“Nikolai, I already told you. I don’t know what that is, and I’m pretty sure none of us do.” I turned back to Ender. “Do you?”
Ender shook his head no. I didn’t need to ask Rydan, because I already knew there would be no way he could know. My eyes went to Naminé and she, too, silently shook her head no.
“Lies. I don’t believe any one of you. Where is Mycah?” Nikolai inquired gruffly.
“My god, Nikolai! What will it take for you to believe me? Mycah didn’t tell me anything about it because he knew you would use it against me! Just because we know Mycah doesn’t mean he tells us his secrets. And he is really good at keeping secrets, just trust me on that.” I crossed my arms over my chest, hating how true those words were. “And Mycah is somewhere you will never get to. He is the only one who knows where the darn thing is. So let Zaylie go, because this has nothing to do with her!”
The second Nikolai’s growing smirk turned to laughter, I imagined rolling up my invisible sleeves, stomping over there, and punching the daylights out of him. I stayed calm on the outside, but inside I was screaming as my blood rose to a boil.
Rydan took my hand and gave me a knowing look, as if he could tell I was in distress. He mouthed the word “breathe” silently. I closed my eyes briefly and tried to obey. Naminé stayed hidden behind Rydan’s back, and Ender placed a hand around my bicep in comfort. Or maybe it was meant to hold me back so I wouldn’t do anything rash. It was obvious none of us knew what to do and were afraid to take one false step. We were all in shock.
Nikolai snapped his fingers. The men assembled around Zaylie and unlocked her cage. My feet automatically moved in her direction as they dragged her to stand next to Nikolai. He cut me off, halting me in place. “Ah, ah. You will stay right where you are.”
Cocking a silver pistol, he placed it on the side of Zaylie’s head, and I was left frozen. My heart shattered into a million pieces the moment the sun glistened against Zaylie’s fresh tears that fell down her dirty cheeks, while never removing her soft brown eyes from mine.
Chapter One
~Nari~
It was different here than it was in Luïnil. Completely different. But that was to be expected. I gazed up toward the sun that was high overhead. Normally, I would’ve basked in its embrace on an autumn day such as this, but the rays didn’t penetrate my skin. It was cold.
Licking my dry lips, I tried to swallow as equally desiccated leaves tumbled past my feet. The low-temp wind played with the crisp foliage, but I found no enjoyment in it. My throat felt drier and scratchier than my chapped lips and the blowing leaves. I was so thirsty suddenly. The pounding, throbbing pain behind my eyes and throughout my head wasn’t helping, either.
What was happening to my world? To my reality? Was nothing sacred anymore? A whirlwind of events ripped through my life one after the other with no pause for any moment of slight reflection. I was finally grasping the concept that I was a Tavas’Elda—a Wood Elf. I got to meet my grandfather and walk side by side with those of my own kind—a family that had only existed in my fantasies had become a reality. I’d met my father. My actual, real-life, birth father. Not some drunkard foster father who blamed me for his wife’s death.
But a man—or elf, I should say—who risked his life so that I might live. Who risked everything and everyone, including my birth mother, by bringing me to the Earthly realm to be spared her fate—death.
As Ender stood next to me in front of the grand Weeping Willow tree that I grew up playing under, the wind tousling his hair gently, a look of honest confusion on his face, I realized something. Out of everything that had happened up to this point, and although I kept telling myself he was my father—these were joyous moments that really hadn’t even begun to hit me yet. I always wondered about my grandparents, but especially who my real father was. Now that he stood here before me, I had no feeling or attachment to him. He didn’t feel like my dad. And I guessed that was something that only stemmed from a relationship nursed since childhood. But there had been no stopping to bask in the glory of long-lost, newly united relatives when I had been in Luïnil.
There was a continuous, never-ending supply of WTF moments hitting me in the gut. The sad part was, I still had no peace to really dwell on any of it now that I was back in Kennebunkport. No time to pause and think that I actually had my real father in my life. Because Zaylie was captured. Held hostage. A gun was pointed at her brain right before my eyes.
“Give me the Sindora now, or at least tell me where we can find it, and I will let this girl live. If you do not cooperate, she dies,” Nikolai threatened.
