by M. Street
Valbeth spoke with minimal facial movements. Her eyes tracked the pack of agitated Canites foraging through the palms, snorting wildly. “Eli knows everything about you,” she said to me, bewildered.
“There is a double agent,” Jeremiah spat, still amped by Raven’s close call.
Valbeth tightened as if invisible hands were wrapped around her throat. “Eli knows the Avians have acquired the emerald. When he finds out about the pearls, he will strengthen the brigade at the elephant graveyards. I have never known him to be this perturbed.”
I was perplexed by how much Valbeth knew about my brother’s state and his movements.
“Also, Eli has intensified his search for Ahnah,” Valbeth stated, oblivious to her long, straight, onyx hair blowing across her porcelain face, snagging on her black needle eyelashes.
The mention of this name, Ahnah, caused auras to spin wildly with fright, except mine. My intuition rose up on her toes at the new name.
Dev looked at me with a critical concern. “We must go.” He touched my back, offering his feelings of love. I stepped away from him, refusing his touch. My mind had set up a barrier of protection around my heart. I needed answers first before I could allow myself to feel again.
“What about this?” Raven asked, holding up Junjari’s crystal device.
“Destroy it,” Dev said firmly.
“We can use it,” a shaken, yet in-control, Miguel suggested.
“Too risky,” Jeremiah said, supporting Dev.
“What is it?” My inquisitiveness stepped in.
“A communicator. It transmits voice, location, and holographic views. If activated, Eli and an armada of Arbitri would be here instantly,” Dev explained briskly. “Can you vaporize it?”
With sturdy ties of light, I lifted the glowing colorful crystal off the palm of his hand. Carefully, I floated it several feet up and away, frying it into smoke with incinerating thoughts. “Sure.” The trifling act slightly lifted my sodden spirit.
“We have a problem,” Jeremiah said. No one breathed.
“When the spell on Junjari is broken, the Avian nest in the Tetons will be compromised. We must assume Junjari heard our plans.” Jeremiah turned to Raven. “Haruz is there.”
“So is Olo,” I said. Feelings of protection for my new family were accentuated by my cracking heart. They were all I had.
“Let’s birth them,” Raven proposed coldly, eyeing the downed Vampacoti. A blackened purple tainted her royal copper.
“No, please.” My insides cringed. Thoughts of taking life, especially execution-style, felt repulsive and deeply wrong.
“As my lady wishes,” Jeremiah said, turning to his princess daughter. “We cannot let hurt interfere with reason. We are not like the Arbitri.” Raven vacated the hostility in her aura.
“We can leap there before we go back to …” I began.
“Absolutely not!” Dev said, countering in cement.
“I don’t remember asking for your permission. I don’t answer to you.” My aura roasted with the fervor of a slipped gear in response to his perceived control. Once again, my determination had a spell-like effect over everyone except Dev.
Jeremiah rubbed his furry chin as lights went off around his head. “Well, the nest is hidden from the Arbitri, but it is risky sending Piper.” He alternated between Miguel and Raven for consensus.
“Enough talk.” There was no point wasting anymore time debating what I already knew I was going to do. “We’re leaving now, but you’ll have to break the spell before we leap,” I told Dev, focusing on the illuminated hammers rocking around his right wrist, keeping the clouded leopard sedated. I did not forget the extreme near miss leaping from the National Gallery in Budapest while holding the Guardian bishops at the poles with Vampacoti spells. Although I wasn’t feeding this spell, I didn’t want to take any chances.
“Miguel,” Dev said reluctantly, walking over to the man lying enchanted on the beach.
“Yes?” Miguel joined Dev standing over the lifeless man.
“Ready?” Dev asked.
The patina in Miguel’s copper became excited. Dev’s aura flickered as the tiny silver hammers flew off into fading sparkles, breaking the charm. The unconscious man’s eyes popped open in panic. Before he could formulate, Miguel spun a copper spell, knocking him into a paralyzing fear.
“I must go. My scent cannot be here when the Arbitri investigate the site,” Valbeth said, arming the silver in her aura.
