by Jaymin Eve
Chapter 10
I followed Brace through the doorway back to Angelisian. His broad shoulders blocked my vision of the beach house, but then, as he moved aside, I noticed the man leaning against the front railings. The black of his skin contrasted beautifully with the lighter tones of my home.
Jedi, princeps of the Walker clan Gai.
I clenched my fists tightly as my heart froze in my chest. What was he going to tell me now? The previous month Jedi had come to me and explained about something called convergence. The moment where the tethers of all seven worlds would join, allowing the Seventine to sever them in one fell swoop. And this was as serious as it sounded. Instead of giving us time to fight them and save the worlds, they would be able to absorb all energy in a single moment and end life as we knew it. Jedi had been doing some research to figure out the date this might happen.
And judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t going to give me good news.
Best case scenario was that the convergence was set to happen soon, because all seven of the Seventine needed to be free to have the strength to sever the cord. And at the moment only four had escaped their prison. But deep down I knew that the entity who’d set this entire chain of events in motion knew the exact convergence date and had planned all of this accordingly. We were the ones chasing our tails, trying to find information and play catchups. We’d been behind since the start and I wasn’t sure we’d made any ground yet.
“What’s Jedi doing here?” Brace said, expression unchanged but his tone hard.
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. He might have some information about the Seventine.” I was happy that my voice sounded calm. “I’ll see you in nine or ten hours?”
It was a pretty obvious hint. I wanted him to stay, but it was better if he left for so many reasons.
“I do need to check on the Abernaths, but I’m happy to stay if you need me.”
He was eyeballing Jedi now, his gaze pinning the handsome, dark-skinned Walker to the spot. No one messed with Brace, not even other princeps.
“I’ve got her back,” Lucy trilled, fluttering her wings. Her voice was so much more singsong now. “You and Colt head to your planet, sort the peeps and make sure you get back in time for Nephilius.”
Bossy little pixie.
Colton, who had been standing across from her, stalked closer. “Are you trying to get rid of us, pretty girl?” He cupped her chin when she rose to his height. “Because I think it’s my duty to bitch and moan, right before I work very hard to change your mind.”
Lucy leaned in close, her mouth brushing his cheek. “I can think of many things I’d rather be doing than letting you go to Abernath.” I could just hear her breathy whisper. “But duty calls.”
“Screw duty,” Colton all but growled. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“It’s just for a few hours and you’re Brace’s second and best friend. He needs you too.”
Resignation crossed the perfect planes of Colton’s features. His full lips were pressed into a straight line, but that didn’t stop him placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.
“You stay here and out of trouble,” he said as he pulled back. “No adventuring and no pixies.”
I knew by the look on Lucy’s face that this was about ten seconds from flaming into an argument. And sure enough, as I turned to face Brace, four-letter words were spewing from her mouth.
Ignoring this, I gave Brace a smile. “I’ll just head over to Jedi now, see you tomorrow?”
He nodded, the brown of his eyes darker than usual but not black. “Call if you need me, Re …” He broke off with a shake of his head.
Had he almost said Red? The nickname had been unsaid since the lalunas broke our bond.
“Call me if anything happens, Abby,” he finally finished, confusion warring with his unease.
I nodded before forcing my gaze from him. It hurt to turn away, as if I’d run my face across sandpaper. I had to gulp down the tears, but since Jedi was watching me closely as I crossed the green grass to him, I didn’t have the luxury of breaking down. I was halfway across when I felt Lucy at my back.
“You’re doing great, Abbs, the boys are gone now.” She wrapped her smaller hand around mine. “You can relax a little.”
I already knew they’d left; Brace’s power was unmistakable. It was always obvious when he was close. Or gone. And both ways hurt more than I’d ever imagined. I just wanted to be able to breathe again. It felt as if something heavy pressed on my chest, and exhaling every single puff of air was hard work. If I wanted to stem the impending waterworks, it was definitely time for a change of subject.
“Good or bad news, do you think?” I kept my voice low. We were about twenty feet from Jedi now.
“Despite my pixie powers of premonition, I’m getting nothing from Jedi.” Lucy snorted. “He’s a closed book. How unusual for a Walker.”
I wondered where Josian was. Usually he’d be out here too, with his sneaky need to know everything.
“Aribella of Doreen.” Jedi moved forward from where he had been leaning against the railing. “You’re looking well.”
His eyes appraised me, but not in a creepy way. He was just one of those men who oozed sensuality. It was hard not to respond, but my heart was so firmly Brace’s that Jedi didn’t even register. Unfortunately, he didn’t know I was taken anymore, and half-Walkers were a rare and prized catch in the Walker world.
“Thank you. It’s nice to see you again.” I was polite, but made a point to avoid the Walker handshake, which was too close to a hug for my liking. “Do you have some news for me on the convergence?” I got right to the point.
I don’t think I’d ever noticed before, but Jedi’s eyes were very dark. They were unusual, though, seeming to have a ring of silver around the pupil, distinguishing it from the iris.
