by Vega Lizzie
“And if she aligns with the wolf?”
Colin sighed, “Then I have single handedly brought both the Third Council and Conclave to their knees. The world will suffer in darkness for generations to come.”
Shannon’s breathing stabilized and they sat there silently, content to just watch her sleep.
“When she wakes up,” Cassandra began, then stopped.
Colin nodded, “It begins.”
Chapter 20
Shannon slept late into the afternoon. She seemed to stir, many times coming close to full consciousness, only to slip back into a rolling dream state. Colin had been correct about the snapshot quality of what she was seeing. Some full images expanded into full landscape vistas, grand and colorful sunsets against the dark mountains. She saw the foothills of Helena only to be suddenly replaced with the jarring first sight of Merrick’s dramatic arrival in the city park. Rock carvings and then streaking bright lights, then a series of close, intimate moments, new and future happenings.
She saw Olivia standing in a long gown, her hair braided in an elegant spiral. Her daughter was smiling but as Shannon reached out for her, the scene shifted out of focus and Shannon suddenly felt cold and alone in her journey.
Now running across a city square, with a turn of her head she saw Terra and Liam running just behind her. Leaping into the air she brought her fist down hard to the pavement. The shiny polished terrazzo squares sparkled like jewelry in the sunlight but the light from her hand sent a shock wave rippling across the plaza.
Suddenly there was a creaking sound next to her and it stirred her briefly from the depths of her dream. A troubling dark vision quickly rose up to obscure the familiar sounds.
A figure crouched on the ground in front of her, a woman with a shock of matted hair lay sprawled in an old cobblestone alley. As Shannon slowly approached, the woman turned and reached up, her misshapen hands and arms broken and torn, her soft features pleading as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Another groan of wood as someone shifted beside her broke the horrified feeling that Shannon was experiencing but something told her to try to stay in the picture. She reached for the woman’s arm and clasped gently to pull her up. As their eyes met, Shannon opened her mouth to scream. Another sound to her left, the vision veered to a bright rooftop. Shannon saw herself reaching out to Terra. With a quick intake of breath, she woke up.
Without opening her eyes, Shannon knew she had an audience. The gentle scent of Terra’s body lotion filled her senses. She had seen bright banners and sunshine and Terra looked spectacular.
There was a scribbling sound to her right, and she knew that Olivia was in the overstuffed chair next to her, drawing something in her sketchpad. Eyes still closed, she sighed happily, “You’re watching me sleep, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” Terra’s voice had an edge of concern to it, but Shannon could only grin as the last vestiges of the dreams flickered for one last view. “You’re home early,” she said as she reached her arms up in a lazy stretch.
“Mom,” Olivia said as the scratching sound of her pencil came to a stop, “It’s almost six. How long have you been asleep?”
“It’s fine sweetie,” Shannon murmured, rolling over on the sofa and sighing contently, “seems I had homework to do.”
Terra was less subtle. “Shan, there’s a note on the counter for you. I think it’s from Colin, so I’ll assume he was here. He’s got lousy handwriting but something in the way of an apology if you have a headache. Mind telling us what that’s about?”
Sitting up, Shannon winced as she opened her eyes only to see Terra sitting on the edge of the coffee table, a glass of water and some aspirin in her hand. “Are you all right?” she asked carefully, “You get a headache and I freak more than a little.”
“It’s just a tiny one, I’m fine, really.” Throwing back the pain killers, she swung her legs off the sofa and looked at Terra for a long while with a gentle smile, “I’m really good. Colin sorta showed up unannounced. Brought someone we have met once before…here.” She held up her once scorched hand, flexing her fingers, “Mmm, maybe it wasn’t what I thought.” She rubbed her fingers gently over her palm, then shrugged, “Remember the girl that brought the sanctions from the Third Council?”
“From way back when? The one who stared at Robbie?” Olivia asked suddenly.
“The very same,” Shannon chuckled, “Seems she is conspiring with Colin. She brought an upgrade to my grimoire. Her name is Cassandra.” As she said the name she smiled, “Of course it is, a Trojan princess given the gift of prophecy. I should have realized that.”
Terra was quick to note Shannon’s pointed observation, “Seems you do now. Was that part of the visit? The upgrade?”
