Death

Rhett lowered Miri into the warm tub. He knew she had lost enough blood that she would get light headed, but she needed the warmth. As she lay back in the water, he noticed that she did look like Brie Larson. He didn't have a thing for Brie Larson, but he could. He had now met two of her doppelgangers and they were quite attractive.

"Rhett," she moaned.

"I'm here." He put his hand on her cheek.

"I've done something terrible."

"Shhh. We can talk about that later. You need your strength," he said. He started rubbing her shoulders to bring the warmth back.

Miri sat bolt upright. "You brought me back to town?" She twisted her hand and a wave of warm air completely dried her clothing and drained the tub. Her wounds were healed and her color was back. "How did you break his spell?" she asked.

"He was barely a mewling. It broke the minute I touched you."

"It wasn't the kid's spell... wait, maybe it was. He was teaching the boy to use his power."

"Who was?"

"You didn't see him? Was there anyone else? He wouldn't have left the boy alone."

"There was a... thing guarding him. It wasn't a problem to dispatch it."

She looked at him with surprise. "You used your power?"

"Twice, actually. But let's back up a bit. Who are you?"

"My name is Miri. I was captured by those creatures. Thank you for rescuing me." She looked around the room and then asked him angrily, "Why did you bring me back to town?"

"This isn't the town. I led a false trail to the ranch, then brought you here. I think this house's owner was one of their first victims. They started to attack the town."

"Then it is too late." She hung her head.

"No. When I used my power on the boy they started returning to the ranch."

"You killed the boy?"

"It would have taken too much. I was weak from the attack. He also had some resistance somehow. I barely sizzled him."

"You were attacked? When did they attack the town?" Suddenly tired of human communication, she simply entered his thoughts. She withdrew in horror.

"Your partner and Christine will have gone looking for you. We have to help them before it is too late!" she urged.

"Can you teach me how to revive as quickly as you did?" He asked.

"Another time." She did the same movements and he was completely healed.

And he felt a little randy.

She was still picking up his emotions from when she entered his thoughts. As they exited the house, she said, "Focus on Christine, Rhett. I can't explain now, but you and I won't be able to."

He just looked at her, mouth agape.

She looked at his car, mouth agape. The British had some of the tiniest, ugliest cars in the world. A poodle pulling a Radio Flyer would have gotten them there faster. She just snapped her fingers and they climbed in a Challenger which had magically appeared.

"How have you used your power without the side effects?" She asked as they sped towards the ranch.

How did she know about that? Ever since that first night when she spoke her name in his mind, he had changed. He felt her presence. He sometimes could see her doing something even though he didn't know when or where it was. He also could cast Pulchra at will. It tired him out, but didn't drive him into madness anymore. He had used it to destroy the mimic and the boy's guardian. He had even used it to injure the boy. He didn't tell her he couldn't bring himself to kill the boy, but he was pretty sure she knew.

Neither of them were responsible for the resurgence of the Upyr. It had been in the works for a long time. They had just pissed them off by disrupting some of their plans. "Miri, you didn't draw them out. They have been working on this for decades."

She looked at him bewildered, then she became angry again. "Why do you ask who I am when you already know?"

"I still don't know what you are. I just know that you invaded my mind back in the hospital, and just now."

She looked at him. "I am the last magic user as far as I know. I thought you might be another, but I think you got your power from me. I think you were a part of me that somehow became another person, but we were separated." She looked at him hoping that would explain for now. He just looked confused.

"How do you know about the Upyr?"

"I've been tracking them for decades," he said. "They have been seeding areas again. This town is one of eight that I know of."

Her anger became fear. "Eight?"

"That I know of."

A sudden bang hit the roof and a claw came crashing through Rhett's window. He fought it off without using magic, but more were coming in from all sides. Just before using his power, Miri put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Save your strength for later."

The Challenger exploded. The creatures did as well. They tumbled as they came to a sudden stop, surrounded by burning debris. "That was just a scouting party. They know we are coming," Miri said with urgency in her voice. With another wave of her hand an older car appeared. Rhett had no idea of the make. The white Olds 442 was a bit sturdier than what she had been driving. They hopped in and continued towards the ranch. The sky was starting to blacken significantly.

