Legend of the Touched (35 page)

Patlih greeted the three young men in the entryway of
the castle. Darien bowed.

"My Lord, I'm surprised to see you. To what do I owe
this visit?" Patlih asked and bowed as well.

Darien took in a breath. "I'm on a quest of sorts,
and I was hoping perhaps you'd be able to provide some
information."

"I will do my best." The Aero Lord waved for them all
to follow him deeper into the castle. "You can rest here for as
long as you need."

"Thank you, that's very generous of you. I promise we
will not be intruding on your family for long. A few hours at the
most. There's a bit of a time crunch. It pertains to stopping the
war." Darien paused, trying to figure out the best way to start
this conversation. "My father came to me in a vision telling me to
unite the Touched. With the Inero combining their magics, I believe
he means for the four elements to do the same to combat their
attacks. As you know, I'm Touched; this man with me, Jason, is as
well. We also know of a Terran who is too. What I'm asking is: do
you by chance have a Touched son? Or know anything about someone
who is?"

For a while, no one said anything. Patlih's body
stiffened as he walked and he wouldn't look at Darien anymore.
Usually the man was polite and attempted to maintain as much eye
contact as possible. Now he only stared straight ahead.

Patlih shook his head quickly. "No. I do not have a
Touched son, nor have I ever met one who is."

Darien's heart sank. He'd been so sure that the
Touched one of the Aero would be from their royal line. After all,
the others followed a similar pattern. The tension in Patlih's body
suggested it was a sore subject for him. Darien couldn't tell if
the man was lying or not. He knew enough about the Aero culture to
not press on the matter, not with the Lord at least.

"I'm sorry if you feel that you've wasted your time
with this trip," Patlih continued.

"No, not a waste in the slightest," Darien said. "I'm
confident the answers are out there and will make themselves known
to me." He glanced sideways at the Aero Lord and watched as the man
clenched his fists. A strange reaction for someone who didn't know
anything.

Patlih brought them upstairs and into a long hallway.
"These are the guest rooms. Please make yourselves comfortable in
any that you please. Rest, and I will do what I can to help you
with your quest, though I cannot guarantee a thing."

"Thank you." Darien bowed again, and then stepped
inside the nearest room. Jason and Chris followed him in and shut
the door.

Darien looked between the two. "He's lying."

"I could smell it on him. It's disgusting that he
thinks we're too dumb to pick up on it." Jason sat on a bed. Chris
didn't say anything, but Darien was learning that the man didn't
say much of anything. It was a good quality sometimes.

Darien leaned against the door. "I don't think he
believes we don't notice. He's prideful, and the reason he's hiding
this information probably has something to do with that. Which
means we'll have to do some solid searching while we are here.
Maybe ask around town and—."

He stopped when he heard a knock on the door, causing
him to jump where he stood. Glancing back at the others, he opened
the door with a shaking hand worried that perhaps Patlih had
overheard their conversation. Instead of the Aero Lord though, he
saw a man in his thirties. His dark, almond-shaped eyes gazed at
the floor.

"Pardon the interruption my Lord. My name is Cualli.
My father is Patlih, and he told me of what you're searching for.
I'm part of the priesthood and have done a lot of studying of the
Holy Book. I've been wondering if this is the preparation days of
the Great Dragon. Your request makes me think it's true." The man
bowed. As he did this he thrust a folded note at Darien. "This
should help you. It's all I know."

"Thank you." Darien tried to mask his surprise. He
didn't want to be rude. Cualli glanced over his shoulder and then
left without another word.

Jason had both of his eyebrows raised. "This is a
peculiar people."

Darien shrugged and unfolded the note. He smiled when
he read the words on the paper. "This should be a good lead." He
handed it to Jason so he could see.

"Go to the place on the map. Ask for Eztli. Tell him
his brother sends you, and he is missed and loved. Mother is still
well."

Chapter Eighty-Five

The Inero

Kat didn't want to go to the wives' pool, but Lenora
did. She didn't want to discourage the woman from going out in
public for the first time since Lynx died. Kat was feeling a little
anti-social though. There was a lot on her mind.

