by M. Street
Feeling Eli’s morbid excitement loud and clear, I bolted into motion. He was coming to cut my many dangling ends. Knowing I couldn’t save everyone throttled my instincts, reshaping my tactics on the fly. Fighting against Dev’s will, I cocooned him in layers of light, intensifying my shell into armor. “Go now! Eli is incoming!” I yelled to all stunned parties.
“Run!” I screamed to Sabina and Jeremiah. Tied tight in indecision, no one moved.
“I order you to go!” I screamed so loud the air vibrated. I didn’t believe in titles, but they did. Reluctantly, with collective behavior, Sabina and Jeremiah formulated, turning away with the rest. Despondently, the command felt like my first and last order as a princess.
Guardians dressed to the nines materialized around us, preventing the getaway. Two thick domes blasted around us, double-locking us in. Time crawled as snarling bolts struck from nowhere, vaporizing Miguel into rolling, yelping copper mists. Haruz flew in the explosion, landing listless. Everyone dropped their spells as fright took over fight. Shockwaves of sharp pain slashed through the copper valence.
I cried out loud. One of my family members was forever lost, mercilessly killed helping me. Raven hemorrhaged and Jeremiah crumbled with loss of a precious loved one. The pain of Miguel’s instant end felt like electrocution without the escape of death. His longtime devotion to Jeremiah and his pack widened the vacuous pain.
The force of hurt slapped me into action. The enchanted Equuians and Vampacoti recovered from their spells, supercharging with sooty, purple revenge. Protection temporarily suspended my painful cause. I drew waves of energy from the dense jungle, going supernova. With octopus arms of light, I pulled everyone behind me in a flash. Not knowing who was against me, I encased everyone except Dev in an immobile shelter. With rapid-pulse fire, I took out a dozen immediate threats with arcs of machine-gun light. I double wrapped us in an impenetrable dome of light no Guardian could breach, except Eli. Streaking through impromptu plans, I went on impulse.
“When I trigger a distortion, run!” I yelled to the bright copper wolves and golden war birds.
“Piper, leap us!” Dev shouted too loud and too close, feeling my emotional state give way to the fight. Slams of light from seventeen Guardians warped the walls barricading us from destruction. Each impact felt like a jab from a searing serrated spear. Twisting upward, I made my move as Eli leapt into the battle.
Against all growls, caws, and Dev, I rose into the sky. For an inquisitive second, Eli and I locked eyes from opposite sides of the site. His insane hunger to take me out flooded his platinum aura white, heaving me higher in resolve. Dropping the coffin of light surrounding us, I refocused all my might. I kicked down hard like I was firing up the starter on a rusty Harley bike. With my innate bronze, I blasted a hole in reality, triggering an Equuian distortion for the very first time. Hope sparked, seeing the birth of a wave big enough to take out the domes encasing us and knock out Eli.
Excitement quickly turned to dread, detecting the amplitudes and planes of the disruption exploding out of control. Not ever having tried the Equuian ability, I didn’t have control over the destructive power.
The steep amplitude, deregulated power, and hypersonic waves of my distortion made Namid’s ability look like a firecracker. Space and time compressed so strongly, Jupiter-sized lightning cut in every direction. Dimensional thunder rocked the air. The intensity of the magnetic and gravitational waves launched outward, randomly fusing and rearranging particles into new forms of matter. The theory of relativity and laws of physics were blown away. I unwillingly went from savior to mass executioner, turning the space around me into atomic soup.
Swiftly, I encapsulated all of us in orbs of light brighter than the sun. I bore down, deflecting the blast toward Eli and his army before succumbing to my unleashed force. I held us together catching the largest tidal wave of time, shadowing a crack of light. Freakishly, it warped us away from Eli with compounding accelerating. There was no choice but to ride the bullet, trampling through trees and plowing gashes in the jungle floor like it was whipped frosting.
Most of Eli’s troops were instantly vaporized in the wake of the discharge. The elephant graveyard and surroundings were gone. A Winslow-sized crater was gouged into the lush land. My brother was knocked to the ground. He shielded himself, Junjari, and two others. He smoldered, knowing we were getting away. Arching my back, I propelled us out of the after-ripples and into the murky evening sky.
