Lunaria (A Soulmark Series Finale), page 39
His whispered words drive the hair at the back of my neck to stand on end. He’s not wrong. My eyes spot a strange movement up ahead, where I swear the air wavers. My gaze narrows to slits, and I gasp when I spy a bolt of magenta lightning flash from far off.
"It's Jax," I whisper back, recognizing the distinctive mark of his magic. Adrian stiffens at my side. "This way," I say again, pointing north and squeezing his hand.
Adrian's answering sigh is gruff but not scornful. He turns north, both of us preparing to take off in another sprint when a disturbance breaks the unnatural quiet around us. We swivel back around in sync. My hands open, palms facing the earth to call forth the long-forgotten roots that lay coiled beneath us. Adrian's ferocious growl of warning stirs the restless air. There is no one in sight.
Shoulders hunched; Adrian shifts to stand partially in front of me. "Show your face, coward."
A sneeze fills the air instead of the assault we both anticipate. A plaintive sniffle following shortly after.
"Who's there?" I call. Adrian turns his mighty glare my way, but I ignore it. There is something out there. Someone. "Hell—oh!"
I squint as the person steps out from a large trunked tree. They're small and bundled into a large, puffy coat. Their white fuzzy hat is stark against the morning darkness. My gaze slips down the short figure, stopping at the cartoon characters her pajama pants depict. The blood drains from my face as my jaw hinges open.
"Bailey?"
The little girl from earlier glances left and right, clearly frightened. I hold out my hand and wave it toward myself and Adrian. She sprints across the yards separating us. Her fear is etched across her face. Wide-eyed and alarmingly pale, she catapults herself into my arms.
"What are you doing out here?" I demand, squeezing her to me. Something warm drapes over my neck, startling me. I peer awkwardly down at my shoulder. It's Adrian's scarf. I glance up at him. His arms are crossed, and several lines crease his forehead. I set Bailey down. "You shouldn't be out here. It's too dangerous." My brows draw together. "Didn't Xander tell you to watch over the kids?"
Her bottom lip quivers and Bailey's brunette eyes swim with tears. "Jenny didn't want us to go! She said she felt safer with us at school and made me go back to bed."
"But, you didn't?" The little girl sniffles again and runs her forearm under her nose.
"My daddy is too old to fight. I need to get him and bring him home with me." Bailey clasps her gloved hands together in front of her. Tears roll down her cheeks, just as fat and compelling as earlier. "Please! You have to help me find him."
"We can't," Adrian declares.
I refrain from scolding him, but a choked noise scratches up from my throat regardless as I send a terse glare his way. Adrian grunts, and crouches down with me on the balls of his feet.
"We can’t because we don't have his scent, nor do we know what he looks like. You've made a mistake coming out here," he explains, though not unkindly. Bailey thrusts her shoulders back.
"Then I'll find him myself!"
The little girl stands no chance against Adrian. He stops her with a single hand, clutching her plush jacket. Bailey slaps at his hold.
"Let go of me!" she shouts.
"What happens if you don't find your father?" Adrian asks, voice low enough that Bailey stills. "What happens if he lives, and you do not? Can you imagine his suffering, knowing the rest of his life you are gone because he chose to fight for your freedom?"
Bailey's mouth makes a little 'o' shape, as her crying lessens with her dawning horror. She goes to speak, some excuse or reason poised at the tip of her tongue, but it doesn't come. She plows into Adrian's chest instead.
"I'm scared."
Her half-mumbled confession cuts deep. Adrian and I look to one another somberly.
"I'll take her back," he offers reluctantly. "I do not know where the gateway tree is, but you do. Go and find your friends. Ensure we have a way home."
A twisted web of emotion closes in around me. I clutch at Adrian's arm. "I—"
"Don't doubt yourself now," he says. Though one hand cradles the back of the child's head to his chest, his other curls around to lay atop of mine. "You are brave, ov thera, and strong. To ever say or think otherwise is a grave offense. I believe in you, Luna,” he tells me gruffly, our bond filling with pride and admiration. “Find your friends. Do it quickly. Don't waste any more time on anyone else."
Adrian rises. Bailey and I follow suit.
"I will find you,” Adrian continues, his hand moving to cup my face, “but I need to take her to safer grounds, and then she will run home." The little girl, with her glossy brunette eyes and cinnamon hair, looks to us and issues a hasty nod.
"I'll go home... but please, will you look for my dad? He's tall and has a scratchy black beard. When he's a wolf, his fur is mostly black, except his chest and the tip of his tail. Those spots are grayer and whiter."
"If I see him, I'll tell him to go straight home," I promise, meaning every word. "Do not come into the forest again, Bailey."
I lean into the hand which cups my face, wishing desperately it didn't have to be this way. "Be safe, please, be safe," I whisper. "Come back to me."
"Always," Adrian vows and ducks his head to kiss me. "Find your sorcerer. Have him escort you to Alekos and Celosia. You'll need help."
Another kiss. Too short but just as consuming as our last one. I struggle not to weep as we inch apart, my feet unwilling to take me away from Adrian. His keen eyes note my hesitation.
"I believe in you," he tells me, the force of his confidence propelling my feet back. I spin and run with a stilted gait, unable to look back.
Find Jax.
Find my friends.
Protect the tree.
++
The icy forest floor passes beneath me in a slick blur of white, muted by the all-encompassing darkness. I decelerate as a gust of wind cannons into me, eyes scanning for any nearby foes.
Whatever land I cross into sets my nerves on edge. A parade of shivers claims my body, and I cannot shake the feeling that I'm being watched by something sinister. I fly on when the wind abates.
Adrian's scarf dangles from my neck, catching now and then on the ground. I stop to wind it around my neck more securely. The scant moment the task occupies allows me to hear it. Hear them. The earth vibrates in anticipation, calling out to me thoughtlessly in its eagerness for bloodshed.
My teeth gnash together. The forest can have its blood but not mine.
I search the land for the devilish creatures stalking me. Imps, or as I prefer to call them, hellspawn. No higher than three feet tall, their flesh is the color of juniper trees, and their mouths are filled with jagged, pointy canines.
The same noise which stopped me before sounds again. A high-pitched chittering, this one followed by an answering yip. I steel myself for the attack to come, tensing as I hover above the ground. I open my sense mindfully to the nature around me and count my adversaries.
One, two, three, but no more.
I stifle the urge to run. They would only pursue. Though the memory of my last encounter with the hellspawn racks my brain, I remind myself that this time will be different. I'm not injured, and I can handle these vile miscreants.
The first assault comes from behind, their approach masked by a gust of wind. I hurl myself out of range of its swiping claws with little more than an inch to spare. Adrian's scarf is not so lucky. The bottom quarter of one side falling haplessly to the ground.
The next comes from the rear as well, attempting to take advantage of my repositioning. It is luckier. The cut burns as it catches my side. I hiss at the hot spill of blood that comes next, but there is no time to inspect the depth of damage.
The final hellspawn barrels into existence, its guttural screech alights the air. At the clenching of my fists, a root bursts from the ground at my command. The root strikes the hellspawn, smacking it into a tree. The devious creature screeches as it tumbles to the base of its trunk, spasming all the while.
The remaining two devils growl and exchange a flurry of angry chirrups. I have trouble keeping my eyes on them as they flank me. They move so damn fast. My pulse skips a beat as their agitation noticeably increases.
Be brave, I tell myself. You are strong and capable.
The root and my intraflora wind in restless patterns. I don't bother reining them in, and instead ride their fevered anticipation. I give no thought to the blood spilling at my side, or how the biting cold makes it sting. I must concentrate.
A warm pressure coils inside of me. One of reassurance and a mounting sense of resilience. My hip tingles with the insistence of Adrian's influence on our bond. He is—
"No!"
The hellspawn launch themselves at me with startling swiftness, and my startled rebuke does nothing to stop their charge. Rather than careen to one side and risk being herded into a tree, I zip up, and nearly doom myself regardless. With only an inch to spare, I avoid a low hanging branch. Below, the hellspawn ram into one another and fall to the earth dazed and momentarily defeated.