Most of the women at the pool tried to come and offer
Lenora condolences. All of them were turned away. Only Kat and
Ashley were allowed to be nearby, which was too bad because Kat
still didn't know what she thought of the blonde Oceina woman.
She'd be tolerated for Lenora's sake.

"The fresh air is nice," Lenora said.

Gently, Kat touched the woman's arm, rubbing it
slowly. "You'll let me know if you need anything?"

"You're a sweet a girl." She touched Kat's hair.
"Your husband tells me he's going to march over the Oceina border
and burn everything he sees."

Kat had yet to hear about this plan. Matt had been
busier than ever lately, and she didn't dare ask him to give her
attention again. After all, last time it cost him so much. If
something were to go wrong because she wanted him to take a break
again, then he might never forgive her. She preferred knowing
little about his plans now. The more he talked about violence and
revenge, the less she wanted to listen to him. It broke her heart
to think about all of the people who still had to suffer before
peace would come.

The feud was starting to feel stupid to her. She
understood the motivations behind it, but the more she thought
about it, the more she wondered if God would want a holy war. Why
would any loving deity want to destroy an entire people? It didn't
make sense to her, but who was she to question?

She nodded at Lenora, making sure it was clear she
was listening. Ashley played with her long golden hair. The woman
stood out so much in the city.

"Imagine, he could be the next Great Lord. Wouldn't
that be fantastic? Josiah said there's a campaign to push for it.
After all, he's the one who knows the most of Lynx's work. He'll be
leading us to victory. You could be a queen." Ashley nudged Kat
gently.

Shifting awkwardly, Kat gave a polite smile. Did
Ashley have no sense of tact? Lenora had just been like a queen.
They did not need to discuss this gossip in front of her. And why
was Ashley standing closer to Kat? What were these power games
being played? Kat hugged Lenora, moving away from Ashley. She
glanced over at Tiffy and Ariana, missing her friends and the happy
family they used to have. The question was how did she go about
getting it back without losing everything?

Chapter Eighty-Six

The Oceina

Darien followed the coordinates on the map Cualli had
given him. It brought him to the eastern border of the Aero nation,
deep in the mountain range. The snow-capped peaks were difficult to
maneuver around at times because he had to fly much higher than he
ever had to before. There was no other way to get to his
destination in a timely fashion. Driving would have taken at least
a day, and that was a day he did not have to waste. Thankfully,
they were all able to get there in one piece.

The location on the map was a cabin a few miles
outside of a tiny mountain town. He straightened his clothes and
took a good look around. It was cold and misty. Snow crunched under
his feet as he made his way to the door of the cabin. Jason was
shivering so loudly behind him, his teeth chattered. Darien was
used to the cold, for the most part, so it only bothered him a
little. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. It took
several knocks until he heard someone on the other side
shouting.

"Hang on a second!" The lock turned, and the door
opened revealing a young Aero man around Darien's age. "Who are
you?"

"My name is Darien." He offered a small smile before
motioning at his two companions. "This is Jason and Chris." He
paused and pulled out the letter. "Are you Etzli?"

The young man folded his arms in front of him.
"Maybe."

"Your brother sent me to find you."

"Did something happen?"

Darien unfolded the letter. "It depends on what you
mean by did something happen. But, he said to tell you that your
mother is fine. I...here." Darien handed it to the man so he could
read it for himself.

The young man's eyes moved back and forth as he did
so, and then he folded the paper again. "Yeah, I'm Etz. I'm not
sure what I can help you with though, or why I want to. Come in.
It's cold out." He opened the door wider and stepped out of the
way. They all walked inside, and the warmth was welcoming.

"Thank you." Darien followed Etz into the den. They
all sat down.

"So, talk." Etz crossed his legs. His gaze never left
Darien.

"We heard this rumor you were Touched," Jason said,
getting the ball rolling.

"Yeah, and?" Etz raised an eyebrow.

