Within the Cards (24 page)

Elizabeth wasn’t gone for long. When she returned from her quest, she wasn’t alone. She returned with other witches and wizards. They agreed to help with this battle. They still held their hatred toward the leaders of the witchyres for their past indiscretions, and they would enjoy assisting us in our fight against the Lords. Elizabeth read the feelings and thoughts of the three of us.

“Dee, you must make your own choice, but you can't gamble the fate of your sister.” She explained. “She’s not yours to gamble. You can offer a truce to Suzi, but the conditions she holds will not happen unless this is what Ellie wants.” Elizabeth’s tone was forceful. Her voice stayed calm, but she was convincing. Dee relaxed her body and lowered her head.

“Dee, I love you and I know you’re weak when it comes to standing against Suzi, but I will not lose Daught again. I will not lose our grandmother either.” Ellie took her stand. I released my grip on Ellie. She stood in front of me without moving.

“You don’t understand. They will abolish us.” Dee told her. I could hear the fear in Dee’s voice. It was shaking.

“If that’s the end then I welcome it. I will not live an existence of becoming a slave to the Lords. I would rather not exist at all. I will not exist without Daught.” Ellie demanded. She turned to me and put her arms around my waist. “I love him, and I will defend him. That means against you if I have too.”

“Is this your final decision?” Dee asked. She looked at me as if I would change Ellie’s mind. I glared back at her. I would never agree to Ellie being someone’s slave.

“Yes,” Ellie was sure with her words. She stared in Dee’s eyes for several minutes. Dee held her glare. Ellie then broke her thoughts and turned to me. She looked at me and smiled.

“I love you Daught, and I will not exist without you.” Her words were full of love and conviction. I held her against my body as I continued to look at Dee. I saw her thoughts and fears. I almost felt sorry for her.

“Dee, are you with us or not.” Elizabeth’s tone was caring, but precise. Dee bowed her head and sent the answer that Suzi waited on. Suzi and the Lords spat upon her rejection of their treaty. Suzi’s last thoughts were that we had signed the contract of our impending doom.

Ellie put her arms around Dee and told her she forgave her weakness. Elizabeth introduced the witches that had arrived with her. They were welcoming to Ellie and me, but they were weary of Dee. They saw her weakness as a potential downfall. Once more, the plans were in progress. We went back to the village where again Ellie waved her hand and settled the villagers down from the arrival of the witches and wizards. The witches and wizards saw the power Ellie had, and this pleased them.

Elizabeth took control. She was the elder of the group, and she knew how to prepare for the witchyres arrival. She had come upon their wrath before, but she was on the losing end. They abolished her with Ultress. This time she vowed the outcome would be different. She would save her grandchildren from the very ones she gave life too. The Lords were the three sons she nurtured as babies, but they imprisoned their clan with no value to family and love.

As night fell, the witches looked for the time Suzi and the Lords would arrive. They searched the heavens for an answer to the beginning of this Armageddon. I spend my time with Ellie. We walked along the shore holding hands and talking.

“Daught, if we don’t win this war please know that before they make me end your existence, I have made plans to follow you soon after.” She sadly explained as she held me tight. I couldn’t stand to hear the doubt in her voice. This was the first time I missed the new Ellie. She didn’t fear anything.

“I know this is hard on you Ellie, but it will not come to this. We will stop the Lords and your defiant sister.” I promised. I squeezed her in my arms, and she returned the embraces.

“I’ll stand with you and fight as long as I can.” She told me. I felt the vibration of her voice in my chest. “But if we fall please try to get away and hid from me. I don’t know what powers they hold. I fear they will change my thinking, and I will be one of them forever. If I fail to stay with you, and you can get away please know above all else I love you and our time together has made me happier than I have ever been.” She contested her fears.

“Ellie, we’ll win. The Lords push their values on the rest of your kind. They’re only as powerful as you allow them to be. We can and we will defeat them. I love you, but I will not stand to hear you doubt your strength.” My voice was angered, but gentle with Ellie. I didn’t want to hear the doubt in her voice. I began to get upset that Dee had started this nonsense.

