Darach (7 page)

The question was serious, and Guardian nodded, thankful for the change in subject. He had placed as much protection as he could without tipping his hand. "Like I said, your death was totally convincing, and I have hidden you well." He paused, inhaling deeply, settling his Fire. "You're the only one I can trust to watch the Council when I go."

Madoc nodded and smiled gently. "You know this is bigger than just the Cariad and the young man who risked his life to come here."

"Far bigger." Guardian was tired of it all. The weight of an entire city, an entire world, two worlds, sat on his shoulders. His Fire was supposed to be so strong, but today it appeared anything but. Madoc placed a hand on Guardian's knee and it was warm and comforting. His head raced with all he had learned and seen over the past few days, and he called a little of his amber Fire to calm himself before continuing. "Sulien is dangerous, and I know he had something to do with the kidnappings of the amber children. I am convinced of it. Sulien wants it all. My Fire, Cariad power, and I don't imagine Ephraim is far behind him."

"Sulien always has, youngling, and Ephraim is too weak to have an opinion or desire of his own. It's your turn to change things. We have lived under Council rule for too long. The Guardian role has become nothing more than a figurehead. You are strong, and you can start us new."

"Did you discover anymore about the old Guardian?" He asked that question every time he met with Madoc, but each time he was met with the same answer.

"Nothing, Guardian. It is like he burned up and there is no sense of him."

"Sulien knows what happened. I am sure of it."

Madoc shook his head sadly. "Sulien knows a lot of things that need to be discovered."

They sat for a while in silence, Guardian lost to his own thoughts. He trusted Madoc with his life. He didn't know why, but when he'd arrived here in Chambers, bound to the role of Guardian with no way back, it was only Madoc who had shown him kindness. When he slept, the dreams he experienced were intense. Maybe if he told Madoc they might make more sense.

"
The
Eicio
army
is building in the
Otherworld
.
I can see what is happening when I close my eyes and dream.
"

"You can see the Otherworld in your dreams?"

Guardian frowned.
Madoc seemed surprised
. D
idn
'
t
everyone see the strange and wonderful things in their dreams
? Clearly not. Obviously
it
was just
he
who saw images of d
eath
and destruction and an army that was
silently being
amassed
to take down the barriers between both worlds. Those the
hunters in the
Otherworld
called the Nameless
were known as
Eicio
here
. They were
a throwbac
k to old
magik
,
and
they were a
real threat
by
sheer numbers alone.

"
I
can
'
t fix this from here. I
need to go. To talk to the Cariad,
and
god
s
…
"
H
e bowed his head
.
"
I
have to deal with what is happening in the
Otherworld
and
pull our people back from th
at place
, if there is
to be
any chance at all
.
"

"Your destiny is to bring balance to the Fire. You know that is not something you can do sitting here in the City."

"They can't know I have left."

Sulien and Ephraim would sooner jump in his grave than let a chance of power slip by because of an absent Guardian.

"I will stay here and maintain the illusion that I am you on meditation retreat in your chambers, behind closed doors. No one will know you are not here if we leave enough magik here to mask the void of your presence. Any Council business we can delay until you return."

"I can't leave immediately. I need more training. There are books I need to see in the library, magik I must try to understand. Will you make yourself comfortable in my closed quarters and assist me?"

"Of course I will, Guardian. It is my role in this to support you."

Guardian smiled ruefully. "You make it easy for me to go and do what I need to do. Can you not tell me instead that I can stay here and not have to worry?"

"I wish I could, youngling." Guardian shivered at the resignation in Madoc's voice. "I wish I could."

Chapter 4

Ceithin smelled the familiar scents of home. The chill of night that heralded the impending winter was pushed back by the low, early morning sun. The canopy of gold and red leaves provided shelter from the rain as they drew closer to home. They were little more than an hour away, and each bush, all of the trees, every path, all that lay around them was as familiar to Ceithin as the siding on his own home was familiar to Darach. With each stride of their horses, memories of the City faded as Ceithin let his guard down and welcomed his world, his home, back into his heart.

Darach was finally, blissfully, quiet next to him, and the horses had slowed to a sedate but constant walk, the rolling gait lulling the other man to a half doze in the saddle. The path they followed climbed gently until finally they reached the cliff overlooking the south plains. Every last bit of tension slid from Ceithin's shoulders. He allowed some of his Fire to call to his father's, letting his family know he was home, then he pulled his mount to a halt. With a soft word, the mare stopped next to him.

"Darach?"

Unimpeded blue shimmering about him, Darach half opened his eyes with a small groan, catching himself as gravity tried to pull him from his seat. "Are we here?" He coughed and unconsciously moved a hand over his chest as if it hurt. Ceithin imagined the damp and the ride had taken its toll on the youngling and he leaned over the horse, placing a hand on Darach's thigh, feeling the tension in him. Like iron, he was stiff and unyielding against Ceithin's palm. However, his touch provided enough contact to allow Ceithin to pass over some of his scarlet Fire, which he knew would heal any infection inside his companion.

"Don't," Darach protested weakly. He pushed the hand away ineffectually, gasping as the crackle of their two Fires spat at them. Blue Fire and the tempestuous scarlet were not best suited, if the writings of the Ancients were to be believed. Ceithin sighed inwardly at both Darach's protests and the snap of the Fires. Color flooded Darach's face, and he half smiled, sleepy and unfocused. Ceithin's gut clenched at the sight of the man whose Fire tempted his own. Lulled into a false sense of security by the beautiful smile, Ceithin was stunned when Darach suddenly pulled himself back and upright, the smile disappearing in an instant.

