Tapestry of Worlds : Part One - The White Raven Awakens

by Hadley Thorne

  “And that, Darkfire, is why I want to help you,” the golden elf insisted. “You are going to need support, and I can get that for you.”

  Erika stared into his eyes as the colors of his iris deepened and separated into turquoise, teal, and gold. “You didn’t even know my name two days ago, and now this. Why should I believe you?

  “Elves don’t lie,” he told her curtly, “These are the things I can teach you, Darkfire. You need someone to educate you on the different cultures, races, and traditions.” His handsome face was sincere, but there was a nagging sense of something more she could not quite read in his eyes. “These are things your pet Wolf won't know.”

  Erika balked for a moment. Her pet Wolf? She would never guess to assume Felix was her pet anything. Too much treachery lies within him. However, the Count was right about something - she had never been able to lie, comfortably, or well. She had always laughed it off, believing she was too honest for her own good, but the truth was she could almost always tell when someone else was lying and had just assumed the same was true with other people should she lie. So, she just did not. Sighing to herself, she realized at least that was until she got around people who knew their way around magic. The art of deception, illusion, magic, in many ways, it was the same. “Maybe you are right, Count Andreas,” Erika murmured. She knew she had to talk with Ransom before another person joined her already complicated situation further. “How long will you be at Fort Rosalie?”

  Felix, Velvet, and Buck joined them before the Count could respond, and with them, Erika breathed more easily. Things were moving too fast, and she needed to take some time and gather her thoughts. Tomorrow Felix would take her to the James Farm, and there she would wait for Ransom and talk things over with her trusted friends.

  Until that moment, Erika had not realized she was not sure what side of the fence Velvet stood on anymore. All this time, she had been withholding what seemed to be important information from them about her secret life with the vampires. In fact, Velvet had kept all the circle on the outside of knowing who she really was while the rest of them were sharing everything. At least that is what Erika had believed up until the last two days… That they all had shared everything. Now it seemed like nothing but lies. First, the Professor keeping great secrets from them about their heritage and now Velvet.

  Despite the elation the dancing had brought her, Erika now felt overwhelmed with loneliness and despair. Subconsciously she reached out for Felix’s arm - needing the connection with someone who seemed to be on her side. His presence immediately grew more feral at her touch, more instinctually protective as he shifted to move closer to her. He seemed to misinterpret her action as though the Count had done something untoward and moved to stand between them. Felix turned his back to her, seemingly blocking her and glowering at the handsome elf. He moved too close to the Count, but not close enough to touch.

  “Count Elcmar, we have not officially met, but perhaps you remember me from the Battle of Mag Tuired. I saw you there on your golden steed when the fields ran red with Fomorian blood.” There was no malice in Felix’s voice, but it slid into darkness as he continued, “In those times, I was known by the Tuatha as Arawak Tivaci of the Neenah, but the Fomorians called me Kinslayer.” His voice trailed off, as his dark eyes began to glower like embers in a fire while he looked deep into the Counts. “These days, I am called Felix Soul-Eater. Would you like to know why?” His voice had taken on a dark timbre, low and gruff. Afraid of what was about to happen, Erika reached out to touch his arm.

  Stepping back, the wildness within him quelled, Felix paused, “Some would call me the devil, but there is one thing that prevents evil from possessing me.” Taking a deep breath, he looked at her softly before returning his attention to Andreas. “Count Elcmar, I am oathbound to this one soul and have crossed the spirals of time to keep her safe. Now when I find her, she is as she stands here before you - ignorant of her abilities, her heritage, her powers. Robbed of her Fylgjur, and with her enemies pounding at the gate. Your assistance in her tutelage and in networking within the other courts would be most... welcomed.”

  Count Andreas’s face betrayed nothing of his feelings as he gave a small nod, “Agreed, Soul-Eater.”

  Velvet and Buck stood motionless, confused, yet uncomfortable by the exchange. Buck was the first to break the silence, “Anything me and the boys can do, you can count on us. Erika is a part of our family.” He looked at his wife, whose eyes were completely black now, “I cannot speak for Velvet - her blood ties her to her tribe and her Queen. And of course, there is Roxi.”