“I know you love me Daught, and I’ll stand with you proudly and fight my family for your existence. You’re my product of love. You’re what I stand for.” She held my hands and kissed my lips.

We made love again for several hours. It was blissful, sweet and passionate love. When we returned from the shoreline, I saw the witches encircling a fire. Ellie read my thoughts. She knew what they were doing. She explained the witches were raising a shield of protection around the village. They hadn’t found the time of the attack so they were protecting us from a surprise in the night. Once the shield was up we couldn’t leave the village or we would be unprotected. We looked on as the witches performed their ritual. Elizabeth joined in with the witches. She was the most powerful and could make the shield strong and unbreakable.

That night as Ellie and I settled into one of the huts that the villagers built Dee came to us.

“I will stand with you and fight with you because you are the only family I have left.” She told us. She held her head down. I felt the sorrow in her speech. Dee was confused about herself. She was under the witchyre rule for so long that she didn’t understand freedom.

“Don’t attempt to protect me and risk either of yourselves. Protect each other because you’re our future. You hold the key. Remember these words. When the time comes, I will sacrifice myself to bring Suzi down. She’ll come after you and me, Ellie. You must stay close to Daught and let him protect you. The two of you have the power to defeat the others. I’ll defeat Suzi or bring her down with me. You must promise me you will remember my words.” She begged. Ellie let go of me and walked over to Dee.

“Dee, stand with us. We’ll protect each other.” Ellie pleaded with her. She wrapped her arms around Dee.

“I must stand with Elizabeth. She needs my help. Daught will protect you.” She explained. Dee looked in my direction, but this time it wasn’t full of hatred.

By the end of Dee’s request, the witches and Elizabeth completed the ritual. We were shielded from anything that crepe in the night. Nothing could penetrate the impermeable shell around us, but we couldn’t leave or our fates would be our own.

Dee left the hut. As Ellie lay next to me, she worried about Dee. Her head rested on my chest, and I gently rubbed my fingers through her hair. I felt Ellie’s thoughts change as Elizabeth summonsed her. She had to go.

While Ellie was gone to see her grandmother, I walked outside to breathe in the thick air of the jungle. The night felt non-ending. The moon shined its brilliant light and illuminated the thick jungle. The sun was hiding from the unknown of war looming in the near distance. There were so many thoughts going on in the village. My mind raced to find Ellie's thoughts. She had gone to find her grandmother and was discussing some plan with her. I wasn’t able to hear her thoughts. She had put up a block to keep out intruders. Only they knew their secret. This upset Dee. She didn't like them keeping their plans from her.

Ellie found me by the shore after her meeting with her Elizabeth. I read the altercation between her and Dee as she approached me. Dee questioned Ellie as to her distrust of her. Ellie tried to explain she did trust her, but this was something their grandmother had asked only to Ellie. She couldn’t go back on her word to keep Elizabeth’s request a secret. When Ellie refused to reveal her secret to Dee, she spat several obscenities at Ellie and turned off her thoughts. Ellie was getting tired of Dee's bipolar mood swings. Ellie and I retired to our hut to enjoy the rest of the night.

“Ellie is there something you are keeping from me?” I asked. I looked at her trying to read her thoughts, but she was blocking me from them. I knew Ellie was up to something, but I trusted her.

“Daught please, don’t ask me to divulge my promise to my grandmother.” She begged me. Her eyes pleaded with me. She needed me to trust her decision. I had no choice, but to respect the privacy she had developed with her grandmother. Besides, she would eventually tell me. Ellie had never been able to keep anything from me.

“Just please promise me you’ll not put yourself at risk.” I added.

“I promise I’ll not leave your side once the battle begins.” She meant her words. I kissed her lips and tasted the sweetness I longed for. She was my maker, and I was in love everlasting with her. I trusted her unconditionally. However, I did give Dee one last warning. I wouldn’t live without Ellie, and I would fight for her even if it was against Dee.

