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Chapter Five
Tate
I don’t know the exact moment everything goes wrong, only that it really fucking does. Energy surges through our bond as the crack erupts, or rather something bursts through it. The enormous creature is a far cry from the rotted lupine ones we normally encounter. Kita gasps, her large almond-shaped eyes roaming over the bipedalthing. It’s presence here is almost as unexpected as it’s behavior. It seems focused, unlike the other ones of its kind that have slipped through lately. Her shock and morbid curiosity mixes with our anxious excitement. It stays perfectly still, not even it’s chest rises or falls, like a grotesque statue from the nightmares of a child. Wrinkled forest green skin is bunched up around its joints, two large horns extrude from its bottom jaw as mucus drips heavily to the floor. I fight the urge to lash out. My anticipation fading into unease as it doesn’t move, all of us locked in a high stakes stalemate. The damn thing stands easily five heads taller than me. I whistle low, almost inaudible to even my brother’s trained ears and the creature jerks violently. It’s long arms hanging limp at its sides, it’s back hunched trying to fit in the chamber much too small for it. I jump back, cutting off my whistle, fighting it here... in this space would be difficult enough but even more so with Kita here. I can feel her fear, her power threating to rip through the half-hearted hold she has on it. It stills again as my eyes film over for the briefest second.
Eyes?
I blink as my vision clears, searching it’s strange sunken face. The concept from Milo only making sense when I find the place where it’s eyes should be on the outer sides of its head. All four of them, gone. Only deeply scarred black holes remain not unlike the holes left when they’re plucked from a sacrifice. Something I’d failed to notice from the others, although they never stopped like this. Never gave us a second to study it’s features before lashing out with a violence that shocked even me.
It can’t see us, only hear...
Okay, well fuck. I could whistle now, force all my power into it and try to vibrate its skull until it’s brain pops, but that takes time. Time we don’t have. Staying longer than ten minutes near the crack gets... dangerous. Time moves differently down here. The energy has a way of corrupting the things around it.
“Don’t.” Milo whispers as her energy swells. We all duck, as another violent jerk sends it’s arm crashing into the cave wall. Rocks crumple to the floor and that’s when I see it... the faint glow of her fire. My heart pounds uncomfortably as the silent line of flame forms before its pulled taunt. A slow smile spreading over my face.
Clever kitten.
Milo and I can’t use our power without generating an energy hum. Kita, on the other hand, despite the power she wields has always been silent. You can feel it radiating off her, taste it even, but parts of it are obscured. A tidbit that’s damn near driven Deniki to madness trying to figure out. Everything about her is unheard of, as if her existence breaks every rule. The power she has belongs to someone else, somewhere else. Throwing off the checks and balances, our realities are supposed to be written on. I turn my head slowly, craning my neck to watch her as she lifts it over the head. Milo tenses as the length brushes his leg, a slight sizzle makes the creature’s head jerk to the side. Aiming the small holes, I suppose are its ears towards us. My concern mixes with hers as she casts him an apologetic look. Black ropes surge stronger, attempting to drag the creature back to the depths, wrapping and lapping at its body, tearing it’s skin with an indescribable violence. The fact that they seem to have no effect is more concerning than anything. Kita’s full lips part slightly, her grip on the end of the flame tightening despite there being no need to hold it to control its trajectory. She pauses, a deep frown gracing her delicate features before we’re abruptly shut out of the bond. Panic rears it’s ugly head as Milo and I tense. The deafening silence from her is more painful and any wound I’ve ever received.
What the fuck?
Her eyes glaze, her breathing becomes ragged as they slide towards the creature. The creature lunges forward suddenly, its side crashing into me, sending me back against the cave wall. I grunt as bile rises in my throat, the pain in my back the absolute least of my worries. Milo curses grabbing at her as she moves quickly. Before his skin meets hers a wall of flame separates them. Forcing him backwards. I whistle, funneling everything I have into it, trying to force her to sleep as she lashes forward, sending the flame whip around the creature’s neck, it’s length blended with black tendrils.
It’s not working...
“Kita, snap out of it!” Milo yells, forcing razor like wisps of air into the flesh of the creature. Each one piercing deeper than the last, ripping it’s flesh. It’s large body starts to shutter as I redirect my whistle towards it. My heart stops dead in my chest, Kita jumps up, putting all her weight into her fall as she jerks the whip down, forcing the creature’s face to her level. I don’t think as I shove off the wall begging my legs to carry me to her in time as my brother tries the same. Panic filling every crevasse of my chest.
Please no.
It snarls it’s large sharp tusks thrashing inches from her face.
KITA!
More walls of flame separate us from her as we frantically lash out with water, air, anything. Fucking anything. I call out for her, we both do. Our minds, hearts, voices and souls are helpless to stop this.
Goddesses please!
The plea escapes from my soul without my mind giving it thought. A strangled and panicked cry leaves Milo’s throat as Kita drops her flame, gripping the trashing tusks as she pulls herself up onto them. Her knees resting on either side of its face. She yells something, a word I’ve never heard before, yet somehow it resonates deep in my soul. The creature stills despite the pain being inflicted by my whistle and the crack. She releases her hold on the tusks laying her hands on the sunken forehead of the creature. Her head snaps to the side, those unseeing eye’s burrowing into Milo as her chest heaves with labored breath. The tendrils in the room freeze, as if awaiting a command. She mutters something under her breath, my own ears straining to make sense of the garbled words. Whatever it is, it’s directed at no one in particular, although her stare remains trained on my brother.
