Chapter Fifty-Four
Where was she? Torin scanned the winding narrow path leading up to the circle of stones. Resting his hand against the cold rough surface of the nearest obelisk, he closed his eyes and searched. There. Finally. He sensed her comforting warmth headed in his direction. Exhaling a relieved breath, he focused on the golden sensation reverberating his way. He’d find Emma’s aura in any reality. Her electrifying essence mated with his to perfection. Together, they formed a balanced whole.
A stinging wind nudged against him, chilling a reminder across his flesh. Precious time was running out. They needed to force Arach back through the doorway and close the portal behind him. Forcing open his eyes, Torin trailed his fingers across the rough surface of the ancient chiseled stone. Thank the gods, he’d convinced Laynie to urge Emma toward a life with him. Uncertainty nagged at the base of his skull like the dull pounding ache he always got after enjoying too much mead. Surely, Emma would agree to cross with him once she received her sister’s blessing. If Laynie had found time to give it. Torin swallowed hard. There was that. There had been so little time.
The whirling breeze roared through the silent sentinels, a mournful whistle warning those who knew the portal stood ajar. Torin tensed at the guttural rumble trembling across the ground. His gut clenched as a low-pitched roar rose above the howling wind. Unsheathing his sword, Torin widened his stance. The silver scar threading down the side of his face burned a vicious warning through his flesh. Arach neared. The vile beast approached the circle of stones. Only when Arach neared the blessed stones could Torin sense him in the In Between.
A familiar metallic growling sounded behind him. Keeping his attention fixed on the pair of dark gray spires looming ahead, Torin tightened his grasp on the haft of his sword as Emma’s vehicle bounced into his peripheral vision. Damn. Torin ground his teeth as the ground shook again with Arach’s bone-chilling call. Cold sweat of uncertainty streamed down the sides of Torin’s face. Could he protect her from the raging serpent? Would Emma remember all she’d learned over the past few weeks?
“Torin?”
Emma’s call carried to him across the hillside. Damnú air! Why didn’t the woman reach out with her senses? Did she no’ remember anything he’d taught her?
A searing rush of super-heated air burst from near the ancient columns. Reaching out with his mind, Torin summoned Emma. “Come to me, Emma. Focus your energies and hurry to my side with care.”
“What’s wrong?”
Torin rolled his shoulders, the tension eased a bit. She did remember. She’d heard his instructions and folded space to arrive at his side. “Arach comes. It will take us both to force the vile beast back through the portal. Stand fast by my side, Emma. Your survival depends on your doing exactly as I say.”
Emma edged closer while glancing among the ominous stones. Black clouds billowed across the horizon. The storm clouds roiled and jockeyed for position around the stone circle as though fighting for the best seat for the coming show. “Is Arach on the other side right now? If he went back through the portal, why can’t we just destroy it before he returns to this world? Can’t we just close it off before he passes back through it? You’d think he’d know we’re going to seal it so he can’t cross back over and pick up where he left off.” Swiping beads of sweat away from her forehead, Emma squinted toward the stone spires. “And why is it so hot here in front of the center stone? I drove through snow flurries coming up the hill.”
An impatient bellow shook the ground. The Lewisian gneiss sentries shuddered as another heated blast of searing wind exploded from between them.
“Arach doesna believe we can close the portal. He’s unaware of the power of our joining, thinks we’re weak and easily bested. He’s also succeeded in locking this particular gateway open to only his home dimension. As long as the portal is permanently aligned with his home, Arach’s energies willna’ be drained.” Torin nodded toward the silent spires growing more shadowed with the gathering clouds. “The lair of his birthplace lies just beyond those stones. Usually, he just wreaks his destruction and then retires to the comfort of his caves along the sea. But when his magic weakens to the point where he can no longer ignore it, he must return to his original lair and recharge among the pits of his origin.” Torin adjusted his grip on the worn haft of his sword and slid his thumb along the shining blade. “Ye’ll find we canna close this gateway until we overpower Arach. Our joined magics are strong but Arach’s protection spells cast upon the gateway are considerably stronger.” Torin licked his lips and raised his face to better taste the foul wind. “The heated stench scorching the air is the breath he’s blown to announce his path. He will pass through the stones soon. We must be prepared.”
Torin pulled Emma to him, crushed her against his chest, and breathed in the scent of her hair. Her sweet, familiar essence steadied his mind but also struck fear in his heart. He must protect her. Arach would attack her first. The beast would sense a novice guardian. “Swear to me you’ll do whatever I ask. Swear to me you’ll act on my words without a moment’s hesitation.”
Uncertainty flickered in the depths of Emma’s eyes. She laid a hand to his cheek, tracing her thumb down the line of his throbbing scar. “I promise.”
