by Olivia Ali
"So could Dante be spliesed?"
"It's possible. I mean if I were Hagen and my brother had just been murdered, I would definitely be placing magical wards to prevent people from using Glyphs within my premises. He may have gone there to see Felix, got caught, tried to portal out and ended up someplace else."
"We need to do something Zhaine. We need to hit that place tonight! It Dante is there and in trouble, there is no time to waste."
"So where do start?"
"First, we need to tell Nielson who Dante really is but Basso can't know. Dante doesn't trust him and strictly speaking neither do I." Zhaine pulled a face but he did not question his brother, he knew better than that especially with that mark now on his palm.
"Well that should be simple enough considering I know for a fact that Basso is in the street right now throwing up outside that old tavern. I saw him there myself just now."
"Well that's perfect. My guess is Nielson is reminiscing with Merlin down in the foyer over a brandy or two."
Zhaine nodded and together they headed down the stairs towards the foyer where they hoped they would find Nielson and Merlin. Nerves began to brew within Zhaine, he had not seen his father in just over three years and the fact that he had no idea where his brother was made him even more nervous about facing him. Not to mention the fact that he would have to explain why in the month he had been back he had not come to find him sooner. Sure enough though Tristan was right and Nielson and Merlin were exactly where he said they'd be sharing a decanter of brandy as they laughed over old times. He looked back at Zhaine and he lingered where he stood, just out of sight from his father and the old man. Taking a big sigh, Tristan paced briskly towards the table and both the men clapped eyes on his serious face, their laughter halting immediately.
"Tristan," Nielson addressed. "What are you still doing up?"
"I couldn't sleep!" Tristan answered, he was half being honest. "Actually I have something to show the both of you."
He rose his voice a little louder towards the end as though to signal to Zhaine to come out. When he didn't appear Tristan sighed heavily as though he should have expected him to do something like this. Merlin and Nielson looked from one to the other wondering what was going on.
"Don't mess around now you idiot," Tristan yelled, clearly getting impatient. His mood wasn't helped by the snigger of laughter that sounded from around the corner, catching both the old men’s eyes as they glared at where Zhaine was hiding.
Once the moment had passed, Zhaine stepped out and came face to face with his father who rose to his feet the moment he lay eyes on him.
"Hello father," he said solemnly trying to avoid eye contact as though he were ashamed to be in his presence without his brother.
"My boy!" without even taking a moment to glance at Zhaine he pulled him into a heartfelt clinch, his closed eyes filling with tears. After so long of not seeing either of his sons, he was coming to terms with accepting that they may never come back. He had already lost one son, there was no way he could imagine getting over the loss of all three of them.
"I am so happy to see you," Nielson cajoled as the two break away.
"I'm sorry father, I do not know where Ramien is," Zhaine began to explain himself. "And yes, I've been back a while but I had no idea you were here..."
"None of that matters now. I am just happy you are safe, and here now. I'm sure Ramien will come back in his own time." Zhaine let a smile touch the edges of his lips, tears forming in his eyes; but he would not let them spill; he was too proud for that. With the family reunion over, Tristan needed to bring them back to what mattered - Dante. He knew the revelation would bring Nielson to the edge so a sensitive approach was needed because not only was one of his sons back in the world of light, so was his brother.
"I get the sense that Zhaine isn't your main reason for coming and finding us Tristan?" Merlin questioned - that old man was too wise for his own good sometimes.
"You would be right there Merlin, it's about Daxon." Tristan hinted, his eyes catching Merlin's who gave him a knowing look, nodding his head in approval of what he was about to do.
"What about him?" asked Nielson, returning to his seat as though he felt the need to.
"He's not who he says he is...who we say he is." Tristan signalled between himself and Merlin causing a stern look to echo from Nielson's old face at the deception he was dealt. "His name is Dante Ashdown."
"Impossible! How dare you disgrace his memory by..."
"Nielson, I'm telling the truth. He wanted to tell you but he was afraid you still hated him. Heck, he tried last week, but I walked in at the wrong moment. But I swear to you, I would not lie about this."
Nielson rose to his feet, turning his back on those around him as he tried to come to terms with what he had just heard. Could it be that his own brother by blood had been stood before him these past few months and he hadn't even realised? The truth was that part of him had realised the truth, the other part of him just hadn't wanted to believe it for fear of being right, for fear that he would have to face something he had been hiding from for so long. The truth was he was disgusted with himself for saying the things he did before Dante was banished - first and foremost they were brothers and you should never utter the words he had to family.
"I should've known who he was the moment I saw him but I doubted myself." Nielson sighed, his voice breaking. "After all, it's been so long I could've been wrong. But nothing's changed...he's still my brother and that's all that matters..."
"I'm sorry I never told you," Tristan consoled. "But it wasn't my place to tell no matter how much my loyalty should've been with you. And now the only reason I am telling you is because he is in trouble and I need your help."
