Empyreal (The Earthborn Series Book 1)

by Spencer Helsel

  And above everything else? Because men. Men were complicated. She had a hard time with complicated.

  “Never mind.” She said. There was no way she could explain.

  Trying for some kind of normalcy, he said, “You know, if your friend,” he gestured to her bird, “is going to stay here, you should give her a name.”

  She glanced at the caladrius. “It would be nice call her something other than ‘bird.’” The hawk regarded her with steely, blank eyes. “What do I call her?”

  He thought for a moment. “How about Caesar? If it’s the bird of kings, why not name it for a great king?”

  “Caesar is a boy’s name.”

  “I don’t recall you being a bird expert.” He made it playful.

  Equally playful, she asked, “And you are?”

  He chuckled and disappeared out her door. Dani heard him take off from the ground and stepped out onto the porch to watch him go, his figure shrinking into the distance until he passed the hill. She sighed a little. As soon as he was gone, though, she realized she was staring like an idiot, leaning against one of the supports like a love sick puppy.

  “Oh God!” She groaned. Had she really just done that?

  She stalked back into her house and sat down on the edge of the mattress to untie her boots. She tried to put Ethan out of her mind. She acted like such a buffoon! If he saw her standing there like Lois Lane watching Superman fly off, she would never have forgiven herself.

  “I hate boys.” She muttered.

  “You and me both, sister.” Said a female voice behind her.

  Her head snapped around. The room was empty, but she definitely heard a voice. The only other occupant was the bird.

  “Hello?”

  No one answered. She got up, looking out into the pavilion. A cold overcast rolled overhead, crackling with distant thunder, but the Arn was empty. She glanced down into the Vale, first at the area known as the Dalles, then down into the valley. She squinted. She could see the smoke trails of Hellion villages, but nothing nearby.

  “Hello?” she called out. “Anyone here?”

  Nobody.

  She shook her head, returning to her room. “I’m hearing voices. Great. Living alone is making me crazy.” She sat down on the bed again, one boot off. “Next thing you know, I’ll be talking to my pet bird.”

  “Who said that made you crazy?”

  Dani leapt off the bed with a scream. The voice was right next to her. She turned to face the white caladrius, which watched her with the usual blank stared. But then, as she watched, the bird’s beak moved as if it were speaking. And it spoke clear as a bell.

  “A ton of people talk to their pets, honey, but I am not a pet. I choose to be here, thank you very much.” The bird fluffed her feathers, her voice something deep and husky. “Still, at least you don’t call me an ‘it.’ Your boyfriend has no manners. That jerky was as disgusting as the way he talked about me.”

  She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. She kept staring at the bird. The bird kept staring back. Then it made a low, screeching noise. It clipped its beak a few times, turning left and right the way birds did. The only difference now was its very un-bird-like way of communicating.

  Dani managed to squeak out, “You—You talk?” The question seemed stupid given what the bird literally just did.

  “As your species says, OMG duh. Like, for reals or whatever. You know: the human garbage you all use to say yes.” The caladrius responded, scooting a little closer on the footboard to her. “Seriously, why is that? It’s like every year, you two-footed ground-walkers find new ways to say the same thing! It’s ridiculous to us. You are all a bunch of weirdos.”

  Dani’s mouth dropped open on its own. A bird spoke to her! An actual, honest-to-God bird spoke to her like it was an everyday thing!

  It cocked its—no, her—head to the other side. “What? Tigris got your tongue?”

  “You’re talking.” Dani said.

  “Yes. I’m aware.”

  “You can talk.”

  “Right again, girlie.”

  “You can talk to me.”

  “Now you’re just repeating yourself.” The bird told her. “Any more observations you would like to make?”

  Dani sat down on the edge of the bed. A fly could zip into her mouth and out and not get caught.

  “Please don’t pass out.” The caladrius said. “I’m not good with beak- to-mouth resuscitation. There’s a mechanics issue.”

  “How?” Dani was finally able to ask. “How can you talk to me? Why are you talking to me?”

  “Well, there isn’t anyone else to make sparkling conversation with around here. Besides, I don’t know how. I’ve been talking to you for over a month. You just haven’t heard me.”

  “I haven’t heard you?”

  “That is what I just said, isn’t it?”

  “When were you talking before? How can I understand you now?”

  The bird did something that looked an awful lot like a shrug. “No idea. You’re the one who could suddenly speak my language.”

  “Speak your language?”

  “The language of birds, sister. Most humans can’t understand us birds. I’ve gotten used to it. Then you just started understanding me and it freaked me out.”

  “I freaked you out? How do you think I feel?”

  “No idea. Happy? I’m a pretty awesome chick; no pun intended. Well, that’s not true.” She sounded almost proud. “I meant to make that pun.”

  She was talking to a bird. Was she crazy? It wouldn’t be the first time she considered it.

  “I just…wow. This is sort of hard to wrap my head around.”

  “Right there with you, honey. You’re my first human.”

  “Your first? What, like you own me or something? I’m not your pet.”

  The bird screeched. It actually sounded like a laugh. “And you own me? Please. If humans knew half of what their pets were thinking, they wouldn’t adopt them. Most animals feel like they own their owners. Cats are the worst. Cats are jerks.”

  She shook her head. “This is unreal.”

  “Well, I guess that makes one of us a figment of the imagination, but I’m completely real. So…”

  Dani liked this bird. It was hard not to.

  “I know. My mind is, like, totally blown.”

  “What do I call you?”

  “Names are a human thing. We don’t really have our own. But I guess Caesar isn’t bad, even if it is a little sexist of your boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “His pheromones say otherwise. And his heartbeat goes all superfast when he’s around you.”

  She blushed.

  Caesar chirped. “Yeah! Like that!”

  “Shut up.”

  “Trust me, now that we can talk, I’m SO not shutting up.” She screeched excitedly.

  ______________________

  Dani spent the rest of the day into the evening with Caesar. True to her word, she wanted to talk. The bird had lived in and around Empyrean for over a hundred years, with quote, “those mean phoenixes and that overgrown house cat in the Vale.”

  “You never met your family?” Dani asked. She prepared food for dinner; vegetables sautéed in a skillet with some chicken and honeysuckle to nibble. She even had a Coke. Despite being in her bag for a month and warm, she didn’t mind it. Caesar nibbled some of her food and drank from the fountain.

  “ Nah. My mom kicked me out of the nest with my other brothers and sisters when I was young. Totally did a number on my psyche. I had to see a therapist and everything.”

  “Really?”

  The bird gave her the equivalent of a ‘you seriously fell for that?’ look.

  “Right. You’re a bird. I forgot.”

  “It’s normal for my kind. I’ve been looking for a nice caladrius to settle down with ever since.”

  “You’ve been looking for love for over a hundred years? That’s depressing.”

  “And swooning over
that hunky Guardians isn’t?” Dani burned with embarrassment. “Besides, it’s not my fault! You wouldn’t believe how bad the dating world is out there. All kinds of creatures hit on me. Everyone thinks they’re ready for this jelly. This one cow I knew? He was full of it. He tried to convince me he was so big he had to get strapped to the side of Noah’s Ark to escape the Flood. Can you believe his ego?”

  “I guess not.”

  Dani stared out over the Vale again. Dusk settled. The skies streaked orange, purple and yellow over the peaks of the crater. Lights still burned in the valley, but torches moved downriver far from the centaur villages. Dani could only guess who they were.

  “So are you going to stay?” Dani asked.

  She looked up, beak dripping with water. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not like this is normal for either of us.”

  “But its totes cool, right?”

  “Totes? No one says totes.”

  “I say totes, toots.”

  Dani laughed.

  “I heard what you said, by the way.” Caesar finished drinking.

  “ About the Trials.”

  Dani waved it off. “It’s no big deal.”

  She sounded a lot more serious. “Well that’s a lie if I ever heard one.

  Birds are pretty good at reading emotions. You’re worried about the them, aren’t you?”

  Unable to lie, Dani went with sarcasm, “Ya’ think?”

  “I wouldn’t get all mockingbird with something that can knock you across a room.”

  She winced, remembering. “Yeah. Good point.”

  “You don’t need to be scared.”

  “I’m not scared.”

  “Remember: I can hear heartbeats, see everything down to the bug crawling on your tunic,” Dani wiped off a beetle, “and I can literally smell emotions. You stink of fear. And it’s okay to be scared.”

  Dani scowled.

  “You’ll do fine.” Caesar assured her. “I fly around Empyrean when you’re out. I watch everybody. I hear everything. Trust me, some of those old, wrinkling, sagging-butt Elders are more scared of you than you are of them.”

  “Thanks for the mental picture.” Dani shuddered. “But they can also make my life hell.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah. But then again, they’re not that smart. Most of them are a bunch of misogynistic harpies with nothing better to do than pick on you. And trust me: for my kind, ‘harpy’ is about the worst insult you could use. The ones who give you grief can suck an egg. They fear you. Fear means you can beat them.”

  Dani felt better now that she could talk to Caesar. Friends were hard to come by here and—remembering Roxelana—hard to keep.

  And ones that could listen in on people? That gave her an idea. “Let me ask you something: can you hear what people say or see what they do when no one is looking?”

  “I’m a bird of prey…so duh.”

  Dani leaned in close to her new friend. “So, would you want to do a girl a favor?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  She decided not to tell anyone about Caesar. She had an ace up her sleeve. No one knew she could spy on them. She hated to think about it that way. Perusing. That was what Caesar called it. She was going to peruse the city; not spy on it.

  Caesar only demanded a few things in payment. First, a roost in Dani’s cabin. She apparently hated sleeping at the end of the bed. Second, she wanted her feathers cleaned; something about how snow-white feathers were difficult to keep pristine.

  And beef. She loved raw beef.

  “Aren’t you worried about your figure?” Dani joked.

  “Please, hon. A girl does not look this good at a hundred-plus by

  being lazy. The day I get fat is the day Hell freezes over.”

  The week ground by at a snail’s pace. Try as she might, Heman’s threat got under her skin. She tried not to show it.

  The announcement of the Trails came the following week. Dani wasn’t enthusiastic, but prepared to go. She couldn’t hide. She was dressing when Mastema arrived early.

  “You are not ready to go?” he demanded. “How can you be this late?”

  “Don’t you knock?”

  “We’ve discussed this: no. Here.” He shoved a new pair of raiments at her. “Put these on.”

  Dani’s new clothes were more pristine the ones she had; custom fitted. They had the Arn symbol stitched into one shoulder.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “We have an important visitor arriving in Empyrean, for which,” thunder sounded in the distance, “we are late. Come, we have to fly.”

  Mastema waited. Once changed, he led her out by the shoulder like some kind of impatient parent.

  “What’s the hurry?”

  “We are late.” He repeated.

  “I understand th—AAAATTTT!”

  Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her and took off. Dani shrieked as they shot off the ground and into the sky. Unlike Ethan, he was not a gentle aviator. “Mastema is My Co-Pilot” would never be her bumper sticker.

  Mastema crossed and then descended towards the West Gate of Empyrean’s Citadel. As they did, she peeked over the rim of the mountain.

  The normally white clouds that surrounded the city were dark and thunderous. She could see something moving between them; distant, but coming towards the city. Lightning streaked, illuminating it in forks of light, but Dani couldn’t make it out.

  She was the last of the Novices to arrive. Dani spotted Nathaniel and Ethan near the front. Mastema came in hard.

  “Ow!” she stumbled, nearly falling into Dink. She got her footing before completely knocking him over. She glared at Mastema. “Be gentler with the landing next time!”

  “Learn to fly. Now follow the other Novices. Try not to be cheeky.”

  Dani spun on her heel, muttering under her breath, “I’ll show you a cheek.”

  They descended the steps, forming their twelve columns by aerie with their Guardians. The twenty-four Elders assembled in front of them.

  Dani stood on her own next to Aether. Andreas and Lester leered at her. She ignored them. Michael, two rows down with Corona, looked in her direction, too. He hadn’t forgotten their first day. Revenge was a dish best served cold, but Michael seemed hot for it.

  Through the large pearl-and-steel gates, the storm clouds gathered. A moment later, something burst through.

  Six skeletal monsters—it took her a second to realize they were horses—shot from the thunderheads huffing flames from their nostrils. Bones of charcoal grey or tar-black, the beasts galloped on air towards Empyrean.

  Then the coach appeared behind them. It wasn’t golden or flaming like Hermes’. It was made from shadows, which dripped from the sides and dyed the clouds black. The wheels spun, seeding more black mist, obscuring the view of whoever traveled inside. The gates swung open.

  A sense of dread made her shiver. Her heart sunk. What was something like that doing here? The horses neighed loudly. It reverberated off the walls. Those gifted allowed to come watched with mixtures of awe and horror.

  Dani leaned over to Bouden. “You’re the expert. What is that?”

  “It’s a chariot of the underworld.” He told her. “A vehicle from Hell. They aren’t supposed to exist in the upper worlds.”

  So it was demonic?

  The carriage with its skeletal team soared through the opening. At the front, a cynocephali warrior wearing black armor pulled the reigns. The vehicle descended and touched down; a much better landing than with Hermes.

  The coach stunk of rotten eggs. Dani remembered brimstone, rock sulfur, coated the surface of Hell. Anything from there stunk of sulfur. The coachmen trotted his carriage up to the Elders. He turned it so the door faced them. Elder Castus and Elder Jeduthun, the Co-Consuls, strode forward to greet their guest.

  The door opened. Dani held her breath for whatever nightmare creature would disembark. But instead, a pale, feminine a hand extended to meet Castus’s and slowly, the
most beautiful creature emerged.

  Not beast, nor demon, but an angel.

  She stepped from the carriage and every man took a single breath. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman Dani had ever seen. Her long brown hair cascaded down the sides of her face and around her shoulders in thick, luscious waves. Her bangs tied back and a simple golden circlet wove across her brow like a crown. As she stepped down, her dress flowed to her ankles; silk that glistened in the morning light. It was synched at both shoulders, exposing her smooth, unblemished arms. And when she stepped down, it was with the grace of a queen. Her face was one that belonged on a sculpture in a museum. She was gorgeous.

  But the wings stole Dani’s attention. They unfolded behind her as she stepped from her chariot; creamy vanilla colored, near-radiant in the sun. She stretched them outward, extending the width of the carriage and then folding back behind her.

  She was fantastically ornate, but warrior-like in her beauty. A metal band, like a snake, wrapped around one of her upper arms. In her waistband carried a flail and sword. They seemed out of place on someone so lovely, but made her all the more striking. She was a war goddess incarnate.

  Everyone whispered, even Dani. She leaned over to Ethan beside her. “I thought all angels were extinct?”

  He shook his head. “She’s not an angel. She’s an Erinys.”

  “A what?”

  “A Fury.” Mastema spoke behind her. “And be quiet.”

  “You should, too.” Ethan warned him. “They don’t like being called Furies.”

  A Fury? Dani never heard of such a thing, but knew if something like her was invited to Empyrean, she wasn’t a demon. Which, not being Numen or angel, made her a Hellion. An important one if everyone, including Mastema, showed up for her arrival.

  “Who is she?” Dani asked. “Why is she here?”

  Mastema made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a grunt of derision. Ethan was more kind. “That is Lady Alecto. She is the leader of the City of Dis and the Forces of Asphodel.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning she is the leader of every Hellion in existence. And as for why she’s here,” he licked his lips nervously, “she is here to preside over the Trials.”

  ______________________

  Dani never appreciated how many Numen lived in Empyrean until they all gathered in the Throne Room. The seats filled; brown-clad Novices, black Guardians, the purples, golds, reds, blues and greens of the other hosts. Over a thousand or more men attended, while more were still on duty throughout the city. The Elders, of course, took their places beneath the rainbow throne. The Elders, like all the Numen, arrived to venerate one person: Alecto. She commanded their attention.