Legends - A Devil's Daughters Crossover - Book One (Published)

What Hides In The Dark

***

"Vina?"
"Mal?" She called back in a whisper.
"Who?"
It was Lync, he was here. "Lync?" She whispered again, and felt a hand upon her shoulder.
"Vina? Oh, Vina!" He let out a huge sigh of relief, "Are you hurt? What happened? How did you get way over here?"
"I'm fine Baby!"
"You fell thirty feet!" He seemed so shocked, so worried, and so relieved."It took me longer than I'd hoped to find a passage that led down here, wherever here, is?"
"No, clue!" Navina mumbled,trying to sit up against the rock wall. "But, we're not alone!"
"I know! I saw the caravan pass a few minutes ago, whoever they are, they're moving fast!" He told her, coming to sit down beside her.
"I missed you!" She let out, and he kissed her forehead.
"For a whole thirty minutes? I'm touched, Babe, really!"
"Maybe, not so much, anymore!" She cocked a brow at him, and let his lips press against hers.
Her body flared, the heat rising, but this was not the place to experience the sinful pleasures, not at all.
"We need to get to Kember!"He said, rising from where he sat, and pulling her up beside him."You scared the shit out of me..."
"Probably wouldn't have made it, if it were for that female!"
He stopped short, tugging her arm to she spun to face him in the little light they had. "What female?"
He looked so concerned, his eyes narrowing in on hers, that sparkle no longer hidden in the shades of green, but gleaming before her as if they were searching through her thoughts. But would he believe her? Or think she had gone mad?
"Never mind!" She sighed, and rubbed at her eyes, "Probably just hallucinating again!"
He wasn't buying it, and holding her steady, he tilted her chin and kissed her, long and hard. She had to gasp for breath when he released her, her legs like jelly beneath her weight.
"I, love you, Vina! And I will not stand by and watch you suffer alone. I know there are things that you can see, things that only your kind can know, but I have to know them too, if I have any hope in keeping you safe... even from yourself!"
Damn, he had a way with his words, and she was melting fast. She knew he meant well, but he already worried so much, if he knew...
More footsteps approached, and like the vermin around them, they scurried to the next crawlspace to wait for them to pass. Hiding away, as hundreds more Shoohk passed by, Navina shuddered as their voices dug deep into her mind. It was all she could do, to hold herself together, she closed her eyes and...

Crisp, calm meadows, tall trees and a brook that wound itself through them. It was beautiful, it was peaceful, and it was far away from the terror that had held her captive only moments ago. This was a place, like others, hidden in the recesses of her mind. A place she had remembered from a happier time, a place where she had been young, and free. Nothing could touch her here, so deep in her own mind, barricaded from the chaos of the outside world, nothing but happy thoughts and warm wishes, floating on the breeze.
Far off in the distance, she could see the tiny villages, the puffs of smoke, billowing up from their tiny little chimneys. People lived there, though she knew not who, she had never visited, never ventured further than the brook that lay before her, but they seemed happy, they seemed to enjoy living here. And so, this was where she would come, to escape the abnormalities that life had thrown her way, to find herself, and the will to keep going, this, was her sanctuary.
Staring off, beyond the tiny villages, and the winding river to the east, she watched as the sun rose above the mountain tops, and gazed upon the winged souls as they flew about the clouds. What she wouldn't give to sprout wings of her own, to soar into the skies above and forget about the worries that plagued those who were forced to roam on land. Almost anything...
'Vina?' His words cut through the serenity that flowed all around her, and she saw the vast hills disappearing, the villages fading away as the darkness came crashing back to her.
Her world was falling apart, and the voices of those nasty little beasties, kept echoing in her head.
'Vina? I'm here! I got you!'
But it was no use, she was hurdling back towards that planet covered in sand, back to the caves with those hideous looking warriors, back to the slugs that they worshiped so...
And then she saw ships. Hundreds of ships in all shapes and sizes, gearing up for what looked, like war. Insid and Shoohk roamed their corridors, while others barked orders from the shadows.
'Vina? Listen tome, it's okay, I got you!'

"Vina?" He called to her again, though his voice was louder this time,closer.
"Lync?" She let out, her voice cold and shaky as she took in the silent darkness around them.
"They've gone!" He told her, holding her tight against his chest.
"I'm sorry! I must have..."
"It was beautiful! But then, everything you create is beautiful!" He smiled and kissed her forehead.
What had he said? First the female, and now this?
"What was beautiful?" She inquired, burying her face in his chest.
"Your dream!" He replied, helping her to her feet.
"You, saw it?" She let out. "You, you were there?"
The look in his eyes, and on his face... He had been there, and she could still see traces of it in his gaze.
"There, and that other place..."
His words sent a chill right through her. "You saw the planet covered in sand?"
"I felt that sand beneath my feet, and watched those ships pass overhead! Those very same ships, that are hanging about in orbit as we speak!" He sighed, "What are they, Vina?"
There was no denying it now, he practically knew, and the worry was only going to get worse.
"Insid!" She replied, "Like the ones that attacked the beach house!"
"But they look nothing like those little... fur covered monstrosities!"
"The ships are from Insidia, though I don't know how, or when they were built. And those little fur balls, are called Shoohk. Nasty little teddy bears with teeth and claws!" She explained as best she could.
"And Mal?" He inquired. "Who's he?"
"She!" Navina corrected him,"Though I love the look of jealousy on you, Mal, is a she! The female!"
"I didn't see any female!"
"Long blonde hair, armor that shines, and an attitude like you wouldn't believe!"Navina sighed, as he half helped her walk, half carried her along this new passage.
"Eyes like the stars, huge sword?" Lync chuckled, "I thought I was crazy at first, but I think I know who you're talking about!"
"Seriously?"
"I think it was her, the one who helped me and Kember that night at the beach party!" He looked at her, with his 'don't judge me' look.
"And you're just telling me this now?" Navina felt like she could hit him, but she couldn't.
She couldn't do much of anything without his help at the moment. That fall had taken a lot out of her, and she was sure she had a broken rib or two. But what bothered her the most, was that Lync had shared her vision. What if he could share others? What if it drove him as crazy as it did her?
"I know, it's all messed up! I don't know what's real anymore; except you!" He pulled her closer and kissed her again. "Let's get out of here."

***

"Dobins is right above us according to the map we stole from that sub station back there!" Lync told her, as he looked up at the man hole above them. "What do you think?"
"If it smells better than down here, I'm in!" She smiled back at him, and took hold of the first rung.
Now the plan, had been to hightail it up that ladder, skip across the road and dodge their way through a couple backyards to the school. That's, not exactly how it played out. In fact, they hadn't even made it to the road when the first wave of arrows were launched in their direction.
"Arrows?" She let out, completely confused. "Big ass ships, and arrows?"
"These bastards are huge!" Lync managed to get out, before the bang sounded off behind them, and their ear drums felt as if they were going to explode.
What the hell had just happened? What the fuck was going on?
But as arms came down under her, and the whole world started to darken even more, she saw the purple eyes looking over her. "We got you!" The voice said, before she passed out.