by Cate, Marnie
“Mara, you know you want to avenge your beloved Gram. You want to make them pay,” she said.
“I have no plans to do any of those things. Go away or show yourself.”
“Show myself?” Laughing, the voice said, “I'm right here.”
A small splash came from the lake. Turning to face the unknown, I found only my reflection shimmering in the water. The water stopped rippling and I could only see an image of myself. But, this reflection was not me. The girl in front of me had cold, dark eyes. She looked lost…sad…broken.
“You are not me,” I said to the image before me. “I have no plans to do any of the things you said. I am not who you think I am. You are not me. So, show your real self.”
“Why are you fighting who you really are so fervently? You know you want to pay them back. You know that all you have to do is cast a few little balls of magic or send a little bit of the elemental power inside you out and then everything will be fine. Everything will be as it should be. The Drygens will be gone. The Silver line will continue. You won't have to worry that your future children will be safe,” she said. “Don't you want your family to be safe? Your family longs for the same thing you do.”
An image appeared on the black water of my younger siblings. They were in the backyard of our property under the large green tree where I had held my elemental tea parties.
With her hands on her hips, Meg said, “They are not going to take you away from us, Miles. We will protect you. Now practice and it will grow stronger. Mara will make sure we are safe.”
Hearing the confidence she had in me, my heart sunk. How am I going to make sure they are safe?
The appearance on the water rippled and I was now viewing Cole and my father sitting at our kitchen table. Both men looked tired and worn as they frantically wrote on the papers they had laid out before them.
“We can bring them down,” Cole said. His normally bright blue eyes were dark. “If we just eliminate them now, we won't have to deal with any repercussions from taking Miles away. They deserve whatever we send at them.”
My father nodded in agreement and continued his writings. Under his breath, he said, “Yes, we will remove the threat soon.”
The dark image of the girl in the water returned. “Don't you see; they need you to remove the threat? You need to protect them from the Drygens. It is up to you, Mara, to save them all. They will perish if they try to take on Cedric.”
“Stop trying to fill my head with your nonsense. Hurting them will not help my family. You are not real. Go away!” I screamed, sending out the magic I had inside me. Fire, water and air swirled around me as the earth below me shook.
Laughing the voice said, “That is exactly what I wanted to see. Now take all of that emotion and go up the mountain to rain down your anger on the Drygens. But, this time put a little force behind it.”
Lashing out at the reflection, I screamed, “Go away! Go away! Go away!”
Covering my ears with my hands, I closed my eyes tightly and began to rock myself as I pleaded for the voice to leave me. Strong hands gripped my shoulders. Struggling to pull myself away from the danger, I pulled too hard and landed with a splash in Sparrow Lake.
Chapter 2
The cold water shocked me and I found it hard to catch my breath. Unable to see what had attacked me, I began to scramble to the shore with thoughts of running back to the forest to hide. I wasn't fast enough. A hand roughly caught my wrist. My instinct to run away instantly changed to self-preservation. My heart began to beat so hard I thought it would fly out of my chest and my mind kept telling me to survive. Fight! Fight! As I turned to confront the danger, I found myself face-to-face with Cole.
“Mar, calm down. It's me. Stop running. Who were you shouting at? There is no one here,” he said. Pulling me into his arms, he held me tightly.
“He will try to kill them with or without you and he will fail,” the voice whispered in my ear.
Jerking away from Cole, I returned to the position he had first found me. Holding my hands tightly over my ears, I tried to block out the hiss of the voice.
As he whispered to me, Cole began to stroke my hair. “It's okay, Mar. I am here. You are not alone.”
Letting his touch calm the screams inside me, I lowered my defenses and carefully released my hands from my ears. The voice was no longer whispering to me. Throwing myself into Cole's tall, muscular body, I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck.
“Don't let me…don't let me become that person,” I said through my tears. “I am not that person. Don't let me become that person. Don't let them turn you into a person like them. We can't—”
“Mar, what are you talking about?” Cole asked, taking my face into his hands. With a look of concern, he soothed, “You are just tired. You need to relax and rest. Gram's not here but that doesn't mean that you can fall apart. Who are you afraid that we are going to turn into? Last time I checked we were just Cole and Mara.”
Taking a lighter tone, he continued, “Why, we have a wedding to plan, Mara. Our future together is just beginning and that includes your sister, your father and your little brother. Don't give up on yourself and lose them. Together, we will face anything.”
Kissing me on the cheek, he took my hand. “Are you calm enough to tell me what happened?”
“The things she said were so horrible,” I whispered. “She said—”
Rustling sounded behind us interrupting me. The wicked laughter of the voice rang through the forest.
“What is that?” Cole asked. “Is that what you are afraid of?”
Turning towards the laughter, he yelled, “Come out to face us, coward.”
The laughter stopped and a cold wind blew crystals of ice at us. The frozen water clung to my skin before it began to slowly melt. Behind the flow of frozen air, a woman wearing a long black dress appeared. As she began to walk towards us with long, slow strides, I began to see her more clearly. Her snow-white skin shimmered as if she had been dusted with frost. The dress she wore was long and flowing with a plunging crystal beaded neckline that fell below her belly button. The delicate crystals were faintly glowing. Long lashes surrounded the grey blue colors of her almond-shaped eyes. When she finally reached us, she stopped in front of Cole disregarding me.
