“Sam! How did you get involved in this?” said Kara. She side stepped for a better view.
The bird jumped and did a pirouette. “Sam’s the name, and flyin’s the game!” He lifted his wings. “I was bored, and David here had something interesting to offer. And when he agreed to the terms of my payment—we flew like the wind!”
Kara pressed her hands over her head. She grinned. “I can’t believe you were crazy enough to do this. But I’m glad.” She let her hands fall at her sides. “Listen. You guys have to go back. If the guards catch you, you might get stuck in here for good. You can’t stay. I really appreciate the effort—but I don’t want to have this on my conscience as well. You have to go.”
“We’re not leaving without you, Kara.” David pushed his way towards her. “You’re coming with us, and we’re all getting out of this shit box together.”
“But the guards…they’ll see us.”
“No they won’t,” said Jenny. “We got in here without them noticing—didn’t we?”
“Speaking of guards, we should get going.” Peter peeked around the doorframe. “We don’t have much time. We have to go now.”
As if on cue, the great stone walls started the shake. Dust and pebbles fell from the ceiling. Kara ran to the doorway. She realized that the stone path was forming again. Something blue was shining in the darkness—the eagles—and they were coming fast.
“If you’re planning to break me out…you guys better do it quick!” She pointed to the guards. She hoped the sky-car could out fly the giant birds.
“Let’s go boys and girls! The ship awaits!” David jumped in. The car swayed slightly under his weight. He threw out his arm towards Kara. “Here—quickly!”
Kara stared at his open hand. She knew this was crazy. She knew in the end, they would eventually get caught. But she was innocent. And they had put her in prison. She made up her mind and grabbed David’s hand. She jumped in beside him.
Jenny and Peter jumped into the back.
“Careful now,” called Sam. “You don’t want to fall into the abyss!”
“Stop talking, bird, and let’s get out of here!” David pointed behind him. The guards were almost upon them.
“Hang on!” Sam pushed his weight down on the T-lever. The sky-car kicked into life and the momentum threw Kara down on top of David. She looked down onto his smiling face. Her body shivered, and she lingered there, on top of him for a moment longer before she rolled off and clambered up onto a seat.
She realized with some concern that the sky-car was rocketing into absolute darkness. Even with the wind slapping her in the face, she could still smell the foul bird droppings.
“How can he see where we are going?” yelled Kara pointing to the bird.
David’s eyes were thin slits. “I have no idea!” he called back.
Kara was uneasy. They would surely crash into the walls and fall into the blackness.
“Don’t worry,” called David. “He knows where we’re going.”
Kara nodded. “Right, that makes me feel a whole lot better!”
She turned her head around and her body tensed immediately. The guards were so close that she could feel the gusts of wind caused by the stones that formed the path. They were going to get caught.
“Can’t we go faster,” Kara called above the wind, and pointed to the guards behind them.
Fear flashed momentarily in David’s eyes. He leaned over to Sam.
“Hey, Buddy. Think you can make this thing go any faster?”
Sam caught sight of the giant eagles on their tail. “Buckle up, dear sirs and madams! This baby can fly!”
Kara barely had time to clasp her belt before the sky-car did a ninety degree turn upwards, then a sharp turn to the left. How the bird saw in this blackness was beyond Kara. Right now, all she wanted was to get out of this crazy car.
With her eyes as slits, she saw light up ahead. As they approached she realized it was a small square opening, only just large enough to fit a sky-car.
David turned and pointed. “This is the opening we made. It’s how we got in. We forced it open with a dagger. Duck!” he yelled.
Kara’s head was between her knees. She felt a sudden pressure. Then brilliant light shone on her closed lids. She opened her eyes.
They were out. She had feared she might never see again the beautiful blue sky again. Kara glanced behind her every other second. But the eagles were nowhere in sight. They flew for at least an hour before they finally zipped past the floating city. She spotted the High Council building and felt anger inside.
