Autumn

by Lisa Ann Brown

  “Yolanda!” the Gypsy called to her again, provoking the woman to finally turn back and fix him with what could only be described as an incredibly evil eye.

  “You dare disturb me, Silas?” she cried out furiously.

  “The sky-” the man began, pointing toward the sky, which had become quite dark.

  Arabel glanced upward to see what the Gypsy had noticed. And nearly laughed out loud in unmitigated relief. Arabel heard Jonty’s quick intake of breath behind her and her face split into a wide, life-affirming grin.

  To Arabel’s incredulous delight, the sky was filled with birds, thousands of them - black birds of all types and size! The corvids had come to claim her and Arabel could feel Ira’s presence amongst them, blazing the trail to find her.

  Uplifted, Arabel forgot her pain, she forgot her hunger, she forgot that she was a prisoner and she called to Ira fiercely within her mind. The sound of the birds became deafening as they crowed and cawed and shrilled and swarmed toward the small group on the ground.

  “Hurry!” Yolanda cried out vehemently as she broke into a run and the Gypsies prodding Arabel and Jonty did the same.

  The birds were fast approaching and Arabel saw a light in the distance, mingling in with the trees, a faint, fuzzy white and bluish light she could not identify. Although she was running away from the birds, Arabel knew decisively that her time in captivity was almost completed.

  Arabel could feel the anger and uncertainty coming off of Yolanda and she knew the woman was unsure of how to dispel the attacking birds. The white and bluish light became stronger and seemed to be aligned with the corvids and the forest although Arabel had no idea yet what it could possibly be.

  Arabel could feel Eli within her mind now, and Xavier and Mireille. The energy void must have been broken, she thought in renewed delight. The dark magic of the Dorojenja’s was no longer holding sway and Arabel quickly pulled her athame from her cape pocket. Arabel uttered the protective spells Xavier had taught her as she ran, coating both herself and Jonty in the Gypsy magic.

  Yolanda grabbed Arabel’s arm, seeking unsuccessfully to pull Arabel’s athame from out of her grip. The two women scuffled briefly but Arabel did not hold back and she slammed her fist into Yolanda’s stomach as hard as she could, given the fact that her wrists were still bound.

  Yolanda struck at Arabel’s face viciously, her nails scratching harsh welts into Arabel’s cheeks. Yolanda wrapped her hands around Arabel’s neck and squeezed as hard as she could, her nails dug deeply into Arabel’s flesh.

  Arabel felt no pain; she struck back as hard as she could and the two women fell to the ground, grappling with one another. Dimly, Arabel realized that the Gypsy known as Silas had grabbed her arms and the other was holding Jonty firmly to prevent him from escaping.

  Yolanda got to her feet slowly, moving away from Arabel, all of a sudden appearing to be quite ancient and tired. Her face seemed bloodless, drained, and for a moment she simply stared at Arabel.

  “We should have killed your father long before he sired a brat like you,” Yolanda spat out, each word dripping in slick, slithering venom. “His lineage should have been destroyed! You should never have been born!”

  “Why did you murder my father?” Arabel cried out.

  Yolanda’s face became harder, crueller. She spoke softly, each word a long-harboured hammer of hatred.

  “Patrick Spade was a spy!” Yolanda declared vehemently, “And if I would have had my way, he would have suffered far worse than he did! His exploits killed my brother and forced many of us underground, into the hidden tunnels, like rats!”

  “Yola! We don’t have time for this now,” Silas cried, pulling at Yolanda’s arm. But it was too late.

  The corvids came at the group at break-neck speed, a veritable curtain of flapping feathers and outstretched talons. The birds formed a wall of blackness and beaks, swarming around Arabel and quickly separating her from the others. Ira was within their ranks and he landed joyously upon Arabel’s shoulder for a much anticipated reunion. But there was no time for more than a quick peck before Arabel and the bird were whisked away.

  Arabel floated dizzyingly up from the ground, held magnetically in some force-field she did not immediately recognize. The bluish-white light had reached them and Arabel saw now that it was the magical Ondines.

