by Jaymin Eve
There was a surge then in our front line. They climbed into the trees, hiding behind trunks and bringing forth a lot of weapons I’d never seen in my life. The Walkers were still the strongest and best defense against these unnaturally durable creatures of the Seventine, but the other races could not be discounted. They were certainly no weaklings.
“Great work, Ria!” Delane gave her a nod of ‘job well done’.
Those two were fast becoming the best of friends.
“You gave the perfect cover without blocking our line-of-sight. Fighting blind doesn’t work, but this greenery is an asset.”
Delane was right. Ria’s greenery had simply woven itself around the troops, and went where it was needed. No obstruction of view.
The seven of us had paused on the edge of the battle. Standing between us and the crater left by the explosion was the Seventines’ army.
Despite my best efforts, my eyes were continually drawn to that blackened chasm. Held within it were the remnants of a bloodbath, a mess of limbs and bodies. Lives cruelly stolen away.
Horror resonated along the bond. I wasn’t the only one who felt the immense loss of life there. We had to stop this from happening again. We had to defeat the Seventine or this would not be the largest loss of life we faced on this dark mountain.
First we fight the army; then we fight the Seventine.
“Okay, Eva, do your thing,” I said.
First in line: hundreds of the crazy tree creatures. At the moment they were engaged against Walkers, pixies, faeries and First Worlders. I’d fought them before on Crais and knew that these trees were fast and mega strong. They used their branches and root system to strangle any that weren’t quick enough to get out of the way.
Walkers were great at regeneration, but the other races had lost limbs. I noticed a pixie and First World soldier go down. Three healer Walkers raced out of the crowd and, using some sort of levitation energy, scooted the pair off to the healing zone. Their missing limbs floated after them. No doubt many of the soldiers had been saved due to the sheer speed the Walkers got them to the healing area.
Beyond the tree creatures were the zombies, but we didn’t focus on them. One problem at a time.
Eva raised her hands slightly and wiggled her fingers, as if sensing the very air around the evil trunked beings.
“They’re susceptible to fire,” she said, “but only if the flame is sustained for longer than seventy seconds. Also, they’re really top heavy, so if you cut them off from their lower limbs, they’ll topple over.”
Eva was like an army godsend. To know an enemy’s weakness. That saved so much time and energy in battle. You could just go straight for the jugular.
I squared my shoulders. “Okay, this one is Fury’s element. The rest of us will use our powers and weapons to take out their lower roots. When we have them all rounded into a single space, we’ll form a circle of fire and blast them as one. We just have to remember to hold it there for at least seventy seconds. Make sure their butts are ash.”
In that moment I reached out with my mind toward the house at Angelisian. I grabbed a weapon from the massive depth, taking a moment to be thankful that Josian had enough swords for ten armies. I had lost more than one of his weapons over the past little while.
“Baby girl, you’re all kinds of impressive.”
I spun as the deep voice washed over me. I managed to throw myself into his arms and not stab him with my newly procured weapon. His strong arms were the best comfort I could ever imagine. Pulling away, I ran my eyes over him as fast as I could.
He looked fantastic.
Strong, healthy, and for the first time I couldn’t see a heavy burden in those autumn-leaf eyes. He stood taller; he was like ten-foot high now, and his shoulders were as solid as a mountain. Power danced across his glowing skin and energy crackled in the places where we touched. Josian had always looked like a god to me, and now it was more than apparent.
Wait!
Was Josian the god-man, lost and alone, that had been the key to saving us? The prophecy had spoken of this; it must have been the way that he had broken the hold of the lalunas. The way he had figured out how we could trap them into the cave. He had been so alone, had lost his free will, been forced to help the lalunas. But all of that was over now; he was here and he would fight with us.
I hugged him again.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked as I pulled away.
I had a quick glance around, but couldn’t see the slender brunette in the vicinity.
“I convinced her to head toward the healing area. She’s most useful there and … I’m not sure I could handle seeing her on the battlefield.” He paused for a second. “Francesca is with her.”
Somehow my father knew what I was thinking before I even thought it. I had been wondering where my aunt was. I was glad that both she and Mom were not out here. I already had too many loved ones to keep safe. Plus, I knew they’d be a massive help in the overrun healing tents.
“Want to manifest me a weapon, baby girl?” His pearly whites flashed in a broad grin.
Josian looked ready to fight, and I wasn’t going to try to stop him. Selfishly, I wanted my father with me today. I needed his strength and support.
“I’ll need one also,” said another male.
I couldn’t see who it was – Josian’s broad shoulder blocked the view – but I recognized the gravelly voice.
Sure enough, Quarn, my guardian, rounded my father.
I drank him in, every part of his grizzled self. I threw myself at him too. This hug was fast and strong before I was deposited back on my feet.
“Where’s your magic sword?” I asked.
The long, thin rapier-style blade was something he usually manifested right off his body.
“Unfortunately, she’s reached the end of her time. We had some great moments, especially against the gangers … guess it’s time for a new blade.”
He looked wistful. Probably thinking not only of his blade, but also of other losses – like his Hallow, who he’d lost on Earth.
