Born of Shadows- Complete Series

by J. R. Erickson

"Good, she's responding to you. I named this blanket Venus many, many years ago when she was given to me as a gift. I can only use her with witches of the divine feminine. Venus does not respond well to the masculine or perhaps they do not respond well to her."

  Galla lifted the edges of the blanket and folded them over Abby. The fabric descended upon her, light, airy, more like a cool vapor than a tangible object. As the blanket settled over her face, she inhaled a charge like static electricity. For an instant, it transported her to a world of bursting stars raining streaks of light in every direction.

  Darkness enveloped her a second time, and she settled into it, deeper, as if swimming in an ocean of black. And then Kanti's face loomed before her. A face filled with terror and tears. A face with a story to tell.

  Abby stood at the edge of the forest as Kanti sang to the flames. In the wooden pyre, her baby, her tiny daughter, cried. The man, Clyde, the monster, danced and spun. He threw his hands into the air. His face looked wolfish. He was not a man at all. He was a demon in a man's body. When he heard Kanti's song, his dancing slowed, his body stopped and he turned on her, his face ugly with hatred and desire. He lunged and she darted into the woods, desperate to save her child and lead him away. As she ran, her belly ached with emptiness. Her womb called out for Nadie, the daughter she'd left behind. Her sore breasts filled with milk and made the running harder, slower, but still she ran. She leapt over down trees, splashed through a stream. He gained on her.

  Kanti whispered a silent prayer that her child be protected. Before she went in search of Clyde, she had visited Agnes, the old woman in the forest. Kanti gave Agnes the last of her money, begged that she follow the smoke, find the baby and whisk her away. Clyde would never find her. The old woman was a ghost. She lived in the shadows of other people's stories. With Kanti's gold, stolen from Clyde, Agnes and Nadie would disappear. Kanti's child would never know her true name, nor her mother, her father, her blood, but she would be free. It was too late to undo his magic. Kanti had interrupted the ritual, but not soon enough. She saw the drop of blood where Clyde had pricked Nadie with his golden dagger. She saw the amulet around his neck. Even as she ran, Kanti felt pulled toward the amulet, a magnetism existed now. He had created a link to her and he could always hunt her and draw upon her magic. Kanti had known when she started out on that night that only her death would pull her power back from him, but she must die at her own hand.

  Kanti raced through the trees and when the hole in the earth appeared, she dove into it. It was a lair, a series of tunnels, pitch black, but she'd been in them before. She wound through them, all the while hearing him behind her. He transformed. He screeched like an animal and his sound filled the caverns.

  Kanti burst from the underground tunnels onto the cliff-side. She ran to the edge and jumped.

  In her own body, beneath Galla's shimmering blanket, Abby gasped. She waited for Kanti to plunge to her death, but a black creature swooped from the sky. Sharp talons snatched her from the air.

  "Noooooo," Kanti screamed and tried to break away. She had to die on her own. If Clyde killed her, he would own her forever. She fought against the claws holding her like a steel trap. Their sharp points pushed into her skin, only a nudge and they would puncture her. He flew her over the lake. Her only solace was that Nadie had been left behind. Clyde had not turned back to retrieve their daughter. No doubt he believed her safe for a while more, tucked in her wooden box crying for her mother.

  An island appeared beneath them, and the winged beast dropped lower. He released her and Kanti fell. She hit the sandy earth with a thud, the air knocked from her lungs. She lay gasping, crying and stood when she heard the hiss of a snake. "Wischalowe," she whispered, the name Rowtag, the shaman gave to such serpents as these. The first snake struck her naked calf, his fangs sinking deep and holding. The next attacked her arm and then another bit her hand. Kanti kicked them off, but already the venom weakened her. She fell to her knees, knowing she must die in the lake, she must get there first and drown so that Clyde could not forever own her soul. Again, she stood and stumbled toward the water, desperate to let the lake claim her. Her feet sunk into the sand, her legs so heavy. She fell and crawled toward the water, but a crippling numbness spread through her toes, out to her fingertips. Kanti slumped forward in the sand. The snakes slithered around her. She whispered her child's name a final time "Nadie," before death came for her.

