The Ambrose Beacon

by Alena Gouveia

  Turn the page for a sneak preview of

  The Druids of Kalispell

  Book Two of The Solas Prophecy

  Available December 2013

  Denver, June 1st

  Airmed walked along the Sixteenth Street mall, the sound of her high-heeled boots pounding the pavement seeming loud in the relative silence that descended upon the city late at night. The mall was where a former elevated viaduct had run through the city. It had been converted to a pedestrian shopping district as part of an urban renewal project twenty years before, and had become popular with tourists and residents alike. During the day, it was a bustling center of downtown activity, supporting numerous shops and restaurants, and adding to the vitality of an already vital city. But late at night, it regained some of the seediness that had made it infamous in its former life.

  She wasn’t alone on the mall that night; homeless people occupied most of the alcoves that fronted the shops. And she spotted at least one other person walking on each block that she crossed. Some of these people were restaurant workers heading home after their night shift, but Airmed knew that some of the others had more sinister reasons for being there. They were easy to spot – they walked with confidence and had the look of hunters seeking prey. The workers heading home avoided them, walking quickly and looking down at the ground the entire time. It reminded her of the way people walked in New York and seemed out of place in the friendly city of Denver.

  But the hunters avoided her completely. She had a purpose for being there, and did not stop or slow for anything, even though she saw and heard everything around her. And though it was unintentional, she had an aura of danger about her that made it clear she was not to be trifled with. She was very tall for a woman, even for a woman of the Aes Sidhe – well over six feet tall. She moved with the grace of her people, and with the confidence of a woman who had lived for a very long time. It made people want to avoid her in spite of her beauty. She looked like a model or a movie star as she strode down the sidewalk in jeans, a t-shirt and light jacket. People looked at her in admiration, but nothing more. They made no attempt to speak to her and only gave her furtive looks of admiration as she passed. And yet she knew that she was being followed.

  The footsteps behind her had closed to within a few yards, though they had been following her for at least three blocks. When the sound of the footsteps had closed to within a few feet, Airmed spun and faced her stalker.

  “Why are you following me?” she angrily asked the smiling man behind her. “You know it looks very suspicious. Someone is likely to call the police and you’re not much use to me if you’re in jail.”

  “Why are you so upset?” the man answered while grinning mischievously. “You knew it was me.”

  “Of course I knew it was you, Liam,” Airmed said with exasperation. “My point is it draws too much attention. Besides, you’re supposed to be watching that apartment building like I asked you to.”

  Liam was nearly as tall as she was which made him of average height for an Aes Sidhe male. He had slightly curling blond hair that he kept short, with brown eyes that were so light that their color was closer to yellow. His black leather jacket was fitted, showing broad shoulders with a narrow waist. He wore jeans and beautifully-made black dress shoes. He looked like someone who had stepped out of one of the humans’ fashion magazines, and Airmed knew why he had the effect on human women that he did. He was very attractive, even for an Aes Sidhe. He put his hands in his pockets in a convincing human gesture as he spoke.

  “I watched it for over an hour and nothing happened,” he answered petulantly. Sometimes, he reminded Airmed of a child, even though he was nearly as old as she was. “I thought I’d come see what you were up to,” he explained. “Who are we following?”

  “We are not following anyone,” Airmed answered more harshly than she intended. Her tone softened as she explained, “I’m sorry, Liam. But it will be suspicious if there are two of us. It’s just a hunch I have, and it’s probably nothing. Please go back to your post at the apartment building and I’ll call if I need help.”

  “That sounds a little dangerous, Airmed,” Liam said as his smile finally faded. “What if you need backup?”

  He used the human law enforcement term so casually that it almost sounded natural coming from him. Liam had embraced human culture completely from the day their people had arrived on this world. He found it fascinating and made it a point to be able to blend in wherever he was. The fact that he tried so hard to blend in with humans seemed rather contradictory to Airmed, since Liam’s very appearance made him unforgettable to them. He was about as unnoticeable as a swan in a flock of geese.

  “I appreciate your concern,” Airmed answered. “But I am more than capable of handling myself against the occasional mugger.”

