Autumn Dawn (#2.5, Witchling Saga)

  Autumn Dawn

  #2.5, A Witchling Saga Novelette

  By Lizzy Ford

  http://www.GuerrillaWordfare.com/

  Cover design by Eden Crane

  http://www.EdenCraneDesign.com/

  Mobi edition

  Autumn Dawn copyright 2013 by Lizzy Ford

  Cover design copyright 2013 by Eden Crane

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  See other titles by Lizzy Ford

  Website: http://www.GuerrillaWordfare.com

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LizzyFordBooks

  You can follow the GW team on Twitter:

  @LizzyFord2010

  @J_Pringle2012

  @edencranedesign

  Twitter hashtags:

  #ya, #paranormal, #romance, #paranormalauthors, #yalit

  Author’s Note

  I am extending the Witchling Trilogy into a least four books! As of January 2013, the Trilogy is now a Saga.

  This is because of two reasons: first, the support the Witchlings have received from their readers. I can’t tell you how fantastic it is to receive such wonderful feedback from fans of Decker, Summer and Beck.

  Second, my awesome literary manager’s belief in the series and her incredible feedback has made this series not only stronger but given the Witchlings the chance to continue growing past the three books I originally planned.

  Thank you all for making this series a bestseller!

  The third book, “Winter Kiss,” and the fourth book, “Spring Moon,” are both planned for release in 2013.

  Chapter One

  They were waiting for her in the darkness of her mind.

  Autumn dreamt of a night in the forest. Warm earth magick filled her core while air magick tickled the sensitive hairs on the back of her neck. She stepped from the forest into a familiar clearing characterized by the shimmering shapes and otherworldly colors of a dream. The air was cold enough for her to see her breath in the chill preceding dawn. She made her way through grass and knee-high wildflowers that glowed silver-green in the lingering starlight, towards the silhouettes on the flat stone in the center of the field. The beautiful girl, Summer, sat petting a fawn whose legs were tucked beneath it.

  Tarzan. The name came more easily this time. The barrier blocking Autumn’s memories had begun to melt.

  Summer and Tarzan, in the place they both died. In the place she was given a second chance at life.

  Autumn stopped, halfway between the forest and the stone. The air gave her a push. She let it nudge her forward, although afraid that she may learn that she, too, was dead. Ready to cry at the thought, she made it to the stone and sat on the other side of Tarzan. She reached out, soothed by the feel of his downy fur. Earth magick crept from his tiny body into hers. Tarzan nibbled on her fingers.

  “Are you ready to go home?” Summer asked. The pretty girl with huge brown eyes was pale to the point of ethereal.

  “Home?” Autumn echoed. “I don’t think I have one.”

  “The elements are your home. We are your home,” Summer said, motioning to herself and then the fawn.

  “Does this mean I’m dead?”

  “No.”

  The air was laughing, and Tarzan snorted.

  “You have wanted to talk to us since you arrived,” Summer said. “We took forms you would recognize.”

  “You’re … air?” Autumn said and glanced at the deer. “He’s earth?”

  The element posing as Summer nodded. As a witchling, Autumn was able to control and channel magick from air and earth, two of the five elements. She had begun to learn how to use her magicks at the specialized boarding school nestled in northern Idaho, just outside the small resort town of Priest Lake. Most students had only one element, and it was taking her longer than others to learn to use two.

  Autumn patted the fawn, intrigued by the idea of interacting with the elements in a way she was able to understand. The elements normally communicated in faint whispers at the edge of her hearing or through inexplicable bursts of magick that guided her in a direction she didn’t understand. This time, her elements were actually talking to her.

  “We came to take you home,” Summer said.

  “What does that mean?” Autumn asked with some dread.

  “It means your trial is over. Come.” Summer sprang up from the rock and started across the field with the agility of a sudden wind. Her feet never touched the ground, and the soft breeze tossed her long hair in every direction, making it appear alive. She reached the edge of the forest before Tarzan rose from the rock and shook grass free from his coat.

  The deer trailed at a deliberate pace. Autumn stayed with him. He paused to nuzzle the open faces of wildflowers and seemed content to take his time, while Summer’s hands were on her hips as she waited.

  “He can be slow and stubborn,” Summer said when they reached her, playfully tweaking one of the fawn’s ears.

  Tarzan’s ears flattened in silent irritation then flickered forward. He plodded past her into the forest, towards Miner’s Drop.

  “He says I need to learn patience.”

  Autumn smiled at their interaction. She had always been curious about the tug-of-war between the two elements: The spirited, yet aloof air magick and the solemn, protective earth magick.

  They entered the forest, the fawn leading. The trees, brush and bushes all parted for Tarzan, whose tiny steps made the trip to the canyon edge longer than Autumn remembered it being. Summer radiated the cool, energized power of air. Autumn’s arm brushed hers, and she edged away. Summer appeared solid, but Autumn’s hand had gone right through hers.

  “Does he talk?” Autumn asked, motioning to Tarzan.

