The energy hit my back and I collapsed from the searing pain. I couldn’t keep the scream from escaping my lips as heat washed over me. Then, as fast as it had come, the pain was gone and Rayna was kneeling next to me. She stood and helped me to my feet.
“Oh my God,” Rayna said.
“Oh my Goddess, actually,” Elyas said. “It was after all, a goddess, not a god, who created your world. And it is from that goddess this gift comes.” Rayna’s hand touched my cheek and our eyes met.
“They’re healing! All your wounds are healing themselves,” she said.
I touched my face and felt the skin moving back over my exposed flesh. My fingers came back with blood, but the skin was knitting itself back together.
“How did you…” I said, looking at Elyas.
“The mark of the gods comes with many gifts, but this is not one of them. This healing is your own power. What you thought did not exist was inside you all along.” Elyas said.
“What are you?” I asked.
“I am a piece of the goddess’s soul. Each time a god or goddess creates a world, they are forced to give that world a piece of themselves. I belong to Earth.”
“What is this?” I pointed to the ring on my finger.
“It is Serephina’s ring. It will help you on your journey, as your elements will,” she said.
“But I don’t have an element.”
Elyas chuckled and displayed her palms and the red blisters upon them. “How do you explain how you wielded the flames, or used the healing power of water to close your wounds?”
“But I went through the ceremony; I wasn’t blessed with any elemental powers,” I protested.
Elyas sighed. “A hunter’s power is not meant to be forced out. It is raw magic that emerges on its own. It matters not when you get your powers, hunter, but that you get them when you’re ready. You have always had both the damaging blaze of fire and the healing calm of water. It seems, however, both blessings have chosen to reveal themselves to you only now. There is more power inside you than you know, my dear boy, and in time it all shall reveal itself.”
“How do you know all this?” Rayna asked.
“I am a piece of the goddess’s soul. As with any soul piece, I know what she knows,” she said.
My eyes widened. “There are multiple pieces?”
Elyas nodded. “Every world has one.”
“But the vampire who sent us here wanted the scroll. He never said anything about a goddess’s soul piece,” I said.
A cold expression washed over Elyas’s face. “Under no circumstances are you to give him this ring or the scroll. Although the scroll’s magic has been released, the object itself can still be used to lead him to other pieces. You do not want those in the hands of the wrong person.”
“What are the other pieces, and where?” I asked.
She sighed. “They are everywhere, in every dimension, and they take on many forms.”
“You said something about a mark?” Rayna said.
“Your hunter has a destiny to bear the mark of the gods. Only one true warrior receives such an honor – one who will lay down his own life for another’s.”
“What does it do?” I asked.
“It’s the mark of the gods. It does what it does.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at Rayna, who only shrugged.
“That’s it?” I said.
“You are the protector. It is not a duty you should take lightly.”
“But I don’t know what that means!”
“You will. I wish you well on your journey.”
She turned and began floating away from us.
“No, wait!” I called out after her.
But there was no answer. She raised her arms and her form shifted into a ball of light that grew larger before dissolving into a blinding white radiance that forced my arm up to shield my eyes. When it faded, I pulled my arm away to find we stood back in the forest in front of the giant tree.
“I’m not sure what just happened,” I said.
Rayna eyed me. “I thought it made perfect sense,” she replied, walking past me towards the woods.
“Really?”
“Are you kidding me? I have no idea.”
~~~~~~
Chapter 18
Night had swallowed the sky and the street lamps were buzzing as we walked through the industrial park.
“How’s it feel?” Rayna said.
“What?”
“Does it feel strange to suddenly have elemental powers, and two of them at that? That’s pretty rare.”
“I know, but I don’t feel any different. Besides, we were in a place of magic. Everything was different there, so who knows what I can actually do.”
Rayna stopped and turned to me. “Try.”
“I don’t know how.”
She smiled and stepped closer. “What do you mean you don’t know how? You already did it. Reach down into the same place you get all your magic. Like when you focus on breaking down glamours, you have to focus on the element you’re calling.”
I closed my eyes and focused on drowning out everything around me. Sweat formed on my hands, mostly from the fear that nothing would happen.
I opened that magical place inside and let the magic pour out. I felt it warm me as I thought of fire, heat, and burning. The heat moved outward through me until I thought my insides would ignite. It hurt as I focused that power into one hand, imagining a fireball growing in my palm. I pushed at my magic and felt a flicker of warmth. I pushed a second time and the burst of warmth turned into a small ball of blue flame. I pushed harder and watched it grow, filling the palm of my hand with a tingle.
“Not so tough, is it?” Rayna remarked.
I laughed with excitement. “I guess not,” I said, but speaking made me lose focus and the tingle turned into a burning sensation. Panic replaced my excitement and I shook my arm furiously, the flame swaying with the movement. The heat blistered my skin and Rayna’s eyes went wide.
“Think about water, or something about smothering the flames out!” she yelled in a panic.
I did as she said, but it was hard to focus on anything through the pain. I gritted my teeth and pictured the flame being snuffed out and the smoke that would rise. The pain seared through me for one more moment before vanishing. I breathed heavily, feeling my pulse in my throat.
