Emily froze when she heard a soft sound from outside the room. She turned quickly and pointed the flashlight into the hallway. Nothing was there and nothing moved. She peeked around the wall slowly, and then down the narrow stone hallway.
“Is someone down there?” she asked. Her voice echoed off of the walls and she smiled to herself.
Her flashlight lit up several more doors, and she decided to keep on with her task of exploring the crypt. Two of the rooms were empty, and one had two skeletons lying on the dirt floor, side by side. She went closer to look at the skulls and saw that they were heku. She looked at how their arms were folded across their chests, and how the scattered pieces of decayed fabric that covered them were the same dark green color.
“I buried them.” She heard the voice from behind her and spun quickly, shining her flashlight on the heku.
“Larsen?” she asked, taking a step back.
“Welcome back, Child,” he said, and took a step toward her.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, shocked. She couldn’t step back any further because her back was against the cold wall.
“I live down here,” he said, smiling.
“You… you live down here?”
“Yes.” His smile was menacing.
“Why… why… you let the Ancient out,” she said, stammering. He was now blocking the door.
“Yes I did.” It shocked her that he didn’t deny it.
“Then you were down here while I was.”
“I was.” He seemed proud of it.
“Why didn’t you help me?” Emily frowned.
“Help you, Child? It was my idea, why would I help you?”
“What? Why?”
He took a step toward her, “I’ve been watching you for over a year… listening to your conversations… I know what you can do, and I need that.”
Emily took a step to the side, “Need it for what?”
Larsen laughed, “My return, of course.”
“You were in the castle then? Watching me?” She frowned, beginning to get angry.
“No, no. I can’t go into the castle unnoticed. The tunnels from this crypt go under the castle and from there I could hear everything. The Ancient and I spent months studying everything, every voice, every conversation… every fight.” He smiled amused.
Emily could already feel her temper rising.
Larsen sighed, “You ruined my plans, you know that? Well… the Ancient partially did. He wasn’t supposed to improve on you… he was supposed to be you.”
“Why?” She was feeling trapped, far underground with a strange heku.
“If the current occupants of the castle didn’t know you were missing, you would have eventually done as we asked just to survive. Oh to have a Winchester child on our side.”
She cringed, “Wouldn’t have happened.”
He smiled, “It would have happened. The perfect plan destroyed because the Ancient couldn’t control himself, pity.”
“It wouldn’t have happened, everyone knew that wasn’t me.”
“That was the problem, the months studying you and he messed it up. I’m thinking though… maybe I don’t need him after all. No one knows you’re down here, why would you come back to this awful place?” He moved a step toward her and tried to lock her eyes.
“That doesn’t work on me,” she hissed.
“I had to try… odd how that doesn’t affect you.”
Emily stared at him and let her rage and fear go. She concentrated on him. It was time to turn him to ash.
Larsen laid his head back and laughed, “Silly child, we wouldn’t have done this if we hadn’t protected ourselves from you.”
She frowned, “How?”
“I’m not going to tell you.” He moved to her and pressed his body against hers. Larsen leaned his head down and smelled deeply as he ran his nose along her neck.
He sighed, “I guess I don’t need the Ancient… myself and a Winchester is all I need to start my own, perfect faction of heku.”
“I’m not going to follow you,” she said, her body tensing.
Larsen grinned and ran his hand down her neck, “I don’t need you to follow me. That’s what the baby is for.”
Emily pushed against him furiously, “You can’t have Allen.”
He stood still, she wasn’t able to move him, “Allen is useless to me. I need a female.”
She cringed as she felt his cold tongue against the skin on her neck. Emily brought her knee up hard into his groin and he doubled over, giving her just enough time to run through the doorway. She headed down the hallway as quickly as she could, but soon felt cold hands push her to the ground. She turned toward him.
“Lost, Emily? You ran the wrong way,” Larsen said, laughing.
“I’m not going to let you do this.”
Larsen raised an eyebrow, “Oh? You know… this would be much easier if you would just join me now, I don’t really want to wait any longer.”
She laughed, “I’m not going to join you.”
“Think about it. Our own faction, stronger than the other three, more powerful than all of them combined. We could have our own country, we would be royalty.” He stepped toward her and ran his tongue along his sharp canines.
Emily smiled, “I’m not going to join you, and let me just forewarn you, I’m not afraid of you either.”
Larsen was taken aback for a moment, then regained his smugness, “You will be, Child, unless you do as I ask.”
***
“Did you hear that?” Chevalier asked, and turned to look down the hallway behind him.
“Hear what?” Kyle asked, turning also.
“Emily, but she sounded weird, like she called from far away.”
“I didn’t hear anything.” Kyle shrugged.
Chevalier turned back and started walking again, “It’s not going to be hard to get Emily out for it. She understands that she interferes with the process. Maybe I’ll send her to Colorado for a bit.”
“You sure she’ll go to Colorado without you?”
“No I’m not… there, did you hear that?” Chevalier froze again.
Kyle stopped and listened carefully, “I’m not hearing anything.”
