Daughters of Creation

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Matutine (Part Three)

  In the growing light, among tall pine trees, Rosalyn stood in front of them all, back to their gazes and eyes facing forward. She stood before them like a young warrior-queen, a vision against the coming dawn.

"Found you," she muttered under her breath, words barely above a whisper. It was not meant for her friends and coven-sisters to hear.

Although she was so close, Rosalyn still could not feel her sister, but she gave comfort in the words the Mother Goddess had given her. What she could feel, through the near non-existent linkage between her and Casimir, was utter shock and a coiling anger. He knew they were here.

"Do we have the advantage of surprise?" Rena's question was purely tactical, the voice of the commander that she was.

Rosalyn shook her head, regret fleeting. "No. He knows we're here."

Rena's shrug was entirely all Guard-like. "So be it. I didn't think we'd have that advantage anyways."

The eleven of them stood on a slight hill, peering down at the clearing and the entrance of a cave barely recognizable from the distance. Rosalyn's eyes narrowed. Between them and Millicent, pale, glittering humanoid figures waited—waited for their inevitable approach. A scowl matched her glare as she saw who headed the front of those magical creatures.

Casimir.

It was as if she had a hawk's vision when it came to him. She watched as his cold expression shifted, minutely, when he caught sight of her. It bordered on regret but the emotion was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

Wind picked up, blowing brown curls back from her face. She did not wear her glasses. Magic aided her sight.

In a soft voice, one that shouldn't have been able to carry as clearly as it did, Rosalyn said, "Where is she, Casimir?"

His features didn't change, he'd come this far. "She was the last piece. Blood of the Eight. In a few hours the Veil will finally be destroyed."

Rosalyn's expression darkened. "We won't let that happen. My sister will not die—Not for some foolish idea!"

Her last part caused Casimir to snap. "This isn't some foolish idea! I am finally within grasp of becoming who I was supposed to be! When the Veil is gone, I will no longer be nothing. I will finally be a god!"

She shook her head. "Even gods fall."

Rosalyn unsheathed Vita, the Sword almost luminescent, and unleashed her rage upon him.

The earth erupted. She had never seen so clearly before. Nature came to life around her, guided by both her and Eytelis' hands; surging forward to wrap around those jewel-like demons and shatter them. Shards like thousands of mirrors sprinkled through the air as they shattered under the pressure. Almost from thin air, their families took to the ground and sky, shrieks and roars of defiance mixing with the voices of their divine counterparts.

One was on her by her fourth step, faster than any creature had a right to be. Vita met the hard, metal-like glass sword with a blood-curdling shriek that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She met its attack blow for blow. Twist. Duck. Dodge. Slash. Lung. Stab. She repeated, feet moving in different patterns as she struck down one after the other. The earth aided her as she moved, tripping or glueing a creature to give Rosalyn an advantage. Sweat beaded along her forehead, a headache pounding from the wound she'd sustained from the ball. A grunt left her as one of the soldiers kicked her in the stomach, sending her skidding a few feet back.

Where there was a witch, there was a Guard. Dana remained in front of Eytelis, moving as the dryad moved and covering Eytelis' side where she needed it while she worked her magic. Metal glinted like its own sea where Emrie Michele and Ezra danced their deadly sequence; glass-like objects flying as dagger cut and obliterated. Rena was throwing heated words to Emerson's back as the Crystal Witch summoned her powers, the ribbons in her eyes growing brighter. Vela and Andre fought back-to-back, where the large wolf could not reach Vela's magic lashed out.