by Starr West
In the light of the moon, something else moved, a shadow, tall like a man.
“Phoenix?”
“If only life was so predictable,” the woman’s voice sliced the air. Ice ran through my veins. Even in the darkness, I knew it was Volante who stood before me. Evil twisted her face as she smiled. Tears spilled from my eyes and ran down my cheeks. Now, it was hopeless.
“Don’t be afraid, Psyche. I will not let you suffer, we are connected after all. Your blood flows through my veins, don’t you remember?”
“How could I forget!” Memories flooded my mind and I felt a new type of hatred growing inside me.
“I had hoped the poppy and datura powders would save your mind. It was never my intention to kill you, though I am most surprised you lived. Now you leave me with little choice.”
“What do you want from me? I can’t really be worth all this trouble?”
“Ah, you really don’t know, do you? But you should, you have so much I want, you have everything. Don’t you understand, Psyche?”
I shook my head, I didn’t want to respond, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Your magick is new and it’s linked to the living energy in a unique way. You will give me something I have needed for a long time. With your gift, I can renew myself without the need for pathetic humans. Finally, I will have the power I deserve.” She took a step closer, but didn’t enter the circle.
“There was a time when I could do anything, see everything, hear everything. I could cause death with a thought and claim a soul’s energy just by entering a room. But those days are long gone, so now I am forced to…” she paused as Phoenix entered the clearing and stood behind me.
“Ah the boy who rose from the ashes, still attempting to be the hero, I see.”
Phoenix didn’t respond to her taunts, but reached out and pulled me closer to him. The smell of blood was heavy in the air and I tasted the coppery bitterness in the back of my throat.
“Your grandmother did well to unbind you. I saw it when I took your energy and drank your blood. I knew that I couldn’t remove the binding without knowing more. Your mother was clever and wise, it seems. I did offer her greatness in exchange for you. Power, money, success, even eternal life, but she turned it down. She too was young and foolish and filled with love. Such a waste…” she said as she stepped into the circle and closed the space between us.
The moonlight was more subdued within the circle as if it recoiled from her perverted evil, except for the tear-shaped stone that hung around her neck, which sparkled in the light and seemed to pulse with a life of its own. I reached to touch my stone and felt it pulse too, but I already knew it had a life of its own.
As soon as I touched the stone, the edge of my vision wavered and changed and Volante’s aura came into view. Her aura hugged her like a cloak of death and was black and dense and outlined in blood-red that pulsed in rhythm to the ruby-coloured stone.
“You’re a twisted vampire witch and there is nothing to understand.” I said as I noticed a pair of red eyes appear at her side.
“Is that what you think of me? I’m so disappointed. I thought you were far more creative than that. I am much more than a vampire or even a witch, though I do hate labels, they’re so limiting.” Volante mumbled something and stepped into the centre of the circle. A tiny blue light caught the edge of my vision and the glow became a mist that floated above our heads. Volante seemed oblivious to the new arrival as she focused on me and continued with her tirade. “Come now, enter the circle so we can end this. I am so tired of childish games.”
“Don’t go into the circle, she really does have the power to destroy you,” Phoenix warned me as he reached out and held my shoulder. If she really had the power, she would have killed me already. I still didn’t understand the power of my gift, but somehow, I knew that she couldn’t destroy me anymore.
“She is the Gleaner, we have to get away from here! She will kill you to take your magick.” he said, his voice was urgent but I sensed no fear quavering around the edges.
“So you do remember.” She spoke to Phoenix, but never shifted her gaze from me. “I was once called the Gleaner, although those were very different times. I am pleased you have those memories. It’s true - I was and still am the Gleaner. I collect the magick from those who waste its power and don’t see the potential of their gift.”
“You’re nothing more than a murderer who steals what belongs to others and perverts goodness with your sick and twisted mind,” Phoenix said as he reached out and put his arm around my shoulder.
“I wondered what memories were still in that feeble mind of yours. Do you also carry the nightmares of the flames that burned your soul? Or is the knowledge that your true love burnt by your side that’s more painful?” She flung her head back and laughed.
Somewhere in my memory, I recalled something about a Gleaner, but I knew nothing about the flames that caused Phoenix to tense and made his heart beat louder in his chest. But her ranting had created a diversion and perhaps this was our chance to escape. I took a step back…
“Stop!” Her ranting ceased and her rage returned. I froze. “Now where is the stone?”
The stone? How could she know about the stone?
A tiny voice entered my mind –Do not part with the stone.
“Your blood gave me the vision as surely as if it were my own. But you don’t understand the importance of it because you are blinded by your own stupidity, just like your mother. Such things are wasted on youth.”
“If you know everything, then why ask me?”
“Give. Me. The. Stone!” she screamed, piercing my eardrums with her rage.
“Get it yourself!” The stone hung around my neck in a leather pouch. She must have known. The bag was too large to conceal, so why didn’t she come and take it? Bravery didn’t come naturally and my voice faltered in front of the woman who had once reduced me to a whimpering mess and left me to die, but I would give her nothing today, at least not while I lived.
Call to the earth.
