It was a veritable explosion of energy. The ground beneath us shook. The air around us shimmered. And the dragoonas who had been about to dive and make minced meat of us were no longer in the sky. For the first time since joining all the half-Walkers as seven, we were all able to remain coherent and standing. The massive tidal wave of energy spread between us and our animals. It was almost visible in waves around us, flowing out from one girl and her animal to the next.
I could feel each of them. The same way I sensed the elemental power of my girls, I sensed the ancient power of the sacred animals. Oh, my. We’d had no idea of their energy. It was so well contained, but they were packing a punch. It was an energy unlike any I’d felt before, even unlike the Seventine. Not cold but warm, so intoxicatingly warm that I wanted to run into them and wrap that feeling around myself and never come out again.
The bond between each of the half-Walkers and her guide was visible. The golden tethers joined all of us, and then there were smaller links between each girl and her animal. Cerberus and mine was a red, deep and rich, like the color of my hair and marks.
Oh, hell yeah, this is totally more like it! Fury’s tone was exuberant as she felt the full swell of the power we held.
It was slightly intoxicating. I would have to work hard to keep some of the girls from losing their heads. Blond hair caught my eye and I realized that this was the first time Eva had been in a bond like this. I expected a reaction from her, a comment or observation. But she was strangely silent. I was starting to think she was having a little breakdown, when she suddenly snapped back to life.
You have a weak right knee, she said to Delane.
The slight rise of the warrior-Walker’s eyebrows and slackening of her jaw was enough to show her disbelief.
The Angelica answered, yes, it was crushed during a battle. I regenerated, but it’s never been the same.
I’d never noticed her favor the left leg, or show a lack of dexterity in any of her battles. She was scary at times, my warrior-Walker.
You would never notice. I’m trained to withstand pain, I don’t show my weaknesses. Delane had picked up on my thoughts. How did you know? Her inner voice wavered minutely as she turned to stare at Eva.
The Earth half shifted on the spot. Lugi, her lycan, sidled closer, comforting her. I don’t know. Could this be a part of my power?
Explain to everyone what your power was like on Earth, I said.
I could see dead people, the spiritual essence left behind. They would sometimes warn me of things, depending how much awareness remained.
We all knew her ability was ‘spirit’ and I was starting to get a pretty decent idea of what that entailed.
What are you thinking, Abby? Ria’s keen observations missed nothing.
I think that Eva sees the spirit or soul within us all. On Earth, where her powers were muted, she could only sense the powerful resonance left behind by those who were no longer physically present. Josian had told me once that the physical body blocked much of the spiritual from our sight. But here, joined with all of us, she sees our souls. And the soul keeps no secrets.
Eva’s eyes almost bulged out of her head at this information. Yes, it’s clearer now. I’m … sensing your injuries, weaknesses, fears.
She could sense weaknesses? Well, now things just got interesting.
Chapter 13
“There has to be a way to use this to our advantage.” Delane had switched it up, speaking outside of our link. She believed that changing our communication method from internal to external strengthened our bond. “If Eva can find the weaknesses of the Seventine then we have a much stronger chance of beating them.”
She was right. “Okay, since we’re running out of time.” The Mother of All could send us back at any moment. “Let’s try these powers out.”
Our past experiences as a joined unit of power had me as the one who controlled the energy. I could push it toward any of the girls and then together we would ignite her elemental power. Since this was what we knew, we started out the same way. The six of them reached for their energy. Eva took a few moments longer, but quickly caught on.
Boom! The world exploded; fire, water, wind, shadows and plants wrapped around us all and within seconds the sky was no longer visible. Okay. Well, apparently the girls did not need me to control the power any longer. As a unit of seven – plus our guides – the power was complete and we all held equal control.
The swirl of energy continued above our heads. We had done this once before, joined our elements together. The last time we had formed a storm of sorts. It was brutal and uncontrollable. I had cut off the energy before we could do any damage. Today, though, on the Mother’s realm, I was no longer the one to control the push and pull of power. We had an equal balance. And as the storm above us raged, I knew it would take all of us to bring it back within our grasp.
This is wicked! The pitch of Fury’s voice rose. She had been a little pissed at me last time; I was the spoil sport who wouldn’t let our weird powers smash out of control and destroy planets.
No, it’s not. Uncontrollable power can just as easily turn back on itself. We must gain control. The queen in Ria was out in full force.
“Yes, we must,” Delane agreed.