Let’s Talk One True Mate (One True Mate Companion, Vol. 1)

Part 2—The Templum

Part 2—The Templum

Twenty minutes later, Number Six sped away in a black SUV with Boe still unconscious and bundled into the back seat, the woman in the passenger seat, and the two mice on the dashboard running back and forth. The woman held a miniature replica of the black SUV in her lap. She cupped it in her hands, with one hand held over and one hand held under, chanting quietly to herself. Spherical layers of haze and light grew around the replica until it hung suspended within them.

“Better call our contact with the Vin Boesons,” she said quietly, her eyes on the replica, her hands still moving around it.

“An’ tell ‘im what?”

“Tell him that Boe made it out of the Pravus, but there’s been a hitch and they can’t take him out of Serenity now, maybe not ever. You’ll call when we know more.”

Number Six grunted agreement and used voice commands to make the phone call.

“Yeah,” a male voice answered.

“Plans’ve changed. Meetup cancelled. The package’ll be stayin’ in town for now. More later.”

“Got it.” The male hung up.

Number Six grunted and tapped the brakes, making the woman look up at the road. A police car was coming their way, lights flashing silently. She pulled the covered replica in close to her chest and whispered urgently to it, then said, “They won’t see us.”

She gestured to the forest across the road, splaying her fingers out, whispering unintelligible words.

A luminous fox ran from the underbrush near the roadside, then weaved through some bushes. The police car pulled over and an officer got out. He pulled a flashlight from his belt, said something into his radio, then followed the fox into the bushes.

Number Six laughed, the sound grating like a chainsaw, and then the road curved and they sped away down the winding road. They reached the river and took a left, following the road a short way, then taking another left onto Morning Bluff Drive, then a right onto Morning Woods Drive, which switch-backed up Morning Bluff through thick forest. They drove in silence for several moments and passed no other cars. The woman tucked away the miniature vehicle with its layers of protection into an inner pocket of her cloak. She turned in her seat so she could see Boe in the back. She stayed that way, staring at him, her face set in lines of deep concentration.

The road widened and a large sign appeared on their right. It was a stylized sun rising through evergreen trees. Bronze letters proclaimed:

THE MORNING WOOD INN

HOME OF THE STATE’S BEST SUNRISE

Est. 1944

Wolves shot on sight

“Roof, passage, or bluff face?” Number Six asked.

“Roof.”

Number Six grunted acknowledgement and drove past to a hidden road. He put the vehicle in four wheel drive and followed the road for a short way, then turned left and plunged directly into the forest. He stopped at a dark clearing and turned off his headlights, then rolled down his window and pointed to one of the mice. It ran to the window, outside, up on the roof, and then jumped to the closest tree and scampered down a limb toward the trunk. A moment later, a bush near them moved mechanically on hidden tracks, revealing a dark, covered stall. Number Six drove into it, creeping to a stop, then he and the woman got out in near-total darkness.

Number Six turned on a red-filtered flashlight and led the woman out and around to the back of the stall to a trail. They followed it to a collection of boulders, all bigger than a man. The front boulder was fake. Number Six went straight for it, bending to unlock hasp locks on all sides, then he heaved it up and out of the way on hydraulic tracks, revealing a trap door into the ground.

The woman hurried under the fake boulder and Number Six sprinted in front of her to pull open the trap door, then he held her hand as she stepped in and down. She took several steps down, let go of his hand, grasped a handrail, then spoke.

“Bring him.”

Number Six ran back to the vehicle. The woman descended the steps slowly and carefully into a dark cavern, with small points of light all around.

“ Molofi !” she commanded, the word echoing.

The points of light flared brightly, revealing that they were torches set into sconces on cave walls.

“ Evincifi !” she called out, stopping to watch.

A curtain of burning light blazed through the area for a moment, ceiling to floor, revealing a large cavern. Pools and tendrils of smokey haze spread across the ground and collected in the corners. There was one circular, brick well set in the middle of the area with a thick metal chain running from the ceiling and dropping directly down into the well. A beam of light shot upward from the depths of the well, casting an unnatural spotlight on the ceiling anchor holding the chain in place. The chain vibrated and shook, dancing in the light, calling attention to an occasional low rumble drifting up, sounding far away. A transparent pipe ran up the length of the well, then to the wall, where it disappeared into a hole. The pipe was filled with gray smoke and crackling red lightning. This electric smoke moved swiftly along the pipe into the wall.

