“What, I am so sorry. I must have dozed off for a moment,” she said groggily. “What do you have for me?” she asked, reaching up to pat my face gently.
“I know what the runes look like. Also, Ren said something about Xavier meeting with the foggy woman. They talked about him getting better. So maybe whoever she is, she is using these sacrifices to restore his health. He seemed stronger last night in the dreaming.”
“Well goodness, let’s get a look at this then. Can you point out the runes you saw?”
I nodded as she flipped back to the Norse symbols in the book.
“Fehu, Uruz, Kenaz, Gebo, Hagalaz, and Laguz were all carved on the arms. On the chest was this symbol here, Perthro. Oh, and do you know anything about runes that only glow to people without eyes in the dreaming?” I asked hopefully. I was weirded out beyond belief by that one.
“I do,” Conall chimed in. I suddenly found myself being pulled out of the library in his wake.
“Hey, why didn’t you let me stay and talk to her? I could have helped her look that stuff up,” I said, rubbing my arm where he had pulled me.
“Because, you and I need to have a very serious, private conversation.” He grabbed my arm again and started pulling.
“Ouch, you are hurting me, Conall. Stop,” I said, using one of the moves Ian had taught me to get out of his grasp.
He stopped and stared at the ground, trying to calm his breathing. “We don’t have time for your tantrums. Follow me and hear what I have to say, or keep going the way you are and die. It matters not to me either way. I would just hate to see my Brother suffer the same fate as I.” He walked out towards the field we had trained in the morning before leaving me staring at his back.
“Fine, I am coming. You don’t have to be so grabby though,” I mumbled, stomping after him. He made it to the top of the hill before sitting down. I plopped down beside him angrily. We sat staring at the house silently for a small eternity.
“Her name was Cait and she was to be my Seer,” he started as his voice caught in his throat. “I think the easiest thing would be for me to show you. Just promise you won’t go looking at anything else.”
“I swear it.” I knew that whatever I was about to see was beyond personal.
“Alright, here you are,” Conall said, reaching out and grabbing my hand. I was swept away into the past. It had to have been at least a hundred years ago.
**********
I looked around, trying to gain my bearings. I immediately knew that this was more than a memory. I was having another vision that wasn’t quite a vision, but something more. I wished I could go back to the simple ones. I was wary of whatever I would see. I knew that if it made Conall unsure that it must be something terrifying. I followed a path down to a village where I found Conall and Kennan talking.
“She has more marks, Brother,” Conall said.
“How is she getting them? I don’t understand. She is escorted everywhere, never left alone,” Kennan replied.
“I think they are coming from the dreaming. It is the only place I cannot follow her. I need you to try and get into her dreams. I would not ask if I thought there was any other way,” Conall begged Kennan.
“You know how much I despise doing that. I feel like I am twisting something meant to be good into evil.”
“You are not your brother. Xavier may use the dreaming for his own ends, but this is not about that. I can’t do it, Kennan. If I could, I would have done so already. I am out of paths to take. This is the only course that remains available,” Conall sighed, turning to pace away from Kennan.
“Fine, I will do it,” he said before walking away toward a cottage. I chased after him, flipping forward through the memory as I went.
I focused on the girl’s name in my mind and found her. She lay on a bed, shivering. Her arms had three runes dug deep into the flesh. I saw it then, the glow that Ren and Isabelle had seen on me. I moved toward her bed and leaned over her.
“You must go, you are not meant to be here,” Cait said to me.
“How can you see me?” I asked. She was still very much alive.
“Because we are bound, you and I. My past shall be your future unless you can fight what is coming. Now go, before he sees you,” Cait said, pushing me out of the memory. I was starting to get sick of people doing that to me.
I looked around and saw that I was, once again, standing on the battlefield where Kennan and Conall had fought the monster. I looked to find them standing over a fallen body. It was Cait. She was breathing her last breaths as Conall wept over her broken form. There was a blood-soaked scrap of cloth tied around his face.
“Don’t you dare leave me, Cait. I just found you,” Conall yelled at her.
“It was the only way to stop it. I was the sacrifice needed to send it back where it belonged. We both know there was no other way. You will find another, Conall. I promise you that,” she whispered as the last of her breath faded from her body. Conall screamed and threw his body over hers. Kennan moved towards him trying to rip him away. It was the same as the theater. I could see the moment the soul separated from the body.
Cait’s spirit moved toward me. She stopped just short of where I was standing and began to speak.
“You are marked, Izzy, by a great evil. Someone is trying to make you a bridge between planes. If you do not stop it, and sever the connection, this is what will come. Promise me something,” she said calmly.
“Anything,” I didn’t think I could deny her anything. She’d just died.
“Find him his true Seer. It was never meant to be me. I never found a way to really tell him though.” She reached her arms around me and hugged tightly. “Be well, my sister, and live.” With that her spirit drifted away. She was no longer bound to this plane.
**********
I opened my eyes to find myself lying in Isadora’s office.
“How did I get here?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. I heard men yelling in the background and sat up to find Kennan about to beat the hell out of Conall.
