Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Yes, Elder,” Derrick said, and disappeared. Only a few minutes later, Allen came in with a bag over his shoulder.

  “I just need to get back to the island,” Allen explained.

  “First off, where is your mother’s house?” Chevalier asked.

  “I won’t tell you that. I promised her.”

  “It’s not safe, and it’s negligent of you to keep that from us.”

  “Nevertheless, I am.”

  Chevalier growled, “You are looking for a lot of trouble.”

  “I am either way I answer that. Right now, Mom and I are on shaky enough ground without adding this.”

  “It’s not safe.”

  “It is safe. I checked it out myself, and we even went to a community event and I saw no heku.”

  “Still…”

  “If there is an emergency, then I will reconsider, but for now, she’s safe.”

  “What did Sotomar do?” Quinn asked.

  “He negotiated something that both Mom and I can live with for now,” Allen explained.

  “Very well, we’ll have you taken back to the island.”

  Allen nodded and headed for the door.

  “We can reconsider letting you stay in Council City,” Chevalier told him.

  Allen turned at the door, “I prefer the island. Both Miri and I like it there.”

  Chevalier nodded and Allen bowed slightly and left.

  “Sotomar is slowly weaseling his way into Emily’s life,” Zohn said, irritated.

  “Yes he is, and I wish I knew his intentions,” Chevalier told him.

  “It may be a ploy to get us to side with the Valle in exterminating the Encala.”

  “Maybe… let’s get on with this land dispute. I’m tired of being in here.”

  Quinn grinned, “I second that.”

  ***

  “There’s no use fighting. You can’t get away,” the heku in black said as he shut the door to the ceremonial room. This one was different. The runes on the ceiling were painted instead of etched.

  “Don’t do this,” Emily warned.

  “Why not? There are no guards. Not even your son is around,” he said, and grinned.

  Emily looked around at the 12 heku in blue as they began to sway slightly.

  “No!”

  “It’s all too perfect. No one knows where you are… you’ll simply disappear, and you’ll be one of us,” another heku told her, a tall woman with fierce black eyes. “Yisolatara.”

  Emily sat up suddenly in bed and flipped on the light.

  The voice rang through her mind, clear as a bell, a harsh whisper, “Run.”

  Emily scrambled out of bed. She could feel eyes on her. She was being watched from the shadows of the room and from the dark window. Everywhere she turned, there were eyes on her. She grabbed Dain out of bed and rushed to Alexis’ room.

  “Shhh, Alexis, be very quiet,” Emily whispered as she picked the young girl up from her bed.

  “What’s wrong?” Alexis whispered. Emily didn’t answer, but carried them quickly down the stairs. She ran across the yard, still in her nightgown, and sat Alexis down in the back of the truck, then put Dain into his car seat. Emily glanced back one more time and then spun out and left the plantation.

  “Mom, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Emily whispered, and glanced nervously in her rear view mirror.

  “Then why are we leaving in the middle of the night? You don’t even have shoes on.”

  “We just are.”

  Alexis looked back behind them, “No one’s back there… you’re afraid of something. What’s wrong?”

  “Just go to sleep, Alex.”

  Alexis crossed her arms and watched her Mom driving quickly, swerving in and out of any traffic they came to. Emily didn’t speak, and when she stopped for fuel, she paid at the pump and quickly left.

  Two days later, they arrived at Council City and Emily sped through the front gates and pulled up into the garage. She leaned her head on the steering wheel and wrapped her arms around herself.

  Alexis opened the door and ran into Chevalier’s arms, “I missed you!”

  Chevalier kissed the top of her head, “I missed you too. What’s wrong with your Mom?”

  Alexis shrugged, “She won’t say. We left in the middle of the night. She didn’t even let us get dressed, and she’s been driving fast and watching everyone around her like they were going to attack… it was creepy.”

  “Get Dain inside,” he told her, and as she followed his request, he opened the driver’s door. Emily looked over at him and lunged into his arms, burying her face in his chest. He held her tightly until she calmed down, “What happened?”

  She shook her head, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Come on inside,” he said, and pulled away from her. She wrapped her arms around his arm and let him lead her inside.

  “Welcome back,” Quinn said when they entered the main foyer.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, and tightened her grip on Chevalier.

  “We have something we need to do for about an hour,” Chevalier told her.

  “Do you have to?”

  Chevalier frowned, “No, I guess not… We can postpone it.”

  “Yes, we can,” Quinn agreed. “Is there a problem?”

  “No,” Emily said softly.

  Chevalier whispered too low for her to hear, “She won’t say.”

  “Let’s meet in 2 hours?”

  Chevalier looked at Emily, “Will that be ok?”

  “Actually, go now.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded, “Yes.”

  “We won’t be long. May I bring your guards?” Quinn asked.

  “Give me 30 minutes. I’ll head out to Cavalry training to see what’s happening.”

  Quinn nodded and left with Chevalier. Emily waited until they were gone, and headed to the secret door leading to the ceremonial room. The only time she was in the secret room in the palace, was when she was under the influence of an ancient, and she didn’t remember it. The only others she’d seen were in the castle, in Exavior’s coven, and in a remote Encala coven.

