walker saga 06 - dronish (17 page)

I’d retrieved my sword from the ground, and swung it around in a few strong arcs before I moved to Cerberus’ side. Branches were flying at us again. I jumped to the left, swiping through and cutting them down. Plenty more came at us, but the sword made quick work of them.

Together my hellhound and I managed to dispatch two of the tree men. They started to fan out, surrounding us from all sides, but then the advantage was ours again as the dragoonas flew in to join the fight.

Some attacked from the air, landing on the trees and snatching the trunks up into the sky. Suddenly we had a path right into the mountain.

“I’m going to try and make it into the cave,” I shouted to Fury and Dune. “We have to stop the Seventine.”

There was nothing more important.

Of course, I had no idea how I was going to stop them, but I’d cross that mountain when it came up.

Flinging my heavy sword away I wasted no more time, ducking around the last of the trees, Cerberus right on my heels. The hound had to shrink quickly to fit through the doorway. I dropped the shield as soon as I was a decent way into the cave, wrinkling my nose at the disgusting air, but managing to breathe without too much drama.

The tunnel was long, thin, and winding. Dark enough that without a small energy ball I’d be running blind. I was trying to calm my nerves, but facing the Seventine was not something to take lightly. I knew they wanted me to join them, but they could just as easily turn on me if I became a nuisance.

And I hadn’t forgotten that we needed their help. I had to make sure they couldn’t get this energy so they’d have no option but to agree to the laluna plan. So my goals: stop them stealing the sun, and get them to agree to lock away the lalunas in exchange for the release of their fifth brother. Should be easy as.

I reached the end of the tunnel. There was a cross-road, and I had to choose to go left or right. I paused, unsure what to do.

“Do you know the right way, Cere?” I looked over my shoulder.

Both of his heads started to drift left and right, before finally, with a short bark, he indicated we should turn left.

Trusting his judgment, I sent my light ball in that direction and we started to move again. It took a while, but as we traveled through this arterial, I started to feel the Seventine. And along with their massive power was something else. Something strong and ancient. Something that gave me chills and had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I was guessing this was the center line, the one which was allegedly part of the tethering of the suns.

The air cooled and cleared as we traversed further inside. My heart rate increased as the power level around us rose. No point lying about it: I was freaking scared. I wasn’t a warrior. I’d been thrust into this life, with only the basics of training from my time on Earth. Running on the streets with the gangers had taught me skills, but the Seventine were leagues above in evil.

Thank the gods for Cerberus. Just having him by my side gave me the courage to keep powering ahead. That and the fact that I couldn’t let my friends and family die.

In the end, I’d rather be the one who was killed than the one who stood aside and let my loved ones be destroyed. I inhaled a lungful of dirty air as we neared what looked to be the hub of this mountain. It was time now to suck it up and stop these guys.

Cerberus pushed me to the side, taking the lead for the first time. It was a tight fit in this tunnel, so I was a little plastered to the wall, rocks littering around me as the hellhound squished his bulk in front of me.

Yep, buddy, you’ve made your point abundantly clear. You protect me.

I totally loved this puppy.

My ball of light was suddenly useless as we rounded a corner, and the tunnel was flooded with both heat and intense brightness. I threw my shield around myself again, before gasping and slowing when I reached the edge of the center line.

It wasn’t the suns. Instead the light was from a glowing beam that shot upwards through the rocks. I dropped my shield as I stepped closer. The four Seventine stood around the beam, their hands linked as they poured power into the stone.

“No!” I screamed, pushing forward.

Cerberus tried to stop me, but I ignored that.

“You can’t do this; you’ll destroy Crais. I have another offer for you.”

They didn’t halt their actions but the four faces, with their fissured skin, turned toward me.

I held both hands in front of me. “The lalunas plan to imprison you again after you sever the last tether. They won’t let you be free in the rebuilding of the worlds. I want your help to lock them in the prison. In exchange, we’ll free the fifth of your brothers.”

God, I hated making this offer. I did not want to free the fifth. I had to keep reminding myself that the pros outweighed the cons of our plan.

With a sigh, I looked from one to the other. “It’s in your best interests to help us. If the lalunas are gone, you will be the most powerful.”

