The Tigrens' Glory (Soul-Linked Saga) (Volume 9)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  Kyerion nodded, understanding that some things should not be questioned, though he very much wanted to. Glory was the more important subject at the moment. “So, the mosaic Glory told us about is a power safe. We were quite young when Mother began it, and we never actually saw it once it was completed. May we see it?”

  “It’s in Glory’s room,” Lariah said.

  “I’ll go get it,” Val said. He stood up and vanished.

  “I should tell you that the mosaic broke when Glory drew the last bits of Spirit from it,” Lariah said. “Whether it’ll still work or not, I don’t know.”

  Val returned with the mosaic and handed it to Kyerion. Kyerion ran his fingers over the gemstones depicting himself and his brothers, reminded strongly of their mother. Lariah was right. There was a thin crack running diagonally across the mosaic from one corner to another. He sent a trickle of Water into it to confirm his suspicion.

  “Our mother had a powerful gift,” he said, handing it to Kirk. “As do the Three. The amount of Spirit it would have taken to crack this object is astronomical.”

  “Is this the only mosaic she had?” Kirk asked, staring at the mosaic in his hands.

  “Yes, it is,” Lariah replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because she told us there was a female depicted with us, but I see only we three.”

  “May I?” Lariah asked, holding one hand out.

  “Certainly,” Kirk said, handing the mosaic across the table. Lariah studied it for a long moment, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “How odd,” she said. “It’s gone.” Val and Trey both looked over her shoulder.

  “She’s right, there are only three tigrenca now,” Trey said. “But we all saw the fourth one.”

  “I don’t understand how you would know if it was male or female,” Kirk said.

  “We didn’t,” Lariah said, handing the mosaic back to Cade. “Glory was certain of it, though. In fact, she believed that the female was your Arima.”

  “Yes, she told us that,” Kyerion said. “I’d forgotten, with everything else. She said the image was of a tigrenca with orange and black stripes and blue eyes, correct?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Lariah said. “We all saw it, but it’s gone now.”

  “Orange stripes and blue eyes is…was…a common color combination,” Kyerion said. “It’s also the coloring preferred by the Guardienne of Clan Tigren. She watched over us while we were in the hibernation tanks. Now that we are freed, her presence is not needed, so she’s no longer there.” Kyerion paused in thought before looking at Lariah again. “Highness, do you think the Three would be willing to channel Spirit again?”

  “Of course,” Lariah replied without hesitation. “But the mosaic is broken.”

  “We won’t need it,” Kyerion said. He turned to Kirk. “Tell Doc to begin the process of removing Glory from the healing tank. While we’re waiting, we need to practice meditating.”

  “Meditating?” Cade asked in surprise.

  “Yes, meditating,” Kyerion replied. “I have an idea, but we’ll need to Dream Walk the way Glory did.”

  ***

  A couple of hours later the Tigren, Dracons, Katres, and Lobos gathered in an unused guestroom that had been set up specifically for their needs. Two of the small tables meant to seat four had been pushed together. Six chairs surrounded it, one on each end, and two to each side. The power cup sat in the exact center, where the two tables met.

  “How did the meditation go?” Lariah asked while the others took their seats.

  “We succeeded twice,” Kyerion replied. “Partially. The first time Kirk did not appear, the second time Cade was missing. Then we ran out of time.”

  “Well, third time’s the charm,” Lariah said brightly.

  “I have not heard that said before, Highness, but I sincerely hope you are correct,” Kyerion said.

  “If you want to delay this, we can,” Garen said. “Otherwise, we’re ready.”

  “No, Highness, we must continue,” Kyerion said. “Glory has been removed from the safety of the healing tank, and we don’t want Doc to have to put her back in it.” Garen nodded, and they joined the others at the table where Arima Katre, Arima Lobo, and Nahoa-Arima Dracon sat. The women’s Rami stood behind them, ready to share their strength should it be necessary.

  While the Tigren had had several opportunities to meet the other Clan Consuls since their release, they hadn’t yet met their Arimas, though they’d seen them at a distance a few times. Now that they were in the same room with them, Kyerion was surprised by the power he sensed radiating from all three women.

