Chapter 38: Shamans

Sunday, September 29th, 2013 – Mark Glassner – Tacoma, WA

Sunday passed in a haze of pain.

I woke from the dream with Azrael back into the torment of my battered body. I hauled myself to my feet, ignoring the protest of my muscles, and staggered to the sink accompanied by the clank of my manacles. I bent down and greedily drank the cool water from the tap, bringing momentary relief to the stump of my tongue. My stomach ached and rumbled. I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday, I realized. That seemed like a lifetime ago. I closed my eyes and remembered Mary napping naked on our bed as I quietly slipped out; she had been hugging a pillow, her auburn hair draped about her neck and shoulders. She had looked so beautiful and peaceful; I would give anything – and I mean anything – to see my wife again.

Morning, Mary, I sent to her. We were connected telepathically now by the Siyach spell.

How are you? Mary sent back, her thoughts full of love and concern.

I've been better. I tried to keep the pain from bleeding into my sending. Azrael visited me last night. She's teaching me to use my other powers.

I have a plan, Mark, she sent excitedly, and proceeded to explain. She was flying to France, to steal the Mother Superior's Gift, to become a Nun and exorcise Brandon. It was so risky, so desperate, but what choice did we have? Killing Brandon was out of the question. He had to have tens of thousands of people under his power by now, all their life-forces bound to him. If he died, they would all die. I could not have so much blood on my hands—or on her hands.

When the soldiers came for me, my body was too sore to fight. Resigned to my fate, I let them drag me off, my manacles clinking. The rest of the day was pain. Never-ending pain. The only thing that I could cling to as they beat me was my wife. My Mary. I pictured her smiling at me; I remembered how beautiful she looked while painting, the day we found out she was pregnant, and the cute way she bit her lip while thinking. I clung to the memory of how radiant she looked on our wedding day, marching down the aisle to me in her white dress set aflame by the setting sun. Mary helped me survive the day by constantly sending her love and encouragement.

She gave me hope. Just knowing she was out there kept me sane.

Sometime during the beatings, in the afternoon I thought, Mary sent, I did it! The Gift is mine! Just hold out a little longer!

After the eternity of suffering, I was dragged back to the prison shower and my filth was hosed off me; then it was back to my cell. The soldiers threw me roughly onto the hard, concrete floor, locked the cell door, then watched with uncaring eyes. I didn't have the strength to move; I just laid there, letting the cold seep into my burning muscles. Mary was on her way back, on her way to save me. Hope filled me. My wife was coming, she was going to exorcise Brandon, and this nightmare would be over. I struggled to rise, but all my muscles protested the action and I collapsed back onto the concrete floor. Not caring anymore, I stopped fighting my exhaustion and let unconsciousness take me.

Azrael visited me in my dreams, to continue my training. Last night, I learned just how woeful I was at combat. Azrael had explained it: "The Gift gives you reflexes and strength, but your body needs to learn how to move, how to stand and balance, and that takes practice."

So we spent last night training. She taught me footwork, the most important part of fighting. If you can't stand properly, you'll be off-balance, get tripped up, and fall down or leave yourself open to your enemy's attack. I spent hours learning just how to hold the blade, then more hours swinging it in deadly arcs: cross-slashes, thrusts, overhand swings. Finally, we sparred. Every time her blade struck my body, the pain taught me to pay more attention, to learn faster, to fight better. We fought and fought, never tiring, and I learned. My muscles absorbed the knowledge; I started moving with grace and purpose, not flailing about without any thought or care. Every movement of my body was deliberate, full of purpose—to defeat my opponent.

After training for hours, for maybe even a full day, I finally asked Azrael when I would wake up. "Time passes more slowly in the dream," she answered. "What seems like minutes in your mind is only seconds in the waking world."

"Like Inception?" The Angel gave me a puzzled look, her scarlet eyebrows furrowing. "It's a movie. All about dreams." She just stared at me. "Never mind," I muttered, and we continued our sparring.

We moved on to hand-to-hand fighting. She taught me a brutal mix of grappling, kicks, and punches. It wasn't like kung-fu in movies. There were no flourishes, no dramatic arm waves or kicks; every single attack was designed to hurt your opponent. She taught me to go for the body's weak points: knees, groin, elbows, sides, throat, eyes. Break bones, dislocate joints, rupture vital organs, and do it as quickly as possible to end the fight before your enemy can defeat you.