  “Deer don’t talk,” the air said seriously. At Autumn’s puzzled silence, Summer laughed at her own joke. “I told him that, too, but he thought it best that he came as Tarzan to make you comfortable.”

  “I remember Tarzan,” Autumn said, struggling with her memories. “Sort of.”

  “Do you remember me? Rather, do you remember the human whose shape I took to meet you here tonight?”

  Autumn thought hard. Summer had appeared in the mirror following her accident and then materialized as a ghost that tried to warn that she was in danger from the witchling Dawn, who stabbed Autumn. She knew there was a deep connection between them, one that scared her, even without knowing exactly what it was. They were both compelled towards Decker, the sexy, but tortured Master of Dark.

  They reached Miner’s Drop. Instinctively, she walked to the edge of the cliff and gazed into the sloping, rocky depths of the ravine. Pine trees lined the ledge on the other side of the ravine. From the distance, they were no bigger than her finger. The coming dawn outlined the mountains behind the trees in pale yellow.

  Summer and Tarzan stood beside her, all of them thoughtful in the quiet. From the depths of Autumn’s mind, panic stirred. She crouched down to pet the fawn. Its gentle energy was the opposite of Summer’s: warm, subtle, calming. The brush of her fingers against its neck settled her fear, but also sent a vision into Autumn’s thoughts.

  She gasped, at once feeling as if she were falling. Autumn yanked her hand away from the small animal.

  “It’s okay,” Sum
mer said and sat beside her. “He wants to share his memories with you. He’s going to show you how to get home.”

  Autumn’s insides shook. The answers she sought for months were now before her. Was she ready for them? Why was there a heavy sense of dread in her belly?

  She didn’t back down from the pain of teaching her body to walk again or her fear of the Darkness. She sucked in a deep breath and crossed her legs, preparing herself to face the unknown.

  Summer squeezed her hand. This time, the girl was solid. Cool magick flew through Autumn at the touch and cleared her mind. After another deep breath, Autumn rested her hand on Tarzan’s back. She closed her eyes and waited.

  The memories came as a trickle at first, as if he was trying to temper them. (He?)

  The clearing. Tarzan dying on the rock. Summer sobbing over him. The flare of incredible magick in the air before Summer brought the animal back from the dead.

  Autumn’s throat tightened as Summer went Dark, and Decker appeared in the field to claim her but couldn’t do it.

  The earth conveyed its memories faster and faster. The events of that night passed in a flurry of images and the despair not only of the elements watching, but of the humans involved. She saw what the earth had seen: The second chance that Beck, the Master of Light, bartered his soul for; the sorrow of Sam, the forest creature whose regret and love for her were clear; the Dark spell cast by the former Mistress of Dark that hid Summer in plain sight.

  The memories continued, showing her what happened in the weeks that followed: the blonde girl who sobbed in pain as she tried to rebuild her body, the woman and the yeti who safeguarded Autumn until she returned to the school for her second trial, Beck’s struggle to save his twin and protect the witchlings. Decker, who committed unspeakable acts under the influence of the Darkness.

  The earth showed her everything Decker did in his descent into Darkness, his insatiable hunger for blood, violence and women. While appalled, her heart broke for him and his pain. She saw herself, a frail blonde girl, step between the Dark and its Master.

  Autumn staggered under the intensity of visions and the flood of emotions as the barrier between her and her past disappeared. The sensation of falling returned, making her nauseous.

  She watched as Summer toppled from the cliff that night three months ago, and Autumn came into being the next day. One and the same, yet so different: One gentle and innocent while the other was hardened by pain.

  How could she be both? She warred within herself, torn between the memories of two girls, unable to reconcile they were the same.

  Sensing her distress, the earth slowed the onslaught and nudged her towards a final vision, the weekend she spent at the cabin with Decker, the last moment of peace they’d known together. The feelings and experiences unified at the image at the forefront of her mind.

  “Decker,” she whispered, remembering the night he’d made love to her. As strong and Dark as he was, he regarded her with tenderness and touched her gently with hands that trembled from the depth of his emotion.

  I’m yours, Summer. Forever and ever. He spoke the words with the same intense emotion that was reflected in his dark eyes. He even smiled that night, turning from tortured and brooding to hopeful.

  The final memory left her breathless and aching. She sat in silence, grappling with all she’d seen. She realized that there weren’t two girls that fell for Decker, but one who never stopped loving and believing in him.

  Was the Decker she’d given her heart to that weekend - gone? Had she been able to save him last night, when she came between him and the Darkness?

  The images stopped.

  Cold tears were on her face. She wiped them away and opened her eyes. Long, dark hair caressed her arm. She ran her fingers through the ends of the silky hair, more tears forming as she realized why the elements brought her to this place. They were showing her who she really was.

  “Welcome home, Summer.”