“We’re out! We did it!” yelled Peter, barely able to sustain his surprise.
“We’re not out of danger yet. Look—” Jenny pointed behind her.
Two monstrously large eagles flew towards them. Their metal helmets gleamed in the sun light. Their powerful wings stretched out and beat against the wind. Their sharp talons were open and ready. Horrified, Kara watched as one of the eagles folded in his wings, and dove towards them.
“Do something! They’re going to catch us and take me back!”
David reached into a bag on the floor. “They won’t take you back.”
Kara wasn’t convinced. “What do you mean? If they catch us, they will.”
“They don’t want to catch us.”
“What? You’re not making sense.” Kara stared into David’s eyes.
“What he’s trying to say,” interrupted Jenny, “is that we’ve broken the law—they won’t take us back—they’re going to destroy us.”
Kara heard Peter whimper. She watched the eagle diving like a missile. They would fall to their deaths if it hit them.
“Do we have a plan?”
“I’ve got these.” David pulled out a few daggers and two Moonstones. “I don’t know if they’ll even work on those eagles, but it’s better than nothing.”
Kara felt horrible. “This is your plan! You don’t even know if they’ll work!” Kara threw up her hands. “This is really bad.” The guard was rocketing towards them.
“Hey—wait a minute? Where’s the other one?” The second guard had disappeared from view.
“Ahhh!” screamed Peter as he pointed above them.
But it was too late.
The second giant eagle crashed into the sky-car with unbelievable force. Great talons ripped the car apart as though it was paper. Kara and the rest of the gang were thrown out of the car, like dummies in car crash videos. Wind shrieked in her ears as she felt herself drop.
This is the end, she thought. We’re all going to die.
She felt a sudden tuck on her arm. The force of her descent was so intense, it took all her strength just to turn her head to see that it was David who hung onto her.
A burning sensation prickled her body. Tiny particles emanated from her arm, like bubbles from an anti-acid pill dropped into a glass. David’s cheeks and forehead started to disintegrate, like the flow of sand in an hourglass. Fragments of his angel body floated away above them and disappeared into the atmosphere like grains of salt melting into water.
Kara looked for Jenny and Peter. She saw a trail of particles floating behind them in the air like sparks from a fire.
They weren’t going to make it this time.
Kara’s own body’s pieces started zipping past her eyes. They were descending fast through the Earth’s atmosphere, falling thirty thousand feet to their deaths.
“We’re not going to make it, David!”
Kara’s hope to save her mother was vanishing as fast as Kara’s own angel body was disappearing into thin air.
David tightened his grip on Kara. “We’re going to make it!” he yelled over the wind. David looked as if he would evaporate entirely any second. He angled his head down. “Look!”
Kara followed his example and looked down, her eyes tiny slits. A giant mass of turquoise blue ocean spread out below them.
“It’s the ocean! Water! We’re saved!”
“If we don’t hit any islands—we
should be fine.”
“What?” yelled Kara.
“Islands.” David pointed down with his free arm.
To Kara’s horror, they were heading for a large island, with mountains and very thick rock. She looked over to Jenny and Peter. They both were looking down at the island. Peter looked up. His eyes filled with fear. Kara’s body tensed. It was her fault they were here. If they died now, it would be because of her.
“Kara—straighten your body like this—” David pressed his legs and arms against his body.
Kara did the same. And when she looked over, Jenny and Peter had copied them.
“Angle your body more to the left! Fast!”
Kara followed David and plunged to the left, like sky divers doing a performance. Through her slit eyes, she could see the island rapidly approaching. She wasn’t sure if they’d hit the water or smash onto the deadly sharp boulders. They had only seconds left before they hit something. Kara closed her eyes for the impact.
But the impact never came.
She dissolved into thousands of flickering lights as she hit the water.
