by Montana Ash
Tempus was saved from replying by Max, who suddenly appeared next to them. Her swirling eyes were locked onto Gaias. “I know you,” she whispered, taking a slow step forward. Gaias smiled and reached out a hand to her. Ryker immediately pulled Max back and Darius, Lark, and Beyden quickly formed a solid wall of muscle between them both. “Guys,” Max said, exasperated. “He won’t harm me. Besides, you know we are surrounded by the three entities who pretty much shaped the universe, right?”
“I don’t care. I don’t know him,” Ryker stated, not letting go of Max for a second. “Where the hell did you come from? How many more of you can we expect to just pop up?” Ryker turned his disapproving eyes on Dana.
“But I do know him,” Max said, peering around everyone to look at Gaias once more. “Don’t I? You’re the Custodian. The one Emmanuel consumed and imprisoned.”
Mouths dropped open in shock and a pin could have been heard falling to the soft grass from all the shock resonating through the minds and bodies of everyone congregated on the cliff’s edge.
Gaias smiled at Max but made no move to reach for her again. “I am. I owe you a debt I can never repay. I did not think I would ever be free. Nor all those hundreds of other poor souls. I had no idea supernova was a thing,” he added, winking.
Max laughed, pushing her way through her stupefied paladins. “Just between you and me? I didn’t either.” Then, in typical Max fashion, she threw herself at him and wrapped him up in a big hug. Ryker – and the rest of her paladins – cursed and groaned but didn’t immediately yank her back this time. “How the hell did you get a body?” Max questioned, releasing the young man.
Gaias pointed to Tanda. “Death caught me, threw me into this meatsuit.” He looked down at himself. “It’s strange. As a pure soul, I never thought to have a body. Is it a good one?” he asked, looking curious.
Surprisingly, it was Ivy who answered, “Oh, yes. It’s a good one,” she practically purred.
Beyden’s eyes widened and his whole face turned red, “Ivy!”
“What?” Ivy shrugged. “You don’t agree?”
All eyes turned to the undeniably handsome young man, who simply grinned. Lark was the one to break the silence by agreeing with his lover. “I totally agree. But wait a minute, Custodians are like your offspring, right? Max is your daughter. Basically, a Custodian in flesh and blood. Does that mean Gaias is Max’s brother?”
Dana thought about it for a moment. It was a question she had asked herself many times since finding out what Tanda had done. “Custodians are born of my magic; pure souls, pure energy, pure power. It is true I thought of them as offspring. They were the closest I ever thought I was going to get to having a child. I knew I was not going to birth one from my body. That turned out to be wrong of course. Max is my flesh and blood child, made the old-fashioned way. Her magic and powers are her birthright – her inheritance. Gaias has a soul I created but a body I did not. I do not share blood with him. But I do share magic.”
Dana looked at Gaias, knowing he was there to take her place so she could step aside and live a life full of love and happiness in the mortal world. How could she not love him? she thought. How could she not appreciate him and feel the same affection for him as she did for Max? She could not, she decided. Smiling, she finally answered Lark, “Yes, Gaias is Max’s brother. I claim him as my son – if he would have me,” she added, looking at Gaias.
Gaias smiled and nodded his head, words apparently lost to him. But that was okay. Dana did not need the words. She understood. Gaias was a soul burdened with overseeing nature and its wardens millennia ago. At the time, he was an it, with no comprehension of what living a real life was like. Then he had been trapped for what must have felt like an eternity inside a very literal hell. On top of that, Tanda had thrust him into a physical body. He was no doubt floundering to compute all the changes. But one thing she was sure of – he now had a family. And she knew they would all band together to help him work it out.
Leaving her new son to the tender mercies of Max’s crew, Dana sought out Mordecai. She pulled him aside, and he came willingly. Likely because he was too overwhelmed to protest, but Dana did not mind. “Are you okay with me having a son?” she asked him.
Mordecai opened and closed his mouth a few times before throwing his arms up in the air. “Sure. Why not? The more the merrier. Besides, look at our daughter. She’s already claimed the poor lad. Another stray for her collection,” he added softly.
Dana could not help but laugh when she looked over and saw Max chattering away at a very bewildered Gaias. Gaias cast a ‘help me’ look over Max’s shoulder and Diana and Beyden quickly stepped up, diverting Max’s attention. Dana smiled, yes¸ she thought, he will be just fine. Looking behind Gaias, she made eye contact with Tanda and Tempus. The pair simply nodded at her and her breath rushed out. The permission to pass on the title – to step down – was there. She could see it in their eyes, but more importantly, she could feel it in their hearts.
‘This is right,’ they said. ‘This is meant to be.’
Dana blinked back her tears and turned to Mordecai. “Do you still want the chance to love me?” she asked, bluntly.
Mordecai blinked and pulled himself up straight. But his face softened after a heartbeat and he nodded his head. “I do. Very much.”
“What if I told you I was retiring and I am able to travel between the veil at will, with no need to balance the scales? What if I told you I can stay on this side permanently with no risk or repercussions?” She stepped in closer, her body brushing against his and creating fire everywhere it touched. “And what if I told you I wanted to stay with you?”
