Regali (A Walker Saga)

by Jaymin Eve

  I could see that we were fast approaching the rest of our group. They were waiting at this weird junction. We slowed when we reached them.

  Ria moved out of the shadows and strode toward us, her stunning features creased in concern.

  “Klea told me it was a wolver.” She laid a warm hand on my arm. “You’re lucky. They were the most vicious of any pack. They either warred themselves to death or disappeared many years ago.” Her voice hardened. “Apparently some of them survived. I should have known they would be amongst the fringe leaders.”

  “Did you find any others?” I asked.

  “No, we waited here to make sure you were safe.” She smiled at me. “After all, you’re my Walker sister.”

  I could tell that she meant those words; they were not empty platitudes. I loved the bond that seemed to exist between us half-Walkers, and wondered if there would be one who would reject us.

  “I’m fine, let’s keep going.” My injuries were mostly healed.

  I was tense, though. Dark tunnels were not the best place to be when you’d just been jumped from the shadows.

  “Don’t you worry, Red girl,” Colton said as he sidled closer, “any more wolves appear and I’ll rip their throats out for you.”

  Lucy snorted, interrupting him. “Wow, you say the sweetest things, Colton.”

  “There’s nothing sweet about me, darlin’.”

  And all of a sudden he had a weird drawling accent.

  “I haven’t forgotten.” Her words were a mutter.

  We were moving along the channel now. The packs were out in front, and we were at the back. Ria moved between the two of us with the ever present Klea keeping pace with her.

  “There’s a mass of energy ahead,” Brace said.

  As soon as he mentioned it I noticed something odd. I often had strange feelings I ignored, even on Earth, but I was starting to see that there were explanations for some of them. This was a tingling sensation low in my stomach, and I recognized it as foreign energy starting to infiltrate my own. My own energy was always moving, curious and hungry, an endless pit inside that definitely liked to absorb free energy. It was always on the lookout for power. And, as Brace said, we were coming up to a large mass.

  “I’ll send out my blast again,” Brace said as our group rounded the corner. “Wait for me.”

  But it was too late.

  The packs that were ahead of us didn’t hear his call, and as soon as they saw the fringe members they charged forward; they were out for blood. We had to increase our speed to keep them in sight. I felt more than saw the battle ahead of us. And we were severely outnumbered. There were at least a hundred of the fringe. They looked to be a mix of the present packs, wolvers and those three other species that had been back behind the waterfall.

  The wolvers were the only beasts to be on all fours. They were definitely the least human of any of them. They just looked like massive horse-size wolves, with small amounts of human skin around their eyes. Ria’s pack guards had paused about twenty yards from the fringe. The sheer numbers we faced had halted our group.

  “The wolvers are shifted like on a red moon,” Ria said.

  “What do you mean?” Colton asked.

  “Once in a forty cycle we have a blood red moon. It calls the packs and they shift into their true animal forms.”

  “And when the sun comes out they shift back?” Lucy said, her eyes wide with a curious sparkle.

  “What is a sun?” Ria asked.

  We all stopped what we were doing and stared at her.

  “A bright, hot star that brings life to plants and such,” I said, trying to remember if I’d seen a sun.

  The canopy was so close together, I was pretty sure I’d never even seen the sky.

  “We have six moons that cast the blue light of life and the red moon when it appears,” Ria said simply. “Is it that to which you refer?”

  I shook my head.

  “How is it so warm here without a sun?” Lucy asked.

  “It is always warm in Artwon. The moons are warm and the jungle holds in the heat.”

  Well, that was interesting, and did explain the blue tinge. I had thought that was simply the shadows from the canopy. Growls distracted me then. I’d almost forgotten we were facing a wall of crazy fringe members.

  “So what do we do now?” I asked. “We’re vastly outnumbered.”

  “We can take care of some of them and even up the numbers,” Colton said with a nod toward Brace.

  Ria smiled, her flawless teeth flashing in the semi-darkness of this underground hole. The boys took that as an affirmation, stepping forward to the front of our group. I grabbed Lucy’s hand and we huddled together to watch as Colton and Brace moved dangerously close to the growling, snarling group.

  They stepped quickly in a synchronized series of movements, arms flying outwards, upwards and then forward, and at that moment a shimmery yellow light blasted free from their palms.

  I could see the force and if that wall was coming at me I would be running for dear life. But either the fringe were stupid or had no idea how much that energy wall was going to hurt when it hit them, because they didn’t shift even a minute amount. At the last minute, before the energy hit, two men stepped forward from the fringe and released their own burst of power.

  The two energies collided in midair and the ricocheting force shot everyone back on both sides. I prevented myself and Lucy from hitting the floor by absorbing the power and sucking down the excess energy. But we were only some of the few not to be knocked down. Brace met my eyes across the fallen packs.

  “Walkers,” he said.

  “Stay here,” I told Lucy, expecting she would pay no attention to me and, sure enough, she was on my butt as I moved through the masses to reach Brace and Colton.

  “Are they of your clan?” I asked him straight away. I was gathering energy, prepared to help any way I could. “And what are we going to do?”

