Taken (Book Six) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (5 page)

“The price of truth and freedom,” Garner had told her, years before. “For what better cause could I forfeit my life? When the time comes be st
rong. Sacrifice will be the easy road. It’s you that will have to forge onward. Fight. And live.”

The time for goodbyes was pas
sed. Sorrow would have to wait. This was the time to fight! She daringly looked his direction one last time, showing him her resolve. She bowed her head toward Ravana, Garner’s wife, who stood firmly by his side. Billie resolved to make sure their sacrifice would not be in vain.

Garner turned and faced his wife, whispering something.
After a moment of embrace, they walked out of the crowd, toward Juliska Blackwell.

The Gypsy Queen
remained silent.

Perhaps hopi
ng the Svoda would not believe what they had seen or were being told. Perhaps biding her time to strike at the right moment. Regardless, after today, no one would doubt the truth of her true nature.

Garner and Ravana took strong steps, splitting apart as they got closer to their target.
They closed in on her, at first Juliska suspecting nothing other than her followers coming to her aid.

Ravana continued forward, Garner stopped. His eyes never left Juliska’s as he spoke.

“What is sacrificed today will show all Svoda the truth. No doubts will remain. You are at your end!”

Juliska
came back to life. Her nostrils flared and her eyes bulged with rage.
She
had been tricked by her most loyal subject.

S
moke erupted from her skin.

Dark inky veins pulsated into fiery lines across her face, neck and arms. She raised those arms into the air,
making a motion with her hands to draw in the clouds, darkening the sky and throwing a dreary blanket over the entire island.

Billie motioned for her small
army to hold back; they would advance once Garner and Ravana attacked Juliska. Their only chance of success was to catch Juliska off guard.

Billie had only witnessed her brother transf
orm once, it was nearly impossible to watch. She shoved the memory back into the recesses of her mind; she needed to remain focused. She could not allow her brother’s inevitable demise to overwhelm her. They had just this one chance to take Juliska out of power.

Juliska’s deadly gaze dropped, ignoring Ravana and slicing into Garner.

Horrified gasps erupted from the Svoda as they watched Ravana begin to shift and transform before them.

Garner turned awa
y from Juliska and did the same, contorting into the hideous form of his inner beast. His teeth became long and jagged, his head elongated, dark gray skin replacing his own human skin. His fingernails grew sharply out of his fingertips, his knees bent forward, dropping his height just a few inches as the nails on his toes grew out and bent, clicking against the rock on which he stood. Translucent, web-like wings freed themselves from his back, heaving upwards into the air. As if he needed to drive the point home, he took a short lunge toward the Svoda. He had no intent to harm them, only to frighten. He turned on the spot back to Juliska. She headed toward him, fearlessly, her hand outstretched.

Ravana
, now behind her, leapt upward, her wings flapping against the air with a snap. She dove for Juliska, her wings ready to enclose around her master and creator.

She didn’t make it. Up over the backside of the cliff
two Scratchers flew up, landing on Ravana, pinning her to the ground.

Juliska ignored the cries behind her.

Ravana’s body let out a shudder and then went limp. She was dead. Garner let out but a single whimper, which in his Scratcher form came out as a miserable snarl. He lifted off the ground, swung his head to find Billie and let out a ferocious howl.

It was time. When Juliska and Garner fought, they would attack.

Juliska’s body rose into the air, meeting Garner’s height. With nothing but hate, she gazed down at the Svoda.

Her head flew up and she threw her arm up in front of her, opening her hand as if grabbing something.
Garner started to struggle. His wings thrashed around him. Juliska was pulling him closer to her. He tried to fight it, but there was no winning.

Flames burst forth from her hands, moving up her arms and then covering her body.

“How dare you?” she spewed through the flames. “I control
you
!” Garner froze mid air, his wings suddenly not working and he fell to the ground. His body began to contort and shift again, leaving him in his human form.

His body lifted into the air once
again. Juliska reached out her fiery arm and clasped it around his neck.

“Now
they shall all see,” he mumbled through the pain of her touch.

“Yes! You al
l shall see!” she shouted to the Svoda below. “You shall see what happens to traitors!” The fire engulfing her body dissolved. Juliska closed her eyes and upon opening them they had changed, turned a fiery red. She leaned in closer to Garner, opening her mouth, exposing her teeth. She inhaled, needing no break for air.

Billie shook off this stunning display and shouted, “Now!”

Her small army rushed forward, palms outward, facing Juliska.

A luminous glow started to emanate from Garner’s body, funneling into Juliska’s mouth.

“She’s a... Vampyre,” someone exclaimed, upon seeing the horrific sight. “She’s Vetala.”

“Vetala
, they became the Grosvenor,” someone else said.

The understanding of this truth came quickly to some, and some were so stunned they just collapsed under the shock of it all.

Juliska Blackwell was not their savior or their protector. She was their enemy!

A few saw Billie and her small army rushing Juliska and fell in behind her, realizing they were fighting back. Billie ignored the flailing limbs of her dying brother, dangling overhead.

She was first to shoot off a spell, but it bounced o
ff Juliska. It didn’t even faze her.

“We’ll need to do it together,” shouted Billie. They formed a line, raised their palms upwards towards Juliska. Billie opened her mouth to shout the order to release the spell when she froze. From behind Juliska, up over the side of the cliff they came.

A great host of Scratchers.

Juliska’s army had grown.

