Page 22 of When Death Called Life Home (When Deities Awaken #1)

Chapter 22

Ambush

ALORA

A gentle hand shook Alora awake after what could only be a couple hours of sleep. She brushed it off and rolled away, burrowing deeper into the blankets. A deep chuckle caressed her ears and bribed her away from sleep's warm and welcome embrace. Though it could only be a fool’s deal, Alora peeked her eyes open and glanced over her shoulder to find Ascian watching her with an amused gaze. He stood already fully dressed with his scythe attached to his back, but his hood remained off in the privacy of his room.

“We need to leave, amorsa, before Osiris returns,” Ascian hummed kindly.

A fool's deal, indeed. Alora didn’t wish to swap the cosy bed for the back of Ascian’s puma quite yet, but she also didn’t wish to face the wrath of Osiris.

Would he even care to aim it at her? She knew the answer the moment the question finished in her mind. Yes. Men always directed their anger towards those they thought wouldn’t stand a chance. What stronger way to keep their ego inflated?

Alora pulled herself from the bed and stretched her arms above her head, then rolled her head to both sides. Joints cracked into the quiet space. Her muscles ached with relief. She stood and pulled on the coat that Ascian held out for her. It fit perfectly, too perfectly. Almost like…

“It’s one of the ones you left here before your disappearance,” Ascian explained. He picked up a second bag with his newly freed hand, lifting it and nodding towards it at the same time. “As well as some other items of clothing you left here.”

Alora’s gaze fell to the bag, lips parting. “You kept them?”

Ascian cleared his throat, his arm dropping back to his side. “I had a feeling you weren’t gone. I know the gravestone probably says otherwise.”

Alora closed the distance between them and hooked her fingers around the handle of the bag, her skin pressing against Ascian’s. “Thank you.”

A heaviness grew in the air around them. Alora lifted her gaze to meet his and found embers flaring within the grey. She found her focus shifting to his lips and the soft curve they’d attained since being behind his closed bedroom door. How might they feel against her own? Would he taste as delectable as he looked?

A twitch of Ascian’s finger against hers and Alora snapped herself from the trace, swallowing and gently pulling the bag from his grip. “I can carry it.”

Ascian didn’t argue with her, but she saw the reluctance in his hesitation. The fight to not remove the bag from her grip again. Instead, he nodded and motioned towards his door. “Do you remember the way to Maelo’s room?”

Maelo . Alora almost closed her eyes and brought back the memory of her hug. The tightness and security she’d felt within her arms. It was nothing like that of Rosalie’s. Rosalie’s was a spiked heart rate and breathlessness, whereas Maelo’s was a warm stomach and a steady rhythm.

She knew her. She remembered her. Her best friend, second to one other.

When the hug brought back that familiarity, and the knowledge of knowing who Maelo was to her, Alora had hoped perhaps she’d needed to remain close to Ascian to remember him, too. It’s what she told herself as to why she’d asked him to stay the previous night. What her brain conjured up as reasoning behind the otherwise scandalous action.

Did she know her way back to Maelo’s room without tortured flesh calling for her, though?

“No,” Alora answered simply. There was no explanation she could provide to how she didn’t know a path she’d taken twice now.

Ascian looked at her with a tilted head, curiosity clear in his eyes. “Go out the door and to the left.”

Alora followed his directions and didn’t question them. She felt his presence behind her rather than heard his footsteps. She had to concentrate hard enough to hurt the back of her eyes when she tried to listen for his footsteps, so she settled on knowing his presence was right behind her.

They didn’t go far, and it wasn’t until Alora stopped at a door that she realised Ascian never gave her any more instructions after the first. She frowned and looked back to see a smug little smirk on his lips. Lips she most certainly did not wish to kiss.

“Did you just…?”

Ascian shook his head, that smirk growing wider. “No, amorsa, that was all you and your muscle memory.”

“But…” Alora turned her attention back to the door. She’d been about to say, ‘ but I’ve only been here once,’ but she knew that was false. She couldn’t pull forward the exact memories, but she’d walked that path hundreds of times before she’d left Elysia. Maybe if she banged her head against the wall it’d shake the memories loose.

Ascian reached around her and knocked lightly on the door, his warmth and scent wrapping around Alora as she subconsciously leaned into him. She corrected herself as soon as she realised but didn’t miss the satisfaction that flashed on Ascian’s face. He was enjoying her traitorous body a little too much.

