The Journey of Two Sisters: Book 4 of the Kinstone series

After a few minutes I start to head back. I take several deep breaths, feeling the cool early autumn air fill my lungs. Food was on my mind and I am definitely going to need it for what I was to come next. Despite my training with Titania, and having constantly gone over my notes, I still feel nervous about my upcoming attempt to open a fairy road.

This was an entirely brand new and, for me, largely untested form of magic. Everything had to be perfect, otherwise…well let’s not think about it.

I suddenly feel the hair on my neck standing on end. A chill runs through my spine as I scan around. I feel magic permeating the area, strong magic, filled with something…something I know.

I instantly transform into a kitsune, letting my tails flow around me. My ears twist and twirl, gathering up any and all sounds. My heart beats rapidly in my chest. The hair on my arms stand on end.

My ears then flick as popping sounds echo around me. Tinges of magic fly towards me as I sense my tags and wards are being destroyed one after the other.

I had concealed them using the same fae charm I used at Concordia, which was meant to cause people to turn away and ignore wherever I had placed the charm. Combining this with my wards, practically made them invisible, not to mention the secondary concealment spell I placed on all of them to further shield them from sight.

The fur on my tails then bristles as now I hear distant sounds of tree branches snapping which are then followed by heavy footsteps. My heart literally shoots into my throat as I become afraid. I slowly begin to walk towards the camp which then turns into a full-on sprint as I race back to everyone.

When I arrive I already see my knights, Fenris and Marron standing at the ready. Kateryna had already drawn her sword and activated her shield. Fenris, in full form, crouching low, growling and snarling as he scans the trees.

I take note that the tent has been taken down and stowed away, strange thing to notice when you’re in a panic, but still a good thing.

“Aria!” shouts Marron.

I keep running towards everyone. Orga turns and tosses me my weapons and bag. I catch each of them with my tails, quickly clipping the kodachi to my waist along with the dragon sword. I loop my arms into the straps of my bag, clicking them together. I quickly slip on my Han kote over my jacket sleeve. While not the most comfortable of situations, it’ll have to do.

“I was getting worried, sweetie,” exclaims Marron as she pulls out her needle.

I glance over to see Orga drawing his sword. Both knights then quickly don their armor, watching as the filtered morning light shines off of it. My ears flick as the sound of Kateryna’s shield hums softly, shimmering a soft blue light.

I look back to her, “I heard my wards going off. I don’t know how someone could’ve found them.”

She nods as people begin to emerge from trees. My eyes pan around, seeing dozens upon dozens of people slowly begin to surround us. I look at all of them, noting the lack of any coven sigil. This meant that they didn’t belong to any coven, but who are they?

Each of the people surrounding us exuded incredible magical power. These guys weren’t like the people we fought a week ago. They seem far more powerful, more disciplined. It almost was though they’re military in some fashion. None carried guns, mostly swords, knives, with a few brandishing staffs.

My head tilts in confusion, watching as several of them form two distinct lines. A familiar presence prickles my skin as they then turn towards the center and drop to a knee. My eyes grow wide as a young girl walks calmly through the center of the double line.

Her brown hair settles around her shoulders, wavy in appearance. Even from a distance I can see her mismatched eyes, one hazel, the other a light shade of green. A wave of sickening Fel magic washes over me, making me feel a bit sick to my stomach. I glare at the girl as my right hand reaches back for my kodachi.

“Diana,” I whisper.

The girl grins. “Well, well, well. You have no idea how happy I am to see you, ‘Aria’,” she says mockingly. “You’ve done a great job of keeping yourself hidden away, dodging past all the other covens, even fighting off one of the more powerful ones. I must say, I find that…annoying.”

The people surrounding her continue to kneel before her. They don’t even twitch.

“Aria,” she adds, “I really do wish to continue our, ‘conversation’ from last time. We never were able to finish it due to your dragon interfering with us.”

I growl at her, baring my fangs at the girl.

Her grin broadens, “Ah, but she isn’t here to save you this time is she?” Her gaze darkens, “No one will come to save you this time. I heard when she was shot out of the sky; her body was skewered by the trees as she fell into the forest you love so much.”

