“Riley, I know it’s hard for you to understand. It’s hard for us to withhold information when we know it might cost lives. But have you ever been a part of something so important that your own needs become insignificant? That’s what this is to us.” Jubal paused to let his words sink in.
“Even though we can’t talk about what we know, we still do what we can to protect the innocent,” Gary added. “Like the way we accompanied you up the volcano. We suspected what was up there. We couldn’t tell you our suspicions, but we came with you to protect you all the same.”
Riley saw the same defenseless honesty in Gary’s face that she had in Jubal’s. That helped put her own feelings of guilt to rest.
She felt Dax before he spoke to her this time. They are both great men, sivamet, both have tremendous capacity for caring for others. It is a very rare trait. It is no wonder my people have chosen to bring them in.
Dax had a way of bringing a calming stability when he spoke to her. They helped as much as they could on the trip here, and on the mountain. I owe them a debt. It was odd speaking in her head to someone, but she had to admit she liked the intimacy of it. Strangely, when his voice filled her mind, she sometimes caught a hint of life, his memories, as if more than just his voice had entered her mind.
It seems we both do. Riley heard the conviction in his voice.
If you’re going to keep talking to me, I don’t see why you’re pretending to sleep.
Riley could almost see him smiling I will rise soon. I find I can withstand the sun even longer now than I could before. However, since I doubt Mitro has gone far, I need to conserve my strength.
All the more reason you should stop talking. I’m sure it takes energy to speak to me like this. She wasn’t at all sure she was right, but she remembered how completely drained she’d felt after she healed him.
Riley, I find that I only gain from speaking with you. As for strength, I find myself stronger than I have ever been before, but thank you for your concern.
Riley took a deep breath. You called me päläfertiilam.
Yes. There was no hesitation. He exuded complete confidence.
She felt another surge of heat curling through her body like a wave. I asked Gary for the translation. He said it meant lifemate and that there is only one.
Gary is correct. You possess the other half of my soul. You are the keeper of my heart.
Again, she felt that wave of heat rush over her. How do you know?
I know. He spoke with that same confidence.
How will I know?
This time she felt his smile, his joy. I will share my mind with you. Court you. Persuade you. I can be quite charming when necessary.
Without warning, goose bumps prickled across Riley’s arms. The smile faded from her face. She turned instinctively toward the trail the search party had returned from. The smell of rotting vegetation, one of the jungle’s inescapable aromas, seemed stronger than usual. She realized the song from the plants and earth she had heard since waking had changed, becoming discordant.
Mitro is attacking, Dax told her. Do not fear. You are safe. He sounded certain, but she wasn’t feeling it.
“Safe? I’ve seen what he can do. I’ve felt it. And what do you mean he’s attacking? From where? How?” She gestured to Jubal and Gary, mouthing “Mitro is attacking.”
It’s nothing I cannot stop. He is simply trying to weaken me by forcing me to protect this village while the sun is still up. A group of men and women he has corrupted are moving toward us. You have the ability to track them through the earth if you so choose.
“They’re coming,” she told Gary and Jubal. “Men and women under Mitro’s power.”
Gary ran toward the big tent without a word. Jubal gave her a pat on the shoulder and turned to shout commands in the local dialect. The entire camp erupted with activity, men gathering weapons and preparing for a fight, women hustling children to safety.
“What should I do?” She felt the rush in her body, but was at a loss at what to do about it.
Stay close to the center of camp. And breathe, sivamet.
She felt like an idiot, but she took a moment and tried to calm down.
Good, remember, I will always be with you. I won’t let any harm come to you. She felt invisible arms wrap around her, and the taint of evil washed away, replaced with warm strength. I can sense Mitro’s puppets coming from the neighboring village, but I want you to try and “feel” them. Then we will set a defensive perimeter. Dax showed an image of her sliding her hands in the ground.
Riley knelt down. When she put her hands in the earth before, she’d felt compelled, like the earth itself was asking her to communicate. This time, she was the one doing the asking. She wasn’t sure she really knew what to do—or that she could even do it. Taking a breath, she put her hands together as if she was going to dive into a pool and slowly pushed her fingers down into the earth.
The packed soil shifted, loosening so that her hands plunged in with ease. Surprise gave way to exhilaration as her world changed again. The song of the earth was strong and rich. It hummed up her arms, through her veins and along her nerve endings, a harmonious vibration that filled her with a sense of vast, ancient power and limitless strength. She closed her eyes, sitting back on her heels and savoring the sensation.
Use what the earth offers, Dax advised. Stretch out your senses.
There was nothing on earth not connected to it. She had the wild idea that she could even sense what was happening on the other side of the world, if she tried hard enough. As it was, however, she confined herself to a slightly less grandiose effort. Instead of the world, she reached out to the earth nearby. Her awareness radiated out to all corners of the camp and then beyond, moving through the sandy soil of the rain forest until she located the group moving with deadly purpose toward the camp.
“Dear God.” She could feel the misery, the rage, the evil taint that clung to them like a foul muck.
