I lifted my hand and reached the blade closer to the nymph in front of me, and the pulsing grew like a live wire caught in my hand, making it almost unbearable to hold. The nymph in front of me was losing what little color he had in his face as he watched me and my knife. But I had no pity for him; if I hadn’t been there to stop him, he would have tried to kill Jodi, and if we weren’t here now fighting them, at least one person would be dying right now for every nymph in this colony.
I don’t know what made me think of it, but I pulled my knife away from his skin and felt the pulse of it die away a little, and I looked him in the face and asked, You have one of the souls, don’t you? The nymph stopped moving immediately and all the answer I needed was plain on his face, laid open for me to read like a book. He sneered at me, flashing those black razors, and tried once more to throw his head forward to bite me. He was able to come too close to my face for comfort before I jerked backwards out of his reach. I lifted my blade again. This time I didn’t try to control it and gave myself over to the blade’s will, letting it strike out. The nymph’s chest was rent, bloody and wide, black ooze staining his torso, my blade, and my hand as it poured out of him.
The electric pulse of my blade was nearing an unbearable strength again and it took all of my concentration, and some help from Steven, to keep me from letting go as a shock of white light exploded from the mess of the nymph’s chest and the blade wrenched me forward, tracking it. My hand struck out with the blade at the white light until the two collided in a bone jarring crash and the blade grew white hot in my hand. But for Steven’s attention and power racing through me, it would have blistered my hand into a raw and bloody tattering of skin. Instead, the heat shot through my body and out, down my connection with him, and the pain with it disappeared into our connection.
You’ve saved one of the souls, Terra. Steven’s thoughts were little more than an echo to me as I was still reeling from shock. When I had gathered myself again, I was looking into the lifeless face of the nymph. He had aged instantaneously when the soul was ripped from his body, leaving little less than a thin film of skin over brittle bones that seemed to be disintegrating as I watched. A sour taste filled my mouth, but I swallowed it back and willed the Earth to take him, entombing him quickly.
I turned so that I could see where Jodi still floated safely in our cage, out of reach of the two nymphs that I could see. I was happy to see that they had come together and seemed to be communicating silently with each other.
Fae, I whispered in Jodi’s mind so she wouldn’t be startled and give me away. Have any more come around?
No, just this new one showed up after you took off with that other one.
Okay, get ready. I’m going to come out of the ground and swim for you. Be ready to make a break in the shield. I clenched my jaw reflexively and felt my stomach flip in anticipation before I shot up as hard and fast as I could and swam forward towards Jodi. Inches away from the shield, we both concentrated on creating a hole just large enough for me to slip through. I heard the answering wail of the nymphs when they realized too late what was happening, but by the time their claws were scrabbling for me, we had sealed the shield shut.
My heart pounded in my chest as I clung to Jodi’s shoulders for balance. Without asking any questions, Jodi quickly performed the charm so that I could breathe freely under the water, and I felt the power of the Earth I had been expelling to keep me from needing to breathe swirl madly inside of me. I felt like my body was coming apart at the seams now that I suddenly had so much pent up power.
I got one that had one of the boys’ souls, I thought at Jodi quickly, unsure if she had heard Steven’s thoughts when I killed the nymph.
Oh my god! Her bright yellow thoughts shot through my head and I squinted instinctively; apparently she hadn’t heard Steven. How are you keeping it?
It’s in my athame apparently, I said, and I showed her the crimson stained stones in the handle. Chills ran up both of our arms as we looked at the blade.
Oh god, I hate to think what you’ll have to do to get it back inside whichever one it belongs to. Her mind voice was a whisper now as she stared wide-eye at my athame.
Yeah, I don’t really want to worry about that now. I shook my head, my hair swirling around my face as I did. I decided to keep my blade out and gripped it tightly in my hand, my knuckles running from red to white.
Fine, Jodi thought at both of us. If one of these two don’t have the soul, then we’re going to have to figure out a way to get past them while getting more of the nymphs to come out of hiding so we can look for the right one.
Neither one of them has the soul, I thought at them and Jodi blinked at me in confusion.
How can you just know that? she asked, but not like she didn’t believe me.
My athame knew the nymph had the soul and its gone quiet now, I explained, turning to look at the two nymphs who seemed totally oblivious to me watching them.
What are you thinking? Jodi asked.
I can travel through the ground and look for the other nymphs. But we have to get one of them to lead me there, so we’ll have to trick one of them into leaving for reinforcements. Jodi and Steven didn’t reply, but I could feel their reluctance. Unless one of you has another idea, this is the only plan we’ve got, I thought at both of them and gave them a minute to think, but they had nothing, and I couldn’t think of anything else that would be a sure thing.
Okay, fine, let’s just get this over with, Jodi thought at me with a mental sigh, and Steven’s silence was deafening, but being on the beach, he didn’t have much say in this. I swallowed hard before I nodded to Jodi and we turned as one towards the two nymphs.
