14. Raya
RAYA
T he ground rushed up to meet me in my freefall, which had a different kind of terror coursing through me. I quickly assessed the desert below, choosing to focus on that unguarded flicker of light shining through, illuminating the shimmering narrow gateway in our shield. That was where I would be needed most, right in the thick of it, right in the action.
I would be the last barrier to prevent them from crossing with a coveted Omega.
With the wind whipping violently against my skin, I portaled closer, materialising with a thud and taking off across the landscape towards it, careful not to expend too much more of my gift. Not until I needed it.
Every step I took was intentionally light, trying to avoid my feet sinking into the shifting sand as I ran. Still, it wasn’t 100 percent effective, with the resistance adding more weight to my hard-working legs, fatiguing them. Nervous sweat coated my brow despite the crisp air around me. I listened intently for any sounds that drew closer, careful to get to my desired location without opposition. Hopefully, that Dominant did not follow me.
I swiped at the drop of sweat that trickled down my face, spying the light of the entryway much closer than before. I hoped Bodhi couldn’t see me running towards it right now. I knew he would not approve.
A hoarse, grating screech sounded directly behind me, the heavy beat of wings nearby quickening my heart rate, my breaths coming out in heaving puffs of air beneath my exertion. I risked a look over my shoulder with wide eyes and threw myself forward into the sand, copping a lump of it straight into my mouth as a flying shifter dipped low, its sharpened claws raking down my back, tearing deep marks right through my suit, exposing my skin.
I scrambled, swatting my tongue with my fingers, scraping the sand out to spit on the floor, dispelling whatever I could. With a swipe of my forearm, I cleared whatever sand had hindered my vision, my gaze jumping wildly about, desperate to find the Dominant who had attacked me.
I blinked quickly, surveying the area to find my attacker. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Damn it. I looked higher, right up near the light of the moon, where I spotted something right below it that became clearer the more I focused .
A white, speckled blur against the clear night sky soaring directly in the air up ahead sparked something familiar inside me the moment it glided in a circle with effortless precision.
I knew this shifter, this terrible, vile Dominant who, on the orders of Jakari, took the only things I truly had left of my father. His wonderful journals had inspired my passion for Celestial Mapping, made me understand and fall in love with the sky above me.
This Dominant took everything valuable from my family and left me a wrecked and broken thing in the dirt, seizing it for their vile ends. My emotions still felt as potent as the day he had stolen from me, except now, I was a woman who could wield a weapon. I was a woman who could control her power.
I bounced back and forth, the anticipation of the moment barrelling towards me like a freight train. He flapped his wings, covering the distance with ease before diving down towards me, descending with ferocious speed.
But I was ready for him.
Bohdi’s voice ripped across the expanse, painful and desperate as its volume eclipsed the sounds of clashing claws and fangs.
“Raya!”
Not turning to look, not breaking my focus, I flicked one of my daggers out, my fingers tightening around it as the shifter torpedoed towards me from the sky.
Not the gun, not today. I’d know the thief who stole my joy anywhere. The closer he moved, the more confident I became with his markings, the same from that fateful night. His face was etched into my mind; I was eager to look him in the eye when I ruined him.
So, I ran, fury urging me forward, a fiery, ravenous beast ready to avenge the broken girl he’d left behind all those years ago. Our collision was set in stone now, with nowhere to go, both of us so determined, unrelenting.
Ten metres out.
Seven metres.
Five metres.
Three.
I leapt with all the strength I had to meet him in the sky before engaging my power, portaling just slightly to the left of him. I slammed the hilt of my dagger down into the blackened feathers of his back, rendering him unable to pull up in time before colliding with the sandy floor.
He screeched, milliseconds from impact, because he knew what was inevitable. The landing was hard and rough, with a disturbing crunch of bone. It made me feel satisfied, slightly appeasing the anger I’d held onto for so long. I landed delicately in a crouch on the sandy floor as I watched him.
He didn’t move.
He lay there with my dagger still firmly embedded in his back, blood slowly pulsing out from around the wound. But I wouldn’t be helping him today. He could consider it my gift to him, a memento.
I knew what I had done to that shifter was not enough to kill him, but at the very least, I could offer him a memory like the one he left me with. Dominants were beautiful, terrible things, incredibly resilient. It required more wounds to bleed them enough to die. I had no doubt I’d be seeing him again.
