Authors: Corinne Davies
Destiny got her to feet and ran for the arched opening the path led to. The moment she ran inside the temperature dropped considerably and all the hair on her arms lifted up. The hallway led to a large dais where a massive mirror stood. As she got closer she noticed that it wasn’t a mirror, but a shiny, swirling mass of what looked like mercury.
She darted a look behind her, but no one had followed her. They must’ve given up the chase because they were moving fast enough to have caught up to her by now. She could hear angry shouts, but they seemed to be moving farther and farther away. Destiny stood before the large mass and wondered what to do? Did she slowly step through or run?
A large black panther stalked out of the shadows, its yellow eyes looking menacing as it paced in front of the dais. There would be no going back now. The cat crouched down and the leapt at Destiny. She screamed and tripped as she scrambled backward right into the portal.
Chapter Nine
Jag ran faster than he ever had in his entire life. Rock kept pace with him as did the warriors that came with them. They’d left the rest of the soldiers behind as they raced back to
Kaah
. Less than a day’s hike from the city, they’d come across a Kimil raiding party. The Kimil had managed to raze a village to the ground and were in the process of killing the inhabitants.
The warriors had dispatched the raiders quick enough, but before one died he’d laughed at them. “All this to save a few worthless villagers. My Masters will feast on your Atans. You’ll rule nothing but empty husks.”
Had the Kimil not died at that moment, Jag would’ve ripped the lying tongue from his throat. But, as he looked objectively at the destruction, he realized the Kimil was telling the truth. This was nothing but a diversion. The Kimil had attacked a small village a far distance from their home. They’d led them on a wild chase following clues until they were too far to do any good.
Jag was running for home before he’d given it a second thought. A split second later, Rock caught up to him and he heard the sounds of the other warriors behind them. They didn’t speak, as no words were necessary. Each warrior could feel the energy of their home screaming for help. The portal had been opened, but they didn’t know which way. Their city could be under attack with the enemy pouring through the entry, or the Kimil were raiding Earth. The bond between the warriors at least let him know that those in
Kaah
were still alive, but he couldn’t feel Wolfe or Falcon on the other side of the portal.
His concern wasn’t the warriors or the people of
Kaah
. Destiny consumed his thoughts. They’d confined her to the inner walls and he hoped that she was safe. Their home had numerous safety rooms where she could’ve hidden herself, but they never told her about that. They left her behind with only a rudimentary understanding of their home and told her to stay put. Rock had been strangely quiet the entire trip and Jag understood why. They should’ve brought her. She could’ve learned to love Lu’um and all of its beauty. Instead they locked her in and treated her like a pet, expecting her to be waiting when they got home.
She was going to be furious with them and they deserved every bit of anger she unleashed on them. He’d only been able to see his precious Atan and think of his sister. A sister that had been coddled and protected her entire life, and then when the unthinkable happened, she’d been unable to defend herself. Destiny had dropped both him and Rock the first time they set eyes on her. It was one of the many aspects he was fascinated with.
But instead of trusting her, they locked her away and took away her only weapon. True, she might’ve used it on the Raxka, but then some of them would’ve deserved it. But he’d expected her to trust them to know what was best for her and didn’t give her the consideration of asking or explaining their reasons first.
He pushed himself harder and Rock reacted at the same moment. He must’ve been thinking along the same lines as Jag. If anything happened to Destiny he would never forgive himself. In the short time she’d been in his life he’d never known such contentment. She was a balm to the ache of his memories and he wanted to make new happy memories with her.
* * * *
The scene they faced as they ran into the village was something out of a nightmare. Kimil had the villagers by the throat and were drawing the energy from their lives. He and the warriors began battling their enemies. The Kimil dropped the lifeless husks of their victims but were intent on preventing them from reaching the inner courtyard.
Rock fought with everything he had. The extended run didn’t tire him a bit. He drew energy from the ground under their feet to keep him going. His focus was on reaching Destiny and making certain she was safe. Kimil were virtually impossible to kill once they had fed on living energy. They had to fight them until the Kimil exhausted their stolen energy and then take their heads off.
It made working his way to the inner yard time consuming and exhausting. Even with the ability to pull energy from the ground under their feet, he was expending it faster than he could draw it up. His only focus was getting to his Atan. Jag kept pace with him. They fought side by side, moving as an extension of each other, each of them with the same focus, getting to Destiny. In a brief flash of insight, Rock understood his father’s decision.
He loved his people and would do anything he could for them, but Destiny came first in his heart. If it meant stepping back and allowing another to rule in order to save her life, he would. What terrified him most, a cold ache that he kept buried for the time being, was that he couldn’t feel her. She wasn’t on this plane anymore and the possibility Kimil had killed her fueled his muscles and intent. He would destroy this raiding party and torture the one who had absorbed her life. Then he would spend every horrendous moment left of this life attacking them and destroying as many of these evil creatures as he could.
“Rock!” Jag snapped out his name and pulled him back to focus on what he was doing. He looked at the world through a haze of red, a Kimil throat beneath his fist as he squeezed the bone in his neck. The creature’s malevolent yellow eyes glared up at him. “Where is our woman?”
