Darkness: A Guardians of Orana Novel

by Nancy E. Dunne

  “I was not talking about returning it to Ikara. I was talking about turning the orb over to the gods in the Void,” Gin explained. “They are better equipped to keep him and the orb in check than we are. I don’t know where it was hidden before, I thought only Lena Calder and her descendants knew. I don’t know why the All-Mother gave it to me to bring to you—unless it was to keep it safe from the wizard while he was in the Void.” She scowled. “They have used us again. Let them sort out their own problems and look after Ikara and his power. I grow weary of being—what was it you called us, Sath? A puppet?” He nodded, a solemn look on his face. She could feel his agreement, and Nelenie was nodding at her.

  Omerith met Gin’s gaze. “I approve, Nature Walker. I will send you three back to the Old World now if you like. Shall I send you directly to the Temple?”

  “Please, if you would, my lord. I will contact the All-Mother to retrieve the orb. Just allow us to collect our things -”

  “I already did that.” Sath retrieved Gin’s pack from the corner of the room. “We can go home now.” He handed her the bag and then wrapped an arm around her. Nelenie moved over close to them and took one each of their hands. Sath nodded at Omerith, who beamed a toothy grin back at them. He spoke words in Eldyr as a soft, white glow formed around the three of them, and then he finished the spell with the name of the place the spell was cast to send them.

  “M’ndyr ka M’aanyr.”

  Gin steeled herself. She had not been back to the Temple to the Mother since she was with Taeben. As the spell cast, Sath tightened his grip on her shoulders. Gin squeezed Nelenie’s hand as a blinding pain gripped her midsection. She pulled Nelenie in close to hide her reaction. She opened her eyes and had to take a deep breath—she was back in the Temple. The responses of the drakes there was very different, however. This time, they bowed reverently in her presence. “Oh, sweet friends, recover yourselves, please.” The drakes circled around them, swooping and flapping their wings, making Gin laugh happily.

  “My child,” Sephine said from behind them. Gin turned around and looked up into the face of her goddess, and felt no need to kneel or even avert her eyes. “Omerith has called me here to you.”

  “Mother. We came to retrieve the orb and give it back to you. Something with that kind of power should not be in the world of the living. Clearly, we are not able to manage it—you know what it did to Sath.”

  “Yes, and I am proud of you. You have proven yourselves worthy of being the Guardians of Orana. I have one final test for you, but for that, you must follow me to the Void.” She held out her hand and snapped her fingers, and the orb materialized on her palm. “Now then, shall we?”

  Gin looked over her shoulder at Nelenie and Sath, who both nodded. “We agree, but why do we have to -” Another snap of Sephine’s fingers and—without all of the fanfare of regular spell casting—they were in the Void. “So, what is this final test, Mother?”

  “My child, I sense that you are angry with me.”

  “I’m sorry, am I too subtle? I am furious!” Nelenie and Sath wore matching shocked expressions.

  “Ginolwenye, I will not have you speak to me in this manner. You remind me of…”

  “Of Draoch, when you left him imprisoned by Ikara? Of his daughter, when you failed to allow her to live in love with her true love and their daughter—my mother—leaving her to become Nature Walker when she was but a child?” Gin fisted her hands at her sides. “You have taken us away from our homes, our families, and our duties by allowing this farce to continue. You watched what Taeben did to me and did nothing. You saw how he drove a wedge between Sath and me with Anni, and how your latest Guardian, Nelenie was thrown out of her home for doing nothing but trying to protect -”

  “That is why she is now First Caeth, Nature Walker. But I do not have to explain myself to you.” The place they had landed was the same spot where Sath and Gin had landed when they first entered the Void, and Sephine moved closer to one of the portals. “As I said before, the three of you have done well to keep the red dragon in check and to save his daughter, and you have made certain that the Mother Dragon does not have the power of Ikara. I expect that all of you will work together for this last test.” The goddess gestured to her left, and the three gasped in unison. “These two plotted to kill the Rajah and the Nature Walker, and the wizard set his sights on the Orb of Ikara to resurrect his corporeal form,” she said, her voice booming with anger as she looked at them. In the twin columns of blinding illumination, Taeben and Elspeth hung, suspended in space. Their empty eyes stared blindly out from faces frozen in horrifying masks of agony. “Taeben thought himself above the gods. Elspethe was his willing accomplice, carrying on his reprehensible work even after his life was ended.” Sath growled loudly as he looked at the high elf wizard.

