The Elder Mother

by Carrie Whitethorne

  His hand held my waist, the skin hot under his touch, and I inched closer.

  I closed my eyes, and still, all I could see was him. He was all I needed. All I wanted. I wasn’t sure when it started, but I’d been denying it for days. It was him. He pulled away and my eyes snapped open. He smiled down at me, about to say something. Then his telephone rang.

  “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered under his breath as he tugged it from his pocket.

  I stifled a giggle at his irritation. I’d never heard him curse, and sat up as he took the call.

  “What? No. You’re fu…no. I’m miles away! Right. Yeah. No, don’t tell them. Not yet. Yeah. Thanks.”

  His eyes were hard and cold when he turned to face me. “We have to go back.”

  “What’s happened?” I asked, jumping to my feet.

  He did the same and took my hand as we headed out of the grounds, back to the hotel.

  I glanced at him and saw he was grinding his teeth. “That was Declan,” he said, a hint of anger in his tone. “Three bodies were pulled from the river this morning, not far from the steelworks. All female. All with odd markings.”

  Guilt tightened in my chest. I’d taken too long. He was killing them.

  I didn’t say anything as we checked out of the hotel. I was quiet when we got into the car. I didn’t speak until we were well away from the beautiful little town.

  “Elian. We have to do this today.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  Twenty-Three

  Seren

  I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t quiet my jumbling thoughts. Elian drove home so quickly I was sure there was going to be an accident, which only added to my building anxiety. I didn’t mention it. He was grinding his teeth again and I thought it better to stay quiet.

  Back in the apartment, Elian went straight into his bedroom and I heard him pulling boxes from his cupboard. I followed him inside.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Just more knives. I have a sword here somewhere, too. Then I’ll get changed and we’ll think about how we’re going to do this.”

  “There’s only one way to do it: straight in, find him. Whatever we come up against, we’ll handle while we’re down there.”

  “We can’t just go in and do it on the fly, Seren,” he said with humourless laugh. “It didn’t work out last time we did that.”

  “I don’t see how we can plan around it when we don’t know what’s down there.” I shrugged and turned to leave.

  “Don’t go. I’m sorry, I just don’t know how else to do it.”

  He sounded so deflated. I went to him, kneeling on the floor at his side, and took his hand. “We’ll handle it. Get ready. Get us down there and I promise I’ll deal with it all. Just watch my back. Okay?”

  “Seren, I—”

  I didn’t let him finish. I kissed him gently and left.

  I opened the box that held my new daggers and sat on the bed. I wasn’t sure what good they would be. From previous experience, these demons were immune to silver. I heard Elian’s bedroom door close and waited for him to come to me. When he didn’t, I took the daggers and went to him.

  “What should I wear?” I asked, walking into the kitchen.

  Elian was dressed in his usual leathers, knives strapped and ready, and a sword at his hip. Before he could answer, I copied his armour and grinned as he gawped. He reached out a hand to touch one of my knives and I flinched back.

  “Don’t touch them. They’re dangerous,” I said, shoving my daggers into waiting sheathes at my hips.

  He laughed and stepped closer. “I handle knives all the time, Seren…”

  “No. Not like these. Don't touch them,” I warned again. “They’re hers.”

  He frowned. “How?”

  “I willed them,” I explained.

  “So, you can channel The Mother whenever you please?”

  I paused. “I…I don’t know. I’ve never tried. I’ve always just allowed her to work of her own accord. But I needed daggers that would work against these demons, so I willed them to be imbued with her power. Here they are. This has always just been. Like my clothes. I need something, she provides it.”

  I felt foolish not understanding how it all worked.

  He looked thoughtful for a minute, then turned and walked to the door. “Come with me.”

  I followed, wondering what he could possibly want when we should be heading out to find Kern.

  He led me into the gym, pulling his knives from the target board and turned me to face it. “Go on.”

  I glared at him. “Go on what?”

