Ashtyn slipped into the
back seat of the van, Max sitting next to her.
Rita was up front, Q next to her, guiding her towards the house.
This was a brief moment
of stillness, of calm, and Ashtyn took advantage of it. She closed her eyes, drifting through her
mindscape into that familiar stone temple.
She needed to regroup, she needed to plan, and she needed Tabitha’s
advice.
The temple was as it
always was, a stone chapel, the archways that made up the walls revealing the
nearly endless sea of clouds. Tabitha
was kneeling in front of the altar, her eyes closed.
Ashtyn paused. Did deities pray?
“Tabitha, I…” Ashtyn took
a step towards the other woman.
“She has Bobby, which
means that witch has taken my mother.”
Tabitha did not turn when she spoke.
“I can still sense her, but the connection is weak. I cannot join her, or Doctore.”
“We need to do
something.” Ashtyn did her best to hide the fear in her voice. It was a fear that she was sure Tabitha
shared with her.
Tabitha turned, her eyes
glistening with tears. “What can we do?
What can I do? I am alone.”
“We can fight!” This was
not the conversation she was expecting to have. “We must fight! I know we
haven’t been together as long as your mother and Bobby, but we have trained, we
have fought together. We can do this.”
“I do not know if I can
join you in battle for this.” Tabitha stood, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“This is not a realm of the Nameless, or one that Scribes have any control
over.”
“You’ll still be with
me.” She embraced Tabitha. “You are always with me. You are a part of me. My
body is your weapon. Even if you can’t
be there next to me, you will be inside of me, guiding me, giving me strength.”
The embrace broke
slowly. Both women stood there in
silence for a moment, bracing themselves for what lie ahead of them. It was true. They had battled together, but not
without support. The prospect was
terrifying, but they had no choice.
“Do not ask my why,”
Tabitha broke the silence, “but Aria, the girl in the glass orb, she will be
the key to this battle.”
“The Scribes slipping you
a little knowledge?”
“It is how they
work.”
“Those wonderful,
mysterious ways.” Ashtyn laughed.
Tabitha smiled. It was a smile that seemed almost alien to
her features because of its infrequency, and yet, it gave Ashtyn hope.
“I should still be able
to materialize weapons for you, but not much else.” Tabitha glanced out at the
sea of clouds, at their beauty. “We must
bring Juktha and Doctore back. Without
them, we are not whole.”
“We’ll do whatever it
takes.”
Tabitha glanced back at
her, the smile gone, her face a mask of seriousness. “You must return to your
plain now. You draw close to the gateway
to the witch’s house.”
Ashtyn hugged Tabitha one
last time, then pulled back.
The temple faded, and so
with it the sense of security that it gave Ashtyn.
As much as she knew that
Tabitha was with her, it still felt like she was on her own in this battle.
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