See How She Fights (11 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I looked around me as we stepped
into the garden and saw that a platform had been raised in the center of the
winding maze of plants. Situated around the platform were several chairs. I
wondered at Isadora’s foresight and questioned if I would ever have half of her
talent, or self-control for that matter. Our group made its way down to the
platform. The closer we got, the more terrified I became. I didn’t know what to
expect, but if Kennan said it hurt then I knew it absolutely did.

“You’ll be fine,” Kennan whispered
into my hair.

“I know this has to happen but it
doesn’t change the fact that I am terrified. I am kind of freaking out right
now,” I said, looking at the platform.

In the center there was some sort
of chair. It reminded me of one I had laid upon the one and only time I’d gone
to get a massage. It had a hole where I would put my face. I wondered if I
would handle being ensconced this time better than I had the last. Next to the
chair was a man looking over a table filled with instruments.

As my steps drew me nearer, he
turned toward me. I felt the weight of his gaze as it assessed me, determining
my worth. Deep in my soul, I felt a pressure that threatened to pry me apart.
In the back of my mind, a tickling sensation began. I felt the strangest sense
of déjà vu when I looked upon him. I was sure I had met him somewhere. His eyes
crinkled on the sides in an almost smile and I felt a wave of serenity pass
through me, replacing the pressure that had been there moments before.

I stood, transfixed by the bluest
eyes I had ever seen. I gazed up and up into an inhumanly handsome face. He
took my breath away. His dark hair hung to his chin and he had the top portion
pulled back out of his eyes. He reminded me of an Italian samurai, if such a
thing could ever exist.

“You must be Izzy,” the
Symbol-smith said with a soothing voice.

“I am, and you are?” I asked,
entranced by the man in front of me. This man held magic, of that I was sure.
But there was something more there. There was something familiar in the cadence
of his voice.

“I am called Aberto, it is a great
pleasure to finally meet you, Milady,” he bowed deeply. The word “finally” rang
around me as if he had been waiting for a long time.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” I
couldn’t brush off the feeling of comfort and familiarity as I looked into his
eyes. It was unsettling.

“It is possible.”

Great, another cryptic person in my
life. Would it be so hard for someone to just give me a straight answer for
once? I shook off the feeling and decided to focus on the matter at hand. No
need to get all angsty right now.

“So, what do I need to do?” I tried
to break his gaze, but found myself unable to look away.

“I need you to change into those
robes and have your friends do the same with the robes located around the
circle. Then you will come back here and I will prepare you for the marking.
Are you absolutely sure this is the path that you must take? Once this is done
it cannot be undone.” The gravity of the situation weighed heavy in his words.

“I’m sure.” I was afraid the
shaking in my voice betrayed my doubt. He smiled wanly and sent me on my way to
change.

We gathered up our robes and headed
to the outbuilding to change. It was closer to the platform than the house, and
seemed a better place to do it. I didn’t feel like having everyone in the house
stare at me more than they already were. Kennan helped me fasten my robes so
that my back was left bare. The others had robes that covered the entirety of
their bodies in different, earthen colors. Kennan’s was the color of the sea
during a great storm. Ian wore the deep green of summer just before the seasons
began to shift. Molly wore a robe the color of rust or leaves that were about
to blow from the trees. Conall wore a robe made of the deepest crimson I’d ever
seen. It conjured images of flames and effigy. I looked down at my simple brown
robe and wondered what it all meant.

“Kennan, why are the robes
different colors?”

“I have no idea. This ceremony has
not been performed in a very long time. For all I know, these were the only
robes lying around,” he said.

We made our way back into the
garden and I snickered at the thought that we looked like a muted pack of
crayons. My sense of humor needed to work on its timing. I shook my head,
pulling myself back to the present.

Night had begun to fall. The sounds
of the world getting ready for sleep guided my feet to the now torch-lit
circle. I swallowed down my fear as Kennan led me up to the platform.

“I am with you all the way. If you
need to stop just say so. Got me?” he asked as he squeezed my hand.

“If you need to chat just let me
know. I have loads to distract you with,” Molly added.

I nodded as I headed toward Aberto.
I had a feeling this night was going to be long and unendingly painful. I
wondered if I would pass out for any of it. The thought of Ren’s company was
enough to make me fight for consciousness. I looked at Aberto, waiting for
directions. After all, I had no idea what the ceremony consisted of.