"Get your hands off me, Cariad. I will not be violated by you." Darach's voice dripped with bitter accusation, hate, a healthy dose of fear, and a splash of outrage.

Ceithin couldn't help it. The snigger broke through his shock with explosive force. Violating Darach. God… in his dreams. "I didn't—"

"You can cast all you want." Darach was really digging his heels in on this one. "You've dragged me this far, but I won't let you inside my head as well."

"Wait. I didn't drag you here! You came of your own accord."

"You spelled me—"

"
Like
Annwn
I did
.
"
Ceithin laughed again
.
"
Y
ou got on
that
horse all by yourself
,
youngling.
The
Council on your back is enough to make any man run.
"

"The Council doesn't frighten me." Darach's conviction sounded so positive Ceithin sobered immediately.

"It should."

"I'm a good and noble citizen, not a murdering thief of a clan who hide like cowards in the forest."

The snap of Ceithin's finger was harsh and fast. His magik tore through the barrier Darach's Fire instinctively attempted to raise like a sharp knife through skin, finding its mark and sending Darach toppling to the ground. Ceithin followed him down, leaping from the gelding and straddling Darach, his hand curved around Darach's throat. The hold wasn't as tight as it had been against the tree or in the prison, but it was enough to mark Darach with the fizz and snap of Ceithin's anger.

"
Listen here,
noble
—
"
Ceithin spat the words and leaned close in, seeing the abject fear and horror in Darach
'
s face.
"
If you have heard all the stories
,
you know I could flay the skin from you with my thoughts or move silently into your house
and
kill every single member of your family, even the children.
"

Darach tried to buck him off but Ceithin merely wriggled to center himself and placed his other palm flat to the ground for balance. There was nothing to Darach. He was slim, spare, strong in the face, but not equal to Ceithin in either muscle or Fire. "Maybe, if you don't push me too much, I won't find a member of your family and kill them. Maybe I will just steal some children!"

Ceithin added the last with a twist to his mouth, and Darach went rigid beneath him, complete horror in his eyes, his mouth opening and closing uselessly as if he wanted to say something but didn't know what.

"Failing that, I could eat them," Ceithin finished with a smirk, his sudden temper gone as fast as it had manifested. He let Darach buck him up and off. Once he'd released his hold on Darach's neck, he rolled onto his back, grinning at Darach's anger and wondering what he was going to do next. Darach pulled his hand back, intense sapphire shimmering around him, and Ceithin had to admit he was gorgeous, all hissing disapproval and blue eyes. Eyes narrowed with intense concentration, he let the first of his Fire fly. Ceithin didn't bother to block the attack, just tensing as it coated and prickled his skin. Violet sparks danced up from the connection of Darach's blue and his own scarlet, and he watched mesmerized as the sparks flew into the air and then settled in the trees above him.

"You leave my brother alone!" Darach shouted as he hefted another shaft of Fire. This one Ceithin blocked. "You filthy Cariad." Frustration lacing his voice, Darach stopped casting Fire, clearly defeated when he realized none of it could penetrate Ceithin's wards enough to do damage.

"I was joking. I won't touch your family," Ceithin grunted, and rolled, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Contrary to popular lore, the Cariad are peaceful and have been for millennia."

Darach snorted his disbelief and clambered to stand, using the nearest tree to balance himself.
"
So I can go
?
You haven
'
t spelled me,
and
you are not forcing me
?
I
can
turn and go home
?
"
He put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to one side.

Ceithin stifled the sudden thought that his charge looked kind of cute in a messed up, pathetic way and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you want to find me?" It was a simple question, but he could see Darach looking down and away, not wanting to answer. "I could torture it out of you."

"You wouldn't!" Darach had a blatantly terrified look on his face again, and Ceithin merely shrugged. There was something about this youngling that brought out the child in him.

"I might." There was a faceoff, Ceithin grinning and Darach blustering with false confidence.

"It was the journal, Kian's journal. He left it for me, and it said he had made contact with the Cariad and wanted to use their ancient magik to cross the barrier." Darach's voice held disbelief. Ceithin imagined for Darach to read his friend sought Cariad help probably shook the foundations of his limited world.

"And?"

"He wrote…" He sighed deeply. "His last entry said if I wanted to follow him, then I should seek the Cariad. I had heard rumors a stray Cariad had been found so I followed them up."

"A stray?" Ceithin bristled and his Fire pushed insistent inside him, ready to cause Darach real damage for the insult.

He waved a hand in front of him. "Well, it's what we call…"

He didn't have to say any more. It was what non-Cariad called the Cariad, likening them to dogs or vermin at every turn. Ceithin knew that. He chose to ignore the slip because he wanted to know more. To know more he had to reveal some of what had happened with Kian.

"Kian came to us." There, a simple enough start, and at least Darach looked half way interested. "Very brave to approach the forest and try and find the Cariad."

"He always was the brave one," Darach murmured.

Ceithin considered the words. Darach wasn't exactly a coward, facing down the stuff of his nightmares alone in a haunted forest. "He had nature's Fire, already had mastered many of the old ways, knew when and where to pass to the Otherworld. He needed a little extra to be able to punch a hole."

"I wanted to go with him."

"But you couldn't, could you? You had no real Fire. Kian said you were days away from your Fire's birth."