by Mikayla Lane
“I’m serious. I want to be trained. If you don't do it, I’ll find someone else to teach me,” Deanna threatened as she ripped open the wrapping on the box.
“Open it,” Haruki said, taking a bite of the sandwich.
Deanna narrowed her eyes at his lack of response to her concern and ripped open the box.
“Oh, wow,” she whispered as she reached out to touch the gleaming short swords.
“They’re the same ones I had made for Ainsley. Hers have her favorite flowers etched into the blades. I had the Chantherian language inscribed on yours so you could learn it and help me preserve it. One of those shards of pottery, so to speak,” Haruki said casually before he took another bite of his sandwich.
He almost choked when Deanna launched herself into his arms and hugged him tightly around the neck. He chuckled and put his sandwich down so he could hug her back.
“So how soon can we start on our kids?” he teased in her ear.
*****
Grai woke suddenly and sat up in bed, wondering why he felt wrong. Not that something was wrong, but not right with him.
“Death,” he called to his beast. “What is off?”
“I do not know,” Death replied. “It is strange. I will assess things more deeply.”
Grai sent out a wave of energy and noted Grace and Tristan were sleeping peacefully. Looking to Tricia, he saw that she was still bundled under the covers. He stood and padded into the hallway, moving into Grace’s room first.
He leaned over the crib and smiled at her sprawled out in her crib, sleeping soundly. Moving quietly from the room, he closed the door behind him as he headed towards Tristan’s room. The closer he got to the door the more something within him seemed to rattle.
Gari stood quietly outside of Tristan’s door and allowed his senses to take over, analyzing the energy around him. Realization hit him hard, and he sucked in a sharp breath before striding down the hallway to his office. He slid into his desk chair and began typing in commands, entering rarely used passwords as he went through multiple firewalls and security protocols.
When the video came on the screen, he watched it intently before rewinding it. Again and again. While it still played, he began tapping and pulled up another screen, studying the information before following the leads that took him to more.
He was still watching the video when Tristan padded into the room several hours later. Leaving it playing in the background, Grai turned to his small son, his face an unreadable mask.
“I’m not mad at you. I know you think you did what you thought was right. I’m only disappointed that if it was that easy to wipe my mind, you didn’t at least try trusting me enough to talk to me first,” Grai whispered, then walked out of the room.
Tristan stood quietly, his eyes glancing at the video on the screen before it snapped off with a click. He heard his dad greeting Grace and chatting with her like he always did when he woke his sister and got her ready for the day.
Moments later, he heard his father waking up his mom and telling her that he had to go to the office for a little while. A single tear slipped down Tristan’s face when he realized the ramifications of his decisions and the far-reaching impact it would have.
He’d allowed himself to grossly miscalculate his father’s power and there was no way to fix it now. Tristan knew any attempt he made to reset things back on their previous course, would only make it worse. All he could do now was mitigate the damage down the line.
“Mikal, it is best we speak immediately,” Tristan called through the shengari’ as his fingers twirled in the air.
An hour later, Grai sat in his office in Dillon, growing angrier with every piece of information he discovered. Finally, he called an ally and waited impatiently for a response.
“Ya bastard! Do you know what time it is up here at Base Beta?” Fiorn snarled in his mind.
“I need your help,” Grai replied.
“Well, then it doesn’t matter what time it is,” Fiorn said, calming down instantly. “What do you need?”
“I need you to do some digging and get me the plans and a way around a few seriously sophisticated security systems,” Grai said.
Grai could hear Fiorn’s snort in his mind.
“What we talking here?” Fiorn asked.
“On the perimeter, they have infrared cameras tracking all heat signatures, fingerprint scanners on all the doors and even the damn windows. Which also have blast film on them. The basement is a 30,000 square foot panic room, with air scrubbers in case of a biological attack. And before you think an EMP would take out the power and render all that shit useless, this place is geothermal and self-sustaining,” Grai explained rubbing his hands over his eyes.
“By the Gods! Who are you trying to kill? The President?” Fiorn whispered in surprise at the extent of the security measures.
“No,” Grai replied with a sneer. “I’m going to kill a God and send a message.”
*****
Ainsley stood nervously in the middle of the living room of their new quarters, the orb hidden behind her back. Angel told her that Haruki and Deanna had just landed in the docking bay and she was waiting for them to open the door.
Moments later, Haruki threw open the door and swept her up into his arms.
“I missed you kid!” he said as he squeezed her into she squealed.
“Oh, Ainsley,” Deanna whispered from the doorway.
As Haruki turned to see what had her breathless, he noticed the walls and his brows raised in surprise.
“Wow,” he whispered.
Deanna moved from the doorway to touch the ruins of Angkor Wat that covered a wall before her eyes darted to the opposite wall and the field tent painted in front of Gobekli Tempe. She laughed and covered her mouth as she moved to the other side of the room where there was a perfect painting of the main Plaza in Tikal. Deanna turned to Ainsley with her eyes brimming with tears.
“How did you know?” she whispered to the girl.
Ainsley shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
“I know how to use the internet,” she said.
“I don’t get it,” Haruki whispered to Ainsley, hoping she’d tell him what it was about.