I could see that they were considering this as they exchanged glances. Mulling over my words. Just when a sliver of hope entered my heart, it was dashed by the first shaking his head.

“Normally, I would take you up on that offer. We do not like the control of the lalunas; we want them gone. But we can free all of our brothers with the energy from this sun.”

One of the others laughed. “And there is no stopping the severing of this center line. We have already started the process.”

I’d seen them sever the tethers to the sacred tree on Regali, but the sun was a much larger and more powerful object. It powered an entire world. I had no idea what I could do to stop them. I gathered masses of energy and shot it toward the closest Seventine. But the energy just rebounded at me. They were in some sort of protective ring, which was trapping all of the power around us. I needed something else. I needed the girls.

I threw out my mental tethers and connected to the five other half-Walkers.

The Seventine are severing the tether which connects to one of the Crais suns.
I need your help to stop them.
My words were fast and furious.

Just a little warning to the girls before I yanked all of the tethers straight toward me. Thankfully, the five of them landed in a tumble in the tunnel behind Cerberus and me. There wasn’t much space in there.

Jumping to their feet, they all crowded into me immediately. Sapha was the only one who seemed scared or unsure. Of course, she had no idea how she’d just appeared on Crais.

The Seventines’ energy ring was starting to move higher up the glowing cord. They were getting closer to the rock above us.

“Join with me!” I shouted. “Let’s shoot every bit of force we have at them.”

I had no idea what else we could do. The girls didn’t hesitate, even Sapha. One by one they called their element: fire, water, wind, earth, and shadow. I threw out my tether and their powers flowed through and into me. I didn’t hesitate to blast a shot right at the four nomad-shells in front of me. The color of our blast was a mix of blues, reds, blacks, and greens. Swirls of our elemental energies and, of course, the gold of the conduit threading all.

As the point of our blast hit the Seventine, my eyes were forced closed by the explosion of light.

After a minute or so, I drew back to see what had happened.

I couldn’t believe it. The four of them were laid out on the floor. We had knocked them down. Unfortunately, they seemed to be right about stopping the severing of the cord. The glow was still rising without their ring of energy.

As the power continued to rise, the rock above our heads started to break apart. All of us were pushed into the ground as the cracked dirt started to shake under us. The bonds between us broke as we fought against the strength of the energy which was ricocheting outwards.

Ria screamed, “What’s happening?”

“This is the center line. The tether to one of the suns is about to be severed.” My words were muffled, my face pressed into the rock. “With this energy, they’ll be able to free the remaining Seventine.”

Delane started pushing against the energy, trying to force her body up. “We have to stop them.”

None of us could stand. I was making no ground in gaining traction. This was a power beyond anything I’d felt before.

Talina reiterated my thoughts. “Even the Seventine are unable to stand.” Her eyes shifted toward the four inert bodies that were scattered away from us.

I managed to twist my head enough to see them better, and I knew immediately that they were now just dead nomads, their split skins lifeless. There was no spark left.

“The Seventine are gone,” I choked out.

Brace!
I screamed for him, projecting my energy.

Red.
His voice was in my head, and suddenly it got a little easier to breathe. His power was immense, counteracting some of the energy holding us.
Do you need me?

Yes.
I didn’t wait for his compliance. Instead I traced him straight to me.

Brace resisted at first; I’d taken him unawares. He started to fight my pull, but then realized what was happening. I think he had the power to stop my trace, but thankfully he released the hold and allowed me to pull him from Abernath and into Crais.

He landed beside me, and within moments the winds started to build up. He was morphing into his secondary power, which is in many ways a lot like Delane’s. A whirlwind, cyclonic force that lifted all of us half-Walkers and allowed us to stand back on our feet. As his power surrounded us, the energy from the tether severing was eased.

“I need to find the Seventine,” I shouted at Brace.

I could barely see him, my hair flying around my face, blinding me with the masses of red curls.

Brace leaned his head backward, following the path of the breaking rock above us. “They’re following the center line. Once the junction between this world and First World is reached, they’ll be able to take the power from the sun.”

I could just make out Brace through his tornado.

“Hang on,” he said.

Wait, what? Hang on to what exactly?

