CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Zak

I stood at the eastern point of the array and looked up through the skeletal branches of oak trees and past the tall boughs of pine. The full moon's peak. The silver white light illuminated the massive array we'd spray-painted in the grove. Almost entirely smooth, except for the few small boulders and dead foliage we'd had to clear, the isolated grove still wasn't my first choice of locations. But as it was surrounded by dense forest on all sides and with its clear path of moonlight, it was an excellent place to perform, potentially dangerous, un-tried arcana.

Fortunately, the use of Spoken runes in the array made it so we didn't have to charge it with natural earth energy for three days, like we'd had to do for Ezra's. All it needed was about an hour of moonlight. And it was almost done.

"That's cool."

I looked to my left, where Sam stood just a few feet away, eyes wide and fixed on the array as magic pulsed through it, changing the red spray-paint to glistening silver. At my right was Brian, who still looked tense, but smiled a little at Sam's awe.

"Does that mean it's done?" Dean called out from behind.

Summoning my patience, I adjusted my gloves again, then did an about face so I could see Kai, Dean, Ezra and Aaron, standing about twenty feet away, throwing knives at one of the oak trees like darts. It was cold and had started drizzling about an hour ago, and Dean had not stopped complaining about it and how he and Sam always got 'shit weather' when they did spell work, and how it 'just wasn't fair'. I could almost hear the eye rolls from Brian and Sam.

"Yes, Dean. That means it's done." Sam answered in an annoyed, sing-song voice, then turned to face the others.

Dean flipped the knife he was holding and nodded, "Good. Then let's do this thing."

Twenty minutes later, we were all armed and standing around the array. Sam and Dean at the east point, myself at the west next to Kai, and Aaron at the south with Ezra. Brian would take the north.

"Where's our Master of Ceremonies?" Dean shouted irritably.

Shortly after the array had finished charging, Brian told me he needed to 'do something' and had walked into the forest with the promise that he would 'keep it quick'.

"Right here."

The fae that walked out of the forest was what I'd expected to see when we'd first summoned him. His shoulder length hair was still braided on the sides, but instead of leaving it loose, he'd gathered it all into a tight tail. His jeans and hoodie were gone, replaced by a sleeveless, hunter green, (presumably) leather long coat that laced tight around his torso and was cut open in the front like an eighteenth century riding jacket, so as not to impede his movements. He'd also traded his 'homemade' deer skin leggings and rough cut boots for calf high tailored boots with fitted black leather pants. But the blue body paint was what made him look like a warrior. He'd painted vertical lines from his ears to his collar bone, which then jutted inward to his throat, where the dragon heads of his braided gold torque sat, the blue making the detail stand out more. There were more blue, Celtic spirals running down the length of his arms, continuing under his leather gauntlets and ending at his fingertips. He was also well armed. A dagger was strapped to right thigh and I could see a slim blade in the sheath of his left gauntlet, I assumed his personal blade was sheathed at his back. His combat belt was still medieval, but was now well stocked and I could see the vial containing the serum for Cethlenn, plus two others I didn't recognize. While it was definitely an impressive sight, I couldn't help but wonder how much of his magic he'd used to make it, then just hoped the intimidation factor was worth it.

Ignoring the few 'woah's and looks of general surprise, he strode down the small knoll and took his place at the north point.

"Crystal Druid,"

I straightened and looked over to him as I raked the damp hair out of my eyes. He'd never used my title before.

Sam straightened as well as Brian's eyes fell on him.

"Sam Winchester?" He paused and looked between the two of us, "Shall we begin?"

Both of us gave a small nod, which he returned. Then took a small piece of paper out of one of the pouches on his belt, raised his eyes to look at the group once more and with a deep breath, started the incantation. As soon as he spoke the last word, the array flared and a red domed containment barrier flashed into view for a second, then disappeared, revealing Cehtlenn standing in the center of the array. And to say she looked 'displeased' was putting it mildly.

Embarrassingly, before this, all that I knew about Cethlenn had come from stories that Echo had told me when I was a kid, and she fit his description perfectly: dangerous, beautiful death.

