Scenes (excerpts from chapters 9 and 10)

[brightrosefox]

There was a sudden flood, swamping thought, destroying word. Dana cried out without a voice. Ian sat straight up, clutching her as if falling. Something barreled against the door.
Her shriek suddenly finding air, Dana whirled off the bed, hand flung toward the shaking door. Ian made a grab for her ankle.

"Don't," he gasped. "Dana, stop!"

Dana blinked, losing herself in fog. Ian sounded so distant. This time she could feel it against her skin, under her skull. Redness, like claw marks. Black and shades of shadow. The doorknob wasn't far away now.

She grabbed it as static air crushed her. She dropped to her knees. Her skin, unprotected, burned. She opened her mouth, but something had closed in on her throat. Behind her eyes, fire screamed. She couldn't scream. Something else did.

Later, Ian would tell her she had thrust her hands against the door, raw power exploding from the inside out while the air rippled. All she remembered was heat, was the definite sense of something awake and angry and old. Teeth closed around her head. Arms like gnarled branches embraced her.

"Not yet," she breathed, and fell.


Kara vaulted out of bed, narrowly escaping Alex's fingers around her wrist. As her feet hit the floor, he shot forward and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her back.

"What are you doing?" she gasped. "I have to--"

"I'm coming with you. Get dressed."

Twisting away, she stumbled to find clothes. "Are they...?"

"No," he said. "We'd know. Did you feel that?"

She looked at him. "Like the house caught fire."

Alex swallowed. "Not necessarily that."

Clothes on, they managed to wrench the door open, and ran into the hall, where sickening, shadowy patterns writhed on the walls and rugs. The door to Dana's room was throbbing, and the knob glowed orange and red.

Kara threw her hands out, pushing with more force than she thought she had. Behind her, Alex tossed shields back and forth like a weaver with silk, pushing against and flowing with the tide of shadows. In the hurricane eye of his safety and her own power, Kara closed her eyes and reached for Dana.

The astral plane was painted in blood, charcoal and dying flames. A quick image spun into her vision, of a long-haired figure that was curled in on itself.

Slowly, Kara pushed forward and down, catching the girl and letting herself fall. They landed sprawled against obsidian that was both cold and hot. Breathing hard, Kara held Dana against her chest and tried to look around.

Not enough light, she thought. Unless you count black light. What the hell did she do?

Dana stirred and pushed away, sitting up. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Looking for you," said Kara. "What happened?"

"Something tried to get into the room," Dana said simply. "I didn't let it."

"Did you kill it?"

"I don't know. Do you always wind up here after a battle?"

Kara gripped her hand more for security than to comfort herself, and surveyed the black. "If I knew what here was, I'd tell you. I've never been here."

When she turned and got a good look at her friend, any further words caught in her throat. She blinked.

"Dana," she managed. "Do you realize you're glowing?"

Dana raised an iridescent eyebrow. "Shouldn't I be?"

"No, I mean…" Kara didn't know what she meant. Dana's slender body was pulsing, and calling it substance now seemed out of the question. What felt like flesh and bone looked like…

Like what? Flame under her skin, lightning across her veins? Only her eyes remained human, and they glittered with a desperately human understanding. "Are you okay?" the girl asked, frowning.

Kara blinked. "Are you?"

"I feel fine," Dana shrugged. She looked down at her hands. "Look at me. Isn't this incredible?"

"Yeah." Kara swallowed. "Yeah, it is."


Tentatively, Alex put his hands on her shoulders, breathing in her hair, watching it stir in a static wind. She was limp, her body swaying slightly.

"Projected," he muttered. "Might be nice to tell me where."

There was a low creaking noise, and his brother burst into the hall, in shorts, straining against the door as if it were blocked. Alex could make out Dana, crouched naked just behind it, looking as limp and oblivious as Kara.

Eyes wide, Ian pushed through the psychic shields and stepped around Kara.

