I quickly peered over my shoulder, horrified to see Blane slowly being over taken by the Màrmann, his body covered with writhing arms, clawing and scratching at him. It seemed as if Lainahwyn was going to win.
“You had your chance,” mumbled Vyx, red blood oozing from his mouth. I wondered why he never had taken on the Màrmann form. He seemed as if he was still human?
A soft breeze began to stir around me as I watched Vyx stagger to his feet. His hand slipped into his boot, sliding out a cold knife. He raised it up high, its light dancing against his bloodshot eyes, arching his arm backward, a toothless grin crawling across his hideous face. With a quick flick of his wrist, he hurled it into the air, launching it straight at my face.
This time I didn’t close my eyes. I watched Vyx’s blade rifling straight at me, its sharp pointy tip aiming for my forehead. The wind picked up around me like a small tornado, violent funneling winds revolving around me into a column of air. The knife bounced off the unnatural storm, lifting me high into the air, until I was flying above the battlefield in an impenetrable vortex of wind.
I could see through the gusts that Anabel’s chest was lit up like a Christmas tree. All three of us were hovering above Lainahwyn. The Moon Pendant had given her the ability to control the air, raising Blane and myself out of harm’s way. Our bodies soared above the battlefield, littered with dismembered pieces of Màrmann.
I knew they felt no pain. The only urges they had were to kill, drink men’s blood, and to feast on human flesh. Chopping off their limbs was in a way the only human thing to do.
Our bodies traveled across the hillside passing the MääGord standing stones, its light pulsing brightly, we arrived on the cusp of the farmhouse, behind the subterranean iron fence. The winds died down as we plummeted to the ground, our bodies rolling down a grassy slope, stopping on the edge of the farmhouse.
Blane bolted to his feet racing over to Anabel, who appeared unconscious again. He scooped her up in his strong arms, racing to the front door, and carrying her inside the farmhouse.
♦♦♦
Vyx
I ran my tongue over my bleeding gums, feeling the empty spaces where my teeth used to be; the damn wench knocked out two. I curled my fingers inward, clenching them, imagining that I had them wrapped around her thin neck. All I needed were exact points, tiny pressure points on her neck placed just right, to kill a woman in a matter of seconds. Next time, I won’t be so generous and give her time to think.
“Take the dismembered Màrmann into the labyrinth,” ordered Lainahwyn. “You can all dine on your brothers.”
Her lithe body strolled across the cavern, her silky gown clinging to her skin, curving with her body, her form pleasing to my eyes.
My Love placed herself upon her gold encrusted throne. “Clever girl,” she purred. “The Moon Pendant is now charged with the first elemental.”
“She’ll weaken after each use,” I said, aching to touch her.
“That’s not good enough,” she hissed. “She has too much help. We need the Dragon’s Spell.”
I thought about the day I pushed the wench in front of the moving bus, so trusting, so naïve, wanting to please me. I knew she had the scroll in her purse, the dimwit even showed it to me, but when I searched it in the hospital. It was gone.
“She must have it on her,” I declared, “somewhere.”
“I was under the impression you searched her after her... accident?”
“Aye, I did,” I grumbled. “But she caught on. She wouldn't be stupid enough to leave it behind.”
“Now that we have this one,” she declared silkily, ascending from her throne, crossing the floor, her emerald gown trailing behind her, approaching the Scotsman, her slender finger gliding along the mutt’s jaw line. “She’ll come and when she does. I’ll force it out of her by sucking it out of this one.”
The ugly Scotsman lay in beads of sweat, his body trembling as the venom seeped into his mind, casting out all his memories, allowing only her words to enter.
“From what I remember of the Dragon’s Spell,” Lainahwyn said smoothly, brushing back the oily hair off the Scotsman’s brow, “is that it needs the blood of three mortal men.” The Scotsman cooed to her touch. “How many men do I have that are not converted over?”
“This maggot and his father,” I grumbled, punching the Scotsman in the shoulder, his lungs letting out a puff of air.
