• The Other Chapters:
    Chapter 1
    Chapter 2
    Chapter 3
    Chapter 4

    Chapter 5

    Gary and Haily sat quietly, staring at their half-eaten food. Both were a little uncomfortable in their elegant clothes and expensive restaurant, and even more uncomfortable with the scene they had just watched. Well, Gary was uncomfortable. Haily was piping mad and ready to murder a few people, and maybe a demon too. “So,” Gary mumbled. “I found out what I needed to know. Did you learn anything enlightening?”
    Haily just glared at her food. “All righty then. Um… Are you finished? I really don’t want to sit in here anymore, not after Ri and Jard’s passionate moment.” He waited for a response. “Come on Haily! Look, I’ll get the bill. Can we, just, leave? Please?” He waited a few seconds longer and when no answer was forthcoming, he summoned the waiter in frustration. “The bill, please. It’s time and past time for us to leave.” The waiter nodded and strode away. The table was silent as they waited. Gary tapped his foot in agitation and impatience while Haily continued to glare. Her expression suddenly went blank. He watched her worriedly as he waited for her vision to end. She gasped as her eyes cleared.
    A hand snuck into Gary’s view and laid something on the table. He looked up at the waiter. The man would not meet his eyes, let alone look at Haily. He snorted in disgust and picked up the bill. Quickly he paid it, not bothering to get his change. Haily had to get some fresh air fast. Some kind of side effect of her visions. He gathered his belongings and hers, took her hand and guided her out the door. When the cool, night air hit her, she jerked. He held tight as her body returned itself to normal. When she stopped twitching he handed her things to her. “Don’t say anything yet. We need to get somewhere private first.” She nodded her agreement. They walked the several blocks back to his place where they both changed then settled in the living room.
    They sat together in their usual positions on the couch, he leaned against the armrest, and she curled under his arm. “Let’s talk about the restaurant first. I know. It’s going to take some time for you to get used to the idea, but I think it’s important that we get that out of our systems first. Then we can worry about what you saw. Ok?” He continued after he got her assent. “So. We went to that place because we had heard that Ri was going to be there, and I needed to see if my view of her had changed any, which it did. You were right. She is very repulsive. That was a very complex illusion she had. An illusion you penetrated the first time you saw her.” He hugged her close. “You, I believe, can “see clearly”, meaning you can’t be fooled by any illusions, be they magical or other types of illusions. And you can perhaps transfer that power to other people. So far, you’ve solved at least two mysteries for me, by you giving me a description and then my putting together several little things. I’m going to research demons—that’s what Ri most likely is—and find something that we can fight her with. She seems to have some sort of grudge against you. I wouldn’t put murder down as something she couldn’t do. Which means, I want you to be very careful.”
    He kissed the back of her head. “I must say though. The proposal we saw was very abrupt. Seemed very spur of the moment. It will be hard to think of those two as married. Mr. and Mrs. Jard Witell.” He waited for some sort of response from Haily but his remark was met with silence. He leaned over her shoulder so he could see her face. It was set, as though she refused to think about the few moments they had caught between Jard and Ri.
    “Are we done with those two yet?” Her voice was tightly controlled. Gary nodded, ashamed of his taunting. “Ok. We have some very important work then. The vision in the restaurant? It was of your birthmark. I figured out where else I had seen it. Jard has a matching one on his left shoulder, only his is pale orange versus your red. I knew there had to be some sort of connection between the two of you.” She started slowly and grew steadily more excited as she spoke.
    “Then there was the prophecy from Jalene. Poor girl. It’s too bad she had to have such a violent sending. I did some research. She only lasted long enough for a part of the prophecy. There are two more stanzas. I believe the last line—“Beware the maple leaves”—refers to the two birth marks. Since she said—“Lords of the Mark”—the birthmarks must be the identifier. We just need to put together the rest of it.” She turned and gave him a light peck. “Are you ready for a challenge?” The two grinned, always ready to exercise their brains. They settled in for a long night of logic and problem solving.

    “I think a lovely ceremony by the lake would be just perfect!” Ri sat on Jard’s lap. They sat in the kitchen in Ri’s apartment, making arrangements for their future. “Of course, I don’t want a huge ceremony. If we could elope, have just the two of us, a priest, and a couple of witnesses, I would be happier than a bear in a bee’s hive.”
    Jard chuckled. “We could manage both.” He waved his arms dramatically. “Eloping at the lake! Wouldn’t our friends love that!” Suddenly he was serious. “Speaking of friends, have you thought about your maid of honor? I have a couple in mind if you haven’t chosen one.”
