The Elder Mother

by Carrie Whitethorne

  “It doesn’t know how to be anything else. Put it down,” he insisted, his eyes scanning the room. “We don’t have time for this.”

  I smiled at the demon boy, cradling the back of his head with a hand as I swung my hips softly, rocking him. “You’re beautiful,” I murmured to him as he settled his head on my shoulder and yawned.

  His hand dropped from my face, down onto my chest and his tiny, perfect fingers curled around my amulet. I heard the hiss as his skin burned, and I pulled him closer as he wailed. My stomach clenched in panic. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, I’m sorry…” I said quietly, tucking the amulet away.

  But his cries had roused a guard, and his wail of pain alerted the master of this house.

  “Seren, you took your time following the breadcrumbs. But you’re here now. Allow me to welcome you to my home,” Kern drawled behind me. “I see you’ve met one of my sons.”

  I put the boy down, and he shuffled back to his mother with a whimper as I turned to face him. Elian remained calm, his face a mask of nonchalance.

  I spoke quietly, controlling my anger. “Kern, what you have done here is unforgivable.”

  “It’s nothing they don’t do themselves, Seren. Breeding and breeding when their world can barely support the population it already houses. I’m here to help with that.”

  “That is different, and The Mother—”

  He clicked his tongue, shaking his head at me as he cut me off. “The Mother. Where is she, hmm? She isn’t here. She hasn’t tried to stop me these years. Perhaps she wants me to help her control the vermin.”

  Fury boiled in my stomach. “They are not vermin. They have done nothing to deserve this appalling treatment. You brought them here against their will, Kern. I’m taking them out of here and you’re either going home, or going to die.”

  His brows rose. “Against their will? Now, Druid, did you tell her a lie? Did you feed her false information?” He grinned as I glanced to Elian. “Oh, I saw you. I allowed you to follow. You saw these lovely girls come willingly.”

  “Kill him, Seren. He enslaved them. I watched them mindlessly leave a club and come here. That isn’t by choice.”

  Something shifted in the shadows at his back. A solid mass of inky black, swirling and shifting as it drew closer. They drew closer. I couldn’t make out their numbers as they approached. I had no way of knowing how large a force Kern had managed to amass in the time he’d been here.

  I remembered how he’d controlled me. How my body became his. “It’s time to go home, Kern.”

  His head tilted as he said to me, “On whose orders? What can a Druid and a wraith do against this?” He extended his arm, indicating the approaching hoard of demons. All in their natural forms, their darkness swallowing what little light the room held. “They will enjoy tearing the two of you apart, I am sure.”

  With that, he was gone.

  I clung to Elian’s emotions as I watched the encroaching darkness. There must have been hundreds of them, all banded together as one. I couldn’t tell where one ended and another began, but their mouths all gaped open, rows of blood-stained fangs exposed.

  “Now would be a good time,” Elian muttered as he altered his stance, ready to fight.

  A fan of knives appeared in my hand as I watched, waited, and assessed. If I could provoke them into surrounding us, this would be easier.

  Elian saw, and reacted accordingly, reaching for knives of his own.

  We threw together, his blades striking, but only serving to anger the demons that stalked us. Mine, however, with the power imbued, struck them down, opening a path between them.

  They skirted around us, as I’d hoped, slowly circling as we stood watching them, waiting for them to attack.

  “Seren?”

  I shook my head. Not yet. I turned my head to say something, and one charged. That brief break in my concentration leaving me open to attack. Elian’s sword passed a hair’s breath from my face as he thrust at the oncoming beast, the blade embedding in its gaping mouth as it gnashed and screamed its rage. Too close. That was too close, I thought, as I summoned the power I’d kept dormant. Power I wasn’t aware I was able to control until Elian had shown me. Power he gave me.

  Elian held firm, giving me precious seconds to react.

  “Close your eyes,” I breathed as a flash of bright light burst from me. Every pore, every inch of my body thrust my power outwards, taking the demons closest with it.

