Chapter Ten

With the night came the darkness. Not just the darkness of the mind or world around her, but the darkness of the nightmares that forever plagued Hali's dreams. No, she was not the only one she had ever known that suffered from nightmares. But she was the only one she had ever met whose nightmares were so vividly disorienting. For in her nightmares she not only lived her countless lives of the past over and over, but she was forced to see other things. Dreams had been the missing link to many a bizarre puzzle in her life and the role Destiny had long ago given her. Yet, it was through these nightmares that she was now forced to see many a thing not of her life or any other she had met. The visions that had played themselves out in her nightmares each and every night since the death of the Guardians were of no world or realm Hali had ever before perceived of existing. Many a night she had awoken in the darkness to remember the fading images and wonder vaguely if they had not been memories of that instant before destruction.

So many questions had lain dormant in her mind. But as these quiet days passed without incident in her new life, she had found herself bound far more closely with these dark thoughts than ever before. Where she had once put more time, energy, and thought into her quest to find the other Guardians, she now had all the time, energy, and thoughts in the world to put into these questions.

What had really happened that day? Why had she alone survived? What had become of the others? Who had brought about such destruction? What were all those visions she had seen in that last instant? Had the others seen them? Were those really visions of something beyond the three realms? Had she simply been hallucinating? Could there really have been something more out there?

So many unanswered questions. Of all of them, Hali's most desperate and dangerous question was by far the simplest. Was it really over? Many a night she had lain awake in the darkness wondering that one question. For all she had seen and done thus far, the only conclusion she had been able to come to was that it truly was over. Neither of the other two realms had posed a threat thus far. The Guardians and all that remained of them were quickly vanishing from this world. Even though she still lived, she had her powers. But that seemed the only link beyond the endless nightmares and visions that remained of past events. For all intents and purposes, it was over and she was at last free.

"Then why can I not accept that?" she whispered aloud to the darkness as she lay in her warm bedding late into the night.

Heaving a sigh of mixed frustration and weariness, Hali pulled herself up in the bed until she sat against the headboard. For several moments she simply sat in the darkness pondering what she could do. Over and over in her mind she had considered he options. There lay only two for her. The first and most obvious was to simply learn to live with what she knew and what she had and go on with her life. The other was one she had long avoided since the disappearance of the Dragon she had once carried within herself as her Guardian. For millennia uncounted she had possessed the very essence of the Dragon within her own heart. Yet, it had been the last lingering spirits of the Dragonkind that had granted her the Guardian of the Earth, Draconis, who had become as much a part of her spirit as her own. If not for the Dragons and their aid, she would never have made it as far as she had. For countless centuries she had been their daughter, sister, and even protector, for Guardian is what she had been chosen to do. All of this she had done willingly. Even in her most defiant of moments she had never rejected or accused the Dragonkind, for they were the only true kin she had ever known. If not for the physical body she possessed, she would be a purely Draconisin spirit.

But those days are gone, aren't they? She asked herself silently.

Without her Draconis Hali didn't think she could face them. But if there ever were anything or anyone that could answer her questions with any degree of accuracy, they would be the ones. For months now Hali had avoided it. She knew that the Dragons watched over her always. She had felt their lingering presence on occasion in past months. But that was to say nothing of the dreams she had had. For all the times the Dragons had come to her in the nightmares in the past, they had not so much as watched on the edges of her dreams or dream walking even once since the last day she had been with the Guardians. It was almost as though they were avoiding her as much as she was avoiding them.

Taking a deep breath to calm her frustrated nerves, Hali covered her eyes with her hands while she debated very strongly on her next move. So far there had been no reason or evidence as to why she should feel so disturbed. Nor could she understand why she felt so compelled to act. Against what or whom? Why was it so important to her to understand these dreams and visions? What did they mean, if anything? What could possibly be going on now?

"What if it doesn't have anything to do with me? What if it's them and not me? Could it be they are entangled in something even they don't know about and I'm just stuck in the middle?"

Even as these words left Hali's whispering lips, she gave a violent start. Where they had come from or why she had even thought them she had no idea. Though they looked like no more than five normal young men with interesting talents, they had so far not given her any concrete evidence to the contrary. For as long as she had relied on her instincts, she could not deny them now. Since the day she had met them, there seemed to be more to them than she could see. Yet, all she had to go on were a few instinctual responses and an unusual display of aptitude with weapons and fighting skills and a somewhat abnormal level of power linking them. But maybe it was not just to each other they were--

Hali had no time to finish this thought or the others that were to come. For in the next instant she found herself reflexively on her feet and off the bed. All around her stood a deadly shield of power she had not used since the days of the Guardians. To one in the immortal form it was as deadly as any physical death. It would shred a soul in the blink of an eye leaving nothing but a corpse to the living. Those in the immortal form wouldn't even be that lucky. And that had been her full intention upon stirring from her bed. For it had been the unexpected arrival of one in the immortal form that had disturbed her so. Not since her days with the Guardians had she been so near one in the immortal form, and those last encounters had not been so easy to walk away from.

