Second Blessing: Part 1

Oh look!  Ta da!  The first episode in our new story!  Here we go folks!  Remember how it all works?  Of course you do.  New label in the side bar, click to catch up, yadda yadda. We will, as usual, post new episodes on Mondays...with the occasional extra thrown in.  And it seems like, if the past two are anything to go on, when I get towards the end I get impatient and start posting more often.

Also, yeah, you're probably going to want to read the first two, if you haven't already, because, really, it follows along.  You wouldn't be completely lost, I don't think.  But still, you may want to.  And I'd certainly appreciate it if you did.  

Enjoy!

To Alder, because she made Daniel what he is.

1

            It seemed to make perfect sense to Daniel when his dreams suddenly shifted and he found himself standing at a Lady Gaga concert.  She was singing her heart out and it was one of his favorite songs.  He sang along, knowing every word to “The Edge of Glory.”  It wasn’t until the chorus cut off and immediately started over again that he was dragged from sleep.

            He sat up fast, scrambling for the bedside table and managing to knock his cell phone to the floor.  He groaned as he reached down, the lit up display the only reason he was able to locate it.  It was his ring tone, not a dream, and that couldn’t be good.

            Phone calls in the middle of the night were never good.

            Munro sensed his unease and fluttered over from his perch by the window to land on the bed.  With fumbling fingers, Daniel managed to swipe across the screen to connect the call.  His voice was rough with sleep as he answered and Munro gave a soft caw and carefully hopped closer to him.

            “Daniel, thank God!  You have to come because there’s something wrong with the alder and I’m freaking the fuck out and I don’t care that it’s three o’clock in the morning you have to come here now!”

            The words were rapid fire, running altogether and nearly impossible to make out in his sleepy state.  Daniel took a deep breath, “Whoa, Jay.  Wait.  Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”

            He heard Jason take a huge, noise breath and then blow it out roughly.  “Strix woke me up, freaking about the alder,” Jason said, a little more slowly.  “I thought he was overreacting but then I went outside.  There’s something wrong with the tree, Daniel.  All the leaves are on the ground and it doesn’t feel the same.  Please, I know it’s the middle of the night but I’m really freaked out here and I need you to come take a look.”

            Jason’s words were starting to get hysterical again.  Daniel untangled himself from the sheets even as he spoke, “Okay.  I’ll come.  Where’s Kelly?”

            “Out of town.  Again,” Jason replied.  Daniel knew he didn’t imagine the slight bitterness in the man’s tone.  Jay tried to hide it and for that, Daniel gave him credit.  Everyone knew how hard it had been on Jason that Kelly had been traveling every few weeks.

            “He checking on that guy again?” Daniel asked, as he reached over to snap on the bedside lamp.  He squinted as his eyes tried to adjust.  Quickly, he discovered he could see all right if he closed his right eye and narrowed his left. 

            “Yeah.  And I get it and I know it’s important but sweet Jesus, I want him home.”

            “I know,” Daniel said, trying to be soothing.  He spotted a pair of jeans on the floor and grabbed them. Tucking the phone between his cheek and shoulder, he started to tug them on.  It was only then that he realized it was actually a pair of overalls.  Daniel gave a mental shrug as he stood and pulled the straps over his bare shoulders.

            “You’re coming over, right Daniel?”  Jason’s voice sounded a little panicky again.  When Daniel quickly assured the man that he was heading for the door, Jason blew out a shaky breath.  “I’ll be waiting in the backyard.”

            “Be there soon,” Daniel responded and hung up the phone.  His pupils had finally regulated and he could see just fine.  He grabbed a zippered hooded sweat shirt and put it on.  Then he reached out towards Munro.  After giving a loud caw, the crow gave a flap of wings and bypassed Daniel’s hand to land on his shoulder.  He made a beeline for the front door, pausing only long enough to shove his feet into sneakers.  

            Daniel climbed into his pick up and didn’t bother fastening his seat belt for the fifteen minute drive.  It was irresponsible, he knew, but this late at night the roads were completely deserted and he didn’t want to dislodge Munro.  He drove quickly, knowing Jason was freaking out and alone.  If Kelly had been home, Daniel wouldn’t have pushed the speed limit.  Of course, if Kelly were home, then he probably wouldn’t have been awoken at three o’clock in the morning, either.  Kelly would have calmed Jason down and they would have called once the sun rose.

