Celtic Rose (39 page)

“I’m free? Am I really free?” He moved into a sitting position still looking at her.

“Yes, Maulro, you’re really free,” Kallisto said and looked to Gabriel for confirmation. Gabriel nodded.

“The line is well and truly gone my friend. As long as you stay out of touching distance of Serena and Merrick, then they won’t be able to make the connection again.” Gabriel sat up and clapped Maulro on the shoulder. Maulro smiled at them both gratefully.

“It will take Serena and Merrick some time to find a new general to lead their army. You’ll have time to get the artifact and maybe even rest from your travels before she can find another. Now…” Maulro paused as he stood up, still smiling, “I’m off to find a calm life–maybe I’ll become a farmer.”

“Thank you Maulro, for letting me save you,” Kallisto said, standing. Maulro looked around at his men.

“You didn’t just save me, Princess. You saved all of them as well. Without me, Serena and Merrick cannot touch them.” He paused for a moment. “Do you think I’ll die a horrible death now? Without Serena and Merrick keeping me alive I’ll die. I’ve never died before—I’ve been alive for all these centuries.”

“You should be able to live your life and die naturally now. I wouldn’t worry,” Kallisto said smiling.

“Dying isn’t so bad, Maulro. I died naturally in my first life. Don’t fear death; live every day like it’s your last. and when the last day does come, embrace it with open arms.” Ephiny and Maulro hugged and as they parted, the rest of the group came up. Maulro received many hugs, claps on the shoulders, and handshakes. It was the closest any of them had gotten to Maulro, even in their first life. He may have let Kallisto hug him in their first life but it was as close as they got, and he may have spent time with Gabriel talking about weapons but he never really opened up. It was like they’d never seen him before–he was open and friendly.

Chapter 19

Maulro and his men left and the others were left to their journey. Since they didn’t have anyone chasing them, they were able to travel at a normal pace. Keira led the way. They were almost there. The sand turned to rock and rose higher. There were many tomb openings all around but they kept going. People apparently raided the tombs, because just looking through the mouths of them they seemed bare and empty. Still they traveled on, through taller and taller rock facings. It was as if they were walking between two cliffs. They reached the edge of the tall rocks and went around the side. From there nothing but sand and rock was as far as the eye could see.

Keira stopped after a little while longer and got off the camel, and they all followed suit. They didn’t see an opening anywhere, but none of them questioned her. She walked a short ways toward a large sandy hill. For a moment, Kallisto thought they’d have to dig their way in but Keira grabbed her and Kalan again, her tattoo’s started to glow, and then the sand started to glow and rumble just like the boulder had. It was strange to hear sand rumble, but it was more like the sound of an earthquake than a boulder being moved. As they felt the pull on their power, they could also feel Keira being drained. Kallisto turned and looked at William, who immediately came up and touched her. His power source flowed through them, and Kallisto felt Keira getting stronger and Kallisto watched as she stood up straighter and smiled. The sand started to shift and all of a sudden, the giant pile of sand rose up in the air, revealing a large rock face. They turned with Keira as she attempted to displace the sand to the side. They got it quite a ways from the tomb and dropped it. Instead of sounding like many tiny pieces of sand hitting individually it sounded like they dropped a larger boulder than before; it shook the ground they stood on. Keira released and stood without wavering. She smiled again and stretched.

“I’ve never been able to do anything like that. Until William came up I thought I was going to have to give up.” She turned to them. “Thank you for the experience. I feel great!” She started laughing and ran to Gabriel. Gabriel picked her up and spun her around. They kissed and Gabriel sat her down.

They walked toward the rock face and found an area with cracks all through it. “Can we get in through here, or do we need to find a door?” Kallisto asked as she felt the area. Gabriel walked up and shoved slightly; the area made a crackling sound.

“I can break through this easily, but if there’s anything of importance on the other side it’ll definitely get damaged.” Gabriel turned and looked at Keira. Since she’d already seen this place she was the most likely to know.

