Catee's Grace

by Keith Holmes

  “Oh, I’m sorry, no, not at all,” Tara apologized.

  “I see why you’re here now,” she muttered as she turned to walk away.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  Tears streamed down Ethan’s face as he sat with a lamb hugged to his lap. Blood decorated his chin and a stream stained the lily-white wool upon the lamb’s neck. Pain filled his heart, sadness for himself, but also in a deep yearning for this lamb to be his daughter, the wood of the pen that he leaned against, his wife’s arms to comfort him. Days ago, quite literally days, he was whistling at passing girls with the boys on the crew; worrying about where lunch was coming from and wondering how long he could stay at the bar after work before Tara started looking for him. Now he was… a monster.

  The world around him was slowly becoming surreal, darkness becoming lighter; smells becoming stronger, and sounds becoming louder. He’d heard Jahleel’s booted feet crunching across the snow from the moment he exited the house. The creaking of the barn door magnified a beam of light that fell across him and Ethan lifted his hand to cast shadow over his eyes. Jahleel held his hand upon his sword, peering at Ethan with wary eyes and hard features.

  “Ethan?” he questioned.

  But Ethan read so much more in the call. Jahleel didn’t want only his attention. He wanted to know that the young father hadn’t transformed completely into a beast.

  “Yeah, Jahleel?” he responded with hurry in his voice, urgency to prove that he was still himself. He could see the tension leave his Vigilant friend’s body.

  “It’s time to go.”

  As Ethan stood, the little lamb in his arms stumbled away. Jahleel canted his head, surprised. Ethan followed the knight's gaze and shrugged.

  “I couldn’t kill it.”

  Jahleel smiled, impressed by the young father's control over a hunger that was all-consuming. Hope returned to his heart.

  “The chantry house is within walking distance. Are you sure you have enough strength? Animal blood won’t sustain you for long.”

  Ethan nodded as he tested his joints. The pain had gone. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  Jahleel doubted. Ethan recognized the knight's apprehension. "Whether I can or not... I don't have a choice," the young father said bluntly. "I need to know Jahleel," Ethan added, "if I don't...," he paused, considering the worst case, "...if I don't make it, promise me you'll save them."

  Jahleel looked into Ethan's red-tinged eyes. He'd never sworn an oath to any creature that had eyes like his, save for promising to end their existence. "By my blood and my blade," Jahleel vowed.

  Ethan nodded as the two left the barn.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  Catee and Sasha were playing a game of Dora the Explorer when two men entered the suite. Sasha stood to greet them; each dressed in thick parkas emblazoned with the word 'SECURITY' in yellow across the backs. They were members of a secret 'goon squad' that the Chantry called upon rarely.

  “You are here to transport the girl?”

  Each man nodded joylessly as they looked to Catee.

  Sasha padded to the little one and knelt by her side. “Catee my dear one? We have to go on a trip for a little while okay?” Her words dripped with sugar.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s not safe here right now,” Sasha explained.

  Catee seemed skeptical. “My daddy be here soon. Him needs me,” she informed Sasha, turning back to her game.

  “Oh… we’ll be back in time for your daddy,” she said resorting to lies in hopes that she’d sway the little girl.

  “No… we wait for Daddy,” Catee insisted. “It can be your turn."

  Sasha had a fair amount of experience with children, her own sister barely older than Catee. And so she decided she'd sweeten the pot. “Are you sure? These men have a police car with lights on it. They want to take us for ice cream. We could get some for your daddy."

  Catee cast a wary glance at the young sorceress. "Okay, but not long," she said, rising to her feet.

  Sasha smiled as the little girl took her hand and guided her to the door.

  ***

  Tara stood in the gathering of women feeling utterly alone when the doors to the chantry were closed with a heavy thud. The room grew silent and the lights began to dim. Joli’s voice lifted above the murmurs as she approached the sacrificial pool, standing at its edge.

  “Sisters," she spoke, “the time has come to welcome the Great Mother.”

  Tara watched as smiles spread across the roomful of faces. All eyes found Joli' as she removed her robes and waded into the pool.

