Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) (15 page)

Eyes wide, Kaeleigh gripped her sword as she ran with Daegan.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Exhile

The Realm of the Unforgiven Dead

“I found them,” a female voice with a rugged timbre spoke into the darkness from the center of a circular haze of fog.
She
moved toward the voice with a sultry sway of her hips, darkness flailing behind her as a train of smoke attached itself to the black silk gown that clung to her body like a second skin. Her hair, long, wild, and white as snow, practically glowed as the only thing capable of reflecting the light of the crystal-clear pool that was able to harness her magic to communicate with her servants in other realms. Focusing on the small amount of water that had pooled together, she watched new drips of the deceptively refreshing-looking water squeeze their way through a crevice in the cavernous rock. However, she knew if she were to taste the water its evil acids would tear apart her throat, as she was not of this realm. A handy trick the spirit of her predecessor had quickly taught her. She placed her hands on the edge of rock, cradling the water in a rocky bowl that was waist high, peering into the veil of fog that would not allow her to see to whom she spoke, but only to make contact. That was more than enough for her though.

“And?”
She
didn’t have time for the incompetence of worthless followers.

“And... I am your extension here in this realm. You can do nothing from where you are. Without me, you would not be as far in your plans. A little patience would be appreciated.” The haughty voice bristled.

“Remember your place, Maleina,”
she
spoke with a cold cruel smile as she waited.

Choking sounds coming through the fog gave her the slight satisfaction that her point had been made. “Now, while I do appreciate your ‘extension’ as you referred to yourself, as you can see I am not bound to doing ‘nothing’ from here. In fact, there is quite a bit I
can
do from here. However, I prefer to align myself with subjects such as yourself.”
She
flicked her hair behind her in irritation. “Is there anything else you would like to report on?”

“I have sent guards to ensure the Sol-lumieth makes it to my domain along with a little surprise for her. I will await your instructions... Mistress.”

Empowered by Maleina’s servitude,
she
stood taller. “I will contact you when it is time. It is imperative, the Sol-lumieth does not leave your territory by any means necessary!”
She
swiped her hand through the fog, disintegrating it in closure.

She
did in fact need her minions in Alandria as she was bound to the realm of Exhile until the appointed time when there would be an opening. Unfortunately,
she
had to wait—something she was not accustomed to doing well, but she felt that her plan was foolproof and being executed well enough from where she stood. She had others besides Maleina that she had in play. Her most trusted accomplice, the Droch-Shúil, had yet to report to her. Pacing in the dark cavernous space that was, and had been, her home for some time now there was something agitating her that she couldn’t quite articulate. Everything appeared to be going as planned. As she paced back and forth she walked into her own trail of darkness that was swirling to catch up with her, but instead ended up climbing up her body and sensually surrounding her arms like a lover’s caress.

Abruptly,
she
stopped. Lingering for a moment, allowing the darkness to ease her agitation and feed her soul,
she
breathed it in, absorbing it. Her eyes flashed open with an unearthly fire. The Droch-Shúil, had just sent images, impressions of its most recent encounter with the Sol-lumieth. Her power was growing and their element of surprise had been foiled.

“The Orchids!”
She
released a growl worthy of the Droch-Shúil itself as she left her chamber with dramatic flair, the darkness trailing behind her angry and agitated as a smolder attempting to feast on a damp forest.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Hunter, a pillar of strength draped in ancient wisdom, allowed the concern over the news that Daegan and Kaeleigh had brought to crack his solid and stable demeanor. Fear seeped through, not for himself, but for his world and his granddaughter. He had worked so hard at staying hidden. Perhaps they hadn’t actually found him. Perhaps they weren’t coming to his cottage—it was, after all, cloaked unless something or someone from the inside allowed a tear. Perhaps it was all a coincidence. His gut told him it wasn’t and he always trusted his instincts.

“Who is coming?” Finn whirled on Hunter.

