She raised her eyes to the barn roof, the shining spiral spreading a golden light on her beautiful features. All eyes followed her gaze and they watched as each letter materialized behind the N, e… k… a.
Neka was now the twelfth… a princess after all.
“But…” John shook his head.
Neka’s eyes met his. “Nashota’s gone now. Forever. None of you ever saw him because he was never really here. He was only visible to me, sent to protect the power, to protect me, until the moment when we most needed my power. Nashota died with them, with my parents.
“I get it now. I get why he was given the power, the power that he just passed to me so the spiral would be complete, would activate. It was to protect us, the power, from him. It was to activate the spiral at just the right time.”
John reached for her, pulling her into a tight embrace, comforting her in this moment of truth.
“Well if that’s true, then this, right now, is that moment, the moment of our true mission. We don’t even know what’s going to happen. We don’t know the prophecy!” The desperation in Cai’s voice sought explanation from those around her. She glanced at Thad, “But this means, there is no traitor among us.” The apology narrowing her eyes met an accepting nod. “Carmen, are you okay? Can you handle it? Are we all ready now to do this not knowing the whole truth, what’s going to happen?”
Carmen’s angry defiance forced her delicate chin outward, “I’m more than ready. Let’s kick this monster’s butt!”
She pumped her fist in the air and sought her place in the spiral. Cai nodded, following her lead with the others close behind. John let go of Neka, his hand softly sliding from her shoulder to her delicate, strong fingers as he backed toward his light in the spiral.
Neka hesitated, her name aglow in anticipation of the connection.
It was time. Time to avenge the loss of her closest friend, her parents, all of their families. Time to fulfill the mission that was prophesied in the fairytale without ending.
Were they ready?
Were they strong enough?
Neka moved to the circle of light below her name. The newly powered particles in her body surged as she drew closer, pulses of energy electrifying every nerve below her skin.
Now Neka understood why Nashota had always been so flighty. She wanted to run away herself, the power so strong in her veins.
One more step, one step and the light would join with the particles racing like tiny beetles through her, the power complete. Her central nervous system hyper sensitive, she felt as if she stood naked in the pouring rain unsheltered by the barn’s leaky roof. The ray of light lay before her, the spiral lit, ready to do what it was designed to do. Neka suddenly feared the unknown, and she stepped forward as if first learning to walk.
One tiny step into the light.
“Arghhhh!” The roar filled the cab of the sedan as the monster felt the final connection in the spiral take place, calling him to their location. The girl’s anger had failed him. He’d known his nephew would tell her about the mother. He’d planned it. “Why didn’t that stupid girl attack him?” He beat the front seat with his fists.
She, or maybe another, had been stronger than he thought. The bright light from the barn shot upward pinpointing the location of the spiral.
He didn’t need to know where now, though. He’d hoped to find them before the spiral pulled him toward it, desiring a surprise attack on the teens so he could obtain the last amulets. No worries, though. He’d designed a back up plan with the ten amulets he had in his possession.
He let the pull lead him. He had to hurry before…
Throwing the door of the sedan open, the drenching rain beating against his head and shoulders, he ran to the four wheel drive pick up parked next to the garage.
As if the heavy rain fought against him, delaying his every move— and perhaps it did— he fought back and once inside the four wheel drive truck he raced it onward into the storm, toward the light; rivers of water gaining thickness down the windshield, only temporarily cleared by the wipers as lightning revealed scattered trees in his path.
He skillfully maneuvered the vehicle over slick grassy mud in the pasture, pushed forward through barbed wire fences into the next pasture, and accelerated through the open spaces of plowed fields allowing the spiral’s physical connection to him to lead the way.
His determination to reach the barn fed by his fear of the spiral opening.
Everything he had achieved would lay in waste if those teens were successful. The world would know his truth, what he was, where he was from, but there would be no fear from them. The world would know and his plans would be ruined.
His only hope rested in the ten pendants he wore on a chain beneath the tie he now fought to loosen with one hand, while the other hand jerked on the steering wheel as the old truck bounced over ruts and through mud.
He tossed the tie across the cab of the pick up truck, knowing his success— or failure— would mean never having to wear another of those horrid accessories. Ties made him feel collared, and that would never happen again.
Before the monster brought his right hand back to the steering wheel, his fingers gripped the dagger’s intricate handle next tucked into his belt and he pulled the blade free, held it to his chest, to the pendants.
The connection of blade to gem surged through him as the two powers fought each other, burning his skin where the pendants lay.
He lay the dagger on the seat, power surging in his veins. Soon it all would be his and he would be rid of these pendants and the juvenile spawn meant to be attached to each one.
The fight of his life lay moments before him, and he would not allow a bunch of children to ruin him, his plans!
He forced the gas pedal to the floor as the wipers pushed ineffectively at the heavy downpour. With each swipe the clearing barely offered a view of the ground lit before him. As the headlights cut through the dark, as the wipers swept faster, glimpses of farm revealed five feet ahead of the truck lay a draw of rushing water.
