Chapter 14

Trask opened the Church for all to come. Willie, Angelique, Buffy, Jessica, were already in . Chris and Oriana would come later, as would Edmund, Carolyn, and Adam, carrying Eliot with them.. Trask looked at Angelique, and accepting what his role would be, he divested himself of his own robes.

Willie laid down the wooden star and the box retrieved by Adam.

Adam, Carolyn, and Edmund got into the car, carrying Eliot, as well as the things that Amy had asked them to get for the ceremony: Eliot's hair lock, blood, and fingernail parings,, as well as Hallie's bloodstains.

Adam tied the safety belt and was about to turn on the car, when he found himself facing the barrel of a gun.

"Going somewhere?' George asked.

Chris and Oriana entered the church now, carrying the Moon card with them."

"We are ready to go now." they said.

"We need Carolyn, Adam, and Edmund, with Eliot, before we can go." Angelique said.

"You are not taking the baby anyway. It belongs with its mother." George said, as he made Adam and Carolyn get out. "I do not know what you have planned, but it will not happen. Come the solstice, Eliot will be safely away from Collinsport."

"With his mother?" Carolyn said, horrified. "But she's the danger, she's the phoenix!"

"You are the one with phoenix blood. You are the danger. You, the result of ages of genetic engineering by occult races, Eliot is not safe with you."

"You are Wong, Sheriff." Edmund said. "Eliot is safe with us."

"Kid, you do not know half of it."

Adam said nothing. He had not returned Barnabas' nature to him. He still was a vampire. He dematerialized and quickly reformed behind Brant, grabbing his gun hand, and biting hard on his throat.

"You will come with us, Brant." he said. "And when we are done, we will speak no more of this." He took Brant's handcuffs from him and used on his wrists. "Make no trouble and everything will be all right."

"Adam what..."

"Part of what has been happening. Now get into the car and let's go."

Angelique put wards to form a barrier around the church. No one Creature of Light should be able to cross the threshold from dawn to dusk.

"Where are then?" Willie asked. "The should be here."

Then there was the sound of a car approaching and stopping.

"They are here."

They came in, Carolyn holding Eliot, and Adam pushing the handcuffed and gagged George forward.

"He tried to take Eliot from us. " he said.

"But he's under her power, we can't"

"He is not under her power. Just deluded." Angelique said. "He would not be able to enter otherwise. Well, let's find a chair and tie him there."

Once Brant was secured Angelique turned to Carolyn and Edmund "Do you have it?"

"Yes."

"Then we can begin."

Angelique laid down the wooden star on the altar, and below it Eliot's hair, nail parings, and blood.

"I claim the protection that this star offers for Eliot Collins"

"So be it" the others chanted in response.

She laid down Hallie's blood.

"I claim protection against this enemy. May the evil turn upon itself."

"So be it."

She laid down the box next to the linen.

"May this box which holds two of her slaves be smashed and those imprisoned be free."

"So be it."

She took the set of Tarot cards and began laying them down."

"This is the card of the Sun which opposes us." she set it next to the linen that held Hallie's blood." "And this is Justice. which is the basis for the ladder that we will use to reach the Sun."

They all nodded, in silenced, only disrupted by George's grunts.

"The first rung of the ladder is the Fool, a condition that we seek to escape. The second is the Hierophant, which is willingness to do what is right, but prone to error. The High Priestess, which shows the wisdom do to what is needful.. Yet wisdom is not enough without willingness to act, in all ways, great and small. The Seven of Wands shows this willingness not to be overwhelmed by the obstacles. Then the Tower of Destruction, a call to caution in our deeds. The Page of wands which shows steadfastness in all., and the interior calm needed. He will not be dissuade from doing what is right by any obstacles. The Queen of Coins is another warning, about preoccupation with other matters that distract us. The Hanged Man warns us that any conflicts need to be faced and resolved to keep them from intruding.

She held the Moon card, the last throw.

"The Moon card says that conflicts are resolved, all obstacles removed, and now is the time to act.

Chris and Oriana rose and came to her side.

"The spread is complete, and the Sun is at the end of it." Angelique said. "One more card is needed to make it possible, and it is you who must choose it."

Chris extended his hand.

"You, as her brother, must take the next card. She will guide your hand."

Chris did.

"The Chariot." Angelique said.

She laid the card over the box and spoke a few words over it. Then she picked up a heavy candlestick and smashed the box with it.

Mist escaped from it.

"You two are free." she said.

Two wraiths formed themselves behind the altar.

"Zoya Zalisky. Yolanda Overton." Angelique said " You have been set free, but not fully. You must help us destroy the one who imprisoned you before she can recapture you."

"We understand." Zoya answered

"We shall do as you say." Yolanda echoed.

"Use your power to make the Chariot be real, not just painted cardboard"

"No!"

It was Hallie, hurling herself against the doors, only to be stopped by Angelique's wards.

"It is too late Hallie!"

"I command Barnabas. I command the werewolves. Bring my son back to me!"

"You command no one. The blood that Zeb gave you had been laced with deadly nightshade. There is no power in it now. Even if Barnabas was awake he would not obey you. As the werewolves do not obey you."

"No!" Hallie protested again.

