Heirs of power, p.39
Heirs of Power, page 39
part #1 of Constellation Series
Kitty held her breath, waiting for something awesome to happen.
“It appears we have an issue,” The Mystic admitted.
“Are you unable to do the spell?” Serena scolded.
“I am able,” He said indignantly. “But there is less energy contained within than usual… The formation is incomplete. I can move, I believe, four of us- that means myself and three others.”
Everyone looked at Serena as she stood calculating with a far-away stare. She swung off her pack and drew out her letter-writing kit.
“Kitty, Juggler, you are with me and Malik to retrieve the Urn,” She stated, penning out one of her personalised letters with perfect calligraphy. “Mianna, Lucian, I need you to take Leo and Ellie to the capital. I have a second home on the outskirts and this letter will gain you access. It has no permanent staff and very few know that I own it. You should be safe there until we return. Everyone clear?”
Everybody nodded, including Asher.
“Our enemy will come here as soon as they see that this portal has been removed,” The Dancer said earnestly. “Put as much distance as you can between yourselves and this location as quickly as possible. And please, Alexander, take care of yourself and the others who live near.”
“I will,” He promised. “See you all soon. Fight well and come home victorious.”
Kitty hugged her father goodbye and went to stand with Malik. The Mystic replaced his palms on the portal and concentrated quietly. The oval wavered, rippled and swirled, then drained into Malik’s body with a pulsating glow, before disappearing altogether.
The area underneath where the gateway had hung was already starting to transform, the grass turning brown. No flowers grew, not even the common weeds. The life of Lucidia was being sucked in without the Tenebri even leaving their land. A tiny trace of the grotesque scent wafted from the dying vegetation.
“Gather close,” Malik instructed, his hands taking on a glow again.
The Constellations shouted hurried farewells at each other while Kitty, Serena and Asher took position next to The Mystic.
Kitty felt like she had the first time she’d been Juggled, but a hundred times worse.
The rocky ground where she found herself upon her hands and knees was swiftly coated in vomit. The Archer retched a few more times, comforted when she realised that she wasn’t the only one. She swigged from her water skin and then lay flat on her back, ignoring the poke of sharp pebbles in her skin.
Finally, the dancing spots began to vacate her vision and the pulses at Kitty’s temples slowed their forceful throb.
Asher and Serena were as pale as Kitty surely was, recovering in a similar way to her. Malik didn’t look so good. The Mystic was still curled in a ball on the floor, hands pressed to his head.
Kitty was about to rush over to help, until Asher stopped her.
“He just overdid it a bit using his power,” The Juggler said calmly. “Blinding headache and a nosebleed now, then he’ll be able to manage for a few hours before sleeping it off. Give him a sec to recover.”
“I don’t know it we have any seconds to spare,” Kitty’s heart hammered as she noticed her senses kicking back in. “I smell another portal.”
Chapter Forty-One
It didn’t take long for Malik to pull himself together when Kitty warned him of the proximity of their enemy. Serena assisted The Mystic in wiping away the trail of blood from his beard and offered him small sips of water, leading him over to a boulder so he could steady himself.
Kitty and Asher peeled off in opposite directions to make a quick sweep of the unfamiliar terrain. The typical Eriwynne woodland was broken up where it met the mountain range which loomed over them. Seven gigantic peaks dominated the horizon, rising steeply to obscure to view. The ground here was made up of sheer edges, with entire chunks of forest slipping away to expose walls and trenches haphazardly dotted across the treeline.
With no sight of Tenebri, and the scent of corruption fading away, Kitty returned to report the all-clear.
Unfortunately, it was still taking Malik a lot of effort to stand unaided, and he was leaning heavily on his quarterstaff while trying desperately to appear at ease. The Dancer shot a concerned glace towards The Archer.
“Are you alright to do this, Malik?” Kitty was worried- they needed his gift the most.
“I’ll be spot on as soon as I absorb some energy,” He assured. “Let me at that portal.”
