by T. L. Clarke
Get it together. You’re Gabrielle Martin. The daughter of one of the most powerful magic wielders on the face of this earth. Get it together, girl. Show no fear, I thought frantically.
Giving the young guy who appeared to be their leader a venomous glare, I quickly got into Warrior stance—or my somewhat awkward version of what we were trained do by the Circles. I made up my mind that there was absolutely no way he was taking us down without a fight. Jessica looked at me like I was an escaped patient from an insane asylum. Her eyes communicated that there was no way we could win. But I didn’t care because I felt absolutely crazed, pumped with adrenalin; common sense completely flew out the window.
Acting out of pure instinct, spiked with a little bit of crazy, I blocked Jessica’s body. "Stay away from us," I growled.
His face was a cold, unreadable mask. He moved forward slowly, like a lion tamer approaching a wild lion, and stopped mere inches from us. "Hey, hold on a minute. Relax, okay? We’re only here to—"
He took another step forward. Too close for my comfort.
I leaped at him, striking out with a spinning kick that I had just learned this week. I knew it was stupid since I really hadn’t even mastered the move, but I was reacting out of pure fear.
With freakish lightning speed, he quickly sidestepped my move, leaving me stumbling forward. I quickly regained my footing and awkwardly got back in Warrior stance.
"Hey, come on now!" He swore, shoving his hand through his hair. Now he looked at me with sheer amusement as his crew of Banished Warriors just stood looking at me like a specimen under a microscope.
I groaned with embarrassment. This was such an epic fail. I gritted my teeth with anger. I’ll show him. Sharply, I flipped my leg out, aiming straight for his smug but beautiful face. With one swift move, he deftly caught my leg with one hand while his other slammed into me palm-first. My standing leg started to slip. Yikes, this was definitely going to hurt. Like, a whole lot.
He swiftly released my leg, then reached out and roughly caught my arm.. I steadied myself by using it to pull me up, unnervingly finding myself pressed against his body, looking up into his light gray eyes. His eyes curiously lingered on my face. My stomach got a real weird queasy feeling, like I was one step away from hurling. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving a warm, oozy feeling that left me staring, mesmerized by his eyes. My mind screamed to flee, but a tinkling emotion begged to stay.
I jerked out of his hold, causing him to step back quickly. I backed up toward Jessica, who was looking on with terror-filled eyes.
A voice was carried by the wind behind us. "Gabrielle, stop!"
At first, the words didn’t register as I prepared myself mentally to launch another attack on him.
"Gabrielle, I said stop!"
I recognized Thallo’s voice.
Suddenly, Jessica’s hand caught hold of mine. "Gabi," she said nervously, "stop."
Maybe it was the soothing sound of her voice or the pleading look in her eyes. My mind clicked—enough. My body sagged with relief, the tension oozing gratefully from my body.
The guy stepped forward; his face was super calm. "Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Chaos, Ares Warrior." His voice was low and gravelly. "I’m here to take you to Transcendence."
chapter
THREE
They were staring at me like I’d suddenly grown two heads, but I refused to let them intimidate me. So, I stared right back at the throng of burly, menacing-looking Ares Warriors without blinking. They were so lame.
I actually sneered before saying matter-of-factly, "Really? Am I supposed to be shaking in my boots right now?"
The one I heard them calling Orion looked at me sourly. "No fear, that’s a very good thing, Neophyte Circle."
Chaos looked over at me with disdain. "That’s because she doesn’t know what fear is—yet."
That was the first word he’d uttered since they rushed us off the grounds of Vineswell Academy. Now we were being rushed up the metal stairs, into a huge private jet, where they promptly shoved us into the front section, quarantined to what felt like the children’s table at Thanksgiving.
Chaos screeched to a stop when a tall, lightly muscular guy who looked about sixteen angrily stepped into his path. The guy ran an agitated hand through his tousled chocolate brown hair, his gray eyes angry. They stared at each other menacingly, practically nose to nose, as the other Ares Warriors snickered, crowding around them with anticipation of a fight. I leaned forward curiously, waiting for the fight to break out. At least that would be interesting.
