Mattox whispered in her ear as students gawked at the new couple. “Relax! It’s like you’re trying to breathe air, but you’re underwater.”
“Exactly!” she hissed.
“Emma? There is no water. Just breathe.”
A sonic boom echoed in her ears and then everything went silent. Mattox walked around to face her and was smiling. She hadn’t even realized that he wasn’t touching her anymore.
Mattox nodded and mouthed something. “Can you hear me?” She shook her head no and he laughed. He took a hold of her hand and tried again. “How about now?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “Well that was different.”
“Look at you skipping over lessons. You’re a quick study. Now just let people’s external voices through. Your mind and body will remember, it’s almost like muscle memory or neural pathways you forgot were there.” He let go of her hand.
Emma thought about something simple, like what it felt like to blink and slowly her ears picked up voices all around her. As an experiment she shut everything down again like putting part of her mind to sleep. All sounds, external and internal ceased. “Well that’s a neat trick!” She yelled. Realizing what she’d done she turned the volume on everyone’s voices back up to normal.
“Isn’t it?” Mattox beamed, uncaring about others’ reaction to them.
“What do we do now?” Emma looked around at her schoolmates and actually smiled for the first time in months.
“Be normal teenagers and go to class,” he shrugged.
Emma rolled her eyes, “Ugh, do we have to?” But she was ecstatic at how normal she felt and didn’t really care what they did as long as they were together. As one of the boys that had been particularly cruel to her walked into view Emma gave Mattox a devious smirk. Patrick had always made it a point to mock her appearance in front of his friends, drawing a lot of unwanted attention and emotions Emma’s way. High school in general was bad enough, but to be bullied when you’re down and unable to fight back, was one of the worst things in the world.
“No experimenting on dociles.” Mattox whispered.
“Oh, come on. I promise to use my superpowers for good and not evil.” Over exaggerating she batted her eyelashes at him and he rolled his eyes. “Okay, maybe just a little evil,” she stated truthfully.
Emma sat in her usual seat with a new found confidence. Mattox brushed his hand along her arm before taking his seat in the back of Mrs. Blake’s class. His touch sent goosebumps up Emma’s arm and her cheeks flushed. Since Mattox’s physical contact wasn’t focused on helping her control the emotions surrounding her anymore the contact was purely sensual and intoxicating.
The cruel boy, Patrick, entered the doorway shoving his football buddies playfully but still demonstrating his testosterone dominance over them as well. He took his seat right beside Emma, but instead of sneering at her he actually looked embarrassed and turned away from her. Emma scrunched her eyebrows together and finally realized what had changed. No longer was she hidden by her hood and stringy brown hair covering her face. She was all rosy cheeked and sparkly eyed. Emma pierced through the silence and listened to Patrick’s emotions. He was focused in on Emma’s sexual confidence. Ugh! You’ve actually been attracted to me this whole time and were ashamed about it because of the way I looked? Why don’t you just pull my hair already! What are you twelve? She was disgusted. Patrick needed to learn a hard lesson on how to treat girls and not give a damn about what his friends might think. Emma laughed at her own pun. Hard. Oh yeah!
Emma took her lip gloss out of her bag and pouted her lips as she applied it. She swept her hair off her shoulder towards Patrick making sure he got a big whiff of her cherry lips and lavender scented loose waves. She looked back and giggled at Mattox as he raised his eyebrow disapprovingly. She shrugged and turned her attention back to her prey. With all her might she pushed the sexual energy she felt for Mattox towards Patrick and let out a little seductive sigh.
The footballer squirmed in his seat and reached for his textbook. “Um, Mrs. Blake.”
He rushed to put the book in his lap, but not before Emma saw the growing bulge in his pants. “Oh, Patrick!” she teased.
Students privy to what was happening giggled as Patrick jumped out of his chair dropping the book from his lap as he bolted to the front of the class. He made excuses on his way out the door, “Mrs. Blake, I’m sorry, I uh, don’t feel very--” but everyone saw the enormous bulge he couldn’t hide.
