Elder (3 page)

Chapter 2

Metis had never had a taste for blood. Her single creation, Deimos, however, certainly had.

She had been confident that she could surpass the efforts of her own creator, Tethys. After all, Tethys had conducted her experiments before the separation of the planes. Tethys’ goal had been to create a female Estilorian who could bear children, since she was abandoned by a human male because of her infertility. Metis was the result of her efforts.

Well, Metis couldn’t bear children any more than the next full Estilorian female, but she could assume the forms of those she killed, as she’d discovered when she killed Tethys. Since then, she had assumed numerous forms.

Her latest was the form of her own bloodthirsty creation. Deimos had been Metis’ attempt at generating life in a nontraditional way. Typically, Estilorians relied on a number of beings from different classes—Corgloresti, Gloresti, Orculesti and Scultresti—to perpetuate their kind. Metis, however, had decided to assume a few of these roles in her own effort to create life. It hadn’t worked out very well. In the end, Deimos had been far from stable. Still, she treasured him like a human would a pet. He was
hers
.

Just hours ago, she had been forced to kill him. She needed his unusual ability to teleport. Since he had been near death anyway thanks to the wretched Lekwuesti, Ariana, Metis had finished the job and assumed his form and his abilities. She was fortunate that his talent transferred to her, as that wasn’t always the case.

Eirik’s shouts that they needed to remove Tate and Ariana from the library before they were rescued had pressured her into the terrible act. Now, she watched the fearsome Mercesti as he sat across from her, staring at the two females they had abducted. They were both still and silent inside their cage. Metis had teleported them to the first place that came to her mind: the hidden lair where Tethys raised her. It boasted a unique laboratory. The large cage was intended to hold experiments. Deimos had once spent time inside it while she worked on gaining his trust.

The memory had her suppressing a desire to tear into Eirik’s throat.

“I will not hesitate to slay you, should you ever attempt it,” Eirik said. His red eyes moved to her, and she realized he had intuited her intent.

A snarl issued from her throat. She couldn’t stop it.

One of his eyebrows—the one on the side of his face with a long scar running down it—lifted in response. “I wonder if you will convert entirely to Deimos’ primitive nature should you remain in his form along enough.”

She sneered at him. “I allow as much of my form’s base nature to control me as I wish. You made me kill Deimos. I therefore hold you in very low regard at the moment.”

“You did it as much to save yourself,” he said, returning his gaze to the cage. “If you wish to garner a position of authority under me once I assume the powers of an elder, you had better work on restraining yourself.”

This time, she consciously stopped the growl and instead bowed her head. “Of course.”

After drumming his fingers on the table for another ten minutes, Eirik got to his feet and approached their prisoners. Metis remained seated. The scent of blood coming from the cage made it difficult for her to repress Deimos’ urges. She felt it unwise to test her self-control, even if she would have liked nothing more than to kill both of the other females. In her mind, they had each contributed to her beloved pet’s death.

“Ariana, produce something to rouse the Kynzesti,” Eirik barked. When there was no response, he reached for a thick stick that Metis kept near the cage and used it to prod the Lekwuesti. “Wake up, female.”

Awakening with a gasp, Ariana hurried to get out of the way of the stick. Her dark hair covered her pale face until she reached up with a trembling hand to push it back. Dirt, blood and a number of other stains covered the light blue gown she wore. After she had reoriented herself to her surroundings, she reached for the other female in the cage and lifted her unconscious form, cradling her in her arms.

“Rouse her,” Eirik demanded a second time.

“No,” Ariana said in a whisper. “She’s badly injured and needs the rest to recover.”

“Metis healed her most significant injuries.”

“Her efforts might have stopped the internal hemorrhaging that your followers caused, but Tate is still bleeding from a number of wounds. I know some of her bones are broken. Her face is one big bruise. I won’t rouse her to this pain.”

Eirik rattled the cage with a fierce expression. “You and the Kynzesti will get me to the third scroll piece.”

