I’m pushed back and back until I’m nearing the edge of the pit. Heat hisses up and suffocates me. A sulfurous fog follows the heat. When I glance into the void, a small scream escapes me.
“Seth,” I yell, whacking another Eros with an ignited ball. It disintegrates on impact, but more come. There are always more. “We’ve got issues here!”
Fire bursts forth from Seth’s mouth and sprays a line of writhing Eros. They vaporize, the only remains left floating on the stagnant air.
The volcano burps and Kelsby groans. I’ve lost track of him and Maybell, but I quickly locate him on the other side of the volcano. The horror of what’s happening to him leaves my mouth dry, bile rising up my throat. His entire body is covered in Eros. Their flimsy shells are solidifying right in front of me.
Thankfully, Maybell is fighting her way over to him. She’s a sight to behold with her rifle set tight against her shoulder. She sends forth another burst of bullets, popping the Eros near her like overgrown pimples.
I click the ball in my hand five times and load my sling. I grew up with a kid that thought it was funny to pummel my backside with pebbles on the way home from school. One of the only good memories I have of my dad was the day I came home with a black eye, because of that stupid kid.
He said the dummy probably had a crush on me, but the only thing his actions inspired was a firm desire to crush him.
My dad taught me to use the sling shot then. He worked with me for a few weeks until I could knock a beer can off our weather-worn fence with one shot. I even managed it a few times while shooting backwards. The next day, I got my revenge. All it took was one good hit to his shoulder and the boy ran home crying. We moved right after that, so I never saw him again, but I kept up my skills until I was in Junior High, just in case. Seems like a blessing now.
Once I seat the balls, I give a quick flick to the thong and release the tether. The balls race out, snatching one Eros in its quivering eye. The other balls find their marks not long after. Really, I think even if I didn’t know how to use a sling shot, these things would do their job.
Using my new technique, I make my way closer to Kelsby and Maybell. Zed, Seth, and some other guy are up to their hairlines in Eros, so they are really no use to us.
“What should I do?” I yell to Maybell.
She doesn’t look at me, but I can hear her just fine. “Don’t come over here, Amelia!”
“Just tell me what to do. I can help!”
She grunts. “We have to lure them away from him.”
“How!”
“Think of your worst moment then right after think of your best. It should be enough emotion to entice them.”
As she gives the instructions, my thoughts shift. The day I found Justine dead on the living room floor and the first time I kissed Seth for real. The air hums with electricity, making the hairs on my arms stand up.
One by one the things on Kelsby detach, rising into the air like shimmering wisps of smoke. They would be beautiful if not for the hideous images they take. It’s like watching a macabre dance of dismembered souls. Maybe that’s what they are.
They slither forward and I’m almost caught up in their trance. Their presence pushes against me. At first, it prickles then slides as if getting comfortable.
Unfortunately, I’ve been warned. Not bothering to take another look, I spin away and crash into something solid.
Electric eyes stare at me in a face so tempting I blink dumbly for a second.
“Amelia,” says Daegan softly, my name a ballad on his lips.
The air kicks up behind me as Seth lands. His thick hind legs barely have enough room on the rim. A growl comes out of him followed by smoke that burns my lungs. “Let her go, Daegan.”
He laughs. “Still attempting to rule me, brother?”
When I turn back to him, Seth is in his human form. He glares at Daegan. “You are no longer my brother. You have chosen to be my enemy.”
Daegan twists me around in his steely grip so I face Seth. His hands clasp in front of me, dangling near my breasts. His breath whispers across my neck and his voice comes out disappointed. “I have only ever been your brother. You were the one that betrayed me.”
Seth flinches. “An error I will never forget. It was a mistake. I was young.”
“You knew what you were doing and so did she.” Daegen presses me closer and Seth clenches his enormous jaw. “Is it not fair that I take the woman you love?”
“Rhea chose me. You didn’t do enough to keep her. Amelia should not pay for my transgression.”
