“Welcome home, Wylde…” he whispered.
The world tilted crazily, as a great roar of pain erupted from deep within my soul. Wylde was screaming. A dam broke in my mind, and a lifetime of memories slammed into us, drowning us.
Firm hands caught us – caught me – as my world folded in on itself.
Chapter 33
I came to with a start, gasping and scrabbling with my hands, remembering that I had been standing near a cliff with a thousand foot drop into a stone ocean, and that I had fallen down.
“Easy, lad. Easy,” Mallory murmured, squeezing my leg reassuringly.
I sat up and realized we were backed against the wall, a good ten feet away from the drop-off. Mallory had placed a blanket over me, and tucked a pillow underneath my head. I stared at him, my hands shaking. “I don’t… this is impossible,” I rasped, jerking my gaze to the wall with the Temple Industries logo. It had obviously been drawn with a more skilled hand than the stick figures, and as my gaze swept the wall, I noticed several variants for the logo.
I shook my head, grasping my temples with a groan.
Flashes of memories hit me like hammers, and my head ached.
I… remembered.
A storm raged as I drew on the walls. “His is better, Calvin,” a familiar voice teased. “Let him design it.” I glanced up, smirking at my mom. Her hair was braided back, and she had soot on her nose from her time in the kitchen, cooking dinner.
My father and I had decided not to tell her about the smudge, giggling at our private joke.
“And what’s wrong with mine, Makayla?” my dad growled at her playfully.
She rolled her eyes. “Which one?” she asked sweetly, indicating the dozens of other logos he had drawn on our walls over the last few months.
My dad sighed, leaning back on his heels, cocking his head as he inspected the drawing before him. “I think this one’s it, but if Wylde wants to give it a try, I’m open to it.”
I looked at it, considering, and right when I was about to draw, a furred paw slapped the charcoal out of my hands. I snarled at the furred face that met mine. He grinned back. “Tag!”
I shrieked in mock anger, chasing my best friend through the cave, ignoring my parents’ warnings to stay close to home. Talon was going to—
I gasped, snapping out of the memory, and rounding on Mallory. “Talon?!” I hissed, eyes wide in disbelief. “Fucking Talon… lived with us?” I all but shouted.
Mallory nodded, pointing his thumb to a darkened corner of the room. I glanced up to see a pair of silver eyes staring back at me, and I instantly grew angry, struggling to climb to my feet and toss the furry bastard over the cliff.
Mallory latched onto me, not letting me move, and here, in this place, it was literally no effort for him to restrain me. It felt like I was manacled to the floor. “He didn’t remember,” Mallory growled. “Much the same as you. It was as your parents… intended,” he grunted.
I saw Talon lower his head, staring down at the floor. Then, with a soft sigh, he scooted closer, enough for me to see. His cheeks were wet, and I realized that he had been crying. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. Not out of shame, but as if it were the last thing on his mind. Because… he was in the exact same position as me. Learning that his life had all been a lie.
I slowly turned to glare at Mallory’s hand. He removed it, returning my stare.
“I think it’s past time for you to start fucking explaining,” I warned, realistically considering killing him. Wylde grumbled deep within me, also wanting to kill something.
Mallory stared off into the ocean, as if gathering his thoughts. The storm was much closer now, and I realized that the horses were still outside. I opened my mouth, glancing back, but Talon spoke. “I told them to come in. They searched for miles and didn’t find a living thing.”
Mallory grunted. “No one would dare come here. Couldn’t even find it if they tried.”
I studied him, frowning. “Why not?”
He fidgeted with a pebble in his hand, staring down at it. “Your father warded this place. For miles. Anyone not part of your family could only enter the vicinity by accident.”
I grunted. “Wow. That’s… actually very clever. Anyone looking for him couldn’t find him, and any visitors that did make it here would have no idea who he was…”
Mallory nodded, a faint smile on his face. “He was a clever son of a bitch, that’s for sure.”
