Chapter Seventeen
There was silence in the circle as they all absorbed what Lily had just read. The only sound in the clearing was the crackling of the fire, the logs shifting as they burned, and the steady breathing of the various familiars.
“But what does that mean?” Killian finally asked. “I’m not the best at puzzles and deciphering cryptic messages.”
“From the information we’ve been able to gather, we think the first line, When a fallen Sentinel walks the realms with darkness where light once lived, is talking about Lucien.
We think that when he disappeared it wasn’t because he died.
If he had, his book would’ve gone dark completely and reassigned itself to the shelves in the Spirit realm’s room.
” Marcus stopped his explanation to make sure everyone was following.
They all gave him a nod and he continued.
“So we think he was soul-bonded to an ancient darkness we thought had been extinguished completely.” Marcus motioned to Lily who walked around the circle and showed them an image on the scroll of what looked like a phoenix, but this one was made up entirely of darkness.
Where there should’ve been flames and feathers, there were wisps of shadow.
The darkness was only broken with small pinpricks of what looked like stars.
Once everyone had a chance to look at the image Marcus continued.
“This is a remnant of what was here before the Garden was formed, a Noctyrr named Vaelthryx. A primordial being that was forced into a dark space outside of the Garden’s light.
We think he found a way to infiltrate the Spirit Wild.
He must’ve hidden there for millennia just waiting for a Sentinel with some darkness, just enough for him to take possession. ” Marcus paused when Colin gasped.
“Lucien was always drawn to the darker aspects of the world and felt a measure of shame for it. My father gave him a pocket watch that had been passed down from father to son for millennia,” Colin looked up as he tried to remember exactly what his father had said.
“The pocket watch shows the balance of light and dark in all the worlds, every single realm is represented. Our father told him how important our jobs were as Sentinels. He told him that it was good to have light and important to have darkness, but that the balance between the two was what truly mattered. He never went anywhere without that thing after that and was constantly looking at it.” Marcus nodded.
“He must’ve had just enough darkness for Vaelthryx to soul bond to him and force him into the shadows he had been hiding in,” mused Lily.
“Wait, are you saying we have an uncle we never knew about?” questioned Jaxx.
“When he disappeared it was so hard on your grandfather, he would go to the Spirit Grove every day and sit there for hours waiting for Lucien to show back up. Years went by and he eventually stopped but none of us ever spoke of him again,” explained Colin sadly.
“I know us Record Keepers would check his book every day as well for many years. We would see his name dim every once in a while, but it would always go back to normal. But as time goes on, things tend to be overlooked and then forgotten,” Marcus grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck.
Again the clearing went silent as everyone digested the new information. Another log broke apart and sent embers into the air.
“So the next line, When Spirit grows heavy beneath the gathering shadows. Does that explain the growing number of shadows the Sentinels are fighting?” Spoke Kaedryn who had moved closer as the group had settled in to discuss the findings.
Lily glanced over, startled when she realized he had spoken into her mind as well.
“Yeah, it seems like the soul-bonded messaging thing has changed with everything else,” acknowledged Killian.
“Hmm…that may have something to do with the third line. But for now, yes, we believe that the second line means that the balance has broken and the darkness is taking more souls which may be overloading the spirit realm allowing more shadows to form and escape or get lost,” answered Marcus.
“But why wasn’t it noticed before it became an issue?” Kaedryn asked. “Isn’t that the purpose of the Garden?” Marcus winced and ran his hand through his already disheveled hair.
“We aren’t sure how it happened. We have what is the equivalent of Lucien’s pocket watch in the Record Keepers library and another meter in the Soul Keepers building.
Neither of them is showing this large of an imbalance,” Isadora broke her silence.
“We should’ve had plenty of notice before it got to this point. ”
“What do you mean by the third line,” interrupted Bréagha.
“Well the third line is,” Marcus pulled the scroll out again.