  “Call with me sisters,” she instructed, her back to the gathering as each woman took to her knees in prostration.

  Tara looked on warily, unsure what to do. Finally she lowered to her knees as well as the song began.

  “Great Mother, Dragon’s Bride I call to thee. By thy loving-kindness, by thy gentle mercy, by thy unending might; I open to thee the gates of my body and soul, beckoning thee, come for the hour is late and the watchmen sleep.”

  The pool began to roil. Tara’s eyes widened with wonderment as the Great Mother Claudia began to emerge from its depths. This time there was no obfuscation; she was as Tara had seen her, beautiful, youthful and vibrant. She stood upon the surface of the water and smiled down upon her ‘children’.

  “Blessings upon thee mistresses of creation,” she greeted, her voice carrying with an odd echo, adding thickness to the sound. She spread her arms wide as though offering a hug.

  Tara's head twisted around the room as the white-robed women - seven of them counting Joli' - arose and moved to the Great Mother's side and then returned to their positions of fealty.

  “Is there a sister here willing to accept our gifts? Is there one among us who will give of herself that the rest may see?”

  “There is one,” Joli’ said.

  “Bring her to me,” Claudia answered, watching as Joli’ backed from the pool and the other Priestesses arose. Solemnly they stepped toward Tara.

  "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...," Tara muttered under her breath, lowering her head for the first time as the entourage approached.

  Joli’ knelt before her and took Tara’s chin in her fingertips, gazing into her eyes. The other Priestesses formed a circle around the pair as Joli’ guided Tara to stand.

  “You… will you give your all to your sisters that you may be among them?”

  Tara’s eyes flitted around her as she froze in place. She hadn’t a clue what to say and she was scared to death, chewing nervously at her upper lip as she looked into Joli’s eyes. Finally she nodded, not because she agreed but because she lacked another answer.

  Pity filled Joli's eyes as she guided Tara to her feet and lead the procession back to the edge of the pool.

  Tara stood before Claudia, trying not to tremble. “Show me her beauty,” Claudia commanded.

  With the command one of the Priestesses lifted a gnarly dagger, ornate and bejeweled in silver and diamonds.

  Tara looked on wide-eyed, and then instinct made her take a half-step back. Joli' took her by the hand and leaned in. “Be still. It's fine," she whispered.

  The Priestess with the dagger was a lovely Asian woman. She stood before Tara and admired her for a moment. Then she stepped forward and pressed a dry kiss to the young mother's lips. As their mouths met, the Priestess slipped the dagger beneath the shoulder of her robe and cut it away.

  Tara jumped as the cold steel slipped across her skin.

  “I am beauty,” the Priestess proclaimed before passing the dagger to the next woman.

  In succession each priestess made their way to Tara, one by one offering a kiss and each slicing away at her robes with a different proclamation:

  “I am wisdom.”

  “I am knowledge.”

  “I am love.”

  “I am life.”

  “I am strength.”

  With one final cut, Tara's robes fell into a pool at her ankles.

  Joli' took the dagge
r and then stepped forward, tugging Tara's arm, guiding her into the pool. The young mother's heart was pounding in her chest. Don’t get wet mommy.

  Her daughter’s words rang in her mind, resounding off the walls of her psyche as the sound of a trumpet in a great hall. Tara looked to the pool, holding her ground, then to Joli’ who continued to tug at her hand. Her eyes found that dagger and then she looked down her own nude form. "There's nothing left to cut," she pointed out.

  Joli' stepped from the pool and looked to her as the crowd began to softly chant in a language Tara didn't know. The young mother's head snapped around to the sound. "What are they saying?" she asked.

  "Unworthy," Joli' explained. "Come with me Tara. We're almost through."

  Tara squeezed her eyes shut and steadied herself. Then she opened them and lowered a foot into the pool. Jolie guided her until they were both waist deep in the warm water and then the Priestess stepped forward and wrapped her free hand around the young mother, pressing into her lower back. She leaned in and pressed a tender kiss - hers deeper than the others - to Tara's lips. She guided the young mother's chin to her shoulder, hugging her. Tara could feel the dagger pressed between them.

