Sunny Daze

(This post is dedicated in loving memory to Mrs. Helen Hakes, a kind and loving soul who passed to soon.)

Unpacking a box of belongings that my ex-wife had placed in storage when she had sold our old home and moved to Phoenix Coop, I stumbled across an old, battered rag doll with a dull green dress and a smiling face framed with faded yellow sunflower petals.

The doll brought a smile to my face. Sunny. Sunny Daze. That was the name that my daughter Jasmine had given her when she received her as a Christmas present when she was four years old by our neighbor at the time, Mrs. Hanes.

Jasmine had so many stuffed animals and dolls at that time, but Sunny had been one of her favorites. She was the simplest of toys, her dress was sewn on tight, so she couldn’t be undressed like Jasmine’s Barbie dolls could, but there was something special about that doll and her smile.

I picked up the soft, limp doll, remembering the way that my daughter’s eyes had lit up when she opened the box containing Sunny. The name leaped from her lips as if they had been old friends, just reunited. I don’t think she put her down for three days after receiving her.

The dress was stained in the front from what looked like fruit punch, and one petal was now missing, but somehow that just increased her charm.

Mrs. Hanes had smiled and nodded her head when she heard how much Jasmine had liked the doll. “I’m so glad. She’s just like a doll I had when I was a little girl. We didn’t have much when I was young, but I always had a friend that I could talk to when I had my raggedy doll.”

We only lived next to Mrs. Hanes for a couple of years before we were able to buy a bigger house in a better neighborhood, but the memory of Mrs. Hanes brought a smile to my face. She was the kind of person that I watched out for as a beat cop. She was a feisty widow who lived on her own in a home full of knickknacks and memories.

Despite having the use of only one arm, she was determined to ignore her disability as she went about her daily tasks. Her husband had passed some years before we moved next door, but I felt like I knew him well, since she was always eager to proudly show her old family pictures and tell stories about their lives together.

She was even more eager though, to show the newspaper clippings and photos of her pride and joy, her son. She was so proud of his accomplishments that tears formed in her eyes whenever she spoke of him.

Looking into the smiling face of Sunny, I thought of the love that Mrs. Hanes gave and the way that she always remembered our kids’ birthdays and our wedding anniversary. It wasn’t a true holiday season until we received the traditional Christmas card from Mrs. Hanes.

When I called Jasmine to tell that I had found Sunny again, I could hear her voice light up over the phone. “You found Sunny? Wow, I had wondered where she went!”

“Do you want me to bring her to you, Jazz?”

“You know what, Dad? I think Sunny would be something that would be perfect for Alexa.”

“Are you sure Jazz? I know how much you loved this doll.”

“I think that Mrs. Hanes would approve Dad. I miss her.”

“Who, Sunny or Mrs. Hanes?”

She laughed. “Silly! I miss Mrs. Hanes.”

“Me too, Jazz. Me too. Say hello to your mother and Ms. Fyre for me, won’t you?”

“Sure thing. Bye Dad!”

I held the small, soft doll carefully in my hand as I hung up the cell phone with the other hand. It was amazing to think that such a small thing could mean so much, could represent so many memories and so much love.

Just like there could never be too much love in life, there could never be enough Sunny Daze. It was good to be reminded of that once in a while.

I sent a silent prayer of thanks to Mrs. Hanes for her many gifts.

Chilled to the Bone

“I’m sorry, Rusty, but Dick Arnold has found some very strong backers within the administration. I’m afraid that there is nothing that we can hang an investigation on at this time.” I could hear the strain in Zulu’s voice even over the phone.

“OK, so I can’t use any Bureau resources, but you aren’t saying that I can’t look into things on my own are you?”

He sighed and took a moment before answering. “Your time is your own to do with as you please, when you are not otherwise on assignment…”

“Good. I’ll keep the Bureau out of this until I come up with something substantial.”

“Rusty…”

“It’s OK. I’m getting pretty damn good at keeping things separate when they need to be, I’ll be careful.”

“Rusty, you need to listen for a moment. This has gone higher than I would have thought possible. I tried everything I could do to get Arnold indicted as part of the cleanup of the Omega Project. But this Arnold has allies at the highest level of this administration. They worked behind the scenes to quash all of my efforts. The firm that represented him is chock full of former prosecutors and Justice Department policy makers, many of them from my former staff. Instead of getting indicted, Arnold has come out of this affair looking like a hero. I don’t know that you are going to be able to bring the Bureau in on this case at any point, especially if you result to any extra-legal means of gathering that evidence.”

“Well, I do know that he is back in business and that he needs to be stopped. Have you seen that damn commercial, that Bone Financial commercial?”

He sighed again. “Yes. It’s playing in every major media market in the country. I am hearing that there are offices scheduled to open in each of those markets within the next 90 days.”

“There’s something really fishy with this whole Bone Financial business. I know that prick, El Diablito, is involved in this as well. I don’t understand how they claim to be making any money at this whole post-mortem mortgage thing, do you?”

Zulu cleared his throat before he spoke. “I’ve seen some of the documents that they filed with the SEC, but I can’t claim to truly understand how this whole scheme works.”

“Can you at least tell me what you do understand?”

“Yes. I’ll e-mail you a summary of the key points of their various products and the spin they place on them in the SEC filings. The information is publicly available, so there is no concern in sharing it with you. Before I hang up though, I want to make it very clear to you, Rusty, that you need and your friends need to be exceptionally careful with any investigation that you engage in. Dick Arnold knows about you and I’m sure that he is taking precautions against any intervention that may attempt. Arnold may well have suspicions about me now. I’m quite sure that Arnold has the money and connections to employ agents of his own who will prove to be formidable adversaries. You will not have the backing or the support of the Bureau, so be careful. I will not be able to bail you or your friends out of any jams. Do you understand?”

“I do. Don’t worry, Boss, we can handle ourselves just fine. Oh, before I go, I do want to give you a heads up about something as well.”

“Oh?”

“You’ve read our report on Drake’s demise, right?”

He paused again. “Yes.”

“Well, I’ve had the task of hearing his damn story, and I can tell you that we’re going to be hearing from his father, Dracaar, sooner rather than later. I’m going to send you a message about some artifacts that are being held in various museums around the world. You might want to see that some extra security is quietly put in place at these places. I don’t know if we’ll be able to prevent them from being taken at some point, but we’re going to need to know when this stuff starts disappearing. That will be among the first signs that Dracaar is getting his bearings and is starting to make his move.”

“I see. I’ll be waiting for that report then. Good night, Rusty.”

“Take care.”

I closed the phone carefully. It was so thin that I had to be very gentle with it. I had already gone through two previous models in recent months. I slipped the phone into the pocket in which I normally kept it and zipped the pocket closed.

I stood up and walked back to the kitchen door of old farm house in Salem Township, a rural area on the edge of Metro Detroit’s suburbs, which I had purchased a few months back. I opened the door and stepped out into the night air.

The moon was full and bright, its shine bathed the wooded landscape in soft white light. Looking towards the west, I noted a storm brewing as a mass of clouds that obscured the stars crawled inexorably closer.

Winter was coming.

The question was, as always, how long and hard would this winter be?

Bone Financial

(A deep throated voice speaks over the image of a harried, middle-aged man pulling his hair as he stares at a pile of bills spread out over a table.)

“Are bills mounting up faster than you can pay them?”

(A new image flashes, a soccer mom looks plaintively at her beat up minivan as smoke rolls out from underneath the hood of the vehicle.)

“Have you hit a bump in the road to prosperity?”

(The two now sit together wistfully looking at colorful brochures for a blissful cruise that they tearfully toss into a garbage can before they collapse back into their worn couch.)

“Don’t give up on your dreams just because life has thrown you a few curveballs.”

(A new day has dawned; the now happy couple is seen walking out the door of a cheerful looking building with Bone Financial writing in golden letters across the top of the doorway. The husband is clearly holding a check in his hand. As they are walking hand in hand from the building, he shows it to his wife.)

“Let Bone Financial show you a new way to the financial freedom to enjoy the one life you have to live.”

(The scene shifts to a young, fresh faced man with an earnest expression as he sits down on the edge of a neat desk. He begins to speak in a different voice than has been speaking up to the present.)

“Bone Financial is offering a suite of financial products that no one else can offer, no matter your credit history. We can help make your dreams come true. Come see a Bone Financial Advisor today to see what we can do for you.”

Readings in Drakeology--#1

For those readers who are interested in reading further about the places, peoples and histories that Drake will be discussing in his posts, these supplementary posts will provide lists of reference links and books where further information can be found.

I will keep these posts brief and relatively infrequent, unless there is a demand for more.

Wikipedia is a good (but not necessarily the most accurate) source that is freely available so many links will be to articles on that site where readers who have an even deeper interest can find other sources quoted that they can access if they so choose.

The first link that I am providing is to the Wikipedia article on the city of Ur...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur

One should note that the quoted dates of prominence for Ur are later than Drake's claimed age...he states that he is 6,000 years old (meaning he would have been born at approximately 4000 BCE), while most sources state that Ur didn't rise to any level of prominence until at least several hundred years later, sometime around 3300 BCE.

Here is a link to the period of time in that region to which Drake is claiming to have been born:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcolithic

It is called the Chalcolithic Period, which is sort of a transition time in Asia between the Neolithic (stone age) and the Copper Age.

Finally, for this premier edition of 'Readings in Drakeology', I have two more items. The first is a good book where I have been able to find many of the things that Drake speaks about in:

Magick of the Gods and Goddesses by D.J. Conway, 2003, The Crossing Press.

In the first post by Drake, he mentions the name for his father's 'people', the An'girasii.

