Regali (A Walker Saga)

by Jaymin Eve

  She laughed, strolling forward, her hand entwined with Dune’s, their pure white hair glowing.

  “You wish, supes.”

  She’d shortened Super Abby to ‘supes’. Since she said it ten times a day, apparently her tongue was getting tired.

  I wasted no time filling them in. “So Ria, the Regali half-Walker, is back at the house. We need to go right away and try this ritual. The Seventine were on Regali. They stole the energy from their oldest sacred tree, which gives them enough to free the fourth. So we have no time to waste. We have to beat them.”

  The carefree look fell from her face and warrior Fury was back.

  “Alright then, take us to the beach house,” she said, dragging Dune up to me.

  I traced us into the front room. I never worried about anyone being in the space where I landed. Josian had explained that two objects cannot occupy the same space, so if I traced into a place then, according to the rules of the universe, there would be nothing in that spot. It would either have moved or I would land a little to one side of where I was aiming.

  The front room was empty, but I could see everyone through the front window. They were out by the water, their backs to us as they faced the expanse of ocean.

  Talli hasn’t surfaced yet. Brace’s warm tones echoed.

  I smiled like a silly jerk. He made me so happy. Even when he was annoying me, he still made me happy.

  You make me happy too. Now get that gorgeous butt out here so I can fill my arms. They’re feeling a little empty.

  You’re also getting a little sappy in your old age, I teased as the three of us made our way out of the house and across the green grass.

  When the sand hit my boots, I resisted the urge to reach down and take them off. There was no time to indulge in beach therapy right then.

  Ria turned at the sound of us squeaking across the sand. Her eyes rested on Fury before coming back to me.

  “Ria, this is Fury of Crais and her mate Dune,” I said.

  The girls exchanged a nodded greeting, but that was as far as it went.

  “I wish I was visiting here under better circumstances,” Ria said as she turned back to the ocean. “There is so much to explore. I never imagined that a body of water existed like this.” Her purple eyes widened. “And it is undrinkable. What is the point of it then, and why are there no trees?”

  She indicated toward Angelisian. And I understood what she was asking.

  “People can’t really live in trees here. They don’t have the skills or power. So they build their homes on the ground.” I sighed. “Unfortunately they need open space to do that so sometimes the environment suffers.”

  Ria’s face hardened as I spoke.

  “Luckily First World is really very conscious of their natural wonders,” Lucy added. “You don’t want to visit Earth. They’ve razed the rainforests to the ground.”

  Ria gasped. “My heart hurts,” was all she said, and I couldn’t blame her.

  Unable to stay away any longer, I stepped over to Brace. It took all my willpower not to throw him to the ground and tear his clothes off.

  “Damn willpower,” he muttered as his long arms closed around me in a comforting and tingle-inducing hug.

  I wished we had more time, but I had to beat the Seventine.

  Since I was already on the edge of the ocean it was easy enough to throw out my energy toward the water, in a sort of dolphin call for Talina. I hoped she would recognize me and get her butt out. There was no way any of us could chase her under the sea.

  We continued to wait.

  Lucy sat back from the wet sand. Colton was near her and he – I had to look twice – he was building a sand castle. Or sand boobs, by the looks of those weird mounds.

  “You have a dirty mind, Red. That’s a mini map of our planet, Abernath, he was showing Lucy before.” Brace grinned down at me.

  I took a moment to look at it a little closer.

  “So there are the seven main inhabited planets, but there are also lots of little worlds scattered around?” I asked. “Like Josian’s place.”

  “Yes, there are many smaller globes that orbit around the pull of larger tethered worlds. Walkers mostly use these as home bases when they’re not on the big seven.”

  I gave a brief chuckle. “I still almost can’t believe the life I live now. I never knew any of this existed when I lived on Earth.”

  And with that thought two human-fish people surfaced at the back of the breaking waves. Case in point. Talina rose up with the crest of a swell and gave me a happy wave. My heart filled with pure joy for her. She was the kindest of souls and I hated that she’d lost everyone. I hoped that the reunion with Ladre went well.

