Guardians of the Akasha (12 page)

“Oh, Justin. I’m sorry, but can we do it tomorrow? I am really tired.”

“No! We have to go now, before it gets dark. She hides them in the night and then it’s really difficult to find them. Please Keira, you promised! Amber’s mom said she can’t go, she has to help in the kitchen or something, so it is just you and me.”

Keira looked at Justin’s expectant face; she’d already said “No” once today, she couldn’t bring herself to say it again.

It’s not as if he’s asking me to save the world or anything.

“All right, let me get a jacket. Wait for me by the front door, okay?”

“Okay!” Justin called as she opened her door. “Be sure to get comfy shoes, we have to walk a bit!”

“Oh great,” Keira grumbled.

She was still distracted when she arrived at the front door and jumped when a tall figure stepped out from the shadows.

“Mind if I join you?” Marco asked.

“I thought you were inspecting the guards—or something,” Keira answered, suddenly breathless.

“All done,” he said. “Besides, it gets dark quickly in these woods. I will go with you. It is not a good idea to be outside the walls at night.”

“Outside the walls? Why are your dogs outside the walls?” Keira asked.

“Come on you guys!” Justin called and Marco didn’t have a chance to answer as they hurried across the courtyard. They stopped at a small wooden door set in the outer wall next to the raised drawbridge. A guard emerged from the shadows. “Out again Justin?” he asked.

“Hi Frank. Yeah, I want to show Keira the pups. Don’t worry, Marco is going with us.” The guard let them pass. Keira could hear him lock the door behind them, then a clunk as he dropped a wooden bar across it as an extra precaution.

She followed Justin as he skipped down stone steps leading to the moat. They got into a small wooden boat, and Marco took up the oars and rowed them to the opposite bank. Justin hopped out, tied the boat to a wooden post, and disappeared down the road without waiting for them to catch up.

Marco held his hand to Keira and helped her out of the boat.

Stop it!
Keira scolded herself as his touch burned electric tingles up her arm.

He led the way as they followed in the direction Justin had taken. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Marco turned off the road, down an almost invisible path through the undergrowth. The trees closed above them and it was as if they were slowly submerging into an underwater world, filled with hushed sighs and whispers. It became progressively darker and Keira was suddenly glad that Marco had come along.

She loved the woods on her family’s estate and used to slip out at all times of the night to wander among the trees with only a small flashlight to light her way. Yet here, the woods felt less friendly, less welcoming. It was as if they resented the humans’ intrusion.

Just as Keira was seriously considering turning around, Justin stood waiting for them.

“Where are the—”

“Ssshhhh!” he whispered. “Follow me, Keira. I have to warn them that you are coming, although they probably know already,” and he disappeared into the trees.

“Oh, bloody hell!” she muttered and heard an amused chuckle. She glared back at Marco as she made her way forward down the footpath and promptly stumbled over a rock. She gasped and stretched her hands out to break her fall, but Marco was there to catch her and swung her up into his arms, lifting her off the ground.

Keira’s breath caught in her throat and she instinctively flung her arms around his neck. He carefully, slowly, put her back down until she stood on her feet.

Time seemed suspended.

Marco gave a soft groan as his arms circled tighter around her waist.

Oh, this feels so right
, Keira thought, making no attempt to break free.

“Hey, you two, come on!” Justin called. Keira heard a frustrated sigh from above her head and couldn’t stop a small smile from forming around her lips. She allowed Marco to take her hand and lead her on down the path.

He is as affected as I am
, Keira thought.
But how is that possible? We don’t even know each other
. She couldn’t help but wish her friends were here, it would have been great to ask their advice. She had no doubt that Sammy would be cheering her on, while Alison would caution her to take it slow.

In a clearing in the woods, they found Justin sitting in the grass, playing with three grey pups, their tails wagging and ears erect. They bared their teeth and mock stalked each other, pouncing and rolling, getting up and chasing each other through the grass. On either side of him were two huge adult wolves, staring directly at Keira. Growls rumbled in their throats.

“Oh!” Keira gasped.

