84. Destroyed

My heart was still pounding as I reappeared back at the waypoint. The half dozen guys we'd left here were still out cold on the ground, it looked like we'd be relatively safe here for now. Assuming Keenan didn't follow us.

A moment after I arrived Keira appeared next to me on the right. She looked at least as shaken as I was, maybe more.

I looked to my left, but there was no Kelly. My stomach twisted as I realized she hadn't followed us.

"Oh fuck!" Keira gasped. "Tegan he's got her! He's got Kelly!"

She sounded terrified, I'd never heard her so scared as she half-whispered "He's going to fuck up her head!"

I was still shaky with adrenaline from our retreat, but now instincts took over. I concentrated as I blinked, and Keira's aura became visible along with that fine gold thread. The filament stretched off into the distance towards the castle. Even at this range the twins were still connected.

There were little shimmers of black coming through their connection, and each time one arrived Keira's aura flickered with darkness.

Moving quickly but smoothly I knelt by one of the sleeping soldiers and pulled the dagger from his belt. For the first time in my life I'd drawn a weapon in anger, and I intended to use it. Then I stood and reached out with my left hand, and took hold of the thread that connected the twins. It wasn't a tangible thing, there was nothing physical there, but this time I was able to feel it.

I closed my fist tightly around the line of energy and suddenly I was back in the castle with Kelly. I was seeing through her eyes, hearing through her ears. And experiencing her terror.

Our grandfather's magic held us immobile, we couldn't even speak. We were standing in the dining hall, and we were alone with him. Our grandfather stood directly in front of us, with that smarmy grin on his face. He had us in his clutches and he knew it. His hands were raised, he held them in the air a few inches to either side of our head as he gloated.

Our heart was pounding and we were desperately trying to escape, but nothing worked. Our body wasn't responding, our muscles were frozen. We couldn't even scream or cry out. All we could do was stand there and listen to him, but inside we were begging, screaming, pleading for help.

Grandfather sneered at us as he taunted, "Don't be afraid, child. It's not like you'll miss her. In a few moments you won't even know the name Tegan, you'll have never even met her. For that matter you won't remember your own name either, but don't worry. We'll think of something suitable to call you. What you will know is you're mine, and you'll do absolutely anything to make me happy."

I pulled my awareness back into my own self, but I kept part of my mind connected to their golden thread. I positioned the dagger so I was holding it with the hilt against the base of my chest, the long sharp pointed blade was angled forward away from me.

The strand of energy that bound the two sisters together was my guide, and my teleport spell followed it back to Kelly.

In the blink of an eye I was once again in the castle. I was standing in the dining hall with my girlfriend behind me and her grandfather directly before me.

I'd appeared in the narrow gap between the two of them. My back was almost touching Kelly's chest, and a good three inches of my blade was already in Keenan's gut. I leaned forward slightly and pushed the dagger in another inch or so, for good measure.

He let out a sort of grunting-coughing sound as his arms dropped away from Kelly's head and he looked down at me, then at the knife I was holding between us.

I saw the confusion in his eyes as he struggled to comprehend what just happened, how I'd suddenly appeared exactly there with my knife already in him.

My right hand held the dagger fast, and I turned it slightly to make sure he could feel it inside him. At the same time my left hand reached up and closed on the amulet that was hanging around his neck.

Keenan's eyes widened. He shuffled backwards, and I yanked the amulet off him. His movement pulled him off my blade, and blood flowed freely from his wound. It ran down his jacket and pants and splashed onto his shoes. He moved his hands to cover the injury as he opened his mouth as if to call for help, or perhaps he meant to try a spell.

Things seemed to shift to slow motion, as I kept my eyes locked on his. I let go of the knife and the amulet, and both seemed to hang in the air. Neither had even really started to drop yet as I held my right hand out towards him and cast my spell.

Keenan was still moving backwards away from me, clutching his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He stumbled and started to fall.

The knife and amulet finally hit the floor at my feet, and Keenan was in mid-tumble when I saw the flash in his eyes as my magic struck him. His body was engulfed in swirling light at the same moment he hit the floor.

Suddenly the world was moving at normal speed again. Keira appeared behind me on my right, and she pulled Kelly into her arms. Kelly was freed from whatever spell Keenan had on her, and both twins were frantic. They began sobbing in fear and relief as they held each other.

I didn't join them yet. I kept my eyes on our foe, as the shimmering light faded.

Laying on her back on the floor was a small, slightly-built fifteen-year-old human girl. She had long messy hair that was the same fiery red colour as my two girlfriends. Her skin was fair, with a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks. There was a fairly strong family resemblance between her and the twins. She could easily be their little sister. The clothes she wore were miles too big on her now, her hands and feet were hidden inside the sleeves and pant-legs. She was unconscious, and she was still bleeding from the wound in her belly.

