Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (16 page)

“
The females
are not warriors, they’re our …” Brace paused, locking eyes with me
and mouthing
sorry
before he continued, “our mates. They’re here
for that purpose only.”

I sucked in hard, almost choking on the air.
Brace had gone with the most logical of explanations, but in
reality hearing those words from his mouth again was like being
stabbed in the heart. Short, sharp pains were running up and down
my left side.

“I think I’m having a heart attack,” I
muttered to Lucy. “Just in case I collapse and you wonder why.”

“Got it. Heart attack. No problem.”

She never even looked up at me. Friend of
the year, that one.

“How weak are your females that they do not
battle? We’re all warriors on Nephilius.” A black-wing again.

Brace and Colton lifted the large Angelica
that had been crumpled under their boots and tossed him back toward
the gathered flocks.

“Our mates are tough. They don’t need to
prove themselves.” Colton looked relaxed as always, but his eyes
were very light blue, and I could almost see shimmers of his wolf
threatening to break free.

Lucy was cursing under her breath, and she
was very inventive. Some of those four-letter words had to be made
up, and yet I still wanted to blush. And on top of that she seemed
to be shedding glittery particles from her skin.

“Uh, Luce, what the hell is that?” I waved
the green mist away.

Her eyes were narrowed in anger, but a small
burst of laughter escaped from her as she shook her arm. “I thought
Malisna was kidding; it’s pixie dust. Apparently we glitter when
pissed off or something. It’s supposed to have some amazing
qualities and purposes. Although we didn’t have time to explore
what they were.”

We were
distracted from this awesome new discovery by an arrogant voice.
“Your women spend too much time flapping their mouths. No wonder
they’re not warriors.” A
purple-wing, his
voice low and heavily accented.

My god, they were assholes. And I’d had
enough of their crap for one day.

My power burst from me; my dream energy. I
figured if it worked on Walkers, it should work on these Angelica.
And I was right. The many flock members were suddenly frozen, along
with my friends. Using Walker speed – I was extra fast due to the
gravity, almost floating above the cloud – I darted around to each
of them and wrenched their weapons from their hands.

Brace was
the first to break my illusion; he just stood and watched, a small
smile on his lips. It was so strange
. It
was as if he remembered everything of me, but just not our
relationship.

I forced myself to concentrate on my task at
hand. It took me mere moments to strip the helpless warriors. And
by the time the Angelica had recovered I stood right before them, a
pile of their weapons at my feet. The expressions on their faces,
as awareness hit them, ranged from anger and disbelief right up to
fear.

“Lucy and I are warriors,” I told them, “but
we’ll only battle if you threaten us again. Keep in mind I could
have killed you all right then.”

Never hurts to put some fear into them.

And then
just li
ke that those still holding
weapons sheathed them and turned from us to continue their battling
on the wide expanse of clear white cloud. Only a handful stayed to
face us.

“Welcome to Neol, the tournament land. I am
Galern.” A black-wing stepped forward. He had charcoal-colored
skin, just lighter than his wings, and then this mass of
contrasting white hair. “Follow me. I’ll take you to our area. Our
council will give you the rules.”

None of the
other Angelica argued with his state
ment,
although I noticed two purples exchange glances. Their too perfect,
genderless faces did not give much away, but at a guess, the
black-wings’ status as leaders didn’t have everyone bathing in
ecstatic joy. Just like in Walker society, the princeps were often
respected but not necessarily liked.

Brace and Colton stayed close to either side
of us as we followed Galern around the edge of the field.

“That was really … really freaking hot how
you whipped that angel’s ass.” Lucy was walking, so she had to
glance up at Colton when she spoke. “I never even saw you and Brace
move.”

“Plenty more where that came from, pretty
girl.” Colton leaned down to kiss her on the nose.

I looked away, only to find Brace staring at
me. It was just like the old days, before we were bonded. When we
hadn’t realized that we were true mates, but knew there was
something between us. Except now I was nursing a broken heart and
Brace, unable to remember our love, probably thought he was going
crazy. But as backwards as it sounds, I was calmer when I was with
him. It hurt not being bonded, but his presence gave me some
relief. It was not the torture I’d anticipated.

“It was pretty hot,” I admitted to
Brace.

Wait, what?

He was still staring at me. I had to say
something.

His answering grin as he turned his head
away sent shivers up and down my spine.

“We all know which one of us kicked the most
ass,” I heard him say into the swirling winds.

The mist
grew thicker as we moved away from the white angels and their
wing-flap-athon. Galern did not so much walk as march us along,
never pausing or looking around. Not that there was much to see
here. Besides the majesty of the angel creatures, the land itself
was the most
unchanging we’d been to.
Clouds and mist. There had to be something more to it.

Finally the black-winged Angelica came to a
halt. We stopped right behind him and I tried to figure out what
the holdup was. It took me a few moments to realize he stood before
a building. Kind of. The walls seemed to be made of clouds or a
misty substance that had been erected into thin panes of glass. A
frosted glass, though; I couldn’t see inside. From my position the
dwelling looked to be single level, probably around fifty square
feet.

Colton
followed Galern through the open doorway first. Brace brought up
the rear of our group. The men were being very protective. They had
zero trust for these Angelicas. Inside the
residence was a large open space. There were five
black-wings scattered around, and three more standing over a large
table. Yes, you guessed it, a cloud table.

“Can they just manipulate this cloud and
mist and create any structure they want?” Lucy asked out loud.

Even though we were near the entrance and
Galern had moved across the room, he still heard. “Our energy
allows us to manipulate our land. We take sustenance from the
clouds and we use them for our comforts.”

The eight others stepped forward, their
faces much more welcoming than back at the field.

“This is the high council of Gaa,” Galern
said.

