“They will be here in a few minutes to begin the ritual of the Sun,” Ashley said to Rob as they left.
Rob lay on the floor. His arms felt bruised from where they held him. His head was starting to swim. He wondered what the next ritual was. Sun ritual, that might not be too bad, maybe they won’t bury me this time. Galen’s alive. Rob laughed to himself, thinking of the nettle rash on the one guy’s face. They underestimated us. Galen will come, he’ll bring Dad and Uncle Bobby. As reassuring as that thought was, when he heard the door he was afraid.
The bearded man and the man who’d called himself Other came in the room. The bearded man was carrying a black tray. He put it down by the brazier, took something off the tray and tossed it into the burning embers. Other came over and sat down by Rob. His body had been wrapped in what looked like bandages. There were dark stains on the cloth.
“We will begin the next ritual. We are nearly finished. After this one, there is only the ritual of the Moon. Aren’t you pleased?” Other said with a sick smile.
“I don’t know.” Rob could hardly focus. “Does that mean I won’t have to see you anymore?”
He wasn’t expecting Other to smile, it wasn’t a nice smile. “That’s exactly what it means. We will be taken to Her.”
“Her?” Rob was slipping away from reality. He felt strange.
“The One we perform the ritual for. She will be here tonight. You will see Her.”
“Lucky me.” Further away.
“Enough!” the bearded man said. “We must begin.” He walked towards Rob, a golden cup in his hand again. Rob knew what was coming and braced himself. They grabbed his right arm this time and cut it deeply, the blood flowing into the cup. Then they bound the arm the same way they had the night before: carefully counting the wraps and tying it in an intricate knot. They walked back over to the brazier and put the cup on the tray, chanting the strange language again.
The bearded man picked something up off the tray. Rob couldn’t tell what it was. The man called out in the strange language, and the door to the room opened. The two men came in, they were dressed in red shirts. Other stood with them by the brazier. They were chanting again, waving something back and forth. Rob watched them, it felt like he was watching a movie, like he wasn’t there at all. Other picked something up off the tray and they chanted again. It looked like a roll of bandages, only it was purple and red like the one on Rob’s arm. What are those for? They look like the one on my arm. Are they for me?
The two men came over and grabbed Rob. The bearded man turned around and they began to chant again. He had something in his hand, it was glittering in the light from the brazier. The light from the embers made it look like it was covered with bright sparkles of blood. Rob could see the bearded man’s eyes glittering the same way. For an instant the Sight cleared and Rob saw black spots surrounding the man. Even though he tried, Rob couldn’t focus enough to see what the spots were, he couldn’t tell what was happening, he couldn’t tell what the glittering object was.
Rob allowed his eyes to close. These two guys saw Galen today. Galen was with them. That makes me feel better, it makes him seem close somehow. It’s almost like he’s here. “Galen? Can you hear me? I’m going to black out, I think.” He tried to let his brother know what was going on. Wait—what’s that?
Rob could hear someone screaming. The screams were terrible, terrifying—someone was in horrible pain. The anguished cry went on and on. It echoed around him, blending with the chanting, creating a single sound. It filled his senses.
Just before he lost his grip on consciousness he realized something.
That scream, it was me.
Chapter Eight
Galen was leaning with his back against the bedroom wall. Rob had moved and was sitting beside him, his shoulder resting against Galen. The sword was still singing softly in Galen’s hand, the song reflecting the emotion running through him. Remembered anger and anguish caused a minor key in the sword’s song.
“Rob…” he started.
“Would it help if I said I didn’t remember much?” His brother’s tone was teasing.
“Since I know you’d be lying, not really,” Galen sighed.
“There are dark patches, you know. I don’t remember portions of it.” Rob looked at him, Galen saw the truth of the statement in his brother’s eyes. “Part of it was that drink. I was disconnected from reality about half the time.”
“Lying to me?”
“Not really. And it helped, Galen. When I thought I heard you before I went to sleep, and then seeing broken nose’s friend. Nettles. Brilliant.” He laughed, the note bright and happy. “I knew it was you, I knew you’d done that. It let me hang on.” Rob smiled.
