Legend of the Touched (33 page)

"When do you want to go, and who are you taking with
you?" Tony asked.

"Jason, obviously," Darien said and looked around the
room. His eyes settled on the Oceina man who was so devoted to the
Inero woman named Navi. "And Chris." He was a fighter, a guardian,
and strong. Most importantly, he fought for love. Darien didn't
know the conditions under which he'd joined Lynx's side, but like
Jason, the man knew right from wrong.

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's it?"

Darien nodded. "Jason needs to come. It's a Touched
thing, and he's Touched. Chris is going to be extra security and we
probably won't need it. The Aero aren't going to hurt us. I'd take
you Lance, but you need to stay back. You're my First Council, so
if hypothetically something does happen, it's your job to figure
things out. Everyone has something they need to do here. We'll be
fine."

"I just wanted to have some fun," Lance said with a
small pout. He was teasing, Darien was sure of it.

"I think you've had more than enough fun with the
Inero," Darien said with a soft smile. Lance was still recovering
from the magic used against him. Unlike Tai though, they had mixed
the water magic with that of the Earth. It pained him to think of
how the Inero had come across the power of an Oceina dragon. Had
one of the spies been the victim? Or someone else? Darien didn't
know if he wanted to understand the process of combining the magics
and putting it into an object. Magic was not made for accessories,
but for blood.

Navi was the next to speak. "So that's it? And when
are you going to leave?"

Darien made eye contact with Tai. "After the Festival
of Tears ends. In a few days. There's more reading to be done, and
I have to set a few things in order first."

Chapter Seventy-Eight

The Inero

In the middle of the night, Jason stirred from bed.
He carefully got out, mindful to not wake Gwen who was next to him.
They still hadn't made love, but she lay next to him most nights
and cuddled into his arms. Ideally, he'd be back before she woke up
again. For whatever reason, he suddenly felt the urge to go for a
walk.

The castle Sanctuary was dead silent as he moved
through its hallways. He didn't like how empty the place felt. It
would take a lot of getting used to, much like the peace of the
island had. Oh, how he missed the island. Everything was so much
easier when he lived there.

If you want things easy, boy, then you should let
me take control,
the demon said. The creature had been quiet
inside of him for some time. For a while, Jason had forgotten about
being possessed for that wonderful handful of days.

Jason sighed.
I don't understand why you think
I'll give in to something evil.

Because if you don't, then things will get a lot
worse. I've tried to be reasonable and patient, but that ends
tonight.
And that was when the demon started to control his
body again. For a moment, Jason was afraid he'd be forced back to
the bedroom where he would hurt Gwen. The demon was desperate, he
was sure of it. He wasn't made to go back to bed, though. Instead,
he walked onward to the castle den.

I know you believe you can vanquish me, but I've
worked too hard to be banished,
the demon said.
Now we're
going to do something new.
And that was when Jason lost
complete control. He felt as though he was shoved to the side of
his own consciousness and he watched as the demon began to use his
body to light the fireplace.

You have so much magic boy. It's a pity you waste
it by doing nothing.
Jason's body knelt in front of the flames,
his hands held out in front of him. The fire grew stronger, and he
closed his eyes and began to chant. As much as Jason tried to fight
it, he couldn't make the demon stop. The creature was getting
stronger each day.

His eyes opened when he heard a loud crack, and Jason
secretly hoped the noise woke someone. The image of a boy around
the age of twelve appeared in the flames.

"Who's there?" the boy asked. Jason recognized him to
be Seth, Lynx's supposed Prophet of God.

"Your master in his new host," the demon said using
Jason's body.

"I didn't realize you had taken over the Touched, my
lord. Perhaps we should meet in person? That would be much easier,"
Seth said.

"I'm in the brother who fled."

"Oh, I see. Thank you for making yourself known. With
the death of the Great Inero Lord, I wasn't certain of what to do.
The other brother is angry. I think he will retaliate so our plans
to stop the Great Dragon's coming will come to pass."

