Flesh Wounds
Part Thirteen
Blindly reaching for the choking Gabriel, Athena cursed and shot her gauntleted fist upwards. Time ripped, and the two fell through, landing hard on Gabriel's floor.
The Princess crawled to Bowman, finding he wasn't breathing. Frantically opening his mouth, she pressed her lips to his, and inhaled deeply.
The sand in his body came out, swallowed by the girl as she saved his life. His eyes shot open, the cuts on his body healing, as she fell to the side, coughing up sand and blood.
Once she had cleared her system, she felt his hands on her biceps and gratefully leaned back against the support. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly.
"I think I should ask you that," she smiled weakly.
"And I think you just saved my life…again." Tilting her face up, he captured her lips with his, both expressing their relief at the other's health. Finally, they broke apart, and he rested her forehead against hers. "Now, I take it you know that guy?"
"Dasseren. He's an immortal…warlock."
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Sara, Danny, and Jake gazed at the girl in slight disbelief. Gabriel simply shook his head; Xander and Giles rubbed their eyes and murmured in unison, "I hate this job."
After Athena's announcement, she and Gabriel had headed for her headquarters with the Sumerian documents, and now Athena was explaining what had happened.
"A warlock? As in magic?" Danny asked.
"Is it so hard to believe, grasshopper?"
Jake rubbed a hand through his hair. "So what do we do?"
"These last pages of this document…they've changed into a spell and its directions. Unfortunately, they don't tell what they're bewitching or destroying or whatever. I can't even figure out which order they go in."
"What?" Sara asked. "Order?"
"There're seven pages, luv, which means they form a particular pattern. I can't read them until I figure out that pattern." She picked at her bottom lip. "Now, Akri was chewed severely, like dogs on a T-bone steak. She was bound to her bed to keep her from biting herself, but there was no psychic residue, like on the victims, which makes this harder."
"And I ask again, what do we do?" Jake re-iterated.
"We have got to find Coba's entire story, and find out why those papers ended up in Cornwall's hilt. Something tells me he had a big part somewhere."
"'Thene, what happened after Cornwall asked for this hilt?" Xander asked.
"I was called to Australia to stop three wars, and didn't get back to England for about fifteen years. Cornwall had died in battle with his daughter and most of his people, or so I was told."
"It could be this was happening back then, and somehow it was stopped," Gabriel mused, leaning forward in his chair. "Did Cornwall have an Egyptian or Mesopotamian servant?"
"Actually, yes," Athena replied, beginning to pace. "Perath."
"What did you know about him?"
"Not much. My mind was on other things at the time. Um…Cornwall picked him up on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Babylon had fallen by then, obviously."
"But the people didn't," Gabriel replied.
"Of course…the Assyrian Empire, when it trans-located all those people…" The girl knelt beside a random box and dug through it. "Perath was very quiet…god, what isn't making sense? I'm not normally this stupid!"
The group deemed it wise not to answer. "What exactly are you looking for, my dear?" Giles asked.
"We have a two thousand or five thousand year gap. I'm looking for the pieces to that puzzle."
"Wait, you said this Doo-wop dude saw you. How?"
"Jake, his name is Dasseren, and he's a warlock. I'm surprised he didn't kill us."
"Actually, I'm happy about that," Gabriel grinned. "Choking on sand? Doesn't sound a particularly pleasant way to die."
Athena flashed him a quick smile. "It's not, believe me. Now, there has got to be history book around here somewhere."
"Well, let's think about this," Xander mused. "He's a warlock, right? What do warlocks want most?"
"Power usually," Giles replied.
"And power attracts chicks..." the teen trailed off.
"Xander, please," the Princess groaned.
"Sorry, 'Thene."
"Besides, Dasseren had more than enough power. He was never really into that gig," the girl continued. "He was particularly fascinated with the dimensions of Hell."
"Were you this guy's teacher?" Gabriel asked.
"Good lord, no. We met in a bar, drank, talked, and then I had to pop off and save the universe."
"And you didn't destroy him...why?"
"I was told not to. Something about he had a part to play in prophecy."
"I hate prophecy," Xander ground out fervently.
"You and me both, honey. Whoa..." the girl suddenly went still.
"What's wrong?" Danny demanded when she did not respond to them.
"She's in a trance," Gabriel replied, discreetly covering her flashing bracelet and nodding to Xander.
"And Pezzini seems to have mastered the act of falling asleep with her eyes open," Xander laughed, closing the detective's eyes, and also covering her right wrist. "I'll take her upstairs. Bowman, can you get 'Thene?"
"Yeah, sure," Gabriel hoisted the girl up in his arms and followed the teen up to the second floor.
"What's really happening?" The Immortal Aide asked as they laid the two women on separate beds.
"It looks like the Witchblades have them. We can only wait until they wake up."
"Then let's go research. How many languages can you read?"
"Enough. You?"
"English, barely," Xander admitted. "Giles can read about five, I think."
"Sounds like fun."
"You have no idea."
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Sara and Athena thrashed on their beds, their minds on overload from the barrage of their bracelets. Flashes of bodies, of blood, and of flames assaulted, and they were suddenly deposited in the middle of a featureless plain, the distant edges blocked by thick fog. "Oh, not a-bloody-gain," Athena groaned.
"Where the hell are we?" Sara demanded.
"The domain of the Witchblade."
"What are we doing here?"
"To learn to trust each other," Athena sighed. "Bloody bracelet."
"It's done this before?"
"A few times. I don't think we'll be getting the answers we need until we trust each other…actually, until you trust me."
"What about you?"
"I've trusted each Wielder. Otherwise, you wouldn't be Wielding," Athena replied, gazing around their surroundings.
"Did you know Joan of Arc?"
"I'm the one who first placed the Witchblade upon her young wrist…as it probably told you when you first saw me."
"That flash of pain…"
"Two halves of the same whole, the pain of separation, maybe. When I made these, I gave them mind of their own. Perhaps that was a mistake."
"Why are you helping us?"
"It's my job. I'm the princess. I fight the forces of evil."
"I've heard you could be called evil."
"You have to know what you're fighting against."
"Tell me why I should trust you?"
"It's never that easy Lara. You have to figure it out on your own. Otherwise, we would not be here."