Chaos quickly ran his hand through his short jet-black hair, causing it to stick up haphazardly. "Not now, Justice."
I watched with fascination as Justice’s hands opened and closed with lightning speed as if he was trying hard not to throttle the life out of Chaos.
He scoffed. "Not now? Are you serious? You order me to stay here and babysit the jet like some sort of child when you know that I should have been out with the Trackers," he barked gruffly. "I’m ready, Chaos. You know I am. I’m the top Tracker in my class, so why wasn’t I out there with you?" He looked Chaos up and down with a venomous stare, his body tense. "Maybe because your days as top Tracker are almost over?"
Now, I looked at them anxiously. I wanted to jump up and stop them, but I didn’t know why. I mean, why did I even care if they tore each other apart? That was Ares Warriors business.
The Ares Warriors whooped and hollered wildly, cheering the confrontation on. The air was thick with tension and anticipation.
I shook my head with amazement, Ares Warriors gone crazy.
Chaos’s light gray eyes narrowed coldly as his body tensed. "I’m not worried. Little whining boys are no challenge for me. Ever."
Justice’s eyes were thunderous as he reached out to grab Chaos by the throat.
In a whir, Orion smoothly stepped between and pushed them apart with hulking speed and power.
"Enough!" He looked over at Justice angrily. "Don’t test my patience. Take a walk and cool your temper. This is not the time."
Justice looked at him with frustrated eyes. He opened his mouth to argue, then snapped it shut before storming off to the back of the jet.
Jessica grabbed my arm anxiously. "What was that all about?"
I watched as the Ares Warriors dispersed with disappointment. The tension in the air disappeared as if by magic.
"Like, I know, but I would have loved to see that smug smile being knocked off his face," I whispered in a loud voice as I looked at Chaos meanly.
Zora clucked like a mother hen as she tucked her legs under her in the sleek black leather seat. "Okay, that was way too much Ares Warrior machismo. I’m going to nap and hope that this whole nightmare of a day goes away, and fast."
Jessica and Rosalinda nodded as they snuggled down into the plush leather seats, promptly falling asleep.
Not me, I was too hyped up to fall asleep. Besides, I needed to know what the Eternals were up to.
There was a flurry of activity as they set up something like a weird command center in the back. No one even looked at us. It was as if we were invisible. Chaos paced up and down the aisle barking orders into his iPhone. I looked at him angrily. Who did he think he was? He made her look like a complete idiot out there. Not once did he even say that he was an Ares Warrior and not the Banished, and oh, by the way, there to rescue them. No, he just toyed with her, watching her feeble attempt at Warrior fighting with mocking amusement. That was just…mean.
"You reek," someone spat nastily behind me.
I almost screamed with fright. I hadn’t even noticed Justice looming over me like the Grim Reaper.
"What?"
His gray eyes narrowed coldly as he looked pointedly at my favorite "NY Girl" T-shirt, which was splattered with Banished blood. "I can smell you all the way from the back of the jet, Neophyte. And you stink." He sniffed the air around her.
Okay, that was way cruel. I looked at him with outraged eyes.<
br />
He grunted with impatience. "What, are you dense? Banished blood reeks, and if you don’t get it off you, like, right now, you’ll be stinking for days no matter how many times you shower. Here, change." He roughly threw a huge black T-shirt at me and stormed away.
I threw the shirt on the seat next to me. Some Ares Warriors were watching the interchange between Justice and me, and were now looking at me with amused eyes as they held their noses, waving their hands in front of them.
I looked down at my once-white shirt, and it was filthy with blood. Grudgingly I had to admit I did stink, and bad. I rolled my eyes as I jumped up, then stormed into the bathroom to quickly clean off the blood and change into the huge clean T-shirt that hung to my knees. When I walked out of the bathroom, I watched as Ares Warriors looked at each other worriedly as Chaos barked into his phone.