Chapter Twenty-one

A TALK WITH ELIZABETH

Most of our daylight hours were spent planning for the attack. When nightfall came, Ellie and I spent time relaxing in our hut. Elizabeth came and requested to speak with me alone. Ellie didn’t act surprised although she wasn’t sure of her intentions. She respected her grandmother’s request and decided to go find Dee to see if they could put their argument behind them.

Ellie told me she would go and see how Dee was doing with everything that was going on. As I watched her leave the room, she held a grace about her that held every aspect of my thoughts. I didn’t want to take my eyes off her, but I could not disrespect Elizabeth. Ellie was a product of her making. Therefore, so was I.

Elizabeth sat in a chair the villagers constructed. They adapted well to their surroundings. Before they fled the lairs of their witchyre leaders they lived in luxurious surroundings, but they didn’t want to live as slaves any longer. The jungle was where they wanted to be, and where they would be protected. The vast jungles were abundant with all the resources they needed, but one must be able to survive through its challenges. They called themselves a tribe because they released the qualities of a witchyre clan. They were witchyres with mystical abilities, but they didn’t answer to the laws of the Lords.

For years, the witchyre leaders left them to survive on their own. The thoughts of them pushed to the back of their minds because they were no threat to them. This changed in the last week. They had drawn a line in the sand with the Lords and claimed their side of this impending war. With them allowing us refuge in their village, they marked themselves as enemies.

Elizabeth smiled at me with the same smile Ellie gave me. She was as beautiful as Ellie. The years of abolishment hadn’t tainted her youthful looks. She was a breathtaking image of the exact resemblance of Ellie. They were a copy of each other. Ellie had a more modern appearance and Elizabeth maintained the look of a time that stood still dating back to her annihilation. Their only difference was the eyes that Ellie held: the crystal gray eyes. Elizabeth’s eyes were blue not the clear gray of Ellie’s.

“Daught, what do you know about your making?” She asked. Her eyes told me she knew more about my powers than I did, but I told her what I knew.

“I know Ellie drank my blood, but before she drained me completely, she opened her wrist so I could drink her venom. This removed my mortal life and replaced it with my immortality.” I told her. I looked at her with question as I continued to reenact my making. I had no idea where she was going with her questioning. Nevertheless, I respected her and tried to answer her.

“Why do you ask so much about my transformation?” I inquired. She pulled her chair closer to me and touched my hand.

“Your making was a first for the witchyres.” She stated. “You’re different from any other race of immortals. We know little about your abilities, but I feel you have greater ones than even you have invited.”

“I can read the minds of others, and I can see things without turning to look, but that’s about it.” I told her. She looked at me and I could see the questions in her eyes. She knew there was more about my abilities than I had not uncovered.

“You have never realized you know things that are going to happen before they do, or that sometimes you can will things to come to you, and they appear?” She asked. She looked deep into my eyes as if she were looking into a soul that wasn’t there.

I thought deeply in my past and remembered such instances where this was true but at the time, I left it to chance. I hadn’t tried to make things materialize. My existence was a dull being prior to my finding Ellie again. I didn’t attempt to feel or project my abilities. I enabled myself to block out the thoughts of others before Ellie arrived in my life again.

“I think I know what you’re talking about.” I told her. I stood up and walked around the room.

“Daught, try to think of something and see if it appears.” She instructed me. I continued to pace. I shuffled through my mind and looked for something I wanted to see.

“Think Daught, think hard.” She commanded. Elizabeth’s tone was soft, but firm. She roared with confidence. I was glad she conveyed confidence in me because I was hesitant.

I thought for a few minutes and then remembered the ring. With every bit of concentration, I thought of the ring that I gave Ellie. Her family removed it from her after they took her from me. I thought hard of what the large diamond looked like. It sat encased in a band of gold with stones of crimson rubies that circled around and hugged the brilliant diamond stone that sat in the center.

All of a sudden, I felt something in my hand. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Before me laid the beautiful ring, the ring I placed on Ellie’s hand over one hundred years ago. I had given the ring to Ellie on the day we promised our love to each other. With my other hand, I picked it up. It sparkled as if it was new, but it wasn’t new. I saw the inscription I placed in the ring.