Myka's Tail Ch. 03

I could feel his presence now, pressing in on my mind. It was like having a sinus headache while listening to the buzzing whine of a swarm of mosquitoes. He was pushing against the ward, trying to find a weakness, but it had been too well crafted. Perhaps if he'd had ten times the power he had available to himself right then things might have been different, but the magic held fast.

"I need more power," Matt grunted, the strain as evident on his face as the rivulets of sweat that were soaking his shirt. "I will break you, and you will be mine."

He reached out and gestured and I watched as the twins, who had been silently standing off to the side, collapsed into each other's arms and began to shake. I couldn't be sure in the weak light available to my eyes, but the two sisters really looked even more slender and gaunt than when I had first met them. Then I felt the flow of power from them to Matt. He was using the collars as a siphon to plunder their energy in order to break my protective magic.

Matt pushed, pried, and beat at the ward, with his power and the power stolen from others. Eventually I felt the thrumming pulse from the stones dramatically decrease and when it did, he backed off and collapsed to his knees, completely out of breath.

"That is just not possible," Matt groaned in exhaustion. "It can't be that strong. Nothing can."

"But it is, Matt," I called out to him. "And for all you have tried, and the hurt and death you have caused, you still lose. You cannot and will not take my will from me."

"Fuck you," he spat at me as he got to his feet. "Your will? Your freedom? It's not yours to give or withhold. It's mine to take, by right. Mine!"

If it was possible, Matt was even angrier now, and he removed the magical bindings from Jasmine right before he unceremoniously kicked her lifeless body off of the now blood soaked altar. He took a short time to set things up again, and then went over and released Jess from the rod that she was hanging on and dragged her barely conscious form back to the large stone. It took him only a minute or so to have her fastened down just like Jasmine had been, and then he came over to me.

"So here's how it's going to go," he hissed inches from my face. "Your dear friend Jessica is now the next to generously give me of her life force's power, which I will use to further weaken the magic protecting you. If that does not work, I can take some time to bring a few more volunteers from the party earlier and keep going until you crack."

"It won't crack," I replied with a confidence that I was feeling less and less of. "And the deadline will pass and the Neko in me will be lost forever. You still won't win."

"No! No, no, no, no," he exclaimed in fury, slapping me over and over again. "Not this time! You don't get to make that choice this time. The power is mine by right!"

"What do you mean yours," I cried. "You can't be a Neko, you are male. It's not possible."

And then he laughed, a soulless laughter that would have given goosebumps to a skeleton.

"They haven't told you yet have they," Matt asked me, and the gleam that had appeared in his eyes scared the hell out of me. "Those sanctimonious cunts that call themselves the Circle still make you "figure out" the meaning of the Neko to soul mate bond."

He was pacing now, and wringing his hands with what looked like glee. This boy was seriously crazy, and I continued to try and get free so I could stop this night of horrors.

"Well, I will make it easier on you two," he giggled as he pointed to both Kelli and I. "When you bond with each other the Neko puts on a collar and the soul mate gains complete and utter control of her new pet kitten. How exciting, no!"

I felt confusion from Kelli about what we were hearing, but she was attentive, and still not saying anything.

"This collar, and it can be either real or figurative, is just like the ones on my little pets over there, and the one on you. Except my collars are designed to force a shift in the bond from a soul mate to me. Unfortunately they don't survive the process, but as long as I get what is my due, I don't give a shit."

"You keep saying you want your due," I continued for him, realizing that I was on the verge of some important information. "But if I can keep my power from your hands by giving it up, I would make that choice a million times."

"It's not your power," he screamed at me, slapping me yet again. "It's my power! That's why the bond gives me control, should have given me control. But Anya decided to give up a power that wasn't hers to give up. It was mine!"

And suddenly I knew Matt better than anyone else but Kelli, because in a sick and twisted way he was Kelli. He was, or had been, the bond mate of a Neko. A Neko who apparently had chosen not to bond with him. The changes her choice made in him, and the path he walked because of it, had me thinking that the Neko, Anya, had made the right choice if the bond would have given him total control of her.

