Originally posted October 5, 2011
((Chance and MacKenzie make headway on what's affecting her. This entry combines work from both Rabid Squirrel and I.))
It took a long walk to get to Mr. Kane's apothecary. It would take a long walk to return to their hotel. A gentle rain fell around them in the cool fall air. Her hand felt warm in his. Sometimes they would draw together in a brief embrace or kiss. They took their time.
The prophecy made sense to Chance, in the surreal ways that always seemed to accompany magic. When ready, on her 22nd birthday, MacKenzie would gain knowledge… No. That wasn't quite it. MacKenzie would become aware of the knowledge already held in her head; full knowledge of her powers and the collective experience of the druids preceding her. That knowledge would give her the power to break the Circle of Cythrawl, the order opposed to that of her parents, Sacred Circle of Beatha.
"Break the circle" could mean any number of things. Chance felt it safe to assume the Cythrawl would take it as a threat and seek to remove MacKenzie before she reached maturity. He sighed. Unfortunately, traveling to Dublin, using some of her powers even as far away as Millennium City, may have made it easier for them to find her.
She heard him and asked, "What is it, Chance?"
"Are you sure," he answered, stopping to turn towards her and taking both of her hands in his, "that we can't just lock you in the Guardians' tower with Fii and Sacsha standing guard until, I dunno, you turn 23?" His grin obscured none of his concern. "Think of all the quality time we could spend together."
She smiled at Chance as she looked him in the eyes, "No you can not lock me in this tower, but you are going to have to introduce me to Fii and Sascha, since apparently they are the biggest and baddest things around" She chuckled and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "We have an advantage you know?"
Several ideas ran through Chance's head, from the tactical to the sublime. While the Cythrawl might know the extent of MacKenzie's abilities, they probably didn't know about those of her boy friend. The pair knew they were being sought, and had some ideas as to how best obscure their presence. Chance grinned. "That we have each other?" he answered. "Which advantages were you thinking of, Pow?"
MacKenzie grinned and laughed "I would tell you to get out of my head, but I kind of like you in there" She looked into his eyes "Yes we have each other and we have friends who are pretty powerful in their own rights, that and they may not know that we know about them yet, so we can stay a step ahead of them. That is all we have to do you know."
She tried to make it sound convincing, she did not want to let on just how scared she was, how unprepared for all of this she really was. She knew he was afraid she was going to lose her, she could not let him know that she was scared of that too. It was hard to think about, that she could stand against these people, when she barely knew how to use the few abilities she had. She forced another smile and then leaned in to kiss him, trying to offer her reassurance.
Chance felt the nagging doubts in her mind, reflecting his. "Now that we kind of have an idea about what's happening, what would you like to do next?"
She walked with him quietly for a few minutes as she thought about the next step in their plan. She stopped suddenly and looked to Chance. "Did he say my mum, had a connection to a dragon of the fae? What is a dragon of the fae?"
"He did," Chance assured her. "I'm assuming a fae dragon is something like a fairy dragon. I don't really know much about that stuff. Hocus might. Any ideas about how we search for a dragon, or how we get them on our side?"
She shook her head as she started to walk again, her hand in his. "I have no clue. Maybe we can get a hold of her once we are back at the hotel, or maybe Howl knows, we can ask her. Maybe there is a book on it in the library?"
You want to see if we can find a dragon, Pow?" Chance asked, biting his lower lip.
Mac nodded, turning to resume their walk. "Well I think that it would be another angle to go at?"
"I agree," Chance answered falling into step beside her, his hand finding hers, "and it would likely be a powerful ally, but... how do we find a dragon?"
A smirk lifted from her lips. "Find out what it likes to eat?"
"Virgins?" Chance wondered with a grin, "or is that just evil dragons?" MacKenzie laughed. "Well good. That means I won't be a food source."
"Well, for a dragon, anyway," he told her, stopping to playfully nip at an ear. "I find you quite tasty." She nuzzled her head in his chest as they stood on the narrow Irish road in the mist. "You are bad… You know that right?"
"Pow, I just want to make the most..." his voice cracked. Her eyes turned up at him."Do we stay in Ireland?" He asked, changing the subject. "It seems a more likely a place to find a dragon that knew your mother."
"What were you going to say Chance?" The grin shrank from his face. "That I wanted to make the most of the time we might have left. I know we're both scared. I can feel it in your mind. I would just prefer to think about what we can do to get you to 22 and a day.
Her smile reignited his own. " Being scared does not mean you are going to lose me. I am not going anywhere. *she leans in and kisses him* I promise besides you are supposed to surprise me for my birthday."
"I still have the tickets," he assured her. "Damn skippy." They started walking again. "So, what do you think? Fae dragon? Should we try to find your dad? Mr. Kane mentioned looking for those counter to the other order. What's the opposite of a vampire?"
"How do we find this dragon? How are we going to do that Chance? I mean some of this seems so surreal."
"Mr. Kane mentioned looking for those counter to the other order. What's the opposite of a vampire?"
"Anything living? I would like to look for my dad, but where would we even begin? If Kane didn't know, "who would?
"I've got nothing, not one single other name. At the risk of using your powers, would a spell or maybe some meditation get you more in touch with your mother's memories? I could teach you a few techniques"
"I am willing to try anything. I don't want to leave her until we have more information, but I am scared that the longer we stay here the easier they will be able to find us."
"I agree," Chance added with a nod. "There must be other members of the Circle. Maybe people Kane didn't know. Maybe we should explore the city. See if that shakes anything loose in your mind."
Mackenzie agreed with a nod. "And I want to check out the Cabal. I want to find out more about them, do you think you can help with that? I am not detective."
"I dunno. I will certainly follow up with my police contacts, here."
"It would be nice to explore a little."
"Maybe Howl can find a relative via her senses," Chance offered, suddenly worried about leaving the werewolf back at the hotel, "something for us to follow up on
"Yes," Mac agreed with a nod. "I was hoping that she could help with that. She has a good sense of tracking."
"So, what we're talking about is vacationing in one of the best cities in the world while trying to find a dragon and forget that there's an evil cabal trying to kill you in the next four weeks."
"Yeah that about sums it up, but you know it is going to be an amazing adventure." She stepped in front of him, lifting her head to give him a kiss. He let the press of their lips linger, not caring as the mist turned into a steady rain.
|