by R H Frye
“Okay, thanks John. I’ll look forward to hearing from you. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“I will. Talk to you soon.” John ended the call and realized that he had been hearing dishes rattling in the kitchen for a while. Apparently, Danny and Sarah were cleaning up the breakfast mess. John decided to take advantage of the moment alone to call his foreman. He told the foreman that he had decided to extend his trip through the end of the week and was unsurprised to learn that “Dick” Martin had been making a continued nuisance of himself. He finished the call with his foreman and called the annoyed client. It took another ten agonizing minutes of soothing “Dick’s” hurt feelings before he was finally able to extricate himself from that call, and during that time Sarah and Danny finished up in the kitchen. Danny returned John’s earlier punch to the shoulder as he moved through the living room and entered the bathroom. The shower started up a few moments later. Meanwhile, Sarah came to sit on the sofa and watch John pacing as he talked to his irritating client on the phone. Finally, he was able to end the call, and he sat down beside Sarah on the sofa. She wasted no time in snuggling up to John, and he wrapped a loving arm around her.
“So, what do we do today?” Sarah looked up at John from where her face was cushioned on his shoulder.
“Well, we have to make arrangements to bury my grandfather for starters. I also thought we might try to figure out a way to help Danny free Carol.”
“I’m sorry John. I didn’t realize that that was what your call was about.” Sarah looked anxiously at John to see if she had hurt him.
John smiled to reassure his love. “That’s okay baby. Somehow it’s easier to think about burying my grandfather when I know that I can still talk to him in my visions.” John sat lost in thought for a few moments until Danny walked into the living room. The young man’s hair was wet from his shower, and John took his arrival as a cue to go take a shower of his own. He kissed Sarah before getting up to head for the bathroom.
Danny plopped down into the living room’s sole chair and propped his feet up on the ottoman that was waiting for just that purpose. He was wearing the same rumpled clothes that he had been wearing during the confrontation behind the hospital, but otherwise he looked fresh and clean. Noticing the condition of Danny’s clothes, Sarah felt compelled to speak. “We’ve got to do something about your wardrobe today. You’re starting to look like a homeless person.” She smiled to take any sting out of her mild criticism.
“Well it’s hard to do anything about that when you have no money and no transportation. He didn’t give us any time to retrieve our personal belongings before we started down from the Trail. When we doubled back so he could attack John, I was hoping we would maybe have some time to grab some stuff then, but the next thing I knew we were running for our lives in front of the forest fire that he started.”
“We’ll figure something out. If nothing else, there’s a Salvation Army store in town where we can pick up some stuff for you. Or maybe we can run by Wal Mart and grab a few things for you.” While Sarah was speaking, she was also using the remote to look for something on the television. She finally settled on a sitcom, and she and Danny settled in to relax for a few minutes as Jerry Seinfeld and his odd friends got themselves into one ridiculous situation after another.
Chapter 20
Carol was awakened by fresh pain in her wounded side. Her alarm increased when she realized that the pain she had felt was caused by her t-shirt being pulled loose from where her blood had clotted to the shirt. Maraydel was kneeling on the floor in front of the sofa where she had again fallen asleep, and he was the person that was pulling the t-shirt loose from her wound. Carol thought that more abuse was about to be heaped upon her ruined innocence, and she resigned herself to whatever was to come of this latest development. To her surprise, the magus seemed uninterested in taking off her shirt.
Instead, Maraydel was focusing his attention on the wound in her side. “You were lucky. A few inches deeper and you would probably have bled to death by now.” He probed the wound gently with his fingers and a fresh trickle of blood ran from her wounded side to soak into the sofa.
“Well it sounds to me like we were both lucky then, because if I’d bled to death, you’d have had nowhere to go and no one to take you there. Now could you please stop digging around in my side? Not that you care, but it hurts.”
Carol was glaring at Maraydel when he briefly glanced at her face. “Stop complaining. If you’ll hold still and be quiet for a moment, I’ll fix this.” As he turned his eyes back to her wound, Carol saw them lose focus. He began to mutter unknown words quietly to himself and for the first time Carol realized that he was holding some sort of stone in the hand that was not busy probing her wound. Carol glanced at the wound in her side and saw something amazing happening. The clotted blood was flaking away and as she watched the sore, reddened skin began to knit together. In a matter of minutes, the wound in her side had disappeared, and when Carol looked at Maraydel she was amazed to see that his smile was actually somewhat caring. She was so shocked by the healing and the change in Maraydel’s manner that she spoke before thinking. “Why did you do that? You’ve been nothing but a bastard to me since before you were resurrected, so why the change now?”
Maraydel’s eyes narrowed slightly at the insulting words Carol had used to describe him, but his voice was calm when he answered. “Why not? I still require your assistance in this world, for the time being at least. And I grow tired of always having to wonder when your next futile rebellion will be. I’d much rather have your willing cooperation in the coming days than have to worry about you betraying me.”
“But why the hell should I willingly do anything for you? You killed me. You killed Danny. You raped me. For God’s sake, you raped me in every way there was to rape someone. What makes you think I can ever forget that?” Carol was so baffled by the sudden change of tactics in her tormentor that she had thrown caution to the winds. It was time for Maraydel to understand just how much she hated him and why.
