Chapter Sixty-Four
Key had always believed that if he was asked a question or if he was given a command, there should always be a theory or a reason behind it. He wasn’t some mindless dog to be ordered around.
Today, however, he found himself squelching his usually inquisitive nature. Not because he didn’t want to know—he desperately wanted to know—but would he receive clear, legit answers? Probably not. Which was comical, because with as much information as he had withheld from Jin Amaris, this felt like karmic retribution. Maybe that’s why he and his team were in the dark. Payback.
“You’re doing that stupid thing with your tongue and your cheek.” Tahir was sitting next to Key in the passenger seat while he drove and never looked up from the length of rope she was knotting and unknotting between her hands. Key wasn’t exactly sure how she noticed any such thing with her head down, but Tahir was more perceptive than Key appreciated. “What’s got you so spaced out?”
“I’m not spaced out. It’s just…” He paused. “It’s funny that you’re not as worked up as I am about this.”
Tahir snorted, tugging the knot tighter. “Au contraire. I’m losing my shit, but I didn’t want to appear…”
“Suspicious?”
Tahir chewed on the suggestion and nodded. “Suspicious.”
Key up-shifted and switched lanes. “So, to take a stab at guessing, ever wonder what they want from her? Besides the whole reincarnation aspect, and in a way I could see how that could be valuable, but…”
“You’re wondering what exactly we saved Jin Amaris for?” Tahir dropped her rope. “For all intents and purposes, for them, she’d be better off dead than anything else, right?”
“Exactly. Why would they want her as a human? If they value her just as Aria’s reincarnation, then why not let her die? I know we’ve never dealt with a reincarnation before, so we could be completely wrong, but why not watch everything fall into place with her soul? Damn the anomaly, you know? It’s not the first time they’ve ignored one. It’s just…weird.”
“Weird.” Her tone was beyond dry. “That’s understating it.”
Key stared at the highway as cars zoomed in and out of his path. Did he have to question everything? Yeah—yeah, he did. It was just his nature. Cause and effect should be so straightforward that following things through to their conclusion should be as easy as breathing. These were people’s lives they were dealing with.
When Key was a rookie, a young mother who was supposed to be the single deciding vote in some sort of political decision had died. An anomaly. Before he accepted that mission, he’d asked why. On her way to that very important vote, a man ran a red light and smashed into her car, killing her. So the night before, he simply yanked some wires out of her car. When she tried to call a taxi, he offered to take her. Their route was the long way, and he’d dealt with her irritation. Key was okay with that…because she lived. When his team was commanded to save a doctor who’d drowned, an anomaly, Key had asked why. Because, he was told, the doctor would be the only one able to perform the surgery that would save the life of a man. A man who would go on later in his life to broker the peace in a religious war.
When they’d sent his team down to save a Jin Amaris, he’d asked why. Because, they said, she was Aria Jinni’s reincarnation. And that was it. But for him, the answer wasn’t enough.
And even with all of these questions lingering in his head, the truth was that Jin Amaris had been saved. Aria Jinni’s reincarnation was safe.
As he and Tahir pulled up to the coliseum, he’d exhausted all of his theories— leaving him with a resounding why?
Why did they need her here? Why did they need her now?
The graduation of the 857th class of MATE—Magnus Academy of The Elite— brought people from all over, clustered into the Elysian Dome for the unveiling of the future of the Mutare world.
It was big production, a spectacle really, and Key always enjoyed every last bit of it. He had his list of reasons, but the main one was that he was a show-off—and being able to parade his initiates around every year fed into his superiority complex.
As he and Tahir approached the floor level of the coliseum he could hear the roar of the crowd as they filled the massive coliseum to capacity. Nothing save the Festival of the Last Stand was as big as this. Had things gone south with Jin’s Causatum, he would have missed this.
Three hundred initiates would be unveiled tonight, the smallest number the Academy had seen in years, but the talent in this class surpassed generations.
