Lasandra seemed like a hot-headed, battle-everything sort of woman.
Brace chuckled. “She didn’t leave easily, but luckily I had Caty to use as a guilt-inducing incentive. She gets all riled up to protect her children. I just had to remind her that Caty would need her if … the Seventine win.”
No doubt Lasandra would take her daughter and escape to another star system before the convergence.
The path was starting to lighten now, and I knew we were approaching the end of the dark mountain. Tension slithered across the group; everyone was rigid as they strode out.
It was early morning on First World now. There wasn’t much light, just enough to highlight the hard eyes and jutted chins of us all. Our sacred guides had shrunk to their smallest sizes and remained close to our sides.
It was still disconcerting to glance down and find a snake as wide as my thigh cruising along beside me, but I wasn’t afraid of Sass any longer. When we’d joined in the Mother’s realm, a bond had formed between all of us. I understood now that just because the outer shell was scary, the inside was beautiful and ancient. The aura of the sacred animals had a base color of cream and gold. Then each of them had power colors woven through. Red, light-green and purple featured heavily. When I opened my senses it was like being splashed with a rainbow. I found this ability really wicked, actually. Before my Walker half had fully developed, I’d been so blind. Seeing with my eyes and not my power.
There were lots of noise and crowds on the outside. We drew attention from all of those around us, and more than one being bowed as we passed. A pounding sound echoed, growing louder as a brunette male burst into view. He wore no identifying marks, but I could sense his energy. He was Walker – Abernath to be precise.
Brace stepped toward him. “Thank you, Trent, I appreciate you getting this for me so quickly.”
I had absolutely no idea what my mate was talking about until the tall, lanky Abernath handed over a small sack. It looked to be made of hessian or something, and the base bulged with whatever was inside.
As Trent disappeared again, Brace opened the bag. “You all need to take a moment and replenish yourselves,” he said to the half-Walkers. “Walker energy isn’t limited by hunger or thirst, but neither is it strong without sustenance. You need to be as strong as you possibly can be.”
I nodded in a few short bursts. “Yes, Brace is right. But we have only moments, so eat, drink and get your shit together. The Seventine are out there, and we’re all that stands between them and the end of the worlds.”
The girls moved forward and pulled breads, fruits and small energy drinks from the bag. I knew that green concoction was from the faeries, and it was potent. I’d had it once. Still, it might give us all a much needed boost.
Jedi caught my attention then, waving at me as he left. My heart stuttered as I watched the dark-skinned male disappear through the crowd. I hoped he would figure this out and return with something positive for us.
I wasn’t the only one to watch him until he was sucked into the masses. Blood-red eyes remained locked on him until the last second. Then Sapha and I clashed gazes, and I could practically see my reflection in the glassiness of her eyes. She was scared. We all were.
We ate in silence. There was no enjoyment in the food. It was purely about filling a need. I took an extra moment to use one of the portable bathrooms that had been set up. It was a relief to wash away some of the grime on my face and hands.
It was as I was crossing back to Brace that an explosion of energy rocked me.
For a moment the rush of power was deafening, and it was difficult to remain standing. Then it was over.
I started to run and didn’t stop until I was next to the half-Walkers. I almost screamed as I took in the scene which lay out in the center of the ash-filled plane. It took my brain forever to catch up with what my eyes were seeing. It was only seconds, but felt like hours I stood there trying to catalogue the devastation.
When we’d ventured inside earlier the battle had been small, limited to pockets outside the dark and blackened mountain range. The clans and other races had been keeping it at bay, and mostly were just mingling, training and battle-planning.
Now there was a crater the size of a football field in between the Seventines’ army and our people. It was as if a bomb had been dropped right on top of us, many bodies littering the center of the circle.
I choked back a sob. I could see the victims were a mix of Walkers, pixies, First Worlders. At least fifty were down. I had no idea if it was anyone that I knew, but even so, they were all someone’s person. And that was not okay.
“No more delays,” Delane said.
Her normally yellow-toned skin had blotches of pink across it. “The Seventine are just getting started. We must fight now, or the casualty rate will be astronomical.”