My tails flare around me as more and more magic swell up, causing the surrounding air to shudder wildly. I saw flashes of being thrown from Silvi’s back after she was shot and then watching as she crashed into to the forest below. I grit my teeth, wanting to lash out and rip her apart.

I feel a hand gently being placed onto my shoulder. I look up to see Marron smiling to me. “Don’t let her get to you, sweetie. You know you’re not alone. I’m here with you, so is Orga, Kateryna, and Fenris.”

I pan over to see my knights, who have opened their faceplates. They each smile to me, nodding in agreement with Marron. I then see Fenris standing tall and also looking to me. I nod, settling down. I took a few deep breaths, letting my anger pass through me.

Diana then looks to Marron, “Ah, the traitor. I still can’t get over how easy it was to manipulate you into taking this…‘girl’. Not only that, you the abandoned her when you woke up.” She chuckles, “I’m surprised you even bothered to reappear after what you did to her.” Several of her forces begin to laugh.

I glare at her, again ready to utter annihilate her only to have Marron pat my shoulder.

“So…Diana is it?” she starts, looking at her. “I admit that it was easy for me to betray her, and have a lot to atone for. But my being here with her now is slowly making up for that mistake.” She then looks to me, then back to her, “You’ll never have my little sister.”

Diana’s grin fades into a snarl. “You stupid little girl. You have no business calling that…that child, your sister. Do you even know who she was?”

Marron smiles, “No, but I know who she is.”

Diana continues to snarl, “I gave birth to that monstrosity behind you. I am her real mother.”

My sister shakes her head, “In your past lives, you did indeed give birth to her, but then she was born again through another. Born to the one who was destined to become her true mother.”

Diana growls. I watch as dark greenish magic flares around her.

Marron looks to me, smiling brightly and then back towards Diana. “To again answer your earlier question, I know exactly who she is. She is Arianna Lucindel Edge, the daughter of Rachel Rivenfeld, a daughter of Colburn, and my baby sister.”

“She is my child,” shouts Diana. “My blood runs through her veins. She is bound to me.”

“Hunny, you’re dead,” says Marron in a snarky manner. “When you were alive then I might have agreed with you, but not any longer. You are now Diana Elliston, or should I say, Diana Nethune. You were reborn just like Aria was. Selene’s blood now runs through your veins as much as Lady Rachel’s does through hers. This forever bound her to her mother and for the past two years has changed her in more ways than you can imagine.”

She smiles to me, “I am her sister, and she is mine. I know what my sin is, but will never leave her side again.” I blush and smile to her.

Diana’s anger intensifies as her growls become louder. She then turns to the men beside her, “Take. That. Girl. In. Kill the rest.”

“At once, Lady Diana,” says the man next to her. The men then rise off of their knees, all drawing their weapons.

I draw my kodachi, “Let’s go, Fenris,” as I Rush in to meet them.

From behind, Fenris comes charging after me, easily batting away anyone who confronts the wolf. I fling magical bolts at everyone in front of me. I pass through several, slashing them with my kodachi. A few manage to parry my strike, only to be met with Fenris’ fangs as he buries them deeply into the men, and tossed away.

I dodge and weave my way through the men in front of me, flipping and twirling through them, landing kicks at their heads. A few stab and slash at me with their knives and swords. I swat them away with my tails.

I then land on the hand of the person in front of me with my free hand and deliver a kick to his temple. This is carried through into the next person, watching both flip and fall away to the ground.

My ears then flick up as another attacker comes from behind. I use the face of the man I just kicked as a springboard and flip backwards. I wrap a tail around his neck and pull him towards me, landing a kick to the top of his head while also slashing at his chest.

The man falls back to the ground as I see more approaching me. A foot barely touches the ground as I swing my other foot back and then around in a circular motion.

The momentum carries me off of the ground and back into the air. More of my tails wrap around them. I send kitsune-bi mixed with dragonfire along the tails and causes the men to burst into flames.

As they stagger back, I draw them in with my tails and twirl in the air, slashing at them. I summon forth water from the creek and have it crash into those surrounding me and washing even more away. I turn my free hand, causing the water to freeze, ensnaring them.