"You have lost, Hallie Stokes Collins. Think of Ra's wrath and think whether you should ask for our protection against him."

"Zoya! Yolanda! I know that you are inside! Obey me!"

"You have no power over them. You still have their hearts, as you do your other salamanders, but their will is free."

'No.! The Solstice is coming. I shall lay siege to this church, and force you to come out, until you give me what is mine!"

There was laughter now, a man's laughter.

"They finally listened to me. They know you know for what you are. And you are going to lose" Robert Loomis said, laughing.

Hallie felt down on her knees, clawing at the door. "Let me in! George Brant! I know that you are there! Bring me my child!"

George shook his head. Bound and gagged as he was, he could not obey. Not even if he wanted to... Of course, Hallie was the phoenix... Why hadn't he seen it?

"You have lost Hallie. Solstice is a long day, but it will be over, and when it is done, you may face Ra's wrath, unless we protect you. Do you wish our protection?

Hallie shivered, then sobbed. "You can't to this to me."

"We must."

"It is Barnabas' fault. He killed me. I was Maude Browning once. I wanted to live, and he strangled me. He did not care... I wanted to make him pay..."

"And your slaves want you to pay for what you done to them. "

Zoya and Yoland moved back and forth with the undulations of their movements becoming a wind. A wind that made the Chariot grow, stand upright, and become three dimensional.

Hallie outside heard what was happening and screamed, knowing what would happen, knowing that Ra would never forgive her for what she had brought to pass.

"The Chariot is ready." Angelique said.

Chris and Oriana mounted it, along with Angelique, and over them hovered Yolanda and Zoya.

The chariot rose in the air, up to the roof, went through it, and disappeared into the night.

Hallie saw it and moaned. It could not happen this. How could she missed what was happening.

The chariot kept rising under the stars and the moon. They felt the moon bathe them and give them strength. Chris' and Oriana's faces became muzzles with strong, sharp teeth. And the power ran like electricity over Angelique's bare arms.

They were ready now for the assault, and this time, Chris thought, as he snapped his jaws shut, he would be able to pursue those dirty birds, catch them, and tear then with his teeth.

"You must not be overconfident." Angelique warned him. "Yes, we do have power, but there are boundaries to it. Don't forget that we will be fighting on their home ground. All we can do is strike quickly, grab Amy and David, and get back before they have time to recover. And then we will need to stay inside the church, until the solstice is over, for they may want to snatch David back."

Chris nodded comprehension, and tried to restrain the bloodlust rising in him. Oriana took his hand and squeezed it.

Then they saw the bring, blinding light ahead of them. A deadly, burning, water stealing light.

They headed towards it, calling on the strength which they had been given to fight it.

Then they ran into it, cutting through the walls as they had cut through the church, quickly, and without a sound.

The corridors raced in front of them. Red porphyry walls which throbbed and burned, threatening to become an oven.

There were doors and doors that they went through without bothering to open them. Some golden birds flew by, and for a moment Chris was tempted to nip at them, and so avenge the helplessness he had felt when Amy had been taken, but he remembered Angelique's warning.

There was someone standing at the end of the corridor. A woman, naked, her hands extended towards them.

"Amy! Angelique said.

It was her, and as the chariot passed by, she grabbed Oriana's hands, and Chris helped her get inside.

"Your eyes..." Oriana said.

"It is all right." Amy said. "We have to get David. I'll point out the way."

One falcon swooped down on them close, too close. It screeched and would have dived for them. Chris caught it in his muzzle, crushing its bones.

The blood streamed over his mouth and he relished it.

"There will be others coming." Amy said. "We must hurry."

Indeed, they did, and both Chris and Oriana stood at the sides of the chariot, baring their teeth and growling at them. Angelique kept the course steady, and Amy guided her.

There were more birds round the golden cage which held David. And human attendants. It would seem impossible that two wolves would be enough to hold them, but Chris and Oriana tried, snarling at them, catching flesh and tearing it, then letting go, to grab another bird.

Angelique touched the cage and it crumbled.

David stood, dazed. He could not understand that he was free. But Amy's hand reached for his, and he mounted the chariot too.

Chris and Oriana kept snapping their jaws, tearing at whatever was there to be caught, spattering blood and golden feathers all around.

Angelique made the chariot move again, racing through walls and doors, tracing the corridors, and seeking the exit.

They found it, and they were riding into the dark night.

"We are free." David said with wonderment.

"Not yet." Angelique said. "They are coming after us. There is one place where we will be safe, and we are going there.

The Earth below them grew and grew. They began to make out some of its features.

Above them, the falcons congregated. The Night weakened the falcons' powers and slowed them, but still they came. They would not give David up so easily.

"Eliot" David said. "They are after Eliot."

"We know. He is being protected now."

"Halle, she..."

"We know that she is a phoenix, and the one who is behind this. We are breaking her power now."

"You found out?"

"Amy told us what to do, and we did it."

"Amy?" David turned to her. "But she... You mean that she is the one who arranged this?"

"That's why I would not run away with you when you broke out of the cage. It would mean that we would lose the only chance we had."

"And you let me thing... Yes, I see that you had to let me believe it..."

The church rose, welcoming them. They went through the roof, and then they were inside, surrounded by their friends.