Walker Saga: Nephilius Part 7

"This is just a faade to scare those of weak disposition away," Malisna said. "The real test is further along."

A faade, what did she mean? I stopped looking with just my eyes and opened my senses wider to really see what was around us. The path started to get a little hazy. I blinked rapidly a few times. Another scene flickered in behind the 'h.e.l.l road'.

And then, as soon as my brain broke the first part of the illusion, everything came into focus. The rotten-egg smell vanished and the true landscape appeared. We were on a path still, but there were no lava falls. Instead it was a stone trail with this weird shadowy world on either side.

I must have said something out loud because Refis grinned at me.

"Walkers were never fooled for long. This is the road to perdition, or as we call it, the land of illusions," he said.

Malisna sighed. "This is why no one completes this task. You must be strong enough of mind to be able to see past the many illusions that you will face. Some terrifying, others heart-breaking." She halted Lucy. "And you, my daughter, need to have your pixie side unlocked. You will not stand a chance otherwise."

Lucy screwed her face up. "Right ... again with the blood. Should be fun." Her voice rose in false cheeriness.

And then, before I could blink, Malisna ripped a long dagger from somewhere inside her outfit and she stabbed herself, right in the heart.

My strangled scream never even left my lips before she turned and stabbed the same dagger into Lucy. The thin, pointed knife was long enough to enter her chest and burst out of her back.

I watched in horror, tears and screams falling from me as Lucy and I locked eyes. I watched as the light died in my oldest friend's eyes and she collapsed.

Chapter 6.

A black mist came over my vision and for a moment there I lost myself. I was no longer Abby. I became as mindless as the energy exploding from me in one long pulse of light. The full range of the light spectrum was visible as the waves curled from me.

It took me a long time to notice that Cerberus was standing in front of me, blocking most of my attack. Was he protecting the Queen? That traitorous b.i.t.c.h who'd just killed her own daughter.

"Abby!" Someone was shouting my name. But I was too consumed with rage to even take a moment to look for them.

And then a calm pocket opened inside my head. The sensation was foreign enough that it paused my expulsion of energy.

It took me a moment to realize what had happened ... I could feel them, the other half-Walkers. Talina, Fury and Ria's energy was familiar, but there were three others I didn't recognize. The three unknowns were there briefly, as if I was only allowed a taste before it was yanked away. I was confused and a little shocked. Somehow in my heightened craziness I'd found a way to connect with my half-Walker girls.

Abby. Talina was crying. I could hear it in her voice. Where the h.e.l.l have you been?

I'm going to kill you, Supes. That was Fury and she sounded furious.

Do you need help, Abby? And Ria, the Queen of the beasts was last and, as always, exuded calm and tranquility.

The three unknown halves were still there with muted, inaccessible energy, as if it was hidden from me. Did I have to know them to be able to properly tether to them? Was it like the way I couldn't trace to a destination unless I knew what it looked like?

Everyone is freaking out, Abbs ... we all thought you and Lucy were dead, Talina stuttered.

Brace and Josian had to tie Colton down. His wolf was going nuts. It was d.a.m.n scary. Fury again, and it was getting confusing having so many of them in my head. Although, she continued. Brace was kind of losing it too, which was a little weird.

Remnants of the melding bond wreaking havoc. He must be so confused. I forced aside my sadness and pain for the moment.

Lucy and I are trapped in pixie land. Apparently it's a one-way dimension that no one has ever escaped from. But we think we might have found a way out.

I wouldn't tell them about Lucy yet. I wasn't even ready to admit it to myself. And I knew that as soon as the calming influence of the half-Walkers was removed, I was going to lose it again.

"Abby!" A voice penetrated the bubble of my head, and someone flicked me on the nose.

I let loose a snarl as I forced my attention outward. My eyes focused on the images in milliseconds, and I realized that Lucy stood before me. Sobbing gasps fell from my lips. I opened and closed my mouth a few times before one word emerged.

"How?"

