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THE CAVERN HAD TOO many natural shadows for him to watch them all and William turned slowly, wary of being attacked from behind. The lantern didn’t throw out enough light for his comfort.
"A fitting place," hissed a voice. "An Earth Elemental deep in its home."
William turned quickly, searching for the source of the voice, coming up with more shadows that gave away nothing.
"Are you nervous, Brother?" the voice whispered, the sound seeming to come from right beside William’s ear.
With the lantern over his head, William scowled into the surrounding darkness. "Come out and we can talk," he growled.
The voice in the dark chuckled. "I think not. I have the advantage so why would I want to throw that away?"
A sharp crack overhead made William look up, hurling himself aside as a stalactite came crashing down where he just been standing.
The hidden Shadow cackled, the sound echoing harshly through the chamber. "That is a taste of what is to come for you," it jeered. "Yet it is the least I can do. Do you want to know a secret?" When William didn't reply the Shadow chuckled. "This was all your fault," it whispered. "You took everything away from me and now I'll repay the favour."
William pushed himself to his feet and picked up the miraculously unbroken lantern. "Repay?" he asked. "Repay what?"
The shadow hissed and the chamber trembled. "I set someone onto those two women of yours," it snarled. "He should be joining them momentarily and I doubt he will be as easy to overcome this time."
William felt his heart sink as he realised his gamble had failed. He had set off in the belief that he only had to draw Terrence and his Shadows away, not realising he was so badly wrong. "You turned Terrence, didn't you," he whispered in disbelief. "You've done all this to bring me down from my mountain."
The hidden Shadow began laughing, shaking the cavern. “You think yourself so important?" it howled. "I could have destroyed you up there." Its laughter died away and it whispered to him. "This is far more entertaining. I get to take everything from you and there is nothing you can do to stop me."
Stooping to retrieve the revolver lost in his evasion, William straightened and shook his head. "You're wrong," he snapped. "They will defeat Terrence and then they will come for me."
The voice hissed furiously out of the darkness at the back of the cavern. The hissing made William turn hurriedly, the hand holding the revolver stretched out searching for a target. A sharp slap knocked the revolver from his hand again as a tendril of Shadow wrapped around his throat.
"You are pathetic, Brother."
The lantern was torn from William’s grasp and smashed against the rocky floor. The fuel ignited with a hollow whoosh and in the sudden glare he saw a hulking humanoid Shadow before him, twin red coals glowing in the pits of its face where its eyes should have been.
"Four hundred years I have waited for this day and now I have you here." the Shadow growled in smug satisfaction.
The tendril drew William closer and the hint of a mocking smile appeared on the Shadow’s face as William choked and fought for air.
"What's wrong, William," it whispered derisively. "Nothing to say to your own brother?"
The Shadow dropped William to the ground and he gasped for air, rubbing at his bruising throat while the Shadow paced away.
"Hello, Brother," William managed to reply huskily. "Have you come to right the wrongs you think were done to you?"
The shadow hissed angrily and turned back. "I have come to take what is mine little brother," it snarled. "I want the glory that should have been mine. I want my inheritance back!"
"You were the one everyone loved," William said scratchily, pushing himself shakily to his feet. "The oldest, the one destined to inherit. Everyone always looked to you and I was neglected." He sighed and shook his head and continued, "I was a child yet I understood and I watched you grow into the worst possible example of us that I could imagine."
The Shadow howled in fury. "Enough Brother! I was the eldest! The power should have been mine and you stole it from me."
William glowered at him. "I stole nothing," he hissed. "The Elementals knew what you were becoming."
The Shadow circled him, lashing out with a razor thin tendril and drawing blood from his cheek. William grunted at the pain.
"You pushed Mother and Father into beginning your initiation when you were not ready," William gasped, his hand rising to touch the narrow cut and coming away bloody. "And because they loved you they did it."
The Shadow lashed out again, knocking William to the ground. “They ignored me," it growled. "I felt the Elemental’s come to me and I felt the power they wielded. I knew it would all be mine and I was ready for it."
The Shadow came close to stare into his face with its strange glowing coals. "I opened myself to them," it hissed. "I opened myself and then they were gone."
A coil of darkness flicked out and wrapped around William’s neck, pulling him up until he teetered on his toes.