“It’s over this way,” Asher pointed into the thicker woodland. “I didn’t wanna go too far so didn’t actually see it. The stink gets worse though.”
They went slowly. Between the uneven land and Malik’s degenerated condition it was impossible to make good time. They were all on high alert too; the view was often blocked by foliage and miniature, house-sized cliffs. Even Kitty’s far-sight and Serena’s frequent, nimble ascents to vantage points didn’t help much in this kind of territory.
They then reached a position where the scent had grown weaker and had to double back on themselves. Kitty was about to suggest that they just find Lady Hayward’s house and go get her Urn, when Asher piped up.
“There,” He grinned triumphantly, pointing towards a cave that was set back in one of the land-slips.
It wasn’t immediately obvious and the gateway itself wasn’t visible, but a slight red tinge flickered on the craggy walls, reflecting the eerie glow of the Tenebri world.
“Well spotted,” The Dancer conceded.
Malik had not been able to sense it at this range, which didn’t bode well when it came to his ability to stand against any enhanced guards within. The teleportation had taken too much out of him, and the headache was still making him squint. Every now and again an odd bead of blood still dribbled from his nostril which Kitty saw before he had chance to scrub it hastily away.
“Wait here while we check if anyone is inside, Malik,” Serena commanded. “We will dispatch any guards and you can seal the portal in safety.”
The Mystic nodded and crouched into a small gulley, covering his eyes with both hands. He was clearly in a lot of pain, and Kitty hoped that they wouldn’t need to use such a punishing technique very often.
Down to three, the Constellations crept over to the hidden portal, hugging the solid stone wall and keeping watch for anything enhanced- human or otherwise. Outside was free from loyalists. They’re evidently going for stealth in this situation then.
Kitty made her way over to the mouth of the cave, hardly daring to breathe. Inside the opening the fissure curved slightly to the left and opened up, revealing the fully-formed portal. If anything, this one gave an even more bleak view of the corrupt world: blackened platforms of rock snaking across bubbling seas of lava. This must be near the edge of their domain, like Malik had predicted.
The low red glow from the lighting and huge broken rocks filling the room made it hard to scope out. There were certainly men in there, but how many and whether they were members of the devoted was indeterminable. A lightning strike from the other world lit the cavern for a second, and Kitty quickly backed out before another flash gave her away.
“I noticed at least twenty,” The Archer relayed to the two waiting Constellations. “It’s difficult to see exactly what’s going on in there.”
“We can attempt to draw them out,” Serena suggested. “That would even the odds where the mouth of the cave narrows so we are not overrun, and then you can pick off any that decide to remain within, Kitty.”
“I’m so looking forward to this,” Asher said happily, drawing his sword.
The Dancer threw him a disgusted glance and readied her own weapons. Kitty gripped Venethos tightly.
A familiar anticipatory flood of adrenaline gushed through The Archer. She knew that this is what she had been born to do. She was a warrior. A guardian. No matter what they did to her, she was going to defend her world.
Asher and Serena flanked the opening, a wicked grin on his face and demure grace on hers.
Kitty stepped back in, Lucidian weapon flaring as she launched arrow after arrow into the traitors who were stationed inside. Men were screaming, falling, and bolting frantically for cover or escape. The Archer backed up, still firing into the confused mob.
“Fools!” Came a familiar screech. “Get her!”
Kaphira was here. Was Drake?
The jolt of uncertainty almost stopped her steady retreat. She pushed it aside. If he is, Kitty thought, I’m going to kill him.
Out in the sunlight, her two companions took over, meeting a wave of slightly more co-ordinated loyalists. Several fell before they even noticed the other Constellations were there, tripping those who were dashing up behind them.
Then Kaphira charged out, forcing aside both sides of the battle and breaking the bottleneck that Asher and Serena had held so confidently. The Dancer flowed around the grey-skin, swiping a fan at a hamstring and the other towards an inner leg artery. Both attacks slid impotently off… Kaphira’s magic had been replaced.