  “Zeleath and Arian. Most definitely Abernaths,” he said. “And we’re going to scatter them throughout the universe.”

  Colton let out a satisfied snort. “Damn, I love it when bad Brace comes out to play. Just like old times.”

  And with those words they both disappeared from sight.

  Chapter 8

  I would have thought, being Walker, I could track their movements, but unless that flash of white was Brace’s shirt then I saw nothing. The fringe Abernaths were looking worried now, despite the mass of snarling creatures at their back. Could they feel what was coming at them in the darkness?

  The taller of the two, with his lank dishwater brown hair, was looking up into the rock ceiling when he disappeared. His screams echoed around the area, and then were eerily cut off mid-yell. Unease was spreading through the fringe and their last Walker looked nervous.

  “Something tells me I should be glad your men are the good Walkers.” Ria smiled at me.

  “I’m not sure any Walkers can be classified as good.” I smiled back.

  “And the blond isn’t mine, unless you mean as a snarky watchdog,” Lucy finished.

  Ria looked between us for a moment but didn’t make any further comment. I wasn’t sure she knew quite how to take us. Pretty typical reaction. We grew on you, like a fungus.

  When the echoes of the screams around the rock ceiling finally died out, it felt as if the room held its breath waiting for the next move. But the remaining Walker was having none of that.

  “Attack them!” he yelled. “They will kill you otherwise. Don’t give them the advantage.”

  The packs didn’t hesitate. As one they moved.

  I gathered my energy before letting it go in a large unbroken force. It was the sort of mass power that had burst from me before, but this time I controlled it.

  It slammed into the front line, knocking them down, and they thankfully took out a lot of those right behind them. But even with this there were still plenty coming at us. The first of the fringe hit the pack guards. I winced at the snarls,
tearing of flesh and blood that followed.

  Those fighting blocked the way for the rest of us; everyone pushed forward. Suddenly I was distracted by a whirlwind starting behind the fringe.

  The top of the turret was visible over the heads of the bera. It was a massive portal and I could feel it drawing the energy from those closest to it. The fringe members were starting to drift back into its powerful arms, and there was nothing they could do to fight against it. And then just when the majority of their members were at the junction, the energy reversed its direction and instead of sucking in it forced a blast outward. The fringe in its path were destroyed, literally ripped limb from limb.

  “I told you that you didn’t want to see Brace in his true form.” Colton stood at Lucy’s side.

  He’d been on the other side of the room, but had used his instant transmission to reach us.

  My jaw fell open, and I swung back around to observe the crazy tornado more closely. Was Colton saying that Brace was the storm? That would explain why the burst of wind seemed to be directed toward the fringe only. Our packs had backed up, but we were untouched so far.

  “Did you know he could do that?” Lucy asked me. “He’s a freaking tropical storm.”

  I shook my head, my eyes wide. “He mentioned that he had some powers he didn’t use a lot, but I never expected it was anything like this.”

  Brace had literally turned into a whirlwind and the power it generated had my teeth aching it was so strong.

  “Why doesn’t he use that all the time?” I asked.

  “He believes that it’s something he could lose control of,” Colton replied.

  “So why now?” Lucy said.

  “I’m guessing he’s still a little pissed off about Red here disappearing and getting chewed on by a psycho wolver.” Colton grinned.

  I was thinking he might be right.

  By the time Brace had stopped spinning and once again looked like his usual six and a half feet of sexy-as-god there wasn’t much left of the fringe but scattered body parts. Striding forward, Brace had used his energy to hold the remaining Walker against the wall.

  “What are you doing here?” he said to the passive man. “Were you working for Que? What was he trying to achieve?”

  The man remained silent. He didn’t shift or even blink. If I hadn’t been able to see the rise and fall of his chest, I’d have thought he was dead.

  I didn’t move closer. Brace was giving off a leave-me-the-hell-alone vibe. As soon as I had this thought he shifted his head to shoot me a grin, and he was my warm heart-mate again. But really, he was scary when he went into Walker warrior mode.

  Aribella.

  The tapping on my mind shield and faint sound of my name alerted me to the fact that someone was trying to contact me. I lowered the shield.

  Oh, thank the gods. I need your help. My mother’s voice burst into my mind. She’d been trying hard to get through my barriers.

  Where are you, Mom?

  At the dark mountains. I’ll meet you at the entrance.

  I pulled my focus back to the room. “Luce, I have to leave; Mom needs my help on First World.” I didn’t give her any time to argue. “Colton, look after her and let Brace know where I’m going.”

  Call me if you need me, Red.

  Brace must have heard me.

  You got it.

  I pictured the darkness surrounding the mountain and grabbed a large tether near the entrance. It was strange. Usually tethers were light and almost glittery, but here they seemed darker, and fragile. I worried I wouldn’t make it, lost somewhere halfway if the tie broke. But I found myself arriving safely.

  Lallielle was waiting as promised. She looked frazzled, her hair askew, shirt torn. In fact, I’d never seen my calm, collected mother look so out of sorts.

  I dashed over to her side. Relief crossed her beautiful features when she saw me.

  “What happened, Mom? Where’s everyone else?”

