Encala (29 page)

“
Maybe it’s a smell,
something even we cannot pick up and the dog smells it just before
it happens,” another member answered.

“
Or it’s an outside
presence and he hears it,” Damon said, turning to the
dog.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “What do you
mean?”

“
The voices… the ‘stop
them’, what if it’s someone… channeling, if you will,” Damon turned
to Emily.

“
For what purpose?” Leonid
asked, frowning.

“
We don’t know. She keeps
refusing,” Damon said.

“
She said it hurt to say
no,” Chevalier said, thinking. “So the voices… whatever… ask her to
do something, and when she says no, the pain starts.”

Damon nods, “Then it gets worse when she
keeps saying no, until the voice breaks off or she passes out.”

“
That would mean the ‘stop
them’ is for us. She is begging us to stop it,” Chevalier said,
looking down at Emily as she slept.

“
Have you noticed that when
you are controlling her… someone tries to kill her,” Damon said,
thinking out loud. “Then the concentration breaks and the
questioning stops.”

Chevalier nodded, “It’s the Ancient… he’s
trying to get Emily to do something, and then punishes her for
refusing. Then when I’m starting to get information, he turns to
one of us and tries to have her killed to stop her from
talking.”

“
It’s an Encala attack,”
Damon said, looking at Chevalier.

“
I need to get her under
control where I can keep it.”

“
In a cell, in the dungeon…
we lock you in and only you have the key,” Damon suggested. “Then
no matter how bad we want to kill her, we can’t get in.”

“
Unless it’s me that tries
to kill her, and then no one can protect her,” Chevalier
sighed.

“
This is all a little
farfetched, don’t you think?” one of the Council suggested. “The
ancients wanted mortals dead… if he wants her dead, why doesn’t he
just kill her?”

Ford began to growl and everyone turned to
look at Emily.

“
I won’t do it!” Emily
screamed, sitting up suddenly. She clutched her chest and
groaned.

“
Emily, what’s wrong?”
Chevalier asked, sitting by her.

“
I won’t do it… make them
stop,” she begged, and screamed in pain.

“
What do they want you to
do?” he asked, trying to lock her gaze.

“
It doesn’t matter,” she
groaned, “I won’t do it.”

“
Do what? Tell me.” he
growled.

Mark picked up Ford as he began to howl, and
put him in the bathroom.

Emily stood up and a shadow across her face.
She breathed heavily and looked around the room with fierceness
uncharacteristic for her.

“
Emily?” Chevalier asked,
watching her as he took a step back.

Her body began to shake and she hissed, “I
won’t do it.”

Emily fell to her knees, her hands against
her head, “No.”

Chevalier knelt in front of her and forced
her to face him, “Look at me.”

Emily squeezed her eyes shut with the
pain.

“
Now, Emily, look at me.”
Her eyes flew open and he immediately locked her gaze. The heku
around them watched one another closely.

As Emily began to breathe in sync with
Chevalier, he spoke in the soft calming cadence, “Emily, what do
they want you to do?”

“
I won’t,” she
whispered.

“
I know, but what do they
want you to do?”

“
I will kill her,” she said
again, softly.

“
Kill who?”

Chevalier stopped talking and held her gaze
as he heard the commotion going on behind him. He knew if he spoke,
his voice might break in anger, so he looked deeper into her eyes,
holding the control. When things quieted down, he continued.

“
Kill who,
Emily?”

“
I won’t do it,” Emily
whispered.

Leonid jumped for the bathroom door when
Ford began to dig frantically and bark.

“
Do what?” he concentrated
harder.

“
I will kill her if you
don’t stop.”

The entire room froze and looked at Emily.
Her voice had changed, it was cracked and malicious.

Chevalier didn’t break his concentration,
“You can’t kill her. We won’t let you.”

Another fight broke out in the room, but
Chevalier didn’t react, didn’t break her gaze.

“
Emily, what do they want
you to do?”

“
Saying no hurts,” she
said, softly.

“
I know.”

“
I won’t do it.”

“
Do what?”

Chevalier growled with frustration when she
collapsed onto the floor. He picked her up and carried her to the
bed. The heku watched for hours as she slept.

When morning came, Sam came out from the
nursery with Allen. Allen smiled at Chevalier and squirmed to be
let down. Sam put him on the floor, and he ran into his Dad’s
arms.

“
Good morning!” Allen said,
and grinned, then wrapped his arms around Chevalier.

Chevalier kissed his forehead, “Good
morning.”

“
Look, firemen,” Allen
said, showing Chevalier the action figures in his hand.

“
I see, very nice,”
Chevalier told him, trying to give his son some much needed
attention.

“
They talk too.”

“
They do? What do they
say?” Chevalier grinned.

Allen held up the figurine to Chevalier and
lowered his voice, “Ritus poena, invito antiquus...”

“
Stop!” Chevalier yelled,
and then softened his voice. “I’m sorry, Allen.”

All of the heku turned and looked at the
raven haired boy, their eyes a mixture of confusion and fear.

Chevalier’s face became serious, “When do
they say that?”

“
All the time. They talk a
lot,” Allen said, mimicking the firemen putting out a
fire.

“
What… what else do they
say?” he asked, and the other Elders stepped closer to hear
him.

Allen shrugged, “They don’t say any real
words.”

“
I know, tell me what else
they say, please,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“
They sing, there’s a song,
but it’s boring.”

“
Tell me.”

“
Can I show you their
truck?” Allen asked, trying to climb off the bed.

Chevalier pulled him back onto the covers,
“Tell me the song.”

“
It’s boring.”

“
I want to hear it
anyway.”

