A Chosen Life (25 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Fist Full of
Tears

Macy’s leg trembled beneath her. She tried to hold it steady so no one but Bastian would notice—unfortunately, she couldn’t hide anything from him.

The cavern they were in now was wider and taller. Cold air whistled along the passageway from somewhere she couldn’t see, carrying with it the faint sound of rushing water. The Doogar had chosen this place to rest and eat before they made the final leg of their journey. She understood their reasoning, but couldn’t help but wish they had picked somewhere a little less cold and creepy.

She glanced at Tolen. He was standing off to the side, barely visible in the torch light, kicking a rock.

As the tunnel widened, Kiad had them walk side-by-side in pairs. Bastian had insisted she be with Tolen.

Tolen didn’t look her way once the whole time. She knew she should have tried to talk to him as they’d walked. She
should
try now. She did care how he felt. She did want him safe and happy. So why couldn’t she just tell him that?

She bit her lip. Bastian nudged her from behind and she realized Kiad was speaking to her.

“I’m sorry, what?” She hoped the orange light from the torches would disguise her red face.

Kiad’s black eyes glittered with irritation. “We are nearing The Fist Full of Tears—an extremely difficult climb. It leads to the surface at a steep incline. I asked if you thought you were able to handle it or if you’d let Tolen complete your healing.”

Macy bristled. She had kept up pretty well considering how bad she ached. Bastian had only begged them to stop for her twice, against her wishes, in the last thirteen hours. Kiad was being a putz.

“Lead the way buddy, I can handle it,” she growled.

Kiad lifted an eyebrow. “Very well, but if we slow down much more, we will not reach the camp before nightfall. If you
don’t
keep up, I will hold you down while the boy heals you. Understood?”

Tolen smirked.

Macy took a step forward and Bastian grabbed her shoulders. “She will be fine Kiad. Continue on.”

Kiad shook his head and turned back, beckoning the rest to follow.

After thirty minutes of scaling a nearly vertical wall, Macy was beginning to worry that Kiad might have to make good on his threat. Her legs burned and she was getting a monster of a headache. She knew now why it was called The Fist Full of Tears. The passage began narrow, slowly widening out like a raised fist, and water trickled down the walls from some hidden source, like tears. Or it was the fact that, as she climbed, she started wishing she could punch Kiad so bad it brought angry tears to her eyes.

Bastian kept a hand on her back to help but they were still slowing down. She hoped it wasn’t enough for Kiad to comment.

“Bastian?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“I can’t feel the Shadows. Do you know where they are?”

“No. I have been trying to see ahead, but I am not getting very far. I am sure they will have had to regroup and, hopefully, will be far away when we surface.”

“Think there will be anything else waiting for us?” She thought about the DéHool and Bastian’s
feeling.
As weak as she felt, she was really hoping he’d been wrong.

Bastian took several steps before he answered. “I hope not. The secret place where we will exit is far from where the Dark has been concentrating their efforts, but that does not mean they will not have scouts everywhere.”

Macy could just see Tolen’s back through the darkness. His head turned toward them at Bastian’s answer, but he didn’t say anything.

Macy’s arms and legs were going to fall off. She was sure of it. She’d been clinging to the dry roots sticking out of the rock, dragging her way up the steep incline for the last thirty minutes. It felt like thirty hours. If she wasn’t afraid she might need her Kuna once they stepped back into the world above, she’d have used her gifts to help herself out a long time ago.

“Not much farther!” Kiad called down.

Macy looked up to see a tiny dot of light forever above them. Only the Doogar who didn’t seem to get tired could call
that
“not much farther.”

“They are used to the denser air down here. We are not,” Bastian mumbled breathlessly from behind her.

Macy snorted. “Cheaters.”

“Bastian?” Tolen’s voice drifted down.

“Yes?”

“What are DéHool?”

Macy’s grip slipped and Bastian grabbed her waist.

“Why do you ask?” A tremor of fear only Macy would notice laced Bastian’s voice.

“Ardia has been traveling above us. She says she has spotted some tracks that look like theirs. She says they’re not all together, as if someone tried to hide them, but didn’t do a very good job.”

“Has she seen any other indication of the creatures’ presence?”

“No, but she says the tracks are fresh. She says to be careful.”

“Duh,” Macy whispered.

Bastian poked her back.

“What? It looks like your feeling was right.” Her whisper was fierce. “Crap. Can we stay in the tunnels?”

“No. This tunnel stops where we’re going to get out and we don’t have enough supplies to turn back.”

Suddenly, five thick tree roots shot through the hole above and wrapped around each of them, dragging them up through a shower of rock and dirt.

Macy screamed before she realized this root wasn’t squeezing the life out of her. It was cradling her gently, blocking her from the falling debris.

