by S. E. Akers
A couple more of the Nimbuses swooped down from the sky, headed straight for me. With two steady twists of my wrist, I had both of them scooped up and whirling in the palm of my hand. The next one to approach tried flanking me from the side. But after receiving a few thrusts from Tanner’s blades, the creature was jarred enough that it inevitably got drawn into the funnel without hardly much effort at all. The one that followed was more of a struggle. The weight of the whirling creatures was starting to wreak a little havoc on my muscles. Luckily I had my moonstone to keep my powers’ batteries charged and my momentum steadily chugging along. I finally managed to get the creature herded along with the rest of its fluffy family members. Then I set my sights on the larger one that had popped out last. The remaining Nimbus was putting up a wicked fight, trying its best to avoid the supernatural blender I was spinning. Then it abruptly turned around and started racing back up into the clouds for cover. Yet again, Tanner came to my aid when he channeled a wall of water into the air and used it to steer the creature straight towards the track of my funnel. I had it successfully bagged on its very next pass. So that part was over; now I just needed to liven up their eyes a little.
With the oculus and the whirling winds now locked solely in my left hand, I threw my right one up to the sky and started hailing bolts directly into the funnel—one right after another—igniting it with flashes of electricity with the roar of the cloud dragons’ screeches battering my ears. I was blasting the tornado with so many bolts it now looked like a blinding white cone, swirling top to bottom with electric light.
My left hand rocked with a sudden jolt and then the weight of the funnel dropped instantly. That was all the confirmation I needed: the first pair of eyes had succumbed to the oculus’ Veil light. I could have jumped for joy right then and there if a tree trunk of petrified lightning wasn’t nailing me to the ground. Then before long, each of the Nimbuses had met their fate, one by one, and were all headed on a fast track to The Darklands—banished for the first time in all of recorded Talisman history—and hopefully to never be seen or heard from ever again.
I wasn’t quite sure about how I should dispose of my lightning-nado. Dwindling the winds at all would send the barrage of bolts spinning within its walls hurtling in all directions. So with that considered, I pitched the funnel off the oculus and then sent it on its present speed, propelling towards the sky over the clear blue sea. Once it was far enough away, I halted my winds to a complete standstill. All the bolts came charging down into the water from the clouds not a second later, flashing and booming all around like a beautiful electric rainfall. Seeing the awesome sight and knowing how it had come about was the ideal fireworks display to complement what I’d done and the way I was feeling. I’d actually achieved something no other Talisman had, and that filled me with all the hope I needed for the future with respect to Galious or any other creature. Anything was possible.
The oculus fell against my winded chest as soon as I released it. Tanner was standing in front of me within seconds. I drank in his expression when he lifted the device off my chest. His fingers stroked across its surface like an athlete’s would standing on the highest of three podiums with their prized medal in hand. Although the proud smile he exuded may not have washed away all of his deep-seated worries, he was perfectly at ease…at least for now.
And that was a good enough start for me.
I was just about to say something when he abruptly turned away and began to head off, leaving me more taken aback than all the freakish events we’d experienced throughout the past thirty-plus minutes.
“Aren’t you going to chip me out?” I hollered.
He glanced down at my cemented frame. “I think I like you this way,” he teased. Then he bent down, drew back his arm, and drove his fist into the base of the fulgurite. Enough of it crumbled away for him to pull me out of the rubble and into his arms. They were the warmest I’d felt them yet, even better than snagging a blanket fresh out of the dryer on a cold winter’s morn. Then his mouth enveloped mine, stroking my lips intensely, like he wanted me to feel every ounce of the awe he held. I extended my gratitude for the gesture with every eager swirl of my tongue too. And strictly going off the track of his hands, that had stoked his thrill even more.
Admittedly, I would take that over a shiny gold star from the professor any day of the week, hands down.
“How are we getting back?” I asked.
Tanner tilted his head. “Is that your question of the day?”
“No,” I smiled.
