The Casimir Series: Book 1: Black Coven

Episode 2

Abigail was a very interesting woman. She smoked both cigars and other herbs, and she smelled of cocoa butter and whiskey. She moved slowly with a hump in her back, but she was still intimidating. She smiled at Casimir in a weird way, one which was both comforting and scary all at the same time.

“You look like your father.”

“You knew my birth parents?”

“Yep, I helped train them to be the powerful angelic warriors they were, but they were betrayed by a friend, and that let the enemy too close to be stopped. You were born with a very special mark on your shoulder. That birthmark you possess, that is known as the devils' kiss, and that is the whole reason you are being hunted.”

Casimir ran his fingers over this birthmark. It did sort of look like a puckered mouth with fangs. He had always been told it was just a birthmark, but hearing about how it was why he was being hunted, he had to assume it was much more than that. He looked at his mother for a moment and then at Abigail.

“So why is this mark so important?”

“It means you have both demonic and angelic blood in your system. You can wield the light and the dark in balance, and every side would love to get their hands on you. I would love to tell you who to trust kid, but you have to choose that for yourself. Your mom and I can teach you about your powers, but we cannot do it here while you are being hunted. We need to get to the grove and then to Feyland.”

Gina nodded in agreement. Feyland was the land where the fairies of all sorts live. It was in a dimension that overlapped the human dimension, and it was a place that the Tri could not follow very easily. Abigail pulled her shotgun out, and Gina readied her handgun. They turned out every light and the wooded area turned pitch black.

“You can see because you are an angel/demon. So use that. We need to get to Dayton Park, to that big tree in the middle. If we get separated you go there and you wait for one of us. Don’t come looking for us.”

Casimir nodded, but he had to admit he was afraid. These people after him were willing to kill his mother to get to him, and now they were sneaking around in the woods in the darkness. He was processing this when thoughts about being part angel and part demon flooded his mind. What did that even mean, and how did that even happen? Was it a good thing? Where were his father and brother were they okay? Abigail laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry kid, you are going to make it through this with no trouble, I promise.”

The three headed further into the night. Men with night vision goggles moved around in the same woods. The three stayed low moving slowly and only when the coast was clear. For her apparent age, Abigail could move very spryly. Casimir took note that she was probably much more than she appeared to be.

Meanwhile…

Gary sat in his small provided room wringing his hands. This sort of work was the worst kind, infiltration and espionage were certainly not his strong suits, but someone had to do it, and they needed someone powerful enough to fight their way out of needed. So it was decided among them that it would be Gary. With forged documents and wild tales of betrayal and switching sides Gary had joined the TriMuerte, and they were eager to get as much information out of him as they could. Hopefully, he could gain their trust and also gather information. His ultimate goal was to rescue a young angelic who had been taken and was forced into a soul reactor. He needed to be freed and the soul reactor destroyed.

I sure hope this works. Abigail and the others are in danger, and there is nothing I can do to help them from here, and that sucks.

Back in the woods…

Casimir had gotten away from the others, and now he was beginning to get scared. He did not know how to control his powers or how to fight, so what was he supposed to do if they found him. Casimir hid behind the tree at the far side, but to his dismay, two men in black walked towards him from the opposite way, they both had guns and masks and they did not look like they were very nice.

“Well well well, look what we have here, a little angelic, and no place to go. Give up kid, you need to come with us so you do not get hurt.”

Casimir could not speak. These people had been ready to kill his mother, and now they were near him, the man pointed his gun and Casimir closed his eyes. There were two dull thuds as the two men hit the ground. Looking up it was his father Jason Yost, and his brother Duke Yost.

“Sorry kiddo, got here as fast as we could.”

Casimir hugged his father then stepped back.

“Mom and Abigail are still out there.”

“You stay here with Duke, I will go for them.”

Casimir had just turned 18 and it was the last few weeks of school. His brother was 23 and went to college in the next bigger town Walla Walla at the community college. They had never really been close, but then again they were like typical siblings, fights over this and that, being Casimir’s senior by five years Duke had always been a little jealous of the baby. He had never wanted to move away from his grandparents, and now this baby was suddenly here and getting all the attention. Duke had to admit that Casimir was still getting all the attention.

“So this is fun.”

“You knew all of this and never let it slip to me once?”

“Yep, I was taught from a very early age that it was very important if I wanted to make sure you stayed alive. You see if you cannot be saved or rescued you are to be killed just to make sure you do not become the enemy. The tough situation right?”

Casimir was not sure how he felt about that last piece of knowledge. Their last line of defense was to make sure he did not fall into enemy hands and get used by the power of evil or whatever was to kill him. He shuddered. Would Duke really do that? Would he kill Casimir if it came down to it? Would his mom, or his dad, they were not his real parents, and they had lied to him his whole life, how trustworthy were they now? He could not help but wonder given the circumstances.

Meanwhile…

The Dark Council sat with Gary in the middle of their circle. They looked onward to Gary as a lower-level entity asked him questions about his time served as a Phoenix. He answered honestly each time, but never really gave them the answer they wanted. He chose his words carefully and answered just enough to satisfy the requirements of the question without betraying too much other information. Finally, the Dark Lord had enough of the mental chess with Gary and sent him away.

“He is not to be trusted at all. Have a guard with him at all times, and one posted outside his door.”

His servant nodded and he walked up to Cygnus a witch whom he had kidn*pped when she was only a child. He had raised her, groomed her, and trained her to be a horrific assassin, one which could do things most people would think were unimaginable. She stood before her master ready to serve his every dark whim. She wore skin-tight black leathers and was bald-headed. She had scars on her face and head from battles long won or lost.

“How would you have me proceed my lord?”

“You are to bring that boy to me. He must be alive, but he does not have to be in good shape when you arrive here.”

“Yes, Milord.”

In a puff of black smoke, Cygnus was gone and moments later she was surrounded by trees. Several of their agents stalked the woods looking for the boy, but she knew he had left the woods. She could feel his awesome power radiating from within him. His fear was feeding it, causing it to awaken. If they could just hit him with one sleeping dart it would all be over. They could brainwash him and have him ready to go in minutes, but he was not alone, another fairly powerful aura was near him, and she was not certain if she should engage or not. That was when Gina arrived and placed her gun on Cygnus’s head.

“Hello Darlin, lost?”

Cygnus moved like lightning disarming Gina and knocking her to the ground.