A-Viking (Betrayed by Faith Book 3)

by Paul C. Middleton

  “My companions, after seeing the evidence, agreed we were being used by someone. Someone without our best interests at heart in all likelihood.”

  “You are one of the most feared people to our kind and have been hunting us for more than a century!” ‘Nia spat. “What ‘evidence’ could convince you to turn your back on them?”

  “Well, first there was the fact that the claimed ‘holy water’ was sulfuric acid. Pretty convincing right there that something was up. If they were on the up and up, they would have had either real holy water or would have told us it was sulfuric acid.” He started drolly.

  “Then there were the eight boxes of information I was given. Finally, there was the connection I felt with the man claiming to be my brother.” He was silent for a moment, weighing up the benefits of telling them or not. “That, and his identical birthmark were rather convincing. But several of my comrades had already known something was rotten. I’m ashamed to admit I… threatened one of them.”

  He rolled the sense of connection he had felt immediately with Einar and realized a truth. “That was when the most convincing evidence came forth. My apprentice, whom I trusted more than anyone else displayed abilities I had only seen those I hunted as Demonspawn use.” He sat there in silence for a time.

  “If my presence still invokes fear, I will leave if you wish.”

  “I’d rather have you where I can see you either way,” ‘Nia sniped.

  Griffin shrugged. “Was there anything else you’d like to know?”

  Brianna looked thoughtful, then quietly asked, “How do you deal with all those you have killed? The main reason the major Conclaves haven’t moved against the Order, from what little I know, is that they control the Vampire and Were populations. The Conclaves are so wrapped up in their own differences they are just as happy to let someone else deal with them. I mean the others, like us.”

  Griffin's face froze. “I don’t,” he said flatly.

  ‘Nia sneered, “What do you mean, you don’t? Are you that heartless that you don’t even think of their families?”

  Griffin stood up with anger in his eyes, then turned and charged one of the nearby eucalyptus trees slamming his fist into it. Rather than the expected bloody fist, the tree split up the middle. Not even a mark or blemish on his hand showed what he’d done. Then he collapsed to the ground, shudders wracking his body.

  Brianna glared at ‘Nia. “That worked well. So how do you suppose we can find out more now? I’m now sure he’s not a threat to anyone here but himself. I’ll make a deal with you. You watch David tonight. I’ll keep an eye on him. And yes, you can untie him. But he can keep his injured arm ‘til morning as far as I care. He was acting like a fool. Attacking someone we had no idea what capabilities or motives they might have. When he wakes up, make sure he knows I’ll intervene next time. Father would be unhappy if he killed me.”

  With that she stood up and walked over to Griffin, guiding him over to his bed and telling him to sleep. This time, she didn’t ‘encourage’ his sleep. It might make things worse. She felt a deep sorrow emanating from him. It was evident how his past affected him now.

  In the Tibetan Mountains, February 2014.

  Her name was Nin.

  She had been awakened from the Dreaming by a psychic burst of agony, guilt, and self-loathing. She had never felt anything like it and had never expected to feel such a … connection now that her brothers and father were gone. Taken unprepared, it had been a week before she had recovered enough to start thinking about what the pain might have been.

  It had taken days to figure out.She had long ago given up hope that she would be able to find a lifemate here, so far from her father’s people. Her mother’s kind that populated this world held no interest for her. They couldn’t provide the connection she needed, that all females of her father’s race required to reach full maturity.

  Her brothers had been infertile mules with their mothers’ people and the others amongst the Travellers had thought them … unstable. Well, to be blunt they had thought them psychotic, in a Cain versus Cain kind of way. Most of them were happy to associate with her, and occasionally her father, but they avoided her brothers like the plague before her siblings died.

  In fact, it had been one of the Graki, a lovely woman, who had been responsible for most of her education and raising. She’d also comforted her when she found no interest in humans and was stuck as an eternal teenager. Even assuring her that someday there would be someone with whom she would find that bond. But after centuries of failure, and seeing her family try to shape humanity to something they felt was more appropriate, she had decided to fall into the Dreaming. What her family had been doing disgusted her. She wanted no part of it.

  Now she felt like she had a future beyond the Dreaming. It was time for her to leave the hidden cave where she had slept, in the form of stasis that allowed her mind to wander the astral plane, for centuries. Time to go out into the world again.

  She needed to find her lifemate. He was in pain and newly come into … something. Although she knew much about the changes that had happened in the world, she could see some difficulties. She had no ID for example. Then she stretched her body in a feline arch. She shook her head at herself for forgetting her talents. All she had to do was project an aura that everything was normal, and people would go about their business, hardly noticing her presence unless she interacted with them directly.

  She felt so energized now she had the bond. She was going to need new clothing though - her robes would be somewhat conspicuous outside of the temple that had been set up to protect her sanctuary. Her teacher had been good that way. Tibet was where she was now, but still, once she traveled it might be … awkward to be in these robes, even after she washed them.