Her skin was the grey pallor of a corpse, the silver sheen of Fae magic giving it a kind of ethereal beauty. Her face was all harsh angles, featuring corpse purple lips and amber eyes that matched Brian's all too well. But, unlike Brian, who seemed to prefer a kind of 'regal simplicity', when he dressed, Cethlenn was ostentatious in every sense of the word. Her long, silver robes matched her skin almost perfectly, and if it wasn't for the wide, purple bands that ran along the hems of her sleeves and the edges of the gown, the effect would be disturbing. Then there was her headdress. Not only did she have four natural horns, a ram's horn sat at either temple and two, what I could only describe as 'devil's horns', protruded from her forehead. All gilded in silver and bronze, she had a kind of crown as well. Nestled in her long, silver hair, its skull sitting between the two horns on her forehead, was the skeleton of what was either a mutated baby dragon or a sylph. Long, bronze chains draped from its spine and sat between its ribs. While its bony tail reached to her shoulders. Yeah, 'dangerous, beautiful death was definitely accurate.

She didn't say anything as she looked around at all of us, face a mix of rage and confusion. Then her eyes landed on Brian with disgust, "Dagda."

"Hello again Cehtlenn."

I see you've not changed," she sneered at him, "still weak with the love for you humans," then, with a crooked smile, focused her gaze directly on me, "and your favorite pets."

I didn't react as she came to stand in front of me.

"It's been a long time since I've had a Druid." She announced then reached to grab my face.

She jumped back as red sparks of magic exploded at her fingertips, "What is this?" She growled and looked at her hand in surprise, panic flashing across her face that quickly turned to fury as she walked the circle to touch the invisible barrier.

I felt a self-satisfied smirk spread across my lips as I looked across to Sam, who was mirroring my expression. Not only had we successfully trapped her, the fact that she couldn't figure out the trap had wiped that arrogant look off her face.

Brian smiled, "You would do well to treat my humans, and students," he nodded at me, "with more respect Cethlenn." His tone changing to Fae Royal.

She stopped her search of the shield and with a mocking smile looked over her shoulder. "Hmmph, why ever would I do that? They're barely above animals."

Dean opened his mouth to protest, but wisely shut it just as fast.

"Besides, if you recall, it was your ridiculous desire to save your precious pets that led to your exile." She canted her head, "Do you still seek revenge for them? Pathetic." She eyed him with disgust and then went back to analyzing the barrier.

"Oh, Cethlenn," Brian crooned as he slowly walked around the array so that he was standing directly in front of her, "always so sure of your own supremacy." He casually clasped his hands behind his back. "Did you even know where you were sending me?"

She snorted, "Why would I care?"

"You should have." He smiled wickedly, "You sent me to a realm where blood magic is king," he leaned in closer to the barrier, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "and I learned so much."

At that revelation, her whole body tensed, the silver sheen of her skin disappeared, and she made to take a step back, but she was too slow. Faster than I could process, Brian shot his hand through the barrier and grabbed her by the throat. "I see you remember your gift to me." Then stepped inside and threw her to the ground.

As soon as he crossed, Sam and I rushed to re-seal the barrier with Brian's blood or else if she was holding onto Brian, she might be able to escape. Now they were both trapped inside and only Sam or I could release them.

I finished the seal just as Cethlenn blasted Brian, back first, into the barrier. As he hit the ground, he managed to shoot out his own spell, the yellow orb knocking her to the ground.

"Is that," she gasped, "the best you can do?" She sneered, quickly untangling herself from her gown then tried to stand up and cast, but Brian got there first and back handed her, knocking her to the ground again.

"Always so dependent on magic," he snarled and reached to grab her hair.

With a hiss, she rolled, pulled a small dagger from her belt and sliced his right arm.

Hissing, Brian clamped a hand over the wound and stepped back.

"Fuck!" Dean shouted from behind me.

"Dean!" Sam yelled as he rushed around the array where Dean was standing, clutching his arm.

Shit. I forgot about the blood oath.

Brain whipped his head around to look at Dean and in that second of distraction, Cethlenn kicked his feet out from under him and he landed on his back. A second later, she was on him and her dagger was in his shoulder.