"Excellent, that is what I wanted to know. You must
persuade him to exterminate the Oceina at all costs. Do you
understand? That will always be our number one priority."

"Yes my lord. Will you be released to your glory
soon?"

The demon shook his head. "I'm working on it. It's a
shame this host had to be more pure than you. I hadn't anticipated
that, though his magic is useful. There are things I can do here
that will benefit our cause greatly."

"J-Jason?" Gwen asked from behind him. The demon
startled, and Jason used this opportunity to take control once
again.

He spun to face her, the fire and the image of the
prophet disappearing. "Help—" And that was as much as he could get
out before the demon took control once again. Gwen thankfully did
not hesitate. She picked up a coffee table book and hit him hard
over the top of his head. Not what he was expecting in terms of
aide, but Jason was thankful that it was enough to get him back in
charge of his own body again. It also caused him to lose his
balance, topple over, and fall unconscious.

Chapter Seventy-Nine

The Inero

Matt sat down across from the boy prophet, and
crossed his legs casually. He was curious about what the child
would have to say, but skeptical as well. Seth smoothed his clothes
while they both waited for the guard to leave them alone. As soon
as the door closed, Seth spoke.

"I'm honored you wish to see me my Lord."

"I'm not your Lord," Matt said quietly. A successor
to his father's title had yet to be named. For the time being the
First Council was ruling. Many in the nation believed he should
continue to do so, other relatives tried to make a claim, and some
thought Matt should be the new leader. An honor and a possibility.
The funeral was tomorrow, and then his father's will would be read.
In it, his requests for who would take over the nation would be
found.

Seth lowered his gaze. "My apologies. I see greatness
in you, and I respect you. Why did you agree to see me?"

Matt exhaled slowly. "I'm tired of doing nothing. My
father trusted your spiritual abilities. I'd like to do the same. I
was told there was a way for you to help me remember my vision I
had after the ceremony we performed, the one where my..." He
couldn't say brother. "Where I helped you achieve a new level of
spiritual enlightenment."

"Oh yes, I can." The boy sat up and motioned for Matt
to grab his hands. Matt did so, hesitantly. Given everything that
had happened in the past week, his faith was not as strong as it
once had been. Yet he was determined to remain strong.

The boy barely touched him. "Close your eyes."

Matt did as he was told, and was surprised when he
heard Seth begin to chant quietly. He began to feel a floating
sensation. Then he began to see flashes of images: green grass,
Oceina City, and an Inero with blue eyes. He gasped, pulling away
from Seth and opening his eyes.

"The Great Dragon," Matt breathed out.

"What did you see?" Seth asked softly.

"I saw the Great Dragon. I'm sure of it." A peace
washed over him again, and familiar words filled his mind.
The
darkness is coming...Focus on the eternity, and everything else
will fall into place. If you only pay attention to the short run,
then we will not succeed.

Seth shifted his weight in his seat. "Is that all you
saw?"

"It moved so quickly," Matt admitted.

"I know I am not as skilled in the ways of war, but I
had another vision that said if we did not over take the Oceina
within the year, they will never fall. If we cannot take them over,
they will retaliate viciously."

"What are you saying then?"

"We must keep moving quickly."

That didn't make much sense to Matt and it conflicted
with everything he'd ever been taught. The Inero had just suffered
a huge loss with the death of his father. Morale would be low. "We
won't be able to do anything if the men are unmotivated."

Seth raised his eyes briefly to meet Matt's gaze.
"I've seen your greatness my Lord. Your power, your future. Unite
them under your sword and your men will have all of the motivation
they need. They trust you and fear you. Destroy what remains of
Oceina City. Burn it to the ground. Their 'Great Lord' has fled
them. Take advantage of this. When the city falls, so will the
Oceina."

Chapter Eighty

The Inero

Flying on the Oceina dragon's back was much more
frightening than flying on a Terran. The earth dragons had more on
their bodies to hold on to. Darien's back was more comfortable for
sitting, but Jason had nothing more than a few scales to grip. The
water dragons flew much more smoothly than the Terran though. It
helped ease Jason's mind.