  ********************************************************************

  When Nin reached the Buddhist monastery near the cave, she was greeted with appalling obeisance. The path from her cave had led to a small door, and there were offerings along it, not many but a few. It took her some time to calm them down and explain that she neither wanted nor required worship or adulation. All she wanted was some assistance to travel south, more appropriate clothing, and some food. She’d start looking in Australia and hope her lifemate wasn’t moving around too fast so she could get a rough triangulation from the feeling her bond was giving her.

  Despite her impatience to meet her lifemate, she sat down to a meal with the senior nun at the monastery. Over dinner, the sister assured her that she would have whatever support they could offer. She was surprised to find out there were many from her order around the world, and smaller monasteries had been set up on every continent.

  The Chinese government made it hard for them to communicate with others, but they had methods. Usually, it involved someone sneaking messages across the Borders. The nun also insisted that one from the monastery travel with her at all times.

  ‘You may not think yourself particularly special,” the senior sister said, “but to us you are. We would break faith if we failed to send someone to guard you, Nin.’

  She now had a plan and a goal. She talked with her protector and guide in this new world. Her name was Rinzen, and she was excited to go back into the world. She was fluent in five languages, including English and Mandarin. She was fascinated by both Nin’s attitude towards her age and Nin’s need to be treated normally. Rinzen was incessantly curious about what Nin had seen. Rinzen was also a harsh trainer in unarmed combat. Although impatient to find her lifemate, Nin was aware that if he was in danger, she needed to regain the skills she had lost over the centuries. She only hoped she could find him in time.

  India, Late February 2014.

  Nin was frustrated. It took so long to travel by ordinary means, even now, with far less inconvenience than before she went into the Dreaming. Re-adjusting to things like smell and touch was also a challenge. In her dreaming form, she still had five senses, but three of them were different to smell, touch, and taste. There
was a touch equivalent, but the differences were large enough, it took some time to adjust.

  Smell and taste were overwhelming. Especially traveling through India. She had stuck to bread, a little cheese, vegetables, and water. She had to use her abilities to filter pure water out before she drank. Getting sick at this point would be so inconvenient. She had to travel south still, but her sense of where her lifemate was seemed to give her an area, not a precise location.

  She could still feel her lifemate’s shame and self-loathing through the emotions flowing along the bond.

  It was like a corrosive poison eating at his soul. She had seen others react this way before. In her long life, she had seen just about every reaction possible. Rarely did shame and self-loathing develop into something positive if ignored for too long. If she believed he was losing his grip on who he was, she’d have to risk trying to make a tunnel through the astral to him. Because of his pain, she’d have no choice.

  But that would risk killing them both.

  Traveling the Astral was safe enough if she’d studied the location she was going to. Even if people moved things around, it would just move where she landed. But so much had changed while she had Dreamt that the only locations she had studied were her cave and her monastery room. Dreaming a place didn’t help. She needed the real feel of the area to make it a safe place to land.

  She knew her desire to finally be fully mature was also coloring her want – her need – to be near him. When she didn’t consistently use her powers to mask her looks she was treated like a child outside of the monastery. It annoyed her, but that was what happened. She was the sole member (or half member) of the Jehed race on the planet, now. The other Travelers were all of a similar age to her father. But they seemed to forget that she was older than any of their progeny. Her father had been the first allowed to breed with humans, and she was his eldest.

  The Travellers had never given her a straight answer when she asked them why he’d been chosen to be first. The one time she put the question to her father, the look of pain on his face was enough for her to know not to ask again.

  Rinzen treated her like an adult. That made her a welcome travel companion, despite the constant need to ‘smooth things over’ with the people, they trained with. Rinzen also arranged for accommodations and martial training sessions inside many temples. She posed as a master traveling with a precocious student who needed more than her own training. In the Hindu temples, they often had issues. With the Sikh temples, occasionally Nin would have to display her skill against one of the students. In the Buddhist temples that had practitioners, never. Rinzen, it seemed, had a reputation amongst them.

  When Nin asked her, Rinzen would grin. Her usual response was “I may have the reputation, but even with your rusty skills, you can still outfight me sometimes. It’s not like I have to lie.“

  Out of respect she never pushed her powers against Rinzen. She needed a willing guide. Using her skills on people resulted in a reduction of their abilities. It was a form of coercion, and the human psyche didn’t like being forced, however subtly. The longer she did it, the greater the reduction. It was temporary as far as she knew, but she couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t exactly something she could test in good conscience. When she stopped influencing someone, she could face resentment or abandonment. The reward of satisfying her curiosity wasn’t worth the risk.

  Rinzen herself was an interesting character. Her skin was dark enough to pass for local in all the areas they had passed through but light enough to not attract attention in Tibet. She had obvious Chinese heritage, her features carried the distinctive look of the Orient. She was short and had long black hair but was otherwise unremarkable to the eye. However, she spoke as a local in at least seven languages and many dialects. Nin thought there was more to Rinzen’s heritage than she had figured out yet. She had no visible birthmarks, and they had bathed together. So it seemed unlikely she was one of the Godsborn like herself. All things considered, she was a cheerful traveling companion.