  Erika had not thought Roxi’s mental state might complicate Velvet or Buck’s ability to come with them when they left tomorrow. She had just foolishly assumed they would. Hesitantly, she looked to see if her friend would add anything to her husband’s statement. A blood tear slid down Velvet’s bone-white cheek, for once she had nothing to say.

  “It is best for all of us if Velvet and you stay here, Buck,” Erika said calmly. “Felix has worked to get the Queen as an ally. Not to mention, I will need a trusted friend who has influence with the court should something happen with Preach and this Black Queen. I mean, I am still a little dubious, but I think we all can feel a shift in the flows and know something is on the horizon.”

  Velvet turned her black eyes to Erika and said, “Wren came to me in a waking dream this morning, Erika. She was weaving a tapestry out of a spider web created from lies and of fire. She showed me the time when all of us girls were sitting on a blanket in the pasture at Becca’s grandparents having a picnic. You remember the time that all their horses just came up and grazed all around us. It was such a beautiful memory. Wren told me I would not see times like that again - that this was the old way. The path of the new was perilous, and that there was a storm coming. She showed me the future then - where the earth was black, and secrets burned like border fires, and there was something about humming wires, like maybe the internet. I do not really know. But when I asked what could be done, she told me to look for the White Raven. She said that it flies between this world and the next, carrying messages on the storm's winds.” Turning towards her, Velvet put her arms around Erika and embraced her in a tight hug, “You are the White Raven, E.” Pulling her tight, she whispered, “Never doubt that I will always have your back.”

  Chapter 34

  July 10, 2020

  The following morning Erika awoke and immediately started getting ready to leave. After she showered and dressed for the ride to the James’ Farm, she recalled Velvet’s words, “You are the White Raven.” She was dressed comfortably in a pair of black, ripped jeans shorts and a heather grey T-shirt. Hurriedly she put on the pair of flip flops, grabbed her bag, and the hang-up stuff, and went to take it downstairs to the truck. She found the truck unlocked, the saloon closed, and Felix still sleeping. It was Sunday morning, and she was ready to go.

  Erika had finished loading up her stuff into the little truck when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. “Felix!” She greeted him with a big silly grin.

  “Excited?” he asked as he tossed his pack into the back of the truck.

  “Yes,” she told him, eyes sparkling, “I can’t wait to see everyone and for you to meet them all. You are going to love them.”

  Felix frowned at her, “I don’t know. Your friend Velvet…” He let the words trail off.

  “Yeah, I know, Velvet is, well Velvet. She takes a while to warm up to most people. This whole vampire thing is just making it take longer, I guess.” Erika told him as she opened the door and climbed into the old truck. “Everyone else is much more laid back.” She seemed to reconsider her statement and gave him a look. “Well, everyone but Z. He can be an ass, especially around other alpha male types. And he is best friends with Ransom… And well… Ransom… Just don’t let him know you are my… hunter.” Shutting the door with a loud thud, she started to roll down the window, “Yeah, I wouldn’t mention any of that stuff about how you feel about me either.”


  Felix grunted in response as he turned the key over in the old truck and reached over to turn the radio on. Erika frowned at him but was determined to make the most of this trip home. Yeah, she knew she was not going ‘home’ home, but she would be with the only family she had left, and they were her home.

  She noticed that they were taking a different route than they had driven in on and were heading into Fort Rosalie. Erika gave him a questioning look.

  “Gas,” Felix told her, indicating the gage was on E. “I don’t want to get out on the Backbone, and we run out. The Brood was telling me that there have been some strange disappearances happening on it.”

  “Oh,” she asked, perking up. “That sounds mysterious.” She leaned in towards him, her body language indicated she wanted to hear more with all the eagerness of a ten-year-old wanting to hear ghost stories.