  "You are tribute," Joli pronounced. "I am death."

  Tara felt the razor tip of that dagger press just below her sternum, biting into her skin. She tried to fight, pushing away but it was too late. She felt the length of the dagger push beneath her ribcage, slicing through her flesh with ease until she felt her heart seize into a painful knot.

  Joli' pressed her lips to Tara's ear. “I’m sorry Tara. Catee will be well cared for.”

  The young mother looked to her, betrayal in her eyes. Then she looked to the dagger's hilt buried inside her covered in her own blood and she started to convulse.

  With a surge of adrenaline she shoved Joli away and thrust her body toward the exit of the pool, but her strength was pouring from her as the blood flowed down the center of her belly. She fell and reached out toward the doors.

  "Catee!" she screamed as darkness overcame her.

  ***

  Sasha guided Catee down the long, darkened hallways of the chantry house. They were nearing the front entrance when Catee broke away with a howl.

  “MOMMY!” she cried, running down the corridor, her eyes half-blinded with tears.

  Sasha's looked on in horror as the child moved straight for the chantry doors. "GET HER!" she screamed to the two guards by her side.

  But before they could catch up, Catee reached those doors. Her fists balled, she began to try to beat them down. “AMTHA!” she screamed. “CAROLI FERUN AMTHA!"

  Sasha and the men had nearly reached her when shots rang out from the entrance. The trio wheeled around and froze.

  “DADDY!” Catee screamed, dashing toward the exit as she split between one of the guard's legs.

  “STOP HER!" Sasha shouted.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Tara felt no pain. She felt lighter than air. And aside from heaviness in her heart anchoring her, she felt as though she might fly away. Her eyes fluttered open.

  Beneath her, she watched as a lifeless body fell to the pool; its blood soiling Joli’s nude form as she stood in that red swirled basin with the instrument of death still quivering in her hand. Around the room all had deepened their prostration as the sacrifice began floating. In horror Tara realized that it was she.

  The young mother was filled with betrayal and despair as she looked down on the congregation of the wicked when suddenly she realized; Claudia was staring right back at her, a wicked smile adorning her face.

  Though the eyes of the spirit everything looked different. The room was awash in a sickly black glow. These women, all gorgeous in their own right, were muddled and bilious, covered in bruises from head to toe. And Claudia - she was a true horror.

  Though the sorceresses were marred, they were still human. Claudia was a bent, twisted creature crowned with ram's horns. Her eyes were tri-colored, blue in their centers, then a ring of red, then black. Her legs were those of a goat and her teeth were jagged and feral.

  But even though the Great Mother was a horror, Tara felt no fear of her. Instead her eyes were drawn to that pool. The waters churned with blood. Something was coming…

  As Claudia had emerged from the waters; something new and far more dreadful neared the surface. Tara’s gaze affixed on the swirling as two eyes peered out of it, glowing sickly yellow and green. But before the piercing stare could draw her in, a light took her attention and the sound of a sweet but angry little voice filled the room like thunder.

  "MOMMY!" Her daughter cried.

  Tara didn't know that she wasn't supposed to understand the language that her daughter had spoken.

  Beyond the black door a glow pierced through. Tears slipped down Tara’s face for she knew that, that light was the light of her daughter’s own soul, pristine and perfect. It shown beyond the doors and through the spirit ward as though it was a bonfire trying to be contained by rice paper. As Tara saw it, she moved to it.

  “PRAY SISTERS! STRENGTHEN THE WARDS! THE DRAGONS MUST BE FED!” Claudia screamed, watching as Tara moved to escape.

  Tara reached out to press her hands to the door that separated her from her little girl but the spirit wards hissed with power the closer she got to them. Catee cried out again.

  “COME WITH ME MOMMY!” Came the thundering voice of a tiny girl as she pounded her fists. In this world a heavy oak door was completely unharmed by the wrath of a delicate child’s hand. In the world that Tara inhabited, a ward shattered to dust.

  “NO!” Claudia screamed as Tara passed beyond the door to join her child.