The dream seemed to last for days before I woke up this morning. When Azrael appeared again to me this night, I asked her, "More sparring?"

"Yes," she answered, her voice ringing bells. "But first, there are other Prayers to teach you."

"Will they help me to escape?"

"No, but you may find them useful one day," she answered. A look of disgust flitted across her face. "You've bound your Thralls with the Zimmah ritual, yes?"

I nodded. "And? Most of them agreed to it willingly." I felt defensive beneath her judging gaze.

"I'm sure," she said with distaste. "The Ragily prayer is similar. It allows you to link a group of willing fighters to you. There is a limit on how many persons you can bond, unlike the Zimmah ritual. However, those you bind in this way gain certain advantages when fighting the supernatural."

"Like what?"

"The ability to hurt them. Their weapons will be capable of harming spiritual flesh. Their reflexes will be sharper, they can take wounds that would fell lesser men. It also doesn't have such a ... distasteful way of being cast."

"You mean I wouldn't have to fuck my mother to bind them?" I asked with a laugh, and quickly swallowed it beneath her withering gaze.

"Yes. It merely requires their pledge of fidelity and obedience."

"How many could I have?"

"That is a more complex answer," Azrael answered, tapping her chin in thought. "A normal Priest could handle, say, thirty to fifty. Maybe a hundred with an exceptional Priest, such as King David and his Mighty Men. But you, well, you have bound the life-force of what, fifty or sixty humans to you. Plus, there are all those that worship you. That is a lot of power, if you can harness it."

I nodded. "What other prayers are there?"

Mary Glassner – Southern France

I kept looking in the mirror on the passenger sun visor on the drive back to Toulouse. I barely looked different. Mark's transformation had been dramatic. Of course, he had been twenty-seven when he received the Gift and more than a little overweight. Now he looked eighteen, and had the body of a Greek sculpture. I was nineteen and already had a trim body. The Gift didn't seem to change me at all. It didn't even take a few pounds off my ass. Mark liked the plumpness, but I could stand to lose a pound or two off of it.

I sighed, flipping up the visor; Maryam's words haunted me. The Devil was using us, not a big surprise, but what he was using us for – to escape his prison – was surprising, and terrifying. The Mother Superior's words were really sinking in. Mark and I might be responsible for dooming the world. Sure we were unwitting pawns in the Devil's plans, but that didn't change the fact that we made our choice. Learning the consequences of our selfish decisions left a bitter taste in my mouth. However, she said we could stop him, trap him. Somehow, we could beat the Devil. I chewed on my lip, thinking about that as we drove to Toulouse.

I had no idea how to do it.

I pushed that particular worry to the side; Brandon was the immediate problem. I had the Gift. I could exorcise him now. I just needed to learn how to do it. Freed of her protection, Maryam was more than willing to answer my questions as she gazed up at me with lust. "Only the Angel can teach you how to use the Prayers. They come in your dreams." She couldn't lie, not when I ordered her to answer, not without her Gift to shield her from my powers.

I left her behind. I debated taking the former Nun with me, forcing her to be my slave and grovel before me. Part of me ached to see that beautiful, ancient woman degrade herself for my pleasure, to watch her dark eyes peer up from between my thighs as she worshiped my pussy. The way she would howl in pleasure as I fucked her from behind with a strap-on cock—or a real cock. I remembered the intense pleasure I experienced that afternoon Lilith transformed my clit into a dick. Shifting in my seat, I flushed and pushed that fantasy down.

In the end, I let Maryam go. It just felt wrong to keep her after hearing Mom's story about the abuses she suffered at the hands of her Warlock. I just couldn't bring myself to force anyone to act like that. Well, not permanently, anyways. So I forbade her from ever speaking about our meeting, and told her to live her life.

After an hour, we reached the airport at Toulouse and boarded my plane. I sent everyone to coach; I needed to sleep, to dream. I desperately needed to learn how to exorcise a Warlock. From what my mom has told me, it's quite the pleasant experience being taught by an Angel. The Ecstasy she called it. As the 747 leveled off at its cruising altitude, heading west for North America, I struggled to sleep in the plush, first-class seat.

