Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Ahead on the slowly inclining slope we here a voice raised in the air. As we take a pause listening the night goes quiet. The guards signal us with a raised fist in the air to hold our positions. After a few seconds, their hands lower and we take a few steps.

“Somebody please. Somebody please help me. Oh god, please. Please help me” Someone screams.

The old man must know the scream because once he hears it he begins to run up the slope faster than I have seen someone his age move. The guards quickly rush after him with Santo-San behind him as they go. As we hear the cave I can hear a girl crying and as we reach the caves entrance a horrible scream pierces the air. With the guards at the ready in front of us there is a pause at the entrance of the cave in the dim light. To my left a lantern barely flickers. As I approach the men in front of me to see what has them so captured. I see the girl holding something. As I my eye adjust from the moonlight to the dim light of the cave I realize that it is my Draco she holds in her lap on the cave floor.

At once everyone rushes forward and begins to question her.

“What happened?”

“What have you done?”

“Is he alright?”

“Draco. Answer us please”

The girl crushes him so close that all we see are his eyes staring off into the distance as she does. “Io what happened here. You must tell us” Her father requested of her. No spark of recognition showed in the girls’ eyes. She looked up no focusing on a single soul even though she was crowded by many. “He fell.” She said and then she passed out on the cave floor releasing my son. As I rushed to him I felt my magic rise in the small face. I know that as I reached for him my eyes had turned to their eerie shade of blue.

When my magic gathers in my palm I reached to touch Draco’s face. With the sound of water raging in my ear I saw my magic turn my son away. Though my eyes were already watery, true tears now started to leak down my face. I felt my heartbreak knowing that my magic only turned away from those who cold not be saved. I gathered my magic once more and tried again only to get the same result. As I reach to try a third time I felt a hand on my arm pulling me away. I fought with all my might against the hold someone had on me dazed as I tried to revive my precious boy.

“Stop my love before you hurt yourself. You must calm yourself. He is gone. There is nothing we can do” I hear my master say as he holds my weeping form. “Gather him. We must take him home.” I hear him instruct the guards. I sag against him at his words. He picks me up and cradles me against his chest as I cry.

I startle as I am put into the carriage. I know not how we got here. My heart aches so much for the lost of my only child. I sit in the carriage staring off as my ears tune into the conversation outside. “We can put him on top. The winds from the ride will not hurt him now. We must make haste in our journey.” I rise from my seat in anger. I feel my power flow in a flooding torrent as I flow outside to the men that discuss what to do with my boy. “Give him to me. He is not a prize that someone has slain. He will not be strapped on to a carriage for all to see. I carried him into this world, and I will carry him out. Give him to me!” I screech at them.

I reach for my boy as they all take a step away feeling my wrath. With the strength of my power flooding my body I lift him to me on the water in the air. He flows into the carriage as if riding a gentle wave that is suspended in the air. I take my seat and let him come down gently, so his head sits in my lap. As others join me in the carriage I look into the eyes of my boy. I sob as I take in his features. His black hair appears darker than normal and is clumped because of the blood. His lifeless brown eyes stair off into the distance. With a silent prayer that he makes it to the afterlife safely I shut his eyes for the last time.

My breath heaves from me at the thought that I will never him speak again. He will never marry or have children of his own. I sob at the punishment I have received because of my actions. If I had not played his future he would still be here. If I had not broken the promise I made to my kin I would not be going through this pain. I tighten my hold on his body as it begins to cool. My power rushes out in a surging tidal wave as I release my pain knowing that this is the last time I will ever hold my son.

My mind comes back to me. As I look around I notice I am sitting in front of the fire. In my state I do not know I got here. I settle into the seat knowing there is nothing else for me to do. My powers have not risen since that horrible day. No one but the servants have come to my part of the home. Santo-San stayed true to his word and has not spent a moment in my presence besides his parting words.

As I think of them now I recall it is the only part of the last rites ceremony for my Draco that I remembered. As we walked from the site where we buried him he paused before entering the carriage. Dressed in his perfection of the finest silks, with his hair slicked back neatly, he looked at me. In his eyes I saw only rage as he said “for once I am glad to see your pain. You have cost me my precious er zi with the game you played. I will never forgive you for it. You may reside in my home until the end of your days. For the blow you have dealt to my heart I release you from all the binds you have to me. This I vow on this day and all forward.” He took his seat in the carriage never meeting my crying gaze. The last I saw of his was his back as he walked into another part of the home we shared. It has been weeks since then.

I wipe the memory from my head with a shake of my head choosing to focus on the flames. I envision Draco as a young boy sitting there on the rug as I told him a story. Tears stream to my eyes while I smile slightly. It is a memory I have played many times after his death. His sweet laugh rings through my ears as I hear my name. I ignore the voice not wanting my memories interrupted. I drift with my er zi in the picture I made but am snapped out of my vision when someone taps my shoulder. I pay them no mind and stare into the fire knowing that they will leave.