  “Oh, she looks so happy.” Lucy had moved to stand beside me. She paused for an extended moment before speaking again. “So did you see Samuel before?”

  My head spun round to meet her eyes. She looked calm, as if this were just a casual conversation. But her question had a sense of urgency.

  “Yes,” I said, “he told me a story about how his mind was possessed, he was losing track of time, didn’t know what he was doing.” I snorted. “A very lame attempt at explaining. He should just own his evil-ness.”

  Lucy’s brow crinkled. “What if it’s true? There just seemed to be so much for it all to have been an act.”

  I sighed. “Luce, I don’t want you to get sucked back in. I don’t even think there’s enough good deeds in the world for Samuel to redeem himself.”

  Not only for what he’d done to Brace but also for how he’d hurt Lucy and Lallielle. They had both suffered from his actions.

  “Abbs has too much warrior in her. We’re not quick to forgive betrayal,” Brace drawled as he watched our water-friends approach. “Even if Samuel was somehow a victim, his weakness cost everyone a lot.”

  Brace’s words, whilst supportive, reminded me of something. My own weakness was the reason the third Seventine had been released. Who was I to judge anyone else’s betrayal? Maybe Samuel deserved a chance to prove himself. All I could do was keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t hurt anyone else.

  “You know what, you’re right, Lucy. We should reserve judgment in case his story has some truth.”

  My drastic turn around had her shooting me a confused look, but all Brace did was shift his expression from stoic to a half-smile. I narrowed my eyes. Had he deliberately made that comment so I would let up on Samuel a little? Wouldn’t put it past him, damn sneaky Walkers.

  “I can do that,” Lucy finally said.

  “Lucky I’m here to stop all you tender-hearted souls from getting yourselves killed,” Colton muttered as he stood next to Brace, their stances mirror images of each other.

  Brace laughed but didn’t comment again. I really had no idea what his feelings were about this situation. He was keeping it very close to his chest at the moment.

  Talina was in the shallows now; she strode out, water running off her in rivulets. Her emerald-colored hair looked luscious and vibrant. It had enjoyed the swim.

  “Where’s Ladre?” I asked as she drew closer.

  I could have sworn I’d seen him before.

  “He’s not quite ready to face everyone. He’ll stay in the ocean.” She smiled brightly.

  Lucy and I groaned.

  “You’re going to be insufferably chipper and happy now, aren’t you?” Lucy said in a mock-devastated voice.

  Talina laughed, reiterating our points. “I am very happy,” she said.

  “Oh, you will be elaborating on that later.” I gave her a pointed look.

  “So what are we doing now? I assume you called me because I’m needed.” Talina pushed her heavy locks behind her ears.

  I pointed toward the stunning chestnut-haired Queen. “Talli, meet Ria of Regali. She’s the fourth half-Walker. We’re going now to perform the ritual.”

  Talina walked up to Ria. Unlike Fury, she was friendly and held out a hand.

  “It’s so nice to meet you,” she said wit
h a huge grin. “Welcome to the half-Walkers.”

  Ria just stared down at the offered hand for a moment before reaching out and tentatively touching it. With a smile Talina showed her how to shake hands and after a brief moment pulled away.

  “Let us go now. I really do need to return to my people.” Ria addressed me.

  I could see the lines of stress around her eyes; she was worried. I really hoped this ritual worked, not just for her sake but for all of ours. And more personally so that I could avoid having to break my melding bond with Brace.

  I wasn’t comfortable tracing that many people, so Brace opened a doorway to the large room in the dark mountains. The one with all the tunnels off it. We started down number eight.

  The mountains seemed quieter now. That evil energy which always tormented me there had abated. Brace held my hand as we walked. He was on high alert. I knew both of us were waiting for an ambush. The Seventine would be close by, preparing to release their fourth.

  The light from the prison came into view, its bright sparkles filled with many colors.