"It wasn't until I saw your tattoo glow that I understood you had betrayed me." the Shadow snarled, shaking William until he hung limp from its grasp. The tentacle withdrew, unwinding from William’s neck and dumping him back to the ground where he lay gasping for breath.
The Shadow paced the cavern jerkily. "Your betrayal is what drove me to this," it muttered. It turned on him, stalking back across the cavern. "You made me like this."
A dark hand passed down the front of the humanoid Shadow, the gesture one of disgust and frustration. "I was rejected because of you and so I turned to the darkness for the power that should have been mine. What I have become is all because of you."
William sat in the dust massaging his throat as the Shadow paced, grimacing at the new bruise he could feel blooming over his skin.
The Shadow paused and looked at him, shaking its head. "I felt the power the Elemental’s offered so I know what they gave you," It hissed. "And for the centuries you have had it, what have you done with it?"
William swallowed with difficulty and levered himself up to his feet again. "I protected the innocent," he said huskily.
The shadow howled with derisive laughter. "The innocent?" it said incredulously. "You did nothing, Brother. You could have made yourself a King with the power you had. Instead you hid yourself away in the wilderness and chased after weak Fallen." It shook its head again and began pacing once more. "You wasted your time Brother, wandering around the mountains hunting for my brothers. And for what?"
William shrugged. “That is where you are wrong, Brother. I was never hunting them," he said hoarsely. "I was looking for you."
The Shadow frowned at him, William’s answer apparently not what it expected. “All those years and you were looking for me?" it asked curiously.
William sighed, his head falling in regret. “Who else would I be looking for up there?” he asked.
The fires from the burning lantern oil began to splutter, flickering and dying away as the fuel began to run out. The Shadow grinned down at William, one inky black hand sweeping around at the dying flames and the enormous cavern while the other gestured between them. "Well it looks like you've found me now." It giggled manically and circled him again. "And for what? You wasted your power. I watched you for centuries and you never once used it. You preferred to use guns, always shooting instead of pounding your enemies into the dust.” It turned to William, its misshapen head tilting to one side as its glowing eyes glared down at him. “Did the Elemental’s ever really give you their power or has all gone to waste."
William smiled, his shoulders straightening as he stood tall and looked up at the Shadow. "You never understood, Brother, never. Do you think having power means to squander it on grand shows of excess?"
When the Shadow inclined its head, he chuckled under his breath and nodded as the last flames from the lantern fluttered out. "So be it Brother." With a flick of his wrist he brought the mountain down on them both.
#
A FAR DISTANT RUMBLE broke their standoff with Terrence and Katherine and Rebecca turned their heads in unison as the echoes faded away.
"It would appear that my friend has completed his part of the deal," Terrence muttered, a grin forming on his face. "I hope you weren't close to him."
Rebecca scowled at him. "Close to who?" she asked warily.
Terrence rolled his shoulders, his grin widening. "That old fossil of an Earth worker. By the sound of it he just met his doom."
His grin disappeared when a fireball erupted across his face, his howl of pain mingling with Rebecca’s own scream of rage. Fireball followed fireball, each bigger than the last. With difficulty he fended most of them off, swiping the flames from his body in desperation. The earth under his feet became uneven, rocks popping up through the grass to trip him and he stumbled away from Rebecca’s furious onslaught.
"He was my Father!" Rebecca screamed at him.
Terrence fell over a stone and lay on his back staring up at her. Fire and murder danced in Rebecca’s eyes.
He looked at the trees behind him, calculating whether he could make it there before she burned him alive. "I didn't know," he gasped. "It only wanted him for itself."
She paused, fires flickering in both hands. "It?"
He nodded quickly. "A Greater Fallen. It wanted him but wouldn't say why," he stuttered, speaking in such a rush that he stumbled over his words. “I don’t even know what it used to be. All I could tell was that it was more powerful than me.”
The fires in Rebecca’s hands dimmed and Terrence worked his hands underneath him, looking for purchase in the loose gravel.
"Did you know anything about this?" Rebecca asked Katherine. When she hesitated, Rebecca turned to her.
"I knew he hunted something up in the mountains. That is all I know as he never told anyone what it was." Katherine said.
The momentary distraction was all Terrence needed, shoving himself up and sprinting for the tree line. Rebecca turned and launched the twin fires in her hands after him, screaming in frustration at his dwindling laughter and mocking voice.
"Your father is dead, girl! Admit your failure!"
