Silent Orchids (The Age of Alandria: Book One)

by Morgan Wylie

  Ugly Leader replied with his eyes lowered enough to still see Daegan, but not look directly in his eyes. “We are to take her to her alive... or not,” he said with a bit of a snicker, pointing at Kaeleigh. She gasped.

  With that Finn started to rush the uglies but Daegan jerked him back with a glare and whispered out of the corer of his mouth, “Not yet.” The uglies snickered again, making Finn furious.

  Daegan spoke again. “Who is this her? Who sent you?” The uglies snickered again, reminding Kaeleigh of a pack of hyenas. In a flash, Daegan rushed Ugly Leader and had one hand pulling his hair back forcing his head up and the other pointing his extremely sharp knife into his throat, drawing a bead of blackish liquid. Kaeleigh gasped again and tried to keep down the bile that threatened at the back of her throat.

  “Try again,” Daegan growled out. “Who is she? Did Maleina send you?” Daegan spoke with a deadly power in his voice that was not there before. Ugly Leader cowered and said, “No, no, no. Not her, the other one, the other her. I do not know what she is called, only that she is not good, she is EEEVI...” The word was cut off as he tilted his head back and started to scream and choke all at the same time. Daegan took a step back, confused. Finn had come up beside him, knife drawn, ready to assist if needed. Daegan had not even scratched much more than a surface wound, but the Ugly dropped to his knees, starting to disintegrate, then vanished. The other Uglies gasped in terror. “It’s her.” They too vanished.

  Finn, Daegan, and Kaeleigh stood still, not saying anything. Neither of the boys lowered their weapons... just in case. Once Kaeleigh saw Finn drop his soldier stature and Daegan subtly relax his shoulders, she started in on them. But what she intended to be an angry interrogation came out more like a breathy, shaky stammer. “What...? What...were those things? What...? Who... are you?” She spun, speaking directly to Daegan, but then looked at Finn with utter confusion and betrayal. “And you! Who are you?” Kaeleigh had composed herself pretty well, but now that the immediate threat had subsided she felt herself start to crumble. As she pointed at Finn she realized her hand was shaking. She yanked her hand down trying to hide it. Taking in a deep breath, she took note that both the boys were staring at her, sure she was going to lose it, but she wasn’t about to fall apart again today. She was fine. “I’m fine.”

  Turning around, she walked into the kitchen. She was controlled. She was fine. Kaeleigh washed her hands over and over. She splashed her face with water, trying to contain her emotions. Fine. She was fine. Hands still shaking, she filled a glass with water but suddenly dropped it, shattering it all over the floor. She was not fine. Nothing about this was fine. Too much had happened in too short a period of time. Sobbing uncontrollably, she fell to her knees. She was not fine.

  Kaeleigh felt strong arms pick her up off the floor and out of the shards of scattered glass. Finn cradled her close to his chest. She felt comforted by his closeness and breathed in the smell that was signature to him—spring and mowed grass after a fresh rain. He laid her on her bed and she curled on her side. Gently he brushed the hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. She looked at him but all he could see was hurt and fear and it broke his heart. Tucking her in, he murmured that he would be in the other room and left her to herself.

  ✾✾✾

  After what must have been longer than she realized, Kaeleigh walked into the living room. She must have fallen asleep. Her emotions were reined back in for the time being. She was embarrassed by her breakdown, but her emotions couldn’t be contained any longer. Finn’s back was to her as he looked out the slider door to the balcony, his hands clasped behind his back. She knew he was aware of her; he always was. Without even looking at her he sighed then said, “I know you have questions and no idea what is going on. There is little I’m able to say, but first...” Then he turned around to look at Kaeleigh with soft eyes. “Are you all right?”

  Kaeleigh put her hands on her hips, dropped her head, took another deep breath, then looked up at Finn and gave him a curt nod. He understood she was trying to process everything and wasn’t quite ready to talk about her feelings. He simply reciprocated her nod.

  “Who are you, Finn? What are you?” she pleaded softly.

  “I’m your friend and I’ll protect you with my life. I’m also... Chel’s here,” he sighed. “I thought you might need someone you trusted.” He sounded dejected. Just then Chel came hesitantly through the door, as if not sure what she was walking into.

  “Where’s Daegan?” Kaeleigh asked after a deep breath, looking around her apartment.

  “He’s doing a perimeter search outside... or he left,” Finn answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders. Answering the questioning look on Kaeleigh’s face, he continued, “I don’t trust him, Kae.” Then he shifted his gaze slightly over her head as Daegan walked back into the apartment.

  “You shouldn’t,” Daegan said flatly. Finn could have been embarrassed that Daegan heard what he said but he wasn’t. He looked at him as if he had been telling it straight to his face.

  “Not to ruin this lovely tension-filled moment, but Kaeleigh and I need a minute,” Chel said as she implored Kaeleigh with questioning eyes. Kaeleigh nodded and Chel grabbed her arm, tugging her back into Kaeleigh’s bedroom.

  ✾✾✾

  Chel looked around the room that she used to share with Kaeleigh. Sadness flooded her eyes as she realized how much she missed living with her friend. She was also sad at the loss of closeness she felt caused by the rift her new secret had caused. Chel needed to find a way to not lose Kaeleigh without betraying her family in the process.

  It made her smile to see that Kaeleigh hadn’t taken down all her posters and pieces of artwork that she had pinned haphazardly around the room. Kaeleigh liked order; it gave her some sense of control, Chel knew. But Chel was abstract when it came to her art and things that spoke to her. Random symbols and runes that she had been studying were sketched and painted in various sizes and colors scattered amidst forest scenes, moons in various stages, and sketches of animals in transitional evolutionary stages. She hadn’t realized what these particular pieces had really meant to her until seeing them here again today.

  Taking a deep breath, she faced Kaeleigh, who was patiently sitting on her bed, waiting. Chel cleared her throat, trying to figure out where to begin. “I’m so sorry for running out on you earlier,” she said with tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t handle that well at all. I was a coward and I left you alone after my selfish rant.” Chel started pacing the bedroom. “Kaeleigh, there are some things that I want to share with you because it does pertain to you, but it’s not my secret to tell and I have to respect that. My parents had their reasons for keeping things from me and from you. I may not agree with how they chose to do that and I still don’t understand everything, but I am not able to share it. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how that feels.” She looked at Kaeleigh to see how she was taking what she was saying, but Kaeleigh remained still yet soft, processing.

  “I also need you to know that I will never leave you like that again. I will stand by you and help you if I can as you search for the answers that I know you are looking for. Things are going to change, I can feel it, but I want to be there with you... wherever that is.” Chel willed Kaeleigh to understand what she was trying to say.

  Kaeleigh looked at Chel—really looked at her and saw what she was saying. “I know you and your parents would never do anything to harm me. I admit I felt betrayed and hurt and confused—I’m still confused, by the way—but too much has happened lately and I don’t want to lose you.” Tears started to trail down Kaeleigh’s face. She stood and embraced Chel tightly. “I’m mad at you for keeping secrets from me, but you’ve always been patient with me when I have been slow to share things with you. I trust your parents too, they must have a good reason.”

  “Where do we go from here, Kaeleigh?”

  “There is too much to just move on so... we move forward. It’s time for some answers.” Kaelei
gh looked at Chel with a new resolve in her spirit.

  She knew what she needed to do.

  Against the serious warnings from Finn—truth be told, he had practically begged her in a so-not-Finn way not to go with Daegan—she decided to follow Daegan into the unknown. She had to find out what was going on, and if this was the only way to get some answers then she was going. No one could stop her, but of course they could join her—and they did.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The group took a two-hour car ride that seemed like forever with the heavy silence that weighed upon them into and through Whitefish, driving as far as they could up the mountain. They pulled into a driveway of a cabin hidden away back in the trees. They all got out as Daegan pulled his truck into the garage at the back. They were looking around upon his return.

  “Daegan? Whose place is this?” Chel asked.

  “It belongs to the Ferrishyn and is used as needed when crossing the realms,” Daegan answered.

  “It looks like someone is home. Are there others here?” Kaeleigh spoke while trying to see in the windows from a distance.

  “There are.” Daegan spoke flatly, ending any further conversation.

  Taken aback by his toneless and harsh reply, she grabbed onto Chel’s arm, pretending that what he said hadn’t affected her, as they passed the cabin and set about hiking up a trail hidden in the thick trees. Stopping to take a break, Kaeleigh cautiously approached the edge where forest met cliffside. There was a chill in the air that made her lungs hurt, but it was fresh and it was breathtaking in more ways than just the effects of the altitude. They had packed accordingly with a backpack each. It was absolutely beautiful up in the mountains outside of Whitefish. Kaeleigh had come to the mountains several times, but she had never been up this high. It was late afternoon by the time they got there and the colors of the sky were rich with pinks and golds as the sun began its descent.

  Chel walked up next to Kaeleigh, staring out at the majesty that was before them. “It’s amazing,” Chel breathed out in awe.

  “It’s not much farther,” Daegan spoke as he walked up next to the girls. “Let’s get moving before it gets dark out here.”

  “Are there things that go bump in the night out here?” Chel said warily looking around.

  “Well, yes, probably, but it’s also going to get extremely cold once the sun goes down,” Daegan said flatly as he walked off.

  Both girls rolled their eyes but fell into step behind him with Finn bringing up the rear.

  ✾✾✾

  “‘Not much farther’ sure seems like quite a bit farther, if you ask me,” Chel huffed out under her breath. Kaeleigh heard and snorted her agreement. They suddenly stopped as their “guide” in front of them abruptly halted.

  Daegan looked back at the girls over his shoulder with a smirk. “‘Not much farther,’” he repeated, as if he were saying “See?!” And he nodded at the ominous rock that was suddenly before them.

  Kaeleigh and Chel looked around, confused. They could have sworn that rock wasn’t there only moments ago. They had felt like they were going in circles and for all they knew maybe they had been.

  The four of them stood staring for what seemed like forever at a patch of tightly woven trees guarding the front of a large wall of old rock chiseled out of the mountain itself. It looked archaic. Etched into the rock, but barely visible from the wearing of time and erosion, were what looked like drawings or symbols. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Kaeleigh was filled with a nervous energy but also a “rightness” about her decision. Still unsure if she even believed in what or where they were supposed to be going, she could feel something, a low hum of a vibration, coming from that rock wall or from deep within the earth; she wasn’t quite sure. Chel, Kaeleigh, Daegan, and Finn—against his better judgment—stood on the precipice between what she knew to be real and the possibility of what shouldn’t be real.

  Looking around at the little group, Kaeleigh saw an assortment of expressions. Chel, a little unsure and apprehensive but also intrigued as she stared intently at the odd symbols. Finn, unexpressive, protective, but something else flashing in his eyes... anxiety or fear maybe? Daegan standing tall and strong, never once removing his eyes from that rock wall.

  What is he looking at? Kaeleigh wondered. She stepped up to him, about to touch him, when his arm swung back with his hand lifted, giving her the universal sign to wait or halt. She stopped, frozen, unsure what to do and feeling slightly awkward.

  “What are we...” waiting for? looking at? doing? Any number of phrases to finish that sentence left hanging in the air when he gave her a sharp side look telling her not to interrupt. Then he sighed and softened just a fraction and answered her unasked question.

  “We are waiting for the precise moment at twilight when the gates are unveiled allowing entrance. Can you not feel it?” he asked. He finally looked at her, but with his intense gaze it was like he was looking through her. He seemed to notice something in her and then more seriously he asked, “Do you feel it?”

  “I don’t know what I feel, but I feel... vibrations,” she replied sheepishly.