“Should we venture inside for privacy?” he asked, not taking those distinctive eyes off me.
I shook my head. “No, between Samuel and Francesca, who come and go at random, I don’t trust words spoken inside those walls right now.”
We knew someone was betraying us, and as hard as it was to think my own home might be compromised, my instincts were urging me to be cautious.
“I’d prefer if we moved further toward the ocean. I want to see if anyone is sneaking up on us.”
“You’re starting to think like a warrior,” he said as we moved away from the house. “A large responsibility has fallen on your shoulders, and unfortunately, no matter what way this plays out, it will change you. True challenges always do.”
Since I barely remembered the naïve girl I’d been when I left New York all of those months ago, he made a good point. It amazed me how unaware I’d been, never knowing who I was or where I truly came from. Maybe ignorance is bliss to some, but I preferred knowledge. We stopped when we reached the open space between the house and ocean. I was glad that the crashing waves muffled our words to any curious enough to listen in.
Jedi detailed his information straight up. “I’ve been continuing my research since we last spoke, combing through every archive and scroll I could find.” His onyx eyes stared out into the flashing colors of the ocean. “I had no faith that I would discover the information we needed, searching for facts on the dawn of our race … I was fumbling in the dark.” He turned back to face us. “But then I found it. I don’t know where the scroll came from, or how I had missed it the million times I searched before, but this appeared in my stores.”
He reached into the large side pockets of his shirt and pulled free a rolled piece of what looked like old parchment, or skin maybe. It was a dark tan, ragged around the edges, but did not have a frail look to it. Solid and thick instead. He unrolled it slowly, and unfamiliar writing and figures emerged as each layer was revealed.
Lucy and I leaned closer. “What does it say?” I asked, examining the dark print closely.
I felt like I should understand what was here, but I didn’t. My mind was searching for the answers, but
they seemed to be just out of reach. Like slippery soap, I couldn’t grasp the thoughts. And then suddenly I was reminded of the book from pixie lands; the same sort of familiarity struck me.
“This is the first scroll,” Jedi said, reverence layering his tone.
When we didn’t react, his eyes flicked quickly between us. He must have been expecting a woohoo or something.
“Awesome, the first scroll.” I nodded a few times. Get on with it.
“Yep, the very first,” Lucy added.
We both glanced at each other and back at him. “We have no idea what that is?” we said together.
Our response seemed to both amuse and frustrate him, but still a smile curved up his cheeks.
“Our stories indicate that the original seven Walkers didn’t record anything of their time and history in writing … well, not for the first few centuries. But when the Seventine threat emerged and had to be contained, they decided there needed to be a record of what happened, in case the prison needed to be strengthened. There are lots of scrolls from this time. I have many of them, but no one had ever seen the first scroll. This parchment is the backstory of Walkers, recording all of the moments from the birth of our race.”
I had to clench the side of my jacket to stop myself reaching for the scroll. This was the most important piece of information we had to date.
“Keep in mind the reality of this scroll was legend. We had all heard of its existence, but I had never met a Walker with actual memories of viewing it.”
Adrenalin flooded through me. “Are you saying this is literally the scroll that no one has ever seen? The scroll that gives the complete origins of Walkers.”
He held his free hand palm up to us. “Don’t get too excited. This is the scroll, but there are two problems.”
“Alright, hit me with them,” I said, trying not to let my fear and excitement show.
Most Walkers didn’t treat me like a child despite the hundreds or thousands of years between our ages, and I often found myself trying to act serious and mature around them. Brace and Josian were an exception to this rule.
Jedi held my gaze for a few moments – any longer and it would have been pretty awkward – before he started speaking. “Some of the scroll I cannot decipher. It’s either written in code or in a language I’m not familiar with.” He ran that free hand over the top of his head. “And I thought I knew every language dead and alive.”
“And number two.” Lucy hurried him along.
“The bottom part is missing.” He smoothed the parchment all the way to the end, lying it completely flat between his two hands, and I saw immediately what he meant.
The bottom was cut away, tattered edges leaving no doubt that there used to be something more attached.
Our faces must have looked pretty crestfallen, because he clicked his tongue a few times. “But I’ve salvaged some useful information. I plan on sharing it with the princeps at the next meeting, but since you’re out in the star system, risking yourself daily in tangles with the Seventine, you deserved to know straight away.”
I stood taller, my upper body leaning toward him.
“This contains calculations which allowed me to get a definite timeframe for the convergence, or to confirm what I already knew. From the release of the first Seventine, they have fourteen First World months to finish the freeing. They have used almost eight of those months – over half – and it looks as if the convergence will be at the twelve-month mark.”
That would be around my nineteenth birthday. I couldn’t believe that so much had happened since my Walker enlightenment, and to think it might all be over in a year. I wanted longer; it was not enough time.
