by Lizzie Vega
Without warning, a single lightning bolt came down straight out of the center of the orbiting stars. It drove into the concrete floor right in front of Alec. A deafening crack of thunder accompanied it. He shuddered and took a half step back but then immediately put himself back where he originally stood. His expression shifted from one of surprise to a look of slight embarrassment. They watched his broad shoulders raise in a huff and then he straightened again, just as another bolt struck about two feet behind where the first one had hit. This time, he didn’t flinch.
A third, followed a fourth bolt followed the first two, each with a crack of thunder and now each with a distinctive red glow to them.
The arcing continued but with less thunder and more light intensity. After about a dozen, the thunder was gone and, as each bolt struck the pavement, it rang more like a bell. The bolts were forming a circle right in front of Alec. Stefan grasped for Iris’s arm and tried to pull her back. She looked at him, his face was a look of terror. He seemed to know what was happening.
“This is bad. We, we.. need to go, we need to run,” he cried out and she felt his grasp tighten around her arm. Iris looked at the others, her eyes beginning to smolder forcefully in anticipation.
As with Annika’s arrival, they stood frozen in shock and amazement. Iris caught Parker’s eye and motioned for him to move back. Parker grabbed Katie and took a step back, Allie and Mac did the same, but none of them could look away.
Alec called out a booming baritone, “Samantha!” He reached his hand back toward her, “Come here.” She calmly stepped forward into the circle and grasped his hand. Michael tried to follow, but Alec stopped him, “Not yet, boy.”
The wizard brought Samantha close to him and quietly said to her, “Do you feel it?” She nodded. The sense of loss she had immediately felt was changing quickly and turning into something else entirely. She nodded to him, “I do,” she said, her eyes pleading, “but I don’t understand. I’m scared for you, Alec.”
He smiled softly to her, “You will soon, child. I promise. Your feeling and intuition is an amazing gift, Sam. Learn from this.” He looked outside the circle at the others, “Now have Michael bring me my sword.” He gently directed her back toward Michael. She moved quickly to him and whispered in his ear. As Michael looked at Alec, Sam kissed Michael on the cheek. She didn’t have to ask him twice.
Michael stepped into the circle with both the sword and the shield and stood at Alec’s side.
The lightning continued to rain down in front of them, now almost silent except for the softened peal of bells as the powerful torrent of electricity pummeled the warehouse floor. There was a pause in the ringing sound and the silence was filled by an unmistakable canine howl.
A wide column of red light descended from the ceiling and powerful hiss and a pressure wave came with it.
“Iris,” hissed Stefan, as he grabbed her arm forcefully, “This is bad, Iris, It’s her. She’s coming. It’s the Red Wolf.”
Iris face showed a flash of panic and she waved everyone back. Her tendrilled tattoo and eyes were now in full-fledged display. She was calling on all of her powers. Forming a bright ball of light in her hands, she began to craft it into a larger globe and pointed it toward the red column.
All of them took several steps to back from the circle, all except Samantha.
Iris called out to Sam to move back but the young woman just looked calmly at Iris. Despite Iris’s visual warning, Sam’s expression was one of complete serenity. Samantha reached up and took a lock of her long hair and twirled it in her fingers towards Iris. A little smile crossed her lips and she tipped her head to direct Iris’ gaze looked back toward Michael and Alec.
Alec reached down and took the sword from Michael’s hand, “Thank you, Michael.” He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, “You’ve done everything I’ve asked of you.”
He looked at the group of friends gathered around the circle, “Far better than I ever would have imagined. And,” looking back at the young man, he added, “you never gave up. I’m very proud of you. From this day forward, it’s all up to you.”
Michael nodded, “Thank you, Alec. I know that now.” Blinking back tears, he hoisted the shield up for Alec, but the sorcerer pushed it back to Michael, “No, I won’t need this,” and he winked at Michael, “I’m not going to defend myself today. Go back and be with Samantha. Whatever happens, you are in charge of your life now.”