“You may consider the reason that I caused your life to be taken. I was dead. I was nothing more than a memory in the ground. You and your young man came along and awakened me. And can you truly tell me that you would not, even now, cling to any chance of life that was offered to you?” Maraydel paused for a moment to let his words sink in before continuing. “You should also consider that I know things that have long been forgotten. There is much that I could teach to a willing pupil, but nothing I can teach to a rebellious slave. I would see my kind ruling this world once more. Who is to say that you can’t rule it with us?” The magus stopped speaking and looked carefully at Carol. She was biting her lip in the classic pose of someone wrestling with a difficult decision. “I will leave you to consider what I’ve said. My body is healed, but I need time to rebuild my powers and prepare for my next confrontation with the shaman. I will be meditating and wish to be left alone while I do so.” With that said the magus stood up and walked away, into the master bedroom.
Carol could just see her tormentor lying down on the bed through the open bedroom door from her position on the sofa. She settled back into a more comfortable position and pondered the evil man’s words.
Adam was waiting at his usual place at the front counter when John, Sarah, and Danny entered his shop. His face broke into a pleased grin when he saw John and Sarah, but he looked a bit puzzled when Danny followed the loving couple into the store. Sarah noticed his confusion and rushed to make introductions. “Adam, this is Danny. Until recently he was being compelled to serve our enemy.” Remembering the discussion at the breakfast table, Sarah added, “Maybe you can tell us how that bond was broken.”
“Let me look at you.” Adam motioned for Danny to come closer, and when the young man approached Adam grabbed Danny’s wrists and stared into his eyes for a long moment. When the moment had passed, Adam released Danny’s wrists and smiled. “You can’t bind something to you with power and then use t
hat power against it. When that man’s wicked energy struck you, it overwhelmed the power he had used to bind you.”
“But how did you know about that? We haven’t even told you what happened yet.” Danny was growing steadily more bewildered by Adam. “Sarah and John told me a little about you, but I had no idea you could know so much.”
Adam turned to look at John. “Let’s just say that I had another visit from Charlie last night while I was sleeping. He showed me what happened at the hospital. We’re both very proud of you John.”
“Okay, so why is it that you can talk to Charlie without trouble, but when I try it, I barely escape with my life?”
“Your enemy does not know me. Plus, he has been busy healing and hiding. You don’t know how close you’ve come to destroying him already. He was using the very last of his strength to escape the hospital.”
“And I let him get away. Damn.”
“Don’t worry. Everything happens in its proper time. When next you meet, you will be ready for the battle. Now is the time to learn as much as possible about what you can do. Your next meeting with him will end with his defeat…or with yours.”
“Well that’s comforting.” John felt a small knot of tension growing in his stomach regarding the old man’s prediction.
“We have some time, but we don’t have enough for you to be comfortable. Like it or not, you’ve got some things to learn and little time to learn them. In a matter of days, he will be strong again. You must grow stronger too.”
John took a deep breath. “That’s fair enough, I guess. But there is something else we have to do first.”
Adam smiled sadly. “I know. It’s time for us to bury Charlie. Don’t worry. Charlie doesn’t want anything too elaborate. All he wants is to be buried at home near the forest and home that he loved.”
John shook his head ruefully. “Well then I guess that answers the question of what arrangements we need to make. There’s no kind of ceremony that needs to be performed?”
Adam shook his head. “In the old days, when family members died, they were buried either in or near their homes. There was also a complicated mourning and clearing ritual, but that’s not necessary here. There’s no need to mourn a man that lives in your dreams, and the last thing we want is to clear his energy from around us. He can still help us too much to let him move on, and he knows that and is content with that…for now. When this is over, there will be time enough for Charlie to take his next place on the wheel.”
“You mean reincarnation? You believe in that?” John had always been a skeptic about such nebulous theories. On the other hand, he had been a skeptic about a lot of things that he was no longer a skeptic about, so he realized that he should probably keep an open mind.
“Of course, I believe in ‘that’. Do you really think that the Creator only has one use for all the energy he poured into you? The energy changes its shape, but the core remains the same. Isn’t that how you change your shape?” John was astonished when he realized the implications of Adam’s words. The old man was right. John was still John, no matter whether he looked like a man or like a bird. The core was the same.
“I see your point. Well, let me make some phone calls. I’m sure we’ll need some kind of permit to bury someone outside of an official cemetery.” John pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the number for Matthew Running Deer.
Carol paced the house restlessly.
She felt like she was being torn in two. On the one hand, there was all the pain, all the humiliation, all the degradation, and all the heartache. She felt like that part of her would never be whole again, and she was growing very tired of always being afraid. On the other hand, there was the offer that Maraydel had made and the part of her inside that desired power and vengeance. If she took his offer, she would be saying that all the things that he had done to her were okay somehow. The abused and frightened young woman inside of her was crying out in outrage and indignation against such a betrayal, but Carol could feel that woman’s voice growing weaker in her head. In the place of her voice was another voice. This voice cried out, “Why not! Why shouldn’t I become a power to be reckoned with? What has all this weakness brought me? My innocence is gone. My man is dead. Why not embrace a path to power? It’s not like I can be any more defiled than I already am.”