"Argh!" he snarled as he struggled against her to pull the dagger out.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean yelled with a grunt of pain as his left shoulder started bleeding.

"Zak!" Aaron yelled as Dean dropped to his hands and knees.

That's when I realized I was still kneeling next to the seal. I scrambled to my feet and rushed over, dropped to my knees and came to a sliding stop next to Dean, the sound of the death match almost earsplitting as I reached for his arm.

"Aaron, light!" Sam barked as he knelt next to his brother, and with one hand on his chest, eased him into a kneeling position so that he could get a better look at the wound, while Aaron conjured a flame in his hand. Ezra made to run over but I held my hand up for him and Kai to stay put. "He'll be fine. She didn't nick anything."

"Well, that's… Shit!" Dean grunted as another cut appeared below his right elbow.

"Shit." I muttered and grabbed his upper arm. The wound was bleeding steadily, she'd hit something. "We need a tourniquet!" I shouted as another spell exploded on the barrier in front of us. But Sam was already cutting a strip from his shirt and leaning in to tie it, while I used my free hand to pull the vial of blood re-plenisher off my belt. "Open your mouth." I ordered.

"What is it?" Dean shouted back.

"Just do what he says!" Sam commanded.

With the command from his brother, Dean opened up and I poured the re-plenisher down his throat. I looked up to the dome, still gripping Dean's arm as Sam finished tying off the tourniquet, just in time to see Brian slice Cethlenn's cheek. To which she retaliated by dropping low and slicing wildly at his abdomen. Fortunately for Dean, Cethlenn was a sloppy fighter, and Brian's leather coat prevented the knife from causing any serious injury and only a shallow slice appeared. For now he'd be okay. Except for his arm, and shoulder, the rest were just shallow cuts, and the blood replenisher I'd just given him would keep him upright for another hour. But while Brian's wounds would eventually heal on their own, Dean's wouldn't. He already needed a healer. So if Cethlenn nicked anything else vital, a field dressing wouldn't cut it.

"Ahh!" Cethlenn snarled as Brian slashed for her shoulder and pulled at her sleeve, tearing the fabric.

Had he not had to give her the serum in order to kill and consume her, I would've been pissed he hadn't hit her throat. The plan being to wear her out and lull her into a false sense of security. But as I watched Cethlenn fling a spell at Brian's head, that he just barely blocked, and ended up on his back, again, with the wind knocked out of him, my confidence that we were still on plan was waning.

"Too dependent on magic am I?" Cethlenn mocked as she strode over to his prone form. "Where is the god?" she growled and kicked him in the ribs as he tried to get up.

Dean grimaced and winced as he clutched at his left rib.

Damnit. If Dean felt that she may have cracked a rib.

Sam's eyes darted from me to Dean then landed on Brian, worry etched on his face.

"Where is the warrior? Tch…" She sneered, "you can't even best me in hand to hand you're so weak!" And bent to grab the back of his jacket as he tried to push to all fours. Then, dragging him across the circle, dropped him face down in front of us. "Pathetic." She sneered again, followed by another kick to the ribs.

"Son of a bitch." Dean groaned.

Her lips curled in disgust as she crouched next to him and grabbed the back of his jacket, pulling him to his knees so that his back was against her chest.

Kneeling in front of us, with strands of bloody, blonde hair falling in his face, he looked like he might collapse, and my confidence that we were still on plan evaporated.

"Shit." Aaron cursed behind me, still holding a fire orb above us, while on the opposite side Kai and Ezra watched, expressionless, but both had their hands on a weapon.

"This is bad." Sam muttered as the rain turned from drizzle to downpour.

This wasn't just 'bad' this was 'fuck bad'. There was no way this trap would hold her forever. Eventually a loyal member of her court would find her and they'd figure out a way to free her… Then she'd come after us. Or, she'd figure it out and the she'd come after us. So, Brian needed to get his shit together or we'd all be facing the certainty of very painful deaths.

"What do we do?" He yelled at me.

I gave him a quick glance and shook the wet hair out of my "Aagh!" Brian gasped as she grabbed a fistful of hair, the braids now a loose mess, then leaned in so her mouth was next to his ear.

