Jaxon nodded and they began to fade away in the familiar tingle that teleporting caused throughout their bodies.
~*~
Caislyn had never attempted to teleport to a specific person before, it was always to a place. So, it was surprising when they ended up just outside a fortress that was surrounded on all sides by forest. "Wow," Jaxon commented, "I wonder where the hell this is?"
"I have no clue, but I was hoping we would end up inside the building."
"On the bright side, we didn't end up inside the building... like part of the brick and mortal detailing."
Caislyn hit Jaxon on the shoulder, "shut up, that's not funny, it totally could have happened."
"I know, that's why I'm thankful!" The two girls took a minute to laugh, but it was definitely more nervous laughter than anything. It was just the two of them up against the entire Brotherhood now.
"The good news is, they need us to get this thing done, so I don't think they'll hurt us at all."
"Yeah, that kind of goes against my plans," Jaxon said as she prepared to charge forward.
"Jax," Jaxon stopped and looked back at Caislyn, "I didn't say we weren't gonna hurt them! They took our parents, we're taking as many of these sons of bitches down as we can!"
Jaxon smiled and then her features contorted right in front of Caislyn. Her once chocolatey brown eyes turned darker, into full blackness. Her canine teeth elongated in her mouth, protruding slightly from her open mouth. She looked nothing like the sweet, petite young woman Caislyn remembered meeting at a rave not so long ago. Now, she looked like one of the most menacing monsters Caislyn had ever encountered. It was frightening until Caislyn remembered Jaxon was on her side.
"Let's go, Cais," Jaxon growled out and then she was running forward, with Caislyn close behind on her heels.
The front entrance was opened and only guarded, if you could call it that, by two of the Brotherhood. They went down quickly and quietly as Jaxon blazed through snapping necks with her super human strength. Caislyn was equally impressed and distressed by the speed at which Jaxon killed the men. They didn't have time to stop and think about things though. They had no real clue what they were up against here at the Brotherhood's headquarters. As they ran down the main entrance, a few more members were lurking in the hallway. Jaxon snapped the neck of the first one, just as she had the two guards. This did not at all phase the other three members who were now very aware that they were under attack. Jaxon took the next one with little to no effort, while Caislyn concentrated all her energy on the Fey magic she was trying to channel. A bright green ball of magic developed in her hand and she slung it at the Brother who was furthest away and appeared to be about to go sound an alarm. She hit him in the back with the ball and he stumbled, and was held in place by a mound of earth that sprouted from the ball as it hit. He was buried up to his nose in the hard packed dirt. Caislyn didn't have time to analyze what she'd done, so she kept right on going, just as Jaxon had. By the time she got to the earth covered man, Jaxon had already snapped his neck, along with two others and turned the corner to be encountered by five more of the Brotherhood.
These men did not attack as Jaxon stood there summing them up. Neither did they flinch when Caislyn strolled around the corner baring another large green energy ball. She didn't hesitate, as everyone else did though. She threw the ball right into the middle of the five of them. They were immediately immersed in a ball of earth that grew until it encapsulated each and everyone of them, effortlessly snuffing out their lives as they suffocated while their lungs were crushed under the pressure.
This went on, corridor after corridor, Jaxon and Caislyn took out more Brotherhood members than they cared to count. Few fought back, and those who did were a lost cause anyway. The girls finally found the center of the fortress they had been cleansing. If the vast open room, covered floor to ceiling in marble trimmed with gold, wasn't a clue, the booming voice coming from the dais in the center certainly told them they found what they were looking for. More specifically, they found who they came for.
“And they have come to set the world to rights, bringing forth the new order in a blazing swath of bloodshed.” Caleb smiled, speaking from the Dias like a preacher in his pulpit. He stood in the center of the room, raised up on a gorgeous marble slab with an altar at its center. His smile didn't appear friendly at all, and he continued on, voice booming through the room as the accousitics carried it to every corner and back again, “just as it was written.”
"Caleb!" Jaxon exclaimed as she moved closer to the dais.
"Wait," Caislyn warned.
"Don't worry, we can't hurt him anyway, remember?"
"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean you won't try."
"Oh, you are absolutely right about that." Before Caislyn could say another word to stop her, Jaxon was flying forward so fast she appeared to be nothing more than a blur. Caislyn watched as Caleb snapped back over the altar he had been standing in front of with the brute force of the attack, but then he righted himself and laughed.
"I wondered if you would try it. Not that I can blame you for doing so, but you are doing nothing more than wasting precious energy at this point." Caleb stood and looked down on the two girls who were now standing side by side in front of the dais. "You see, I have been made truly immortal in order to see this to its end."
"So, we've been told. Marc was certainly willing to blab about the whole affair to us when he thought his life was in danger." Jaxon was boasting, and after hearing about what good friends Marc and Caleb had once been she hoped it at least stung a little to know that Marc would sell his friend out.
"Ah, my fallen brother. And how did you leave him? In pieces, I presume?"
"I left him just as he was, though I can't say others felt the need to be as compassionate."
