by Inelia Benz
Rossini took Aeoife’s hands in his and looked into her eyes, “so my fair lady, you know why I am here.”
“Yes. And I can assure you I will do everything I can to help you in your quest.”
“But I am your son’s rival as you said. You cannot possibly want to help me find a way to defeat him.”
“I like you Mr. Rossini, I am now certain that Owen will never have to face you in combat, although you have both thought so for a long time.” She looked out at the young couple walking away, “change is upon us,” she added.
Chapter 16
Owen lay on the sofa while Jennifer typed away at her computer.
“This little gadget is fantastic,” she said, “taps into every satellite up there, goes right through their firewalls. Brilliant.”
The net curtains were lifting to the gentle movement of the night sea breeze. Owen looked over at Jennifer. She had her back to him. The light from the computer screen was making the edge of her hair look like an aura of fire. Around her a multitude of colors danced, bright and beautiful.
“Why do you think it was so easy to get out of that place Owen?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. It was all staged for you to be able to get away, although I don’t think Andrews expected you to come back for me, nor to attack him, Andrews is a Council Elder, it is one of Elder traits to underestimate non-Elders.”
“Did you like the way I made him afraid?”
“Yes, how did you do that?”
“I learned it in Hell. When you died.”
He looked away, Jennifer was no ordinary mage. No one he had ever met could learn magic that fast, by looking, seeing, feeling or even hearing about a skill, she could replicate it. What was she?
“There is something you still haven’t answered Owen,” she said.
“Yes?”
“Why did you tell Harry Johnson that Heather was your daughter?”
Because she should have been, thought Owen.
“I didn’t think I would see either of you for a long time, if ever again. I wanted to make sure you were well provided for.”
“I can take care of us pretty well you know, I have decided I am going back to school, get a degree and will earn a good living.”
“What if something was to happen to you? What of Heather then? I was only thinking of her best interests.”
“Well, you can put that right when all this is over, can’t you, you will tell Harry Johnson you are not her father.”
Owen turned around to face the wall, he was tired, it had been a long three days.
The grass was greener than green, the sky blue as an ocean, the trees covered in a canopy of spring leaves. A young man walked by the lakeside, whistling.
Sean.
“Who are you?”
“Don’t you recognize me?”
“Owen, my younger brother.” Sean said taking the younger man in his arms.
Owen felt a pain in his heart, an old wound, a pain so deep, so old, he had buried it before he had become a self. He cried.
“At last you have come, I have waited, long I have waited for this moment,” Sean said, his voice broken.
They looked at each other.
“You are slightly taller than me,” Owen said.
“And less refined,” Sean answered.
They laughed the same laugh.
“We need to talk,” Owen began.
“If it’s about Jennifer, she no longer loves me. It’s ironic.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now that you have found me I can go back to Earth, you are the only one who can take me out of here. Now I would be able to go back and there is no reason for me to go. It is you she loves now and I don’t blame her. She is much better off with you.”
“You can go back? All this time all you needed was for me to come for you?”
“Yes. It’s one of their laws, they prefer to keep us here on our own rather than have our siblings coming over all the time and putting revolutionary thoughts in our minds. Seeing as we are strongly linked once the twin finds us it’s not worth them keeping us here any longer.”
“That is why it is against the rules for us to find out about our twin.”
“Yes, against the rules. I didn’t find out about you until Jennifer mentioned you, how is she? Did the Mages take her and Heather to their safe-house?”
“Sean, we need to have a little talk.”
Jennifer stopped playing with the satellites and turned round to show Owen what she’d found, but he was fast asleep. She went for a blanket and quietly covered him up. She stroked his hair, “sleep tight,” she said kissing him on the cheek. Heather looked so much like him, that no one would ever know he wasn’t her father. No one need know.
He smelt good. Different to Sean, not the same at all, she thought. One little kiss wouldn’t make a difference, no one would find out. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Tears rolled out of her eyes, the last time she had kissed him on the lips was when she said goodbye to his body in that terrible desert, now here he was alive and well.
It should have been him, she thought. He should have been Heather’s father. If only she had met him before she met Sean. If only she could change the past and make it right. None of this need have happen.
She sat beside him, watching him sleep. He was seventeen hundred years old, yet he was so normal, apart from his powers.
She wondered how his life had been, what he was like when he was truly twenty years old and not seventeen hundred.
She was holding a stick, her arm was brown and strong, a man’s arm. She drew a circle in the dirt and a cross inside it.
“East, power of Air, Spring and Rebirth. South, power of Fire, Summer and Life. West, power of Water, Autumn and Old Age. North, power of the Earth, Winter and Death.”
It was Owen’s voice. She was inside Owen’s body sometime in the past.
“Owen.”
“Who… who are you? Are you the Goddess of the Sacred Circle?”
