Born of Shadows- Complete Series

by J. R. Erickson

  Sebastian understood. The metal in Oliver's brain had connected him to someone or something.

  "But Faustine was in there too... I saw his face and this other thing—it saw Faustine's face too..." Oliver's speech slurred and a small trickle of blood seeped out of his left nostril.

  Sebastian hated to look at it. He had not realized until that moment how much he needed to believe in the witches' immortality.

  Oliver took a deep breath and then moved into a kneeling position. He pressed his forehead against the ground and began to murmur.

  "There's no time for that," Sebastian said, but only half-heartedly.

  Oliver did not speak and Sebastian realized that he was praying and, as he whispered his incantations, the color slowly returned to his skin. When he stood, he was sturdy, and the glassiness in his eyes had dissipated completely.

  "Faustine and one, maybe two, other witches have tracked us. The Vepars know it. That's why they haven't come in here. They're planning an attack."

  "How do you know all that?"

  "Whatever doorway that thing opened to get into my brain left me open to theirs too. I didn't get a lot, but I caught that."

  Sebastian walked to the hollow wall.

  "We can get through here, I'm almost sure of it."

  Oliver pressed his palms against it and nodded.

  Oliver took a deep breath and scanned the room one more time.

  "We're going to smash the wall and then you're going to run like hell. I have to get Lydie. I'll be right behind you."

  "I'll carry Lydie," Sebastian said, gesturing towards Oliver's arm.

  "Okay. Then on three," Oliver whispered. "One, two, three..."

  They both barreled into the wall with their full strength. It crumbled forward. Before them lay a long dark tunnel, dimly lit by small oil burning lamps.

  Before he could turn to grasp Lydie, the trap door flung open and a Vepar dropped onto the floor behind them.

  Oliver struggled with the ugly creature whose wide forehead and jaw reminded him of the Neanderthal pictures he had seen in anthropology classes in college. The Vepar was strong and he lifted Oliver and flung him into the wall. Then he strode across the room and knelt beside him, baring his fangs.

  Sebastian had no weapon. He moved quickly, wrapping his forearm around the Vepar's neck and pressing. The creature pushed away from Oliver and his strength nearly toppled Sebastian backwards, but he held on. In his mind, the Vepar struggled and then lost consciousness. He focused every ounce of energy he could muster into that single image. But it was no use, the creature's arms flew wildly about and one cracked Sebastian in the face, splitting his nose and lip and sending him over backwards. The Vepar's eyes grew wide at the blood and he fell upon it, lapping it from the floor and then training his eyes on Sebastian's bloody face.

  He turned to run, but before the creature could reach out and grab him, he saw Oliver rise up behind him. He held a hunk of the wall they'd smashed. He brought it down on the Vepar's head with all his might, hearing the skull crack, and the creature fell with a sickening thump onto the floor. Black blood oozed out of his greasy hair.

  "He's not dead," Oliver said, beginning to remove the menagerie of tubes and wires from Lydie's body.

  Sebastian cradled her in his arms and they ran from the room.

  They did not have time to consider the others. They would come back for them.

  ****

  Galla built a fire outside the cottage and the flames rose high, nearly licking the low branches of the trees. She called upon the spirits of her ancestors and the energies of the earth, wind, fire and water. With each gust of wind, more knowledge passed through her. She sent the growing power around her to all of her witches and she prayed that the breeze carried it swiftly.

  A small SUV pulled down the rutty trail and stopped near the house. Two witches and one human emerged from it. Galla recognized Julian, but continued casting, knowing that if she broke the spell, the energies would quickly vanish and she felt sure that Demetrius, Faustine and Max needed her assistance.

  Adora pushed open the door into the abandoned cottage. It creaked and swung in to reveal a cozy, but ramshackle space that had clearly been neglected for a long time. She saw Elda tending to Abby who looked near death, her skin as pale and iridescent as sugar.

  "Julian," Elda murmured, fighting tears, as she stood and walked into his embrace. They held each other for a long time.

