The Amulet (25 page)

“Faen, have you given any thought to how we
are going to retrieve the book from whomever has it? I mean, they
must be pretty powerful to have been able to get it in the first
place.”

She didn’t like the look he gave her; it was
not his usual look of confidence. It smacked of ‘I haven’t thought
that far ahead, we’ll just make it up as we go along and hope for
the best’.

“I am afraid that until we know what or who
we are dealing with I will not know what course of action to take,”
he replied.

“In other words, you don’t have a plan.”

“No,” he agreed. Well, at least he was being
honest.

Faedra wished that where they were headed
wasn’t so far away. Her mind had a tendency to wander if she drove
for any length of time, and right now it had far too much time on
its hands, and was working overtime. Worst case scenarios were
playing themselves out in her head left, right and center, and none
of them had a happy ending for her, or her friends. She hated being
a worrywart sometimes.

She sincerely hoped that she wouldn’t have to
come face to face with any more redcaps, but considering her
history with them so far, she thought it was a bit too much to hope
for. At least she knew her powers could knock them out cold. She
leaned over, grabbed a bottle, and drank some more sugar water at
the thought.

Jocelyn and Faen were eerily silent. She
could sense that Faen was trying to figure out some sort of plan,
but, as yet, hadn’t come up with anything. As for Jocelyn, Faedra
now felt horrible about getting her involved in this. She was such
a sweet girl, she couldn’t bear it if she got hurt.

“Jocelyn, maybe you should stay in the car
when we get there,” Faedra said, voicing her concern.

“Are you kidding me?” Jocelyn replied. “I
have been dying for some action for eons now, there is no way I am
missing this.”

“Oh,” Faedra said with surprise. “Well, just
thought I would give you the option.”

“Faedra, I am not silent because I am
worried. I am silent because I am preparing myself,” Jocelyn
explained after she realized why Faedra was giving her an out.

“Some little sister you’ve got there,” she
chuckled to Faen.

“Yes, she does have her moments,” he agreed
with a proud smile.

The sun was starting to set as Faedra noticed
one of the landmarks that Kernunnos had mentioned.

“Look,” she pointed towards a large mound.
“Silbury Hill, ‘a hill that is perfectly round’. It is a man-made
hill, built about 4600 years ago, and has a perfectly round base.
We are getting close.”

They drove a little further and she pointed
to something up on a hillside. Faen and Jocelyn peered out of the
windows, and followed where she was pointing. “ ‘Giant white
horses’. There are eight white chalk horses carved into the
hillsides around this area,” she explained.

A little further and the next landmark came
into view. “ ‘A spire so high it touches the sky’. Salisbury
Cathedral, it has one of the tallest spires in Europe. And just
down here a little way we should see it.”

A little while later she saw it loom eerily
into view. It was almost dark now, and the full moon was rising
behind it. The magical aura this place exuded was not lost on
her.

“And there it is, Stonehenge, ‘a circle of
stone, surrounded by A’s’. The A303 and the A344, to be precise,”
she pointed to the road sign up ahead. “The two roads that run
either side of it.”

“Well done, Faedra,” Jocelyn exclaimed.
“However did you figure it out?”

“I’ve been here before. Mum brought me when I
was little. I remember her telling me how important this place
was.” She sighed at the memory.

Stonehenge rose up majestically before them
as they drove closer and closer to it. Faedra turned off the road
into the car park that was purposely built for tourists. It was
empty this late at night. Stonehenge was “Closed”. She laughed at
the irony of it. How could a mythical ancient monument, thousands
of years old, standing in the middle of a field be “Closed”.

She parked the car and they made their way
across the road. Her heart was pounding now. She had no idea what
to expect when they actually got to the circle.

“Oh, no,” she exclaimed as they made it
across the road. “It’s been fenced off, it wasn’t fenced off when I
came here before.”

A tall chain link fence now encircled the
ancient monolithic stones, allowing only those who would pay, to
see it up close.

