Awakened: Reckoning of the Moon & Sun

A Little Patience/The New Breed

    “Escuda me….vipdar para!” She chanted her hand lifting and encircling her to surround the area in which she was standing.

    Immediately after, a sheer blue field surrounded Kazmiyah in protection. It was training day for Kazmiyah. She’d been resuming her sorcery training with Abigail and Magadalyn, but she’d still make sure to have private sessions of her own throughout the week of her mother’s teachings.

    She concentrated, connecting with Pământul Zeilor. When she felt the opening of the dimension, she slipped her blade into the opening of it. When it disappeared, Kazmiyah opened her eyes again. “Tārua,” She muttered, her power having grown to a point where she no longer had to use hand movements all the time to direct her power. The runes formed, glowing as they attached themselves to the ground beneath where Kazmiyah sat.

    “Mother?” She called into the open void of her mind’s eye. “Grandmother?” As soon as she called to them, she felt her connection to the All Luna and the All-Mother, Kazmiyah’s mind, and body were pulled into their world.

    “Kazmiyah, dear.” She heard her grandmother’s powerful and yet soothing voice call to her.

    With a smile, Kazmiyah turned to see her grandmother standing there in the distance. “Hello, grandmother,” She greeted on approach. Then immediately, Alariyanah took Kazmiyah’s hand and they disappeared into another dimensional space-one similar to that of her favorite room, only in hues of indigo and gold.

    This little show of magic never ceased to amaze Kazmiyah whenever she visited her grandmother’s world.

“It’s beautiful, as always,” She complimented.

    “Thank you, love,” Alariyanah sighed.

    The tone of her words made Kazmiyah switch her stare to her grandmother. In her distant expression, there was obvious stress, frustration, anger….sadness.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

    Alariyanah looked down at her granddaughter, a solemn smile dancing across her perfect dark beautiful skin. “I am not sure, my love.”

    Though surprised by her honesty, Kazmiyah was glad for it. “Is it...because of Abigail?” Kazmiyah already had a feeling of what the answer would be but her assumptions were confirmed when her grandmother nodded slightly.

    “Though not in the way you think,” She said. “At least not for the most part anyway.”

    “What do you mean?” Kazmiyah asked.

    To this question, Alariyanah did not immediately respond as they continued to approach a nearby table and chair. “I am...extremely enraged and...saddened by what your grandfather has done, Miyah,” She readily admitted. “Hurt that he has gone through such lengths to end one daughter’s life while trying to spare another’s. I try endlessly-day in and day out to make sense of his reasonings but...in the end,” Alariyanah switched her starlit stare to Kazmiyah. “The fault always lies within me...and my weakness….” She said. “Had I not fallen in love-”

    “Your beautiful daughters would not have been born,” Kazmiyah interjected with reason. “Neither your grandchildren. Please keep that in mind.”

    Alariyanah smiled, “You make it hard not to see the pros despite the enormous con of my transgression in falling for your treacherous grandfather.”

    Kazmiyah chuckled. “I mean, well your grandkids are pretty awesome,” She joked. “In no small part due to your daughters,” She added. “Well, the fathers also deserve an honorable mention.”

    The All Mother’s laugh was thunderous in the most soothing way. Kazmiyah was delighted to see a smile on her grandmother’s face. They sat across from one another and Alariyanag took her granddaughter’s hand in hers.

    “The one thing that I can never bring myself to regret is having you and my daughter in my life...I only wish that I could have known the other,”

    A shimmering teardrop fell from Alariyana’s suddenly closed gaze, a deep exhale escaping her as she wiped her tear away.

    “So...does this mean that you believe that aunt Abigail is really your daughter?” Kazmiyah asked.

    “To be honest,” Alariyanah returned, after a long moment of silence. “I don’t think that I ever doubted that she was, Kazmiyah,” She reassured. “I just…” Another tear traveled down the length of her cheek as she thought about that day; the day that she found out about Abigail. “There...is guilt that lies within me,...one that I fear I will have for the rest of my eternity,”

    “What? Grandmother, I told you-you should not feel guilty about falling in love wanting a family,” Kazmiyah frustratedly insisted.

