Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

***

  “Find out!” Valle Elder Ryan screamed.

  The Valle’s Chief of Staff knelt down beside Sotomar as their mortal watched, horrified. The round ceremonial room had grown silent when Sotomar fell and began to writhe in pain in the middle of the turning ceremony.

  “Do something!”

  “I don’t know what to do,” the Chief of Staff whispered.

  ***

  Emily felt exhausted when she spoke the last word, “Perago.”

  She looked around the clearing and the silence sent chills up her spine. The Old Ones were unmoving and blood drenched the snow beneath them. She wrapped her coat around the baby tighter and kissed her lightly on the head when she started to fuss about her confinement.

  “Emily!?” she heard one of the Cavalry yell. She jumped at the sudden sound that broke the eerie silence.

  “Over here,” she said, still watching the unmoving heku.

  The four members of the Cavalry came into the clearing as she put her phone back into her coat.

  “What happened?” one of them asked as he knelt down beside one of the Old Ones.

  “They were going to kill us,” she said, and a tear fell from her eyes.

  “Did you… did you try to turn them to ash?”

  “Yes”

  “What happened then?”

  Emily’s voice gave away her terror, “I think I did something bad.”

  One of the heku moved forward quickly and began making a fire to keep Emily and the baby warm.

  “Are you hurt?” one of them asked.

  She shook her head and looked around at the Old Ones, “Are they dead?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Emily hadn’t noticed, but the fourth guard was off to the side of the clearing on the phone. She looked over when he shut his phone and turned to her with wide eyes.

  “What did the Council say?” the closest heku asked him.

  He watched Emily closely, “Elder Chevalier… he’s also unconscious.”

  “What!?” Emily yelled.

  “Elder Zohn said that reports are coming in from Equites around the world… the Old Ones are all unconscious.”

  “Oh my God,” Emily whispered. She was finding it hard to breathe.

  “They are sending someone to get us,” the heku said, but kept a safe distance from Emily.

  Emily sat down beside the fire and pulled the baby out from under her coat. She squirmed slightly, but fell asleep once the heat from the fire warmed her.

  It was four hours later when Equites 2 landed only a mile away. Mark, leading 12 members of the Cavalry, appeared in the clearing and looked around at the unconscious heku.

  “Are you ok?” Horace asked, kneeling down beside Emily.

  She nodded, but watched Mark.

  “Four of you stay here,” Mark said. “A transport helicopter is on the way and we’ll take them all back to Council City.”

  “Mark?” Emily whispered, and began to tear up again.

  He looked over at her.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He frowned slightly, “I’m not to discuss this with you. You are to go back to the Council immediately.”

  She nodded, and turned back to the fire.

  “Let’s go,” Horace said when Mark was done giving orders.

  Emily looked over at him and then followed silently as they walked back to Equites 2. She was surprised none of them attempted to pick her up, but they instead walked with her the mile to the Blackhawk.

  When they arrived back at the palace, guards formed a line into the palace and Emily followed Mark silently. When McIntock tried to take the baby, Emily shook her head and put the infant against her shoulder as she slept.

  Derrick opened the door, “They will see you now.”

  Emily walked into the council chambers and her heart dropped when she saw Chevalier’s empty chair.

  “Is he ok?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

  Zohn nodded, obviously furious, “Yes, unconscious, but he is alive. What happened?”

  Emily let the heku pilot explain to the Council about how the Old Ones downed the helicopter and then restrained the heku while they spoke to Emily. He then explained how the Old Ones restraining the Cavalry suddenly fell into pain and finally fell unconscious.

  Zohn sighed and looked at Emily, “What did you do, exactly?”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered as a tear fell from her eye.

  “Just tell us, so we can fix it.”

  “Back before the Ancients were banished by the Old Ones,” Emily explained, “The Ancients were also forming a plan to banish the Old Ones and start the heku over with more loyal followers.”

  “They were?” Quinn gasped.

  Emily nodded, and then continued, “The Ancients had a ritual that would summon the Old Ones to Stonehenge, and then ash them all with a single incantation.”

  “My God,” Zohn whispered, too shocked to speak louder.

  “I wrote down the words to those… in my phone…”

  “Chevalier destroyed those.”

  “Chevalier doesn’t know technology well enough to have completely done that,” Emily said. “I was afraid that if I turned the Old Ones to ash out in the forest, that I’d fall unconscious and the baby and I would freeze to death. So…”

  “So you pulled out that incantation and said it!?” the Chief of Defense screamed.

  Emily jumped slightly and then nodded.

  “What’s the incantation?” the Chief of Staff asked. “If we know the words we can maybe undo it.”

  “No!” Quinn shouted. “Those are for Ancients and Old Ones only. Just because those authorized to know that are unconscious or banished, we have no right to hear the words.”

  Zohn watched Emily angrily, “Only Ancients and Old Ones know what you spoke… maybe not even the Old Ones. You’ve now forced this faction to revive an Ancient in hopes they can reverse it!”

  “I didn’t mean to…”

  “You are messing with something older than humankind… what did you expect to happen!?”

  She fought back the tears, “They were going to kill the baby.”