I stepped forward and knelt next to Keenan, and gently placed my hand on his abdomen. I cast a few strong healing spells, enough to patch up his injury and keep him alive. Even after the healing magic he remained unconscious for now, which was fine with me.

With our enemy dealt with, I stood up and stepped back. I turned, and finally moved to join Kelly and Keira. They both immediately pulled me into their hug.

I put my arms around them as I looked up at Kelly. "Are you ok? Did he do any damage?"

Both of them still had tears running down their faces, but it was mostly from relief now. Kelly shook her head "I'm ok I think... Thank you Tegan! You have no idea how terrifying that was!"

I decided not to mention that I actually did know how. I'd have to tell her and Keira later that I peeked into their link, that I used it to guide my teleport spell with such precision.

For now I gave them both a reassuring squeeze, "You're ok now. Both of you are ok now. Keenan's not going to hurt anyone after this."

The three of us continued holding each other for another minute or two, before we heard the weak groan behind us. We all turned to watch.

Keenan slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position. He was holding both hands over his belly again as he looked around in confusion. I figured he'd still be weak and sore for a while. The wound was healed enough that he wasn't in any immediate danger, but it would take another day or two before the healing was finished.

He stared up at us and was probably wondering why we all seemed so much taller right now. Finally he looked down at himself, and his eyes grew wider and wider. He slowly pulled up the sleeves of his jacket to get a better look. Then his whole body trembled slightly as he stared at his small delicate hands.

"What -" he started to talk but stopped with a gasp. One hand moved to his throat, his slim fingers ran up from his neck to his smooth face, then over his head. He ran his fingers through his hair then pulled some of it forward to see how long it was.

His hands moved to his chest next, and his eyes bulged wide as he realized what he could feel beneath the loose fabric of his clothes. The self-examination ended with his hands between his legs as he groped himself once, then gasped and trembled again.

His lips moved as he tried a spell, and the look of confusion returned to his face when nothing happened.

He finally looked up at me and asked, "What have you done? Why isn't my magic working?" His voice was small and high-pitched, unmistakably girly, and wavered slightly with fear.

With the crisis over and Kelly safe, my anger had evaporated and I was left feeling guilty for using Taralynn's gift like this again.

"You're human," I replied quietly. "You don't have access to magic anymore."

Keenan trembled and gulped, "How long until this wears off?"

I shook my head, "It doesn't. This is permanent."

All three of us were still watching him as he sat there stunned.

After a few moments he shook his head and whispered, "You should have just killed me."

None of us responded to that. Keenan sat there motionless for another minute or so, then he suddenly burst into action.

The dagger was still laying on the floor where I'd dropped it, and Keenan dove for it. He scooped it up and I think he meant to strike at me, but Keira was already moving. She lashed out with her foot against his arm. The weapon was knocked clear, and it slid across the floor.

Then the tall redhead leaned down and grabbed him by the hair with her left hand as she placed her right hand on her granddad's forehead. Keira's lips were already moving as she cast the spell.

I realized what she was up to just a moment too late. I tried to move forward to intervene, but Kelly grabbed me from behind. Her hands tightly gripped my shoulders and she held me back until Keira was finished.

"This is for Amy, you bastard!" Keira growled, then her eyes flared as she released the spell.

I didn't know which spell she used, but I had no doubt it was something from that book of mind magic. Last week in the study, Keira made a point of swapping books with her sister. She let Kelly have the milder book, while she took the one full of darker magic. I was certain she'd just used one of those spells on her granddad.

Keenan's body stiffened as the spell took hold, then went slack again. Keira let her granddad's small body slump back to lay on the floor again, and she finally stepped away. At the same time Kelly released her hold on me.

I sighed deeply, "Keira, what did you do?"

She had a grim smile on her face as she moved back to stand next to Kelly again. "Nothing she didn't deserve."

I turned to look at her sister and asked, "Kelly? Why'd you stop me?"

I could understand Keira's desire for vengeance after what happened to Amy last year, but this seemed to go against Kelly's principals.

She sighed, and there was a guilty look in her eyes. "I'm sorry Tegan. Keira told me what she wanted to do right from the start. I said at the time I wouldn't help but I wouldn't stand in her way either. I knew how much it hurt her, what he did to Amy. But after what he was about to do to me... Nothing we could do to him would ever be enough to make up for all the suffering he's caused."

I couldn't argue with that. I didn't like it, and I was still surprised Kelly had gone along with it, but I understood why.

In the end I just let it go for now, and turned my attention to the next order of business, "Will you two be ok with Keenan for now? And will Keenan be ok with you two? I need to try and clear the control spells on the soldiers and officers here."

Kelly nodded, "Yeah. You be safe. We'll be ok here."

I looked at Keira and she shrugged, "I won't use any more magic on granddad. I won't hurt her, if that's what you're worried about."

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