Michael walked slowly back out of the circle and stood by Samantha’s side. Alec nodded to them and then turned to Iris and Stefan and acknowledged Stefan’s alarmed look with a grin. He twirled his sword around in an intricate move and it spun around and balanced on the tip of his finger. A trickle of light began to spiral down from the ceiling. It was red. Blood red.
The wizard flipped the sword again and held it lightly by the pommel. He took a deep breath as the crimson light began to swirl wildly.
It paused briefly then flared and shot into the floor with a deafening crack.
“Alec!” Stefan cried out, “It’s Elin, she’s coming. The Red Wolf is...”
As Alec swung the blade of the sword around and grasp the handle with both hands, as a blinding cascade of red light exploded from the ceiling in a single column. Like water, the light fell in a deluge and scattered across the floor obliterating the protection circle and engulfing the feet of the spectators as they gasped in shock.
Another figure now stood in place of the light. Tall, shrouded by a hood, a gloved hand reached up and drew back the hood to reveal a woman with a bright shock of flowing red hair. Bright green eyes quickly surveyed the room and came to rest on Alec, his sword tipped menacingly in her direction.
She reached down and released a clasp on her robe, the rough trimmed fur falling away to display a long elegantly styled gown beneath it. A long necklace trailed from her graceful neck a jeweled chain with five curved glass amulets on it arranged in a series. They glimmered quietly against her pale skin.
“Like Anni’s,” Katie blurted out, which earned her a disapproving look for the woman causing her to shrink back behind Parker.
The woman took a step forward and the robe opened further revealing a long sword at her hip.
“Sorcerer!” she called out loudly in a strong voice. She looked around the room as if to acknowledge the rest of the participants, “Is this your army?” Her sarcastic tone was unmistakable even with the accent.
“They are, Witch,” Alec shot back, “And a very formidable one as well” He looked back and smiled at them, then looked back at his opponent, “But I will not need them today.” He looked at Stefan specifically, “They will not participate in this contest.”
He again spun his sword around in an arc and pointed the gleaming blade it at her. “I’m all you need today.”
Elin reached down and slowly drew the sword out of its jeweled leather scabbard. It made an ugly sawing sound as the blade rubbed against the metal rings. She leveled it at him. “Mine’s bigger than yours.” she said as the blade flashed in the lights. Alec just shrugged, the corner of his mouth tilted upward slightly.
Katie put her hand to her mouth, “I can’t, I can’t watch this.” She turned away from the spectacle.
“Shit,” Iris drew her fists together and began to generate a ball of light between her fingers. The intensity of the glow in her shaking hands began to whine like a revving turbine. The tendrils of her tattoos moved down her arms and enveloped her fingers.
She heard Sam whisper her name, “Iris,” She looked at Sam and again, she was still twirling a lock of her hair in her fingers and she nodded toward Elin.
Iris looked perplexed as Sam just kept smiling but suddenly, it was too late to react.
Elin threw her arm to the side to sweep the rest of her robe to the side and as she freed herself from the confines of the robe, twisted and came forward with both hands on her sword in an overhead downward slashing arc.
Despite his earlier bravado, t
he move caught Alec by surprise. He could only stoop lower and brought his sword upwards to deflect the assault with a defensive move. If he missed, she would certainly strike a killing blow. In slow motion, the blades came closer and closer to each other, finally connecting in a crack of light that exploded in a chrysanthemum burst.
The light streams froze in the air around the combatants. The spectators’ faces were a mix of shock, horror and surprise.
All, except for Samantha.
The flash of light dissipated, and their eyes adjusted.
The swords were gone.
Elin had Alec down on his knee as she knelt over him. Her long red hair cascading off her shoulders. Regardless of the pain in her eyes, Iris recognized the pose instantly. “Damn,” she whispered under her breath.
Alec held Elin’s shoulder in his hands. Elin held Alec’s face with her hands.