Flying for our lives, I tucked Namid under Ozwald’s thick talons. Picking up on my intentions, he took possession of the horse in his claws. The prince paraded his anger dramatically against his white coat of feathers. Sabina treaded above her blue sadness, keeping vigilant for her son. Like an arrow, I shot the royal Avians with Namid thirty degrees into the rising night toward Saturn. The distant ringed planet painfully reminded me of Safe and the unfillable black hole left from his capture. The war birds kicked in their gold thrusters, jetting out of my ferry. They masked into obscurity, disappearing from my radar.
We were flying so fast, the mandarin spirit of the South Atlantic scored the star-filled horizon. The majestic view heightened my already lofty sensitivities. I gave Haruz a quick charge, stabilizing his condition. I laid the injured Canite on Jeremiah’s back. Losing Miguel in the battle cut the king and princess deeply, causing unbearable pain. Raven was chained in guilt and regret, hurting out of her mind. I moved her next to her whimpering father. Intense tears flowed, experiencing his heart through my hold. I lowered the three Canites down toward the approaching ocean.
Hitting my air brakes, I laid the wounded wolves on top of the sea before streaking away with Dev. My body let off the adrenaline, knowing our escape was clean. Glittering copper light streaked across the surface of the sea before masking into invisibility. Because of me, dark Canite history was carved tonight. Banking sharply toward the South Pole, I brought Dev next to me. We were still moving too fast to talk.
I constantly fantasized about being alone with Dev, but not under these dreadful circumstances. The numbness of the disaster was wearing off, leaving a painful sobriety. Although far west, I could still feel Eli breathing down my back. Our biological ties knotted tighter with each encounter, making me feel cornered. I was putting Dev at risk. His safety was more important than my own. All the ivory had been vaporized by my hand. We were running out of places strong enough to contain my light and there was no chance to complete the mask.
Opening up a leap point, I blinked us away to the last place that felt safe.
26
In the Valley of Giants
C
oming to a standstill after moving faster than light was always surreal. My mind switched off the throbbing highs, standing down like a jet engine. Airy leap mists leisurely swirled and dissolved into the last showers of a much different, somber sundown. The sun hung like time reset, yet everything remained intensely wrong. Minus the rapid breathing coming from disaster shock, a quiet stillness sharply contrasted the explosions of the fight and rushing wind of the Congo operation turned mad escape. Before my heart ripped any further and the loaded loss discharged, I rose off the ground and into Dev’s bare chest and arms, leaning heavily on his silver and skin. Being close to him throttled my racing emotions, releasing the twitching finger poised on my trigger.
Quiet tears spilled over my lower lashes, stinging my raw face and salting my bleeding heart. I flickered wildly like a quasar, squashed by the colossal responsibility for something painful that could not be undone. There weren’t enough cuss words in any language to pacify the unfillable loss and the little that was left. Miguel’s extinguished light weakened me to the core. There was no chance to heal. I was powerful beyond my imagination, equipped with magical talents, heir to the throne of the most evolved beings on the planet, but right now, I felt like a little girl. The loss crumbled my fight away, taking my breath.
“Can you feel Eli? Theia?” Dev asked, breaking my tight hold, firmly pushing me away. H
is duty of protection overrode the emotion in his silver. Gray hair streaked across his temples and wrinkles defined his eyes. He wrapped his leather collar with silver barrel around his wrist, going infant.
“I don’t know,” I cried. The aftermath left me dismembered, leaving my abilities limp.
“Piper, please focus.” Dev cupped my face in his trembling hands.
Fusing with his touch, I drifted to the ground where my mood lay injured. “I can’t feel anything, including Olo.” I welcomed the numbness after the hard-hitting verbalization of my platinum family. I felt so unnervingly empty without Safe. My sorrows erupted solar flares from my pearl. The massive trees bent away from us, taking the brunt of my naked cry. I knew Eli wouldn’t kill him yet. Our bond made him way more valuable alive, but the hourglass had been flipped.
“We must stay present. We’re still in danger,” Dev insisted, crinkling his face. He grew distracted, upturning his mouth into a real smile. His inappropriate mood swing irked me.
