TW: Loss of body autonomy
Three o'clock saw Michael, Sanya and I getting out of the big white pick-up truck adjacent to a decent-sized park that wasn't far from Michael's house. The sun hadn't set yet, but the day was quickly waning. The actual Solstice was in less than an hour and I was getting nervous that we would be too late.
In the intervening hours, Michael and Sanya had done their best to fill me in on what it meant to be a Knight of the Cross. How their primary mission was to collect the thirty silver coins that had been given to Judas when he betrayed Jesus. (Wow, Biblical stuff in this world was quite literal!) Apparently, each of the coins was "inhabited" but a fallen angel, collectively known as the Order of the Blackened Denarius. The purpose of these fallen angels was to possess humans and corrupt them, taking as many others with them as they could.
Sanya had leaned in close at one point to explain that he had once been in possession of one of these cursed coins. That had been the dark past I had sensed in him. He explained that he had given up his coin when he became disenchanted by the whole "evil doer" thing. Shortly after, the Archangel Michael had come to him and offered him Esperacchius and an opportunity to atone for the harm he had wrought upon the world.
"It's really not a bad gig," he continued, giving me a conspiratorial wink. "I get to travel and meet new people. And I get to swing a sword around on occasion."
"And you don't believe in any of the spiritual stuff behind all this?" I asked, a bit bewildered.
"Nah," he said. "I have told Dresden this many times and I shall tell you now. They do not have to be angels; they can just be beings of some advanced civilization who have been interpreted as angels. 'God' may just be their boss. One does not need to attribute divinity to powerful beings motivated to do good."
"I suppose," I said, still a bit skeptical.
I had watched as Sanya and Michael got geared up for the coming battle. They did so quietly and efficiently from long years of practice. Everything they needed lived in those big black bags that they also kept their swords in. There were flak jackets and chain mail, and even some plate armor.
There were other weapons stored in those bags as well, and these were pulled out and inspected before either going on their person or to be returned to the bag. Michael added a couple knives to his get-up. Sanya did too, but he also pulled out a gun, checked it, loaded it and placed it in a holster under his clothes; making sure he had sufficient ammunition as well. (Not sure how he traveled by plane with that!)
"Going in hot, I see," I commented blandly; the magnitude of what lay ahead of us finally starting to dawn on me.
"It's good to be prepared for anything," Michael explained, rearranging what was left in his bag for ease of access.
Charity had left a bit before we did to pick up their school-aged children. She and Michael shared a tender hug and kiss in the entryway. They did this often it would seem and had accepted all that came with it. "I pray for your safe return," I had overheard her whisper.
And then she had headed out; with us not far behind.
Standing now outside this park, I wasn't really sure how to feel or what to expect. Michael and Sanya finished putting on the last of their gear, covering it all with white crusaders tunics complete with red crosses. They looked horribly out of place in this modern, urban setting, but fortunately there wasn't anyone about right then.
These men were all set for battle. I was standing around in used sneakers and a winter coat, with a borrowed katana slung over my shoulder. What was I doing here?
Harry's beat up old Volkswagen pulled up shortly after we arrived. He and Molly got out. Mouse bounded out of the car as well. I was thrilled to see him, and the big dog trotted over to me happily.
Dressed all in black and lacking any obvious armor, Harry and Molly presented a complete contrast from the battle-ready, white-clad Knights.
Harry had his staff and ubiquitous black leather duster; under which was a black tee-shirt and jeans, and black work boots. His garb gave no indication he was about to throw fists with some bad guys.
Molly looked more like a stage hand than a wizard. Her festive hair was pulled back and her clothing was ordinary and comfortable. Only the peek of a chain mail shirt from under her utility belt hinted that she was ready for anything more than a dress rehearsal of A Christmas Carol.
I saw Michael trade a look with his daughter. She had already been pretty somber when they arrived, but now she blanched and looked away. What was that about?
Harry didn't notice any of that though. He did notice Fidelacchius slung over my shoulder and smiled. "Good," he said. "At least you'll have something."
"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to take it with me though."
"No, you'll have it," Harry assured me with great confidence. "Don't worry." He then grabbed a black nylon backpack from the back seat, and called, "Okay everyone, to the basketball court!"
We obediently followed him to a full-sized court, not really sure what to expect. The whole park was perfectly deserted at this time of day, especially this time of year. Even though the trees were bare and the vines growing on the chain link fence were dried out and brown, they still provided enough cover to make it difficult to see in from the street.
Harry looked around, assessing the scene. Finding it sufficient, he nodded. "Good. Gather around everyone, Santa has presents!"
A bit bewildered, Michael, Sanya and I walked over. With a flourish, Harry opened the backpack and took out a large, empty, lidless coffee tin; handing it to me. "For you," he said, as though handing me something rare and precious.
"Uh, thanks?"
He then went around to everyone else in the group, giving them each a small plastic water bottle full of some type of thick, opaque pink and yellow fluid. Sanya and Michael looked confused. Molly beamed at their responses. "It'll make sense in a moment," she said in a stage whisper to me.
"And," Harry said, handing me the now empty bag after taking out two more bottles. "You hold onto that."