In the master bedroom, Maraydel was smiling in his meditations. Carol’s thoughts were so easy to read, in part because of the blood bond that they shared, and in part because of the mental turmoil that she was fighting. He knew that it was only a matter of time. Soon she would come to him, this time of her own free will. And soon after that, he would see the restoration of his kind and his bloodline to this world. In the meantime, he would continue to rest and regain his strength. The shaman was still out there somewhere, and soon there would be a reckoning. He would see the shaman’s magic wiped from the world forever. Soon only the magic of the magi would remain.
The sun was setting over the mountains to the west as John and his bunch of friends were gathered at Sarah’s house. It had been a long day, and John was tired. He was very glad that he had formed a friendship with Matthew Running Deer. Without his help, John did not think they would have been able to follow his grandfather’s last wishes and bury him behind his house, but Matt had known the correct people to contact to cut through the huge amounts of red tape that were involved in such a simple request. By early afternoon the arrangements had been made, and the funeral was set for noon of the next day.
Now the band of friends was sitting down to discuss the other matters that were demanding their attention. John began to speak. “The way I see it, we’ve got two problems to deal with. First, how do we free Carol from him? Second, once she is free, how do we get rid of him for good? I’m open to ideas, especially from you Adam.”
The old man looked up at John at the sound of his name. “I think you have things backwards. I think getting rid of him will release the girl from her bonds. I don’t see any way to release her from the blood bond that he has her under other than killing him.” Adam held up his hand as Danny started to protest. “It’s not the same as the bond that you two shared, Danny. He used your blood to bind you to him, but it’s Carol’s blood that gave him life. Her blood is the blood that flows in his veins. Much of her spirit’s energy was stolen to bring him back to life. That bond is too deep to break the way your bonds were broken.”
Danny took a moment to internalize this unwelcome news. “Okay, so we can’t just trick him into hitting Carol with a wayward spell. And we know from experience that she will be forced to help him in any way she can. So, what it boils down to is this. We have to somehow kill him while managing not to kill her.” Danny closed his eyes and drummed his fingers on the dining room table where they were having their strategy session. As an idea bloomed in his mind, he opened his eyes to look around at John, Sarah, and Adam. “Can we just knock her out? Can you do that, John? You know, can we just knock her out until after we’ve finished dealing with him?”
John opened his mouth to reply, but Adam interrupted him before he could speak. “I think you’re all forgetting something. The man you will be fighting was nearly impossible to beat the first time. Many of our people died to put him down the last time we fought him. You know this John. You’ve seen it in your visions. How can the three of you speak so easily of beating him, especially when only one of you has shown any ability to use the ancient powers of my people?”
Danny and Sarah looked considerably sobered at Adam’s words, but John looked directly at Adam and answered the old man. “We have a couple of things on our sides. We have modern weapons. We won’t be restricted to using bows and arrows, and I seriously doubt that he has any real concept of what modern weapons can do.” John glanced around the table at his newfound friends. “The other thing is this. We have to win. God only knows what will happen if we don’t stop him now. Can you imagine a world with him in power? What if he manages to spread his power to others? What will happen t
hen?” John’s attention settled on Adam. “And what do you mean by ‘…the three of you…’? Do you mean to tell me you don’t intend to help us fight him?”
Adam lowered his eyes to stare at his hands where they rested on the table. “I can’t fight this fight with you. I’ll do everything I can to help you prepare, but I won’t go fight him. I am only an old man, and I would only get in the way.” Adam refused to meet the stares of his friends because he knew in his heart that his words were only half-truths. The awful truth of the matter was that he was afraid. The thought of fighting Maraydel sent chills down his spine. He was proud to be able to guide John along the way, but he could not face the thought of meeting the magus in battle. A tear of embarrassment leaked slowly from one eye and trickled down his wrinkled cheek.
The table was quiet as Adam composed himself. When he finally forced himself to meet John’s eyes, the look of understanding that he saw there was almost more than he could bear. He could tell that somehow John had seen right through him, but the look that Adam saw in John’s eyes was only one of compassion, not contempt or pity as he had expected. And somehow the compassion was worse. John continued to meet Adam’s gaze as he said, “I understand. Just teach me everything you can in the meantime.” John looked around the table to Sarah and Danny. “Well, let’s get started. Danny, can you shoot?”
Danny nodded. “Sure, I can shoot. I grew up deer hunting with my dad.”
John smiled. “Good. Tomorrow morning we’re going to buy you a hunting rifle.” John looked to Sarah next. “What about you, honey? Can you shoot?”
Sarah shook her head. “I’m sorry. I never really had any reason to learn.”
“That’s okay. We’ll figure something out. Maybe we can let you be the one that knocks out Carol, although I’m not sure how we’re going to do that just yet. Anyway, we’ll work on it.” John turned to Adam once more. “Can you help me figure out a way to safely talk to my grandfather again? I could use some more information from him, but I certainly don’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday.”
