Nephilius - A Walker Saga Book 5 (18 page)

I can find you on any world. There is a bond
between us. You know it deep down. You’ve had the dreams. Felt the
connection.

Besides the dreams of ruling First World,
there’d been these random few which I’d chalked up to weird
nightmares. They made no sense, flickers of a world filled with
lava and death where I was some type of ghostly person drifting
over the landscapes. It was like I was dead, only I knew I wasn’t.
And there were other ghosts that traveled with me, but I didn’t
know who they were. If they were the Seventine then nightmare was
an understatement.

In the end you will make the choice to join
us. We can offer you the worlds, every single one of them.

I
growled,
I’ll never join you.
Never! And I will be the one to lock you up and destroy any chance
of escape. Don’t get used to freedom; you’ll be back in your prison
soon.

Laughter echoed through my mind, loud and
strong. And then I felt its presence leave.

“Are you okay?” A woman with black wings
paused next to me.

I must have looked like a freak just
standing there, staring out into nothing.

“Yeah, just thought I saw something
strange.” I attempted to curl up my lips. I must have achieved
something close to a grin because she returned my smile.

The female
was as perfect and beautiful as the rest of the Angelica, although
not quite as tall. She had short black hair and eyes so dark I
couldn’t differentiate the pupil and iris. Her skin was creamy
brown, her eyes exotically shaped in the corners. Just like a
Japanese woman I knew once on Earth. I realized then that
as this was a female I should be testing for
marks, but just as I fumbled to free my locket another black-wing
appeared next to us.

“Delane, you’re up in the arena,” he said to
the female.

I wondered
if
this was the Delane who Steva had
mentioned earlier. The one who’d visited the Isle of
Souls.

She gave me one last nod before turning and
making her way across the space and into the clear zone that was
designated for fighting. I hurried back to my friends; Brace would
have to fight soon and I needed to get onto the moonstale search.
It might take the entire tournament to cross paths with every
Angelica here.

As I raised my face, I saw that Brace was
watching me. My feet faltered for a brief moment before I continued
toward him. No doubt he’d had his eyes on me the entire time I was
gone, making sure I was safe. The man’s protective instincts ran a
mile deep. If we’d still been melded, he’d have followed me, but I
could sense that he didn’t want to seem obsessive at the moment.
Afraid he’d scare me away. Laughable since I was harboring a pretty
serious obsession for him.

Lucy gave me a raised-brows,
what-the-hell-were-you-doing look. I shrugged to say ‘nothing’. She
shook her head, and our silent conversation was done. As the
tournament started to take shape we moved to the edge of the
mist-free zone, which was about the size of three football fields.
From where we were we’d have a perfect view of the fight.

“There’s going to be a demonstration first.”
Brace filled me in on what I’d missed.

I turned my attention to the field. About a
dozen white-wings were using their powers to clear the air; down
the opposite side to us were the panel of judges. Two from each of
the five flocks, their brightly colored wings tucked in behind
them. Standing in the center of the field was Delane, the female
I’d just met. She held a sai in each hand.

I craned my
neck trying to see who
her opponent was.
But there was no Angelica close by. My eyes were drawn back to the
impressive image Delane created, and as her powerful wings spread
out like a black cloak, standing high above her head, I felt a gasp
leave my mouth. In two powerful thrusts she took to the sky, and as
I followed her movement I saw the purple-wing zooming like an arrow
straight for her, his twin blades thrust forward.

I held my breath. I wasn’t sure if the
Angelica died easily or not, but judging by their ferocious
expressions, I was pretty sure I’d find out in this tournament.

Delane
twisted in the air at the last second, avoiding the blades and
slicing along the side of her opponent. I could see splatters of
blood against the white backdrop. It was darker than ours, but
still in the maroon tone. The
purple-wing
headed toward the ground. I thought he was about to land when at
the last second he spun back and flung one of his blades. A very
sly attack. The saidon lodged itself into Delane’s right wing. She
flinched but didn’t slow, before landing solidly on the cloud land
to face her opponent. Without a sound she reached up and ripped the
weapon from her black feathers.

The
purple gave her no time for recovery. They
clashed in hand-to-hand combat. The clang of blades echoed across
the land. I found myself holding my breath more than once as they
cut into each other. Delane was fast, strong and more highly
skilled than her opponent. It looked as if she was just tiring him
out, his movements slowing until finally in a swift move Delane
knocked him down. Lifting her arms high, she brought the saidon
down and stabbed them through his shoulders, pinning him to the
ground. The purple made no noise. Delane got back to her feet,
turned and walked off the field, disappearing into the crowds. The
purple was eventually freed by others in his flock.

The judging panel moved toward us. Stepping
forward, Steva made a few announcements. They weren’t in English,
though, so I had no idea what she was saying.

Brace brushed against my side. My traitorous
hands reached for him. I managed to stop myself at the last minute.
“Now they divide the tournament field into ten mini zones.” His
voice was low in my ear.

“So there will be ten fights going all at
the same time?”

He tilted his head to the side, as if still
listening to the other language. “Sort of. They stagger the start
of each fight to allow the judges to observe the initial
combat.”

“And then all battles continue for three
rounds or until there’s a winner,” Colton added. “Two flock
representatives are left behind to observe.”

“And on that note, I’m in the first ten, so
I have to go,” Brace said as he pulled free his sai … saidons from
where they’d been tucked into the side of his armor. “Wish me
luck,” he said in a low tone, his lips grazing my cheek.

He left before I could find my voice. I
watched as his long-legged stride crossed the large field. My eyes
widened as I continued to follow his path. In the few moments since
Steva’s speech, the Angelica had split the tournament grounds into
ten distinct zones, using small barriers made from the clouds.

“He’ll be fine, right?” I spoke to no one in
particular.