  The ones further back hissed, flinching away as the light dissipated, as the infant half-demons began to wail and scream in terror. They sensed the threat, knew what I was, and I could hear the terror in their cries. My heart ached. The human part of them, the part that still craved love and security, also allowed them to know fear. They were alone here, and frightened. Of me.

  There was no time for me to dwell on them, I nudged Elian and he strengthened his resolve, his steady, solid confidence bolstering my own. I maintained my connection to him and moved toward the army before us.

  He moved with me, placing a warm hand on my back as we strode into the midst of the pack. They growled, hissed, and spat at our approach, banding together in an impenetrable wall of darkness. Their pointed limbs were thrust out at us, a warning not to come too close. They were no threat to me. They couldn’t harm me. But Elian, if they managed to attack him, as had happened days before…despite my fear for his safety, I smiled.

  “Now, now. Let’s not get into a pointless fight. You cannot hope to harm me, so come quietly. Resistance is futile.”

  Elian snorted at my side, angling his sword. “Movie quotes, really?” he murmured, chuckling to himself.

  I smirked at him as I sent out another wave of demon-crushing light. They dissolved before me without so much as attempting to fight. The infants quieted, that second wave instilling so much fear they couldn’t cry. I ignored the pang of guilt and turned to Elian.

  “Before I go after him, we need to check this room.”

  He nodded, and I unstrapped several knives from my clothing. “Do not touch the blades. Should anything attack you, use these over your own. I’ll cover the left side.”

  He took the weapons, nodded once, and strode away. I watched him for a moment, unsure if I should remain tethered to him for emotional stability given what he was about to see. If he reacted strongly, I would crumble with him. I waited. I felt. He remained steadfast.

  I looked over every one of them. Most were dead, or almost so. There were a few who were physically fine, if you discounted their unnaturally swollen abdomens. Heavy, black lines marred their bodies, skin pulled so taut I could see the infant moving within. These girls, I gathered up and sat by one of the nearby fires, then resumed my search of the room.

  Elian and I met back at the entrance.

  “They haven’t all given birth,” he said quietly.

  “I know. I’m going to bring them out here. You can take them up with you and call for aid from Avalon.”

  “Take them up with me? Seren, you aren’t going down there alone.”

  “I am,” I argued. “Those girls need help. The infants they carry will kill them as soon as they’re born. They need to be taken somewhere safe and given help. You can handle that while I handle him.”

  He ground his teeth.

  “Stop that,” I snapped. “They need you, Elian. It’s what you do. I’ll meet you back up there when I’m done. Bring the car around to the warehouse. I’ll come directly to you.”

  He opened his mouth to argue, then thought better of it. I turned to retrieve the surviving young women and he gripped my wrist, whirling me back around. Facing him, I met his hard stare.

  “You get yourself back up there as soon as you can, Seren. Promise me.”

  I smiled and kissed him, placing my hand on his face, the stubble scratching my fingers and making the sensitive skin at the tips tingle. “I promise.”

  He held me in his gaze for just a moment longer, then looked away with a curt nod. We walked together through
the dark room, past the corpses and the babies, him to retrieve the girls, me to whatever hell was waiting for me in the next chamber. Still chained to Elian’s emotions, I felt them shift. Snapping my head up, I looked around wildly. “What?”

  The shadows grew, deeper than before. More and more demons filed into the room. The girls began to scream.

  We rushed to them, told them to flee. We’d catch up with them and get them to safety. Bloated, weak, and malnourished, they staggered from the room as the amassing forces inched toward us.

  “Have you any more knives? I’m running low…” Elian asked conversationally, scanning the room.

  With a hand on his shoulder, I felt him tense, then relax as the many clips and loops of his armour were suddenly filled with fresh weapons. I hoped he wouldn’t need them.

  The shadows circled us, absorbing what little light came from the fires behind us. These wouldn’t be so easily taken down. These were older. Stronger. I wondered where they’d come from.

  “Is there a plan, or are we winging it?” he asked, watching me rather than them.

