by Rue Volley
Theodore looked at Sara as Jonah slowly crept up behind her.
He flashed to her and grabbed her hand. Jonah looked at him and grinned.
“I take it that she is your pet?” Jonah asked him.
Theodore shook his head.
“No… she is a friend to us. Jonah, I know that you are not familiar with that concept,” Theodore said as he winked at him.
Theodore leaned down and let Sara climb onto his back. He turned his head to her.
“You have been eating,” he said as he grinned.
“Oh, My, God… why?” Sara said as Theodore laughed and they all flashed towards home.
***
We simply walked the three of us, in silence. I felt sadness for Elin that I did not expect to have. I wanted her dead so many times that I thought that if I ever witnessed it, I would be jumping up and down in total relief. In my mind she was just one nasty tentacle reaching out from the monster we all called Caine. In the end though, I guess she wasn’t. Maybe it was her last acts that had redeemed her in my mind. She obviously had changed course and had every intention of making a new start. I know that she had been horrible, and knowing that she had been with Josh, had fueled my hatred to an even deeper level.
I walked along staring at the ground and at my hands. Her blood was drying on them. I didn’t wash it off. I don’t know why. I remembered how I felt when the dog was murdered; I remembered my cat. I remembered my parents fading away. I just never held death in my hands and watched it take hold of a living breathing person.
I sighed and felt my heartbeat slowing in my chest. I looked over at Josh and he kept rubbing his hands. I looked at them, wondering if he was in deep thought or if he had been injured. I would assume that he would tell me, but he didn’t feel like talking either; he just walked along scanning the forest. Blake walked in front of us, and I had nothing to say to him. What a mess I had with him… ugh.
Blake stopped and held up his hand. He lowered to the ground and Josh did too, pulling me down next to him. I started to press my hand against the ground and Josh grabbed it and shook his head “no”. I looked at him and then I looked around the forest. We all heard rustling and breaking branches to the left of us and Josh stood up in a flash and kept my hand in a death grip. He ran forward, dragging me along.
Blake found a cave and we ran in after him. Josh leaned down against the wall and I slid down next to him. I opened my mouth up and he held his hand out. We looked over at Blake as he started to inch his way along the wall. We could see that that the cave went into the earth. Josh grabbed my hand and pulled me up. He started to follow him as he pushed me in front of him, so he could protect me from behind. We inched our way along and finally we heard water.
We stepped out into a large cavern and looked up. There were holes in the roof of the cavern, with sunlight flooding in. I looked out at a beautiful body of light blue water. I watched the sunlight glisten on it like small sparks of fire. I looked up and saw long pillars reaching down, sparkling from the sunlight too. I looked at Josh and he walked to the water and knelt down to take a drink from it. Josh took a drink and scooped some water, throwing it over his head. He looked back at me and grinned.
“You should drink, Rue,” he said.
I nodded and walked up next to him. I looked over as Blake knelt down too, scooping some water and drinking it. I knelt down next to Josh and looked at my bloody hands.
“It is time to wash them off,” he said to me.
I didn’t want to ruin the beautiful water with Elin’s dried blood on my hands. I suddenly decided it was time to let this last bit of her go, at least it was in a beautiful place, I thought. I reached down and pushed my hands into the water and her blood started to come off of my skin swirling into the water. I watched it twist and turn like oil. I closed my eyes and let the water redeem me. Josh sat there staring at me. I looked over at him.
“You have never really experienced death before, have you?” he asked me.
“Well, not so up close… with someone that I knew,” I whispered. Josh sighed.
“It is a terrible thing, that it happened that way,” he said.
I looked over at him and actually saw that he was saddened by what had happened. It was a strange feeling to see him vulnerable in this way. He shook his head and looked back at me.
“Drink,” he said to me.
I rubbed my hands and stood up. I walked to a different spot and scooped some water up; I raised it to my mouth and it felt so cold. I swallowed and looked up at the sunlight.
“What do you think this place is?” I asked Josh.
Blake stood up and looked around.
“My home,” he said.
Josh stood up quickly and so did I. We looked around as rogues started to appear one by one around the cavern. I looked at Josh and he flashed to me. He stood in front of me as I leaned around him and stared at all the faces looking back at us. Blake didn’t move. He simply stared at all of them. He held his hand up and one of them waved back at him. He looked at us and grinned.
“You bastard,” Josh muttered.
Blake shrugged his shoulders and stepped away from us. He turned back to us, as he crossed his arms on his chest and grinned. Josh stood his ground, not knowing what to expect. Blake laughed and it echoed in the cavern.
“You are a master, correct?” Josh asked him.
“That would seem to be the case,” Blake said as he stared at me. I shook my head.
“So… you led us here, to what?” I asked him.
“Oh… to better my situation, of course,” he said.
Josh muttered something under his breath. I couldn’t make it out, but knowing him, it probably including some kind of curse word. I gripped his hand, not knowing what the next move would be. We turned as more rogues moved in behind us. I raised my hands up and laughed. I moved out in front of Josh and stared at Blake. I placed my hands on my hips and shook my head.
“You are a dick,” I said to him.
He tilted his head at me.
“What?” I asked him.