  Rod went to Abby, crouching down to give her an awkward hug.

  "You're alive?" she asked incredulously.

  "Unfortunately," he teased, but she saw his heartsick expression. "And it seems you're just barely alive as well."

  She nodded and grimaced at the throbbing sensation in her belly.

  "What happened to you?" She asked touching his chin and then smoothing back his black hair.

  "Witch disguise. I told them a good ole fake mustache and spectacles would do the trick, but they love to show off."

  She smiled and winced.

  "I've missed your sense of humor. It's been so long, it feels like a thousand years."

  "I know," he agreed. "It's been ages since I've felt anything remotely normal."

  He sighed and looked around the room.

  "This is the best they could do? Witches with unlimited resources and power?"

  Abby held up a hand.

  "We're alive, right? I mean sometimes that's got to be enough."

  He nodded and sat down fully, crossing his long legs.

  Elda and the others returned. Adora began digging in her bag for tinctures as Julian laid his hand on Abby's forehead and then gently felt her hands and her feet.

  "She's healing unusually fast," he said to no one in particular. "It's amazing."

  "Yes," Elda agreed. "We discovered that this is her gift. It seems that she gets to test it again and again." The others chuckled, but their laughter was forced.

  ****

  They raced through the underground tunnel and Oliver felt them all around him—Vepars with their black souls and the stink of their rottenness. He knew that some cavern beneath them held something so powerful it could topple all of the witches of Ula with a single breath, but it was dormant. It slept and grew stronger. In front of him Sebastian slid to a stop. Oliver walked to the edge where the ground suddenly dropped away. The gap in the floor was no more than four feet, but the chasm disappeared into blackness. Sebastian pulled a rock from the floor and dropped it. They did not hear it land.

  Then they did hear something—nails scrabbling against dirt and stone. Something was crawling up from the darkness. Sebastian recoiled, but Oliver placed a firm hand on his back.

  "Go now, jump." And as Sebastian leapt, Oliver mustered the energy around him and blew, giving Sebastian an extra boost that landed him several feet beyond the other side. Oliver did not hesitate. He jumped and nearly crashed into Sebastian and Lydie.

  Neither stopped then, both knowing that whatever climbed out of that hole was not human, probably not even a Vepar exactly, but intent on reaching them before they fled the underground prison.

  The chasms appeared more frequently and every fifteen feet they again had to leap over the startling blackness. Oliver sensed that there was light ahead and ran harder, but then one of the creatures scrambled from the earth in front of them, blocking their path. It had once been human, but now bore more resemblance to Night of the Living Dead. Rotted flesh hung from the man's jowls and his teeth showed through where chunks of lips were gone. Bones stuck at weird angles through his withered t-shirt, but he moved with speed. He darted toward them and, before Sebastian could think to defend himself, the creature slammed into him and Lydie with the force of a freight train. He flew backward, smashing into Oliver. With horror, Oliver felt, not earth rising up to meet them, but emptiness as they tumbled into one of the black holes.

  Chapter 33

  Galla walked into the cottage and collapsed onto the wasted sofa. It blew a puff of black feathers into the air w
here some bird had nested in the old fabric. The others waited for her to speak.

  "Demetrius and Faustine have found the lair. It is heavy with Vepars, but it is not Vepars that makes them worry. There's something ancient inside and it seems be growing strong."

  "It is the curse," Julian said. "Somehow it's being kept there. Whatever gives it life must be in that lair."

  "What curse? What are you talking about Julian?" The lines in Elda's face seemed to grow deeper and more pronounced as she spoke.

  Julian sighed and gazed around them.

  "You have Dafne's ring?" he asked Elda.

  She looked surprised and wondered how Julian sensed it. She had forgotten about the ring.

  "Give it to Galla and let her read it. We must move quickly, but all of the pieces have not fallen into place," he said.

  "I can help," Abby said, grasping Rod as she lifted herself to sitting. Elda tried to protest, but she waved her away. "Oliver and I have been studying it too."

