Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles (67 page)

Luca laughs and says, “That doesn’t help
much, but it does offer a bit of concealment.”

She brushes her teeth and hair quickly, then
remembers to put some deodorant on. He smiles and says, “I can’t
understand why you still perspire. You are such an amazing and
mysterious mix of human and vampire now.”

She shrugs and says, “Yeah, a mixed up mess,
that’s me.” He laughs and takes her into his arms and kisses her
briefly, before he smacks her rump as he follows her out of their
quarters. “I hope there is some food ready. I could eat a whole cow
I think.” She says enthusiastically.

When they come into the dining area Valiant,
Almeda and Maria rise to greet them. Ari is in his original form.
Morna’s heart contracts agonizingly as she is reminded of how much
her Aiden looks like him. She longs to hold her children, to assure
herself that they are really alive and well. Ari is seated in some
sort of chair that looks like a mini padded throne. She smiles
warmly at him, kisses her father’s cheek, and then turns her
attention to Almeda and the newcomer, Maria.

Maria is assessing Morna with a critical eye.
She holds her hands in front of her as she walks around Morna. Luca
steps away to give the Shaman free access to his mate. Maria nods
and says, “Good! I am glad you were able to perceive my George’s
heart that day you met. You could have certainly destroyed him if
you had thought him a threat. You are indeed as powerful as my
grandson said.”

Morna has been assessing Maria as well. It is
obvious that she is a very potent magical being. George’s
grandmother only looks to be about 30 years old. Maria is almost as
tall as Morna. She has jet black, straight hair, with one wide
streak of white hair coming from her left temple. She wears her
hair pulled back in a barrette. Her eyes are dark, dark brown.
Morna sees strength, wisdom and kindness in those ancient eyes. Her
body is strong and lithe. Her hands are powerful and rough from
hard work, much like Morna’s. She is dressed simply in jeans and a
red cotton button up man’s shirt and jeans. The shirt is hitched at
her trim waist with a silver and turquoise concho belt. She also
wears a simple turquoise bracelet and an elaborate squash blossom,
silver and turquoise necklace. She is wearing low heeled cowboy
boots that look like they have seen a great deal of work in their
day.

Morna is pleased with what she perceives.
“You are a formidable woman too, Maria.” acknowledges Morna. “I am
very glad you have joined us.” The two woman easily recognize each
other as allies and equals and embrace heartily. Maria sits back
down and urges Morna to get her food and join them quickly.

Morna walks over to the serving line and
finds sausage gravy, huge biscuits, fruit, and bacon. She piles her
plate high and gets a cup of coffee and glass of water. She sits
down beside Maria, and says, “I can only assume you made the
biscuits and gravy?” When Maria nods, Morna says, “Thank you. It’s
been ages. I have had no reason to cook since my children were
taken from me. I bet our friends were delighted with the new
treat?”

Maria chuckles and says, “They seemed to like
them.”

“I bet!” Morna says as she dives into her
breakfast. She makes very short work of her food and would like to
get more, but wants to talk to Maria more than she wants to eat.
She starts to rise and clean her dishes and get more coffee when
Luca takes the dishes from her and says, “I’ll take care of it. You
and Maria have business.”

Maria follows Luca with her eyes. “You are
blessed woman Morna. I was pleasantly surprised by him.” Morna
smiles happily. She knows how blessed she is by her mate.

Luca sets a fresh cup of coffee before Morna
with just the right amount of cream and sugar that she likes. She
smiles her gratitude at him and turns back to Maria who is speaking
to both of them; “Forgive me Morna and Lucian, but I expected to
have to put her through a purification ritual to remove the vampire
taint, but it will absolutely not be necessary. There is actually
very little blood thirst in Lucian, and none at all in you Morna.
You seem to have taken on most of the race’s enhanced mental and
physical traits without taking on any of their darker ones.
Astonishing!”

George had come up behind Maria at this time,
and says, “I told ya Granny. They are very surprising aren’t they?
We will have to rethink some of our long held beliefs about the
race we have sworn to destroy. Perhaps our mission should only be
to protect humans from the ones who seek to kill them, and not to
broadly seek to wipe all Stone Cold vampires out. There may be hope
for the race.”