“How do we get in now?”

Faen and Jocelyn looked at her
incredulously.

“What?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at
them.

They each linked an arm around one of hers,
lifted themselves and her off the ground, and glided effortlessly
over the fence.

“Oh,” she stated as her cheeks burned with
embarrassment.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

They moved towards the standing stones making
as little noise as possible. Faedra could feel her ring heating up
on her finger and looked down at it. The symbols were glowing in
the darkness. Her heart was in her mouth, but they could not yet
see anyone or anything. The monoliths grew taller and taller as
they approached. Faedra couldn’t help but think how impressive the
stones were when they were towering above her.

Upon reaching the outer circle, they stopped.
Faen was scanning all around them, both he and Jocelyn on high
alert. He extricated his sword from its sheath and held it in both
hands out in front of him. Jocelyn mumbled something that Faedra
couldn’t understand, and an exquisitely engraved sword appeared in
her hands from nowhere. She took the same stance as her brother.
Faedra’s eyes widened with surprise at the way Jocelyn looked so at
ease holding her sword.

They moved with caution between the stones.
Faedra was flanked either side by Faen and Jocelyn. They saw
nothing, heard nothing, but Faedra knew something was there. Her
ring was screaming at her now, and telling her just that. They made
it to the center of the circle and looked around them. The moon was
high in the sky and bathing the entire area in an unearthly silver
glow, causing the monoliths to cast large dark shadows all around
them.

“I wondered how long it would take you,” a
female voice, as smooth as silk echoed out of the darkness.

All three turned in the direction of the
voice and scanned the shadows. Faedra’s heart was beating so hard
she thought it would punch itself right out of her chest. They
could still see no one. A second later a scraping noise, like
someone running nails along a chalkboard, resonated high in front
of them, and they looked up. A woman was walking across one of the
lintel stones, dragging a sword on the stone behind her that was
sending sparks flying into the air. She was also holding a book,
The
book.

The woman was tall and slender. Under the
silvery light it looked like her hair was raven black and fell half
way down her back in a tumble of luscious sleek waves. Her skin was
pale and held the same luminescent quality that Faen’s and
Jocelyn’s did. She wore a long opulent blue dress of pure silk that
shimmered in the moonlight, and her spectacular wings of snow white
were outstretched to either side of her. She was beautiful, regally
beautiful.

“Your Highness?” Faen questioned with a
puzzled expression.

“Very observant, Guardian.” her voice
remained smooth as silk, but her expression wrinkled into a
sneer.

An awkward silence hovered around them as
they all, one by one, digested the scene unfolding before their
eyes.

“Vivianna?” Faen questioned in disbelief.
“You took the book? You tortured Elvelynn? But she was your
friend.”

Vivianna laughed, a cold heartless laugh. “I
do not get my hands dirty on such mundane tasks, Guardian,” she
sneered, “I have my… little helpers to do that for me.”

Movement among the stones below Vivianna
distracted Faedra, and a dozen pairs of glowing yellow eyes
appeared in the shadows. She sucked in a breath, and Faen and
Jocelyn moved in closer to her until they were almost touching.

“But why?” Faen continued his line of
questioning. “Why would you want to destroy our world and this
one?”

“I have my reasons,” she replied, her voice
still silken, but she shot an icy glare towards Faedra.

Faedra looked up into the dark night sky, for
what, she didn’t know. Maybe some kind of sign that they would get
through this, some kind of inspiration. Although, from where she
was standing, the odds looked pretty well stacked against them. Her
attention was caught by a streak of luminescent light that wavered
ethereally across the sky above her. It was mesmerizing in its
beauty and shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. Then there
was another and another until it looked like she was watching the
Aurora Borealis. She nudged Faen.

“What is it, Faedra?” he asked. His eyes
still fixated on Vivianna.

“Look,” she said, still looking at the sky
above her.

He turned his gaze to her and followed her
line of sight. A blank expression superceded the one of concern
that was previously there.