Chapter 11
The Fugitive
KARA AND DAVID HAD TO DO some serious convincing to persuade the suspicious baboon to drop them off the elevator to Orientation on level one. They had arranged to rendezvous with Jenny and Peter here if they got separated. It was going to take a while to find their friends amongst the thousands of newly born angels who waited in line, but Kara knew that the crowds also meant that it was a perfect place for fugitives like them to hide.
Ever since they had arrived back in Horizon, Kara felt dejected. She wasn’t sure where she fit anymore. She had been glad to be a guardian angel, and even more so when she found out she had unique abilities the other guardians didn’t share. She was different. Her mind wandered back to her mundane life. School, friends, family, it was all very droning. She never felt she fit in, and that lingering feeling of something missing, always weighed her down. Finally, when she truly believed she found what she was looking for, it slapped her in the face. Literally. She remembered being excited at the prospect of becoming a guardian angel. Saving mortal lives was the most important job one could have, she figured. Saving the human world against the evil demons had real importance. And it meant something to her.
But now her situation had changed. Kara knew that her role as a guardian could never be the same, not after what she’d done. She had to focus on saving her mother’s soul, no matter what the consequences. Save the soul, she repeated in her head constantly. The rest didn’t matter.
She watched David—his jaw was clenched and his expression was intense. Her eyes wandered to his broad shoulders and they swayed back and forth. Her body prickled. She forced herself to ignore her feelings towards him. This wasn’t the time to have romantic thoughts, she told herself. They had shared a real connection in the angel world, and Kara wondered why it was so intense. Why couldn’t she have met David back on Earth, where love wasn’t forbidden, and where they could have been together? Kara shrugged. Whatever happened to her now, she didn’t want David to pay for her mistakes. Jenny and Peter shouldn’t get in trouble either. This was her mess, she needed to clean it up.
She pushed her way through the crowds, stood on her toes and searched above all the heads. “I don’t see them.”
“Let’s go this way.” David led Kara to the wall at the far west end of the majestic hall. The lines of the recently deceased thinned out here, and it was now easier to see through crowds. And David pressed his back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.
“Let’s wait here,” he said. “We have a better view anyway. Pull your hoodie over your head a bit more—I can see your face.”
Kara grabbed the edges of her hoodie and pulled them just above the bridge of her nose. “Is it better now?”
“Perfect.”
Kara fidgeted with the sleeve of her shirt. “I don’t want you to get involved in my mess.”
David cocked his head to the side. He was silent for a moment. “It’s too late for that. Besides, I like breaking the rules. It makes me feel mortal again.”
“I’m serious, David.” Kara shook her head. “The situation is bad. And it’ll only get worse. I don’t want to have your fate on my conscience as well—or Jenny’s and Peter’s for that matter. I don’t think I can handle that.”
“We’re your friends. And friends stick up for one another. I couldn’t leave you in that prison to rot. It wasn’t right.” David’s face was pulled tight in a grimace.
Kara looked away and didn’t respond. She pulled her hoodie lower around her face. If it weren’t for her friends, she’d still be locked away in Tartarus. She wondered how long the council would have left her there. How such a horrendous place could exist in Horizon, she didn’t know. She wondered what other secret dungeons were hidden from the rest of the guardians. She frowned.
After about two hours, Jenny and Peter emerged from the crowd and walked slowly towards them.
“Hey guys,” whispered Jenny. She looked casually over her shoulder. “We spotted a few officers looking for you, Kara. You can’t stay here long. It’s all over the Legion.”
Kara screwed up her face. “Great. You’d think they would try to keep it quiet.” She felt uneasy, and glanced into the crowd.
“Unfortunately no,” interrupted Peter. He adjusted his glasses. “They’re pretty angry with you. The one place you weren’t supposed to break out from—you did. It makes them look weak.”
“And now they’re really pissed.” Jenny smiled mischievously.
“Great,” said Kara. She let herself fall back against the wall. “—another thing to add the list of reasons I should be killed. They’ll never believe me now. The innocent don’t break out of prisons.”