Through my tears I couldn't help but notice how different she looked. Her skin shone, tiny green pigments littering the porcelain. As if faint glitter had been embedded into her pores. Her blond curls were longer, down to her waist, and they were also threaded with green s.h.i.+mmery strands, like Malisna's. Her eyes were full flowers of blue and yellow now, her ear tips pointed slightly, and she had freaking wings. Which she was fluttering in awkward and clumsy motions.

I wrenched my gaze from her to Malisna. The snarls started in my chest again.

"I'm sorry." The queen held up her hands. "She needed to be reborn as pixie, and for any rebirth there must be death."

I clenched my fists and took a staggered step toward her.

Lucy halted me with a hand on my arm. "You can't punch her, no matter how much she deserves it." She spun and faced her mother. "And you do deserve it. That was a really horrible thing to do. Not only to me, but to Abby. You should have explained what was going to happen."

Refis stepped in front of his mother. Clearly he was reading the murderous intent in my eyes. "What would you have done if she'd told you? No one willingly lets someone stab them in the heart, and she had to use her own heart blood too, so you weren't the only one to suffer."

"I don't care about me, but if someone had killed Abby in front of me ... well, I couldn't imagine worse pain."

I was crying again as I threw my arms around Lucy and pulled her in to me, my arms awkward as I tried to maneuver around her wings. They looked so delicate, but I could feel the strong muscles emerging from her back. So weird.

"I can't believe you're alive," I murmured. And then Cerberus crowded around us and I hugged him too. "Thank you for blocking my energy," I whispered to him.

He nudged me a few times before s...o...b..ring up the side of my face.

Abby! Abby! Supes!

Three voices were yelling at me inside my head, pulling my attention.

Let everyone know that we're okay and we'll be free soon, I told them.

Stay safe and we better see your b.u.t.t in like the next hour, Fury sniped at me, and then I used my energy to sever the cords tethering me to the girls.

I was getting much better at it and now had barely any jolt. I was alone again in my head.

My rage at Malisna had not decreased any in the last few minutes. But in light of the fact Lucy was alive and clearly thriving as a pixie, I pushed it down and managed to look at the queen pixie without wanting to put my fist through her face.

"Do you feel different?" I asked Lucy, pulling back to see her again. I wondered if this was anything like my enlightenment.

"You mean, besides the fact I have wings," she trilled, fluttering her glittering attachments and floating into the air. "I haven't figured out how to tuck them away yet, but they are awesome." She looked around. "My senses are so heightened. Is this how it is for you every day? Everything is brighter, louder and more intense. And where did the burning lava falls go?" She swiveled her head left and right in rapid movements.

"That was an illusion," Malisna said. "This is the real path."

Lucy's eyes widened as she took in the stone path with its shadow lands. She fluttered her wings, rising off the ground again, but when she tried to move forward she stumbled down. "d.a.m.n, I don't quite have the hang of my wings yet."

"It won't take you long," Malisna said. "Just like walking for the first time."

Lucy and I both laughed. "Earth children don't walk until they're about twelve months old. It takes a long time." I said.

Malisna and Refis exchanged glances. "Pixies are not like that at all," Refis said. "We walk hours after birth."

I wrinkled my nose. I didn't even want to know what their babies looked like when they were born.

"Holy c.r.a.p on a cracker, I don't even want to know." Lucy agreed, holding up both hands, her nose wrinkled.

She continued to practice flying, and each time her skills improved until finally she seemed to have mastered the basics. Malisna looked proud, fluttering her own wings, arms crossed across her chest.

"Alright, let's go." Refis straightened, his hand lightly brus.h.i.+ng his weapon. "Time to see if we can be free."

The three pixies flew, about a foot off the ground. Lucy couldn't wipe the grin off her face; she looked ecstatic. Cerberus and I walked along, using our feet like losers. I wasn't jealous that Lucy had beautiful, glittery wings. Lucky, b.i.a.t.c.h.

The path was long, and with no landmarks to break it up, I had no idea if we were making ground. Or walking in circles. Lucy chatted excitedly, trying to determine every pixie skill she would inherit.

