Bryn: *Black mist swirls around me as I rematerialize. The familiar sound of falling water filling the glen and the pale sunlight of the early morning fighting through the trees to glint over the crest of the waterfall greet me. It feels like a homecoming. The river spills into a pool at the bottom, pounding onto gray boulders smoothed by centuries of water rushing over them and settling into the relative quiet of the deep pool beneath. Further along the pool spills over another cliff and the river resumes its rush but here, the current stills and its quiet. The kind of quiet young witches needed to focus. It was here my sisters and I had learned our craft. Our mother had raised us here, far from the influences of others so we could focus on the magick of the land and the magick in our blood. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to us if we’d stayed here instead of traveling to the other side of Britain and settling in East Angelia with Boudicca’s people when we were in our teens. Our mother had given us no real reason, had just said that it was where we would be needed. She’d died the winter after we settled there, satisfied her daughters had been accepted by the Iceni with the oldest wed and the second promised. Instantly, I’m aware when Adrian appears behind me, the rapport of our long friendship instinctive.
Adrian: *I hadn’t been sure what to expect from Bryn’s description, but it wasn’t this. A waterfall cascaded down onto rocks and settled in a large pool bordered by flat stones. Ferns and bushes intermixed in the ancient trees that crowded it. I noted the rays of sun peeking through the trees but with forest this dense there wouldn’t be direct sunlight before or much after midday.*
Pretty place, *I comment,* But I don’t see a cave, crystal or otherwise.*
Bryn: *I smile softly.* Don’t you see it? Look again. *I hold my arm out, palm out and murmur* Nochdaidh. Reveal. *Light shimmers from behind the waterfall and the plummeting sheets of water part to reveal a cave entrance glowing, hinting at wonders in the depths beyond.*
Adrian: *My eyes widen as she works her magick.* Neat trick. How did you end up here?
Bryn: My mother was from what’s now Scotland, just like Sean, although she lived there about 5000 years after he died. She fell in love with an itinerant trader, an unusual occupation in that day, but she always said his dark eyes swept her away. When she got pregnant with my oldest sister he decided they needed a home base. He’d thought traveling with a babe was too risky even with her gift, according to my mother. So he took her back to his people, the Cymry. *Laughing softly,* but travel was slow in those days and, according to my mother, he could never resist a good trading opportunity. By the time they got here my second sister had been born and I was in the womb. I like to think he just wanted to make a real home for us. *Sighing* They finally arrived at the village of my father’s birth in the valley below these mountains. A fever swept through it shortly after we arrived. Even with all my mother’s talent for herbs and healing my father died and he was far from the only one. The people believed they had brought evil spirits with them so they drove my very pregnant mother and my sisters into the mountains. Humans can be worse than any animal when they’re afraid. It was just past harvest and winter had already set in up this high. Though Wales doesn’t get a ton of snow, this was a really bad winter. It was cold and snowing so hard she could barely see her hand in front of her face. My oldest sister was only 3 and my middle sister 1. She’d carried my middle sister on her back as long as she could but finally she collapsed. Her water broke and labor began hard. I was coming. She told me she gathered the girls close to her and used her magick to put them to sleep so death would come easily for them. *smiling a little* She wasn’t nearly as strong as any of the three of us ended up being even individually. There wasn’t much else she could do but pray and she did. And then a woman appeared in the storm. My mother always believed it was her Goddess. I don’t know if she was right but it did seem a pretty good moment for divine intervention of some kind. The woman helped them to the cave. You can’t see it from here but behind the boulders on the left side there’s a narrow path. It was slick and icy but they all made it inside, drenched and nearly frozen, but finally out of the snow. The woman built a fire inside and helped me entered the world. The female made food for my mother and sisters and stayed with us in the cave for a time. One day she said that we would be protected and taken care of until we could see to it ourselves. And then she left. My mother never saw her again but a fresh deer or a brace of rabbits would be left outside the cave every few days until I was five. By then the three of us girls had become pretty good trappers and our powers were coming in fast and furiously. We no longer needed outside help. We stayed here until I was 15. And after I became a reaper I came back. It became /my/ home base for two thousand years until I moved it all to Brazil. Now, *taking a deep breath and clearing my head* do a slow runway turn for me and let’s see if I was right.
