Myka's Tail Ch. 03

"Without hesitation, and with all of the love that I possess, I accept my bond mate Kelli from now and for all of time."

I was not sure where the words came from, but they flowed from my heart, and that was all that mattered. At a slight gesture from Millicent Kelli reached up to my neck with the now open metal collar and fastened it to me as she kissed me with utmost tenderness, and I could see her love for me burning in her eyes. Millicent then turned to Kelli and it was her turn to answer.

"Kelli. Bond mate to Myka. Neko of the Aspect of Love. Do you understand and accept the binding of yourself to your mate, and all things that that entails? Knowing that acceptance of this binding is from now and for all of time, do you still accept Myka as your bonded mate?"

"Without hesitation, and with all of the love that I possess, I accept my bond mate Myka from now and for all of time."

At a similar gesture I reached out to Kelli's extended hand and I fastened the bracelet portion around her wrist, and returned her kiss with a heat and a passion that burned like fire inside of me. Millicent, however was not done and softly cleared her throat to get our attention.

"Having witnessed these two bond mates, and their willing acceptance of the binding between Neko and mate, we as sisters of the craft, servants of the great goddess, seal this binding for now and for all of time."

Having said the final words of the ceremony, Millicent and Penny again took up their chanting of what I can only assume was the spell that activated our bond, and within seconds I felt a burning in my body that seemed to well up from my very bones. As they chanted I could not tear my eyes away from Kelli's, and the feelings that I could get from the cord of love that ran between us increased until I could barely stand because of the emotional overload. The love that was flowing back and forth from Kelli to me dwarfed anything I could think of, and in that instant we were gifted with a near perfect understanding of the other.

As the two witches continued the spell Kelli began to glow with a soft golden light that increased in intensity very rapidly, and I noticed that I was surrounded by a similar but silver glow. As the moments passed, and as the power of the spell continued to build, the auras that surrounded Kelli and I began to mix, and in no time we were both covered in gold and silver light. The chain that ran between my collar and Kelli's bracelet had also started to glow with a white hot luminescence. And still the chant went on.

Winds swirled around us, and it felt like we might even lift off of our feet in complete defiance of gravity, and sense of pure joy permeated everything. I then felt a burning near my most sensitive spaces, and I looked down to see that the butterfly of my tattoo was glowing with its own heat now too. My eyes found the imprint I had left on Kelli's breast during Valentine's and it was also burning as bright as a sun making it hard to look at. The final piece that fell into place was when our anklets, the ones that I had given for Valentine's as well, began to burn along with the collar, the bracelet, and the tattoos.

The witches' chant seemed to reach a crescendo, and I felt a flood of power unlock inside of myself as it did, and I was sure that Kelli was experiencing the same. The middle of the chain that had linked our bonding totems sparked with an extra bright light which moved to both of the main pieces as if it were a fuse lit in the center. Finally the burning ends reached our individual totems and for a moment all of the heat, light, and power we were experiencing increased in intensity one last time. A pulse of power that caused my legs to tremble, and put me on the verge of collapse, completed the spell and we were suddenly left with only the darkness of the cold Scottish night.

Kelli and I both sank to the ground before either of us lost the ability to stand on our own, and as we sat there recovering we embraced as if we would be separated at any moment. She was in my head now, and I was in hers. This wasn't what we had had up to now, where we had a general idea of the other's emotions. It was now far deeper than we could have imagined.

I now had a perfect and immediate knowledge of all that Kelli was feeling, and I was sure that I was just as open to her. I still felt her love for me, but it was like the difference between seeing in black and white and then suddenly seeing a world filled with brilliant color. I felt everything about me that made her weak in the knees, everything that irritated her, what made her want to protect me, and the things that made her want to leave me to my own devices so that I would eventually learn. All of it rolled together into one complex knot of feeling that was her love, and I nearly wept to feel it all.