“How did you pick this place?” Dev asked, scanning me against the ginormous, thousand-year-old redwood with two massive trunks. The ancient queen was forked and had been shaped by lightning eons ago.
“It’s the only place left that feels good. Like a home,” I said kindly about the old forest off the California coast. I snorted in breaths of pine air, opening my depleted light to the minty green mists funneling far into the edging nightfall. Fantastically, the tippy ends of my aura netted out in long spiderwebs of lightning, weaving me to the mammoth aura of the redwood and her family. My screaming, buttery pearl fizzled away a few feet around me. I was completely masked and unleashed. Even my crying heart couldn’t pierce the medicinal, green insulation. I could feel freely without retribution.
“This is where you were born.” Dev stalled, defocusing into memories. The interesting fact did little to sandbag my hurt. “Esther said she felt summoned here to give birth to you. This is good. You are invisible,” he said, like the gods had intervened in our favor.
Dev laid down his cat stance, perfuming relief. He slowly took a breath, scanning the air through his slit nose. Deep sorrow for Miguel and fury over Safe broke through his mask, surfacing in the transient lull. Stripped naked from the slicing changes, I felt his inner fear of not being able to keep me protected. Static leaked from his fingertips. My heart quickened in the intimate, bare truth. He softened his beautiful face, wrapping clouds around his worries.
“We’ll figure this out. We’ll be ok,” Dev said keeping his eyes on mine. He reached down and held my wrist so I could see clearly past his leather and silver mask. I broke contact, feeling his love and devotion so intensely coursing on his rapid pulse. Our centuries-old bond was too sweet for the hurt that followed me. For a luxurious moment, I drifted into his lovely care. Being easily taken by our undertow drew guilt, slinging my rubber-banding mood into a bloody anger.
“No, we won’t, because there is nothing to figure out. I still cannot out-charge Eli and his Arbitri. I can’t control my powers. Everyone around me is a target, especially you. That drives me crazy! I have to be real. Eli won’t stop until he kills me. There is a huge price on my head, high enough to get someone to do something really sad.” I stroked my hand through his hairy chest so he could feel my rasping insides. The loss in my life hit a tipping point. It had to stop.
Far in the recesses of my mind, worry was growing mass over Charlie, Lisa, and my last life. Thinking about all that I loved physically manifested as a burning pain in my extremities. The more life dealt us, the more I craved Lisa. The lack of options placed Charlie further and further away from me. If Eli knew of their priceless worth, he would already have me. From the stories in the Canite lair, it was clear Eli had less consciousness with regard to infant life. We were out of options if I wanted the bleeding to stop.
“I’ll give Eli what he wants. I’ll go to him,” I said with a calm acceptance, settling into a watery, translucent pearl.
“Please don’t think like that. I’m fighting for us,” he said moving closer, stroking my long hair. “I lived too long not knowing love. Do you understand the preciousness of what we share? What all is at stake? I love you. And I want to live that love with you. You gave me a second chance, and you have the ability to give everyone a second chance. Our love will change the world. Nothing else matters.” He caressed my hands, interlacing our fingers together. “Don’t give up.”
Emotions rushed up both my arms, heating my chest. Experiencing more than I thought possible, I held his open hand and kneeling heart, barely keeping myself together.
Dev’s genuine desire to love me was so present. It was pure, like the crystalline notes jumping from the rustling waters of a nearby stream. Innocence was reborn in the clarity. Our oneness was the light in the dark, the quiet after the storm, and the comfort in the chaos. Our open wanting of each other was amplified by life hemorrhaging, having slipped on the razor’s edge. Owning our fates dissolved away the rules, standards, and permissions down to controlling conjecture.
Dev lowered down and kissed me softly. As his age came down and mine went up, we met in our late twenties. He pressed close, opening his mouth with more pressure. His lips were laced with a fever to show me his love. My hair lengthened, coiling tight, and my pearl saturated into a burning pink, feeling his body heat so closely. Something beautiful ignited in my core, racing along every nerve. It sent me higher, never to go back again. Dev quivered involuntarily. A virginal yearning broke bud in my soul for him, rooting a desire that I would fan with each breath I took. My heart vibrated, fast, hard, and new.