  Arabel saw Jonty being lifted into the air as well and her eyes closed as the ancient, haunting chants of the Ondines reached her ears, soothing her. The songs sounded like a lost lullaby and as she was carried higher and higher into the air, Arabel gave herself over completely to the female spectres. Arabel barely noticed that the roles of captivity had been mightily reversed.

  Now, the trio of evil Dorojenja members left behind were currently pinned to the ground under the weight and the volume of a few thousand of her feathered sentries while she, Arabel, was flying freely to safety in the loving clasp of the Ondines.

  Arabel flew overtop the trees under the light of the moon and the glowing pulse of the ghostly women. As she peered below at the forest, it was as if Arabel could see the trees breathing, as if she could see their very life-force vibrating. It reminded Arabel of the Gypsy drums, the circadian rhythm. The ancient beat of sentience.

  Arabel shut her eyes once more. She knew she need do nothing further at this moment and it felt so good to just give herself over to such capable and trustworthy entities, at least for a little while.

  She slept.

  At the Center, A Pit

  Eli saw the birds retreat and he knew from Ira that they had flown to Arabel’s current location. Eli also knew that he could not accompany the corvids to rescue her. He would not be able to reach the destination as they did because he did not fly or possess other such alternate transportation, and they were en route to an area he could not possibly reach in time via horseback to join in. Eli therefore plotted strategy with Zander and Baltis and the others in the woods outside of the cabins and they started their campaign with an energy void take-down of their own.

  Eli had never manifested an energy void before but Zander was quite talented in this regard and he readily pulled his athame from his pocket and began the work. First, Zander drew a series of lines in the air with his athame and he spoke under his breath, so his words were not audible. The spell was not lengthy and Zander had completed it within a few minutes.

  In the shimmering air, all gathered could feel the bubble of the void as it lurched into being and was guided magically by Zander to permeate the third cabin, the one where Zander could sense the most gathered activity and pulsing of heartbeats. The bubble of the energy void would disperse slowly and it would eventually encompass the entire local area. It would infect the Dorojenja and incapacitate their communication skills and memory faculties until it had been dispersed by an un-infected party. It was large and it was silver, what could be seen of it; the blossoming void was a mere outline, a glistening, wavering bubble rolling forward against the sky.

  As Zander had been completing his spell, Eli and his father had taken the opportunity to join minds with Mireille, who had been busy since they’d left dismantling the energy void around Arabel, along with the assistance of Francesca de Lorimar and her mother, Madame de Lorimar. By linking into each others telepathic energies, the Frankel’s and the de Lorimar’s were able to send a strong enough signal to disrupt the pattern of the energy void surrounding Arabel, specifically, and Jonty, incidentally.

  The void had not wanted to release. Eli had felt a great pressure upon his brain, as if someone was delightedly squeezing him from the inside out, and then, a shaking, as if his head was being rattled wildly by a huge, carnivorous beast. The relief when the void collapsed was tangible and Eli instantly felt Arabel‘s energy once more and was overjoyed. Knowing that Arabel was one step closer to safety released Eli to concentrate and focus his efforts on bringing down the Dorojenja.

  The five cabins were all occupied and the Gypsies separated into smaller groups to surround each one. They coat
ed the cabins from the outside with energy sealant and readied themselves with their athames and daggers. The horses were tethered a short distance away in accessible ease for escape and the light of the moon shone brightly to aid the group.

  Eli and Baltis moved stealthily together around the edge of the cabin. Once all of the cabins had been surveyed and the void had fully gelled and taken, the Gypsies would enter and attempt to bind and further incapacitate the Dorojenja members inside. The Gypsies had been instructed in clear detail by Xavier as to which spells to use and how best to engage and sublimate the dark forces. In the distance, as the small group furtively assembled into position, they could hear the birds; the raucous cries and taunting calls of the amassed corvids.

  And then, suddenly, Eli could feel Arabel‘s messages again. Sweet warmth flowed instantly throughout his veins and Eli was submerged in passionate relief. His bright smile had Baltis answering with a wide grin of his own and acknowledging Arabel’s freedom with a jaunty tilt of his head.