“Tolen?” Bastian shouted as they soared toward the surface.

“The DéHool are about a quarter of a mile from the exit. They’re running. I asked Ardia to help us get out faster so we don’t climb out to an ambush.”

Elryn nodded from his root cocoon. “Good thinking.” His black eyes were wide.

Kiad twisted to look at Bastian. “They want you out of the way.”

“Weapons ready everyone,” Deegan shouted from above.

Macy pulled her dagger from her belt and looked to see the others doing the same.

Tolen’s face was white.

Her stomach plummeted. DéHool were one of the fiercest creatures of the Dark. Even the most skilled of warriors rarely ever defeated them in the legends.

Tolen didn’t have a chance.

Bastian clenched his teeth. “How far to the camp once we reach the surface?”

Kiad frowned and looked above him. “I’m afraid it’s still about 50 miles.”

“Macy.” Bastian’s root was wedged close enough to hers that she could hear him even though he spoke barely above a whisper. “We must protect him. You know what will happen if he is taken. Stay with him no matter what. The two of you should be able to cover that distance more quickly than the rest of us.”

“Bastian—”

“Macy. Promise me. Give me your word that you will protect the Ninth. Get him to the Radia Warriors.”

“Don’t talk like you’re not coming with us.”

“
Give me your word!”

They finally broke the surface. The light from the setting sun cast a deathly red glow on the trees.

Macy swallowed as the root lowered her gently to the ground. Bastian stared at her with an unwavering expression.

The sun disappeared beneath the horizon and thick foreboding darkness fell heavily over them.

Macy looked into Bastian’s eyes and nodded as the gates of night opened and all Hell broke loose.

Chapter Twenty-Three

To The
Death

Macy planted her feet and held her knife ready as the DéHool wolves leapt from the shadows of the trees. The earth shook beneath their monstrous paws. Their evil blood-red eyes danced with wild fury. Saliva dripped from foot-long fangs. They were as horrifying as they were beautiful—standing at least ten-feet tall, five-feet wide, covered in thick, glossy, fur.

Majestic . . . powerful . . . mesmerizing . . . A dozen words filled Macy’s thoughts describing them, but two words screamed louder than the rest.

Lethal. Merciless.

The six wolves stalked forward slowly, arrogance in every step. Macy, Tolen, Bastian, and the three Doogar were nothing but parasites to them. Tiny, weak, easily dealt with.

Bastian slowly sidled in front of Tolen. Macy shifted slightly behind and to his other side. Kiad, Elryn, and Deegan created an arrow point in front. Macy’s hands shook and her palms tingled.

“Stay together,” Bastian whispered. “Protect each other.”

A silky, black DéHool with a bloodstained muzzle lunged forward.

Deegan ran up Kiad’s back and launched at the creature—his dagger sliced into the wolf’s snout and it howled in fury.

The group of DéHool broke apart. Three moved in on the Doogar, snarling and snapping, driving them farther into the forest. The remaining three circled behind closing in on Bastian, Macy, and Tolen.

The wolves paced back and forth. Their red eyes flicked anxiously. Occasionally, a frustrated whimper escaped between growls.

It was easy to tell who they were here to kill and who they had to leave alive. Macy and Bastian were in the way like the flies over a meal; a nuisance that would not be dealt with kindly.

The wolves weren’t supposed to hurt Tolen.

Prickles rose on Macy’s arms. She felt the blood pulse fast through her veins as she let her Kuna build.

“Macy,” Bastian breathed. “Shakra.”

Macy nodded once to show she heard. Keeping the dagger held high to disguise her actions, she felt along her belt with her other hand until she found the pouch holding the Shakra.

She lifted out three small silver disks and held them tightly in her palm. She closed her eyes for a half a second and sent her will to the Shakra.

“
Mig’nata
!” She threw the razor sharp discs as hard as she could.

They whizzed through the air with blinding speed. The DéHool didn’t notice them until it was too late. Dark red splattered the ground from a gaping wound in the chest of one, the shoulder of another. The wolves howled angrily and began swatting at the disks as they sliced into every inch of fur and flesh they could touch.

Bastian motioned for Tolen and Macy to start backing up but paused in horror as the DéHool soared upward in an eerily synchronized jump out of the way of the Shakra. Unable to change course fast enough, all three of the speeding disks slammed into the trees and embedded themselves in the thick bark.

A dark shadow passed above their heads and a Doogar slammed into the same tree with a sickening thud.

Elryn fell to the ground. Dead.

“No!” Tolen shouted and moved forward, but Bastian threw out his arm to stop him.

Fierce howls of triumph from the DéHool and pain-filled cries of vengeance from the Doogar rang through the darkness.

A deep menacing growl turned Macy’s attention back to the wolves in front of them. Their skin twitched beneath their blood soaked wounds.

