walker saga 07 - earth (37 page)

A scream left me, and I wasn’t the only one. Every single girl in the bond mourned. I needed to wail and cry. Bursts of pain were rocking me so hard I couldn’t even breathe, but we were still locked in the deadly battle with the Seventine and had no extra energy to release our pain. To mourn our fallen. All the six of us could do was focus our gazes on the beautiful Spurn half – who no longer moved – and continue to drag the Seventine toward the prison.

Do not stop, Abby.
Fury was as serious as I’d ever heard her.
We’ve come too far now. Don’t let our sacrifice be in vain.

The next to fall was Eva.

It’s okay,
she whispered,
it was worth it to save the worlds. I couldn’t save my family, but I can save everyone else.

No! You’ll stay here with us. We’re your family too. You have to fight.

I held her faltering spark of life, as I had done with Talina’s, but just like before, I wasn’t strong enough.

Eva fell. The last drops of blood trickled from her still form, and then I could no longer feel her.

The pain in my heart was beyond anything I had ever experienced, and I was sure the only reason it had not burst apart in my chest was the fact that I was very close to losing consciousness myself. I knew what would happen then. I knew that if I fell, all of them would, because I was the conduit holding our bond and power together.

Sapha was next. T
hank you for saving Arotia, s
he said.
Tell Jedi … I appreciate everything he has done for me.

Even though I knew it was pointless, I still tried to keep her with us. Her shadow energy was more foreign than that of the other girls, but in the end, the results were the same. Her skin flashed in an array of colors before settling back to her beautiful rich soil color. Then she was no more.

My mind knew and accepted now that we would all die. I decided that was okay, as long as we saved the worlds and prevented the Seventine from severing the tether during the convergence. Our energy would hold the prison closed. Our friends and family would be safe.

Brace.

I opened the bond enough to reach him. The feel of his soul sent another shot of pain through my dying heart.

Let me through, Red. Don’t do this.

He couldn’t physically penetrate the barrier we’d set up, the one which closed in on the Seventine and dragged them to their prison. But we had our mental bond.

I … can’t. Have to … stop.

I was too weak to continue.

Brace’s yell was guttural, and I felt a slight lift in my energy as he forced his power into me. It was difficult for him to do this through the barrier, just small tendrils made it to me; it helped a little.

Ria fell next, and as my soul burned in agony, I fought for her too. I was going to fight for each of them. I would give no less to my girls. I couldn’t hold her.

Goodbye, my friend,
she murmured before her essence died.

Next was Delane, the warrior strong and stoic until the end.

Delane! No! … Figh … fight.

I wasn’t being fair. She had fought so hard, but I couldn’t let them go easily. Her spark slipped through my grasp. My arms faltered beneath me. I was down to my forearms, my knees barely keeping me aloft. The Seventine were above the prison entrance now. I held on, determined to make it to the end. It would be too late to save the girls. Or me. But the Seventine would never hurt any other again.

The first stared with those three black eyes. His voice shuddered. It seemed to cause him pain to speak. “We will have an eternity together.”

In that moment, the ground beneath the Seventine split open. The purple light flashed across everything, highlighting the stark desolation on the creeps’ faces.

Rot in hell!

With a final screech, which held horror, fear, pain and rage, the shells of the seven bodies collapsed in on themselves. Leaving behind nothing more than a rubbery skin on the ground.

I felt a splintering then. The ritual we’d set free was finishing. The moonstale and laluna stones were visible in the walls, flashing their shine of power.

With the last of our energy, Fury and I held on, pouring our blood and power into the prison. We had to make it to the end.

The entire cavern and mountain rumbled as the Seventines’ essence was again returned to the prison. I screamed. Fury screamed. And then I felt her slipping from me.

No … you’re strongest,
I stuttered.
I need you
.

I couldn’t lose them all.

Love y…

She never finished, her life fleeing from me, and then I was alone in my bond.

The moment our bond fell, so did the barrier we’d erected during the ritual. I held desperately to consciousness, forcing myself to resist the slippery edges of the blackness which wanted to wash over me. The prison closed then, the ground sealing off. In my fuzziness I thought it odd that there was nothing there to mark the stone. It was as if we hadn’t just expelled a zillion gallons of very precious half-Walker blood on it. It had taken our offering and the Seventine were gone from the world. No longer able to sever tethers or destroy everyone.

But I had lost them. My girls. They were gone.

A sort of deliriousness swamped me. I was alert enough to hear the cries, to see the men as they gathered their mates to their chests. The sacred animals’ cries were ear-shattering as they curled around their girls.

Dune was in my direct line of sight. He held Fury, who looked small and slender, white hair flashing all over the place. He didn’t cry at first, but as he tenderly touched her face, brushing back her hair, I saw that the tears were silently tracking along his red cheeks. The stoic Crais nomad looked more lost than ever before. He looked destroyed.

My lashes fluttered closed as warmth surrounded me.

“Baby … no, don’t you leave me.”

My lashes flickered again and Brace’s beautiful face came back into view. He had been with me from the moment the barrier fell, and I never even realized. His eyes were black, but shiny. Like he was trying hard to keep it together.

I felt warmth on my throat and knew he was healing the wound; it wouldn’t be enough. Using his face as an anchor, I tried to stay with him. I would never willingly leave him. But as my lashes stopped fluttering, I couldn’t seem to find the will to reopen my eyes. I pressed back against the darkness that engulfed me, but it was too big. It was everywhere.

Brac …

I had to tell him I loved him. I had to put in the few words I had left how he was my everything. That with him in my life the last year had been the best I could ever imagine. But I failed at that also.

I know, baby. You’re my everything too. I will not let you leave me.

