Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
A shlyn
Suddenly, an arm grabbed her from behind, wrapped just below her breasts under her armpits, and pulled her to the surface.
“Hold on, Ashlyn. Hold on.” Bren swam with her to the edge of the small pond until he could stand, then carefully lifted her out of the water.
He ran as fast as he could back to the house, pushing himself harder than he ever had before.
Shouting for help as he approached the back door, he whisked her into the warm interior, not stopping until he could lay her down next to Zade’s still form.
“Oh, no!” Rachel cried out, rushing to her side. “What have you done?”
Liara grabbed blankets from another room and tucked them around Ashlyn, carefully removing her mask and goggles. “She went to the sacred pool. I should have known what she was going to do when she asked me to leave her alone. I will never forgive myself.”
“There is nothing to forgive. She made her choice freely. If she is going to survive, she must have an anchor now. We must initiate a Yielding.” Bren reached behind his shoulder and pulled his sword from its scabbard. The ancient Lumerian runes etched along the blade flashed with blue light.
He quickly positioned the sword so that he could make a small cut on the palm of his hand. A single drop of blood beaded on his palm. Collecting the blood, he wiped the liquid across a small digital display on his armored forearm and tapped in a series of Lumerian symbols.
“Identify,” said a disembodied voice.
“Brennar Phavaen.”
“Scanning,” said the voice. A blue sheet of light scanned Bren from head to toe.
“Artifact?”
“Lumerian Orb.”
“Retrieving.”
As they waited for the orb to appear, they gathered closer. Dagan growled, “This better work, Lumerian. I was told this ceremony required us to be awake.”
Bren’s lips thinned. “The couple is required to yield all that they are, their hearts, their minds, their souls, their very lives, to become something more. Stronger together. Two become one. Have they not already done so? First, Zade sacrificed himself to save Ashlyn, and now she has done the same for him. They will have to find one another through the veil. There is no other way now. They are both out of time.”
Bren held up his hand, and in it appeared a pebble. Within a few seconds, the pebble expanded into a crystalline ball the size of his fist. Inside it, sparkling silver and gray mist swirled as if directed by an unseen force.
“Everyone step back.” He held the orb aloft, centered over Zade and Ashlyn. The orb, as if by magic, levitated over their still forms. Slowly, the orb’s impenetrable shell liquefied, expanding in size until the three of them were encased within its misty interior. Bren and Ashlyn’s breath mixed with the cold mist, fogging the interior even further.
With all his might, Bren drove the tip of his blade into the table between the two lovers, deep enough so the blade would remain upright. Drawing his dagger, he made a tiny cut on the palm of Zade’s hand, then wiped the welling drop of blood over the divot in the hilt of the sword. Before repeating the process with Ashlyn, he murmured, “I do not know if this will work. Listen to my words. Know this; you have already yielded. Both have sacrificed. Good or bad, you have made choices that will last forever. Zade, if you can hear me, Ashlyn has taken an irreversible path. You must find her, anchor her to this life, or she will die. A Yielding is not like your binding ceremony. Part of the yielding is experiencing one another’s memories, their pain.”
With a flick of his wrist, he made a tiny cut on Ashlyn’s palm and smeared her blood on top of Zade’s, over the same divot in his sword, then quickly removed himself from the confines of the orb as the air became charged with electricity and the outer edges hardened like the shell of an egg.
“Now what?” asked Rachel.
As if rehearsed, Sasha, Dagan and Bren spoke in unison. “Now we wait.”
Several minutes passed in deafening silence. Nothing happened. No spark of light, no movement. Still, they waited. And waited. No one said the words, they didn’t need to speak them, it was written on their faces––Stunned disbelief. Sorrow. Failure.
One by one, they began to fidget, a shifting of the feet, a hand through the hair, pacing, rocking back and forth. Rachel sobbed quietly in Cam’s arms. Bren slammed a fist into a support beam, shaking the entire room.
Finally, Sasha made her way over to the orb, standing directly in front of it. Dagan joined her a moment later.
“I know that look. What are you thinking?” asked Dagan.
“I was remembering our Yielding. There was an electrical current connecting us to Falden’s sword. Do you remember?”
Dagan peered through the orb, squinting to see past the swirling mist inside. “I don’t see it.”
Nodding, Sasha removed one of the sparkling crystal bracelets that always adorned her. As she removed it, her markings grew brighter.
“What are you doing, little one? You know you can’t remove those. They’re the only thing keeping the energy you generate from overpowering you.”
“The crystals merely siphon the energy before it can leave my body and harm others. It is always there, my love.”
He growled. “It’s too dangerous. What about the baby?”
She placed her hand on her growing waistline. “We have this energy inside us all the time. She will be fine if you help us.”
