The Summoning (Custodes Noctis) (10 page)

Words began flowing into his head. The power in the earth responded to them as they formed, before they even became sound, the thought itself became a pattern. He stepped closer to Rob and began siphoning the power again, this time openly, drawing it into himself. Galen lifted his sword and cut his arm. “This blood flows, and seeks the earth.” He nodded to Rob and his brother repeated his movements and the small incantation. The world shifted, he thought he felt Rob’s hand on his shoulder. The words continued in his head, then broke loose, building around them in a song. Images and sensations began to pierce him, the land around them bubbling with fire, agony as the liquid stone flowed over his body, the slow creeping cold of ancient ice, crushing down, stealing his breath until every second was an eternity, and eternity a second. All of it wafted through him like the sighing breeze in the canyon.

The song began to change and Galen began to sing, words so ancient their meanings had long since been lost drifted from his lips. He could feel pain radiating out of Rob, flowing into him as their bond snapped into place, as it had always been. For a brief moment, Rob was there, completely present with him. The bright white light of Rob’s heart glowed, the dark scars Galen had healed years before, shadows in the bright sun. The power built, Galen continued to draw it up, he could feel it spiraling around them, rising above them like a tornado to the height of the massive wall. Galen held on, until finally when the vortex was whipping around them, blocking all else from them, Galen let it go, grabbing the swirling power and, using the power of the earth and the bright light of the healing and Rob’s heart, forced it outwards into the breathing stone in front of them.

Time stopped.

For an instant everything stopped. The world, the lazy drift of clouds over their head, their hearts. It all stopped for an instant of agony.

“Rob!” Galen said, snapping back to the world. “No!” Rob’s heart hadn’t started again. “Rob!” The spell had pulled the Gift from Galen, he tried to start Rob’s heart but the healing wouldn’t respond. “Flash!” he shouted. “CPR!” Flash was there an instant later and they began working on Rob.
Gods dammit, Rob. Come on!
The bond was gone again, only the merest whisper left in the back of his head, but he shouted nonetheless, hoping to reach his brother somehow.

The hum was still filling the canyon, the tone changing, a deep bass grating against a higher note, the single note becoming a chord that made Galen’s bones ache. He stayed focused on Rob, counting the compressions, anxiously waiting for the first glimmer of life—or his healing—to return. He thought he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, but dismissed it as just a shower of small rocks.

“Run,” Galen said, dragging his brother up. Flash pulled Rob’s other arm over his shoulder and they ran. They made it as far as Rob’s Jeep before the hum reached a point of physical pain and there was a huge 
crack
, as if the earth were tearing itself open. They stopped and turned, still supporting Rob’s lifeless body, in time to see the whole mountain move. Galen was entranced as the stones shifted, shimmering in the sunlight. Small rocks began falling to the ground in a slowly building shower. He was holding his breath when the wall fell completely away. A huge piece bounced down too close for comfort and smashed into Flash’s car, spraying them with glass from the windshield. Flash didn’t even comment. He was staring up at the mountain as well.

“I am free.” The voice was no longer a grate of stone on stone, but a great shout of triumph aimed at the sky. Massive wings, black like a raven’s, shining in a thousand colors, opened over their heads as the creature tore itself from its prison. The huge wings swept down, filling the canyon with gale force winds, whipping stones into the air. ‘I am free,” he repeated, his voice dropping. He turned his great head towards Galen and something like a smile ghosted across its face. With a sound that rattled the cliffs around them, the creature stretched, massive wings spanning the canyon, the claws of his hands and feet glittering in the sunlight and the dark skin, broken by fissures of color, shone brightly for a moment. The
Ealdféond
walked towards them, claws tearing away chunks of ground as he approached.

He stopped in front of Galen and Flash, lifted his huge hand and gently cupped Rob’s chin. One claw dropped down and covered Galen’s hand where it rested on Rob’s chest. Galen felt a jolt of power, his brother tensed and suddenly Rob was gasping in shuddering breaths. He opened his eyes and pulled himself free of their grasp. Galen stepped in front of him, half blocking him from the Ancient One. He could see Flash keeping a hand hovering close to Rob in case he fell.

“You freed me,” the Ancient One said.

“I did,” Galen snarled.

“Uh, should you talk to, uh, mountains that way?” Flash said
sotto voce.

“Yes.” The
Ealdféond
focused on him. “A great debt. I thank you,” he said solemnly, brushing Galen with a feather-light touch of a claw. Something sparked in Galen’s chest. He felt the warmth of the healing burst back to life, with something else sparkling at the edges of it.