"Bit greedy, don't you think, Cere?" I had a hand on him as we walked. The path was just wide enough for us to stride side-by-side. "She has wings, gorgeous glittery skin and hair, and she wants more powers."

One of his heads dropped down. His big dark eyes stared into mine.

I lifted my hand and patted him a few times. "I knew you'd agree."

"I can hear you now, Abigail." Lucy's voice was sweet as she sang back to me. "And suck it up. You got awesome Walker marks and the ability to skip across the galaxy."

She made a fair point, but still ... wings.

"And you're tall," she finished, sticking her tongue out at me.

I was opening my mouth to shout back at her when the path fell out from under me.

I mean literally.

I was falling into the nothingness, darkness surrounding me, and I was alone.

Suddenly images appeared in a circling motion around me. Shadow people in the shape of Brace, Josian and Lallielle flashed in and out. And then Brace's shadow solidified, and he stepped out of the darkness toward me. Reaching my side, his arms went around me and without question I sank into his warm embrace.

"Where have you been?" The echoes of his voice brushed along my spine. "Will you stay here with me?"

I closed my eyes. From the moment I'd broken the bond, pain had flooded me, intense and all encompa.s.sing. Walkers were designed to have one soul mate and to be without them was to exist without half of yourself.

But right now I was whole again.

I could breathe.

I was crazy to think I could have lived without my mate.

"Yes, I will stay with you." I pulled him closer to me, the ache inside easing further.

It's not real.

A voice in my head was niggling away at me, a rational part that had not forgotten Malisna's words about this land of illusions. But Brace felt so real; the pain was so much less. I couldn't walk away from him again.

What about the half-Walkers? What about Lucy? Are you giving up on all of them?

I growled. Why wouldn't they just shut up? I was happy now. I raised my head and Brace touched his lips to mine. And in that moment my heart swelled and broke again. The road to perdition could fake a lot of things, but the taste of Brace was clearly not one. It was wrong and it allowed me the ability to snap back into control. Gulping down the fresh onset of waterworks I was turning into a regular old fountain I finished the kiss and with a sigh placed both of my hands onto his muscular chest.

"You're not Brace!" I shouted, shoving back with all of my strength.

Despite the fact the illusion wasn't Brace, it still hurt. I needed him more than anything. And just like that I was back on the stone path, but now there was a gateway at the end. I was alone so I moved cautiously, waiting for something to jump out at me.

But nothing did.

The barrier blocking the path looked like a simple, circular doorway. But there was no handle or anything to indicate a way to open it.

"I have reached this point many times, the illusions no longer hold me, but I have never figured out how to open the door." Refis came up behind me, silently flying along the path. I could see Cerberus was back now also. "I'm surprised that you managed to break free so easily, especially the first time. The illusions give you your most fervent desire."

"The illusion wasn't very good," I said simply. Although it had been just good enough to crack my heart and leave it oozing.

"Benefits of being a Walker." He shrugged.

"Does that mean Lucy and Malisna are still in the illusion?" I squinted with narrowed eyes behind me, but only Cerberus was on the path.

"Have faith," Refis said.

Very helpful little pixie.

Malisna appeared first. And just when I was panicking a disheveled Lucy stumbled along the path.

"Thank G.o.d," she muttered, "he smelled different."

I smiled. I guessed that was something to do with Colton.

"So how do we open this door?" Lucy asked, pressing her hands against it.

For a brief moment I thought it might react to her touch, but nothing happened.

"I need a strand of your hair," Malisna said, holding out her small delicate hand.

Lucy reached up and yanked out a long wavy piece and handed it to her mother.

Malisna took the blond hair and, turning to the door, lowered her head to the center. There was a tiny little hole there which I hadn't noticed earlier. She took the hair and threaded the end into the hole and with slow precision started to feed it through.

"I always figured the missing ingredient was the hair which I used to bind us here." Malisna was still threading, and then finally, when it was almost at the end of the hair, she pulled out the knife again.