  And then Galla lifted the blanket from Abby's face. She blinked at the suddenly bright sunlight filtering through the high tower windows.

  Abby clutched her belly and rolled to her side. Her sobs echoed in the tower room.

  "What happened, Abby?" Galla asked, kneeling beside her.

  Abby shook her head and tried to release the grief and horror of Kanti's final moments.

  "Kanti," she choked out. "Kanti showed me the end. Her death."

  Galla nodded.

  "I should have prepared you for that possibility," Galla admitted. "When we break the connection, sometimes there is a final surge to pull you in. She is gone now. Gone from your mind. You will have no more dreams from Kanti."

  Abby nodded and tried to pull her knees to her chest as if she were a child, but her own child prevented the movement. She settled for an awkward crossed-legs pose and leaned forward, putting her head in her hands, and strangely mourning the loss of Kanti. She cried for her death, for her daughter, Nadie, left in the forest, and even for the emptiness in Abby's own heart now that the spirit had left her.

  Galla rubbed her back.

  "Sometimes it's hard letting go," she said. "But it must happen. Spirits are not meant to be in our heads or our hearts. You might grow to love them, but they are no longer of this world. They must move on. You are helping her to move on."

  "How does it work?" Abby asked, touching the blanket and marveling at Galla's words. She didn't love Kanti. Right? Kanti wanted her to die. Kanti's release from the world depended on Abby's death, her mother's death and her child's death. Yet Galla's words resonated in some deep part of her.

  Galla smiled.

  "I love the curiosity of new witches. After a lifetime in a world of science, you're always searching for the levers and gears tucked inside the machine. It's a mystery. Magic that has traveled thousands of years. It is gifted to witches with minds who are quite open, dangerously so. It is our protection from psychic invasion. And now it shall protect you."

  ****

  "Lovely to meet you, Adora," Galla told her, taking her hands and squeezing. She had hoped to meet the witch before she left Ula and as luck would have it, found her in the library.

  Adora smiled self-consciously. Though she felt better, meeting new witches distressed her. Her hair, once long and obsidian, was slowly growing back as a dusting of yellowish fuzz, which she covered in a variety of Helena's scarves. Her skin looked sallow and her teeth felt loose and grimy.

  "You as well, Galla," Adora said, forcing a confidence she didn't feel. "I recall seeing you at an All Hallow's Ball or two over the years, though I must admit my memory is slow to return."

  "I'm not surprised," Galla replied, sitting on a chair close to Adora. "You went through a terrible ordeal."

  Adora nodded, not allowing the memories to gurgle up from the mountain of rock she'd pushed them beneath.

  "I hope to ask you a few questions about your experience, Adora. But I understand if you're not ready to talk about it."

  Adora could see pain behind Galla's eyes. It hurt to remember, but she would not deny the witch any answers she needed.

  "Please, go ahead. I'll tell you what I can."

  "One of our Sorciére witches vanished with Dafne. Her name was Indra. We know the spirit Kanti possessed Dafne, but not what became of Indra. I sensed..." Galla paused and swallowed. "I sensed that she died."

  Adora sighed and bunched her hands in her robe to quell their shaking.

  "There was another witch in the lair. I never saw her, but I heard Tobias and Alva speak of someone who w
asted away under Kanti's possession. I believe Kanti possessed her first. Perhaps they were saving Dafne because she offered direct access to Abby and the witches of Ula."

  Galla pursed her lips and nodded.

  "We suspected as much, but I hoped for confirmation. This may be the most I'll ever know."

  "I'm sorry I can't help you more, Galla. It's all quite hazy. The only contact I had with others happened during the possessions, and I only experienced consciousness for fleeting moments."

  Galla stood and leaned forward, placing something in Adora's hand.

  "You will recover, Adora. I can see it," she told her before moving toward the fireplace. She offered a small wave and then stepped through the glass.

  Adora looked in her palm and saw a small yellow stone. It was an omen stone, given to those whose fortune would soon change. Adora had never received one before. She pressed it against her heart and closed her eyes.

