Arundia Returns Read online

  “You made the plan before we had this influx of refugees. It was just bad luck, or good luck depending on your perspective, that there were more humans and huvams saved than available tanks. If you hadn’t had those tanks below the waterline, no one would’ve survived. According to Heloise’s memory, the sorcerer was under orders to kill everyone on the island, including Ariel, Serena and you. Nikki said that he was hot on their tails right up to the moment they dove in.”

  The cup twirled slowly between my palms. Tiny black waves attempted to escape the white confines of ceramic. No use avoiding it any longer. I set the cup to one side and pushed a strand of hair off my forehead. “We need to leave here. I thought I had it all covered, but obviously...” I waved a vague hand in the air. “At any rate, it’s no longer safe.”

  He reached over and laid a hand on my forearm. “Stop shouldering all the blame and responsibility for everyone’s safety, Alexis. We’re in this together.” He gave my arm a little shake. “Listen to me, young lady. We are in the middle of a war--a vampire war. In spite of the magic that you wield; in spite of your very sharp mind, you cannot possibly think of every contingency; neither can I.”

  He ran his hand down my forearm and clasped his fingers around mine. “It’s like you explained to me about computers and hacking. No programmer, or team of programmers, can think of every scenario. All a hacker has to do is to keep plugging away until he or she finds the one scenario, the one contingency that the programmer hasn’t built a defense against and then exploit that weakness.”

  “Still...”

  “You’re going up against vampires who have lived for centuries and you are a human. You think differently than we do, which makes it even more difficult. It is amazing that you have even survived your encounters with hostile vampires and other Supernaturals.”

  When he removed his hand and sat back, I forced a trembling smile. “Yeah, well, a big part of my survival is because I had a really great teacher.”

  His smile lit his eyes. “I had an exceptional student. Now!” He rubbed his hands together. “Tell me what you think about returning to Phoenix Estate. Can you set up protective spells around the estate? The Admin building is undamaged. We could fortify the walls and the entry points. Set up perimeter guards.”

  I placed my hands flat on the table and pushed to my feet. “I think returning would be good, if we take some precautions. I haven’t yet found any spells I can use, so initially I will setup security cameras, motion sensors and a few other goodies. I’ll continue researching spells. I know they exist. Matriarch Belora intended to teach me a few.”

  My words drifted off as sadness choked me. I cleared my throat. “The books and scrolls in Matriarch’s library might shed some light on how to help our three sleeping beauties, too. I might even stumble across a spell to disarm the dome that entombs Elder Coahoma’s body.”

  He stood and took his cup to the sink. After he rinsed it, he placed it upside down in the dish drainer and turned to face me. “I tried to get into the cave beneath where the House of Females had stood using the outside entrance, but Belora must have set some kind of spell lock. The door wouldn’t give at all.”

  As I stepped through the doorway between the kitchen and the living room I tossed a grin over my shoulder. “Matriarch didn’t do that. I did.”

  ****

  Three days after the attack on the island, I closed the heavy, leather bound volume I’d been studying and set it to one side. Unlike the caves beneath the island, the cave that held Matriarch Belora’s private library had been carved by some great upheaval then enlarged at Serena’s command. Cool and dry with a multitude of fluorescent light fixtures--none of which worked since the House of Females above had been utterly destroyed--it held bookshelves along every wall. A few scattered throw rugs gave the otherwise utilitarian space a more welcoming feel. Ancient manuscripts, scrolls, parchment rolls, and books filled with the herstories of the Supernatural races and vampires, as well as with various aspects of magic, crowded every shelf in the room. A heavy, antique library table surrounded with six solid wood chairs occupied the middle of the room.

  This room had once been reserved for the sole use of Serena, Gregory, the Matriarch and the huvams. After Matriarch Belora decided to hold off killing me for being a human Magic User, she had brought me down here to teach me about my magical inheritance.

  Heavy, oak plank, double doors across from the table led to a stone staircase that dead ended in a rubble pile that blocked any exit. Fortunately, one of the things Matriarch had shown me was the hidden cave entrance. After burning the House of Females, I had spelled the cave’s entrance. Once we moved back to the estate, I removed that particular spell and warded the cave with others that allowed our People access.