  “You are Chosen of the Eternal Pack,” he said to Saige, then bowed with great respect.

  Saige reached up to touch the large heart shaped diamond that imbued her with Heart Sight, surprised to find that it was hidden beneath her shirt. “How did you know?”

  “We are High Druids,” he said. “As our powers return to us, our sight becomes clearer.”

  “Is that why you wear the mark on your cheek?”

  “Yes,” Kyerion replied. “It is the Triskele, the mark of the High Druids. It represents the Nine Clans of Klanaren, and our commitment to care for all.”

  “What of the arm bands, and the torcs you wear?” Saige asked curiously. “Do they have meaning?”

  “The armbands mark us as Consuls, the torcs signify our clan,” Kyerion explained. “In our time, all Clan Consuls wore such bands, though I see you no longer do so, and the torcs were not uncommon. It was not usual for High Druids to also be Clan Consuls, but when we were called to the post, we chose not to refuse it.”

  “Thank you for answering my questions,” Saige said. “I know I can be a bit too curious sometimes.”

  “We do not mind, Arima Lobo,” Kyerion said. He turned to Summer, tilting his head to the side while he considered her. “You have an ancient and venerable soul, Arima Katre. And a powerful one. We appreciate your aid in this, all three of you. Whatever happens, we thank you for sharing your gifts with us in this effort.”

  “Glory is important to us, too, Kyerion,” Lariah said. “We’re glad to be of help.”

  “This can work,” Summer said.

  “Can work?” Saige asked with a frown. “You don’t know for sure?”

  “No, I don’t, though I wish I did,” Summer said. She looked up at Kyerion. “I do know that once the door is destroyed, you’ll need to close yourselves off from the rush of memories that will assault you. It won’t last long, but it will be the most dangerous part of this whole thing. If one memory is allowed to penetrate one of your minds, you’ll all be lost. Once the memories move away, you’ll need to find Glory and make sure she recognizes you, and knows where she is. Only then will you be able to help her wake up.”

  “How do you know this?” Cade asked in surprise.

  “No idea,” Summer said. “Sometimes I just know things.”

  “It’s strange, granted,” Maxim Katre said with a smile. “But Summer is never wrong.”

  Kyerion, Cade and Kirk looked at each other, then looked back at Summer. Kyerion sent a thread of Water toward Summer, not completely surprised by what he found. The Tigren raised their fists to their hearts and bowed solemnly. “We thank you, Kelta Summer, Seer Druidess, for your assistance.”

  “Excuse me?” Summer asked in surprise. “What does that mean?”

  “Kelta?” Kyerion asked.

  “We can start with that,” Summer said.

  “Kelta is a title of respect, lady may be an equivalent in Standard,” Kirk explained. “Kelt is the male version, meaning lord, which is used only for those Druids who have reached a high level of ability.”

  “We’d never heard of Druids before you three,” Garen said.

  “That’s unsurprising since only male Tigren were Druids,” Kyerion said. “Females who possessed certain rare, non-magical abilities, were called Druidess, and could be of any clan. There were few, but those that existed were always quite powerful. Arima S
ummer is clearly a Seer Druidess. That alone grants her the right to the title of Kelta. The woman you spoke to us about, the Keeper, Arima Hope, is without a doubt a Druidess as well, as is Glory, with her ability to Dream Walk. The power we sense coming from all of you is such that I suspect Arima Saige and Princess Lariah are also Druidess. It is remarkable to find so many such women at one time. There were few who could claim the title Druidess in our time.”

  “Every Arima we’ve found so far possesses at least one such ability,” Trey said. “Some, including these women, possess two.”

  “This is extraordinary,” Kirk said. “We would very much like to look into that further at some point.”

  “Of course,” Garen said. “But that is for later. Shall we begin?”

  “Yes,” Kyerion said. He walked to the far end of the larger table they’d created. Lariah, Summer, and Saige sat holding hands at one end, with Summer and Lariah touching the power cup with their free hand, just as they’d done when they’d aided Glory. Kyerion sat at the other end with Kirk and Cade on either side. They held hands too, with Kirk and Cade each touching the cup with their free hands.

  Kyerion met first Kirk’s eyes, then Cade’s, before closing his own. While the women gathered Spirit to fill the power cup, the Tigren entered a meditative state. It seemed to take mere seconds before Kyerion opened his eyes, relieved to find himself in Glory’s valley. A moment later both Kirk and Cade appeared beside him.

  “It worked,” Cade said with a sigh of relief.

  “As Princess Lariah said, the third time was, indeed, the charm,” Kyerion said. They turned and approached the door. Kyerion reached out with one hand to grab the doorknob, almost relieved when his hand passed through it. It was a proof of sorts that things were as they expected. Kirk and Cade repeated the gesture, with the same result, as they’d previously agreed to do. They then tested the rest of the valley, changing things, then returning them to normal. When they were satisfied that they were in their own version of the dream valley, but that the door was not of their making, they again faced it.

  “I hope this works,” Kirk said. Kyerion nodded. He, too, hoped it worked. If it didn’t, he had no idea what else to try.

  “Why wouldn’t it work?” Cade asked in surprise. “Glory did this on her own without the benefit of our knowledge, training, or experience.”

  “This is much different, Cade, and we don’t have her gift with dreams,” Kyerion said.

  “Different how?” Cade asked.

  “She walked the real world from her meditative state,” Kyerion said. “She used Spirit to empower her mental projection of herself with enough substance to effect the real world. We are in a meditative state, in a dream environment, not a real one, and we need to solidify a dream object that belongs to Glory.”

  “What do we do once we’ve solidified it?” Kirk asked. “How do we destroy it?”

  “If this works as I expect, we’ll have the same power over the door as we do everything else here,” Kyerion said. “We’ll be able to destroy it in the same way we would one of those trees we created.”

  “This dream stuff is confusing to me,” Cade said, shaking his head. “Let’s just do this.”

  Cade and Kirk each put one hand on Kyerion’s shoulders and they all reached for the Spirit that the Three had gathered and put into the power cup. Then they focused on the door while Kyerion added Earth to strengthen the Spirit further. They all watched as the door wavered slightly, then became less transparent before wavering again. Kyerion felt it slip away, drew more Spirit and focused harder. Something struggled against them, fighting to keep the door as it was. No, he realized. Not some thing. Some one. Glory. He realized that she instinctively fought to maintain what had protected her for so long. But that protection now formed her prison. It had to be destroyed.

  Even though it went against every particle of his being to fight with their Arima, he clenched his fists, refocused, and pulled still more Spirit, this time allowing it to build up within him. They would succeed. They would free Glory, as she’d freed them. And when it was finished, they would do all that they could to help her deal with the dark events of her childhood.

  Kyerion began to chant, infusing his words with his will and determination. His voice rose, becoming command rather than plea. Kirk and Cade added their voices to his so that the chant rose and fell with undeniable, unbreakable power, drawing the Spirit gathered by the Three out of the power cup, and into Kyerion.

  When he could hold no more without burning himself and his brothers to ash, he aimed it at the door and released it in a single, powerful blast. The door instantly became so solid, so real, that they could feel with their minds the rough texture of the wood and the cold, hard iron that bound it.

  Kyerion immediately dropped Spirit and threw every ounce of will and power that he and his brothers possessed at the door. For one heart-stopping moment nothing happened. Then, suddenly, the door exploded into a million splintered fragments, the iron crumbling to dust.

  Kyerion shouted a warning and all three of them hit the ground and lowered their eyes to the blue grass beneath them. They sensed the black, sharp edged memories scattering around them like shards of broken glass, seeking their notice, their attention, their minds and souls. They remained steadfast, unflinching, refusing to invite attention by as much as a single glance. Finally, the shards moved away, spreading out into the ether.

  Kyerion waited, sensing that the danger was not yet past. He felt Kirk’s impatience but refused to be swayed by it. Sure enough, another handful of wickedly sharp slivers flickered around them, moving so close that Kyerion himself almost flinched. Only when they, too, had moved off did he signal to his brothers that it was safe. He took a deep breath and rose to his feet before allowing himself to look up.

  Where the door had been there was now what looked like an irregular, dark gray cloud. In the center of it, huddled in a ball on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees, lay Glory. They ran to her, knelt on the ground beside her, then hesitated as they watched her tremble and shake violently.

  The gray cloud surrounding them darkened and thickened in response to their uncertainty. Kyerion scooped her up, then spun around and raced back to the center of the valley, Kirk and Cade so close their arms brushed as they ran. Only when they were well clear of the darkness did they stop and look down at her.

  Cade brushed his fingers along her arm. “She’s so cold,” he whispered. Kyerion’s mind stuttered for a moment as he wondered if her dream body’s coldness indicated that her real body was cold, and what that meant. He shook his head. Glory was cold. Therefore, they would warm her. It was that simple.

  He turned so that the golden rays of their dream sun fell more fully upon her face, and waited. Glory gradually became warmer, her face regained some of its normal color, and they became calmer.

  “What now?” Kirk asked, unable to take his eyes from Glory’s face.

  “Glory?” Cade said her name softly, beseechingly. Her eyes fluttered, then slowly opened.

  “Cade?” she whispered. Her eyes shifted from Cade, to Kirk, to Kyerion. “What’s going on?”

  “You know us?” Kyerion asked.

  “Of course,” she said, her voice so faint they barely heard it.

  “Then it’s time for us to wake up,” Kyerion said. “All of us.”

  Chapter Thirty One

  Glory opened her eyes and looked around. The room was familiar. Why? She thought back, memories coming slowly at first, then more quickly until things came back to her in big chunks.

  Banishment. Waking dreams. Jasan. The Ugaztun. The Tigren. Hibernation tanks. Pain. And then a flood of dark, ugly memories of helplessness, blood, fear and excruciating pain, both physical and emotional. She gasped and sat up, searching for something else to focus on.

  Her eyes settled on two people she barely knew who were sitting at the table in her room. They leapt to their feet and hurried toward her. Who were they? What were their names? The answers
were there, she just needed to find them.

  Doc and Darlene. That’s who they were. She allowed herself a brief moment of triumph as they crowded close to the bed, concerned expressions on their faces.

  “How do you feel?” Darlene asked, one hand reaching out to touch her forehead lightly with warm fingers.

  “I’m a little confused, but otherwise I’m fine, I think,” she said, her voice sounding hoarse to her own ears, as though she hadn’t used it in a long time. A thought slipped into her mind. Her breath caught. “The Tigren?”

  “They’re safe, and should be here shortly,” Darlene said. “The Xanti have been destroyed, and we are currently about three days out from Jasan.”

  “It seems I missed a lot,” Glory said in surprise.

  “Yes, but you’ll catch up,” Darlene replied, patting her on the hand. “Later.” Then she winked at Glory, turned around and started walking away.

  “We need to examine her first, Darlene,” Doc said. Darlene glanced over her shoulder, smiled, and reached for his hand.

  “Later,” she repeated, tugging him along behind her. Doc gave up and moved ahead to open the door for her. They both stepped out into the corridor, leaving the door open.

  Glory frowned in confusion but before she could formulate the words to ask them what was going on, Kyerion was there, filling the doorway. He looked exactly as he had in her dream walks, his golden eyes fixing on her as he stepped into the room. Kirk and Cade followed right behind him, and she took a moment to feast her eyes on the three of them alive and standing there, in her room aboard the Ugaztun. She remembered all of it now. Including the fact that they were not for her. She was human. They were not.

  She allowed her gaze to linger on them, just this once. As stunning as they’d been in their black leathers, they looked even better in their modern clothing. She took a moment to memorize them. Then she withdrew, pulling back inside of herself. Her expression smoothed, her shoulders stiffened, her eyes went cool and remote.