Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning

WE DARTED DOWN THE steep pathway to Air Cove and I battled the urge to glance over my shoulder, needing to watch my feet in case I fell. With the pace we were moving at, even Tory stumbled more than once, but somehow we managed to remain upright, tearing onto the beach at the base of the path and finally pausing to check if we were still being followed.

“Did they see us?” Tory panted and I shook my head, dragging in a few lungfuls of the cold sea air.

“Don’t think so,” I gasped, a laugh tumbling from my throat. “We’d better keep moving just to be sure. There’s another path up to Fire Territory at the far end of the beach that way.” I pointed and Tory started in that direction.

The sand crushed beneath our feet, leaving a trail behind us and I paused, frowning at our footprints which led straight back to the path.

“Tory, we’d better cover these somehow.”

She didn’t answer and I looked over my shoulder, finding her heading off down the beach at a purposeful stride.

“Tor!” I called after her, but she still didn’t look back.

What the hell? The wind wasn’t that loud.

I jogged to catch up, having to abandon the footprints and just hope we’d lost the Heirs for good. I raced to my sister’s side, catching her arm, “What’s up?”

I glanced down at her hands, spotting that strange silver dagger she’d stolen from Darius’s room in her grip.

“It’s guiding me, I think it wants to show me something,” Tory said, nudging me away and hurrying on down the beach.

My heart beat harder as I followed her. “Do you realise how crazy that sounds?”

“Yeah but…” she trailed off, picking up her pace.

My gut twisted as I jogged after her. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea to follow the urges of some creepy knife.”

She didn’t answer, moving to the cliff wall and running her fingers across it. “I think it’s going to let us see,” she murmured.

“See what? You’re starting to freak me out.” I tried to stop her again but she moved on methodically, seeming to search for something as she traced her hand along the cliff wall.

She halted abruptly and I caught her wrist, planning to pull the blade from her hand.

“Here,” she whispered, lifting the dagger and scoring lines across the rock that were eerily deliberate, like the knife was guiding her hand.

My mouth parted as the wall completely disappeared. We were looking right into a cave with a domed roof; glistening stalactites hung from the ceiling and glinted like diamonds. But that wasn’t what shocked me most, it was the two people standing inside who made my heart tumble into my gut. Darius and Orion didn’t appear to see us standing there as they spoke with one another, the battering sea air not ruffling their hair one bit.

“They can’t see us,” Tory confirmed in a whisper and I noticed her pupils were overly dilated. I still wanted to get that dagger from her hands but I also couldn’t resist the urge to find out exactly why Orion was here with the Fire Heir.

Sweat was beading on Darius brow and he swiped a hand across it, starting to pace in front of Orion. “I’ll get it next time.”

“You need to relax,” Orion said patiently. “You can’t control it through sheer rage. You must exert your will.”

“I know, I know,” Darius spat, kicking a stone at his feet and sending it skittering across the floor.

Orion shifted forward, pulling him around to look at him and leaning close to his face. “You want him gone, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Darius sighed, the tension in his shoulders running away. “You know I do.”

“Then focus.” Orion pushed him back a step and Darius rolled his neck, setting his feet as he faced him.

Orion moved back a few paces and scooped something off of the floor. It was white and shining and looked suspiciously like a bone, the sight of it making my skin prickle. “You can harness this Fae’s strength. I know you can, you’ve done it before.”

“Only for a minute,” Darius said and I frowned, trying to work out what they were talking about.

“A minute might be all you need to give you an advantage,” Orion muttered and Darius’s eyes became hooded with darkness. For a second I couldn’t tear my gaze from him. He looked more than angry, he looked vengeful, full of a deep, cold hatred that seemed to tangle with the air itself.

“Show me again,” Darius breathed and Orion nodded.

He looked detached as he traced his hands across the bone and spoke in a whispered language I guessed was latin. “Chiedo al buio di disturbare questo corpo dalla pace e di mettere la sua magia nel mio sangue.”

The air chilled and the shadows seemed to thicken in every corner of the cave. A shudder seized my spine and I instinctively moved closer to Tory as Orion raised the bone in front of him, wielding it like a weapon.

Darius’s face was fixed in complete concentration as he watched and I sensed this was some kind of one-on-one tuition. But the way they were hiding down here made me certain this was definitely not part of Zodiac’s curriculum.

The bone glowed as if a fire burned within it and flames suddenly burst to life along the length of it. Orion released a hiss of pain, but held it firmly in his grip as the flames licked his skin. They receded along the bone and Orion dropped it, twisting his hand up so the fire continued to ripple in his palm. His jaw set, and his eyes flickered with the shadows that closed in around them. My heart pattered uncontrollably but I couldn’t tear my gaze away.

“Do it,” Darius said, seeming excited as he shifted from foot to foot.

Orion closed his hand around the fire and snuffed it out. I waited, glancing between the two of them as they seemed to be preparing for something.

Heat was emanating from Orion in waves but that didn’t make any sense. He didn’t hold the Element of fire. His hands shot up and Darius threw out his palms at the same moment to cast an immense shield of water around himself. Fire exploded from Orion’s palms and I stumbled back a step, completely shocked as the raging, twisting Element cascaded over Darius’s shield. The flames battered it with a terrifying force then finally fizzled out, leaving plumes of steam in its wake.

