“Anzaki artifacts have been found as far north as southern France and as far south as the Gold Coast region on the western African continent. This suggests that they possessed a vast mercantile empire. Among the few surviving pieces discovered were tablets detailing their ancient lore. They apparently were practitioners in ritual sacrifice, or at least that was the impression received from the schors who first transted some of their surviving documents. Blood featured prominently in what are believed to be religious texts, as well as references to someone or something called Tas’Ashuran... “

  -Excerpt from the Archaeology Archives

  University of Cambridge circa 1938 CE

  Note: This is the only surviving snippet that mentions anything regarding the Anzaki

  Empire. The graduate student who wrote this paper disappeared shortly after publishing this paper and the departmental archives suffered a fire ter that year. Foul py was suspected but the investigation was eventually dropped.

  “Hi Emmy,” her mother spoke into the silence only sporadically punctured by the sound of her own breathing. “You have no idea how gd I am to see you again.”

  In that colorless, featureless room, Emily Borden did not know what to say or how to feel. This woman ciming to be her mother stood before her with an apprehensive smile on her face. The lines of her body screamed anxiousness yet she stood calm and patient, willing to give Emily all the time she needed to process her new surroundings. Seeing her there, composed and wise while she herself was a spiraling ball of confusing emotions and experiences, the accumuted experiences that for her had happened in a single day was enough to drive her over the edge. She felt like exploding and this time she had no reason to hold back.

  “Why are you here, MOM, if that’s who you really are? You and your pals, not to mention our beloved Mistress, have already turned me into a lesbian and made me ensve my only friend. My, what fresh new experience do you have for me today,” she finished in a nasty sing-song voice, the sarcasm dripping off every word like hot venom. Her mother opened her mouth to respond but she cut her off. “No! No, you don’t get to talk! I have been through hell today! Now I’ll admit that I liked some of it but becoming a witch was not on my to-do list today!” A sob escaped as she caught her breath. “And now I apparently have a bnk book that hungers for blood, powers I don’t understand and a contract with a goddess that is probably gonna take my soul when all’s said and done. Oh, and lest I forget, I’m now having fireside chats with a mother who’s been dead for 10 years in a white room with no doors or windows. I thought my life was shitty before but this is an entirely new level.”

  Agnes tried to butt in. “Now honey, I know you’ve had a somewhat traumatic couple of days…”

  “‘Somewhat traumatic’ she says! Boy aren’t you the queen of understatement today! As my friend, oh excuse me, my minion would say, No Shit Sherlock!”

  Agnes lost a bit of her calm, her daughter’s diatribe clearly getting under her skin. She spoke with the exaggerated patience of a negotiator talking down an active shooter. “Look Emmy, I’m trying to help you and I don’t have much time…”

  “Not much time? You’re not dead I’m assuming. You had 10 years to expin some of this shit to me. NOW you’re in a fucking rush?”

  “Dammit Emily, do you think this is easy for me?,” Agnes asked as her temper finally broke, unacknowledged tears beginning to flow from her violet eyes. “I had to leave, otherwise the Tasurani would have taken you.” She held up a finger to forestall another interruption. “Before you ask, that is what our mistress is, a Tasurani, a nature spirit. She’s nearly as old as human history and has been entering into contracts with humans for almost as long. If I’d have stayed with you and your father long enough for you to start menstruating then she’d have gotten me, you and your father instead of just me. But I’m getting off track; none of this is important right now. My fate is sealed, I’m paying the price for the power I had. There’s no hope for me but you and your friend have a chance to break free. A small chance, but more than I ever had.”

  Emily was mesmerized. That voice, the one that used to read her stories when she was still afraid of thunderstorms and calmed her fears, that voice cut through all her pain and confusion, struck her heart despite her defenses. It was too good to be true; she began to get suspicious. “Why would you help me,” she asked quietly. “Aren’t you a servant? Does she not own you, mind, body and soul?”

  “I love you. Of course I’m going to help you in any way I can. And I am able to because you were once a part of me. That connection is what allows me to defy her even temporarily. But I cannot do it for long. I would have run out of time already if it were not for your marvelous friend Natalie. Her defiance added to her witch hunter blood took much effort to subdue and the Mistress isn’t as attentive as she normally would be. Anyway, important things. One, this is your pce as the forest gde is the Mistress’. Only she can enter here without your permission, and only with great effort. You can make it however you wish and can spend as much time as you wish here. Time does not move inside this bubble in your mind. Two, I bespelled the amulet before I...left to hide you from her eyes. When the chain broke it compelled your dad to leave town for as long as possible. The credit card he left has no limit, you can buy whatever you need or want with it. The spell could not be made permanent, he will be in danger when it wears off and he returns home. Lastly, there will be a time when you know you must resist her at all costs or all will be lost. You will know when. Find my amulet, hide it somewhere and hide your knowledge of its location here. When that time comes, my amulet will help you overcome her strength. Your friend will help too. But until then give no resistance, make her think you meek, hide your true strength. And learn, child. Learn everything there is to know about yourself, your powers, and our mistress. You can win, I know it!” Then her body faded, first becoming one with the white background then losing distinct form. But her voice was still strong. “I love you, sweet Emmy. Now go back to your friend before the Mistress suspects anything amiss.”

  Then she was gone and Emily was speechless. Heart in her throat at the thought of the abored reunion, she returned to Natalie on the couch and then, finally, to real sleep.

  ******

  The sun was well past its zenith when they awoke on the couch, bodies still tangled with each other. Emily was rightly concerned. She loved Natalie and she did not wish to force her compliance. They were bonded, nothing could pry them away from each other, yet she wanted her best friend to stay of her own free will, not just because of the spirit that now ruled both their lives. She looked at her friend with pleading in her eyes and not a little guilt. Please don’t try to leave, she thought, her body tense. Never, replied Natalie, her mind voice strong. We’re in this together girlfriend. Always.

  They smiled at each other, faces close, their mirrored expressions of relief and apprehension quite easy to read. “So, do I call you mistress now?” Natalie joked weakly.

  “Oh Jesus, please don’t!” Emily replied with some heat and exasperation. “Or, at least not here. In the dream the Mistress may require some form of obsequience and for that, my dy will be just fine.” She sighed, took a breath, then continued. “Look hun, I’m super sorry I brought you into this, I didn’t understand what I was getting into until far too te. I’d let you out the deal if I could…”

  “Stop,” interrupted Natalie, seriousness repcing her earlier joking tone. “I know all this. You know I love you and I’d never let you face something like this alone. Even before this blood bond or whatever, you as close to me as my own family. Whatever happens we gone get through it, okay? Besides,” her smile returned, as sudden as the passage of summer rain, “I got an amazing makeover out of it!”

  “Oh Natalie!” Emily embraced her hard, her eyes overflowing with tears. “I love you too, girl!” They cried and comforted each other for awhile, never bothering to leave the couch or even to let go of each other. They shared tentative kisses and commiserations; they showed their love for each other in more than just words. And before they eventually rose to clean off the sweat of their efforts Emily stood in that room in her mind. She made two resolutions in that secret room that day. One, that she would ensure that her and her friend would get everything they were promised and more. Two, that they would find a way to eventually overcome the tasashuran that currently ran their lives and make it pay for all it had done. To do that, she had to trust the information her mother had given her no matter how much the idea still galled her. It was all she had to go on if she didn’t want to spend eternity dancing next to a fountain.