Tomorrows Child (36 page)

“What do you
want from me? I can’t really be worth all this trouble?”

“Ah, you really
don’t know, do you? But you should, you have so much I want, you
have everything. Don’t you understand, Psyche?”

I shook my
head, I didn’t want to respond, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Your magick is
new and it’s linked to the living energy in a unique way. You will
give me something I have needed for a long time. With your gift, I
can renew myself without the need for pathetic humans. Finally, I
will have the power I deserve.” She took a step closer, but didn’t
enter the circle.

“There was a
time when I could do anything, see everything, hear everything. I
could cause death with a thought and claim a soul’s energy just by
entering a room. But those days are long gone, so now I am forced
to…” she paused as Phoenix entered the clearing and stood behind
me.

“Ah the boy who
rose from the ashes, still attempting to be the hero, I see.”

Phoenix didn’t
respond to her taunts, but reached out and pulled me closer to him.
The smell of blood was heavy in the air and I tasted the coppery
bitterness in the back of my throat.

“Your
grandmother did well to unbind you. I saw it when I took your
energy and drank your blood. I knew that I couldn’t remove the
binding without knowing more. Your mother was clever and wise, it
seems. I did offer her greatness in exchange for you. Power, money,
success, even eternal life, but she turned it down. She too was
young and foolish and filled with love. Such a waste…” she said as
she stepped into the circle and closed the space between us.

The moonlight
was more subdued within the circle as if it recoiled from her
perverted evil, except for the tear-shaped stone that hung around
her neck, which sparkled in the light and seemed to pulse with a
life of its own. I reached to touch my stone and felt it pulse too,
but I already knew it had a life of its own.

As soon as I
touched the stone, the edge of my vision wavered and changed and
Volante’s aura came into view. Her aura hugged her like a cloak of
death and was black and dense and outlined in blood-red that pulsed
in rhythm to the ruby-coloured stone.

“You’re a
twisted vampire witch and there is nothing to understand.” I said
as I noticed a pair of red eyes appear at her side.

“Is that what
you think of me? I’m so disappointed. I thought you were far more
creative than that. I am much more than a vampire or even a witch,
though I do hate labels, they’re so limiting.” Volante mumbled
something and stepped into the centre of the circle. A tiny blue
light caught the edge of my vision and the glow became a mist that
floated above our heads. Volante seemed oblivious to the new
arrival as she focused on me and continued with her tirade. “Come
now, enter the circle so we can end this. I am so tired of childish
games.”

“Don’t go into
the circle, she really does have the power to destroy you,” Phoenix
warned me as he reached out and held my shoulder. If she really had
the power, she would have killed me already. I still didn’t
understand the power of my gift, but somehow, I knew that she
couldn’t destroy me anymore.

“She is the
Gleaner, we have to get away from here! She will kill you to take
your magick.” he said, his voice was urgent but I sensed no fear
quavering around the edges.

“So you do
remember.” She spoke to Phoenix, but never shifted her gaze from
me. “I was once called the Gleaner, although those were very
different times. I am pleased you have those memories. It’s true -
I was and still am the Gleaner. I collect the magick from those who
waste its power and don’t see the potential of their gift.”

“You’re nothing
more than a murderer who steals what belongs to others and perverts
goodness with your sick and twisted mind,” Phoenix said as he
reached out and put his arm around my shoulder.

“I wondered
what memories were still in that feeble mind of yours. Do you also
carry the nightmares of the flames that burned your soul? Or is the
knowledge that your true love burnt by your side that’s more
painful?” She flung her head back and laughed.

Somewhere in my
memory, I recalled something about a Gleaner, but I knew nothing
about the flames that caused Phoenix to tense and made his heart
beat louder in his chest. But her ranting had created a diversion
and perhaps this was our chance to escape. I took a step back…

“Stop!” Her
ranting ceased and her rage returned. I froze. “Now where is the
stone?”

The stone? How
could she know about the stone?

A tiny voice
entered my mind –
Do not part with the stone
.

