by Elon Vidal
“Hi,” Elijah said with a nod.
“Hey,” she replied.
‘You didn’t answer my calls yesterday, or return them today,’ she wanted to say.
“We have work to do,” Ezekiel said. “Damon, we are no longer having training today. Prepare your weapons.”
They all watched Ezekiel go up the stairs to his room, leaving the guys to look at Dawn for answers. She gave them a summarized version of her dream and everything that had happened so far, and Damon whistled. “You don’t do things halfway, do you?”
“Apparently not,” Elijah said seriously.
“I didn’t go looking for Fisher,” Dawn said with a roll of her eyes.
“I have classes today,” Elijah said, standing up and preparing to leave.
Dawn looked at Damon with pleading eyes and he gave her a small nod before leaving the room. She was on Elijah as soon as they were alone.
She knew that he was falling behind in his classes and had clearly lost weight. His bright blue eyes she'd always loved were now dull and almost lifeless. To make matters worse, he had dyed his hair brown, probably to really test if he was human. It hurt her to see him that way. It wasn’t clear that they’d be able to return him his magic and deep down she feared that he might never go back to be the boy she'd grown up with.
“Okay, what is going on? You’re acting weird.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
The harshness in his voice made Dawn recoil. She steadied her thoughts. She wouldn’t back down. “I’m sorry about everything, okay? I already said that. Tell me how to fix this, because it feels like you hate me. What changed between the crypts and now?”
“I don’t know how to help, okay!” Elijah burst. “Everything that is going on and I can’t even do anything.”
“That’s not true-”
“You and I both know it is true.”
“So, pushing me away is a solution how?”
“You have Damon now,” Elijah shrugged.
“What did you just say to me?” Dawn asked with narrowed eyes. “Please tell me you did not just say that.”
“You heard exactly what I said.”
Dawn wanted to slap some sense into Elijah. She contained her anger inside her words instead. “When have we ever been friends because of your magic? I never had any magic but weren’t you my friend? So now that the tables have turned you are making the decision for me, throwing Damon at me?”
“Dawn-”
“No, I won’t listen to your excuses. I’m in trouble, and I could use a friend right now more than magic. We are supposed to be finding a way to get your magic back, not fighting.”
“You could die, Dawn!” Elijah exclaimed. “And I can’t do anything to help you.”
“Fisher took you when you had magic, but you couldn’t stop him then. Sometimes magic or not, things don’t go our way. You can’t base your whole life on magic, as difficult as it sounds, you just have to accept it.”
“Seems like you have it all figured out,” Elijah said. Something flashed across his face, like he wanted to say more, but he just grabbed his bag and stormed out the front door, leaving Dawn standing there.
Ezekiel came down at that exact moment, saving her from shedding the tears she so desperately wanted to. She sucked in a breath to hold them back, willed her eyes to stop stinging.
“Do not mind him, he is just hurting. Here,” he said, then handed her a coin, “you’ll need this. Pack your weapons, I will go and get your mother.”
Dawn managed a nod and slipped the coin in her pocket as Ezekiel disappeared. She stood there for a minute, trying to process everything.
“You okay?” Damon asked when he walked back in.
She nodded and faked a smile. “Where did Ezekiel put my things?”
Damon took her to a spare room. The master seemed to have all options covered. Dawn was mesmerized by the vast number of artifacts and weapons assembled there. Staffs with golden globes, golden-crusted glaives of various shapes and sizes, diamond and gem-encrusted chains, war gloves with emerald knuckles, several multicolored amulets, and root-like double-pronged spears. The space expanded beyond what she could see with magician robes, wands with dragon heads, even a phoenix-shaped cauldron.
“This would appear as a storage closet if any human or uninvited folk were to come in,” Damon winked. “Luckily for us, we’re in for the ride.”
Her eyes popped wide open, but she soon realized there was no time for her to immerse herself in this magical space. She located her daggers near the entrance.
"What's the plan?" Damon asked.
Dawn held out her hand and drew her daggers closer using magic.
"You are getting good at that," he said.
"I know," Dawn smirked.
Still, her thoughts circled back to Elijah. She would give it all up for him and she’d be okay with that. Giving up her magic for him felt right. She didn't need it but he did.
In her heart she accepted, even embraced not having magic anymore. She wondered, perhaps even planned, on leaving everything magic behind. She'd had enough adventure to last two lifetimes and had enough of creatures trying to kill her. All she wanted now was to be normal, and actually see it through. Plants and flowers were more graceful and respectful, and they weren’t actively trying to bring everyone down while trying to harm those around them.
"I'm not leaving that place without getting Elijah's magic back," she finally said in answer to Damon's question. "No matter what happens, that's the plan. We can seal gods or whatever, but I am going to get this one thing right even if it kills me."
"And how do you plan on doing that?” Damon said, failing to hide his suspicion. “I won’t let you do whatever you’re planning alone."