Adrian: *With a sigh, I turn slowly as she looks my near naked body up and down.*
See anything?
Bryn: *Frowning as I examine the golden skin*
No…keep turning. All the way around. *He pivots slowly for me and just as he rotates completely to the left…*THERE! Glowing on your right glute… a drawn bow and arrow. That’s a Greek protection symbol. The mark of Apollo specifically, and essentially your people’s equivalent of a patron saint. Doubly protective no doubt since he is your grandfather. And intertwined with it is Hecate’s Trident, the symbol for magick. THAT’S your protection from magick. Earth magick anyway. And the fact it’s glowing right now tells me it’s protecting you from an active magickal attack. We’re about to have company, so get out of sight!
Adrian: *As she exclaims, I crane my neck around to try to get a glimpse of the mark, but being neither an owl (Athena forgive my disrespect) or a cat, there’s no way I’m going to see it without a full length mirror. But if it’s there and glowing, she’s right. We’re about to have company*
I won’t be far.
*Dissolving into the reaper mist I reform across the pool, nearly behind the waterfall. Some creatures have heightened senses. They can detect even what they can’t see. Although we were expecting an attack similar to the last two, whoever was in charge of the surveillance operation might be getting wise to the fact their bully boys weren’t coming back. If it were me, I’d send the demons’ a hellhound as back up. Like human canines, they’re more sensitive to their surroundings but the crystals behind the waterfall are a natural repository of powerful earth magick. The power signature of that and Bryn’s warding with both earth and death magicks should mask my presence to any supernatural entity. The boulders hiding the trail are my best visual cover. I could hover in the half-world if I needed to but a rogue reaper would be able to detect me there. No, being in the physical world and flattening myself to the boulders and hauling myself up to peer over the top would serve me best.*
Bryn: *As Adrian misted away I turned towards the water, confident he would protect my back if needed. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes as I raised my arms to the sun as it rose higher above the canopy of trees, its rays stronger now and glinting off the water. As a human the moon had been my mistress and its soft light piercing the veil of night had been my friend. It still energizes me, but in the moment I’ll take the power that her eternal mate can offer me. My senses open wide, I feel a presence materialize behind me. But it was not a reaper as I had expected. The sense of dread it brought made it unmistakably an agent of Lucifer’s but rather than afraid, it made me inexorably sad. The soul was one I knew well.*
So you’re the witch who has been stalking us.
Adrian: *A figure materializes behind her and yet she doesn’t move to face it. She knows I’m watching, her confidence in me as a warrior solid enough that she can play her hand her way, strong and fearless. But then, that’s who Bryn has always been. Strong and fearless and if whoever this is doesn’t know that, then they don’t know her at all. My reaper senses are open wide, and while not as keen as hers, they tell me this isn’t one of the Horseman’s rogue reapers. It has the feel of a demon, but there’s more. One of Lucifer’s witches, then, and very likely the one running the monitoring spell. Her voice floats out over the water and the sadness in it tells me this is someone she wishes very much it were not.
Bryn: *Setting my jaw, I shove old feelings back into the box they’d be in for so long and put on my game face. I knew this witch’s presence well but it wasn’t one of my sisters as I’d feared. No. It was a logical choice that I’d hoped was wrong. Slowly turning, my eyes darken to black ice as I look at him.*
You’re looking well, Emrys. I see making a deal with the devil has its perks.