I had been up for over twenty-four hours, but I just couldn't sleep. The harder I tried, the harder sleep eluded me. I leaned the first-class chair back as far as possible, had all the lights in the cabin turned off, and wore ear plugs to try and drown out the engines. But nothing would work. I was too damned stressed to relax. And trying to sleep just made it worse. I grew irritable, snapping at my guards, screaming wordlessly at the ceiling, and sobbing my frustration into a small, airline pillow.

Please! I silently begged. Just let me sleep!

After trying for hours, I felt defeated. I slumped against the window, staring listlessly out at the Atlantic ocean below, an endless sheet of midnight obscured by the occasional cloud. I let my mind drift, and I started pondering Karen's half-heard message from the summoning yesterday. "Brandon has..." Karen had said, then Sam's scream had drowned her out and all I caught was the last part. " ... other."

Brandon has ... other. What could be in that missing gap. It was only a word or two. Something that rhymed with other? Mother, another, brother. Brandon has ... other. What did it mean? What was Karen trying to warn me about? What did it matter if Brandon has a brother? Or has a mother? I started rhyming 'other' in my head: aother, bother, cother, dother, eother. I frowned at eother. Most of those weren't even words. Fother? Gother? Maybe it was smother? Brandon has smother? No, that didn't make any sense.

Brandon has ... other. Brandon has brother?

I frowned. Brother. Was there something to that? Was there a spell that required a brother? It was getting harder to think. I was so exhausted, my mind felt like mush, battered by stress and fear until my brain was runny porridge. I felt like there was a spell that required a brother. What was it? I yawned, struggling to force my brain to work. Brother ... brother ... rother ... er...

The next thing I knew I was standing in a vast emptiness, a black darker than night. I saw Mark, a golden sword in his hand, and gold armor covering his body. He was fighting a woman with scarlet hair and bronze skin. The woman also had a golden sword that flashed with rubies as she swung it at my husband. I blinked. This can't be happening. I was on a plane, right? Flying over the Atlantic.

No, I'm dreaming. Relief swept through me; I had finally fallen asleep. Something teased at my thoughts, a single word—Brother. Why was brother so important? I bit my lip, straining to remember. It had something to do with a spell.

"Mary?" Dream-Mark asked. There was a look of surprise on his face and I lost my train of thought.

The woman turned, mirroring his look of surprise. "Two Shamans," she whispered, her voice soft chimes.

Dream-Mark ran to me, swept me up in his arms and kissed me. Everything – all the stress and the fear and the guilt – melted away and there was only Mark, his lips, and his love overwhelming me. I poured my heart and soul into the kiss. I didn't care that it was only a dream. It felt so real. So wonderful. I was breathless and giggling with joy when Dream-Mark broke his kiss. I pressed my face into his muscular chest. His armor had vanished sometime during our kiss. Well, it was a dream and strange things are bound to happen.

"You're actually in my dreams," Dream-Mark whispered in awe.

"No, you're in my dreams," I giggled. "I mean, I'm the one dreaming."

Dream-Mark laughed, turning to the bronze woman. "It is her, right, Azrael?"

"Yes," she said. "This is ... surprising." I glanced at the Angel as she studied us, eying me, then peering intently at Mark. "Yes, I see it now. You two are soulmates. Many Pacts and spells have bound the pair of you so tight, nothing can ever part you. It is how you came here without being summoned. Your desire to be trained was so strong that you were drawn to Mark's soul, pulled along by the chains that bind you together."

I smiled. Soulmates, that sounded lovely, but that wasn't why I was here. "Yes, I need to learn how to perform the exorcism."

Azrael cocked her head as she considered me. "You have received the Gift from Maryam." Her red eyes turned flinty, a low, angry clang filled her ringing voice. "No, you stole her Gift."

"I needed it," I replied, lifting my chin. Who was this woman to judge my actions. I returned her flinty stare. "It's the only way to stop Brandon. We can't kill him, all the people under his control are bound to him and they'll die. Exorcising him is the only way, and I can't wait for a Nun to take her sweet time doing it! So stop the condescending lecture and train me!"

"I will train you," Azrael sighed. "It is my Providence." She reached out, taking my hand. Pleasure coursed through me, just like when Lilith would touch me, and I gasped as an orgasm rippled pleasantly through my body. "I must lie with you," Azrael continued. "Only while we delight in each other's pleasure, can I teach you."

