White Mountain Rising (Veil Knights Book 7)

by Rowan Casey

  “Not really,” Hannah said. “But we could try, I guess.”

  “Good enough, if you’ll excuse me,” he said and rose. He and Marissa left the teens alone and Daniel seized on the opportunity to talk, although he kept his voice low.

  “We could try, but we have our own work to do,” he said.

  “I was just trying to be friendly. They’re taking pretty good care of us.”

  “It’s what churches do, I guess. Still, that fire the elf set, it killed some people, others are in the hospital.”

  “Aw, shit,” she said, her eyes wide. “Who?”

  “I have no idea,” he admitted.

  “Yeah, and it’s our fault,” she said with bitterness. “We met with Grimm and were told about the Veil and then somehow that thing learned of it and followed us.”

  “Then he burned the place down because I wouldn’t tell him we were hunting the horn,” Daniel said, picking up her thoughts. “So that’s what we have to do. Begin the hunt.”

  Hannah shook her head in disbelief. The emotional pain settled over her soul but was also etched on her face and she was silent for a long moment. “You think it was Kenisha?”

  “Check your phone.”

  Hannah took out her phone and thumbed through messages. She studied one at length then looked up, her eyes bright and wet. “She’s fine. It was Kiera, she was trampled going down the steps. And Tomas who got severely burned.” Tomas, a three year resident, lived next door to Daniel and it made no sense that he died, he wasn’t near the fire. Daniel wondered how it happened.

  She shook her head, clearing whatever was on her mind. She licked her lips once then said, “Daniel, where the fuck do we start looking?”

  He had been pondering that question since the previous night. “I don’t know,” he finally told her. “I just know we have been given this assignment for a reason and we have to get out there and begin. Maybe just wander and let the fates guide us.”

  “The fates? What the hell are you talking about? That’s fiction, that’s what we study in school. Out here on the streets, there are no fates. There are police and homeless and ordinary people and I guess now an evil elf. No one is going to send you a sign from on high. You let Grimm really get into your mind.”

  “Do you really doubt what he told us? After all that’s happened? Don’t you feel any different?”

  “You mean activated? I have no clue. I’ve been attacked and had my home burned down. I’m leaping rooftops, but hell, I’ve done crazy shit like that for years.”

  Daniel caught himself from saying something dumb, antagonizing Hannah, whom he needed. Grimm said they were to be partners in this, striving for a common goal. He spoke to the dark thing and felt in his soul that this was all real and true. It explained so much about his life until this point and he liked finally understanding what he had been seeing. Well, truth to tell, he was still sorting that out - but now he had a starting point. He was anything but a freak, instead, he was something special and he needed to use that. Daniel truly wanted to be a hero, a knight, and help save the world. It felt right and gave him some direction, which was an improvement over the drift he had felt the past year. Maybe that was why he was far more enthusiastic about this quest than Hannah was. She had goals and dreams which this obliterated. With that realization, he also had the feeling it was time to go. He wanted to get out there in the early morning and begin the hunt.

  “Hannah, I need to do this. Grimm said he and Marilyn are counting on us, both of us, to find the Horn of Brân Galed. I believe and hope you will, too. But right now, we need to get our things and leave.”

  “Are you worried this is some cult, that they’ll trap us?” she said, mocking him. The words stung and angered him but he bit back angry words.

  “Not at all, but the horn’s not here. So we move on. Now.”

  They sat in silence, he repeated the words in his mind, deciding which direction they’d head out once they left. His gut said the further from the burned shell of their home, the better. And he hoped it would be both of them, because he needed the support. After all, she was fearless, and they’d need that if something like the creature was protecting the horn. Daniel also mused at what might be running through Hannah’s mind; she seemed reluctant to believe any of this, but her experiences told her a different story. She had to be all in if this were to work. Instead of committing, she ate a third donut, cinnamon dusting her tank top.

  Geoffrey returned to the room with a pink Hello Kitty backpack that had seen better days. It was bulging, altering its normal shape but he gently placed it on the table and joined them.

  “The clothes may not be the right size. I had to guess, but I have sisters so I should be close,” he said with a gentle chuckle. “There are toiletries and I placed our card there. You are welcome here if you need additional refuge or you can call us and we can direct you to another of our homes. We are all over the city.”

  “Thank you so much,” Hannah said in a rush, genuinely delighted at the help. “We’re going now, but I really hope we can come back later to help with the cleanup. I…we…owe you so much.”

  “No, no you don’t,” he said.

  “Really, thanks,” Daniel said, rising. He was hoping she’d follow and they could get underway.

  He was relieved and more than a little delighted to see her also getting to her feet, cleaning up their breakfast debris.

  The quest was about to get underway in earnest.

  Daniel shook hands with his hosts, Hannah following his lead, and then they stepped out the front door. The sun was rising above the buildings, a warm August day greeting them, full of promise. The air smelled clean, not a hint of smoke. There was even a bird chirping in the tree overhead. He looked left and right, hoping he’d see something, anything to suggest a direction. It was vital he prove to her that the Knights would be guided. He wasn’t asking for much, just divine intervention.