Dev skirted back. “Thank you for everything you are doing,” he said sincerely to Valbeth. “Please be cautious. Eli’s perceptions are sharp and there is a traitor among us.”
Dev’s stern warning to Valbeth inflated my wonder as to how she fit into the scheme of things. He spoke to her as though she was in direct contact with Eli. She nodded to Dev and then turned to face me. The wispy lady bowed with a shimmering respect in her aura before jumping well over my head. A ring of molten silver formulated her into an enormous, sleek cheetah with cute rounded ears, huge fat tail, and bluebell-purple eyes. Her spotted pelt absorbed the late tropical sun, making her look full of holes.
The big cat shot across the surface of the open ocean faster than the speed of sound. Sonic waves echoed across the brilliant blue ocean as the silver streak disappeared below the curved watery horizon.
“I hope I see you soon,” I said to Jeremiah, Raven, and Miguel. Their copper auras shimmered simultaneously, amplifying my sentiments.
Raven stepped forward. “I don’t know how you heard me, but I’m glad you did.” Warm colors flowed freely in her copper, feeling wonderful.
“I will always be listening for you,” I said to my treasured sister. I knew she would give her life for mine, as I would give mine for hers. “You are in my heart.”
I stepped into the air. For the first time since their arrival, the pack of Canites stood still, watching me rise with peaceful faces. The incoming tide washed the battle’s bloodstains into the ocean leaving elongated streaks of bright red against the white sand. Dev stood watching me with arms crossed, steeping dark orange in his sulking silver. As much as I wanted to leave him behind to give my heart time to settle down, I knew I needed him. Also, I needed to hear the story of Junjari and his sordid past straight from his lips.
I propelled Dev into the air with ropes of light. I unintentionally jostled him around with my uncontrolled, angry thoughts. Taking one last, long look at the pairs of kindred orange backlit eyes watching us, we climbed into the blue under the haloed sun.
Mom’s words popped into my head. Follow your heart, trust your intuition, and live simple. How could I when everything was so unbelievably complicated? My cracked heart beat noisily, drowning out my whispering intuition.
I needed Lisa more than ever. She knew about love and loss. She would have the perfect piece of advice to chase away my sullen mood. I needed a soul-bearing, string-plucking, key-tapping, music-making session to soothe my hurt. Her longtime comfort was sorely missing.
Increasing my grip on Dev, I opened a leap point.
“Easy,” Dev said, looking distressed from the tightness.
I loosened my grip a hair before flashing upward into an instant fall.
10
Avian Nest
W
e came down hard through the cold and spare Wyoming air. The unsettling events in the Tahitian paradise left me shell-shocked. My runaway brain racked up questions. I wanted answers, even if they were going to hurt. Knowing Dev’s past was better than sticking my head in the sand. My knight in shining armor, my soul mate, my Jazz for eighteen years had a dark, dented history.
We impacted the rocky side of a Teton mountain, sending cracking chunks of granite rock flying. I stood inside a ghostly flower of leap mists. We were so high up, the clouds sat below us like a cotton candy floor with peaks of mountains breaking through. My heart pounded like drums in my ears and my body rocked uncontrollably from breathing hard. Leap lag was setting in, especially after piggybacking Dev. I ha
d the power but lacked stamina. I set Dev down a football field away, giving me some much-needed space.
The leap mists dissolved, automatically drawing my eyes into the twilight sky. I gratefully took in the phenomenal miles-high view. The thin and darkening blue atmosphere unclothed the choirs of haloed stars, planets, and galaxies visible to my naked eyes. The clarity of the star songs was angelic. Andromeda, with her spiraling arms of stars, left me humbled by her celestial majesty. A dazzling yellow Venus coupled with a pale, rush-red Mars, flying like glass marbles through a chromatic ocean of space. Like Dev and me, the two radically different worlds were forever held together in a duet around the sun.
The frozen eruptions of rock forming the mountain range were jagged, steep, and lifeless, but beamed with dynamic, intense hues. The lack of green, trees, and oxygen made me uneasy, adding to my already sullen mood. Between two peaks on the horizon, the lit full moon rose from the clouded floor, dyed a watery purple from the surrounding rocks.
