The Casimir Series: Book 1: Black Coven

Episode 3

A single shot rang out and everyone turned. The feeling was something not quite like fear but like something else. Inside was a feeling he could not explain. He was not the only one who felt it. His father felt it, and his brother felt it. Because the woman they had known as mom to Casimir his whole life and was probably actually Duke’s actual mother. Did he feel the heat in his chest that Casimir felt right now? As he said this a glow came to his eyes, a red demonic glow. Someone had hurt his mother, and they were going to pay.

Abigail ran towards the direction Casimir had gone but it was no good, he was gone at superhuman speed, and even with her powers as a Warden she could not compare to the speed of an angelic demon hybrid. Jason and Duke caught up with her.

“Where is Casimir!?”

“When that shot rang out something changed, he changed. He began to look a bit different, his eyes were glowing red also. Not like before, I think that he knows something has happened to Gina, and that the anger is feeding his demonic side. They intend to awaken it.”

Duke and Jason exchanged glances, they all began running in the direction of what was now a pillar of darkness in the heart of the Grove, and at the center of the old cemetery located under the public park. They picked up their speed as fast as they could. Their hearts all pounding in their chests.

They came upon the sacred clearing. Here Casimir knelt with his head on his mother’s chest sobbing. Duke walked forward stunned. He had always known as a witch, and as their son, life would be dangerous, and many things could happen to them to take them from each other, but here before him was that very thing happening that very minute. He fell to his knees next to his mother as sobs wracked his body. Jason placed a hand on each boy's shoulder, it was all he could do given he was hurting himself.

Abigail walked up to them slowly. She wanted to be respectful of their feelings, but they could not remain there just upset. They needed to get Casimir out of the area as soon as possible, and that mean a bit of forbidden magic.

“We have to go, those who did this could still be around, and we do not have the manpower to defend Casimir when he does not know how to… Casimir, are you okay?”

The huge black ripple of energy sent everyone flying backward and shook the entire town. People were awakened by the tremendous explosion of power from the park. Howling wind formed around Casimir as he lifted from the ground. Darkness surrounded him as his eyes began to glow a horrific purple and black lightning crackled over the surface of his body. He spoke but it was two voices as one.

“They will pay for what they have done, at all costs.”

With this Casimire was gone.

Meanwhile…

Gary walked down the hall of the dark corridor. He could feel something was wrong, but he could not place his finger on what precisely. He was still being watched very carefully so he could not contact the others to find out what was going on. Suddenly the whole complex shook and he knew immediately what it was. He could feel the power building. Something had awakened the devil’s kiss and Casimir was in touch with his dark side. The destructive powers of such an event could be brutal.

Back in the woods.

Casimir was gone, and the others were slowly coming to their senses and people all around were calling for help. Windows had been shattered, cars had been flipped, it was utter chaos, and if a bomb had gone off in the park. What was even odder was that some parts of town were far worse off than others, and the power of the blast made no sense to those there. Was Casimir really that powerful, and if so how could they hope to stop him?

Cygnus had been watching from the woods when everything went down. The blast had sent her flying like the others, and she was presently pinned beneath a tree. She struggled to free herself, but with all her training and magic she could not budge the giant tree sitting across her and a rock, pinning her down without breaking anything. She growled angrily, her Lyran nature betraying itself. Suddenly even though the woods had been quiet for a moment due to the blast, now everything was alive with noise because everything was surprised, Even more, suddenly was when everything went silent again and a dark shadowy form appeared above her.

“You killed my mother.”

Cygnus froze where she was. She did not have eye beams or some other fancy magical power to save herself with. He knelt down and sniffed the air.

“You… you are afraid. This makes you tasty. I want to eat you.”

Cygnus screamed as Casimir bit into her neck, her lifeforce and body liquifying into a soup of energies which Casimir lapped up and slurped like an animal who had not been fed for a very long time. Dark Master through his crystal scrying orb watched as Cygnus was totally absorbed. He turned to his other general among who was Gary, he witnessed the whole thing via the orb himself, and it was horrifying, a life snuffed out, painfully and slowly consumed by another living being, Casimir was living up to his name, the One who Brings Destruction.

Casimir did not turn when his father caught up with him and called his name.

“Cas, you can control this, you have to, this isn’t you, you are stronger than this.”

“Am I, one who lied to me my whole life. I could have helped protect mom if I had the strength and training to do something about the enemy, but you both chose to lie to me. How could you!”

The black or of crackling energy formed and fired even as Casimir turned. Mr. Yost raised his barrier in time, but it cracked the barrier demonstrating Casimir’s raw power. Jason Yost was a floramancer and could control plants. So suddenly vines erupted from the ground and grabbed Casimir pulling him to the ground and holding him firm.

Casimir began to cry. His father held him as the vines retreated. The darkness faded from around him. Duke caught up with them and found them. Casimir was back to his old self, but he clearly was not okay. The pain he was feeling had been enough to unlock the demonic magics. He would need extensive training if he intended to use his powers more wisely and with less destructive results.

The next few days were even worse for Casimir. The death toll for the explosion had been 3, and several more had been injured. Casimir was the responsible party and he knew nothing he did could bring back the broken lives he had caused. He held his knees to his chest and sobbed to himself silently. He liked his life much better when he was just the loner at school and no one noticed him. Now he was wanted by everyone and it cost him his mother.

Abigail walked into the room where he sat crying and smacked him right in the jaw. Casimir yipped as he fell from the chair to the floor with a thud. Tears flowed as he looked up at Abigail who had her hands on her hips.

“You need to stop whining and get up. Yes, it's sad, yes it's hard, no we do not like it, but we do not mope around while people want us dead. There will be time to mourn when you are safer. Now let's go.”

Casimir was still holding his jaw as they formed a circle around an old stump which began to glow. Casimir was not sure what they were doing, but he was in for the ride of his life. With a huge rush, they flew into the energy and were gone. It felt like a water slide crossed with being in a light show. And then poof they appeared in the Feyland. Casimir was on his knees puking. The rest had done this enough that they only needed a few deep breaths to regain their composure.