Calm Before the Storm (17 page)

“This full manifestation ignites the Esseni
auras’ intensity, which means that at this point it becomes a homing beacon for
the Eunomi to locate them.”

“I guess that also means the Discordants
can see them,” said Tyr, ever the strategist.

“Yes. Their soul aim is to create discord
and conflict, so preventing Esseni bonding is essential to their cause. It is
imperative that we keep Esseni safe, so when we identify them regardless of
which stage they’re at, we send in protectors and warriors to monitor their
safety.”

“So what’s the next stage?”

“Well now it becomes more complex. Every
Esseni pairing is different but the next stage involves the fusion of the
essences. As a child, each Esseni is given a token, a vessel of some
description, often jewelery that represents in physical form the manifestation
of their essence. Merak, I believe you have kept Irina’s pendant for her.”

Merak drew his hand from his pocket and
held out to Irina a necklace she had a vague memory of as a child. The pendant
itself was a small crystal sphere, colored blue on one side. “I remember that!”
she cried. “My mother gave it to me on my tenth birthday, just before…” She
trailed off as she drew it into her hand.

“Yes,” replied Merak quietly. “They passed
it on to me at the orphanage when I found you. It’s one of the reasons we
suspected you were of Lyrani descent.”

Tellurus turned to Tyr. “We know you are
also an orphan. Do you have anything like this in your possession?”

“I did once. But it was stolen from me when
I was on the streets,” he replied. “Now Abrasax has it. When he broke me out of
jail he showed it to me.”

“He must have identified you early on,”
Tellurus remarked. “Did he make no mention of Esseni and the Realignment to
you?”

“Only recently,” said Tyr. “He didn’t say
that much about it and then I escaped with Irina.” His expression was guarded
and Irina could tell that Tyr was uncomfortable being the focus of their
questions.

Tellurus turned to Cassi and Borealis. “We
will need to send some warriors in to retrieve it.”

“Do you know much about your parents, Tyr?”
asked Terra curiously. “The fact that you had the pendant indicates some Lyrani
or Eunomi involvement in your life.”

Tyr shrugged. “My father and my mother both
died when I was four. I went to live with my father’s brother. He was an
abusive alcoholic. I seriously doubt he was Lyrani.”

“Perhaps your mother, then, what was her
name?” asked Tani.

Tyr swallowed hard before speaking.
“Carita. Her name was Carita.” His voice was so low that Irina could feel how
even just saying his mother’s name filled him with a storm of conflicting
emotions. His pain, the threads of his sorrow reached out to her, the urge to
comfort him so strong that the barricades she had erected almost began to fall.

His statement made Tani gasp. “There was a
Carita who was the Esseni of Love at the last Realignment!”

Tyr’s brows drew together in a deep frown
and Irina’s jaw dropped again. “How can that be?” she asked. Tani paused as if
trying to decide how best to explain. “The Esseni pairing of Love and Hate also
failed to connect at the last Realignment. She was betrayed by him to the
Discordants but managed to escape their clutches and after…she disappeared. We
never knew where she went. She had never been to Earth so I don’t think she was
looked for there. I wonder how she made it to Earth. No portal travelers
reported her leaving.” Everyone stared between Tyr and Tani as the realization
dawned.

“Carita was a relation of mine, Tyr,” Tani
continued, “a distant cousin, and a very strong saevici. She had a wolf spirit
residing within her. I was told her heart was broken and that she wasted away.
The wolf in her must also have been devastated as wolves mate for life. To lose
one’s mate is usually a catastrophe. Somehow it seems she survived it all and
met your father.”

Irina found that she could imagine the
devastation of losing the love of your life. Her eyes flickered to Tyr. He
appeared utterly stunned by the revelations. Her heart ached for him and she
felt an overwhelming compulsion again to draw him into her arms and soothe away
the anguish in his eyes. But something held her back. He was still staring at
Tani. “I guess that means we’re related,” he finally said.

Merak broke the tension that had descended
over all of them. “I think we should give Tyr some space. We can discuss this
further tomorrow and plan our operation to retrieve the pendant.”

“Good idea,” said Cassi ushering everyone
out of the room until only she, Tyr, Irina and Tani remained.

“Tani,” gulped Irina trying to dissipate
some of the pain emanating from Tyr and give him a distraction. “I know you are
also an Esseni but which one?”

Tani turned her gaze from Tyr. “I am like
Carita,” she said. “I am the Esseni of Love.”

Even more stunned, Irina asked, “Does it
always run in families?”

“No, not always. I think because of what
happened to Carita the essence has remained within my family until someone can
resolve it.” Tyr flinched at that. “Are you saying the failure was my mother’s
fault?”

“No, Tyr… It was Hate. The last Esseni of
Hate tricked her, played on her emotions. The Discordants captured her and
tried to extract the essence but she escaped. She must have been incredibly
strong to carry on living on Earth the way she did. And to eventually have
you…” Her voice trailed off. “I’m impressed and very proud of her,” she
whispered.

“So the Discordants don’t need both
essences?” asked Irina, noticing that Tyr had gone very quiet.