The deep rushing water in the draw almost stalled the four wheel drive as the monster pushed the vehicle through it, but he mastered the dangerous twists and turns the storm threw his way.
He knew exactly what he would do.
He could see the rays of light growing stronger, closer, bursting high through the cracks in the barn’s walls and roof, reaching through the storm as he neared.
Power surged through him as the truck stopped next to the barn, the rain beating fiercely against his face as he jumped out the door; large cold drops like knuckles pelted his face and shoulders doing nothing to sway his actions. The hard rain only angered him more.
He had to reach that opening, stop them before…
Lightning struck so closely that the ground beneath his feet shook forcing him to misstep and fall face first into the mud before him.
“Get up you cursed shell!” He roared. The restrictions of his human form made his mental to physical commands impossible at times. He couldn’t wait to rule in his natural form and shed the skin and bones of man, but he wanted to use that facet of himself during the battle.
Nothing could stop him, not the storm, not those teens, not even their mothers!
He pushed to his feet and ran, the deepening golden rays cutting through the downpour, gloating their success as he rounded the corner and spotted the fake door.
He felt the vibration of the spiral before his hand touched the hundred year old wood siding.
His fingers pushed through a crack and he stripped away the makeshift door, flinging it through the storm with abnormal strength.
The spiral on the ceiling rotated, first slowly, then with increasing speed.
“He’s here!” Cheater felt the blanket of hatred before the wall to her left opened and a blast of cold, wet wind blew in with the fury of the visitor.
“Don’t listen to anything he says!” Thad’s fear of his dream behavior lidded his eyes as he remembered his first
encounter with that anger, shuttering his eyes provided him false courage.
“The light gave us away! We’re not ready! We don’t even know what to do!” Carmen’s desperate words filled the barn.
“Hands!” The magnetic pull to join hands at that moment was so strong that none needed to hear that one word command from Cai.
Power surged through each body as they reached for the ones on either side of them. Something bigger than they ever imagined— ever experienced— was taking place as they connected, something incredible!
Thad reached timidly for Cheater’s left hand, feeling the strange new power this lighted anchor brought him. Yet, wary of the unknown, he struggled against the magnetic pull; his flight sense attempted to take over.
As their fingertips touched, the dark man burst through the gaping hole in the wall. His thunderous voice cried, “Stop! Don’t do this! You don’t understand what you are doing! We can become the most powerful planet in the universe… the most powerful royalty anywhere.”
Thad trembled with fear… fear of whatever awaited their connection, fear of this man, his words, fear for his life, and who he truly was. Thad wanted so desperately to hide behind the teardrop pendant.
“Don’t let him feel your fear!” Cheater yelled above the roaring spiral as the dynamic pull forced their hands together.
“Thad! Look at me now!” Cai ordered.
“Dude, we need you! Come on!” Nathan yelled.
Then it happened. The man reached out toward them, trembling in the power he harnessed. Fire shot upward between the Gifted Ones filling the spiral, blocking their view of each other’s faces. The flames reached upward to the roof of the barn seeking the wood rafters harboring the spiral.
Then, he was there, right in front of Thad, within the spiral, but it wasn’t a man’s face at all, it was a monster, a familiar monster. Thad had seen this face before, but when he opened his eyes again, it was the face of an angry man.
“I made you!” His glare burned into Thad’s eyes. “You are mine! Wind and fire.”
Flames danced and stretched seeking the Gifted Ones. Angry red flames licked the air before their faces, reached for their hair.
“Thad!” Rebecca called out in desperation as the hot flames lifted her hair. Her body rose swiftly and the heated wind made it difficult for her to maintain her grip on the others.
Not Rebecca!
Thad glared into the fierce red eyes. It was their dream come to life. No face… the red eyes. The dream that ended the fairytale they knew so well.
Thad glanced through the flames as Rebecca cried out, the pull on her shoulders as she rose causing her pain. Thad lowered his chin, closed his eyes, and produced his own wind…
“Yes! Feed the flames my boy,” the monster breathed into Thad’s face.
The tornado Thad produced fought the flaming wind, forcing Rebecca downward.
The monster reached beneath his human clothes producing a small item and the dagger. “How dare you betray me! Betray your own people!” The hot breath yelled against Thads cheek.
“No matter! I will take care of you, as soon as I do away with her,” A reptilian smile and the man disappeared from Thad’s view.
Locating a large flat stone, the monster turned the stone over, lay a pendant on the flat side, and roared, “Watch as she dies!”
With the dagger in both hands poised over the ungodly head, the monster brought the dagger down with such strength, such force, that the pendant crumbled.
A hate filled laugh echoed over the roar of flames, over the rotation of the spiral in the barn, riding the golden light high above the teens as Rebecca’s head fell forward, her body now pulling downward on the arms of those holding her in place. Her grip fell limp in Jamie’s and Simon’s hands.
“Rebecca! No!” Nathan cried out as anger twisted his features. He watched Rebecca’s body weaken before him, and he roared in pain as he tried with all his strength to break the magnetic seal of the hands in his.
“Hold on to her!” Simon yelled hoarsely to Jamie as the flames forced him to roll his head to the side away from them.
