Rebirth
13. The Heart of the Matter
After a bit of trial and error, I managed to mold my merry band of misfits into a functioning council. That took about a week, and at the end of that week, I got a nasty shock.
Stark was moving.
This mess started back in July, during the Summer Games (aka, Vampyre Olympics). Our Archery Coach at the time, William Chidsey, had made it to the final round, along with Stark. It turned out to be Coach Chidsey's final contest: During the practice round, Stark's arrow curved around and hit him in the heart, killing him instantly.
Now, Chidsey was Stark's mentor, and the boy took the whole thing really hard. He moped around for like a month before I finally told him to snap out of it or I'd freeze his fingers so bad he'd never shoot again (I didn't intend to, really). The threat seemed to get the job done, but he refused to compete after that. Practiced day and night, but never competed. Why did he practice? Simple. To test his affinity.
It didn't take long for Stark (or the rest of us in the loop) to realize that he could hit anything he visualized in his head, absently or intentionally. Seriously, I snuck out to watch him practice in the park a month or so back and watched him kill an owl that was the "heart" or "center" of the tree his target was stuck to. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. Poor thing screeched all the way down to the ground, and did nothing to help Stark's shaky belief in himself or the Goddess's wisdom.
And now, he's changing schools and going to…
"Tulsa? Are you insane? That's like the middle of nowhere! Do they even have an archery team?" I asked as he packed up his personal equipment. He sighed.
"It doesn't matter. I'm not competing."
"Running away isn't going to help, and it's certainly not what William would have wanted."
He glared darkly. "I'm not running."
"Really? Then what do you call suddenly changing schools?"
"A fresh start."
"Bullshit! I don't believe it and I know you don't either!"
"The students treat me different now."
"Uh, hello? You're talking to the official Queen of Misfit Land. If anyone knows about different here, It's me! None of the teachers are mad at you, James."
"But they didn't fight to keep me." He frowned.
"Because you won't fight for yourself anymore! Look at you! When did you become such an effin' doormat?"
"I am NOT a doormat!"
"Prove it! Tell them you'll stay. We need you here, Stark. We need you to help us stop Hecate. Please, just stay until we stop her."
He let loose a ragged sigh. "Fine. But as soon as she's dead, I'm gone."
"Fine." I said, turning away from him and leaving the archery house.
TWO WEEKS LATER…
After lots (and I do mean lots) of mystical scribing and asking Nyx for Directions, We (as in the adults) finally found Hecate's hiding place. Turns out she'd holed up in some abandoned house a few blocks from the school. Which is where Shekinah, the Sons of Erebus, The majority of our staff, Stark, Shannon, Miko, and myself were waiting this night.
"There are at least a dozen were-creatures." I said, using my newly enhanced sense of smell to detect the other beings down-wind of me. "All of them waiting for us. She's warned them."
Shekinah nodded. "Let us not disappoint her. Esarosa, would you lead the way?"
Gee, I feel so special. "No problem, Priestess." I said, shifting into my wolf form and loping down the hill, Shannon and Amiko hot on my tail.
As soon as the creatures sensed us, they all rushed out of the house. They were met with fangs, claws, and the occasional flying arrow to the heart or head. They were dead in a matter of maybe two minutes.
Someone's in there with her, and I don't mean another wolf. I thought to my companions.
She has a posse of males protecting her." Miko thought back. I'll go warn the others.
You do that. I "said", trotting around to the back door. I'm going in to investigate.
Please tell me I don't have to go too. Shanda begged. I rolled my blue eyes.
No, you hang back in case I get stabbed or something. I told her, disappearing from her line of sight.
The back door was unlocked. Apparently Hecate's male protectors didn't lock up when the beasts ran out. That meant either they were careless or cocky, one of the two. I hoped for careless.
I was wrong. Three large males greeted me. One of them tried to grab my neck, and I bit his hand. Then one of the other ones whacked the side of my head.