*He hasn’t changed from when I knew him. He appears to me as the same tall, dark-eyed man with a mass of dark hair that I’d known so long ago. Instead of the robes he’d worn then, he’s garbed in well-worn jeans and a vintage Grateful Dead tee-shirt. The dark hair is tied up in a 21st century man bun and a neatly trimmed beard covers his sharp jaw. A pendant of obsidian glass shimmers on his chest and a small gold ball pierces one eyebrow. As I knew he’d died an old man over 1600 years ago, I have to assume this appearance of youth is either a glamour or a gift from Lucifer. Only reaper souls manifest as we wish them to. All others will naturally appear the age they were when they died until they are either reborn or ascend. As none of us have been to the ascension plane, we have no idea what form they take there, but I can guarantee you this half-demon witch in front of me hadn’t been there either. He looks at me now, an insulting long look up and down as he takes in my black form-fitting leather pants, snug half unzipped vest and biker boots.*
“You’ve changed your hair. I always preferred it long enough to wrap around my fist,” he smirked. “Although I must say, I do like you in that get up. It accentuates your… assets. Is it standard for reapers now? The ones that I’ve seen aren’t nearly as attractively attired. Although the ones I’ve seen lately also aren’t on your level, now are they?”
*I tilt my chin to look haughtily down my nose at him.*
I’d imagine your acquaintance with reapers recently has been limited to those skanky bastards the Horseman has recruited to act as his muscle men, so no, they are not ‘up to my level.’ That’s who I was actually expecting to show up, not a washed up wizard with delusions of grandeur.
Adrian: *Mentally I reach out to her.* ‘So this is Emrys, the asshole who tried to use you for your power? Can I kill him now?’
Bryn: *At my taunt Emrys lost his snarky smile. He never could stand it when someone poked at him. The icy smile never leaves my face as I silently reply to Adrian.*
‘Yes it’s Emrys. No, you can’t kill him yet.’
*Emrys glowers at me, his hand going to the pendant around his neck. Interesting. It’s important, then. He growls at me angrily,*
“Grand enough to be able to track reapers. I’d say that’s powerful enough. But I actually have been waiting for the opportunity to get to speak with you. Reapers seem to be doing their jobs in pairs these days and your particular little cadre has been virtually invisible to me unless you were in the company of another. Would you like to tell me how you’re doing that? You’re good Bryn, but not that good.”
*No, but Sin is and if Emrys hasn’t figured out Sin’s been cloaking us with his wards when we’re off duty and keeping our thoughts masked from the Horseman while we’re on, then I’m not going to give away our ace in the hole. I smirk at him.*
Not particularly. I like my privacy. As for pairs, well, solo hasn’t seemed like such a good idea lately, what with the Horseman giving Lucifer open season on reaper souls and all.
*For a brief second surprise shows in his eyes, then anger before he is able to disguise the emotions. So he didn’t know we’d figured that out yet. Good. He’d go back and inform his masters that we’re not as clueless to their plans as they thought, if we let him. But we won’t let him.*
Both Sean and Zav were attacked by rogue reapers when they were alone, *no, they weren’t alone, they were with Adrian, but you can’t track him and I’m not giving that away,* and a mortal close to Sean was attacked by demons. You wouldn’t know anything about /that/ would you?
*He looks at me dismissively.* Mortal souls are a dime a dozen. A ploy to draw your Sean out that seems to have backfired as the demon team didn’t return.
A “dime a dozen”? *I cock an eyebrow.* I don’t think the Creator sees it that way. Otherwise the Elysian Fields wouldn’t exist, souls wouldn’t move from life to life, and no one ever would move to the Ascension Plane. I think the Creator values each soul and that’s why the Hell Planes only get them once it’s clear the soul has irrevocably embraced evil and ascension for it is impossible. And even if He didn’t, the inherent power of a mortal’s soul makes it valuable, and you know it. The raw energy of a single mortal soul is at minimum a thousand times more powerful than the most powerful than any weapon or energy source ever created by mortals, and the purer the soul, the more energy it has. A fact that seems pertinent in the light of the fact that the Horseman has been having his bully boys collect innocent souls before their time and they aren’t showing up at the Elysian Fields or the Ascension Plane.
