Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Dion, Xenocrates, and Gaspar are all that’s left?”

  “We’ve seen no sign of them,” one of the gathered Old Ones told him.

  Chevalier looked over across the desert and sighed, “I suspect they’re either lying low, or were killed and we just don’t know it.”

  Sotomar looked over at one of the Encala, “They were banished by the Encala, who failed to record their location.”

  His eyes narrowed, “Why would we write down where we banished them?”

  Sotomar just shook his head, and then turned back to Chevalier, “We may have to leave these 3, with outstanding orders to dispose of them if they are ever seen.”

  “To come this far and not finish though,” Chevalier sighed. “It seems incomplete.”

  “What do we do? We’ve checked everywhere we can think of for them.”

  “We may just have to wait until they cave, and return to their ways of tormenting and hunting the mortals.”

  Sotomar looked across the gathered Old Ones, and sighed, “Very well.”

  “First, we need to decide what to do about the half-breed,” one of the Old Ones said. “I have not forgotten that she attempted to destroy us with an Ancient incantation.”

  Chevalier looked over at him, “She has every right to defend herself against attacks.”

  “Not by using forbidden incantations!”

  “She can use anything in her means.”

  “You’re too close to her,” another said. “We need an unbiased representative.”

  Sotomar’s eyes narrowed, “Representative to do what, exactly?”

  “She must be studied, and if deemed a threat, she must then be destroyed.”

  Chevalier growled.

  “We cannot have a half-breed walking this planet,” another said. “It’s well known that the code states she should have been killed at birth.”

  “Well she wasn’t,” Sotomar said. “If we torment that child, kill that child, then we’re no better than the Ancients we just banished.”

  “She’s a threat to the heku!”

  “No, she’s not,” Chevalier said. “She stays with me, and only does harm to heku in self-defense.”

  “The ability alone poses a risk.”

  Sotomar put his hands up, “No one is going to hurt Emily.”

  “Why do you care, Valle?”

  He smiled, “Emily is a friend to the Valle.”

  “Our Elders are protective of her also,” one of the Encala said.

  “You just don’t know her,” Kyle said. The others turned to him, insulted that he dared to speak, “If you met her, you would see why heku go to war for her.”

  “She’s mostly mortal… there’s no reason to keep her alive,” one of the Valle said.

  Chevalier turned on him, “You’ll have to get past me.”

  He snarled, “When did Equitis stoop to bonding with a mortal?”

  Another laughed, “Unless he gets his frustrations out on her also… a little mortal abuse to clear his head in the morning.”

  “You should smell her,” one of Chevalier’s team said. “I can see why he keeps her around.”

  “That’s not…,” Chevalier started.

  “It’s obvious that Chevalier and Sotomar are too attached to this mortal to be unbiased. The decision should be made by the majority of the Old Ones,” one of them suggested.

  “Meet her first,” Kyle said. “Get to know her and you’ll see that she’s not a threat.”

  “The young one has a point… let’s meet her.”

  Chevalier frowned, “She’s not going to do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “She knows the Old Ones are after her.”

  “Demand it.”

  Kyle grinned slightly.

  Chevalier sighed, “I don’t order her around… but I will see what I can do.”

  “Let’s reconvene in Council City then,” Sotomar said. “We’ll see if we can get Emily to come talk to you.”

  Ovidius, quiet up until now, smiled, “I’d like to see her again… She’s a charming child.”

  “You know her also?” the heku closest to him asked.

  “Yes, I have met her, and I agree with the young heku.”

  Kyle sighed. He was getting tired of being referred to as young when he was well over 1600 years old.

  ***

  Emily rolled over and looked at the clock. She’d tossed and turned for hours, and decided that even though it was only 2am, it was time to get up. She checked on Megara, who was asleep in a crib beside the bed, before throwing on jeans and a t-shirt and stepping out into the living area.