  “I don’t care! That’s a small crime compared to killing every Old One in existence. We don’t even know if you’ve affected the banished ones too.”

  “Calm down,” Quinn said to Zohn. “She put them in this state, we may be able to figure out how to have her reverse it.”

  “Then get on with it,” Zohn growled.

  Quinn turned to Emily. She could tell he was furious, but holding back as he spoke, “Go up to your room, and read the incantation backwards.”

  She nodded and then left with the baby. The heku throughout the palace wouldn’t look at her and some even stepped further away as she passed. Once in her room, she laid the baby on the bed and then sat down with her phone.

  Softy, she read the words backwards. When she finished, she sighed. The ground hadn’t moved and she suspected it didn’t work when Derrick slammed open the door without knocking.

  “Get back down to the Council,” he snapped, and then stood aside.

  Emily walked into the trial area, “I have an idea.”

  “No more of your ideas!” Zohn yelled.

  She sighed, “I’ll ask the vault Ancient how to fix this.”

  Quinn shook his head, “No, you’ve done enough. We’ve contacted all three factions and discovered that all of the Old Ones are unconscious. There were 12 Old Ones not at your gathering, and we’ve found out that the ones that attacked you had revived others out of retirement just to come after you.”

  “Let me talk to him…”

  “No!” Zohn yelled. “You are to follow this Council’s instructions and do as you’re told.”

  She nodded slightly and held tightly to the baby.

  Quinn took a deep breath, “You’re to stay in your room while we revive an Ancient and see if it can be reversed.”

  “Where’s Chevalier?” she whispered.

  “None of
your concern,” Zohn hissed. “Now do as you’re told and get back to your room.”

  When Emily left, Zohn turned to Quinn, “I still say Thutmose is our best bet.”

  “Why not just bring up the vault Ancient?”

  “Chevalier said he’s no longer completely sane. It will have to be Thutmose.”

  Quinn nodded, “I concur. He’ll be less likely to take off when revived.”

  Kyle tapped his fingers impatiently against the desk, “So bring him here.”

  Zohn ordered four of the Palace Guards to go to Thutmose’s banishment sight and to feed him, then bring him immediately to the Council.

  Quinn turned to Kyle, “Are you going to need restrained?”

  Kyle frowned, “Why?”

  “Because Emily will need punished for this…”

  “She didn’t know!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Zohn told him. “She stepped way out of bounds this time and risked the entire species because she meddles with things beyond her status.”

  Kyle sighed, “No, I don’t need restrained.”

  The Council turned when four members of the Palace Guard came in restraining a furious Ancient.

  The Ancient hissed, “What is the meaning of this!?”

  Quinn sighed, “We need your help.”

  “You banish me to the ground for thousands of years and now you ask my help?”

  “Yes”

  His snarl turned into an ominous grin, “What have our minions done to themselves that warrants breaking our banishment?”

  Quinn glared at him, “We know that the Ancients were planning on banishing the Old Ones right before you, yourselves, were banished.”

  The Ancient answered with only a growl.

  “The incantation you came up with to destroy the Old Ones was used.”

  The Ancient started to laugh, “That’s great! So there is an Ancient free that spoke the words… it was long coming.”

  “No, it wasn’t spoken by an Ancient,” Zohn said.

  He frowned, “Then it wouldn’t have worked.”

  “It was spoken by a half-Ancient.”

  “Explain yourself.”

  Quinn took a deep breath, “There’s a child among us… who is, to put it simply, 50% Ancient, 49% mortal, and 1% heku.”

  “He should have been destroyed then!” the Ancient yelled.

  “SHE,” Zohn said. “Is a special case… and the Old Ones decided to let her live… until she showed signs of having some of the Ancient’s abilities.”

  “Then kill her,” he hissed.

  “It’s not that simple…”

  “Yes it is!” the Ancient screamed. “The Ancient who produced her should have immediately killed the infant.”

  “Yes, he probably should have, but he didn’t and now she’s in our care.”

  “Bring her here, I want to see her.”

  Quinn and Zohn spoke briefly before they turned back to the Ancient. Zohn sighed, “Bring Emily here.”

  Quinn looked at Thutmose, “She has a unique blood scent that will be hard for you to resist.”

  Thutmose scowled, “I’m an Ancient…”

  “Who hasn’t fed regularly for 2,000 years,” Kyle said. “You will have a hard time, so watch yourself.”

  Derrick escorted Emily into the room. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked forward, not sure if she was in trouble.

  “Emily…” Quinn said before sighing.

  Thutmose turned feral eyes toward her and crouched slightly as a hiss escaped his lips. Seconds later, Mark and Kralen appeared in the trial area and restrained him. Emily watched with wide eyes as he fought to get to her.

  “Control!” Quinn yelled. “Thutmose we warned you…”

  After a few minutes, Thutmose closed his eyes and then stood up, still trembling from the intense thirst that ran through is body, “I’m ok.”

  Mark and Kralen let go of him and stepped back, staying close in case he decided to attack Emily.

  Emily watched, tense, as the Ancient circled her.

  “This is the half-Ancient?” he asked, studying Emily as he walked around her.

  “Yes,” Quinn said.

