Branches of Life

The sun had begun to sink into the horizon by the time we made it to the rift. Where it sat in the middle of a white stone courtyard, enclosed by a ten-foot wall. The three Mythics currently on guard duty stood outside the wall, nodding at us as we entered the courtyard. Five pillars were spaced around the perimeter. Vines with gray and yellow flowers grew up the stone pillars and walls. Each of the five pillars were designed to represent our different races.

The one to our right was dedicated to the blood mages. With sigils carved into the stone, and swirls of red interweaving through the sigils. Next to it, was the elemental's. All four elements were represented in intricate carvings. Summoners came next, with all twelve clan animals depicted on ours. The sorcerers and sorceresses had runes and random bursts of color.

On our left, used to belong to the necromancers. When they were exiled, the remaining Mythics erased their design, changing it from white to black, and carved the story of their betrayal and how they were exiled.

Over five thousand years ago, the necromancers began killing other Mythics, to bring them back from the dead, in the hopes that they could control them and create a secret army. One they had hoped would overthrow the other courts. Obviously, the other four races banded together and banished the necromancers.

In retaliation, they started experimenting on humans; killing and then resurrecting them to create the perfect army to exact their revenge. Unfortunately, humans were weak and all they ended up creating were shambling zombies.

With the use of blood magic and the blood of all five races—there were debates on whether or not the blood mage was coerced—they were able to finally succeed and create their creatures.

The blood from each race created different types of creatures, each as awful as the last. It was the blood from blood mages that cause our current problem; vampires.

On the far right side of the courtyard, was a stone fountain, close to thirty feet in diameter, lit up by soft pink and green balls of magical lights. Standing in the middle of the fountain, was a towering statue of the sorcerer deity, Castor. He'd been carved wearing a robe, with his hood pulled up over his head, shadowing his face.

There were several worshiped deities per race. Supposedly, they lived among us thousands of years ago. Back when there were still five races. Then one day, they just vanished. No one knew whether or not something happened to them, or if they just abandoned us.

Legends said that Castor was the one to create the rift to the human realm. Hence the oversized statue of him. Between his outstretched hands, was the glowing blue fissure of the rift, floating several feet above the water.

I've always wanted to punch whoever thought it was a good idea to build a water fountain around the rift. There was no way to access it without having to walk through the water.

Ander was busy scanning our surroundings when he stiffened and turned to the left.

Beyond the pillars and several feet in front of the walls surrounding the courtyard, was a waist-high stone wall, boxing in soil and colorful plants. The very place Koa was currently leaning against, his hands resting on the top of the wall, the muscles in his arms bunching as they held his weight. I stared at his arms far longer than I should have.

My gaze lifted from his body to his swirling amber eyes, finding them trained on me. Burning with an intensity I wasn't used to, ensnaring me and making it almost impossible to look away.

"He's like Jason Mimosa's hot younger brother," Ari whispered in my ear, breaking my stare off with him.

I caught a hint of a smile playing on his lips as I turned my attention to Ari. "It's Momoa," I said with a short laugh.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Close enough."

Mythics and humans had a long and symbiotic history. Once every few hundred years, a Mythic would come along, that wanted to help make human lives easier. English, as the humans called it, was taught to them by us.

They didn't have much to offer us, in terms of technology and knowledge, but they made up for it with their arts. Many of us were fascinated with their architecture, not because it was better than ours, but simply because they didn't use magic to build it. What took us a few days, took them months, even years. My father loved going to human art museums. He could spend a whole day there without getting bored.

For me, it was their tv shows and movies that fascinated me. Seeing how they lived and viewed the world, was equal parts amazing and disturbing. Ari was also a fan, although you'd never be able to tell, not with the way she butchered her references.

Human technology didn't work in our realm, not that we would use it. So, we had to create our own magical way to watch their entertainment in our realm. A couple of sorcerers and an elemental used our wristbands for inspiration and created what was essentially a projector. The magic-infused crystal was to be placed on a table, and it projected a holographic screen. Allowing us to watch whatever we wanted.

Many of our kind thought anything human-made was beneath us, and that creating the projector crystals was a waste of our time and resources. I honestly couldn't give two fucks what those jackasses thought.

"What are you talking about? Jason is hot," Harmony said frowning.

Ari tilted her head from side to side. "For a human."

Ander sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know he can hear you."

"Like that's ever stopped Ari," I muttered under my breath, wrapping my arms around my middle

Our conversation came to a halt when we collectively heard light, rhythmic footsteps behind us. Whirling around, I found Starling coming to a stop a few feet in front of us.

Somehow she and Koa were related, even though they looked nothing alike. Even their hair was different shades of black. The only things they had in common, were the fact that their animals were unknown, and their intense stares that seemed able to pierce your very soul. Starling's wasn't near as intense as Koa's, but that could've been because I wanted to climb him like a tree. Despite him being a gigantic asshole.

Moving faster than I was expecting, she threw one of the black bags—that I hadn't noticed she was carrying. Watching the bag as it flew over my head, I was baffled to see Koa catch it. Not because I didn't think he could, but since he was now right behind me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. How the fuck did he manage to sneak up on me? Ander gave no indication of being surprised, but that didn't say much. Based on Ari's slight flinch and muttered swear, she didn't hear him either. Harmony didn't hide her surprise as well as the rest of us, jumping with a sharp gasp. Koa raised an eyebrow, apparently unimpressed. It was amazing how he could be a dick without saying a single word.

"We need to put a bell on you," I grumbled, shifting from foot to foot.