My jaw clenched, and I instinctively tried once again to pull from the land, feel my blood boil and plow a violent tornado into Nikolai’s cocky face.
…But—“I can’t feel Lassaira,” I whisper-shouted to the elf I couldn’t quite call “dad” yet out loud, and especially not to his face.
“Yeah, I feel back to normal,” Rydan agreed softly, scrunching his eyebrows together. “But more importantly, what the hell is going on? Who are these people?” His Fëa Lómë, who was normally a large, white tigress, now took the form of a small, white mouse and sat nestled in Rydan’s neck. She made a squeaking sound and my eyes went wide in response.
“Lómë is a shifter,” Rydan continued to whisper when he noticed my astonished stare at the magical creature. I could only nod absentmindedly. We had more important things to worry about at the moment. I just wished I had the ability to do something about it. I didn’t know what to do.
Naminé gazed around the area with a worried scowl, taking the Earthly realm in for the very first time as she stroked her Fëa’s purple-red feathers. The phoenix, named Calen, sat perched on her shoulder.
“Well?” Nikolai pressed, growing impatient. But I had no idea where the Sindora was, or even what it was, so how could I answer him?
I tried to think of a plan. If we couldn’t get Zaylie out by using force, then I would offer myself in exchange. Zaylie could go home and I’d stay with Nikolai until Mycah could be reached. It seemed like the perfect plan to me. I would much rather be taken hostage than Zaylie, and Nikolai knew Mycah would do anything to rescue me. So really, Nikolai would get what he wanted in the end, or Mycah would save me without giving into him, because he was the only one who had the ability to do so. Either way, Zaylie didn’t have to die. I needed Nikolai to know that. He might need to exercise a bit more patience, yes, but if I could convince him that I would make a better bargaining chip, then hopefully Zaylie could go free.
Unexpectedly, all the guns flew from the men’s hands, including Nikolai’s, and went skittering across the grass out of reach. Wait, what?!
“What was that?” one of the men screeched in astonishment. Yeah, I’d like to know the answer to that as well.
“No!” Nikolai shouted angrily, breaking into a death march toward Ender. I didn’t know how Nikolai knew, but apparently he suspected Ender was the culprit for his weapons disappearing. Was he able to tap into his powers, even though Rydan and I couldn’t? I couldn’t help feeling hopeful. But then they immediately broke out into hand-to-hand combat.
A thin film of sweat coated my skin, sucking wisps of hair to my forehead and neck. The coolness of the atmosphere could hardly be felt through the heat of my nerves. Peeling my tongue off the roof of my mouth, I tried to swallow, but couldn’t.
What all happened next seemed to only take a split-second. I took off in a run toward Zaylie while Rydan defended me from the men bounding up to us in attack-mode. Lómë transformed into a roaring tigress again right before all of our eyes. Gasps escaped from the men as they took a startled jump backward from the large beast, but they quickly recovered their composure and swarmed her.
Lómë was a force to reckon with as she tore her sharp fangs and claws through the mass of flesh surrounding her. She immediately made defending Rydan her focus and helped him as he fought brutally. I did my best not to pay attention to the men who were falling in defeat. We co
uldn’t show mercy, since I knew there would’ve been none shown to Zaylie.
The guy restraining her looked at me with frightened eyes. He probably knew what creatures like Mycah were capable of and now understood that we were just like him. Little did he know, we didn’t actually possess the same abilities as Mycah did.
But we did have Calen. She started swooping down and attacking him. He couldn’t comprehend what was going on, and it seemed like he couldn’t even see her for some reason. I slammed my heel down over his toes. He yelped with pain, but didn’t let Zaylie go. At the same time, while his throbbing tootsies distracted him, I thrust the butt of my palm up to collide with his nose. He doubled backward, grabbing onto it as it gushed with blood, dripping onto his chin. That was enough for him to drop Zaylie’s arm, so I immediately worked to untie the knot that was around her ankles. But it was no use. I was ripped from the spot by a burly man and tossed to the side. An entire group gathered around Zaylie.
Oh no.
Picking up a rock, I whipped it at one of their heads. It crashed into the man clutching Zaylie’s bicep with a loud clunk, but it didn’t seem to faze him too much.
