Chapter 180

Chapter 180
Damian

Damian was the last of the kindred to step through the doorway from the white room. The change from the light to the dark made it almost impossible to see while his eyes adjusted. He started to take a step forward when he felt someone grab him. “Don’t move” Dean said. Damian froze and Dean slowly released his hold on Damian’s arm.

Once Damian’s eyes adjusted he realized he was standing on a two foot ledge that ran along what appeared to be a solid rock wall. It was about nine feet long and ended on three sides in a huge drop-off. In front of him was a giant cavern that appeared to be bottomless. There was a large span of nothing between him and what appeared to be another identical ledge. The second was across the canon, on another rock wall. There was an open doorway carved into the rock face. Damien reached back in a temporary panic and realized the door they had come through had already disappeared.

“That’s a long way down.” Dean said indicating the fact that any false step could have ended disastrously.

Damian nodded a silent thank you and surveyed what he considered to be the playing field for this particular part of the test. At first glance, the objective seemed pretty straightforward. They needed to get to the other side.

Damian smiled to himself. Most of the kindred were flyers and they had been practicing carrying one another, so it should be fairly easy for them to cross the cavern.

“I know what you're thinking, it's not going to be that easy. The ledge isn't wide enough for me to shift into my dragon.” David grumbled.

“That still leaves me and Drew. I could carry one of you and Drew the other.” Damian suggested.

“I can't open my wings where I'm currently standing. We would have to shift around.” Drew said with a shrug. Damian noticed he was tightly compacted between Dean and David. Drew's back was against the wall. He didn’t even have room to turn around.

Damian decided that if could at least get himself off the ledge, it would give Drew a few more feet to move around. He tried to activate his flying power, but nothing happened.

Damian took a deep breath and grounded himself. He extended his fangs and released his vampire aura because he noticed that his natural form always seemed to be more connected to his magic. He tried again and nothing happen. His feet remained perfectly planted on the ledge.

Panic coursed through him. It seemed that his power was gone. He tried to summon a shadow ball just to see if he could, but no smoke coils appeared on his arms.

“I’ve lost my magic.” Damian whispered with disbelief. His heart seized in terror as he considered the implications. His magic had began with his bond with Stormy. He feared that it was gone because something had happened to her.

“Relax,” David said as if he could read Damian’s mind. “Stormy is okay. Nothing had happened to her. We all still have our mating marks.”

Damian reached up and ran his finger over his mark. He couldn’t see or feel it, but somehow just knowing it was there was a huge relief. Damian could live without his powers, but he couldn’t survive without her.

“I think you may have been
stripped of your powers for the purpose of this part of the game.” David explained.

“Is it just me, or everyone?” Damian asked.

Drew held out his arm and tried to summon his fae fire but nothing happened. He switched arms and his healing light appeared. He tried to drop his glamour but it only seemed to make him wobble forward.

“My scales don’t work.” David said.

Damian considered his fangs. “I think the only abilities we have are those that are inherent to us. But when I think about it, Stormy was having trouble with her magic the minute that we step through the portal.” Damian said in frustration.

“I agree with you, I think our next step needs to be figuring out how to cross this chasm.” David said.

“Maybe there is a hidden path, like in the movies” Dean suggested. He glanced around his feet. “ Hold on to me so I don’t fall and I’ll try to squat and get some small rocks to throw out there and see.”

Damian and Drew each grabbed a handful of Dean’s shirt and held him steady. He bent down and scooped up some rocks in his hand and tried to scatter them along the chasm. The rocks fell down and Dean sighed. “So not a trust walk” he said as the other two helped him back up.

“I could try opening my wings, if David and I could change places.” Drew suggested.

“How did you end up in the middle in the first place. You went through the portal first.” Dean said with a head shake and a raised eyebrow.

David raised his hand, like he was a child in a classroom. “I almost walked off the edge and he grabbed me and threw me to his far side.”

“Why don’t we try that again?” Dean asked.

Damian started at him like her had lost his mind. David shook his head. Drew glared at him with an expression that clearly said he would rather not.

“I don’t mean the almost dying part, I meant tossing him to the side, so they change places. David could help him across and I could steady him. He could maybe turn and get his wings out.” Dean said with an exaggerated eye roll.

“Let’s try it.” Drew said as he grabbed onto David’s shirt. “Please don’t drop me.”

David laughed as he and Dean helped Drew make it to the far end of the ledge. He pressed his face against the rocks and carefully open his wings. He flapped them and began to lift off the ground.
“I'm going to fly to the other side first just to make sure it's safe. Then I'll come back for each of you.” He said.

Drew made the span of the bottomless ravine easily. One by one, he carried the Kindred across. Finally the door on the far side opened and each of them carefully stepped through.