Chapter Seventeen: Patriarch

It was a clean, untarnished silver that bloomed around one deep blue stone.  As I turned my hand under the soft light of the library's lanterns, two lines of white light crossed over each over on the stone's surface.  It was a star sapphire! 

 Daria stepped back, a hand pressed to her chest.

           

“Did Reece just... did you...?”  she stammered.

“Yes!”  I breathed, my eyes lighting up with my joy.  I turned around, breathless with excitement.  “Reece, YES!”

But Reece was not there.  My heart plummeted, and a felt a sick twist in the pit of my stomach.  Reece had rushed out the ballroom doors to face the patriarch of a powerful witch coven.   Icy chills ran up my spine, but now they were from fear.

           

A rumble of thunder shook the building and the crystalline chandeliers in the ballroom rattled.  

No.  I thought.

           

Heated rage boiled in the depths of my blood.

I whipped around and snatched the sword from the floor.  Icicles cracked under my palm and cold drops of water ran down my fingers.  I did not care.  I grit my teeth together and shoved my way through the crowd.

           

“Sophia!”  Daria screamed.

           

I heard her running behind me.  She caught me by the arm and pulled me around to face her.

"What are you doing?  Stop!" she shouted.

“I have to go after him.”  I said, turning to face her, tears brimming at the corners of my eyes.

My breath caught in my throat as I stared up at the wall-length windows.  Dark clouds rolled across the glass, blotting out the starry night sky.
    

There was a sharp, sudden crack and a flash of light flooded the ballroom, illuminating every terrified face.  Daria and I both jumped, and Daria clasped her hands over her ears.

           

“Wait... just wait for a second!”  she shouted over the growing noise.  “That's a WITCH battle out there.  They have magic, Sophia.  You don't!”

           

The floor lurched beneath us.  I shifted my stance by pure instinct to steel my feet.  Daria fell to her knees.  The doors behind me blasted open, swinging wildly on their hinges.  The murmuring roar of the wind turned to a howl and a storm of rain came splattering against the marble floor.

Daria looked up at me with wide, pleading eyes.  I gripped the sword in my hand, and shook my head.

            

“I have battled beasts with more strength than I.”  I answered her.  “I have to try.”

           

I turned from her, swallowed down all my fear, and raced through the open doors.

           

Rain assaulted my skin.  I pressed my back up against the closest pillar and peered around it.  

Through the mist, I could see figures flashing like lightning in storm clouds.  They gathered around one, central vortex.

       

I ducked down and fought the roaring wind to slide into place behind the venue's fountain.  I heard shouts, women screaming over the melee.  I shielded my eyes with one hand and squinted.

           

A man stood in the center of the storm, thick gray mist swirling around him in murky waves.  I saw him lift a crystal wand above his head.  

Light flashed.  The clouds thickened.  A witch came tumbling out of the darkness and rolled to a stop on the road.  Bright white headlights silhouetted around her head as she turned over, groaning.

The car stopped before it reached her, and Regan burst out of the driver's side, leaving the door swinging and the car engine rumbling.  She knelt down and grasped the witch's hand to pull her up.

I heard a crackle, and felt heat tickle across my face.  I turned back around and saw the mist pull back from the man in the center of the field.  He held out his arms, and flame licked the tip of his wand.

           

His shoulders were broad.  Gray hair fell over his armored back.  Gaia crouched in his shadow, one arm entwined around his waist.

I raised my sword.  My heartbeat was thundering in my ears, drowning out the sound of the wind and the rain.  My eyes frantically searched the mist for Reece, but all I saw were shadows.

"Dad!" I heard Regan scream.

Her voice was shrill, hysterical.  She drew her wand up and held one arm out in front of the witch she had helped, backing away.

A second figure emerged from the car, an older gentleman with a shaggy mop of frosted blue hair.  He rushed out with his wand extended, screaming out spells in an ancient language.  There was a flash, and the entire scene was bathed in a sick green hue.  Regan clasped her hands to either side of her head.

When the light faded, Constantine has not even turned in their direction.  The elder warlock shook his head, and I saw his lips moving in what I can only assume was a string of curses.

"How are we even supposed to get close to him?"  Regan shouted over the noise of the storm, grasping her father's shoulder.  "I can hardly even see him..."

The elder shook his head, his eyes darting from side to side.  I could see the same look in his eyes that I had borne before my own comrades a hundred times.  His mind was working overtime, calculating the risks, tearing together some semblance of strategy, all the while trying to appear calm.

I squeezed the hilt of my sword and took a deep, shuddering breath.  When I stood before monsters of immeasurable strength, I had found the best strategy was to find the beast's blind spot, and go straight for its throat.

But the black clouds that engulfed the field made me blind.  Pestilence!  I would have to figure out a new strategy...
     

"Sun flame and phoenix fire, may this light quench death's desire...." I heard the elder shouting over the noise of the storm.  

I recognized the words of the spell in an instant.  Reece had practiced, and failed, the same incantation a thousand times my freshman year at university.

"Banish the shadows that surround the gate, and through the dark..."

It was the sunlight charm.

"Illuminate!"

Burning white light surged across the plain, cutting straight through the livid darkness that surrounded Constantine.  For a moment, everything on the field was engulfed, and I saw every figure on the plain.  

It only lasted for that flash of an instant, and then the mist crept back in, swelling from Constantine's outstretched wand.

But it was enough.  I had spotted Reece.
    

I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out to him.  He stood not five feet from Constantine's tall, foreboding form.  A flash of magic sparked from his wand, striking at Constantine's wrist. Constantine's head snapped in Reece's direction.

