Chapter 12

Kat

Vlakas and I moved through the water in the tunnels in almost total darkness. The batteries on the flashlights had given out the day before, and we didn't dare make torches that would announce our presence to any predators, two footed or four.

I had placed a silencing bubble around us so that at least no one would hear us bumbling around in the dark.

"We need to stop, Kat. This isn't working," Vlakas said after I banged my knee on some rubble under the water for probably the fifth time.

I sighed. He was right. Once we lost the flashlights our exploration of the tunnels had slowed to a crawl. To be able to use our powers to keep the map of the area visible in our heads we had to enter a trance. We hadn't yet mastered the ability to trance and walk at the same time.

"Okay, let's camp for a few," I said. "Can you start a fire?"

In response a deep red glow appeared in the darkness outlining Vlakas' hands. I had been worried about finding a way to get heat and cook food down here, until Vlakas had reminded me that he could make metal and stone red hot.

He said he wasn't using flame to heat it externally like a Fire Mageia would. He tried to explain it to me as vibrating tiny pieces of the metal and stone together to create friction, then heat. He insisted that if I learned the differences between the components of the air I would be able to create water. I wasn't stupid by any means, but sometimes his explanations made my head hurt.

We scrambled up onto one of the landings that seemed to appear every hundred feet or so. Water squished in my boots as I sorted through the pack for some dry tinder I'd been hauling, and Vlakas soon had a small fire burning.

We'd had no further sightings of our silver-eyed intruder, but remained alert, regardless. As we'd moved closer to the surface we'd seen boot tracks in places and signs of passage indicating someone had been through here. Whether it was Mageia our mystery guess was uncertain.

"So, do you want the bad news, or the worse news?" Vlakas asked after rummaging through our backpacks.

"Isn't that really just saying it's all bad news?"

He shrugged. "I'm an optimist. I try to find good in anything," he said.

"The good news is, we are deep enough that we haven't seen any competitors for a few days," he began. "The bad news is we are out of food and low on water."

I nodded. I knew all of that.

"So we need to go up, and risk running into other Mageia," I concluded.

Vlakas nodded.

"Is that really such a bad thing, Kat?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"If we were sure they would join up with us? No, not at all. But I can't think of any way of confirming their willingness without talking to them, and talking to them exposes us," I said. "If they don't decide to join us, we'd have to kill them."

"Do you know any of the others in the Machi?"

I nodded.

"Not many, but a couple of them have attended our joint training sessions," I said. "The problem is, we don't really have a way of knowing if someone will join us until we are vulnerable."

"Let's set that aside for a moment," he said. "If we want to pass the Machi, we need to get at least three medallions each. Since we agreed we would rather not take them from the corpses of our people, we need to hunt some of the beasts released on the island."

"In order to do that…" he trailed off.

"We need to go up. Fine," I huffed. "Let's start looking for a path up."

He grinned.

"Hey, where did you find the book?" I asked as I took a drink.

"What book?"

"The one from the first night. I found it on the floor in the room and packed it in the bag."

He sifted through the items in the backpack before taking the wrapped bundle out.

"This?"

I nodded.

He opened it carefully, reverently. He looked through the pages in fascination for a few minutes before looking up at me.

"I didn't find this, Kat."

My mouth went dry, despite the drink I'd just taken.

"What do you mean?"

"This is the first time I've ever seen this book."

We stared at each other in shock for several minutes before finally moving on.

After that we began finding more parcels in our path. It felt almost like we were being stalked by some kind of benevolent predator. The packages contained small things: water, bread, a small knife. They were almost like offerings.

We decided it was better to head to the ground level after that. I felt far too trapped in the tunnels. I needed us to have another escape option.

I had thought it was safer in the tunnels, and I would rather V would stay below while I checked things out, but he wasn't willing. Especially since the Calling, he deeply resented whenever I tried to protect him.

A few hours later we stood in thigh-deep water beneath a grate leading outside, the sun pouring through and dappling the water. Goddess, I hated wet feet! We both were cautiously sending our magic out to check for predators. I used my powers to put a silencing bubble around us as we searched our surroundings.

My Air magic skimmed over the water, through the grate and outside. The water was an unappetizing brownish green, and we'd agreed not to risk drinking it. From what we could see through the grate, we were beneath some kind of wooded area. Possibly a former city park?