“Can you…” Galen trailed off

“No, I regret, I cannot yet repair what the
feorhbealu
did. There will come a time when you may need me, may need this. I will come.”

“I understand,” Galen whispered, even though disappointment hammered against his chest.

“We will meet again.” A great sigh left the Ancient One’s lungs. He gently tapped Rob’s chest with the huge shining claw, then lifted his wings, and with a ground-shaking leap, rose into the sky. He hovered above them for a moment, the draft from the wings whistling through the canyon like a song, then disappeared behind a cloud.

Rob started to fall. Flash grabbed him and eased him to the ground.

“
Can you help?”
Dor asked worriedly.

“Good question,” Flash muttered

Galen took a deep breath, the Gift was there, strong and sure. He laid his hand on Rob’s head, trying to get an idea of how much damage had been done—and if he had any hope of healing it. He guided the healing through Rob, trying to repair his heart. Once he’d done all he could manage at that time, he took as much of the pain away as he could. “Rob?”

“
We won’t,”
Dor said, glaring at Flash.

Rob chuckled. “As long as you wait a while. I have a headache.”

“You deserve a headache after that.” Galen took a deep breath. Rob tried to sit up, Galen helped him lean against the car. Rob closed his eyes for a minute. “My chest hurts.”

“The
Ealdféond
left something behind, I’m not sure what, but I can feel there’s something different.”

“Yeah, I know, I felt it while I was healing you. I don’t know what it is—he gave me a similar spark before he left.” Galen was quiet, trying to sense just what it was that was there, humming softly in his body.

Galen frowned for a moment, then felt an answering smile on his own, remembering when he’d spoken those words to his brother. He started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Flash asked.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, okay. We should…” Flash broke off. Galen looked at his friend, Flash was staring straight ahead at the smashed remains of his SUV. “My car! What the fuck! My car!”

“
We didn’t do it!”
Dera said quickly.

“You didn’t…” Flash stood up and walked over, staring down at a piece of mirror.

“
Smashing it wouldn’t be fun,”
Dor said.

“
It might be,”
Dera chuckled.

“We’ll get you another one, Flash,” Galen said.

“Yeah, you will. And one that’s raven proof, and mountain proof and chomping proof and everything else proof. And you…” Flash pointed at Rob. “The next time some damn mountain decides to give you a call, you just hang up.”

Galen couldn’t help it. He chuckled and heard Rob’s answering laugh. Flash stared at them for a moment longer then joined them, dropping back onto the ground beside them, laughing until tears were running down their faces and they were gasping for air. Their laughter slowly eased, drifting off into the sky.

“Ready to head home?” Galen finally said. The sun had set, the night cool around them.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Flash stood and opened the back of the Jeep, putting their weapons in the back and shutting it, then holding the back door so the ravens could fly in and settle on the back of the seat. Galen helped his brother onto his feet and they turned for one last look at the place where the
Ealdféond
had rested for so long. Rob glanced at him with a soft smile. Galen smiled back, aware of a small ache in his body. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he saw Rob rubbing his chest as well. Galen sighed, helped his brother into the Jeep and then got in the backseat beside him. Flash glanced at them, then turned on the ignition and headed out of silent canyon towards home.

The End

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The Birthday

A Custodes Noctis Short, Short Story

© 2011 Muffy Morrigan

The rich scents of herbs drifted through the warm air in the Apothecary as Galen put back a jar of Elderflower and fussed with it until it was in line with the others on the shelf. Fussing was usually his brother’s job, but Rob… He glanced worriedly at the ceiling. Rob was okay, he knew that, could even feel it through the very muted bond they now shared, still he worried. A soft chuckle announced the presence of Dera.

“
He is doing well,”
the raven said softly in his deep voice. Galen had gotten used to hearing him now, and often expected other creatures to answer him.
“And admit it, they do sometimes to, don’t they? Not as clearly as I, but they do.”

“Maybe, sometimes,” Galen chuckled. The raven fluffed his feathers at him and hopped along the counter towards him before reaching under the edge and coming up with something shiny. “Stealing from Flash again?”

“
Not this time,”
Dera said.
“I have something for you.”
He skipped closer and held up the small amulet.

“What’s this?”

“
Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you, I wasn’t expecting…” Galen smiled.

“
That I would remember the day? It has been the Emrys birth date for more than four thousand years, since before ever I was born and you think I would forget?”

“Sorry.” Galen grinned. “What is it, who’d you steal it from?”

“
Me? Steal?”
The raven looked offended for a moment then laughed.
“Paracelsus.”

“Paracelsus?
The
Paracelsus?” Galen looked at the metal object a little closer. “Really?”

“
He left it by the window. He didn’t need it anyway.”