Dawn ignored his question and continued gathering her things. "You have to protect Elijah in case something happens."
"You think Fisher still cares about Elijah? The only person who needs protection here is you, Dawn. And Elijah is not helpless, he can hold his own."
"He can, but he's really fragile right now and I'd feel better if you were watching him and not me. When we face what what’s coming, without his magic he might likely be in danger."
Damon scoffed. "You think he will let me do that? Do you really think that he will let you go anywhere without backup?"
"I will have like a thousand bodyguards with me under Ezekiel's orders."
"The same is already arranged for Elijah."
"Yeah but I know you and I trust you, crazy as that may be. And I would feel better if you were with him."
Damon smiled, but it was sad, not laced with his usual lightheartedness. "I can see it in your eyes, you know?"
Dawn stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "What?"
"That all or nothing look, you are going to do whatever it takes to get Elijah's magic back."
"That's the point of going through all this, right? Plus, you know that whole thing of if you don't finish the trials you die," she finished with a poor imitation of Ezekiel's voice. "I don't really have a choice now."
"Even if it means giving up your magic?"
Dawn nodded and immediately looked away.
"You said you would trade places with him if you could, but are you really willing to give up something that you haven't even begun to really explore yet?"
"Elijah has been in my life for years and I've been happy. Magic had been in my blood for weeks and it's brought nothing but problems."
"Only one problem. If Fisher is gone, you can start enjoying a whole new life with it."
"I've never wanted that, and I'm pretty good at what I do without magic."
Damon was silent for a second before nodding. "Okay, I hear you. And I support whatever decision you make."
"But you can’t tell Elijah."
"Oh? You don't want him to know this big sacrifice that you are making for him? Maybe this could be the thing that finally brings you two together."
Dawn rolled her eyes and
Damon laughed. She cared about her friend and felt frustrated that she couldn’t just snap her fingers and make him whole again. She didn’t like to see Elijah confuse being human with being weak, but she did miss his smile hidden behind his sense of feeling incomplete. Just at that moment, Isabel walked in.
"You look like you are ready to take an army down," her mother said.
Dawn supposed she looked rather badass in her all-black attire. Her cargo pants had pockets full of vials, and her boots were laced up to her ankles and carefully holding in little daggers. Her black top was tight enough to make sure the harness on top fit well. And in that harness were her two daggers on her back, crossed at the handles. There were little compartments with darts and one with the coin.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied, and gestured to what her mother was holding. "What is that?"
Isabel held up a necklace with a small vial on it. "It's a protection spell"
"Thanks mom," Dawn said then turned around to allow her to put it around her neck.
"Make sure my baby comes back home unharmed," she said, pointing a finger at Damon.
Damon gave Dawn a pointed look. "I'll keep an eye on her, you have my word."
Isabel nodded.
“Are you ready to go?” Ezekiel asked. “The Council is ready for us now, they have brought the djinn with them.”
Dawn took a deep breath and nodded. “Let’s do this.”
TWENTY-TWO
“Welcome,” Gael said, then gestured for all to sit.
Everyone sat down except Dawn and Damon, and she sighed in exasperation. Did they really have to treat them like they were all on trial. The least they could do was offer them seats.
“Proceed.”
There were eight djinns seated on the fourth step from where the Council sat, and she recognized Aiken among them, who stood up at Gael’s command.
“The Gates are guarded, and we can only deduce from the information given thus far that the trials are for the East Gate.”
Dawn wished that someone would explain this in layman terms, and she was just about to ask what the East Gate was when Aiken continued.
“The Four Gates all have different trials, and the gods sealing them are different as well, just like the power they are protecting from the world. Hades wanted to destroy the world when he gifted mankind the box of woe, and it was the goddess of Dawn, Eos, that managed to subdue him with her light. Now, we do not know what the third trial is, only that it will be where the Gate is.”
And if Dawn had to hazard a guess, they didn’t know where the Gate was.
“The Gate will have guardians, and the girl will present the gifts from the trial for them to grant her entry. What awaits her beyond that is her journey, and hers alone.”
“This is assuming the girl successfully completes the trials,” another djinn added.
Gee, thanks, Dawn thought. Her life was on the line and some in this group still perceived her as expendable or as a sacrifice to the gods. Still, the djinn had a point. No one had ever completed this third trial and there were no guarantees of her making it through. Dawn did feel a bit like this was unreal, like this might be happening to someone else but her. Perhaps it was her defense mechanism kicking in.
“And if she does not?” Gael asked.
“I suggest putting everyone on lockdown for their own protection until we have an outcome,” Ezekiel spoke up.
“And we suggest accompanying the girl for her protection,” Aiken added.
“I will be with her,” Ezekiel replied, “and several First Guards as well.”
