Earth Shaker

by Juliana Haygert

  I nodded. “If he’s alive …” By Saint Sara-la-Kali, I hoped he was. He had to be. “Then we need to be careful how we’re going in so the alchemists don’t use him against us.”

  “Exactly,” Rye said. “Take your weapons, just in case, but first we look, then we make a plan. Okay?”

  Hanzi let out an annoyed breath. “Okay.”

  Swords in hand, we exited the pickup. The lion circled us once, and then lay on the dry, grassy ground.

  “I don’t get this cat,” Rye muttered.

  “He’s a mythical creature,” I said. “Like us. You can’t get it.”

  Hanzi pushed between us. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  Like three wolves on the hunt, we advanced through the trees until we were close to the house. From our spot, we could see two masked men at the back of the house, shadow daggers in their hands.

  Alchemists.

  “Two so far,” Rye said. “There’s probably a bunch more inside.”

  Two more alchemists walked by the window beside the front door, and another appeared in the window to the right.

  “Five,” I whispered.

  Rye shook his head. “There’s more … We need to get closer and take a look inside.”

  “They will see us,” I said.

  “I can make it,” Hanzi said. “I can use the wind and do it. They won’t see me.”

  Rye looked from me to Hanzi, and dipped his chin once. “Do it, and please, don’t get caught.”

  Hanzi smiled, a mischievous thing. “I won’t.”

  And then he was off.

  With his wind propelling him, Hanzi floated above the grass. In a blink, he was hovering over the rotten porch of the house.

  Hanzi glued his back to the wall and leaned over the window. The shadow of an alchemist appeared near the glass—my inside squirmed—before he walked by. Thankfully, Hanzi was ready and hid in time. Using his magic, he moved from window to window, even the ones on the second floor, carefully spying inside. The only windows he didn’t look through were the ones at the back of the house, where the alchemists serving as lookouts could have easily spotted him.

  In another flash, Hanzi appeared at our side.

  His face was pale, his eyes wide.

  “What happened?” Rye asked, his hand tight around the hilt of his sword. “What did you see?”

  Hanzi shook his head. “You won’t believe me …”

  I rested my hand on his upper arm, a comforting gesture. “Hanzi, just tell us.”

  He fixed his scared eyes on mine. “Wesh … Wesh is okay, I guess. He’s tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room at the back of the house.”

  Relief rushed through me. “So he’s alive.” I smiled. “He’s okay.”

  “There’s more,” Hanzi said. He glanced from me to Rye and back to me. “Nico is right beside Wesh.”

  11

  Hanzi’s news that Nico was still alive was unexpected, but welcomed. The will to charge in there right then was overwhelming. I almost did, except for Rye and his voice of reason.

  “Wesh and Nico seemed unharmed?”

  “For now,” Hanzi answered.

  “And the animals?”

  “In the basement.”

  “How many alchemists?”

  “At least ten. Maybe more since I couldn’t look in all rooms.”

  “They are waiting for us,” I said with a small gasp. I hadn’t expected this. “For some reason, they kept Nico alive and now they have Wesh, and they are luring us in there. What are they expecting? Three more tziganes?”

  Hanzi shrugged. “Maybe they know we could call for help and expect more tziganes?”

  That didn’t make any sense.

  Rye took a deep breath. “Even so, we need more arms if we planned on barging into the house. The three of us against ten or more are not great odds.”

  I didn’t like this, but it wasn’t as if we had many options. “You’re right. We’ll need them if we want to make sure we get Wesh and Nico and the animals out of there alive.”

  “Exactly.” Rye lifted his phone. “We can start planning now, but we’ll wait for them.”

  So we did.

  For the next three hours, we took turns watching the house and resting—even though none of us could really relax knowing our friends could be killed at any moment.

  Finally, Theron and the cavalry arrived in a silver SUV.

  “Hey, there. I’m Theron, leader of the Bellville warriors.” Theron shook Rye’s hand first, then Hanzi’s, and mine. He was a tall guy with long, black hair, and an easy smile. “And these are my warriors. My brother, Ramon, my cousin, Jaime, and my friend, Shay.”

