Dancing With Monsters (26 page)

I turned to Malachi. Pushing back his
dark hair, I tilted his face towards mine. His eyes were fixed and
pupils dilated like two black dots. I wasn’t sure how to bring him
out of this demon-trance, but I didn’t need to, Ezra
did.

With unblinking eyes, I burrowed my
gaze into his expressionless stare. At first I thought I was doing
a Taking, but before I stopped, Ezra reassured me.

“
You are giving him some
of your energy,”
she said just before I
started to release my hands from his face.

I let Ezra guide me like a blind
person through traffic. I trusted her enough to let her share a
body with me, and I trusted her with Malachi.

I kept my eyes on Malachi’s blue eyes
that reminded me of a summer day, but not any summer’s day, the
first nice one that was the start of the season and a relief from
the erratic winter that didn’t want to end. I felt the air change
around us—it became sweeter and blew gently across us and ruffled a
few strands of my hair. The grey-purple light that surrounded us,
transformed into a bright light releasing the different colors of
our surroundings that the lavender light had shrouded.

I let my connection to Malachi deepen
and suddenly, it felt as though someone had taken a spoon and
scooped out a part of me like ice cream out of a container.
Grateful pain. That is the only way I could describe it. It was
like pulling a thorn out of a sore finger—it made it worse at
first, but when it was done, you felt no more pain. My energy
slipped to Malachi like a summer’s cloud drifting across the
sky.

Malachi drew in a deep breath and
blinked his eyes.

“
Malachi,” I said with
relief as I sat on his lap with my hands still cupping his
cheeks.

He looked around then up at me with a
smile. “Was it good for you?” He teased as he curled his hands
around my wrists.

The comment would have normally
agitated me, but it didn’t. “Yes, yes it was.”

I stood up and smiled at him as I
helped him to his feet.

“
Then we should do that
more often,” he said, looking around at the bars of the
cage.

“
Help me with the lock
before those two demons get back.” I went over and rattled the door
again.

“
What about the third
demon, dear?” asked a woman that suddenly stood in front of
me.

She was dressed in a white gown that
draped across her body and trimmed in gold threads. Her hair, skin
and the iris of her eyes were all the same shade of grey and looked
like someone had created her out of clay. She was beautiful as if
she had been shaped by an ancient artist in some distant land from
another time with her hair piled high on her head and adorned with
looping gold thread woven through her grey strands. Her skin was
smooth, and showed no blemishes or any imperfections. Even when she
smiled, it barely revealed any wrinkles.

“
I’m Ebony, and you
shouldn’t draw attention to yourself like this.” She motioned
around her.

The grey landscape had changed into
one filled with trees, grass and blue skies overhead.

“
I think Eos
underestimated your power, and I’m beginning to question her
ability to keep things on schedule.” She slid her hand across the
lock and it clicked open. “Both of you come.” She shifted her grey
eyes from me to Malachi, and then turned walking away.

Malachi went out first and tucked me
behind him as we followed Ebony.

“
Where are you taking us?”
he asked.

Ebony turned and glanced at us over
her shoulder. “If you like dealing with Eos, then stay here,
because she wants you as a pet, and you,” she fixed her grey eyes
on me. “She wants your energy. And the only way for her to get that
is by killing you.” Ebony turned and faced us as she crossed her
arms across her chest. “I’m offering you something entirely
different—decide your own fates here in the
Shadowlands.”

“
And what is that?” I
asked stepping out behind Malachi and closer towards
Ebony.

She smiled. “We can both benefit here,
and Eos isn’t offering anything to you. If you don’t come now, you
won’t have a choice, but will die instead. Eos’s power is strong,
but combining ours will be stronger.”

Ebony turned and walked towards the
green landscape that I had unknowingly created. I looked up at
Malachi, and then wrapped my hand in his.

“
We don’t have a choice,
let’s follow her.” I gently tugged on him.

He took in a deep breath. “These are
no ordinary demons,” he warned in a low voice. “They are powerful,
cunning, and by the sound of what Ebony said—fighting already
amongst themselves over power of the Shadowlands.”

“
I know, but this one is
helping us. Eos wants to suck the life out of me when she gets
back, and turn you into a zombie puppet,” I said in a hushed voice.
“This is our escape, and we need to take it.”

Ebony stopped, and gazed over her
shoulder at us as if waiting for Malachi to decide. I looked at her
too, and realized she wasn’t forcing us to go with. She wanted us
to go willingly. I didn’t understand why since she was a demon and
could have what she wanted right now and get rid of Eos when she
came back.

Malachi looked at her, and then at me.
“Let’s go, I don’t want to be a zombie puppet and have the life
sucked out of you.”

Ebony led us through the mini oasis
that I had unknowingly made when I gave Malachi some of my power to
a cavern with towering, jagged rocks. A narrow, sandy path wound
its way through the yellowish colored cliffs. Ebony didn’t say
anything to us, and glanced back with her clay-colored eyes. A
gentle breeze swooped down on us stirring up the sand that was the
same yellow color as the cavern walls that jetted out in sharp
angles. The lavender sky overhead was like a tiny ribbon of color
that contrasted with the warm colors surrounding us.

Malachi walked in front of me and held
my hand tightly. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was
getting more and more nervous the farther we went. His hand was
sweating in mine, and he repositioned it several times. I didn’t
feel threatened or scared at all, and really should have been, but
I wasn’t. Maybe it was Ezra calming me in her own way, but I knew
Ebony wasn’t going to hurt or lead us into a trap.

“
If she does something,
run as fast as you can out of here,” Malachi said without removing
his eyes from Ebony who walked gracefully in front of us with her
sheer dress curling around her feet like mist.