  “Can you feel them?” I said in a low voice to Brace.

  He was more in tune with the Seventine than anyone else.

  “They’re around but not close at the moment.” He pulled me closer to him. “But I wouldn’t let my guard down.”

  He didn’t have to worry. I was so tense I was practically vibrating as I walked.

  We crossed over the doorway threshold into the prison room. The light was practically blinding this close. It was white again, but I knew it would turn red if the fourth was released.

  “Alright, Abbs, what do we have to do?” Brace pulled me closer to the entrance.

  “The Walker was a little light on details. But he said that we needed to combine the blood of four half-Walkers and as we sprinkle it into the prison we need to chant invictius collasa repeta intombre.” My memory was so good now I didn’t even have to strain my thoughts to recall the words.

  I repeated them a few times, and then the girls chimed in. When I felt they had the wording perfect, I pulled my knife from my boot. This damn thing was coming in handy for these rituals.

  “Why does it always involve bloodletting?” I heard Lucy sigh. “It’s so unoriginal. Now if we had to bring flowers and plant them, that would be different. Or release butterflies.”

  Colton laughed. “Blood is powerful and it’s what gives us life. In our veins our power runs. Blood binds them to the prison. It makes sense it would be needed to re-entomb them.” He raised his brows at her. “Besides, if you want something, you need to give something back.”

  “The great balance,” Ria said.

  “Thank you, Colton – smart-ass,” Lucy muttered.

  Colton laughed again, shaking his head this time.

  The opening was too large for us half-Walkers to stand right around and hold hands, so we stood close on one side. I held up my right hand.

  “Are we all ready?” I asked.

  I could see a few nerves, but everyone just nodded and held one hand out toward me. My knife was sharp enough for this job. I was pretty nuts about making sure my weapon was well cared for. Having a blunt knife could end up being a fatal mistake.

  And that made it easy to press down on the fleshy pad of each hand for a clean cut. I didn’t wipe it off in between. We couldn’t contract blood-borne diseases, so there was no point worrying about cross contamination. Plus in the end we had to press all of our hands together.

  As soon as we were bleeding all over the floor we linked our bloodied hands together and, holding them out over the entrance, I started to chant. The girls quickly joined in.

  “Invictius collasa repeta intombre. Invictius collasa repeta intombre. Invictius collasa repeta intombre.”

  We repeated it three times just to be safe. I watched the last of our blood rain down into the opening as the wounds healed. And I waited to see what would happen.

  In that moment of pause, from the shadows flew three golden spirits.

  “It’s the Seventine,” Brace said, and without hesitation he threw out a shield around us.

  They started to circle, and it took a few minutes before I realized something was hurting my ears. They were making a noise. It was uncomfortably high pitched and increasing in frequency as they spun.

  “They’re speaking,” Brace said as he turned, keeping them in sight. “You need to use your ears to slow and lower the noise.”

  “Oh, right,” Fury said, “because all of us can just use our ears for that.”

  “What are they saying?” I asked Brace.

  He didn’t answer straight away. His eyes flicked around as he continued to follow their movement.

  “They’re freeing the fourth,” he finally bit out.

  My head dropped; our ritual hadn’t worked.

  “Let’s try it again.” Ria grabbed my hand. “Maybe we didn’t do it long enough.”

  I stared at her for an extended moment before nodding. I still held the knife so within seconds I cut into our palms again. Ignoring the sting, I held out my hand with the other half-Walker girls. Together we started to chant.

  The Seventine were still circling us, their own high-pitched noise mingling with our chanting. I could feel something then. It was as if our two energies or rituals were battling against each other.

  “They’re feeding energy into the prison walls,” Brace yelled. “There’s too much; you’re not strong enough.”

  Screw that. I was not letting them free another one.

