Chapter Seventeen

Graveyard Dirt

~N~

Rhein River, Sunset, 673, 28th, October

As the sunlight was fading, the threat of Kolo had Sidonia telling Rorik, “I think when he died; he lost his power to keep me from knowing, as I believe he compelled me to forget. Because of his death I am breaking free of the compulsion, now visions are bringing the memories and they frighten me. It is beyond anything I want to comprehend.” Rorik yelled, “Wait, he is dead! Why did you run, and what the hell are we doing here?”

Sidonia sighed, “Keep your voice down. He flew into the barrier about the castle trying to get to me, and died. Still he is a vampire, and has already come back to life and killed! So the threat will never be over. I still fear there is more, that he had me do and I will never be untangled from it. I will live with what I have done and its consequences the rest of my life. I do not want to add any more deaths, so I ran.”

Rorik then remembered his mother said Kolo’s death allowed her to speak to him. He wanted to sympathize with Sidonia. Instead, he steeled himself, as Sidonia willingly went to Kolo causing all of their pain. She saw his face harden and whispered, “You have not changed, you jump to conclusions and run off before I can explain. I fear if I say more you will go after him and it will fulfill the prophecy of me causing your death.”

Taking his hand she said, “I do not want you to live with it too.” Rorik pulled his hand away taunting her, “If this is a lonely girl’s overreaction to a spat with a boy or friend, which you are blowing out of proportion for attention, we will leave, and I shall take you to Father.” He hoped it worked. Sidonia glared, “I have never done that sort of thing and this is honest fear of a deadly vampire, not an overreaction.”

He wanted her to say, ‘Kolo or the January Man’. Princess Sidonia stated, “The best thing I can do is just keep you and everyone else as far away from me as possible. At least until I determine how to save us. You being involved will only make everything worse.” He nearly swore, as he turned away, angry that she was denying him.

~N~

Kolo gloated, “I am so glad I recently raised you three, only killing you again a week ago. It has made the revival time so quick. Very fortuitous when I need your help so urgently, I must have my sister back. And I have to get Sidonia as well as that damn book.” Now he limped more than before, due to foolishly skipping. He commanded them, “Now finish, and get me the book, Sidonia, and Lola. Do it right, do it perfect.”

Nepathi asked, “May I have the bowl?” Kolo frowned and she pointed, at the decorative bowl. He sighed, and went limping over and struggled to carry it back, and she grasped it as he nearly dropped it when trying to set it down. Kolo reluctantly said, “I appreciate your help.” She saw Kolo broke open his palms’ wounds when he stabbed Darciana’s hand, and now he had left a bloody handprint on the bowl.

The Egyptian turned the bowl, making certain it was not in his view as he slowly went back to his seat. Then the three troublesome witches complied, working their spells. The Egyptian got the cauldron to a boil, as she repeated the chant, some of her rune filled murky moss colored mist came from her, and it swirled, into the cauldron’s brew. Now she brought it from the flame and poured it over Lola’s bloody ashes.

Slowly Nepathi stirred the contents of the bowl together, and now repeated the chant thrice. On the final chant, suddenly Nepathi grabbed the burner dipping it towards the potion, setting the brew on fire. Kolo shot to his feet as he yelled in dismay, “What the hell are you doing!” The Egyptian stated, “Just wait.” Her murky moss green mist flowed out again as it entered the mixture; she waved her hands making symbols and signs.

Then the flame went out leaving only a plume of dark green misty smoke, which came out of the bowl, with a screaming skull it shot through Kolo, making him topple back into his chair as it swirled down about him and then back passed Nepathi, and disappeared going down the catacombs. Nepathi smiled watching it thinking, ‘Hmm, there must be a hole down that way. Perhaps it is big enough to escape through.’

Darciana rolled her eyes saying, “Needless dramatics.” Nepathi taunted back, “If you were not confined I am sure you would do a dance about the cauldron half naked, Rambler!” The smoldering bowl started to dissipate, prompting Kolo to come over. He slowly got closer and as he leaned in over the bowl, the smoke and mist cleared. Now he saw the bowl was completely empty. Kolo shouted, “Where the Hell is she?”