I took comfort in the fact that he sensed my final emotions through our bond. It was enough. I could hold on no longer. His angry howls were the last thing I heard before my heart stuttered and stopped for the last time.

Chapter 19

Children of Gods, born unknown and alone,

the seven are needed to eliminate. Take heed,

for baby will not live till four and one year

unless removed from the world here.

The youngest and strongest to collect.

Lost and alone, a god-man is the key.

Gather the Halflings, stone and fear.

The end of days is written in mineral.

I registered the hum of prophecy. It was everywhere, in, over and through me. I was awake, but it took me moments to register that. Then with a snap I remembered everything with bright and instant clarity.

We had defeated the Seventine. We had all died. And I had left Brace and my soul in the mortal realm.             

I wanted to fall in on myself. I wanted to howl and scream out the utter well of pain and agony festering inside. I had lost everyone.
My girls.
As their faces filtered across my mind, familiar sensations shot through me, giving me pause – I could feel my girls still. How could that be so? I knew they were gone – I’d watched as their life drained away. Were they here too, in this weird afterlife I was rocking?

Speaking of – where the hell was I?

For the first time I took a second to pay attention to my surroundings. In my head I habitually reached for that section of my mind which Brace occupied. But there was nothing there. My soul screamed for him, the pain so raw and fresh that I wondered how I could survive even one second of this afterlife, let alone an eternity.

I was broken, trapped in a misty place – white – clouded in an iciness that would be breath-stealing. Except I wasn’t cold. I knew it was cold, but it didn’t affect me.

The words of the prophecy started again. Echoing around, filling my body.

Was this my afterlife? Stuck in the land of icy mists with the damn prophecy which had altered my entire life playing on repeat.

Great! Thanks, Abby, for saving the worlds. Here, have a hellhole to live in. No Brace. No Lucy. No half-Walkers. No food.

Was I actually hungry? I was dead, for freak’s sake.

I was feeling pissed off and a whole lot underappreciated. Didn’t seem like the afterlife had made me all saint-like and accepting of shitty things.

I lifted my arm and examined the marks which still littered my skin. I looked the same. I had expected my shell would be gone, but it wasn’t. I started to move, wanting to explore this world and figure out what had happened.

Of course, as I moved so did the mist, so no matter where I stepped, I could see nothing more.

“Hello!” My shout was loud, but didn’t echo. There were no acoustics in my hellhole.

“Hello.”

I jumped about ten feet in the air.

The Mother of All appeared out of the mist.

We stared for an infinite amount of time, before finally I spoke.

“Where am I?”

Her voice was all tinkly as she stepped closer. “You are in the land between the planes.”

Planes? “Like planes of existence?”

“Yes, I managed to capture the rest of your essence before it was lost. I brought you here to give you back enough energy so you could return to your vessel.”

The choked up feeling was in my chest and throat again. “Why?” I managed to croak out.

“You have sacrificed much, given more than any could expect.”

It was no more than most would have given. “I didn’t have much choice. I would have preferred not to die.”

She laughed and it reminded me of tinkling chimes, chirping birds and the warmth of summer.

“You held on to each of your friends. You fought for them long after they were gone. You did not give up and now … the gods will not give up on you.”

“Will the girls return also?” A flickering of hope.

“Their essence was not free for me to capture. I cannot help you with them.” The light voice dropped, and I sensed she wished she could have answered differently.

Gods, I wished she had answered differently.

The Mother took another step toward me. And now, unlike in her realm, I could see her clearly. She was shrouded in white, but her skin was dark and creamy. Milk chocolate. Her eyes were large and ringed in kohl, and she had the longest, darkest lashes I’d ever seen.

“You will return now, to the life you left. Your soul will be one with the vessel again. You will still hold small portions of your original power, but it will be nothing like you had. The bulk of the original power is again in the prison. Never to be freed.”

“How can I survive without it?”

The originals hadn’t been able to survive.

“You were born of three entities. Walker father, First World mother, and original energy. All you have lost is the original energy. You are more than the loss of one part.”

My hybrid nature was the reason I had survived, the reason the Mother could return me.

“Why is the prophecy spoken here?”

The words were still there, faint in the background.

“This was your last fate. It was attached to your essence. Now that you have fulfilled this calling, it will leave you. A new fate will be born.”

Great, she talked in riddles like Francesc –

I cut off the thought. I couldn’t think of my aunt right then … or Quarn ... or the girls. I needed to keep that pain and anger tucked away in my little box. I needed to get back to Brace before he tore apart the seven worlds that we had sacrificed so much to save.

“Are you ready to return?”

I nodded once. “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be forever grateful to you.”

“It is the gods who are grateful,” she trilled, and then with a wave of her hand a veil of darkness returned to me.

An instant passed, no more than a speck of time. That was all it took for me to travel between the planes of the white misty world and First World. I returned to the sensation of hot energy pouring into me.

“Abigail … please. Wake up. Brace, you have to do more; it’s not working.”

Lucy’s voice was the first sound then there was pain. So much freaking pain. My entire body hurt despite the softness below me. Still, my soul sung with pure joy to be home.

Red.
The word was ragged, Brace’s usual smooth accent gone.

He was broken. I had broken the strongest being I knew.

What’s up, baby?
I tried to joke, even though pain was making me its bitch right about then.

Red …

I forced my eyes open. It took more than one attempt, but focus eventually filtered in. I was not in the cave any longer, which explained the soft surface. I was in my room at the beach house. Brace was on one side of me, Lucy on the other, and Colton stood at the foot of the bed, on guard or something.

I struggled to sit up. Despite the Mother’s help, my energy was still almost depleted. I wasn’t worried, though. My Walker side would repair the damage in no time. Helped along by the flood of hot energy my mate continued pushing through my limbs.