Beauty In The Chaos Read online

  Like giant lenticular, multicolored clouds, the layered baobab auras blanketed the blue sky, blocking the southern sun. The energies combined, forming a suspended reflective ceiling without walls above the limbs. Like living camouflage, the ancient life masked and shielded us from view.

  I felt Dev first as my senses slowly, but fractionally, returned. True comfort came like open arms upon feeling our paired hearts. Incoming glittering silver and shimmering platinum screamed toward me from opposite directions. Safe’s platinum flowed fast, ushering in his stormy concern for my well-being.

  I rolled onto my side, propping myself up into a sitting position. From the east, the enormous black-and-white saber-toothed cat, fully clad in royal silver, blurred toward me through the drizzling sunrise. From the western skyline formed by the edge of the baobab auras, a platinum orb streaked inbound, parting gravity and rippling the setting moon in the distance. Their excitement over my waking felt as good as a highly anticipated welcome-home, but I was so far away from anything customary.

  The stealthy sabertooth launched into the air, flipping and formulating into Dev. My love gracefully slid the last several feet like he was on a clay tennis court. I stood, swaying back and forth on mushy ground like a reed in the wind. My many different balances collided. I was ankle-deep in a bed made from a dozen colorful African blankets.

  “Easy,” Dev said, steadying me on both feet with his embrace. His touch was so wonderfully strong and sheltering it was addictive. Although I had been out cold, I missed him.

  “How long was I out?” my stiff voice creaked. I jumped into his chestnut irises, roasting in wild violet pools as if it had been forever.

  “Three days,” Dev’s expression remained serious despite his trickling relief, “and three hours.” The exactness of his reply almost sated my shock. I really had given it my all diverting a chilling crash landing. I shivered, knowing we would not have survived the impact. My will to protect him was as crazy as his was for me. My life got bigger in that instant.

  The massive mess we were in elicited a mountainous moan. I wanted Lisa. Her absence stung with the fast crack of a bullwhip. I had talked to her every day for years. I missed the quirky inflection at the end of everything she spoke. By now, my best friend knew my missing was real. No doubt Lisa blamed Dev for my disappearance. Not hearing her voice or taking comfort in her kind eyes hit with the weirdness of phantom pain.

  Safe hit the ground, depressing the earth and kicking up dust. “My lady!” he bellowed, his voice deeper than usual. “It’s good to have you back with us.”

  He put his muscled hand on my shoulder, drawing in my light like blood work. “You still need more time to heal.” His eyes bounced around, surveying my aura and scrutinizing my slumbery movements. His extended fingers reached down to my mid-back, steadying my stance. “Your light is still bent. Luja said it would be another couple of days, minimum.”

  The golden Avian was more than a supersonic owl. She possessed the sharpest scientific mind in the mature realm.

  “What? Luja was here? Was she with Sabina?” I took an unplanned step backward, weakened from having zero recollection of days and events spent.

  “Piper, please.” Dev’s touch warmed from his vibrating nerves.

  “Or Ozwald?” The last inquiry brought a notable silence. I knew I’d hit a nerve from Dev’s and Safe’s pulsing trepidation in response to the Avian prince’s name.

  “Please, sit down first.” Dev knew me well. My thirst for knowledge gave me a boost, but I was not well. I was lightheaded, and not in a fun way. Having no choice, I flopped back down. I didn’t have the concentration to spark a spell or enough strength to power a leap. I was grounded.

  “What happened when we dismounted the leap?” Dev sat down next to me, wrapping me in his arms and strands of pink. My heart had quickly moved into his. He was my home now. No place was safe for us, or for anyone associated with me. For now, and the foreseeable future, we only had each other.

  Safe briefly flashed seeing our hearts. I was sure word about Dev and me had spread like wildfire. I hoped Safe worked through the irrational taboo trailing our love. There was no time for denying what was real.

  “The spell holding the Arbitri bishops at the poles broke when we crossed dimensions. It sent us tumbling and accelerating out of control when we rejoined time.” I blinked rapidly, remembering the twisting colors during our hairpin fall. “I gave everything to stop us from gouging the planet.”

