See How She Fights

by Michelle Graves

  I made my way back around to where I heard the voices. I could clearly hear Xavier talking to the woman again.

  “Soon, my love. We just need two or three more and you will be back with me once more. Then we can end her together,” the woman said.

  As I moved closer I could finally see them through a window. Her body was still masked in a cloudy darkness and no matter how my mind tried to remember where I’d heard her voice it would not.

  “My patience is wearing thin. If you keep dragging this out she will find you. Do not underestimate her. Her abilities grow with each day. There was a reason I tracked her down. If we don’t move quickly she will be out of our grasp and the plan will be for naught.” Xavier gritted his teeth together. He looked as though he was still growing stronger, the bastard.

  “She is nothing to us. There is no way she will stop us in time. Besides, she can’t even figure out who I am. I’ve placed a veil upon myself.”

  “We shall see. Regardless, I am asking you to move the plan forward. Stop being so discerning and get the woman. She is the key. Surely you have a plan to take her.”

  “It is all under control, Darling. You just leave everything to me,” she purred.

  Something in the way she said “Darling” brought to mind a woman I’d met briefly at the lab. I didn’t want it to be true, so I brushed the thought aside immediately. I couldn’t even imagine her being behind this.

  I moved around the building once more, trying to find more clues. Perhaps if they were meeting in the dreaming they were also physically at this place. I couldn’t imagine anyone coming here for fun. I looked around, and as I glimpsed a sign, I felt myself being pulled out of the dreaming and into the present.

  **********

  “Izzy, I need you to wake up,” Kennan was shaking my shoulders, trying to pull me out of my sleep.

  “What? What’s happened?” I asked blearily. I wondered how long I’d been asleep. I was still exhausted.

  “Isadora is missing. She was supposed to arrive in Denver on Council business this afternoon and she never showed up,” Kennan sat back on the bed away from me, rubbing his hand down his face. A sure sign that something was amiss. I was officially worried. I had not even known she was leaving. Although, I supposed keeping that sort of thing a secret was probably smart.

  “Has anyone talked to Conall or Breanan? Surely one of them would know where she is.” I got up and started to pace the room. I looked over at the clock and noticed that I’d been asleep quite a long while. That answered the time thing. It definitely moved at different speeds outside of this plane. It was almost three in the afternoon.

  “No one has been able to reach Breanan and Conall won’t talk to anyone. He said that when you woke up he needed to discuss something with you. Which is why I am waking you up.”

  “Where is he?” I rushed around the room putting my clothes on. I was probably matched as well as Ian normally was, but I wanted to find out what was going on. Something told me things were about to get far more complicated than anyone had anticipated.

  “He’s in Isadora’s office.” Kennan led me down the hall and downstairs to the huge wooden doors of her office. I started to knock as the door opened from the other side. Inside the door stood Conall.

  “I need a word alone with Izzy, if you don’t mind. I’m sure she will tell you everything, but these were my mother’s instructions.”

  Conall leveled Kennan with his gaze. I knew that his request would not be denied but I wondered at the seriousness of it all. I also wondered if Isadora had a coffee pot hidden in her office somewhere.

  “I’ll wait outside the door.” Kennan bowed his head to Conall as he shut the door.

  “What’s going on?” I asked around a yawn.

  “My mother has been taken. She will be the next to be sacrificed,” Conall said, moving toward her desk.

  “Wait, what? I mean, what?!” I screamed. I was dumbfounded. How had he been able to say that so calmly? “What about your dad? Why won’t he do anything to stop this? We have to do something!”

  “My father is dead by now. This is an event that cannot be changed, Izzy. I am sure my mother told you that some things must stay the course. This is one of those things. She has known for many months that this day was coming. She even knew what day it would be. But she also knew that if she did not stay the course that destiny had set before her, the world would be far worse off. She left something for you.” He grabbed a file from her desk and moved back towards me as I sat heavily on the couch.

  “How are you so calm about all of this? I mean, you are losing both of your parents today.” I wiped at the tears threatening to spill over my cheeks. I was getting sick of losing people. I was sick of death. I was sick of people thinking it was no big deal to face death knowingly. This shit was scary. I wanted people to act like it was for once.

  “I am calm because no other course of action will aid you in your task. I am calm because my mother asked this of me. I am calm because if I let any other emotions in right now I can’t be the man you need me to be,” Conall finished, lowering himself to sit next to me.

  I looked at him sideways. I wasn’t sure what he meant by that last statement.

  “Not like that, Izzy. I meant that I can’t be the Guardian you need me to be. I would not be able to uphold the oath I made to my mother if I allowed myself to wallow in the grief of their loss.”

  Well, that was a relief. I loved a good romance but I had no desire to become part of some twisted love triangle.

  “What is your task?” Perhaps if I concentrated on the issues at hand, I would be able to cope with her loss better. It seemed to work for everyone else around here. These people could give lectures on compartmentalizing.

  “In this folder, you will find everything my mother knew about the sacrifices. You will find where they intend to sacrifice her as well as information on the last two Seers that will be taken. I have not seen any of what is in here. She instructed me to give this information to you and you alone. My mother believed in you, Izzy. I hope that her belief is not unfounded,” he said, handing me the folder before silently exiting the room.

