I kept a tight hold on their arms as I jumped us forward a second time, getting significantly closer to the power this time. We jogged the rest of the way to what appeared to be a large tree in the center of a barren field. Here the grass was at its greenest and a castle rose up in the distance. I was willing to bet that Aurora had set up her home as close as she could to the source of the power for her new realm, in hopes that it would strengthen her own powers, regardless of what kind of drain it proved to be on the goddess.
As we drew closer to the tree, we discovered that it wasn’t a tree at all, but large, thick vines that had grown up from the ground, wrapping around something. The power I had sensed at the doorway was now starting to slowly grow closer to our position. We were running out of time. Stepping back, I raised my hands above my head and let my eyelids drop shut. I dug deep into the energy I sensed from the earth, which was leaking through the doorway, and used it to touch the vines. They proved to be more than a little resistant at first, but after some loud creaking and snapping, the vines started to part and recede back into the ground to reveal a crystal chamber hovering just a few inches above the ground.
Encased in the diamondlike structure was a woman with thick brown hair and dark skin. She appeared thin and frail, with her head leaning against the side of the crystal as if she were trapped in a deep sleep. I stared at her a moment, her appearance reminding me too much of the dark-haired Inca women who had been sacrificed for the amusement of the naturi so many centuries ago at the ruins of Machu Picchu. But she wasn’t an Inca woman. She was the goddess; the creator goddess of all things great and small. And she was dying.
“Give me your sword,” I commanded, holding out my right hand, not caring who gave up their weapon. As soon as I felt the heavy weight against my palm, I wrapped my fingers around it and raised it above my head as I stepped forward. I was prepared to pound against the crystal until the end of the world wrapped around us, but to my surprise, a chunk of the crystal broke off with the first hit. In her weakness, her own cage had become fragile. Her last bit of protection had been the vines. A second blow to the crystal created an opening large enough for her limp body to slide through. Danaus immediately stepped forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.
I slid the sword he had handed me back into the sheath strapped to his back. When I looked at his face, I saw a tear roll down his cheek as he stared down at the woman cradled gently like a child in his strong arms. She was exquisitely beautiful and immensely frail. Her chest barely rose and fell with each breath, and I could barely make out her heartbeat.
“Adio, can you get Danaus to the doorway the same way I got us here?” I asked, slowly dragging my gaze from my lover’s heartbroken expression.
“Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem,” the nightwalker said, taking a step closer to Danaus so he could lay a hand on his shoulder.
“Danaus, get her to the clearing with the tree and lay her flat on the ground,” I said. “The connection with earth should help rejuvenate her.” He merely nodded, unable to break his gaze from the woman’s face. “You are to stay at her side no matter what. Protect her with your life. Promise me.”
“I promise,” he whispered.
A dark, ominous voice rumbled across the plains. “Mira!” Nick was nearly upon us.
The sound of Nick’s voice was enough to suddenly snap Danaus out of his trancelike state. He looked up at me with narrowed eyes as he realized what kind of corner I had backed him into. He had promised to watch over the goddess and so would not be able to help me in my fight against Nick. He was trapped.
“Go now!” I screamed, backing away from my two companions. Danaus gripped me with one last desperate look, and then he and Adio were gone from my sight. I could feel Nick approaching with lightning speed, but I turned my back and approached the crystal chamber that had held the dying goddess.
“Stop!” Nick commanded as soon as I laid my left hand on the edge of the opening to the crystal. “What lunacy do you have cooked up now, my little daughter?” There was a desperation to his voice I had never heard before, causing his usual calm to splinter. I glanced over my shoulder to find him standing just a few feet away. He was back to the appearance I had briefly seen upon our first meeting, with his wild red hair and lavender eyes. It was as close to human that this god of chaos could come, and it only succeeded in solidifying my link to this creature in my mind.
“The goddess that inhabited this world is dying because of her lack of contact with the earth and her mate. If this world falls, then so will the cage that hold the bori,” I argued. “The world has been shaken enough by the presence of the naturi. They cannot survive the arrival of the bori as well.”
The bori were the natural enemy of the naturi. Creatures that drew their powers from the souls of living creatures, they had no bodies of their own, but succeeded in tricking humans into becoming hosts for them. They shapeshifted into various creatures, tempting the weak and the vulnerable with promises and desperate pleas. Where the naturi wanted to destroy mankind and save the world, the bori were determined to enslave mankind and destroy the Earth.
“What could you possibly hope to accomplish by entering this world and taking out the goddess?” Nick demanded, smoothing out his voice in an attempt to sound reasonable.
“She was dying. Someone needs to replace her,” I said, grasping the other side of the crystal case before placing my foot on one of the vines closest to the entrance.
“Mira, my dear, you’re not a goddess. You can’t replace her. You’re simply not strong enough.”
“I can try.”
“I don’t think so,” Nick hissed. A heavy blast of energy slammed into my chest, ripping the crystal out of my grasp as I was thrown several yards across the field. I hit the ground with my back and rolled several feet before finally hitting the side of a tree. Gritting my teeth, I pushed off the tree and regained my feet so I was once again facing my father. He immediately wrapped his energy around me again, and I had a feeling he intended to drag us both out of the naturi world, but I wouldn’t allow it. Summoning up my own powers, which he had taught me to use, I pushed off his grasp, shoving the energy back at him with enough force that he stumbled a step backward.
“I’m not allowing this place to falter any further,” I bit out as I wrapped more energy around my hands.
“The naturi and the bori are no longer your concern. Your only thought should be pleasing me,” Nick said with an evil grin.
“You’ve been accommodated enough, I believe.” With the energy spiraling around me, I commanded one of the vines to wrap around Nick, but the bastard suddenly disappeared from sight. I shifted my focus to grab him back, but he reappeared before I could grasp him. His fist slammed into my jaw, snapping my head around as I slammed into the ground again. His punishment didn’t stop there. He kicked me several times in the ribs, breaking more than one before he reached down to wrap his fist in a length of my hair.
“You’re coming home, child,” he snarled, his foul breath dancing under my nose.
“I think the lady prefers to stay,” announced an unexpected voice seconds before Nick was pulled away from me. I twisted around to see the god of chaos hurtling through the air until he slammed into the side of the vines still wrapped around the crystal chamber. Adio knelt beside me, gingerly helping me back to my feet.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I grumbled as I pulled my arm free of his assistance.
“I can help.”
“Where’s Danaus?”
“Where he promised to be.”