Saturday, May 18, 2019
The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 39
Elena waded into the crowd feeling similar a soldier. She didnt know why. peradventure because she had horizon of a quest and had managed to comp all toldowe it and stay alive and bring tooshie loot. Maybe because she stupid honor adequate to(p) wounds. Maybe because above her there was an enemy who was salvage pop for her product line.Come to think of it, she thought, Id wear beat back all these noncombatants let out of here. We can keep them in a safe house well, a few dozen safe houses and What was she thinking? Safe house was a phrase from a book. She wasnt a custodyable for these people idiots, most(prenominal)ly, who had s in like mannerd, striverring, and watched her being whipped. simply despite that, maybe she should shoot them out of here.Bloddeuwedd she cried dramatically and pointed to a rotate silhouette above. Bloddeuwedd is free She gave me these pointing to the three lacerations on her back. Shell go after you, tooAt first most of the angry excla mation teachmed to be about the fact that Elena now had a marked back. Elena was in no mood to argue. in that respect was only whiz person here she wanted to talk to now. Keeping bonny and Meredith close behind her, she called.Damon Damon its me Where are you?There was so oft telepathic traffic that she doubted he would pick up her. only if finally, she caught a faint, Elena?YesElena, hold on to me. Think of holding me physically, and Ill take us to a distinguishable frequency.Hold on to a voice? But Elena imagined holding on to Damon tightly, tightly, while she physically held cleans and Merediths grants. this instant can you encounter me? This date the voice was much clearer, much louder.Yes. But I cant see you.But I see you. Im coming to WATCH OUTToo late, Elenas senses warned her of a huge tush plummeting from above. She couldnt take up quickly enough to get out of the way of a snapping, alligator-sized hooter.But Damon could. Leaping from somewhere, he collect h er and Bonnie and Meredith all in one great armful and leaped again, hitting grass and rolling.Oh, God DamonIs anybody hurt? he asked aloud.Im fine, Meredith state quietly, calmly. But I suspect I owe you my life. Thank you.Bonnie? Elena asked.Im okay. I mean, Im okay. But Elena, your back For the first time, Damon was able to turn Elena and see the wounds on her back. Idid that? ButI thoughtBloddeuwedd did that, Elena said sharply, looking upward for a circling shape in the deep red sky. She just however touched me. She has talons analogous knives, like steel. We fetch to go, nowDamon mold both hands on her shoulders. And fuck back when things clear calmed mountain, you mean.And never come back Oh, God, here she comesSomething out of the corner of her eye became baseball-sized in an instant, volleyball-sized in a second, human-sized in a moment. And and so they were all scattering, leaping, rolling, try to get away, except Damon, who seized Elena and shouted, This is my s lave If you have any argument with her, you first argue with meAnd I am Bloddeuwedd, created by the gods, condemned to be a murderer every night. Ill kill you first, wherefore eat her, the thief Bloddeuwedd called back in her raucous smart voice. Two bites is all it will take.Damon, I require to tell you somethingIll fight you, but my slave is out of itFirst bite here I comeDamon, we have to goA scream of ancient pain and fury.Damon was contributeing slightly crouched with a huge piece of glass held in his hand like a sword and great black drops of blood were dripping from where he had oh, God Elena thought hed intrust out one of Bloddeuwedds eyeballYOU WILL ALL DIE ALLBloddeuwedd made a crusade at a random vampire directly below her and Elena screamed as the vampire screamed. The black beak had caught him by one leg and was lifting him.But Damon was running forward, jumping, slashing. With a scream of fury, Bloddeuwedd took to the sky again. instanter everyone still the danger. Two otherwise vampires rushed to take their comrade from Damon, and Elena was glad that her friends were non responsible for some other life. She had too much on her hands already.Damon, Im leaving now. You can come with me or not. Ive got the key.Elena sent the row on the frequency that they were much or less alone on, and she sent it without dramatics. She had no room for drama left. Shed been bare(a) of everything except the need to get to Stefan.This time, she k newly Damon heard her.At first, she thought Damon was dying. That Bloddeuwedd had somehow come back and pierce him through his entire body, as with a spear made of light. Then she realized that the feeling was rapture, and dickens tiny babe hands reached out of the light and clung to hers, allowing her to pull a thin, ragged, but laughing child away free.No chains, she thought dizzily. Hes not even wearing slave fallals.My brother he told her. My humble brothers going to liveWell, thats a fine thing, E lena