Now glaring daggers into the room around her, Hali shook off the chill that penetrated straight to the bone as she focused her search for the one that had entered her room unbidden in the night. Using nothing more than what was a trickle of power to herself, she lit the entire room with a ball of energy from her hand. Though seeming like nothing more than a light, it was also a fatalistic projectile in disguise. But, for all of this defensiveness, Hali had yet to sense anything hostile from this wandering spirit.

"You know I can sense you, and if you speak I can hear you as well. Make yourself visible or leave," she spoke icily in her whispery voice, knowing full well that spirits often times simply wandered around without purpose or meaning, but simply curiosity.

"Who are you?" a dangerously commanding voice asked calmly from the shadows.

"I am no one to be trifle with. Who are you and why are you here?" she asked, following the voice with her ears while her eyes pretended to continue searching.

"I am just a spirit that watches over this house and its inhabitants. I have never seen you here before. Where are the boys?" it asked almost threateningly.

"Drop your threats, dead one. I pose no threat to them. I am a guest here in this house."

"A powerful one. Who are you? Where do you gain such power?" he asked, not without suspicion.

At last Hali gave in to her instincts. Releasing the power she had wielded only moments ago, she retracted from her defensive stance and directly faced the darkened corner from which she had so strongly sensed the power of this young man. Bowing slightly she stated evenly, "I am Hachiliah La'Violette, also known to these young men as Hali."

Seeing that she was no longer a danger to him or the others, the spirit materialized from the darkness it had inhabited. In no way did he appear as Hali had thought. Though young by appearance, this one bore the serenity of age, weight of honor, and scars of regret she had not seen in any mortal in a very long time. With more than a little curiosity and a touch of surprise, she watched coolly as he bowed formally before her, his face a mask of impassivity. Slowly arising once more, he met her eyes with the deadly promise of one opponent to another as if before a challenge. For he still did not trust her as she did not him.

"Forgive me for disturbing you, Hali. I am a regular resident here myself, though this is the first time anyone has taken notice."

"Who are you?" Hali asked with dangerously slitted eyes.

Now was neither the time nor place to discuss this or anything else. So far, for all her power, this young woman showed no knowledge of the young men's past battles or powers. Knowing it would be best to move on, he began to fade from her vision to give her fair warning that he was leaving. If she made any move to prevent him, he would be helpless against her. Yet, he had to trust his instincts that she was no threat to him or the others.

"I am known as Anubis. I will return."

Ignoring the cold chill that trickled down her spine as he dissipated and began to leave, Hali took him at his word and promised herself a discussion with this one another time. He would likely hold answers she would not otherwise be able to find. Yet, it had not been his presence or his exit that had chilled her so. It had been the icy touch of familiarity at that name and that voice that had produced such a reaction. She had seen this one before. In nights gone by she had seen him in her dreams and nightmares. But those had been unlike the nightmares of her own life and visions. These had been very unique nightmares concerning the young men she now lived with. Though none had ever been very definite or even memorable, she could definitely recall him and the five others in them.

"Anubis…" she whispered to the darkness as if tasting the name.

With a name such as his, he would not be easily forgotten. Yet it was the dreams that plagued her thoughts now. Along with the knowledge that there was something definitely wrong with his sudden appearance. More than that, her senses more than simply told her that, unlike spirits of the past that she had encountered, this one came bearing ill omens. As if the door to Hell itself had opened, Hali knew that here and now began something she could no longer control. Perhaps it had been the meeting of a dead one. Or maybe it was the fact that she had been so reflexively quick to use her powers. But maybe it had more to do with the fact that the one she had just spoken too bore with him a connection to something Hali could not define. Worst of all, she sensed danger coming, and it seemed to have radiated off of him.

"Anubis, Lord of the Dead…" she mused softly.

And then there was me, the thought flew through her mind randomly. Yet it came as no surprise. Often times in the past she had fancied the thought of Death watching over her much as Draconis once had. Now…Now she wondered if the name alone was enough to bear ill will. But perhaps it was not from him alone…

Then who?

After all she had been through and done, who could there possibly be that could hold enough power to control a destiny as immense and far reaching as hers?