  “Her name is Elspethe Turlach.” A voice from behind them commanded their attention, and Sephine inclined her head to the speaker. Gin turned around to the familiar voice, knowing that she was looking at D’Ayna Turlach, Elspethe’s ancestor. “I ask that you spare her, Ginolwenye of the Trees, Nature Walker—because she saw the error of her ways and assisted us in capturing the wizard and protecting the Orb of Ikara.”

  “Of course I would spare her if it was up to me.” Gin looked from Ayna’s shade to Sephine. “What does she mean, Mother?”

  “This is the test, my child. Who will you spare? Who will you return to the world of the living? Who will you punish? It must be the three of you together that make the decision, but I will warn you that others are waiting in the darkness to try to sway your decision.”

  “We already know the answer, Sephine.” Sath stepped up to the forefront of the trio. “Nothing would give us more pleasure than to see Taeben die over and over again.” A sniffling sound from behind him caught his attention, and when he turned, he saw tears on Nelenie’s normally stoic face.

  “What’s wrong, Nel?”

  “Ginny—sorry. Gin, I know what Ben did to you, and what he has done here, but he took care of me in the time between my exile and our capture by Lord Taanyth. After I was forced away from my family, he took care of my sister… I cannot help but think that if he could have a second chance, he could make amends for -”

  Gin looked up at Nelenie. “Do you know what he did to me? Do you know what he did to your sister after you escaped from Bellesea? Are you that far removed from our life, from our friendship, that you do not know?” Sath watched the exchange, amazed at the fury that blazed in Gin’s eyes. “Nel, I love you like a sister, you know that I do, but I cannot allow him to live again. My own feelings aside, he is a danger to our world, and as a Guardian, I cannot permit him to be the one we choose for release.”

  “So, you would release the Ikedrian there instead?” Nelenie’s face grew crimson with anger. “Why not just give Father Ikara back his orb, while you’re at it? She knows too much, Gin. She has been inside your mind. We cannot trust her.”

  “You’re thinking like a soldier, Nel, not like YOU.”

  Sath stepped in between them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “We have to agree—all of us. If we release one, we kill the other. What has the wizard ever done to redeem himself? Nothing.” He shifted his gaze to Nelenie. “I understand your feelings, Nelenie. I was similarly conflicted over a female once—someone I grew up with and thought I knew, but I was wrong. She gave me my son, and I am forever grateful, but she willingly caused me and Gin pain beyond explanation. I know that you have feelings for the wizard, but this elf you see before you is not the one you knew—just like the Anni that I took as my mate was not the same Anni I grew up with. Do you understand?”

  Nelenie sniffled again but nodded her head. “But they are both dangerous. How can we release the Ikedrian with all of her knowledge of us and the Void and the orb?”

  Gin smiled sadly. “She is a Turlach, and their line is intertwined with mine, with the line of the Nature Walkers. She may be the last of House Turlach now, and we have to trust that she has in
herited the fair-mindedness of her House and will continue the work of her ancestors.” Nelenie nodded and stepped back behind Sath.

  “Are you all right?” He put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder with his hand. “You look pale to me.” Gin pushed his arm off her shoulders and nodded. She wrapped her arms around her torso for a moment as she turned back toward the goddess who had moved over to the still suspended Taeben and Elspethe.

  “Have you made a decision, my Guardians?” she asked. At a twitch of her fingers, the two began to rotate in their brilliant prisons.

  “Aye, Mother,” Nelenie replied, leaving Gin and Sath behind her as she stepped forward and took a knee. “We have chosen to spare the Ikedrian, Elspethe. The high elf, Taeben, is too much of a danger to the world to release. He must remain as a powerless shade in the Void.” Gin moved close to her friend and put her hand on Nelenie’s back for support, and Sath made a similar gesture with his arm back around Gin’s shoulders.