            He pulled into the empty driveway.  Kelly must have taken his car.  Daniel had a moment to think that was strange because he knew the man usually flew, before he realized something was very wrong.  Munro was still perched on his shoulder.  Whenever they got within fifty feet of their coven leader’s house, Munro took off for the alder.  The fact that he hadn’t immediately taken to the air as soon as Daniel stopped the truck was worrisome.  He reached out to that place Munro always was in his head and felt the bird’s unease.  Daniel’s stride was long and quick as he headed for the backyard. 

            He no longer had to fight with the latch on the gate, Daniel had long ago learned the trick to get it to cooperate, so within a few seconds, he was through.  Jason met him there and grabbed onto his wrist, tugging him forward.  The instant Daniel came around the edge of the house, he stopped dead in his tracks. 

            It was late May and by now, the alder was usually in full bloom, covered with leaves and exuding the kind of magic that made his skin prickle.  What stood before him now was a shadow of what the tree should have been.  Branches bare and all the leaves littering the ground.  It was like they had fallen all at once.  Daniel shook off Jason’s hold and practically ran towards it, placing his hands on the trunk the instant he was close enough.  Normally, the magic in the tree reached out to him, surrounded him, but now he felt a bare trickle of what it should have been.  It was anthropomorphic to say it, but it seemed like the alder was actually hurting.

            “Turn on the flood lights,” Daniel ordered, his voice sounding rough even to his own ears.  He needed to see and the bright moon wasn’t allowing enough illumination.  He heard the sound of Jason’s running feet and, a few moments later, the backyard was bright as midday.

            The sound that came out of Daniel was involuntary and pained.  Leaning close, he examined the bark low on the trunk.  Dark, tarry spots adorned much of the bark at hip level and lower.  It looked like the tree was bleeding.  Unable to stop himself, needing to see, Daniel produced a knife from his pocket.  Snapping it open, he carefully cut away at the highest lesion.  Above the spot showed healthy cream colored inner bark.  But below that, right at the weeping spot, the inner bark was a reddish-purple brown.  His hands were shaking as he folded the knife back into the handle. 

            “What is it?” Jason whispered to his left.

            Daniel closed his eyes and laid his head gently against the bark, his heart squeezing as he replied, “Phytophthora.”  Munro gave a soft, mournful caw.

            There was a long silence.  “What does that mean?”

            Inhaling deeply, Daniel stepped back from the alder and turned to face Jason.  “It’s a disease that infects alders.  It’s…bad, Jay.  Most alders can’t recover from this.”

            “No!” Jason shouted, startling a screech from the tiny owl perched on his shoulder.  Jason shook his head, and his voice was quieter when he spoke. “No.  Not this tree.  It can’t succumb to something as stupid as a disease.  It has magic!”

            Daniel nodded.  “I think the magic is actually making the disease spread faster.  When I was here last week, it showed no signs of infection.  Now it’s like it’s been affected for months.”

            “Can you fix it?” Jason asked, his tone pleading.  Daniel could see his eyes were filling with tears and he reached out quickly to grip the other man’s shoulder in comfort.  Jason lifted a hand and latched on, his fingers squeezing Daniel’s tightly.  “Please, Daniel, tell me you can help the alder.”

            Determination zinged through his veins.  The reason he’d gotten into the landscaping and lawncare business in the first place was because his magic was in tune with flora.  He excelled at helping all sorts of vegetation flourish and grow.

            “I’m going to do my damnedest,” Daniel vowed fervently.  This tree was amazing in its own right.  But more than that, it meant a great deal to not only Jason and Kelly, but to the entire coven.  It boosted their power and cared for their magic.  Daniel would do nothing short of showing the same care back.

            Munro agreed whole heartedly. His thoughts, as usual, were in accordance with Daniel’s. He wasn’t sure how they could accomplish this task, but he was certain they could.  Fortunately, Daniel had a plan.  It wouldn’t be easy.  He’d suffer physically for it once he was done.  But there was no way Daniel wasn’t going to do everything in his power to save this tree.           

            He shrugged out of his sweatshirt despite the cold and dropped it unceremoniously to the ground.  He knelt on the grass and reached out, placing his hands on the trunk at the point where it started showing disease.  He focused his will and magic together so that the bright green color started to swirl hazily around the lower three feet of the tree.  Immediately, he felt the sickness and it made his gut roil.  But he didn’t pull away and he wouldn’t until he pulled every bit of poison from the alder.  Consequences be damned.