Dev closed the distance between us in a single breath. His heavy brow sagged, obstructing his view. His full lips were puckered and thin, making his mouth look like a small slit. His aura matched the rose shadowing his java cheeks. He knew me well. I wasn’t going to let a laying cat rest.
“Junjari? She said Eli would reinstate your position in the Arbitri.” The permanent record in mind painfully regurgitated the exact words from the witchy Vampacoti woman. I stepped into the air, meeting him eye to eye. “What the hell? What else are you keeping from me?” I paused, in need of air, but continued drafting questions.
“I’m not keeping anything from you,” Dev countered. His silver flared, pushing more of my buttons. “You should not have leapt into battle. What if Eli had been there? What if he had been summoned?”
He ignored my questions, slyly shifting the conversation. I fished through his feelings for any leads. His aura vibrated open with anger, but crossed with apprehension and an aged hurt. “I’ve lived for over eight hundred years. I cannot tell you my entire life story in one minute, one hour, or even one day. I’ve made mistakes, things I regretted, but I cannot change the past. I can only learn from it to make our future better.”
He came closer, taking my hand and putting it on his chest. He was so beautiful. His heart beat through my body. “I love you.” He lifted a miniature smile. “There is no need to be jealous.”
“I’m not jealous!” I barked, pulling my hand away, stepping onto the ground.
“Then why are you so green?” he asked, his eyes brightening.
“I don’t know,” I snapped, trying to ignore my color and prickly pear feelings. “I don’t care. Who is she?” Something inside told me I was in for a turbulent ride.
Dev’s face was solemn. “She was a mistake that cost the life of my mother, the legitimate Vampacoti Queen Fina.” The unexpected reply shrunk my pouty perspective making me feel small. Sorrow wept through his aura with an unmistakable loss that I knew all too well.
“I’m sorry,” I trailed off, glowing pink pearl.
“I blamed myself for centuries. The only solace I found was in doing something about it. Protecting your life gave me hope. You were my chance to help make up for what I did.” Resolve raged through his silver, displacing any melancholy.
“Second only to Eli, Junjari is a master at lies and manipulation. She is extremely dangerous. Her deception is unthinkable, rendering her tactics invisible and without notice. I have no feelings for her, only a promise to deliver a consequence.” The force of his silent hurt made me sad.
“What happened?” I asked earnestly. Why did he blame himself? How did protecting me make up for his mother’s death?
Two golden balls of light shot around a violet mountain peak at warp speed, breaking the start of a compelling recollection. The larger-than-life raptors rose high before diving out of the starry sky like fired arrows. They left trails of sparkling gold dust in the white, freckled midnight-blue sky.
Dev sprang forward, formulating into the black-and-white sabertooth. He armed his silver, positioning himself between me and the incoming Avians. Their emotional states read clear. They were deep in duty. Black talons armed on the descent, breaking their acceleration. Instinctively, I raised my hands in defense, building up charge. I shorted out the purple auras of the mountain range, absorbing light. Bright nebulas of sparks flew from my fingertips.
At the last possible moment, the pair diverted up and out. The large cat countered, keeping the pair of Avians in front. He hissed sharply. The striped and spotted brown-and-white-winged warriors zoomed up in opposite directions, banking around for another pass. We positioned ourselves back-to-back, each tracking a raptor.
The birds of prey flared their giant wings. Their feathers cupped against evening currents rising from the sun-warmed rocks, letting the birds hang effortlessly in the air.
I felt Safe before I saw him. Flying at a tremendous speed, the ebony Guardian sporting a blood-orange halo appeared from in between the powder moonbeams.
I lowered my light as Safe came to a forceful landing next to us.
“My lady,” Safe said, alarmed, “what are you doing here?” His light bristled with dismay.
Dev formulated and came to my side. “We are here to warn you. This area has been compromised.”
Safe sparked, looking stunned, suspicious, and confused.
“We don’t have much time,” Dev added.
“I eagerly await the explanation, but first, we must get Piper undercover,” Safe said, keeping his eyes in constant motion. We all stood out like lighthouses in the monochromatic mauve landscape.
