Chapter Sixty-Three: Da'ark vs. Da'ark

Sunny and Fury silently crawled into the apothecary's window and crouched behind the worktable. Sunny scanned the rafters for the Watcher, but it appeared they were alone. Fury could hear voices coming from the kitchen and he pointed silently. They could not speak to each other in any form for fear Colleen would hear.

 Fiona was pleading for Colleen to leave and never return to Arwyn. Colleen shouted back and Sunny felt her anger rise in her head. She wanted to confront Colleen, but Fury laid a hand over her arm and squeezed lightly.

 Fury spotted the open panel where they both had secreted themselves behind the worktable. He caught Sunny's attention and stabbed a finger at the open panel. Sunny swiveled around and frowned. Colleen already had the dagger, but she was still enjoying her dominance over Tully and Fiona! Sunny was not sure what she was going to do, but she had to do something! Anything to stop the pain Colleen was inflicting on Fiona and Tully!

 Sunny got to her feet, "I'm going to try and draw Colleen outside. You get to Tully and Aunt Fiona. Get them out of here any way you can!" Sunny whispered. "Use whatever Da'ark magic you have to get both of them as far away from here as you can!"

 Even before he could find fault in her plan, she slipped outside the window and ran around to the back of the cottage. Fury cursed under his breath, slipped out of the apothecary, and shrank into the shadows of the darkened hall.

 "Colleen!" Sunny stood in the backyard of Laurel Cottage near the area where the woods began. "Colleen, Come out here!"

 Sunny heard the woman's rageful scream. The kitchen door was wrenched open, and Colleen stood glaring out into the darkness. "I told you what would happen if you followed me here!"

 "You knew I wouldn't listen to you!" Sunny called back to her. "If you want me to take the dagger into Nu'Ada let's go!"

 Colleen did not hesitate, she left the house and walked into the backyard, still carrying the bloody meat cleaver clenched in her hand. That was when Fury walked into the kitchen and saw why Colleen was not concerned with leaving Tully or Fiona unattended. Tully was waiting for Fury with a large butcher knife in his hand. "You want some of this you bloody Da'ark bastard!"

"Tully you are in her thrall!" Fury growled at the blacksmith. "Fight it!"

 "I cannot," Tully answered. "I have my orders." He stabbed at the air between them. Nicodemus stayed well away from the blacksmith. He glanced over at Fiona where she sat passively gazing at a spot of blood on the tablecloth. 

"Listen to me," Fury said, "Sunny is out there trying to save you and Fiona from that witch! You can at least try to fight off the thrall – while she's here in Arwyn she is not that strong." 

The butcher knife wavered, and the silver shine of the thrall began to diminish from Tully's eyes. "She did something to us," he whispered,

"What?" Fury felt his heart freeze over. "What did she do?"

"She did something to us," Tully repeated wincing in pain as he reached up to touch his ear which was still oozing blood. "we cannot fight it."

"You have got to fight it Tully!" Fury growled. "Help me, Tully - fight!"

The butcher knife fell from his hand and clattered to the kitchen floor. "Get us out of here, away from her!" He told Fury.

Nicodemus kicked the butcher knife out into the hall with the heel of his boot and laid a hand on Fiona's shoulder. "She still has control of Fiona, but it is weakening," he reached over, took Tully's hand, and exerted his control. "I promise I will release you when this is all over."

Tully began struggling under Fury's Da'ark magic, and then he let the thrall take over, but he held on to the anger, "You are using the Da'ark again! It has taken you and you will not be able to resist it taking you over this time!"

"If I can save Sunny, and the two of you from Colleen, I will do whatever I must do, now come with me!" Fury hissed.

Tully tried to resist, but as Colleen's control waned, Fury's powers seized him. He was too weak to fight it. He turned to Fiona and helped her to her feet. She started to protest. "No, I cannot leave, Colleen is home now!"

Fury channeled more control through Tully and when Fiona looked up into Tully's face she smiled. "Colleen is home, Tully!"

"Yes, I know, but we need to leave," Tully said, and he gently steered Fiona through the hallway and out the front door of Laurel Cottage. Fury hurried them into the woods and circled a trail that led to the arch.

Bracken was waiting for them. He climbed down to a low branch and glared at Fury. "I hide knife!"

Fury frowned at the Watcher, "Are you still in her thrall?"

"Her thrall is tired," Bracken told him then looked at Fiona and Tully, "You not thrall me!"

"No," Fury told him, "I need you free to help Siobhan!"

Bracken glanced at Tully and Fiona, "Witch worked most on Fiona. She still in deep thrall."

Fury nodded. "I know. Stay here with them, I must get back to Siobhan."

"I stay," Bracken said, "I watch."

Colleen put her hands on her hips and glared at Sunny as they faced one another in the yard of Laurel Cottage. "Li'Bann helped you get here, did she? Who else did she help?" 

