The Final Link_The Gateway Saga

by Erin Thornton

  Getting into her starting position, Aggie motioned with the first two fingers on her right hand, “Bring it boys. I think I’m in the mood for a challenge.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. You are in it to win it, let’s do this.” Ren and Mitchell moved to their starting point, giving no inclination as to which one would move first and when. Aggie got up on the balls of her feet and started bouncing around back and forth every second. This gave her prime view of both men with only a second or two delay. While they were fast, she should at least see them move.

  Ren came at her first from the right, she dodged him easily rolling to the left and out of his reach. Mitchell came next and very quickly, but she rolled back through her right shoulder. The entire time never losing her bounce in her step. Mitchell doubled back and she didn’t have enough time to spin away, instead she connected with his jaw using a right uppercut. She didn’t do too much damage, as he shook it off and glared at her. Staying in motion, Ren sped up and ran straight forward, but with Mitchell still to her left she locked in and nailed Ren in the abdomen with a double jab, right then left.

  Ren doubled over at the impact, making Aggie feel justified for the force she was packing. The only let down was Ren’s beaming grin shining back at her instead of a pain laced grimace. Shrugging it off, she was thankful that she at least got part of a reaction.

  “Is that all you got?” Now Ren was taunting her and she wasn’t going to let that slide. Deciding to take the game to them, Aggie kept her bounce in her step, but flexed her fingers and arms loosely by her side. It looked a bit silly, she knew, but it was more a distraction. Her shoulders twisted slightly, adding to the rubbery look of her arms.

  The distraction was just what she needed, as she reached for her powers quickly hoping to achieve the final goal before they realized her eyes were glowing. Looking up slightly and closing her eyes, like she was just shaking out her muscles.

  Without warning, Ren yelled and Mitchell bellowed as only he could, the sound carrying across the room. Not releasing the magic, Aggie opened her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips smiling confidently. What she saw was just what she had designed. Both men were suspended from the air from a thick vine, that twisted and turned through the space. It almost resembled a briar without thorns. She didn’t have any plans to hurt them but just remind them she wasn’t relying solely on her ability to fight with her physical strength.

  “Now boys I think you should have a bit more awareness of what I’m capable of, I can do this anywhere. I just created this inside and not just outside. There is a limited list of places where my powers would be completely useless.” Choosing to hold them both there a bit longer, Aggie just waited them out. When they were able to acknowledge her as more than just a simple girl, then she would let them down.

  Just then a movement caught her eye, it was Eldon. She turned with a smile on her face, but quickly realized he wasn’t there on a social call. He was moving a rapid speed and with the concentrated look it was obvious he was attacking. Her hackles rose instantly, and she nearly missed the chance to get her hands up. She rolled to the left, but not before he clipped her with his elbow propelling her a bit farther than she had intended.

  “What was that?” Aggie screeched at him, but she realized that in the loss of concentration she had lost her hold on the vines. They weren’t gone, but the twins were working their ways loose. So she quickly twisted them a few more times for good measure to limit their process. It was a good thought too, because just then Kyrel dusted in front of her face and shoved her back.

  While they weren’t using full force, she was getting pissed because this was four to one and those odds weren’t right. Letting out a frustrated yell, Aggie got herself into position. If they were going to gang up on her, she was going to put up a good fight. Her timing couldn’t have been better because a swirl of wind was coming her way and while she couldn’t identify the source, she assumed it was Eldon using his magic to create some sort of cover. Throwing her hand out, she imagined an rock hard shield and braced herself against it. If nothing else, she hoped it would end up splitting the air and causing it to go around her.

  Since the shield was invisible, the force didn’t know what she had done. To Aggie’s surprise, it impacted her with the force of a man made of stone himself. Xavier slammed into her knocking her flat on her ass, hard. For her lack of awareness and preparation she paid for it with the loss of all air she had in her lungs. Gasping for air she fought to regain control. When the twins mentioned Xavier was fast, this wasn’t anything like what she had imagined. She literally couldn’t see him at the speed he was moving. It was as though he traveled through time. Had she not noticed the wind, it would have been worse without her shield in place.