“Your blood
gave me the vision as surely as if it were my own. But you don’t
understand the importance of it because you are blinded by your own
stupidity, just like your mother. Such things are wasted on
youth.”

“If you know
everything, then why ask me?”

“Give. Me. The.
Stone!” she screamed, piercing my eardrums with her rage.

“Get it
yourself!” The stone hung around my neck in a leather pouch. She
must have known. The bag was too large to conceal, so why didn’t
she come and take it? Bravery didn’t come naturally and my voice
faltered in front of the woman who had once reduced me to a
whimpering mess and left me to die, but I would give her nothing
today, at least not while I lived.

Call to the earth.

“I will not ask
you again, give me the stone, and then offer me your gift. Or I
will take the stone and your gift and leave you as food for the
dogs.”

“Neither is
mine to give,” I said and I understood the truth of this for the
first time. I was a custodian, a caretaker, nothing more. I didn’t
own the stone or the gift, “Even if they were mine, I wouldn’t give
them to you.”

In the relative
safety of her circle, Volante raised her hands towards the sky and
began chanting in a language that I didn’t understand. She pointed
her finger at Phoenix and I saw the silver blade on her little
finger glint in the light. With a single swipe, she sliced the air
and I heard a gasp from his lips as he fell to his knees. Blood
trickled down his chest. Phoenix was already covered in blood and I
watched the red flow of fresh blood seep and mingle with a deeper
red from previous injuries as well as the black demons’ blood that
covered him.

I took a deep
breath and turned to face the witch. I needed energy and knew the
earth would supply my needs. I extended my arms a little and spread
my fingers, trying to absorb as much energy as I could. “Help me,”
I whispered to the earth.

I could feel
the power of my gift seeping into my veins and felt the power
pulsate through me. Some came from the earth and the air, but most
flowed directly from the stone. The energy was pure as always. But
creeping in at the edge of this, I could sense evil and rage. I
could feel the malice and jealousy that drove Volante, I knew what
she wanted. But it wasn’t hers to take and I would not be the one
to give her this power. The evil was trying to force its way into
the stream that flowed into me, but it contained a sickness that I
knew would contaminate my soul.

Her chanting
increased and a new intensity filled her eyes. She carefully sliced
through the air again and as her head tilted, I felt a trickle of
warm blood. I looked down and saw a fine red line slashed along my
forearm.

Call to the earth. The
voice in my head grew louder.

Volante raised
her arms and beckoned me and I felt myself taking steps into her
circle. Against my will, I took another step. She may not have had
a link to the energy of the earth, but she was able to tap into a
dark energy that I could sense, but could not control or
resist.

“Pathetic
child,” she spat.

Phoenix called
to me, but his voice was faint and seemed so far away.

“Now child,
give me the stone,” she reached out and took my bloody arm. I
watched as the blood seeped through the grip of her fingers.

Call to the earth!
Protect yourself!

I felt the
energy drain from me, it was a familiar sensation and I was drawn
back to a time where I had no power and no understanding. As I
dropped to my knees and began to shake, I heard Phoenix call. He
was moving around the circle, scrubbing the black crystals away
with his foot.

Call to the earth!

“Psyche, get
up. You have to fight! You have to protect yourself.”

The pressure
that held me began to loosen its grip as the circle that restrained
me was destroyed. I pulled my arm free and finally called to the
earth. Volante looked confused as the energy evaporated and the
circle became nothing more than a clear still night.

“No!” she
screamed, she realised that Phoenix was still alive and destroying
her circle. The ruby around her neck pulsed with renewed life and
she reached toward the sky and chanted again.

Get up! Call to the
earth!

I stood, I was
confused, but I understood the witch now and I knew that I needed
to listen to Persephone’s voice. I called to the earth again and
this time I gave no resistance.

Raising my
hands, I looked at Volante, who was still chanting. “Hey witch!” I
screamed, “Even if I gave you my gift, it wouldn’t last. Your soul
would only destroy it; light cannot live in complete darkness.”

