THE SOUND OF RAINWATER DRIPPINGinto Lucy McKenna's cell was enough to drive her to the edge of insanity.
She had woken up from her unconscious spell a little over an hour ago, finding herself shackled to an uneven and jagged brick wall which was wet from years of neglect. The slimy mold was brushing against the back of her neck, much to her displeasure, though that wasn't what caused her to be so irritated.
Where was her sister?
Lucy would not show any mercy if her sister somehow ended up dead as a result of this attack. Perhaps the Phoenix was better known than the Pegasus, but few understood that the two were a packaged deal. Never one without the other, they would often say.
Never one without the other.
The brunette blew a strand of hair from her face, leaning her head back against the slimy wall to allow for her thoughts to wander in an attempt to rid herself of the insistent dripping of water. It was almost successful, though she couldn't focus as easily while chained up.
That . . . and she felt rather sick to her stomach.
Lucy dismissed it as adrenaline and shock at being placed in this situation before, but now she was unsure.
She'd not dreamed during her unconscious spell — that was a strange curse she shared with her twin. Neither one dreamed, and if they did, they weren't able to be remembered. It had been that way since they were children.
Lucy supposed that lessened the threat of nightmares to instill fear into their hearts.
Even the thought caused her to chuckle, though it came out as more of a nervous wheeze.
That's when the assassin noticed her trembling. It started small, nearly unnoticeable, but it didn't end until violent shockwaves were shooting through her. She couldn't control her body, and that sent fear to arise in her mind. Her shaking didn't stop, only intensified until she was terrified, sure that she had somehow been poisoned by a weapon that struck her earlier.
A warm glow had started to form in her chest, now burning with every breath she took. Gasping, she lurched forward, snarling as she grew dizzy, and there was a fuzzy feeling inside her mind, one that was less than welcome.
A brilliant flash of light, soundless and magnificent, claimed her sight for a few moments. She heard crows outside scream and cry out in unison, and some dogs that roamed the streets at night howled like wolves. The silent night was alive with the cacophony of screaming beasts, and then the light faded, leaving her tingling in the darkness.
Lucy's ears were ringing, and the numbness from her cold hands had faded until it was tingling with an unusual warmth which wasn't natural for the current situation. She lifted her head, spitting out the nasty bile which had come up from her stomach during her moment of nausea. Her stomach twisted, and for a moment she feared she would throw up completely when her face was filled with that undeniable feeling she'd grown used to in her childhood.
Her first instinct after recovering from the initial shock of such a strange reaction was to move her hand toward her face, to wipe away the sweat beading on her brow, but due to her current situation, doing so was nearly impossible.
Lucy pushed the electrical feeling away and shifted her position, utterly confused as she lifted her gaze to watch the door. Her dark blue eyes — which now felt heavy, as though she had not slept in days — scanned the shadows of the cell.
The young woman shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck in discomfort at the static feeling coursing through her veins. She didn't feel good, not at all. She felt ready to vomit at any second, and when her gut clenched, she rolled over as much as possible to get whatever the hell disagreed with her out of her system.
Her blue gaze was mere inches away from golden eyes glimmering from the shadows.
The girl shrieked, then clamped her jaws shut and rolled back over, scooting rather ungracefully to press her back firmly against the wall as the thing came out of the shadows and into the torchlight.
The Pegasus sucked in a breath.
It was massive — double in normal length at least. Fur the color of the afternoon sun's rays coated the enormous beast, fur that looked to be as deadly as fire.
A lion.
Now, nothing fazed the pegasus assassin much anymore, but in that second, Lucy nearly fainted right then out of sheer fright.
She hated lions.
Their stocky bodies and sharp fangs reminded her all too well of a time long before now, when she and her sister had worked a job in Nilo. Lucy considered that one to be the worst mission of all, for a rogue lioness had attacked them in the darkness of a tent, dragging the brunette from her shelter and into the night. She would have died if Jacquelyn hadn't been there to execute it.
And now, the elder twin walked with a permanent and noticeable limp — a problem for an assassin, as she had come to learn later on.
She hated lions, loathed and feared them, so why was one currently standing in the darkness of her prison?
It had piercing golden eyes that stared right into her soul, and it didn't look away as it stalked toward her, the shadows rippling across its body.
Hallucinations. She immediately thought, blinking rapidly.You are hallucinating. There's no freaking way that a lion is sharing your cell.