“The Garden will tremble with its awakening. Does everyone remember when Sperwa and Bréagha became fully soul-bonded? The shockwave that went through the Garden? Then all of a sudden, the familiars reclaimed their physical selves and Sentinel teams that work closely together can speak to each other even if they aren’t truly on the same team.
And now familiars can speak to anyone they choose to, not just their Soul-Bonded.
Sounds to me like the Garden, the Sentinels, and their familiars are awakening; getting prepared for whatever comes next. ”
“It’s not just them that are awakening. You all think that Bréagha is a Sentinel, but she’s a Guardian, one of eight.” Sperwa spoke up from her perch above them, and they all turned to her.
“What?” gasped Bréagha.
“I’ve been calling you Guardian since the beginning. You never questioned why?” asked Sperwa.
“Uh, no. I just thought that is what you phoenixes, phoenixi?” she glanced at Aiden who shrugged. “I just thought it was what you called Sentinels.”
“No, look at the whole prophecy. It lists the Guardians, you just need to find them,” scoffed Sperwa.
“She’s right. The Garden is obvious. The other lines must point to the other realms and their Guardians,” suggested Lily.
“The Rises, Stirs, Stands Unbroken, Shines with Radiance, Rise in Defiance, and Calling the Gathering are probably also important clues,” offered Roz who had settled next to Makani by the fire, her pink head cuddled comfortably against his white fur.
“Good catch Roz!” Marcus hurried to write that in his notebook so they would pay attention to that as well.
“I think we all know what the last line means. The Veil must be the Spirit Realm. Does that place actually have any living beings?” asked Aiden.
“No. Can you imagine?” shuddered Bracken who had stayed uncharacteristically quiet while everyone else spoke. “That place is creepy.”
“You think everything is creepy. You screamed and ran from a pig last week,” scoffed Travis.
“Ooh don’t forget the goose a couple weeks ago. He won’t even go near that pond anymore,” laughed Liam. Bracken growled but it only made the group laugh harder.
“To be fair, that goose was overly aggressive. His mate was nesting near where Bracken was splashing around,” defended Rozengwyn.
“What’s the pig’s excuse? That thing tries to kill me at least once a week,” demanded Bracken. Roz flashed a crooked grin.
“She just doesn’t like you. You must smell or something,” she admitted.
“You do take an awful lot of soaks in that bog on the obstacle course,” offered Cathal who got a smack upside the head from Bracken.
Cathal got him in a headlock, scrubbing his knuckles on his scalp until Bracken called Uncle!
The Elders waited patiently as the Sentinels messed around, realizing that a lot of information had been dumped on them, and this was the way they processed it.
“To answer your question Aiden, No, there are no living beings that we’re aware of in the Spirit Realm, but I don’t think we can say for sure what’s normal and what isn’t at this point.
Maybe the Guardian will show themselves at some point.
We know we have the Garden one but who the others are, we aren’t sure yet,” responded Lily once everyone calmed down.
“We still have a lot of research to do. The scroll speaks of a way of cleansing the Garden and the realms, but it’s going to take us a bit to figure out what it all means. That is a very large scroll,” pointed out Donegal.
“Yes, we still have a lot of work to do. You guys just continue to train and hold back the shadows from the gate as best as you can. I’m sure they’ll escalate their attacks.
” As if to punctuate Marcus’s point, a flash of lightning forked across the sky in the distance, followed closely by several more and gathering darkness.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Sentinels to the gate! Portal Keepers, portal them!
Roz jumped up and used her pink magic to open a large portal for them all to get to the battlefield quickly.
“I have to change and get my crossbow!” yelled Bréagha.
“Oh that reminds me. Bréagha, here is that wand you were using the other day. Maybe this can help?” Lily had reached in her bag and pulled forth the small wand.
Bréagha grinned despite the booming in the distance.
She grabbed the wand and pointed it at herself.
She was instantly dressed in her leathers.
She pointed it at each Sentinel as well before they stepped through the portal, changing their jeans and henleys to their leathers.
Any little bit of armor was better than nothing.
She nodded at the Elders before her and Roz stepped through and onto a chaotic battlefield.