Scars of the Earth (12 page)

Her wolf’s fur rose up on end and a low rumble escaped his mouth. Carter was tired and broke down which made his moves more erratic and hard to block. Cole looked cool and confident but she was still worried about him. Carter was more frightful to her now with his face contorted into a strange mask that was so different than his usually cocky one.

She stopped running once she got to the opposite side of the field. She didn’t like being so far from Cole but knew this was strategically better. Now they could attack from the front and the back. Amanda was feeling the world around her trying to think of a way to fight. She was getting a limitless supply of energy from her great silver companion but she didn’t know any offensive spells. He looked at her with questioning eyes but she had no answer to give him. Her confidence level was dropping.

What can I do? The only thing that I have mastered is shields. She thought pitifully. Wait, that could work…

An idea had occurred to her and she smiled. Crouched down and ready she waited for the opportunity to strike. Carter looked over his shoulder and saw her behind him. He quickly threw out a barrage of attacks at Cole and spun towards her. Cole, busy blocking the torrent spells, could do nothing but call out.

“Amanda!” Cole shouted.

Carter gathered up his remaining energy and in his hand appeared a dark ball of smoke. He cradled it in his palm delicate as a baby bird. Then he met her eyes, her scarlet eyes, and with a look of disgust he drew his arm back.

Just as he released the spell she threw up a shield, not in front of her but directly in front of him. The dark energy exploded off the shield and ricocheted back into his face with violent speed. All was silent, or at least she perceived it that way, save one noise. A guttural scream tore through the clearing raising the hairs on the back of her neck.

She couldn’t see anything through the grey fog that surrounded Carter. Cole began to cautiously cross the space between him and the swirling cloud. She fought back the urge to throw up as his screaming died into a bubbling gurgle.

What have I done? She thought.

Cole had almost reached the strange smoke cloud that almost seemed alive. It didn’t sway and move with the wind as it should have. It danced and moved as it desired. She choked back the rising vomit and guilt she couldn’t let him go in alone. So without a second thought she darted across the dry dying field.

As she neared the haze the smoke became darker. Her wolf ran in front of her, blocking her path, but she moved around him. She paused before the wall of smoke; it looked so solid she wasn’t even sure that she could step into it. She was scared of the first step but was so desperate to find Carter alive that she closed her eyes and plunged in. She felt a kiss of moisture cool her face as she crossed the barrier.

I never thought that I would kill someone. She thought as she walked on. She was surrounded by the dark mist now. The smoke smelled sickly sweet and it hung on her like a wet blanket.

“Amanda!” Cole screamed from the other side. “Get back! Get out of there!”

She was startled and tried to back out of the cloud, but it seemed to follow her. Not finding a way out she searched for her wolf but he was no where near her. Breathing in the fumes left her with a syrupy residue on her tongue that made her choke. Her hands began to sting and she looked down at them.

They’re beet red! She thought beginning to panic. She didn’t know what was happening but she knew that it wasn’t good.

“Murdererrrr.” A haunting voice gurgled.

“Hello.” She shouted. Her eyes were stinging so badly that tears were streaming down her face, making it impossible to see where the chilling voice had come from.

“You did this to meee…cough, cough.” The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the last coughing turned into a bubbling sputter.

“Cole help!” She cried.

She attempted to shout for him but began coughing violently. She tripped over something and fell hard but continued moving on her hands and knees, attempting to find the exit. Salty tears ran down her cheeks like a river stinging her already burning flesh. Just as her fingers made contact with something that felt like gelatin a strong thin hand pulled her back to her feet.

“S-B! Don’t breath or speak you will be out in a second.” Amanda had never been happier to hear Madgie’s voice, though she was wishing Madgie wouldn’t hold her so tightly. Her skin felt like the worst sun burn imaginable. “Amanda!” Cole exclaimed in worry when he found the two in the smoke.

“Don’t worry she’s fine, she is probably in a lot of pain but…” Madgie said. Amanda wanted to say, ‘Ya think?’ but obeyed her orders. They never stopped their brisk almost running pace as Cole and Madgie talked.