“Perhaps,” Maria concedes, “But in my
experience, these three are the exceptions and not the rule.”

George sits beside Luca who had returned and
quietly sat beside Morna. Morna is amazed at how comfortable the
Stone Breaker seems with her mate, the vampire. “Funny little
freaky world we live in,” she muses to herself.

Maria says, “Morna I am curious about one
thing though. Are you venomous?”

“No,” says Morna.

“What are your teeth like?” Maria asks. When
Morna shrugs, Maria hands her a sturdy stick and says, “Humor the
old lady and bite this.”

Morna looks at her incredulously, “I’ll break
my teeth off.” she sputters.

“I don’t think so, try.” urges Maria. Morna
looks doubtful but complies. She sputters and spits out wood
fragments when her teeth cut through the stick as easy as they
would a cracker.

“Damn!” whistles George.

Valiant laughs and looks at Luca, “Gives a
whole new meaning to bite your head off doesn’t it, Son?” Luca
chuckles thinking about her passionate ministrations towards him
earlier. He is again thankful that he asked Ari to sever their
mental connection for the duration of his stay here.

“I was not aware I could do that,” admits
Morna. She stores the knowledge away as just another weapon for her
personal arsenal. And reminds herself to be more careful with Luca
in the future.

“I want to lead you to the spiritual plane so
that you can battle the NA’YU’NUWI or a stone coat. I taste his
taint in your memory. I think that is who has been attacking you,”
says Maria.

George gasps, and Luca asks, “Why would an
armored spirit cannibal be after Morna? Because she can no longer
bear children?”

Valiant interrupts, “Child? You cannot have
more children?”

Morna shrugs, mutters “Well…” and looks away
from her father’s gaze. She doesn’t want to share what Brigid had
told her about the changes in her body in front of everyone. It is
something that she should share only with Luca. She feels Luca
stiffen with anger beside her. She touches him gently on the
arm.

“No child,” Valiant says compassionately. “Do
not say sorry to me. I am sad for you. I know you love children.
But I take heart. You have birthed four fine specimens and adopted
at least two that I know of. I have enough fine grandchildren from
you. You have more than pleased me.”

Morna smiles at her father and is relieved
when she feels Luca relax. She returns her full attention to Maria,
who is thoughtfully looking at Luca and Morna. Then she continues
as though she had not been interrupted. “Once I have led you to the
spiritual plane you would have to do hand to hand combat with the
NA’YU’NUWI. But all of your physical attributes and the magic you
currently command will follow you to the spiritual plane. You are
well able to meet the challenge.”

“Okay, how do we proceed?” Morna asks.

“Normally I would teach you our language and
perform several ceremonies to bring you to state where I could lead
you to that plane, but we are limited on time, and I think your
magic is mature enough to handle it once I get you there, but I
will need help getting you ready to travel there. You have a
hypnotist in your ranks, do you not?”

“Yes, Rinda.” says Luca. “I will go get her.”
He takes off so quickly no one sees him go.

“Damn! That must be weird to live with,” says
George.

“My mate is a show off,” Morna mutters. They
all laugh when they hear Luca’s rich laughter echo off the walls
from the training area. “See what I mean?” she giggles.

Morna and Maria continue to quietly discuss
the creature she will face on the Spirit Plane. And then Morna gets
up to get more coffee for herself while they are waiting for Rinda.
When she and Luca enter the dining area, Rinda is looking at Maria
and Morna expectantly. “Luca says you need help from me?” Rinda
asks skeptically.

Maria quickly sizes up the beautiful Spell
Weaver. She is short, like most of the females in this group, about
5’4”, slender, with short blond hair and bright blue eyes. She is a
very open and honest person. Maria can tell she is a powerful
healer, and her love for Morna is obvious. She says, “I need to get
Morna in a relaxed state so that I can transport her to the twelfth
spiritual plane to defeat the NA’YU’NUWI who has been attacking
her. Can you hypnotize her? Will she go under enough to be truly
relaxed?” asks Maria.