Then I started to lift in the air. I swallowed my shriek as my feet left the ground. I managed to keep it together by wrapping my arms around myself, as if that would keep me safe. I was now the one following the path of the center line. As the rock continued to crumble apart, crashing down to the floor below, the middle of the mountain opened right up. I pulled my shield around myself as the first rays of light beat down.

From what I could see, squinting through the whirl of wind, there was only one single sun visible, with a strange shadow of the second behind it. Crais’ day had reached the point where the larger but weaker sun crossed over the front of the other. And circling this eclipse were the four shadows of the Seventine.

You’re too late.
The first was in my head again.

I didn’t reject him this time. Instead I used his voice to pull me closer. The tie between us was a real thing. A tangible link. Something I’d fought against and ignored, but right then, I needed it. If I could get close enough to break their link to the center line, I could stop them absorbing the energy. Or so I hoped.

Brace’s power continued to stay with me. Either he was in my head, or I had a certain control over the whirly wind. It was weird to fly like this, but also quite exhilarating. The Seventines’ power rocked against me as I joined their little circle. I was right next to one of them, no idea which, but I guessed it was not the first, since the connection between us was still a little stretched.

The untethering was almost complete. I could tell by the rising energy: it was almost at the two suns. And so were we. I could feel the pressure on my shield. This close the heat was so much more intense, and it was taking a real effort to maintain my bubble.

Then, as the last of that energy released from the Seventine hit the suns, the world stood still … before dissolving beneath us. A howling scream cut through my eardrums: the sound of the land of Crais shattering. Then the larger sun drained before my eyes. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as my teeth cut into my lip. I’d bitten down in panic. The Seventine held the end of the tether. I needed to take it back from them. Without thought, I projected my golden thread, the well inside me jumping with excitement.

I didn’t stop to think about the fact that I was just one half-Walker. That I was about to absorb the energy of a freaking sun. And that if I managed to wrench this energy from the Seventine it was probably going to kill me.

In that moment the golden cord connected and my heart stopped beating.

I’d felt power before. The half-Walker females were intensely powerful in their own right, and together we packed a mammoth punch. But all of that was nothing compared to the energy from the Crais sun. My well filled, overflowed, and then the burning started to char me from the inside out.

Over and over the agonizing pain scorched me, threatening to burst free from my body. I could feel my outer shell straining. My eyes were closed, but I felt the cracks breaking across my skin. I was going to resemble one of the Seventines’ victims.

I felt myself hit the rock-hard ground. Even in my pained state I somehow knew I was back on the surface. But I had no idea how I had got there. Probably Brace.

“Abby!”

Screaming surrounded me, but there was too much going on inside for me to take in the outer world.

“Connect to us.”

Most of these words were lost in the swelling of heat that filled me. Instinctively I knew I was dying. My body was reaching the end of its capabilities to take the pressure. It was too much, and the destructive force when it blew from me was going to be phenomenal. My only fear was that I would kill everyone around me with the explosion.

“Red.”

Brace reached me like no other ever could. My eyes flew open and, judging from the shock and horror on the faces around me, I looked exactly how I felt. Bad. Very bad.

“Connect to the half-Walkers; share the power.”

I finally understood what they’d been saying. I gritted my teeth and, reaching through the burning, found my tether and flung it free. The connection was as easy as always. It was as if we were designed to share power. Voices flooded my head, and there was a slight ease on my shell. Some of the burning shifted around, spreading into the others. But it was still too much for us. One by one they started to scream. Even the stoic warrior Delane couldn’t contain herself.

Great! Now, instead of killing only me, I was going to destroy us all. I needed to pull it back, but I couldn’t sever the cords. The strength of the power between us was too much. It had molded a strong powerful bond that would be broken by no one.

You have to release the power,
Sapha moaned in between her shrieks.
Send it back.

Could I do that? Send it back into the sun. I needed to talk to Brace, I needed him in my head. But there was no way right then. I couldn’t speak; the power rode me too hard. How could I ask him what I needed? A thought filtered into my head. There was one way where communication was effortless.

The melding bond.

My hand trembled as I lifted it to the globe that hung on my necklace. I was damning my father by doing this, but if I didn’t we were all going to die, and then I was damning everyone in all the worlds. I needed Brace’s help, and this was the only way to do this.

Brace was at my side. Well, as close as he could be without my inner sun energy crisping him.

