Kellan took a sip from his glass, looked at Juliet and then back to Micah. “You really don’t have a flair for storytelling do you?”
He shrugged.
“So wait,” said Juliet, “Stoker was right. No way. Absolutely no way. Vlad Dracula was the first vampire?”
Micah shook his head. “I don’t know what a Stoker is, but Vlad Tepes was far from being the first vampire. He was a ruthless tyrant who, in his mind, defended Europe from muslim encroachment. The vast blood he shed attracted vampires to his land and, eventually, one turned him into the Undead as well. It’s really as simple as that.”
“Yeah, Juliet, it’s as simple as that—vampires. Too bad you couldn’t start a war between werwolves and vampires, that might have kept the numbers down.”
Micah looked perplexed. “Werewolves and Vampires have natural antipathy for each other as it is. They don’t need my help to be at each other’s throats.”
“Uh, I was trying to lighten the mood a bit. So there are werewolves too. Dear God, Hamish was right. ” Kellan said, taking a longer drink.
“Of course there are werewolves, but werewolves can be cured. I have never found a way to help a fully turned vampire, save by granting them a true death.”
“So, are they beautiful?” asked Juliet
Micah looked perplexed. “Are who beautiful?”
“The vampires.”
Micah shuddered. “Far from it. They can appear human after they have fed, and can enthrall the unwary, but, beautiful, no.”
She sighed, “So much for team Edward.”
Micah looked even more puzzled and Kellan waved a hand. “Don’t pay any attention to her. In this century, vampires can day-walk, are all sparkly and beautiful, and everyone wants to be one.”
“That is…very disturbing,” said Raphael slowly with Micah nodding in agreement.
Kellan placed the last book on the stack of others and all four sat silently for a long moment. Only the ticking of the many clocks filled the silence.
Finally, Kellan said, “So, now what?”
“Now you must choose,” said Raphael.
“Wait,” said Micah. “Just wait.” He got up and crouched down before Kellan, taking the younger man’s hands in his.
“Before you brought out all your research and asked all these questions, I told you what I was and what it was like to be me. Remember, I told you it is a life of vast contrasts. It is beautiful and ugly. It is transcendent joy and horrible sadness. It is power and weakness. I told you of how much I wanted a family but never did. There are countless sacrifices you will have to make and, yet, you will have the power to do tremendous good. You will trod through dark places and bring the light of creation with you. It will bend to your will and dispel those who inflict pain on the world. Kellan, you will be God’s unchecked hand on the world. How does that make you feel?”
Kellan closed his eyes a long moment and then stared deeply into the aged face before him. “It makes me feel very small, and scared, and not nearly up to the challenge.”
Micah reached up and held Kellan’s face in his hands, eyes filling. “Yes. Yes! I know exactly how you feel. Never forget this moment. Hold on to it and put it someplace safe in your mind, locked away. Then go forth and do what you believe to be right. If you ever feel yourself getting lost or heading too far down a dark path, unlock this moment, and experience it again, but not for too long. Never for too long. Gaze too often or too long at this moment and it will leave a residue of timidity and doubt. That was my mistake, Kellan. Do not make the same mistake I did. Be bold and, when warranted, be irreverent and a bit reckless.”
The old man stood up and, as he did so, placed a kiss on Kellan’s forehead, then turned to Raphael. “I believe you did better this second time around. He’s going to make you think otherwise, and often, but he’ll be able to do what I never could. He will be able to accept, embrace, and control the darker aspects of his nature, rather than simply avoiding them. That will make him stronger and that is what’s needed. You have done so very well Raphael. I know this choice could not have been easy.”
The Angel looked up, “No, it was not easy, but the right things seldom are.”
Raphael’s eyes locked on Kellan. “Again, I say to you, Kellan Thorne,” you must choose, but not in your current condition.”
“My current—what?”
Raphael stood up and placed his hand on Kellan’s shoulder, eyes flaring bright green. Kellan felt power course into him, causing his heart to race and his blood to feel hot. It only lasted a moment and was gone.”
