Chapter 2

Helios

We fought. Goddess knew we fought. But the might of the Alexandrian army was too much, and with so few Mageia on our side, we were losing. Maybe not the battle, but definitely the war.

Ri and I fought back-to-back for what seemed like hours, his Fire and Air magic helping keep a ring of safety around us while my claws cut through armor and flesh. We'd been friends since childhood and he was one of our few natural Dual Mages, an extremely rare form of Mageia who could manage multiple elements without being bonded to a Soma.

Illyria had been fighting to keep its independence for two hundred and fifty years. We had slowly, but steadily, lost ground to the invaders year after year until only a small number of us remained free, but those few remained dedicated to fighting.

My people were primarily Somatophylakes, or "Somas" for short. We Bonded with and defended the Mageia so that they could focus on using their magical abilities. Only Mageia with a Soma Bonded were able to unlock the ability to access multiple elements. Soma had enhanced physical abilities, including shape shifting abilities that gave us claws, teeth, and muscles for days. The link unlocked our other forms: one a giant beast, the other, our most powerful form, merged man and beast. But neither made us invincible.

Our last Tesseris Mageia, Rhea, had been killed protecting an escaping caravan of Mageia kids. When the assassin targeting Rhea had slipped into camp, we had discovered them too late. Her Soma had taken her own life a short time later. It was rare for a Soma to outlive their Mageia but losing them both had taken the heart out of much of the Illyrian resistance. Without Rhea to protect our Mageia, we were losing. Had already lost, if truth be told, but we were too damn stubborn to give up.

"How are you holding up, Hel?" Ri asked, sending a whip of Fire through the air at an attacker. The soldier aimed his firearm at us and pulled the trigger. I didn't even wince as the bullets skipped off Ri's shield of Air: I knew he'd protect us.

"Oh, you know," I growled, leaping forward, and thrusting my claws up under the soldier's chin, my voice nonchalant. "Okay. Not much is going on. A little bored. You?"

Ri laughed as he rolled the Fire whip in a circle over our heads.

"Same," he said, before I saw his eyes go distant for a moment. The head of the Fire whip expanded to the size of a cannonball, cutting down soldier after soldier surrounding us before exploding out in a circle, the magical shrapnel cutting down hundreds of soldiers around us. "I think it might be time for us to blow this popsicle stand, though. How about you?"

I grinned at him.

"Yeah, I think the party's over," I agreed, looking at the mass of dead and dying soldiers.

"Besides, we've got a date tonight," I reminded him with a grin.

We had been planning our Bonding ceremony for weeks, and I wasn't going to let anything interfere.

◆◆◆

Later that night, we stood in our best clothes before our family and friends, hands clasped, the feel of our magics swirling around each other.

"Holy shit, Hel, I can't believe we're finally doing this!" Ri whispered, grinning at me, as his unruly mop of blond hair fell across his eyes, as usual.

"Yeah, well, seems past time to me," I said, grinning at my best friend.

Orion Konstantine (or Ri, as he preferred to be called), Fire Mageia, and the man closer to me than a brother stood next to me as we began the words that would bind our souls together forever.

Hecate

Goddess of the Moon

Goddess of Justice

Maiden, Mother, and Crone

Queen of Shadows

Hear our prayer.

Grant us your blessing

Goddess of that which is,

Which was,

And is yet to come.

Goddess of the night

Goddess of power

Goddess of spirit

Bind our souls together.

Let us be a light in the darkness.

Let us be your hand of justice.

Let us be comfort to all.

Help us guide the lost.

Help us punish the wicked.

Help us mend the broken.

As we unite to fulfill your wishes

As Sons of Hecate

After the first recitation of the words, I felt my power rising. Everything seemed brighter, the fire in front became a blinding beacon. The smells of the river became deeper, the crisp fir trees sharper. I could hear every inhalation of every smiling person around us.

I saw Ri grin as his magic began to circle around us, his fire enveloping us in a bubble of warmth, a flame that didn't burn.

At the second recitation of the ritual I saw Ri's magic turn from golden to green as his Earth magic unlocked. I felt a strange stinging sensation in my hands. I looked down in awe at my hands as my fingers lengthened, hardening into claws. Before this, all I'd been able to do was grow the nails super long, not what I was looking at now. This was it! One more recitation and my shape changing and healing powers would unlock, and so would Ri's ability to use all four elements and block the Elusian Suppression ability.

He grinned at me, his green eyes throwing off multicolored sparks as we began the third recitation. I couldn't help but grin back. The power was intoxicating.

The crowd around us began chanting with us. Bonded pairs reached out to take each other's hands, though in truth I hardly noticed. I was too caught up in the feeling of bonding with Ri.

