The Divine Path (The Divine Series) (39 page)

Doren grinned and sprang into motion.  Within seconds
, Kade was looking at an exact replica of himself.  It was eerie.  Darcienna looked from Kade to the replica and back to Kade.  She nodded her approval, her previous frustration completely gone.  She was impressed.

“They will not be fooled
for long,” Doren said as he inspected his work with pleasure. “Remember, they sense movement.  This will not give them anything to sense.  Let’s just hope they are fooled long enough by what they see for us to get away,” he said as he motioned them back to the front.  Kade could see that Doren was focused on maintaining the illusion even though he talked casually enough.

Kade crept
toward the entrance and barely breathed.  He peered around the edge of the door and saw the massive shape of the giant Alluvium standing guard.  There were a few Alluvium around the yard but not enough to concern him…yet. 

Rayden, be ready to come when I call,
Kade sent.  There was a response, and his heart started to pound.  His palms started to sweat.

“Now,” Kade mouthed.  Doren grinned and put his right hand out as if to catch a ball, and then, with a slight movement forward, the figure of Kade raced out the door.  Kade looked at Doren and saw an intense look of concentration on his face.
  It reminded him of Zayle’s last few moments of life when he had created the illusion of the dragon and its passengers.

The giant flinched in surprise as it looked down at the figure that had taken off at a dead run for the open field.  Kade felt a vibration through the floorboards of the house.  Shortly after, the field started to f
ill with Alluvium.  Kade’s image leapt easily over several of the beings and continued on in its race for freedom.  The giant took a step forward.

“It’s not following,” Kade mouthed as he pointed at the wall whe
re the one on the porch was.  Doren was too focused on the illusion to respond.

Kade watched as the giant unfolded its arms and took another
step forward.  There were more strong vibrations that resonated through the house.  Kade was certain that the giant was yelling now as it took another step forward.  Glass in every part of the house vibrated.  The creature clenched and unclenched its fists and there was yet another vibration so strong that Kade heard cups rattle in the den.  This was too much for Rock-face to watch.  The giant took off after the image.  Kade watched in awe at the speed of the Alluvium.  He had not expected this from such a large and cumbersome looking creature.

Now
,
Rayden
!  Kade sent as he readied himself to dispel the Transparency Calling.  He could hear Rayden coming, and when he was sure the dragon was close, he let the calling go. The dragon popped into view and Kade felt his heart leap into his throat.  There, racing after the image of the illusion, was Rayden. 
NO
, Kade sent hard through the link.  Confusion assailed him from the dragon. 
We are back at the mansion
.  Hurry, Kade sent.  He glanced at Doren and knew he was going to hear about this later, but for now, the master had to focus.  Doren had beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Rayden veered hard
, spraying rocks and dirt high into the air as his claws tore furiously at the ground and raced back toward the mansion.  The giant hesitated as the dragon charged directly at it.  Rock-face braced, expecting the dragon to attack and Kade was sure it was turning to stone as he watched.  Rayden raced by the giant, spraying it with dirt as its claws dug at the ground for purchase.  The giant spun, confused, and then turned back to watch the image of Kade race on.  It tilted its head as if to listen for something and then held its hands out to its side.  Kade got a sickening feeling in his stomach and knew they had mere moments before their ruse was up.  He considered making them invisible, but trying to get everyone on the dragon would be a disaster.  He had to wait until after they were mounted and on their way before perform the calling.  He could not see any way around it.  His heart raced.  It was now or never.  He watched as the giant looked back at the mansion.  Even at this distance, Kade locked eyes with it.  His heart pounded hard.

“Now!”
Kade screamed as Rayden slid to a stop.

They raced out the front door.  Kade reached for Darcienna and all but threw her up to land on the dragon.  Without any concern about formalities, Kade grabbed the old man and swung him up to land heavily behind the wings. 
Kade vaulted onto the dragon’s back, landing in front of Darcienna.

“Hold onto its wing joints,” Kade screamed at Doren as he gave the dragon the mental command to go.  Kade felt
himself press back hard into Darcienna and did his best to pull himself forward by grabbing the dragon’s ridges.

Rayden exploded with such power that Doren almost lost his grip.  The dragon tore at the ground with all its might.  Kade felt the muscles bunch and explode just as the giant was approaching them.  It reached
out to pluck them from the dragon.  It was so close that Kade flinched back from that massive hand.  The Alluvium missed and slid to a stop as its momentum carried it past.  It turned and took off with amazing power and speed.  Kade looked on in horror as the giant Alluvium continued to give chase.   For something that appeared as though it would be sluggish, this thing was moving like the wind.  In an instant, Kade realized that he was looking at the creature that had destroyed Darcienna’s home.  It was much smaller now, but there was no mistaking that this was the creature that had torn the house to pieces.

“
They are creatures of nature.  While connected to the ground, they have abilities that would stagger the mind,” Doren yelled over the wind.

The dragon r
an for its life.  It dodged, twisted and leapt to avoid the smaller forms, any of which could cause the dragon to crash to the ground if they made direct contact.  The dragon leapt and landed only to have to leap again to avoid the earth beings that were closing in.  The field looked like it was coming to life as more and more of the beings sprang from the ground.

“Doren
, can you do anything?” Kade yelled.

“If I let go for a second, I will no longer be with you,” Doren yelled back, gripping the dragon’s wing joint and holding on for his life.

Kade watched in horror as a rock flew through the air.  He braced for the impact that never happened. Darcienna’s shield sprang into life just long enough to intercept the rock and then winked back out.  Kade felt her recoil from the impact, but she held her place. 

Another disaster barely averted,
Kade thought as he considered the Transparency Calling.  He quickly dismissed the idea, as there was no way he could let go of the dragon’s ridges long enough to perform the moves needed.  The dragon needed to dodge and weave too much for him to even consider any callings that required his hands.  It was all up to Darcienna and the dragon now.

