“And you can,” Natasha said with a warm smile. “All of your powers were given another boost. You will definitely need it.”
“All of you spread out,” Aklia commanded. ”Now that each of you have received a ‘boost’—as I believe you previously called it—that you needed for your individual powers, we will now teach you how to tap into the sources. You are going to need them more now than ever, and perhaps much sooner than we had anticipated.”
The group of Guardians spread out as instructed, separating themselves by an arm’s length in a straight, vertical line.
“Sanaya,” Aklia said, facing the team. “Come forward.”
Sanaya did as she was told until she stood up, meeting Aklia eye to eye with her young Guardians looking on curiously.
“They may be your friends,” Aklia began. “But you have been chosen to lead them. You have gifts and abilities that have yet to blossom, but what I am about to unveil to you, you must learn quickly and use it when you need it most. All of you are in grave danger, and I can only hope that when you leave here you will have all the skills required to survive the battle that is coming.”
Sanaya nodded and then took one last glance back at her friends.
“Focus Sanaya. Feel your environment. Become one with it. The world around you is forever evolving…it is in constant motion. Run with it!”
Sanaya held her eyes tightly shut, her breathing slowed and Aklia’s voice became distant. She could feel something inside of her growing stronger; the very core of her spirit flooded with heat, warming her from the inside out. She held onto the sensation, curious to follow wherever it would lead. Beads of sweat formed at her brow. She dug deeper into her spirit, following a trail that offered a familiar and welcoming presence. The heat increased to overwhelming levels, consuming her, like stripping her sanity before handing it back to her with a hard slap.
She fell to her knees when she heard Aklia call out “Embrace it!”
Everything went silent. Every cell, atom, electron, neutron and proton in her body broke apart, and then shifted. Her friends screamed, but Aklia looked on, determined to allow fate to unfold.
Fire—she was fire—Pure, raw, scorching, hot, heat that molded into the shape of a long -legged bird with a six foot wingspan. From through its eyes, she saw her friends looking on with wonder and terror, while Aklia shouted with excitement. But just as instantly as it happened, Sanaya returned to her human form, trembling on all fours and covered in sweat.
“Wha-what happened? What’d I turn into?” She stuttered as Natasha kneeled before her.
“You are exactly what I thought you would be,” Aklia exclaimed. “I knew it was you!”
“What are you talking about?” Sanaya mumbled.
Silence followed as Natasha helped her onto her feet. She could feel the concerned glances from her peers, reminding her of her first year at The Academy. Maya’s eyes met hers. Her best friend’s wide -eyed stare unnerved her and she wondered what kind of freak she would forever be labeled now.
“’Naya,” Maya said finally, grabbing the attention of everyone around her.
“What?” Sanaya groaned.
“You’re a Phoenix.”
“Come again?” Sanaya replied in disbelief. “You are trippin’ Maya.”
“She isn’t boo,” King added. “We all just witnessed you transform.”
“So that is your gift,” Aklia stated with a grin. “Now it all makes sense.”
“What makes sense?”
“You are a hybrid of some sort,” Aklia continued. “The Phoenix was an ancient Guardian/Protector, and an entity that remained hidden away for eons…but has now chosen you to reappear. She has been hiding within you after all this time!”
“I cannot be some daggone phoenix hybrid,” Sanaya argued. “None of this makes sense.”
“But it does. That is why Maya gravitated to you. You and her, share a commonality of gifts. That is also why you are so strongly bonded to King.” Aklia turned to face King who stood nearest Sanaya, just inches away from her. “You earned the Phoenix’s favor.”
“Then that means…” Natasha’s voice trailed off as she looked at Sanaya.
“We are indeed in the last days and the Prophecy…”
Natasha and Aklia shared an uneasy glance.
“Whoa, Sanaya,” Bullet gasped. “So you’re like this awesomely cool fire bird?”
“No. I am not,” Sanaya huffed.
“Then what are you?” Maya challenged; “because from the looks of things, you transformed into a mythical bird. You didn’t feel it?”
Sanaya paused. “I felt a lot of things...I felt like something else had taken over me completely.”
“Guardians!” Aklia called out. “Take a position. We have very little time left and I have much to teach.”
“We will talk about this later when we get back,” Maya mumbled loud enough for the group to hear.
Sanaya and her team took position as instructed and waited for Aklia’s command. While the rest of the group listened closely to Aklia, Sanaya tuned in to the mental scenery taking place back at The Academy. Archer was limping through the hallways with his cane, accompanied by a familiar Guardian when they passed by an entity. An entity whose signature she would recognize anywhere despite the hooded robe, waltzed by and undetected.
“Cain,” she whispered, horrified.
“What’s that Sanaya?” Aklia asked, concerned.
