Chapter 14 Winter Solstice #2
Xander wanted to follow her, but he knew not to press. Striga had always kept secrets, even from her own family, and he knew she would only speak of them when she believed the time was right. And so, he continued his walk home around the icy lake in the darkness.
Striga
Striga slowly made her way up the stairs, the floorboards moaning under her steps.
She had climbed those same stairs for over sixty years.
She knew every creak and groan of the wood, she knew where the shadows fell and where the light spilled in from the moonlit windows.
She had made this house her home shortly after the Courts were formed, a place they could finally settle with their family.
But on this longest night of the year, on this dreaded night, the house felt different. It was eerily quiet, the silence deafening and the cold seeping into her bones. She could hear her fragile heartbeat in her ears, like a dull drumbeat echoing through the sleeping house.
She paused at the top of the landing and looked over the balcony.
The house was dark and still, except for the soft snores of the staff in the servant quarters attached to the kitchen.
Sebastian often sent them home to their families overnight, but with the early morning start to prepare for the wedding tomorrow, they had opted to sleep in the house.
Striga loved this home, she loved the memories she had made with her husband, her daughter, her granddaughter, and her Adria.
She peered into Adriana’s room, smiling as she watched her great-granddaughter twirling round in her wedding dress in front of a mirror, her brow creased with concentration as she tried to lace the corset.
It took everything in her not to gather Adriana in her arms and whisk her away, to protect her from the horrors of the world that were sure to come. But she shut her door quietly, locking it from the outside, before making her way to her own chambers.
She kept her coat wrapped around her as she slowly perched on the edge of her bed, sighing at the relief to be off her feet.
The moon was full and bright, its light shining directly through her window and showering her in its glow.
She could feel its power, feel her own power calling to it, and she could feel her Thomas.
It was a beautiful night, a night she was happy to be her last.
Divina had told her of many predictions, and whilst no prediction was certain, for those visions could change with a simple shift in decision from any person, this one she knew to be true.
She only prayed that after she was gone, the chaos caused by her death would not be as her sister had warned.
But if that fate were to come true, she could play no part in it, not anymore.
They had known all along that one day she would vacate her seat for the next Luciferus, and now that time had come.
She did not fear death, and had never felt haunted by it. Death was inevitable, for everyone, and so she saw no reason to run from it.
But Striga could feel the exact moment the darkness shifted, and it was not the darkness of death that greeted her.
She did not flinch when she felt the temperature drop even lower, did not even bother looking over as the shadows formed in the corner of her room.
She would not be afraid, she would not give him that satisfaction.
“Good evening, sister.”
She finally turned to Caligo as he stepped through his shadows from the Intermundum and into the Land of the Living, the stain of his unwelcome presence rotting the very floorboards he stood upon.
His black eyes were fixed on her, his shadows swarming, his power so strong that she could feel it vibrate through the air.
She knew he wanted to scare her, he wanted to see the fear in her eyes before he stole everything from her.
“Hello, brother.”
“You have been expecting me?” he asked, a sickening smile stretching across his pale face. “Ah, Divina. Of course, she had warned you. No matter. You and I both know you are no match for me, Striga. Not anymore.”
“I know,” Striga sighed as she hauled herself to her feet once again, standing to face him. “What could an old woman possibly do against a creature like you? A creature who feeds on the chaos of the world, a creature who feeds from her.”
“You forget you were once one of her creatures, before you chose to throw it all away. And for what? For that dog?” Caligo laughed at her, his thin lips peeling back from his stained teeth. “Where is your mutt now, Striga?”
Striga tilted her chin, looking down her nose at him. She would not be mocked, she would not be intimidated by Lilith’s scum.
“I chose love. I chose family and friendship, all things you will never experience, Caligo. And I feel sorry for you. I pity that you will never understand those things in this life, just as you never understood them in whatever life came before.”
His shadows flared around him, slowly crawling across the floor towards Striga, as his eyes began to glow a deep red. He’d clearly had enough toying with her. He had been sent to collect, and now he would follow through with his orders.
“I think that is enough, sister. Your time is up.”
Caligo raised a hand towards her, his red eyes glowing in the darkness as his Succuba power reached out. Striga could feel it grip her—deep in her chest. She could feel a cold hand wrap around her soul and twist it in the most painful grip, attempting to wrench it away along with her power.
She held onto her light as best she could, she desperately tried to keep it within her, but she knew she was no match for him.
She was old and weak and frail, she had slowly lost her strength as she had aged.
But she had known this day was coming, she had known Caligo would come for her, to take the power of the last of the Three Sisters for his own.
He would return that power to Lilith to allow her magic to grow, to provide her with the ability to walk the Land of the Living freely.
“Come now, sister. You know you are not strong enough to protect all that power from me.”
Caligo laughed as Striga winced, her knees buckling as she struggled to hold herself upright under the pain he inflicted upon her. She wrapped her arms around her chest in her last attempt to keep her soul, her power, everything inside her.
She stared up at him, a look of determination in her eyes. “You are right, I am not strong enough to hold this power. And neither are you.”
As Striga threw her arms to the sides, her entire body came alight with Luciferus light. With it, she unleashed every ounce of power in her body.
Ever since Divina had predicted her death at the hands of Caligo shortly before she herself had died, Striga had limited the use of her powers to a minimum.
The only times she had let her power free was in the rare occasions she demonstrated her abilities during Adriana’s training or she needed to block Xander’s prying Manipuli magic.
She had years worth of magic stored inside her and, though it had meant her body had weakened and tired from holding such control, it meant her power had multiplied beyond comprehension.
The magic inside her seeped out of every pore of her skin until the whole house was lit by pure, white light.
She called for it to aim at Caligo, to rain down upon the beast that threatened this world.
As every drop of light was thrown at him, Striga watched in triumph as it sent him flying backwards, back through his rotten shadows, back into the Intermundum.
He was gone, and he was wounded. He would not be able to return for a long time. She had defeated him in this battle, but she would not be around for the wars to come.
Striga’s body went rigid, a state of paralysis overcoming her, a consequence of unleashing all of her power.
She fell to the floor, the back of her head landing heavy against the wooden floorboards.
She could vaguely feel a growing warmth beneath her as blood pooled from her head.
In the distance, she could hear the scurry of the servants rushing around the house, wondering what on earth had happened, and she could hear Adriana shouting behind her locked door as Sebastian ran into Striga’s room to find her bleeding on the floor.
But he wouldn’t reach her in time, it was too late. Her time had come.
Striga stared up at the moon through her window and smiled as she took her last breath. She could hear a soothing voice calling to her, telling her it was all over now, it was time to let go, before she felt the strong embrace of an angel of death as they carried her away.
She did not fight them, did not panic or fear. She welcomed them, as if something inside her recognised this beautiful bringer of death… and slipped away into oblivion.
Xander
Xander stood in front of the steps to Duran Manor, watching his brothers through the windows as they clinked their glasses in the main hall. They were completely unaware of the Manipuli magic weaving its way into their minds, compelling them not to leave the house until dawn.
They had all arrived to see him get married, to watch him start the next chapter of his life with the woman he loved.
Of course, they had Court matters to discuss, too, but they were ecstatic to receive an invitation to such a joyous event for such a troubled soul as Xander’s, even if their happiness was purely out of their opportunity to tease him.
It was freezing outside, so cold his breath puffed out in front of him like ghostly clouds in the moonlight, but Xander barely acknowledged the chill.
He wasn’t even sure how long he had been standing there watching his friends.
But he knew he had been standing there long enough for the splitting pain in his head—the pain that began as soon as he’d made it outside his home—to subside.
His body was no longer shaking as it had earlier, his mind no longer screamed, and the burning in his veins had dulled to a warm buzz.
He looked up at the moon as he slowly turned away from his home and closed his eyes, feeling its power.
They had once thought Daemons got their powers from the moon, all of their brands incorporated it in some way and they tended to feel stronger at night.
But Xander knew his power was not from the moon, it never had been.
It was all Lilith. The moon was hers, as was he.
He brought his gaze down to look across the lake and fixed on the top right window of Amara House. Adriana’s room. His lips slowly lifted into a smile, revealing his sharp, white fangs as he began to walk back around the lake.
Xander knew there was no need to rush. The night was long and dark, so full of possibility. He would take his time.