Isolation Page 6

“I don’t think so,” he said, shaking his head. “I am pretty sure that was a one-time reaction. It might have been your powers coming together. Perhaps they recognized each other, or they blended, or something. But I don’t think it will happen again. What did you notice before the explosion?”

  I explained everything from the moment of first contact. I described the strange sensations and the images flooding my brain. What felt like an eternity had probably only been seconds, but they were the longest, most painful seconds of my entire life. My first day meeting my mother, and I was terrified that I had killed her, or at the very least, done something unforgivable and horrible.

  “I don’t understand. Why am I awake but she’s still lying there?” I had never felt more helpless and useless as I did in that moment. I desperately needed to help her, and I had not the slightest idea how.

  “We need to get her at least on the couch, if not into the bedroom and onto a bed,” Xavier insisted. “We aren’t doing her any favors by leaving her crumpled on the floor that way. Everleigh, move it!”

  Hands shaking, I reached out and gently touched her with a single finger. When I didn’t get any crazy reaction, I laid my hand on her arm, and shook her gently. Since I got no response, I maneuvered myself around to get my arms under her armpits and lift her onto the couch, which Xavier had pushed as close as possible.

  I situated her as best I could, and then we pushed the couch in front of the fireplace where it belonged. The fire, which had been burning fairly low, sprung up, and the flames gave extra warmth to the room almost immediately.

  I shook her gently, calling her name a few more times. Xavier dragged over a blanket I covered her with, and he said he had been trying to reach her as well, but it seemed as if nobody was home. The lights were dark, so to speak.

  Since neither of us knew what to do in this situation, we decided to just keep an eye on her and try rousing her at regular intervals. Xavier explained that sometimes when there is a great magical event the body involved needs time to reset itself and stabilize. Whatever had connected between the two of us had really rocked our worlds, both literally and figuratively.

  “What if that draws some unwanted attention?” I asked him, cringing a little. We’d been so careful to keep me hidden, and then let off the equivalent of a magical bomb. It could act as a beacon to anybody around who had reason to be suspicious.

  “Let’s just wait till your mother wakes, and we can worry about it then. The cabin security is still fully functional, and we will be safe inside no matter what appears out there. If, for some reason, something does show up we just need to keep you out of sight, so stay inside.

  “The cabin has changed the windows to opaque, and while we can see out, nobody can see in. Even with magic. The defenses here have never been breached. I don’t think today will be the day that changes.”

  Somewhat mollified that we wouldn’t all be killed thanks to whatever the hell I had done, I managed to rein in some of my fears and relax.

  Xavier suggested I shower again to get all the remnants of the explosion washed away while he cleaned the kitchen. Only agreeing because he promised not to take his eyes off her, I relented and headed to the bathroom.

  I stripped down and stood in front of the mirror, shocked. My normally dark copper-brown hair had streaks of teal and silver in a number of different places. Even stranger, right where the medallion necklace lay between my breasts an imprint of it had appeared. Not quite a scar, but certainly not a tattoo either, and I didn’t know what to make of it. The only actual tattoo I had was a small hummingbird on my right upper thigh, which I immediately checked on, pleased to see it had remained exactly as it had been the last time I saw it.

  I rubbed at the medallion imprint, curious. There was no pain, but it certainly looked like it would be permanent. Add that one thing to the ever-growing list of things to ask my mother when she woke, if she ever did. In spite of Xavier’s reassurance she would be fine after giving her body some time, I was petrified that what I had done would have lasting, irreparable consequences.

  Xavier seemed to be unconcerned with my changes that I brought up as I exited the bathroom. He explained that potent magic could alter physical appearance rather decidedly if the body accepted the changes and sometimes even without.

  “Besides,” he quipped, “it looks excellent on you. It no doubt suits you.”

  The compliment brought a smile to my face, in spite of our current situation, and I had to admit, the hair color was fabulous. I had always wanted to dye my hair but been too afraid to take the plunge and possibly screw it up big time. Even worse would have been to pay an arm and a leg for someone else to do it, only to end up hating it. I would take this as a sign that this was supposed to be “me” and enjoy it.

  Letting Xavier know I was going back to ask for Celeste's advice on waking my mom, I made him promise to yell for me if she started coming around. Leaving the study door slightly ajar, I set about finding a way to get my mom conscious again.

  “Hey, Celeste, did you hear our disturbance back here?” I waited patiently for her to answer and wasn’t disappointed.

  “Yes. For a moment, I thought the whole mountain was shaking. What happened?”

  I gave her the Reader's Digest condensed version and ended with asking for her help in waking my mother.

  After some brief rattling of the bottles on a middle shelf, a small green bottle moved to the forefront. I picked it up, and tilted itside to side, inspecting the viscous liquid inside.

  “These are the magical equivalent of smelling salts. Your mother has a scribe's natural ability to heal herself quickly, so she should be ready to wake soon. Visualize her tapestry and be sure there are no gaping holes. If there are any tears at all, they should be repairing themselves fairly rapidly. Once they have all filled in, remove the stopper and wave the bottle under her nose. The smell should bring her around.”