I sighed, remembering I still had my satchel on me. I reached inside for my canteen and took a healthy drink. I passed it to Talon, but he waved it away, watching the approaching storm in silence. But his ears were swiveled towards Mallory, waiting expectantly.
“Calvin and Makayla were two very ambitious wizards. The two friends came here in search of something,” Mallory began. “They had heard about the Invitations the Fae used to grant to Makers, but since they were only wizards, they snuck through a back door.”
“With a fucking child? How the hell did they make it through the entire Land of the Fae with a child? And why would they do that? This doesn’t make any sense…” I argued.
He tossed his pebble out over the edge, sighing. “They weren’t even together back then, just two friends. You definitely weren’t part of their lives yet. Just let me finish. All will become clear soon. I swear it,” he muttered, sounding frustrated. While sympathetic of my position, he also wasn’t used to being interrupted. “They found a way to cheat the system. They broke into Fae as thieves, and stole something very, very valuable, which obviously put the entire land on high alert. But the Fae – no matter how hard they tried – couldn’t find them. To this day, they still don’t know who took their treasure…” He glanced at my satchel for some reason before continuing. “But the two friends couldn’t find a way back… And they were forced to hide here, on the edge of the map while they tried to figure out a way back home.” He glanced up at the walls, smiling nostalgically. “By this time, their wild sides had truly taken over. They barely made it here in one piece, only able to survive by working together. Then they put up their wards, and were finally able to relax, confident they were no longer being hunted.”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked softly.
“Oberon asked me to help him find the thieves since he had been unsuccessful in doing so himself, but I’ll come back to that. Your parents used to laugh about this next part…” he added, chuckling at the memory. “Now, remember, they were just two friends doing what they could to survive, trying to find a way back home. But they spent months here, all alone… And, as is often the case, they grew… fond of each other. When two people are locked in a cave on the edge of a hostile world, a baby can be born. A baby Manling, born in the Land of the Fae…” he whispered reverently, as if reciting a prophecy.
I realized I was leaning forward, my jaw hanging open. Talon was actually pressed up beside me, having scooted closer, no doubt waiting for his part of the story.
“I… was born here?” I said slowly, shaking my head in disbelief. “I don’t…”
Mallory nodded, meeting my eyes. “It was you who brought them closer together. Reminded them of their humanity. You… saved them. Made them a family. You were the missing link. You reminded them how to love, because through falling in love with you, they soon fell in love with each other. But you spent years here. You grew faster than anyone thought, reaching your teens in only a span of years—”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “That doesn’t make sense. That would have resulted in centuries passing in the real world…” I argued, shaking my head.
Mallory held up a finger. “It very likely should have. But remember that they came here to steal something… And in their time here before you were born, they triggered that prize.” He jerked his chin towards my satchel. “And you just brought it back. Still active. It’s why we chose not to leave yet.”
I blinked, glancing down at my satchel. “What?” I asked, bewildered.
Mallory sighed. “The hourgl
ass, Nate. And all of Fae knows it’s here by now. That was the cause of the alarm.”
A very icy chill shot down my spine. “The hourglass…” I repeated dumbly, staring at my satchel. “The one from my father’s statue.”
Mallory nodded. “I put it there for him. As I promised I would. Never to be used again unless in the greatest of emergencies.” He leaned forward, studying me thoughtfully. “My question, is how the hell did you find out about it?”
I shook my head. “I… guess by accident,” I admitted. “I remembered seeing the Hand of God in her hands, and figured that since it had been so important, that the other thing must have been important, too. I thought they had left it for me as a gift. What does the hourglass do?” I asked.
“It controls the time shift between the worlds. So that they could spend as long as they wanted here without ill effect in your world. It was paramount to their plans. To go places and steal things unseen. It masked their thievery as they stocked up the Armory.”
