Planar Powers Book 2: The Obscuring Gate

Chapter Three: Dreams of the Girl in Blue

Ash sat up and blinked in the sun. She looked around her, taking in the grassy

hill she was sitting on, and the gentle breeze flowing around her, causing the small white flowers that coated the hill to sway slightly. She stretched and stood up, her cards a comforting weight in her pocket as she started down the hill, eager to see what lay in the woods at the foot of the slope.

Before she got too far, however, a hand seized her arm, and tugged her forcefully up the hill, throwing her gently onto the ground at the top. She leapt to her feet and pulled her deck into her hand, only to find herself facing June.

"June? What the hell are you-"

"Doing here? Waking you up," June replied solemnly.

"What do you mean? I'm perfectly awake," Ash said irritably.

"No, you aren't. You're dead, actually. Bleeding out on a cave floor while your boyfriend fights to avenge you. It's not your time yet, card mage. You've much left to accomplish, so I can't let you enter those woods yet. Now wake up!" June shouted.

Ash winced at the blinding pain in her chest, her hands suddenly stained in red as the cave floor flashed across her field of vision momentarily. She could vaguely see Jason fighting across the way, but her vision dimmed and was replaced once again with the hill. Ash retched into the grass at her feet, and June calmly held her hair up until she was done.

"If I'm dead, then is this...?"

"I'm not allowed to answer that, Ashley. But you need to wake up. I can heal you, but you can't tell anyone it was me. Now go help your man," June said with a smile. Her eyes flashed a bright emerald, and Ash's vision faded.

***

Ash came around slowly, and her chest was on fire. But the blood was slowly receding, and her cards were slowly compiling into her outstretched hand. June stood above her with a gentle smile, before her form faded away with a huff of air. She slowly stood, turning to see Jason with a sword plunging towards his neck, Azriel having gotten the better of him. Both of their faces were slick with blood, and Rhand was curled up in a corner, unmoving. Jason's breath was heaving as he closed his eyes. Ash threw a card.

***

Jason waited for the blade to hit. He could feel the blade approaching as if in slow motion. But instead, a hiss of steel on steel greeted his hears, as well as a surprised gasp. He opened his eyes, and his own gasp escaped.

Standing in front of him was Ash, her hair such a bright red it was almost fire. She was holding his katana, which had dropped somewhere in the cave, and her magic was radiating all around her. She gave a violent shove, and charged Azriel, the katana flicking this way and that as she gracefully deflected blow after blow.

"How are you still alive?!"

"Because you were a moron and managed to stab me without piercing anything vital. Quite simple to heal from," Ash said calmly as she continued her assault. Jason was watching her, probably drooling. He was so captivated in her movements he almost didn't dodge the ball of fire she threw at him.

"Quit staring and help, you jackass!" she shouted.

Jason grinned and let himself drop into his own shadow, feeling the cold envelop him as he moved into Azriel's shadow. He leapt up and put him in a chokehold, or tried to, but he was immediately flipped and thrown into Ash, the two flying back. They landed on their feet, Jason now holding his katana, and Ash hefting balls of fire as her deck swirled around her.