Ender was busy battling it out with Nikolai, and Rydan with the help of Lómë, was busy trying to keep guys off me. Naminé sidled up to my side. It was up to us to free Zaylie.
“Let her go,” I demanded.
“Why should we? What are you going to do about it, princess?” The guy holding her arm mocked. I held back my laughter at the irony of being called a princess by a human. If only he knew how much those words were true.
This time, Rydan threw a rock, but he actually possessed the strength wicked enough to knock out the guy holding onto Zaylie. He collapsed like a rag doll onto the hard ground.
Thank the stars, because it distracted the men just enough for me to kick one of them in the shin. Calen did her best in attacking those she could, giving us opportunities to do some damage. As she tore at a guy’s head with her talons, I kicked him as hard as I could in the stomach. The man’s face grew red like a tomato, veins popped out on his forehead, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Sheesh.
I tried to kick another one in his groin, but he blocked my attempt. Naminé wasn’t getting anywhere with her attacks, either. They were too skilled at this sort of thing. I checked on Rydan and felt my heart sink once I noticed the blood dripping from his nose and mouth.
“Go help Rydan,” Naminé instructed Calen, once she noticed the same thing I had. I was grateful. We could take care of these guys ourselves, anyway. The several men on Rydan and Lómë appeared to have the upper-hand as they continued trying to block them from gaining any proximity to us. Calen obeyed instantly. I could hear bones cracking and crunching behind me, and I prayed they didn’t belong to anyone that I cared about.
I couldn’t tell what happened, since I was distracted by Rydan’s well-being, but Naminé must’ve done something, because suddenly a man cried out in anguish. She sliced her hand out in a swift, straight movement toward the man’s throat. I pulled Zaylie from the moron’s reach and got right to work to undo the knot around her ankles. I wasn’t sure what Naminé did to the guy after that. My attention was focused solely onto freeing Zaylie’s legs so she could run.
Naminé and I half-dragged, half-lifted Zaylie as we ran back toward Ender and Rydan. Nothing worked to get Zaylie’s bonds untied once I quickly went back to it. I needed more time. Naminé tried to bring Rydan some relief. The issue was, these men were trained, skilled fighters. They were meant for this very purpose—for this very type of combat. We were hardly a match for them in reality.
Naminé punched a guy in the face who was about to lay one on Rydan’s side. That left the man wide open to get hammered in the gut by Rydan. He dropped to the hard ground, gasping for air.
One of them came barreling at me to try and get Zaylie. I sided-stepped him, then threw my weight into a swing to his back, right in a spot that I knew would send him to his knees. And it did.
Naminé and Calen were able to defend themselves well and were even able to finish a few men off easily together, but then someone I didn’t see came up behind and took a rock to Naminé’s head. She fell to the ground with her eyes still open. I gasped and ran to her to see if she was okay, while Calen took care of the culprit.
Falling at her side, I checked her throat for a pulse. Oh god, please be okay. I kept repeating those words in my head. A small pool of blood spilled onto the grass. Then I felt it. Though faint, it was there. Her pulse. She was alive. Closing my eyes, I exhaled the breath I had been holding from anticipation. Placing my hand over the wound, I desperately struggled to heal her. Pulling from the deepest parts of me, I put every thought and feeling into this one act. But nothing happened. There was no tingle in my fingertips, no glow to bathe us in triumph. Nothing.
Looking around, it appeared hopeless. Despite Lómë taking care of a good chunk of them, Nikolai’s men were too skilled. It felt never-ending. Ender and Nikolai still fought each other, and there were new guys with knives that seemed to come out of nowhere that Rydan, Lómë, and Calen battled. All of them were getting hurt, and I knew deep down they wouldn’t last for much longer.
Stepping around the ongoing battles quietly, I decided to stealthily make my way back over to Zaylie, who stayed sitting on her knees watching on in horror. If I could get her out of here, perhaps we could make some sort of retreat. Otherwise, there would be no way we could continue to fight all these men like we were.
A large, beefy guy stopped me in my tracks by moving into my path. Seriously? I wanted to growl in his face and smack the evil smirk that was plastered onto it.
