Addí stuck her tongue out at her brother as a sheepish grin appeared on his face. He loved to tease her about everything he could. RJ watched the exchange between siblings, knowing it was exactly the same with him and his younger sisters. Though Addí and Zak almost always made him start to laugh, as he had just begun to do after watching Addí playfully punch her brother on the shoulder before taking the empty seat at the table.
“So what did you two plan for us to do?” she asked them.
“It’s your birthday. It’s your choice,” Zak answered quickly.
“That’s a lie and you know it!”
“This year is different.”
“RJ, is he telling the truth or did the two of you plan something?”
RJ looked back and forth between the two siblings. He knew better than to take sides between them. As close as they were, their fights were disasters waiting to happen. He would never forget the time they fought so badly when they were small children that it accidentally triggered Addí’s powers into attacking Zak.
“You both already know I won’t come in between you,” RJ said to them both in a firm tone.
“I think you did that when you fell for her,” Zak retorted.
“Zak!” Addí nearly yelled. “That’s not funny or fair!”
“If the two of you would stop dancing around this, my life would be much easier.”
Addí sighed loudly in frustration. She knew very well that once her brother set his mind to something, he never let go until it was resolved the way he felt it needed to be. If he was saying things like this now then he was not going to let it go. Yes, she knew all too well how she felt but she had every right to be nervous. She has never even had a boyfriend or a real kiss. This isn’t a move she can just make, as much as she wants to do so.
“You are too stubborn for your own good,” Zak muttered.
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Addí asked in response.
RJ didn’t know what to say to anything in that moment. He wanted to admit the truth to Addí but he also could not come in between this argument she was having with Zak. Her frustrated sigh spoke volumes to him, if only it was saying what he wanted it to say.
“Alright, you two, aren’t you supposed to be discussing what you are all going to be doing for Addí Jade’s birthday?” James asked his eldest two children as he entered the room.
“Dad!” Zak and Addí exclaimed in unison.
“You know for two smart, magical adults you would think you would begin to speak to each other as such.”
They all looked as James Moore leaned against the kitchen counter with a fresh, steaming cup of coffee. He smiled at the three teenagers mischievously. He enjoyed teasing the kids so they knew he was more than just a serious father and leader.
“Happy Birthday, my dear Addí Jade,” he said with a big smile. “You have grown so much in seventeen years. It’s hard to believe you and Zak are both now considered adults.”
“Aww, Dad!” Addí responded with glee. “Thank you! Zak and I are so lucky to have you and mom as parents.”
“And we have been lucky has parents to have the two of you and your little sisters.”
“Does this mean we get the day off from training?”
“It does but tomorrow I expect you all to be there.”
“Thank you so much, Dad!”
“It’s a special birthday. You should enjoy it with your closest friends.”
Addí nearly ran to embrace her father. She truly had the best parents in both Corinthia and Ilysia. They always made sure she felt loved as well as special. Her happiness was one of the most important things in the world to them. She truly was the luckiest girl in both worlds.
“So what are the three of you going to do?” James asked after Addí released him from the tight hug.
“I have no idea, Dad,” Addí answered quickly. “Ask those two.”
“Boys, what are the plans for today?”
“We thought about a picnic in Addí’s favorite park and perhaps a movie or something she really wants to go do,” RJ replied.
“Though I wanted to take her to ride the new rollercoaster,” Zak added.
“Zak! Really? You know I hate rollercoasters!” Addí said with a slightly raised voice as her brother began to laugh.
“Zakary, help her have fun today not scare her senseless,” James remarked.
“Sorry, Dad,” Zak responded quietly.
“I just need you all to control yourselves. We do not need another incident of your powers being seen in public. That was quite difficult for Robert and me to clean up the last time.”
“I’m sorry, Dad!” Addí exclaimed in a guilt filled voice. “It was an accident and I didn’t have as good of control of them then as I do now.”
“Addí Jade, you still have some issues with control which is why we have you train so much. I wouldn’t let you skip training if both Zak and RJ weren’t going with you.”
“I don’t understand why I still can’t control them though.”
James could hear the irritation in his daughter’s voice. He had heard her cries of feeling like she was a failure for years due to her lack of control with her powers. He only wished to help her understand that she has more power than all of them, which is going to bring greater difficulty in learning control. She was special and rare because she could manipulate all of the elements. There had been no one able to do that since Queens Anna and Maelyn nearly a millennia ago. He and Katie knew not long after her powers began to show that this was the very reason her mother had her taken from Ilysia and brought to them. As powerful as she was, she would have always been in danger in their homeland. The Empress would have taken her from her family to have her under her own influence. It was because of this knowledge he knew that the best decision had been made when he and Katie agreed to keep Addí and Zak to raise as their own.
