Icarus squeaked. “Maybe there’s a new type of security or something,” Donovan translated to his furry friend.
“After all the Darkling attacks, I guess it makes sense,” Edan calculated other possible options. “Call Shui. Let’s regroup and find a way to—”
Hunter pulled Edan’s T-shirt and pointed at a mark drawn on a rock near the lake. It was an open female eye inside a hand. The mark was drawn a few inches above the water line. “Shui! Get out of there!” Edan shouted as loud as he could. “Veter, get her out of there. Now!”
Veter saw the mark, his face turned as white as the snow covering the mountain above them. He dropped his cigar, hurdled himself to the sky and flew towards Shui. “Shui!” he screamed. “Run, baby, please run to me.”
Gaia couldn’t understand what was with that sudden change of mood. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re already here,” said Willow, visibly shaking. “No wonder the door isn’t opening.”
“They’re here?” Gaia looked around yet saw nothing. “How do you know? I don’t understand.”
“That’s an Evil Eye.” Donovan pointed at the mark drawn on a hundred-pound rock. “If we don’t take Shui before the water touches the mark, she’ll die.”
Gaia looked at the mark. The water was two inches away from touching it. Small waves got the water closer to the mark. Shui ran but the floor was too slippery.
“Shui!” Veter screamed. “Please, baby, please, run faster!”
“She’s not going to make it!” Willow cried. “Shui! Run!” she begged her friend as the water got closer to the mark.
“Edan,” Donovan growled. “Get your hands out!”
“I can’t.” Edan kept them steady. “If I move them, she’ll freeze.”
“If you don’t, you’ll die too!”
“I’m sorry my friend. I can’t leave her.”
“Edan!” Willow wept.
Out of ideas, Gaia positioned her hands on the ground. She knew Shui was too far to get there on time. Seconds before the water reached the mark, the earth near the rock grew pushing the massive rock and the mark further away from the water. Blood dripped from her nose but she kept wielding the rock. Suddenly her body stumbled, dizzy from wielding something she hadn’t fully learned how. Gaia was about to lose control, when Willow placed her palms right beside hers. “I got this.” Willow nodded taking Gaia’s place.
Gaia was about to sit down when she saw a large piece of glacier fall into the lake, lifting the water line up to the mark. “Edan! The water touched the mark!” she screamed at the top of her lounges while a black powder crawled through the water covering the entire lake. “Edan, move!” she yelled but he remained with his hands inside the lake.
“Damn it!” Donovan tackled Edan out of the water. Their bodies smashed against the rocks.
“Lift your hands, Blueberry!” Veter carried Shui, taking her out before the water around her turned black. “Are you OK? Do you feel OK?” he asked as he flew her back to where the rest of the team where.
“I’m alright.” She patted his head while he collapsed on the floor shaking. His grip tightening around her, his light brown eyes filled with tears. “How am I still alive?” she panted.
Willow ran and hugged her friend. “The Evil Eye mark was on the rock. Gaia moved it before it was too late.”
Veter hugged Gaia so hard she couldn’t breathe. “Thank you, Princeza.”
“Gaia, are you alright?” Edan placed a hand on Gaia’s shoulder. He used a wet cloth to clean her face. “There. Don’t worry, the dizziness will pass.”
She shivered. There it goes again. He knows what I feel. “I’m alright.”
There was no time for the group to relax from the scare. The ground began to shake. “They’re coming,” yelled Pink after an army of beasts came out of the trees and ran directly towards them. She took out her cassette from her back pocket and placed it in a pocket inside her jacket.
Hunter signaled Edan to look at the snowy mountain. “Good call, boy. Everyone, run to the mountains,” Edan ordered.
They ran and ran but the snow was so thick it was almost impossible to walk. “How are we going to fight if we can barely walk?” Priyam gasped. She was too tired to continue.
Edan stopped. He took a few seconds to plan their next move. “Shui, take care of the snow.”
She nodded. “Hold on tight.” She pointed her palms towards the snow.
“Edan! Do something!” Synthia panicked. The beasts were getting closer.
“Not yet.”