  She pulled me into a tight hug. “I’ve lost them. They just disappeared.” Her voice was frantic over my shoulder. “I didn’t know what to do or who else to ask.”

  I leaned out of the embrace. “I don’t understand. Tell me what happened?”

  “Let’s head in now. We can talk while I take you to where I last saw them.”

  She hurried me into the darkened entrance. Last time Josian had lit the way, but since he wasn’t there, my energy light ball was all we had.

  “So we finished at Lucas’ dance and came straight here. Quarn led the way with some of the royal guards. Apparently they had an idea where the corruption was coming from. We made it to that chamber with all the tunnels off it. You remember that we only explored two last time because Lucy said the rest were empty.”

  I nodded and she continued to speak. Her words were hurried, but still clear and articulate.

  “Josian decided that we would quickly go down each of them, just to make sure there was nothing hidden. The first couple were dead ends. And then when we were halfway down the third I noticed that we were missing a few of our people. I didn’t mention it in case I was wrong, but by the fourth there was no denying it.”

  “No one else noticed?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “By the time I brought it up everyone was starting to question where people were.”

  She continued to push our pace and we soon crossed over that first doorway. I shuddered as I was hit with the negative energy again. There was so much on this side.

  “Once we decided that people were disappearing, Quarn send a few of the guards back to find them, and they never returned. We were discussing what was happening when a noise had me spinning in the tunnel.” She sniffed. “I had my back to the group for maybe a minute and when I turned around again, they were gone. Josian, Fury, Talli, Dune, and Quarn … everyone … they were all gone.”

  This wasn’t the first time people had disappeared in these mountains. I worried at my lower lip, subconsciously picking up the pace.

  I repeat, call me if you need help, Red.

  I smiled, knowing that it went against Brace’s control-freak personality to let me off on my own, but I liked that he trusted me.

  I’m just helping with the tidy up here, he finished.

  I shuddered at that mental image. There had been lots of body parts.

  Well, so far there’s something really off in these mountains but no immediate danger. I’ll keep you updated.

  He laughed. How about I just stay in your head? You’re notoriously bad at keeping in touch.

  He was right. I just got so caught up in the situation and forgot.

  Lucy okay? I checked just before signing off.

  Yep, no problems, unless you count the way she and Colt are snarling at each other.

  So perfectly normal behavior by the sound of it.

  I focused back on the mountain. Lallielle had my left hand squeezed tightly. She was probably afraid I’d disappear too. I was starting to get a bad feeling about what might have happened to all the people in these caves.

  And the fact that Josian hadn’t opened a doorway back was a little worrying.

  But could they have disappeared into the wall here using the same trapdoor setup that I had fallen through on Regali? I knew that my journey through that door had something to do with the first Seventine, and this here felt like it might be something similar. It would certainly explain the vanishing-into-thin-air part.

  We arrived in that large open space that had the dozen channels off it. Lallielle led me into the fifth one.

  “This is where they disappeared,” she whispered.

  I tried to sense their energy, but there was nothing registering at all down there. We moved along the short length in no time. It was just a narrow, rock-lined tunnel. Nothing interesting, no spots of energy, just an empty tunnel.

  It was on our second, slower trip along that I started to notice a strange pattern spanning the walls. Every four feet or so there was a slightly projected stone. I wouldn’t have noticed i
f I hadn’t been looking so closely, but it was definitely appearing at a regular interval.

  And then suddenly in the center there was a space without one.

  I ground to a halt.

  Lallielle, who had not been expecting that, was jerked back by my hold on her hand. And it was at this point I felt the slightest of drafts from where we were standing.

  “Do you feel that?” I said in a low voice near her ear.

  She shifted on the spot, and didn’t answer straight away. Then I felt her freeze.

  “There’s a breeze here.” She let go of my hand and brought both of hers up to rest against the wall. “This has to be where they disappeared.” She swung her head to face me. “In fact I think we were standing around this area.”

  I joined her in running my hands along the stone. This and the wall at Regali reminded me a lot of the entrances to the underground in Crais. I tried to remember what the inhabitants did there, how they had hidden the openings. Something to do with sliding one rock in front of the other.

  Shifting my stance, I stopped trying to push against the wall and instead I tried to slide it. Straight away it shifted to the side. Lallielle almost fell through. I caught her at the last second.

  “Damn,” she swore. “How many of these secret entrances could be down here?”

  “I have no idea.” I poked my head around the corner.

  It was another tunnel but I could see that there was light at the end. And as we stepped further in I could feel a cool breeze.

  “There’s something down that way. Let’s go check it out.”

  I didn’t have to worry about convincing her. Lallielle was moving faster than I was and she had her serious game face on. This was her protective mode. She was worried about our friends and family.

  This tunnel was longer than number five, which ran adjacent to it. The light at the end was getting brighter and the air felt clear and cool. But it was a strange cool, almost like air-conditioning. But how could they have artificial air like that under a mountain?

  And as we neared the end the smell hit me: chemicals. It smelt like the old medical wings in the orphanages. I had never quite figured out what caused that smell; probably something in the cleaning products.