All three hundred had been assessed and divided into their eventual teams, and awaited their official crossing from initiate to neophyte tonight, under the eyes of thousands.
Key eyed the stage, his spot for glory, and grinned. He loved a good show.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Parker was a hard man to please and an even harder man to impress. There was a rumor, circulated by the instructors at MATE, about him being an emotionless robot; a quiet murmur that would fill a room the moment he walked in to observe one of their classes. They were wrong, very wrong, and the cadets knew better.
From class to class, he’d always taken a liking to a few cadets, the ones who stood out for various reasons. However, none had ever impressed him like the five standing behind that door. It was the very reason they held the positions they held today. They were special, elite, and irreplaceable.
Parker looked over the coliseum, and then back to the stage. This part, the attempt to invoke passion and dedication by draping the entire stage in red, was a bit tiresome. But Parker knew that this event wasn’t for him, it was for everyone in attendance.
As the name implied, the Dome was huge, cavernous even. The seating curved from end to end on both sides, raised above the actual floor. Every seat was filled. That was expected. This was the one of the most celebrated events in all of Caeli.
At the stroke of eight, the large screen that sat behind the stage lit up, and wings attached to a fleur-de-lis—the symbol of the Fallen—appeared on the screen. On cue, the lights flared up and revealed him and the rest of The Above in a halo of white. They were the High Guardians and High Commanders of Caeli, and their position on the highest raised dais showed that. Standing behind them were their Astral Bodyguards, Nephilim chosen as children to serve the Fallen for their entire lives.
Below them on the next dais were the nine members of The Fallen, all dressed in black and gold. Kano, one half of the defacto leadership of The Fallen, stood to his feet, his eyes hard as stone as they swept the crowd. The coliseum quieted as he did.
Kano was a hard person to dislike, despite his cold looks and penchant for frowning. Parker had never had an issue with him, but Kano and Seff were like two storm fronts colliding whenever they were in a room together. That pleased Ahn no end. Still, Kano was a good leader.
On the opposite end of the dais was Penume, one of the oldest Root Watchers alive in Caeli. If Kano was distant, she was intrusive. She smiled a lot, was quick- witted and unafraid to give her opinion. Considering her age, they were lucky she hadn’t enthroned herself as queen. As her co-leader rose, so did she. The lights washed over her intricately designed, high-collared dress, making her look as powerful as she truly was.
Slowly Kano raised his right, and then his left hand in the symbolic position of prayer. Penume, again, mirrored his actions. Their eyes fluttered closed and a quiet hum of power could be heard as wisps of white radiated from their forearms to the tips of their fingers.
The coliseum fell to complete silence as Kano and Penume concentrated. Their eyes flew open, revealing fully dilated pupils with only a sliver of iris showing. Slowly, they began to pull their hands apart.
This was a tradition, one Parker had witnessed more times than he could count. The doors of the Elysian Dome were the oldest entity in Caeli, born of the rock the first Root Watchers landed on in their exodus from Heaven. Immersed in heritage and legacy, they were symbolic of the power The Above granted The F
allen. By their permission, only those whom they deemed worthy were granted entrance onto the floor. Kano and Penume used that power to part the massive doors that spanned the entire height of the Dome, watching them open at a haltingly slow pace.
The orchestra in the gallery cued up, and music heavy with the beating of drums and haunting notes from the choir filled the coliseum, the sort of music that motivated you to cross enemy lines on the battlefield. As the two doors groaned to a stop, five figures shrouded in darkness appeared. The large screen behind the rostrum made them giants.
Parker smiled. His five. The ones he’d handpicked out of thousands to serve as the power of Caeli.
The Gazelle. The Bear. The Fox. The Shark. The Hawk.
The Luminary Mutare Generals of Caeli marched onto the coliseum floor.
They crossed the space, five abreast, in powerful strides, silently.
