Beyond the Veil Mira- The Complete Series

by Trina Bates

  Cynide enters my mind.

  -His Agathion,- she says into my mind, I look over to her small lynx form in question.

  “Go on…” I say aloud.

  -We all know his Agathion, we also know that Alastor is a mad man. He treats his Agathion like dirt, he might not be able to defy his master, but to see him trapped, and for him to be free somewhat, I think that would be reason enough for him to help us. If we can find and convince his Agathion to help, sway his loyalty to us somehow, we could tell him to tell Alastor that you and Gor are down in the gym basement. Your father will follow his Agathion, never sensing the ruse. He won’t sense you down where you two lay in wait. When he gets there, you can push him into the cell, and lock him in. I don’t know how many minions, Demons, and other beings he might bring with him, but we can battle those above ground. If it’s a guarantee that he can’t get out of the cell himself... the war will already be won,- she’s says gleefully into all of our minds.

  Rhydian replays everything she said to the rest of the group that didn’t hear and I ask, “How do we know where to find his Agathion? We don’t even know his name. There’s no way that we can plan this out without Alastor getting wind of it beforehand. We have to be smart about this, so, what do we do?”

  -His name is Penghou, he is a sloth of this Realm and an Orthrus of Hell. A brother to Cerberus, though he only has two heads. He is never close to Alastor. That is why you have yet to see him. Another Agathion can find him easily. It is a matter of misting to his favorite places and seeing where he hides away. He might be under your father's command, but he has a strange heart. One that is good. One that does not match Alastor’s at all,- Vie says, spiking my interests. His large head, turning from side to side when he enters the room, taking in our group, sniffing the air, getting a feel for what’s going on, and the people.

  “That’s perfect. Can you and Cynide go there and find him without being sensed, caught, or anything like that?” I ask him, my hopes rising just thinking about it.

  -We can. It would be my pleasure to find Penghou. He is a gentle soul, one that I have had the pleasure of meeting a few times. I think I can convince him to join our side. If the magic can hold his master, then he will be free of him and his calls. This will please him immensely,- Vie states, his joys at the adventure seeping through us all.

  “We need to get the cell ready first. We need to collect the metals first, and erecting such a thing will not be easy. That will take time. Even with Merrick's help. It took me long enough to make a sword, and with mine and Mira’s blood infused, hopefully, everyone's here, that will fortify it even more, it will still take us at the very least a day,” Gor says, rubbing his chin with his massive hands, looking away, seemingly deep in thought.

  “That gives us just enough time to get our plans ready for how we will get all of this done, our places. Cynide and Vie will also have time to find Penghou and I want even more time, maybe another day, for rest and new weapons to be made… If that’s okay with you two?” I ask him and Merrick. My eyebrows high on my head in question.

  “Of course, love,” Merrick says with a large grin. I can feel the need inside of him growing. Not for me, but for battle, and to end this once and for all. It pushes my own needs and I smile wickedly to him and turn to the rest of the group.

  “Does this sound like a plan or is there more we need to go through?” My eyes landing on Vali in particular. I know how battle knowledgeable he is and want his opinion. Already feeling like a jerk for not doing so sooner when I told him I would.

  -The plan is sound, be careful of the things you do not see. When in battle with a foe, they plan before, as you are. Precautions are always taken. Look to your light, to find the things lurking in the dark,- he says in my mind.

  I know he’s strange to hear, but somehow, he makes all the sense in the world.

  “Thank you Vali. I think I understand fully. Do you think my Hellfire will do the trick? Keeping it at the ready at all times?” I ask aloud, and giving Blue and appreciative glance and nod when I hear her finish telling everyone, in not so many words, what he told me.

  -Perfect plan. Stay close together and train the other that is like you, your own kin,- he states with an eerie finality, staring at Gor. There’s so much more that I want to ask, but now isn’t the time, the things I want to know are too far off subject, but I do want to pick his brain on so many things. I shake the thoughts off and give them back my attention.

