Blackout

by Katy Mitchell

  Chapter 32

  As Kaden was returning to Bramble Hall, things seemed a lot livelier than the last time he had returned after visiting the Wise Ones. Through the icy blue haze of his ball of light, he could see Sol pacing up and down at the end of the Great Hall they had set up as their living and eating area yesterday. Lady Bramble was sat on one of the comfortable chairs, the children stood by her side, clinging to her and crying. Elisabeth was sat on a bench at the long, wooden table, her head in her hands. Cecily and Fen were having a discussion and both had worried looks on their faces.

  As Kaden materialised back into his humanoid form, Cecily said, “Thank goodness!”

  “What’s going on?” he questioned. He did not like the atmosphere in the room. Something had happened. Cecily leapt straight into her tale about what she had seen.

  “I went to the clearing earlier to practise with my powers, just to make sure I wasn’t rusty,” she began. “As I entered the circle of oaks, I felt a residual energy left by magic. This magic was powerful stuff. It made me feel sick. So I had a look into the not so distant past and I saw Dasrus. With Jedd.”

  Cecily paused and Kaden could see she was choosing her words carefully.

  “We’ve been betrayed,” she continued. “Jedd is no more.”

  “What? Dasrus killed him?” Kaden immediately thought this is why everyone must be so upset and he too felt the same emotion coming over him.

  “In a way, yes,” said Cecily. “He’s a demon. Dasrus turned him into a demon. I saw it happen with my own eyes.”

  Kaden sat down on the bench next to Elisabeth.

  “Are you sure? Maybe the vision was a trick, planted by Dasrus.”

  “Impossible!” cried Cecily. “Firstly, how would Dasrus know where we are in order to leave the vision? Secondly, he doesn’t know I am reactivated and I’m the only one with the power to look into the past. Finally, the imprint of the residual energy matched the spell and magic he used, very dark and powerful magic, which is what he would need to transform someone into a demon. Jedd has betrayed us.”

  “I can’t believe he would do this!” wailed Elisabeth through her fingers. Kaden noticed that her face was red and he could see she was devastated by this news.

  “Did you see anything else, Cec? Could you hear what they were saying?”

  “No nothing. Just enough to give me the gory details. Dasrus must have masked the rest of their conversation. He probably wanted to leave just enough to taunt us, in case I should happen over it. Just enough to show us the path our friend has chosen. I mean, being a demon has got to be better than hanging around with us, hasn’t it?” Sarcasm laced her words. “We’ve got to get back to Bramblegate now!” she continued, urgently. “I’ve got to shut down the gateway. Plus, Dasrus knows we are here now thanks to Jedd. It’s no longer safe.”

  Kaden could tell she was back. She was very different from her human counterpart. The goddess was a leader, strong and in charge.

  “But that is what Dasrus is going to expect, for us to leave here and go directly to the gateway,” suggested Sol.

  “Not necessarily,” replied Cecily. “He doesn’t know I’m reactivated. Jedd left before it happened.”

  “Sorry to interrupt,” said Lady Bramble. “But why can’t you shut the gateway down permanently to stop anything like this from happening again. It would also remove the need for a human protector.”

  She looked down sadly at her son who was visibly petrified, while Delilah cried, “Mummy! I want to go home!”

  “We can’t, Lady Bramble,” explained Kaden. He truly felt for them. “Trust me, we’ve tried. All we can do is a spell to temporarily prevent the use of magic in the area and Cecily is the only one powerful enough to do that. Neither can we destroy the Dark. We can lock them away, again with magic, but they find a way out eventually.”

  “And death always becomes the Bramble family as a result,” said Lady Bramble, angrily. Oscar gasped.

  “Not always,” replied Kaden, trying to make her feel better. “Anyway, I don’t think Dasrus will be waiting for us at the gateway. By all accounts, he has much bigger fish to fry. This whole situation has been an elaborate decoy, a red herring. That is why the Wise Ones summoned me, to put us back on the right track again. We’ve been focussing on the wrong problem.”

