Legend of the Touched (27 page)

"Whatever happens, I'm on your side. We'll both be
free, I promise," Navi said in barely more than a whisper. Tai
almost didn't hear it herself, and she didn't dare respond beyond a
nod. Navi moved her hands to Tai's wrist where the glowing blue
bracelet was. "Clever," she mumbled and with a hard tug was able to
break open the clasp. The magic of the bracelet stopped flowing
over Tai, and it became a dull silver. "I'll have to put it on
again, but you have a few seconds."

Tai didn't waste any time. The magic disrupting her
communication with her husband was gone now.
Darien, I don't
have long. I'm okay, for now. The Inero Lord is keeping me in his
chambers.

Tai? He hasn't hurt you has he? Touched you? I'll
kill him if he
—Hearing his voice brought tears to her eyes.

I have to go again. I'll see if I can get a hold of
you again soon. I'm scared, but no, he hasn't touched me much.

Much?

I love you. I'm sorry. I
— The bracelet was
snapped back onto her wrist and she was once more blocked from him.
She looked over at Navi with teary eyes. "Thank you."

The woman nodded. "Sleep now, so we can talk in the
night. It's the only chance we'll have."

Chapter Sixty-Three

The Inero

Lynx was nothing but smiles, and it unnerved Matt.
Not so much the fact that his father was smiling, but
how
he
did it. It was a smug smirk, dark and sinister. Matt knew the news
of the successful operation would please his father. He didn't
realize it would bring out such a cold side of the man. Then again,
war was not meant for the softhearted.

"Things could not get better. Well, no, I suppose
that is false. They could get better, but for the time being this
is more than perfect. I can't wait for the Great Oceina Lord to
send his grand cavalry to save his wife and kin. We'll be able to
take out a great number of them all at once. You've strengthened
the borders, yes?" Lynx said.

"Yes, of course," Matt said. He was prepared to not
sleep all night. If the situations were reversed, Matt would
retaliate immediately and use every resource to bring Kat back to
him. Though he would also have more than one plan at his disposal.
He could only assume the Water Lord would do the same.

Matt glanced at his father. "I've also increased the
security in the castle. More guards at all of the doors, and more
night watch rotations."

"I don't see the point. He won't get through the
borders."

"All the same. Just in case, I think it best to be
ready. Don't you?"

"You give the
boy
a lot more credit than you
should," Lynx said.

"Not giving him enough could be our downfall. After
all, he did figure out the Terran's involvement. I've seen him in
action. His magic is extremely powerful, and his anger is settled
deep in his heart." Matt pointed out. He took in a deep breath.
"Ultimately, I will do what you will, but that is just my
suggestion."

Lynx leaned forward and their eyes met. "Then you
stay behind and guard the castle. Besides, you will not be needed
at the border. Not with the Terran mixed with our warriors."

Matt sighed with relief. "I'm glad. Now that Jason is
back, I'd really like to spend some time with him, my wife, my
child once this is all over with."

"You have put in quite a bit of work. With your
plans, we should be able to handle things without you being on the
field. Instead you can watch from here, at my side. As it should
be." Lynx grinned at him. "We will rule a great empire together.
When my reign fades, you will take over."

"Which is what I've always dreamed about," Matt
admitted.

"Speaking of your wife and child, I heard another
scan came back as a positive identification of your offspring being
a girl."

Matt fought the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't like
being reminded of that, or of the promise they'd made to the
Terran. There was enough pressure on him as it was. Plus it felt
like a bit of a condescending statement to make.

"I'm glad they're more certain. Kat will be even more
excited." That sounded like a good thing to say in response.

Lynx clapped Matt on the back. "I have a meeting with
Seth, our prophet. He thinks there is a way to get you to remember
your vision better from the summoning ritual. I don't think I need
to explain how helpful that would be even though the divine
revelation the boy got alone was well worth the risk. Whatever you
saw as well would only add to the cause more."

"That's great." It was genuine good news. Matt wished
he could remember more. Every so often he thought he heard a
whisper of another inside of his head—someone who wasn't Jason or
Kat. He liked to imagine it was God's way of trying to speak to
him. A lot of times he still dreamed about the vision he had. Never
could he remember the dreams, but he knew because he always woke
with the same feeling of peace and comfort just like the day he had
awakened from ritual. Did Jason have the same problem? Could he not
remember his vision? His brother never wanted to talk about what he
had seen, and Matt didn't think it a good idea to press him. Maybe
it was time to change his approach.

All he knew for certain was that the dream was what
kept him believing in his father's cause.

Chapter Sixty-Four

The Oceina

Darien watched his uncle Arthur pace the den of the
castle Sanctuary. He could hardly sit still himself. Ever since
he'd heard from Tai, he had a hard time fighting the urge to go get
her. Rushing over to the Inero would only get him into trouble, he
knew this. He had to wait until there was a solid plan, as well as
the right time. Messing this up would not only mean death for him,
as well as her, but his entire nation would be overtaken.

His brothers were all with him as well, sans
Christian and Noah. Christian had been injured and needed more time
to rest and recover, and Noah was calming the children. All of them
were greatly shaken over the loss of Brian and Lance. Slowly, their
family was starting to fall apart. He was determined to bring Lance
back at least.

"Your uncles to the south are assembling the army.
It's a shame they didn't stop this before it started," Arthur
said.

"There were Terran," Asher pointed out.

Arthur nodded. "It wouldn't surprise me if they snuck
in through the west. And since they were Terran, I'm sure our
family along those borders would have thought nothing of it anyway.
Don't they fly in and out of the country often for trade? Now the
betrayal is known. This won't happen twice."

"So now comes the task of getting Lance and the
others back," Asher said. "We can—"

"I'm going alone," Darien said quietly. His
unblinking gaze remained straight ahead.