    “My guilt...that is not what I am referring to, my love.” Alariyanah clarified.

    Confusion and concern set into Kazmiyah’s mind. Though knowing that she probably could not easily fix whatever was going on, she still wanted to try. “Then what?” Kazmiyah asked, desperately wanting to understand where her grandmother was coming from. “What are you feeling guilty about?”

    “That...that I could not stop him,” Alariyanah confessed. “That I had allowed him to get me to such a point of weakness that...I could not defend myself but more importantly...my girls...from him...from his cruelty....that I cannot even...remember my own daughter.” She said and then scoffed, shaking her head, “I’ve always felt that there was a piece of me...one not whole. I always carried this feeling that something was missing, but...I just...I could never understand it no matter how many times I tried making sense of it.”

    “So, you have no recollection of Abigail?” Kazmiyah asked.

    With a forlorn expression, Kazmiyah’s grandmother shook her head. “I just...I’ve been completely stripped of her existence, and I-I do not know how Christoph this! How he managed to garner the power to hide her away from me!” She growled. “How could he?!” Alariyanah snapped. “How could he be so cruel!?”

    Kazmiyah could feel the air around them beginning to change due to her grandmother’s anger. As she experienced the nearly overwhelming feeling of her grandmother’s presence, even she began to wonder how her grandfather could have contained such power. With this in mind, it forced Kazmiyah to accept how powerful her grandfather truly was.

    “She is no longer under his veil of cover,” Kazmiyah tried to point out a silver lining. “Have...have you tried to…”

    “The moment you told me that she was mine,” Alariyanah confessed with a heartbroken smile.

    “Mom?” Kazmiyah dared to ask. “Has she…” When her grandmother tilted her head and gave her a half-hearted, sad chuckle Kazmiyah knew her answer.

    “A little much for her to even take in right now, let alone try to contact,” Alariyanah replied.

    “Well she certainly has not minced words about wanting to meet the both of you, grandmother,” Kazmiyah returned. “I wish mother would at least try...to give it a chance.”

    “Patience...is key in situations such as this, my love. Your mother is...going through something right now and...we cannot rush her to come to terms with it because it may be convenient for us.”

    Kazmiyah, dropping her gaze down at the table. She had neglected to even inquire about her mother on arrival, but not because she did not care about her whereabouts. If she were being honest with herself, it never left her mind since the visit, no matter how hard she tried in pushing it away. Her mother had been disappearing into her own little void since the little back and forth had between them about the suspicion of Abigail Vale being a clone.

    “I know,” She replied. “I just...is she upset with me?” Kazmiyah asked. “She’s been making herself scarce lately and if I said anything to offend her, I’d rather make it right-”

    “No! No, no, no, sweetheart,” Alariyanah said to her granddaughter. “It is not you that your mother has been trying to come to grips with. I daresay, not even your aunt.”

    “Then what?” Kazmiyah asked. “Why is she pushing away from me?”

    “That...is a complicated answer, my love. One that...you and her will have to discuss when she is ready.”

    Defeated, Kazmiyah resigned to further reason on the subject. “Will you tell her that I stopped by...and that I love her?”

    With a small smile, Alariyanah nodded in reassurance. “Of course.” She seemed saddened by Kazmiyah’s worried demeanor. “Do not stress this, Kazmiyah. When the time is right, things will fall into place. You just have to have faith.”

    *************************************

    When Kazmiyah’s mind and body left her grandmother’s dimension, she opened her eyes and sat there a moment-almost dazed by her own frustration and worry.

    “Miyah?” The sound of Falcon’s voice ringing through her mind brought Kazmiyah out of her reverie. Somehow the soothing deepness that was his tone, relaxed her.

