Light and Dark Ch. 03

I really liked to make potions when there was something bothering me. It helped me to focus and this was a great time to make them. We could joke around with each other, but we couldn't talk. We used to be able to talk and I think that is what bothered me the most. I brought the herbs to my potion table, complete with a gas burner. I placed a large cast iron cauldron over the burner and lit it. As soon as the blue flames encased the bottom of the pan I added some rainwater and salt, the two basic ingredients for every potion recipe. From the wall of herbs I started to add a pinch of each; Clove, Dragon's Blood, Frankincense and Sagebrush. I looked back to the wall to see if I had any St. John's Wort. I located the container and brought it over to me. I liked to add St. John's Wort to all of my potions as well, as it brought success. Ah hell, if I was experimenting then might as well add something else. I walked over to the wall, looked over the glass jars on the top shelf and found the one I was looking for and pulled it down.

"What is that?" Nicklas sounded worried.

"Well if the last ones didn't work at all, then maybe these will have a chance if I start fighting fire with fire." I walked back over to my boiling cauldron. From inside the cylinder container I pulled out its contents. I placed the root, Mandrake to be exact, down on the counter. I looked to Nicklas, "You might want to stand back a bit."

He shook his head and walked away from the doors. I turned my attention to the Mandrake root and carefully broke off a small chunk from one end. I put the rest of the root back into its container and walked it back over to the wall. I walked back to the potion and picked up the Mandrake root. "Here goes nothing."

I dropped the root into the potion and enclosed the cauldron with a bubble. Good thing too, cause the second it hit the potion the contents exploded and a thick white smoke started to billow out of the cauldron.

Nicklas appeared at the door, "You okay?"

I dropped the bubble and let the smoke dissipate into the air. "Fine, thanks."

I turned off the burner and let it simmer as I walked over to my potion's chest for four empty bottles. I grabbed black bottles and a turkey baister. For what was I going to need the turkey baister you might ask, well let me tell you that it worked very well with getting the potions into the bottle.

I put each of the bottle on the altar and grabbed my athame off of my altar. This was the worst part of potion making, I had to bless the potion with my blood. I sliced my hand open, let the blood drip into the cauldron, it poofed again and I healed my hand. I put the athame dowm, bottled the potion and corked them. I grabbed the potions and started to walk toward the door when I had and idea. I walked back to the potion chest and I grabbed one that conjured rain. I had an idea, we'll see if it works. I turned and headed out the doors for the hall closet, with Nicklas at my heels.

I decided on a lightweight, yet warm, pullover with a front zipper pouch. I used it when I went skiing. The pocket was perfect for holding the potion bottles, not that I had ever exercised this utility before. It was amazing the things I had to take into account when I bought clothing. Not many asbestos suits out there that keep a lady's figure. The hall clock struck eleven thirty. "Okay half an hour and counting."

I stood in the hallway and closed my eyes. I opened my mind and let it wander out to find the girls. I could feel them starting their ceremony. They were calling the lord and lady. I felt the peace that they brought wash over me. "Good, they haven't left the circle yet."

I opened my eyes and looked to Nicklas. "Last chance to back out."

He chuckled, "Not a chance."

See what I mean, jokes but no real dialogue. I took his hand and focused on the girls. We were there, in the woods, instantly. The air was a bit nippy and it caught in my damp hair. A shiver ran down my spine.

Nicklas turned and reached his mind out to me, "Are you okay?"

I responded verbally, but almost at a whisper, "Yes. It is just a bit nippy out here." He nodded and I continued, "I can feel their power. It is coming from over there." I pointed to the direction and started walking very slowly.

He stopped me. "You want to let me in on your plan?"

I thought for a moment and then said, "Well the other potions didn't work last time, and so I'm not going to start from that. I was thinking that since they come here in a corporeal form, then I should be able to freeze them and then, well I haven't gotten that far yet, but I want you to take two of these." I handed him two of the potion bottles from my jacket pocket. "They should work for a few moments but they might recover quickly. I want you to be waiting above us. If I can't take them from down here, they won't be expecting you from above. Just steer clear if it gets thrown back at you. They are pretty potent. If all else fails I am thinking that running away is a good back up plan."

He took the bottles and put them in his belt. "I won't let anything happen to you. The first sign you're in danger we're out of here."

I looked up. Where was this concern when his goons were going to rip me apart? Better yet, where was this when I wanted to talk about our feelings. I brushed off the irritation that was about to surface and kept going, "All that matters is that those girls get out of here unharmed. What ever is happening revolves around the people they chose to kill. If something happens to me, then it will. The coven knows what is going on and they will be able to take over. The girls are the number one priority here. Promise me that you will do this."