In my readings of DJ Conway, I came across a reference on page 384 that uses a very similar word: 'angiras' a Sanskrit word meaning 'a divine spirit' that may have been the basis for the Persian word, 'angaros' meaning 'courier' and the Greek words 'angelos' and 'daimon'. This was all used in the discussion by author Conway to explaain the origin of the word 'angel' in English and 'malakh' in Hebrew.

If Drake is indeed correct, then perhaps the Sanskrit word is derived from the An'girasii name for themselves, which according to Drake, means 'the Chosen'.

Future posts by Drake will discuss the An'girasii and their claimed origins and influence on the development of humanity much more.

So I will leave you with a couple more links to Wikipedia, the first of these is the entry for 'angiras' and the following ones are hints at where Drake's narrative will take us in his next few posts (each Sunday he will get to make another post, circumstances permitting).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiras

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappa

Enjoy!

Drake's Tale--#1

(This is the first in a series of posts that will be detailing Drake’s history in his own words. Pursuant to the agreement I have entered with him, there will be no content editing over what he has to say. Each of these posts will have the same title, above, numbered sequentially.—RB)

My story is a long one. But it must be told.

Six thousand years ago, I was born the third of three sons to Dracaar (having looked back on his blog, I see my not so literate host has misspelled my father’s name in more than one way) and Madeena of the ancient city state of Ur.

My parents were not married, although this was not in any way unusual in that time and place. My mother was the daughter of one the three powerful priest-kings of the city at the time. She was a powerful priestess in her own right, although her chosen deity was Tiamat—a faith that was officially banned within the city because of the propensity of Her advocates to inspire Chaos amongst Her followers. Due to my mother’s position in that society however, she was in no danger.

My father, Dracaar, was even more complex. He was the most powerful and easily the most successful general in the army of Ur. He towered over everyone else in the city. He was easily a foot taller than even the largest of his own band of elite warriors, standing nearly seven feet tall. Even among the social elite of Ur, he exuded a sense of power and a charisma that commanded respect and deference from nearly everyone who encountered him.

But my father was even more different than he appeared, physically. As you all know, my father was not entirely human. Dracaar was a member of a small but powerful race of beings who call themselves An’girasii, a word from their original language that means ‘the Chosen.’ These beings, the An’girasii, will be discussed at much greater length in future posts. Suffice it to say that they are extremely powerful Spirit beings who have their own unique physical forms, but who are also capable of taking human forms, as they choose.

When they chose to take human form, the An’girasii are able to interbreed with humans, something they have been doing for as long as they and humans have been sharing this world, which is to say a very, very long time. The benefits the An’girasii of this interbreeding will also be discussed later, but the benefits to the immediate offspring are rather variable and unpredictable. Those that survive long enough to be born may or may not inherit some of the An’girasii magickal talents.

My two older brothers, Nehmad and Sorud, were lucky enough to inherit both our father’s impressive stature and very visible vestiges of his magickal talents. I, however, was cursed with the stature of my mother and no recognizable magickal talent to make up for my smallish nature.

Growing up, I was left to my own devices. My two brothers were Father’s favorites and spent much of their time honing their warrior skills and developing their magickal talents over the weather. Sorud had the power to summon and control wind, while Nehmad reveled in his mastery over earth. Once I was old enough to feed and change myself, Mother left me in than tender care of the household slaves. The slaves were far more interested in making sure that they avoided the beatings that came with failing to keep the household running well than they were taking care of the runt of the mistress’s litter.

Mother was more concerned with developing her own considerable magickal talents and with the strategic forming and breaking of political alliances as needed than she was with raising any of her children. She was not a paragon of maternal virtue.

So my early years were spent staying out of the way of those were more important, more loved, more powerful, and more fearful than I was. Besides wishing that I was more like my older brothers, I spent most of my time observing and learning from those who were too busy to notice or care about me.

A Blast from the Past...Part 2

Jim leaned forward, his elbows braced on the table. “The second article discussed a new financial instrument that an obscure little company was trying to get approval for, post-mortem mortgages.”

I couldn't resist interrupting. “Post-mortem mortgages? How the heck would that work?”

“Well, the article was a little fuzzy on the details of how exactly these things would work. But essentially, this new little company, Bone Financial, was offering to pay out substantial lump sums to ‘well qualified applicants’ who agree to sell the rights to their bodies after death.”

Ravyn looked exasperated. “What kind of company would buy the rights to dead bodies?”

Jim nodded. “I was curious about that as well. In some countries, viable organs for transplant have some economic value, but in this country it is currently illegal to sell any organs from a deceased person. However, an interesting person from this Bone Financial was quoted as saying that the bodies would not be used for organ donation, and in fact, these applicants were not in any way discouraged from donating their organs, should they so choose to. The name of that person was what caught my interest. It was a guy by the name of Leto, Mr. D. B. Leto, to be precise.”

“Could that be the same…?”

Jim nodded at my question. “It gets worse. I also noticed that there was one final note about how this new company, Bone Financial, was ‘a member of the Mercury-Unlimited Group family of companies.’ Once I put all of that together, I was able to do some research on the Net. I was able to pull up a photo from the Bone Financial website of this D. B. Leto, who is listed as the President of the company. It looks an awful lot like our friend, El Diablito.”

“Son of a bitch! When did you learn all of this?”

“I was just putting all of this together between the games today. I was going to call you and let you know tomorrow, after I had a chance to do some more research on MUG and Bone Financial.”

“Do you know where this Bone Financial is headquartered? I think I may need to make a road trip.”

Jim held up his hands. “Hold your horses, Rusty. I’m still gathering the information on these two companies. Let’s not rush into anything blind. Let me put together a full dossier of all available information on these new companies, then we can get together again, in the real world this time, and then we can plan our next moves.”

The Frau sat back and stretched her arms. “I agree with Jim. Let’s not be too hasty. Let’s make sure we go into this next case with as much information as possible. I’m very curious as to how this Bone Financial can actually be planning to make money by paying out money before people die for their bodies, especially if they aren’t selling the organs. My guess is that there are a lot of hidden aspects to this scheme that we will need to puzzle out before we can really see the whole picture here. Jim, keep us informed when you have your research done. Rusty, you need to go finalize your little deal with Drake.” She looked knowingly at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Ladies, we have our own little project to finish, agreed?”

Both Ravyn and Cerrydwen nodded their agreement to the Frau.

I was curious. “Just what are you gals up to now?”

The Frau stood up, walked over behind me and patted me on the shoulder. “It’s women’s business, Rusty. When everything is ready, you’ll know. Until then, you’ll just have to guess.” With that, she walked to her portal, opened the door, and left.

Cerrydwen was the next to leave, simply nodding to each of us, although she did flash a brief, conspiratorial smile at Ravyn as she nodded towards her. She was at the door and out so quickly it was as if she had run.

Ravyn flashed a smile as she hugged Jim and I and bounced out to her own door.

I looked at Jim. “Any idea of what they are up to?”

He shrugged, downed another mug of Diet Pepsi, and sighed. “I have no idea. It’s probably best that way too.”

A Blast from the Past...Part 1

The council ended without much further serious discussion. Naomi’s bombshell visions that had been provided by the peacefully sleeping child in her arms certainly sobered up the discussion. She consented to a meeting between Alexa and the ring that held Drake’s Spirit form, if I chose to go ahead with the rest of the deal.

As Alexa stirred in her arms, Naomi looked around the table before standing up slowly. “I need to get back before she wakes up, please excuse me.”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and a smattering of kisses on Alexa’s forehead, Naomi took her leave.

Naomi’s name was fading above her now closed door before anyone moved or spoke again.

Jim sat forward, poured himself another mug of Diet Pepsi from the magickal pitcher before he broke the silence. “Rusty, there’s something else we need to discuss, since you’ve dragged me here.”

“What’s that Jim?”

“I came across a couple of news items of interest when I was reading through some back issues of the Wall Street Primer that had piled up on my table. The first story was actually the more recent story, one that I at first glanced through in passing, but came back to in more detail and more interest after the second story really caught my attention.”

“Oh? So what were these stories about?”

He took a long swig from his mug, draining it and setting it aside as he created to room to be more demonstrative with his hands. “Well, the second story was an anouncement by one Dick Arnold, the former CEO of VortiCorp, about a new company that he has formed with a number of silent partners.”

“Dick Arnold? I thought he had fled the country when we messed up the financials for VortiCorp?”

Jim nodded. “He did. That’s what this announcement newsworthy. It appears that VortiCorp had a number of offshore subsidiaries in the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos, and the Caymen Islands. This story was a puff publicity piece that was attempting to rehabillitate his image by blaming the financial problems of his original company on the ‘unethical and illegal activities of certain highly trusted employees’ and to trumpet his return with a newly formed holding corporation called the Mercury-Unlimited Group.” Jim sighed as he refilled and drained his mug again. “That article didn’t go into much detail about what businesses this new hoilding corporation was getting into, other than its ‘highly diversified investment portfolio,’ but the second article provided some ominous clues.”

Ravyn cocked her head and pursed her lips before speaking. “Mercury. That’s an interesting choice. There’s implied ties to business and commerce, which is probably the obvious refernce they are going for, but there could be a lot of magickal meaning hidden in that name. Mercury has a lot of associations with magick in modern occultism, especially the rulership over magick.”

The Frau chuckled, looked up from her second dissected grapefruit and spoke up. “Yes, Mercury also played a role in guiding the spirits of the dead. I don’t think this was a random choice at all, especially from what we know that VortiCorp was trying to do before.”

Cerrydwen nodded. “I agree. This name was not chosen by random. So what did the other article say?”

The Shadow Council...Conclusion

Luckily, Jim had been on the ball, recognizing the changes in Naomi as she went under her trance. He had pulled out a small pad of paper and taken down the verses for us to analyze in more detail. He read them back to us.

“Wow, I said all of that? I’ve never heard any of those lines before.” She looked down at the sleeping toddler (Alexa was now nearly 15 months old) and back up at us again. “I never did finish what I was going to tell you about what I saw when I was dead.”