He looked at the Ares quickly. "I interrupted the council’s meeting. They’re all on the line." He pushed the speaker button on his phone, placing it on the table as the Ares Warriors clustered around anxiously.
"Okay, Helios, we’re all here," he said briskly.
"Tell me that you captured the Banished this time!"
I watched as everyone flinched at the harsh sound of Helios’s icy voice on the other end of the phone.
Chaos’s jaw tightened. "No. They were gone by the time we arrived, but I ordered the Trackers to canvass the area outside of the academy to see if they could pick up any trails that might have been left."
Helios roared like an outraged tiger. All of the Ares looked at each other tensely. "How in the world do we always manage to get there too late? If I didn’t know better, I would think that they were tracking us and not us tracking them."
Chaos growled angrily and opened his mouth to respond before Orion stepped forward smoothly.
"Helios, you know as well as the council that the Banished use of the elusion spell is getting stronger and that we can do nothing about it." Orion paused. "Let’s face it; the situation is getting more dangerous. The wards around the academy were completely destroyed when we arrived. And I don’t have to remind everyone that this is the fifth attack in less than a month, and that’s just on the Eternals."
"This I know, Orion, but I’m looking for answers, not a detailed tongue-lashing about our ineptness. More importantly, the Elementi Conclaves are looking for answers, and I’ve yet to get any," Helios snarled.
Chaos’s eyes narrowed coldly. "There are no answers, Helios. The Elementi are not the only ones suffering at the hands of the Banished and Daemons. We’ve lost more Warriors in the last month than we’ve lost in a year, and now our Neophytes are being attacked. We need answers too. We’ve ordered more Guardians for the Royal Elementi Conclaves. We’ve stepped up the number of Gatewatchers, and the Trackers are on twenty-four-seven rotation. What else do they want us to do? Maybe if they put more of their own Warriors out in rotation, then we could actually make some progress in this war."
"Don’t start, Chaos. Now is not the time for this discussion. Besides, they look to us to do our job; failure is not an option for me or the Eternal Council. Please keep that in mind, or I’ll have to find someone else that can contain this situation," Helios snapped.
Chaos’s body stiffened defensively. Orion looked at him quickly, shaking his head, indicating not to respond.
"We are all tired and, frankly, a little on edge, Helios. We are all doing our best with a limited pool of trained Eternal Warriors, and we can’t train our Neophytes fast enough; between trying to protect our own and trying to protect the Elementi Conclaves and the Gates, we are simply stretched thin, and our enemies know this," Orion stated firmly.
"I know this, Orion, but we are still chasing our tails, and in order to survive, we need solutions. Our survival depends on it," Helios responded with a tinge of frustration.
"Any survivors?" a woman’s voice interrupted sharply.
Chaos’s face was grim. "Just Thallo and the Neophytes."
There were sounds of people gasping and shouting on the other end of the line. "Impossible" and "By the Goddess" were peppered with the screams of outrage and anger.
"Silence! Let’s keep calm," Helios barked. "Are you telling me that all of the students, professors, and seasoned Eternals sent to protect the Neophytes were killed?" His voice was cold, almost frighteningly so.
"Yes," Chaos responded quickly.
"This is Thallo, and I’m still at the academy. We’re still assessing the damage, but I can confirm that there are no other survivors."
There was an awkward silence that droned on for minutes. Tension filled the air before someone from the council spoke. "This is
Queen Nemesis. How could this have happened again? The Banished are systematically attacking our academies by thwarting our protection systems, the Elementi wards. They never had the power to render them useless," she stated sharply.
Justice snorted sarcastically, "Obviously they do now."
Chaos shot him a "please shut up" look. "The Banished powers and numbers are increasing. This is a fact that we’ve ignored much longer than we should. We need to change our mode of defense. The stuff we’ve been using for centuries is no longer working; they are gaining strides in the war."
"I agree with Chaos. They have bypassed all of our security measures by destroying all of the wards; this possibility was unheard of just months ago," Thallo said with frustration.