  “That’s not what I mean,” Liam said more sternly. “I’ve felt the presence of them in this city. And if we know they’re here, it’s likely that they’ve sensed us too.”

  He didn’t have to explain who he meant by them. Airmed had felt the presence of their ancient enemy just as Liam had, but they had no way of knowing where in the city they were or even how many of the creatures there were. She was a warrior, as all of the Fairtheoiri were. But she knew how dangerous the things the humans called demons were. If she were to be caught alone by them, she could be in serious trouble. But she didn’t like the idea of her quarry realizing they were being followed, either.

  “If I see any signs of trouble, I promise that I’ll call you,” she finally said with resignation. “These weren’t demons I was following; they were human. But something about the way they looked at me…it seemed like they knew what I was. I don’t know what it means, but I intend to find out.”

  “Okay,” Liam agreed after looking at her in silence for a moment. “As long as you promise to call me the second there are any signs of trouble.”

  Airmed shook her head and rolled her eyes as she said, “I’m not going to swear in blood if that’s what you’re asking, but yes I promise to call you.”

  Liam nodded and then added with concern in his eyes, “Be careful.”

  Airmed didn’t respond – she just nodded. He had always been protective of her, even before her husband, who had been Liam’s older brother, had been killed thousands of years before. Lucas had been killed protecting the last Solas, and Airmed had never fully recovered. She had refused to take another mate, as was common with her people after such a loss. And she had become more and more solemn, though she had resolutely continued her role as a Sentinel in the hope that her husband’s life would not have been given in vain.

  She watched as Liam turned around and walked away, disappearing behind a corner at the end of the block. Pushing thoughts of Lucas away from her mind, she refocused it on what had piqued her interest to begin with. A group of three humans had walked past her as she had returned from the convenience store with coffee for her and Liam. She wouldn’t have noticed them under normal circumstances, as there was nothing remarkable about any of them. They looked like three friends walking through the city after leaving one of the local bars. There was one woman and two men and as she had walked past them, Airmed had noticed them staring at her. She was used to humans staring – they found her extremely attractive, as they found all of her people to be. But the looks she had received hadn’t been mere looks of admiration. They had looked at her as if they had known her. There had been a moment of surprised recognition before all three of them had looked away. When Airmed had turned around, she had caught the woman staring back at her. She had quickly looked away after meeting Airmed’s gaze, but in that brief moment of eye contact Airmed had seen a look of pure hatred in the woman’s eyes.

  She had decided to follow the humans immediately, and had thrown the coffees she had bought in the trash can before following at a distance that she hoped wouldn’t arouse their suspicions. When Liam had caught up to her on the mal
l, she had seen the three humans duck into the lobby of one of the larger buildings along it, one that had several shops in its lobby that were closed due to the late hour. She recognized the building and knew that there were entrances on two other sides of the building. She hoped that they hadn’t used one to exit the building and lose her. But there was only one way to find out.

  As she looked around her at the nearly-deserted city, she wished that she had brought her staff with her. But she also knew that a woman carrying a large stick as she walked through the city at night would have drawn too much attention. But it was too late - there was nothing to be done about it. She walked up to the front entrance of the building and looked inside to search for signs of the humans. There were none. She opened the door and walked inside to find the building completely deserted.

  Airmed walked over to the left of the lobby and down one of the hallways that she knew led to another of the lobby entrances. She didn’t expect to find anything, having accepted the fact that she had lost them. But as she approached the door, she saw the female member of the trio staring at her from the other side of the glass door leading outside. Her expression was neutral, but the same look of hatred was in her eyes as she stared back at Airmed. The woman waited for a moment, and then slowly turned around and hurried down the staircase leading to the street.

  All of Airmed’s instincts told her she was being baited and probably being led into a trap, but her mild curiosity about the humans had now become a full-blown interest. She wanted to know why they had seemed to recognize her and what their interest in her was. She hurried to the door and outside, then down the stairs to the street. As she reached the bottom of the staircase, she spotted the woman heading north on Arapahoe street. She quickened her pace, hoping to catch the woman before she disappeared. The woman turned off the street past the next intersection, and Airmed jogged to catch her.

