( Back to Autumn...)
Autumn couldn’t wait the mont the rift tore open like a wound in the sky...a slash of blinding white fire spilling into nothingness.
She burst through it, "Freya! Baby?!"
The force of her crossing bent the air, scattering shards of burning ether behind her as the roar of the collapsing rift thundered across the hollow sky. Kieran was left behind. But she couldn’t worry about that at the mont.
Her eyes caught a flicker...sothing tumbled helplessly through the chaos ahead.
Autumn’s breath hitched.
The world around her seed to slow... the screaming light dimd,
the tearing winds dulled,
until there was nothing but the echo of her pulse and the fragile outline of her baby...of Freya spinning through the broken air.
"Freya baby!"
Autumn’s voice cracked apart as she reached forward...each beat of fire leaving trails of shimring blue ash that dissolved into the dark.
Ti itself bent around her grief.
She tumbled...fingers trembling, reaching... and for a single, aching heartbeat, the distance between them seed endless.
Then...the much awaiting, heart stopping contact.
Her arms closed around Freya’s falling form, pulling her in, pressing her tight against her chest.
The impact stole the air from her lungs, but she didn’t care.
She buried her face in Freya’s hair, her body still hurtling through the sky as the last remnants of the rift began to collapse behind them.
"Got you... I’ve got you, baby," she whispered, voice breaking with joy.
The world around them blurred into streaks of black.
Autumn twisted midair, one arm locked under Freya’s legs, the other cradling her back.
The heat from re-entry scorched her arms, the wind cut her cheeks, but she held tighter, as if the universe itself would have to tear her apart to take Freya away from her again.
Below the jagged outline of land appeared.
Mountains.
Valleys drowned in twilight.
She angled herself.The air scread.
A sonic tremor rippled outward as she braced.
And then there was the impact.
The world erupted into dust... with a subtle echo.
Her boots hit first, gouging deep into the earth. The ground cracked beneath her feet. She slid several yards before falling to her knees, the montum finally dying around them in a whirl of smoke and stilled wind.
Silence.
Autumn was gasping but her arms never loosened their hold.
Freya lay limp against her chest, lashes brushing her cheek, her skin pale but warm.
Autumn’s vision blurred with tears.
Her trembling fingers brushed strands of hair from Freya’s face as if touching sothing too tender, too delicate.
"My poor baby... please... wake up. Mamma’s here. Mamma won’t let you go," she whispered, her voice dissolving into broken sobs. "Please, baby...look at ..."
Her lips pressed to Freya’s forehead...then her temple... then her cheeks, her nose, her mouth... Each kiss felt like a desperate apology...then a plea and a promise.
"I’m here," she choked out. "You’re safe now, baby. You’re safe with ..."
Her tears fell onto Freya’s skin. But the baby did not stir.
The world around them was still trembling...a soft hum was running through the air.
Autumn bent over her again, pressing her lips to her brow, whispering words only her heart knew.
But then she felt a touch.
A hand...familiar...closed gently around her left shoulder.
Autumn froze.
She hadn’t even noticed the presence approach.
Her breath hitched.
Her body went still, every muscle tightening under that touch.
She knew exactly what this ant.
Her pulse roared in her ears as she slowly turned her head...but before her eyes could lift...
" Hello beautiful! We et again... "
The hand on her shoulder tightened.
The sll of charred smoke and old blood filled her nose.
Karl’s smirk unfolded like poison, teeth flashing under the dim crimson shimr of the miasma that still coiled around them.
His eyes glinted with sothing far too amused for the mont.
"The way we keep eting again and again,I might actually think you like ."
Autumn’s breath caught. For a second, her fingers almost loosened on Freya...but then she gripped her tighter, tucking her against her chest like a mother lion guarding her cub.
"Don’t you dare co anywhere near my baby,Bastard," she hissed, her tone low, trembling with wrath.
Karl’s hand didn’t move. Instead, the pressure increased....a sharp, searing pain blood where his palm pressed into her shoulder. The scent of burning flesh rose instantly.
Autumn’s eyes flared blue.
"Let. Go."
She twisted...her body arching, leg snapping up like lightning... and kicked.
Her boot landed square against Karl’s chest, a thunderclap of impact that sent a shockwave through the air.
Karl was thrown backward several feet, stumbling but never losing his smirk.
Autumn landed lightly, skidding back, clutching Freya protectively, her entire aura blazing to life.
Blue fire erupted around her like a storm. The ground cracked beneath her feet, glowing with every pulse of her rage.
"Stay away from my daughter!" she scread, her voice shaking the air. "This won’t end well, Karl!"
