The Legacy: A Custodes Noctis Book (30 page)

“Probably, but he does have the hots for Sarah. She comes on about now, and she and Becci work together for awhile.” Galen looked away. “You have to go, Rob.”

“What?”

“You have to go, It’s coming for us again. For me. You have to go. If this is the Legacy…”

“It is, Galen, I’m sure of that.”

“Then you have to go, Rob, you have to. We can’t be the two that bring that thing back, let It walk again.”

“We already are.”

“No, no, you have to go.”

“You know I can’t, Galen. I appreciate the offer, but you know I can’t.” Rob smiled. “I did suspect you’d try and send me away, once I knew you were alive.”

“Gods, Rob.” Galen sighed, suddenly understanding. “You…the Ritual of Swords.  You forced it. You knew.”

Rob shrugged. “I thought you might try and send me away, once the euphoria passed. I have no intention of going, Galen, sorry. We needed to perform the ritual anyway. It was time.” He laughed. “Actually, well past time.”

“We can break the ritual.”

“Do you think you can…? Galen…” Rob looked at him. “It’s too late, anyway.”

“No, you can go.” Galen grabbed Rob’s arm, his brother tried to pull away, but it was too late for that, too. He stopped and looked at Rob in horror. “What did you do?”

“It has to be in both of us, Galen.”

“No, Rob, no. If this is the Legacy…”

“It is, that’s what I’m telling you, this is the Legacy. I thought it was, I’ve thought that for years. What I remembered, what happened, what…” He sighed.

“But it can’t be us, we can’t be the ones that free that thing…”

“It was mistranslated, somewhere along the line the saga became corrupted.”

“Someone’s corrupt?” Flash said, coming back in. “Sweet. I love corruption.” He put three coffees down on the counter. “You both look like you need more. I had Sarah make them with an extra shot in each.”

“Is that my usual with an extra shot or your usual with an extra shot?” Galen asked.

“What?” Rob said, sniffing the coffee.

“I like my coffee a little stronger than Galen,” Flash said, slapping Galen on the back. Galen stumbled. Flash and Rob grabbed his arms and led him to the stool. “What’s going on?” Flash asked, frowning with concern.

“I’m okay,” Galen grumbled.

“Right, okay, uh huh.” Flash picked up his coffee. “You believe he’s okay?”

“No, not at all,” Rob said. He handed Galen a coffee and looked at him.

“Rob,” Galen sighed, and took a sip of his coffee. “How many shots are in here, Flash?”

“Oh, I don’t know, eight or nine probably.” He shrugged. “It’s good for you. It’ll put hair on your chest.”

“It’ll put hair on my tongue.”

“That too.” Flash grinned. He looked from one to the other. “I’m glad you’re here, kid.”

“Why?” Rob asked, sipping his coffee and making a face. “Yikes.”

“I’ve been worried,” Flash said, dragging a stool out of the back and sitting down.

“Worried?” Galen looked at Flash. “About what?”

Flash frowned. “Well…”

“This isn’t one of your ‘I’m worried about you because you aren’t partying’ things, is it, Flash?”

“Let him talk, Galen,” Rob said quietly. Galen glanced at his brother. Rob was watching Flash’s face with the unfocused look that meant he was using the Sight.

“I’ve had this funny feeling lately, and this guy was hanging around your shop—once in the morning and once at night. Then that thing with your chest the other day. I know it gets bad around this time of year, but you’ve never been so bad I had to fetch the meds for you.” He paused. “And I, uh…”

“Are you blushing?” Galen chuckled.

“Probably. I had a friend do a reading, you know.”

“Tarot?” Rob asked.

Flash shook his head. “No, she uses Runes. It was a little vague.”

“Runes usually are.”

“But it was something along the lines of death and destruction and end of the world stuff.”

“I told you that strip club would be the end of you.” Galen tried laughing. His brother and his friend frowned at him.

“The reading was for Galen, wasn’t it, Flash?” Rob said, looking at Flash.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to think of a way to bring it up, without sounding crazier than usual.”

“Flash?” Galen asked, looking at his friend with surprise.

“Sorry, man, I…” Flash shrugged. “Then the brother is here? I’m worried. I talked to Mike and Rhiannon, too.”

“You’ve all been keeping an eye on me. Damn.” Galen stood, steadied himself on the shelf for a minute and paced away. He sighed, it was hard to make a dramatic exit when you had to wait for the world to stop spinning.
 