“We need to get back to The Academy ASAP,” Sanaya announced. “The Guardians, the students…they are all in trouble.”
Chapter Twenty- Seven
Selene snatched an idle, newly born vampire, who’d made the fatal mistake of standing a little too close for comfort, and ripped off her head. Anger and frustration bore through Selene’s eyes as she stared at the mess that once had been the perfect cesspool for feeding, but had become an absolute nightmare. New York had been declared under martial law, causing the human populations to remain hidden in their homes and for those who roamed the streets, their deaths had made it to widespread news. The Beast would not stand for this, and it would not be long before he appeared and wiped out everything she had tried to build over the last few days.
That could not happen.
She needed to regain order. Petronius promised that he would lend a hand in this in exchange for a sample of her blood. Fair enough. She surveyed the abandoned streets, and listened to the sounds of flesh being ripped through and the overall cries of terror, that sounded like music to her ears. But she knew the Guardians. They were another long -standing problem that she could not wait to rid herself of. Soon, the streets would be plagued with Guardian teams on a reconnaissance mission, led perhaps by that newly matured Slayer, potentially threatening her plans of attacking The Academy.
Irritated beyond control, she sent a telepathic call -that was more like a shockwave- to all her recently turned “soldiers”, bending them to her will. She stood patiently in the middle of Times Square, listening to the rustle of trees under the clear night sky. They were coming. Sensing their approaching energy, her eyes turned crimson, and a slow smile crept along her face. It had been centuries almost, since the last time she’d been in the presence of her own creations. And with the majority of these new ones having Guardian blood, they were even stronger than those that came before.
One by one, vampire Guardians appeared, growing in numbers until a full one hundred fifty stood in front of her, hungrily awaiting her command. From out of the nothingness, Petronius materialized beside her, donning one of his black suits while his dark hair was slicked back exposing his handsome face.
“You look exceptionally radiant tonight,” he murmured softly.
“Thank you. You look dapper as always,” She replied without facing him. Selene eyed each of the faces that stared back at her, pride filling her. “My children,” she began. “I understand how the sweet siren call of blood beckons you. But you must gather your senses of control. Stop allowing the blood to cont
rol you…” Her eyes narrowed as she focused on one particular vampire whose gaze held a hint of defiance.
The vampire from the church, Selene thought to herself. She met the vampire’s gaze, but said nothing. She would be dealt with later.
“You are NOT ANIMALS!” Selene’s voice echoed throughout the empty streets. “All of you put shame on the vampire name by feeding like a bunch of deranged lunatics. Not only have you alerted the human masses of our existence, but you put yourselves and the rest of us at risk for extinction.”
A hundred and fifty pairs of red orbs stared back at her and Petronius. The tension in the air as thick as a hard loaf of bread, damn near impenetrable. Petronius maintained an unreadable expression as he surveyed their audience of hungry, blood thirsty vampires.
“Tomorrow night, I will teach you the beginnings of your vampire strengths as you will need them. And then on the next moon, I will lead you to the place that has been the bane of our kind’s existence. Most of you have been there- trained there, even…” she smiled wickedly, exposing perfect white fangs that glistened underneath the low light of the street lamps. “... befriended those who still inhabit the protective walls of The Academy. But you are no longer Guardians. You are of a much powerful cause- one that is filled with great pleasure and much reward. Give me your loyalty this night and eternity will be yours…”
Cheers echoed into the sky, with the exception of one vampire, with a hard stare and brown skin. The one from the church…
****
Archer gently patted a fellow Guardian on the back and waited for him to continue his way through the courtyard, before slipping into the chapel. He needed space to think and figure out what the next move would be, while at the same time trying not to lose what was left of his sanity in the process. Pushing through the double doors, light shone through the beautiful colors of red, blue and green from the stained glass, as images depicting a young Christ and The Virgin washed through the vacant space. He took a seat in front of the pulpit, thankful that the priest was busy in the back room counseling another patron. He rested his cane against the front pew and lowered his head. He was never a praying man, but in times like these, there was no reason for him not to start now.
He had never had the chance to finish his thoughts when a burst of light filtered into the church and in came Sanaya and her entire team followed by Aklia, Natasha and Raya. He met Sanaya’s wild, worried filled eyes and he knew that she knew what was up. She opened her mouth to speak but Aklia spoke for her.
“Archer, I cannot remain here long because my brother will immediately sense my presence,” she said breathing heavily. “But you must evacuate the premises. Now! All of you are in immediate danger.”
Archer sighed. “I know. I was given the warning by another Bishop who works with the higher ups. He told me to wait until he gave me the word.”
“I should have known my brother had some sort of hand in this,” Aklia growled.
“But there would have been no way for you to have known,” Natasha said. “He hid it very well…but my question is why?”