“Hey, stop it! Put him down, Kennan!” I yelled as the room went still.
“What the hell was that?” Conall asked, moving toward me. He started to crouch down in front of me before Kennan moved him out of the way.
“I don’t know, you tell me. That was your memory,” I said groggily.
“No, you left my memories. I felt it when you severed the connection and then you just went catatonic. You’ve been like this for four hours,” Conall said.
“Oh,” I said, trying to catch my bearings. That explained why my stomach was growling so loudly.
“You need to stop running off on me, Izzy. I swear to the gods I am going to lock you to my person at all times,” Kennan said, getting up to pace the room.
“I would like to ask you gentlemen to leave the room for a moment,” Isadora spoke from the corner.
“I…” Kennan began but stopped as she gently shook her head. “I will be right outside that door. Don’t you dare try and leave through a window either, Izzy. No more. Until this is over you stay where I can see you at all times.”
“Okay,” I said with wide eyes. I really hadn’t meant to run off that time. We both had residual fears left over from our last adventure. The guys left with Kennan quick on Conall’s heels. I kind of felt bad that I’d gotten Conall in trouble.
“I take it you saw our dear Cait?” Isadora asked.
“Seriously, how do you do that? It’s just creepy,” I grumbled. I really wished she would give me a heads up about this stuff. But like Eleanor, I knew she followed the whole “don’t reveal things before their time” thing seriously.
“Was she well? Did she move on? She has been waiting for so long for you to come.”
“Wait, she was stuck like that until I showed up?”
“Yes, well time moves differently on that plane so I am sure she did not feel as though she had been waiting at all.”
“She moved on. She told me that if I didn’t stop whatever
was coming I would end up like her. Then she made me promise to find Conall’s true Seer. She said that it wasn’t her.”
“Well, I knew that.”
“Then why didn’t you tell him? He is still mourning her loss,” I said, realizing the truth of my words.
“I’m not at the luxury of doing what is best for the moment, my dear, and neither are you. We are the keepers of the future. With that comes the gravest of responsibilities. No matter how much we may want to change things to stop the hurt of the present, we cannot. We must suffer the pain of those around us to ensure that the intended future stays on course.”
“Well that just sucks,” I said, leaning back against the seat. I was going to make a terrible leader. Isadora handled it all with such grace and here I was moping.
“Indeed,” she said before sitting next to me. “It sucks quite a lot.”
“I need to ask you about something.”
“Anything, my dear. My door is always open to you.”
“Ren said something about a protection mark. Is that a thing ya’ll do?”
“Oh, my,” Isadora said, looking stunned. “That hasn’t been done in ages.”
“Well, she mentioned that I might need it. When a spook tells me to get something, I listen.”
“If you would like it, we can make it happen. Just understand that it is not a pleasant thing you are asking to do.”
“What is it I am asking to do exactly?”
“The protection mark is a large tattoo that covers the entirety of your back, Izzy. It is a sort of old magic that has been transmuted into a Celtic Shield Knot.”
“Well, now I see why no one has done it in so long,” I sighed. I knew deep inside that it was a step I needed to take. Whatever was happening, I needed every bit of help I could get. “So, can we make it happen?”
“If that is your wish, we can start it this evening. I just have to gather the supplies and the Symbol-smith.” A look crossed over her face that would have been imperceptible had I not been paying such close attention. It was part dread and part anticipation.
“I don’t think it is really my wish to be in more pain, but I think that it is something that needs to happen.”
“I will make the necessary arrangements. Return with a full stomach at eight this evening and we will begin the process. Be sure to inform Kennan that this was your choice. He seems a bit unkempt this afternoon and I don’t wish to cause any more problems,” Isadora said before moving back to her desk.
“Okay. I will see you at eight,” I slowly made my way toward the door, wondering what in the heck I was getting myself into.
**********
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Izzy, I swear to the gods you have got to stop scaring me,” Kennan said, pulling me into his arms as I left the office.
“It isn’t like I mean to do it. Besides, Conall said he would clear the whole training thing with you,” I nodded in Conall’s direction. I noticed him studying the carpet quite closely. Awesome, he had pulled an Ian. “Well, at least I left a detailed note this time. You knew where I was.”
“True, but that doesn’t mean I wanted your head filled with the terror of a hundred years ago,” Kennan griped, letting me out of his embrace.
“She needed to know,” Conall said simply.
“I did need to know. I think it will be important. At least Cait said so. She sent a message for you Conall. When you’re ready to hear it let me know.” He looked up at me with surprise and hesitation on his face and nodded once.
“Now, I would like to know now.”
“She said that she was never meant to be your Seer; that yours is yet to come. She tasked me with helping you,” I said, moving to wrap my arms around him. I had wanted to wrap him in my arms since witnessing his heartbreak back in the vision. He let me hug him for a moment before pulling away.
“Are you sure?” he asked simply.
“I would never have told you that if I wasn’t,” I promised. With that, Conall left us. He walked off mulling over the past hundred years. I was sure he would visit his mother soon to discover the truth.