  “Intriguing.” Safe rubbed his bald head and stooped down next to me. Only a faint ruby arc circled around his crown under the collective tree canopy. “No Guardian can cast spells over the spirit except you.” He shifted his huge eyes toward Dev. “And so far, no formulated race can leap or cast raw light.”

  Safe took my hand, making me privy to the weight of his worry. “Your abilities cross territories never imagined. We must be careful. Luja theorizes your emergency maneuver to save the leap instantaneously channeled more light than what was thought theoretically possible. You wilted the trees within a mile radius and tapped every lumen of your light. You are fortunate your body didn’t explode.”

  A prolonged stillness added heavy punctuation to the unthinkable outcome. My body had way more limitations than my will.

  “You carry the queen’s crown now,” Safe said, solemnly bowing his head and mindfully closing his eyes. He sequestered his sorrow for my mom and our precarious situation. “Please, take no more chances.”

  “I’m just trying to stay alive.” The extreme fatigue made me quick to defend. I couldn’t suppress a yawn. Dev held me tighter, but not physically. He infused his silver into my very spirit. We were two lights beautifully bound, yet without borders.

  “How long will I feel like this?” I asked, winking and scrunching my face from twinges of chain-linked headaches.

  “Lean against the tree.” Dev lowered me back. The instant I reconnected to the old baobab, I tethered to her grand bank. I drank, knowing I physically needed to stay in contact with the tree, like an infant to her mother.

  “We don’t know,” Dev said cautiously. “We just know that you need to rest.” I literally was not out of the woods.

  “We’ll go to Luja again after you heal more,” Safe said.

  “Again?” I coughed. Other than my Alaskan vision, I had absolutely no sense of being anywhere but here.

  “Yes. Olo leapt you to her,” Dev said seriously. “We cannot risk anyone finding you. Only we know where you lay defenseless, covered by the baobab auras.”

  “Eli cannot feel you in your weakened state.” Safe narrowed his eyes, briefly pushing his lips together. “Until the traitor is exposed you must remain hidden. When you are better, we’ll stay mobile, splitting only as necessary.” We had become drifters.

  “Drink this,” Dev said, handing me a little antique bottle. The contents sloshed a luminescent and foggy forest green. The bottle popped as I uncorked the strange fizzing substance, a starry midnight vapor rising from the bubbling surface.

  “What is it?” I asked, not waiting for an answer before I began to drink.

  “Herbs from Luja. They’ll help you get better,” he insisted with tenderness. “Sleep is required to heal and recharge.”

  Parched from being knocked senseless, I gulped down the remaining complex-tasting mixture. Every one of my taste buds contracted, swimming through the oily and gritty sauce. Sweet swapped with sour and spicy replaced salty as the bitter brew coated my throat. Within seconds, the ache in my body suspended on tiny jets of conditioned air. My pain-free body ignited my brain, propelling my stacked inquiries like a dragster despite the unwanted euphoric side effect.

  “Are Charlie and Rob ok?” I could not reach their feelings in my damaged state. Fear crawled inside me over my little brother like ants running up my leg. My going missing would cause an avalanche of unwanted attention from both infant and mature alike.

  “For now,” Safe reported ominously. “When the queen birthed …” he s
tuttered, fastening his expression. I understood why matures used the word birth instead of death. Nothing dies—light is forever—but with my heart sliced, it sure didn’t feel that way. “I leapt to Oak Creek, but no one was there. Platinum dust from the battle still hung thick in your front yard.”

  Safe turned to Dev. “You cleared the infants’ memories?”

  “Yes, for their safety. If Eli thought they knew anything he would torture them to get to her.”

  Dev turned to me. “Piper, I know you are worried about Charlie.” My once house cat had had a full view of my entire life. Now being my love, there was nothing he did not know. He could feel me missing Charlie, Lisa, and all things infant. He also knew that once I got back on my feet I would be able to leap anywhere. He continued, “But going back to Oak Creek would bring tragedy to everyone.”

  “I know,” I said, defeated before even trying.