Clapping his hands together, Harry started (finally) to explain this plan of his. "Alright, here's the deal people: this is a Victorian-era end-of-the-world cult called the 'Brotherhood of the Dark Knife'. They feel it's their responsibility to bring Outsiders into this world to destroy it. They've always been a bit of a hack group that didn't even warrant much attention from the White Counsel, but they went radio silent about ten to fifteen years ago. Everyone just assumed they'd finally dissolved. Turns out they had done quite the opposite.
"They apparently buckled down and got serious. Somehow, they managed to get ahold of the names of many Bright Ones; maybe all of them, it's not important. What is important is that over the next few years they started finding which realities those Bright Ones lived in and began collecting personal objects from them to aid in later summonings," and he nodded at my ring. "Seven years ago, they had gathered enough Bright One's together into Gwen's reality and used them essentially as bombs to dislodge her reality from ours. Tonight, they want to do it again with another reality.
"This group uses magic," he continued. "But it's very specific and focused. They're kind of one-trick ponies and shouldn't pose a huge threat, but there's going to be a lot of them and they're fanatics. There might be perimeter guards with guns, but I doubt it.
"Gwen," and he turned to me. "When we're ready, you're going to take off that talisman and do everything you can to draw their attention so they finish that summoning."
"What if they've given up?" I asked quietly.
Ignoring my question – or maybe not even hearing it – Harry turned back to the group and continued explaining with a smile, "I've always wanted to do some Alice in Wonderland magic. These potions are going to allow me to shrink us all down small enough to fit in that coffee tin," and he waved his hand at it, dramatically. "It's a very unstable spell and any jarring motion will break it. If we somehow manage to not break the spell, it'll still only last for about an hour. To end it sooner, use these," and he handed out the white lifesavers he'd taken from Michael's desk. "Get it? Eat me, drink me? These have been dipped in the antidote. One good bite and it'll break the spell. Still, we likely won't need them; this spell really isn't going to hold together well, but it should be enough to get us in."
Turning to his apprentice, he said, "Molly, you're on veil duty. Once Sanya, your father and I are in a position where we don't need to be veiled, you and Mouse are on Gwen. Stay as close as you can without being detected.
"Gwen, give Molly the sword." I did. "At my signal, Molly, you're going to get it back to her. After that, I want you to stay out. Of. The. Way. If you see an opportunity to cause them trouble without putting yourself in danger, do it; but don't engage. Do you understand me?" he said firmly.
"Yes, Sir," Molly said quietly, looking between Harry and her father. I realized now what that look had been earlier: this was the first time Molly and Michael were going into battle together.
"Okay," Harry said. "Everyone, except Gwen, to the center circle. Don't drink your potions yet, I won't have a lot of time to cast the spell once we drink them."
With that, he came up to me. "Look, I cannot express enough how much I hate dragging women into dangerous situations. If there'd been any way to do this differently; where you could have stayed out of it, I would have done it."
He pulled another water bottle out of his coat pocket. This one held a dark brown fluid. "These maniacs are likely somehow subduing the people they're summoning. I don't know what spell or relic they'll be using, but mentally prepare yourself for the fact that they're almost certainly going to use it on you. It's important that you stay at least semi-alert until I give the signal. Once Molly gets the sword to you, it should clear whatever they do to you. This potion," and he sloshed the bottle around. "Is a good one. I've made something similar once or twice for myself. I'll tell you when to drink it. It'll keep you from fully falling under. Hopefully I've timed the effect so it'll kick right when they nab you."
"What if they don't?" I asked again.
"If they don't," he said with a smile. "Then you get to bounce off the walls for a few hours. It's a pretty potent potion. Like my alliteration?"
"A real Shakespeare," I replied wryly, taking the plastic bottle. "At least I don't have to stab it into my heart."
"Huh?"
"You know, the movie, The Rock? To save the day, Nicolas Cage has to inject an antidote directly into his heart. At least I just have to drink this."
"Ha!" Harry laughed. "I'd forgotten about the one!"
"I did too until just now. I'll 'do my best' to channel my inner Nicolas Cage. Though there'll be no prom queens involved, I should tell you that I'm not just a nurse. I'm a psych nurse who works on a locked in-patient mental health unit. I'm the one who tells the newbie staff to stay in the nurses station when things get hairy; while I go barreling out there to stop some withdrawing meth addict from pulling the exit sign off the ceiling."
"Really?"
"Really."
Harry laughed again and slapped me on the shoulder. "Nothing like a good pop culture reference to get the evening off to a good start. Okay form up everybody," he called out the last sentence to the group.
"Gwen, put the coffee can on its side inside the circle with the opening facing the center." I did. He had me adjust it a couple times until her was happy with the placement. "Now I want you to infuse it with some magic, er energy, you call it energy. Just the metal part, you don't have to fill it. I'll tell you when to stop."
Okay then. I knelt down, trying my best to ignore the fact that everyone was looking down at me. I took a deep breath, once again gathering the ambient energy around me. It flowed easily through me, almost happy to do whatever, or go wherever I directed it. I breathed out and sent that energy into the metal of the can and I could see it start to subtly glow. I've got some pretty good breath control and I can exhale for a while.