“Or what?” Ariana asked wearily. “You can’t kill either one of us if you want to find it. Deimos is no longer around to use as a threat against me. You have none of your followers here to keep us in line. Tate is so hurt that you can’t even torture her to try and secure my compliance.” She looked up from stroking the Kynzesti’s matted hair to catch Eirik’s furious gaze. “Quite frankly, at this point, I wish you would open that cage and let me out. I’ll pick up a weapon and raise it against you. May the better one of us win.”

Metis knew the female had a point. It seemed Eirik did, too. Rather than continue to issue empty threats, he whirled away from the cage.

“I can remedy that,” he said. “Metis, you must teleport me back to the library. Choose a location several miles from it so that we do not encounter anyone who may still be lingering around it in search of the females. I will soon have all of the followers I need to keep these two females obedient.”

“And once you have found those followers?” Metis countered. “It will take some time to lead them here.”

“You will teleport me and several of them back here and the others will follow. I need only enough males to keep these two under control. I am not foolish enough to attempt to bring them both across the plane with you barely controlling your bloodlust. Even injured, the Kynzesti makes a challenging opponent. We need reinforcements if we are to fulfill our plans.”

Metis nodded. She knew Eirik thought only of himself. He was using her as long as she proved useful and then he would attempt to kill her.

That was fine with her. Two could play at that game.

Ariana waited until Deimos—or rather, Metis in Deimos’ form—took hold of Eirik and they both vanished. Then she cast a light and used her Lekwuesti abilities to bring forth some spirit of hartshorn and waved it under Tate’s nose. Despite what she told Eirik, she knew this was their only chance to escape.

When Tate tried to pull her head away and issued a low moan, Ariana winced. She knew Tate was in a lot of pain.

“Tate, wake up. We have to try and get out of here before they return.”

That seemed to get through. Mumbling something through a swollen lip and likely cracked jaw, Tate managed to push herself into a sitting position. Her hair, a long mass of brown, light blue, deep blue-green and sparkling dark blue curls, was stuck to half of her head with congealed blood. Unable to resist her Lekwuesti nature, Ariana produced a wet towel and began trying to clean her friend.

“You are connected to Zachariah now, right?” she asked as she worked.

Tate nodded. Ariana figured they were communicating through their mental connection. She wasn’t sure how, but the couple had recently managed to avow themselves through their dreams. It was something she would have never believed possible if she hadn’t seen it herself.

She had experienced many things over the past few days that opened her eyes to how self-involved and narrow-minded she had been. When she was invited to stay at the Kynzesti homeland after Eirik forced her to find the first piece of the Elder Scroll, she had accepted it like a lifeline. Everyone within the homeland treated her like a long-lost friend, helping her begin to heal from the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Eirik and his followers. Tate’s twin brother, Tiege, had been particularly friendly and eager to help her learn to defend herself, something that promoted her healing.

Two weeks later, Zachariah showed up.

After everything she had endured while in the company of Eirik’s Mercesti followers, she couldn’t stand the sight of Zachariah. She knew he was the former Gloresti second commander and that he had been forced to convert to a Mercesti, but she hadn’t been able to look past his class. In her still traumatized mind, it hadn’t even mattered to her that enough of his Gloresti traits still existed that he was able to pair with Tate for her protection.

She had been so wrong. If it hadn’t been for Zachariah’s unconventional training methods, she wouldn’t have been able to protect herself against Deimos’ most recent attack. Zachariah had saved her life—twice now, actually. Gruff and unemotional he may seem, but she now knew what lay at his core.

“Do you know where we are?” Tate asked, turning Ariana’s attention. She barely moved her lips.

“No.”

Another span of silence followed. Ariana considered using her power to clean their clothing, but it would use a great deal of energy that they might need to escape. Instead, she just wiped Tate’s skin as best as she could without aggravating her injuries.

After another minute, Tate asked, “Can you unlock this cage?”

Feeling useless, she answered, “No.” Some more powerful Lekwuesti could pass through locked doors. She wasn’t one of them. “The door was sealed by Metis with some kind of energy. I don’t even think there’s a key.”

