Born of Shadows- Complete Series

by J. R. Erickson

  Sebastian turned to Claire. She too watched the woman and Sebastian saw fear on her face.

  "Best to keep walking," Claire whispered.

  They turned back to toward the cliff and Sebastian glanced behind him several times, but as they drew farther away from the pond, he could no longer distinguish the woman from the water.

  "What was that?" Sebastian asked.

  "I don't know," Claire admitted. "Something not good, I can tell you that."

  When they reached the base of the cliff, Sebastian looked up. The rock wall was nearly flat with bits of vine snaking down the surface, though clearly not strong enough to hold him.

  "How do we get up?"

  "Your world," she grinned. "Climb, scale a tree and leap over. If it were me, I'd fly."

  "Fly?"

  Before Claire could answer, Sebastian took a running start and leaped into the air. He expected to flail and land back on the ground with a thud. Instead, he zoomed upward as if he wore a jetpack strapped to his back. He flew up and beyond the cliff. As he rose higher he saw the bridge, and he thought, beyond the bridge, he saw Hannah with several other witches. But already they grew tiny as he drove his body toward the sky.

  ****

  Abby nodded off against a tree.

  Kanti ran through tunnels lit with crude torches. Her bare feet, raw from scraping against rocks, bled openly. She spun and stared into the darkness behind her, hearing the beast that pursued her. He had turned into something inhuman, a monster with wings and fangs and grossly sharp fingernails. He would eat her. She would die before the baby could be born. She murmured and cried and tried to be silent, but fear made her call out to her mother, her father, her tribe. After a seeming eternity, she burst from the underground prison onto a grassy cliff. She ran to the edge and paused for only an instant at the dizzying drop to the choppy waters below. She jumped.

  "Sebastian!"

  Abby heard someone call his name and her eyes snapped open. She did not know who uttered it, but there he was.

  Sebastian walked across the bridge and when he saw Abby, he broke into a run. He kneeled at her side and gathered her into his arms.

  "Are you okay? Have you been hurt?"

  "No, no," she shook her head, still groggy and disturbed from her dream.

  "You made it out," she told him. Relieved, she buried her hands in his hair and kissed him.

  Beyond him, she saw Hannah continuing to watch the bridge as if she expected her lost love to come trailing out as well. No one arrived.

  Sebastian helped Abby to her feet.

  "What happened in there?" Julian asked before Abby had a chance to voice the very same question.

  Sebastian widened his eyes and looked back at the bridge, but mostly to the woods beyond.

  "I don't even know how to describe it."

  "Perhaps we should return to the compound before we hear Sebastian's story," Matilda interrupted. "I'm sure everyone is hungry, and tired too." She winked at Abby who leaned heavily against Sebastian.

  She pressed her hands into his back, clutching him, and thanking the divine for his safe return from the dream wood.

  "Sebastian?" Hannah asked, her voice small.

  Sebastian sighed and shook his head.

  "I'm sorry, Hannah. I didn't see him, but I think Matilda is right. Let's go sit and we can talk about this. I have a plan."

  ****

  They sat in the wind tunnel. Grace brought platters of fresh fruit and pitchers of tea.

  Sebastian described his experience in the dream wood, leaving out a few critical pieces: Claire and the vision of the amulet.

  "You could choose the world?" Oliver asked, popping a strawberry into his mouth and immediately reaching for a handful of nuts.

  Sebastian nodded.

  "The worlds appeared before me, just for an instant, and then disappeared. I chose in my mind and that world stayed."

  "Was this a place you've been before?" Julian asked. "This old, crumbling city?"

  "No, and honestly, I don't think it's a place that exists in the natural world. There was a river running through the buildings. The light was different."

  Matilda nodded.

  "We have heard many stories of the worlds within the dream wood."

  "Liam went there," Hannah told them. "He described a cathedral filled with saints. Their eyes were bleeding."

  Sebastian frowned.

