by Jaymin Eve
Josian stepped in then and wrapped us both in his strong arms, as he had done many times before, and I felt a moment of peace. Just a moment. But it was enough for now. As we pulled apart, there were more noises.
Dune, Lucas, Ladre and Samuel finished out our family and friends crowding into the space. Each of the male’s focus was immediately zeroed in on their mate. Samuel gave me a smile and a tip of his head. I was very happy he’d made it this far unscathed.
I noticed that Dune was breathing very deeply. He looked like he was seconds from crossing the round room and gathering Fury to him. But he didn’t. There wasn’t enough space for him to move any closer than his spot near the entrance.
“I need everyone to step back into the hall,” Jedi said, drawing all attention toward him.
The princeps had maneuvered himself so he was closer to Sapha. I doubted the Dronish half even realized how far back she was leaning into his large body. Almost letting him protectively curve around her. She didn’t let many get close to her, only the half-Walkers on occasion, Jedi and Nandia – who was currently perched on her shoulders.
“Out,” Jedi said again, more forcefully this time, since no one was moving.
There were more than a few grumbles and glares, but eventually, just the seven half-Walkers and our animal guides remained. Everyone else filled the long stone hall that led into this prison chamber. Jedi remained behind so he could run through the ritual with us.
“The ritual remains as I told you, Abby. You must join the power of seven, call on the energy of the ancients and Mother of All, and expel both power and blood into the prison. During this you must repeat the words terra, ignis, aqua, ventus, spiritus, umbra, and then lay a seal on the prison with what remains of your joined power. Then you repeat terra, ignise, ventus, spiritus, umbra, followed by coniungere, carcere, postestas, septum.”
He repeated these instructions more than once. Some of the words were difficult to wrap our tongues around; they sounded like Latin but had strange inflections on certain syllables. Eventually, though, Jedi was satisfied we had the correct wording down.
My eyes were drawn across to the Seventine, who were standing in the same positions within the cage. Just standing and watching us. They all wore this identical smirk, which didn’t exactly give me warm and fuzzy feelings. I was starting to think they lacked faith in our ability and power to do this ritual.
My unease only increased when Jedi handed me a large dagger, and left the room. I swallowed hard, my throat and mouth bone dry. My eyes fell on the ornately bejeweled piece in my hand. The twin-edged, thin-pointed dagger was gilded. Its handle was inlaid all the way to the base with shimmering gems, the color of aquamarine.
I wanted to laugh, but in a dark and bad way. This is what the last year had led to: Quarn and Francesca’s sacrifice, all of those who had died on the battlefield, Que, and the Seventine. Now all that was left was to slice into my friends and hope we had enough power to drag the Seventine into the prison and encase them there forever.
“Let’s do this, Supes. We all know you’ve wanted to cut me on more than one occasion. Here’s your chance.” Fury used her talent to break some of the tension.
Smartassery is a talent, right?
I turned, catching sight of Brace. He was beside Jedi, the two of them front and center in the entrance area. His entire body was rigid. He was so tense I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. His black eyes didn’t shift from me, and I knew that it was only his massive control, and Colton’s hand – which I could see on his shoulder – holding him back.
Love you, I said, and then I shut down the bond.
He jerked toward me, but caught himself at the last moment. His eyes lowered minutely, and I knew he was fighting himself again. I needed to hurry.
I wrenched my gaze from him, an act which physically hurt. Facing the girls, I pulled forth resolve from wherever it was hiding, and squared myself.
“Let’s do this. We have the power. We’ll lock them away, and then move on with our lives. The Seventine will be nothing more than a bad memory.”
Delane crossed the space and stopped at my side. “It’s been an honor to fight alongside you all. I count the six of you as my brethren, and if we do die here today, then there are no others I would wish to be with.”
She bowed her head briefly to me and then did the same toward the other girls. The flashes of white light which emerged from the stones and its cage shone off the blackness of her shiny hair.
My heart was full, swelling to a mammoth size, and then my throat and eyes got all tight and stuff. All of a sudden we were in a group hug. I wasn’t sure who started it. Okay, it might have been me. I might have thrown my arms out and basically plowed into the rest of them. We all needed this. The last moment where we fit together perfectly. Friends, sister, originals, and half-Walkers.
“I love you all,” I said, my voice humming with emotion. “I’ll do my best to keep us alive, but know that I couldn’t have picked a better crew of girls to do this with.”
Even Eva and Sapha wore heavy emotions on their faces. We were all afraid, but in that moment we drew on each other’s strength and a sense of ‘we can do this’ washed over our group. We broke the hug, stepping around the room to form a circle.
My eyes flicked up. The first was still watching me closely. He wore less of a smirk now, but still didn’t look afraid.
“You will fail,” he said.
Then for the first time since being locked into the cage, he moved. The brothers closed ranks and the seven of them were encased in the same white light we had seen on the field.
The one which had severed Quarn’s tether.
The cavern filled with their unnatural brightness. It splashed across the dark and dingy rock.
“Don’t pay attention to them,” I said. “We start the ritual now.”
