Born of Shadows- Complete Series

by J. R. Erickson

  Stepping onto the porch, he dropped to his knees, inviting the beast within to emerge. Unlike the other Vepars, Clyde relished the sensation of becoming a skin-walker. The delicious stretching as his skin extended and burst, wings erupted from his back. He was in the air before the transformation had finished, flying over the lake, dropping low and feeling the splash of the turbulent water as it rolled beneath him.

  Chapter 13

  "Lydiebug?" Oliver stuck his head in Lydie's yurt.

  He caught a glimpse of her splotchy face before she rolled away from him. She hiccuped a sob, trying to muffle her cries in the blankets. Oliver sat on the edge of her bed and touched her shoulder.

  "I'm sorry I ran off last night, Lydie. I shouldn't have..."

  "That's..." Lydie started and then broke off on another long sob. "That's not why I'm crying," she continued.

  "Will you look at me, Lyds? Come one." He gently pulled her toward him and after a moment, she stopped resisting and allowed him to draw her back.

  "I'm sorry, Oliver. I...I..." but her words were lost in a whimper. Tears streamed down her red face and she used her sleeve to wipe her running nose.

  "What is it, Lydie?" he asked, understanding that her cries surpassed her sorrow for Ezra, a witch she barely knew.

  Lydie closed her eyes and shook her head as if she couldn't bear to say what was on her mind.

  He waited, holding her hand and wishing he could read her mind.

  After several minutes, she spoke.

  "In the cave yesterday," she paused.

  "When you passed out?" he asked.

  Lydie nodded.

  "I followed something in. I thought it was a fish."

  "It wasn't a fish?"

  Lydie nodded again. She pushed the covers off and sat up, reaching for a notebook on her bedside table. Handing him the notebook, she scooted away, pulling her knees into her chest.

  "I saw a dead person. After I woke up, I was sure I imagined it, but now I think... No, I know it was..." she didn't speak her name, but Oliver read the truth in her face. Lydie saw Ezra in the cave.

  He looked down at the drawing in the notebook. Lydie had perfectly depicted the cave, shading the shadows and crevices. Looking up at him from the center of the drawing were Ezra's eyes. The picture only vaguely resembled the witch, the short hair and tattoos were there, but her face was distorted by death - still he could not deny the eyes.

  "I didn't say anything," Lydie continued. "If I had said something..." her voice cracked and a fresh wave of tears poured down her cheeks.

  Oliver shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat, and setting the drawing aside.

  "No, Lydie. No. Don't you dare take the blame. By the time we were in that cave, it was too late. That's probably why she appeared. There's nothing you could have done. Okay? Please, Lydie. For my sake, don't blame yourself, not even for a second."

  Lydie blew her nose into her blanket.

  "You're not mad at me?" she asked.

  Oliver stared at her, incredulous.

  "Lydie you're my family. I'm so grateful you were with me when I heard what happened to Ezra. I could never be mad at you."

  He pulled Lydie into a hug and she released a sigh into his shoulder, pressing her wet face into his shirt.

  ****

  "She won't talk to you. It's best if you ask me your questions and I speak with her myself," Binda told Julian. She held a large opal in her hand and meticulously cleaned the glistening stone.

  Julian sighed. He didn't have time to risk upsetting Meghan, but he wanted to speak with her directly. If she outright refused, he'd come up with an alternative plan.

  "I need to talk to her. There are questions that might only arise when I'm in her presence and I can't risk missing that guidance."

  Binda narrowed her eyes at the stone, but said nothing. After a minute of silence, she nodded.

  "Fine. I will meet you in one hour by the waterfall."

  An hour later, Julian followed Binda into the forest. Oliver had wanted to join him, but Binda nearly refused to take either of them if that were the case. Julian sensed that Binda's upset lay in her fear of losing Meghan once and for all. Perhaps bringing another witch to the pond to question her would set her off and she'd retreat into the dream wood forever.