“Macy!” Tolen shouted as another DéHool leapt forward.

Suddenly, a branch from a huge pine tree wrapped around her waist and tossed her over the heads of the wolves. The needles cut into her skin as she twisted, trying to get free.

The tree dropped her behind the DéHool. She could see Bastian standing in front of Tolen from beneath the wolves’ bellies. One of the wolves flipped around to face her; hate burning from his eyes. He took two steps in her direction, saliva spilling from his mouth. This was not going to be a mercy kill. Tolen, in his attempt to save her, had thrown her into an even more dangerous situation.

Macy took a step back, but paused when she felt a shift in the Balance. Something else was coming toward them.

Crap! Raksasha!
The Shadows would not be far behind. As if to confirm this thought, lightning lit the sky miles in the distance.

Smoke began to furl from Macy’s palms.

The wolf in front of her hurtled forward, his jaws open wide. Macy flipped backwards through the air and landed on her toes five feet back. Her sore leg wobbled beneath her and she concentrated on sending strength down to it without compromising her Kuna. The wolf lunged again. She kicked off the tree behind her and his fang grazed her left arm as it tried to catch her mid jump.

She landed on his neck. Warm blood quickly spread through her ripped sleeve and dripped off her fingers as she clutched its thick fur. The wolf stood on its hind legs and thrashed its head through the air trying to throw her off.

She squeezed her legs as tight as she could against the DéHool’s muscled body, kept one hand wrapped in its fur, and lifted her knife in the other—her blood ran down the hilt and off the edge as she called her Kuna. Seconds later, the blade glowed red-hot and she shoved it deep into the soft flesh of the wolf’s neck.

It flailed its head side to side furiously.

Macy tugged her knife free of the creatures neck and jumped off, prepared to hit the ground and roll, but a branch from a nearby tree caught her and lifted her out of reach of the thrashing DéHool.

Ardia?

Macy didn’t have time to wonder, her arm burned and she gasped for air as she shimmied up the tree. Her hands were smoking and the smell of eucalyptus and roses swirled around her head. She slowed the Kuna, but her heart still thudded in panic.

Where was everybody else?

She ripped the bottom of her shirt with her teeth and wrapped it around her bleeding arm. She looked down and watched the wolf collapse into a puddle of its own blood. She whipped her head around, aiding her sight in the darkness. The Raksasha would be here any second . . . and the Shadows.

Thunder boomed and her heart stuttered in her throat.

Finally, she saw movement. Kiad and Deegan were still engaging the DéHool. It was too hard to tell who was winning. Frantically, she searched for Bastian and Tolen. They should be right there! Her fight couldn’t have taken place far from where they had been, but Bastian, Tolen, and the other two DéHool were nowhere in sight.

o o o

Tolen shifted his feet and the DéHool in front of him marked the movement with its blood-red eyes.

Bastian lifted a hand up behind him. “Don’t move,” he whispered.

Tolen strained his neck to see the fight between Macy and the DéHool that had gone after her, but he couldn’t see around the two monsters in front of him.

Tolen leaned forward and the DéHool growled.

“No, Tolen. Macy is strong enough to handle it. Focus on the now.”

Macy’s advice came back to him.
Focus on the when, let the how take care of itself.

Focus on the now. Macy was an amazing fighter, but—

Tolen jumped when the most menacing voice he’d ever heard filled the night air.

“Give us the boy and you can go free.”
It was more a growl than a voice. Low and horrifying.

The DéHool could speak.

Bastian made a sound in his throat that sounded much like the DéHool’s growl followed by a humorless chuckle. The nearest wolf bared his teeth.

They slowly pressed in, forcing Tolen and Bastian backwards into the dark forest. Soon the only thing Tolen could hear was the heavy panting of the DéHool and the pounding of his own heart.

“Tolen, the trees . . . ” Bastian whispered.

Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Wasn’t this exactly what the Doogar had been trying to teach him?

Thunder boomed in the distance and an eerily familiar cold moved toward him.

Shadows?

Tolen shook his head and focused on the life forces of the trees he could feel around them. He tried to pull the warmth to his center so he could use the words he’d learned, but it wouldn’t come. The blanket of despair was too heavy. He couldn’t shake it off.

“Fight it, Tolen. It is your fear of the unknown that causes you to doubt. The Shadows are using your fears against you. Fight it!” Bastian met Tolen’s gaze.

Tolen could see his anguish mirrored in the Watcher’s eyes.

I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough.

His mother was missing, and his father was most likely dead. His best friend died because of him, and now he may have just sent Macy to her death. He’d failed them all. He’d lost everyone he ever cared about. He was alone and it was all his fault.