They had broken apart while we were trying to work out our plan, as if they realized we were communicating as well. I was grateful our shields were swirling at full force because anger and rage were radiating off of them in waves. I called to the earthen floor and summoned up more of the sand, dirt, and rocks. The earthen shield rose slowly from the ground, swirling with the very bottom of the shield, climbing up inch by inch up as it swirled around us. Finally, the new layers of air and earth swirled past our faces and, it was almost impossible to make out the forms of the creatures. It wasn’t until it was too late to stop us that they realized something was wrong.
Go, Jodi thought at me quickly, spinning in the water to face me.
Are you going to be able to keep this going without me? I asked, concern for her safety laced my thoughts.
All I have to do is concentrate on the wall. I’ll be fine. If I need help, I’ll call you back, and I still have Drake to help me. The water around us warmed considerably as Steven responded to her comment. I took one more moment to make sure the wall felt strong before I braced myself to fall into the ground again.
I slipped through the sand and dirt until I was completely submerged and the ground closed over my head. The liquidity of the dirt and sand felt only slightly different from the water I had just been in, so it was tempting to open my eyes and try to see, but I knew it wouldn’t do me any good. I felt the pulse of the Earth pound through my body, my heart changing rhythm until they matched, and my veins felt like they were running with the dirt and sand. I pushed myself forward, which would bring me to the outside of the shield so that I could see the nymphs that I had left behind.
I kicked my way to the surface of the earth floor until my face broke free, and I opened my eyes and saw that I had not only passed the shield, but I was more than five feet away from it now. Luckily that meant that, not only could I see the nymphs that had confronted us, but I also saw which direction one of them disappeared to. My mouth practically watered at this new piece of information. I continued to him, surfacing every few feet to keep my bearings.
I pushed my face through the surface of the ocean floor one more time and nearly had my nose ripped off by the flick of a razor tipped fin. I jerked back down before I could let out a surprised yelp and give myself away completely. I took a moment to collect
myself and then moved off to one side before I came back up again. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I had found the second group of nymphs that had been hiding just beyond our field of sight. My stomach flipped. There must have been at least ten of them that I could see; there could have been more for all I knew.
I was suddenly aware of the pulse vibrating through my athame in my hand. I felt it pull on my hand towards the group of nymphs, urging me towards them. I was right; they were protecting the nymph that had taken the other soul. I could see they were clustered in a circle, making it painfully obvious which nymph they were protecting. Clearly they hadn’t figured out that I could travel through the ground and not just use it as my own personal burial ground. I watched as one of the nymphs broke away from the group and swam back in the direction I had come from. It was the same one I had used to locate this group. The other nymphs shifted in the water to close ranks around the one in the middle, careful not to leave any gaps between them. As if I could swim fast enough to dart through them and grab the one in the middle and get away before they had sliced me to ribbons.
I closed my eyes against that thought and pushed it out of my mind. I shifted in the ground so that I could see between their ever-fluctuating tails and get a look at my target. I was surprised to see just how old he looked; it was quite possible he was the oldest of all the nymphs we had seen yet. There was no hair on his head, making the round dome gleam in the dim light, and there were fine wrinkles set into his skin at the corners of his eyes and mouth. If he were human, I would have said he was probably on the other side of middle aged, but I had a feeling that meant that he was well past consuming his first soul as a nymph, which put him over six hundred years old.
I was happy to see that his tail was much less intimidating than the others; the usually razor sharp edges seemed dull with age, and I didn’t notice any menacing edges along the tips of the fin. If I was able to get right underneath him, I could grab him by the tail and yank him underground with me without risking damage to my hands like the last time. But it was going to be difficult. The other nymphs hadn’t left much room between their backs and the one in the middle; from this vantage point, it looked like less than a couple of feet at most. I was going to have to be spot on when I came up to the surface and made a grab for him.
Instinctively I held my breath as I went under again and slowly crawled my way through the ground towards the group. I let the increasing pulse of my athame act as my guide as I made my way forward. I knew I was past the first nymph in the circle once my hand felt like it was on fire as it clutched the hilt of my knife. I called up the power of the Earth pulsing around and through my body to give me the strength I needed to shoot up through the ground and grab the nymph as quickly as possible before any of the other nymphs could react in time.
I switched my blade to my left hand so that I could grab with my right, and with one last moment to center myself, I shot up, breaking through the surface of the ocean floor in a cloud of sand. I grabbed blindly for the old nymph, and when my fingers hooked onto the curve of his tail, I yanked on him as hard as I could and I felt the thin layer of skin that covered the skeleton of his fin give under my hand. My fingers ripped through his scales and he screamed long and loud, but I pulled him under the ground with me and shoved him through the Earth, forcing it to open with my will, and he sank just as easily as if I had pushed him through the water. Just as I was closing the Earth above me as I was lowering my body through the ground, I felt a hand on my left wrist, claws digging into my skin, piercing precious veins as the ground closed around our arms.
Chapter Eighteen
Animalistic instinct took over momentarily and I thrashed and wailed and twisted against the clawed hand that gripped my wrist. I was so mad with panic I didn’t even feel the pain that was shooting through my arm as the claws continued to flay my skin. I tried to lift my left hand through the dirt to hack at the hand and arm with my blade, but I couldn’t; the blade was alive with power as the tingling of the metal pulled on my arm, reaching desperately towards the trapped nymph I had managed to get underground. I found myself being pulled in two different directions suddenly as both, my blade and the nymph that held my arm, began to try and force me in the direction they wanted. I screamed out as my body felt like it was being rent in two, swallowing dirt and sand and feeling the jagged edges of pebbles run down my throat.
