Of Gaea (37 page)

“She’s not
ready.”

“She has to
be.”

A
deafening clap and roar cut off whatever Sasha was going to say
next.
One minute he was
next to her; the next they were in a ditch next to the road. Sasha
draped over her protectively. And rather disturbingly pressed her
into suspiciously slimy water.

The thunderous
noise ended as fast as it occurred though Sasha didn’t move
instantly.

“If you don’t
let me out of this nasty water Sasha…”

“You don’t
know what’s out there.”

“I don’t know
what’s in here, either. And quite frankly, I’d rather deal with
something I can see than worry about parasites.”

He edged
off slowly and crawled up the side of the ditch. “Wait
here.”

“
As if.
We’re a team. We’re going to do this as a team.”

He
reached his hand down and pulled her up next to him. “Fine, but
stay close.”

They
peeped over the edge of the ditch. Nothing stood out in the street.
In fact, it was eerily empty.

“Where did all
the people go?”

“
They
were smart and took cover. Look there.” Sasha pointed in the
direction they had been walking.

Smoke
billowed in thick almost black clouds.
Sirens wailed for a moment then were abruptly cut
off. Another explosion and more smoke from a different source
filled the air.

“Someone is
setting the houses on fire.”

“
I would
more aptly say they’re blowing them up.” Sasha quipped
dryly.

“
We need
to get in there. I need my bow, and you don’t even have your
sword.” Ari hissed.

“
I
know.
Let me
think.”

“
Here’s
what I think.” Ari wasn’t about to wait on him. There were more
lives than just one at risk now. She could have tried spiriting
them into the backyard but that still left a lot of defenseless
people between here and there. The better idea was to face the
problem head on and eliminate it.

“
The
smoke is there, right?
And the new column is there. So whoever it is, is working
down the street not up it. We can go in from MacArthur Blvd. Come
up behind whoever it is.”

“They’re
working their way down to our houses, Ari.”

“Which is why
we move now.”

“
Stay
close.” He jumped out of the ditch and took off at a full run down
the street.

Ari was right
on his heels.

Two more
explosions went off before they reached the street.
It was as quiet as a cemetery
when they arrived. At first, the only sound was the fire’s roar.
They were forced to move slowly as the smoke clogged the street
like a thick blanket of fog. It was impossible to see
through.

Sasha
held her hand tightly.
He was afraid to lose her in the mess. There was no telling
what they faced and Ari being unprotected was not an
option.

As they neared
their houses, a child’s eerie singing filled the air.

“
Won’t
you touch my wretched soul?
Won’t you heal my bleeding heart? Feel me with your frozen
dead body.”

Ari
shivered. She recognized the lyrics from a song she had heard once,
but the child didn’t sing it to the beat of the song. She sang it
in that sing song way that children liked to do.

Sasha
pulled her down to a crouch behind some metal trash cans.
He moved so his lips were right
up against her ear when he spoke. “I can’t see anything but smoke
and fire. We may have to make a run for it.”

Ari
shook her head. They’d be sitting ducks. There had to be a way to
even the field.

A stream
of fire drew her eyes to the metal can.
Aluminum can to be precise. Aluminum was a
periodic element which meant it was a pure element. Ari silently
thanked her Advanced Chemistry teacher and cautiously and silently
lifted the lid off.

“
Ari.”
Sasha hissed.

She put
a finger to her lips quickly and pointed to the other can. She
needed both lids if this was going to work. Testing she began
folding the aluminum like paper and it obeyed.

Sasha
handed her the other lid when she was done.
He probably had no idea what she was
doing, but he trusted her. She wouldn’t let him down.

When Ari
had finished her origami lids she held them up for
inspection.
It had been
so easily to manipulate the metal. Gaea’s Script scrolled around
the edges strengthening it. The palm fans gleamed beautifully and
would do exactly what she wanted them to. They would do very
nicely. If Sasha cooperated.

Careful
not to clank the fans together, Ari handed him the cane.
Taking his hand, she led him
out into the middle of the street. He stood there bemused as she
took the cane and set it at his feet then linked his fingers
together and cupped them. She pointed a few yards away then pointed
to him then up. Her meaning was clear, or at least, she thought it
was.

She was
going to run and use him as a booster.
He was going to help by pushing her into the air.
The rest was up to her.

Sasha frowned
but nodded slowly.

Ari gestured
to him, his interlaced fingers and the sky, again.

He
rolled his eyes and nodded.
He got it.

She
strode a few feet away and turned to face him.
He gave her thumbs up before he got into
position. He even crouched slightly so she wouldn’t have to jump so
much as step into his hands.

With a
fan in each hand, Ari ran.
Her foot slid into his waiting hands without incident. As
soon as her foot was firm in his hands, Sasha threw her
upwards.

She
already knew what flying felt like, that wasn’t the purpose.
As she came down, she put all
the force she could behind the fans. The wind roared louder than
the fires as it swept down the street clearing all the smoke and
fascinatingly enough, putting out all the fires.

She
landed in a crouch one knee down and one knee up.
Ari stood slowly and Sasha
rushed to her side. He had the cane drawn and pointed.