I threw out my tether to connect the seven of us again. The warmth and energy flowed, faster and more in sync than ever before. Joined like this I could fully sense the nervous tension within each of the girls. It added an extra buzz to our energy, almost like a fizzy drink.
Let’s do this!
It was a war cry of sorts, echoing through the bond. I started to call on the power of the Mother of All and the ancients.
Nothing happened at first, but as the cry resonated between the seven of us, more of those tingles filtered through our bond. Through our energy and into our blood. I felt a brush of something then – something bigger than anything I’d felt before. The original power locked inside my filing cabinet started to rattle and shake, like it wanted to be free. Like it was reaching for the power.
The next step was not one I was looking forward to: loss of blood and power. The dagger was still in my hand, tingles of energy emanating from where I held the blade. Jedi’s weapon would be Walker made, and that meant the wounds would not heal quickly. This was going to hurt the girls, and I wasn’t sure I could actually cut them like this.
My feet faltered as I moved across to Talina. She stood directly to my right.
“I’m sorry, Talli.” My voice was barely a whisper, but she heard me.
“You’re my best friend, Abbs. I trust you with my life. Don’t you take on this guilt.”
Easy to say, but she wasn’t the one holding a knife to her best friend’s throat.
Sucking in deeply, I decided to get it over with as quickly as possible. I pressed the razor-sharp blade into her neck, just beneath her chin and to the left of her jugular. I knew where to cut so she would bleed freely. We had learned all about killing in the Compound on Earth. Of course, my aim wasn’t to kill today, so I had to be careful not to cut too deeply. To make sure the wound could be stemmed before it was too late.
Talina flinched as I split her perfectly pink skin. The blade was sharp, so sharp I almost cut too deep but managed to pull back at the last moment. Apollo turned his massive, lizard-like eyes on me, and I could sense his mourning. He loved Talina too, and this was no easier for the
guides to be a part of.
I held back tears as I grazed Talina’s cheek with my fingertip. “Hold your hand to the cut. Slow the flow until I finish the rest of the girls,” I murmured, and then I took off at almost a sprint to reach the other five.
I made the same apology to each as I cut into their skin, and for the most part there was no condemnation in their eyes.
Sapha was the one I worried about the most. She did not understand the true power of blood. Her world did not know of lifeblood. But she didn’t fight me, and when I had finished and the first droplets of her essence flowed, she actually smiled.
“You are a good leader.”
Holy crap. I felt like I’d received a hundred gold stars from the teacher.
In the end, the only one that was left was me. I wasn’t sure if I could cut my own throat – probably should have thought about that earlier. Oh, well, time to give it a shot.
All eyes were on me as I raised the handle. Brace’s especially were burning a hole in my face. Reaching up, I felt around to find the right spot, before pressing the tip of the blade into my skin.
The first cut was hot, and quick. So fast that I didn’t feel the pain immediately. That numbness lasted only a second, and because the blade was infused with Walker energy, the following pain was so much more than I’d expected. The energy forced the wound to stay open. It felt like I was being cut over and over again. I dropped the blade.
Okay, we pour the energy into the prison, and we repeat the words.
All of us shuffled forward. The doorway of the prison was closed now, but we knew where it should be, and that was where we would bleed.
I uncupped my hand from around the wound in my neck. The warm trickle was steady as it splattered across my skin and onto the ground. I had to lean out so that my shirt didn’t soak up all the goodness. The other girls followed suit and then, using the conduit power, I poured our energy into the same space.
“Terra, ignis, aqua, ventus, spiritus, umbra.”
We chanted the words internally and out loud and, as the last note fell on umbra, I spun our energy into a circle. Similar to erecting a barrier, I laid it across the room. There was a popping sensation and it was as if a seal had just been dropped over everything.
“Terra, ignise, ventus, spiritus, umbra.”
There was a slight pause before we continued the ritual.
“Coniungere, carcere, postestas, septum.”
I remembered that these words were from the old language, that they represented the elements, and that the last part was directly linked to the Seventine.
We were still bleeding and pouring energy into the prison. The seal remained on the room, and then in a strange sort of hum it burst into life. The bright light from the Seventine dimmed in comparison to the light which flared out of our barrier and then, with a howl of noise, like the turbine on an old engine, I felt something tighten in my chest and the barrier imploded.
The Seventine shrieked.
I wanted to turn my head to see them, but it took every part of my concentration to stay over the prison. To keep bleeding and expelling our energy. I was tired. No food or sleep for days. I had fought and lost and more. But we had to hold on. This was the last trial and I refused to fail.
The Seventine started to fight us, using whatever power was at their disposal to directly smash against the energy which was slowly tightening and dragging them toward the prison. The more they fought, the more energy was expelled from us to keep them moving forward.
I understood now why this was so much harder and more dangerous with all the Seventine free. They were strong in this form. They had energy to fight against us. As we weakened I wondered if we would fail. We had failed every other time we’d gone up against them.
Not today. The words were from Fury, and they echoed across our bond.
Not. Today! we all shouted together.
The sacred animals threw back their heads and howled out into the world. Then they moved from our sides. I was scared for a moment, wondering what they were doing. Then I realized that they were circling around us, adding their energy. I felt a strengthening in our barrier.
