Eyes of the Eternal (Realms of Rebirth Book 1)

by G. E. White

  “But I’m not suited to lead this investigation,” he protested.

  “And you probably won’t have to,” she assured. “Even if the Solar Magi aren’t happy following Jared’s lead they’d be scared to death of what would happen if they didn’t try to co-operate… if you’ll pardon the pun.”

  Jared rolled his eyes at the cheesy line but agreed all the same. “Fine, whatever, though you know they’ll only co-operate with me to a degree. Now can we please get moving already? It’s getting cold.”

  Indeed, the sun had almost completely set and a cool wind was coming off the sea.

  Surina nodded and the three picked up their bags and trudged along across the terrace to the water’s edge.

  Quinn approached the shoreline, his lips turned down in a perplexed frown. “So how do we get across? Do we have to swim or do we wait for a boat or something?”

  “Or something,” Jared replied. “You’re gonna love this.”

  Facing the temple across the water Jared called out, “Jared Thanatos Doyle.”

  The sound of rock grinding together caused Quinn to turn his attention to the lion statues that lined the pathway behind them. Their eyes, which had originally been closed, opened slowly, a bright light emanating from them to the water below, creating a pathway between the statues of the lions and across the lake’s surface.

  “Now here’s the fun part,” the older man said, walking forward and putting his foot down onto the lit path as if it was a solid walkway. And it was, Quinn marveled as his companion continued to walk forward without getting wet.

  Surina gave him a nudge. The teen stumbled for a step or two but soon fell in step behind Jared as she took up the rear.

  The three mounted the stairs to the entrance which was barred by two massive stone doors that swung open as they approached. Jared entered the temple, his head held up with confidence while Quinn quietly shuffled in behind. Surina stood at his back, a silent sentinel taking in their surroundings.

  They now stood in the brightly lit main hall of the temple, which was probably the size of a football field. Large columns stood off to either side of the hall hiding small corridors that led to other parts of the temple. Most likely the magi’s quarters or mess hall, Quinn guessed.

  In the center of the cavernous temple was an impressive golden structure of a model of the solar system. Each planet was made of blown colored glass, supported by metal bars attached to the base, and orbited around a wire sphere where a model of the sun should be. But inside the center of the mock sun were a gaping hole, and an empty stand.

  Quinn noted with a grin that Pluto was still part of the planetary line up.

  Several individuals milled about the hall, all dressed in a similar tan uniform of pants and a tank top with either a jacket or cloak.

  The dulcet tunes of a harp floated across the room. Quinn turned to see a young girl not much older than himself with what appeared to be vines and flowers growing out of her head in place of hair, playing the instrument off to the side while a couple other magi listened.

  Further down the hall two figures, a man and a centaur, sparred with broad swords. His eyes widened in wonder as he gawked at the quadruped; three-headed dogs were one thing but the First Realm inhabitant was something else.

  The sound of hooves against the marble floor pulled the teen’s attention from the two sparring to a man in blood red robes who approached the three of them. The man pulled back the hood of his robe which caused Quinn to reassess his earlier judgment. The man wasn’t a man at all if the curved horns emerging from his brown curls were any indicator.

  Surina leaned close. “Try not to stare,” she whispered to him.

  “He’s…”

  “A satyr,” she supplied.

  “Explains the hoof beats,” he whispered back.

  “Lord Thanatos,” the satyr greeted, giving a slight bow. “We’re honored by your presence here. I am Arthur Malin, one of the head instructors here.”

  “Instructor Malin, there’s no need for formalities, Jared’s fine.”

  “Jared it is then, but only if you call me Arthur. And who is this?” the man questioned, tipping his chin towards Quinn.

  “This is Quinn Athena.”

  “Lord Athena,” Arthur gasped. “Bless my stars they’ve finally found you.” He clasped Quinn’s hand between both of his in a sign of reverence.

  The teen stood awkwardly, unsure how to respond. “Yeah… You can just call me Quinn… I’m kind of new to this whole thing,” he admitted.

  “No need to worry,” Malin assured, patting his hand. “You always were a fast learner.”

  Quinn grimaced at the comment but said nothing.

  Arthur finally turned to acknowledge Surina; his kindly expression became guarded as he took in her form.

  “Miss Malik, you seem to be well,” he said stiffly.

  “As well as can be expected,” she returned.

  “We’re here in regards to the theft you just had,” Jared said, cutting in.

  “Of course, you probably want to speak to the High Priest.”

  The young man nodded, “If we could.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem, I believe he just finished his dinner and should be in his study. I’ll take you there,” the satyr said.

  Quinn watched the exchange with growing interest. A couple of things were obvious at this point: One being that instructor Malin and Surina were familiar with one another, though how was another matter. Two, it was also clear to the teen that the terms on which the two parted were not the friendliest, if Jared acting as a buffer between the two was any indication.

  Perhaps this was why Surina wanted Jared to act as their leader despite the fact that Surina knew the community better.

