Avenging Amethyst (Immortal Eyes) (23 page)

I nodded and
stepped up to the front of the stage. "The cave has one main path that
goes on for miles. My power was not able to sense how far the path went and
there is a possibility that there might be more Zhulik deeper down than I was
able to sense. The main path has smaller paths that lead off into little
caverns where Nesmyr are being held captive. The young girl we rescued was in a
cage but I can't say for certain if all of them will be. From what I was able
to sense, there are at least six Nesmyr still in there being guarded by two or
three Zhulik each. I think that in order to conserve energy, small groups
should go into the closest caverns and clear them out before another group
moves in. I don't think it would be smart to try to attack all of the caverns
at once."

"That's a
good idea," Felix said. "Once we get there, we'll send a group of
three into the closest cavern. Once that one is cleared out we'll move onto the
next cavern with another group of three. This way the ones who fought
previously have some time to relax and build their strength back up before
having to fight again. Does everyone agree with this plan?"

None of the
Lovac argued but they all looked uncertain. I didn't think they were worried
about my plan as much as they were worried about staying alive. Felix had told
me that nothing this big has happened in years. Then I remembered Riley's
vision about something big happening. This had to be it.

Once everyone
was all settled on what was going to happen we were urged to eat and pack
whatever we would need. We would be leaving in forty-five minutes to start the
drive to the caves. By the time we got there the sun would be going down.

As we were
leaving the gym I ran up to Riley, who was walking out with Axel and the other
two girls.

"Hey,"
I said when I caught up to them. "Are you sure you're all prepared for
this?"

They gave each
other nervous glances then Riley said, "Yes. We're nervous, of course but
we were raised to fight and protect Nesmyr. We have to do our job."

"Were you
expecting this?" I asked Riley. I didn't want to come straight out and ask
if this is what she had a vision about but she knew what I was really asking.

"Yes and
no. I don't think this is what my vision was about but this is the start of it.
When this is over tonight, don't expect it to be truly over. There's more to
come."

My stomach
churned. I had hoped that once we killed the Zhulik in the caves and rescued
the Nesmyr we wouldn't have to deal with anything this big for a long time. I
needed to stop assuming that this was going to be quick and easy.

I let the
subject drop for now though. I needed to focus on what was about to happen, not
what might happen after this. Most of the Lovac went back to their rooms to get
ready; others went to the cafeteria to build up their energy with food. I went
with Riley and the rest of the group to the cafeteria. I had already eaten and
packed what I needed but I had to wait for the rest of the Lovac before we
could leave.

Felix had
already prepared to leave before going to the gym too, so we just sat and
talked while everyone else ate. We both kept glancing at the clock, anxious to
get going and get it over with.

Forty-five
minutes passed slowly but by the time everyone had finished eating it was time
to leave. All of the Lovac that would be going met in front of the facility by
the parking lot. We all piled into three large vans and headed out. To my
surprise, Rema, Carson and Sunni were accompanying us. They would be our
drivers but wouldn't go into the caves unless they were absolutely needed. They
all felt they were far too old to be of any use when it came to fighting.

The drive to the
caves felt longer than it had last night and I was impatiently twitching. I was
sitting next to Felix, who put his hand on my leg, trying to calm me down.
Riley was in the front passenger seat by Rema, deep in thought. Behind us sat
Axel, Leslie and Tahlia, who was the shorter Lovac girl. Axel was sitting in
the middle, holding on to both of the girls' hands. That's when the severity of
the situation really hit me.

I knew what was
about to happen was big and I was scared but I was still new at this. All of
these other Lovac had faced Zhulik many times and came out alive. The fact that
they were just as scared as I was made me even more nervous.

By the time we
reached the caves I had worried myself so much that I was convinced we were all
going to die. Then I started panicking.

"I don't
know if we can do this," I spoke to no one in particular when Rema put the
car in park.

"We have to
try," Felix said. "You're the one who said that."

"It's our
job to protect Nesmyr," Riley said. "If you sensed an accurate number
of Zhulik then we technically out number them right now. Most of us are more
nervous at the possibility of there being more Zhulik somewhere deeper in the
caves that you couldn't sense but we don't know if there actually is. All we
can do is go in there and do our best."

"You always
sound so wise," I told her. "It's hard for me to believe you’re
only twenty."

She laughed, but
it was a hollow laugh. "Our job tends to mature us pretty quickly."

"Are you
ready to do this?" Rema said, looking back at me from the driver’s
seat.

I took a few
deep breaths, trying to calm myself down before I nodded. We all piled out of
the car and grouped together with the Lovac from the other vans. We were parked
by the road that was by the caves but it would still take us a little bit of
walking for us to get there. Before we started the walk, they all turned to me
for the plan.

"I think we
need to break up into our groups of three before we get there. Once we're
closer, I'll use my power to sense where we need to start. It'll be easier to
start sending in the groups once we get there, then trying to decide all of
that when we’re close enough for the Zhulik to hear us."

"I think
the best option is to break up groups in teams that know they can work well
together," Rema said. "Most of you have already worked with the other
Lovac here and know who you work well with. The sooner we get this figured out
the sooner we can get this finished."

Rema didn't have
to ask twice. The Lovac immediately started picking their own groups and it was
amazing how organized and professional they were about it. I was expecting it
to be like grade school where everyone fights over who they want to be in their
group but it was nothing like that.

Axel, Leslie and
Tahlia all stayed in a group together. It seemed to me that Axel cared about
those girls a lot more than he would probably admit. He looked at them with a
sort of brotherly affection. Felix and Riley came and stood next to me. The
numbers worked out perfectly and we had six groups of Lovac.