I opened my eyes to look at Vlakas and saw his eyes still closed, his head tilted up toward the sun. Down here, surrounded by his element, his powers were at their height, while mine felt diminished.

With the light filtering down from above, he still looked so freaking young. His shoulders had broadened to the point they were wider than mine, but he still had the unfinished look of youth about him. I just hoped my brother had the chance to mature.

"Anything?" I asked.

"Just us," he said, opening his eyes to look at me.

"Okay, here's the plan," I said. "I'll head up and take a look. I'll keep a sound shield around us, and we'll see what we can see."

"Sounds good," he responded, "Except, I'll go first."

I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

"Kat, you have to stop trying to protect me. I can take care of myself," he insisted.

"I know you can, V," I sighed. "I just--some habits are hard to break."

He grinned at me.

"It'll be fine, Kat. You've taught me well," he said.

I nodded. "Fine. But be careful, and keep a shield ready, just in case," I huffed.

"Okay, Dad," he teased.

I thumped his shoulder with my fist.

"Ow!" he whined, rubbing his shoulder in exaggerated pain. I grinned.

I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest as he managed to move the grate aside and peered out. After a few moments he said, "Looks clear," and glanced back down.

I heard a hissing sound and saw his eyes go wide in alarm.

"Kat, look out!" he yelled, then jumped from the ladder, knocking me into the water.

The water closed over my head and my head hit something hard. I sucked in a lungful of water before surfacing, coughing, and spluttering as I scrambled to my feet.

"What the fuck, V?" I swore as I stood. The water was churning around me, and I caught a glimpse of the back of Vlakas' shirt.

I reached into the water and grabbed him, jerking him up and out. Wrapped around his arm was the largest snake I had ever seen in my life. The smallest of its gold and black scales were as big as my thumb, and it was easily as big around as my bicep.

The snake was wrapped partially around V's upper body and neck and down one arm, its tail whipping back and forth like a cat. His right hand was wrapped behind the snake's skull, and I could see the muscles in his arms straining to pull it back. I grabbed the other end of the snake to keep it from choking him and forced it to unwrap from around his neck. He pulled in great gasping breaths once freed.

"Ready?" I yelled as Vlakas pulled backward on the snake. He nodded.

"On three. One. Two. Three!"

We both pulled the snake away from Vlakas' body and threw it against the far wall of the tunnel. I caught the creature with an Air shield to prevent it from disappearing back into the water. Vlakas gestured and a spike of earth erupted from the ground, stabbing through the body of the snake. Green blood erupted from its writhing body and quickly covered the earth spike Vlakas had manifested.

We both sank back onto the concrete platform, Vlakas breathing hard, me coughing up a bucket of sewer water.

"Shit. That fucker was huge," I gasped, turning to look at Vlakas.

"I… think I have a problem, Kat," Vlakas muttered, his speech slurred.

I looked over at V in alarm. His gaze was focused on his upper arm where two neat holes trickled blood and trails of something yellow.

"Vlakas!" I exclaimed, rushing forward, and grabbing him just as he collapsed backward.

My mind was racing as I tried to remember everything I could about venomous snakes. V was already struggling to breathe.

"Don't worry, adelfos, I've got you," I said, projecting a calm and assurance I didn't feel. I had to get us out of that tunnel. Who knew how many more of those snakes there could be in there? As I turned to look up at the ladder something shiny caught my eye and I examined the snake's body closely. Around the base of its skull was a metal ring, and from the ring hung a medallion. Fuck. This was one of the creatures the Elusians had dropped here. Assholes. When I touched the medallion, it made a clinking sound and fell off into my palm.

I longed to throw it away, but I knew we'd need those damn medallions, so I pocketed it and scrambled up the ladder, then used my Air powers to create a shield around V and essentially floated him to the surface. By the time he was out of the tunnel, his labored breathing was clearly audible, his eyes closed.

I laid him beneath one of the trees and began scanning him with my magic. I had heard stories of some of the old Mageia who were able to heal with their abilities but those were just that: stories. I stretched my senses out to try and identify the toxin in his body.

