Aegis: Catalyst Grove (38 page)

“STOP THIS!
 
I will do whatever you want, just stop!”
 
Graham barley managed to get the words out through the lingering pain in his chest.
 
A tear fell down his cheek as he pleaded for his friend’s life.
 

“Just get out of here Graham!
 
Save yourself!
 
Owwww!”
 
The echoes of Kel’s whimper hovered in the air as her hair was violently pulled back again.
 

Silas turned his attention back to Damien.
 
He loosened his grip, allowing Damien to take a few deep breaths before constricting his grip again.
 
With teeth still bared and eyes wild with anger, Silas said, “I hear you’re an Aquatic.
 
It is a pity your salvation lies in wait at your feet, waiting to be commanded.”
 
The water still had ripples lapping at Damien’s foot, caused by the fallen rocks.
 
“These chains are a bit of a block to your power, I’m afraid.”
 

Damien’s eyes locked on Silas, trying to decide whether he was more afraid of the threat of imminent death, or of the calm and collected voice that traveled through a face engulfed in such anger and evil.
 
Silas continued.

“You like the water, don’t you.
 
You are like a fish, drawn to it’s natural habitat.”
 
While he was speaking, Silas took his free hand and cupped it over Damien’s mouth.
 
Purplish-black steam rose from his hand, and when he removed it, a large black seal was covering Damien’s lips.
 
Damien yelled and murmured, but could not get this thing off his face.
 
Damien grabbed Silas’ arm as he was being lifted off his feet.
 
Silas held Damien up in the air by the throat.

In a dark and sinister voice he said, “Swim…..little fishy.”

At that, he threw Damien into the water and watched as his writhing form sank towards the bottom.
 

“NO!” Graham yelled.
 
He struggled with all his strength against his captor, but his grip was too strong.
 
Graham felt a boot slam into the back of his knees making him fall to his knees, just like Kel and Ailey.
 

Graham was screaming at the top of his lungs.
 
“Let go of me!
 
Damien!
 
Come on, swim!”

Kel and Ailey also struggled to get free, but a blast hit them both in the small of the back, making them crumple to the ground.
 

“Time is ticking Mr. Dawson.
 
How long do you think poor Damien can hold his breath?”
 

Graham was wild eyed.
 
His entire body went numb.
 
Panic flowed through his veins.
 
He continued to struggle against the man behind him, wishing his bands would illuminate, but nothing was happening.
 
His friend was going to die, and he could not save him.
 
He held his breath and strained so hard that the veins in his head began to protrude.
 
He wanted so badly for the power to surface, but it was no use.
 
Graham looked over to Kel and Ailey with a look of sorrow and defeat on his face.
 
They looked back at him with tears in their eyes.
 
It was hopeless.
 
They knew that they were next, and there was nothing to be done about it.
 
This was the end.

“Tick-tock….Tick-tock.
 
One minute has passed by.
 
I think poor Damien’s fate may be sealed,” mocked Silas.

Graham’s eyebrows arched in sorrow.
 
His breath was rapid and shallow.
 
He looked over to the water where he saw a cluster of bubbles break the surface of the water.
 
Damien was drowning.
 
For all he knew, that was Damien’s final breath escaping his body.
 
Graham held his breath again for one final attempt to strain, when all of a sudden the numbness melted away.
 
The storm of panic inside subsided, being replaced with an eerie calmness.
 
His breathing slowed down and deepened.
 
A spring began to well up inside.
 
It felt as if liquid energy rushed throughout his entire body.

“Let go of me,” said Graham in a slow and calm tone.

“Let go…or what exactly?” questioned the man behind him.
 
In irritation, the man fired a blast into Graham’s back, knocking him onto his hands.
 
Graham grunted, but did not retaliate.
 
Now on all fours, he calmly repeated his request.
 

“Let go.”

Electric sparks began to fire all around him.
 
Gusts of wind emanating from within, stirring the dust around him.
 
His fingernails dug into the stone surface beneath him turning his knuckles white.
 
The force around him was so intense, that the man behind Graham started to get nervous.
 
The small pebbles and debris around Graham began to hover all around him like the dust ring of Saturn.
 
A perfect collision of righteous anger and love for his new family collided within him creating a perfect storm that shattered the wall of self doubt and restraint.
 
In a flash, a blinding yellow light shown all around him as he screamed,

“LET GOOOOOO!”
 

The light around him exploded in an inferno of energy, hurling his captor into the cavern wall.
 
Kel and Ailey ducked their heads, trying to shield themselves from the intensity of the explosion, but it was too much.
 
Both of them, along with the men behind them, were also sent crashing to the wall behind them, knocking them all unconscious.
 

The entire cave shook and the walls started to crumble and crack.
 
Graham never shifted his gaze from the floor in front of him.
 
All he could do was scream and allow the power to flow.
 
As Graham continued yelling, the energy around him shot straight up blowing the ceiling to small pieces, as if mounds of dynamite had just exploded.
 
The ground above erupted in light, sending dirt and rock mushrooming into the night sky.
 
The cavern, though now open to the ground above, began to shake violently under the surge of power.
 
The cracks in the walls grew larger as chunks of rock began to fall.
 

As Graham stopped yelling, his eyes began to cross.
 
His body trembled as the dizziness made everything around him spin.
 
He had nothing left.
 
All of his energy was spent.
 
The wall inside him had finally crumbled, but the outcome would be the death of them all.
 
His arms felt like thin rubber.
 
