by M. Street
“Eli is desperate,” Raven said calmly, clicking her nails. She purposefully painted an outside-the-lines grin. “He is afraid.”
“I don’t need to remind anyone of our precarious state. If it wasn’t for the solstice parties, we wouldn’t have this chance. All the ivory would have been obliterated.” Dev dropped the ceiling to Raven’s eagerness. “Every Guardian will be present for the seasonal apex, leaving the graveyard vulnerable. Eli wants a show of force in the face of his stale progress in finding either Piper or Ahnah.” He paused, warming his touch.
“What is the reliability of your information?” Sabina asked sharply.
“Certain.” My prince kindly held ground, contracting his lips. His depths of dislike for Sabina made me pale blue. “The information was very hard to ascertain. Eli has gone into reclusion.”
My brother’s described behavior hit a note, raising my intuition and hopes. Raven was right. Eli was worried. Dev had told me many stories about my monster-ego brother. He was the big, all-powerful baby needing constant adoration. Something big was making Eli withdraw from the insatiable drug that kept him thriving.
“More from your cohort Valbeth?” Ozwald asked suspiciously. “Or did Eli tell you himself?” Tension tightened and greased. “How trustworthy is the cheat-ta? She could be setting us up.”
“Interesting you mention her.” The hairs on Dev’s skin grew whisker-thick. He torqued the screws on his anger, keeping colorless. “She continues to cover up for her discovered presence in Tahiti while saving Piper and Raven.”
“Leave it be!” Jeremiah interjected, slamming the table. “Since you are speaking for Olo, what are his words?” he asked Dev, extending his clawed fingers into the wood.
“Execute right now. The ceremonies begin in less than five hours. This is our chance.” Dev turned to Jeremiah, breathing faster.
A building moment of silence belabored the limits of the numbing eucalyptus wood.
“So be it. We must act now,” Jeremiah told Sabina. The king was privately bound in worry. Peach cords of caring concern resonated in his light. Although Jeremiah was primed for battle, his daughter and pack weighed heavily on his heart. Raven nodded, rippling her glittering copper, supporting her father. The braveness in her heart stirred crazy from the animal in her blood. I already missed her. I loved being around her. She was someone I wanted to be like. Raven was a queen before her time.
Sabina huffed, dropping her eyes downward. Motherly distress lined her reluctance. She looked up at me, her face aged from a future sorrow. “We don’t have a choice.” The small-framed golden woman remained still. A genuine, undying caring shone through her ancient, brazen exterior.
Ozwald sighed deplorably, but I reached past his carefully crafted dressing. Beneath his inflated airs, the Avian prince was scared. Before I could anchor deeper into his state, Luja drew my attention. The scientist was so horrendously jittery I could faintly smell it. She rocked her feathery weight from foot to foot, contrasting from the placid Namid. As usual, the Equuian bronze woman flowed clean and laminar. The gambit of churning emotions stimulated my soul, making me rigid. I held onto Dev to keep from losing myself.
“Jeremiah—you, Sabina, Namid, Miguel, and Haruz head out now,” Dev said to the Canite king. Dev’s pulse beat strongly. Jeremiah sat motionless, lost in thought. “Go. It could very well be too late. Get positioned around the gravesite so we can link up for execution.” Dev’s voice deepened, traversing to the core. First to break the stillness, Luja flickered away. One by one, she closed the spinning computing cubes down into sugar cubes.
Jeremiah removed the leather pouch holding the crystals from his neck. He shifted through the satchel with his finger, retrieving four of the detainees. From deduction, I knew they belonged to Safe, Dev, Ozwald, and Luja. “I’m giving these to you.” The orange-eyed king handed the exceptionally important devices over to Dev.
“What?” Sabina fired.
“For the light’s sake!” Jeremiah said with slamming force. “He isn’t going to hurt Piper.” He huffed heavily, but his copper was warm. “He loves her.” Our risky future supercharged emotions, making him bolder and older. The big, burly man held me with tender eyes.
His fatherly blessing strummed my heartstrings. Dev tighten his grip around my wrist, feeling my effervescent love.
