Heaven's Eclipse: Star-crossed Fate.

Chapter Twelve: The Casting.

Alexa, Thea, Sasha, Kody and Maara were all already there in the barn, sitting in the last stall on a pile of clean straw waiting for me. Maara wouldn't quite meet my eyes and looked away every time I tried and I noticed that she had on a silver necklace I didn't recall seeing earlier, it had an object hanging from it and as I peered closer it looked like a star hanging from the chain. Seeing me looking at it, she tucked it down her shirt front.

"Family heirloom. The star is the sign of one of Heaven's greatest angels. The only one to have such true vision." I looked away, but I was still confused. Kody got up and clapped her hands once to break the tension and get our attention.

"We're here today to initiate Nia in to our Circle and begin to teach her the basics of Casting." We all gathered in a six pointed star, taking up positions on the points of a chalk drawn star on the stall floor I hadn't noticed before. Looked like they used this place to practice their casting often.

"Since Maara is the strongest of our covern, so she will perform the ritual. You two..." She nodded at Alexa and Sasha.

"Will mainly observe, as you have not come into your full powers yet, but your presence will provide the energy we need to complete the circle." They nodded simultaneously and Maara immediately began chanting, wasting no time.

"We call upon the air today, to flow around us and guide our minds with its clarity. We call upon the fire of the earth to warm us and our spirits; to nourish us with its protective and life giving flames. We call upon the earth to ground our mind and our bodies with its stability. We call upon the lightning to empower us through our emotions, with its unearthly and unpredictable energy. We call upon the water to wash around us, cleansing our souls with its purity." She pulled a red stone out from within her pocket, locking her gaze on to me for a moment as I looked at it. It was the stone from my parents house. The one that I had last seen my dad holding. I looked across at Kody, who seemed equally as confused about the stone, but no one said or did anything to break the circle.

"Finally we call upon the spirit to boost our powers and abilities with its invisible essence. To destroy all glamours and reveal the truth; even when it has been hidden from ourselves." Kody's, Thea's, Maara's and my hair all started to float around our faces and our bodies began to glow. A glowing white spot appear on our foreheads for air and although I couldn't see mine, like I could the others, I could feel its warmth. Another one appeared over our hearts, glowing red for fire. Our outlines glowed green for earth and our hair crackled with yellow sparks for electricity. The centre of our stomachs glowed blue for water and our heads had golden halo's encircling them, for spirit. We all linked hands and I felt their energy pass through me; we were all joined up in one big harmonious circle. I sensed Maara looking at me and turned my attention to her. She was looking at me with something akin to longing, but also expectation, so I quickly turned my attention back to the covern. Kody took over again and I sensed that she was the leader of this small circle and that Thea's shyness was just her keeping in balance with the covern's hierarchy; not unlike a pack of primalupuses with its dominant and submissive wolves.

"Now the angel blood of our celestial father's is awakened within each of us, we will teach Nia how to perform a simple cast, to solidify her place in our circle. The first cast she will learn is how to unravel a glamour." She looked at me and I stepped forward at her wordless command, in to the centre of the chalk star. I knew Maara was still staring at me and made a point to not look her way. The intensity of her gaze was unnerving and was leaving me with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Instead I kept all my attention focused on Kody.

"Now focus on you're angel blood within. Focus on the part of you that comes from the heavens, not your earthly body." I closed my eyes, letting her words wash over me and as I did a small wind picked up in the barn, stirring the loose bits of straw at our feet. It wasn't a strong wind, but it brought words with it, whispered in the air.

'Heaven above and earth below,

The sun and moon are bright and doom.

Follow your heart to do your part.

Let the light and the sight be your might,

And visions be your decisions,

To use your talents to restore the balance.'

I didn't know what they were supposed to mean, but I knew I had heard them before somewhere, it was getting weird to keep remembering little snippets of words or dreams and not knowing what they mean, feeling the elusive memories continuously slip through my grasp. It was maddening.

"Now feel all the energy building up deep within you and then suddenly let it go. Release it all and release your celestial side." I imagined a ball of energy being squeezed and twisted, until it started to hum and vibrate, the vibration sounds were so realistic that I could actually hear it with my ears. I felt the energy concentrate and condense in my chest, like a rolling lava ball, until I could contain it no longer. I unleashed it, throwing my arms out with the force of the expulsion, feeling my very veins and arteries burn with renewed life; as the blood sped through my body awakening raw vitality. I managed to open my eyes for a moment, only to see the red stone in Maara's hand glowing and vibrating in her hand. Suddenly it flew off the palm of her hand and straight towards me. I tried to brace myself, but couldn't move with all the raw energy coursing through me. The stone hit my chest, only I didn't feel it. I could do nothing but stare in horror, as it slowly disappeared inside me; like it was melting through my skin. Light started to seep out from every pore growing and spreading, until it had consumed every last inch of me and it then began to envelope me in a golden aura. An itch started in my back and I felt a growing weight dragging on my shoulder blades, getting heavier; until something tickled my ankles. I opened my eyes to the collective gasps and saw Thea and Kody huddled together staring at me in fear; Alexa and Sasha were nowhere to be seen and I really didn't blame them for running off. I turned to Maara hoping she could tell me what was going on, but she was openly staring at me too, only her look contained passion and excitement.

"You've finally come back to me." I was petrified and could only move my head, as the energy continued to endlessly stream out of me. What was happening to me? She started towards me, until she stood inside the star too and then she did the last thing I expected to happen. She stood in front of me and unfurled two enormous wings from inside of her back. Everything was starting to fit together. Samantha smelling Maara's angelic essence from across the room, when it should have been impossible and would have been impossible if it had been diluted by human blood. Maara's skin was glowing with its own inside light. Maara was an Exile and from the looks of it she'd had a brush with an archangel some point in the past. The feathers on her wings looked like they had been burned away, leaving behind a charred look. It was till coated with feathers, but the burned look made them look stained The college was supposed to be protected against Exiles, so they couldn't get inside the grounds. I had a feeling that I had only made it inside the grounds, because I'd had my essence hidden within a cast. She stood in front of me and I felt our wings being drawn together, like a magnetic pull. It was strange seeing wings arching over my shoulders, sparks crackled between us.

"This is who you truly are. It has taken me so long to find you again, but the cast they put on you wasn't going to hold forever." I didn't want to ask, but the question was burning inside me.

"What am I?" She smiled.

"I think you know what you are, Nia. You're like me. Our past together stretches further back than that of your pet primalupus." The energy was finally dialing back enough that I could move my body again.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" She brought and hand up to stroke the feathers on my wing; whilst grinning.

"Nia, I think you're smart enough to realise that I'm Maara and that it means the devil." She turned to me.

"You're the key to everything."