Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two)

by Wylie, Morgan

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Hunter, a pillar of strength draped in ancient wisdom, allowed the concern over the news that Daegan and Kaeleigh had brought to crack his solid and stable demeanor. Fear seeped through, not for himself, but for his world and his granddaughter. He had worked so hard at staying hidden. Perhaps they hadn’t actually found him. Perhaps they weren’t coming to his cottage—it was, after all, cloaked unless something or someone from the inside allowed a tear. Perhaps it was all a coincidence. His gut told him it wasn’t and he always trusted his instincts.

  “Who is coming?” Finn whirled on Hunter.

  “There are many who do not honor the peace that was already fought for during the ages old battles. They believe I stand against their agenda and have been hunting me for quite some time, but it is not me that I believe they are coming for this time,” Hunter responded, nodding toward Kaeleigh.

  “We have to go!” Daegan commanded. “We can lead them away from your cottage.”

  “If they come for me, let them come. But you need to get her out of here.” He spoke to Daegan calmly, but there was an intense undertone of fear that made what he said a command as he looked pointedly at Kaeleigh.

  Kaeleigh whirled on both of them. “No! We are not leaving you! We will stay with you. We can fight.” But even as she said it she could tell they were decided and would not hear her. But I just found him! Kaeleigh swallowed the big lump in her throat about to choke her. Barreling through Finn and Chel, who were standing near her, she grabbed Daegan’s arm, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “I will not leave him here unprotected!” she growled.

  Daegan weighed what she said then spoke calmly but with a voice that broke through her fear. “This is the time we do what we must. It is us they are looking for and it is us that will lead them here.” But she knew what he was saying: it was her that brought them here and would lead them to her grandfather. It was her that had brought this upon him. She couldn’t live with that and Daegan knew that. Glaring at him, she pushed her agitated emotions toward him, knowing he would feel them. Returning her unflinching stare, he sharply nodded, accepting her fury as acceptance. B@#*$!# warrior! Ugh, I can’t even swear in my own mind here.

  Hunter softly placed his hand on her arm, which caught her attention more than if he had yelled at her. As she looked up into his eyes, her heart clenched. I can’t let him go! I just found him, she thought. It had been such limited time... just like with her mother. Her heart was breaking all over again. Golden tears began to fall from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and splashing on his hand that still rested on her arm. She didn’t want to go, but she would not be the reason they found him and hauled him off to prison or worse.

  “You must go, Kaeleighnna. I can not allow them to take you and use you for their own gain, and if you stay, I’m not sure I can prevent that.” Hunter looked saddened by that admission. It must have cost his pride to say it. “Stay close to your friends. The Orchids of history brought you to me once, they will allow me to find you again.” But his words didn’t hold the conviction of truth behind them, causing a tremor of panic to stir deep inside her. She gripped his hands tight then surprised him by giving him a big bear hug. He held her close and stroked the back of her head. Too soon he let go and pushed her back far enough he could see her eyes. “Find your father, Kaeleighnna, he can help you.”

  “But where is he? How do I find him?” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “Trust yourself and I believe The Orchids will lend their hand once again,” Hunter said then pushed them out the door to the front of the little cottage. Kaeleigh took one last look at the cottage that she found her first connections of family, and then at Hunter, but she didn’t linger long, afraid she would lose her courage. She simply nodded. Daegan gently grabbed her arm from behind to steer her toward Finn and Chel already almost to the edge of the forest where they would once again be searching for something. She gave Daegan a small smile and went the rest of the way on her own, not looking back until she was almost to the forest’s edge, when she realized Daegan wasn’t right behind her.

  Sparing a quick glance back over her shoulder she saw Daegan clasp Hunter’s forearm. They had been close, she remembered; it would hurt Daegan if something happened to Hunter. She took a deep breath and fought back tears that stung her eyes. As she was about to look back toward the spot where Finn and Chel had just disappeared into the dark protection the forest gave them, Daegan did something that shocked Kaeleigh. He kneeled before Hunter, head bowed in reverence. Hunter placed one hand on Daegan’s head and then moved it to his shoulder as the other hand came up holding a short sword, which he placed on Daegan’s other shoulder then moved it to where his hand rested on the opposite shoulder.

  It all happened extremely fast, faster than any human could have done it and with the fluidity of a practiced hand. Confused, Kaeleigh started to head into the shelter of the trees when Daegan was suddenly by her side with the slightest smile and a glint in his eyes, until she looked at him and silently questioned him with the raise of her eyebrows. His walls went up faster than she could even blink and dropped the questions lingering on her tongue for another time. One question, however, she did ask. “Will he be all right, Daegan?”

  Daegan hesitated a moment before responding, and she appreciated that he wouldn’t give her a quick answer just to reassure her. “I hope so. He is well equipped to protect himself and has the advantage of knowing they are out there.” Pausing, he looked down for a millisecond, which made her feel a rush of anxiety again. “We will just have to hope.” The way he ended it had finality to it that she knew he didn’t want to discuss it again, and that was okay with her because it just made her doubt their decision to leave. However, before completely abandoning it, he gave her an awkward partial look out of the corner of his eye. “I’m glad you got to find him, Kaeleigh. He is respected.” Meaning Daegan respected him.

  Kaeleigh smiled and nodded. “Me too.” All we can do is hope.

  They quickly caught up to Chel and Finn, who were waiting for them nervously by the small stream behind the house. “Where to?” Chel asked, trying to sound optimistic as she grabbed Kaeleigh’s arm so that they walked arm in arm for a time. “We’ll find him again,” Chel said quietly in Kaeleigh’s ear as she patted her arm then released her.

  Finn remained quiet for a while before he asked Daegan, “So, fearless leader, where are we going?” with a sarcastic tone that either was lost on Daegan or he agreed with the title, which seemed to agitate Finn even more.

  Daegan raised an eyebrow then spoke to them all. “We will follow the river east then go north toward the plains as we continue back on our original quest toward Feraánmar.” He was a bit tightlipped with that last part, which made Kaeleigh and all of them take note and question whether they were still on the right path. There was some debate for only a few minutes as they heard the low howling of a wind stirring, telling them they were dawdling too much and had to at least go somewhere to find shelter. Daegan took the lead, and even if hesitant, they all followed.

  Not much time had passed before they were at the northeastern edge of the forest that edged up to what looked like endless fields of tall grasses of greens and multi browns—it was amazing. Even as tall as the grasses were, though, there was not much for keeping them out of view of anyone looking for them.

  Daegan spit out some word in a language Kaeleigh didn’t recognize, but it wasn’t hard to tell a curse word no matter the language.

  “We are not going out there for target practice,” growled Finn.

  Chel looked around nervously, catching Kaeleigh’s eye as well as Daegan’s as he scanned the forest behind them. Kaeleigh couldn’t sense or hear anything. Cursing her own lack of understanding of her own abilities, she relied on her friend’s instincts.

  “What is it, Chel?” Kaeleigh whispered, trusting her friend sensed something as she kept looking back over her shoulders with a paranoid expression.

  Finn continu
ed staring out at the field with his hands fisted at his sides, not bothering with what was behind them.

  “We are going to have to risk it. We need to get out of here, now!” Daegan whispered urgently even though there was nothing to be seen, which meant nothing.

  Kaeleigh gripped the hilt of the sword that had been becoming more a part of her since it first appeared to her back at the caves where they had fought to free Chel. That could be part of Chel’s uneasiness, Kaeleigh realized. She had been abducted from Kaeleigh’s side during a sudden blackout in the forest. It was dark now once again, but at least they had the light from the stars and they had each other. Kaeleigh grabbed her friend’s hand, squeezing; a message that she was not alone. Chel squeezed back, but then let go. “There’s something out there, I can feel it. I can almost hear them like an animal but it’s fuzzy and not quite... right,” Chel whispered.

  “I feel them too, it’s time to go,” Daegan said as he stepped out of the shelter of the forest and out into the openness of the field. Even though some of the grasses came up to his chest, he was still very visible, but choices were limited.

  Kaeleigh and Chel began to step forward, but Finn’s arm flew out, preventing them from taking another step. They looked at him, questioning his move, then back at Daegan, who was waiting for them to join him. “What is it, Finn?” Kaeleigh asked softly.

  “If we go out there, we walk right into a trap. The horse riders are not far from here. We risk a great deal,” Finn stated plainly, but with obvious distrust as he looked at no one other than Daegan as he spoke.

  Chel looked back and forth from Finn to Daegan as tension continued to build between them. Kaeleigh could see the sparks flying, invisible to everyone else apparently. She laid her hand gently on Finn’s arm that blocked her path. He finally looked at her and his eyes softened. “Finn, we don’t have any other options. Something is in there that might be worse.” She pointed back toward the now very dark forest. “What do you propose?” Kaeleigh asked, genuinely open to his idea if he had one.

  Finn dropped his arm and sighed. “I don’t have a better one, but this is not a good one.” Then he walked forward out into the open and the girls followed him. Both Kaeleigh and Chel looked around nervously, expecting something to jump out and grab them. Suddenly Kaeleigh giggled quietly and turned to Chel. “We’ve watched too many scary movies with no idea that we would one day be living in one.” Chel nodded, relaxing a bit at Kaeleigh’s inappropriately placed humor which was usually Chel’s forte but she apparently found comfort in it coming from Kaeleigh.

  They relaxed as nothing happened. The foursome stayed relatively close together as they pushed their way, a bit slower than they would have hoped, having to trudge a path through the tall grasses. Kaeleigh tried to take in the beauty that she was surrounded by even as tense as she had been. Grasses as tall as a person waving and bending as a slight breeze blew from one end of the plains to another. Night had fully fallen by the time they were far into the plains and the cover of darkness provided them all with a false sense of ease. The night sky in Alandria was the biggest Kaeleigh had ever seen. In the city, in the mortal realm, and especially in Montana where they had been from, she could see the sky and most of the stars, but the magnitude and the intensity of what the stars looked like here was overwhelming. If she wasn’t running for her life and searching for her destiny, this would be a perfect place to have a picnic and lie around with someone special just wasting the day away. She jerked out of her daydream the instant she realized that she was visualizing Daegan lying on his side on a blanket completely relaxed and smiling at her with not a care in the world, leaning toward her, moving in to kiss her. Kaeleigh’s heart clenched and her stomach flipped at the thought. Chel gave her a curious eye, but Kaeleigh shook it off and continued to stare at the sky.

  Rushing up behind them, carried on the wind, was an eerie sound that gave Kaeleigh chills and made her heart race. A deep rumbling howl that seemed to shake the earth itself, sending all living things into hiding. Kaeleigh couldn’t see anything as she looked around frantically. She grabbed Chel’s hand as they now ran. The evil noise surrounded them, causing them to stop in their tracks. Circled together back to back, they searched for their invisible foe. It was so dark, but the air around them was moving, herding them together. As Kaeleigh peered into the darkness, she could see trails of blackness mixed with red reminding her of the creatures from the cave they had fought.

  Finn whispered next to her, “The Droch-Shúil.”

  Just as the fear began to paralyze Kaeleigh as she saw no way out, it began to once again ignite the anger at the assault of darkness upon her friends after everything they had already been through. No more. Power surged within her. Just as she was about to push it out toward the darkness, she felt Daegan beside her. The strength of his raw energy was something she hadn’t felt before. It was overwhelming... intoxicating... electrifying, and it caused her power to expand, stretching to meet his.

  “Enough!” Daegan growled out with complete authority.

  His sword clashed with Kaeleigh’s as they raised them simultaneously. An electric pulse of power shot out, creating a mass force around them. She could see the threads of his power tangling with hers. If they weren’t fearful for their lives, it would be a beautiful thing to see.

  A dark, angry howl split the air, causing Chel to jump, which only pissed her off. She came up behind Kaeleigh and put her hands on her shoulders, joining her energy like Hunter had taught them at the cottage. There was a surge in their power.