“Move out.” The motion of something dangerous tipped downward, rolling faster and faster on polished tracks. “Namid, I know you’re not rested, but we have to go now. Sabina?” The king asked while invisibly summoning his pack leader, Zeta, on a copper cord.
“I need a brief moment with Ozwald.” The queen grew younger, tailoring into a sophisticated summer dress. The gray and coarseness of her hair colored blonde and silky, glowing brighter than her gold. She took Ozwald to where Luja was loading the condensed cubes into a case. As much as I tried, I couldn’t peer into their private line across the room. The funneling ground light was too thick.
“Not long.” Jeremiah walked toward the open door of the den. The blonde, white wolf stuck her grizzly head in. I felt Jeremiah speaking volumes to Zeta, Raven, Miguel, and Haruz through the copper vibrations. He told Zeta to take the pack and go far away from the Canite lair. It should be considered compromised once we left. Like the Avian nest in the Tetons, the den in the heart of the Black Forest had been sacred for centuries. Jeremiah believed there was a traitor among us. Feeling the anguish in his heart, I tugged on the line between Raven and me to get her attention.
“What is it?” Dev asked, feeling my worry clatter.
“I don’t know,” I whispered, eavesdropping on the copper-only message. “Jeremiah is abandoning this place after we leave.” Raven looked at me, putting her finger against her lips.
“He must suspect the double agent is going to make a move,” Dev said discreetly, shifting into predator mode. The hunt in his heart startled me.
With Sabina leading, Ozwald and Luja breezed from across the room. “We are ready.” The Avian queen glittered brightly. She put her hand on Ozwald’s face, displaying parental pink. “You and Raven stay near Olo.”
The mighty little woman came directly in front of me. “Piper,” she put her hands on my shoulders, a maelstrom of chaos flowing from her touch, “please promise me you will put yourself first.” She scoffed, feeling my kick against the request.
“If a Guardian arrives,” she purposefully paused, extending doses of motherly worry, turning me into sand, “leap yourself to safety in that very instant. Don’t concern yourself with anyone else.” She ridiculously kept insisting I leap away without Dev if anything went wrong.
“Yes, of course,” I placated, knowing my life was beside his.
“Lastly …” Jeremiah gave Namid, Sabina, Miguel, and Raven back their crystals, keeping his own. One by one, each troop took center stage, carefully powering up the crystals into a private mode. I followed everyone outside, staying tethered to Dev through different touches. All that we had planned and practiced was really happening. Not caring about showing my nerves, I grew in charge, giving everyone else permission to do the same. We stood outside the barn giving the Black Forest a run for her money.
“My lady.” Namid dutifully kept cool, rippling her light goodbye. She was fully engaged in the execution. Thinking bees of light buzzed around her head. “Give me a few seconds to set trajectory. I will loop south to avoid the Arbitri,” she said weaving a tri-stoned turquoise necklace in her long, black hair. On contact, the bulky bronze in her aura rinsed infant. Sprinting into the woods, she formulated into the chocolate beauty. The necklace and crystal were finely braided into her silky mane. She disappeared into the forest’s shadows of dark and light, but her crystal precisely pulsed her rapidly moving position.
Sabina stepped into the clearing where Safe lay lost in his dreams. Halos of golden arcs circling the queen disappeared when she slipped on the most iridescent band of blue opal around her thumb. She formulated into an enormous peregrine falcon of high regard. She was amaz
ingly adorned in a dress of close-fitting colored feathers. The ring of opal complemented perfectly against her dandelion talons. Cawing in pitch-perfect song, she blasted away using the tow from the noon sun. We all lifted in the vacuous updraft.
My Canite family completed a circle, holding hands with Dev and me. Ozwald and Luja observed from a distance, unaccustomed to the sight. The beauty in the bountiful bonds flowing through the multifactorial touch was so intense, my legs weakened and my eyes blinked back tears. My anxious heart blasted bursting flakes everywhere while bands of copper spooled around us in weaving flows.