  Now, Nikki’s feet shuffled along the rock floor of the entry tunnel. She walked to the table and set a steaming cup of tea and a hot bowl of butternut squash soup in front of me.

  “I barely got that book moved in time.” I scowled at her.

  She shrugged without any hint of apology. “I would’ve just set the bowl and the cup on it, no big deal.”

  “Oh, Goddess, is there no respect for the finer things of life?” Melodramatically, I clutched a hand to my chest.

  Nikki delivered a playful slap to my shoulder. “Eat up, Captain.” She peered around the room. “You need more lanterns. How can you see in this light?”

  I dipped the spoon into the soup. “The lanterns will do until I have a chance to rig up some lights down here.”

  She leaned over the table and peered at the cover of the volume I had laid aside. “Any luck?”

  I washed the soup down with a gulp of hot tea. “Nothing so far on how to revive a person or a vampire who has been knocked out when a spell broke.” I set the cup down and tapped a finger on the heavy volume that had snagged Nikki’s curiosity. “The only thing I’ve found has been a reference to severe, magical energy drains being bad. From the description, it sounds like that was what might have happened. I’ve started hunting for more information.”

  “That Calling thing the First Councilwoman did was some kickass Power. It melted right through the sorcerer’s spell.” Wonder tinged her words. “I tell you, Captain, I'm not like Sheena--I don’t have a magical or psychic bone in my body, but I could actually see this golden rope bridge and it kept getting brighter until it had this beautiful green halo around it and then the spell just seemed to melt away from the bridge; farther and farther until the thing completely disappeared. Melted, like an ice cube in a hot cup of coffee.” A shiver wracked her at the memory. “I was certain I’d led everyone to their deaths.”

  I reached across and patted her hand. “If you hadn’t been thinking quick and made everyone dive in the water when you did there wouldn’t have been anyone left to be rescued.” I finished the soup and handed the bowl to Nikki. “Now, scat. I have research to do.”

  That evening, slouched on the couch that graced Serena’s previous office in the Admin building, I sipped what felt like the twentieth cup of coffee and watched Gregory pace.

  “We have to do something. They’re going to waste away if they don’t regain consciousness soon.” The general stopped and pivoted to face me. With his shoulders bowed, he looked the picture of a defeated warrior facing his own death. His fists clenched at his sides. “I don’t know how to fight magic, Alexis. What in the name of Great Mother are we going to do?”

  “Warrior Xavier has some medical skills she picked up when she was dating a doctor. Except for the possibility of bed sores, the three of them could live indefinitely on the IVs, as long as their other systems--like respiratory--don’t shut down.”

  “That is not the way Serena would want to live.” He looked away then turned a haggard face toward me. He shuffled to the chair across from me and slumped into it. “Serena would hate the state she’s in right now. If there isn’t any hope of her returning to us, she would want us to let her go.”

  I jerked upright so fast cof
fee sloshed out onto my shirt. I leapt up, brushing at the scalding liquid. “What in Caine’s Hells are you trying to say?”

  “Serena would not want to exist indefinitely on IVs with others changing her diapers and bathing her. She would hate it. She would want us to pull those tubes out of her arms and let her go.”

  “Goddess bless, Gregory! She hasn’t been unconscious for that long. Let’s not go diving head first into bad decisions.”

  His eyes held an uncompromising look. “We’ll wait for a while, Alexis, but I won’t let her linger indefinitely. I wanted you to know that.” He climbed to his feet like an elderly human and shuffled out of the office.

  I shoved my hands through my hair and groaned out loud. “Oh, Goddess, I need some answers quick. Not only do I have my three sleeping beauties, I still don’t know how to free Elder Coahoma’s body from the dome that entraps her.”

  Nikki shoved her head around the half open door. “Captain, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard what the general said. Let me help you go through the books. Maybe with two sets of eyes, we can find something.”