Reece!

I tore out from behind the pillar and vaulted over Regan's car, not giving a single backward glance when I heard Regan cry out in alarm.

I sprinted at full speed towards Constantine.  He kept his eyes ahead, not even seeing me.  As I suspected, this warlock had a blind spot just as any dragon did.

But there was a slight problem with my plan.  Gaia was in Constantine's blind spot, and she had definitely noticed me.  She turned in my direction and unwound her arms from around Constantine's waist.

I pulled back the sword and swung it at her.  She caught the blunt blade in her hands and pushed back.  I grit my teeth and steeled my feet beneath me.  She would not catch me off guard again!  I spun around, yanking the sword out of her hands and pulling her off balance.

Constantine's head turned just enough for me to see the dark of his brow.  Reece jumped forward with his wand extended.  Constantine's momentary distraction was over in a matter of seconds.  He uttered a low, raspy command and with one flick of his wrist, sent Reece reeling backwards, his wand sailing from his hand.

“No!”  I screamed.

       

I turned and clubbed Gaia in the face with the hilt of my sword.  Her head snapped back and her eyes fluttered as she slumped to the ground.  With Gaia out of my way, I grasped the tip of my blade and then vaulted onto Constantine's back.

           

I wrapped my legs around his chest and looped the sword over his head.  I pulled it tight against his neck, even as his clawing hands dug into my arms.  I pulled tighter, and he gasped momentarily for breath.

He twisted and writhed.  His wand glowed with molten heat.  There was a crimson flash and an explosion of energy sent me flying backwards.  Constantine slipped from my grasp and I fell back onto the ground.

           

I gripped the hilt of my sword and pushed up to strike him again, but at that moment he turned to face me.           

And I recognized him.

My mouth went dry.  My heart pounded.  He stared back at me with his striking blue eyes and his ageless face.

            

He seemed just as shocked to see me as I was to see him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reece push up from the ground and lunge at Constantine.  He seized the tip of Constantine's wand.  Constantine snapped back to attention and tried to wrench his wand away, but Reece held fast.  The two wrestled back and forth, sparks igniting from the wand's tip.

Regan came running through the mist without so much as a backward glance at me.

           

“Illuminate!”  she screamed, striking out with her wand.

Light hit Constantine in the back, and he buckled for a moment, but did not let go.  Nor did Reece.  He held on with a death grip, even as Constantine wrenched backwards.

“Ice!”  a witch shouted from the other side, and I turned to see Beatrice whipping out her wand.

A torrent of frost burst from the tip of her wand and wrapped around Constantine.  He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip.  Reece tightened his and pulled back.  The wand was slipping, slipping from Constanine's fingers and through Reece's until finally...

“Darkness!”  the elder shouted.  The ink-black magic that tore from his wand seemed to suck all of the light out of the air.

Constantine was struck in the back.  A flash of light snapped from his wand, and he and Reece tumbled to the ground.  The wand flew from their fingers and clattered into the mud next to me.  

I did not hesitate for a moment.  I pulled back my sword and slammed it down.  With an explosion of light that knocked me from my feet, the wand shattered.

Constantine stared down at the scattered pieces of his wand, his expression blank.  Then, in one sudden motion, he lurched up and seized Reece by the throat.

Reece gagged, his hands clasping around Constantine's thick, muscular forearm as his feet were lifted off the ground.

“Let him go!”  I screamed, drawing back my sword.

I swept the sword through the air and slammed it into Constantine's face.   Blood spurted from Constantine's temple, and he released Reece. 

I tensed to strike again, gritting my teeth.  If my sword had been sharp then I would have had his head!

“Stand down, you reaping bastard!”  Regan shouted, clasping the back of Constantine's collar and yanking him backward.  With the help of Beatrice and Bella who flanked her on either side, she wrestled Constantine away.

Reece stood up from the ground gasping and choking.  He rubbed his neck, taking long, deep breaths.

           

“Reece!”  I shouted, dropping the sword and catching him as he swayed backwards.

           

He managed a half-smile at me.  I dabbed at the mud and blood that ran from his mouth, laughing with breathless relief.  I brushed the hair out of his eyes and kissed him.  He rested his forehead on mine, his shoulders heaving with every panting breath he took.

           

“So does that mean...” he said, his voice hoarse.  “... you love me too?”

“Yes!”  I said, laughing and winding my arms around him so I could clutch him tighter.  “Reece, yes!”  I repeated.

 His eyes brightened. “You mean like... yes yes?”

“Yes!”  I said again, pressing my lips against his once more.

           

This time Reece slid his arms around my waist to pull me up against his chest.

“Once again, you have the most astounding sense of timing.”  Bella muttered, kicking the ground and rolling her eyes.

We ignored her.

It was some time before we broke apart, both of us breathless.  I lay my head against his chest and sighed.

Gaia and Constantine stood in the center of a circle of witches. Gaia reached out her hand, and Constantine seemed to automatically wind his fingers through hers. 

Constantine's blue eyes bore right into me, and a chill ran up my spine.  I snuggled closer into Reece's embrace, and looked away.

I caught sight of Regan on the other side of the circle.  Her lips cracked into a small smile.

“Thank you.”  she mouthed.  

I would have replied, but the elder with the same frosted blue hair as Reece stepped forward.

"You have a great deal to answer for," he said to the two Lucians.  He gave me the briefest of glances out of the corner of his eye. I could see traces of Reece's face behind the sunspots and lines of age that adorned his features. He held up his wand, his gaze fixing on Constantine. “Bind them.”