I didn't have wait long though. After about five seconds, Harry said, "Aaaaaaand stop!"
I did. He then told me to step back and gestured for the others (including Mouse) to gather within the center circle of the basketball court. It was fairly wide, but they all stood close.
"If I may, first," Michael said solemnly.
"Sure," Harry replied.
Michael dropped to one knee and held Amoracchius upright in front of him. Michael intoned a brief prayer that was mostly Latin. I couldn't really make out what he said in English. When he was done, I noticed a gentle, golden glow settle on all five of us (and Mouse too). It was kind of like a quick, warm hug, then it passed.
Harry, nodded and then ran the bottom of his staff around the circle, careful not to touch the energized coffee can. Once complete, I saw a brief flash of thin white light shoot up when he activated the circle.
"When we drink the potions," he explained. "I'm going to work the spell and everything in this circle is going to shrink, except the coffee can. Once we're done shrinking, we're going to march ourselves into said can and I'm going to use that handy magic that Gwen poured into it to put up a shield to buffer us from being tossed around too badly and breaking the spell. The potions are really just to help stabilize the shrinking spell until we're inside.
"Gwen, once you see the shield is in place, break the circle. Really all you have to do is cross it. Everything that got shrunk that isn't in the coffee can is going to return to regular size. It looks pretty clean in here, but don't be surprised if some small rocks or whatever pop around.
"Put the coffee can in the backpack and close it most of the way. We'll need to be able to get out easily. Don't worry about anything touching the open top of the can, the shield should hold. After that, chug down that potion, break the string on the talisman and do what you can to get kidnapped. We'll go from there."
"Cool," was my dry reply. That all sounded easy, but the "we'll go from there" had a lot of variables and unknowns. As bait, I wasn't going to have the benefit of a shield or shrinking spell.
Harry opened his water bottle and held it up to indicate to everyone else to do the same. "I tried to make it taste good," he commented as he knocked his back. He leaned down with one of those flexible water dish things that lets dogs drink from a water bottle and Mouse lapped dutifully from a bottle just for him.
Harry then stood up straight and closed his eyes. I hadn't seen him draw in power yet. I will admit, there wasn't much to see per say, but I could definitely tell when he pulled in the energies and starting forming them into the spell he was working. I saw him mouth some words and then Harry, Sanya, Michael, Molly and Mouse all started to get smaller.
Well, that's pretty cool!
It took only a few seconds, then smol-Harry gestured to the coffee tin and they walked into it with plenty of room to spare. A moment later I saw the blue flash of a shield activating and walked over to the circle, feeling a subtle pop of released energy as I crossed the white line.
I carefully uprighted the can and looked down into it. All four humans and dog, seemed perfectly fine. Smol-Harry gave a thumbs up and I gently loaded the can into the nylon backpack. It wasn't much heavier than when it had been empty. I made sure that I left an opening when zipping the bag shut. I gingerly swung it around to my back and slid the straps onto my shoulders.
I then sat down with a sigh. Was this even going to work? I breathed in the cool evening air. Sunset wasn't for another hour or so, the official Solstice was in less than that. The sounds of the city were muted in this solitary place.
I looked around at the denuded trees. Small islands of old snow dotted the brown grass here and there where the sun hadn't yet burned them away. The asphalt surface of the basketball court was rough and cold under me.
Well, time to get going. I was just about to break the string on the bracelet when I remembered that I was supposed to drink the potion first. Oy!
I noticed my hands were shaking as I unscrewed the cap. I looked for a moment at the innocuous dark brown liquid. This was it. Now or never. Without even sniffing it (I didn't want to know), I put the bottle to my mouth and drank it back as quickly as I could. It tasted mostly like coffee, but there were other odd flavors that I made no attempt to identify. It was better that way. As I sat the bottle down a sudden, very un-ladylike belch escaped me without warning. Almost instantly I felt a caffeine buzz start to settle in. I think Harry got his timing off, I thought to myself.
Finding any reason to stall, I gathered up everyone's water bottles that lay scattered around the circle. Yes, the pop they made when they had returned to normal size was rather impressive, and a bit startling – even though I'd been expecting it.
I tossed them in a nearby bin and looked down at the bracelet. In theory the only thing keeping me here. The only thing separating me from the relative safety of Chicago and certain danger.
My heart was pounding in my ears and I forced myself to think about what Harry had said about the shrinking potion not lasting long. Standing over the trash bin, I hooked my left thumb under the loose string and pulled. It snapped far easier than I thought it would. I watched as the mirrored bits and evil eye beads landed on the empty water bottles. I actually wanted to cry this time. To let out all this pent up worry and sense of imminent danger. And of course, when you want to, the tears don't come.
I started to walk over to a bench to sit and wait when I felt a sudden yanking sensation in my chest and everything spun madly. The sounds and sights of the city vanished and I once again heard my Real Name being called. It wasn't gentle this time though, but loud and demanding. So loud that I thought my ears were going to burst.
And then the world righted itself and I was standing in a dim, candle-lit room. There was a man right in front of me, standing very close. He was actually a bit shorter than me. There was an Asian cast to his features. His dark brown eyes looked tired and he stared at me with annoyance. I felt something pressing against the bottom of my sternum and looked down to see he was holding out a gold and silver ring, just like mine. Or rather I was looking at my real wedding ring that the one I was wearing looked identical to.