  They wound through the trees and Julian marveled that Binda ever stumbled upon the pond in the first place. She held out an arm and Julian stopped. Over her shoulder, he saw the dark still pond. Binda moved to the edge and leaned toward the surface.

  "Meghan?" she called. Her voice grew softer and more feminine. It was an interesting transformation to observe. The water lay still and silent.

  Binda touched her fingers to the surface.

  "Meghan, it's Binda," she tried again.

  Julian stepped closer to the water, watching the dark pool for any movement.

  "We've come to talk about Clyde," he yelled. "Unless you don't care to know what he's up to."

  Binda pulled back from the water and gave him a venomous glare. She appeared ready to chastise him, but then stopped. The water undulated. In the center of the pond, Julian watched a woman's face materialize beneath the surface. Her black hair fanned out and created an unnerving Medusa-like spectacle.

  The water opened and a horrible shriek of grief and anger exploded.

  "You have my Clyde," the witch howled.

  Binda fell to her knees sobbing. Julian stepped closer to the water.

  "Answer my questions, Meghan. And I'll tell you everything I know."

  The water thrashed soaking Julian and Binda. He wiped it away from his face, wrinkling his nose at the foul smell. The water was hot and likely teeming with bacteria.

  When the pond calmed, she spoke again. "Why would I help you? You brought me a fake amulet and intentionally deceived me."

  Julian fought the urge to remind her that it was she who created the dream wood that lured innocent hybrids into an eternity of doom and eventual death. He had not forgotten about the old man who died at the Sky Mothers after fifty years trapped in a hell of her creation, but he bit his tongue.

  "We had no other option. You were holding Sebastian against his will. Another witch stole the original amulet. I didn't realize it was a fake when I returned to America to retrieve it."

  "You stole them both. You stole all my sons."

  Binda wiped her face and stood away from the pond as if she couldn't bear to witness her beloved in such agony.

  "They were not your sons!" Julian exclaimed, growing irritated with the charade. Either Meghan was supremely manipulative, or she truly had gone insane. "They were Sebastian and Liam, two innocent men that you trapped in your sick little world. And I've had about enough of your games, Meghan. You might be the ruler down there, but up here, you're a voice in a pond. So, here's your last chance. Answer my questions and I'll answer yours or stay down there and rot. At this point, I don't care."

  Binda watched him, shocked. He doubted that Binda had ever spoken a stern word to the witch beneath the water.

  The water lay perfectly calm. Meghan stared at him with menacing red eyes.

  "Ask me," she said finally.

  Julian kneeled on the forest floor.

  "How did Clyde escape?"

  "I need assurances," Meghan interrupted, her eyes darting toward Binda. "What does he have, Binda? What can you take to secure his promises?"

  Binda started to speak, but Julian silenced her with a look.

  "We're not negotiating," he said, sharply. "You've been given your choice. Take it or leave it."

  Julian braced himself for another outburst, but the water remained still. Her eyes, on the other hand, were lit with a rage that Julian would not soon forget.

  "My son tricked me," she hissed. "He cried and begged me to stay with him in the dream wood. But he had been manipulating my magic. I never created the dark layer. It was meant to mimic the rest of the dream wood, but offer an additional layer of protection to prevent him from runnin
g away. In his attempts to change the magic, he poisoned it. The world died. I entered not knowing what he had created. He lured me in and then he vanished."

  "He wasn't a witch. Correct? How did he perform magic?"

  "He learned magic. He learned to steal it from others, to channel it into objects that he drew power from."

  "I see. And you're not sure how he escaped from the dream wood?"

  "I have my suspicious," she said.

  "Such as?"

  "Clyde and I fled to Australia through a portal in space. A stone in the forest. I believe he brought it into the dream wood and concealed it. Then he begged me to come into the deepest layer. I was astonished at what had happened. Why were the trees dead? The earth stank of decay. I did not even see him slip away. He was there and then he was gone."

  "Oh Meghan," Binda groaned, reaching toward the water.

  "Why didn't you use the portal as well?"

