Four Darklings attacked Edan, whose position in the crowd made them too visible to kill. There it was, the same dizzy feeling he got every time he was near enough to Synthia. His eyes blurred; his mind became foggy. He knew he had a mission to stay near Synthia, but instead, his body moved, guiding the Darklings away from the crowd.
Finally free of Edan, Synthia ran to the other side of the rave to find Jinn waiting for her. “You gave him my note.” She flicked her synthetic hair.
“I did.”
“And FYI, your master’s blood is getting more useless by the minute.”
“It’s not the blood.” Jinn looked at Edan from afar. “He’s just too strong. His body keeps trying to fight the shield.”
“Whatevs!” Synthia pulled Jinn from his cloak. “Is the creepy old man going to make my beauty permanent?”
“Not yet,” Jinn slurred his words.
“When?” She began to lose her patience. As little as she had.
“When he says so.” He slapped her hands away.
“I don’t like this,” Synthia cried, stomping on the floor with her foot.
“Of course you don’t.” Jinn fixed his cloak. “My king is not yours to command.”
“I did everything he asked,” she yelled, losing it with Jinn. “I want more.” Synthia took out Pratt’s rock. “I found this. Would I get more if I give this to you?”
“Where did you get this?” He snatched it from her hands.
“In Gaia’s things. I got it this afternoon when she disappeared to who knows where.”
“No wonder the boy’s tracking abilities diminished.” Jinn clenched his jaw. “Leave before they find you were gone.” Jinn turned around leaving Synthia alone on the beach. As much as she screamed at him, he didn’t stop.
Jinn walked for an hour into the darkness. He reached a dead tree and turned down a dark alley.
“My king, I found it. The reason why the tracker boy missed so many beasts,” Jinn called Azazel. The man walked out of the shadows and Jinn knelt offering him the rock. “You think it’s him, my king?”
Azazel licked the red dot inside the Algiz rune. “It’s his blood.”
“How?” Jinn’s breathing increased. “We haven’t heard of him since the banishment.”
“Now we have.” Azazel placed his hand against the trunk of a living tree. The tree turned black as its life was absorbed by Azazel.
“Why now? What is it that he wants?”
“Same thing he always wants.” Azazel dropped the rock next to the dead tree. “He wants to take Hereu’s place.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jinn yelled. “He will fail!”
“Without question.” A grin crept on Azazel’s thin lips. “He already failed, many years ago. After all, that’s why I banished him from Ifreann.”
“Do you want me to stop him, my king?”
“No.”
“Should we alert Hereu?”
“Don’t engage either of them.” Azazel stepped on the rock breaking it into pieces. “As for this…” He crushed Pratt’s rock with his fingers. The rune dissolved into dust. “He made it this far, I’m intrigued to see what he has planned.”
Chapter 27
Xilitla
“YOU’VE GOT TO be kidding me,” Priyam gasped. Her eyes turned watery as she held Gaia’s hand. “I’m in Eleventh heaven.”
“Like it?”
“Like it?!” Priyam pointed at the view. “Look at it! It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
Dozens of white columns, arcs and thousands of stairs, bridges and open sections that floated twenty feet from the ground, were part of a big castle in the middle of the jungle.
The Pools castle was as far as enchanted can go. The white castle was surrounded by waterfalls, small lakes, and millions of wild plants. Priyam was right, it looked as if they’d crossed into a magical land of elves.
“Can we really stay in here?” Priyam passed her hand over one of the white columns.
“Only for tonight. We’ll leave tomorrow morning.” Edan sat on the stairs. “You can go crazy now.”
“Yes!” Priyam and Gaia sprinted up the stairs. If the view was incredible from the ground, up there was nearly indescribable. Gaia and Priyam sat on the platform, their legs hanging from the ledge.
“You feel that?” Priyam asked. A sense of peace and tranquility filled the air. With the smell of fresh rain, the sound the wind made when crashing with the tunnels, and pillars and the soft rays of light warming up their skin, it was perfect.