  Joli' watched in fright at her Great Mother's distress. She was still standing in the pool and looked on as Claudia nervously stepped to its side. Suddenly the beast of honor broke the water's skin.

  Before them an enormous, horned, dragon’s head snaked upward. Its neck undulated as it emerged and towered over them. The creature was black, but beneath each of its large, triangular scales, dead blood seeped in a constant trickle. It’s eyes flowed around the room as one heavy paw slammed down hard into the marble floor with a crack. It struck with such force that it knocked Joli’ to her knees.

  “Hail Gourkiel, son of excess, servant of L'Thaelith, Archon of the Blighted Deep: Your wives honor thee!” Claudia pronounced.

  But Gourkiel wasn’t amused by the lack of spirit-sacrifice in the chamber. It twisted its thick neck toward Claudia and then with reflexes not of this Earth, it captured her head between the razor points of its long, black claws.

  "Mha sirgook a'ga. M'ha suk hu trybth," it gurgled in its natural tongue.

  I hunger Sidhe. I see no offering.

  Joli’ trembled as she looked to the wyrm before her, so close as to feel the coldness of the monster’s body against her nude flesh. She scrambled to fill her fists with locks of Tara’s hair and lifted the corpse to the top of the water.

  “B… but, the sacrifice is here my husband, my love. She is just behind you,” Claudia stammered, her mouth unable to replicate the monster's language.

  The dragon wheeled around to find Joli', she lifting Tara's body a bit as proof.

  “Do you see?” Claudia continued, drawing Gourkiel’s attention once more. “Is she not acceptable to you?”

  "S'g trybth mha I ka'a?" The serpent asked, giving Claudia’s head a squeeze.

  You offer me one of such power?

  Joli's brow drew down as she listened. She didn't know the Dragon's tongue. It was kept for only the Great Mother to discern. But her mistress' nervous words made her wary. “To honor your greatness bridegroom,” Claudia stammered, “I give you one of my strongest and most beloved.”

  Joli' gasped. She released Tara's body and began backing out of the pool, her head shaking in quick jerks. “Great Mother?” Joli’ muttered, betrayal in her voice. “Claudia?”

  All looked on in horror as Gourkiel released Claudia’s head and turned to face Joli’ fully.
>
  “Mha N'kra," the dragon answered, rising ominously over the Priestess.

  I accept.

  Joli' turned to run but she was no match for the wyrm's speed. At once its neck stretched and its maw snapped over her. As quickly as it struck it withdrew, dragging her flailing legs into the pool. As it pulled her under the water began to roil and shriek.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  "No baby! This way!" Tara shouted.

  But the little girl was too afraid to listen. She ran as fast as she could, throwing herself around corners, heavy steps closing behind her. And though the spirit of her mother called to her trying to guide her, she paid the voice no heed. Her chest heaving and her heart beating like a drum, she made a turn only to dash into a dead end. Catee turned to face her captors and gasped as they thundered into sight.

  "Catee, c'mon sweetie... It's me. It's Sasha," the young sorceress tried to coo, out of breath.

  The little girl's chin began to quiver, stepping backwards with each step Sasha took forward. Tara looked on helplessly, a hand pressed to her lips.

  "I'm trying to help you Catee. I want to protect you."

  Catee balled her tiny fists. "I WANT MY DADDY!" she stomped.

  Tara's motherly instincts took over and she began to speak. “Daddy’s coming baby,” She said consolingly, though she didn't know that at all. “It’s gonna be okay.”

  “Where is he Mommy? I’m scared!” Catee asked, her head twisting, looking for her mother.

  Shock filled Tara’s face as she realized her daughter could hear her. “He’s coming baby. He’ll be here soon."

  “Wotcha. Been lookin' for you," Jahleel announced from behind them.

  Everyone spun to the voice. The guards drew their guns. Sasha hid behind them. The knight casually strolled toward them, blade sheathed, and gave Catee a wink.

  "You blokes got any family?" he asked as he closed the distance.

  The two guards lifted tactical shotguns and squared them on the Vigilant.