“Yeah…well…you did. You didn’t have a choice.” David’s tone was getting louder. “We all know you’re innocent—and they’re too stupid and stuck in their ways to notice.”
Kara hit her head against the wall behind her. “Well, haven’t you noticed? It doesn’t matter what you guys think. What matters is what the council believes. And right now, I’m nothing but a demon in their eyes—an evil one.”
“Stop that.” David frowned. “You know you’re not evil. Those douche bags that sit on the council chairs all day have shit for brains. We’ll just have to prove your innocence somehow.”
Kara felt consoled by the kindness in his voice.
“Besides, how else are we supposed to look for your mom if you’re locked inside a giant Rubik’s cube?”
Kara stared at the ground and didn’t answer. She tried to remember her last conversation with her mother. She hoped it had been a good one, but she couldn’t remember. She knew the council weren’t about to help. She was her mother’s only hope—she had to do something.
“Listen,” said Jenny, “my scout friend thinks he has the location of your mother’s soul.”
“What? Where?”
“In Paris.”
Kara took a step closer to Jenny. “In Paris!”
“Shhh!” Jenny looked over her shoulder. “Be careful. There are spies everywhere. After they tried to stab you, you can’t trust anyone anymore.”
Anger flared inside Kara. “Did they ever find the Death Blade?”
Peter shook his head. “No. I don’t think they even really looked. They didn’t believe you, Kara.”
They didn’t believe her, thought Kara. It wasn’t a surprise. She was a demon to them now, her claims were a waste of time. She clenched her fists so the others wouldn’t see her shaking hands.
“So my mother’s soul is in Paris.” Hope filled the emptiness inside her. “But—Paris is huge. Do we know where in Paris?”
“I couldn’t get that information without attracting suspicion. You’ll have to go there and meet with him.”
“It’s better if Jenny and I stay in Horizon anyway,” said Peter. “We’ll keep our ears open and feed you information from the in
side.”
“Did your scout say who was keeping her?” Kara shivered as she remembered Tom’s angel essence disappearing down the new breeds gaping mouth. How could her mother’s soul survive its acidic black blood?
Jenny glanced sideways before speaking. “No. Like I said, I couldn’t get any more information. Peter and I are already being watched by Cassiel. I think he suspects something.”
Kara nodded. “It’s fine. This is the break I’ve been looking for.”
“You know it’s a trap, don’t you.” David sighed wearily. “They’re using her soul as bait. You know that.”
Kara shrugged. “I don’t care. I have to try. I can’t just sit here and wait for things to happen. They might never happen. I have to do something.”
David touched his hand to Kara’s shoulder. “I’m going with you. You can’t have all the fun—”
“THERE SHE IS! GET HER!”
A group of first officers pushed their way out of the multitude of newly dead and pointed straight at Kara. A five hundred pound silverback gorilla was with them. It snarled, revealing rows of sharp yellow teeth, pushed itself on its back legs and rose to its full height. Kara could hear the loud thumps as it hit its powerful chest with its great muscular arms. It threw back its head and roared. Kara could see the glare in its intelligent black eyes. Then it took a giant leap towards her.
Kara froze, like a deer caught in headlights. The silverback ploughed through the crowd, knocking them down like pins in a bowling alley.
“Get out of here!” Jenny pushed on Kara’s back. “My scout will find you. Get to Paris, hurry! I’ll create a diversion. Go!”
David grabbed Kara by the arm and pulled her with him as he ran.
She heard a great commotion behind her. She turned her head. Jenny jumped in the air, flailing her arms and yelling, “Look! It’s Elvis! He’s over here!” Crowds rushed over like a giant wave and Kara could see the officers’ heads disappear in the crush
But the silverback was still coming. It jumped over the crowds of angels and came down with a thundering crash. Its predatory eyes were locked on Kara.
Elemental, Soul Guardians Book 2 Page 11