The Failsafe Prophecies (3 page)

“It seems to me it concerns
them.”

Thornton’s phone sounded of a series
of tones. He reached for it and answered immediately.

Wraithe took the time to look around
his beloved park, once again thinking of his dear friend, torturing
himself with the memories, knowing he’d handled everything so
poorly at the end. It was a regret he’d have a very long time to
live with.

“Wraithe.” Thornton looked visibly
paled.

He was compelled to put his hand out,
to steady Thornton on his feet.

“What?” What more could there possibly
be?

“At best count, four of
the royal seven have been taken by the roahn-ami from all over the
planet. One is unaccounted for. One is
here
, the other is on her way
here.”

He took a minute to let the chill
settle to the depths of his being, and stared back up at his castle
before stating three words he prayed he never would.

“It has begun.”

Chapter Two

Wraith slipped in at the back of the
room and made his way along the side wall to his expected position
at the front. Before him were the premier delegates from his
people, the nay-chi, and from the protectors of the royal families
of the Dark Marrow, the serahn.

“I think we have to all admit, this is
bad.” Brunai, far too tense, vibrated with anxious
energy.

“Yes, Brunai, it’s bad.” Thornton
answered with calm control.

Wraithe kept his laughter to himself
and covered a smile behind his hand. In all the time he’d known
Thornton, in all the missions they’d been on together, he’d never
seen him in any state other than controlled.

There was a lot of power in the room
carved deep into the cavern behind the falls. The stones were damp
and the sound of the falls was muffled by them, though a small
stream trickled through the cavern. There were twelve chairs set at
the front of the room, facing the others. Wraithe had taken his
place on the end beside a serahn woman he really didn’t know well
at all.

Twelve representatives from the Serahn
shifters, all sitting in human form, were present along with five
representatives of the immortal race, the Nay-Chi. Also in the
cavern was a witch, two of the royals, and two humans, including
Brunai, Thornton’s latest apprentice.

“I’m just not certain this
particular…
mix
—”
Jaylen, one of the serahn, present today dressed in pale blue silk
that matched her long straight hair, barely held her contempt for
the other races. “—represented here is going to serve this
situation. The royals are
our
responsibility. I don’t see the need for the rest
of you.” She folded her arms across her chest.

“That may be, Jaylen, but
the human realm is
our
responsibility. I don’t see how you can possibly object to
our involvement.” Drago, who represented the nay-chi, continued a
dialogue that was already started when Wraithe entered.

“It’s not
your
presence I am
specifically troubled with.” She stared down Kane, who was sitting
in the very back of the room, dressed in his usual suit and tie,
impeccable as always. Then her gaze moved to Ivin, sitting closer
to the front beside Balaja.

“This is Wraithe’s territory, if he’s
comfortable with the other races, I trust his judgment.” Drago was
not one to be argued with. He was simply one of the most powerful
beings in existence, and everyone in that room knew it.

“It’s true, Jaylen. This isn’t our
land anymore.” Bayeen, another of the serahn, with his pale skin
and white hair, tried to reason with her.

“I don’t like it.” She
continued.

“I just think we have far greater
concerns right now.” Drago pushed. “What we know for certain in
this moment, is that five of the royal princesses disappeared from
this realm last night.”

“Six.” A voice came from the cavern
entrance.

Wraithe turned to see Rigo enter the
room with two women. Relief swept through him. His brother was more
than capable of taking care of himself, but being one of only three
of their kind marked and gifted with shifting abilities constantly
put him in danger. For whatever reason, his world just sat better
when his brother was nearby and safe.

“Six?” Drago questioned
him.

As Rigo walked further into the space,
the two women stepped up behind him.

“Late yesterday I sensed a shift
between the realms. It led me to an arboretum in Tanzania where I
found two roahn-ami attacking two women.”

There was a ripple of nervous energy
that sailed through the room, but no one spoke or questioned
him.

“Hayden and I were able to save one of
the women.” He turned and gestured to a petite Asian woman beside
him wearing a long flowing gown. “This is Fa Zhen. We believe the
other woman was Ella Cornwall. Though we cannot be certain and we
have no idea why both women were at the same place at the same
time.”

“Zhen, it’s good to see you.” Drago
walked over to her and exchanged a deep hug. “I’m glad you are
safe.”

“I cut off its hand.” She spoke
softly, almost as if she were ashamed of what she’d done, then
tipped her gaze to the floor.

“You’ve learned well.” Drago led her
to the front of the room and showed her a seat near Bala and
Luxe.

As he did, Rigo and Hayden stepped to
the front also. She briefly acknowledged her people, then began to
speak.

“We all know there’s only one reason a
roahn-ami makes an appearance. I think we can assume the
disappearance of all of our royals was at their hand.”

Drago came back to the front and
addressed the delegates.

“I’ve been monitoring things from the
Key for months now. We all know that the humans, unbeknownst to
them, have been aiding the shift to the dark. I think this recent
event is proof we are in dire times. The prophecy speaks that only
these seven royals can unite the Dark Marrow and bring peace and
balance to the light and the dark within the realm. My best guess
is someone, or something, within the Marrow is trying to seal the
darkness.”

“I agree. However—” Bayeen
stood, his slow movement and length of his hair showing his age.
“—we all know there are
three
failsafe prophecies. The Marrow being restored is
the
second
.”

Chatter sounded within the room.
Wraithe watched as brave warriors and spiritual masters alike, all
voiced the one thing no one understood. What happened to the first
prophecy?