Without a second thought, she and Katherine took off into the forest in pursuit.
Terrence led them a chase through the forest for almost thirty minutes before they cornered him at the edge of a cliff. Silhouetted by the rising moon, he turned to face them, his eyes flicking side to side as he searched for a way out.
"Will you let them use you?" he shouted at Rebecca, throwing the same question at her that he had used in front of Katherine’s cabin.
Rebecca straightened her shoulders and strode forward. “The Elemental’s have nothing to do with this. I do this of my own choosing," she snarled. "You have caused good people to die ever since you came into your power. You laughed when you told me he was dead. Now you have nowhere to run, no Shadows to stand at your side. For the good of the world this is where we end it, Terrence, once and for all."
He howled in frustration, turning his face to Katherine. "And you? Do you condone this farce?"
She didn't flinch at the hatred in his eyes, merely nodded calmly. "I have lost good friends to you over the years. It is over Terrence. The Elementals themselves have judged you and far be it for me to stand in their way."
He threw a hand out toward her, a ball of fire briefly forming in his palm before it sputtered out. He glared at Rebecca, his loathing written clearly across his bleeding face. "I should have killed you as a child," he hissed.
She shrugged, letting the malice in his voice wash harmlessly over her. The thought that he might have found her as a child was only a passing question, one that held no interest for her. “It would not have mattered," she answered. "I was never bonded to a Fire Elemental as a child so I would have held no interest to you.”
His face fell slack in astonishment but Rebecca didn’t give him time to understand, continuing on remorselessly. “Even if you had killed me, they would have found another."
Closing the last few yards between them, she stopped only a pace away from him. "You were one of us once so you should have known it would come to this," she said quietly. "Should have known that the Elementals would never take your transgressions without exacting vengeance."
He reached out to her, his hands lighting up and she glanced at them tiredly, slowly lifting her own hand.
"You cannot hope to defy them forever." Rebecca murmured.
Sweat popped up on his forehead and began trickling down his cheeks. "I am a God." he hissed venomously. "Feel my power and despair."
She sighed and waved her hand. The fire in Terrence’s hands petered out and he stared at them in horror. "Who are you?" he murmured.
She reached out and took his jaw in her hands. When his eyes met hers, she offered a pitying smile. "I am your executioner."
Katherine stood watching as Rebecca approached him, as she extinguished his fire and took his face in her hands. She was too far away to hear the words they exchanged in the last seconds, only having time to gasp as Terrence was suddenly engulfed in a pillar of incandescent flame. It burned so brightly in the darkness she was forced to turn away. When it faded and she was able to look again, there was nothing left of him except a column of ash. Rebecca stepped away, dropping her head as a breeze rose around her. A gentle sweep of her hand sent the wind into what remained of him and he blew apart, the wind rising and scattering his ashes over the edge of the cliff. With her eyes closed, Rebecca half turned to look over her shoulder at Katherine and muttered sadly.
"I'm done."
They stood on the edge of the cliff and watched the ashes drift away on the wind. The cool night breeze tickled her face and she gently wiped the sweat from her forehead. The last moment with him had cost her far more than she ever wanted to think about, the burst of power channeling through her to incinerate him leaving her lethargic and empty once it was gone.
"Our sister is freed. You have served well little Sister."
She scowled at the voice of her Elemental, turning away from the dispersing ash.
"I do not like to be used," she growled out loud. "Remember that."
"We remember," it whispered. "But all things serve the Path. Even us."
She shook her head and began walking back down the slope.
"We shall leave you in peace," it sighed. "But before we do, my sister comes with a message."
Rebecca looked up, Katherine glancing around at the same time.
"A message?" the older woman asked hopefully.
The wind stilled briefly and then swirled around them, bringing them together as a voice whispered. "He waits."
They stared at each other, their pale faces bathed in moonlight and wearing identical looks of bafflement.
"Who waits?" Katherine finally croaked.
The wind swirled around their legs, warming them as an image floated through their minds. Katherine breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile breaking through to brighten her worried expression as she breathed out his name. "Will."
Rebecca's own joy at his survival faded quickly as her eyes followed the breeze. "Where is he?"
The breeze caressed her face gently, wrapping around her before dancing off toward the trees.
"Follow."
The Wind woke Rebecca, whispering and tickling at her until she opened her eyes. Aches and bruises made themselves known as she gingerly stretched, left by tree branches she hadn’t seen in their mad scramble through the night shrouded forest after Terrence. The sun was well up in the sky and she scrambled to her feet, looking around for Katherine. A soft, feathery snore made her turn to see the older woman asleep against a tree nearby. She moved over and unceremoniously shook her awake, jumping back in alarm when a revolver appeared in Katherine’s hand.
Katherine guiltily holstered it when she saw Rebecca standing over her with a scowl. "Sorry," she muttered. "It's a habit."
"Why didn't you wake me?" Rebecca snapped. "We've lost half the morning."
Shading her eyes, Katherine glanced at the sun and shook her head. "Not much more than two hours past dawn." Pushing herself to her feet, she raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "If time was absolutely critical the Elementals would have woken us well before now."
Even though she wanted to tear her hair out at the delay, Rebecca grudgingly admitted the truth. It had been at the Elemental’s insistence that they had stopped to rest sometime after midnight. If they had been in such a hurry to reach William then the Elemental’s would have pushed them on through the night rather than let them sleep. "Well now that we're awake, we need to get going." she said firmly.
Taking a moment to stretch out the kinks in her spine, Katherine nodded and picked up her rucksack and slung William’s rifle over her shoulder. The wind swirled around them and Rebecca lifted her chin, a thin smile curving her lips as it tugged on her hair, whispering in her ear.
"Follow."
The wind led them on swiftly, bringing them to a clearing just before noon. A sheer rock face loomed over them and they looked up at it doubtfully.
"We aren't climbing that," Rebecca murmured. "Are we?"
The earth beneath her feet tilted gently toward the cliff and she crossed the clearing hesitantly, her eyes drawn to the top far above her.
Katherine put hand on her shoulder, reaching out to point to the base of the cliff. "We aren't climbing."
The entrance to the caverns was covered by a slab of rock far heavier than anything they could possibly hope to move. Rebecca ran her hands over it, feeling the rough stone beneath her fingers. Inscribed in it were two lines of neat script too perfect to have been carved by a human hand.
Two brothers wait entombed
One is loved, the other doomed
Despite the cryptic words, Rebecca looked up at Katherine hopefully as her fingers traced the lettering. "Do you think he's still alive in there?"
A gentle vibration through the soles of her feet was answer enough, even without Katherine's decisive nod. The very Earth hummed with his energy and Rebecca smiled. "He's alive." she exclaimed excitedly. Running her hand over the slab, she frowned thoughtfully. "Now we just have to get him out."
Katherine shook her head and nodded to the inscription. "Get them out."
The Earth Elementals gave Rebecca the answer, their slow voices filling her head with their slow rumbling tones. "We shall open the path," they whispered.
The ground shook gently as the solid rock slowly drew back to open a tunnel into the cliff. Katherine began to step into the hole but Rebecca reached out to hold her back at the Elementals next ponderous statement.
"We shall bring them."
Katherine looked back at her and she shook her head. "Wait."
Some note in the slow voices had made her wary and she stared into the darkness of the tunnel, listening to the mountain groan as it shifted aside and settled. When Katherine raised an eyebrow at her, she shook her head again. "Dad is not alone in there," she said softly. "We should wait here for the Elementals to bring them out into the sunshine."
Katherine turned to the mouth of the tunnel, drawing her brows together in a frown. For a long moment she stared down the tunnel, torn between plunging down into the darkness and heeding caution to stay in the light. Eventually her shoulders sagged and she nodded. Drawing William’s from the loop over her shoulder, she opened the breech to check the load before closing it again and holding it loosely in preparation. "Is it bad?" she asked softly.
When Rebecca didn't answer, Katherine glanced back to see she had her eyes closed.
"Bad enough that Dad brought the mountain down on them both," Rebecca suddenly murmured grudgingly. "That's all the Elementals will tell me."
Katherine nodded in grim understanding. "Then it's bad," she muttered.
The Elementals didn't leave them to wait long, a low rumbling grind sounded far down the tunnel and in minutes an iron sphere rolled out into the clearing, its seamless surface shining dully in the sunlight. William stepped out of the tunnel a few yards behind it, blinking owlishly and holding his hand up to Shadow his eyes. He didn't have a chance to brace himself before Rebecca crashed into him, almost knocking him off his feet as she wrapped her arms around him. "We thought you were dead," she murmured huskily into his shirt. “Terrence said you were dead.”
