The Final Link_The Gateway Saga

by Erin Thornton

  “What about that man,” Aggie indicated the man whose face looked to have been left out in the sun much too long.

  “That is Belthazar.” He left it at that, as though Aggie should know who he was.

  “Unless, he is the Belthazar and Phoebe has been reunited with him, you’re going to have to give me a little bit more to go on for now.” Mathius looked at her like she had grown horns herself.

  “Belthazar is considered Satan’s right-hand man. His family lives here and he spends most of his time here these days. That is unless the big man needs him for an important task.” It was Aggie’s turn to look dumbfounded.

  She didn’t have time to linger on it, because right then, the guards brought up a small blonde-haired boy that couldn’t have been over the age of eleven even by a day. He was shaking and looked to be bone thin. He was accompanied by a stout woman wrapped in a quaint shawl that was draped over her head. Aggie looked closer and she was very human in her appearance. In the back of her mind, she wondered what this demon woman was. His father was on the tall side, but more average tall in Earth terms. He had sandy blonde hair like his son and didn’t have any outstanding demonic traits. Aggie assumed one of them likely had nature driven powers if this is one of the boys that was taken. Chances were in her favor that magic was like character traits for humans. We pass them to our kids and our physical characteristics were passed along as well.

  “Hello, young one, what is your name?” Aggie was proud of Mathius for holding his softer side in light of the child’s possible trauma.

  “Navian, sir.” The boy’s voice was small and still very shaky. Aggie thought they said he had gotten some rest perhaps he needed more like one or two weeks of bed rest to build his strength back up. She could only imagine the nightmare the past few days have been for him.

  “Well, Navian, I’m Mathius, head of the guard. This is my team.” Mathius indicated the rest of the guardians and they each nodded stoically, except Aggie she beamed at the sweet boy. She felt sorry for him and wanted to wrap him up and hug his fears away. “Would you and your family follow us and we can discuss what brings you here today?” All of his questions were directed at Navian. Mathius was making him the only focus and his parents were just standing there as props to complete a set.

  “Yes, sir.” Navian was completely respectful and Aggie thought the world of his parents for instilling that sort of behavior in him. The boy and his family followed Mathius, while the rest of the team fell in step behind them. Mathius led them to the common room and everyone filed inside.

  “Please, take a seat anywhere and we can get started.” Aggie watched the boy’s eyes travel to the buffet that was set up for lunch. His wide eyes took in every inch and Aggie thought she heard his stomach growl.

  “First, why don’t we all grab a plate of food. I’m don’t know about everyone else, but I worked up quite the appetite today during training.” Aggie gestured toward the food encouraging the boy to get his first. Mathius gave her a look of indignation, but it was quickly wiped when she motioned her eyes toward the boy. He was ravenously grabbing piles of food as though he hadn’t been fed in months. Nodding his anger subsided quickly.

  After everyone had their plates and found seats, Mathius began again. “Young man, what has brought you here today?” Even though they all had their assumptions, it made sense to Aggie that Navian should say it and confirm their suspicions.

  “I just got home.” He paused but Aggie could tell he was just getting started. “I never thought I’d ever see my parents again. She was a monster and I thought she was going to kill me.” Aggie thought it was ironic, that he called her a monster given the people he is surrounded by every day. That must mean she was A game monster and not B movie grade.

  “Who are you talking about, Navian?” Mathius was asking questions to draw out his story and not feeding him anything. The rest of the room remained silent and merely observed what the two were doing. His parents even stayed quiet, like they knew this wasn’t the time for them to offer their opinions or help Navian through. Aggie couldn’t think of a single parent on Earth that would sit stone cold silent and watch their kids going through any of this alone. She was definitely seeing some cultural differences between them.

  “I don’t know her name, she never let us address her or even speak. It took days before another showed up but that didn’t ease the burden on me. I think she pushed me harder and oh the pain. It hurt so bad.” Navian shuddered at the memory and Aggie’s heart broke for him.

