Chapter 79

October 22, 2002 – 17:50

Frank looked at her. He was speechless.

"Our laws and customs do not allow an elemental to make that sort of deal with a human unless he, or she, is marked as the mate of an elemental. Blue and Frank are a couple, yes, but she didn't mark him as her mate," said Sebastian.

"Like how shifters mark their mate? I know what mates mean for werewolves, is it the same for elementals?" said Stephanie.

"It's similar. Like it is for werewolves and most shifters, a mate is a soulmate, but the ritual isn't the same. There is no biting involved and there is a spiritual aspect to it. It's the equivalent of a marriage for humans," said Sebastian.

Frank was listening with interest to what Sebastian was saying. He knew that a long-term relationship with Coralis was possible, but it didn't occur to him that their customs regarding marriage would be different.

Coralis' hologram vibrated. She pulled it out of her cloak to answer it. A woman she didn't know came out of it.

"Hi! I hope I am not bothering you. I'm Lucida Chorm, my daughter is a friend of Audrey. She gave me your hologram code so that I could reach out to you on her behalf. I'm also reaching out to you for their friend Cynla Dupuis and her parents."

"You're fine. I gave my hologram code to her friends, yes, so they could contact me if they find out anything or think of something else they forgot to tell me when I was there."

"There is something else that I think you should know… and I also wanted to know if you were close to finding her."

"I'm listening."

Audrey's family were silently watching the conversation between Coralis and Lucida Chorm. They were amazed by holographic communication.

"My older son also went to that school. He graduated this last June. Two years ago, three students disappeared from there and were never heard from again. Just like with Audrey, the school said they left on their own, but my son doesn't think they did… and my daughter doesn't think Audrey left on her own."

"There were more disappearances from that school? Honestly, I'm not surprised after what I discovered there. Audrey didn't leave on her own, I found a tunnel entrance deep in the forest near their land border. The tunnel was spelled by witches to purge any lingering energy and led to a blood den run by a vampire clan associated with Lord Meozo."

"HOLY GODS FROM ABOVE! Did you find Audrey there?"

"No, but we will probably have her back by tonight. Once we have her back, I will seek a transfer to the Northern Labrador Elemental Institution. The CMMA will be investigating the school. They will probably want to talk to you about that disappearance case, would that be okay?"

"Yes, most definitely. Schools don't usually accept transfers in the middle of the school year, but they won't tell you no. Honestly, I also want to transfer my daughter there, and I guarantee you that Cynla's parents feel the same."

"If you want to, I can inquire for you about it. With the CMMA involved, they'll be more inclined to accept other students transferring from Winisk."

"I would like that, yes. I will speak to Cynla's parents, they live close to us. Cynla and Bomita have been friends since they were toddlers. If I transfer Bomita, Cynla will want to go too, and I know they became good friends with Audrey."

"I'll get back to you about it. Thanks for the information you gave me, that's very appreciated."

Coralis ended the call and turned to the other people in the room, who were still staring at her hologram.

"In a way, your kind isn't that different from us. Elemental parents are just as concerned about their children's safety at school as any human parents," said Linda.

"The incident she mentioned from 2 years ago is quite disturbing, especially when thinking about the tunnel you found there. I will mention it to the CMMA," said Sebastian.

"I will do the duel."

"You know that you don't have to go through with it. Audrey's father made that deal with a human, which is yet another infraction."

"I know, and I am not happy that Frank made that deal without knowing what a traditional duel was, but that's on me. Think about what we just did to their coven or what I've done since Audrey disappeared. If we're being honest, I probably will end up killing whoever took her one way or another."

"Does a traditional duel truly mean a fight to the death, and that you could die tonight?" said Frank.

"Yes. It is a one-on-one type of battle. Anything goes. You win when the opponent dies," said Coralis.

The room went silent, absorbing what she said. Lizzy was sobbing.

"You've been involved in traditional duels before, right?" said Sebastian.

"Yes, once before."

"The battle against the former werepanther leader?" said Stephanie.

"No. I suppose it could be seen as such as it turned out to be a battle to the death. Stephen could have submitted to me, though. The other traditional duel I got involved in was last year around the holidays. I needed to destroy a cursed weapon in northern England. As it turned out, it was protected by a relative on my mother's side who recognized my energy signature. I ended up duelling for it."

"Last year? You mean around the time I was being an idiot and gave you a hard time over your lack of availability?" said Frank.

"Yes, but don't worry about it… you couldn't have known. Audrey's original guardian is about 150 years old, he's Pier's cousin. His elemental energy isn't that strong, but he is an old one and well-versed in dark magic. I can defend well against dark magic, so I think I can win the duel."

Sebastian walked out of the room to call High Mage Finnas. Frank got up and went to Coralis, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head.

"I'm sorry, luv, I had no idea what it meant, or I wouldn't have agreed to it. Pier seemed genuinely afraid of you, he desperately wanted you to back off."

"Was it Dwayne? You can win, right?" said Lizzy.

"Yes, Dwayne Glozo is Audrey's original guardian. The Glozos are elemental, but they're members of a blood witch coven. We burned most of their village, killed a lot of their members, and were making our way through addresses of members living outside of their compound when we got the coordinates of Dwayne's cabin, it's near Ottawa. We decided to stop here before going there."

"150 years old? And he's still kicking? Damn, how long does your kind live," said Louis.

"Yes, he's still alive. How long we live depends on the bloodline. Some bloodlines are considered semi-immortal and can live up to 500-600 years old. Before you ask, I do not know about mine."

Sebastian returned to the living room.

"High Mage Finnas and two CMMA agents will be present at the duel to make sure that Audrey will be returned to her mother if Blue wins."

"Can they stop the duel from happening?" said Molly.

"No, because Blue agreed to it."

"She said that you two were heading to Dwayne's cabin and were closing in on Audrey. Had I not made that deal, we would have gotten Audrey back sooner without her fighting for her life tonight… right?" said Frank, his arms still wrapped around her.

"Yes, we were, but it doesn't mean that Audrey would have been there and as she said, she probably would have fought him to death anyway. She has been in many deadly situations before, remember the night she told you about what she is? I am sure she will win against Dwayne, there is no way he's more powerful than Lord Meozo was," said Sebastian.

They all wanted to go to the meeting place. It was in the middle of a forest near Oka. Coralis tried to discourage them from coming because she didn't want them to see her that way, but she knew she couldn't stop them from coming. She was reminded of the gruesome scene they witnessed the previous night when she killed the vampires surrounding Louis's car with Princess Veronica. Linda decided to stay behind, so they wouldn't have to take a second car.

High Mage Finnas didn't object to it and tasked the two agents with him to set up a protective ward around Audrey's family, to make sure no spell got to them by accident. Vectan Iridian was one of the CMMA agents present. He was instructed to stand by the Hudson family and make sure that no one from the Glozo family approached them.

At 20:55, Coralis saw Dwayne walking toward the fighting circle. She was with Frank, standing in the shadows of a hunter shack near the circle.

"I need to go. It's time."

"Come back to me," said Frank before kissing her.

"I will," she said, and she returned it.

"I love you," he said.

She stepped out of the shadows and walked straight to the circle without looking at anyone in attendance.

"Well, well, well," said Dwayne as she entered the circle. "Here I thought that I was going to fight Audrey's new guardian, her cousin's girlfriend. The agreement wasn't with you."