Guardians Inc.:Thundersword (Guardians Incorporated #2) (44 page)

“Yeah,” Tony said, leaning over his shoulder. “You don’t even have to use too much imagination. It really looks like a…”

“Thomas?” a muffled voice said from behind. 

Elise was standing at the entrance of the tent. She was wearing the long, dark robe, and the featureless, gray mask under the hood.

“It’s Elise…” Tony whispered hesitantly. Thomas realized that he would have actually been scared of seeing this apparition if he had not known it was her beforehand.

“Elise.” Thomas stepped toward her, not knowing what to say. “I…”

She sprinted and hugged him. Thomas exchanged a glance with Tony before hugging her back. He could hear muted soft sobbing under the mask. “I’m glad you’re back,” she said after a couple of seconds. “I’ve missed you.”

Thomas felt overwhelmed. After all they had been through, he was so happy to see his friend. Elise released him and stepped back. Thomas tried to see her eyes through the slits in her mask, but all he could see was the black mesh that covered them.

“We’ve missed you too, princess,” Tony said, taking the pressure off Thomas.

Elise looked at Tony then back at Thomas. “I’m…sorry to startle you.” She said and, after an awkward second, she turned away from him. “I’ll go back to the Mansion.”

“Wait,” Thomas said. “Stay, please. I want to know how you've been.”

“I’m sorry…” Elise said and left the tent.

“It’s complicated,” Tony said sadly. “You were gone almost eight months. A lot of things have happened, and it’s been really hard for her.”

“Are we still a team?” Thomas asked. Bolswaithe had already filled him in on the many things that happened while he was gone.

“I hope so.” Tony smiled. “Now that you’re back, perhaps we can join the team again. I never really got into the soldier stuff. The hours are terrible and the food is worse.”

The sounds of the party outside grew louder as fauns and humans cheered and laughed.

“We’re missing the good parts!” Tony said. “You still want to check that arm?”

“I think Mar-Safi healed it,” Thomas said, “but there’s only one way to be sure. He wished for the sword, and Alstara responded. It slowly flowed from his arm toward his hand, like mercury, coalescing into a long sword.

“That’s really something,” Tony said, but Thomas was more interested in his arm. He had seen his bones protruding from his skin in his forearm, but Mar-Safi’s magic had healed it too and only a thin scar remained.

One in his forearm, one in his cheek, and the Raven on his neck… In his short time as a Cypher, Thomas was quickly amassing quite the collection. How many more scars would he get before he acquired
The Book of Concord?

The flaps to the tent opened again, and Thomas returned Alstara to his forearm. The quick transformation made Tony jump back.

“Elise?” Thomas asked, but the elegant head of Mar-Safi peered through the entrance. She was careful that her remaining curved horn wouldn’t snag on the tent ceiling.

“Kaltha?” she asked. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” Thomas said. After she had cured him and given him the memory of her Clan, she felt like family.
No
, he corrected himself. She
was
family.

He led Mar-Safi into the tent and immediately introduced Tony. “This is my dear friend Tony Della Francesca. My clanmate Mar-Safi.”

Tony bent down on one knee while holding her hand. “It is an honor,” he said, looking into her eyes. “May the sun always shine in your footsteps and your tracks remain for your descendants to follow.”

Old Form Speech.
Thomas recognized the salutation. It was the way Fauns talked among themselves, full of ceremony. Mar-Safi’s nodded appreciatively, and Thomas suddenly realized that Tony had spoken in Faun, not in English.

“It is I who should be honored,” Mar-Safi said. “All friends of Kaltha are brothers of the Belethi Clan.” She embraced Tony, and Thomas saw how she sniffed behind each of his ears in the manner the Belethi did when receiving a cherished friend.  Tony did the same in keeping with her…
their
traditions. Thomas was also a Belethi now, and he understood everything about their traditions, customs, and even language. It wasn’t part of his Cypher abilities—it had been the gift imparted by Mar-Safi when she had saved his life.

“Thank you.” Tony stepped back and headed toward the exit. “I will wait for you outside.”

Mar-Safi nodded.

Thomas smiled and once again said thank you to Mar-Safi for saving his life.

