Witch Way

Chapter 15--Binding Gone Wrong.

Chapter 15

"Come on, Shayla! You aren't even trying!" Dillon's frustration was evident in his strained voice.

Shayla closed her eyes once more, feeling around inside herself for that spark that represented her powers when they lay dormant. Just as her metaphorical fingers began to quickly coax it to life a flash of light left spots on the inside of her eyelids and found her on her back on the floor.

"You just don't get it. If you close your eyes for the seconds it takes you to flame your power, he'll have you unconscious and imprisoned." He was seething now. Both she and Amethyst knew he didn't want to be involved in this. He hated Soren even before he and Shayla became an item. After seeing them together, and seeing the sadness in her face every time she came out of the room he was in he hated him that much more.

"I am trying, Dillon. It might be more helpful to tell me a different way of doing it, rather than just taking this as an opportunity to beat the hell out of me." Her tone matched his perfectly, both full of anger and helplessness.

He sneered openly at her. "I bet if it were your darling Sor teaching you, you'd try harder. Wouldn't you?"

Her jaw dropped at the mocking tone his voice took on. He just ignored the hurt on her face and kept on talking.

"What you see in that worthless piece I'll never understand. I just don't get it. You want that two-faced, back stabbing, Son of a-"

Dillon was pressed against the brick wall of the magic shop's basement about a foot from the ground before he could finish his insult. Shayla was standing across the room from him with her hair floating around her head as if a breeze was blowing continuously. The glow from her skin, coupled with the intensity of her gaze declared that her magic was flowing through her in force. The smirk fell from his face as she began to stalk towards him with the grace of a cat.

"What's the matter Dillon? Scared of little old me?" Her voice had dropped to a purr she hadn't know she was capable of producing. She threw that thought to the back of her subconcious, deciding she was going to use it to her advantage. She swung her hips with every step and was delighted to see his gaze roam up and down her body with a heat beginning to smolder in his eyes. "Jealousy is such an ugly emotion, don't you know that?"

"Unnnh." He tried to speak to her, only to find that the pressure extended to his vocal cords. It was hard enough to prevent speech, but not enough to cut of his breathing.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Nothing else to say?" The taunting tone was matched with the perfect pout across her lips.

She watched his muscles bunch and loosen as he struggled against her bindings while at the same time feeling his presence push against her mind and magic. She tisked.

"Last warning, teach me like you would anyone else or get out. One more nasty word out of you and I hand deliver you to my father. Got it?"

Dillon, suddenly released from his bonds, fell to a heap on the floor nodding his head fervently. "OK." He looked up, "It worked though, didn't it?"

She shook her head to clear it and waited for the usual dizziness and fainting that always followed heavy magic use for her. Nothing happened. "What do you mean? You did it to piss me off? On purpose?"

"Yes. And it worked. You have to let go of the tight rein you have on your emotions. It's holding you back. Anger, passion, love, hatred- they all fuel that fire inside you. They bring the magic to life."

The anger she was trying desperately to hold onto fled on a tide of thought. "That's not going to be easy."

"I know, and women's emotions aren't my strong suit, we'll get with Amethyst on that. I'm sure she'll have some suggestions." He explained and held out a hand to let her go first up the stairs.

)O(

Turned out that Amethyst did have some ideas to help her let go of the pain and sarcasm Shayla wrapped herself in.

"Let me see if I've got this right. You want to put me in a trance and unleash only the desire for vengeance against my father? Not the other emotions, only the rage?" The incredulity was clear in Shayla's tone. Even Dillon looked disbelieving.

"Yes, and stop looking at me like that. I know it sounds crazy, but it's only temporary. Without Soren awake to bring out the passion in you, we need the rage. That's the next strongest emotion for you." Amethyst explained for what must have been the thousandth time.

"But if we win, the spell will wear off right?" Dillan voiced the question that was on both his and Shayla's minds.

"Yes. The moment of the last member of Lawrence's coven's death or imprisonment will bring about the end of the spell, and there is a reversal that can be done as well. In the event-"

"We lose. Ame, sorry to say, but if we lose, there'll be no need for a reversal. I'll be depending on the two of you to take my magic from me so that he can't use it. Even if you have to kill me."

All three faces were somber as the words 'kill me' seemed to echo off the walls.

Amethyst broke the uneasy silence. "There is one more thing we can do. Something that may turn the odds in your favor."

Shayla's eyes followed the other witches gaze until they fell on Soren's sleeping form. "What?"

"Bind your magic with his. It'll allow you the use of his magic, and give us a chance to pull him out of this whole once the fight is over."

Shayla's eyes narrowed. "Will he be hurt?" When Amethyst shook her head, Shayla agreed to bind their magic.

)O(

An hour later found Shayla kneeling next to the man she had grown to care so much for's bedside. She had already rubbed the oil Amethyst had given her across both their chests and foreheads. Her hand trembled as she raised it to lay over his heart, while the other raised his hand to her own. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and quickly prayed that the goddess save them all.

It was several minutes before she felt anything. She felt a diminutive spark inside the comatose consciousness she was connected to, so she guided herself carefully towards it. She'd been warned to be gentle while she was inside his mind, lest she damage it irreparably. When she was very close to the spark of Soren's magic, she stopped and started to slowly send her own magic to meet his.

Answering strings of magic flowed out of him towards her. The moment they met her mind's eye was blinded by a fierce white light as they exploded together. Raw magic, spells, potions, memories-they all flowed into her mind faster than she could track. The only thing she knew for sure was that it was all coming from Soren. But many of them didn't belong to Soren. This wasn't what she'd been warned about. It was supposed to be a naturally gentle process. Her mind began to panic. It was only when she glimpsed a memory of standing over her mother, belly distended in pregnancy and wearing dirty clothes that she knew who these came from.

The other two witches had no idea that anything had gone wrong. At first. When Shayla screamed and crumpled to the floor they rushed out of their seats. Her eyes were wide but unseeing. Her breath was coming in panicked gasps. "Not. Soren. Not. In. There. Lawrence. Just Lawrence."

Amethyst gasped in horror, but Dillan was quick thinking. He touched her forehead and whispered the spell to put her into the healing sleep that was required for her mind to sort the memories. Her breathing eased as her eyes closed and was soon deep and even.

His worried eyes met the blond's horrified ones. "What does this mean?"

Her mouth was mashed together with fright. "It means that I have no idea what she'll be like when she wakes. She may truly be her father's daughter. She may switch sides."

"Well what can we do then?" He was shouting now.

Her one word answer did nothing to calm the panic and fear that was brewing in their bellies. "Pray."

--Sorry for the long wait. My inspiration just seemed to disappear there for a while! Let me know what you think! Vote if you think it deserves it, comments are appreciated!--