  She gasped and looked wide-eyed around the destroyed room. The furniture was turned over and pieces of broken decorations were tossed around the room. The computer monitors, showing the surveillance cameras around the house, were all that was left untouched, and they lit up in the dark room.

  “Mark?” Emily whispered as she braced herself for an attack.

  “I’m ok,” he groaned, and stood up from behind where the couch used to be.

  Her eyes narrowed as she took in the vicious gash across his shirtless torso and the bites on his arm, “Were you attacked?”

  “Yes,” he whispered, and flipped over a chair so he could sit down.

  “Where’s Andrew?”

  “Dead I hope.”

  “I’m not dead,” Andrew hissed, and slowly got to his feet.

  “You two were fighting again?” Emily growled.

  “It’s kinda hard to explain.”

  “No it’s not! You two are worse than children.”

  “Em…” Mark said, but then turned to the cameras. “Someone’s in the house.”

  “Who?” she asked, looking over the monitor. Nothing could be seen in the dark mansion.

  “I heard it too,” Andrew said, moving up to them.

  Mark and Andrew both spun and faced the door to the panic room. Emily stood slowly and turned also.

  “Who is it?” she whispered.

  Mark smiled, “Elder Chevalier and Sotomar.”

  “Chev…” Emily gasped, and ran to the door. She started punching in the numbers, but Andrew took her arm.

  “Wait”

  “No! Let me go.”

  “We don’t know what they want yet.”

  “I don’t really care. Let me go or I’ll ash you.”

  “It’s ok… things are clear,” Mark told him. He nodded and let go of her. With shaking fingers, Emily managed to unlock the door and then ran into Chevalier’s arms.

  He held her tightly and lightly kissed the top of her head, “It’s ok.”

  Her tears saturated his shirt as he listened to Mark give a report on the last 3 months. Andrew went to get the baby, and came back out with her asleep in his arms.

  Emily finally composed herself, and whispered against Chevalier’s chest, “Imprison both of them.”

  He frowned, “Who?”

  “Mark and Andrew,” she said, looking up at him.

  “What did you do?” he asked, angrily studying them.

  Mark’s eyes grew wide, “Nothing! Why, Em?”

  Emily took the baby from Andrew, and then started for the stairs, “Just do it.”

  “We can’t just throw Mark in jail,” Chevalier said as he followed her. “What did they do?”

  “What didn’t they do!?” she screamed, turning toward him. “They fought, bickered, bitched, moaned, tore up the apartment, fought again, and were royal pains in the ass.”

  Sotomar chuckled, “We can’t imprison them for being heku.”

  Emily glared at him and walked toward the kitchen.

  “Em… there’s one thing,” Chevalier said as he took her arm to stop her from walking.

  “What?”

  He glanced nervously at Sotomar, and then back to Emily, “The Old Ones want to see you.”

  Her grip tightened on Megara, “Why?”

  “They are curious.”

  “No”

  Sotomar c
leared his throat, “It’s not really an option, Dear. They want you killed, and we hope if they meet you it will change their minds.”

  “They still want to kill me?” she asked, looking up at Chevalier.

  “Yes, but we really think if they can see you, talk to you, that they will calm down.”

  Her eyes turned to panic, “I’ll stay hidden…”

  “You can’t live in the panic room. It’ll be ok,” Chevalier told her.

  “We’ll be there,” Mark said.

  “No, you won’t,” Sotomar said to him. “This would be only for Old Ones.”

  “I can’t, Chev,” Emily whispered.

  “Why?” he asked, gently touching her face.

  “If they… if they try to kill me and I ash them… I’ll be…”

  “We won’t bury you again, and they won’t attack.”

  Sotomar smiled, “Chevalier and I will be with you at all times. We’ve already made preparations for if there are problems.”

  “Well I don’t like this,” Andrew hissed.

  “You don’t have a choice,” Sotomar told him bluntly.

  “Chev, I can’t…”

  “We’ll be there. I swear.”