“Trouble? What sort of trouble?"
"I'm not sure, I just know that he's in pain, a lot of pain."
"How?"
"I've seen it. Do you remember when I came to you as a Scribe and I showed you something that made me afraid I had done something? I showed you my mark of the Bearer of Secrets which it turns out Dante shares."
"How are you managing to tell me this?"
It was a good question, in fact even Tristan wasn't sure how himself. The marks that bound them to their Brotherhood usually prevented them from telling anything about Unity to others without the presence of each of his brothers from that generation. But then it had always been that way; right from the beginning the brothers had been able to reveal their secret without any detriment - perhaps it was because they were the last and therefore it didn't matter anymore if anybody knew who they were.
"How have I always been able to tell anyone who I am?" Tristan posed, Nielson nodding in truth. "I felt Dante's pain, I think this connects us.”
"We think that he went to see Felix."
"Felix? He's here?"
"Worse, Hagen has him, Tristan found out yesterday."
"And why am I only hearing of this now?"
"Because I thought you'd be ashamed," Tristan explained as Nielson inclined his head. "Of what I did to find that out."
"So you and Dante killed Boris?"
Tristan nodded, avoiding Nielson's gaze. Nielson had always seemed like a father figure to Tristan, especially at a time where his own had failed him in so many ways already. He always felt that he could come to him for anything, the fact that he had acted as the father of his own bride at their wedding had nothing to do with it. The last thing he would ever want to do is disappoint him, even before his own father.
"Well I guess someone had to put him out of his misery," Nielson sighed, a slight smile disgracing his mouth.
"I don't understand...I thought..." Tristan looked up at Nielson, his eyes filled with surprise.
"Well you named the man, what was I supposed to expect? Especially as Dante named him too once upon a time."
Tristan let a smile taint him, as he gasped in surprise at Nielson's reaction. Pushing that to the back of his mind though, he now had to focus on Dante and getting hi
m out of the estate - if their suspicions were correct that is.
"Speaking of Dante, what do you think has happened to my brother?" Nielson asked, fear filling his voice.
"I think he's spliesed himself," Zhaine interjected rather confidently.
"Spliesed?" Merlin definitely wasn't aware of the concept and his father shared the expression.
"You remember when we were banished by Charles and we tried to portal out of the Compound unaware he had placed wards so that we couldn't? We ended up only a few feet away from where we had disappeared in the first place and in a lot of pain. I think that Dante went to see Felix but got caught so tried to get out and ended up being spliesed."
"So if he was in the Estate, where is he now."
"Oh he's still there, I'm sure of it." Tristan asserted, eager to get moving now.
"So what's the plan?" queried Merlin, intrigue getting the better of him.
"Well we break in, save Dante and Myrina and potentially kill Hagen."
"Potentially?" questioned Basso as he stumbled into sight.
"Basso..." Zhaine rose to his feet.
"Hello old friend." The two smiled to one another briefly.
"How much did you hear?" Tristan asked, suddenly afraid of how long he had been standing there.
"Long enough to hear the plan."
"Then I guess we don't need to fill you in."
"Just tell me where you need me."
"In the dungeons. You and Zhaine; your job is to get Felix out." Basso and Zhaine nodded in approval of their role. "Nielson and Merlin, you'll need to be ready at the gate with the horses for our escape in case things get ugly. Try canvassing the building as well from there to figure out where exactly Daxon is. Then let whoever's closest know where to go." Again his suggestion was met with nodding. He hadn't thought this plan through fully, most of it was improvised in the moment so the amount of approval he was getting from the others was very reassuring.
"What about you?" asked Zhaine, half expecting an answer that made him out to be the main hero of the night.
"I'll be scaling the balcony and saving the princess."
"Should've known you'd say something like that." he sniggered childishly.
Chapter 42 - Into Darkness
Later that night, the air rang a coldness that bit sharp on the cheeks of the men as they stood and faced the Estate. It seemed to steady their postures as he straightened up, now was not a time for nerves. At this time of night, there wouldn't be a lot of guards around, none that were awake anyway - most would probably be sleeping at their posts. There weren't many lights on either. The only ones available to their sight were at the main entrance to the estate where two guards stood either side of the door, another pacing the entire grounds at a rather slow pace. Another light was lit in the balcony window above where Tristan knew Myrina's room to be. He wondered what she would be doing awake - perhaps Hagen was up there with her? He didn't want to think about that though, the man had always creeped him out in a sort of slimy way.
"Can you sense Daxon anywhere?" Tristan asked Nielson.
"I'm afraid I can't," Nielson replied sadly. He caught Tristan's eye as though he was disappointed that his own brother had warded himself so no Prodical could trace him. Or maybe just those who knew him.