  Emily checked around to make sure no one was watching, and opened the door. As she walked, her heart began to pound in her chest and she couldn’t hear past the sound of it in her ears. Her breathing got faster and she felt a sweat forming. The heavy stone door came closer. She knew it was normally propped open, and was relieved to see it still was.

  As she got closer to it, she got on her hands and knees and slowly inched toward the ominous room. She fought to breathe. She had to see into the room, but it held fear beyond her memory. When she was within arm’s reach of the room, she stretched forward, keeping her body as far away from it as she could, and craned her neck to see into it. She needed to see the ceiling, needed to see if the voices were warning her of something about to happen in Council City.

  She had to wait for her eyes to adjust, and when they did, she saw the dark etchings of the runes on the ceiling.

  “What are you doing in here?” a gruff voice said from behind her.

  Emily screamed and turned the strange heku to ash, then hurried to her feet and ran for the hidden door in a panic. As she barreled through the hidden door into the palace, Silas and Kralen both froze and looked at her with wide eyes.

  “Emily, did you scream?” Silas asked curiously.

  She ran past them. Panic had taken over, and she rushed to get as far away from the ceremonial room as she could.

  “Em?” Kralen called after her, but she disappeared around a corner.

  “Why in the world would she be in there?” Silas asked, and walked through the secret door. Kralen followed him toward the ceremonial room until they came to the pile of ash on the floor.

  Kralen growled and called for Kyle.

  “What’s up?” Kyle asked as he approached them in the dark passageway.

  Silas moved aside and Kyle caught sight of the ash.

  H
is eyes narrowed, “He brought Emily down here?”

  “I suspect so. She’d never come down here of her own volition,” Kralen said. “We were walking down the hallway when she came running out of here like a bat out of hell.”

  “Time to talk then,” Kyle said, and pulled out the dagger. He let a single drop of blood fall onto the pile of ash, and screams filled the hallway as the heku reformed. As soon as he was whole, Kralen and Silas restrained him.

  “That Bitch!” the heku servant screamed.

  “You have a lot of explaining to do,” Kyle growled. “Why did you bring Lady Emily down here?”

  The servant’s eyes grew wide, “I didn’t! I heard someone in the passage and came in here. She was here by herself.”

  “I doubt that,” Kyle said, and headed into the palace while the Captains brought the servant with them.

  “I swear, I didn’t take her down there,” he said pleadingly.

  “I wouldn’t want to be you when you have to explain to Elder Chevalier why you took his wife into a restricted section of the palace,” Silas said, grinning.

  “I didn’t!”

  “Sure you did. She’d never go down there by herself,” Kralen yelled, and pushed the heku harder.

  Derrick opened the door for them and they all stepped into the council chambers. Chevalier and Quinn were the only ones missing, and the guards brought the servant forward while Kyle took his seat.

  “What’s the problem?” Zohn asked, eyeing the servant.

  “Found this guy as a pile of ash in front of the ceremonial room,” Kyle explained.

  “In front of the hidden door?”

  “No, in front of the stone door.”

  Zohn’s eyes narrowed, “I take it you didn’t turn him to ash?”

  “No, Elder, I didn’t,” Kyle said, and looked down at the servant.

  “You have to believe me! I didn’t take her in there,” the servant said, nervously glancing along the row of council members.

  “Hmm, he’s not lying,” the Chief Interrogator said.

  “If you didn’t take her, then who did?” Zohn asked.

  “She was there alone… I heard a noise and went to see who was down there,” the servant said hastily. “She was on her hands and knees, and was stretching to see the ceiling… I asked what she was doing, and the next thing I knew I was being revived.”

  Zohn frowned, “No one else was there?”

  “No, Elder.”

  Zohn glanced at the Chief Interrogator, and then to Kyle, “He’s not lying… why would Emily be down there?”

  “I can’t imagine her going in there alone.”

  “Neither can I.”

  “I swear to you… I didn’t take her there.”

  “Didn’t take who where?” Chevalier asked as he and Quinn entered the council chambers.

  “Lady Emily, I would never take her into the ceremonial room!”

  “I would hope not,” Chevalier said as he raised his eyebrows. “What exactly did we miss?”

  “He was found as a pile of ash just before the stone door into the ceremonial room,” Kyle explained again. “Kralen and Silas found him after Emily ran from the hallway.”

  “What were you hoping to accomplish?” Chevalier asked the servant angrily.

  “I didn’t take her down there!”

  “He’s not lying,” the Chief Interrogator told them.

  “Derrick, bring in Lady Emily,” Quinn called out.

  A few minutes later, Derrick came in, “She’s in her office but won’t talk… I can hear her breathing, but she won’t answer.”

  Chevalier sighed and walked out to her office. He knocked, “Em, can you come to the door?”

  Slowly, the door opened and she peeked out.

  “Before we banish a servant… were you taken to the ceremonial room, or did you go there on your own?”

  She looked at the ground, “I went there.”

  “You’re not lying to me to protect him?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why would you go there?”