“She said something about the crypt. She’s too quiet and I only heard part of it.” He frowned and looked around again.
“Didn’t we have the crypt sealed?”
“Not yet, I wanted to go check it out first, but I haven’t had the time.”
Kyle thought for a moment, “Well let’s go now.”
“Good idea. I just want to make sure nothing else is hiding in there,” Chevalier said, turning for the back door.
“As for Colorado, I’m sure that would work if you can get her to go. This one’s important, all three Elders are coming for it,” Kyle reminded him.
“I know, and I’m sure she’ll help in any way she can.”
As the two heku walked past the barn, Kyle pointed to the corral, “Patra’s missing.”
Chevalier turned to look, “She wouldn’t go into the crypt alone, would she?”
Kyle shrugged, “With Emily… no one knows.”
Chevalier growled slightly, and then blurred toward the crypt, stopping at Patra.
“Well, what have we here?” Kyle asked, patting Patra’s nose and picking up the backpack.
“You know, my life would be easier if I’d just kill her myself,” Chevalier hissed.
Kyle smiled, “But how boring that’d be.”
Chevalier couldn’t help but smile, “Yeah it would be. Well let’s go see what trouble she’s found now.”
***
“What makes you think the Elders from the other three factions are going to let you get away with this?” Emily asked as she looked up at him from the ground.
“They won’t have a choice, will they? Not with one of the fabled Winchesters. If they fight, then you will turn them to ash.” He had it all worked out and his confidence was evident.
“That’s
assuming I will do as you say… which would be a mistake.”
“You will, Child. That I promise you.” He grinned and leaned against the wall.
“Oh… don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Chevalier said from behind them.
Emily looked up and grinned as Kyle and Chevalier came into the light. Larsen turned and crouched, hissing.
Kyle met his crouch, his hands balling into fists.
“Are you ok, Em?” Chevalier asked, giving her a hand.
“Sure,” she told him, and stood up before brushing herself off.
Chevalier turned back to Larsen, “Fancy meeting you down here.”
“He lives here,” Emily explained.
Chevalier raised an eyebrow, “I see.”
“He raised the Ancient, and then they came up with the plan to replace me in the castle. These tunnels go under the castle and from there, they listened to us over the past year. That’s how they were able to find out so much about me,” she explained, watching as Kyle moved to Larsen and grabbed his shoulders.
“That’s not right… she’s lying!” Larsen yelled, glaring at Emily.
Emily gasped, “So much for our combined effort to start a new, superior faction.”
Larsen’s eyes darted from Emily to Chevalier.
“Your idea was it? Were you down here with her?” Chevalier asked, his eyes furious.
“No… no I would have helped her,” Larsen said quickly.
“Hmm, thought you said it was you in the tomb with me and not the Ancient,” Emily said, cringing back as Chevalier jumped at Larsen and pinned him against the wall, his hand firmly around the former Elder’s neck.
The smaller heku tried to push Chevalier away, but he couldn’t get enough strength. He watched, with wide eyes, as Kyle took Emily’s arm and began leading her down the hallway away from them.
“Come on, let’s go,” Kyle said to her.
Emily watched for as long as she could, and then turned her flashlight toward where she and Kyle were walking. As soon as she saw the light filtering down from the staircase, she heard the screams begin. The sudden noise made her jump, and she dropped her flashlight.
“Come on, keep going,” Kyle said, helping her up the stairs.
Emily shielded her eyes against the strong sunlight and moved quickly to Patra. She grabbed her backpack from the ground and turned to look at Kyle.
“So, how mad is he?” she asked softly.
Kyle laughed, “I’m not sure he’ll be mad when he comes back up.”
“Are you kidding? He was livid.”
“Was… he’s getting some much needed… erm… aggression therapy,” Kyle said, grinning.
Emily released the reins from the branch and hoisted herself up onto Patra, “Well I hope he gets it all out. I’m not in the mood for a fight.”
“Why were you down there?” Kyle asked, frowning.
“I don’t know. I just wanted to see.”
“You didn’t think it might be dangerous?”
“No. You know, I don’t walk around looking for trouble. I don’t purposely get myself into odd situations that could be potentially fatal,” she snapped.
“You seem to find them a lot, though,” he mused.
Emily leaned over and put her hands under her head on Patra’s back and hooked her feet together on Patra’s rump.
Kyle looked at her and laughed.
“What?” she asked, irritated.
“How tall are you?” Kyle asked, grinning.
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t answer.
“Oh come on, you can’t be mad at me for that,” he chuckled.
“What’d you do to her now?” Chevalier asked, coming out of the trees. He was covered in blood and his eyes were energetic and bright.
“I just asked how tall she is,” Kyle said, smiling at Chevalier, it wasn’t often he got to see the Chief Enforcer so euphoric.
Chevalier leaned his head back and laughed.
Emily scowled at them. Slowly, she sat back up and took the reins with a glint in her eyes.
“Come on, Patra, let’s show them who runs this place,” Emily said, and kicked Patra into a gallop.