“Owen, go to the spring, look at your reflection in the water.”
“Yes my Lady.”
He walked to the nearby spring, leaned over and looked at his reflection. It was Owen alright. Young, identical as he was now, a little thinner perhaps.
“Who are you?” He said looking straight at her.
She pulled back quickly and fell against the coffee table.
Owen gave a little moan and carried on sleeping.
Dear God, what I have done, she thought. Whatever it was, it was too late now, what was done was done.
The next morning Owen was in extremely high spirits, by the time Jennifer got up he had breakfast ready and a map printed out with what he thought were the coordinates of the Shadow headquarters.
“Oh God, not England again,”
“Yes, and look closely,”
“Nottingham? Isn’t that where Robin Hood lived?”
“Well, where the evil Sheriff lived, Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest.”
“My God, Sherwood Forest still exists, look it’s still in the map.”
“The second map is a city breakdown. Apparently they took him to a mortal hospital.”
“Why? Surely with their powers they could fix him much quicker.”
“Most mages have a protective shell, we put in place when we are mortally injured, it is meant to stop our adversaries from manipulating us when we are down. He must have had enough time to activate his. Which means mage power cannot be used on him now. He will keep himself alive until he repairs the damage, the other Shadow obviously thought taking him for mortal medical care would speed things up.”
“So my plan sort of didn’t work out.”
“I think the place they took him to first, the one you marked last night, might be of importance, it’s only thirty miles from Nottingham.”
“Did you have a good sleep last night?” Jennifer said remembering the night before, blood rushing to her face.
“Yes, why?”
> “Did you have any strange dreams?”
“No, nothing strange. How about you?”
“Me? No, nothing.”
“Anyway, there is a direct flight from Dublin to the East Midlands Airport, which is only five miles from the first location.”
“You want to us to leave right now?”
“We’ll finish our breakfast first. Besides, it’s not us, but me, I’ll leave after breakfast,” he answered matter of fact.
“What about me? You can’t expect me to sit around while you go off on your own do you? Besides, it’s not you the Shadow want, it’s me, so they’ll come here anyway.”
“No, you can stay here but not idle, you will Borrow into my mind and learn all the magic they throw my way.”
“What will that gain us, apart from probably getting you killed?”
“We cannot eliminate the enemy, we cannot eliminate negativity Jennifer, and the only way to defeat it is to become stronger than it. You have to become stronger than the problem, stronger than the Shadow. Stronger than the group of Thirteen. They are not interested in me, which will give us an advantage,”
“What makes you think I will be able to learn all their magic?”
“Have you not noticed that that is what you do, learn every bit of magic that comes your way?”
“Now that you mention it.”
“No one else can do that Jennifer. You are different.”
She looked at him puzzled.
“Special,” he added.
She thought she was different to every other mage she had met so far, but thought that was normal, that all mages were different to each other. Although Owen had already told her there were only two types of mages, the Elders, which were mind oriented, and the witches, who were more earth based.
“Borrowing,” she said, “look into your thoughts, be inside your body. Won’t that make you capable of looking inside my mind too? Can’t you learn what I learn?”
“Yes, I guess so, if we make the link strong.”
“But you would be able to look into my memories too, won’t you?”
“Not if you don’t want me to, I wouldn’t violate your privacy.”
“Good,” she said, “don’t.”
She didn’t want him to find out about the previous night.
Jennifer looked through the maps, it was a good plan, practical, but she didn’t like it. She didn’t like the fact that she would be staying behind, after all this was her battle, not his.
“I need to see Heather, Owen. I miss her and my milk is drying up.”
She felt tears well inside her eyes and looked away. Why did she have to start crying? She hated when her emotions let her down like that.
“It won’t be long now, hold on just a couple more days,” he answered wrapping her in his arms.
Jennifer felt a sob working itself up her chest, she hated that too, any form of sympathy triggered a shower of self-pity, she tried to get away but Owen wasn’t about to let her go.
“I will always be here for you,” he said cleaning her tears away and kissing her forehead.
I love you too, she thought, but only to herself.
Borrowing had its shortcomings, it was completely passive, anything else would be possession. Once they made the mental link, Owen left. It was going to be a long trip back. Jennifer found that Borrowing into Owen’s mind while he was awake was very different to him asleep, the thoughts were stronger, in fact it was like they were in the same room and in the same body. She also found that she had to control her thoughts, one layer was private, another was public, but finding the borderline was the most difficult thing of all, so she didn’t think anything privately.
She watched through his eyes and he typed his PIN into the cash machine and mentally looked away, or tried to, but she floated out of his mind and stood above him. Owen looked up and smiled.
“That won’t work. You are too visible like that, besides, it would be harder for you to capture their magic that way.”
She forced herself back into his mind, “I was only, I was… your PIN is supposed to be secret.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t have used it if I didn’t trust you, come on, concentrate.”