Karl brushed the dust from his coat, wincing slightly but laughing.
"End?" he drawled, tilting his head, eyes tracing her with that maddening amusent. "Oh, sweetheart... Nothing needs to end. We can always... write new beginnings."
His grin widened. "You, , her...one big happy...family...just tell what you want, babe..."
"Stop babbling, Moron. Or I will rip your tongue out. Nobody gets to my baby except through ," Autumn snarled.
"Tempting," Karl chuckled, his tone dripping with flirtation. "But I am not sure I am ready to lose you just yet."
The ground between them shivered...energy crackling like static as a flare left Autumn... her eyes blazing.
Karl’s miasma began to spiral around him...black smoke laced with crimson veins.
They circled each other.
Slowly.
Every breath visible, every heartbeat amplified.
Autumn’s eyes never left his.
Karl tilted his head.
Autumn’s fire snapped, sending shards of light scattering. "Get out of my way!!!Don’t test ."
Karl smirked again, lips curving. "Oh, but I live for that, darling..."
And then...he moved.
One second he was standing still, the next his shadow stretched forward like a spear...rushing her.
Autumn reacted on instinct. She spun, her blue aura flaring wide. Freya’s limp form floated gently out of her arms, encased in a cocoon of celestial light as Autumn launched herself at Karl.
Their collision sent a shockwave through the valley.
Blue t black...fire and shadow, light and decay.
The air tore apart around them.
Karl caught her wrist mid-swing...yanked her close....their faces inches apart...his breath hot against her cheek, his smirk maddeningly calm despite the force pressing between them.
"Damn girl, you are still breathtakingly beautiful when you are furious," he murmured, eyes flicking down her face... landing on her lips.
Autumn gritted her teeth, twisting free.
She drove her elbow into his ribs...hard.
Karl staggered, coughing blood and laughter all at once. "Ah...there she is... the queen of wrath...you are so like , baby...We could have so much fun, trust ..."
"Keep talking," Autumn growled, fire swirling up her arms. "Let’s see if your mouth still works when I burn it shut."
Karl chuckled, dragging his tongue across his lip where blood glistened. "Promises, promises..."
He lunged again,faster, his shadow claws slicing through the air. Autumn ducked, her light scattering as she countered with a burst of fla that engulfed him whole.
The explosion of blue light lit up the valley like a second sunrise.
When the smoke cleared, Karl was still standing...burn marks crawling across his chest,but his grin sohow wider.
"Oh, Babe..." he said softly, stepping closer through the ash, "You can set the world on fire if you want... but you and I both know..."
He lifted his hand, brushing invisible soot from the air.
"...you will never burn out with it.You can’t burn shadows,silly."
Autumn’s breath trembled.
Her aura shimred hotter, but her eyes...they flickered.
Sothing inside them wavered.
And Karl saw it.
He smiled. Slowly.
"See?" he whispered. "We are bound by more than rage.You finally see sense, don’t you. "
Autumn’s jaw clenched.
Her flas pulsed once, furious.
"Bound? Are we?" She hissed. "But only until one of us dies for sure..."
And with that...she vanished in a blur of blue light.
Karl barely had ti to turn before her fist connected with his face, snapping his head back.
He hit the ground, blood running from his lip, laughter following after it.
Autumn hovered above him, her fire circling her like a storm.
"This is your last warning, Karl," she said, voice trembling with fury and heartbreak. "Stay away from her. Stay away from us.And let us go if you want to live."
Karl smiled from the ground, eyes glinting through blood.
"Oh, love..." he breathed, "You never listen. Do you? I am no longer living..."
The wind howled.
The world went still.
The earth itself seed to recoil beneath their feet.
Karl’s smirk deepened, that sa infuriating curve of his mouth ...lazy, dangerous, utterly unbothered by the blue inferno blooming around Autumn. His hand, though burned from her aura, still reached towards her, fingers dripping with dark static as he touched her chin.
"You really got that fire,girl...you got that fire...." he murmured, voice low, almost tender. "I missed that about you...glad the real you is back..."
"Shut up," Autumn snapped.
Her aura flared...a thousand motes of blue light rising from her skin like dying stars. Freya lay just behind her, cocooned in a protective fla, the faintest hum of celestial energy circling her body.
" Relax, babe. You act like I would hurt my own niece! " Karl stood up, dragging a hand through his hair as shadows began coiling around him again, thicker this ti...tendrils like ink spreading across the ground. His lips parted into that sa dangerous smile.
" Shut the fuck up or I will... "
"You hit harder when you are scared," he said. "Makes it even more...beautiful."
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