“I do.”
“One day you’ll take care of all this,” Priyam said lying down. She lifted her hands to the sky. “One day you will make someone feel this calmness.”
“Maybe…”
“It’s okay if you doubt it, cuz I’ll be sure for you.” Priyam smiled at her friend. “Excited about getting to Terra?
“More like terrified,” Gaia admitted. “Edan keeps telling me I’ll be alright, but come on.”
“What? I don’t see anything wrong with you.”
“How could you not?” Gaia let out a deep sigh. “I fall every two seconds, I’m terrible at math, I blush over everything, I don’t remember a quarter of my life, and I’m pretty sure I will end up burning the castle at least once.”
“True to everything.” Priyam laughed. “If I was them, I wouldn’t want a perfect queen. I would love someone as kind, weird and real as you.”
Gaia smiled. She had no idea how she could’ve managed to live through the journey without Priyam. Just like she was back at the Children’s home, Priyam was the compass of her random life.
“Oi, Snowflake!” Floyd climbed up the floating island Priyam and Gaia were sitting on.
“I’ll go find something to eat.” Gaia stood and wielded a branch to carry her down to the grass.
Smooth as a ninja, he sat twirling a small throwing dagger around his fingers. “Wanna go venture into the wild and find some poisonous fruit?”
“Deal.”
“I see something green,” they heard Veter’s voice coming from the jungle.
“I’m done,” Pink screamed at him defeated. “I’m not playing with you anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Everything is green!”
“But you can’t guess which one I’m looking at,” said the Viking with pride.
Priyam and Floyd burst out laughing. “You should stop teaching him human games, Snowflake, or else Pink will knock you down with her darts,” said Floyd with tears in his eyes.
“I can’t, it’s too much fun.” Priyam crossed her hands. “And Floyd… I don’t cry over everything.”
“You don’t cry at all.” Floyd put away the small throwing knife. “Why would you say that?”
“You keep calling me Snowflake.”
“Lassie.” Floyd intertwined his fingers and leaned against one of the pillars. “I don’t call you Snowflake because you’re a cry-baby.”
Priyam raised her eyebrow. “I’m not white either.”
“I can see that.” Floyd laughed out loud.
“Then?”
“Hit a two-thousand-mile target, and I might tell you.”
“Two-thousand?!” She frowned at the fact that she might never know the reason why. “Seriously?”
“Aye.” Floyd took out a rope and a thick knife from his boot.
“You’re going to get stabbed one day.”
“Why would I wanna stab myself?” Floyd tied one end of the rope on the knife’s handle and threw it towards a tree. The blade pierced the tree keeping the rope. “I have you for that.”
“It was one time, geez.”
Floyd chuckled and tied the other end on a column tightening the rope. “Now let’s find poisonous stuff.” Floyd helped Priyam get up and prepared himself to go down the rope.
“Nice stairs.”
“You know me, style all the way,” he winked. “Just… don’t tell Willow about the tree.” He hugged Priyam and slid down the rope.
>
That night, Gaia roamed around the grounds. There was no light except the moonlight. She crossed one of the many bridges of the castle and found a gorgeous lake. Gaia sat down and wielded a giant ball of water. The bubble levitated from the river and Gaia morphed it into a spinning spiral. She closed her eyes and exploded the spinning spiral into dozens of small bubbles. As the water bubbles fell, Gaia wielded them into bloomed roses that glided all around her and the lake. Suddenly, she felt her match. Edan was close.
“Not bad,” she heard him complimenting her.
“What are you doing awake?” She opened her eyes without losing the wield.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I can’t sleep.”
Edan sat down next to Gaia. He dipped his bare feet inside the lake. “You shouldn’t be nervous about Terra.”
“I’m not that nervous anymore.”
“What’s going on then?”
“I keep thinking that… you were right,” she whispered the latest. “About the whole… you know… ‘let’s wait until Resurgence’ thing.”
