Light and Dark Ch. 04

He held his hands up and the circles of air headed toward Nicklas and I. I threw up a shield just in time. The air hit the shield and shoved me back into Nicklas, but Nicklas planted his feet and kept his ground.

The minute we touched I felt a power surge rising in me. I wondered why it didn't happened the last time we were in this situation? I focused it on the shield and was surprised to find that I didn't need my hands to hold it. I looked down at them briefly and then threw my hands up to freeze him. He saw what was coming, vanished briefly and then reappeared. I held the shield and this time threw a force field around him. This one caught him and he struggled to free himself. I dropped the shield and froze him. He stopped moving and the air around him dissipated. "No one throws me through my own doors!"

I knew he couldn't hear me, but I sure felt better getting in the last word on that wanker. I turned to Nicklas. He was standing there wide-eyed and smiling. "What?"

"Nothing. That was just sexy."

I laughed. "How do you suppose I get rid of him?"

Nicklas shrugged and I remembered that I had left Madison in the dinning room.

"Madison! Bullocks." I teleported to the dining room and found her slumped against the wall. "Madison!"

I ran over to where she was. She looked to be okay, just knocked out. I checked for a pulse, thank god! It was strong and steady. There were a few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing looked broken. I laid her down on the ground, closed my eyes and centered myself. I focused on my blue healing light and brought it to my hands. Slowly, I let it pass from my hands to her body. Within seconds she woke. "Son of a bitch! What the hell was that?"

I smiled and helped her to her feet. "That was Wind."

She brushed herself off. "I know that. I figured when he said, 'I am the Wind.' I was referring to the 'I don't seem to be so knocked out' part."

I put my arms around my waist, "I thought you knew I could heal people."

She finished dusting herself off and walked over to the table to get her book. "I knew you could heal yourself. Not that I'm complaining, it was just freaky."

She picked her book up off of the table. "Still wanna read it?"

I forced a smile, "Of course."

As I started to walk over to her at the table, Nicklas came crashing through the doors. He hit the table hard, rolled over it and landed on the floor at my feet. He rolled over and looked up at me, "Maybe you could talk to him."

Nicklas stayed down and I turned to Madison, "Get down."

I motioned for her to stay with Nicklas and I headed around the table to the door, as huge gust of wind blew through the door and tossed me over the table, landing me in-between Nicklas and Madison. Nicklas looked at me, "He doesn't really play well with others."

I smiled "Fine neither will I."

With one hand I waved all of the benches out of the way of the table, and with the other I flipped the table on its side to serve as a barrier. Over two hundred years of family history and I was going to use it as a barricade. Under my breath I whispered a sorry to my ancestors and then motioned every one behind it. "What are you going to do!"

Madison sounded worried. Nicklas looked at her, "Don't worry." They both laughed.

"Nicklas make sure this table stays where it is."

He nodded to me and grabbed the center beam connecting the four massive legs. Just as he anchored himself to the table the door to the kitchen blew off of its hinges and hurled it's way over the table landing just shy of us. I was instantly irritated and stood. "HEY! This is my house and I don't appreciate you destroying my things."

He launched a tornado toward me and Nicklas pulled me down. "What in the hell are you doing!"

The tornado hit the table hard and it started to budge from its position. If Wind kept up with this he would have us shoved into the far wall in a matter of minutes. I was surprised he hadn't enclosed the five or so meters to the table and just hopped over to give us a whirl.

"You just work on keeping this table put." I turned to Madison, "Stay close to Nicklas."

She nodded at me with her semi-weirded out eyes and scooted herself closer to him. Another mini tornado hit the table and this time Nicklas kept his ground. I centered myself and scooted as close to the inside beam of the table as I could. Wind was getting angry and the air in the room began to swirl. Vases and benches were flying about with ease. I focused on the table and the three of us. "Don't fail me now."

I surrounded us with a bubble. We would be safe from the flying debris for a moment while I put my plan into motion. I could teleport and that would catch him off guard, but I wasn't sure I could maintain the bubble. I needed to be in two places at the same time. I needed to astral project myself. I closed my eyes and let the need for me to be in two places fill me and I said the spell, "Syn good goddess of locks and doors, open the gates I now implore. Allow me to pass through the astrail veil, with speed grant fair winds to my sails."