  Meghan laughed a mean, derisive sound.

  "Don't you think I would have? I did not know the portal was here! I still haven't found it! It is a conclusion I have come to after centuries of contemplation."

  "I see." Julian thought about the room that Liam discovered in the area he called the Forest of Purgatory. A space that was undetectable by Meghan and her magic. Could Clyde have hidden it there?

  "When Clyde returned to America, he started performing dark magic to become immortal," Julian told her. "We know he had an amulet and a dagger, but according to the book he studied, he had to create three objects that would siphon power from others while also containing a part of his and their souls. Do you know what that other item might be?"

  "Immortal," Meghan muttered. "He's trapped me here to steal my energy for eternity? No, no, not my son, my troubled boy. For three days I labored with my youngest son. Oh, how he cried and struggled to grow, that yellow skin and those dark, sad eyes. Eugene was big and strong and strapping, but Clyde was sickly. It wasn't fair! Can't you see that it was not his fault?"

  She started to mumble and drift beneath the pond's surface.

  "Meghan," Julian said and when she didn't respond, he yelled. "Meghan!"

  She stopped shifting and turned her red eyes back on him.

  "Did he steal something from you, Meghan? Something that he could use to contain your magic?"

  "Clyde?" she murmured. "Hundreds of years, centuries ago this all happened. I don't know," she screamed and Julian clamped his hands over his ears as the sound reverberated through the forest, shaking his eardrums.

  "I'm so tired," she muttered, again shifting beneath the water. "I'm ready to pass on. Isn't it time? Why am I still here? Binda, you have to help me! You have to end this for me."

  Binda crawled to the water's edge.

  "Oh Meghan, if only I could. I would die with you in an instant."

  "Help us put an end to this," Julian told her urgently, moving closer to the water. "If you're ready to pass on, you'll be able to. You can end this eternal life on your terms."

  "Yes," she screamed, and the sound echoed. Birds fled from the branches of trees raining leaves onto the pond's surface.

  "Think back to the day he disappeared. What was your last experience with Clyde? Did he take something from you?" Julian asked, not having a clue what sort of item Clyde used to steal a piece of Meghan's power. He did it though - of that much Julian was sure. He stole her magic, and he locked her in the world that she had built for him. A world she created to protect him. A world she created out of love.

  Suddenly Meghan disappeared.

  "What happened?" Julian demanded, turning to Binda. "Did she leave?"

  Binda peered into the dark water, her face expectant.

  Several minutes passed and suddenly ripples broke the placid water.

  "I had a ring," she said. "It was a special ring given to me by the witch who first discovered my magic. The ring contained a pearl that could sense my enemies. If an enemy was near, the ring turned black. I never took it off, but when we arrived here in Australia it was gone from my hand. I believed the energy of the portal pulled it off or perhaps it was the price I had to pay for our escape...."

  "Describe it?" Julian asked.

  Meghan shook her head back and forth as if struggling to recall it.

  "It was a large opal set in a silver band. You'd never suspect it was magic unless it revealed itself to you."

  "Okay that's good, great even. Meghan tell me about the portal. What did it look like?"

  Meghan sighed and paced beneath the water.

  "It's not extraordinary, a stone the size of a mango. Its color is the ocean on a stormy day. But there is a light. You can see it, feel it, if you encounter this stone, you stay away from it. But it conceals itself well. Burrowed deep in the mud, waiting to change someone's life forever." Meghan started to mumble under her breath. Julian strained forward to hear her then thought better of it and backed up.

  "You found this stone in Michigan? How did you come to know its power?"

  "I prayed to the four elements the night that my beloved Eugene left this world. I prayed that Clyde would be granted mercy. Please, I called to the Goddess, let me keep one child. When I opened my eyes, the stone seemed to glow from the forest floor. I brushed away the ferns surrounding it and knew my prayers had been answered. I raced home and packed a bag. I waited until Clyde arrived early the next morning. We ran back to the stone. When we touched it, the world vanished around us. We stepped into a northern Michigan forest and stepped out in the outback of Australia."