  Julian nodded and looked relieved.

  Elda pulled the ring from her pocket and walked it to Galla who eyed it wearily. She held out her hand and Elda pressed the small band into her palm.

  Immediately, Galla felt herself thrown back against the gaunt frame of the couch. In an instant a thousand memories and emotions coursed through her. She felt Dafne's epic love and then equally the horrors of the betrayal. She saw the woods burning and the witches writhing and screaming, but unable to escape. Tobias flickered in and out in a million shades of love and hate as Dafne's wasted body walked the cold beach. She felt the rumblings of a child inside her belly and later, the slick surge as the child burst into the world and was whisked away while Dafne turned her head and screamed into a pillow.

  When the room re-emerged before her, Thomas was at her side, his hand prying open her fingers to pull the ring away. Then he pressed his hand against her heart and she felt the beating start to slow and the tension that had pulled her body rigid gradually eased away.

  Galla told them what she saw and Elda shook her head in disbelief.

  "Tobias could not have been her lover, and a child? Dafne never had a child. She lived with us. I nursed her back to life myself. I would have sensed the being inside her. I would have..." but her voice wavered and she could not look Galla in the eye.

  "I knew something," Julian said. "I knew she had a vault of secrets inside her the very first day you and Faustine brought her to the castle. I tried to divine them. Miranda and I both did. It was like a game we played those first few days and then..." He did not talk about the night that Miranda died, but it was in his eyes.

  "It started before Dafne," Abby told them. "And I think I've been dreaming of her, the original, the creator of the curse."

  "Her? You believe it started with one woman?" Adora asked.

  "Yes, and I saw her. At All Hallow's I met another witch who has been contacted by her. His name is Victor."

  "Okay, wait," Galla interrupted. "We need this to make sense so let's start with Abby. Tell us everything you know."

  Abby began. She talked about the Asemaa and all of the information that they had gathered. She told of Sydney's secret room filled with legends and news stories and journals. She described the trip that she and Oliver took to Chicago to see Victor and how Victor told her that the Native American girl, Kanti, had been contacting him for most of his life. She came to him in dreams and sometimes he saw wisps of her on streets and in forests, but she always vanished before he could reach her. She told them of the dreams she'd had where the girl gave birth to a child.

  "There are hundreds of journals and countless boxes filled with information compiled by the Asemaa, but something has happened to the group. They started disappearing after Sydney died. I found one of them—Gwen—and she is on the run now. Somehow the Vepars discovered the Asemaa and they must have wanted their information. I think they're in the dark too."

  Is this what you have discovered, Julian?" Galla asked. She had regained her strength and paced the room near the fireplace.

  "Yes, though Abby has a direct connection that I have clearly lacked. I know that the Vepars are more active players in this. I don't know how, but this curse seems to help them. Tobias was born of it. And Dafne fears that Sebastian is next in line. All of her efforts, deceitful as they may be, were to protect her coven." He looked pointedly at Elda when he said this and she nodded her thanks.

  "Of course, we all know how the fates operate. It's like King Laius hearing the oracle's tale that his child would kill him and marry his mother. He ordered his son's death, thus creating the perfect narrative for Oedipus to fulfill the destiny that his father conspired to destroy. I fear that Dafne's scheming has brought us to the exact crux that she so wanted to thwart," Julian finished.

  "No." Abby winced as she struggled to her feet, pushing Rod away when he tried to stop her. "Sebastian will not become one of them. There is no evil in him. We have to save them because when they realize that he won't join them, they'll kill him."

  The other witches looked less convinced. Only Rod seemed to agree with her, bobbing his head up and down.

  "It is his longing for vengeance that makes him vulnerable," Galla said. "I know this from you, Abby. I feel it. I know that you believe it's true"

  Abby's face grew pale and she felt complete rage that her mind had been violated in that way. But Galla was right. Sebastian wanted to kill Tobias. No darker desire existed in the hearts of men.