He walked behind the curtains at the back of the shop and sat down at the table. Galen could hear Rob and Flash talking, their voices low, intense. A minute later Rob came back.

“Flash is going to keep an eye on the shop so we can talk.”

“Rob, I don’t want to talk. We’ve talked enough. I…” Galen put his head in his hand. “Coming back from the dead was a mistake. I should have healed you and left like before.”

“You said the block shattered before you healed me.”

“It did. I couldn’t stop it. I’m not sure why.”

“I might know why.”

“You said that before, Rob. What? And why, damn it, Rob, why?”

“Why did I say it?” Rob looked at him.

“No, why did you…how did you?”

“Oh.” Rob looked away, staring out the window on the door. “It has to be in both of us, Galen. You said that. I didn’t know, not until now. I knew you wouldn’t…”

“Let you take part of that thing into yourself? You’re right.” Galen could feel anger simmering, threatening to boil over. “You act like you had this all planned out, but until I touched the girl, It wasn’t in me, not like now. It’s been a little worse since Dad and Bobby died, when It came for me that time.”

“Galen,” Rob took a deep breath. “I don’t think It came for you, not that night. I’m pretty sure it thought you were dead until that moment.”

“What?” Galen asked, aghast, five years of guilt pressing against his heart.

“It wanted Keepers of the Emrys line, Galen. As far as It knew there were only two left.”

“Dad and Bobby,” Galen whispered. “It came for them.”

“I think so. It fits with what I’ve uncovered.”  Rob looked at him. “After hearing what happened to you ten years ago, knowing what happened to me. Yes, Galen. It came for them, not you.”

“I thought…It was our birthday…”

“It was their birthday, too,” Rob said gently. “It wasn’t expecting to find you, It wanted them, hoping they might be enough to let It walk.”

“You say that like you don’t think it would’ve worked.”

“I don’t think it would, it’s what I was telling you, about the Legacy.”

“We can’t be that pair of Keepers, Rob, we can’t. It can’t be us that frees that thing…”

“From the prison the first Keeper, the first Emrys, trapped It in?” Rob shook his head. “I’ve wondered how Dad and Bobby missed that. The sagas say It was imprisoned in a lesser demon, possibly a wood hag. Until last night I thought they hadn’t known, but they did, they suspected even before the second ritual, when you blocked Dad’s healing.”

“Suspected?”

“That it would be you and I…”

“No, Rob.” Galen was shaking his head, trying to deny it, terrified his brother was right.

“They were right, but Galen, they were wrong, too,” Rob said, meeting his eyes.

“They shouldn’t have brought me back, they should have left me dead.”

“That’s not it. They should have let it happen, let the Legacy begin.”

“We can’t be the two that release that thing, Rob,” Galen insisted.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, we already are.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was set into motion then, Galen, ten years ago. We have to finish it, the Legacy.” Rob sighed. “We, you and I, have to finish it.”

“Rob?” Galen asked, letting his hand rest on his brother’s arm so he would know the truth.

“Galen?”

“Is that why you’re here? Now?”

“Yes,” Rob said quietly.

“You said you were here because of a call from a friend.”

Rob shrugged. “He did call.”

“You said he told you to come.”

Another shrug and a wry smile. “I lied.”

Silence stretched between them for a long moment. Galen looked at Rob, fighting a growing wave of panic. He could sense his brother’s calm certainty, his determination. Galen pushed himself up from the table and walked to look out the back window.

“Galen?” Rob asked.

“Rob,” Galen began. He sighed, shaking his head. Something dark flitted at the edge of his vision. He turned his head to look, but nothing was in the parking lot but their two jeeps. “Why are you here?”

“Galen…”

“Why?” he asked again, aware of the first hint of simmering anger bubbling in his chest.

“The Legacy,” Rob said quietly.

“What?”

“I’m here to fulfill the Legacy, Galen. It’s why I…”

“What?” Galen whispered, the anger boiling over. He turned to face his brother. “You’re here to do what?”

“Galen…”

“I died to stop that. You know I hated Dad at first for saving me? I was so terrified that I was the one who’d let that thing loose on the world again. I tried to die again, but Dad blocked that too, like he blocked our bond. I couldn’t…I tried…I didn’t want to become…” Galen stopped, the anger pressing against his chest. “Dreading what would happen, and then losing Dad and Uncle Bobby. To stop the Legacy from happening. Denying what I was, who I was supposed to be. Ten years, Rob, ten. With that ache of the broken bond throbbing in my chest every damn day. And now you’re back and you want to let that all happen? Make everything I did…” He picked up a jar from the shelf and threw it against the wall, watching as it shattered. 