  An owl hooted overhead and Eli spotted movement in the bushes to the right of their hiding spot. He motioned silently to Baltis and they moved into the shadows of the cabin where it would be better to survey their potential observers. Father and son could both feel the energy void and they moved into it. As participants in the creation of the void they were immune to it and could move freely in or out of it at will, but all others would be trapped. Eli could feel the energy of Zander, the void’s primary creator, and he was satisfied to comprehend that the movement in the bushes had been caused by a small mammal. It gazed into Eli’s eyes for a long moment and then scuttled off into the deepening shadows.

  A short whistle from Zander brought the Gypsies into the cabins. Inside, Eli viewed food supplies and what looked to be bedding. The cabin appeared to be otherwise deserted, but Eli knew it could not be so. Stealthily, Eli and Baltis entered further into the room. Eli saw a quick, darting movement out of the corner of his eye and he quickly produced a Revelatory Spell to allow his eyes to see that which desired to remain hidden.

  Seven Dorojenja members crouched in the corner of the room, all dazed with cotton tongues and limp brains. Eli laughed to himself. He brandished his athame at the group and glanced at Baltis, who nodded at him. The two men efficiently bound the seven members of darkness physically with rope and psychically with a Locking Spell. Once the Dorojenja were securely bound, Eli and Baltis left the cabin in search of the other Gypsies.

  In the third cabin, Eli was pleased to see Zander holding court with a large number of foot soldiers. There had to be at least seventy five in the room, all squished together and magically bound with hemp rope, which Eli knew was impossible to escape from. Not to mention the fact that Zander and his partner had already magically disarmed the foot soldiers and regressed their minds to the age of toddlers. The foot soldiers stood, drooling and dazed, in a messy pool of magic.

  Zander smiled at Eli. “This is too easy,” he said, all charm in tone and alert speculation in the eyes.

  Eli nodded. “Arabel is safe, the thief is with her.” He looked up as all of the other Gypsies they had ridden with entered the third cabin, all having secured their respective cabins.

  “Triflin’ fun,” Baltis broke in easily, “but the real fight has yet to show up.”

  Eli felt the grey energy, the same way he’d felt it when Alice-May Marpole had been killed; the heady, intense joy of destruction, the warped and satisfied lull after torture and murder. The grey energy filled the cabin, moving suddenly, rushing in to combat the energy void.

  Eli and the others scattered from the room, each quickly uttering defensive spells. Zander was adding layers to the energy void as he burst out into the open from the confines of the cabin. The grey energy rushed at the fleeing Gypsies; it swarmed to them but could not penetrate the energetic fount the group had already created to protect themselves. The Gypsy magic held and the grey energy battered it as long as it could before dispersing angrily, leaving bitter, black energy pockets everywhere.

  The leftover energy spun in a circle, like a dreaded Dorojenja wheel of death.

  “Xavier says to bring them along,” Zander said, gesturing to the captured Dorojenja, as the group huddled for a quick briefing.

  “To camp? Or to the Chief?” Eli asked.

  “Through camp, and then to the Chief,” Zander replied with a shrug. He smiled. “You can be sure we did not capture any members of great importance here. But we have definitely taken a stand.”

  Eli said nothing. He could not wait to see Arabel.

  “Let’s be on the move, then,” Eli said eagerly, turning toward his horse without waiting for an answer.

  Zander smirked behind Eli’s back, knowing full well what was on his companions mind, but he followed without retort. The prisoners were corralled and mounts gathered for them and the group was poised to leave as Zander stopped briefly in front of the first cabin. He raised his athame and began a Fire Purification Spell.

  “In fire, you surrender, alight!” he commanded.

  Zander then added some further words that Eli and the others could not hear and the first cabin burst into flames. The tongue of fire rapidly spread to the second cabin and from there to the third and within moments, all five were alight within the red and orange ignition of flaming heat. The fire contained itself solely to the cabins and Zander’s spell would last until all of the Dorojenja property had been destroyed.

  The smell of the fire moved throughout the woods and Eli urged Jovah to make haste as he headed toward Arabel.

