The Legacy: A Custodes Noctis Book (16 page)

“Galen…” Something in Rhiannon’s voice drove the smile from his face. “I…”

“What is it?”

“I found something in the car,” Rhiannon said softly. “It’s bad. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Thanks.” Galen flipped the phone closed and looked at his brother. “She found something, said it’s bad, but nothing more.”

“Bad? That’s helpful,” Rob said with a smirk.

“Yeah, it worries me a little. Rhiannon doesn’t use words like bad unless it’s bad. Well, worse than bad, usually apocalyptically bad.”

“Even better,” Rob said, then grinned. “Black Sabbath?”

“What?” Galen said, a little distracted, wondering what Rhiannon had found.

“Your ringtone?”

“Oh, right. No, it’s uh, actually it’s me.” He laughed. “I will grant there are similarities to Black Sabbath, we cover them occasionally.”

“What?”

“My band.”

“Oh, right, Becci said something about the bestest band.” Rob was laughing at him.

“I’m not sure about that. We do get paid. Every once in awhile, depending on where we work.” Galen grinned. “As long as it’s not Rat’s. Of course, that’s where we’re playing Friday.”

“What do you play?” Rob asked with a smile.

“A bit of everything. Mostly rock and metal, but a bit of everything, even a little Mariachi punk.” Rob’s eyebrows climbed a little with that statement. “Hey, The Urban Werewolves embrace diversity.”

“The Urban Werewolves?”

“Yeah, I’ll get you a t-shirt,” Galen said, still smiling. “Why are we talking about this?”

“We needed a break, Galen.” Rob nudged him.

“Yeah,” Galen said quietly. His good humor suddenly waned, as the memories of the past, those frantic days as he struggled to find his brother rose to the forefront again. The remembered terror was beginning to take the upper hand. He knew what happened to his brother, it had haunted him for years.  The fact that he hadn’t been able stop it just made it so much worse. He leaned against Rob a little, sensing what was there. Rob’s terror, the horror and pain at what had happened suddenly washed over Galen. He broke contact with a gasp.

“Galen?” Rob was frowning in concern.

“Sorry. Oh, gods, Rob…” Galen stopped himself. “Is there meaning here somewhere? Is there a clue, something to tell us what’s happening now? Or are we just talking about the past? The old wounds? Will it help?”

“We need to talk about this.”

“You sound so sure about that. Will it help?”

“It will help. We have to know what happened, to you to me, we have to face this, Galen. The answer to today is there.”

“Are you sure? Or… Rob, I…” He broke off again, struggling with the sense of helplessness left over from those days.

“I heard you,” Rob said suddenly.

“What?”

“I heard you, when you were in the clearing. It was…I…” Rob suddenly paled.

“Rob?”

“It was horrible, terrifying, I was trying to be brave, trying to hold on to that sense I was a Keeper, that helped too, but I heard your voice.  It’s what got me through, Galen. I’ve thought all these years I imagined it, but it was really you, wasn’t it?” He smiled, before swallowing. “After that…”

“Rob?”

“I was close to giving up, Galen. I think it was during the sun ritual when things began to change. It sensed something in me…It said…They altered some of the preparations, even as they got me ready for the final ritual and that’s when I almost gave up. I wasn’t sure I could face it again.” He swallowed, going even paler. “I knew you were looking, for me. I wanted to hold on.” Guilt suddenly surged out of Rob washing over Galen.

“You were thirteen, Rob,” he said gently.

“I know I was, Galen. I was a Keeper, too. Even so, I had nearly given up hope. Then I knew you were coming, I knew you were close.”

“How?”

Rob looked at him. “They were scared, worried that the ritual was going to be interrupted.” He put his hand on Galen’s knee. “And I got your message.”

“My message?” Galen said, a small smile playing on his lips.

