Chapter Twenty Three
Her eyes flickered open as the sounds of the waking camp invaded her thought process. Drawing a deep breath, her senses were overwhelmed by the many different scents that humanity, dragons, and the sweet smell of clean dirt mixed with a hint of something fresh and green produced. The air was cool with the dampness of early morning; missing the warmth of Caleb at her back told her that she was alone.
Pushing herself to a seated position, her entire body protested the aches and pains of a night spent on the ground, and her stomach grumbled empty complaints. Her nose took in the smell of food, and she did a quick scrub of sleep from her eyes, raking her fingers through her bed head hair before letting the amazing smells drag her to her feet and point her towards the fire not far from where she had slept.
She didn’t remember much from the night before, as it had been dark when they had arrived at the camp. Riding dragons felt pretty cool, but anti-climactic in darkness, until they landed in the low light camp. That was the most terrifying thing she could think of; dropping out of the dark, and into camp within one breath. Cold bread and cheese, or least what she thought that it had been, had chased off the hunger before the need for sleep had taken over. The last thing she could really recall was Caleb carrying her to the sleeping bag that he had pulled out for them.
She looked to the woman standing at the fire. “That smells amazing,” she told her. “Hi, I’m Kevan.” She held out her hand.
With a smile, the woman took the hand that she offered. “Jaynceson,” she told Kevan.
“Coffee! My first born for a coffee!” Kaitlyn moaned, as she stumbled up to the fire.
“Coffee?” Jaynceson asked them with a look of confusion.
“Oh gods, please don’t tell me that they don’t have coffee,” Kaitlyn cried in horror, grabbing at Kevan’s arm. “How will I survive without my coffee? I knew that I shouldn’t have listened to that jackass, and brought that can of coffee with me.” Kevan looked at her sister shaking her head.
“Kaitlyn,” Kevan admonished her.
“What? It’s true, I was going to bring a can of coffee, and he saw it in my backpack, and told me that I couldn’t bring it. Oh, the elixir of the gods, however will I survive?”
“Well, it’s not coffee exactly, but we have something that you might like,” Wren stated from behind them, they turned to face her. “It’s no Tim’s, but it works as a decent substitute.” She looked to Jaynceson. “Two cups of chira,” she told her. The woman nodded, grabbing two large metal cups, and handing them to Kaitlyn and Kevan. She then poured a thick, black, steaming liquid into the cups. The scent that drifted up to Kaitlyn as she brought the cup up to sniff at it, was earthier than most of the coffee that she liked, but it smelled not too bad, and reminded her of home.
“I always thought that it was a blend of tea, coffee, and with a pinch of jasmine,” Wren explained, smiling to herself as the looks of repulsion washed over their faces. “It’s all we’ve got. You’ll learn to like it. The jasmine sweetens it,” she told them with a shrug of her shoulders. “Honestly, it’s not as bad it sounds.”
“I will never listen to that man again,” Kaitlyn muttered. “Chira?” she questioned as she cautiously raised it to her lips, taking a sip. Kevan watched Kaitlyn as she tried it; they all knew how Kaitlyn loved her coffee.
“Well?” Kevan inquired. Kaitlyn braved another sip before she glared at the smiling Wren.
“You’re such a bitch,” she spat at her, as Wren doubled over with laughter.
“Kaitlyn!” Kevan gasped.
“Oh, don’t do the older twin thing,” Kaitlyn shot at her sister. “Wren must learn that to tease about coffee ... making us think ... coffee, tea with jasmine! Thank gods, its coffee!! Kevan, drink it. It’s no double, double, but it beats the hell out of the swill that Raven calls coffee.”
Kevan took a cautious sip of the cup she held, closing her eyes as the hot strong liquid coursed its way through her, flooding her body with its warmth.
“Welcome to Elden,” Wren laughed, as she strode away from the campfire where they had gathered. Kevan looked to the smiling Jaynceson.
“I take it Wren is a bit of the jokester?”
“Let me just say, Wren does like to lighten things up when Grey and the others get too serious. She means no harm.”
“So, other than riding the dragon ...”
“Dragon rider,” Jaynceson corrected her. “Wren is a dragon rider.”
“Dragon rider,” Kevan rolled the words off her tongue, shaking her head as she was still having a hard time believing that it was real. “So other than being a dragon rider, and the camp comedian, what does Wren do?”
