Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) (23 page)

"You've had your fun now it's time
to admit defeat.  You can't win."  Teya appeared in front of Sage as fast
as a breeze.  She wiped the blood from her face with a shaking hand.

The fear in Teya was easy for Sage to
see though the queen was trying to hide it.  She knew the queen was done with
fighting fair so she had to think fast.  She reached up and held a cuff in her
hand, "I would rather rot in these chains."

"Have it your way!"

Teya swung her fist toward Sage's face
but right before impact Sage dodged letting Teya's momentum carry her forward
then she wrapped her arm around Teya's neck and clamped the shackle she held
onto the queen's wrist.

"I will
have it my way," shouted Sage as she released her hold on Teya to leave
the surprised queen staring at the cuff.  Sage knew the bounds wouldn't hold
long so she swung an uppercut hitting Teya on the chin.  She could see the
fairy's eyes glaze over as she started to pass out from the blow that would
have made any boxer proud but just as her knees started to buckle the black
power began to seep from its master's hands and wrap around Teya.  The dark
mass cocooned the queen from head to toe, leaving only her closed eyes exposed.

Turning, Sage started for the door.  She
knew this couldn't end well so she needed to get out of this room.  She needed
her powers back to finish this fight and the only way to do that was to get
past that closed door.  Two steps and she was at the bottom of the small stair
case leading up to the door but then she felt it, the all too familiar coldness
seeping into her skin as the dark mass wrapped around her waist and mouth,
cutting off the scream that was on the tip of her tongue.

In one rough jerk she was pulled
backwards.  Sage's feet left trails in the packed dirt as she tried to fight. 
The mass spun her around to face the wide open, dark pools of evil now staring
back at her from the still cocooned face of Teya.  The sight was overwhelming,
making Sage struggle harder to break free.  The coldness and evil that radiated
from the queen was sucking the life and soul straight from Sage.  Bleakness and
despair replaced any hope that lived inside of Sage with each inch closer her
body got to the puppet-like figure.

"Did you really think I would let
you win?"  The queen's voice echoed in an unnatural way, like a second,
deeper voice was talking in unison with her.  She shook the one arm that was
still hanging from the chain, "Did you think this through?"  She
winked, "Because I did."  With a whip of her free hand Teya commanded
the blackness to feed into Sage's nose and mouth.  The darkness consumed the
fairy as she fought to break free.

Sage clawed at her neck.  An ice cold,
thick tar filled her throat, blocking any air from entering her burning lungs. 
With each ticking second her panic grew stronger, her heart thumped harder and
her vision became spotted as her body begged for that life force that no fairy
could live without.  She could live for thousands of years and heal from the
most severe of wounds but cut the air off and all those powers and years of
experience meant nothing.

The spots dancing across her vision
began to pulse larger and larger as the world around Sage tilted.  She gave up
trying to pull the dark mass from her because she didn't have the energy to
fight any more.  Calm overtook her.  A sense of peace, happiness and acceptance
all balled into one filled her mind just as the darkness took her under.

After a few moments of silence Teya
pulled the power back inside of herself then stood staring down at Sage's still
body, "Such a stupid girl."

"Guard!"  Teya called out in a
desperate voice.  Within seconds the door opened and the guard she had
dismissed earlier came bounding down the steps.  He stopped as soon as his eyes
spotted Sage on the floor.

"You idiot, don't just sand there. 
Get me out of this awful thing."

"I don't understand.  What could
have possibly happened to cause all of this?"  The guard stammered as he
hurried to the Queen's side.

"It would seem the prisoner was
immune to the dungeon's power shields.  She tricked me into getting close then
she attacked me, locking me in these chains and even hitting me."  She
gritted her teeth as if the pain of admitting getting tricked, even if it was a
lie, hurt her to speak of.  "I had to defend myself."

The guard went to work on the cuff,
"I'll call a healer for the both of you."

"No, there's no time and, well, she
is a traitor so death was coming for her soon enough.  Just return to your post
until I come back.  Don't let anyone in and tell no one of what you've
seen."

The guard nodded obediently as he
followed the queen up the steps.  He was well trained and knew his place. 
Don't ever speak of what you see and never question any order.  Following
command was drilled into warriors from day one of training as the ultimate
trait.  Obey without questions because your commander, or in this case the queen,
knows what is best for everyone even if the warrior cannot see it at the time
but it didn't stop him from taking one worried glance back at Sage before he
locked the door behind him.

Nicole stood in the center of a green
field with the sun on her back.  She turned in a circle, watching her footing,
keeping her hands up in front of her and probed with her mind for any slip. 
Eyes glowed back at her in red, blue and yellow from each different face
—
all piercing and
determined, waiting for her to let her guard down so they could prove how
worthless she was.

A bead of sweat dropped from her
hairline and rolled down her neck like it was a small insect crawling along. 
That was all the distraction it took.  A lunge to her left had her spinning quickly
to intercept the large, gorilla sized man who was inches from her in under a
second.  His rotund build would lull anyone into a fake sense of security but
as Nicole flipped backward  narrowly escaping his sledge hammer fist she
realized that looks were very deceiving here.

