Chapter Four
“Wait, what? Soul-bonded to an animal?” She stared at the men before her, her eyes searching for any sign of the wild beasts.
Drago had bright red hair and a long red beard with hazel eyes that sparkled with his mirth.
Colin had dark hair like his son, though his was short, as well as the same silver eyes.
After shaking Aiden’s hand, he placed his in his pockets and grinned at Bréagha.
“Did you not explain to the poor lass what a Sentinel is?” Drago turned to Killian and his team, who had lined up behind the couches.
All three men stood with feet shoulder-width apart and hands clasped behind their backs.
Killian looked a little ruffled and ran his hand through his long hair, pulling it out of the leather tie that held it back.
“You know I’m horrible at explaining everything,” he protested, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Did you actually explain anything?” Aiden asked.
“Hey, give him some credit. He explained that the magic of a newborn’s laughter came from the Garden. I mean that’s huge.” Bréagha blew Killian a raspberry when he scowled at her.
“Killian.” Colin rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. “Son, you really must explain things. As leader of your team, it’s your job.”
“I don’t see why I can’t delegate it to someone else. Cathal would be better than me. Or give me a fourth and they can do it,” he grumbled.
“That’s not how it works. We can’t just assign a fourth.
Their animal must be part of your animal’s pack.
The fourth hasn’t found their counterpart yet.
Until then you MUST be the one to do it.
” Colin pressed his son, his expression kind and caring, but his eyes sparkled with his amusement at his son’s discomfort. Bréagha grinned. She liked Colin.
“Back to the animal soul thing though. Will someone explain? Since it seems that one, isn’t going to,” said Aiden as he threw a thumb in Killian’s direction.
“Okay, so a Sentinel is the protector of the Garden, and all its inhabitants. We also help keep the balance of light and dark across the realms.” He paused when Bréagha raised her hand.
“The light and dark? Like good and evil? Or like this realm has too much sun?” she asked to clarify.
“Good and evil,” Colin said. Drago waited for Bréagha to nod before continuing.
“We do this by joining forces with the different realms and fighting evil forces when needed. We don’t interfere with silly squabbles, for instance your Revolutionary War.
That was two nations fighting, one for their freedom like a teenager and one for continued control like a bad parent.
Neither side was evil, so we didn’t intervene.
However, Adolf Hitler? Yeah, pure evil. We sent Sentinels in to make sure the right side won.
” Drago paused to make sure Bréagha and Aiden didn’t have any further questions.
They both gave him a nod, so he continued.
“To be able to fulfill our duties, it’s often beneficial to have better hearing, greater strength, or the ability to run faster and climb higher.
To give us those extra abilities, each Sentinel goes through a Soulbinding when they come of age, usually around twelve years old. During the ceremony, a Sentinel's soul is bound to the soul of a worthy animal.
Before its death, that animal proved itself a warrior. Afterward, its spirit travels to the Spirit Wild, where it waits to be chosen and soul-bonded to a Sentinel.
Once the Soulbinding is complete, we can call upon our animal when needed. They lend us their skills and instincts, helping us succeed in whatever mission lies before us.”
“Wait, so you can turn into a wolf? Like a werewolf?” Bréagha interrupted; her voice filled with excited terror at the thought. Drago chuckled and shook his head, which made Bréagha frown, only making him laugh out loud at the disgruntled look.
“No, to my knowledge werewolves aren’t a thing.
We don’t transition into animals. After the Soulbinding, we can call for our animals’ help when needed.
Like turning on a light switch and then when we no longer require it, we can ask them to turn it off again.
We can call their spirit into our space, so us and other Sentinels can see them but those of other realms can’t, since it would startle them. ”
“Can we see yours?” Bréagha asked, equal parts intrigued and skeptical. She was done learning for the moment. Her brain felt ready to short-circuit.
Drago walked a little bit away from the group, closed his eyes and mumbled a word.
They all waited a few seconds then the library doors swung open, and a transparent white wolf came flying around the corner to stand at his side.
The wolf leaned against his Sentinel and Drago’s eyes flashed from his pretty hazel to a vibrant amber just like the wolf standing next to him.
Bréagha clapped her hands and jumped up and down like a kindergartner on her way to a field trip to the candy store.
“Omg that is awesome! Aren’t you a gorgeous puppy!
” The wolf grinned at Bréagha, his tongue lolling out one side of his mouth.
He reared his head back and howled. Drago grimaced like it was loud, but the rest of the room’s inhabitants only heard a faint ghost howl.
“Can I touch him? Or can only the person bonded to him, touch him?” Bréagha asked as she edged closer.
The elders exchanged amused glances, but before anyone could answer, the wolf jumped over the chair between him and Bréagha, then nudged her.
She laughed, kneeling and throwing her arms around the wolf’s neck.
He licked the side of her face, making her giggle more.
Suddenly, the transparent wolf became solid.
Everyone in the room gasped and stepped back.
Bréagha and the wolf didn’t notice as they shared a moment.
Bréagha wiped the slobber from the wolf’s tongue off her face, then gave the wolf a kiss of her own.
She ruffled his ears before standing back up.
As soon as she stepped away, the wolf turned transparent again, before he disappeared altogether.
“If we’re Sentinels, do Aiden and I get one?” Bréagha asked, still unaware of what had happened. The elders all looked at each other, astounded. Silently, they agreed not to say anything until they figured out what had happened.
“Um, yes. You and Aiden will go through the Soulbinding and hopefully an animal soul will bond with you. We’ve never had someone go through it as an adult, but it shouldn’t be much different,” Colin spoke when no one else did.
He was shaken by what had happened. He had been around for hundreds of years and never had he seen an animal soul regain their full physical body like that.
They were pure soul magic, the purest form of magic the Garden had within its walls, but they’d never been strong enough to appear like they had when alive.
“Awesome! When can we do it?” Aiden was watching the elders and the other Sentinels closely, knowing something had happened but not knowing what to make of their reaction to it.
Bréagha was vibrating with excitement next to him and he didn’t want to dim her joy, but something had happened. Good or bad he couldn’t decide.
“We’ll need to prepare, but all Soulbindings happen at sunset.
We should be able to do it this evening,” answered Donegal from his place on the couch.
Isadora nodded and smiled at Bréagha’s whoop of excitement.
The girl may be an adult, but her enthusiasm was the same as that of any twelve-year-old who went through the Soulbinding.
“Then, that’s what we’ll do. Let’s let the two new Sentinels rest and explore a bit more.
Then we’ll meet up at the Spirit Grove at sunset.
Killian, I trust you can make sure they make it?
” Marcus looked at Killian, who had a bewildered look on his face.
When their eyes met, Marcus arched his eyebrow in question.
Killian stared at him for a minute before Liam elbowing him sent him into action.
“Um, yes. Yes, sir, we’ll have them at the Spirit Grove at sunset.
No problem.” Marcus was certain that Bréagha was all kinds of complicated and would undoubtedly give Killian some problems, but he had faith in the leader of the elite Sentinel team.
He nodded, then held his hand out for Lily, who took it, before leading her towards the stacks of books. They had some research to do.