  When she reached the place where the woman had turned, Airmed found an empty alley between the buildings. It led back several yards before a wall blocked it off completely - it was a dead end. She walked halfway down the alley, looking for any sign of the woman or her companions. But there was no one in sight. She searched for any open doors, thinking that they had used one to escape. But the few doors that opened onto the alley were all shut, and none of them had handles on the outside. She walked over to the end of the alley to ensure that none of the shadows near the wall at its end hid the humans, but she found nothing. She had the strangest feeling that she was being watched, and her instincts were screaming for her to get out of the alley as quickly as she could. But she pushed both feelings aside and attributed them to paranoia.

  Airmed swore softly in frustration as she turned around and headed back down the alley, and toward the street beyond. She had taken no more than a few steps when something seized her by the waist and yanked her backward, pulling her so quickly that her long black hair flew in front of her face. She slammed into the wall at the back of the alley with such force that the breath was forced from her lungs and she nearly blacked out. Before she could recover, something seized both of her wrists and pulled them against the wall, scraping the skin on her knuckles painfully.

  “You shouldn’t follow people, you know,” a female voice came from the darkness. “They might wonder what your intentions are.”

  Airmed looked up and saw the woman she had seen earlier step out of the shadows. She was shocked to realize that the woman had actually stepped out of the shadow and hadn’t merely been hiding in it. And she realized that she had walked into a trap. The two men she had seen with the woman stepped out of the same shadow and Airmed exhaled in frustration when she saw that they both carried swords. She knew now that the three had been baiting her, and she had let them lead her into a place where they could ambush her. But she wasn’t entirely helpless.

  She let her magic fill her body and opened her mouth to utter the words that would unleash it on the unsuspecting humans. But before the words could leave her lips, the woman gestured and something flew at Airmed’s mouth. It slapped against her mouth, covering it completely and rendering her speechless. What had been mere irritation at being duped by the humans quickly grew into fear. She had no weapon, had been restrained, and now no longer had the use of her magic. She was helpless. She wished suddenly that she had let Liam come with her, though the logical side of her knew that he would only have been trapped with her.

  The woman wagged her finger at Airmed as she walked to within a few feet of where she was held against the wall. “We can’t have you using your magic,” she said with a wicked smile. “That wouldn’t be fair, now would it?” She closed to within a few inches of Airmed’s face and then carefully brushed the hair back from the Aes Sidhe’s face. “The others were right about your kind. You are beautiful, even more so than I imagined.” Her face twisted as she shoved Airmed’s face to the side. “But I know what you really are. You’re an infection in our world. And we…are the cure.”

  Airmed watched in resigned dread as the woman pulled a long silver dagger from the inside of her jacket and held it up. It glinted wickedly in the night, and Airmed could feel that this was no normal dagger. It had been enchanted. And though she couldn’t guess the nature of the enchantment, she was sure that it was something that would only prolong her suffering. She wanted to say something to the woman – something defiant, but her mouth was still covered and all she could manage was a growl that crept from the back of her throat as her eyes flashed dangerously. The woman looked uncertain for a moment, and looked back at her companions for reassurance. Both of them nodded at her, raising their swords slightly in support. She nodded back once and then turned to face Airmed again.

  “It’s a pity your friend isn’t here with you,” she said with a sneer of contempt. “He could have joined you in hell. But don’t you worry, we’ll catch him too. We’ll catch all of you and send you where you all belong.”

  She raised the dagger, and Airmed wanted to close her eyes. Her long life was about to come to an end, and she had failed in her quest for revenge against the creatures who had taken Lucas from her. She had ignored signs that she was walking into danger, and had fallen into a trap. But there was one thought that gave her solace. After such a long time spent without him, she was about to rejoin her husband. And she refused to look away as the woman smiled slightly in evil anticipation. Airmed stared directly into her eyes.

  “No need for pity…” a man’s voice reached Airmed at the end of the alley. “…or for waiting. I’ve saved you the trouble!”

  Airmed recognized the voice of Liam a split-second before she saw him at the end of the alley. His arm shot forward as the woman with the dagger turned around in surprise. She barely managed to raise her arm before something struck her, throwing her to the side as the dagger in her hands clattered to the cement. As soon as the woman hit the ground, Airmed felt the bonds holding her release. Liam sprinted down the alley and then shouted her name as he threw something at her. Airmed snatched the object from the air, feeling the satisfying weight of her black oak staff as she used it to channel her magic.