The curtain of light faded and disappeared and so did the unnatural spotlight and smokey haze, and now the pipe looked empty. Satisfied, the woman returned to descending the stone staircase. She lifted her hands and clapped them, making electric lights turn on, revealing more of the area. Set in a loose circle around the center well were six other wells. Beyond them were three tiny houses with flat ceilings and no windows, positioned in a row. Near them was a pile of twisted and maimed fox statues—30 or more. Beyond this, along one cave wall, was a massive cement slab set on two carved rocks, bringing to mind an altar. Set on a raised portion of the slab was a slim, fox statue in a stalking pose, made from a strange, glittering metal of indeterminate alloy.

The woman hurried to the well closest to her. On the side was a bell with a rope attached. The woman pulled the rope and the bell clanged. She waited a beat, then pulled the rope again, and called out, “Ethedra, come quick—I need you and I need my cask !”

Seeming to appear out of nowhere, another woman walked to the space directly above the well and stood there on an invisible platform. She looked like the sister of the other woman, and was dressed similarly in a thick, floor-length brown dress and cloak, holding a fox pelt in her hand.

“Stars and stones, Abigail” Ethedra said crossly, holding out the pelt. “No need to yell. Here’s it is, perfectly taken care of.”

Abigail reached up, grabbed the fox pelt and yanked hard. Lightning seemed to flash between the two women and a sharp POP echoed through the room when the pelt left Ethedra. Abigail shook the fox pelt, then placed it on her shoulders. She hurried toward the altar without another word.

Across the cavern, Number Six came down the stairs slowly, only his lower half visible at first.

“Hey Sixy,” Ethedra called out, her voice flirtatious.

Number Six came fully into view, with the unconscious male draped over one shoulder.

“Oh no,” Ethedra said. “What happened?” Her voice carried easily across the cavern.

“You’ll see,” Abigail said. She waved Number Six to the cement slab and they gently maneuvered Boe onto it, face-up.

Boe rolled and his hand grazed the fox statue. A chime sounded, then faded.

“The time is served,” Boe muttered, his eyes closed, his hands idly grasping for what he had touched. “The Promised has come, the young are kindled, the future is secured. Boeson can die now.”

Abigail took Boe’s hands and put them, arms crossed, on his chest. “No dying yet,” she said. “We still need you, Boe. The time is served, but the tether isn’t broken.”

Boe collapsed into oblivious silence again.

Abigail motioned to Ethedra. “Watch closely—the spell only lasts for five seconds.” She raised her hands above Boe, the palms facing him, and commanded, “ Evincifi .”

Boe lit up like the sun, radiating intense light. Number Six and Ethedra both covered their eyes.

Abigail squinted. “So much power,” she whispered. “I can dampen it.”

The light faded to nothing. Abigail retrieved a handful of sparkling powder from a pocket. She sprinkled it on Boe like she was seasoning a meal, murmuring softly to herself, then she called out, “ Evincifi! ” again.

Strong light shot from Boe, seeming to come from his nostrils, his eyes, his ears—even his hair follicles. His body was so bright, his clothes were transparent, revealing an unholy three-clawed gash on his chest from shoulder to hip. Light poured from each gash.

“By the crow’s eye!” Ethedra whispered.

Abigail gestured at the light. “The demon’s power of omnipresence,” she said.

Ethedra spoke quickly, her tone incredulous. “How’d Boe get it out of the Pravus?”

“Just you wait,” Abigail said. The light faded and she sprinkled more powder and said a few quiet words, then told Ethedra, “Wait till you see.”

The glow returned not as bright and now swarming with colors. Abigail placed her left hand six inches above Boe’s chest, and with her right hand, she reached down and plucked at what looked like a wispy plume of purple smoke caught on Boe’s shirt.

“ Dragen power,” she said.

“Ooh,” Ethedra said, leaning forward, hands grasping. She took a step forward and disappeared from above the well, then reappeared above another well closer to the action, her face and manner eager.

The purple smoke dissipated and under it was a thick layer of smokey silver haze, flecked with gold bits. This layer wound around Boe and around the strong light emanating from him. It punched through the light in places like a vine, seeming to hold it in place. Abigail tugged and poked at it but couldn’t move it.

All the colors and light disappeared, leaving Boe looking small and insignificant.

Abigail dropped her hand and looked over her shoulder. “Did you see it?”

“I saw it. Power holding on to power,” Ethedra said.

Abigail nodded, excited suddenly. “That’s it. That’s it exactly. Wait till you see where the power came from.” She took the leather bag from her cloak and pulled a tiny black ball out of it. She gave it to Number Six and pointed him to the middle well. He jogged to it and tossed the black ball inside.

A curtain of light shot straight up to the ceiling, then fell again, and a scene played in the air like a silent movie on a screen. The image showed a dark forest, then an explosion of light that first collapsed back on itself, then grew into a shimmering, moving hole, ripped right into the air and showing a stark, dark dimension beyond. A young woman with long black hair and pale skin was visible in the dark dimension. She ran for the hole then dove through it, leaving the stark dimension, entering the vibrant forest, hitting the ground rolling. Next, a muscular, naked man carrying a black wolf came through the hole.

“Who’s that?” Ethedra asked, watching from above the well.

“That’s the vodvod Mac Niles carrying his dead boss.”

They both laughed nastily. In the image, Mac dropped the wolf on the ground.

Ethedra smiled wickedly, looking Mac up and down. “Didn’t he grow up nice?”

“Shhh,” Abigail commanded, her eyes on the screen. “You’re missing it.” She raised both hands to the image and again said, “ Evincifi .”

The young woman had gotten to her feet. The spoken word revealed three undulating strands of silver and gold smoke emerging from her chest. One strand reached to the hole ripped between two realities and swarmed the edges of it, holding it open. Another strand reached out and surrounded the body of the wolf on the ground. The third strand reached into the hole.

White light poured from the hole for a moment, and then Boe dove out of it with the third strand encircling him, swarming the light—containing it, punching through it in several places. The woman watched Boe carefully, while Mac looked at him briefly, then focused back on the hole, reaching and yelling into it.

Boe staggered then caught himself and looked around incredulously. He turned slightly, but the silver-gold smoke tugged him to the north. He ran pitifully on swollen feet, then picked up speed. The smoke split into billowing clouds, with one wrapping around the woman, and another swirling around Boe as he ran off. Behind him, two wolves jumped neatly out of the hole, and then a dragon flew out, carrying a limp woman in its great claws. The hole vanished and the image faded away to nothing.

Ethedra shook her head. “That was the first and best Promised, huh? Pssht. She ain’t that pretty.”

“You leave Trailer Park Snow White alone,” Abigail said.

They both cackled and Number Six shook his head, a smirk on his face.

“She’s powerful enough,” Abigail said.

“Are you certain Sage doesn’t have that power?”

“Little Miss Angel is still a big fat dud. No power at all,” Abigail said with a wave of her hand. She gestured at Boe. “The time is here, it’s finally here!”

Ethedra stared at her, unimpressed. “Let me guess, the bofox .”

Abigail gave her a dirty look and turned away, hurrying to a dark corner. She called Number Six over.

“This one,” she said, and when they came back into the light, Number Six was carrying a stone fox statue with glittering eyes. He set it on the altar near Boe and the metal fox statue.

Abigail hurried to a large wooden shelf partially hidden in darkness, speaking as she went. “Yes the bofox . The prophecy says, ‘Exert the given power, summon the bofox, break the tether forever and for all’ —this is the given power, has to be!”

Ethedra motioned at the pile of maimed fox statues. “Where’ve I heard this before?”

Number Six laughed and hooked a thumb toward the front wall. “More’n the passage,” he said.

Abigail scowled at him. “You hush.” To Ethedra she said, “If I take his atma , his foxen essence, his mark will come with it, and so would his renqua , if he still had it.”

Ethedra crossed her arms in front of her. “So you think the power will come with the atma and the mark,” she said doubtfully.

“I know it will!” Abigail shouted. “Why else would he have been able to get it out of the Pravus? Why else would the power of the Promised be stabilizing it?” She took the fox pelt off her shoulders and dropped it on the slab. “Help me turn him over,” she said to Number Six.

The two of them moved Boe onto his stomach. Abigail took Boe’s hand and pressed it to one leg of the fox statue. A chime sounded, light and tinkling, then Abigail pulled Boe’s t-shirt to one side, revealing a rectangle scar the size of a domino on the back of his left shoulder. She took her cask and squeezed it behind the ears, then pressed the mouth to the scar for only a moment, then lifted it back up.

She looked around, her face and manner agitated. “I need something,” she said to herself.

“I need something—,” she called out louder to Ethedra, holding the fox pelt up by the throat and shaking it, “I need something powerful enough to hold everything that’s in here. I can’t afford anything to go back to its owner if something goes wrong.”

“What’s in there?”

“A few atma . Several memories. Some placeholders. Various secrets. One tooth and two renqua scraps.”