Arthur faced him and halted in place. It didn't take
long for his pacing to resume, however. "I don't think it wise for
you to go at all. We just lost one leader. We don't need to lose
another."

"Our brother and our father," Tony added, for the
first time saying something since their meeting began.

Darien scowled and stood up from his chair. "The
family doesn't respect me as their leader anyway. One way to earn
it is to go. Besides, I'm not sitting here and doing nothing. They
have my wife, my brother, my family. I have the strongest magic.
I'll at least be able to hold my own in a fight. I'm going. The
end."

Tony put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder.
"Don't be irrational."

"I'm not. I'm thinking perfectly clear." Darien
lowered his eyes. "All I'm going to do is sneak in and back out
again. No big dramatics, no epic battles. Dad said to rely on the
Touched. I think there's something all four of us have to do
together to end this. Which is where you come in, Tony. You're to
pick up where Lance left off in his research. Anyone else you can
find to help with this would be good. There are a lot of texts to
comb through. A lot of it was confusing for Lance which is saying a
lot."

"Right, because he's the book worm," Tony
mumbled.

Arthur shook his head. "And when you return?"

"Prepare everyone for war," Darien said. "If I don't
come home, I'm leaving Oceina in your hands. We will hold our
borders, or die trying. They won't take our land and they won't
succeed in this ridiculous quest of theirs. Lord Aero has said we
can keep the children safe in his home. We might want to think
about sending them."

"Sanctuary is safe," his uncle insisted.

Darien nodded in agreement. "For now. Just think
about it. When I come home, we'll begin stage two."

"And that is?"

"Whatever the Touched are supposed to do."

Chapter Sixty-Five

The Inero

"And when all of the Touched are assembled, the
Great Evil will be held at bay for one last generation before
exacting his wrath on the world, promising those he has deceived
great power to do his bidding. Do not fear, for then the Great
Dragon shall come to full glory and the struggle will end. Good
will triumph for all of the life of the Great Dragon. All shall
receive peace and prosperity..."

Jason stopped reading and felt a peace in that
promise. "When all of the Touched come together...we can drive the
Great Evil away." He felt hope for the first time since he realized
that he was the host to such a monster.

No you can't,
the demon said.

He ignored the voice. Not something that was easy for
him to do, but he had to try. Now that the demon was getting bolder
and trying to actually take control of his body, he couldn't be too
careful. There was no room for him to let his guard down and give
it any kind of hold on his life. He had to stay strong.

"It's settled," Jason said out loud. He knew what he
had to do next. Taking out a sheet of paper from inside of his
pants pockets, he wrote down a list of things he needed to do, the
most important of which was finding Darien and forming some kind of
an alliance. They each needed the other's help. They'd have to work
together in order to find the other two Touched who were the Terran
and the Aero. Then they could end the war, and evict the demon
inside of him. If only he could remember more about what happened
during the ritual, then things would be easier. He'd have more
answers.

You won't win,
the demon said.

Watch me,
Jason thought defiantly.

I will watch you fail. You believe these are
promises? They are theories. They aren't real or set in stone.

Jason didn't have a lot of faith, but what little he
did was enough to make him believe otherwise.

Chapter Sixty-Six

The Oceina

As soon as darkness fell, Darien returned to Oceina
City through the portal. He needed to take care of Brian's body,
something that would help him feel useful as he waited for time to
pass. There were at least three more hours of waiting before he
could begin his rescue mission. It didn't have to be only dark. It
needed to be the middle of the night.

The building he once called home seemed to have
finished settling from after the blast. A few more large chunks of
concrete were in the middle of the lobby, but he didn't feel any
sense of danger. The building felt eerie and haunted though. The
place he once loved he now was unsettled in. He walked out quickly,
found a dark alley he could transform in without being seen, and
then flew to the school.

Caution tape had been placed around his brother's
body and three security guards were there to keep watch. It touched
him to know the humans respected his kind so greatly they felt
Brian was worth protecting. There were a few flowers placed nearby
as well. The security guards stared up at him with wide eyes and
Darien could smell their fear. While they didn't reach for weapons
to try and harm him, Darien decided it would be easiest to render
them unconscious. Breathing a light mist over them, they soon fell
to the ground in a deep sleep. He then returned his attention to
Brian.

"Thank you for trying to protect our family. I
love you, and I hope you are truly at peace. Until we meet again,
brother,"
he said softly. It would have been wrong to not say
anything. The pure blue flame of the water dragon conjured up
inside of him and soon his brother's body was ablaze. It would be
the only thing which burned, so there was no need to watch it.
Darien didn't feel as though he could leave just yet though.

He watched the flames, meditating over the plan he,
Arthur, and the other military had conspired. It would be
dangerous, and while they all wanted to protect Darien, the part he
had to play was vital. Only he had the magic to stand up against
the Inero, especially now that they were enhanced with Terran
magic. He also needed to find the one ally he had in Inero,
Jason.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps
approaching. The scent of Alex and his sister came to his nose
before they appeared in his line of sight. Allegra clung to her
brother's arm, hiding behind him, as he dared to come close to
Darien.

"Please don't hurt us, my Lord. We didn't have any
where else to go," Alex said quietly.

Darien sighed deeply and looked down, resting his
head on the ground with exhaustion.
"I'm not going to hurt
you."

Alex's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed deeply.
"...Darien? No, it's not possible. But you
sound
like
him."

"You should go home. It's getting late."
Dodge the question.
He should have thought before speaking,
but he didn't know Alex would be so observant.

"I told you. We don't have anywhere else to go. The
condo where my family lived was completely destroyed. My parents
along with it. This is all we have."

"No other family?"