Stone Guardian (30 page)

Torin raised his sword over his head. The blade shimmered and hummed with an eerie white glow. “Aye, Arach. I’ve brought ye a gift. Come taste the sweetness of my steel.”

Emma wiped her sweating palms on her jeans, catching her breath as she stared at the humming sword. The pitch of the vibration strumming up and down the blade pierced the air like a siren. The wail of the sword sounded so familiar. Where had she heard it before?

Her heart leapt as Arach pushed through the gateway. Stumbling back, she grabbed Torin’s arm. “Oh my God.” The sight of the beast choked her. Fear jammed her words in her throat.

A slimy horned head with glowing eye slits swayed back and forth with hypnotic rhythm. The oversized head flowed into a bulging neck attached to a trailing multi-legged body. Greasy black scales piled in layers across the elephant sized skull, shimmering as though oil oozed from the flesh beneath them. Bloodred claws cracked the earth with every step as the beast pulled his endless body through the stones and whipped his spiked tail between the trembling spires. An electric blue tongue forked out between yellowed fangs, licking the air and dripping acidic saliva with every swipe across the protruding lower jaw. The volatile spittle hissed and exploded into short bursts of flames when it connected with the ground. The beast swung its head toward Emma. Its scaled lips slightly lifted at the corners into a gruesome smile. “Ah. This one looks tender and succulent. I never realized ye thought so highly of me, Torin, to offer such a tempting morsel.”

“Shield yourself now, Emma,” Torin hissed while moving between her and Arach.

Clenching her amulet with both hands, Emma tensed, praying the magic wouldn’t fail her. A relieved breath exploded from her lungs as a reflective orb sparkled around her body. Thank goodness. It finally worked. She’d managed to form the protective shield Torin had been trying to show her for weeks.

Spine tingling laughter rumbled from the belly of the beast as he wagged his head to and fro slinging steaming saliva into hissing ropes across the ground. “So the little one truly is a guardian, eh? And a poorly trained one at that. Excellent. I’ve been a bit bored lately. Toying with an inexperienced apprentice should prove quite entertaining.”

“Return to your pit, Arach, and I’ll allow ye to live another eon.” Torin inched closer to the steaming creature, pointing his sword toward the portal. “There is nothing more for ye to enjoy here.”

Arach’s hideous eye slits curled up at the corners as he reared up on his back sets of legs and puffed out the yellowish-green expanse of his chest. “There is much for me here yet to discover, Torin. Now if ye’d prefer, I’ll begin my meal with you.” The two widest scales between the beast’s forearms split open and released a fleshy appendage bulging with red and purple veins. The slime-covered extension shot across the space and wrapped around Torin’s waist. Hooked talons unsheathed from oozing pores scattered along the length of the pulsing tentacle, embedding themselves into Torin’s body.

Torin roared. With his head thrown back and the corded muscles of his neck bulging, he clenched his sword between both hands and hacked at the undulating mass of barbs embedded around his waist.

Protective instinct pumped through every cell of Emma’s body, wiping out any trace of fear.
Save him
pounded with every beat of her heart. A primeval scream exploded from her throat as she dove forward and pointed tensed hands with fingers outspread at Arach’s head. Another roar ripped from her lips as she released two exploding orbs of jagged, ice-white lightning. Energy surged through her veins. She’d never felt so empowered. “Let him go, you bastard!”

Arach answered by snorting out a blaze of blue flames from his flared nostrils while twisting the talon-covered arm tighter around Torin’s torso.

Emma dropped to the ground. The crackling pop of burning hair sizzled in her ears while the acrid scent of singed curls assaulted her nose. Smothering her flaming tresses with a quick slap of one hand, Emma lobbed another energy blast into Arach’s face with the other. That son of a bitch had shortened her hair to a burnt mess just above her shoulders. Wrinkling her nose, she snorted with disgust. She smelled like a scorched goose.

“Emma!”

Torin’s strained roar alerted her just in time to avoid another volley of exploding flames. She rolled across the trembling earth until she felt the hardness of Torin’s powerful leg thud into her side. Eye-stinging smoke filled the air, blinding her to the surroundings. Pulling her way up Torin’s muscular thigh, she clamped both hands around the stinging tentacle, screaming as the poisonous slime set her flesh on fire. If she could just focus her power into her hands, maybe the undulating rope of flesh would burn in two.