"Attacked?" Alex asked.

Ian was gasping. "Not sure. I didn't have time to check. Dana moved too fast."

"I get the feeling she knows what she is," Alex said dryly.

"Part of her does. The part she doesn't think about. Alex, help me clean this up. These two might be away for a while."

Drawing in a breath, Alex nodded. "Bring them to the living room?"

"Good idea."

As Ian ran back inside, Alex carefully scooped Kara into his arms. As he hurried to the living room, tendrils chased him. He thought he smelled something burning.

I'm right behind you, Ian yelled. Keep going.

He threw a look over his shoulder. Dana was wrapped in her robe, her skin almost luminescent. Ian's hands were digging into her body through the material. Alex ducked through the doorway just as a rush of hot air pushed at his back. "Ian!" he yelled.

"Still here! It's okay, Alex. Just go!"

He put Kara on one of the couches and whirled. Ian all but collapsed on the other with Dana. The air was still shuddering.

"I'm thinking we should get to our house," Alex gasped.

"You think they won't follow us?" Ian scowled. "They know who Dana is. What makes you think the same thing won't happen?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "We've got specified shields, remember?"

"So?"

Sitting by Kara's head, Alex flexed a hand toward the doorway, and felt the darkness strain against his shields. "So, you and I can't keep this up all day. We need to be someplace safer."

Ian blew out his breath. "Fine. Give everything a minute to calm down, then we'll go."

He pressed his lips to Dana's forehead, and held her closer.


"So, how do you know?"

"It's different in here. I'm different."

"I just...Dana, I'd like to know how you did that, that's all." Kara smoothed her hand over a strand of auburn hair and tucked it behind Dana's ear.

Dana shrugged. "I just did. I just…it was there, and I used it." She blinked. "I feel hot."

Frowning, Kara felt her forehead. "Fever?"

"No." Dana closed her hand over Kara's wrist. "I'm not sick. I'm just...hot."

Leaning in closer, Kara tilted her chin up and looked at her eyes. They were burning gold, like the brilliance under her skin, and there was a definite sense of...age.

"What the hell...?" Her heart starting to pound, Kara swallowed and dipped as deep as she could into the other girl's mind. Spiral--

--and gone.


Ian threw two bags of clothes in the trunk after helping his brother settle the unconscious girls in the back. He took the wheel himself this time, too apprehensive to trust the computer.

Looking back at the house, he watched the psionic shields around it flicker and pulse, watched dark strands weave across invisible fabric. Alex leaned over.

"How are the shields holding?"

"So far so good," Ian breathed. "I'm not sure if it's demonic or just astral, but I need to figure out what it's doing to us."

"Since when did you and I become one person?" Alex scowled. "Let me get in on this, Ian. You can't keep stepping up to the front line just because you're semi-indestructible."

"I never said I was," said Ian, backing out of the driveway.

"It's definitely the impression you're giving."

"I just know what I'm doing, okay?"

"Well so do I, but you don't see me sticking my neck out," Alex said.

Sighing, Ian hit the accelerator. "I only do that for people I care about. I'm watching out for them."

"Dana can take care of herself," Alex said. "So can Kara. Just because we're their paladins doesn't mean we need to wet-nurse them!"

"Wet-nurse!" Ian spun the wheel savagely. "Shit, Alex, nobody's wet-nursing anybody! I love Dana. And I promised I'd help her, I promised I'd train her. Somewhere along the line I fell in love with her. That doesn't mean I have to…coddle her."

"No, it doesn't, and thank the gods you haven't gotten to that stage yet. Just because I love Kara, I don't always throw myself in--"

He stopped short. Ian had tossed a stern mental shot that rocked Alex in his seat.

"You love her?"

Alex took a deep breath. "I...yeah. I do."

Ian smiled, faintly. "Makes sense. I think you've always been in love with her."

He was rewarded with a punch on the arm and a grin, and the house came into view.

"Are those storm clouds?"

Alex shrugged. "Either that, or something..." he dropped his voice, "followed us."

"You don't have to sound so damn dramatic, you know." Ian turned the car off. They got out, retrieved the girls, and head up the front steps.

"You have no sense of humor," Alex said.

"I have plenty. Just not yours."

Alex shook his head. "Lock the doors?"

"Why? They never use doors."

"Force of habit," said Alex. He sat on the opposite couch and rested Kara's dark head in his lap. He looked at her, stroking her hair. "I wish they'd wake up."

Blowing out his breath, Ian touched Dana's face. "If they're not back in fifteen minutes, we'll go in after them, how about that?"

Alex nodded. "What happened back there, anyway?"

Ian shrugged, shook his head. "We were lying there talking, right after you called, and something just...hit us, I guess. Like bricks. It's...I haven't felt that since we were sixteen."

"Worse than what happened in the den?"

Ian rubbed his face with a sweaty palm. "Yeah, in a sense. It was too direct. Like they knew exactly where we were, exactly how to get in. If Dana hadn't hit back, it might've gotten worse."

"So…" Alex leaned forward. "Ian...what did she do? How did she hit back?"

"Like…" Ian swallowed. "A firestorm. It sounds cheesy, I know. But Alex, I think she knew what she was doing. A firestorm. The girl knew exactly what she was doing, and I don't think she even realized it. I'm telling you, I felt the Phoenix.

Fingers stroking through Kara's hair, Alex bit his lip. "I guess we're thinking the same thing."

"Yeah." Ian reached out to the phone on the wall. The black receiver flew to his hand. "We'll call Alistair and bring her to the Center."

"You haven't been there yourself in six years. The last time we talked to Alistair was eight months ago."

"I remember my way around, if that's what you're worried about." Ian balanced the phone on the couch arm. "First things first, though, we take care of these two." He shifted so he was sitting sideways, hands against Dana's head. "Ready when you are."

He glanced over. Alex was in the same position. "As I'll ever be."

"On three," Ian said.


Three, someone called. "Sounds like Ian," Kara said.

"Where is he?" Dana got to her feet, robed in light. Fiery wings draped around her shoulders.

"Alex's with him. They must be looking for us. How long have we been here?"

"Long enough. We have to go now." Dana crossed her arms, fists at her shoulders. Fire spiraled between her fingers. There was a shrill cry. Kara whirled around when she sensed something behind her.

Alex and Ian stood back-dropped by shadow and flame. Their eyes were midnight.

"Her voice…" Kara was gasping. She couldn't find her own voice. But her thoughts pulsed like mad. "That's not Dana."

"Not the Dana we know," Ian said. His voice had dropped to the timbre of the other night, when Dana had nearly died. He walked toward Dana, eyes burning.

Alex cursed under his breath, and ran forward, grabbing Kara's arm. "Get out of the way. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'd like to save my eyesight."

Like someone hypnotized, Ian held out his hand, drenched in light. Kara lifted an arm to her own eyes. Dana took Ian's hand...

And from her body a fire-red bird rose and sparkled. From Ian came a water-dark dragon. They clashed once in the air, curled around each other, and were gone.

"Is that what I think it is?" Kara whispered. It was redundant, but it sounded easier to digest when spoken out loud.

"So much for myths and legends," Alex muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I knew the Phoenix had the reality potential, but I just...I never thought about Ian's dragon being part of the legend."

Kara bit her lip. "There was always a dragon figure in the legend. In every legend, if you think about it. Two of the four sacred animals of Chinese mythology were a dragon and a phoenix."

"I just never made the connection. I mean, he's my brother."

"And she's my best friend. You never see the connections."

Alex pulled her to him. "Kara...how much do you know about what's been happening? The shadows?"

She shrugged. "All I know is that everything is centering in on Dana. Maybe this power in her is supposed to...oppose them. I don't know."