“Do you know where Eirik and Metis went?”

“Yes,” she replied, wanting to kick herself for not thinking to mention it sooner. “Somewhere several miles from the library. Eirik wants to recruit more of his followers to escort us to the last scroll piece. Metis indicated that the library is quite a distance from here.”

Another period of silence ensued. Ariana looked around the cage to see if there was anything near enough that they could reach through the bars to try and break free from the cage. Outside of the stick Eirik used to poke her, however, there wasn’t a single thing.

“Did Zachariah say anything else?” she asked at last.

“Yeah,” Tate said in grim tones. “Get the bloody hell out of that bloody cage.”

Chapter 3

Clara Kate couldn’t help but wonder what memory Malukali and Knorbis uncovered when they scanned Ini-herit’s mind. For a brief moment after he surfaced from the scan, she wondered if it was about her. The elders had exchanged a long look, and Knorbis glanced in her direction before looking away.

But she dismissed it as wishful thinking. Not long after transitioning back to the Estilorian plane and discovering that Ini-herit hadn’t retained his human awareness, she asked her dad whether Ini-herit’s memories from the human plane could be revived. He had explained that it didn’t work that way. Ini-herit’s memories as a human had formed while his Estilorian self was fully suppressed. If his human and Estilorian selves didn’t successfully merge during the transition, the human memories would be lost. It had been a one-shot deal.

She had believed that their love for each other would be enough to get him through it. Her parents had done the same type of transition nineteen years ago with success, and it was their strong bond that made it work. They, however, had been together for six years on the human plane…not four months.

“Time to eat something,” Sophia said, carrying a plate over to where Clara Kate sat beside the fire.

“Thanks, Soph,” she said, reaching for the plate. She realized she was starving and gave the plate’s contents a scan.

“Sure.” Sophia sat next to her with her own plate. “Extra bacon for you.”

“Thanks again.” Clara Kate picked up a piece of bacon, but when she brought it near her mouth to take a bite, she caught its scent. “Ugh,” she said, making a face. “Is this fresh?”

Frowning, Sophia said, “Yes. I just ate a piece. Is that one bad or something?”

“It smells gross.” She set it to the side. “That’s all right. This fruit smells delicious.”

Sophia looked down at her own plate and moved the bacon around with her finger. Then she picked up a piece and sniffed it. Shrugging, she ate it as Quincy joined them with his own plate.

They finished their meal in companionable silence. Across the campsite, Malukali and Knorbis approached Ini-herit. Clara Kate watched them, wondering what they were discussing. Knorbis handed something to Ini-herit. The medallion, she realized as it caught the firelight. After a couple of minutes of conversation, Ini-herit nodded. When the two other elders once again raised their hands and their energy started flowing, Clara Kate figured they had convinced him to give the memory scan another try.

“Finish up those meals,” Tiege said from behind them. His tone had all of them turning. “Zachariah just connected with Tate.”

“Eirik and Metis have teleported somewhere within a few miles of this location,” Zachariah conveyed as he paced near the fire. He glanced at Derian and Uriel, both of whom stood nearby. “We need to send out scouts and try to intercept them.”

The other males nodded and turned to issue orders. Zachariah could only appreciate their responsiveness. He itched to hit the air in pursuit of Tate. Unfortunately, she was so consumed by pain that she could barely remain conscious. His connection to her felt faint, certainly not strong enough for him to follow in a rescue attempt.

He turned on his heel to pace back in the other direction. Running a hand through his hair, he said, “Ariana heard Metis tell Eirik that the library is located quite a distance from wherever they’re being kept.”

He was still adjusting to using contractions when he spoke. Many Estilorians who hadn’t been exposed to the informal manner of speech used by modern humans didn’t use them. He’d been living in the Kynzesti homeland for a couple of months now, however. That combined with his close connection to Tate had gradually resulted in the change.

“I sense that’s true,” he continued as everyone else joined them around the campfire. “My connection to Tate feels as though it reaches across a distance.”

