Dreamwalkers: The Awakening

CHAPTER 23

"Who is that?" Charlie demands.

"He's from the colony. He threatened Emma. This is not good," Zoë answers, trying to stay calm.

"He threatened you?" he barks.

An unnatural heat floods my body as the reality of Ash's presence sinks in. "He doesn't want us to break the curse. He tried to stop me at the colony—"

"He tried to stop her by threatening to kill her!" Zoë interrupts.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before, Emma?"

"He left the colony! Nobody knew where he was. They told me I was safe."

"Well, they were wrong," Zoë chimes in.

With bated breath we stand motionless, waiting to see if Ash or the serpent will be able to penetrate Cardine's barrier. I swallow past the lump in my throat and reach for Charlie's arm.

Leaves rustle on the other side of the enormous serpent, catching my attention. "He's not alone," I gasp, pointing out the presence of two other people.

We band together, seeking safety in numbers. "What do we do?" Zoë asks Cardine, panic lacing her tone.

"Wait to see if they can break my barrier. If they get through, you need to be prepared for a fight."

Ash paces back and forth at the edge of the tree line, his face twisting in frustration and anger. He can't get through.

In spite of the fact that the serpent's head is large enough to encase Ash's entire form, he fearlessly approaches it. Reaching out, he places a hand on the back of the creature. As if responding to his touch, the serpent morphs into the body of an older man. The dark walker. But he's not just the dark walker. He's Ash's father. His jet black hair and freshly shaven face threw me off his trail at the welcome gala. The dark walker always had his eyes shielded from me, and now I know why. His silvery blue irises would have given him away immediately.

"Emma..." Zoë calls to me. "Is that—"

"Yes."

"Okay. This just got a lot worse."

"Alexander," Cardine whispers angrily under her breath. She takes a step closer to the barrier and yells, "I thought I did away with you a hundred years ago!"

He says nothing as he extends his arms in front of him, palms open, facing us. His brow furrows as his mouth contorts into an intense grimace. Bright silver bolts of light shoot from his palms and collide with the barrier, sending all of us flying backwards, onto the grass. Zoë rushes to get back on her feet as I crawl to Cardine to help her up.

Cardine's dome of protection rumbles as the intense flow of counter magic pulsates through it.

In a move of pure domination, Ash walks within inches of the surging bolts of light and steps through the dome, as if it doesn't exist at all.

As he passes through, it fractures, revealing exactly where the barrier stands. The intrusion of a foreign energy source ruptures the dome. Exploding into millions of microscopic fragments, it rains down to the ground like a sandstorm. We shield ourselves, but the act proves unnecessary.

With a magnetic energy, the fragments collect into two swirling twisters. Alexander manipulates them so they hover over his palms. His face covered in an arrogant rage, he laughs as the twisters dissolve into his hands. When they've completely vanished, he releases a purely guttural scream before a burst of bright silver light explodes from his chest, knocking us down as it cuts through the forest, bowing the trees.