The class erupted in laughter before he could disappear into the hallway.
“Oh, Rick! Oh!” his teammates said in unison. “Loser!”
Mattox cleared his throat and Emma sent him an emotional eye roll. He chuckled out loud and sent her an emotional ‘tsk tsk’ back. But, she wasn’t done yet. There was one more person she wanted to see and this time she would use her powers for good and not evil.
Family Reuniting
“So a shepherd, huh?” Robert Kincaid looked down at his daughter as they walked into the moonlit Central Park to Emma’s gloaming bond ceremony. He’d been diligent in asking her that question for the past three months. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure, dad.” Emma beamed at her father’s protective nature. She’d never been so sure of anything in her life, except for Mattox.
“Your new school seems nice.” Robert patted Emma’s hand. “How’s your friend Mel doing these days?”
“Dad, are you nervous?” Emma giggled.
Robert laughed too, “You tell me, honey.”
Emma opened her senses and let her father’s emotions in. “Mmm, only just a little. And don’t worry, Mel’s fine. She actually has a boyfriend now. She’s bringing him to our ‘housewarming’ party later tonight.” Emma giggled when she made air quotes for her gloaming bond’s secret docile friendly title. Leading the life of a secret agent was going to take some getting used to. She missed seeing Mel every day, but enrolling into S.B. Devere and being around so many other neophyte’s, pre-gloamers, and guardians was making her transition much easier.
Emma and her dad walked for what seemed like half an hour through brush and thick trees. Then off in the distance Emma spotted a quaint old stone bridge crossing a stream. Its shrubs and vines were overgrown and lush as they grew up and over the curves of the bridge. The full moon’s glow reflected off the natural beauty of the little alcove creating an almost fairy like environment. Emma figured the secluded spot had been chosen decades ago for its privacy in gloaming bond ceremonies.
“Hiya, hon.” Bernie’s big booming voice found Emma and her dad as a crowd of guardians caught up to them.
“Bernie!” Emma ran and gave the man a big hug. She couldn’t help it. The veteran shepherd felt like Christmas and Santa Claus with a Southern accent wrapped in a warm blanket.
“Oh!” Emma was caught off guard as Ryan Kapoi and some serious looking muscle came towards them carrying an elaborately carved golden trunk. Kapoi nodded a formal greeting Emma’s way as they passed.
“It’s okay, hon,” Bernie patted her hand. He joined Emma and Robert on their way down to the water’s edge just under the arch of the bridge. “That’s the Sword of Twelve. They don’t take any chances when they bring it out of the vault.” He smiled, “You know some say the twelve swords given to the Knights of the Rounds Table were forged from Excalibur itself after King Arthur fell?” Bernie shrugged, “But that’s just a rumor I heard when I was just knee high to a grasshopper.”
“Wow,” Emma whispered. She was enjoying the King’s Court history classes she’d been immersed in at S.B. Devere Academy and gobbled up any new information she could get her hands on. “I still can’t believe all of this is real.”
Bernie nodded. “Have you given any thought to what you’ll do after graduation?”
“Well, college for sure, then after that,” Emma paused and looked at her dad who was beaming proudly at her. “I think I’d like to be an active guardian and complete my shepherd training. There’s gotta be some neophytes o
ut there that feel as lost as I did.”
“I think you’re right,” Bernie was somber probably thinking about some lost souls he had guided into the court. “We’d be lucky to have you in any capacity. Have a mentor in mind?” The old shepherd chuckled.
“Well. He’s an apprentice right now, but knowing him, he’ll probably pass his last shepherd trial before I can even pack for college, so I’m thinking Mattox?”
Bernie chuckled again, obviously not surprised by her choice. “I think that can be arranged.”
Emma opened her senses a bit more and found Mattox. Gone was the intentional void he once was during her transition into the King’s Court, now only his warm yellow glow greeted her, like the warm sun kissing her skin.
Mattox must have felt her reach out to him. He made his way past several guardians to join her and her father, “Mr. Kincaid sir,” Mattox said.
