Chapter 29: Fight and Insight

Cicely stared at me and asked quietly, "How did you do that?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I didn't intend for it to happen."

She thought quickly. "If I didn't know better, I would say you just invoked what we normally used for binding a new member to our house..."

I was shocked and confused. "You mean having them make an oath? I don't do that."

"But you don't have to," she said quickly. "You already have the gift to bind Mind Magi to you." She thought more. "I've heard of such things but those were like fairy tales."

Movement caught my attention.

I was already a touch paranoid about the Dragons being on their way. Looking at the street I didn't see any of them.

Cicely caught on to how I was looking around. "Are the Dragons here?"

Paranoia was gripping me. Looking back at Cicely I said, "It's possible. You need to go anyway. It's one thing for them to see me, but if they spot you, your daughter could be in worse trouble."

She nodded.

I turned to tell Renée and the others to go, but the sudden change of their expressions only confirmed what I was worried about.

Fear for what could happen gripped me, but I didn't let it keep me from reacting.

Then I heard the motorcycle. Spinning I saw someone on a motocross type motorcycle come off the street. They were aimed right for me.

Instinctively I dove to the side, away from my girls and Cicely.

The martial arts training I had gleaned the summer before helped me regain my feet as quickly as I had hit the pavement. Turning, I saw that the girls were all running to their cars and the cyclist spun the bike around for another pass.

My adrenaline was pumping. The rider was slowing down.

Taking in details I noticed a faint green glow around the cyclist's hands and made out the gentle curves of her athletic body. Then I heard Cicely yell, as if in slow motion, "Iiiiittt'ssss Sseeeeevvvvvvveeeeeeerrrrr!!!"

The cyclist charged me, but was no match for my speed.

Literally waiting for Sever to get to me, I had plenty of time to decide my action. First, I needed to take her off the motor cycle.

As Sever got close, I simply stepped aside and ducked under her outstretched hand. As she passed, I grabbed the belt of her outfit from behind and held on.

With her forward momentum stopping at her belt, the Sever buckled as the motorcycle kept going. Without a rider, it veered off into the parked cars and crashed.

Sever recovered quickly and began to twist and flail in my grasp.

With the same speed and strength, I snatched both her wrists behind her back and had her pressed face-down into the parking lot. As far as I was concerned, the fight was over and I began to calm down.

Cicely came over and removed the rider's helmet.

Sever stared back at her. "You are supposed to be in your room, bitch!"

Cicely kicked her square in the nose. "Not as long as you have my daughter. Where is she!?"

Sever spat blood but grinned. "I don't know. I don't care to know." Then she looked back over her shoulder at me. "I came to find you."

I wasn't surprised by that. "And I take it the other Dragons failed to mention how none of them have stopped me yet, just like you?"

That seemed to push her buttons. Suddenly her wrists felt like razors in my hand.

Instinctively, I let go due to the pain of being cut.

With speed no normal human could possess, Sever rolled away and was on her feet. "I am not pathetic like they are."

I stood up, watching the cuts in my hand close up. It still hurt, but I wouldn't suffer from the wounds for long. Then I looked up at Sever and showed her my hand. "You may cut me, and I will bleed, but you cannot stop me."

"I don't have to stop you, just slow you down," she said.

She charged me.

Some of my fear was supplanted by knowing she was after me and not my girls. Ducking and weaving away, I recognized her attacks from my martial arts knowledge.

It only took a few tries for her to understand that she simply wasn't fast enough to touch me, but I could grab or punch her nearly at will.

After throwing her for the third time, Sever changed tactics and ran towards Sally.

Fear shot through me. Moving as fast as I could, I caught Sever just before she could touch Sally.

The pain of being cut by razors was there again. I almost let her go instinctively, but stopped myself, knowing it was what she wanted. Her tactic hadn't been to actually hurt anyone else, but to force me to touch her and therefore hurt me by my means rather than her own.

With a glance I caught Sally's wide eyes, but she was gone just as quickly. She put her car between her and us and watched our continuing struggle.

Pain seared through my hands but I continued to hold Sever. Spinning her around, I said, "You will never touch any of mine. Ever!"

Her smile was jeering. "How very touching," she said. "I only wanted to see if she bled as well as you do."

I could feel the effects of her power cutting into me deeper. Blood poured out of my hands, but I knew the consequences of letting her go.

What was worse, she was completely covered by some kind of material I had never seen before. Normally, even through material, I could have affected anyone while touching them, but my attempts to put her to sleep were having no effect.

Sever's eyes glowed green and she smiled.

For such a cold-hearted woman, she was quite lovely. Somewhat light-headed, I realized her head wasn't covered.

Taking advantage of that tiny bit of attraction I felt, I kissed her.

She tried to pull away, but I still held her. Through the kiss, my command to sleep took her and she slumped to the ground.

After making sure she was down, I let her go and stumbled back against another car.

Looking at my hands, I didn't recognize the hamburger meat they had become. I could tell I was healing already but the loss of blood was making me dizzy. I sat down and closed my eyes to wait for my head to clear.

The others gathered around me.

I could feel them, hear their words and smell their perfumes, but the light was quickly going out.

One of them pressed her lips to my ear. "Ral, if you can hear me, nod."

The feel of her skin pressed to mine was nice. I nodded, or at least I tried.

"You've lost blood. We need to get you to a hospital..." the voice continued.

She was worried about me. I could feel it. But the pain in my hands was gone.

I opened my eyes but didn't see the girls around me. What I did see were lights in the dark. Sparks in the Void. There was a presence that was somehow familiar but I didn't understand what was happening.

One of the sparks approached. It bounced in front of me and somehow I knew that it was communicating with me. "You must go back. You must wake up. Fight or all is lost"

Another spark approached. It too bounced in front of me. "Your destiny is not what you think it is. You have welcomed this chance. Do not let down those who have helped you."

The two sparks got even closer. Again that air of familiarity was there. I knew them. They were connected to me in some way, but I still didn't understand.

The sparks seemed to touch me, though I felt nothing, and memories flooded me...

I was sitting in a room with two people. They looked familiar but I couldn't place them.

The man, handsome yet troubled, asked, "Are you sure this is right? The First Law..."

I interrupted him. "The First Law is a means of control." My voice sounded old and wispy. "It was implemented to keep certain events from happening, but fate and destiny have shown me that things are spiraling toward that end anyway. There is no way to stop what is happening to our society, but other plans have been formed that will affect the world."

"What plans?" the woman asked. She was lovely with dark hair and deep brown eyes.

In the memory, I felt a love for her. The kind of love a man feels for a women who he knows he cannot have. "You two are already a part of those plans. You have already participated in them," I told them both.