The Divine Path (The Divine Series) (18 page)

             
Kade closed his eyes, performed the Reveal Calling and saw the flying creature wheeling away.  It flew directly toward the dragon and circled overhead.  Its wing was injured, causing it to fly awkwardly. 
No
, Kade started to think in panic when an idea so obvious came to him that he kicked himself mentally for not thinking of it sooner.  He only hoped the dragon was not out of his range.  He planted his feet and performed the calling.  The dragon faded for a moment and then materialized again.  The calling had failed.  Kade opened himself up to his hate for the creature and rage filled him.  The Divine crashed through him like an avalanche.  His special gift was alive.  Kade performed the calling again, and the dragon faded from view.

             
Working the Divine Fire Calling as fast as he could, Kade held it in his hand, ready to throw.  As he approached, no less than ten of the creatures dropped out of a tree.  He threw the Divine Fire up out of reflex, setting them ablaze.  Kade and the spiders had to dodge the burning creatures as they fell to their death.

             
“That explains why they were not attacking us.  They were waiting for us to come out so they could ambush us,” the white spider said.

             
“I thought it was because they were trying to concentrate on the dragon,” Kade said as he kicked one of the smoldering creatures hard, sending it flipping end over end through the air.  “I will need to be guided to the dragon.  I must keep my eyes closed to use this calling that allows me to see their leader,” Kade said as he started toward the dragon once more.

             
“I will lead you,” Crayken said as he came up behind Kade and put his front legs on his waist to guide him.

             
With his eyes closed, Kade saw that the leader had landed.  Kade quickly conjured the Divine Fire Calling and launched it at the creature just as it started to charge.  It danced to the side easily avoiding the attack.  Kade quickly called on another Divine Fire Calling and held it up as a threat.  Right now, the most important thing was to get to the dragon.  Killing that thing had to be second.  If just the threat was enough to accomplish that goal, then that was good enough for Kade…for the moment. 

The leader charged and Kade threw.  The Fire Calling flew and missed as the leader anticipated the move and dodged easily as it sprang into the air.  Kade had another Fire Calling ready and held it up once more.  The leader veered off but came back to the ground quickly.  Its wing was too badly dama
ged for it to stay aloft.

             
“Blood and ashes, that thing is fast!” Kade swore as his heart beat like a drum.  “This should confuse it,” Kade said as an idea came to him.  He threw the Divine Fire and prepared his next calling.  “You will like this,” Kade said over his shoulder.

             
“What is your plan, Chosen?” the king asked.  The use of the word Chosen was meant as a title of respect, but Kade would not be able to appreciate that until later.

             
“Watch and see.  I am going to even the odds,” Kade said as he performed the calling. 

             
“Amazing,” Crayken said as they faded from view.  “You are truly powerful,” the king said with more confidence than Kade was feeling.  He was only hoping the king’s confidence was not misplaced.

             
“Let’s move before we lose this advantage,” Kade said as he started forward. 

I am almost to you, Rayden
, Kade thought to his friend.  The dragon was so weak that Kade almost could not sense its response.  Just a little more and the dragon would live.  The distance was closing, but not fast enough for him.

             
The group of spiders dispatched the creatures easily now that they were cloaked in the Divine.  Kade kept his eyes closed as he headed toward the dragon.  The leader was not fooled for more than a moment.  It used this same tactic and recovered almost instantly.  It started to move toward the dragon.  Unknown to Kade, this was the one creature that could see through the Transparency Calling.

             
“We must hurry,” Kade said as he moved as fast as he could while the king’s legs still held his waist.

             
“The clutch will get disorganized,” the king said into Kade’s ear.

             
“If we wait, we lose the dragon, and we cannot afford that,” Kade yelled.

             
He saw the creature’s head jerk in the direction of his voice.  He paused only long enough to flow through the moves for the Lightning Calling and sent it racing through the air only to explode in a thunderous crash where the creature no longer was.  Kade knew their only hope of defeating this thing was for him and the dragon to work together.  He had to get to Rayden.

             
Now only twenty feet from the dragon, Kade prepared the Healing Calling.  His heart raced as he could just about reach out to his friend.  Just as he felt real hope, all Holy Divine broke loose.  Without warning, hoards of the black creatures came from every hiding spot imaginable. 

             
“Another ambush!” Kade yelled. 

             
A line of the creatures barred their way and more were rushing to fortify that blockade. 
Too many,
Kade thought as he prepared to let the Healing Calling go to bring the Divine Fire back to life.  Just as he was on the verge of doing so, he felt the king’s powerful legs lift and propel him over the sea of black creatures to land on the invisible dragon.  Kade crashed face first into the knee of his friend, but he still had the sense to get his hands on Rayden to let the healing flow before falling to the ground.  He felt his lip split as blood flowed but he did not care.  He leapt to his feet and soothed Rayden as he felt his way to every injury.  He worked quickly, racing to each wound and healing.  Each one closed up smoothly as he let the Divine do its work.

             
“Stay still,” Kade said as the dragon became eager to join the battle
.  I have an idea.  We need to set a trap for that thing, and you are going to be the bait
, Kade sent through the mental link
.  I will make you visible.  When it attacks, I will tell you when and where to strike.  Together, we will kill it!

For the second time in a short span, Kade felt eagerness and the urge to hunt and kill flow through the link so strong
ly that it was hard to think
.  He is off to your left,
Kade sent. 
Get ready
.