“Wren does whatever is needed, just like we all do,” Jaynceson explained, “We have all learned to do other people’s chores or tasks, because you never know when they might not be coming back.”
Her words sobered them, as they recalled that they had dropped in on a battle that hadn’t been going well before the guys had rendered their assistance. “Wren has taught us some moves; she called them karate. She has also taught us some of her healing ways. She tried to help with the cooking once, but she will tell you her talents lay in others areas.”
“She is a pain in the ass,” Ronan told them, helping himself to a cup of chira. Kevan and Kaitlyn watched him; his tone said much more than his words.
“So, has she ever tried to get home?” they asked.
“More than once, but after a while she stopped, and even stopped talking about it, accepted that this is her home now. At least until you showed up.” Ronan took a sip of the chira. “I’m sure that she would like to know what you have planned in order to get back home.”
“What makes you so sure that we have a plan?” Kevan asked him. “Maybe we came through without one.”
“You and your men don’t strike me as the type to come through without a solid plan on how to get back.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but at this point, we have no idea how we will be getting back,” Kevan informed him.
She jumped slightly as arms encircled her waist, pulling her back against a hard chest, lips caressing her neck.
“Morning,” Caleb whispered in her ear, as he nipped at her lobe, sending shivers of desire through her body. “I was hoping that you might still be asleep.”
“I got cold,” she told him. “I don’t like waking up alone.” Kaitlyn stared at her sister, shaking her head with disgust at the whine.
“Sorry babe, Joirdean and Greyson wanted to talk to us,” he informed her.
“Oh really, and what was so urgent that they needed to talk to you about it at the crack of dawn?” Kevan asked, not really sure that she wanted to know, and when she saw Caleb hesitate, she knew that she wasn’t going to like what he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her. “Caleb?”
“Kevan, it’s nothing, really.” Kevan whirled to look him in the face.
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing. When you do, it makes me think that it is much more than nothing. Now what was so important?” Caleb struggled; he knew that she was going to be pissed and he wanted to enjoy what little time they had without her being mad at him.
“Kevan, can we discuss this later?” he asked.
“Will I be any happier if we wait for you tell me?” she wanted to know.
“Probably not,” he admitted.
“Then no, we can’t wait until later. Tell me now,” she told him.
“Tell you what?” Eve questioned, as she joined them. Soon everyone had joined them at the fire, and Kevan was standing, waiting for Caleb to tell her his news.
“It would seem that Caleb had a discussion with Greyson and Joirdean,” she looked at Ronan, who refused to meet her eyes, and neither would the rest of the men. “Well, let me rephrase that, I’d say that from the number of men that refuse to look at me, that they had a whole big meeting and decided that the
woman folk weren’t needed.” Her eyes drilled into Caleb, as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot waiting.
“That’s not ...” Caleb stopped when he looked at Kevan. Her anger and hurt shone clearly on her face. “Look, nothing has been ...” he stopped again, unable to lie to her.
“Obviously the men folk,” Kaitlyn started, “have decided on a game plan, so why not admit it, and just tell us. It’s not as if we’re not going to find out, so let’s make it sooner rather than later. After all, we are part of the team, at least we had better be part of the team,” Kaitlyn finished with a glare identical to Kevan’s.
“Of course you’re part of the team,” Caleb told them. “But we just need to delay your part for a few days, while we assist Greyson.”
Kevan threw her hands up in the air as she started yelling at Caleb. “I knew it, I just knew it,” she ground out. “You’re going to help him, aren’t you? We don’t have time for this ... shit.”
“Yes,” Caleb told her, giving her a look that dared her to object.
“Fine, you want to go play your warrior games, no problem, we’ll go after the grimoire on our own,” she stated.
“Kevan, it won’t take long, and then we’ll all go after the grimoire,” Caleb argued.
“Oh, so what, we’re supposed to sit by the fire, twiddling our thumbs, awaiting your return like good little women?” Kevan asked with a snort of laughter. “You are greatly mistaken; that’s fantasy, not reality.”
Caleb looked at them. He knew that Kevan wasn’t the sitting on the sidelines type of woman. He scrubbed his face with hands, looking from Kevan to the others, then to his brother, before his eyes came back to rest on Kevan again. “You couldn’t wait just a few days?”