“If you would please lie face down
on the table, we will get started. The rest of you I need to form a circle.
Whichever chair you grabbed your robe from is the one in which you will need to
sit the remainder of the evening. Distract her from the pain. Help guide her
through this. That is your purpose.”

He looked around the circle trying
to ensure everyone understood. As I glanced around the circle, I noticed two
robed figures that had not been there before. I looked more closely and saw
that it was Breanan and Isadora. She looked upon me with a mixture of pride and
fear. I tamped down my own fear once more, and settled into the table.

I could do this.

I had to do this.

“So it begins. If for any reason
you need to rest say the word. This will not be an easy task for either of us,”
Aberto said as he moved away from my prone form to the table of instruments.
His words echoed in my head. I knew it would be painful for me, but I was
unsure why it would be difficult for him.

“I’m ready,” I said with finality.
I was glad Isadora had been able to arrange this all so quickly. If I had been
given any time to think about what I was about to do, I would’ve backed out.
Just like I’d done every other time I had thought about getting a tattoo.

Aberto started to chant something
in a language both familiar and completely foreign to me. It was as if
everything the man did reminded me of something just out of reach.  The
memories hanging just out of reach.

  I felt each word as it was
spoken. They settled into my body and reached into the depths of my soul. His
words weighed and judged me in the same manner his eyes had earlier. As soon as
I opened myself to the words, a wave of serenity washed over me. In that
instant, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be.

Just as I accepted the words into
my soul, a fiery pain began to rip through my back. I wanted to cry out, but
like the words before me, I felt that the pain was judging me. I would not be
found wanting. This needed to happen. I accepted the pain. I absorbed it and
let the fire burn to my very core. I felt myself separate from my body. There
was two halves of me in that moment; the mortal half that was to walk along
this plane and help to keep God’s plan intact, and the other half of me that
could traverse the planes.

**********

I stood in a place that was
neither here nor there. I was not on the plane of reality, nor was I on the
plane of the dreaming. I felt as though I was in a place similar to where I’d
been at the theater, watching the Seer die. I looked around and noticed I could
still see myself, lying on the platform and my friends around me, looking on
with a great bit of concern. Kennan’s eyes shone with anger and fear. It looked
as though he wanted to jump up and break Aberto’s hand for hurting me. I wanted
to soothe his anger to tell him I no longer felt any pain, but I couldn’t.

“So, you went with the mark,
huh?” Ren asked, stepping toward me.

“Cheese on a cracker! Could you
conjure up some bells to put on yourself or something? This ninja stealth
business is for the birds,” I said, trying to settle my nerves.

“Don’t be so jumpy. How did you
do that anyway?” she asked, looking at my prone form with her sightless eyes.
It really creeped me out that she could do that.

“How did I do what?” I asked,
staring in the same direction. Interacting with her was so much easier when I
didn’t have to look at her the entire time. No matter how much I was getting
used to her popping into the dreaming, I still couldn’t get over the sheer
amount of gore on her.

“Split yourself like that? Your
soul is here, but your body is there and you are still alive,” she said simply.

“Um, I don’t know. I am able to
do all sorts of stuff I didn’t know I could. For all I know, I can conjure
fireballs in my hands to toss at people. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Well, I think it is because you
are the chosen one.”

“What chosen one? This isn’t The
Matrix,” I replied in a hurry.

“I am just pulling your chain,
stop getting so worked up. I don’t think you should separate from your body for
too long, though. Nothing good comes to a soulless body.” she said, swinging
her arms back and forth.

“Any ideas how I can get back?”
I asked as we moved to look over Aberto’s shoulder.

“Nope.”

Just as we began to look at my
back, Aberto turned and looked me in the eyes. Not the me on the table, but the
soul me floating around.

“It is time to return” he said.

“Whoa, that is freaky,” Ren said
as I felt my body and soul being reunited. “See you later,” she hollered as I
came back into my agony-filled body.

**********

“Aaaaahhhh!” I cried out as tears
burst forth from my eyes. My body was racked with more pain than I’d ever
before endured. I felt as though my limbs were being stretched in four
directions and my back set on fire simultaneously. I whimpered as Aberto paused
in his application.