  “As will I,” Andrew told them as he crossed his arms. “You two aren’t my Elders and I was told to stay with Emily.”

  “Do not interfere here,” Mark growled at him.

  Andrew spun to face him, “You going to stop me?”

  When the fight started, Emily sighed and looked up at Chevalier, “See…”

  Sotomar chuckled, “They really don’t care for each other, do they?”

  “Will you stop them, please?”

  Sotomar reached in and pulled out Andrew, as Chevalier restrained Mark.

  “As much fun as that was, please refrain from killing each other in front of Emily,” Chevalier said, obviously amused.

  “Stop interfering with Emily’s care!” Mark yelled.

  “I do what I want,” Andrew growled at him.

  Emily sighed, “Put them in prison and I’ll go to your meeting.”

  “Really?” Chevalier asked, shocked.

  “Yes… I can’t go to a meeting if I think these two are killing each other.”

  Sotomar shrugged, “Deal.”

  “Wait! You can’t imprison me,” Mark said.

  “You have no right to imprison an Encala!” Andrew yelled.

  “That’s the deal,” Emily said, and grabbed a new bag for Megara before walking out into the darkness of night.

  ***

  “Why is our General in prison?” Quinn asked when Sotomar, Emily, and Chevalier walked up to the grand hall entrance.

  “I’ll explain later… though he’s not a criminal,” Chevalier said.

  Zohn sighed, “You sure we can’t be in there?”

  “No, things might be said that are not for your ears.”

  Sotomar opened the door and slipped inside before shutting it behind him. Emily tried to see inside the grand hall, but wasn’t able to because the lights were off.

  “I’ll take Megs,” McIntock said from behind Emily. She handed the toddler over, and then turned toward the door.

  “I don’t want to walk past them all,” she said.

  “We’ll go around back,” Chevalier told her as he took her hand. “Sotomar’s already waiting for us up front.”

  She nodded and let him lead her around to the back. When he held open the door for her, she wrapped her arms around herself and walked into the dark room. The whispers stopped and an eerie silence fell over the large room.

  Emily started to panic almost immediately when the stage lights turned on and she saw Sotomar standing mid-stage, smiling at her.

  “Come on, it’s ok,” Chevalier said, gently pushing her forward.

  When Emily caught sight of General Meun from Samuel Coven, the heku that was brought in by Dustin to find Frederick’s location, she turn suddenly and came face-to-face with Chevalier.

  “No one’s here to hurt you,” he said, and gently took her arm. He turned her around and forced her to walk back to Sotomar.

  “This is how it will be done,” Sotomar said. “Any break in these rules and we’ll stop the questioning and you will be required to return to your covens.”

  Chevalier eyed them all carefully. Emily could feel that his body was tense and ready for any hostility.

  “Ovidius will be the only heku asking Lady Emily questions,” Sotomar explained. “You will direct questions to him in tones too low for Emily to hear. She will not be threatened or yelled at. That’s a solid order from all 3 factions.”

  Ovidius stepped forward and smiled at Emily. She tightened her arms around herself and glanced back at the door.

  He frowned slightly when Emily reached up and wiped a tear away from her cheek with shaking hands.

  “Dear… you’re safe here,” Ovidius said to her. “We just have some questions.”

  “They want to kill me,” she whispered to him, and her voice shook with fear.

  “They just want to speak to you, Child.”

  She nodded, and then checked to make sure Chevalier was close.

  Ovidius stood still for a moment before speaking, “When did you first realize that you were the daughter of an Ancient?”

  Emily swallowed dryly before answering, “I was… 28… He was channeling through the heku to try to kill me.”

  “And who was that Ancient?”

  “I don’t…”

  “It was Arrianus,” Sotomar told them.

  Ovidius nodded, “Was your mother aware that you belonged to an Ancient?”

  “No,” Emily said, starting to get a little braver. “She didn’t know what a heku even was. We thought our attacks were from vampires.”