He tried to focus his eyes and find his friends.
 
He could make out Kel and Ailey lying on the ground.
 
They were still not moving, but their chains were gone, because he could see their arms sprawled out to the sides.
 
Darkness faded in and out as Graham could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness.
 
The sound of his blasts had made his hearing muffled, like a grenade had just gone off beside him.
 
He fell to his side, completely exhausted.

“What have I done,” he whispered, as his eyes began to close.

Before Graham gave in to fatigue, the surprise of an object darting from out of the surface of the pool make him come back to life.
 

“D…Da..Damien?”

Graham’s eyes began to cross again.
 
Dirt and rubble fell on his face.
 
The muffled sounds of someone talking beside him made him open is eyes again.
 
He could not make out the words, only bits and pieces.

“Am..go.
 
Et up.
 
It is…ime to go.”
 

Damien tried to pull Graham to his feet, but he was too heavy.
 

“ELP!
 
Chase…..here!” yelled Damien.

Graham turned his head to see Chase run towards him.
 
Chase was talking, but Graham’s ears were still throbbing.
 
All he could hear was murmurs.
 
Chase bent down and grabbed Graham under his arms and legs.
 
He picked him up and ran away from the edge of the pool.

“Ch..Chase?
 
What is happening?
 
How are you here?
 
I’m sorry, I-”
 
Before Graham’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, he saw Cavaness running towards him with Kel and Ailey over each shoulder.
 
The scene faded to black for a few seconds, then Graham returned to consciousness, looking up at the stars through the hole he created in the top of the cave.
 
The scene went blurry again and the black velvet sky gave way to a haze of grey as Graham felt his body go limp.
 

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-F
OUR

Falcon HQ

Graham’s eyes slowly opened, blinking as the ceiling fan above his bed pushed dry air down onto his face.
 
For the first time in years, he had slept an entire night without a single dream.
 
He shifted his weight, rolling over on his side to see Damien asleep in the armchair next to his bed.
 
He looked terribly uncomfortable all curled up in a ball, with one foot continuing to slip off the edge of the cushion.
 
He had a small blanket that was hanging over him more like a cape than anything else.
 
It was not even long enough to cover his feet.
 

“Damien!” said Graham, quickly sitting up.
 
It was then he remembered what happened, because pain wracked his body, sending him back down into his pillow.
 

“There you are amigo!
 
You had us scared there for a while.
 
What on earth happened to you?” asked Damien.

“I thought you were dead!
 
I thought I’d never see you again.
 
How did you escape the chains?”

Damien thought for a moment.
 
“I don’t know what happened.
 
All I could see from the surface of the water was a bright burst of light.
 
That light penetrated and lit up the entire pool.
 
I watched the chains dissolve and my bands reappear.
 
I tried to kick and swim to the surface, but I couldn’t hold my breath any longer.
 
I inhaled a large gulp of water, gaging and freaking out, because I knew that was it….but it wasn’t it.
 
I was floating there in the middle of the pool breathing water!
 
I can breathe under water, Graham!”

Graham was still clutching his side.
 
The pain was still pretty bad.
 
“You’ve lost it.
 
Are you sure it wasn’t a dream or something?
 
You couldn’t use your powers, remember?”

“No, I completely forgot about being kidnapped, chained up and almost killed,” said Damien rather sarcastically.
 
“Of course I remember.
 
Weren’t you listening?
 
The chains faded away and I was able to use my powers again.
 
The light made the chains dissolve.
 
What was that light?”

Graham’s head was still a little fuzzy.
 
Bits of memory flashed through his head as he tried to remember what happened.
 
“Um….I think it was me.
 
I remember freaking a little when you were tossed into the water, and then freaking out more when Kel got hurt.
 
I tried to use my power, but I couldn’t, not until I saw the bubbles come to the surface of the water.
 
I thought I had just seen your last breath come to the surface.”
 
Graham grabbed his throbbing head.
 
“I just remember a very calming feeling, followed by an explosion and a lot of yelling.
 
The last thought I remember having was that I finally broke free, and that I had just killed everyone in the process.”

Damien stared at the bed, processing the story.
 
“Well…you didn’t kill us.
 
You saved us.
 
You saved me.
 
If that light came from you, then you were the one who made the chains disappear.”

“What about Kel and Ailey?
 
I saw Cavaness pick them up.
 
They looked like they were in pretty bad shape.”
 
Graham looked up at Damien, wearing a very curious expression.
 
“Wait.
 
What was Cavaness doing there, and Chase for that matter?
 
Did I dream that up?”

“No, that was not a dream, Mr. Dawson,” said a gravely voice.
 
Cavaness continued walking through the door and into the bedroom.
 

“Looks like you finally came through.
 
That was quite the display of power you gave back there.”

“How did you find us?
 
I thought you had all been crushed,” said Graham.

“We will get to that.
 
First, let’s try to alleviate some pain.”
 
Cavaness took hold of Graham’s wrists with his calloused hands.
 
Cavaness closed his eyes in deep concentration, as if he were peering into a different dimension behind his eyelids.
 
His wrists began to glow followed by his hands.
 
Graham began to feel a wave of heat flow through his body.
 
He took a deep breath in anticipation, flinching with pain.
 
He slowly let out his breath and cautiously took another breath, this time, with a little less pain.
 
A few minutes ticked by as Cavaness infused Graham with his energy.
 
The light slowly faded.
 
Cavaness opened his eyes and took a deep breath with Graham.