Order of the Shattered Cross: Pt. 02

Timothy launched himself out of the mud like a missile. The Sister was on her way down when he caught her, secured her head, and broke their fall by using the same magic he shot out of the mud with. The rolled across the ground, stopping just shy of another pentagram. Timothy stood up, then pulled the Sister to her feet. She immediately fell back to her knees to catch her breath.

Timothy dug his foot into the dirt and drew a circle around the two of them. He drew a pentagram and in the center the symbol for earth.

"Maiden," Timothy said, and the girl's hair began to float. Timothy's hands began to glow, and he pushed them together. The Sister shielded her eyes from the brightness. He pulled his hands apart, the combined light now only in his right hand. He grunted from the effort, before dropping down and punching the earth. The ground rippled like a stone being dropped in water. As it crossed each pentagram trap, it set it off. Green, red, yellow, and blue bursts of light erupted all around them. Fire erupted, and water shot like a fire hydrant. Bursts of air broke tree branches above them, and the earth snapped shut like the jaws of an alligator. Each trap released a horribly explosive blast the made their ears ring. The energy swelled toward them, but a shield of light protected them within the circle he had drawn.

The Sister clinched her eyes shut and curled her body into a fetal position. The sound made her nauseous, and she struggled to find the strength to unravel her body. Slowly but surely, she released her body and pushed herself from the ground and to her feet. The area around them was steaming like a battlefield after an artillery bombardment. Trees had fallen over, craters were in the earth, and the dust was still floating through the air and settling down.

Unknown to them, no one outside of the forest heard a thing. To out the outside world, all they heard was the wind.

"Christ," the Sister said, her breathing finally settling enough to allow speech.

"She knows we're here," Timothy said.

"No shit," the girl replied.

"How did you find me?" a voice echoed from all around them. Timothy tried to find the source, but it was too harmonic. Unnaturally so. "No matter."

"I just want to talk," Timothy said, spinning while looking for incoming attacks.

"She's more powerful than she looks. Rippling earth to set off my traps was basic, but that barrier was impressive," the witch said from everywhere. The witch believed the Sister executed that magic. Timothy could use that to his advantage.

"Where is she?" the Sister asked.

"Maiden?" Timothy asked.

"I'm trying," the girl replied, focusing to locate the witch to no avail.

"Try faster," Timothy said.

The witch laughed, and the echo seemed to be bouncing from every direction. It was impossible to determine the source. Timothy went back-to-back with the Sister, as they slowly moved in a circle to avoid an ambush.

"Can't find me? You're in my domain. I rule here," the witch taunted with another maniac laugh.

"She's theatrical," Timothy said.

"Yes, but she's also powerful," the girl said. "The entire forest is a barrier. We walked right into it. Unless you get your hands on her I won't be able to do much."

He spun again and was face to face with the witch. She hurled him forward into the truck of a tree front first. He tried to push off, managing to get his back against the bark, but vines suddenly wrapped around him and tied him firmly. Timothy flexed his muscles and arched his back to create any gaps as the plants cinched down on him.

"Sir!" the Sister screamed and started to run toward him. The ground beneath her turned to quicksand and she started to sink. She reached for solid ground to keep herself from falling but it was no use. The muck dragged her down, until it enveloped her head, and she was suffocating. As fast as she sank, she fell through the earth into a chasm beneath and belly flopped hard. She groaned and rolled to her back. She whipped the mud from her eyes and saw the witch standing over her.

"You were the best they could send?" the witch asked and crouched next to her.

Indigo appeared the same age as Sister Frost. She wore a black, tattered dress and appeared to not have bathed in months. Her pale skin was stained with grime. Her hair was black as soot, but with patches of her natural blonde still visible. Her fingernails were filthy, and her teeth yellow. She wore no shoes, her feet almost the same color as the ground, making her appear to be ankle deep in mud. Her eyes were blue, deep and vibrant, the same as her name.

"We just want to talk," the Sister said.

"The Confederation of Cunts doesn't talk," Indigo said, and choked her by slowly closing her hand into a fist. The Sister gasped and clenched her throat. "Where is that power I just witnessed?"

"I...I..." the Sister gasped.