Ravyn nodded. “We’d certainly like to hear about what you saw.”

Naomi cleared her throat and began her story again. “As I was saying before I got so rudely interrupted, I went down the steps in that funky smelling cave at the base of Rusty’s tree and came to the reflecting pool. I bent down to look into the pool and I saw all sorts of images moving around in the pool, there were so many and they were moving so fast at first, that I couldn’t make any sense out of what I was seeing.”

Jim was leaning forward over the table, bent over his notebook, scribbling notes, but he glanced up long enough to throw out a question. “Do you remember anything of those early images?”

Naomi paused, concentrated and nodded. “Yes. I remember seeing lots of images of war. Tanks, planes, soldiers fighting other soldiers. Soldiers shooting women and children. Lots of bombs. Missiles striking cities.” She stopped, her voice catching as she realized what she was remembering and what she was saying. A tear trickled down her cheek. “I...I...I saw so many people dying. Dying from war. Dying from disease and starvation. It looked like the end of the world. One of the last of the flashing images that I saw was a bunch of nuclear bombs going off, each over a different city, just like we saw in all of those crazy movies ten or fifteen years ago.”

Jim, furiously scribbling, glanced up again as he asked another question in a calm, clinical voice. “Did the visions stop there?”

Naomi shook her, her eyes now full of tears. “No.” She sobbed before continuing. “The images stopped flashing, but a new image came up. It was the image of a beautiful face. I know it was Alexa’s, all grown up. Her eyes were so big and sad. She looked right at me and spoke to me.”

The Frau’s face was beaming as she interjected. “What did she say to you?”

Naomi looked down at the angelic face of our sleeping child and brushed a small dark curl from her forehead before looking up again. “She said, ‘Mother, what you’ve just seen is the most likely future. It is a view of a day that will dawn all too soon, unless we do everything in our power to change it.’ I was crying then, just like I’m crying now, I tried to tell her that I was dead, that I wouldn’t be able to change anything about it, but she kept speaking. ‘Mother, soon, you will wake up, and when the time is right, you will remember what I am saying to you now. Know this, that there is a chance, however small that chance might be, for that future to be averted. But for that to happen, you must not yield to the normal maternal instincts to shield me from all possible harm or dangers. As I grow up, I must see and experience everything that I can of the human condition. I must know both Good and Evil and everything in between if my Dance is to have the power to change this future towards which we hurtle even now.’”

The silence in that room could not have been deeper when she finished speaking. Each of us sat there absorbing the words of the blissfully sleeping child who had not yet spoken her own first word.

I was the first one to break that sacred silence. “Well, I guess Drake gets his deal then. You can’t get much more evil than that bastard was and still be human.”

The Shadow Council...Part 4

Naomi arrived with shortly afterwards, baby Alexa held in her arms. She looked more than a little nervous as she walked up to the table as we all watched. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes and no, dear.” The Frau was the first to reply. “Rusty was simply discussing whether or not our dearly departed friend Drake should have an opportunity to meet your precious Alexa. I reminded him, however, that there are some things where one must consult with the mother of a child prior to deciding.”

Naomi gave me a hard stare as she clutched Alexa closer to her bosom. The defiance in her eyes gave her answer without a single word being uttered.

I held up my hand. “Wait a minute. I never said I had agreed to anything yet, I was simply bringing the matter up for discussion. But, Naomi, since you are here, let me tell you the whole story.” I glanced sideways at the Frau. I saw her little sly smirk.

Naomi’s body language only softened slightly once she heard the entire proposition and was caught up on the discussion to date. Her words, however, shocked all of us.

“I think that this is an offer that we will have to take at some point.”

Everyone’s eyes opened wide, a few mouths dropped open.

She rocked the peacefully sleeping Alexa ever so gently, glanced down at her beautfiul face and then looked each of us in the eye before continuing on.

“In the time that I was...gone...I spent some time at the Tree that Rusty planted. It...spoke...to me. It told me to go down into the cave within its roots and that I should look into the reflecting pool within. When I did that, I saw so many things! The Tree told me that Alexa is more special than I could ever imagine. I saw and heard things I could not believe, that I didn’t want to believe were even possible...”

As she spoke, Naomi’s eyes glazed over, the pupils rolling up towards her forehead until only the whites of her showed. Her voice took on a huskier quality as she continued to speak.

“Amidst Despair and Discord, the Daughter of Death has come!
From Darkness she was born, Descendant of Slaves now seeming free.
Conceived from Greed and Deceit, the Daughter of Death has come!
Through her Dance and her Deeds, Empires fall and the Mighty flee.

“Stricken by Faith and Terror, the Daughter of Death has come!
To War turns the Old Guard, proclaiming loudly the false Victory.
Whilst Wind tears and Waters roar, the Daughter of Death has come!
Tho’ Fire and Shadow may strive, Hope or Peace has no guarantee.

“Riven by Doubt and Fear, the Daughter of Death has come!
Final Victory within his grasp, the Undying Hunter fails in Conceit.
As the Elder Scions gather in Malice, the Daughter of Death has come!
The Hunt begins anew, can the Unliving restore Hope to Humanity?”

Naomi sagged, her head slumping down to rest on Alexa before she came out of her trance. She sat up straight and shook her head. “I don’t know what just came over me.”

Ravyn and I looked at each other. I managed to spit out the words that she was thinking as well. “I’ve heard the first two verses before, T’tubah recited them in a very similar trance state in New Orleans, just before we rescued Alexa.” I left it unsaid that we also failed to save Naomi, who was killed by a very nasty troll-like creature just as we arrived.

Naomi looked curious as we spoke. “What verses?”

The Shadow Council...Part 3

Without further delay, I laid out the deal that Drake was offering.

Even as I was finishing, Ravyn and Cerrydwen were protesting. “Oh no!” “You can’t let him get near Alexa!”

Both the Frau and Jim had remained silent, the Frau looking unperturbed as she used a dagger-like knife to cut open a giant grapefruit from the ever-full fruit bowl, while Jim sat back stroking his chin in a contemplative manner.

I held up my hands in mock surrender to the previously sparring sisters-in-magick, as I sat back in my chair. “Hey, I didn’t agree to the deal yet! In fact, it’s been almost a week since he proprosed it.”

Ravyn look exasperated. “A whole week! Why didn’t you just reject his deal and be done with him?”

Cerrydwen nodded in agreement to Ravyn’s words. “Indeed, I doubt that Drake would have the discipline to maintain his silence if you rejected his ‘deal.’ You would have seen this by now if you had rejected the proprosal outright.”

I nodded. “My first reaction was to refuse the deal, I even told him that seeing Alexa was the dealbreaker, but he insisted.” I looked over to Ravyn. “I thought better of giving a definitive answer of ‘no’, just in case he wasn’t bluffing. I didn’t want to cut off an avenue to information we might need, just in case.”

Jim dropped his hand from his chin and sat up straight. “Let’s look at each element of this deal and see how feasible it all is. First, he wants you to open up your blog, which has previously been your own personal domain to tell his story to us, and to the world. Are you willing to conside that request?”

I looked from person to person around the table before responding. “I don’t have any real problem with part of the deal, I suppose.”

Jim took the pitcher form the center of the table and poured more Diet Pepsi into his cup, marvelling at the magick of the pitcher, able to pour any liquid the holder desired. “Is there any way to take this thing back home? It would save me a mint!” He put the pitcher down and looked up at me. “Have you considered how ponderous this request might be? This guy has been supposedly been around for five thousand years, and appears to have been involved in many historical periods. That part of the deal alone could take years to complete, and you could very lose the readers of your blog. That is, unless they are particularly interested in Drake’s history, told from his side.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

He nodded. “You need to. If this is something you are going to consider, I recommend that you negotiate on that one a bit, make sure you limit the posts on his life to perhaps once a week.”

“Good idea.”

After he drained his cup, Jim sat back. “Now, item two. He wants you to agree to take up this struggle against Drakaar and his fellow demi-godlike beings since he can’t continue that struggle himself. While on the face of it, this seems like a foregone conclusion, it is still a serious issue. You don’t know how many of these other beings are out there, or what their individual motivations may be. Even if Drake tells you his perspective on these beings, we will need to independently verify his story and come to our own conclusions about whether they are truly the threat to humanity that Drake is stating that they are. He does have a rather spotty record with the truth, as I recall.”

I couldn’t argue that point. “Yes. He finds ways to twist the truth worse than any president ever did. I also had a concern about these other beings, besides Drakaar. I felt what he was like, so I’m pretty confident we’re going to face off against him. But the rest of his brethren? That I don’t know just yet.”

“So, I would recommend that you try to negotiate further on this part of the deal as well. Either limit your agreement to tracking down and facing off against Drakaar and any allies that help him, or ask for names that we can do further independent research on before agreeing fully to this item. That leaves us with the final condition of the deal. The meeting with Alexa.”

The Frau looked up from her half eaten grapefruit at the mention of Alexa’s name. “Well, I don’t think we have all of the interested parties here to discuss this last point.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She looked from Jim to me and then over at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Clearly, the only person who really answer this point is Alexa’s mother, Naomi.”

The Shadow Council...Part 2

As I called forth each person, runes above their specific door lit up with magickal fire, spelling out their names.

Ravyn’s door was the first to open. She bounced in through her door, her eyes showing concern at the sudden summons. Her gaze quickly settled on me as she approached the table. “What’s wrong?”

I motioned for her to take a seat. “I have received a rather disturbing proposition, but I want to wait until the others get here before I lay it all out.”

She nodded, moved her chair back a bit and plopped down into it. Each of her quick, deliberate movements left a brief afterimage of fire, like the sparklers I had bought for my kids many years ago.

