Deliverance

by Véronique Launier

  I point to the house we are watching. The same large mansion we’d gone to for the party. I had followed Leyli’s essence here. It was easy, now that my own essence is back. I give another thought to the necklace. Who had done that?

  “First the birds,” I say. “Then, the spell.”

  She hums louder and louder until she is chanting. This time the essence isn’t tangible like when I had asked her to practice. This is a different way of summoning, a way I don’t understand. But I don’t have to wait long to see the effects. Clouds of birds fly towards us. They circle around us for a little while, and then start attacking the building. There are thousands of them diving from the sky. I want to stand and watch them but we don’t have time.

  “Okay, you need to really concentrate on the words I read out. Okay?”

  She nods.

  “And concentrate on me.”

  “Yes, hurry,” she says nervously.

  I read the words. They make little sense, but they aren’t supposed to. They are more like a mathematical formula. Patterns that channel the magic of nature to do what we need it to do. To shift the very air around me to make me nearly invisible. Between the bird distraction and my camouflage I should be able to rescue Aude and Leyli.

  At first nothing happens. Birds are still flying towards the house, but nothing else. I’m going to miss the opportunity. I recite the words again, this time lending them a thread of my own essence to somehow try and mingle with hers. I don’t know if it helped or it just takes a while for the magic to happen, but I feel something different now. I look at my arms and legs but I can see myself perfectly clearly.

  She stops the humming and I stop chanting. I will have to go without camouflage. We’re out of time.

  “Hurry up! I don’t know how long it will hold,” she says.

  “But it didn’t work.”

  “Of course it worked. I can barely see you. You are blurry, somehow. Now hurry up.”

  I run towards the house. People have gathered on the street to watch the spectacle. Good. They’ll add to the diversion.

  I start by climbing over the garden wall, and follow the string of essence I had latched to Leyli as soon as I’d figured out where she was. I don’t have to look far. There is chaos in the gardens. Several young women stand together while birds fly around them. One girl throws her hands in the air a group of them falls from the sky.

  I shudder.

  Crouched against the garden wall, I sidestep slowly, not wanting to move too much and be spotted. I see Leyli but Aude isn’t with her. My heart hurts at seeing my best friend and doing nothing for her but I have to get Aude first; she’s the target. I spot her fairly easily thanks to the bright red strips in her hair. I continue my ninja walk in her direction.

  When another group of birds fall from the sky, I use the confusion to grab her. She doesn’t fight me but instead lets me take her to the wall. Her eyes are empty like a dead animal’s. There is something wrong with her essence. She’s hardly responsive. I need to get her out as fast as possible. I look to Leyli and send an essence feeler her way. She’s better than Aude. Her type of essence doesn’t come from inside, so she’s not affected as badly. They can’t drain her like they can Aude.

  I hesitate for a moment more, but I know I have to leave her behind. I can’t get Aude to climb the wall in her state and I certainly can’t carry her over. I could levitate her but the amount of essence that would take would draw way too much attention. The entrance is about ten feet away and I know I just have to risk it. I pull Aude towards the entrance and she follows me without hurry. She almost falls a few times when I try to move too fast.

  When we’re finally at the door, it won’t open. I push my weight against it a few times, but I have to use my essence to open it. The moment I unleash my power, a shrill noise sounds in my head. I set off some sort of alarm. I look back and see dozens of sets of eyes on me.

  I push the door open with all my might and shove Aude outside. I start to pull her across the street but something freezes us. As if the air is too thick to keep moving. With every step I try to take, the air feels thicker and I seem weaker.

  I can counter this. These are just annoying tricks to someone with my experience. I close my eyes and search within myself. I see the holes. The places where I’m weak. The places they’ve latched on to. I concentrate on them and let my essence unwind and fill these holes. I block them. But the air is still thick. I still can’t force us through.