Shannon hesitated, then, “Yeah, pretty much. She referred to him as a gatekeeper. That’s interesting, right?”
“Pulled the curtain back a little, did he?” Terra seemed interested but reached out her hand, “You look a little pale, maybe you should move around a little and get something in your stomach.”
“Sure. I do feel like eating. Can’t believe I slept almost the entire day, I..” she caught Terra’s watchful eye, then turned to her daughter, “Seriously, I’m…okay. They brought in a new grimoire and mine, they…bonded.” She shrugged and it took a moment for her smile to match the tone of her voice. “So, Colin left a note?”
“It’s on the counter in the kitchen. There’s also an odd little gift, maybe?”
Olivia shrugged, “I thought he was a judge, not a farmer. It must have meaning outside the obvious.”
As they entered the kitchen, Shannon saw the note. Alongside the hastily scrawled letter was a small bundle of five pieces of wheat, bound together with a short length of jute.
Shannon hesitated before she touched it, “Interesting,” she murmured to herself, as she picked it up, “Normally a blessing,” she said, “to the hope of an abundant future. Fertility, gold, maybe as well.”
“Normally,” Olivia repeated, “Are you saying this isn’t normal?”
“I’m sure it is,” Shannon said softly, “But knowing Colin and how clear as mud he can be…” She stopped, then held the tiny sheaf of grain toward the ceiling, “This is important. Maybe as a symbol, maybe as a harbinger of something to come.”
“We’re gonna move to a farm,” Olivia suggested. It was clear she didn’t think much of the idea, “How ’bout we just bake up some bread? Seems way less…rural.”
Her mother laughed as she walked to a kitchen cabinet, “I have a better idea.” She rummaged in the drawer and pulled out a tube of super glue. Grabbing a stool from the counter she asked Terra to hold her as she set the stool under the beam that separated the ling room from the kitchen.
“I gotcha.” Terra grinned as she steadied Shannon. With a quick drop of glue, she stuck the short length of wheat to the beam and held it with her finger. “Ahhh,” she chuckled as her finger held tight to the beam, “Too much. Jeez, this stuff sticks fast.”
Climbing down from her perch, she inspected her fingertip, “I wish for prosperity for all who cross this threshold. Let’s see what Mr. Colin has left for me. He just cost me a fingerprint for a while.”
Shannon squinted at the handwritten note, “He should have been a doctor.” She cleared her throat to read aloud, “You already possess your greatest strength. Now begin to practice and hone your advancing skills. To know your enemy, become your enemy. Teach others to stand in the face of adversity. The dream effect will come and go. Sorry about the headache.”
Terra smirked, “So he’s Dr. Phil and Sun Tzu all rolled into one?”
“More battle magic,” Olivia said quietly, but her sly smile betrayed her, “Cool.”
“Not cool. Hopefully not necessary,” her mother replied in a measured voice, “But we continue to learn and improve our skills, regardless.”
“Become your enemy,” Terra wonder out loud, “A wrinkled old woman? Big scary demonic general? Hard no on both.”
&nbs
p; Dinner and the balance of the evening continued without much discussion of Shannon’s morning event. As they settled in for the night, Terra saw Shannon inspecting the tip of her finger and was in the mood to cross-examine. “This might sound odd, but you are a little too normal tonight. Wanna tell me what happened today, in a bit more detail?”
Shannon smiled, “It was nothing, really. Colin had an old grimoire that latched onto me for a minute. I woke up on the sofa.”
“But you don’t remember how you got to the sofa, do you?”
“Um, no. I don’t.”
“So, I can assume that there was some sort of discussion before you did this. I also know that the judge can be very persuasive.” Terra paused as she looked at Shannon, “How do I phrase this? Is there anything you want to share with me?” Her eyes got big, “Maybe that you can’t share with me.”
Shannon winced, “I saw some stuff. Good…some great, actually and then maybe some bad things. It was like looking at Ollie’s graphic novel. Maybe I have to sketch things out like she does.” Her eyebrow arched, “He didn’t say I couldn’t.”
“Did he talk about what’s going on with your Dad?”