I raised my brows, wondering what the heck
Gaa was.

He noticed my expression. “Gaa is the name
of the black-winged flock,” he explained. “Gaa is the word for
black in Angelican, our language.”

I was guessing the rest of the flocks were
named for their colors also.

A woman stepped away from the group. She
looked older, a little more wizened than her other council members,
but still tall and graceful. “I am Steva. Welcome to Nephilius, and
the official tournament for this cloud year. We need to go over the
rules so that your stay with us is …” She paused. “Well, not
fraught with peril.”

Ominous beginnings, but hey, not our worst
welcome to a world.

“You have only entered one competitor. The
other three of you will have a designated area. You must not leave
there. And you cannot assist your fighter, no matter what.”

Yeah, that wasn’t happening but
continue.

“There are ten cloud lands on Nephilius.
There are no dangers within this tournament land, but others are
not so safe. Separating the lands are large abysses. If you fall
into these, you will never return.”

Okay, no exploring, check. But how did they
know I’d never return? What was down these holes?

“And at some point we need to take you to
the Isle of Souls.”

The four of
us exchanged
confused glances.

“Why?” Brace asked bluntly.

“While it’s not the first time outsiders
have competed in the tournament, the deal struck this year was that
between rounds you would attempt to assist us with our little
problem.”

Her voice rose slightly, she seemed
surprised that we didn’t already know this.

Thank you,
Grantham, a little heads
-up would have
been appreciated.

“What’s the Isle of Souls?” I asked, hoping
it wasn’t something too creepy. And no zombies, please. I was still
recovering from my last encounter.

“Since the beginning of our time, when an
Angelica died, their soul would return to the mother cloud.” Steva
pointed skyward. “But for the last thousand or so cycles, every
soul has been trapped on the Isle of Souls.”

“This is throwing off the balance,” Galern
said. “And we believe if the negative there gets too strong it will
suck in all of our souls and trap us in the land.”

“Yes, thank you, Galern,” Steva said,
putting him in his place. “Delane – one of Gaa’s best fighters and
a true champion – just visited the isle and believes that some type
of foreign energy, originating from the abyss, draws the souls and
holds them. We hope you might offer more insight or
assistance.”

I exchanged
a glance with Lucy. It sounded a little like the
energy
-sucking thing Que had had set up
in the dark mountains on First World. Maybe this was a Walker
problem.

“
We’ll
fulfill Grantham’s bargain.
But if the energy originates within the abyss, and we can’t enter
this area, I see a large problem,” Colton said.

Steva nodded but did not comment
further.

Colton moved closer to Lucy, who looked
extra tiny amongst the giants in the room. He was very protective
of her. Not that Brace had been any less of me, but Lucy was the
sort of person who inspired protective instincts. Me not so much.
But I was okay with that. I liked to be my own savior. Brace was
the exception to my rule, and that’s just because I loved him.

“The tournament will start soon. You need to
be fitted with armor and a weapon.” Steva was still speaking. “The
first round is saidon.”

“What’s a saidon?” I murmured to Brace. We’d
used a variety of basic weapons in the compound. But I didn’t know
that one.

“One of my favorite weapons,” he said with a
grin. “I think on Earth they call it sai.”

Oh, right, I was pretty sure I knew what
that was. Just like the one on that animated show with the –

“Turtles,” Lucy trilled, catching my
eye.

Colton snorted. “What do Earth reptiles have
to do with weapons?”

“Teenage mutant ninja turtles,” Lucy and I
said together.

“Raphael used the sai.” I’d love the
three-prong weapon of the red turtle.

“
Heroes in a half-shell –”
Lucy
started to sing.

“
Turtle power.”
We finished
together on a shout, thrusting our clenched fists into the air,
before dissolving into laughter. Television shows from the 80s and
90s had been the best.

Brace and Colton exchanged grins, but it was
clear that they had no idea what we were talking about.

“Earth’s a little wacked out,” Colton said.
And he wasn’t wrong.

“Cute though,” Brace said.

Oh, my. He was staring at me like he wanted
to eat me and I mean that in the non-cannibalistic way. On the
other hand the Angelica were also staring at us. But their looks,
if I had to guess, were a combination of disbelief and disgust.

“
So is it a
fight to the death, surrender or a timed
-points win?” Brace managed to devour me with his eyes and
still stay focused.

“
All events
are three rounds, and it’s either points
-based or surrender. We do not fight to the death unless
that is agreed on beforehand. The council from all five flocks form
a panel of judges,” Galern said.

How the hell was that fair for Brace? We
needed a representative on that panel.

“
We are
trained to remain unbiased, but the reality is we are probably
hard
er on our own flock members.” Galern
seemed to read my mind.

Which was impossible, my shield was
solid.

“What are the strengths of the different
flocks?” I asked.

They all froze, but eventually Steva
answered me. “Why do you think we would give you insights? You must
earn your advantage.”

“And yet, I assume, every single Angelica
fighting will already know the strengths and weaknesses of each
flock. So how are you giving us an advantage?” I was over the
bullshit of politics.

“
You are
correct.” Steva inclined her head slightly. “And here are the
stats. Black flock – Gaa – are the strongest intellectually and
physically; we are the leaders.
Purple
flock – Baa – are the most cunning. You must keep an eye on them.
They’ll do anything to win and can’t be trusted.” She paused.
“Green flock – Saa – are our gentle giants. They’re the largest
physically, but generally non-threatening. They create living
plants from the clouds.”

She spoke methodically, but I sensed more
beneath. She took pride in leading the Angelica.

“Blue flock – Maa – are the kings in the
air. They can fly harder and stronger than any and can use the
blue-and-white camouflage colors to their advantage.”