Lucy had never been the subject of hallucinations. Those were always something her sister talked about — as the redhead sparsely suffered from them as a result of her minor schizophrenia , though recently had been doing better. It never occurred to the pegasus that perhaps she might also have it.
But there was no way in hell she was seeing clearly, because this enormous creature had just appeared from nowhere. Her cell was small — she'd have noticed if it had been there the whole time.
The lion halted a few paces away, staring at her with such intensity, such . . . contempt. Her heart was racing, though once she realized it, she inhaled slowly to calm the insistent beat, trying to relax.
If she relaxed, her mind would ease and this would go away. It had to go away. It couldn't be real.
The beast opened its mouth in a yawn, and the girl had to bite down on her tongue to keep from screaming. Its canines had to be at least six inches long and as sharp as knives. She glanced down at its monstrous paws, each one armored with claws that reached over three inches. It was a monster, and the longer she stared at it, the more she realized that this was indeed a living, breathing lion.
"No . . . this can't, you aren't — " She stumbled over her words as she attempted to scoot back rather ungracefully, not taking her eyes off the creature in front of her. "Go away!" The chains shackling her wrist rattled as she moved, clanging against the wall in a senseless cacophony. She sounded like a terrified child, but at that moment, she didn't care. It was a predator that could swallow her in a single bite, and then use her bones to pick its six inch long teeth. She swore that she was about to have a panic attack if this thing took a step towards her.
Lions were terrible. They were cruel and predatory and had no love of people. This one had just appeared . . . appeared so brilliantly she would have assumed she'd summoned a spirit animal had she been the right age.
Lucy lifted her eyes to gaze at the lion, meeting its calm golden eyes. Swallowing the fear that threatened to consume her, she scooted towards the creature. Very slowly. As far as the chains would allow her to.
It prowled toward her, muscles rippling through its yellowish-golden pelt, and shoved its muzzle into her stomach. As soon as it made contact with her body, it was as though something snapped into place.
Her cell suddenly felt so confining, so small, even though it was big enough to house this enormous animal. She had the impression that if she desired, she could break down those steel bars, rip through these shackles which restricted her, and be free beneath the warm sun again.
The lion growled deeply and pulled away, which brought her back from the bewildering rush of instincts. Lucy straightened, hardly able to believe what was happening. The animal in front of her could kill her with a single bite, and yet it now stood a few strides away, staring at her intently, and rather coldly.
With her body more relaxed than before, and her heart having returned to its normal pace, the assassin was able to examine the beast before her. It was a male, as she was now able to comprehend, with a thick mane of golden fur and a dark rustic-yellow coat that seemed to shine silver in the pale moonlight leaking into her cell.
Pegasus was unable to make sense of it all. Had she truly summoned a spirit animal?
And of all beasts . . . a lion?
Not only was this the one animal she'd rather sit on a hot grill than spend more than thirty seconds within a mile radius of, it was also physically impossible to bond with one.
In the great world of Erdas, bonding to a spirit animal was a rare gift only a few could achieve. But there were limits to that grand bond — and there were animals known to not show up in the magic. Fifteen, to be exact. Fifteen grand animals who were said to watch over the world and protect it. From what Lucy remembered, six of those fifteen had fallen in a war many years ago.
Their names were lost to her, as she didn't care much for stories. A wolf from Eura, a leopard from Nilo, a panda from Zhong, and a falcon from Amaya. They'd died protecting their world, and then came an eagle and a lion, who held off the enemy and died before the other beasts arrived to finish it.
The four original fallen were revered as patron beasts of their respective lands, and their symbols flew upon flags to represent the continent that once housed them. But the eagle and the lion were never honored for their sacrifice, and were known as the Forgotten by those who still cared about their sacrifice.
According to legends, no spirit animal could be the same species as a Great Beast. So animals such as elk, cobras, gorillas, swans, and lions were among those unable to be summoned into the bond.
So if the Pegasus had summoned a spirit animal, why was it an oversized lion? It defied everything she knew about the very fabric of the bond.
The lion growled low in his throat, angling his ears back suddenly as though he heard something out in the hall beyond the door. As Lucy strained, she also became aware of it — the unmistakable sound of soft footfalls echoing through the corridor.
Her body went instinctively tense again, as her gaze flickered between the door and the giant cat which was now sitting against the other wall of the cell. How in the name of the stars was she supposed to explain this to the guards?