  I shrugged. “No. Just, well keep one hand on me…”

  His brows pulled in as I grinned and turned my back.

  They charged as one, a swirling cloud of night and fear rising as one to swallow us. Elian dropped his sword, the clatter of the silver coated steel on the hard ground lost by the collective roar of our oncoming attackers. He gripped me around the waist with one arm as they crashed down upon us, an angry wave of teeth and sharp pointed limbs. “Seren!” I heard him growl as they almost made contact. Almost.

  Flames leapt up around us. Green and white, hot and fierce; they seared the beasts as they made their descent. The power within reduced them to nothing but ash in an instant. The black powdered remains subduing the light, casting deep shadows against the brilliant emerald light of my power. I shielded my eyes and looked to Elian. He was pulling away as the flames died, shaking his head.

  “You couldn’t have left that any bloody longer,” he grumbled, leaning in close. “Be careful.”

  Before I could answer, before his resolve failed, he turned and ran after the girls.

  I gave the space around me a last, sweeping glance as the darkness of the next room swallowed him. I would have to handle the infants when I came back this way.

  With a steadying breath, I strode toward the dark patch in the wall at the rear of the room. Into whatever unlit hell Kern had created.

  Twenty-Five

  Elian

  I should have asked her for clothes for them. I should have told her to stay with me. I should be with her. The thoughts swirled in my head as I selected the correct number.

  “It’s me. I need at least six guards and clothing for twelve women. Robes will do. Yes. No, they’ll have to go to Avalon. You’ll see why when you get here. I don’t know! Just, yeah. Yeah, the steelworks Declan told you about. Okay.”

  My eyes slid to the group of young women huddled against the wall. I’d kept them inside, out of view should anyone pass by, but they were cold and frightened, and desperately unwell. Taran wouldn’t be pleased at my actions, but I didn’t care about protocol. I didn’t care about their secrets. These people were suffering, and it was their job to help them.

  “Help is coming. They won’t be long,” I said gently, hoping my tone on the phone hadn’t frightened them. They didn’t seem to hear me.

  I watched the door that led to Kern’s underground stronghold, straining to hear any sound, any sign of her being in trouble. I knew she was fine. Of course, she was fine. She didn’t need me. That thought sent a wave of anger through me that was so hot, I glanced around self-consciously. But she wasn’t here to feel it.

  Resisting the temptation and struggling to keep myself from rushing back down there, I fiddled with my weapons. Seren had warned me not to touch them, and I didn’t want to find out why.

  I heard birds flap away outside, and turned to the broken-down wall as Taran stepped through it. Even in his human form he was regal, dressed in a light blue suit, his hair neatly combed back. He looked the girls over with a stony expression before looking to me. “Seren?”

  I nodded toward the door. “She sent me up with them; insisted they were taken to safety.”

  Taran nodded, not turning to acknowledge the guards that had followed and now stood silently at his back. “Are they...?”

  “Yes. I don’t know how long the incubation period is, but I’ve seen what they are. They suckle their mother’s blood. I don’t know how long they last.”

  Taran’s mask of calm slipped and his gaze passed to the distended abdomens of the girls. The guards helped them into warm, soft robes, and stepped back, awaiting orders.

  I turned away stepping to Taran’s side, and said in a hushed tone, “Get the beasts out. They’ll be sucked dry within hours if they deliver. Get the girls stable, drug them, and take them to Myra’s hospital. If she knows they’re coming, she can get them help.”

  I didn’t wait for his response as I drew a dagger and strode for the door.

  “Elian, where are you going?” Taran asked curtly.

  “I’ve left Seren down there with him. If she locks up again, we’re all stuffed. You’ll know when she’s done.”

  I heard his sigh as the door swung shut behind me.

  I ran down the narrow alley, slid down the slope, and ran through the first room. I stopped and listened at the door before entering the second. No sound. No indication of her being in danger. No way to tell if she were alive. Nothing.