  The air around her shimmered, and the earth trembled. For a moment, she thought the dream was crumbling. A strange sensation went through her, a pulse of magick so intense, it took her breath away. A flash of light and magick drew her gaze to the kneeling girl beside her, and she gasped to see the form of Summer shimmer and fade. Dark hair turned blonde and the body transformed from shapely to frail.

  The air had dropped its first disguise and taken the form of Autumn. Blonde-hair, blue eyes, a slight frame. Autumn was beautiful in a delicate way, though her eyes were wise beyond her years.

  The spell was lifted. Summer looked down at herself and saw her long, brown hair.

  “I don’t understand,” Summer said. “Why did this have to happen? Why did they hide me?”

  “You had to go through the trial again,” the air said. “No one could know. They hid you from everyone, even yourself.”

  The earth answered as well, showing her an image of the former Mistress of Dark placing a spell on her that changed her appearance and another that blocked her memories.

  “Who am I now, if I’m neither of those people?” Summer asked, growing upset as she tried to digest the rationale behind the lengths they’d gone to.

  “You are the only person who ever came back from the Dark.”

  Her breath caught at the stark pronouncement.

  “Many have tried,” the air continued. “Your mind and your face were hidden from you. You lost everything, even the use of part of your body. To pass the trial, you must start with a blank slate.”

  Summer tentatively reached out to the image of Autumn, whose form the air had taken. She touched Autumn’s hair, disturbed to feel the softness of a curl.

  “So you’re not real,” she said. “Autumn never existed?”

  “Think of it as wearing a Halloween mask, except Halloween lasted three months,” the air said with a tinkling laugh.

  “It doesn’t seem right. People know her. They love her,” Summer said, thinking of Decker. “What if … what if they don’t love me?”

  “They loved her strength. Your strength. All we did tonight was take that mask off and let you remember.”

  “It doesn’t seem that simple. I can’t just…show up at school. Can I?”

  “That is for you to arrange,” the air said with a shrug. “No matter what face you wear, you defied the Dark and stood between it and its Master. This was our concern. You must continue to do so.”

  “I’ve always known that. I mean, both parts of me…knew that,” she said. “This is making my head hurt. What will my friends think? How do I just go back to normal?”

  This is beyond our abilities to answer. These are…human concerns. The laugh and words were carried on the breeze.

  Air swept her hair up into a tiny tornado. Summer batted her hair down with a sigh. She’d reached the limit of what the elements were able to share, and her questions were still unanswered.

  Tarzan rested its head on her knee, as if trying to comfort her. She petted him, truly glad the earth had taken the form of her beloved little friend.

  With the experiences of the lives she lived vivid in her mind, Summer wasn’t certain how to react, now that she sat face-to-face with the representation of the person she’d become. She did what no one else ever had, and earned her way back from the Dark. And yet, she felt a sense of fear at the thought of trying to reintegrate into the school and the lives of those she cared about. Accustomed to rejection, she panicked at the thought of losing everything she held dear again.

  It was the same fear that drove her off the cliff, three months ago. Summer leaned forward to peer over the edge. She hadn’t overcome the fear, but she’d found courage to face it. Autumn’s courage and heart were her own, disguised to keep everyone – including herself – from influencing her second trial. She didn’t know the depths of her own strength, until she was forced to start over again and learn to conquer fear and pain.

  She was afraid, but that fear wasn’t going to control her ever again. Even if everyone rejected her, she was a survi
vor. She had been through too much to give up on herself and those she cared about.

  Especially Decker. She loved him too much. She always had and always would. Even if he chose not to be with her, she’d find a way to help him, like she did when she was disguised as Autumn. She was stronger than she had been three months ago, when the threat of losing her friends blinded her and left her unable to control her magick. It wouldn’t happen again.

  Her panic subsided at her resolution, though the tremor of fear remained.

  The earth’s warm energy floated through her as her tears landed on Tarzan’s head.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Thank you,” the element posing as Autumn replied. “We were worried about the balance. You were not ready to face the Darkness before.”

  Unease went through Summer. Would Decker even want her now? Was he in love with Autumn?

  Tarzan nibbled on her fingers. Summer’s gaze dropped to him, and her heart hurt at the memory of what she’d done in her attempt to save him three months ago.

  “I am so sorry,” she whispered. She gathered the fawn in her arms and buried her face in his warm neck, as she had many times before the night she lost him.

  An image of Tarzan playing in a field flickered into her mind. She wanted so much to believe the fawn was at peace, wherever he was; however, Sam’s words from that night plagued her. He said Tarzan’s soul was forever caught between the two worlds, that he’d suffer forever.

  “He says to tell you that Tarzan’s soul returned to the earth,” Autumn explained.

  “I thought it was torn in two.”

  “The earth rescued it.”

  “Thank god,” Summer murmured. “My sweet Tarzan is happy?”

  “He’s a part of the forest, where he belongs.”

  She released a heartfelt sigh, her tears leaving the fawn’s fur wet where her head rested against it. Her eyes opened once more to see the sky growing lighter quickly.