Colton snorted. “Brace has no equal in the
star system. Worry for the Angelica.”

Easy for him to say. That wasn’t his mate
out there. Colton slanted a half-grin in my direction then, his
expression cocky and speculative. He’d definitely be wondering why
I was so worried, especially given the unbreakable nature of
Walkers.

The first fight was between a blue- and
green-winged. It was as brutal and ferocious as the demonstration
had been. The second fight started about fifteen minutes later, the
judges following the path of each fight. Brace was third – opposing
a blue. My eyes were glued to his zone. His opponent wore the
stupidest grin. He was loving being the first to take on the
outsider. It was going to be sweet when Brace kicked his ass.

The moment
their fight started the
blue took to the
air. Brace didn’t move. I wanted to look up and find his opponent,
but the truth was I couldn’t take my eyes from the imposing Walker.
Despite my nerves, I was enjoying the time to stare at him
uninterrupted. Damn, I was kind of failing at my task of limiting
this bond between us; one might think I wasn’t trying very
hard.

Brace almost looked bored, his legs slightly
spread, the thrusting winds from the white flock shifting his dark
hair. And then his eyes flicked to the right. The blue appeared
behind him with both of his saidons thrust forward.

My gasp was lost in the noise of the crowd
around us, but I didn’t have to worry. Brace simply shifted to the
side, the blue’s attack sliding right past him. And then in a
swinging motion Brace brought his weapons around and sliced clean
through one of his opponent’s wings. He followed this with a rapid
pivot before he launched his right saidon. The blade lodged in the
blue’s chest, just above the space where a human heart would sit.
Then before the Angelica could even react to his wound, Brace
uppercut him. The thud of his fist landing against a jaw echoed
across the space.

The shocked noises that rose above the
sounds of battle indicated that a good old-fashioned punch to the
face was not something that happened here much. And when the
Angelica hit the ground, unmoving, I sensed a new respect for Brace
flooding through the flock. Respect and fear. The judges nodded
before moving on to the next zone. Brace’s fight hadn’t even taken
ten minutes. The blue remained unmoving, his still form bright
against the white ground.

“Did he kill him?” Lucy was clutching
Colton’s arm hard enough to leave marks.

“No, the Angelica are almost as hard to kill
as Walkers. You have to make sure you hit both hearts and I’d
probably remove their head as an added measure.”

The wolf was
a little bloodthirsty … wait a second, did he just say
both
hearts?

As in two hearts.

My head spun around to find the closest
Angelica. A green-flock male stood eight feet from us. I examined
his body closely. It was humanoid in shape, but his chest looked a
little wider and deeper – I hadn’t noticed before, they were so
huge – with a rib cage that seemed to expand further around the
thoracic area. I couldn’t help but wonder how the blood moved
around. Did both hearts have the same functions, or did one do
something different?

A spicy donut scent yanked my attention to
the field. Brace was moving toward us. Damn, I’d been wasting time.
I should have been searching for the half-Walker female while Brace
was out of reach.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Lucy and
Colton.

I dashed away, flicking open my locket as I
moved. The moonstale stones were visible as they splashed their
yellow light around. My eyes flicked left and right as I sidled
through and around the groups of Angelica. But there were no Walker
marks appearing. There were three possibilities left: Laos with
gold sunbeams, Kaos with brown stripes, or Gai with white dots. I
had seen all of the marks before and knew, depending on the skin
tone of the Walker, some were harder to see than others. I hoped
the Nephilius half would be distinct.

“
Your
contestant did very well.” I ground to a halt as Steva’s words
caught my attention. I moved around a group of
purple-wings to stand before her. “The next round will be
broad-sword and will commence in twelve cloud drifts,” she
continued, and I really hoped Brace knew what a cloud drift was. “I
was led to believe that you would not be staying here in between
events.” She examined me closely, her eyes briefly falling on my
open locket.

“Yes, we won’t be staying. We’ll return in
time for the second round.”

I wasn’t sure how many rounds there would
be, but I needed to spend less time gawking at Brace and more
searching for the half-Walker.

“I would appreciate it if you were here
early enough to look at the Isle of Souls. Delane has agreed to be
your guide.”

I let out a deep breath. “Okay, we can do
that.”

“Don’t be late. Delane would never miss a
fight; warrior runs deep in that one’s veins.”

She’d more than demonstrated that on the
field earlier.

Steva walked away. I shook my head a few
times as I followed her path. She was definitely a weird one.

“
Abbs!” Lucy
shouted at me
. Her voice held a note of
warning.

I discreetly closed my locket, expecting
Brace and Colton to be with her. And sure enough, as I turned
around, all three were crossing the cloud to stand with me.

“Looks like it’s time to go.” I shifted my
shoulders, trying to work out some of my tension.

Lucy nodded.
“Yep, they not so subtly told us
to get
lost.”

“Steva said the next round is in twelve
cloud drifts,” I said, my lips curving. “I hope one of you has a
cloud watch.”

Brace, who was back in his original clothes,
grinned at me. “Very close to twelve hours.”

“They want to take us to the Isle of Souls,
so we need to be here in about ten hours then.” I exhaled loudly;
it felt as if I should be really tired, but as usual my Walker
genes kept me full of vitality.

I was getting so impatient to gather the
half-Walkers, especially after having the Seventine randomly appear
in my head. I wanted to be strong enough to beat them, and right
now we weren’t. I needed all seven girls and time for us to develop
our powers. But for now it was time to head home to First
World.

I followed
Brace through the doorway back to Angelisian. His broad shoulders
blocked my vision of the beach house, but then, as he moved aside,
I noticed the man leaning against the front railings. The black of
his skin contrasted beautifully
with the
lighter tones of my home.

Jedi, princeps of the Walker clan Gai.