  And they’re coming closer. I try to shield us and raise my arms over my head. Just then, the ground starts trembling. I know I didn’t do it. And from the reaction of those chasing me, they didn’t either. This is Kateri’s magic. She’s given me a window and I grab it. I run towards her, dragging Aude with me, and we rush into Garnier’s rental car, slamming the doors and stepping on the gas.

  We are free for now. I have found success. But for what? So that I can give everything up to Aude? I didn’t even rescue Leyli.

  The garden’s peacefulness contrasted starkly with the beating in my heart. I didn’t want to do this. She had convinced me it was the right thing, but I didn’t want to do the right thing. I passed by the peaceful fountain and watched the water cascade as essence would.

  How could she not want to live forever? How could I not take it personally? She had refused the chance to be with me forever.

  She stood in the same spot she had been in when she told me the news. This time, she wasn’t alone. Guillaume held Aude close to him and whispered in her ear. Pareen stood near them, still dauntingly beautiful. How could this creature cease to exist because of us?

  I approached them slowly, letting the serenity calm my nerves. Taking deep breaths to prevent the tears forming in my eyes.

  I joined Nakissa and she looked at me with eyes wide with emotion.

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  “But what about us?”

  She put her hand in mine and stretched out to rest her chin on my shoulder. “We have lots of time to figure it out,” she said.

  “We just lost eternity.”

  She shrugged. “Don’t think of it this way.”

  “How should I react?”

  “You could hug me.”

  I wrapped my arms around her and we watched Aude and Guillaume together. Aude was back to normal now that she was away from Ramtin. Nothing a little rest and essence couldn’t fix. And soon, she would be better than normal.

  Pareen came towards us and I hugged Nakissa closer to me. Her hair smelled of cherry, her body was warm as she leaned into me.

  “You’ll have to perform the ceremony,” Pareen said to Nakissa.

  “Thank you, Pareen.”

  “I have lived long enough. Just as you have chosen to live a finite existence, I have too.”

  Nakissa nodded.

  “It’s time.”

  Nakissa detached herself from my arms and walked to the middle of the garden where Aude and the statue waited.

  “Is it going to hurt?” Aude asked.

  “No, not really,” Nakissa answered. Aude knelt on the ground and held on to the statue, while Pareen stood behind her, holding on to Aude’s shoulders.

  Guillaume and Aude exchanged a smile and my stomach flipped in jealousy. Why did Guillaume always get everything he wanted?

  Why couldn’t I, for once, get what I want?

  Nakissa gave me a small smile of her own and then turned her attention to the scene at hand. They stood still for a while and at first I didn’t think anything was happening, but then I felt it. So much essence permeated the air around us; it pushed me to my knees.

  Away from the center of the garden, Kateri and Old Man Robert began to dance in circles and chant and the air became clearer. I felt less sick. Antoine came towards me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

  “She’s special.”

  “Yes, she is a witch.”

  “I meant more than that. She has such strong love and compassion. What she is givi
ng up right now is not something many people would give up.”

  “I know. I don’t understand why she’d leave me.”

  Antoine searched me with his eyes. Then he smiled slowly. “I think she is giving you exactly what you need.”

  “What is that?”

  “The girl you fell in love with.”

  I considered his words for a moment while watching her. Were Nagissa the Gargoyle and Nakissa the girl so different? Would she be able to remain herself if she went back to being a Gargoyle? She had been Nagissa for so long, while Nakissa had only existed for sixteen years. Maybe the girl was what I needed.

  The scene in front of me hadn’t changed much and with the shamans absorbing the essence into the elements, the air didn’t even feel different anymore. So, it was a big surprise when suddenly Pareen began unraveling. Her fiery essence like bright orange ribbons faded into blue and disintegrated into the air.