The door swung open before them to a bedraggled Emilia who, upon laying her eyes on Alora, tackled her into an embrace that sent them flying across the hall and into the opposing wall. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

Alora gingerly wrapped her arms back around Emilia, rubbing her back slowly. “Here I was thinking you hated me.”

“Hate you?” Emilia pulled back and took Alora in, a scowl contorting her elegant features. “I could never. You’re my sister, Alora. You create an unladylike wrath within me some days, but I’d never hate you.”

“Adopted sister,” Alora corrected quietly, though Emilia waved her off.

A throat cleared across from them, and they both looked up to discover Maelo and Ascian watching them. The latter with a raised eyebrow.

“Shall we get going?” He asked, amusement lacing his tone.

Emilia pulled herself up, allowing Alora to stand with the help of Ascian who gripped her arm until she was upright. His thumb brushed over her skin as he pulled his hand away and moved down the hallway. Alora followed after him, Emilia sticking close to her while Maelo followed at the back. Their guardian’s walked next to their respective partners.

Emilia’s gaze drifted towards Basilius multiple times as they left the Golden Grotto, her jaw working, but she refrained from saying anything. Alora slowly slipped her arm through Emilia’s. The other woman relaxed into the physical contact and pulled Alora closer. Alora didn’t fight it.

It was nice having someone she remembered from Earth, someone she had memories with over a long span of time and knowing none were missing. Even with Maelo, Alora felt gaps in her mind. Though, perhaps gaps was not the right word. Multiple voids where memories should be.

“Wait here,” Ascian murmured back at them. He ducked out the entrance with his puma, disappearing for mere seconds before his hand reappeared and motioned for them to come out. Alora went first, her arm sliding from Emilia’s until Emilia caught her hand and gingerly followed her.

They walked out to an empty clearing and a rushing river. Ascian stood beside his guardian, stretching his hand out for Alora. “Emilia, you’ll ride with Maelo.”

Emilia’s grip on Alora’s hand tightened, eyes darting between her and Ascian. Alora offered her a small smile and said, “You can trust them, Em. I promise.”

“How are you so sure about that?” Emilia asked her, fear wavering her voice.

Alora considered the question, racking her brain for any answer that would make sense to Emilia. Nothing she did ever truly made sense to her sister, not since the day her earthly parents took her in. Alora glanced over at Ascian, her lips shifting into a soft smile.

“Because I know they’ll likely be punished for not telling their Elders about me, and they still choose not to,” she answered. The term ‘elders’ falling from her tongue in such a natural way, surprised her. She still couldn’t fathom why she was so important, and she didn’t think Ascian knew either, but still he risked his life to protect hers.

Emilia pursed her lips, Maelo’s fingertips grazing her arm bringing her attention away from Alora. Emilia stared at Maelo for a brief moment, wheels turning within her mind. She finally let out a sigh and released Alora’s hand, joining Maelo on her guardian.

Alora closed the gap between herself and Ascian, climbing on the back of his puma and wrapping her arms around Ascian’s torso. He waited until he was sure Emilia had a good hold on Maelo before taking off in a different direction than Alora had ever previously been.

The forest around them darkened as the canopy overhead thickened. Bird’s whistles were muffled as they sat or flew above the canopy, the grass below them thick and dark green. It wasn’t quite as long as the other areas. No sun for it to reach for. Shade offered a chill across Alora’s skin, pleasant at the peak of the day. Less so the longer they travelled and the closer they got to nightfall.

Flaming sunlight appeared ahead of them through an opening in the foliage. Only a few more metres and she’d feel the warmth on her back again.

The warmth didn’t arrive. Instead, Alora felt herself pushed sideways, flying. She desperately reached for Ascian, for Ascian’s puma, for Basilius. Anything to grab a hold of, and failed miserably as her back slammed into a large tree trunk. Her vision blurred, dark shapes leaving the hidden cover of the bushes. The others weren’t far from her, and Basilius immediately leapt towards her the moment his paws touched the ground again.

Alora reached her hand for him once more, her fingers finding his soft coat. He stepped over her body, muscles tensed and ready to attack if he needed to. Alora looked past him, towards Ascian and his guardian, desperately trying to see if they were okay. They were descendants of Gods, right? Surely Ascian could survive being thrown. And Maelo. But Emilia, oh Gods .

Alora shoved her arms beneath her and lifted herself up, looking back to where Emilia and Maelo should’ve been. There, pale arms gripped in hands dripped with blood, lay Emilia with Maelo desperately healing whatever wounds she’d accumulated from the attack.