  “Channel it. Don’t wait for your power. Don’t wait for the heat of the moment. Tell it to come. Channel it. Hit the board, like you hit that demon. If you can do this, we’ll be in and out of there in no time,” he said, pressing the knives into my palm.

  That would be helpful, I thought. If I could channel the power, use it as I needed it, Elian wouldn’t be at so much risk. He was skilled enough, but these demons were extraordinarily strong. It was worth a try.

  I shrugged and concentrated. Will the power. Hit the target.

  I aimed. I threw. The knife bounced away from the target and scratched the floor.

  Elian said nothing. He didn’t make a sound as I palmed another dagger and took my aim.

  I missed again.

  He came up behind me and lay his hand on my shoulder.

  “Relax…”

  I couldn’t relax. I was frustrated. I was angry at myself. Surely, if I couldn’t handle the emotional side of it, I could at least throw a knife! My anger triggered something in me. Channel it. I felt her stir in me and I pushed Elian back. As the room turned a dazzling shade of emerald, I held up my right hand. I’d never noticed how it felt before, the power surging through my body, concentrating in my palm. Trying not to think too much about how it was happening, I pushed the force toward Elian’s target. I heard him curse behind me as it disintegrated.

  I blew out my cheeks and turned to him as he grasped my hand. “That was…well that’ll do it.”

  I grinned up at him as he pulled me towards him and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Just like that. You ready?”

  He didn’t give me time to answer, tugging me out of the room.

  I allowed him to lead me to the car, climbed in when he opened the door, and waited for him to join me.

  He didn’t give me time to think, backing out of the carpark and into the busy traffic. I didn’t react as several cars stopped suddenly sounding their horns. I sat and stared ahead, numb.

  “Seren? You okay?” he asked, finally slowing down.

  I nodded.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in. But we should move. You said yourself, it has to be now.”

  I nodded again.

  He parked on the opposite side of the river to the steelworks, explaining he wanted to check to see how busy it was nearby since the bodies had been found in this area. I waited in the car while he flew over.

  When he was gone, I got out of the car and leaned on the bonnet, looking over at the building. He was in there, and he was killing innocent people. Why? What was the purpose behind it? He must have known he couldn’t succeed in taking over this realm. This was one city out of countless. These were a few thousand people out of millions.

  I thought of Emily. I thought of the girls that had been pulled out of the river that morning. I thought of the house full of dead and dying people that he’d lured and abused and fed from.

  I let the rage fill me up. I allowed it to consume me.

  Scanning the skies, I saw Elian in the distance. If I could fly…

  But…if I could shift my appearance and clothing, summon weapons, and use her power of my own accord, surely, I could fly? I could do anything he could do because I, too, was blessed with The Mother’s earth power?

  Not only that, I could use it at will.

  I concentrated on what I’d done back in the gym: channelling her power. On how i
t felt to change my appearance. On what I wanted to become.

  I was not the instant flash and change that it was for Elian. His change was graceful…fluid. Beautiful. This was…sloppy.

  My hands changed first. My fingers felt lighter, then my arms. I lost height. Rapidly. I tried to look down but couldn’t see anything but the ground, and it was frighteningly close to my face. The wall impeded my view of him and I dared to try and jump to it. Not only had I managed to shift, I could move! With a chirp of glee, I scanned the skies.

  He was close.

  I saw him stop, hovering. I tentatively flapped my wings and rose from the ground. It was terrifying, but I pushed myself. I could do it. It was part of who I was. It took a few seconds, flapping and hopping, not entirely sure how to get high enough to catch an air current, but soon I was up, I was climbing, and I felt the wind catch beneath my wings. When I reached him, he joined me, and we banked sharply. He followed in my wake as I sped to the building, spotting a broken window, and flew straight for it.

  I’d perched on an old girder and waited. My keener senses allowed me to scan for threats before he joined me, and I’d shifted before he arrived.