His gaze landed on Clara Kate. She stared across the clearing at Ini-herit. Her eyes were damp. After a moment, she looked over at Zachariah. When he tilted his head in consideration, she turned so that she wasn’t facing anyone and did a quick wipe of her eyes. Figuring she didn’t want him commenting on her emotion, he paced back in the other direction. He sensed Tate wondering about her cousin’s reaction and silently urged her to focus.

“We have to go after them,” Tiege said. “Now.”

“We might not reach them before Metis and Eirik return with their reinforcements,” Uriel replied. “It makes more sense to try and get to the third scroll piece. Eirik will bring Tate and Ariana to it, and we can rescue them then.”

“That plan failed us yesterday,” Zachariah argued, clamping down on the residual guilt and anger that threatened him. “We have no idea how to read the damn map to get to the scroll piece, anyway.”

Everyone glanced at Ini-herit, who looked at Malukali and Knorbis. Zachariah bunched his fists and looked at the ground for a long moment before he also turned his gaze to the two mentally-attuned elders.

Don’t blame them
, Tate thought.
Knorbis wouldn’t have kidnapped me and Ariana if Metis hadn’t been torturing Malukali
.

Zachariah already knew that. It didn’t change how he felt.

You and Nyx nearly died,
he returned
. How can you expect me to forgive the being who almost cost me everything that matters?

She didn’t respond. He knew she read from his thoughts that he had only an hour ago sent his long-time kragen companion back to the Kynzesti homeland for healing by Olivia and James. Tate also knew, even if she was trying to buffer it, that he was absorbing some of her excruciating pain resulting from an attack that Knorbis witnessed.

No. Forgiveness wasn’t going to be forthcoming anytime soon.

Malukali caught his eye. “We’ve been unable to recover the key to the map on the medallion from Ini-herit’s memories. I don’t believe we can make any progress with that right now.”

“Then we have to use Zachariah’s connection to Tate and fly to them,” Tiege insisted. “We should leave now, before Eirik returns to them with a dampener in tow.”

Tate’s twin looked pale, his eyes shadowed. Zachariah knew that, like him, Tiege hadn’t slept at all the night before…not after failing to save Tate and Ariana. Now, they exchanged a look. Zachariah briefly lifted his chin in acknowledgment.

“We still have a bit of the potion that I created to fly more quickly,” Knorbis said. “We should administer that to as many of us as we can.”

There were nods and words of agreement issued among the group. Zachariah stiffened over the Wymzesti’s words, but even he couldn’t deny the power of the flight-enhancing elixir. The potion had led Tate and Ariana into Eirik’s clutches. Maybe it would help get them out, too.

With everyone in agreement, they broke into smaller groups as they prepared to leave. Zachariah watched Sophia and Quincy step into the forest, exchanging looks that told him they were probably communicating by thought. Knorbis and Malukali also moved to a far edge of the campsite. They had eyes only for each other, making him frown and look away.

Tiege shadowed Uriel, Harold and Alexius as the Waresti gathered to determine their flight path. Derian, his mate, Melanthe, and their group of non-hostile Mercesti joined them in the conversation, as did Clara Kate.

Spotting Ini-herit, Zachariah made a quick decision. He approached the elder. When the Corgloresti caught his gaze, he said, “I need your help,
archigos
.”

“Of course,” Ini-herit replied.

Appreciating the elder’s matter-of-fact manner, Zachariah walked further into the forest, trusting the other male to follow. He ignored everything else. Several times, his stride faltered as waves of agony hit him. He knew what he felt paled in comparison to what Tate did. It made him want to rip Eirik’s heart out with his bare hands and feed it to him in pieces.

When he reached a quiet spot, he stopped walking. Another stab of pain had him gripping his side. He heard Tate whimper in his mind. His jaw clenched.

Observing this, Ini-herit asked, “Do you wish me to try and assess your avowed’s condition?”

Zachariah nodded once.

“Normally, I would think your request impossible,” Ini-herit said. “However, your connection to Tate is unlike anything I have ever heard of.”

Without another word, he placed his hands on Zachariah’s shoulders. His eyes glowed as his power surged forth. They stood in silence for several minutes.