“I will not ask you again, give me the stone, and then offer me your gift. Or I will take the stone and your gift and leave you as food for the dogs.”
“Neither is mine to give,” I said and I understood the truth of this for the first time. I was a custodian, a caretaker, nothing more. I didn’t own the stone or the gift, “Even if they were mine, I wouldn’t give them to you.”
In the relative safety of her circle, Volante raised her hands towards the sky and began chanting in a language that I didn’t understand. She pointed her finger at Phoenix and I saw the silver blade on her little finger glint in the light. With a single swipe, she sliced the air and I heard a gasp from his lips as he fell to his knees. Blood trickled down his chest. Phoenix was already covered in blood and I watched the red flow of fresh blood seep and mingle with a deeper red from previous injuries as well as the black demons’ blood that covered him.
I took a deep breath and turned to face the witch. I needed energy and knew the earth would supply my needs. I extended my arms a little and spread my fingers, trying to absorb as much energy as I could. “Help me,” I whispered to the earth.
I could feel the power of my gift seeping into my veins and felt the power pulsate through me. Some came from the earth and the air, but most flowed directly from the stone. The energy was pure as always. But creeping in at the edge of this, I could sense evil and rage. I could feel the malice and jealousy that drove Volante, I knew what she wanted. But it wasn’t hers to take and I would not be the one to give her this power. The evil was trying to force its way into the stream that flowed into me, but it contained a sickness that I knew would contaminate my soul.
Her chanting increased and a new intensity filled her eyes. She carefully sliced through the air again and as her head tilted, I felt a trickle of warm blood. I looked down and saw a fine red line slashed along my forearm.
Call to the earth. The voice in my head grew louder.
Volante
raised her arms and beckoned me and I felt myself taking steps into her circle. Against my will, I took another step. She may not have had a link to the energy of the earth, but she was able to tap into a dark energy that I could sense, but could not control or resist.
“Pathetic child,” she spat.
Phoenix called to me, but his voice was faint and seemed so far away.
“Now child, give me the stone,” she reached out and took my bloody arm. I watched as the blood seeped through the grip of her fingers.
Call to the earth! Protect yourself!
I felt the energy drain from me, it was a familiar sensation and I was drawn back to a time where I had no power and no understanding. As I dropped to my knees and began to shake, I heard Phoenix call. He was moving around the circle, scrubbing the black crystals away with his foot.
Call to the earth!
“Psyche, get up. You have to fight! You have to protect yourself.”
The pressure that held me began to loosen its grip as the circle that restrained me was destroyed. I pulled my arm free and finally called to the earth. Volante looked confused as the energy evaporated and the circle became nothing more than a clear still night.
“No!” she screamed, she realised that Phoenix was still alive and destroying her circle. The ruby around her neck pulsed with renewed life and she reached toward the sky and chanted again.
Get up! Call to the earth!
I stood, I was confused, but I understood the witch now and I knew that I needed to listen to Persephone’s voice. I called to the earth again and this time I gave no resistance.
Raising my hands, I looked at Volante, who was still chanting. “Hey witch!” I screamed, “Even if I gave you my gift, it wouldn’t last. Your soul would only destroy it; light cannot live in complete darkness.”
The rage rose in her like lava on the verge of eruption. “But I can give you a taste of the power, if you like,” I added. She smiled and her tongue quivered across her lips. I knew what she thought and it sickened me. Now I’d had enough of her games. I created an orb of energy in the palm of my hand and held it there as its intensity grew and it throbbed with life. I focused my anger. I knew it was wrong to use the energy this way, but it was all I had. With a flick of my wrist, I took aim and released the full force of my power. I was still connected when it hit its mark and I felt the sickening emotion that drove her. The orb of energy repelled her body and she was driven back, landing with a nauseating, cracking thud! that shattered the emptiness of the night. There was silence and I thought she was dead.
Phoenix looked pale, but the blood seemed to have slowed and I was no longer afraid that he would die. A loud scream pierced the air and the witch ran toward me. I spun and threw her to the ground with the energy and anger that was bordering on the same rage that flowed through her. I pushed the energy through me and held her to the ground. I could see in her eyes that I constricted her breath. It was the same as she had done to me, but I couldn’t stop. Trickles of blood ran from her temple and flowed to the ground.
“Stop Psyche, you can’t kill her, it would make you no better than she is.”
Yes… you must stop… Do not be responsible for taking this life.
The anger bubbled inside me and I knew what I had to do. I searched my mind for the right words.
“By the blood you are bound, by your flesh you are bound. …”
Yes child, stop now. She is done and bound for tonight. Fate has other ways of dealing with this. Don’t leave here with her blood on your hands.
She was right. Phoenix was right. But I couldn’t stop, I wanted to squeeze every last breath of life from her. And then I felt a gentle pulse from the stone that hung around my neck and a wash of calmness engulfed me. I released my hold and saw that she was unconscious, barely breathing, but still alive. Her ruby stone pulsed slowly.
“Come on, let’s go,” Phoenix said as he reached out and took my hand.
“This is not over,” she suddenly said. I thought she was unconscious. “You think a simple binding will hold me? You are more foolish than I thought and I am more powerful than you can imagine.”