Adrian: ‘What are you doing? You’re giving up way too much of what we know!’
Bryn: *Adrian’s mental outrage is almost tangible.* ‘Chill. It won’t matter. He’s not going to live long enough to take it back. But if I can get him to trust me maybe I can get him to give up information we /don’t/ have.’ *I take a step closer to Emrys, putting a slightly quizzical look on my face.*
And why would you want to draw Sean out? What value is there in that?
*Emrys has never had a poker face in the moment. It’s probably his greatest weakness. The years we were together I never saw through his bigger scheme because he’d planned it well in advance, but the little things, the day-to-day, always showed on his face. When he’s upset, it shows. When he’s surprised, it shows. When he’s angry, it shows. And right now, all three show.*
“Do you think we don’t know who took over actual command of the Reaper corps when Sin rebelled? That we actually believe Sean, the Grigori, the Spartan, and you run them as a council? The Horseman may leave the running of the corps in his subordinates’ hands as long as it all goes smoothly, but we are all aware of who actually controls things. Sean is the head. We cut that off or distract it, then the rest will fall into disarray and we –the Horseman’s chosen cadre, that is, -- will eliminate all those who had any loyalty at all to Sin. The Reaper Corps will then be wholly his."
Adrian: ‘Smarmy bastard. Whoever is planning all this doesn’t know us very well, do they? Yeah, we all looked to Sean to lead when Sin left, but that was because we could count on Sean’s empathy to stabilize the corps in the aftershock. He ran things by consensus rather than edicts, trusting that combining our strengths could compensate for Sin’s loss. And obviously they have no clue we’ve never completely lost touch with Sin or that he’s running the show again.’
Bryn: *Adrian’s not wrong. He rarely is, even though he doesn’t give himself enough credit.*
‘They don’t know us and that’s what is going to give us an advantage. Emrys said he’d been trying to get me alone. He thinks he can turn me. And he didn’t conceal very well that Lucifer is manipulating The Horseman.’
*I cock my head, as though considering Emrys’ words. Feigning ignorance of their plans,*
And the innocent souls? The Fates aren’t going to be happy he’s taken them before their time.
*Emrys shrugs his shoulders,*
“The Fates haven’t the power to stop it. They aren’t going to be in control for much longer anyway.”
Adrian: ‘Man, the hubris of these guys is overwhelming. The Fates don’t have the power? Idiots. The Fates are why we know what the Horseman’s doing. They give choices, yeah, but they’ve been guiding Sin all along, quietly undoing the worst of it.’
Bryn: *Giving Adrian a mental nod.* ‘Not to mention having the Creator behind them.’
You know, Emrys, messing with the Creator’s sisters doesn’t strike me as a particularly smart thing to do.
*He smirks now, his arrogance overpowering the wisdom of circumspection.*
“He won’t be in control much longer either. And in light of that you might want to consider a proposition I have for you.”
Adrian: ‘Damn, he must be very sure of you to reveal that Bryn. That or he doesn’t intend for you to get out of here alive any more than we plan for him to.’
Bryn: ‘In his mind it’s a win for him either way, Adrian. But he couldn’t take me before, so what makes him think he can now? Fully embracing his demon half in death doesn’t account for it. Harder to kill outside of using a reaper or angel blade, yes, but the laws of the universe are clear: you can only take into death the abilities you had in life. Only ascension changes that and then you leave /everything/ behind.’
*I frown as I tilt my head at Emrys.*
That’s a big boast from a guy that couldn’t manage the power-behind-the-throne deal in mortal life. Supplanting the Creator is beyond Lucifer’s power. Hell, Emrys, even if he, El Shaddai, /and/ the Horseman put aside their differences to challenge him, it would be beyond them.
