Chapter Sixteen
When Bréagha opened her eyes again, the sun was setting, its dying light shining softly behind the curtains she hadn’t had the energy to close before she passed out. She stretched and winced at the slight soreness in her shoulder and right hand from the hours she had spent shooting arrows.
“Why didn’t we think of huge bonfires earlier in the battle?
Dumbasses.” She grumbled to herself as she rolled slowly out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.
She heard a light rustling sound and then a chirp before Sperwa flew into the bathroom and landed on the edge of her tub.
“Ready to get something to eat? I bet Stephen has something yummy for us. I’m going to take a quick shower and then we can head over there,” said Bréagha as she moved to turn the water on.
Sperwa flew out, and sat in the window seat, watching the meadow go from golden hour glow to twilight as Bréagha let the hot water massage her sore muscles.
Once the water started to cool, she turned it off and climbed out, then quickly dried off.
She brushed her wet hair quickly then re-braided it; she found it was the easiest way of keeping her unruly auburn hair under control.
She changed into a fresh pair of jeans, and a black graphic tee with a red dragon that said, “Don’t mess with dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
” She figured the guys would get a kick out of it, then threw a blue and red plaid shirt over everything as she walked down the steps to the front door.
As she reached it, throwing it open, Killian and his team were stepping up on the porch, his hand raised to knock.
They both paused and she watched as he read her shirt.
He rolled his eyes, and she grinned as Sperwa flew out of the cottage and landed on her shoulder.
“We’re all headed down to Stephen’s deli, thought you might be ready for some dinner,” said Cathal as he too grinned at her shirt.
“Actually, I was thinking of going somewhere else.” Aiden popped up next to Bréagha and she yelped, causing Sperwa to send a small flame his way again. “Bréagha! Keep that damn sparrow from torching your best friend!”
“No touchie, my Soul-bonded!”
They all watched as Sperwa chased Aiden across the clearing, him yelling for someone to save him.
Even his tiger was sitting still and watching him.
Bréagha could’ve sworn Makani even inspected his claws nonchalantly while his soul-bonded yelled for help.
Aiden came back and used Bréagha for a shield who was giggling too much to be of any help.
“Bréagha!”
“Okay, fine, fine. Sperwa, leave him alone! He doesn’t mean any harm.
He’s just too dumb to realize how offensive he is.
” Sperwa, who had grown into the size of an eagle, shrank back into her default size of a sparrow and settled on Bréagha’s shoulders, cleaning her feathers.
Aiden was bent over, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
“That bird is a menace,” gasped Aiden.
“Soul-bonded, as much as we enjoyed what just happened. Maybe don’t antagonize the very thing that just chased you like a little school girl?” Bréagha giggled at Makani who was side-eying Aiden.
Before any more antics could occur, a pink portal sprang into the space beside Bréagha’s door. They all turned to see Drago, Colin, Marcus, Donegal, and Roz step out. Roz walked over to stand next to Bréagha, reaching out to stroke Sperwa’s feathers, making the bird preen under the attention.
“Roz, could you pull us up some chairs?” Roz waved her hand toward where Killian’s team stood and a fire pit with cushioned benches popped up.
She tilted her head and waved her hand again, making the benches a series of porch swings in a circle around the firepit that had fairy lights wrapped around the supports. Bréagha clapped.
“That is awesome Roz!” Roz grinned and looked proud of herself as Sperwa flew into the center and lit the firepit.
“I found it on that app you showed me, Pinterest.” Bréagha giggled as Aiden face-palmed and groaned.
Killian and the elders stood looking at the swings incredulously, but Cathal and Liam had no compunction about grabbing one and starting to swing.
Donegal clapped his hands and grabbed one of the other swings, pushing off with his feet and grinning.
Drago and Colin grabbed another one and joined in on the fun for a few moments.
Then they remembered why they were there and put their feet down to stop the movement.
“Roz, this is...well this is something. Thank you. Everyone, take a seat, please. We wanted to discuss what happened last night and see if you noticed some of the things we did, when compiling reports.” Colin waved everyone to grab a swing.
All the Sentinels grabbed one, their familiars arranging themselves between their soul-bonded and the fire pit. “Roz, can you go get Jaxx’s team too?”
Roz popped out with a flash of pink and then a few seconds later another pink portal opened beside the firepit, and Jaxx’s team stepped through behind Roz, minus Jaxx’s dragon who they saw flying over the trees, landing beside Killian’s across the clearing.
Roz waved her hand again, this time at the seats surrounding the fire, expanding the circle and making Liam and Cathal yelp as their porch swing slid aside to make room for the other team.
Roz giggled as she came to claim her seat next to Bréagha, who gave her a fist bump.