Sunny, with her blindingly white hair and swarthy skin, was the Luminary General of Healing. Ryuu was tall, burly, and tanned, with a broad nose, a flat forehead, and a thick beard. He was the Luminary General of Military Tactics, and took his name to heart, sometimes wearing a bear headdress. Kithlish—Key— beautiful as ever with his piercing, green eyes, was the Luminary General in charge of Operatives. Yusuf was in charge of Reconnaissance. He was tall, dark, and handsome—and he knew it. Ara, the Luminary General of Intelligence, never missed a chance to pierce Yusuf with an angry glare whenever he said something cocky. That usually pleased him, for he would say that her large doe eyes were especially beautiful when she was angry.
The five of them charged onto the stage at the end of the coliseum floor, standing tall as they looked over the crowd. Their captains marched from the sidelines and created a line in front of the stage.
As they looked over the crowd, the middle of the floor cracked open to reveal a shallow, fire-red lake. Chance, one of the Captains for Team Bear, stepped forward. His long legs allowed him to cross the floor quickly, and when he approached the lake, he waded through the red water, his heavy boots kicking up waves until he stood center stage. Floating above the lake was a length of wood dipped in pitch and alive with flames. He wrapped his hands around the blazing torch and faced the doors.
“Initiates, enter,” he bellowed.
At first there was silence in the wake of his call, but within moments the sound of thundering footsteps shook the floor as three hundred inductees, shrouded under cloaks with their team’s insignias on them, marched through the doors of the coliseum. The crowd went insane, so much so that Parker winced. Ten rows of thirty soldiers paused at the threshold of the lake, their heads down, and the hoods covering their faces.
On stage, Ryuu ripped his head back in a howl, and his fellow Luminary Generals echoed his call. The roar of the crowd rose and Ryuu grinned, allowing them a long moment to continue their cheering before lifting up his hand, a silent order for quiet.
“Initiates!” he called out.
They answered by locking their hands behind their backs and opening their stances in unison, the fall of their boots making one solid sound. Ryuu scanned the three hundred in front of him before taking a step forward, his arms locked behind his back.
“Our motto is ‘a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.’ What are your three strands?”
“To protect! To prevent! To provide!”
“Who do you belong to?”
“High Caeli, The Above, and The Fallen!”
“And who do you serve?”
“The People: good and bad, young and old! The downtrodden and the upraised! The exalted and the unnoticed! The People of Earth and the Realm of Caeli!”
“Nicely done,” Ryuu said, grinning. His gaze shifted to Chance, who still stood in the middle of the lake.
Nodding, Chance raised the torch high above his head and dropped it into the lake. The flames rose in a roar, ripping over the surface of the lake and casting everything in an orange glow. Chance bounded back out of the pool of flames and took his place back among his peers.
The other Luminary Mutare Generals took a step forward, abreast of Ryuu. Parker watched from the dais, finally feeling the excitement. The flames rose and licked at the air, and he was reminded of the first time he saw a class of cadets prove themselves. It had been amazing to watch.
Ara raised her voice to be heard above the roar of the flames. “A trial born of both water and fire to cleanse you of your old life and to set fire to your new. Step forward and proclaim your place among the Mutare ranks.”
A deep, guttural battle cry ripped from one of the initiates, prompting a riot of answering cries as three hundred bodies took off for the lake.
The music was the only sound then, for the seated crowd in the Dome grew deadly quiet as the soldiers disappeared into the lake. When they emerged on the opposite side, unharmed and dizzy with adrenaline, the crowd went wild. The fire lowered to a hiss as the water swallowed the flames. The initiates quickly scrambled into position and fell to a knee as they gathered in front of their new Generals.
Key held up his hand for quiet and waited for the crowd’s excitement to die down. “You three hundred before us who have braved the waters of Incendia, do you know why we wear our grays?”
“To remind us!” they recited flawlessly.
Key smiled at them. “Yes, to remind us. To remind us all that life in this world is full of color and light. The Above wear white in recognition of all the colors of the world as one. The Fallen wear black to remind us that without life, the world would be dark. We wear our grays to remind us of both. To protect the light and to triumph over darkness.”