Ignoring the pain searing up her arms, she leaned against Torin’s body and forced her anger into her hands. Arach’s flesh exploded, splattering the air with bloody masses of tentacle, writhing its claws into the soil as soon as the globs plopped back to the ground.

The beast threw back his head and roared with pain as the remainder of the appendage reeled back into its chest. Roiling black smoke shot from the flared nostrils, now foaming with blood-speckled slime.

Torin dove toward Arach’s chest, his glowing sword held above his head. As he brought the blade crashing against the scales of Arach’s neck, the beast closed his jaws around Torin’s waist.

“No!” Emma lunged forward and nearly flipped head over heels when she tried retrieving Torin’s heavy sword that Arach had knocked from his grasp. The blade had embedded deep in the ground and left the haft vibrating in the air.

“Emma, get back!” Torin clamped his hands against Arach’s mouth, straining to pry open the monster’s jaws. His hands glowed, then burst into white hot flames engulfing Arach’s head.

“Torin!” Emma wrenched the sword free of the earth and hauled the blade up against her side. She stumbled forward, struggling with the weight of the blade whose length was half her height. The muscles across her shoulders burned as she wrangled the sword higher against her body. It didn’t matter. She didn’t care if she tore every muscle in her body. She had to free Torin.

Arach edged back toward the portal that had turned into a whirling eddy of sparkling clouds. Emma stared at the undulating gateway. What the hell was going on with that thing? That white hot mess couldn’t be good.

Torin’s face darkened as the strength of the flames spewing from his hands increased and roiled around Arach’s head. As the inferno blazed into a hideous shade of greenish-blue, Arach thrashed Torin back and forth through the air while continuing to shove his multiple stubby legs deep into the muck at his feet. Little by little, he inched his massive body backwards through the gateway.

“Emma,”
Torin roared inside her head above the beast’s muffled bellow.
“Once Arach clears the last stone, ye must seal the portal. Ye know what to do.”

Emma went limp at this revelation and dropped the sword to her feet. Seal the portal? How? And what about Torin? Was he going to spring himself from Arach’s jaws at the last minute?

“Emma.”
Torin writhed in Arach’s unrelenting grasp.
“Emma, ye
must
do as I say without question.”

“What about you?”
She forced the words through her fear. A sudden knowing of what his answer would be sank like a weight to the pit of her stomach and sickened her with dread.

“I promise. I will return. Somehow, I will come back for ye, Emma. Trust me. I will find a way.”
Torin’s arms bulged, his face contorted with the pain interrupting the words he projected into her mind.
“Ye must do it, Emma. There is no other way.”

Burning tears streamed down her face. There had to be another way. As she watched Arach digging his way backwards into the spinning chaos, the realization struck her, forced her to acknowledge the truth she’d known all along. She loved Torin. The ache of losing him ripped a wrenching sob from the depths of her heart. How could she do what he asked? She couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again.

Shaking her head, she fired a useless energy blast against the monster’s scaly sides. The lightning of the hit ricocheted off the oily black tiles and dissipated into a harmless sizzling cloud floating into the air.

“Emma. Do not waste your energy. Ye must use it to seal the gateway. Hold fast just a bit longer.”
Torin’s deep voice echoed in her head, breaking her heart with his words.

“I can’t do this. I can’t trap you in there.”
Emma sobbed, firing another round of useless orbs against Arach’s glistening sides.
“What if you can’t come back to me? I can’t bear never seeing you again.”

“I will come for ye, Emma. Somehow, I will find a way. I swear it with every beat of my heart. Now do it. Seal the gateway.”