  "I was in the cathedral and saw statues of saints, but their eyes weren't bleeding."

  "How did you get out?" Abby asked. She had other questions and she also sensed that Sebastian was holding back. She thought he would confide the rest to her later.

  "I just walked out. I came back the same way that I went in. I didn't have any trouble."

  A shadow passed over Hannah's face.

  "So what is this plan that you were talking about?" Julian asked.

  Sebastian looked at Abby, reassuring her with his gaze and then kissed the tip of her nose.

  "I saw something as I was leaving, someone in fact. She was in the water, watching me."

  "Another hybrid?" Abby asked.

  "I don't think so. She didn't seem of this world, for lack of a better explanation. There is a place in the dream wood where I can look into the past. I think that I need to take something of Liam's with me and I'll ask to a see a vision of his final moments. The weird thing is, I feel sure this woman in the water knew him."

  "You;re sure it was a woman?" Abby asked, blushing at the edge in her voice.

  "Yeah, at least her head looked like a woman, I don't know what was beneath the water."

  "That place sounds more like a horror movie than a dream," Oliver joined. "A dead forest and an old cathedral full of stone saints? No thanks."

  Helena smiled and patted Oliver's knee.

  "This from a Vepar hunter," she teased.

  "Vepars, I can handle, water monsters, not so much."

  "I didn't hear an actual plan," Julian interrupted. It's all fine if you see what happened to Liam, even if you talk to this water creature, but then what? What if she took him? Killed him?"

  Hannah gasped across the table and Matilda put a hand on her arm to stop her from disrupting the conversation.

  "I will check the vision first. If he's dead..." He looked apologetically at Hannah. "I'll leave, end of story."

  "And if not?" Julian asked. "If you see that this water creature abducted Liam?"

  Sebastian shrugged and broke eye contact.

  "Then I'll follow my intuition, Julian. You have been teaching me, after all. What's the purpose of all the training, if it's never tested?"

  ****

  Sebastian lit the torches outside of the yurt. He and Abby walked to the cliffs at the edge of the ocean and the fires lit the forest behind them. Sebastian laid out a blanket and they sat for a while in silence.

  "I saw into the future, Abby."

  She studied his profile as he stared at the horizon.

  "What did you see?"

  He frowned and shook his head.

  "Something goes wrong with the amulet."

  "The ax won't destroy it?"

  "No, at least not in my vision. But maybe it's false. Maybe it wasn't the future and instead my worst fears reflected back to me."

  "You want to go back," Abby said after several minutes.

  "Yes," Sebastian admitted. "But not because I'm intoxicated by the dream wood. I liked it, don't get me wrong, I've never experienced anything similar, but I believe that Hannah is right, Liam is trapped there and I want to try and find him."

  "Do you always have to be the hero, Sebastian?"

  Sebastian stiffened, and Abby almost apologized, but couldn't bring herself to deny the feelings. It scared her that Sebastian intended to return. It also made her angry. What about their baby? What happened if he disappeared in the dream wood too?

  "I have to try, Abby. I didn't want to say it in front of the others, but Claire was there, she was helping me."

  Abby s
tudied his face. It always came back to Claire.

  "How was she there? In your mind? As a spirit?"

  "In her body. Solid, real. I hugged her. She walked with me. She talked about life after death."

  Abby started to chew on her thumbnail and stopped. It was an old Abby behavior, chewing her nails when she got anxious. She closed her eyes for a moment and let her thoughts, and more importantly, her feelings slide away. She felt the soft breeze as it rushed from the ocean. She heard it travel over the grass and rustle the ferns and leaves in the forest. She tuned in to the huge body of energy that surrounded her. As all her fear and anxiety ebbed away, she allowed the thought of Claire to return. She imagined the pictures of Sebastian's sister and felt into that space. Only warmth greeted her. No ominous premonitions rose up at the image of Sebastian's beloved Claire. Perhaps she really could help him.