"And the possibility of them attacking our academies was also improbable just months ago, but here we are talking about the fifth attack, this time on our students and professors," Orion stated matter-of-factly.
"I have always thought that having academies for Normals was a bad idea. It is a security risk that we can ill afford." Queen Nemesis spat.
Helios growled loudly. "Please allow Queen Harmonia to speak now, Nemesis."
"Thank you, Helios." Queen Harmonia paused delicately. "You, as well as the council, know that the academies are our gift to the Normals, Nemesis, a way to give back to them for those who keep our existence secret. To close them down would be suicide, and an act of disrespect to the Normals. This is not a topic appropriate given the current situation, sister," Queen Harmonia finished calmly, then paused. "Thallo, I sense uneasiness in your essence. What are you not telling us?" Her voice had an almost mesmerizing singsong quality.
Thallo cleared her throat noisily. "They sent…" She paused. "They sent Pallas to lead the attack."
My eyes widened when the council erupted into sheer hysterics. Sounds of chairs scraping back mixed with angry screaming and shouting that was so loud, even I wondered what the deal was with this Pallas. Were they talking about that crazy-looking lizard man? Even the coldly remote Ares Warriors shot each other looks of concern at the mere mention of the name.
Chaos just stood there stiffly. The only trace of response was the thick vein pulsating rapidly against the inky mark that covered the left side of his neck.
"Why would they send Pallas to lead an attack on an academy filled with teenage girls? That makes absolutely no sense!" Queen Nemesis shouted above the roar.
Thallo cleared her throat noisily. "He was there for the Akasha."
Just the mention of the Akasha sent everyone crazy again. Wait, Akasha was what the whispers kept on repeating over and over again. And what that psychotic blond guy kept on saying in my nightmare. I stopped cold, looking around worriedly. Please let this all be some big, weird coincidence. My nerves were already on edge, and honestly, I was one step away from going hysterical along with the council.
"Everyone, please, let’s stay calm." Helios paused. "Okay, Thallo, we need to be sure of what you’re implying here, for if this is accurate, it will have untold ripple effects not only for the Eternals, but the Elementi." Helios’s voice was frighteningly soft. It was as if he was trying to control himself—barely.
"There is no implying. This is an outright fact. They sent Pallas for the Akasha." Thallo said every word like she was talking to a three-year-old. "Yo
u should also be aware that he knows what the Neophytes look like. And more importantly, he’s marked their scent."
My skin tingled apprehensively. Yep, they were talking about that crazy man who had sniffed the air like a rabid dog.
Chaos’s body tightened. "This is definitely not good. We must take precautions now. If Pallas has escaped from the Underworld, we are in a world of trouble. Wherever he walks, destruction is sure to follow."
"Don’t be ridiculous. The existence of the Akasha is just a stupid myth, a bedtime story that Eternals and Elementi tell their children at night," Queen Nemesis responded coldly.
My body stiffened involuntarily. There was something about this Queen Nemesis that set my teeth instantly on edge.
Chaos and Orion looked at each other quickly with some unspoken message passing between them that I couldn’t quite catch.
Helios snorted derisively. "Let’s be clear, Nemesis. The Akasha is a prophecy, not a myth. Besides, the Underworld would not have gone through all this trouble to send their best Warrior after a myth. Regardless of what you or anyone believes about the existence of the Akasha, the Underworld obviously wants her, and that fly in the ointment makes this whole situation dangerous for everyone, including the Elementi."
"I wholeheartedly agree with you, Helios. But first, let’s get the Neophytes safely to the Isles. Then we’ll strategize on how best to deal with this situation," Queen Harmonia instructed softly.
Chaos’s eyes narrowed coldly. "They’re under my protection now, and I will make sure that they get to the Isles in one piece." He crossed his arms authoritatively. "Now, what do we do about the rest of our academies? The Banished obviously know that it’s our weakest point of entry, and they will not hesitate to attack again. We need to take precautions now."
The council members yelled in agreement.
My brows furrowed with surprise. How in the world could someone this young command the respect of so many adults?