  “Thank you. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate all the help you have given me so far.”

  In the living room, I pulled one of the arm chairs close to the couch to sit next to Mom and took a moment to study her features. I'd spent years imagining what she might look like as I grew up, but even after seeing her in the memory Xavier shared with me, it astounded me how similar we looked.

  Reaching out, I took her hand so the physical contact could help me visualize her tapestry easier. I noticed then how similar our hands were. The same slender fingers and long nail beds rested side by side.

  Closing my eyes once more, I reached out for her tapestry. Again, the beauty of it astounded me. Before this moment, I hadn't known so many shades of purple existed in the world. She had all of the other colors woven throughout, but purple was her dominating undertone. As with my own, some of the strands were shiny, some matte. I could see deep, vibrant threads, and opaque ones as well.

  I located two small rents in the construction of the weave, which, as Celeste said, were repairing themselves as I watched. Right before my eyes, the threads lengthened and rewove themselves to reconstruct the fabric of her soul. I kept watch until they closed completely.

  Upon opening my eyes again, I felt the wetness of tears on my cheeks. I was so grateful she was healing herself from whatever damaged had been caused when we touched. I didn't think I could ever forgive myself if I had caused irreparable damage.

  “Xavier, I am going to try and wake her now. Celeste gave me these smelling salts, or something like them, and told me to use them when the holes in her tapestry were completely repaired. Which they are.”

  He padded over to sit next to the couch, waiting expectantly. Leaning over her still form, I removed the cap and waved the bottle back and forth a few times directly under her nostrils. She groaned and turned her head slightly away from me. Her first movement since we moved her to the couch, and it made me ecstatic.

  I waited a few moments, but no other response came, so I gave it a second try. This time, along with a small groan, her eyelids fluttere
d. She blinked rapidly, and then slowly focused her eyes on my face.

  “Everleigh? Is it really you? What happened?” She sat up rather carefully and wrapped her arms around me in the biggest hug I had ever received. Both of us had tears streaming down our faces. I could find no words at this point, but I had the feeling that right here, right now, the one person in the world to truly understand me was holding me tightly. At that moment, I felt no rush to leave my mother's arms.

  When we finally disentangled, she grabbed my face, holding me gently, and just stared into my eyes. “I cannot believe we are finally together again. I have waited for this day your entire life.”

  “Me too, Mom, me too. I always wondered if you were still out there somewhere, if I would find you one day. Of course, even in all my wildest dreams, I never imagined that this would be the way it played out!” I giggled a little at the irony of it. Kids could have some crazy thoughts and wild dreams. It seemed a little ironic that reality happened to be the crazy one in this case.

  “I know you probably have a million and one questions—” she began.

  “Mom, wait. That is true, and we will get to them, but we need to take care of you first. Are you hungry, thirsty, need some Tylenol?”

  I heard Xavier chuffing in my head and looked his way. “What?”

  He padded over to us and leaned against my mom’s side. She gave him a huge hug and let him know how much she had missed him too. “I can heal myself, Everleigh, as my body rests. I actually feel as good as new, aside from not remembering anything after walking up to you.

  “You should be gaining the same ability as your powers begin to manifest themselves. Now that we are together, things will probably hurry themselves along. Let’s make something to eat, and we can catch each other up while we cook.”

  Chapter Eight

  We sat down to our first meal together, and it surprised me how natural it felt, considering one of our “family” members happened to be a very large cat. During the meal, my mother offered her theory on why we had basically exploded when we touched.

  “Until the two of us, mothers and daughters always stayed together. As the daughters were raised, their mothers frequently held and touched them. This allowed the transference of power that happens between each generation to continually adjust itself. Each contact allowed the siphoning of energy so that it did not end up one giant ball of power. Because we’d had no contact for twenty years, the build-up of power in each of us that was meant to be transferred a little at a time became a ticking time bomb. As soon as we touched and that power realized where it should’ve been all this time, it went rushing out in a giant wave. Those two waves of power meeting is what triggered our explosion.”

  It certainly sounded plausible to me, and if anyone knew the answer, it was her. “I'm so thankful you weren't seriously hurt. I was afraid you would never wake up.”

  “Why?” She looked genuinely confused. “How long did I remain unconscious?”

  My mother was stunned that she, one of the most powerful scribes the realms had ever known, was out for so long thanks to this massive transference of our powers, but I, a newbie of the newest kind, managed to heal myself and wake in only minutes.

  She got a faraway look in her eyes and murmured to herself while Xavier and I took turns looking at her, then each other. Neither of us had any idea what she was going on about but suffice to say we were both very curious.

  My mother took a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh. “I cannot imagine,” she began, “to guess at the number of questions you had while growing up. I’d like to start at the very beginning and tell you my own story, so you may have some idea where I am coming from throughout this discussion. Is that okay?”

