Chapter 19-Circe's Battle
I turned around just in time to see Draven disappearing, his expression unreadable. Good, the last thing I wanted was for him to witness what was sure to come. The sight of Circe made me unbearably jittery, I wanted to crawl right out of my skin and slither away as fast as I could. Her coarse salt and pepper hair was braided off to one side of her head in a pony tail, some of the strands sticking out in odd directions. She was still wearing the same shimmery outfit from before with the turquoise blue broach clasped firmly in the middle. I could feel the power radiating off Circe and knew I could do little to stop her. No matter what powers I had, hers were far more advanced.
She smiled a wicked grin, her brittle yellow teeth and broken looking nose making my stomach clench. “You’re every bit as stupid as I assumed you would be,” she said pacing, but keeping her eyes focused solely on me. I hoped she hadn’t noticed Draven in the room before he had managed to vanish. “You were really willing to risk your life for this puny human friend of yours?” I mustered up every ounce of strength I had and tried to stand tall, my feet firmly planted on the ground.
“I was and still am,” I responded defiantly.
She spun her hand around in the air and pointed straight at me. A spark of light shot out and blasted me in the chest. I felt my body falling and thought that this was going to be the end. I wondered what it would be like on the other side, if there was one. Were there pearly white gates like I had always heard of growing up? After the initial shock wore off I realized she hadn’t killed me yet and that the impact of the rugged dirt floor I expected never came. Instead, I had landed with a hard thud into a chair identical to the one Zilla was in. I tried to get up and move, but a thick cord of chains suddenly whipped around my ankles and wrists binding me in.
I was trapped with no way out, at the mercy of someone so evil you could drown in her black aura. Maybe there was a way I could soften her up? I tried to look as innocent as possible. “Please don’t,” I said begging.
She snorted. “So young and yet so naïve. Tell me dear, how did you expect this to end? You would waltz in here, rescue your friend and make it home all in one piece?”
This was not the direction I wanted things to go in, but I had to do something and fast. “Actually,” I said trying to sound sure of myself, “I came to bargain with you.”
“What?” Zilla said incredulously, “you can’t be serious.”
Circe’s eyebrows raised in what I could only hope was interest. “Silence you insolent human.” Zilla did as she was told and clamped her lips shut tightly, although she gave me the angriest stare.
“Me for her,” I said nodding to us both since I couldn’t use my hands. “And I won’t even put up a fight as long as she goes free and unharmed.”
“You do realize that I already have you right where I want you and that there is no good reason to comply with your request.”
I did realize that, but it was worth a try. “There’s no reason to harm her. She’s got nothing to do with this, it’s me that you want and now you’ve got me. I’ll do whatever you ask as long as you let her go. Please.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. I could see that the wheels were turning in her head, but would it be in my favor or hers? Ultimately she chose hers.
“While your offer was favorable, I’d rather keep the other human around to feed my very hungry friends. I do get somewhat bored of giving them my own blood, I’m sure they’ll be delighted at the prospect of fresh meat.” I pictured several Viale like creatures draining the life out of Zilla and felt nauseous.
“What’s she talking about?” Zilla asked frightened. I had forgotten how little she knew about all of this, the different kinds of vampires there were, some good and others bad, like Viale.
“Please,” I said trying to reason with her, “you don’t have to do this.”
“You’re right,” she said grinning from ear to ear, “I don’t have to, I want to.”
Before she could call in her minions I screamed, “Just kill me already!” If we had to die, I wanted it to be swift and relentless.
She clucked her tongue and gave me a knowing stare. “Calm down child. Where did you get the crazy idea that I was going to kill you?”
“I don’t know. It couldn’t possibly be that you’ve got me tied to a chair in the middle of nowhere,” I said sarcastically.
She tried to hide the smile I had elicited from her through my response, but I caught it. “I like your cynicism,” she said walking forward and brushing a strand of hair from my face. I tried to pull away, but she squished my cheeks between her hands and pulled me in closer. The stench coming off of her was next to horrendous and I was eager to get free. “You are a feisty one,” she said letting go. “Just like your mother.”
What did she mean just like my mother? Did she know her? I had to find out more information. Before I could ask she snapped her fingers and an intense searing pain shot through my body. I felt like someone grabbed me by the arms and legs and started pulling me in different directions. I cried out and Zilla started whimpering. “This is going to be fun,” she said giggling. After a few more times of that same shooting pain I could tell she was going to switch tactics. I was exhausted and wanted to pass out right there, but I had to be strong. I wouldn’t make it out alive if I didn’t.
She placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled as loud as possible. I flinched and her smile widened. It took me a minute to hear the footsteps bounding down the halls above us, it sounded like a herd of elephants were headed our direction. The creaking of wood signaled their arrival. Zilla looked terrified as four slimy, mangy and seriously deformed Polong’s came slithering into the room. I knew why she had called them and my heart beat louder in my chest. “The one on the left,” she said pointing, “that’s your meal for today.”
Zilla began to sob as they licked their lips and came at her. The sickening crunch of their teeth in her flesh as she screamed had me clamoring against my chair.
“There’s no use fighting it,” Circe said her voice cutting through the noise, “it’s in your blood.” I had to distract her so I could think of a way to get us both out of this mess.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked trying to pique her interest. She pondered for a moment and said, “I guess it won’t hurt anything if I tell you, it’s not like it’s going to change what’s to come.” I nodded in agreement hoping she wouldn’t see through my eagerness. The more she talked the more I could concentrate on a plan or try to anyway. The slurping noises going on next to me set my whole body on edge, making my stomach rumble. I tried not to look her direction for fear that I might lose my cool and vomit. I had to save Zilla.
“Your mother thought she was so clever, leading Thanatos on like she did.” I couldn’t let her know how much I really knew about all of this, otherwise she might just get it over with and I needed time to think.
“What do you mean? Who’s Thanatos?” I asked trying to sound curious.
“Only the greatest ruler on any planet,” she said enthusiastically.
“What does he want with me?”
“Revenge of course,” she said arrogantly, as if this was something I should have already known.
“But why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Because of your mother’s actions, you are going to be the one punished.”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said dismissing what I had just said.
“What could my mother have done to warrant such treatment?”
“You really don’t know do you?” she asked cautiously.
I tried to look innocent as I said, “I don’t. Please, tell me.”
She laughed and my skin crawled. I knew bits and pieces, but if I could get some more information out of Circe then I was willing to risk what might happen to me.
“Your mother was a murderer and a good
one at that.” Of everything I expected her to say, this was not what I pictured.
“You’re lying,” I spat at her.
“Oh, I wish I was. Sadly, I’m not. She murdered relentlessly and with such reckless abandon that she inevitably drew the attention of Thanatos. When he saw how much pleasure she gleaned from killing so many innocent people he gladly took her under his wing. In my opinion it was the worst mistake he ever made.”
I felt sick to my stomach, she had to be lying. My mother may seem distant and cold sometimes, but I couldn’t imagine her killing anyone, let alone enjoying it. I recalled the diary entry and how she said she lashed out at anyone and everyone. Surely she only meant yelling or something right? Not actually causing physical harm to people? “I don’t believe you,” I said holding back tears. She had to be toying with my emotions and I didn’t want to do anything to make me look weak.
She smiled as if sensing my thoughts. “Do you know how she got to be such an amazing assassin for Thanatos?”
My lips quivered. I knew I wasn’t going to like what she would say next. “No.”
“She killed her husband, in cold blood.” I struggled to keep my emotions in check as I recalled the diary entry once again. She never admitted to killing Kaine, only saying that his death was tragic. Was this really possible?
“How?” I asked, the words coming out before I could even think them.
“Passion,” she said pacing in front of me, “is such a finicky thing. If you get too wrapped up in it, you never know what could happen. In this case, your mother took his life into her own hands. It’s probably something you can ask her after Thanatos agrees to send you back, but not until you’ve made the change of course.” That statement brought me back to reality. It didn’t matter what happened before and if I made it out of this alive I would hopefully be able to ask her about it later.
I glanced over at Zilla feeling terrible that this conversation had me so wrapped up I completely forgot she was there. Her head was lulled to the side, eyes shut and skin pale, but the Polong’s were still gnawing at her. Circe stepped forward as if sensing the change in my mood and grabbed my cheek squeezing hard enough to elicit tears.
I squirmed out of her harsh grip trying to think of a way to break free. Suddenly it hits me and I feel like a complete idiot that it has taken me this long to figure it out. I bet Circe doesn’t even realize that Zilla and I have powers, how could I work that to our advantage?
Without that awful life-zapping bracelet on, Zilla can perform magick. She could easily reappear as her ghostly form and cause a distraction and I could hopefully get these chains off and fight back. But then I look at her again and I see that she’s barely alive, her body slumped to the right and I feel despair welling up inside me. Maybe this is the end for us because as of right now, I am completely out of options. “Just get it over with,” I shouted at Circe in frustration.
It’s then that I notice Draven’s transparent figure creeping up behind Circe. He nods almost as if he is encouraging me to antagonize her. I raise my eyebrow, but he just nods again, pointing towards Zilla and I take that as a sign. The polong’s are done with their meal and come to stand tentatively beside Circe, none of them noticing Draven who turns invisible. “If I get out of this,” I say in my most threatening voice, “I am going to kill you.”