Finally, with the most basic part of my elemental power running through my system again, the shock began to wear off and the first few pangs of pain sparked to life in my right arm. I fought down the fresh wave of panic that threatened to rise up when I realized the tips of my fingers were numbing by the second, and I knew that something important had been pierced by the son of a bitch. I gritted my teeth, sending chills over my body as sand ground between my molars, and braced myself against both of the objects that were pulling on my body. I pulled my legs up and pushed my feet against the dirt in front of me, willing it to be a dense as concrete.
I had imbued my athame with my goal without even realizing it, and it was now trying to act of its own accord, completely consumed by the purpose of tonight’s adventure. But I was master here, not the blade, and while I fought against the pull of the nymph as my wrist was further shredded under his attempts, I concentrated my will on the blade in my left hand. If this nymph won the battle of strength, then I would surely die, and without me to wield it, the blade would be nothing more than a pretty letter opener. With one last shudder, the blade went still in my hand; the tingling was still present, but it was faint and no longer shook my hand with its pulse and, more importantly, the blade was no longer trying to rip my arm out of the socket to reach its goal.
I allowed myself a moment to catch my breath now that I had one obstacle out of the way. I filled my lungs to capacity, feeling both air and earth seep into me. Power sang through my body in a melody only I knew the words to, and I easily lifted my left hand back through the dirt to my side. I tilted my head up lifted my blade above my head, feeling for purchase on the nymph’s wrist.
I found resistance against the edge of the blade and I pushed, trying to make sure it wasn’t my own arm that I was about to cut, but my entire forearm was numb now and my fingers were slack without feeling. I felt something give under the pressure of my blade and the claws around my wrist jerked suddenly. I took advantage of that momentary slip to yank my arm free of his grasp.
I didn’t need to see my wrist to know it was horribly damaged. I could feel chunks of flesh were missing from all sides and my veins were severed, the blood that gushed out of my arm seeping into the Earth. My hand was totally numb.
I began to shake involuntarily and tears finally sprung to my eyes, and I realized I was about to start panicking again. Fae, Drake? I called out to them mentally, noting how quiet my mind voice was as I tried to keep my fear from surging through me and affecting them.
Terra? What’s wrong? Steven answered first, but I could feel Jodi’s attention.
I’m hurt, I explained, barely louder than a whisper. I have to heal it now, before it’s too late. I blinked back the threatening tears, not wanting to give over to them yet, because then all of my calm would be totally lost.
Do you need us to come to you? Jodi asked, keeping her mind voice calm and practical for my benefit.
No, I just need help, I need power, I explained, knowing suddenly that was all I would need from them if I could keep my nerves under control. They both readily consented, and without another moment’s delay, I opened myself to the Earth’s power and felt the dirt respond immediately.
My wrist grew warm as Steven’s power joined mine, and the dirt became moist as Jodi manipulated the air in both the water and the ground, drawing down enough water to make the dirt into a pack around my wrist. The threads of our powers braided together and wound around my wrist, packing the dirt tightly around my wounds, making sharp jolts of pain shoot through my wrist, but I felt the veins lengthening and the muscles knitting back together as my
skin stretched and smoothed over the gashes. It was excruciating and time consuming, but eventually I felt the tingling numbness in my arm subside and the nerves in my fingers began to come back to life, easing a knot in my stomach. It wasn’t perfect, not yet, but it was enough for now that I knew I wasn’t going to lose the use of my dominate hand. I thanked Jodi and Steven and the Fates for second chances before I released the healing power back into the Earth.
I wriggled my fingers experimentally and was overjoyed to feel them respond immediately. I reached out a tendril of power to locate the old nymph I had snatched and allowed my body to sink through the earth until I was level with him. I was more than a little surprised to find that he wasn’t struggling when I reached for him. I pulled us up to the surface, away from the others, just high enough to expose his head and shoulders, creating another small, swirling dome around us. Now the water surrounded his head and shoulders and I could see him breathing deep, relief plain on his face as the water rushed in and out of him.
I was intrigued to see that his skin was not the same pale greenish blue of the other nymphs, but rather almost gray in color and, like the frail layer over his fin, his skin was nearly translucent. His eyes too looked clouded with age, but what struck me the most was the resigned look he gave me. There was none of the anger or rage that his kin had displayed. There were two nearly identical tattoos on his body, one on his chest and a second, smaller one in the center of his forehead. I squinted at them, slightly distorted with age, and decided that they looked very much like crowns made from seaweed.
You’re their leader, aren’t you? Not that female one, I thought at him. He nodded slowly in answer and a wave of sadness washed over his face and hit me in the gut like a sucker punch. I felt my blade come to life in my hand again and knew it was anxious to finish what we started. And you have the second soul.
Elemental Series Omnibus Edition Books 1-4 Page 78