Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) (3 page)

Hunter’s eyes widened. “Well done, Kaeleigh. But has this been happening much... your energy depleting that way, I mean?” She nodded. At the paling of her face, he headed back to the work table. “I will answer your questions because there is much to discuss and you need to know what you are dealing with, but right now, we must hurry. Your energies are failing at a rapid pace. Please sit. Don’t do anything while I finish up preparations, and hopefully your friends will have returned by then.” He helped her move to the more comfortable seat made out of some kind of stretched leather, but it had a pillow and she curled up to where she could see him but also look out the window from her other side.

Intensely focused elsewhere, Hunter puttered around the little table as he laid out all the tools he needed on the block of wood that stood on four legs. There was method and order to what he was doing. Watching him, Kaeleigh mused on how it looked like he was getting ready to either perform an exorcism or a sacred ritual; Kaeleigh hoped for the latter. Nervously, she bit her lip and worried her necklace between her fingers as she stared out the window again, trying not to think about the pain that she had endured when she was on the bridge. She hoped this was not the same kind of torture... or worse.

Closing her eyes, she willed herself to relax and tried to focus on the things Hunter had told her about Alandria and what it was once before. She tried to visualize what it must have been like, but her mind kept wandering to where her friends and Daegan might be. She wasn’t sure if she counted Daegan as a friend, but he had been there for her when she needed him to be... mostly. Thinking of Daegan—it was unsettling to realize that she had actually been having visions and dreams of him before they had even met. Suddenly, all she could see in her mind’s eye was Daegan. Kaeleigh could see him standing strong and fierce in all his glory as a warrior, a Faerie warrior. But then, as if she could look beyond his exterior, she didn’t see him fighting and defending the innocent of Alandria, or for the cause that needed to be won. Instead, she saw him crumbling in on himself, broken and tortured in soul and in body—trapped within himself. The tortured feeling that came from his spirit, and the frayed ribbon of magical energy that she could see periodically coming from him, concerned her greatly. She didn’t know what it all meant, but her heart broke for him.

Suddenly, from vision to reality, she saw Daegan and Finn walking back up the path toward the cottage.
Speak of the devil
. Not talking to each other, just simply walking in the same direction at the same time. Her heart soared at seeing Finn; she was so afraid that he had gone off to do something stupid thinking he was protecting her, like turning himself in. She could breathe easier knowing he had come back. Chel was just behind them, breathing heavily, hands on her hips the way Kaeleigh had seen her do many times when she was cooling down from a run. As if this was something she did here in this realm all the time. 

As if sensing her, Daegan looked directly at her, the thin window pane the only thing between her and the piercing question in his eyes that burned into her soul. What she saw reflecting in his eyes wasn’t the same intensity that had been directed at her before, but was a raw, naked emptiness that burrowed deep inside of him. The spell of his façade suddenly broke on her.

⚔⚔⚔

Finn went inside, but Daegan stopped short of the door and stared back at Kaeleigh’s piercing stare that held a knowledge that disarmed him. He frowned, unnerved at her sudden ability to openly stare into his soul. There weren’t many that could see beyond his guard—in fact, he couldn’t think of any except maybe Arileas. Hands clenched at his sides, he took a deep breath, re-erecting his figurative shield of boulders and thorns before entering the cottage. Once inside, he refused to look at Kaeleigh, but immediately focused on the unexpected ritualistic manner of preparations that Hunter was doing and tried to decipher his apparent madness.

Finn and a quickly recovered Chel also stopped, staring as Hunter cleaned off a very sharp dagger.

“He is preparing for my un-warding ritual,” Kaeleigh explained.

“How are you feeling, Kaeleigh?” Finn looked her over intently.

“I’m okay right now, Finn,” she said as she lightly patted the seat next to her for him to sit. “But Hunter has been filling me in on some things.” She went on to explain to the best of her understanding what Hunter was doing and why she was “sick.” 

Chel scrunched her face in concern. Finn leaned forward in his seat, his brows pinched, his gaze focused intensely on the fire while elbows bounced on his knees. He seemed uncomfortable with what was about to transpire.

