A Guardian of Shadows (Revenant Wyrd Book 4) (35 page)

It was something Cianna already knew, but at the same time, having never been around angels, and being raised with humans, made her feel like angels were something from stories, not anything an actual person saw, let alone
was
.

“I'm an angel,” Cianna said. It didn't really sound right on her lips. She shook her head. She
knew
this. Why was it so hard to accept it?

“But there's more,” Brigit said. “To each necromancer information is granted about some mystery in their life. So I want to tell you a story, the true story of the darkness rising in the west, and how your father died.”

So Mama Brigit began to speak, and as she talked Cianna's eyes grew wider and wider in disbelief.

That night she slept, and in the morning when she woke, it was to the constant buzz of other voices and other memories in her head. She started off again for Bahagresh, and during the two days it took her to traverse the path back to the capital city of the Realm of Fire, she came to control the voices and memories so they were little more than background thoughts that she could review when she wanted, but not something that disrupted her daily activity.

Azra welcomed her as an old friend, and sent her by rojo to the Desert of the Trostly’n.

“You're back!” Flora hugged her as she stepped from the cellar and into the protected desert. Around her colorful tents and joyful voices rose toward the red-domed wyrded barrier around them. The barrier didn’t stop the wind or sand from blowing through the tents, but it did give an odd sense of bended space around her. Cianna looked up and watched clouds pass overhead, magnified at the apex of the bubble, as if she were in a glass globe. As they passed to the west they became smaller and smaller, fading out of sight as they seemed to slip over the western edge of the sphere, toward the earth.

Cianna nodded.

“The others will be so happy to see you,” Flora said.

“I can't stay. I have to head to the Guardian's Keep. They need me there,” Cianna told her, returning the old lady’s hug.

“Right. We’ve been waiting for you, and we’re prepared to go with you, if the offer still stands,” Flora said.

“It does,” Cianna agreed.

In the morning the rojo was activated with the Guardian's Keep in the Realm of Earth in mind.

The Guardian's Keep rose majestically on the horizon that night as they stopped to make camp. Angelica could see it, perched at the base of the Barrier Mountains and rising up along the face of the mountain like a bird perched on the side of a tree. It was made of steel, that much she remembered from classes with Grace, but from where she stood Angelica could tell that the craftsmanship of the chaos dwarves who built it made it more a work of art than a lumbering metal monstrosity.

Towers and parapets glowed warmly in the setting sun, and even from their distance she could see the sun glittering happily off the windows. It belied the chill of the evening.

The air was oddly warm for the time of year, given their location in the far north. But that didn’t make it pleasurable by any means. The warmth of the air melted snow, making it mushy and slushy beneath their feet, and made sleeping nearly impossible. All of the wet atmosphere only allowed what cold still clung to the air to sink into their bones.

Angelica shivered and turned back to camp, tightening the hold on her cloak.

“We’ll be there tomorrow,” Grace said, glancing up from where she leaned over Jovian’s face, checking his wound and Joya’s work. She nodded approvingly, even if her face was knitted with concern for Jovian. “It will be so nice to see my sisters once more.”

There was a note in her voice that said that at more than one point on their voyage she hadn't expected to see any of her loved ones again.

Rosalee handed Grace a mug of liquor they had procured from a burned-out town, and took the rabbit from her that Jovian had previously hunted and cleaned. Huddled in her fur cloak, Rosalee impaled the rabbit and set it to roasting over the fire.

“It will be nice to be out of this weather,” Rosalee said.

“My warming wyrd isn't enough for you?” Dalah asked, completing her circle around the camp. When the two ends of the circle met, the air warmed markedly.

“It's nothing like a warm bed and a nice fire to make one feel at home, even if home is so far away,” Rosalee said.

Angelica came to rest on a log beside Grace, and the old lady wrapped her in a motherly embrace. There was thanks in that embrace — Grace owed her life to Angelica and Jovian, and she showed it in her actions toward them, even if her stubbornness would never allow her to voice her gratitude.

In the morning they made haste in clearing their campsite, and were on their way as the sun rose over the mountains in the east. When evening came it was with their feet landing their first steps on the path up the mountain and to the gates of the keep.

Grace was recognized, and with a jovial shout, the guard opened the gates to let them through.

Inside Angelica saw several smaller buildings gathered around the main road. Other streets led back to more and more buildings that were coming to life slowly. They looked like they were preparing for something, or was this was a small village at the base of the keep? Angelica didn't think that was right. This was a military forming against a threat.

Suddenly the thought of safety seemed farther from her than the warm greeting she had wanted.

The way Grace spoke to people as they passed made Angelica feel slightly uncomfortable, like she was among strangers who shouldn't be strangers because they had a mutual friend. She would smile and nod sheepishly as they went.