  "The time has come now for action," Julian announced. "I have known this day would come. We all did, I'm sure, and for every second that passes we grow weaker while they grow strong."

  "Abby and Rod stay behind. I think we need..." Elda started.

  "No," both Abby and Rod shouted at the same time. "Don't try to control this, Elda," Abby said gently. "I won't stay here and you will put me in greater danger by not including me and Rod," she added, taking his hand.

  "Don't underestimate me," he said to Elda with a shrug. "I have nothing to live for."

  Elda looked sad, but also resigned, as none of the other witches stepped in to support her.

  ****

  "They will arrive soon," Faustine whispered to Max and Demetrius.

  They gathered together in a thicket of pine trees, half a mile from the Vepar's lair.

  "Galla has asked that we wait for them."

  "To give the Vepars more time to prepare? More time to kill Lydie and Oliver?" Max looked aghast.

  "I agree with Max," Demetrius said. "Your connection with Galla is strong right now. If we go in, we will give her and the others an advantage. If we wait, everyone is in the dark."

  Faustine pressed his palms together and stared up at the sky. He felt genuinely conflicted. There were too many lives hanging in the balance to make a mistake.

  "Okay, we will go in first," he told them. "But not all at once. First, I will go and then, Demetrius, you follow after five minutes and, Max, you come five minutes after that."

  ****

  "No," Galla shouted in the back seat.

  "What is it?" Abby asked, twisting around to face her.

  "They're going in without us."

  Elda grabbed her hand and held it tightly. The two elder witches huddled together. It frightened Abby to see them so shaken. Rod kept his eyes focused on the road and Abby appreciated his presence in the car. Unlike the witches, he seemed to be completely unafraid of what lay ahead.

  ****

  Faustine did not enter the cellar door that Oliver had gone through. In the hours since their arrival, he, Demetrius and Max had scoured the woods and surrounding area searching for another way in. They had discovered a deserted farm with an old well, crumbling at the edge of the property only a mile south. When Faustine hovered near the top, he became convinced that it would lead them to the intricate underground tunnels that the Vepars called home.

  "I'm not confident about this pulley system," Demetrius said, giving the old rope a tug. The rusted contraption looked ready
to crumble.

  "I believe that I can float down. However, I will take the rope just in case. Let's tie it off over there." Faustine pointed to an old tractor. The seat and wheels were corroded, but the frame looked heavy enough to hold him.

  They tied it off quickly and Faustine prepared to go in.

  "Are you comfortable with levitation, Demetrius?"

  "Of course."

  "Okay, then. We will levitate ourselves and we will not waste energy on each other. Once I am in the tunnel, I will move forward and send images back to you both. It is possible that our connection will be weak once we are underground."

  They all agreed.

  Faustine climbed over the edge of the stone well and several rocks displaced and tumbled away. He began to chant and soon his body floated just above the opening. As he dropped into the tunnel, he held the slack rope knowing that if he lost his connection, the rope might not hold him. As he floated down, he noticed claw marks scratched into the rock wall. He pressed his fingers against a deep gash. The contact jolted him and he lost his concentration. His body began to plummet and then suddenly he steadied. Max had floated him a rush of upward moving energy.

  "Thank you," he called up. "Don't touch the walls," he added, knowing that Max and Demetrius would have also felt the shock.

  Faustine refocused and Max eased his control. Almost fifty feet down, Faustine saw a half moon opening, large enough to fit a man, cut into the bedrock. He planted his feet on the edge and stepped forward, scanning the passageway before him. Demetrius and Max sent him silent confirmation that they would follow.

  The passageway had been blown out and then meticulously formed. The earthen path was smooth and damp. Faustine began to rapidly descend less than twenty feet into the tunnel. Soon the slope turned into rudimentary stairs carved into the floor. Oil lamps hung from metal stakes driven into the wall. Despite the lamps, he walked through pockets of darkness. He perked his ears for any strange sounds, but heard nothing. He sensed that Demetrius had entered the well.