“Transgression? You betrayed me. You left me for dead.”
Ice coats my mind. He has to be lying, but Seth isn’t arguing with him. My heart could not possibly beat any faster. My breaths puff out of me in staggered bursts. With Daegan this close, it is difficult not to give in to his pull. His presence both entices and terrifies me, and I wonder how long it would take until the fear slipped away.
“You hurt her, you will pray for death.”
Daegan laughs. He leans in and brushes his lips across my earlobe. Electricity ignites my belly and my head goes woozy. “Always one for drama, Seth. I have no intention of taking fair Amelia from you. Once she learns the truth, she will come to me.”
Like hell I will. With the discussion, Daegan has loosened his hold on me just enough for me to crack him in the ribs with my spike-covered elbow. Not wasting a second, I twist away from him, allowing Seth to pull me against him.
Daegan chuckles, tracing a line of dark blood that oozes from his side before he pulls his dampened finger into his mouth. Smiling, he dips his chin in a nod. A spot of blood remains on his lips. “Until we meet again, my lovely.”
I scowl at him as he disintegrates into the stagnant air. Only then do I see the hordes of shapeless Eros circling the volcano. I glance back at Seth. “What’s going on?”
His face is pale and pasty. “We need to leave.”
Daegan was a distraction. Thousands of Eros circle the volcano like an unholy tornado. Eros in their true nature cannot hold a solid shape. They need a host to maintain a form for any length of time.
Why are they here? What have they planned? Eros usually travel from one host to another through physical contact. There are too many here for even my four brothers and me to house. Amelia cannot absorb any of them in her current state, but the rest of us can. Even though they could not infiltrate her, she could be tainted. They could diminish her light and I will not allow that.
Several Eros still cling to Kelsby. If we are able to save him, he will need weeks to recover. I should have never allowed a single member of my team to accomplish a task that I am responsible to complete. No matter how much they train, they will never be Oneiroi. There is only one way to become like me, and I can only choose one mate for a lifetime. Kelsby is a valued member of my team, but I do not wish to spend eternity with him.
My eyes switch automatically to focus on the woman I hope to one day convince to be mine. Once Daegan was gone, Amelia took to slaying Eros, but they still spill out of the corpse.
Not for long. I duck and twist to avoid the Eros trained on me until I’m right in front of the severed head. The eyes stare vacantly forward while the skin has split and cracked until webs of sinewy flesh gleam out from underneath the ever-widening gaps.
Without letting myself linger on him, I kick the head and it sails into the volcano. I am only satisfied when a slithering hiss rises up the void.
The heat from the volcano makes the chill in the air behind me more intense. When I move toward the body, a line of Eros blocks my access. So the dead man is their portal. Was he meant to take them somewhere else? I shiver at the thought. They will not make it through without him. Much must be considered, and I hope my team is already working on how this man made it into the Dreamscape.
Something sinister is happening, yet I have no way of stopping it at the moment. The best I can do is close the portal.
I conjure my blades and begin slici
ng until the line is riddled with holes. Amelia and Maybell are still working at luring the rest of the Eros off Kelsby. One of the Eros shoots straight at me like a torpedo. Its feelers brush my arm but I slice it open before it can latch on. I cannot spare another moment for my friend.
When I turn back around, the wall has reformed. “Zed! Peter!” I call. “We have to get the rest of him in the pit.”
There is no response. A chill ripples along my body as I back away, searching the surface for my brothers. “Zed!” I yell again, then I see him. He’s taken to the sky, completely ignoring me, Amelia, Maybell, and Kelsby. I do not see Peter at all.
Only Zed would choose the inconsequential form of a hornet. I almost miss him and am nearly unable to form a mind link.
“What are you doing?”
Finally, his answer reaches me. “We cannot blow the portal, Seth.”
I grit my teeth. “They must be destroyed. They could find their way into the Dreamscape should we leave it open.”
“Better the Dreamscape than the mortal world.”