  ****

  "I believe we have a good grasp on this curse, especially considering Abby's dream of Kanti's baby in the pyre. It's clear Clyde was attempting to curse the child, and Kanti was trying to stop it," Elda said, stoking the fire.

  After Galla returned to Sorciére, they had gathered on the stone patio and Abby had divulged her vision of Kanti's death.

  "Which didn't work," Sebastian cut in. "I mean, right? We're in the throes of it right now."

  "Maybe it did work," Elda disagreed. "Clyde only has access to a new body every one-hundred years. I doubt that was his intention. Perhaps Kanti's interference caused the gap. It ultimately saved her child and her children's children. Generations would pass before he would have access to another in the bloodline."

  "I think so, too. Kanti wanted to protect her child," Abby added. "In the beginning I felt her hatred of their child, but then it shifted. She loved her daughter. She died saving her."

  "What about all the women who have died in your family, Abby? And how about Dafne? Kanti didn't come to your house to make friends," Helena reminded them, setting aside her knitting needles and standing up. She stretched her arms overhead. "It would be quite a stretch to say she's on our side."

  "I didn't say she was on our side," Abby told them, taking a cookie when Bridget held out a tray.

  "Lemon blueberry," Bridget hummed.

  "But I still believe it was Clyde who placed the curse," she finished.

  "Obviously he did," Julian agreed. "He was the one who would benefit. But Kanti is equally dangerous, especially where you're concerned, Abby."

  Abby nodded, chewing, and unconsciously placed a protective hand over her belly. Sebastian put his hand over hers.

  "Kanti's also using the Vepars," Oliver cut in.

  "Tobias and Alva seem to think she's helping them. As if they all have the same goal," Julian agreed.

  "Which would be?" Sebastian asked.

  "To end Clyde," he stated.

  "But why would the Vepars end Clyde?" Helena argued. "He created them, he's their source of power."

  "No," Elda shook her head. "He's the one siphoning the power, remember? All the death, the magic objects, the rituals. All those things support Clyde. According to the information Faustine has read in that Egyptian spell book, Tobias and Alva are bodies for Clyde so he can enter the world."

  "Does he know Kanti is working with the Vepars? Why doesn't he just possess them and put a stop to it?" Helena wondered out loud.

  "Because his consciousness and his energy are with Victor. This is the only time each century where Clyde's focus is elsewhere. Which is why she is choosing this time to make her move," Julian explained.

  Abby pushed her hands through her hair and shifted in the metal patio chair. Her pregnancy had reached an uncomfortable stage. She felt large and cumbersome.

  "Put your feet up here, honey. I'll give them a little rub." Helena patted the stool in front of Abby and she obliged, lifting her bare feet and leaning her head back on the chair. Helena paused and closed her eyes, frowning.

  "What is it?" Elda asked, sensing her change in demeanor.

  "This baby will come early," Helena murmured, holding Abby's heels.

  Abby sat up and Sebastian's face darkened.

  "How early?" he asked.

  Helena frowned and shook her head.

  "During this moon cycle," she said.

  "The new moon was over a week ago," Oliver offered.

  "What does that mean, Helena? Soon?" Abby asked, sacred.

  "Could your vision change?" Elda asked. "Or is this a future already happening?

  "We can't stop it," Helena sighed, releasing Abby's feet. "But we can prepare. I'll come to your house every day to check on her."

  "Is she okay?" Abby asked, touching her stomach and wondering if Kanti had hurt.

  "I think she's just fine," Helena reassured them, "but she's coming into the world earlier than planned."

  "Two months earlier," Abby objected. "How can that be okay?"

  "She's growing fast. Magic in her blood, your special blood," Helena continued as if watching a movie only she could see. "This little girl is strong."

  Chapter 5

  "I thought you were buying a birthing tub," Abby laughed. She found Sebastian and Oliver in a little alcove of wildflowers close to the house. Sun shone through the canopy of trees overhead.

  They stood in the center of a huge basin built from boulders. It looked like the kind of nature jacuzzi a spa in Montana would advertise. Sebastian pressed a silver lining inside, and when Oliver touched the material it took on a shimmering glow.