“That you were close, that you were coming. It let me hang on, even after what had happened, even though I knew what might be coming.” Rob looked at him. “It gave me so much hope, Galen. I knew if I just held on…”

Ten Years Before

Day Three to Moonrise-Rob

There was bright light against his eyelids. Rob opened his eyes. He was lying outside. The sun was pouring down on him.
Sun feels good.
He was drowsy, he felt almost like he was floating above his body, like he could watch what was happening.
That’s kind of strange. I wonder how long I get to stay outside. I hope it’s a long time. I’m tired of that little room. Floating is fun. I’ll have to tell Galen about it.

Rob thought he could hear chanting—the strange language again—and he could smell the incense, but it wasn’t as strong as it had been. He tried to sit up, and realized he was tied down, he couldn’t move at all. He struggled against the bonds. The movement sent shafts of pain through his body, his heart was pounding as fear blended with panic.

Then…

Rob heard something moving towards him. It sounded like something dragging on the ground, moving slowly. The chanting got louder. He could hear something breathing, gasping breaths, getting closer and closer. Then he smelled death, the sick-sweet smell of a rotting animal left too long in the sun. The scent rolled over him, making him gag. Whatever was approaching smelled dead. He heard it sigh, it sounded glad. “This one is perfect,” he thought he heard it say. “Wait, he’s…No, it can’t be!” And Rob heard something that sounded almost like a laugh. Then he could see it. He struggled trying to get away from it, completely terrified. He could feel the pain as the bonds cut into his skin as he tried to get away. It reached towards him with a clawed hand.

“No! Galen! Galen!” He heard himself screaming. “Galen!” He screamed again as the thing touched him, pain lancing through his chest from that touch. It bent towards him. “Keeper? Yes, Keeper. Oh, so long since a Keeper. Where is the other?” It sighed. He could feel its breath on him. He was slipping away, from the pain, from the fear.
“Galen, please, please, come.”

“I’m coming, Rob, hang on, please hang on.”
He heard his brother’s voice as clearly as if Galen were standing beside him.

“Galen?”
And darkness took him away from the pain and fear and his brother’s voice.

The sun was gone when he woke up. He slid a hand to his face.
I can move. What happened? Where am I?
He opened his eyes. He was in the room at the farmhouse again.

He tried to roll over, he didn’t have the strength.
It’s my birthday. I’m thirteen. I’m supposed to start training as Custodes Noctis, a Keeper of the Night.
His hand slid to his bracelet, surprisingly it was still there, clasped around his wrist where his brother had put it. He’d asked for chocolate cake and made a point of saying he didn’t need ice cream, knowing Galen always got it anyway.

“Galen?” he said aloud in the quiet room, taking comfort in the idea his brother was there to talk to. “I thought I heard you, I know you’re looking for me, I know you’re coming. It’d be nice if you hurried.” He sighed, he wanted to talk to Galen about what had happened. The thing said “Keeper” like it knew what he was, like it knew who they were. That worried him. There was something that seemed familiar.

“Could it be in the sagas?” Rob asked his brother, wishing Galen was there to answer. “I’ll start at the beginning. ‘Thus it is told, in the beginning as the stones were set, as the earth turned and the leaves were touched with blood…’ ” He heard a sound. “Galen? They’re coming back.”

The door opened. He didn’t hear the key turn, the door just opened. Ashley came in with the two men. She had more of the purple and red cloth in her hand, a jar and a pair of scissors. One of the men yanked Rob upright. He whimpered in pain.

“Please, let me go,” he said to her, knowing she wouldn’t, but hoping anyway.

“No.” Her voice was cold, not human really. “The final ritual will begin soon. We have to start getting you ready. You need to be acceptable to Her.”

“That thing? It’s ugly and it stinks,” Rob said.

She slapped him. “You can’t talk that way, even if you are Chosen.” She took the scissors and cut the cloth strips from his chest. After mumbling something in the strange language she opened the jar and smiled. “This might hurt a little.” Her voice, like her smile, was cruel. She smeared something on him, it burned. The longer it was there, the more it hurt.