Elin smiled, then leaned down and kissed him hard.
“Like that,” Sam said wistfully as she reached for Michael’s hand, “I want to love like that.”
Chapter 54
It had been almost two weeks since Annika had returned home and, truth be told, there were some adjustments that needed to be made as the exhilaration of witches and wizards gave way to the groups new way of looking at normal mortal life.
School continued. Mac and Allie made up a whopper of a story as to how several thousand dollars’ worth of new media equipment suddenly ended up in the Tech department inventory. Something about an old geeky uncle.
Iris was at her salon when she received a text from Stefan about a delivery at her house. He wouldn’t tell her what it was. A minute later, another text,
“Get everyone together for a meeting, soon as you can.”
She responded, “Everything ok?”
She smiled at the “Wonderful” response and sent a follow up text to get everyone together. The responses were immediate, and they would meet at her house at seven on the dot.
Iris ran late at the salon and pulled into the driveway just minutes before the rest were scheduled to arrive. She rushed up the front steps not knowing what to expect. Stefan met her in the entryway with a grin on his face. He was quite excited.
“A delivery from Alec,” he said as he walked her into the living room and watched her jaw drop, “Oh my God, Stefan, I can’t believe he did this.”
She looked at the two paintings from Alec’s apartment placed side by side against the living room wall. The subject matter was now far more personal, “Look at them,” she said breathlessly, “Look how,” she sighed, “how hot that is.”
She gave his butt a little squeeze just as Samantha and Michael walked in behind them, “Well hi, guys,” Iris laughed, “Great timing as usual.”
Sam grinned, “Parker and Katie are right behind us an.. Oh my God,” as she saw the artwork behind them. She looked at Iris with a knowing sultry look, “I know right? Katie will freak out.” Sam looked closely at the photos, “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. I thought it looked a little like Alec, but it was so out of context until Elin arrived. It connects now on so many different levels.”
Katie’s voice piped up behind them, “Yep, for wizard porn, it certainly does, doesn’t it?” she gave Iris a hug.
Parker couldn’t let it pass without comment, “Hey, this could get good, here. Maybe you should make copies.”
Stefan just stood there with a goofy grin on his face, “There’s something else, something for all of us. It’s in the dining room.”
As they joined him around the table, Stefan had set out a round of beer for everyone and next to the tray sat a well-travelled cardboard box. He made sure everyone had a beverage before he said anything.
“As you know, Alec and Elin left for Europe yesterday and he made a point of making sure we were all together for this.”
Iris looked at the broken tape seal on the top of the box, “You peeked, didn’t you?”
Stefan didn’t hesitate, “Ya, absolutely.”
Michael looked playfully concerned, “If it’s full of odd metal pieces, Stefan, I’m not sure I can go through this again.” The others laughed but Parker agreed with Michael, “Yeah, I’m with him.” He reached over and pulled Katie’s chair closer to him, “Not that I minded the outcome, however.”
Stefan laughed as he reached over the top of the box and popped the flaps up, “No, no more battle shields to be made.” He reached inside and brought out a very large and very old book. There were several bright plastic flags marking specific pages in the book. “I don’t know where he got it, but this is very old and,” he continued, “since it’s in Norwegian, I’ll translate. But first, look at this.”
He rotated the book towards the others so they could see more clearly. It was a copy of a very detailed lithograph carving dated from the 11th century. It depicted a young woman with a sword pointed toward the heavens. A disk of light rays shining down from above her. Her foot firmly planted on a shield.
“Interesting, isn’t it?” he said.
“Very,” Iris replied, “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”
Samantha and Katie got caught up in the possibilities and just sat there grinning.
Stefan just cocked an eyebrow and continued, “look closely at the title. You don’t need to read Norwegian to understand it.”
Iris looked closely at the text. In the middle of a lot of Norwegian, two words stood out to her, Dronning Annika, “Oh, my God, Stefan, is this real? It’s really her?”