The Frau’s door was the next to be nosed open as she padded into the room and transformed into her familiar, fully clothed form. She pushed the door shut with her left hand and walked easily over to the table. Apparently, she didn’t retain her limp in the Shadowland. When she reached the table, she gave Ravyn a strong hug before settling into her seat, to the left of Ravyn.

Cerrydwen’s door had opened very quietly as the Frau was settling into her seat. She was halfway across the room before any of us had noticed her. She nodded acknowledgement to each of us as she stood behind her chair, hands gripping the seat back firmly.

The Frau glanced over at Jim’s still unopened door. “Oh dear, I hope the poor man remembers how to get here.”

Ravyn, reaching into the basket of fruit to pull out a particularly large pear looked over at the door herself. “He’ll be fine, Frau. We spent two days last month practicing, I know he can make it work.”

Cerrydwen arched her eyebrow and gave a sly smile towards Ravyn. “Two days, huh? What were you two doing all of that time?”

“Cerry! I don’t know what you are insinuating! He needed the practice! He’s never done this sort of thing before!” She blushed as she spoke.

Cerrydwen laughed. “Yeah, it’s no wonder you’ve had an easier time getting your co-op budget increased! Buttering up the money man!”

For the briefest of moments, Ravyn’s mouth dropped open in shock before she recovered and chucked her half-eaten pear at Cerrydwen’s head.

The pear traced an arc through the air as it missed the ducking Cerrydwen by mere inches.

Ravyn sputtered. “Why I’ve never...”

“Sure you haven’t, sis!”

The Frau clucked her tongue. “Girls! Settle down!” She patted Ravyn’s hand. “Don’t worry, Dear, I believe you.”

Ravyn leaned forward to grab an orange this time. “Well, I’m glad someone around here does.!”

Cerrydwen chuckled as she sat down this time. “I’m just hoping he was listening to you more than he was watching you during this instruction! He sure is taking a while!”

“Should I Call him again?”

The Frau shook her head. “No, Rusty. Once is enough. Your Call was very strong as it is. Another one might do more harm than good. He may well have been in the middle of something when you issued the Call.”

“That’s true. Well, I do want to wait until he gets here before I discuss what made me decide to do this right now. So, let’s talk about something else until he shows up. Has anyone heard or seen anything involving Drakaar?”

Before anyone else could answer, Jim’s door burst open as he rushed into the room. He quickly turned his large frame around and slammed the door shut, leaning against the thing for good measure. Sweat streamed down his face from underneath his Toledo Mudhens baseball cap.

He looked at all of us gathered around the table, concern etched across his face. “So what’s the emergency?”

Everyone turned to face me. “Well, I don’t know that it is an emergency, per se, but...”

Jim was now striding towards the table. “You mean you called me during the bottom of the ninth inning of the second game of a double header against the Yankees, and it’s not an emergency?”

That picqued my interest. “Did the Tigers win?”

He nooded as he pulled the chair out and sat down. “Yeah, Craig Munroe hit a three run homer in the top half of the inning and Jones closed it out. That’s what took me so long, I wasn’t going to come here until I knew the outcome. The pennant race is getting too close now!”

An orange peel hit me in the face. “Men and sports!” Ravyn exclaimed. “Let’s talk about the important stuff here. Now why did you call us here, Rusty?”

(To be continued later tonight)

The Shadow Council...Part 1

That silence lasted over a month. It only ended when I called out to him, ready to offer an answer to his demands.

Before I sought him out though, I reached out to my those whose advice I trusted, asking them to get together for a chance to discuss a serious matter. The meeting place itself was more than a little unusal in the fact that it took place in the Shadowlands.

This was made possible through a set special magickal keys that had been presented to us by the Merlin. Each of these seven obsidian black skeleton keys allowed their bearers to send their Spirit form to special hexagonal room (the Merlin had kept the eighth such key for himself) within the Shadowland that the Merlin had created and that was not associated with any ‘real wolrd’ place. Whenever one of the key bearers slipped rom their body and entered that room, they could ‘call’ out to one (or more) of the other bearers and ask them to join them for a meeting.

I had taken one of the keys, while Ravyn had divided the others up as follows: One for herself, one each for Cerrydwen and the Frau, one for Naomi, one for Herne. The final key had been forced into the hands of a rather shocked and dubious looking Jim.

“Why would I need one of these things?” He had asked when Ravyn handed the last one to him.

She had patted him on the arm and smiled that mischievious grin of hers. “Because, Dear, we need you. Besides, we may need to get ahold of you in a hurry, or you may have to contact one of us, and this is the best way to do that.”

He had looked less than reassured. “But how do I even use this thing? I don’t know how to get around in the Shadowland. Shouldn’t you give this to someone who can actually use it?”

“Relax, Jim.” She had reached up and planted a peck on his blushing cheek as her hand closed his over the string holding the shimmering key. “I’ll show you everything you need to know in order to use it. If I can use it, you can use it, whether or not you are a Caster. The Merlin knows what he is doing with his Crafting. He told me that it is perfectly safe and easy even for non-Casters to use.”

Since that time, none of us had had any occasion to use the keys yet, other than the lessons that Ravyn had provided Jim with.

I settled down into a chair, pulled the key out, grasped it in my hand, and pictured the portal into the room. I projected placing the key into the wooden door bound by silvered steel and turned the large black handle to the right.

I found myself standing for the first time in a medium-sized stone chamber with eight walls. In the center of each wall was a similar door to the one I had just entered. In the very center of the room was a large wooden table that mirroed the shape of the room. Each spot of the table’s edge was occupied by a massive, throne-like chair. Each place was set with a silver plate and chalice, while the center of the table was occupied by a bowl of fresh fruit and a pair of pitchers.

I glanced down at my form, noticing that I was not in my usual Spirit form that I used in the Shadowland, but was instead in a form that mirrored my normal body in real life, except for the fact that I seemed to be flesh and blood. I could feel the cool, moist air of this place on my face. I could flex my muscles and feel the blood pumping through them.

I moved to my assigned place at the table, pulled the massive chair back easily, and sat down.

I closed my eyes and called out the names of those that I wanted to come join me in this impromptu council. “Ravyn Fyre. Frau. Cerrydwen. Jim.”

Dealing with the Devil...

His voice was smug as it echoed inside my head. “So you finally want something from me do you? Is the prodigal son returning home?”

I tried to put as much sarcasm in my mental voice as I could manage. “Hardly that, you prick. But I am ready to listen to any proof you have on Drakaar and what his intentions will be.”

His dry chuckle almost tickled as it resonated. “Well, Dracaar’s intentions are what they always are. He and his ilk have always had the same goal.”

“What’s that?”

“I could just tell you, but I’m not sure if you are ready yet. I don’t know if you are truly capable of comprehending the danger you and your friends have placed the rest of humanity in.”

“Well, why don’t you try me, you condescending prick?” As usual, he was finding ways to push my buttons. He knew me too damn well.

“Why should I?”

It was time to turn the tables on him. “Drake, you mean you’d just give up so easily after being beaten? I’m surprised at you. You spend five thousand years tracking down and defeating Drakaar and his compatriots and you are ready to throw it all away after one tiny little defeat? Here I am, offering to take on your old foes to make you out to be the hero again, yet you turn your nose up at it.”

He was silent for a moment. “Don’t think that you can play me as easily as I have played you, Rusty.” He sighed, a strange sound to come from a disembodied voice in your head, I might add. “But I do appreciate the attempt. If you want my help, which at this point can consist solely of the information I can give you, you’ll have to do three things for me.”

“Oh? I can hardly wait. What do you want?”

“First, I want you to promise to take up the fight that I can no longer continue with.”

That seemed obvious, for some reason. “Well, I have pretty much offered that, haven’t I?”

If a disembodied voice can sneer, Drake sneered. “Yes, but I want an oath from you will take on these foes, an oath as strong as the one you swore to see me destroyed.”

I laughed. “I hate you so intensely that I don’t think that it is possible to hate someone else as badly. That might be a hard oath to take.”

“Nevertheless, I will have that oath before I give you what you want.”

“Alright, so what else do you want? You did say three things, right?”

“Yes. Second, I want you to tell my story through your blog, exactly as I show it to you, without editorial comments, and without omissions.”

This was a little surprising. I knew that he had read my blog once he discovered that I was keeping one, as he used it against me on a number of occasions. That was one reason that I delayed certain posts and altered some ‘facts’, in an attempt to keep him off the trail for a just a little while longer.

“You want your story to take over my blog?”

He laughed. “Hardly. But I do want a series of dedicated posts where you tell the story of my life, of my existence throughout the milennia, without any of your snide comments and asides. Feel free to tell your own versions of events as you see them, but have a section dedicated to my tale.”

I hesitated briefly before prompting him to continue. “And third?”

“Third, once y story is told and you have committed yourslef to the struggle I can no longer fight, I want to meet your daughter, Alexa.”

“Whoah. What makes you think that I am going let you anywhere near Alexa?”

“It is something that you will have to agree to, or I will not help you.”

“Well, that’s a damn dealbreaker. I’m not letting you near Alexa. Period.”

Again, if a disembodied voice in your head can smirk, Drake smirked. His voice was smug as he responded. “Very well. But know this, Jason. Without the knowledge and the experience that I carry, your daughter will not live to see her third birthday.”

“I don’t have to listen to your threats anymore, you bastard.”

“I am not the one who threatens you or your family, Rusty. Alexa is more special than you can possibly know. Drakaar may not know she exists yet, but when he does learn of her, she is doomed. He and his kind will not let her live. If she were to come fully into her powers, to become fully aware of who she really is, she will change this world and all of humanity forever. That is a threat that Drakaar will not tolerate to exist under any circumstances.”

“We protected her from you, we can protect her from them too!”