Trembling, I floated down, keeping my hand against Dev’s face. I placed my other hand against his muscled ribs, quickly expanding and contracting. I took a deliberate drink of his chestnut eyes before closing mine to further heighten my engorged hypersenses. Giving in to his pull, I kissed him back. I let go completely, accepting all of his love faster than it could be given. I was free, our pulses building force, coursing in a two-part harmony. Like leaping through the next dimension, time suspended. Arrays of divine sensations rippled from inside out from both of us, softening our light and blurring definition. Feeling Dev’s touch in my center magnified every bit of my existence, casting me into the unreal.
Dev stopped me removing his leather collar and silver barrel. “It’s not safe.” He smiled innocently, weaving his words with burning beats of his breaths. My youth reflected in his midnight hair, smooth cocoa skin, full cheeks, and shadowed eyes.
“I need to see all of you,” I said, poised to undo his straps.
“I have to keep the mask on.” Dev blushed, causing my heart to rise in my throat, making it hard to talk. “We will grow too bright.”
“Not for our first time.” I undid the locks, catching his collar falling from his wrist. Finale flashes of glittering silver erupted everywhere. “I want to feel and see all of you.” I dove into his rushing, violet, saffron-laced pools to get through the wave of intensity blasting from his bare eyes.
Like a mighty river to the sea, valences of my pearl took in his aroused silver with ease. Our love was covered under the trunks of the age-old redwoods. The gush of so much of his light into me caused multiplying inhales. Wrapped in the forgetfulness of passion, an unforgettable memory was born.
Holding Dev in my naked light, we floated off the ground. Softly climbing, we took the time to dance in each other’s eyes and smiles. My pearl and his silver flowed together with our rapid hearts. Shimmering shades of glittering pink and passion braided us together. Breathtakingly, we ignited into a dense corona, illuminating the secluded pine forest like a rose-colored star.
My lips brushed against Dev’s stubbled cheeks, perfuming my taste with iceberg rose and mint. He thrust my wake into a quake. I gave myself over to something that had no words or thoughts. Taking our time, our love blossomed like a summer rose. Each pristine petal, revealing more of beauty in orchestrated time, balanced with exquisite anticipation. Over the last couple of months, both De
v and I had lifted our veils. With every touch, taste, and tremble, I handed more of my intimate self to Dev and a love that had no horizon.
The way Dev moved elicited sweet desires, dangling pleasure. He knew what to do before I could ask. His passion galloped through the cambers of my heart exalted the gift of touch. The sweetness of our love had the savor of the wild honeysuckle nectar. The pale yellow and white trumpet flowers with pollen wicks grew out of control by the pond under the summer sun. The beauties were almost too good to eat, but the delicate flower begged to give her sweet. We spun, wrapping ourselves in a constant embrace, shrouded in the minty green auras.
Dev opened me far and wide, taking me somewhere I had never been. Exquisite, compound explosions left me formless. Like the flowering black-eyed Susan, the heavenly apex of our love repeated, lasting a season. We held each other, deliberately playing out every note of our love. Ghostly twin rainbow valences surrounded us like liquid light.
Wanting and waiting ceased to exist. My heart throbbed, thick and swollen. Our laced pearl and silver pulsated with a clearness of the Tahitian shallows. We held each other, surrounded by the grand arms of the giant, two-trunked redwood queen. I felt Dev’s quiet tears, eliciting mine without pause. His whole-hearted happiness rushed through me, blanketing my soul with a comfort that I had never known before. Small giggles and light flakes uncontrollably rose from deep inside me.
We tenderly kissed each other’s faces dry as we drifted to the ground. Speaking without words, we came to rest against the tender grasses and baby fronds emitting summer’s promise with lime greens and lemon yellows.
A free-floating tranquility rested my high into the sky next to the choirs of constellations. Dev flashed into the enormous black-and-white sabertooth, ever and always driven to protect me. Reverse of Jazz, I nested into his warm, dense coat between his thick arms and rows of claws. Vivacious swells of baritone purring accompanied his wet kisses against the back of my neck. The sweet vibrations kept the world of worries waiting to pounce at bay, lulling me to rest. Still riding the selflessness for another, I closed my eyes, relishing in the precious joy of knowing what love was.