Beasts and Burdens (29 page)

Ethan set his crate on the altar and abruptly headed over to one of the dragons for an impromptu neck scratch. He hid behind the big beast scratching her until a vibrating purr that could easily be confused for a growl resonated from her throat.

“She has to stab her?” Ethan hissed in as hushed a tone as he could manage, as well as thought it at her.

The dragon said and thought nothing.

“Answer me!” He growled low.
I have no reason to trust you. Annette’s devotion to your kind does not extend to me! Give me one reason I should trust that this will help Adrianna. Now!

The dragon didn’t answer but the low rumble in her throat stopped and she shifted her position to her haunches. The other dragons did the same, before offering a shrill howl, that sounded nothing like a dragon, a cat, or any animal Ethan could think of.

“Oh my stars!” Annette clasped her hands and bowed down to the creatures. “They are singing! They are offering their blessing for the ritual! Thank you! Thank you!” Ethan looked to Levi and Adrianna and they were smiling widely.

It wasn’t the reason Ethan was looking for, but he imagined if the beasts were willing to offer such a display to comfort the others, he certainly couldn’t be the one to start second guessing the plan.

80

Ethan knelt down on one side of Adrianna, while Levi knelt on the other. He was pleased that he did not have to be naked for this ritual. Adrianna and Annette remained cloaked as well.

The dragons had finally settled, but were watching the ceremony intently. After lighting several bunches of sage leaves and incense, Annette pulled a small knife from her line of necessities laid out before her.

She reached out her hand, demanding Ethan’s. He raised each hand, palm up as he was instructed in the pre-ritual rehearsal. With little warning, she cut each palm making them bleed rather profusely.

“Take her by the arm,” Annette instructed and he grabbed Adrianna’s tiny limb. He felt a wave of misery, but it subsided as she concentrated. 

Annette made the same cuts on Levi’s hands, and he gripped her other arm.

“Is this really necessary?” Ethan whispered across to him.

Levi nodded. “Don’t worry, it heals fast.”
“No, I mean holding her.”

Levi nodded again. “She’s about to catch the whole world inside of her. We’ll be lucky if we are strong enough to keep hold of her even with the blood bond.”

“If you don’t keep hold of her…” Annette interjected. “She’ll be ripped apart by it. This is far more power than I ever intended to give her. This is far more than…” Annette cringed at her train of thought, before finding her track again. “You are her anchors to this realm. Release her and her mind will be lost to another plane and her body will die.”

Ethan frowned. He didn’t even want to know about other dimensions. He had once upon a time lived in a world where magic was make believe. It was hard enough getting the rhythm of a world with goblins and glow-y rings, there was no room for schisms in time and space.

“We are all part of this, now,” Annette said losing the ire in her voice for somberness. “I will do my best. I only ask that you each do yours.”

Ethan nodded. Levi leaned into Adrianna and kissed her gently. When he pulled back he looked terrified. “I love you,” he whispered barely audible. She smiled and nodded mouthing the words back. His fear seemed to subside slightly, hinting that the near death experience coming at them wasn’t the scariest thing he would do today.

Annette started chanting and Ethan glanced at the dragons.

Be strong.
The thought came across clear from one dragon.

Have faith.
Another thought.

Don’t let go.
The last thought was more a command than encouragement, but he nodded unperceptively at them.

Ethan lost track of time as Annette’s words put him into a trance. He could see everything that was happening, but it was so disinteresting to his addled brain. He imagined this was what it felt like to be a sacrificial helper like Levi.

The thunder was the only thing that really woke him up. Cold wet rain pelted his face, before immediately drying on the hot stone altar. Sand cyclones threaded with lightening were dancing around the room. The shaking that he thought was his own trembling dropped several stalactites from the ceiling of the cave.

The wind had only begun, but he was already feeling Adrianna’s body pulling. His hands were still firmly locked on the super glue that was his blood bond, but there was an underlying current that was threatening to separate him from her. He glanced at Levi, but he seemed to still be in his hypnotic trance.

Annette yelled over the wind, demanding the Earth’s offer to this vessel. She was holding the large knife that might eventually kill or save Adrianna, but she was not ready to use it. The Earth still had to test her worthiness for the gift.

The lightening danced around the altar between them until they reached Adrianna. Her body was wracked with the electricity, but Ethan didn’t feel it. All he felt was the link that was trying to rip her away from them. He realized that although it might take his physical strength to hold her, it was not her body that was pulling away. It was her essence, her spirit, her soul.

Ethan felt the water that came next, but it was not wet so much as a cold weight pressing against them. The wind whipped them, stinging their skin raw, but he held on, and so did Levi.

When everything died away, Ethan took in a relieved breath, happy to be alleviated from the pain of pelting rain and sand. Unfortunately, that was when Annette stabbed Adrianna in the chest.

Adrianna screamed horrifically, tipping backward. The recoil of her body was nothing, compared to the whiplash of her life-force. Levi gasped as he was thrown off of the altar completely. His body rolled and lay still against the sandy floor.

Ethan felt the wind rise around them again. The gift was about to arrive.

He shifted behind Adrianna moving his second hand to her other arm. The blood bond didn’t fight his change, and he was able to clasp just as tightly onto her other arm.

The walls around them shed rocks, and creaked as if the Earth were going to open up and swallow them. Adrianna’s chest arched upward as the knife ripped from her chest by an unseen force. The blood from her wound mixed with the tornadic winds all around them. Ethan ducked behind Adrianna, pressing his head against her to further prop her up as the winds started to not just blow against them, but suck into her.

Ethan could feel the rebuff of Adrianna’s body. Her soul wasn’t prepared for this kind of power, no one’s was. Despite the struggle, the offer had been made and accepted and saying no was not an option. He didn’t really understand anything about creating a sorceress, nor did he comprehend the power of the earth, but he was pretty sure he was about to be educated on both topics.

