Entasy (Prophecies of The Nine) (14 page)

I was jolted out of the replay of my long forgotten memories as one of the priestesses spoke again. "They are awaiting your arrival, Goddess." As if I truly deserve that title.

Aerric squeezed my hand and nodded towards the ornate corridor that lead to the grand hall. My nerves were beginning to get the best of me as my heels clicked on the marble floors. Syd and Dillon stood near the doorway with less than pleased looks on their faces.

"Where the hell have you been?" Aerric glared at my brother but continued to move closer to Morrigan and Brighid.

There stood my grandmothers, side by side in their formal dress. Normally, I would need to be wearing more appropriate attire to be here, but due to tonight’s events, all I could do was try to hide my disheveled look.

Brighid’s smile was sympathetic as if she knew what I was thinking. I wanted so much to run and embrace Nana to feel the peace and comfort found in her embrace, but in this formal setting, such things were not allowed.

"Aednat my dear, come closer." Morrigan held out her arms.

"Please, grandmother, call me Kylah. Aednat is a name I wish to leave in the past."

"As you wish."

I made it to the top step where they were standing, and took Morrigan’s hands.

 Morrigan’s words were stern but I sensed compassion in them too. "Syd and Dillon have informed me about most of what happened, but since Genevieve has yet to come home, we are still unclear as to what she did to undo our magic."

"Vivi has not returned?" I took a step back, shaking my head in disbelief. "I must go find her. She needs me and she shouldn’t be alone right now." My heart began to race at the thought of her alone and suffering.

Brighid reached over and touched my hands. The moment she made contact, I could feel the magic flowing between us. Nana was reading my thoughts, watching tonight’s events as though she were watching a movie. She saw Liam kill Tynan, saw the way Liam looked at me in the alley, and she saw Vivi use her magic to release Ty’s soul. She quickly removed her hands and shot a worried glance at Morrigan.

"What sister? What has you so troubled?"

"Tynan’s soul resides within Kylah. He is tucked away safe until…"

"Until what, Nana?" Brighid turned away from Morrigan to look at me.

"Until you can embrace your true destiny, Kylah."

Tears filled my eyes as I listened to what Nana was saying; this was not some insane dream but my new reality. I turned to look at Obsydian, Dillon, and the rest of the Nine as they all stood there watching and waiting for some grand epiphany to strike.

The gravity of the situation hit me like a freight train. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Aerric, Dillon, and Syd all kneeled down beside me, but all I could do was weep. I could not fathom why Liam would kill Tynan. Why would Liam glare at me as though I was the reason for it all? I began to replay conversations in my head. I thought about my dreams and the fact that they were not really dreams at all but visions. The people I’d met, the job I had, the life I lived…all fabrications.

Brighid once again laid her hands on mine, but this time she used her healing touch to soothe the ache in my chest. She turned and silently communicated with Morrigan whose look changed from anger to sorrow.

Brighid called Dillon forth. "I need you to take Evan and the twins with you. Travel along the ley lines until you reach the Nexus. Once there, you will be able to sense Genevieve. Bring her home. We will need her if we are to bring back our lost souls. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Goddess. We will not return without her."

"Dillon, it is not just Genevieve you will be bringing home. She is using dark magic to keep Tynan’s body safe from the Sluagh. You must convince her that his body will be safer here, that we will protect him. Genevieve is frightened of our wrath, but please tell her we would never let any harm come to her or the baby she carries."

We all gasped at her words but she addressed Morrigan instead of the rest of us.

"That is why she freed Kylah from our magic. She is carrying Tynan’s child, and she could not bear to live without him. She knew from the prophecy that Kylah was the only one who could save him, and she took a chance." Morrigan bowed her head as she stood there in silence.

 "That is not all, dear sister." Brighid took my hand in hers and showed Morrigan the ring on my finger.

Morrigan was not often shocked, but this time she was. "IMPOSSIBLE!" she bellowed as she appeared before me. "Where did you get this?"

"It was in my room on the floor. A friend of mine thought it would go with my costume."

"Costume? Why would you call your warrior’s outfit a costume?"

Dillon was the one to answer because I began to fumble over my words. "She found her journal and assumed it was Mother's, but with the secret still needing to be preserved, we played along, letting her think it was."

Morrigan shot a menacing glance at Dillon. "I thought her journal was safely hidden."

"We did too, but when Gavin started breaking into her dreams, he also broke down our ability to keep things hidden from her view. Once she found it, I could not take it away without her questioning my motives."

 "Obsydian, I want you to go and collect all of Kylah’s things and bring them here to the labyrinth. Kylah will not be returning to the human world until we can get a handle on things."

"What? I’m not returning…but why?"

Syd turned to look at me, his voice solemn. "Is the book still in your messenger bag?"

"It should be." I grabbed Syd’s arm, my eyes pleading. "I’m sorry I didn’t listen." He nodded at me and shimmered out without speaking a word.

The room became silent as each member of the Nine was given a task, one by one fading to their destinations. Aerric and I were the only two left in the room when Morrigan finally spoke.

