Even Eva and Sapha wore heavy emotions on their faces. We were all afraid, but in that moment we drew on each other’s strength and a sense of ‘we can do this’ washed over our group. We broke the hug, stepping around the room to form a circle.
My eyes flicked up. The first was still watching me closely. He wore less of a smirk now, but still didn’t look afraid.
“You will fail,” he said.
Then for the first time since being locked into the cage, he moved. The brothers closed ranks and the seven of them were encased in the same white light we had seen on the field.
The one which had severed Quarn’s tether.
The cavern filled with their unnatural brightness. It splashed across the dark and dingy rock.
“Don’t pay attention to them,” I said. “We start the ritual now.”
I threw out my tether to connect the seven of us again. The warmth and energy flowed, faster and more in sync than ever before. Joined like this I could fully sense the nervous tension within each of the girls. It added an extra buzz to our energy, almost like a fizzy drink.
Let’s do this!
It was a war cry of sorts, echoing through the bond. I started to call on the power of the Mother of All and the ancients.
Nothing happened at first, but as the cry resonated between the seven of us, more of those tingles filtered through our bond. Through our energy and into our blood. I felt a brush of something then – something bigger than anything I’d felt before. The original power locked inside my filing cabinet started to rattle and shake, like it wanted to be free. Like it was reaching for the power.
The next step was not one I was looking forward to: loss of blood and power. The dagger was still in my hand, tingles of energy emanating from where I held the blade. Jedi’s weapon would be Walker made, and that meant the wounds would not heal quickly. This was going to hurt the girls, and I wasn’t sure I could actually cut them like this.
My feet faltered as I moved across to Talina. She stood directly to my right.
“I’m sorry, Talli.” My voice was barely a whisper, but she heard me.
“You’re my best friend, Abbs. I trust you with my life. Don’t you take on this guilt.”
Easy to say, but she wasn’t the one holding a knife to her best friend’s throat.
Sucking in deeply, I decided to get it over with as quickly as possible. I pressed the razor-sharp blade into her neck, just beneath her chin and to the left of her jugular. I knew where to cut so she would bleed freely. We had learned all about killing in the Compound on Earth. Of course, my aim wasn’t to kill today, so I had to be careful not to cut too deeply. To make sure the wound could be stemmed before it was too late.
Talina flinched as I split her perfectly pink skin. The blade was sharp, so sharp I almost cut too deep but managed to pull back at the last moment. Apollo turned his massive, lizard-like eyes on me, and I could sense his mourning. He loved Talina too, and this was no easier for the guides to be a part of.
I held back tears as I grazed Talina’s cheek with my fingertip. “Hold your hand to the cut. Slow the flow until I finish the rest of the girls,” I murmured, and then I took off at almost a sprint to reach the other five.
I made the same apology to each as I cut into their skin, and for the most part there was no condemnation in their eyes.
Sapha was the one I worried about the most. She did not understand the true power of blood. Her world did not know of lifeblood. But she didn’t fight me, and when I had finished and the first droplets of her essence flowed, she actually smiled.
“You are a good leader.”
Holy crap. I felt like I’d received a hundred gold stars from the teacher.
In the end, the only one that was left was me. I wasn’t sure if I could cut my own throat – probably should have thought about that earlier. Oh, well, time to give it a shot.
All eyes were on me as I raised the handle. Brace’s especially were burning a hole in my face. Reaching up, I felt around to find the right spot, before pressing the tip of the blade into my skin.
The first cut was hot, and quick. So fast that I didn’t feel the pain immediately. That numbness lasted only a second, and because the blade was infused with Walker energy, the following pain was so much more than I’d expected. The energy forced the wound to stay open. It felt like I was being cut over and over again. I dropped the blade.
Okay, we pour the energy into the prison, and we repeat the words.
All of us shuffled forward. The doorway of the prison was closed now, but we knew where it should be, and that was where we would bleed.
I uncupped my hand from around the wound in my neck. The warm trickle was steady as it splattered across my skin and onto the ground. I had to lean out so that my shirt didn’t soak up all the goodness. The other girls followed suit and then, using the conduit power, I poured our energy into the same space.