She listened as the footsteps grew louder, until they halted just outside her cell. There was a moment of silence, before the sound of a key being pushed into the lock. A loud and ominous click sounded, and the door was pushed open, revealing not any of the guards Lucy had seen. Instead there stood a young woman, clearly in her twenties or even late teens, with long dark brown hair. Draped around her shoulders was a cloak the color of wild wood moss, which immediately caused the assassin to raise an eyebrow.
"Who in the hell are you?"
The woman shook her head, completely ignoring the growling lion as she approached the chained girl. "I don't have time to explain. We need to get you out of here fast."
She pulled out another key from the folds of her cloak, making quick work of the shackles to free the other girl. It didn't take long for Lucy to spring lightly to her feet and back away from the stranger, glaring at her coldly. "I don't know who you are or what you stand for, but I'm not going anywhere with you. Especially not without my partner."
Lucy bolted from the small cell, looking up and down the corridor and clenching her fists at her side. The woman and the lion had followed her and watched as she silently determined which way to go. Her sister had to be in one of these cells.
A distant shriek of some bird echoed down the hall, which to Lucy's surprise caused both the giant cat and the stranger to tense up.
"Is your partner Marked by any chance?"
Lucy scoffed, turning around to face her. "Of course not. Assassins don't have spirit animals. They're weaknesses."And targets.
Behind her, the lion growled.
The woman shook her head. "There's only one other person locked up down here." She elegantly strode down the hall in one direction, her green cloak flowing out behind her.
Glancing sideways at the lion, the assassin followed hesitantly, keeping her distance from both as they turned the corner and came to a cell which settled at the end of an even darker hallway. The woman pulled out the key once again and unlocked the heavy metal door, pushing it open as though prepared to enter. However, she had no chance to do so before a massive ball of bronze feathers struck her in the face, knocking her back aggressively.
Lucy watched from the shadows, narrowing her eyes as whatever it was hobbled off the stunned woman and flapped unevenly around the small corridor like a cornered animal. She was able to tell that it was some sort of eagle after a moment of consideration, though it was larger than normal — similarly to the lion now standing at the end of the hall.
The woman got to her feet, shaking her head to clear the daze from her mind, before she looked toward the eagle. A new expression crossed her features, and she looked toward Lucy. "If your partner is in there, then something is very wrong."
That was all the brunette assassin needed to hear. She pushed off the wall and shoved past the stranger, entering the cell while looking around to catch any sight of the redhead she loved so dearly.
Her heart stopped dead in her chest.
"Phoenix!" She rushed toward the figure hanging limply in the middle of the cell, chains locked around her ankles which held her in a dangerous position suspended from the ceiling. That single eye was close, and even in the dim light, Lucy was able to see the flushed red color of her sister's face. The girl spun to face the other woman who had entered behind her, the eagle wrapped and swaddled in the green cloak no longer draped around her shoulders.
Without saying anything, she snatched the key from her hands and began to work at unlocking the chains binding her sister's ankles, feeling pure and nasty rage crawl up her spine. Once Jacquelyn was free, the elder twin gently lowered her down to the ground, holding her head up in order to regulate the flow of blood once again.
Lucy did everything in her power to keep her face void of any emotion as she cradled her little sister in her arms, reminding herself that assassins didn't show affection to anyone in public. She could feel the gentle heartbeat of Jacquelyn, a relief to her as it was a signal that she was merely unconscious.
They were twins, and their bond ran deeper than any other. As their father always said, there was no blood bond greater than that between twins.
The unfamiliar woman sighed deeply. "You both need to come with me."
"Why?" The brunette assassin demanded, keeping her gaze on her kin and waiting for her to rouse. "We don't know you. Why are you here?"
"My name is Viatrix," the older woman replied. "I'm a Greencloak and one of the Marked, tasked with finding you."
Lucy scoffed. "You don't want anything to do with us. You've got the wrong girls."
"I don't think I do." Viatrix stepped closer, the eagle still wrapped in her cloak. "I've come for the summoners of Halawir and Cabaro."
She rolled her eyes. "Look, lady. We haven't summoned anything, and if we had, they certainly aren't named yet. Get lost."
"They don't need to be named. The beasts who accompany you are already named, and they've returned for a reason."