We now shared our hopes, our dreams, our fears, and our petty jealousies, and we did so without the filter of trying to protect or deceive the other. For the first time in our shared history Kelli and I were completely honest with each other, and would be forever more. My next random thought made me giggle in amusement.

"What? What's so funny," Kelli asked me because I couldn't stop or hide my mirth.

"I was just thinking. Now we can play Hot or Not without having to speak to each other," and both of us burst out in laughter. "God I love you."

"I know, I mean, I actually do know. And I love you."

"Well now," Millicent smiled at us, gaining our attention. "The binding is almost complete. It has been a great number of years since we have welcomed a Neko fully to this world, and I do not need my gifts to know the two of you, being thrice marked and thrice bound, will do great things."

"Almost complete," Kelli asked in confusion.

"Thrice marked, thrice bound," was my question, and both caused Millicent to chuckle.

"I will answer you both," she replied. "As with most ceremonial spells that bind a soul to a soul, they are not considered complete, and can still fade, until they are consummated. Under normal circumstances, this spell, this binding, would be a wondrous celebration of life and love. The participants usually sealed the rites on an altar in a place of magic, like this one."

Once both of us realized what she was talking about, Kelli and I blushed in complete embarrassment.

"But, with what has happened here, I would find it distasteful to even think about in this place. It is probably best that it be completed before you sleep this night. I am sure that Aliara and her friend can stand as witnesses of your sealing."

"Wait? You mean they have to watch us," I cried in astonishment.

"For the magic to be binding, yes. With the research she has done, I am sure Kelli could explain it to you. As for being Thrice Marked, Thrice Bound, it has to do with how the magic that has brought you two together in its binding web. Remember that three is one of the most powerful numbers in magic."

Millicent then indicated the collar and bracelet that were now a part of us. She indicated the tattoo of the butterfly that was on the both of us. And she pointed out the anklets that we wore, which held symbols of who we were for the other person. All things that we had chosen to mark ourselves with for each other.

"You've both been marked by the other three times, and when the spell accomplished its work those markings burned with binding fire. They cannot be removed, and they will forever symbolize the attachment you have forged between yourselves. The use of the three marks this binding is especially powerful."

"Myka," Cassandra called out to me from across the clearing, and I could not help but hear the panic in her voice. "Come here! Quickly please! She is awake."

She must have meant the sisters. The Neko twins, who had been forced to do the bidding of Mathias for an unknown number of years, were now free and wanted to speak with me. I ran to them as quickly as I could, but as I approached, the look that was in Cassandra's eyes caused my heart to fall. Something was terribly wrong.

"I believe that they were waiting for your binding, Myka. There is nothing more that I can do for them. I'm sorry," and with those soul crushing words, and a comforting embrace, Cassandra left me to be alone with the twins.

I had been right when I thought that the two Neko seemed even more gaunt and wasted when Mathias was trying to break through the ward to bind me. Now, up close, I could see that there was little left of the two but skin and bones. They were smaller than me to begin with, but when their power was drained in the attempt to break me it left them in such a state that they looked like pictures you see of dying children in famine blighted countries. My heart felt like it was being shredded and I could feel Kelli's pain in response to my own. One of the twins opened her eyes, and through all of the suffering I knew she must be feeling, I could see the joy that had returned to her soul. Her sister's eyes remained closed, and she was barely breathing.

"Sister. We are free now, and we thank you so much for this gift," the gaunt little Neko said to me as she reached up to lay her weak and bony hand on my face. "I speak for us both now. She is not strong enough to do so anymore."

"Shh," I replied in a choked whisper. "We can get you some help. You can get better. There is so much I need to ask, so much I need to learn. Please just..."

"There is little time left sister," she breathed, as she interrupted me. "Because of you we go to our rest, free. It has been so long, and we miss James."

"James? He was your mate! The one Mathias took you from?"

"He was," she nodded and the weak grip she now had on my hand brought tears to my eyes. "We get to see him now, after all this time. Please don't weep for us, for you have given us the greatest of gifts."