I could feel the breath moving in and out of his lungs and, distantly, minute bits of air being circulated throughout his body in his blood. I figured this was my version of V's description of heating metal, but I couldn't sense the toxin. Dammit, why didn't I have Water powers? I'd have a better chance of pulling the toxin from him that way.

It was obvious the venom contained some kind of neurotoxin. V's breathing was getting worse.

"K-kat…" he managed.

"Shut up, asshole," I said, focusing my magic on him. "We're going to have a serious talk about not jumping in front of freakin' reptiles when this is over."

The corner of his mouth quirked up, then his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Dammit! You are not getting out of this that easy, Vlakas!" I swore.

I could feel his heart was still beating, but he was no longer breathing. I used my powers to force air in and out of his lungs. I knew better than to try to suck the venom out. That only worked in vids. I remembered that most neurotoxins were relatively short lived. If I could keep him breathing until his body was able to clear the toxin from his system, he might have a chance. Of course, our supplies hadn't included antivenom.

I threw a shield over top of us and knelt beside him, hands outspread, my power pouring through him.

"Goddammit, you are not going to die on me, Vlakas!" I muttered.

My powers continued to focus on keeping Vlakas alive. I moved air in and out of his lungs. When his heart stuttered, I did chest compressions to bring it back. I used some of the meager first aid supplies in one of the backpacks to wrap his arm, which was already bruising and turning black around the bite.

I'd heard of people losing limbs to untreated snake bites, but I couldn't think about that right now. I'd worry about that once he was breathing on his own again.

Despite years of practice using my abilities, I was not used to using them for hours on end. The Alexandrians had focused training on huge, powerful strikes, not endurance.

The sun sank to the west and shadows lengthened, but I didn't dare leave V's side. I pulled the thermal blanket out and wrapped it around him, because I sure-as-shit couldn't start a fire right now.

The fatigue was getting to me, but there was no way I could stop taking care of my brother.

To distract myself from my exhaustion, I started talking to him, keeping the deep rhythm of air moving through his lungs.

"You gotta make it through this, adelfos. If anyone has a chance of making the fucked-up system we live in better for our people, it would be you," I said as I worked.

"I remember when you were just a kid, you were such a stubborn brat. I remember this one time, Erix and I were training with the Weapons Master, and you wanted to join us, too. The Weapons Master said you were too young, and you'd insisted you were old enough, so he handed you his sword belt and said that if you could get his sword out of the scabbard, he would let you train with us.

"You studied that thing for over an hour while we practiced, trying to lift it out of the scabbard over and over. It was taller than you were, and I think it weighed more as well. Then you got this look in your eye, like a light bulb had gone off somewhere. ‘Master,' you'd said so excitedly. ‘I've got it.' We all walked over to see you try again to lift the sword. Instead, you tipped the sword up on its hilt and pulled the leather scabbard away from the sword leaving the metal bare. ‘There! I have the sword out of the scabbard. Now may I train with Erix and Elex?'"

I chuckled at the memory.

"He was so surprised at your solution, he had to let you start training. He hadn't said you had to lift the sword, although that was what he meant, he had only said you had to remove it from the scabbard. He didn't really have any grounds to refuse you. By the letter of the law, you'd done what he'd asked."

As the night deepened, V's eyes remained closed, but at least his heart was beating strongly now, and I hadn't had to do chest compressions in a while. Every now and again I would hold my power to see if he was breathing on his own again, but every time I had to restart my efforts to keep the air flowing. The thought of losing him, too, was unbearable, and I refused to even entertain it.

The moon rose and was the only light in the clearing. I ended up laying on the ground next to Vlakas, covering us both with the thermal blanket, my arm wrapped around his shoulders. I lay with my head on his chest, the sound of his heart beating loud in my ears.

Truth be told, I don't think I could have sat up if I wanted to at that point. I was exhausted from using my power for hours on end, especially having not eaten since the day before yesterday. It began to feel like white hot blades were running through my body from my brain to my hands and back. Finally I dropped the shield protecting us, too weak to keep breathing for Vlakas and keep the shield up.

"C'mon, V, you gotta breathe, bud," I whispered. The night was cool, but not cold. The sounds of insects droned in the darkness. The stars had come out overhead, their light cold and distant. We hadn't eaten for a while and the drain on my power making the hunger pangs worse. Using magic requires energy. The more magic you used, the more energy. I was running on empty.

