Akasha 4 - Earth (39 page)

"This isn't about us any longer," her
words were clipped and full of fury. "You made sure of that when
you raped Kaitlyn."

"I was…I mean, I
am
trying to end the
cycle," Shawn's tone slowly matched hers. "But to do that, I need
to be able to wield the same power as a Gaia. You know what kind of
magical energy the Great Rite can invoke. Kaitlyn is strong; I
needed to take drastic steps in order to tap into her
power."

"Oh, there is no doubt you tapped her
– on several occasions."

Shawn's face grew red. "Yes, but it
was always within the circle of elements, and it always raised the
energy I sought."

Sarah's voice went soft, "Yet it
wasn't enough. She escaped, and you continue to seek more energy.
What went wrong?"

He hesitated, trying to think back to
the events before solidifying them with words. "It's like, I gained
energy from the Great Rite – but so did she. I took precautions to
make sure that didn't happen. I kept her weak. But, I don't know…"
Shawn walked away, then back again, kicking the ground with the toe
of his boot. "I keep going over everything in my head. I was wrong
about a lot." Shawn's eyebrows rose, his clear blue eyes going
glossy.

Sarah took a step forward. "We were
right about some things, you know. The Seven did it all wrong. But
there always has to be a balance." She laid a hand on his
cheek.

He leaned into her touch.

Sarah continued, "It's a balance you
can't maintain on your own; and neither can she. It takes both
feminine and masculine energy. But you've tainted that."

Sarah morphed back into her gaseous
form, and floated through Shawn. For a moment, her essence filled
him, reminding him of what it used to feel like lying in bed,
wrapped around one other until early afternoon each day.

She passed, leaving Shawn as empty as
when he had lost her. He crumpled to his knees, hugging his chest
as though he would fall apart any second.

Her voice echoed behind him, "You
violated a sacred act, and it is not me that can offer forgiveness.
You must seek it from Akasha herself."

Shawn nodded, throat too choked for
words. He removed the Athame from its sheath on his hip. He wrapped
the spell written down on a small piece of paper around the blade.
He was right to think he would not be able to say it out loud – not
this time. He touched the tip of the knife to the ground, his
forehead, then his lips, and whispered, "Sarah."

Pain ripped through his abdomen and up
to his chest. He held himself to the ground, resisting the urge to
spin and grab hold of his former partner. There wasn't a roar as
with Arianna, just a soft whisper of wind, and then he was
alone.

Shawn returned to his body, feeling
more hollow than ever. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had
freed the last of them, Akasha should be his. He slumped down on
his bed, removing his shirt, shoes, and pants, then laying
back.

Do I even want Akasha
anymore
, he wondered.
What's the point? Sarah is gone for good.

He folded his hands behind his head,
staring up at the ceiling, willing the ache in his chest to go
away.

Just as he closed his eyes, the entire
room vibrated. Shawn jolted out of bed.

An explosion?

No, the shaking continued, knocking
his chair over. He left the room and ran down three flights of
stairs in his boxers.

"What was that?" he asked the Earth on
duty. "Earthquake?"

She turned from the window. "Kind of,
sir." She stared at his bare chest.

"Don't call me sir, and what do you
mean kind of?" He grabbed a spare jacket lying on a nearby
chair.

She snapped her eyes away. "The
movement started close by. There is a fault line under the Rockies,
of course – but I'm not aware of any under the downtown
area."

Shawn's blue eyes practically glowed
in the otherwise darkened room. "Show me."

The pair went outside, followed by an
Air, Water, and Fire.

"There." The Earth pointed southeast.
They peered through two tall buildings and could just see the rise
of the Tivoli center tower.

The Fire stepped forward. "My element
was raging there just before the earthquake." He squinted into the
night sky. "But I don't see any smoke."

"All right, let's go check it out."
Shawn started for the Center.

"Sir?" the Earth asked.

"What?" Shawn snapped at her, barely
turning his head.

"Your pants."

Chapter
58

Groupies

I pushed my way out of the building,
taking a deep breath of cold air. It bit at my lungs, but felt
wonderful after a steamy fight in the catacombs. I stretched,
trying to reinvigorate exhausted muscles. A cold wind blew; the air
tasted of snow. The sweat beading my body would turn to icicles
soon. I looked toward our observation tower. Around it, grey smoke
from several cooking fires rose steadily upward. Against the pitch
black sky, you wouldn't see the smoke unless you were looking for
it.

I wonder if there will be
meat tonight.
My stomach growled, and I
started for the amusement park.

"Artemis, wait!"

I cocked my ear.
Artemis? Oh yeah
. I
smiled.
Goddess of the
Hunt
. I turned, and waited for a small
group of Fires to approach. "The name's Lucy."

"Right," the one in the front said.
Three of them stopped in front of me. "Look." He scratched his
neck, glancing behind him as if to ensure the others were there.
"We were sort of…Dragon groupies. For a long time. And now he
is…"

A loser
, I thought.

"…trapped behind stone, at least until
someone frees him."

I glared at him. Some groupies they
were.

"Hey, I'm just a Fire. Fire can't burn
through stone – not very quickly, anyway."

I sighed, glancing at the
doors.
Am I going to have to undo what I
just did?

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll take
care of it. Anyway, in the meantime—"

"For crying out loud." The girl behind
him pushed him aside. "What he’s trying to do is ask if there is
anything you need."

My gaze shifted to her. Her eyes went
to her shoes as she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

Why are they all so
nervous?