The ground vibrated, and Ethan had to grip tighter to keep hold of Adrianna and her body started to vibrate with it. The temperature of the room increased and decreased in second intervals. He didn’t know if he was being frostbitten or burned.

The creaking sound continued to get louder, and Ethan felt the cave shift. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were lying, or if the room had actually tipped upside down. Up and down were no longer a matter of fact, but conjecture and conceptualization.

What was certain, was gravity.

The pressure against Ethan was tormenting. Nothing was touching him, and yet the weight of the world was pressing him down, back, and away from Adrianna. He felt his hands slip, so he grit his teeth and clamped on tighter, disregarding the bruises he might give her. He fought through the pain of his overexertion, roaring in tune with the cacophony of creaking rocks. He had come this far; he wasn’t letting go.

Adrianna was a beautiful, happy woman despite the savage magic that coursed through her every day. He knew she was worthy of the gift being offered, and he was going to make damn sure that the earth didn’t rip her essence from her body to give it to her.

He felt something pop in his muscles, and he feared that his arms might rip off, but he didn’t let go. The weight abruptly released, and the weather and temperatures occupying the room stopped. He fell forward onto Adrianna’s stooped over body, once again understanding the concept of down, and knowing that it was his only option for directions for a while.

Even when Annette screamed at him to let her go, Ethan kept one hand on her arm while they examined her. He vaguely understood the panic in Annette’s eyes as she looked her over. He forced himself to sit up and look at her.

He expected to see the beautiful, vibrant girl newly balanced by her earthen gift, but she wasn’t beautiful or vibrant. As much damage as he could feel in his sore muscles and battered sand blown skin, she was so much worse.

The pale skin she usually bore now looked gray. Her eyes were sunken and haloed by dark skin and the cheekbones that he had once thought made her look malnourished, jutted out sickeningly above hallowed cheeks. He imagined under her robe would be a body that even an anorexic would shy away from.

If Ethan hadn’t seen her chest rising with breath, he would have assumed she was dead. He started to get up to help Annette move her to a bed, but his efforts were met with a slap across the face. The, albeit justified, slap startled him. He dropped back down and watched Levi pick up his love. He glanced at Ethan with a sorrowful, sympathy that he didn’t have time to give him in words.

Ethan couldn’t remember when the last time he cried was, but he was sure he was due for a little now. He lay back on the platform, holding his arm over his eyes, and sniffled a few times before speaking to the surrounding dragons.

“Tell me, she’s going to be okay,” he demanded. “Tell me that it was still the right choice.”

No one answered.  

81

Danato watched Efrat and Belus argue about the feasibility of aim when dealing with electrical energy. He didn’t imagine that he would ever be lonely enough to subject himself to that. He would readily answer Cori’s endless questions about his wife than listen to Efrat whine about his power, like it was a cancer that needed to be treated instead of conditioned.

“For the last time, you can’t steer lightening!” Efrat’s voice echoed through the gym.

Bolus took in a deep sobering breath, before aiming the elemental weapon at Efrat. The electrical surge danced to Efrat, and he retaliated by throwing out a waif bolt and diving for cover. The energy joined and bounced around into oblivion.

“I don’t want you to steer it. I want you to aim it, like I aim this weapon. I can’t guarantee that it will hit the target as you have demonstrated, but I can certainly point it at the fucking target. Now get up!”

Danato shielded his smirk with an introspective nose scratch. He was usually good at backing up Belus’s bad cop act, but since Belus was well past the point of
acting
pissed off, it was becoming a farcical. Efrat was turning out to be more than Belus had anticipated. He wondered if Efrat’s military experience was working against the process.

Unlike Daniel McGrath, Efrat didn’t hold nearly as much guilt for his actions over his incarceration, as Danato would have preferred. In Efrat’s opinion, he was a prisoner of war. Anything he did while under lock and key was simply civil disobedience or survival instinct.

“Now shoot the target!” Belus pointed at the metal shield on the far wall.

Efrat glared at him, grinding his teeth. Belus looked like he was going to explode. Danato shifted on the small set of bleachers just in case he needed to pry Belus off Efrat. The air crackled and a burst of electricity shot out from behind him hitting the shield.

Everyone looked to the door where Cori’s arm was still outstretched. “Cori,” Danato said happily, but then he noticed the lack of bulge under her shirt. The cold expression on her face seized his heart.

Ignoring everyone but Efrat, she moved over to him. “Let it pool in your hand and release it like your blowing a really messed up kiss at someone.”

Efrat shot his hand out and the energy splayed dancing all around the shield. Cori looked at the shield and then wrinkled her nose at Efrat. “Premature electrification. Shit, Efrat, you’ve had this power for years and I can still run it better than you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t have the full strength,” he seethed, his teeth bearing like a wild dog.

“Pool it in your hand,” Cori raised her hand showing the blue trickle that she was immune to. “…and release it.” Her hand spread like she was throwing the electricity. Though it was fast, Danato did notice that the surge was more like a tiny ball of energy, rather than the erratic tentacle attacks Efrat usually offered. “Now you.”

Reluctantly Efrat tried it her way, and he hit the shield dead center. Despite it being an accomplishment, Efrat seemed almost disappointed to have achieved it.

“Again,” Cori said softly.

Efrat did it again, with the same happy result, but the same not so happy expression.

“Again,” she commanded.

Efrat repeated the process several more times. His anger faded, replaced by disinterest and possibly even despair. Danato was sure there was more to know about Efrat’s displeasure with this accomplishment, but he wasn’t interested in pursuing the topic at that moment.