She glanced back with a smirk and a
raise of her left eyebrow. “We’re here, lovelies.”

The slender pathway opened to a large
crevasse of the same yellow rock, but open to the sky above. I
stood in awe of the intricately designed buildings carved out of
the rock. Arched window, doors and carvings of swirling designs
graced the walls of the many structures that lined this large
circular area.

“
It’s beautiful,” I said
staring up at it.

“
It should be,” Ebony said
with crossed arms gazing up at it as well. “Ezikel designed and
carved this for me. He’s an amazing architect, and quite an
accomplished demon with amazing ideas—that is until Eos sucked the
life from him.” Her voice filled with sourness. “But all isn’t lost
yet, come,” she said walking up to the largest of the carved
buildings.

Inside was as magnificent as outside.
The walls were scalloped in deep arching designs that reminded me
of frozen waves, and the floor was smooth with pastel colored
stone. Overhead were irregular, dimly glowing balls of
light.

“
You have orillions?”
Malachi questioned with surprise.

Ebony turned with a
gloating smile. “Yes, we demons do enjoy what others create, but
not all demons
respect
and enjoy what others make. I have an appreciation for many
things, my young Malachi.” She stood in the center of the room that
was a mix of many colors pale and some shining in this elaborate
room.

“
It’s really beautiful,” I
said with a glare from Malachi as he shoved me behind
him.

Ebony walked towards us with a smile.
“Ah, you appreciate as well.” She stopped in front of us as Malachi
squared his shoulders.

“
If I wanted to kill you I
could, but I don’t. I’m tired of killing, taking and being
ruthless, lawless, and without an ounce of humanity. That is the
one trait we can all learn from the human race—being compassionate
to others and having a sense of respect for others. Being a demon
or angel, there is no in-between, there are only definite lines and
from that spawns wars. Sometimes I think humans as well as monsters
would be better off if they didn’t have us looming over them.” She
switched her grey eyes from me to Malachi. “I wish to change
that.”

“
And how do you plan to do
that?” Malachi asked.

Ebony smiled. “By letting April Snow
do what she does best—she will take my power and Eos’s power as
well.” She stepped towards us. “She will do a Taking.”

Seth

Eveie twisted just as the dagger
skidded past her and embedded itself into a tree behind her. She
looked at it then at me with a smile.

“
You like to play with
sharp things. We don’t like to play with such things—they will hurt
others.” She plucked the dagger from the thick bark and crumpled it
like it was made of paper.

“
Mother, this is Seth and
he wants to play with us,” Ella said with a whining-pleading voice.
“He won’t hurt us… he promises.” She slid her eyes to me. “You
won’t hurt us, right Seth.”

I looked from Ella to Eveie. “I’m
looking for my friends that you brought here.”

Eveie stepped closer. “You are
powerful, this I can see since you opened a portal that I had
quickly sealed so that no one—angel, monster or otherwise could
pass. But you made it here.” She stood gazing at me with her vivid
blue eyes. “I don’t want Eos to find him, understand Ella?” She
looked down at the girl as she bobbed her head with
enthusiasm.

“
You want me to keep him
here in Ellaland?” She asked with an emphasis on
Ellaland.

“
For just a little, and
then I will be back.” She set her icy, blue eyes on me. “Don’t
think of leaving, little monster. This land will be sealed from
anyone leaving or entering.”

I knew I couldn’t overpower Eveie, and
kept my eyes steady on her. She turned and faded into the green
foliage with a slight ruffling of the low hanging limbs.

“
Great, she’s gone, now we
can play,” Ella said joyfully as she threw off her shoes and jumped
into the rock-bottom stream.

The water swirled around her feet as
she laughed and told me to join her. If I was to get anywhere, Ella
would be my way out. Eveie, I knew, had to have stolen this little
girl from somewhere and someone—just who she was I didn’t know, but
would try to find out.

I joined her in the water, amusing her
in play as we looked at the rocks she designed then something
struck me about this place. It wasn’t just a concoction of
something Ella created; it was a memory of a place that was not
only remembered by Ella, but me as well.

“
High Cliffs,” I whispered
to myself as I looked up at the jagged rocks that looked like had
been sliced by a hot knife leaving reds, yellows, oranges and
streaks of black staining the rock that allowed a waterfall to
cascade down it like hair.

It was an unmistakable landmark of the
Borderlands—where Malachi was from.

“
I like the waterfall,” I
said, pointing to it.

Ella looked up at it as if she had
suddenly come across something she wished she didn’t. Looking up at
it in a slightly fear-filled awe, Ella swallowed and then looked at
me. “It’s the place Eveie found me,” she said, calling the demon by
her name rather than mother. “I don’t remember anything about it,
but Eveie told me that is where I was born and she is my mother.”
She looked at me with her blue eyes. “My mother told me to never
call her by her name, but…”

“
She isn’t here, and has
sealed us in here.” I stood beside her and looked up at the
waterfall. “I know this place too.” Her eyes shot up at me as her
mouth gaped open. “It’s called the High Cliffs, and is found in the
Borderlands of Iethia where my race lives—the race of monsters.” I
knelt next to her, rolled up my sleeve, and showed her my
hexmark.

She looked at it, and then slowly and
cautiously, she touched it with her finger.

“
I-I have one too,” she
whispered.

It was a tribal hexmark just like
mine. I held my arm out next to hers, and let her just look at
them, comparing them. She would touch hers, then mine. She was a
monster being raised by a demon, and now my way out of
here.

“
You know what this
means?” I asked.

“
I’m like you?” She
questioned.

“
You are a monster, like
me and like many of us living in Iethia.” I stood up and rolled my
sleeve back down as she looked from her hexmark to the waterfall
and then closed her eyes.