Gaia's Champion Ch. 22

"You would think so, wouldn't you, Father of Wolves? Gaia's power and the resilience of her servants is far greater than either of us thought," Amy replied, her voice sounding echoy to where it was almost ghostly. The Shaman would have dismissed her claims, except that she had said his name, in the language of his people. If that didn't convince him, then Amy's eyes, which glowed with the green energies of Gaia, did.

"Felicitae?" he asked, his voice sounding hopeful.

"It is good to see you, old friend. I am truly sorry for what I did to you and your brothers and sisters. The Dark Heart, it compelled me to do things..." the voice of Felicitae replied, sounding heartbroken.

"The influence of the Darkness is beyond what anyone knows. Being compelled like you were, is not your fault," Father of Wolves replied, convinced that his old friend still existed.

"So, you're inhabiting Amy, right now?" Elizabeth asked, more than a little worried for her girlfriend.

"In a sense, yes. Think of Amy's body as a car. I'm just a passenger where she's the one in the driver's seat," Felicitae responded.

"Could we please talk to Amy, please? I just want to be sure she's all right," Eva worried. In response, Amy closed her eyes, then opened them, revealing her brown eyes to everyone there.

"I'm still here, mom. It's still me," Amy replied, the echoy part gone, as Felicitae stepped aside in her mind.

"Oh, thank Gaia! I'm just glad that you were able to come back to us!" Eva blubbered, hugging her daughter.

"So, it seems that the journal of the Dark sorcerer had some helpful hints," Xaera replied, looking up from the book.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked. Xaera then filled her in about what she had found and read about some creatures holding onto who and what they were. How some could not be fully corrupted, despite the best efforts of the Darkness.

"Well, that makes a lot of sense. After having gone through what I did, I can confirm that as the case!" Amy agreed.

"I re-watched the footage of when the Nymph attacked, and it almost looks like she wasn't fully into the attack. Like she was pulling her punches," Luke mentioned.

"That's because she wasn't," Amy replied after a moment. "I'm going to let Felicitae take control for a moment. Let her tell you herself about what's going on out there."

Amy closed her eyes once again and then opened them, allowing the soul of the Nymph to take control. She then explained everything that had happened and how she had fought to save what she could, while she was still in control. Even now, there were parts of her that held the Darkness back, not fully committing to the Gaian's destruction. Felicitae then detailed that the Gaians were on the correct track to breaking the Darkness' hold on the forest.

"You're saying that we need to keep doing what we're doing out there?" Sheena asked, still a bit skeptical.

"That's correct. Even when you attacked me... my body... you did far more damage than I possibly realized. You gave me a means to escape from my confinement, and to finally end that horrible existence," Felicitae/Amy told her.

"So, wait, are you saying that you want to die?" Karla asked, mortified by the thought.

"No, but my physical body is gone beyond repair. I would ask that before you destroy my body, that you find a way to recover what remains of my soul. So that when my body is gone, I will finally be at peace," the Nymph/Shaman implored.

"You want us to take it easy on you?" Sheena scoffed.

"I want you to not destroy me outright. I understand your anger Shaman, I really do. But I'm begging you, please, don't annihilate me. Not until you can recover what remnants of me that remains. After that, you can do with me as you please," Felicitae replied.

"This is a terrible fucking idea, but lucky for you, I recognize the signs of when I'm being lied to. You haven't been doing any of that, so I'll go with it," Sheena grumbled.

"Thank you!" the Nymph sighed, glad to have gotten through to her biggest detractor.

"The only question is, how are going to do that? I mean, we'd need to get close to you or something, and after what we saw happen just now, I don't think any of us are so eager to get close to you... your body," Sheena corrected.

"I may have an idea or two about getting around that obstacle. If there are still groves that are open to Gaia, then they will have what we need to protect ourselves," Felicitae/Amy replied.

"What did you need?" Emalia questioned, eager to help a fallen Gaian.

"Well, I will need your help in finding and identifying certain elements and plants that we will need. Though I am riding along with Amy, I don't have command of her magic. Your assistance would be most welcome!" Felicitae/Amy responded.

"What about me? I'm just sitting idle here, and I want to help!" Xaera piped up.

"You will have the most important job of all! I need you to find what you can about spells of protection in these books here. Though I have no magic, I can still see as I used to, and I know that some of these tomes here will have what we're looking for," the Nymph told the troll woman.

"Now that, is something I don't mind doing!" Xaera grinned.

"I'll help with that!" Karla volunteered.

"So, where do we start?" Emalia questioned, looking at the Nymph/Shaman.

"Wait, you want to get this all done now?" Darren questioned.

"Yes. The sooner the better, before my corrupted self figures out that she is exposed and comes up with a way to counter us. We cannot allow her, nor the Dark Heart, to recover their strength," Felicitae/Amy replied.

"I've heard you mention this... Dark Heart twice already. What exactly is it?" Luke questioned.

"No one truly knows what it is, save that it is a powerful collection of Darkness, the anti-thesis of Gaia. Its power stems from death, destruction and rot, and though it is currently depleted, it will recover its power, given enough time," Felicitae/Amy told him.