  Julian frowned, considering her story. He obviously knew that portals existed. The bewitched mirrors of All Hallow's Balls were proof enough. Still - to discover one in nature seemed cause for contemplation.

  "Binda, go find Liam and ask him if he saw a strange stone in Clyde's cave room in the dream wood."

  Binda scowled at him and started to speak, but then she glanced at Meghan's face in the water and stood abruptly.

  ****

  Dante, Marcus and Kendra sat at Abby's kitchen table. None of them spoke. Kendra picked at a silver bracelet encircling her right wrist. Marcus, red eyed, leaned his chin on his folded hands and stared out the window. Only Dante appeared alert, but also at a loss for words.

  Sebastian stood at the counter, meticulously slicing garlic into paper thin squares. Abby carried the coffee pot to the table, but stopped when she realized everyone's cups were full.

  They had arrived at Abby and Sebastian's home in angry tears. At their insistence, Abby and Sebastian took them to the abandoned warehouse and afterwords to the Ebony Woods. It was a somber experience standing in those woods where only weeks earlier they nearly died. They all came out alive that night, this time one of them had not.

  Kendra cried openly, falling on the forest floor where Ezra's body had been discovered. Dante tried to console her and Marcus ran to the bushes to vomit. Abby sought Sebastian for comfort, but he had been rigid and silent. When she tried to find his eyes, he refused to look at her. He stared into the cloudy sky or deep into the woods. He seemed to be searching for anything to fix on to avoid making eye contact with her. She thought she understood. Discovering Ezra likely brought back memories of Claire's death.

  When they returned to the house, Sebastian insisted on cooking though Abby doubted anyone would eat. She heard Helena singing to Vidya in the next room and wished she could grab her baby and crawl into bed. Snuggled beneath the covers, she might be able to pretend that Ezra still lived.

  Faustine and Elda walked in from the hallway mirror.

  Elda went to the table and leaned down, wrapping her arms around Kendra and whispering into her ear. She repeated the action with Dante and Marcus. Abby noticed a settling of the surrounding air. A peaceful lull descended over the table.

  "I know this is difficult to speak of right now," Elda said, sitting down. "But did Ezra leave final wishes? Did she have a desire for burial or..."

  "Cremation," Dante said. "She was always very clear about that."


  "With her ashes scattered in the..." Kendra's voice broke, but she managed to go on. "In the community garden."

  Faustine paused next to Sebastian, but Sebastian pointedly ignored him. Abby wasn't surprised, but wished he'd make a little effort. It only caused more strain when he became so moody.

  "If you would like, I can take care of that for you," Faustine told them. "Or if you prefer, we can bewitch a coffin of sorts for you to transport her back to Chicago?"

  His cool, slightly accented voice, sounded far too clipped and short for asking such questions. Abby prickled at the insensitivity coming from Faustine and Sebastian. Before she spoke in anger, she left the room, peeking in to see Vidya asleep in Helena's arms. She walked out the door, leaving the porch and following the beach. The lake reflected the gray sky.

  The curse was winning. Clyde was winning. As she moved briskly through the humid day that foretold of rain, her body grew cumbersome. As if her skin, weighted with water, had begun to sag and get heavy. She turned and waded into the lake.

  The cold bit her ankles, knees and then thighs. It rose up her hips, along her ribs and finally devoured her as she dove beneath the surface. Her shorts and t-shirts fanned in the water, weighted, but barely noticeable as she drove forward. The rain arrived in a rush. When she surfaced, it fell in huge fat drops. Abby rolled onto her back and opened her mouth. The lake and the rain electrified her. It erased her lethargy and made every thought crystal clear.

  Abby had to be the one. As she paddled backwards, watching her legs kick sprays of water to meet the rain, she understood that was her destiny. Before Vidya, she did not have the courage. But now that had all changed. The curse had to end with those who started it. Abby descended from that original pair, but she needed Kanti's help and the time for playing it safe was over.