“What is it?” she whispered when she noticed
that his look was one of recognition. He had seen this before.

He said nothing.

“Faen?” she urged.

“Valkyries,” he responded stoically.

More movement on the opposite side of the
circle to where the redcaps were hiding in the shadows made them
turn and look. Faedra’s jaw dropped as she watched seven enormous
winged horses maneuver with stealth through the stones and came to
a stop just beyond the shadows. Each horse was black as midnight
with shining, flame-red eyes that glowed ominously in the darkness.
They were snorting fiercely as they furled their outstretched wings
to nestle them along their flanks.

Sitting astride each horse was a beautiful
maiden. Each of them wearing a silken white dress but their torsos
were protected by armor, and they each wore a helmet and were
carrying a spear in an outstretched arm. Faedra could see now where
the lights in the sky were coming from. Each plate of armor
sparkled under the moonlight like the facets of a diamond caught
under the halogen lights in a jewelry store.

“Valkyries?” Faedra choked. “What are
Valkyries doing here?”

“I do not know,” Faen responded, regarding
them with interest and not taking his eyes from them.

“But don’t Valkyries come to watch over a
battle?”

“Yes.”

“And then take the slain back to Valhalla to
become warriors?”

Faen took his eyes off the Valkyries for a
second and regarded Faedra with the same interest. “You have done
your homework,” he said with a raise of his eyebrow.

She shrugged. “What can I say, mythology
fascinates me, and it’s amazing what you can find on the Internet,”
she gave him a weak smile, which he returned before reverting his
gaze back to the armored maidens.

“Oh, God,” Faedra whispered under her breath
after being given a moment to think about it. Her body started to
tremble, it was involuntary on her part, but, nevertheless, seemed
to be out of her control. She wasn’t ready to die and fight for
Odin for all eternity.

Faen took hold of her hand and gave it a
squeeze in an attempt to calm her. He could sense her getting
frayed around the edges and they all needed to focus if they were
going to make it through this.

“We do not know why they are here, Faedra. Do
not trouble yourself, just yet. Asgard and Valhalla are probably
just as much affected as Azran and The World of Men. If Vivianna is
trying to destroy all realms, she certainly has it within her grasp
to do so. The book controls nature in every realm not just
ours.”

The winged horses stepped forward until they
were lined up in front of them. The center horse then broke ranks
and moved closer to the three that were huddled back to back in a
protective triangle in the center of the circle. Restless murmuring
came from where the redcaps were lurking in the shadows, but they
did not move forward themselves.

Vivianna stood on the lintel above them,
watching with amusement as the scene played out below her. A
vindictive smile curved her lips. This was more than she could have
hoped for, that the Valkyries would take them to fight for eternity
after she had slaughtered them. They would never have the chance to
rest in peace, after all, and this thought made her intensely
happy.

The solo winged horse came to a stop just
feet away from Faen, and Faedra assumed it must be carrying the
leader of the group. She had not been able to take her eyes from
the maiden who exuded grace and valor, but there was an underlying
presence that was unmistakable. These maidens were not here to take
sides, they were here to take the losers. Faedra’s heart sank once
more. For a second she had allowed herself a glimmer of hope that
they would help because their world may be suffering, too, but,
without words, it was still as clear as crystal that the Valkyries
would not be breaking any rules that night.

The maiden and Faen exchanged pointed glances
at each other in silence for a moment.

“Freja,” Faen broke the silence first.

Freja inclined her head in acknowledgement.
“Guardian,” she responded, and Faen did the same. They fell silent
again but neither one broke eye contact with the other.

“I think that we have had quite enough of the
pleasantries,” Vivianna’s silken voice cut through the silence like
a knife.

The Valkyries looked up at her and Freja
nodded her head in agreement. She looked to the maidens on one side
of her and then the other, and their horses all simultaneously
backed up until they were lined against the inner wall of the
circle.

“They’re not going to help us are they?”
Faedra whispered to Faen.