I stared, dumbfounded. Talon watched the two of us, looking impatient to hear his part of the story. “They just told you all of this? Even though you were hunting them?”
“Ah, well,” he said, chuckling guiltily. “I wasn’t too honest with Oberon. I was fascinated with the story that two humans had outsmarted the Fae so profoundly. So, I found them by not looking for them. I just wandered the land. I figured they were using some kind of magic to stay hidden, and if the Hunt couldn’t find them, I surmised it was because they were trying too hard. I sought out a place where I could be in solitude, undisturbed, and to consider the solution. I knew everyone else was emotionally charged, so to find the thieves, I needed to be detached. I stumbled upon them quite by accident, actually.”
Chapter 34
He glanced at Talon. “I found your village in the Realm of Glass. It had been destroyed in a raid from a warring tribe. I found you, the only survivor, huddled up to your parents’ bodies. I don’t know how the invaders overlooked you, but they did. I took you with me, knowing that any place had to be safer than a smoldering village. Weeks later, when a storm was rolling in, I saw lights in the distance, and decided that shelter sounded preferable to a soaking. That was an uncomfortable meeting, to say the least. Your mother took one look at me at the steps of her secret cave and froze in terror, no doubt recognizing me. But I didn’t know her from Eve, of course. No one did.
“Then you came running out from behind her, all of seven years old, it seemed. You took one look at him,” Mallory said, pointing a thumb at the furred creature beside me, who had stopped breathing a few minutes ago, “and asked me what his name was. I told you he didn’t have a name, and you decided that wasn’t acceptable. ‘Of course, he does. It’s Talon the Devourer. Anyone can see that,’ you said with all the self-importance of a philosopher. Then you scooped him up, and took him into your room. Your parents were too stunned to stop you, staring me down warily. And that was when I realized that they weren’t Fae, and that they probably had a very interesting story to tell. It took me a few days to coax it out of them, to learn that they were the thieves I had been asked to find. But I’ll admit, seeing a seven-year-old child with them prevented the thought from ever crossing my mind. They made me swear to always keep you safe before they would speak a word. After I did so, your parents finally spilled the beans. And that was when our long con began,” Mallory said, grinning. His shoulders looked lighter, as if he was relieved to finally get it all off his chest.
Talon suddenly gripped my shoulder and I turned to look at him. His eyes were very wet now, and he opened his mouth a few times, no words coming out. Streams of wet fur were visible down his cheeks. “You… named me,” he finally whispered in awe. “And you gave me a life…” he said, turning to Mallory. Then he wrapped me up in an almost bone-breaking hug, purring as he nuzzled into my neck.
Something was wrong with my eyes, because I suddenly felt emotional, too, squeezing back just as hard, and patting his back affectionately.
Talon finally pulled away, shaking his head in wonder. “I remember you, now, Wylde…”
I nodded, grinning, although it all felt so strange. “I think I do, too. Do you remember a fort?”
“Oh! Yes!” he all but shouted. “I do!” And then he was laughing, shaking his head. “This…” he frowned after a moment, and then turned back to Mallory. “How did we not remember? I lived here for years, but Wylde wasn’t in my memories…”
Mallory nodded sadly. “It was part of the price for the Temples to escape Fae. We couldn’t very well have you blabbing about the only Manling ever born in Fae, and we also couldn’t have Wylde on earth talking about his life as a teenager with his bipedal feline best friend. We had to wipe your memories. I put you in service to Oberon, and told him I had been unsuccessful in finding the thieves, but that I had found him a warrior to employ. An orphan.”
I nodded absently. Not a pretty answer, but nothing was pretty in the Fae. “How was I so powerful when I came back the first time? I had memories of Wylde, but as a much more powerful version of myself than a teenager playing with his friend.”
Mallory sighed, sounding uncertain. “I’m not quite sure about that part. You’re the first Manling ever born here in Fae. Perhaps you were envisioning what you could have been? Some part of the land speaking to you?” he offered, shrugging his shoulders. “I just don’t know.” His eyes latched onto my satchel. “Where on earth did you get that?” he asked very carefully, but I knew him well. He recognized the brand.