Before the towering brute could respond, Asher Juggled her over to himself, leaving Serena to deal with a wounded soldier while he tried to wear down the leader. Kaphira hissed and threw herself at the man for whom she held so much hatred- the one who had taken half of her sight. All technique and strategy were tossed aside as she utilised her physical advantages to overwhelm her human opponent.
More men exited the cavern, using a layer of interlocking shields to protect against Venethos’ missiles. Kitty switched to her blade and joined the fray, trying to stick close to The Dancer. The royal slipped around spear blows, ducked the shield wall and soon broke apart the defensive structure.
Something in Kitty’s instincts had her spinning towards the cave, brushing aside the airborne arrows that were trained on her body with a burst of overwhelming power.
There were more men than she had initially thought, and they were still pouring out of the cave, threatening to engulf the three Constellations. Serena just seemed to blur through them faster, pirouetting amidst the furious loyalists, fans spinning trails of blood and leaping through the air like a beautiful but deadly ballet.
Flickering a soldier into Kaphira’s place, Asher dispatched the man with one precise sword thrust. Though her companion was coated in sweat and blood already, Kitty doubted the red spatters had actually come from his body. However, he was starting to pant with exertion from defending against the grey-skin’s assault and Kaphira was unrelenting as she raced back across the battlefield to her foe.
Kitty silently wished Malik was with them, but had no time to spare a thought for that as three loyalists ringed her, too close to line up a shot or focus on them one at a time. They attacked in unison, with full-sized swords that all had more reach than her combat knife. The Archer dodged in close to one, avoiding the other two while catching a feint from his sword with her blade. She ducked and twisted around him, ramming the tiny weapon into the back of his knee with all her strength. They always underestimate a girl with a knife.
As the wounded man dropped to the ground, she ripped out her blade and finished him with a swift, merciless stab to the neck. The other two eyed her, suddenly wary. They moved as one, letting their weapons lead.
Kitty suddenly appeared next to Asher, who was sucking in ragged gasps. He was surrounded by a ring of dead men that had come to assist their mistress. But the fight was taking its toll, and blood ran the length of his short sword and covered the soggy spikes of his sweat-drenched hair.
“Want me to take Kaphira for a bit?” Kitty asked, utilising the free space to fire off conjured arrows into the two soldiers who had been menacing her moments ago.
“We need to finish her,” He insisted.
“Should I try to get Malik over?”
“No… They’d love to get hold of The Mystic in such a state. We gotta- I dunno…. Bury the wench alive or something. Tip her in a pit?” Asher flailed, wearily bringing his sword back up when the wench in question exploded into the pair, serrated daggers flashing.
There was a small gully running alongside the cliff, but nothing deep enough to trap a practically immortal, frenzying lunatic. Kitty focused on trying to distract Kaphira from beating Asher down. Maybe they could reach her brain through her eye socket they struck hard enough?
Backing up, Kitty trained Venethos on the grey-skin’s ankle. She got two shots in, buried deep in the flesh next to the tendon, before Kaphira turned and unleashed her wind magic.
The diversion gave Asher an opening, and he drove his sword towards the woman’s face, throwing all his weight behind it. The weapon snapped with a metallic clang when she blocked it with a hand. The Juggler dropped the hilt, shaking out his wrist at the shock of the sudden impact. He instinctively Juggled the grey-skin’s serrated dagger that was about to finish him, catching a scratch on the throat from the long piece of shale with which he’d replaced it.
Kaphira crashed in with a knee to his ribs, the impact jolting Asher despite his attempt to move out of range, and then wrapped her hands around his neck.
Instantly, Kitty was there, the trickle of his blood from the shallow nick tarring her hand as she let go of the choke-hold and they squared up to the creature together.
A deafening blast came from inside the cave, accompanied by a fleeting flash of light. It stopped everyone in their tracks for a second while they processed the explosion. Promptly lava began to flow out of the mouth of the fissure, pooling in the hollow and splashing onto vegetation, setting it alight.
