Beauty In The Chaos Read online

  From the corner of my eye, I saw the reddish wolf throw itself in front of Raven, defending the Canite princess at all costs. My attention was lambasted as the pale orange cougars hit me with the force of freight trains, screeching dark militant intentions. The rabid cats plowed me back twenty feet, forming a ditch in the sugar sand and stunning my thoughts. Twenty silver claws and rows of fangs dug into my shell, making me feel like I was being rammed against a wall of prickly cacti.

  Overcoming my fright, I quickly charged my aura to white which caused the cats to writhe in pain, but they held on. Trying to shake them, I jetted into the air. Mindful of my caliber, I pulled back a bolt of light. The dense surge hit one of the cougars square in the chest. The big cat yelped before dropping like a ragdoll.

  A horrible howl drew my attention despite the pain of the second cougar feverishly gnawing through my shell. The lion clamped down on the reddish-brown wolf’s neck, rendering the Canite vunerable. The jaguar wasted no time, strategically sinking her fangs into the downed wolf’s femoral artery. Bright blood gushed along the cat’s silver fangs. Raven, blazing purple rage in her royal copper, hurled herself at the heartless lion.

  Like saving grace, Safe thundered down, slamming a huge divot in the sand. A lustrous tilted halo of Egyptian blue moved fast around his shiny bald head in the penetrating afternoon sun. Breathing deeply from the leap, he lifted into the air charging bright with swirling platinum arcs.

  Safe blinked into action pitching a weighted bolt. The shot blasted the cougar clinging onto my shell into a steaming spray of boiling water and extinguished, final screech. A high-pitched yip from the unknown Canite curdled the air, drawing all eyes. Safe raced toward the critical moment. Even though Dev was pounding the leopard down, my reflex to protect him conjured a charge without effort. I discharged a flue of light, knocking the dappled leopard unconscious. The black-and-white sabertooth opened his pink mouth and hissed a silver spell, unplugging the leopard’s brain. Small hammers of silver light spun around Dev’s front right paw, rocking up and down, emitting the stunning spell.

  Dev and I rushed to the lethal Canite and Vampacoti clash. The lion sank deeper into the flickering red wolf’s neck despite Raven feverishly gnawing through his thick mane. Safe flew fast, firing bolts of light at the jaguar with sharpshooter precision. The spotted cat maneuvered around the discharges, keeping her jaws locked, mangling the Canite’s back leg.

  Safe flung a web of light, netting the jaguar. Dev went airborne, flying into round two. I streaked through the air, full-throttling gravity to keep pace. Leveraging momentum, Dev dug his front claws deep into the lion’s back. The forceful stab sent the lion flying, dislodging Raven. The black wolf rushed to her downed pack. Safe constricted the streamers of light, crushing the jaguar like a nutcracker. The enormous spotted cat formulated to a shrieking woman before spurting into silver vapor.

  Raven formulated human, casting a copper spell that hit the rolling lion in the face. The large golden cat came to a rest as a muscular bald man with a full beard and lengthy mustache. The spell of fear manifested around Raven’s right wrist as copper padlocks, leaving the man whimpering in a fetal position.

  Raven ran to the motionless tall, beautiful woman with long red hair. She was critically injured, lying on the ground next to a flickering Haruz. Her copper light flashed brilliantly. Her left leg was broken and twisted in an unnatural position. Deep cuts showing flesh on her neck and leg gushed blood in sync with her wildly beating heart. Raven fell to her knees, caressing the fading woman’s face with her long, wavy black hair.

  The princess held her close, getting drenched in blood. Raven gently lifted the woman’s face, whose beautiful green eyes, backlit with orange, sparkled a heartbreaking goodbye that she could not verbalize.

  “Raven,” she forced from her collapsing lungs.

  “Oh, Lili. I’m so sorry,” Raven cried.

  Catching me off guard, Lili’s eyes left Raven’s for mine. Although she was at the threshold of death, hope sprang from her fading copper aura. She turned glassy translucent in Raven’s arms before crystalizing into a gush of water. Raven lifted her head into the air, weaving sirens of screaming, howling, and crying. Sorrow soaked wet and cold to the bone.