My hand smoked and I caught sight of the large blister seeping clear fluid. The pain had been mild until I looked at it. I tried to move my fingers but a cry of pain escaped my lips.
Rayna took hold of my arm. “I should have known better than to push you before you knew how to control the effects of your magic.”
She was right. This sort of thing is what happened when elementals tried to use their powers without knowing what they were doing. “This is going to take a long time to heal. Unless…” She looked up at me.
“Unless what?” I said, wincing in pain.
“Elyas said you were both a fire and water elemental. Maybe you can heal it like you did your wounds in the sanctuary.”
After how this first experiment had gone, I was nervous to try. Water might seem like a harmless element, but I’d seen what it could do. “Did you not see what just happened? I might try to heal it and end up drowning myself.”
Rayna nodded. “You’re right. You probably couldn’t do it on purpose anyway.” She shrugged. “Let’s go, then.”
I watched Rayna take a few steps and my arrogance got the best of me. I closed my eyes and thought of a creek with clear water moving over smooth stones, cool to the touch and pure. I pulled my magic up through me again. It came faster this time, but with an icy sensation. I pictured my wound wrapped in that cold, healing water and washed clean, the water flowing over it, pulling the skin back together.
“Wow...” Rayna said.
I opened my eyes and the searing pain had been replaced with a cool tingle. The blisters on my hand vanished before my eyes and new skin crept from my wrist over my palm. I
t didn’t stretch my existing skin, but the new skin grew at an alarming rate. I’d always healed faster than most, but this was remarkable. The skin knitted itself inch by inch over my palm and fingers. After a few minutes, my hand was covered in fresh skin without a trace of a wound.
“I guess that answers your questions,” Rayna said.
“What questions?” I asked.
Her warm cat eyes met mine. “First, your power is strong. I mean, insanely so for someone who just received it. Second, it wasn’t just the magic in the sanctuary; you really are a fire and water elemental.”
“Well what about you? What you did back there with the rocks was amazing.”
She smiled and inclined her head slightly. “I’ve done things like that before, mostly by accident, but it’s never been quite that impressive. Marcus thinks the mixture of the demon and hunter powers within me must complement each other somehow. It’s hard to say what’s what when it comes to my magic.”
We stared at each other a moment and for the first time I could see Rayna not as a demon, but as a person. I didn’t know exactly what I felt, but it was good, and that scared me.
“We should get Willy,” I said, shaking the feeling away.
Rayna stared at me a moment longer before she nodded. “What’s the plan?”
“What do you mean? We give Vincent the scroll and get Willy back.”
“You can’t be serious. We’re not giving Vincent the scroll.”
“That was the deal. We get the scroll so we can get Willy back safely.”
“You can’t honestly give the scroll to an evil demon after what just happened down there. We don’t want it in the hands of someone like him.”
I sighed. “We made a deal.”
“So what? You were intended to have it, not him.”
“I gave my word and I intend to keep it. The magic of the scroll is gone. The worst that could happen is it leads him to another soul piece, and they’re all in other dimensions. The portals to them have been sealed for thousands of years. I don’t care how powerful he is, he’s not strong enough to break the seals. Besides, the two of us can’t take on an entire nest of vampires. You said so yourself.”
“I know what I said, but…”
“Look, if all Vincent can get from the scroll is a clue to another soul piece, if he’s even smart enough to figure that out, then so be it. The power of the scroll is inside me now, whatever that means.”
“You’re right. We’ll get Willy back and worry about the scroll later.”
I think Rayna realized I wasn’t willing to negotiate, but I also knew she was right. Vincent shouldn’t get the scroll, but I couldn’t think about that now. First, I needed to save Willy.
Three vampires stood outside the gate as we approached and one stepped forward. He had bleached blond wavy hair and light purple eyes set in his pale skin. His body was skinny and he looked like a teenager. The poor kid hadn’t had time for his body to fill out before he was turned.
“You have the scroll?” he said. His voice was still a kid’s too, not given time to deepen.
“Where’s Willy?” I demanded.
The vampire smiled, letting his fangs drop from his gums. His skin became a transparent film, his veins ran black against his flesh and talons extended over his nails. I knew he wasn’t very old as a vampire, as the younger ones always thought that was impressive. All it did for me was give away that he was, at best, a few decades old.
“I’m Max and I’ll be handling the exchange. Give me the scroll and you can have your friend,” he said. His fangs gave him a lisp.
Rayna laughed and it surprised me. “No, that’s not going to work for us. We’ll deal with Vincent directly.”
Max returned the laugh. “You’re not in a position to be bargaining, little girl.”
I couldn’t resist cringing at those words. I didn’t think being called a little girl would go over well with Rayna.
Her fist flew towards him and her knuckles cracked against his face. The crunch of his nose breaking made me grimace. He hunched over and brought his hands to his face as blood poured from his nose.
“Dammit,” he swore loudly.
I patted his back as he hunched over. “I know, I’ve been there.”