“Her injuries are not life-threatening,” Ini-herit said after a minute. “She has sustained three rib fractures, a fractured jaw, two periorbital hematomas, a nasal fracture, a distal radius fracture, pelvic trauma—”

“Can you heal her through me?” Zachariah ground out.

On the other side of their connection, Tate started crying. This was a type of pain he wasn’t equipped to absorb. The excruciating ache in his chest had nothing to do with fractured ribs.

He decided that ripping Eirik’s heart out was far too quick a way to end the bastard’s life.

“I can certainly try,” Ini-herit said. “You and Tate have an ability to connect unlike any other two beings, joining your consciousnesses in an almost physical way. Open yourself to my healing energy. Use whatever connection you have to send it through to her.”

Zachariah nodded. As Ini-herit’s silver healing energy encompassed him and continued building, he closed his eyes. Slowly, he felt Tate’s pain ease. The ache in his chest subsided.

When the light finally faded, Zachariah again opened his eyes. Ini-herit slumped and would have fallen if Zachariah hadn’t reached out to steady him. The display of power had cost the elder.

“The fractures have been healed,” Ini-herit said as he bent at the waist with his hands on his knees. “I opted to focus on those rather than the more superficial and less painful bruising.”

“Thank you,
archigos
. I am in your debt.” He caught Ini-herit’s gaze. “You will take some of the potion so that you’ll be among the first to reach Tate. That way, you can finish healing her.” When the elder didn’t immediately respond, he added, “Please.”

“Of course.”

When he was sure Ini-herit was steady enough, Zachariah turned to head back to the center of camp. His gaze flickered briefly to the shadows, where Clara Kate stood.

“He’s all yours,” he said.

Clara Kate felt a flush build in her cheeks when she realized Zachariah had spotted her. Her attention had been caught by Ini-herit’s silver healing light, and she hadn’t been able to resist spying on them. Now, she shifted her gaze from the Mercesti’s retreating back to Ini-herit.

Her blush intensified when his eyes met hers. Sure, Harry didn’t look exactly like he had on the human plane. His skin was a bit darker, his hair was longer and usually worn in a braid, and his eyes were the Corgloresti silver she expected instead of gray. Rather than appearing eighteen, he looked closer to a human in his early twenties.

That just meant he was taller, more muscular and more
male
.

He still made her heart flutter every time she looked at him. Why wouldn’t he? It wasn’t like she could just turn off her attraction to Harry like a switch.

Ini-herit
, she reminded herself as she took a deep breath and let it out.
Not Harry
.

The prick of tears caught her by surprise. She thought she’d mastered her emotions when it came to her new reality. Just then, however, it all felt like too much. She turned to go back to Tiege and the others.

“Clara Kate,” Ini-herit said. “May I speak with you?”

Glancing up in surprise, she considered what to say. He hadn’t made a point of communicating with her very much since the transition, and she’d been avoiding him as much as possible lately. Maybe this was a conversation they needed to have.

Reaching her decision, she nodded.

“I wish to apologize to you,” he said as he approached.

She blinked. “What?”

“I feel I owe you an apology. When Malukali and Knorbis attempted to extract the memory about the map, they inadvertently triggered one of us on the human plane. The memory of you and me standing together before I transitioned.”

Her breath lodged in her throat. Had her father been wrong? Was it really possible Ini-herit’s memories could be revived?

“I made a couple of promises to you that I failed to keep,” he said. “I could sense that we shared an emotional connection. I did believe that it would sustain through my transition. However, that is not the case.”

She stepped away from him. The words landed like slices from a well-honed blade. How was it possible that her heart could break all over again when it had already been so thoroughly shattered?

“You will move on from this experience. You are young, after all,” he said, his silver eyes reflecting nothing. “I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

She wasn’t sure how her voice made it past the raw pain he had just ripped into her chest. But before she walked away, she managed to reply, “My heart is capable of all kinds of things, Ini-herit. But you have no right to ask anything more of it than you already have.”