"Bad doggie." He said, looking down at me. "You musta failed obedience school as a pup."
"I don't think the bitch-mutt ever went to obedience school." Another laughed. "Mistress, we got a visitor!"
Hecate stepped into the doorway, her long blood-red and black dress falling carelessly off her pale shoulders. Her hair was an odd shade of bluish-black, and was falling freely in pin-straight layers over her shoulders and back. Her Mark was in the form of a mask made of pentagrams and runes that framed her most dramatic feature: her bright scarlet eyes. Eyes of pure evil. I growled.
"My, my, what have we here." She smirked, looking over me in a sinister fashion…almost like she wanted to eat me. Ew. "A student wandering away from her school. All to seek out the person responsible for turning her into a beast abhorred by the priestess of her worthless goddess!"
I growled and barked. Loudly. One of her consorts slapped me again. "Be quiet, bitch." He glared.
"Now, now, Dmitri, we want the girl intact if she's to be of use to us." Hecate admonished. I didn't care how much use I was so long as I could get my jaw back into its rightful place. I growled at her. "Child, you can't even begin to understand the plans I have for you. You see, I once followed the ways of Nyx as you did. But then I learned that it was a lie. That she was the devil, not the angel of the night everyone thought she was. Our Master of Darkness will rise again and conquer all of those who follow that pretending demon!"
I felt a wave of anger like nothing I'd ever known. When I agreed to go in first, I thought I might talk her into walking outside to be captured. I didn't count on her being a traitor to Nyx. She's following a path that the Goddess hasn't blessed, and is leading others astray. I shifted back into my Vampyre form, taking her by surprise. Apparently she hadn't expected to see an Adult come from the wolf. "First of all, I'm no longer a student." I told her and her bodyguards. "And second, I'm blessed, not abhorred." Thousands of tiny ice daggers struck at her protectors as I got to my feet. They cowered down on the ground as a whirlwind of razor-sharp ice crystals contained each of the male vampyres. "Now, who fed you these lies!"
"Tsi Sgili will save the faithful upon his return!" Hecate cried out. I felt even more lost than before.
"That's not an answer! Who is this Tsi Sgili?"
"Our Master's consort." She smiled blissfully. "Yes, she will protect us from his purge."
"But she won't protect you." I said. She blinked a moment before….
Spliiit! An arrow landed smack dab in the middle of her heart. Her red eyes glazed over, and she fell to the floor dead (hopefully). I flashed a grateful smile at Stark, who I knew had been the one to fire the shot. The arrow had his scent on it.
"It seems Nyx has judged her unredeemable." Shekinah said as she entered from the front, surveying the destruction while the Sons of Erebus contained Hecate's hired help. "Well done, Esarosa."
"Don't thank me yet." I said, looking at her and Eliante. "Our fight has just begun."
"What does she mean?" Ate asked.
"Hecate mentioned a Master, someone wanting to destroy Nyx." I said. "She also said something about his consort. Someone called Tsi Sgili?"
"Sounds foreign." Miko put in. Eliante paled.
"Shekinah, I believe now would be an opportune time to check on the Tulsa House of Night. To ensure that those students are not experiencing our problems."
Shekinah nodded. Apparently she'd been waiting for that statement. "Yes, I believe I shall. I will accompany Mr. Stark when he transfers tomorrow."
I glared at Stark, who glared right back. Damn coward.
"Will you contact us if you find out anything?" Shannon asked in an almost fearful tone. "I mean, we know how to deal with these beasts, and can keep the students there from freaking out."
"Why don't we wait and let the High Priestess deal with it." I stated, looking the ancient woman in the eyes. "If she needs our help, I'm sure she will ask for it."
She nodded. "I shall. Well, why don't we go back to the school and rest? It has been an eventful night."
"A splendid idea." Eliante smiled. She was right. I needed to rest up before thoroughly chewing Stark out when he leaves tomorrow night.