  “I’m on my way,” he telepathically sent to her. Eli waited for a response. He felt her smile.

  “Hurry,” she said.

  A Serious Thing, Indeed

  Arabel herself opened the door for Eli when he reached the back gate. She threw herself into his arms with unabashed intensity and he matched her passion, kiss for kiss. They clutched at each other with feverishly urgent embraces and forgot entirely that it was not yet night and that Arabel’s back porch was not really so very secretive.

  A sombrely dressed neighbour was coming up the lane and it was the alarmed sound of her shocked dismay that had Arabel and Eli taking note of their current position of unbridled entanglement. With a shaky laugh, Arabel pulled back from Eli’s body and ducked her head toward the door, to cover her unrepentant grin.

  “We ought to tell her to look away,” Arabel said lightly. “Or perhaps we should go inside?”

  Arabel turned and led Eli up the short flight of stairs and into the cloakroom. Inside the small space, Arabel wound her arms around Eli’s waist once again and he tilted her chin up to kiss her eyelids and her nose and cheeks and then finally her lips. Arabel lost herself in the sensation; she was dizzy from the feel of him and eager to explore the desire their combined heat created.

  Arabel wound her fingers through Eli’s and with her other hand she tenderly raked his curling brown hair out of his expressive almond eyes. Those very eyes shone back at Arabel with a triumphant delight, their depths reflecting an endless pool of both passion and promise. Arabel was lost within Eli’s gaze, completely and utterly fascinated and intoxicated by him and the mirror of herself she viewed when she was with him.

  Arabel was about to ask Eli a question when the unmistakeable rumble of his stomach sounded. He gazed at Arabel apologetically.

  “Sorry,” Eli said tritely and Arabel was nothing short of appalled.

  “Sorry?” she repeated incredulously. “You dare utter the word ‘sorry’ to me that your stomach growls because you have been starving as you heroically save me from the evil, dark forces of the Dorojenja?”

  Arabel rolled her eyes in mock consternation and Eli favoured her with his engaging smile.

  “I’ll tell you when you need to be sorry,” Arabel informed Eli with a practiced hauteur. “And that,” she pulled his generous lips toward hers, “is not now.”

  Arabel brought her lips down upon Eli’s and they told each other how much they adored one anot
her and of how anxious they’d been at the safety of the other through their lips, their hands, their tender whispers. Somehow they made it to the front parlour and the settee and lay together, watching the fire burn heartily in the grate, filling up on the joy of their safe reunion and the closeness of their yearning bodies.

  Eli laid a row of kisses down Arabel’s neck, stopping at the neckline of her pretty cream and white gown. Arabel had dressed in her most delicate of dresses this evening, perhaps an unconscious rebuttal, or as a sharp contrast, to her moments of terror in the mud tunnel, she’d wanted to don the most impractical of outfits. Wearing the soft, silky dress now, Arabel felt quite glorious. So feminine and soft and beautifully masterful. Arabel sighed in utter contentment.

  Morna appeared in the doorway, a tray of steaming bowls and liquids in her capable hands. She gestured to the front table.

  “I’ll just set things up here for you, miss. And you let me know, mind you, if you needs more of anything. I’ll just be right out here-”, Morna pointed to the hallway, “should you be needin’ anythin’”.

  “Thank you, Morna, but there’s no need to wait in the hall, I’m sure the kitchen will do quite admirably,” Arabel responded with a laugh, knowing full well the maid was trying to save her from scandal and eavesdrop simultaneously.

  Morna cast her eyes downward, but not before Arabel detected a hearty twinkle in them.

  “As you say, miss,” Morna finally said, bobbing a quick curtsy and departing to the kitchen.

  Arabel and Eli burst out laughing. The tray Morna had deposited upon the table smelt delicious and they wasted no time in discovering the treats that lay upon it. A large pot of fresh strawberry tea steamed merrily and Arabel poured out two cups immediately. Large thick sandwiches of chickpeas and cucumber and small brownie squares were quickly devoured. Arabel gestured toward the fruit and nut loaf.