The Witch Warrior Chronicles, chapter 2                                    - 2 - The old woman who was young walked in between the animal feast and picked up the bones including her skull. She tossed them into the cauldron and Raven was plunged into darkness. The young woman who was old poured the cauldron's mixture onto the floor. The substance flowed out onto the spot were Raven had been standing. Suddenly Raven felt her fist tighten, she looked down at it and opened it to see the black feather. To her relief her hand was covered in flesh, her flesh. She grabbed at her breast feeling the heart, her heart then she breathed in deeply. The old woman who was young smiled at her then faded. Raven looked around the cave, it was empty except for the black bird that she saw when she first walked in. She felt someone touch her hand, she looked down to see the black wolf begin licking her palm. Its eyes were kind and loving. She petted its head and it nuzzled her. Raven shot open her eyes again to find herself back in bed. She took a deep breath then turned to Celine and buried her face into the side of Celine's warm body.                                                                  )O( The sun found its way past the closed drapes and tickled gently on Celine?s eyelashes. They began to flutter open. Celine looked around the room a bit disoriented at first, shaking off the vestiges of a disturbing dream. She turned to face the warm body which housed the other half of her soul. Snuggling closer she wrapped her arms around Raven and nuzzled her neck. "Mmmmm," Raven moaned and began to stir, heat rising from the center of her chest and working it?s way down. "Morning love," Celine whispered. "Good morning. Goddess, I love you," Raven said as she pulled Celine in for a tight embrace. Raven?s hands immediately began roaming and caressing the softness that was Celine until the sound of the phone startled them. "Shit!" Raven exclaimed, starting to get up. "Ignore it," Celine said pulling Raven back down towards wanted lips. "Ring! Ring!" "If I don?t get it, it?s not gonna quit," Raven said as she got up to get the phone. Celine lay back down and released a frustrated sigh as Raven walked into the other room and picked up the receiver. "What?" Raven said impatiently. "May I please speak with Raven or Celine?" a woman?s soft voice said. "This is Raven, who is this?" "You don?t know me," said the woman hesitantly. "My name is Amelia Smythe. Emmeline Cassidy told me that you two may be able to help me." Raven listened absently, waiting to get back to Celine until Em?s name was mentioned. It had been two weeks since the fire at the tavern and she and Celine had heard nothing from the older woman until now. "Em told you to call?" she said. Celine came out of the bedroom and stood behind Raven, wrapping her arms around the taller woman?s waist. "Yes, you see my brother Todd and his friends were at the Halloween party that night," said Amelia. "Oh," said Raven, quietly. "Yes," said Amelia. "I?ve spoken with Andy. I guess he and Todd had too much to drink. They went to find someplace to lie down and stumbled into the cellar of the tavern. Andy says he passed out. When he woke up, he was wandering around outside and the Tavern was, well, gone. He and Todd were found by the firemen. Andy doesn?t remember how they got out and Todd ?" "Is he ??" asked Raven, afraid to finish the question. "He?s alive, but catatonic," said Amelia, Raven heard her sniff. "What do you mean ? catatonic?" Raven asked, understanding but not believing. "The doctors say that his body is working fine but his mind," Amelia paused for a moment. "Yeah, I know what the word means," said Raven. "What I meant was, how did he get that way? Hello?" "I?m here," said the woman after a long pause. "The doctors say they think he might be in some kind of shock or something. There?s more, but I can?t tell you over the phone. Is it possible we could meet somewhere?" Amelia sounded nervous. "Um, yeah sure. I ? um, let me tell Celine and we?ll set it up okay. I?ll call you back in a while," Raven said. She got Amelia?s number then hung up the phone. Celine saw the _expression on Raven?s face. "What?s wrong, Honey?" "I don?t know, that was the sister of one of the guys. You know from that night." Raven paused waiting for Celine?s reaction.