Guardians Of The Zodiac

Chapter 18

Iris' theory about the storm guiding us in one direction was confirmed whenever we diverged from the path and the lightning would force us back onto it. With every lightning bolt that sputtered the dirt around us the sound of thunder drumming against the sky grew louder and the vibration in my chest intensified.

Ryder went to reach for me to keep me closer to him but while looking out for me his foot got stuck in a mud puddle and he fell face first into the sludge. I grabbed hold of him as I kept my momentum though and used it to yank him back onto his feet. He was then the one stumbling behind me.

"I can sense something up ahead! Prepare yourselves!" Iris warned but then she came to a short stop which caused me to run right into her and Ryder right into me.

"Iris, what is it?" Ryder asked as we all regained our balance.

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right," she spoke so quietly I could barely hear her.

When we looked around her we saw we had reached the edge of the woods and in front of us was a large clearing with some scattered stones and boulders.

"Iris, take me up for an aerial view," I ordered.

She grabbed me by my hands and lifted me into the air and when we got high enough I noticed how this open field looked like it was decimated into a perfect circle with trees surrounding the perimeter and inside the circle the stones stood as markers. With the markers being the center I was able to make out different symbols representing the Zodiac Houses scorched into the grass and dirt. Further in the circle were the four elemental signatures of each House—Water, Air, Fire and Earth—and then in the very center was a smaller circle that had what looked like the image of a snake. In the rest of the empty space within this giant circle were letters, or more symbols, that I had never seen before.

"See anything good?" Ryder called up to us.

"Iris, set me down and then fly back up to take pictures to send to Trinkette and Serena,"

"Well?" Ryder asked again as Iris landed me right in front of him and flew back into the sky to do as she was told.

"It's a magic circle."

"A magic circle for what?"

"I don't know. But something is definitely going on here. I think we should reconvene with the others and for now use the trees as coverage."

"Good plan. Hey, Iris!" Ryder yelled up to her.

But before she could even look back at us, a bolt of lightning struck her right out of the sky.

"Iris!" I screamed and went to run out into the open.

"Tara, wait!" Ryder reached out for me as we both entered the circle.

But I couldn't even make it two feet without my whole body feeling like it was literally being set on fire. At first I thought it was because my own magic essence was flaring out of control but then I realized it was because Ryder's essence was the one that was out of control. As soon as he grabbed my wrist our essences collided in an astronomical sort of way and it caused an explosion which forced us both away from each other. I flew across the field and tumbled into a boulder that acted as one of the markers.

I hugged my burnt wrist close to my chest and bit my lip hard to keep from yelling as blood dripped down my arm. When the smoke began to settle I was able to make out three figures walking toward me and it didn't take much for me to figure out who it was.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you," Stanton spoke first.

"I could say the same about you three," I pushed myself back up to my feet. "What happened to the other mages that traveled here? What are you all planning and what don't you want us to know?"