  I gave her a speculative look. The lieutenant may have--at one time--been a woman hell bound for self-destruction, but she was a true warrior now; never giving up on whatever she pursued. “When do you want to start?”

  Her brows rose. “How about now?”

  ****

  My watch read five in the morning when I shut the black leather cover of yet another volume. The cave library echoed with memories. I could almost feel the comforting bulk of Matriarch Belora as I recalled the first time she had led me to the vampires-only library.

  She had unlocked the spell that obscured the entry that led down the stairs to the library. I had followed close behind as we descended the narrow staircase. At the bottom, another door barred entrance to the books beyond it. Matriarch chanted beneath her breath and the door knob turned easily in her hand. She stepped into the large room-sized cave with its walls carved from the hard stone and bookcases reaching to the twelve-foot high ceiling. When I walked up beside her, her dark eyes had honed in on me. “This room represents thousands of years and millions of hours of painstaking work. It houses the story, not only of vampires, but of all the Supernatural races. In here, Alexis, you will find the Power to aid Artemis’ Purpose, or the Power to destroy the Vampire Race.” Her eyes flashed black as she stared into mine. “I pray that I have not misjudged you as Nyabingi misjudged the only other known human Magic User long ago when she allowed that one access to the knowledge contained within her library. Her mistake caused the death of many Ancients.”

  I knuckled my gritty eyes and stretched my arms above my head, hands linked. “I feel like I'm not seeing something that’s sitting right here in front of me.”

  Nikki looked up from where she sat on a cushion on the floor. She started to shut the book in front of her then abruptly stopped, staring at the page.

  Her sudden interest made my antennae quiver. “You find something good? Wanna share?” I ambled over.

  Head down, she didn’t answer right away. Finally, she lifted her face. “Captain, this book explains that what we call magic is really only the manipulation of a type of energy.”

  “Yeah, as far as that explanation goes, it’s true. That’s how I form fireballs; I pull energy from around me and then manipulate it.”

  She shut the book and stood up. “If you can manipulate energy and send it out away from you, why couldn’t you manipulate energy and send it into someone? That must be what Kira does when she heals; and it must be what Sheena does when she ‘lends her strength’ to someone, like she did with Serena.”

  I started to shake my head then stopped. Cautiously, I thought out loud, “Kira’s a healer and that’s why she can push Energy into people; and Sheena’s Power is based on having some kind of witch blood. I'm neither one of those types of magic wielder. Besides their magic is designed--for want of a better word--to interact with living bodies. Mine isn’t.”

  “Maybe it could be. Maybe it’s all just energy and we’re the ones who make the arbitrary divisions. We’ll never know if you don’t try.” Hope shone in her eyes. “Captain,” she pleaded, “you have to try. If Serena dies, Ariel will be devastated. She loves her mom. We can’t lose them just because we’re afraid to try to save them.”

  Slowly, I conceded. “Let’s go.” When we reached the Admin building, I touched Nikki’s forearm. “I’ll try with Kira. Being a huvam gives her greater regenerative Powers than Sheena has, and Kira’s body is more used to dealing with manipulation of energy.”

  Concern colored Nikki’s words. “Do you feel up to it, Captain? You haven’t eaten or slept decently since the attack on the island. Maybe you should get some rest before you try.”

  I squashed that line of reasoning. “I won’t rest until I know if I can do it.”

  We tramped into what had once been a spacious conference room, but now held temporary cubicles. In one cubicle, Kira lay unmoving on a white-sheeted camp cot. A thin blanket covered her from shoulders to toes.

  As I knelt next to the bed, Nikki asked, “What do you want me to do?”

  “Keep watch. If it looks like something is going haywire, use a broom or a stick to knock me loose. Don’t touch me. If the Energy I'm channeling goes wonky, it could zing through you and possibly kill you. Remember, without Matriarch’s teachings, I'm only guessing about what my magic does, and what it is.”

  With hands on either side of Kira’s face, I closed my eyes. Within moments, I had sunk into my Power. It rose up like a living entity from the core of my being. Its black wings blocked out all light as it wrapped around me. The warmth soothed my thundering, panicked heart and it slowed to a rhythmic beat.