The scar was suddenly awake, twisting in his chest, the thing resting near his heart purring with joy as his rage reached It. Galen closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his chest.

“Soon, soon, my Emrys Keeper. Soon we will walk together,” the voice whispered. “We will Become. See, see who we are.” The vision unraveled, pictures playing in his mind like a slowly unfolding horror film.
Rob lashed to a stone altar, covered in blood, something dark hovering over his body. Galen saw that it was himself there with blood on his hands. The vision shifted, something ripped through Galen’s chest, out of his body, exploding into the night, a shadow rising above them both, roaring jubilant defiance.
“No,” he groaned. “Never.”
Black fire was consuming him, burning him away.

“Galen,” a soft voice said, breaking through the vision. Something that felt like the gentle drops of a spring rain washed over him, slowly dousing the fire. “Galen?” The soft voice silenced the other that was screaming with glee, driving the vision forward. “Trust me.” The vision was pulled away. “Galen?”

“Oh, gods,” Galen groaned. Awareness was replacing the black-tinged vision, the horror slowly retreating. A warm hand was resting against his forehead, another on his back. He leaned into the support. “We can’t stop it, can we?”

“We don’t want to,” Rob said gently. Galen opened his eyes. He was crouched on the floor, Rob kneeling beside him. Rob eased Galen into a sitting position, guiding him back to rest against the wall. Galen watched as his brother got a bottle of water out of the small fridge, then sat down beside him. “You always drank sparkling water,” Rob said with a smile as he opened the bottle, waiting as the bubbles settled before handing it to Galen.

“Thanks. What happened?”

“When you lost your temper, It found an opening, I knew it was only a matter of time, I was hoping what I did would last a little longer,” Rob said with a grimace. “Sorry.”

“What you did?” Galen looked at his brother. “When you took part of It into yourself?”

“Yes.” Rob met his eyes. “Galen, we have to talk.”

Galen shook his head. “Why, Rob?”

“We have to,” his brother said simply.

“What? No, it can’t be us, we can’t be the two…”

“We always have been, Galen. I think Uncle Bobby was beginning to figure that out.”

“He was always obsessed with the Legacy. I remember grandfather getting into an argument with Bobby when I was nine. Bobby insisted he’d see the Legacy come to fruition in his lifetime.”

“He knew, I think, when you blocked Dad’s healing. You shouldn’t have been able to do that.” Rob nudged Galen with his shoulder. “The problem was the saga, the translation was corrupted.”

“No.” Galen shook his head. “What do you mean? About the saga?”

“Finally heard that?” Rob chuckled.

“What?”

“I said it twice.” Rob smiled at him.

“But what do you mean? I thought it was pretty clear. ‘The Saga of Emrys’, it tells of the birth of the Keepers, then the Legacy, how the first of the Emrys line imprisoned the thing and how a pair of future Keepers will let It free and It will walk to rule again. After a time of darkness another pair will banish It forever.”

“Right. Only the translation’s wrong,” Rob said, excitement sparkling in his eyes and flowing off of him in waves.

“How can it be wrong?” Galen shook his head. “You’d think if it was wrong, someone would’ve noticed.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I think it was so accepted as truth, no one wanted to question it.”

“But you did?” Galen asked skeptically.

“I told you about my studies, the sagas of Northern Europe? I’m writing my thesis on the Emrys Saga, so I’ve been following it through the source material, all the way back to the first time it was written down.”

“And?” Galen couldn’t help smiling at Rob’s enthusiasm.

“I found an error, in the text about the future Keepers who release the thing and then the pair that banish It. It’s always been assumed that it was two different sets of Keepers, the word used in the original saga is related to a variant of an older tongue that…” Rob trailed off with a sheepish grin. “You probably don’t need to know all that. What I’m trying to say is the word in its original form didn’t mean two different sets of Keepers, it meant the same two at different times.”

“No, Rob, no. It clearly states that after the first pair dies, the other arise to banish It.” Galen saw his brother open his mouth to reply, but plowed on. “And the second pair, Rob, they’re different. They have…”

“Powers not seen since the first Keepers? Not used in millennia. Yeah, I know. I think Uncle Bobby was…”

“No, it clearly states…”

“That the first pair dies?” Rob was grinning at him. “I know that.”