  Malin beckoned the three to follow him as he trotted deeper into the temple, his hoofed feet clopping along the stone floor. Several of the temple initiates stopped in their training and watched them with a veiled curiosity as they passed by.

  At the back of the temple stood a large set of stairs that led to an observation deck. The four of them climbed the stairs before being ushered through a door at the rear.

  Inside was a circular room – obviously, a library or study of some kind – bookshelves filled with dusty old tomes running from floor to the ceiling, a lute lay against a chair and sheet music lay haphazardly around the floor. Further into the study sat a large wooden desk where the High Priest hunched over a journal of sorts writing.

  Quinn was surprised to note that the man appeared younger than Malin with a shock of blonde hair that was only just beginning to grey at the temples.

  He wore a finely pressed white dress shirt, though a blood-red robe with gold embroidery along the collar and edges was draped over the back of his chair.

  Malin’s hooves clicked upon the stone floor as he approached. “High Priest Reeves, Lords Thanatos and Athena are here to speak to you about the star.”

  Reeves lifted his head to reveal steely blue eyes that narrowed as he took in his three visitors.

  Quinn bristled as Surina was once again overlooked, though when he glanced up at her face he saw no irritation at her dismissal. But then again, her ever-present sunglasses made her expression hard to read on a good day.

  The High Priest stood, revealing himself to be a man of impressive height and stature – looking to be more suited to be a soldier than a man in the priesthood. But taking into account the training the initiates were conducting downstairs this temple ran quite differently from any church, synagogue or mosque back home.

  Reeves bowed respectfully to the two young men.

  “My Lords,” he greeted, “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

  As he spoke Malin pulled out a couple of chairs from where they had been resting against the wall. Reeves motioned for them to sit, and Quinn was almost surprised to note they even offered a chair to Surina despite her earlier brush-off.

  They graciously took their seats as the priest slumped
back into his.

  “We’d like to hear exactly what happened the night of the theft,” Jared said.

  The older man nodded. “Of course, I wasn’t actually present during the time of the theft but the accounts I’ve collected from the guards on duty were quite accurate.”

  Jared dipped his head gesturing for the man to continue.

  “It happened after curfew – almost everyone was in their dorms or asleep. As for Vega, well, I’m guessing you’ve seen the statue in the main hall.”

  “The one of the solar system – it’s beautiful!” Quinn cut in excitedly, but then shrinking back in his seat at his embarrassing outburst.

  The High Priest smiled indulgently at the young man, obviously amused by his enthusiasm. “That would be the one. As you probably noticed the sun was missing.”

  “That’s where you keep the star, right?” the teen asked, quickly putting the pieces of what he had seen and heard together.

  “Exactly. So, you can imagine it would be a bit of a feat to get up there unnoticed. But taking into account the perpetrator I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.”

  “Perpetrator?” Jared echoed, confused.

  “A Lunar magi,” Reeves explained.

  “What makes you so sure they were Lunar magi?” Surina joined in, her face a mask of composed curiosity.

  The blonde priest’s forehead became lined in irritation as he turned to face the young woman. “As you know we work very closely with both the Lunar and Earthen temples and are very familiar with their wardrobe and weapons. The thief was dressed in the cloak of a Lunar initiate and carried their weapons.”

  “Isn’t that a little too convenient?” she challenged.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, think about it – you said yourself that it didn’t surprise you that a Lunar magi was able to climb onto the statue unnoticed. Why is that? Because you know a great deal of their training focuses on stealth. So, if the thief knew there was even the slightest chance that they would be seen why would they dress in something that would proclaim to everyone who they were?”

  “Maybe they were overconfident,” Reeves sneered. “Or it might have been a deliberate act of war.”

  “That’s not the way of the Artemis Temple,” she replied defensively.

  The High Priest frowned. “Aren’t you being a little biased Miss Malik?”

  Surina stiffened in her seat. “I’m merely pointing out the irregularities in this case. I’m sure you’re well aware of the accusations laid upon your people by the Earthen Temple, High Priest.”

  “Are you accusing me of something?” he growled.

  “No, I’m just saying that things aren’t adding up.”

  “How did the thief escape?” Jared cut in, attempting to halt the mounting tension between the two.

  Reeves focused again on the younger man. “To be honest we’re not entirely sure. One minute they were there, the next they were gone. We believe they used illusionary tactics – Lunar magi are often well versed in them.”

  The last remark was almost spat at Surina, and though she was not a god Quinn was quite surprised that the man would be so openly hostile to a demi-god. But considering that she was a descendant of the goddess whose temple supposedly stole from them; his disrespect might be a bit more understandable.

  “So they literally just disappeared?” Quinn asked.

  “At least from sight. We kept the temple locked down for as long as we could, thinking that they still might be hiding out inside, but we never found them,” concluded Reeves.

  “Is that all the information you can give us?” Jared prodded further.

  “I’m not familiar with all the details, perhaps the guards who were on duty can give you more information.”

  The large grandfather clock behind Reeves chimed nine o’clock, pulling the High Priest’s attention from the three.