“It’s my life,” Deanna said, confusing Haruki even more so she explained. “I wrote my thesis on Angkor Wat. My research at Gobekli Tempe led to my papers being published, and Tikal was my favorite place and what made my career. Thank you . . . so much. You couldn’t have helped me feel more welcome.”
Deanna rushed over and pulled Ainsley into a tight hug.
“I’m glad you like it,” Ainsley whispered.
“I love it,” Deanna said, pulling back to smile at the girl.
“Good, because I saved the best for last,” Ainsley said with a secretive smile and held the orb in her palm.
“What is it?” Haruki asked, looking at the ball curiously.
“Take it,” Ainsley said and held it out to Deanna.
Deanna looked at it for a moment before picking it up and looking closely at it. She almost dropped it when it lit up, and symbols and hieroglyphs appeared in the air around her.
“Oh, what is it?” Deanna whispered in awe, recognizing some of the symbols.
“Oh, hell, tell me you didn’t bring that back from Dranar,” Haruki asked, hoping Ainsley hadn’t stolen it.
“Of course not!” Ainsley said with a snort. “It was freely given. I also have a gift for Mikal that I have to give him before the consecration.”
“Where did it come from?” Haruki demanded.
“Oh, my God! It’s a Rosetta stone for everything! I don’t even know half of these!” Deanna exclaimed in excitement.
“What?” Haruki asked, turning to Ainsley to explain.
“I figured out where one of those places was that Alderic said you couldn’t get to for a while and talked to the Xaratia. She said the orb is for Deanna and the sword is for Mikal,” Ainsley explained. “She also said I can come back and she’ll help me learn things
.”
“Oh, hell Ainsley! Where did you go?” he asked, not really sure he wanted to know.
When Ainsley winced, he knew he didn’t want to know but needed to.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
“See . . . it’s this stunning place and Ran-Tyrna, the Xaratia is-” Ainsley began before Haruki cut her off.
“Where?” he demanded, folding his arms across his chest.
“Holy shit Ainsley! This is a diamond!” Deanna shouted and almost dropped the orb.
As curious as he was about whether or not the orb was a diamond, he kept his gaze on his daughter, waiting for her to answer him.
“She’s in the Bermuda triangle in a pyramid made completely out of crystal, like the orb,” Ainsley admitted.
“You ported to the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle?” Haruki boomed. “What the hell were you thinking? How did you even know where to go? What if you’d drowned? Or ported into a whale? Damn it Ainsley you could have been killed!”
“Oh shit! That’s why all those planes and ships go missing!” Deanna exclaimed, shocked and stunned at the orb in her hand and where Ainsley had gotten it.
Haruki turned to Deanna, and his look told her she wasn’t helping.
“Sorry,” Deanna mouthed.
The moment his back was turned, she gave a thumbs up and a huge grin to Ainsley who couldn’t help but smile back.
“I give up,” Haruki said throwing his hands in the air. “You both are going to give me grey hair.”
“Can I see the sword?” Deanna asked.
“It’s so cool!” Ainsley exclaimed as she ran into her room.
“I can’t help it,” Deanna whispered to Haruki as Ainsley ran back out.
The moment Haruki saw the sword his eyes grew wide, and he took a step towards her. As much as he’d love to touch the sword, something within him made it feel repellent. As if he wasn’t supposed to.
“What did the Xaratia say about the sword, Ainsley?” Haruki asked, knowing he needed to get it where it was meant to be.
“She said to give it to Mikal before the Consecration,” Ainsley answered, looking down to admire the gleaming sword that was almost as big as she was.
“Oh, honey, I think that’s made of diamond to,” Deanna said as she stepped closer to get a better look.
Haruki pulled her back from it.
“Don’t touch it,” he said.
“Why?” Deanna asked.
“I don’t think anyone but Mikal is supposed to touch it,” Haruki said, surprising both girls.
“I’m holding it,” Ainsley said, not believing that. Ran-Tyrna didn’t say anything about that.
“Because she let you,” Haruki said and immediately called Mikal, Declan, and Chris to come to him.
“I don’t understand,” Deanna said, hoping Haruki could explain.
“The energy it is exuding is repelling me from touching it. Like a warning that it isn’t meant for me,” Haruki said, hoping his brothers would get there quick.
Moments later there was a loud knock on the door, and he called for them to come in.
Mikal’s eyes widened dramatically when he saw the sword and appeared to glide across the floor to Ainsley who held it up to him with a grin.
“The Xaratia Ran-Tyrna said to give this to you before the consecration,” Ainsley said proudly.
“What the hell?” Declan whispered as he stared at the sword.
“Where did you get that and who is Ran-Tyrna?” Chris asked, keeping his distance from the sword like Haruki and Declan.
Mikal reached out his hand but drew it back before actually touching the blade.
“Is it calling to you too?” he asked his brothers, never taking his eyes from the sword.
“What does that say?” Deanna asked, looking more closely at the inscription on the blade.
“What’s it say?” Declan asked a few seconds later.
“I don’t even know what language it is,” Deanna huffed out in frustration.
“Yes, you do,” Haruki said and nodded at the orb she’d not let go of.