“Red, what are you doing …” His words trailed off as I flicked the clasp and let the moonstale light flood free.

I don’t know if it was because so much power filled me, or if it was my memory of the last melding bond, but the force of our connection dropped me to my knees. Something that the freaking energy of a sun hadn’t done.

The rush of Brace’s signature power smashed into me, his energy washing along the walls of every part of my body. Every cell responded, my heart and lungs swelled, as if for the first time they were beating and breathing again. Until this moment I hadn’t realized the true extent of my inner fatigue; the strength of gods and warriors flooded my being.

The bond had been broken for long enough now that I’d become used to the sensation of being half myself, half a soul, half a power. It wasn’t until we joined again that I realized the loss I’d had, the intense strength of a soul complete.

Red. Baby …
Brace’s voice broke.
I’ve missed you. Damn, I’ve missed you.

There was no time for a real reunion right then, but later, if we survived this moment, I was going to relive this force of emotion. Examine every single memory of our re-melding. Right then I might have cracks littering my skin, but on the inside the cracks were gone. I was whole again. Of course, now we had to all not die so I had time to remember these moments.

The shrieks of the other half-Walkers eased slightly as Brace absorbed a little more of the sun’s energy. In fact, his strength almost equaled that of all of us half-Walkers. The man was intensely powerful.

Can I shoot this power back into the Crais sun?
I asked him rapidly.

He hesitated slightly before answering.
No, the shell of the sun was destroyed when the Seventine ruptured the tether. If you release this amount of energy, we’ll most likely rip Crais apart.

His voice was shaky, the power starting to beat at him.

What do we do then? It’s going to kill us all.

I tried to keep the panic from my voice; I wasn’t very successful. My skin stretched again. I could feel more cracks littering across it, and I wasn’t the only one. Blood rained down from all of the girls, spattering from the fissures on our skins. Time was running out.

What about Dronish?
Sapha was the one who spoke up, and I realized then that the half-Walker girls could hear my conversations with Brace. It was as if he were part of our tethering now.

Her words resonated through all of us.
We still have a sun and moons that are in need of power. You could bring life to the world again.

I thought you wanted it destroyed,
Fury barked out.

Sapha laughed without humor.
I’m not so selfish that I would see two worlds fall when we could save both. Whether it is the Walker half of me that feels this way, I need to be a better individual than my mother and the rest of the Drones. I need to do something that matters.

If I hadn’t been about to be ripped into a gazillion pieces I’d have been proud right then. But all my energy was focused on surviving the next ten minutes of this life.

How will we get to Dronish?
Ria asked.
I can’t concentrate long enough to find a tether.

I’ll open a doorway and take you all.
Brace’s power washed over me.
But that means I’ll have to pull back some of the energy that’s sharing the sun’s burden.

There was more than one groan at those words. Right then I wondered if we could survive the loss of his presence. We were barely hanging on even with Brace’s help.

I sucked in deeply, tension and panic riding me as I waited. His presence left us. The screams started in earnest. And yes, I was totally one of the ones shrieking my head off. The pain was intense as my well continued to filter the power around.

“Hang on, girls.” Brace was close. “Stay with me, baby Red,” he whispered.

I would have replied, but I was too busy dying.

I barely noticed as my feet left the ground, and then we were in a doorway. Somehow, inside the vacuum the energy of the sun lessened, as if the lack of gravity was lifting the power from us also. Lending a helping hand in carrying the burden.

Then we were on the other side. The darkness and cold bit into my bare skin, but with a sun heating us from the inside out, it would be impossible to freeze. Brace connected with me again, and the relief was instant as the energy diversified.

Okay, now we need to find the center line of Dronish. Which would be almost impossible in normal circumstances, but carrying this energy will lead us right there.

It had taken the Seventine a long time to find the center on Crais. But I still wasn’t sure how this was going to be different.

Send your golden tether out. Search for the coldest place on Dronish.
Brace was talking and his instructions didn’t fill me with confidence.

I decided to simply try. No harm in that. Unless of course I took too long. Then we’d all be dead.

No pressure.

