When I stepped into the flower shop I was met with the harmonic acoustic feminine angst that is Meg & Dia. I soaked the shop in. Exposed open ceiling painted salmon hovered overhead. Rustic wood countertops with no finish featured natural knots and holes front and center. Flowers covered just about every inch of the real estate in the shop, from the counters to the floor. Smells filtered into my nose. Lavender, rose, lily, orchards, hydrangeas, and more scents I couldn’t identify.
On a black chalkboard-painted wall behind the counter prices were written in feminine hand lettering style calligraphy.
Standing under a cylinder amber lamp with rock candy texture was a woman as gorgeous as a goddess.
With her back against the brick wall she appeared to be an auburn haired beauty of some indeterminate age. She was older than late twenties, but not much more could be said. Her eyes carried a timelessness in them that betrayed her young vibrance.
Confusion crossed her face. “Can I help you?”
“Bri?” I inclined.
“Yes. What can I get for you?”
“Just browsing for some forgive-me flowers.”
“Tick off the girlfriend?”
“Yep.”
Bri led me to a vibrant section. “Something here ought to do.”
I searched for the right flowers to get Charice. The place struck me as a juxtaposition. On the one hand there were fresh new flowers brought in daily. But their beauty was fleeting. Meanwhile they were housed in an old building held together by old bricks, built with old wood flooring, and old wood counters.
“Yin and Yang,” I muttered.
My thoughts were still running rampant. Something about the contrasts nagged at my subconscious. I needed a moment to follow the rabbit trail.
The contrasts couldn’t be more opposite. Just like the Keening and me. I was a warrior of Order. The Keening of Chaos. The Morrigan mentioned something about a war inside of me. She was convinced I was on my deathbed, but I never felt more alive. A chill wind blew throughout the store, a cross draft created by the front door back doors being left open.
“Do me a favor and shut the door,” said Bri, a hint of irritation in her voice.
As I closed it I felt a pair of eyes locked on me. A young man stood across the street. The Fetch grinned at me with my own smile. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
My Keening burned again.
All at once the entire vision of my dark adventure played out in my mind’s eye. Queen Cliodhna flashed in my mind reminding me of the task assigned to me.
For a moment Sean O’Farrell resisted me, tried to remain in control. Sean did not realize I lay dormant, just beneath the surface.
I shook my head clearing the raging thoughts. I had to stay on the mission if I was going to gain the Queen’s forgiveness. She trusted me to do this. I had to retrieve Brigid’s head. With a mental shove, I suppressed Sean back into the recesses of our shared subconscious where he belonged. I was Asen Scáth now.
Filtering through our shared memory, I found that the Morrigan and that giant idiot Iar both had mentioned the possibility of Brigid living local, at least part time.
I spun and eyed Bri taking a closer look at the woman. “Bri is short for Brigid, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“You know. The Celtic goddess. Guardian of the sacred flame. Blah blah blah.”
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Her eyes looked me up and down, trying to determine who or what I was.
Bingo. I’d found her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Your head.”
Brigid’s hands gripped the countertop until her knuckles turned pale.
On the sound system Meg & Dia faded giving way to Paramore. The music was the exact opposite of what I usually put in my ears. Well not me. Sean. But our shared memories made it hard for me to separate our actions. It made my blood boil. I needed to hear something more masculine, needed to get this effeminate sound out of my head or my eardrums would burst.
Behind the counter, Bri, or Brigid, determined I was a threat. No doubt she sensed the Chaos in me and raised her hand at me. Emerald Celtic magic gathered in her palm.
But I reacted quicker. A growl arose in my throat, bubbling up until it erupted from my mouth. I belted like a death metal screamer. I’d done it before in my car as I sang along with my favorite bands. But never like this.
Sonic waves escaped my lips lashing out against everything in sight. In a little less than a second my voice shattered every clay pot, knocked over every flower, splintered every glass sliding door, and even cracked some of the brick wall. Above my head the cylinder amber lights swayed back and forth.
The redheaded goddess disappeared. I leapt behind the counter and sifted through the wreckage. She crawled through it and escaped out of the back door. Rage boiled in me. Another scream exploded from my throat. The remaining windows shattered and the frames blew out.
I ran out of the back door into the alley behind the brick building.
Brigid bolted down the alley far ahead of me. I used my newfound power to leap and run up the wall of the next building on the other side of the alley way. When my momentum slowed, claws extended from my fingertips allowing me to latch onto the wall. I already knew doubts were going to invade my mind so I shut my mind off and filled it with thoughts of what would happen if I returned to Cliodhna empty handed, clawed hands or no.
I clambered over the edge of the building and ran over rooftops putting my freerunning skills to the test. I slipped under pipes, leapt over electrical boxes and flipped across gaps from one building to the next. With my newfound powers came newfound sensations. I knew which direction Brigid ran. She headed for the Vallejo waterfront. Why? I knew not. I just knew I had to cut her off.
I reached the last building on the block and jumped over the edge without a second’s hesitation. Wind blew up into my face and whipping my hair behind me. The freefall made my stomach drop and I inhaled deeply. My feet hit the ground and I absorbed the shock from my Chuck Taylor’s all the way up. I didn’t even have to roll. This new power made me stronger than Sean ever was. “Sick.”
On the street next to me Brigid burst into view. I trailed behind her. Brigid ran under a tree then swung both of her arms back in my direction. A massive tree branch swung down to close line me. I slashed through the branch with ease.
I dashed towards Brigid trying to keep up. Reaching within I summoned more power and sped up until I was right on top of her.
Long vines growing along the wall of the building we ran past came alive and shot out like boa constrictors.
“Oh shoot,” I yelled. It was risky business tapping into my Chaos power before full dark. Which was why I wore the Sean mask still, to protect me from the cursed light, like human sunscreen. It was risky, because if he found the willpower to fight back, Sean could regain control. I’d have to wait until the last ray of sunlight was cut off by nightfall in order to complete a full transformation. Still, it meant that though she fled, Brigid had access to more magical strength.
I swiped at the vines with my claws, severing a lot of the floral snakes, but there were too many. Soon vines slipped around me, wrapping me up tighter than a roll of carpet. I writhed like a madman and flexed out of the forest of foliage leaping off of the wall to entrap me. Enraged I screamed a third time and the vines exploded into a cloud of leaves and dead plants.
Brigid bolted across the street and made it to the waterfront. I was right behind her. An emerald aura surrounded her, and one that I was familiar with. She was using Order magic. Instead of Celtic knots, she drew runes of the Ogham, the Celtic alphabet, in the air. They materialized in the form of raw magical energy burning bright in the early evening light casting green glow over Brigid’s face. She shot the runes away from her and they rushed out from the walkway and over the fence that kept people from falling into the actual waterfront. As soon as the runes collided with the water they sizzled sending not steam to rise into the air, but magical mist instead.
But she was too slow. I lashed out with my claws in an arch towards her face.
There was no time for her to dodge. I had her dead to rights.
Her left hand shot out and her arm absorbed my claws mid-swing.
Pain laced up my own arm from the shock of my claws being stopped, but I held fast.
So did Brigid.
A trickle of blood welled up on her forearm and ran down her side.
I smiled. “So you are mortal after all.”
Instead of answering, she kicked me in the face.
The ground rushed up to meet me, but I rolled and scrambled to my feet. I staggered trying to stand straight.
Before I could catch her she jumped over the low fence falling towards the water. Before she submerged the mist enveloped her and she crossed to the Otherside.