CHAPTER 15
“I think we should train while we fly to the Himalayas.” Raven touched a hand to my shoulder. “We don’t have much time and you need to learn everything you can, while you can.”
He had a solid point. We were going after the false mother goddess who had four of the five stones of power. On her own, without the stones, she was strong enough to make the world of the elementals believe she was the mother goddess. She’d been strong enough to create visions for rites of passage for elementals, and to impersonate those I loved. I rubbed a hand over my face. “Okay, what have you got?”
“Have you gone through all your memories?” he asked.
I shrugged but didn’t look back at him. The last memory I’d unveiled had been horrifying in its pain. “Does it matter what is false in my past and what is real? We know what Viv’s up to. We know she’s going to attempt to kill the original elementals. What does it matter if Cassava tangled up my memories?”
I looked to Peta when Raven didn’t say anything. “What do you think, cat? Am I right?”
She nodded, her eyes bright as her fur ruffled in the wind that rushed around us. “I agree. Unless something comes up where a memory is directly tied to your past, I think it’s a waste of time.”
“Something else then,” Raven said, and I think it was more to himself. “Okay, this is what I’ve got. You pick.”
That was a surprise, but I stayed quiet and pondered. “There are things you can do with Spirit that no other elemental can do. Like Riding it.”
“You say that like it’s a proper name.”
I twisted to look at him. He was not always easy to read, and I knew from our history, I needed to be careful when dealing with him.
“My daughter calls it that. Riding Spirit. It allows you to move from place to place, not unlike jumping the Veil. Only without the kickback of crushing your soul over time.”
I couldn’t resist thinking of Pamela. “You mean Pam?”
His face drained of color. “You… how do you know?”
“She opened the Veil, and Rylee was there. The mother goddess told me to save her, so I did.”
“Thank you.” He spoke without hesitation.
I shrugged. “I always liked her.”
He cleared his throat and looked away. “She’s the best of me, Lark. The best of me and her mother.”
I didn’t doubt that. “On to the training. Pamela calls it Riding Spirit. I saw her do it, but I didn’t understand how she can use so much Spirit for something that is, in its own way, frivolous.” That was one of the first things I’d learned. Using Spirit created a toll on your own soul, one that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see the cost of, considering how often I’d used it.
“And who told you not to use it, that it was dangerous?” Raven asked, his eyebrows high.
I closed my eyes as a memory slid through me. “Viv. Shit, she was the one who told me that Spirit shouldn’t be used, that it would take up my soul. Is it not true then?”
He shook his head and then nodded. “Yes and no. Using Spirit to damage others breaks your mind, as it’s done with Cassava. But using it to help others, to do good, heals those breaks. So, if you use it in balance, you’re okay. And Riding it is a neutral usage, not harming or helping anyone.”
Yet again, I’d been led astray by Viv and her machinations. “Damn her. Okay, tell me how to do it then.”
I continued to stare at him, finally grasping how he’d escaped me in the Eyrie. “That’s how you keep avoiding me, disappearing into thin air.”
He shook his head and spoke as if he’d read my mind. “Again, yes and no. You can’t Ride Spirit in or out of the elemental homes. They are protected from that to keep Spirit Walkers from going wherever they want. Back when there were enough Spirit Walkers to do that, anyway.”
That was it; he wasn’t giving me anything more. I snorted. “Okay. Show me how to do this Riding of Spirit.”
“We have to land, and as you can see, right now we are over a rather large body of water. When you make the jump, you can’t do it with more than a single person, not unlike Traveling with the armbands. Actually, I think the Traveling bands were set up by Spirit Walkers.” He swept his hand out to indicate the ocean below us as he spoke.
As if to impress on me the point that we were indeed over the Atlantic, a spray of salty air slapped me in my face. “Fine. As soon as we land you are going to teach me that.”
He gave me a sloppy salute and I glared. “Don’t get sassy with me, Raven.”
“You need me to teach you. Especially since Talan is going to be pissed when he finally catches up to us. Goddess only knows what he will do then.” He blew out a breath and shook his head.
“He won’t be able to find us.”
“Oh,” he laughed softly, “I think he will. And I think when he does, he’s not going to underestimate my loyalty to you over him again.” Raven didn’t look at me as he spoke. I stared at him hard, though, as if my gaze could break through his words and tell me if he was speaking the truth or not.
“What else can you tell me about?”
“Well, you got a dose of being able to inflict pain through Spirit, and I’ll let you figure that one out yourself, I think. I don’t have a lot of strength in that area anyway. Now, if you can find a witch to work with, you can create or pull apart a creature. At least, that is what Talan told me. I’ve never done it myself.” He spoke that last bit as if he were afraid of how I would react. I didn’t understand why he was so careful with those words.
“Why would I pull apart a creature?” I asked. “That’s stupid.”
“A creature created by another elemental,” he clarified.
My whole body stiffened and I tightened my legs around Shazer’s barrel. “You mean… Ash?”
“Yes. You’ll need a powerful witch to help you with that if you want it to be successful. I can show you what you would have to do on your side of the spell. It is Spirit that brings the process about, changing the shape of the human body into the flesh of the animal spirit that resides in all of us.”
I closed my eyes, doing my best to quell the spurt of hope growing in my heart. I knew no matter how much I loved Ash, I had bigger things to deal with before I found him and took him home. Much as I wanted to dwell on Ash and helping him, his loss paralyzed me if I let myself think on him too long. He’d been trapped as a golden eagle for years. “How long has he been trapped exactly?” The question was one I’d wanted the answer to for so long, I wasn’t sure Raven could answer it.
“Twenty-five years, give or take a few. Mostly give,” Raven said.
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “And can I bring him back from that?”
