The Ancients: Book 3 in the Cedarstone Chronicles

by Sean Stone

  Her words eased his mind and he followed Kayla up the stairs, marvelling at the structure before him. He was not a devout Christian but certain practices and scepticisms had been ingrained into him nonetheless.

  He had often looked at buildings such as the palace of Westminster, the tower of London and even Windsor Castle and wondered how such a thing could have been constructed. They looked like child's play in comparison to Kayla's temple. When they reached the top of the stairs the great wooden doors swung open seemingly of their own accord and Kayla led them inside. Once in, the doors swung shut again and Nick was surprised to see that nobody was behind them. The entrance hall was devoid of all people.

  "How…?" he asked, looking out for an answer.

  Kayla smiled at him knowingly. "Magic," was all she said and this time he thought that perhaps she was a witch. He ignored the thought. It did not comfort him to think that he had been ensured by a witch. Although, she seemed perfectly lovely, not at all like the witches the clergy in England warned about.

  The hall was vast, made of the same white stone as outside, and lined with pillars. Unlike the ones outside these pillars were ornately decorated with too many carvings for Nick to name them all. He could have spent the entire morning looking at the pillars and still not have seen all of the carvings. There were floral patterns, men, women, children, animals and symbols from cultures all over the world. Some Nick recognised, Latin, Greek, Egyptian, and others he did not. A man appeared from the small doorway at the back end of the hall. He was tall and wore a simple white robe, with a golden rope tied around his middle. His dark hair was cut just above the ears and brushed tidily. He rather reminded Nick of a monk.

  "Nickolas, I'd like you to go with Arden." The man looked down at him with a neutral face. "Arden will show you to a room where you can bath and he will provide you with some new clothes. Once you are fresh and fed we will discuss what you would like to do next," Kayla said softly.

  "Of course, thank you for your hospitality, my Lady," he replied offering a bow.

  Kayla held out her palms and shook her head. "Please, there no lords and ladies here. I am simply Kayla. In Elysium nobody bows to anyone," she said. That would take some getting used to, not that he intended on staying for long. As soon as he got his bearings he meant to find a way to journey on to France to find the rest of his people and continue with the plan.

  "Very well, thank you for your hospitality, Kayla," he said and resisted the impulse to bow. Without a word Arden headed back through the door from which he came and Nick quickly followed. The doorway led to a narrow stone staircase which Nick followed Arden up. He was quite looking forward to having a bath and washing the sea and forest off him. Then once he'd had his fill of whatever food they prepared in this odd land, he could find out how Kayla intended to send him on to France. Little did Nick know that he would not be going to France.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Present Day

  When Clara wandered into the kitchen still yawning she was surprised to see Bianca sitting at the table, dressed in a suit and munching on a plate of toast.

  "You don't usually get up 'til midday," Clara said, as she shoved bread in the toaster for herself. Since leaving SIT Bianca had enjoyed sleeping in.

  "Job interview. Internship at the courthouse," Bianca replied.

  "You want to work at the courthouse? I thought you wanted out of legal work?" Clara said.

  "It'd be interesting without the danger. Plus, free schooling," she replied

  "I can give you money for uni if that's what you want." Clara poured herself a cup of coffee and joined her friend at the table.

  "No need if I get this job. How's work going now you're part of MI5?" Bianca asked, changing the subject.

  "Pretty much the same job as it always was. With the added threat of genocide if we fuck things up," Clara added with a grim smile. "We've got more staff now. Eight recruits, two from each faction." Phil had asked for five but the leaders had only agreed to two. One step at a time.

  "What's the fourth faction?"

  "Humans. Bradley ordered Hillock to send two of his to us. Sidney insisted that we have humans on the team. He thinks if we don't they'll feel excluded and try to take over the town again." The toast popped up from the toaster and Clara held out her hand. The burned bread floated up from the toaster and through the air where Clara directed it onto her plate. She immediately started smothering it in butter. She'd gotten far more savvy at using her powers since her altercation with Nick in the Thorndale woods. It seemed that a confrontation was what she needed to tap into her powers. They rarely shorted out on her anymore although she still had a long way to go before they'd be strong enough to fight one of the Thirteen. At the moment summoning toast was about the best thing she could manage.