    “No. I will not have Haily at our wedding. Remember? She doesn’t like me! And I don’t like her! Personally, I think she’s jealous. She’ll do something to spoil our day. I won’t have it. Can we not even send her an invitation?” She turned pleading eyes on him. “Please?” Jard, of course, couldn’t resist her magic. He naïvely agreed. “Oh goody! No one can ruin this day! I love you!” With that she gave him a passionate kiss and hopped down. “I trust you with getting a priest. I have some things to take care of. I’ll see you later!” She spun and flounced out the door, keeping up the pretext of joy until she was out of sight of the apartment. As soon as possible, she stepped into an alley. She stopped and snarled. The idiotic man was still obsessed with that little girl! There had to be some way to be permanently rid of the twit. Wait! Hershel hadn’t had a meal in a while. Perhaps now was the time to feed him. It would serve two purposes. It finished Haily off and kept the beast satisfied. She slammed her right fist into her left palm. That was it! The perfect plan. She hurried out of the alley. She had business to take care of and not a moment to lose.

    “Who was that?” Haily didn’t look up from her paper. Gary sat next to her, deeply puzzled.
    “It was Jard. He wants me to be his best man.” Haily looked up in surprise. “The wedding’s at Lake Fate tomorrow. This doesn’t give us much time. Did you get that line figured out?”
    Haily growled in frustration. “No! I just don’t understand. There aren’t any black doves! I just—” She growled again. Gary put a comforting arm around her.
    “Well, the thing about prophecies is that even if you don’t figure out every line, it will still happen. We got the rest of it. I feel we’re ready to—” He was cut off by the doorbell.
    “I got it.” Haily got up and walked out of the room. He shoved a couple books out of his way and pulled the page she had been working on towards him to see if he could find anything she had missed. He didn’t get very far because a muffled scream and a grunt came from the direction she had gone. He sprang up and sprinted for the door. When he got there, there was little evidence of a disturbance. “No!” He paced back and forth in distress. He wasn’t a fighter and he didn’t know what had happened. “Ok Gary,” he told himself. “We have to think about Haily. She’s most likely in trouble and needs your help. Calm. Think.” He looked closer at the entryway. Just outside the door was a scorch mark he had never noticed before. He bent and looked closer. It was no ordinary scorch. He had seen similar ones before in his study of demons. When demons dematerialized, each species left a signature mark. He just had to find which kind of demon was represented by a lantern.
    He rushed through the living room, to his study and scanned his shelves. He made little tch noises as he searched, running all his choices through his head. “Aha!” he would exclaim when he found a book that held possibilities. He would place it on the desk behind him and continue to search. Once he had scanned all the shelves he turned to find a nice stack of four books. Quickly he flipped through the pages, searching for references to lanterns. The first two books had no mention of lantern or any light producer. The third spoke of candles several times, but with no mention of lanterns. He was losing hope as he turned to the fourth book. He searched the book, twice. Still he could find no lanterns.
    He finally gave up, slammed the book shut and dejectedly put his head down on it. As soon as his forehead touched the front cover, he snapped up. He had remembered the books they had been using for research in the living room. He raced back and gathered as many of the books as he could. He plopped onto the couch and winced. There was one under the blanket he had just sat on. He pulled it out, looked at the title and whooped. It was an index of every demon and their signatures. He looked up lantern, found a name and ran to the study again. He needed his demon encyclopedia. With a name, he could learn almost anything he wanted about the demon. He ran his finger over the spines of the books until he came to the one he wanted. He stopped, tapped it once and pulled it off the shelf.
    “H…H-a…No. Hmmm…H-e-c…farther. Aha! H-e-f… There it is! Hefric. ‘Mid-ranking demon. Keeper of Hershel. Majority of time spent searching for food.’ Food? Oh crap! That does not sound good. Let’s see, H-e-r… Here it is. Hershel. ‘High-ranking demon. Dim-witted, but with an insatiable hunger.’ That is bad. Very bad. Ok. Ok. Just, no giving up. You can do this. You can do this.” He continued to give himself encouragement as he scrambled to come up with a plan for saving Haily. He started at the knock on the doorframe. He looked up to meet Jard’s eyes.
    “The door was open. Are you all right man? You look like some serious crap.” He stepped farther into the room. “Wow. This place is a mess.”
    Gary stared at him. “I’ve been doing some research if you must know. You caught me at a bad moment. Is there anything I can do for you?”