Squinting her eyes against blinding tears, Emma slowly raised her hands and extended trembling fingers toward the pair of obelisks. She choked in a sobbing breath and screamed Torin’s name one last time as she forced the pain and sorrow wrenching through her body into an earth shuddering blast of fury.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Deafening silence weighed heavy on the air like an electrical storm about to explode. Lifting her head, Emma forced her eyes open only to squeeze them shut again and drop her face into her raw, bleeding hands. The fully restored stones towered over her, aloof and bleak as though passing judgment—and they obviously didn’t approve of anything she’d ever done. The bone-chilling sentries sprouted from the hard-packed earth, silent and mysterious as they had always been. The wide bases disappeared into a white swirling mist floating just above the ground. The cold slabs stood black and glistening with the dampness of the air. Everything had returned to its prior state. The ancient circle was whole and intact just as it had been for untold years. Torin was gone. The gateway sealed. It was over and once again, she’d lost someone she loved.

Angry sobs tore from her body, bursting forth in short hysterical hiccups as she beat the ground with her bleeding hands.
Dammit to hell and back!
She’d never told Torin she loved him. Why hadn’t she told him? What the hell was wrong with her?

Dragging herself across the ground to the base of the gateway, Emma leaned her cheek against the damp rough surface of the silent spire. Nothing. She bit her lip as she pressed her face harder against the scratching crystals embedded in the obelisk. She sensed nothing from the stone. The pulsing energy that had always greeted her before no longer hummed into her touch. The obelisk stood as mute and detached as any other rock scattered across the earth.

She rolled to a sitting position and leaned back against the cold hard slab. She’d lost him. Propping her elbows on her knees, she covered her face with her throbbing hands. She swayed back and forth against the cold stone and released keening sobs into the swirling mists.

“Emma?”

Laynie’s faint call forced its way through her blanket of misery. Emma curled into a tighter ball against the base of the stone. If she could only melt into the unforgiving gneiss, become a part of the unfeeling rock, she’d never have to explain anything or ever face the truth. Swallowing back a sob, she squeezed her eyes shut so tight; her face ached in protest. She’d allowed a precious love to slip away. She had no one to blame but herself for this pain.

“Emma. Oh my God, Emma. Are you all right?” Laynie knelt by her side, pushing Emma’s burnt, matted hair out of her face.

“No.” Emma croaked the words through dry, cracked lips as she slowly opened her eyes. She’d never be all right again. Turning away from her sister’s concerned expression; she pressed her face harder against the jagged surface of the stone.

“Where are you hurt? Talk to me, Emma. You’ve got to tell me where you’re hurt so I can help you.”

“You can’t help me,” Emma whispered. How ironic. Baby sister coming to
her
rescue. My, how life had changed. Forcing her hand through her tangled hair, she flinched as the short brittle strands raked across her blistered palms. She’d have to shave the singed mess short. Torin wouldn’t like that. He’d always loved her curls. Desolate realization crushed her heart and knotted in her throat. What did it matter if she cut away what little remained of her hair? She’d never see Torin again.

“Emma, where is Torin? What happened?” Laynie grabbed her shoulders and turned her from the obelisk, forcing Emma to face her.

“Torin’s gone.” Emma flinched as though the words set fire to her tongue. Saying it out loud made it worse, made it impossible to escape the truth. Dragging a shaking hand across her face, she squeezed her burning eyes closed again. “Arach took him through the portal. I’ll never see him again.”

“Who is Arach?” Laynie glanced at the space between the parallel stones. “What portal? I don’t see anything but the stones.”

“I can’t do this, Laynie.” Emma covered her face with her hands. “I can’t talk about this now. Please just go away and leave me alone. I just…I just want to be alone.”

“Bullshit. I’m taking you home and once you’ve rested, we’re going to figure this out.” Laynie grabbed her arms, pulled her up from the ground and supported her body with her shoulder. “You’ve never been one to give up before, Emma. I’ll be damned if you start now.”

Chapter Fifty-Six

The sweet acrid scent of the burning peat compounded the ache in her heart. How many times had she lain in front of this very hearth safe and contented in Torin’s embrace? How many times had they sat together and stared into the glimmering coals?

Emma closed her eyes against the remembered sensations sweeping over her body. Damn the sharpness of the memories. Damn the
feel
of him against her flesh. Every muscle in her body tensed. Covering her face with her hands, she bit back a sob as another vision hit. Emma longed to return to the snuggled hardness of Torin’s chest against her back and the sensual tickle of his calloused thumb stroking a mesmerizing rhythm back and forth across her skin. A rare sense of peace had seeped into her bones more comforting than the warmth from the fire.