“You are welcome,” Mar-Safi said with a smile. “I have some great news, and I know that you will appreciate my news more than you would have when I’d first met you . . . now that we’re
family.
”

Thomas loved the sound of the word. It gave him hope and a sense of belonging. Since he’d joined the Guardians, he considered the Doctor, Bolswaithe, Tony, and Elise his family. And Grandpa too. Even though Grandpa was absent from his life, he would always consider him family. He loved and cherished his Grandpa, and he wished he was here.

Mar-Safi smiled, then brought her hands to her abdomen. She didn’t say a word, and Thomas was getting anxious for her big news.

“Well?” Thomas asked. “What is it?”

“It is with great happiness, that I bring you this great news.” She paused for a moment and rubbed her belly. “I am with children!”

Thomas was stunned. Pregnant? Although he had met Mar-Safi a couple of times, and, under dire circumstances, he felt so connect to her, that she was kin. And the news of her pregnancy brought so much joy, he thought he would cry.

“That means. . .” Thomas muttered.

“That our clan will continue,” Mar-Safi exclaimed.

Thomas ran to Mar-Safi and gave her a big hug. “This is great news!” he shouted. “I can’t wait to spread the good word!”

Mar-Safi gently smiled. “I have great hopes for the future,” she said.

After a couple of minutes, Thomas stepped outside the tent. Humans and fauns were celebrating together. The snow had almost stopped falling, but it had covered the base of Mount Nyragongo and created almost a winter wonderland among the jungle.

The armies, who were ready hours before to tear each other to pieces were mingling and shedding their anger. It was a wonderful sight.

He saw friendly snowball fights break out among teams composed of human and fauns. It was strange for him to see such spirit of happiness and friendship. From what he’d gathered, Fauns had always kept to themselves and relations with humans had always been strained. This spirit of camaraderie was a miracle brought on by him, and he hoped that it would last and spread beyond this camp.

“You okay, Thomas?” Tony asked.

“Yeah,” Thomas said. “Please tell Bolswaithe to prepare a suitable room for Mar-Safi. She is coming with us.”

“Sure thing. Are you sure everything’s okay? Is Mar-Safi in trouble?”

“No, not at all.” Thomas smiled. “She’s great!” He grabbed Tony by the shoulders and let out a laugh. “She’s pregnant Tony!” he shouted. “We’re going to be a Clan again!”

                        
      New Horizons

“Pregnant? Really?” Tony asked for the third time as they walked through the Mansion’s corridor. They had stayed at the party until it had quieted down and Tony had landed a snowball in Chief Gratsat’s face.

The gorilla faun had bared his fangs and growled so loudly that the party had actually stopped for a second. But with all eyes on him, he had grabbed a huge amount of snow, and after a short, playful run, he’d covered Tony’s head proving that even the great Chief Gratsat knew how to play.

On Bolswaithe's advise they had kept Mar-Safi's pregnancy a secret. Thomas had wanted to tell the fauns, to yell the news, but Bolswaithe and Tony had convinced him to wait a little longer. In the end he, and Mar-Safi had agreed.

For the moment.

They had crossed over to the Mansion using a mobile base that had a door connected to the Mansion’s system. Cuthbert had received them and led Mar-Safi away to the apartment he had arranged for her.

She looked proud, so unlike the first time Thomas had seen her in the Halls of Remembrance. There she had been ready to write the last chapter of the Belethi Clan and then die. Thomas had stopped her by taking all of Mneme’s time for himself, and without the muse’s power, Mar-Safi had to stop and wait for her to return.

Mar-Safi had hated Thomas so much for that. So much that she had even resented him for saving her from the robot dragon inside Mount Nyragongo’s caldera.

She had been defeated, hopeless, and lost.

Now she was radiant, ready for a new beginning. One full of hope for her and all other Clans.

“Twins,” Thomas said, grinning. He couldn’t really express how he felt. Mar-Safi had told him that she was pregnant with twins. A male and a female. The news had just blown his mind. Mar-Safi would live on, and the Clan that had been ready to disappear would be renewed. It was wonderful news, and more so for him, because he was, after all, a Belethi.