“Please call me Robert, son, we’re practically neighbors in the Vaughn building. No, we’re more than that. We’re family.”
Emma smiled hooking her arm with Mattox and then with her father as the four joined the large group of guardians near the old stone bridge hidden in the dense trees.
Guardians lined up and created a half circle around Emma, her father, Bernie, and Mattox. Two hunters Emma recognized separated as Ryan Kapoi stepped forward carrying the ornate golden trunk and placed it on a large flat stone. The stone had been worn smooth. Emma wondered how many times the trunk had been placed there over the years. Hundreds? Thousands? Kapoi opened the box and the hum of power danced in the electrified air like the charged atmosphere on a storm’s edge. He pulled the Sword of Twelve from its sheath within the box and a ringing sound, almost metallic in nature, bounced off the ripples of fast moving water in the nearby stream. The Vaelosh a’Rue symbols etched into the blade emanated a soft lavender glow and began to pulse with anticipation as Kapoi neared Emma. The sword was magnificent and had Emma in awe. Mattox smiled warmly as Emma took a knee and bowed her head. As the hunter touched the blade’s tip to Emma’s shoulders they began to recite the gloaming vow together. Curling tendrils of violet and yellow light swirled around Emma emanating from the blade. The same blade her mother had taken her vow with. A gentle wind whipped around them and Emma grabbed her father’s hand just as she felt her mother’s warmth enter her. All of them, including her father, repeated the gloaming bond’s vow once more. Their words swirled under the arched bridge collecting there and then radiated back to them. Emma and her father wept as the energy they recognized as her mother’s smiled and touched Emma’s cheek and kissed Robert softly on the lips. Her mother’s memories pooled into her like soft sweet honey. They were warm and kind, courageous and brave, loving and strong, just like she had been. Robert Kincaid squeezed his daughter’s hand. Emma was glad she could share the moment with her father. Her mind became flooded with even more court and guardian knowledge and history in an instant, but it wasn’t painful, it was comforting. Lourdie, one of the hunters that had saved Emma from the netherwalker, described the gloaming bond all guardians shared to Emma weeks ago and now she understood. ‘The bond is like an invisible suit of armor. Forged from our ancestors’ knowledge, honor, and conviction. Strengthened by all guardians’ faith. It’s like a parent’s love for their child. It can’t be contained, it never falters, and it can never be broken.’
As all the guardians spoke the last words of the gloaming vow, Emma became resolute in her chosen path as a shepherd. Through the bond, every guardian in the half circle felt the very moment they gained a sister. Tendrils of light and power moved in and out of her body enhancing her abilities. The residual energy along with her mother’s memories flowed back into the Sword of Twelve. Emma lifted her head and Mattox gave her a warm smile.
The huge guards relinquished the sword to its gilded resting place and the park fell silent. Kapoi’s voice boomed over the hushed crowd, “Arise, Emma Kincaid, Apprentice Shepherd of the King’s Court!”
Epilogue
Impromptu Hunting
Ryan Kapoi gave Emma and Mattox the hand signal indicating it was safe to enter the alley and come to his location.
“Tell me again exactly why we’re doing this?” Mattox questioned the master hunter.
“End of the alley, just above those boxes. Do you see it?” Kapoi nodded in the direction he wanted them to look.
Emma squinted into the darkness not having the same keen eyesight as a hunter. Kapoi had been elusive and wasn’t giving any clues as to why he had woken her and Mattox up in the middle of the night only to stop at the alleyway near her old apartment. But thinking back to those days, Emma got a chill and froze.
Kapoi looked at her then, “Your stalker is back. I figured you two would want to take this one out personally.” Hunters knew netherwalkers. Not only were they stronger and faster than other guardians, but their senses were off the charts. If Kapoi said this was the beast that had hunted her when she was naive to the secret world she was now part of, then it was.
Emma gulped hard not realizing when she volunteered for novice hunter training she would be face to fang with the beast that had actually stalked her. She gathered her courage. “I saw you and Lourdie banish it. Why is it here?”
“Hoping to pick up your trail.” Kapoi answered coolly.