  "Okay," Abby conceded, trying to sound convincing.

  Sebastian sighed and looked out at the ocean.

  "I really needed you to say that right now. A part of me thought you might not believe me, or think I'd gone nuts."

  Abby laughed and leaned against him.

  "There's an ancient evil spirit haunting us. I can hardly doubt that your sister has found a way to come back and help us."

  "Yes, us. I wish I could take you in there to meet her."

  "Me too," Abby said.

  She watched the water crash against the cliffs far below and shuddered, remembering her dream of Kanti. Like Kanti in the vision, Abby was pregnant. Could she jump to save her child? Herself?

  Chapter 8

  Sebastian returned to the dream wood the following morning. He held a hemp belt that belonged to Liam. He tied it around his own waist as he crossed the bridge. He had also brought a knife from Matilda. It sliced through stone and metal. Julian had sent him with a compass, goggles, a snorkel and handful of protective stones.

  He stepped off the bridge and looked directly at the tree where Claire had greeted him the day before. It stood empty, and he felt his excitement shrivel and die.

  "What's in there?" a voice whispered in his ear.

  He spun around to find Claire standing behind him, also looking critically at the tree branch. "A rare Australian vampire bat?"

  He grabbed her in a hug.

  She laughed and hugged him back, before tickling his sides.

  "Hey," he laughed. "Mom said no tickling."

  Claire bent over laughing.

  "Dad hated that! He asked how he was going to punish us if there was no tickling."

  "She said to use a belt like her father did," Sebastian guffawed. "As if, do you remember her dad? He probably weighed ninety pounds soaking wet."

  "Grandpa Hershey," Claire grinned.

  They had called their mom's father Grandpa Hershey because he always had a pocket of Hershey kisses he would give them in exchange for hugs.

  Sebastian continued laughing, but as he watched Claire, the humor started to drain out of him and a horrible sense of loss drifted at the corner of his thoughts. What happened after he found Liam? He left Claire again, forever?

  She grabbed his hand.

  "I'm with you all the time big brother. I know it's different here. You get to see me, but I'm out there too. I'm at your house in Michigan. I'm at Ula. I'm everywhere."

  He took a deep breath and nodded.

  "A part of me believes that and another part can't forget what it feels like not to talk to you every day. I was so excited to come back here today and see you."

  "I know," she said. "Me too, but even in this space, my time is limited, Sebastian. I won't be hanging around here after you're gone."

  "Where will you go?"

  "Everywhere, silly. Now tell me what you have in that bag."

  Sebastian lifted the rucksack that Matilda had given him.

  "A knife, a compass, some swim gear and stones."

  "So, this is a regular adventure we're on?"

  "I'm looking for a man named Liam. Know him?"

  "I showed up here when you did."

  "Is that a no?"

  Claire smiled and looked far away.

  "That's a no," she said.

  "I want to go to the place that lets me see the past."

  "Choose your world," Claire reminded him.

  "If I choose a different world, will I still be able to see the past?"

  "Yes, visions of the past and the future are available in all the worlds."

  Sebastian looked beyond the cliff into the forest. The worlds began to shift in and out of focus. As a vision of a copper city suspended in clouds passed before him, he nodded and the world fell into place.

  "Good one," Claire agreed.

  Sebastian looked at the turrets and structures capped with mushroom shaped copper roofs. Bridges stretched between the structures and Sebastian could not see the ground. Clouds drifted through open windows.

  "A floor of marshmallows." Claire grinned.

  "Where is the ground?"

  Claire looked over the edge of the cliff they stood on.

  "What ground?"

  Sebastian too leaned over the side, and the dizzying emptiness nearly made him lose his balance. He stepped back from the ledge. There had been nothing. Only miles of empty blue sky with bits of white cloud scattered throughout.

  "I can fly," he said out loud. "I'm not going to fall because I can fly."

  "Sure can," Claire said.

  But instead, they walked.