“Well get her out of here as quick as you can. I’ll keep scanning for him.” Cole said.

It was silent for a good while and her lungs where on fire by the time that Madgie gave her the okay to breathe again. When she took in the first gulp of fresh air her head began to clear.

“Are you and Cole alright?” Amanda asked in a rushed breath, her eyes still closed.

“Don’t worry we are fine. He was searching for you in there same as me, but we had the forethought to use protective spells before running into a cloud of acid.” Madgie said. Amanda’s brain stopped working for a second.

“A cloud of acid!” She replied. Madgie had her hands above Amanda going over her body with healing and pain relief spells.

“Yes. That was quite a nasty spell; I haven’t ever seen anything like it. It kills me that he knew a spell like that.” She paused. “Why would they teach such things at the Hovel? I mean I’ve heard what they did to the Guard, but still…” Madgie was there in body, but her mind was a thousand miles away puzzling on all of the locked doors in the Hovel; all of the places that she, as a woman, had never been granted permission to enter. And all of the dark gossip that she hoped wasn’t true.

“Madgie?” She said pulling her out of her daze.

“Yes child?” Madgie replied. Amanda was terrified to ask the question, but it came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it.

“Is Carter alive?” She asked thinking of the terrible voice calling out to her in the smoke. A moment went by, then another. She peeled her eyes open to look up at her friend. “Madgie?” The old woman’s face was distraught and she knew the answer. Madgie took in a deep breath.

“I don’t see how he could be. Look at you,” She gestured to Amanda’s clothes that had holes eaten through them. “And that was after it had dissipated.” Madgie saw the look of anguish on her face and kept talking.

“S-B, if he is dead it isn’t your fault. It’s not like he was throwing a cupcake at you. You just made his actions literally blow up in his face. He’s the one that chose that awful dark spell, not you.” Madgie said.

I chose to put that shield there. She thought darkly, but she didn’t want to argue with poor Madgie.

Cole came walking out of the fumes a few moments later. Amanda was relieved to see him until she took in the ghostly white face and dark red slime dripping from his hands. She sprang to her feet a little too fast and wobbled out of balance as she ran to him.

“What happened, are you hurt?” She went to touch him and he took a step back.

“Just give me a second…” He said in a rush. He took a breath and exhaled in a terrible sigh of pain.

“What is it Cole, how can I help you.” She begged. He knelt down on the ground and held his hand out to her; it still dripped with the unknown goop.

“I found Carter…” He said and looked down at Amanda’s hand. She followed his gaze. She had the same strange jelly on the tips of her fingers. “And so did you.” Her body convulsed with retching before her mind understood why.

She was wrapped up in Cole’s thick wool cloak, one of the few things that escaped the acid. Her hair was still wet and it made her shiver, but Madgie insisted they wash up in a creek before the protective spells wore off.

“So Carter is dead.” Amanda said. It wasn’t a question it was a statement, but Cole answered her anyway.

“Yes, he was when I found him. I tried to get him out anyway even though he couldn’t have possibly been alive. I don’t know why I even tried he just…fell apart in my hands.” He shivered and she followed suit. “I’m glad that he is dead he wanted to kill you Amanda.” Cole said evenly.

Her voice cracked as she spoke. “I didn’t mean to murder him.” Cole moved toward her and put his arms around her frail frame.

“You didn’t Amanda, don’t even say that! You aren’t a murderer. If he was throwing a stunning spell, it would have just knocked him out. He killed himself. And I am glad that he did, when I first saw him I felt a stab of pity. It was like I had been run through. I wanted him dead, but that death…it was a shock.” He looked down at her and gently cupped her face in the palm of his hand.

“But than I realized that that was the death he meant for you.” Cole’s deep voice shook with anger. “He meant for that lump of flesh in the field to be you.” Cole pulled her closer as he continued. “Don’t you shed one tear for him Amanda, he was consumed in darkness. Nothing good was left in him, and he had nothing but evil to bring to this world.” Amanda was surprised that she felt some what comforted by his words. When she had found out that Carter had died she thought that nothing could take away the pain in her heart, but Cole’s words did make her feel a little better. She wished that he hadn’t died, but Cole was right.

