Chapter 17

The Anjana

This chapter is dedicated to one of my biggest supporters @HowlingLGBTWolf

Thank you for always being there for me and the gang of Haven High.

Travis had to block out Kyle's pleas for him to move, or it wouldn't work. He closed his eyes and just thought of his family and everything he loved about them. When the deathworm ram swung back his whole stone body framed the door leaving only an inch between him and the magical barrier behind him.

When the ram struck his midriff it was like nothing he'd ever felt before. He felt like he'd been hit with a wrecking ball. He cringed and tried unsuccessfully to suck in a breath. The wind was totally knocked out of him.

He physically felt so bad he'd thought he'd failed but when the ram swung back and he was still standing he took only a second to celebrate that he'd repelled the thing, but when it swung back again it was like it had redoubled it efforts and it struck him even harder than the last time.

He wanted to keel over but he couldn't. He lifted up his tank to examine the area that felt like burning agony to see that the stone of his stomach was scorched and cracking. How could it be, in his true stone construct he was impenetrable. Not even a jack hammer would cause a dent, unless he wanted it to. But the ram was causing him to crack. He didn't know how long he had before it turned him to rubble.

And the battle raged on, and each time he was struck he did his best to hold back his cries of agony. He knew if his friends had any idea how much danger he was putting himself in, then they would rush to his rescue and in the end, perhaps they'd all die.

The ram struck again and he almost lost consciousness the pain was so great. He could feel the cracks across his abdomen spreading like the cracks on the barrier. He looked over his shoulder so see if the cracks in the barrier were still there. Hoping that in the time he'd had stood there and taken the blows of the ram they had magically repaired themselves but he was more than disappointed to see that they hadn't.

He couldn't move no matter how much he wanted to. He was the only hope for the barrier.

It struck again and this time he couldn't hold back the scream; it exploded from his lips, and Kyle was by his side in a flash.

"Get out of there," Kyle screamed in his face.

He tried to pull him free but Travis had wedged his arms into the frames and nothing and nobody would be able to make him move now, not if he didn't want them to.

Travis was trying to concentrate and his brother wasn't helping so he screamed at him, "GOOOOOOO!!!!" as the ram struck again.

This time the cracks spread across his chest. When Kyle saw one spread up his neck to his jaw he lost it and started trying to pull Travis free saying, "NO! You idiot! It's not worth it. Nothing's worth losing you. Don't you dare leave me!"

Travis looked at him briefly before closing his eyes and prayed that his friends would find away to end the fight soon, because he couldn't hold out much longer. A few more blows and he'd be finished for sure.

With his eyes closed he thought. Which as he mentioned before wasn't his strong suit, but he thought non-the-less. What could they do to help him? No one was strong enough to stop the ram. Were they? He wished he was. Then it came to him.

Hadn't Lauren mentioned why tonight was a good night to do this? That it was a night when those magical fae ladies came through and danced in the fields. What else had she said about them?

He tried to remember as he dealt with the next blow that left his face numb. At least he hoped it was only numb he feared it was much worse.

Then it came to him. They grant a wish to people as long as they're pure or something. He could ask for their help if he could remember their name.

When the ram struck again his legs nearly buckled. He tried to tighten the muscles of his thighs but they were numb too.

He dug in his stupid brain for the answer. Come on, come on he coaxed himself think, think, think: what was the name of the fairies? It sounded like annas or something.

No  Anjana!

That was it. He closed his eyes immediately dreading the next strike, but he sent a plea out to the Anjanas anyway.

Please come and help me. I need you so much now. Travis was trying to ignore all his friends screaming in his head. They were only distracting him from contacting the nice fairies.

PLEASE HELP ME.I NEED YOU .PLEASE ANJANAS HELP ME! He thought.

Then it happen all the noise stopped along with time. He could tell because nothing hurt. He hadn't realized how much he hurt until the pain was gone. Oh lord don't let it come back.