  I stalked through the next room, careful to skirt around the bodies, deliberately not looking for the babies and toddlers. I didn’t want to see that again. The way she’d held that child, looked at him with so much love in her eyes… I pushed the image away and continued. I had to wonder what we would do about them. Given her inability to leave the child alone, her instinct to hold him, comfort him…could she kill them? I knew I could never ask her to. I would never put her through that. It was her choice. I’d have been more than happy to let Avalon handle them.

  The room ended in a solid wall with nothing more than a dark doorway smashed into the earth. I couldn’t see a thing in there, and didn’t have a torch, so I shifted to a cat.

  My fur as black as the space I prowled into, this form was the easiest to use down here. I saw the floor sloped gently down and rounded a bend. I followed on silent feet, my feline eyes and senses guiding me through the impenetrable dark. Rounding another bend, I saw what I was looking for. In the silence of this place, it was eerie; the auroral light of her power dancing along the walls.

  I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief that she was alive. I didn’t make any sound at all as I lowered my agile, compact body to the ground and inched to the exit of the tunnel.

  I watched through the doorway to see Seren and Kern facing one another down.

  “You can’t win this, Seren. We’ve grown too strong.”

  “I’ve obliterated everything you sent at me, Kern. If all you have left is babies and toddlers, I’d say you’re overestimating the power of your army.”

  His answering snarl chilled my blood, but still I watched their exchange.

  Circling her as I imagined he had all those years ago, he stopped at her back, his back to me, and I took the opportunity to slink into the room, hugging the wall, seeking shadows to hide in, being careful to scan for any lurking sentries.

  He leaned in, his hair brushing her cheek, and murmured, “Are you sure you won’t join me? It would be such a terrible shame for me to kill you twice. I would enjoy you, so very much.”

  She remained immobile, not responding at all, and I wondered if he’d succeeded in rendering her inert. He seemed to think so, as he reached up a hand and ran a finger down her cheek. She didn’t flinch as he moved back around to face her, and I saw a thick, dark line where he’d touched her. Blood rushed to the surface of her skin, pooling, and sliding in a perfect line to drip from her jaw.

  Anger roared in my ch
est that he’d dared to touch her, that he’d dared to harm her. Something more…jealousy reared its head and I fought to remain silent and concealed in the shadows.

  Her head tipped to the side, a small smile tugging the corner of her mouth. She’d felt my reaction. She knew I was there.

  He hadn’t understood. Assuming her feint smile was for him, he stepped forward and cupped her other cheek. “We would be amazing together, you and me. Our achievements would be incredible, Seren.”

  I’d seen and heard enough and moved further into the room, level with them.

  I heard his sharp intake of breath as the scent of her blood reached him. I knew he was mesmerised by it, intoxicated by the scent of her, his baser instinct keeping him too focused for him to notice me. Why was she waiting? After everything, why would she allow him so close? Had she frozen again? Had I failed to protect her from herself, her own desperate need to see this end?

  I watched in horror as he licked the blood from her cheek and the jealous beast within propelled me forwards. I leapt, and in that leap, I shifted, bringing two daggers down through his collar. My daggers buried deep within, I held firm as he thrashed and roared. Unable to break my hold, he turned his attention to her, bringing back his hand and thrusting outwards, cracking her sternum.

  In stunned disbelief, I watched her fall back, her head hitting the floor with a resounding crack. My grip faltered, and Kern wrenched himself free, whirling to face me, sharp nails swiping in a vicious attack.

  He was fast and strong, and I was at a disadvantage. I’d left my sword above, my daggers sat in his collar, apparently unnoticed, and all I had left to defend myself were the throwing knives Seren had bestowed me. I backed away, glancing anxiously at her prone body, willing her to get up.

  His eyes slid to her. “She really is beautiful. Such a pity I have to keep killing her.”

  My lips curled in a snarl and he laughed in my face. “You can’t have her, Druid. She isn’t meant for you. Creatures like her belong with their own kind. She is undead. She belongs with us.”