“Caleb,” Kevan warned him, “I think you know better than that. Since this whole thing started, when have we sat back and let you do your thing?”
“Never,” he admitted, as resignation trickled through him. “I had hoped that you might be reasonable, but I didn’t think you would sit on the sidelines, and wait.”
“I’m glad that you have seen reason,” Kevan said.
“It’s dangerous, and if you head out on your own, I would be worried about you all the time,”
“Just like I will be for you, Caleb. Remember, this is a two way street. My biggest concern is not communicating with Brennan. We’ve been here two days with no way to get a message through; we all know what Brennan’s going to be like.”
“But time moves differently here on Elden than on earth,” Caleb argued.
“Yeah, that’s what Wren said. Any guess how long we’ve been gone, a day or two, a week, a year, what?” Kevan demanded.
“That’s the problem, it changes all the time. So you never know how long it’s been until you go back.”
“So we could get back, and it’s been a thousand years? Well lovely, I really didn’t want to know that, it doesn’t make me feel a whole lot better,” Kevan admitted. She had been the one to insist that they had to do this, to come after this grimoire, and look where that had landed them, in a completely different world, with very little chance of getting home, and even if they did, it could have been so long that everyone that they knew and loved, could be dead and gone. “We need to find the grimoire, and then find a way home, because quite honestly, I don’t really want to stay here any longer than needed. No offense, but I like our bed our shower, and I’m not afraid to admit it.”
“Coffee, real coffee,” Kaitlyn whimpered, as she glared at Marcus, causing a snicker to ripple through the group.
“See, do you honestly want to put up with Kaitlyn’s moaning about coffee?” Kevan pointed out.
“Fine, so what is your plan?” Caleb caved. “We don’t know where the grimoire is.”
“Or even who has it, or who else may be here looking for it,” Niall added.
“Well it’s here somewhere. Leila, you can sense it, right?” Kevan questioned
“Yes, ever since we came through, it’s been getting stronger. I don’t exactly know where it is, just that’s it’s definitely here,” Leila admitted.
“Okay, I don’t mean to interrupt, but what the hell are you talking about?” Wren pushed her way into the conversation. “What are you looking for?” She watched the looks that passed back and forth. “Don’t avoid my question. You just admitted that you came looking for something. You want to help us, tell us, and maybe we can help you in return.”
Kevan looked to Caleb; he nodded his approval before she turned to look to both Eve and Kaitlyn, who also added their approval.
“Wren’s right, we don’t know this world, so that will make it more difficult. We need to take a chance,” Eve stated.
Kevan nodded her agreement. “We’re looking for a book.”
“Okay, a cookbook, self-help, romance? What kind of book are you looking for?” Wren questioned.
“It’s a very old book,” Kevan stated.
“Look, I understand that you don’t know me or even trust me, but if we are going to help you, stop evading, and tell us the truth,” Wren demanded.
“I’m not evading, well maybe I am, but it’s hard for us to trust people outside of the family. Here’s the deal, we came here looking for a book called the Drusa grimoire, it’s a book of spells.”
“Spells, as in magic spells?” Ronan questioned.
“Yes,” Kevan admitted.
“Why would you think that we would have a book of magic spells here? As you might have noticed, magic doesn’t work very well here anymore,” Greyson told her.
“What do you mean, magic doesn’t work here anymore?” Caleb questioned.
“Well it doesn’t. Even at the best of times, magic didn’t work the best here, but since the portals closed, it’s gotten worse. The bigger the magic that you try to use, the less likely it is to work. Small magic, for the most part, no problems, but big stuff will really get you in trouble,” Greyson explained.
“Maybe that’s why Leonard hid it here in the first place, a book of great magic hid in a place that magic doesn’t work properly,” Kevan suggested. “Well at least you don’t know what we are talking about, so that means that nobody at this point has found it.”
“That we know of,” Caleb added.
“So this book is a book of magic spells; that can’t be the reason that you are looking for it?” Greyson asked.
“Not entirely,” Kevan admitted.
“Carry on,” he told her.
“The grimoire is made up of dark magic spells, the worst of the worse,” she told them.
“And it’s here, on Elden? How it is that we don’t know this?”
