“Let Brace go or I will figure out a way to shove you and your brothers into an even deeper pit of hell.” I made my last promise to the creature and then pulled myself free from the golden cord.
The lime green fields faded out of sight as I broke the creature’s hold.
“Abigail!” A bellow from Lucy was my first moment of clarity.
I opened my eyes; the room zoomed into clear focus. I was no longer on the battlefield. Instead I was laid out on a soft surface. The room around me was circular and made of stone. Like a cave.
Staring around, I felt slightly confused and disorientated … and mega pissed off. Anger was flowing in abundance. That creature had taken my Brace and I would not rest until I got him back. I almost leapt out of the bed, but there was no way I was ready to take on a Seventine. I needed a plan.
Lucy was crouched next to me, holding my hand. The laluna was still nestled in my other palm. I examined the features of my best friend. We’d grown up together on the war-zone that was Earth and I knew her better than anyone. Her expression was calm, but I could see the pain in her baby-blue eyes. And I could empathize; living without Brace was like having a permanently bleeding injury.
Shifting my gaze, I locked in on the unnaturally bronzed eyes of Josian, my father and Walker. Walkers are a planetless, immortal race that has been revered as gods throughout the centuries and most of them are arrogant pains-in-the-ass. But can you blame them? They have some wicked powers and all the ones I have met are tall, gorgeous and mega-smart.
I was half-Walker. My mother Lallielle, who was staring down at me with tear-filled eyes, was from First World. She blew me a kiss. I attempted to smile in return before a cleared throat drew my attention to Quarn. My guardian was leaning against the rock wall, his rugged features creased with unease. I also noted that there were a few red-haired Walkers from my clan of Doreen near the doorway, in a bodyguard stance. I shifted my gaze to observe them one by one. Their expressions ranged from stoic to curious but most reflected concern.
“Where are we? How long was I out?” I finally croaked out, not recognizing the stone-walled room.
My voice was shaky. I hadn’t expected the weakness I felt inside to be so obvious in my words.
Josian answered, “You’ve been unconscious for a few hours. When everything went crazy at the fight I opened a doorway to the one place I knew was safe. This was my home before I met your mother.” He ran his hands through his blood-red hair in an agitated manner. “We can’t go back to First World at the moment. Brace must be avoided until we can figure out what happened and how to neutralize it.”
He paused, reaching down to take my laluna. The moment it left my hand it disappeared, which wasn’t surprising. It was its own entity and came and went at its will.
“That laluna has definitely bonded to you, baby girl.” He smiled at me.
I was about to answer when I came to a realization about something that had been playing on my mind.
All of the Walker’s in this room had their identification marks on display.
I was so used to my own permanent red lace-like marks covering the left side of my body that I often forgot not everyone’s should be present. There could only be one reason for this: moonstale. I looked up into the huge cavern, and my jaw dropped. The entire surface was interspersed with the glittering gray stones. Like the laluna, moonstale was sacred to Walkers and allowed us to identify which of the seven Walker clans we belonged to. Each clan had its own unique mark and the marks only appeared under the yellow moonstale light.
“I thought you said it was rare,” I muttered, my head still tilted upwards.
“It is rare.” Josian followed my gaze. “This is the largest deposit I’ve ever seen, and it has been protected by our lineage since the beginning of time. It’s mostly from here that the stone is collected for our jewelry pieces.”
I reached up a hand to clutch at my World necklace. It was a perfect representation of First World and held moonstale stone inside. Walkers always tried to carry some on their person.
“And beside these stones being an amazing recharge for our powers they will also mask them. Josian’s world is undetectable unless you have already been here.” Another voice echoed from beyond my line of sight, near the back of the room.
Grantham stepped into the light.
He was the Princep of the Walker clan of Relli. Relli’s marks were dark-gray swirls, which at the moment spanned his right side and highlighted his yellow hair and cat-like lime-green eyes. He was also my father’s best friend. Josian was the Princep of Doreen and they often combined power and resources.
I felt ... a sense of relief, seeing that everyone was safe after our battle on First World. Everyone except Brace, of course. It was in this battle he’d been possessed.