RBC05 - Bloodline (36 page)

I stopped, “It’s all I can think of to do. Like I said, you don’t have to go with me. If you do go, you have to promise not to stay. If I don’t get through after a week, leave and find your family. Cathos and Ceron will help you. There will no helping me if I’m judged unworthy by the spirit of the tree of Elysewin.”

“What happens to you then?” Yanna asked.

“He will be held by the tree for eternity, not dead, but not living either.”

“That sounds terrible. Cain, are you sure?”

Suddenly, something raced by us.

“You forgot someone. Liridon I told you I was going too.”

“Letta! You are part of the Five, you shouldn’t be here,” Liridon said.

“I have to have something else to do. If they need me they will call me. Until then I want to be here with you.”

We all looked at Liridon who tried to look angry. He walked forward as if he was going to just pass by and then hugged her, lifting her off the ground.

“I love you,” he said.

“I know. So what’s the plan?”

“See what looks like a tangled dead forest in the distance? Those are the roots of the sacred tree of Elysewin. We are headed there so Cain can do something really stupid,” Liridon said.

“It was my idea,” admitted Gruen. “I believe in Cain.”

“What are you all talking about?”

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Liridon said as I passed them.

I got far enough ahead so that I didn’t have to hear the story again. I was determined to do this. Even if I wasn’t worthy, maybe the tree’s spirit would grant my wish.

The closer we got, the more anxious I was about my ability to complete this task . But the fear I thought I would feel never came and in a few hours we were standing next to the infamous roots of the ancient and sacred tree.

“You don’t have to do this Cain,” Letta said as we all looked up at the massive roots coming out of the roof of the underworld. The roots filled this part of the valley completely and then continued to grow down through the next levels of Althar.

“It’s amazing isn’t it,” I said excitedly. “I feel the spirit of it calling to me just like I did when we went by it before.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Now remember, I have no idea how long it will take to get to the other side. Promise me that you will only wait there for a week. After that I don’t think there is any helping me, so go on, find your family and tell Damien that I had to try.”

“Thank you Cain,” Letta said as she hugged me, tears filling her eyes. “It’s the most courageous thing I have ever heard.”

“See you in a week,” I said.

I walked to a place that was still dark, but with roots wider apart than in other places, , took one more deep breath and walked straight in.

Damien
:

“What do you mean Cain’s gone? Gone where?”

“He went with Liridon, Yanna and Gruen to help find Liridon and Yanna’s family in Althar. And now Letta has joined them,” Allwain said. “I’m going home. There is nothing more that I can do from here. Meil err, Leonard’s laboratory was full of mystifying things that I need to go through, but I don’t have enough of my things here. Tao will join me there.”

“So that’s it then? We’re giving up? I thought that at least you would be staying to help,” I said looking straight at Quinn.

“Don’t push me Damien,” Quinn said. “There is nothing more I’d like to do than work out some of my frustration on you.”

“Ha, you wouldn’t be any kind of match for me,” I said moving to take up the challenge.

“Stop it! Both of you!” Allwain challenged. “That’s all we need is the two of you hurting each other. There is nothing Quinn can do here. And remember Damien, if you choose to use powers that were given to you by Cain for anything not for the common good, you will lose them forever.”

Quinn and I glowered at each other for a moment. “This isn’t settled, it may never be, Quinn. You do whatever you need to do and so will I.”

“Fine,” Quinn said as he stormed out. Allwain and I noticed the portal light and knew he had gone.

“Don’t let your frustration get the best of you Damien. You know only too well what that can lead to.”

“I’m worried about Katrina. I’m worried about Cain. He was so disappointed that he couldn’t just go back in time and save her like he did the others. And now I can’t contact him either.”

“He knew he wouldn’t be able travel back to anywhere where he had been, like the party, that would have meant his death. When he tried to go further back, the fates wouldn’t allow it. I take that to mean that for some reason this all was meant to be and that the future was not to be changed in that way.”

“I feel we are being toyed with. Why? Why is this happening, Allwain? The other thing I worry about is our enemies finding out that the Five is not intact and using that to move forward with their plans.”

“Hopefully cutting off the head of the beast has thwarted some of those plans. They must be at the very least disorganized.”

“What’s going on? The portal sure has been busy,” Kate said as she came in the back room to join us.

“Quinn just left to go back to South America. There was nothing more he could do here,” Allwain said.

“I was torn. I didn’t want to call him here, but then I knew he needed to be told and once he was, he would want to come anyway so…” Kate said.

“I know and it was the right thing to do. We all agree on that, don’t we Damien?” Allwain said glaring at me.