  He sighed and cast her a bored look. “A few reports have come in that people have been out hiking, and when the person they are with stops to tie a shoe or take a drink of water, or whatever, when they look back their companion has vanished. What is really strange is Bloodhounds refuse to track the scent.”

  “The dogs won’t track?” she asked. “Those dogs live to do that work.” She felt a shiver run up her spine, “For them not to track, there has to be absolutely no scent.”

  “Yeah, the SAR teams are really unhinged by it. The first few times it happened people suspected foul play, but there have been more than twenty cases reported in the last few weeks,” Felix replied. “There are whispers it’s the same cult group targeting police, but there are just ordinary folks no connection. And Brother Timothy and the Brotherhood did not mention this as being a part of their plan so that leaves them out.”

  Erika narrowed her eyes, “Yeah, I meant to ask you about that cult and the police. Is that Preach and his people?”

  “Yes. It is all part of the Black Queen’s plan. If you have listened to the news in the last few years – all the fake news is a part of her grand plan to usher in the Corruption. If people no longer trust the government, the police, the military her job is easy.

  Erika sat in silence, her mood plummeting with the realization of how broad the Black Queen’s scope of influence was. When Felix pulled into the gas station, he handed her a surgical mask and some money, “Go get some drinks and a bag of ice and whatever you want to eat.”

  Grumbling, Erika pulled her long black hair back into a ponytail and put the mask on. Taking the money, she hopped out of the truck and wandered into the store. After snagging the energy drinks and bottled water, Erika was in the middle of perusing the candy aisle for her favorite candy, the elusive Willy Wonka Wacky Wafers when two men caught her eye. They were typical rednecks standing on the beer aisle talking about going alligator hunting. The heavier of the two was wearing a cap with the stars and bars, a pair of tattered jeans, and a Chimneyville University t-shirt, which in itself was not out of the norm, but what was, was the fact she could see the man’s shadow trying to pull away from himself. Erika knew it was not tangible and that she was the only one who could see it, but it was disturbing. Shaking, she hurriedly made her way to the counter to check out. She kept an eye on the two men who were now standing behind her in line with their beer.

  Dropping her shields, she focused her third eye on the two men to check their auras and look at their Fylgja’s. The man with the parasitic shadow’s fylgja was a huge hog. She was sickened to see it was rotting from the inside out. His companion’s squirrel fylgja had scurried up the smaller man’s shoulder, where it perched, looking terrified.

  Feeling as worried as the squirrel, Erika grabbed the bag, telling the cashier, “Keep the change,” as she walked hurriedly to the door. She was pushing the pull door when she heard one of them call her, “Ma’am, excuse me, ma’am.”

  Terrified, she turned around as the small man approached her, “Your man wouldn’t be too happy if you forgot this.” He told her, referring to the bag of ice she had left on the counter.

  “Doh,” she replied, hitting her head for effect. “Thanks for the save. Guess I am just channeling my inner blonde today.” He laughed with her. After a second, she told him, “It is a bad day for gator hunting, you should go home,” and quickly took the bag of ice and walked to the truck as quick as her lily-white legs would take her before he could respond.

  “Felix,” she called, shaking uncontrollably. ‘I saw one of them.”

  “Get in the truck, Erika,” he told her calmly. He was hurriedly putting the gas pump back and screwing the cap back on.

  “But” she started, but then she looked around, many people had similar shades attached to them. Pulling her shields back firmly into place, she jumped in the truck. Felix started the truck and dropped it into gear, tires squealing as he made haste onto the blacktop.

  Felix slammed his fist into the steering wheel, setting the little horn off as he raged, “Damn Vampires! Dealing with them, I let time get away from us, and now the second wave is going down at dawn, and we don’t have a plan.” I don’t know how I let this much time get away from me.”

  Felix took a deep breath and tried to center. He growled through clenched teeth, “It’s happening faster than I was told it would.”

  “OK, explain,” Erika said in a low, soothing voice, “What is?”