Her hand slipped from mine as her eyes closed for the last time, and the tears were now flowing from my eyes in a torrent. And then her sister's eyes shot open for a moment and looked at me with both longing and a touch of fear. Her tiny, wasted hand tried to grip mine but she didn't have enough strength to do even that, because she used the last of it to speak.

"Mama," she whispered to me in a barely audible voice. "I don't want to go."

And moments later they had both breathed their last and my heartbroken wail sang its pain to the deep and unfeeling sky. I held their tiny hands as I wept over the senseless loss of two of my own. As I grieved, Kelli slipped in behind me and wrapped me in her arms. She held me silently and allowed me my sadness, and the tears I felt falling on me from her eyes reminded me that it was her sadness also. What had been done to these sisters had been a grave injustice, and I silently railed that there was nothing that I could do for them now.

Deep inside of me, however, something tied to my power had heeded my desire to help the sisters in some way. I felt it as I cried over them, and I gasped when it eventually reached out and latched onto their bodies. The two Neko began to glow with a soft light, one of them green, and one of them blue, and the pulsing of the light was in rhythm with my own heartbeat.

The light pulsed, and pulsed, and pulsed, and as it did I felt an invisible conduit form between me and them. Their light surrounded me, it warmed my soul, and it burrowed its way into my heart. It also caused my skin to burn like it was on fire, and my body was glowing as much as the twins were. In moments the experience ended, as fast as it began, and I once again lay down to weep over my loss.

Though Kelli had come to us, she did nothing but hold me once more as I wept over all of the sisters' suffering, and for a long time I felt as if a part of me had been cut away. Millicent sat with us and stroked my hair while singing some childhood song she knew in an attempt to comfort me, and I was eventually grateful, but not in that moment. Cassandra did her part by bringing us the blankets we had been using so that we would be covered. And through it all, Kelli just held me.

Eventually the inspector that Penny had mentioned arrived at the stone ring and spoke with us. From our statements, and some explanation by Millicent and Penny, he had a pretty good idea of what had actually happened. As Penny had mentioned, he was somewhat aware of the existence of magic, and he was able to weave a series of events that the rest of the public would believe.

The story that would eventually be told was about a crazy Yank who had it in his head that he was some sort of occult master. He had been keeping slaves, and on the night in question he killed his supposed girlfriend in a demented ritual, and tried to do the same to other girls he knew. Eventually I had broken free and stopped him. The story was sensational, lurid, and even though he had escaped, it made for great television. The positive of the whole thing was that Jasmine's parents would at least have some sort of closure.

That night Penny took all of us back to her house so that we could sleep, and so we could speak with the other investigators and the press the next day. Ali and Jess took some convincing, but eventually we did seal our rite before witnesses, though it was difficult and not really satisfying. Cassandra and Millicent had transported home, but Ali stayed with us to fly back the long way at Jess' request.

She really had suffered quite a bit of trauma during the ordeal. I mean, she had been drugged and kidnaped like the rest of us, but a good friend of hers was murdered, and she learned that magic was indeed real. Ali had agreed to stay and hold her hand while she sorted things out in her mind. And that was how two days later we were back on the McAlister company jet headed for home after what would go down as both the best and the worst spring break trip of all time. I closed my eyes as Kelli and I laid together on one of the couches, and welcomed the blissful peace of sleep.

My eyes shot open after what only seemed moments, but I soon realized that I was again in the dream world, not sure how much actual time had passed. I didn't recognize anything about where I was, but I knew that I was feeling a definite sense of dread just being here. As I walked, I was moving through a series of hallways built of stone, with torches lining the walls. The feel of the structure suggested that it was very, very old. There were no windows that I could see as I made my way forward, and every so often there was an old iron bound wooden door that I passed. I felt I was being drawn somewhere, but I had no idea why, and the feeling of dread persisted.

