Akasha 4 - Earth (24 page)

Cato's lips turned up into a
half-smile. "I'm with Team Kaitlyn."

Chapter
34

Hero

I woke in the cave, drenched and
shivering. The entire floor was two inches deep in water now. The
rain continued outside – though the thunder had died down. I stood,
shaking out my rigid muscles, and began to pace the small cave. I
walked away the chill, one step at a time, until I could think
about something other than the cold.

Cato was an ally I had not expected,
and I had yet to decide if he could be trusted.

Powers first, I told
myself. I remembered what Sabrina said.
Baby steps.
Shawn and One Less
continued to march east; Bee and her protectors west. I was here,
riding out the storm, still with a decision to make. Just me
and…Cato. I glanced back at the cup, lying in the pool of water on
the ground.

I picked up my sopping wet shirt, and
used it to wrap my burned palm. Then I held my other hand above the
pool of water.

I closed my eyes, tuning into the
frequency of the element. Its composition revealed itself to me and
I slowed the molecules, bending them to my will. A small teardrop
of water lifted from the pool, pausing in front of my eyes. It was
miniscule, but more controlled than I had ever managed before. I
twisted it this way and that, marveling at how it reflected images
around it, distorting them as though they were part of some other,
fantastical world.

I returned the drop of water to the
puddle, and stepped through it to the entrance of the cave. Rain
fell in thick sheets. I held my good hand out, palm open. Water
pooled up, spilling over the sides. I inhaled the thick scent of
pine, and stepped into the downpour. My already damp hair soaked
through, and wind whipped the short, wet strands against my face. I
threw my hands above my head, palms out. Rain drops directly above
me froze, suspended in midair.

I looked up at them. Wind continued to
blow my hair, and the rain fell just outside of my bubble, but the
ice-cold, torrential shower was paused above me. I smiled, splashed
through it with my hand, and walked back in the cave.

My powers are
back.

I ran my fingers through my hair, and
the wrist tattoo caught my attention. It was hard to see in the
darkened cave. I realized I had yet to really see any of the
tattoos. Outside, the thunder started up again.

I spun energy, weaving it into the
pool of water at my feet. Once it was infused, I lifted the
molecules, and spread them into a thin plate. Tilting the oval
shape so it stood upright, I created a makeshift mirror. When
lightning flashed behind me, my image lit up in the glass clear
water. It was blurry, moving unnaturally like an apparition,
darkening when the lightning stopped.

A tree
, I thought.
My face is a
tree.

A cherry blossom vine, snaked around
from the tattoo on my back, up my neck and along the side of my
cheek. Small, pink flowers bloomed along the dark brown branches. I
thought of the tree at the Chakra, and me and Micah sitting in the
swirl of pink and white petals.

Did they know? No – it has
to be coincidence.

I stepped closer to the mirror,
raising myself higher to meet it. During the next lightning bolt, I
caught a flash of my permanent makeup. It did a good job
transforming my face. Darkened eyebrows and golden eyelids.
Eyeliner on the top and bottom. My lips were bright red, the double
arches on top more pronounced with a significant dip in
between.

In the next few flashes I surveyed a
series of leaves down my arms. They really went all out with the
plants.

Fitting for an Earth, I
guess.

I turned in the dark, baring my back
to the mirror, and waited for the next streak of bluish white light
across the sky. This one lasted forever. Right over Shawn's scar
was an intricate compass. A combination of swirls and straight
lines covered the wound. I ran my hand over it and winced. The
raised scar tissue could still be felt, if I needed to validate my
affiliation again.

"It's…perfect," I whispered to
myself.

The lightning petered out, but not
before I caught the cherry tree that covered almost the entirety of
my back. Above it, in the dip of my shoulder blades, rising up my
neck to my hairline were four words. Earth, Air, Fire, Water.
Stacked on top of each other, they created the shape of a
diamond.

My shoulders
sagged.
That one might give me
away.
I shrugged.
I could always grow out my hair; and find
turtlenecks.

My powers weren't strong, but they
were coming back. The wind outside was finally dying down; the
storm was passing. When the rain stopped, I'd have to make a
choice. Which direction to go? East or west?

I sighed and looked down at my feet. I
gasped. The water below me had changed form; I was standing on top
of it, even though the rest of the puddle swirled and vibrated with
the wind and rain. I extended one toe out, dipping it in. Icy cold
raced up my leg, and I shivered. I walked forward, out of the
puddle. Each time I took a step, the water hardened, supporting my
weight.

The magic was subconscious; I hadn't
even realized I was doing it.

I am literally walking on
water here. Probably means there is a right choice to
make.

But I still didn't know what it was. I
stepped to the entrance of the cave. Dawn approached, and the rain
was petering out. I stayed still for quite a while, breathing in
the chilly air. When the sun crested the treetops, I held my hand
up to shield my eyes. My wrist tattoo caught my attention again.
What I had thought was just a detailed, Celtic knot, was actually
words. I turned my wrist as I read them.

I am the hero of this
story.

I dropped my hand. "Damn straight I
am."

I looked to the west. It was time to
relearn the element of air.

Chapter
35

What is it Worth?

Shawn landed in the cave once again,
this time with two useless, bandaged hands. He came barefoot.
Arianna stood on the ledge, waiting for him.

She glanced at his feet.
Her hands went to her hips and her lips pressed together in a
snarl. "You
will not
be sending these women off to the Goddess with your
feet."

Shawn almost shrank back. He held up
his hands in defense. "Not sure how else it can be
done."

Arianna roared, going partly
translucent and growing in size, "I am not without knowledge of the
pain you have caused others. A few minor burns are the least of
it!"