  The two human men turned to face Liam with their swords raised as he charged at them, but Airmed’s attention was focused on the woman. Liam could handle himself, and Airmed had sensed powerful magic coming from the woman, which meant that it was up to Airmed to defeat her. But there was more to it – Airmed didn’t like anyone gaining the upper hand on her, and this woman had. It was time to repay the favor.

  The woman’s arm shot upward as she lay on the ground, and a stream of fire flew from it and straight at Airmed. The black oak staff flew up to meet the flame, sending tongues of fire flying along its length before they dissipated completely. Airmed was surprised by the strength of the attack and realized that she had underestimated the human’s magical prowess. She allowed the force of her magic to gather at the end of her staff, and then raised it over her head before b
ringing it crashing to the ground. A wave of force erupted from the staff as it struck the cement, sending sprays of rock flying through the air and lifting the woman from the ground, throwing her back several feet and into the building that made up one side of the alley.

  The woman staggered to her feet and then raised her arms defiantly. As Airmed watched, the shadows around the alley grew and moved toward where her. The woman was powerful indeed, but Airmed had been fighting and using magic for more than ten thousand years. The woman’s magic had no skill behind its use, only raw power. The shadows moved toward Airmed, surrounding her as if to engulf her. She focused her mind and willed the magic to do her bidding, readying her defense. As Airmed held her black oak staff aloft, a bright light burst forth. She saw the woman shield her eyes as its brightness hit every nook and corner of the alley, dispelling the shadows completely.

  When Airmed lowered her staff, there was no sign of the shadows that had moved to ensnare her. Only the shadows that were naturally cast by the lights of the city remained. The woman looked at her with uncertainty for a second and Airmed could see the fear in her eyes. Finally she stood up straight and whispered something in a language that Airmed did not recognize. And then she disappeared completely.

  Airmed reached out with her senses to be sure that the woman wasn’t merely cloaking herself, but she could no longer feel the presence of the woman at all. With her enemy driven off, Airmed looked over to see if Liam needed help, though she was sure she knew the answer even as she turned her head.

  Liam stood over the body of one of her other assailants, his sword smeared with blood and his eyes blazing with fury. The body of the second man lay a few feet away and neither of them was moving. Liam looked like some kind of avenging angel, standing over the bodies of his enemies as an aura of danger surrounded him. But when his eyes landed on her, they softened immediately.

  “They were skilled,” Liam said as he looked back at her, his voice sounding surprised. “Far more skilled than I would have guessed.”

  Airmed tilted her head as she observed, “And yet you defeated both of them in the time that it took me to drive off their companion.”

  Liam smiled as he answered, “I didn’t say they were more skilled than I was, just more than I expected.” He leaned down and wiped his sword on one of the men’s jackets and then placed it in its scabbard. “Who were they, Airmed?” he asked. “And why did they ambush you like that.”

  Airmed thought for a moment before responding, “My guess is that they ambushed me because I was following them.” She remembered then what the woman had said to her just before Liam had appeared. “The woman said something about me being an infection…and that she was the cure.”

  “Huh,” Liam answered simply. “Well, I guess we can safely say that they’re not from the Denver visitor’s bureau.” He leaned down and inspected the jacket of the man near him, but didn’t seem to find anything in the pockets. But as he pulled away, something seemed to catch his eye. He leaned down again and pushed the hair back from the man’s left ear. “Airmed, come look at this,” he said softly.

  Airmed tensed slightly as she heard the tone in his voice. It sounded like he had found something troubling. She walked over to where he stood, and kneeled down to see what he had seen. Behind the man’s left ear was something that seemed eerily familiar. A tattoo in the shape of a wolf was there, and its shape – even the pose of the wolf itself were nearly identical to the shape of the griffin tattoo that she and Liam had behind their right ear. The one major difference that she saw was that the wolf faced forward, where the griffin tattoo of the Fairtheoiri faced backwards. The griffin was the protector of life, and the tattoo faced the part of the body that needed protecting the most. The strange wolf tattoo seemed to face forward in aggression, as if it was seeking a fight.