  Far out at sea, behind the wailing Canite princess, copper flames raced across the water toward us at a phenomenal speed. I picked up Jeremiah, Miguel, and a pack of twelve Canites. I knelt down next to Haruz. His aura was faint and failing. He was close to dying. From the first touch, his vitals rushed into my consciousness. His carotid artery and trachea were punctured. Pain shivered up and down my body feeling his crushed pelvis, the burning lacerations on his neck, and his muffled heart beating irregularly.

  “Haruz, please.” Raven lovingly pulled his crinkled gray hair matted with sandy blood clots away from his face. “Fight.”

  The somber mood weighed heavily. My light began to move into him, sparking hope. Like remaking my clothes, I mended his bleeding neck, stitching his ruptured artery together with cauterizing thoughts. I went far into his body as more of my pearl infused his copper. I unrumpled the cartilage blocking his windpipe, causing him to cough. Like gluing a shattered porcelain doll, I aligned and pieced his pelvis back together. The brave Canite guard’s aura cooled, responding to my help with grunts.

  “My lady.” Safe watched with his furrowed brows hanging like awnings over his large eyes. “You can heal?”

  “Yes,” I said simply, ignoring the staring faces and stilled auras.

  “You healed me in Budapest,” Raven said through her tears and embattled heart.

  “Yeah.” I turned my focus back to Haruz. Dev apprehensively shifted his attention toward the dreamy palms draped in opaque mists. He paid no mind to the copper building over the curvature of the ocean.

  I didn’t let the pack of Canites slamming into the scene distract my donation of light. King Jeremiah and his loyal protector Miguel formulated human, running fast. Haruz had lost half of his blood to the insatiable white sand. Breathing faster, I stimulated his bones to double the production of red blood cells.

  Half the pack formed a perimeter around us. The wolves dutifully surveyed, slipping in quick glances at me. The other quadruple-sized organic fighters fixed on Dev. They snarled, shadowing his every move like he was a threat. Dev’s aura jittered with tension like plucked strings, but it wasn’t from the scrutinizing company. He remained fixed with narrowed eyes attempting to pierce the Tahitian interior, ignoring the muzzles in his face.

  Haruz’s aura burned steady, flowing together as his body healed. Tapped out, I let go.

  “What is happening here?” Jeremiah inquired sharply.

  I rose next to Raven, facing the simmering Canite king. The corners of his mouth hung low. The muscles in his jaw flexed, twitching with dark disapproval. The hardened princess turned down her aura, exposing her good intentions.

  “We procured the pearls for Piper’s mask, but we were ambushed.” Raven said openly. She reached into a leather pouch, handing her father a large clam that resembled a jagged rock with rough ridges.

  “This is not acceptable!” The king burned red and white streaked through his thick hair. “What were you thinking? Endangering the lives of your pack. Calling the Guardian princess. You’re doing exactly what Eli wants.”

  “I didn’t call Piper. I called for you, Father,” she said with cooling remorse. The sad blue-green vibrations flowed openly in her aura as real as the spilled red blood.

  “I heard her call and acted on my own.” I put my arm and aura around her, bandaging her in calming yellows. It was clear I stood with her. My stance lowered Jeremiah’s rising ire.

  “May I?” Safe asked Jeremiah, gesturing toward the clam. The king nodded.

  Safe suspended the mollusk in midair. With surgical lines of light from his fingertips, he opened the shells carefully so as not to harm them. With hoops of light, he fished out a pair of incredibly smooth and stunning twin black pearls. Like me, the creamy shad
owy spheres beamed with a milky glow. Safe extracted the probing strings, gently casting the clams out into the deep waters before releasing his hold.

  The pearls buzzed with a similar resonance to the eyes from my destroyed dragonfly pendant. “This is for my new mask?” I was floored that the risks taken and associated losses were over me.

  “Yes,” Raven answered. “We must keep you hidden. You are not ready yet.”

  “Ready for what?” I asked with curious concern.

  Dev broke his silent stare into the interior of the island. “We have to get Piper out of here.” He strolled past the jumpy wolves shadowing him. Dev snatched the pearls out of the air, securing them in a small pouch inside his vest. “Now!”

  His boldness spiked my intuition. Something was wrong.

  “Agreed,” Safe said. “You should not be here. You need to stay out of sight.” He paused, taking turns touching everyone with his eyes. “The spy remains unknown.” Like raining soot, suspicion caked on everyone.

