Emanate: Insight Series ((Insight) Web of Hearts and Souls) (18 page)

I took her hand in mine and stared deep into her eyes.
“
Willow, if the stories of my world are true…we are the only ones that can protect them.”

“
Then we will.”

She was just going to have to see it. I couldn’t speak what I wanted to say, couldn’t
voice aloud the risk; not yet.

“
There is more to see.”

Her eyes grew wide with a childlike enthusiasm as I pulled her hand closer.

“Landen, I don’t know what you are doubting right now, but I’m in here. I swear I am. I’m not done. We are going to find peace. We are going to figure out why we so boldly paid the price of hell to be in this place right now. Standing here now, with you…I already think it was worth it.”

I felt my soul shudder, the mark on my chest flame. I felt fire on my arms, across my back. How did she always know what to say and the perfect moment to say it? 

I was still as a statue, ignoring the pain in my chest. Right then, she reached her hands for that place as if she could feel it. As she slid them to reach for my face, I leaned my forehead to hers. I struggled to find the perfect poetic words, the perfect promises, and the only words I managed to think were, “
I’m yours. Forevermore.”

She stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to mine. With little effort, she deepened our kiss and had eased her body against mine. In this place, all energy, every sensation, is amplified. She was nothing less than gloriously intoxicating; the taste of her kiss, the feel of her skin, the scent of her essence—all of it was enough to make me forget where I was for an instant.

I clasped her hands on my chest and pulled away from her kiss, somehow stealing both our breaths.

The grin on those precious lips, the look in her eye, was near sinful.
“
Too forward? I was just starting to feel the adrenaline,
” she thought.

I had to have been blushing when I grinned and carefully whisked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“I didn’t want an audience.”

“
Audience?”

I suppose this was just as good a time as any to allow her to see the souls that now were at my command.

“Descend,” I spoke clearly, holding her stare.

At that moment, thousands of Rampart Warriors fell silently from the branches above. They landed on the white rocks at our feet without a sound, effortlessly in charge of their energy. They had heeded my command without effort, proving once more that I was meant to lead them.

There is an oath, a sacred rumor, that when the Flames rise, their people will sense their every command. If I had the power, I would break that connection. I would release them from any supernatural call they may feel.  In truth, they each had the free will to ignore me, but the people of Chara would never ignore my command. The air was saturated with their devotion, their honor to stand here with us.

Willow’s wide eyes looked in every direction at the warriors before her, all dressed in black, all built and bred to defend this place with whatever force or grace was needed.

Wordlessly, each and every one of them took one knee before her.

“
Oh my God. How many are there?”

“
These are the youngest warriors. They are the last line of defense before the rest of the world. The higher ranking warriors, the ones that are the most lethal, are closer to the Radiance.”

“
This isn’t the Radiance?”

“
This is only the outskirts of the Radiance. The forest barricades this place.”

“
Make them rise, Landen. Don’t let them bow like that.”

No thought to tell them to do so came from me, but they obeyed wordlessly, which only hurt my soul. They were connected to her, too.

The warriors parted, making a path for us to walk through the forest. Though they were on their feet, their heads kept to an honorable bow.

“
Why are there so many?”

“
In our father’s time, there were only a few thousand. But with my generation, Marc and Brady’s, more and more felt called. That, too, was predicted.”

“
More warriors were predicted?”
she asked as she hugged my side and we walked on.

“
Their call was said to mean two things: their masses would hide the true king, and their strength would guard the Radiance from the ever growing darkness.”

“
Is the Radiance like a city?”

“
It’s like a wall, a barrier.”

“
They think we walked through a wall in the string? To get here so long ago?”

“
Fell from the sky, is what most texts say. Their energy made the massive gates that all travelers pass through. Over time, more passages were made like the one by our home.”

“
What are they protecting it from?”

“
Thoughts, souls.”

“
What?”

“
It will be easier to show you than explain it to you, but it is said that our energy created this place, then our energy created the rampart, along with the dimension where we went cliff diving today, giving distance between Esterious and here.”

“
We used a dimension as a barricade?”

“
The very one you faced your fear in today.”

Her eyes grew wide with awe.
“That beautiful place stands between light and darkness?”

“
In a sense.”

“
Are there people there?”