    Jard glanced at him in surprise. “Don’t you remember? You agreed to be my best man today.”
    “Today! Oh no! I’ve been at this all night and lost so much time!” He put his head in his hands. “It’s probably hopeless now.” He sobbed quietly, too lost to be embarrassed by the tears. He looked up at a touch on his shoulder.
    “Hey man. I don’t know what’s wrong, but if it’s too late already, I think you should just let it go. Let it rest in peace. No sense killing yourself over something you have no control over.” Gary nodded and gulped back the rest of the tears. He pulled a Kleenex from his pocket and wiped his face. “Ok. So if you’re ready, we should head over to my place so we can get dressed.” He headed for the door, but stopped and said over his shoulder “I won’t tell anyone about your breakdown. No one need know that you cried over research.” With that he stepped out.

    Haily was lost in despair and fear. She had opened the door, still thinking about the prophecy. She hadn’t seen the creature on the outside. A hand had gripped her wrist and twisted it behind her while another hand groped and covered her mouth. She screamed and thrashed wildly. There was an intense heat and a sense of nothingness as the world faded away. She instantly stopped screaming. She didn’t know where she was, or if there were any friendly people around or not. In her opinion, it was better to be safe than sorry in most cases. The world began to grow light again, but what she saw didn’t lend her any hope. They were in a dank cave with a ceiling so high, it wasn’t visible. The way out was blocked by boulders bigger than she was. She was shoved from behind and lost her balance. She looked back in time to see the thing that had brought her here grow thin and disappear. With him went all light in the cave. She started to hyperventilate. She had never done well in the dark. There was a clanking in the back of the cave. She scrambled up and backed away. “Haily!” She looked around, trying to find Gary. She couldn’t find him, though she had been sure she had heard him. “Haily! Focus! You can make your own light! Just stay calm, focus and remember your lessons, and you’ll make it out of here.” She took the advice to heart and calmed her breathing. Once that was done, it was easier to concentrate and think about what she had to do. Just as she raised her hand, palm up, to make the light, a blue glow filled the cave. Out of the glow stepped a slim, blonde, pale eight-year-old boy. Though the features and the body appeared young, the golden eyes held a level of maturity that only thousands of years could create.
    “Very good. You’re first lesson of the day. Never panic. There’s always a way out. Except in Hershel’s cave, where we are now. Of course, I can get out, but you, unfortunately, don’t have a chance at salvation. Pity really. You’re a very gorgeous specimen. You would do nicely in my collection. Sadly though, I can’t save you. The Great Demon Queen Jacaia has declared you public enemy number 1!” He snorted. “Pompous witch, she is. What I wouldn’t do to get rid of her once and for all.” He froze, then rotated slowly to face Haily squarely. With a thoughtful expression he paced closer and examined her. She stood stock still, torn between fear and indignance. “Yes. Yes that would work! You! Girl! Why are you here? What did you do to offend the Queen?”
    “Although you may not think so, I have more sense in my head than to offend a queen! Now, will you get to the point of your visit and leave. I would like to puzzle a few things out.”
    “Oh ho! Feisty aren’t we! What would you say if I were to take you with me when I leave? Hmm? I can tell by your expression that the idea is tempting. And if I add this next tidbit…you can finally be rid of Jacaia. Ah! You don’t recognize the name. Perhaps she goes by Envri? AY! Yes you know that name! We can be rid of her together! What do you say dear? Do we have a deal?”
    “Huh. So you would take a mortal, free her, and accept her help in your endeavor? Somehow I can’t believe that of you. You see. I recognize you. You are the greatest demon around! Save for one. Jacaia. You had a great battle many years ago and she whooped your butt. And so, Balidur, what’s the catch? I help you and you feed me to Hershel? I don’t think so. You are just going to have to find someone else to do your work for you.”
    He roared in laughter. “Silly, educated girl. You see. It makes no difference to me what becomes of you. The only thing I ask is that you remain silent. Let no one know of my plans, however much of them you have guessed. You see, she tempts me. She, and all her minions, be they demon or otherwise, traveled to Lake Fate, my territory. For that she must pay. And who best to defeat her than her old enemies, me and you. Oh yes. I know your story. I have been watching you. You, black dove, have been marked for centuries. She has defeated you in each of your lives thus far, but this time, we shall finish her, together. So, dear, what do you say now? Will you swear to secrecy and join me?”