"It doesn't matter now, though," he mumbled. "She's long gone and it's an ocean under the bridge by now."

Matt gently patted my cheek, and now, more than any other time that night, his touch made me feel disgustingly dirty.

"So, now I will take the bond from Kelli that should have been mine in the first place, and then I will wait as long as it takes until the next Neko arrives, and the next, and the next. And then all of the power that Anya denied me will be mine and mine alone."

The feral grin that was on Matt's face as he turned from me made me even more afraid than I had been up to that point, but it also fanned that spark of towering anger that I had deep down inside of me. I could feel its power trying to come up from the depths of my soul, and that gave me yet another reason to fear. I knew that when it came down to it, I wouldn't be able to control that anger, but I was out of options, out of pieces, and out of moves. So I reached deep inside to find that burning power inside myself.

I closed my eyes, and all that I could hear was the beginnings of Matt's spell work, which would end as he killed Jessica, just like he did Jasmine. I was way short on time, but I followed my instincts and pushed my mind to look the center of my very self. Of everything that made me, me. It was a strange feeling, and I was amazed that I could look at myself in this way and actually see something.

Whatever the circumstances, I was standing before two glowing orbs that were bound in darkness somewhere in my mind, and my instincts told me that these balls of light were my Neko powers, or at least the visual of how my mind pictured them. I reached out and touched first one and then the other. The one on the right was glowing a deep red, and I felt that incredible anger as I made contact, but I was also nearly flooded by other feelings as well. The anger was only a part of what I was, and the sheer vastness of its depths was startling. The other ball of light had a soft golden glow to it, but it shied away from my touch and I could not get a handle on what I needed to do to free them both.

Outside of myself I heard Matt finish his spell chant, and I opened my eyes in time to see him slam that damned silver knife into Jess, and as his hand descended I silently apologized to Jess for not being able to save her either. The sickening thud that I had expected never came, though. Instead there was the sharp ping of breaking metal and I watched the blade of the knife spin off into the darkened forest. Hanging just above Jess' skin was a barrier of mist that looked like silvery moonlight, and I noticed that the design the woman at the street fair had drawn on her was back. This time, however, the design ran from her face down the length of her body and to her ankle. She had protection!

"By the gods," Matt screamed out his frustration. "How many times do I have to deal with you fucking bitches?"

Jess was coming out of her drug induced stupor by now, and the sights around her had her moaning in fear while she struggled to free herself. Matt, for his part, was trying to break through this new protective spell he had encountered and I sent out a quiet thanks to the woman at the fair for protecting Jess. Then I moved back inside myself to try and fully free my power, because we were nearly out of time.

Looking at the orbs again I realized that the one that held my anger, and several other things, I already had some access to. It was the other orb that felt like it was the key to everything, and it avoided me like the plague. As I watched it for a few moments I realized that it was trying to get free. Apparently it was trying to get somewhere and only I could free it. So I stared at it, trying to think of where it needed to go, of where in me it needed to be to effect its purpose, and that was when I realized a profound truth. This was not my power. It was Kelli's.

In fact, when I made that final connection, my mind felt like the most brilliant sunlight had exploded into a darkened room, bringing with it a clarity beyond words. This power was the gift Kelli would receive if we bonded, and because it was needed now it was trying to get to her so that she could help. And so I knelt and took the glowing ball into my hands. I could touch it now because I was no longer trying to possess what wasn't mine, and I brought it up to my face and looked into its luminescent depths.

"Go to her," I whispered to the orb as I released it from its bonds. "Go and save us all."

I waited for something to happen, but the orb still remained, and I felt its increased need to get to Kelli as well as its increased frustration that it couldn't. Realization crashed in on me like a landslide and I knew what I had to do. This dark area that was part of my mind, that was an imagined visualization of a part of my psyche, was the part of me protected by the ward that had been cast. It was not only keeping things out of my head, but in this instance, it was keeping things in. I needed to open the door to let our power out, but that little nagging voice in my mind reminded me that an open door lets things out and in. I didn't see we had much choice though.