“Hey, what about me?” Shazer rippled his back, bringing my attention back to him. “I’ve been stuck like this for longer than I can remember. You’re acting like Ash won’t be able to even converse with you. Like he’s suddenly stupid because he’s an animal.”
I looked back at Raven. “And?”
“Different with Ash; he wasn’t given the ability to speak. Which means he’s been locked inside that eagle that entire time.”
My guts clenched with sudden understanding. “Like an oubliette.”
“Yes, but it was the only way to save him.”
“Wait, what?” I twisted around farther. “You say that like you… had something to do with his change.”
Raven’s lips pursed. “I was there when it happened.”
Peta shifted in my lap as she shook her head violently from side to side. “There is something, almost like a memory I can’t quite grab hold of in my head. Was I there with him?”
Raven closed his eyes. “Yes, you were there too, Peta. Talan took your memories. Even if you could unlock them on your own, they just aren’t there. That is a downside to a familiar’s connection to a Spirit Walker. He can truly wipe your mind if he chooses.”
I turned my back to him, because if I kept looking at him, I might’ve pushed him off Shazer’s back, and that was if I was being kind. I still needed him. At least for now. “You were there, but you can show me how to bring him back?”
“In theory, yes.”
“Then we will start with Shazer when we land,” I said.
Below me the Pegasus grunted. “And then you will have no way to travel.”
“Raven’s going to show me how to Ride Spirit, aren’t you?” It was not a question, not really. Because I was done with waiting. I was done with putting up with Raven and Talan dodging questions, dodging the answers I needed.
But as always, it seemed nothing would go easy for me. I waited for Raven to say something, then finally twisted around to give him the stink eye to hurry him up. But when I turned, it wasn’t Raven who caught my eye but the things winging toward us through the clouds.
“What the ever-loving seventh veil is that?” Peta climbed up and peered past me. “Is it a flying dog?”
Raven jerked around so fast, he wobbled on his seat and I grabbed hold of him to keep him from falling off. He grunted. “Shit, I thought I’d locked that beasty up good.”
“What?” I tightened my grip on him. “Raven, we are above the Atlantic Ocean. We can’t land!”
“Why do we need to land?” He held up his hand and both the wind around us and the water below rolled at the same time while my skin prickled. The lines of power raced up and down his arms, blue and white and terribly beautiful because I could see the damage he was going to unleash on the creature behind us.
The thing, or dog as Peta called it, was huge, and a strange dark gray that blended into black. The hide shivered and shimmered with a dull pulsing light. I realized as I stared at it, as it drew closer, it was more than just a big-ass flying dog.
It was a demon. The brilliant red eyes glowed as they locked on us, but particularly when they locked on Raven.
“What the hell did you do that got a demon on your ass?” I whispered, then remembered what Pamela had said.
A Guardian had come through the Veil, and Raven had lured it away. This was what I’d seen the end of when I’d arrived to save Pamela.
Raven didn’t look at me. “The Veil.”
Shazer spun in midair, his wings beating to keep us in place. I saw the edge of his eyes, the way they rolled as they landed on the beast drawing closer and closer.
“This is the Guardian that came out after her,” Raven said, confirming my own thoughts. “I locked it in an oubliette and thought I’d be able to keep it there.”
A good plan maybe, but obviously the Guardian was stronger than he’d realized.
“Your tactic didn’t work, Raven. Let’s try another.” I drew a breath and wove my fingers through Shazer’s mane. “Can you lose that thing?”
Shazer bobbed his head. “You bet your sweet ass I can.”
“Hang on,” I said.
“I can handle this,” Raven bit out, but the words were lost as the demon dog beast picked up speed, and yet the world slowed around us. The creature’s maw opened and a multitude of tongues shot out of its mouth, reaching for us. Shazer tucked his wings and twisted his body. Peta dug her claws into my leather vest. “Shit, this is going to bring up a juicy hairball.”
I tucked my head down tightly to help keep from being a pull on Shazer. But even so, I knew something was wrong. Raven was no longer behind me.
“Hold up!”
“Too late!” Shazer called back as we raced toward the surface of the gently rolling ocean, the waves growing louder as we drew closer.
At the last second, and I mean the very last second, he pulled up by snapping his wings out to their full spread. He groaned and I could almost feel the strain against his muscles and tendons, could feel his body working to keep us from slamming into the water that would not be soft like a cloud but more like solid cement.
“There!” Peta cried out. “We can land there!”
My eyes watered from the rush of wind as I tried to see what she was looking at.
A ship. A human battleship, to be clear.
Another look around and the Deep came into view. We were in the middle of the war zone between the Undines and the humans.
How was I not surprised?
I looked behind us into the air. The demon beast was coming at us, even though Raven was tangling with it. The flashes of color around them showed me how much power he was using. His strength wasn’t enough to kill this demon.
If the demon would come at me, though, I could stop it. I was sure. I’d killed my share of demons at the Battle of the Veil. There was nothing stopping me from doing it again.
Assuming this Guardian was like the other demons.
Raven knew how to kill demons, too. Which meant this one behind us was no ordinary beast.
Worm shit and green sticks, this journey was sliding into bad territory dangerously fast.
“Do it, Shazer. Take us to the humans.”
I spoke the words and my skin crawled with fear and uncertainty. The humans were warring not only with the Undines, but with their own kind as well. Talan had shown me and I believed him because I’d seen the chaos of the world myself growing with each passing year.
But we had no choice. Right now, I needed Raven still at my side to train me, and I needed to have my feet under me so I could deal with that beast he and Pamela had unleashed on the world.
And I knew I could deal with it.
That certainty in myself was never in question.
“Here we go.” Shazer swept us away from the waves with a few powerful thrusts of his wings. We were headed straight toward the landing deck of the human battleship, their eyes and guns trained on us as we drew closer.
This was about to get interesting.