“Is this safe? I mean will it hurt her?” Daegan asked, surprising everyone as he had been quietly leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Hunter paused in his work to look up at Daegan. “It shouldn’t,” Hunter replied, to Kaeleigh’s relief especially. “She will feel some pressure, I believe, but most of what she will feel, I suspect, will be the emotional loss of her prior self.” At what he imagined Daegan was trying to convey—but failed—as indifference to his answer, he continued arranging and then rearranging his supplies.

Kaeleigh spoke softly. “Finn? My grandfather was telling me about how you...”—she paused—“how you became my...”

“Guardian?” Finn quietly finished for her. His eyes softened when he looked back at Kaeleigh sitting only mere feet away from him.

“Friend. I was going to say friend,” Kaeleigh responded with a sweet smile. Which, in turn, made Finn smile.

“I won’t go into the details of how I was in the position I was in, except to say that I had made a mistake,” Finn said quietly. He stared with unseeing eyes at her, obviously haunted by his past. “I was going to be killed or worse... banished as consequence for what I had done. It was during a time of great confusion and chaos in Alandria.” Finn paused, taking some deep breaths. There was a barely noticeable tremor in his hand as he got up and slowly moved toward the window. “The night before I was to go before the council and the public, the king of Adettlyn decided upon banishment from Alandria.” He hung his head as he painfully continued, “I would rather have been killed than to be dishonored that way and kept out of my home forever. However, the king told me it would be done in private and I was to be sent with a mission... a chance at redemption: to take with me a daughter of Alandria, a child who needed to be hidden and protected at all costs.” The room was silent as he spoke.

Kaeleigh stared at him in disbelief. “But I’ve only known you for the last few years. How is that possible?”

“I have been guiding and looking after you even when you didn’t know I was there.” He hung his head low. “I know I failed you for a time early on. I left for a season to redirect some scouts that were looking for you, when you fell into the hands of...” 

Kaeleigh put her hand up, stopping him from referring to the time when she was placed into some very unfortunate foster families. She snuck a quick and hopefully discreet glance to see Daegan frowning at her. Not his usual scowl, but almost one of deep concern—which made her feel even more uncomfortable. She didn’t like to talk about it in the first place, but she definitely didn’t want people to pity her. She was given the lot she had in life—yeah, sometimes it sucked—but she had made it out, hopefully a stronger and better person for it.

Finn took a deep breath then looked over at Chel. “That’s when I found that Chel’s parents had left Alandria as well. They took you in without question.”

Chel had come over and grabbed Kaeleigh’s hand in support. Daegan, still leaning in the corner, arms folded, now glared at Finn with a puzzled look. She didn’t have the energy to wonder what that was about. He caught her watching him, but expressionless, he began to watch Hunter lay everything out in a specific order much like a surgeon would lay out his instruments. This collection of instruments included an oddly shaped stone, a perfectly whittled stick, several different-colored candles placed at each point of the chalk-drawn star with seven points on the wooden table, an ancient-looking athame with an intricately designed handle, a purple velvet pouch filled with something, a little vellum envelope that held several short, fine brownish hairs, and the head of a large white orchid.

Seeing the orchid caused Kaeleigh to gasp. She slowly moved toward it extending her hand, wanting to touch it, to receive what comfort she could ascertain from the familiarity of a simple flower. As much as she felt suddenly
found
in this new world and new life, she also felt
lost
. Kaeleigh still had so many questions and didn’t even know where to begin. For now, she let them be to wait the moment out.

Daegan approached the table, watching over Hunter’s shoulder as he continued to make preparations for whatever it was that he was about to do. Irritated, Hunter looked up and over his shoulder at him. Daegan continued to stare at the contents of the table, unaffected by the older man’s stare. “I have never seen this kind of magic prepared,” Daegan said, shrugging.

“It is not magic that is practiced by many in Alandria. It’s an ancient magic that has lost its way with the passing of time. We, those privileged to be creatures of Alandria, are gifted with our own magics each to their own races—as you know—but there are deeper magics that exist, or used to. Some use objects to channel magical energies into, but there are some who contain this magic innately within the depth of their being. The ancestry that my line belongs to possesses the latter with much practice and a little bit of luck.” Hunter winked as he gazed back at Kaeleigh, who was listening intently as she studied them from by the window. 

“My grandfather taught my father, and it was he who taught it to me. I attempted to pass it on to my son, but it is not easily learned, and since time has been stolen from us for now, I’m afraid he has not learned enough to even perform the smallest of this magic.” Hunter looked down, sad, but quickly refocused.