I felt a gust of heat and POW. I was standing in the kitchen. "Sweet. It worked."

I carefully walked back toward the door to the dining room and peered around the door jam. Wind was almost on top of the table, but my shield was holding just fine. The entire room looked just terrible. How in the world was I going to explain this to Mrs. Cooper? Back to the point, get us out of here with out Wind. I stood in the doorway. I was only going to have one shot at this. The swirling wind had expanded to the outskirts of the room and one of my favorite vases was being lifted up, "Hey! Break your own stuff!"

I shouted as loud as I could to get over the noise in here. Wind was startled, turned to where I was standing and I threw all I had into him. He staggered and then froze. The air in the room stopped swirling and all of my things fell to the floor. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my body. With the same gust of heat, I gasped for air and opened my eyes. We were still inside the bubble. Nicklas and Madison looked a bit confused, but were still in good spirits. Nicklas hopped up, helped up Madison and then me. "Come on. We'd better just head to the castle."

I started to look around for my Book of Shadows and Madison started looking for hers. Nicklas walked over to the frozen element. "Why do you suppose he came back for us? The other three didn't."

I popped my head up from the other side of the table, "I don't know."

I looked around my feet at the rubble, "Madison, you find yours?"

She looked over at me from the entrance way to the hall. "Nope."

I shuffled back to the center of the room, "Well this could take days." I closed my eyes and focused on my book. "Book of Shadows."

I called and it came. Teleported itself right into my hands. I bent over and placed it at my feet and focused on Madison's book. "Madison's book." Sure enough it appeared in my hands.

"I'll have to remember that for my car keys." Madison started to laugh and walked over to me.

I handed her book to her and picked up mine. "Madison, The choice here is yours. You can go home or you can come with us. I would prefer to take you with us, but it is your call."

She thought briefly, "I'll go with you."

I looked to Nicklas, he nodded with approval and I held out my hands to them. "Here we go." They each took one of my hands. I opened my mind and focused on the castle. I could feel the coven in the solarium and waiting for us and we were there almost instantly. Barbara was the first to speak, "Alexis, honey it is good to see you."

I walked over to her and gave her a hug. "Pardon our appearance, but we ran into a few issues along the way." I stepped back. The whole coven was standing behind her, staring at us. I could feel the tension in the room and their energies were focused on Nicklas. I looked back at him. He was just standing there, next to Madison, holding my book. I walked over to him and he handed me the book. I touched his hand briefly, trying to reassure him, he held onto it.

I turned back to the coven. "Ladies, This is Nicklas. He is with me." They didn't move. I turned to Madison, "This is Madison. She is a good friend and can be trusted."

Barbara broke the silence. "He's the vampire."

I dropped his hand and took a step forward. "In fact he is the Master of North America. Now if there is a problem with my guests, then I would hope you would address me with it." I stood in front of Nicklas. What in the world were they worried about?

Barbara spoke again. "Honey, were not in opposition to your vampire guest, it is just that the two of you seem to share the same aura. How is that possible?" She paused and took a step forward. "The two of you project such power."

The other coven members moved around her and surrounded us in a circle. Madison was ushered out of the circle. Nicklas put his hand on my waist. Our thoughts were open to each other. He went first, "Am I safe here?"

I answered as fast as I could with a yes and then thought about it the minute I said it. He squeezed my side, sensing my turmoil and I stepped back into him. I felt the power that we had combine and then the power of the Ancient Ones came to the surface. A circle of blue light surrounded us. The coven members gathered outside of the circle in awe. A couple of them spoke, "Her father was right. She is the one."

Barbara spoke next. "Alexis dear, it is okay. You may drop the circle. We are not afraid and we didn't mean to make either of you so." She smiled and broke the circle to hug me. "Your father would be so proud of you."

I hugged her back. "He is Barbara, He is." My thoughts were instantly drawn back to Daddy and the room he showed me in the basement with the bracelets. I wonder if they would be here or if finding them was part of the challenge.

"You saw your father?"

Having him in my head was a bit weird but I liked that we could talk instead of beating around the bush like was always do. "Yeah, when I was er... passed out after I managed to find the only tree in that entire flipping field. That is one of the reasons we are here. I think he wanted me to find something in the basement."