  “What did they do that hurt so badly?” Mathius calmly pressed him for more answers. These weren’t even the hard ones yet and Aggie was nearly becoming protective of this little boy. It took all she had to stay in her chair and not jump between him and Mathius. The last thing Aggie wanted was to make this boy relive the pain of his ordeal.

  “It began with a disgusting drink she made. I was forced to drink it all and she said some words I didn’t understand. I thought they sounded funny, like a made-up language. Soon I fell asleep and when I woke up I couldn’t move my arms. They were tied to the wall but not with rope. I couldn’t see what held them there so it must have been magic.” Navian absently rubbed his wrists, presumably where the restraints had been.

  “Did you see anything around that might have told you where you were?” Mathius pressed again for more details and Aggie was so enthralled by the story that she didn’t need to take notes. It was as though it were being etched on her mind as Navian spoke.

  “It was dark, the floor was cold and damp. I never left the room I was chained the entire time I was there. After they finished with me I fell asleep and one day just woke up in the grass. I didn’t know where I was then either. Nothing was around. I followed the river back to the city. It was so cold and all I wore was my night clothes.” Then his mother decided to chime in for the first time and her voice was rough as though she had overused it recently or had a cold.

  “He appeared by our bed, blue from the cold and bare from the waist down. His night shirt barely covered to his knees, but he was taken in the night so no shoes or pants were there to protect him from the elements. It was dark and icy as these storms have increased. It took me hours to warm him back up by the fire and with blankets. I feared bathing him for fear of doing irreversible damage to his limbs. I was terrified I’d never see my baby again. He is our only child and I was only blessed to have one. No matter our trying it was not in our cards.” Navian’s mother began to sob softly. Aggie understood it wasn’t grief but just an overwhelming sense of emotion. Her child was home. A child she didn’t know if she would ever see again. By some unknown power, he has been returned to her like a ghost on the wind.

  “Do you remember anything else or do you think you could tell us where it was you woke up? That could help us narrow down our search for the remaining children. Did you see the other children?” Mathius was pelting questions at him now in a sense of urgency. They only had a little over a day left to find the children before they potentially met their untimely demise. Aggie rested her hand on Mathius’s shoulder to settle him. She didn’t think scaring Navian or his parents was the answer to any of this.

  Taking a steadying breath, Mathius paused his questions and waited. Navian considered all that he was asked, “I do remember the other children. I don’t know who they were as it was very dark, but I remember we used to talk. I don’t know all the children but I do recall one of them far away from the rest, his name sounded a lot like the prince’s name. I don’t recall what it was exactly as it was hard to hear from that distance.” That perked everyone up and gave them hope that at least Prince Rikan was still alive. “I also don’t know if I can tell you exactly how to get back to where I woke up because I was so tired and hungry, that it took all my strength to keep moving. Also, the elements usually don’t bother me as I just use my magic to heat me, but it wasn’t working and hasn’t worked since I was released. I don’t know what is wrong with it, but perhaps it is just that my body is too ru
n down to keep up with it.” A grave look passed over everyone including Navian’s parents. Aggie didn’t know what that meant, but a subtle head shake from Kyrel told her not to ask any questions. “It was all I could do to stay awake, walking through the cold.”

  “Gryson,” Mathius only said that one thing and Gryson nodded. No other words were had between the two.

  “If it is alright with you both, “Mathius directed the question to Navian’s parents, “I’d like to check his memory for the information we need. Chances are he has that information there, but it is locked in a way he can’t retrieve it himself.” Mathius didn’t go into any more detail and the parents didn’t seem concerned. This must be something that was common for the guardians. Aggie just hoped it wasn’t invasive and poor little Navian didn’t have to go through much more heartache.