As she landed on her feet a blue glow
pulled her eyes up.  A tall, sharp featured woman held her hands above her head
calling a massive ball of water into an orb above her.  Nicole bolted forward
seeing her opening while the warrior was collecting her energy.  Half way to
her goal a red glow to her side caught her attention.  It was Luke.  He was
running parallel with her across the field.

With a hard look he released the fire at
her.  Tossing her hand up, she sent an identical ball of fire knocking into
his, sending it off course.  Two more were right behind it so she prepared to
release another as she ran but gorilla guy bolted in front of her making her
stagger and trip as she tried to correct her path.  Without a second thought she
sent a blast of wind at the approaching orbs slapping them to the ground.

Struggling to pull herself from the
ground she rolled to her stomach to try to get an eye on all her attackers. 
She caught a fleeting glimpse of Luke just before he released flames like a
dragon's breath from his palms.  Nicole froze unsure of what to do.  She tried
to right herself on her feet but the flames were getting close fast.  There was
no time to flee so she called wind to herself and created a shield around her
body.  The raging winds cut off her view of the world outside but she felt the
heat of the flames as they tasted each inch of her barrier, dancing up one side
and over the top casting an orange glow on the dirty gray walls around her. 
Just when she thought her idea was going to fail and that she was going to
suffocate in the inferno it stopped.  It was over.

With a relieved sigh Nicole set the
winds free with a dismissive flick of her wrist.  She pulled herself up on her
knees and studied the area around her as the dust started to settle.  The grass
that had been inside of her protective ring was still vibrant and green but the
area around her was black.  Red embers glowed as small fires spread slowly
across the field filling the air with gray smoke.

"What the hell was that,"
screamed Nicole as Luke walked towards her.

He cocked one eyebrow giving a smug
look, "Training."

Nicole stood up dusting the dirt from
her jeans and t-shirt, "You were trying to kill me!  That was
excessive."

"Do you think anyone is going to go
easy on you in a real battle?"

"I don't think I'll have three
people attacking me at once," she retorted.

"Three?" Luke laughed drily. 
"You couldn't handle three people attacking you."

"What is that supposed to
mean?" Nicole asked placing her hands on her hips.

Luke took a step back with a smug smile
stretching his lips.  He pointed one finger up causing Nicole to look into the
air just in time to see the giant orb of water floating above her head.  She
gasped as it opened up and dumped a waterfall of cold water over her, drenching
her completely and, at the same time, putting out the remaining fires.

Luke's face twisted as he tried not to
laugh but he couldn't contain it.  He doubled over with amusement over Nicole's
shocked face.

Nicole watched him enjoying her
frustration until she had enough.  While his eyes were on the ground she raked
her hands through the air then lifted them above her head.  Within seconds the
water had beckoned to her call and a huge blue ball dangled dangerously close
to Luke's head, "Hey tough guy," she purred in her sweetest voice
grabbing Luke's attention.

Luke was still trying to contain his
laughter when his face took on a stoic look, knowing that he had asked for what
was coming, "Damn it," was all he muttered when the first drop of
water hit him.  The downpour drenched him to his skin and left him dripping.

Laughter erupted from behind them as the
other two warriors came to stand beside Nicole.

"It would seem you have your hands
full with this one, Luke," chuckled the bear like man as he patted Nicole
on the back. "My name is Braden"

Nicole shook his hand then turned to
receive a warm hug from the tall, slender woman, "I'm Harlo.  Sorry about
the bath but you looked like you could use something to cool you off," she
joked.

Nicole looked down at her wet clothes
then back a Harlo with a smile, "Next time a glass of tea will work just
fine."

Luke chuckled as he leaned his head back
and closed his eyes, "You still have so much to learn."  The air
around him heated and steam started to rise from his clothes.  He was using his
fire like a dryer to evaporate the water from his body.

Nicole narrowed her eyes, "I can do
that."  Mimicking Luke's actions Nicole was happy to hear the hiss of
water evaporating off her.  After a moment she opened her eyes rubbing her
hands along her clothes, "See, all dry." She gave Luke a smug wink.

"Only one little problem,"
retorted Luke.  "You're shoes are on fire." He smiled and turned
away.

"Oh crap!" Nicole danced out
of her shoes then patted out the small flames that were working their way
around the strings of her tennis shoes.

"When you're done playing we will
get back to training," Luke called over his shoulder.

"Asshole," mumbled Nicole
under her breath.

Luke turned on her, "You know if
you'd keep your mind on the training this would go a lot smoother."

"My mind is on the training"

"To hell it is.  When you're
focused on defending yourself you let the guard down inside your head so all
those thoughts of yours flow out for all hear.  You're broadcasting your next
move so loud you might as well give everyone a hand-out."

"This isn't easy, Luke." 
Nicole stepped up to him, toe to toe.  "You don't know how hard it is to
control this many abilities," she poked a finger against his chest as her
temper started to reach its peak.

Grabbing her hand he leaned down to
whisper in her ear, "It seems to me that you're worried about Slade.  Lots
of nice images of him keep popping up too."  His words seeped with venom.

She yanked her hand back and didn't try
to keep her voice low, "If you bothered to snoop long enough you would see
that I'm worried about him and Sage.  If you haven't noticed both of my
friends
have disappeared.  You're jealousy is blinding you, Luke," she hissed