“I think you might have heard me, Rob, before you went to sleep.”
“Galen?”
“Our connection was always stronger.” Galen looked down at the sword in his hand. “I wonder how much more, now that we’ve done the Ritual of Swords? Now that we’re the Custodes Noctis of the Emrys line? Dad and Uncle Bobby were closely connected. I wonder what it was really like for them?” Galen glanced at his brother. “More? Less? Dad was always surprised by our connection, that I could sense you, even when we were young.”
“Yeah, I know.” Rob sighed, then frowned. “Hey, there were three guys, weren’t there? What happened to the third, Galen?”
“He met a tiger he wasn’t expecting,” Galen said with a chuckle.
“Rhiannon?” Rob smiled, then frowned. “I’m sure it wasn’t only a wood hag, Galen.”
“You mean even before…? Yeah, I don’t think so either, I sensed something in the woods and then later when I heard…”
“Heard what?”
Galen looked at his brother. “You, Rob. I heard you screaming.”
Past
Ten Years Before
Night Day Two to Day Three-Galen
Galen stopped at the end of the road. The adrenaline that had been keeping him going was running out. He was tired to the point of collapse. The urge to find Rob was all that was keeping him on his feet.
“Galen?” Rhiannon said quietly from the passenger seat. “You need to eat and you need to rest.”
“No, I have to find Rob. Dad said the ritual gets worse from tonight. I have to find him.”
“If you collapse you won’t do him any good. You’re bleeding, you have to rest. Come back to my apartment and rest, please.”
“No, you don’t understand, I have to find him.”
“Actually Galen, I do understand,” she said softly. “I understand better than anyone, maybe. That’s why I know you need to rest. You have to be ready when you find him.” She laid a gentle hand on his arm. A rush of grief, of loss so great he sensed it as a physical pain, washed up from that contact. He took a deep breath, trying to ease the ache in his chest. He knew Rhiannon understood. She’d lost her daughter, not missing like Rob, but gone forever. Galen sent a tiny shaft of healing light towards her hand, she sighed and the tension in her shoulders eased a little bit.
He looked over at her and saw understanding in her eyes. “I can sleep at the rest stop, my father will call at six.”
“Galen, please let me help you.” She smiled her sad smile. “I need to help you, I need to…” She stopped, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I’m still a mother, you know?”
“I have to be back for my Dad’s call,” Galen said, looking at her. “You’re right, I have to rest and maybe change the bandage. It’s kind of sticky,” he said, forcing a laugh, she laughed with him. “Which way?” he said, pulling out onto the road.
Her apartment was quiet, warm and smelled of flowers. When they arrived, Galen sank down onto the couch. He leaned back, trying to focus the healing on his wounds, trying to ease the pain. Rhiannon came in from the other room with a mug in her hands. She put it down beside Galen and disappeared again. He picked up the cup. Soup, homemade by the taste of it. It warmed and comforted him. She came back into the room with band
ages and towels.
“I should re-bandage that for you,” she said, sitting down beside him.
“I can do it,” Galen said. “This is good soup, thanks.”
“It was Megan’s favorite.” She looked away for a minute. “Let me at least look at the bandages? I am a fully qualified mom, you know.” She smiled at him.
Galen looked at her. He was starting to really hurt, the healing was hard, he was distracted by the pain and it was making it difficult to focus. “Sure, thanks,” he said, slipped off his jacket and pulled the mostly destroyed t-shirt off.
“What is this?” she said after she had snipped the bandage away.
“One of the guys outside the diner had a knife. And you know, now that the air’s getting on it, wow, it really hurts.”
“You’ve been walking around with this? And these bruises? Galen?”
“I think someone kicked me, I’m not really clear on that.” He looked at her, she had a horrified look on her face. “It’s okay, I haven’t really thought about it much today.” Mostly he’d been thinking about finding his brother, about the fact he couldn’t sense Rob, and he always had been able to before. That fact worried him more than anything else.