Yusuf squatted as he spoke to them, his face reflective and earnest. “You are our brothers and sisters now—Mutare of Legend and Keepers of the Oath The Above set before us. Do you accept?”
A chorus of excited answers echoed over the coliseum floor and Yusuf threw his head back and whooped.
Sunny let her gaze touch each of them as Yusuf rose. “Rise and show us your faces,” she commanded.
With a rustle of heavy cloth, the cloaks slid back as they stood. One by one, the five Luminary Mutare Generals jumped from the stage and moved in front of their Captains. “We welcome you,” Sunny said, holding her arms open.
The neophytes rushed the stage as soon as the Generals were in place. They surrounded their new leaders with hugs and tears and laughter.
Ryuu looked over to Key who had an arm around his neck as a neophyte hugged him. “Big enough of a show for you this year?”
Key snorted as he removed the arm and ruffled the young woman’s hair. “We had to jump off a mountain the year I crossed. This is a matinee compared that that.”
The other four laughed.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Au Courant
Elysian
Watching Jerome’s cautious steps as they emptied out of the Arcus and into the sitting room of Au Courant was akin to seeing a captured animal released back into the wild. Tiny calculated steps, an inhale of memories and an exhale of misplaced trust as he looked around the parlor.
Marcus wouldn’t say that Jerome was frightened, because other than Hugo, who had the courage only reckless abandon could nurture, Jerome was the bravest man he knew.
Despite that, Jerome came without a fight, which was the most important thing to the Cobra team. None of them had any desire to drag him back here, let alone the talent to cross the Praesidium with an unwilling traveler. Marcus didn’t want to think about the alternative.
Navigating through the halls, Marcus pinched his nose in distaste. He didn’t particularly like Au Courant, even if it was a necessary step for any high-powered Mutare, since it had the ability to restore what the Arcus stole. That didn’t make him dislike the outdated and stuffy manor any less.
There was a high-frenzy buzz at the manor and it annoyed him. Their timing coming back was terrible. If he could just find Seff, Marcus could deposit Seff’s disgruntled former amoureux—or whatever fancy shit the two had decided to cl
assify themselves as—at his door, and leave them to work out whatever ridiculous kinks they had in their ridiculous relationship so the four of them could get back to training.
However, tonight was the Academy’s graduation and most of Caeli was in attendance, including The Above, so Jerome and Seff’s eventual and—Marcus would bet his last dollar on this one—highly combustible reunion would have to wait until the council meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Marcus rubbed the bridge of his nose. Out of one fire and into the next.
They led Jerome to a set of sleeping quarters, where he could wrap his head around being back in Caeli. Marcus knew the readjustment period would be hard. Despite Caeli being an enjoyable place to exist, the four of them weren’t exactly in the most enjoyable sector of employment.
It suited Marcus fine. He’d always had an emotional detachment that fit great with Cobra. He could do his job without experiencing the subsequent layers of guilt that Jerome apparently dealt with.
Although the killing wasn’t easy, saving, on the other hand—as the other Luminary Mutares had to do—was a harder line of work. More energy was involved, a higher level of methodical thinking and planning. Caring. But they sure slept better at night.
Cobra’s operations were simple. They were the only sector that dealt with things outside the Causatum’s timeline. The impact of their orders was far- reaching, and therefore, their relationship with Tambour was a tightly knit one. The core of their way of life was even simpler. In every form of existence, there had to be a balance—a light and a dark, a con for every pro, and in its very essence, life and death. Life was precious and was expected to run the course of its purpose, and when something threatened it, that source of disruption had to be dealt with.
The only fault with that rule was that it was never a given that the source of disruption was evil. The source, more times than not, never directly threatened one single life, so there was no one person to save from it. Maybe it was an ultimatum between an ideal and a way of life. The disruption could be symbolic as well.
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