  “I observed them until I heard your call for me,” Safe said. “Dev is correct. As long as you stay clear of Oak Creek, they will be alright. Eli and his Arbitri must not sense your emotions over Charlie or any of your infant loved ones. The Arbitri consider infants expendable without consequence.”

  Accepting that Oak Creek was off-limits for now, I moved to the next gnawing question. “What happened to Ozwald?” I didn’t forget their weirdness when I said his name earlier.

  Both Dev’s and Safe’s aura shifted, sitting motionless on the ground.

  “Much has happened while you’ve been out,” Dev said carefully.

  “Chaos has reigned since the queen birthed, passing the cradle of life into your hands,” Safe said. “Eli led attacks on the Canites and Avians, searching for you himself. He birthed many in his tirade. The races are once again warring for the first time in a thousand years. The Arbitri have mobilized in full force to restore martial law.” A crimson red resentment welled high in his platinum light as his gaze drifted down. He did his best to hold in his distress. “They won’t give up searching for you.”

  The thought of any of the majestic metallic matures being extinguished because of me caused my heart to crack. If not for the serum from Luja fully soaking my brain, I would have exploded in a red full hurt. The potion caused tickling fingers to run from my head to toes.

  “Ozwald?” I asked again, fearing the answer. Poked by painful uncertainty, I sat up, noticeably breaking my bond to the baobab.

  “Please, Piper. The Avian prince lives.” Dev quenched my stabbing upset, gently easing me back against the tree. Sleepiness seeped through my veins, overruling my fight. The herbs were working their magic, but my emotions remained on edge.

  “Sabina and Ozwald walked into a trap procuring a new emerald for your mask,” Dev continued. I reached for the phantom feeling of the dragonfly pendant no longer hanging around my neck.

  “We need to create a new mask to keep you hidden. The Arbitri have set guards at all the places that hold the materials,” Safe explained. “Also, we are convinced there is a traitor.” I went blue not being able to hide the sadness that someone I thought was my friend was really not.

  “The Avians escaped with an emerald, but Ozwald was hit by several bolts of light,” Safe added with purple anger.

  “Raven, now Ozwald!” my heart let out. My life cleared a path of destruction equal to a category five hurricane. “I can’t let this continue. Let my stupid brother find me,” I yelled, brave from the liquid green courage.

  “No!” Dev reacted intensely, imposing his violet stare. His lips retracted, verging on a hiss.

  “Take me to Ozwald,” I demanded demurely. “I can heal him. I can donate my light.” My request came with the unsuspected weight, raising eyebrows of doubt. Safe punted to Dev.

  “You are in no condition to give your light or to travel,” Dev asserted. “We cannot afford the risk on multiple levels.”

  I let out an audible breath, knowing I was medicated.

  “My lady, you are our only hope,” Safe pleaded. His open-book face spoke louder than his aura, but his words didn’t ring true. I couldn’t keep Charlie from harm’s way or give anyone hope.

  “You cannot help until you get better.” Safe lifted the corners of his mouth through the hefty tension.

  “Raven has recovered. The Canites are devising a plan to procure the pearls for the new mask,” Dev said, knowing news of the princess would stop my mood from falling.

  “I want to see her,” I said, uninhibited by the buzz.

  “My lady, with respect, we cannot risk any travel until you are able to leap.” Safe’s response to my impulsive mood was sweet and silly. His willingness to satisfy my crying heart was nice. I understood why Mom loved him so much. They were family and so were we. My heart fluttered creating a slurry of coral flakes.

  “Close your eyes.” Dev’s lips on my cheek left a cooling sensation.

  I lost the battle with the herbs. All my heavy cares popped like balloons until only one remained. What to do? I was forced to let it go, sinking to an inevitable sleep.

  7

  Mirror Mirror

  T

  he morning sunshine tickled my face, toting me out of an induced sleep. My eyes popped open as though they were held under pressure. Digitally quick, my sight telescoped, drawn to a random fluttering a hundred feet high in the canopies of the fairy-tale trees. The bluest of butterflies aimlessly danced, sampling the white flowers spewing a distinctive bouquet. Its delicate aura streaked the air with wisps of sunshine against the baobab bonfire, charging me positive.