“They’re going to kill us! We are all going to die!” she yelled, running away.
Gaia flicked her wrist; the dirt lifted in a spiral, forming a thick cone that trapped Synthia. “Safer for her,” she said out loud, catching a glimpse of Priyam grinning.
“Now, Shui,” Edan commanded.
Shui pushed her arms forward and up. The mountain shook, the snow on top of it followed her wield and lifted, sliding from the bottom to the top, across them.
Gaia opened her legs to maximize her stand. The snow was hitting her legs and back, it was strong, strong enough to push her body. Her red hair lifted, lashing in the same direction as the snow. She closed her eyes to prevent the snow from getting in and curled her hands into fists to add extra strength. The wind draft made by the moving snow, lifted Gaia’s shirt leaving parts of her back and stomach uncovered. Snow hit her, like needles against her skin. Gaia accelerated her breathing, not only because of the cold but because of how hard it was to breathe. She felt like curling into a ball until it was all over. She wanted to turn herself on fire and melt everything around her, but she couldn’t. Not when Priyam and the rest stood so brave next to her.
Then, Gaia felt a warm hand curling around her waist. The hand was strong and firm. Gaia opened her eyes and saw Edan pulling her against his chest.
“It’s OK, I can take it,” she reassured him.
“I know,” he replied without losing his grip on her bare skin.
Gaia closed her eyes again, only this time it wasn’t because of the snow. This time she wanted to memorize the moment, where something as warm as Edan’s hand gave her body more chills than the cold snow that was sliding against her skin ever could.
Once the snow was high enough, Shui spun in a yoga movement and the snow curled like a massive wave. With her wield, the snow crossed the sky and crashed against the beasts like pounding waves in the ocean, leaving her and the rest of the group inside a moving tunnel of snow.
Still pressed against Edan’s body, Gaia lifted her head. “Wow,” she whispered. She couldn’t believe how incredible the inside of the wave looked. So cold. So deadly. So beautiful.
The snow cleared, uncovering the beasts’ corpses. Edan let go of Gaia. “Floyd! Don’t let Priyam out of your sight.”
“I got an idea. Gaia, give us a tree.” Floyd hugged Priyam. “Hold on to your crossbow, Snowflake.”
Gaia took out a seed from her pouch. She threw it to the ground next to Floyd and wielded the tree to grow.
Floyd grabbed the top of the tree, pulled Priyam, and they stood on a branch as Gaia kept wielding the tree leaving Priyam hidden on top of it and out of reach from the remaining dark beasts. Floyd unhooked Priyam’s crossbow from her back and passed it to her. “Here, remember how we practiced?”
“I do.”
“Ace. Don’t let them see you.” Floyd winked at Priyam and jumped down from the tree landing on his feet in a crouched position.
“How cool was that landing?” he asked his sister who happened to see everything.
“Pretty damn cool, actually.” Pink took Floyd by the arm and pointed at his healing wound. “You’re OK, right? You would tell me?”
“Reckon.” He curled his fingers around the back of his head and untied the bandage. His wound had improved dramatically.
Donovan lifted Icarus with his hand. “Go with Priyam buddy,” he said, but Icarus didn’t move. “I’ll be right here.” Icarus obeyed and glided
up to the tree with Priyam. He couldn’t stop watching Donovan.
“Don’t worry, furry friend.” She petted the sugar glider. “You know Donovan is pretty damn strong.”
Within seconds the first wave of Trackers were on them.
Veter wielded the air, turning it into three deadly tornados circling around them.
“Edan!” Floyd whipped a chain against Edan. He caught it and turned it on fire.
Willow lifted her arms and dozens of boulders dug themselves up and levitated in the sky. The moment the Trackers surrounded her, Willow let the boulders fall on top of the beasts, crushing them to death.
Hunter was right next to Gaia. He took out two daggers and glanced at Gaia. She took out her sword and nodded at him. “I’ll be fine. Go with Synthia.”
Moving like a parkour expert, Hunter jumped and crawled around the rocks and trees as he slashed his opponents with the blades of his daggers. He could sense their movements before they had a chance to make them. Finally, he stayed near the cave where Synthia was trapped, protecting her.
