“When I know more.”
“Knowledge will come quickly. We'll all make sure of that. But the man behind the job, you're already him. I've seen enough to know that.” Rolly was dead serious.
Adam turned to Ahir, dumbstruck.
“I agree with Rolly,” Ahir said. “Sit in on the calls with us, start getting an idea of what's involved with this side of the Protector's role, the defense and security of the Firsts.”
“Aren't you worried Aelia's protection will suffer?”
“That's why you've got us,” Rolly said. “Wherever Firsts live, there is someone local who oversees their safety. And we've been doing this for a long time, we're good. We'll be out there for you, your people on site.”
“Adam,” Ahir said, putting his hand on his grandson's arm. “Trust me, be patient. I've been doing this for decades, I know what you're facing. But you, you've got something else going for you. You're the Protector of a living Light, and that takes you to a whole different level. You'll be able to do so much more than I did.” He smiled. “You're not just a legend either.”
The Keeper had gone back to the main drawing room of the great house, and Aelia had joined her there. The three men walked through the open doors to see the two of them standing before media coverage from the bombing site, showing on a previously concealed screen. The old woman's hand was on her mouth, a horrified expression on her face. Ahir walked over and put a supporting hand around the longtime leader of the Firsts, and Rolly filled her in about the cruel attempt to harm her people. Adam came to stand silently beside Aelia. Around them in the room, a distance away, stood others of the house's staff, Remi and Sonea among them. They were all looking at the coverage of the explosion, some spoke in hushed voices, tried to make sense of it.
Beside Adam, Aelia listened to Rolly. But within her, she was listening to what remained unsaid in the room. She turned and looked at them, at the shocked faces all around her. A slight furrow in her brow, she walked to the French doors and looked at the people outside, standing in small groups. Waiting. News of the attack had made it to them, too, and they were being kept informed. Not far from her stood several members of the security details Rolly had reassigned to her and to Neora, looking out. She heard one of them comment that there were now so many people out there, he'd never seen anything like this before.
She didn’t look at them, but knew their gazes moved to her.
In her mind she heard what Neora had said earlier that morning, and what she had replied before when Aelia had asked her why all these people were flocking here. “They have waited so long, dared to hope for so long. They had to come,” the Keeper had said then. “And for each, there are so many others who have not come, who are out there, waiting.”
They had done nothing wrong, these people, nothing but live their lives. In peace. In hope. And yet now they were under attack. Aelia closed her eyes and listened to them, to them all. Gradually the voices in the room faded, replaced with their voices within, then others'—outside the room, in Aeterna, beyond it. She opened her eyes and placed her hands on the door handles, her gaze far away. Then she opened the doors and stepped out onto the terrace. The security detail stationed outside turned in surprise and began to walk toward her protectively, but her look stopped them. She walked forward and they stepped aside in reverence, their heads bowed.
“What the—” Adam sprinted after her, Rolly at his heels and Ahir and Neora following, everyone else behind them. Outside, Aelia walked down a few of the terrace steps and stopped. She stood there, looking at the people waiting in silence, in expectation, with hope, as far as the eye could see.
Adam was about to move closer to her when a hand restrained him, gentle but firm.
“Wait,” Neora said.
“Look at her, something is wrong—”
“Wait,” the Keeper insisted, her voice hushed.
Oblivious to them, Aelia looked at the crowd. All and each, one by one. She saw them, saw within them, saw all the way through to what they held on to so preciously, with stubborn conviction. Saw pain and hope intertwine, reaching out to her in a look, in a thousand looks, in countless beseeching looks now within her. Saw them, and saw herself through their eyes. And she felt them, could feel all that they were, their lives and thoughts and hopes, as if she was them. All of them, those standing before her, around her, and so many others, others all over the world, stopping now wherever they were, closing their eyes in bewilderment, feeling, knowing. Asking. Engulfed by a world of emotions, by her people’s desperate cry, her own powerful need to help them finally reached the force needed for the walls of that hidden place deep inside her to break apart, break into a million pieces, and they finally crumbled. And inside her she felt the Light rise, felt it grow and strengthen, felt it reach for her, become one with her. And standing on the terrace steps in Aeterna, before the eyes of Firsts present and in the hearts of Firsts worldwide, she accepted its force, her duty, and instinctively reached out to her people with all she had.
“Can you feel it?” Neora whispered, her voice filled with awe.
But Adam was no longer listening. He involuntarily stepped forward. Yes, he felt it, felt her—and he saw the Light. He could see it emanating from her, enfolding her, one with her. As she stood looking over them all, he felt it inside him, the power flowing from her, boundless might intertwined with endless compassion.
As the First answered her people’s call without a word being said, a ripple seemed to go through all those around her. In Aeterna and worldwide, the people, her people, knew their hope had been answered. She was here. After all this time, the legacy their ancestors had left them had come to life.
I am here.