I handed my sword to Quarn. He’d hold it while I fetched more weapons. I opened my mind and sent out the tether. It took me no time to pick through the mass of weapons available. I brought forth the ones which were best suited to the taller males. The blade I handed to Josian was large and heavy, but perfect for the sweeping swing he favored. Quarn was fast, so for him I went with throwing knives and twin axes. Similar to those that Delane used, but larger and heavier. My guardian was like Brace: loved to get in close and fight dirty.
Quarn’s blue eyes sparkled. “You know the way to this old protector’s heart.”
He handed me back my sword and took the throwing knives first. I’d practiced with them a few times in Angelisian. They were amazing quality, double-edged at the tip before extending down to a single serrated side. The blades were small, easily fitting into the palm of his calloused hand, but perfectly balanced. The metal was black and shiny, and I knew it would never dull or blunt. The metal used to make Walker weapons was unparalleled to anything on Earth. Eva could attest to that with her red-bladed Mortem.
My eyes flashed at Quarn. “I figured since you were mere minutes from fighting me for the throwing knives on Earth, you’d appreciate your own set.”
My guardian chuckled, the creases around his eyes drawing my attention for their sheer unusualness. No one on First World had wrinkles; Quarn was the only one. Earth had done something to my guardian, aged him.
Another shadow washed over me and I was astonished to turn and find Samuel stepping out of the tree line. My eyes did a quick sweep of him and, I had to say, he looked a little worse for wear. Ash covered his clothes and streaked across his fair skin like a camouflage of sorts. He held a sword in one hand, and had a bow slung across his shoulders. There was blood slowly seeping from a cut above his eye, and his arm looked to be hastily stitched together just above the elbow.
“Samuel has been helping Lucas and the First World army durin
g the battle,” Quarn said; he almost sounded proud. “He’s fought with honor.”
Samuel shrugged, the lightest of pinks creeping across his cheeks. My brother was the rugged, masculine version of our beautiful mother. “I was just doing what anyone would.”
His eyes met mine and I knew he was doing much more than that. He had sins to atone for, an atonement of his own choosing, and he would not stop until he felt he’d done enough.
I stepped forward and patted him lightly on the arm. “Just don’t get yourself killed. We still have that dinner date, remember.”
He reached out with his free hand and grasped my own into his palm. “I haven’t forgotten, Abby.”
My heart ached then, just this dull pain of some sort of emotion I wasn’t used to feeling. I sucked in a ragged breath before pulling away.
To focus my mind I moved over to where the girls waited patiently. Right. It was time for the battle.
I quickly traced a few more weapons across from the Angelisian beach house. I offered them to the girls, but only Fury and Ria took them. Delane and Eva already had their favorites. Talina and Sapha didn’t know how to fight with weapons and figured they were better off just using their powers. The rest didn’t go to waste. There were plenty of soldiers around who were quite excited to get their hands on Josian’s impressive blades.
“We ready?” I asked.
It was pretty rhetorical. We didn’t have a choice, but sometimes the question still has to be asked. To get us in the right frame of mind.
“Give me a second,” Delane said suddenly.
And then with a powerful burst from her black wings, she took off into the sky. Lina was right behind her.
Be careful, you’re a sitting target up there. My warning was pretty much unnecessary.
Delane had a zillion times more battle experience than I had. I was just worried.
I’ll be careful. Just scouting out the area before we attack.
There was nothing like a bird’s-eye view.
How’s it looking up there, Delane?
It was pretty amazing how easily we switched between mental and actual talk now, and we could also choose which thoughts to share and which to keep private.
Our time on the Mother’s realm was like ten years of practice here. It had amplified everything. She had given us a gift, and the double bonus was it somehow didn’t mess with the balance. Maybe because the Seventine had been walking the fine line of straying into forbidden territory for a while. She was simply cleaning up their mess.
The battle isn’t going badly for our troops. In general they’re holding their own. I’ve no idea what caused the massive destruction in the center, but it wasn’t from any on the battlefield right now.
The Seventine, I’d guess.
I felt her agreement.
There was a surge in noise, and then a change in the very air. The battle started to die off. I pushed myself forward – Josian and Quarn right at my back – to see what was happening. The trees, zombies and fire-lizard things had stop fighting. What the …?
Our army was still active, cutting into the Seventines’ minions. But there was no fighting back; the trees had simply planted their roots into the black, ash-like ground and were acting all – tree-like.
What game were they playing?
“Can you see anything?” I asked my giant of a father.
My view was blocked not only by Ria’s greenery, but also by the evil-minion trees.
“Something’s moving from behind the royal forest,” he said, craning his neck. “I’m going to take a wild guess, judging on the new influx of elemental energy I sense, that it’s the Seventine.”
I can’t see them yet, but the energy is definitely elemental. Delane confirmed this. I’m coming back to ground. We’re too much of a target in the air. No cover up here.
Good idea.
Delane knew how to read a battle.
The half-Walkers gathered close.
“The Seventine are emerging. We need to make sure they don’t hurt any of our people. The soldiers can disable the trees if they start up again. We need to handle the Seventine.”