The moon rose higher, and I struggled to keep my eyes open, the pain in my head so piercing that even that weak light was painful.

Staring into the darkness, I concentrated on moving the air in and out of V's lungs, his chest rising and falling as I did so. Silence crept into the clearing, so slowly I didn't realize it at first. It was so quiet that the sound of a twig snapping was like a gunshot. My head jerked up as I looked around.

The silver eyes of a creature stared back at me from the darkness, and I froze. I didn't have enough power to shield us again, not without losing Vlakas.

I pulled my knife from my belt, scrambling to my feet as adrenaline gave me a burst of energy.

The creature froze, not moving. I couldn't make out its form, just the reflection of the moonlight in its eyes but I knew it was the same person we had run into previously. No one else could have those eyes.

Knife in hand, I stood protectively in front of my brother, my body shaking with the effort. The creature didn't move, just stayed where it was, staring unblinkingly from the darkness.

My head swam, the power drain greater than anything I had ever experienced. I had to keep this thing away from V.

"C'mon, asshole," I snarled, forcing a show of bravado I didn't really feel, hoping maybe I could scare it away. "I don't have all night to kick your ass."

Kick his ass? Ha. I could barely stand, much less hold the knife in my hand, but I hoped the darkness would hide my weakness, giving me the chance to bluff my way through the encounter.

I could have sworn I heard laughter as the beast moved forward out of the shadows, the moonlight slowly revealing it was no beast at all, but a man. A man with glowing, silver eyes. I'd never seen anyone with eyes like that. They were oddly beautiful, reflecting light like a cat's eyes.

"Peace, little Mageia," a deep voice growled. "I mean you no harm."

I tried to take a step back at his approach, but stumbled and went down on one knee, barely managing to keep my knife hand up.

He moved into the moonlit clearing, but it was too dark to make out much of his features. His movements were inhumanly graceful. He was tall. Taller than me, taller than Vlakas even. He had long hair that draped across one side of his face.

"Who… you callin'… little, asshole?" I gasped defiantly, struggling to remain upright through the pain firing through my nerves as I forced V's body to keep breathing.

He ignored my gibe and squatted on his heels, his shadowed gaze never leaving mine. He cocked his head at me in curiosity.

"Your friend is hurt?" he asked, his voice low and raspy.

I shrugged. It was rather obvious, so I didn't answer.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Snake," I bit out through clenched teeth, the burn of continuing to use my powers for hours sliced through my brain. Fuck, this hurt!

"Do you have the body?" he asked. It took me a minute to realize he meant the body of the snake. Maybe he was hungry? If I gave him the snake, maybe he'd leave V and I alone.

I nodded toward the tunnel entrance we had escaped from.

"Down there," I said.

I felt a strange sense of loss as he broke eye contact and turned his head toward the tunnel entrance, then another wave of dizziness hit me. I barely registered that he stood and moved to the tunnel entrance, disappearing below. He returned after a minute, without the snake, but by that point my vision was beginning to swim.

"Can you help him?" I managed to gasp out. "Don't… don't let him… die."

He placed one hand over Vlakas' chest, the other over the wound on his arm.

"You don't do things by halves, do you, little Mageia?" he said, sighing. His face remained shadowed.

"Please…" I begged. I had sworn I'd never beg for anything again in my life, but I was willing to beg for Vlakas. "I'll—I'll do anything… Just… save…him…."

I barely even felt myself tumble forward across Vlakas' body as the pain finally overwhelmed me and everything went dark.

◆◆◆

I woke to the sound of a crackling fire, the smell of wood smoke in the air. I was laying on something soft and warm, and I snuggled against the pillow.

The pillow…chuckled.

My eyes flew open, and I scrambled up and away from one of the most beautiful men I'd ever seen.

His hair was shoulder length, waves of every shade of gold that begged to be touched. His hair covered half his face, but his eyes peered out between the locks. His eyes were a brilliant gray, almost silver, and I remembered the reflection of the moon in them. They sparkled with repressed mirth now as he watched my panicked movements, which just pissed me off.