I finally found myself facing another of the heavy looking doors at the end of a long passage, and I reached out and pushed against the rough wood. The door opened easily, and without any of the creaking or grinding I would have expected. I walked into a large room that was filled with shelves of books, a table littered with pen and paper, and a number of strange devices which probably had some magical purpose. There was a circle drawn in one corner of the room, strange symbols bound within its lines. I could smell that there were some small animals, probably in cages, hidden somewhere in the shadows where I could not see. And I felt a presence, a blackness of soul that made me want to vomit, which caused me to spin about in alarm.

"So, you are the new Neko that has caused me such trouble," a strange but sweet voice addressed me.

I could not tell if the figure before me was male or female, but they were dressed in a long red cloak, trimmed in black and silver, and it reminded me of Jasmine's green one. Whoever this was they were much taller than me, and a hood was pulled low enough over their face that I could not make out who it might be. The one thing that I was sure of was that this person felt absolutely and utterly evil.

"And you are coming into your power now that you have had your binding," that sickly sweet voice continued. "Oh, I'm going to have a lot of fun breaking you and that little bitch you call your mate, and when I am through you will beg for a death that I will grant only after I have destroyed all that you cherish."

I had been scared at first, but when this person threatened Kelli my simmering anger rushed up from my center of power. I hissed at their audacity and crouched low in preparation for a fight with this miserable human.

"If you even come near Kelli, I will make you wish you had never been born," I seethed, and I looked to see if I could discover any emotional bonds that might be attached to this dark stranger, but what I saw was only blackness in their soul.

"Ooh, our little kitten has a bit of fire. I'm impressed. And do not worry yet about your precious little bitch. You are thrice marked and thrice bound now, and the protection which that provides prevents me from acting immediately, but my time will come," and this last was said with a chuckle that sent shivers down my spine.

I decided that, even if this was a dream, I would rather take action than wait. I was prepared to strike and I moved up onto the balls of my feet so that I could strike quickly, but a mocking laugh froze me in my tracks.

"Oh, you have no power over me here little kitten, and I just wanted to see you for myself. I think now, however, is a good time for you to leave my domain."

And the cloaked figure raised their arm with a closed fist, their gesture looking like they were about to throw something at me. For an instant, however, I caught a glimpse under her cloak, and I did mean her. Whoever this was had a deliciously curvy body, and I briefly saw a full swelling breast with a perfectly placed nipple, and a quick glance lower allowed me to verify that there was neatly trimmed hair between her voluptuous legs. There was not even a hint of a penis. This was definitely a woman, and after my realization I began to laugh out loud. This new enemy had made a mistake. Perhaps not a critical one, but a mistake none the less.

Her change in posture suggested confusion, and after a few seconds of my laughter the cloaked woman spoke.

"I would like to know what you find so amusing little kitten, and why you are laughing when you should be whimpering in fear."

I pretended to wipe my eyes of nonexistent tears, just to piss her off before answering, "You know, I barely find out about you from a friend and you waste little time coming into my dream to intimidate me. I would say that that was done a bit early, but hey, it's your show. What I truly find funny is that the Circle and I knew absolutely nothing about you other than to call you Betrayer."

She flinched, and took a hesitant step back before trying to mock me with her words, "And that is all you shall ever know before I have you in my grip."

"Well, that's not really true either," I replied, parroting her mocking tone. "Before now we knew next to nothing. Now, however, we know you're a woman!"

The screech of anger that came from her cloaked form cut through what little confidence I had built up to that point. I took a step back, actually fearing for my life in that instant. She raised her fisted hand again and let it drop as she opened her fingers in a harsh slashing gesture. She had also called out some harsh word as her arm descended and a bright flash filled my blinded eyes, and I felt as if I was falling into some unknown pit.

After what I felt could have been either a few seconds or a few hours later, I opened my eyes and found myself back in Kelli's arms, with the comforting sounds of the jet all around us. Her deep breathing let me know that she was still sleeping soundly and I hugged her tighter to my body as I kissed her forehead. She twitched a little bit and mumbled something unintelligible before returning to her deep rhythmic breaths, and I lay there for a while, content just to hold her.