The Eye of Carly’s Hope: The Ether: S04E07

“Crone,” Grace said as Millie suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Mother,” Millie said with a smile.

“How goes the maiden?” Grace asked.

“As you surely know,” Millie said, “the crone, like the mother, cannot interfere with the maiden's journey.”

“I do,” Grace said. “Just checking no one was helping her.”

The mother and crone hugged.

“Why have you come?” Grace asked. “You know it’s not allowed, however will the maiden find her inner strengths?”

“I haven’t come about the maiden,” Millie said. “I have come about Tess.”

“Tess?” Grace asked.

“Yes.”

“What’s Tess got herself into?” Grace asked. “Did she find the gift within herself?”

“Yes, but there’s a problem—”

“Problem?”

“You remember Rhianna?” Millie asked.

“Oh, yes. Such a nice young girl.”

“Not so much,” Millie said.

“What do you mean?” Grace asked.

Millie took a moment to catch her breath. She was feeling a little lightheaded and wasn’t sure if it was due to her fear for of Tess, or her journey into the ether.

Used to be so easy, she thought.

“That nice young girl and another sister, Sam, have taken Tess hostage. Bound her using old magics—”

“Old magics? But those spells have been stored with me here,” Grace said, clearly confused.

“And Rhianna has been here several times with the maiden,” Millie said.

“Oh dear—”

“There’s more,” Millie said. “They took the bones. They’ve sealed Tess in the casting room and are trying to figure out how to take her magic… And, they want the Eye, after Millie… I mean, the maiden, has found it, of course.”

Grace was in a tizzy. She was wondering how that could all happen under her watch. If she wasn’t careful, she’d begin to doubt her power, and that’d throw the whole Ether into disarray.

“What of Sandra?” she asked.

“It was Sam and Rhianna who put the hobgoblin back into her.”

“Oh dear, Mill’s,” Grace said.

“I know,” Millie said. “Do you have any idea who they might be?”

“The witches?” Grace asked, but her mind wasn’t on the job, so wasn’t understanding what Mille was asking.

“Grace!” Millie said taking her by the shoulders and giving her a shake. “Stop. Take a deep breath and calm yourself. One thing at a time. They are seven-hundred-years-old. Can you remember any stories about magic stealing witches of that time? I’ve got my books coming, but a place to start would be nice.”

Grace calmed herself and allowed everything Millie had said sink in.
“I need to check something,” Grace said. “Wait right here.”

“Not going anywhere,” Mill’s said as Grace transformed into the smokey grey essence of the Ether.

Grace made her was to the cavern where she had kept the bones seeking an essence, anything that might be a clue. She was now very worried for the maiden, young Millie.

“Oh, hello,” she said, lifting layers of ether until the fragrance of daemon filled the cavern. “A daemon? Now where have I seen…”

Her words trailed off, and she rushed back to Mill’s.

“A daemon,” she said, panting as she morphed into herself. “A daemon.”

“A daemon what?” Mill’s asked, thinking about the daemon using the City Park as a hunting ground.

“There was the definite smell of a daemon,” Grace said. “In the cavern. Where the bones and hobgoblin had been.”

Millie was stunned. She didn’t know what to say except, “There’s the daemon that hunts in Launceston.”

“Hunts?” Grace asked. “Daemons don’t hunt. They are benevolent beings.”

“This one hunts… Oh,” Mill’s said and swallowed before speaking again. “Do you know if a daemon can be captured?”

Mill’s looked at Grace, whose skin had paled to the same colour of the Ether, then saw the moment the remaining colour drain from her face.

“What is it?” Mill’s asked.

“I recall a story,” Grace said. “There were two witches who dabbled in dark magics. They brewed a substance to replicate the allure of pure magic. They wanted to lure a daemon to them so they could hide their true essence of darkness. Once the daemon reached the pot of pure magic, it is said the witches cast a binding so powerful that it was doomed to do their bidding for all time.”

Mill’s and Grace sat on the surface of the Ether. Both looked defeated. Both searching the inner most reaches of their knowledge, looking for a way to unbind a daemon from such dark magics.

“You’re right,” Grace said, reading Millie’s thoughts, “we need to unbind the daemon. Once that’s done, the daemon would do the rest.”

“Oh,” Mill’s said. “Mark.”

“The shifter?” Grace asked.

“The boy who was changed into a cat by witches,” Mill’s said. “The same boy who’s been hunting the daemon for centuries.”

“There’s your in.” Grace said.

“Thank you,” Mill’s said, “one more thing?”

“Yes?”

“The potion the witches brewed… You wouldn’t perhaps know the recipe?” Mill’s asked.

Grace fell silent. Her eyes moved up and to the right, then left, back at Millie, then up again.

“I’ll try to find out,” Grace finally said. “Talk to some of the older residents in the Ether. See if there’s anyone here who knew them, or if any were their victims.”

“Great,” Mill’s said. “I gotto go—”

“Yes, you do.”

“—and will come back when I know more.

“I’ll keep looking,” Grace said. “See what I can find… You know, Tess has great power. She could kill them… If it comes to that?”

Mill’s was in the process of leaving, but when she heard that, she moved back into her trance.

“Tess?”

“Oh, yes,” Grace said. “It’s her gift… And that’s why they want her magic.”