Kitty could feel the heat of the liquefied rock from across the battlefield. A lightning strike must have depleted the land in Tenebria even further, expanding the fiery sea. They needed to wrap this fight up and close the portal before too much damage ravaged their own land.
Swapping Kaphira for one of few men left defending her, The Juggler dispatched the man with his knife and turned to Kitty with a glimmer in his eye.
“Get up on the edge, love,” He said, flickering his gaze to the ledge above the cave. “Jump in when I say.”
Then he was diving back into battle, rapidly Juggling targets and spreading confusion, releasing the focus from The Archer.
Knowing that if she considered it too much then she’d falter, Kitty chose not to think. It was an easy ascent, with ledges of rock and protruding roots providing plenty of hand and foot holds. She was going to jump into lava.
No, she was going to get Kaphira Juggled into lava. There would be no horrendous, melting, scorching death- not for her anyway. Asher would catch her. He would. He hadn’t caught her on the bridge… But that wasn’t his plan and he wasn’t prepared.
Shut up, Kitty told herself. There was an open plateau over the boiling, bubbling pool that would give Asher a good eye-line to her all the way down. Hopefully he wouldn’t need the whole descent. Sweat prickled all over her body while she was still a couple of stories above the lake of death. Was it heat or nerves? She couldn’t tell.
Perfectly visible from the perch, Asher battled Kaphira, a determined frown etched on his features. He caught Kitty from the corner of his eye and switched the grey-skin for a minion again. The Juggler ruthlessly plunged his dagger into the man’s throat, and glanced at The Archer for confirmation.
She nodded.
Asher held up three fingers, two, one, and then pointed at Kitty, Juggling the dying man for Kaphira as Kitty leapt.
The Archer jumped high, scrounging every last millisecond for the single flicker of power that was the only way to save her life. She plummeted in what felt like slow motion, watching the burning glow get closer, feeling the scorch growing more intense on her skin.
Kaphira appeared at Asher’s side, her blade already driving towards him as she twisted from his grasp and dodged the touch of his fingertips.
Chapter Forty-Two
A scream ripped through the air.
Kitty couldn’t understand why she could still hear... Or why she could feel her feet collapsing under her on solid ground.
She was immediately swept up into a sitting position as Asher dropped to her side, wrapped his arms around her and crushed Kitty against his chest. She could feel his heart racing faster than she thought was possible and could feel the prickle of his stubble through her hair as he pressed a cheek on top of her head.
I’m not dead?
“I got you,” He assured. “I’ve got you.”
“She moved…” The Archer choked, still unable to process the fact that she was still alive.
“Hey, I thought of that, okay?” Asher said. His voice was calm, but he was betrayed by the slight tremble that spread across his whole body. “I was ready- still, that was bloody stupid.”
“It worked,” She said in utter disbelief, the tension and fight draining out of her.
“You thought it wouldn’t and you jumped anyway?” He mocked.
“I always trust you and your stupid plans,” She confessed, slumping wearily into him and returning his embrace.
The last few cries from Kaphira cut off abruptly. Kitty didn’t look- she didn’t particularly want to see what was left of her… That is, if there was anything.
“Oh…” Asher said from above her, lifting his head. “Damn…”
Kitty turned to look at the burning pit… Surely Kaphira hadn’t managed to crawl out of it?
The Juggler drew his left arm from round her and interjected his now-shaking hand between them. His whole palm was bloodied, and the open wound where his little finger had been was now a gushing fountain of red.
“Thought it was just a nick,” He sighed regretfully, gritting his teeth and turning his head away. Kitty could see the colour draining from his cheeks.
The Archer was horrified… He’d taken that hit to save her- to defeat Kaphira- and now for the first time his pristine hands had been marred. And badly.
“What is wrong with you?” Serena screeched as she ran over to them at full pelt, having finished dispatching the remaining loyalists. “Juggler, you cannot use people like that! What if Kitty had died?”