  Getting to her feet, Aggie knew they weren’t going easy on her. While they weren’t throwing punches and all out hitting her, this was a fight and if she couldn’t win she was damn well going to try. Putting her fists back up to protect herself, she bounced back on her feet spinning around quickly so as not to miss her next attack. Kyrel dusted in again and she felt the air shift around her just before he reappeared. Hoping she wasn’t wrong she recalled his approximate height and reached where his head should be appearing. Using his own momentum, gripping the back of his scalp and latching onto his hair, she pulled him down quickly and brought her right knee up and slammed it into his nose. While she didn’t cause any bloodshed, it was enough to slow him down.

  Without missing a beat, Eldon was back in the game coming at her from left, she met him with a right cross, twice to the face. She was finished dodging and was ready to bring the fight to them. They wanted to now gang up on her five to one they would feel the pain of it all. She wasn’t going to back down and let them win. This was her fight and she was planning to own it.

  Xavier, who was the one she had to watch, was missing. She didn’t know yet how to combat his speed, but she was still working it out. Then from above he first twin fell to the ground and landed in a roll. Aggie was a bit disoriented because she had been twisted and dropped and twirled around. She didn’t realize which one it was until he popped up and the furious grey eyes of Mitchell were piercing and he was pummeling towards her. Raising her hands to the ready and still bouncing on the balls of her feet, for fear one of the other guys would attack at the same time. Mitchell got close and Aggie feigned to the right and he went with her, but she recoiled quickly twirling back around and got him with a left hook to the jaw. It all happened so fast, Aggie was impressed herself at her fast planning.

  “HA! Take that you overgrown dog!” Aggie was so excited her skin was practically vibrating. The ideas were flowing through her head and then from behind she felt a set of arms encircle her. Not knowing what else to do she didn’t fight she used her magic. Turning the ground beneath her attacker to ice. The unexpected change of texture caused him to waiver, giving Aggie enough room to break free and spin around. Her attacker was none other than her favorite twin, Ren. His eyes were huge, but more in awe of her process.

  Xavier was still unaccounted for but she didn’t underestimate his plan. He was likely lurking in the shadows in wait. She was ready for him, nothing was going to stop her from dropping them all properly. Bouncing back into her ready stance, Aggie twirled what felt like forever. None of the others attacked and she didn’t know why, other than they were also waiting to see what the elusive vampire was waiting to do. Instead of waiting for him, she decided to reach out for her other senses. She closed her eyes and called on her magic. It was a dangerous move, to give up her primary defense and cut off her line of vision, but Aggie assumed he was going to sneak up on her with his speed anyway, so what the hell.

  The air moved around her and as she bounced around she noticed the slight differences. After a moment, she felt it shift and she followed it. It changed and grew and the pressure was full Aggie knew this had to be Xavier. She followed with her eyes still closed, allowing her magic to lead her. Aggie only took three steps
before she smelled the metallic tang, similar to what was in the goblet that fateful morning when she was introduced to his nature. Turning slightly, the air shifted and Aggie just knew. Opening her eyes, she saw him directly in front of her.

  “Do you want to try this magically or on the level?” Aggie proposed since they both knew she could attack him with her magic with relative ease. That and he could run on her and disappear. They each had their own advantage.

  “I’d be happy to go toe-to-toe with you, wee one. I’ll even let you use whatever you need to and I’ll stick to basic hand-to-hand combat, but I won’t hurt you.” Motioning for her to approach him, which was smart, given if he took one step toward her she was going to unleash a tornado and swoop him up to the clouds.

  “On the count of three, you’re welcome to attack me.” Aggie figured it was the best approach.