My tails coil around me, charging with magic. I then quickly unfurl them, sending a massive shockwave that blasts my enemies away and into even more soldiers, while also pelting them with ice shards.

I look up towards Diana as I land. My grip tightens around my sword as I charge towards her. I flip over several more soldiers, swirling ice magic around my blade. Gritting my teeth, I twirl through the air and land, stabbing my sword into the ground.

This immediately sends a wave of ice towards the oncoming troops while hundreds of ice spikes shoot up from the new ice field which proceeds to skewer many while also freezing more. I fire a burst of kitsune-bi at them, knocking several to the ground before moving on.

Fenris continues to bite into anyone dumb enough to attack him. The massive wolf snatches several with his tails and tosses them into shadows. They soon fly out of them and land some distance away.

The wolf then draws in the moisture from the air and whips it around him, forming little shards of ice and flings them at anyone in front of us. He again charges into the fray, ramming his head into several, instantly freezing them and bashing them with his tails.

Several people surround the wolf, attempting to cast magical nets over him. Fenris creates a small blizzard and knocks them back. He leaps to the side as another man lunges with a sword. The wolf simply grabs the man by the arm and hurls him into the air before slamming him into the ground, shattering his body.

Fenris then looks up to see me heading towards Diana. He dodges another strike, only clamp down hard onto its source’s shoulder, crushing it. The wolf picks up a sword with his tail and slashes at several of the men who now surround him.

He releases the man in his jaws and tosses the sword into his mouth. My bonded then swings his head around, blocking and parrying sword and knife strikes, and counters by whipping and bowling straight into them, flinging the sword at his opponents, and impaling several into a tree.

He too then follows after me, making sure to knock away anyone who might trying and come up from behind.

(Marron)

“Aria!” I shout. While angry with her for charging recklessly into the fight, I know that Fenris is with her and will keep her safe.

Numerous spells are lobbed at me. Batting several away, I catch a couple and redirect them at their sources, knocking them out. I then throw her needle, which easily pierces through my immediate targets. I twitch my fingers, causing the needle to change direction mid-flight and pierce even more people.

A few manage to reach me, attempting to slash at me with their knives. I pull on some of the magical thread and wraps it around their hands as I sidestep their attacks. I shove their arms into the ground, kicking and punching them. My fingers twitch along the thread, sending a stream of lightning magic into it, knocking them out.

Several more soon surround me, firing spells while also having a couple more charge towards me. I dodge several of the spells, and proceeds to fire several in return. A few instantly hit their mark and send their targets flying back several feet.

I block several more, but one manages to glance off of her arm. She groans as her magical barrier flickers only for a moment, still feeling the impact. I kick away another attacker, still directing my needle to more and more people.

I watch Orga and Kateryna both charge headlong into the crowd, with Kateryna taking a defensive stance in between Orga and Marron. The pair easily dispatches several of their opponents, slashing and cutting their way through them.

A few are able to recover and resume their assault, slashing at the armored knights with the swords and knives, only to have the blades harmlessly glance off their armor.

The knights cleave their way through the oncoming hordes, some of their opponents turn and run. Others soon snatch hold of them and force them back towards the knights. Again Orga and Kateryna take little time slicing through them. They however soon discover as more and more people soon emerge from the trees and begin to swarm them.

Orga charges his sword with magic and swings it, sending a slicing wave into the air, cutting into the new foes. Several are able to duck out of the way and soon arrive at the knight.

A few draw guns from holsters on their hip and aim them at Orga.

I see this and redirect my needle towards them. The tip turns bright red as it pierces each and every gun. Again I flick the thread, sending a stream of magic along the thread which causes the weapons to glow red hot.

Orga covers himself with his sword as Kateryna runs over and throws up her shield to cover me, extending it as the guns begin to explode. The blast kills several while wounding others.

“Thanks, Kateryna,” I say.

“You are welcome, my Lady,” she replies.

The elf then continues to parry and shield attacks as her husband falls back a bit to better cover their rear flank. All the while, my needle continues to fly through the air, piercing through more and more people.