Josh tried to grab my hand and pull me back to him, but I was in pissed off mode. We may be staring down the barrel of death here, so I was going to speak my mind. Blake smiled and took a step towards me. I stood my ground. I was not afraid of him.
“You are just the most curious creature,” he said to me.
I crossed my arms on my chest.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… I’ve heard that before,” I said as I waved a hand out.
“You do not even understand the situation that you are in, do you?” Blake asked me.
“Oh! Really?! Listen here, I may be new to all this crap, but I am far from stupid, you ass,” I said.
Blake grinned at me, it fueled my hatred for him.
“No… I don’t think that you are stupid, Rue Volley,” he said to me.
“It’s just Rue, I find it crazy to use my whole name.”
“Well, I should say Valon, correct?” he said to me.
“No… it’s Volley, you waste of air,” I said to him. Josh shifted his weight behind me.
“Rue,” he said.
I didn’t turn around to look at him. Truth was we were both screwed?
“You have so much anger in you, and not even of age yet. It will be a joy to watch you come into power,” Blake said to me. I raised my eyebrows at him.
“To watch me? If you think that I plan on spending that birthday with you, you are kidding yourself Blake.”
“Oh I do plan on it; can’t say the same for your love interest here though,” he said as he glanced at Josh.
I turned and looked at Josh. He shook his head at me and I turned back to Blake.
“You hurt Josh in any way and I will kill you myself,” I said to him.
Blake laughed at me.
I felt a vibration in my hands. I looked down at them and Blake looked at them too.
“I would suggest that you watch your temper in here,” he said.
I loo
ked around at the rogues and at him.
“Why...? You afraid that I will blow everything up?” I asked him.
“Well, since you brought it up… you see, this cavern contains mercury. If you try to use your power it will kill us all, including your boyfriend here,” he said as he looked at Josh.
“You are lying,” I said to him as I looked up at the sparkling rocks hanging down from the ceiling.
“Well… you can try, and see what happens,” he said to me. I sighed and looked at Josh.
He bit his lip. I don’t know why he was being so quiet, it was so not him.
I raised my hands up and let them drop.
“Awesome!” I yelled out. It echoed through the cavern and I closed my eyes, listening to my voice echo until it disappeared.
Josh took one step forward and started to laugh. I turned to him. I thought he had lost his mind… I really did. Blake found it just as odd I did. He shook his head and stared at Josh with the strangest look on his face.
“I couldn’t even imagine what would make you find humor in your situation.”
Josh had his head down, still laughing. Suddenly he stopped and I watched him slowly raise his head up. His eyes looked like a demon’s eyes from some horror film. I actually took a step back from him as he slowly pulled his two blades from his back and held them out to his sides. Blake blinked a couple of times and looked around the cavern.
“You do not plan on tempting fate, do you?” Blake asked him. Josh grinned.
“I am the beginning and the end,” he replied to him, in a low tone.
Blake shook his head. “Your theatrics do not sway me.”
Josh took another step forward.
“I am blood and light,” Josh said.
I looked at him as his blades started to hum. I could feel the waves moving out from him, like water. It pulsated in my body like a sound wave. I looked out across the sparkling blue water and watched the ripples starting. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I had a feeling that the crap was about to hit the fan.
“I would suggest that you run,” he said to Blake.
Blake laughed and looked around the cavern.
“It seems that we have a warrior of Valon in our midst,” Blake said as he raised his hands up.
I watched a few rogues back away from us. I looked back at Josh and shook my head at him.
“Are you crazy?” I asked him.
Josh looked at me and winked, the prelude to something that I dreaded, his temper.
He started to raise his blades and the color swirled from the metal. He lunged forward and crisscrossed his blades around me so quickly, I almost could not focus on it. I dropped to the ground as I watched a web of color engulf me. I raised my hand up above my head and touched it with my fingers, it swirled. I could see through it, but it was solid. A cage made of color, which I could not break free of. I cried out, as I watched him jump into the air at Blake.
Blake pulled his blades and they started to fight, in a blur. The cavern started to shake. I looked up and watched small pieces of rock start to shatter and fall into the water. Small splashes blew up at first and then larger ones started to fall, causing huge plumes of water to burst from the surface. I watched Blake hit my color cage with a lot of force and he bounced behind me and slid across the ground. Josh jumped over me and slammed his blades into the rock floor as Blake rolled from him. Josh pulled his blades from the rock with ease, like they had been plunged into dirt. I watched as rogues scattered, but a few stayed, maybe they had a death wish.
Blake pushed himself up as other rogues surrounded Josh. He stood there, surrounded by five more. Blake looked at him and smiled. Rock was starting to fall all around us, making loud echoes as it hit the ground and the water. I swayed as the ground under me felt as if it was shifting, ready to drop. Josh crossed his blades at his chest and light started to glow from him. He threw his head back and cried out as a wave of light left his body and the rogues around him were pushed back, like a wind had hit them. Blake gripped his blades in his hand and stared Josh down.
“You are a Lord,” he muttered to Josh.