  Sounding off her count, Xavier reached for her with both hands. That was an interesting plan given Aggie’s propensity for dodging, but this wasn’t her plan. As soon as Xavier moved, Aggie summoned energy from her magic into her right leg. With every bit of force, she could manage, Aggie kicked straight out, and forced Xavier from her. Only what she didn’t expect was for him to fly back at least eight feet from her, landing on his ass.

  Chapter 17

  Walking back to the common room, “That was epic!” Ren was practically bouncing down the hallway unable to contain his excitement. Aggie was still a bit shocked by what had transpired. “Can you believe what she did? Xavier, I’ve never seen anyone take you down like that. Can you imagine what she will do when she takes on more of our powers?”

  “That wasn’t her powers.” Eldon was deep in thought and no where near as excited as Ren. Aggie snuck a glance at him and was worried he was upset by what she just did. “I think this is a development of her true nature. As the Gatekeeper, she is stronger than the average human. She is embracing who she is now. That is something that her ancestors haven’t done for many years.”

  “I’m not sure what it was,” Aggie finally decided, she wasn’t going to let them make her feel bad for her actions. “I know I felt my magic under my skin waiting to be needed. While I did use it on some things,” she gave a pointed look at Mitchell and Ren. “I didn’t call on it per se to take on Xavier. I used my senses and what I assume was my magic or instinct to find you in the dark, but then I just replenished my energy before I kicked. It was no different then when I used it to top off my resources, when Thing One and Thing Two” Aggie pointed with her thumb at the twins, “over worked me on the mats. Not to mention you were all ganging up on me. If it had been an actual fight you would be patting me on the back not trying to sort it all out.”

  “Well, I’m going to guess something else was at play there.” Xavier’s words were spoken softly, as though he didn’t want anyone to hear. Aggie also noticed he was walking behind them all. As she glanced back quickly it looked like he was rubbing his ass.

  “You aren’t still hurt, are you?” Aggie was worried she had harmed him beyond repair and for that a bit guilty. It wasn’t her intention to hurt any of them, ever.

  “No, more confusion and memory of the pain. I’m not one who retains injuries for long. Usually, I don’t even feel the pain, but for some reason this time I felt it, even if it was only briefly.” Xavier, the man of few words had just given her a glimpse into his world. While it wasn’t much, it was something she could stew over for a bit. Just as quickly as she had noticed his slip, he was back to stone wall as though nothing was bothering him.

  “I think with a bit more training, she will be ready to take on anything.” Mitchell’s words rang home to Aggie and for once, they didn’t make her want to lash out at him. “She performed well today.” The words of affirmation were filling her soul with hope. Maybe things would work out after all.

  Before they could reach the common room, a crash and a commotion caught their attention. Sparing a glance between them, it was decided they needed to go check this out. Xavier, who was still behind them, became the leader and they were off with a staggered speed. Some a bit faster than others but overall, they all stayed together. Twisting around hallways and through corridors, Aggie wondered where they were headed. It couldn’t have been that far away since they heard the scuttle so clearly. To Aggie’s surprise, when they stopped it was at the front gates. “How did we hear anything that far away, so clearly?”

  “It’s the hallways, they make sound travel differently.” Eldon answered for her, but she wasn’t satisfied.

  “Then how did you know where to go?” Aggie insisted before they were able to proceed.

  “Xavier.” The words took a moment to register to Aggie. Then it dawned on her. He was in the lead and she hadn’t been watching him the entire time. He must have run ahead and returned before anyone even noticed him missing. That speed was a real asset, all things considered. Her thoughts were cut short, as they approached the, now open, front gates. A hoard of people barraged the gate and the gate was ajar. Torches, that were once hanging from the wall, were laying on the floor. The commotion must have knocked them from their resting place.

  The people were all gathered around, forcing them to push their way through. Guards parted for them, but it was the other side of the gate that had the most people. What Aggie saw took her breath away. Mathius had mentioned at one point the vast amount of demon species was more than she could fathom.