“I don’t like this idea.”
“What good are these powers if I can never use them?”
Dagan breathed deeply. “I can feel your determination. You’re killing me.”
Sasha blushed. “I love you, too.”
Dagan kissed her temple. “You will stop if you feel any pain or if you start losing control of it.”
“Okay.”
“No, baby. I need to hear you say it.”
She grouched, “You’re so bossy.”
“You love it. Now, say the words.”
“I will stop if I feel any pain or start losing control.”
“Very well. Tell me what you need.”
Placing her hands on the orb, she took a long, cleansing breath. “I don’t know how I know this, but I think the orb doesn’t have enough power to initiate this type of Yielding.”
“What do you mean?”
“They are not conscious of their actions, so the orb must work in reverse; it must bridge the gap––reach into the unconscious mind. This takes more energy. I need you to remove another bracelet, and keep removing them, until the sword activates properly.”
Carefully, Dagan released a bracelet. Then another and another.
Sasha’s eyes began to glow with an eerie blue light.
Suddenly, inside the orb, a small circular region at the top began to spark and glow. A bolt of lightning flashed down, lighting the interior. Electricity snaked its way down, almost like it was searching, seeking a specific target, until the current connected to the sword. Thunder cracked, shaking the orb, its deafening sound no more than a low rumble to those on the outside.
Suddenly, the ancient runes etched down the center of Bren’s sword lit with blue fire. An arc of lightning flashed out from the pommel and connected to Ashlyn. Her body jerked. Convulsed. She gasped. The current split into three, then more, until she was held within the grip of what looked eerily like an electrical hand.
Zade was next. Again, lightning arced from the sword and struck Zade in the heart. His body arched like a taut bow, every muscle rigid, fighting against the current wrapping itself around his large frame.
As if drawn up by an unseen force, their bodies rose into the air. As they floated, the electricity wove back and forth between them, drawing them closer together until they were each held within one half of an infinity loop.
Zade’s heart hammered in his chest. What was happening? He was running toward the Dark One. Tears streamed down his face. He couldn’t stop running. The Dark One was going to kill him. He couldn’t stop. Terror choked off his scream. He couldn’t breathe. He was going to die, and he hadn’t told Zade how much he loved him.
The Dark One drew back its clawed hand, its pleasure at the coming slaughter a palpable force. Zade screamed. He couldn’t stop screaming.
Tears streamed down his face as he continued to run. Too slow. Why was he running so slowly?
Was he in some sort of bizarre, dream-like trance? He forced himself to look down. His legs were pumping as fast as they could. Small, muscular legs. Human legs. Female.
From across the arena, he watched a ghost of himself shout, “Ashlyn! No!”
Disoriented, confused, he continued to run toward the Dark One, panic clawing at his chest.
Terror unlike anything he’d ever experienced before flooded his system as he watched himself, almost in slow motion, sprint toward the creature. No! No! Zade, no! I can’t stop! Oh god. Zade!
Zade watched as the ghost of himself leaped in front of the Dark One, blocking the way, just as the Dark One slashed its razor sharp, clawed hand down, ripping into ghost Zade’s side. His ghost self collapsed to the ground, covered in blood.
Zade screamed, his heart full of horror. Crushing pain tore through his soul. "Zade, no!" he sobbed. He fell to his knees beside ghost Zade, panicked, as he watched the light in ghost Zade’s eyes fade.
"Zade, no!" he cried out again. He pressed his hands into ghost Zade’s wounds, desperate. Terrified. He was going to lose him. He loved him so much! His hands trembled as he pressed them to ghost Zade’s wounds, his fingers slick with blood.
Ghost Zade opened his eyes. " Shenga ," he whispered, his voice weak.
Zade’s heart shattered, fear and desperation clawing at him. “I love you, Zade,” he choked out, tears streaming down his face, blurring his vision. The truth of his words flooded him like a tidal wave. Pure. Deep. True. Unconditional love. All of him. Forever.
And he was slipping away.
No!
No!
No!
Ashlyn! No!
Zade drew in a deep, ragged breath and opened his eyes. Silver mist swirled around him. Electricity held him in a death grip several feet in the air. What was happening? Where was he? Ashlyn! Shenga!
She loved him. All of him. He’d felt it. Experienced it for himself. She felt as he did. After everything he’d done, she still loved him. She was also afraid of losing him.
He fought to free himself from the electricity, fought to get to her, to reach her. She, too, was held prisoner by an energy field linked to the glowing sword below. Even through the lightning fast electricity whipping around her, he could see that one arm was lit with the most beautiful markings he’d ever seen. The pattern was far more delicate and feminine than his and seemed to be part of her skin rather than raised like his own. Hers sparkled and glowed with an otherworldly aura he’d never seen before. She was magnificent.
