Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Chapter 12 Battle

Bri

My darkness settled over the onyx water becoming a mist of dark fog ready to strike at the next intruder of my mind. ‘Fuck you Silas! Good luck getting through that Asshole!’ Beneath the water lurked creatures of this world and of others laying in wait, ready to strike. The light of my power rose above it like the full moon overhead, resting in my chest as my breath staggered to slowly rise and fall. While once my mind had looked like the fine beauty of the glossy and lush gardens and mansions of New Orleans those; buildings were now dilapidated, sunken, and overgrown. Crumbling as the darkness of the swamp took over so that the light could shine above it.

A memory distracted me at the sight of it.

"Without darkness Brianna there could be no light,” my father had once said. “Without evil, we would not know goodness,” he had schooled me. “Without hardships, you could not appreciate the joys in your heart.” He had taught me as I sat beside him when the sickness had begun to take him. ‘These truths Brianna you must remember so that when life is at its worst, in contrast, your best times will be that much greater, fuller, more beautiful,’ he said. ‘Mon Pere, what of you I cannot go on without you, you are all I have,’ I cried, kneeling with his hand wrapped up in mine as tears fell. ‘I, my daughter, am just a stepping stone of the tragic beauty you will become, and the force you will wield when your time is here,’ he had said before falling into a fit of wheezing.

My father’s divinity was always natural to him; he didn't even realize the words he spoke normally were consecrated with his gift of foresight. Through all of our conversations, I could pull out the shiny threads of it. Yet to make a canvas with those fibers, to paint the picture of the words he saw for my future, too many mysteries still lay ahead.

As the worst was over for my mind, the turmoil still raged within my body. My bones knitted stronger, my insides constricted and twisted, and my skin writhed as the pain of each cell of my being altered. It had never been so bad, agony spread so completely across my body, mind, and soul. I feared I wouldn’t survive it. I wanted to plead for death, but when I looked inward at that ball of blinding light seeing beyond myself into the grace of it all and I let it hold me through the worst. It slid through my consciousness warm, bright, and pure. ‘Don’t worry little bird, they will heal your heart, and you will heal theirs.’ The voice was sweet, soft, and angelic as it soothed me, as a true mother's voice should. A heartbeat later a blinding light engulfed my consciousness. I forgot about the lava in my veins and the pain erupting through my body. I became the light.

I hadn't realized I was coming to my senses until I felt the tapping on the cloaking spell. Draven probing for a weakness. They had found the watch and my message. Good.

On the plane where the spell was created, only itself, the power and skill set of its creator, and the aggressor could be sensed. There was no visual, only the mental monitor that pointed out exactly what point was being attacked, ‘Gotcha,’ I thought, pinpointing the intrusion. Then I gave my power something better to do than tear apart my mind, body, and soul. I sent it after the pervert, I hope it broke something inside him, something vital.

I could feel his surprise and fear, as his mind began retracing steps, backing away from the spell. I struck out, like a whip of lightning. It was only a tendril but I would relish the mental pain he’d feel, just like he relished taking the cane to my bare back under my mother's orders. As my chi reached out and sealed the frays he created in the spell, he tried to counter me and I mentally flung a cord of power of my new strength at him like a javelin. The mark hit true, his agony reverberating, and I went to grip that cord and pull him back for another dose. In that moment the darkness inside me rose to sink its venomous claws into his power.

Suddenly my world upended, the boat had tipped, and I came back to my being. The tendril let go and the villain drifted away propelled by the force of the snapped cord, and the physical world surrounded me. I could feel the slickness of the water wash over me as lilies and decaying debris parted, my body sunk, and my chest burned for air finding only stale water. I could feel my body but I wasn’t conscious enough to move my limbs. Stagnant liquid poured in through my nose and mouth. Something caught my hair. Spinning, twirling, twisting, pain radiated through my scalp, branches scraped flesh, water suddenly erupted around me, the feel of wet fur glided across my arm, and the metallic taste of blood filled the water. The burning of the foul liquid entering my lungs intensified. The movement of the water around me was the last thing I remembered as everything went dark. What happened next was otherworldly as my spirit watched the following events from outside my body.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter