by Deirdra Eden
“Lady Auriella, what an honor it is to finally meet you in person.” He took my hand and bowed over it, smiling in awe when he met my gaze once more. “We have been waiting for you for centuries. My mother used to tell us stories about the Lady of Neviah.” Other sailors gathered around me like moths toward a candle on a dark night. I became keenly aware of my Lifelight reflecting iridescence on every man around me. Each one came forward to greet me and kiss the top of my hand. With each man that came forward, my patience lessened, and I struggled to keep a welcoming smile on my lips. I just wanted my letter.
Finally, a woman approached. Her kit matched that of the other sailors, but she wore a perfectly pressed, long brown skirt with a navy blue tunic and the hat of a captain. One by one, she sent the group around me off to perform their duties, effectively breaking up the crowd.
“Lady Auriella, I am Captain Adelina Rajana,” she introduced herself with a graceful bow of her own. She held two letters between her elegant fingers. “These belong to you.”
“Two?” I took the folded pieces of parchment she held out to me in wonder.
Captain Rajana nodded. “Azrael gave me two.”
I held them close to my heart and took a deep breath to steady my voice. “You saw him? How is he? How does he look?” For so long I had struggled against doubts of his survival, despite my conviction that he lived. To hear someone talk of him, someone who had stood with him, comforted me.
“He looks very tired,” she answered. “He will be happier once he is with you again.”
I closed my eyes and brought to mind the vision of Azrael I had seen in my dream weeks ago. Tired, weak, but fighting and alive. I took Captain Rajana’s hand in mine. “Thank you,” I said fervently. I pressed the letters again protectively to my chest and walked to where I had left my mission gear. The wind blowing off the ocean touched my face, with the tangy scent of sea air as it whipped my hair against my face. I brushed it back and fingered the parchment. What might it say? I dreaded bad news, yet knowing I held words penned by his hand softened my fears and the what-if’s that raced through my mind. I sat by my bags and let the letter fall open on my lap. The wind tugged at my hair again. Whether real or imagined, a melody of wood scents of oak, ash, and willow enveloped me as I read:
My Lady Aura,
After you died, I thought I would die too. When Eva brought news you were alive and had returned to Earth, it was as though I had been reborn as well. I long to be with you. My love for you has never faded, but has grown stronger. If I am allowed to come to you in your dreams, I will wrap my arms around you every night when you sleep and kiss your face.
You have no idea how many lives your precious gift, the Sword of Neviah, will save. Though I would rather have you at my side, I keep your sword close. Your essence and warmth runs through the blade, and I feel much stronger with the weapon of my angel in hand.
I desperately desire to return to you, but I must stay with the force of Watchers on the Celtic Islands and protect the Stone of Destiny.
Eva is here with us. She almost didn’t make it through enemy lines. By the time I found her, she was bravely trying to hold the enemy off with a small dagger. Though Zacaris would be proud, Eva has begged me not to say anything about that event to him, so it will be our secret.
Tell Zacaris I am taking care of her in the same location we are keeping the Stone of Destiny, or really, that she is caring for us, as she has busied herself with our laundry and preparing our meals. We assured her she didn’t need to, but she insists. I’d finally gotten Baby back into shape, and now Eva is going to make him as fat as Dandy.
Oh, My Love, Aura, can you ever forgive me for not protecting you the day you died? If you will allow it, after this war is over, I will come to you and prove I am worthy to be your comrade. I love you with a burning stronger than Starfire.
Azrael
I pressed his letter to my heart and let the tears roll down my face. His letter had calmed all my fears, leaving me filled with hope and reassurance, not only for his safety, but Eva’s as well. It was the best news I had ever received. There was still the second letter to read, so I tucked this first one into my dress, keeping it near my heart, as I opened the second.
My Sweet Zacaris,
I snapped the letter shut, realizing it was a private letter to Zacaris from Eva. I shouldn’t be reading it. I bit my lip. Zacaris was away, and if she was sending him instructions, I must send aid in his absence. I should at least read it to make sure she was all right. I thought of more excuses to be nosey before I justified opening the letter written in Eva’s perfect handwriting.
