The Link 3 - The Huntress

Chapter 28 - Teegan

Dad was so assured. As dangerous as it was, it was good to feel his strength again. My family's faith in me was a beacon against the darkness. Still, the thing was beating at my shell, slowly dissolving what little defenses I still possessed.

"I'm going to be an uncle?" Zane thought wildly. It was such a happy thought, so full of life and future. It burst through everything, the exuberance of youth with a brightness that reminded me of my daughter's.

"Yes," I replied with determination. This thing would not damage my family. It could not. Daddy was here. I slowly opened my eyes.

"That's it beautiful," the thing before me said. It was taller than before, young and handsome in an exotic European way. His hand gripped me tighter. "You can see it now, the power we will let loose in this world. You will be its empress, your child a princess. That boy of yours, well you'll never doubt him again. He'll kneel to your greatness."

"He'll kneel now if asked. And I've never doubted him," I said, letting my smile grow. Caleb was alive, or at least this thing thought so. "What you offer I already have or never wanted."

"Oh, so young and naive," the thing continued. His blue eyes were dancing, almost sparkling with lust. "Do you think the military will ignore your power? Do you think they won't use it for the same purpose? No, you must grab the world by the balls and take what is yours."

"I already have more than I deserve," I said. "My daddy raised me not to be greedy."

"Bah, family. A trivial concept that ties your hands. Remember how they held you back, questioning your every decision. What do they know about being young and alive?" the thing argued. "It is you that holds all the cards now. Be the woman you were meant to be, strong and without doubts." A surge of blackness flowed into me, stronger than before. I swallowed hard and tears began anew.

"Have you met my Daddy?" I stammered, then I opened my music to let my family in. A light, as brilliant as the thing's blackness was dark, exploded through me. It gritted its teeth, and his grip shifted as if it were suddenly uncomfortable. The thing doubled its efforts, blackness invading the bonds that led home, wrapping around them, discoloring what was pure a moment ago. It was Dad who held me steady. His bond pulsed with a strength that was meant to cradle me as if I were the infant he had found so many years ago.

"A girl! And she's so beautiful," Mom thought loudly. I hadn't realized I had exposed my baby.

"We have you now," Dad said. I could feel the power of the darkness surge, but Dad didn't falter. Zane was there, chaotically bouncing around in the most lovely way. I could feel how it weakened the thing as it tried to grab hold and steady the young mind.

"She's mine," It hissed. For a moment, I feared Dad would attack. Instead, I only felt his laughter, as if the whole idea was ludicrous. "You are nothing but ants under my heel. I have dealt with your kind for centuries. I will have my victory!" Something changed and its strength increased knocking the breath from my lungs. The blackness filled with something awful, a disease that seemed to grow and spread without direction.

"Then we need more ants," Dad laughed, his music was getting louder. "Find everyone baby, find them all." Mom wrapped herself around my baby, shielding it from the blackness with her very soul. Zane kept bounding about, little bursts of love exploding inside bruising the darkness with bits of light. I closed my eyes and searched for tenuous threads like the one Dad had secured. If he could find me, I could find others. For my family, for Caleb, for my daughter, I would find others.