“
Ok… it goes…” Allen’s
voice changed to a soft rhythmic cadence, “Caedo consilium, Caedo
consilium, over and over.”

Maleth gasped and looked at Leonid, who was
watching Allen with wide eyes.

“
Are they talking right
now?” Leonid asked the toddler.

“
No,” Allen said, and
pulled the firemen’s jacket off of one figure.

“
When do they sing?”
Chevalier asked, trying to sound casual.

“
They are always singing…
can I get breakfast?” he asked, and climbed down.

Chevalier nodded to Sam, and he took Allen’s
hand and led him out of the room.

“
How can he know about the
ritual of pain?” Maleth frowned.

“
Not just know about it,
but know how the words to perform it,” Leonid added.

“
He can’t,” Chevalier said.
“He has to be hearing what Emily is hearing.”

“
Then why isn’t he in
pain?” Leonid asked.

“
The voices aren’t for
him,” Damon said, understanding.

“
That’s it then…” Chevalier
said. “Someone is telling her to kill the Council, and when she
refuses, they inflict the ritual of pain.”

“
A mortal can’t live
through the ritual of pain, that’s proven. It’s killed even heku
before,” Maleth said, angrily.

“
This is Emily. We already
know she’s more than a mortal,” Leonid said.

“
If she could use that
connection… the connection the voices use to get to her. Turn it on
them,” Damon said, looking at the wall.

“
You mean use their voices
to turn them to ash?” Chevalier asked him, frowning.

“
The ritual of pain takes
more than just words. It takes power, and someone is sending that
across distances. If she can somehow use that same
method…”

Chevalier nodded, “Then she could turn the
sender to ash.”

“
She’s tried twelve times.
She needs a break,” Chevalier growled.

“
I’m ok, I can try again,”
Emily said from the bed.

“
He’s right, you need to
rest,” Maleth said, standing up from the chair by the
fireplace.

“
We all could use a night
off,” Mark added, and looked around at the fifteen gathered
heku.

“
I’m not taking medicine to
make me sleep,” she said, frowning.

“
It’s the only way to stop
the attacks. You need a rest,” the doctor said, holding the shot in
his hand.

“
Touch me with that thing
and I’ll ash you again,” she glared.

The doctor took a step back. He remembered
the pain of her fury.

“
Emily, for me… please,”
Chevalier asked, softly.

“
No”

Emily screamed as she felt the pinch in her
arm and turned, shocked to see Kyle standing beside her with the
needle. The doctor looked down at his empty hand, confused.

“
You can ash me later,”
Kyle said, grinning as she fell to the bed.

“
You’re either very brave
or one stupid heku,” Chevalier said, shaking his head at Kyle, “But
welcome back.”

Kyle grinned, “Mark filled me in out in the
hallway.”

As soon as the room cleared out and Kyle was
hidden in the corner, Chevalier turned off the lights and curled up
next to Emily. He hated the way she smelled after medicine. To him
it was almost like sleeping by a stranger. He knew she needed this
though.

It was like looking down a dark hallway. As
he emerged, he stepped out into the foyer of a grand palace. There
were golden statues and white marble pillars with bouquets of red
roses lining the red carpet runners.

Chevalier sat up suddenly and looked
around.

“
What’s wrong?” Kyle
whispered from the corner.

“
I don’t know… it was a
palace, red carpets and flowers… I don’t know where it came from.
Just an image,” he said, confused.

“
Is it Emily’s dream?” Kyle
suggested.

“
I haven’t been able to do
that for two months, not since she left for Colorado.”

“
Try again, see what you
get.”

Chevalier touched her arm and suddenly grew
still.

“
Good evening,” the heku
said, bowing deeply.

“
Most honorable Ancient,”
another heku said, bowing.

A large wooden door opened to a lavish court
room. The Encala banner hung from behind the platform.

“
Kyle… she’s seeing the
Encala’s council room. I’ve been there before, and she’s seeing it
exactly. I don’t think she’s been there,” Chevalier
said.

Kyle stepped out of the shadow, “Can she
pull information from you?”

“
Not that I’ve seen,”
Chevalier thought. “When I’m there… I’m the Ancient, I see through
his eyes.”

“
Could the connection be
permanent then? Something he uses at will, but is always
there?”

Chevalier reached down and touched her arm
again.

“
They did not return, as
expected,” one of the Encala Elders said.

“
Did they see her?”another
member of the Council asked the Ancient.

“
Yes, I caught images of
her from them.”

Chevalier felt the fury when the Ancient
spoke again, “She is mine and I want her… now!”

“
Patience, please, ancient
one. We will get her,” the Elder said, smiling.

“
She will soon do as I ask
and kill the Equites Council. Once that is done, you will bring her
to me. It’s time she takes her place at my side.”

“
Yes, ancient one,” the
Elder said, bowing.

“
So like her mother. So
strong,” the ancient one said, and Chevalier felt an immense sense
of loss.

“
My God, Kyle,” Chevalier
said, looking at Emily.

“
What did you
see?”

“
Her father is an Encala
Elder… an ancient,” he said, softly.

“
The Encala have an ancient
on their council?” Kyle was shocked. One of the rules that all
three factions held, was that the ancients were to remain buried
for the safety of the mortals.

“
And have for quite some
time,” Chevalier hissed.

“
An ancient and a mortal
though? That’s… well that’s impossible, isn’t it?” Kyle asked,
watching him.

“
Not impossible, just
unheard of.”

“
What are the
implications?”

“
I don’t know. The one
thing I’m sure of now… she’s seeing inside of the Encala palace.” A
dark grin crossed his face, “If she can see them… “