“Target acquired. Fall back before it closes,” an order barked out, echoing off the cliffs. My eyes darted across the landscape, thankful for the bright light of the moon and my heightened eyesight. Few people were left standing on the field, none of whom I recognised. All the Haven’s shifters were down and out for the count.
A large shape barrelled towards me from my right. “Time to go, Raya.”
The arrogant Dominant I had left behind on the cliff made a grab for me mid-stride. Clearly, he hadn’t intended to stop. I hated the way he perceived this all to be so easy for him, despite my earlier efforts.
I dodged once, twice, then blinked out of existence, teleporting beyond his reach towards the male carrying an unconscious Omega underneath the cliff face. She looked young, maybe just shy of ten, though she was dressed well. Clearly, an inner ringer. The Supreme would never comment on the uselessness of his guards. He never did.
A roar of frustration reverberated from the silver-haired Dominant carrying the Omega, though he didn’t falter when I materialised and instead dodged me, continuing to run at an incredible pace.
What the hell? No.
If I could nail one thing tonight, it was not letting them take her from her family. I had to save her and win the extra protection for my family.
I chased behind him as his long legs powered ahead. He wasn’t as big as the other male, but he was agile and nimble, clearly unhindered by the weight he carried. I would need to be quick.
So, I portaled as close as I could get to the running Dominant. With panic coursing through me, I stayed just long enough, half a fraction of a second, to trip him up and rip her from his arms. The movement lacked grace as I portaled us both mid-fall, landing at the closest point to the city, far away from the barrier. It was the furthest I could portal from where I had grabbed her, especially with a second body. At least I had her. I knelt there with her clutched in my arms, taking in heaving breaths as I held her protectively to my chest. That had taken far more than was normal from me.
The few Dominants who had breached us began to dart back through the barrier, one by one, in quick succession as the sand began to rumble beneath us.
Relief coursed through me at not being spotted as that nimble, silver-haired male turned and darted backwards to join the arrogant asshole carrying the hawk shifter. I blinked my eyes furiously in disbelief, staring intently at the dagger still protruding from his back.
I honestly had expected him to wake up before our shield thickened again, but the fact that they had left the dagger in his back while he was still unconscious gifted me a slight thrill.
They walked at a brisk pace, though casual and undeterred, as if they weren’t worried at all for their safety. I scoffed; arrogant, vile beasts, so unlike the Alphas that existed within the Haven.
The big guy passed through the shield first with his cargo in tow, leaving the silver-haired one as the last to leave. Fortunately, the gateway was narrow, allowing only a single person entry at a time. It meant we would never be swamped by an army of the assholes.
I watched the remaining Dominant, noticing his ethereal grace and beauty as he walked. Something about him seemed so different from the others. I couldn’t even guess what someone like him would shift into; something unusual to suit his appearance, most likely.
He paused right before he was to disappear to the other side. The ground continued to groan beneath us as the sands shifted, indicating that the closure of the gateway was imminent. But then, he turned back around, and I swear he was looking right at me, all the way across the expanse, for a single, terrifying second, before stepping through the shield at the very last minute.
The light faded from the edges, creeping closer to the centre of the gateway until it was wholly back to the familiar, shimmery purple. Where once the gateway existed, now the seamless image of shimmering, shadowy cliffs and the glinting night sky rested.
I sat back on my heels, unaware I had leaned forward to watch their departure and the nightly ceasefire. I gently placed the unconscious Omega onto the sand and released the breath I was holding for those last, watchful moments.
With a hand lifted to my heart, I took a moment to focus, grounding myself and allowing relief to ease its way in. Those few short moments of stillness enabled me to process the night and everything I had achieved, simultaneously conducting a final, slow scan of the barren land before me.
A few bodies were splayed out on top of sand dunes, and I prayed they were just unconscious. My eyelids fluttered under the toll of tonight’s exertion. Tomorrow was going to be difficult.
I still had to get this Omega to safety, likely back towards the compound in the distance, and I doubted I could portal us both there again, though I would try. It was still a better option than attempting to walk, carrying her the whole way.
I would be sore tomorrow, that I was sure of. The fight was a thrill, but the toll was heavy. I would be back, though. I’d survived it.
If retribution was now in the cards alongside my family’s protection, then I was going to be a player. The dagger I left behind was a gift to an old friend, wherever he was. If that bird shifter, the thief, was still alive and well, then I did not doubt that Jakari the betrayer was too.
It was that thought alone that had a slow, dark smile curving my lips. I could hardly wait for that deceitful, Dominant to emerge.
If only to show him the end of my blade.