Before we
started our walk to the caves, Rema pulled out a cooler from the van and looked
grimly at us before she said, "I know many of you prefer to stay away
from blood, but you’ll need as much strength as possible for this. I
won’t force you to drink, but I brought bags for anyone that wants
one."

It took me a
minute to understand what she was saying. She wanted us to drink blood to
increase or strength and our chances. I looked around and saw a lot of
disgusted faces from the other Lovac but everyone got in line for a bag, even
Felix and Riley.

"You
don’t have to do this, but I think you should give it a try," Felix
said, holding his hand out to me so I would join the line.

I wasn’t a
wimp when it came to blood. I never fainted at the sight of it or threw up but
the thought of actually putting it in my mouth and drinking it made my stomach
churn. But I was technically leading this group and I had to show a good
example.

I took
Felix’s hand and stepped into line next to him. I didn’t let go of
him until Rema handed us our bags. The red liquid looked like dark cherry syrup
and I did my best to tell myself that’s all it was. I followed suit with
everyone else and tore one of the edges open.

Everyone chugged
theirs down, some made faces, some didn’t. There were a few Lovac who
even seemed to enjoy it. I brought the bad up to my mouth, smelled the metallic
scent and almost changed my mind. Felix took my hand again and squeezed for
encouragement.

"We’ll
do it together," he said, bringing his bag up to his lips.
"Ready?"

I nodded, not
sure if I could really handle this. Felix tilted his head back and let the
blood flow into his mouth, swallowing it down quickly. I took a final deep
breath and did the same.

I expected to
gag and spit it out or start throwing up everywhere. I expected the taste to be
awful and to have to force myself to swallow. But it wasn’t bad. It
wasn’t exactly good either, but it was tolerable. There was a light
metallic taste but it was mostly just salty, like drinking thick salt water.

The effects of
it were instantaneous. Not only to my body, but to the other Lovac’s
bodies as well. Everyone looked bulkier and healthier. I felt better already about
our chances of winning this.

Once the bags
were all empty we made our way to the caves.  My group led the way. The
sun was just starting to go down and it was becoming darker by the minute. We
walked slowly and quietly and it took us about ten minutes to reach the caves.

The familiar
headache that alerted Lovac to Zhulik, greeted me just before the caves came
into view. I knew everyone else was experiencing the same headache when
everyone started to shift uncomfortably.

I signaled for
the group of Lovac to stay near the trees while I got closer to the cave
entrance to get the most accurate sense of where the closest Zhulik were. I
crouched against the stone and concentrated on my senses.

What greeted me
in my mind was shocking. My power was able to sense all the way into every
cavern of the cave. The fairy elixir that Rema had given me really had enhanced
my power and I wondered if the blood enhanced it even more. It was so strong
that it almost made me light-headed. Unfortunately, what I sensed was not good
news.

Like I had
feared, the caves extended far beyond my original sensing power and there were
far more Zhulik than I had estimated. They were no longer in the smaller
caverns that led off from the main path either. There was a large cavern at the
bottom of the main path where a group of at least forty Zhulik were gathered.
In the center, I could sense eight Nesmyr. Something was about to happen to
them and we would have to hurry if we wanted to save them.

I jumped up and
ran back to the group of waiting Lovac. I wished I had more time to explain
what was happening but we needed to get down there and save those Nesmyr as
soon as possible.

"Change of
plans," I told everyone, who gave me nervous looks. "It seems like
whatever the Zhulik have planned for the captured Nesmyr is happening right
now. They're all gathered in the largest cavern at the bottom of the main path.
There's a lot more Zhulik than I originally thought too."

They all glanced
around nervously. Felix was staring at me with a disbelieving look. Riley was
looking nervously at the cave entrance.

"Then we
should get down there and start kicking some ass," a hefty looking Lovac
guy said. I had seen him around the facility before, but I didn't know his
name. I was grateful for his efforts to get everyone motivated but they fell
short. No one cheered or got excited. They only nodded in agreement and took
deep breaths to brace themselves for the battle to come.

Once it looked
like everyone was ready to start the decent into the cave we started the long
walk. The main path was miles long. I wanted to start running to get there
faster but I knew we all needed to conserve our energy, so I settled for
walking quickly. We also needed to be quiet so that we could keep our element
of surprise.

We went around
every corner cautiously, making sure there weren't any Zhulik hiding out. I
didn't know if Zhulik would set booby traps but I made sure to keep my eyes
peeled for anything suspicious. We managed to make it all the way down the path
without any incidents.

The closer we
got to the large cavern the worse my head started to hurt and the better my
power worked. I was starting to twitch in anticipation of the fight and it was
much harder to control now that my power was enhanced. I knew we were almost
there when I started to slowly jog. If it wasn't for Felix tugging me back, I
would have run straight in there and started fighting.

"What are
you doing?" he whispered to me.

"I'm sorry.
We're almost there, I can feel it. My power is starting to take over and it's a
lot harder to control with that fairy stuff in me."

"How close
are we?"

I didn't answer.
Instead I paused just before turning the next corner. The rest of the group
paused behind me. I slowly peeked my head around the corner and saw the gathering
of Zhulik in the large cavern just down the hall. The cavern looked just like
the cavern from my nightmare, only there was no pool full of blood in the
center. Instead, the group of eight Nesmyr were in the center of the room,
their backs towards us and facing the steps that led up to the podium where
Lucas was sitting at. There was no Kamila in sight.