My golden cord was filled with the power of the sun. I mentally sent it from my body, willing it to find the coldest spot that needed the warmth. It zoomed away, and we struggled to hold on while we waited. It seemed to take forever, and then even longer as it weaved, swerved, and seeped into the nooks of Dronish. One by one we fell to our knees, except for Brace, but judging by the pale nature of his normally tawny skin, he was struggling. I ended up on my hands and knees. If the tether didn’t find something soon, my face would be pressed into the parched and rocky ground.

It’s not working.
I was starting to get desperate.
I’m just going to release the energy into Dronish and hope that it’ll fill those places which are dead or dying from lack of power.

Brace answered immediately.
If you can give it any more time, Red, you need to hold on. What you propose will most likely blow this world apart and kill everyone. Energy needs a direction; it needs to know where to go, and on this scale I’ve no idea what that undirected power will do.

I knew what he was telling me: it could destroy more than just Dronish. It could tear apart the fabric of this entire star-system.

I wish we’d been able to use this power to lock away the Seventine or lalunas,
Delane said, and it was the exact thought I’d had more than once. But it had happened too rapidly. There’d been no time to think or plan. At that thought my tether started to slow. How strange. I could tell that it was like a gazillion miles away from me, but it seemed as if it was still beside me.

Its movements continued to slow. Something had captured its attention. I decided now was the time to follow its length. Without pause, I brought our group to the tether. It was easy, instantaneous. We had so much power within us that without any effort I moved seven people. Most probably I could have traced us to Dronish earlier, but I’d been unable to form a clear picture in my head, so we might have ended up somewhere we didn’t want to go.

You found it, Abby.
Brace’s love wrapped around me, his warmth adding to the heat already baking my insides.
The center line is here, but shit … what’s happened to it?

I opened my senses, the same way I had on Crais, and could see the line running high into the black sky. The very sky which was devoid of stars, suns, and with only a sliver of moon. The Crais line had been solid, thick, and strong. Dronish’s was weak and tattered, similar to the tethers of the dark mountains. As if so much damage had ripped through this world that it was close to dying itself. Dronish was a land on its last hope.

Do I just direct the energy toward the line?
I hoped Brace had a clue.

I don’t know. This is the domain of the conduit, and only you can make this happen.

Not helpful, thanks. Oh, well, I can’t expect him to know everything.

I sucked in deeply, pushing past the pain and exhaustion. All of us were still on our hands and knees, unable to stand or fight against the power any longer.

I swear this is what dying a slow, painful death by torture feels like.
Fury’s voice held an ounce of its usual strong and bold presence.

I couldn’t blast the power from us – there was too much, spread around all seven of us. And the pain too great. Instead I started at a slow trickle, urging the power into the tattered line. It moved in small increments, but somehow as it gathered momentum, more and more started to burst free.

It still took a long agonizing time, and I hoped like hell we never had to do anything like this again. As the well inside me emptied, I reached for more of the hot, burning power, sucking it from the girls.

Last was Brace. He wouldn’t let me take his share until everyone else was depleted, so he was the one to suffer the longest. Not that I could tell. He wore a stoic face that even Que would have been proud of, and the former Abernath princeps had been a crazy-ass-megalomaniac-sociopath.

Eventually my mate opened the bond between us, and let the last of the burning energy free.

Thank you, Brace.

I relished the fact I could speak in his head again. It was as if I’d been cut off from all of my senses and hadn’t even realized. Now I was whole again. The pain which had plagued my ragged soul was finally lifted.

I love you, Red. I. Love. You.

He said it over and over. I knew he was also overwhelmed by the emotion between us and, as the last of that power drained from me, I dragged myself over to him and fell into his arms.

“I love you too.” I was crying, the tears leaving tracks along my skin and falling to the parched ground.

I wasn’t the only one.

From where I lay in my mate’s arms, I could see the half-Walker girls. Most of them had more emotion on their faces than I’d ever seen before. Even Delane and Sapha. Fury and Talina were full-on bawling. I’d have laughed, but I was too overwhelmed.

“You guys are like the golden couple, literally,” Fury choked out between sobs.

The golden tethers that were part of our sacred melding had shot all around the place again, lighting up the freezing darkness that was Dronish.

I’d forgotten about the center line, completely consumed with the love around me. So I wasn’t paying attention to what was happening to the sky and world around us.