The Egyptian scratched a symbol in his bloody handprint on the bowl, and placed her hand on his arm as she thought, ‘Let the bearer of this bloody handprint feel the torment of the blood he spilt. He gasped grabbing his hand as Nepathi released him, calmly she replied, “I promise I only did what you asked, and what the spell required. You read it! I felt it clearly stated the effect. Confirm it with Darciana if you doubt me.”

~N~

Now Rorik turned back and tried to make light of it, as well as bringing up mum, hoping it would cause her to tell all, “Aww Sid, how can it be worse? You were always exaggerating your tiffs with Mother, and I have always helped you to see that.” She had a hollow look to her eyes that was haunting, as she replied with a sound of someone much older, “As I already said, I let you believe you convinced me.”

Shaking his head, he admitted ‘she is stronger than I expected’. He demanded, “Why?” Sidonia replied in a calm tone, “Because I saw it hurt you to have me hate Samala. I tried to stop telling you just how cruel she truly was. Your pigheaded ways kept me saying too much.” Rorik looked like she had slapped him, yet she went on, “I firmly believe you will never handle the truth well. You cannot imagine the way you made me feel.”

Rorik never wished to accept his faults. She pointedly said, “You cause me more pain then and now, accusing me of lying, over jealousy.” He gasped, “No-.” Rorik’s voice broke keeping him from apologizing. Sidonia nodded, “Yes. Then you like to force me to repeat back to you some pathetic version of Mother as your truth. Do not expect it this time, for I do not care to tell you the whole truth about the Evil One.”

He shuddered, as she willingly mentioned their mother again, it was as if someone had walked over his own grave. He had no interest nor time to look into his own faults, as his dire mission would only add to them. Instead, Rorik asked in a more cautious tone ready to twist the knife after easing it in, “You never speak of Mum and yet you have now mentioned her multiple times, and even called her Mother twice.”

Sidonia swallowed sensing where this was headed. Rorik confirmed it as he added, “You used to only call her Samala. I admit that Mother accused you of many things. How can this spat with a vampire possibly be worse than that?” Sidonia had been suspicious of his avoidance to do as she asked, and now it felt like something more, not just his usual needing to always do things his way.

~N~

Kolo hissed, “Why is she not here?” Nepathi smugly said, “Did you expect her to be sitting in the bloody bowl? I did what the spell required. I revived her essence and then sent it to her, so that she might materialize with strength.” Kolo’s head hurt and his thoughts were confused. He refused to admit he did not understand so he demanded, “Speak clearly, you sent her? Sent her where?”

Placing a hand on his chest, he groaned and felt dizzy. He started to stumble towards his chair when Kolo began to guess he was about to collapse, and looking at his three victims he chose to run for his life. He turned limping and then fell onto the cold stone floor of the throne room, dead. Now Nepathi rushed around the table removing the dagger from Darciana’s impaled hand, she rushed back around and went for Kolo.

Suddenly as she was within a few feet, her chain yanked her just short of the revenge she had plotted. The three Witches sighed and Darciana said, “Well that was not quite as we planned, can you drag the chair closer to him?” As Nepathi came back to her chair, Samala said, “First you should stop Lola from rising?” Nepathi scoffed, “Too late. Either the spell works or it failed, all on its own. I do not have the things I would need to try to reverse it. Damn! He bolted the chair to the floor.”

~N~

Miles away those with mystical blood at Blackstone Castle’s front gate, witnessed a thunder clapped without lightning, in a clear sky. Then saw a dark space the size of a crack opened in small window, as light green mist flowed through it, coming down to float above the area where the sword ended Lola. The mist formed a trumpet and blew long and loud spreading a navy blue web. The witnesses put hands to their ears in pain.

Now light intense blue specs, appeared scattered across a three hundred yard area, slowly flashing like fireflies caught in the navy web. The green mist began to whirl as it spun out from the center of the web, going along the lines, collecting the blue specs. Within the cyclone, the specs bonded to each other becoming a form. The whirling mist went from land to river as the blue specs had surfaced and the web caught them.