He looked at Addí and pulled her into a warm, fatherly embrace. It did not matter that she did not share his nor Katie’s blood. She was his daughter and he loved her more deeply.
“Addí Jade, my beautiful firstborn daughter, you are more special than you realize,” he said as he stepped out of the hug and looked down at her. “You have more power in you than any of us have ever seen but you will learn to control it completely.”
“I don’t understand it, Dad, but I trust you,” she responded with a smile.
“Good because I will do everything I can as will everyone else to help you be able to learn to control the power in you. Now no more of this talk, and go enjoy your birthday.”
“Thank you, Dad. Now boys, where are we off too first? I’m hungry!”
James walked back towards his office with a smile filling his face as he heard Zak and RJ laughing at Addí. He felt this was going to be the start to a wonderful day and with the reports he was getting from Ilysia, it was just what they all needed.
James was trying not to pace as the leadership of the resistance group gathered in their usual meeting place. He and Katie had converted the basement of their home into a meeting and training area when Zak and Addí were still very small. He looked over to his wife who was setting up the tea on the side table. Katie always felt that tea fixed everything. He admired her optimism and right now he envied that about her. The reports from John and his network of spies in Ilysia were growing more and more disturbing. He did not want to have to tell the group this because he knew they were not ready but it was time to take action. The war was going to begin soon if they were to ever expel the dark forces from their homeland.
“You seem disturbed, my love,” Katie said to him softly.
“The reports aren’t making you feel that way, my dear?” he asked in response.
“Of course they are!”
“I forget your Elven blood gave you the gift of being calm in times like these.”
Katie laughed slightly as she kissed him on the cheek. He was her strength, not her Elven blood. He just never was one to admit it out loud.
“I have you, as well, James,” she responded as he turned to look into her eyes that always shined as bright as emeralds.
“I couldn’t do this without you,” he stated.
“It was just you and Robert when this started.”
“Then I found you only months into this. Robert already had Adelaide but the moment you walked into that meeting, my heart stopped. You made it beat again. You gave me more purpose than this ever could.”
“I love you.”
“And I love you, more than anything in both of our worlds.”
They were facing each other, foreheads touching, as they locked into a sweet embrace. They had a love that stood the test of time, a love that was eternal and reunited souls lifetime after lifetime. It was obvious to all that knew them that this was not their first nor last life together.
“Now that the RJ and Zak are gone with Addí to celebrate her birthday, people are starting to arrive,” they heard Robert say from behind them.
They quietly pulled from the embrace and turned to face Robert and his wife with smiles on their faces.
“I see your wife has managed to remove the grim look from your face, James,” Robert remarked with a smirk.
“She has that gift,” James responded with a slight laugh. “But it’s time to get our meeting face on. This is going to be a difficult one.”
“Is John or any of his spy network coming?”
“John is supposed to be here but he has mentioned no one else.”
The four adults quickly took a deep breath as they prepared for the other Ilysians to join them. This was going to be the least pleasant meeting they have ever had. This time it was all about war. It was brewing and about to begin. They all knew this day was going to come when they joined together with the sole purpose of helping take their true homeland back. They just never felt that twenty years later this would start to come to fruition. War was terrible and cost many lives. All any of them could say was this is what they agreed to, this is what they joined for. The time was coming for them to all risk their lives to complete the journey they had started on two decades prior. There was another generation growing up in Corinthia. They were all parents now or going to be soon. It would make this fight all the more difficult because while they had so much to gain, they also had so much to lose.
James looked behind him when he heard the familiar sound of the portal opening. He saw his old friend John Daesyn step through alone. John had been essential to them being able to know what was going on in Ilysia. He also had been the very man that had brought Zak and Addí to them almost seventeen years ago. They both owed each other a debt it seemed.
“John,” James said as the Witch approached him. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”
“I know it’s better that I’m here. They need to hear it from the source and not you about what’s going on,” John responded. “Can we speak alone for a few moments?”
“Of course,” James answered before turning to Katie, Robert, and Adelaide. “Can the three of you get everyone settled in?”
He watched as they all nodded in response before leading John to his office. He knew why the Witch wanted to speak privately. John never came without asking about the children he brought here or visiting with them. It told James years ago that John knew exactly who they truly were and the identity of their biological parents. He only never questioned his friend because he knew that he would get no answers.
“I know it’s Sinéad’s birthday,” John began to say. “How are she and Rovén? Are they happy?”
“They’re very happy and she’s in love with Robert’s son,” James answered quickly.
“She is so young to be in love but it is important she know that.”
“I’m shocked they haven’t figured out that Katie and I are not their true parents.”
“She looks just like her mother, so much like her that it is like I am seeing a ghost…”
James watched the expression on his friend’s change to one of sadness. Whoever their mother was, she was important to him. John knew her well.
“Who is she?” James asked. “It’s obvious you know her and she’s important to you.”