What part of 'get lost' does this creep not understand?"I'm sure that reason doesn't involve me or Phoenix." Her sister's eye stressed, and Lucy immediately went quiet, waiting for her to open up and look at her. "Phoenix?" She whispered.
Jacquelyn groaned quietly, forcing her eye open and looking up at the brunette assassin. A flash of teeth, and the redhead smiled. "Hey, Pegs."
Viatrix inhaled sharply. "Your partner will be fine. She's awake, and probably just has a headache. But listen to me now: we have to go. There are others who will be after you if I don't take you back to our stronghold. Like it or not, these beasts have put a target on your backs if you didn't have one already."
Lucy helped her sister to sit up, pursing her lips as the lion strolled over to sit beside them, almost taunting her with his presence. Jacquelyn grunted, eyeing the cat warily. "Friend of yours?"
"I'm really not that friendly." The brunette replied. "It just appeared."
"That sounds delightful." Her sister snorted, rubbing her head with a clawed hand. "I assume the screaming ball of feathers is mine?"
"According to this so-called Greencloak."
Viatrix pinched the bridge of her nose, looking slightly irritated. "The animals are yours. The impossible has been achieved. The two of you have summoned Halawir the Eagle and Cabaro the Lion back into the world, fulfilling a prophecy written in the bones of soldiers who died ending their lives. The fallen Great Beasts are returning to Erdas, and you've been bound to them."
As Jacquelyn pushed herself to her feet, Lucy did the same, glowering at the other woman. "Then go ahead and take the animals. They aren't wanted anyway."
Her sister nodded in agreement, standing on her own despite the slight tilt in her posture. "We can take care of ourselves."
"Rejecting your spirit animals isn't an option." Viatrix retorted. "Many have tried and failed. The bond is permanent until death, some believe even beyond that. I cannot take them and leave you. You're packaged deals."
Jacquelyn gritted her teeth. "Well that sounds like a problem for you to solve. We have places to be."
The Greencloak shook her head. "You both must come with me. If I don't bring you in, someone else might try, or do even worse and get rid of you. This is so much bigger than you could ever imagine."
"You expect us to drop everything and follow you to an undisclosed location with little to no explanation as to why, all because we summoned a turkey and an overgrown housecat?"
"It is for your safety and the safety of the Forgotten Fallen." Viatrix responded.
Lucy ground her teeth. "Let me speak to my partner alone."
The Greencloak hesitantly nodded, and the two assassins watched as she turned to walk out of the cell they were standing in, presumably to wait in the hallways for their answer.
Once she had gone, Lucy turned fully to face her sister, hands clenched at her sides. "I can't believe this." She growled, glancing over her shoulder. "Great Beasts — bound to us? Does this make any sense?"
"Not a bit." Jacquelyn commented, closing her eye as though she were suffering from a migraine.
"Do you trust her?"
The redhead snorted. "I don't trust anyone." Her gaze lifted. "But we've never met a Greencloak, have we?"
"Mmm, perhaps not." Lucy agreed.
Jacquelyn tilted her head slightly. "So how do we proceed?"
"Don't you see?" The Pegasus raised a hand and pressed her fist to her sister's chest. "According to this, we've summoned legends, we've accomplished the impossible."
"You and I, Lu, two tragedies — assassins under the Hell of Silver Ice who rule two worlds." Jacquelyn's single eye was glittering dimly in the light. "A world of swords as well as a world of thrones. And now. . . now we've proved to Erdas that they cannot stand against us, cannot tear us apart. They never have been, and never will be able to do that."
The Pegasus saw in her eye the malice mixed with mystery, and found herself smiling. "So why don't we show Erdas what these twotragediesare capable of?"
Arm-in-arm, the twins walked out of the cell to find Viatrix leaning against the far wall of the hallway, gripping in her arms the cloak which snared the eagle bound to Jacquelyn. When they reentered the hall, the Greencloak looked up.
"We will go with you," Lucy announced, crossing her arms as she halted a few paces away.
"But, we won't be taking any of your weird vows," Jacquelyn added, her eye squinted as the light of the torches seemed to worsen her headache. "Our loyalty is already tethered, and we won't compromise that for your secret cult."
"I figured as much from two of the most notorious assassins of this generation," Viatrix responded. "Perhaps even the smart option. The green cloak would make you give up much more than just killing, though I doubt you'd allow for those laws to hold you down." She examined the worn fabric of her green cloak, "After all, we know very well that a tiger can't change its stripes."