  “I don’t understand,” she said as she looked over at Liam.

  “This one has it too,” he said as he inspected behind the second man’s ear. “And I’d be willing to bet my sword that that woman had one too.”

  Airmed nodded slowly before saying, “But I don’t understand what it means. You don’t think they were Sentinels do you?” They both remembered when there had been human members of their organization, but neither of them had seen or heard from any in over a thousand years. And their tattoos had been identical to the Aes Sidhe Sentinels – griffins behind the right ear that faced backwards.

  She shook her head, answering her own question. “If they were, they would have known who we were. Why attack us? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “None of this makes sense,” Liam said as he stood up. He seemed to think of something then. “These tattoos are behind their left ears,” he said. “Do you think that means something?”

  “We need to find the others,” she said as she looked down at the dead man’s staring eyes. No matter how many times she had seen it, she still hated seeing the face of death. “Maybe one of them has some insight into this.”

  Liam nodded before kneeling down and placing his hand on the back of the man near him. The man’s body glowed briefly before disappearing completely. Airmed did the same thing to the man near her, and with the exception of the twin pools of blood that remained on the cement, everything looked normal again in the alley.

  “Any sign of Arianna?” Airmed asked Liam as they walked back out to the street. They had been trying to track their former companion for nearly fifteen years and her trail, though it had grown cold, had led them to Denver.

  Liam shook his head as he focused on the shape of his sword for a moment. It shifted slightly before it became a rolled up yoga mat, which he slung over one shoulder. Airmed did the same with her staff, but couldn’t do much about its size. Instead of the intricately carved, black oak staff that had been there a moment before, she now carried a simple wooden stick. They started to stroll down the street, heading back to the apartment building where she had left Liam less than an hour before. From there, they would get their car and head to a hotel for some rest. They didn’t sleep as humans did, but simply being able to relax had a similar restorative effect. And after Airmed’s brush with death, she could definitely use the restoration.

  “Do you think she’s still alive?” Liam asked hesitantly after they had walked a few blocks. “I mean, you don’t think she’s been killed?” The concern in his voice was palpable. Both Liam and Airmed had been close friends of Arianna, and neither of them liked to think that she had come to harm.

  Airmed shook her head as she answered, “No, I don’t think the demons would have been able to find her. And if they did, she would have merely disappeared again.” Arianna had always been the most capable of any of them, and would have been nearly impossible to find if she didn’t want to be found. Airmed and Liam knew that as well as anyone, having searched for her for so many years and barely finding a trace of her.

  “Do you think it’s true?” Liam asked after they had crossed another block. “Do you really think that the Solas has been born again?”

  Airmed was quiet as they walked down the sidewalk together. She felt him look over at her and knew he was wondering if she had heard him. “I don’t know, Liam,” Airmed finally answered. “But if there was anything that would make Arianna disappear like she did, it would certainly be the birth of the Solas. I suppose that she found the child, and knew about some of the others being betrayed and found. She would wisely have kept the secret of the Solas’ location to herself until she knew she could safely contact us.”

  “It’s starting all over again, then,” Liam said softly as he stared straight ahead.

  Airmed didn’t say anything in response, but she had heard the uncertainty in Liam’s voice. He knew as well as she did what had happened the last time a Solas had been born. They had lost many who had been dear to them while defending the child, not the least of which had been her husband. She whispered a silent prayer to gods that she had left
behind when they had come to this world, though a part of her still hoped they listened. She prayed that if the Solas had been born again, that this time things would be different; that this time they would not face such terrible losses.

  About the Author

  Alena Gouveia lives in Denver, Colorado with his husband Luis and their three dogs. He was born and raised in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. Foolishly fleeing the sunny paradise of his island home, he eventually landed in Colorado, and realized that paradise comes in many forms. He began writing as a way to pass the time and soon realized that it was his true passion. Alena loves to hear from his readers and welcomes you to contact him at alenagouveia.com. He also thanks you for reading The Ambrose Beacon and hopes that you’ll stay with him throughout the entire story of The Solas Prophecy.