“We didn’t know anything about it until a little while ago ourselves,” Kevan told him. “But we tracked it here, and now we need to find it, and hide it or destroy it, we don’t know what, before someone else finds it.”
“How bad are the spells in this grimoire?” Greyson questioned, worried about his people.
“If it falls into the wrong hands, it could be very bad,” Joseph explained.
“How bad?” Greyson needed to know.
“World ending bad,” Joseph admitted to him. “If even one of the spells that are rumored to be part of the grimoire get invoked, well, life as we know it could end.”
“You speak like you don’t know for sure what is in this book,” Ronan questioned them, “Haven’t you seen it?”
“No, most of what is known about the Drusa grimoire is rumor. What we do know is that at one time, a very smart person decided that a book containing some of the most powerful and dangerous spells ever known, shouldn’t be left to chance, and placed it within the repository.” That got the Eldenites attention.
“The repository of knowledge?” Greyson asked. “The one on the Crannog? I haven’t heard about that since I was a child. Does it really exist?”
“Yes, it’s the one place that is supposed to be neutr
al for all the races and worlds,” Joseph said. “At least until it vanished as well.”
“Okay, you may as well tell it all,” Kevan pushed Joseph.
“The Crannog, or the Isle of Magic, as the legend goes, all the different worlds and races came together to create a place to store the most dangerous, and also the most precious treasures of the races. They worked a magic that combined all the different magic’s of the races, so that no one race could claim control of it. It became the one place for different races to meet to resolve their problems. For a millennium, it was just that. The Repository was given to the care of the claviger, and each race was given an opportunity to be the claviger. However, over the years, many of those appointed as claviger were unable to resist the temptation that was at their fingertips. The repository of knowledge holds within its walls an immense amount of power, and the temptation to use even a little bit of it could have untold consequences.”
“So this repository thing is what, like a library?” Wren asked.
“It is so much more than just a library, or at least it was. It was a work of wonder; the storage area for the books alone was a work of wonder, but what do you expect when you have one of the greatest architects design it.”
“Excuse me?” Kaitlyn questioned. “Are you telling me that it was designed by ...” she left it unsaid. “Michelangelo?”
“Are you crazy?” Marcus growled at her. “Michelangelo was good, but he wasn’t the only great architect; besides, we never said it was a human that designed it.”
“Well, excuse me for living, but Michelangelo was a great artist,” Kaitlyn spat at him.
“He was a great artist,” Marcus told her. “But FYI, he was an artist, Da Vinci was the architect.”
“So what are you telling me, that it was Da Vinci that designed this repository place?”
“Da Vinci lived in the 16th century, and the repository was already missing, so no.”
“Well, how would I know that!” Kaitlyn yelled at him. “I guess I missed something.”
“Oh gods, would you two knock it off already?” Kevan demanded. “This is getting tiresome.”
“Then tell Mr. Know It All, to knock it off first,” Kaitlyn pouted. Kevan glared at Marcus; she could see that he was gearing up for one of his and Kaitlyn’s fights, and she didn’t need to have that right at this moment. Just at that point, Leila spoke up.
“Have you seen it?” she asked Joseph, as she thirsted for any and all information that she could get regarding the repository.
“Once, a very long time ago, the power that radiated through the building made it feel like a living thing, and everywhere you looked there were books and other items. It was like a living history, not only of the earth, but of all the worlds and races. I believe it was the repository that inspired the idea that grew into the Library of Alexandria.”
“Oh wow, seriously?” Leila gasped in surprise.
“You know, as interesting as your history lesson has been what does it have to do with this book that you’re looking for?” Wren asked.
“Nothing, its background information,” Joseph stated, his tone showing his irritation at her interruption.
“Well, as much as you might think that we need it, we don’t,” Wren told him. “How about we stick to the facts?”
Joseph let out a snort of annoyance. “Facts only, alright, here are the facts as we know them.
“Fact One – the grimoire was in the repository for eons and there were very few people allowed to see it; the exception to that was the claviger.
“Fact Two – the claviger has access to the power of the repository, but unless their lives are at risk, it is my understanding that they cannot draw on the power store within it.
“Fact Three – unlike a library, when an artifact is entrusted to the repository, it’s there to stay. People don’t come and take things out, so we have no idea how, or what, Leonard had to do to get it out.