Once all specs were collected the web dissolved and the spec swelled into a female. Now the green mist took Lola’s shade and flowed back through the crack of the Dark Window, and thunder clapped closing it and disappeared from sight. Leaving those who witnessed it stunned. Many miles away the thunder clapped opening a crack in the Dark Window. The green mist seeped out through the thin space with Lola.

Now the light green mist spun like a tornado, as it delivered the glowing blue form to the given resting place. Once Lola touched ground her blue faded. The green mist took her through the dirt to a space; and left her. As the green mist retreated coming up from the ground, like the wind it went through the crack in the Dark Window and then it closed with a loud thunderclap, leaving Lola’s soul where it had been sent.

~N~

Sidonia saw his avoidance, shaking her head she said, “You being here has defeated everything I have tried to do. If I could remove all the pain, and bring back all who have died, I would choose to be eaten by wolves, to my coming death. All of this guilt and the knowledge that I will burn to death by his hands, is nothing to lie about.” He grabbed her and tried to shake some sense into her, “Tell me everything.” She was silent.

Now he promised, “If you tell me, I will see to it that your death is not as painful as either of those choices!” She gave him a strange smile, and he saw it did not work, as her eyes seemed even further away, she said to herself, ‘As I thought. You are here to kill me’. Aloud she said, “I will say that thinking back about him, I discover it is worse the more I learn and can only continue to be even more so, if I tell you.”

~N~

Darciana said did you hear that, did he move, or is that you? The other two shook their heads. Nepathi looked, “Kolo is not moving.” She sat on the floor trying to pry her bolted chain from the chair, as she grumbled, “Unless I failed to read your chicken scratch correctly, we can expect Lola to join us in a few days.” Samala said with a plea, “Let us hope we can get free, before then and stop her from rising.” Darciana shook her head and said, “Well, I watched, and it appeared you did it correct, if my memory of that spell is right.”

Then Nepathi said, “Well I tried to confuse him, when the poison seemed to fail or be too little to kill him.” Darciana complimented, “You did an admirable job under such pressure.” Samala rolled her eyes. Now Darciana asked, “If the poison was not working, what caused this death?” Nepathi chuckled, “I gave the poison a boost, by hexing him.” Darciana leaned forward her tone showing how pleased she was, “Do tell.”

The Egyptian seethed, “He got your blood and his, on the bowl in a hand print.” Darciana laughed, “Oh, very nice. How did you use it?” Samala felt left out and snidely interrupted, “Did you realize that if you have killed him, we are now stuck here like this?” Nepathi quipped, “As if it matters that we die sitting here versus in our bloody tombs or worse in his next experiment!”

Darciana said in a dark accusing tone, “I did not see you doing anything to help, cousin. In fact, you could have made him suspicious with your, ‘So you died?’ What were you thinking?” Samala sneered, “I do not sound like that.” Darciana hissed, “I should shun you for even considering assisting him in killing a Rambler and your own daughter! A curse upon you if you do any further harm to her!” Nepathi agreed, “Yes. Thank you.”

Then Nepathi said, “I have no idea whose grave dirt he gave me. Do you think it will affect Lola’s rising if it is not from her grave as it says in your spell?” Darciana sighed, “It might.” Nepathi cursed the wood for being one of the densest she had ever witnessed, “How did he get these bolts in!” Darciana mumbled, “I wonder whose dirt it was.” Nepathi replied, “If I had asked, he would have realized it needs to be hers.”

Darciana laughed, “I am not so sure, he is lacking some of his quickness since his death at the hands of that barrier.” Samala asked, “I do not recall there being a barrier, do you know who placed it?” Darciana said with a tone of respect, “To be powerful enough to kill, I suspect it was an ancestor, likely one of the seven Storm Sisters. I guess it was placed after my capture as I never heard of it either, until now.”

Mumbling to herself Nepathi said, “I hope the grave dirt was his as I used it as well to poison him.” Darciana debated, “Oh dear. I think you should have left it out. Unless you had worded the spell to confine him to his dirt or used it in a binding; I am almost certain, if it is his own grave dirt, it is more likely to protect him from the poisoning!” Nepathi questioned, “Really? I heard grave dirt is a dark power item.

Darciana clarified, “Yes, I was told that as well, it is why mum used it in this spell to speed the process, and why it needed to be Lola’s dirt. Necromancers often use it against others and many dark magic spells include it, however I have never seen it in a spell against the undead. I can see cursing grave dirt, then switching it with a vampire’s own, hoping if they were injured and sought to heal in their own dirt, it would impede it.”

Nepathi moaned, “Oh well, I tried.” Darciana said, “Well, time will tell. I hope for our sakes that I am wrong, or it is not his dirt.” Nepathi struggled as she pried at the wood huffing, “If I can get free-.” She paused to groan with effort, “-I can make certain he is dead. I will cut his heart out and eat it.” Samala made a face, “Ewww.” Darciana said, “I would remove his head using it as a-.”

“Ugh.” They went silent. Nepathi stood up quietly going to the pillar she peeked around it, and now turned leaning against it, she seethed a whisper of horror, “He is moving!”

~N~

Rorik shook his head and hissed, “You are not making any sense.” She just whispered, “I fear if I learn why you are truly here, it will crush my will to live. It is better not to think of it nor the past. It is best to look for a way out, in the future. That is why I cannot talk of what happened nor of him.” Rorik insisted, “It is always better the next morning.”

Sidonia’s voice held that same grave warning as she spoke as if she was in a daze, “That is where you are wrong. I learned he was evil in one night.” He waited feeling she was on the edge of confessing. Sidonia mocked him saying, “I have had two morning since.” The dark princess gave a weak haunting laugh, “No today was the third morning, and each day is filled with further terror, and more memories of betrayals.”

Princess Sidonia added, “It is far worse each day! You being here proves it, no matter how much you deny it, you are in peril of your life and your soul! Tell me why you are here!” Rorik felt horror at his guilt, and wondered at her power, as he felt compelled to confess. He shook himself and Sidonia mumbled, “I once believed that he was good and part of what was making my life better, with less fear.” He waited and hoped.

She thoughtlessly whispered, “It only blinded me to the truth of who Kol-.” Sidonia slapped a hand over her mouth as she heard her own words, nearly speaking his name aloud, and gasped at her near mistake. Rorik looked away mouthing his whole name, ‘Kolo Skotadi.’ He was so tempted to shout it at her just to see the look on her face, yet she was acting unpredictable so he dared not push it.

~N~

Now Nepathi rushed around the table, re-stabbing Darciana’s hand and hurried back to her chair. The three troublesome Witches all looked at him with vague interest as he slowly sat up saying, “What happened?” Darciana called to him in a bored tone, “I think you are still more dead than alive. You really should slumber for a few days, in order to get back to your usual strength.” Samala stayed silent thinking of the grave dirt.

Nepathi casually agreed, “Yes, you really do not look so good.” Kolo came staggering back in, picked up his cup, and went to pour himself some blood. Now he saw the remaining debris, of plant and dirt. Quickly he put it on the shelf, getting a clean one to pour his blood mix in it. Now he knew who to thank, and the reason for his collapse. Kolo’s rage was building as he kept his back to them he downed the first few cups.

Clearly, it was some of the poison called for in the spell and he should consider himself lucky. Once he was calm he let his anger simmer. Kolo came back to his chair bringing the pitcher with him. He sat sipping it slowly while silently watching them. Then Kolo said, “Where were we on bringing Lola back?” Nepathi gave an annoyed groan, “As usual you were complaining, and I was about to say this is what I get for helping.”

Kolo nodded, “Oh yes, right. You were about to tell me exactly where Lola is.” Nepathi declined to respond, furious that he was not dead. He looked at Samala who remained silent. Oddly, Darciana was positively beaming as she now offered, “If you had questions either of you could ask me. It is possible I could offer insight.” Nepathi knew she would pay for her attempt, there was no point being kind, “You picked the damn spell!”