The shorter of the two gains its bearings first, shaking its head like a dog fresh out of water. It searches frantically for me. With bated breath, I wait. The hellspawn cocks its head, the angle disturbing and wrong, and spots me above. It vibrates with anger, as does the other.
More of their chittering communications ensue as they huddle near each other and peer up at me. Their pointed teeth clicking together and lashing tongues grate on my nerves.
They can't reach me, I realize. At least, I don't think they can.
With the temporary respite, I inspect my side as best I can. It is difficult to make out what damage they managed to inflict by sight alone. Desperately I wish for Celosia's warm illumination as a shiver wracks my body. I inhale and lean into the reassurance still blazing through the connection of my heart's content, then trail my fingers across the lesion. A hiss erupts from me. The cut is not long, but there is an undeniable depth to it.
Taking Adrian’s scarf, I tie it around my waist to stem the flow of blood. Under me, the hellspawn's communication intensifies. Not only that, its multiplied.
I startle forward and quickly spin around when something hits my back. I finger the abused area with a frantic hand, scouting the ground for the culprit. It was just a stone, I think, it must have been. Nothing big enough to do significant—
"Ow!" I yelp when another small stone strikes my exposed neck.
The chittering turns to snarls. Stones hail at me from every direction along with clumps of hard, icy snow.
The barrage stuns me. I struggle to keep calm and stay in one place, but they are relentless. Keeping my arms crossed over my face, my actions are soon driven by panic. I call upon the roots once more, blindly using them as whips.
My counterattack proves a moderate success, with the onslaught lessening. I lower an arm cautiously to observe the scene below.
My stomach plummets.
Dozens of hellspawn crowd the patch of frozen land below. Dozens. They must be drawn by the chaos of the battleground.
I swing my arms back and forth, upward and to the sides, using them as an extension of the roots. I grasp desperately at the chance to even the playing field, merciless in my retaliation. The roots embody my frantic attack, swinging wildly this way and that. A war cry lashes out of me as hellspawn are swatted away. My intraflora and magic prickle my skin in skittish energy.
Completely focused, I'm unaware of my slow descent as I aim to better my control. A hellspawn leaps into the air and latches on my leg, its claws and jagged canines earning purchase in my calf. I scream, flying up on instinct. I shake and twist my leg to detach the creature, while my other foot kicks at it. But the hellspawn burrows deeper.
I'm fit to burst as Adrian's rage barrels through me. He must feel my pain and fear. Seizing on the burst of momentum his rage gives me, my powers are on the cusp of erupting to blast the creature away when I bump into the low hanging branch. I gasp obscenely as the air is ripped from my lungs and searing electricity paralyzes me. The hellspawn fairs little better. As I jerk out of range from the branch, it lets go with a strangled cry and falls.
I look around with haste and caution as I ascend, pitifully, struggling for breath. I'm high enough to remain out of reach from the hellspawn, but tread dangerously close to more tree breaches. An uncontrollable shudder travels up and down my body. My calf throbs. My wings grow terribly tired. I glance at my leg. Wet, hot, blood trickles steadily to the ground from it.
Regaining my bearings is no easy feat when the world around me is so difficult to make out. It’s made even harder as the hellspawn renew their efforts. Rocks and debris are once more hurled my way. I groan at the attack, Adrian’s potent rage draining me of my energy.
A cold breeze whips through the trees, chilling me to the bone as I hover defeated in the air. Do I flee? Do I stay and fight? My intuition draws me in neither direction, leaving me at the mercy of the horrendous creatures below.
A pulse of magic thrums through the air. I bite back a sob of fright. I can spy no source of the interluding power even as it grows strong and closer. Peeking below, I note the hellspawn appear unaware of the change in the atmosphere.
It is their undoing.
Smoky shadows come into focus, creating a perimeter around us. Lethal bolts of purple lightning and orange sparks decorating the sinister magic and casting flashes of light in the air. Jax. The dark matter strikes out with tendrils, snagging hellspawn into its midst and growing with each tribute it takes.