"It's about time," a frustrated voice snarled from behind me before I could process anything. The backpack was yanked roughly off of me, and I was pulled backwards, nearly off my feet. "Could you have cut it any closer?"
"At least I found her," the small man replied wearily.
While my body was arched backwards, something small, cold and hard was pressed against my forehead. The sensation that swept through me wasn't exactly pain, but I really couldn't describe it as anything else. Intense cold, like insidious tendrils flowed from the…whatever he'd pressed into my skin, into every fiber of my being in less than the span of a breath.
My whole body went limp and for a moment my brain fuzzed out too, but it must have just been for a moment because I heard the man behind me saying with a sneer, "…can go back to your meditating, or whatever it is you do when you're not being useful." And I was taken up into the speaker's arms to be carried.
My head lolled to the side and I saw through partly-closed eyes the small man bow and take my ring to a fire-proof box; the type that people keep important documents in and then hide under their bed or in their bedroom closet. He closed the lid without latching or locking it, and walked out a side door without a backwards glance.
I couldn't move, couldn't blink. My body was breathing on its own though – which in and of itself was a really weird sensation because I wanted to panic, to scream, to struggle, but couldn't; just a simple, rhythmic in and out without any effort. This must be what it's like for people who wake up during surgeries without the doctors realizing it. At least no one was cutting into me…right?
Because my head was flopped away from my captor, I had no idea what he looked like, but when he had touched my forehead, I'd gotten a brief, but vividly detailed flash about him and the situation on the whole. This "Brotherhood" was indeed not some small hack job cult. They were very organized and were playing the long game. The guy who had summoned me was known only as "The Name Keeper". He'd apparently been "acquired" years ago and was a pivotal character in this insane plot to separate realities from the core and bring destruction via the Outsiders who could then come in through the holes created by the separated realities. I only got that information because the guy carrying me had been talking to (and therefore thinking) about the small Asian man right when he had touched me.
The guy carrying me was a new-ish addition to this merry band, having been with the group for only five years or so. He had forsaken his life, his career, his family, even his name. He was known, even to himself as "Brother". One of many. Conformity was king. This seemed to be a dark sorcerer version of Project Mayhem.
The men of the Brotherhood were disgusted by the frivolous nature of society; by the greedy, mindless destruction of the earth for nothing more than material gain. To them, it was all meaningless, pointless (I mean, they weren't wrong…) Their solution to the problem though was to bring about an end to it all, to do a hard restart on the world and bring about a new, cleansed age. To this end, they were all willing, even happy to give their lives.
The guy carrying me was no exception. He was thrilled that The Name Keeper had found me. It meant that he could die today for the Order. This was quite literally the happiest day of his life.
Do you know what it's like for your brain to send a signal to your body to shiver and it doesn't, even while you're fully aware of your body? Yeah, unlike my captor, I wasn't having a great time.
I was carried into a cavernous space. My brain had no desire to interpret what I was seeing, apart from telling me that the space was clearly man-made. There was monotone chanting going on, like what you hear in Buddhist monasteries, but the sounds weren't soothing. They were weaving something evil and powerfully destructive. There was a darkness all about that I wanted to cringe away from, but of course I couldn't move.
My captor approached a wall of cloaked figures. Some were facing inward, some outward in an alternating pattern. The chanting stopped abruptly.
"Ah," came a resonate voice from some distance. It echoed around the space, but was easy to hear. "I see the last sacrifice has been found. Approach, my son, the ritual has not yet started. The Darkness shall feast upon your soul this day after all."
Without speaking, the guy carrying me bowed slightly. The wall of men parted and I was carried beyond. I realized they were standing in a very large circle. Once we passed the circle, the sense of vile darkness intensified and I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
Wait. I was crying? Isn't that a semi-voluntary response? Was the potion working? I tried to wiggle my fingers, but got nothing. I did kind-of blink, but it took effort.
None of this was noticed, or cared about and I was brought to a "smaller" inner circle of more cloaked men, each stood next to a person laying still on a cot. The were a lot of cots in this circle; 25? 30? Counting was a bit beyond my capacity right then.
I was laid, rather gently actually, on the only empty cot in the circle. My limbs were arranged just enough to not hang off the edge; my head remained rolled to the right.
My captor took up potion on the other side of the cot, like all the others in the circle. I could easily see the person laying next to me. She had pale skin and black hair. She was wearing a red negligée, though a thin blanket had been pulled up to her stomach. Her eyes were closed and she looked as though she were sleeping. In the middle of her forehead was a purple jewel. Was that what was on my forehead?
The chanting had resumed and I could feel dark energies moving about, sometimes slithering over and through me. I liked none of this, but I tried to keep my brain from spinning in little circles of panic.
I found that I could move my eyes now and tried to look around so I could focus on something other than the awful chanting. My ability to hold a thought was getting stronger too.