“It is true that we should have seen
two great kingdoms rise to legend here in the human realms first.
Two kingdoms by two men, closer than brothers, their kingdoms would
rival one another and betrayal would darken their union, separating
the kingdoms one from another.” Bayeen continued, shaking his
finger at the gallery of faces before him.

“Bayeen, we all know the
prophecy. The only thing I can point to is that the human realm
scarcely uses monarchies in this day and age, so this
prophecy
must
have fulfilled itself at some other point in history and for
whatever reason, we all failed to see it.” Drago seemed dismissive
as he spoke of this key piece of information.

It was a dire thing to have missed.
These three prophecies were the core of both the nay-chi and
serahn’s existence.

“How could we possibly
have simply
missed
such a huge event? One that we were
all
looking for!” Another of the
serahn spoke up from the room, unsettling everyone.

“We aren’t here to discuss
the prophecies!” Drago’s voice bellowed. “We are here to save these
women first and foremost. We all know the fate of someone taken by
the roahn-ami.
If
there is even anything to be done, we don’t have much time.
Certainly there is no time for
this
argument, again.”

Wraith watched Zhen shiver. Bala
reached over and took her hand, clutching it in both of her own.
Luxe, Bala’s mate and true royal from the Marrow, sat beside her
looking as if he were ready to draw a sword and simply deal with
all of this in his own way.

The tensions were rising and he wasn’t
sure how long Drago would be able to hold them all in control. The
nay-chi would always respect his leadership, but the nay-chi were
honestly quite outnumbered in today’s gathering.

“When the Marrow fell, it was decided
that the royal seven would take refuge here in the human realms. It
was assumed they’d be safe, but it seems they’ve been found.” Yet
another serahn in the room voiced her thoughts.

Things were rapidly headed towards
unrest when Jaylen stood and raised both her arms.

“Quiet. We are the serahn, and it is
our place to bring peace to all things.” She turned to Drago. She
seemed calmer than before, but there was grave distrust in her
expression. “Though it is the responsibility of the serahn to
protect the royals, if the Marrow goes permanently dark, the human
realm will follow. So I do understand the concern of the nay-chi
here.”

“I’m glad you agree, Jaylen” Drago
looked out to the whole room. “Therefore it benefits us all to work
together on this and find those princesses.”

For the most part, the serahn and the
nay-chi were allies, but Wraithe had been watching the room as
everyone expressed their opinions, and they could very possibly
take Drago’s mere presence here as a show of dominance, or even
aggression.

“Are you offering your help, Drago? Or
are you asserting leadership here?” Annaia, lead counsel for the
serahn, had been sitting as quietly as Wraithe himself. She now
stood and spoke softly.

Where the nay-chi were primarily a
warrior culture with a deep spiritual undercurrent, the serahn were
their exact opposite. Many of both sects believed the creator had
designed them to complete one another, but that had never proven
true. In truth, the peace between the two races was tentative at
the best of times, the serahn always accusing the nay-chi of being
too brutal, while the nay-chi thought the serahn too passive.
Wraithe could not fathom how they would come together over
this.

“Annaia, you know as well as I do that
we must work together here.” Drago asserted himself
carefully.

“I don’t know that. I’ve
listened to all the arguments made, but the royals are under
our
protection, though I
recognize the efforts of the nay-chi since they’ve been in this
realm. Still, this was an attack against us as much as the royals
and the Marrow itself. You don’t really fit into this at all, and
the humans...
really
. If not for Rodrigo being there when this happened, your
people may not even know of this event.”

A rumble of sounds swept the room.
Drago laughed outright.

“Annaia, are you serious?”
He looked at her a bit incredulously. “An event like this is being
felt in every species and race on this planet, and I’d guess in
several other realms as well. And yes, of course I’m
offering
our help, if
that’s how you wish to look at it. But let’s at least be honest
here in this room. If the dark is moving, it’s not going to stop
here. Many of my kind are spread out across the realms. All of
their safety would be in jeopardy. If Earth falls, as the Marrow
did, there will be no stopping the dark from taking
everything.
We have to
restore the royals to their thrones and take back the Marrow,
otherwise…”

The sound of mumbling rose again in
the room. Wraithe looked at Rigo, catching his stare. They silently
shared the fear everyone in that room was feeling.

“We cannot let this proceed to the
need for the seven suns.” Drago stated plainly.

Annaia tipped her chin
defiantly.

“The last I checked, this planet had
not been invaded by the Vraigor, so I think your concerns
are…”

“Annaia
.” Drago shook his head and ran his hand over the scruff of
hair on his chin. “You can’t be serious. We all know that
invasion,
if
it
happens, will come from nowhere. So what’s really going on with
you? Why are you so resistant to working together here?”

She moved closer to him, her long ice
blonde hair held in a braid, her long gown of greens and blues
flowing behind her like water.

“I think you know why.” She spoke
softly, but Wraithe was reasonably certain the entire room heard
her.

“No. I honestly don’t.” He looked at
her blankly.

She growled softly then drew a shallow
breath.

“One of your kind already attacked the
roahn-ami during this battle, wounding them, from what I’m
told.”

“Killing them would have been better.”
Rigo broke in.

“This is what I’m talking
about.” Annaia extended her arm towards Rigo. “You know the nay-chi
and the serahn always hit a wall when we try and work together. I
will not tolerate violence. This is
our
territory. The royals are
ours
to protect.” She
insisted.