Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (22 page)

“We didn't even know for certain if
any of Legends were true. Nor did we think anyone else did. It's
just words in a book, right? But Xander formulated his own
theories.” Katelyn explained.

“Theories that involve me?” Coralie
asked, not knowing if she really wanted the answer.

“Well, not
you
at the time. Any
child sprung from your mother and I would have done just fine in
his eyes.” Cal said, with a hint of angry sarcasm underlying in his
tone. “This Great Warrior was to come from a Direct Descendant, of
course, and a Descendant of a First Appointed. That's all Xander
needed to hear.”

“But, that doesn’t make any sense. If
Xander wanted you, Mom, and wanted the Great Warrior, then what was
his plan? Obviously, it could never work.”

“Xander didn’t want to hear of such
nonsense.
He truly believed that if he could win your
mother’s heart, to steal her away, that the Great Warrior would
rightfully be his.”

“But, it’s still
impossible.”

“There was always Plan B in Xander’s
mind’s eye
.”

“And what was that?”

“If he couldn’t steal your mother’s
heart...”

“Then he could try to steal the Great
Warrior, itself...”

“Right...”

“Meaning that he would try to steal
me...”

“Well, one of you, at least. But we
have never been sure just which one of you was supposed to uphold
the Great Warrior position.”

“So, you mean – wait, let me try to
process this ... you’re saying that I could be the Great
Warrior.”

“Well, according to Legends
–”

“Legends...”

Cal picked up at the edge of her
confusion. “The Keeper of The Great Book is the only one who truly
knows what the Legends say. The Keeper is the one who can translate
these Legends and Lessons for Warriors. All of the answers we seek
can all be found in the Great Book.”

“So, who is this Keeper of The Great
Book?”

Cal held a book in his hands. He put
the book in is daughter's hands, and looked into her eyes. “The
Keeper's position is mine, but only until you take the
responsibility all your own.”

“You?!?! And then Me?!?! I will be the
Keeper of the Great Book?!?!”

“Among other things, yes, once you
take the responsibility,” Cal answered.

“So, what if it’s not mine to take?
Where is Cole? What happened to him?” Coralie enquired,
desperately.

“Xander took him –” Katelyn said,
quietly.

“Took him? What do you mean? He just
walked in one day and stole him?” Coralie probed, frantically. “How
could that happen?”

“That’s a story in itself...” Cal
said, warningly.

“Please Dad, I have to know.” Coralie
pleaded.

Cal looked at his wife, silently asked
for consent, and then upon receipt of it, began his
story.

Xander had been acting
weird for a couple of days, after the two of you were born ... he
had not even been by to see the two of you yet.

We were worried about him.
He had been acting so differently. Our feelings were actually hurt
that he had not made it a point to come by before then.

One day, he came by; we
had already come home from the hospital. We were just getting
settled in. We invited him in, but something didn't seem right
about his actions.

“Xander?” I questioned,
surprised, opening the door. “What are you doing here at this
hour?”

Xander stood almost
silent. He stared past me toward your mother and the baby that she
held in her arms.

Your mother questioned him
next. “Xander? Is everything alright? You don't look so
well.”

Xander remained silent,
not speaking a word, staring straight at the baby sleeping softly
in its mother's arms.

“Xander? You're scaring
me. Do you need help, do you feel sick? Let us call
someone.”

“Kate, it's okay. Xander,
I'm going to ask you once more ... what are you doing here at this
hour?”

“Just came to meet the new
edition to the family...”

“Well, we appreciate the
gesture Xander, but it is very late. Why don't you come back
tomorrow?”

Xander was expressionless.
“Gladly,” then turned and walked out of the door.

The next day just as
surely as he sounded when he answered, Xander held true to his
agreement.

I had gone into town to
run an errand.

The doorbell rang.
Reluctantly, your mother answered it. With the same crazed look in
his eyes, Xander stood in the doorway. “Good Morning,
Kate.”

“Good Morning, Xander. I'm
sorry, but it's sort of bad timing. I just put -”

“Oh, I have no intention
on staying long,” Xander said, pushing his way through the
door.

“Well, I'm certain that it
would make for a better visit if you could come back another time.
Maybe when Cal is home.”

“Oh, no nevermind.
Anytime's a good time to visit with my child...”

Xander's words cut through
your mother like a knife. “What did you just say? Xander, what are
you talking about?”

“Oh, Kate – don't be
thoughtless! This was supposed to be our child - you know
this!”

“Xander, you have no idea
what you are saying! I think you have gone mad!”

“I have to make things
right.”

“Xander, this has nothing
to do with you. We were never meant to be together. I love Cal. I
thought you understood. We could never be...”

Acting as if he hadn't
heard her, Xander continued, “I have to realign what was meant to
be. You and I, and the child - The Great Warrior...”

“But Xander, you don’t
understand … We could never, I could never –”

Xander shouted, startling
your mother and the baby in the basinet next to her. “Silence
–”

Your mother leaned over
the basinet to pick up the crying baby, when suddenly, Xander
scooped the baby from the grasp of her arms. “Shhhh - It's okay,
Daddy's here...”

“No, Xander! You could
never be -”

“I'm just collecting what
should be mine. And since I can't have you, I am sure that Cal will
understand...”

“No, Xander – you
can't...” Your mother pleaded with the man, of whom she had known
for most of her life. Yet he was seemingly unrecognizable to
her.

