EZRA
The suffocating heat woke me. After being in the Halfworld for almost a week, I still hadn't adjusted to the hot, humid air or the way it made my clothes stick to my skin.
Sounds of the camp coming to life urged me to open my eyes and glance around. The twins were just getting up, stretching. They were probably going to train with the warriors as they had all the previous mornings.
Avery's hand brushed my back, and I rolled over, taking in her glorious tangle of bed head. She smiled at me, her eyes still heavy with sleep.
I glanced up past her and saw that John wasn't on his bedroll. In fact, I couldn't see him at all. Sitting up, I fought with the sudden dryness in my mouth. Hunter was gone as well.
Suon chuckled from where he sat, feeding the fire to bring it back to life. "There," he called to me, nodding to a thin patch of trees with a smile.
Through them, against
EZRAKaylee stared at John with star-struck awe. Her father wrapped an arm around her shoulders and looked up at me with what I thought was hope in his eyes. "Has the war ended then?""No," I said, shaking my head. "It's just become more complicated. I don't even know where to begin.""But you really are a witch?" Kaylee asked, peering around her father to look at John. "Can you show me?"John glanced down at his hand that was intertwined with Hunter's. "I wish I could, but it's complicated. I can't reach my power anymore. "Benji's gaze swung back and forth between John and I. "How is that possible?"The fire crackled between us as I tried to find my words. "The witches have developed a new weapon. John took a shot that was meant for me during a fight. It's part of the reason we're still here in the Half World."No reason to mention that it was my brother who'd tried to poison me, or that he was why we had
JOHN"Close your eyes and reach inward," I said, watching Kaylee followed my directions. She was so eager, so excited that at first, she couldn't sit still. The energy seemed to radiate off her as we settled near the tree line away from the others.I started with some basic centering exercises, simple meditations to calm her, and she took to them like a fish to water. Now, with her focused, we could tap into what we needed in order to find her alignment.Witch children tended to take after their parents, but that wasn't always the case. I was a great example of that. With Kaylee's mother being a spirit witch, there was a strong chance she would follow her's mother's alignment if she hadn't taken after her father's Necromancer power. And that didn't seem to be the case.Birds called above us as they flew through the jungle canopy.Taking another deep breath, I focused again on Kaylee. "Fall deeper into your center."
JOHNHunter and I followed Ezra through the trees, and even though Ezra was walking fast, he wasn't in the same hurry everyone was in when Kaylee ran off into the jungle. Impatiently, I wiped the sweat from my eyes. The heat had built to an almost unbearable temperature, the humidity climbing even higher. Almost as if I was breathing water.Ezra slowed, glancing back to motion at us with a finger to his lips. "No sudden movements either, I don't want to startle them."I frowned, not knowing what to expect as we pushed past the last of the bushes. On the other side, a large demon was stretched out on the jungle floor. I recognized it immediately. It was kind of hard not to, since it had tried to kill me yesterday.The demon was like a giant black panther with two saber tooth like teeth protruding from its mouth. It stretched out on the ground, tail twitching back and forth with Kaylee curled up next to it, as if it were nothing
John"Thanks, John," Benji said.I turned back to Kaylee and frowned. She'd nearly exhausted all of her power, the glimmer of magic within her growing lighter. She probably didn't realize how close she was to passing out. I needed to warn her, but that also meant I'd need to get closer to the demon.The wounds on my shoulders ached at the thought. Even still, I moved forward slowly, slower than even Hunter had moved. I kept my eyes on the cat-like demon and stepped up between Kaylee and Hunter. I rested a hand on Kaylee's forearm, drawing her attention to me."You've got to stop now. Let go of what's in your mind and break the connection between you and the demon."She shook her head. "She's in too much pain. I can't. She'll go into a rage if I don't keep it up. "The demon's head shifted towards us and I froze, not wanting to encourage any more movement from
EZRA"Are you sure?" I asked Anissa as I fed another handful of sticks to the fire. She and her sister were sitting on the opposite side, their expressions serious. The rest of our group were gathering our things and taking down most of the camp in the late morning light. Everything except for what Benji and his daughter, and the twins now, too, would need for another day or two.Anissa nodded. "Yes, Tessa and I have decided we would like to stay with Benji and Kaylee if he will let us. He can help us just as well as you can.""Perhaps, even better," Tessa said, as she reached up to tie her braids back, "since he trained with the family before they were all killed."Benji let out a sour laugh. "Barely, I was hardly more than a kid."He sat to my right and Kaylee still slept curled next to him. From what John had described about her powers yesterday, and how she'd he
JOHNOn the other side of the door Amna had led me through was a large cavern-like room, its ceiling vaulted up to a small circle of what could only be clouded glass. The skylight allowed just enough light into the room to see that the walls were painted and decorated just as the corridor had been on the climb up here. Full of jungle landscapes and great battles with demons were just as common as scenes showing them living alongside the monks peacefully.Only one piece of furniture stood in the room. A single, long stone table that reminded me of the Avery's Family Altar. He'd helped her and the other men in the Manser line move the giant relic last summer after Nathan had shown his true colors. And the table before him could have been the exact same one."Come," Amna insisted, walking over the mosaic floor comprised of small stones and crystals set in concentric circles that wound tighter and tighter to di
EZRAI closed my eyes as John let loose another scream of pain that ripped through the room and my soul with raw agony."How long will this take?" I asked, looking over that Amna. She'd come out of the room shortly after the chanting started, trading places with the older monk who'd questioned us."As long as it does," Amneh said gravely. "You are welcome to wait here, near your friend. I can show you where you may bathe if any of you would like to wash the long journey from your skin while you wait."Avery gave my hand a quick squeeze. "I like the idea of a bath.""I'm not leaving," Hunter said quickly, with his hands wrapped tightly across his chest. He'd started to pace outside the archway, getting as close as he could to John, without actually being in the room with him."I'll send food and drink up here while you wait," Amna said before lea
EZRA"Hello, Ezra."I stared across the room, convinced that all the stress and fatigue of traveling through the jungle and across realms had finally gone to my head. Poe was dead. Nathan killed him in a fight months ago. There was no way he could be standing here in front of me now.Lightning struck again, the flash sending a shadow of Poe's form across the murals along the wall. He was haggard-looking, with his dark, tousled hair and an unkempt beard. With the exception of his clothing, he was just the same as when he first appeared to me in the Stanwood Vault nearly a year ago."You can't be real." I felt rooted to the spot as Poe took a step forward. "I thought-" I choked on the words as they caught in my throat. "I thought I'd lost you."Poe reached out, his thin fingers pressed against the center of my chest. There was substance behind his touch. "You can't lose me, not really. I'm always right here, inside you."