“Indirectly, yes,” Shannon nodded, then lurched to the side of the bed to grab her phone, “I need to tell Marcus to back…wait. I need to tell Marcus to hold until I can talk to him. We hit a nerve out there.”
Terra was quick to catch Shannon’s shift in tone, “So, you’re not going to stop, only get more devious?”
“God, you’re getting just as bad as Olivia. I don’t know if I would say devious…thorough might be a better word. I’ll have Marcus stop by and he can fill us in on what he found with Dad’s list. Seems two of the names are bigshots in the magic world.”
“But your Dad doesn’t have powers. I’d say it’s a little suspicious that he has such access.” Terra pondered that thought, “Unless he stumbled into it, or they have made themselves suddenly available.”
“Colin told me that one in particular, wasn’t a big fan of however Marcus searched. He basically told me to back off…so?” Shannon waited for Terra.
“So, we play closer attention to him.” Terra picked up her phone and pulled up her schedule, “I’m clear until 11. I’d like to sit in.”
“Um yes, I’d like that and, wait, I know that look. What are you cooking up?”
Terra shrugged, “A lot of random shit in my head right now but you were told to hone your skills by Colin. I’m going to take that as suggestion to all of us. You know Ollie will certainly be up for it.”
Shannon cleared her throat, “True.”
“Have Marcus come over at 9 if he can. We get a little background and then chart out a course of action.”
“That’s great,” Shannon was quick to add to Terra’s enthusiasm, “it just sucks that we’re over a thousand miles…” Shannon saw the smirk on Terra’s face, “Oooh, that’s genius.”
“Might as well take advantage of my gifts, right? We can see if any of Lil’ Bro’s info looks intriguing and go from there. I can pop in, then pop back out.”
Shannon was suddenly grateful that the planning Terra was brewing up was ahead of her spontaneous version, but put her own spin on the idea, “Not info,” she winked, “Intel.”
Terra began to laugh, “Oh God, I want to get a picture of Marcus’s face when you say that. He’s gonna be in seventh heaven.” She watched as Shannon looked away for a moment. She climbed out of bed and threw on her robe, “Be right back, I need my sketchpad.”
“What’d I say?” Terra asked as Shannon flew out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs, “You gonna draw? Me, maybe?”
As Shannon returned to the bedroom, she turned to close the door without noticing Terra. As she turned back to the bed. Terra was sitting on the edge of it, the blanket that was wrapped loosely around her body wasn’t bundled for warmth, yet the heat of the moment radiated perfectly. “Oh…oh my goodness. You are so very naked right now.”
“Yes, I am,” Terra purred, “Seems you getting all fired up gets me fired up as well.” She arched her back and pulled the blanket away from her chest, “Feel like posing me? I could lean back like this…”
“Oh my, yes.” As the drawing pad from the studio frisbee’d into the dressing chair, Shannon moved to the bookcase, “Don’t move a muscle, I’ll get our private sketch book.”
“How ‘bout I roll this way?” Terra teased as she stretched out the length of the mattress and slowly arched up on her hands and knees, then tipped down, her face to the mattress, “Or this?”
“Um, wow, uh…have you been surfing porn?” Shannon waited a beat, “again.”
Terra laughed and rolled back, blowing a kiss, “That’s funny. No, I just watched you sleep on the sofa for an hour. Some of those dreams looked…interesting, so I just added the fun parts to the fantasy…a bunch, maybe.”
Shannon dropped her robe on the floor, “Maybe you were thinking about Eliza, the tattooed Swedish goddess as she moaned and…what’s the word?”
Terra ran the tip of her tongue slowly across her lower lip, “Writhed. Definitely writhed.”
“Mmm, that one, yes.” Shannon shivered, “Seems like you’re having the same effect on me. The shadow up the backs of your thighs…whew.”
“Shadow? Can’t have them.” Terra arched and stretched one knee across the bed, “How about now.”
“My God, who needs fantasy. I am so…ready right now.”
Terra chuckled, then lowered her voice, “Show me.”
That morning, Olivia came out of her room to find Terra and her mother sitting at the island. Terra yawned and grinned, “Mornin, hun.” Then she yawned again.
“Late night?” Olivia asked.