  She was oddly skilled and knowledgeable for a twenty something woman. This concerned Nin somewhat. She had never precisely played well with others. During her childhood - call it the first century of her life - she had been held up as the greatest hope for the Travelers by some and shunned completely by others. Her father had practically ignored her. Her mother had died during childbirth. Athena, one of the Graki, had practically raised her. She had been Nin’s sole real friend for centuries before all the Travellers had gone. It had taken Nin more than a century to accept that she just couldn’t find any of them. One day they were a part of the world, the next they were just gone.

  At least thinking about her past had calmed her a little. However, she decided that she needed to talk to Rinzen. They had to get moving, get closer to her lifemate. She had become somewhat comfortable in the physical world again. The sooner they were close, the better she would feel.

  Six Foot Track, Australia, March 4, 2014.

  Griffin woke from the most restful sleep he’d had in a month. He remembered no dreams or nightmares. Waking up with a headache was still annoying, but considering the events of the previous night he had expected it. He'd slept far better than he’s had since he left the Order. When he opened his eyes, he saw an angelic face in front of him. Long blond hair curtained around her face, softening the sunlight. Her soft brown eyes were staring at him with concern. Then the events of the previous night rushed back into his consciousness.

  He froze. Quietly, without moving, he asked, “A little space please?”

  She started, and as she backed up, she said, “Sorry. I was worried about you. I saw your nightmares start and put up a shield against them. It’s not something I’m practiced at with you, so I was concerned I might have done something wrong.” She blushed prettily, but to Griffin, it was merely an aesthetic beauty, with no rush of desire.

  “Well whatever you did, I managed to get the best sleep I’ve had in weeks. Thank you.” He sat up and turned to the fire. “Can I cook breakfast for you?”

  She looked at him, the blush still on her face, but slowly fading. “How about we cook together? Besides, I want to talk to you some more. I want to help you.”

  Griffin’s face closed up. He took an instant suspicion to what she wanted. After having been used by the Order for two hundred years. He would not be used again, by anyone. He had to take this second chance seriously. There had to be a way to find himself and find a way to redemption. He worried that she wanted, intentionally or otherwise, to become a distraction. That she wanted more from him than he either deserved or was willing to give.

  As they cooked an Australian camping breakfast of bacon and damper in the campfire, Brianna asked him about his life and why he had abandoned the Order. He explained what had happened to him over the last month. When he mentioned the Osiran, Brianna paled some.

  “I’ve heard Osirans are vicious opponents. But you are telling me that your apprentice handily killed one?”

  Griffin frowned. “I’m not sure I really understand. Einar, my brother, said she beheaded him. He also stated that she defeated him. It sounded to me like he had to be dead, but from what you are saying I’m missing something.”

  Brianna looked concerned and replied. “No. A simple beheading won’t kill an Osiran. Think of the legends of Osiris. He was scattered into thirteen parts and still brought back. Osirans’ sole real power is an effective form of unkillability. Some do die of old age, eventually, but cut off their head and their body will eventually reconnect to it. And they tend to be vindictive. Even if you were unconscious if you were present you could be a target.” She frowned in thought. “Although I doubt it will come after you. Heck, he may think you are dead. Be cautious, though. He still might.”

  She looked directly at Griffin with an intensity that made him nervous. “I sincerely respect your choice to break from the Order. I understand the pain your past must cause you. The thought that all of those you hunted were innocent must be horrifying. I
think you need to realize that some, if not most, of those you hunted, would have been condemned by their own people. You could not have killed someone who was a member of one of the Conclaves without a reaction.”

  “The Conclaves have their own codes, however. Their most common punishment is exile. Many of those you killed were undoubtedly exiles. Banished for crimes. They weren’t the innocents you think all of them must have been.”

  Griffin looked at her and said, “But some of them were born and lived outside of the Conclave, surely.” Brianna nodded cautiously. “I need to make up for those acts of wanton murder. I understand what you are saying but… I need to take responsibility for my actions. Seek redemption if I can.”

  Brianna looked at him. “Why was David so easy for you to defeat last night? My father sent him with me because he considered him one of the best of the young fighters out of Nowh… where I come from. I insisted I needed time away from people.” She gave him a weary smile. “My abilities are often called for. Being able to shield a mind from nightmares, even sometimes give pleasant dreams, is often called for.”

  Griffin grunted. “ At least there are more people happy with what you have done than me. My only skill is in violence.”

  As she pulled the damper out of the camp oven and put it on a clean cloth nearby, she frowned. “No. I have to be careful with whom I use my powers on. How often. Otherwise, I can do more harm than good.” She shuddered. “When I was younger, I attempted help an old man. A veteran. I removed his nightmares without understanding that he had lied about what they represented. He claimed he flashed back to the war every time he slept. He was actually flashing back to a hunting accident in which his son was killed. By blocking his nightmares, he didn’t properly deal with what happened and went mad.” Griffin raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Everyone needs to look at the consequences of their actions.” She shrugged her shoulders.