Billie was shaken back into the moment when the body of her dead brother, Garner, plummeted to the ground, landing next to her. His skin was sunken and sallow.

Their brief moment had passed. This was now a battle they could not win.
“Retreat,” she exclaimed to anyone that could hear her. She wasn’t sure who else followed but she ran, Maura at her side.

Many in the crowd were too stunned to do anything, reality
still sinking in. Regardless, it was too late for them. They would all be Juliska’s prisoners.

Us too, Billie thought
. They might escape for now, but they would not be able to hide for long. Not with the army Juliska had at her disposal. She heard footsteps behind her as she and Maura ran, but did not dare look to see who had followed.

Behind them, back at the cliff
’s edge, chaos was breaking out. Svoda were running and screaming from the Scratchers flying overhead. Juliska ordered her army to round everyone up. It wasn’t hard to do. No one wanted to get in the way of their deadly wings.

Billie and Maura did not stop running until they were deep in the island
’s thick forest. With the sky now black as a starless night, they could not see well at all. But to their advantage, the trees were so thick the Scratchers could not attack.

Billie slowed, allowing everyon
e to catch up and gather themselves. The Flummer family had made it. Noah’s wife carried their daughter while he carried one of the Jackal sisters. Kalila. Kalida was nowhere in sight.

“Put me down you brute,” she scolded him. He did so, but her foot was injured and she could barely stand. The elderly woman nearly collapsed.

“Your sister?” questioned Billie.

Kalila just shook her disheveled head.

“Scratcher,” explained Noah. “This one was trying to fight it off!”

“Wouldn’t you?” she shouted back.

“There is too much at stake and she was already gone,” he spoke with harsh kindness. “We need you with us.”

She just shook her head and slid to the ground.
“I don’t know how to live without her.”

A few stragglers sauntered in, exhausted and confused. Faces they did not recognize but welcomed anyway.
They waited. No one else came. In all, only eleven people had followed and made it safely into the woods.

“We cannot stay here for long, they will be searching for us,” said Maura.

“Yes, you’re right,” agreed Billie. “We need to keep moving. I know a place we can hide.”

A snap of a branch not far away sent them into instant silence. There was someone else approaching. Friend or foe
, they did not know.

A young woman stepped out from behind a tree, gasping when she saw numerous palms pointed and ready to cast a spell.

“Maria!” shouted Billie, running forward. “Is there anyone else with you?”

“No,” she whimpered. “No one. I saw you all run and I got caught up in the chaos. My father...” she stopped. “My father grabbed hold of me and magicked me away. I’m sure it took every ounce of magic he had.” She leaned her head on Billie’s shoulder.

“I’m sure he’s okay,” said Billie. But her voice held no tone of confidence in what she said. She glanced back to the others, the same questions seeping out of their gazes; just how many new orphans would there be today? Would Juliska leave anyone alive?

Maria wiped her face and joined the rest of the group.
Billie took the lead and during the arduous walk explained all that she knew to the newcomers. She told them how a small number in her group had discovered Juliska’s secret a few years back. They had devised a plan show everyone the truth, as well as take her out of power.

“Unfortunately,” interjected Noah, “It seems that she was recruiting followers at a much higher rate than we knew, or had
been able to for ourselves.”

“We needed more time, just a little more time,” said Billie.

A voice called out, “How could they do it? How could so many join her? Become hunters of their own people?”

Billie and Noah looked at each other, speechless.
They could not answer this question.

Noah stepped toward Billie.
“I’m sorry about Garner,” he said. “We will make sure he didn’t die in vain.”

“
Today, it seems like he did,” she spoke in a raspy voice. “Yes, the people know the truth. But we failed in our part.”

“Only for today,” said Maura softly.

Billie nodded in half-hearted agreement.

“
For those of you that didn’t know my brother, he was Garner Sadorus, a good and brave man. It was he that learned Juliska’s terrible secret and passed it along to me. He joined her. Allowed himself to be recruited by her. Became the monster you all saw today, carrying out her diabolical orders, all the while learning as much as he could and passing along that information. Every day putting his life on the line, to learn Juliska’s true intentions.”

“Which are?” a nameless voice spoke.

Billie stopped and faced them.

“He never found out. He was close. We needed more time.” She mindlessly turned and c
ontinued walking, in silence, the only sound the crunching of leaves under their feet and the occasional rustling of thick pine branches.

Finally, they reached their destination. A tall granite wall. Just
over and behind that wall, they could hear the sloshing of the ocean waves crashing onto the shore.

Billie turned left and stopped in front of a small cavern. It wasn’t too deep, but deep enough that they could fit comfortably and take cover.

They used every ounce of magic they could muster to cast protections around the cavern. They were all too tired to address the question of why they were having trouble collecting enough magical energy to produce much magic. Perhaps Juliska could suck that out of the island just as she could suck the life force out of a person.

They used the remaining magic they could gather to magick themselves enough food and wa
ter to last a week; none of them believed for a moment they would last that long. They would be tracked down. They would be found.

They huddled around a small fire for warmth. The air was cold and bitter, yet stale
, like it had no life in it.

“I di
dn’t see Ivan Crane,” Noah whispered to Billie, unexpectedly.

She turned to look at him, teary eyed. “Nor Meghan. Let us hope they found a way off this cursed island before al
l hell broke loose. If not...” she didn’t need to finish.

He knew she meant that all their hopes now depended on
two people that might not even be aware of what was taking place.