"I may not sense any Keepers," Merlin interrupted, his grey eyes clouding as they searched every corner of the Estate visible to them. "But I do sense two people in the room above the entrance...the one with the balcony."
"Myrina and Hagen?"
"Yes, one of them is a woman but the man I sense is not powerful enough to be Hagen. I think they know that someone has broken in."
"Then we need to move quickly." Zhaine stammered, his heart racing as nerves seared through him. "Where's our entrance?"
"Well seeing as the map is with Daxon..." Tristan began but he was interrupted by Basso.
"What is he even doing in there?" He asked theoretically. "I mean what reason did he have to be there?"
"It was always our intention to bail Myrina out and kill Hagen," Tristan said truthfully. "He probably wanted to scope the place out a little."
"He obviously wasn't careful if he's been caught." Basso smirked as though he was glad Dante had slipped up.
It made Tristan uneasy and feel like he had seen that look before. It was a look that got off on his failure and short comings; a look that liked the fact that someone was suffering due to their own failings.
"Moving on!" Zhaine interjected, sighing heavily at the inappropriateness of Basso's comments. At his age, he should know better.
"From what I remember seeing on the map, there are two secret entrances." Tristan explained. "There's one near the kitchen entrance and another around the bushes somewhere but I can't remember where exactly. The best bet is the kitchens, an old furnace leads down to the dungeons but you're on your own from there."
"I think we can cope with that."
"You may need to come to terms with the fact that Felix may already be dead." Merlin suggested, his voice uneasy. "It worries me that I cannot sense someone as powerful as him, even if his location is underneath the compound itself. I, or Nielson for that matter, would still be able to sense him."
They all sighed heavily at the potential loss of their First Keeper and at the severity of the mission they were about to take on. Zhaine looked to Basso and the two nodded, readying themselves to climb the wall into the courtyard. Just as they did, a bright light shone out from the centre of the courtyard and they all stared in awe at its grandeur. The edges of the beam rippled as it flickered, shining so bright it could probably be seen from miles around. A glyph appeared in the mist of it; a glyph that marked the passing of only a Prodical.
"He's dead!" Nielson sighed, his voice cracking with grief. "Felix is dead!"
The five placed their hands over their hearts as a sign of respect to their former leader, the glyph beginning to fade now and taking the light with it. A single tear slipped from the eyes of each - this changed everything for Tristan and he damned Hagen for being the cause of yet another death in his life. Cursing the air, he swore then to leave Hagen in a way that meant death would be an easy escape.
"Justice will come my brother!" A voice whispered into his ear as his unknown follower made himself known once more. As the light faded, Basso looked to his comrades with a grave face.
"Now what," He asked, his voice as shaky as Nielson's had been.
A pain gripped Tristan's chest as though warning him of the pain that Dante was in, however something was different this time. It was like it was telling him that the pain was yet to come as opposed to it already happening. Was it possible his vision had been of what would happen? Either way he didn't have time to think about that, not know that they all looked to him for guidance.
"This changes nothing," Tristan started, his voice strong above his own mourning. "You retrieve Felix's body. You bring him back so we can bury him properly."
Zhaine and Basso nodded, and with the passing of the light they climbed the wall and began their mission. Tristan waited a while before following, wanting to give them a head-start in case there were more guards than anticipated. He began his climb, nodding to Nielson and Merlin as he disappeared over the other side, pulling himself into the bushes to find an access point to the balcony. The balcony which was attached to Myrina's room was part of a tower which rounded at the corner of the Estate. He imagined it was part of Hagen's plan to keep her from escaping especially after she had done so all too recently. There was no way he'd get to her in a conventional way, not without the map anyway. His eyes searched desperately before landing on a patch of ivy that rested on the tower. It was just short of the balcony but it looked like he might reach with a little stretch and a jump to get him onto it. Ducking down, he waiting for the pacing guard to disappear out of sight before sprinting for the ivy and making a successful grab to pull himself to security.
Once he was sure the guard was making another round, he began his clim
b at a steady pace, being careful not to rustle the leaves too much for fear of being detected. When he reached the end of his ascent, he stretched one hand towards the wall of the balcony and grabbed it tight. Letting go of the ivy slowly, he hung momentarily before swinging himself over the banister. Catching his breath, Tristan crept towards the glass doors that closed on Myrina's quarters. He couldn't see much, a thin veil rested on the other side of the glass making details impossible to see. What he could make out was a He squinted, just able to make out some shadows as a figure collapsed to the floor and what looked to be a woman racing over to it to. Tristan reached for the handle of the door and eased it open just enough that he could see the two people for who they were. Luckily the door wasn't locked and it moved with ease not making a single sound and allowing him to remain undetected. Peering through the gap, he could make out a few features of the figure who had fallen to the floor. He was also relieved to see that the woman was in fact Myrina.