“There are many who do not honor the peace that was already fought for during the ages old battles.
They
believe I stand against their agenda and have been hunting me for quite some time, but it is not me that I believe they are coming for this time,” Hunter responded, nodding toward Kaeleigh.

“We have to go!” Daegan commanded. “We can lead them away from your cottage.”

“If they come for me, let them come. But you need to get her out of here.” He spoke to Daegan calmly, but there was an intense undertone of fear that made what he said a command as he looked pointedly at Kaeleigh.

Kaeleigh whirled on both of them. “No! We are not leaving you! We will stay with you. We can fight.” But even as she said it she could tell they were decided and would not hear her.
But I just found him!
Kaeleigh swallowed the big lump in her throat about to choke her. Barreling through Finn and Chel, who were standing near her, she grabbed Daegan’s arm, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “I will not leave him here unprotected!” she growled.

Daegan weighed what she said then spoke calmly but with a voice that broke through her fear. “This is the time we do what we must. It is
us
they are looking for and it is
us
that will lead them here.” But she knew what he was saying: it was
her
that brought them here and would lead them to her grandfather. It was
her
that had brought this upon him. She couldn’t live with that and Daegan knew that. Glaring at him, she pushed her agitated emotions toward him, knowing he would feel them. Returning her unflinching stare, he sharply nodded, accepting her fury as acceptance.
B@#*$!# warrior! Ugh, I can’t even swear in my own mind here.

Hunter softly placed his hand on her arm, which caught her attention more than if he had yelled at her. As she looked up into his eyes, her heart clenched.
I can’t let him go! I just found him,
she thought. It had been such limited time... just like with her mother. Her heart was breaking all over again. Golden tears began to fall from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and splashing on his hand that still rested on her arm. She didn’t want to go, but she would not be the reason they found him and hauled him off to prison or worse.

“You must go, Kaeleighnna. I can not allow them to take you and use you for their own gain, and if you stay, I’m not sure I can prevent that.” Hunter looked saddened by that admission. It must have cost his pride to say it. “Stay close to your friends. The Orchids of history brought you to me once, they will allow me to find you again.” But his words didn’t hold the conviction of truth behind them, causing a tremor of panic to stir deep inside her. She gripped his hands tight then surprised him by giving him a big bear hug. He held her close and stroked the back of her head. Too soon he let go and pushed her back far enough he could see her eyes. “Find your father, Kaeleighnna, he can help you.”

“But where is he? How do I find him?” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Trust yourself and I believe The Orchids will lend their hand once again,” Hunter said then pushed them out the door to the front of the little cottage. Kaeleigh took one last look at the cottage that she found her first connections of family, and then at Hunter, but she didn’t linger long, afraid she would lose her courage. She simply nodded. Daegan gently grabbed her arm from behind to steer her toward Finn and Chel already almost to the edge of the forest where they would once again be searching for something. She gave Daegan a small smile and went the rest of the way on her own, not looking back until she was almost to the forest’s edge, when she realized Daegan wasn’t right behind her.

Sparing a quick glance back over her shoulder she saw Daegan clasp Hunter’s forearm. They had been close, she remembered; it would hurt Daegan if something happened to Hunter. She took a deep breath and fought back tears that stung her eyes. As she was about to look back toward the spot where Finn and Chel had just disappeared into the dark protection the forest gave them, Daegan did something that shocked Kaeleigh. He kneeled before Hunter, head bowed in reverence. Hunter placed one hand on Daegan’s head and then moved it to his shoulder as the other hand came up holding a short sword, which he placed on Daegan’s other shoulder then moved it to where his hand rested on the opposite shoulder.

It all happened extremely fast, faster than any human could have done it and with the fluidity of a practiced hand. Confused, Kaeleigh started to head into the shelter of the trees when Daegan was suddenly by her side with the slightest smile and a glint in his eyes, until she looked at him and silently questioned him with the raise of her eyebrows. His walls went up faster than she could even blink and dropped the questions lingering on her tongue for another time. One question, however, she did ask. “Will he be all right, Daegan?”

