Chalice of Life
Page 1
Chalice Of Life
Blade Of The Fae Book 3
R. A. Rock
Laurie Starkey
Michael Anderle
BrixBaxter Publishing
Contents
Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Continue the Saga
Author Note
About Seven Sons
About The Author
Copyright
Description
Tess is lost as to who she is anymore.
Literally.
Her name. Her life. Her past. Every single detail is gone.
And now she's stuck on the Earthly Realm. But why? That's the question she's grappling with.
Crazy enough, she finds out she's there to kill the poor guy she showed up with. Things couldn't get much worse. Or could they?
Enemies are everything, but it's impossible to tell friend from foe. And new friends are willing to help, but can Tess trust them? Especially when she doesn't trust herself.
But she's there for something important. Something imperative.
But what? Not knowing is driving her mad.
To save the world. But how can she when she can't even remember her own name?
Chapter 1
The woman awoke in a hallway.
This seemed odd to her. To wake up in a hallway.
She glanced around in confusion. She had no recollection of who she was, where she had come from, or what she was doing here.
She took a moment to look around and realized that it was a very nice hallway. The thought came to her that it was even nicer than the King’s palace in the Light Court. Though she wasn’t exactly sure who the King, with a capital K, was or where this palace in the Light Court was located.
The woman stood up and looked down at herself.
She wore unfamiliar clothes and she could see that her long hair was dark brown and curly. She pulled on one ringlet and the coil sprang back when she let it go.
The woman studied her surroundings. The wooden floor was polished to a high shine. As she peered down the corridor as far as she could, she saw that the walls were painted a light shade of grey that seemed particularly serene and benign. Partway down the hall, there was a narrow stand made of wood, upon which stood a vase of lovely flowers. She couldn’t hear anything. There was no sound at all. The woman almost felt as though her ears were muffled, it was so quiet.
The place seemed designed to instill calm but the woman felt fear rising in her instead.
What was going on? Why couldn’t she remember anything? The woman began to panic. She ran down the hallway, her shoes striking the wooden floor and making a loud smacking sound. As she arrived at a sort of hub where six hallways came together, she unexpectedly crashed straight into an old man. They both fell down and the woman’s head hit the floor.
She lay there for a moment, feeling stunned and hurt, but not quite so afraid anymore. At least this was someone who might be able to help her understand what was going on.
“Are you all right?” the old man said, reaching a hand down to help her up. He seemed to be unhurt. “I didn’t see you coming. Not usually too many Fae running up and down these halls.”
The old man was dressed in an off-white robe and had short curly white hair. His face had a lot of wrinkles but his brown eyes were kindly. The woman felt he was the trustworthy sort, though she had no reason to trust him.
“Fae?” she said, a flicker of memory disappearing quickly from her mind.
“Yes, you know Faeries?” the man said, pulling her to her feet again. She swayed a little and the man frowned. “Maybe you should sit down.”
He pointed toward a bench on a piece of wall that separated two hallways that came into this hub sort of place. But the woman wasn’t interested in sitting.
She wanted answers.
“Are you saying that you’re a Faerie?” the woman asked. “Or I am?”
“We’re both faeries. There’s no other species that uses these portals. They’re for faeries only and they go between realms or between places on Earth.”
And as he said it and she thought about it, the memory came back and clicked into place. She was a Faerie. This she knew. Not because he had told her but because the knowledge of it had been uncovered in her mind.
“This place is a portal?”
He nodded. “That’s right. This particular junction is the largest. It connects Ahlenerra with the Earthly Realm. You need lots of magic to send someone through here. No one’s been here in ages. Not until you.”
“Wait, why are you here? Are you going somewhere through this portal?”
“Me? Nah. I’m the Caretaker. I clean the Passageways and keep track of who’s coming and going. King’s orders. I also greet newcomers to the Earthly Realm and approve non-fae travelers. There’s always lots to do.”
“The Passageways?” she asked.
The Caretaker pointed to a sign that hung above the dais, which stood in the center of the hexagonal room.
“I have no memory of who I am or what I’m doing here,” the woman confided. “Do you know why that might be?”
The old man considered. “Well, sometimes when the Passageways are used between Esper and the Earthly Realm, there can be side effects. Only a very powerful being can send someone between realms that way. Usually, we just use an Angel Uber to travel back and forth. Much less dangerous.”
“So you’re saying that someone sent me from—” She stopped, trying to remember what he had called the other place.
“Esper,” he said. “That’s the magical realm.”
“From Esper to the Earthly Realm.”
He nodded.
“And that doing so might have erased my memories?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s highly unusual. But your memories aren’t erased, I don’t think. Just covered up. You may remember some things about yourself but not other things.”
The woman scowled.
“It can happen,” he said quickly. “You’re actually lucky that you arrived with all your limbs. I’ve seen one faerie that was practically unrecognizable when he got through. Whoever sent him didn’t know what they were doing and didn’t have enough Starlight. He died upon arrival. And it wasn’t a pretty sight, let me tell you.”
Th
e woman grimaced.
“You’re lucky to be alive, my dear.”
“Well, I am glad to be alive,” she said. “But now I need to figure out what in the name of Severance I’m doing here.”
The old man tilted his head to the side. “If you ask me, you were probably in trouble. No one comes to the Earthly Realm this way if they have another choice. Far too dangerous. Much better to take an Angel Uber and keep all your memories. And body parts.”
The woman wrinkled her nose.
The old man gestured to the bench. “Now why don’t you sit down and rest a moment before you figure out what to do next? You’ll have to decide where you’re going.”
The woman sat down, and as she did so, she heard the crackle of paper in her pocket. Reaching into the unfamiliar clothing, she pulled out a small piece of paper rolled into a tiny scroll.
“Odd that anything would come through with you, other than your clothes, though I do detect a universal translation spell, as well as a small spell to round your ears so you can pass as a Starless One,” the man said, studying the woman for a moment. Then he leaned over to examine the piece of paper. “Whoever sent you was powerful indeed. And thought to hide you from the humans.”
Giving the Caretaker a troubled look, she unfurled the scrap of paper. It read…
Your name is Tessa Callahan. Find Ethan Hunter, the musician. Finn Noble will arrive soon to help you with your search. Ethan is the only one who can assist you in your quest. There isn’t much time, Tess. Hurry.
Perdira
“Tessa Callahan,” the woman repeated, turning toward the Caretaker. “My name is Tessa Callahan.”
Tessa felt a tiny jolt of magic go through her, and suddenly it wasn’t just information. It was a memory. She knew that was her name. The memory was uncovered. She knew that was who she was. Just like knowing that she was a Faerie.
The Caretaker smiled. “And you’re to find Ethan Hunter, the musician, who’ll help you with whatever you’re doing here.”
“But what about this other man, Finn Noble?” Tessa frowned. “Who’s he, or more importantly, where is he?”
There was the sound of crashing down one of the halls, and Tessa stood up. She reached for something at her sides, not sure why. She was looking for something but she wasn’t sure what that might be. What she did know was that she wished she had a weapon when something unexpected was coming toward her, though she knew that her hands were deadly weapons on their own.
What does that say about me, she wondered.
She and the Caretaker moved toward the hallway where the crashing was coming from.
“Sometimes they get a little rowdy. The magic does that.” The Caretaker spoke in a soft tone of voice, as if he didn’t want to attract the attention of whoever or whatever was coming.
There was another sound of someone smashing into one of those little tables and then the noise as the vase shattered on the floor. Tessa scowled and moved in front of the Caretaker. She didn’t know who she was. But she had a feeling she would be able to protect him more than he’d be able to protect her.
She moved around the room until she was right beside the entrance to the hallway where all the noise was coming from. With a little trepidation, she peeked around the corner, catching a whiff of the sweet scent of flowers.
With a growl, the person threw himself out of the hallway and landed on the floor with a loud thump. Tessa drew back, startled. This guy looked crazy. She glanced at the Caretaker.
“The magic’s got this one bad,” he said. “We might need to sedate him.”
“Sedate him?”
The Caretaker darted forward unexpectedly and put a hand on the man’s head. A second later, his body went limp.
“He should be fine when he wakes up,” the Caretaker said, wiping his hands on his robe. “It should only take a minute.”
Tessa waited, not sure if she wanted the crazy stranger to wake up. She studied him while they waited in silence. He was tall, lean, and muscled. His hair was brown and he had a strong jaw, with straight eyebrows and dark red lips that she found attractive.
Attractive? What's that about?
She plucked at her strange blue pants, which were soft. She wondered what material they were made of. It didn’t seem like anything she had seen before. A couple minutes later, the man sat up so suddenly that Tessa jumped.