“I am sorry that I had to draw you
back, but your soul must be bound to your body for the next part,” he whispered
quietly next to my ear. “We are almost finished with the worst of it.”

“How did you see me?” I needed a
distraction but the words barely came out a whisper.

“Because, like you, I have many
gifts. Now send your pain out into the circle, they are here to help,” he said
before returning to my back.

I thought about the pain and tried
to send it away from me. It pulsed from me like a shockwave, knocking everyone
in the circle to the ground. The moment I released it I felt better but I
immediately worried I had hurt everyone else in the process.

“We are fine,” I heard Molly say in
my mind.

I heard sounds of chairs being set
to right and murmurs as everyone took their place once more. I wondered if that
was a normal reaction to the pain sharing thing. Perhaps I had held the pain in
for too long. I felt numb now; whatever I’d just done had taken away any trace
of pain and replaced it with a sense of comfort.

I lay there as the melody of Aberto
working sent me into a state of deep relaxation. I didn’t feel encumbered by
the tight seat or my face being trapped. I felt the safest I had felt in a very
long time. I allowed that sense of safety to sink into me and merge with every
part of my being. I felt well and truly shielded. Just as sleep began to beckon
me, Aberto announced we were finished.

**********

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I lay there a moment, gathering my
bearings. I felt different somehow. I knew that something deep in my being had
been changed. I sat up slowly, afraid that the pain from earlier would return
with movement. Surprised by the lack of pain, I began moving more freely. I
tried to look at my back and realized I probably looked about as ridiculous as
someone trying to lick their elbow.

“Would you like to see it?” Aberto
asked, amusement lacing his voice.

“Yes, please.”

The anticipation built until he
handed me a mirror to angle to his own. My entire back was now encompassed by
an intricately woven Celtic Shield Knot. I had expected something similar to
Kennan’s tattoo. Something masculine and bulky. Instead, I was given the most
beautiful piece of artwork I had ever seen. The lines were dainty as they moved
in and out of one another, never beginning and never ending.

“It is beautiful,” I gasped. “From
the bottom of my heart, Aberto, thank you.” I hopped off of the table and threw
my arms around him. Clearly I’d startled him because he almost lost his
footing. He waited a moment before placing his arms around me giving me a small
squeeze.

“Now, if you feel that it needs to
be strengthened you contact me. You can find me in the dreaming if you need me.
Just call my name and I will appear,” Aberto said before moving away to melt
into the night.

I was startled by Kennan’s
approach. I looked up into his face and noticed lines of strain. I wondered if
everyone else’s looked the same and as I took in each of my friend’s faces I
noticed they bore the same marks.

“I’m so sorry if I hurt any of
you,” I said, looking back up to Kennan.

“We’re fine. Whatever you did to
knock us all back was a bit more than we had prepared for I think,” Kennan
said, steering me towards the outbuilding so that we could gather our clothes
from earlier in the night.

“Sorry guys,” I muttered to
everyone as they moved with us.

“Stop apologizing. We wouldn’t have
been here had we not wanted to. It is an honor to be asked to participate in
such a ceremony,” Conall admonished as he walked beside me.

“Fine, but at least let me say
thank you. I really appreciate ya’ll more than you will ever know. Thanks for
taking that pain away.” I yawned loudly causing Kennan to snuggle me closer to
his body. “What time is it?”

“It is almost dawn,” Molly muttered
as she rubbed her eyes.

Well, that explained why everyone
looked so drained.

“Good grief. I didn’t realize it
had been that long.” I was beginning to wonder if time moved differently on the
other plane. “Does time move differently in the dreaming and in visions?” I
asked the group. Surely one of them would have the answer.

“Yes.”

“No.”

They all said at once. So, mixed
reviews. I was just going to go ahead and assume that time moved differently.
It had not felt like I was up on that chair all night. However, the intricacy
of the tattoo did belie its time consuming application. As we shuffled into the
outbuilding, I let my mind wander to Ren and walking on the other plane out of
my body. I wondered if Isadora had any information on it. I also wondered if
this stupid mark on my arm was still going to glow now that I had the
protection mark on my back.