*My “power-behind-the-throne” jab hits the mark. Emrys’ smirk disappears and is replaced by anger.*
“It /was/ beyond him. But those souls you are so worried about? Well, worry no longer. They won’t. The Horseman consumed them and all that innate power is his. And they aren’t the only ones. My boss and the Horseman made a deal. The Horseman is fixated on his former first, Sin. He’s obsessed with capturing him and draining the life out of his soul as painfully as possible but, because the Horseman is an idiot, he made Sin as powerful as he is. Sucks for him. Lucifer has an old bone to pick with Sin, too. Sin’s crisis of conscience prevented him from allowing Luc’s demons to commit complete genocide on a race of beings that he feared. Granted, there was only one kid left, but that kid? Total threat. Lucifer trapped Sin once and had him on the racks for a while. But Sin got away. The details of the great escape have been kept under wraps but it pissed off MY boss enough that the old ‘the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend scenario kicked in.’ He let the Horseman start consuming condemned souls so he’d become powerful enough to kick Sin’s ass. But the energy of the condemned is dark and twisted and it made the Horseman even darker and more twisted than he already was. Which made him the ideal pawn for a power grab. Lucifer convinced The Horseman to make a play for the top spot, came up with the innocent souls plan to increase his power. Once the Horseman locates Sin and ties up loose ends, he’s going after the Creator. And if he succeeds, Lucifer will play the sycophantic counselor for a while and then assassinate him and take over. If he fails, well, no one can be sure of his part in all this. Except for me, and now,” he smirks” you. Which makes what I’m about to offer you an offer you can’t refuse, if you want to continue to exist.”
Adrian: ‘He just confirmed all our intel. Can I kill him now?’
Bryn: ‘Wait. I still need info on the surveillance spell. He wants to be in control but if I can provoke him enough he’ll screw up.' *Looking at Emrys and snorting acerbically,*
You really are an idiot. Do you think for one minute that Lucifer is going to let you live regardless of the outcome? Or me, now that I know as well? ”
*I can see him struggle with his temper and lose the battle. His hands knot into fists as he growls,*
“He /needs/ me. Powerful though he is, the Morning Star has limitations. He’s an angel, fallen maybe, but still, in essence, an angel. He cannot consume souls for power the way the Horseman can, the way any reaper can, so he has limits. He needs ways to expand beyond those limits and I can give him that. I hold the focal point. This,” he touches the dark crystal on his chest, “allows me to funnel magick from other witches where I choose.” A slow, low-lidded smile breaks across his face. “Do you think I’d waste all that I have on trying to track a few reapers? The crystal allows me to funnel /their/ power into the tracking spell. Without it, I’d be forced to do nothing but concentrate on that.”
*I cock an eyebrow at him,* And these witches willingly give you their power? Why do I doubt that?
“They don’t have a choice. Some found themselves in Hell, too twisted to participate in the Creator’s soul recycling project. And some,” he smirks now, “were part of the Horseman and Lucifer’s ‘diversion’ project. Innocent souls who should have been allowed rebirth but we were able to divert to the Hell plane by use of the reapers you call rogues. Those who weren’t willing to give me their power are on the racks. Torture keeps them too weak to resist when I take what I want. But you, Bryn, can change that.”
Adrian: ‘I don’t like where this is going, Bryn. Innocents in Hell being tortured and you can stop it? He needs something from you. He said he’d been trying to get you alone to talk and now he’s trying to manipulate you. ’
Bryn: *Adrian’s right, I know it, but damn it, innocents!* ‘So let’s find out what he needs before we kill him.’
/I/ can change it? *I arch my eyebrows and put all the dubiousness I can muster in my voice.* Just what do you think I can do?
“It’s what I /know/ you can do, Bryn. Two of those innocents are your sisters. Join me and I can take them from their pain.”
Adrian: ‘God’s dammit, Bryn, I’m going to kill him right now.’