The cloaked figures standing next to the cots pretty much all looked the same apart from some variations in height. The people on the cots though seemed to be of all genders, ethnicities and even ages. I saw a kid across the circle from my field of vision that looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen! Most looked like they were dressed for sleep. A few were naked, or scantily dressed, like the woman next to me. In those instances, a blanket covered them. We had all been snatched from our beds in the middle of the night. I seemed to be only one of like three who were in street clothes.
Looking past the cots, I saw the larger outer circle of alternating cloaked men. I realized now that the inward facing ones were helping to hold and form the energy of the space. The outward facing ones were sort of guards to keep the energies contained and probably to symbolically watch the perimeter. It seemed wholly unnecessary though because I suddenly realized where we were: an abandoned ice skating rink. Windows along the ceiling let in daylight.
It was only now that I noticed a raised dais beyond the outer ring. A man wearing the same type of cloak as everyone else stood atop the platform, though his hood was pulled back. He was of a solid build. Salt and pepper hair both on his head and in his long-ish beard. He must have been the one who had spoken earlier. The guy in charge. I hadn't noticed him before because he hadn't been moving much. Now though, he raised his arms and the tone of the chanting suddenly changed.
The men by the cots started making wide gestures with their arms in time with the unintelligible words. The swirling energies started to coalesce into something more organized, gathering around the men in the inner ring.
Panic took over for a moment, and then I remember the coffee can, though it wasn't too comforting at first. Had they been unable to get out of the backpack? Had someone noticed and captured them? Did any number of unforeseen things happen? Was I truly alone here, about to be turned into a bomb?
I found that I could now move my head, and almost did when I stopped. Maybe Harry and the others were already in position and just waiting for the right moment. If I blew our cover too soon by moving, it could bring it all down.
The clock was ticking though. Okay Harry, this would be a great time to make your entrance.
The man on the dais raised a purple gem in the air, like the ones on our foreheads and started chanting something different from the others. The gem started to glow, as did ours. I started to feel a closed circuit being formed. We were all being linked together. I now knew exactly how many of us there were: thirty-three. Three from eleven of the realities surrounding the Core. (The twelfth had no representative because that was the one that was going to be dislodged.)
The new power beginning to surge through the gems also granted me more insight into what was about to happen. The Brothers standing next to us were each "keyed" into a very specific location in the reality we were going to be "blown up in". They had practiced for literally months moving back and forth from this reality to the one spot they'd been assigned in the other reality. It was pretty involved magic, but it was the only working they knew, and they were very good at it.
Once the link was complete, they'd use all this gathered dark energy to teleport us to those designated locations. At the moment of the Solstice, our gems would be activated, forcing all the energy absorbed by the gems through us; basically "awakening" us all at the same time, while also pulling our "anchored" energies from our home realities to the foreign one. The resulting feedback was going to be one hell of a lightshow. Oh, and it was going to completely destroy our souls in the process. No rebirth; no "moving beyond". In just a few minutes we wouldn't exist anymore; ever.
Any time now Harry…
I closed my eyes and turned my head away, unable to watch and not caring now if someone noticed.
The power in the gems continued to increase. An odd dissonant tone started to fill the air and the chanting reached its crescendo. It was almost time.
And then a call of alarm rang out just as I heard Harry's voice bellow, "FUEGO!"
I opened my eyes just in time to see a lance of fire streak through the air towards the man on the dais, severing the hand that was holding the gem. He let out a shriek of pain and surprise, but also rage.
"Kill them!" He yelled, clutching his wrist.
Them? There was a them?
Yes! The outer ring of men were surging outward into three groups with loud battle cries. There was Harry at the end of the rink opposite from the dais, flinging spells and flailing his staff around like it was no one's business. Sanya and Michael were positioned opposite each other at the middle of the skating rink, handling the groups coming towards them with ease. Their swords flaring with glorious light, burning away the dark energies.
A dark form suddenly soared close over my head. What the mother-loving hell?!
Mouse! The massive dog landed in the center of the circle and let out one loud, sharp bark. Instantly, the gem on my forehead shattered, as did all the others. Pain coursed through me again, but it passed quickly, thanks to the jitter-potion. I could now move. Some of the other people twitched, but that was about it.
I sat up just in time to see Molly appear out of nowhere not far from the foot of the cot. She tossed Fidelacchius in my direction and then disappeared again.
I caught it easily in my left hand. I rolled off the cot and spun into the center of the circle with Mouse, drawing the sword with my right. A corner of my mind thought that was odd, but it felt so natural, so I rolled with it.
The blade glowed with holy light. Power flowed from the sword, up my arm and through my body. Beautiful power that felt so sweet. It burned away the remnants of the awful energies of the purple gem. It dissolved my sadness and fear. I felt so strong!
The man of the dais yelled to the Brothers in the inner circle, "Finish the ritual! Take them now!"
They were all frozen in place looking at me and Mouse; the two of us standing back to back, turning slowly to take in the whole circle. "Do you really want to do that though?" I asked sweetly. Mouse growled.
The leader's words brought them to action though. My captor drew a long, curved knife from somewhere on his person and came rushing forward towards me. I side-stepped easily, bringing the scabbard around to hit his knuckles, making him drop the knife. He fell to the ground, off balanced. I kicked the knife far from anyone's reach.
A few of the Brothers had grabbed the wrists of their captives, who were just now starting to stir, ready to activate their spell to take them to the other reality.