“Fact Four – the grimoire is a very powerful artifact, and if it falls into the wrong hands, life as we know it could be over. Leonard had to be working with someone in order to get the grimoire out, and mess up the portals between worlds; even as the claviger, he would not have been able to do that.
“Fact Five – that was when the repository disappeared, the one stable thing between worlds vanished, and nothing we have tried, or found, has given us access to the Crannog or the Repository.
“Fact Six – with Leonard having taken the demon oath, as we have learned, he lost all the information that was his, and we lost the one connection we had to the Repository and how to locate it.” Joseph finished his little speech, looking satisfied.”
“Until now,” Kevan stated.
“What?” Greyson and Ronan both said together. “What changed?”
“We found the new claviger, and she understands what she is, and has accepted what her destiny is.”
The silence of the group was strange, and they shifted, uncomfortable, waiting for someone to say something.
“Who you?” Greyson asked, looking at Kevan. He had never been to the Crannog, but he recalled his father telling him about how important it had been to his world, and to the others, a place of neutrality that allowed warring sides a place to resolve their differences, without conceding defeat.
“Me? Gods no!” Kevan exclaimed. “Sorry, I don’t think that I would have the patience for something like that.”
“Then you?” Greyson looked to Kaitlyn.
“I wish, but no, yet again I was jipped,” Kaitlyn complained.
“Kevan said I’ve accepted the title, but understand, well that’s a whole other matter entirely. God only knows, this could be one hell of a hallucination on my end,” Leila stated, a halfhearted smile indicating she was joking.
“You?” Ronan wondered. “You’re the claviger?”
“So they keep telling me,” Leila admitted with a shrug.
“What, you don’t believe them?” Wren asked, still not sure what the fuss was all about.
“Would you, if you’ve spent your whole life thinking that you are destined, like all your family members before, to go crazy? Then one day, out of the blue, strangers appear with some bizarre story about being immortal warriors, and I’m this strange thing, this claviger to a place that disappeared almost two thousand years ago, and the voices that I have heard in my head for years was the Repository trying to talk to me. You tell me, if you grew up like I did, not knowing about the other races, to find out that it is all true, and that not only are you not crazy, but none of the family members were crazy either. I would say that it is sounds a lot like an urban fantasy novel, not real life,” Leila finished and looked to Wren.
“Okay, I can see your point; it would take some time to make sense of it all, but now?”
“Well, it’s not a long story, but it is certainly complicated, so the bottom line is yes, I have accepted my destiny as Kevan calls it, but do I completely believe it all? I won’t say yes and I won’t say no; I’m working on it.”
“Do you know where this grimoire is?” Greyson inquired.
“Not exactly; I can sense it, and at times even get more of a feel where it is, but directions like find the tree and waterfall, ten steps north, turn right, and x marks the spot, no, that’s not quite how it seems to work.”
Ronan looked to Kevan. “So if she can sense it, but doesn’t know where it is, how do you plan on finding the grimoire? You must have a plan.”
“Well, that’s just starting to come together. It’s not like I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. We discovered just fifteen minutes ago that the guys are going to help you, so give me another five, and I’ll have something going.” Kaitlyn leaned over and whispered something in Kevan’s ear, and a grin spread across her face.
“Oh gods, here it comes,” Marcus groaned.
“What’s your problem?” Kaitlyn barked at him.
“I just k
now how your mind works,” he mumbled. Kaitlyn stuck her tongue out at him, deciding that was a better response than words. “Oh, very mature,” he snarled back.
Kevan just shook her head at the interplay between the two of them. “Are you two finished?” she wanted to know. They both just glared at each other. “Fine. Now Kaitlyn pointed out that you have the means with which to make our search that much easier.” The grin on her face grew that much wider when she heard Caleb’s groan. He knew what she was about to suggest.
“What is that?” Greyson inquired, although he believed that he had an idea.
“If we take the dragons, we would cover a lot more area in a shorter amount of time. Leila could tell us when she senses the grimoire, and we could at least narrow the search grid.” Kevan explained.
“That’s all well and good, until you’re spotted,” Ronan told them.
“What you do you mean? What would stand out about dragons flying around? It would seem that they are normal here?”
