Marie Harte - Aftershocks

Cadmus opened his mouth to retort, but one look at Jonas stopped him. Until he saw the threat looming in the distance outside. “Yeah, but not as pissed as she’s going to be with wraith blood all over the couch.”

Backing deeper into the living room, Cadmus swore as the Netharat swarmed close. Ragged robes poorly concealed the wraiths’ skeletal frames, and their paper-thin necks barely withstood the pressure of their bulbous, bruised skulls. Gaping maws of blackened teeth flapped as the creatures screeched, threatened and gurgled with malicious, maddening laughter. They stared with blank, white eyes while their pointed, high-set ears twitched as they searched for prey. Spying Jonas and Cadmus, a half dozen of the creatures suddenly filtered through the balcony doors, blasting blue flame with the intent of major destruction.

Cadmus drew on the earth for shocks of vibration that stunned and paralysed the two wraiths nearest him. Calling on his connection to Tanselm, he surrounded the wraiths in the land’s soil that appeared at a wave of his hands. He watched them struggle to breathe while he wheeled to avoid the strike of blue fire that singed his forearm.

Jonas captured a wraith in his Dark energy, then shoved two more wraiths out of Cadmus’ path when they would have closed in on him. Shoving his wraith into Cadmus’ floating mound of earth, Jonas restrained two more of the enemy and did something that made Cadmus blink in awe.

Dark energy blanketed the wraiths. Cadmus would have thought the creatures, being Dark themselves, would thrive on the energy. Instead, they slowly withered and died, while Jonas’ eyes glowed brighter and brighter, looking like twin flames of light where amber orbs used to be.

“Cadmus, look out!”

Blue flame sizzled by his ear, and as Cadmus reached out to take care of the remaining wraith, instinct stopped him. The creature looked at first like a typical ice wraith. A lumpy, hairless skull sat atop a thin neck. Its body was long and thin, bony with claw-like hands and tattered black robes that covered it from neck to toe. Its skin, however, was not the typical mottled black and yellow of the ice wraiths Cadmus had previously encountered.

This wraith possessed smooth, white skin veined with blue streaks over its exposed forearms and face. Its neck was thicker, its skull more rounded, human-like, and its eyes… Unlike the milky whites of its brethren, this creature had pure black eyes. No pupils or irises to speak of, its gaze was fathomless, what Cadmus imagined the voids between worlds looked like.

Just as the creature opened its mouth, Jonas swore and simultaneously flashed in truth and jumped between Cadmus and the wraith. A river of red energy poured from the wraith’s mouth to surround Jonas, trying to push through the black flames encasing him.

The familiarity of the red substance hit Cadmus hard. Months ago, fighting alongside his brothers against ‘Sin Garu, Cadmus had encountered a Nocumat , a creature of Shadow that consisted of a thick red goo that could take the shape of anything. It appeared this wraith carried the Nocumat within its body.

The only way Cadmus and his brothers had escaped the Nocumat before was with Shadow magic.

“Jonas, can you talk to it?”

“No. It only responds to those of Shadow, not Dark.” Pain bracketed Jonas’ mouth, and his aura flickering in clear testament to his struggle.

Cadmus needed Shadow magic. And he knew of only one woman capable of helping him now. Quickly casting an emergency spell, he caught Aerolus.

Aerolus answered, “ Brother, what plagues you?”

Startled at the clarity of his brother’s speech, Cadmus glanced around, expecting to see him close. “ I need your help. We’re under Nocumat attack.” Aerolus swore then his affai , Alandra, spoke, her soft, husky voice more than welcome.

“ You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you, Cadmus? Nocumat attack, hmm? Just repeat after me . Afwel Sava otol.”

He repeated the foreign words, relieved beyond measure when the Nocumat dropped Jonas like a hot plate. Alarm replaced relief, however, when the thing advanced on him.

“ Alandra? What now?”

“ Tell him I said hello .”

“This is no time for niceties, dammit. Jonas is dying.”

“ Cadmus, tell him to return to Lord Sava before I report a Nocumat working with ‘Sin Garu. Remind him of Oxcen’s punishment and he’ll leave you alone.

He swore he heard her mutter, “I hope,” but repeated her words.

The Nocumat seemed to understand him and cringed, for the lack of a better description. Then it shot back into the wraith’s mouth and disappeared.

The wraith jerked and glared at them, lifting its arms as it gathered a strange ball of blue energy. Bracing himself and Jonas with an energy shield, Cadmus felt sure the wraith would have attacked had it not been thrown off balance by the monster it caged inside itself.

Taking advantage, both he and Jonas unleashed their magic. The wraith burst into pieces of blue fire, its body as insubstantial as the dying flame. The Nocumat , thankfully, was nowhere to be found.

Panting, Cadmus bent over to catch his breath. When he could speak, he rasped, “By all that’s Light, what was that thing?”

Jonas shook his head. “I have a bad feeling we’ve just seen one of ‘Sin Garu’s latest hybrids.” He clutched his belly and fell to his knees as he flashed back into the form of a man.

“Jonas?”

“Ellie’s not safe,” Jonas said in between breaths. “Not if they’ve found you here. They’ll know where she lives. They’ll definitely be watching this place. We have to bring her back.”

“Back?”

“To Foreia. Where she’ll be safe, at least for the time being.”

“She won’t go.” Cadmus knew she wouldn’t willingly visit Foreia. Not if she held so much animosity towards her father.

Jonas wheezed, “She’ll have no choice, and neither will Amanda. Fuck.” He rubbed his abdomen and stood with Cadmus’ help. “I really hate the Nocumat. Stupid Shadow-dwellers.”

“Aren’t they your people?” Cadmus walked Jonas to the door. He accepted the keys Jonas handed to him, and they left Ellie’s place a mess.

“My people? Hell, Cadmus. That’s like calling humans Light Bringers because they walk in the sun. Dumbass,” Jonas muttered, his epithet making Cadmus feel much better. If Jonas could rail at him, he couldn’t be too injured.

“So I’m finally going to meet Mrs. Ethim il Ruethe.”

The Djinn chuckled, then groaned upon bending to enter his SUV. “I’d love to see the expression on her face when you call her that.”

“You okay?”

“It’s just my stomach rebelling at that Nocumat’s touch. The drive to Amanda’s should give me suitable time to regroup. Don’t worry. I can manage enough energy to send us to Foreia.”

“About that,” Cadmus began. “I don’t think—”

“Don’t think. Lexa wants you there, you go. Besides, this might help Ellie resolve her feelings about herself. Because until she does that, she’ll never have any peace in her life. Not to mention the small fact ‘Sin Garu knows where she lives and that she’s got ties to Storm Lords. She’s not secure here anymore.”

“Damn it. Okay, Ellie has to go. And her mother, if that will keep them both protected.” Cadmus meant it. He would make sure Ellie and her mother accompanied them to Foreia. Ellie needed to be safe, and she needed to be happy. Without quite knowing why, he made it his mission to see that joy found his little Djinn. He only hoped the confrontation sure to follow wouldn’t put him any further back in her affections than he already was.