    “Hey,” She replied in greeting. She hadn't even bothered to hide the disappointment in her voice. Falcon would no doubt, realize that she was upset anyway.

    “Visit didn’t go so well again?” Falcon asked. When Kazmiyah sighed, he seemed to already know the answer to his question. “Are you alright?”

    “No,” Kazmiyah readily confessed with a sigh. “I could actually use another one of your hugs right about now,” She said. “Mom’s still not ready to see me, Con. I know I need to be patient but...I’m so worried about her.” Kazmiyah voiced, thinking about all that her mother had gone through from past to present.

    “Baby, this is going to take time. I know that it’s hard but your mother is one of the strongest inhuman beings that anyone knows. If anyone can get through this...she can.”

    “I don’t want her doing it alone, Con,” Kazmiyah muttered, her tone low and sad as she spoke.

    “Give her space to see that she does not want to go through this alone either, Miyah. Everything will be fine.”

    Kazmiyah considered his wise words, biting her bottom lip in silence before she decided that it was time for her to go. “You’re right,” She finally said. “Thanks, Con,” She smiled.

    “Alway, love.” He cooed over their link.

    Kazmiyah blushed, a small smile turning up her lips before she stood up and walked toward the path of the forest that would eventually lead back onto Crescent street. “Have those arms ready for me when I get there.”

    He chuckled. “You’ll be back before me, baby. Unfortunately, you may have to wait a while before I can wrap my arms around you.”

    Kazmiyah stared through the wooded area, slight disappointment filling her as she asked. “Another meeting?”

    “Yes. There’s been a few sightings. Your father asked me to check it out.”

    “Sightings?” Kazmiyah paused. “Sightings of what, Con?”

    There was a pause before Falcon reluctantly replied. “I’m not sure, Miyah. The sightings are all similar in description to ferals or wildlings, but...somehow I do not think that it’s so simple this time around."

    “Why do you say that?” She asked as she kept through the forest. Then suddenly, she heard a loud snap through the wooded area. She paused and looked around.

    “It seems that with every war we have faced, those things have somehow evolved and gotten more powerful,” Falcon answered. “I do not doubt that this situation will be any different. And that is outside of the fact that no description of the alleged beasts has been the same,” When he spoke and a very long silence followed, Falcon called out for Kazmiyah. “I’d rather you be safe and near civilization right now.”

    “I know, but I had to train today. You know I concentrate better out here,” Kazmiyah muttered as she continued to survey her surroundings. She sniffed the air and immediately began to get a whiff of something foul. A foreboding feeling suddenly hit the pit of her stomach. She knew almost immediately that she wasn’t alone. Then she heard it finally...the confirmation of her suspicions. A growl...one...two...three….maybe more, Kazmiyah realized, as she steadily counted the heartbeats.

    “You’re quiet over there,” Falcon said.

    “Yeah,” Kazmiyah absentmindedly replied. “Falcon...how do these creatures look? Can you recall a description by one of the sightings?”

    “If I am not mistaken, I think that one of the ferals were...abnormally large...wiry gray fur...standing on its hinds as a lycan...large, white beady eyes...teeth like a sabertooth. There were other depictions but this one….this one is the one that seemed to have been bigger than all the others.”

    “You think….that its the Alpha?” Kazmiyah asked through the mind link, her eyes concentrated straight ahead.

    “More than likely.”

    She scoffed, shaking her head. “Just my luck,” Kazmiyah grimaced looking straight forward the drooling beast and the companions, both wolfish and vampiric alike, standing behind it.     

“Miyah?” Falcon needed no more words spoken from his mate after she said this. “I’m on my way!”

    She cracked her neck and prepared herself for the fight that she was about to encounter, She’d have been lying had she said she wasn’t a little excited about the fight that she was about to take part in. “I'll be waiting," She told him. Guess...I’ll just hold them off till you get here.” Kazmiyah said to Falcon, her eyes suddenly igniting with power, incisors elongating from her gums as she readied herself for a fight.