And she did.
She was suddenly made of plastic and metal, she had a million eyes, millions of transactions flowed in her veins.
“What was that!” she said pulling out of him again.
“Oh, just The Way of the Witch, it grabs me sometimes, getting the hang of it now though.”
By the time he arrived at the airport Jennifer was more skilled at Borrowing than anyone he had ever met.
It puzzled him, made him uneasy, the way in which she was able to absorb all magic knowledge and skills like that.
The flight was on time. He sat by the window, and settled down for the hour trip. He was worried, Jennifer was inside his mind chatting away about this and that, he thought about having a sleep.
“She must be very special for you to give your life away for her.”
“Pardon?”
Next to Owen sat a small, dark young woman, her large eyes a fierce golden color, eyes that penetrated into his being. Normally he would be weary of someone who could do that, but she wasn’t being intrusive, she simply was all there, every ounce of her attention on him.
“I’m Carolina, you might think I’m mad but I can hear a woman’s voice coming from you, she is very worried, she regrets things past, choices made.”
“How does she know? What is she?”
“I don’t know... she is no mage, that’s for sure.”
”So, I am not mad after all,” she said smiling widely at Owen.
“Sorry, my name is Owen, the woman is Jennifer. What are you?”
“Oh, just an ordinary human being, nothing special about me at all. Only sometimes I can see things others cannot, among my people I am a Seer,”
“Your people?”
“Mapuche, I am from Chile. Although I am not fully native, only an eighth Mapuche, also Gypsy and Spanish. In fact I don’t really know much about my native side at all. The only Mapuche in me are my looks and my strange skills.”
The plane picked up speed for takeoff.
Owen was still surprised at the way in which the woman’s eyes seemed to glow, “what brings you here?”
“A letter from a friend. Do you believe in coincidences Owen?”
“Not really.”
“Nor do I. May I speak to Jennifer through you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Jennifer, it is not what is inside us that dictates our lives, not what we are made up of but the choices we make that turn the balance between good and evil. What we see as evil or good are only functions of evil and good working through people or things, the choice is ours every day whether we want to let the function of evil work through us or against us. Every moment is a new moment with infinite possibilities, don’t limit yourself by your past choices. One person has the power to change the history of the entire world, one choice, one second, can tip the balance one way or the other.”
“I don’t know what to say, I don’t really understand.”
“When the time comes you will remember and understand.”
Having said her piece the young Mapuche woman sat back and closed her eyes.
Owen looked at her for a while, she looked so young, yet she radiated wisdom and oldness. It reminded him of the old Healer he had visited in Brazil.
He woke up to the noise of the passengers leaving the plane, the young woman was already gone.
“About time.”
“What?”
“You’ve been asleep for ages and I wanted to ask her some questions, now she’s gone.”
“I guess she told you everything you needed to know. Don’t forget what I said, you must keep quiet now, the less we interact the better, just observe and feel everything that happens to me.”
“I can feel them near.”
“Near you?”
“No, near
you.”
“Okay, got it.”
The day was overcast and the fields lush with green. It was a good day for battle. He could hardly feel Jennifer now. She was keeping invisible and was getting very good at it. He wondered what Rossini was up to. All interest in Owen’s business had vanished as soon as he’d met Aeoife. A smile escaped his lips.
He would go to the Shadow’s main hideout first, challenge whoever was in charge and enter into a magic battle. It would be great exposure for Jennifer to learn all their strengths and weaknesses.
Chapter 17
The fight with the Shadow had left her mother’s kitchen in a terrible state. Jennifer took the pan and brush and began to clean up.
She worked slowly, very slowly. Doing things while Borrowing and keeping that borrowing invisible as well as private was extremely difficult, but she was getting the hang of it. If any mage had ever told her that moving around while Borrowing had never been done before in the history of the world then she might not have tried it, but no one had taught her the limits of magic, so she didn’t have any. By the time she finished she could move to near normal pace, soon she would be able to leave the house, the sooner she got on her way the better. The only problem would be getting from the airport the Shadow’s hideout, it looked as though it was in the middle of nowhere. Finding public transport would be difficult.
“On the Derby hills, the Peak District, I’ve heard of that,” she said to herself, she remembered from a book she had as a child.
A place of magic, but she never thought it was evil magic. There again magic in itself wasn’t good or evil, it was the people who used who gave it the coloring of one or the other. That was one thing she knew for sure now.
Going out into the street was a big challenge, the amount of movement and egos overwhelmed her at first. She walked down her street toward the centre of town, the bus to Dublin left from there and would go past the airport.
She would have to walk past Aeoife’s house. That could be dangerous, she could be found out.
Rossini was with Aeoife that morning, Jennifer didn’t exactly know how she knew but she could feel him there. Feel the Staff.