“I, uh, did some studying, and Terra was taking notes,” her mother said brightly after an awkward glance to Terra, “I think I slept a ton yesterday. You want some scrambled eggs for breakfast?”
“A smoothie would be good. Berries and bananas. Maybe a scoop of the vanilla stuff.”
Terra looked up, “A little protein powder? Nice.”
“Right?” Olivia agreed, “I figure if you two are up late studying, I can start working on my moves again, right?” She held her earnest expression long enough for Shannon to buy in, “I think that’s an excellent idea. Terra has said much the same thing.”
Shannon sighed, “I’d really prefer you to just be a normal teenager for a while.”
Olivia laughed, “Marcy coming over to hang out and do homework. Does that count?”
“Yeah, it does,” Shannon smiled, but Olivia grinned, “Oooooh, things are ramping up. When you want normal…crazy is on the way.”
“Ohhh, shit,” Shannon shook her head, “how do you do that?”
Chapter 21
“Mom,” Olivia’s jaw dropped, “you’re actually serious?”
“Jeez, Ollie,” Marcy stage whispered, “it’s a totally cool Mom moment. Take her up on it.”
Shannon winked at Marcy and added to her unusual suggestion, “You had mentioned wanting to get some new clothes, I haven’t been to the mall in-”
“Forever,” Terra chimed in with a supportive grin, “And Marcy is right, You’re the cool mom.” Then she frowned, “And sad trombone, I have a meeting Saturday morning at the firm.”
Marcy’s eyes pinched until Olivia assisted with the musical reference, “Wa wa waaaaa,” she sang, “You really need to hang out with us more…that’s as much as a warning as an invitation.” She pointed at her mother and Terra, “These two…” and shook her head.
Shannon snickered, “Why not add Kristin and Karly and I’ll take you all to lunch.”
Marcy grinned and nodded but Olivia played the skeptic, “You’re not gonna follow us all around, are you?”
“Nope,” Shannon said, “as long as we have a designated meeting place or two, I won’t do a single thing to embarrass you. You can pretend to not know me if the situation arises.”
“What do you mean by that?” Olivia wondere
d out loud only to have Marcy assist, “In case Randy or his buddies show up, they won’t like hover and point or worse…say embarrassing Mom stuff.”
Shannon was quietly questioning Mom stuff as Terra leaned in with a thumbs up, “Exactly,” she grinned, “and if my meeting gets over with quick, I’ll join you at the mall.”
At first Olivia was hesitant until she saw Marcy beaming at the idea, “What a fun idea,” she whispered to Olivia, “Kristin and Karly will lose their minds. Your Moms’ are so cool.”
As the girls headed to Olivia’s room, Shannon leaned in, “Your meeting?” she asked gently, “headed to the ethereal plain?”
Terra’s eyes got wide, “No,” she whispered excitedly, “Oh my God, we are meeting Tatsumi in Kyoto. A quick Traveler discussion and then I’m home.”
“Oh, no way,” Shannon shook her head, “No way are you traveling across the world and not bringing me some sort of souvenir. Make time to sightsee a little.”
“He’s fourteen hours ahead of us so I’m leaving at 8pm at night for our 10 am meeting.” She began to count on her fingers, “Less my fly time, so like 7ish.”
“I’m proud of you,” Shannon grinned, “my world traveler. Are there in flight snacks?” Shannon’s smile and upbeat tone was masking an obvious issue.
“I’ve got complete trust in Tatsumi and he vouches for Toni. It’s Dimitri that has me worried. His vibe is…wary? I don’t know anything about him other than he was ready to help at the park. That’s something, right?”
“Just be careful. Text me as it goes along. I’ll be here, herding cats at the mall.”
“Did you see Marcy light up,” Terra snickered, “and then add Karly and Kristin? That was adorable. I felt so good for Ollie.”
“You know who you should get to grill Dimitri?” Shannon asked suddenly, her eyebrow cocked, “Karly. She’d see right through anything he was trying to hide.”
“Interesting,” Terra said with a smirk, “If only we could get her folks on board…” She stopped mid-thought, “Oh dear, I just suggested a teenager…well, maybe if we just borrowed her…for a little bit?”