Jeremiah felt the loudest. Coral love and yellow pride for his ruling princess daughter echoed through the circle of hands. A white love for his loyal guard and companion Miguel was so pure, it grew my heart bigger. The gratefulness to Haruz and the rest of the pack made the sense of community tangible. Sharing the orange and copper light was divinity expressed. Raven, Miguel, and Haruz flashed their familial sentiments to each other, including Dev and me. My love and gratitude for what they were doing for me coursed through the beauty of held hands. The returned sentiments bore into density, shining in the forest.
The king broke the circle, grounding us into action. Growing darker and younger, he grabbed Dev’s wrist with magnetic intensity. “We will see you soon.” Jeremiah pulled Dev closer. “Protect her at all costs,” I heard him whisper.
“Find me,” Raven said going ghostly, putting her celestial sapphire around her neck. She flipped back into the air before I could speak, landing on all fours as a black wolf with rivers of sunshine running off her thick coat. Her muscles sparked, flexing for takeoff.
“My lady.” Haruz showed respect with his light, formulating into the gray beast. He trotted next to Raven.
“I will greet you again after our success.” Miguel nodded with sweetness. I loved his sunny-side up mantra. He formulated to the powerful Canite with patina flare. He and Haruz synced up, diving into the forest after Namid. My heart increasingly tore with each departure.
“I promised your mother I would watch over you,” Jeremiah said to me, softening. He took my wrist. “I hope I am doing that by allowing you to be part of this. The risk involved is great.”
“Thank you,” I interjected, feeling his teeth-grinding conflict in my chest. “There is no other way.”
“Follow protocol. We will keep you safe.” Jeremiah rippled, arming his core into a protection and duty.
“Wait for my call,” Jeremiah said to the rest of us.
“I’ll be ready,” Ozwald responded from the background, half raising his hand, devoid of any sentiment.
Dev and Jeremiah mirrored their respect in metallic valences. The king growled bass-heavy, generating pools in the rivers of ground light. He put his copper and ruby chain around his neck, going infant. My father figure formulated into a giant beast with sharp snout, pointing ears, and jagged teeth. Before a second could be split, the pair of royal glittering wolves and their guards hurtled away, leaving massive divots.
The plan geared into fast motion, leaving us in painful waiting. The quickness of change caused me to freeze. My intuition soured for some unknown reason, adding restlessness to my mounting anticipation. Ozwald and Luja went back into the den. Safe twitched and his aura crackled, wrapped in the unawareness of sleep. His eyes were rapid, trying to poke through his closed lids. Dev and I were almost alone, but the volume of my fret spun a third, fourth, and fifth wheel.
“Come here. Anything is better than worrying.” Dev guided me closer, running his hand down the curve of my neck. Glacier-sized shivers shot from his burning trace.
“It’s hard not to freak out with so many lives being risked for me.” I knew guilt was a learned response, but this was a no-brainer. Performance jitters began to quake through my aura. Dev cupped the back of my head, reached down, and kissed me. The show of affection caught me by sweet surprise. My body uncontrollably caught on fire. Fighting desires accentuated by the countdown, my mind kept me fixed on business. Splitting in response, I gave in to the rushes waiting on his sculpted, sweetened lips. Oneness, protection, and love cascaded down my crackling nerves.
“This is going to work.” He pushed his forehead against mine, holding my face. I let out my held breath in a sigh.
“Once we get the ivory we’ll be safe. We’ll get away from all of this,” he said with a tender, tilted quarter-smile. I was falling so fast I felt still.
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” The space around us was painted an unearthly pink in the peak sun. More than ever, my heart belonged to someone and something. Before I lost myself in us, I pushed myself out of his violet pools, drying off with a cold reality.
24
Go, Go, Go
“M
ay I take one more sample of your light before we part?” Luja asked timidly, propping up a sterile smile. Although the Avian theorist wore a band of tigereye gems around her thumb, vacating her aura, her anxiousness exposed facially. Her lips were taught and her owl eyes snapped, creating tiny shock waves.
Dev dropped his arms from the curve of my back but stayed between Luja and me.
“Of course, Luja,” I said her name, attempting to relax her. I nudged Dev into being cordial. He knew I didn’t like his engrained distrust of Avians. He turned, positioning his hard chest against my back. Luja reached out with a spherical orb of black pumice stone. I touched the receptor, instantly filling it with my light.