“And you are going to be?” Tony asked.

“Their mentor, their protector, their friend…”

“Their father?”

Thomas stopped walking; he hadn’t thought about that. He pursed his lips. “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe that too. I am the only male of the Belethi Clan. You know?” Maybe he would be their father figure. It was funny how the prospect didn’t scare him in the least. He had all the knowledge of the Belethi to rely upon. He would pass onto these new Belethi as much as he could.

“You’ve changed, Thomas,” Tony said. Thomas had already explained him how all the Clan’s knowledge had been passed onto him the moment Mar-Safi had cured him.

“Bad change or good change?” Thomas smirked.

“I’ll tell you when I know more,” Tony laughed.

Thomas knew he had changed. He had grown, but he didn’t feel older. Wiser? Yes, much more. He had the knowledge of Clan Belethi.  Stronger? Not really, he had passed the Aesir’s test and now the power of Alstara was his to use, but it didn’t make him stronger. It was a power made to serve, not to command. It made him feel more focused on what he needed to do. More secure.

He felt that he had
matured
.

So long he had fought and rebelled against being the Cypher. So many times he had been reluctant to take the mantle that had been given to him.

He chuckled.
A crybaby
. That was what Mrs. Pianova had said about him. He had tried so hard to free himself from the responsibility of finding the
Book of Concord
, to shy away from being a Cypher. It made him want to hit his head against the wall.

Mr. Pianova had told him in the engineering bay that Guardians Inc. existed because of him. It hadn't sunk in at that moment, but it did now.

The most powerful, largest corporation in the world, with universal reach, seven thousand years of history, and almost limitless resources had been created for him, for the Cyphers before him, and the Cyphers that would come after him.

He was the reason those thousands of people worked and created, maintained and perfected all the technological advances at the company's disposal.

At
his
disposal.

It was all clear now. As powerful as it was, Guardians Inc. was merely a tool to help him find the
Book of Concord.
It had been a tool he had not fully comprehended, or used, until now.

He had squandered the legacy the Cyphers before him had tended and passed onto him.

But not anymore.

“Yeah, things have changed,” he told Tony with a mischievous smile as he paused outside Doctor Franco's hospital bedroom.

He knocked twice on the door and waited until he heard Mrs. Pianova calling him in. Before opening the door he winked at Tony. “And they're going to change even more,” he said. “We are going to find that book.”

Thomas was sure of that now. He held the knowledge of uncounted generations of Belethi within him. Knowledge that he could access at will. He couldn't claim to know everything, but with the knowledge came power, and that power would be the strength necessary to accomplish his mission.

And there was the other mission he needed to accomplish. He was anxious to review the videos from the cameras he had left in Versoix with his grandfather. He was sure that Gramps would finally get the message.

      The memories.

His parents were alive, he was sure about it, and Gramps would also be sure. Thomas had made it clear to him this time.

He didn’t say it aloud, but he was also going to use all of Guardians Inc.’s resources to search for his parents.

And he was going to find them.

Epilogue

Necklen Resource Corporation Headquarters

Timaru, New Zealand
 

“It will be just a moment, Ms…?” The receptionist smiled from behind his desk. He was very young and attentive, probably an intern who had just been hired after months and months of work without pay.

“Hannifin,” she answered, flashing a perfect smile. “Whiro Hannifin. Thank you.”

“Whiro?” the receptionist asked, feigning more curiosity than interest.

Oh, how many times had she heard that tone over the years?

“That's an interesting name,” the receptionist said. “Is that a native name?”

“Maori,” she said coldly as she opened her leather briefcase. Her hand searched inside for the little mirror she had brought to the meeting. She had felt a little pinprick on her right cheek and was afraid her makeup had been ruined.

“It's actually a very pretty name,” the receptionist said.

Give me a break!
she thought. The last thing she needed now was a boy ogling over her.

“It means the moon on the first night of the lunar month,” she told him still smiling. He stopped typing on his keyboard and leaned in toward her. She tightened her smile and hardened her gaze. “It was also the name of an
atua
associated with all things evil, darkness and death...”

The man gulped involuntarily. “An
atua
?”