“Controlling one Esseni can still cause
enough damage to skew The Balance to a degree. To have total control of a
duality, you need to harness both essences and the Discordants will go to any
lengths to achieve that, which as you can imagine would not be good for the
universe.”

“So, this Realignment, you have to connect with
the new Hate,” continued Irina, realizing the implications for Tani. “Have you
met him yet?”

“No. But we know where he is and I am soon
to travel there to find him.”

Irina was shocked at the calmness in her
tone. Tani was going to seek out a man who could potentially betray her and
give her up to the Discordants.
But then so could Tyr.

“Why go then?” she asked. “If he turns out
like the last one…this Hate could do the same to you.”

Tani simply shrugged. “It’s my duty.” She
turned back to Tyr laying a hand on his arm, acknowledging the blood
relationship between them. “I will leave you now, but if you wish to talk
later…” The invitation floated in the air as Tani left.

Irina stole another glance at Tyr. His
black eyes were stormy with an internal battle she ached to calm. “Cassi,” she
finally said, voicing the question that had been burning on the tip of her
tongue for days. “What exactly is the third stage, the one that keeps The
Balance in perfect harmony? What do you need us to do?”

Cassi lifted her head, glancing at both of
them as if debating the best way to phrase her reply. “We just need you to love
each other.”

Irina’s heart lurched on hearing the words
out loud and she immediately felt electrical pinpricks buzzing insistently
across her skin as her pulse jackhammered to a riot.
Just love him
. The
magnetic pull toward Tyr compelled her eyes to seek out his face which was now
expressing a level of shock and fury that did nothing but increase her
agitation. “What happens if we don’t…love each other?” she finally managed to
whisper.

“As with Carita, The Balance will be
chaotic and the Discordants will constantly pursue you to steal your essence.”

Tyr’s deep voice cut in. “So basically…if
we don’t love each other we’re screwed.”

“Pretty much.”

“Well that sucks,” he continued, his voice
thick with emotion. “You can’t force us to love each other, Cassi,” he said.

Irina felt all the air expelling from her
lungs. “I…I need some air,” she gasped and headed for the door. Tyr made a
movement as if to block her exit but Cassi held his arm. “Let her go,” she
said. “Give her some space. It’s a lot to take in.”

Irina disappeared, leaving Tyr alone with
Cassi. With Irina’s absence and obvious distress came the sensation that half
his soul had withered and died. All he wanted to do was love her. She clearly
had no such feelings for him. For a brief second when he realized the extent of
their bond and what it truly meant, he had experienced such elation. He could
be with her, should be with her. Was meant to be with her.

Her expression at the revelation had washed
ice water over that joy. She hadn’t appeared elated but rather repulsed, so
much so that she couldn’t wait to get away from him. He looked up to see Cassi
eyeing him warily. She still hadn’t fully given him her trust.

“I guess you need to go and make peace with
Peace,” she said. He cringed. “Ha, ha, Cassi, that’s not particularly helpful.
I expected more from a three-thousand-year-old immortal. You must have been in
situations like this before.”

A dark shadow crossed her eyes. “Yes,” she
replied. “But no two Esseni are ever the same. I think Irina just doesn’t like
the idea of losing her free will. She had no control the night her family died.
She was helpless. After that, she had no choice but to do as she was told by
the caregivers in the foster home. No one hurt her, but she couldn’t make her
own decisions and when Merak and I found her, we always made sure that she had
a say in her future. Loss of control is what scares her.” Tyr was in despair as
Cassi’s words penetrated. The circumstances of their connection negated any
control. They were in the midst of a storm that was propelling them forward,
two boats tossed at sea with no anchor and no safe harbor. He could understand
Irina’s fear and his heart sank with the knowledge of what he was compelled to
do. “What about you, Tyr? What scares you?” She scanned him intently, waiting
for his answer.

His answer came quickly. “Losing Irina,” he
said. Cassi tipped her head sideways as if she could see right through to his
soul and at that moment, he was hiding nothing. He had stated a truth.

Abrasax twiddled his thumbs. He was waiting
for Choronzon, having answered his summons for a conference call, but as usual,
Choronzon clearly was in no rush. He liked to play games with his food. He so
hoped he wasn’t food.He didn’t think so because right now the situation
was under control.

Tyr Bellor had escaped. Yes, but only
because they had let him. He was now with the Eunomi and in a position to appropriate
the other pendant and draw in the other Esseni. His most trusted spy had
reported back that Merak had arrived with Irina’s pendant and they were
planning to head for Abrasax Tower to go after Tyr’s. A smug grin played across
his lips. Let them come. It would be too late. He had no doubt that Tyr would
very shortly have the second pendant in his possession and that he would bring
it to Abrasax in exchange for Sal’s daughters. Earthani were so gullible. He
had other plans for the lovely Melanie and Delora.

Rusalka intruded upon his happy place by
reclining suggestively across his lap. “Abra, baby,” she whined, “I need fresh
meat. Those two girls you let me play with are no fun anymore. One’s catatonic
and the other just curls up into a ball and whimpers. I need a challenge.
When’s the luscious, sexy War coming back? You know I’d love to sink my fangs
into him.” She rubbed a hand suggestively over his crotch.