I infused Fidelacchius with energy and swung the blade horizontally, sending out a wave of power that struck the cloaked men in the chest, hurling them backwards and to the ground. I turned and did the same thing with the other half of the circle.
The few who had managed to duck, now turned and fled. Several activated their teleport spell without their captive, just to escape.
My captor tried to grab at my legs to trip me. I kicked him in the ribs and Mouse grabbed ahold of his cloak, shaking him violently.
When Mouse released him, he lay in a puddle of dark wool fabric. "You've ruined everything!" he sobbed. "The world must be cleansed!"
"Not like this!" I yelled at him. "Not by killing innocent people. Never by killing innocent people. You took a fucking child! You people are monsters!"
"You dilute yourself," the man on the dais declared, apparently having regained his composure; his wounded hand pressed against his side by his left arm. "There will always be monsters in the world. At least we seek to bring about their end quickly. You only delay the inevitable." His voice was dripping with contempt. Rising his intact hand, the leader commanded, "My children, come with me!"
And he vanished, followed by the remaining cloaked men.
Suddenly the battle was over. The people on the cots were blinking their eyes blearily, some starting to sit up, confused.
Molly reappeared nearby. Harry, Michael and Sanya came down into the iceless rink, all three a bit winded from fighting off the outer ring of fanatics, but otherwise fine.
Molly went to her father and hugged him. "I'm proud of you," I heard him murmur to her.
Mouse trotted over to Harry, tongue out, tail wagging. His reward was thorough scratches behind the ears.
Sanya came up to me and delivered yet another slap on the back (again nearly knocking me over). "Not bad for a first time out," he said jovially. "Man, I love this job."
"Everyone alright?" Harry asked. Everyone checked in that they were fine.
"What about them?" I asked of the waking captives. I replaced Fidelacchius to its scabbard and slung the strap over my shoulder (my coat was too bulky for it to go across my chest, as I would have preferred).
"Where are we?" one woman asked, a bit nervously.
The teenaged kid looked around like he was utterly terrified. Mouse took it upon himself to go around to each of captives, nuzzling them and asking for pets. Every person he went to looked significantly more at ease after; even the kid.
"You were all taken by a weird cult," Harry explained. "We're going to do what we can to get you all home safe, though."
Just how?
As though in answer, Mouse – having finished his walk around the circle – moved a little distance away and stared intently at the open air. We all watched as a soft, blue glow started to radiate off of him and a deep rumble started from somewhere in a chest. It wasn't at all a growl; though the sound was nearly subsonic.
There was a shimmering in the air in front of him and Harry gasped, "Did you just…?"
A big, grey dog, very similar to Mouse, though slighter in build, materialized out of the shimmer. Mouse barked an enthusiastic greeting and the other dog bounded around him, excitedly. The newcomer appeared to be female.
The dog was closely followed by a Tibetan Buddhist nun in saffron robes. She blinked with surprise when she stepped onto the ice skating rink. Seeing all the people about, she reflexively brought her hands in pranam. More than half of us, myself included, automatically returned the gesture.
Seeming to realize now who and what we were, the nun took in a quick breath. "You are the missing Ones-who-sleep!" she said with wonder. She wasn't speaking English, I could just understand her as though she were. I looked around to see, but it seemed like everyone else had understood her too. Was that the result of the dogs, or her?
The nun looked down at the dog she'd followed here, seeing Mouse too. "Ah," she said brightly, crouching down to scratch Mouse's ears. "And you are one who was missing too. Are you the one who called us?" There was a pause. "Really?" she asked, surprised. Standing, she said, "Where? You said it was a wizard you watch over?"
Harry cleared his throat, "I'm the wizard," he said, stepping forward. "Mouse is my dog."
"Your…" the nun asked blankly. Then she smiled. "You think the guardian belongs to you?" Looking down at Mouse, she asked with a laugh, "You haven't told him?" She tittered like it was some inside joke. Looking back up at Harry, she said, "I know of you, actually. You are the one who rescued the stolen litter of temple guardians several years ago. Please accept my gratitude and thanks. The one who watches over my home," and she gestured at the dog that had come with her. "Is from the same litter. Now, please, tell me Wizard how did all these Sleeping Souls happen to be here?"
And so Harry gave the summarized version of how the Brotherhood had taken personal objects from each other these people and then summoned them with their True Names. For the sake of the people present, he kind of glossed over the fact that they were all from different realities and what the final intent behind it all had been; but it was clear the nun understood.
This was, of course, the captives' first time hearing any of this and they looked at each in surprise, though they kept their voices down.
"We knew this was happening," she said quietly. "We just didn't know where they were being gathered and had no means to stop them."
"Is there a way we can get them back to their homes?" Harry asked as he finished the tale.
"Yes, of course," the nun said. "I can send them back from here," and she stepped up to the person closest to her.
"Wait!" I said suddenly. Not wanting to take the time to explain, I dashed back to the room I'd arrived in. Returning to it now, I saw it was a locker room. The candles were still going and I easily found what I was looking for – the fire-proof box. Opening the lid, I found my real wedding ring on top of a pile of other rings, keys, necklaces, and other trinkets. I popped the ring into the pocket of my jeans, and spotted the black backpack tossed carelessly against a bank of lockers. I grabbed that and brought the box back out to the rink.