My backward step falters, and I trip over a rock. Righting myself is easy, but Zed’s words complicate everything. Eros roaming Earth is what we have long fought to avoid. “What are you saying?”
He lands beside me and transforms while I keep the general vicinity clear of threats. Zed snaps his head toward me. “Ours is not the only portal within the volcano. The man was a decoy.”
“That’s not possible,” I say.
Negative and positive energy cannot occupy the same space, yet Zed would not come to such a conclusion lightly.
The volcano behind us pops and hisses, signaling activation of our portal. Ian. He should not be here.
He flies from the mouth of the sputtering beast, engaging Eros along his ascent. Ian’s skill with a sword is breathtaking. I had planned on having him train Amelia, but considering recent events, I am unsure that is the best course.
“Just in time to leave,” I yell to him while he combats a horde of Eros. His twin blades whirr as he slices through our common enemy. Eros are not easy to destroy, but once their energy is breeched they will usually depart rather than risk true extinction.
Ian smirks at me. “You’re not going to have all the fun.” His body is covered in thin oozing lines. He fared better than I thought he would.
“It took you long enough!”
“Says the man that has a woman already.”
I laugh. Ian is nothing if not flippant; however, he has a point. “We’ll work on finding one for you. We won’t give up.”
He continues his attack, as do I. “You should have told me about her.”
“Later. Help me get to that body.”
Ian pauses momentarily. “That’s disgusting.”
I slice through more Eros, but they still keep coming. “Hence why we need to toss it into the pit.”
“What was that about not blowing the portal?”
“Zed thinks it’s linked to the mortal realm.”
Ian grunts. “How?”
Zed, for once, lets out an irritated growl. “We shall discuss the how after we escape this place.”
Where has Peter gotten off to?
The mountain rumbles underneath us, and the volcano hisses out a blubbering groan. “Time to go,” shouts Ian as he surges forward, shredding the line until it is nothing more than a veil of ash. He makes it to the body first. “Absolutely revolting, Seth.”
“Just dispose of the thing.” Now that Ian is here, the majority of the remaining Eros circle overhead. My pride rankles a bit knowing he is more feared than I am. If I had access to all my powers, that would not be the case. One day, I tell myself.
He nudges the thing with his toe, giving time for one last Eros to escape. It catches him in the chest before he has a chance to move.
I scream out his name, racing toward him. He falls forward into the pit, but manages to kick the body in before him. Ian attempts to shift, but the Eros keeps him locked in his human form.
I transform immediately. This time I choose a pterodactyl with webby wings that allow me to glide on the slightest currents. The body plops into the waiting lava while Ian hurtles toward the portal. It opens as it is meant to at his energy. More Eros attack and Ian is swiftly covered in the dark monsters.
I dive for him. He must not be allowed through the portal with Eros.
“Let him go,” Zed yells. “The nymphs will take care of the unwanted.”
Unwanted. For a moment a strange sense of compassion hits me. It doesn’t last long. Eros have no redeeming qualities. They are meant to destroy. That wasn’t always the case, but since Volos came into power, it has been all I’ve known.
Amelia screams and I am left to decide between the woman I love and my brother. Ian will have to face the nymphs. I listen for her voice again, but all that registers is a pale whisper.
When I emerge from the pit, Zed is fording off a plague of Eros that would rival those of ancient Egypt. Amelia has her sling. Pitiful as it is, she is doing a surprisingly good job of holding them back. Maybell has given up on securing Kelsby and instead is firing sporadic bursts into the sky.
Even with the body gone, there are more Eros than I care to think about. Without the dreamer, this world should not exist. It should have shattered with him. Something is not right. It is never ideal to exit a crumbling world, but it is preferable to Eros being allowed to inhabit a world, no matter how inhospitable it is.
I send Zed and Peter the message to retreat. We will have to deal with this world another day. Zed doesn’t hesitate and neither do I. I morph into an enormous octopus, sending my tendrils out for my team as I fall.