Riley, remember you’re in control. Your job is to gather information. We need to see how many people are coming, and what sort of surprises Mitro has in store for us. You’re doing great.
Riley steeled herself and tried to look at the mob. In her mind’s eye, she saw the top of a recently shaved head bobbing in front of her. Then another head, this one covered in bloody scratch marks that were already bubbling with infection. She was looking through the eyes of a tree frog, watching as the mob passed by below his perch in the branches.
Frustrated that she couldn’t make out more, she pushed out with her power. Her hands sank deeper into the earth. The tips of her boots sank, too. A second view of the mob appeared, and it was like she had two sets of eyes, watching from two separate angles. Then a third pair of eyes expanded her vision, and a fourth. It was difficult to adjust to the multiple visual inputs.
Breathe, Riley, you are doing great. Let the fear go. You can do this. I’m right beside you. And he was. She could feel him under her, around her, inside her, sharing her mind. At the moment, it didn’t feel creepy or disturbing. She wanted him there, wanted him with her. Good, now focus on what you want. Trust your gifts to do the rest.
There are so many eyes. Where do I focus? Her head hurt. Images were pouring in now, dozens of different wildlife feeding their vision into her mind, each with a different perspective of the advancing threat.
His voice was steady, reassuring, as if they had all the time in the world and this was simply an exercise, not a matter of life and death. Pick a single image and then focus on one small detail.
“Okay, I’ll try.” She chose the first “screen,” the one that came in from the tree frog.
She was once more looking down on the tops of the people as they moved past. One head caught her attention. A woman. Her straight, thick black hair was covered with leaves and ash, like most of the others, but she had something stuck in her hair. An ornament made of bone, carved and painted. Riley could make out the swirls of red and white paint beneath the streaks of ash
. She locked her focus on that hair ornament, and as the woman continued on the frog tracked her with its eyes until the hair ornament disappeared from its view.
The image of the woman immediately changed to a different perspective. Now she was watching the woman from a spot ahead of her, but she still had a clear view of the ornament in her hair. Riley could see part of the woman’s face but she didn’t want to get lost, so she stayed focused on that single detail. As the woman walked, Riley’s vision began switching from view to view. The viewpoint switches started coming faster and faster, until Riley thought she was going to lose herself.
Dax poured waves of reassurance into her, and as if blinds had opened to let sunlight stream in, her mind expanded, using the eyes of every insect, bird and beast nearby to form clear, three-dimensional images of the party.
The entire party of the hundred or so villagers advancing on Riley’s encampment were bent on killing her and everyone with her.
11
Riley was shocked at the clarity of her new, stereoscopic vision, which was so far superior to her own, unenhanced eyesight. All of the details and color, the ability to magnify images and see multiple locations at the same time was incredible. It should have been overwhelming, but miraculously, she was fine. She could do this.
Mitro’s minions were making a straight line for the encampment, destroying everything that attempted to slow them down. It was clear they had come from a local village. And even though everything about them felt evil and wrong, she found it hard to believe all of them had willingly succumbed to Mitro’s foul control. Some of the women had baby cradles strapped to their backs!
Dax, wait. What are we going to do to these people? Kill them? There are mothers in that group!
They were mothers, Riley. Were. The men and women coming toward us are already gone from this world. Only their physical husks remain. Vampires take pleasure in digging out the insides of what they despise and can no longer be, replacing it with the foul evil they have become.
Can’t you save any of them?
I wish I could, sivamet, but it is not possible. Those people are truly gone. The only humane thing to do is put their bodies to rest. I am sorry. Empathy radiated through their connection.
There were no children in the mob, and Riley’s heart broke at the thought of what might already have happened to them. Their parents clearly had not given up without a fight. Almost all of the oncoming villagers bore signs of brutal struggle, including deep furrows scratched into their bodies and faces.
Riley could feel the plant life trying to bend away from the taint of evil the group carried with them. Suddenly her vision went blurry, as if the eyes through which she was watching had lost their focus. She pulled back, closing off all but a few of the viewpoints until she was staring at the approaching group from above. That was when she realized there were several people wearing similar hair ornaments in the row. She counted eight different people, each wearing the same small bone adornment. There was something about them that made her skin prickle. She stretched out her senses and nearly gagged at the overwhelming stench of evil that radiated from them. The earth cringed beneath their feet, insects scurrying away, plant roots withering beneath each step.
For whatever reason, these eight carried the most concentrated levels of corruption in the entire group. As she focused on them, using the reluctant eyes of creatures that would rather run than look at them, she made a disturbing discovery. The long, matted hair spilling down their backs was not their own, but rather multiple bleeding scalps grotesquely sewn together. Riley gagged again as the bowls of soup she’d eaten earlier threatened to come back up.
Those eight are the greatest threat, Dax said. Riley, you don’t need to see more. We have all the information we need.
She held on a moment longer. Are you sure? Maybe I can see something else to help us. More details flooded into her brain. The flesh of the eight seemed to ripple and palpate, as if bugs were crawling in every direction under the surface of their skin. Their fingertips were devoid of flesh, the bones filed down to points.
Not out there. Come back to the camp. Come back now. Dax’s tone changed. He wasn’t making a suggestion.
