Invisible Death

Good Morning, Starshine

The sun peaked out of the horizon and climbed up over the woods. On a pile of fallen leaves, a feline woman stirred and stretched. Flexible and lithe, Shalimar elongated her spine first, then her arms and legs. Sleep had been deep, the forest a cocoon, a true womb where she rested in absolute peace for the first time in years. She opened her eyes to a new day and a new reality. She actually felt renovated and fresh. And hungry! The idea of breakfast was enticing indeed. Better to go back to the house.

&&&

The boulder shone under the rising sun and gave both shadow and warmth to the young man asleep at its foot. Slowly, softly, he turned and sighed, but didn't open his eyes. As he sat up, he rubbed his back against the rock, caressing it with the back of his head. His blond hair gleamed to the light, so light to be almost silvery. To his touch, the rock was very smooth, almost glassy. He felt like one with the stone. Finally opening his eyes to the morning, Jesse smiled and took a deep breath. He was rested and relaxed, at peace with himself and the world for the first time since he found out what he was and life had taken a whole new meaning. Something had happened to lift his spirits and make him feel younger than his years. And hungry... Famished, really. Time to go back to the house and meet the others.

&&&

In the middle of a sugarcane field, a sleeping man rolled on his back and exposeed his face to the light. The sky above him was a clear blue tinted with the yellows and pinks of the rising sun. Not a cloud in sight. Around him, mature sugarcane stalks ready to be cut down formed a wall filling the air with a sweet, earthy smell.

Brennan stood up to his full height and stretched, lifting his arms as if trying to touch the blue infinity above. He felt an odd sense of peace invade his heart. Since Cat's death and even before, tension had been a constant companion. He used to feel he had electricity running in his veins instead of blood, his muscles were permanently taut, and he was always, always ready. Not today. Today, he felt renewed with a calmness relaxing his whole body.

Brennan Mulwray smiled and took a lungful of the crisp morning air. His stomach growled. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days. He should be heading back to the house.

&&&

The tide had receded, making the white sand streak larger. The sun rising from the mainland hit the palm trees and cast a shadow over the beach. The early morning light was soft and the air smelled of salt.

Lying on her side, her head resting on a small mound of sand, Emma blinked and opened her eyes to a vision of paradise. The beach at dawn was exploding in color. She sat up and patted the sand off her shoulders. Her white cotton gown as damp at the hem and it clung to her legs when she stood up and stretched. The red-headed psionic's senses were quietly alert, but all they could pick up was peace, tranquility, ease. There was a soothing quietude in her surroundings, only broken by a flight of squawking parakeets and the palm trees swaying to the breeze.

Soon, the sun would hit the beach in full force and her fair complexion would suffer. Better to go back up and join the others in the house. She felt... no... she knew something had happened, something wonderful had happened.

&&&

Standing in the west veranda, Blair waited for the quartet of mutants to return. He had kept vigil throughout the night. To keep the level of concentration, the dance, the drums rolling all night long, it could be exhausting. The power he and high priestess Kabinda de Nanã had wielded could be draining, but the sacred infusion had given them the strength and the ability to manipulate and maintain the gates open, the ley lines flowing free. Beacons of light emanating from all corners of the globe helped direct the four columns of energy linked together for as long as needed. Brennan's lightning bolt, Jesse's magnetic meridian, Emma's mind blast and Shalimar's feral eye beam had met up the sky zenith and stayed there, forming a canopy over the house.