  Not waiting for anymore permission, Gryson rose from his seat and knelt down beside Navian. “My name is Gryson, I’m going to look inside your mind for just a moment and see if anything you saw in the past few days matches anything I’ve been researching. Don’t worry it won’t hurt a bit, if anything you might feel a little tickle, right here.” He pressed his finger to the back of Navian’s neck just below his hairline and next to his spine. Navian nodded and Gryson closed his eyes. Pressing his left hand to Navian’s neck and the other to Navian’s temple. The room fell silent, a natural response to the need for concentration. A serene look passed over Navian’s face. It was the most relaxed Aggie had seen him yet. It was the look every kid got while they were sleeping. Gran used to say, Aggie looked so peaceful while she slept, but Aggie always felt restless and thought she tossed and turned. Perhaps that was all inside her head after all.

  “I have a location.” Gryson simply stated as he lowered his hands from the boy who was left smiling. A look Aggie didn’t expect from the traumatized boy. Raising an eyebrow at him, Gryson nodded. In a hushed tone, “I also left him with some more pleasant memories of his time for the past few weeks. I hope you don’t mind. Now his most recent events, have faded into distant memories. While the trauma isn’t gone, it seems like something that happened long ago and not so new and raw. I hope that was alright. I couldn’t think to have him be unable to sleep or get on with his life.”

  “Thank you, that is wonderful. Please, let me give you something in return.” Navian’s mother was sobbing again only this time in gratitude. “I know my son will never see his magic again, but you have given us a great gift that will help that transition. I would only like to give you the same courtesy.”

  “We didn’t do this for a reward. Our only purpose is to help and do our best to rescue the remaining children if it is in our power.” Gryson reassured Navian’s mother. There was no need payment for helping their son through what was bound to be a rough period of his life.

  “I’m a seer, please I insist.” Without warning, she gripped Gryson’s hand and her eyes rolled back only showing the whites. Had she not just mentioned she was a seer and they were already in a demonic realm, Aggie would have assumed that she was possessed. “Dragons, the prophesy is true.” Her words made no sense to Aggie, but she waited patiently for her to come out of the trance. She looked around and the big eyes mixed with astonished faces had her worried.

  “The Dragon Warrior, destined to take on the Great Darkness, will save us all.” Her eyes quickly returned to normal and fell on Aggie. With a low bow she fell to her face, soon followed by her husband and he pulled Navian down with him.

  Aggie took three huge steps back, “What are you doing?” Looking around at all the guys, they dropped to one knee showing the same respect, but Aggie was still confused. “Get up all of you this instant. I don’t know what is going on, someone better start explaining.”

  One by one they all got to their feet, the seer stepped toward Aggie and grasped her hand. “You are the Dragon Warrior, dear. You were prophesied hundreds of years ago, but it is more of folklore now. If I had not just seen that with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed. You have a long road ahead of you and many battles. But you will save us all from a great darkness that is coming. Without you, it will consume everything in every realm.” Aggie was speechless. There was no way this was her destiny. The guys had just told her she was destined to be the ninth guardian, but now some foretold future is going to play out. She had no words, what could she say to that? Sorry, I’m not the one. I can’t be a dragon, I’m human. Something told her those weren’t the proper response to being told you are the savior of all the realms. Instead of waiting for clarification, she turned and left the room.

  Chapter 18

  I’m not a dragon. I’m not a dragon. I’m not a dragon. Aggie sat on Mitchell’s bed repeating the words, trying to make herself believe them. Everything she had seen since entering the Gateway had proven to be true. This was the one thing she didn’t think she could handle. Then she remembered the tapestry she saw on her way in that first day. Realization dawned on her, it was the prophesy. Just like the one marked ‘The Wanderer’ was an omen.

  Aggie then began to hyperventilate, sticking her head between her legs she tried to regain control. She was supposedly this foretold creature, person, magical dragon. Not only was she the Gatekeeper, the Ninth Guardian, the final link, but she was now Dragon.

  A knock sounded at the door, but Aggie still hadn’t regained control. She heard the door click open, followed by a trail of soft footsteps. Aggie looked up still breathing rapidly, her heart melted. Not one or even two of her guys stood there, but every single one of them.

  “Are you ok?” Eldon was the first to speak and came over to her, placing his hand the side of her head, cupping it and leaning in close.

  Nodding Aggie still wasn’t ready to speak. Glancing around the room each and every face that looked back at her spoke of concern for her. She could tell right then and there, that every one of them were meant for her and she was made for them. No one cares this deeply over someone not meant for them.

  “I supposed we should give you a little more of a history lesson about the Dragon Warrior.” Mathius approached her and settled himself on the bed beside her.

  “Is there more I should know or did the seer cover the basics?” Her voice was small and weak, having only just caught her breath.

  “She got the gist of it. There is a version of that story in each of the realms.” Ren clarified for her but only just.

  “How am I supposed to be the final Guardian, the Gatekeeper and now this Dragon Warrior?” Aggie was more than lost at this point and was grasping at straws to figure out any little bit of information.

  “We had no idea you were meant to hold this burden, but the good news is you have a solid support system unlike anyone else would have. While it isn’t unheard of for our women to hold a harem, you will have the strongest and one of the largest, amongst the realms. You also have a link with every realm where others wouldn’t because it isn’t common to breed between races.” Xavier was feeling extra chatty, it seemed this was his preferred topic.

  “I don’t know if I’m cut out for all of this. When you all told me, it was my choice to be the ninth, I had no idea there was an epic battle in my future.” Aggie knew she sounded like she was whining but this was important to her. If she was going to give up her life for all of this, all her cards should have been laid out before she jumped in head first.

  “All of our battles are epic. What do you think we are preparing for to get these kids out?” Mitchell, the battle hungry Alpha wolf, had a point. That didn’t mean she was ready for any of it.

  “Well given the fact that I can seem to change my destiny, let’s discuss where we are with Navian and the information you got from his mind meld.” Aggie squared her shoulders and decided since fate can’t be changed, she would accept what she could change and that was getting these kids out alive rather than dead.

  “It was dark when they dropped him outside, but I saw some landmarks and places that I’ve pinned while scrying. I’m still not one hundred perce
nt sure where they are at. It’s like they have just up and vanished into thin air.” Gryson snarled out of frustration which surprised Aggie enough that she actually jumped.

  “Then maybe we just need to take a road trip.” Aggie hesitated at her choice of words, “Perhaps that was wrong, it would be more of a hike in this case. Either way we need to just head out there and figure out what we are missing. Take what we know from Navian and then what you have gathered from scrying and see what we find.”

  “I think a hunting party might be a wise choice, but I don’t want all of us to go on this wild goose chase. What if that is what they are hoping for and then use that to attack in our absence?” Mathius, the ever worrier, had a point.

  “Who do you want to leave? You won’t be leaving me behind because if you do, I’ll just accuse you of trying to lock me in a tower for my own wellbeing. I’ll tell you right now that isn’t happening. You brought me along, changed my life…for the crazier, trained me to fight, gave me magic and I’ve been here every step of the way without argument. So, I think that has earned me a role in the rescue of these kids.” Aggie wasn’t going to back down even an inch on this. They wanted her, well now they’ve got her, for better or worse as they would say on Earth.

  “I agree, she has proven herself in training today. She can hold her own, and with us there, I don’t foresee any problems.” Mitchell’s words once again proved to be more shocking than expected. He had paid her a compliment. While not exactly a direct one, Aggie decided she would take it on principle.

  “How did she go from basic training to fight ready in one day?” Mathius was skeptical and rightly so, but this was a story Aggie wanted to sit back and listen to, if only to relish in the tale.

  Listening to the guys carry on about how they felt when she saw them take another down was captivating. Aggie giggled a bit and the found herself laying down on the bed propped up by her elbow, taking in all the details.