“Follow me,” Safe said, taking a swift thirty-foot stride into the air. I picked up Dev in layers of light, lifting us into the sky. I kept close to Safe, flying west toward a desolate summit. I wondered where we were going in the middle of nowhere. Dev kept a nervous eye on the giant raptors trailing behind us like jet fighter escorts.
As we approached the peak, I coasted for a moment, not believing what I was seeing. Blinking, I telescoped my sight toward the side of the mountain, meticulously taking in the supernatural views. The entire west face of the purple rocky mountain moved down, exposing an expansive crescent doorway flooding the early evening with golden light. The unbelievable brightness shot beams into the oncoming night like rows of spotlights, signaling a red-carpet event for Midas himself.
“What is that?” I brought Dev closer to my side, soaring through the air. His fully dilated eyes reflected the beautiful sight.
“The Avian nest.” His vibrating anxiety hijacked his monotone words. The raptor escorts closed the distance behind us. Responding to Dev’s mounting fight, I built in charge, drawing eyes. I flexed my pearl, wanting everyone to be aware of my intention to protect Dev.
Safe disappeared, swallowed by the gold fires spewing from the defiant, frowning crack. I slowed, banking around, descending in between the huge slab of displaced rock and the mountainside. Catching a glimpse of the inside, my pulse climbed in response to finding something so unexpected.
I placed us down next to Safe on a landing pad. Our raptor escorts thumped down through rings of brilliant gold into a military-looking man and woman. Both had cropped hair and wore strange uniforms. They bowed their heads to me, snapping their enlarged amber-backlit blue eyes, examining me like I was a famous rock star. Mom had bequeathed me tangible clout.
“I’ll summon the queen,” the woman said robotically in a French accent, marching briskly away. Huge pistons attached to the massive chuck of mountain blew jets of hot steam, quickly closing the hidden entrance as though the rock was made of Styrofoam. The earth quaked, sealing us inside.
The cave rose to a supernatural life with metallic auras and densely lit cubes, illuming the expansive, windowless laboratory hangar. Although I tried to keep my volume down, my pearl flooded the space. Ignoring the dozen or so pairs of silent stares pinned to Dev and me, my eyes pranced from one interesting thing to the next.
The large thre
e-story cave looked like the inside of a spaceship. The walls and ceiling were curved. Along with the floor, the stony surfaces were polished smooth, contrasting with the blunt, rough outside. The grand walls of granite emitted heavy light. The whole background glowed amethyst, complementing Dev’s eyes. Veins of ore in the rock faces twinkled brilliantly like frozen lightning of different colors.
The only dense light came from square structures the size of Rubik’s Cubes made out of crystals and tiny mirrors. The humming boxes projected three-dimensional screens of changing numbers, holographic video, and strange text. They pulsed at the speed of light, emitting photons in the unthinkable switching. Intuitively, I knew they were the next step in computers. I immediately wanted to use one.
A bronze woman stood out against the twelve golden Avians in the large room. I knew a powerful horse galloped behind the bronze woman’s olive skin, wavy mane of dark hair, and red backlit eyes. Strangely, taking out the white mustang in Budapest made me want to know her. Approaching the frozen stares, the collective light spun with amazement mixed with trepidation. The rush of the communal feelings felt like seeing a big, dangerous animal in the wild.
“Piper!” My name came from an older woman with streaked brown and gray hair pulled tautly back in a ponytail. Her eyes were perfectly round. She wore a shimmering white lab coat and stood by the largest crystal cube with countless active translucent screens surrounding her. Big test tubes with swirling hypercolors lined the wall near her station. Flowers and herbs of all kinds grew under melodic glow lights, bridging hard and soft science. Her gold aura was ancient, flowing faster than anyone else in the room. My heart was drawn into her twice-sized eyes. Her feelings of devotion welled my gratefulness. I knew the small, grandmotherly figure was the enormous brindled owl: Luja!
She walked swiftly, passing through the transparent displays to hug me. Her touch rattled like that of a nervous parent. “My lady, you are better.” Her aged voice was low and creaked. “But what are you doing here?”