He took a swing at me, but I ducked under his arm that went flying over my head. I barreled into his torso, expecting to knock him onto his butt on the ground, but he hardly budged. He smelled like burnt polyester and old feet.
The ogre grabbed my sides, as if he were going to toss me backward, but instead I bit his arm that was next to my face. He yelled a few curse words before letting my sides go, only to then grab me by my hair. When he pulled my head backward, I spit in his face—Right into his eyes, to be precise. It gave me time to slam my knee up into his private area.
Oh, that had to hurt. He made a little squeak while he clutched himself and fell face-first onto the ground. I kicked him in the head in order to knock him out so that we wouldn’t have to deal with him again. At least not soon. I hoped.
Now was my chance. I tiptoed over to Zaylie as quickly as I could without being noticed. She had been watching Lómë with shock, and I was sure she was uncomfortable with the idea of a tiger running about. Once her eyes met mine, she started struggling against her restraints. I put a finger up to my lips to signal for her not to make a sound. She nodded in understanding, her gag keeping her from speaking. I wrestled with the knots around her ankles. They were extremely tight. If only I had a knife.
Cries of pain drew my attention away, distracting me. Everyone I loved was getting injury after injury, and they were losing fast. Even Rydan was barely conscious. I had no idea how it happened, but it appeared the men managed to turn the tables on Lómë, since she now lay in a bloody pile off to the side of where we all were. My eyes roved the area, searching everyone out. Calen looked to be mending a broken wing, and Naminé was still unconscious as she lay sprawled out on the ground.
Trembling like crazy, my fingers kept slipping from the knots. My breathing was erratic; I was a total mess. I couldn’t concentrate when I was scared out of my mind over someone dying at any second. My chest felt like it was going to explode.
I made myself concentrate and worked to get her legs free, but then I realized my fingers were sore and bleeding from the rope. Apparently, there were slivers of glass strung throughout the material. My fingertips were all sliced up, and I hadn't even noticed until the rope was covered in my blood.
Despite the pain, I kept at the ties around her ankles. These knots were pulled so tight. I could hear my heartbeat poun
ding in my ears over all the other noise that was going on around me; it was so loud and deafening. The same word repeated in my head—Please. Please. Please. Please.
Finally, I got Zaylie’s legs free and almost cried, but she could hardly stand up. I cursed under my breath, though not taking a second to stop, and pulled her under the canopy of my Weeping Willow tree for seclusion.
I looked at Zaylie’s ankles and realized she was all cut up, too. She must've been losing consciousness from all the commotion, because she fell backward against my body and her eyes drooped closed. I understood completely what it was like to be in her position. She more than likely hadn’t eaten a thing and it was all too much to bear. But she eventually held her head upright once again. I tried to pull her to safety, but where could I go? They’d see me, and we’d be moving at a snail’s pace since she couldn’t even stand up.
After what felt like hours, but might’ve only been a few minutes, the unexpected cocking of a gun paralyzed me.
“Step away from the girl,” Nikolai ordered menacingly as he stepped through the swaying branches. Where did he get a gun? He couldn’t have gotten one…I gazed up at him to find him holding a mysterious pistol aimed right at Zaylie’s head, and his other hand was held toward Ender, signaling him to stay put across the way. The branches blew in the wind, allowing me to see clearly a knife being held to Ender’s throat from behind by one of Nikolai’s men. “Now! Or say good-bye to your friend!”
“No!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Please, just—just wait! Don’t hurt her, please don’t hurt her, Nikolai. I’ll do anything.” I slowly took a few steps away like Nikolai asked, my back hitting the trunk of the Weeping Willow. He must’ve had the small weapon hidden on him somewhere.
“Apparently you won’t do anything! If that were true, you would’ve brought me the Sindora like I asked of you! You obviously do not care about this girl, to risk her life so carelessly by not doing as I asked. You would rather keep your Sindora than save her life? What kind of “friend” are you? You should be ashamed of yourself,” Nikolai reproached savagely, but mockingly. His words were sharper than a guillotine, slicing my heart into shreds. He was just trying to get to me, I knew it, and yet it was still hard to hear.
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