  I nod, and pull Gor with me, planning to do just that.

  It’s late but the more time we train, the more time we have to rest tomorrow, or the next day. We are going to need it.

  Getting strange looks as we passed everybody, Gor holds lightly to my hand as I pull him back out of the house and into the cold night air.

  “Little sister, I know you need to train me, but are you sure you are up for it? You exhausted yourself and haven’t had sound rest in a long time it seems,” he states, his worry evident in his voice.

  He’s not far off, and I don't take the time to look back at him as I trudge along.

  “We have to go, I need you with me in every way when we are down in that cell together. I don’t know what we will come up against ,but we have to be ready both of us, all of us. For the safety of everyone. It’s not hard learning how to use your fire, it’s taxing on your mind and a little on your body, but I know you can do this. You had faith in me and I have faith in you. Do you trust me?” I question him, finally take the chance to look at him. What I see saddens my heart he’s looking to the ground and chewing on his lip worriedly.

  “Gor, if you don’t want to do this, I really don’t want to push you. That’s never going to be something I will ever do. Do this because it’s something you want. Not because it’s something anyone, and I mean anyone else, needs. Okay?” I worry to him, hoping he really knows how truthful I’m being.

  He’s my brother, I don’t ever want to hurt him. I know it’s inevitable, but hopefully, we can always come back from it.

  I raise an eyebrow to him, when I look at him again, seeing the worried and hesitancy still on his face.

  “I mean it!” I shout with a laugh to lighten my tone.

  “I know you do, I do want this. But, to be honest, I am a nervous. What if, when it comes time for me to use it, I can’t or I freeze, and then I leave you unprotected?” he says in a low voice.

  I place my hand on his massive shoulder and look into his red and gold eyes. His large seven-foot frame towering over me makes me feel slightly off, but right now, in this moment, I feel like I’m his big sister. That he’s the one that needs protecting. I will do everything I can to make sure he never feel this again. He is so strong and doesn’t see it, even though he boasts about it.

  “Gor,” I whisper, garnering his attention. “Do you think I don’t fear the same for myself? That I don’t feel responsible for everyone around me? We have to live with that, to overcome it. It doesn’t ever get easy, but it does get bearable. You just have to push through it and have faith, like we all already have in you,” I say calmly but forcefully.

  He grins gorgeously to me, and dips his head to me once while squeezing my hand. He starts to walk once more, this time, he leads the way. I follow closely behind him with a matching grin, shaking my head behind him.

  “Alright, what do I need to do first?” Gor asks with happy anticipation.

  “Well, you can’t hurt even me with Hellfire, since we have that nifty little trick of, you can’t hurt your ‘maker’... So this should be a little easier. What I did? I looked deep inside of myself, felt for one of those damn puzzle pieces that seem to always be missing, felt for the fire and pulled it to me. I shot up the tree with ease, but containing it might be a little harder. We need to find a really big open area so we don’t set the forest around us on fire. I can help you the first time, even let you hold on to me, feel what I feel when I first bring my flames to me. I can let them flow over my body, that just kind of happened with a though, bu
t making them flow from my hands is a bit harder.” I shrug off my explanation, waiting to hear what he wants to try first.

  “If you don’t mind, I would like to try and feel what you do, when you pull everything into. Are you sure they won’t erupt on your skin and kill me?” he asks with trepidation.

  “I promise. I’ll only make it go through my hands. Here, hold this.”

  I hand him my pendant from an around my neck, not the one that was just given to me and made for me by his hands, as well as Merrick’s. But the ones that will most likely cause more damage than good right now. He pockets them safely in the breast pocket of the shirt he’s wearing, and dips his head low waiting for me to continue.

  I close my eyes and look for that sweet darkness inside, and pull it to me. Whenever I feel the evil inside, it seems it gets more addicting with each use. I hope this doesn’t become a problem.