  We greeted them and explained all that had happened since we rescued the animals in the forest, which was when we thought we had lost Nico.

  A heavy feeling grew in my stomach. These men had gone to our enclave. They had seen the destruction, the aftermath. They had told us no one from our enclave was alive. That no one had escaped.

  A sliver of jealousy snaked into my heart. I wanted to be the one to see it. Yes, I knew it would probably break me, but I would never have peace until I saw it with my own eyes.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Ramon asked.

  Rye explained the plan. Theron added a few insights and ideas, making the plan a little stronger.

  After checking we had enough weapons, we spread across the perimeter of the forest around the house.

  Though I wanted to be in the thick of the fight, being inside the house wouldn’t help me with my earth elemental magic. So, I asked to be in the back, preferably outside. That way I could take out whoever swarmed out, or those in the outer rooms, with my magic.

  I crouched down behind a bush and watched as two alchemists in the back talked amongst themselves. They were standing in the middle of the porch, but occasionally, they each walked to the back corners of the house and looked out at the trees.

  Rye crouched beside me. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Of course I will.”

  He reached for my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. “Promise me that if things look bad, you’ll run.”

  I gaped at him. “W-what? Of course not!”

  He squeezed my hand tight. “Cora … if you get hurt … if we are captured … I can’t deal with that.”

  A small, almost satisfied smile crested my lips. I cupped his face. “You know me. If you’re all in trouble, I’m going to get in trouble, too. I’ll never leave anyone behind. Never again. Especially not you.”

  He groaned before leaning closer and resting his forehead against mine. “You’re impossible, but I like you the way you are.” He brushed his lips on mine, tearing a pleased gasp from me. “I’ll see you after.”

  Then he was gone, leaving me hanging and wishing he had kissed me properly. He rushed to the side of the house with Theron and Ramon. Hanzi, Jaime, and Shay were in the front, and I had the back.

  Not long after, the boom of an explosion shook the ground. It had come from the front—it was Hanzi, Jaime, and Shay and their distraction. As expected, alchemists rushed to the front of the house, even the two guarding the back.

  Rye, Theron, and Ramon ran to the back door.

  I waited for them to enter the house, then channeling my magic, I followed.

  I stopped by the back door. It opened to a kitchen where Ramon fought an alchemist. A low island divided the kitchen from the breakfast area, where Rye tangled with two alchemists, and behind him, Nico and Wesh were tied to wooden chairs in the middle of the empty room. Their mouths were muffled by ropes tied across their faces, but I could hear their grunts and desperate shouts. To the left, an archway led to what would have been a formal dining or living room, but now it was broken hardwood floor and peeling wallpaper—and Theron and two alchemists.

  Rapid footsteps rang above us.

  “There are more,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if the guys heard me. They were too enthralled in their fights. I had
seen a handful of alchemists going outside after the explosion, plus the five here, and the ones upstairs. We had more than ten alchemists. Maybe way more.

  A door across the kitchen opened, revealing an alchemist—he had probably come from the basement.

  Narrowing his dark eyes at me, the alchemist extended his arm. The shadow dagger appeared in his hand.

  I didn’t wait for him. I knelt, throwing my hands out. Hundreds of tiny rocks surged from the door, hitting him like an automatic rifle. He raised his hand, trying to protect himself from the onslaught. I kept the rocks coming, hard and fast, while I crawled to him.

  By the time he noticed what I was doing, it was too late. I had already grabbed my sword and aimed for his stomach. Hating this part, I sucked in a sharp breath and drove the sword into him. This was my fourth kill, and for some reason, it was still as hard and disturbing as the first one.

  Averting my eyes, I pulled the sword out. I tried not to look as his body fell back on the stairs with a heavy thud and rolled down to the lower level. Nausea revolved in my stomach.