  “What?” said Cecily, who seemed very shocked. “What is his true plan then?”

  Kaden was about to relay what the Wise Ones had told him when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned and jumped at the sight of the shadow beasts in the darkened corners of the Great Hall.

  “It’s OK,” said Fen. “They’ve been hanging around all morning. They are of this time. Sol and I checked them out.”

  “Do you not think it is a bit strange that Jedd gave us up only last night and now the place is crawling with shadows?”

  “They have been benign,” said Elisabeth. “They have just been patrolling.”

  “Trust me,” added Sol. “We’ve been keeping our eye on them!”

  But Kaden was not convinced. He walked over to one of the darkened corners, reached over his head to the space between his shoulder blades, retrieved his sword with a blast of light and came down hard on one of the beasts lurking in the shadows with one swift swipe. As he suspected, the shadow dissipated and the other seemingly benign beasts turned their attention on Kaden.

  “Spies!” he shouted, although he could see that the others had already drawn their swords and were running to his aid, all except Elisabeth, who was guarding the Brambles.

  The friends fought furiously, slicing this way and that, until all of the beasts had dissipated. They checked every inch of the Great Hall, in all the dark places, to ensure that no shadows were creeping there and when they were sure, Kaden added a protective shield to the boundaries of the Great Hall, ensuring that no more could enter.

  “Kaden, we are so sorry!” began Sol. “We checked them this morning. They weren’t real!”

  “Don’t worry,” said Kaden. “Dasrus was bound to send spies sooner or later. When those bottom feeders report back to him, he’ll know that Cecily is back and that we know about Jedd, but also that the Wise Ones have disclosed what Dasrus is really up to.”

  “And what is that, exactly?” asked Cecily, sounding rather agitated.

  Within the privacy of the shield, Kaden informed the group of what the Wise Ones had told him, omitting the part about the fifth element.

  “He tricked us?” said Cecily, incredulously. “How could we have been so blind?”

  “Look, we have to have faith,” explained Kaden. “Events were supposed to play out like this. Whatever we feel about the party and what happened in Bramblegate, we’ve got to put it behind us. In the grand scheme of things, those events were just a drop in the ocean.” Kaden saw Lady Bramble wince, but he carried on regardless. “It is nothing compared to the devastation that will happen if we don’t stop the Dark.”

  “Devastation?” questioned Lady Bramble curtly, obviously upset that her husband’s death was described as a mere drop in the ocean.

  “As long as Dasrus can convene the remaining three elements, then he can release Dark on Earth. The Earth plane will be overrun with demons bringing with them pain and suffering. Human souls will be corrupted. They will have no choice. They will stop choosing the Light and as a result, no more souls will pass to the Light. Trust me, whatever vision you have of what hell might be like, it will be nothing compared to this. The Dark will be much harder to defeat if they gain control. It could take centuries, even millennia. The balance between good and evil must be kept. The Earth plane must be neutral.”

  Lady Bramble said nothing, she simply stood there gawping, which told Kaden he had answered her question. He wondered if he had overdone it, although everything he said was true.

  “What signs are we looking out for, Cec?” asked Sol.

  “Well,” began Cecily, “the four elements are the very substance of the Earth plane, its
entire composition. If they are in conflict with one another, the Earth plane will be plunged into chaos. Without the cooperation of Water or Air, Earth cannot flourish. Fire will make Earth arid and dry. When our natural surroundings begin to wilt and die, that will be the signifier it has started.”

  “I think we’d better get out of here,” said Kaden, sensibly.

  “I agree,” said Cecily. “We need to move fast. Let’s go straight to the clearing and shut down our gateway, like the Wise Ones suggested.”

  “What if he’s waiting for us?” asked Elisabeth.