  7

  Hannah

  Hannah blindly followed Daniel out of the White Mountain house, barely acknowledging the bright sunshine. While friendly, she didn’t really want to spend much more time with Gerard, Geoffrey, Caleb, and Melissa because, frankly, religion meant a lot to her and this was not her church. She also needed time to think and process the last forty-eight or so hours. After all, it was just a day ago that Grimm inserted himself into their lives and things had been crazy ever since. There was something cool about being told she was special, that she was meant for something great. Then again, she was now a reincarnated Knight of the Round Table and had little time to really contemplate what that meant. Just days ago, she had been perfectly fine being Hannah Price from a broken home. She wanted to graduate high school and knew she needed college to get anywhere in the world; not that she knew what she wanted to do or be, but she wanted more than living in a group home. Being a knight was something else entirely. It meant being something iconic and powerful. Knights were gallant, role models, and did a dozen heroic things before breakfast every day. Being a knight carried with it an awesome responsibility, she knew that much. But unlike your average knight, she was being asked to help save the world and that was an unimaginable responsibility. Most days, she was just trying to get through without antagonizing the world.

  The quest was also causing her some anxiety. She knew very little about the knights and Arthurian legends, but she did know they sought the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus Christ drank from at the Last Supper. That connected the knights to Christ and her faith, and in that she drew some comfort. What she was being asked to do wasn’t blasphemous, at least she didn’t think so. If she knew a priest that’d be nice, but she’d formed no such attachments so had nowhere to turn. It really was starting to feel like her and Daniel against the rest of the world, which might be unfair to the others she met at Avalon. But, they were adults, they had lives and experiences to draw upon. Some weren’t even phased by the notion of magic being real, which spoke volumes to her. However, they were not here in Brooklyn; instead, t
hey were scattered in search of their own icons.

  Charlene’s arrival changed everything and when Hannah didn’t want to join her gang of petty thieves, lifting odds and ends from local stores, she became their target. Last night’s assault was just a larger dose of the bullshit she’d had to endure. Hannah suffered it because girls like Charlene came and went. She’d self-destruct in some way, probably get arrested, and Hannah wanted nothing to do with that world. It didn’t suit her. Neither did the home, truth be told, but it was her world and she was stuck in it. Being activated suddenly gave her options she had never before considered.

  Grimm, and now Daniel, offered her something vastly different. Here, she could have adventures and make a difference; maybe really save the world. But first, she really had to wrap her head around being the reincarnation of a dude, Sir Bors. The Younger. She didn’t recognize the name and knew nothing about him but Merlin told Hannah her fearless, reckless manner reminded him of that man. The Horned Demon at Avalon was the first occasion she felt fear in some time. The demons and monsters that live beyond the Veil, the barrier they were meant to keep intact, sounded positively frightening and she didn’t frighten easy. She never had, even when things got really bleak at home, back when she lived with her family. Following Daniel out of the White Mountain house wasn’t fully committing to their course of action, but it was better than staying. Her survival instincts were screaming at her to keep moving. Daniel craved the quest, she desired getting on with her life. Since the group home was gone, when she was found she would be placed back in the system. That didn’t appeal to her. Not at all. If finding the horn of whatever could give her a chance at some better life, that was enough motivation for now. Fully committed belief would have to follow.

  Practical concerns filled her mind as she watched Daniel study the street in every conceivable direction, including up. He didn’t have a clue, did he? He really expected some cosmic finger to point them in a specific direction, and it wasn’t happening. She followed his gaze and tried to see if she could be of some help. Since they were in this together, Hannah knew she would have to do her part. But she saw nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that might direct them towards wherever the horn was.

  Something seemed to catch his eye and she followed his direction but saw nothing. “What?” she asked.

  “Sunlight reflecting off a car.”

  “So?”

  “It’s the only car doing that in any direction,” Daniel said. “It’s glowing brightly, more white than yellow. Don’t you see it?” She shook her head.

  “Is that supposed to mean something?”

  “I’m taking it as a sign we go that way. If I’m seeing it and you’re not means it’s my sight and that’s significant.

  “Really? Because of sunlight?” This was feeling unreal and not in a good way.

  “Damn it, Hannah! I need to start somewhere so absent of anything else, I’ll use that as a starting point, divine intervention or not. Ready?”

  “One of us is wrong. One of us has too much faith or not enough faith,” Hannah said, adjusting the bulky kid’s backpack, trying to ignore the bright pink and white illustrations making her look like a middle schooler. She surprised herself when she began walking toward the car, not because she believed it was a sign, but because she continued to feel the need to keep moving.

  Daniel followed suit and they walked along in silence for a time. They walked down 49th Street and turned left on Clarendon Road, passing businesses that were just opening, the sidewalks beginning to fill with people off to work or to the gym or some place else. It was still summertime and people seemed carefree, something she envied. Maybe that came with adulthood and money in the bank and a stable life. She really had no clue how it worked, no real models to follow other than what she saw on television and in the movies.

  “How does your sight work?” she asked as they walked.