Colin and Drago chuckled, then Drago stood up, once everyone was settled.
“Okay, after reviewing some of the data compiled through the Record Keepers as well as the debriefs from team leaders, we realized a few things. It seems like these shadows were greater in number and more intelligent. Would you all find that fair?”
“Yes sir. We were actually going to mention that when we came and saw you this morning, but some of our team...” Killian paused to glance at Bracken who grinned unrepentant from his swing. “...fell asleep and we had to cut our meeting short.”
“We figured that’s what happened. You all seemed unusually tired after the battle.” Colin spoke up from his swing.
“The official record for the battle said they had used a gate rammer that was on fire, which is unusual for them since light dissipates shadows.” Marcus spoke up from his seat next to Donegal, who was still enjoying the swinging feature of his seat.
Marcus glanced at him and gave him a fierce look, but Donegal just grinned and pushed the swing with his feet again.
“Are we thinking there was something going on with these shadows?” Killian leaned forward, his feet solidly on the ground so that his swing stayed put.
“Lily found a few passages in an ancient scroll that makes us think that we need to prepare for the end game,” admitted Marcus.
“The big bad?” Killian asked and Marcus nodded. “Worse than anything else we’ve seen?”
“I’m afraid so, yes. From what was in the passages I read, there was a Sentinel, Colin will recognize the name, Lucien Vaelor.” Marcus watched Colin carefully when he said the name. The Sentinel Elder’s eyes widened in shock, and he looked startled.
“Lucien,” whispered Colin, almost afraid to actually say his name.
“Who’s Lucien Vaelor?” inquired Killian as he too took note of his father’s reaction.
It took Colin a few moments before he spoke.
“Several hundred years ago Lucien was a Sentinel. He was my younger brother. He went through the Soulbinding, just the same as all of us did, but something went wrong.” He looked over at Donegal helplessly, asking silently for him to continue.
The Soul Keeper Elder stopped swinging when he heard the name and stood when he realized Colin was struggling.
He stepped forward to recall the event, stepping closer to the fire as if he was cold.
“We had about five Sentinels doing their Soulbinding that day and everything was going fine until it was Lucien’s turn.
” He paused and looked up towards the sky.
“This was before Isadora or I became elders, but we were both there to witness the ceremony. Lucien was the last one to go under the arch. He entered the fog just like everyone else that day, but a few moments later the fog turned black momentarily. When it cleared, he was gone.”
“What do you mean he was gone?” This came from Jaxx from his seat next to his brother.
“Just that. He was gone. Like he had never been there.” Donegal stated.
“I pulled his record at the time, when the Soul Keepers came to tell us what happened. His book just ended. Roz…” Before he finished his request Roz popped out with a pink flash and returned a few seconds later with Lily in tow who already had a book in her hands, opened to the last page.
“The fog enveloped his body and…” They all waited for her to continue but she shut the book and looked up. “That’s it. Literally the last words ever written in his book.”
“How is that possible?” Killian asked, a confused frown on his face.
“We didn’t know then and we still don’t fully understand now,” answered Marcus.
He turned to Bréagha. “I know Lily explained the books and how every soul has one. When they’re alive, everything that happens in their life is written in the book and their name is on the spine.
” Lily showed Bréagha the side of the book she held, that did indeed have Lucien’s name on it.
“While the soul is alive in any of the realms, the letters on the spine have a steady glow. When they pass, the letters go dark like any other book you would read.” He paused to make sure she was following so she nodded.
“I remember when it happened and I found his book right away, his letters were intermittently dark and then glowing, like a lightbulb that was getting ready to go out. I checked daily to see if anything else was written but it never did so we thought something had happened and he became lost.”
“Has that ever happened before?” Bréagha asked.
“No. The only other time things didn’t go exactly the way it always has, was when you went up in flames.” Marcus answered, glancing over at Sperwa who was resting on the support above Bréagha’s swing.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” She said into all their minds, but something in her voice said she wasn’t too sorry.
“What does all this mean though?” Bréagha asked.
“The scroll we found speaks of this event being connected to what they call the Ultimate Guardian and a team of Guardians; one from each world, whose union will put an end to the shadows and their Shadow Guardian for good,” answered Lily, pulling the scroll out from a bag that Bréagha hadn’t noticed until then.
She rolled it out until she found what she was looking for.
When a fallen Sentinel walks the realms with darkness where light once lived,
When spirit grows heavy beneath the gathering shadows.
The Garden will tremble with its awakening,
The Loyal Protector rises,
The Wild Heart of Life stirs,
The Stillness of Winter stands unbroken,
The Sacred Flame shines with radiance,
The Restless Tides rise in defiance,
The Endless Horizon calls the gathering
Then beyond the veil, The Reckoning waits.