All I did was throw up a shield, right? A shield that led to his gruesome, painful death. She thought.

She felt calm in Cole’s arms but she knew that it would take time to get over what had happened. Even if Carter had wanted me to suffer what he had, wasn’t it selfish to chose her life over his? She shook her head and changed the subject they did have a lot to discuss.

“So Madgie, where do we go from here?” She asked.

“I have told you where I think you should go and how to get there. Do you remember?” Madgie asked.

“Yes I remember, but…aren’t you coming with me?” Amanda didn’t like the way Madgie had said, ‘I have told you where to go’.

“Well I do think it is best to travel together, at least until you are healed up from your burns. I figure that should take a good week.” Madgie said as she looked her up and down, Amanda had first and second degree burns over a good part of her body.

I am looking more and more like an extra in an over the top cheesy horror film. She thought.

Her wolf appeared by her side and plopped down next to her resting his enormous head in her lap. Nice of you to show up. She thought sarcastically but she stroked his fur lovingly anyway.

Cole’s resting head shot up, having just processed what Madgie was saying to them. “Are you just going to leave her?” Cole asked with a hint of venom in his tone. Amanda was taken back but it was Madgie that spoke.

“No I’m not just going to leave her. We are all going to leave each other.” Amanda and Cole looked like someone had slapped them across the face.

“But why would we do that Madgie? I don’t think that splitting up is a good idea.” She said quietly. Maybe she regrets coming with us, I probably would if I was her. On the run from the Ancients, unable to go back to her home. I shouldn’t have let either of them do this. She thought. So much had happened to them in such a short amount of time and she wondered what was waiting for them in the future. When she pulled herself out of her thoughts she saw that Madgie and Cole were in a heated argument, well Cole was heated anyway. Madgie sat firm and patient while he threw his hands around.

“I will not leave her side Madgie! You saw what just happened didn’t you? And that pales in comparison to what she has coming for her. Carter? He was one they will be sending the whole Guard no doubt. What will she do against that?” Madgie shrugged her slender shoulders.

“What will you do against that?” Madgie asked. Cole’s face turned red in exasperation.

“I will fight, I will protect her.” He said.

“It will do her no good there are too many to fight. The best thing to do is to try and not get found. And it is harder to find one spirit among the billions on Earth, than to find three. We will stick out like a sore thumb together; we would be much easier to track.” Madgie said and just before he could respond Amanda butted in.

“Hold on one second. The Ancients have a Guard, like an army?” She asked.

Chapter 11

Classes had been canceled ever since Amanda and Madgie had fled and Nell was more than a little angry at them for leaving her behind.

How could they leave me here! She thought furiously as she sat in the dinning hall listening to the latest in the speaking campaign against her friends.

The Hovel’s walls were splashed with Amanda’s face. Posters of anti-Amanda propaganda were strange enough, but the new presence of the Guard had turned her home into a prison. She tried to calm her thoughts.

They could not have guessed what the Hovel would turn into in their absence. They probably thought I was safer here. She thought kindly. Of course, they were wrong. Well meaning, but wrong.

She had awakened the day after Amanda had vanished and was surprised to see strange men lining the Hovel, putting up a kind of perimeter around the entire institute. She, like many, had never known about the Guard. It was hard for a girl of her age to adjust to the fact that the life she had known was over. But she knew that it would forever be different. Nell sighed and started doodling on her notepad as Frey continued his speech.

“I was there, brothers and sisters, when she fled. I pleaded with her to stay; I told her that the Ancients wouldn’t rest until she was safe. I said perhaps death is not the right way. We might yet find an answer, if only she stayed. I told her that we all cared for her. And what does she do?” He asked.

Attack you. Yeah-yeah. Nell thought.

“Attacks us. She opened an attack using dark magic that I had never before seen, and then she just vanished into thin air! But not before murdering my good friend and mentor Danimir.” He said in a pained voice.