  I call to the fire within and open my eyes. The first thing in front of me is a large block, not a rock, but some kind of block. Maybe a cinder block that’s been dropped. But when I look around closely, there’s more laying around, everywhere. It looks like a broken down building of some sort, and very old.

  I put both of my hands in the direction of the first cinder block in front of us, about twenty feet away, and the fire streams out of me shattering the block in front of us. Tiny bits of debris fly into the air and it almost looks like snow when it rains down on us. Thankfully none of it touches me with my barrier still up, but looking at Gor, his hair is coated in gray dust from the blast.

  He shakes his head like a wet dog, and dust flows freely around us and gets up his nose. He ends up sneezing, which makes me laugh and in doing so, more fires streams from them, but this time I can feel my light, the goodness and everything that connects all the beings in all the Realms and worlds, it washes over me like a blanketed cloud, shrouding me in comfort. My hands luckily are still outstretched and pointed away as the joke still runs through me, my laugh ringing through the cool air.

  I can feel the good, intertwining with the dark once more and when it hits my Hellfire it’s not just a simple stream of deadly waste. It’s a bright blinding light sent through the middle of the fire that’s already blinding us, and flowing from my hands, and when it hits the next cinder block, the pieces shatter but then they are rebuilt, mended. Right before our eyes.

  I stand there in shock. My mouth gaping open as breath after breath gets kicked up another notch with each intake of new air.

  Gor runs his hands through his hair, I see it out of my peripheral, his movements, and look up to him. He has the same shock and awe filled face as I do.

  “What was that?!” he exclaims. “How did you do that, can I do something like that, is this something new or did you just learn... this does not happen every time, does it? Mira what’s going on?” His rapidfire questions consume me and I stand there to dumbfounded too even say a word.

  Instead, I change the subject and ask. “Did you feel my powers, did you feel what it felt like when I called them into me not when I started to laugh, but before that?”

  “I, I think so. I don’t know if I can mimic it. There was so much malice, so much pain. It’s like what we felt when you first tried it, less, of course since you placed that barrier over your own heart, but I felt it all the same,” he whispers. His voice filled with pain as he runs his hands up both of his arms. I don’t know if it’s from fear, or to warm himself. I stare at home questioningly. My long blonde and red hair blowing in front of my face from the wind that has started.

  Annoyed, I call on my powers and place a shield around us. Protecting us from the cold and the weather that only seems to grow more dire with each passing second.

  “Try it if you want. I’m right here and not leaving until you say so. I don’t know what happened with my powers. The light and the dark inside of me changed somehow. I’ve never been happy while filled with so much other, angry emotions. I think it’s this new pendant.” Picking up the moon and star from my chest, I hold it up appreciating the onyx of the moon and bright opalescent white of the star. I stare at it as I finish. “I didn’t feel anything coming from it, but nothing like that… has ever happened before. I think that’s what this is for. My own latent powers surfacing and the more I have, the more it also protects. It feels like it knows what I need, just like the Blade of Oblivion. It’s almost as though it’s sentient. Does that make any sense?” The question more rhetorical, but he still shakes his head with a gentle smile on his face.

  “No, but I’m glad you have that. It will be of good use in your hands, little sister.”

  I pat his expansive shoulder and gesture towards the same block I had just blasted, and we watched mend back together.

  He takes in a deep breath, steadies his feet and places both of his hands out, palms away like I did.

  I feel the darkness inside of him immediately. The pleasure of it, calling to me. I hold back from tasting it once more and first my hands so tight, hoping that he is able to call his fire to him.

  The evil, darkness he has inside is so little in comparison to my own, I start to worry that it will even work when nothing happens for a few moments. I hold my breath, trying not to make a single sound and keep waiting. Soon enough, the purple and white swirls of magic flow out of him. It’s a strange kind Hellfire, but Hellfire nonetheless. Not only does it shoot out of his hands, hitting his target directly, and with more power than I could have possibly imagined, but his entire body is lit up with the same purple and white, reminding me so much of Vieruz, I can’t help the bubble of laughter that leaves me. I jump up and down, squealing like a schoolgirl and clap my hands.