Bryn: * A tidal wave of guilt and pain slams me, swiftly followed by fierce anger. I’d never searched for my sisters souls as Zav and Sin had for their wives’. When I’d joined the reaper corps they’d already died. After Sin had explained the process I’d believed they’d gone to the Elysian Fields to await their next lives and I hadn’t wanted to interfere in their journey toward ascension.*
WHEN? *It’s an icy demand. I have to know when he took them, how long he’s had them. He shifts uncomfortably. The cold rage in my voice must be mirrored in my eyes, a reminder of just how dangerous I could be, because he drops his gaze from mine and shifts uncomfortably.*
“Not long. They were a recent acquisition. As the plans came together I realized I needed more power than condemned witches could provide and then I realized I needed even more. I needed you.”
And so you thought that murdering my sisters in their present lives, hijacking their souls to Hell, then torturing them would gain my cooperation? *The sarcasm added to my rage has him squirming.
“They didn’t /have/ to go on the rack. They could have cooperated. I offered them an existence of eternal decadence and pleasure for one small favor – the use of their power. Yes, I would still have used them as leverage against you but it didn’t have to get ugly for them. That was their choice.”
Let me guess. Ceri spit in your eye and Eira just gave you a look that froze your balls.
“Something like that, yes. So they had to be punished. But you can save them from that, as well as all the other innocents with magick. I’d bargain with their souls as well. “
*I cross my arms, my gaze stony as he meets my eyes once again.*
I’m listening.
Adrian: ‘You are NOT listening!’
Bryn: ‘No, Adrian, I’m not. I love the memory of my sisters and, until I became a reaper, our souls were connected. One way or another I /will/ save them, but not at the cost of all the worlds.’ *My eyes narrow as Emrys begins to speak again.*
“You have power Bryn. As a mortal, you were the strongest of the witch of your time, maybe one of the strongest to ever exist, and you were a focal point for your sisters, a natural conduit for power when you worked magick together. As a reaper you have ten-fold the power you once had, death magicks combined with earth magick. With you at my side, we could give Lucifer what he needs to overthrow the Creator, regardless of the success or failure of the Horseman.”
So, let me get this straight. To free my sisters’ souls and the souls of all the other innocent witches you’ve taken, I have to form an alliance with you.
“Well, there’s a bit more to it than that.”
*My eyebrow cocks in an imitation of Sin when he’s very skeptical of someone.*
Continue.
“Their souls aren’t leaving Hell, but they will be given that existence of luxurious decadence I mentioned earlier. No more torture. You will have all of that power to draw on when you need it. And you will funnel it to me through my crystal amulet.”
And you will act as, what, First Minister to the Prince of Hell?
*He preens a little at that, his ego stroked.*
“I like that title, but I’ll alter it to First Minister to the Prince of the Universe when I suggest it. And there is one other thing. You will lure Sin to a place of our choosing. Oh, don’t tell me you have no way to contact him. You were one of his closest lieutenants. I’m sure you still have avenues of communication.”
So you get to be First Minister of the Universe, you get a harem – oh, don’t look at me like that, I know what you are and what you’ll use those witches for regardless of whether they’re female or male –, you get my power, you get Sin, and I get … what? You? Pfffft, I don’t think so, Emrys. What’s to keep me from simply taking your place? I don’t need to steal power from other witches to run a simple locator spell and so far that seems to be all you’re doing.
*He bristles at my rejection, his face contorted with anger.* ‘Get ready Adrian...’
“You can only run it if you know it, and you do not. No one does. It cannot run without me and at the moment it is /very/ important. You and your little group will help us find Sin, one way or the other. He’ll come to bail you out when we take the four of you and then the Horseman can wrap up his loose end and we can move on to the main event. If you had joined me we could have done this the easy way. Now, you’ll do it on a rack of pain.”
*He grasps the amulet in one hand and raises his other arm towards me, slowly clenching his fist, as though wrapping it around my neck. Gasping as the pressure on my throat slowly tightens, I find myself frozen in place. He’s diverted the stolen power from the spell into attacking me. This is how he planned to take me all along. He can’t kill me this way, but he can incapacitate me and that’s all he wants at the moment.*
‘Now Adrian, NOW!’