"Because, you know – we can get it for
you."

"Now that you mentioned it," I began.
All three heads snapped up. "There is something you can do for me.
Do you know what Akasha is?"

The boy in the back, who had to be two
heads taller than everyone else, spoke up, "Shawn mentioned it.
Said it was the key to bringing power back to the
world."

"He told you that?" the girl asked,
eyebrows raised.

He shrugged. "I take care of his
hands. He's always burning them."

I stuck my bandaged hand behind me,
hoping no one noticed.

"I thought nuclear was his plan," said
the girl.

"Yes but, without a way to get more
Uranium, something has got to power the plants."

I thought of Arnold,
suddenly, wondering if this would convince even him. Accessing
nuclear power without the risk of a radioactive byproduct. I
furrowed my eyebrows.
Does using Akasha
create radioactive waste?
I raised my good
hand, wiggling my fingers.
Not glowing
yet.

The girl cleared her throat. They were
all staring at me. "So, what is it you needed?" she
asked.

"I need you to do something for me if
you see Akasha," I said.

"What?" she asked.

"Run away."

Chapter
59

The Messenger

"You there, stop!" Shawn marched his
way up the stairs with his small entourage of
Elementals.

The Fire, in the process of padlocking
the door, turned and did a double take as the chief of One Less
approached. The Fire dropped the chain on the ground.

Shawn picked it up, slowly wrapping it
around his fist. "Who are you?"

The Fire reached in his pocket,
producing the blue armband.

"I see," Shawn said, continuing to
wrap the chain around his hand. "The camp is on lockdown, no one is
supposed to be out past dark."

Chattering and laughs broke the
tension as a group of women rounded the corner. Each bore a blue
band on their arm. They stopped in their tracks at the sight of
Shawn, then turned tail, disappearing back the same way.

Shawn glared at the Fire. "What
happened here tonight? How many were here?"

The Fire wiped his forehead with his
sleeve, which came away damp. Shawn had to look up to talk to him,
but the Fire was thin and gangly. The scar running down his face
curled his mouth into a permanent smile.

The only thing scars prove
is that their bearers had experienced a moment of weakness,
Shawn told himself.

The Fire was still not talking. Shawn
finished wrapping the chain. His fist was more than double the
original size, with his bandages and the makeshift brass knuckles.
For good measure, he glanced over his shoulder at his entourage.
Almost instantly each of the elements were called, putting on an
impressive, tiny display above their palms.

The Fire stepped back. "Ok, look –
I'll show you. Just don't shoot the messenger."

Shawn smiled as the elements
dissipated. "Do you see any guns?"

The Fire swallowed hard, then turned
to enter the building. He led them through the hallways, past the
dilapidated bar, and down to the catacombs. He explained as he
went, "Dog fights. It's where—"

"I know what the dog fights are,"
Shawn snapped. "I also know there hasn't been any for a while – and
I didn't think they would get revived right as the camp went on
lockdown."

"We had a new contender."

"Who?"

"They called her Artemis – but her
real name is Lucy."

"The one that brought in the wild
dog?" Shawn asked.

"The very same." The Fire held the
door open for Shawn and his crew; they all entered the small arena.
"Don't touch the cabinets, they might still be hot."

They approached the large stones
jutting up out of the ground.

"It's like Stonehenge," the Air said.
He put his hands on one of the rocks, then his ear. "There’s
someone inside! I hear whimpering…"

Shawn nodded at his Earth. The air
stepped away and she stepped forward, sending out weaves. The
stones vibrated, but didn't move.

Shawn glanced at her, then turned his
attention back to the Fire while she continued. "Describe
Lucy."

"Short, brown hair.
Tattoos—"

"What kind?" Shawn stumbled as the
ground shook. Still the rocks were going nowhere.

"Um…" The Fire scratched the back of
his neck. "I don't know, a tree branch on her face." The Fire
closed his eyes, recalling what he saw when she removed her shirt.
"Leaves down her arms. An entire tree on her back—"

"You saw her back?"

"She was wearing one of those sports
bra things." The Fire waited until another round of rumbling wore
down. "A pretty cool looking compass on her shoulder blade – really
detailed. Oh, and then the words Earth, Air, Fire and Water in the
shape of a diamond."

"She's an Earth, right? Why would she
get that?"

The Fire held out his forearm. "I have
it, too. It's popular."

Shawn peered at it, then moved over to
the Earth. There was a sheen of sweat across her forehead. He laid
his hand on her shoulder.

She flinched.

"Don't move," Shawn said. "I'm just
going to focus your power."

Shawn circled his energy around her
magic. As he slowly squeezed it into a vice-like funnel, her whole
body tensed. He kept a firm grip on her shoulder – and her
magic.

The rock circle rumbled, bits of loose
stone falling off. Shawn focused all their energy on just one of
the thick, upright slabs.

She wavered. "I think it's going to
explode."

"Just keep going," Shawn told her. He
pulled on her, so they were taking one slow step back at a time.
"Almost there. A little more…" Shawn coaxed.

The entire large stone vibrated. Shawn
grabbed the Earth around the waist, pulling them both behind a
filing cabinet. The rock burst, spraying sharp fragments out,
following the energy path.

Shawn was the first up, heart skipping
a beat, waiting to see what was inside.

As soon as the dust settled, Shawn was
at the entrance to the stone circle. A large man sat in the middle,
covering his ears and rocking back and forth.