I knew she didn’t like the idea of any souls near Esterious. The very idea of Chara being closer than she thought was bringing that Earth-shattering terror to her once more.

“It’s not a large place. The city you grew up in is easily larger than that place. It is nothing more than water and cliffs.”

“
Irony.”

I furrowed my brow at her to question her thoughts.

“You and Drake, kings of light and dark, met on neutral ground and found friendship.”

That was the truth
. Yet, since then we had found strife and somehow worked our way back around to a balance, one that he was far more ready to accept than I was.

“
That place we were in today is receding…the Veil has overcome most of it.”

Wide-eyed, she looked up at me.

“Donalt has been using the dead in attempts to breach our borders since the day Guardian and Aliyanna left Esterious. Now he is only a breath away.”

“
How do we stop him? Can he hurt this place?”

I hesitated, not knowing how to tell her the truth, especially in front of the men that were fearlessly in my command.
“
There is only one way to stop him—soul to soul. We have to be one.”

Her tan cheeks blushed as her mind clearly took her to the moments where she and I had merged our souls, the euphoric high we both felt in those moments
—but that was nothing but a brush of what was expected of us, that was merely temporary. That was something we could walk away from; this ceremony of the Flames was not.

“
I thought you said you didn’t want an audience?”

Now I had an audacious grin strapped across my face.
“
If it were that easy, I would have found the courage to do that by now.”

She was anxious for me to explain, but we had reached the gate that led into the next part of the Radiance.

I doubted she could see it since the trees masked the way. The only way to open this door was with a force of energy from one of the warriors, to literally knock on the door. I sent a nod of energy before us, and when it reached the thousand-foot doorways, what looked like trees with lavender moss began to wave across thin air, mocking waves of water. Within that wave, you could clearly see the heavenly signs: Pisces, the sign of the twin fish, which were interlocking around the scorpion—a sign of protection.  This was Chara’s crest of unity.

I clutched her hand as the doorways opened into a new world.

Chapter
Twelve

~ Willow ~

Beauty like this was not natural in any state of mind. Once the magical gate had appeared, I’d lost my ability to breathe.

I halfway understood why there would be guards posted before such a place, but I still didn’t understand how Donalt was threatening us in our own dimension, how something so dark and evil as him could even dare to let his eyes rest on this wonder.

I almost dared to compare it to Pelhan’s world
. Though the beauty was comparable, they were drastically different. This place felt familiar to me. It felt like home, whereas Pelhan’s resembled a cosmic dream in which I was only a guest in.

The sky was a mix of deep purples and swirls of dark pink. The grass, like the field we had arrived in, was light lavender with shades of blue racing through
it. In the distance, I saw a vast waterfall—only it wasn’t falling, it was rising. To my right were trees so massive, I felt as if I were no larger than the golden lights that were fluttering through the air, making it seem as if the stars themselves had descended upon us.

I could see a paved road before us
. It was made of white pebbles that glistened like diamonds. The setting beyond that point was soul-seizing. The buildings were made of perfectly placed jagged tan stones that created the most welcoming energy. I felt as if I were walking into a historic palace, or even a perfectly aged campus—the regal knowledge and serenity in the air was so calming that at that moment I’d forgotten what fear was.

There were gardens and small ponds everywhere, the colors of each glo
wing, bringing forth shades I’d never seen. I could see bell towers; they were perched high above the structures on every corner. The windows in this place, each massive, were all made of stained glass and were framed so perfectly that you could see the story of the colors. The artist in me was yearning to walk through the streets before me, to take in the living art that each building surely was.

Massive trees that any child would be drawn to climb were everywhere. I could see myself easily lounging on or under the wide branches with a sketchbook in hand.

Somehow, oddly, the beauty seemed incomplete, as if it were the entryway to something that was never built. I could see massive trees outlining the place—I mean colossal—the trunks as wide as our house. I would swear that each one was stretching to the stars themselves. Nothing seemed to fit together, yet it did, only it was incomplete.

We were not alone here
. More of the silent warriors that were behind us were ahead, and women, beautiful women stood with them. We walked closer to the royal structures before us, and from one of the towering walls, behind massive windows that were pulled open, I saw a familiar face. I saw several familiar faces. August, Brady, Ashten, my father, and Justus stood there.