His arms tentatively went around her and he looked up at Katherine bemusedly, frowning at her obviously amused smile. She crossed the space between them to briefly join the embrace and give him a kiss on the cheek.
"We're both glad to see you alive," she told him as she stepped away. "We heard the mountain collapse while we were dealing with Terrence. After what he said, we came to the conclusion that you'd been killed by something allied to him."
William scowled and shook his head. "The Earth was not ready to let me go," he answered gruffly. "I called the mountain down on us but they resisted my will at the last. Instead of killing us both, they helped me trap him until we could deal with him."
Katherine moved toward the sphere that had come out of the tunnel ahead of William, inspecting it closely while he gently pried Rebecca loose, holding her out at arm’s length to smile reassuringly at her. "How long has it been?"
Before she could answer, Katherine abruptly called out. "Who is in there?"
William grimaced, his hands falling from Rebecca's shoulder to take her hand. "There's someone I think I should tell you about," he growled. "Someone I haven't talked about in four hundred years."
Despite having little to do but sit in the dark and wait for Path knew how many hours, William felt tired. Time had seemed to both compress and expand at the same time while he had sat in the small pocket of free space the Earth had allowed him. Without the sun to guide him, he didn’t know if he had been trapped for hours or days. Now that he was outside, the sunlight bored into his eyes mercilessly. When he winced at it, Rebecca guided him to a shady tree.
"Sit down and tell us," she told him firmly.
Doing as she ordered, he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "This isn't going to be a particularly welcome story," he told her. "The two of you may as well sit down too."
Rebecca frowned down at him but Katherine left the sphere to sit beside him. "If it's a four hundred year old secret, I feel I may have an idea who it is," she murmured.
He glanced at her in surprise and she shrugged, propping William’s rifle against the tree beside her. "I've talked to others in my time that may have passed on some old gossip," she added defensively. "Some of it about you."
He nodded absently and looked up at Rebecca. "Sit down. It's time I told you about my brother."
Rebecca looked back over her shoulder at the sphere with a frown. Its dull iron shape absorbed the sunlight, reflecting little back despite the clearing being warmly lit. The sheer cliff rose high above, the black mouth of the tunnel the only break in its smooth face. If it weren’t for the presence of the sphere, she would have found the clearing to be peaceful.
Rebecca turned her gaze back to William questioningly. "They all called you brother," she said in confusion.
William smiled thinly and patted the ground beside him, inviting her to sit with him. She accepted the gesture and sat down, tucking her legs underneath her on the soft grass.
"Well this one has reason to call me brother for the simple fact that he is." William started, lifting his chin toward the sphere and scowling at it in disappointment. "Denny was my older brother. The revenant in there is what's left of him."
Rebecca stared at him in horror. "You can't be serious."
William nodded sourly and Rebecca's eyes were drawn to the flawlessly round sphere. "He thinks I stole his Elemental from him when we were children.” William said. “He's been holding that grudge for four hundred years."
Katherine snorted in disgust. "That's a long time to hold a grudge."
William turned his grey eyes to her. "As a child, if he thought someone had slighted him then he would never let it be forgotten." His eyes slid away to rest on the sphere, its matt grey surface dark in the bright early afternoon light. "What the Elementals did that day launched a war between the two of us that will finally end today."
"It was done with good purpose," Rebecca's Elemental whispered in her head. "We could see the monster he would become and we chose another more worthy."
William shot a glance sideways at her when she gasped, the frown that creased his forehead casting his eyes into shadow. "I know your elemental is talking to you in there," he muttered. "And I can guess what it is telling you because mine is telling me the same." He sighed and looked away.
"Your Elemental is right.” William admitted heavily. “Denny was a monster and as a child I was scared of him gaining the power of an Elemental." Shaking his head at the old memory, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt to show them the motif that had appeared on his chest during the long hours he'd spent trapped underground.
Katherine whistled softly under her breath when she saw it and Rebecca looked at her questioningly, not understanding the blocky squared off ring that stained his pale chest, the ring intersected by a single long line that ran from his navel to the hollow of his throat.
"It's a powerful motif," Katherine explained. "Not as powerful as yours but still..."
"Strong enough," Rebecca finished for her.