  A groan caught my attention. I snapped my head to the right—Nico and Wesh widened their eyes at me. I rushed to them.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m going to get you two out of here.” With my sword, I cut the ropes around Wesh’s wrists and ankles. He worked on the rope across his mouth, and I turned to Nico. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.” He groaned and grunted, his eyes still wide. “Calm down. I’ll have you out in a second.”

  Pain exploded behind my back and I fell forward, landing on my hands and knees. Then a kick to my stomach took my breath away, and I rolled to my side, curling in pain.

  “What …” I tried to speak, but the pain was too great. I looked up but all I saw was a hazy Wesh leaning over me.

  “You’re ruining it.” Wesh spat on the floor beside me. “Stop it, before you ruin it all.” He grabbed my sword from the floor. Gasping, I tried to move, to roll away, to kick up, and defend myself, but to my surprise, Wesh turned to Nico and started cutting the ropes from the chair. “They were going to let us go,” he muttered while fighting against the ropes. Having an arm in a temporary cast wasn’t helping. “That was the deal.”

  I blinked, but the haze only faded. “W-what are you talking about?”

  He grunted. “That day we were rescuing the animals. The alchemists were losing, and we would have killed them all, but a couple of them had Nico and I … I couldn’t let them kill my brother. I think they noticed how desperate I was. They offered me a deal. If I facilitated their entrance to our enclave, they would return Nico to me.”

  I blinked again, and this time, the haze was almost gone. “W-what?”

  Wesh glanced at me. Tears streamed down his face. “They promised they just wanted the animals. They wouldn’t hurt anyone.” He cursed under his breath. “I should have known. Nevertheless, they still had Nico and I thought … I thought that if I brought the animals to them, they would let him go.”

  Finally, Wesh cut Nico free. Nico ripped the rope from around his face and glared at his brother. “You’re an idiot! I asked you not to do it. I knew they wouldn’t honor the deal. I asked you to not do it! And you did anyway.”

  “I had to,” Wesh spat. “You’re my brother! I couldn’t let you die!”

  “And because of that, our entire enclave is dead …” Nico’s eyes glistened. “I hate you.”

  Wesh reached for Nico. “No …”

  From the corner of my eyes, I saw two alchemists running at us.

  “Watch out!” I screamed, scrambling to my knees.

  Wesh turned, my sword in his hand, but he wasn’t fast enough. The alchemist slapped my sword away—it went flying several feet away—and pierced his shadow dagger into Wesh’s chest.

  “Noooo!” Nico shouted, while he dodged the second alchemists’ attack.

  The first alchemist faced me.

  Shit.

  Groaning from the pain, I rolled back on my shoulder, swiped my sword from the floor, and shot up to my feet, just in time to parry the shadow dagger coming at my chest. I wasn’t short, and this alchemist was a hulk of a man, an entire head taller than me. Each time I parried one of his attacks, my entire arm shook and hurt. I would have to win with speed—and magic.

  I called the rocks lying on the floor near the basement stairs. They pelted him repeatedly. The man groaned and flinched but didn’t stop fighting. His movement became less smooth and fluid, though. I sidestepped his attack and swiped with my sword, cutting low on his side. The alchemist howled in anger. Enraged, he barreled toward me, all brute force, and no technique. I stood my ground until the last moment. His hand scratched my shoulder as I rotated to the side and out of reach. Before he could recover, I dug my sword on his back.

  Fighting another round nausea, I pulled out my sword and turned my face, not wanting to have to look at another body I killed longer than I needed.

  I turned around, expecting to have to dodge an incoming attack. Instead, I stared at Nico with a shadow dagger in his hand, cutting an alchemist’s throat. He dropped the body and stared at me with wide eyes.

  “A-are you okay?” I asked.

  He let out a hollow chuckled. “I’m not sure I should answer that right now.”

  Movement to my right had me recoiling, but it was Rye killing another alchemist. Then I saw that Hanzi, Jaime, and Shay had come inside the house too and were fighting more alchemists.

  “How many alchemists?” I asked.

  Rye shrugged. “I lost count some time ago.”

  Footsteps echoed from the upstairs. My eyes widened. “There are more?”