Half the
block away, a pale grey horse stood in the middle of the street. He
was gorgeous and huge. His tail flicked annoyed but that was the
only sign he had felt the wind.

A woman
sat side saddle on his back.
Her all too familiar face showed the same annoyance the
horse had. Her hair was coiled in perfect spirals and her skin was
flawlessly painted. It was an all too familiar sight.
Damia.

“Y
ou’ve
interrupted my song.” Damia looked away and Ari followed her
gaze.

A few feet beyond her a fire truck lay overturned.
From its charred
twisted husk Ari could tell it had been burning. From the lack of
visible firefighters she knew they were still inside.

“What do you think you’re doing, Damia?”
Sasha stepped
forward and leaned casually on the cane.

“Damia?”
She turned back to them and tilted her head as if she was
puzzled. “Oh, the vessel. It was in terrible shape when I found it,
you know. On the brink of madness and death.” She smiled and tapped
the side of her head. “Damia isn’t home anymore. The lovely child
vacated the premises for me.”

“Who are you?” Ari changed her grip on the fans and they
automatically changed shape into twin hook swords. The script
remained scrolled along the blades.

D
amia watched her a moment and her feral grin made Ari’s
blood run cold. “You must be Gaea. I’ve never met the Goddess
before; she is, unfortunately, the only one of the immortals that
can be one with a host. Such a pity, really, but then, they are her
creatures.” Damia dismounted the horse and Ari realized what she
mistook for a huge skirt were in fact split pants.

“I am Bathin.
I serve the Tainted King.” She made air quotes
around Tainted and giggled. “What a ridiculous term, isn’t
it?”

She turned to the horse and reached over the saddle to draw
something from the other side.
The sword was made of a red material Ari
had never seen before and seemed to gleam with an unholy
light.

“Ari. I need you to go get my sword; you know which one and
your things. And be quick about it.” Sasha murmured.

“I’m stronger than you; you go.”
Ari countered back.

“You’re faster
than I am and have a better chance of getting back before anything
serious happens.”

Ari couldn’t argue with that logic.
She put the hook swords
together to form a makeshift long sword. “Here, I don’t know how
long it will last without me holding it.”

He took the sword in one hand but still held the cane in
the other. “Go.”

Ari hated leaving him there but she nodded, stepped back
and ran into a side yard. She would go around back. It wasn’t as
direct, but it would be faster than trying to dodge Bathin and
Sasha.

“How chivalrous.”
Ari heard Bathin say. “Before I kill you, I think
I’ll tell you a secret. You’re the reason Damia came to us. She
wanted you but you wanted Ari. Sad world isn’t it?”

Ari couldn’t hear Sasha’s answer; she was already too far
away. It felt like it took forever to run the half a block to his
house. She was ever mindful of the time.

She shouldn’t have left him.
She should have given him a shield not a
sword. She should have done a lot of things.

Ari didn’t waste time in the shed.
She strapped on a full quiver of the
arrows Kleisthenes had once said were for emergencies only, shoved
her rattan sticks into her boots and then yanked her bow off the
wall. The sword Sasha wanted was stupid heavy. Ari didn’t know what
kind of metal it was made from, but she could see and feel the
script that protected it. Ari slung its belt over her shoulder like
a satchel and with her bow in her free hand; she left the
shed.

She ran as fast as could and used the momentum to jump onto
the porch railing then the roof of the patio then the house
roof.
Her
feet slipped a bit and she began to jump down but movement caught
her eye. Ari froze at the sight below.

Sasha had managed to lure Bathin closer.
They were
relatively close to Ari’s house with Bathin’s back to her. Sasha
was on his back on the ground.

The aluminum sword laid too far away for Sasha to reach,
and the cane was out of sight.
He struggled up and managed to push to his
knees. Even from the distance Ari could see the blood.

Ari ran and jumped to the neighbor’s house and took
position.
Bathin hadn’t seen her yet. Her back was still to Ari.
Though from this distance, Ari could hear her talking to him and it
put a new kind of fear in her.

Bathin crouched down in front of Sasha and he looked like
he wanted to pull away but didn’t have the strength.
“It will only hurt
for a moment. Then the only thing you will remember is me. And how
very much you want to please me.” Her hand stretched out and cupped
Sasha’s cheek.

His scream
jolted Ari out of shock and terror.

“BATHIN!”
Ari shouted even as she drew, fired and jumped off the
roof. She fired a second shot at the rising figure even before her
feet touched the ground. Sasha’s scream had ended but it still
echoed in her ears. As soon as her feet landed she was up with a
third arrow knocked to the bow.

Bathin stood motionless with face of complete surprise and
her hands wrapped around the arrow protruding from just under her
chest bone.
The first arrow stuck out of her back and from where Ari
stood looked like it had punctured a lung.

“I don’t understand.”
She whispered and blood trickled out of her mouth
to stain her lips. She fell to her knees.

“The body is still mortal, Bathin.
You may not be but that does not
change your vessel.” Ari walked up beside her and held the arrow
tip inches from her head. “Any last words.”