Creatures of Snow (28 page)

Sky glanced over his
shoulder, hoping to catch wind of what Zeph was saying to his dad,
but whatever the exchange had been, it had been short since the two
were already moving up behind them.

Upon entering the
building, they were escorted to the dinning hall, a room that Sky
had never been in. It was two stories high and magnificently
decorated in drapery, sculptures and paintings of the past
generations. A long
wooden table took
center stage and upon it sat ornate platters and bowls heaped with
a variety of fancy looking food, most of which, Sky had never
seen.

“
Thank the Creator Al got
his looks from his mother. My, my, what a bunch of humble looking
men.” Zeph’s voice rang out clear as a bell through the massive
room as he dramatically stood in front of one of the ancestral
paintings.

Marcus poorly hid a sneer,
taking his place at the far head of the table, next to Octavian.
“Please, everyone, sit.” He forced something that could have been a
smile through gritted teeth.

They took their seats
randomly. Sky wanted to save a seat next to himself for Al, but
found himself surrounded by Lee on one side and Sara on the
other.

Sonya emerged from one of
the smaller side doors,
in a swirl of
black lace,
with Al in tow.
She was a dark and beautiful woman, one whom Al
had been obsessed with since they were nine. He never knew what to
make of her though. To him she was pure military. Nothing more,
nothing less.

Sonya gestured for Al to
sit next to her and he did so willingly. Something wasn’t right
with him. He wasn’t smiling, or talking – he didn’t even look at
them.

“She’s Agonian, right?”
Sara whispered over Sky, to Lee.

“
She is. She is marked
with the symbols of the Royal guards, so whoever she is, she is
well trained and very dangerous.”

Zeph was the last to take
his seat, but before doing so he looked at the one empty place
setting with an outstretched hand, “Oh my. No Zero today?” Zeph
looked around the room and even took a quick glance under the
table. “Oh, that’s right,” he snapped his fingers as if having a
revelation as his gaze shifted to Marcus, “He hates
you.”

“What’s this all about,
Zeph?” Marcus demanded, losing whatever thin veil of courtesy he
had.

“
Can’t we at least eat
first?” Zeph pouted.

Octavian gestured around
them, “Yes, please, eat everyone.” He motioned for the servants
that had been waiting in the wings to come and help dole out the
food.

Sky fidgeted nervously as
everyone settled into their seats and welcomed the assortment of
dishes being served to them. The whole situation was ridiculous.
Not only did Sky just learn that everything he thought he knew
about himself was a lie, but the Man of Mist could be knocking at
their door at any moment, and here they were about to partake in a
grand feast.

“Where’s Con and Ellie?”
Sky asked to no one in particular.

“I don’t believe they will
be joining us this afternoon.” Zeph answered him merrily, dumping a
tray full of tarts onto his plate.

Sky zoned in and out of
most of the light conversation that bounced around the room amongst
the mouthfuls of food. He half listened as Roland explained how he
was studying for his doctorate under Zeph and was honored to be
teaching the members of Axis. He heard bits and
pieces from
Sara, as she made it
clear which of the strange dishes they were being served she
approved of, and those she did not. And he thought he heard Lee’s
voice, telling them Archaios was his first off world experience and
he was finding it to be much different from his home on
Agon.

He couldn’t eat. He had no
appetite. The best he could do was push around his bits of food and
try to pretend he wasn’t about to crawl out of his skin.

“
So.” Zeph cut into his
thoughts. “Shall we get down to business?”

Marcus’s lips curled, he
obviously hated every moment in the room with them. “I think that’s
a great idea.”

Zeph smiled pleasantly at
those gathered around the table, feeding on the attention. “Has
anyone here heard of the Book of Nine? I hear it’s been quite the
hot topic lately.”

“What about it?” Marcus
growled with a fiery stare, “You called us here to tell us a fairy
tale?”

Zephs smile grew, “Oh,
it’s quite real. I’m glad you’ve heard of it so I don’t need to
explain.”

“
I’ve never heard of it.”
Octavian leaned forward catching everyone’s attention with a raised
finger.

Zeph’s smile faded for an instant before
springing right back, “Delightful.” He clapped his hands together.
“It was first and foremost a legend.” He began.

Sky was finally able to
catch Al’s eye, only to have him quickly look away. It had been
quick, but it was enough. Enough to see the slight yellow hue that
spread out under both of his eyes, enough to see the humiliation
and uncertainty that marred his expression.

“
But you see,” Zeph was
saying, “It’s also a map.”

“A what?” Sara scoffed,
but reacted with instant embarrassment from voicing her
confusion.

“A MAP.” Zeph shouted,
over pronouncing each word.

“A map to what?” Al was
the voice to everyone’s unasked question.

“You kids are the dumbest
geniuses I’ve ever met. Did you really not find anything on the
damn thing?” Zeph nearly fell out of his seat laughing, “It’s a map
to the Valley of Ruah.”

“
Zeph, please,” Marcus was
trying very hard to keep control in front of Octavian, “Why are we
here? What is the point of this?”

His laughter fell to the
floor as the most serious look came over his face. “Because, the
Councilmen have shifted their attention to finding it, once
again.”

“
How do you know?” The
tension in Marcus’s face was enough to stretch his weathered skin
smooth.

“The Man of Mist has come
looking for the book.” With just a mention of the name, Zeph
commanded the room’
s attention, "He has
traced it this far, which isn’t impressive since any idiot could
have done that, but, he did two things that were very peculiar. He
ransacked the Regan household, mainly looking through old junk
owned by that angry little Telic that lives with them, and
secondly, he attacked our dear little golden eyed beauty,
Sara.”

Sky father shifted
uneasily in his chair and looked directly at Sky. His expression
wasn’t one of accusation, but one of utter concern.