Mordecai searched her face for an endless moment, raising her hands to cup her cheeks, “I’d say …” he lowered his mouth to brush hers. “Thank the Great Mother.”
Epilogue
Mordecai wrapped his arms around Dana, bending a little so he could kiss her cheek and rest his chin on her shoulder. It had been three weeks since Dana had dropped her little bombshell about Gaias and about her essentially becoming the Crone. He dared not call her that out loud, nor did his paladins, but it was an accurate moniker. She was now the Wise Woman, the predecessor, making way for a new generation of gods. Mordecai was yet to talk to Gaias – other than the brief meeting with him and the Triumvirate that day on the cliff – but he and Dana had spent many nights discussing the new Keeper of Nature. Usually after a marathon of lovemaking, Mordecai thought – more than a little smug. Their relationship was going strong and although Dana hadn’t officially moved in with him at the new HQ, she spent more nights there than she did in his old guest room at Max’s place. Dana had, however, helpfully made several suggestions for decorating his suite. And to his astonishment, painted and furnished it all with the blink of an eye. Giving up her position in the Triumvirate had not lessened her powers at all.
Dana snuggled back against his chest, a happy sigh falling from her mouth as she watched the IDC argue over paint colours for the council chambers. “I do not know why they are arguing. They are going to decide on pale grey – just like the rest of the walls.”
Mordecai chuckled. “This is the council we’re talking about. They may be new and have good hearts, but they are still politicians. They will always argue about everything.”
“Discuss. I believe discuss is a better word,” Dana said.
“Whatever you say,” he agreed, kissing the top of her red head, and taking in her heady fresh scent. He stepped back but kept his arm around her waist as they watched on. Not ten minutes later it was decided the walls would be painted grey. Just like the rest of the public areas in the building. Mordecai barely stifled his laugh when Dana peered up at him with her eyebrows raised. “I know, I know. You told me so.”
“That I did,” came her self-satisfied reply.
Her gaze shifted and Mordecai noted the shift in her expression. He immediately felt his stomach drop. “What’s with the look?”
“What look?” Dana
blinked up at him, the picture of innocence.
He snorted, “You don’t fool me. That is the exact same look Max gets when she is up to one of her machinations. What have you done?”
Dana smiled, her eyes sparkling with amusement as well as untold knowledge. “I have not done anything. I simply suggested to Knox that he might be of benefit to Dawn. She has a lot on her plate, what with overseeing the orphanage construction and fit-out with Celeste, and her clinic that she is trying to get up and running. Not to mention the training she is starting for life paladins and life chadens. It makes sense for her to have a helper. A personal assistant if you will.”
“Right. A personal assistant. As if her own four paladins of eons aren’t help enough?” Mordecai asked, cocking his head in the direction of Dawn’s excellent Order.
Dana hummed, watching Knox approach Dawn with keen eyes. “An extra pair of hands never goes astray.”
Mordecai spun Dana around, making her gasp as she fell against him clumsily. He wrapped both arms around her securely before saying, “These better be the only pair of hands you ever need.” He then squeezed her rump for good measure.
Dana’s eyes softened with what he now recognised as love. Dana said the words often to him – usually in the throes of their lovemaking – and he revelled in them. He was yet to say the words back, wanting more time to get to know the real Dana and shed the perception he had of her. Fifty years of hard feelings could not be erased overnight, but he was well on the way to that love he had told her he wanted so badly.
“Yours are the only hands ever to hold my butt, Sir Mordecai,” Dana informed him. She stood on her toes, pecking his lips. “And the only ones I will ever want. I love you.”
Mordecai groaned, swooping down and kissing them both breathless. “Thank the Gods,” he murmured.
“And the Goddesses,” Dana added.
Mordecai pulled back and grinned; “Those too.”
Book Two
Knox
Prologue
It roamed the earth aimlessly for more years than it could keep count of. Monitoring time was pointless, anyway; the black pit of nothingness was timeless. Still, one day, it stumbled across a small hollow of trees located next to a busy, noisy road. It should not have been appealing, nor should it have been safe. But the place had called to something inside of the creature, long believed lost. So, it had taken up residence in the trees, watching as people came and went. They were unappealing to the creature, sparking neither raging hunger nor curiosity, and it merely hovered nearby, insubstantial as the wind. Others of its kind would come and go, bringing an echo of comfort and a shared awareness for a brief time. But, like everything else, those feelings were fleeting.
Until one day, a being with power so bright it hurt the creature’s black eyes, walked into its hideaway. Like a moth to a flame, it was drawn to her. Its body starving, and its mind nothing but madness, it stalked forward in shadow form, unconcerned others of its kind were doing the same. They were of no consequence to the creature, just as the other beings surrounding the power were not. Taking on a more tangible form was necessary to feed, and it did so a bit reluctantly. It hated looking down and seeing its long, pale, spindly fingers, because, even in the void of its mind, it knew they were not always like that. It watched impassively as three other pits of despair attacked and were cut down by the warriors protecting the food source. The creature’s fingers twitched with the need to act but it could barely recall what it was supposed to do. Air caressed its face, moving the greasy hair off its forehead, but leaving the creature feeling hollow because it could not feel it. It knew it should be able to. Knew the air should bring aid. Instead, it taunted. Just like everything else.
