Griffin's Destiny

***

Ashinji stifled a cry of pain as the Kirians began drawing down the energy of his Talent. Simultaneously, they sent the combined flows of their own power coursing through him.

This is what it must feel like to be burned alive!

Sweat rolled down his sides beneath the layers of his heavy clothing, and dripped from his brow to sting his eyes. His senses began to fragment.

Hold on, Son! We’re almost there!

Taya picked up one of Jelena’s limp hands, and with a shard of white quartz she pricked Jelena’s thumb and squeezed out a single crimson drop. Next, she pressed the White Griffin to the bleeding wound and nodded as the ring’s magic flared to life in response.

Jelena, can you hear me?

Ashinji heard Taya in his head as well as Jelena’s reply.

Yes, Aunt.

Reach down inside now, and touch the Key. Can you feel it?

Yes…yes! It…it’s cold, Aunt…so cold.

Push it out now, Jelena! Push very hard! Ashinji Sakehera, strike now!

Ashinji stared hard at the gleaming blade in his hand, poised above the tender skin of Jelena’s breast. His vision swam, creating overlapping images that twisted crazily before his eyes. He raised the knife.

You must strike now, before it’s too late!

Don’t hesitate, Ashi!

Why do I have this feeling something is not right? Ashinji swayed, the knife point wavering over its target.

“Hurry, Ashi! Do it now!”

Jelena gazed up at him with no trace of fear in her hazel eyes.

“You’re awake! Ai, Goddess,” he whispered, horrified. “I can’t do this, not now!”

“Listen to me, beloved. Yes, you can. We both can,” she replied, her voice calm. “You know there’s no other way. I won’t feel any pain, I promise. My death will be as easy as falling asleep in your arms. When it’s all over, we’ll be together.” She smiled, and it felt like the sunrise after a long, harrowing night. “Remember how much I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Son, strike now!

Ashinji snapped back to consciousness. He looked down at Jelena, who lay unmoving on the altar slab, slack- jawed, eyes closed.

I’ve been entranced, and she’s been asleep all along , he realized. She reached out to me, in a vision, to give me the strength to do what I must.

Sobbing aloud, he brought the knife down in one smooth motion.

Jelena’s body arched then fell back as the knife bit deep. A bright stain of red, like a rose opening to the morning sun, bubbled around the blade buried in her breast. Ashinji fell to his knees, his hands pressed to the wound. He felt like his body was being torn apart as the magic of the Kirians flowed through the conduit of his mind. He sensed Jelena’s life ebbing away, but he felt something else happening as well.

Taya spoke a Word of Power and Ashinji screamed as a thunderbolt detonated in his head. He looked up, senses swimming, to see, hovering a handspan above Jelena’s body, a dazzling sphere of blue light.

The Key!

Gran spoke a second Word, and Ashinji groaned as the backwash seared his already flayed nerves. The Key sparked like an ember beneath the bellows of a forge. Ashinji braced himself.

Sonoe spoke a Word and without warning, the protective circle collapsed and the flow of magic ceased. At the same instant, the red-haired mage stepped backward and threw something to the floor.

A geyser of darkness erupted from the stone to form a swirling column of black.

“Come, Master, come!” Sonoe screamed. “The way is open!”

Taya’s howl of fury mingled with Gran’s and Amara’s cries of horror.

Instinctively, Ashinji threw himself across Jelena’s body. He stared at his mother in confusion. “What’s happening!” he shouted.

“Treachery!” Amara cried.

The black column coalesced into the rough shape of a man. Ashinji could only stare, helpless, as the other Kirians raced to complete the Ritual. As Taya held aloft the Eye of Lajdala and began to intone the final incantations, a bolt of dark energy shot from the shadow figure and struck the Eye from her hand. Taya spun about and launched a fireball from her fingertips. It flew straight for Sonoe but the younger mage easily deflected it.

“Give it up, fools!” Sonoe cried, her voice ringing with triumphant glee. “You can’t win! The Key is mine!”

Wrong, slave-bitch! The Key belongs to me! It always has!

The voice of the Nameless One rolled over them, deep and grinding. Ashinji felt more than heard it, and shuddered at the slimy residue it left in its wake.

Sonoe whirled, laughing, to face what she had freed. “The tables are turned, truly, Master! ” she hissed. “I command you, Shiiiieee… ”

Before she could finish, Sonoe’s voice shredded into an unrecognizable croak, as if an unseen force had ripped her tongue from her mouth. She clapped her hands to her throat, eyes bulging.

“Sisters!” Taya cried. “We must secure the Key! Quickly now, while the spirit is distracted!”

“The Eye has been destroyed!” Gran pointed to the congealed lump of scorched metal and shattered stone that had once been the symbol of office for the leaders of the Society. “We have no other suitable vessel!”

“Yes, we do!” Taya replied. “We will use the White Griffin.”

“We cannot!” Amara objected. “The Key must not reside within the same vessel as the spell that opens the Void! It’s too dangerous!”

“We have no choice,” Taya shot back.

“Taya is right,” Gran said. “If we all survive, then we can separate the two later.”

An agonized shriek tore the air, causing them all to start.

“Great Goddess!” Amara whispered.

Slowly, Ashinji turned his head and if, at that moment, he had been given the choice to be struck blind, he would have gladly surrendered his eyesight rather than witness what he saw next.

The Nameless One hovered over Sonoe, who lay face-down on the unyielding stones, her body pressed to the floor as if pinned by a great weight. Her clothes had been torn away and scattered. Ugly welts striped her naked back and buttocks, starkly red against the whiteness of her skin. As Ashinji watched in horror, the spirit flowed between her legs, forcing them apart. Like a black snake crawling into its burrow, it began to push its way into her