He tapped his empty cup on the table lightly, the silence made Nepathi nervous so she added, “I have never done it before, how would I know it is not doing what you wanted, you did not say what you wished.” Kolo stare became a glare, as Nepathi stated, “Do not blame me for not reading its outcome to you. Did you read it all the way through first, before asking me to do it?” He whistled a bit of the tune, shutting her up.

Kolo looked to Darciana and coldly said, “You tell me, I no longer trust her!” Darciana shivered stammering a bit, “It-it is most likely that your sister’s soul was scattered by the sword, and you were only able to collect the ashes of her essence. If I remember, a- the, the spell is gathering the scattered soul to its resting place, then it sends the essence to bind with her shade and makes it whole again.” He said, “The sword?”

~N~

Slowly her color that Lola had earned a dark murky green shade, flickered like a small pebble. Yet she had no conscious thought nor understanding of her existence. In the ground, among the bones, the small slight glow within her was hidden from the only one who cared. Yet it brought the notice of others who shared her space, and were delighted that she was here in her weakened condition, as they began whispering to her.

~N~

Kolo glared with suspicion, “I said nothing of how Lola was scattered.” Darciana admitted, “I attempted to find her and it only showed me her death at the vampire’s sword. Without our help, Lola may or may not have found herself again and it could have taken decades. She would be like a new shade, weak and confused, having to rebuild the power and abilities, before she could find you. He questioned, “Find herself again?”

Darciana stated, “I believe when a soul is scattered it takes to for the particles to gather together, more time than when she first died, because her soul was likely whole when that happened. That is only due to you selecting this spell and Nepathi send the essence to her.” Kolo gasped, “This still does not tell me where Lola is?” Darciana shrugged trying not to mention what part the dirt had played in the sending of Lola.

Now she offered, “By sending the essence to Lola it will help her wake faster than the usual three days after death.” Kolo hissed, “Why did do that rather than bringing her here!” Darciana replied, “That is not what the spell was written for. It might have been possible to reword or change it. Lola might not take that long to find you, where she has been lingering for decades.” Kolo still did not understand as his head whirled.

He demanded, “Where is she?” The Egyptian scoffed, “The Rambler’s explanation is not telling you the part-.” Kolo wagged his finger at her, she pretended not to see, “-that should have you thanking me. It allowed Lola to gain her strength.” He pointed at her tomb, silencing her as he then pointed to Darciana who finished for her, “It is true without the spell it might have taken her shade decades.”

Kolo yelled, “I will not see her for decades?” Darciana replied, “I am uncertain what I wrote, or if it even said how long this process takes. Still, what we have done will speed it up.” Nepathi mocked Kolo, “You speak like the beginner you were when you first came to me. Yet you claimed since that you have studied and that you now understood spells. You speak of the texts you read on the complexity of life and death.”

Worried for her Darciana shook her head trying to get her to stop, Nepathi continued, “You should have said you did not understand any of what you read. I am stunned you think you are the one reviving us. You can thank me when you see she is nearly as good as before. I did a perfect spell. And I have no idea where she is, the spell did not say.”

~N~

Lola woke again, to her own groaning, it seemed odd to her, yet she did not know why. This time she had woken due to the whispers about her. She thought she heard voices, yet could not make them out. She tried to move and found solid surfaces all about her. That slight movement was enough that it drained what little energy she had gained, this time she struggled to stay aware, and failed going back to nothingness.

~N~

Kolo felt near collapsing as Nepathi asked, “You did read the spell before giving it to me, right?” Kolo hissed at her, “You forget I had just awoken. My head is still aching and your poor explanation of this is confusing me.” Nepathi sighed, “What I did, allows Lola her power, so she returns sooner. You do want that, correct?”

Mumbling Kolo asked, “What was the part about her resting, is she up in her bed? Or are you saying she is back at the castle where the sword ended her?” Nepathi hissed, “You should be happy.” Kolo yelled, “Is she where she first died?” Samala mocked, “She is in her grave, wherever that is. I would guess that is why the spell required graveyard dirt.”

Now Kolo screamed, “Lola is in her coffin! Oh, no!”

~N~