See How She Fights

by Michelle Graves

  Only too soon, we arrived outside the factory. Kennan turned towards us with a look of determination on his face. I knew that this was a situation neither of us wanted to be in again. He was going after his brother but I saw no hesitation in his eyes. I knew that whatever came, this would end tonight. There would be no mistakes made this time. He lifted my chin and kissed me deeply, causing my toes to curl. I could feel heat pool in my stomach in response. He pulled away and breathed deeply with his forehead against mine.

  “Be careful,” he said quietly before backing away. “Old One, I need a word.”

  “As you wish,” Aberto said, getting out of the car. I just sat in the backseat, staring out the window at the two men. I tried to listen to their conversation but could not make anything out. All I could see was a very angry Kennan looking at a very calm Aberto. Kennan was gesturing with his hands toward me and speaking quickly. I had never seen him so upset. All the while Aberto took it in calmly. He placed a hand on Kennan’s shoulder and turned to look straight in my eyes before speaking to Kennan.

  “She is well,” I could hear him say. I don’t know how it happened, but it was almost like when Molly spoke to me in my head, only this time I heard the words with my ears.

  “I don’t know what you did to her, but she is different now, Old One. If we come out of this, I want answers. Guard her and keep her. Please,” Kennan said, glancing at me.

  “I will answer all when this night is over,” Aberto said, pulling his hand from Kennan’s shoulder severing the connection. I could no longer hear what was being said. I couldn’t even begin to fathom why he’d wanted me to hear that bit of the conversation. They continued in their quiet argument for a moment before Kennan moved toward the group of men assembled and Aberto returned to the car.

  I swallowed deeply as he climbed in the backseat with me once more. The car suddenly felt very small. I looked into his clear blue eyes and felt a pull toward him I had not felt before tonight. I shook my head, trying to toss away the feeling.

  “What now?” I would ask the rest of the questions later. For now, I had to get in and save the Seers from an eternity between planes.

  “Now, you leave your body and end this,” he said calmly. “Lie down.”

  “Umm, can’t I just sit up? There isn’t much room for me to lay with you back here.”

  “Lay your head upon my lap,” he said, causing me to burst into laughter. “Why do you find this amusing?”

  “Sorry, it just sounded like a pickup line. You need to lay your head in my lap so that we can save the day.”

  “You are wasting time by being ridiculous. Focus,” he admonished. Somehow, he always managed to make me feel like nothing more than a petulant child. I sighed deeply, sucking up my pride and did as he asked. I laid my head in his lap and let myself drift. I pulled from my body more easily than I had ever done.

  **********

  “What now?” I asked Aberto. We stood outside the car, looking in at my body. It was odd to see it lying there as if I was just asleep. I was thankful that Aberto had faded slowly so that my head hadn’t dropped to the seat. That should save me from at least one headache. “Should we lock the doors?” I didn’t want some random passerby to have his/her way with my unconscious body. It wasn’t exactly the nicest spot to just leave your body lying around.

  “It is already done, Izzy. Now, we must hurry,” Aberto said, grabbing my hand. He did the tunnel-teleport thingy into the building causing my stomach to drop. When we pulled to a stop, we were in a room that resembled one found in the ICU of a hospital. I looked over to see Xavier’s body lying on a bed, hooked up to a ventilator. He was immobile. It seemed so strange to once more be so close to him. I wanted so badly to end this. I moved toward him only to be pulled to a stop by Aberto.

  “Patience, Seer. We must draw him from his body for this to work,” he said, moving toward Xavier. I watched as he moved slowly toward his prone body. I looked over to find Molly’s mom checking machines. She looked exactly as she had the last time I had seen her at the lab and my heart broke for Molly. She seemed so sane, so normal, yet here she was. There was no denying she was responsible now.

  I turned to see Aberto close his eyes and drop his hands into Xavier’s body. It was as if he was a ghost passing straight through him. When he pulled his hands back out of the body they were clenched around Xavier’s shirt. Xavier’s soul stood there stunned for a moment before he regained his composure.