  I unmoored from the tree trunk, naturally appreciating the giant for having sustained me. Showers of color sparkled up and out from the ripened flowers in response. Unlike before, my waking senses came together like a well-rehearsed symphony. The potion from Luja coupled with a hard night’s rest had perfected my balances and aligned my light. I was alive on multiple levels and strangely older.

  Using my ability to recombine fabric with my thoughts, I refit my ill-fitting clothes into a white layered sundress appropriate for the mild African morning. With threaded thought, my mind embroidered plum and emerald lace trim on the thin layers of cotton with the craftsmanship of a fifteenth-century tailor. My body felt freshly tuned and developed, bypassing the awkward years. My pearl spilled everywhere. In the background, my intuition serenaded my cracked heart with notes of hope.

  Leaning on gravity, I rose to my feet lickety-split. Feeling well above average stirred my desire to fly with the urge of an Avian. The enormous snow-white sabertooth draped in black stripes raised his head with watchful eyes. Yawning wide, my love exposed a mouth full of glistening silver-clad teeth resembling thick sharpened knives. I raised my eyebrow witnessing the size and might of his retracted bite so close.

  The cat rose on powerful hind legs as a circular ribbon of blazing silver formulated the beast into Dev. He parted his full lips exposing a smile, sending exhilaration down my back.

  “I’m way better.” I rose several feet off the ground, stretching and spinning in a circle, speckling the air with crystal, honey-colored flakes of proof.

  “Easy.” Dev laughed, losing a battle to subdue his colorful, happy relief. Taking my wrist, he guided me down to the ground into his silver aura. His touch and light warmed me from the inside out, adding sparks to our eternal fire.

  “Where is Safe?” I asked, looking around. His platinum presence was markedly missing.

  “Who?”

  “Olo. I nicknamed him Safe,” I said.

  “He is scouting out locations to keep you concealed. Your aura began to mend exponentially with the waxing sun,” he said, looking around at the obvious. “We need a more secure place.”

  Like a cresting star, my light compounded. I doused everything around me in radiance. The baobabs’ aura shielded my glimmer from the sky, but my shine extended outside their large diameter of protection. “He is also arranging a meeting with Luja, and of course Sabina.” He rattled with apprehension as he spoke the Avian queen’s name.

  The though
t of doing something lifted my spirit. I flexed, knowing my engine got a lot bigger. With growth came a shift in perspective, leaving me purposeful. Dev remained drenched in caution, even though I was packing more light. There was no doubt I was leap-ready, even carrying someone piggyback. I had new limits to break, strange abilities to christen, foreign roles to fill, and lives to protect. Light dripped from my nuclear fingertips and spells swirled in my head.

  I still felt like a waitress, not a future queen; however, if embracing my new life meant joining my infant and mature worlds, I’d deal with it. Eli had viciously taken my life away, so I invented a new one. My open heart and dutiful mind became agents for my intuition, making me keen.

  “I cannot feel Olo,” I said, scanning the globe and triangulating our position in a blink. My aura pulsated a metallic white, like a revving engine.

  “He is masked. You won’t be able to sense his presence.” Dev described the reason for the vacant sensation fittingly. “He is in the Tetons. The Avians have a hidden fortress well above the tree line,” Dev said, drawing in a wisp of light from the early winter sun, turning him a tad bit roasted with agitation. Any mention of the golden, predator bird race ruffled his mood. Since we had paired, his feelings ran through my veins, and mine in his. Although we were soul-connected, I still didn’t know anything about the man I was totally and completely in love with.

  Dev eased his tension. Like Safe and the other matures, he kept his outward colors metered. I still had an infant heart, wearing my light out loud. One by one, I stretched my springy fingers generating small bolts of swirling metallic colors, wondering what specifically about the Avians drew a watery disapproval.

  “You probably want to stretch your light, but we have to stay quiet.”

  I caught his caution. Light was made up of vibrations. Stillness was an illusion; everything was in motion. Using excess charge would automatically broadcast my position, but I had to see Ozwald. I could easily give him light now.