“They are, and if you were talking one dragon maybe, but you’re talking about a half dozen or so, and that is going to draw attention. There are spies everywhere, and if Bart or Dreyden get wind of that many dragons flying together searching for something, you can be sure that they will send troops.”
“Hold on, did you just say Dreyden?” Kevan asked, as they stood waiting for his answer. Greyson could see that something was up.
“Yes,” he told them.
“Well that answers at least one question!” Kevan stated, as she looked to the nodding Caleb.
“Do you know Dreyden?” Wren asked, as a look of repulsion rippled over her face.
“Personally, no,” Kevan told her as she scrutinized her closely. “But I would say from the look on your face that you do.” Wren took a step back, a look of astonishment that Kevan had seen it.
“How do you know that?”
“Well, I would love to say that like Eve I’m able to detect it, but that’d be lying, it was the plain old look of abhorrence on your face when you said his name. What did he do to you?”
Wren looked away, as the show of strength that she normally showed everyone slipped for a moment. The tears that welled up in the corner of her eyes threatened to spill over, and that wouldn’t do. Closing her eyes, she pulled in a couple of deep cleansing breaths and fought to control the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her control, and for just a second, she thought she had her control back until Grey’s hand slipped over hers, trying to instill some of his strength.
“Wren?” Kaitlyn pushed, appreciating the conflict that Wren was struggling with, and not wanting to make it any harder on her, but they needed answers. The information that she had could help them, but she also knew that talking about it would help Wren. “I know that you don’t want to talk about it, but it might help you if you did?”
“I never did understand that statement, I want to forget, not dwell on what happened,” Wren argued. “But I will never forget,” her voice was a whisper full of anguish.
“Then stop giving him power over you,” Kevan told her, moving to stand by Kaitlyn; they both had their suspicious as to what had happened to her. “If you talk about it, maybe it will help you.”
“Help me! Talking about it won’t make the guilt go away, nothing is ever going to make the guilt go away,” Wren argued with them.
“You have nothing to feel guilty about; he raped you, that is not your fault,” Eve told her.
“Hold on, rape me?” Wren gave them a look of shock. “He didn’t rape me.”
“He didn’t?” they all peered at her with shock.
“Oh, Dreyden brought me to Bart, whose plan was to rape me. Dreyden wanted to watch, but I wasn’t raped.”
“Then why the emotions, I mean I understand almost being raped can be just as emotional, but this seems more,” Eve grilled her.
“You bet it’s more, he’s a cold blooded bastard, who murdered my friend.” Wren cried harder, Grey gathering her close, as it all came pouring out of her. “I was given the wonderful news that Bart had seen me, and had decided that I was to be his, just because he could. He told Dreyden, who came to me: I was to be the next to have the honor to bed the King. Dreyden didn’t get a kick out of my response. He arrested me, and when my friend Azure tried to help, he arrested her, too. He threatened us, but said if I slept with Bart willingly, that he would release Azure, but he lied. He took great pleasure in telling me that he’d had her killed, once they had me tied to the bed.” Wren sobbed into Grey’s chest, reliving the helplessness that had she felt. They could see Grey was close to succumbing to anger; he didn’t like that they had upset her. “If it hadn’t been for Ronan and Grey hearing my scream, and coming to save me, I don’t know what would have happened. Bart and Dreyden are both nuts.”
“You would have fought him, just like you were doing when we burst through the door,” Grey assured her. “So now you know about our experiences with Dreyden, tell us what you know.”
“Well, as I said, we don’t know him personally, but Joseph does,” Kevan stated.
“Dreyden is a level 9 Sorcerer,” Joseph stated. “He was a high ranking member of the cairbare council, but we had him removed when it was discovered that he was dabbling in dark magic. It has corrupted him.”
“Well that certainly explains some things,” Ronan reluctantly admitted.
“Like what?” Joseph asked.
“You already know, Elden is too weak; magic users have problems here, but it would seem that Dreyden has overcome the problems that most have with the ley line powers, which is where we draw the power for magic.”
“Yeah, I had a problem when I tried to use it when we first arrived,” Kevan stated. “I just thought it was me, you know, because I’m so new to it.”
“No, since the portals closed, we have had problems with magic back firing on us, so we keep to very small spells. Dreyden showed up, and for some reason, he has a lot control. If he is using dark magic, then he doesn’t have to draw on the power of the ley lines. Which just proves that he’s ...”