“I promised her I would never tell, but I will say that I have not heard from her in nearly a year. This is something that worries me because she always is sure to let me know that she is well,” John answered with despair in his voice.
“Does Zak favor his father?”
“Very much so. I will not tell you much about their real parents other than they were truly in love. You and Katie remind me of them, at least your love reminds me of theirs.”
“Then why are they not raising them together?”
“It is a very complicated situation, James. They were never free to be openly together.”
“Forbidden love?”
“In many ways, yes. It was not her family or people but his that would have kept them apart.”
“Did he know them?”
“His son, yes, but she left with their daughter before he ever saw her. She was scared.”
“Why was she so afraid she had you bring them to us?”
“You are going to know soon enough, James, if you have not noticed just how special that girl is already.”
James knew she was special. He had figured that out the first time Addí went from manipulating water to fire. Then when she showed abilities with the other three elements, he and Katie both knew that this was the very reason she had been brought to them. Addí had been the one in danger all along, never Zak. Their mother just wanted them to be together.
“She was four years old the first time she manipulated two different elements and by the time she reached her fifth birthday she had manipulated all five of them. Believe me I’ve known for a long time that only one of those two children was ever in danger,” James stated in response. “Just as you did.”
“Their mother could not bear to separate them,” the Witch quickly replied.
“I figured that out a long time ago but are you ever going to tell Katie and I anything else that will help us with them? To protect them better or just to know where they come from?”
“I made a promise and a vow to not tell you who their parents are. I made it to their mother. You must understand this is not something I can just break because you wish to know.”
James sighed heavily. He was beyond frustrated with John’s avoidance of the full truth when it came to his children. They were his children and he had raised them as such. He was trying to not get angry with his friend but things were changing towards war, a war he knew that those two children that had grown to adulthood would have to fight in. He would not be able to keep them safe from any harm much longer.
Both of the men turned when they heard the door begin to open to find Katie in the doorway with a faint smile on her face. She always tried to be positive even in the face of the worst things that could happen. Everyone who knew her admired her optimism.
“Everyone is here, including my parents,” she said in her usual kind tone of voice. “Do you need more time to talk?”
“Not unless John has more to share,” James quickly responded.
“I do not. There is nothing more I can tell you right now,” John stated to indicate that he would not give James the information he was truly seeking.
The three of them shared a silent look before quickly exiting James’s office. It is time to begin the meeting with the rest of the members of the resistance that had gathered upon James’s urgent call.
Chapter Five
James stood at the front of the nearly full room of Ilysian refugees with the rest of the resistance leadership. He stood tall, knowing that he needed to show his strength with what he was about to have to tell them. They all had their eyes on him, intently. He scanned the room to see that very few faces were missing, notably Galen and Vera Richards. It was odd to him because they had never before missed a meeting. He hoped that nothing had happened to either of them or their families.
“I am sure that all of you are wondering why I called an urgent meeting,” James began to speak. “When we began this group, this resistance, the goal has always been to fight back to return to our true homeland for good. I believe that time is approaching sooner than we all could have anticipated.”
He watched from where he stood as they all began to quietly whisper amongst themselves. He knew before he even spoke that this was either going to go very well or the exact opposite.
“Do you have news from Ilysia to indicate this?” Michael Anderzky asked.
“Plenty, Michael,” James quickly answered. “John Daesyn is here to help tell what news has been passed through his network of spies. The dark activity is not only growing rapidly but it has spread to Corinthia in the past decade.”
“The Empress has forces here now? Confirmed forces?” Zóanna Trevorssan questioned.
“My spies have confirmed it and one even knows the identity of the leaders here,” John responded as he stood to his feet and walked to stand side by side with James. “They all seem to be concentrated in Moserovo.”
“So what do we do?”
“Train harder and be prepared to fight. This is building up like war is coming quickly.”
“What does the King say?” Michael inquired.
“He has been preparing for this fight for nearly seventeen years. We have his support as well as knowing that his armies will be fighting just as we are. He and Queen Résalyn are strong allies in this.”
“Katie, will your father’s people fight when it comes to war? Will the elves join us or leave it up to the Fae, Witches, and humans to free our homeland?”
“I have been in contact with my Uncle Jíma. He is our best hope for getting the elves to fight,” Katie replied as she stood and walked to where she was not only side by side but hand in hand with her husband. “Jíma is the commander of the Elven armies. I trust that he will convince the King to do the right thing when the time comes.”
The room was a mixture of loud whispers and silence. Katie could feel the fear that had risen in everyone around her yet she found herself unable to soothe it. She knew that when they started this militia that none of them expected to see the war happen in their own lifetime. Why would they expect it or believe it could happen? The belief is always that it will never happen to you, always to someone else.
A Darkness Awakens Page 5