“I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that he wanted to be as close to every Slayer born as possible. That is probably why it has been so easy for him to have turned The Seven,” Archer suggested.
“Heaven help us,” Raya murmured. “We need to petition the Archangels on this.”
“Yes we do,” Natasha agreed.
“But what will happen to the students and the staff?” Maya argued, stepping forward. “You can’t just leave us here.”
“We won’t,” Aklia promised. “At least not defenseless …besides…the school has a not so secret weapon that is just about to awaken fully…”
Everyone turned to look at Sanaya who simply shrugged.
“What are you talking about?” Archer demanded, looking at Sanaya with a raised brow.
“We will talk later,” Aklia promised. “We will return in a bit. I’m sensing active vampire movement in the area known as New York.”
“I have several teams of Guardians on their way,” Archer stated firmly.
“You need more healing,” Natasha added, her focus on Archer. “Soon you will be needed on the battlefield and we need you to operate at your highest capabilities.”
“Natasha. Raya,” Aklia said, as everyone turned to look at her. “We must send assistance to aid the New York teams, and quickly. And in the meantime…”
Two shadowy figures loomed in the entrance to the chapel, forcing Aklia and the group to turn around and face the threat. Sanaya’s skin prickled as rage bubbled within her and filtered throughout her body, prepping her for war. Aklia, Raya, and Natasha took battle stances, positioning themselves in front of the pews and at the ready. Natasha’s hand gripped her battle ax so tightly, her arm trembled. Raya’s eyes narrowed as she unsheathed her sword, while Aklia’s expression remained calm, yet unreadable.
Sanaya glanced over at Archer whose gaze told her to stand down. However, her fury was set to disobey his command.
The larger shadow calmly set foot into the chapel, the dim light revealing a pair of familiar eyes and bronze skin that was illuminated under the low light. He smiled as he approached, while the other figure maintained a safe distance a few feet outside of the doorway.
“My dear sister,” Cain said as he strolled in, both hands shoved into his pockets as if he lacked a single care in the world. “How fare thee?”
“It will be wise of you to remove yourself from the premises, brother,” Aklia growled.
Cain chuckled as he continued to approach. “I built this place dear sister, so I am afraid you have encroached upon my territory.” He glanced around, studying the team of young Guardians intently until his eyes landed on Sanaya. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… Sanaya, Sanaya, Sanaya…our bargain still stands.”
Sanaya frowned. “Not interested,” she threatened. “Once I take Selene’s head, you better believe I am coming for yours.”
“Interesting,” Cain smiled. “My work here, for now, is done.” Cain dematerialized instantly into black smoke before disappearing.
Sanaya stared in the direction where the last entity stood, and a pair of red, glowing eyes met hers before it too disappeared. The three Huntresses remained in battle positions for a time that stretched well into a few, long, tense minutes before Aklia turned around to speak.
“For those of you standing here and did not know,” she announced. “You have just been formerly introduced to Cain, The Original Vampire. He is gone, at least for now. But he will return…and when he does…this school will never be the same.”
Raya and Natasha shared uneasy glances. “We will stay to help defend the Guardians should Cain return,” Raya offered.
Aklia nodded. “Good. I will return later to aid with the evacuation process. This school is no longer a safe haven. I will notify available Guardian strongholds all over the world. We will leave no stone unturned and no Guardian will be left behind, defenseless.”
A portal of white light opened in front of the group and Aklia disappeared through it. When the light faded, Archer glanced over at Sanaya who stared idly at the ceiling, appearing lost in the painted frescos that depicted a war between heaven and hell.
“All of you might as well start packing kids,” Archer sighed as he rose to his feet. “The Academy and life as we know it is done.”
“It’s not over,” Sanaya argued.
“It is for now kid,” Archer replied. “And one more thing...this is top secret intel. Do not alert the other students of what just took place until we can figure out a way to safely evacuate everyone from the campus.”
“Let me escort you to wherever it is you are headed Archer,” Raya offered. “This will give us time to think and come up with a contingency plan.”
Archer shrugged. “That’s fine with me. All of you should head to your rooms. Sanaya, I will talk to you later.”
The students watched as Archer led Raya through the same entryway that Cain had once st
ood, and out into the open. Her warrior garb drew immediate attention from a few Guardians who happened to be passing by.
“Team meeting in me and Maya’s room,” Sanaya announced once Archer and Raya were gone.
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
“This ain’t over,” Sanaya growled. “Cain thinks he can just waltz in here and act like he owns the place-“
“Uh, Sanaya,” Bullet interrupted. “He kinda does.”
“This is our house B. He may have built it for his own selfish reasons, but this is where Guardians and Slayers are bred. Besides, whether they like it or not, the Guardians need our help.”
“I’m with it,” King said, giving Trent a pound.
The Vampire Hunters Academy: The Reckoning Page 15