“Well, then get up so we can finish this now.”
“Yes, that would suit you, now that you have tasted the darkness. The evil is sweet on your lips. I can almost smell it on your breath. You felt it didn’t you? You tapped the darkness and it felt good. Imagine what you could do with all that power. Embrace it, change your destiny, make it your choice.”
Don’t listen to her, she is wrong.
She began chanting again.
“Oh, stick a sock in it, bitch!”
This time I walked away and didn’t turn as her chanting continued or when I heard my name called in the night. As we walked away from the clearing and Volante’s bound body, I heard a gentle rustle in the grass beside me.
“Shhh, I have to get the gun,” Phoenix whispered. He let go of my hand and disappeared into the night. I had forgotten about the hellhound that stood beside Volante, but there was something in the grass beside me. I could hear the gentle rustle of the spear grass in the still night. The hunter... Just like my dream. I realised now the dream began as this night ended.
I didn’t look for a place to hide. I already knew there was none. Instead, I stood and called to the energy, allowing it to flow. I backed away from the predator. Slow, sure steps distanced me from the low growling that rumbled in the night. The eyes emerged, blood-red, framed in black. This was the moment that I would fall, scream, and then Phoenix would appear. I took a deep breath and another step.
But I didn’t fall and I didn’t scream. As the beast prepared to lunge, I raised my arms, and with a flick of my wrist, the beast flew through the air just as the sound of a gunshot ricocheted through the night. “Phoenix?” I breathed.
He reached down from the rock behind me and touched my shoulder. “I’m here,” he said.
~~~
We sat beside the fire, waiting for dawn. I was so very thankful that Phoenix had survived. I held his hand and leaned against his chest. I never wanted to let him go. If there were ever any doubt, it dissolved into the night. I knew that he was my life and I was his.
Phoenix was covered in blood. Red blood seeped into the black stain of the beasts and soaked his shirt. I pressed against the open wounds with trembling hands until the bleeding stopped. In the mellow light of the fire, it was difficult to see if the ragged gash would need stitching.
At dawn, we stood on the bank of the creek and washed the blood away. We were cautious in the light of day, but there was no sign of Volante or the beast. Phoenix assured me that he would need no stitches and already the wounds appeared to be healing and less angry than they were the previous night.
We left Emma Creek and the rotting carcases behind us and set off on the long journey home. I knew it would take us days, even without Phoenix’s injuries. But a truth was revealed in the dream I had on the banks of Emma Creek, before the attacked. I had not told Phoenix yet. But we only had two days to get home.
~~~
Pastel shades of pink streaked the sky, but the sun still hadn’t risen. The dew was heavy and the spring morning smelled fresh. Tall spear grass bowed and glistened. It made walking hard and soaked our clothes within minutes.
“They’ve had early rain,” observed Phoenix “but the weather isn’t as predictable as it used to be.”
He was right. Ever since I arrived, I’d heard people say “Well, we don’t get rain at this time of year,” or “It’s too late for storms,” or “Isn’t it a cold winter?” The weather was becoming as unpredictable as our lives.
“What’s that?” I pointed to something moving and squinted into the rising sun.
“Maybe a horse. It’s hard to tell.”
Within minutes, a horse strode toward us and on its back sat a rider. But it was no surprise attack; the woman waved as soon as she realised we’d seen her and started speaking long before she dismounted.
“Hi, I’m Fallon
Kennedy. I live out here. Are you two lost or just passin’ through?”
We introduced ourselves and discovered that Fallon had heard the gunshots during the night.
“You don’t normally get gunfire where there are no people,” she said. She didn’t press us about what happened, just paused a little and kept on talking.
Fallon was tall and thin. Her aged face was etched with hard work and happiness. It was a face you could trust. She lived on a cattle station about half a mile east, she said, and invited us for breakfast. The homestead was much closer than I expected and we arrived to the smell of baking and fresh coffee.
“I hope ya don’t mind, but it’s a simple fare these days. Salt biscuits and coffee, but it keeps me going for a few hours.”
Salt biscuits were scones rolled in coarse salt before they were baked. Most of it fell off, but the pieces that remained were hard and crunched like sand in my mouth before dissolving. They were pretty good really, and the salt added flavour when there was nothing else.
Fallon lived alone.
“Still maintain the fences and water the cattle even though there’s no point.”
“So you live alone?” I said.
“Haven’t seen anyone in months. The boys go home early for Christmas every year and come back after the wet.” The boys were the station hands who lived with Fallon most of the year and worked the cattle. They weren’t really her family, but they seemed to substitute for her children, who lived in the city. I could sense her loss.
“You could stay the night, rest up and be off tomorrow.”
“We’d love to, but really we should get going,” I said. “We have a long way to go and we need to be home tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I still hadn’t broken the news to Phoenix, so I just shrugged when he questioned it.
“Can you ride a horse? I have twenty good horses in the east paddock. Can’t ride them all. You can take your pick. A good horse will travel twenty miles in a day and still more if you’ve a mind to push him. You could be home by dinnertime tomorrow.”