"Wait, why do you two get to fuck?" Mark asked. "You just swung swords at me?"

"Her powers involve sex, yours involves force. I trained you with force. Mary must be trained in more pleasant ways."

"And the first time you appeared in my dreams and fucked me?" Mark demanded.

"That was for my pleasure," Azrael answered. "Why else would I bother with you humans?" She turned to me. "Lie down."

I eagerly lay down and the emptiness turned soft, becoming more comfortable than any bed. Azrael floated over me and her tunic vanished into gold smoke, revealing her lush body. Her hanging breasts silkily brushed down my body as she floated closer and closer to me; her hips lowered and I spread my legs. I gasped as her pussy rubbed against my cunt, a powerful orgasm exploding through me. She kissed me, and my entire body became pleasure as she slowly started moving her hips, tribbing our drenched pussies together. When our clits kissed, my third orgasm crashed through me.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck!" I gasped. "Oh, that feels amazing!"

"Most of the basic Priestess prayers require the Mark of Qayin to anchor the prayer," the Angel explained, continuing her slow, delicious trib. "It is drawn with the fluids of your womanhood on the forehead of the person you are wishing to affect."

"Okay!" I moaned, writhing beneath Azrael as her pussy ground against mine. Her nipples were diamonds rubbing against my breasts, leaving trails of ecstasy.

"It is drawn like this," her finger tracing a circle with a diagonal line slashing through it on my forehead. "Once you've drawn the Mark, a variety of Prayers can be used, including the Shalak prayer. The exorcism." Azrael kissed my lips. She tasted of ambrosia and I was lost to the pleasure of her body pressing against mine. "Umm, you taste delicious," she purred, grinding her clit through my pussy slit, moving it up to bump sweetly against my hard pearl.

"Oh my God!" I moaned as my fourth orgasm swept through me. "You're driving me wild, Azrael."

"To exorcise a Warlock, you need to bring him or her to orgasm," Azrael continued, grinding her angelic cunt just a little harder into me and I gasped. "Before he cums, or as he cums, you must draw the Mark of Qayin on his forehead. Then, when he cums, you utter, Shalak. You can draw the Mark at the same time you cast the prayer, or you can draw it beforehand. But, it will not work without the Mark."

"Okay!" I moaned. "Keep fucking me with your cunt! Oh fuck! Shit, you're driving me wild! Oh my God! Keep fucking me!" Another orgasm exploded through me, my toes curling, my fingers raking her bronze back.

Azrael kept grinding on me. "The other Prayers only affect Thralls."

"What about the ones used on Mark's sister and my friend, Alice?"

"You shouldn't need those," Azrael answered. "Not with your other powers."

She was kissing me again, her tongue snaking into my mouth. I bucked beneath her as I came again. Her every touch just seemed to inflame my lusts, driving me to stronger and stronger orgasms. This was Ecstasy, pure, never-ending pleasure. Then we were rolling over and I was on top. It was my turn to fuck her, and I ground my pussy hard against her angelic cunt.

Another set of hands touched my ass, a hard cock prodded my pussy, then slid inside me. "Oh, Mark!" I gasped as my husband started fucking me. "Fuck me hard! Your naughty filly needs to be ridden badly!"

Mark pounded me, driving my pussy against Azrael. "I miss you so much!" Mark groaned and I could feel his cum shooting inside me. It felt wonderful as I shared this amazing pleasure with my husband, my soulmate. We were lost together in the Ecstasy. There was only the intense pleasure we shared. Just flesh pressing against flesh, driving each other to new heights of passion.

For an eternity we swam through a sea of pleasure. There were no thoughts, no distractions. We weren't even individuals, just sensations trapped in flesh. And for the briefest instant, it was only Mark and I, so close I could not tell where I began and Mark ended. Our souls touched, merged, and I felt the purity of Mark's love for me.

One instant of perfect joy.

When I returned to myself, I lay on my side, cradled in Mark's strong arms. He pressed against my back, spooning against me. I didn't want this dream to end. I just wanted to stay in his arms forever, safe and sound. I snuggled back against my husband and stroked his arm. Mark nuzzled my neck, his lips gentle. I smiled and sighed happily.