  “Nelenie, you are going to become an amazing First Caeth. Tsarra would be proud. Rajah, you have kept my Nature Walker safe and close, as I asked you to do.”

  “You did not have to ask, Sephine, as I told you before.”

  “I know, Sathlir. That is why I kept leading your paths toward each other,” Sephine said. “Now -” The three of them stared at her blankly as she turned back to her prisoners and raised her arms in the air, speaking a language that none of them had ever heard before. For a moment, the two writhed in pain, and then both of them disappeared in a blaze of green flame. Gin ran toward the empty beams of light, but Sath caught her arm and held her fast. That was not what they had decided! Taeben and Elspethe were both gone from the world forever. Sath grinned despite himself as Gin looked sadly at the spot where the Ikedrian had been. Her heart ached for the female who had been under Taeben’s control. She only hoped that she was finally at peace.

  “That was not our agreement, Mother,” Nelenie said, eyes blazing. The goddess smiled down at her.

  “Ever the keeper of justice, my Caeth. The Ikedrian has been returned to the world of the living. Her ancestors—as well as yours, my Nature Walker—will guide her to a new chapter in her life. Perhaps one day, we will have an Ikedrian Guardian.”

  “Mother, you are ever generous,” Gin said, finally in possession of herself enough to take a knee before her goddess. “I have only one request—there was a child of Alynatalos in the first of the Mother Dragon’s traps, with Sath and me. I promised him that we—that I would return for him, and I would like to keep that promise.”

  “I know of this male, and you have my word that I will return him to the Outpost as I will both of you. However, I also have something that is much desired by both of you,” Sephine said with a twinkle in her eye. “That is all I will say for now, however. You will see what I am talking about very soon. Be well, my children, and serve your people well.”

  “Mother, I have a question, if I may?” Nelenie asked, respectfully. Sephine nodded and took Nelenie’s face in her hands for a moment. “The mantle of Guardian is passed down in families. Tairn and I are the only members of our family left. Who will be the next to take on the duty of First Caeth and Guardian of Alynatalos—my daughter? Other than her, I am alone in the world.”

  “You will figure that out, my Nelenie. You are not as alone in this world as you think.” Nelenie nodded at Sephine, but Sath looked away from all of them, frowning. “Why do you frown, Rajah? Your Khujann will carry on the mantle of Rajah and Guardian of Qatu’anari after you.”

  “It is not for Qatu’anari that I am sad, Sephine.” Gin looked up, her eyes wide. “Is that not why the fate of Gin’s family was intertwined with House Turlach, to ensure the peace kept through the continuation of the Nature Walkers and Guardians of Aynamaede?”

  “Sath, it’s all right, I -”

  “No, Gin, I need to say this. I have destroyed the Nature Walker by -- falling in love with Gin and keeping her from continuing her line, and I am sorry.”

  “You haven’t destroyed anything.” Sephine touched the side of Sath’s face. “Nothing at all.” There was a flash of light, and the goddess disappeared. The three of them had to shield their eyes from the brightness, and when it faded, they found themselves standing in the Outpost.

  Gin knew she would never grow tired of opening her eyes after a transport spell to see the sheer viridity of the Outpost. The magic that created this safe haven where no weapon could be drawn and all were equal was her respite from the rest of the world. She dropped to her knees and bent down, inhaling the sweet perfume of the grass. She looked to her companions and found them in similar postures. “I never thought I would be here again.”

  “We’re home!” Nelenie leaped to her feet. “Gin, Sath, I love you, but I need to—I mean, I have duties back home and—I need to see my daughter and -” Gin got to her feet and hugged Nelenie. “I will see you again soon, I’m sure.”

  “Nel?” Nelenie’s eyes widened, and she stood as still as a statue. “Oh, sweet Mother Sephine, is that you?” Gin looked around behind Nelenie, and her face broke into a wide grin as she recognized the man from J’yr Va’al, the one she had promised to help. He was looking at Nelenie, his hands outstretched and face as white as a sheet in shock.