We all changed quickly, exhausted
from the night’s activities, and headed back to the house in silence. Kennan
and I made our way into our room and crawled into bed almost fully clothed. As
I curled my body into the heat of Kennan’s, I felt truly safe for the first
time in months. With the new tattoo and Kennan at my back, all felt right in my
world. I breathed deeply and let the dreaming take me.

**********

I expected to see Ren and was
surprised by her absence. I searched the fog hoping to find her. Only she would
be able to tell me if my mark was still glowing. Well, her or one of the other
sightless Seers. I pushed through the fog seeking her out. That’s when I heard
it. Laughter coming from the distance. I strained my ears and heard two people
talking. As I moved toward the voices a building came into sight. I began to
wonder if this was the dreaming at all or if I was in some sort of vision
again.

Come to think of it, how in the
world was I supposed to know the difference between visions and the dreaming if
they kept intersecting? I brushed it off and made my way toward the colossus
that was the building. From the exterior it looked to be a factory that had fallen
into disrepair. I tried to find some sort of identifying mark but the further I
moved the fainter the voices grew. I decided to worry about where I was later
and find the source of the noise.

I made my way back around to
where I heard the voices. I could clearly hear Xavier talking to the woman
again.

“Soon, my love. We just need two
or three more and you will be back with me once more. Then we can end her
together,” the woman said.

As I moved closer I could
finally see them through a window. Her body was still masked in a cloudy
darkness and no matter how my mind tried to remember where I’d heard her voice
it would not.

“My patience is wearing thin. If
you keep dragging this out she will find you. Do not underestimate her. Her
abilities grow with each day. There was a reason I tracked her down. If we
don’t move quickly she will be out of our grasp and the plan will be for
naught.” Xavier gritted his teeth together. He looked as though he was still
growing stronger, the bastard.

“She is nothing to us. There is
no way she will stop us in time. Besides, she can’t even figure out who I am.
I’ve placed a veil upon myself.”

“We shall see. Regardless, I am
asking you to move the plan forward. Stop being so discerning and get the
woman. She is the key. Surely you have a plan to take her.”

“It is all under control,
Darling. You just leave everything to me,” she purred.

Something in the way she said
“Darling” brought to mind a woman I’d met briefly at the lab. I didn’t want it
to be true, so I brushed the thought aside immediately. I couldn’t even imagine
her being behind this.

I moved around the building once
more, trying to find more clues. Perhaps if they were meeting in the dreaming
they were also physically at this place. I couldn’t imagine anyone coming here
for fun. I looked around, and as I glimpsed a sign, I felt myself being pulled
out of the dreaming and into the present.

**********

“Izzy, I need you to wake up,”
Kennan was shaking my shoulders, trying to pull me out of my sleep.

“What? What’s happened?” I asked
blearily. I wondered how long I’d been asleep. I was still exhausted.

“Isadora is missing. She was
supposed to arrive in Denver on Council business this afternoon and she never
showed up,” Kennan sat back on the bed away from me, rubbing his hand down his
face. A sure sign that something was amiss. I was officially worried. I had not
even known she was leaving. Although, I supposed keeping that sort of thing a
secret was probably smart.

“Has anyone talked to Conall or
Breanan? Surely one of them would know where she is.” I got up and started to
pace the room. I looked over at the clock and noticed that I’d been asleep
quite a long while. That answered the time thing. It definitely moved at
different speeds outside of this plane. It was almost three in the afternoon.

“No one has been able to reach
Breanan and Conall won’t talk to anyone. He said that when you woke up he
needed to discuss something with you. Which is why I am waking you up.”

“Where is he?” I rushed around the
room putting my clothes on. I was probably matched as well as Ian normally was,
but I wanted to find out what was going on. Something told me things were about
to get far more complicated than anyone had anticipated.

“He’s in Isadora’s office.” Kennan
led me down the hall and downstairs to the huge wooden doors of her office. I
started to knock as the door opened from the other side. Inside the door stood
Conall.

“I need a word alone with Izzy, if
you don’t mind. I’m sure she will tell you everything, but these were my mother’s
instructions.”

Conall leveled Kennan with his
gaze. I knew that his request would not be denied but I wondered at the
seriousness of it all. I also wondered if Isadora had a coffee pot hidden in
her office somewhere.

“I’ll wait outside the door.” Kennan
bowed his head to Conall as he shut the door.

“What’s going on?” I asked around a
yawn.