“I’m sorry,” he choked. “What did you say?” Edan stared at her. He was completely surprised. “I think I fell asleep without knowing it because I swear I just hallucinated.”
“I’m serious.” Gaia stopped the wield and the water flowers fell to the ground. “You were right about wanting us to wait.”
Edan pressed his lips. He tried to read the situation but that was as unexpected as it could get. “What made you change your mind?”
“My incredible maturity…” she said. He didn’t buy it. “Your neck. How I hurt you. I always saw you like this immortal fireproof badass but there are other things that can cause you harm… Me out of control, for example,” she told him. “I just don’t want to risk it.” Edan smiled. His green eyes wrinkled with happiness. “What’s that smile about?”
“I don’t know if you notice it,” Edan pulled her closer. “Each day that passes, you talk more and more like Nature.”
“As in super elegant? I know.”
“Wise.” Edan kissed her. A small electric shock passed from his lips to her skin tickling both Gaia’s and his lips. Losing themselves within Nature and the smell of blooming flowers, he pulled her even closer. So close it was unbearable. Gaia held his neck and felt the scar. It was both of them who stopped at the same time. “This is going to be tough.”
“You think?” She laughed and turned her attention to the lake. “I love it here.”
“Then you will love Terra.”
“It looks like this?”
“Sort of. Better.” Edan passed his palm through the soft grass. “The places close to the doors tend to look like Terra.”
“Why?”
“Nature can’t be contained by a barrier,” he explained. “The world was meant to be beautiful.” He opened the lotus locket from Gaia’s neck. “It’s getting late, let’s go to rest.”
* * *
In the morning, Synthia poured what was left of the dropper into Hunter’s drink before he returned from the bathroom. She checked a watch she stole from Floyd, it was almost time. She threw the dropper as far as she could and snuck between the pillars.
Synthia could see Edan and the rest preparing breakfast.
For a split second she thought of taking Edan with her but if she was going to get rid of her scar then she wouldn’t need him. She would have dozens of men at her feet. Her eyes stuck on Gaia. How she hated her and everything she represented. Gaia helped Pink with the food, she was so happy. It was very pleasing for Synthia to know that that smile would be gone in no time.
Checking the watch one last time, Synthia needed to go before they knew she was missing. And she did. She ran, leaving everyone to their own fate.
* * *
Gaia woke up with the smell of breakfast. She was sleeping in a vine hammock she'd made and apparently, it was harder to get down than to get up on them. Gaia tried to stretch her leg but every time she did, the hammock moved, promising her a painful fall.
“Need some help?” Priyam yawned.
“Please.” Gaia stretched her arms and held her friend from the shoulders.
“I can’t believe you’re this clumsy.” Priyam carried her down.
“This has nothing to do with that.” Gaia fixed her clothes as soon as she touched the floor. “How the hell did you do it?”
“What can I say, agility is my superpower.”
Gaia snorted. “Since when?”
“Now now, let’s get you some food. The Door is an hour away and Edan wants to leave before noon.”
Gaia followed Priyam to the eating area. Luckily, the twins managed to smuggle bags of bacon or else the breakfast would’ve been fruits and veggies. Unlucky for anyone who overslept… everyone wanted the bacon.
Gaia felt her heart breaking at the sight of an almost empty table. “No bacon?”
“Please… as if bacon survives long among these animals.” Willow took a bite of her mango.
“Sorry Princeza, we were going to wake you up when I helped Priyam out of her hammock, but she said you needed rest.” Veter passed Gaia a banana.
“Agility is your superpower?” Gaia took the banana and glared at Priyam.
“I might’ve exaggerated.”
“Morning.” Edan hugged Gaia with one arm and kissed her forehead. “Here, I saved you some.” He passed her a plate of bacon and eggs.
Marry me... her still-sleepy brain thought. “Thank you.”