  “Kerym?” Nelenie looked over her shoulder, and her knees buckled. Kerym ran to her and caught her just before she hit the ground, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly to him. “How are you—what are you doing here?” She pulled back and ran her fingers over his face and neck before smoothing back the chestnut hair from his eyes.

  “You can thank the Nature Walker, there,” he replied. His voice was tight with emotion. “She and the Rajah found me in that prison on J’yr Va’al, and I assume they sent the All-Mother to free me.” He reached out toward Gin, who scrambled over to take his hand in hers. Sath got to his feet and moved over behind Gin, who released Kerym’s hand and squeezed Nelenie’s shoulder. Nelenie reluctantly let go of her husband.

  “You saved him for me. Gin, is there anything you cannot do?”

  Gin laughed. “Well, I’m still useless with a blade, and my directions are horrible, but –“ Nelenie threw her arms around Gin, who returned the hug, still chuckling. They stepped back from each other and Nelenie put her fingers to her lips and whistled. The air next to her rippled as a large white mare appeared next to her.

  “Faen!” Gin exclaimed. “You still have her!”

  “Always.” Nelenie swung up into the saddle before pulling Kerym up behind her. She turned the horse toward the path that led out of the Outpost to the north, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, making her smile as she leaned back against him. She looked back at Sath and Gin and waved before she spurred the horse on and rode away. Gin snuggled up under Sath’s arm and hugged him, happy to be so close to him—and felt a stirring inside her. It was similar to the initiation of a bond—but in her abdomen rather than the back of her neck. She scooted back from Sath, surprise lighting up her face.

  “It can’t be…” she whispered. She sent out a tendril of magic to the middle of her soul and immediately had an answer. “But I know that it is.”

  “What??” Sath demanded. Gin smiled at him. “You know what—what is?”

  “Our reward,” Gin whispered. “Sath…I am…pregnant,” she said. “Our child.”

  “How…but you…we…?” Sath almost fell over onto Gin in surprise.

  “There will be a new member of the royal family of Qatu’anari,” Gin said. “I guess Sephine’s plan was a success, hm? Nothing has been destroyed, indeed.” Sath held her at arm’s length for a moment, staring at her in wonder, and then grinned and pulled her close again. They sat there for a long time, wound up in each other’s arms before Gin cast a spell to transport them home.

  Epilogue

  Qatu’anari

  Gin’s favorite place was on the roof of the Qatu palace in the early morning. Watching the sunrise on the water had become a ritual of hers since Khujan
n was a cub, and she was his nanny. It centered her and calmed her mind, and she could just sit in the silence and watch the sunrise followed by the awakening of the Qatu city. This particular morning was no different, as she sat on a reed mat, cross-legged and meditating. The tingle from just behind her heart had continued, and each time she felt it, she would rub her slightly swollen midsection affectionately.

  “You’re going to love it here, little one.” Gin looked back to the west and imagined that she could almost make out the coast of La’al Drygyr in the distance. “And one day, when you’re older, I will take you there to meet the Guardian of the Dragons and his daughter.” She felt a tingle on her neck and recognized it to be Sephine initiating a bond with her.

  That child pleases me, my Nature Walker. Do not forget your duty, that she will grow in the knowledge of your tradition and become the next Nature Walker. She will know what it is to be a druid and a Guardian, yes?

  Yes, of course, Mother, she—Gin paused a moment, her mouth forming a perfect O of surprise. She? It is to be a daughter?

  Yes, little one. You are carrying a female child. Raise her well.

  With that, Gin felt Sephine’s presence withdraw from her slowly, leaving her warm and happy. She sank back to her seat on the mat just in time for Sath to come bounding up toward her. “Hey, there you are! We need to tell Khujann our news and—what is it? Are you all right?”

  “It was a message from Mother Sephine: a reminder that our daughter will be the next Nature Walker.”

  “Well, of course she will be, because—wait, daughter?” Gin grinned at Sath and nodded, and he scooped her up in his massive arms. “We’re having a daughter!”

  “Are you happy, Rajah?” Gin raised her eyebrows at Sath, and he planted a kiss on her forehead, indicating agreement. “Qatu’anari will have a new Princess Royal.” He looked down at her, his eyes hooded, yet beaming with pride.