Warrior from the Shadowland (5 page)

Since
Chason had become king, though, even the Spartan drudgery of his father’s ways had
fallen away.  The Magnetland had sunk into a slow decay.  The Reprisal used the
Magnet Fortress as their headquarters, but none of them cared for the property
itself.  And Chason, who had once loved his people and land, now saw only death
around him.  He savored the gloomy silence and darkness.  Anything else might
force him to feel things beyond his hatred.

To
hear the music that sometimes played in his missing heart.

The
Magnet Phases had a hard time being around computers or other human technology
without their energy destroying it.  iPods were pretty much useless.  Tapes
were erased.  CD players reacted badly.  If the Magnet Phases wanted music they
had to turn on old fashioned record players.  Mara had loved music.  She’d
filled their home with human songs, endlessly spinning them on turntables.

When
Mara had been living in the fortress, there’d been no silence.  Joy and
happiness and the scratchy sounds of old records drove out all the emptiness. 
She’d come of age during the era of swing and big band music, so the Andrew
Sisters always remained her particular favorite.  The sad, melodic sounds of
I’ll
Be with You
in
Apple Blossom Time
echoed in Chason’s
memories.  The soundtrack of his vanished life.

He’d
only listened to the song once since Mara’s death, on what should have been her
161
^st
birthday.  Then, he’d destroyed it, along with the record
player and every other piece of music in the fortress.  But, against his will,
he still heard the notes cascading in his mind.

The
music cut into him, deeper than his hatred.

It
was too much, even for someone who hoarded his pain like Chason.  He preferred
the silence.  The slow death of his entire kingdom soothed him.  Without his
Match, the world
should
end.  Why should anything continue if Mara
couldn’t?

“Commander?” 
A Stone Phase named Abel cleared his throat.  “What would you like us to do?”

Chason
turned from the window to stare at him.  Abel was one of the top soldiers in
the Reprisal.  He despised the Water House nearly as much as he hated Parald. 
He was the perfect Phase to lead the mission.  The streak at his temple was
olive and, like the rest of his hair, cut in a rakish style.  For all this
ruthlessness, Abel devoted untold hours on his appearance.

Chason,
himself, hadn’t bothered to look in a mirror since Mara died.  He didn’t want
to see whatever was left of him.  “Go to the human realm.”  He said, flatly. 
“Find Tritone or Nia and bring them here.  They’ll lead us to the Quintessence.”

Abel
actually smiled at the order.

For
a brief moment, Chason heard the Andrew Sisters’ harmonized vocals in his
head.  The little piece of him where Mara still lived knew that his actions
were a blasphemy against her memory.  His Match had loved the Water Kingdom,
especially Nia and Ty.  He should pick a different solider.  One without Abel’s
cruel streak.  The thought was quickly tuned out by the louder, hate filled
voice that insisted that nothing they did now mattered, anyway.

Ty
and Nia would inevitably die when the Air House collapsed, so what difference
did it make if Abel was rough with them now?

It
didn’t, obviously.

And
Chason just didn’t have it in him to care about them, anymore.  He didn’t care
about anything but vengeance.  He would have the Quintessence, kill Parald and
end the universe.

Then,
he’d finally have peace...

And
total silence.

Concerning
the factors of silence, solitude and darkness, we can only say

that they
are actually elements in the production of the infantile anxiety

from which
the majority of human beings have never become quite free.

Sigmund
Freud- “The Uncanny”

Cross
figured that it had to be some kind of record.  He’d had his Phase-Match for
three minutes and she’d already been stabbed.  Even for someone with Cross’s
endless capacity to screw things up, it was an impressive achievement.  If he
possessed even the smallest amount of compassion, he’d walk away from Nia
before something even worse happened to her.  Just about everyone else Cross
had ever known was dead, so odds seemed high that being around him would
eventually kill her, too.

It
made him feel sick to even think about it.

Unfortunately,
Cross was realizing that his stepfather had been right about him all along.  He
was a selfish bastard, because, even as he stared at Nia’s bloody arm, he knew
that he was never going to let her go.

He
couldn’t.

She
was the only thing that let him think past the pain.  The only quiet spot he
had against the constant roar on his head.

It
had taken a full year for Cross to withstand the agonizing pressure of the
Shadows enough to function, at all.  It felt like his skull was trying to crack
open; like branding irons were scorching his forehead, while hammers beat on
the inside of his brain.  And, even worse, there was a constant, overwhelming
fear that he’d slip again and the world would end permanently, taking his
Phase-Match with it.

For
that first year, he’d lived in total isolation.  When he was lucky, anyway. 
Sometimes other Phases would show up, wondering how he was still alive.  He
made sure they never stayed long.  Ordinarily, Phases couldn’t enter the
territory of other Houses without permission.  Unless they were incredibly
powerful, they had to be granted access.  For a long time, Cross didn’t have
the control to work the Shadowland’s barriers, though.  So, Phases came and
went.  Cross had vague memories of several of them, but Job was the only one he
attached a face to.