“I’ll have to remove some of my venom to purify his blood for the Dragon Spell. Then we’ll need a third,” she declared as her sharp nails pierced the fragile skin on his neck, removing some of his venom. “You better find the Dragon Spell, Vyx or I will dine on you for dinner and I will not stop.”
I nodded to My Love. “As you desire.”
Chapter 13
♦♦♦
Anabel
I dreamt I was floating in a mist of billowy air, far away from my worries, soaring through the starry heavens, my mind controlling the wind and all its grandeur. I sighed with bliss. My eyes slit open, heartbroken my dream had come to an end.
Blane sat in a wooden chair beside my bed, his fingers intertwined with mine, his thumb gently rolling over the top of my hand, caressing me with his tender touch. He sat patiently all night by my side, standing guard over me, protecting me, waiting for the moment I would awaken.
“Aye, lass,” he said cheerfully, leaning forward, fluffing the plush pillow behind my back, “‘Twas unwise to use yer powers, lass.”
I pinned my lips together not knowing what to say.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” he said, his twinkling eyes level with mine. “Is Hilda why you and Izzy fight like that?”
My head dropped down, averting my eyes away from his scrutiny. “I’m ashamed to say it,” I said, pressing my lips together and smoothing out the puffy peaks of the snowy-white comforter, “but, yes.
Blane tucked a finger under my chin, arched his brows. “We all have things in our past we’re not proud of,” he said.
I nodded.
Blane rose to his feet, crossing the room, standing before the honey oak dresser, picking up my framed picture of Edgar, studying it.
“When I was eight,” I swallowed tightly, “Hilda bullied me every day, tortured me with names and sneak attacks.” I took a deep breath, shivering. “Her and her two friends got me good one day, pouring glue on my head, making dreadlocks out of my long hair. They called me makeup Barbie.” I turned my head, gazing out the window, tears welling up in my eyes, reliving that nightmare day. “When Izzy saw me covered in honey, feathers, perfume, and dripping with paint...” I lowered my cracking voice. “…she laughed at me.” My throat tightened, suppressing my fat tears, trying to fight off the pain rumbling inside my stomach. “The next day she started those three dreadlocks she wears now,” I said, wiping the mists from eyes.
Blane turned to me, his eyes cast down. “I never had a sister,” he said softly.
“Do you want one?” I said with a bitter laugh. “I’ll give you Izzy for free!’
Blane smirked, nodding slightly. “You must rest now, Guardian,” he said, leaving the room.
I took a slow patient breath in, knowing that task number one, the Bloody Baron was over with, and now all I had to do was to pass the Moon Pendant over to Izzy. I lied under the down comforter, snuggly amongst the pillows, wondering what my life would be like, living in Dunvarghan Castle with Blane surrounded by faeries. I would have to fly home, of course, and break up with Edgar properly.
My heart was heavy, contemplating my new future.
I heard the chatter of voices echoing from down the hallway. I flung the thick duvet cover to the side, padding my bare feet across the icy floor and down the dimly lit corridor. I edged near Granny’s door, slightly ajar, pressing my ear against it, listening curiously to my mother’s voice.
“You?” mother said in disbelief, “outwitted the Bloody Baron?”
“Seems my blood is sweeter than Anabel’s,” Izzy joked.
&nbs
p; “Good thing you’ll take over the Moon Pendant,” stated Granny. “That girl would rather play footsie with Blane than do her duty.”
My stomach turned into a pit full of writhing snakes. I shook my head. I’m not worthless, I said to myself and continued to eavesdrop.
“I’m glad she’s giving it up,” mother mentioned. “I want her here with me. She doesn’t need to be in harm’s way.”
I rolled my eyes. My mother always went a little overboard protecting me.
“My little girl needs to be taken care of,” mother continued, “here in New York with me, not gallivanting around Scotland.”
“You can have her,” snorted Izzy.
“Izzy,” said Granny with a worrisome tone to her voice, “you must beware of the Nuckelavee. That’s the task where Rose and Harriett failed at. They could never charge the Moon Pendant because of him.”