The fire made it difficult for Simon to catch his breath. He had to do something fast. He needed her slippery grip to stabilize the magnetic hold, or he needed to move his hand upward, to her wrist, to keep her in place.
This is different from the dream, Jaz thought. Stay connected!
We’re trying, ten voices struggled to respond.
This creature, this monstrous man, held more power than the teens imagined.
You won’t win, the man’s voice filled their heads.
Through the flames they sought each other’s eyes for strength.
The monster now had access to Rebecca’s power.
The powerful being knew the crumbled amulet’s effect would not last as he threatened to force the dagger into another of the teens amulet, but did the eleven teens know?
Amulet dangling and a rag-doll like Rebecca hanging in the flames’ upwind, the man approached Thad again. “This one could be yours, or…”
Thad turned from the horrid, twisted face breathing down on him. His eyes caught Cheater’s pleading ones. She shook her head.
“Or maybe… hers?” The monster grinned toward Cheater, a throaty, threatening laugh bubbling upward from stomach to his esophagus and out through jagged, reptilian teeth.
Cheater winced at the appearance of the monster. His features now were much worse than anything she had imagined when she attempted to fill in the face. But now she knew why the billboard on the side of the road creeped her out. Now she knew that face was the face missing in her nightmare.
Turning from Cheater, he moved among the Gifted Teens, around before them. Inside the maze-like spiral, he kept his distance, sniffing each teen as if smelling fear. Stopping at Lena, he looked up into her downturned face. Her eyes were closed in concentration as her height brought her strain while gripping the hands of the two others.
“You,” he said, “are next, unless…”
“Any other time, I’d squash you like the reptile you are!” Lena growled.
Her wide eyed counterparts sent her a look of surprise having never seen her exhibit anger.
Suddenly Lena’s own eyes widened as she watched the man levitate to meet her gaze and face her.
How?
He peered deep into Lena’s wide, blue eyes searching… for what?
“You don’t know the truth.” He paused, turned an ear to the entrance where a low grumble forced his attention, then he circled back to face Cheater.
He had been so close to making his way to the center.
“Do any of you know the truth?” He bellowed in her face in Cheater’s face, his hot, smelly breath burning her nostrils, but she had seen so much in her short life that his threatening action only strengthened her resolve against him, against the evil. She challenged the monster with upturned chin and soulful eyes.
There was no changing him, though. She knew that before she tried, but she still had to study his face for a weakness. The evil within him only built her courage.
“You do know that your pitiful little power won’t sway me, don’t you? I don’t care about anyone from my past, living or dead!” The monster bared his fang like teeth. “By the way, that little boy, Thomas? That’s correct, isn’t it? The one you thought was your long lost brother?” Cheater sensed the monster was about to reveal something she didn’t want to hear, something that would destroy her resolve.
“Don’t listen to him,” John squeezed her hand tighter to turn her attention away from him.
“That sweet little boy… oh, and that cute little doggy!” The monster’s face presented as a loving father while he shook his head. “Well, that sweet boy is gone now. That little doggy was a tasty one!” He snarled; the whispered words tugged at Cheater’s heart, but it was his next move that almost made her break the bond.
The monster flung Splash back through the hole in the wall with such force and flame that Ch
eater swore she heard a sound like Splash’s dying whimper over the rumbling storm.
John and Thad could feel Cheater’s grip loosen. It was the first time Cheater showed anger since any of them had met her. She was their rock, their guide on a better path, a gentler path. They never thought she would become angry, never prepared her for such a response.
Cheater had always been the stable one.
“A nice tender snack I’ll save for my win. Now… where was I?” The man’s index finger tapped his chin. “Oh yes! You don’t know the truth about your mother, do you?” His face centimeters from Cheater’s own, he angled it left, then right, studying her eyes. Stroking her cheek with the top of his index fingernail, he whispered, “I know the truth. Do you want to know the truth about your mother, why all of those horrible things happened to you? Why all those people you loved died? Do you want to know your truth, sweet Sara?”
Cheater tried not to blink against his threat, but she couldn’t stop herself. He used her only hope, her mother’s love, to tempt her into the evil world he’d created, the evil he spun now. This monster was offering to give her the very piece of information she came to Paradise to learn… the truth, but what did her mother, her hope, have to do with the truth, the deaths, the world she lived in?
Why would he point the blame at her mother?
As if reading her mind, he smiled, his dark eyes close enough to her own that she could see flecks of red spike and rise within the shiny black irises. The flames between her and this creature reflected in those eyes, the red responding to the dancing flames.
He’s not human, Cheater thought squinting to refocus her attention on one hypnotizing eye, away from the horrible words he spoke. The corners of the creature’s eyes turned upward in a smile of acknowledgement that grew with her contemplation of this new piece of the puzzle. “That’s right, sweet Sara. You are correct. You win the door prize!”
He whirled with joy at her discovery and bellowed with contempt, “That’s right!” He clapped. “I am not human!” He roared as he spun away from Cheater.
The Lost Prince Page 13