Ethedra didn’t say anything for a moment. Abigail paced back and forth in front of the slab, head down, one hand behind her back, the other curled under her chin. Ethedra disappeared from above the well, briefly reappeared above the first well, and then was gone. When she came back, she had something tucked under her left arm—a taxidermied fox, positioned alertly on a log. She dipped her right hand into a pocket on her dress, in and out quickly—and then there were silver and black, pointy, thimble-looking things on her thumb and first two fingers. She clicked the points together, then splayed them in front of the mouth of the fox. It opened silently.

“What about this?” she said.

“Perfect.”

Ethedra bent and held the fox out for Abigail. Abigail took it. Electric light zapped and crackled between them for a moment, ending with a loud POP. Abigail put the fox on the ground and inspected it. She pulled its ears, then stuck her fingers into its throat, then probed its belly. Satisfied, she turned to her cask and reached deep into the mouth of it, feeling around inside, speaking quiet words to herself, then she bent and pressed the mouth of the fox pelt to the mouth of the taxidermied fox. Sixteen bright balls of light and color spilled out of the pelt, collecting in the throat of the taxidermied fox. Last came a small tooth and two rolled-up scraps of fabric or leather. Abigail put the pelt on her shoulders, then tucked the taxidermied fox up under one arm. She shoved the fingers of her other hand deep into the open mouth of the fox, pushing the contents down into the belly of the thing, then she took a moment to make sure everything was to her liking. She twirled a finger in the air around the muzzle of the fox and it closed silently. Satisfied, she lifted the fox over Ethedra’s well, placing it under Ethedra’s feet.

“Ready?” she asked.

Ethedra nodded, holding her arms out and looking up. Abigail dropped the fox in the well and it appeared out of thin air above Ethedra, who caught it clumsily, then disappeared for a second. When she came back her hands were empty.

“All safe,” she said.

Abigail nodded, then hurried back to Boe. She pressed the open mouth of the fox pelt to the scar again, holding it there. With her other hand, she took a shiny object, like a glowing marble, from a pocket of her cloak, then lifted the fox pelt and rubbed the marble-like thing over the scar on Boe’s shoulder.

“Who listens when the a tma laughs? What moves when the a tma shifts?” she said in metered tones.

She shoved the marble thing deep into the throat of the pelt, her cask , and then pressed the cask’s mouth down on Boe’s shoulder, the little teeth of the thing poking at his skin.

Boe groaned. He shook and one of his arms spasmed into the air.

“You’re hurting him,” Ethedra said.

Abigail dropped the pelt on the slab. “It’s not working. I need more power to draw the atma out.”

She looked at the well in the middle of the room, then said, “Number Six, turn off the power collector.”

Number Six hurried to a panel set in the wall.

“Oh no you don’t,” Ethedra said darkly. “You aren’t thinking of using the shiftsegen .”

“It’s the most powerful object I’ve got.”

Ethedra slapped a hand to her forehead. “That thing attacked us all last time. We barely got it contained in the well.” She pointed at Number Six. “Sixy lost his ear!”

Number Six looked at the floor and rubbed his right ear.

“He got it back,” Abigail snapped, then she strode toward Ethedra with her hand held out. “One of your fheargacha , then.”

“Crazy,” Ethedra said. She dipped her hand in her pocket and when it came back out, the three pointy thimbles were gone.

Abigail turned back. “Number Six, do it.”

“Ok, ok,” Ethedra said. “Just so we don’t all die today. Here.” She dipped her hand back in her pocket and came out with one fheargacha on her index finger.

Abigail hurried back to her and stood next to the well, holding her hands out. Ethedra took the fheargacha off, held it out, and dropped it. Halfway down, it seemed to hit an invisible plane, causing a bright circle of light to flare in the air with an electric zap—and then Abigail had it.

She put it on the index finger of her right hand and returned to the altar. She picked up the pelt with that hand and positioned the pointy tip of the fheargacha right on the top of the head of the pelt, then pressed the teeth of it to Boe’s shoulder again, digging in.

She called out the words louder. “Who listens when the atma laughs? What moves when the atma shifts?”

Boe groaned and tried to move. Abigail pressed the pelt to him harder, holding him in place. He groaned and rolled the other way, his fingers grazing the fox statue. Again, a chime sounded and seemingly in response, the ground shook. Abigail lurched backwards a step, accidentally yanking the pelt hard, scraping the teeth of it across Boe’s back. Light and a high whistling sound erupted from the scrape marks. Boe cried out and flailed, seeming to shrink a little, his features becoming foxlike. His hand hit the golden statue again and this time it was knocked to the ground. Number Six moved in close to hold Abigail up. A resonant booming sound exploded up from the depths of the middle well, and the chain shook back and forth.