  Unexpectedly, a bird cried from far above. A raven, actually, black as night and big, soaring in a circle above the little patch of trees that they were in. At the same time, something stirred in the air even though there was no breeze. A shimmering expansion like the opening of an invisible barrier suddenly became visible. The atmosphere seemed to take on a different pressure: thicker or tighter. It was an effort to breathe or to move.

  Daegan looked us over and said, “If you’re ready, follow me, but it’s not open long so do not take too much time.” But before he started to move he added with a sharp snap, “And stay close!”

  With that, he turned without looking back and walked toward the rock wall. He took out his knife and carved a strange symbol onto the rock, then pricked his thumb and smeared his blood on top of the symbol.

  Handling his knife with great care, he handed it hilt first to Kaeleigh, who looked shocked. After a few seconds of hesitation, she took the knife and ran it along the meat of her thumb. She smeared the blood on the rock with barely a wince, refusing to show her fear. Daegan’s eyes widened the slightest with surprise. Or was it admiration? She wouldn’t have even noticed except that she was, well, noticing and not too subtly either, she realized. Oh well.

  She handed the knife to Chel, whose eyes looked like they were about to explode, but without question or comment she followed Kaeleigh’s example. She handed it to Finn, who did the same after a moment of hesitation. Then they watched silently as Daegan walked INTO the rock wall and disappeared.

  With one last look at her friends before she went through, Kaeleigh shrugged her shoulders, took a deep breath, then started to walk in.

  Finn grabbed her arm before she finished crossing the threshold. “Wait, it’s not too late. You don’t have to do this. We can still go home,” he said desperately.

  “No,” she said, resigning herself to her fate, “I don’t think I can stop now, but if you don’t want to follow I understand.”

  She turned and walked straight through the wall. Her friends followed. They wouldn’t leave her, not now. Kaeleigh felt guilty leading them into something that could be—probably was—dangerous, not even knowing when, or if, they’d get home. But she was also relieved they were with her—they were everything she had and knew she would need them. Too many questions needed answers. Deep inside, Kaeleigh felt this was the way to find them; the only way.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was exactly like Daegan’s description when he had given them instructions before they went through the wall. Once you get through the entrance—IF it allowed you in (apparently, most mortals were not welcome)—there is a short tunnel that is dark and musty. Oh, and it’s pitch-black, so don’t touch anything, it might not let you go. Keep walking straight until it allows you out. Don’t stop. If you don’t keep walking, you might not come out the other side.

 
; WTH! He had spoken of the tunnel and the darkness like it had a mind of its own. Like it was alive. Shivers ran up Kaeleigh’s spine and the hairs on her arms stood straight up. Something wasn’t right here; whether it was the tunnel or something else she didn’t know.

  As they walked, they held tightly onto each other’s hands, willing themselves to make it to the other side. As soon as Kaeleigh had grabbed Daegan’s hand, which he had been reluctant to give her, a spark like a low-wattage electric current hummed between them. She had automatically tried to jerk her hand back, but he gripped her tighter as he said gruffly to keep walking and stay together. Before he moved forward, both he and Kaeleigh had a moment where they looked down at their hands, then at each other. Before she could ask what it was, he was pulling them along.

  What is that? Can the others see it? It was subtle but the small source of light in the darkness sparked a flicker of peace in her gut. Unfortunately, the feeling was short-lived as she heard scuttling noises to the right of her head. She shrieked a girly shriek and jumped to the side, causing the others behind her to be yanked with her. Great, I screamed like a girl. But hello! I am a girl—a girl who doesn’t like creepy crawly things in dark tunnels!

  “What is that?” Chel loudly whispered nervously from behind her.

  “Um... uh... it’s probably nothing,” Kaeleigh stammered, remembering Chel was even more jumpy than she was and trying to keep her friend calm.

  “Oh great! There’s something in here, isn’t there?” Chel asked suddenly, much more calmly than Kaeleigh would’ve given her credit for. Not even a second later, Chel inhaled sharply. “I think the something just ran over my foot!” she whispered, trying not to freak out but on the verge of not succeeding.