  “She’s puny… weak…”

  Emily frowned, but stayed silent.

  The heku in the room didn’t catch when the Ancient blurred to Emily, took her wrist, and inhaled deeply. The first they saw him move was when he touched his nose to her wrist. She gasped and pulled her hand away from him when Mark and Kralen dragged him back to the center of the trial area.

  “I see Arrianus is to blame,” Thutmose said. He didn’t struggle against the guards, but watched Emily closely.

  Quinn nodded, “Yes, he is her father.”

  Emily was shocked. She hadn’t heard his name before.

  “Figures, he never was a bright one,” Thutmose said as he turned to the Council. “I still have no reason to help you. I’ve suffered for thousands of years below the ground because of you.”

  “The three Councils agree that if you help us, we will let you stay,” Zohn told him.

  “Intriguing,” he said, and turned to look at Emily again. “You, mortal, why is your scent different?”

  She looked over at Kyle and he cleared his throat before speaking, “Emily is the only member of a family known as Dulcris Cruor. She not only has the scent, but she can turn a heku to ash.”

  “This tiny thing can?” Thutmose walked around Emily again.

  “Yes”

  “Another reason why she should be destroyed.”

  “She’s bonded to an Elder, Chevalier,” Quinn explained.

  Thutmose frowned and turned to him, “Equitis bonded to this thing?”

  “She’s not a thing,” Kyle snapped.

  Thutmose smiled, “I see…”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It means you are all infatuated with her. She is beautiful, but still scrawny.”

  Emily’d had enough. She put her hands on her hips and turned to him, “Let’s just get this straight! I’m not puny, weak, tiny, or scrawny. I can turn you to ash before you can blink, so I suggest you stop with the insults!”

  Thutmose frowned, “The mortal dares to address me?”

  “I’ll do more than address you,” she said, and started for him. Kralen appeared at her back and stopped her with strong hands on her shoulders.

  “She has no right to speak to me!”

  “Calm down,” Quinn told him. “She’s a member of this Council and has every right to address you.”

  “A member of this Council?” Thutmose laughed, “Pathetic.”

  “Will you help us or not?!”

  Thutmose glanced at Emily, and then crossed his arms, “If the price is right.”

  “Name it.”

  He smiled, “You’ve already agreed to let me stay above ground.”

  “Yes”

  “But I stay in the palace.”

  “Why? You’re not a member of the Council.”

  “That’s the deal.”

  Quinn’s eyes narrowed and Kralen hauled Emily out of the room when she tried to give her opinion on the matter.

  “Calm down,” Kralen said when he put Emily down in her room.

  “I don’t have to put up with that!” she screamed at him.

  “I know, but he’s our best chance to get the Old Ones back.”

  Emily sighed and sat down. Kralen watched her for a few minutes and then left and shut the door. After feeding the baby, Emily grabbed her laptop and sat down. She gathered what she needed and made the call.

  “Cornwall Construction,” the secretary answered.

  “I need to speak to whoever is in charge.”

  “One moment.”

  After a few minutes of waiting, a gruff man answered, “Rayburn here.”

  “Rayburn, my name is Emily Winchester and I have a proposition for you. What I need has to be kept confidential and has to be done exactly as I specify,” Emily told him.

  “Keep talking…�
��

  “If you do as I ask, it will be very much worth your time.”

  “What, exactly, are we talking?”

  “I own property here in the city, but the mansion burned down. I need blueprints drawn up to replace the building, and then I need it built within the next 3 months.”

  “I see… let’s meet to go over specifics.”

  “That’s a tricky one. This has to be over the phone and through e-mail only.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “No questions, Rayburn,” Emily said.

  “Fine, but there’s no way to get any large structure done in 3 months.”

  “No way at all? I’ll pay well.”

  “It’s just not possible, not without working my guys 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without breaks.”

  Emily sighed, “Ok, thanks anyway.”

  She hung up and then thought for a moment before dialing again.

  “Emily?” William asked.

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  “Are you ok? You don’t sound well.”

  “It’s been a rough week.”

  “I know… we have Old Ones that are unconscious also.”

  “Are you mad?”

  “No, not mad,” William said.

  “I need a favor then.”

  “Name it.”

  “Do you have the ability to have a mansion built in 3 months?”

  There was a pause before he spoke, “Yes.”

  “I’ll pay.”

  “You want a mansion?”

  “The Valle burned down Exavior’s old house… and I need to move out of Council City.”

  “You can live here,” William said, sounding expectant.

  “No, I just want my own house.”

  “So you need one built in 3 months?”

  “Yes, I can put up with house arrest for that long.”

  “You’re under house arrest!?”

  Emily sighed, “Yes. I just need that house.”

  “We’ll do it… what exactly are you looking for?”

  She then outlined specifics for the new mansion that included a heku-proof panic room, several hidden passages and corridors, and a host of other amenities that she might need in an eternity of living.

  Emily hung up with the Encala and smiled at the baby, “It’s time we give you a name.”

  The baby immediately stuck her fingers into her mouth like Alexis used to.

  “I’ve been thinking about something your Dad said when he named Dain… What do you think about Megara?”