“I understand,” she said with the soft sorrow back in her voice. “Do you have anything to take for pain?”
“I left the hospital without the usual check-out procedures. I needed to find Rob and I didn’t know who to trust, so I left.” He was starting to get tired, really tired. He could barely keep his eyes open. What the injuries hadn’t taken, his attempts at healing had. Exhaustion made his words sound thick.
“Well, you’re in luck.” She got up and came back a minute later with a glass of water. She held her hand out. “I get migraines and my doctor gives me Tylenol fours. Here, take one.”
“I don’t know.” He needed to make sure he was up in time to get to the phone. He needed to be able to drive. I have to be okay, I have to get to Rob. I need to ask Dad and Uncle Bobby what’s going to happen, I need to know.
“Take it. You won’t be any good to anyone if you can’t get up, you know?”
Galen smiled and held his hand out for the pill. “You really sound like a mom, you know that?”
“Thanks.” She sat back down and cleaned gently around the stitches, then started to put fresh bandages on it. Galen had no idea what she did next. His body had finally given out and he fell asleep.
“Galen?” someone said, shaking him. “Galen?”
“Yeah?”
“You need to get up, so we can get to the phone,” Rhiannon said.
“What?” He opened his eyes, he was lying on the couch. He sat up. “Is it morning already?”
“Yes, we need to get going. I have a clean shirt here for you.” She handed him a t-shirt. “It’s probably a little big for you, but with those bandages, it might be better.”
Galen shrugged into the shirt and put his shoes on, he had no memory of taking them off. Picking up the keys, he headed to the door. Rhiannon was waiting for him. “I don’t think you should go with me,” Galen said.
“I have to, at least for awhile. I need to know you’re okay, I need to help you find Rob. Please,” she said, looking at him. Suddenly he understood. If it was the other way around and Rob…I would need to help her.
“Okay, but we need to get going.”
He waited by the phone for nearly half an hour before it rang. “Hello?”
“Galen? Are you okay?” his father’s voice was rough with emotion.
“I’m okay. Dad, I didn’t find him. I thought for a moment I had, I sensed him, but then he was gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yeah, there was this darkness where he’d been. I thought I heard his voice, too, but I must have imagined it.”
“I understand,” his father said gently. “He might have been unconscious, Galen, or asleep. It is harder to sense someone…”
“But Dad, I always could before.” He heard a frightened note in his own voice.
“Always?” His father sounded surprised. “I knew you two were different…” his father muttered, almost under his breath. “Have you found any leads?”
“There was a waitress, I think she might be involved. I’m planning to find her and her friends and ask them.”
“Be careful, Galen. These’re people who are serving a demon that requires human sacrifice.”
“I know, Dad. I know I need to be careful, I need to find Rob.”
“It’s important.”
“I know, Dad. It’s all there is.”
“Yeah,” his father said softly. “I know.”
“Can you tell me anything else?”
“There’s a ritual today, at the thirteenth hour, try and get to him before then, Galen.”
“Dad? What’s going to happen?”
“Our information’s sketchy, Galen. The ritual will take place outside, in the sun. It’s preparatory for the final ritual this evening. That one will take place right after sunset as the moon rises. You must get to him.” His father’s calm voice held an undertone of steely determination.
“I will, Dad. Nothing’ll stop me.”
“You need to know…” His father broke off and Galen could hear another voice, Bobby, in the background. “Are you sure?” his father asked.
“Dad? What’s going on?”
“Your brother might not look very good when you get to him. But do your best to try and stay focused.”
“Dad, what do you mean? How bad is not good?” Galen knew his father wouldn’t have said that unless it was going to be serious.
“We really aren’t sure about it, Galen. If it is a wood hag, we can take a guess. It’s all assumptions at this point.”
“Is there anything? Anything at all that might help?”
“If we’re right, the rituals aren’t pretty, Galen. They require blood sacrifice. Just try and stay focused and get him out of there. Get him down and get those symbols off of him. As long as they are there, it can still take him.”
“I think the symbols were carved into her daughter, Dad.”
“What?” Parry asked. Galen heard his uncle in the background. “He says he thinks they were carved into her. Are you sure, Galen?”
“I’m going on the pictures, I told you about them.”
“I know. Hang on.” The sound of his father’s voice was suddenly muffled. All he got was the rumble of his uncle’s voice and his father’s replies. One word drifted through, Galen thought it was “legacy.” “Get to him, get him out of there. It might be worse than we thought.”
There was something in his father’s voice, Galen was starting to panic. “Dad, what do you mean?”
“It’s probably nothing, Galen. Bobby’s, well you know how he gets,” his father said gently. “Try and find him, Galen. We should be there by sunset. Where can we find you?”
“There’s a rest stop just out of town. It’s where I’m at now. I’ll be here tonight at six. If I haven’t found him, I won’t wait long, Dad. I…I have to find him.” He heard his voice break.
“I know, Galen. I understand,” his father said softly. “When Bobby…” He stopped himself. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, please be careful.”
“I will, Dad. I know, I can’t help Rob if I do something stupid, can I?”
“Galen?” Parry’s voice demanded an answer.
“It’s just, Dad, I…Sometimes…”
“Galen, you need to be careful.”
“Sorry.” Galen scrubbed a hand across his face. “I’ll be careful, Dad. I’m getting desperate.”
“I know. I do understand, Galen. I do.” His father paused, Galen heard the note of desperation mirrored in Parry’s voice. “Try and keep your head clear, if you can.”
“I will. Hurry, Dad.”
“We will.” His father broke the connection.
Galen stood with his hand on the receiver for a minute, knowing his father and uncle were on the way calmed him. The bond they shared, not jus
t as family, but as Keepers, sustained him. He walked back down and got in the car. “I need to talk to Ashley and those three guys from the other night,” he said to Rhiannon.
“I know they come in about eleven every morning. You might be able to catch them then.”
“That’s almost five hours. Dad said the next ritual starts at the thirteenth hour. That would be one in the afternoon, I hope, if they’re using a clock and not the solar cycle.” Galen looked out the windshield. “What do I do? I have to find Rob. I can’t just wait around. I need to do something.”
“Galen?”
“Can you go back to where they found your daughter? You said her name was Megan?”
“Yes, Megan. And I can go back. I’ve been there so many times already. Yes, I can go,” Rhiannon said quietly.
Galen sighed as he put the key in the ignition. He took a deep breath and reached out for his brother, stretching himself almost to the limit of his injured body. His heart was racing as he concentrated, he was just about to pull away, just about to let go when he thought he felt Rob. He held his breath, a sob had echoed up that contact, pain-soaked, desperate, afraid. “Rob?” He focused on the first healing he had been taught, reaching out to his brother, projecting every ounce of his strength into that contact. “Rob? I’m here, I’m looking for you. Sleep. It’ll help. I’m here, Brat. I’m coming for you.”
“Galen?” Rhiannon was shaking his arm.
He opened his eyes and looked over at her. “What?”
“You blacked out.”
“No, no… I… uh…I was trying to sense my brother. Sorry.”
“You were…?” She looked at him with disbelief.
“I, uh, Rob and I…We….I can sense him, sometimes.”
“I understand.” She smiled. “I do understand.”
He pulled out of the rest stop and headed back down the road into the woods. It looked different in daylight, but Rhiannon showed him where to pull in. He got out of the car and walked down the path. In the morning light he could see more details. The path seemed to lead into the darkest part of the surrounding forest. It felt cold. He could feel its presence a little, the thing that had taken Megan. Galen was aware that he was walking in its footsteps, the cold like shafts of pain running up his legs. Dad might be wrong about this. It feels, hmm, it feels old somehow. Bobby’s worry might be closer to the mark. Did I really hear Dad say Legacy? There’s more here than just a lesser demon.
The Legacy: A Custodes Noctis Book Page 11