Torin swallowed her oath with a kiss. A claiming kiss filled with urgency. He needed the sweetness of her one last time. He’d forge into battle with the taste of her in his mouth.
The ground shook all around them. Small stones bounced across the earth like clumped flour rising in a vibrating sieve. A billowing yellow cloud roiled from between the columns, filling the air with the stench of sulfur and rotted flesh.
Emma swallowed hard and blinked slow deliberate blinks as she backed out of Torin’s embrace. The putrid odor of rotten eggs and decaying meat filled the air, setting her eyes and nose on fire. Covering her mouth with both hands, she struggled not to gag. Whatever Arach was, he reeked. “What does Arach do to his enemies? Kill them with his smell?”
“The stench is nothing compared to the beast himself. Protect yourself with your magic, Emma.”
Blue-white flames burst from the space between the stones as though someone had touched a flint to a blowtorch. They burnt the yellow cloud from the air with an explosive whoosh. As the flames ate through the portal and seared the ground, an ear-splitting roar followed. “I smell ye, Torin and ye’re no’ alone. I’ve not eaten in several days. Have ye brought me a delicious appetizer as a welcoming gift?”
Torin raised his sword over his head. The blade shimmered and hummed with an eerie white glow. “Aye, Arach. I’ve brought ye a gift. Come taste the sweetness of my steel.”
Emma wiped her sweating palms on her jeans, catching her breath as she stared at the humming sword. The pitch of the vibration strumming up and down the blade pierced the air like a siren. The wail of the sword sounded so familiar. Where had she heard it before?
Her heart leapt as Arach pushed through the gateway. Stumbling back, she grabbed Torin’s arm. “Oh my God.” The sight of the beast choked her. Fear jammed her words in her throat.
A slimy horned head with glowing eye slits swayed back and forth with hypnotic rhythm. The oversized head flowed into a bulging neck attached to a trailing multi-legged body. Greasy black scales piled in layers across the elephant sized skull, shimmering as though oil oozed from the flesh beneath them. Bloodred claws cracked the earth with every step as the beast pulled his endless body through the stones and whipped his spiked tail between the trembling spires. An electric blue tongue forked out between yellowed fangs, licking the air and dripping acidic saliva with every swipe across the protruding lower jaw. The volatile spittle hissed and exploded into short bursts of flames when it connected with the ground. The beast swung its head toward Emma. Its scaled lips slightly lifted at the corners into a gruesome smile. “Ah. This one looks tender and succulent. I never realized ye thought so highly of me, Torin, to offer such a tempting morsel.”
“Shield yourself now, Emma,” Torin hissed while moving between her and Arach.
Clenching her amulet with both hands, Emma tensed, praying the magic wouldn’t fail her. A relieved breath exploded from her lungs as a reflective orb sparkled around her body. Thank goodness. It finally worked. She’d managed to form the protective shield Torin had been trying to show her for weeks.
Spine tingling laughter rumbled from the belly of the beast as he wagged his head to and fro slinging steaming saliva into hissing ropes across the ground. “So the little one truly is a guardian, eh? And a poorly trained one at that. Excellent. I’ve been a bit bored lately. Toying with an inexperienced apprentice should prove quite entertaining.”
“Return to your pit, Arach, and I’ll allow ye to live another eon.” Torin inched closer to the steaming creature, pointing his sword toward the portal. “There is nothing more for ye to enjoy here.”
Arach’s hideous eye slits curled up at the corners as he reared up on his back sets of legs and puffed out the yellowish-green expanse of his chest. “There is much for me here yet to discover, Torin. Now if ye’d prefer, I’ll begin my meal with you.” The two widest scales between the beast’s forearms split open and released a fleshy appendage bulging with red and purple veins. The slime-covered extension shot across the space and wrapped around Torin’s waist. Hooked talons unsheathed from oozing pores scattered along the length of the pulsing tentacle, embedding themselves into Torin’s body.
Torin roared. With his head thrown back and the corded muscles of his neck bulging, he clenched his sword between both hands and hacked at the undulating mass of barbs embedded around his waist.
Protective instinct pumped through every cell of Emma’s body, wiping out any trace of fear. Save him pounded with every beat of her heart. A primeval scream exploded from her throat as she dove forward and pointed tensed hands with fingers outspread at Arach’s head. Another roar ripped from her lips as she released two exploding orbs of jagged, ice-white lightning. Energy surged through her veins. She’d never felt so empowered. “Let him go, you bastard!”
Arach answered by snorting out a blaze of blue flames from his flared nostrils while twisting the talon-covered arm tighter around Torin’s torso.