Eyes blinked rapidly at me. I could feel the nervous tension through our link. We knew we weren’t really a match for these ancient energy-sucking assholes, but shit – we were the best option our people had. The only option really.
“So the plan is to hold them off long enough for Jedi to figure out this ritual and how we get them into the prison?” Talina’s hair was wrapping around her all crazy-like and her eyes were shiny, like she was about to cry, but no tears fell. “How the heck are we supposed to do that? We’ve no idea the power they hold.”
I strode the two steps across to hug her. “They don’t know the power we hold either. The original seven beat them once, and their blood runs within our veins. It’s our responsibility now. We can do this.”
Look at me go; I had this pep-talking business down. Almost convinced myself there. Thankfully there were no more freak-outs. The girls pulled themselves together, and without thought we all reached out and linked hands. Delane was back on the ground now. She fell onto the end next to Sapha.
“Let’s do this, girls.”
Together, as a single unit of power, we strode through the trees and out to meet the Seventine. At our backs were the sacred animals plus Josian, Samuel and Quarn. The last year of our lives would boil down to this very moment. The moment we met the Seventine on the battlefield.
And we all knew only one group would survive.
Chapter 15
Either my ears had stopped working, or a hush fell across the crowds as we emerged into the open. The zombie forms still lingered in front of the crater, but they too were frozen in suspended motion. Like weird, ghoulish, skin-peeling, flesh-exposed, undead statues.
The Seventine had their army on pause, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out why. I blinked, and then somehow Brace was at my side. As I clashed eyes with his chocolate depths and ran my gaze over the perfect planes of his face, I actually calmed. His presence was reassuring and I was girl enough to admit that he made me even stronger. I was strong on my own, but with Brace I felt badass.
Heads-up, Red. When the Seventine released their last brother, Que’s cage was blasted open.
He used the bond, keeping our conversation private.
What happened? I asked as we continued to pick our way across the battlefield.
I knew I shouldn’t be focusing on anything but the battle right then, but this information was important.
That’s why I was gone so long. My commanders were filling me in, and I was trying to find my father. The cage has been here on First World since we left Abernath, our men continued trying to open it, but the energy was too strong. Then right when the Seventine broke free from the prison, there was an explosion of light. Three of our men were blasted away, and by the time they managed to pull themselves together, the tank was destroyed and Que was gone.
I could tell that when he’d said “pull themselves together” he meant literally. The images were not pretty. One had lost an arm; the other had his face partially torn off. Luckily they were Walkers and could eventually regenerate, but still – not pleasant. Brace had sent them across to the medic ward.
So, somehow Que’s cage and the release of the Seventine were linked. How was it linked?
It would have required an incredible amount of energy to release the final Seventine. It seems they had drawn from Earth’s shield, something on Spurn, the joining of us half-Walkers and also – maybe Que’s tank.
Que’s tank was designed to contain more energy than could be gathered in a hundred years. Maybe all of that power gathered from Earth’s transference cage was stored in the tank. Que had it sitting in his little experiment room just storing all that power until it was needed. For many years.
So how did Que end up inside it then? Regenerating and gathering original energy.
Brace’s pause felt extended, but it was really only seconds. I
think the tank was supposed to just be an energy storage device for the Seventine. But Que always has a backup plan. He must have had it rigged to sense his essence. That way, if anything happened to him, he wouldn’t disperse into the universe. The tank would retrieve his energy and regeneration would be fast.
It was as good a theory as any. Que always had a plan A, B and C.
Movement caught my eye, and Brace and I stopped our guesswork. We had to focus now.
There was one more thing, though. Where are Lucy and Colton?
They’re on their way. Took Lucy a while to escape her parents. They’re laying down a heavy load of overprotectiveness on her now.
Colton would be loving that. It was a full-time job trying to keep that pixie out of trouble.
We got this, baby, Brace said finally.
His mental presence then faded out, resting in that small corner of my mind he always occupied. Just like with Quarn, Samuel and Josian – only a million times more – I wanted to push Brace away, make him go where he would be safe from the wrath of the Seventine.
But there was no way he would leave me, and I wouldn’t insult him by acting like he wasn’t strong enough to be here. Of any Walker, Brace was the one who could handle the Seventine. There was a reason he’d been the only one strong enough to house the first.
Plus a small part of me was terrified to face the Seventine. I wasn’t sure how I’d even react when I saw them for the first time. They would have their bodies now. They were no longer spirits.
The battlefield was still quiet. Our soldiers were waiting with bated breath, waiting for the enemies to come off ‘pause’. Waiting for the Seventine to finally show themselves.
Movement drew my gaze. Cerberus growled, and Crete morphed into his prehistoric panther size. Something was coming. I expected the Seventine, but it was …
Que.
He stepped out of the royal forest, and moved in a gliding motion across the blackness of the deadened field. A flare of emotion rocketed through me. I hated him with a passion; he was a sociopathic asshole, but – I still couldn’t tear my eyes from him. He wore his newly stolen power like the finest cloak you would ever see. His arms and legs were covered in black leather, and I wondered if some of his limbs still resembled a cyborg.