Gifted Ones

Chapter 38 Haven

I don't really remember how I got through through the doorway, just the feeling of being pulled forward, like how I imagine it would feel to be sucked down the drain in the bathtub. Then all of the sudden I am back in the maze again, just in a different place. This time it's a cross roads of four passages, each leading in a different direction. And in the center, the point all the paths meet, is a pit. The whole thing is about five feet wide, and the sides are smooth stone, perfectly circular. About twenty yards down, however, there's a shimmery veil that blocks out whatever's behind it. I can make out the dark blue of the night sky, with little clusters of stars all over it. It's some kind of way out. But the hole isn't the most fascinating thing in the room, because hovering just above it, at eye level, is the Blue Amulet of the Gifted Empire.

The base of the sapphire is tapered to a point, and gets larger in diameter closer to its widest edge. Then it tapers again, more gradually, ending in another point where the silver chain connects. The hue is the deepest of royal blues, and almost translucent, while center of the jewel seems to contain a swirling mist, like the inside of a crystal ball in some movie. It's smaller than I would've imagined, only about half the size of my palm. This is why we've come all this way? This is what we've suffered for?

The five of us are spread out evenly around the hole, staring at the Amulet with a kind of awe and amazement, as if we didn't actually expect it to be here. This is it, the end, the finale, the curtain call. With this Amulet, we can destroy Gabriel and protect the rest of the human race from him, and make sure he doesn't try to build up his organization ever again. We've succeeded. We've won.

Garret takes a step forward to take it, and that's when the whole room explodes.

Suddenly I'm on the ground, my back against the wall and a throbbing pain in my wrist. There's a pounding in my head and I look up to see the room full of people, fighting and flying and half Shifting into animals. I see claws and fire and energy all around, accompanied by the screams of people in pain. My blood freezes and I cower against the wall.

One of Gabriel's men grab the Amulet first. He's not a Mage, however, but a Flyer, so he can't use it. As soon as his fingers touch it Morgan crashes into him, ripping it from him and shooting away. But she doesn't get far, because then a lion knocks into, making the Amulet fall into the hands of a Mage below it. The Mage doesn't get time to use it, though, because Kara leaps onto his back in her leopard form, tearing slashing through flesh.

I hear a great roar from Garret, the grizzly, and see him standing over Morgan, her body unmoving. He paces a circle around her, attacking anyone who comes near her. I see blood flowing down from a wound in her neck and pooling out onto the stone beneath her. Even if she's still alive, Garret can't stop to help her or he'll be killed himself.

At that moment a Flyer lands in front of where I crouch in the corner, a knife in his hand. Somehow I manage to roll out of the way just as he thrusts down. I scramble up, dodging a Mage as I'm thrown into the fray. I narrowly avoid being hit by a lightning bolt, and see Chase struggling to defend himself from four other Mages to my right.

Suddenly something slams into my side, and I got the floor with a groan. Kara is in human form again, the Amulet clutched in one hand. She's completely covered in blood. It drips from her hair, and runs down her skin, soaking through her clothes and staining them red. Frantically she shoves the Amulet into my hands, her eyes wild as she screams, "CHASE!!! GIVE IT TO CHASE!!!" And then she's gone, the leopard once again in her place, leaping at a white tiger crouching near her parents.

I whip around to where Chase was fighting a second ago, but the other Mages have him pinned, his arms held behind his back as one of them keeps her hand inches from his head, electricity crackling from her fingers. I back away, turning towards the Anderson's, but Kara's in human form, laying face down on the ground a few feet from her mother. I can see slash marks down her sides and back. Garret is also human now, with multiple people holding him against the wall. There's a man standing behind him with a gun at his back. He's visibly shaking, his eyes fixed on the bodies of his wife and daughter. I'm the only one free now, and I have the Amulet.