"I doubt compassion had anything to do with it. I'd say maybe someone else beat you to the punch. But that is neither here nor there. Rest in peace, my long ago friend. I hope your soul has finally been released from its prison."
"I don't think he saw it as a prison, especially since he was trying to stop us from coming to see you." Jaxon's monstrous features were fading away as she spoke.
"And do tell, why would you come see me when you've been so cautiously warned away."
"Because we happen to agree with you this time," Caislyn interjected.
"And are you so sure you know what you are agreeing to?"
"We are giving ourselves freely in order to wipe the slate clean. Magic will be no more."
"So, you do understand, then." Caleb took two steps down the dais toward them. "And do you also understand that I can not guarantee you will come out alive on the other side?"
Both girls nodded in affirmation.
"Interesting. All this time, all the fight to make sure you would land in our hands, and here you are depositing yourselves of your own free will. Why?"
"Our reasons aren't any of your business. Are we going to do this or what, because quite frankly, I'm getting hungry, and your little altar boys back there are starting to look delectable." Jaxon grinned and flashed a bit of fang that still hadn't receded all the way back into her gums yet. A couple of the young Brotherhood members jumped at her threat, while Caleb only laughed.
"Since you both agree, of your own free will, please step up on the dais and let us begin." he pointed to either side of the altar. “I need each of you in your rightful places,” he pointed to the side that had a tree of life with the sun shining down on it carved into it, “light of the earth, here.” Then he pointed to the other side with a moon etched off to the side of a darkened tree, “darkness that falls, here.” The girls moved into their positions without a word.
***
HUMANITY
"Moon and sun shall merge this day,
taking all our magic away
Into the nether it shall go
until he brings us into the fold.
He who walks two worlds tonight
shall be the force t
o end this blight"
The guard looked up from his seat outside the crazy old man's cell and started yelling for assistance. "Hey, I need someone here immediately. The prophet speaks!" When no one responded, he stood and went to see what was happening. He found his way out of the cellar and into the central room of the fortress. There, he saw twin lights in the middle of the dais, one a twisting of green and yellow so bright it looked as if emeralds themselves were reflecting the sun’s light. The other was a twisting darkness that shone with a light all its own. Both were like nothing that man had ever encountered before or ever would again. The lights appeared to be eating each other and growing around each other at the same time. Shards of smaller, multi-colored lights were being sucked into the two orbs as if they had their own gravitational pull. Caleb was there, in the center of it all on top of the altar, chanting as this was happening.
The guards, and all the other members of the Brotherhood as far as he knew, had always been told that the Brotherhood was against magic. Magic was the root of all the evils in this world. Now, he stood there watching as the leader of their Brotherhood, Caleb himself, was working some sort of sorcery.
The guard took off on foot, trying to put as much distance between he and the evil wizardry as possible. That was until the very trees in the forest surrounding the fortress seemed to grab him up and pull him into the darkness beyond.
~*~
"How in the hell did we manage to lose them?" Seth was yelling in the middle of the street, while still clutching the woman who had only moments ago looked like Jaxon.
"Seth, you might want to let the nice young lady go now, you're attracting a lot of attention." Brigid was the voice of reason now, because Ash had already stomped off into the woods just beyond the little town. "Maybe we need to go see what Ash is up to. He has those Fey abilities to travel like Caislyn, maybe he can find her."
Seth let the woman go and followed Brigid past the buildings into the woods beyond.
"I still don't understand how they managed to slip out from under us," Seth was grumbling as they walked up on Ash laying on the ground.
"Shhh, can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?"
"What the hell?" Brigid was just staring at the Fey who was sprawled across the ground looking for all the world as if that were a good a place, and this was a good time, to take a nap.
"I'm trying to connect with Caislyn's subconscious. She doesn't necessarily have to be asleep, but I do." He eyed both Seth and Brigid for a minute, "so sit down and shut up for a minute, will you?"
Seth and Brigid both agreed to be quiet. They had absolutely no better way to track the girls down anyway.
~*~
Jaxon and Caislyn took to the dais not knowing what to expect, but once Caleb instructed them to hold hands, and the chanting began, they felt raw energy channeling through them. Jaxon was shocked by the intensity of it all and nearly dropped Caislyn's grasp. The only thing that kept her hanging on was Caislyn. She had a smile of pure joy on her face. After seeing that, Jaxon figured it must not be all bad and stopped fighting the process. The minute she gave herself over to it, she was flooded with emotion. All the joys and pains of the humans who inhabited the earth came crashing through her. It wasn't painful, she just recognized the emotions for what they were. She also started feeling little bits of magic course through her body and begin to glow outwardly around her. Caislyn had a glow around her too. Jaxon just closed her eyes, as she noticed Caislyn had done, and focused on the feelings that were passing through her. She felt the light continue to grow around her, but it no longer mattered. The world was changing, because of them. It would soon be a better place. There was nothing more important than what they were doing right now. That thought alone kept Jaxon standing on that dais, channeling more energy than she should have been capable of.
~*~
"Caislyn," the all too familiar voice called out to her, but she couldn't focus on where it was coming from. "Caislyn, you have to stop this. All will be lost."