  I simply nodded as Xavier jumped up to leave, announcing he would give us some private time together. My mother stopped him, though, saying the story she was about to tell, he needed to hear as well. She informed him that parts of this story pertained to him, more than he had ever realized. Curiosity piqued, he returned to his seat and waited patiently.

  “This is a long dialogue, but I promise you that all the information I give is relevant to our present and our future, so bear with me.” She drew in a deep breath and began. “When my mother gave birth to me, a visionary paid her a visit. This woman told my mother that her daughter, me, would be the one to give birth to the next Chosen Scribe.

  “She gave an intense set of instructions for my upbringing and strict preparations to follow, so that when the time came, I would be ready. My mother followed those instructions to the letter. I trained in all aspects of magic to the best of my capabilities. I spent time learning how to counter and exploit the magic of others as well.”

  Her fingers drummed on the table top, and she held herself very stiffly in her chair.

  “As I got closer to the age of twenty-one and my scribe powers began coming online, I trained even harder. In spite of me being the most powerful scribe the realms had seen in centuries, it had been foretold that my daughter would be even more so.

  “My mother, who preferred life here on Earth, had returned to the realm of Myntas in order to ensure that my magical training could be top notch. While she loved it here, and spent most of her years here, Earth and its population have never been accepting of the less tangible aspects of life, magic especially. Given the long lives of scribes, most do not have their heiress until their second or third century.” She paused to take a breather and have a drink.

  I looked at my mother in shock; how old was she? I couldn’t even begin to imagine living another century or two before even being considered of child bearing age. My mother had barely begun to share her story, and it had already become apparent how much I had to learn. Not only of my own history, but of magic, and the other realms as well.

  She took a deep breath and continued. “When I was twenty-two, I received a visit from the same visionary. She used her powers to show me the path I must follow if the next Chosen were to be born. She then warned me that even though we did not see the danger now, the arrival of the Chosen would be essential to the survival of not just our realm, but the universe as we knew it. Evil would completely destroy all nine realms if the Chosen could not stop it.

  “The level of detail her vision provided shocked me. I knew exactly when my child must be conceived and with whom. The visionary had promised to visit my child’s father before the time came for us to join, and explain the importance to him as well. It would not be as simple as conceiving a child, however.

  “She explained that I must conceive many years before my child was to be born due to the brevity of the father’s life. Because he came from a line of powerful royal Fae, it would be possible for me to conceive a child, and that child could be frozen as a chrysalis within my womb until the universe deemed it time for her birth.”

  Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more surprised, my mother managed to shock me again. I was half Fae! I glanced at Xavier, who gave me what I had begun to call his cat-shrug, and turned back to my mother. I had so many damn questions, but I sat in silence, afraid if I interrupted her, I would cause her to miss something important, and I would never actually get the whole story as she meant it to be told.

  “The chrysalis would protect my unborn child, through all but my own death. It would be made impervious to injury and all manner of magic. As the time grew near to conceive, I traveled to his land. The visionary had visited him as promised, more than once in fact, and had shown him far more than I had been told.

  “He knew his time would be short, and that we were not meant to be more than passing souls. We spent a few short weeks together, getting to know each other, he told me of life in his realm, and of all that he wished me to pass on to his daughter.”

  She paused and looked at me with a sad smile. “Everleigh, I have some things from him for you, that I will show you before we leave the cabin for the other realms. They are in a hidden room off the study. I grew to love him, and this brief interlude for us
was magic of our own making.”

  How tragic! I felt so sad for my mother, to fall in love with someone who she knew she could never truly be with. Especially knowing that his death was imminent, and that when she left his side, she would never see him in the flesh again.

  “We followed the visionary’s instructions to the letter. And, as promised, I did conceive our child. My instructions were to leave his realm the following day and return to the one where my mother awaited my homecoming. The Fae that I loved was to move on with his life, and there was to be no more contact between us. Ever.

  “He would fall in love again and marry another, then become king of his realm. He and his queen would have their own family, and all of his children conceived after ours would be born in real time, while I waited with child not knowing exactly when she would receive her soul and join us on this plane. I was heartbroken to leave him, knowing his path would be one filled with tragedy and sadness.”

  A tear slipped down her cheek as she twisted the jeweled band on her right ring finger. She looked up at me with a smile.

  “I carried our child for well over a century, almost two. Frozen in time, within my body, you rode out the years. I could feel his power already, cocooned there with you, and it gave me a small measure of comfort.

  “The day of his death arrived, just as it had been foretold, and it caused me great physical and emotional pain. When his soul passed from these realms, I watched it leave. I saw his magic find its way to you in my womb. I knew then, you would be the most powerful being these realms had ever known.

  “And I knew that whatever darkness intended on coming for our world must be terrible for us to need this kind of power and magic on our side. You see, this king who was your father had been the most powerful of all Fae—”

  Xavier’s head jerked up as he looked at her, and I stared at him in confusion. Why had that one sentence finally grabbed his attention so forcefully? She looked at him with a tender look on her face and smiled at him ever so gently.