Daughters of Creation

Chapter Twenty-Six: Orgulous (Part Two)

  Dana stared down the cobbled street, gaze steely and hair whipping about, the wind doing more than just tugging. Telling Eytelis everything that had transpired over the past couple of days had taken a toll on her she hadn't expected. Her throat had choked up when she stumbled across Rosalyn's name or any involvement the Green Witch played a role in.

Eytelis hadn't said anything after she had told everything, simply cupped Dana's chin with a warm hand and brought their faces closer, gently brushing her dry, cracked lips against Dana's. Eytelis had seemed to gain some strength; strong enough to quiet Dana from protesting for her to save her energy to get better. Her dryad had laughed gently, kissing her again, saying "Universum dulcis mihi, you have worried about me enough. It's my turn."

The kiss that had followed was not so chaste. Dana's cheeks flushed, a dusting of red painting her face as she thought about the details of hers and Eytelis' last kiss. It made her wish she'd started kissing Dae and Eytelis like that a lot sooner.

"Ready?" Rena's voice was soft, the hypnotic lull of her siren lineage dampened, as if her own powers knew how serious, how altering, this moment was. It was more than enough to shake Dana from her reminiscing.

Clothed in the same close-fitting armor all Guards wore, Dana had been transformed to where she could be one of them. She blended right in. The same steel-like resolve pumped through her veins, like a guiding hand from the Mother Goddess.

Hurry, the wind seemed to whisper.

Free me, her blood seemed to sing; answering to call that all witches could hear.  

Dana adjusted the sword Rowan had strapped to her back as part of the disguise. It made her uncomfortable to feel the weight of the blade on her back, especially as it had been a sword that nearly killed Eytelis. Dana had protested at first, nearly trembling as it come closer to her but Hari had reasoned it would look suspicious if she wasn't wearing a sword—as at least one type of blade was mandatory for Guard wear.

Behind Rena, the remaining members of the Five shifted, sensing the change. She swallowed thickly and nodded. "Ready."

The six of them set off, the road emptying as they passed. Dana had never seen the streets so clear before; normally she had to elbow past or work a little magic, but walking beside the Five naturally made the divine press against stalls or switch to the other side of the road. It left a disturbing feeling in the pit of her stomach, a sour taste in her mouth.

"Shall we go over the plan?" the breeze brought Ezra's cool tone to their ears, barely louder than a whisper.

"I shift my features to look like a young cadet, one young enough to not yet have the Oleander tattoo. Once we're past the gates and close to the middle of the Hold, we split up—"

"Rena, Hari, and Dana go to Kozel's study while Ezra, Rowan, and I seek out where the Council is and keep our eye on them." Andre picked up. "If any of the Council members break off or start to move we'll send a link through the line Rowan set up."

Rena nodded in confirmation. "We can't rely completely on Rowan's link since we still don't know how long it will hold or how long this will take. If the link breaks we resort back to our old methods."

The Five nodded as Dana remained clueless. She didn't worry. Rena and Hari would be with her and they knew exactly what Rena was talking about. Her ears warmed—she also had Eytelis' strength backing her. 

Rena turned her piercing gaze on Dana. "Shift now before we get too close to the Hold."

Her magic buzzed in her veins. One breath and her features had changed, shifted to fit the image she had held in her mind. Dana's hair was darker now, longer, and held back in two long braids with a protective metal band wrapping around her forehead; her eyes a steely shade of grey that could be a mirror of Rena's own; she had also shifted her height, the illusion causing her to appear significantly shorter than normal to those who looked at her.