Sorry for the long delay on this piece. Health issues slowed me down more than I anticipated. I am taking a short break from the Iron Rain series to work on Evil Bitch and Sex in a Bottle. But Nick and Akira will be back soon in the next installment.
If you have any suggestions on the next part of the storyline feel free to drop me a line.
As always I hope you enjoy and please vote and comment.
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December 15th, 2012
Voodoo Bayou:
The roar of the air boat drowned out any possibility at communication aside from pointing and other hand gestures. The little old shack out in the middle of nowhere appeared on the horizon and the boat would reach it in a few minutes time. The last time Marie Dubois had set eyes on this feeble structure was twelve years ago when she had been accepted into the Silent Shadows. The ramshackle building had been falling down slowly back then now nothing short of a miracle kept it erect.
Marie hopped out and tied the rope that would anchor that air boat to the tiny outcropping of dry land until their departure. The pilot never left her seat. She had been told before they had left that this would be a short visit. She just never knew how short it would be. There was no sign of life detectable from the exterior of the building and the way the front door hung at a precarious angle Marie was not holding her breath that anyone was at home. She gave a polite knock and the door came crashing down and onto the damp soil. The cloud of dust kicked up eventually settled and Marie peered in and found the interior as void of life as the outside. No one had been here for many years and this place was good for nothing short of kindling.
"Let's go," Marie said as she turned to leave.
"Before you get what you came for," wheezed a voice like a sigh from the desert.
Marie turned to face the diminutive figure that had appeared as if by sorcery. She could not have been even five feet tall when she stood erect which she wasn't. The bent over wreck of a human being was so ancient that her skin might blow away from the next strong breeze.
"I thought that you were long dead old woman," Marie said no love or joy to see the old witch.
"It's good to see you too Marie Dubois," the wizened figure replied with a cackle.
"Where's my mother you old crone?"
"She is not here, that is obvious, but oh where could she be?"
"Don't play games with me or I'll..." but before Marie could finish her sentence a clawed hand gripped her by the throat.
"I don't play games little girl," the old woman snarled tightening her grip and pinching off Marie's air supply.
The younger woman's knees struck the ground and her face turned blue before the witch would release her death grip. As Marie gasped for breath the older woman looked down and spat on her.
"Don't ever mistake old for weak," she advised. "Your mother as you well know is still in my employ and will be for the next ten years. If you want to see her, come back then unless you have something to offer me in exchange?"
"I have information concerning the long count," Marie whispered her voice still not restored.
"Oh do you now," the witch glared at her. "And what would that be?"
"I want to see my mother first," Marie growled.
"Tell me offspring of an unhallowed coupling or you will never see her again."
"I will give you this much," Marie said getting to her feet. "It is not what you think; it's not what anyone thinks it is."
"Interesting," the old woman said considering the words carefully. "You can have five minutes with her then you will tell me all that you know."
"I will tell you what I know about the long count and nothing more," Marie said.
"Clever girl, agreed," the witch smiled and motioned for Marie's mother to step forward.
They were much alike mother and daughter both in appearance and in personality. Compared to the witch they were both tall and beautiful beyond words.
"You shouldn't have come here," her mother said upset but happy to see her daughter.
"I had to, so much is going on and I needed to know that you were okay."
"I am fine and it is good to see you Marie. I hope you have lived a great life."
"Each day is sacred and every moment a gift," Marie recited the family motto.
"That's my girl; I don't suppose I am a grandmother yet? No, you have plenty of time for that."
Suddenly there was a change in the atmosphere and the three figures on the shore looked over to the old shack where a young man sat watching the family reunion. Marie smiled and nodded while her mother gazed at the tired young man with curiosity. However the old crone snarled and spat angered by the presence of a man on sacred land.
"You defile this place by being here man," the witch cursed.
"As you can see my feet aren't touching the ground. I have a certain amount of respect for the old ways. Now how about we come to an agreement for the release of Marie's mother," Nick asked nicely.
"There is nothing you have that I could possibly want," snarled the old woman.
"Knowledge never goes out of style or so I am told," Nick countered.
"There is nothing you know that I have not already discovered," she said with a shake of the head.
Nick plucked a stick from thin air and drew on the ground before him. The arcane characters taking form and drew the witch in like iron to a magnet. Her toothless mouth opened in shock recognizing the formulae that he was inscribing.
"Not possible, that is Faust's own alchemical recipe for the transmutation of base metals to gold. How did you learn this?"
"Is this enough for the release of the mother or should I just scratch it out and stop now?"
"NO, that has been lost for centuries... I am sure such a cunning man as yourself and I could come to an understanding."
"I am sure we can," Nick agreed.
"What else have you brought to bargain with," she asked.
"I need your permission to set foot on the land before I can show you."
"You have it now show me what else you have learned," she said licking her lips now.
Nick bowed and using the stick began to draw more arcane formulas on the ground the next more esoteric and rare than the one before. After five were completed he stopped and looked at the witch.
"Surely this is more than enough for one puny woman," Nick said.
"Indeed it is," the crone agreed.
"Release her and they are all yours or," he lowered the stick to rub them out.
"No wait," she looked at the elder Dubois and then back at the inscriptions on the ground. "You drive a hard bargain Mister..."
"You want my name old woman? It would burn you to hear just the first syllable," Nick's demeanor changing abruptly at the crone's attempt to ensnare him.
She looked up and narrowed her eyes as if looking directly at the sun.