  Most looked human like Mathius, but many carried different features that would never pass as normal on Earth. Well, unless you went to the ‘special’ parts of town. Aggie recalled seeing a few strange piercings and implants a time or two. That and given the number of tattoos on some bodies it is a wonder they aren’t deemed alien or something.

  This was different though, she saw men who stood eight or nine feet tall with blood red faces as though they had stood in lava or boiling water for too long, permanently scarring their faces with the color of the heat that must radiate through them. She saw, what she thought was, a woman with horns coming out the side of her head like a bull with broader shoulders than the man standing next to her. He was shorter but looked more like he belonged in the water. Even from the distance, she saw the slime that was covering him. Another person she saw looked like they glowed, but she couldn’t tell if they were male or female. Their skin was bioluminescent in a way and Aggie was definitely intrigued. This was just a fraction of the faces she saw in this sea bombarding the castle gates.

  “What is going on?” Aggie asked and was thankful that even though her men didn’t seem to know, a guard heard her and answered.

  “A child has made its way from the outer lands. No one knows from where exactly, but he came home this morning. After a little food and some rest, the parents have brought him here to speak to the king.” She nodded her understanding to the guard, but her brain was overworking. A child? Home? Could this be one of the missing children? Aggie was caught up in her train of thought, she didn’t realize the rest of her men had gathered around her.

  “Bring the child to us.” Mathius’s voice rang through the space and was more of a bellow that bounced from wall to wall, carrying as far as they could see. Turning to look at him, she saw him there in all his glory. One wouldn’t doubt he was the head of the guard. Full leathers and a scowl, that matched the fiercest warrior. Aggie was proud of him but given the fact they were meeting a child, she was instantly on guard.

  “Mathius, dear?” She used a sing-songy voice to show she meant no offense. This was his territory and all, but she needed to offer some guidance. He looked at her with a puzzled expression and she took that as a green light. Shuffling a tad closer to him she said on a hushed breath, “You might want to lose the face. I suggest something softer. You are dealing with a child of unknown age. The last thing you want him to do is clam up because you are a bit scary right now.” Aggie shrugged unapologetically. He needed to consider what he was going into, and it wasn’t a battle, at least not yet.

  It took him a mom
ent, but Aggie knew the instant it sunk in, his eyebrows softened and the fierce crease in his forehead smoothed. He once again became the gentler version of himself. While they waited, Aggie decided now would be a good time to get some answers. “Since we have a moment, care to enlighten me as to what I’m seeing here.” She indicated the sea of demons standing in front of her.

  “What would you like to know?” Mathius waited for her to answer, as opposed to carrying on about histories and lifestyles like Liel likely would have.

  “Just tell me a little about what kind of demons I’m seeing. I’ve met Delia but I don’t see any one like her, that I can tell.” Aggie scanned the crowd and while Delia was a more visually tame demon unless you looked very closely, it didn’t seem there were any of her kin lurking at the castle gates that day.

  “Well, Tiran there,” Mathius indicated the smaller man who looked to have come from the sea, “he is a Kappa. His kind are aquatic but can live on land for a time. He just has to get a daily dose of water to survive.” Mathius didn’t go into length about powers or anything. He just covered the basics and gave Aggie a better understanding of the different races of demons.

  “Arina,” he nodded his head in the direction of the woman who wore horns the size of a grown bull, “She is a Shedu. They have the horns of a bull and the wings of an eagle.” Aggie hadn’t noticed her wings, but that could have been due to the trench coat she was wearing over her Hulk-like shoulders.

  “Ragror,” Mitchell’s gaze was in the direction of a man Aggie hadn’t noticed before. He looked more human than demon and so Aggie’s gaze didn’t settle on him in her pervious sweep of the crowd. “His kind is a bit rare, Rokurokubi. They have the ability to stretch their necks farther than one could imagine.” Aggie was enthralled by his every word. The thought that these people could possess such powers that on Earth would be unfathomable.