“Give me a second and I can tell you,” Keira said, walking forward. She placed her hands on the area and closed her eyes. Her tattoos started to glow. She stayed there for a moment and they could see her eyes moving behind her lids like she was searching. In the next moment, her eyes shot open and stayed wide. “We have a nasty little–or not so little–surprise waiting for us in there.” She turned to the others with a look of shock.

“What is it?” Kallisto asked, a little afraid of the answer.

“There’s a demon in there–a very mean one, too. He’ll rip us to shreds if he gets the chance. Large teeth and claws ripping into me is not a way I want to die. My worst fear is being eaten alive, and that’s what’ll happen if I go in there.” Keira shook her head and sat down, grabbing her head and holding it between her knees. Only a slight muffled sound came out, but it sounded as though she was screaming inside. Ephiny walked up to her and grabbed her hands. She pulled them away from her head and made Keira look at her.

“Stop this! You didn’t get that vision–the demon gave it to you! This thing doesn’t want us to come in there, and it’ll do everything in its power to keep us out. That demon is not in there by chance; someone had to summon it up, and Serena and Merrick have the power to do just that. This thing knows our very worst fears and it’ll use every single one of them to keep us away. But he can only hurt us if we lose faith. Now, you’ll stand up and face that demon with all the faith you have inside.” She looked up from Keira and looked around at the others, “We’ll all face it, and we’ll all leave the fight alive.”

“Ephiny’s right, we must do this. We can’t wait for the demon to leave. Once one is in place it can stay there indefinitely, until the job it was conjured to do is done, or until it’s destroyed. Now, since it’s been conjured to keep us away or kill us, it won’t leave until that job is done, so I vote we go in there, destroy it’s demonic behind, and get what we came for,” Gabriel said adamantly. William jumped over to Gabriel and clapped him on the shoulder, smiling.

“Yeah! What? Did you think we’d get here, get the necklace, and get out without a bit of problems? This whole curse has been nothing but one obstacle after another. The only way to do this is to come at it full on and get it done,” he said excitedly.

“Fine, we go in fighting; but how on earth do we fight a demon?” Kallisto asked, completely bewildered by the direction everything was going.

“Actually, we only need up to verse eighteen for this, so as long as you know it, we should be fine.” Smiling, Ephiny turned to Gabriel.

“Wait! We’re going in there spouting off scripture?” Kallisto said in shock. “How on earth is that going to help?” Ephiny inclined her head, looking at her.

“Fear not, Princess. It’s more than just
spouting off scripture
. You’ll see on the inside.” Ephiny returned her gaze to Gabriel. “Which of them do you think should be the armor bearer?”

“Whoa, whoa, wait. I take point, which means I’m in
front
of everyone. And that means what? That I’m going to fight this thing while the rest of you sit back and what, quote scripture?” Talus’ cheeks flushed in anger and the slight hint of fear.

Gabriel brought out his fierce smile and brought his face down directly into Talus’. He blinked and his jaw clenched in response, but he didn’t step back. “Yes, Talus, that’s exactly what it means.”

Talus stared at Gabriel. “I’m not William, Gabriel. I’ve always been civil to you. Now, back off.”

Gabriel chuckled and stepped back. Kallisto stared at them in shock.

“Sorry, Talus, just checking to see if you could handle it or if you’d turn tail and run. And now I know that you’ll fight with all your heart.” Gabriel started to turn away but Talus stopped him, grabbing his arm and turning him back. Gabriel looked at the hand on his arm and then at Talus. Talus never moved his hand, showing their protector he wasn’t afraid like the others. Kallisto hoped he wouldn’t need to learn to be afraid of Gabriel.

“Gabriel, I’m not a coward. I’ve fought in many wars throughout the years and I’ll fight until the day of my final death. You should’ve already known this after everything we’ve been through all these centuries.” Talus released his arm finally, but he’d waited until the look of rage left Gabriel’s face. He wasn’t going to show any fear to Gabriel. When Gabriel realized it, his expression softened. He clapped Talus on the shoulder and smiled brightly.