Katherine nodded and William buttoned up his shirt again, covering his chest against the cool breeze. For a moment he thought about setting a fire and cooking something to eat but frowned when he realised he’d lost his saddlebags and what little food he had left in them somewhere in the forest.
"Denny's motif wasn't anywhere near as strong," he said softly. "My father drew the wave motif given to him by one of our neighbours who foresaw it. He performed the ritual faultlessly." He sighed and shook his head again. “The elementals chose me instead,” he muttered. “The ink that my father had placed on Denny evaporated and new ink rose from the ground to anoint me. My father never saw what they painted on me, never noticed that the ink they used was different.”
William paused as his voice grew rough, taking a calming breath and letting his hand rest on a patch of bare soil. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply, the smell of the sun warmed soil rich in his nose. The earth beneath his hand drew away the old pain, letting him continue in an even voice.
"My father only saw that I had been chosen over the shining light that was my older brother. He cast me out and cursed me, simply to appease my brother’s anger."
Rebecca's hand on his arm tightened and he glanced at her with a faded smile.
"I never saw him again," he finished. "He chose to believe Denny over what the Elementals told him. And for that I could never forgive him."
The rumble of William's stomach stopped them and he patted it gently. "I'd say I missed a meal or two," he chuckled.
Katherine reached into her rucksack and passed him a handful of jerky and hard cheese. "We don't have much else," she apologised. "We're going to have to go down river for supplies." She looked at him hopefully. "Plenty of supplies if you want to help rebuild my home."
William smiled at the unsubtle question. “It’s more than I have. As for your cabin, I'll help you rebuild," he assured her. His smile dimmed and he glared at the sphere. "As soon as we deal with him."
Katherine put a hand on his arm. "It can wait until we've all had something to eat."
The iron sphere looming over them cast a gloomy atmosphere over their sparse meal and William was the first to stand at the end of it, dusting his hands off on his pants. He offered a hand to each of them, pulling them to their feet and they stood together, staring at the dull grey prison.
Putting a hand on Rebecca's shoulder, he spoke softly. "Though I hate to admit it, he is likely my match in power."
Rebecca swallowed nervously, her eyes darting from him to the sphere in apprehension. "What can I do?"
He smiled down at her, his grip on her shoulder tightening fractionally. "With your Fire Elemental, I suspect you can do far more than I can."
Inclining his head toward Katherine, he gave Rebecca a reassuring pat. "You've got the two of us here. Between Katherine and myself we should be able to keep him contained. It will be up to you and the Elementals to judge him."
Rebecca frowned sourly, her mind swiftly picturing Terrence and the judgment that had fallen on him. "I don't know if I am the right person for that."
William sighed and let his gaze be drawn to the sphere. "It's a hard thing to do, judging a man with the knowledge that his very existence on this earth rests in your hands." He rested his hand on his holstered revolver, caressing the worn grip. "It's hard but it must be done."
Rebecca reached out to touch her father’s hand, nodding to him when his sad gaze turned to her. "If I must, I will." she murmured.
He nodded once and glanced at Katherine. "Are you ready?"
Katherine nodded in return. With a last sigh, he swept a hand toward the sphere.
Rebecca wasn't sure what to expect when the sphere cracked down one side, the iron reforming into a close woven mesh around a swirling darkness. She crept closer to look at the Shadow, frowning at the palpable feeling of hate emanating from it.
"Is this...?" she asked, half turning to William and Katherine.
The Shadow whirled, two sunken pits of fire blazing out of it to bore into her. Rebecca stepped back hurriedly, the iron cage suddenly blazing white hot. The Shadow howled and rattled the cage furiously.
"Release me, Brother!" It raged. "Let us finish this!"
William glared at the Shadow, his expression grim.
"We'll finish this Denny," he growled. "Don't you worry about that."
Katherine stood next to him and laid a hand on his arm. "Do you want the rifle?"
He nodded slowly, his gaze drifting across the clearing to rest on the rifle where Katherine had left it an hour earlier. "I think that might be a very good idea."
Rebecca held a hand out to stop them, her eyes not leaving the caged Shadow. When she spoke, it was in a voice not her own.
"We shall judge him," hissed the voice. "The traitor is ours to sentence."
Denny writhed in the iron cage, the shrill squeal of his denial ringing in their ears. Rebecca scowled as she covered her ears, taking an involuntary step back when the Shadow billowed against the tightly woven bars.