  Rye sighed. “Apparently.”

  Rye, Nico, and I advanced to the stairs in the front as another set of alchemists ran down the steps. The fighting became a mess. With so many tziganes and alchemists fighting inside the small house, we ended up bumping into each other, fighting the same opponent at the same time, and sometimes messing up more than helping.

  I ran my sword across the chest of an alchemist, and in a brief moment between opponents, I looked around. There were eight of us and too many alchemists to count. It was crazy. Where had they all been hiding? Was this some kind of trick? A new magic that kept cloning them? One went down, and then two roses? It didn’t make sense.

  As if my crazy idea was true, from across the room, an alchemist who had been quavering from his wounds on the floor, pushed to his knees, and with his shadow dagger out, stood—right behind Hanzi.

  “No!” I screamed as the alchemists pierced his dagger through Hanzi’s heart.

  Hanzi’s eyes met mine. They widened and blood slid from his open mouth.

  Then, he was on the floor.

  My control snapped and rage flooded my senses. My sight went red.

  I channeled my power, calling on the earth beneath the house. The foundation shook.

  “Cora,” Rye called me.

  “Get out,” I snarled. “Get the animals and get out. Now!”

  Rye shouted for the others to follow him. The alchemists moved too, but I was ready. I lifted a hand and several pillars of earth shot from the floor, ripping through the hardwood as if it were made of paper. The pillars crumbled and the earth spread. It accumulated around the alchemists’ feet, holding them into place.

  The house shook harder.

  “Cora, we have to go.”

  I thought it was Rye, but I was lost in my mind, in my rage, in my power … I didn’t know who was talking. I didn’t care.

  I moved my arms to the side and earth and stones broke through the floor. They enclosed the alchemists’ legs—the rocks and earth climbing high, creating their tombs.

  The walls cracked, the ceiling warped. The alchemists shouted and tried in vain to escape.

  A hand closed around my wrist and tugged hard. “Cora! Come on!”

  I flung all my power out. Earth poured from the floor like a geyser.

  Then my world tilted. I was upside down, staring at some
one’s back.

  A moment later, I was thrown to the ground. Rye stood right in front of me, but his body didn’t hide the house behind him and the way it came down.

  Horror filled me as I watched the house as it became a flat expanse of debris.

  I had done that. I had reached the earth under the house’s foundation, under the concrete basement. I had collapsed the house. I had killed all those alchemists.

  And Hanzi’s and Wesh’s bodies were still in there.

  A sob ripped through me, but I swallowed before it could escape.

  I glanced around. The animals were at the edge of the trees, including the white lion, and everyone else was watching the house—Nico, Theron, Ramon, Shay, and Jaime—expect for Rye. Rye faced me, his eyes confused. Worried. Afraid. He was probably disgusted with me now, thinking I was a monster.

  By Saint Sara-la-Kali, what had I done?

  12

  I had lost everything.

  I glanced at Rye behind the SUV’s wheel, then at Nico, who slept on the backseat, his side and head pressed to the door.

  We had lost everything.

  We had gone through a lot these past few days and remembering the events brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes.

  But at least we had each other. Nico, Rye, and I. We had been from the same enclave before. Community members. Warrior buddies. But now, we were family. Our own, little family.

  Rye cast a side glance at me. “What?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing.”

  He returned his eyes to the road. “Hm.” He snaked his hand across the seat and laced his fingers with mine. “Talk to me.”

  I stared at our joined hands. When did this become something I was looking forward to? Something that meant I was safe and secure and happy. Well, maybe not fully happy. I didn’t think I would ever be happy again, but appeased. Having Rye by my side grounded me, made me at peace.

  After rescuing Nico and the animals, and losing Hanzi and Wesh, Theron and his gang helped us haul all the animals to the back of the pickup.

  “You guys have been through too much,” Theron said, offering us the keys to his SUV. “We’ll take the animals to the sanctuary, and you go to Bellville. Our family will be waiting for you. We’ll meet you there in a couple of days.”