Job,
of the Earth House.  The oldest, most powerful Elemental alive.  The Earth
House was the largest of the Elemental Houses and Job supported most of it
himself.  They guy no doubt only paid Cross a weekly visit out of duty. 
Because he thought it was
right
.  He sure didn’t hang out in the
Shadowland for the company.  But, Job’s robotic quest for perfection wouldn’t
allow him to ignore Cross’ predicament, no matter how much he wanted to. 
Still, Cross had never asked Job to stop coming to see him.  Never tried to
chase him off, like he did with the others.

As
stupid as it seemed, he liked to listen to Job talk.

Job’s
musical voice turned everything into a story.  Cross had never heard any
bedtime stories as a child.  Hell, he hadn’t even had a bed.  But, something
about Job’s tales soothed him even through the agony in his skull.  Job spoke
of times long past and Phases who existed now only in his memories.  He told
Cross about his efforts to restore order to the Elementals and save them from
extinction.

And,
sometimes, he’d complained about Nia, of the Water House.

Job’s
perfect voice would become awash with irritated affection as he detailed
whatever new plan the woman was cooking up and arguing in front of the
Council.  Job cared for Nia.  Cross had always heard that in the stories.  But,
she wore him out with her endless, defiant ideas.  In his throbbing mind, Cross
had always pictured her as a gigantic, fearsome creature, trying to beat Job
and the Council into submission with nothing but her own moral certainty.

A
crusader.

The
image intrigued him.  Deep inside, Cross knew that he was broken.  As a child,
as an adult, and certainly after the Fall, he’d proven that he was flawed.

Useless.

Weak.

Wrong.

Nia
of the Water House had the purity of focus that Cross had always wanted.  The
courage to stand up to anyone and fight for what she believed in.  The strength
to actually hope and work for something better.

Of
course, Phases like Nia and Job survived the Fall.  Even Cross’s own ephemeral
sense of right and wrong saw that as just.  They would never let their Houses
crumble or the world end.  They were righteous.  Selflessly committed to saving
the universe.  Cross only hung on because he wanted his Phase-Match even more
than he wanted the pressure in his head to finally stop.

Sometimes,
deep in the night, when the pain got so bad that blood wept out from his eyes,
Cross wondered if he’d imagined his Match.  If, at the end of the world, he’d
hallucinated for just a second and convinced himself that the woman had brushed
his mind, just so he wouldn’t die alone.

Why
the hell would he have a Phase-Match, when Job didn’t?  When barely any
Elementals in the universe had one?  Was he so deluded that he really believed
something like that would happen to him?  So pathetic that he’d cling to any
small glimmer of having someone to love?

Yes.

Yes,
he was, it turned out.

While
the Fall had robbed everyone else, it promised Cross a gift so monumental that
he’d endure anything, believe anything, suffer
anything
, just for a
chance to receive it.

So,
after the first year, he began pushing himself further and further.  Until he
could ignore the pain for seconds, then minutes at a time.  Until he could
harness at least some of the incredible power festering inside of him and begin
searching.  Until he nearly killed himself from the strain of it and then
pushed even harder, because he
had
to go find his Match.  She was
literally more important to him than the remainder of the universe combined. 
In this one thing, he was as steadfast as he imagined Nia, of the Water House
to be when she stood in front of the Council and shouted her opinions.

He
would find his Match, if it took another apocalypse to do it.

Cross
had searched for his Match in every realm he could think of.  But, never,
ever
,
did it occur to him to go to one of the Council meetings and see Nia for
himself.  It never occurred to him that his Match would be Job’s outspoken
rebel.  It never occurred to him that God or Gaia or destiny or whatever
controlled Phase-Matches would be stupid enough to give him such a treasure. 
He would’ve had enough trouble getting a normal woman to accept him.  Cross had
no idea what to even say to someone like Nia.

She
was risking her life in the human realm because she wanted to make a
difference, for God sake.  Although he still wasn’t real clear on exactly what
her plan
was
, it was obvious that Nia
cared
about things.  Cross
didn’t care about anything except her.  Nia deserved someone better, cleaner,
not so broken.

She
was his Match, though.  He just looked at her and knew it with everything in
him.

Cross
wasn’t sure what had happened when the Air House had attacked Nia.  He’d been
in the Shadowland and he’d actually heard her cry out.  Felt her desperation
and fear, just as he had after the Fall when oblivion threatened to swallow
them all.  Somehow, he’d locked on her and just pushed right into the human
realm.

And
the crippling weight of the Shadows had… helped him.

Cross
had reached out and the power supported him.  For once, it did exactly what he
wanted.  The Shadows took him right where he needed to go.  To kill the evil
fuckers who’d touched his woman.

So
here he was, covered in blood, surrounded by Nia’s family, human debris and
dead bodies, with a hurt Phase-Match and no clue what to do next.  Cross had
often plotted how to find his Match and all his life he’d dreamed of actually
having a woman who loved him.  There was a lot of uncharted territory
connecting those two goals that he’d never really considered, though.  Like,
for instance, how
not
to kill the Wood Phase his Match was obviously so
fond of.