"You dare call me a traitor?" Denny hissed, the glow in his sunken eyes flaring into a furious blaze. A shadowy hand flung out toward William in accusation. "There's your traitor! A filthy thief and turncoat!"
Anger kindled inside Rebecca and she let her hands drop to her sides, advancing on the cage. William moved to stop her and she turned her head to glare at him warningly. He subsided, though the tension in his shoulders didn't fade. Rebecca turned back to Denny, looking him up and down critically. A wave of dizziness swept over her and she staggered, surprised to suddenly find William's arm around her waist as he held her up. The feel of his arm faded as Rebecca felt the Elementals fill her head again, their voices united in a single thread of thought that found voice through her.
"Child of Darkness," the Elementals sang through Rebecca. "You sought power for power’s sake. You forsook the Path before we even came to you. You were not worthy to carry the least of us and so we chose another."
Denny howled at Rebecca, his shadowy hands gripping the iron cage and shaking it. The iron cage ignited into white brilliance again and the Elemental’s raised their voices, raw power boiling up Rebecca’s throat as the Elemental’s used her to drown him out.
"You have allied yourself with one who would see the world burn for the pleasure of it. You willingly chose the darkness and so we judge you. Faithless, honourless and corrupted. We turn you from the light of the Path and we bar you from the Clearing."
Rebecca collapsed to her knees and burst into a coughing fit as the Elementals left, her hand rising to touch her scorched throat tentatively while William supported her. The cool air soothed her singed larynx as it flooded down into her lungs with each gasping breath, the scent of earth and pine mingling with the metallic taste of blood in the back of her throat as she coughed.
Seeing Rebecca collapse, Katherine hurried across the clearing and picked up the rifle, slinging it across her shoulder to pick up her shotgun as well. If Rebecca burned out again then the rifle would be their only weapon against the Darkness that had once been William’s brother. She returned, looking at Rebecca worriedly as she knelt on the ground. If William hadn’t been beside her, Katherine had no doubt that Rebecca would have fallen prone in the dirt. She grimaced as the younger woman went through another coughing fit, wiping a smear of blood from her chin with a shaking hand when she recovered. With a sinking heart, Katherine wondered how much longer the younger woman would last.
The Elemental’s will resonated in Rebecca’s mind, their anger and loathing barely held in check as she struggled to fill her aching lungs.
"They're going to execute you," Rebecca rasped, not looking up at the cage. "The Elementals have charged the three of us to end you, Denny."
The whispery chuckle coming from the cage made Rebecca look up to see the monstrous Shadow crouched against the bars staring down at her "And you think you are powerful enough to do it?" Denny sneered. "You? Who couldn't even stand to hold an Elemental?"
With an effort, Rebecca straightened and shook William's arm away. The taste of blood was more than enough for her to know that she was treading the line between surviving the ordeal and having the Elementals accidentally burn her out completely. She closed her eyes and gave herself a moment to feel the warm early afternoon sun on her shoulders and listen to the tentative calls from the few birds that hadn’t fled the trees surrounding the clearing, not knowing if it would be the last time she would be able to.
The Elementals in her mind didn’t give her as much time as she wanted, quickly exerting their will on her.
"You think that was one Elemental?" Rebecca wheezed. "Do you think your transgressions warranted the appearance of a single Element?"
The clearing stilled as Rebecca shakily raised her hand, the bird calls fading away as she stared at her palm determinedly. In the unnatural silence, she pictured what she wanted in her mind and the Elementals flocked to help. Dust rose in a steady stream from the ground, swirling into her hand on a miniature tornado. Rebecca’s own Elemental burst to life, melting the dust into a hot glowing rod that the wind swirled into shape.
As her Elemental withdrew, mist rose from underground water to cool the small glass sculpture that now rested on her palm. Rebecca let Denny stare at it for several moments before she handed it to William with a weary smile.
Her father took it gently, his rough hands turning it over slowly as he gazed at it. "You captured your mother’s look perfectly," he murmured, running his thumb down the crystal face of Rebecca’s sculpture. He turned to hand the sculpture to Katherine and the older woman inspected it with admiration for the exquisitely fine detail within the crystal.
Rebecca nodded distractedly, turning her pale face to Denny. Her fleeting feeling of happiness at William's wonder was crushed by the sight of the spiteful Shadow. "One Elemental?" she asked rhetorically.