The minute I clasp onto Kelsby, the darkness zings against my extra appendage. I let go of him on instinct, but he is already on the right trajectory. His big body tumbles over and over. With only two to keep track of now, I morph into my human form, pulling Amelia and Maybell closer. Amelia screams, but it isn’t from the fall.
“Kelsby!” she yells, attempting to push away from me.
“He’ll be fi—”
Kelsby has changed trajectory. His face is still strained against the Eros grip, but now a dark starburst of black cankers his normally pleasant eyes.
With the distraction, Amelia is able to squirm out of my grip. I scream a warning to her that she fails to heed. She free-falls straight toward Kelsby. The Eros vibrate at her presence and the moment she clamps onto Kelsby’s leg, I manage to grab hers.
“Let go of him!” I yell. Her very soul is at stake here, yet she doesn’t seem to understand.
“No!”
“Amelia, let go! You will be contaminated too!”
Seth wants me to let Kelsby fend for himself, but I can’t do that. The idea of losing him is too dark to contemplate. I’ve lost too many people in my life and letting him go when I have a chance to help him is not an option.
Kelsby looks down at me, his wide mouth pulled in the strangest expression. It’s both pleasure and pain and it’s creepy as hell.
His eyes blink and he stares at me as though he’s just come out of a coma. “What are you doing? Let go of me!”
“No way,” I tell him.
The Eros attached to him slither down his frame until the first brushes my fingertips. Warmth spreads through me, along with a zing of euphoria that makes me laugh until I’m giggling.
Seth has my leg and is pulling me back toward him. I can’t let the Eros get to him. In the scheme of things, he is way more important than I am. I kick at his hand with my other leg, but he won’t let go.
My laughter continues until my sides hurt…until my face freezes in mid-guffaw. I don’t want to die like this, with my expression a permanent candid picture gone wrong.
The disgusting creatures attach more firmly to me, as if they are sending feelers into my skin and setting anchor. Almost immediately, oppression finds its way into my heart. It takes my memories and steals my thoughts as they come, until I’m one vibrating mass of pain, yet
the euphoria remains as a taunting backdrop.
Seth screams my name as Maybell cries frantically for me to let go. I couldn’t if I wanted to now, which I don’t. If Kelsby comes out of this okay, it will be worth losing a slice of my soul or whatever these things are doing to me.
They are like a sponge that could never absorb enough water to be full. Each of them has latched onto me, and even though they are separate energies, they move as a collective mind, trying to penetrate my thoughts, maybe my very essence. I can’t move, but I can dodge them mentally.
They push against the drawbridge of my mind, shaking me to the core. Fear wants to settle in my veins, but I have an advantage they cannot conquer. Once I hit the lava, I’ll wake up back at Seth’s place. I’ll be surrounded by comfy blankets and soothing light. This moment will be nothing but a memory.
Maybe Seth will let me train more now. Maybe he’ll lock me up for good?
These things like that thought. They want more. My body vibrates from another pulse of adrenaline, followed by a spasm that ripples from my head to my toes. Every shot of emotion they send into me stiffens my muscles and pulls at my mind.
I’ve got to fight them, but no one has told me how to manage it. I’m not just going to wait until they’ve gotten what they want out of me. Something Maybell told me rebounds from the recesses of my thoughts until it’s all I can focus on. She said darkness couldn’t exist where light resides, or something like that.
Eros feed off emotion, just like Oneiroi, but they crave darkness. They crave fear, any dark emotion really. What if I sent some light their way? Would they let go? Would they be able to hold onto me still?
Not waiting another moment to test my theory, I think of the first time I saw Justine. Her smile filled my heart with hope. I let the memory expand until it sizzles inside my cells, lighting them up. I push the feeling outward, imagining it encompassing the Eros attached to me. I imagine it ricocheting through the crater and out into the sky where the other Eros wait. My mind fills with light and the joy of being loved. That was what Justine gave me the day she saved me, and now I’m sharing that hope.
Maybe the Eros need a menu change. What if I could help them?