“Dad,” I breathed.

I swear he could hear my voice from his distance. He broke his rank from the others and turned inside, surely to make his way down to me. Justus held my stare as I walked closer; an unmistakable glimmer of pride and honor were in his stoic gray eyes.

All but our family above us bowed their heads as we passed.

“Where is everyone else?”

“
Marc and Chrispin are with Drake, as well as Stella. Dane and Clarissa, I assume, are in The Realm. I sense Olivia and Felicity,”
he said with a nod.

“
I don’t like the way they are looking at us,”
I said as my father approached me with a grave stare in his eyes.

I sensed my mother and looked to the window he had come from. There, I saw Olivia and Aubrey standing with her.

“Don’t let them scare you…they have just been waiting a long time to see us here.”

He met my stare as I lifted my eyes to him. Before I could ask him why, my father approached us.

I could hear my father say my name, but it was muffled. Landen answered him for me. My father threw a harsh glance over his shoulder at Justus.

I felt that unbridled maternal sensation rise again in my soul. “He did not do this to me.”

My father offered a nod and said something to Landen.

“He says there is nothing physically wrong with you, that this is a mental block,”
Landen translated.

“That look in your eye, your dark eyes…is that fear…or is it regret? Did you not want me?” I asked my father. I could not clearly hear my voice, but I had no doubt my tone
was that of the child in me he once knew.

My father put his hands on his hips and lowered his head. I saw him breathe in, as if he were trying to put on a calm front.

His eyes rose to meet Landen’s.

“
He says that when he was told by Justus what his daughter would be, what she would become, he was humbled, and terrified, afraid that he could not protect her. He thought that his blood, his life was not royal enough to be given such a gift. He was just a boy when those fears were felt and spoken. He could never regret one moment of your life. You brought him joy from the first moment he saw your heart beat in your mother’s womb.”

“
How…how can you hear him?”

“
You father was…is, a Rampart Warrior. Here, we can all sense each other. We can react to the static emotions in the air. Because I was Guardian…because of the transformation before us, he can speak to me at any time without words, if I allow him that conference.”

“
Why can I not hear him?”
I asked as I let go of Landen and reached for my father and hugged him as tightly as I could. I could sense the vibration of love and honor sniping the air. I could almost swear this place was a mirror to the gifts that both Landen and I shared.

“
You have to listen to that voice deep inside to find your way back.”

I knew those were my father’s words once again, but how deeply and slowly Landen spoke them led me to assume that he believed the same.

When I became anxious, simply because everyone seemed to be aware of my internal war, my father held me tighter, as if he could feel it. All at once, all those that had stood star-struck around us turned to go about whatever they were doing before we arrived.

My father let me go, purposely placing my hand back in Landen’s.

“Tell me what the risk is, Landen. What do I have to do to fix whatever you are worried about, whatever everyone else is worried about?”

When he didn’t answer, I looked up to see his gaze, which was locked on the wall of massive trees whose trunks were larger than the home we lived in.

“I’ll be right back.”

“
What? No! I’m coming.”

“
It’s just Marc and Phoenix.”

“
Why are they together?”

“
Good question.”

“
I’m coming.”

“
That’s the Veil, Willow. Just beyond there. That is death. That is every reason to have fear in the first place.”

It was a demand that I stay behind, a humble plea. Landen didn’t want me to fight any more anxious emotions than I was already dealing with.

Justus had arrived at my side. Everyone else I knew, with the exception of our mothers and Olivia, was heading toward those trees.

I didn’t have to hear Landen to know that he had told Justus to stay with me. I missed anger right now. I missed how it empowered my stubbornness. I felt the urge to follow him. I wanted to, but I stayed. I stood right at Justus’ side as I watched Landen literally walk th
rough a tree with the rest of the warriors, my father included.

I glanced up at Justus. “What is going on?”

“He’s just filling his role as the ambassador of our world.”

“Then shouldn’t I be with him?”

“No doubt, but right now you are both coming to terms with what is expected of you.”

“I don’t know what is expected of me. That’s the issue…I’m scared to understand it at this point. He keeps leaving me behind.”

“Then maybe you need to tell him that you, your soul, wants nothing more than to be with him.”

