At Esther’s new residence:
“Come on! Give me your best shot, mage!” The words were all scrambled coming from the vampirish Lekan, and Freya clucked her teeth in disgust. She hated fighting vampires.
Without much ado, she released a bout of freezing air, and darts of ice to the vampire that is Lekan, knowing that these species hated extreme temperatures; extreme heat, extreme cold. She watched, more of analyzing, than jubilating, when Leekan gnashed his leftover blackened teeth which were crawling with maggots. He really took up the whole features; a complete shift.
Freya noted it somewhere in her mind to let Aiden and the others know. She wondered where the maggots would go when he shifted back to his normal self. Do they stay in his belly? She shuddered at the insane thought, but she wouldn’t put anything past science and magic.
Obviously, there was the work of a mage in this, but she didn’t think that it was Leonarya. Yes, her false mother was a black magician, but there were levels to this magic thing. And this magic was way higher than her.
“Is that all you got?” She heard Lekan shout out, after defreezing the ice. Freya noted that he got the capabilities of the real time vampire.
This might be the time to tap into her ancientness then. She thought, with a chuckle. She watched as Lekan rushed at her with astonishing speed, such that she was almost caught at the throat by his blackened fingers reeking of rottenness, if not for her quick reflexes.
Quickly, she allowed herself into the zone of ancientness, smiling giddily when she sensed the swift change in her body system, when she felt the old magic whirling in her system, the old magic appearing on her hands like a violet flame, a color that now resonated in her eyes.
When she heard the gasps from their spectators, she knew that they had seen this. Lekan had seen too, and she could tell that he was amazed.
“What are you?” He asked, and she found it funny that it was the same question that Casper had asked Emma, before being killed.
What are you? Well, she was a hybrid. She thought, zooming to him in a speed of light, such that before Lekan could blink, she held him by his throat and flung him to the otherside of the compound, wincing when there was a crack to the wall where he had fallen.
She was about to rush him, and maybe finish the process, when Lekan shifted again. Freya would wonder later at his shifting speed, which takes enormous strength usually, but seems to be taking none from him.
This time Lekan shifted to Alferic beast. Freya found herself moving backward. This was insane. How was this shift possible? This kind of beasts were ancient like ancients, and couldn’t be defeated by ancients, except with the help of the necklace.
She looked at Anthony then, the one who had somehow subjected the beast in Derek’s body before Emma had come along with the necklace.
“Why are you stepping back, mage? Or whatever you are. I have to admit, I didn’t bargain for your powers, or your speed. But do you think you can defeat this beast? I heard it had taken the powers of a necklace to subdue it at the party. I don’t see you with any necklace..” Lekan said, singing the last past, his voice of course contorting to that of the beast.
When Anthony stepped into the arena to join hands with Freya, the beast-Lekan shook his head. “No, that wasn’t part of the rules. It is me against you. Are you not unfair at the moment, mage?”
Freya gritted her teeth, at crossroads. Should she face off with a beast she had no idea how to defeat, or not become a woman of her word?
“Stay back, Anthony..” She finally chose her word. She didn’t know, but somehow she knew she could stop this beast; perhaps not kill him, but to subdue him.
Anthony was her cousin right? Then that would mean that the power, the blue flame should run in her veins too. She just had to conjure it from where it was hiding.
Having noted that, she closed her eyes, and stretched her hands both ways, beginning to hum a lovely tune that will help her concentrate, as she located the power that she believed was within her, all the while attuned to Lekan’s position in the field.
“I don’t have time for this.” Lekan punched his hands together, and walked towards Freya sharply, about to render her into ashes with just one blow to her head. When his hand was lifted up, with Anthony about to enter the field with the blue flame circling in his hands, Freya instantly flew straight up like a rocket. She was propelled by a blue flame coating and fanning from her legs.
Anthony broke out in a laugh. The fight was over.
**
At Sheila’s residence:
“Why are you still here, Azeera?” Sheila asked, ignoring the last statement of the phantom. She needed to know. Had Leonarya sent her to do something else, or search for something else?
“I am not sure, Sheila. Perhaps to rest?” Azeera answered, shrugging its shoulders, reclining deeper into the sofa, the countenance of tiredness very evident on its face.
“I am tired of being thrown here and there on a goose chase. I want to rest. I want to retire.”
“Then retire. Stop working for her.”
“I can’t. She is my master. I can’t just stop working for her.” The phantom let out a breath, the trio didn’t know she had.
They were still in shock, at seeing the ghostly apparition communicating with Sheila. Yes, it had all the characteristics of a human, though almost translucent, but the aura was something else, anything but human.
Sheila sighed, then looked away. “I don’t know, Azeera. I believe everyone has choices, even a puppet. If you set your mind to freedom, you will find a way about it. You should leave though, your aura isn’t nice for my house.”
Azeera smiled. “Sure, I will.” It stood up to its feet. “Hasten up though to locate Emma. She is in trouble. If she isn’t now, she will be soon. Leonarya isn’t the only one looking for her, yunno.”
And before Sheila could ask who was looking for her daughter, the phantom disappeared.
Sheila hit her hand on the desk in frustration, just at the same moment that she heard Anthony though the mind path.
“We are done here, Aunt. We are coming home with Esther.”