Alora gritted her teeth and shifted her feet behind her, using Basilius to steady herself as she stood. She caught Ascian doing the same from the corner of her eye. If Alora didn’t know better, the change in the puma would’ve made her think the beast feral. She knew better now. What Alora witnessed, what the beast felt and Alora mimicked within herself, was pure rage.

An ambush. That’s what this was. A weak attack that Alora would ensure they never made the mistake of making again. She felt the butterflies in her mind awaken with the forest around her, the neuron’s in her brain linking to that of the cells of every plant she could see. They waited, poised for the moment she gave a command. As though a switch had flicked in her and she remembered what it was like to be a born Elysian. A Reaper of her own making.

“Where’s Kallias, Ascian?” The leader spoke with his own rage pushing the words. They barely looked at Alora, only focusing on the reaper who moved closer to her, his guardian with him. He put himself in front of her, a barrier to the assailants. “Tell us, and we might just let you live.”

Ascian scoffed, reaching for his scythe and pulling it from his back. “It wouldn’t make a difference to his outcome were I to tell you his whereabouts. He made his deathbed, now he has to lay in it.”

Alora’s stomach churned, the butterflies faltering until she reminded herself of Kallias’ words. You’re leverage. He didn’t even bother to tell you he’s your biological brother. You mean nothing to him.

The male raised a brow at the scythe, chuckling darkly. “What’re you gonna do, Reaper? You’re outnumbered. We’ll kill you and your?—.”

His sentence ended abruptly as his gaze met Alora’s, his mouth remaining open. The others around him followed his gaze at his silence. An eerie restlessness washed over the group. Their leader freed himself from his stupor and jutted his chin towards her. “Take her.”

“No!” Ascian growled the word as three from the group started forwards, their focus locked on Alora. Ascian swung his scythe, catching one of the three across his torso and spilling his organs onto the ground before him. The two others paused, reassessing. “Maelo, get her out of here!”

“I’m not leaving you.” The words left Alora before she registered them crossing her tongue. She meant them, too. She wouldn’t leave him to be beaten to a bloody pulp. Not again. Not after he nearly died the previous time.

“Maelo,” Ascian warned, but with a single thought vines wrapped around Maelo’s ankles and prevented her from moving.

“I’m. Not. Leaving. You,” Alora ground back.

A whisper flowed through the leaves of the trees, travelling the veins of each plant and they reached the group of Vitarce. The leader stiffened, gaze travelling up and down Alora. “On second thought, kill her , and take him.”

The group moved as one towards them. Five aimed for Ascian, while four for Alora. Their leader remained where he stood, watching.

Alora called to the butterflies in her mind, ice biting into her hands as daggers formed and solidified. She followed her instincts, keeping them down until two of the four were close enough. Alora slashed one of the daggers upwards diagonally, feeling the resistance hit the moment it entered the vitarce’s chest. Their hands flew up and gripped the weapon, lips parted in an attempt to draw in air before Alora yanked the blade out and slammed it towards the next vitarce’s throat. This one caught the dagger before it could sink into their flesh, blood dripping from the new cut across their palm as they fought against Alora’s strength. She bared her teeth and shoved more weight behind the movement. A vine from the tree above them snaked down and wrapped around the vitarce’s wrist, giving Alora enough leeway to slice off their thumb and then cut their throat in two swift moves.

Her gaze shifted to the next two but found them hanging from two other vines, their bodies thrashing and clawing at the plant in an effort to restore oxygen flow to their lungs. Alora walked between them and sliced the backs of their ankles with her daggers before turning her focus to Ascian.

Her energy and strength faltered. He kneeled before her with the leader Vitarce's dagger at his throat. A threat, should she move closer. His guardian crouched at his side, unable to move with a spear tip pressed to her head.

“I see you haven’t forgotten how to fight, Little Vaine.”

Alora let her daggers melt away from her hands. The Vitarce leader removed his own dagger a mere inch from Ascian’s throat. It was all Alora needed, though. She tilted her head, commanding two butterflies to mimic that of the spear aimed at the puma’s head. The materials to create them pulled from the large tree behind her.

“It’s Lexington now,” she replied.

The spears whistled past her, landing right in the middle of the leader Vitarce’s face, and the one who threatened the puma. They stood, frozen in time, then gravity returned and they tumbled to the forest floor. Alora snapped her gaze to the remaining few, each one taking a step back and then sprinting for the cover of the forest.