  "We've all had promotions now. All four of us have been given two recruits and been made unit chief," Clara explained. She had no confidence in herself as a unit chief, but she hadn't been given any say in the matter. She'd been assigned a human and a werewolf and told to get on with it.

  "So what are you working on at the moment?"

  "Now that the town is united, the primary focus is the Thirteen," Clara said, not hiding her glee. "The coven's working on a way to deal with Nick and in the meantime, Phil wants a full list of every member of the Thirteen. That's my job. Problem is none of them are leaving the house. Nick has them locked up tight. Probably because of the ancient that he let loose in town."

  "What are you doing about that?" Bianca asked nervously.

  "Sidney has his own people looking for Osiris. I don't think he knows how to deal with an ancient, though. No-one does. Osiris might as well be an alien."

  "I am not sorry I left when I did," Bianca said, beaming.

  "So long as you're happy," said Clara. "Anyway, I'd best be off. Sidney's got us all in combat training this morning. Apparently, we need to be up to MI5 standards. I'm staying at Jamal's tonight so don't wait up for me." Clara gulped down the rest of her coffee, grabbed her bag and hurried out.

  The morning's training was rough and Clara was bruised and beaten by the time they were dismissed for lunch. She went upstairs to her office in the research building and laid herself down on the couch. She closed her eyes and concentrated on sending a healing force through her. She imagined an aura working its way through her body, relieving her of pain and healing her bumps and bruises. In a matter of minutes, she'd achieved her goal and her pain was diminished. Jamal had told her that when she increased in skill she'd be able to heal herself fully in seconds. She looked forward to that.

  Jamal joined her upstairs for a quick lunch before they returned to work. Clara was to start work on the Thirteen investigation whilst Jamal's unit had been assigned the coven sacrifices — there'd been another last night. They all knew it was Nick but a full investigation was needed nonetheless. Sidney wanted proof. Clara met her team of two and they headed out straight away. Her new recruits were Charlie, the human, and Kegan, the werewolf. She'd met them briefly that morning before training. They were both young, early twenties like her, which was why Phil had assigned them to her. He thought that giving her subordinates who were older than her would be inappropriate. Neither one of them were particularly talkative, but Clara imagined they'd come out of their shells in time. Charlie was at a complete loss, the world of the supernatural being all new to him. Clara had been in his position not so long ago and knew how it felt. Kegan, on the other hand, was harder to read. He kept his emotions in check and gave nothing away.

  She sent Charlie to stake out Nick's house on Bartholomew road, telling him to photograph anyone who went in or out, but not to engage them and not to get caught. Being a trained police officer he was the most suited for the task out of the two of the new recruits. Kegan had worked in a pub before Eric had assigned him to SIT.

  "Was it the best idea sending the only human to a house full of warlocks?" Kegan asked casually as they headed off on their task.

  "They never c
ome out. So as long as he follows my instructions he'll be fine," Clara replied.

  "So where are we going?"

  "We're going to ask about and see if anyone knows who the disciples are," Clara said. Somebody in town was bound to know at least some of the names on the list. She already had James Tenson and Kristen Dagmar, which left ten others. She was certain that Alistair would know but Phil had reinstated William's rule that Alistair was off limits to everyone without his consent, and he'd refused to give it to Clara. She'd considered going anyway but it wouldn't be a good idea to disobey Phil whilst MI5 were paying them such close attention. "We'll go to the coven and then the pack. Zander's team will have to question the clan tonight."

  "The pack don't know anything about the Thirteen," Kegan said. He always seemed to speak in a casual tone as if he wasn't really bothered by anything.

  "How do you know?"

  "I'm part of the park," Kegan reminded her.

  "I mean how do you know for sure that Eric or one of the other senior members doesn't know anything?" Clara specified.