Then I realized he was trembling and I heard a muffled sob. I rolled over; his face red and tears streamed down. I stroked his cheek and he crushed me tightly to his chest. "What is it?" I asked him gently.

"I'm afraid to wake up, Mare." There was so much pain in his blue eyes. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"I'm coming for you," I told him. "You just need to hold out a little longer, Mark." I bit my lip, fighting back my tears. "I need you to be strong for me, Mark. If you fall apart, I'm going to lose it. I'm barely holding it together."

I felt Mark tense. He swallowed, closed his eyes, and took a few, deep breaths, before I felt the tension bleed from him. "Thank you," he whispered. He brushed my cheek and captured my lips with a kiss and held me until we had to wake. We drew strength from each other. Neither one of us was strong enough to face this problem. Together, however, we could overcome anything, accomplish anything. Together we would defeat Brandon.

Mark woke first.

I was alone. I wanted to cry. They were going to start beating him again. He just needed to last a little while longer and it would be over.

I stood up, looking around the emptiness. Azrael was still here, I realized with a start, standing a discreet distance away. I walked over to her, the emptiness turning firm once again beneath my feet. I had more to learn from the Angel and planted myself squarely before her.

"My mom told me about the Cathar prayer. Can you teach it to me?"

Emi, the Dimme – Seattle, WA

"Go swiftly, my daughters," Mother commanded Di and myself.

My twin sister and I were kneeling before her, staring up at her radiant beauty. She had a lush body and silvery hair and the most beautiful face in all the world. She was Lilith, Mother of Monster. Lilith of the Empty Womb and the Black Moon, and we loved her with all our hearts.

"Kill the false Gods Brandon Fitzsimmons and Mark Glassner!" Mother's face burned with anger as she said the hated name.

Mark Glassner.

My hands itched to touch him, to kill him and watch as he falls lifeless to the ground. Di and I would become Mother's favorites then. She would love us more than all her other children; our reward would be her touch, the Ecstasy. I glanced at my sister, remembering our fumbling experiments this afternoon as we entered puberty. If Mother's touch felt half as good as Di's mouth felt on my pussy, I would kill a hundred men for her. A thousand!

"We will not fail you, Mother," I promised.

"I know you won't, Emi," Mother answered, her fingers electric as she caressed my face, delight erupting in my nethers for a brief moment as she gave me a taste of the Ecstasy. I shuddered; I would kill a million men for Mother. "Go!" she commanded.

Di and I rose and went ethereal. We were Dimme, more spirit than beings. At will our spirit bodies would take over, allowing us to skirt the Veil between the Mortal World and the Abyss. We could be seen, appearing translucent, or we could pass unseen. While we walked the border, we were no longer bound to the Mortal World and could pass through objects, like the wall of this warehouse.

We traveled south, speeding over the miles. South to the City of Tacoma. It would take us all night and into Monday to cross the distance, but we do not tire. We do not fail. Our Mother's enemies would be dead at our hands.

We are Dimme. We do not fail.

Monday, September 30th, 2013 – Mary Glassner – Seattle, WA

"Everyone take your seats, we're beginning our approach," Joslyn's voice crackled over the 747's PA. "We'll be on the ground by 12:17 PM."

I swallowed and hoped she would be careful. I used the Cathar prayer to cloak the plane with invisibility. The US Airspace was still closed by Brandon, and it was tense as we flew across the country, but apparently we did not even show up on radar. Still, I was terrified that some plane was going to blunder into us.

We're landing, Mark I sent. Just hold on a little longer!

Hurry, Mare! There was so much pain and misery in his sending, I had to bite my lip to keep from being overwhelmed. He was on his third straight day of beatings. He couldn't last much longer.

I gripped the armrest as we dropped lower and lower, my heart hammering in my chest with a sudden rush of nerves. We were invisible, no-one could see us landing. Please, please let no-one drive out onto the runway. I looked out the window and watched as the ground seemed to rush up at us. The flaps were coming down, the airplane was slowing. And then the jarring impact and the sudden, roaring deceleration as we touched down at Boeing Field in southern Seattle.

Mark and I had a private hanger at Boeing field, and Joslyn and Lynda maneuvered our plane safely towards it. No-one was about, luckily. The hanger belonged to Cargo-Air, owned by a billionaire we knew. Brandon shouldn't know about this. Hopefully.