He nodded at me but showed his disapproval of my plan. Hey, at least I had a plan Mr. Guns Blazing. "Nicklas, I'm serious. If this is as bad as I've been finding, then the entire world is endangered. Promise me, that you will put them ahead of me."

I put as much force and conviction into those words as I've ever been able to admit to myself and I was beginning to second guess not bringing more potions, swords, hell an Uzi even. He looked around and then focused on me. I stood up straight to meet his gaze. "I promise."

His voice was low and he almost sounded depressed. Hey he wasn't the one going to get sucked into that little trident thingy. I could have taken the few seconds we had before midnight to clear the air, but I worked better under pressure. Hah! "Okay it's almost midnight. As soon as the flames explode that is when I'm moving in." I paused and looked up in the sky. "Are you going to be okay with the full moon?"

I was starting to be even more worried about this situation.

He laughed. "The full moon only shows my power by changing my skin color. It draws nothing from me. You should know that." I didn't know that. Hum.

"There are a lot of things I don't know about you." Wow was I getting snippy. Okay so I had to get one thing out there. Well anyways it was time for me to try to kick some evil butt! I motioned for him to take off and I started toward the circle where the girls were. I saw them and I opened my mind to the circle. They were performing a full moon cleansing ritual. I looked at their faces. They weren't much younger than I. Closer to early twenties I would say, but not older. If things worked out my way, they would be around for the quarter century mark.

The flames from the candle started to burn higher. I pulled my mind out so as not to clue anyone in that I was there. I slowly walked forward and was between their circle and a tree twenty-foot back. There were so many trees around them I was worried about being able to maneuver myself. The flames erupted and out came the man of Fire. I threw my hands up and froze the area. It worked! Everything slowed down and stopped. I ran over to the girls, opened the circle and unfroze them.

"Who are you!" They both screamed.

"No time! Just run!" They stared at me for a moment, not sure what to think. I concentrated on them and moved them both out of the circle and placed them down into a clearing. "RUN!" They took the hint and started running.

As I was about to turn around the flames started again. Shit! I really needed to work on that power. I turned and was standing face to face with Fire.

"You are not the ones!" He shouted at me, conjured a fireball in his palm and tried to set me on fire. I encased myself in a protective blue cover and hit the ground. I knocked him out from under his feet and stood as fast as I could. The martial arts classes were starting to pay off. He was only down for a matter of seconds before I felt the earth start to quake. I hurled myself over the tree trunk alter that the girls had set up and rotated to face what I was up against.

Once again I threw my hands in the air just as Earth began to rise from her domain. They faltered briefly and then stopped. I didn't have much time. I grabbed both of the bottles out of my pocket and launched them at the Elements. It was just in time, because as I hit the ground, the bottles exploded and time started again. Fire exploded into a ball of flames and then returned to his corporeal form, while Earth swallowed the bottle and let it erupt within. They both stood less than three meters from me. "Why do you fight us? You are not the ones we seek."

I wanted answers. "Why are you here?"

Earth moved her hand and a series of vines shot out from the trees above me and grabbed my wrists and ankles. This definitely isn't going well. They started to walk toward me and I could feel Nicklas.

I opened my mind, "DON'T!" I almost shouted it.

He heard me and kept his distance. Fire was within touching distance of me now. I put up my shield.

"Such power. She'll do." They were both now almost touching me. They were running their hands on my shield. I could feel their power trying to cut through. I put all I had into the shield and pushed outward. They were thrown back, but only momentarily. Earth reciprocated by pulling the vines tighter and I couldn't keep the scream in me. I pick the fire, I'm voting now and I would rather be set on fire then ripped limb from limb. The muscles in my arms and legs were at the tearing point. I tried to breath past the pain and maybe figure out a way to get myself out of the enormous mess I had just created but nothing was working and I couldn't even teleport. Bullocks!

Nicklas. He was standing in front of me.

"Who are you, intruder?"

Nicklas backed up so that he was completely blocking my view and his voice filled my mind, "Can your shield cover us both?"

I answered that I would try, hell if I knew. He threw the last two bottles and I projected my shield around him. They were caught off guard by his speed, but the explosions were only temporary. It did how ever give Nicklas enough time to pull me free. I fell into his arms and the pain began to dissipate as I muffled the 'thank god' that was my form of a 'thanks for helping me keep my limbs'.

They were back.

The ground started to shake and then we were thrown up in the air by a land uprising. I couldn't keep the shield up any more we were both now out in the open. I tried to stand as best I could but the vines grabbed me again and this time pulled me in between two trees. Visions of being flailed flashed through my mind and if it wasn't about to be actually happening I would have laughed.