His laugh was hauntingly hollow. “Rusty, whatever you may have thought about me, know this. The forces that will gather around your daughter as she grows will be far beyond anything I, or any associate I ever employed, could hope to command. If you don’t know how to face these creatures, if you don’t even know the nature of the threat they pose to her, you and your friends will have no chance against them.”

He sighed. A damn voice inside my head sighed! “Think on this for as long as you like Rusty. I shall not speak to you again until you have decided. Accept my conditions, and I will try my best to give you the tools you will need to face these foes. Refuse them if you like, but you will likely be giving up your only chance to see your daughter grow into the being that she was born to be. You may well be consigning all of humanity, such as it is, into an eternity of slavish servitude. The choice is yours.”

With that, the bastard shut up.

I didn’t decide at that time.

True to his word, he didn’t speak to me until I told him I was ready to make a decision...

It was the worst of times...

As you may recall, Drake Kampmann was defeated by his own father as told earlier in the blog. His Spirit form was pushed from his body, which was taken over by the entity known as Dracaar, and pushed forced into a ring that he had carried.

That ring rolled over to me, so I became the lucky owner of a ring bearing the less-than-pleased Spirit form of my so-called creator. I cannot fully express the irony of that situation in a few simple sentences, but suffice it to say that I found more than a little joy in carrying around a Chakra-like device containing Drake’s soul.

However, the down side of becoming Drake’s keeper, so-to-speak, was that I had to carry him with me. I couldn’t destroy the thing, much as I might have wanted to, because of the possibility that his Spirit form would then be free to seek a new host body. I couldn’t lock the thing away, because I didn’t want to take the chance that Drake might be able to communicate with El Diablito, or the Little Devil would find a way to locate the ring himself, and then I would be back to square one with him again.

So, that left me carrying Drake around with me.

And that gave Drake a chance to talk to me.

For any of you who already know me, you’ll appreciate the next statement:

About the last damn thing in the world I needed was another damn nut job voice speaking in my head.

I already have to contend with the constant cacade of dark whispers that are left over remnants of my time with Ma Grendel and all of the poor bastards she consumed over time.

To compound things even further, I have the entire adult memory set of Dr. Daniel Bernstein, otherwise known as Dr. Geek, locked away in my head. That batch of oh-so-joyful experiences includes such fond memories as seeing my own eviscerated body in lab and the brutal rape and kidnapping of Zenny Al Farhan.

And now, I had the joy of nearly constant communication with the sarcastic, know-it-all, son of a bitch who created my zombie ass.

I’m sorry. I see that I am beginning to slip into old habits again. You see, having Drake around all of the time does stuff like that. Sigh. I’ll try to watch my language a little bit better. I’m certainly not a language prude, but I have been trying to cut down on the profan ity a little bit.

So, let me get back to where I was before I resorted back to Angry Rusty.

Now having Drake as a perpetual prisoner under my control, where I could yank his chain (literally--since I put the ring on a chain and wear it around my neck) whenever I chose to certainly has its advantages. But things are a little more complicated in that the bastard (oops-sorry), er rather, Drake keeps telling me things about what he did in the past that I don’t how much I can trust the truth of.

If even half of what he has been telling me is true, Dracaar is far too dangerous to leave to his own devices, not only because he possesses the powers of a virtual demi-god, but because Drake claims to have trapped over a dozen others such entities over the milennia of his existence. AND, Drake keeps pointing out, Dracaar is likely going to set about freeing the rest of his kindred souls from their various prisons.

Of course, Drake never offers up information for free. Even as he does his level best to convince me that Drakaar is a first class threat to all of humanity, he refuses to give me the solid information that would allow me to verify even a single one of his claims of gloom and doom unless I do certain things for him.

So, what does Drake want me to do?

Stay tuned...

It was the best of times...

Despite the looming uncertainties about what exactly Draakar was, and what he intended to do with Drake’s body, the first few months after Drake’s defeat were great.

Zenny Al Farhan, Naomi and Alexa all returned with Ravyn to the Phoenix Coop, where both Zenny and Naomi began their first lessons in becoming full-fledged Casters in their own right.

Alexa was quickly adopted by all of the other residents of the co-op and named ‘Princess of the Coop’. She essentially had the run of the place, even Ravyn deferred to the Princess, especially when she flashed that toothless smile of hers.

Ravyn did manage to put both Zenny and Naomi to work in running the Coop itself, allowing her to spend more time instructing and playing with Alexa than she had before. She had also ‘convinced’ the Professor that all of her new students should receive scholarships, sponsored by the ORC, Inc. treasury.

The Professor continued his research and studies, both of the data taken from Bernstein’s computer files, and of the portion of stolen VortiCorp files that we had recovered in Miami when we broke up Drake’s organization.

Cerrydwen and the Frau returned to their secretive ways, although they too made frequent visits to the Coop to check in on the Princess and the rest of the crew there.

Herne and Moira returned to their Colorado home, although they were beginning to make grumbling noises about moving to somewhere more ‘natural.’ Herne kept hinting that Alaska was his choice destination for early retirement. Somehow, the thought of him loose in the primeval forests of Alaska seemed just about right.

I had to return to work, pulling several small, but still significant assignments over the months that all involved travel to some extent. The Bureau was learning to appreciate the value of an agent that didn’t need sleep or food, and who they didn’t have to worry about getting hurt. Some of the cases that I was involved with were interesting enough to write about, but I felt that owed you, my gentle readers the full effort of getting the main story of Drake’s downfall down. I will write about some of these cases as time permits, but I will not let them get in the way of any of the more important stories that I have to tell.

I did find time to return on an almost weekly basis to visit the Coop to check in on Jasmine (my oldest daughter-who was also studying under Ravyn) and Alexa. I also made some time to take Kenny to a few Detroit Tigers baseball games this summer, it was nice to bond with my son while watching the first winning Tigers team in his living memory.

There were two unresolved issues that took some dealing with during the last few months.

The first of these issues, was the new sword that I now had the burden of carrying. Excalibur was a blade of legendary powers, but it had a stubborn streak that was as wide as it’s reputation was large. The blade simply wouldn’t allow me leave it anywhere I chose to, it wanted to be borne as the legendary weapon it knew that it was. The problem with carrying such a weapon around, of course, was that I was already conspicuous enough as a walking corpse. Add three feet of gleaming, sharp steel, and you have one truly noticeable oddity.

The solution to this dilemma was provided by the Merlin. After a couple of weeks of tinkering, he was able to devise a special sheath that actually shifted the blade into the Shadowland, yet still allow me to carry it around. Thus the blade was always handy, in both the Shadow and in the physical world, should I need to to retrieve it.

The second issue would not be so easily resolved. That will be the subject of next couple of posts...

The Bernstein Tribunal...Part 2

With very little ceremony, the Merlin wandered over to his throne and sat down, motioning for the slight figure of Zenny Al Farhan to sit to his right.

She complied, although with far less enthusiasm than the Merlin showed, keeping her eyes cast downwards, her mouth set in a tight, thin line.

The Merlin looked up from her as she settled into her chair, his eyes boring into the confused face of Daniel Bernstein. “You sir, are to sit here at my left, as the accused in these proceedings.”

Daniel looked shaken, no one had bothered to explain what was going on to him. “What am I accused of? I don’t remember anything, I’ve been told my memories have been stolen, so how can I answer any charges brought up against me?”

“All good points, son, points that will be raised in your defense, I am quite sure. But before that can happen, you will have to take your seat so that I can open this Tribunal.”

“Tribunal? I’ve never heard about those in school! This doesn’t look like any courtroom I’ve seen on TV. I don’t like the looks of this.” He turned around and looked at me, bewildered. “Mr. Bones, sir, I really want to go back home now. I”ve got a lot of work to do back at the co-op.”

I turned him around, perhaps a little forcefully and shoved him n the direction of the chair. “This is more important than any of that work. Take your seat.”

He stumbled forward as I shoved him, but soon came to stop and looked askance at Ravyn. “Ms. Fyre, can’t I go back home now? I don’t want to do this! I know you’ve told me I did some terrible things, and I’m sorry, I truly am! But I am a different person now. I wouldn’t hurt anybody! Please!?!”

Ravyn’s face tightened. She looked straight at Daniel and replied, “Daniel, this is important. We can’t go back until this is done, so go sit down.”

Cerrydwen’s face was even darker than usual as she watched this exchange. She started moving towards Daniel. “I recommend that you take this opportunity, Bernstein. It is more than I would offer the likes of you.”

Daniel shrank back from Cerrydwen’s dark visage, fear expanding his eyes beyond their normal limits. “Please, Ms. Cerrydwen, I didn’t mean to upset you!”

Apparently fearing what she would do, the Professor stepped forward quickly between Cerrydwen and Daniel and grabbed his shoulder. He began guiding the trembling man to the chair.

Daniel was verging on tears as Jim escorted him past Mrs. Al Farhan towards his own seat on the other side of the Merlin.

Everything stopped and each of us fell silent when one quiet word passed frm the lips of the woman who had been most victimized by Daniel.

“Stop.”

All eyes, including Daniel’s, shifted to her.

She got up from her seat with a grim, determined look about her as she came to stand directly in front of Daniel. Despite his being about a foot taller and far heavier than she was, he seemed to shrink back from this small, pained looking woman.

Jim held him firmly in place as she moved even closer, one trembling, bare hand moving up towards his face.

Both of them visibly flinched as her hand came into contact with the side of his face.

The silence was near total as we all watched this take place.

Her eyes were closed in hard concentration. The strain of whatever was taking place between the two of them was obviously taking its toll on her as her face became first a mask of barely controlled rage, then shifted to an expression of pure pain, and then finally settled into a look of deep sorrow and sadness.

His eyes had closed shortly after she had touched him, but opened shortly afterwards in what can only be described as unseeing shock. His mouth fell open and he began gasping and gulping for air simultaneously.