  “Interfering is forbidden, Old One. You know the rules,” Xavier said snidely.

  “She is different, Betrayer. You already know this. Besides, I am not the one that will be ending this. She has come for you. Are you prepared to meet the Maker and atone for what you have done? Tell me, are you afraid?” Aberto all but growled. I had never seen him angry, never seen any real emotion pass over him. I stared at the men as they turned to look at me.

  “What have you done to her?” Xavier’s voice was filled with shock as he finally took me in. I looked down at myself and noticed I was faintly glowing blue. Not just my marks, but all of me. “What did you do?”

  “What I must, as I will always do where she is concerned. This is the end, Betrayer,” Aberto said, slamming Xavier’s soul to the ground. “It is time, Izzy,” he said, looking at my hand where the stylus had suddenly appeared.

  Xavier began thrashing against Aberto’s hold, yet Aberto remained immovable. I took a deep breath and tried to remember why I was there.

  I moved toward Xavier, thinking of the Seers he had tormented in order to regain his life. No more would he haunt my dreams. No more would he terrorize Seers for his own selfish gain. I would end this tonight. I set the stylus against his arm and began the mark.

  Xavier yelled out before looking at Aberto and smiling. Just as I finished the last of the mark he whispered, “It is not even close to over, Old One. It is coming and not even you will be able to protect her.”

  The mark sizzled on his soul as it came to a rest. Kennan moved into the room just as the life support machine began to scream its alarm. Kennan moved towards his brother’s body and raised a sword I had not notice him having before. He looked down at his brother’s body with disdain.

  “May the gods have no mercy on your soul, Brother,” he spat on him before drawing the sword down to sever Xavier’s head form his body. I cringed at the look in Kennan’s eyes. The ferocity there frightened me.

  I looked back toward Aberto, hoping to find some sort of solace. Instead I found him staring back at me with such intent, I had to look away. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Molly’s mom trying to sneak out.

  I started to yell out just as Ian reached her. She drew a knife from her pocket and moved to stab Ian. He reached out so quickly, my eyes could not track him and slammed her head against the wall repeatedly until she no longer moved. As her body sank to the floor, barely conscious. Ian pulled a zip tie from his pocket to bind her hands together. “You don’t deserve her. Thanks to her, I promised I would spare your life. Just remember that,” Ian snarled as he dragged her from the room.

  I looked back to find Kennan still staring at his brother’s body.

  “Burn it,” he commanded before turning to leave.

  “It is time to go, Izzy,” Aberto reached for my hand and quickly pulled my soul back to where my body was waiting.

  It was finally over. Xavier was gone and the Seers would be able to move on. I breathed heavily as I bound my body and soul back together before the rest of the men could return.

  **********

  TWENTY FOUR

  I opened my eyes and shot up from the seat. Aberto stood outside of the car, staring at me with anger burning in his eyes. I couldn’t understand why he was so angry with me. I moved to get out of the car and he appeared in the seat next to me. He pulled my arm toward himself, violently ripping away the fabric to look for the first rune that had appeared on my body.

  I tried to pull my arm back, terrified by how he was handling me and the anger
in his eyes. Aberto had always been so even-tempered with me. Even when he scolded me he was calm. This was a side of him I didn’t know how to handle.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, still trying to pull my arm away.

  “Damn it. Why?” he screamed, staring toward the sky.

  I looked down at my arm and saw the rune was still there. I didn’t understand. I ended it. I stopped Xavier from finishing his work. Hadn’t I? Maybe there was an explanation for it. Maybe it just hadn’t faded yet.

  “Maybe it takes a while to go away.” My voice was shaking. The tears threatened to fall. It was supposed to be over. I was supposed to be safe. I looked up to find Aberto’s eyes burning with passion. He reached up and grabbed the sides of my face holding me still so that he could look in my eyes.

  “I will not let them take you,” he said before disappearing before my eyes.

  “Who?” I yelled at the air. “You owe me some answers, Old Man,” I muttered staring back down at my arm. I covered it as Kennan approached the car. I didn’t want him to worry about it. Not tonight. I would tell him tomorrow.