“Well, we finally meet in person,” the woman said, smoothing her long black hair out of her face with long silver nails. Stroking his face with her fingertips, she purred, “What a pretty boyfriend you have, Marina. You will have such beautiful children.”
As she took her hand way from his face, I could see faint red streaks where she had touched him. Cole stared at the woman as if he was under a spell.
“She said that you would be a challenge to my children. I thought I had made the right choice when I selected Eliza. If only Mae had not interfered. But, enough of those sad thoughts, I think the two of you will be perfect replacements,” she purred.
“Aren't you tired of all the trials and tribulations that my…Danu has put you through? Wouldn't you like to be powerful and free of your silly promise?” Circling us, she walked slowly, running her fingers along my bare skin, burning me with her touch.
“All of this protect the magic. Protect the magic,” she said, in a mocking tone. “Who wants to protect it when they can use the magic?”
Stopping before me, she held out her hand showing a ring. The perfect diamond was surrounded by sapphires.
“If jewelry is not something you like, what about this?” Holding out her hand full of gold coins, she continued, “Anything you want can be yours. All you have to do is take it.”
Taking my hand into hers, I felt the cold sting of her magic coursing through me. I wanted to pull away from her but I couldn't. I felt frozen in place.
“You can have everything you always wanted, Marina,” she said, sweeping the loose strands of hair that had fallen into my face. The burn of her touch awoke something inside me and I felt an intense anger.
Ripping my hand out of hers, I
snapped, “You do not know anything about me or my family. We want nothing to do with what you are offering.”
Smiling at me, she said, “Oh Marina, I know you. I know you better than you know yourself.” Sweeping her hand in front of me, a sheet of ice appeared showing an image of me.
Covering my mouth to hold back a gasp, I watched the appearance of myself in the circle where my grandmother had sacrificed herself for me. I had gone to the circle hoping to find peace with what had happened but instead I found more sadness.
Sitting in the center of the circle, I had cried out to the Goddess asking her to bring back my grandmother as tears streamed down my face. When I found no response, I cursed Danu for taking her from me and vowed to destroy the Drygens with every ounce of magic that I had inside me. She didn't show the entire event. She stopped before I had stopped crying and acknowledged that my words had been spoken in anger. She didn't show that I once again vowed to protect the magic knowing that there would be sacrifice.
“You aren't showing everything,” I said. “I was angry but I realized that it was my sorrow speaking.”
Taking Cole by his hand, I began to drag him away from her, “We are done with you…” Unsure what to call her, I stopped. “Whoever you are. Whatever you want. My family will not be following the path of my mother and trusting you.”
Laughing at my words, she called after me, “Oh, we will see each other again, sweet Marina.”
Chapter 3
Shaking from the release of anger and the onslaught of fear, Cole and I walked in silence until we reached the tree line outside of our property. Guiding the still dazed Cole to sit, I wrapped my arms around him. Touching the red marks that were still streaking his face, the anger I had felt returned.
“Are you ok?” I questioned. “Are you hurt?”
Slowly shaking his head, I saw a tear fall from his eye. “I was going to follow her, Mara. I was going to break the promise I made and follow her to everything she tempted me with.”
“Stop!” I demanded. “She put a spell on you. You didn't move after she touched you. You would have never followed anyone for jewelry or money if you weren't under some sort of influence.”
“Wait, what do you mean jewelry and money?” Cole said, sounding puzzled.
“She held out a diamond and coins to us,” I answered.
“She didn't try to give me jewels,” Cole said. “I saw us in a large mansion with children. The children kept calling us mommy and daddy. A small boy ran into the room we were in and told us how Uncle Miles had taught him a magic trick. It was so real.”
“But, it wasn't real, Cole,” I said, kissing his cheek and wrapping my arms around him. “We don't need a mansion and we will have children of our own one day. Why would you have to follow her for that?”
Pulling out of my embrace, he said seriously, “She said that you would not marry me unless I did.”
“That is crazy,” I said, taking his face into my hands. “Why would I not marry you?”
“Kai,” he said, in a low growl. “She said that you were going to leave me for him.”
“No, Cole,” I said, dropping my hands from his face, “I was never going to be with Kai. He was just a guide in the elemental world.”
Narrowing his eyes at me, he said, “Why did you not mention him before?”
“There was no need to tell you about him. He just helped me find my way back to you,” I said. “We have always trusted each other. This is not a time to let someone plant a seed of doubt in your mind.”
“You are right,” he said with less conviction than I would have hoped. “I trust you.”
He said the words but I did not feel that he truly believed what he was saying. There was no way that I could convince him that I did love him at this moment.
“Let's go home,” I said, feeling defeated.
We walked through the backyard. The night sky was filled with twinkling stars but I was disappointed that I could not see the moon tonight. I needed to find out more about the ice witch and why she wanted our loyalty.