He muttered quietly under his breath. Daegan heard and watched him carefully. “I have only attempted this one other time,” Hunter said as he looked toward Kaeleigh, to which Daegan responded with a questioning eyebrow. Hunter continued, “I warded Kaeleighnna when she was small with this ancient magic. She is special, young Daegan.” Hunter looked intently into Daegan’s eyes. “She must be kept safe. Kaeleighnna is the last marked by The Orchids. I believe she is part of an ancient prophecy, come to restore life and peace to our dying Alandria.”

At the slight widening of Daegan’s eyes, Hunter saw what he needed to see. “You are aware of what she is.” It wasn’t a question and Daegan didn’t respond. “Yet you brought her here,” Hunter said, angrily gritting his teeth. He looked at Kaeleigh then past her out the window. After coming back to his current thoughts, he added, “You must get her to the mountains of Kandria. There is someone there she must meet. He will be expecting her.”

While Hunter was talking, Daegan eyed Kaeleigh surreptitiously, wondering why she hadn’t jumped in to their conversation. Hunter realized what he was thinking. “There is a wall of silence around us that causes those near to be confused so they don’t get suspicious of the silence. They have no idea what we’re saying for the moment.”

“I have witnessed a couple of those recently, but have not been able to achieve creating one myself,” Daegan grumbled, clearly irritated. He had known Hunter since he was young, but he was realizing that perhaps he didn’t really have any idea who this older man, whom he had suspected was an Elder, actually was that he could do such deep magic. Moving past his irritation, he was bothered by what this man was asking of him. This was not his responsibility. As it was, he had in fact already had a visit with Arileas of the Ehsmia—the hidden people of the mountain he assumed Hunter was referring to. It seemed they were allies of sorts. Daegan had lived with knowledge of magic, had his own kind of magic as a matter of fact. He was even able to accept that there was a deeper, ancient magic that he didn’t know about—there was much in Alandria that was hidden in shadow and secrecy. What he wasn’t able to grasp was this belief that these older men, who had clearly been through a lot, held that there was some kind of “savior” or “promised one” to restore balance or heal the brokenness that had become Alandria. He just couldn’t see how one being could do all that no matter how special her magic might be... no matter how special
she
might be. He believed that she had a part to play, that they all might, but it was too early to tell.

Daegan was about to tell Hunter of his own talk with Arileas when he was interrupted by Kaeleigh leaning on the edge of the table staring narrowly back and forth between both Daegan and Hunter, clearly trying to figure out what they were doing.

“She is perceptive,” Daegan said quickly before Hunter released the band of silence around them. Hunter nodded with a small smile.

Kaeleigh looked at Hunter. “What was that all about?”

Before anyone could answer her, the color and life drained from her face and she began to fall. Daegan quickly caught her, trying to keep her from hitting the end of the table or the floor.

Hunter rushed to his side and put his fingers to her temple, reading her as Finn had done before. He looked up at Daegan, concerned. “Put her up on the table, quickly! She doesn’t have much time. We must hurry to complete this process before she is too weak... or she might not be able to finish the transformation.”

Hunter began commanding orders to Finn and to Chel, who had been studying the various herbs and plant life around the cottage. Daegan lay her gracefully on top of the table in an unexpected gesture of tenderness and then swept Kaeleigh’s hair off her face.

Hunter was surprised at how gentle and caring Daegan seemed toward his granddaughter. He had witnessed Daegan at several different times over the last handful of years as Daegan was growing up, mostly as Maleina’s errand boy and at times her hand of justice. Hunter knew his status as a great warrior, but had also seen that there was much depth to the young man that he kept hidden beneath his hardened shell. Hunter had first met him as a child silently grieving the loss of his parents deep within the forest many years ago. Hunter had been walking along the stream by his cottage like he did most days and had sighted a young, skinny, disheveled Daegan staring blankly at nothing. Daegan didn’t even hear Hunter approach him. Hunter, always the teacher, had surprised Daegan by putting him in a headlock and jabbing a pretend knife at his unprotected back. Thus began a secret friendship between the two, along with many hours of “lessons.” Daegan learned to always watch his back even among those he was supposed to trust.