by Brea Viragh
Granite flew before it hit, the boulder exploding into a million pieces. It swirled like a life preserver around Darkness before penetrating the depths.
Yes, they would have had a splendid life. She saw them, arms wound tightly around one another with strains of laughter all around. They would travel and wrap themselves in experience and love. Family dinners and picnics on a moonlit beach. Perhaps a child, who knew, one who carried their magic within his or her veins.
It would have been grand.
Her hold on the heat was tenuous, the boiling liquid drawing ever closer to the surface. Tears burst forth from the corners of her eyes and evaporated before falling. The tips of her hair smoldered and sparks flew from her fingertips.
And in the bedlam, Leo called to her. “Take what I offer freely.”
Time was up. Like the decelerating of a clock, Astix saw it in slow motion. She knew what she had to do. She credited Leo with the idea. Her last shot needed to count.
“I love you,” she murmured, though she feared the sentiment was lost in the chaos.
With a final push, she released all the magic in her blood. Her mouth opened on a yell as everything she had emptied outward.
She used all of her bitterness and sadness. Every ounce of defeatism and persecution, layers of regret and jealousy, she used them all. Exorcised her demons. A ball of light exploded inside of her, an inferno of energy released. The light enveloped Darkness in a purple aura and pieces of her soul tore free.
In a vague, distant part of her psyche, Astix was dimly aware of Leo’s magic merging with hers. A molten mantle mixed with granite and silica slammed into Darkness, drawn forward by the force of what she created. What they created together.
An inhuman screech filled the air and threatened to take them all under as Darkness fought back. This is far from over. A storm is coming…
Astix pitched forward and released her hold on the mantle. Heat scorched through her as she fell, watching through half-closed lids as Darkness spiraled out of control. Its form blurred into a misty funnel cloud akin to a tornado as rock solidified around it. With a banshee cry, Darkness sank into the depths of itself, cocooned in a blazing ball of fire and earth.
As she fell, Astix knew she’d failed. The world tilted, revolved, and despite the heat from the magma, her body broke out in a clammy sweat. Her strength ebbed so rapidly she thought she would disintegrate before hitting the lava, all of her energy expended in a display she hadn’t been able to control.
She did not feel the firm grasp of vines wrapping around her torso and dragging her back from the brink. The untapped well of her sisters’ powers surged forward without anyone having to ask, guided by Leo’s vigilance. Red lights danced behind her eyes and her chest felt as though someone dropped a stone on top of her.
And Astix lost herself.
CHAPTER 20
“Do you have her?” Karsia asked, startled at the waves of steam rising from Astix’s body. “Like, really have her?”
“Yes, go!” Leo urged the sisters on. He cradled Astix against him, her body slight and immobile. Her skin burned and he fought to keep hold when the tips of his fingers singed. “Hurry!”
Aisanna and Karsia’s magic had kept a tenuous hold on her before the room exploded in red-hot liquid. Leo’s power kept the lava at bay before it could char flesh from bone. He felt lucky to still have the ability, since most of his magic drained the instant he added it to the fray. Punching the living daylights out of that pale freak had been nothing compared to the tidal wave of power he’d sent Astix in her final showdown.
Anything, he thought, anything to keep her alive.
He slipped, nearly dropping them both in the process before the vines surrounding them hardened, turned to oak. A harness to keep Astix in place.
“You can thank me later!” Aisanna called over her shoulder as they ran.
Together the three took off down a long hallway toward a flight of stairs leading to the surface. Walls shook with the force of nature unleashed and their window of safety decreased rapidly.
His long legs ate up the yards and he pushed them onward. Leo used the last of his resources to keep the cement steady long enough for them to make their desperate escape.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” he muttered under his breath, ducking to avoid a beam. The ceiling suddenly collapsed in front of him.
The girls shrieked, one of them diving forward in time. “Watch out!”
Leo scrambled over the wreckage and used his free hand to draw Karsia to her feet. “Thanks,” she said, shaking.
