**WARNING** - Death, destruction, and mayhem in this chapter. This is the end of the final battle - but NOT the end of the story. There will be one more chapter coming to tie things up and announce the end of this story!!
A note about the pictures. I am not happy with a couple of them - particularly one of the stabbing ones. And there's a white bar at the top of one of them that I didn't notice until
after I had saved the picture and I don't have a rough draft to work with. D'oh! Please bear in mind that I am not a great photoshopper - I'm still learning. Other than that, I think most of the chapter turned out pretty good. Enjoy!
Tim...I'm okay. Wait for my signal...Tim visibly jolted and tears sprung to his eyes. Alive? Ileeya was alive? He wanted to jump for joy, to sing from the mountain tops, to laugh and cry at the same time. But instead he forced his face to remain still as possible. But Shirra noticed the way he jumped.
"What's the matter, love? You're not afraid, are you? A big strong man, such as yourself?"
A groaning sound suddenly started coming from Jondak's still form. "...bitch..." it clearly said. Shirra whirled around in surprise and approached him.
Tim felt suddenly dizzy. A disoriented feeling washed over him, making his limbs feel numb. His head started to spin and he fought to keep the room in focus.
Shirra reached Jondak's form and studied it a moment. She kicked it, and it groaned again. "...lousy lover..."
As the world came back into focus slowly, Tim put his hands around his head, trying to clear it. But his hands were not his own...
In anger, Shirra lifted the sword in her hands and stabbed it as hard as she could into Jondak's body. It stabbed deep under his rib cage, deep enough hit the floor underneath him.
Tim - walk toward my sister and stop a several feet away. You can go through the bars, now, but do not try to attack her. Tim looked down at his body. He wasn't himself! He was a woman! He suddenly realized that Ileeya must have cast some sort of illusion on him.
He did as he was instructed. He cringed when he got to the bars, but kept walking. Just as Ileeya said, he passed through them like they weren't even there.
"Shirra," he felt himself say in a woman's voice. He quickly pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on the task at hand. Surely Ileeya could change him back, right?
At the sound of the voice, Shirra whirled around to face him/her, the sword falling noisily to the floor. "Granny? Grandmother Lainel? But...but you're dead...," tears sprung into her eyes as she gazed in wonder at the sight before her.
"Only my earthly form, dear. You can never truly kill a witch. Especially one pure of heart."
"Why do you visit me now?"
"Shirra, what have I always taught you about magic? I taught you to never use it for evil. Only for good." Tim felt his arm wave towards Jondak's body. "Why didn't you listen?"
"Grandma...I tried. I tried to use it for good. But...then father kicked me out...I had nowhere to go. I found Samael's cabin...and...and..." she said through her whimpers. "Why didn't you come to me sooner? Things may have been different."
Tim noticed in his peripheral vision Ileeya slowly start to rise. She brought her finger to her lips, indicating he keep going the way he was, allowing her to channel words into him.
He kept looking at Shirra, not daring to look away from her eyes.
Never take your eyes off your opponent, not even for a second."I couldn't hover over you to help you make the right decisions, Shirra. That was something you needed to do for yourself."
Shirra said nothing, just sobbed into her hands.
"I missed you so much, Grandma. All these years...when I needed you...why didn't you come sooner? I have hurt so many. And I can never go back."
Slowly, slowly, Ileeya righted herself. In super slow motion she began to walk toward them.
"It's never too late to change, dear. You cannot undo the past, but you can learn from it. You can take that knowledge and change your future."
Shirra glared at her. "All these years! I mourned for you. You were the only person in my life that made me feel I had meaning. That showed me I had promise. And you had the ability to visit me sooner, but you didn't?"
Ileeya was getting closer. She was about seven feet away.
"You wait until now, when my plans are nearly complete, when my life has come full circle and it's time for me to show what that promise has grown into. Why now?!"
Four feet...
"Sweetie. I already told you. It's not up to me to make your decisions for you. You are an adult, and capable of thinking for yourself."
Three feet...
"But what about before that? When father kicked me out. When I desperately needed guidance and someone to love me...what about then!? Why did you not come see me then!? I needed you! I needed someone...and I found Samael! I needed you!"
Ileeya stopped beside sword and quietly knelt to pick it up. Tim almost winced at the minute scraping sound as she lifted the blade from the floor. It seemed loud to him, but Shirra didn't notice. She was distraught, and the only sound she was hearing now was the conversation she was having.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you at that time in your life. You had to find your own way, without anyone's help."
"Oh, but I did find help! Samael helped me plenty. He showed me what it felt like to wield true power. The power to hurt is much stronger than the power to heal. And it's much easier. He showed me how to bend things to my will, to use force to get what I want. He taught me, then he showed me physically, while he beat and raped me!! And if you had been there, I could have gotten away!"
Two feet...
"But dear...I'm dead in the physical sense. I couldn't be there to help you."
"THEN HOW CAN YOU BE HERE NOW?" She angrily raised her hands. Tim felt himself fly backward and hit the wall of the cage. His teeth clacked in his skull from the impact. Ileeya's enchantment on the bars had obviously worn off, because he felt his back slam into them.
Ileeya raised the sword...
The illusion vanished. The force of the blow returned Tim to normal. He sunk to the floor, unable to take his eyes off of what was happening.
Shirra's eyes grew large. "No...a trick?"
She turned to face Ileeya, just as the sword was brought straight into her chest. As quickly as Ileeya plunged it in, she pulled the sword free in an abrupt yank and skewered her sister again.
Shirra's hands flew up to the sword. The horrified expression on her face faded and a mocking one took its place. She looked into Ileeya's eyes. "Better run." Then she let out a scream that started in her throat and magnified a hundred times as it left her mouth.
The scream echoed through the chamber, filling every crevice, a deafening sound that made Tim's eardrums feel close to bursting. He clamped his hands over his ears to block out the sound. He could feel the sound vibrations in the floor, causing his legs to shake. He stumbled and nearly lost his balance.
Tim! We have to get out of here! The castle is catching on fire.
Tim opened his eyes. Blue flames quickly consumed Shirra and began to spread across the floor. Thick black smoke curled up from the fire, and the combination of the two quickly obscured his vision. The temperature in the room dropped dramatically, and Tim found himself fighting a sudden chill. The sound of Shirra's scream bounced loudly off the walls, penetrating his head like a sharp knife.
Tim!Ileeya! I can't see!Stay put, I'm coming to get you!
The smoke was making his eyes water and he began to choke as it entered his throat. He started feeling lightheaded from lack of oxygen and stumbled to the side. He winced when he grabbed hold of the bars to hoist himself up. They were ice cold and singed his hands. A second later he felt a pair of hands on him. Then he had the sensation of being pulled then darkness...
Tim awoke in a field of flowers. He wondered what this dream would hold for him, and what would happen when he woke up. He felt Ileeya's presence next to him. He reached out for her and held her tight, savoring the moment while he waited for the dream to reveal its purpose.
She clung to him as well, pulling his body tightly against hers. He snuggled into her hair, enjoying its light fragrance. Gently, he placed a kiss on her neck, then another a little higher. His lips traveled up to her ear, across her cheek to her waiting lips.
He caressed her shoulder, running his hand down her arm. Her hands roamed his back as the kiss deepened. He kissed her neck again, placing gentle feathery kisses down to her chest. A soft mewling sound escaped her throat as Tim continued lowering his kisses.
His hands explored the length of her body, stopping occasionally to make small circles on her flesh. She gasped at his touch and pulled his face up to hers for a slow penetrating kiss. He moved to her ear again and whispered, "This is a beautiful dream."
"This isn't a dream, Tim. This is real."
He pulled up and looked around himself. The flowers stretched as far as the eye could see. Large willow type trees speckled his surroundings, and a short distance off, congregated in a large, dense group.
She gently pulled his face toward hers and looked into his eyes. "I want you."
She didn't have to say another word.
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That's a rather saddening thought.
Thanks for reading.