“Move very slowly,” Marco warned and led her cautiously closer.

“Cool it!” Justin said and poked one of the wolves in the ribs with his elbow. Instead of attacking, the wolf gave him an embarrassed look and the rumbling stopped.

Keira felt her mouth hanging open and quickly closed it when Justin laughed.

“It’s okay, Keira. Come closer and I’ll introduce you. This is Ylva,” he said, pointing to the female. “And this Varg,” he pointed to the male.

Keira carefully extended her hand, palm up, to let the female wolf sniff her. A pair of very intelligent amber eyes locked with hers and there was a familiar rush of warm emotion as she connected with Ylva.

They’re no different from my friends at home!
she thought with relief, and laughed when she picked up on Ylva’s indignation at being compared to the small red foxes Keira played with as a child.

“She likes you!” Justin smiled. That seemed to give the rest of the pack permission to come forward and introduce themselves to Keira. Now completely at ease, she sat down in the clearing and was soon surrounded by jumping pups and eight more curious adults.

She glanced up, looking for Marco. He leaned against a nearby tree, arms folded, and watched her with burning intensity. She immediately turned away, hiding behind the veil of her long hair, and immersed herself in stroking the nearest wolf.

It seemed like only minutes had passed before Marco interrupted their play.

“Come, we have to get back to the castle,” he said.

“Aawww, Marco! Just a little longer!” Justin begged.

“Sorry, Justin; it’s nearly dusk. We have a formal dinner with all the Council members this evening. Victoria wouldn’t want us to be late.”

“I can’t believe it is so late already!” Keira stood up, stiff from the cold ground and brushed off her jeans.

Sudden snarls erupted from all the wolves around her, causing her to jump back at the unexpectedness of it. Marco was at her side in a flash.

“What’s going on?” Keira cried in alarm.

Marco held his hand up in silent command and everyone, wolves included, froze and listened. Distant booms and crashes sounded from the direction of the castle. The man and the boy looked at each other and an unspoken discussion seemed to flow between them.

“Excuse me! Could you tell me what’s happening?” Keira snapped, her patience stretched to breaking point by the currents of tension that whipped around the clearing.

“The castle is under attack. You are staying with Justin, follow him, he knows what to do,” Marco said.

“My aunt—I’m going with you!”

“No! You stay away from this. I’ll come back for you as soon as I can. Justin, wait here with her.”

Keira merely stared up at Marco; her determination reflected in her eyes.

“I am coming with you,” she said.

He gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine, but only to the edge of the woods. Stay away from the walls!”

Justin looked at Keira; his young face tense as he tried to hide his fear. “It’s okay, Keira, I’ll look after you,” he said and took her hand.

The wolves surrounded the humans as they melted into the trees, trying to be as quiet as possible. Marco led them on a different route back to the draw-bridge. Keira’s anxiety had a tight grip on her throat. They couldn’t see the castle yet, but could hear loud explosions and voices screaming. Faint blue flashes lit the air above the trees.

Marco started running. Keira and Justin followed as fast as they could, but he easily outran them.

“Stay here!” he yelled at them before he disappeared around a bend in the path.

Keira and Justin reached the edge of the woods and they froze in their tracks. The castle was illuminated in the dusk ahead of them. The draw-bridge was down and the big gates thrown open.

Marco disappeared into the chaos that reigned in the courtyard. Sporadic bolts of energy lit the scene; a swarm of black-clad figures outnumbered the Draaken and Council members who were fighting side by side.

“Justin!” she whirled around to the boy. “Stay here, I’m going to help!” She ran down the path, scarcely hearing Justin crying out behind her, pleading with her to stay with him.

The wolves ran beside her, eager to join the fight, their tongues lolling and white fangs bared. As she reached the draw-bridge, a pack of something resembling dogs erupted from the inner courtyard. Keira screamed and threw her arms over her head, but the wolves were there and the two packs ran at each other with a crash. The fighting began in a blur of snarls and flying fur. Ylva grabbed a dog nearly twice her size by its throat, shaking and tearing with ferocious determination.