The rage rose
in her like lava on the verge of eruption. “But I can give you a
taste of the power, if you like,” I added. She smiled and her
tongue quivered across her lips. I knew what she thought and it
sickened me. Now I’d had enough of her games. I created an orb of
energy in the palm of my hand and held it there as its intensity
grew and it throbbed with life. I focused my anger. I knew it was
wrong to use the energy this way, but it was all I had. With a
flick of my wrist, I took aim and released the full force of my
power. I was still connected when it hit its mark and I felt the
sickening emotion that drove her. The orb of energy repelled her
body and she was driven back, landing with a nauseating, cracking
thud! that shattered the emptiness of the night. There was silence
and I thought she was dead.

Phoenix looked
pale, but the blood seemed to have slowed and I was no longer
afraid that he would die. A loud scream pierced the air and the
witch ran toward me. I spun and threw her to the ground with the
energy and anger that was bordering on the same rage that flowed
through her. I pushed the energy through me and held her to the
ground. I could see in her eyes that I constricted her breath. It
was the same as she had done to me, but I couldn’t stop. Trickles
of blood ran from her temple and flowed to the ground.

“Stop Psyche,
you can’t kill her, it would make you no better than she is.”

Yes… you must stop… Do
not be responsible for taking this life.

The anger
bubbled inside me and I knew what I had to do. I searched my mind
for the right words.

“By the blood
you are bound, by your flesh you are bound. …”

Yes child, stop now.
She is done and bound for tonight. Fate has other ways of dealing
with this. Don’t leave here with her blood on your hands.

She was right.
Phoenix was right. But I couldn’t stop, I wanted to squeeze every
last breath of life from her. And then I felt a gentle pulse from
the stone that hung around my neck and a wash of calmness engulfed
me. I released my hold and saw that she was unconscious, barely
breathing, but still alive. Her ruby stone pulsed slowly.

“Come on, let’s
go,” Phoenix said as he reached out and took my hand.

“This is not
over,” she suddenly said. I thought she was unconscious. “You think
a simple binding will hold me? You are more foolish than I thought
and I am more powerful than you can imagine.”

“Well, then get
up so we can finish this now.”

“Yes, that
would suit you, now that you have tasted the darkness. The evil is
sweet on your lips. I can almost smell it on your breath. You felt
it didn’t you? You tapped the darkness and it felt good. Imagine
what you could do with all that power. Embrace it, change your
destiny, make it your choice.”

Don’t listen to her,
she is wrong.

She began
chanting again.

“Oh, stick a
sock in it, bitch!”

This time I
walked away and didn’t turn as her chanting continued or when I
heard my name called in the night. As we walked away from the
clearing and Volante’s bound body, I heard a gentle rustle in the
grass beside me.

“Shhh, I have
to get the gun,” Phoenix whispered. He let go of my hand and
disappeared into the night. I had forgotten about the hellhound
that stood beside Volante, but there was something in the grass
beside me. I could hear the gentle rustle of the spear grass in the
still night. The hunter... Just like my dream. I realised now the
dream began as this night ended.

I didn’t look
for a place to hide. I already knew there was none. Instead, I
stood and called to the energy, allowing it to flow. I backed away
from the predator. Slow, sure steps distanced me from the low
growling that rumbled in the night. The eyes emerged, blood-red,
framed in black. This was the moment that I would fall, scream, and
then Phoenix would appear. I took a deep breath and another
step.

But I didn’t
fall and I didn’t scream. As the beast prepared to lunge, I raised
my arms, and with a flick of my wrist, the beast flew through the
air just as the sound of a gunshot ricocheted through the night.
“Phoenix?” I breathed.

He reached down
from the rock behind me and touched my shoulder. “I’m here,” he
said.

We sat beside
the fire, waiting for dawn. I was so very thankful that Phoenix had
survived. I held his hand and leaned against his chest. I never
wanted to let him go. If there were ever any doubt, it dissolved
into the night. I knew that he was my life and I was his.