Jim, looking rather unsure of himself and more than a little uncomfortable about how the situation had developed, simply stood there, keeping Daniel upright as whatever was passing between victim and perpetrator ran its course.

Just as Zenny's expression began to show sadness, Daniel jerked back violently, howling in pain and despair. He moved with such strength and speed that even Jim couldn’t keep hold of him any longer as Daniel lunged away, collapsed on the ground and began retching. By the third time through, he was wracked with convulsions of the dry heaves. He curled up in a fetal position, covered in his own vomit and wailed wordlessly.

Zenny, in the meantime, had collapsed down to her knees, her eyes still closed, her breath coming in ragged bursts as she did so.

Ravyn, Cerrydwen and the Frau all began moving forward simultaneously to help the seemingly frail woman. But before any of them could reach her, she had collected herself, opened her eyes, and stood back up.

She reached up with the hand that she used to touch Daniel and in one violent gesture, removed her hijab, revealing her long, raven black hair and fully showing her almond shaped eyes and tan complexion.

The Merlin cackled from his throne. “See, I knew you had it in you, child. Oh, but you’ll be a damn fine Caster!”

Daniel’s sobs were beginning to subside, but he showed no indication of being able to get up anytime soon.

I stepped forward. “What did you do to him?”

She looked back at me with an air of defiance. “I simply shared with him what it felt like to be victimized. He now knows what I went through, the pain and shame that I felt, the losses I have endured because of him, and despair that I felt when my world was destroyed a second time by his hired killers and thugs.”

Cerrydwen nodded her agreement. “Well done. I couldn’t have done it better myself.”

Ravyn seconded that feeling. “You go girl. That’ll teach him.”

The Frau also added her own observation. “It’s too bad every rapist and murderer can’t receive the same treatment, then such crimes would surely subside.”

I looked up from the still convulsing body of Daniel up to Jim. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I guess this part of the Tribunal is over. But what do we do with him now?”

We all looked back and forth to each other, then back to Zenny, who now had a peaceful aura for the first time since I had met her. She looked back at us and shrugged her shoulders. “I have no further business with this man. His fate is his own, as far as I am concerned. I will not have anything further to do with him.” With that, she turned and walked away, passing through the ivy covered passageway before anyone could say anything to her.

Jim sighed. “Well, we still have to decide what to do with the man. Can we really set him free without his memories or any resources to make a life for himself? On the other hand, what authority do we have to do anything else with him?”

The Merlin, still cackling to himself, spoke up. “Leave him here with me. I could use a helper here in my gardens. I will also help him to heal from his own traumas and put his mind to its proper use again. He will be no further danger to any of you or the ones you love, that I can guarantee. It is time for Zenni to move on anyway. She is ready to take the next path in her own journeys.”

No one could find any objection with his suggestion, so it was decided to leave the nearly unconscious man where he was.

As we were preparing to leave, Mrs. Al Farhan returned to join us. She was no longer wearing the dark abaya and hijab, but was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, her long dark hair was pulled back into a pony tail. She was carrying a stuffed orange backpack. Her hands were bare.

As she noted our puzzled looks, she smiled softly. “I am leaving that old world behind me. Please call me Zenny from now on.” She looked directly up at me. “Rusty, you are no Shaitan, but for that I am grateful. The Merlin has told me much about you and your group. Do any of you mind if I join with you for now? I have so much to learn, I want to help in any way that I can.”

The Frau was the first to speak up. “Of course my dear, we’d be glad to have you.” With that she swept up the smaller woman in a fierce bear hug. “Besides, it mught just be that we are all one big family!”

A chorus of agreement was heard from everyone as they all welcomed her into our group.

The journey back to Ravyn’s co-op was quiet and quick, ending with all of those who went, except Zenni was with us and Daniel was not.

As soon as the transit was completed, the gals all erupted in conversation about seemingly a dozen subjects all at once.

Jim and I stood off to one side.

I looked at him and shook my head. “Hard to believe all of this can happen in such a short time.”

He nodded. “Yup, about as likely as the Tiger’s turning things around next season and becoming the best team in all of baseball. Pretty damn unlikely.”

The Bernstein Tribunal...Part 1

After a few days of intense deliberations, debate and arguments, it was finally agreed that Daniel Bernstein would receive the benefit of a trial...of sorts.

Not sure of wher to hold our little affair, I reached out to the Merlin, who agreed to host the event and to serve as the judge for the event. By the following week, we made the journey to the Merlin’s home using the circle of standing stones at Ravyn chapterhouse as our jump off point.

We were a motley assortment, as usual. Ravyn demanded to come, since she had had to house and care for the currnet, injured version of Daniel Bernstein. Cerrydwen demanded the role of the prosecutor. The Professor had volunteered for the role of Bernstein’s defense attorney. I had to go, since I possessed all of Daniel’s memories of the incident, as well as his warped mental justifications for his actions at the time. The Frau muscled her way into the proceedings, pretty much on the basis of being the ‘court recorder’, but it was obvious that she was going to attend in any event, whether there was a role for her or not. Last, but certainly not least, was Daniel himself, who was pretty well healed from his broken jaw by now, but was still pretty dazed and confused about his whole situation.

When we arrived, we found ourselves in a smaller side cavern of the Merlin’s home. This one was about the size of large, two story home. The walls of this fantastic place were lined with glowing crystals and multi-colored veins of various precious metals when they weren’t covered in soft, green vines of ivy.

The floor of this cavern was lined with soft sand that easily deep enough to bury a body in, but was anchored by the numerous small shrubs and berry bushes the grew at almost random throughout the room. In the centor of the room, a large, makeshift court room was dominating everything else.

A massive stone throne that seemed to have erupted from the floor of the cavern was clearly the judge’s seat. On either side of that throne were smaller, far less ornate chairs, which were, as we later learned designated for Bernstein and for Mrs. Al Farhan--who had been recperating with the Merlin during this time.

Arrayed in from of these three chairs were a series of stone benches that provided more than enough seating space for the rest of us. There were no tables.

Moments after our arrival, as we were still standing in a rough circle admiring this magickal place, two figures entered the cavern from a side passage that had been obscured by the hanging ivy. First came the Merlin, shrouded as always in his dirty white robes and long, tangled mess of a beard. His equally long and messy hair was only partially contained by the worn looking baseball cap with the logo of the Washington Wizards on it.

Right behind the Melin was the even smaller and slighter figure of Zenny Al Farhan. She was shrouded in a dark robe called an abaya, while her downcast head was covered in a black hijab.

“Ah, yes.” Exclaimed the Merlin. “It’s time to begin our Tribunal. If you will all take your places, we can begin without further ado.”

(To be continued and resolved in a post later tonight.)

Author's Note: Finale Details and Other Notes

Just a quick note.

Next post(s) will be made on July 2, 2006--it (or they) will wrap up the storyline to date and set the stage for the new storyline to begin in September.

Reminder: After this finale next Sunday, there will be weekly posts that will preview the upcoming book, which I will be completing by the end of August--if all goes as planned.

Thanks yet again for all of the readership and support. I am looking forward to finishing up this first book of the Rusty Bones series. I am also looking forward to many, many more and to continuing to use this blog as Rusty's place to blog about his (un)life.

--Doug

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.”

Wrapping Up...Part 2

I told the story of Drake’s fall and the ring that he virtually dropped into my hand with little emotion. That style became impossible, however, when I came to describing the Lady and her domain as I saw and all of the events that arose from my meeting with her.

Looking up from the floor as I finished describing the choice that was given to me, I noticed that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I quickly moved on to the release of Diego and the discovery of the strange new sword on the table. I finished by pulling the wrapped blade from my shoulder and drawing it out for everyone to see and touch as i passed it around for them to feel for themselves.

After everyone had marvelled at how plain Excalibur seemed at first glance, but how right it felt to the touch, I wrapped the blade back up and slung it over my back again. As long as that blade was out in the open though, no one could focus on anything else. Once it was put away, it was a like a spell had been broken, allowing us to move on.

Jim cleared his throat, sat forward and began speaking. “Well, I can cofirm some things from Daniel Bernstein’s lab. He did have boatloads of genetic data, including what appears to be a full work up on Drake’s DNA, and it does appear that Drake had engaged in some form of ‘seeding’ program, something that began several centuries back, but appears to have ended maybe 30-40 years ago. Dr. Bernstein appears to have collected some genetic samples of many in this room, apparently when we were held captive in Las Vegas for that brief period of time, but that he never had the opportunity to analyze that information.

“So it’s possible,” he continued, “that some of us here are descendants of Drake to some degree or another, but the data hasn’t been analyzed. Now that Drake is no longer with us, in the flesh anyway, I’m not sure whether it is very important to anyone here to know if he is in fact a relative of yours. I have been able to figure out how to run the machinery, so I can complete those tests if you would like, but I can also destroy the genetic samples of anyone who wants me to. I think this information belongs to each of you, so I will honor each of your requests. I will be spending another several days in his lab before I finish my work there and strip all of the data cards and hard drives from the computers there. By the time I am finished, that lab will be useless to anyone who follows, but we’ll have a library of genetic data to analyze for the ORC’s-although we’ll need to make sure to safeguard that information well.”

With that, Jim sat back, took a swig from his ever-present two liter of Diet Pepsi and waited for the answers from everyone present.

Ravyn was the first to reply. “I for one, don’t need to know if I am related to that...creature. I know my lineage quite well, thank you very much. I want my genetic samples back ASAP.”

Jim nodded in assent to her request.

Moira spoke up next. “I’m with Ravyn, although I’ll trust you to destroy my sample, Jim.”

The Frau cleared her throat and tapped the floor with her cane. “I’m pretty curious. I’d like you to run my sample if you would, Jim dear.”

Cerrydwen added, “Me too.”

Jim noted their requests with a nod, took another swig.