Xander fled the front
door, and escaped out into the night, with baby in tow, with your
mother calling after him.

When I returned home, I
found your mother in an inconsolable heap on the floor, crying and
clutching to the baby in her arms. The baby was you, Coralie.
Xander had taken the only Collier Baby that he had known to exist.
He had not known that we had been Blessed with the two of you -
with our twins, our miracle. He had only seen the one baby with
her. And he took what he thought was the only chance at our
producing a Direct Descendant.

He was wrong.

“Oh, Mom, Dad … I am so
sorry.”

Cal explained his painful words. “It
was a very difficult time for the both of us, but we still had you.
We knew that it wouldn’t be long before Xander found out about you.
We knew that we had to protect you.”

“So, what happened next? Did you look
for him? Did you find him? Did you find my brother?” Coralie
asked.

“We've come close a few times, but
we're not exactly for sure. But that's what brings us up to
today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Someone seems to be after you,
Coralie. We have done our best to protect you from this life ...
but it seems that this life has sought you out and found you.
Coralie, there's a possibility that Xander is after
you,
now.”

“After all this time? Why me? Why
now?”

“Because you hold great power,
Coralie. You seemingly appear to be the prophetic Great Warrior.
The One that The Great Book talks about. My daughter, perhaps, you
are the foretold Empyreal Warrior Heroine.”

Coralie's eyes widened. She got up and
walked over to the large bay window, across the family room from
where she sat. Confusion, fear, and finally realization washed over
her.

This was real.

This was her life.

Her realization. Her
reality.

Coralie looked up at the dark sky.
Could she really take on the world?

Staring into the darkness, she
suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark figure standing amongst the
blond, dying wheat grass. She felt the figure staring at her.
Reading her.

All of the confusion and fear, started
to fall away from herself.

She allowed the words to filter
through her once more. Could she really take on the world? Instead
of allowing realization to onset more fear, Coralie allowed a
determined smile to spread across her face, answering herself
…
Y
es.

Coralie could take on the world, and
she would. She knew, now, that she
could
take on the world
and win.

This was her life.

This was her reality.

This is what she was born to
do.

Alex saw the silhouette move in the moonlight.
Just slightly. No major movements in the darkness. Only something
he would notice. He stealthily crept closer to the dark, though
almost invisible, silhouette underneath the moonlight.

“I knew that you would come...” a
voice said, breaking the silence in the open wheat
field.

Startled, but composed, Alex asked in
an arduous tone, “Who are you?”

“I guess I could start by asking you
the same question, but I already know who you are...”

“You are a Watcher. Why are you
here?”

“We all have our detailed duties. We
all have our specific missions to complete, don’t we?”

“Why are you after
her
?” Alex
demanded. “She means nothing to you!”

“I have my reasons...”

And with those words, he allowed anger
to overcome him, and he swiftly and strongly charged the
silhouette, slamming his own body directly into
him.
When
the two came to a friction-ness stop, Alex shouted, “Who sent you?”
Alex could see the whites of
his
teeth gleaming in the
moonlight.

Smiling, the young man said, “You
stupid infantile! I know who she is ... as well as what that
means.” He paused, allowing a slight chuckle to pass through his
throat, as he shoved Alex away from him, effortlessly. He hopped to
his feet with ease, continuing his end of the conversation. “As far
as 'who sent me?', now ... I can't give up all my tricks in one
show, can I? I mean, what would keep you coming back for more?
Speaking of coming back...”

“You will NOT be coming back!” Alex
growled in anger.

“Oh yes, it is certain that I will
return, just as it is certain that I will run into you again, yes?
But so be it – Don't be alarmed,” the Watcher said, with a pause,
taking a moment to glance back in the direction of the Collier
house. “I just came for the show …
the reveal
,
the
big
unveil
. Though I have to say, it was quite the
letdown. Not quite a two thumbs up. But I've got to give some
credit for the intensity underneath the layers ... though, I have
to admit, I was expecting water-works.”

Alex permitted, seemingly against his
will, his rage to overcome him again. So, he charged the Watcher
once more, slamming him again into the earth. This time, though,
Alex did not have a good grip on his opponent, and the young man
rolled quickly to his feet.

“Like I said before,” the Watcher
said, brushing himself off, “I only came for the show, not to fight
anyone.” He looked at Alex nonchalant and said sarcastically, “I
intend to go now ... that's a warning, in case you felt the need to
pounce on me again as I'm leaving...”

Alex gritted his words through his
teeth. “If you do as you say and you do decide to return – it is
true – you will meet me again. Only this time, I won't be so
nice...”

“Wow,” the Watcher said, favoring his
head, “... that was you being nice, huh?”

Alex shook his head
tauntingly.

“Well, then, I look forward to it ...
see you soon...”

Alex said nothing, as the Watcher
walked away. He merely clenched his teeth in anger, popping his
jaws. It was the challenge that intrigued him. It was the chase
that motivated him.

Suddenly, Alex felt a wave of
realization. He realized that he had just let a potential threat to
Coralie slip away into the dark shadows. Slipping away, to perhaps
one day reappear. And who knew when that would be. There was only
one of him tonight. Next time, though, there would surely be more
to accompany him.

How stupid? How selfish?

For the first time, ever,
he
had been the one to put Coralie in danger. He was supposed to be
protecting her. Instead of protection, he had added fuel to the
fire. He had made it game.