The three men going to the Aero nation had all packed
a backpack and left early in the morning. The flight to the wind
dragons' home was longer than their flight from the Inero nation
even though there wasn't quite as far to travel. Darien flew at a
slower pace, but he also had to avoid more harsh weather conditions
as well as the most impressive mountain range Jason had ever seen
in his entire life. His breath caught in awe at the snow capped
tops and sharp angles making up the peaks.

This is a mistake,
the demon said.

Jason ignored it. The creature speaking did remind
him that he needed to talk to Darien and Chris about his possession
before something else happened. The time didn't feel right earlier,
but it never did, and finding the right words was difficult.

"Chris," Jason said softly.

The young man glanced his way briefly before going
back to looking straight ahead. Like always, he was stoic and
strong. There were few times when Jason had ever seen Chris express
much of an emotion.

"Yes?" Chris asked.

"I need you to watch me carefully, and if you see me
do anything strange, make sure you stop me," Jason said.

"I can hear you, you know,"
Darien said.
"What's going on?"

Both of Chris's eyebrows raised. "That's what I want
to know. Can you please elaborate more? 'Strange' is a vague term.
A lot of what you do is strange."

Jason snorted quietly.
Of all the times to make a
joke.
But that's how Chris was, dry.

"Around when you and Navi left, my father had Matt
and I perform a ceremony for him. In it, we helped the prophet tap
into the spiritual realm to help him see some kind of amazing
vision or whatever. When this happened though, it exposed all of
our souls to everything in this realm. Recently, I had a dream that
I was in a deep, dark cave. In it was a monster. Shapeless and
black, he began to take on the form of a man who looked similar to
my people—to me. He calls himself Leo, but he has many other names.
One of them is the Great Evil. For some reason, he picked me to be
his host to try and walk his dark path of destruction. I don't want
to be that." Jason tried to rush through his speech as quickly as
possible, hating that he had to admit it to begin with. His dream
and reliving the nightmare of when it all first happened made him
feel so weak.

After a long silence, Darien was the one who spoke
next.
"And what does this demon want? If it's possessing you,
how do we know you're telling us the truth?"

Jason sighed. "I guess you have to decide if you want
to trust me or not. But I don't see why it would want to tell you
everything if you can stop its plans? For some reason, it never
stays inside of me for long. Like there's some kind of channel
between us, and it pops in and out. If I mate with my wife, then
the possession becomes permanent. I believe all of this ties in
with our mission anyway."

"Why you?"

"Because I was there and because it could. I don't
know. You can either help me or—." He stopped and rubbed at his
head as pain began to form right between his eyes.

Chris put a hand on his shoulder, and Jason was
surprised by the gentleness.

"I will keep watch," Chris said.

"Same,"
Darien said, but there was some
apprehension in his tone.

A large, white Aero dragon appeared before them then.
Jason's jaw dropped. He'd only seen paintings of the Aero before.
They were elusive, and weren't easy to photograph. The dragon
before them was a beautiful creature. The pale scales shimmered in
the sun, and when the light hit them at just the right angle, a
tiny rainbow appeared. His body was graceful and beautiful with a
slender neck, a rounded lizard body, and magnificent wings.

"Welcome to our airspace, but I have been sent to
ask why you have come to our nation," t
he Aero dragon said.

If Darien was nervous or afraid, it didn't show in
his voice when he spoke. He sounded much more diplomatic than Jason
would have expected.
"I am the Lord of the Oceina, and I have
come to speak with your Lord Patlih. I apologize for not contacting
him to tell him of my coming in advance, but things have been
complicated in my nation as I'm sure you know. I didn't want to
risk another attack, especially on the border of my
friends."

"My Lord has brought me to welcome you into his
home, and has asked me to escort you. He was worried perhaps you
were seeking refuge."