“Oh shit,” Number Six grated.

“Now you did it!” Ethedra cried. She dipped her hand into her pocket and came out with fheargacha on her thumb and middle finger, looking ready to bolt.

The chain rose out of the well with unnatural speed, making Ethedra shout in fear, and Number Six shove Abigail behind him. A hundred feet of chain came up in a few seconds, red hot and steaming, piling on the ground next to the well. Another hundred feet came up, and another, the sound a roaring, clanging, cacophony that echoed off the cave walls, making them all cover their ears, and stare disbelievingly at the spectacle.

A small metal box the size of a bird feeder was at the end of the chain. It flew out of the well at high speed, then stopped in mid-air, floating. The box glowed red-hot, and then simply melted away, until all that was left was a tiny pendant of an angel, floating high over the well.

The cavern was unnaturally silent. Boe shook slightly, then lifted directly off the altar, as if raised by a gentle but invisible hand. His body was loose and relaxed. He turned in the air and the light and hissing coming from his back disappeared. He drifted gently back to the slab on his back, fully relaxed, eyes closed.

A high, innocent, bell-like voice spoke, seeming to come from all around:

“His shift is bound—the power is contained.”

The pendant spun to the back side revealing a snarling wolf’s head. A rich, unidentifiable voice emanated from the pendant and pealed through the chamber. Ethedra made a noise like a squeak and disappeared. Number Six moved Abigail behind him. She peeked over his shoulder at the pendant, clutching the fox pelt.

“ABIGAIL WHITE. YOUR INTENTION IS USURPED. COOPERATE AND IT WILL GO WELL FOR YOU AND YOUR DEAR ONE.”

Abigail’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s speaking?” she demanded. Number Six stood immobile in front of her, fists clenched at his sides, steely gaze on the pendant.

“YOU KNOW WHERE THIS POWER COMES FROM—INDEED, YOU HAVE STOLEN IT FROM ITS RIGHTFUL OWNER AND USED IT FOR YOUR OWN GAIN NUMEROUS TIMES. NOW YOU WILL COOPERATE.”

“And if I don’t?”

“THE WINDOW FOR THIS POWERFUL SOLUTION WILL PASS AND YOU WILL BE ON YOUR OWN.”

“You’ll help me summon the bofox ?”

“THE TIME TO SUMMON THE BOFOX HAS NOT COME.”

“You’re wrong! You’ve got to be wr—,"

“WE ARE THE GUARDIANS OF THE MEADOW,” the voice boomed. “AND WE ARE NEVER WRONG. YOUR ONE JOB IS TO FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY. YOU HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE YOUR WINDOW CLOSES AND YOU MISS YOUR CHANCE. WILL YOU COOPERATE?”

Abigail stared at the pendant without answering for almost a minute, a look of intense concentration on her face.

“I will,” she finally said. “What do I need to do?”

A curtain of blazing color fell over the altar. The image of a forested park and playground showed on it, with a sign saying ‘Sinnissippi Park’.

“TAKE HIM HERE NOW. SCRUB HIM OF YOUR SCENT. DROP HIM AT THE PARK AND LEAVE THE AREA. ALLOW HIM TO AWAKEN AFTER YOU HAVE GONE. DO NOT STAY TO SEE THAT HE IS COLLECTED OR YOU WILL BE DETECTED, NO MATTER HOW DIM.”

“Collected by who?”

“BY SOMEONE WHO WILL HOUSE AND PROTECT HIM AND THE POWER HE HOLDS, EXACTLY AS HE IS BEING PROTECTED NOW.”

“Another Promised,” Abigail said under her breath. She touched Number Six on the shoulder. “Take him up to the car, quickly now.”

Number Six jumped into action, picking Boe up and carrying him up the stairs.

“Ethedra!”

Ethedra reappeared, her face dour. Abigail took the fheargacha off her finger and dropped it into the well. Ethedra put her palm out and the fheargacha fell from nowhere directly into her hand. Abigail pointed to the shiftsegen.

“Watch that thing for me. Call me immediately if it does anything.”

“All right. We have plans to make when you return.”

“Many.”

Abigail hurried toward the stairs that lead to the roof. She clapped twice, turning the lights off, then went up the steps and out the door at the top.

The shiftsegen glowed softly near the ceiling, pulsing with light and power, while Ethedra stood over her well, watching diligently.