“We could still swim,” he submitted.
“Not a chance,” I said with an adamant glare. “Can’t you call Silas and have him pick us up on his magic carpet?”
Tanner’s eyes were now flashing with a telling sparkle, and the crook of his smile just confirmed that handsome head of his was churning with an amusing thought.
“How would you like to ride that high you’re on a little longer?” he finally asked.
“What do you mean?” I posed, eyes crinkled.
He took my hands in his and issued them a ardent squeeze. “Last lesson,” he began and then lifted his gaze to the sky. His head rocked with a few shakes. “I can’t believe it’s come to this.”
Now I was even more curious. “Come to what?”
“We’re going to ride a bolt back — straight to my house,” he breathed out.
My mouth dropped. My thoughts flashed with the vision of Adamas I’d seen last December when he’d streaked into the chamber on a wicked-hot bolt. I’d passed it off as a crazy occurrence. From witnessing Helio disappearing into his stone and then Padimae’s peculiar interaction with the former Diamond Talisman, I hadn’t given the act a serious second-thought.
“I can actually ride lightning bolts? Like stay on them and steer them?”
“Yes. That’s your quickest means of travel,” Tanner confirmed. “I think you’re finally ready for it.”
My brow furrowed slightly. “Is it hard?”
“It’s tricky. Flawless balance and pinpoint focus are key,” he stressed. “Adamas told me it was like standing on a board strapped to the back of a galloping horse.”
My mind flashed with the image of a tightrope-walker trying to keep their balance while walking across a live electrical wire during an earthquake, sparks and all. At least that was what the “modern version” sure sounded like to me.
My eyes circled their sockets. “Oh, so it’s THAT EASY.”
“Easier that what you just did to those creatures,” Tanner assured. He lifted my chin. “So are you up to it . . . or are we swimming back?”
My adrenaline was still surging and after banishing all those cloud dragons, I was game for anything. “Yes,” I nodded. “So how do I go about it? Hail a bolt and then let it magically zap us across the Atlantic?” Just saying it out loud made it sound like I was about to jump a high-speed, supernatural bullet train.
“No. You’re going to keep your destination locked in your mind when you summon a bolt and then we’ll ride it across the Atlantic,” he elaborated. “I’ll be holding on to you.”
Hearing that I was in the driver’s seat prompted a sly thought. “I don’t know if I want you riding on my Bolt-gatti.” I crossed my arms and slowly arched my brow judiciously. “You know it’s worth about a billion volts.”
Tanner took a salty step backward. “I think I’ll take my chances with the sea-bitch. I’m starting to remember what its like with you behind the wheel.”
I grabbed his arm as he started to walk off. “It’s only a bolt,” I grinned.
Tanner locked his hands around my waist. “I may have deserved that,” he admitted.
First, I’d banished a herd of creatures that had never been sent back to The Darklands before, and now, I was the only one capable of safely getting us off this island. So all in all, I was feeling spectacularly freaking-good.
“How long will it take to get back?” I asked.
Tanner’s eyes drew into a squint as he ran a qui
ck calculation in his head. “About a minute. We’re not moving at the speed of light, but it’s still pretty damn quick.”
Now I was officially intimidated. Teleporting with fire was super-fast and other than making sure you weren’t naked, required absolutely no skill. Water was pretty much the same. You arrived at your connecting portal within seconds, but much wetter. Under a minute of travel-time bumping almost halfway across the globe on a swiftly moving electrical balance beam was a bit concerning — and that stemmed from the fact that I’d had no practice doing it at all.
I took a deep breath. Oh, well… It’s not my first time flying-blind.
Tanner wrapped his arms around my waist and stepped onto my feet.
“What are you doing?” I laughed.
“I’m standing on your feet,” he smiled, though still looking the height of serious.
I bounced my stare between our bare tootsies. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’d like to keep them.”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know . . . They’re kind of heavy.”
