Return of the Starchild (The Divine Inheritance Series Book 1)

by Catriona Murphy

  Seamus’s head was in his hands. ‘Oh goddess. What of the cabinet?’

  ‘Most are still alive, apart from Minister Connor. He put up some resistance when Drake’s followers came for him, the others are terrified and will do anything he says. I think he will eventually disintegrate the Order of the Cabinet when he requires no further use for them, his trusted advisor is Shaerana. A treacherous woman with evil on her mind, I’ve already had a few run ins with her.’

  ‘The Xingers, were they part of the plan?’

  Florin’s face smoothed. ‘Seamus, he had outside help. From whom I do not know but it suffices to say that it’s worrying he had an ally that was able to provide him Xingers and other dark creatures. Someone of great capability. Shaerana I believe was Drake’s line of contact to them, she has abilities to communicate with intelligences from other realms, I have rarely seen great talent such as hers.’

  Seamus humphed.

  ‘Have you seen the shadows much?’

  Seamus jolted. The old man’s eyes flicked to Florin in surprise.

  ‘I know.’ Florin said, with his foxy smirk. ‘Certain people are visited by them, haunted really. They come when you’re vulnerable.’

  ‘What are they?’

  ‘None knows.’ Florin got up from his stool. ‘Tribes in the mountains say they’re our ancestors, trying to guide and help us in times of need.’ He stopped at the door. ‘I would say restless spirits who haven’t moved onto the next stage of their journey. They find those with the unique ability to see them and annoy the heck out of them as a distraction from what they really need to face about themselves.’

  Seamus hesitated, burning with a question he had always wanted to ask his previous minister.

  ‘Florin, who are you?’

  The question made him freeze. He studied the speckled surface on the door, Seamus could tell he was ruminating.

  ‘I have lived many lives and I see the Otherworld as a vast region that could be built upon. I am the Architect.’

  Seamus’s jaw dropped. ‘No,’ he whispered, ‘impossible.’

  ‘I shall visit again soon.’ The door shut firmly behind him.

  Seamus slumped against the wall, the gravity of Florin’s words blew all other brooding priorities away.

  No shadows visited him that night.

  A strong chilly breeze picked up and played with the silver strands of Iliana’s hair. Clio calmly soared further on, letting out a snarl that scared away nearby birds. He moved through the sky like a large whale amongst fish.

  The cold wind bit into Iliana and her fingers were numb from clutching Clio’s mane for so long.

  For days they had travelled as swiftly as possible and as they flew, Iliana realised that her sense of power was a constant purring now in her body, it was no longer intermittent, and she had enough focus to increase her body temperature to stop hypothermia from kicking in. The more she used magick, the quicker she seemed to recover from periods of weakness when she couldn’t use it. She took a mental note of it, maybe something to tell Zoe if she ever saw her again.

  She surveyed the land below, seeing the Plinth river slinking through the snow-covered land like a blue ribbon, cutting cleanly before turning towards the faerie forest. Iliana appraised it warily when spotted the distant treetops miles away to her left.

  She decided to feign talking to Clio, letting him focus and on steering her towards the temple. The ride also gave her time to think and reflect.

  Clio sailed further down, moving through mists that clung to Iliana’s clothes in cold beads.

  A bulking shape hulked into view far ahead. Across a series of snow-capped hilltops, one particular rise was higher than the rest and atop it sat what Iliana knew to be the temple.

  A mighty golden dome dominated the top and sat like a cap. It was made up of at least a few thousand glittering tiles and a telescope extended out from it towards the sky. The temple was marked by four parapets at each square corner, each of them a different colour. A few hundred steps led up to a high set of doors like an ancient Mayan temple.

  Clio circled above for a closer look.

  Geometric shaped gardens splayed out within the perimeter. All around the temple she could see people gently tending to the gardens. When the hooded men looked up, they threw down their tools and dashed towards the steps, robes flapping frantically.