“Please, take it off, please,” Rob begged, ashamed of the tone in his voice.

“Not so brave now, are you, kid?” the man holding him said. “I told your brother you were crying.”

“Galen? You told him I was crying?” Rob sighed.

“Yeah, he said it figured, you were a baby.” The man was laughing at him.

 
“Oh really? Did he say that before or after he redid your face?” Rob said.
Oh, it hurts, it hurts.
“If you think he’d say something like that, you need to get to know him better. Oh wait, maybe that’s not a good idea, he might not like you much.” Rob drew strength from the thought of his brother.

Ashley carefully wound the cloth around him. It bound the ointment she put on his chest tightly against his skin. It felt like fire. The man dropped him back on the floor. When Ashley turned to leave, the man kicked Rob. “That’s for what your brother did. I’d do more, but She’ll finish it for me,” he whispered so only Rob could hear and then followed Ashley out.

He idly wondered what happened, what time it was. It felt like he’d been there for days. Finally, he drifted off to sleep. When he opened his eyes he knew that it was later in the day, even though there was no light. Something woke him, he wasn’t sure what.
He had the oddest sense of his brother for a moment, just a fleeting touch, and then Galen was gone.

Rob hurt. That was all he really knew. Pain was such a reality that he couldn’t remember what it was like without it. It was really all there was, now. Pain and fear. He took a deep breath and stretched his senses out, looking for Galen. There was only a soft reflected silence

The door opened. The one called Other came in and sat beside him. Rob looked at him and felt himself smile. “You don’t look very good.”

“The final ritual approaches,” Other said. Rob thought he could hear fear in the man’s voice. “They will prepare us and we will be taken to Her grove,” Other’s voice trembled.

“You don’t sound so sure, now,” Rob said, glad that Other was afraid.

“It is good. It will be glorious.”

“Do you believe that?” Rob asked.

“Of course.”

“I don’t. I think we’re going to die.”

Other looked at him. The look scared Rob. “Of course we are.”

The bearded man came in the room. He had the brazier in his hands.
Funny, I didn’t even notice it wasn’t here.
He put it on the floor, he was also carrying another golden cup. He walked towards Rob. “Your brother disposed of the last cup, we need more before we can begin,” he said, sounding like he was enjoying himself. Other pulled Rob’s arm out and held it. The knife made another deep cut. Rob was past the point of feeling individual hurts. It was all a single ball of pain.

They wrapped his arm with the colored cloth. Rob watched, unable to really move. He watched as Other stood and went to the brazier and the two men started chanting. The bearded man had a plate or something in his hand. He put ashes from the brazier in it and then poured a little of Rob’s blood from the cup into the saucer. He mixed it together with the knife, then walked over to Rob.

Other held him down while the bearded man wrote symbols on him with the knife, dipped in blood and ashes. It hurt. He knew he was crying. He could hear himself begging them to stop. They didn’t. When they were done, the bearded man wrote the symbols on Other. Rob felt a little better when he heard Other scream.
I guess I’m not the only one. It hurts, please let it stop soon, please. I wonder if Galen can fix this? He helped last year when I was sick. He came all the way to California to help.

The bearded man left Rob and Other alone in the room. Other was silent beside him. He knew the man was frightened, he could see it on his face and in the way he curled in on himself. Rob knew the final ritual was approaching, he wasn’t sure if he could face the thing again, even knowing his brother was looking for him.

The door opened. The bearded man and Ashley came in, dressed in red robes. Ashley came over to them. She had two cups, handed one to Other and he drank the contents. She held Rob up and forced him to drink what was in the second cup. He recognized the taste, it was the same stuff they’d given him before the sun ritual.

Rob realized there were other people with them. They were carrying two stretchers. They were decorated with purple and red flowers. Other stood up and laid down on one of them. They picked Rob up and dropped him on the second one. Once he was lying on it, they wrapped a rope around him, tying him to the stretcher. Then they carried him out of the farmhouse and into the woods.