“Yes, I guess he had to be told. Now Cain, Liridon, Yanna and Gruen went to Althar, followed by Letta,” I said.

“She told us that she was going whether Liridon wanted her to or not. What could we say? We would be doing the same thing. Like Quinn, there is nothing she can do here now anyway. The rest of us are going home with you, Allwain. We are so tired and frustrated that we can’t stand it here for one more day.”

“What about Kale and Eric?”

“They are coming too, along with Thomas and Simon, and will stay with us at least until we can decide what to do next.

“Really, Gunter will be thrilled I’m sure,” I said. “I have to stay here and help go through Meil’s papers. As you know, we’ve moved them to a safe location and Gerhardt and I are working with some of your fathers on deciphering what all this means. We’re and trying to find out just how deeply the enemy may be imbedded in our network.”

“You’ll be busy then, Damien,” Kate said. “If you need us, of course we will come, but until then we need to go home. We sent Sarah ahead. Charmaine is going home with Amparah to the west sanctuary compound. Luna and Ling are going back to Asia. They invited us to come for a visit and we would love to see Hun, but I can’t think about that now.”

I gave her a hug. She looked almost exactly like Katrina and she knew that was hard on everyone. “I know a part of you is missing too, Kate. We’ll get her back. I promise. Somehow we
will
get her back.”

“Thank you, Damien. Our birthday is in a few weeks. Remember last year, how we all celebrated?” she said and then started to sob.

All I could do was hold her close. I felt so helpless and so sad. Even Allwain had to turn away.

“Shhh, Kate it will be all right. You know Katrina; she is so strong, so resilient. She will never stop fighting, never. We have to be that strong now. Make her proud Kate.”

She pulled back from me and nodded. “I know you’re right,” she said trying to steel herself. “I’ll try.”

Cain:

My vision adjusted quickly to the darkness. Roots of all sizes made it impossible to know which way you were going.

“Just stay calm and keep going forward,” I told myself. “What do you think, Max?”

“Let’s get out of here as fast as we can. In fact I think it’s a good idea if I disappear for now. If you get caught and I am caught with you, I won’t be able to help you.”

“Good idea, just don’t go far.”

“I never do and Cain, you
are
worthy but you have to truly believe that to get through this,” he said as he hovered in front of me before disappearing from sight.

I took another deep breath and walked slowly ahead. I had no idea what to expect.

“Turn back, no one gets through,” I heard.

I looked wildly around trying to see where the voice was coming from. There above me engulfed in vines was a man.

“I am sorry for your circumstance, but I have to go ahead.”

“Free me, it will help your cause,” he pleaded.

“I haven’t been told any rules. But my instincts tell me that is just not so. You started this journey on your own and I am sorry to say that you will have to finish it. I am ready to face such consequences myself, if I have too.”

I walked on. At least I had gotten farther than he had.

Moving as quickly as I could through the ever thickening root system was becoming more and more difficult. It was as alive as any animal and seemingly directing my every move. Vines dropped and gathered in front of me, twisting into walls making it impossible for me to pass through.

Finally I just stopped. “I need your help,” I pleaded, “Whether you think that I am worthy or not. I heard you calling to me before. I wasn’t ready then, I am now. Let me pass.”

Nothing happened. “You can keep me here, but please, please grant me one wish. The leader of the Five, Katrina has been sent to Faralea. I’m here to ask you to send her home, her and her child. Please.”

Vines twined and twisted first around my legs and then my body making it impossible to move and causing Max to come forward.

“No Max, I said I would stay. I am willing to do that in order to free Katrina.”

“If that is your wish Cain, I will stay here with you. I chose you for all time. If this is our fate, so be it.”

Katrina:

“May, I think this cabbage is ready to pick. What do you think?”

I turned to see what she had to say, but she wasn’t there. It was night wherever I was now. I took a deep breath. “Oh my God!” I started to run. I didn’t know how, but I was home. The lodge was straight ahead now. “I doubt if anyone is here. They are probably still in Paris,” I said to myself as I approached the door. Just as I was about to pull on the handle, the door opened.

“Katrina, Katrina is it really you?”

“Sarah, oh Sarah yes, I’m home!”

We hugged each other tight and cried. “I sensed you, but I didn’t dare hope it was really true. You will have to call to the others, they are still in Paris and your parents are still in Sangustae.”

Sarah pushed me away to look at me. “It’s true?”

“Yes, I’m going to be a mother, can you believe it?”

She rubbed my stomach, “And very soon I think. Oh, Katrina. I am so glad you’re back. What happened?”

“I was sent to another dimension, a parallel world called Faralea. What happened in Paris?”