Day 15 - 1776 words (8)
"Aye," Bastien smiles. "Everyone from Emberan knows Moira. She's our... mother hen, as you say."
Sophie looks confusedly between them. "What is Emberan?"
Rhea reaches out to gently touch the younger woman's knee. "That's where you were born, Sophie. That's home."
"Home?" Sophie's eyes widen. "Your guys' home?"
"No," Rhea chuckles. "Well -- Yes. Bastien's home. My old home. And hopefully your future home."
"What are you talking about?"
Rhea leans over, her eyes twinkling. "Bastien came to take you home, to Emberan. To meet your Aunt. To meet your family. To learn all about our ways."
Sophie sucks in a breath, feeling as though the wind has been knocked from her chest. "...Take me home?" This is what's she's always wanted, isn't it? She never felt that Daybreak was where she belongs... Always knew something else was out there. And now... Now these people, these strangers, are offering her that exact thing. She tamps down on the swell of excitement, her inherited suspicious inklings edging their way to the forefront of her thoughts. "What are 'your ways'? What does that mean?"
Rhea leans back, looking at Bastien in amusement. "This one here, she's very curious, no?"
"She's certainly her mother's daughter." Bastien shakes his head, smiling to himself.
The older woman watches Sophie thoughtfully for a few minutes, unmoved by the way she stares expectantly back. "You have something special in you, Sophie. A spark, a passion. I think you'll be very happy in Emberan."
"Will you please tell me what your ways are? I'm still not sure I'm even going to accompany you to this place! How can I trust you when you're both being so... mysterious?"
Rhea laughs, heartily. "Spunk! I love it!" She clasps her hands in her lap. "Sophie, our ways... our ways are the ways of the earth. Of the elements. Of the energy around us, that links us all together. We call ourselves the Taamdan. Well, technically, the Taamdan awa sha Lush."
"Taahmdahn... aywa shah loosh?" The words stumble from Sophie's lips, her tongue unaccustomed to the strange sounds.
"You'll get the hang of the language," Rhea promises.
"There's...there's a language?"
"Ah, yes. The Ancient language. Our main connection to the magic and the elements around us. Speak its true name, and you speak to it more solidly than in any other way. The energy and spirit around us are so much more willing to cooperate when you speak their own language!"
"I'm..." Sophie presses her palm to her forehead, completely overwhelmed. "I'm unsure if I should believe all of this. Am I dreaming?"
"Sophia," Bastien says, and his tone is commanding and stern. When she drops her hand and meets his gaze, his eyes are hard and serious. "Your mother instilled in you a disbelief -- a doubt -- in magic, a sense you had come upon quite naturally, all by yourself. You hold incredible potential. What Lena did was wrong. She should not have made the decision for you, though her heart was in the right place. Wash away those lessons. Forget all of the things she told you about imagination, about magic, about fantasy. They were lies."
"...what?"
"She lied to you, Sophie. Your mother was incredibly gifted with magic. One of our best Taamdan -- a sacred Sha En. She lied to you about its existence because of where her own power led her. Let that go, and embrace it."
Sophie's mouth hangs open, and though she feels like a fish out of water, it takes a minute before she says, "I'm sorry, I'm just -- I'm having a really hard time..."
"It's okay, Sophie," Rhea says. "We know this is a lot to take in right now, especially considering everything you've been through the past couple days. Hell, the past couple weeks!"
No one says anything for a while. The crackling of the hearth fire is the only noise in the cabin.
Sophie turns to look out the window, eyes tracing the lump that is Lane before gazing through the glass to the stars outside. "What were you doing outside, Rhea? When Bastien brought me in here? He said something about a circle..."
"Yes. I was casting a protection circle, in case Ar--" At Bastien's frantic, concerned look, Rhea cuts herself off and instead says, "-- in case that man sent more of his... friends after us. Well, more specifically, after Lane."
Sophie spins back around in shock. "Lane?"
"Yes, Lane. Although I suppose he knows about Bastien and I now...
"You're wearing two necklaces, yes?"
The blonde touches the silver chain and the black cord rubbing lightly against her skin. "Yes, but what does that have to do with--?"
"One of them is shaped like a disc?"
"Yes... mine is. I've had it ever since I can remember, since I was a little kid."
Rhea holds out her hand. "May I see it?"
Sophie simply stares at her outstretched arm. "I -- what?"
"May I see it?"