  Talk about living up to expectations. No pressure or anything.

  I looked at the folder resting on my lap. I knew that the moment I opened the folder, my life would never be the same. That blasted folder was practically passing the torch to me. I swallowed hard and began to open it. I looked down at a pile of papers and lying on top was an envelope with my name on it. I set the folder and its contents aside, pulling the letter out. I was getting kind of tired of dead people leaving me letters. This was emotionally taxing.

  **********

  Izzy,

  I leave you with a choice. It is not an easy choice to make and I know you will not make this choice lightly. I need you to decide whether you will fulfill the calling and become the leader of the Council or lead a normal domestic life with Kennan and the occasional vision. I have seen both futures and I know that you would be happy in the domestic life. I also know that by asking you to choose the Council, I am asking you to face great hardships. There are things lying ahead of you that will challenge everything you have ever known and believed. Yet I ask you to choose us all the same.

  I know what I ask is hard. I ask more of you than anyone ever asked of me. I am asking you to give up the life that you long for. I am asking that you take this job and that you fight for our people. I can promise you that we are lost without you. I wish that I had more time to prepare you but God has other plans it would seem. The best advice I can offer you is to trust yourself and trust Kennan. All else will matter for naught.

  Make me proud. Make your mother proud. But more importantly, make yourself proud. There are grave dangers lying ahead for you. Things I wish I could warn you of, but I cannot. It is not the time. Just remember there is a reason for all things we must endure. Farewell Izzy, and know that my faith in you goes well beyond this plane.

  Love,

 
Isadora

  **********

  I sat motionless, staring at the paper in my lap. She knew she was going to be taken. She knew she would be sacrificed. I felt as though I had been duped once more. I was so sick of people keeping things from me. I understood her need for secrecy, but I felt as though I had been going through this whole process with a giant piece of the puzzle missing. I wanted to know everything she knew. I needed to find out what could be done to stop whoever this woman was. I needed to find out how the sacrifices were connected with Xavier. Most of all, I needed to figure out how to get this stupid rune off of my arm. I breathed in slowly through my nose, closing my eyes. If I wanted to accomplish anything I needed to keep it together.

  I began to flip through the papers in the folder devouring each and every word as I went. I sat there for hours reading everything I could. I was startled out of my concentration by a hand resting on my shoulder.

  “You have been in here for hours, Izzy. Let’s get you fed.” Kennan moved around the couch to crouch in front of me. As soon as he was eye level he pulled me towards him and placed a fiery kiss on my lips.

  “What was that for?” He left me breathless.

  “I needed to get your attention. I know you, Izzy. If it were up to you, you would stay in here all day until each and every bit of what is in that folder is inside your head. You have to take care of yourself or you will be useless to Isadora and everyone else involved in this thing,” Kennan said, brushing his thumb down my cheek. I knew he was right, but I also knew I needed to know everything I could about what was happening if I was to stop it.

  “Can food be brought in here?” I looked back at the pile of papers I had strewn about me. I had not even realized I was doing it until now. I looked down and saw a pattern in the papers. Something that I had not noticed before. The runes were carved in a different order on each of the Seers arms. They rotated the order for each one. Four Seers had been found dead with runes carved on them thus far. If my hunch was right there would be two more Seers and Isadora making a seventh. I gasped.

  “What is it, Izzy?” Kennan’s voice raised an octave as though preparing himself for some sort of attack.

  “I think I know what is happening. What they are using this sacrifice for. I need to see Eleanor.” I got up and started to make my way to the door before Kennan pulled me to a stop. His large body grazed the contours of my back causing me to pull in a breath.

  “I will get her. You stay here where I know you are safe. I am sending in Ian and Conall as well. I will not take the risk of you being lost to us. To me,” he said as he moved past me and out the door.

  I moved back to the couch and tried to arrange everything that had happened in my head. According to Eleanor’s research, the runes all had a meaning. There were six carved on the arms and one on the chest. I knew that the vision I’d had of Xavier earlier was a clue. Whatever was being done, he wanted it done more quickly. If we wanted to stop whatever was happening we had to act soon. Looking back over the photos of the other Seers I knew I was right. Two more would be taken and Isadora would be sacrificed as the vessel. The symbol on the center of each chest linked them to one another as vessels. As my thoughts swirled in my head, I heard a commotion out in the hall by the office. I arose as Molly came bursting through the doors.

  “He told me I couldn’t come, but I told him to shove it,” Molly snapped towards Ian.

  “I don’t want you involved if you don’t have to be, Molly. You are about to turn twenty-five. You do realize that every Seer that has been taken has just come of age, don’t you? So please, for once, help to keep me sane,” Ian pleaded with her.

  “I have something that needs to be said, something that I have avoided telling you because I don’t want my suspicions to be founded. I don’t want to be right. I can teach you how to break through the fog on the woman. If she is who I suspect she is, well I just…,” Molly approached me slowly. She reached out and handed me a piece of paper that had symbols written on it with instructions of how to break through a veil.