Her lip quirks up into a half smile as she spins around and head’s over to a table against the wall. She scoots a wooden bowl forward and starts pouring different colored liquids and items into it. As she begins mixing her concoction, I pretend to just glance around the room, but out of the corner of my eye I can see Draven loosening the chains around Zilla’s hands. He pulls out a syringe filled with an icky pink liquid in it, reminding me of Pepto Bismol, and gently slides it underneath the skin on her wrist, pushing until it’s empty. I made a mental note to ask him what that was later. As she begins to stir, he leans forward and whispers something into her ear, after which she remains perfectly still. I can feel the tension growing in the room as I wait for their next move. He holds up three fingers and puts each one down slowly as if counting backwards.
The next thing I know, the bowl that Circe is attending to goes crashing to the floor as Zilla’s ghostly form appears next to her. Almost instantly I can feel Draven at my side trying to get my set of restraints off. Circe takes a swing at Zilla, but her hand immediately goes through her reminding me of the first time Zilla showed me her powers in my kitchen. Circe shouts to the polong’s to make sure I don’t escape, but she needn’t worry, my chains may have been loosened, but I’m still trapped in the chair. Just a little bit more and I would have been home free. Draven backs away so he doesn’t give his position up as the polong’s surround me. My skin crawls at the sight of the drips of blood tinted saliva rolling off their faces and hitting the floor. They lick their lips and stare at me.
I focus my attention back to Zilla who is continuously knocking vials, bowls and other items off onto the floor. At first Circe continued to swat at her, even going so far as to try blasting her with spells, but to no avail. Then, out of nowhere, Circe stopped dead in her tracks and laughed viciously, making the hair on my arm stand up. She turned on her heel and strode over to Zilla’s slack body, grabbing her wrist and flipping it over to study the tattoo on her arm. “Well, what do we have here?” she asks tossing Zilla’s hand back down like a rag doll. “Maybe I will keep you around after all, daughter of the angel.”
We all exchange a look of utter confusion as she rests two hands on Zilla’s chest. She recites something under her breath and a burst of light erupts through her fingertips into Zilla’s body. I let out a scream as Zilla’s ghostly form drops to the floor and starts to dissolve. Then I feel Draven at my back again working at the chains, somehow he managed to slip through the ring of polong’s around me. Zilla’s limp body begins to stir and she sits up straight as Circe comes forward and smacks her hard across the face. Zilla whimpers for a minute, but remains defiant. Now that I know she is alive, I needed to get us out of here and fast. Thanks to Draven I am now loose enough to wedge free, but first I have to get rid of these polong’s.
I’m pondering this when Zilla spits on Circe and she wheels back and smacks Zilla again. I can feel my entire face get hot and enflamed. I wouldn’t let her do this anymore. That’s it! I could feel the anger coming off of me in waves now as my body began to glow a pale orange and then igniting into something far scarier. I caught Circe’s eye as the flames started lapping my skin. She looked torn, like she wasn’t sure how strong I really was and whether or not I was an equal match for her.
I broke through the chains and stood up as the polong’s rushed at me. I centered myself and gently pushed both arms outward causing a wall of flames to shoot out around me in a circular motion. The polong’s tried to run, but as the flames touched their skin they burst causing ashes to float down to the floor.
Draven appeared beside me for back-up and Circe gasped. “Draven,” she said cackling. “It’s been a long time.” She smirked and continued on. “You two brats and an Unforgiven think you can take me on?”
“Yes,” Zilla said as she broke free of her chains and stepped away from her. Now we were three against one, I just hoped Circe wouldn’t put up too much of a fight.
We all stepped forward and I launched a fireball directly at her chest, but it rebounded off of some sort of protective barrier and came whizzing right back at us. Draven braved the flames grabbing my wrist and yanking me down. The fireball blasted a whole through the wall behind us catching a few miscellaneous items on fire. When I looked back at him he had torn a piece of his shirt off and was wrapping it around his hand tightly. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air and I immediately felt terrible, but this fight was far from over.
I sneered at Circe who was laughing hysterically. “You didn’t think it would be that easy did you?” She pointed to me and with a flick of her wrist I im
mediately flew across the room smacking with a thud into the wall and slumping to the floor. Zilla and Draven tried to rush over, but she whispered something under her breath drawing an imaginary square into the air and they smacked headfirst into an invisible barrier. Both of them looked horrified as they rushed from side to side, back to front, even reaching up to the top, but hitting nothing except clear glass wall. They were completely trapped.