My Sweet Zacaris,
Thanks to Azrael, I have arrived at the sanctuary safely. I didn’t know where to start to find him since he could have been anywhere in Europe, but, miraculously, he found me. Thank you for allowing me to perform this service and bring the Sword of Neviah to him. It has already helped in the battle.
There have been many deserters and our Watcher numbers are dwindling. Many good humans and Watchers have died side by side on the battlefield.
I saw Joab, our son, fighting on the side of the Dark Rebellion. Joab has used his powers to make a constant overcast to block out the sunlight. All the Watcher troops are weak and tired. Sometimes I doubt my own powers. How could our son desert us? I thought we raised him well, but I feel the guilt for all the lives he has taken. The Immortal Pain is becoming too intense.
We are moving the Stone of Destiny to a more secure location. Erebus will strike any day and we expect heavy casualties.
Azrael is trying to keep a positive outlook, but things are getting worse and he has been severely injured. Without the sun, Azrael isn’t healing. The Scottish king continues to aid us in protecting the Stone of Destiny. This alliance is most welcome, but Azrael will not let his countrymen stand alone. He thinks he can fight in the upcoming battle, but if he does I know he will be killed. There is nothing I can do to convince him to wait while mortal humans fight and die in our battles.
Chapter Nine
Drowning Alive
The wind left my lungs like someone punched me in the stomach, and I only half-read her sweet words of closing to Zacaris. The joyful emotion that had comforted me after reading Azrael’s letter swung to terror at the news in Eva’s. Azrael was wounded. Eva didn’t think he would survive the next battle. My jaw tightened and the darkening world seemed to spin.
Why was Azrael doing this? What good was he in the fight against the Rebellion if he died? Why didn’t he just come back to the sanctuary and be with me? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady my anger. I needed to control my emotions if I wanted to control my powers. I couldn’t lose my nerve in the heat of battle when death and carnage surrounded me.
I took in some deep, meditative breaths that Zacaris had taught me during training to steady the spinning inside me. This allowed me to think through the problem. I left my gear on the dock and dropped down onto the beach below. As I settled into the soft sand, I pulled my knees to my chest and stared out at the dark sea slowly blending into the fading light in the sky. The deep breathing and the rhythm of the wave lapping onto the shore below me helped me to keep calm, but didn’t salve my fears. I laid down, letting the powdery sand pillow my body, and closed my eyes.
Soft fur brushed against my arm. The image of Baby illuminated in my mind. I opened my eyes. “Azrael?” I gasped, hoping he had changed his mind and come back to the sanctuary for healing. Zacaris’ golden lion nestled against me then lay down on my feet, warming my chilled toes.
“Did you pass out on the beach again?” Zacaris’ deep voice broke the silence.
I blinked several times and sat up, trying to orient myself and my emotions. “I … No.”
Zacaris raised one eyebrow. “I thought you would be packed and ready to go by now.”
“Pack?” I asked like a half-wit before remembering. Thoughts of Azrael and Eva and the danger they faced had forced out all thoughts of my other responsi
bilities. “The mission. Yes. I’m packed.” I swallowed hard to smooth out the knot in my throat.
“Is everything all right?” Zacaris asked. He scowled and studied me suspiciously.
“Oh, yes. Everything is fine. How was your trip? Did you get the rhinoceros across the Mediterranean?” I focused my attention on Dandy, who had climbed onto the dock above me and was sniffing around for food near my bags.
Zacaris smiled. “Yes, everything went well. And here? Did you practice and train as I instructed?”
I nodded and stood, wishing the boulder of anxiety in my chest would ease. Zacaris was cheerful compared to sorrow burrowing through me. I gripped the letter from Eva, so tightly grasped in my fingers that I’d crumpled it. “Um, a letter came for you,” I admitted, holding out the wrinkled parchment. I hoped Zacaris didn’t guess that I’d read it already. “I think it might be from Eva.”
“Eva?” Zacaris’ swift hand snatched the letter at the mention of his wife’s name. His eyes scanned the note and his semi-cheerful countenance dropped.