“Nuts!” Wren supplied, making them all laugh.
“We think Dreyden has been searching for the Drusa grimoire for a very long time,” Caleb said to those listening. “He must have come through the same way we did. So what has he been up to?”
“Other than murdering my father and helping my cousin Bart steal my throne?” Grey’s eyes glistened with hatred.
“You need to get your emotions under control, man,” Niall told him. “We’re going to help you.”
“As long as you give me the pleasure of killing them, I would be very happy to accept any help that you could give us.”
“That may not be as simple as you think,” Joseph told him.
“I plan on revenging my father’s murder, so I don’t think this will be simple,” Grey growled.
“Dreyden is a cairbare sorcerer, a very powerful one at that,” Joseph started to explain. “And on top of those things, he uses black and dark magic, so killing him will not be an easy thing. You would have to completely drain his power reserves in order to make him vulnerable to other magic or weapons, and no one here has that kind of power.”
“Don’t you?” Kaitlyn asked. “You keep telling us how powerful you are, so couldn’t you drain his powers?”
“Yes, I probably could, but I would also be drained, rendering me useless; then I wouldn’t be able to assist you,” Joseph explained.
“If I take off his head, would that stop him?” Grey snarled, as he pictured it in his head.
“Oh, I’d say that would definitely put a kink in his plans, if nothing else,” Caleb laughed.
“Get me close enough to Dreyden, and you won’t have to worry about draining him of his powers,” Grey stated, his tone completely devoid of emotion.
“I don’t think Grey has learned the meaning of the word subtle,” Kaitlyn said, and a snort
of laughter floated around the circle.
“He murdered my father and Wren’s friend Azure, and forced me to flee from my home. He put his puppet, my cousin Bart, on the throne of Elden. I am the crown prince, and I am tired of waiting to take back what rightfully belongs to me. So subtlety is no longer an option, because he came here looking for this grimoire, at least that is what you believe, and once he discovers that you have come through the portal, then he’s going to go after it and we can’t have that. If it is as you all claim, then I have an obligation to the citizens of Elden to protect them, and the only way to do that is to get rid of him.”
“And how do you plan on achieving your goal?” Kevan demanded. “Run in, guns blazing like it’s the fight at the OK Corral?” Her anger bubbled to the surface. “Cause I gotta tell yah, I think that would get a lot of people hurt, including my warrior, and I happen to like him just the way he is.”
“You wouldn’t like her when she is angry.” Caleb warned with a smile on his face.
“No, you wouldn’t,” Kevan stated, as she stared at Greyson. “And since you have already asked for, and gotten my man’s help, I want your assurances that you’re not going to do anything stupid to get him killed.”
Grey stared at her with a look of both surprise and shock on his face. “I have no intentions of getting them killed.” He looked at Caleb and the other men. “The ladies of your world certainly have changed since the portal closed,” he remarked.
“You have no idea,” Joseph muttered, causing a ripple of laughter at his recent introduction to modern women.
“Yes, it is amazing that we have a brain in our heads, and aren’t afraid to use it,” Kaitlyn chimed in.
“Wren has tried to change a few things that she tells us are ...” Greyson looked to Wren.
“Outdated and old fashioned; basically I told them to stop acting like male chauvinist pigs, but I’m a newcomer; I’ve decided that talking to the women works better.”
“Yes, it’s happening faster than we are able to keep up with,” Ronan told them. “She likes to corrupt the women of Elden.”
“Hey,” Wren hissed, as she smacked Ronan’s shoulder. “I haven’t corrupted anyone; it’s called evolving, due to information.”
“Enough,” Kevan stated. “We are getting off the subject at hand. Why would Dreyden and the king ...”
“HE IS NOT THE REAL KING!” Grey snarled at her.
“I’m sorry, why would Dreyden and the false king care if there are groups of dragons flying around together?”
“They are paranoid; a couple dragons together aren’t going to attract attention, but more certainly will, and they will send someone out to investigate.”
“So we distract them,” Marcus told them.
“What are you talking about?” Caleb questioned him.
“We’re already talking about two teams, one to search for the grimoire, and another to restore Greyson to the throne.”
“Yes?” Caleb questioned his brother.