Rinda looks at Morna, “Are you willing,
love?” At Morna’s nod, she says, “I believe so, but it may be very
risky for Morna. Luca will have to remove his spell from around her
brain. She will open to attack again while I am hypnotizing her. So
her attention will be divided, she will have to fend off the
attacker and pay attention to me. It won’t be easy for her.”

Elias had followed Rinda and Luca in from the
training area. He speaks up now, “I would need to examine her when
Luca drops his spell to make sure she is fully recovered. Would
that be okay, Maria?”

Maria evaluates the young healer. He is
almost six feet tall, very well built and strong. He has sandy
blond hair and blue eyes. He is a very handsome young man who
appears to be about 26 years of age, but she knows he is truly much
older, being an ascended being. His heart is pure and his love and
admiration for Morna are very similar to bonds between parent and
child. “Yes, that would be fine. But you will need to be quick
about it.” Elias nods his understanding.

“Maria,” says Luca. “What if I removed the
spell around her brain and weave one around Morna, you and whomever
else might be needed to care for her on this end. That could
protect her from outside attack, but would it interfere with your
transporting to her to the spiritual plane?”

“No, that will not do. It would be too much
interference, but I think Morna is strong enough to fend off any
attack and focus on Rinda and me long enough to achieve our goals
and still leave her strong enough to face the NA’YU’NUWI on the
plane.” says Maria thoughtfully.

Morna turns to Luca and puts her hand on his
cheek and reassures him. “Darling, I feel strong enough to
accomplish these things. This stone cannibal thing went after you
the other night through me, I will find him and destroy him. He
will not be able to defeat me, I give you my vow Darling.”

Maria smiles. “Yes, there is no bragging or
swagger in you. Just the confidence of a lioness with a duty to
protect her own. You will do Morna, you will do just fine.” Maria
turns to Luca. “We need a large open area, preferably within this
magical gateway. She will need at least twenty square feet to do
battle in and it would be helpful to her if many of you could
observe and be there for her to draw power from. Her greatest
strength comes from her love for every one of you, and her sense of
duty to protect you all.”

“The training area is more than adequate for
the needs you have described,” assures Luca. “Rinda, Elias and I
just came from there.” says Luca.

Morna stands up and says with a smile, “Well,
I need the human necessary then I will be ready Maria.”

“Good,” says Maria. “Meet us there in thirty
minutes.”

Morna walks to her quarters. Luca follows.
Once inside their room he takes her into his arms. He is confident
in her abilities, but still fearful for her safety. He holds her
gently, savoring her gentle, loving presence. They stay like that
for ten minutes or better, when she finally reaches up and kisses
him gently, “I really do need the necessary,” she giggles. He steps
out for a few minutes. She opens the door when she is finished. She
giggles again, “It is so funny I still can’t pee around you after
all these years.”

He laughs too and shakes his head and then
gets very serious. “Morna are you sure you will be okay when I take
the spell off?” he asks quietly.

“Yes love, your spell has given me time to
recharge and heal from the previous attack. I am very strong right
now, maybe stronger than I have ever been. You have done well
protecting me. Now I have a duty to do. Trust in me love!” Morna
entreats her mate quietly.

“I do,” he assures her. “I really do. I know
how strong you are, I just wish I could go with you.”

“I know, but not this time. But I can be
strong knowing you are watching over everyone here. That is helping
me, believe that.” she assures him. “Now we need to go.” She kisses
him passionately, then swats his butt happily and heads out of
their room.

They walk hand in hand to the training area.
Everyone is assembled, except for the two on guard duty, and are
waiting quietly there when they arrive. She smiles at all of her
family and friends. Her children and sister come to hug and kiss
her. Sammy hangs onto her fearfully. “Morna, I can’t see what
happens to you next. I am afraid.”

“Don’t be darling. I would imagine that you
can’t see because I will be on another plane of existence. Your
second sight probably works in this plane only. Hang tough,
hotshot. I’ve got this, okay?” she says as she tilts the girl’s
worried face up to look into her own. When the girl nods, Morna
kisses her on the forehead and gives her a hug.

Aideen hugs her then and says, “Okay Mama,
don’t get mad, but now I am truly glad that you are a beast!” Morna
and Aideen laugh at the memory. “I know you can do this Mama. I
love you.”