"You know, they didn't die that day…" She taunted, loudly enough for all of us to hear, while dragging the blade across his cheek to his chin. Brian winced and Dean cursed as a thin line of blood appeared on his face as well. She let go of his hair abruptly then wrapped her arm around his shoulder so she could grab his chin and force him to look at us. "I hung them on crosses and watched the crows pick at their flesh," she gave a small smile as she kissed his cheek, "slowly."

That revelation seemed to wake him up. His eyes re-focused and he shifted slightly in her grip.

He may have regained a bit of clarity, but he still looked weak and that meant we were in deep shit. I kept my face blank as I glanced at Sam, but everyone's attention was on Brian, waiting to see what he would do. But the fae god still seemed unable to move.

"You know," she crooned as she tilted her head so her face was pressed against his, then looked straight at us, or more accurately, straight at me, "your new Druid bears a striking resemblance to the boy, doesn't he?" her mouth tipped up in a wicked grin, the hand with the dagger dropping to his chest. "I shall enjoy watching this one die as much as I did him," she cocked her head in thought, still staring straight at me, "hmmph, perhaps I'll make you watch." And as she turned her head to kiss him again, he winked at me.

I straightened slightly. What the… I didn't have time to finish my thought when I felt a flash of white-hot rage burn through me, just as he conjured a shadow blade and stabbed her in the thigh. She gasped in shock and he elbowed her in the ribs, making her lose balance and fall back.

"Yes!" Aaron exclaimed, his fire flaring above us.

"Finally." Dean croaked.

With surprising agility, Brian sprang to his feet so that he was standing over her as she reached to pull out the conjured blade. But again, too slow. He slammed his foot down on the wounded leg's ankle so hard, I actually heard the bones shatter, making her hiss and scream in pain.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" he snarled and pulled the blade from her thigh, his face displaying barely controlled fury.

Gasping, she opened her mouth either to cast or answer, but it didn't really matter, because as soon as she did, Brian casually flicked his hand, releasing a spell that sent her sliding across the ground, coming to a stop almost in the dead center of the array.

Brian stalked over to where she lay, flat on her back, still trying to catch her breath. Putting one leg on either side of her torso, he dropped down so he sat on her chest and slammed the dagger into the ground next to him. Then, with a kind of bored fluidity, gathered her wrists in his hands as she struggled against his weight and his hold. With little effort, he forced her right arm down so he was pinning it with his knee. His right hand still held her left hard against her chest. "Crucified them, did you?" he snarled murderously.

I felt Brian's white-hot rage again as she continued to struggle beneath him. Seconds later, what felt like a hurricane force gust of wind, almost knocked all of us over. A pissed off Ezra. Alongside that, the air was crackling with electricity from Kai and Aaron was completely on fire. So apparently, I wasn't the only one affected this time.

"My most talented Druids? My favorites!"

Pulling the dagger from the earth, he smashed her arm to the ground and pulled it so it was fully stretched. He flipped the dagger in his hand and stabbed her palm, pinning her to the ground and making her shriek in pain. Taking the knife that he had strapped to his thigh, he did the same to her other hand. And, finally, the rage passed as she shrieked again.

Clearly, he was not over their deaths.

He grabbed her face and forced her mouth open. Then with his free hand, took the vial of serum off his belt. He pulled the cork out with his teeth and spat it away, then poured it down her throat. Before she could cough it back into his face, he clamped his hand over her mouth and lifted off her chest slightly so she would inhale and swallow.

"What did you just give me?" She coughed and sputtered as Brian stood up and stepped to the side.

"You'll see." His tone bored as he casually brushed the dirt off his pants. "Crystal Druid?"

My gaze snapped from Cethlenn to Brian.

He canted his head and started picking the dirt from his fingernails, "How long?" he asked, not looking up.

I shook the wet hair out of my eyes, then grabbed Dean's wrist to check his old, face watch. "Approximately twenty-five seconds to full efficacy."

He turned slightly to look at me, "Thank you." And gave me a lopsided grin.

I gave a small nod in response.

"What?" Cethlenn snapped.