"Here," I said to the first person I came to, opening the box. "Take what's yours."
"Ah, clever," the nun said with approval.
There were exclamations of surprise as people identified objects that they either thought had gone missing years ago, or never knew were gone. I "remembered" from the contact with my captor that fairies and pixies had been recruited to take these items. The poor things hadn't known their playful actions would have such terrible consequences.
As people reclaimed their items, the nun stepped up to each in turn, brought her hands together again while gazing into their eyes. She'd give them a hug and, smiling, they dissolved; returned to their homes.
As she worked, I handed the backpack to Harry and wondered where the two dogs had wandered off to. Harry, too glanced around, but he didn't seem overly worried.
She had made it almost all the way through the captives – there were now only two waiting – when a commotion drew our attention to the direction of the locker room.
Mouse and his litter-mate were corralling the short, Asian man who had performed the summonings. The two dogs were growling fiercely and would snap at his heels if he tried to slow down or deviate from where they were directing him.
When the man looked up, seeing all of us standing in the rink, rather than the cult members, his face went pale. When he noticed the nun, he stopped in his tracks and his jaw set in a defiant line.
The nun's face darkened and she said, "Name Keeper, you have betrayed the trust placed upon you. You have committed a grievous sin."
"It is you who have sinned!" the man insisted. "All of you, sitting safe in the mountains, praying for peace. Doing nothing. The world is in shambles. We have the power to change things and you do nothing!" He was every bit as fanatical as the other cult members.
"Your 'brothers' have abandoned you," the nun stated, spreading her arms to take in the scene around us. "There is still forgiveness to be had if you return with me."
"Never!" the man spat. "The Master will find another. He will continue to bring about cleansing to this miserable world."
With that, he lunged for the knife that I had kicked out of the inner circle. It had just happened to stop near where he was standing. Before anyone could stop him, or even react, he took up the knife, and drew it across his left forearm. It wasn't at all a deep cut, but in moments his body spasmed and collapsed to the ground.
Michael was closest and he went over and crouched next to the man. "Dead," he reported solemnly. "The blade must have been poisoned." He crossed himself and whispered a brief prayer for the man's soul.
The nun pressed her lips and nodded sadly. "Many grow frustrated at the seemingly slow pace of humanity's awakening. It must happen in its own time though, when enough people realize the harm they are wreaking upon the earth. I fear things may get worse before they get better; but that is why it is so important for the Bright Souls to stand against the darkness; to show the beautiful heights the human race is capable of achieving. We could have lost so many today," and she looked at the two remaining captives and myself.
To each of us, she and said our names (our regular ones) and where we were from. The tall Black woman wearing a white shift was from Nigeria. The middle-aged Asian man in silk pajamas was from Taiwan.
"You three," she said, sadly. "Cannot be returned to your homes. You were taken from a world similar to this one, but it is too far for me to send you back."
"Is there any way to bring our reality back in alignment with this one?" I asked, my heart aching.
The nun shook her head. "We tried when it was first separated. All we could do was pull on the strands that connected the Bright Ones of your world to here. It put too much strain on them and many grew ill. We had to stop and let it drift."
Guess that explained why I'd gotten horribly sick right when I'd been in the best shape of my life.
Continuing, the nun said, "If we'd had physical objects that linked your world to ours, perhaps we could have done it, but," and she shook her head.
A sudden thought occurred to me. "My ring!" and I pulled it out of my pocket. "We have this!"
"But that is here, not there."
"No, you don't understand," I said grinning. "My husband's and my wedding rings were custom-made from silver my husband's mother gave us and gold from his father. They're forged from the same metal that was given as a gift by relatives and used in a wedding ceremony. Surely it's something!"
Both Harry and the nun looked at ring, the real one, with increasing interest.
"That's pretty small to pull a whole reality back into place," Harry commented quietly to the nun.
She nodded, "But it might be just the nudge needed to bring it back in this direction."
"If it will help," the Nigerian woman said, stepping forward. "This shift was spun from fiber that grows near my hometown. I know the weavers. I know the women who made other garments from the same bolt of fabric. Will that work?"
"Yes!" the nun replied.
"Is just a piece sufficient?"
"Yes."
The woman asked for a cutting implement, and Sanya produced a Swiss Army knife. A strip was cut from the bottom of the woman's shift and given to the nun.
The Taiwanese man looked a little crestfallen. "I have nothing of that level of importance to offer. I don't have anything that has a connection to my home. I have no emotional connection to people who produced the fabric I'm wearing. If it's possible though, may I offer myself, since I am the product of my parents, and they both still live?"
"You could meditate on them, of course," the nun replied. "With these items, we may be able to return the separated world to this one, but it could take years for it to come close enough for you to return there. What are you to do and where will you go in the meantime?"
"Please," the woman said. "Send me to my hometown. I have not been there for so long. I am a doctor and there is great need in the rural villages. If I can go there, I would be most happy."
"You will not be known there," the nun warned. "You may recognize people, perhaps even family members, but you are not of this world. You will be a stranger to them. You will also have no papers, identification, or credentials. As a doctor, that may pose many problems for you."
