Enchanted flames by peersr12 (read dune .TXT) 📕

the only way she was going to be able to accomplish anything in Silence and she had to. Her very soul depended on her finishing what she had returned to Silence to do.3

“You didn’t come by the pub last night,” he found himself saying after she had been quiet for a while. No doubt trying to decide what to say to him, if to say anything to him at all.
“I wasn’t aware there was a date attached to your invitation,” she stated easily as she walked back down the cliff.
There wasn’t, he sighed as he watched her back. God she had changed so much, he thought as he couldn’t help but remember the nights they shared together in the river that wound below. There hadn’t been anything between them then at least not like this. When she left, he was distraught and he had given up on loving another. Somehow deep in his subconscious he was probably preparing himself for this. Preparing himself for her return, but now that she was here, he wasn’t sure he was prepared for it at all. She had hurt him deep and he wasn’t so sure if he was ready to put himself back out there to get himself hurt again. And with the way she was behaving, that seemed to be the only thing obtainable. Hurt.
"What good does it do?" Casey called to him, “I saw you looking at the river."
He flinched. He turned to look at her then down at the river. Shaking his head, he mounted the mare.
"If you hate me so much, if you're so angry with me, what good does coming here do you?"
He answered then, "I come looking for the girl I left behind."
Casey raised a brow then shook her head. Retrieving her face towel, she continued to shake her head as she walked out of the glade.
His head was lowered when he looked back at the cliff. Guilt stricken.
"I don't hate you." he whispered but he knew she was gone already. It was always that way with them. They fought more than he could remember. And she always left. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out an old creased paper. It was the letter. Her letter. He'd kept it with him, to remind himself of what exactly, he knew not. He read the letter again.

Rick,

This is hard for me. Writing this when I know I should be telling you, I'm leaving. I don't know where I'm going even if I did I couldn't tell you. It's better this way. Don't doubt for once that I loved you because I did and still do. There's always a place in my heart for you. That's never going to change. And PLEASE don't come looking for me. I'll miss you.
XOXO,
Ca ss

P.s. Don't worry about our fight, all is forgiven, I'm still convinced I was right though. There's a gift for you too. Think of me always.

