Chapter Thirty
Bréagha grabbed Killian’s hand and pulled him towards the opening, the others following closely behind, including the familiars minus the dragons who couldn’t fit.
Everyone could hear their roars as they navigated the short passageway and then took the stairs.
There were no handrails and the stairs were steep, the stones wet from being behind a waterfall.
They went single file, their hands resting on the stone wall as they descended.
“I’m tired of not being able to go with you Soul-bonded! I’m not sure I like having my own form,” muttered Kaedryn.
“I agree with my brother, you’ve gone beyond our ability to help if needed,” added Vyranthos. Bréagha felt bad that they were always left behind. Since Sperwa rarely left her side, she understood their anxiety.
“I am so sorry Kaedryn and Vyranthos. Maybe we can figure something out at some point,” Sperwa promised. The group went silent then, as they focused on making sure they didn’t slip and end up at the bottom of this long staircase, broken into a thousand pieces.
By the time Bréagha stepped onto solid ground, her calves ached from the endless descent. She walked forward into a large cavern, the others walking in behind her. For several long seconds, no one spoke.
“There’s nothing here, right?” Jaxx whispered as he stepped further into the open space.
In front of the group was a gigantic cave, the ceiling had a large opening towards the back which allowed the sun to light up a portion of the area.
There was a small waterfall on the wall closest to the stairway that went into a small pool without an outlet.
Bréagha walked over and looked down into the water, it was dark, and she couldn’t see the bottom.
She kicked a rock that was on the edge and watched it slowly disappear.
“No one fall into that,” she warned. There was nothing else in the entire area, no stalagmites, no other features outside of just plain grey stone.
Killian walked towards the center of the room, the other Sentinels fanning out in different directions to see if there was something hidden in the dark corners of the space.
Everyone met in the middle after exploring.
“It’s just a large cave,” observed Mason where he stood looking up at the large opening, his bear Soren doing the same. “Where is that hole?”
Bracken, and Liam joined him along with their cats, trying to see if they could spot any landmarks or trees they might recognize, but they all shook their heads.
“No clue,” answered Liam.
“Rozengwyn, can you go snag Marcus, and whoever else wants to come?” asked Killian as he stood with his hands on his hips surveying the very empty cavern around him.
She nodded and popped out with a flash of pink.
It was several minutes before a pink portal came into view.
All eight elders plus Roz, Kaedryn, and Vyranthos stepped through.
The cave was large enough for the two dragons to be able to settle comfortably.
Relief flowed through both dragons at the sight of their soul-bonded.
The elders joined the Sentinels in their search for why this place was special.
“Open your eyes.” The same multilayered voice from the walled courtyard echoed around them.
Bréagha and Killian looked around for the Flower Keepers while the others frantically searched, not knowing what was whispering.
Sperwa flew to a high point in the cavern and turned into a blazing light source, lighting up every inch of the cavern, seeing if they were missing something.
“Open your eyes
But not to what’s seen,
For truth doesn’t live on the surface.
Still the mind,
Soften the breath,
And let the Garden remember you.
Only in surrender does the path take shape,
Only in balance does the veil fall away.
Only in acceptance will it become clear.”
Killian instinctively stepped in front of Bréagha as the ground shook beneath them, reaching out to steady her.
The ground shook for a moment and then the torches that Bréagha had created all around the space disappeared, and even Sperwa’s fire went out.
Bréagha stepped up beside Killian, laying her hand gently on his arm.
He glanced down at her, watching as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The light from above them seemed to find her in the darkness, spotlighting her stillness.
One by one he saw the other Sentinels do the same.
The same stillness that they’d experienced right before the Flower Keepers showed up descended on the cavernous space as each Sentinel, Elder, and familiar stood perfectly still, closed their eyes and took deep breaths. Finally Killian did the same.
As soon as he did, he felt the world tilt and start spinning. He forced his eyes to stay closed and focused on his breathing. Suddenly he felt Bréagha’s small hand in his, she intertwined their fingers and squeezed, grounding him. His breaths evened out and his body relaxed beside her.
