Unnatural black smoke circled the clearing, choking out the sunlight and the Guard. It started with one man falling to his knees and holding his throat, but after mere seconds, all of them were coughing violently. They collapsed one right after the other, unable to find enough oxygen. The Ancient either didn’t notice or didn’t care that his followers where struggling for air. His attention seemed to be far off in the woods behind her.
“No Healer could possibly withstand what you have,” he said, as the smoke began to thin. The Ancient being looked at her sweat smeared face with excitement dancing in his eyes.
What did he have to be excited about? He was on the ropes, but somehow the dynamic had shifted. The look in his eyes told her she was the one backed into a corner.
“Maybe you’re just getting rusty. Your Guard has done all of your dirty work for so long…” She trailed off as she felt a presence nearing, understanding why his eyes said he had the upper hand.
He did.
“No!” Amanda shouted as Cole came crashing into the clearing. Bloodied from the forest, he fell in a heap at the Ancient’s feet.
“That demon changed something in you. You know this to be true. What did it do, how are you so powerful?” he demanded. Why was she so powerful, what was happening to her?
She was desperate to answer his question. She would give him anything and tell him anything to keep Cole safe. He knew it too. His cocky demeanor had returned, and he went back to gently stroking his giant peacock. The action soothed him, and she recognized the feeling.
“Call him. Call your wolf,” Shiphra whispered.
Come, I need you. She knew she was something different. She felt the change in her body, but what was she?
“I don’t know why or how this is happening; please don’t hurt him!” she begged.
Her words stretched a crooked smile across his gruesome face. Cole struggled against his bonds and turned to look at her, chocolate eyes pleading.
“Run, Amanda, get out of here!” he shouted.
“Quiet you!” the Ancient said, clenching his fist.
Cole was immediately silenced, arching his back and searching for breath like a fish out of water.
“Now, be a good girl and tell me what kind of trickery you are playing… or your friend here will be in a lot of pain.”
She stammered, grasping at straws, wanting to tell him whatever it was he wanted to hear, but she stopped short. Amanda looked at the giant peacock and the light and energy that came from it, just like her wolf…
She opened her mouth but couldn’t force out the words, realizing the truth of what she was probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“Tell him. Tell him what you know, but do not let him flee. He will try.”
She wanted to be confused by Shiphra’s words, but she wasn’t. Amanda understood them perfectly, just as she understood what she now was. “You want to know what I am? I will tell you, but it was no demon that changed me. I’m not sure what did…” She paused, looking at Cole, not wanting him to hear what she was going to say.
“Stop stalling!” the Ancient screamed, and with a flick of his wrist, a red line appeared on Cole’s cheek.
Her anger rose as she saw blood run from the fresh wound and a tear stream out of the corner of his eye. “You’ll be sorry you did that!” she said, struggling to keep her voice even.
“Really? Why is that, little one?” he asked with a sharp smile dancing across his uneven face.
“Because I have one of those too,” she said, gesturing to the large peacock.
He looked at the bird and then back at her in confusion.
“You can see my–” He was cut off as her wolf crashed out of the foliage behind her. Bright and majestic he stood towering over the scene, and there was no mistaking what her wolf was, not anymore. Drawing his energy, she flicked her wrist. A line appeared across the Ancient’s yellowed skin, but no blood came running out. The wound split one of the hundreds of figure eights that he had scrawled on his body in half. Lifting her hand up, she saw that the twisted mark there matched his. She held her palm up to him.
“Does that give you your answer? I am you! I am an Ancient.” She spit the words out, knowing they were true and willing them not to be, wishing that she could do something to make that statement false. She looked at Cole, whose eyes were wide in astonishment. Amanda hoped he didn’t hate her as much as she hated herself for being one of them, one of those evil creatures.
“Hey, we aren’t all evil. Just strive to be like me. I’m a pretty good role model… maybe try to eat healthier. I have lived on nothing but doughnuts for at least fifty years now,” Shiphra said in an oddly whimsical tone.
It took her a moment to realize that the voice had come from beside her, not from some mysterious entity thousands of miles away, but from a tiny round old woman standing at her side.
Her long white hair looked bright against the smoke-filled forest, and her eyes seemed too large for her face but were bright and beautiful. Light and life and love poured from her aura, bringing tears to her eyes.
“Shiphra?” Amanda whispered.
21
The name seemed to slap the stunned Ancient out of his stupor, and before her mind had processed any movement, he was ten yards away.
“Not so fast, Elijah!” Shiphra shouted.
The tall figure froze in place. Shocked as she was by Shiphra’s sudden appearance, it took her a few moments to notice the small lemur-like creature perched on her shoulder. It was studying her with large bright eyes that looked just like the woman’s he was perched on.
Amanda didn’t study him long, only having eyes for Cole, now free of his bonds. She ran to his side, helping him to a sitting position. He hadn’t fared as well as Amanda had against the Ancient’s tight bonds. His eyes bore into hers so full of emotion she couldn’t bring herself to speak. Amanda thought he was going to die, that she’d never be able to talk to him again or see the light in his breathtaking eyes. She wanted to tell him so many things, but couldn’t bring herself to say a word.
“I told you he would flee, didn’t I?” Shiphra said in a huff.
“Only up for a fight that isn’t fair?” she asked the suspended being. “No more!”
Her voice hung in the thick smoky air slowly fading until there was silence. Amanda knelt next to Cole, supporting his upper half, making sure he was okay while trying to understand what was going on between Shiphra and the other Ancient. A low hum filled her ears, getting stronger until she could feel the hum in her chest and then vibrating the ground beneath her.
Shiphra stood, arms wide, appearing much larger than her four-foot frame should have suggested. Her brow was creased in concentration. Amanda looked between the powerful beings. They looked so alien, like they didn’t belong in this world. Even frozen in place Elijah looked too powerful and menacing. Shiphra had a round face, delicate little hands. Though she still had the
Ancient’s mark tattooed across her body, she looked much more human. However, even with these human attributes she was other.
Her entire life, up until recently, had been spent pining to be normal. Just when she finally got her footing, just when she wasn’t just okay with the fact that she was a Healer, but ecstatic to be one… that life was taken from her. Amanda thought of Mae’s father, remembering the look of peace and happiness he had right before crossing over and the high that she felt knowing she’d helped them out of their Hell. She wasn’t a Healer anymore, Amanda realized. She looked down at Cole, wondering if he still wanted her, knowing what she now was. She wondered how much time she had left to hold him with arms that looked soft and feminine. Would she just wake up one morning jagged and nine feet tall?
“What is she doing?” Cole asked, bringing her out of her selfish thoughts and back to reality.
Amanda was about to answer with a simple, “I don’t know,” but decided to see if she could find out. Closing her eyes, she felt the dull hum in the air and traced it back to Shiphra’s mind, which was open to her. Amanda