His lips were full and kissable. Part of me felt the unmistakable urge to taste them, just to see if they were as velvety soft as they looked, the other part wanted to find out what alien had taken up residence in my brain to make me think like that.

My captor was leaning against the wall of what looked to be an upscale living room/kitchen combo. His long legs were stretched out toward a fire pit that burned in the middle of the room.

"Where are we? Who the fuck are you?" I demanded. I automatically pulled on my Air powers to create a shield. My head twinged in protest. I'd had enough rest to create a shield, at least. I glanced around the room quickly, checking for other attackers, but we seemed to be alone. Alone. Fuck. V!

"Easy, little Mageia," he said, as if he knew I was panicking.

"Who you calling little, asshole? Where's Vlakas?" I demanded angrily.

He cautiously got to his feet. He stood. And stood. And stood. Fuck! Was he some kind of giant, or what?

"Your friend is through there," he gestured to an entrance partially covered with a tapestry. His voice was raspy and hoarse, like sandpaper. I began circling cautiously to move my back toward the tunnel he had indicated. I knew better than to turn my back on an enemy.

As I got my bearings, I realized he wasn't as tall as he'd seemed. He was maybe six-two. A little taller than Vlakas, then. He stood in the cave, a pair of black cargo pants hugging his huge thighs, a tight long-sleeved shirt hugging his muscles as he moved.

Part of me cataloged every gorgeous, tanned inch of visible skin on him. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His shirt was tucked into his pants, which were nice and tight and… Nope. Nope. Not gonna go there, I thought as I stubbornly forced my eyes back to his face.

"Don't like what you see?" he asked, his voice rough with repressed anger.

Apparently, I hadn't been subtle in my perusal of his body.

"Asshole," I muttered, feeling myself flush.

"Oh, you like assholes? Good to know," he replied, shrugging on a jacket that had been folded next to us.

"Laugh it up, fuzzball," I growled sharply. "I want to see my friend."

He looked at me, his eyes narrowing.

"Your ‘friend', eh? Vlakas, I think you called him? Rude name," he growled. "He's sleeping off the effects of the neurotoxin."

"He's— he's alive?" I demanded, half afraid of the answer.

He just nodded at me.

Without another word I dove through the door and threw up a shield to block the entrance behind me. The cave wound around to the left, but I found V in another natural opening right around the corner.

He lay on an actual bed, a solar powered lamp emitting a soft glow from where it was set on a table in the corner. An IV ran into his right arm, a bag of saline hanging from a hook drilled into the wall. I approached him shakily, falling to my knees next to the bed as I saw him take a breath.

"Thank the goddess, V," I whispered, my hand pushing a stray lock of hair away from his forehead, the relief at seeing him alive making another wave of dizziness wash through me. He seemed to be sleeping easily. I laid my hand on his forehead, half expecting to find him fevered but his skin seemed a normal temperature.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a hand gripped my shoulder. Without thought, I turned and pulled, jerking the blond giant over my head and to the floor. I was used to fighting people larger than myself, but how had I not heard him approach? How had he gotten through my fucking shield?

He rolled across the ground almost silently and was back on his feet faster than I would have thought possible. He stopped my gasp with a finger to his lips, then gestured toward another door I hadn't seen when I entered the room. Fuck me, I hadn't even noticed the second entryway.

Suspicion warred with relief within me. Finally, I figured that if he was going to kill us, he could have done so already. Plus, I owed him for saving V's life.

With great reluctance, I followed him out of the room after a final backward glance at my sleeping brother. He led me back to the room I had woken in. As we got to the doorway, I had blocked with an Air shield he just raised an eyebrow at me expectantly. I narrowed my eyes at him, but dropped the shield so we could re-enter the room.

He resumed his seat on the far side of the fire, but I stood. No way was I letting him get the drop on me again. A small part of me, though, was curious. I had so many questions rattling around in my brain, but I figured the only way I was going to get any answers was to talk with him.

"You!" I said accusingly. "You're the one I ran into in the subbasement. Who are you?"

The corner of his mouth twitched, and I got the distinct impression that, somehow, I…amused him? Asshat.

"Helios," he muttered. "Friends call me Hel."

"Why did you help us, Helios?" I asked, emphasizing his name, because I sure as fuck wasn't his friend.