flat, cold. All light is sucked from the cavern, everything turning pitch-black around us. Something swirls inside of me, bringing with it thoughts of Jaden. I think I feel him, right before I see her violet eyes inches before my face.

  Something hard slams into her head, and Jaden’s voice rings through me. “Now, Ana!”

  I shove the huge crystal in my hands straight into her rib cage. Shrieks wail from Dreya, light exploding from her at the point the crystal pierces her figure. Violet and black vapor swirl like a storm into the stone, and the screams intensify. Dreya is sucked from our world, gone. She stares back at us, trapped behind every crystal within the cavern wall.

  Jaden staggers to my side, a lopsided grin on his face. “You did it. I knew you would.”

  His hair is a mess, and a trickle of blood stains the upper right side of his forehead. His sweater and shirtsleeve are torn, exposing a wide cut across one arm.

  My hands flitter over his wounds. “Are you all right? I was so worried.” I carefully push back the fallen hair on his face to see how bad he’s banged up, and he catches my hand in his.

  “I’ll be fine. They’re only flesh wounds.” His eyes peer steadily into mine. “How is Ry?”

  I look down, swallowing hard, and kneel beside him. “She stabbed him…with the Fire of Gaurdoone.” The tears roll down my cheeks. I’m unable to hold it back this time.

  Jaden kneels beside me, his hands finding my face, warming my skin and pulling me back to look at him. “He’s going to be okay, Ana. The wound isn’t fatal. He will heal.”

  I sniff. “How do you know?”

  “I am your Tracer. What good would I be if I didn’t know these things?”

  “I’m not convinced you’re any good now,” Ry croaks, his eyes fluttering open.

  I launch myself on top of him and hug him tight. “I thought I lost you.”

  With stiff arms, he pushes me back. “Take it easy. It’s not so simple making the trip back.” Sitting back on my heels, my hand continues to pat his chest, proving to myself he’s really there. “How did you do it? Come back when she stabbed you with the damn sword?”

  He removes my hand, looks down, and inspects where his wound was. If it weren’t for all the blood, you would never know he was stabbed. “I’m not your average immortal. There’s a hint of Bringer blood in my line.” He winks at me. “Makes me harder to kill.”

  The ground beneath us rumbles, and loose rock falls from higher points in the cave.

  “Oh, great.” Using a nearby boulder for support, Ry stands. His gaze sweeps over the trapped images of Dreya. “Time to go.” Grabbing both swords, he quickly places them in their sheaths and jumps back on our original course.

  “What’s going on?” I quicken my pace to keep up.

  Jaden scoops up his backpack along the way.

  Coming to a stop, Ry turns and looks at me. “I’m sorry I missed what transpired. It must have been spectacular. And what you managed was no small feat, but trapping all of Dreya’s dark magic in here is bound to bring the entrance to the Toran crashing down. It’s meant to safeguard against such evils.” He takes one more look around and starts jogging again.

  What I did could bring down the mountain? Then I remember the crystal. I bolt back to the cavern, fumbling on the uneven terrain all the way. When I get there, the crystal is waiting for me, beautiful and clean. Snatching it up in my hands, I turn and slam into Jaden.

  “What are you doing?” he asks.

  I lift the stone in my hand. The entire space groans and rolls. Sharp, icy daggers begin to fall from the sky. It’s the crystals embedded in the cavern wall. Each and every one of them now plummets like knives.

  “Go!” Jaden yells, nudging me in the back.

  Crystals explode to the left and right, barely missing us as we run through the dark maze. I hold one hand over my head for cover, noting the number of times something cuts through my skin as it’s deflected off my arm. There’s a soft pull I couldn’t feel before, and I follow it out of instinct. It leads me directly to Ry’s voice.

  “Hurry! This way!” he calls. He disappears into the wall, taking the light of the torch with him.

  I fumble the large crystal in my hands, searching unsuccessfully for my flashlight. It slows my pace. Jaden presses the light into my palm and takes the crystal, urging me to move onward. Suddenly he’s grabbing me, yanking my body backward with great force. A gigantic cluster of rock and crystal crashes to the ground directly in front of us. My heart leaps into my throat, knowing we could have been crushed.

  We push forward in Ry’s direction again, and I can see once more. He stands on the edge of an almost invisible arch. The lines of the cavern hide it well, the perfect camouflage. Sliding through the gap, I skid on the scattering of pebbles and sharp needles covering the ground.

  “I’m the one who get
s skewered,” Ry says, “and you’re the one that takes five days to cross the cave.”