Adrian: *I watched as Bryn taunted him, her words carrying clearly over the pooled water regardless of the sound of the waterfall to my left. When she’d told me to get ready, I’d materialized the clothes I’d left in my room onto my body and the sword from the wall of my room into my hand. No point in letting the family jewels be that vulnerable even if I /had/ fought that way as a human. You learn a few things over time. I frown as rage grows on Emrys face, the anger clear in his voice. Suddenly Bryn’s body inexplicably goes rigid and I hear her giving me the green light in my head. In an instant I demat and reform in a cloud of black mist behind Emrys, wrapping my arm around his neck and ramming my sword through his back until the hilt meets skin and the blade protrudes from his abdomen.*
Don’t fuck with my friends. It doesn’t pay, *I hiss into his ear.*
His body convulses under my grasp as I jerk the sword upward into his heart, the razor sharp magicked reaper blade slicing through soft tissue, muscle and bone.*
Bryn: *I was struggling to stay conscious when Adrian appeared behind Emrys. Emrys hand drops from the obsidian crystal as Adrian’s encircles his neck and jerks his head back. Emrys’ magickal grasp on my throat immediately loosens and I drop to my knees struggling to recover from the bruising grip with my eyes still glued on Emrys’ as the sword pierces his body. The shock of Adrian’s assault is clear in his eyes disbelief warring with pain. And then the light goes out of them and blood wells from his lips as Adrian jerks the blade upward.*
The crystal…. *I gasp hoarsely.
Adrian: *I release the dead demon-witch’s neck and roughly shove his body forward as I withdraw my blade from it. As he falls to the ground Bryn lunges forward towards the body, arm outstretched to grab the obsidian crystal. *
“NOOOOOO!” The anguished shout comes from the tree line behind the flat rocks we’re standing on and a figure emerges. A ball of witch fire flames to life in his hands and he throws it at Bryn.*
Bryn: *A scream erupts from me as the fireball impacts my shoulder, setting my entire right side afire. Crumpling to the ground, I shout,*
Adrian, get the crystal. Destroy it!
Adrian: *My instincts tell me to protect Bryn, but I trust her when it comes to magicks and if she tells me to get the crystal, I get the crystal. Another ball of witch fire explodes on the rocks at my feet and I dive behind Emrys body and turn it roughly, grabbing the obsidian crystal and jerking it from his neck. And damned if Bryn isn’t returning fire.*
What do I do with it?
Bryn: ‘Destroy it!’ * I repeat.*
* As Adrian had gone for the crystal I’d rolled on my right side to put out the fire and pushed myself to my knees with my good arm. The initial pain in my right arm has passed, although it’s nearly useless. Third degree burns will do that, going deep enough that the pain is temporarily diminished. The good news is my side and leg still feel like they’re on fire so the burns there aren’t as bad. The leather must have been helpful and I’d been quick getting the flames out. But now I’ve got work to do. Facing our adversary, I form my own fireball and throw it at him…her? I can’t tell. The witch has short, choppy brownish hair and a slight build in jeans and a loose tee shirt. No one I recognize, but it’s obviously one with a voluntary allegiance to Emrys. My fireball falls short of the attacker, but it makes them cautious.*
Adrian: ‘Destroy it? How the hell do I destroy something that’s a vessel for potentially hundreds of witches’ magick?’
Bryn: ‘Little busy here!’ *Manifests another ball of witch fire and throws it at the steadily advancing witch*
‘Just smash it’.