The creature shook, and Rock knew that if he hadn’t been crushing its throat it would’ve been laughing at him. Jag roared out in fury and ripped the Kimil’s head from its body.
Rock felt his soul shatter.
She can’t be gone.
* * * *
Destiny had a moment of panic when she felt herself lose her balance and fall backward into the portal. It wrapped around her like a plastic blanket in water and then catapulted her on. After a split second that felt like an eternity she hit a hard surface. She blinked and realized that she’d landed in a hole in the ground. There was an incline to the surface and she scrambled up it. The roar of rushing water sounded behind her and she turned and saw one of the creatures thrown out of the portal only to hit the Earth hard and not move.
She didn’t understand what had happened, but she didn’t wait around either. She scrambled up the incline and out into the sunshine. The sun’s rays felt harsh against her skin and the air was dry and acrid. Already she missed the beautiful scents of Lu’um.
“Ma’am! What’re you doin’ all the way out here?”
Destiny looked up and saw a man who’d been riding by as she crawled out of the hole.
“I’m lost. I fell down that hole.”
The man looked down at her as if she was demented. “What hole?”
She turned and pointed at the large opening two feet behind her. “That one right there.”
The man nodded and lifted up his hands. “All righty then. Okay, yeah, the hole, I see it.” He held out one hand to her. “Why don’t you come with me and we’ll see if we can find you somewhere to cool down. Do you know how long you’ve been out here?”
“About five minutes,” Destiny replied, not caring if her answer sounded crazy. This guy obviously thought she was by the way he was acting.
“Right, five minutes. You know you look a lot like a lady who went missing from these parts a few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks ago?”
“Yeah, Destiny Harriston. Is that your name?”
Destiny’s mind swirled.
A few weeks? It’s only been a little over a week.
She looked back at the entrance to the hole, afraid to see a yellow-eyed creature coming out of it. Why could she see it but he couldn’t?
“Ma’am? Is that your name?”
“Is what my name?”
Act dumb for now while you figure this out.
“Let’s not worry about that now.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, but she stepped away. It didn’t feel right having another man touch her. She wrapped her arms across her chest and hugged herself as she followed the man to his car. Nausea rolled over her as she moved farther and farther away from the entrance to the portal. She wanted to run back and find Rock and Jag, but what if that thing was there waiting for her? If this guy watched her disappear into thin air then he would call the cops or the FBI or something. They’d invade that wonderful place and do experiments on the people there. There was no way she would allow that to happen to them. She’d been so sure she couldn’t live like a prisoner and now that she was free all she wanted to do was go back.
Twenty minutes later, Destiny was huddled in a chair in a room at the local free clinic. The doctor had called in sick that day, so there was only the nurse available. The man, David, had dropped her off and she was being treated for heat stroke. Destiny continued with the story that she couldn’t remember her name but assured them she was sure it wasn’t Destiny.
“’scuse me, Miss Kathryn. I’m hurt’n real bad!” Destiny heard a loud voice in the waiting room and the nurse gave her a sympathetic smile and a pat on the hand before leaving the room.
Destiny curled up on the small bed and wished she’d never climbed those damn stairs. She’d been so angry and scared about what was expected of her. Maybe it was for the best. They needed someone who was strong enough to face their problems, and not someone who ran away.
She needed a plan, because it sounded like the authorities had given her up for dead. It wasn’t like she had anyone to notify. Who knew who her dad was, and her mom was off with her newest husband. Sure she’d cry and carry on in order to get the attention she craved, but Destiny didn’t really think that her mother would be that heartbroken.
People start over all the time right? Get new names and new identification.
Only she didn’t have any idea how to go about that or even where to start to ask.
This playing dumb would only work for so long before the nurse or doctor decided to do tests or something and then they’d discover who she was. Could she tell enough lies and keep them straight to make certain the portal wasn’t discovered? David would take them out to the place he found her. He’d said that he couldn’t see the entrance, but she could and that meant that there would have to be other people who could, too. She was going to have to get out of here. Maybe she could hitchhike to another town and get a small job under the table, doing odd jobs till she saved up enough to get herself in a better life.
“Well now, no wonder Rock and Jag sent me here. I’d thought that was a little abrupt. Did you follow us because those two never had a chance?”
Destiny bolted up and almost fell off the bed when her head swam.
“Whoa there, you need to slow down before you hurt yourself.” Wolfe was by her side in a blink and bracing her shoulders. “Falcon, stop teasing her.”
“What are you two doing here?” Destiny eyed the two men who were dressed completely differently than she was used to seeing them. Well, last time she saw them, they were naked in the baths. Each of them wore a T-shirt under a work shirt and blue jeans that looked sinfully good on them. “We were sent to keep an eye on the portal from this side.” Falcon stepped closer. His hair was pulled back in a long braid and he held a white cowboy hat in his hand. He looked more concerned than teasing now. “Why are you here, Destiny? Did Rock and Jag send you?”
She shook her head and tears pricked her eyelids. “Something is happening there. You need to go back and help.”
If time moves faster here then they should make it on time to help.
“Shadow and Raven are already on their way out to the portal.” He pulled back his shirtsleeve and tapped on a device he’d strapped to the inside of his arm. “They’re almost there.”