Everyone’s eyes drifted back to me. I shifted, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Hey, I’ve got nothing to hide, run my stuff too.”

Naomi, looking up from the smiling face of her daughter added in her surprsing comment. “Hey, don’t forget about me. If you’ve got a sample from me, run that too. If you need a sample, let me know, I’ll give you one. I’ve heard some stories from my mama about some shady ancestors. I want to know too.”

“Very well then, this will give me some work to do when i get back there. Ravyn, when you take me back, I’ll give you your sample right then and there.”

“You better believe it, bub! If you didn’t, I’d burn that place to the ground!”

(To be continued with another post tonight...and more tomorrow.)

Wrapping Up...Part 1

The arrival back at the Professor’s home was a joyous celebration like few I’ve ever seen before. Cerrydwen had made some calls on her cell phone shortly after we had gotten back to the car, so everyone had had plenty of time to gather back there to join in the party.

Even Jim had managed to find a way back to greet us, although his truck wasn’t parked in its normal spot, indicating that Ravyn had probably helped expedite his journey back.

The reunion of Naomi with her...our...daughter Alexa was most heartwarming to witness. I would have been balling like a baby myself, had I been capable of it. Instead, I merely stood by watching as she hugged the child close. She was choking with sobs and shedding abundant tears of joy.

After carefully disengaging with Naomi, Ravyn ran to the Frau and then to Cerrydwen crushing each of them in a bear hug or her own.

Jim hung back, watching the reunions from his normally discrete but comfortable distance.

Moira and Herne came up to me, Herne asking for details about how everything happened, while Moira’s first questions were about the blade that was now wrapped and slung over over my back.

In no time at all, the gathering swept into the house and dissolved into half a dozen smaller conversations until everyone was settled back into the living room where Cerrydwen had laid out her bold plan. On some unseen and unheard cue, everyone grew quiet and still, all eyes eventually settling on a rather startled Cerrydwen.

“I see.” She said. “So I get the honor of starting things off, eh?”

When we all nodded silently, she began speaking in a low, hushed voice. She told the tale of our journey north in short, efficient sentences that provided the necessary details but left out everything that wasn’t absolutely essential. She explained how she felt that Drake had some way of tracking me and how she fully expected him to show up when we reached our destination.

She then grew even quieter as she described the Island and the events that took place there, all of the way up until Drake was defeated. She fell silent and looked to me at that point, with all of the others turning to me as well. It was my turn to describe what happened...

(Continued tomorrow...)

Heading Home

The journey back to the Professor’s home was the polar opposite of the journey northward. The sun was bright, the mood was joyful, and everyone was talkative. I heard more laughter and saw more smiles in that trip back than in my entire (un)life to date.

Something about the transition from the island to the shore really drove home the reality of the changes that had just taken place, the sheer miracle of having a young woman’s life restored against all logic.

It was a pure joy to watch Naomi take in every sight, sound and smell with a vigor and an enthusiasm that echoed my own deepest desires. The momentary pangs of wistful regrets that I felt quickly dissipated as I watched a young woman in the full flower of her youthful life, knowing that she would now have an opportunity to be a mom to her only child.

I drove again, which gave me a chance to be lost in my own thoughts and to listen in on the conversations that Cerrydwen and the Frau engaged Naomi in.

Before we’d even hit the Mackinac Bridge, they’d already drawn more information out of her about her own childhood in New Orleans and the story of her getting caught up in Drake’s breeding program.

By the time we had crossed that massive bridge, Naomi was laughing and telling stories about all of the weird things that happened throughout her life, stories that revealed that she had some sort of raw, untapped skills that might make her a powerful Caster in her own right, if she only learned how to harness them.

Cerrydwen looked back from the front passenger seat to the Frau, gave her a knowing wink, and then turned back to Naomi. “Child, what you have been describing are the hallmark signs of a true Caster maturing. We have someone who will make a fine teacher, someone who will be able to teach you to find and master all of your previously hidden talents. She also happens to be babysitting your daughter Alexa at the moment.”

The Frau piped in, “Ravyn would make an excellent instructor, and I think she’ll love the idea of a young baby around as well. She was sold on Alexa the moment she saw her.”

It was my turn to pitch in. “I agree. But I am going to have to do something with Daniel. I don’t want to leave him hanging around Naomi and the baby.”

Cerrydwen looked over at me sternly. “And just what are you planning to do with him?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure yet. But there is one more great injustice that must be addressed before I can really look to the future.”

Cerrydwen’s eyes narrowed. “The Iraqi woman?”

I nodded.

“Where is she now?”

“She is with the Merlin. I took her there to give her a chance to heal and get her bearings back, and to keep her safe from Drake.”

She nodded. “Yes, the crimes she suffered should be addressed and there is one man who must face them. I can help.”

I glanced at her briefly, before returning my eyes to the road. “How’s that?”

I felt more than I saw her dark grin. “You hold the memories of what he did to her. I am fairly certain that I can restore enough of them to him so that he will know who he was, and what crimes he committed. He doesn’t deserve to enjoy the blissful ignorance that he now enjoys.”

I shook my head. “You are one evil woman. I am glad you are on my side.”

“You should be.”

With that all too serious reminder, the conversation among the women began again as if I weren’t even there, something I rather enjoyed.

A Legendary Blade

After we disengaged, I went back to the stone table to collect my batons and to examine the extra blade that lay there.

Once the batons were securely in place in their special drop down holsters strapped on the inside of each forearm, I turned my attention to this curious, long sword.

I placed one hand on the hilt and the other on the sheath near the base of the blade. Unsure of the origin of the blade, I opened my Spirit sight to see what I could glean from that. Nothing of interest.

Shifting back to normal sight, I picked it up, still sheathed and brought the hilt close for a quick visual inspection. The hilt was long enough for two hands, but the blade was easily light enough to be wielded with one hand. The crossguard and the pommel were of plain, unadorned silvered steel, while the hilt was wrapped in plain brown leather. Nothing spectacular, but plainly meant to be a very serviceable weapon.

I then drew the blade in one smooth motion, which made a very satisfying, almost singing sound as it emerged into the light. At first the blade seemed rather plain, absent of any ornamentation or etchings, but light seemed to gather around the blade, causing it to glow slightly. The whole blade seemed to hum in my hand, like it was very glad to be free from its own prison.

In my head, I heard the familiar voice of the elven woman, her voice piercing through my very being again as it had not so long ago.

*This blade is my final gift to you. It was given to me for safekeeping by your vanquished foe, in another place, a long time ago as you mortals deem it.*

“Drake had this blade and gave it to you?”

*Yes, he was afraid of this weapon but could not destroy it, so he brought it to a place where he knew it would be kept hidden.*

“It seems familiar. I feel like I should know its name.”

*It has many names, but one more is well known than the others.*

“Excalibur...?”

*Yes, that is one of its names. It is time for this blade to be of use again, but not in the same way it did in the past. You should beware, this blade knows no equal, but it will not allow itself to shed to the blood of innocents. Any attempts to do so will be at your own peril.*

“I would never...”

*You may not intend to shed the blood of an innocent, but it will make its own judgement of your foe. You will not be warned, for this blade does not communicate with its bearer like your last weapon. This sword answers only to a Higher Power. Use it wisely, or not at all. I must take my leave.*

“Wait, what else can you tell me of this weapon?”

Silence.

I looked from the glowing blade to see the three women staring at me with varying looks of awe, consternation and amusement on their faces.

The Frau, as usual, was the first to break the uncomfortable silence, chuckling as she spoke. “It would seem, Rusty my boy, that the Lady is fond of you.”

I looked from the Frau to Cerrydwen, confused. “Wait a minute, did you hear her also as she spoke to me?”

Cerrydwen nodded.

The Frau chuckled again. “I don’t know, but if the Lady feels that you need that weapon, then I have a feeling that things are going to get pretty rough again.”

I looked at the still glowing blade in my hand. “Wow, who would have thought that Excalibur was actually real?”

Cerrydwen shook her head and replied. “Who would’ve thought that it was Drake who had taken Excalibur back to the Lady of the Lake in the first place? There are so many questions that we don’t have answers to. Let’s hope we can find the answers to some of them before its too late.”

Feeling almost sorry to have to do it, I sheathed the blade. “We should get going soon. I don’t think your Lady wants us hanging around here much longer. Naomi, can you walk?”

Nodding her head, she began to stand up with the Frau lending some assistance. “Yeah, I think so.”

Once she was up, she was able to walk on her own after a few shaky steps.

The Frau gathered up her cane, grabbed the two sticks with the cooked hare on them, muttering under her breath as she toddled off toward the beach. “Waste not, want not.”

Mission Accomplished

The Frau and Cerrdywen, now dressed and back to their normal selves in every observable way, came over to where Naomi lay next to me. In a few short, semi-coherent sentences I told the story of my meeting with the elven lady and the choice she offered me.

Cerrydwen nodded as I described her, clearly agreeing with my choice of words, but her demeanor had shifted back to her normal, dour self--few words and even fewer smiles.

The Frau sat down heavily in the soft grass and began fretting over Naomi as I spoke, only half listening to my words. She was far more interested in Naomi herself and how she seemed.

Naomi was still unconscious, but was clearly breathing. She appeared to be wholly healed of the grievous wounds that I had seen that creature inflict on her in New Orleans. Her face was small, smooth, and beautiful. She looked much as I had seen her when she had been waiting for me at the Tree.

As the Frau settled in close and began checking for less obvious injuries, Naomi began to stir. I had finished my short tale, so I got up and gave way for Cerrydwen to settle in my spot. I was pretty sure that she and the Frau would be a far gentler sight to wake-up to than I would be.