  “It just does,” Daniel said, sounding uncertain. “If there’s something…more…to see, it’s like an overlay. I see colors in place of emotions, shapes in front of doorways or paintings. Lately, I’ve been seeing…things, creatures…literally clinging to people. Ever since I was activated everything is more in focus. I’m still trying to figure out what it all means. I have never been able to know what will trigger it before and can’t summon it.”

  “Now that you – now that we’re both activated, do you think you can control it?”

  He shook his head with uncertainty. She tried to imagine what it must have been like, declared a freak for seeing things and having no one at all believe it. Until yesterday, and that was the least of the things he learned. She did note that every time they passed a storefront with objects on display, he slowed a bit, studying everything, hoping they’d easily stumble over the horn, call it a quest, and put their lives back together.

  “What does this horn look like?”

  Daniel paused, then stopped, running a hand behind his head, massaging his neck. “I don’t know. I’ve just presumed I’d see it and just know.”

  “I’m not sure it works that way,” Hannah said, attempting to be helpful. “Maybe we need to know what we’re looking for.”

  He took his phone out of his hip pocket and began typing. After a pause, he studied the screen, then handed it over to her. On his cellphone was a Google Images page with many variations of what the horn was supposed to look like. Most were depictions of wooden, curved horns like she’d seen in Viking stories. Both ends were capped in metal, each with curlicue designs, some with straps denoting a certain size. One that caught her eye had a red and gold panel at its widest point, a crown, gloves, and heart were all in gold. It looked powerful.

  “What does the horn do?” she asked.

  “Wiki says it grants the user whatever drink he desires,” Daniel said. “One story says it was first a centaur’s horn until Hercules ripped it from his head.”

  “Centaur, that’s the half-horse, half-human?”

  Daniel nodded.

  “Hercules. Jesus.”

  Daniel nodded again.

  Arthur and Merlin are one thing. Hercules, a Greek demigod, is something else. He preceded Jesus Christ; he was of a pantheon of gods that she was always told didn’t exist. That there was just the one, true God who sent His only Son to walk among man. That’s how she was raised but delighted in myth in film because it took her away from her home life. But if the horn was real, was this part legend? Were there gods other than God? This shook her to her core, causing her to look away from the phone and stare up at the bright, cloudless sky. Now it was her turn to want a sign, something to signify her faith has not been misplaced.

  Nothing.

  “Who are we? Who were we?” she asked in a soft voice.

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that,” he replied. “It can wait until later. I want to keep moving, get some more distance between us and the home. They’ve got to be looking for us.” With that he turned and continued down the busy street.

  Hannah was feeling a little lost and uncertain, so she had little choice but to follow. They continued to walk and she realized they were nearing Nazareth Regional High School, where they would be expected for classes in about two weeks. She doubted she’d walk those halls again, something told her that if they found the horn, they’d travel to deliver it Grimm. There was something about all thirteen treasures being brought together to form some sort of key that would ensure the Veil remained intact. That didn’t sound like something to be finished by Labor Day. She didn’t even know if Grimm and Marilyn had any of the pieces yet. She hoped they’d be receiving updates or keep in contact with Grimm, but nothing was said about that. They were dropped in the deep end, activated, and expected to suddenly know how to swim. Maybe Grimm was asking too much of them. Just thinking that annoyed her. She decided that they’d find the horn just to prove they were worthy.

  That felt right.

  The morning slipped by as they walked, sometimes turning down side streets, other times stay
ing on the major roads which filled with people, offering them some anonymity. She let Daniel pick their path and he was pausing now and then, looking for the bouncing light or something similar. She didn’t ask, didn’t want to break his focus. Instead, Hannah grew hungry and that got her thinking about food and money and how they were supposed to survive until the horn was found. It could take them a day or a week or even a month. How could they survive on less than a hundred bucks between the two of them? It’s not like Grimm gave them a stipend. Even a place to sleep that night was a question mark, although she suspected they’d be welcome back at the White Mountain house. Two nights in a row, though, felt like an imposition. The idea of a shelter seemed more likely, but those places were sketchy and she tried to avoid even thinking about winding up there.

  “Daniel, what’re we going to do about food? And somewhere to sleep tonight?” She figured if he was cocksure about their direction, he may also have given the other matters some thought. His hesitation told her that he really hadn’t stopped to consider it at all.

  “Were you expecting more divine intervention? Fairies bringing you manna from heaven? A winning lottery ticket?”

  “I don’t know,” he snapped. “We have a quest, that’s all I know. If Grimm is right, we have to find the horn before the Veil shatters and hell pays us a visit. Do you want that?”

  “Of course not,” she shouted back. In a softer tone she said, “But, we need to eat. We’ll need to sleep. It that elf is out there, we have to be safe. That means we need a plan. Even for just today. Got it?”

  He nodded and stared ahead, clearly weighing options. His hand absently patted his wallet, the other tugging on his backpack. Finally, looking down at her he said, “Look, I agree. We need to figure something out. This could take a while. Tell you what, let’s get something to eat. Something cheap. We can look ourselves up and figure out the rest. This wandering is starting to feel aimless.”