Rhett looked up "Couldn't you have conjured a tank?"

She just smiled. "You really think that was a standard explosion that killed the creatures back there? I can deal with most of them. You need to focus on the boy."

"Why the boy? Why not the lead Upyr?"

Creatures started banging against the new car. They turned to flame and slid off. She looked at him. "The leader is not Upyr, and it can't be killed."

Now it was Rhett's turn to be angry. "Then what are we doing?"

"Rescuing your partner, your lover, and the town."

"I'm too old to be her lover."

Wham! The car was knocked onto its side and exploded. It took a number of creatures with it, but not the one that had swatted the car like it was a toy. The monster was over three stories tall and had nothing but teeth and two eyes for a face. It's arms were nearly twice as long as its legs and just as thick. It was winding up for its next swing.

Rhett looked at Miri as if to say, "Now?" She just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. She really did look like Brie Larson when she did that.

Pulchra hit the creature square in the face, slicing through its arm along the way. The loose end crashed into more of the creatures coming up the road, killing them instantly. The large monster simply fell back on its haunches, dead.

They didn't get time to relax. Suddenly, he was before them. "Nicely done, nicely done!" said the man that appeared. He was clapping his hands in a mocking stance. He looked like he was from the middle east, with dark hair and olive colored skin, but he wore a cowboy hat and a jean jacket. He was quite tall. Behind him was the boy, completely healed of his burns. His eyes were still closed.

Miri was in Rhett's head. "Don't let the boy fool you. His health is an illusion."

"Is it, now?" said the tall man. "You were the one that healed him, stupid witch. Do you really think your offspring could hurt him while your own blood flows through his veins?"

Rhett looked at Miri. "Offspring?"

The tall man just started laughing. He looked at Rhett and couldn't contain himself. "You don't recognize your own mother? No wonder Elves have died out. You are too thick to even recognize each other. At least the human tales gave you pointy ears. Maybe having those would have helped."

"He is not my son, foul demon!"

The tall man started hissing as he laughed. "What else would you call him? You split like a cell in mitosis." He looked hard at her. "You can't handle killing, Miri. It really tears you apart." He laughed louder than ever.

She stood defiantly. "I shed no tears for your little mooncalf. I was thinking of decorating her cave with more of her kin."

The tall man's laughter turned to hisses of anger. "I will rape and disembowel you for that, witch. Or should I start with your lookalike?" He motioned and a bag was brought forth. The contents were moving.

The henchmen pulled open the bag and dumped out a bound and gagged Christine. Her clothes were shredded and she had blood all over her legs.

"The boy needs to feed," explained the tall man. "Bind her to the tree." A henchman cuffed her head and started dragging her towards a large tree.

A loud roar of an engine interrupted him and tires came skidding to a halt. Sitting atop what looked like a mounted anti-aircraft gun was Christine. The real Christine. Rhett looked and the woman from the bag was now herself, the mother who lived in the house where he had taken Miri.

Christine opened fire immediately, aiming at the boy. What looked like a huge webbed wing covered the boy and both he and the tall man disappeared. Just before they did, what looked like one of the marking tracers from the gun pierced the wing and hit the boy.

Far away, screams poured forth that chilled Rhett to the bone. The sky seemed to empty upon them. Rhett used his full strength of Pulchra, sending it in all directions. Miri was firing off spell after spell. The Upyr were crashing upon the magic barrage, falling to an agonizing death in huge numbers.

A constant stream of tracer bullets from the AA gun also continued to drop them into the flames. "Get in!" yelled Christine atop the vehicle. Rhett grabbed the mother and helped her in.

Just before Miri slammed the door closed behind them, she realized the gun wasn't using tracer bullets at all. The gun was firing glowing projectiles at the Upyr, and it was killing them easily.

"I told you we needed a tank," smiled Rhett. Inspector Kaprik waved to them from the driver's seat as she sped the vehicle away from the town. They headed back to the house in the outskirts.

-------------------

The "Schwarzen Battle Jitney", as Poppy called it, had done its job marvelously. The Upyr had retreated and were regrouping. The tall man had disappeared with the boy. It seemed that the boy had been hit, but he was already too powerful to have been seriously damaged.