 "Aerric, you will take Kylah to her chambers and wait there with her until we call for you." Aerric lifted me into his arms and bowed at the goddesses.

But before we left, I made him stop and put me down. I ran to my grandmothers and embraced them. "I know the choices you made were difficult ones, but I want to try and do my part to save this family, to save Tynan. I can hear him speaking to me. It’s faint but I know I can help him and help Vivi. Please let me do this. Don’t lock me away."

"We did it to keep you safe, but we realize now that we only prolonged your fate. We altered the flow of life, but now, Kylah, in order save Tynan, you must embrace your destiny." They both stepped back and held out their hands and an old parchment appeared. "We have something we think you should read. It may help guide you on your new path."

They each leaned down and kissed my head, and then in unison, faded into a mist. I shook my head, but at this point, what else could possibly shock me? Aerric took my hand in his and then smiled as he once again lifted me into his arms.

 "That parchment has waited for two hundred years; another few hours won’t kill anyone." He brought my lips to his and smirked as he faded us to my chambers.

Chapter Seventeen

Aerric and I spent the next few hours catching up on lost time, reconnecting not only our bodies but our hearts. I loved Aerric–he was the other half of my soul, and here in his arms I felt safe and secure. I lay next to him, watching him sleep, but the curiosity of what my grandmothers had given me finally got the best of me. I wrapped a sheet around my body and walked to the chair next to the light. I clicked it on and sat with my feet curled underneath me. I carefully pried open the wax seal and gently opened it. The paper was well-preserved but it still crackled as I unfolded it. I took a deep breath and began to read.

Dear Kylah,

There are two things you need to know and I am the only one who can explain them. I overheard Morrigan and Brighid’s plan and by the next full moon, you will not remember the events of the past few months. My hope is that in baring my soul to this parchment, I will be able to prevent you from making the same mistakes I have made. I am certain you will consider all of this too impossible to imagine, but you need to accept your past so you can move on with the future.

I write this letter to you now with profound sadness in my heart, so please take heed of every word. On the night the Naio were to fight a new clan of Sluagh, you made the choice to go out alone. You assumed you were ready to fight, assumed you would be able to control your powers enough to help in this war, but you were wrong. Your powers were only coming to the surface, and like Obsydian and Nana warned, you needed more training, more time to control your emotions, but you were impulsive and your choices had grave consequences.

The night was fairly quiet and you had yet to encounter any of our enemy, but that quickly changed as you went deeper into the forest. A little girl stood crying by a tree, calling out for Brighid. You went to comfort her and protect her as your grandmother would have, but the closer you got, you realized she wasn't a child at all. She was a ghost: a soul without a body. She floated away as you went to grab her, the trail leading you to her slain body lying only a few feet from her mother. She pleaded with you to take her home. She said, "You are the one who can take me to the netherworld."

You were so stunned by her words that you didn't see or hear the Sluagh as they came up behind you. The little girl pleaded, "Please, please do not let them take me. My soul will be lost forever." Those were the last words you heard before you slipped into darkness. When you finally woke, your arms were bound and blood dripped from your wounds.

The Sluagh fledglings brought you as a gift to the very man you swore to kill time and time again. Liam sat on his lavish throne, barking commands at his clan while a demon whore serviced him. His smug demeanor was a blessing because he was unaware of who you were when he dismissed you. "Feed her to the changelings" rang in your ears, but you were too weak then to try and fight. Lying on the dungeon floor, spikes dug into your skin as the rats came to feed from your open wounds.

You were not the only one locked in the dungeon; others were being tortured and violated too. It was difficult to understand why they had gone to them first until you heard two of the commanders talking about saving you for last. They wanted you to have enough strength for the things they planned on doing to you. The screams of the others haunted you until the silence took over and a new nightmare began.

One of the guards came to you as you lay on the dirt floor, beaten but no longer broken. Your mind was completely focused on getting home alive. You remained motionless as he entered the cell, dropping his armor and clothing on the floor as he walked towards you. He grabbed you by the hair and pulled you up, trying to coax you to pleasure him. When you resisted, he struck you across the face, igniting not only your anger but the power within. Your body began to burn and the male holding you was soon consumed in a bright orange flame. As he screamed for mercy, two other guards began to charge, but the flames had changed to a deep blue and began to spread outward from your body. This had happened to you once before, and you were able to control it with Aerric’s help, but he was not there to guide you and you lost control, leaving nothing but ash and soot in your wake.

You didn’t make it far; an Unseelie guard was standing at the exit of the dungeon, hiding in a half-ghost form. He subdued you from behind with a spike to the neck. Whatever poison was injected into you left your mind hazy and your body immobile. Two guards held you as Liam stripped you of your linen drape. "How foolish of me to have disregarded you, dear goddess. I won’t make that mistake again." Those words became etched in your mind as he struck you, knocking you to the floor.

I refuse to write down all you endured that night because I am certain in time it will all come back to you, but for your sake, I hope those memories will remain bound by Morrigan and Brighid’s enchantment. However, these words you must remember: if you do not learn to control the power within you, it will consume more than just your enemy.