A shape fields my vision and when my eyes focus it is the girl. This is the girl who took my son from me. After so many weeks of being numb I feel a flaming anger rise in my chest that she would dare show her face here after what she has done. At her quaint look of innocence, I rise from my chair.

“You do not belong here. You have done enough. Leave my home for you are not welcome” I scream at her with a hoarse voice.

She takes a step away from me as her hands fly to her stomach. “I understand why you do not want me here after what I have done. I blame myself for what happened to Draco, and I can never take back what I did. I feel your pain and loss too. I loved him too.” She says with tears.

I become even more enraged that she has the nerve to cry after killing my son. Pain. She does not know pain. She has no right to speak in my presence after what she has caused. She is the problem here.

“You now nothing of what I feel. How could you know the pain I feel after you killed my only boy. You are too blame for everything that happened that has ruined my life. You are a monster of the worst kind. You destroyed my boy with your wiles. Leave my home you have no place here” I bellow. She has taken retreating steps toward the door as I hurl my words at her. After weeks of being empty my power swirls in a rising vortex with the sounds of waves. My power is menacing as blue takes over my vision and I advance toward her.

“I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. I will leave. I promise. I only came to tell you of the child I carry” she yells.

The waves of my power pause in the air at her words. I truly look at her once more and see that she is drenched from my power and the water I wielded. I look at her hands clasped against her midriff. A mid rift that is now showing a protrusion against the clinging fabric of her blue dress. Nooooo! This can not be. She can not carry this child to term. She will use it just as she used my Draco. As my thoughts turn to hate for the abomination she carries my power swirls in the air stronger.

I flick my hand toward the door she heads to, and waves climb against it shutting it to her approaching form. She cowers against the door in terror as my magic rages the room in a tidal wave that I know obscures her vision. I can hear her cries and pleas as my vision turns blue once more. In the vortex of my power, I raise my hands to the air pulling it all into a spell. She will pay for what she has done. I begin to chant above the sound of my torrent wanting my words to be heard.

For one thousand years you will rue the day you took him from me

You will feel my pain one thousand times before I call you home

I pause as the color red drifts into my raging waters. I have bound the power of heat from my sister Reli. As I drain her I hear her words in my head speaking to me from a vast difference. “Know the power you wield. This will not bring your peace.” I ignore her as I continue to chant.

As the monster I see you as you will become, battled to never know your foe

Heed my words from this spell, know this gift will bring you hell

As I pull more power into my spell I see colors of white and purple join my tidal wave. I know they are the powers air and spirit from my brother Kongqi and my sister Gi. “This will end us all dear sister. End this for we are not ready to die” the plead as I bind them. However, my power is too great. I solidify myself ready to die for I have nothing left to live for.

With each transformation you will only feel pain, never to know the love I have lost

The treasure of your womb you will never know, the love you seek just out of reach

Lastly I see the color green join my swarm of rage making it look like a haunting rainbow. I bind my sister Diqui to me spell. “No, not this way” she begs. As they all see my resolve through our bind they ready themselves for my final gift of fate. “We are here until the end dear sister. We sense your wish” they say to me. With their final blessing I chant the last line of curse and hurl it at the girl.

On this night you will learn your first lesson, for this is my final blessing

With my death you will be bound, your inner beast will always be around.

I throw my hands forward sweeping all that power into a deadly final lance that is aimed at her heart. Through the bind I feel the flow of four similar lances out in the world. I sway on my feet as all the power I channeled leaves my body. I feel the life force of my flesh begin to leave this earth as the connection to my kin dies. As I drop to my knees, I use what little strength I have left to see the monster I have turned her into rise for the first time.

Her transformation only takes about a minute. I watch in glory as the bones in her body break to form into something new. Her legs grow until her foot is the size of a chair. Claws elongate in the place of her foot as her talons did into the floor. Her body grows to fill the entire entry way. Her belly is vast and filled with massive ridges. The scales along her back grow a deep maroon. Her neck elongates as her nose sharpens to a snout. As I stare at my creation a huff of smoke leaves her nostrils. The massive jaw on the beast opens wide as its head pushes through the ceiling to the night air. I see its large conical teeth protruding in rows as it lifts its enormous head to the sky. With a beastly roar fire blazed through the air burning all it touches. As the head lowers to look at me I see its glowing, ethereal eyes. Shining through with a shocking blue I gape at the vertical shape of its irises.

As soot begins to flow from the destruction and I nod at the beast as my heart slows in my chest. With a growl large, webbed wings that crash through the walls expand on its back. I fall facedown onto the floor feeling the earth move as its humongous claws leave my vision. A vortex of wind blow through the hall at the beat of its wings as the world goes silent. As my heart takes its last beat I recall all that has come to be in this life. With my final breath I heave one last wish into the world. Forgive me.