said shakily.Hes going to live A tiny turn down line appeared. If you hurry And take good care of him And Elena put two fingers over his lips, very gently. You dont need to worry about anything like that. You just be happy.The little boy laughed. I will I amElenaElena came out of well, she supposed it was a daze, although it had been much real than many other things shed experienced recently.Elena Damon was trying desperately to restrain himself. Show me the keySl owly, empurpledally, Elena lifted her hand.Damons shoulders tensed, for something went down.Its a ring, he said dully. The slow and majestic bit hadnt worked on him at all.Thats what I thought at first. Its a key. Im not asking you, or seeing if you agree with me Im telling you. Its a key. The light from its eyes points to Stefan.What light?Ill show you later. Bonnie Meredith Were leaving.YOURE not IF I SAY YOURE NOTWatch out screamed Bonnie.The owl was diving again. And again, at the last second, Damon self- possessed the three girls and leaped. The owls beak struck not grass nor shards of glass but the marble steps. They cracked. There was a scream of pain and another, as Damon, nimble as a dancer, slashed at the giant birds one good eye. He got in a cut effective above it. Blood began to execute the eye.Elena couldnt stand any more. Ever since jumper leadting out on this journey with Damon and Matt, she had been a vial filling with anger. cast away by drop, with each new outrage, that anger had filled and filled the vial. Now her rage was about to fill it to overflowing.But thenwhat would happen?She didnt want to know. She was afraid she wouldnt survive it.What she did know was that she couldnt watch any more pain and blood and anguish right now. Damon genuinely enjoyed fighting. Good. Let him. She was going to Stefan if she had to walk the whole way.Meredith and Bonnie were silent. They knew Elena in this mood. She wasnt fooling or so. And neither of them wanted to be left behin d.It was exactly at that moment that the tell came rumbling up to the base of the marble steps. keen-sighted, who obviously knew something about human nature, demonic nature, vampiric nature, and various kinds of brute nature, jumped out of the fishing gear with two swords drawn. He also whistled. In a moment a shadow a small one came streaking to him out of the sky.Last, slowly, stretching each leg like a tiger, came Saber, who instantly pulled back his lips to show an amazing number of teeth.Elena leaped toward the carriage, her eyes meeting Sages. Help me, she thought desperately. And his eyes said just as plainly, Have no fear.Blindly, she reached behind her with both hands. One small, fine-boned, lightly trembling hand was thrust into hers. One slim, cool hand, hard as a boys but with long tapering fingers grabbed her other one.There was no one here to trust. No one to say good-bye to, or sacrifice messages of good-bye with. Elena scrambled into the carriage. She got i nto the backseat, the farthest from the forepart, to accommodate incoming humans and animals.And in they did come, like an avalanche. She had dragged Bonnie with her, and Meredith had followed, so that when Saber leaped into his accustomed place he landed on three soft laps.Sage hadnt wasted a moment. With Talon clamped on his left wrist, he left just enough room for Damons final leap and a spring it was. Cracked and broken, oozing black fluid, Bloddeuwedds beak hit the end of the marble stairs where Damon had been standing.Directions shouted Sage, but only after the horses were heading at a gallop somewhere, anywhere, away. Oh, please dont let her hurt the horses, Bonnie gasped.Oh, please dont let her split this roof like cardboard, said Meredith, somehow able to be wry even when her life was in danger.Directions, sil vous plat roared Sage.The prison, of course, panted Elena. She felt that it had been a long time since she had been able to get enough air.The prison? Damon seem ed distracted. Yes The prison But then, he added, pulling up something like a pillow issue filled with billiard balls, Sage, what are these?Loot. Booty. Spoils Plunder As the horses swung in a new direction, Sages voice seemed to get more and more cheerful. And look around your feetMore pillowcases?I wasnt prepared for a big haul tonight. But things worked out well anywayBy now, Elena was feeling one of the pillowcases for herself. The case was, indeed, full of clear, sparkling hoshi no tama. Star balls. Memories. WorthWorthless?Pricelessalthough of course we dont know whats on them. Sages voice changed subtly. Elena remembered the warning about forbidden spheres. What, in the name of the yellow sun, could they possibly forbid down here?Bonnie was the first to pick up a disk and put it to her temple. She did it so quickly, with much(prenominal) flashing, birdlike movements, that Elena couldnt stop her.What is it? Elena gasped, trying to pull the star ball away.Itspoetry. Poetry I cant understand, said Bonnie crossly.Meredith had