Josh lowered his head and crouched down, ready to fight them all. Blake cried out and lunged at him, so did the rest. I watched as Josh turned with ease to each one of them and blocked their blows, again and again. I had to blink as I watched him move, light trailed his body, it was like watching a dance in slow motion.
He knew every move to counter every hit coming his way. I sucked in my breath as one rogue flashed behind him. Josh didn’t even look at him as he thrust his blades behind him and crossed them as he pivoted on his foot. He crossed his blades and the rogue fell into two pieces. The rogue’s upper body flew over me and his lower half skidded across the rocky ground and towards the water’s edge. I shook my head as another one jumped into the air above his head and Josh raised his blades above his head and impaled him. He yelled out as he swung around and threw the rogue from his blades so hard that the rogue’s body skipped across the water like a stone.
I felt another strong rumble under me and I looked up as a large pointed stone started to fall above me. I placed my hands against the top of my domed color cage, like I was bracing for the hit. Josh saw it and lunged at me; he jumped into the air above me and struck the huge falling rock with his blades and it shattered. Large pieces of it went out from him in a large circle, hitting everything around us. Three rogues were crushed as they screamed out and Blake was pinned to the ground. He cried out and Josh landed in front of him gracefully.
A large piece of the earthen roof fell from above us and fell into the water. The water sprayed up and onto the entire cavern. It rolled over the energy bubble I was encased in and everything looked blurry for a moment. I watched as Josh stood over Blake and pointed his blades at him. Blake shook his head and looked at me as Josh stabbed his blades deep into his chest and crossed them, cutting him into two pieces. He looked back at me, with blood all over his face. I sucked in my breath.
Josh lunged at me and cut into my cage, it misted all around me. He scooped me up and flashed so quickly from the cavern. I buried my face into his chest. I could hear rock crumbling and felt the sonic boom of the cavern’s collapse.
I felt sunlight, at least a little on my skin, and I looked up. Josh was looking at me, his skin swirling in a deep black, with thin lines of silver. I touched his face and he grinned at me, the one that I knew. The innocent Josh grin, only now I know what a beast he is. I had never seen him that way, that warrior side of him. He sighed as he stared at me.
“That was crazy,” I muttered to him.
He shook his head, a little, as he sat down next to me and looked around.
“Did he call you a ‘Lord’?” I asked him. Josh looked at me.
“Yes,” he said as he looked at his hands and then started to push himself up. I looked up at him.
“What does that even mean?” I asked him.
He held his hand out to me and smiled.
“It means that I am a hurricane,” he said to me.
I grabbed his hand and he lifted me up to him.
“Do you wanna expand on that?” I asked him. He shook his head.
“Well, from birth I was trained to kill. I am a warrior of Valon. Well… I was supposed to be.”
He started to walk as he gripped my hand.
“You never lived in the city did you?” I asked him.
“No, I did not.”
“Why?” I asked him.
He stopped and looked back at me.
“I don’t have a taste for human,” he said.
I let that settle in me. He was a warrior of Valon who had a conscious.
What a pain in the ass that would have been to Sophia Graph.
“What you did back there was… incredible,” I said as I stared at him. He smiled at me.
“I did my job,” he said.
“Your job?” I asked him.
He stepped up to me and touched my face. He stared into my eyes, ma
king my stomach clinch.
I looked at him, wishing that I could read his mind.
“I am a protector, Rue. I protected what meant most to me, you,” he said in a whisper.
I touched his hand on my face and closed my eyes. I could feel his energy pulsating from his body. I wanted to kiss him, but we needed leave. Some rogues had scurried from the cavern and they may have been watching us right then. If we were any other place, I would lie down and let him have me… I would. I opened my eyes and he was still staring at me. We stood there in silence for a moment and then he took a deep breath.
“I want you,” he whispered. I bit my lip and looked around.
“We need to go,” I whispered.
“I don’t think that I have ever wanted anything more then to lay you down right here and show you how I feel,” he said as he leaned towards me.
I cleared my throat and stepped back from him.
I looked down at my hands and then back up at him.
“I know that you have never been with anyone before, Rue… I can feel it. I promise that I will not hurt you,” he said. I shook my head.
“Not here,” I whispered.
“Then where,” he said.
“In a bed,” I said as I looked up at him and smiled.
He grinned and held out his hand.
“Okay then… a bed,” he said.
We started to walk and I kept looking up at the sky. The sun was starting to go down. I really didn’t want us stuck in a forest at night. I guess I shouldn’t worry about us dying. I don’t think that Josh would allow it to happen. Especially when I agreed to let him do all kinds of fun things to me in a bed that should be a motivator to him. I glanced over at him, but he was in his mode. He kept scanning the forest and then he would look at me every now and then. We broke through and looked out at the train sitting there idle on the track. I looked at him and he shook his head.
“We are not getting on the train, Rue,” he said and I smiled at him “No,”
“Why not...? They have beds,” I added, like it was a bonus.
“Really?” he asked me.
“Yep… big ones,” I said as I smiled.
Josh gripped my hand and walked towards the train. We looked around at all the people and decided to slip on in the chaos. We stepped into the train and Josh looked down the hallway. I knew it wasn’t the best laid plan, considering, but my hands were vibrating and I was starting to sweat.