The next waves were the Skuggors. Priyam aimed and shot from the tree.
Gaia lifted her hands. A bunch of roots came out of the ground and curled around the Skuggors. She pulled her hands, wielding the roots to go back into the dirt trapping their prey. To finish them off, she pushed a bubble of fire on them that burnt them to ashes.
From the tree, Priyam saw a Darkling about to stab Gaia. “Watch out, G!” She charged the crossbow, aimed her shot, and pierced the darkling in the chest.
Gaia turned to Priyam who waved at her with a triumphant smile. Proud of her crazy friend, she waved back.
Edan took out the Katana from the sheath on his back. He shifted between his sword and his fire. Sliding underneath a Skuggor with his sword held up, he sliced open its belly. The Skuggor fell dead.
A Crawler came out of nowhere. Willow wielded a vine to encase it against the tree and sucked him into its trunk.
“Great one,” Edan congratulated her.
“Draaks!” Donovan screamed.
The Draak batted his wings. The air lifted so much dirt that it was near impossible for the team to see.
“Veter!” Edan pointed at the Draak.
Veter pushed a wave of wind that cleared the air.
Gaia ran towards Edan. “Edan, we need to leave.”
“You need to leave.”
“I’m staying,” she said as she stabbed a Tracker. “They need to run now.”
“I agree. You are going with them.”
Gaia took her flaming sword out of the Tracker’s corpse. “No.”
Edan held Gaia by the elbow. “Why are you so stubborn?”
“I know two elements now, Edan,” she said, stepping closer to Edan to show him her determination. “We have better chances with me staying here than leaving.”
“Fine.” He let her go.
“Good.” Veter laughed. “Because we’re staying too, Kapetan.”
Gaia turned around and fought a ten-foot Crawler. The team fought their way to a section of the mountain that was covered in trees. Without noticing it, a Draak flew directly in Gaia’s direction.
“Gaia!” Edan screamed but she wasn’t able to hear.
Gaia felt Edan moving, she felt his body shaking with anxiety. Edan? She sensed he wanted to reach her only she didn’t know why.
She burnt a Tracker and turned to Edan. He was running towards her. He pushed her at the last second, taking her place in the Draak’s attack.
Gaia fell to the grass. She looked up and saw Edan’s shoulder being pierced by the sharp claw. “No!” she gasped as she stretched her arm trying to hold him back, but it was too late.
She watched in terror as the Draak shrieked, dragging Edan towards the sky.
Chapter 10
Snow Cave
HORRIFIED, GAIA RAN AS FAST as she could in the same direction the Draak was taking Edan. She felt like the further he was, the more she suffocated. The rest of the group screamed at her but she heard nothing, nothing except for her own heartbeat followed by a pitching sound.
Gaia fought her way across the field. She burnt, crashed, and killed any beast or Darkling that got in her way. A few feet away from reaching Edan, a Crawler crept in front of her. It jabbed its tail aiming for her stomach. She took out her sword, turned it on fire while she jumped and cut the Crawler in half.
She landed on the ground next to the dead beast. Looking up, a group of four Trackers were heading her way. Without stopping, she ran and wielded her fire into an eight-foot phoenix that followed and burnt the Trackers.
“NO!” Gaia screamed when she saw there was a cliff in her way. It would be impossible for her to keep following the Draak. It was getting away.
Still running and fighting, Gaia spotted a bunch of trees near the cliff. She folded her sword, curled her arms towards her chest, and wielded the trees’ roots to come out from the ground. She jumped as far as she could. The roots caught her, cradling her, curling themselves around her.
Now! She pushed her arms to the front wielding the roots to roll open. The roots catapulted Gaia giving her the momentum needed to reach Edan.
This would be a freaking good time to wield wind… She stretched herself trying to reach the Draak that was carrying Edan. It was too far away. “Come on! Come on!”
She smashed against a closer Draak. I’m not going to make it. Edan is going to die. Gaia cried as Edan’s unconscious body was bleeding to death. Knock it off! You can do it, think G! Think!