“You will never be alone.” Bastian jumped into the air and swung his machete in a high arc above his head. Blood burst from a deep gash in the nearest DéHool’s underbelly and it fell to the ground. The remaining wolf howled and bounded into Bastian, throwing him backwards. Tolen couldn’t see where he landed.

“Bastian!” Tolen ran forward, his own pain forgotten, the Shadows’ veil rent by the horror of what Bastian had done.

“No!” Heat blazed to Tolen’s fingertips and he could feel the life forces surrounding him, their warmth almost tangible.
Please, please help us . . .
he begged. He called to the earth and the trees, using the words the Doogar had taught him.

Large chunks of earth broke away from the forest floor, gathered into huge clods and flew from the ground into the creature’s back. Half a dozen aspen trees ripped free of the dirt, curling their roots through the earth, swatting their branches, but with each swipe of the wolf’s massive paws, their branches snapped like toothpicks.

A tortured scream filled the air and Macy broke through the trees with fire trailing from her hands. “NO! NO! BASTIAN! NO!” Tears coursed down her cheeks as she ran to where Bastian had disappeared.

Black skeletal Raksasha suddenly appeared everywhere, running along the ground, jumping from the trees, blocking Macy and the wolf from sight.

Tolen ran into the swarm swinging his knife at everything he could, the trees following him, swatting, stabbing, crushing. Spikes of hardened dirt shot up around him as he pushed forward, knocking aside the Raksasha like randomly stacked dominos.

Block, parry, jab, twist, lunge, jump, run.
He visualized his mock fights with the Doogar, letting his instincts take over.

Black and red blood covered everything; the smell of singed fur burned his nostrils.

The remaining three DéHool ran toward him, followed by the screaming Doogar. A Raksasha threw a spear and he barely rolled out of the way. He slammed hard into the base of a tree, his right arm pinned beneath him. Blood dripped from his nose off his chin. He jumped back up and started running again, wiping his face on his sleeve.

More trees joined the battle without him asking as he passed them, his life force connecting to theirs on a subconscious level. They grabbed everything they could reach, lifting the Dark creatures into the air and crushing them. The trees were no match for the DéHool, but the Raksasha were almost too easy.

Tolen finally broke through the center of the mass to see Macy standing in the middle of a ring of fire holding Bastian’s huge blade. The Raksasha paced around the flames shrieking, afraid to go through.

Tolen ran forward, stabbed a Raksasha, and used its body to launch himself over the flames. He could hear the trees crashing in behind him.

Macy fell to her knees next to Bastian, dropping the red-hot machete. The Watcher’s broken body was covered in blood. A burning, headless DéHool twitched on the ground beside them.

Tolen dropped beside Macy and ran his hand over Bastian’s face, willing the heat to come.

“No, Tolen. It is too late.” Blood trickled from Bastian’s mouth as he spoke. A gash across his chest poured his life onto the ground.

The dirt moved beneath their feet and Macy screamed.

“Night Demons! Bastian! You have to move!” She lifted one of his arms and he groaned.

“No, Macy.” He coughed and grabbed both Tolen’s and Macy’s hands.

“Tolen, remember to trust your thoughtful heart.” Bastian stared deep into Tolen’s face and his Watcher’s eye reacted. The Radia crystal around his neck throbbed with a sadness so deep it brought tears to Tolen’s eyes.

Bastian touched Macy’s cheek and lifted his Radia shard from around his neck. His hand shook as he held it out to her. “Macy, remember your promise.”

“No, Bastian, I won’t leave you here. I won’t! Please, please!” She pushed her hands under his body and looked up toward the sky. “Please don’t take him!”

Bastian squeezed his eyes shut and tears seeped from the corners. “Macy,” he said in a choked voice. “You gave me your word.” His grip slackened on both their hands and his last breath rattled from his throat. The necklace fell to the blood-drenched earth.

Bastian was gone.

“No! No! Bastian!” Macy’s cry seemed to burn her pain into the world around them.

Tolen nearly collapsed from the weight of her sorrow.

He watched in horror as a skinny, scabbed hand broke free of the dirt followed by a grotesque head without eyes. Once both arms were free, it dragged its legless torso from beneath the ground—its decaying flesh covered with maggots and bloody scabs. It began clawing its way along the ground until it reached the side of the dead wolf. It lowered its fanged mouth and began sucking at the blood on the ground.

“Help me!” Macy was trying to heft Bastian’s lifeless body upright.

More hands and heads were rising from the ground. The Night Demons were coming for Bastian.

Ardia!

A bough lowered to the ground and wrapped around Bastian. Ardia gently lifted him high in her branches.

No creature will touch him.
She promised.

Thank you.

Go Tolen! Run now while the wolves are distracted by the Doogar. The camp is not far. Look for the rainbow in the east. It will appear with the rising sun—you do not have much time.