“What happened? Where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?” He fired the questions at her in rapid succession.
She held her hands up in surrender, the note still clutched in one hand.
“I have no idea and I know probably less than you do,” she said.
“What’s your name?” the Caretaker said, giving Tessa a meaningful look.
“My name?” the man said, his dark eyebrows drawing together. “It’s Finn Noble.”
Chapter 2
Tess and the Caretaker stood in one of the strangely timeless hallways of the Passageways. The man called Finn still sat on the floor. She had no idea what time of day it was here on the Earthly Realm, nor, she supposed, did it matter.
“That was the name from the note,” Tessa said to the Caretaker, who smiled like someone who had just found where a piece fit into a puzzle. She pulled open the note and the man called Finn got to his feet and came over to look at it, too. Tessa kept her eye on him, hoping he wasn’t going to start growling or running into walls again.
As soon as Finn got close to her, she felt her body tighten in response to his. He gave her a confused look as if he felt it too. She took an involuntary step toward him, holding out the note, and then she cut her eyes over to the Caretaker in silent question.
“He’ll be all right now,” the Caretaker assured her. “I’ve released the trapped magic.”
“Was I not all right before?” Finn said, a frown marring his handsome features.
“You were growling and crashing into the walls,” Tessa said.
“I don’t remember that.” He tilted his head, thinking. “Or anything else, for that matter. Only my name.”
“I didn’t even remember that much,” she told him. “Here, read this note.”
She handed him the paper and their fingers brushed for a moment, sending a burst of energy up her arm. Tess tried not to react but Finn gave her a smoldering look that sent another blast of tingles through her body. Then he took the note and read it over.
“So, you’re Tessa?”
“Yes.” Her tone was certain. “The note was in my pocket. And once I read it, there was a flash of magic and then it wasn’t just knowledge. It was memory. As if once I knew the information, the actual memory was uncovered.”
“That’s exactly how it works,” the Caretaker exclaimed, pleased.
She nodded. “The Caretaker said that some things we will just remember and other memories will have to be uncovered.”
“You’re the Caretaker?” Finn said, studying the old man.
“He’s a faerie too, right?” Tessa asked the old man, suddenly unsure.
“Yes. Just like you. I can sense the Starlight in you. You’re definitely Fae. If you pay attention, you can sense the Starlight in me.”
Tessa closed her eyes for a moment and she could feel his magic, his energy—that which gave him life.
“I do sense it,” she told him.
“Me too,” Finn said.
“Right. So, he takes care of the Passageways.”Tessa said, filling in Finn on what she had learned in the past few minutes.
She pointed up at the sign on the wall that read, The Passageways. Finn glanced up, then back at her.
“He thinks we were in trouble,” she said. “That’s why we came through to the Earthly realm this way.”
“Not many people come from Esper the way you two did,” the Caretaker reiterated. He had been nodding at each fact Tessa was saying. “It’s very dangerous. Most Fae take an Angel Uber.”
“So we know each other?” He held her eyes, and her heart beat faster, though she didn’t know why.
“Seems that we do,” she said in a strained voice, then cleared her throat.
“And I’m supposed to help you find this Ethan Hunter?” Finn said, and his face clouded over when he said the name, almost as though he might be… jealous?
“I guess so.” Tessa shrugged. “That’s what the note said. And whoever wrote the note seemed to know us and know what was going on.”
Finn nodded. “And they knew that we wouldn’t remember who we were or what to do.”
“What if it’s a trap?” Tessa said to Finn, watching his face, trying to decide if she could trust him.
“What choice do we have?” Finn countered. “We have no memories of anything and this guy is supposedly the only person who can help us. What would you have us do? Settle down on the Earthly Realm and raise goats?”
“Goats?” Tess asked.
“Nothing wrong with goats, but you can’t settle down here,” the Caretaker pointed out. “Fae need to return to our land, Ahlenerra, every six months, or you will simply run out of Starlight and die.”
“Seriously?” Finn said, dismayed. “That seems dangerous. Why would anyone come here at all?”
The Caretaker shrugged. “There’s so little ambient magic that the Fae can’t live on the Earthly Realm for any length of time. We have to return periodically to Esper. Or drink Elixir regularly—though that’s hard to come by here on Earth. It’s heavily regulated.”