Chapter Seventeen
A day had gone by since the bombing at the cathedral in Rome, and only the devastation in and around it remained, that and the endless speculations of the humans and the somber realization of the Firsts. Because of the early morning hour of the bombing and the haste and, luckily, incompetence in which it was done, no one had been killed except for the two perpetrators. Nor were there serious casualties. Two were moderately injured, an elderly priest inside the cathedral and a groundskeeper, a few people incurred minor lacerations, and several others were treated for shock. No Firsts were harmed, and since they were the only ones who were not plagued by questions and by the uncertainty that accompanied the shocking attack, they were doing all they could to help their human peers.
The authorities had no leads. The perpetrators could not be identified, and the only images available to the police and to the global enforcement agencies that offered their assistance were vague stills taken at intervals by a camera on a building close by, at the wrong angle to be of much help. Because of the religious nature of the site, extremists were suspected, but no group had come forward, in fact all adamantly stepped up to deny involvement in this attack they knew would bring the wrath of the world on their heads. Intelligence agencies were already inclined to believe that the perpetrators were working alone—a fact to which their unprofessional act seemed to attest—and no one had a clue who they were or why they attacked. For now, at least, it seemed that no questions would be answered anytime soon, although everyone would no doubt continue to investigate.
As the daylight grew brighter, crews began arriving at the site to assess the damage, plan the repairs, start clearing. The cathedral would soon be rebuilt. But while stone and artifacts could be restored, the trust that was now replaced with heavy suspicion would not be so easily fixed.
It was also a day since the Light had erupted in full force, finally returning to Her people, and this morning the bombing was nowhere near the minds of the Firsts. Those who had flocked to Aeterna were gone now, gone back to their homes, to their families, to friends, but not quite to their lives yet. Firsts worldwide were still coming to grips with the unbelievable—the Light had returned. Those who had been there told of what they had seen, but everyone, each and every one of the Firsts, had felt the Light rea
ch out and touch them, uniting them all in an instant as She had at the beginning of time, when She had first come to them. In a fraction of a second, a place that had been left empty and hollow deep within them, within all the Firsts back to a past too long to remember, had filled, connecting them to one another as they hadn't been since the Light had last left them, and to Aelia in a way that would allow her to reach out to them at will, even after she finally lowered her head and closed her eyes that day, allowing the Light that she was to recede, leaving the air charged with its presence.
The feeling among the Firsts was a mix of awe and elation. For them, the belief in the Light had been their very essence. For this peaceful species that could no longer find its place in an overwhelming world, and that was increasingly fearing discovery, the fear that came with the thought no one dared utter, that the Light might never again return to guide and protect Her people, was unbearable, bringing with it despair that threatened their very survival. Grasping with all their strength on to memories that lay dormant in their very souls, the Light's people had been crying out for help, for Her return, for too long.
And now She was here, right there at Aeterna.
The time had finally come.
Neora and Aelia strolled along the lake. Aelia liked it here. It was peaceful. There were no people around them now, in fact the only person she could see was Ahir, who was sitting on the stone terrace of the great house.
Loud quacking caught her attention and she turned to the lake, where a flock of geese was landing. The area was rich with wildlife that was obviously enjoying the protection of Aeterna and seemed to easily coexist with it. She watched the geese, gazed at the gentle flap of wings of a colorful butterfly that flew past, felt the gentle play of sun, clouds, and wind surround her. It was all clearly felt, heard, and seen, but ever since the day before it was more than that. She sensed it all on a new, subtle level. Elemental, was the word that came to her mind. As if she was now somehow a part of the very fabric of existence.
Beside her, Neora was silent, keeping a respectful distance. Like Firsts everywhere, the keeper of the faith too had felt the Light. But unlike them, she, like her predecessors, had been taught Her full essence and force. And not only that, what she had seen, Aelia’s impossibly fast transition to what She was born to be, that which had erupted within Her at Her own bidding as She sought to help Her people, led Neora to believe that more than just the Light and its bearer, what she was witnessing was what no other knew. No one but the Keepers.
That which had been foreseen by the first bearer of the Light would be. In fact, Neora believed it was already happening. But she would not tell, would not say a word of this prophecy of ancient times, not even to Aelia, the First of the Firsts. She would stand by Her, teach Her, but, as was foretold, would say nothing and let it be as it should.
Ahir sighed at the sight he never ceased to hope he would see in his lifetime—the Keeper and the First standing together beside the lake. He felt more at peace than he had in decades. The Light was here and his grandson had been found and had already stepped into his rightful place as the Protector. True, there were many more challenges to come, but now the Firsts had what they needed to contend with them.
Movement brought him out of his reverie, and he smiled as Adam walked over. Adam placed his hand on the old man's shoulder as a greeting and sat down beside him. He settled back and rubbed his neck, stifling a yawn. The day before had been long, as was the night. He had spent a large part of both at the control center with Rolly and Ahir as they spoke with each head of defense and security, briefing them and revising each community’s respective security protocol. The organization was not expected to act again immediately, not after the frequency of its recent actions and the publicity of the most recent one, the bombing, but eventually it would act, and the Firsts had to be ready. And then, after he’d returned to his rooms, he had gone directly to his own screen, and connected to the control center that never stopped humming throughout the night, to follow the incoming information both from the bombing site and Aeterna itself.