The woman gave this some serious thought, before saying, "I would still like to go. I can practice in the bush if I need to. I want to help my people."
"Very well," and the nun hugged her and sent her on her way.
The man from Taiwan bowed. "May I return with you and spend my time in meditation?"
With a smile the nun replied, "Of course, we would be happy to have you. The guardian of my home will take you. She will explain who you are and your needs will be tend to. I will follow shortly."
The nun's dog came up to the man and nuzzled the side of his leg. After petting her head, she led him through the shimmering portal.
The nun then turned to me, and seeing Fidelacchius hanging from my shoulder, frowned. "It is not your dharma to bring death to others in this lifetime."
"I know," I replied quietly, feeling a momentary sinking sensation.
But then I thought about the incident with Kyle Waterman. (Had it really been just a few hours ago?) There'd been a split second decision on where to land the blow from the butt of the gun: behind the ear, the temple, even the jaw. I'd chosen his cheek as I felt it'd do the least amount of damage and had the lowest risk of killing him.
When my captor had come at me with the knife, I certainly could have lopped his hand off, speared him with the sword, or done any number of nasty, potentially lethal things. Instead, I'd bopped his knuckles with the scabbard.
These things had been choices because I'd had the "time" to make them and there had been options. They had been natural choices, made because deep down I didn't want to kill them, or anyone.
If I continued to wield the sword, what would I do in a situation where the only option was to kill? I looked at the bleachers outside of the rink where Harry, Sanya and Michael had battled the outer ring fanatics. There were dead men there; albeit not many given the overwhelming number that had swarmed them, but they had killed people today.
I honestly doubted I'd lose much sleep killing someone like that; someone who was hellbent on killing me (or someone else), and if there was no other option. But was it worth it for the "mark" on my soul? I staunchly believed in reincarnation and that the actions of this life effect the outcomes of the next. I was of the belief that making the conscious decision to end another life was actually a very intimate act, something that inextricably linked your soul to the other.
I knew that I was a healer, but I equally knew that I was a protector as well. As the nun had said: it wasn't my soul-purpose in this life to kill another; but to kill in order to protect? It was stretching the bounds of karma and dharma a bit, but for me it was enough.
I bowed my head and said, "I accept the consequences of this path. If I may, I would very much like to stay with these people and fight the darkness beside them."
I looked around at Harry, Molly, Michael, Sanya and Mouse. They all smiled and nodded.
"As you wish," the nun said.
"Is…there a way to get a message to my husband?"
"Only in a dream, but, yes."
"Can you please tell him that I'm okay, and that I'll be home when I can? That it may take a few years, but that I will be back."
"Of course."
"And…'no' is a fine answer but…may I hug you?"
Her face lit up and she smiled very sweetly. "Yes, of course."
It was such a wonderful hug. She was small, like me. From the touch, I sensed her beautiful, serene light. She was a Bright One as well; a sister of sorts. But she was obviously significantly more "awake" than I. The beylu (or protected, sacred valley in the Himalayas) where she lived was the same place I'd seen with Mouse during the Soul Gaze with Harry.
This nun was older than she looked. Far older. I felt fresh tears well in my eyes. I wanted very much to go with her to that peaceful, pristine mountain valley; but I knew that the quiet, sequestered life was not for me. At least not yet. I was still "young", still in a stage of action, of participating in the world, of being among others. Perhaps after a few more lifetimes I'd be able to sit beside her and meditate on bringing love and peace to the world, but for right now my place was here, in the world.
We parted and bowed to each other, hands folded.
Stepping back, the nun looked around at the five of us (and Mouse). "It would be easier, I take it for you all to be returned to the place you left from?"
"Uh, yes." Harry said, only now realizing that getting back to Chicago would be a bit tricky on our own.
The nun waved her hand and a new shimmer appeared in the air. "That will take you back to your city. Your guardian can close the portal upon your return."
With that, she turned and walked into the shimmering portal she had come from, closing it behind her.
"Well," Harry said, looking around at the havoc we had wrought. "I think that's all the damage we can do for one day." He glanced up at the dusty banners hanging from the rafters declaring awards won by previous skaters throughout the years. "Ha!" he said. "Denver. Totally called it!"
Sanya looked at the corpses and the body of The Name Keeper. "What do we do about them?"
"Leave them," Harry said dismissively. "Local law enforcement will chalk it up to a weird cult meeting gone bad and overlook any strange findings. There's nothing to link us to this." Thinking for a moment, he continued, "Look, the Brotherhood has definitely been crippled today, but they're not defeated. We're going to have some work ahead of us. You know, on top of all the other evil groups we've been fighting of late…"
"Good," Sanya said merrily. "I was afraid I would get bored!"
"Good will prevail," Michael said with calm confidence, his arm around his daughter.
"So, uh," I said as we walked towards the portal. "If I really am going to stay with you all for the next few years, I'm going to need a driver's license and stuff at some point."
"No worries," Sanya said. "The Church will take care of everything. You can have passport by the New Year, and come visit St. Petersburgh in time for real Christmas."
We all laughed as we stepped through the portal.
END