Denny hissed laughter at her. "Tricks and glamour. You are nothing." He rattled the cage again, the faint form of a mocking smile crossing his shifting face behind the white hot iron grille. "Release me and I will prove it."
Rebecca sighed, seeming to withdraw into herself. With a resigned nod, she looked at him with the smallest of smiles. "So be it."
Neither William nor Katherine were ready when she raised her hand and the cage melted away. Denny roared in triumph and surged toward her, his eyes blazing. Rebecca's raised hand flicked sideways and Denny crashed off course into the sheer rock face, the impact causing a small avalanche of rocks and pebbles to bounce down from above.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" William roared at Rebecca. "He'll escape!"
She turned to him with a scowl while Denny seeped out from under the miniature avalanche his collision had caused. "He's going nowhere"
William stepped back at her hiss, his eyes going to Katherine and shaking his head. The Elementals controlling Rebecca dismissed him and turned their attention back to Denny as he puffed up to tower over them all, putting their will into the order that erupted from Rebecca’s throat. “Submit.”
Denny roared at the Elementals harsh order, throwing himself at Rebecca again, tendrils of shadow shooting out ahead to grasp at her. They were met with a wall of fire that sprang up in a circle around Rebecca, Katherine, and William. Katherine reached to take William's hand, her eyes begging him to do something. He reached behind her to take the rifle that was slung over her shoulder, working the lever and raising it to his shoulder. Rebecca's outflung hand stopped him, the grating voice that was not her own barking commandingly. "Be still Earth Carrier. Your time will come."
He felt his hands stiffen, his Elemental dragging the rifle down.
"I refuse to stand and watch my daughter be destroyed," he growled, the muscles in his neck and arms cording as he fought the Elementals’ power. His Elemental’s slow calming voice filled his head. "We protect her. Peace Brother. Your time will come."
He scowled and let the rifle fall to his side, casting a defeated look at Katherine. There was nothing they could do while the Elementals battled Denny through his daughter.
Denny circled the fire, tendrils flicking out to test the blaze. "You hide again." he sneered. "Come out and face me."
Rebecca laughed softly, her eyes fixed on his flowing shape. Stepping to the edge of the flames, she let the circle flicker in front of her long enough to step through without being burnt. William and Katherine voiced their dismay and she blocked their voices from her mind.
"There is nothing you can do, Denny," she whispered through her ragged throat. "Give up and they might be lenient."
He howled and sprang at her. She barely had time to sigh before he was on her, his Darkness inches from her face. It stopped there, his rage cut off in mid screech.
"The Elementals may have control of my body," she muttered hoarsely. "But I have control of my mind." She stepped back, the fire circle behind her flickering out.
William and Katherine slowly approached, their faces pale as they stared at the Darkness that twisted and writhed in front of them. Four glowing rods of iron transfixed it, pinning it in place. William gently put his hand on Rebecca’s shoulder and she looked back at him wearily. He nodded understandingly, slinging the rifle over his shoulder. "It's over, Brother," he said softly. "You'll haunt my mountain no more."
Gripping Katherine's hand, he took a last step forward to face his brother. "Iron of the mountain."
Katherine squeezed his hand gently, smiling when he looked at her. She added her call to the binding in a clear and strong voice. "Water of the well."
Denny twitched at each recitation, struggling feebly to break free of the glowing iron rods holding him down. William and Katherine looked at Rebecca expectantly but the voice that supplied the next line made them turn in surprise. "Air of the wind."
A line of Shadows wavered in the bright sunlight, their voices thin and weak. William's hand fell to his revolver but Katherine stopped his draw, shaking her head when he frowned at her. "They're innocent," she whispered. "I'll explain soon."
Rebecca smiled at the Shadows, bowing in greeting before turning back to Denny and speaking the last line. "Fire of the heart."
Denny screamed in agonised frustration as the binding took hold and the iron rods boiled away. "You cannot do this!"
William let Katherine's hand go and stepped past Rebecca.
"I can Brother," he growled, drawing the rifle off his shoulder again. "And as I recall, the Elementals banned you from the Clearing."
Lifting the rifle to his shoulder, he was surprised to feel a faint sadness as he sighted on the Shadow. "Goodbye Brother." His ears burned as he muttered a word under his breath, the rifle jolting back into his shoulder when he squeezed the trigger.
Denny exploded.