For an instant I felt as though something wrapped itself around my heart. The feeling was effervescent and filled with joy. I realized after a startled moment that what I was feeling was Ri's soul.

A high, whistling noise grew louder and closer. The sharpening of my senses was overwhelming, so much so that I didn't realize what I was hearing until it was too late.

I saw Ri's eyes go wide and felt the rush of his magic as he tried to pull up a shield to protect us from the incoming missile. Somehow, I could feel his sudden fear and desperation.

Then, like a candle in a gust of wind, his soul just…disappeared.

I didn't feel the missile hit, just found myself flying, and felt the flames of Ri's Fire shield change from warm and comforting to a fiery agony.

Mercifully, I didn't remember any more for a long time.

The next few days were a hellish agony, both physical and mental. I couldn't make sense of what was happening, of what I was feeling physically, or why I had an aching void in my heart where Ri had so briefly been.

I woke to darkness in a room that smelled strangely of scorched meat, antiseptic and sickness. The smell was overwhelming, and I began to retch.

I felt strong hands grab my wrists and struggle to hold me to the bed, only increasing my agony. Then I felt a cool touch on my forehead and darkness claimed me again.

I woke over and over like that. Each time, the hands held me down, the agony beyond bearing. Sometimes the cool hand was there to send me back into darkness. Sometimes there was the prick of a needle in my skin that sent me into a twisted darkness.

When the needle sent me back, it came with dreams; twisted, broken pieces of memory. I saw fire. I saw women and children screaming as they roasted alive, their bodies writhing. I saw men with their bodies blown apart by shrapnel. I saw Ri, his face caught in a rictus of pain and grief, blood pouring from his stomach where a jagged piece of metal protruded. Then I saw his hand go lax, and the fire that had always been his ally burning across my body as his shield fell.

I screamed then, my heart breaking for my friend who had tried to shield me even as he gave his life to protect mine.

Suddenly the memories fled and there was only darkness.

◆◆◆

I don't know how long I floated in that darkness, but it was darker than the deepest cave I'd ever explored. It had weight and substance, as though darkness were air or stone. It was a coin toss as to whether I floated within it or was buried beneath it.

Desperation flooded me. I could feel my head whipping around in terror, trying to see something, anything.

Finally, a light appeared in the distance. I heard an animal padding closer. A dog, I think? I could hear its claws clicking against the stone, even though I couldn't feel the earth beneath my feet.

Then I saw pinpricks of light slowly growing closer and a strange calmness rolled over me, grounding me. Three shapes were walking toward me, with two large animals pacing them. As they drew closer, I could tell they were three women, with what appeared to be large dogs or wolves on either side.

The woman on the left couldn't have been more than twenty, and was clad in jeans, and a golden colored t-shirt with a short waisted leather jacket thrown over her shoulder. Her long raven black hair hung in a braid over her shoulder, and she carried one of the torches in her hand. Gold sandals glinted on her feet.

In the middle walked a middle-aged woman, her hair long and loose around her face, and red as flames. Seeing that color made me shudder, though why, I couldn't remember. She was dressed like the young girl in jeans but wore a red T-shirt with a black leather vest over it. At her waist hung an old-fashioned keyring with three large skeleton keys. Around her neck hung a silver pendant that I couldn't see clearly.

The woman on the right had hair as long as the other two, but it was pure white, and pulled up into a messy topknot. In her left hand was the other torch. In her right hand she held what looked like an old-fashioned fold-up street map. The color of her hair made me expect to see age lines and wrinkles on her face, but there was only a hint of some laugh lines around her gold-bespectacled eyes.

As I gazed at her, I realized with a shock that all three had the same stunning blue eyes, brighter than any sapphire, more brilliant than any mountain lake.

"Hello, Helios," the woman in the middle said.

"Hey Hel," said the girl on the left.

The old woman on the right just nodded and said, "Helios."

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously. "Where am I?"

I looked around, and realized that as they had approached, the darkness had faded away and instead of floating in blackness, we now stood in the middle of an intersection somewhere far away from any city.

"We are who We are," the young girl said with a smile. "But you can call me Kitty."

"You can call me Kate," said the middle-aged woman.

"And you can call me Kathryn," the old woman said.

"Welcome to the Crossroads," said Kate.

"You are here to make a choice," said Kathryn.

"Choice? What choice?" I asked. A flicker of the torchlight suddenly reminded me of Ri. Where was my friend?

"Ri." I said, memory suddenly flooding back. "Where's Ri?"

The three women gave each other strange glances as I started turning in circles looking for my friend.