“Anabel could never get past the Nuckelavee,” declared mother. “It was the most gruesome thing I ever saw.”
“Don’t worry,” said Izzy scoffing, “I won’t fail or faint.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I was disgusted by what I heard. How little faith my family had in me. I wasn’t some precious porcelain doll that needed to be placed in a glass box, only to be looked at from a far. Never to be loved, or touched.
I flopped down on top of the fluffy bed, holding Edgar’s picture in one hand, rolling my engagement ring between my fingers in the other.
Now was the time for reality, now was the time to make a decision to where my life was heading. I needed to know all the facts. This was the time to open the last letter. I tucked the ring into my pocket and scrambled through my purse, pulling out the final letter I received from my medical schools’ applications. I wedged my finger along the flap, tearing it gently, and then sliding out the response letter, read:
Dear Ms. Anabel MacAlpin:
With sincere regret, I must inform you the Committee on Admissions has completed its selection for this year and has not been able to offer you a place in our class due to an unforeseen blemish on your record.
We thank you for your application and wish you the very best in your endeavors at another fine medical school.
Sincerely,
Quinn T. Thorsten, M.D.
Just as I had thought, it was the same as all the other letters had said before. My shoulders slumped. I was disappointed and yet somehow relieved knowing that the door was closed on medical school. My mind began to race with different ideas, different thoughts. Maybe I don’t want what I had always wanted? Maybe I want something else?
I began to rip apart the rejection letter, shredding it into teeny tiny pieces, tossing it up high into the air in a moment of fury. I sensed the power of the Moon Pendant pulsing through me. I raised my finger upward to the bits of confetti, wondering if I could call on its power at any time. With just a thought, I began to whirl the mini pieces of paper around the room, shaping them into unique forms to my own fancy, paper butterflies flittered across the room, the crest of a wave breaking against the shore, a wild tornado, spinning around uncontrollably, until I dropped every piece of that tainted letter into the wicker garbage can.
I giggled aloud. “It’s fun having powers!”
I couldn’t believe why I was upset about something as trivial as to getting into medical school, into a world I could never truly control when right at my fingertips, I had full control over my life, full control of the world around me. I remembered what Blane and Granny had said before. The Moon Pendant will control each elemental: air, earth, water, and fire. And the Guardian controls the Moon Pendant.
Suddenly, I was enlightened.
After recovering from the brief drain from the Moon Pendant, this time it wasn’t as depleting to my strength as before. I supposed it was because I had only used it a little bit. I descended down the stairwell, step by step, knowing fully what my future held for me as I entered the living room.
“Are you ready to say the oath?” asked Izzy, sliding her arm through her black leather coat. “We’ve lost another day. We only have tonight and tomorrow night to finish all three tasks and close the Portal.”
Ignoring, Izzy, I flopped down into the squishy chair, throwing my shiny boots up onto the ottoman, my fingers waving circles in the air. First, I started with the stained glass dragonflies suctioned to the window, flicking my finger upward, they popped off the beveled glass, swarming around the room, a beehive of colorful glass insects buzzing high and low; snaring bits of Izzy’s hair as her hands madly whacked them away.
“No,” I answered, spying on Skullsplitter’s statue, slowly changing from stone to flesh as Izzy blinked her eyes or turned away, his form changing from his leg kicking out, into his body crouching down on all fours, his face contorted into a scream, dropping his trousers and mooning us, his tongue sticking out at Izzy, trying to flee from Izzy’s blinking eyes.
“No?” repeated Izzy miffed.
I concentrated the wind power on Skullsplitter, lifting him up high into the air, his body contorting into funny shapes as he began to realize he was elevating above the planked floor. “I rather like these new powers,” I muttered, zipping Skullsplitter, up and down around the ceiling beams.
“Granny!” hollered Izzy into the room.
Granny wafted through the fireplace in a white wispy cloud, noticing Skullsplitter bobbing in the wind. “Will you leave poor Skullsplitter alone!” she wailed. “Put him down this instance!”
“She’s not taking the oath,” Izzy said flatly.
“What?”