The hellspawn have no hope of survival, realizing far too late what danger corners them.
The tendrils retreat to allow the sinister fog to close ranks around the remaining hellspawn. Herded inward, the hellspawn clamor and claw at each other to escape the languid hand of death that seeks them out. I clutch my hands to my chest. My legs draw weakly upward as I quiver in relief. I reach out blindly through my bond with Adrian, finding his emotions simmering with anxiety. I do what I can to soothe him but find our states too on edge to calm.
When at last the fog consumes the hellspawn, raucous shrieks of anguish color the air. I flinch at the noise.
"Jax?"
His name is delivered on a shaky breath as the black cloud evaporates. Jax emerges cane first in the small clearing and surveys his work. A satisfied, dark smile crosses his lips. I scan the area as well. There is nothing to be seen. All of the hellspawn are gone.
"Fancy seeing you here, gorgeous," Jax calls up to me. "Why don't you come down?"
I do, heart hammering painfully against my chest. I land as soft as possible, clenching my fists to withstand the throbbing in my right leg. Jax's eye sweeps over me, and my violet ones over him. There isn't a scratch upon him, except the small droplet of blood making its way from his nose. Jax thumbs it away and approaches me, a fan of smoky shadows fanning out behind him like some cloak.
"What are you doing out here? I was under the impression you'd be at the forest line, not in here with us."
Jax kneels once he's at my side. He leans his cane against his shoulder and inspects my damaged calf. He hums and cracks his knuckles, hands hovering over the length of my injury.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
He glances up at me, his hazel eye dilated. "This will only take a pinch, and," he continues with a wry note, "it will probably hurt a pinch too."
I hold my breath as a scarlet light emits from Jax's palm. He whispers words I cannot fathom, and his magic takes hold. The breath I hold comes whooshing out in a long, tiresome breath, dragged up from the bottom of my lungs. What I feel isn't a pinch. It’s the unnerving sensation of muscle, tissue, and skin knitting back together accompanied by an almost painful heat.
After Jax finishes with my leg, he stitches up my side with a frown.
As the same sensation of heat and stretched flesh and sinew encompass my side, a fresh wave of concern reaches me through the bond. Somehow, it leaves me with the distinct impression that Adrian is on his way to me. Now. My shoulders sink in grateful relief.
“You didn’t answer my question, gorgeous,” Jax grunts after finishing and standing. "Why are you out here?"
"Alekos and Celosia ran off to protect our way home." My answer comes out in a rush, barely understandable. "Adrian and I went after them, but then we saw Ryatt and Ronan, and then we saw Bailey. Oh, Jax, she’s just a child!" I squeeze my eyes shut and take a breath. "She was searching for her father. Adrian and I were forced to separate so he could see her to safety. I thought I saw you,” I explain, lashes fluttering open. “and tried to find you, but the hellspawn found me instead."
A distant howl chases the tail of my words.
"Separated?” Jax’s eyebrows hike up. “I'm surprised he let you out of his sight."
"Someone needed to take Bailey to safety, and he doesn’t know where the tree is.”
Jax’s eyebrows skirt higher. “Tree?”
“Our gateway home,” I explain, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. “That is where Alekos and Celosia ran to and Adrian is trusting me to find them all—and you! He knows you’ll help me find them.”
"Smart man," Jax concedes. He exhales, fingers drumming against the head of his cane. "I assume you know the way?"
I flush. "I’ve gotten a bit turned around, but I can locate Celosia if I can concentrate properly. Celosia’s magical radiance is like an inferno."
"Well then, by all means, allow me to provide you the peace you need to concentrate. Take your time and search her out. I'll make sure nothing takes us by surprise."
After a few fortifying breaths, I drop to a knee, surprised to find no lingering pain in my right leg. I dig up a small square of snow to place my hand against the earth and focus. At first touch, the earth wails its pain. As my palm connects, it screams for more blood. I curb the violent turn of my stomach and Adrian’s worry to delve past the uproar. Features scrunching together as I search for Celosia’s signature, a smile breaks out across my face after a few minutes of searching. Celosia is indeed an inferno in this dark.