  Weightlessness enveloped me as I soared high in the blackness for a long time. Crisp, cold air smelled of new snow as it brushed my face and chilled the rims of my ears. A low hum filled my head, almost like the Power sang to me.

  Pinpricks of light--lights that wavered and flickered--dotted the black. As I watched, two of the tiny lights poofed out. Some burned with a bright white light while others shimmered like dim yellow discs. Still others glowed with a blue light. In awe, I wanted to stop and gaze at the panorama, but the Power kept me flying into the dark.

  Cold bored into my fingers. They ached, especially the tip of the small finger on my right hand. The Power slowed and felt like it was turning, heading back the way we’d come.

  “No!” I screamed into the dark. “I have to go on. I have to find Kira.”

  A deep voice spoke in the void. “If you continue on, Alexis Night Runner, you may not live. Are you prepared to give your life for this other?”

  “I have to find Kira. She’s a healer. She might be able to help Serena and Sheena. I...I’m not sure that I can. Healing is not my gift.”

  “Are these others worth the cost of your life?” The voice repeated. It came from nowhere, and everywhere.

  “I want to live, but I want them to live even more.” My voice wavered, even as my resolved hardened.

  A vicious wind suddenly sprang out of nowhere. It slapped me, spun me around and around as if I was caught in a vortex. I called on my Power; thought of black wings beating, lifting me out of this maelstrom. Muscles straining, I lifted my arms as if I swam in the ocean, a cold turbulent ocean. Just as I felt a slight lessening of the wind, another gust slapped me down--down into the whirling, swirling windstorm. Again I fought to fly above the winds. Arms aching, chest so sore every breath was torture, I pumped my arms.

  Fingers numb; unable to feel my toes. Wind sliced through me like a sharp knife, mercilessly flaying me. My lungs stiffened, began to freeze in the wintry air. Each breath felt like ice crystals burning down my throat.

  Arms heavy, the muscles in my legs cramping, I slowed.

  Should’ve brought someone to swim with me; a friend. Ha! I don’t have friends. Can’t trust people; they’re never there when you need them. In the darkness, I had gotten turned around. I
swam and swam, yet never reached shore.

  When my arms grew too tired to stroke the still water, I sunk below the surface with barely a ripple. Drifting downward, I stared up at the silvery sliver of moon, but that soon drifted beyond my sight. Something brushed against my arm. I couldn’t see what it was in the dark water.

  “Alexis!” Someone called. The voice sounded far away. “Alexis!” This time a pleading in the voice reached me. “Help me.”

  I needed to help her; help the one who called to me.

  I stretched my arm and cupped the water; propelled myself a short distance upward. “Help me!” The voice sounded frantic now.

  I increased the speed of my strokes. Just a few more strokes and I’d be at the lake’s surface. The shimmer on the water looked like traces of silver. So beautiful.

  But, it was so peaceful down here beneath the water. Did I want to go back to the noise and the hurt that waited for me? I stopped stroking for the lake’s surface.

  “Alexis! Please! Help me!” Desperation in the voice tugged my heart.

  Help? Help who? I can’t help anyone. I can’t swim. A small window of clarity opened. I couldn’t swim when I was a kid. I’d never gone swimming in a lake, not even wading in one.

  With powerful strokes, I gained the lake’s surface. The wind had died away. I blinked and the lake was also gone. Blackness surrounded me--perfect blackness only broken by the brilliant pinpricks of light scattered all around. Close enough to touch.

  One light twinkled with a faint, fading blue. A feeling of need engulfed me. When I touched that tiny light, it felt so chilled; so alone. I knew how it felt to be alone.

  I cupped my hands around it and coaxed it to me. At last, it came close enough to embrace. I wrapped my arms around the tiny, flickering light and cradled it like a newborn babe.

  Embraced, the light grew warmer. Little by little, it stopped flickering and became a steady pinpoint surrounded by the circle of my flesh. I closed my arms tighter around the pulsing light. Drifting in the abyss, I cuddled it against my chest. It brightened and grew still warmer.