Screams echoed in their minds as the building disintegrated behind them. Anguished sounds that made him want to slap at something until they stopped. It wasn’t until the abrupt pain of silence assaulted them did Leo realize it was him screaming.
Molten magma withdrew to the earth’s core without Astix’s assistance, but it was too late. The structure was unsound, damned, and it was all Leo could do to keep them safe. He had to. Like his sweetheart, he’d be strong, willing to give himself up if it meant safety for the girls.
He took it systematically, nudging a large chunk of ceiling aside to crash after they passed. The floor cracked only instants after their footsteps left the ground. His legs moved, urged ahead by the last reserves of his own magic. Definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel there. He felt the flame of it stutter, decline drastically until nearly nothing remained.
Aisanna and Karsia traversed the tunnels in front of them with clasped hands.
“I think I see light,” Karsia cried. Dirty hands reached forward to grab rusted railing and she hauled herself up a set of concrete steps.
“Keep moving.” Leo did not need to tell them twice.
Eyes focused ahead, the two hurried up toward the night sky. He recognized their assistance even if he didn’t notice the leaves, twigs, and vines supporting his weight. The last few feet were easy with their help, the ground giving way to pop them out.
“Here, take her.” Leo’s arms shook as he pushed Astix above his head.
Both girls did as he bid, their magic helping to make the transition. “We’ve got her, come on,” Aisanna said weakly.
The tunnels collapsed behind them, large cinderblocks and wooden supports cracking. “Go, go, go!” He ushered Karsia and Aisanna away, Astix held between them with her toes dragging across the grass. Sparing a backwards glance, he took in the dilapidated farmhouse on the outskirts of town.
It had been exquisite once, in the heyday of its use. The second-floor gallery may have held the aristocracy of Chicago’s elite when they decided to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Arched windows, elegant porch columns, and hand-carved shutters were left to ruin. The house sagged on its foundation, windows cracking and front door hanging open like a forgotten pantry.
Leo had been lucky to find the entrance to the old stone cellar, redone over the years to tie in with the sewer line and outfitted for one purpose.
He took off, lungs pumping oxygen into his starved cells as they fought to put distance between themselves and the house. They were halfway across the yard and nearing the neighboring field when the structure buckled in on itself. Glass shattered and splintered in a rain of shards like diamonds, walls toppling with a resounding boom like two trucks slamming together. Metal groaned and bent and crumpled.
“Get down!”
Leo took a flying jump and landed on the girls, bringing them all to the ground as the roof collapsed and a billowing cloud of dust erupted.
Coughing, he used his arm to shield his face from the worst of the damage and his body to protect the girls from any shrapnel. He caught the muffled scream from Aisanna, Karsia’s soft whimpering and nearly silent plea for everything to be over.
He would not tell her—felt sorry for thinking—that their problems were just beginning.
Noise rebounded across the yard before the rumbling finally stopped, fading to an echo. Leo’s entire frame shook, whether from exhaustion or the dregs of adrenal
ine he didn’t know.
As soon as he was sure of their wellbeing, he lifted himself away and helped draw both girls to a standing position. “There now, is everyone okay?” Giving in to his softer side, Leo checked each one for bumps and bruises. “Did anyone get hurt?”
“I think we’re fine, thanks.” Aisanna looked him up and down, soot covering her face and a pair of overlarge eyes stared at him. “You’re Leo.”
It took everything in him to grin, a quirk of the corner of his mouth. “Yes, I am.”
“You have no idea how nice it is to finally meet you, Leo.” Karsia took a step forward and hissed in pain. “Very nice.”
“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you both.” When each girl shot him an identical horrified look, Leo chuckled. “Good things, I can assure you. Your sister loves you very much.”