She hesitates for another moment before tugging at the necklace in question and laying it in Rhea's upturned palm. The older woman rubs her fingers against the silver disc, over each gem.
"Your grandmother died to cast a spell on this necklace, Sophie."
"What?"
Rhea nods. "When your mother got into trouble, your grandmother convinced her to take you and run away, to go into hiding. Ruby -- that was your grandmother -- spent weeks preparing, and then cast possibly the most powerful protection spell on this necklace. The amount of magic the spell needed... The power of it took her life. She sent her soul into this necklace. It alters time and space around you, bending those elements to keep you hidden. That man -- that man has been looking for you and your mother for 15 years, and this necklace kept him from doing so."
"If that's the case, how the hell did he suddenly turn up, knowing exactly where we lived?" Sophie can't help the passion nor the bite in her voice. All of this is so unbelievable... Why didn't her mother say something?
Rhea seems to understand the misplaced anger, brushing off the tone of the comment, and choosing to address only the words. "The spell could only last so long, Sophie. I'm guessing 15 years, by the looks of it. This necklace is no longer protecting you."
"He was... That man was in the bank with me. He was like forty feet away. If that necklace wasn't hiding any more, why didn't he see me?"
Rhea nods to the pendant still pressed to Sophie's chest. "Because Lena -- your mother -- died to cast the same spell on that necklace. Only I fear hers may not have been as potent... Once the man knew where to look, he could probably see the magic, see the way it changed the world around you, and began to track you through that.
"Now, as for what role Lane plays in the entire thing..." Rhea halts, a pained, choked expression crossing her face.
"Rhea?" Bastien pokes her shoulder.
She waves him off. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. How can I word this...?" She looks at him, a question in her eyes, silently requesting assistance.
"Hmm..." Bastien presses his index fingers to his mouth in contemplation. All of this seems a little odd to Sophie, but she dismisses the thought when he says,"This man knows Lane. And because he has been tracking you, he stumbled upon her and immediately linked the two of you. It was as simple as following her until he found what he was looking for, at which point he sent his demons."
"He knows my cabin..." Rhea mutters darkly.
"We'll protect it before I leave," he assures her.
Sophie wraps her hand around the star pendant. "My mother died for this... How -- How do you know that? I thought she cut off all communication?"
"When you recited that 'prayer'. It seems that your mother knew you would use it after her death so she made those words the activation for the spell. An activation is often needed for spells cast on a physical item... especially when the item is meant for a specific person. It glows when you -- and only you -- speak the mantra." The old woman smiles as she says with sadness, "Your mother may have been tough, and may have banished magic from your life, but she loved you dearly... and knew you well, my child."
"She died to protect me from him," Sophie whispers. A swell of emotion inside her startles her. She loves her mother, of course, had been best friends with her. But she had never realized the lengths to which her mother had gone to keep her safe. All of her strict notions made some kind of sense, now.
"Yes," Rhea nods.
"Who is he?"
"I --" The older woman looks stricken, then guilty. "It is not my place to tell you. Moira should be the one."
"Can you at least tell me what he wants?" Sophie's eyes blaze with sudden fury as she unconsciously slides to sit at the edge of her seat.
"Listen to me, Sophia," Rhea says, her voice deathly serious. "That man is bad. He is evil. And when you reach Emberan, Moira will be sure to tell you all about him and what he did, and how you ended up here in Daybreak. What you need to know now is this -- he destroyed your mother, and I believe he intends to destroy you. Not kill you, no -- much worse. What he really wants? I cannot say for certain. But I know --" She grabs Sophie's hand, "-- that you must stay away from. You must. Do you hear me?"
Sophie's eyes widen, surprised by Rhea's intense and almost painful grip on her hand. She shakes her head in the affirmative.
Rhea rises to her feet and drops the disc pendant into the blonde woman's lap. "Good. I am glad you understand me. I understand you surely have more questions, but this old lady is tired. Casting a large protection spell is exhausting, and I would like to retire to sleep. Bastien will set up the air mattresses out here. The two of you will be leaving by bus tomorrow morning."
Sophie stands, ready to object. "But--"
"No. No buts. You must go, Sophie. The only safe place to be is with Moira, in Emberan." Rhea's tone holds no room for argument, so Sophie sits again, resigned to follow the older woman's lead. "Well, seeing as that's settled. Good night."
She shuffles to the back of the cabin, through a door into her bedroom. When it snaps closed behind her, Sophie turns to Bastien and declares, "I'm starving."