I moved away from the ladies and closer to where I had met the elven woman, over by the stone table. Everything seemed dark and still here now, especially compared with the vibrant colors and and singing faery circle of that other place. Unconsiously, one hand moved up to my inner jacket pocket, as if to assure myself that the ring containing Drake was still there. It was.

As I contemplated everything that had just happened, I noticed some things laid out on the top of the table that hadn’t been there before I had looked into the Spirit world. Our weapons, from Cerrydwen’s sheathed athame to the Frau’s cane were all laid out in a neat row on the table top. Diego was there in his sheath, as were my batons. Next to my weapons however, there was a long, narrow sheathed sword that was easily a foot longer than Diego was.

I strode over to the table and looked at the arrayed weapons. Despite my curiosity as to the new blade, my eyes kept falling on Diego. I could feel the sadness coming from him. I reached over and picked him, unsheathing the blade in one smooth motion. I let the black leather sheath fall to the ground.

I felt a surge of sadness, frustration and resignation through the hilt. He was disappointed that Drake had been killed and that he had no part in making that happen.

“Diego, I know how much you wanted to be a part of Drake’s demise, but I am not sorry that you had no part in spilling his blood. I think you have seen enough killing in your time in this world.”

In one swift move, before I had time to reconsider, I reached up with my left hand, wrapped my thick, mechanical fingers around the blade near the tip, and snapped the flat of the blade over my knee. With that blow, the last of the Witchbane Blades passed from this world.

I felt an immediate sense of relief and joy flash from the shattered blade as Diego’s spirit was finally freed to resume it’s journey through the Cosmos. I heard a soft tinkling of ghostly laughter and a softly whispered ‘Thank you, Senor Bones’ from Herlinda as she had returned to wait for her brother’s release.

An image of Diego running through the clearing, chasing after laughing faeries before landing in the arms of his sister. I could sense a feeling of strong approval from the unseen presence of the elven lady.

I felt Cerrydwen’s arm on my shoulder as she came up behind me. “You’ve done well, Rusty. The world is a safer, better place with the last of those blades now destroyed. You’ve seen a Being this night that no mortal man has ever seen before, you were the first to do. I hope you understand the significance of her choice to reveal herself to you without an intermediary.”

I nodded, looked at the broken pieces of a blade that had taken far too many innocent lives. The metal of the blade seemed to be deteriorating quickly as rust spots appeared and quickly spread. I let them fall to the ground and watched as they dissolved into two small piles of rusty dust and then blew away in the breeze in a matter of a few moments.

I looked into Cerrydwen’s eyes, noticed that there did seem to be an inner peace that may have been missing before. “I will never forget...Her. Maybe someday you can tell me more about her.”

She nodded. “Maybe.” She walked over to the table and recovered her athame without further comment, sticking the sheath back into the top of her heavy boot.

I looked over to see the Frau fussing over the now conscious and sitting Naomi, who was staring at me intently.

I walked over and knelt down in front of her. “Do you remember me?”

She kept her eyes locked onto my face, nodded, and managed to speak. “I do. She told me that you would look different than when i met you by the Tree.”

“Who told you that?”

“That Shining Lady, she had called me back from far away with her beautiful song.” Naomi shook her head, fnally glancing away before continuing. “She said that I would have an opportunity to be with my daughter again and that you had given up your life to make it happen. I didn’t understand what she had meant by that, but I think I am beginning to see what she meant.”

Somewhat self conscious of my rather frightful appearance, I looked away. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to scare you.”

She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around my neck and sobbed into my ear. “Oh no, Mr. Bones, you don’t scare me none at all. I have you to thank for saving Alexa during that storm, and now I have you to thank again for giving up something I had thought I had lost forever. I could never be afraid of you.”

A surge of emotion welled up within me, but I had no outlet for it, other than to hug her back and say, “Call me Rusty.”

The Gift

I watched as the Frau and Cerrydwen walked away together, each whispering to the other about what had just happened. That was just fine with me, as I sat there trying to take it all in myself.

I had so many questions and almost no answers.

Was Drake well and truly dead? What the Hell was Dracaar going to do now with Drake’s body? Was the cure perhaps worse than the disease?

Fingering the sealed pocket of my leather jacket, I knew the ring was in there. What the Hell happened with Drake and this ring? Was it dangerous to have? Was there some part of Drake’s essence that escaped by going into the ring?

Knowing that it would be some time before the ladies were anywhere close to ready to depart, I took the opportunity to ground myself as John Red Bear had taught me to and slipped from my body. In my Spirit form, this place, this island looked completely different. It was brimming with colors and vibrantly alive. Instead of the dull, almost lonely place that it was to my normal senses, in this view, the place was brimming with creatures of Spirit that were dancing and playing in an almost gleeful way.

The large stone table was the center of a large gathering of sprites, brownies and other faery like beings who were dancing and singing in high pitched voices. Standing in the center, near the table, was a tall woman with long, elegant limbs, flowing hair, and a thin, angular face that called to mind the word ‘elf’.

I noticed that even with all of the activity going on around her, she was standing quietly, watching me. I felt a nervous tingle as I felt compelled to move closer to her ethereal beauty.

I was so entranced by her face, particularly her eyes, that I almost didn’t notice that she was naked except for a single loin cloth, like Cerrydwen had worn at the ceremony.

As I approached the ring of dancing fey, they scattered before me with gleeful cries and chaotic laughter, going off in pairs and threes into the nearby woods. Those woods, by the way, were much more colorful and cheery looking here than they were to my normal vision.

I continued to move forward, until I found myself standing directly in front of the angelic looking elfin woman. Like an awkward, geeky boy asking the prom queen for a dance, I managed to stammer out a few halting words in greeting. “H-H-Hello, my Lady. A-A-Are you the Hostess of this place that my friend Cerrydwen spoke of?”

She nodded. She was taller than I was, causing me to look up in order to speak to her properly. Her oval shaped face was perfectly proportioned, from her high cheeks and large, tear shaped eyes to her full lips framed by a small, dainty chin and a shapely nose.

“I’m sorry that I tried to break the Peace of this place.” For some reason, I felt like I had to apologize for just about everything. Her presence was a powerful, intoxicating spell, one I could not seem to resist. I so desperately wanted to please her.

I didn’t so much ‘hear’ her response as I ‘felt’ it pass through my Spirit, each word a swirl of emotion, color, and vibrant, living energy.

*There is no need to apologize for what you are.*

I was absolutely transfixed by her words as they passed through me. I had so many questions I wanted to ask this being about what had just happened, but I was transfixed by her gaze, her energy, her presence. I had never before encountered anyone or anything as beautiful as she seemed at that moment.

*He who broke my Peace has been punished for that crime, at least.*

I finally managed to form a coherent question and utter it. “Is he, Drake, dead?”

Her head tilted back in the slightest of movements and a small, tinkling laughter escaped from her mouth, a sound that that sent shockwaves of chaotic, thrilling energy through my very being.

*In the sense that you mortals would deem it, the one you call Drake is indeed dead. His essence, his Spirit as you might say, has been imprisoned in a vessel of his own choosing, a fitting punishment for what he has done to so many others, mortal and immortal alike.*

“The ring? Is his Spirit trapped inside the ring that he gave to me?”

She nodded.

“Is there any way for him to escape? Is it dangerous to hold onto that thing?”

*His essence is bound to that ring until such time as he accepts his guilt and is truly remorseful for the crimes he has committed. Yes, there will always be danger in holding that ring, but there is perhaps even more danger in not keeping it. There is much for you to learn from this one you call Drake. You will need to learn the lessons he has to teach if you are to become that which you must become, if you are to fulfill the destiny of which you are capable.*

“What destiny is that?”

She merely smiled and laughed again, sending even more spasms of energy through me.

“If you can’t tell me that, then can you at least tell me about this Dracaar and what his intentions are?”

*You will learn more of Dracaar from within and by learning from that ring that is now yours than you will from me. I am not of that Order and have no authority to interfere in their affairs.*

“I don’t understand.”

*I cannot offer you understanding, it is not in my nature to do so. But I can offer you something else.*

“What is that?”

*Life. I can restore your body to the world of the Living, make you whole once more.*

“Y-y-you can actually do that? Make me alive again?”

*Yes.*

Everything screamed to a stop in that moment. The one thing that I had wished for more than anything else was being offered to me. To be alive again! To be able to breathe, eat, sleep, touch, smell, taste again! To be able to feel the warmth of my daughter Alexa’s breath on my cheek, to feel the touch of another human being again!

I thought long and hard about her offer. At first I couldn’t believe it could even be possible. Then I thought of everything that happened since I had died, all that I had gone through and become. Would that be lost? Would I be able to do the things that I could now? Would I be able to be there for Alexa and the others who needed me if I were mortal again?

We stood there for what seemed an eternity. She never waivered or became bored as I fought my way through the debate of whether or not I should accept this gift of Life that I had just been offered. Finally, I looked back into her eyes and asked a question.

“Can I ask for this gift to be given to someone else?”

*You can always ask. But once you ask, the request is final*

“Then I will ask if you will give life back to Naomi Jackson, Alexa’s mother. She died too soon.”

The elfin woman’s eyes filled with a sparkling energy that grew so bright as to make it impossible to look directly at her. Her words were like a tidal wave of emotional energy as they washed through and over me.

*So mote it be.*

The power of her words blasted my Spirit back into my body, hurtled my physical form onto its back. As my eyes began to adjust and I felt the connection of Spirit and body click into place, I heard, or rather felt, her voice once more, much more softly this time.

*You have taken another step forward on your journey, you have chosen well, Friend.*

I slowly sat up, tried to shake the cobwebs free and heard some surprised gasps coming from the direction in which the Frau and Cerrydwen had gone.

The Frau called out breathlessly, “Rusty, who is that next to you?”

I looked over to see the sleeping form of Naomi laying beside where I had fallen. Her face a mask of calm repose. If I could have fainted, I would have.