He moved to take Astix in his arms, cradling her unconscious body as he nearly collapsed on the cool grass “Come on now, honeybun. You can sit on my lap until I find the resolve to make it to the car.” That last part Leo spoke to the night itself, peering up at stars he’d never thought to see again. The sky was breathtakingly clear, each star radiant and glowing. Leo drew the cold night air into his lungs, grateful for the freshness even as it combined with dust and dirt from the collapse.
The girls sat down heavily next to him
“I never want a repeat of this night. Never again.” Karsia shook her head vehemently. “Needless to say, I will be returning to my sweet, simple, and frivolous existence instead of fighting against evil.”
Before Leo had a chance to speak, Aisanna said, “I don’t know if we can ever go back.”
There was a pressure in his chest. He stared down at Astix, at the still figure of the woman in his lap. Smoothing his fingertips over her face, Leo cleared her hair away. Saw the immobility, the shallow way her chest rose and fell.
“She tried to save us,” Aisanna muttered, quivering. “She wanted to sacrifice herself for us.” Bruises stood out in lurid tints against her pale skin, a testament to all they’d been through.
Leo nodded as his throat hitched. “She did. She’s a hell of a woman.”
“I only hope we did enough.”
“We did everything we could back there. It’s not like we were well prepared.”
“Look,” Aisanna said, “I’m sorry for everything, Leo. Sorry you’re in this mess in the first place.”
Something about her words had him knowing exactly what she apologized for. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”
Astix jolted against him, her chest rising erratically as spasms racked her body. Leo tightened his grip. “What’s happening?” he asked frantically “What’s going on?”
“Damn it, man, I’m not a doctor.” Aisanna grasped her sister’s clammy palm in her own and made soothing sounds.
“What can we do? We can’t let her go, not after everything!” I can’t let her go.
“Allow me.” Karsia used her chin to indicate. Her delicate fingers pried Leo’s hands from Astix’s body, where he held on too tightly. “I know what to do here.”
“How can you possibly know what to do?” His stomach protested violently at the thought of losing her, voice ending on a sob although no tears came.
She held up her wrist, the clear, unblemished skin there no longer marred by a death rune. “I’m a hedge witch. Earth magic. Healing magic. Trust me. Keep talking to her.”
Leo wasn’t sure what to think. “She’s having a seizure.”
Karsia closed her eyes and held her hands flat above their heads. He felt useless for the first time in his life. He spoke to Astix in his mind, trying to remain stoic on the outside, face deadpan when she continued to shudder.
You can’t leave me, he told her on a refrain. Not after I tried so hard to save you. I had to have gotten there in time, to give you enough. We still have the future ahead of us, everything I had never hoped to dream for until you.
His world crashed down around him as her sisters gathered close, unwilling to check her pulse for fear his worst nightmares would be realized.
“You have to let go,” Karsia told him. “We need room to work.”
He shook his head, the girls slowly extricating Astix’s convulsing form from him. Leo found himself speaking aloud to her, uncaring whether anyone heard.
“You can’t leave me. I was wrong when I told you it wasn’t love. It is love. It’s the type of love that lasts lifetimes. Wherever you go I will follow you, but I am not ready to follow you into death. Not yet, honey.”
“Trust me.” Karsia took her sister’s palm in hers. “If there’s the smallest tether left, we can find it and bring her back. We won’t let her die.”
“How? How the hell can you bring people back from the dead?”
“Hey!” Aisanna snapped. “She’s not gone yet. Nearly, but not yet.”
“Isn’t nearly close enough?”
“Close enough we need all the faith you have.”
A hush fell over the evening as night creatures halted their circadian melodies. The wind stilled around them, the air heavy and moist. Under her breath, Aisanna began to chant.
Leo caught none of the words, although their meaning was clear. A ritual drawing down the healing energies of the world, the universe.
Acorns fell from the sky, landing on the ground around them with thuds and plinks.
“Acorns,” Aisanna told Leo while Karsia picked up the rhythmic chant, “are a Nordic emblem. They symbolize life, immortality. It’s that vitality we draw upon now.”
Leo’s face contorted and he slumped over, head in his hands. “What if it’s too late?”