Caislyn heard the voice, but the feelings that flowed through her with the energy were pure joy and ecstasy. There couldn't possibly be anything wrong with that. She felt the humanity in it all, even as she felt the pull of more magic as it washed through her and into the glowing orb that was growing around her.
"Caislyn, please, you have to hear me. I'm not gone. I'm here for you, honey."
"Dad?" Caislyn questioned, momentarily, and then realized she was probably just being hit by so much energy that she was imagining her father's voice.
"Caislyn?" The voice was fading, but she couldn't stop what she was doing. It was for the best anyway. This way not only would Jaxon and herself be safe from those who wanted to harm them, but so would everyone else. Problems of the other-than-human world would cease to exist and everything would be human and normal from now on.
"Caislyn? Where are you, sweetheart?" This time she recognized the voice to be Ash's, but she didn't have the ability to respond to him. She just wished him well, and hoped that she would see him again on the other side. Maybe when they were all equal and no magic tricks could be employed, she would really be able to follow her heart and figure out who she wanted to be with, who she truly loved.
The glowing orb around her began heating up. It wasn't an unbearable heat, but it was definitely a bit stifling. And then everything washed away in a flashwave of heat and emotion, giving way to a pleasant nothingness.
***
STARTING OVER
~Caislyn~
"Gregore?" Caislyn questioned as she looked up from the blanket that was covering the ground. A picnic surrounded her, and Gregore was standing over her smiling down.
"Yeah, Cais?"
Caislyn shook the cobwebs from her head. She wasn't sure how she had gotten here with Gregore. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had only moments ago been somewhere else, doing something important. She took a sip of water from the bottle that was in her hand. In an instant the fog cleared and she remembered everything. Gregore had asked her to come on a picnic today to get away from the rest of the village for a while. They were always such busy bodies, wanting to know when the two of them were going to finally get married. Gregore and Caislyn just wanted to enjoy their time together without all the pressure.
"This is lovely, Greg." Caislyn smiled up at the boy who had been in her life since her earliest memories. He was from the next village over, but they often ran into each other down by the river.
"You're so beautiful," Gregore said, coming to kneel next to Caislyn. She smiled up at him, all worries about what the rest of the week held for her were lost in the blue pools of his eyes.
"I could drown in those eyes of yours," she found herself whispering.
"I'd save you before you drown." Gregore placed his hands on either side of Caislyn's face and leaned in brushing the lightest of kisses across her forehead. "Close your eyes," he whispered to her as he tilted her head back. Caislyn obliged him and closed her eyes, "now relax," he said.
She felt herself give in and just relax in his arms. Featherlight kisses were placed here and there over her face as fingers traced her jawline. Sweet light kisses were placed on her eyelids, then her nose, cheeks, and finally, on her mouth. The last kiss was just a gentle brushing of lips, but it was that moment that Caislyn stopped relaxing and started demanding more. She threw her arms around Gregore's neck and pulled him down to her, enjoying a much more passionate, demanding kiss.
"I love you," Gregore whispered against her lips. Caislyn kissed him again, and then returned the sentiment.
"I love you, too, Greg!"
~Jaxon~
Jasmine sat on the wooden park bench in the arboretum, her favorite place to go sit for lunch. She was enjoying the unseasonably warm weather when she noticed a couple walking by. They seemed so familiar at first that Jasmine’s hand instantly flew up in the air to wave at them before she realized what she was doing and put it down. Instead, she sat quietly and listened to their conversation a
s they stopped to admire the blossoming tree in front of her bench.
"I am going to see him again, you big brute. And you won't interfere this time, Seth, I mean it."
"What are big brothers for, if not to make sure your dates are up to a certain standard?"
"I'm not twelve anymore, you know."
Jasmine was immediately intrigued by the fact that the pair, who she thought were a couple only moments ago, seemed to be siblings instead.
"Well, let's just get a second opinion then, shall we?" The man said to his sister, "excuse me miss?"
Jasmine looked around, noting that she was the only other person nearby.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"I certainly hope so. You see, my dear sister, here has decided to date this guy. And I need your help convincing her that he is all wrong for her."
"And how do you expect me to do that?" Jasmine asked.
"Okay, here's what happened..." Seth started.
"Leave the poor girl alone, Seth, you're startling her."
"Am I?" Seth asked, his bright green eyes shining down on Jasmine as she tucked the rest of her lunch aside and shook her head no. "See, she's fine." Seth said before settling in on the bench beside Jasmine. "See, my sister here, has horrible taste in men. She always picks the worst ones. The latest, being the jerk who stood her up last night. And she thinks he should get another chance."
"Did he call?"
"That's exactly what I asked, but he only time he called was this morning, to say, 'hey babes, meet me for lunch at 2.'" Seth looked back at his sister, "where was it he wanted to meet you? McDonalds?"
"Shoosh, Seth, he didn't want to meet me at McDonalds, it was McTavish’s."
"At any rate, no apologies, no acknowledgement that he missed their date last night at all. Do you think she should really drop everything to go see him at lunch?"
Incarnations Page 8