“I deduce that what he was
looking for in the Regan household was something that belonged to
Al’s mother, Oh’May. A trinket, a letter, an amazing sweater,
anything." Zeph leaned back in his chair with a look that verged on
scholarly. "Does anyone know what can be done once they have an
artifact of Oh’May’s?”

“
They could find her.”
Al’s voice came out like the wind, his eyes wide in
realization.

“That they could. But, not
without help.” Zeph nodded sympathetically towards Al. “They could
use the Path of the Mind to find her, but in order for that to
work, they need a direct bloodline to her.” Zeph looked around the
table slowly, making sure they were all paying close attention.
“Now, who do you think they would go after - her hardened brother
who understands what happens if the wrong people gain possession of
that book, or her kind hearted son who’s never seen a day of
absolute anguish in his life?”

“
They won’t come near this
place. Man of Mist or not, they would be stupid to try and dare
infiltrate these walls, and if they do, they will regret it.” Sonya
lifted her chin with pride.

“You’re wrong.” Zeph
smiled politely, “You see, the Man of Mist must already think he
has our dear Allen in the bag – otherwise, why would he go after
Sara, an obvious step two in any plan, since she would be the one
they send into the Snow.”

“
That’s ridiculous.”
Marcus looked with an accusing eye to his son.

“
No, he’s totally right.”
A cool, calm and very familiar voice said from the corner of the
room.

Sonya sprung up from her
seat and spun around in a panic, “Sir, it’s him!”

The lights flickered and went out. Nobody
moved. The only sound that could be heard was the soft rustling of
clothing as they all blindly looked about. When the lights finally
did come back on, Sky found himself reacting like all of the
others. He stood so quickly that the chair that had once been
supporting him flew backwards.

“Wha-” was the only sounds
that escaped him when faced with the figure standing on top of the
table. The intruder was dressed in a black military type uniform
that was outshone by the bright white mask he wore upon his face,
decorated with a symbol that he didn’t recognize.

Marcus reacted like any
good soldier, pulling his gun instantly.

His dad put an arm onto
Roland’s chest and pushed him back, looking desperately over to
Sky, Sara and Lee who were out of reach on the other side of the
table.

The platters of food went
flying from the table without anyone touching them. Sky had to duck
out of the way as Lee batted down a crystal bowl. The man on the
table hadn’t moved - his attention was firmly focused on Al. Sky
looked over to Zeph, the closest one to Al, and didn’t understand
the look of remorse Zeph had on his face.

“What in the realm are you
doing?” Roland stomped his foot and pushed Sky’s dad out of his
way. “You guys, you weren’t invited.” He pointed a finger over to
the figure lounging on a chair in the corner. “Con, explain
this.”

“
I just came to watch.”
Con laughed.

Sonya didn’t know who to
aim at, but settled on the closer target and trained her weapon on
the man on the table.

“
Con?” Sky took a step
towards him, but was pulled back by Lee who slowly shook his
head.

“Everybody, just settle
down.” His dad looked between them, “Put the guns down,
okay.”

Marcus gruffed to call attention, his gun at
the ready, “Listen boy, if you mean no harm, then no harm done.
Just get down off the table slowly.”

Without a glance in his
direction, the man on the table flicked a hand at Marcus and sent
both his, and Sonya’s guns flying into the far wall where they
shattered. Sonya retaliated instantly, leaping up onto the table
while pulling out a handful of daggers skillfully hidden within her
elegant attire.

With her arm cocked back
to throw and a killer’s smile upon her face, the masked man should
have been worried, but he simply raised a hand. Just as her arm
came forward and the blades left the tips of her long fingers, his
body went down and he slammed his open hand into the table. A
mighty wind radiated out from where he knelt and blew back not just
the knives, but every person in the room. Every one, but Zeph and
Al.

Sky picked himself back
up, his eyes drawn to the figure on the table.

“You’ve learned some new
tricks while I’ve been away.” Zeph leaned forward and gave a kind
smile.

“Out of the way, Master.”
The voice that came from the mask was vaguely familiar. The man
reached up under his black vest and pulled out a jagged
knife.

Something tight wrapped around his arm and
he looked over to see Sara’s terrified face, “It’s him. I saw that
guy last night.” She whispered. “That’s the real one, the Man of
Mist.” Her voice got louder as she said his name and it drew the
attention from the rest of the room.

“It is not.” Roland spat.
“That’s just Soul. Where are Ellie and Seth? You got the whole gang
here? What kind of sick joke are you playing at now?”

Sky’s heart fell to the floor and he
couldn’t feel his legs. “Soul?”

It was. The man on the
table, his hand had flinched and tightened its grip on the knife as
Sky spoke the name.

“Soul, please. Whatever
the contract says–“ Zeph began, but the loud resound of a gun going
off silenced him.

Marcus stormed towards the
table, a larger gun then his pervious already reloaded and trained
on Soul. Sky wasn’t sure what had happened to the first shot. Soul
never moved, and Marcus never missed.

“
Off the table boy.”
Marcus bellowed. Sky could tell by the stutter in his step that
Marcus himself was confused to why his target was still
standing.

“Put that away, Marcus.”
His dad lowered his hand and the bullet fell where it had stopped
inches from Soul’s head.

“
How dare you, Captain.”
Marcus spat, “He is an armed intruder.”

“
He’s my son.”

“And he’s here for
mine.”

With attention off him,
Soul pulled up his sleeve to reveal an arm covered in countless
tattoos and symbols. The jagged knife he held didn’t hesitate and
sliced deep into his own flesh.

“Stop!” Sky shouted and
again was held back as he tried to run to his brother.

“No way.” Al breathed
beside him. “That symbol…” Al’s eyes flew over to Zeph.