He struggled to roll onto his side. Every inch of progress he made, the electrical field grew stronger, pain radiating through every cell in his body. Every hair stood on end as the current traveled through him and back to the sword. He was weak. Numbing pain, tingling, buzzing, stabbing sensations hit him in ceaseless waves. There was nothing he could do but endure. He had to get to Ashlyn. With inhuman strength, he pushed through the electrical cage holding him prisoner.
Strangely, almost as if alive, the electrical fingers drew them closer together. He raised his arm, struggling to reach through the barrier holding Ashlyn in the other half of the infinity loop. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he pushed one hand through and captured hers.
As soon as their hands were linked, the electricity weaving around them changed, shifted, transformed into one swirling mass instead of two.
He drew her into his arms, chest to chest. His heart overflowed with love for her.
He held her closer. He was supposed to do something. Find something for her. No. Not for her. I’m supposed to find her.
Fear seized him. He couldn’t lose her. She was his everything. His reason for existing. “ Shenga , I don’t know how you did it, but you found me. I was lost in the veil. Now it is my turn. Hear me, shenga . Feel my love. Follow my voice. Wherever you go, I will follow. Choose for us, my love. I will never leave you. Everything that I am, I give to you. I am forever yours,” he vowed.
Ashlyn turned her head. She’d been talking to Bren. Something was horribly wrong. Where was Ashlyn?
There, across the arena, Ashlyn saw herself running toward the Dark One. Alarm slammed into her gut. Terror unlike anything she’d ever known gripped her heart. She broke into a cold sweat, fear choking her throat.
She ran as fast as she could, much faster than she thought possible, desperate to reach her before it was too late. She had to reach Ashlyn. The Dark One would kill her. Her chest tightened painfully. She was going to be too late. “Ashlyn! No!” she screamed, fear choking off her airway.
Ashlyn shook her head to dispel her confusion. How could she be running toward herself? A ghost version of herself? What was happening?
She pushed herself harder, forced her legs to go faster, dismissed the strange sense of déjà vu, her mind zeroing in on the danger. She had to focus. Nothing else mattered. Only Ashlyn. She had to get to Ashlyn. She was her everything. By the gods, she could not live without her. Ashlyn! No! No! Stop! Stop!
The Dark One drew back one hand, ready to strike. She could see the malevolence shining in its eyes. It wanted to kill. That was what Dark Ones lived for. Death. Destruction . They were the ultimate predators. No conscience. No mercy. I’ll die before I let you touch her!
Ashlyn pushed herself the last few feet, diving in front of ghost Ashlyn. There was no time to fight. No time. She would not survive the blow that was coming.
She accepted her fate. Embraced it. Ashlyn had to live. There was no other choice for her. Nothing else mattered. Only Ashlyn.
Pain burst through her side as the Dark One’s claws sliced through her uniform like a hot smelting iron through silk. Agony stole her breath and took her to the ground.
Ghost Ashlyn fell to her knees. "Zade, no!"
Ashlyn tried to get up, tried to be strong. She was losing too much blood. Too fast. Too fast. Have to tell her. Tell her. Love. Love forever. Worth everything.
She forced her eyes to open. Ghost Ashlyn was crying, trying to stop the blood. Ashlyn knew the effort was futile. She was slipping. She needed ghost Ashlyn to know. " Shenga .”
Ghost Ashlyn wanted her to hang on. She would try. Try for her shenga . Stasis. Only chance. Have to try.
She spent the last of her energy. She had to focus. Stasis. Dangerous. Try. Clear mind. Clear. Mind.
Clear...
She took one last shuddering breath.
Ashlyn floated in the mist. Someone was talking to her. She strained to hear the words. They were faint. Far away. ‘ Feel my love. Follow my voice. Wherever you go, I will follow. Choose for us, my love. I will never leave you. Everything that I am, I give to you. I am forever yours .’
Zade? Zade! Where are you?
Ashlyn mentally reached out. They were connecting. Joining. Two shall become one, stronger together. You will live together, die together. The words echoed in her mind. She could feel a new, powerful bond weaving them together; could feel Zade’s love for her as strongly, as clearly, as she could feel her own love for him. Zade! I’m here!
“Open your eyes, shenga .”
Ashlyn’s eyelids felt like lead weight, but she forced them to obey her command. Zade’s face was close, close enough to touch, to kiss. And he was alive, smiling, holding her safely in his arms as bright white electricity crackled in the air around them like tiny lightning bolts.
She looked into his golden eyes and smiled as the crackling energy faded away. “I love you.”
Zade didn’t waste words. He kissed her, his heart and soul, his entire being devoted to the woman in his arms.