Shawn took a step back, and his foot
slipped off the ledge. His arm shot out for something stable, but
it went straight through Arianna. She caught him at the wrist, but
did not pull him back right away. Instead, she ripped at the
bandages. Tearing them off, she took bits of freshly-healed skin
with them.

Shawn's yelp was barely heard above
Arianna's roaring. Shreds of white bandages, tinged with Shawn's
blood, floated down to the pool below. Arianna quieted, slowly
returning to her full physical manifestation. She pulled him back
firmly on the ledge and released his wrist, throwing it down to his
side. Shawn resisted the urge to curl his hand up into his
chest.

Arianna stepped to the side, revealing
an even longer line of women than before. "You may begin, Athame
Wielder."

By the time Shawn had released five
Shades, he was on his knees fighting back tears. Yellow pus oozed
out from the exposed, shredded meat of the palm. If any more burned
away, bones would be visible, Shawn was sure of it.

Arianna glance over his shoulder. "How
badly do you want Akasha? What is it worth to you?"

Shawn didn't respond.

"What is she worth to you?" Arianna
repeated.

Shawn glanced up at Sarah's cave, then
slowly got to his feet. He held up his other hand, "Unwrap this for
me."

Chapter 36

Favors

Erika stood from
readjusting her backpack. The group was covering thirty miles or
more a day, walking at breakneck speed. Well, breakneck speed for
Erika. Her shorter legs took two strides to the men’s one. She
rubbed her shoulders.
These dang straps
keep digging in
, she thought.
Another few miles and they'll start
bleeding
.

"They're ready, got everyone in your
camp accounted for?" The annoying little man with the notepad asked
Erika.

"Yes, David." She mumbled, readjusting
her straps once again. She watched him turn on his heel and walk
away. Perhaps she couldn’t account for Lucy, but given the uproar
over Sabrina’s disappearance, not to mention the prisoners, Erika
would never fess up to it. Besides, Erika had enough people owing
her favors – they could cook the books.

Erika heaved the bag back on her
shoulders as the wind picked up behind her. A yellow rain coat
flapped away on a stray gust. Someone else chased it down. Good
material was hard to come by, after all. Erika turned. "Oh – hello
Lucy."

Lucy was smoothing out her shirt. It
looked as though it had just been through a tornado.

Erika cleared her throat. "Your
tattoos are healing nicely."

Lucy smiled. "Water does a body good."
She stepped forward, reached behind Erika and pulled on two straps.
A hard jerk, and the waist buckle cinched in.

"Oh – wow. That really helps!" The
shoulder straps no longer dug into Erika’s skin.
"Thanks!"

Lucy shrugged. "Well, I do owe
you."

From the front of the line, Erika
heard David call the group back on the trail. "So…" Erika asked as
they fell into line. "Where have you been? I was about to report
you missing."

"I've been around; hanging out in the
back mostly."

"Hmmm." Erika didn't buy it. She'd
been to the back several times in the last few days. "Well, try to
stay more visible, if you can. I may need to call in one of those
favors."

Lucy smiled again. "Like a piggy-back
ride?"

Erika laughed out loud. "Something
like that. A 900-mile march in a month does not do a body
good."

"Why the sudden rush, do you think?"
Lucy asked.

"We're headed back to Utah." Erika
nodded west. "We need to make it over the Rockies before winter
hits. If we don’t, we're stuck in Denver for the
season."

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you don't
want the break. Spending some time in the mile high city? Could be
fun." Lucy nudged Erika.

Erika let out a nervous
laugh.
Of course it is fun; I grew up
there.

Erika slowed her pace by a hair, then
a little more. The group would only go as fast as their slowest
walker.

Chapter
37

Slow
Ride

"Hey, Clay – wait up!"

Clay halfway turned. "I can't. If I go
any slower I'll end up back of the pack or further, then they'll be
no catching up!"

I ran up to him. "They wouldn't leave
you behind, would they?"

Clay shrugged. "Not sure. But that
wouldn't be keeping a low profile, now would it?"

I looked down at his feet. His strides
were even shorter than Erika's. "Don't worry; I'm working on the
pace for you."

Clay looked up at me, raising one
eyebrow. "You certainly did a number on your hair," he touched my
chin, forcing my head to the side. "And your face."

"What can I say?" I lowered my voice.
"I'm a good spy."

"Not if you keep saying that, you
aren't." His moustache moved up. He was smiling underneath all that
hair. "Besides, I recognized you."

"You recognized my voice before you
looked at me," I corrected him. I would need to work on keeping it
a pitch lower, or higher. "Anyway, you aren't so bad yourself –
thanks for helping with the prisoners. Hopefully they've met up
with Alex by now."

Clay's boots pounded against the
ground with each labored step. "Marissa stayed with them. There'll
be hell to pay when Shawn finds out. We need to come up with a good
excuse."

"What we need to do is stop Shawn
before he gets to Utah."

Clay looked back at the ground,
concentrating on the pair of boots in front of him, keeping up. "We
needed to stop Shawn years ago."

"I know, but…we’re here now, and this
is what we have to work with. I'm thinking we make a stand in
Denver." I adjusted my shirt over my tattoos. The skin was still
tender, like I had rug burn.

Clay began to pant.

I fell in behind him, unstrapped the
sleeping bag and tarp from the top of his backpack, and held them
under my arms. Maybe he'd do better if his load was lighter. "We
need time to organize. If we slow the group down, they won't be
able to pass over the Rockies in winter. We'll have a few months to
coordinate. What can we do to slow the march?"