A hint of a smirk appeared on his lips. Fluttering began low in my stomach, and I had little doubt about the cause. I wasn't too sure how to feel about this development. Based on our limited interactions, he didn't seem like the type of guy I wanted to spend any more time with than necessary. Too bad my body didn't seem to care about that.

Without saying a single word, Koa lifted the bag onto his shoulder, turned around, and walked toward the rift. It was almost like he heard my thoughts, and wanted to prove me right.

Ander, Ari, and I, all muttered insults under our breaths.

"Asshole."

"Fuckwad."

"What a dick."

Ander turned his attention toward Starling, staring her down. To her credit, she maintained eye contact and didn't seem intimidated in the slightest. Her eyebrows raised as she crossed her arms and waited him out.

Too impatient to deal with a stare-off, I ended up being the one to break the charged silence. "Dove said, you know the details of the mission." Starling nodded, still not speaking.

"Now would be the time to tell us," Ander finally said.

She tilted her head side to side in response, and I just about lost my shit. There was no way in hell I would put my life at risk, without knowing what I was risking it for. I wasn't cut out for all of this secretive cloak-and-dagger shit.

"They both suck," I muttered to Ari and Harmony.

When it was clear she wasn't going to answer, Ander stepped up into her personal space. Since he was a head taller than her, he had to crane his head down to maintain eye contact. "We're not going anywhere with you until we get some answers." His voice was low and deadly, sending shivers down my spine because I recognized that tone. Whenever he used it in the past, it didn't go too well for those people. Ander had a pretty good grip on his temper, but once he lost it, bad shit happened.

Starling tilted her head back, meeting his stare, still not the least bit intimidated. If she weren't so busy pissing me off with her nonverbal answers, I think I would've actually liked her.

After a minute of silence, Starling finally spoke. "It's alright, I got this." It was hard to tell who she was talking to at first, with her still watching Ander. Movement from the corner of my eye drew my attention to Koa. Who had, once again, silently moved to stand next to me. From the way he was staring at Ander, and the tension riding his body, he wanted to kill him. Fuck, this was going to get messy.

Ander's eyes widened, shocked that she spoke. I couldn't tell whether or not he knew Koa was planning his murder. All of his focus appeared to be on Starling, but with Ander, that wasn't always the case.

"Would you look at that, she speaks!" Ari exclaimed, breaking the tension in the air, well mostly. Koa was still glaring at Ander, who had taken a couple of steps back from Starling.

"We'll be going to the area around the rift," Starling vaguely answered.

"No shit," I muttered while rolling my eyes.

"Portugal," Ari said with way too much confidence, snapping her fingers.

Ander shook his head before correcting her. "Portland."

"Close enough."

"We're wasting time, we can discuss this all once we're in the human realm," Koa rumbled. His voice was so deep and sexy, it was such a shame that every word out of his mouth was some sort of insult.

His dominant tone and attitude pissed off Ander, and the two ended up in a dominant stare-off. If Koa was anything like Ander, he wouldn't back down anytime soon.

'They should fight and settle this dominance issue, once and for all,' Rowan spoke into my mind. Having forgotten she was here, I flinched. Looking around, I found no sign of her, confirming she was cloaked.

Ari groaned, slapping her hand against her thigh with a loud smack. "Those two should just whip them out and measure them already." Of course, my mind instantly started picturing what Koa would look like naked. His ripped body gleaming with sweat, moving over me. Muscular arms on either side of my head, bracing his weight. Hips grinding into mine as his—

I cut off that train of thought, shaking my head as if that would help. Ari had taken it upon herself to stand between Ander and Koa. Her left hand pressed against Ander's chest, trying to push him back, to no avail. With how far those two stood apart, she had no hope of reaching Koa with her other hand. Adding her right hand into the mix, she leaned her weight against Ander. Nothing.

"What the fuck?"Ari dropped her hands with a huff, storming over to where she had dropped her bag, muttering to herself. "Screw you assholes, you two can gaze into each other's eyes all night for all I care."

Getting fed up with this shit, I took my turn standing between the two jackasses. My arms crossed over my chest as I glared at Koa. His spicy scent invaded my senses, annoying me that he smelled so fucking good.

"Now you're the one wasting time, with your stupid fucking pissing contest." Koa's eyes snapped to mine, the gold becoming more prominent as they began glowing. He snapped his eyes shut for a moment, and when he opened them, the glow faded.

"We're leaving now, with or without you." He directed the last part at Ander. Whose jaw clenched, eyes burning with barely leashed anger. Well, this was just great. Koa and Starling were reticent with information, and these two couldn't stand each other. What could possibly go wrong?

'That was exactly how I expected a dragon summoner to act,' Rowan said, making me flinch. Once again, I had forgotten that I now had a familiar. It took a couple of seconds before her words sank in and surprise flooded my body. A dragon summoner? It now made sense how he and Starling were able to hide their animals.

I must've made a noise, because Ander, Harmony, and Ari looked at me, with confusion written across their faces. I shook my head, signaling I would tell them later.

Koa and Starling were already waiting for us in the fountain. Groaning, I stepped into the knee-high water, mentally cursing the asshole architect again. Wearing shoes while standing in water, felt inherently wrong.

Koa was the first to touch the glowing rift and get pulled into the human realm. Following behind him was Ari, and then Harmony. I knew Ander would insist on going last, especially with Starling still here. Ander wasn't one to trust easily, not with his past. Starling and Koa hadn't been doing themselves any favors by keeping shit from us.

Lifting my hand, I pressed it to the rift and was sucked into the void between realms.