"Poppy and I developed the projectiles. Once she had seen the power I had, she was able to bind it to them." Rhett looked exhausted.

Miri was healing the poor woman. Her husband and son had been killed before her. Miri could soothe some of the shock, but the memories would remain. She left her in a light sleep leaning against Rhett. They all looked at each other.

Miri went first. "I am an elf. We have plenty of legends in your culture. Forget them all. I can live a long time, but that is looking doubtful. I use magic, obviously, but when I killed an elf in self defense, I must have been split. My most powerful spell, the Pulchra, can only be cast by you, Rhett. You were ripped from me, and became your own person. But you are human. I felt it when I read your mind. Using magic nearly drove you to madness."

"How did I adapt, then?" he asked. "Once you invaded my little tryst with the mimic, I started feeling different."

"I don't think the difference between elves and humans is physical," said Miri. "You adopted my ability to handle magic. Had I known you existed, I could have helped you earlier."

Poppy folded her arms over her chest. "You knew. You were just too afraid to seek him out."

Miri looked at her, then at Christine. "And what is your secret, Poppy? It seems none of us is who we pretend to be."

"I'm definitely human," answered Poppy. "My cells age and die, yours don't. I'm not sure about Rhett. I do know he heals miraculously. Take a look at his neck. 24 hours ago he had a gaping hole bitten out of it."

Miri looked at Rhett. Her senses had been all wrong. She was so convinced she was the last of her kind, she rejected any input that said otherwise. "I'm sorry Rhett. It was just so traumatic. I blocked out everything when you were split from me."

"Including me." Everyone looked at Christine, who had been quiet thus far. Now she seemed to be glowing. An aura of peace was in her, but struggled to fight off the chaos they were surrounded by.

"Everyone been keeping up so far? It is going to get really confusing now." She smiled.

"You killed me, Miri. No, don't be upset. It was the best thing that could have happened. You truly are the better elf, Miri. The trick in the river was second to none. You not only killed me, you took all my power. That's considerable, given the fact that I absorbed the power of those I killed. Did you not notice?"

"I did," said Miri. "I'm afraid of it. You were so evil. You killed so many."

"The power itself isn't evil, Miri. It was the person using it. Me. But you saved me. Like you, a small part of me was split away. A cleansed shard, if you will. I was imprinted with your image. That's why we look the same."

Poppy looked around. "Great. I'm surrounded by elves. Two of whom look like twins and a famous movie star. When I'm drowning in my own drool in a nursing home, you will look the same. It is a good thing I like you."

Miri looked at her, perplexed.

Rhett explained. "Poppy and I were part of a secret program in school. We were trained to fight magic. And magic users. I didn't let anyone know about my power then. Sadly, we are the only survivors of the class."

"Why is that?" asked Christine.

"When I met Poppy and the rest of my class, I already knew of the Upyr. I was instrumental in getting the class started. A war is coming. A war the four of us cannot win. Poppy is exceptional. The others were not so lucky."

Poppy unfolded her arms. "I didn't survive by luck. I understood what it will take."

"And what is that?" asked Miri.

"More of your kind. You can't be the last, Miri, or we are all fucked. You survived by hiding. Others may have as well."

"How did you know that?" Miri looked at her astonished, and suspicious. Were they all reading each other's minds?

Christine broke in. "I told her. I hunted you first, Miri. I knew there were more, but I wanted your Pulchra spell. I am sorry. "

She looked at Miri. "I do have an idea, however. I passed the ability to absorb another's power on to you. I think the two of us can pass it on to Rhett. Perhaps each of us can become capable of using all magic, including Pulchra.

Rhett suddenly got a big smile. They all looked somewhere besides his teeth. Miri realized what he was thinking. "You think we both should make love to him? I can't. It would be like making love to myself..."

After a pause, all three of them laughed at once. Poppy looked disgusted. "The town is about to be attacked, and you three want to just hop in bed for a two on one?"

"Yes. It may actually save us."

"Then I'm joining too." Poppy started taking off her shirt.

"Can I join too?" The poor woman who owned the place had woken up.

They couldn't exactly say no.