I pulled back from hugging Barbara, smiling at my thoughts of the encounter with my father earlier. "We have something we must do, but please," I handed her my Book of Shadows "see if there is anything in here about how the Elements were contained the last time they escaped." I looked at Madison. She was still standing by the coven members who had ushered her out of the circle. "Would you please take care of Madison for the time being. She knows about everything that I deal with, but I don't think she has ever been in it."

She nodded, took the book and they all headed for the study.

"Come on. We have to go to the basement." I followed the way my father had led me earlier. Down the staircase that led to the basement and into the dark. The lights that had worked for my father also worked for us. I stopped at the wooden door in the wall. "This is it."

I reached my hand out to the handle but Nicklas grabbed it and stopped me. "Wait! Do you know what is behind this door?"

I shook my head and turned to him, "I am sort of hoping that it is the same room that Daddy showed me."

"Will you show me what you saw?" His voice seemed hesitant, like he was thinking I would say no and that worried me.

I brought my hands up to his face, "I would never keep anything from you. I trust you and if you want to see what I saw, then you are more than welcome to."

He smiled as he brought his hands up to mine, "I just don't want to push you into something you aren't ready for. That's all." He squeezed my hands and I felt us connect again. I wonder if we would ever have control over the connection... His warmth gently flowed over me and then it covered my mind as he saw what I had. He only stayed in my mind long enough to see what my father had showed me and then he pulled back and I was grateful.

"Do you really think what he showed you is in this room?"

He kept his eyes on the door so I turned and looked back at the door, "Not a clue but I have faith that he would never send me somewhere that wasn't important."

Oh to hell with this. I reached out and opened the door in one big motion before Nicklas could stop me again and took in the contents of the room. It was exactly like it had been with Daddy. I led Nicklas to the altar and the box that was resting on top. "There are four bracelets in here, one for each of the elements. I was wearing them in my vision when the little man told me I would know how to defeat them."

I opened the box, revealing the shining pieces of silver. I picked up the ones that were engraved with Wind and Fire and handed them to Nicklas. "These are the Elements that represent the Lord. The dark." He put one on each wrist and as they hit his skin a red and yellow light started to form around them, circle him and then completely wrapped his arms. I didn't wait for a response and slid on the remaining two, Earth and Water and slid them on as the blue and brown light surrounded my arms and wrapped around me. They felt very tingly and it was kind of worrying me. I looked at Nicklas. "Do you feel different?"

He flipped his hands over looking at his palms. "No I don't think...WHOA!" He conjured a fireball in his hand. I reached out my hands over his and conjured water to put them out.

"Well I believe we can say we are different." I replied amazed with what had happened and followed with, "Do you think we'll have time to practice?"

He started laughing. "I hope so. I sure don't want to combust in the face of danger."

I slapped him. "Nicklas! That's not funny."

He reached out and gently touched my face, "I'm sorry if I upset you."

I smiled back at him, "Come on. We better see if they found anything out." We turned, walked out the door and headed up the stairs to find the coven.

In the study the coven had gathered around the Book of Shadows. Madison was out of her chair and shouted to me, "You should bring me here more often! Your parents sure had great taste!"

The coven turned to face us when we entered. One of the older members, Sheila, spoke this time. "It is amazing how we can all feel your power. I feel drawn to you." She looked at our wrists. "The bracelets of The Elements. It is said that The Lord and Lady themselves wore them."

The coven looked to our wrists in awe. I was getting a little worried about their reactions to our situation. Barbara chimed in, "Dear it is just amazing to see how you've grown into the women we all knew you'd become. There is only love here for you and Nicklas."

I was touched by her compliment. "Thank you. I am sorry if my remarks have been callous. I am just very nervous about what has and what is happening."

They all nodded at me. Barbara jumped right into work conversation. I was grateful for that, she had always been sensitive to my timidness of showing emotions. "Well the good news is that you have two days until the Elements come forth unto this world. They will rise on the night of the full moon, which this year happens to fall on Yule. I'm sure it is not a coincidence."

Madison interjected, "You are actually going to have to battle the elements?"

I nodded, "I guess that is the plan."