"Where is he? Why isn't he here?" I demanded, desperation flooding me. We were Bonded, weren't we? I should have been able to find him, to feel him, but I couldn't seem to recall anything after the bonding ceremony.

Kitty stepped forward and laid her hand on my arm. I started to pull away from her but felt that strange calm returning.

"Ri isn't here, Hel. Ri died," she said, sorrow washing across her face, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.

"No…" I denied angrily. Ri couldn't die. We were supposed to be bonded. We were supposed to free Illyria together.

"He can't be dead," I insisted, pulling away from her. "I'm still alive, he can't be dead!"

The old woman stepped forward, and though I tried to evade her touch, she was far faster than she looked. She wrapped her bony hands around my wrist. Her grip was strong, but not cruel.

"Orion has left this plane and gone to What Comes Next," she said.

The truth of her words hit me as memories flooded through me and the feeling of loss was overwhelming. Ri and I had been friends since we were children. He knew me better than anyone in my life and been closer than a brother. I remembered the feeling of his soul wrapped around my own and the tears began to fall.

"Ri…" I gasped and dropped to my knees, the old woman releasing me as I fell.

"My child," Kate said, stepping forward, her hands cupping my face as my tears fell. "I am so sorry. He was truly a light in the darkness, and we are all the poorer for his loss."

I began to sob, and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and held me as I cried out my grief.

After what seemed like a very long time my pain eased enough for me to speak.

"Why… why are we here? Why aren't I dead?" I asked bitterly. "I should have died with Ri. I was his Soma. I should have died before he did."

"Everyone has a purpose in this life," the old woman said. "Orion accomplished his purpose in the world, and it was time for him to move on."

"His purpose?" I asked angrily. "How could he have accomplished a ‘purpose'? He was only twenty-two!"

"You're alive, aren't you?" The old woman snapped impatiently. "His purpose was to help you get where you are now."

"And where is that, exactly?" I demanded angrily. "The middle of fucking nowhere?"

"Language, child!" Kate chided gently with a sad smile on her face. "You have experienced a terrible loss, and we will explain as much as we can, but tonight… tonight is about you, not about your friend."

"Me? Why me?" I asked in confusion. Surely Ri being dead was far more important than anything that happened to me.

"You're at a crossroads, champ," Kitty said.

"Yeah," I said, gesturing around us at the intersection. "And…?"

She walked over to me and punched my shoulder.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as I rubbed my shoulder. She punched hard!

"A metaphysical crossroads, asshole," she said, smiling sadly. Over her shoulder I saw the old woman roll her eyes at the curse.

"You need to make a choice, Hel," she said. When she smiled at me, I felt a cool breeze across my skin.

"You can choose," the old woman said, stepping forward. "You can choose to join your bonded in What Comes Next," she said. Her words kindled hope within me. Ri and I could be together again!

"Or…" the girl said.

"Or you can finish the work you and Ri were supposed to do together," the middle-aged woman finished.

"I want to go with—" I stopped as the girl slapped her hand over my mouth.

"Wait. Please, Hel," she asked, her eyes imploring. "Before you make a decision, you need to know what's at stake."

Her voice was tinged with desperation. Something in her tone called to me, to that part of me that clung to the idea that Illyria deserved to be free. After a moment I nodded, and she lowered her hand from my mouth.

"What's at stake?" I managed to ask.

"The world is, well, there's no better word for it… It's fucked," croaked the old woman.

I laughed bitterly.

"Well, that's an understatement," I said, though none of the three smiled.

"Seriously," Kitty said, squeezing my arm gently.

"The world is…out of balance," Kate said. "When Hecate and Elus created the world, it was a world of balance. Mageian and Elusian as equals, neither outnumbering the other. The rise of the Elusians, the enslavement of Mageians and the downfall of the Illyrians have thrown it out of balance."

"If we don't do something right now," Kitty said emphatically, "The world will destroy itself."

"What does that have to do with me?" I asked after mulling over their words for a moment. "The world's a mess, I know, but I'm just one person."

Maybe if Ri hadn't died, we would have been able to help other Mageians, but without him, there was nothing I could do.

"One person can make a difference, Hel," Kitty said.

I rolled my eyes. It was like a tagline off an old-fashioned vid show.

"Seriously," she said. "Think about it. What do your people need more than anything else?"

"More Mageians," I said without hesitation. We had Somas aplenty, but without Mageians to bond with, our powers were limited at best, especially against the greater firepower of the Elusians.

"What if…" the old woman said. "We had a way to get you an almost unlimited number of Mageians?"

"I'd ask what you were smoking, and if you brought enough for the whole class," I said. Looking around I added, "Or is that what this is? Some kind of drug induced hallucination?"