“My mother has been taken. She will
be the next to be sacrificed,” Conall said, moving toward her desk.

“Wait, what? I mean, what?!” I
screamed. I was dumbfounded. How had he been able to say that so calmly? “What
about your dad? Why won’t he do anything to stop this? We have to do
something!”

“My father is dead by now. This is
an event that cannot be changed, Izzy. I am sure my mother told you that some
things must stay the course. This is one of those things. She has known for
many months that this day was coming. She even knew what day it would be. But
she also knew that if she did not stay the course that destiny had set before
her, the world would be far worse off. She left something for you.” He grabbed
a file from her desk and moved back towards me as I sat heavily on the couch.

“How are you so calm about all of
this? I mean, you are losing both of your parents today.” I wiped at the tears
threatening to spill over my cheeks. I was getting sick of losing people. I was
sick of death. I was sick of people thinking it was no big deal to face death
knowingly. This shit was scary. I wanted people to act like it was for once.

“I am calm because no other course
of action will aid you in your task. I am calm because my mother asked this of
me. I am calm because if I let any other emotions in right now I can’t be the
man you need me to be,” Conall finished, lowering himself to sit next to me.

I looked at him sideways. I wasn’t
sure what he meant by that last statement.

“Not like that, Izzy. I meant that
I can’t be the Guardian you need me to be. I would not be able to uphold the
oath I made to my mother if I allowed myself to wallow in the grief of their
loss.”

Well, that was a relief. I loved a
good romance but I had no desire to become part of some twisted love triangle.

“What is your task?” Perhaps if I
concentrated on the issues at hand, I would be able to cope with her loss
better. It seemed to work for everyone else around here. These people could
give lectures on compartmentalizing.

“In this folder, you will find
everything my mother knew about the sacrifices. You will find where they intend
to sacrifice her as well as information on the last two Seers that will be
taken. I have not seen any of what is in here. She instructed me to give this
information to you and you alone. My mother believed in you, Izzy. I hope that
her belief is not unfounded,” he said, handing me the folder before silently
exiting the room.

Talk about living up to
expectations. No pressure or anything.

I looked at the folder resting on
my lap. I knew that the moment I opened the folder, my life would never be the
same. That blasted folder was practically passing the torch to me. I swallowed
hard and began to open it. I looked down at a pile of papers and lying on top
was an envelope with my name on it. I set the folder and its contents aside,
pulling the letter out. I was getting kind of tired of dead people leaving me
letters. This was emotionally taxing.

**********

Izzy,

I leave you with a choice. It is
not an easy choice to make and I know you will not make this choice lightly. I
need you to decide whether you will fulfill the calling and become the leader
of the Council or lead a normal domestic life with Kennan and the occasional
vision. I have seen both futures and I know that you would be happy in the
domestic life. I also know that by asking you to choose the Council, I am
asking you to face great hardships. There are things lying ahead of you that
will challenge everything you have ever known and believed. Yet I ask you to
choose us all the same.

 I know what I ask is hard. I
ask more of you than anyone ever asked of me. I am asking you to give up the
life that you long for. I am asking that you take this job and that you fight
for our people. I can promise you that we are lost without you. I wish that I
had more time to prepare you but God has other plans it would seem. The best
advice I can offer you is to trust yourself and trust Kennan. All else will
matter for naught.

Make me proud. Make your mother
proud. But more importantly, make yourself proud. There are grave dangers lying
ahead for you. Things I wish I could warn you of, but I cannot. It is not the
time. Just remember there is a reason for all things we must endure. Farewell
Izzy, and know that my faith in you goes well beyond this plane.

Love,

Isadora

**********

I sat motionless, staring at the
paper in my lap. She knew she was going to be taken. She knew she would be
sacrificed. I felt as though I had been duped once more. I was so sick of
people keeping things from me. I understood her need for secrecy, but I felt as
though I had been going through this whole process with a giant piece of the
puzzle missing. I wanted to know everything she knew. I needed to find out what
could be done to stop whoever this woman was. I needed to find out how the
sacrifices were connected with Xavier. Most of all, I needed to figure out how
to get this stupid rune off of my arm. I breathed in slowly through my nose,
closing my eyes. If I wanted to accomplish anything I needed to keep it
together.