Kyle and Chevalier each blurred to her side, laughing as she ducked lower to help speed up the mare. The mare seemed to understand the challenge and lowered her head, pushing harder. Kyle was laughing at her side but holding steady as Chevalier pulled a little ahead.
The barn came into view as the three flew across the pasture. Emily fell behind Chevalier and Kyle and watched as they egged each other on. She could see their lips moving as they pushed each other and continued to pull further away from her. Chevalier made it into the barn first and turned just as Kyle ran through the door.
Emily slowed Patra when she got in, and patted the mare’s head, “It’s ok, they cheat.”
She screamed as Chevalier pulled her from the horse and tossed her over his shoulder, “Put me down!”
“What do we do to the loser?” Chevalier asked, turning to Kyle.
Kyle grinned, “Hmm, let’s see… I seem to remember something about showing who runs this place.”
Chevalier glanced around.
“We could find out exactly how tall she is,” Kyle suggested.
Emily screamed, “Don’t do it!”
“Oh, I know how tall she is,” Chevalier said, grinning.
“No you don’t!” She fought, but couldn’t get away from him. He held his hand against her back so she couldn’t fling herself backwards and get loose.
“We could weigh her,” Kyle said, and jumped back as she took a swing at him.
Chevalier laughed, “I know how much she weighs, too.”
Emily slumped against his back, “I hate you.”
“Oh I know, Dear,” Chevalier said. “I have an idea.”
Emily looked up as best as she could when Chevalier walked out toward the cow pasture.
“What? Where are we going?” she asked, panicking.
Kyle was smiling, “Good call, Boss.”
“What? Tell me!” she yelled.
Emily felt herself falling backwards moments before she was submerged in freezing cold water as he threw her into the cow’s water trough. She gasped and stood up quickly, glaring as Kyle and Chevalier laughed.
“Now we know who’s boss,” Kyle said, laughing.
Emily caught her breath, “Oh I am, and I’ll get you back for this.”
Thunder sounded from above and they all looked up.
“Let’s get inside,” Chevalier said, reaching out for Emily’s hand. She faked being mad and swatted his hand away, and then quickly jumped onto his back. He gasped as her wet shirt soaked through to him.
“You asked for that,” Kyle said, starting for the house.
Chevalier shook his head and followed Kyle back to the house with Emily on his back. Once in the castle, Kyle headed off when Storm called him, and Chevalier took Emily up to her room. She slid off of his back and went into the bathroom to change. She emerged a short time later wearing her bikini.
“Mmm,” Chevalier sighed, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Emily put her hands on his face and kissed him softly.
“Want to go swimming with Allen and I?” she asked, pulling away from him.
“Nope,” he said as his eyes followed her perfect body from her face to her feet.
“Can you even swim?” she asked, heading toward the door.
“Yes”
“Sure you can.” She grinned and took Allen from Anna.
Chevalier just smiled and followed them down into the pool room. He held the door for her because she still wasn’t able to open it.
Emily cradled Allen as she walked down into the warm water, and then leaned back, floating on the water as Allen laid back against her stomach and kicked his feet.
Chevalier watched them in awe. He would never understand the mother/child bond, but it fascinated him. He slipped out of the pool area when he heard Storm call for him from his o
ffice.
Chapter 16 - Selest
“Emily,” Kyle said, kneeling down by the pool.
“Hiya, Kyle, coming for a swim?” Emily asked and caught Allen as he jumped off the side of the pool.
“Ky sim” Allen said, when he saw the heku.
Kyle grinned, “I can’t come swim right now… Emily, the Elders are here and they want to talk to you, immediately.”
Emily frowned, “Why?”
“Not my place to ask, come on. I’ll take Allen,” Kyle said, standing up.
Emily hesitantly crawled out of the pool and handed Allen over, “Tell them I’ll be right there after I change.”
“Sorry, no time,” he explained, and handed her a towel.
She gasped, “I can’t change?”
Kyle started ushering her out of the room, “No, we need to hurry.”
Emily wrapped the towel around her as best she could and scowled all the way to the conference room. Kyle opened the door and Emily stepped in, then spun and tried to get out the door, but he blocked her. There were three heku at the table wearing dark green robes with their hoods pulled up over their heads so she couldn’t see their faces.
“Emily, sit, please,” one of the Elders said. She blushed profusely. They were in traditional Equites robes, and she was in a bikini wrapped in a towel.
“I should ash you,” Emily whispered to Kyle, but blushed worse when he laughed.
“Sit,” he said, shutting the door. Emily turned and sat down at the head of the table, a seat or two away from the others.
“Can we get you anything, Emily?” Maleth asked.
“No, thank you,” she said, and shifted uncomfortably in the seat.
“Ok, let’s get on with it then,” Chevalier said. Emily’s eyes widened. She didn’t know Chevalier was even here. She realized that that meant only two were Elders. She changed seats to sit beside him.
Maleth sighed, “It’s time, Chevalier.”
Chevalier’s hands tightened into fists, “Already?”
Emily’s body tensed. She could tell by the tone in his voice that something was wrong.
Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series Page 24