Tanner leaned into my ear, his warm lips caressing my lobe and whispering promises of a pedicure later tonight. He could have pounded all of my piggies with a diamond sledgehammer I was so psyched after hearing that offer.
“Now,” Tanner began. “Focus all of your energy and direct it towards the sky. Then all you have to do is picture where you want to go.”
My mind drew a detailed image of his seaside Tudor manor. The stone and stucco house along with all of its lining timbers… The lush forest that surrounded it and the waves crashing beneath the cliffs… I didn’t leave out a thing.
With the vision locked firmly in my head, I lifted my eyes to his. “Are you ready?” I whispered.
“Yes,” he rustled. “Try not to drop me.”
“Well if I do, then it looks like you’ll get that swim you’ve been wanting after all,” I grinned.
Then after our lips had parted from the most honeyed and tender kiss, I did exactly as he’d requested and flagged our mystical electric-powered taxi. The bolt came sweeping down towards my feet and then with a spot-on jump we were on our way, streaking blissfully across the clear blue skies.
So our arrival was a bit rough. Tanner had failed to mention that a bolt ferrying you wouldn’t explode upon landing, but instead, it simply vanished into thin air. The careening roll to the front door wasn’t bad, per se, more like humiliating because Silas had sensed our approach. The hands of the house was standing there with both doors stretched wide-open and waiting for us when we tumbled into the house. The staircase bumped us to a good enough stop. Though if Mr. Meticulous was so concerned with being “courteous”, he could have at least thrown down a mattress or genie-upped something soft to catch us. The cheeky smartass even asked us to step outside and wipe our feet. He couldn’t have made me feel any more at home if he’d tried.
Tanner wanted to make my last official night extra-special, starting with dinner. So instead of dining inside, he arranged an evening picnic in the courtyard under the stars for the two of us — with activities and entertainment, I might add. Just as soon as our meal was over, Tanner and I built a modest bonfire. That was the activity part. The entertainment came from the look on Silas’ face when Tanner started carrying out all the extra chairs and table leaves from the dining room for me to pitch into the flames. And with the help of a little wind, I lit those babies up and burned them straight down to the ground, fulfilling a summer-long fantasy of mine…minus the rotating spit I’d envisioned hogtying the house steward to on many occasions of course.
Despite the ample amount of private time we had during our dinner, Silas wouldn’t leave us alone once we stepped inside. And for the first time, I didn’t mind his intrusion in the least. He’d missed Tanner a lot (and maybe me a teensy bit too), and no amount of his interruptions could make us take our eyes off each other this time. Getting him to turn in for bed was easy. All the Amethyst Talisman had to do was ask him to poof-up a clean deck of cards for our rematch. Though I think his hasty, heavy-footed stomp off to his room was more because of Tanner insinuating that we were playing Strip-Poker this time around — which we did not. Though if I’d known I was going to win as many rounds as what I did, I think beating the pants off him would have proved a far sweeter reward than simply vindicating all of my losses.
We eventually made our way down to his underground lagoon so I could say my goodbyes to Dalha. Even she was excited to see Tanner, so much that I thought I was at SeaWorld watching one of their choreographed aquatic shows. The frisky orca ended up pulling me in while I was petting her, despite the fact that I wasn’t wearing a swimsuit. Apparently she’d been hanging around Tanner too long.
I still couldn’t believe Arica had been hiding out down here for most of the summer. She turned out to be the never-mentioned “female guest” Tanner was entertaining when Silas had carted my dinner down to my room and told me I couldn’t pass through the warded doorway. He sure did love getting my goat with that one. I could still see the sly smirk on the house steward’s face when he’d dropped that bomb. But I did make a point of expressing my regrets over not getting to meet the former Aquamarine Talisman. If anything, we could have kicked around a few Lorelei stories. Bless her selfless heart… I bet she had p-l-e-n-t-y. Tanner assured me it wouldn’t be too much longer before the two of us would get our proper introductions. Apparently she was settling into her new “safe house”, as he called it. Tanner said Arica was constantly moving from place-to-place, running scared from Lorelei and her spies. Though he seemed confident her new refuge was the ideal place for her. Comfortable setting… Lots of people around to blend in with… Someone there to protect her… She had even lined up a job to pass the time… In a way, it sounded like she was in some supernatural version of a witness-protection program. But at least Arica was out of harm’s way, that is, until the next time the sea-bitch came calling. I kind of felt like I was taking a little heat off her, what with the hard-on Lorelei had for killing me. Plus, she’d sent Dalha out to save me…so I considered us good friends already.