Blood still ran freely down our throats and power poured from our collective energy. The Seventine continued moving toward us, slowly, breaking through the cage which had been holding them.
It’s working!
We were pulling them toward the prison. We were gaining on them, but we were weakening. For the first time their general confidence was diminished. There was pain and panic on those ugly faces now.
Our struggle continued, and eventually our energy had almost run its course. It was time to draw on the extra from the originals locked in my filing cabinet.
Opening the internal drawer, I flung free the masses of energy I’d taken from Que. It splintered out of my center and, like magnets drawing toward their other halves, zoomed out to the girls. The original power was trying to match up with the essence that rested within each of us. This surge of energy was like a shot of adrenalin. My body energized, blood flow increased, power flow increased, and with help from the sacred animals we had a solid shot to really finish this off.
The Seventine fought us harder, their desperation clear. The strain on our bodies increased, and I knew that it would still be close.
Die, assholes! Seriously, just die. Ria was all fierce now, and I knew she was thinking of Artwon, of all that would be destroyed if we lost here today.
My knees hit the ground. I hadn’t even noticed how truly weak I was getting. The brief burst of original power had only helped for a short time, and I was having trouble keeping myself upright. I fell forward, my hands resting against the roughened ground.
The other girls were in the same position, and I heard the angry growls and yells from our men, who were stuck on the outside of our barrier.
The Seventine were very close to the entrance of the prison now, but I wasn’t sure it was enough. The first’s slash-like eyes were locked on me and, for a being who claimed not to feel, an emotion was clear in his scrunched features: fear. His greatest fear was to end up back in that prison.
Suffer, you bastard.
More weakness filtered along our bond. Would we have enough power left to finish the job? The surge of original energy was fading fast; the Seventine were just too powerful.
Abbs. Talina’s voice was barely a whisper. I’m sorry.
I wrenched my head up in time to see her fall forward. She landed hard on the ground, boneless, as if she had nothing left to give. Panic ensued when I felt for her energy; the water element was barely flickering in our bond. I latched on to what remained of her essence.
Talli. No, you can’t die on me. Don’t give up. I got you.
I held on as tightly as I could to that small spark of life. I clutched it close and tried to bring her back to me, but I had no energy to share with her.
And then she was gone. The final light of water fading away into the abyss.
A scream left me, and I wasn’t the only one. Every single girl in the bond mourned. I needed to wail and cry. Bursts of pain were rocking me so hard I couldn’t even breathe, but we were still locked in the deadly battle with the Seventine and had no extra energy to release our pain. To mourn our fallen. All the six of us could do was focus our gazes on the beautiful Spurn half – who no longer moved – and continue to drag the Seventine toward the prison.
Do not stop, Abby. Fury was as serious as I’d ever heard her. We’ve come too far now. Don’t let our sacrifice be in vain.
The next to fall was Eva.
It’s okay, she whispered, it was worth it to save the worlds. I couldn’t save my family, but I can save everyone else.
No! You’ll stay here with us. We’re your family too. You have to fight.
I held her faltering spark of life, as I had done with Talina’s, but just like before, I wasn’t strong enough.
Eva fell. The last drops of blood trickled from her still form, and then I could no longer feel he
r.
The pain in my heart was beyond anything I had ever experienced, and I was sure the only reason it had not burst apart in my chest was the fact that I was very close to losing consciousness myself. I knew what would happen then. I knew that if I fell, all of them would, because I was the conduit holding our bond and power together.
Sapha was next. Thank you for saving Arotia, she said. Tell Jedi … I appreciate everything he has done for me.
Even though I knew it was pointless, I still tried to keep her with us. Her shadow energy was more foreign than that of the other girls, but in the end, the results were the same. Her skin flashed in an array of colors before settling back to her beautiful rich soil color. Then she was no more.
My mind knew and accepted now that we would all die. I decided that was okay, as long as we saved the worlds and prevented the Seventine from severing the tether during the convergence. Our energy would hold the prison closed. Our friends and family would be safe.
Brace.
I opened the bond enough to reach him. The feel of his soul sent another shot of pain through my dying heart.
Let me through, Red. Don’t do this.
He couldn’t physically penetrate the barrier we’d set up, the one which closed in on the Seventine and dragged them to their prison. But we had our mental bond.
I … can’t. Have to … stop.
I was too weak to continue.
Brace’s yell was guttural, and I felt a slight lift in my energy as he forced his power into me. It was difficult for him to do this through the barrier, just small tendrils made it to me; it helped a little.
Ria fell next, and as my soul burned in agony, I fought for her too. I was going to fight for each of them. I would give no less to my girls. I couldn’t hold her.
Goodbye, my friend, she murmured before her essence died.
Next was Delane, the warrior strong and stoic until the end.
Delane! No! … Figh … fight.
I wasn’t being fair. She had fought so hard, but I couldn’t let them go easily. Her spark slipped through my grasp. My arms faltered beneath me. I was down to my forearms, my knees barely keeping me aloft. The Seventine were above the prison entrance now. I held on, determined to make it to the end. It would be too late to save the girls. Or me. But the Seventine would never hurt any other again.