“Can Tess unbind the daemon too?”

“Possibly,” Grace said, “but she can expose the witches’ true forms, and if she does kill them, I have a lovely cavern set aside for them. They’re the reason my daughter is dead, the reason I’m here. The reason your mother was able to do what she did.”

Mill’s fell silent as the realisation dawned on her.

Mother used the hobgoblin to gain power… oh my gods, she thought.

“I really do have to go, Grace.”

Grace’s eyes sparked a deep amber and red flames were licking out along her lids.

“Love you, Grace,” Mill’s said, “but gotta go.”

***

Millie shifted back to her body and sat up with a start.

“Where’s Frank?” she asked.

“Here,” Frank said. “I’m here, Mill’s.”

Frank sat on the bed next to her and gave her a hug. Took her hand in his while Abbey passed her a piece of cake.

“There’s cake?” Frank asked, and Mill’s almost choked on hers when she laughed.

“Thank goodness you’re alright,” she said to Frank. “Did you get the books?”

“Right here,” Susan said.

“Bring them in and lay them on the bed,” Mill’s said.

Marcy shoved another piece of cake in Millie’s mouth and handed her a hot tea. She did the same for Frank, although she decided not to shove it into his mouth. There were a lot of books. Everyone carried one in. Some were large and leather bound, others were small pocket-sized and handwritten, diaries. Mill’s Swallowed her cake, declined another slice, sipped her tea, then told them almost everything she and Grace talked about.

“It’s a starting point,” she said.

“Ghouls?” Marcy asked. “Never saw that coming.”

“Okay,” Mill’s said, “open a book and check the index at the back for… Probably daemons, definitely ghouls—”

“Ghouls?” Susan asked.

“Yes, ghouls,” Mill’s said. “There’s something about them that is reminiscent of ghouls I’ve read about in myth, not that I’ve found much literature on them... and why would a daemon be hunting humans?”

The room fell silent and after a few minutes, they all began to search and read. One book had seventeen mentions of daemons, and each was a page and half long.

“Oh. Oh,” Abbey finally said. “Here.”

She handed a large leather-bound book to Mill’s, and pointed to a passage halfway down the long page.

“It is said two ghouls, Asham and Misha,” Mill’s read, “were feasting on the dead when they came across a daemon going about its work... They devised a plan to empower themselves with the daemons magic… And brewed a potent concoction to hide their true natures… This is it. They lured the daemon to their domicile, where they captured and controlled it. Using the daemon’s magic, they became immortal, powerful, and impervious to harm—”

“I’m having a thought,” Frank said. “Mark!”

“We’ll talk about Mark in a minute, Frank,” she said and squeezed his hand with hers.

Mill’s took a moment to catch her breath when something on the page caught her eye.

“Wait,” she said. “There’s more. They feast on the dead and dying and can only be killed when the daemon is not nearby. However, the daemon, having the power of invisibility, cannot be sensed. No one has seen the daemon in it’s true form since its capture. Its power giving the ghouls the ability to become witches, killing all who tried to find the daemon… Mark.”

“So,” Marcy said, not hearing Mill’s barely audible utterance. “Kill the daemon, kill the witches?”

“No,” Abbey said, turning to look at Millie. “Not kill?”

“No,” Mill’s said.

“We have to unbind the daemon,” Abbey continued, “then Sam and Rhianna will transform back to the ghouls that they are and... The daemon will do the rest?”

“Well, that’s a nice thought,” Frank said, shocking even himself at discussing daemons and ghouls as if it was normal.

“Yes,” Mill’s said, looking into his eyes, searching her memories trying to remember what she told him about Mark. “Grace also said Tess had a power she doesn’t even know she has. To unbind the daemon, or kill Sam and Rhianna.”

“Yeah,” Marcy said, “we caught the show when she threw Rhianna out onto the road.”

“No,” Mill’s said. “Grace said Tess’s power is so great, she can do just about anything. What you saw was just the tip of the iceberg… Glad she’s, my sister.”

“So how do we tell Tess?” Frank asked.

“I’ve got to talk with Grace again,” Mill’s said. “She must know about them… Is that why they took Tess? Why they want her magic? You’re right, Frank, I need to get a message to Tess… Abbey?”

“Yeah?”

Frank opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. He pulled back when Mill’s telepathically said to him, In a minute, Frank. He put a finger in his right ear and gave it a twirl then looked at her. She winked, smiled and held up a finger and said in a minute again.

“Did you hear anything from Tess while I was gone?” Millie asked.

“Thought I did,” Abbey said, “but it was too low. Too fast. Want me to go back?”

“No, I will,” Mill’s said, “just give me a minute. Need a quick word with Grace.”

“I’ll prepare more sweets?” Marcy said. “How long you be gone?”

“Not too long. Here, everyone grab a book, except this one,” Mill’s said.

She was holding tight to the book with the information in it, Don’t want to lose you.

“Can you pop them on the table for me?” she said, crossed her legs and quietly chanted.

***

When Grace had gone to the cavern where the Bones of Dead Gods were once being held, she was absolutely oblivious to the pounding fist and crying of Sandra, locked in a cavern behind her. The power of the Bones was so great, even the Ether didn’t know they and Sandra were within her reach.