"Yeah," Alex murmured. "I guess."

Meanwhile, the dance continued.


A whisper of fire. She breathed in. Like swallowing heat.

Above and inside her head, phoenix and dragon screamed a strange duet. She could have sworn it was a song. Ian's hands tightened around hers.

"Come with me," he whispered, and she remembered the gray cloak.

"It was you," she said.

"No," said the dragon. "Me."

His claws were solid flame cased in ice. She stepped into his arms, stepped into nightfall, stepped into his wings. Storm and lightning breathed against her skin. Electric kiss. She inhaled the smell of shadows.

Somewhere, she heard Kara cry out her name. Too late anyway. She was wearing the mantle of the storm. She closed her eyes and fell.

The last time my eyes opened to the sun, I was two hundred years unborn. Two centuries ago, I which was my mother died and birthed myself again. I am none but myself: mother and child. I am infinity and eternity, past, present and future. I am life, but not without something from which to take life. Sacrifices must always be made.

For the first time in twenty-one years, Dana remembered her mother's face.


Sunlight playing on treetops. Songbirds. A wood and steel swing. He lifted his face to the sky, and light settled on his eyes. He blinked.

If you look at the sun, you can see the veil.

He closed his eyes and saw threads of gray and purple, smelled something strange and beautiful—vanilla and roses and amber and patchouli. The smell of magic. He was six years old and the curtain in the sky whispered of a child's dreamland.

His mother was calling.

Something from behind the curtain beckoned. The sun turned white, then black, then a perfect split. A dot of black in the white, a dot of white in the black, and a slender, curving line of gray in between.

"Ian, honey, come inside! Lunch is ready!"

Look, child. This is you. Do you see the perfect balance? Light and dark always separate and always mixed will create a middle road, and the color is gray. The gray of storms, the gray behind the cobalt of your eyes. Blue for protection, gray for balance. You will be strong.

Look.

He looked, and the veil was pulled aside.

"Ian? Ian!"

He thought he could smell fire.

"Ian!"



She had dark auburn hair and green eyes, a haunting and haunted face. Her hands, small and sunlit, rested on Dana's face.

"It was the last thing I expected," Alyssa said quietly. "The last thing anyone could have expected."

"Did you know about the Phoenix?"

"I knew. But by the time I was in my third trimester, I didn't want to turn back. I wanted to give you a chance to finish what your father and I had tried to do."

"And what was that?" Dana asked.

Alyssa sat in the dark, pulling her daughter with her, easing Dana's head against her chest. Her hand cupped Dana's head gently.

"About two hundred years ago, the dividing curtain between the physical world and the spirit world began to tear," she said, "and more and more humans became able to sense things that neither science nor religion could really explain. Understand that true magic had been shut off thousands of years before that—humans and spirits had been forced to live apart."

"Why?" Dana whispered.

"It got out of control. Humans killing elves, humans killing fae, dragons killing everything. It was the wrong kind of chaos. The dragons were the ones that ended it all. Something had upset the balance, at least on the human mortal end, so badly that people stopped trusting and believing. They started slaughtering. Even the small gods lost most of their numbers. Draconic powers were in a state of flux. Dragons had lost whatever sort of control they'd had. So they took magic away from the human world. And now it's starting to come back. Full force."

"But why all the genocide?" Dana asked. "What did humans and spirits ever do to each other?"

"Too many things. Conflicts of interest, struggle for power. Humans have this innate tendency to want a hundred percent more than what we're getting. It really isn't our fault. But to the dragons and the spirits back when, it was threatening." She smiled slightly

"Your father and I were a number of psychics who tried to hold things together since we found out. Obviously, it...didn't work out the way we'd planned. I never did find out if anyone else had lived. The veil was still intact, but not by much."

Dana closed her eyes. So now the veil was being ripped apart, the psychic curtain pulled aside with enough force to tear. "And me?" she asked.