  ****

  Abby wandered the woods, aimlessly. An hour had passed since Sebastian entered the dream wood. Nerves prevented her from any kind of deep thought. Each time, she found herself contemplating the curse, Kanti or even the upcoming baby. Then she thought about Sebastian, which quickly segued into the fear that he might never come out of the dream wood. That thought caused every muscle in her body to grow tight. In response, the baby rolled and shifted in her womb. The movement made Abby feel nauseous and crampy.

  "If you're going to spend the day nervously combing the forest, let's at least be comfortable," Oliver said, surprising her.

  "You didn't have to come out here," she told him.

  She had assured the other witches that morning that she didn't mind waiting for Sebastian alone.

  "Don't be silly," Helena trilled, emerging from the trees. "What kind of midwife would I be if I left my only patient alone in the woods. And we've brought refreshments."

  "Among other things," Oliver added.

  He took a square of folded white nylon from a bag slung over his shoulder. He threw the nylon into the air and it popped apart, expanding into a huge canopy. From his bag he also removed several bundles of what looked like sticks, but again when he threw them, they transformed into three reclining wood chairs and a small table.

  Helena produced her own bag and Abby watched, amazed, as she removed a pitcher of iced tea, four glasses, a container filled with sandwiches, a plate of fruit, and several books.

  "Where were those magic bags when I was packing for this trip?" Abby asked, thinking about her unwieldy luggage that Sebastian had wrestled out of the trunk of their car.

  "These are Sky Mothers' bags. We have a few at Ula too, but every now and then they eject all of their contents so we don't use them much," Helena admitted.

  "Books?" Abby asked, touching one of the titles.

  "Reading material provided by Julian," Oliver laughed. "He's not one to waste time."

  "What if Sebastian doesn't come out?" Abby asked, voicing the fear playing in her mind.

  "He will," Helena assured her, passing her a sandwich. "I read the tea leaves this morning. No foul omens in any of my twelve cups."

  "Twelve?" Abby asked.

  "Yes, overkill perhaps, but I wanted to be sure and if you haven't tried Grace's cocoa peppermint tea, you simply must!"

  "I'm with Helena on this one," Oliver agreed. "No sense of ill tidings whatsoever."

  Abby wished she felt as confident. It was hard to distinguish a sense of an
ything with her entire body wound like a rubber band. She had tried meditating as she walked, but found clearing her mind nearly impossible.

  "We've got a visitor," Oliver commented.

  Abby twisted in her chair and saw a small bird with bright blue feathers on his back and a plume of copper on his chest approaching them on the ground. Another landed behind it. The original bird hopped beneath the canopy of the tent and stopped next to Abby's chair. Several more birds landed. Each of them tentatively made their way to Abby. The first flew up and landed on the table near her elbow.

  "Oh my," Helena whispered.

  "Abby-the bird whisperer," Oliver said.

  Abby held out her hand and the bird on the table plucked at her fingers. It ruffled its feathers and then settled into its wings and closed its eyes.

  Another of the birds jumped on the table. A third flew into Abby's lap.

  "Oh," she gasped as one of them flew up and landed on her shoulder.

  "This is amazing," Helena said. "They're drawn to you."

  "So were the crows," Oliver murmured.

  Abby saw the sorrow in Oliver's eyes. Helena looked similarly distressed at the memory. The night when the crows had protected her against Kanti-except Kanti was in Dafne's body and Dafne had died.

  "I believe they're attracted to the baby," Abby admitted, gently running her fingers along the smooth feathers of one of the birds.

  "She will be strong," Helena said. "If she already commands the birds, then she is a force of nature."

  ****

  "What's this room made of?" Sebastian asked, staring at an enormous gold and black coffin. It sat in a room comprised of glistening white crystalline walls.

  "Salt," Claire said touching the wall and licking her finger.

  Sebastian did the same. Sure enough, he tasted salt.

  "Please tell me I don't have to get in that thing," Sebastian muttered.