  ‘That’s encouraging,’ she muttered. Although to be fair, if she saw a young woman flying atop a massive lion, she wouldn’t be pushed to say ‘hi’ either.

  She waited until the great doors closed with an echoing thump before telling Clio to land. The lion dove expertly.

  Her legs had turned to jelly from clamping to Clio’s sides for so long and she collapsed onto the temple’s steps when he landed. Picking herself up, she faltered a couple of times as she leaned on a statue for support. Her eyes wandered suspiciously over the facade of the ancient building, imagining what secrets the grand architecture held within.

  Statues guarded the entrance. One of them was a handsome man with high cheekbones holding a book to his chest and a hammer in his other hand.

  Etched into its base read, ‘Master Herron: Visionary, equilibrator and innovator. Our beloved founder.’

  She turned to look down and regretted the dizzying height. Her cursed sense of vertigo kicked in and she quickly looked back up at the doors for a focus of stability. Atop the steps, she could see beyond the temple’s walls and the land for miles in all directions.

  The silence was only broken by the whistling wind. Barefooted, she ascended the final few steps, eyeing an amber bell hanging above the doors.

  Guess I could knock, she thought.

  She gave it a hard tug and a gong resounded deeply.

  Iliana turned to Clio.

  ‘Guess no one’s home.’

  Her bad attempt at a joke.

  He shook his giant mane; drips from their ride in the clouds were flung in all directions.

  Perhaps some encouragement on my part is needed.

  I think I should try another way myself.

  Clio huffed loudly, and Iliana had picked this up to be hesitation. ‘What is it?’

  I do not want to leave you, yet I feel this part of the journey you must do alone.

  Iliana watched him for a long moment. I think you’re right.

  Call for me when you’re ready.

  In one gigantic swoop he took off, soaring high above. She heard his roar resound like an echo over the vast regions below, and she watched until he was a spec gliding amongst the clouds. Strange, even in distance she could feel his energy, a blasting radiant sun amongst the fireflies of birds. There a line that connected them, deep and unfathomable. Even when her eyes left him, she could still sense his moving body. Was this part of him being her Familiar? It was something else she had barely scratched the surface on.

  She turned, sizing up the monolithic bulk of the ancient temple. No one answered the door.

  ‘Right,’ she said impatiently. Instinctively, she put out her hand on the doors.

  They slammed open with a bang.

  Iliana strode in.

  Before her was a cathedral style interior of intricate decor and taste. Organised columns led the walker to a dais, and behind it was a suspended large bronze mirror that looked like someone would use it as a gong. A church hush pervaded the sacred space, and above mapped out with a beautiful artist's hand were constellations of the night sky Iliana didn’t recognise. The stars emanated light amongst a swept canvas of dappled violet and whirling navy, an array of shady colours that swirled to give the beholder a 360 view of the heavens. Iliana was so taken in by its beauty she failed to notice the monks who stood silently before her.

  ‘Iliana, Child of the Stars. Welcome home,’ one of the monks announced.

  Iliana’s attention was pulled back into the hall. ‘Who are you?’

  The man shuffled forward, his arms joined in the folds of his
robes. The other monks stepped back respectfully.

  He pulled his hood back to reveal a man in his fifties. His tight grey hair spread down in sideburns to form a neat beard. His warm brown eyes emanated kindness and serenity, his aura emitting orderliness and serenity. ‘We had been worried for some time.’

  ‘Who are you?’ Iliana repeated.

  ‘My name is Kain,’ he sighed, ‘I suppose you’re requiring some explanations. I had been expecting your arrival for some time now, however, I thought you were to be escorted by Terrence and Cecile. Although, I believe due to recent events, my understanding was that you would arrive alone. And so, it has come to be.’ The monk held one brown arm towards a side door. ‘Let’s talk over tea.’

  Iliana let him lead her to an adjacent room with a low table and two mats, ignoring the hissing whispers that inflated behind her.

  ‘Please,’ he gestured for her to sit down, ‘Terrence spared me, I suspect, of some essential details. Could you please describe to me everything that happened?’

  Kain folded his hands on his lap.

  Iliana regarded him dubiously for a minute before plunging into her story.

  ‘I was also dragged by Xingers in front of Malem Beryl,’ she said, ‘a mad scientist who wanted to use my blood to awaken some robot to destroy this whole Otherworld.’

  Kain gaped at her.

  ‘I took care of him so you’re welcome, by the way. And now I’m here and you are going to tell me who - or what - I am, why I’m here and where my family is. Then you’re going to help me rescue Zelda - Cecile - from the Lady of the Lake who took her. Tell me now what it is you know about me.’

  Kain patiently poured more tea, Iliana watched the liquid descend apprehensively.

  ‘Your mother is dead.’ He stated. ‘She died at your birth. You were then swiftly taken by Terrence, Cecile and a few others to the closest gate, which is a few miles north of here. The Starchild mission was agreed upon soon after your arrival, the objective was to keep you hidden, secret and safe from harm and influence of those who would seek to use and abuse you. We wanted you to grow up in a loving environment.’

  ‘You fucked that one up. My father is an alcoholic and my mother a drug user.’

  Kain blinked. ‘You were given to an orphanage instead as we thought you would be too close to us if we raised you ourselves in Earth under the guise of humanity. The more surrounded you were by humans the easier it would be for you to blend in and assume yourself to be one as well. So instead we opted for you to be taken in by a human family, where you would be watched and guarded as you grew up. That was Cecile’s role, the biggest long-term mission anyone in our establishment had ever taken on, she was quite the agent, her death was a big loss for us.’

  ‘Who was my mother?’

  The door to the room slammed open. Iliana leapt to her feet and threw a fire shot which Karen only narrowly managed to avoid.

  ‘Karen!’ Iliana exclaimed. ‘How the hell did you get here?’

  ‘We have ways of getting around quickly.’ She tapped her nose. ‘Terrence won’t part from you so easily, he figured here would be of all places you would seek your answers.’

  But is smart enough to send you and not come here himself, Iliana thought.

  She started forward. ‘Iliana—’

  Iliana whirled on the seated monk, ignoring Karen. ‘Who was my mother?’

  ‘Iliana. I must warn you—’ Karen started.

  ‘Quit it with the warnings. After everything I’ve been through, it can’t be any worse.’

  Karen fell silent. Behind her, the silent monks convened near the entrance. One glare from Iliana dispersed them promptly.

  ‘Your mother was with the Order of the Second Dawn. A fanatical institution that worships the holy Phoenix, it represented a god to them, a god they wanted to herald into the Otherworld as their Second Dawn. Their supposed Age of Enlightenment, becoming the connoisseurs of a New World Order. A prophet whose name I will not mention set up a ritual in which your mother, goddess rest her deluded soul, was chosen to participate in. He pursued you after you were born, right up to one of the gates. You had a lucky escape.’

  Iliana’s felt queasy, but she squared her shoulders and stood straighter.

  ‘The ritual was intended to call down their god.’ Kain shook his head earnestly, his eyes almost sorry. ‘We never thought it would work.’

  Iliana swallowed, forcing saliva down her lumpy throat.

  ‘What would work?’ she whispered.

  ‘Their so-called ‘god’ appeared within the limitations of a powerful perimeter they had set up; your mother was within it. This...Being they had conjured into our existence, our dimension. The Order forced him to conceive with your mother within the bounds they put on him so that a child could be born here in the Otherworld, that would bring their Age of Enlightenment into reality. That is you, Iliana. That is why you were born.’

  Iliana let out a breath between her dried lips.

  ‘You’re half god, Iliana. That is why you’re being hounded, as soon as the Order finds out you’ve returned to the Otherworld, they will never stop looking for you. Your presence upsets the balance of our world, and that is why we had you removed.’

  ‘H-had me removed?’ she stammered. The room was spinning and she felt as though she had left her body. ‘God?’ she squeaked.

  Iliana looked down at her hands, her creased alabaster skin over flesh over bones. It wasn’t human, it wasn’t real.

  ‘We’ve never had such a situation on our hands before. You were our biggest mission, but since you’re here, now our biggest failure. Someone wanted you and they got you. It was Drake Evernst who found out about you, he sent the Xingers after you, how he got them we don’t know.’

  Iliana licked her lips. ‘It was, erm, Malem.’

  ‘What? This scientist you speak of? Where did he come from?’

  Iliana turned dazedly and straggled through the hall in a dream.

  The monks shuffled away. She walked slowly on, her body showing a deceitful calmness to the fireworks that were bursting in her head. Anguish loomed on the edges of her consciousness like a cavalry in wait, sensing her vulnerability and ready to strike.

  She passed through the doors and stood atop the temple that rose like a South American pyramid. Iliana’s eyes wandered the barren snowy land that yawned for miles around. In that moment, she felt so alone.

  Iliana sucked in her breath and screamed. This one was louder than before. The cry of mania, grief and contrition rolled out like a sonic boom. Snow that capped the walls and gardens were thrown and a ripple pulsed out to be carried further across the earth.

  Iliana fell to her knees, clutching her head in despair. Every achievement came with a price. Each crest she reached only brought her more grief.

  Iliana dropped to one side and curled up into a ball.

  ‘Forget about the Instruments! Forget about the damn clock! Iliana just suffered a breakdown on your steps, the Mad Queen predicament can wait.’

  Iliana recognised Karen’s voice from far away, like hearing it down a corridor. Warmth and softness soaked into her body and she felt light and free, an airy fragrance like someone had opened the windows in her mind.

  ‘The Queen has the Clock. My informant tells me she manipulated an analyst from Erp Surrel to smuggle it out.’ Kain’s persistent whisper.

  ‘Damn her if she does! The bitch wouldn’t know how to use it anyway.’

  ‘Karen—’

  ‘We’ll send a team to recover it.’

  Iliana opened her eyes to a small round room furnished modestly. A simple rug laid out on the marbled floor with a basin of water in one corner, and a fire crackled away in a hearth.

  Karen was seated there with Kain.

  His chestnut eyes darted to her. ‘She’s awake.’

  Karen turned in her seat and Iliana looked at her.

  ‘Iliana.’ Karen hurried from her chair to th
e bed. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Different. But that happens a lot now. I’m still a god, aren’t I?’

  ‘Only partly,’ she responded.

  Iliana appreciated the effort. She sat up with her back against fluffy pillows. ‘How long have I been asleep?’

  ‘A couple of days. You were comatose, none could wake you. You retreated into the darkest regions of your mind; such a reaction only happens in times of great anxiety. Your mind couldn’t handle the knowledge Kain gave you.’

  ‘I didn’t have a choice, I needed to know,’ Iliana winced, ‘I’m starving.’

  Iliana! Are you alright? A familiar Arabic voice growled in her mind, alarmed.

  Yeah, I blacked out for a few days.

  I heard your scream. I came but men took you inside so I tore through the doors and Karen told me you were safe. But I know not who to trust.

  Iliana couldn’t have agreed more with him. I’m fine. Clio, I found out about my parents.

  I know, Clio said, what you know, I know too. Do not let them put you in chains. You deserve to be free.

  Never.

  When you are ready to leave, I will come.

  She felt Clio’s presence recede in her mind like a bonfire fading to a flame. She sensed him coursing around the perimeter of the temple, keeping watch.

  After she downed three bowls of vegetable soup and a couple of loaves of bread, she got dressed into a plain cotton white dress and was introduced to a woman named Claris, a close associate to Terrence. She had long, sleek blonde hair and was manicured to the tips of her ears.

  She looked at Iliana impatiently.

  ‘Your Roarax is frightening the monks every time they try to tend to the gardens. He sits on the high wall, staring down at them.’