Adrian: *It can’t be as simple as smashing it. Can it? Searching around me, I look for something to pound it with. Near the lip of the flat rock we’re standing on I spy a small boulder that appears to be loose from the rest of the rocky outcrop. Laying my sword down, I crouch low and dodge the incoming to move towards it. Wrapping my arms around the large, beach ball sized rock, I take a deep breath and lift it. This is one of those times it’s good to be the grandson of a god. That extra strength is the only way I’m lifting this thing. Dematting it and reforming it over the crystal wouldn’t give it enough force to smash the thing into dust. Gotta be brute strength from as high as I can lift it.*
Bryn: *The witch keeps coming, but they’re tiring quickly. Even with Emrys dead the crystal must still be pulling power from them and storing it. Not good. Emrys must have been drawing just enough raw magick from each witch to power the tracking spell continuously in order to prove to Lucifer he could control it. But now, with Emrys dead, there was no place for all that power to go and the crystal will become explosive. Time to end this. Pushing myself to my feet, I form another ball of witch fire as they come closer, their own fireballs falling around us. Knowing my body is failing me, I whisper as I throw it*
Shireadh… Seek.
Adrian: *I glance at Bryn as she struggles to her feet and grimace. Her arm and shoulder are crisped black, the side of her face blistered where her outstretched arm had taken the brunt of the flames. The witch fire had turned her leather vest and pants into to barely hanging together shreds with patches of blistering flesh showing through. Flames are all around her The heat must be agonizing on her burns, but she’s still fighting. Taking advantage of the distraction she’s providing to the dark witch, I carry the boulder back to where the crystal lays and, straining with sweat running down my face, raise it over head, flinging it down on the black obsidian with all the strength being the grandson of Apollo gives me. Abruptly, I’m flung back as the crystal explodes.*
Bryn: *As I release the fireball the blast wave from the power build up in the crystal knocks me to the ground. The witch tries to dodge behind some rocks but the fireball veers to track them, like the guidance system on a missile. Realizing they can’t evade it, the witch does the only thing left open to them. They disappear, to live to fight another day, and the fireball crashes into the rocks with a roar. Wearily, I push myself up and to stand wobbly, cradling my burnt arm against my chest, and turn to face Adrian. The explosion had disintegrated both the crystal and the rock that Adrian had smashed it with. Above where it had been, glowing wisps of white and black mist swirled and separated to evaporate, raw power from both the dark and the light now returned to the universe.*
Adrian: *My eyes track the rising wisps in awe. I’d seen power used, but I’d never seen its most basic form. Even as it dissipated a translucent form rose from the demon-witch body. Emrys’ soul. Demons were in essence mortal souls who had been twisted into Lucifer’s minions after a few hundred years on a rack on the Hell Plane. Dying again left their souls with less substance than a typical soul, the same as it did with reaper souls on the rare occasions one of us died and went to the Long Sleep. That’s why Dybbuk boxes had worked so well for the demons we’d killed in Caldwell and the rogue reapers we’d put down at Truely’s. I guess we’re going to need another one. Making my way to Bryn, I put my hand on her good shoulder to steady her.*
You strong enough to bring a Dybbuk box here? We can stash the soul in it and I’ll drop it off with the others after I get you to Sean.
Bryn: *Leaning against Adrian’s hand for a second, I nearly close my eyes, ready to surrender to the pain, but I had one bit of unfinished business to take care of.*
To Hell with that.
*Grimly setting my mouth and straightening back up I call the witch fire once more. The flame grows in my hand, a hot, steady, ball of blue flame. Witch fire from a demon witch wouldn’t kill a reaper, even though it hurt like hell. But witch fire from a reaper witch will turn anything to carbon permanently. Even disembodied demon souls. With the last of my strength, I hurl the fireball at Emrys’ wavering form. It explodes a split second before it reaches him and engulfs him in blue flames, burning fiercely until it consumes even its own flames and disappears with a small pop, leaving behind only a few flakes of floating ash. Legs starting to give way, I look up at Adrian,*
/Now/ you can take me to Sean.
*And the world goes black.*
#WitchHunterHunterWitchPart 2 #DarkAngelsCreationPart45 #Renegades #RRPG #BDB #AU #Reapers #Angels #Vampires #Wolven #Ghosts #Witches