Abrasax pushed her away roughly. “Not now
my sweet,” he said placatingly. “Choronzon is coming online. Try for a little
sense of decorum will you! And have patience. I suspect we will be entertaining
a lot more visitors for you to play with when War returns.”

The screen blinked to life. Abrasax
smoothed himself down, not wanting to appear either too relaxed or too on edge
in front of Choronzon. His master’s face appeared, the full glory of his beast
form filling the screen, wide mouth in motion, sucking and tearing flesh off
what appeared to be animal bones. Abrasax knew better.

Choronzon licked his fingers lazily. “Hey,
Abrasax. I do so love a family bucket. This particular family, mum, dad and two
itty bitty popcorn babies, taste so claw-lickin’ good! Remind me to ask the
colonel for the recipe.” He chucked away what looked like an Earthani femur
onto the pile of remains behind him. Abrasax waited, knowing not to make a
comment. It was always best to let Choronzon do the talking. “So, Abra, tell me
good news.”

“Yes, oh Lord of the Abyss.” Abrasax
clenched his fists every time had to call him that. “I have heard from my
personal informant on Lyra that the Esseni vessel is within reach and it should
only be a few days before it is in my charge.”

“This informant is reliable?” asked
Choronzon, picking bits of flesh from his nails.

“Totally, they have been of great service
in the past, when we almost caught Peace ten years ago and in our
identification of War.”

There was a gleam in Choronzon’s eyes.
“What about the capture of Peace? We will need to extract her essence if she
won’t turn to our cause.”

“My informant assures me that we will have
no problems taking her. As usual these Earthani follow their hearts rather than
their heads.”

“Well,” Choronzon remarked, “let us hope
that War is all brain then, without a heart to speak of. Otherwise I will have
to take yours instead. Heads make good balls for my balauri pets to play with
and they love squeezing the blood out of hearts and using it to make beautiful
paintings. You should have seen the one little Chomper made for me yesterday…a
picture of me and him, holding hands.” He held his gnarled claws against his
chest with a sigh. “It was a real heartbreak moment!”

Abrasax gulped. “There will be no need for
that, oh Lord of the Abyss. War is as good as won and Peace, Peace will be
annihilated!”

* * * * *

Tyr remained downstairs in the dark after
Cassi left. Irina had not yet returned and he couldn’t relax until she was
back. Safe. With him. After an hour, the dark pebble of heaviness in his chest
had morphed into a rock. Something wasn’t right. He needed to be with her. The
gravitational pull was insistent. He left the house, intent on finding her.
Some sixth sense told him that Irina had headed in the direction of the beach.
It didn’t take long for him to spot her, shivering as she sat on a rocky
incline, dark hair whipping around her face in the wind, eyes looking into the
dark. She remained still when he approached, but he knew she sensed his
presence.

“There’s a storm coming,” she said, her
voice cracked. Shards of broken glass sliced into his chest. She was hurting.
Please
don’t hurt.

“Irina, you’ll freeze out here. Come back
to the house.” She gave no indication that she had heard. He was about to drag
her up when she began speaking.

“This whole thing, Tyr, it’s crazy. I keep
thinking about my mother.” Her sigh nearly broke his heart. “My mother was so
good. She let us make our own decisions, make mistakes. She never forced
anything on us or my father. She loved him so much! But no one forced her to
love him, told her it was a duty or a matter of life and death.” Finally she
turned, her eyes meeting his. The despair he saw in her liquid gaze killing
him. “Their love was real. How do I know what’s real anymore? Other people are
pulling our strings and I feel like I’m going insane. This reality could all be
an illusion. I don’t know how we’re ever going to find out what’s real. And
then I feel this weight, this pressure, telling me we
have
to do this or
people will die.”

Tyr moved to wrap his arms around her,
relieved that although she flinched, she didn’t draw back completely. “All I
know is,” he said, a deep resonance in his tone, “we are attracted to each
other, and even if we weren’t in this position, I’d want to see where it could
go with you.”

Her head rested against his chest and there
was a flicker of acceptance in her posture. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been
avoiding you.”

“I know. It was obvious.” His hands moved
gently up and down her arms, the friction causing warmth to spread. She looked
up.

“Are you angry with me?”

“Why would I be angry, little dove?” he
said softly, brushing a wayward brown curl from her cheek. “You needed space. I
gave it to you.”

Irina contemplated that statement. He was
being thoughtful, kind, and yet, the giving of space implied some control over
her. As if it was a calculated gesture rather than a genuine one. She shook her
head. She was so confused. So tired
.
Tyr effortlessly lifted her into
his arms so that she lay against his chest. He was so strong. So…everything.
She was too exhausted to fight. For now, let him be in control.

“You’re all dirty, bleeding,” he said, “and
your skin is like ice.” She gazed down at her scraped knees where she’d slipped
on the rocks. “I’ll take you back.” Her head fell to his chest and Irina stayed
that way as he carried her back, forcing her brain into silence, trying to wipe
away her fears by listening only to the comforting steady beat of his heart.