I concentrated on my instincts and let them guide me to where I needed to be, and let them instruct me on what I needed to do. I was afraid. Afraid of the consequences if it failed. A remembrance was brought to my mind in that moment, and I almost heard Kelli's dad reminding me in his firm but kind voice that sometimes you need to take a risk if you want to get the reward. My power had shown me the keystone that held the ward in place in my mind and I only hesitated for a second before I removed it, and then allowed myself to return from my mental sojourn.

Matt was still trying to get at a struggling Jess when I felt the ward in my mind dissolve, and the greedy lust filled desire for power that filled his eyes as he turned to me let me know that he was aware of the change as well.

"Finally," he crowed in exultation. "Now we've gotten somewhere. Don't worry my little Neko bitch. This will only take a moment, and then I'll have you kill your friends for me."

I panicked at that point, second guessing my own actions as I felt Matt's spell begin to burrow into my mind and heard the collar around my neck start to clink with a life of its own. I had put us all in the shit with no way out. The pulse of energy that followed my thought, however, knocked Matt onto his face and caused the ring of stones to glow with both sickly green and brilliant orange symbols. I looked over at Kelli and she stood tall, free of her bonds with her hair blowing gently in the cold Scottish breeze, and her eyes were glowing with a white orange fire that threatened to burn everything in sight.

"Oh, gods," Matt groaned as he struggled to rise from the ground once more. "This is getting terribly annoying. Just accept the inevitable and life will be better. Well, better for me at least."

The shocked look on Matt's face as he turned to face me, but stopped at the sight of Kelli, was nothing short of amazing. He clearly did not know what to do and his momentary flat footedness cost him everything he had worked for.

Kelli just stared at Matt, holding his gaze on her, as she began to speak in that same rhythmic language that he had uttered to invoke his spells. The difference was in the level of power flowing from and through her words. Where Matt had freed a flowing river of power with his harsh chants and his spell crafting, Kelli's words flowed like music and it felt like she had set free the raging torrent of a collapsed dam. Matt simply could not compete with her sheer power.

As she spoke circles appeared on the ground and on the stones, and the symbols on the various rocks that had been glowing green swiftly changed to the bright orange of the power blazing in her eyes. The wind was as a hurricane, the earth shook and groaned with terrible wonderful purpose, and the gates of heaven opened to rain down power upon us. And as suddenly as these manifestations appeared, they vanished.

Matt was probably as unsure as I was as to what had just happened, but his shock, anger, and hatred flared anew when he tried and failed to cast a spell at Kelli. His magic didn't fizzle, it just wasn't there, and the resulting effect caused more cracks in his already broken mind. He lunged at Kelli, attempting to stab her with the knife he still held, but she simply waved her hand in his direction and he was tossed back to the outer ring of the stone circle where he landed in a heap. I was expecting him to try again, but when he got up from this fall he decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and I watched him run into the encroaching darkness.

Kelli walked over to me immediately after he was gone, and with a touch and a word the collar around my neck and the shackles on my limbs simply fell apart. I leaped up to pull her into a much needed embrace, and I was surprised that I had to hold her up when she collapsed. I looked at her face, and I noticed that besides the absence of the glowing eyes there was a fatigue that had settled on her. She briefly clung to me like she did not want to let go, but after a short moment she pushed me back.

"There's no time for that, sweetie," she whispered to me in a very tired voice.

"He's gone now," I replied and indicated the Neko and Jessica across the ring from us. "We have to help them."

"I will do what I can here," she answered me, but pointed out into the forest. "But you have to stop Matt. I was able to bind the stone ring here against him so he could not use it, but it drained me. There is a secondary ring that I felt while I was chanting. He can still use that one to escape, and we need to stop that. Go, fast, and stop him so he can't hurt anyone else."

I nodded and left her leaning on the table where I had been bound, and I ran into the forest where she had indicated. I could now feel that anger that had been deep inside me, partially locked away by the ward that protected me, flow up and infuse itself into my body. I ran like the wind, ignoring the minor hurts and inconveniences that the forest branches and pebbles caused me, and I chased after Matt so that I could leave him with a body so broken that it would match his mind.