  “Where’s the Old One?” Kennan’s voice sounded exhausted.

  “He poofed again,” I said, shrugging. “So, it is over then?”

  “Yeah, he is gone. You did it, Izzy,” he said, moving into the seat next to me. Conall jumped in the driver’s seat where Ian had been on the way over. I looked at him questioningly.

  “Ian wants to spend some quality time with Elaine,” Conall answered my unspoken question.

  “Ah. Well, can we go home now? I don’t feel so hot.” The truth was, I was drained. When I had marked Xavier something had been taken from me. It wasn’t quite like before, but I still felt an emptiness.

  “Your wish, my command,” Conall nodded. Another Guardian climbed into the passenger seat and we drove away back toward the Council headquarters and hopefully some answers.

  “Do you feel okay, Red? Want to tell me what happened?” Kennan wrapped his arm around me, pulling me as close as my seatbelt would allow.

  What? I wasn’t going to risk getting taken out by something like a car crash after everything that I had been through.

  “I’m fine. Marking souls like that just takes something out of me. I understand why he told me it was not something that should be done. It hurts too badly,” I muttered sleepily into his chest.

  “Can you tell me what happened? When we got there Xavier was almost already gone,” Kennan kissed the top of my head causing butterflies to alight in my chest. I would never tire of that feeling.

  “Nothing too terribly exciting. Well, I take that back. Aberto went all soul ninja on Xavier and ripped his soul right out of his body. It was insane. Then he pinned him to the ground with the wrath of God burning in his eyes. He called Xavier a Betrayer. Is that what all Guardians are called that forsake the purpose set before them?” My eyelids were starting to grow heavy. With everything that had happened today, it was a miracle I was still on my feet. I had died after all, well technically my body had died.

  “Yes, those that forsake their purpose, whether Guardian or Seer, are known to the Old Ones as Betrayers. Close your eyes, Izzy, and rest. You are safe now,” Kennan muttered. I could hear the relief in his voice and I hated that I would be the one to take that away soon. I could give him tonight though. There was no harm in that.

  I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drift me away to the dreaming. I hoped it would no longer feel unsafe. I needed the rest.

  **********

  “Izzy?” I heard Ren’s voice. It was far more timid than I’d ever heard her before.

  I turned and wanted to cry. She was whole once more. No more runes, no more gore, and no empty eye sockets. She shouldn’t have been here though. She should have been freed. Had I done something wrong?

  “Izzy, calm down,” Ren said, more her old self.

  “Why aren’t you gone?” I asked, wide-eyed.

  “I was permitted to linger so that I could deliver a message. Well, two really. The first one is thank you. I didn’t think you had it in you, but I am pleasantly surprised. You came through for us, Izzy. I, well, I know I was kind of horrid to you, but well…you understand,” Ren looked down at her feet for a moment before throwing herself at me. She wrapped her arms tightly around my shoulders and I squeezed her back.

  “What was the second part of this message, Ren?” I pulled back to look in her eyes. She had beautiful brown eyes that were filled with tears.

  “It is too horrible. I don’t want to tell you,” she said, looking away.

  “Tell me, Ren.”

  “The darkness is coming and if you don’t stop it, all will be lost. This is your purpose, this is your command,” she said as she was pulled away toward a blinding light.

  “What is coming?” I yelled at her fleeting form.

  “That’s all I can say,” Ren yelled back through tears. “Be well, sister,” I heard her say before she disappeared and the light faded leaving me alone.

  I wandered the fog for a moment and let it swirl around my legs. I wanted to disappear into it. I wanted to fade away and not be called to some higher purpose. I felt something staring at me and stopped. I turned and looked into the fog where I felt the eyes. Standing there was a man dressed in a crimson robe. All I could make out was his mouth which was twisted in an eerie smile.

  “Who are you?” I yelled.

  “You shall soon see,” he replied before fading into the fog. I ran to where he had been standing moments before. I felt like I was blindly searching.