Eric pulled on his chain and stared at the birthstone ring he had given to her for her birthday. She had a way with him. He stared down at the uneasy mare.
"We're going girl." he said watching Casey disappear into the forest. Shaking his head he urged the mare on. Only the Lord knew how he felt truly about that girl.
He stood behind and watched closely. He could have followed her but he knew where she was going. He stared at this man she had spent her morning with. He had a piece of her and this was exactly what he needed. She had no idea he was back.
Better for him. The sun burst into the room. The darkness that had delved in the room the past couple of days shied into corners. Casey groaned and dragged the comforter over her head.
"Casey get out of bed." her grandmother's voice came through what little sleep she had drifted back into. She dug deeper into the bed. The burst of cold wind sent shivers down her spine when her comforter was dragged off of her. Emily Callahan was a force to reckon with. Most called her stubborn, strong-headed and difficult. Casey was beginning to understand why they called her such. She curled into a ball, groping her knees against her chest for warmth. She screamed and nearly choked when she felt the chilled water against her face. Casey looked up at the grayed hair woman she called grandmother. She dangled a Ziploc bag,"Ice cubes are next."
Casey could only imagine and she wasn't really up for fighting anymore.
Slowly she crawled out of bed. Wet hair lashing back her back making her squirm. She heard the sheets being dragged off.
"I don't care what you do. But if you think I'm going to allow you to hide out here while you drag this room down in your wallowing, you're terribly mistaken."
She threw the sheets in the laundry basket at the door. She stood in front her,"What did you do and stop avoiding my question?"
"I don't know," Casey answered looking at her hands,"I really don't know."
She looked up slowly at her grandmother. Emily glanced around the room. She headed towards the table and opened the drawers. Convinced what she was looking for wasn't there, she headed to the closet. “Aha." Emily said elatedly pulling out a small rectangular box.
"What's in there?" Casey asked leaning over Emily's shoulder. She waved her off. After digging through its contents, she turned to Casey.
"What are those?" Casey asked raising her eyebrows at the objects in Emily's hand.
"Give me your hand."
Casey hesitated. Emily waved her hands,"Come girl, stop wasting my time."
Casey lifted her left hand. Her grandmother picked up the smallest item which she made out to be a ring. Turning her palm up, Emily marked a 'x'. Casey watched in amazement as the emerald stone flickered.
Flickered and then glowed.
"Your great grandfather's wedding gift." Emily said placing the ring in her hand. Casey stared at the silver ring and its glowing emerald.
"Why is it doing this?" Casey asked holding the ring away from her. The ring flickered until it died out. Emily adjusted her glasses and opened the other object in her hand. Casey watched. The paper was aged, the writing was faded and almost illegible. Emily reached for the ring. Strangely enough, as she passed the ring over the paper the letters fell into place. Casey made out the words
'Callahan'.
She watched dumbly as the words dashed across the paper. After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped. Emily fingered the paper. She came to a stop under Casey's name.
"It's the Callahan gift tree." she said turning to Casey. Casey looked down at the paper that held the Callahan family tree. There was black bar next to her name on the right and on the left was her little sister's,"What gift and why is this black?"
Emily looked down at the paper. Shaking her head and mumbling curses under her breath, she threw the paper back in the box. She toyed with the ring before she handed it to Casey.
"Sit down." Emily said,"I wouldn't have shown you that if I had known."
Emily sat down after Casey didn't. Casey stared at her with questioning eyes. Emily sighed and looked up at the roof,"Why your mother hasn't told you is a mystery. Do you at least know how your father died?"
Casey shrugged,"She said he died on one of his trips."
Emily grunted,"Casey, you had-have a brother."
Casey raised a brow,"I had a brother?"
"Have. He is not dead and he is your twin."
Casey breathed in heavily. She shook her head,"That cant be. I’ve never seen him."
Emily took Casey's hand,"How old are you?"
"Nineteen. But what"
"Shut up, just listen. What I'm going to tell you will either scare you witless or feed your hunger for the truth."
Casey said nothing.
"Hundreds of years ago, in a town much like Silence, secluded and small, there were rumours of this stone granting great powers. Two brothers, twins rather, set out to find it. Each with a different reason. One to destroy it, the other to gain. They found the stone one stormy night. The older one who sought to destroy it had gained upper hand. His brother's fingers merely touching the stone. His means of destroying it was also the way to activating its power."
"Let me guess. Lightning?" Casey said
"No. Well at least that's partially correct. But he wanted to destroy it because he felt the power was too great for mortals. His brother wanted it to rule the world. Think of the stone as a wishing well. The same way you need a coin to complete your wish, that stone needed light to activate its power. Because neither of them knew that the light came from their soul and they were both holding when the lightning struck. The power was split between the two. One with telekinesis and the other with telepathy."
"So you're saying I'm telekinetic?" Casey asked rubbing her sweaty palms. The fact that she held such great power scared her. Emily shook her head and took Casey's hand. Motioning for the ring, she placed it in the middle of her hand. As before it glowed.
"This isn't the first time you've used your powers."
“It isn't?"
Emily shook her head. She turned the stone to Casey.
"That shouldn't be that steady." Emily placed the ring on the bed,"Your gift isn't concealing itself any more, which only means you used it before."
Emily dropped her head. Casey looked at her,"There's something you aren't telling me."
Emily looked up. Their eyes locked. In that brief moment, Casey saw it all. That stormy night where the brothers fought. The night she had neglected to tell her. There right before her eyes she saw the smile on her father's face staring down at the baby he held. But the face she saw wasn't hers. The wind was knocked out of her. Her grandmother was right she did have a brother. A twin brother. She saw the anguish on her father's face when the baby was dragged from him. She saw a wolf like creature standing at the door baby in hand. But the face. NO....NO....it couldn't be. Casey broke eye contact,"No it's impossible."
She looked at Emily,"Tell me he didn't."
Emily turned so she wouldn't she the shame in her eyes,"I can't so I won't."
"But Grandpa?" Casey said in disbelief. Even as it rolled of her tongue she couldn't believe it. And how had she managed to see all of that by just looking....Oh dear God. This kept getting worse.
"That wasn't your grandfather."
"But I saw him clear as day." she said pointing to a picture of him.
"It was his body but never him. You see that night with their powers the twins went their separate ways. The youngest one became such a fiend that he created monsters. The older managed to destroy all but one. The most fearsome even today, the levagne."
Casey knew the name but had yet to see one.
"It is a type of werewolf but they aren't restricted by the moon. They can change at will at rapid speeds. Your grandfather was bitten by one a couple nights before your birth."
Casey couldn't hold back the tears any more,"But why?"
Emily moved to comfort her but Casey shook her head and stepped away,"Don't, just answer."
"Every three generations when the gift holder is ready to be born the levagne try their best to kill the twin. The levagne know that the only thing that can kill them is one with the gift. There is always a twin and that twin has always been male until me.
Emily nodded,"There was a complication and you weren't born until