  I frown and look back at the adjoining space. All signs of Dreya have been demolished, and still the cave continues to collapse. Rubbing my bare arms, I catch my breath, lean over, and stare down at the narrow ledge we’re standing on. The way ahead swings out and around, before plunging into a twisted corkscrew within a hollow tube deep inside the mountain. High above us in the mountain wall is a hole shaded by a tree. All the needles littering the path have fallen from that tree. Wind surges past us from above, whipping down the twisting tunnel below. Something drops on my cheek, and I rub my hand across my face, then brush my bangs out of my sight.

  Jaden mutters under his breath before shaking something from his hair. “Sweet Gaea,” he grumbles, then grabs my hand and pulls me at full steam down the trail.

  “What is it?” I call as I run after him.

  We’re practically on Ry’s heels. The tunnel explodes with the sound of drumrolls. Everything is collapsing in, smashing to bits around us. We run down the tangled space as fast as we can. There’s no end in sight, only falling rock above. Every step brings sharp, stabbing pain, and my legs scream like they’ve been put through a twenty-mile sprint. My feet aren’t ready for this kind of torture. They haven’t healed enough. I’m tired and drained, and yet adrenaline pushes me forward. I need to be strong, to be the warrior Ry clearly is.

  Giant particles of earth blow chunks out of our route, and we jump over or swerve around them endlessly. I chance a look up, notice dark shadows sweeping in circles far above, near the hole sparkling with sunlight. The tree above the hole shifts, creaks, and falls through the gap, plunging straight down the center of the spiraling trail. We sweep down the steep, torturous curls, the ground beneath our feet collapsing, throwing us into a tumble. I drop the final few feet and roll through a wide crack in the wall. I come to rest with my arm hanging over a ledge, Jaden at my side.

  Ry’s nowhere in sight.

  The water surges beneath my dangling fingers. My eyes widen, and I stare at the long drop before rolling over on my back, putting it out of sight. My gaze shifts to the blocked passage behind us, recalling the dark shadows I saw circling. A splattering of purplish slime oozes from one end of the debris. Is it possible the shadows bleed?

  At my side, Jaden shifts and leans across me, pushing the sweat-matted hair from my face. “Are you hurt?”

  My body betrays our situation, tingling all over with heat. We’ve been close before, just never like this. “I’ll be fine. It’s you we should worry about.” I reach for the thick slice in his arm.

  Sliding a hand under my head, he helps me sit, then offers his other hand, pulling me the rest of the way. I cough and brush away the dirt and dust.

  Then I run for the blocked hole in the wall. “Ry!”

  I pop my head in as far as I can and see no sign of him. There’s nothing but stone, bark, and pine needles. The way we came is gone.

  I turn back and face the small ledge upon which we stand. “Where’s Ry?” A touch of panic colors my words.

  “I’m down here!” Ry’s voice carries up from the chasm below.

  Jaden’s already kneeling at the ledge, waving me over. I drop against the edge of the overhang once again. A fast-moving stream runs through the chamber below, cutting right into the rock. Fluid-like, blue-and-white, striped marble designs in the stone accentuate the color of the water as it travels quickly by. Ry stands on a spot of dry rock beside the fast-moving stream.

  “Too bad we don’t have a boat.” I throw my legs over the side and drop down next to him. Pain explodes in my feet. I ignore it.

  Ry leans over the edge, dragging his fingers in the current. “The water doesn’t look deep enough for a boat.”

  I venture a closer look and decide he’s right. The water isn’t too deep. Still, its brisk pace makes an ominous rumble through the stony passage. My skin crawls. I have a bad feeling about this. I glance back and think about the purple sludge.

  “Do shadows bleed?” I look to Ry, expecting him to be the authority.

  Ry’s body jerks, and he clears his throat. “Bleed?”

  I point back toward the collapsed decent. “I thought I saw shadows when we were running from the cave-in, and afterwards I saw purple stuff. I wondered if it could be their blood. Except we trapped Dreya and sent her back, so that should be the end of them, right?”

  “If you kill the commander, do the soldiers die? No. They may lose focus, or continue through with old orders. So if you think you saw some, we shouldn’t waste time talking about it.” Ry trades his walk for a jog.

  “I’ve heard stories of them bleeding but never seen it for myself.” Jaden jogs next to me. “It’s a rare occasion when their weakness is found.”

  His words stay with me as we work our way farther into the core of the mountain. That’s exactly what we need to do, find their weakness and exploit it. The darkness behind us begins to feel deeper, thicker, and I fear the evil has not only survived the cave-in, but maneuvered its way through it to pursue us. We have only one way to go.