"Fight me!" Indigo screamed. The Sister's eyes began to turn blood red. Darkness enveloped her sight as everything began to go black. "Fight me!"

A hand broke through the mud ceiling and grabbed Indigo by her hair. It pulled back hard and ripped her through the muck and threw her across the ground. Indigo shot up from the ground and slowly floated to her feet. Her head tilted in confusion when she saw Timothy free from his binds and pulling the Sister from the chasm.

"How are you free?" Indigo asked. Timothy rested the unconscious Sister on the ground, gently lowering her head and returning to his feet. "You did that?"

"Like I said, I just want to talk. I'm clearly not from the Covens."

"You most certainly are not. I still have no interest in answering you. Leave, or die. Your choice. I don't often give this chance, so I suggest you take my offer," Indigo replied and made herself ready. Her eyes began to glow, so Timothy knew she was ready to unleash something.

"Hard way it is," Timothy said and started to walk to her.

"Goodbye," Indigo said, and unleashed a torrent of fire at him. Timothy took the flames head on but kept walking with a raised hand. The fire split around him and she stopped. Steam billowed from Timothy's palm as he blew on it. "How?"

"Last chance," Timothy said.

"For you maybe," she said, and formed a barrier of fire around herself. Timothy stopped outside of the flames and examined the wall. "Touching this is like touching the sun. Only a superior witch could cross this barrier unharmed."

"You don't say," Timothy said, and stepped through the fire, unharmed.

"What in the..." Indigo said but was interrupted by Timothy jumping through her body. When he stepped through her, he dragged out her soul, making the fire barrier collapse alongside her physical body.

"You have a few minutes before this is permanent," Timothy threatened. Indigo saw her body on the ground, and struggled to be free, but Timothy had absolute control over her. She was in his world now. "The thing with being a Fractured, is that I can kill, and then ask questions. You might want to answer them before your body will reject your soul like a heart transplant."

"How is this possible?" Indigo asked and saw the girl standing behind him. "You. Your soul is a witch? You have a fraction of her power, and yet, she can overpower me?"

"You're an amateur compared to my shadow," the girl teased. Tearing a soul from someone's body was terrifyingly old magic.

"These powers haven't existed for thousands of years. Not since the first generation. You're a daughter of Lilith," Indigo said. Timothy turned to the girl for a moment, then back to Indigo.

"Did you summon the Void intentionally?" Timothy asked.

"Yes," she said, and Timothy let her soul go. Indigo was no longer in a fighting mood. "I thought I could trap and kill her. I was wrong."

"Why try? Why even wake that thing up?" Timothy asked.

"She was already awake. We contained her once we discovered it, but we lost her. I saw the havoc she wrought, and knew she needed to be destroyed. Our writings say only the Black Winged Angel can kill her. We thought that meant a demon."

"A demon? Is that why the coven was practicing dark magic?" Timothy asked.

"At first, but we realized we had mistranslated it. Before we could act the Confederation attacked. The Black Winged Angel isn't a demon. It's something else entirely. Whereas the Void represents nothing, the Black Winged Angel is everything. All things, all at once."

"That's impossible," Timothy said.

"So is the Void."

"Where does it go after it disappears?" Timothy asked.

"I don't know. I just know what makes it come back. Luckily it can only consume disembodied souls, but it's also frighteningly strong and will kill to claim a soul if hungry enough," Indigo explained.

"Why did you save her? The fractured. Why did you leave a note so someone would find it?" Timothy asked.

"I had no choice. Her passenger was too powerful to allow it to be consumed. With that soul, it could have stayed in this plain indefinitely. I left the note so the danger would be discovered without revealing myself to the Confederation. Guess you found me anyway. You used ink eyes, didn't you?"

Timothy felt he had all he needed, so threw her soul back toward her body. They merged, and Indigo snapped awake and gasped for air like she surfaced from underwater. She couldn't yet stand, and remained on all fours, trembling in fear at the power she just witnessed.

Timothy left her and walked over to his exorcist. She was still unconscious, covered head to toe in mud, in tattered clothes like a homeless beggar. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her. Indigo had found her feet by the time he turned around to face her one last time. The witch stumbled away and disappeared into the trees. When she was out of sight, he proceeded out of the woods, his exorcist, resting soundly in his arms.