“Oh, damn,” Kellan said.
“What? What is it, Kellan,” asked Juliet, alarmed.
“He burned all the Scotch out of me. I’m stone cold sober.”
“Damn it, Kellan, you scared the crap out of me.”
Raphael ignored the exchange. “Your full faculties are restored; now you may choose.”
Kellan looked again at Juliet and he saw the worry and tears in her eyes. She nodded to him. “You are the best, Kel. You’ve been like the big brother I never had and a second father all rolled into one. Your moral compass is dented, rusted, and more than a little cracked, but it always points true north. This grubby planet would be lucky to have you watching over it.”
“Aw, shit, Juliet,” now you’ve gone and made me cry too.
“Kellan, your language will need to improve,” said Raphael.
“Fuck off, Clarence,” he replied which brought a snort of laughter from Micah.
“Ok. I will choose, but I have a condition first.”
Raphael raised an eyebrow. “A condition? What kind of condition?”
“I need something from you, Raphael. I need you need to tell me your name. Your whole, true, name.”
The Angel froze.
“My name? You know my name.”
“Bullshit. Raphael is a name, but it isn’t your name.”
“What’s the name Michael calls you? What’s the name God calls you. I want your real name. Real names given freely have power; you know that.”
The silence stretched for long moments.
“You couldn’t pronounce it.”
“Try me.”
“You won’t remember it.”
“I remember everything.”
The Angel looked truly distressed. “I cannot.”
“Ok, then we are done here,” said Kellan getting up.
“You would truly decline?”
“Damn straight. If you can’t trust me with your name, then you certainly can’t trust me to be ‘God’s unchecked hand on the world.’”
“Even Micah doesn’t know my name.”
“And it is inexcusable that he does not, Raphael, but as you will learn, I am not he. Your name. Offer it freely now, or leave.”
Raphael looked helplessly to Micah, who simply shook his head sadly.
Finally, Raphael spoke, voice barely a whisper, “Very well, Kellan Thorne, I will speak my name, but will do so to you alone.”
The Angel stood very straight, eyes blazing to life, and stared directly at Kellan. A glowing shield snapped around them. “I am Raphael, Archangel of High Heaven, and this is my one true name. I give it freely and without regret.”
Kellan felt the air charge as Raphael spoke the words that were not words. The sound flowed out and through him as his mind drank in the many aspects of the Name, locking each permanently and perfectly into place.
Tears flowed down his cheeks at the pure beauty of the name given to this being at the moment of creation and then it was over.
The shield vanished. The Archangel stared at Kellan expectantly.
Kellan spoke, surprised at how calm he suddenly felt, “I am Kellan Caufield Thorne and of my own free will I accept the power and responsibility you now offer. I will be the successor to Micah Ben Judah. I will be the Sentinel.”
Nothing happened. Kellan looked to Juliet who was clearly holding her breath, hands interlaced near her chest. Next, he looked back to Rap
hael who, aside from seeming slightly pleased with himself, had not moved or changed in any way. Finally, he looked at Micah.
“Is that it? I gotta say, I’m a bit disappointed. I was expecting something a little more, I don’t know, dramatic?” Kellan looked again to Juliet who was nodding in agreement.
“I figured the windows would blow out or something…there can be only one!” She said.
Kellan snorted, “Yeah, well I’d just as soon not be replacing windows, and I’m pretty sure Connor McLeod didn’t have to sweep up after that pyrotechnic extravaganza.”
“That wasn’t it,” Micah said softly as he rose from his chair to stand in front of Kellan, “This is it.”
Micah reached for his left ring finger as his eyes sparked to life, glowing brightly, and slowly drew the ring from his finger. Kellan watched intently and saw Juliet out of the corner of his eye craning to do likewise.
At first the ring seemed to stretch like it was made of molten silver and as Micah continued to pull, a second ring broke free of the first, and he held it out for Kellan to see.