“I’m taking control of my birthright,” I declared. “I’m the first born, and this is my duty.”
The front door burst open and Blane’s commanding presence walked in, startling me, making me lose concentration. The dragonflies crashed to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces, scattered on the hardwood floor. Skullsplitter’s stone form plummeted to the ground, too, his hard body rippling with tiny cracks.
“Baldtoe!” cried Granny. “Izzy close your eyes.”
Izzy closed her eyes, but Skullsplitter remained the same.
“Turn your back, Izzy!”
Blane knelt down on one knee, poking him. “He’s not changing back.”
“Izzy, look away!” Granny screamed.
“I am!” answered Izzy.
Plumface rushed into the room, out of breath, white powder covering her greenish skin. “My baby what have you done?”
“I was just having a little fun,” I said, realizing the power I now possessed can do harm as well as good.
“You were being irresponsible!” Granny blurted out. “Izzy, there’s a jewelry box on my dresser with a necklace in it. Bring it down.”
Izzy darted up the stairs, two by two.
“Do you want me to get Leigheas?” asked Blane.
“No, this needs something more powerful than her,” Granny informed us.
Izzy returned, breathless. “Here,” she said, holding a carved wooden box in one hand and another Moon Pendant in the palm of her hand. “You have two? How can you have two?”
“Oh, that’s just a spare,” mentioned Granny. “It has no real power, but it may just do the trick. Place the pendant on Skullsplitter, Izzy.”
Izzy lowered the duplicate Moon Pendant’s onto Skullsplitter’s hardened body. Izzy splayed her fingers across his chest as the spare Moon Pendant discharged its energy into Skullsplitter’s statuesque form. A mystical blue light enshrouded him, cocooning his body in an electrical charge, jolting him back into his flesh form.
Skullsplitter’s caramel eyes popped open.
“He’s alive!” I gasped, clapping my hands together.
Skullsplitter bolted upright before Izzy, turning his head side to side, a complex look of skepticism on his face, his body not returning to stone when Izzy gazed at him.
“He’s not turning to stone?” questioned Izzy in disbelief. “What gives?”
“It’s the residual charge from the pendant,” stated Gr
anny. “It’s affected you too. Rose and I had it made years ago. We made a copy of the original, in case one of us lost or destroyed the other one. We hoped we could charge it, too. No such luck. But it still has just a wee bit of power stirring in it.”
Blane squared his shoulders, a curious look in his eye. “I’ve come for the second task, Izzy,” he said dryly, “or do you wish to rescue Fergus first?”
“Better talk to the Guardian about that,” Izzy conveyed, “seems there’s been a change to our regularly scheduled programming.”
“I doona understand?”
“I’m going to remain as Guardian,” I said proudly, slowly feeling the Moon Pendant draining me after my theatrical glass insect air show.
Blane hung his head low, knowing the implications of me remaining as the Guardian. It would mean we could never marry.
“As you wish, Guardian. I will wait for you out front,” Blane said, and then exited out the front door.
I felt as though a sword pierced my heart.
“Gran?” whined Izzy, her mouth shifting to the side.
“There’s nothing I can do, Izzy,” Granny mentioned, “if she’s not willing to let the Moon Pendant go. She is the rightful owner.”
Izzy’s face scowled, her face thrust into mine, nose to nose. “You are just one little…”
“What?” I snapped back, feeling my strength returning. “One sweet little girl who faints all the time, getting outwitted by the Bloody Baron!”
“What about, Fergus?” she demanded, poking her finger into my shoulder. “Have you forgotten about him? Or is it just your own selfish reasons that have priority?”
“Fergus can wait!” I announced, stating my authority as the Guardian. “The most important thing now is to recharge the Moon Pendant fully. So I can close the Portal.”
Izzy sneered, “Good luck, your royal highness. Cause from now on, you’re on your own!”
“Where have I heard that before?” I countered.
I turned away from Izzy, racing toward the door, hoping to find Blane still waiting outside for me.
“Have fun getting sliced up,” yelled Izzy, her voice trailing off as I slammed the door behind me.
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