“Then how?”

“We both have, Galen. Well, it’s on a technicality, but we both have.”

“I don’t think the accident and your heart stopping for thirty-nine seconds really counts as dying, Rob.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Rob said, the smile gone from his face.

“Rob? I’d have known.”

“No, you wouldn’t, Galen.” Rob laid a hand on Galen’s arm. “You were wrong, you know,” he said gently.

Galen’s heart was pounding. “How?”

“The bond was too strong.”

“Rob?” Tears were suddenly pooling in his eyes as his heart labored against a tight band of pain.

“It’s how it’s always been, Galen, for
Custodes Noctis
, from the first Emrys to all the other families, until today.”

Galen was shaking his head, trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. “Rob?” he repeated.

“I always knew it would happen. I’d seen it when I was about six. It why I knew we’d never be Keepers together. I was ready, that’s why…” Rob paused. “I managed to hold on long enough to help you. I had a hold of your hand so tight it hurt. Then there was this flash of pain and nothing but this shimmering black lake and a song. I remember being sad when I left the lake, when Dad brought me back. There was this emptiness, this silence, where you’d been before, so I knew you were dead.” He smiled. “I’m glad I was wrong.”

“But if you knew I was dead, Rob, why are you here? How could we have been the pair? How could we…?”

“I summoned you,” Rob said with a shrug.

“What?”

“The early Keepers, according to the sagas, could raise an army of former Keepers of their line. I found a text that had the spell. That’s why the block shattered when you saw me. I’d summoned you, and you couldn’t block me anymore.”

“What? What kind of magic were you playing with, Rob?”

“I summoned you. I don’t have quite the power to…” He stopped and looked at Galen. “The spell calls the Keeper back. The line from the formal farewell? ‘Until you are called to serve again’? They meant that literally. So I called you back. Once the spell was finished—well, I was sure I’d done it wrong. You hadn’t appeared. That’s when my friend called and said I needed to come here. He knew about the spell, he helped, but I’m sure the summoning broke the block, you had to be ‘visible’ to me.”

“He helped? What?” 

“I had the text of the spell, but that was all. It was missing some of the information I needed to complete the spell. So I called him. He helped me control the Sight, remember? And he knows about the vision. He thought we could find the answer in the past. All we had to do was access it. So, he guided me.”

“Guided you? How?” Galen frowned.

“The way shamans always do, a combination of things.” Rob stopped for a minute.

 “Do you have any idea how dangerous…?”

Rob shrugged. “Had to be done.”

“Rob, people go insane…the drugs…”

“It’s over, Galen, scolding me about it now won’t stop me.” He laughed softly, then sobered. “But we found the answer there, in the past. He’d written it down, but I didn’t need that. It was part of me. So, I went home and waited for the right time. And I summoned you.”

Galen sighed and looked at his brother. “No, Rob, it can’t be us. The Keepers who banish It, they’re different.”

“And you think we aren’t? That’s what Bobby realized, Galen.”

“What?”

“My Sight is different than other Keepers. I talked to Uncle Bobby about it, and I talked to another Keeper. That’s why I went to the witch and shaman. I can ‘see’ like other Keepers with the Gift, but I can also ‘see’ other things, including visions of the future and the past.” Rob paused. “In the past, so the sagas say, both brothers could heal. The elder had the Gift to use on everyone, the younger had a lesser Gift, mostly designed for his brother, but it does work on other people, although only for little things. And as you know, I can heal a little.”

“So, you’re special, Rob.”

“Galen,” his brother sighed with exasperation. “I have been trying to tell you…”

“No.”

“You have power, Galen, real power. Not like anyone else I’ve ever seen. Not Dad, not other Keepers. You used the healing as a weapon. That was once part of the Gift, but deemed too dangerous and so it was suppressed. You have visions, you can ‘see’ a little, even though you deny it. I told you, this shop has the funny shine of real magic, Galen. You. Not Dad, not grandfather, you.”

Rob shook him. “Do you think just anyone could make a spell to control that thing? Do you honestly think just anyone can block an experienced healer? And do you think Dad was the one who blocked our bond? He couldn’t Galen, it was you. All along, it was you.” Rob looked at him, meeting his eyes. “And think about it, we performed the Ritual of Swords.”

“Yeah?” Galen looked at Rob, trying to absorb what this brother was saying.