  “Kept that quiet,” he huffed, cracking his neck as he stretched himself out.

  “Didn’t know I could do it until then,” I said, stepping down from the girder. “Where did you say the entrance was?”

  “I didn’t. Couldn’t have you running off looking for him,” he said, taking my hand. “Please, be careful. I know this is what you do, but I want you back in one piece, okay?”

  “Yes. Well. Just stay behind me and you’ll be okay, too. Don’t leave me.” I turned to walk away, and he pulled me back.

  I shook my head, giving him a warning look, and he released me. I hoped he understood why.

  “Third door down over there,” he said, pointing to the far-right corner of the room. “They’re all hidden behind old equipment.” He showed no sign, inwardly or otherwise, of being offended at my rejection.

  I nodded and turned away. Thinking better of it, I turned back and smiled. “Ready?”

  He cocked a brow and set off for the door he’d mentioned, and I fell into step at his side.

  It wasn’t locked. It wasn’t even latched. The thing was barely a door, which is probably how he missed it. I certainly didn’t notice. Without thinking, I pulled the door open and stepped inside. There was another door, which I opened just as quickly and continued to move on. The roof had fallen in here and we walked quietly along a narrow, brick-walled alley. The floor was littered with fallen bricks and tiles, and I noticed a hole in the wall up ahead. I risked a glance over my shoulder to see Elian right behind me.

  He placed his hand on my shoulder and I stopped.

  “Remember: you cannot help them if you can’t move. Block the emotions out,” he murmured in my ear. I swallowed hard and nodded, before rounding the gap in the wall and stepping into darkness, unsheathing both of my daggers.

  As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I glanced around: four walls, concrete ceiling, and a hole smashed into the ground. Where the earth had fallen away, it had formed a slope. It was only natural that they’d made their home beneath the earth; that was their habitat within the portal. They didn’t belong up here, beneath the sun.

  I didn’t look back at Elian. He was there. I knew he wouldn’t leave me.

  I began a mantra in my head as I descended the slope, as I walked willingly into Kern’s hive. Block it out. Channel the power. Block it out. Channel the power.

  A fire burned somewhere below, the orange flickering light guiding us down. The slope was well-used, I realised, as there was no debris threatening to trip us. How far it went, I wasn’t sure, but I counted the steps until it levelled off and I stood in a hollowed-out room. The light came from the next room, and light meant someone needed to see. I tightened my grip on my daggers and felt for whomever was present. Four: two very angry, two not so much.

  Elian stepped to my side. And I held up four fingers before flicking my head back. He stepped behind me and drew his sword as I decided on my approach. My stomach flipped in what I was surprised to recognise as excitement, and I glanced back to Elian. He was grinning at me.

  Shaking my head, I drew on her power and walked forwards.

  “Hello, I’m looking for Kern,” I said cheerfully, looking around the room.

  A fire burned in the centre of the space, providing just enough light for me to count the demons.

  They were in their natural forms, hideous and terrifying, and I’d been right: two Destroyers and two Leechers guarded the entrance to the next chamber. Their reaction to me, however, was unexpected. They instantly backed away, crowding the doorway before us. I looked on curiously, unsure how to proceed.

  “What’s up with them?” Elian asked at my back.

  “I’m really not sure.”

  A Leecher hissed, stalking forwards.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked casually.

  “Don’t know,” I said, sheathing my daggers and walking forwards to meet it. “Wait there.”

  It hissed again as I drew closer, then stopped, its jaws opened wide. I noticed the other skirting around the left side of the room, leaving the Destroyers to guard the door.

  I couldn’t let that one reach Elian, so decided to skip those two completely and distract them all.

  I pulled one of the small throwing knives from its clip at my chest and flipped it in my hand. The beasts before me snarled, realising what was about to happen, and I threw a knife. I grinned as it flipped through the air, past the demons in front of me, and I stifled a little whoop of glee as it hit a destroyer in the centre of its body, killing it and leaving behind a cloud of dust. Looking over my shoulder at Elian, I flashed my brows and smiled as the rest reacted.