"You're the Phoenix," Alyssa said simply.

"What does that mean? What am I supposed to do?"

Her mother kissed her. "Put it all back together, somehow. It's not just that the worlds are colliding. It's forces from there trying to regain control here. It's nothing to do with good or evil, black or white. It's about control, laws, rules, drawing the line. The contract was, leave the human world for the humans, and the spirit world to the spirits. But like any faction, some stronger spirits want to take back those times when everything was one realm. These are the creatures from nightmares—the succubae, the darker demons, the death bringers. Those are the ones you have to stop. Apparently they've all coalesced into a single, all-encompassing entity called the Dark. And it's the powers of the Phoenix that brought it down two hundred years ago. You have to do the same thing, now."

"How?"

"Ian can help you. Kara will. Alex will. You've got your army, Dana. You just need to be able to take the charge."


He woke up in a graveyard, in the pouring rain and rolling thunder. His brother's hair was plastered and chocolate dark, mouth half-open to drink in tears of rain, gulps of air.

"That was hell."

Ian inhaled rain and sat up. "Was anyone hit?"

"Ran off." Alex wiped his face with his sleeve. "I think they thought you were dead."

"Wasn't I?"

Alex gave him an incredulous look. "The day something finds an easy way to kill you, Dragonfox, is the day I turn in my pentacle."

Ian smiled weakly. "You called me Dragonfox."

"Yeah, so?"

"Haven't called me that since we were kids, Ravenwolf."

"We're not kids anymore, and those aren't kid nicknames."

"So you don't object."

"Hell, no. They're our spirits. Maybe they're our strength too or something. You with your dragons and foxes, me with my ravens and wolves. Something's watching our backs, anyway."

Another crack of lightning left a thick ozone smell not too far away. Alex pulled Ian to his feet. "Some happy eighteenth birthday, bro."

"What do you mean? I haven't stopped enjoying it yet." Ian spun to face the ripping sky, lashed out with an energy punch that sent soundless, sightless power surging toward the storm above.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex yelled.

The storm screamed at them, a thousand rumbling curses, and Ian calmly pulled it apart at the core, telekinesis battling pure nature, until the thunder slowly began to fade, and the last sky-long flash of light flickered and died.

Alex exhaled deeply. Smiling tiredly, Ian gently punched his brother's shoulder. "Happy birthday," he breathed. Alex just looked at him, panting from the feedback and backlash and of Ian's display.

Head tilted up still, Ian cracked his neck, then shoulders, shook his head rapidly a few times, and turned to the cemetery gates. "Okay," he said, "let's get out of here."


Somewhere on the outside, beyond the psychic veil, a gray-cloaked figure looked at the sky and murmured, "Full circle."


They fell off the sky and hit carpet. Dana's eyes flew open. Ian's arms were tight around her; she was clinging to him like a drown victim. Her head throbbed and sweat trickled down the nape of her neck.

She heard Alex groan, "Is everyone okay?"

Ian's mouth stirred against her hair. "More or less. Dana?"

"I'm here," she said.

They helped each other sit up. Dana looked over to where Kara was inching toward her on hands and knees. Wordlessly, they caught each other, and Dana was surprised to feel tears on Kara's face.

"It's okay," she whispered. "What's wrong?"

Kara smiled shakily. "I'm fine. Just...was worried about you."

"Worried?" Dana tried a reassuring smile. "Don't. I can take care of myself. I mean, I did. I think."

"Well, we're alive," Alex said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you did back there," he explained, easing himself up. "Something was attacking, and whatever you did...I guess the something went dead."

Dana shook her head. "I don't even remember that."

"What do you remember?" asked Ian.

She shrugged. "Just...a phoenix, and a dragon...you...and my mother."

"Your mother?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

The phone rang. Ian got to his feet slowly. "I feel like this is a script or something. Anybody else see this coming?"

Dana bit her lip and touched her forehead where Alyssa had kissed her.