83 - The Beginning of the End

Time passed swiftly, and Maia’s twin toddlers were ready to age into children.

Happy birthday Celeste!

Happy birthday Avalon!

Baby Gavin aged up too, and Maia taught her son his toddler skills.

While Gavin played with his IF Tumble, the rest of the family celebrated the teens’ birthdays.

Happy birthday Piper!

Happy birthday Seashell!

Happy birthday Beck!

Happy birthday Storm!

And then it was time for their graduation.  All the kids received highest honors and Piper was chosen to be class valedictorian.

The adult kids all planned to open up their own specialty shops.  Piper would sell rodents and other small exotic pets, while Seashell intended to offer the shells that she found while scuba diving or that washed up on the beaches as vacation souvenirs.  Beck would sell his spare rocks and the gems which Storm cut and polished to gleaming perfection. Maia hugged them all goodbye, and then her young entrepreneurs were off to begin their new lives.

Later that night, after the older kids had moved out, Diana brought Maia another snake she had found.

After being praised as usual, Diana ran back and returned shortly with another snake.

And another.

Had the cat located a snake den near her home?  Maia began to be concerned.  She certainly didn’t want an infestation on her hands and she was worried what might happen if one of the children stumbled across them all, so the next time Diana took off, Maia grabbed a fireplace poker to use as a snake hook—or a bludgeoning weapon, if necessary—and followed her in order to investigate.

She trailed Diana to the Sunwest Graveyard, where the cat immediately went back to stalking more snakes.

Suddenly, there was a flash of power, and standing in the epicenter was a demonic-looking woman who appeared to be a mix of alien and genie.

“Enjoying my little friends, witch?” she asked, as she gestured at the snakes that surrounded Diana.

Maia didn’t remember ever meeting the woman herself, but she realized who it must be—the Serpent Mistress, Kadru!

Immediately, Maia flung a freezing spell at the Iblisan, but Kadru only laughed.

“Your feeble witch magic can’t harm me!  Still, I must admire your boldness, and your skills have improved since we last met. Defeating my djinn and using them as fathers for your baby challenge was also rather ingenious.  You've proven yourself quite the brood mare as well, and somehow were able to survive giving birth to the children of soulless undead—unlike any other woman of this world.  You could have been incredibly useful to me... But I’ve had enough of you meddling with my plans. The final line of the prophecy must be fulfilled!”

Maia’s mind flashed back to the words of the prophecy from the old book she had read while visiting her parents in Shang Simla.

“I will complete the 100 Baby Challenge, and the zombies of the underworld will never be released here!”  Maia shouted.

“Ah, defiant to the end; you were like that in your past life too... But you can’t accomplish your task if you’re dead!”

Faster than Maia could react, Kadru had cast a more powerful ice blast spell than Maia had. 

 Maia was frozen in place!

Trapped in her now immobile body, Maia was still aware of her surroundings, but was unable to do much more than listen to Kadru’s triumphant laughter.  Her mind raced in panic as she realized she was completely helpless.

“How does it feel to know you’ve failed this world?”  Kadru asked mockingly. “How does it feel to know you’re going to die very soon and have your soul placed in a star where you’ll burn in torment once again?”

Maia thought in alarm, how does she know about the star??

“Oh, how I wish you could speak!” Kadru taunted. “Unfortunate side-effect of being encased in ice, I’m afraid. But I can’t have you attempting escape again; I have searched for you for long enough!  And I suppose you’re wondering how I know as much as I do.  It’s obvious really.  I was the one who cast your soul into the deep emptiness of space for safekeeping so long ago... out where Samael could see you but never reach!

“He promised to do anything to get you back, you know,” Kadru continued, “so I simply had to make a bargain with him.  That’s where that little ‘prophecy’ I devised came in. Of course, as long as I keep you from completely fulfilling your task and breaking my curse, I’ll get everything I want.

“Pity you defy me now as you did then; taking over this world would’ve been so much easier had you cooperated with my plans.  But those who don’t learn from their history are doomed to repeat it, and falling stars do entertain me so!”

With that, Kadru’s fingertips glowed with flame as she focused her mental energies as one would do in a great summoning. She then staggered back from Maia as if she had expended a great deal of power.

Maia was left standing there, frozen, as she heard the terrifying whistle of something shooting towards her from the sky. 

She thought of the task she would never complete and the soulmate she would never meet. Maia’s life began to flash before her eyes—the trials she had faced, her moments of triumph, memories of all her children.  And then her mind went even further back, and she began to see images of her past life from long ago; back to when it had all started...