Daegan hesitated a moment before responding, and she appreciated that he wouldn’t give her a quick answer just to reassure her. “I hope so. He is well equipped to protect himself and has the advantage of knowing they are out there.” Pausing, he looked down for a millisecond, which made her feel a rush of anxiety again. “We will just have to hope.” The way he ended it had finality to it that she knew he didn’t want to discuss it again, and that was okay with her because it just made her doubt their decision to leave. However, before completely abandoning it, he gave her an awkward partial look out of the corner of his eye. “I’m glad you got to find him, Kaeleigh. He is respected.” Meaning Daegan respected him.

Kaeleigh smiled and nodded. “Me too.”
All we can do is hope.

They quickly caught up to Chel and Finn, who were waiting for them nervously by the small stream behind the house. “Where to?” Chel asked, trying to sound optimistic as she grabbed Kaeleigh’s arm so that they walked arm in arm for a time. “We’ll find him again,” Chel said quietly in Kaeleigh’s ear as she patted her arm then released her.

Finn remained quiet for a while before he asked Daegan, “So, fearless leader, where are we going?” with a sarcastic tone that either was lost on Daegan or he agreed with the title, which seemed to agitate Finn even more.

Daegan raised an eyebrow then spoke to them all. “We will follow the river east then go north toward the plains as we continue back on our original quest toward Feraánmar.” He was a bit tightlipped with that last part, which made Kaeleigh and all of them take note and question whether they were still on the right path. There was some debate for only a few minutes as they heard the low howling of a wind stirring, telling them they were dawdling too much and had to at least go
somewhere
to find shelter. Daegan took the lead, and even if hesitant, they all followed.

Not much time had passed before they were at the northeastern edge of the forest that edged up to what looked like endless fields of tall grasses of greens and multi browns—it was amazing. Even as tall as the grasses were, though, there was not much for keeping them out of view of anyone looking for them.

Daegan spit out some word in a language Kaeleigh didn’t recognize, but it wasn’t hard to tell a curse word no matter the language.

“We are not going out there for target practice,” growled Finn.

Chel looked around nervously, catching Kaeleigh’s eye as well as Daegan’s as he scanned the forest behind them. Kaeleigh couldn’t sense or hear anything. Cursing her own lack of understanding of her own abilities, she relied on her friend’s instincts.

“What is it, Chel?” Kaeleigh whispered, trusting her friend sensed something as she kept looking back over her shoulders with a paranoid expression.

Finn continued staring out at the field with his hands fisted at his sides, not bothering with what was behind them.

“We are going to have to risk it. We need to get out of here, now!” Daegan whispered urgently even though there was nothing to be seen, which meant nothing.

Kaeleigh gripped the hilt of the sword that had been becoming more a part of her since it first appeared to her back at the caves where they had fought to free Chel. That could be part of Chel’s uneasiness, Kaeleigh realized. She had been abducted from Kaeleigh’s side during a sudden blackout in the forest. It was dark now once again, but at least they had the light from the stars and they had each other. Kaeleigh grabbed her friend’s hand, squeezing; a message that she was not alone. Chel squeezed back, but then let go. “There’s something out there, I can feel it. I can almost hear
them
like an animal but it’s fuzzy and not quite... right,” Chel whispered.

“I feel them too, it’s time to go,” Daegan said as he stepped out of the shelter of the forest and out into the openness of the field. Even though some of the grasses came up to his chest, he was still very visible, but choices were limited.

Kaeleigh and Chel began to step forward, but Finn’s arm flew out, preventing them from taking another step. They looked at him, questioning his move, then back at Daegan, who was waiting for them to join him. “What is it, Finn?” Kaeleigh asked softly.

“If we go out there, we walk right into a trap. The horse riders are not far from here. We risk a great deal,” Finn stated plainly, but with obvious distrust as he looked at no one other than Daegan as he spoke.