She sent me a disappointed look, and I felt my face flush in embarrassment. I felt like a kid who mouthed off to his mother.

"Sorry. I'd say, we need them," I responded to her silent admonishment.

She patted my arm.

"You do, and we have a way to get them for you," Kitty said.

"Say I agree, what does that entail?" I asked.

"It's not going to be easy," Kate said. "You… You were badly hurt."

I turned and looked at her, memories of pain and darkness whirling through my head. I looked down at my body, which showed no marks.

"Hurt? How badly?" I asked.

"You suffered third degree burns over almost half your body," Kitty said quietly. "You will be badly scarred."

"How… how am I even still alive?" I asked. I'd had medical training; most Somas had. People with burns that severe don't usually live long.

"Your Bonded protected you with his last breath," Kate said.

I felt tears welling in my eyes again. I remembered Ri's face, the feel of his magic. Ri. Oh, Ri…

"Tell him all of it," the old woman demanded.

Kate took a deep breath.

"Ri… might have been able to survive," she began. "He was given the same choice we are giving you."

"What? Why didn't you save him?" I demanded angrily.

"Remember that whole ‘balanced world' we talked about, sport?" Kitty asked. "If Ri had been saved you would have died, and the world would still have been shot to hell."

I paced across the road, trying to contain my fury.

"You still should have saved him!" I insisted.

"Saving Ri wouldn't have changed anything," Kitty said. "If he had lived instead of you, then the Illyrians would still be overwhelmed, and would cease to exist as a people within five years. The world would have self-destructed not long after."

The words tore through me. As much as I wanted to argue with her, I knew our people were already threatened.

"And… there would have been no second chance for balance if he had chosen to save himself," Kare continued. "If you choose to live, there may be another way. We create plans and plans within plans. We weave threads of fate, but sometimes our opponents snip them prematurely."

"Opponents? Is this some kind of fucking game for you?" I demanded furiously. "Save this one, damn that one?"

"Ri's not damned, Hel," Kitty said. "If anything, his sacrifice--it makes him more dear to Us, not less."

"Why does saving me make any difference?" I demanded. "I'm no one special."

"Of course you are special," Kitty said.

"But you can also help save a powerful Mageia," Kate said. A pair of ice blue eyes, not unlike those of the women in front of me, flashed across my vision, and something in those eyes made me freeze. "And that Mageia can help save your world."

"So, what? You want to send me back? Without Ri?" I asked.

"That is what we want," they said in unison, nodding together in an eerie move that made a shiver run down my spine. "But the choice is yours."

"We are the keepers of the Ways," Kate said.

"We are the Guardians of the Crossroads," the old woman said.

"And you will not be just another Soma," Kitty said. "You will be our Instrument."

"Your instrument?" I demanded angrily. "I'm no one's fucking instrument."

"Your will is your own," the old woman interrupted testily. "We do not take a person's free will. The choice is yours. You can stay here and pass to What Comes Next, or you can take the chance to save the world so many of your people have fought and died to protect."

I didn't know if I could do it. Without Ri? I would be all alone.

"I promise you, you will not be alone," Kate said, as if reading my mind. "This other Mageia is more than a match for your power, stronger even than Ri. Ri was supposed to be the backup plan, not Elex."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Backup plan? Who is Elex?"

The blue eyes flashed across my mind's eye again.

"Every Soma has Mageia they can match with," Kathryn said. "You've learned this at your elders' knees. Your intended match was Elex, the son of a king, but the Elusians enslaved him and fucked that plan up royally."

"We weren't sure if we could ever free him, so we had to accept Ri as an alternative match for you," Kate said.

"Ri is not an afterthought!" I yelled, my grief tearing a hole in my heart.

Kitty reached out and brushed a tear from my cheek.

"No, he isn't, but if you decided to die, there was no other Soma who could match Ri or Elex's magic. If he had chosen to live, he would have damned his people. Ri chose to save you, in the hopes you could find and bond with Elex, so that you could save your people. All your people."

I thought for long moments. As much as I wanted Ri back, I knew I couldn't give up if there was even a chance that I could save our people. He would kick my ass from here to eternity.

"What happens if I say yes?" I asked, my voice thick with emotion.

"We send you back, but… we can't heal you," the old woman said, glancing at the other two women. "And you won't remember this conversation. That would be too much interference. We are already putting our thumb on the scales as is."

"Only because Elus did it first," Kitty snapped. This had the sound of an old argument.

"Peace, sisters," Kate said as she held up her hands to each of them to silence them. "It would be up to you to find the Mageian and convince him to help you."

"Well, we might be able to help a bit with the ‘finding' part," the old woman muttered, shaking her map.

"Fine," I sighed in resignation. "What do I need to do?"