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“I accept.” She whispered. The Crone nodded solemnly.
“Then it is done.” She floated towards Conrad, who stood beneath the ghosts of the Maiden and the Mother. She then laid her swollen hands on the side of Clair’s face, and the twist and whorl of the energy reached a climax. Clair, Conrad, and I cried out as the power beat down upon us. I slammed my eyes shut as the world shattered. The three apparitions dissipated, and my bedroom darkened to its natural state.
Then... it was quiet.
I opened my eyes, to see Clair standing before me serenely. There was glow to her, that seemed to come from the inside. Clair smiled at me calmly and held out her hand.
“Let’s go.” She said. And we followed her out of my bedroom.
43
My house seemed foreign somehow, as if this was not the home I grew up in. Physically, it was the same, but the safety that I normally associated with the cream-colored walls and the carpeted staircase was replaced with a building sense of anxiety and dread.
Even my mother, who had always been a calm and serene source of comfort, was different. Though she was no less comforting. The woman who had come home in her scrubs, frazzled and smiling, now led us down the stairs, her feet sliding over the carpet soundlessly. Her shoulders were back and she was humming with an unearthly power that made even Conrad’s oceanic aura seem like a trickling stream.
The nighttime separated before her as if it were the red sea. She was a beacon of strength, the leader of our sorry little party.
“We need to get them off of the property before Jeremy comes home.” She said without turning around to make sure that we were still following her into the foyer.
The very fabric that built up the matter around her shuddered. “If they hurt him, there will be no survivors.” Her voice was echoed by the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. She stopped at the front door, and finally turned to face us. I trembled a little at her transformed face. She was both younger and older, kinder and stronger. Her silver eyes had bled to white.
“Stay close to me.” She instructed us. Then she opened the door.
I couldn’t believe any of the neighbors hadn’t come out to see what was going on. Meredith was standing in a loose fighting stance before a figure that could only be Marcus. They were positioned in the middle of the street and the street lights were glaring down on them. The wards Mr. Abbey and Conrad had placed over the house glowed with a deep ultraviolet light as wayward spells struck them.
Watching Meredith duel was like watching a cross between a ballet dancer and a martial arts specialist. The trees that lined the street lent her their leaves, which turned razor sharp under her fluid movements and rained down on the dark mage like gunfire. Marcus, however, was no novice. The leaves turned to ash as a stream of fire jetted out from his palms.
His movements were much more abrupt than Meredith’s, though they were no less deliberate. His actions were blunt and backed with power, while Meredith’s were smooth, languid and accented with finesse.
He began to move forward, his stream of flame scorching the street. Meredith threw up a barrier, but the flames beat down, and her brow began to glisten with sweat.
“She’s losing,” Conrad breathed behind me. If he was trying to hide the concern he felt for his sister, he wasn’t successful. Clair stood very still, watching the duel unfold. Both of the battling magick folk seemed oblivious to the fact that we had left the house.
“Yes. Go help her. I will get Raven out of here.” Clair said finally. Conrad looked hesitant to leave us unprotected until Clair turned those glowing white eyes on him, backed by the force of the goddess. “Go.” She said, that strange echo to her voice resurfacing. Conrad hovered for one more heartbeat before nodding curtly, and taking off in a brisk jog to join his sister in the street.
He couldn’t have arrived at a better time, just as he approached, Marcus sent a rapid volley of fire streams toward Meredith, too fast for her to evade effectively. I watched in horror as she tripped. Time seemed to slow as a well placed stream of fire made its way across the street directly toward her.
“ Mer!” Conrad bellowed, and he raised both of his hands. The grass from the lawns around us wilted as Conrad called all of the water from every plant within a hundred-foot radius within seconds. The trees that lined the street shriveled, their trunks empty husks. The green spring grass was leeched to brittle yellow straw. Conrad used the water to form a wall directly in front of Meredith, effectively blocking Marcus’ fire blast.
Marcus turned to face Conrad, fire coating each of his hands. The water Conrad had called to him slid away from Meredith in a glistening stream and twisted around the Obeah Man like a great sea snake.
“Yuh wi nuh touch mi sista again.” Conrad’s voice was low, deadly. I almost couldn't hear him from where I stood. “Mi fi drown yuh where yuh stand.” A shiver ran down my spine. Conrad, my friend, who was always in a good mood, always so positive, had just threatened to drown this man on dry land, and he had meant it.
I knew Conrad had magick, I had seen him use it in small amounts while we were training. But I had not been prepared for the cool, calculated, absolute control he had over the water he commanded. The now-dead lawns and brittle trees were the unfortunate casualties of Conrad’s ruthless desire to protect those he cared for. All magick came at a price.
Marcus didn’t speak. He responded by sending a searing burst of flame directly at Conrad. I cried out in alarm, but my friend barely flinched. With a minute flick of his wrist, the stream of water that had been flowing around him in a defensive ring shot out with crystalline accuracy. It slipped down the center of the fire blast, following it all the way to the mage who had cast it. The water sizzled and turned to hot steam as it broke apart the torrent of fire. Conrad’s magic sucked it right back out of the air, to further power his watery attack.
Marcus was thrown several feet away as the water blasted him squarely in the chest. The force of the water felt as if it were strong enough to cut through stone, and I doubted the mage would recover from the hit.
Clair and I held our breath. The fire mage didn’t move from where he had fallen, and Conrad didn’t waste any time before running to Meredith’s side. Clair turned to me, she laid a glowing hand on my face and I trembled.
“Mom, I’m scared.” I whispered. Her expression swelled with a mix of sorrow and anger. I knew the anger was not for me, but for the people who had frightened me.
“I know darling. Let’s get out of here.” The way she spoke was so like the Clair I had always known. It didn’t seem to fit in this new powerful body that she now seemed to inhabit.
“We can’t leave them,” I whispered, staring at Marcus’ limp form. I swear I saw him twitch. Was he still alive?
“We must. They are risking their lives so we can get you to safety, if we stay it will be for nothing.”
