Ogue La Flambo appeared in his astral form. Alustra called out in the language of Haiti, a Creole French dialect, asking Ogue La Flambo to reverse his usual ride and take James and Roland into the astral. James and Roland fell to the ground simultaneously. Alustra placed cushions beneath their heads. Ogou La Flambo lifted the spirits of the two men, drawing them to him on the astral plane. As one fiery astral entity, they headed for the Raven Moon.
The large metal sign of the raven perched upon the crescent moon, creaked on its hinges. When the disembodied trio arrived at the front door, the sign fell to the sidewalk with a loud clatter. Regina jumped to her feet, heading for the front of the store. The double doors slammed open admitting a rush of wind smelling of cigar smoke. Regina ducked behind the counter as the powerful energy swirled past her. The two Great Danes barked wildly and ran out the opened doors, tails between their legs.
Within seconds Regina heard the stairway door slam open. Shaking, she ran up the stairs. Her head spinning with panic, adrenaline pouring through her veins, she ran wildly into the attic into the center of her circle of protection.
The astral trio grinned in anticipation as it watched her trying to get her bearings. She managed to calm herself and called the Raven through the mirror. The creature responded quickly and poured out of the triangular mirror into the circle. Its oily black form overshadowed Regina. Standing a bit taller, Regina shrugged the Raven on like a coat. Enfolded in the power and protection of her ensorcelled creature, she turned and saw the astral form of her attackers. “Who the hell are you and what do you want here?”
They answered as one powerful voice, “We have come for the Jewel of Inanna and to free the raven.”
Regina, laughed and shook her head. “You will never get the crystal. It is mine as is the power of the raven. You have no way to force any of this. I banish you from my ritual space. Be gone.”
The trio ignored her banishment with a sneer. James and Roland knew the first order of business was to breach her circle of protection if the mission was to be successful. They focused their energy towards her.
Regina laugh echoed through the astral plane as she spun inside the body of the raven. The circle filled with an oily darkness. Her laughter died in her throat as the power of the Vodou spirit filled the air.
Three hands held the flaming sword of Ogue La Flambo. The trio carved a huge x filled with reversed DNA spirals. The flaming coils permeated the astral and expanded to surround the circle.
Back at the Peristyle, the witches were bending over their scrying mirror, seizing the moment to evoke and allow the ancient power of Pluto to rise. There are no words to the invocation. The powerful trio of witches focused into the void waiting to see the atomic egg.
The water of the cauldron continued to reflect the battle raging in the attic of Raven Moon. The witches could see the Plutonian egg shimmer and disappear. Regina grasped wildly, trying to reassemble the DNA spirals fragmenting her circle of protection, weakening the solidity and power of the raven.
Staring into the cauldron, the witches groaned in dismay as the egg disappeared. Wild eyed, they looked at one another in horror.
Kumira stood apart from them, eyes closed hands opened in supplication. An ancient Atlantean Priest appeared where she had stood. His eyes were dark pools of infinity. As the witches stared, a tone resonated from deep within his being. Jolene, Sabine and Lilly added their voices, matching the tone and directing it into the cauldron. They gasped as the black egg appeared.
Kumira, blinking her eyes and shaking her body, joined them as they watched the black egg appear over the spiraling circle of fiery coils in the attic of the Raven Moon.
Kumira took Lilly’s hand, and called upon the winged serpent, Quetzalcoatl to speed the black egg into the path of the raven.
Dark feathers exploded filling the circle with a black cloud. The creature screamed with ear splitting shrieks as the atomic egg, wrapped in the glowing green light of Quetzalcoatl, absorbed the dark energy. The ensorcelled raven was free.
Regina’s concentration faltered. Panicked, she followed her first instinct to use the raven wings to fly. She catapulted toward the window, abandoning her circle of protection.
Ogue la Flambou laughed as Regina fell through the window, rolled down the slate covered rooftop and landed on the broken sign of Raven Moon on the banquette.
Lucky, standing guard outside the doors of the shop, leaned over Regina’s body and lifted the ancient crystal from her neck. Claude headed for the telephone to call an ambulance.
Lilly, scrying the scene in the cauldron at the Peristyle, cried for the young woman she had believed was her friend. Kumira, smiling broadly, lifted her head and exclaimed triumphantly, “OOOOEEEEAAHHH!”
Chapter 43
The Divine Horseman Wields a Rusty Scimitar
The still figures of James and Roland stirred within the Vodou circle at the Peristyle. Shemo and Alustra approached them, ready to assist as the two Druids oriented back into their bodies.
James sat up slowly, but Roland jumped to his feet. A wild grin distorted his handsome face. Dancing through the Veve, he grabbed a woman from the Vodou choir and rubbed himself on her in a blatantly sexual fashion. She screamed and was thrown to the floor. Roland bellowed a sound close to a roar, as he looked around the room. In a split second, he ran out the door. For a moment everyone stood motionless, a frozen tableau. Shouts, car doors slamming, the smell of fire and the screams of the innocent shook the magical group