Her head jerks back towards the crack, the tendrils shooting towards Milo. He grunts stepping back, stumbling over his own feet as a strangled. “No!” Rips itself through my throat as if my plea will have any effect. Only then do her azure eyes lose their darkened hue, the miasma trapped them popping like bubbles, the tendrils advancing on my brother fizzle loudly before retreating backwards as if they’ve been damaged. I watch the vibrancy return slowly as she breaks through her daze, the creature she’s standing on still unmoving. I dart forward again, reaching her just as realization hits her. Her whimpered cry tugs at my heart as I jerk her from the creature. Pulling her tightly to me, her eyes never leaving it as I shove her from the chamber. A yell erupts from my brother as he rages, sending all his raw manic power into its skull, not slowing even as it stays still, making no attempt to defend itself. It’s head cocks to follow Kita’s panting as she stares in abject horror. What I’m assuming is blood erupts from every orifice in its face as it slumps against the floor. No sooner than it stills the energy it extruded gets sucked back into the crack. I grab her again pulling her closer to me as Milo joins us automatically seeking out her hand.
She stares wide eyed as we summon hellfire, the uncomfortable burn in our veins a far cry from how it felt when I was buried in her earlier. As soon as it’s corpse is nothing but ash on the cave floor, Milo jerks her up into his arms. Stomping from the chamber stroking her hair frantically as she mutters broken apologies. Desperate to make his fear look like anger as the bond clears opening her back up to us. A strangled breath escapes my throat when I feel her again. She’s just as scared and confused as we are. We carry her in silence until we make it back to the main chamber. Her heart and ours thudding loudly in our chests as we trying to make sense of the last ten minutes of our lives.
“Out!” I bark. Members quickly disburse their heads bowed in respect. A guarded, questioning look in their eyes that refuse to depart from the floor. Whatever the hell just happened, they all felt it. We sit Kita on a wooden bench, turning our stares on her as her wide eyes meet ours she just shrugs. Her emotions anything but casual.
SHE FUCKING SHRUGS.
Kita
I stare up at them from underneath my long lashes, hoping they’ll just drop it. Hoping they won’t ask me for answers to questions I don’t have. Silence passes under their unwavering gaze, their energy drowning out everything around us. I’m usually so caught up in them I rarely get the chance to appreciate how powerful they really are... Heat tails to my gut despite my dizziness and the off-putting stabbing pain in my chest, as if I’ve been shot through with adrenaline energized by the entire ordeal. Milo raises an eyebrow, his glare never wavering as Tate comes to my side sitting down with an exasperated sigh. “What’s going on, Kita?”
I shake my head before answering earnestly, “I have no idea, but I think it has something to do with vision I got today.” The heavy weight around my finger is the only thing giving me a slight comfort. “The Underworld, I think... it’s being affected. It’s off balance. That creature... I didn’t, I didn’t want to hurt it. I didn’t want to hurt you, Milo.” My voice cracks. They share a loaded look. Tate’s eyes flash in warning. Everything I’ve seen balances on the tip of my tongue. My soul screaming to tell them every terrible thing I’ve witnessed. The sickening feeling rolls in my gut, the pitch-black part of me I’ve tried hard to hide. The part of me that’s not me at all, but someone else. Somethingthat wanted me to force their hands tonight.
“You had a vison while you were awake, and you kept that from us? What did you see?” Tate asks, their emotions guarded. Anger builds inside me as I shove his hand away, pushing to my feet. “Tell me what you’ve been hiding and so will I,” I demand. “You want answers well too fucking bad. You don’t get to hide things from me then except me to spill my guts for you!” I yell, the flame building in the nearby candles. Milo shakes his head, glaring now at Tate instead of me. Half of me doesn’t want to know. Whatever was bad enough to keep from me, I’m probably better off in the dark about. Only the out of sight, out of mind headass mentality I once adopted doesn’t work for me anymore. I’m the daughter of a goddess for fuck’s sake, a Harbinger. I lift my chin higher, facing Milo as Tate stands. “As your gift and the daughter of Clotho, I demand you tell me what you know.” I roll my eyes as amusement filters through the bond, followed closely by unmistakable pride.
“Hey fuckers, is it doomsday already?” Sleepy’s loud voice echoes off the walls of the large main chamber as he hops down off the stage, coming from one of the back entrances. “I was on a patrol minding my business you know, actually working when I got mushroom stamped by some serious crazy power.”
Annoyance flares through me, only fueling my anger, “Can you ever not show up at a bad time?” I spit out, spinning on my heel to face the man. His long braids are beaded, ticking together as he whips his head in my direction. His dark brown eyes widening as he presses his hand to his chest as if I’ve wounded him. “Kita, you really should be nicer to your boyfriend’s best friend. And your best friend’s fuck buddy. I’m practically family.”
