Healing Rites of Passage Ch. 05

"We must hurry. Heidi, what is the fastest way out of here?" asked Aqurico.

"The train will leave only tomorrow morning to Munich... I'm sorry..." she stammered.

"Damn. Argh! This leaves us no choice," grumbled Adrian. He turned to his brother and started speaking in Latin.

"Surely you must be kidding Adrian... Spirit travel could kill them," warned Aqurico. It was rare of him to see his brother so tensed. Adrian only spoke in their native tongue in rare circumstances.

"No no no! We've been wasting our time travelling here and there and the answer was right in front of me brother. It was right in front of me!"

"We'll take the risk. But the old man... he cannot follow us. If he dies, Ella will be devastated," replied Aqurico. Turning to the others in the room, he began assessing their emotions. Heidi's father was reluctant to let his daughter go. Raphael was anxious to go but Heidi was shattered and afraid. Sighing to himself, he tweaked their emotional levels a little and started speaking.

"My fellow company... my brother and I have discussed... and we all agree that it is of great importance that we return to London as soon as possible. We will need your daughter for a few days Sir... but I assure you that we will take care of her to our best abilities. As for you Raphael... you will agree to travel by yourself to London because you have to."

No arguments were made about the arrangements. Before they left, Adrian took Raphael aside and gave him instructions.

"You will need to bring her back to this house and put her to bed. She's going to be in deep sleep and I need you to help her convince her father she'll be fine."

After saying their goodbyles,the two brothers stood silently with Heidi in the stables.

"Heidi... you know what we are... but what you're about to see might frighten you but I hope you will not fear us," said Aqurico gently to her. She was shivering on the inside. He could see her mind and her fear. Putting a hand on her arm, he continued, "We will be travelling at light speed from here to London. It is a risky journey but I need you to say that you are willing to do this."

Heidi looked at Adrian and slowly nodded her head. "It is something I must do isn't it?"

"Well my dear... you can choose to say no... but we do not know how long more our brother and friend can survive..."

"Alright... I'll... I'll do it."

Smiling at her, Aqurico gestured at the air in front of them and soon materialized the third guardian in her human form. Adrian started to hold on to Heidi's hand real tight; his face in pure concentration. Heidi was starting to feel like the air in her lungs were being sucked out...

Adrian had to keep holding her to stabilize her heartbeat and brain functions while Aqurico numbed her so she won't feel the pain of her body's separation from her soul.

"Focus Aurora... a bit more..." said Adrian when he saw his sister looking doubtful. She knew death was hard but she had to do it...

The moment Heidi's spirit soul was detached from her body, the siblings evaporated into the air. They felt the weather changing from the sweet fresh air of the Alps to the coldness of London in a matter of seconds.

Finally they landed... tumbling onto the floor of Adrian's office. Adrian still had to hold onto Heidi's spirit soul because it was so much lighter that he was afraid she might just slip away.

"Okay... I'm going to give her soul to Mélas now," said Adrian. His body was becoming more human that it felt so painful to just split his body from his horse. He had to stop halfway, tears in his eyes.

"Adrian... stop. I'll give her mine," Aurora offered. It pained her to see her brother's half mortal form causing a toll on him. "Mélas, stop! Get back and heal him. He's in too much pain."

Grabbing Heidi's arm, Aurora merged her horse's spirit with Heidi's to stabilize her. Slowly Heidi started to materialize in flesh in front of them.

"Hurry, we must go to Abben. Heidi... you will know what to do when you see him," said Aqurico. Holding her gently at the wrists, he led her out of Adrian's office. Adrian was already way ahead of them, half running towards the ward where Abben was currently lying in a coma.

When she entered his room, she felt a strange pull towards the patient she had onced had to take care of. Back then she did not understand the attraction she felt towards him. It wasn't lust- it was a raw kind of desperation which she now understood. His body needed hers to wake up and that's what she was here for... She gently touched the white dragon tattoo at his ankle and braced herself for what was about to come.

"I will leave my host and enter his body now," she said. In a blink of an eye, Aurora's horse stood at the spot where Heidi had stood but she was gone. The three siblings did not have time to panic for a cough could be heard coming from the comatose patient.

"I... I don't believe it... his vitals are rising... I think, yes he's gaining consciousness!" said Adrian with his hands over his heart. "But Heidi..."

Aqurico tried to calm his brother who was now speaking incoherently in Latin. But Adrian was beyond control.

"Adrian..." called Abben who was still lying on his bed. "Don't worry about me... I'll be fine..."

Adrian stopped his muttering and came to Abben's bed. "Co-existent souls?" he asked. Abben merely nodded.

"Heal me Adrian... It seems your powers are able to work now that I'm awake and the spell is broken."