Gaia opened her eyes wide. This time she knew exactly what she should do. She grabbed the bones of the Draak’s wings. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Draak’s body. She couldn’t find the Draak’s soul but she was able to feel the minerals in his blood, the calcium in his bones. “I’m sorry,” she whispered before lifting her arms.
The Draak’s wings moved following Gaia’s wield. At first the Draak tried to resist but it was too late. Gaia was in control now.
Gaia wielded the Draak under the one that was carrying Edan. She stood on top of its bony back, stretched her arms to the point of hurting, and reached Edan’s body. She tried to unhook Edan but the Draak was holding him too tight.
Fire… she thought, knowing Edan’s almost fireproof body wouldn’t be hurt by it.
Gaia jumped holding herself on one of the tail bones. She climbed up to his ribs and turned herself on fire pushing everything she had towards the flying beast. The Draak growled as it turned to flames. It tried to shake Gaia off but there was no way she would let go. She gripped as hard as she could against a bone and that’s when she noticed, this Draak had no mark on his bones.
The Draak cried. It let Edan go. Gaia jumped and held him tight against her body.
She looked down at the mountain and noticed the part where they were about to fall had no snow but ice. At the end of the ice, there was a 300-foot cliff, and right at the other side, there were dozens of rocks.
With the speed of their fall and the inclination of the mountain it would be as if they took a slippery slide to a bunch of sharp rocks that would impale them to death within seconds.
Refusing to give up, she threw a ball of fire to melt a part of the ice. They landed in the water. Gaia felt Edan slipping from her arms. She swam to the surface, panting for air. She searched all over for Edan and saw he was floating towards the ice slide. “Edan!” Gaia screamed but he was unconscious and unable to hear her.
Gaia swam fast. She reached Edan a second before he slid down the ice. His body was so heavy that he pulled Gaia downhill with him.
Crap…I guess this is it. She hugged Edan. Softly kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she held him tighter.
CLACK, she felt her sword tapping against her leg. She removed it from its cover. This is nuts!! Gaia took the handle and stabbed the ice. The blade buried inside it, slowing them down until they were left hanging from the cliff with the sword being the only thing holding them.
The burnt Draak growled and dove head first towards them. Gaia turned her feet on fire and started to swing until her feet touched the ice. Gaia and Edan slid down the tunnel Gaia was melting with her legs as they fell down. They reached the mountain’s ground, the Draak right behind them.
Once on the ground, she placed her hands against the mountain rock. She pushed until she had created a cave. Tired and in pain, she pulled Edan inside.
She could see a Skuggor running towards them. Whoops. Not good… she pulled Edan with all her strength, managing to get him all the way into the back. Running to the opening of the cave, she wielded it close. Once closed, she could hear the beasts scratching, growling, trying to get in.
Blood seeped from Edan. His cut was dangerously deep. If she didn’t do something fast, he wasn’t going to make it. Unbuttoning his shirt, she peeled the fabric away from his wounded shoulder uncovering a black tattoo which had been so deformed by a burn scar that she couldn’t see its previous shape. “Red,” Edan whispered in pain.
“I’m here, I’m right here,” she repeated over and over again in order to calm him down.
Ok, G… now what? She took a deep breath. “Floyd!” she gasped, knowing what to do.
Scooping up snow, she put it on the wound to clean it, then turned her finger hot and waited. The moment the snow melted, she tapped inside his injury cauterizing the veins. The blood stopped. She knew she needed to close the entire wound after cauterizing the veins but the wound was too big to seal it with her fingers, she needed something bigger. She warmed up her hand and covered the entire wound closing it entirely.
Recap: Death by a Draak, prevented! Death by smashing against a mountain, unbelievably prevented. Death by blood loss, barely prevented. Gaia shivered with cold. Death by Hypothermia… great.
Gaia scanned the cave for options. Lighting a fire wasn’t a good one since it would consume the air, and she couldn’t open a gap because the beasts could break in. Got it!
She closed her hands into fists. She lowered her head and warmed up her body. She wielded her fire to evaporate the water from her clothes, trying her hardest not to turn into flames.
Seasons Within Box Set Page 39