Then Keira ran into her own battle.

Out of nowhere, a huge fist connected with Keira’s shoulder, sending her forward, flat on her stomach, her hands bloodied as they scraped on the rough stone. As she looked up at her attacker, a shimmer of energy hit his body and the man fell sprawling back on the cobblestones. His sightless eyes stared up at the stars. Zina stepped closer and pulled Keira to her feet.

“You must get out of here. You have not been trained for this!”

Keira looked around in a daze. “Where is Aunt Victoria?”

“I don’t know. She was in the Great Hall when the attack started. Come back!” Zina shouted as Keira went running across the courtyard.

She swerved to avoid people who were lashing bolts of energy at each other, some of which rebounded off the castle walls and sent splinters of rock ricocheting through the air.

The stench of burning hair stung in her nose and she wanted to cover her ears against the thundering explosions and screams of the wounded and dying.

Suddenly, she was surrounded. A circle of sneering figures stepped forward, closing in on her as she turned around, looking for an escape.

She could see Marco behind them. Attackers swarmed him from all sides as he fought to reach her. His mouth formed her name, but the word got lost in the deafening noise.

Terror threatened to overwhelm Keira. One of the men snickered in anticipation and she felt the sizzling, crackling build-up of their power in the air as it reached its climax and they prepared for the kill.

Keira took a shuddering breath, then another. A last glance showed her that Marco was no closer, no one could help her. She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed back the hysterical girl inside of her who cried she’d never be able to do this, who wanted to give up and run away.

Reaching into the deepest part of her psyche, Keira blocked out the external noise, soothed her internal chaos, and allowed her soul to connect with the space around her. Without hesitation she stepped into the Akasha and when she opened her eyes again, there was a moment’s hesitation in the circle closing in on her. The moment was all she needed.

Keira unleashed her fury. She was lost in the whirlpool of her own power swirling like a tornado around her. Screams of terror wrenched from her victims and tore through the air like nails on a blackboard. They fought each other to flee from the young woman they were ready to kill only moments before, but a vortex of swirling energy lifted them from their feet and flung them over the thirty-foot boundary wall.

Keira didn’t feel her feet leave the ground. She hovered, the very centre of her being connected with the Akasha. Wind howled and thunder crashed with a violence that made the earth shudder. Lightning streaked down from the sky and incinerated two would-be assassins who took their comrades’ place in front of her.

She floated toward the front doors of the castle, where Victoria stood on the top step. Her aunt was holding off four men, arms whirling and near-invisible heat waves shooting from her hands into their bodies.

“Keira, get back! Run!” Victoria screamed, agonising fear for Keira’s safety etched on her face.

“I am not leaving you,” Keira’s voice echoed, amplified by the power surging through her body.

All around them battles were being fought, but gave way before Keira as if pushed aside by an invisible wave. She passed Rafael and Chloe, fighting back-to-back and saw Adam with two men hanging off his arms on either side. Chetan threw fire bolts at his attackers, while trying to block return fire. Keira only focused on reaching her aunt.

I’m coming. Nearly there
, she tried to communicate to Victoria.

At that very moment time slowed to a crawl. A bolt of black energy hit Victoria squarely on the chest. Her eyes widened, searched for and found Keira’s. A small, almost apologetic smile appeared around her lips. It was as if she wanted to say one last thing.

Victoria stretched her arms out to Keira—tumbled forward—and fell in a small heap at the bottom of the steps.

Keira screamed. The vortex around her disappeared as shock and horror wiped out any semblance of control she had over her powers. She ran the last few feet towards Victoria and fell on her knees beside her.

“Aunt Vic—get up. Please get up!” she cried.

Through the dust and falling rocks, the deafening roar of people locked in mortal combat, Keira could only see the woman in her arms. Everything else was blocked out, unidentifiable white noise in the background. Around them the battle raged, but the tide had turned in the Watchers’ favour as shock and horror stunned the Draaken.

Keira and Victoria were isolated in a bubble of silence. She picked shards of glass out of her aunt’s hair and softly wiped a dust streak off her cheek.