  Seeing the result, Finn joined his sword to where Kaeleigh’s and Daegan’s connected and they stood strong against the evil. Another primal scream rent the skies but they felt the pressure from the Droch-Shúil release as it backed off. Its power and the winds of darkness continued to circle them for a short time.

  Kaeleigh could see its red eyes locking on her more than once as its evil words hissed through their shield. “Mistress wants you. You will be found again. We will have you.” The last words trailed off as it felt like the darkness was sucked back into the nothing that it came out of.

  Then silence.

  The four of them stood there panting from fear and adrenaline, afraid to let their guard down in case it wasn’t actually gone. But after a few moments they relaxed. No one seemed to want to speak or even know what to say, but they couldn’t stay there.

  “We must continue on,” Daegan said, breaking the silence.

  All a little shaky, they trudged on, seeking a place to rest.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Eventually, the fields started sloping downward toward a river that cut through the plains, creating a valley. This was not the same river that they had crossed before at the Bridge of Revealment, but a smaller stream that cut right through the heart of the plains. The water before them was mostly calm but still alive with motion. For the first time in several hours Kaeleigh saw trees again. She hadn’t realized what a sense of protection and security they had provided for her until they were no longer there. It had been so flat and open and now the trees were converging once again close to the river, digging their roots into the soil and drinking deep from the water, satisfying an unquenchable thirst for growth. These were different than the old ancients in the forest they first came through. For one, they were younger and had more life energy streaming from them. Kaeleigh could actually see it—ribbons of colors streaming from the heart of the trees, from one in particular which touched each of the others around it, uniting their front of energy. It reminded her of when she was trying to make her way back from the In-between and she could see the life cords of her friends come to lead her home. Unable to explain it, she was drawn to this copse of trees. There was something inviting and comforting about them. There was stability and security in their shade, yet freedom in their reach. No one else seemed to be reacting to them the way she was. Trying not to make it obvious, she couldn’t help her sigh and enraptured gaze at the beauty of their life energy. It was co
ntagious, making her feel light again, especially after the dark encounter they had recently had, so she reveled briefly in the feeling, absorbing what she could.

  Chel and Finn approached the water, thirsty from their journey as Kaeleigh was also, but she couldn’t move just yet. Daegan stood where he was as well, eyeing the trees and then her. Kaeleigh wondered if he could see it too, but his gaze wasn’t following hers. He was looking at the trees, but with more apprehension than awe. “Wait,” he called to Finn and Chel before they could dip their hands in the water. They stared back at him, confused. Finn looked back at the trees then back at Daegan with wide eyes.

  Finn was about to ask a question, but Kaeleigh cut in. “I think we should ask their permission first. It would be the polite thing to do.”

  Chel looked at Kaeleigh with an “are you crazy?” look. She was thirsty and impatient, but she waited. Kaeleigh glanced to Daegan and he gave a quick nod.

  “Ask who, Kae?” Chel asked, cautiously looking around for someone else that she hadn’t picked up on her radar. Or maybe she thought Kaeleigh had finally snapped under all the stressful things that happened in such a short amount of time. With her arms crossed, Chel swiveled her gaze to Daegan, only to realize he was seeing something that apparently only the two of them were seeing, so she waited to see what Kaeleigh would do.

  “The trees,” was all Kaeleigh said.

  Kaeleigh hesitantly approached what to her looked like the “head tree,” if there was such a thing. It was the one where the most life energy was flowing from and into the other trees near it. There was a great variety of trees down by the banks of the river. Oaks, hemlocks, ash, holly, cedar, birch, and many others she didn’t recognize. This particular one was a holly tree that radiated with natural energy. The closer Kaeleigh got, the more she could feel the energy seeping into her skin. It was greens and browns, full of life with healing elements. She felt filled and strengthened as it seeped back out of her pores. She heard her friends give startled gasps as they could see her glowing with energy, but not knowing what it actually was. Feeling her friends approaching out of concern, she signaled to them that she was fine and not to get any closer, all without taking her gaze from the large yet feminine holly tree.