    Haily didn’t think. She was running out of time. Jard and Gary were both at the Lake by now and she had to do something to help. She stuck her hand out and gave a decisive nod. Balidur laughed and gripped her fingers. She screamed in pain as the demon fire raced through her, changing her little by little. Orange fire filled her eyes and she did not see the world change. Only after she had been released and her vision returned to normal did she notice. They were in an ancient forest. Haily watched as Balidur took off with a brisk stride. She was too intimidated by the trees that seemed to be hundreds of feet tall to move.
    A hand gripped her wrist and she screamed. “Shush! Do you want to tell the whole world where we are? You have to follow me if we’re going to get anything done.” He released her and she crumpled. “Now come!” He towered over her, seething in impatience, waiting for her to regain control of herself. Eventually she staggered to her feet. “You can get angry, but please, don’t touch me anymore. It doesn’t help either of our situations. One more minute and I should be all right.” They waited in silence as Haily rested, spreading her magic throughout her body, leaving enough for emergencies. She straightened and took a few experimental steps. When there was no quaver, she nodded to Balidur. “Lead the way sir.” Together they set off at a brisk pace, she a few steps behind him.
    He took them to an opening in the trees. When she looked through, Haily saw a large clearing. In it was a sparkling lake. On the near side of the lake were several benches. The benches were decorated gaily with flowers and ribbons, and filled with a variety of humans. Or at least humanoid shapes. Many had multiple heads or an abnormal number of arms and legs.
    “Those must be the demons in her employ. Right?”
    He chuckled. “All demons are in her employ. Except us rebels. Now. You will have to be the one to ultimately defeat her. Demons physically can’t kill each other. You’ll have to use this.” He handed her a slim, chill, metal rod. “No! Don’t look at it! It’s enchanted. It’ll blind you. Not that I care, just don’t look at it until after you’ve killed Jacaia. Do you need a plan, or are you willing to just ‘wing it’?”
    “Huh. We don’t have time to plan. Let’s go!” She took off through the brush, staying as quiet as possible while still maintaining a good clip. Balidur chuckled and followed, staying much quieter than her.

    “I now pronounce you husband and wife! Ladies and gentleman, I present Mr. and Mrs. Jard Witell! Congratulations you two. Well? What are you waiting for!?! Kiss her!” Jard looked at his hands and Ri’s twined together. He could hardly believe that it was complete. The two of them would be together for all eternity. He grinned and kissed her, long and deep, making the moment as long as possible.
    Gary held back a gag. He knew what Ri truly looked like, and seeing Jard kiss that was the most revolting thing he had ever seen. He did his best to look anywhere but at the happy couple. He spotted Haily sneaking through the brush and gasped. He glanced around, hoping no one had noticed. Fortunately, all were entranced by the kiss. He tried to catch her eye, but she wasn’t watching the altar. He did his best to hide his thoughts because his brain was going at full speed. Why had Hefric taken her? How did she get away from Hershel’s prison? Who was the little boy following her? He blinked. Little boy? That’s definitely not a little boy! It’s Balidur! How can I warn Haily without giving her away? Ugh! This is frustrating! He couldn’t come up with any way to help without knowing Haily’s plan. He’d just have to do his best to assist her when it seemed she needed it. He sighed, took a deep breath, and set his shoulder. Nothing was going to stop him from being with the girl he loved.

    Haily stopped. “UGH! What in the world happened to Jard!?! He’s some weird mix between human and demon! Look at his tail! Oh my! I—I can’t believe this has happened to him! Is it because of Ri, I mean Jacaia?” She looked at Balidur. “All that touching and stuff they did?” He nodded. “I thought so. Is there any way to change him back? Make him human again?” He shook his head. “Could the fact that he’s a ‘Lord of the Mark’ have anything to do with her obsession?” He stared blankly at her. “ ‘Beware the maple leaves’? Does that ring a bell? It should, you quoted the prophecy it came from earlier. ‘Black dove’? Ha! Caught you in a lie, didn’t I? You know the prophecy and you obviously knew who each of us was. I don’t want to know why you didn’t do something about this sooner, but I do want to know if Jacaia is part of the prophecy or if she plans on using these Lords for her own purposes. Answer me! Why does she want Jard so desperately? And why does she despise me so? You have the answers, I know you do!” She waited impatiently for a response. When none was forth coming, she snorted in disgust and turned away. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Without a complete understanding of the prophecy and its side effects, I might not be able to finish her off. But whatever. It’s your loss not mine. I’m probably going to die anyways.” She waited without turning around, knowing she had gotten a response out of him.
    There was a thump and Balidur’s face appeared near hers. “All right. You want an answer, here it is. Those with an understanding of the prophecy cannot share any information with those mentioned in the aforementioned prophecy. Therefore, I cannot tell you anything, other than to kill her, you have to kill all those with a large amount of her essence in them. Meaning, that man that is a strange blend between human and demon, he is more demon than human now and he must die. No way around it. If he lives, she will come back. And that would mean that all our time and effort over these last several thousand years will have gone to waste. Now, stop asking questions and go get rid of her.”
    Haily hesitated. She didn’t like the idea of killing Jard, but if that was her only option, she was going to have to do it. She took a deep breath and stood. She searched out Jacaia, readied her weapon and leapt. The rod slid between her ribs, straight and true. For good measure she gave it a couple twists and a few yanks, making the hole as large as possible before pulling it out. She turned quickly and dove at Jard. The rod went in the same place on his chest as it had Jacaia’s, but it went in a mite slower, as it was made to kill demons and he still had some human in him. Both girl and half-breed tumbled to the ground. Haily felt strong hands grasp her shoulders. She turned a tear-streaked face toward Gary.
    “Hey. Hey. It’s all right. He wasn’t the same man anymore. Listen to me! It’s not your fault. He was put under a spell and he changed. He changed! It’s hard for me too.” He folded her into an embrace. “He was my brother. ‘Two from one’. I remember my mother, always talking about the brother I would never meet. Circumstances forced her from the man she loved. She turned to my father and things went from there. But we defeated Ri. I mean, you defeated her.” He helped her up. “Come on Haily. He’s dead. Let’s leave the dead alone and focus on the living. That’s what my father told me when Mom died.”
    “It’s me. I’m the black dove, Gary. Which means, you saved me. Jard fell to love and you saved the black dove. Huh. What a pair of brothers. Now, where’s Balidur? I need to talk to him.” Gary was not happy with the direction the conversation had taken.
    “I don’t know where he went. Did he promise you something? Did you promise him something? Haily, do you know who Balidur is? He is the Father of all demons. Jacaia got greedy and overthrew him. He’s been working to gain his powers back for thousands of years. He’s just going to use you. Don’t believe anything he says. Please?”
    Haily looked at him for a second, then smiled, then giggled. “Oh Gary! I love you! If it wasn’t for Balidur, we’d all be dead. He’s the one who gave me the weapon that killed all of Jacaia’s essence. Yes. Ri was Jacaia. I think she was going to use the Lords to complete some of her own plans. She got one of them, but,” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight as she continued. “I wasn’t going to let her get the other. I’m not going to let anyone get you, ok? I love you and I’m not afraid to tell the world.” She let most of him go, laying claim to one hand. She turned to face the woods and called out loud “I love Gary! Yes world! I love him! If you want him, you have to come through me! So, bring it—” she would have continued, but Gary had found the perfect way to shut her up. He kissed her. When they had drawn back from each other, they turned, and walked down the aisle, hand in hand.
    “Oh! There’s one more thing. I don’t think I’ll go back to Raven. Dove, I believe, would be the perfect place for me. And it completes my name. I’m black because Raven tainted me, and I’m a dove because I’m a hopeless romantic going to a school designed specifically for all hopeless romantics. “What about you? Are you going to go back to school…” Haily’s voice trailed off as the two of continued on their way.
    Balidur chuckled. The girl had done more for him than she thought. He started when his name was called. He looked behind him to see Haily standing behind him. “How—How did you get there without my hearing you?”
    She laughed. “I’m just that good. I wanted to say thank you, and to maybe extract a promise from you in return for mine. I swear to never reveal anything about your plans, or to do anything to disrupt them unless they put someone I love in danger, if you swear to never harm me, Gary, or any member of our family. Is it a deal?”
    Balidur examined her closely. The girl was good at pretending stupidity. She had convinced him she was a witless dunce. But she was more shrewd and aware of the world than he had thought possible. He grinned. That was the kind of person he liked. “Are you sure you won’t join my collection? No? Well, all right. I swear on the life of all my children to never harm you, Gary, or any person in either of your families. Is that good? Yes? All right. You got my promise, now scram. It’s time to start building my empire. Tootaloo, dear. If you ever get bored, come find me. I would love to have you!”
    Haily grinned. “In your dreams, little boy. I’ve already got a man.” She spun and ran back to Gary. They embraced and moved down the forest lane to a new life.