Hunted

through the murkiness. With it came light so brilliant I closed my eyes against the glare.

Who? I asked, opening my eyelids and squinting.

The Tribe…. The deafening resonance swallowed the rest of her words, yet I still couldn’t see anything, not the source of the voice or the light.

Tribe? What tribe?

Faint words followed. I strained to hear her with little success. Then her voice grew audible. Fight back or they’ll win again. There was a familiar lilt to it, yet I couldn’t place it. Don’t make my sacrifices be for nothing.

The screams, now jarring chords like a choir singing out of sync, rose again. More dead wingless bodies floated to the ground, arms flailing, the thuds as they landed on the ones already on the ground sickening. I watched helplessly as a black hole appeared on the ground and sucked them away. It beckoned to me, offering solace and refuge. Just one step and I’d be free of this nightmare. Just one step.

Fight, my child. Fight. The familiar voice returned, more insistent and authoritative.

How? I begged. It hurts to think.

No, it doesn’t, she snapped. They make you feel a pain that’s not there, a sorrow that’s forgotten and a nightmare that never ends. The power is within you to stop them. Reach deep within and find your strength. Use it to fight back. The voice grew faint.

Don’t leave me, I screamed.

Always with you, Lilith. Remember what I said…stop them…find the Summoners or…my weapon.

For a moment, I was too confused to react. She had called me Lilith. Only demons used my given name. I recovered and yelled, I didn’t hear everything you said. Who are the Summoners? And what do you want me to do with your weapon?

But she was already gone, leaving me in the endless nightmare. The screams reached fever pitch. It hurt to think. To focus. To breathe. The false comfort offered by the dark pit tugged at me until I found myself weakening, begging for it to swallow me.

I had never thought I’d die paralyzed in place like some stupid statue. I was meant to grow old with Bran, hunt, love and live until it was our turn to ascend together. Even as the thoughts crossed my mind, I searched for him in the inner recesses of my mind. Memories of the two of us together bathed in light floated out of the darkness. Memories of Grampa, Aunt Janelle, my fellow Cardinals, Kylie…

Their love, laughter and happiness penetrated the horror and drowned out the screams. The echoes of death receded as peace cocooned me in its arms like a warm blanket on a wintery night. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn’t.

“Come on, Lil,” a female voice urged.

“I think she’s coming around,” a male voice said.

I lifted my eyelids. At least I thought I did. There was nothing but blinding whiteness. I strained until the blue sky and faces inked in. Unfamiliar faces. Two women and one man. Their eyes were filled with concern as they stared down at me. Beside them were familiar faces—Bran, Grampa and Aunt Janelle, Kim, Izzy, Remy, Sykes and Kylie, but they began to fade.

“No, don’t leave me,” I cried out and reached out for them.

“Not so fast,” one of the unfamiliar women warned and pressed my shoulder down. “You had a nasty fall.”

I struggled against her hand and sat up. Black dots appeared in my eyes and a sharp pain radiated from the back of my head. I closed my eyes until the dizziness passed, then raised a trembling hand to my head. There was a huge bump the size of an egg, and my skull felt like someone was hammering it with a blunt object.

Squinting, my gaze moved from her to the other woman, then the man. They all wore black pants and matching shirts, a uniform of some kind, and had daggers in sheaths strapped around their waist and their thighs. I’d never seen them before in my life, yet they watched me with such concern.

I inched away from them and noticed I wasn’t dressed like them. I wore a bikini and was lying down on a towel. Frowning, I took in our surroundings. We were on a grassy patch by a pond in the middle of a forest. The trees were so tall and curved in such a way that was unnatural. It was like they deliberately curved to block the skyline or hide the pond.

Why couldn’t I remember where I was or how I got here? What was my name?

My gaze moved back to the woman squatting beside me. I wondered whether to ask her these questions, but survival instinct stopped me even though I didn’t feel any negative vibes from her.

I scooted backward and realized my grip was around a dagger. Intrigued, I studied it. It had a clear, wavy blade and green stones on its gilded hilt.

Seeing the dagger switched on something inside my pounding head. Memories of places and people rushed back—I saw myself entering a booth in an arena, where a familiar man with red hair called me his daughter; attempting to escape a dark-haired woman who claimed to be my half-sister; a huge black man with soft brown eyes helping me, and another with short-cropped blond hair swearing allegiance tome…

If my head wasn’t pounding, I would have laughed with triumph. My name was Lil Falcon. I was a Psi Cardinal Guardian within the Northeast Sector, and I hunted demons.

Going by my memories, we must still be on Jarvis Island. I glanced around again. The strangers continued to stare at me with worried expressions. They weren’t demons, which was a relief. Still, I didn’t know them.

Gripping the Kris Dagger, I staggered to my feet and almost fell over when dizziness washed over me. The three strangers took steps toward me, then froze when I pointed the dagger at them. “Who are you? Where are the Cardinal Guardians?”

“We are Security Guardians. I am Evangeline,” the woman with black hair and pale skin answered then she pointed at the man, “That is Javan and she,” she pointed at the other woman, “is Irin.”

Security Guardians guarded Xenith. Maybe we weren’t on Jarvis Island after all. “Are we in Xenith?”

The three looked at each other, obviously surprised by my question, then Evangeline said, “No, we are on Pearls Island. We guard it and the portal, but Cardinal Llyr ordered us to bring you here and keep an eye on you until they get back. If they don’t make it, we are to take you to Xenith with us and seal the portal.”

Panic washed over me. “Seal the portal? Why?”

“They are fighting powerful demons,” Evangeline said. “One of them attacked you.”

“I must help them!” I looked around.

“Cardinal Lil, you can barely stand, let alone face a demon,” Javan protested. Evangeline and Irin nodded.

They were right. Something was wrong with me and it wasn’t just my pounding head. My heart beat fast like I’d just sprinted and my skin felt like a thousand ants had crawled under it. And the fear from these three slammed into my senses. I tried to raise my shield but nothing happened. The demons didn’t just mess with my memories, they’d messed with my powers too.

The Security Guardians were telepathing each other, but I followed their glances and my stomach dipped at what I saw. An ominous cloud hovered in the air to our right, lightning churning in its core and around it. There was something vaguely familiar about it. As I watched, it exploded. Demons usually burned bright orange as they fell, not exploded like fireworks.

“What was that?” I asked.

“A new breed of demons,” Javan explained.

“One of them attacked me?”

“Yes. We were in here guarding the portal.” He waved toward the pond. “So we didn’t exactly see what happened, but Cardinal Llyr telepathed us to go and get you. Cardinal Sykes said you fainted while you were attacking the demons.”

None of what he said sounded familiar. A quick search of my memory didn’t help either. I glanced down at the Kris Dagger. It was supposed to protect and heal me, yet my head still hurt. There was something wrong with it and different about it, yet I couldn’t pinpoint what.

“How are you feeling?” Javan asked.

“I’m fine. I need to join my team.”