“You know Darling and Dear?” I asked.
“Everyone who is anyone knows Darling and Dear, but I wasn’t aware you did.” I decided not to take that personally, letting him continue. “Customers are strongly discouraged from sharing the information. Otherwise everyone would go to them, and pretty soon no one would need them. When did you meet them?” he asked. “Have I been gone that long?”
“Callie bought it for me. I’ve never met them. You’ve only been gone a month.”
Mallory flashed me a very wide grin. “Did she now…” he chuckled. “Mind if I see it?” he asked, all but rubbing his hands together greedily.
I passed it over to him. He studied it curiously. Then he burst out laughing. “Fuck those glorious psychopaths! They never cease to amaze. This is incredible!” he hooted, grinning at me.
I blinked. “What?”
“Don’t you know what it does?” he asked. “Didn’t Callie tell you?”
I slowly shook my head. “It… does stuff?” I asked uneasily. And I’d just been walking around with it?
Mallory grunted. “It can hold anything. All the things. You can put as much in here as you want, and it will never change weight. Consider it your own pocket dimension.” He frowned at it suspiciously. “Dean’s not in here somewhere, is he?”
I burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. You could put the entire contents of the Armory in here. Well, as long as it fit through the opening, that is.”
I frowned. “How would I dig through all that stuff to find what I want?”
He handed the satchel back to me. “Don’t look. Just think of the hourglass, and then reach your hand inside.”
I did, and instantly felt it. I frowned. “I don’t have much else in there.”
Mallory folded his arms, sighing dramatically. “Take your hand out and think of something else you put in there. Then put your hand back inside. I bet it’s the first thing you touch.”
I did, and then shoved my hand inside. It came out with an apple. I blinked in disbelief. I shoved the apple back inside and tried a few more times. It worked every time. “That’s insane,” I said, shaking my head. “Why didn’t she tell me this?” I said, more to myself.
“Well, you were in private, so none of us could answer that for you,” Talon chuckled.
“Oh?” Mallory asked, leaning closer. “Do tell…”
I stammered an argument, but Talon overrode me. “He used the tree to shield their acti
vities. But I’m guessing he showed her his inner…” his eyes latched onto our surroundings. “Caveman,” he laughed.
I growled. “I wish…” I muttered, leaning back with a growl.
Mallory watched the two of us, looking nostalgic. Then he waved a hand at my satchel. “Do you mind showing me the hourglass?” he asked.
I shrugged and took it out, handing it over to him. He let out a breath, shaking his head as he studied it. “What Oberon – or the Queens for that matter – wouldn’t give to have this back. It gives the wielder control over their world, in a fashion. They hate that it’s been missing for so long. Not that they ever used it. But the Fae love their power, and knowing someone stole from them bothers them greatly. I would say you are very lucky to have traveled this far with it. If anyone found you with this, all of Fae would turn against you,” he said, face serious. “Keep it hidden in your satchel.”
“What if someone took his satchel?” Talon asked curiously.
Mallory was already shaking his head. “They would reach inside and find nothing.”
Talon frowned in disbelief, so I handed him the satchel, tucking the hourglass back inside. Talon thought for a moment, and then reached his paw inside. Then he reached deeper, all the way to his shoulder, frowning. He looked up in wonder. “I can’t find anything in here…”
Then he handed the satchel back to me. I reached inside and pulled out the hourglass, handing it back to Mallory. He blew on the hourglass, and the stone encasing it simply vanished. I blinked in disbelief. He indicated a dial on the side. “Pretty simple. Forward,” he said, motioning one direction. “Backwards,” he said, motioning the other way, although he didn’t actually turn it.
War Hammer: A Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Book 8 (The Temple Chronicles) Page 18