“Well if the throne team keeps them busy, then maybe they won’t pay attention to what else is happening around Elden, and that gives the grimoire team a chance to search without interference,” Marcus explained his idea. “The simple plan works the best.”
“This is why I made you the general,” Niall piped up.
“Yes, it almost keeps them safer if Bart’s resources are focused on us trying to get the throne back,” Caleb agreed.
“You agree we should split into two groups?” Kevan asked, shaking her head at him.
“Not yet,” Caleb informed her.
“Now what?” Kevan questioned, knowing that he wanted something else.
“Would you stop acting like I’m being unreasonable for wanting to keep you safe? I love you and with that comes my protective instincts. I understand that the best way to attack this problem is just like Marcus laid out, one distracting from the other. I would like to know that I have done everything within my power to ensure your protection. So don’t give me that look, I know that you can take care of yourselves, but I can’t help myself, and if I can’t be there to protect you, I know that my brother will. I want Marcus to go with you.”
“What!” Marcus roared with disapproval. “It’s my idea; why don’t you go with them?”
“Yes, I know, but we both know that both Kayne and I are much better at the espionage missions, it’s what we are trained for. You, my brother, are a great general, but you suck at spying and you know it.”
Marcus grunted his dislike of what Caleb had pointed out, but he couldn’t argue that Caleb and Kayne both were very good at getting into places without being discovered. “Fine, I will go with them,” Marcus agreed.
Caleb looked to Kevan, waiting for her to agree with them. “You want Marcus to come with us, that is fine, I don’t have a problem with that, but you have to agree to take Eve with you.”
“What, why?” Caleb questioned.
“You want to protect us. I want you protected to. Eve’s a doctor. Both Kaitlyn and I have first aid training, so we should be able to handle things on our own; we aren’t doing the risky stuff, like you are. So you want me to have Marcus, I want you to have Eve with you.”
“Kevan, we’re immortal, we heal quickly,” he tried to argue, but he saw the look come over her face, and knew that he wasn’t going to win this argument. “Fine, Eve comes with us, Marcus and Joseph with you, no argument.”
“But won’t Joseph be needed to help with Dreyden?” she asked.
“We have no idea what Leonard did to the grimoire; he might have booby traps on it, and we know that Joseph is likely the only one that could unravel them. We’ll be fine.”
“Deal then,” she told him, holding out her hand in agreement. Shouting interrupted them.
“Oscar, Greyson,” a young boy yelled, as he came tearing into camp.
“Zeke, what’s wrong?” Greyson asked the boy panting to a stop in front of them.
“Guards,” he panted, trying to get enough breath to relay his message, “King’s guards coming.”
“How many?” Greyson demanded.
“Hundreds!” Zeke gasped.
“Damnit,” Oscar spat out, “How soon?”
“An hour, maybe two; Phillips sent me to warn you. He is going to trigger the traps in the pass if he can get to them, which will hopefully buy us another hour or two.”
“Damnit,” Oscar muttered.
“How do they keep finding us?” Ronan wanted to know.
“Doesn’t matter now,” Greyson told them as he took control. “We need to plan fast.” He looked at the group gathered around him. “Wren, you and Ronan, you’ll take Kevan and her group to find this book.” He turned to face Caleb and the other cairbare warriors. Caleb came to attention as he watched a man that he had known as very young boy take on the mantle of his heritage. “You offered your sword to fight at our side; was your word true?”
“It was,” Caleb told him. “I gave you the oath of a cairbare warrior. Your father and uncle were both my friends. Your uncle would not like what his son has done.” He and the others dropped to their knees. “You have my oath and sword, that we will fight at your side to restore the throne of Elden to its rightful ruler.”
Grey looked at them, and for the first time in a very long time, he had hope. He had always known that he and his rebels would eventually beat Bartholomew, but with the swords of four cairbare warriors fighting at his side, they would succeed most certainly. He had grown up hearing about the legendary prowess of the cairbare warriors, and how they had come to the aid of the people of Elden against their enemies. Now he would have the opportunity to fight alongside them! Just the idea of it got his blood racing, and he would have his revenge against his father’s murderer.
“Thank you,” he told them when they came to their feet. “Once again the cairbare are coming to the aid of the people of Elden. I shall be forever i
n your debt.”