Emma dropped to the ground. The crackling pop of burning hair sizzled in her ears while the acrid scent of singed curls assaulted her nose. Smothering her flaming tresses with a quick slap of one hand, Emma lobbed another energy blast into Arach’s face with the other. That son of a bitch had shortened her hair to a burnt mess just above her shoulders. Wrinkling her nose, she snorted with disgust. She smelled like a scorched goose.
“Emma!”
Torin’s strained roar alerted her just in time to avoid another volley of exploding flames. She rolled across the trembling earth until she felt the hardness of Torin’s powerful leg thud into her side. Eye-stinging smoke filled the air, blinding her to the surroundings. Pulling her way up Torin’s muscular thigh, she clamped both hands around the stinging tentacle, screaming as the poisonous slime set her flesh on fire. If she could just focus her power into her hands, maybe the undulating rope of flesh would burn in two.
Ignoring the pain searing up her arms, she leaned against Torin’s body and forced her anger into her hands. Arach’s flesh exploded, splattering the air with bloody masses of tentacle, writhing its claws into the soil as soon as the globs plopped back to the ground.
The beast threw back his head and roared with pain as the remainder of the appendage reeled back into its chest. Roiling black smoke shot from the flared nostrils, now foaming with blood-speckled slime.
Torin dove toward Arach’s chest, his glowing sword held above his head. As he brought the blade crashing against the scales of Arach’s neck, the beast closed his jaws around Torin’s waist.
“No!” Emma lunged forward and nearly flipped head over heels when she tried retrieving Torin’s heavy sword that Arach had knocked from his grasp. The blade had embedded deep in the ground and left the haft vibrating in the air.
“Emma, get back!” Torin clamped his hands against Arach’s mouth, straining to pry open the monster’s jaws. His hands glowed, then burst into white hot flames engulfing Arach’s head.
“Torin!” Emma wrenched the sword free of the earth and hauled the blade up against her side. She stumbled forward, struggling with the weight of the blade whose length was half her height. The muscles across her shoulders burned as she wrangled the sword higher against her body. It didn’t matter. She didn’t care if she tore every muscle in her body. She had to free Torin.
Arach edged back toward the portal that had turned into a whirling eddy of sparkling clouds. Emma stared at the undulating gateway. What the hell was going on with that thing? That white hot mess couldn’t be good.
Torin’s face darkened as the strength of the flames spewing from his hands increased and roiled around Arach’s head. As the inferno blazed into a hideous shade of greenish-blue, Arach thrashed Torin back and forth through the air while continuing to shove his multiple stubby legs deep into the muck at his feet. Little by little, he inched his massive body backwards through the gateway.
“Emma,” Torin roared inside her head above the beast’s muffled bellow. “Once Arach clears the last stone, ye must seal the portal. Ye know what to do.”
Emma went limp at this revelation and dropped the sword to her feet. Seal the portal? How? And what about Torin? Was he going to spring himself from Arach’s jaws at the last minute?
“Emma.” Torin writhed in Arach’s unrelenting grasp. “Emma, ye must do as I say without question.”
“What about you?” She forced the words through her fear. A sudden knowing of what his answer would be sank like a weight to the pit of her stomach and sickened her with dread.
“I promise. I will return. Somehow, I will come back for ye, Emma. Trust me. I will find a way.” Torin’s arms bulged, his face contorted with the pain interrupting the words he projected into her mind. “Ye must do it, Emma. There is no other way.”
Burning tears streamed down her face. There had to be another way. As she watched Arach digging his way backwards into the spinning chaos, the realization struck her, forced her to acknowledge the truth she’d known all along. She loved Torin. The ache of losing him ripped a wrenching sob from the depths of her heart. How could she do what he asked? She couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again.
Shaking her head, she fired a useless energy blast against the monster’s scaly sides. The lightning of the hit ricocheted off the oily black tiles and dissipated into a harmless sizzling cloud floating into the air.
“Emma. Do not waste your energy. Ye must use it to seal the gateway. Hold fast just a bit longer.” Torin’s deep voice echoed in her head, breaking her heart with his words.
“I can’t do this. I can’t trap you in there.” Emma sobbed, firing another round of useless orbs against Arach’s glistening sides. “What if you can’t come back to me? I can’t bear never seeing you again.”
“I will come for ye, Emma. Somehow, I will find a way. I swear it with every beat of my heart. Now do it. Seal the gateway.”
Squinting her eyes against blinding tears, Emma slowly raised her hands and extended trembling fingers toward the pair of obelisks. She choked in a sobbing breath and screamed Torin’s name one last time as she forced the pain and sorrow wrenching through her body into an earth shuddering blast of fury.