“Yes!” she exclaimed as the ball lit up and she read the symbols in the air around her, turning the sphere in every direction. “That can’t be right.”
“What can’t be right?” Declan whispered.
“What’s it say?” Ainsley asked in excitement.
Deanna shook her head and played with the orb again for a few minutes before huffing and throwing her hands up.
“It can’t be right,” she said, wondering if she was reading the sphere wrong, but knowing she hadn’t. “It says Terran Sotier, of the Atlantean Stronghold.”
Everyone looked at her like she’d lost her mind and Deanna shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know what to tell you, that’s what it says,” Deanna said, finding it hard to believe herself.
“I did get it out of the Bermuda Triangle, from a crystal pyramid,” Ainsley said.
“What?” Declan growled.
“That’s where you went?” Mikal demanded.
Ainsley winced and looked down at the sword.
“We’re still discussing that,” Haruki said, squeezing her shoulder gently.
“The pyramid is probably a diamond-like the orb and sword,” Deanna suggested.
“Diamond?” Chris asked looking more closely at the sword. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Here, look,” Deanna said holding out the orb to Chris.
Chris shook his head.
“I wouldn’t know it from a shined up rock. That’s one of our other brothers,” Chris said.
“Can you take this now, please?” Ainsley said, holding up the sword as it began to get heavy.
All of the brothers but Mikal stepped away from her and Mikal turned to look at them curiously.
“What is it?” he asked, sensing a discomfort among them.
“I don’t know about the rest of them, but I’m not meant to touch that thing. I feel like we’re magnets on opposite polarities and that thing is keeping me away from it,” Chris admitted.
He looked to Declan and Haruki to see if they felt it too and felt vindicated when they both nodded their heads. Mikal’s brows drew together as he looked at the sword.
“That is odd. I feel the opposite. In fact, I’ve been fighting the overwhelming urge to touch it,” Mikal said.
“How about I set it on the table,” Ainsley said as she moved to the coffee table and laid it on the glass top. “Whew, that was getting heavy.”
Ainsley had no sooner stepped away from the table before it shattered, sending glass flying across the floor. Haruki was able to catch her in his arms before she could get hurt.
“What. The. Fuck!” Chris whispered in shock as he stared at the table and the crystal sword that lay in the remains of the glass shards.
They heard feet pounding down the hallway before the door was flung open and siblings and mates poured into the room to make sure no one was hurt.
“What happened?” everyone seemed to ask at once.
Without a word, Mikal strode across the room and picked up the sword. The moment his hand touched the hilt, the sword glowed a brilliant red and Mikal hissed as his palm burned. He was getting ready to put it back down when it instantly cooled, and his hand felt fine.
Mikal couldn’t help but admire the way it felt in his hand, the weight was perfect, and the balance the best he’d ever experienced for such a heavy weapon. He switched it to his other hand and heard gasps.
“Your hand,” Declan said, pointing to Mikal’s palm.
Mikal opened his hand and saw the triangle burned in the center, with a sword going through it.
“It branded you,” Haruki said, stating the obvious.
“Is it still burning you?” Luca asked, moving closer to get a look at the injury.
“No,” Mikal said as he swung the blade. “It is perfect.”
“Ran-Tyrna told me you were going to be the Sotier. She was right,” Ainsley chimed in.
&n
bsp; “Works for me,” Shane said, hoping Mikal would accept.
Every one of the brothers agreed, and Mikal looked over at Chance who was holding Charlie in her arms, torn over what to do.
Epilogue
They gathered in the inner chamber, whispering quietly to one another as they inspected the weapons on the walls and stared at the Talunaha containing the soul of Tarona. Above the stone was an image of the beast worlds as they appeared to be lining up for the consecration.
“Daddy? When does it start?” Charlie asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Soon baby,” Mikal said, kissing his daughter before he handed her to Chance.
Suddenly the Talunaha began to glow, and the walls shimmered around them for a moment before holographic forms of people sprang up all around them.
“Terra!” dozens of people screamed out while others raised their hands and cheered.
Charlie was so frightened she burst into tears, the brothers drew weapons, and Christoper and Thrane giggled and gurgled as their terrified mothers tried to shield them from the strangers. The brothers were pissed that Alderic hadn’t warned them it would be like this.
“Silence!” a bear-like man roared.
He was broad, with muscular arms covered in thick hair and his deep-set, dark eyes glared at anyone to defy him.
“I am Sotier Galavid Hireaden and welcome Terra back to the fold of their brethren. Long Live the Dranovian Order!” he roared out, raising his large, paw-like fist into the air as everyone cheered.
Moments later, the cheering stopped, and the Sotier of each of the other beast worlds introduced themselves and welcomed the brothers. The last was Alderic.
“I am Sotier Alderic Du’ Castine. By the sanction of the Rituals of Tongerno, I proclaim the new Sotier of Terra to be Mikal Cold T’Alq. Welcome Sotier of Terra and our Dranovian brethren,” Alderic said with a smile.
The Talunaha glowed more brightly and beam of blue shot out of it and struck Mikal in the chest. His white eyes grew wide, and his iridescent black skin shimmered with power before the light blinked out.