Orion dropped his hands, rubbing his eyes, his shoulders shuddering. My heart twitched and I had the urge to go to him-  if it hadn’t been completely crazy.

Darius went to him instead, cupping the back of his neck. “Here.” He shut his eyes and I sensed they were sharing magic as Orion cast some spell I could feel but couldn’t see. The result was the shadows receding and the darkness in his eyes passed away too.

I shared a look with Tory and we wordlessly decided to stay a bit longer. To find out what the hell we were watching. How had Orion just wielded the Element of fire? Did he take the Element from the bone of some dead Fae? And where the hell did he get that bone?

“Now you.” Orion passed Darius the bone and he nodded, looking determined. “This Fae only had fire but they were strong. It will add a lot of power to your own flames.”

Darius nodded, mimicking what Orion had done as he ran his hand across the bone and muttered the Latin words. The shadows rushed in again and my heart clenched as that same darkness fell over Darius, seeming to seep beneath his skin. Fire flared along the bone and he drew it into his palm, his eyes snapping shut in concentration.

Orion eyed him with his hands raised as if expecting something bad to happen.

Darius convulsed once, his shoulders trembling.

“Hold it in. Let it merge with your power, no matter how unnatural it feels,” Orion instructed.

Darius looked like he might throw up as he clutched his stomach then dropped the bone with a clatter.

“Darius?” Orion stepped closer.

Darius held up a hand and his eyes flew open, revealing a swirling storm of darkness within them. A smirk twisted his features and Orion cast a dome of air around himself just as Darius released a huge blast of fire in the shape of a cobra. It coiled around the edges of the cave, filling it up, its huge body slithering and undulating, its eyes blazing red.

Orion gazed up as it reared its head and true fear found me as it lunged down and crashed against his shield. Orion started laughing and I relaxed as the flaming beast coiled tighter around his shield then flitted away into a thousand embers.

He rushed to Darius’s side, laying a hand on his shoulder as they did whatever spell was necessary to end this crazy process.

“You fucking did it.” Orion dragged him into a hug and I could see the strength of their bond shining from them as Darius curled his arms around him too. A Dragon and a Vampire bound together. And I was sure this was deeper than just that Guardian mark linking them.

Darius released a cheer which echoed off the walls, tipping his head back to the roof as Orion released him.

“Let him try and beat me now, huh Lance?” He whooped again and Orion laughed, dropping down to the cave floor and tugging a backpack in front of him.

“You did it once. I want to see that fifty times before I agree you’ve mastered it,” Orion said with a grin. Darius puffed out his chest as he moved to join him on the floor.

“Easy.”

“Yeah, it only took you three months,” Orion jibed, taking something out of the backpack. He placed a wooden box between them, flipping it open and revealing a display of cards with the Solarian PitBall League printed across the top of them. I frowned as he reached into it, opening a secret compartment at its base. My breathing quickened as he took a slim silver blade and four small bones from it. The blade was exactly the same as the one in Tory’s hand and I turned to her with a questioning look.

She offered a shrug in response and my tongue grew heavy as I turned back to watch.

Orion pushed the box aside and placed the four bones down between them in a line. Then he took something from his pocket and I frowned as he placed an emerald dragon ornament between the bones.

He toyed with the blade in his hand, looking to Darius with a terse expression. “Still no luck finding the one I gave you?”

My heart jerked. Orion gave it to him? What was it even for?

“No. Milton must have stashed the rest of my treasure somewhere. But he’s still sticking to his lame-ass story that he didn’t do it.”

“Maybe he didn’t?” Orion suggested and my gut prickled uneasily.

“He did say someone sent him it. His grandma or some bullshit. I figured he was lying but…” A contemplative look crossed his features and Tory shifted nervously beside me. “Maybe someone did send it.”

“Well whoever stole that dagger is gonna pay the price when we find them,” Orion growled and fear laced my gut. Holy shit they can’t ever find out.

Darius nodded then gestured to the knife in Orion’s hand. “Come on, let’s find out what my doting father is up to.”

Orion rested the tip of the blade to his wrist then carved a line up the centre of his palm, making me gasp. Blood oozed and he curled his hand into a fist, passing it to Darius who immediately copied the process. They held their hands above the bones, squeezing to make the blood drip onto them. They both dragged in a breath of pleasure then their eyes fell closed and their hands dropped into their laps.

“What’s happening?” I breathed in confusion.

Tory released the same noise of ecstasy beside me and I turned to her in alarm. Panic clutched me with sharp claws as I spotted the long gash on her hand. She was still cutting herself with the blade, her eyes shut and a picture of intoxication on her face as she carved a deep line up her inner arm. I lunged forward, trying to seize the knife as she sliced a second gash along the inside of her forearm, blood spilling to the sand at our feet.

“Tory!” I yelled as she passed out completely, crumpling to the ground. I caught her just before she dashed her head on a rock and clamped my hands over the wound to stem the bleeding. There was so much of it, red coating her skin, her clothes, me. 

Fear raced through my veins and drowned me entirely. “WAKE UP!”