The djinn shook his head, “Not only you, but the rest of the Enlightened. A shield needs to be formed around her, and around the entrance of the Gate. Whatever comes out of it will have to be contained.”
“We need to reinforce the protective wards around our people, only we are strong enough to hold them up through the night,” Gael argued.
“There will not be anyone to protect once Hades roams this earth again,” Aiken reminded him. The girl requires guidance and protection, let us get our priorities straight.”
“Perhaps you forget where you stand, djinn,” Gael warned.
“Perhaps you forget who asked for our help,” the djinn shot back.
“Let us all not forget the girl who needs our help, just as we need hers,” Ezekiel said calmly.
“What are we going to do?” Dawn finally asked. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Your dreams, wherever it is that you have seen Hades. That is where you are supposed to go,” Aiken replied.
“And what do I do when I enter?” she asked, not willing to entertain a thought that she might not.
“You refuse the power,” the djinn said simply.
Now that was going to be a problem, Dawn thought, because she had every intention of claiming it for Elijah’s sake.
The Enlightened all joined hands and chanted a spell, with the dream walker holding Dawn’s hand to connect with her. All she had to do was focus on an image of the place they wanted to get to, and after a few minutes of trying, a portal opened, and they all went through it.
The journey was physically painful. Her whole body wabbled and she could see it coming in and out of focus. Particles emerged from it and seemed to eviscerate it. She looked around and could see djinn and Council experiencing it too. Dawn had never experienced this sensation before when she had travelled through a portal. Her whole surrounding began to press hard onto her, as if it weighed and created bubbles that pierced into darkness, with each someone in her entourage ceased to be there. This went quicker and soon enough she noticed that she was alone.
She emerged in the exact place of her dreams, inside the castle courtyard, but when she looked around in search of everyone, there was no one there. The pressure around her ceased and she could again breath normally. She rubbed her hands and arms trying to see if anything of her had gone missing.
“Damon! Ezekiel!” she called out, her voice echoing in the empty castle.
They weren’t here, which meant something had gone terribly wrong and she was alone in this place. With all guidance gone, now she had absolutely no idea what to do next.
“Okay Dawn, you’ve been here before, look for a sign,” she spoke to herself out loud. The girl from her dreams never appeared, but she did see the white flowers along the walls.
Beautiful, she thought as she traced the vines along a wall and inspected the flowers. It felt surreal to finally touch them after all the years of dreaming of them, and when she attempted to remove one from the vine, thorns appeared suddenly and pricked her.
“Ouch!” she drew back, placing her finger in her mouth.
“Careful, they are poisonous.”
Dawn turned around, startled, and the one person she did not want to see right now was standing there with a smirk. She had seen him take her friend’s power, send charging wraiths her way, and also try to save his family. “They do not call it the Aurora flower for nothing, one flower can put you to sleep for weeks if it feels so inclined.”
Dawn put one hand behind her back, searching for her weapons. To her horror, there was nothing there.
“Nothing impure can enter here,” Fisher said, “I am afraid your weapons were just not welcome.”
“Then how did you make it through?” Dawn asked, trying to assess her position and if she could make a run for it if need be.
Fisher said, “You call me impure? I suppose I see where you are coming from. I could not have made it through without you.”
Dawn frowned in confusion, “What do you mean?’
“You hold the key from the second trial and only the key bearer may enter. Thank you for coming here with haste.”
“What did you do to me?”
“Nothing yet,” Fisher smirked.
He raised his hand and conjured a sword, which made Dawn panic a little. Then she remembered the coin that Ezekiel had given her, breathing in relief when she found it in her pocket. If he conjured weapon
s in here, it meant she could do so too. She focused on an image of her daggers and her fingers glowed as two daggers replaced the coin in her hand.
"Do you know dream walking was first considered Wiccan magic?" Fisher chuckled.
Dawn took a step back and studied his form, trying to guess his next move. The way his grip was relaxed on his sword told her he would probably try to trick her and use it instead of attacking with anything else. It was an old trick they had learned in weapons class. Always let your opponent think that you don't have full control of your weapon. She kept her attention split between his face and hand.
"But the truth is you people use it more than Wiccans do now, and you don’t even understand it. You can’t enter a person's mind and expect not to leave a footprint. And you know the funny thing about footprints?"
"I have no doubt you are going to tell me anyway," Dawn replied, taking another step to the side when he did the same.
"They can be used to follow you. Something you didn't think about when you were snooping around in my dreams, eh?"
Dawn wanted to scream that she hadn't done it on purpose, but it didn't matter now. On purpose or not, the hidden power inside her had gotten her here. And now she had to find a way to get herself out of it.
"I followed you, and you led me exactly where I needed to be,” Fisher continued. “I suppose I need to thank you for doing the work for me."
"You say it like you've succeeded already, you still need to enter that gate," Dawn said, the grip on her weapons tightening.