“It is. But it gets better, listen to this,” he flipped to another one of the tabbed sections a few pages further. “Following years of peace, Annika’s reign came to an abrupt end when her husband was killed in battle and she was forced to flee her kingdom with her children.”
Samantha looked up suddenly, “Does it say what her husband’s name was?” Stefan didn’t answer other than to throw a quick wink at Sam without Iris seeing it.
He flipped to another page and continued to read, “They fled to the Hebrides Islands.”
“Where is that?” asked Katie.
“It’s a group of islands off the coast of northern Scotland.” Iris said.
Katie looked surprised, “I sucked at geography,” she quipped, “How do you know that?”
“Um, McKinnon, Katie?” Iris teased gently, “You know that. My ancestors lived in northern Scotland and, actually,” she scratched her head absently, “a branch of my family tree hails from those islands. That’s pretty cool.”
Michael spoke up, “Another interesting coincidence, isn’t it?” Iris just downplayed the question, “Yeah, but I’m sure that’s all it is. I’ll bet Alec got a kick out of this.”
She took another swig of her beer as Stefan just sat there watching her. He seemed to be waiting for her. Samantha noticed Stefan waiting for Iris and she cleared her throat dramatically, “Ehem,”and pointed at Stefan.
He smiled quietly and tapped the book with his finger. There was one last tab a few more pages into the massive book. “I’ve seen a few of these books before. This is like a royal Who’s Who in the social registry of Norway. There’s a lot of history in these things.” He opened the book to the last marker and pushed it towards Iris, “This part is sort of a family tree summary of the region.
He pointed to a name toward the bottom of the page, Sam, Katie and Iris all leaned in together to look at it. This part was written in English.
“Oh my God.” Iris gasped. “Anni had three children with Gunnar. Oh, Sam” she exclaimed, “you were right. Shit, I’m gonna cry.”
She traced her fingers over the old parchment, her hand was trembling, “First born son, Michael,” Parker put his hand in the air to Michael, “Dude, you’re a royal inspiration, up high,” as they clapped their hands together.
Iris continued, her voice was shaky, “Then, two daughters, Samantha and Katherine.”
Katie blinked, her eyes shining, “I’ll bet she went by Katie, right?” “Yeah,” Sam joked, “until she got in trouble, then
it was the full name.”
“That is so amazing, she left a legacy.” Iris mused. Stefan smiled “It’s interesting that the name Samantha is actually Hebrew, one of its meanings is flower. It’s not a Norse name at all.”
Iris laughed, “Of course, only you would know that, right.”
Stefan grinned, “Yeah, I have a thing for sturdy flowers.” He moved closer to Iris and he pushed the book toward her as he did, Sam began to smile as Stefan took his fingers and began to turn the page over.
“The lineage continued, just a little further,” he said as he clasped her hand in his,
“A daughter,” his eyes were brimming, “Her name was Iris.”
The End.
The Red Wolf Diaries
Introduction
It was a long drive. They stopped briefly on the way to Helena to visit the mysterious Tizer dolmen just south of the city.
Stefan walked up the rugged trail and just stood and stared at the unusual rock monument. “It’s nothing like the pictures. This is nuts.” He looked up at the cap stone that set up on top of the twin granite spires, “That’s like forty feet in the air,” he marveled, “How is that possible?”
“More like fifty,” Iris took his hand and led him around the back of the rock sculpture, a shorter third spire leaned against the main columns forming small cave. “Come in here with me,” and she tugged on his arm.
They stepped under the enclosure and it got very quiet. “Hey, I like the privacy,” Stefan grinned and he leaned in to kiss Iris. To his surprise, she put her hands to hold him back, “No, Stef, not in here. It wouldn’t be right. This is much more than a pile of rocks.”
She reached in her backpack and brought out two small crystals and held them in front her. Even in the darkened cave, one of them seemed to be producing a bit of light on its own.