  Swallowing loudly, Felix drank a gulp of the energy drink Erika handed him. “The Black Queen’s plan. She is calling it Operation Ragnarök Gates. The first part of the plan was the White Queen opening the portal. The one that you and your friends were to be sacrificed to.”

  “Obviously that did not go as planned,” Erika said, still petting his shoulder and soothing him.

  He shot her a look before focusing back on the road, “No, but it did let in the Corruption. There seems to be some sort of parasitic drain still allowing the devourers into this realm. You saw how many are in Fort Rosalie, and that is just in the forty-eight hours we were there.”

  Erika’s eyes widened, “The circle was never released.” Sitting up straight in the seat, she began to pat her legs nervously as her memories from that night came flooding back. “The forest guardians came, they killed Jewel, and they closed the portal, but the watchtowers were never released. Devonne, Preach, Rayne, and Jim, all dispersed when everything got chaotic. No one held the circle together.”

  Erika had been looking out the window, lost in her thoughts for the ride's better part. She and Felix had made small talk here and there, but for the most part, each had been caught up in their own thoughts about the current circumstances.

  With her memory returning, Erika now knew that the Bigfoot she had seen in the woods by the Professor's property was one of the same Forest Guardians who had stopped Jewel and closed the portal. She remembered they had taken her with them that night and that she was with them for the week she had been missing. The specifics were still foggy, but she remembered their tree village in the in-between and how they used the trees in the forest as portals between the veil and man's realm. It had occurred to her that it was the hairy giants who had returned the soul jars to them.

  Goddess, she wished she had her cell phone. She could text Millie to bring the jars. As it was, she could only hope that Ransom was able to get in touch with Millie, and she would bring the jars with her to the James ranch.

  Getting the map off the dashboard, Erika unfolded it and reviewed their route. "We need to turn left here and get back on the Devil's Backbone heading north," she told Felix. "It will take longer, but there will be a lot less traffic." Felix shot her a bewildered look. They had only seen one car on the road so far, but almost every person they had seen milling around as they drove through the small towns had a shade attached to them. He knew she was trying to work through this new reality, so he just took the turn back on to the Backbone without arguing about it.

  As they drove north, Erika felt the familiar pull of the massive ley line the Backbone was built on. Reaching out, she tapped the line and shut her eyes. The
blackness of her mind's eye slowly faded, and a glow started that slowly formed the ancient primordial forest that was here before the age of man.

  ✽✽✽

  Dreamtime

  Green moss covered the forest floor. The great tree behemoths limbs were illuminated from behind by rays of sunlight, creating a mosaic or stained-glass look in the canopy overhead. The forest had a surreal, cathedral-like look. Looking down, Erika saw on her feet soft leather moccasins with fringe and a brown doeskin skirt. Her legs looked pale in the fading light as she made her way to a great stone lying underneath the tree canopy.

  As she moved towards the stone, she saw a red fox timidly watching her from the trees' shadow. Startled, Erika recognized Professor Stewardsen's fylgja. Erika clicked her tongue and held her hand out for the fox to smell as she tried to encourage him to join her. Sniffing the air, the rust-red fox approached her cautiously.

  "Grim," she spoke to him in a calm, sing-song voice. "Grim, where is Papa Doc?"

  The fox seemed to understand what she had asked and began to start chittering and hitting her with its nose. Following the little guy, Erika found herself wandering deeper into the woods. As they crossed a small stream, A white-tailed buck raised its head from grazing with two does and a spotted fawn.

  Erika heard a mockingbird in the distance, as the woods got thicker and denser. Grim ran ahead of her, barking at her excitedly. Pulling a branch out her way on the path, Erika ducked underneath and found the Professor laying in what she could only describe as a crystal prism. He was alive but sleeping. "What sort of sorcery is this," she wondered aloud.

  The fox jumped up on top of the prism and watched her with great curiosity as she ran her fingers along (with) the crystal, looking for some sort of edge or latch. There was no opening that she could see. It was just as though he was suspended within the crystal in stasis. "Well, Grim," she asked as she scratched the fox's chin," How do I get him out?"