  “Who do you think it is, Molly?” I wondered if she suspected the same thing I had earlier. The thing I had not allowed myself to even dwell on.

  “If it is her, then I will tell you all I know,” she said before turning to leave. I breathed in heavily as Eleanor was brought into the room with Conall and Kennan.

  **********

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Eleanor, you said you believe that the sacrifice was of Druid origins. Do you still believe that?” I asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

  “Yes, and I have found which sacrifice I think it may be. If all of the elements are correct then this is a health sacrifice.” She lowered herself into the chair across from me as I digested the information she had just given me.

  “So these sacrifices are being used to bring health to someone else, is that what you are telling me? Could this someone be near the point of death? Could these sacrifices bring that someone back?” I leaned forward, staring intently at Eleanor. I needed to know. I longed to finally have my suspicions confirmed.

  “Yes,” Eleanor met my eyes and confirmed everything I had feared.

  “So, he isn’t dead then?” Kennan said, startling me. I had forgotten that Eleanor and I were not alone.

  “No. I knew, but was not positive. Wherever he is, he can only communicate in the dreaming. I’ve been thinking about the symbols on the arms and the one on the torso. After going through Isadora’s notes, I have found some information on each of the symbols being used. Do you mind confirming my findings, Eleanor? You have more experience with this sort of thing than I do.” I flipped through the scattered papers until I found the list of symbols I’d given to Eleanor days before. Except these were in Isadora’s handwriting with her notes. “So the Fehu is the rune of wealth, Uruz the symbol of health and life force, Kenaz is the symbol of knowledge, Gebo that of sacrifice, Hagalaz symbolizes destruction in order for rebirth, and lastly Laguz forms a psychic link. Is that all correct?”

  “You have forgotten the Perthro symbol on the chests,” Conall said as he made his way around the couch to look at the paper in my hands.

  “No, I haven’t I just want to confirm the others first. Is that what they all mean Eleanor?”

  “Yes. The symbols are being used in the negative though. They are being carved so that the positive properties of each are being taken from the person being sacrificed. The last, the Perthro symbol is the symbol of the vessel.”

  With that every doubt I’d had dissipated.

  “So these Seers are being linked to one another psychically and physically? They intend to use Isadora to unite the others, don’t they?” I stood up and began to pace the space between the furniture. I had to find a way to stop them before he came back. The world did not need him in it. I intended to make sure he stayed gone this time. I just had to find out where they were first.

  I had a feeling I’d caught a glimpse of it in my vision earlier. That factory was important. If I could force myself into the vision, perhaps I would be able to figure out where it was. I paced as everyone around me began chattering about what they thought we should do. I looked down at my arm, still bandaged from the rune, and wondered if it would disappear when this all ended. More importantly, I wondered if Ren and the other Seers would be released from the dreaming plane.

  “What is your plan, Milady? What would you have us do?” Conall bowed deeply.

  “Would you stop with the bowing already?”

  “Yeah, Eye Patch. Remember what she said earlier?” Ian elbowed him in the ribs as he passed. “But really, what do you want us to do, Shorty?”

  “Molly gave me a way to see through the woman’s veil. I think the first thing I need to do is get into the dreaming and call on the Symbol-smith. He should be able to help me with the ceremony I need to break through her blocks. Then I am going on a mission to find out where they are. Your mom may have said this is what needs to happen, but I am not going to bow down a
nd let it just transpire. In everything there is a choice. I choose to kill Xavier again. I choose to end this once and for all before another Seer suffers. I will not allow this to continue. The fates be with me or against me, this is the course I am set on.” I headed for the door. I needed food and I needed to get myself in the dreaming as quickly as possible.

  “Where are you going, Red?” Kennan ran after me, trying to keep up.

  “I am going to eat and then I am going to get started on this. Eleanor, can you go and see if you can find any information about breaking the bond being formed in the sacrifices? Surely there is some way to undo the damage. I will not have those girls being stuck on that plane for the rest of eternity if it can be helped.”

  “I will do everything I can. Conall, would you like to assist me?” She reached up and grabbed his hand. I was grateful she had thought to give him a task. I just hoped it would prove to be enough of a distraction from today’s horrific revelations. I nodded at them and made my way to the dining facility with Ian and Kennan flanking each side.

  “When did she get so bossy?” Ian stage whispered to Kennan.

  “She got bossy when she had to take over the Council,” I replied, moving quickly towards the food. I longed for a cup of coffee but knew that it would make getting to the dreaming difficult. When I awoke, I was going to drink a whole durn pot of the stuff. We ate quickly as Kennan and Ian discussed what they thought our plan of attack ought to be. My only concern was finding the Symbol-smith and getting that woman’s veil down. I needed to know and I had a feeling Molly did as well. I got tired of listening to the two of them yap and headed for the room. I knew that they would follow, probably arguing the entire way.

  **********

  We made it back to the room and I asked Kennan and Ian to wait outside. I knew that falling asleep on command was going to be difficult and I didn’t need their debate keeping me awake. I wanted to solve this as quickly as possible. Okay, if I was being completely honest with myself, I wanted to kill Xavier as quickly as possible. For real this time.