  “When Dasrus finds out we have discovered his true plan, he knows that we will try to stop him. Therefore, he will be waiting for us at every twist and turn to prevent us from doing that. We have already lost the element of surprise. The fight has begun and this one is not going to be easy. He’s never tried anything on this scale before, which tells me that he is more determined than ever to release Dark on Earth.”

  The others nodded in agreement with Kaden. However, the Brambles looked terrified. Kaden could see their fear and so he set about comforting them.

  “Lady Bramble, you and the children will have to remain in the safe room for now, just until we can stop Dasrus. I will ask the Fanes to bring you daily supplies and leave them in the organ loft. As you know, they will not be able to enter the room. Do not give that spell to anyone, Lady Bramble, not even the Fanes. Make sure you are not seen and communicate with no one. That room is the safest place to be, providing as few people as possible know about it.”

  “But how long do you think we will be in there for? It is rather small and claustrophobic!”

  “Better that than dead!” snapped Elisabeth, which started the children crying again. Elisabeth folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

  “I know what Elisabeth said was harsh,” said Kaden, glaring at Elisabeth, “but it is true. As soon as we get rid of the threat, things can return to normal.” And then he added, “Well, as normal as possible,” as he realised that for the Brambles, things would never be normal again with the absence of their father.

  “Won’t people be looking for us?” asked Lady Bramble. “Family, friends, staff?”

  “The Purification Unit will take care of all that, in fact, they probably already have. They will have planted a story, like you’ve gone on holiday or something. Please, don’t worry about the details. Just concentrate on getting through this difficult time.”

  Lady Bramble said, “OK,” and hugged her children tightly to her side.

  “Right!” said Kaden, springing into action. “In a minute, I’m going to start the spell and then drop the shield. Cerbereans, you know what to do! Swords at the ready, just in case they are waiting for us on the other side.”

  Kaden began murmuring under his breath, arms and legs outstretched. As his spell came near to its end, he dropped the shield and became a ball of pale blue glowing light.

  “Quick!” he heard Cecily say.

  First, Fen and Sol went into the light with the children, followed by Elisabeth. Cecily was in the process of ushering Lady Bramble through when he heard the lady scream. With an almighty shove, Cecily pushed her into the light while with the other hand, Kaden could see her fighting the shadows single-handedly as they attacked. Through the blue haze, Kaden could see that she was backing her way towards him as she was dealing with the onslaught of beasts and Kaden was willing her to hurry. When he saw that she had an opportunity, he communicated it to her in such a way so that his voice could be heard loud and clear in her head.

  “Come on, Cec! Now! Hurry!”

  She dived into the ball of light and when she was safe, Kaden disappeared into thin air, leaving the salivating shadows at the medieval Bramble Hall.

  Chapter 33

  Kaden had taken the group directly to the clearing. Cecily exited the ball of light, alert with sword at the ready for whatever may be awaiting them. But she could see no signs of the shadow beasts and the others were crowding around something on the ground. This time, rather than clinging to their mother, the children were grasping each other. Delilah was sobbing and Oscar seemed to be hyperventilating. Cecily knew what they were crowding around as she had been there when it had happened. There was no way she could have prevented it; there were too many and they were bound to attack as soon as the shield fell. Cecily bent down and took Oscar by the shoulders.

  “Come on, nice deep breaths. Your mum will be fine.”

  And then Oscar spoke for the first time in a couple of days.

  “I don’t want her to die too!”

  “Your mum is going to be OK,” said Cecily, comforting the boy and his sister. “I’m going to fix her.”

  Kaden, now back in his humanoid form, took over from Cecily and stood with the children. Cecily gestured for Fen and Sol, who had been stemming the blood flow with Lady Bramble’s scarf, to move to one side. Elisabeth was at Lady Bramble’s head, dabbing it with her sleeve and trying to keep her still. Cecily removed the scarf and had a look at the wound. It was quite a nasty bite and it was losing a lot of blood, but she knew that blood loss was not their biggest problem. The fangs of those putrid smelling monsters contained poison and she knew that was why Lady Bramble was writhing. Cecily knew that she must get to work quickly. There was not much time.