It was dawn when Adam finally got into bed, and still he could not sleep. His mind was on Aelia. Just like all the Firsts, he too had felt her reach out, touch him, awaken that which was dormant in him as she did in all the others. What he saw, standing not far from her, was so much stronger than what he had already seen before. What he felt was powerful beyond reason. But unlike the others this also affected his connection with her, the part of him that was her Protector. He had felt it intensify within him, respond to the Light, the synergy between them strengthening it. And him. When the Light around her receded, what he now was did not. He was, quite simply, the Protector in full force. And with this finally came the sobering realization—he was responsible for the safety of she who held the fate of the Firsts in her hands.
And so lying in bed, his mind would not relent, constantly going over everything, trying to think if there was anything about her security he might have missed, realizing he still had so much to learn about the Firsts, about their capabilities, before he could hope to keep her as safe as he wanted her to be. And before he could truly know what would be needed to keep the Firsts themselves safe as they went about their daily lives worldwide.
It was on his way back to the control center that he’d seen Ahir outside and had decided to join him. He already felt comfortable with the old man, but this didn't really surprise him. Ahir had been behaving toward him as if Adam had never been gone, as if he was a grandfather just spending time with his grandson as he always had. And Adam was reacting to this, it was making him feel at home.
They watched Neora and Aelia as the current and hoped for leaders of the Firsts sat down on a bench by the lake, under a huge tree whose branches arched above the two women, providing a gentle shadow in the day's clear sun.
“You've lived with a lot of uncertainty. About me. About her. It must have been hard,” Adam said.
Ahir nodded. “When your parents were killed and you were gone, I searched for you, I traveled everywhere possible. And when I didn’t find you, I could not go on. And I could not come back here, where everything reminded me of all of you. By then I thought you must be dead. Otherwise, why could I not find you? I wasn't thinking clearly anymore.”
He indicated Neora. “It was about a year after you were taken. Neora flew to see me, against security's opinion, mind you. Leaving Aeterna is something the Keepers never do. But she did, she knew she was the only one I might listen to. I was a mess, I will be the first to admit it. And she sat facing me, and she said it straight. ‘If the boy is dead, we all are.’ Which was obviously true because you are the last of the Protector line, and there has never been a Light without a Protector. And without the two of you, it would be the end of the Firsts. And then she says, ‘So tell me where Adam is.’
“And I started thinking clearly again because she was right. And I told her, ‘My son and his wife, that was a professional kill. Whoever took the boy had to have targeted him specifically, must know who he is. Must have something they want him for.’ ‘The Light,’ was all Neora said, and I realized what must have happened. The organization had to have taken you. I kept an open mind over the years, you should know, looked everywhere and at everyone, just in case. But the organization was always the most likely bet. If for some reason they thought the Light was back, they would want to get rid of Her. And they would need you for that. They could always kill you later and stop the Protector line, and that would be the end of it. And in the meantime, they would have to keep you away from us, hide you until you grew up, until the time came when they would decide to kill Her.” He smiled. “I remember it as clear as day, Neora stood up and said, ‘Let's go then, we have work to do. This will not end with us.’” He chuckled softly. “I got on the plane back with her. And she was right, wasn't she? It will not end with us. It starts again, with you two. I tell you, I owe her my life.”
He paused and turned to his grandson, his eyes somber again.
“I'm sorry. I am so sorry I did not find you earlier.”
Adam shook his head. “I can tell you one thing. Looking back, you never had a chance of finding me.”
“They changed your identity and masked your existence. You were too young to remember who you were, and they would know how to make you forget what you did remember. Knew we would be searching. Knew exactly what to do to keep you away. I know. I have told it to myself a thousand times. It does not make it any better.”
“I'm here now.”
Ahir smiled. “Yes, yes you are.”
Something Ahir had said triggered something in Adam's mind. “You said the organization needed me to get rid of Aelia, that that's why they took the risk of taking me.”
Ahir didn't answer immediately. “You are the only one who can kill Her,” he finally said.
Adam started. “That's what Jennison said when I went back to confront him. I thought he was just trying to play me. What does that mean?”
“I can only tell you what we know. Once She who has the Light within Her is born, the Light remains one with Her until She dies, and protects Her. To an extent. She is mortal and can get hurt, and She can be harmed, but She cannot be killed. And yet for some reason, the Protector can kill Her. Why is a mystery to us. The Light Herself had created the line of Protectors, which is linked with Her like none other is, and had gone to the extent of giving any Protector who is in fact protecting a living Light enhanced abilities—instincts, strength, durability. And yet the Light has also given Her Protector, and only him, the ability to kill Her.” Ahir shook his head.
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