Brian smirked and turned his attention back to Cethlenn. "Hmmph. You would have done well not to underestimate my students."

Somehow, she managed to get even paler and her eyes darted from us to Brian with barely controlled panic as he crouched beside her, forearms on his knees, "You see it was they," he jerked his head in our direction, "a Druid and a novice witch who came up with this spell to help me kill you." He crooned and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Impossible," she scoffed, "you…you don't know how." The tremor in her voice betrayed her fear.

"Ten seconds!" I shouted.

"Moment of truth." Sam breathed nervously.

Just as I finished my mental countdown, a white mist appeared over her body and a wave of relief washed over mine. Maybe we weren't completely screwed.

"Ahh, there it is…" Brian smiled.

"What is this?" She gasped, her face contorted in pain.

"Well, you know I abhor bloodshed, so my students created a clean way to consume you."

"Consume?" She winced.

Brian nodded. "Does it hurt?"

She groaned and strained against the blades in her upturned palms in response.

"Good." He took her face in his hands, leaned in and kissed her. As soon as their lips touched, she started to shrivel.

"Well, shit." Aaron breathed in shock.

" 'Shit' is right." Dean mumbled at my left.

She struggled and tried to pull away, but she was already too weak to put up a fight, and Brian just held her tighter. As he deepened his kiss, the white mist visibly diminished and his clothing began to change. His leather gauntlets changed to engraved gold cuffs, his long-coat changed to green 'fae' silk, featuring gold leaf and vine embellishments at the hems and around the ties on his torso. His boots and pants stayed pretty much the same, except the boots got the same gold leafing decoration at the toes. His hair, while still a mess, went from 'dirty' blonde to an almost white blonde and seemed to have gold threads woven into it. His skin changed too. He'd always had that tanned, 'healthy glow', but it was human in appearance. Now, he had a radiant shine and there would be no mistaking him for a fae.

Eyes closed, he tipped his head back for moment to take a breath, then with one last deep kiss, he breathed in the last of her magic and energy, leaving nothing but a shriveled corpse. He dropped her face unceremoniously and with a roll of his shoulders, stood and turned to face us. "I feel so much better." He exhaled slowly and flexed his hands, "That went so much better than I expected." After giving his clothing a satisfied once over, he headed over to us with a bright smile.

I arched an eyebrow. Considering he'd been operating at, maybe, quarter power for the past millennia, I had no doubt he felt 'better'.

"You had us worried there for a second." Sam nodded at him as he brushed his wet hair to the side.

It was still raining outside the dome and we were all drenched. It was only thanks to Aaron that we weren't freezing.

Brian winced, "Sorry about that. It was iffy there for a second."

My eyebrows shot up, " 'Iffy'?"

"I don't wanna know." Ezra mumbled.

Neither did I.

"Dude, that was some full on Hocus Pocus shit." Dean smiled then shook his arm, which I was still gripping unnecessarily, as all his wounds seemed to have healed along with Brian's. The only evidence that he'd ever been hurt being the blood on shirt and skin. "I think you can let go now." He said softly and nodded at his arm.

"I know, right?" Brian's eyes gleamed, then snapped his fingers, making the rain stop and, thankfully, raised the temperature as well. "Wasn't expecting it to do that!"

I was definitely missing something. "What are you talking about?" I asked, finally releasing Dean's arm.

"Seriously?" Brian wrinkled his nose and I looked around to find everyone, even Sam, staring at me in disbelief.

"What?" Great. This must be another pop-culture reference I didn't know.

Aaron scowled and shook his head as he continued to stare down at me, "We are definitely re-instituting movie nights."

Brian continued to stare at me, "I concur." Then smiled and snapped his fingers in a way the reminded me way too much of Kit before he was about to do something stupid and / or annoying, "We can make them part of your lessons!"

My mouth fell open as I looked at Brian and then to the guys, who were all nodding in agreement.

"I don't think that's necessary." I said quickly as I stood up and came face to face with Ezra.

"You're gonna be a dad," he stated matter of factly, as if I didn't know, then shrugged, "you gotta know the good ones."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Exactly." Brian piled on. "Now could you get me out of here?"

I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. So just like that, everything was back to normal.