Circe walked over and tapped the box lightly with her knuckles then looked straight at Zilla when she said, “Don’t bother trying to use your other form, I’ve already put a spell on here preventing you.” Zilla looked outraged, but remained calm. They sulked over to the side closest to me defeated and put their hands against the glass. The look on both of their faces made me want to burst into tears.
I was in an excruciatingly enormous amount of pain as Circe marched over to me. I should have feared for my life, but all I could think about is how knowledgeable she seems about Unforgiven’s. I briefly recalled Draven’s story about when he was changed and how she was the one who did it, so it all made sense. There was a burning question that’s been eating away at me since I promised to help him after everything he’s done for me. I work around the fuzziness in my head and make my lips move. “You know about Unforgiven’s?”
I feel something warm start to trickle down the side of my head and knew that I was definitely going to need medical attention after this, but I waited patiently for her answer as she smirked and said, “What an odd question for someone who might possibly not make it through the next five minutes of their life.”
“Please,” I said begging, “I just need to know how you can change an Unforgiven back and then I will do whatever you ask without complaint.” She eyed me wearily. I’m sure it’s because she knows if she doesn’t cooperate I’m going to put up a huge fight, but she’s weighing the options as to whether I’m injured enough to rebel or not, so I stand up and put my hands on my hips in defiance.
“Such a firecracker,” she said amused. “I can’t see what it would hurt considering that none of you are going to make it out of here alive. You would need to seek out someone named Odwalla Bodeip and that is the only information I can spare, time restraints and all. Now,” she said taking a step forward, “hold your hands out and be a good girl.”
I do as she says, but then think better of it and step back again. I’d rather die putting up a fight than go with her, besides, she was the one stupid enough to answer my question before restraining me. She reached out to grab me, but I instantly cast a fire barrier that burns her on contact. I dodged to the right, rolling forward and sprinting off toward Draven and Zilla hoping I can figure out a way to free them. I hear a few things shoot past me, but none of them touch me.
I reach the box and decide to try crashing right into it hoping it might shatter, but it doesn’t and I smack into it hard. The impact makes me dizzy, but I whip around frantically trying to think of another option before she descends on me and then a thought occurs to me, it’s a long shot, but it just might work. I stand up tall and brace myself for her next attack. As a bolt of lightning spirals towards me I duck to the ground and let it crash right into the box behind me.
I’m still lying there panting when a shattering noise erupts and shards of glass rain down around me. Draven and Zilla step up beside me and I sighed with relief, it worked. I immediately cast a fire barrier around all three of us and make sure to keep it up so she can’t break through us. Draven reaches into the pack on his shoulder and hands us each an athame. We take a step forward in unison and begin to attack. Zilla and Draven step off to the sides of me and I stay in the middle as we try to surround her. I manipulate the fire so it casts a separate barrier around all three of us.
Circe raises her hands and continuously shoots off different types of magic at us, but each one misses its target. The barriers are working despite the overwhelming weakness willing my body to stop. I have to keep it up or we all will die in here.
We have inched forward in on her enough to where we can reach out and touch her. I’m just about to strike out and land a blow when she drops to her knees, whips her hand around in the air and three giant tornados take off after us. My heart drops. I know my magic won’t be able to keep these massive things from sweeping us up and throwing us around. We try to retreat as she shoves her hands out in front of her and they take off. Zilla is the first to get swept up and I watch in horror out of the corner of my eye as it spins her around mercilessly and tosses her against the stairs near the exit. She doesn’t stir so she is either unconscious or dead. I hoped it was the first one for the sake of my sanity.
Draven and I manage to dodge them a few times, but the room is so small that ultimately there is nowhere to hide. As I’m rolling to the side and lunging forward I see Draven get picked up as well. His body smacks against the wall across from me as I continue on, he also doesn’t move. This is so not good. I’m the last man standing and I’m up against three whirling vortex’s, there is no way I can win. I make a break for Circe, if I can reach her I might be able to knock her down and make the tornados vanish.
I reach her just as I start to feel my clothes being pulled backwards and I know that I’m about to get caught up too. I swipe at her with my athame and manage a huge gash across her left cheek. She cries out in pain, but the tornadoes don’t falter, they are still coming after me. She swings around to grab me, but I duck and jump out of the way narrowly avoiding another tornado.
As I come up, I realize the serious error I’ve made. I should have just let the tornado take me. Circe had enough time to calculate where I would land and stepped forward, catching me off guard and overpowering me, twisting the knife from my grasp.
Before I could blink she plunged it deep into the pit of my stomach, the pain exploding through every nerve ending. Our eyes locked as I crashed to the floor. This was becoming a routine for me. The pain is so overwhelming I scrunch my eyes closed and say a silent prayer that I die quickly. The last thing I remember before I succumbed to the oblivion was Circe’s scream and a familiar voice.
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