I thought Tanner and I were turning in when we started our wind back upstairs, however the Amethyst Talisman quickly reminded me of the pedicure he’d bartered for hitching a ride. Oh, I hadn’t forgotten a thing. I was just waiting to see how serious he was. So an hour later, all ten of my piggies had been polished-to-perfection, and my feet were feeling fully pampered from their arousing massage — which felt like sheer heaven after having to sandblast them with that bolt earlier. And for the record, there are very few things hotter than seeing a guy stretched out at the foot your bed and painting your toenails. He had Silas poof-up a lovely violet hue. When I teased him about why he’d chosen that particular color, he quickly informed me it was because the hue matched my ripped bra. That one kind of smarted a bit, but it still didn’t hold a candle to the sting of that daggone bikini-top.
After another hour of mouthing our wordless goodnights, Tanner was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, and I was lingering in mine. I’d never hated seeing a door swing to a close more in my life. Then as I was climbing into bed, I started thinking about the double-doors in the foyer. No matter how many kisses I received as a parting-gift or how many times I knew in my heart I would be crossing through them again, nothing could keep their impending pull tomorrow from sounding any less like a thunderous slam in my head. He’d never brought up how often we would see each other this evening. My physical hours spent with the handsome Amethyst Talisman were about to get a drastic reduction from what I’d gotten so comfortably used to. In a way, I kind of felt like I was going on a super-strict 800 calorie a day diet…and it sure sucked as much as one too. The only thing keeping me from crashing into the melodramatic doldrums like a Young Adult novel (as Silas would put it) was knowing that he loved me, and that my heart was beating for him to the exact same tune.
I awoke the next morning in a full-on panic—bugging eyes, heart pounding, & wrestlin
g off the covers in a fit—the whole nine yards. But it wasn’t because of my departure or anything to do with Tanner. I only wished it were simply that. My startling and guilt-fueled rise was due to a sudden case of absentmindedness smacking me upside the head. I had completely forgotten to call Katie the other day to let her know I wasn’t coming. In fact, I hadn’t called her at all since I’d left that message. I was surprised I wasn’t choking on my own head after a majorly insensitive ass-cram like that. Dreaming about us getting moved into our dorms must have kicked my subconscious into gear, and in turn, triggered my BFF alarm that had sent me rocketing out of bed. Even though Katie knew what a stickler I was whenever set-plans had been made, she had to be wondering if I was even going to show up at all after ignoring her for the past four days. And I didn’t even want to think about how pissed-off she probably was. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would have gone ballistic with worry and would have left no stone unturned looking for her either — that was a given. And I had one of those “Been there, Done that” T-shirts to prove it!
I whipped out my cell immediately, only to discover that it was as dead as a doornail. Now I was really cringing. I plugged it into an outlet to let it charge while I hopped in the shower. I knew Katie was still asleep and didn’t see the need in waking her just yet. Admittedly, that was the overly-considerate big chicken in me talking.
Precisely one hour later, I was showered & dressed and ready to head up for breakfast — with my cell phone and charger in tow to catch a few waves from the closest tower. I happened to find something on my bedroom door as soon as I opened it. Tanner had left his pair of boxers that I’d returned hanging on my doorknob. With a smile leading the way, I marched right back into my room and laid those on the bed, knowing they were the first things I planned on packing. And I was glad to get those comfy butt-huggers back too.