Then, it happened. A chillingly cold hissing sounded over the sky. Pink jumped, covering Floyd. A Draak shrieked slapping Pink, slicing a cut on her jaw.
Willow pointed at the Draak; the roots of a tree came out of the ground and wrapped around the Draak’s thick foot preventing him from moving. Edan turned his hand on fire and held the root. The blue fire twirled around the roots until it reached the Draak burning it. Floyd unfolded a sword and cut off the beast’s head.
Donovan ran to Pink. He took her face between his hands assessing the cut. “Are you alright?”
“Aye, it was only a graze,” she said, standing up.
“Ya tosser!” Floyd pushed his twin on the shoulders. “You could’ve seriously hurt yourself.”
“And let you be the only one with a warrior scar?” She laughed. “Never.”
Donovan sent Icarus to check out what had happened. “How could we not hear it? Did the Draak get lucky?” he asked Edan.
“Most likely. Or else, Hunter would have sensed it coming.” Edan studied their surroundings. It was too quiet. “Where is Hunter?”
“Fireball.” Priyam ran out of the pillars. “You need to come right now. I think Hunter’s not feeling well.”
Priyam guided Edan to where Hunter was, his limp body resting on the stairs. “Hunter!” Edan picked the teen up. His face was yellowish, his eyes appeared lost.
“Edan, on his hands.” Willow bent down. She took the glass of water Hunter had. She smelled it, and her face turned instantly paper-white.
“Willow? What is it?” Donovan asked over her visceral reaction.
“Run!” Willow’s voice cracked in terror. “Run!” Her scream was too late. The screeches from dozens of dark beasts were heard a few yards away from them.
Chapter 28
Terra
GAIA RAN. The piercing sound and her own breathing were the only things she could hear. She could feel the branches slapping her face and her arms. Her feet hurt whenever she stepped on uneven ground and her chest begged her to take a break. She couldn’t. They needed to reach the door, a door that seemed unreachable.
Gaia perceived a group of beasts getting closer to them. From the way they moved across the rocks and fallen logs, Gaia could tell what kind of beast they were. Skuggors… We’re twenty miles away, a Skuggor runs over fifty miles an hour… she calculated according to what Hunter had taught her. There’s no way we can make it.
Without thinking twice, Gaia stopped and turned around. She lifted both
of her hands wide.
Edan felt Gaia’s decision to stop. “What are you doing?”
“They are too close, we won’t make it.” Gaia wielded the trees’ branches to grow. They intertwined with each other creating a thick, tall barricade.
A group of spiky thorns twirled around the trees creating a thicker barrier. Not being the one who wielded the thorns, Gaia turned to find Willow next to her mimicking her movements. “Great idea.” She smiled at Gaia. With both of them working on the trees the wall was done in no time.
“Straps.” Edan threw Gaia a pair of leather straps. She curled the leather around her forearm and lifted her arms, folding them over her head.
The forest was covered in darkness. Gaia lifted her gaze and saw a group of at least fifty condors flying above. Eight of them dipped, picking up the group by their arms. Veter glided in front of the line with Hunter in his arms.
“Another Draak.” Pink released one of her arms from the condor’s grasp. She took out a metallic cylinder from her back pocket and threw it towards the beast. “Hold on tight!” The cylinder hit against the Draak’s bones and exploded, sending pieces of the beast all over the jungle.
“Did you just use one of my bloody grenades!?” Floyd wiggled. “I told you they’re hard to get.”
Pink offered her forearm back to the condor. “Stop wiggling or you’ll fall, you knob.”
“Pink.” Donovan was being carried by another condor on her left. “By any chance do you have more grenades?”
“No.” She smiled at her twin brother who kept glaring at her. “I have other explosives but they aren’t heavy enough to reach as far as that one did, why?”
“Because we’re going to need them.” He turned his head facing two more Draaks.
One of the Draaks got close. Too close. It jabbed its tail killing the condor that was carrying Pink. She fell down toward the jungle when another condor caught her midair.
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