Especially, it thought, the female with all the delicious energy.
Moving forward, it opened its mouth wide, focused only on getting to the source. A female raised her weapon and a male rushed toward him with hate and the promise of murder in his eyes. The creature welcomed death and hoped the warriors were successful. Otherwise, there would be no stopping it from taking everything the small female had. It would drain her until her body was nothing more than a dried-out husk. To its shock, the male was propelled backwards by an unseen force.
“No!” the shiny, bright female yelled. “Not that one!”
Confused, hurt, and starving to the point of pain, the thing that was once a man paused, snarling all the while. The urge to inhale was strong. She shined like the sun and he wanted to feel the sun. He wanted to feel warmth and comfort and something good for once in its miserable, never-ending existence. But it stayed where it was, waiting for what, it did not know.
“Go,” the female said, looking directly at them. Followed by, “Go now.”
The creature snapped its mouth closed, the look of pity and understanding in the female’s eyes its undoing. It made it feel shame, and it made it feel hope for the first time in recent memory. And so, instead of consuming her life force as the horrific voices in its head pushed it to do, the creature commanded its body to fold in on itself and prayed the wind would answer just this once and take it far away from temptation.
It could have been mere minutes or years later, for all the creature knew. But one of the same warriors returned, this time with a new female and a male that made the creature’s skin tingle and the voices riot inside its head. Once fully manifested, it sniffed the air, trying to determine what was so different about the male. The creature had never felt anything like it before and it was even further disgruntled to learn there was no bright spark among them. That angered the creature enough that it moved quickly toward them, intent on causing harm. It received a jolt however, when the strange male lifted off the ground and his eyes turned a familiar black. The hesitation cost it dearly and it soon found itself trapped by small shackles of air. That pissed the creature off, having its own element used against them, but no matter what it tried it could not free itself. The creature was then forced to listen as its worst, most shameful characteristics were talked about.
“He’s a complete unknown. What’s more, his degeneration is far worse than yours ever was. Look at him,” the young male demanded. “He’s so white he looks like an albino, his hair is like limp black straw, and his mouth does that creepy unhinging thing.”
The creature hissed, taking exception to the words. It knew it was a lost cause, its mind had debilitated to the point of madness, but not quite to the point where it had lost all cognitive awareness. Life was incredibly cruel. After a while, the young one dared approach and the creature took a swipe, barely missing flesh and bone. Trying to advance again, it stilled when it heard something it thought never to hear again. Its name.
“Knox. That’s your name, isn’t it? Knox? You were once an Air Warden.”
The voices inside the creature’s head grew louder and the abyss grew colder and darker, causing the pain to writhe and wriggle once more. Giving in, the creature ignored the temptation of its old name and opened its mouth, prepared to kill the male even though its meagre energy would not sustain the creature for long. It was still better than nothing. Besides, they were taunting it. The male continued with its useless words for a time, and the creature continued to ignore them. It couldn’t afford the hope they wrought. That was, until the female spoke.
“Hey! Quit it! This guy here is your best bet. Either let him try or I’ll put you down right now. It would save us time and put you out of your misery. Choose,” she demanded.
The creature stilled once more, pushing aside the black pit of hunger and despair, and actually processed her words. They truly wanted to help? It wasn’t ignorant of who and what she was. She was an executioner. She would take its head if it gave her half a chance. But perhaps they were offering the same to him? A chance? Unable to reply, the creature stood still and hoped they understood it was as compliant as it was going to get. Unfortunately for the young man, he began to glow and emanate a familiar and very powerful energy. Knox was unable to stop himself from rushing
to meet the energy and trying to inhale it as quickly as it could.
It would be much later, when it realised it had referred to itself by name for the first time in decades. And exactly what had been given back to it that day.
A name.
An identity.
A life.
Chapter One
“My lady,” Knox bowed low, showing respect and deference for Dawn’s position. Not only was she a member of the IDC, but she was one of only two female life wardens on the planet. She was really freaking important. “I am at your service.”
Dawn didn’t respond right away, her bright, hazel eyes narrowing on Knox for several seconds, before she sighed, the sound filled with disappointment and causing Knox to study her more closely. He hadn’t had much to do with Dawn since his return to the land of the living and had never been lucky enough to run into her in his previous life either. To his knowledge, they had always been stationed on different continents, with him being largely in South America and Dawn in Europe. As a life warden, Dawn had no doubt travelled regularly and had probably been in Australia many times over the years. But Knox had lived permanently in South America, moving only within that region with his Order and his sons and had never set foot in Australia until he had been recalled just before the Great Massacre. And from that moment on, his life had irrevocably changed. His transition into a chade had not been a slow degeneration, but a swift decline into madness and pain. After his hopeless existence for decades, he had been cured, reunited with his sons, given a purpose with Dave’s Dive, and then a leadership role with the chadens. So, he hadn’t had much time to get to know many other wardens or paladins, let alone the new members of the IDC. He was more than happy to get to know the beauty standing before him though, but Dawn seemed less than pleased with the prospect.