  Pareen no longer existed, and, with her, Aude had also disappeared. Now Nakissa would have to wake her. Just as Aude had woken us from the church tower in Montreal what seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Nakissa fell to her knees and Aude began changing. First into the magnificent mythological creature of her statue, and then into herself. Small, beautiful Aude. Standing naked in front of us. The same girl who had woken us and Guillaume’s heart, yet now an immortal creature.

  Our family of Gargoyles was back up to four.

  I’m tired. The ritual drained me, not only physically and mentally, but also emotionally, but we can’t waste time. What we’ve performed here has shifted the balance of power and we have to act while we still have the element of surprise. Ramtin has enough witches, mystics, and small time Jinn that he could make a few Gargoyles if he felt threatened.

  We pile into two cars. Aude and Guillaume come with me since Garnier says he can’t face Guillaume yet. The other three ride with Garnier.

  I speed through the streets of south Tehran and up to the north, avoiding the pedestrians and random motorcycles that seem to come out of nowhere.

  “Thank you,” Aude says, “for everything.”

  I smile at her from the rear view mirror. It was my choice, but I’m a little on edge. A little bitter.

  I slow down as I pass a man leading several camels into town. “That’s weird.”

  The old man dressed in desert garb turns to look at me. He gives me a huge toothless grin and his eyes glow orange. Instinctively, I look to his feet. He has camel feet. He’s a desert Jinni.

  “What is this guy doing in the city? Something is happening.”

  The other two look out the window but say nothing. Flocks of bird swirl over Ramtin’s house. I’m pretty certain that Kateri had nothing to do with them this time. “Are they expecting us?” I whisper.

  But the birds start falling from the sky, just as they did yesterday and I shudder. Because I can feel that the birds are different this time. I know if I was closer, I would see their eyes burning. The Jinn hadn’t waited for us. They have brought the war here already. My hands tremble on the steering wheel. I’m not ready for this.

  I stop the car. “We should walk from here.”

  Garnier parks beside me. “What’s going on with the birds?”

  “They aren’t really birds.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “The Jinn are amassing. They’ve started a war.”

  “Maybe we can just wait and see who wins,” Kateri says.

  The thought is tempting. But I know this is the time to fight. I know Ramtin needs to be stopped, and this is our opportunity. The Jinn won’t stop him. They are too easily distracted, too consumed by their own war. This is no longer about Ramtin for them.

  “We have to go in.”

  Garnier holds my hand and gives me a firm nod. I can’t resist; I wrap my arms around his neck and put my head against his chest. He lifts up my chin so I am looking right in his eyes.

  “We’ve got this.” His words are barely more than a breath.

  I press my lips against his and tighten my arms around him. He holds my waist and pulls me closer to him. Fire spreads over me. I feel desperate for him. It’s my fear, my love, my anger, my pain, my sense of belonging with him, all mingling into one irresistible emotion. But this isn’t the right time. It takes everything I have but I start pushing him away. He takes a deep breath.

  “We will be alright,” he whispers to me. He turns to the others. “We will be okay. Let’s go.”

  They nod to each other, but I see the pain in their eyes. They’ve already lost too much. Hand in hand, we march towards the fray. The chaos around us stops me in my tracks. I’ve never seen anything like it. Creatures of all sorts, both unbearably beautiful and unbearably ugly fight each other with tooth, nail, weapons, and magic. There is no sense or logic. I spot Ramtin immediately. He’s in the middle of them all, in Gargoyle form. He pounces and snarls and I can’t help but think he’s having a good time. The other creatures can’t get close to him. I send out a probing strand of essence and immediately it bounces back. Someone is holding a protective spell over him.

  The Gargoyles jump into the fight while the shamans stay well away so they can dance and chant their spells of protection. I’m alone. I look longingly to Garnier and wish I could join him, but I know I’m most powerful this way. I’m also more vulnerable, but I already feel the Earth magic surrounding me. I nod my thanks to Kateri and her grandfather who are keeping an eye on me. The Gargoyles must be communicating through mind voice because they attack in an organized manner. Other creatures join their side and aid them. I’m shut out.