When we entered the house, we found Meg and Miles were sitting at the table with my father. The giggles and sounds of playing cards being shuffled filled the room.
“Come play, Mara,” Miles said excitedly, “Meg and I have made up the best game ever. Can we show you?”
Meg chimed in, “We made it up ourselves.”
Running over to me, she held out her hand offering me a warm cookie, “I'm sorry I was mean earlier, Mara. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. We tried to make Gram's zizzleberry cookies. They didn't turn out as good as Gram's but they are yummy.”
“I am sure they are going to be delicious,” I said, taking a large bite of the cookie. The warm buttery flavor followed by the tartness of the blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries made me smile. “You did a good job. Gram would be proud.”
Handing the rest of the cookie to Cole, I said, “Try this, Cole. You will like it.”
Popping it in his mouth, he slightly smiled. “Which of you made this delicious morsel?”
Meg beamed at our compliments. “We made it together. Miles is really good at figuring out Gram's secret wording. We decided we are going to try more of her recipes, ok?”
Tousling her hair, I laughed. “That will be fine as long as you have an adult there to help you.”
“Great,” she said. Her green eyes sparkled. “Come on, Miles. Let's try the peanut butter snapdragons.”
“I don't want to take away your excitement, but it is getting very late,” I said. “Why don't you both go up to your room and brush your teeth. I will be up shortly to read you a story.”
“Can Cole read to us instead?” Meg asked.
“I don't know,” I responded. “Why don't you ask him nicely?”
Both Meg and Miles began pleading for Cole to read them a story as they jumped up and down in front of him. Laughing, he picked them up in his arms and let out a large growl. They both screamed in delight.
With a soft gravelly voice, he said, “I will tell you the story of the day I ran into the king of the snapping trout and how I barely got away…alive.” Snapping his jaw shut loudly, he set them down. They screamed louder and ran off to the loft ladder.
“I will be up soon,” he said. “Be sure to watch out for any of the king's followers. They might be searching for his eye that I took.” Closing his right eye, he snapped his jaws again as they scrambled up the ladder giggling the entire way.
When the shrieks of laughter quieted, my father patted the seat next to him. “What have you two been up to tonight,” he said with a wink. “Come sit and tell me.”
Sitting down at the table and reaching for a cookie, Cole became somber again. Barely nibbling the cookie, he said, “I found Mara at the lake.”
“How did you get that far?” my father asked. Concern filled his face. “It is too dangerous for you to go that far alone.”
Cole sat down at the table and picked up one of the cookies. Instead of eating it, he just kept breaking it into pieces.
“I was just walking and I ended up at the lake,” I said.
Cole said under his breath, “She didn't just end up at the lake.”
“You are right. I didn't just end up at the lake. I wasn't paying attention and I led myself to trouble,” I snapped. “I don't know how I got there. I was walking and I found myself at the edge of Sparrow Lake. When I got to the lake, I heard a voice.”
“What kind of voice?” my father asked.
“It was a woman,” I said, trying to not show the fear I was really feeling about this unknown entity. “She told me all of the things that you all had been planning to pay back the Drygens for all of the pain they have caused our family. Then she offered us our heart's desire. She said we could stop protecting the magic and just use it.”
As I continued telling him the story of her promise of riches and wealth, his eyes narrowed and grew dark. “My grandmother warned me about her but I had thought she was
just telling me a story to scare me.”
“Who is she?” I asked.
“If I am right, you were speaking to Snowystra. She is the sister of the Goddess,” he said.
“So she is a goddess, also?” I questioned.
“Technically, yes,” he said firmly. “But, she is not the kind of goddess we want to get involved with. She can give us what we want but everything has a price.”
Cole interjected, “She said she had turned Eliza to her side and that we would be a great addition to her family.”
“Why are you so shaken up, Cole? We are going to face many scary things in our lifetime. You can't fall to pieces when the first adversary shows up at our door,” my father said.
“It's not that,” I interrupted. “She is just messing with us. She has convinced Cole that I am going to run off with a fire elemental and leave you all.”
Watching me intently, he said, “What is the name of this fire elemental you are running off with and why am I just hearing about this now?”
Sighing, I put my head down on the table. Blocking out the thoughts of hiding, I knew that I had to explain this before another person stopped trusting me.
“When I was gone, there was a fire elemental who gave me a tour of the elemental world. Along the way, he taught me how to control my magic,” I quietly explained. “He helped me prove to Danu that I was ready to come home to you. There is nothing more. I was in a magical world with many temptations but I still came home. I came home to Cole.”
Sitting up, I took Cole's hand and looked deeply into his eyes. “Cole, you are who I love now and forever. I can't prove this too you. But, I am here now and I have no plans of leaving you. I have never doubted you,” I said. “Even when you had so many girls vying for your attention, I never questioned how you felt about me—not once. So, how can you let some witch in the forest tell you that I am going to destroy what we have? Why would you believe her over me?”
Shaking his head, he said, “I don't believe her, Mar. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me about him before this. Finding out this way isn't right.”