Sunday, June 25, 2006

Wrapping Up...Part 3

The Frau leaned forward, patted Ravyn on the shoulder and spoke up. “Ravyn, my dear, we all know how you feel aabout such things. Don’t you worry none, Jim will return your sample to you. Meanwhile, some of the rest of us are more curious.

“But, beyond that, we’ve got some other things to discuss at the moment.” She looked around at everyone, gaining their attnetion as she did so. “I was there when this Dracaar fellow took over Drake’s body and transformed it in no time flat into the spitting image of a powerful, dynamic man who could easily gain influence over any number of people through his looks and magnetism. This Dracaar was a pwerful warrior and leader in his native time, someone who Drake considered dangerous enough to risk own life to stop from being released. We can’t dismiss the threat this being may pose. He also took the still sealed urn of his consort away with him.”

Cerrydwen stepped forward from the shadows and spoke up as well. “Yes, this Dracaar could be an even tougher foe than Drake, if he, or we, choose to become foes. But first, I think we need to learn more about him and what his intentions are before we declare him a foe. We also have to be careful, we don’t know if this man has acquired any of Drake’s memories, or will have access to any of Drake’s secret network of servants, allies and resources.”

Herne sat forward and pitched in his offer of assistance. “I think I can do a little grunt work here and see about locating this guy. Moira and I don’t mind the opportunity to do a little travelling, now that we won’t be babysitting, and I think I’ve got an idea of how to track this guy. It sounds like he’s not the most subtle of operators, he’ll leave some bright, glowing magickal fingerprints wherever he goes, at least until he realizes that others can track him by those markers. We’ll make regular reports back to Jim here once we find something.”

“That sounds good.” I offerred. “I can also use the resources of the Bureau, put out some feelers within the government to be on watch for this guy. If I get any leads, I’ll let you guys know.”

Naomi, looking a little frustrated and desperate almost whispered. “This is all well and good, everyone. But what about me and Alexa here? I got no one in New Orleans now with Mama gone.”

Ravyn stopped her pacing and knelt down next to Naomi, gave her a gentle hug. “I’ve got a place you can come to, darling. It’ll be perfect for you for as long as you want to stay. There’s plenty of room, lots of help is available for raising Alexa, and you’ll be able to learn to harness your own natural abilities. I can see the potential in you to be great even now!”

Naomi’s spirit seemed to be lifted with the immediate offer of a place to stay. “Thank you.”

“Speaking of that,” I said. “I don’t want Daniel Bernstein to be around Naomi or the baby. Ravyn, he’s still with the students there, isn’t he?”

Ravyn nodded.

“I’ve got some unfinished business with him anyway. I’ll be taking him away and dealing with him.”

Jim looked thoughtful. “What are you going to do with him, Rusty?”

Cerrydwen emerged from her comfortable shadows again. “Rusty and I will be seeing what we can do about having him face the karmic consequences of his own actions in all of this. He has much to account for.”

Jim asked, “Can he be truly be held accountable for actions he has no memory of committing?”

Cerrydwen’s face grew dark. “Oh, I think he’ll have enough memories of the incidents before we finish with him.”

No comments: