by H. R. Holt
“What about a shoulder?” Isaac asked genuinely and smiled. “I’ve got two of them.”
She laughed despite the tears. “I’m glad.”
“Hey, lovebirds, stop cuddling!” They both turned and saw Windrew walking in, and guessed he was summoning them. When he gestured towards the door he’d just walked in through, he made their assumption accurate. “Meeting.”
When he walked out, Reverie looked at Isaac and they locked eyes. “Is he often so blunt? He reminds me of Tarzan or something. Hey, speaking of which, I haven’t seen a movie in a long time. What’s out?”
“NOW!”
They laughed, grabbed their cups, and rushed out, leaving the room and rushing across the carpeted hall to the library. Their good moods died as they entered the room, which smelled like a mix between old books and sulfur from the fireplace. The flames cast long, foreboding shadows all around them. In the midst of all this, Tanner sat at one of the desks, eating a warm breakfast, being hated by everyone.
“Why is he still around?” Isaac attempted to ask Windrew. He didn’t get to finish because he was silenced by the older man, who was delving into his thoughts and trying to figure out what Anekaya was thinking. She was standing with her back to him, staring into the fire.
“The Cathene Continent is divided into four regions: Idenia in the north; Peniolea in the south; Magaren in the west; and Auzeil in the east,” she said without turning. “The darkness was born in Auzeil, which is the place Luella calls home. Esmeralda Reagan is located there as a slave. To those of you who are familiar with history, she is known as Esmeralda Navy, the Second Summoner.”
“Second?” Brornar questioned.
Anekaya merely nodded as she spoke. “Yes. The first was Nadia. Every half century or Black Moon, whichever comes first, the Ancient Ones of Cathene emerge from the stars and choose two Summoners. The first is the one who has absolute control, but the second can overwrite the demands should the first attempt to tilt the balance in one direction more than another. They were meant to serve as two neutral, immortal bodies whose sole purpose was to summon the Ancient Ones when they are needed.
“Nadia didn’t want this. She wanted power. She attempted to destroy Esme on more than one occasion. The priests of Idenia wanted to protect Esme until they could prepare a spell powerful enough to call the Ancient Ones. She became a mortal, roamed Earth, and found you, Dr. Reagan. From there, it’s very fuzzy. Some historians claim Nadia found her first; others claim the priests brought her back, where Nadia captured her. The next mention of her in the books is that she was imprisoned, leaving many questions unanswered.”
“Am I her child? Or am I Nadia’s?” Reverie asked with a small, frail voice. She suddenly felt all eyes on her, including her father’s. Anekaya turned to look at her, sadness filling her eyes. “You don’t know, do you?”
“I’m afraid not,” Anekaya said with a sigh. “That’s one of the questions. The only way to know for sure is to ask Esme, since Nadia is dead now.”
“Well, not entirely…” Windrew said and began pacing in front of Reverie and Isaac, rubbing his chin. He stopped and looked over at his wife. “Nadia exists in the boy. She is the one her spirit touched before she passed on entirely. I believe we have all we need to reveal the truth.”
Anekaya raised her eyebrows, and realized that he was right. She was a sorceress who had been born of dark magic; he was a wizard who had been born of good magic. She smiled and he did too.
The place chosen for the camacray, which was, simply, the calling of spirits, was on the beach. There were three circles of stones, with the one in the center being the largest. It was made of gray stones while one of the smaller circles was made of black stones; and the other was made of white. The clothing chosen was the shade of the circles: Isaac and Reverie were dressed in gray; Anekaya was dressed in black; and Windrew was dressed in white. Even though the occasion was being looked over, they knew this wasn’t a moment of leisure. Any second now and Luella’s goons would appear and ruin everything.
Isaac and Reverie sat back to back, legs crossed. She looked at Windrew, offered a smile, but he merely continued staring at her. She wondered how Isaac was fairing with his connection to the world, Anekaya.
“This is stupid,” Reverie said, agreeing with a comment Isaac had stated earlier. She loved the sand between her toes when they were walking over, though, and the warm breeze coming in from the ocean.
“Silence!” Windrew barked. “Close your eyes.” She wondered if his anger came from the fact that he hadn’t known about Anekaya’s powers, but she didn’t ask. Instead, she looked across the beach, then up the cliff at one of the onlookers. She smiled at her father and closed her eyes. He was here with her and that meant a lot, even if Windrew said his presence would prove a distraction.
“Focus.”
Isaac received the same instructions and closed his eyes. Since they were delving into the darkness that was Nadia, not the soft person she’d become before she died, they were handling fire. If anything went wrong, evil would release itself and consume both of them. Anekaya and Windrew understood the risk, but they weren’t sure the younger volunteers did.
Isaac received most of the visions, which started with Nadia’s youth. Anekaya told him to speed up the process, to fast forward to the time when Nadia captured Esme. He told her what was going on, trying to keep from revealing anything unimportant. When he reached the place that drew Reverie in, Windrew began speaking to her, telling her to tell him everything she could sense. In her vision, she was about to know who her mother was, but something dark surged through her body and her head fell forward.
“Reverie? Reverie? Respond,” Windrew said, trying to remain calm. He was the “good” one. His senses had to remain collected, not scatter into anxiety and stress. He was tempted to leave his circle, retrieve his sword, but he couldn’t.
Isaac’s head fell forward too, but rose up just as suddenly. “I know he’s here. I can feel him,” he said, pain showing itself on his face. He opened his eyes and stared at Anekaya, his eyes now black. “Why is he here?”
“Who am I speaking to? Nadia?”
Isaac smiled wickedly, and raised his hands, which were electrified and ready to end her life. Suddenly, though Reverie touched his arm and his head fell forward again. Anekaya stared at the hold Reverie had on Isaac’s arm, sensing the horror that was coming next. Reverie could die with her spirit battling Nadia’s!
As the hold began lessening, Anekaya prepared herself for the worst, hearing her husband’s sonorous voice as he tried to keep Reverie from coming around. She did the opposite to Isaac, telling him to wake up immediately. When he did and saw the shock on her face, he stood up and Reverie fell over.
“What happened?”
“Anekaya, don’t leave your circle!” Windrew ordered.
Anekaya realized she was inches away from exiting and stopped, not remembering when she stood. She stared down at the stones, realizing what she had to do. She had to absorb the darkness. Reverie would die if she didn’t. Although she knew it would kill her, she realized that the cause was all about sacrifices. She had a husband who loved her dearly and two precious boys, all of them alive and healthy. It was her time to make a sacrifice: herself.
As she looked from Reverie, who was shaking uncontrollably, her spirit fighting Nadia’s, to Isaac, who was holding her close to him, trying to keep her alive, she felt tears streaming down her face. She didn’t want to die. If she didn’t, though, the only other person who could absorb Nadia’s spirit was Windrew, and she didn’t want him to die. Isaac couldn’t, she knew, because he wasn’t of magic to begin with, and she didn’t wish it on him. It was an awful death that she didn’t wish upon her worst enemy, much less Reverie, her friend.
Before Anekaya could step outside her circle, Emmanuel rushed into the gray stone circle and knelt beside his daughter.
He looked from Anekaya to Windrew and finally to Isaac. With a sob caught in his throat, he spoke: �
��Promise me you’ll take care of her. Promise me you’ll find my wife. Promise me.”
Isaac couldn’t find an answer in him, but watched as Emmanuel touched his daughter’s arm and closed his eyes. He didn’t care if she was his daughter by blood. He didn’t care. He had raised her as his own, taught her all that she needed to know to begin the journey of life. She would have to do the rest on her own, without him. Before he could feel Nadia’s evil enter him, he stood from his kneeling position and began staggering across the beach.
“No!” Anekaya screamed. When he fell and began shaking uncontrollably, she made an attempt to rush to him, tears streaming down her face. She was meant to die for the cause, not this foreign stranger! This wasn’t his fight! He was never supposed to fall in love with the Second Summoner! The prophecy never mentioned him.
He stared at her as she continued running towards him, tears streaming down his face and intermingling with the sand. She could tell when the battle within him was over, but she couldn’t stop rushing towards him. At the back of her mind, she sensed there was still a chance he could be saved. Hadn’t her life been so filled with second chances? This wasn’t his fight!
“Darling,” Windrew said and caught her in his arms. “It’s too late. His powers… they weren’t strong enough for him to last long…”
She looked at him, then broke away and tried to hide her tears. He took her hand and brought her back to him, letting her cry on his shoulder. He didn’t mind if she cried; he only wanted to hold her and know she was alive.
***
The burial for Emmanuel was handled quickly, and everyone who attended knew he deserved a better one but they were unable to give it. Although the custom across the Cathene Continent was to send the dead across the water, Reverie insisted that he receive what she deemed was the proper burial. He was placed under the ground near the mansion, with a cross to signify where he would lie for all eternity.
Afterwards, everyone went about their business, getting ready for the next day when they would start on their journey towards Auzeil. Even though the Black Moon wasn’t for a few months, Reverie was still in great danger. She was assigned six guards, all of which were loyal to the cause. Since she spent most of her time walking barefoot on the beach or crying over her father’s grave, they all claimed that she wasn’t hard to protect. When she was looking at them, though, she was thinking of a way to escape them. She would have to earn their trust before they reached Auzeil, which wouldn’t be all that hard.
