Immortal Essence Box Set: Aligned, Exiled, Beguiled (49 page)

Zaren swung around. “The king and queen ordered your death. I had no choice.” The words ripped from his throat. His sorrow so palpable I felt it. 

I was stunned. He and Palamina had been husband and wife? He’d never mentioned her, that part of his life. And he was forced to kill her on orders from my parents. I wondered what she was like before Ramien altered her? I wondered if Zaren kissed her the way he kissed me? I wondered . . .

“Show no mercy. These
things
won’t,” Zaren yelled, but his face belied his anger. He pulled the smaller sword from over his right shoulder and handed it to me.

“What are they?” I asked, trying to understand. When he didn’t answer, I muttered, “Got it.” One thing was certain, come
helker
or high water, Palamina was mine. “Dervinias. Palmo. Are you prepared to fight?” I asked over my shoulder. 

“No,” Palmo hollered. He stood over the door, studying the words in the riddle.

Chev was crying again. Dervinias held her, rocking.

No matter. It was two against three.

Those aren’t bad odds, I thought standing next to Zaren.

“Come on,” I shouted. With all the power I possessed, I brought the sword down on Palamina’s body, slicing her in two with one blow.

Palamina let out an agonizing scream. She dropped her sword, and touched her hands to her body. Black blood gushed through her fingers. Her top half of her body slid from the bottom half and fell to the ground with a stomach-turning thud.

Zaren sucked in his breath. “Venus . . .”

He didn’t finish, and I moved on to the next soldier. Maybe I’d kill them all before they could fight.

This would be an easy first challenge. Ramien would need to do better than send a few altered souls.

Before I could finish the thought though, the
something
the soldiers waited for happened.

Water. Gallons of it pushed its way through cracks in the ceiling, sending chunks of concrete, dirt, and debris down on our heads. The water broke through the walls, cascading like waterfalls. It was seawater, cold and pungent. A thick dread settled in my stomach. Not more water. 

A large piece of debris smacked Palmo on the head, sending him down hard into the foot deep water. He howled, sputtering. Zaren went over and lifted him to his feet.

“Watch yourself,” Zaren said.

The room was filling up with water quickly.

“No,” I whispered, feeling an unseen hand circle my throat.

Zaren returned to my side, but shouted, “Dervinias!”

“What?”

“You and Palmo work out the riddle. We need to get the door opened.”

“Will do.”

“Venus,” Zaren spun me toward him. “You’re going to be fine. We’re going to be fine. I’ll be right here beside you. Okay?”

I felt frozen, helpless against the rising water.

It is just water, Venus. It is just water. I repeated the phrase over and over in my mind, searching for the angry resolve I possessed moments ago.

Tortevia came to my rescue with a roar in my ears.
Push away your fears, child.

She was right. This was not the time to panic.

“Zaren, I’m good.”

He nodded, planting a kiss on my cheek. “Excellent.”

But, when Palamina’s body reassembled itself, a pang of doubt filled my heart.

11. Never Said

“Are you ready for a rematch?” the female soldier asked.

“Don’t you know it,” I answered, deflecting her blade with mine. We traded blows, the sound of metal biting metal echoing around the room. It was hard to hear anything except the falling water, and the clang of our swords. The other two soldiers went after me, but Zaren blocked their weapons. I noted the swords they swung looked like the revered Formytian’s Ostwallow blades and I wondered if they truly were.

I didn’t have to speculate long though because the female soldier’s blade caught me on my bicep, and filleted my flesh. Celestrum leaked from the wound. 

“
Awwww
,” I cried. “Zaren, their swords are Ostwallow. Be careful.” Even as I said the words, I marveled at the possibility. Ostwallow blades chose their guardians. They were the only weapons on Kelari able to kill a kelvieri, their death song as unique as the guardian the blade chose.

“I noticed. Be careful, and go for the eyes. Cutting them out is what destroys them,” Zaren said, his words huffing at my back.

With Zaren so close, the female soldier fixated on him. She pushed me into another soldier. I heard the she-leopard, Palamina, roar and lunge for Zaren. This time Zaren was prepared, and met her blow for blow.

I went after the other soldier’s eyes. He was strong, stealthy. His only sounds were grunts every once in a while as he blocked or launched a particularly strong blow.

“Dervinias,” I shouted, noticing the water reached my knees. “Figured out the riddle?”

“Yeah. Yeah. We’re working on it.”

I let out a howl. Stepping forward, I shoved my elbow upward, into the soldier’s nose. He stumbled backward. As he fell, I sliced off his sword-bearing arm. It landed in the water with a splash the same time his body did. Ignoring the black blood bruising the water, and the look of suffering on the soldier’s face, I jabbed the edge of my blade into each eye. When I finished, the body shuddered and vanished.

Shaken, I turned to see if Zaren needed any help. Highly unlikely, but I wanted to make sure. His face was a mask of determination. Palamina mocked him.

“Do you remember that night under the
layatha
tree, the night you first told me you love me?” she asked, her voice laced with condemnation.

“Don’t talk like her,” he growled.

“Zaren?” I whispered, afraid.

He heard me and turned slightly. “Venus, don’t worry.” He gave me a quick smile. “Love you,” he mouthed.

It was as though everything went into slow motion. Zaren blinked and a droplet of water rolled off his long, dark lashes. He flexed his sword-bearing arm as he prepared to face Palamina. The muscles in his abdomen and along his waist tightened.

Before he had a chance to defend himself, Palamina used his distraction—me—to her advantage. I knew what she intended as she proceeded to step behind Zaren. The water splashed against her boots, and thighs. A great sadness overtook her face, but didn’t slow her down. She brought up her sword and drove it through his ribs, directly into his
epsis
. A look of disbelief passed over Zaren’s face, followed by softness, and then peace.

