"Early 18
th
century. But I only for a year, 'til they found another."
"Oh. You mean they…"
"Aye. They burnt me. A circle of them fires." She gestured toward the fire Shade.
The frankness shocked me.
"Tis no matter. Painful at first, but over quick. I think ‘twas harder on me ma."
"She knew?"
"She was one o' them fires."
A sick bile crept its way up my throat. "Your mom helped to kill you?"
Aideen shrugged her shoulders. "Cried buckets, she did. But the decision was made. ‘Twas for the good of the earth, aye?"
The bile formed a large lump and refused to go back down. "Is your mom here?"
She shook her head. "Ne'er was marked by the knife."
"Ready to go?" Arianna interrupted the horror story unfolding before my eyes.
I jumped. "Yes, please. Let's get out of here." I didn't want to know any more. I looked at Aideen, "Thank you so much for your help. And I'm sorry for your, your…well I'm sorry for what happened to you."
We hugged, and I attempted to wave goodbye to the fire Shade, but her back was already to me. Arianna and I made our way up the steps. I didn't talk, didn't even turn around to look at her before I weakened the wall barrier. I needed to get out before I broke down.
Hindsight, I probably should have taken better security measures. In my hurry to leave, I didn't consider an attack. The intense heat grew behind me until I had to cower down. And then nothing but blackness.
* * *
When I came to, I found myself buck naked, dancing around a large bonfire in the middle of the night.
It had been afternoon when I left my body.
Immediately I backed away from the searing heat of the fire; most of my skin had turned cherry red with what must have been hours next to my, or her, creation. I bumped into Alex.
Head turned away, he quickly wrapped his coat around me. Feet quickly shuffled and I looked around to find several men, most of whom I recognized as the Chakra staff, hurry away carrying fire extinguishers, and in one man’s case what I could have sworn was a bag of popcorn. “What in the…”
“Hell. Yes. This is my own personal hell. I’ve had to watch them watch you dancing around that fire like some sort of crazed witch for hours. It was like watching porn and discovering your sister’s the main character. Your pregnant sister. Ew.” Alex shook to rid himself of whatever chills crawled up his spine in memory of my performance.
“Why didn’t you turn them away? Or stop her?”
“Her?”
“Well it wasn’t me putting on that show!”
“Could have fooled me.” Alex crossed his arms. “Anyway, we tried. And several men had to be sent to the doc to get treated for second-degree burns. I kept the rest here in case the fire got out of hand. But once we left you alone, you just sort of…did your thing.”
“Great. Just great. Well, she’s off the team, believe me.”
“Team?”
“No time to explain. I have to get back. There’s more work to do.”
“No, you need to rest. We leave tomorrow afternoon.”
“Tomorrow! I won’t be ready by tomorrow.”
“Ready or not, here we go.” Alex walked me back to our room and saw to my packing.
“This is pointless.” I threw down the shirts I was stuffing into my bag. “None of this matters.”
“None of what matters?”
“These! Shirts, clothes…shampoo!” I took out bottles and threw them across the room. “These things mean nothing right now! What matters is my baby’s life, and mine. I need to practice!”
“Quit delaying the inevitable, Katie. We leave on that boat whether you’ve had time to pack your shampoo or not.”
He picked up my bottles and shirts, placing everything in the bag for me. I looked at it with disgust, as if it was the very first step to my defeat. I sat down on the bed and sighed.
Alex did the same. “You look exhausted. Maybe try to get some rest on the plane?”
I shook my head, managing to hold back the tears threatening to flood my eyes but my quivering lips gave me away. “I can’t. I have more work to do. I need to be prepared for him.”
“True. But none of that work will matter if you’re too tired to stay on your feet for the battle.” Alex put his arm around me. “I’ll make you a deal. Sleep for half the trip and work for half. And if you’re still too tired to stand for the battle I will hold you up.”
“And if I falter because I have not trained enough?”
“Then I will step in front of you and protect you with my life.”
I looked up into his eyes and read truth there. He would die for me. And that was the problem. It wasn’t just my life and the baby’s I had to worry about. It was Alex with his goofy ways of making me laugh, and Micah whose arms are the only place I’ve ever truly longed to be. Then there was Susan with enough confidence to fill a room, and Cato, and the staff, and the rest of humanity for that matter. I broke down as the enormity of our undertaking hit me for the first time. I cried on Alex’s shoulder. My wailing soon turned to sobbing and hiccupping which in turn became snorting and uneven, labored breaths.
I woke when it was still dark – sprawled out on my bed. My breakdown led to some much needed sleep, but that few hours of missed training could mean defeat. I found my suitcase neatly packed and Alex staring at me from the doorway with an arched eyebrow, assessing me.
I cleared the sleepiness from my throat and made an attempt to smooth out my hair. “I hope you know that counts as my half of the bargain.”