“He should already know that.” What could I have done to make him think otherwise?

“I can’t speak for him, Sovereign. No one can understand what either of you are going through; we can only hope that you prevail.”

He nodded his head for me to follow him as he began to lead me closer to the regal buildings.

“What is this place, Justus?”

“The buildings?”

“All of it.”

“This is Radiance. The home of Aliyanna and Guardian.” He glanced forward at the distant waterfall that was moving in the wrong direction, then said, “Or it was.”

“This place cannot be four million years old.”

“Just over that mark, actually.”

“You’re saying I lived here? I don’t understand why this was never shown to me, why the Chara I saw mocked the one I was raised in, with the exception of everyone following their dreams, living their dreams.”

He shrugged. “Maybe Landen was trying to ease you into the magic of this place. It can be overwhelming, even in the best of circumstances.”

“I feel the gravity of it.”

“Most say that. It’s not gravity, though
. It’s you. This place centers you, but its path to find that center is not always an easy one.”

“Is that why I keep getting flashbacks of the last few months?” I had been ignoring as many of those as I could, but the fear they left behind was chilling my bones.

“Perhaps.”

“Did he mean it? That is the Veil—and just behind that is Esterious?”

“The Veil somewhat lingers across all dimensions. It is thicker right there, but yeah, with a good set of eyes on a clear day, you could see the gray haze of Esterious’ borders just beyond that rampart.”

“Are you telling me that the heart of Chara, the founding land, the part that is most magical, the part that obviously has to be fiercely protected, is in the most vulnerable place in Chara? That it is literally back-to-back with our enemy?”

He raised his brow. “In a sense. To be fair, there was a wider berth at one time, a few thousand miles at least. Time moved the rampart closer.”

He casually walked me over to one of the beautiful trees with wide, low lying branches and sat down on a stone bench before it. Before I sat down, I stared at the stained glass window just behind it. The rays of light, the red and darkness with the white pane down the center seemed to amplify what I was learning of this place
. It almost looked as if it were depicting the story of Creation.

I needed to sketch. I really did. I fisted my hands, knowing that the time for that passion had long since left my life.

“I want to know why I can hear you. Only you. I want to know why this place was kept from me. Why Landen fears it.”

“I cannot, and will not, speak for Landen or his actions,” Justus said as he leaned his arms on his knees, then rolled his shoulders and tilted his head toward me. A slow smile, which managed to show innocence in this clearly valiant warrior, emerged.

As I stared at him, I saw echoes of his life. Most of them, the ones here as he grew up at my father’s side, were full of laughter. The kind of laughter that made your sides hurt, tears creep to the corners of your eyes. He was by nature full of joy, but something had triggered this stoic image before me now. It may have been age, life itself, or the call to battle that created it, but nevertheless as I stared at him, watched these images that I should not be able to perceive come to life, I not only felt envy for that joy, but grief that neither he nor I would feel that way again.

His smile fell as his eyes rapidly moved across my image, as if he were reading an epic novel. He let out a short breath, hiding a curse he’d rather not let me hear. “Grief and envy. You’re up to four emotions; maybe you should work on finding a few more positive ones,” he said with a raised brow and half-smile.

“Love is positive,” I stated as I saw with my own eyes the sacrifices he had made in his life, the decisions he’d made not only to commit to a woman he despised, but block his heart from feeling a call to the illusive woman who was surely holding half his soul—all in the name of protecting me, protecting this family, this world.

“You are only feeling the dark side of love.”

“There is no dark side,” I promised him, as if he were the child my defiant emotions thought he was.

“Douse it in an emotion like grief, anger, and envy, and it becomes pretty morbid.”

I glanced across the garden to the streets a few feet away. I focused on a few people and tried to feel their intentions, their emotions, even hear their chatter as their lips moved. Nothing.

“I feel isolated.”

“Your soul is emerging,” he stated evenly as his gray eyes pinned me where I stood. “The lack of sound is odd, I will grant you that, but some higher power has decided right now that you only need to hear yourself…inner focus.”

More and more flashes of his life were coming to me. Justus not only enjoyed humor, he was a philosopher. I saw him at August’s side, a young boy debating endless mythology. This boy was layers deep, layers that I was almost positive I knew as well as my own life.