  “What do you want from me?” I screamed through tears.

  “All,” I heard echoing around the fog. I pulled myself from the dreaming.

  **********

  “Did you sleep well?” Kennan asked against my hair.

  “Yeah.” I breathed slowly trying to calm myself.

  “You okay?” Kennan pulled back to look into my face.

  “Really, I promise, I’m fine. I just had a bad dream is all,” I lied. I didn’t want him to be afraid for me. More than anything, I wanted to be back at the Council building. I felt a sharp pain coming from my side and I knew that when I got back, there would be a rune there. I wondered if I could get Conall to patch me up without Kennan knowing.

  “Conall?” I sounded a little shaky even to my own ears.

  “Yes, Milady?” Freaking Milady. One Guardian I don’t know in the car and he is all “Milady” again.

  “I need to speak with you in private when we get back. I have a message from your mother.” At least it was the truth. She had asked me to pass along a message for her.

  “Is all well, Milady?” he asked slowly.

  “Yes,” I said, looking up to find Kennan eyeing me steadily. I knew he wasn’t completely buying it, but for once he was not going to push.

  “I will wait for you in our room,” Kennan said evenly as we pulled up the driveway.

  “I won’t be long. Promise,” I smiled up at him and unbuckled myself trying not to wince in the process.

  “See that you aren’t,” he said, full of promises. Too bad I would be busy hiding runes all night and wouldn’t be able to take him up on any of those promises.

  “Shall we, Milady?” Conall bowed, holding open my door for me.

  “I suppose,” I winced as I stood up and moved toward the house.

  “Are you okay, Iz?” Kennan rushed over to stand next to me.

  “Fine, just tired. Promise,” I smiled up into his eyes.

  “Don’t keep her long,” Kennan said to Conall before heading toward the stairs.

  “I won’t,” Conall looked at me like he wasn’t buying it. He would find out the truth soon enough.

  “Can we get this over with?” I moved toward the office and away from the ruckus in the rest of the house.

  As we went I saw a bloodied Elaine being pulled downstairs by Ian. His face was etched in anger as he dragged her along. Molly stood at the top of the stairs looking down at her mother with no
hint of emotion. I wanted to go to her, I wanted to be the friend she needed right now. The pain in my side burned hotter. I looked back to Elaine to find her smiling wickedly at me before she disappeared down the stairs.

  I moved into the office and toward the couch. I lowered myself down slowly as Conall came in and shut the door.

  “What are you hiding from him, Izzy?” Conall moved towards me with determination.

  “I need your help and I need you to swear secrecy to me until tomorrow. I promise I will tell him everything tomorrow.” I gazed into Conall’s face, hoping that he would do this for me.

  “Why not tonight, Izzy?”

  “He needs to feel like I am safe. At least for a night. Give him that,” I begged.

  “If you do not tell him in the morning, I will. But for this night, you have my word. Now let me see what has happened.” He moved towards me and I lifted my shirt up so that he could see the new mark. Luckily my shirt was black or Kennan would have noticed the blood soaking through.

  “Shit,” Conall jumped away from the mark. “Are the rest still there, Izzy?”

  “Yes, they are. Can you help me fix this so that it stops hurting enough for me to make it through the night?”

  “I can’t,” Conall said, staring at the rune that now occupied my left ribcage. “I can’t touch it, Izzy. That is a Hagalaz. It is the mark of destruction for rebirth. If I touch it I will feed into the power.”

  “Then get me the stuff so that I can fix it,” I said through my tears.

  “Alright, give me just a moment.” He moved around the office, gathering the stuff we would need to fix my side for the night. “Did you really have a message from my mom or were you just trying to get me alone?” He moved back towards me with a damp cloth and the salve as well as a pile of bandages.

  “She said to tell you she loves you. She really has moved on now, Conall. She is with your father again.” I reached up and brushed my hand across his cheek. He pulled my hand close to his face and held it there for a moment closing his eye. I let him stay that way for a while before pulling away. “I hurt, can we get this fixed?”