“Get ’em!” he yelled. His voice was muffled through his hands and fangs as blood seeped through his fingers.
The other two vampires shifted in response, fangs dropping and razor talons extending. In a flash, they rushed towards us.
Rayna and I both fell into fight mode. Rayna unlatched the whip from her hip and pulled it back. It cracked as the silver tip snapped against one vampire’s skin, splitting it open. A fierce roar escaped his transparent lips as he touched the gash across his face.
The other vampire stopped and looked at his buddy. I took that moment to slide a dagger from its sheath. When he turned back to face me, the blade was already screaming through the air. It finished its last rotation and slid deep into his chest. His skin crackled with a faint orange glow and his body lit up as though a star exploded inside him before it shattered into ash. The dagger made a soft tink as it hit the pavement.
I did a dive roll to pick up the blade and the other vampire attacked. I had the dagger in hand, ready to push through his chest, but before he got close enough, the silver-tipped whip coiled around his neck. Rayna pulled back on the whip and he went flying. His back hit the pavement and Rayna was already plunging her blade deep into his heart. His ash swirled in the air before settling over the ground.
We turned to Max, the fury of battle painted on our faces. He watched us from between his fingertips, hands still cupping his face. “I’ll get Vincent,” he said in a defeated voice. His face changed back to its more mortal appearance and he ran back to the warehouse, a puddle of blood pooling on the ground where he had stood.
Rayna still had her battle-ready look on her face. She nodded to me and I nodded back gravely, as a sign between soldiers to acknowledge we had each other’s backs. If a warrior could have one thing that was irreplaceable, it was a good partner. I’d never had one before and Rayna had proved to be not only capable of covering my ass, but willing to. Somewhere along the way I had begun to trust her, and I think I had even started to need her, which was probably a mixed blessing.
Max returned with a dirty rag covering his nose. He beckoned to us and we followed him into another part of the warehouse.
A mix of vamplings and vampires stood in a circle and parted as we came towards them. Hissing followed us as we walked through the opening, but neither of us acknowledged it.
A large area rug covered a piece of the concrete floor in the middle of the room and was covered in standard, if old, living room furniture. Considering that Vincent’s family was the most powerful in the city, I wasn’t sure why he stayed in such a slummy building.
Willy sat on the smaller of two couches with Vincent in a single chair opposite him. We took our seat on the unoccupied sofa and Willy sighed in relief.
A smile pulled at Vincent’s dark red lips. “I must say, I’m surprised to see you,” he said. “You’ve been gone but a few hours.”
His flawless skin seemed to glow as the moonlight flooded the room. I could feel more vampires staring down at us hungrily from the second level. I felt like I was sitting in a bucket of fried chicken in the middle of a dinner table.
“We hurried,” I said.
His eyes fell on me and I could feel the press of his power against my shields, faint but present. He was trying to be inconspicuous this time, but my shields were up. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
“Hmm, you look different, hunter. You feel different.”
I tried not to let my surprise show. Was it that obvious? “I’m the same as when I left.”
He watched me for a moment before turning his golden gaze on Rayna. “And you look tired, my sweet.”
“Thanks for pointing that out.”
He shook his head. “My dear Rayna, I must apologize for my out
burst earlier. I have since regained my composure and I offer you an honest apology for my words and actions. I was brash.” His words and eyes displayed every ounce of sincerity he intended us to see, but I wasn’t buying it.
“Of course,” Rayna said, smiling.
“I am thankful for your warm, forgiving heart, my sweet Rayna. You have an understanding of me like no other. That is what I find so irresistible about you. You have the compassion that so many have lost during their long years.”
Rayna kept the smile on her face. “Does this change of heart mean we can have Willy and the information for the usual price?” Rayna said with a flirtatious stare.
Vincent’s reply began with warm laughter, but he shook his head. “I’m afraid a deal is a deal, my sweet. Your dear friend returned to you, unharmed, and you will have the information you requested in exchange for the scroll. Now, I have held up my end of the bargain, and as much as I’d love to give you everything you ask for, this is one thing I cannot compromise. I assume since you’re here that you’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain.”
Rayna’s smile faded and she looked at me, her eyes begging me not to give the scroll to him.
“We have,” I said, and disappointment washed over Rayna’s face.
Vincent’s yellow eyes flickered with excitement and his attention turned to me.
“But…” I added with a smile. “…you have not completed your end of the bargain.”
Vincent’s eyes went cold again. “Whatever do you mean? I have your little friend right here. Ask him yourself if he’s been harmed.”
I looked at Willy and he shook his head. A portion of my tension escaped me.
“I can see he hasn’t been harmed, however, our deal was for us to be allowed to leave unharmed as well.”
Vincent smiled with only his lips. “I have a level of appreciation for your thoroughness, hunter, but you have killed two members of my family and injured several others in your two short visits here. Surely you do not expect this offense to go unanswered.”
“It will go unanswered, that is, if you ever want to see what’s on this.” I pulled the scroll out of my pocket and his eyes glowed with excitement.
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