The Goddess's Chosen

Lucius Whitlock

He stood there, in front of Hecate’s cell with an evil, smug grin on his face, that disappeared as soon as he saw his son beside me. “TRAITOR!” He yelled, his deep, baritone voice echoing off the cave walls. Gabe tensed up. He looked like he wanted to kill his dad, at the same time he wanted to hug him. He was conflicted, I could understand that. Here this man was, the only family he had ever known, but also the man that left his mother, just for us to find out now that he had kidn*pped her and locked her up in a cell here in this goddess forsaken cave. I could feel the anger and sadness rolling off him in waves, at the same time I could feel the hatred and contempt coming from his father. The tension in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. ‘Brenna, tell Clara and Camden that they will have to use Cybele and get into Hecates cell from the other side, Lucius is here blocking the entrance, and I want her safe as soon as possible.’ I could feel Brenna’s agreement, whether through our bond, or because of the fae’s power, I didn’t know, but I did know that she would tell them and that is all that mattered. “YOU LIED TO ME, MY WHOLE LIFE!” Gabe screamed back at his father. Lucius’ face contorted even more into rage, the feeling of the darkness surrounding us making me nauseous. “Your mother was nothing but a lying w***e. Didn’t even tell me she was a witch. I only found out when you were two and fell out of the window. Broke your leg and she fixed it with magic.” Lucius spat. “You told me the witches killed her, made me hate them, and a part of myself.” Gabe cried out, his voice shaking with anger and grief he had been holding in for so long. Lucius smiled, and I could swear that his eyes darkened a bit. “You were a fine hunter, but I shouldn’t have trusted you to go after these witches alone.” he said, glaring at me with malicious intent in his eyes. “ENOUGH!” Gabe screamed. He stood beside me, his hands now glowing blue with his lightning. His father looked frightened for a moment, and then just disgusted. “You disgust me. You’ve always been weak, and now you walk around like you’re one of them. You’ve killed more of them than I can count, and now you play nice.” His father said, taking a few steps towards us. I could see the darkness coming from him now. I had thought that it was only shadows, but it was black smoke. Just like the witches. “Gabe, see the darkness surrounding him?” I asked quietly. Gabe nodded his head stiffly. Lucious grinned again. “You can see it?” He asked, allowing the smoke to move around him like a fog. “I have welcomed the darkness and it had made me powerful. Powerful enough to ensnare a goddess.” he said, and my stomach plummeted. “That is impossible.” Gabe said, voice shaking slightly. Lucius shook his head. “My dear, foolish boy. I have lived centuries, thousands of years thanks to my darkness. It keeps me young, and it will allow me to kill you!” he snarled. So, he was the one that led the villagers against Hecate when she first came to earth. The darkness consumed him and created the monster standing before us. As he allowed the darkness to surround him, his eyes turned solid black, and his skin became very pale. He looked like pure evil in front of us. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. We had defeated demons and hunters and dark infected witches, but this was something else entirely. The black smoke was coming towards us, and I knew that we would be screwed if it touched us. I called upon the light of the fae once more, causing the darkness to stop moving towards us, but not back away completely. We had to keep him focused on us so that he wouldn’t notice our companions mid jail break. “You are a coward, and a poor excuse of a man. Killing others more powerful than you, and for what? Superiority?” I goaded him, hoping that he would move away from the door. ‘Brenna, Lucius is corrupted by darkness, tell everyone to be careful.’ I mind linked my familiar, knowing she would pass my message along. Never breaking eye contact with Lucius, I took a step forward. I could feel his dark magic trying to invade my mind, but Áine’s medallions were holding strong against his invasion powers. I could sense his frustration and see the anger growing more and more apparent on his face. “HOW?!” He screamed at me, his mental attack coming stronger, but not breaking through the medallion's magic barrier. “Goddess of the Fae.” I said, and once again willed the light to grow brighter and brighter, to a near blinding levels of brightness. I could hear his black smoke hissing, but not retreating. “Gabe, I need you to focus on your light, too.” I told him. His light burst out and it was tinged blue, like his lightning, where mine was more golden in color, but together it started forcing the darkness back. I felt like one of the care bears and would have laughed if I wasn’t so focused on kicking Lucius’ ass. Once again, we began chanting Selene’s spell, “Let the darkness leave this place, free these souls from its embrace, wipe the black that taints their souls, and let the light now take its hold.” we said it, and then kept on repeating it as we moved forward. Our combined light was eating away at his darkness. I felt a strange feeling in my soul, like a piece of me had been set free. Then, suddenly, the light was magnified immensely. And I could feel the presence of purity, magic, and something familiar that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I looked around and Varwen, Ava, Rachelle, Kheelan and my mother and Selene had all joined us, focusing on using our light to destroy Lucius. ‘Don’t worry, we sent them to help you, but me, Camden and the elementals are still working on getting Hecate out of her cell.’ Brenna chirped in Clara’s voice. Good, I thought to myself. Our magic and light combined kept driving the darkness back, but it was still so strong. Selene and my mother came to the front and My mother took my hand, I took Gabes, and Selene took Gabe’s other hand and behind us, Ava, Varwen, Rachelle and Kheelan took hands, and my mother reached a hand back and Ava took it. With all our powers combined, and all of us chanting Selene’s spell, we forced the darkness back, causing Lucius to scream out in frustration and pain. It felt good to have my mother back, and feel her hand in mine, but I couldn’t lose my focus, not yet, but holding her hand brought me comfort that I hadn’t realized how badly I had needed it, and my light began glowing brighter, as did Gabe’s, I noticed. With a final push we all focused our energy and magic into the fae’s light and forced the darkness to seep into the stone, and away from Lucius with a loud, angry hiss. We didn’t stop chanting and projecting the light until Lucius fell to his knees. We all stood there, holding hands, more out of comfort and support than anything else at this point. Lucius fell to the ground, coughing and spitting up black ooze. I could feel Gabe wanting to go to him, but I am not sure if it was to comfort or punish, as I could feel both compassion and fury battling within him. Lucius sat there puking up black ooze until he was just there dry heaving, all the ooze seeping back into the earth, and we just watched and waited. I could feel so many emotions, all around me, feel the thoughts of those nearest to me, thanks to the fae’s light, and it was nearly unbearable. It was like applying heat to an exposed nerve. “It’ll pass, you’re new to this and you let the light flow so freely through you.” Kheelan’s comforting voice came from behind me, and he gently squeezed my shoulder in a brotherly way. I focused on my breathing, and not on their emotions. Watching Lucius, trying to figure out what to do next. ‘We got her!!!!!’ Brenna chirped cheerfully in Clara’s voice in my head. I let out a sigh of relief and made my decision. I couldn’t feel any more darkness from Lucius and no power was emanating from or within him, so I created a earthen cage to hold him, and make sure that he couldn’t escape. I could hear Rachelle and Ava let out happy squeals and could feel their joy, as they too got the news. “We did it!” I said. “WE f*****g DID IT!!!” I shouted, turning to Gabe and hugging him tightly, and he returned my embrace. It was over. Everything we had fought so hard for is done. Hugging Gabe I forgot where I was for a minute, all I could focus on was the love and happiness coming from him. “Cassandra.” I could hear her voice, letting go of Gabe, I turned around, following everyone else’s gaze. “Goddess!” I nearly shouted and ran to her, hugging her. “You saved me, and many others from the clutches of the hunters. You uncovered how they were able to capture me and hold me prisoner. You far exceeded any expectations I could have had for you.” She said. “Endora, Selene, your children have done amazing things, and will continue to many more.” Hecate said, and all a sudden, I started crying. How could I have forgotten so soon? I suppose that I wanted to believe she was there but didn’t think it was real. I turned around and saw my mother looking at me, smiling proudly. She was dirty, and looked ragged, I could see around her neck and wrists where they had cuffed her, causing her to not be able to use her powers. “Allow me.” Hecate said, walking to each my mother and Selene and placing a hand on their cheeks. Their injuries began healing right before our eyes. Once she was done, and they were fully healed, she stepped aside, and I ran to my mother and was pulled into the tightest hug of my life. ‘Mommy, I thought you were dead.” I whispered in her ear, crying my eyes out. She rubbed my back and shushed me gently, “it’s ok, baby girl, I’m here. Mama’s here.” I could feel wetness dripping on my shoulder and I could tell that she was crying too. I glanced over and could see Gabe awkwardly hugging Selene, who was crying her eyes out, then over to Lucius, who looked like death, but also extremely terrified. “What should we do about him?” I asked, composing myself. Hecate smiled. “We should let the council decide, together. I will get the word out. Tomorrow starts a new day, my daughters, and son.” she said to us, then smiled at Gabe. And in an instant, she was gone, and she had taken Lucius with her. We made our way out of the caves and met Clara and Camden on the way out. She cried and ran to my mother, hugging her. “I’ve sent word to my mother.” Kheelan said, smiling brightly at Rachelle, “She will be here momentarily.” And true to his word, Áine appeared, doused in golden light. “You have all done well.” she said, stepping forward. “Hecate has been freed and the leader of the hunters has been taken down.” She smiled brightly at all of us. We made our introductions, then she teleported us all back to the sanctuary. We all wanted to shower and wash the night's events, and remaining darkness off us. I asked Clara and Camden what happened to the other witches, and they said that Hecate asked them to watch over them while she came to see us, and then before they ran in and met with us, she had appeared outside and had taken them all with her, somewhere. I had hoped that they wouldn’t be treated harshly, from the looks of it, they had no idea what was even going on.