“Is it bad news?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“You were wise for knowing that Azrael needed the Flaming Sword.” I waited for more, but Zacaris’ face remained unchanged except for the tight purse of his lips and the worried V his eyebrows made. He tucked the letter inside his robe and pulled out a scroll with a purple ribbon tied around it.
I took it from him but didn’t open it. “What news does Eva have?” I asked, my thoughts were on the letter tucked into Zacaris’ robes.
“Nothing can be done until you’ve completed that.” Zacaris nodded at the scroll with the purple ribbon.
“My first druid mission,” I guessed. I broke the bright gold wax seal with the emblem of a sun that fastened the ribbon to the scroll. I should have known the high druids would send mission calls this formally. Most Watchers started their first mission while they were mortal, but my immortal strength and speed would give me an advantage. The twelve high druids over the Watchers, no doubt, would take this into account and assign me a more challenging task to match my skill now that I was an Immortal.
I hesitated as I opened the thick white parchment. I had been waiting for this mission. Upon completing it, I could join Azrael and aid him in the battle, but he needed me sooner. What hope did I have that this mission would be to join the Watchers and save Azrael? I carefully unraveled the scroll and tried to balance my emotions. Zacaris might try to hold me back for more training if I showed the slightest bit of emotional instability.
I scanned over the letter, skipping through all the formalities to the line that read:
There is a lost Neviahan by the name of Alamar who needs to be found and brought to the Northern Sanctuary.
I pointed my finger at myself. “They want me to find a Watcher?” I thought for sure the high druids would give me something more challenging. I envisioned myself climbing volcanoes or melting glaciers to provide water to areas suffering from drought. Or saving Azrael.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Are they going to test my deadly fire skills with a mortal? A Watcher mortal?” How could the twelve high druids believe this was a good idea? Zacaris folded his arms and stared at me. “What if I accidently scorch the Watcher you send me to find? Very few of us get to come back as Immortals.” I blurted.
Zacaris’ expression didn’t change. “That’s why we are sending you to find this particular Watcher. He will be able to survive almost any of your … accidents.”
The way he said accidents was embarrassing, almost like I still wet the bed at night. “What makes you so sure?”
Zacaris clenched his jaw and leaned toward me, his eyes narrowing in irritation. “Alamar can control water. He has discovered a few of his Watcher gifts, but he does not know he is a Watcher. After you bring him to the Sanctuary, Asherah, the Empress of the Sea, has agreed to let him study in the underwater city of Atlantis where he will be safe from the Rebellion. His skills will be important in an upcoming naval battle.”
I remembered when the fairy queen informed me that I was a Watcher. Hopefully Alamar believed quicker than I did when I had first found out. With Azrael in trouble, I didn’t want to spend precious time convincing him or finding proof for him the way I’d forced my friends to seek out Woldor the Wise in order to be sure of my Neviahan heritage.
“You are not the only one hunting Alamar,” Zacaris warned, breaking me from my thoughts. “Erebus will stop at nothing to get Alamar’s powers. If the Dark Rebellion can control the water they will no longer fear it.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought about that. The Rebellion could flood whole cities and win any naval battle. If they could control the water my power would be useless against them. I would be completely helpless.
Zacaris paced along the beach. “We have one advantage over Erebus’ scouts. The Spirits of Shadow have been scouring the land looking for Alamar, but he keeps to the seas and rarely comes to shore.”
I exhaled a gust of air and dropped my shoulders. The thought of traveling alone over the deep sea terrified me. I couldn’t even swim. “Is there another mission the twelve high druids can give me? Something that doesn’t have to do with water? Surely it’s more important for me to go to Eva and Azrael and help them fight against the Rebellion.”
Zacaris’ voice turned hard and stern. “You do not command the high druids, Auriella. They have chosen this mission for you.” He took a breath and his hand went to his robe where he had stowed his letter from Eva. He closed his eyes and then his expression softened. A hint of understanding entered his expression. “On this mission you must master your fear,” he said in a gentler tone. “I have not spent the amount of time training you as I did Azrael. He needed more help than you do. You already have all the power you need to complete any challenge. Not only do you need to master your fear of water, but you need to master your fear of how powerful you really are.”