The ring was large, but elegant, and appeared to be crafted of silver, or white gold with a dark green gem set in its center. The gem itself seemed to glow, albeit darkly while being cut in a terraced fashion that Kellan had never seen before. The bottom of the stone where it met the ring had twelve sides making it appear almost round. Higher on the stone four sides were cut, while the top of the stone showed only three sides.
Micah turned the ring between his fingers, gesturing with it toward Kellan.
The younger man chuckled nervously, “What? Are you proposing to me, Micah?”
“Well, it is legal now—even in Georgia,” Juliet quipped.
“True, but I prefer younger men,” replied Kellan, glancing her way with a mischievous grin.
Micah turned to Raphael who, for his part, seemed confused by the whole exchange and then back to Kellan, “No, uh, no no. This ring is part of the process. I, um, well I’ve known men who—but I’m not…”
The older man stopped, clearly flustered and Juliet punched Kellan on the shoulder.
“Ow! Dammit girl, you hit like a freight truck.”
“Well, you deserve it, Kellan. Now stop embarrassing Micah. For God’s sake, just look at him!”
“Fine,” said Kellan, reaching out to take the ring which Micah still held out for him, “I’m sorry, Micah. Just a little contemporary humor, that you’d really have had to live around here for the past few years to fully appreciate.”
Kellan was about to put the ring on when Micah shook himself out of his semi-stunned silence and put his hand on Kellan’s to restrain him.
“Kellan, I’m serious. This is your last chance to walk away—put on that ring and there’s no turning back. Be sure.”
Raphael looked frustrated and opened his mouth to speak, but Kellan simply said, “I made my decision, Micah. This, apparently, is just the final formality. It is finished.”
His last three words seemed to hang in the air as Kellan slipped the ring on and three pairs of eyes focused on him as the dark green stone burst outward with a blinding light.
Kellan felt his entire body burn and crackle with what felt like a massive electrical shock. He thought he heard himself screaming, but couldn’t be sure as the green light continued to brighten from green to white. He felt as if he were falling through an endless hole that seemed to have opened up beneath him. Then there was nothingness.
Chapter 5
NURISHA
Kellan blinked, trying to get his eyes to adjust. They didn’t. The light was blinding, but he couldn’t determine its source. It seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere. Looking left and right, Kellan found no change in the world around him. All was bright white and completely empty.
Kellan felt his pulse start to quicken as he turned around in a tight circle. The terrain was so completely absent of any markings that he could not even determine when he had turned completely around.
He crouched down and placed his hand between his feet to feel the ground that clearly was not ground. It was completely smooth and devoid of both heat and cold. In fact, he only knew it was there by the resistance it provided against his outstretched palm.
Kellan stood and tried to slow his breathing and heart rate with a conscious effort of will. As he did so, images and words from texts read long ago flashed through his mind in perfect clarity. He sighed. This, for him at least, was normal, but there was something else—something new. It felt like it was just outside his perception, barely in the peripheral vision of his mind. The more he tried to grasp The Something, the more illusive it became. Finally, he decided to ignore it and concentrate on the calming knowledge that flowed through his mind. As he did so, The Something, encroached from the edges of his reality. He continued to ignore it. It came closer. He continued to ignore it. Finally, The Something, seemed to overlap with his knowledge stores and vanished.
Kellan cried out with a start but heard no sound. He whirled around and yelled louder but was there was only silence. The slight burning in his throat provided the only evidence he had done anything at all.
As his heart raced, he felt perspiration break out across his body and a wave of nausea wracked him, bringing him to one knee. He absently noted that his heart rate had easily passed 150 and darkly thought what a shame it would be to die of a heart attack two seconds into this new adventure.
“No!” Kellan yelled at the all encompassing silence. He reached inward grasping at the calming knowledge he had recalled moments before and felt a slight burning in his eyes as he willed the knowledge into reality. The Something returned, but did not retreat when he focused on it and fed it into the calming knowledge. “Be…at peace,” he said to himself, and The Something flared in him causing his eyes to burn even hotter, but then a calm washed over him like nothing he had ever felt before.