Even with his eyes closed they were blinded by a bright light. He needed to see what was going on so he opened one eye cautiously to see a beautiful woman in a long flowing gown standing in front of him. She was standing in front of a crazy frozen scene. The ram was midway to hitting him and his friends were all gathered around him. Everyone except Kyle had their backs to him. They looked like they were all fighting for their lives trying to shield him from the five misfits on Liam's crew.

Liam himself looked like he was about to smite them all down with his rage. His face was apoplectic.

Travis labored to breath as the gorgeous being smiled at him. His vision kept blurring in and out. Unconsciousness was just seconds away when he heard her sweet voice. It sounded like a multitude of people were speaking at once.

"My child you called to my sisters and me. How may we help you?"

The willowy maiden wore a diaphanous gown made entirely of gold and silver light and her incredibly long hair that looked like spun silk, floated around her like gravity had no effect on her.  Her alabaster complexion seemed to shine in the dim light of the corridor and her azure eyes sparkled with merriment and mirth. Her wings were constructed of a vibrant transparent white light, and they vibrated at an alarming rate. So much so that they reminded him of a hummingbirds wings. The only thing that distinguished them as wings, however was the soft glow of white light that ran through them like veins in a leaf. He was left awestruck by enthralling beauty.

The power that emanated from this immortal being was like nothing he'd ever felt before, there was nothing she couldn't do, and he knew it. That alone would have left him speechless, but there was another reason the words wouldn't come.

Travis tried to speak but the damage was to complete. His throat was crushed with the last blow. He could taste the blood that trickle down it. So he thought it instead. What should he ask for? What would help them the most. He supposed maybe someone else would ask to eliminate Liam and his crew all together, but he couldn't even bring himself to hurt them. Then he thought to ask to strengthen the barrier, but even with its added strength the ram would eventually break through, then he thought of the perfect thing to ask.

Please kind lady can you make my stone strong enough to break the ram and send all its stolen magic back to the halfbloods it was taken from?

Her face took on a look of pure joy as she stepped forward to cup his face in her hands. It felt great when she did it, like she was lifting the burden he'd placed on himself. He was so tired.

"Oh my dear child," she said in her singsong voice, "Such a soul we have yet to see. Even though you are at deaths door you do not ask to be saved only to stop a great evil."

"If only there were more of your ilk on this doomed plane; we should all be happier for it. Yours is the purest heart we've encountered in millennia. It would be our honor to help you."

She leaned in to kiss him softly on his lips and in a flash of light disappeared. In that moment everything came to life again. The noise after the tranquility of the time spent with the divine woman was deafening. He still had his eyes open he could clearly see the ram swing like a pendulum back towards him and he braced himself for the strike.

It struck his midriff, but he'd felt nothing. At first he thought he was still numb and he had hallucinated the gorgeous creature, but then he saw it. A hairline fracture had appeared in the ram. It started at the tip. Like the tiny crack in an egg's shell and all of a sudden he couldn't wait for it to hit him again. He flexed his muscles and waited for the blow. It seemed to take forever now that he wanted it to hit him, but when it struck again he howled in triumph. The crack spread and started to glow.

Kyle, mistaking his howl for pain, tried to dive in front of the swinging ram to stop it for hitting his brother, but Travis let go of the wall to push him away. It struck a third time and cracked right down the center.

Everyone stopped fighting then to watch as two equal halves broke apart and flopped uselessly to the floor.

Liam screamed in rage as Travis sagged to the floor at the foot of the doorway.

He looked at Travis with such hate as he waved his hand to open a port door against the far wall. Even while everyone started throwing everything they had at him, and his rapidly departing friends, he still found the time to yell to Travis before the port door closed.

"You'll be sorry you stopped me today. You're not going to like plan B one bit"

And then he was gone. Everyone rushed to Travis in his rapidly shrinking vision. All of a sudden Kyle's face was right in his before the blackness took him.

****************** THANKS FOR READING********************

I hope you all liked this chapter.

Wow! Travis saved the day without having to hurt a single soul.

Liam sure was angry he'd been thwarted again, wasn't he?

What do you think plan B is?

It can't be anything worse than he's put them through so far, or can it?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.