I glanced out the porthole window and didn't see any soldiers guarding the airport. Guarding our hanger. Our maintenance crews were waiting, opening the huge doors. They were all worshipers that volunteered to be bound to Mark with the Zimmah spell. I could see them staring around apprehensively. They could hear the plane's engines, but not see it. Once we were safely in the hanger, and the doors closed, I released the prayer.

A stair truck was maneuvered to the side of the airplane, and I walked down it to an awaiting SUV. I got into the black suburban alone. I wasn't going to let any more of my followers get captured. If the plan worked, Brandon's power would be broken. If it failed, it wouldn't matter how many bodyguards I took. We were hopelessly outnumbered by the US Military.

"Good luck, ma'am," 47, the second-in-command of the bodyguards, wished me.

I pulled off my silver locket and my wedding band and handed it to her through the rolled-down window. The only thing I wore was my bronze amulet that protected me from bullets. "Keep these safe for me." I fought back tears as I handed over my two most prized possessions; if this went badly, I didn't want Brandon to get his hands on them.

"Absolutely," she answered, then bent through the open window of the SUV and kissed me on the lips. "For luck."

My bodyguards and other servants all watched me depart in silence. I used a keycard to get out of the airport and got onto I-5 heading south. There was almost no traffic. It was noon on a Monday and the freeway was disturbingly deserted. I sped south and in thirty minutes I drove through the City of Fife approaching Tacoma. There was a roadblock set up at the Port of Tacoma exit. Three Humvees and a Stryker blocked the highway. There were a dozen soldiers in desert camo manning a barbwire barricade set up in front of the vehicles. Two large machine-guns on tripods anchored the barricade on either side, pointing right at my SUV.

I slowed to a stop fifty feet away. I could see their auras, black fringed with red. Thralls immune to my power. Taking a deep breath, I turned off the SUV as the soldiers approached with their weapons pointed at me, barking loud commands. Cautiously I stepped out, my hands over my head. The soldiers leered at my naked body, and I held my head up proudly, staring boldly at the soldiers.

"I am Mary Glassner. Take me to Brandon." I paused, then, pretending to be under Brandon's powers, cooed, "I'm ready to be his concubine."

The sergeant commanding the road block, older than the fresh-faced soldiers, grabbed my arm and marched me to a Humvee. He placed me in the back, then he and another soldier hopped in, started the vehicle and turned it around, and started driving towards Tacoma.

I'm almost there, Mark, I sent, trying to keep my fear out of the thought.

All I got back was a feeling of pain. I tried to keep the panic out of my heart. Please be okay, Mark!

It took only ten or so minutes to reach the Courthouse. Instead of taking me inside the Courthouse, they took me to the County Jail next door. My heart started hammering in fear. Did something go wrong? Why weren't they taking me to Brandon? According to the news, the Courthouse was his headquarters.

I tried to appear calm as they walked me into the jail. The first security gate had been blown open and I saw bullet casings littering the floor and blood staining the walls. The soldiers led me deeper and we had to be buzzed through more security gates that were still intact. I was unnerved to see all the jail cells empty and I wondered what happened to the inmates. The last security gate I passed through opened onto the exercise yard at the center of the jail.

A mass of women huddled in the middle of the yard. They looked numb with terror. I scanned their faces, hoping to recognize any of the bodyguards, or Violet and Leah. I thought I saw Leah, our chauffeur, huddled with 51 and 27. I didn't see any of the other bodyguards or Violet. 51 glanced at me, despair flickering across her ebony face.

At the other end of the yard, Brandon sat on a raised chair, like a throne, surrounded by a group of naked women that fawned over him. I knew from watching the news that Desiree was one of them. I looked for her, and saw her kneeling on Brandon's right. She seemed a willing servant of his and I wasn't sure how that was possible. Did Brandon find a way to break the Zimmah bond? Or did he just break her?

Then my eyes fell on Mark. I almost didn't recognize him. His entire body was a bruise, mottled from head to foot with dark purples, that faded to browns and sickly yellows. His face was swollen and he bled from numerous cuts on his brow. One of his blue eyes found mine, the other swollen shut. He was manacled hand and foot to a post and lay sprawled on the concrete ground. My heart broke and I had to fight off my tears. Now was not the time, I needed to be strong.