Riley moved away from the group, releasing the eyes of the forest, but not her connection to the earth. Slowly, she pulled her awareness back to their own encampment, and found herself searching for Dax among the people preparing for battle, needing his calm, reassuring strength. Her awareness shifted downward, and she found him, wrapped in earth, solid and calm in contrast to all the chaos above. Strength radiated from him even while he rested. She could feel his hands running over her arms.
Are you up for a little more?
With the power of the earth running through her veins and his mind connected to hers, she’d never felt so strong before. What did you have in mind?
I was thinking about defense.
Defense? Were you thinking a moat or something?
This is what I was thinking. Her mind filled with an image of the trees behind the camp interlocking to form a dense wall. Two of the trees in the wall remained upright, growing taller than normal. Riley frowned. Weaving the trees into a fence to stop the oncoming attack made sense, but the picture Dax had formed showed the wall being erected at the back of the camp, not the front.
I don’t understand. You want to trap us in? Why wouldn’t you put the fence between Mitro’s puppets and our camp?
I won’t let any harm come to the people in this camp, if it can be avoided. Have faith.
Even as Dax spoke the group of thirty or so in the camp, some only armed with spears, began running toward the tree line he’d shown her. Four of the men broke off from the group and ducked into the big tent. Moments later, they came back out, carrying the professor on a makeshift gurney. His remaining student followed close behind, the professor’s pack clutched in his hands. Together, the small group moved back into the tree line.
Riley reached for the trees and the plant life with a mental sweep of her hand. The foliage vibrated at her touch, then leaves unfurled and roots extended as she encouraged the plants to grow. Soil was rich with nutrition and water. Bushes thickened. Trees grew taller, branches reaching out. Limbs and vines entangled, weaving together rapidly, and a wall began to take shape.
Excellent, Riley. Leave an opening here. He showed her a small opening in the middle of the wall, just large enough for a single person to fit through. When she formed the opening and grew the two trees on either side to his specifications, he said, I have lived a very long life, even by the standards of my own people, but I must say I’ve never been as impressed with anyone as I am with you. You are amazing.
Riley didn’t respond, but warmth unfurled in her belly. It was nice to feel helpful. She still couldn’t believe she was doing most of the things he’d shown her. Seeing through the eyes of forest creatures. Making plants grow with just her will alone. Even her mother hadn’t accomplished such feats, and yet, with Dax’s help, the abilities seemed to come almost instinctively.
She continued to grow the wall of vegetation, spreading it out in a semicircle around the back half of the village to form a natural funnel, with that opening in its center. The rest of the camp filed through the opening in short order.
All right, Riley. That’s enough. It is time for you to leave.
Are you sure the wall will hold? She could feel the attackers drawing nearer. There were so many.
I am sure. Let go of the earth and come back into yourself.
Her hands still in the soil, Riley pulled her consciousness back into herself. It was just as disorienting leaving so many minds as it had been extending out into them. When she was fully back in her own body, she slipped her hands free and staggered to her feet. Her arms and legs felt like she had just run up a mountain, and her head was pounding.
She stood for a moment to catch her balance and stretch her back. The camp was deserted. Only her tent and the big tent at the center were still standing. Everything els
e had been packed up and carried away.
She turned to face the living wall behind her. It was a sight to behold, dense and impenetrable, already covered in moss, leaves, and little flowers of every color. The wall had grown so quickly, the ash hadn’t had time to cover it yet. Gary and Jubal had climbed the two large trees on either side of the center opening, and they had each taken a perch high up in the branches.
Ben emerged from her tent, carrying her backpack. He moved with calm efficiency.
“Time to go, Riley.” He gestured for her to precede him toward the opening in the wall. Evil was on the wind and getting closer, and they were the last ones left in the camp.
As they approached the opening, Riley could see the tips of rifles and blowguns poking through the wall of foliage. Everyone who had preceded her through the wall had taken up defensive positions on the other side. Now, she understood the plan. This evacuated camp ground was to be a killing ground, plain and simple. She turned sideways to get through the small opening. Ben followed close enough behind that he bumped against her with every step.
Slipping one shoulder down she ducked through the last few inches of the tunnel and emerged on the other side of the wall. She stepped clear of the opening to let Ben pass, then laid her hand on the wall and willed the branches to grow and intertwine to close the opening. Through the barrier, she could hear the sound of marching feet, growing louder as their attackers neared the encampment’s perimeter, and it gave her pause. Dax clearly wanted her on this side of the wall, safe and tucked away. Lord knows, she didn’t belong out there in the fight. But she had skills that could help. She wasn’t sure where she belonged.
“You belong exactly where you are.”
His voice sounded in her ears this time, rather than her mind. She spun around and found him standing less than ten feet away. The sun hadn’t yet set, and he stood there in the muted light of the ash-filled sky. Tall, strong, otherworldly. Sparkles of red-gold light flashed around him like fireflies as the dust from his scales rained down from his rising. Riley couldn’t take her eyes from him.
Dark Storm ('Dark' Carpathian Series) Page 20