             
Kade moved back, eager to bring this thing to an end, eager for revenge, eager to bask in the glory of its suffering.  As he watched, he realized the leader was considering retreating.  He let the Transparency Calling fade and the dragon shimmered into view.  Kade checked the dragon quickly for its appearance.  If the leader saw that the wounds were healed, it might know that the dragon was lying in wait.  He scanned Rayden and breathed a mental sigh of relief.  There was so much blood that the beautiful silver dragon was almost completely covered in red.  He felt sick as he looked at all that crimson liquid.  His beautiful dragon had taken so much torture while calling out to him.  He vowed never to let that happen again.  For now, he would be grateful that the blood hid the fact that it was healed.

             
Kade warned his faithful companion to be ready as he watched the leader close in slowly, studying what it thought was easy prey.  Afraid that the leader might not attack, thinking it had already achieved its goal, Kade instructed the dragon to move a claw here and a tail there but not to overdo it.  His lungs were starting to burn as he held his breath, hoping their plan would work.  The leader crouched and Kade could feel it coming.  His pulse raced, and then it happened.  The leader charged with a speed almost too fast for Kade to follow.

             
“Now!” Kade yelled without thinking. 

The leader was clearly smarter than Kade hoped.  It realized what was
happening and skidded to a stop, its claws working furiously to grip the ground and send it in another direction.  As fast as the creature was, Rayden was speed and power incarnate.  The dragon craved revenge more than anything at that moment, and it was not going to be denied.  The leader scrambled desperately as it changed direction.  Kade watched in horror as it looked like it might get away.  The best way to describe what happened next was to say that the dragon and Kade linked.  Without having to say a word, the dragon knew what Kade was seeing and lunged, barely catching the leader of the Morphites by the wing and spun it to the ground.

             
Kade brought the Divine Fire Calling to life and held it ready, waiting.  Rayden lunged again, but the leader ducked and scrambled back, just barely avoiding the crashing jaws.  It turned and jumped into the air, but another violent swipe from the dragon’s claws sent it reeling.  And then, Kade saw his opening.  With careful aim, he let the Divine Fire shoot forth from his hand to envelope the leader.  It screamed, but the fire was not going to be enough to end its life.  But…that was not Kade’s goal.  It lit up like a beacon.  Rayden pounced on it with all his weight and might.  The creature fought furiously, but the dragon now had the advantage.  The leader screamed in fury and fear.  The black creatures surrounding the spiders were frantic as they watched their leader being torn to shreds right before their eyes.

             
“Now we shall see who has the advantage,” Kade said as he turned to look at the two fierce combatants in their fight to the death.  It was more accurate to say their fight to the leader’s death.  The dragon fought and rent as if it were trying to dig a tunnel through to the other side of the world.  Clearly, one of them was not going to leave this fight alive. And with the ferocity of the dragon, Kade knew it was going to be the leader that never moved from that spot ever again.

             
Kade
, a voice boomed in his head. 
The king is in dire need of your help
. 

“Where?”
Kade yelled.  Before the queen could reply, Kade saw at least ten black creatures fighting furiously with something they had surrounded, and he immediately knew where.  He closed his eyes and the Reveal Calling showed him three glowing forms lying on the ground, motionless, and three more fighting for their lives.

             
“I’m coming, Crayken.  Just hold on,” Kade said as he charged into the mob of black creatures.  While keeping the king and spiders cloaked, he let the Transparency Calling go. He wanted to draw them to him, hoping they would prefer a target they could see.  And then he swung, tore and crushed for all he was worth.  At one point he put his fist right through the skull of one of the creatures, and when he pulled it back, the skull was still attached.  He swung it at the next and both skulls split apart.

             
“Careful, Chosen.  You are close to us with those mighty blows,” the king hissed.

             
Kade let the Transparency Calling vanish completely.  The king and all of his fighters shimmered into view.  Two of the spiders on the ground were still alive but not moving.  The king and the two remaining spiders were fighting to protect them.  Crayken had broken his front right and front left legs when he had propelled Kade through the air as he had come in contact with the hoard.  How he was still alive was beyond Kade’s understanding, but he was and that was all that mattered.

             
“We need to get you back to the tree,” Kade said as he threw several more of the creatures away to land in crumpled heaps.

             
“Lead the way,” the king said in exhaustion.

             
As they made their way to the Great Hall, Crayken made several short buzzing sounds.  The other spiders that were now visible came to the king immediately and made sure the path to the Great Hall was clear.  There was not much resistance as it appeared that there was, indeed, a limit to how many of these creatures there were.

             
Darcienna’s shield was fading in and out as she struggled with every last bit of energy she had left, valiantly trying to protect the spiders in the tree.  Kade could not recall when she had returned, but it appeared that she was needed there since there were several of the creatures screaming at her, furiously trying to get through the shield.  Kade quickly ran up to the Morphites and violently tore them apart.  He soaked up the pleasure of the kill. 

Am I happy for killing or am I
happy for killing these things? 
He vanquished the thought immediately.

             
“I thought you would never return,” Darcienna said as she let her arms fall to her sides.  She was breathing heavily as the shield blinked out of sight.  She leaned against the wall and then slid down with her head back.  She was definitely out of the fight.

             
“I started to think the same,” Kade said as he performed the Healing Calling and placed his hands on her head.  She breathed a deep sigh of relief. 

Kade stood off to the
side to let the spiders enter.  Darcienna rose up and reach for his face.  He tried to dodge her, but she grabbed his head in both her hands and held firmly.  He felt his split lip mend and waited for her to finish.