Within minutes I had come to a smaller clearing with its own tiny ring of stones, and Matt was kneeling in the center with another silver knife, drawing a new circle so that he could cast one more spell. The rustling of the leaves as I walked out of the forested area into the ring caught his attention and he looked up at me with a hate filled sneer on his face.

"So, you've just traded slavery to me for slavery to her," he said to me in a mocking attempt to irritate me, not knowing I was about to explode with my anger. "And the selfish bitches of the Circle get one more fucking witch to train up to be yet another mindless drone."

"And killing an angry young woman when she served no further purpose was any better," I spat back at him, crouching down into the basic fighting stance that I had learned. "Taking by force something that was someone else's to give because you think it's your right? That's better?"

"Don't play all noble goody-goody with me, you little shit. You get to practically live forever, never get sick, have the world at your fingertips, and your bitch of a new master has access now to more power than she could ever dream of! Unless you choose not to bond with her."

"If that is my choice, then that is my choice. But it's mine to make!"

"You just don't get it, you fucking cunt," and Matt held the knife forward, ready to strike at me if the opportunity arose. "You don't have the right to make that choice, to take away her power. To take away my power! She didn't have the right! It was mine!"

All reason had fled from Matt's now soulless eyes, and my anger had reached a tipping point as we both teetered on the edge of sanity. I felt an enraged sense of calm fill my body from head to toe, and it came with a strength I was not aware that I had. Matt's demeanor had also changed, and he was coiled like a cobra, ready to lash out at his prey. We were just waiting for the starting bell to be rung.

"You know Matt," I sneered, and I forced all of the anger and hurt that he had caused me into my words to mock him. "I'm pretty sure that, Anya was it? Sure that Anya chose to give up being a Neko because she wised up and saw what you really are. I know I would have."

That last taunt was the proverbial straw, and Matt's agonized scream of vengeance as he charged me with his knife just spurred my anger to new heights. Very quickly, though, I realized that I might be slightly in over my head. I had no idea how old Matt was, but clearly he had been around the block a few times. Unlike Jasmine he knew how to fight. His knife moved with blinding speed, and shifted from hand to hand quicker than a normal eye could follow. During that first few seconds of his attack I could do nothing but defend, and I still received a shallow cut or two in the process.

He was a demon with that blade, and he had ceased to care about anything other than hurting me, which made him both dangerous and inept. Any normal person would have been gutted by his reckless assault by now, but I was not a normal person anymore. I was a Neko, and this bastard of a human had threatened my friends with death, and me with enslavement. He had killed, cajoled, and manipulated events in order to get his own way, and now I would make this human pay dearly.

After I sidestepped his next lunging attack I struck the back of his hand with a stinging punch that made him lose his grip on the knife, and the surprise of the move caused a slight hesitation in his actions. That was more than enough. I hadn't had much training, but I used everything that I had learned. Snap punch, sword hand, snap kick, followed by a head butt to his nose. Matt had skill enough to block most of what I was doing, but not enough to block everything, and my superhuman speed and reflexes were taking their toll on him.

I broke some ribs, I dislocated a finger, and my nails clawed stinging gouges down the side of his face. His screams of frustration at no longer having the upper hand just made me that much happier and I continued to wear him down strike by strike. I maneuvered into position to deliver a crippling side kick to his knee, and my bare foot pushed through his fragile joint with the force of a truck causing Matt collapse to the ground screaming in pain. I had won, but this damn human needed to be punished.

"You hurt my friends, human," I hissed at him as I straddled his fallen body and pulled him up by the collar. "And now you pay the price for that."

And so I punched him across the face, over and over. When he reached up with one arm to try and stop me I locked it between my hand and my thigh. The wet tearing sound of tendons and ligaments letting go of their attachments was music to my ears as I hyperextended his elbow. His increased screams just added sauce to the meal. Over and over I pummeled his ruined body, and I noticed that at some point one of my strikes had pushed an eye out of its socket, and this only made me grin. He had threatened my love, my life, my family and the love I felt for them demanded I defend them in every way possible, no matter the cost.