  “Unfortunately your questions will have to wait until tomorrow as Vinewall and Kalling, who were on that night, are about to retire for the evening. You are welcome to stay the night. I’ll have instructor Malin escort you to the guest chambers.”

  The three of them stood, Jared reaching to shake the man’s hand.

  “Thank you Priest Reeves for your help. We’ll do our best to get to the bottom of this.”

  Reeves took his hand. “I hope that you do.”

  Malin gestured for the three of them to follow him when the High Priest spoke once more.

  “I feel I should inform you though, if Vega is not retrieved in five days the Apollo magi will have no choice but to declare war on the Temple of Artemis.”

  Jared and Surina paused at the warning, but to Quinn’s surprise, simply nodded.

  “We understand,” said Jared, “We will do everything in our power to keep that from happening.”

  “I’m sure you will,” agreed Reeves.

  After a tense moment Malin led them out of the room. Despite the calm way both of his companions accepted the threat Quinn could not quell the unease that bubbled inside him.

  ~ Chapter 18 ~

  The door to the guestroom had barely closed when Quinn rounded on his two companions. “What the hell was that?” he asked peevishly.

  “What was what?” Jared said with a shrug.

  The teen shook his head, breezing past the older man and Surina to stand at the foot of one of the two beds.

  “Reeves just said he’s going to start a war in five days if we don’t find their part of the Star and the two of you barely bat an eyelash.” He turned to stare down Surina. “And this was after you seemed so determined to pick a fight with him. So, will one of you please tell me what’s going on and why we aren’t doing anything to stop this?”

  “Quinn you know that we will do everything we can to get the star back in time,” Surina said.

  “That’s not what I meant – why don’t we just tell them they can’t go to war?”

  Jared furrowed his brow at Quinn’s provocation. “What makes you think that I have any right to?”

  “Hmm, let me see, uh maybe because you’re a god?” he asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

  “So are you,” Jared challenged, moving to invade Quinn’s space. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  The grey-eyed youth backed up, his legs folding as they hit the foot of the bed. He sat on the plush covers, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water as he grasped for a reply.

  After a moment Jared’s expression softened. “I’ll tell you why, because you knew it wasn’t your place. For us, being called a god or goddess is like being called a King or a Queen. Yes, they understand that we have powers that they don’t and should respect us, but let me ask you this: Would the people of France obey an order given to them by the Queen of England?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because they’re not her people,” Quinn replied, understanding lighting up his eyes. “Only Apollo can tell the Solar magi what to do.”

  “Exactly,” confirmed Jared.

  “And so far, you haven’t been able to locate this generation’s incarnation of either Apollo, Artemis or Demeter… So how do the temples continue to operate like normal?” Quinn asked.

  “They are very well organized,” the young man assured.

  “I think it’s time you had a crash course in how these temples work,” Surina commented.

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Jared said standing. “You give him the rundown – while I head down to the kitchens and have them rustle us up some food.”

  “You do know it’s almost curfew for them,” Surina reminded.

  “I’m sure they’ll make an expectation for a god… or at least my dashing good looks,” he smirked, slipping out the door.

  The young woman shook her head at the man, but quickly turned her attention to Quinn. She pulled her chair closer to where he sat, their knees almost touching, though Quinn’s thoughts were on their other companion.

  The current Death God w
as somewhat of an enigma; he generally acted laid back, but appeared to have no problem getting into someone’s face – as he had seen with the ghouls down in the Underworld and, to a milder degree, just moments ago. Then at other times he could switch from his intimidating presence as the God of Death to a somewhat childish, and dare he say it, vain individual.

  Quinn had seen the man earlier this morning… yesterday morning, whatever, and knew that Jared wasn’t one who was simply able to wake up in the morning looking that well put together.

  “Jared might seem childish at times but he’s a dependable guy,” Surina said as if sensing Quinn’s train of thought.

  “How long have you known him?”

  “Personally? About six or seven years, but that’s not important right now. What is important is making sure you understand the way these temples work – especially as we’ll be heading to the Lunar temple sometime tomorrow.”

  “How different can they be?” the teen queried.

  “Very. There are temples dedicated to almost every god, though some are more active than others. Some just revere what the god or goddess embodied, while others adopt the god’s practices and even work for them should they have some agenda to fill.”

  “Agenda?” he asked skeptically.

  “I don’t mean it like that,” explained Surina. “Take Artemis for example: generally known as the Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, she was also a protector goddess of youth, both of animals and individuals. Lunar magi who follow Artemis act as an extension of her power by helping young children and creatures in both realms.”

  “You mentioned that these three temples work together.”

  “Yes and no. Out of the temples that exist today the Temples of Apollo, Artemis and Demeter are the most active in the outside world. But all of them have very different practices and skills they teach.”

  “Like?” Quinn prodded.

  “The skills of a magi usually reflect their patron god or goddess,” Surina elaborated. “In the main hall we saw a pair sparing with swords and Apollo was known as the bearer of the golden sword.”

  “So everyone in here knows how to use a sword?” the teen asked.