I looked over to find Nicklas being drug to the tree next to me. He was using all of his super human abilities and they were to no avail. I was beginning to think that I might have gotten in too deep. Too deep had past. If the vines had managed to trap a vampire, actually a Master Vampire who could crush skulls with a thought, then we were screwed. I looked up just in time to see Earth's scepter shoved in to my abdomen.

"Alexis!" Nicklas was shouting.

Pain shot all over my body and I could feel her trying to draw my power out. If she was going to be ruff I was going to go out fighting. I drew all my power inside and focused it on the scepter inside me. I started to push it out and she was struggling trying to hold it in. I kept concentrating and shoved it out all of the way and into her. She flew back against the ground, shoving the spear into herself and disappeared in a large explosion of soil and leaves.

Fire spoke, "That was interesting. Never before has a mortal been able to ground us."

I looked up at him "Yeah well, everyone needs a hobby."

He stepped right in front of me, anger flashing dangerously in hie eyes and ran his hand down my cheek. "Is that what this is to you? A hobby? We are the very essence of this world! The very essence from which you were created." He grabbed my neck and I spit at him. "Not very lady like." He waved his arm and set Nicklas on fire.

"NO!" I tried to pull the vines from the trees, but the wound started to ache badly. I remembered the rain conjuring bottle. It was worth a shot. I mustered all the energy I had left and brought the bottle up from the pocket and smashed it with such a force into Fire that he stumbled backwards, began to smoke and he too disappeared.

When he vanished, the vines dropped and the fire encasing Nicklas ceased. I ran to him collapsed by his side and pulled him into my lap. His skin was burnt, not as badly as I thought, but he was unconscious. I had to heal myself before I could help him. I sat up as straight as I could muster and placed my palms to the ground. I drew up all of the energy from the ground as I could hold, held it in myself and focused it on my wound. I felt the pain decreasing and my body was healed. I held on to the energy.

I opened my eyes and focused on Nicklas. Nothing. He was there, but he was wounded beyond his healing factor. These things were powerful. I had never heard of anyone ever being able to take down a Master. If I didn't think of something fast, he would die. Think. Come on! I have a dialogue with everything I should be doing going on in here all of the time but the one time I needed it, nothing was talking...

Blood! He would need blood, and a lot of it. I pulled him up to a sitting position and faced him toward me. He was going to need my neck and not some puney cut on the wrist. I leaned him into the other side of my neck and reached for the athame on my calf. What the hell was I doing? I was going to let him feed off of me. I had never let anyone or thing for that matter feed off of me. Now I'm trying to rationalize everything. Stop this and heal him. AS the realization that I was willing to sacrifice myself for him crossed my mind, I felt worried but determined. Odd. This was going to change things between us and we were definitely going to have to talk now. I stopped thinking and just went for it. With one smooth motion I cut the opposite side of my neck and I felt my blood start to run down my neck and back. This needed to happen fast. I shifted his head to the wound and he stirred. I opened my mind and entered his. "Nicklas wake up. You need to wake up!"

He woke and as the smell of blood covered him, he used what was left of his strength to move to my neck. He paused briefly and I yelled, "Hurry!"

He started licking my neck where the blood had gone and then he started to drink from the wound. Never having experienced this before I was a bit taken aback at what I was feeling. It was the most intoxicating thing I've ever felt and I really liked my wine and whiskey. He was in my mind, in my body and his warmth and power covered me and then seemed to push into me until I was a complete mess of goo in his arms. My heartbeat was pounding in my head and while I was half expecting the voice to come back and tell me I was a bloody idiot, nothing. Just warmth and it was amazing.

I could feel him start to heal and his beast started to regain its strength and it was clawing through. His arms wrapped around me as a growl rumbled through his chest and my last thought was that he wasn't going to stop. My body felt completely numb and as the hazey feeling covered me, I went limp. He was almost completely healed.

He rose to his knees, ashed clothing crumbling at his movement, still feeding and picked me up with him. He cradled me in his arms and I closed my eyes. I could feel myself starting to slip away and then his voice was there, echoing in my mind.

"Alexis."

I tried to move but couldn't. The warmth was telling me to stay, stay and let the sinking feeling take over.

"Alexis, focus on yourself."

I tried and then felt the energy I had pulled from the ground. It was like an instant boost. I opened my eyes. He was still holding me and his skin was perfect and silvery again. "Are you okay?"

I had found my voice, but it came out in a raspy whisper. He smiled at me and then pulled me closer.

"I am, thanks to you. Now rest. I need to get you home."

I passed out in his arms feeling the rush of air as he flew into the sky.