“Kade,” Darcienna yelled over the wind.  “It’s closing!”

Kade glanced over his shoulder and saw that it was, indeed, closing the distance between them.  As he watched, something brushed his leg in an attempt to grab him.  He flinched and drew his leg up.  He searched the land for an opening and found it.  Ahead to their left was a field where there were no Alluvium. 

That way,
Kade sent to the dragon and Rayden turned hard, narrowly avoiding being grabbed.  There was no way to leap them now as they were coming from every direction.  The empty field was their only chance.  Rayden put his head down and raced for it.  The wind was so loud that Kade could barely hear that Doren was yelling something, but he could not make it out.

Kade looked down to
see beings coming out of the ground as they passed and worried that Rayden might trip.  If the dragon fell, it was all over.  He glanced over his shoulder and saw the leader still coming.  The Alluvium was growing with every step, and with that, his speed was increasing.  Rock-face was looking more and more like the creature from the cabin as he grew.  The ground shook with every pounding of his foot.  Rayden raced on.  The giant was twice its original size now and continued growing.  The dragon was no longer pulling away but losing ground quickly.

It was obvious
that they had mere moments before Rock-face had them.  Kade tried to think, but his mind was whirling out of control.  He started to look back when he felt Darcienna lurch. He expected her shield to pop into view but there was nothing.  He glanced back just in time to see the little, black book collide with the giant, and then, a bright, blue flash exploded on the creature.  Kade watched, stunned, unable to comprehend what had just happened.  After a moment, he understood and turned as far as he dared to look at Darcienna.

“You threw the book!” Kade exclaimed
, remembering the black book he had tucked behind his waist.

“I
had to,” Darcienna said defensively.

Kade
nodded his approval, grateful for the small reprieve.  For a fleeting moment, he was sure that Darcienna thoroughly enjoyed being rid of that book.  He looked back, expecting to see the giant no more, but it was still coming.  It had fallen back considerably as it swatted at the blue spark that danced around it in a blur.  The giant faltered several times as it struggled to keep moving forward.  Kade held his breath, praying that Rock-face would go down and stay down, but his prayers were not to be answered.  Soon, the blue spark lessened and then winked out completely.

“It didn’t kill it!”
Darcienna shrieked over the wind.

Kade urged the dragon to increase its
speed, but it was already running as fast as it could.  Rayden just had no more to give.  Kade knew the exertion had to be killing his friend.  He looked back and saw that the giant was gaining on them quickly, once more.  Doren yelled again. Kade could barely make out the words.

“Kade!
  NOOOOOO!” Doren yelled, but it was too late.

             
The dragon never saw the edge of the cliff as it ran full speed into empty air.  The giant came to the edge and leapt after them.  Kade’s throat closed up, and his stomach felt as if it wanted to heave.  They started to fall.  Every muscle in his body clenched.  His hands slipped from the dragon’s ridges as he desperately tried to grip Rayden with his legs but it did no good.  He started to float free.  Darcienna screamed in terror.  All in a flash he realized that they had been herded to this spot.  The field was empty for a reason and they were the reason.  The giant, most likely, expected them to be trapped and then caught, but that was not to be the case.  Kade had run them right over the edge.  That feeling of falling off a cliff was back, and this time, he truly knew what it felt like.

The Alluvium
reached out as they fell, and just when it was about to close its hands on the dragon, there was a loud crack like the sound of an axe hitting a log and then a sudden jerk as the dragon’s wings shot out to grab the air.  Kade and Darcienna landed on Rayden’s back with a jarring impact and almost bounced back off.  The dragon grunted hard as its shoulder muscles strained under the force of the hit.  Kade feared that its wings were going to collapse as it struggled to halt their fall and absorb the weight from the riders at the same time.  Rock-face was not expecting the sudden change from the dragon and misjudged as its hand closed on empty air.  It careened off Rayden’s tail and tumbled through the air.  The Alluvium let out a scream of rage as it fell away.  It turned to dust, swirling away on the air currents.  Rayden strained to force his half extended wings down, desperate to slow their decent.  Kade could feel the dragon’s muscles turn to iron as its wings came down and then fully extended.  They stopped dropping and started to glide. 

Rayden let some of the speed bleed off and then relax
ed ever so slightly.  He would pump his massive wings and then glide for a good distance before pumping again.  The dragon labored for breath as he flew, still exhausted from the race for their lives.  The run had taken too much out of it.  Kade only hoped that the dragon could recover while in its gliding phase.

“I thought you said the dragon could not fly,” Doren said breathlessly.
  The Master Chosen was so ashen that he looked deader now than he did back in his study.

“This is a first time for me
,” Kade said, still trying to unlock his muscles.

“And, it’s Master Doren,” the Chosen said
, a small amount of color starting to return. 

Kade rolled his eyes, recalling that he had
, indeed, addressed Doren in the informal while running from the rock creatures.  He shrugged and decided to deal with it later.  For now, they were safe.  That had to count for something.

Kade looked over his shoulder at the large man who was trying to situate himself.  He desperately hoped that Zayle knew what he was doing, because from where he sat, Doren was no match for Morg.  He could only hope there was more to the man than he had seen so far.  His eyes shifted to Darcienna and she smiled for him.  She was safe again and that was the most important thing to him.  He recalled wishing he could whisk her away to someplace that was safe.  Maybe now he could since the Master Chosen was safe.  He would take the man where he needed to go and then be done with this.  He had done his part.  He had saved Doren.  He was an apprentice after all so what more could they expect from him.  He turned forward and leaned back into the arms of the woman who was quickly stealing his heart and settled in for the ride.