Zacaris’ encouragement that I was powerful enough to complete the task before me buoyed me. However, it was a legitimate fear. I could hurt a lot of people in one simple moment of recklessness.
Zacaris came forward and put both hands on my shoulders in a fatherly gesture. “The only one you need to prove your worth to is yourself. Doubt is something a warrior cannot afford to have wandering through her heart. This mission will teach you more about yourself and the enemy within—fear.” I longed to feel the confidence he did in my abilities. “Remember, we are just visitors on this planet.” His eyes grew as intense as his voice. “When we come back from death, more of our Neviahan spirit shines through. Our powers are not necessarily intensified, but rather, some of the mortal restrictions are lifted. Now, Auriella,” Zacaris dropped his hands, but he called my attention back to him with his voice. “There is another challenge you will face with this mission. It is important that your immortality remain confidential.”
I creased my brow. “I can’t tell the Watcher I’m an Immortal?”
Zacaris nodded. “Many Watchers who work closely with the druids eventually find out, like yourself. But in the past, there have been a few young and foolish Watchers who have tried to kill themselves just to get immortality. Immortality is never granted to those who try and grant it to themselves.”
Hazella tried to grant herself immortality by making the ruby necklace. When that didn’t work she joined with the Rebellion and became a Spirit of Shadow to prolong her life. She was living, but not alive. She was an empty, intangible shadow. Part of me regretted not killing Hazella when I had the chance. It would have been so easy while she was still a mortal. The possibility of her stealing a human body and becoming a Shadow Queen terrorized me.
“How will I be able to find Alamar?” I asked, resigned that I must complete this task. Azrael needed me, so I would put all of my efforts into finding Alamar and returning with him quickly to the Northern Sanctuary so I could go to Azrael.
Zacaris’ expression betraying worry when he dropped his hand to his side. “At the docks is
a small boat and oars.”
I swallowed hard. I hated water, but I had to do this. My fear of losing Azrael was greater than my phobia of the fire-quenching bottomless ocean.
Zacaris cast his eyes to the sea. “Make your way south, past the Celtic islands and the cape of Spain. Off the coast of Africa, there is an island called Drakeland where Alamar has been frequently seen.” Zacaris narrowed his eyes and emphasized, “This island is full of danger, even for an Immortal. And remember, you are not the only one hunting for the lost Watcher.”
At least this mission wasn’t as bad as facing a pack of Shadow Wolves like Orion’s last mission, and maybe, like him, I would find my animal companion while I was on this trip. Since I knew I was going to be on a boat, I lightened my bags of gear. I returned the items to the palace before making my way to the docks. I found the row boat bobbing gently in the water. A white and gold flag whipped from the mast. It was large enough to fit three grown men, or one woman with a lot of luggage. I loaded it and sat in the hull looking out to the sea, gathering my courage. It was near midday, so I had to concentrate on remembering which way the sun had risen so I could determine south. The salty air blowing off the ocean sent a chill down my spine. The shiver was from more than just the abrupt temperature drop. Not even my immortal eyes could see the end of the vast watery grave. I stiffened my lip. I had to do this. Azrael needed me to finish my mission as quickly as possible. I gripped the oar and plunged it into the frigid ocean. My mind balked at the thought of paddling so far a distance, but the boat glided swiftly out to sea. My strong arms churned the oar faster and faster, creating a trail of white-capped waves behind me as I left the safety of the dock. The water rushed past me like a raging river. Powerful immortal blood pumped through my arms. I was faster and stronger than any mortal alive. Adrenaline and the blazing sun fueled me.
My task was simple, but urgent. Once I found Alamar and brought him to the Sanctuary, I could join the Celtic battle. I could save Azrael’s life. My speed did not let up, even when the sun sank below the waves. The speed at which I raced over the glimmering ocean lifted my spirits, even bringing a satisfied smile to my lips. I might be frightened of the water, but sea was the safest way to travel during this time of war. Though the sky that was now dark, the reflections of the moon and stars sparkled in the water, and I took peace from the beauty of it. I found myself believing I would be fighting beside Azrael at the end of the week even if I had to tie Alamar up and deliver him to Zacaris kicking and screaming.