  I threw out my tethers, connecting to each of the girls and bringing their power to life. I could feel Ria’s shock; I’d forgotten that she had no idea I could do this. Her power added another dimension, a real earthy feel to the fire and water. Fury was covered in her flames, a watery whirlpool surrounded Talina, and ivy sprung from Ria. I almost couldn’t believe it, but I was sure it came from her hair.

  “That is incredible,” I heard Lucy say.

  “Remind me not to piss Red off either,” Colton said. “She’s as lethal as Brace. Gods help us if they have little ones.”

  For some reason I liked being thought of as badass like Brace. I met his eyes and his returning smile was as panty-dropping as I’d ever seen. Damn, he rocked sexy like nobody’s business. I forced myself to turn away, back to the prison. This was my last chance to save my melding bond. A bond I wasn’t sure I could survive without.

  We were still chanting loudly. I started to feed our combined powers into the prison walls, my intent to strengthen the bonds. The Seventines’ screeching was still increasing in tempo and frequency; if that continued my ears were going to start bleeding.

  I saw Lucy stumble to the ground, her hands covering her ears. I was about to panic but Brace knelt beside her and placed his hands on either side of her face. Her relief was apparent.

  It’s not working. Ria’s voice sounded desperate.

  Don’t give up, I encouraged her.

  Her head snapped around to stare at me. She also hadn’t known we could hear her.

  We can all communicate when Abby tethers to us, Talina said. She increases our power.

  Okay, Ria said, so what else can we do right now to stop this?

  I wished I had an answer for her, but I didn’t know what else we could do together. There’d been no time to find out.

  I’ve been practicing and despite the fact I can’t control the power when Abby is tethered to us, I can direct more energy into her, Fury said in rapid succession. Pour all your power into her and she can send it out.

  Finally something I knew how to do. I’d taken a lot of Fury and Talina’s power the last time we’d tried this, but add in another half-Walker and the increased level was incredible. It felt like far more than just one extra.

  The build-up hit me hard and fast. I could feel the girls weakening as I drained their energy, and just as the golden cords tethering us started to fray I released all of that build-up into the prison.

  Lights exploded and what felt
like fireworks ricocheted around the stone room. The screeching of the Seventines stopped. Like they had been cut off mid-bellow.

  The girls collapsed around me, exhaustion wracking their features. And after expelling everything from inside I too found my legs too weak to hold me.

  Brace was at my side. He threw me over one shoulder and Talina over the other. From my precarious position I noticed Colton grab Ria and Dune gently cradle his Fury, and then the men, followed by Lucy, zoomed out of the mountain.

  I was disorientated from my lack of energy, so it took me a few moments to figure out why all the rush.

  Then I noticed the red light splashed along the rock surfaces as we exited. We might have expelled the Seventine, but we’d failed to stop the fourth releasing.

  I lifted my head to examine the determined planes of my mate’s features as he ran. He was so focused on getting us to safety he didn’t notice my examination. Tears pricked my eyes and ran down my cheeks.

  I was going to lose him.

  Lucy, who was just behind, running as fast as her little legs could carry her, caught my eyes. Her face fell too. She blinked rapidly a few times, her expression a mixture of sympathy and pain. I had to bury my face in Brace’s shoulders or I was going to sob my heart out like a baby.

  When we reached the outside, the sooty ash of the dead land rose around us. Brace opened a doorway and everyone filed through. We exited onto the grassed area in front of my house. I was thankful again that the Angelisian beach house was private and slightly isolated. Although our neighbors were used to strange happenings here, it was pretty common knowledge that Walkers were drama magnets.

  “What happened?” Ria threw herself off Colton’s shoulder. She was still weak, stumbling. “Why did it not work?”

  As she lay half collapsed on the ground, tendrils of grass started to rise and wrap around her legs. Damn, she had an awesome power.

  I rubbed my temples. A headache was starting a low pound at the base of my skull. Brace lowered Talina down first. She sank into the lush grass. I sat next to her.

  “I don’t know why it didn’t work. It was never a sure thing.” It’s not like anyone had tried the ritual before. It was just legend handed down by the originals.