“As for you, we need to talk about something. It is non-negotiable,” I said before pulling Kennan toward the dining area. I was starved. We headed in and sat down to eat as I braced myself
“What is it now? What did you and Isadora discuss?”
“Mostly we discussed Cait and the rune on my arm. But we also discussed something else, something that I am going to have done this evening. Ren spoke to me in my last vision about a mark of protection. She said I needed it and quickly. When I mentioned it to Isadora she was quite surprised. So, basically, I am getting tattooed tonight,” I finished as Kennan pulled us to a stop.
“Are you sure? Do you know how painful that process is?” he asked warily.
“It is a tattoo covering my entire back, I am pretty sure I get that it will be painful.”
“It isn’t just the tattoo, Izzy. Every line contains magic. When the Symbol-smith applies the marks, he is also bonding the magic with your soul,” Kennan finished with a look of trepidation in his eyes.
“Are yours like that? Do they have wards built into them?”
“Yes. Getting them was the most pain I have ever felt in my entire life. Are you sure this is the path you wish to take?”
“I am sure this is the path I must take. Like Isadora said to me earlier, I am not granted the luxury of wants anymore. This is more of a need anyway. When a ghost tells me to do something, I do it.”
“Well, if you are determined, I will see if Ian and Molly would like to join us for the ceremony. It helps to have loved ones close. We may be able to siphon some of the pain away.”
“Will you guys feel it though? Because I really don’t want to put anyone else through that sort of pain if I don’t have to,” I said, hoping that Kennan wouldn’t try and take my pain away just to inflict it upon someone else.
“It doesn’t work that way. No one quite knows why, but having loved ones around serves as a dampener to the pain. Kind of like a numbing cream.”
“So, why didn’t you have loved ones around you when you got yours done?” I asked, wondering why Ian or my father had not been there to help him.
“Because I got mine done quickly. Right after Xavier killed my mother, I found a Symbol-smith to ward me,” Kennan said with a sense of finality. I knew not to push him any further. For now, we would eat and enjoy a few moments of relative peace. I wasn’t looking forward to the pain awaiting me, but I knew that it might be the only thing that would protect me from whatever had burned the rune into my arm.
**********
We ate quickly and when we finished, we headed to find Ian and Molly to see if they would be willing to come to the ceremony, if that is what it was. It really was a shame that I was going to be in charge someday but had no idea what was really going on. I was so lost in the sauce. When we arrived at Molly’s door we heard a man and woman having a heated discussion. We looked at one another and shrugged before knocking. The two of them arguing was nothing new to us.
“Molly, let me in. I need to ask you for yet another favor,” I said against the door.
“Um, be right there,” she said in a panic.
“Well, that is new,” Kennan said with a snicker.
“So, what do you need?” she asked from a bare crack in the door.
“Can we come in please?” Kennan asked barely masking a smile.
“Sure,” she said with trepidation. As we entered the room I noticed Ian putting a shirt back on quickly. I looked over to Molly to find her hair slightly mussed. I raised an eyebrow in her direction. She looked in any direction but mine.
“So, favor. What do you need?” Molly asked, trying to smooth her hair down.
“Izzy has decided to get the mark of protection this evening. We wanted to know if the two of you would attend the ceremony,” Kennan said, eyeing the duo skeptically. So, it was a ceremony. I hadn’t been wrong about that. One point Izzy. I really
shouldn’t have kept score though. The universe won every time.
“For reals? You know how much that is gonna suck, Pip Squeak?” Ian said running his hand through his hair.
“Yes, for reals. Ren told me to do it, so I should probably do it. Well, she more insinuated that I needed to ask about it, but you get the gist. Isadora said that we could do it tonight, so that is the plan. We’re getting ready to head down there now to see if they need any help getting ready. I would really appreciate having the moral support,” I smiled brightly at the two of them. I knew I probably looked more manic than excited, but there was honestly no way I could get stoked about crazy amounts of pain.
“Give us a few minutes and we will be right down,” Ian said, looking at Molly.
“Actually, I am ready now. So yeah, let’s go,” Molly said, skirting out of the room quickly.
“This is so not over, Molly!” Ian shouted at her back.
“Care to share with the rest of the class?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said.
“Well, looks like we are ready. Should we grab anyone else?” I asked the guys.
“I think Conall might want to be there,” Kennan said with a bit of reservation.
“Why?” I couldn’t imagine why Conall would want to be there. I mean, we were getting closer but we were still far from being bosom buddies.
“Because you remind him of Cait and he will do anything he can to save you from the fate she suffered,” Kennan said as we left the room.
“Yeah, but after I dropped the whole ‘Cait-isn’t-your-Seer’ bomb on him earlier, I figured he would need some time. You know, to adjust to the idea that he still has someone out there.” I looked between Ian and Kennan as they started snickering. I turned back around to find Conall waiting at the foot of the stairs. “So, adjustment period finished then I presume?”
“No, but I have a duty to perform and I will not neglect it for my own petty problems,” he said, walking halfway up the stairs to meet us.
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