Darien let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. We are
Touched as well." He waved at himself and Jason. "There is a
Touched Terran dragon as well. We're from the other nation;
I'm—"

Etz leaned in towards Darien and studied him. "Let me
guess. You're Oceina with your pretty blue eyes and creamy skin,
and he's Inero with his dark tan and the fact that he can't handle
a little snow. Chill man, it's not that cold. Ha, chill! I crack
myself up. You're not really answering my question though. And this
means what to me?"

"I don't know how in the loop you are with everything
going on in the rest of the world, but there's a war breaking out
between our nations," Jason said.

"Still not interested."

Jason looked at Darien and shook his head. "We're
wasting our time. We can do this without him."

"If the Terran are in allegiance with the Inero and
combining their magics? I'm not so sure we can," Darien said and
made eye contact with Etz. "Look, without your help, an entire
nation could die. It says in the Holy Book that—"

"I still don't care," Etz snapped.

Darien blinked and then glared at the Aero man. "I
see now why your father didn't tell me you existed. I'd be ashamed
of you too."

"And I'm sure now you see why he disowned me and
exiled me from home." Etz glared back.

With a sigh, Darien ran a hand over his face. "Have
you ever wanted to do something with your life? Don't you feel it
inside of you? Don't you wonder if you were Touched for a reason?
This was prophesied hundreds of years ago."

Etz leaned forward. "Well if it's destiny, then why
are you even bothering to ask?" He paused and sat back again. "But
yes. I have wanted to do more. My father had my life all mapped out
for me. I left home because I didn't like where that life was
heading. He was going to keep me from the woman I loved."

"I see. I can't fault you too much for that then." He
paused. "Maybe it was a waste of time to come seek you out, but I'm
desperate. The Inero are talking genocide. Only one of them is on
my side and he is in the room with me. This is more than a spat
between two nations though. There are dark forces at play, and only
we, the Touched, can stop them. When we do that, then the war ends
and—"

"Everyone lives happily ever after," Etz finished.
Darien shrugged. Etz half smiled. "Has anyone ever told you to get
your head out of the clouds? Fairy tales aren't real."

Jason's fists clenched, and his brow furrowed. At
first Darien thought he was angry, but then he noticed how Jason
shook his head and grabbed at it. Almost as if he was in pain. Was
this the demon he was talking about? Jason's eyes closed and when
they opened again, they were completely black.

"What...?" Etz frowned, eyes widening slightly, and
his head tilted to the side.

"Good thing it's not a fairy tale then," Darien said
casually. "I didn't mention that this evil is possessing my friend
here, did I? You can choose to believe it's a fantasy, or you can
believe the truth. We were born for a purpose. I am asking you to
embrace it and help us. To do something big. Maybe it would help
you win back the honor lost in your family. If not for your father,
then your mother? I'm not sure what the story is there, but she's
obviously important to you." He'd noticed how Etzli had reacted
when Darien had first come to the door.

Etz shook his head. "You don't know my father very
well if you think that. Lucky for you I have enough of a sense of
adventure to consider it. Fighting something dark and evil might be
a nice break from chopping wood."

What a peculiar man.
Darien shrugged. He'd
take what he could get. "Thank you I—"

"I said I'd consider it. Not that it was a yes. In
the end it's still
my
decision and no flowery talks about
doing the right thing, following my destiny, or doing something big
with my life will persuade me. Now, I suggest you leave my home."
Etz stood. The others did the same.

That was when Tai's voice popped into his head.
Darien! I just heard from the Terran Lord. You won't believe
this. The Touched of his nation, he wants to meet with you. He
wants to help! You're supposed to meet him at the Council Island in
three days.

It might be a trap,
Darien replied, but he
couldn't help but feel a little uplifted at the possibility.

I thought the same thing, but I've talked with your
brothers. Two of them will be joining you, as well as a number of
your cousins. If something fishy happens, you'll have back up.

He laughed in amazement. The others in the room
frowned or raised their eyebrows in surprise.
I love you Tai.
Thank you.
He faced Etzli. "If you change your mind and decide
you want to help, come to the Council Island in three days."