Barbara walked over to a wall on the far side of the study where my father kept all of his books and a sudden flash of sadness flowed over me. Seeing him today had been a tease and it had left me with a sudden fear of being vulnerable. I missed him so much. I felt arms around my waist. Nicklas. I smiled and leaned back against him as he rested his chin on the top of my head. He reminded me of how I was safe in his arms. I smiled to myself and looked back to where Barbara was standing; she had pulled down a tattered leather bound tube that looked like it had been around for quite a bit.

"That looks like it is older than the Book of Shadows." I wasn't aware I had spoken out loud until she answered.

"It is dear. Your father came across this in a store on the Gaza Strip. It was being sold as a decorative scroll, which it is, but it is the stories of ancient times. It is the third of three scrolls said to contain the words of life and death. This is the Scroll of the Sage"

Madison almost fell off of her chair. "You really mean that that is the actual scroll? This book talks about the three scrolls I found it in a shipment we received earlier this week and was going to give it to Alexis."

Madison held up the book she had brought with her from the museum and Barbara brought the scroll back to the table in the middle of the room. I walked over to the chair my father had always sat in and plopped myself down in it and motioned for Nicklas to come over here and sit next to me. He obliged as the rest of the coven sat around the table as well. I leaned back and let the feeling of the chair cover me. When I sat in my father's chair, I always felt connected to him and the coven. I let my mind wander out of the castle and into the woods behind the structure. I blew through the grass, trees and stopped at the river where my father had taught me to swim. I drew strength from here. I felt Nicklas bringing me back to the table. I returned, opened my eyes and squeezed his hand. The ladies were discussing the accuracy of the translation of the scroll. I spoke, "The translation? Was it written in another language?"

Lily answered me, "Yes ma'am. Your father tried over the years to translate it, but was only able to figure out a few passages." She was pleased with her remarks. I smiled at her. She was sweet and I knew my father would have approved of her.

I looked back to them, "In what language was it written?"

They all look up at me. "We don't know dear, but the part your father found is here."

"An unknown language! Alexis, I sure am glad you are my friend!" Madison was very excited about being involved in all of this.

"Anytime!" She and I shared a silent laugh. Barbara opened the tube and carefully pulled out the scroll. Rolled up with it was a piece of paper with my father's writing on it. She lifted it up and read it to us, "Here lay the watchtowers of the elements. In the night we banished them here. Lord and Lady we return to you, that which was made of you. Only in light and dark may they be banished. This is our will so mote it be!"

My jaw dropped. The writing on the pillars, those words were the ones I couldn't read, but some how knew what they said. I leaned forward into the table. "May I see the scroll?"

Barbara looked up at me. I put up a mental wall to block out her telepathy. I didn't want her to know about my vision and what happened in it. Nicklas felt me put up the wall and nonchalantly put his hand on mine. I sent him an, "I'm okay," squeezed his hand and reached up to take the scroll being passed to me. I really liked being able to talk to him, with out having to speak.

They passed me the scroll and I looked at the delicate paper. As I looked closer I realized it wasn't paper, but more like the papyrus the Egyptians used. If I were to guess at an age, I would have said at least three thousand years old. "Madison, would you care to place this?"

She hopped up and walked over to Nicklas and I. She examined a few points on the scroll and briefly touched it. "If I were to guess, I would put it at about Mycenaean Era 1600-1100 BCE."

I looked up at her, "Exactly what I was thinking."

She crossed her arms, "Except you and I both know that papyrus doesn't last that long."

I smiled at her, "That, my dear, is the reason we are here."

She started laughing and walked back to her chair. I glanced back down at the scroll. The same scribbling and symbols decorated the page that had decorated the pillars. "The pillars, I..." I realized I was speaking out loud and closed my mouth. I looked up, no matter. The ladies had started to talk amongst themselves. I placed the scroll in front of me. The raw power emanating from it was pounding up on me like the mid-day sun in July, on Mercury. Heat flashed across my face and my hands started to tremble. I slowly reached down to touch it and in doing so sent a flash of heat up my arm. Well now, I wasn't sure if I should touch it any more. Who knew, maybe this was some sort of ancient booby-trap? I looked up at the coven. "Do you ladies feel this?"