  “Olo, can you please leap Haruz to Luja?” Raven boldly requested. The old man lay still, just above life support. He needed the Avian scientist’s care to ensure his recovery.

  “It depends on Piper.” Safe’s response bordered on cruel. “Promise me you will go directly back and wait for me.” He made sure to not mention Madagascar. Haruz’s condition gave me no choice.

  “Of course,” I replied swiftly.

  Safe turned to Jeremiah. “Meet me at Eagles Rest Peak in the Tetons.” My Guardian guide carefully swathed Haruz in platinum sheets. The old man grimaced with eyes closed. They lifted above the gurgling palms. Raven watched her disabled defender rise into the sky, sending him off in a carriage of pink.

  “I will see you soon,” Safe said to me with a serious expression. Cutting a leap point, he disappeared with Haruz, leaving fading platinum flakes twirling upward.

  Ignoring everything around him, Dev took my arm, marching me out toward the water. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait.” I stopped, breaking free of Dev’s persistent pull.

  “Raven.” Our eyes made up for the distance. I beamed a sunflower yellow, kissed with pink. “Thank you.” I offered what little I could for the price paid for my sake.

  My heart skipped. Behind my sister, a silver streak sprang from behind curtains of teal auras rolling downward from a bank of palm trees. The super-fast motion came to a frightening stop on top of the Canite princess, standing separate from the pack. A large persimmon-orange sabertooth with licorice stripes capitalized on her surprise attack.

  She hissed a hideous spell from her coiled tongue, slamming Miguel on the side of his face. Silver fire spun around the huge cat’s front left paw. Jeremiah’s loyal guard shook feverishly. Drool foamed from the corners of his mouth, fighting the Vampacoti incantation. Losing his will to the spell, he formulated into a colossal tan wolf. Miguel dove at his beloved king with steel, snapping jaws.

  “Leap now!” Dev pushed me behind him onto the surface of the water.

  Jeremiah formulated as Miguel’s front paws made contact. The unsuspecting onslaught impaled the royal wolf deep into the sand. Jeremiah’s neck was perilously gripped in the jaws of his faithful friend. The pack charged, ramming the enchanted wolf off Jeremiah. The wolves formed a defensive barricade around their stunned king. Miguel’s copper aura ran blank. His free will was overruled. Like a lone kamikaze, Miguel bore down, ready to attack the wall of his Canite brothers.

  Dev jumped twenty feet above the brawl. He conjured a shimmering silver spell, casting it like a major league pitcher. A second band of rushing silver light formed around Dev’s wrist below the rocking hammers keeping the marbled leopard sedated. The silver ball hit Miguel’s snout, breaking the mind control spell.

  The freed wolf rocked back and forth before falling human and passing out. Jeremiah formulated through a tornado of copper, dashing over to Miguel. Half of the pack shifted positions, racing toward the palms. They were yapping uncontrollably, but not advancing. I powered up doing an about-face, ready to incapacitate the orange-and-black Vampacoti threat. Billions of sparkles swirled around my hands, lock and loading both chambers.

  My heart sank as I dropped my charge, taking in the impossible situation. The huge orange sabertooth was now a tiny-framed Indian woman. Her long, thick hair covered most of her mousy face and beady eyes. A painful scar ran down the right side of her jawbone, continuing down her neck. Although pretty for her age, her silver aura was tarnished, churning chaotically.

  Inherent sourness exuded from her light, turning my stomach like I drank a bottle of bitters. My intuition moaned low, desperately looking for a way out of the hostage situation. The vile captor wore an excited, sinister smile. Her nails were partially formulated into razor-sharp knives, strategically placed against Raven’s throat. The nine-inch-long sickles nicked the Canite princess’s pounding jugular veins. Blood mingled with perspiration, trickling down her chest.

  Unnervingly, the woman ignored the pack of agitated growling Canites surrounding her. She paid no mind to Jeremiah carefully approaching the situation. Her eyes glossed over me, planting firmly into Dev.

  “My love, I heard you were back.” She addressed Dev in a sharp, caustic voice capable of etching stone. As much as I wanted to close my ear canals to muffle her high squeaks and squawks, I could not.

  My heart pounded before crashing to a stop, imploding into an insufferable hurt.