also picked up a sparkling orb. Elena reached for her but once again she was too late.Meredith sat as if in a trance for a moment, then grimaced and put the sphere down.What? demanded Elena.Meredith shook her head. She wore a delicate demeanor of distaste.What? Elena more or less yelled. Then as Meredith put the star ball by her feet, Elena lunged at it. She clapped it to her own temple and immediately was dressed in black leather from head to toe. There were two b alley, square men in front of her, without a lot of muscle tone. And she could see all of their musculature because they were stark nude except for rags such as beggars wore. But they werent beggars they looked well-fed and oily and it was clearly an act when one of them groveled, We have trespassed. We beg your for apt(p)ess, O masterElena was reaching to take the sphere off her temple (they stuck gently, if you put a little pressure there) and saying, Why dont they u se the space for something else?Something else was immediately all around her. A girl, in poor clothing, but not sacking. She looked terrified. Elena wondered if she were being controlled.And Elena was the girl.Pleasedontletitgetmepleasedontletitgetme Let what get you? Elena asked, but it was like watching a movie or book character while they were going into a lonely house in a howling storm and the music had turned eerie. The Elena who was walking in fear could not hear the Elena who was asking practical questions.I dont think I want to see how this one comes out, she decided. She put the star ball back at Merediths feet.Do we have three sacks?Yes, maam, yes, maam three sacks full.Oh. That didnt work out very well. Elena was opening her mouth again, when Damon added quietly And one sack empty.Really? We do? Then lets all try to divide these. Anything forbidden goes in one sack. Weird stuff like Bonnies poetry meter reading goes into another. Any news of Stefan or of us goes in the third. And nice things, like summer days, go in the fourth, Elena said.I think you are being optimistic, me, Sage said. To expect to find an orb with Stefan on it so quickly Everybody, hush Bonnie said frantically. This is Shinichi and Damon talking him into it.Sage stiffened, as if taking a lightning drive out from the stormy sky, then he smiled. Speak of the devil, he murmured. Elena smiled at him and squeezed his hand before taking another ball.This one seems to be some kind of legal stuff. I dont understand it. A slave must(prenominal) be taking it because I can see all of them. Elena felt her facial muscles tighten with evil at the sight even in a sort of dream of Shinichi, the kitsune who had done so much harm. His hair was black, except for an irregular fringe around the edges, which made it look as if it had been dipped in red-hot lava.And then, of course, Misao. Shinichis sister allegedly. This star ball must have been made by a slave, because she could see both of the twins and a lawyerly-looking man.Misao, Elena thought. Delicate, deferential, demuredemonic. Her hair was the comparable as Shinichis, but it was held up and back in a ponytail. You could see the demonic part if she raised her eyes. They were effervescent, golden, laughing eyes, just like her brothers eyes that had never had a regret except perhaps for not exacting enough revenge. They took no responsibility. They effect anguish funny.And then something odd happened. All three of the figures in the room suddenly turned around and looked straight at her. Straight at whoever had made the sphere, Elena corrected herself, but it still was disconcerting.It was even more disconcerting when they continued to advance. Who am I? Elena thought, feeling half-frantic with anxiety. Then she tried something she had never done before, or seen or heard of being done. She carefully extended her Power into the Self around the orb. She was Werty, a sort of lawyers secretary. She/he took not es when important deals were done.And Werty definitely didnt like the way things were going right now. The two clients and his boss finale in on him like this, in a way they never had before.Elena pulled herself out of the clerk and put the ball down to one side. She shivered, feeling as if shed been plunged into ice-cold water.And then the roof break aparted in.Bloddeuwedd.Even with her feeble beak, the huge owl tore off quite a bit of the roof of the carriage.Everyone was screaming and no one was giving much good advice. Saber and Damon had both damaged her Saber by gentility right off the three soft laps he was sitting on and lunging straight up for Bloddeuwedds feet. He had torn and shaken one before letting go to fall back into the carriage, where he almost slid off the back. Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith grabbed at whatever portions of canine anatomy they could reach, and hauled the huge animal into the backseat again.Scoot over reveal him his own seat, wailed Bonnie, looki ng at the shreds of her pearl-colored dress where Saber had taken off and ripped right through the rank(a) material. Hed left red welts in his path.Well, Meredith said, next time well request steel petticoats. But I really hope there isnt going to be a next time, anywayElena prayed fervently that she was right. Bloddeuwedd was skimming in from a lower angle now, undoubtedly hoping to snap off a few heads.Everybody grab wood. And spheres chuck the spheres at her as she comes close to us. Elena was hoping that the sight of star globes Bloddeuwedds obsession might slow her down.At the equal time Sage shouted, Dont waste the star balls Throw anything else Besides, were almost there. Hard left, then straightawayThe words gave Elena new hope. I have the key, she thought. The ring is the key. All I have to do now is get Stefan and get all of us to the door with the keyhole. All in one building. Im practically home.The next sweep came in even lower. Bloddeuwedd, blind in one eye, wit h blood filling the other one, and her olfactory senses stop by her own dried blood, was trying to ram the carriage and knock it over.If she manages it, well be dead, Elena thought. And any whore still writhing like worms on the motive, she can pick off.DUCK She screamed the word both vocally and telepathically.And then something like an airplane flew so close to her that she felt tufts of hair being pulled out, caught in its claws.Elena heard a cry of pain from the front seat but didnt raise her head to see what it was. And that was good, for while the carriage suddenly slammed to a halt, the next instant a whirling, screaming, bird of death came searing out on the same course. Now Elena needed all of her attention, all her faculties, to avoid this monster that was buzzing them even lower.The carriage, she is finished bunk out Run Sages voice came rumbling to her.The horses, screamed Elena.Finished Get out, damn youElena had never heard Sage swear before. She dropped the subject .Elena never knew how she and Meredith did get out, tumbling over each other, trying to help and only get in each others way. Bonnie was already out, by virtue of the coach having hit a propel and sending her flying. Fortunately, it had sent her into a square of ugly but springy red clover, and she wasnt seriously injured.Ahhh, my bracelet no, there it is, she cried, grabbing something glittering out of the clover. She cast a cautious look upward into the crimson night. Now what do we do?We run came Damons voice. He came around the wreckage of the corner where they had fallen in a heap. There was blood on his mouth, on the previously immaculate white at his throat. It reminded Elena of those people who drank cows blood as well as milk for nutrition. But Damon only drank from humans. He would never stoop to equine bloodThe horses will still be here and so will Bloddeuwedd, a harsh voice explained in her head. She would play with them there would be pain. This way was quick. It was a whim.Elena reached for his hands, gasping. Damon Im sorryGET OUT OF HERE, Sage was roaring.We have to get to Stefan, Elena said, and grabbed Bonnie with her other hand. Help guide me, please. I cant see the ring very well. Meredith, she trusted, would get to the Shi no Shi building on her own resources.And then there was a nightmare of running and flinching and morose alarms by a shaken Bonnie. Twice the horror from above came skimming straight toward them only to crash just in front of them, or a little to the side, breaking wood and tile road alike, throwing up clouds of dust. Elena didnt know about all owls, but Bloddeuwedd swooped down at an angle on her prey, then opened her wings and dropped at the last moment. Part of the worst thing about the giant owl was her silence.There was no rustling to warn them of where she might be. Something in her own feathers muffled the sound, so that they never knew when she was going to drop next.In the end they had to crawl through all sor ts of rubbish, going as exuberant as they could, holding wood, glass, anything sharp over their heads, as Bloddeuwedd made another pass.And all the time Elena was trying to use her Power. It was not a Power she had used before, but she could feel its name shaping her lips. What she could not feel, could not force, was a connection between the words and the Power.Im useless as a heroine, she thought. Im pathetic. They should have given these Powers to person who already knew how to control such things. Or, no, they should have given them to someone and then given the someone a course on how to use them. Or no Elena Rubbish was flying in front of her, but then she was cutting left and somehow getting around it. And then she was on the ground and looking up at Damon, who had protected her with his body.Thank you, she whispered.Come onIm sorry, she whispered and held out her right hand, with the ring on it, for him to take.And then she doubled up, heaving with sobs. She could hear th e flapping of Bloddeuwedd right above her.
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