“If her spirit has completely left her body, then there’s nothing we can do.” Her voice hitched. “There is no force in this world great enough to cheat death of its prize. But the smallest sliver, the slightest desire…we can find it.”
Their magic was different, very different from Astix’s or his. Leo remembered the research his predecessors did on the Cavaldi line, including Varvara Renata and the power she brought to the table. Plants, flowers. Little piddling things like making a pretty bouquet or sending a blossom as a message. He never expected healing, using the might of the earth itself.
“Our strength is healing,” Aisanna continued in hushed tones. “And Karsia is the best of us all. If anyone can find Astix, she can.”
Leo watched the sisters join together as the constant hum of their powers filled the air around them. A Kelly-green aura rose from their skin, combined with sparks of gold that popped into existence. The acorns faded into balls of dusky luminance dancing along the lines and planes of Astix’s prone form.
“Save her,” Leo said brusquely, although to whom he wasn’t certain. The sisters, the gods above watching mere mortals struggle. If he lost her, after everything they’d been through and all the words he hadn’t gotten to say… “You have to save her no matter what.”
“We’re trying our best,” Aisanna said with a hint of impatience.
The smallest infinitesimal hope was the only thing he clung to, but he clung to it with the strength of ten men.
“This may take some time. Especially if she resists,” Karsia put in softly. “Sometimes our spirits travel to places where we don’t want to return.”
“Then you have to force her to come back.”
He saw the play of emotions flash over Aisanna’s face. She hoped, as he did, that Astix returned. Her hope was tempered with sadness, a hint of resolve, and regret. Despite her optimism, she understood the chances were slim. There was always a price to pay, a physical toll when someone expended such a huge amount of magic.
“Come back to me,” he whispered. “You can’t leave me here alone. Not now, not after meeting you. Not after loving you.”
“Keep talking to her, Leo,” Karsia urged. “If she’ll listen to anyone, it’s you.”
CHAPTER 21
Astix was beyond it all. Far beyond to the point where she couldn’t fathom g
oing back. Wouldn’t want to even if she could. Where she was, pain became nothing more than a memory. Her body was whole, her mind untainted, her emotions in check.
She sat on a bench in Grant Park watching the rest of the world go by, dressed in the best outfit she owned. She glanced down at the black slacks and smart red blazer, then continued her people watching. Summer was in full swing. Deep green leaves clung to tree branches and the smell of freshly cut grass was strong. It filled her senses. She inhaled deeply. The sun was warm on her skin and the breeze cool and sweet.
Here children played, lost in their own fantasy worlds of pirates and princesses, fairies and fire-breathing dragons. She watched them run under the watchful gaze of parents who were never too far from lending a helping hand or reining in rambunctious enthusiasm.
She chuckled at their antics, reminded of her brother and sisters when they were young. Their grandparents had brought them to the park on those afternoons when they came for a visit. There were ice cream cones and an unspoken rule not to tell Mom and Dad. There were trips to the zoo or the museum. But always, always, they ended in Grant Park.
The waters of the lake were a perfect echo of the sky above. The horizon line split the barrier between earth and air with white clouds breaking up the endless blue. Formal gardens in geometric shapes featured elaborate fountains and interesting statues where people could meander and laugh, share secrets in the maze. Lovers hid there in the leafy recesses and stole a moment for themselves.
The park appeared as it did at its zenith. Pristine and infinitely lovely.
Astix found herself smiling at the sight before her, pleased. She inhaled again to draw the day into her lungs, the sweet scent of flowers, and let the air caress her.
She was unconcerned when a man sat next to her. He folded down on the bench and casually lifted his ankle to his knee. He felt almost familiar in the odd way of dreams she’d forgotten.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” he marveled. “The innocence of youth. Jubilant and carefree as they carry on with whatever idea pops into their heads. I admire children. Not only are they naturally happy, they have the grand ability to recover from almost anything. It’s a paradox.”