  She would need a lot of magic for this healing spell, so she placed one hand firmly on the ground in order to absorb the Earth’s power and one hand over Lady Bramble’s leg. Cecily closed her eyes and began muttering the spell under her breath. Cecily’s green light ran up the arm that was placed on the ground, the light ran across her body and into the other arm that was hovering over Lady Bramble’s leg. The green glow emitting from her hand shone down on the bite mark and it had a cauterizing effect. After a minute or two, the wound was sealed and not even a scar remained.

  “Good as new!” said Cecily, cheerily.

  The children rushed to their mother’s side and were weeping again, this time with relief.

  “Oh, thank you!” cried Lady Bramble. “How can I ever repay you?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” said Cecily, rather embarrassed at the prospect.

  Elisabeth, who had now relinquished her hold on Lady Bramble’s shoulders, said, “This is all Jedd’s fault! I still can’t believe he betrayed us a second time. I thought he was intelligent?” She was very angry.

  “Dasrus can see into people’s hearts,” explained Kaden. “He offers them their greatest wishes and deepest desires. Who knows what Jedd wanted so badly?”

  “I’m going to start the magic to shut down the gateway,” said Cecily. “We need to get Lady Bramble and the children to safety, before there are more surprise attacks.”

  Kaden nodded. “Yes, you are right.”

  Cecily walked over to the far corner of the clearing and closed her eyes in concentration. She had not uttered these words in a long time, but she had not forgotten them. As she murmured the spell, her utterance was directed at the trees and shrubbery. She was talking to them, commanding them to do her will. Her green light glowed all around her as she pulled her hands in an upward motion, controlling the nature in front of her. The trees, bushes, plants and flowers began to weave themselves together, intertwining to form a barrier of thicket. The natural shield grew further and further into the sky and eventually began to curve over, cocooning the clearing safely under a natural awning. Cecily ran over to the next corner and began the spell again. As the trees and shrubbery came together in a defensive screen, they blocked out the dappled sunlight that had been shining through their branches, shading the clearing from the warm June sun. When the flora and fauna from the two corners met each other in unison, she ran to the third corner and repeated the magic. The clearing was now safeguarded on three sides. The group of companions were enclosed by an impenetrable fortification of nature that stood guard against the gateway to the Dark. Cecily ran over to the fourth and final corner in order to complete the spell. The underbrush and timber were so tightly woven that
the clearing was becoming deeper under shadow as the spell progressed. As the woods fused together in the last corner of the clearing, they rose up to meet the dome-like natural roof that would defend the clearing and gateway until it was no longer needed.

  Cecily was inwardly breathing a sigh of relief when she heard a noise on the other side of the thicket that was still weaving and growing. It sounded like something was punching its way through.

  “I can hear something!” she shouted to her friends.

  She thought to herself that this could not be good. The spell was not yet complete. The others came over to the corner of the clearing where Cecily was stood.

  “It’s getting louder,” said Fen, drawing her sword.

  The others followed suit.

  “It’s OK. We might make it,” said Cecily. “Look!” she said, pointing upwards. “The spell is almost complete. A few more seconds and the clearing will be protected…”

  But as she was uttering these words, the demon that was Jedd pushed his way into the clearing. Cecily recognised him instantly as she had seen his transformation in the vision, but it took the others a few seconds to realise.

  Kaden was the first to speak. “Jedd? Is that you?”

  The beast did not reply, so Cecily decided to answer for him. “Yep, that’s Jedd alright! Handsome fellow!”

  Elisabeth ran forward and grabbed the demon by the arm. “Why?” she asked, frantically. “Why have you done this to yourself?”

  The monster simply shook her off as if she were a rag doll. She hit the floor so hard, she bounced and the look of shock and devastation on her face was evident.