  Emily shrugged.

  “Come tell the Council, please.”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “You’re not in trouble for going there. We just want to make sure you weren’t taken.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “Then why did you turn him to ash?”

  “He scared me.”

  Chevalier watched her, and then shook his head, “Ok… the Cavalry is waiting for you though.”

  “Ok,” she said, and watched him.

  He watched her for a second, and then returned to the council chambers and sat down, “She says she walked there by herself and he scared her… Let him go.”

  Kralen and Silas nodded and let the servant go. He bowed slightly and made a hasty exit.

  “She’s heading out to the Cavalry training. See if she’ll talk to you,” Chevalier said.

  They both bowed slightly and disappeared.

  “Why would she go in there? She’s terrified of that room,” Zohn said.

  “I don’t know. I’m guessing she won’t tell anyone.”

  Emily finally went out to the stables and threw a saddle and bridle on her stallion, then hoisted up onto him, and walked him out to where the Cavalry was going over how to tackle a heku from horseback. She rode up and stopped beside Kralen and Silas.

  “Welcome back,” Silas said, and smiled.

  “Thanks”

  Emily turned and looked at the trees to their back when she felt eyes on her. She scanned the forest carefully and then turned back around, noticing both Silas and Kralen were also looking toward the trees, but turned around when she did.

  “Got it,” Emily said as a horse took off running in a panic when the heku rider dove off. She kicked her stallion into a gallop and leaned forward with the lasso in her hand. She was out beyond the trees when she got control of the frantic mare, then spun suddenly in the saddle and looked around. She could no longer see the Cavalry and was completely surrounded by trees.

  She could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she heard the wind blowing through the tree leaves, sending a soft whisper down through the forest. Emily kicked her horse again into a gallop and tore through the trees, emerging onto the green lawn quickly. She took a deep breath and walked the mare back to its rider before returning to Kralen and Silas.

  “You ok?” Silas asked, frowning. He could hear her heart pounding rapidly in her chest.

  She nodded, and then turned to look at the trees behind her again. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow dart behind the corner of the palace. She gasped, and crawled down off her horse and put her back to the wall, inching along it toward the corner.

  Emily wasn’t aware she was being watched by the entire Cavalry as she crouched low to the ground when she reached the corner, and carefully peeked around the brick building, keeping as low as she could.

  “What’s wrong?” Silas asked from directly behind her.

  Emily screamed briefly and stood up to face him. When she saw who it was, she calmed some, “Nothing.”

  “Then why so jumpy?”

  “I’m not.”

  Silas stepped to the corner and looked across the lawn carefully, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. When he turned back, Emily was already mounting her stallion and Mark had called the Cavalry back to training.

  He shrugged and remounted his horse and began watching the new recruits.

  Emily turned suddenly and looked behind her toward the trees again. This time she was certain someone was watching her. She strained to see who it was, but saw nothing but the forest.

  “Would you stop that? You’re making me feel like I need to go kill something,” Kralen said to her. When she didn’t turn around, Mark noticed.

  “Em?”

  Mark, Silas, and Kralen watched her scan the trees. She was breathing shallowly.

  “Emily!” Ma
rk said, louder.

  She jumped and turned around to face him, “What?”

  “What are you looking for?” Mark asked.

  “Nothing”

  He sighed, “If you were in trouble, you’d tell us, right?”

  “Probably”

  “Gah, I hate that word… yes or no?”

  “Probably,” she said again.

  “Are you?”

  “No”

  “Training’s almost over, let’s go get some pizza,” Silas suggested.

  “Great idea,” Mark said, and called for the new recruits to get their horses put away.

  Emily tried to calm her voice, “No thanks.”

  “Steak?”

  “No, really, I just want to stay in tonight.”

  “Dancing?”

  “Really…”

  “Something’s wrong,” Mark said, and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like it.”

  “I’m fine,” she said, and slid off of her horse and headed him into the stables.

  When his horse was put away, Silas turned to talk to Emily, and saw her standing at the stable door with Mark and Kralen off in the shadows watching her. She leaned forward and looked around the area, and then took off running for the palace entrance.

  Mark growled, “She’s not telling us something.”

  “Agreed, maybe we should keep her guards at Commander and above for now,” Kralen suggested.

  Mark nodded, “Good, you two get Jaron, and I’ll meet you up at her door.”

  Silas and Kralen disappeared and came back with Jaron. They all headed inside and were quickly told she was in her office. They met Mark at her office door and they all turned to stand guard.

  The Elders, on their way to their own offices, saw Emily’s guards and walked over to her door.

  “Quite the high-ranks tonight. Is there a problem?” Chevalier asked.

  Mark shrugged, “We don’t know. She won’t tell us.”

  “Sounds familiar.”

  “Something’s up though,” Silas explained. “She’s jumpy, she keeps checking around corners, and scanning areas around her.”

  Chevalier frowned, “She won’t say why?”

  “Nope”

  Emily opened the door at that moment and screamed, then put her hand on her chest, “Don’t do that!”

  “Do what? We’re just standing here,” Zohn told her.