  There were chuckles among the Old Ones, and then Ovidius nodded, “Very well. Where is Arrianus?”

  Emily touched her locket slightly, “I ashed him.”

  Chevalier silenced the crowd when they began to talk loudly, “No more warnings… keep it down.”

  “What gives you the ability to turn a heku to ash?” Ovidius asked.

  Emily shrugged, “It’s something about my family’s blood mixed with that of a heku.”

  “How many heku have you turned to ash?”

  “I haven’t counted.”

  “Can we see it?”

  “No!” she yelled, and took a step back.

  Sotomar smiled, “Lady Emily doesn’t turn a heku to ash without reason, and hesitates to do so even then.”

  Ovidius looked at her, “But you can turn more than 1 to ash at a time?”

  She nodded.

  “How many?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. She was afraid if they knew how many, they might see more of a reason to kill her.

  “You are in full control?”

  “Yes”

  Ovidius listened for a moment and then addressed her, “Have you ever killed a heku accidentally?”

  “Not a heku, no.”

  “But another?”

  “I can’t help it,” she whispered.

  Chevalier held up his hand to stop Ovidius, “Emily negatively affects the turning process. It’s a proximity affect that kills the mortal involved.”

  “I see… now we want to talk about the incantation you used to put Old Ones to sleep,” Ovidius said. “Where did you learn it?”

  “From the vault Ancient,” she said, unconsciously stepping closer to Chevalier.

  “How did you converse with him?”

  “I just… heard him, and then I fell down the hole.”

  Chevalier couldn’t help but smile when the heku started to laugh.

  Ovidius smiled, “You are very small, Dear.”

  Emily frowned slightly, but kept her comments to herself.

  “What other incantations did he tell you?” Ovidius asked. Emily again started to panic when the room fell silent.

  “He… well he told me Aboleo, the one I used… and the Renovare and…,” Emil
y said, and then stopped and looked up at Chevalier.

  “What?” he whispered.

  Emily reached up and whispered into his year, “He told me about Yisolatara.”

  Chevalier turned to the others, “He told her about one which we no longer say.”

  Emily tried to slow her breathing, “Then… the retirement and waking up the retired… I think that’s all.”

  “Anything other than incantations?” Ovidius asked.

  “Yes, he told me how the Ancients were planning on getting rid of all heku and starting over.”

  Ovidius gasped, “They were?”

  She nodded, “Yes, but then you all banished them before they could do it.”

  Sotomar looked out over the crowd, “That shouldn’t surprise us. They were as unhappy with how we had evolved, as we were with their actions.”

  “Why should you be allowed to live?” Ovidius asked her. “When you are obviously half Ancient.”

  Emily frowned, “That’s not my fault.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “You’re half Ancient,” Emily said to him, and then crossed her arms.

  He smiled, “You’re comparing yourself to an Old One?”

  “No, not at all. It’s just that I shouldn’t be punished for this.”

  “If not punished, at least expelled from living with the heku.”

  “But…” she said with a cracking voice, “I’m not mortal either.”

  “Yet you are not heku.”

  “I know that… I’m caught in the middle.”

  “Such an abomination should not be allowed to live!” The strange voice rang out through the dark audience.

  “We warned you!” Sotomar yelled. “You will obey the rules or get out.”

  “No, it’s ok,” Emily said, putting a hand on his arm. She looked toward where the voice came from, “I’m sorry that I am the product of an Ancient, but that’s not my fault. No, I’m not worthy to live among the heku, I’ve never claimed to be. I don’t know where else to go though. I’m not aging, I heal when I shouldn’t, but I’m still mortal… Too mortal for the heku world, too heku for the mortal world.”

  “Do you drink blood?” Ovidius asked.

  “No,” she said, stepping back to Chevalier.

  “Have you tried it?”

  “Yes”

  Ovidius nodded, “Yes, she did come back from death.”