  "Only the best for the future little Hull," Oliver laughed. "It looks thin, Abby, but it will feel like satin pillows once you're in here."

  Sebastian grinned.

  "Our baby can come into the world under the stars," Sebastian grinned, gesturing towards the opening in the trees overhead. "And later we'll have a hot tub made of rock. Who wouldn't love that?"

  "Oh, I love it," she promised him. "It's your backs I'm worried about."

  Oliver cocked an eyebrow at her.

  "You think we carried these? I'm an earth element, Abby."

  She laughed.

  "Good point."

  "Lydie's bringing some enchanted lights from Ula, and judging from all of Helena's totes, she plans to stay here for a year after the baby's born," Oliver told her.

  Abby grinned and Vidya shifted within her.

  As she watched Sebastian and Oliver build the birthing pool, a shiver of fear ran down her spine. The birth was becoming real in a way that left her unable to think of little else. She didn't have much experience with birth. Her mother had never shared her own birthing story and Aunt Sydney had never had children. It relegated her knowledge to movies and random blips on the internet. When she found out she was pregnant with Vidya, she knew there would be no hospitals and epidurals involved. Though she imagined magic offered far more powerful numbing agents if need be. Except she didn't want to be numb. It was strange to admit, but she wanted no barriers when Vidya came to into the world; she desired perfect clarity.

  ****

  "Did your mom ever tell you about your birth?" Abby asked Sebastian as he rubbed coconut oil onto her feet and legs that evening.

  She sat next to the fireplace in their bedroom, her feet propped on a large ottoman and her head leaning on one of Helena's warm rice pillows.

  Sebastian glanced up. The fire light added an orange glimmer to his blue eyes.

  "I was born in my parents' bed," he said, continuing to rub. "My mom told me I must have gotten lost on my way out because she spent two days in labor."

  "Two days?" Abby shrunk away from the thought.

  "Not active labor," he promised. "For the first twenty-four hours, the contractions were easy, she said. Her partera, or midwife, was a woman from Mexico named Elena. My mom had met her at an art gallery while she was pregnant. Apparently, my mom asked her that same day to be her midwife."

  Abby laughed. "And she didn't even know her?"

  "Nope." Seb
astian shook his head. "She was a good judge of character. My dad always joked that she dreamed her midwife into being. She worried about having a hospital birth because she hadn't found a midwife and she was already five months along."

  "Why didn't she want a hospital birth?"

  Sebastian shifted next to her chair.

  "Here, scoot forward and I'll rub your shoulders too," he said. "She didn't believe birth should happen in a place where people were sick and dying. She believed in modern medicine for broken bones and major disease, but thought it had no other place in our lives. I have to admit, I share her feelings. I haven't been to a doctor in more than a decade."

  Abby groaned as he pushed into a knot beneath her right shoulder-blade.

  "Oh, right there. Yes. Ouch, but no, keep going." Abby laughed. "My mom used to take me to the doctor a lot. Vaccinations, flu shots, runny nose, you name it and we were in the emergency room. She worried a lot about illness. Now that I know what happened between her and the Lourdes, I'm starting to understand the paranoia. Fortunately, her neurosis didn't rub off on me and I agree with your mom. Why introduce a newborn baby into a place filled with disease? I've tried to imagine giving birth in a hospital and it seems so..."

  "Sterile?"

  "Yeah and disconnected. Vidya coming into the world is its own kind of magic."

  "It is," he agreed.

  "I guess it's easier to justify a home birth when you have magic," Abby continued, wondering if she'd be heading to the hospital if she were not a witch.

  "I think everyone has to follow their inner knowing. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. Life is much simpler that way."

  He opened her robe and rested his large hands on her belly.

  The baby shifted beneath his touch.

  Sebastian smiled and smoothed his hands back and forth.

  "We're talking about you in there," he told her belly.

  The baby did a huge roll and Abby gasped, squeezing her eyes closed.

  Sebastian stared at her belly with mingled horror and amazement.