“Killian, Sentinel to the Guardian Bréagha do you accept your part, no matter how hard, no matter how dark, no matter what’s asked of you in the days, weeks, and months ahead?
” Killian felt the warm presence beside him, knew his brother and the other Sentinels were around them.
He knew it wasn’t just them they were going to be fighting for.
It would be for every soul in every realm.
He was just one in a sea of so many. What did his life compare to the lives of everyone else?
He knew without a doubt that each and every Sentinel was being asked this same question, as was Bréagha and he knew without a doubt they would answer the same way.
“Absolutely.” He whispered.
A few more moments went by, and he heard some shuffling, some rustling and a couple whispered curses.
Then Bréagha squeezed his hand again which he took to mean it was okay to open his eyes.
The Sentinels had formed a circle around him and Bréagha, their familiars resting next to them.
They all had sigils on the ground underneath them that lit up in different colors.
He looked on the ground below him and he saw the same sigil that had been on the door to the walled courtyard as well as another one that was just a large tree, that resembled the Lunara with Lumenfae floating around it, a large ring with runes surrounding it.
The sigils started flashing, then Donegal stepped forward as if to say something and the flashing stopped.
“Donegal, we aren’t meant to be a part of this. We’re lucky to be able to witness it,” whispered Marcus. As soon as Donegal stepped out of the circle formed by the Sentinels, the sigils began to flash again.
Kaedryn and Vyranthos both reacted first, then Soren, then the cats.
Sperwa, who had flown up and landed on some vines that poked through the opening in the center, took flight.
The sigils flashed faster and faster, then stopped.
There was a beat before the light flared from each, steady and strong, spotlighting the Sentinel and the familiar beside them.
“We’ve heard your deepest desire familiars.
The Garden knows your heart and your soul.
” All the familiars stood and roared. For a moment, just a breath, there was absolute silence before the sigils flashed one more time and went still.
The familiars disappeared. Except for Sperwa.
One by one the Sentinels were surrounded by different magical colors, Bracken was a bright icy blue, Mason was a lovely bright green, Liam was red, Cathal yellow, Travis a seafoam green, Aiden flashed pink like Roz, and Jaxx was a deep sapphire.
Bréagha turned just as Killian was surrounded by his own cyclone of magic, a deep emerald green.
In an instant instead of the Sentinels standing there, it was their familiars.
The magic swirled again, and the familiars disappeared, the Sentinels were in their place instead.
Bréagha, Roz, and all the Elders watched in awe as the magic swirls happened for a third time and both the familiars and the Sentinels stood side by side again.
“Never again will you be separated unless you so choose.” There was a strong wind that blew through the area and up through the opening. They knew that whatever had been speaking, was gone.
“Wait, what?” Bracken stuttered looking at his panther, Kaelis.
“You’re shifters now?!?” whisper-yelled Bréagha as she vibrated with excitement.
“Um, not sure. I don’t know what...” Killian started but then stopped. Having no clue how to continue. He looked over at his brother who was also struggling to comprehend what just happened.
“Our greatest desire was to be able to go where you go, to be able to help instantly instead of having to fly to where you are. We didn’t want to go to how it was before, when we lent you our strength but weren’t truly there.
We want to live again.” They all turned to look up at Kaedryn as he rumbled above them.
“We wanted to be a part of the Sentinels without losing the connection we’ve grown to cherish with our soul-bonded. A connection that wasn’t fully formed before,” continued Vyranthos. His head nuzzled his Sentinel gently. Jaxx smiled and wrapped his arms around his dragon’s big head.
“So now while we’re in the Garden, we can be separate like we are now,” Kaelis stepped up closer to Bracken and took up the story. Bracken knelt down and touched his forehead to his panther’s.
“So absolutely no breaks? You’re now a true Velcro kitty?” Kaelis chuffed and hit his Sentinel with his head, knocking him onto his ass and making him laugh.
“And when we’re in other realms, we will join with the Sentinels. We don’t stop existing, we just go to a new plane of existence where we’re fully cognitive of what’s going on but where we’re, in essence, hidden,” continued Soren, sitting calmly by Mason who leaned against him.