  9

  More Questions than Answers

  “W

  hat?” I demanded sharply. My aura spewed beet red. This old woman calling my soul mate her love dropped the floor and raised the roof. The antithesis of light flakes—black, energy-absorbing pinpricks—riddled the air, darkening the tropical afternoon sun. Raven stood rigid, clenching her fists. Her orange backlit eyes darted, searching for a way out from under the lethal claws.

  “Let her go,” Dev said calmly. He ignored me and my reddening reaction, further fueling my upset.

  Jeremiah took several enraged strides forward.

  “Another step and I’ll snuff out your Canite legacy.” She stopped Jeremiah cold, opening her dark, violet backlit eyes in sick excitement. She pushed her silver nails deeper into Raven’s neck, causing her to lock her teeth and grunt. The sweat and blood flowing down her heaving chest thickened. The king panted like he was in a full sprint.

  “Junjari,” Dev spoke soothingly. Although I fought it, her name agonizingly etched into my memory. “This isn’t going to work.”

  “Who is she?” I demanded.

  Once again, Dev ignored me. I faced the strange woman, conjuring painful thoughts of incapacitation spells. Golden light started to loop around me as box jellyfish, Gila monsters, and black widow spiders danced in my head.

  “Child,” she acknowledged me for the first time, “I will have her neck laid open and copper extinguished before you can deliver a spell.”

  “Piper, stop,” Dev said tersely, quickly glancing back at me. His order felt condescending.

  The naturally malevolent woman let out a shrill laugh that could shatter the thickest bulletproof glass. “My dearest,” Junjari settled into a smarmy smile, leaving him dirty from her stare, “stop this nonsense!”

  Her demeanor soured into a strange sadness before sharpening back to bitter. “You are confused. If you dispose of the abomination now,” her small eyes briefly jabbed at me, “Eli will show mercy. He will reinstate your position in the Arbitri. He gave me his word.” The plea in her sharp voice polluted the air.

  My collapsed heart tumbled down an endless flight of stairs. “Who are you?” I asked Dev through my anger and filling eyes.

  “Let the princess go and we’ll talk,” Dev urged, ignoring me.

  Junjari pulled out a small clear crystal about an inch long with a metallic cap from her pocket. Like the nebulas created by music, the object radiated waves. The sight of the unknown device caused needles of concern to fly about.

  The Canite pack backed up, lowering the
ir heads. They looked upward, intensifying the air with baritone growls. Jeremiah partially formulated, looking like a real wolfman. Summoning me from her heart chakra, Raven drew my attention, diverting my wallowing tumble.

  “Leap,” she mouthed through an exhale.

  Junjari cackled again, raising the crystal in the air like it was a bomb.

  “Junjari, wait.” Dev spoke as though he was talking someone down from a ledge.

  “Birth her now or I summon Eli,” she demanded. She sent Dev distorted waves of affection. “I want you back.”

  The helplessness of the moment was tumultuous and torturous. Unexpectedly, Junjari stumbled forward with her eyes and mouth wide and gaping, like she had been stabbed in the back. Striking with the speed of lightning, Raven slipped down from under Junjari’s claws. She twisted, swinging her right arm loaded with a fist, solidly clocking her captor square in the face. The powerful karate move sent Junjari flying nose-first into a palm tree. She fell backward, unconscious, landing face-down on the powder-white sand. Raven cautiously caught the crystal before it hit the sandy ground.

  Where Junjari stood, a statuesque Japanese woman with a fantastic silver aura appeared. A lifesaving silver spell of sticks and stones spun speedily around her right wrist. The sight of the sophisticated Vampacoti woman I first met in the California redwoods with Mom brought comfort. Valbeth!

  Dev spun around, taking me in his arms. “I will explain everything, but first we have to get you out of here.” Although I felt the sincerity in his touch, my heart still stormed.

  We all converged on Valbeth. “Thank you,” Raven said, towering over the delicate woman. Valbeth leisurely blinked her eyes, nodding her head.

  “My lady.” Valbeth greeted me formally, bowing and rippling her light. I had ignoring-the-irritating-salutation down to a science. “You are most fortunate. It is by random chance I am here. Eli has dispatched additional guards to the remaining locations where the materials for the pendant exist. On a whim, I trailed Junjari and her pride.”