“Now you’ve just proven you can handle whatever this demon throws at you. I’ll tell you how this is going to work now.” Gabriel pulled Talus along with him. Kallisto followed. “You’ll be going in bare. No shoes, no socks, no shirt and you’ll need to be bleeding.” Talus froze and so did Gabriel. Kallisto stared at them both with fear in her eyes.

“Bleeding?” Talus asked.

“I’ll need to cut you across the chest, closest to your heart blood. It won’t be deep or severe; just enough to get the demon’s attention. The demon will think you’re vulnerable and unarmed. This’ll cause a type of feeding frenzy—bloodlust. He’ll attack fierce and hard, but it won’t be physical attacks. They’ll be mental, emotional, and spiritual. These are far worse than physical attacks. He’ll prey on your worst fears.” The moment Gabriel said that, Talus turned to look at Kallisto. He walked over to her, quickly wrapping his arms around her.

“Can he hurt her Gabriel? Will she be safe?” Talus held her tightly as he spoke. He kissed the top of her head. “My worst fear is losing her, Gabriel. Can he do anything to her? Please tell me.” Talus looked at Gabriel but never let her go. She clung to him just as tightly.

“Kallisto will be fine, Talus. The only thing the demon can do is play with your mind. It may show you horrible images and they may feel or seem real, but they won’t be. You must remember that or the demon will have you,” Gabriel said strongly, his voice tinged with desperation. Kallisto realized their survival depended on Talus’ ability to withstand the hallucinogenic demon attacks.

“Will I be able to let him know in some way that I’m fine?” Kallisto asked, pressing her ear against Talus’ chest, listening to the steady, sturdy beating of his heart.

Gabriel seemed to think for a moment and then pulled her out of Talus’s arms and started pulling her along. Kallisto had her footing and kept up well but Gabriel was being a little rough. Talus started after them.

“Stay there, Talus!” Gabriel ordered. “I need to do a little test. Don’t worry.” Gabriel kept walking as he spoke and Talus finally stopped. They trusted Gabriel with their lives but sometimes they worried about what his tests would entail. Gabriel and Kallisto went around the rock facing and disappeared from everyone’s sight. Kallisto wasn’t sure what he was up to, but by the anger radiating off him she could see he wasn’t happy about it. They went all the way around to the other side of the tomb before he stopped. He turned them facing each other and grabbed Kallisto’s shoulders. He closed his eyes and bowed his head which wasn’t a good sign. It usually meant Kallisto was about to feel pain in some way, shape, or form.

“Gabriel, you’re scaring me,” Kallisto said softly.

Gabriel opened his eyes and raised his head to look at her. “It’s not good that you know my intentions before I can carry them out,” he said with a grin, then his face sobered. “No, I can’t hurt you again. I’ve done too much already, so much already that you’re beginning not to trust me. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you again.” He let go of her and turned.

Kallisto sighed in relief. “What were you going to do anyway?” She asked curiously, then remembered that curiosity killed the cat. Gabriel turned back to face her, brandishing a knife in his hand. Her eyes widened and she started to back up, but the hurt look in his eyes made her stop.

“I’m not going to do anything to you, Kallisto, I promise. I was going to make a small cut, nothing big, just something small to see if Talus would feel it. You two should be able to feel what happens to each other by now. But I can’t do it, Kallisto. I can’t hurt you again. Please don’t be afraid of me.” Gabriel was earnest in his plea and looked so sad she couldn’t help but feel love for him. She ran up to him wanting to wipe that look from his eyes. He enveloped her in his arms and held her tightly. After a short time, she pulled away. She grabbed the knife from him quickly and slashed her arm. She didn’t do it deep but it was rushed and sunk in deeper than she’d planned. The blood ran down her arm immediately.

Talus came running around the corner as Gabriel knocked the knife from her hand and grabbed her arm. William was right behind him and the others came a few seconds later with Kalan in tow. His arm was slashed and bleeding, too. Kallisto had forgotten what would happen to Kalan. She felt guilty immediately.

“What’s going on? Why did you cut yourself?” Talus tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around her arm, trying to help stop the bleeding. Ephiny and Ramina were doing the same with Kalan.