"Time that we are giving it, by standing around and not getting anything done!" Karla reminded her boyfriend, who looked at her sheepishly.

"Like I was saying, where do we start?" Emalia repeated.

"We will need to visit active groves and see if what we require is still growing there," Felicitae/Amy told her.

"I'll take you there. I know that flying for some distances can be a bit exhausting," Luke offered.

"Thank you, Luke!" Emalia and Felicitae/Amy responded.

Karla gave Emalia a look, which the fairy caught and understood. Though the both of them were sharing Luke, Karla was a bit possessive of him, which the fairy knew about. She knew she could probably have Luke as plenty and often as she would like, but she didn't out of deference to Karla and the oath she took. There was still plenty of time to repopulate the fairy race, and Emalia was in no rush.

In a few minutes, everyone had decided and agreed upon how they would all help. Darren and Eva would head off to get some eats for everyone, as it looked like it was going to be a long night. Sheena would patrol the grounds and keep her eyes open for anything that tried to come their way. Daelina would help her in this, while both women would also periodically check in on Jason, making sure that he was recovering.

They all knew that this would be a hard fought battle, but now that they had some help on the inside, it looked like things could finally go their way. Sheena took a deep breath, hoping and praying to Gaia that things would turn out as she wished. Though she knew that they had an advantage, something nagged at her, that there was more going on than she, or anyone else there, realized.

******************************

"You just about done?" Thermopolous whispered, trying to keep his voice down. They had caught a rare break, as some morgue techs were enjoying a day off, leaving the morgue unoccupied, at least for a few hours. Both he and Meera Sadeghi took the opportunity to plant bugs in the area, picking spots where they wouldn't be found.

"Yeah. I hope that this will lead to something worthwhile," Sadeghi replied nervously.

"It will, so stop worrying," Konstantin assured her.

"Worrying is my job. I still don't know how I let you talk me into this," Meera grumbled.

"What other options are there?" Thermopolous asked.

"None."

"All right, then. If you're done, let's get out of here, before someone comes along and starts asking questions," Konstantin told her.

Meera nodded and walked towards him, eager to leave the morgue, as she always found them creepy. As she moved towards the door, she slipped and fell forward, stumbling into Konstantin. Quick as a viper, his arms shot out, and he caught her, but her momentum sent him falling backward. It was halted by the wall behind him and Meera landed right atop of the man.

Thermopolous caught his breath, before he looked to do to see if Sadeghi was OK. He smiled as she looked up at him, her brown eyes blinking. They widened as she became distinctly aware of her lush body pressing into his hard one, a fact that made Konstantin smile. Her lips parted and stayed like that for a moment and thinking it an invitation, Thermopolous moved his head in to kiss her.

"I'd stop right there if I were you. Unless you want a junk punch right about now," Meera warned him. Though he desperately wanted to kiss the woman he held, Konstantin thought better of it and helped her up. Sadeghi smirked as she got back to her feet and gestured for her partner to lead the way. He sighed dejectedly and headed out the door and up the stairs to the station.

As she followed along, Meera secretly wanted Konstantin to kiss her. She had felt everything that the man was when she was leaning into him and wanted to sample it. With her desire through the roof, it was a real chore to not give into her lusts right then and there. Though she wanted the man, they had a job to do. Maybe, once this case was finished, and they didn't strangle each other, she'd screw his brains out then.

******************************

The wraith/child was mucking around a playground, blending in with the children that were there. She had wandered in, thinking to find a child to drain for some energy, yet was continually flustered by her inability to get one alone. The parents there minding their children, kept an eye on them at all times and it was beyond annoying. She nearly had one or two isolated, only for the child's mother and father to find them and drag them away.

It was just about ready to give up on finding something right away until it sensed a dark presence nearby. It whipped its head around, searching until it found the source of the darkness. It emanated from a young couple nearby, a man and a woman, both of whom were watching the children as she was. They had the look of predators about them, yet appeared to a normal couple, enjoying the nice day out.

The wraith/child smiled as it could tell that the darkness that cloaked these two was the kind it had been searching for. It ambled off towards them, believing that they would be proper disciples of the dark. If they weren't, then they would provide it with the sustenance it needed to survive and grow in power. In the wraith/child's eyes, it was a win either way.

******************************

And that's the end of that chapter! I know, things are getting even dicier than they were when the Gaian faced down the Sons of Caesar! But that's usually how things go, new power levels, new levels of enemies to fight! Also, it looks like Luke may wind up inadvertently exposing Jason, Sheena and the others to modern society!

On top of which, the wraith/child is far from done with her mission, and the new complication of saving Felicitae's soul! With so much going on, expect things to climb a few notches before everything ramps down. When it eventually does, much will be changed for everyone!!

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my work and I hope that you've enjoyed it! I'm open to constructive criticism and will seriously consider any suggestions made about various story arcs. Please rate and comment on my work down below and ask me questions if you wish, as I love hearing from my fans! If you like what I write, don't be afraid to follow and share with your friends, though your views, ratings and comments are enough for me.

In the meantime, this is C.H. Darkstrider, signing off to grab a beer and some quality time with the wife! ;) You will attain whatever you most desire, as long as you believe in yourself. Cheers!