"I don't know if I can... I'm slowly gaining my mortality..."

"Hold Aurora's hand. She has a third of all our abilities. She can help."

***

Travelling at their full power of four, the siblings rushed over to the (name of the place) where Ella was held captive.

"Can you hear her Abben?" asked Aqurico.

"Yes, faintly...she asks us to find the door" he replied, inching closer to the middle of the room. "This is as near as I can hear her... She must be somewhere here but possible on another dimension. Aqurico, can you find her?"

Previously when Abben had been a full mortal, their powers were reduced but now, Aqurico could see clearly the auras within the room. His own siblings had their distinctive auras- Abben was white; clear and strong. Adrian's was as dark as night while Aurora's was pale green as that of death.

"Here... She's not very healthy... it's a... pale green aura..." he replied. Not wasting much time, Aqurico wielded his sword and slice into the air.

"Hurry!" he instructed. All of them jumped through the narrow gap that was now beginning to draw to a close.

The room was magnificently decorated, albeit a replica of the exact room that (Juliana?) once had. Ella was lying on the bed, her face turned away; her dress showing a distinct curve of what was her pregnancy. In two strides, Abben reached the side of the bed and scooped her up.

She smiled at him faintly, then buried her face at the crook of his neck and wept.

"I'm here now my love... I'm here..."

At that moment, the wooden door of the room opened and in walked Olybrius, carrying food for Ella to eat. His eyes which were initially filled with what looked like love, suddenly opened wide with shock.

"How dare you! How... how did you manage to..." he said, gritting his teeth. He had dropped the tray of food and was now reaching at his back for his sword.

"You lose, Olybrius," Abben said cooly. He had eased Ella off him and had left her to be healed by Adrian and Aurora.

"I see you've awaken Abben. You fool! Do you wish to really die this time?" laughed Olybrius as he got ready to attack.

Abben's first arrow was so swift that a naked eye could not even see him pulling the bow. It hit Olybrius squarely at his chest, creating a wide hole.

Olybrius merely laughed as the hole began to heal within seconds. He slashed the air with his sword; the air vibrations alone sent Abben reeling backwards.

"Abben, this duel could go on forever now that you're immortal. We must end this now," whispered Heidi in his mind. "I need more power... or else I cannot transform."

Easing back towards the wall, Abben placed a temporary dimensional barrier between Olybrius and himself. It would buy them some time for it would take Olybrius some time to find the right 'door' to slice it open.

"Brothers and sister... I think the time has come... will you be willing to give up your immortality and power to me?" he asked.

"We've been waiting so long for this moment Abben... Here... is mine..." said Aqurico as he placed his palm on Abben's forehead. The body that once held three different entities was split; leaving only man and horse standing.

"And here is mine..." said Aurora, smiling at her brother.

"Adrian?" said Abben. The other two turned to face him as well.

"If... I give up this power... will... will it kill both of you?" he asked.

"Adrian... I do not know my love... but I will do my best to survive for your sake..." came Heidi's voice through Abben's mouth.

Nodding, Adrian placed his palm on Abben's forehead and felt that searing pain that was forcefully tearing him into pieces.

The second Adrian's palm left Abben's skin, Abben himself felt the same pain of mortality once again. He knew that Heidi did not want to use him as a host anymore now that she was strong enough.

Out of the blinding pain that was ripping his own body emerged a gigantic fire dragon. She was almost invisible except for her fiery mouth.

"Stay here!" she roared and pierced through the barrier that was slowly weakening.

At the other side, Olybrius was beyond shocked to find the dragon facing him, instead of Abben.

"Who... who... what are you?" he stammered.

"The one who ends it all" she roared. The dragon, with its mouth open wide, swallowed Olybrius into the depths of hell that was brewing in her mouth.

The fire began to burn, slowly at first, then larger and larger until it engulfed even the dragon itself.

From behind the barrier, Adrian was trying to jump across the portal but had to be physically restrained by his brothers.

Eventually the fire died and the room disappeared; leaving the four of them and a recovering Ella lying on an open field. Adrian had his hands on his face.

"Don't cry, my brave one..." came a gentle voice in the wind. "You have all done well... You are released from your spell now... may you all live happy as mortals..."

When the air stilled, they saw a body of a woman lying limp on the grass a few metres away. Adrian rushed towards the body; his tears now falling uncontrollably as his eyes met Heidi's eyes. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"See... I told you so..." she gave a weak laugh and hugged him tight.

*****

The End

NB: This is the last of the series. Thank you for all your support. Don't forget to vote!

Also, if you have any ideas or plot suggestions for my next few stories, do drop me an email. If I like it, I might write it =)