  I have a purpose though. I have to find the witches protecting Ramtin. Then, I can drain him. My purpose is the most important. I couldn’t have left it in Aude’s hands.

  Still, I feel cheated.

  I walk around the perimeter of the battle. A few creatures come at me, but I drain them quickly. I focus the essence into my known allies. I’m not aligned with them as if I was a de Rouen witch, only with Aude, who is my creation. Still, I could give them all essence, though it wouldn’t be concentrated like it would be were I aligned with them. I focus on Aude.

  Aude is my creature. I hadn’t realized this would happen, but it makes sense. I can use my mind voice with her. I tell her that she is still a de Rouen witch and she can disperse the essence to the boys and I leave them in her hands.

  My task lies elsewhere. I continue looking for the witches, casting my essence here and there. They have to be somewhere safe. It’s difficult because I keep on getting interrupted and I don’t even have a weapon to defend myself with. Other than my mind, that is.

  A larger Jinni comes at me and I concentrate on him. His essence is bound up a different way. I don’t know how to untie it. I back away from him but he keeps coming towards me. I trip and two more Jinn notice me. None of the ones fighting on our side have noticed me.

  'Aude!' I call in my mind voice.

  But I hear nothing back. I lash out with my essence at one of the other Jinn and manage to unravel his immediately. He melts and bubbles and is absorbed into the ground. I keep his essence around myself as a barrier. But it does little. The hooked and clawed creature lashes out at me physically. It tears the skin off my arms and I fall back to the ground, still trying to get away. I press my hand over the wound to stop the bleeding but the wound is more than a physical one and I begin to feel weakened. I grab him with my essence but he’s too slippery. Too much in control. Where are my protectors when I need them?

  ‘Aude!’ Why was I left alone?

  Suddenly there is a release in the pressure on my arm. A small stone griffon is fighting the Jinni in front of me. He’s getting a good beating but it’s enough to distract the creature from attacking me. Enough that his barrier is gone and I find a small way in before he knows to protect himself.

  His essence makes me sick. I hold on to it even as I double over to retch on the floor. I pick myself up off the ground and yank his essence right into me to heal myself
. The Jinni ignites and disappears into smokeless flames. Deleer is already pouncing on the next one but he’s hurt and limping badly. I try to stream essence into him, but I hit stone. He’s protecting himself too well and I don’t have an inside path since he’s not my familiar.

  I worry about Aude and the others. We shouldn’t have divided. It seems so obvious now.

  I send my essence into attacking the last Jinn and he unravels like the other two. The sooner I can get to the witches, and hopefully to Leyli, the sooner we can end this thing.

  Deleer stays close to me. I’m not actually alone after all. As I get to the walls of the compound, I feel them. There is so much power there that every creature that comes within a five foot radius of that spot disintegrates. Leyli is in a group of witches standing in front of the wall. She isn’t fighting. Actually, she isn’t even moving. The witches standing on top of the wall control the show. And right now, I can’t get to them. I need a distraction. I look to Deleer but sending him to the witches would be the same as sending him to his death. Can I do this to him?

  Can I sacrifice another life for the sake of humanity? The answer should be yes, but I’m not so sure I can do it. The part of me that is a sixteen-year-old girl just cannot come to terms with it. Deleer decides to take things in his own paws and pounces towards the witches. I use my essence to block him.

  “Come on boy. I have another plan.” I need to find Kateri.

  I go back outside the rough limits of the fighting zone and find the shamans still dancing and chanting. Their arms are spread wide and I can feel the energy they are channeling.

  “I need the ground to tremble,” I say. “But not right away.”

  I point to the spot from which the witches are holding down the fort. They aren’t visible from here. “Once I am near there, I need the wall to come down. Is that possible?”

  Kateri turns to Old Man Robert. “The two of us together can do that, but it will leave the Gargoyles vulnerable for a few minutes.”