Because,
honestly, Cross was beginning to lose it.

It
wasn’t a good idea for a guy who could end the world to lose it.  Cross knew
that.  Plus, it wouldn’t make his Match happy.  But, if Uriel didn’t get his
hands off of Nia, Cross would have to kill him.  His palm tightened around the
handle of the sword in readiness.

He
felt a pressure building up inside of him, even bigger than the weight of the
Shadows.  Uriel held Nia’s wrist in one hand and was wrapping a bandage around
her upper arm with the other.  It wasn’t sexual.  The Wood Phase was trying to
help her, but Cross still couldn’t breathe with Uriel standing so close to his
Match.  What little control he managed to hold onto was slipping fast.

“You
need to step away from her.”  He ordered as calmly as he could.  From the way
the rest of them turned to gape at him, though, he could tell his voice had
been filled with the power of the Shadows.

Fuck.

Cross
cleared his throat and tried again.  “Step away from her.”  He repeated,
keeping his eyes on Uriel. “Step away,
now
.”

Uriel
stared at him and Cross knew the exact second the Wood Phase understood.  Uriel
released Nia so fast you’d think she’d caught fire.

Elementals
had a strict code around touching other people’s Matches and Wood Phases loved
nothing more than adherence to a code.  Technically, Nia had to accept Cross
and there had to be actual Phazing or recognition from the Council for the
Match to be validated.  But, even at this stage Uriel wouldn’t overstep the
bounds of propriety.  He didn’t like Cross and he still backed away.  “I
apologize.”  Uriel said, quietly.  “I didn’t know.”

Cross
relaxed enough to nod.

“Hello? 
Bleeding here.” Nia glared over at Cross.  “Stop terrorizing poor Uriel, so he
can finish.  We don’t have time for whatever your deal is, Cross.”

God,
he loved it when she said his name, even in that pissy tone.  It was like a
little drop of coolness on the fevered surface of his mind.  Just being near
her helped, actually, as if Nia cast a bit of shade for him to lie in and just
rest.  The horrible pressure in his head was so much more bearable when she
looked at him with those huge blue eyes.

“Cross
is going to finish the bandage.”  Uriel reported when Cross didn’t say
anything.  “We’ll be out here.”  He herded Ty and Tharsis into the outer office
before Nia could protest.

Tharsis
wasn’t happy.  “Yeah, but isn’t that guy nuts?”  He whispered, loudly. “And
armed?
”

“Cross
won’t hurt her.”  Uriel assured him as the door swung shut.

Cross
silently swore and very deliberately set the sword aside.  He didn’t know
anything about bandaging other people’s wounds.  He’d figured that Ty would do
it.  Or Tharsis.  He’d be okay with her brother touching Nia, just not another
unattached male.  Now what was he supposed to do?

His
gaze flicked over to his Phase-Match.  It was mostly her fault that he was
acting so insane.  Well, that and the fact that he
was
insane, anyway.

Nia
sat there, staring at him with wide turquoise eyes.  Her hair was such a bright
shade of red that he’d never even dreamed such a color existed when he was a
boy, living in grey and black shadows.  And her body…

Cross
swallowed.

Different
Houses had different physical characteristics.  While so many Phases were tall
and thin, the Water House had always bred smaller, curvier women.  They were
prized among Elemental men.  So rare and lovely that Cross suddenly almost
understood Parald’s fury at being denied the softness of one.

Nia
watched Cross expectantly as he continued to study her.  “Well?”  She didn’t
seem afraid of him, anymore.  Or maybe she was just so used to assuming control
that it made her feel better to try and issue him orders like she did with the
rest of her little crew.  Either way, Cross was willing to go along with it. 
Just so they were both headed in the same direction, he’d let Nia lead for a while. 
She was his only destination, anyway.

He
moved closer to her.  Nia sat on the overturned side of the desk, her feet
dangling in the air.  It put them at eye level and meant that he had to stand
between her legs.  It was an utterly indefensible position for her.  He fought
the urge to lecture her about protecting herself from people like him and
carefully reached out to touch her wrist.

The
second his skin brushed against hers, he felt energy shooting through him like a
lightning storm.  “Oh shit.”  He groaned.  Cross eyes closed in ecstasy as
energy pulsed through him.  This wasn’t the overwhelming darkness of the
Shadows.  This was a power so light and clean that it could only come from
Nia.  It cleansed him from the inside out.  The pain in his head lifted
entirely and Cross barely noticed.

Phazing.

It
wasn’t supposed to happen so fast.  Before he even had a chance to tell Nia who
he was.  Different Phases knew someone was their Match at different times. 
When she first saw him, Nia hadn’t seemed to realize that he was her Match. 
Not the way that Cross had just known she was his when he felt her after the
Fall.  Simply touching Nia’s skin triggered the beginning of Phazing, though,
so Cross figured she was probably going to figure things out pretty damn quick.