“Wow, that little vial can hold a lot,” I said, surprised by the size of the draw.
“Thank you. I don’t know when I’ll see you again,” Luja said with her face wrinkling in distress. She focused on my sample, completely mesmerized. “There is so much more to learn about you. More answers to this universe lie within your light.”
Streamers of thinking bees buzzed around her head. She took the pumice stone loaded with my caramelized metallic pearl and put it into a redwood container. For some reason that Luja couldn’t figure out, my aura was hard to contain. My luminosity dissipated multiple times faster than that of any other Guardian or race. Being hard to hold was weirdly comforting. A simple box of redwood and twine worked better than a plasma field. Luja sped away into the Black Forest den, swerving to avoid Ozwald strolling out.
“Can I have my crystal now?” the Avian prince asked the Vampacoti prince, his request wrapped neatly in sarcastic politeness.
Dev held his answers, shifting his lazy attention from side to side. “When Olo wakes.” He covered his suspicion well.
Ozwald didn’t flinch. “Sure.” He had also masked, wearing a ring of blue topaz around his index finger. “It’s been three and a half hours since they left,” Ozwald said, looking into the ripening afternoon sun. “It should be another hour at least. They have to secure and set up the perimeter watch.”
“They are going to be early,” I said, deciphering more sensations from my intuition.
“How is Olo?” Ozwald fixated on Safe still dreaming in bright sun. Multiple rings of dense dream flies spun around his head. By the low level of lumens in his aura, he was charging slowly.
Dev released a held breath through tight lips. “He needs more sleep.”
My nervous mind tingled with possibilities. “I can help him.” I could excite the natural energies of another being. It was the reason why I could heal the flesh of another, or cause plants and flowers to sparkle and make more life.
“One minute,” I said, taking a small step into the air. Quiet as the soft wind swaying the leaves, I drifted over to Safe. His breathing was large and repetitive.
Gingerly, I laid my open hands on his platinum outer aura. His light was worn soft and comfortable. My hair coiled and reddened as filaments of light began to spin around us like strands of molten stained glass. Waves of my pearl twisted, funneling from me to him. I felt his heartbeat in my chest, reaching his solar plexus. Pulling from the gigantic congregation of the Black Forest, I infused pure light into Safe. My breathing grew faster and faster, chargin
g all his chakras. My Guardian kin brightened, sinking my pearl. His muscles plumped, squaring off.
The dream flies thinned around Safe’s lightbulb-shaped head. The last firefly dissolved, passing through his vivid lime-green halo spinning bright and tight. Seeing his eyes attempting to open, I let off the connection, ending the light contribution. Before I could reach down to greet him, a pulse from behind slammed my attention.
I whipped around to see Dev’s crystal blinking. Namid, Sabina, Jeremiah, Raven, Miguel, and Haruz were in the Congo.
“Are they ready?” Safe asked, fully awake and engaged.
“Yes,” Dev answered. Six glowing holographic screens burst around him.
“Thank you,” Safe said to me, beaming in pastel pinks from the jump charge.
“My pleasure. Like Mom, I will always be there for you,” I replied staying in play, zipping over to Dev.
Luja, hearing the call, flew out of the barn. She and Ozwald clustered around Dev, inspecting the views.
Dev flicked his hands, organizing the holograms from his crystal into three pairs of two. In front of him, Sabina’s and Raven’s southern vantage perched high in the trees, overlooking a baseball diamond clearing. Facing north, a tall and wide hole opened into a cave overgrown with rainforest roots.
My light foamed confirming what I saw to Dev’s right. Coming from Jeremiah’s and Miguel’s western ground view, Junjari commanded the guard of the graveyard. I put my hand on Dev’s exposed back, finely shifting through his emotions. I wanted to know what he was feeling seeing his ex. Worry perfumed in his minty perspiration and generated noise on his feverish skin. Dev twitched, picking up the feisty fight from my fingertips.
“Three Equuians. Confirm,” Ozwald said systematically, his eyes dancing fast across the screens. Three bulky bronze horses trotted slowly, rotating around the perimeter of the graveyard. They paced each other, staying equidistant.