  My uneasy feelings are confirmed when we’re forced to drop into the water and wade forward after running out of rock space along the side. Now we’re splashing along at mid-calf, occasionally getting as deep as our knees. The temperature drops to a frigid level. My feet are soaked, and the shivering is hard to control.

  Jaden comes up behind me. “Are you cold?”

  “N-n-n-n-n-no.”

  He hands me his sweater. “Here, put this on. It should help warm you.”

  I hastily slip his sweater on as I move forward and instantly feel safer. Hugging the sweater to my upper half, it’s mostly my lower body that’s freezing now. At least the cold has numbed the pain in my feet. The stream runs wall-to-wall, giving us no choice but to labor through it.

  Thunder clashes roll around the curve. My muscles tighten, and I prepare for the unknown. We round the bend, and Ry’s light highlights the sight. I swallow hard and blink, hoping the view will change when I open my eyes again. Something draws me to the path behind where the darkness whispers to me. Dark tongues lash forward, reaching out for us.

  “Move!” I yell, barreling through the water faster than I thought my frozen feet could sprint. Swallowing my anxiety, I duck into the low-lying tunnel ahead, driving forward at a slouch. The ceiling pushes down on us, threatening to squeeze out the last of our oxygen.

  “Keep the lights dry!” Ry shouts.

  Visions of utter darkness flash through my mind. I picture the entire tunnel filling with water. Dragging against the resistance and bent from the space, we press on.

  The ground drops out from under me. I slip and slide on the slick stone floor, struggling to maintain my balance while keeping the light safe and dry. The stream rises above my waist now, and the added lag slows our progress. A quickening current destabilizes my step, and the water threatens to sweep me away. The space closes in, the ceiling dropping lower. As it dips, we slouch even more, pushing our lights tight against the rock roof.

  I try to keep a fast pace at an awkward crouch. It’s proving difficult. “Is it just me, or does anyone else feel rushed by the water?”

  “It’s definitely picking up. Hear that?” Ry’s voice echoes off the walls around us.

  “What do you hear?”

  “Careful. The water’s tricky.” Jaden grabs my arm to keep me from falling under.

  I listen for whatever Ry’s hearing. There it is, a low grumble of some sort. “Waterfall?” I guess.

  “I think so, up ahead,” Ry replies.

  My chest tightens. “We’re stuck in an underground river tube. What if it leads us straight over some huge fall to our deaths?”

  “Highly unlikely. It will probably take us right to the Toran.” Ry’s utterly calm.

  “How can you be so sure?” My voice hitches.

  Then something changes. It’s like I’ve been dipped in serenity water. I no longer feel t
he need or desire to worry. Conscious of the change, my gaze falls on Jaden. I appreciate what he does for me, but I want to overcome these feelings on my own for once.

  “Hold on.” The words whisper around me.

  “What?” I stare at Jaden, confused by his words.

  His forehead crinkles. “I didn’t say anything.”

  Something tightens around my ankle, squeezes, and yanks me off my feet. Slapping me on my back, I hit the water before I can catch my breath. It whips me through the current, down the tunnel at sonic speed. My body slashes from side to side, and Ry grabs at me when I slam into his leg. Whatever has hold of me pulls harder, plucking me free. Splashing and thrashing at the water, I fight for the surface and for air. I can hold my breath for long periods—but I must have air first.

  My inner voice screams attack. Except I don’t know what I’m fighting.

  I spin and swirl in the water like a balloon on a string. My lungs protest for air. I hallucinate. Relive every moment blue sparks have ignited from my body. Ry pulling me from the house. Pretending to shoot the kids. Bree upsetting me in study hall. Leaving my home for the last time. And—what happened that night at the dance.

  Everything’s about me and electricity.

  I cough, choking on water. My throat burns, and I can’t think. How do I make the electric pulse? The sound thunders through the cavern, through my bones. Wherever we’re heading must be close. Time’s running short.

  Each time the blue light ignited, I was irritated or mad. Focusing on the ugly mass yanking me by the foot, I let my fury loose. I fight the water flow. Try to reach forward and claw at the thing holding me. But the moving force is too great. I’m thrown back, frustrated and angry. The water around me illuminates in a soft blue hue. I try again, reaching for the thing, hoping I can electrify it, except already my light wanes. My anger fails to fuel the damn power long enough.

  Exhausted, I allow myself to be dragged without a fight for a moment, gathering my strength. I need to get to Crystia and see Hiddenkel. I hear Dohlan calling. Must get air. I struggle for the surface, and I hear the sounds of the oncoming beast nearing.