Faye and Ruin

An Old Friend Come To Visit

Morning broke sooner than I would have hoped and Bayne shimmered away before my mom or dad caught him in my bed. As I went to drag clothes from the closet to dress in, clothes that were too tight and no longer fit my well trained and muscle hardened body, the fleeting remembrance of magic skirted through my mind and I used that power to adorn myself in a fresh pair of fighting leathers.

Creeping down the stairs, the kitchen was lively with voices and laughter. I bobbed into view to find myself the last one to have joined the crowd. My mom was working over the stove that sat against the wall across from me, cooking up pancakes and eggs as fast as she could manage.

My dad was standing next to her, leaning against the counter with a calm and free smile pressed across his face. Claire and Deimos sat unusually close to each other at the table, stealing intimate glances that were not as subtle as they thought they were. Bayne leaned back against his chair, relaxing into the breakfast at the far side of the table. His cadmium eyes met mine and words drifted to me through my head.

This time, not just by his power, but from the bond as I felt them slide across the threads that wove between us. "Good morning, my little witch." I smiled back and sent him a kiss down the bond. He raised an eyebrow and then ran two fingers across his lips.

My mom flipped around and held out a plate for me. "You better eat before you head off to do whatever it is you are training to do. Bayne says you'll need all your strength."

"Thanks mom." I said and grabbed the plate from her hand. Offering quick hugs to both of my parents, I joined my friends at the table. Bayne pushed a leg against mine as I shoveled the food down my throat.

Within a half hour, the four of us were out the back and walking down the stone stairs that led to a wide field of nothing. "So how is this going to work?" I asked, Bayne walking in front of me. Deimos had his hand in Claire's behind me, and neither of them acknowledged us two.

"You're going to siphon Dei's power and release it back into the Earth." Bayne answered, his head tilting to get a glance of me. A lopsided grin caressed his face.

"Dei's power? Why not yours? What if I take too much? I could hurt him!" I blurted out and Bayne turned around, walking backwards and more floating down the stairs than really stepping. Show off.

"Because of the bond, little witch. We have to make sure you can do this on someone you don't share a soulmate bond with. He's aware of the risks, but he trusts you too. He's going to be drained for a while, worn out, but then it'll be fine. And when you're done with him, then you'll do so on me without using the bond. You'll need to learn to recognize the difference." He reached out and spun me in front of him, lifting me past the last few steps.

"I can walk on my own." I grumbled at him. He just laughed behind me and walked a few steps pressed into my back with his arms hooked around my waist. "Sometimes the way you act makes me wonder if you're really over six hundred years old."

This time even Deimos laughed. "I wonder that too, all the time!" He shouted and Bayne shot him an obscene gesture. It was my turn to laugh and be a little shocked, until Deimos returned the favor and the two of them bantered back and forth.

"You wait here." Bayne said to me and I stopped moving. Claire sat down on the edge of the steps, quite a distance away as the two men shimmered across the field.

Long since harvested corn stalks swayed in the light breeze this morning as Deimos and Bayne readied themselves. And now I was to begin.

It went horribly. For the first two hours, I latched onto everything that had power except for Deimos. Even grasping at Bayne a couple times and he would grunt, then magically pry my grip loose. "Not me." He would growl out, over and over again.