Airel - Aaron Patterson [69]
The council remained in this posture for some time, awaiting the Word amongst them. Heads were bowed, Kreios stood at center, and Anael stood at the head of the elders.
The Sword became quiet again and cool to the touch. Kreios looked above him to the Sword, to blue sky beyond. The canopy of the mighty oak that covered the gathering place of the council had been partially consumed in a perfect circle.
He brought the Sword down to his side, looking at it with the familiar respect of a seasoned warrior. It still glowed mildly as he guided it back into its sheath, sliding down to the hilt.
“It is time for the Seer to be numbered with the dead. He must perish. If we fail in this, we will be destroyed along with our children and wives. The time to act is now!” Kreios stood, a statue of stone, staring into the faces of the elders. They whispered to one another. He knew he could not do without their endorsement if he were to gain the support of the other warriors.
He closed his eyes, still standing at center in the court, and ran to the place in his mind where he kept things that—if he were wise—he would never reveal.
In his mind’s eye he could see a long valley much like the one below them, where the city of Ke’elei stood. He went deeper into the void and found what he was looking for. He could not tell what it was—only that somehow he needed it. He understood that it would help to convince the elders they could defeat the Brotherhood.
There was a door standing before him as if floating, without hinge or handle. It was of solid wood and it bore no marks of having been crafted with tools. It looked to Kreios like it had been simply grown. It had suffered many scars and scratches in its dark surface, as if someone or something had tried to open it, but could not.
He felt the Sword of Light respond to the door, but he could not tell what it would mean. Deep in his mind, Kreios took hold of the Sword, unsheathing it swiftly. The door flew open at the very same instant. Kreios was pulled powerfully toward the black opening, but he planted his feet and stood his ground. The scent of moist earth filled his senses, but it smelled of something else that he could not place. Iron? Wood? He gave up on knowing—all he was certain of was that he must not go through the door. Not just yet.
From out of the blackness came fingers of red and blue light, separately wooing him, and wreathing him; pulling him toward the black hole of the opening with insistence.
“Return!” He commanded. The Sword of Light returned to the scabbard and the door slammed in his face, knocking him onto his back. Simultaneously, he returned to awareness in the court, in the presence of the elders, the sound of silence soaking him. The birthmarks, like tattoos, that ran and twisted up his forearm all the way to his neck, now burned hot. The elders stared in blank amazement.
Kreios hid his shaking hands as he moved back to his seat. He did not know if the door he had seen could help them or if it would end up killing them all. These questions were quickly submitted to the facts. The Brotherhood were relentlessly pursuing him and his daughter. The only way to save her was to stand and fight.
Chapter IX
Boise Idaho, Present day
The rain drizzled from the heavens in a light mist, landing on a black BMW 7, making little droplets on the windshield. There was a different kind of individual inside. His arm hairs stood up on end as he watched a house across and down the street a little way.
His mind flipped over and over about what he was going to do to the girl, if she turned out to be who he thought she was. Kill her now before it’s too late! “Try to control yourself. We don’t even know if it’s her.”
It was just past midnight, and the street had settled down. He ducked down as the high-beams of a Ford Explorer filled his car, then drove on past and turned into a driveway, slinking into