  “You did it! And so much better than me, look Gor! Even your body is lit up! You are so amazing! See! I told you to have faith!” I shout in excitement. He looks down at his body wide-eyed. His fear hits him faster than we are both prepared for. It seeps into me making me go into protective mode, and he falls to the ground, rolling in the snow, trying to douse the already disappearing flames.

  “Make it stop! What’s wrong with me?!” he cries out, patting his body down. When he sees the flames are dying out and rather quickly now that he isn’t concentrating, he calms slightly and takes a deep breath. His red eyes staring at me with unabashed fright. My instinct to protect has dwindled as well, and now all I feel is ashamed.

  “I shouldn’t have gotten so excited, I’m so sorry. I did this to you. Here, let me help you up, ya big lug.” I put out my hand for him to take and inwardly thank whoever’s out there that he did even that. He should be livid at me right now.

  “I scared myself. I told you I would not do so well,” he growls out, his frustration apparent with the tick in his jaw and the hard grinding of his teeth.

  “Gor, you did amazing! Okay, sure the fire scared you at first. It did me, too. Hell, I wish you could have been in my head the first time I tried anything, with all these new powers I keep getting, and the wings? Oh my gawd. Did I tell you, when they first showed up, I almost fell on my face, trying to get away from them? They scared the shit out of me!” I laugh out, enjoying the memory.

  When I look at him, his face is no longer etched with shame, but befuddlement.

  “What?” I ask with a shrug.

  “You… you defecated when you received your wings? That is a little too much information. Funny, but too much,” he says with a puckered face and a visible shiver runs through him as he tries to shake off the strange visual he must have.

  I start belly laughing, so much so I start to cough. He pats me on the back and even when I try to shoo him away, he still stays, rubbing comforting circles on my back. It only makes me laugh more when he jumps away after I call my wings out.

  “Gor, it’s a slang term here. It’s not literal. It means that it scared me so bad, that pretty much my heart skipped a beat and I about had a heart attack,” I explain, still trying to catch my breath and talk through my laughter.

  “What is a… heart attack?” His genuine to
ne gets me going again. I keep forgetting, even with the last comment from him, he knows next to nothing of my world, there probably aren’t the same ailments that the Hollows have here.

  “The Hollows here get sick, sometimes it’s genetic, and sometimes things simply happen. The hearts beating inside of our chests? Theirs give out and stop. Usually for the elderly, it sometimes, even for people our ages.” The sadness at those thoughts have stopped my laughing but I’m glad he knows. Not all of the races get to have so many long years, or even an eternity. I need to remember that. For so long, the anxiety and fear of getting sick raced through my mind. But coming to think about it now, I never even a damn cold. I was always healthy. But now, I understand why. I’m an Other. I’m like those that I wished to be for so long.

  “That is very sad. Are there no healers here? No one to stop such things from happening?” he wonders, as he looks down at his shoes seemingly pondering everything I just told him.

  “There are! Many, they’re called doctors, but they don’t possess magic, or the gifts many of our kinds do. They can’t fix everything. No one truly can. Even you and I can die. Just from a kill wound. Artery, heart, things like that will kill us. Simple ailments won’t, but we can die, Gor,” I whisper the last words, anguish creeping into my mind and heart.

  He comes over to me and sits on the ground right next to where I fell down after my fit of laughter. He places his arms around my wings, holding me tightly to his side. I can feel him shaking his head next to me, though I don’t know why. It’s almost a silent prayer that neither of us will ever get hurt, and I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know how long we sit like this, in silence but it’s comfortable. I feel like in these last few moments that I’ve gotten to spend with my big brother, that we’ve gotten to know each other just a little bit more and that simple thought right there, makes my heart swell and the happiness return.