"She wants her freedom, just like the others in the Shadowlands," Sunny said. "You have manipulated them all to your will for decades!"

"You can't trust anyone in the Shadowlands," Colleen complained. "Not even those who tell you they want to help. Li'Bann whines constantly about having her throne – she never had a throne! All she'll ever be is a Sidhe, nothing more."

"They want to be free of you!" Sunny said.

"What a great disappointment you turned out to be!" Colleen told Sunny, "You have been led about like a lovesick schoolgirl, just like Reyanna when she was a teenager! Completely taken in by a Fury! I've never quite understood what women found so attractive."

"What are you talking about?" Sunny demanded.

"You stink of it!" Colleen snapped, "The stench of Fury is all over you!"

Colleen continued to look at Sunny in abject disgust. She glanced up into the trees, "Watcher!" Colleen called suddenly, "Watcher! Come down here to me!"

Fury cursed under his breath. Colleen was summoning the Watcher! When the creature popped up in the tree, Nicodemus wondered how much control Colleen still had over the Watcher.

Bracken scrabbled down the side of a tree and went bounding past Sunny to Colleen's side. Colleen looked down at the Watcher and smiled indulgently at the creature. Sunny felt her heart sink, the Watcher was in thrall like all the others! "I here!" he said.

"Did you put the dagger near the arch?" Colleen asked Bracken, she threw a triumphant smile at Sunny.

"I hide in rose bush at Arch!" Bracken announced.

Everyone heard, including Sunny and Nicodemus where he had secreted himself in the underbrush behind Sunny.

"Good!" Colleen said. "Now, where are the others?"

Bracken reached up and twisted his long brown fingers into the folds of Colleen's skirt. He looked beseechingly up at her with large brown eyes, "You do not burn home grove if I am telling?"

"I said I would not -- if you cooperated," Colleen said, she brushed his hand away, and he scrambled back away from her.

"They hide in ruins. Far away from the arch." He muttered.

Colleen chuckled, pleased with Bracken's information. "Good, now all we need to do is for my granddaughter to keep her promise and move the dagger into Nu'Ada."

"You didn't exactly keep your word," Sunny accused. "You injured Tully, and are controlling him, Aunt Fiona, and Bracken with your thrall!"

Colleen waved Bracken away from her, "Time to go! Make sure no one is following!"

Bracken growled low in his throat and showed all his fangs, but he obediently loped off into the forest. Colleen snapped her fingers, and a pale greenish ball of light formed ahead of her to light the trail. Sunny had no choice but to follow. If Bracken had told the truth and Tully and Fiona were at the ruins, Nicodemus would be with them, and they were all safe -- for now.

Nicodemus returned to Fiona and Tully, both still under his control. "Come with me, I need to find the dagger before Colleen!" He used the orb moss to light the way. He spotted the dark looming arch before him, he put the moss in his pocket, and they all were plunged into darkness. From the opposite trail, Colleen and Sunny appeared. Bracken immediately took to the trees and disappeared.

Colleen paused on the trail and when Sunny stopped next to her, she grabbed her arm and hauled her up in front of her as a shield.

Fury stood between her and the arch! Her hands bit into Sunny's tender flesh. "Do you think you're going to stop me?"

"I will do whatever I must to stop you!" Fury said, his voice carried in the stillness of the forest.

"You aren't powerful enough," Colleen said, "Even with my diminished powers, I still can command the Da'ark better than you!"

"That may be true," Fury replied. "But you must be stopped!"

Colleen laughed at him. "You'll only burn yourself up if you try to stop me! You can't continue to control Fiona and the blacksmith and try to stop me."

"Let Siobhan go," Nicodemus replied. "Leave the dagger and go!"

"Poor, pitiful old man," Colleen said. "You might have once held the Da'ark magic of the Crimson Palace, but no more! It will eat you up, and you'll have nothing!" 

"So be it! I will have done something worthwhile in my life --- stopped you!" Fury flung back. He began to move his hands to weave the shadow ribbons around him.

Sunny watched in fascination as he pulled from the darkness around the forest, the shadows that lurked everywhere! He felt the surge of power seep into his body, and he prepared to launch his attack. Colleen was a dirty fighter, she shoved Sunny out in front of her. Sunny fell on the path. The shadows began to seep up from the ground to wrap themselves around Sunny. She struggled to stand but they slithered like snakes around her body and tightened around her throat, keeping her on her knees. They whispered in her ears. Sunny listened, they were in so much pain! They did as they were ordered, but with each twist around her body, the ribbons groaned in agony.

Nicodemus launched his attack toward Colleen, and she repelled most of the thick ribbons of darkness away, a few broke through and slammed into her, the force sliding her backward, physically pushing her away from Sunny as if there was an invisible hand shoving her backward. Sunny felt the ribbons loosen around her throat and she could breathe again!