“So the First World calendar that exists, the one which marks December 31st and January 1st, comes from the actual date the original seven were formed?” I stared at him, before rubbing at my temples.
It was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that so much of Earth and all of these worlds originated with the Walkers. My people had their hand in basically every important aspect.
Jedi chuckled at my expression. “Yes, as far as I know the beginning of time-recording started with the Walkers, and even with time differences, the calendars are essentially the same on each world. And this scroll confirms these calculations.”
“What else does the scroll say?” Lucy was fluttering higher; she was eye level with me.
“It has instruction on how they planned on locking away the Seventine. I don’t know which theory worked, because after the originals disappeared there were no more notes.” He was rubbing his thumb over the ragged end of the parchment. It was the type of nervous twitch Walkers didn’t usually display. “According to the broken words I managed to translate, the original and Seventine weren’t always enemies.”
“What?” I gasped, his words reverberating around my head. “They’re evil … the enemy. They want to destroy all the worlds.”
Jedi shrugged. “That’s what we were always told, but according to this they were definitely power crazy and had some grandiose ideas that they were gods sent to control all sentient beings, but in no way do the originals depict them as pure evil.” He paused for quite a long moment. “They refer to them as their brothers.”
Oh, hell no. I’d been in their presence too many times. They were definitely crazy and evil.
“What was their main theory on locking them away?” I finally asked.
“They planned to use their blood and power. Each one of the originals would bleed themselves and their essences into the walls of the prison, believing they were the only ones strong enough to ever contain the Seventine.”
“Did they know it was going to end their existence?” I felt a slow ebb of panic flood my body.
I was starting to wonder if we seven half-Walkers were going to make it out of this battle alive. Would it cost us our lives to lock the Seventine away again?
Lucy interrupted him before he could answer. “What happens if the half-Walker girls do hold the energy of the seven originals? Are you saying they might have to perform the same ritual to lock them away?” Her words were coming out in short bursts. “And it could suck out enough energy that they would cease to exist.”
I could hear the horror in her voice. She turned to me. “That can’t happen. I won’t let that happen.”
I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t huge on self-sacrificing, but the seven of us were not worth more than every world and its inhabitants. The math was clear on that one. As much as it pissed me off, the fact was that the sacrifice of a few to save many made perfect sense.
“I don’t know.” Jedi shook his head. “But at least now we have more information. This parchment details the phrases to be spoken and a few different symbols that we must paint on the prison for the permanent imprisonment. It’s complex and cannot be performed without all the original seven powers. Because each one held an element that created a complete prison.”
Another piece of the puzzle. Each of us half-Walkers held a specialty power, and they definitely worked together and balanced each other.
“Walkers’ powers are built on six elements. Fire, water, wind, earth, spirit, and shadow. The seventh was the ...”
“Conduit,” I finished for him.
He didn’t look surprised. “Yes, the seventh was the one who tied everyone together and combined the power.”
Lucy and I exchanged glances. We had fire, water, earth, and the conduit. It was starting to look a lot like we did hold the energy of the originals.
“What else does the scroll say?” I had noticed Josian step onto the front verandah, and I attempted to hurry Jedi along.
“The part that’s cut off seemed to detail the lives the originals were living at the beginning of the existence of this star-system. The reason we were created had to do with forming and influencing these seven worlds. There were tasks the originals were working to fulfill. I’m not sure if this happened or not, because this is the part that’s missing.”
“So th
is is like a billion years ago?” I was recalling our last conversation about the convergence. “How is it that Walkers have existed that long?”
Jedi smiled. “Walkers are reborn over and over. When they tire they rest for many years and eventually their energy is regenerated and they emerge as new entities. They have none of their old memories, except the knowledge that they have lived before.”
Brace had mentioned that to me.
“Essentially they’re the same Walker, the same energy. They will always be the same sex, so males are always males, but their minds are renewed. I think the oldest intact-memory Walker now would be around ten thousand years.”
“I did notice the older Walkers were a tad on the … um, how should I say this … crazy train,” Lucy said, trying not to laugh.
“Time does strange things to a mind,” Jedi agreed.
“So if a Walker says they’re five hundred years old,” I said, thinking of Brace. “Would that be all of their lives or just the current one?”
“Every Walker looks at it differently, but generally we refer only to the age of our current life.”
Whoa, so Brace was even older than I’d thought, in a manner.
“So there are some Walkers who are literally millions of years old, just recycled, with their minds cleared,” I said. “How does that work if you’re killed, and how are new babies born?”
“If we release our own energy to be recycled, as you say, then we come back as the same being. If we are killed, the energy scatters and reforms as new Walkers. It’s hard to understand, but essentially every new, old and other Walker is formed from energy that already exists.”
I shook my head. It was so weird to think about.
Josian was almost upon us now, and he must have heard the last part of our conversation. “So when I said that Walkers can create their own energy and make new life, I was kind of simplifying things.” He said this as he moved in to stand beside Jedi.
He was much taller than the Gai Walker. We waited for him to continue.