“Well, it’s not going to feed on me this time!” She hissed. “I’m ready, give me an orb.”
“Easy there, Kill Bill, I’m collecting data first remember? We need to know if shepherds are truly invisible to them before we banish it. And, if I’m in contact with you, does your ability also cloak me?” Kapoi stated. “It’ll be just like we practiced in the virtual chamber. Emma and I will walk into its snare while she concentrates on creating a shield around us. Mattox you get as close as you can while shielded then drop your shield for a moment and agitate it so it transforms. If we’re lucky, it won’t see any of us in either of its forms.”
“Gotta love being the bait.” Mattox looked on the rooftop hoping backup had arrived. Two hunters signaled with their lights that they were in position.
“You make such a pretty lure.” Emma teased.
Mattox brushed a strand of her hair away and kissed her lips. “Be careful.”
“You too.”
Holding his hunter relics, Ryan Kapoi clasped his hands shut and whispered a word against them. As his hands parted a translucent purple orb began to grow between his palms. It hissed and popped, eager to consume a netherwalker. Emma never tired of watching the spectacular creation hunters were able to manifest from thin air. Kapoi kept the orb small, limiting its growth for the moment. “You ready?” He looked at Emma.
She nodded and focused on the orb hoping not to get zapped by it. “Yes.”
Gently, Kapoi placed the orb in Emma’s hands, “My orb is yours.” He looked at Mattox who reluctantly nodded his readiness. Kapoi repeated the process for Mattox and placed an identical orb into his hands.
Emma opened her senses up to the creature, but shielded her emotions completely as Kapoi placed his hand on her shoulder. She concentrated on extending her shield to the hunter as well and nodded at Mattox to begin. Her heart pounded out of her chest as they entered the alley behind Mattox. Emma and Kapoi stopped just inside the radius where the netherwalker could manipulate their minds. Through the novice hunter training Kapoi taught, Emma focused on blocking out the unwanted emotions the creature attempted to send out and concentrated on what she knew was real and right in front of her.
Mattox stopped, put his orb behind his back, and yelled, “Hey!”
Emma let out a breath of relief the minute she felt Mattox put his shield back up. The creature vibrated and floated down off the brick wall. Mattox moved back slowly careful not to make any noise as he stepped out of the monster’s snare. Being a guardian now, Emma knew that if agitated or frightened it was impossible for a krim to stay in its shadowskin form. Its dark shadows rippled into black opalescent skin as it slithered from the wall. Fiery reds morphed into emera
ld greens underneath its slick black skin and the air around the guardians cooled to just above freezing. They all took care not to breathe and give away their locations. The soft pink scar on Mattox’s cheek served as a reminder of that.
“Ow!” The orb Mattox had been holding dropped to the ground. The krim now in full corporeal form snapped its head in Mattox’s direction and dug its claws into the pavement. It was preparing to attack. Whether it sensed Mattox now or not was unclear.
Mattox! Emma’s mind screamed. Before she could send a mental warning to Kapoi, the hunter was already moving in front of her.
“Now!” Kapoi yelled, letting go of Emma’s shoulder and drawing his weapon. He ran at the beast as guardians from the rooftops shot at it with their stun rifles, but the beast refused to go down. She knew stunning krims didn’t always work, especially large ones gorged on the essence of dociles. This one had just fed.
Emma heard a loud crack like lightning whipping the ground as Mattox picked up his orb. With a painful grunt he threw the orb to Kapoi just as the netherwalker whirled to face the unshielded hunter. Kapoi caught the orb and let it grow, encasing the beast as it struggled to break free. The orb vibrated and hummed and the krim howled its displeasure. Emma dropped her shield and stood in front of the orb. The beast within whimpered, seeming to realize the young girl it had once stalked was now a guardian in the King’s Court, strong and unafraid.
As the orb imploded, taking the beast back to the Netherworld, Kapoi whipped his head to the far corner of the alley. “Emma, orb! Now!”
Darkness Echoes: A Spooky YA Short Story Collection Page 35