When the sun began setting, the rain began pouring, which forced her to go into the mansion. The guards followed close behind her, admiring her figure as she ran. She was beautiful, sure enough, but they weren’t bound to violate Anekaya’s trust and have their way with the young virgin. They more than respected Anekaya; they feared her. Besides, they knew that Reverie already had plans to devote herself to Isaac, who had been in the worst battles and survived. He would surely have his say if they tried anything. In knowing this, Anekaya turned away from the rain-streaked window with a sigh.
“Well, at least we know now that she is Esme’s daughter, ma’am,” Otis said.
He sat beside Mona with a sigh. They had been absent most of the day, which caused Anekaya to be suspicious of them. She wanted to dismiss them, but Brornar, who she had grown to like, told them they were harmless. She could tell such was true of Otis, since he was always calling her “ma’am” and genuinely looked innocent. The only one she disliked in the new group was Tanner, who was making himself busy with dinner. She wished that Captain Mcquay was among them, since he was a man of action, but knew he was battling in another region.
“When is supper?” one of Windrew’s men asked. His stomach had been growling, and Anekaya could hear it from her place in front of the window. She wondered where her husband was, if he would join them for dinner. Her sons were, even though they didn’t know most of the men present.
“Soon,” she answered. “Soon.”
Anekaya put her hands behind her back and turned to see Isaac, who was standing at the window, staring intently as if he could see the storms upon the sea. He remained standing there when the maid announced supper, unmoving. She didn’t want to disturb him, so instead left him alone to his thoughts.
When she entered the dining room by the door at the far right, with floor-to-ceiling windows on the shorter walls, she sat at the head of the dining room table that spanned the length of the room. It was piled high with food, and there was a roaring fire in the fireplace behind those who sat along her right side. She didn’t care for the food.
She looked for her husband in all the faces, but he wasn’t seated at the table. Where was he? Herauz and Kevnar looked at their mother with different expressions: Herauz was one of indifference; Kevnar was one of concern. She realized, in that instant (as well as she had in several others), how different her sons were. Herauz possessed Windrew’s dark features and was like most teenage boys; while Kevnar had fair features and possessed an old soul. Still, though, they were her angels. As she stared at them, she realized that they were smiling at her. She felt hands on her shoulders, and then looked into Windrew’s face as he smiled down at her.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to sit here with you tonight, instead of down there,” he said and sat to her right, tossing his dark mane slightly to get it out of his face. He always reminded her of a wild horse.
Anekaya looked at him, almost expecting him to disappear. She placed her hand on her napkin, wanted to place it on her lap, but couldn’t find it in her to move. After he placed his napkin on his lap, he noticed her gaze and turned to her with an even larger smile.
“You’re not angry with me?”
Windrew threw back his head and laughed slightly, then looked at her lovingly. “I think a part of me always knew you weren’t any normal mortal.” He placed his hand over hers. “I could never be angry with you. I love you. I only wish you would have told me sooner that you’re a seductress.”
“That was years ago,” she said and placed her napkin on her lap. “I’m not much of one anymore.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said assuredly. “After all of this is over, I’m not going to do anything for the rest of my life except prove to you how much I love you.”
“I know you do,” she said, smiling sweetly. “After all, look at our boys. If they aren’t the result of love, I don’t know of any child who is.”
“Let’s try for a girl this time, though, alright? I don’t think I could handle teaching another boy how to use a sword. I’m getting old.”
Anekaya remained smiling as she delved into the small meal she placed before her. She usually wasn’t one to care about how much she ate, unless Windrew was away. When he left her side, she ate until she felt as if she would explode. Knowing he wasn’t going anywhere, she enjoyed her light meal and thought about her plans for the morrow. Before she could bite into her food, Windrew caught hold of her wrist and stopped her.
“Poison,” he said and looked at those around him. He watched as Brornar’s face fell into his food, barely missing the knife on his plate. Turning quickly, he watched as his sons faces fell into their plates.
“No,” Anekaya barely managed a whimper, reaching towards Kevnar. She touched his hand, felt the warmth begin escaping it, and wanted desperately for him to say something instead of stare blankly at her.
“Put your head down,” Windrew whispered, hearing movement in the hall. He rested his head on the back of his chair, placed his hand on the tip of his sword’s handle, and waited.
“A job well done, if I must say so myself,” Thomas said as he entered the room at the far left. He looked at the dead, smiling. “Well done, boy.”
Tanner rushed up to him and bowed low. “It is why I am Luella’s favorite, after all. They could not detect me, not even your brother.”
“I hope he suffered,” Thomas spat. He began walking the length of the table and saw Anekaya seated at the opposite end. Her boys were seated
on one side of her while Windrew sat on the other. “I hope they all suffered.”