  They rushed me, the three of them at once, and I turned to face the oncoming demons.

  His eyes widened and was about to shout a warning as I opened my left hand.

  The room was lit up and I could see the raging creatures in all their horrific splendour. The Leechers were closest. Taller than the Destroyers, all sharp, elongated limbs, and gnashing jaws, they reeked of stale blood and scrambled to halt their advance. The Destroyer barrelled into them, forcing them on, toward me, toward the green light I held inert and pulsing in my hand. With my right, I pulled a dagger free and walked toward them.

  As they were about to collide with me, I sent the light out in all directions and heard their terrified wails as their bodies dissolved beneath it.

  I kept moving, closing my eyes against the cloud of black dust that formed where they’d been just seconds before.

  “Are you coming?” I called back to Elian, stepping through the door to the next room.

  Twenty-Four

  Seren

  The gloomy expanse opened before me as I stepped confidently into the room. The first thing that hit me was the smell. I turned my head to the side in revulsion and noticed Elian do the same. The overpowering stench of death clung to the very walls, sickly sweet and cloying. I forced myself to breathe, to inhale the awful stink and accustom myself to it. The room, like the one before, was carved into the very earth. Dark and gloomy, the only light provided by small fires. I could make out the shapes of people curled on blankets around the floor space in the dim glow and I prepared myself for the onslaught of emotion that was sure to come from them.

  I staggered back into Elian at the force, and I felt his arm around me, his strong hand splayed against my abdomen as he steadied me. The warm support of his body helped as I fought to block out the turbulent feelings that poured from the women dotted around the room.

  “Feel for me,” he murmured in my ear. “Concentrate on me, and only me.”

  I closed my eyes, blowing out a shaky breath as I focused all my attention on him, on his emotions. He was perfectly calm, relaxed, and I clung to it as I opened my eyes and entered the room.

  The bodies curled in balls on the ground, trembled at t
he sound of my footfalls. Slowly, carefully, I approached. Not at all prepared for the horror I was about to witness.

  The body closest to me was that of a young woman. Her skin was mottled and pallid, she wore nothing. Nothing. I turned to Elian, shaking my head sadly. I could make out odd shuffling sounds as I gazed into the murky, dark recesses of the room, my eyes skimming over the people on the floor.

  I stepped closer to the girl, walked around her to see her face and recoiled, covering my mouth with my free hand to stifle a gasp. Elian was by my side in an instant.

  “What?”

  Despite his confusion and the horrific scene before us, Elian maintained his quiet calm. I clung to his emotional state, fighting to control my own.

  The girl was dead. Her complexion so pale due to lack of blood in her body. The reason for that lay curled against her, suckling at her limp wrist. The infant appeared to be no more than six months old in terms of size, but in makeup, it was clearly strong enough to walk. As I watched it, sucking whatever dregs of lifegiving blood it could from its poor, dead mother, its eyes fluttered open. Black. So black they bored into mine as I looked down in horror.

  Its flawless skin was as pale as gleaming moonlight, its face angelic as it studied me. Then, it smiled. A joyful gurgle escaped its beautiful mouth and it rose, the meal forgotten. On unsteady, but strong legs, the tiny male half-breed tottered toward me, arms outstretched.

  “That’s why the bodies are moving…they’re dead because…don’t touch it!” Elian hissed in my ear as I reached out a hand.

  “It’s a baby, Elian.”

  The tiny boy reached my feet and I lifted him, gently positioning him on my hip. He beamed at me, and I smiled as his small, pudgy hand reached up and stroked my cheek.

  Elian stepped away. “It ate its mother!”

  The enchanting child in my arms had won me over. His beautiful little face lit with joy as he stroked my skin and studied me. “He doesn’t know any better. He isn’t a monster, Elian. He’s just doing what he has to, to survive.”