He snorted in response. “Truck leaves in three hours.”
“Just enough time for one more session.”
He looked me over, no doubt taking into account the dark bags under my eyes. “Fine – a quick one.”
I sat up in bed, careful to wake up fully before I attempted to stand. “I need some air.”
“Want me to go with?” Alex picked up my suitcase.
“No – I’ll just be out in the gardens. Come get me when you’re ready to leave.” I needed some practice using the earth element, having rarely used it except in the case of extreme agitation. Once against Shawn, once against a plant seed.
I walked away under Alex’s watchful eye, and went outside toward the gardens. Stepping into the vegetable section, I saw it was now in full bloom with ripe tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes.
I made my way to the center of the garden, plucking a cherry-red tomato from its vine as I passed. I chose a freshly tilled spot, the smell of dirt still strong in the air. Tomorrow everyone would be pitching in to plant new herbs, except Alex and me. We would be long gone. But tonight, the only thing that would be planted here was my butt. I sat down in the dirt, cross-legged, and sank in slightly. Biting down slowly on the tomato, it burst open in my mouth, sending squirts of juice running down my chin. I hummed in pleasure.
Sufficiently relaxed, I sank deep down into my subconscious, landing on the protected cave shelf with a barely audible thump.
I’m getting good at this
. Arianna, sensing my presence was just on the outside of the protective wall before I could call for her. She was a good lieutenant.
"Got an earth Shade picked out yet?" I asked her as I stepped through a part of the wall smoothly. I kept a wary eye out for that fire Shade.
"Don't worry, we've got her blocked." Arianna gestured to the same island in the middle of the cave lake, where four Shades surrounded her; keeping her paralyzed by a strong weave.
"What if one of them needs a break?"
Arianna forced her human face out of her gaseous cloud to roll her eyes at me. "We don't take breaks. We are Shades. We don't sleep, we don't pee, and we don't eat tomatoes."
I immediately checked my chin for tomato dribble before I realized I wasn't exactly in human form down here either.
"You look fine, Kaitlyn. Spittle and all."
I laughed.
"Come on, I did find an earth for you, but this one wants to do an exchange."
"Sorry, can't right now – I only have a little bit of time… But at least let me meet her. Maybe she can give me something."
Arianna led me down the staircase, introducing me to a form sitting at the bottom. “Here she is."
"English?"
"No, Chinese."
I looked at Arianna. "We’re going to have some serious communication issues. Maybe we should focus on English speakers only."
Arianna moved closer to me, nudging my shoulder, "Oh, Kaitlyn. We all speak the same language. The language of magic."
I tried to push Arianna away but my semi-solid arm went right through her translucent body. I huffed in frustration and sat down next to my non-English speaking earth Shade.
Arianna sat next to me.
"You gonna stick around this time?"
"Thought it would be safer. Besides, you need a translator."
"You speak Chinese?"
She shook her head. "No.
Magic.
"
I looked at the Chinese Shade. She wavered, then took shape. Showing what was once their human form seemed to be a sign of respect, or maybe at least a sign of introduction. She was very beautiful. Large brown eyes and smooth olive skin. Her shiny black hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Two apparatuses that reminded me of chopsticks ran straight through her bun. I refrained from making a joke about the Chinese food the cave had to offer.
She wore a traditional Chinese dress. Bright red flowers on a yellow background circled the fabric. Raising her dainty hands, she began a series of motions. Dust and dirt that littered the cave walls and floors flew to her. She gathered them up until a large mound of earth materialized in front of us, shaped like a tiny mountain. The mountain moved, slowly sending waves of itself back and forth.
"The earth element is the most dependable.” Arianna watched with me. “Steady and practical. Earth magic operates at a slower rate, but it is more likely to persist and endure."
Next, the Chinese Shade took out the two sticks holding her bun together. Her hair flowed down to her waist in a beautiful black straight line. With her sticks, she began drawing designs into the dirt pile. Her weaves and designs were easy to follow and commit to memory. Arianna was right, it was slow going but some of the steadiest weaves I had ever seen. Once done, she laid down her sticks and pushed her arms forward. She never touched the dirt pile but the symbols sank until they disappeared.
"Tracing signs or patterns in the earth can make spells more effective. The same can be done by burying symbolic items in the ground."
Suddenly, the pile of dirt burst outward, spraying the entire cave with its contents, effectively returning each grain back where it had come from.
When Arianna and I emerged from cowering below our raised arms, the Chinese Shade had her hair back up in a neat bun, chopsticks in place, without a speck of dirt on her.
I brushed the dust and grime off of me. "Thanks for the demonstration. It was helpful. I'll return again tomorrow and I can loan you some time with my body."
She immediately shook her head.
"Why not?"