As they rounded a corner and the full sight of the keep came into view, all thoughts of discomfort fled from her mind. The splendor of the keep from far away was nothing when they were up close.

Standing at the base of it, the keep seemed to stretch up into eternity, each level climbing higher and resting further back as it clung to the side of the mountain. Stained glass windows added to the spectacle just as the knotwork carving around windows and doors did.

Here and there she could see doors that in warmer weather would open upon balconies, but now that winter had set in, they were shut tight against the cold, and heavy drapes had been drawn across them.

There was a smaller courtyard, which stood open to the path. Grace strode through like she owned the place, and she waved to a smaller, short-haired woman who was just then walking from the large door of the keep.

“Mag, so nice to see you,” Grace said in greeting. The woman named Mag smiled and bowed to Grace. They started talking, but Rose pushed past, eager to be in the warmth of the keep. The rest of them followed her, leaving Grace to her visitations.

To the left of the doors was a stairway that disappeared around a bend to the right. Another stairway ascended out of sight to the right. Before them was a large sitting room with various doors off the side.

Angelica stepped into the warmth offered by the entrance hall and looked around at the vaulted ceilings painted with scenes of epic angelic battles. The black and white floor was polished to enough of a shine to reflect the paintings above.

She feared to speak, because the entrance hall was so quiet she thought for sure she would disturb someone.

“So this is the Guardian's Keep,” Joya said. Angelica waited for her sister's voice to echo back at them, but it didn't. She relaxed.

Other voices could be heard, coming from a distance but getting closer.

Angelica and Jovian stepped out of the way, thinking someone was about to come through the front door. Angelica scowled at the muddy snow they had tracked in, but then went back to studying the paintings on the wall.

The voices came near, and when a door in the hallway opened up, Angelica yelped.

A dark-haired girl who looked startlingly like Joya stepped through the door.

“Oh, the entrance hall. I don't know why I never knew there was a rojo in the basement…” her voice trailed off as she saw Angelica and her group.

At the sight of Cianna, that second presence slipped through Angelica and Jovian's minds, and memories welled to the surface. Images of their Aunt Pharoh while in life. They knew from seeing their aunt, projected from the medallion, and before, when they called her Aramaiti, that this was her daughter, Cianna, their necromancer cousin.

Cianna was taller than Angelica had expected, with curly dark hair and dark eyes. Her clothes looked as though they had seen better days, and her skin was flushed bright red as if she had a sunburn. At her waist was a rapier, and on her back was a crossbow.

“Cianna,” Rosalee said, crossing to the lady and wrapping her in her arms.

Grace chose that moment to join them, a blustery cold wind announcing her presence at their back. The door thumped shut, pulling Angelica and Jovian from their shared memories of a time before they were born.

“Joya!” Cianna said. She gathered the Shadow Guardian into her arms and hugged her. Joya returned the embrace woodenly, an awkward look passing over her face at hugging someone she didn’t know. “I've heard so much of you, and everyone says we look so much alike!”

“Because you do,” Grace said, and was rewarded with a hug from Cianna.

“Dear Goddess,” Angelica said. “You look just like your mother.”

“And you two must be Angelica and Jovian,” Cianna said. She hugged them both in turn. It felt so good to Angelica to be wrapped in the arms of family she had never met, almost like there was hope for tomorrow. Even if there was no going back to family long dead, there was still family she didn't know to surround herself with.

Despite her haggard-looking clothes, Cianna smelled pleasantly of citrus. And even though Angelica knew Cianna was a necromancer, her energy was oddly welcoming.

Cianna hugged Jovian, and Angelica looked around at the people that came with Cianna, a grouping of people that appeared almost as strange as her own gathering.

“And Aunt Sylvie,” Cianna said, stepping back and looking deep into Angelica and Jovian's eyes. “It is so good to see you again!”

The second presence inside Angelica and Jovian answered to that name, and rose to the surface. Angelica stumbled, and as the ground tilted beneath her feet, the world went black.

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FLIP THE PAGE FOR A SAMPLE OF BOOK 5: ON WINGS OF CHAOS

The candle flickered, weak and insubstantial against the raging storm outside. Shadows gathered in the corners of the small stone chamber like pools of ink — dalua perhaps, coming to watch the birth of the four children Sylvie LaFaye carried in her belly.

Anakim. Half-breeds. Those beings with angel and human blood mixed, granting them power far beyond that of mere mortals.

Sylvie shivered, pushing aside the thoughts of dalua. Dauin misinterpreted the tremor and grasped her hand tightly, nodding encouragement to her. He was nearly as tired as she was, his blue eyes dull and wreathed in shadows, but she knew there would be more tired nights ahead of him, after she was finally able to rest.