Kellan took a deep breath as he slowly listened to his heart rate fall from it’s previous drum roll to a slow steady cadence.
“Fifty beats a minute,” Kellan said silently to the world around him, “I’m a bloody olympic athlete.” He lifted a hand directly in front of his eye and could see a glowing green light reflecting off the fingers. Kellan closed one eye and saw the reflected light diminish on that side of his hand. He reversed the test and the results likewise reversed.
“Well, looks like I’ve got those green laser beam eyes going for me, which is nice,” Kellan said as he tried, with an act of will, to hear the words he spoke. Still there was nothing.
He began walking in no particular direction because there was no direction to his world and almost immediately noticed something moving on the horizon.
Kellan focused on the speck, moving quickly and directly towards it, finally breaking into a run. After a few moments he began to hear his feet beating against the ground and the measured sound of his own breathing. The ground took on texture, moving from the white nothing to form familiar earth. Clouds burst into being and Kellan felt wind on his face as he closed on the figure walking slowly towards him.
Kellan stopped just in front of Micah and regarded the old man for just a moment then embraced him tightly. Moments later, Kellan stepped back and, again, looked at Micah who smiled at him broadly.
“You seem to have missed me,” the old Sentinel asked with a chuckle.
“This place sucks; why didn’t you warn me? I thought I was dead or something.”
Micah laughed again. “Warn you about what? I have only been here once before and that was the day Raphael took me here, but it was quite different then. I suppose it was my birthday of sorts, like this day is yours.”
“Well, happy birthday. I nearly had a heart attack. Why didn’t you meet me here?”
“Where is here?”
“Huh?”
“Kellan, where is here?”
“I have no idea. I’m the padawan here, master Jedi. Why don’t you just explain it and use small words.”
Micah sat down
in a large overstuffed leather chair that looked all the world like one from Kellan’s shop.
“Whoa! Where did that come from?” Kellan exclaimed.
“Please sit,” said Micah and motioned to an identical chair that now sat directly in front of him.
Kellan sank into the chair without a word and stared at Micah.
“This,” the old Sentinel said with a flourish that encompassed the world around them, “is God’s workroom.”
“Um…His what?”
“His workroom. It sits outside creation, but is where creation was, well, created. It’s not used for anything now because everything’s been created, so Raphael repurposed it for my training and now I am doing so for you.”
Kellan blinked slowly and joggled his head. “God’s workroom? So, God plays an uber celestial version of Minecraft?”
Micah sighed and lilted, “Reference?”
“Oh for God’s sake. Micah, it’s a computer game that lets you build…” Kellan stopped. “Forget it. So, this place. It clearly has special properties, right?”
“Oh yes. All the elements of creation are here and we have the ability to bend those elements more powerfully here than in the real world. Anything you will be able to do there, can be done here with a fraction of the effort. Somethings I can do here, I have never been able to do there, but perhaps you will exceed me in that regard. In this place, you can do the miraculous if you only have the will.” Micah smiled expectantly.
“Yeah, well, that sounds cool, but, um, look I’m not trying to be indelicate here, but I thought you were going to, you know…”
“Die?” Micah said with a chuckle. “How do you know I’m not dead already?”
“Oh, Come on!” Kellan yelled, “You are so annoying. Do we have to play these games; it’s such a waste of time.”
“We can’t waste time here.”
“Exactly my point, so let’s save time and give me a straight answer.”
“We can’t save time here either.”
“Oh dear God, there you go again. Do you even realize you are doing that?”
Micah laughed again, “Yes, but I’ll try and tone it down a bit. As I said, we are in a unique place and it has correspondingly unique characteristics. While we are here, we exist out of time. After all, time is part of creation, and this place is not. So, to my earlier point, we have, quite literally, all the time in the world.”
Sentinels of Creation: A Power Renewed Page 9