“What? No.” It was like I watched a movie in slow motion. One where I knew the way it ended. Knew the good guys conquered all, and the hero would win. The guy and girl would triumph and be together forever. But the ending had suddenly changed. The hero died and evil won. No happily ever after. No love conquering all. Not even close. My feet wouldn’t move. I cursed myself as I watched Zaren fall into the water. The soldier—Palamina—caught him before he went under, cupping his head in her hand. She lowered herself so their noses were only inches apart.

This was all wrong. I wanted to scream. But nothing came.

“Palamina,” Zaren whispered.

“I’m so sorry,
Zar-Zar
. Forgive me, darling.”

What the
cret
? In this ending, the guy loved another girl, and that girl called him
Zar-Zar
. I suddenly wondered if I had died and this was my own personal hell.

“Only if you can forgive me, my Mina,” Zaren choked out, a smile splayed over his lips.

A smile! I was so confused.

Zaren closed his eyes.

The soldier lightly touched his lips with hers. “I have,” she whispered, and then she let out a huge, mournful roar.

I matched hers with one of my own. Crashing through the water, I raged toward her. She stood, lifting Zaren’s body over her shoulder.

“Palamina, is it?” I seethed.

“Yes.”

“By the gods, if you don’t put him down, I will destroy you.” My words trembled with a fury hard to contain.

“Sweet, Venus. I’m already dead. This body is one Ramien gave me. I am a
Kyonshi
.”

I couldn’t help but pause. The
Kyonshi
were better known as the Warriors of the Dead. But they were the demons of fairy tales. Make believe. “You-you killed him,” I stated matter-of-factly because I felt too numb to do anything else.

She dropped her sword, and nodded. “Only his body. Consider that. Stay strong, Venus.” With her words, she and Zaren vanished.

12. Barely Breathing

“I think we’ve figured it out,” Palmo said.

He sounded like he was far away, at the other end of long tunnel.

“Venus?”

I was being shaken, but couldn’t snap out of it. I kept seeing Zaren drop, hearing him whisper to the
Kyonshi
, watching him die. My guardian.
My personal Formytian.
My
Zaren.

Gone!

A storm brewed. Lightning struck, burning my immortal heart, ripping it to shreds. Tears pressed against my eyes. Trapped by a barrier, they grew higher and higher, the pressure getting stronger and stronger. I wanted to burst.

“Venus, the water!”

I snapped out of it. The water was at my chest. My clothes clung to my body, the way my grief clung to my insides. “Have you figured out the riddle yet?” I asked, breathless. If I wanted to save the others I needed to concentrate.

“Almost. So far it says: To open the door.” He shrugged. 

“Well, hurry up.” I tread the water, moving closer to Dervinias, Chev and Palmo. Something bumped into my leg. Chev screamed.

“There’s something in the water,” Dervinias yelled. At the same moment he raised a writhing green snake. It reached back and tried to bite his hand, but its teeth couldn’t penetrate his kelvieri skin. I breathed a sigh of relief. The snakes couldn’t harm me either. But they could harm Palmo. And Chev. 

“I hate snakes,” Palmo shouted.

Chev went under. Dervinias grabbed her, and yanked her up. She coughed and gasped. “One bit my ankle,” she cried. The water around her turned red, sending the unseen snakes into
a frenzy
. It looked like the water boiled. 

“
Cret
,” I swore, slashing at the snakes with my sword.

“I’ve got the answer,” Palmo yelled, batting at the water. He didn’t have a weapon and he wasn’t old enough to have gone through the transformation so the snakes were having a hey-day with his body.

“Tell me,” I yelled.

“To open the door, use your—” He suddenly went under.

“Use what?” I moved as quickly as I could through water that had risen to my shoulders.

He didn’t answer.

“Palmo,” I hollered, searching frantically for him. Slithering bright green snakes were everywhere. The water changed from dark to an orange red. The snakes were eating Palmo alive. “
Cret
.
Cret
.
Cret
. Dervinias, what should I do?” He didn’t answer and I figured his hands were full trying to keep the snakes away from Chev.

I searched the water. Palmo had to be close. I ducked my head underwater. Eyes opened, I searched. The water was thick with blood, and snakes. One came right at me, its mouth opened, revealing its fangs. Its jaws clamped down on my nose, but it couldn’t break through. I yanked it away. A slight movement straight ahead caught my attention.

Palmo.

I shoved snakes out of my way, and moved. With some relief I saw him, trying to fight the snakes off. They rammed into him, ripping away chunks of flesh, before swimming off, making room for another. It surprised me he continued to fight. He always acted like a simpering chump, a boy who used others to fight his battles.

Both of Palmo’s feet were almost gone, as was one of his hands, and part of his face, yet he courageously continued to struggle.

Determined, I grabbed him and pulled him above the water. “Use my what?” I asked softly, worried he wouldn’t be coherent enough to understand.

“Fist,” he murmured.

“Thank you, Palmo.” I ached at his misery, wishing for a way to keep the snakes from eating him. But for every one I killed two more took its place. “I’m so sorry I can’t do more. I’ll get us out of here though. Okay?”

He didn’t respond.

Letting him go, I ducked under the water, heading toward the door. The gold glimmered against the bloodied water. I noticed the gaping mouth on the face at the base of the tree and understood my fist needed to go in its mouth. How easy!

The moment I inserted my fist, the door vanished and I was sucked through the opening.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

13. Smells Like Teen Spirit