“Without the Elder Keepers, Galen.”

“Yeah?” Galen said again. “We did, oh gods, I hadn’t…”

“Do you know the last time that happened? That a pair of Keepers performed the Ritual without the others there to guide the release? To help channel the power?”

“Rob, it can’t be…”

“The First Emrys, Galen. That was the last time.”

“No.”

“Do you think by saying that you can change all this, Galen? I told you, we already are the Keepers of the Legacy. This is all part of the Legacy. It began ten years ago, it ends now.”

“Rob…” Galen stopped. “No, it can’t be, I’ve spent how long denying it?”

“It’s true,’ Rob smiled. “Bobby knew, I think.”

“Dad did, too,” Galen said with sudden certainty. “He tried to tell me the night he died.”

“It wasn’t time yet.”

“It is now?”

“Yes.”

“We can’t let It become, Rob.”

“We have to, it’s the only way to banish It.”

“But Rob, I saw…” Galen tried to convince his brother.

“I know, I’ve seen it too. It has to happen so we can banish it.”

“So what do we do?”

Rob smiled. “I was thinking we could start by raising an army.”

Chapter Eighteen

The bell in the shop rang as someone came in, Galen heard Flash’s deep voice answering questions. He leaned against the wall, looking at Rob in disbelief. “You’re going to raise an army?”

“No,” Rob answered.

“But you just said…”

“You’re going to raise the army, Galen. I can help, but you’re the one who has to do it.”

“No.” Galen shook his head.

Rob put his hand on Galen’s shoulder and gave him a little shake. “Yes, Galen, you are.”

“Rob, I can’t.”

“You can, do we have to start this conversation again?” Rob smiled.

Galen smiled at his brother. “What?” he asked as Flash stuck his head through the doorway.

“Do you have monk’s hood?”

“Yeah, it’s behind the counter, labeled Wolf’s Bane,
Aconitum Napellus
.” Galen started to push himself up. “Maybe I should help.”

“Maybe you should sit your ass back down,” Flash said with a frown. “I can help. And I know all the ones with the skull and crossbones are poison.” He disappeared back into the shop.

“He likes playing in the shop.” Galen grinned at Rob.

“He was enthusiastic when I asked if he’d watch it while we talked. Galen, we need to be ready. This is happening tonight.”

“Give me a minute, Rob. I’ve spent the last ten years trying to avoid the Legacy.”

“I know.” Rob stood and offered Galen his hand. Galen let Rob haul him to his feet, then followed him out into the shop. “We need a few things for the ritual.” Rob wandered behind the counter and started collecting things. Flash finished ringing up the customer, escorted her to the door and came back to stand beside Galen as he watched Rob.

“What’s he doing?” Flash asked.

“Apparently he’s planning on starting an apocalypse,” Galen said with an uncertain chuckle.

“What?” Flash gasped. “Galen, can I talk to you?” He tugged on Galen’s arm.

Rob turned and smiled. “Why don’t you get some coffee? I’ll watch the shop till you get back.”

Flash nearly ran towards the door, and, after a quick smile at Rob, Galen followed. Flash yanked the door open and pulled Galen outside. “He’s doing what?”

“I was a little glib, Flash.”

“I told you about the reading, Galen. End of the world stuff, and you were right in the middle of it.” Flash looked back at the shop. Rob was standing behind the counter watching them. “Is he okay? I mean, he’s your brother and all, but Galen is he okay?”

“I thought… He’s okay, Flash.”

“How can you be sure?”

Galen smiled. “How the hell do you think?”

“Because he’s your brother? Not good enough.” Flash looked at him. “Galen, you haven’t seem him for how long? And he shows up on the anniversary of your Dad’s death? How can you trust him?”

“I can, and not just because he’s my brother, it goes with the Gift.” Galen paused for a minute, a sliver of doubt creeping into his brain.
What if I’m wrong? What if It’s doing something to Rob and I can’t…

“What?”

“What what?”

“You were thinking about something, Galen. I saw it.” Flash shook his arm. “What’s going on?”

“I wish I could explain, Flash. It would take too long. Later, okay? Rob and I need to perform a ritual…”

“Magic? In the shape you’re in? Galen…” Flash frowned. “I remember…”

“It won’t be like that, Rob’s here to back me up,” Galen said softly, the incident Flash mentioned suddenly playing in his head. “Rob’s here. It won’t be like that.” He wondered if he was trying to convince his friend or himself.