  "Eric's running around chasing his tail. He doesn't have a clue what to do. So far all he's actually done is send his uncle out to do research," informed Kegan. "He's got his own problems to deal with anyway."

  "Like what?"

  "He's just gone public with his relationship. A human girl. The pack don't like it. It's against our traditions."

  "And what do you think?" Clara asked. Personally, she respected him for standing up to his pack like that. Still didn't like him very much, though.

  "Screw tradition. I can't be bothered with all the pack nonsense, that's why I volunteered for this," he said. The entire journey so far he'd been scratching savagely at his right forearm as if he'd been bitten.

  "Are you alright?" Clara asked.

  "What? Oh this?" he held up his arm. "Yeah, fine. It's the full moon tonight. Always gets itchy the closer we get. Trust me, it'll get a whole lot worse tonight."

  Clara wondered how bad it actually was but knew better than to ask. She didn't imagine that having your entire body morph into the body of a wolf was a pleasant experience and she hoped that she'd never have to witness such a thing, or experience it for herself.

  As they drove through the town centre Kegan pointed out the window and said, "Isn't that Adam Kent?" Clara whipped her head around just in time to see him disappearing into Wiccan Wares.

  "Yes it is," she said. And what was he doing going in there? Maybe he was looking for help guarding against the next time Nick decided to sacrifice one of the coven sorcerers. Either way, she wanted to know, and he was one of the people on her list to visit this afternoon anyway.

  She found a place to park the car and then waited for him to come back out again.

  *

  Henry was feeling much better after his recent sacrifice — after Toni's rejection he needed to let off some steam — and now that he had finally found some time alone he made the trip to Alistair's shop. Most of the time he had Toni or Genevieve at his side, pestering him for one thing or another. It was a relief to finally have some respite. The Horus Sarcophagus was on its way to town, should be arriving today in fact, but he didn't really like the idea of using it. If he used it to trap Nickolas then he would never get the immortal warlock's powers. Trapping Nickolas served no purpose to Henry, killing him was the only useful plan. He just needed to know how.

  Alistair was not in the shop when Henry arrived. Henry had a pretty good idea where he would be, though. Alistair had been Henry's mentor in his first life. He had taught him how to become a warlock and Henry had spent a good deal of time in the shop with the old man which meant he knew some of the building's secrets. He stepped behind the counter where there was a trap door which led down to Alistair's potions lab. Using his magic he lifted the door and then climbed down. As expected Alistair was standing at the table in the centre of the room, piles of books and jars of magical items were strewn around on the table and a small cauldron was bubbling away.

  "Henry," Alistair without looking up. "Are you here for a lesson?"

  "In a manner of speaking," Henry replied. "What are you cooking?"

  "Just a little something. What is it you need this afternoon, my young apprentice?"

  "Young? I'm one-hundred and forty-seven," Henry said. He tried to peer over at the page Alistair was working from, but the book quickly snapped shut before he could see it. The old man always had liked his secrets.

  "Indeed. But in comparison to my other students you are the youngest," the old man said. "I must say, I am surprised by your actions of late. I expected you to have exacted your full revenge by now, but instead you have not only joined the coven but taken over. Is this what you always wanted? To lead the coven?"

  "Not at all," Henry said, for once there was no humour in his voice. He felt like Alistair was mocking him and he did not like to be mocked. "I needed time to acclimate myself to this new world. If I'd gone after everyone on my list at once I would have been sent back to my death. Don't worry, though, I'll be finishing up soon and then I'll leave this coven behind and all its troubles with it."

  "So what is it you want from me?"

  "I have my eye on a new target."

  "Go on," Alistair said, clearly bored. His interest would spike when he heard who it was.

  "Nickolas Blackwood. I'm going to take his magic."

  Alistair issued a hissing laugh from the back of his throat.

  "What is so amusing?" Henry demanded.

  "I taught you well, Henry, I taught you very well, but I didn't teach you that well. And even if I had, you aren't powerful enough to defeat Nickolas. Not even if he was on his own, which he is not."

  "I know all about his disciples. The Thirteen." He said with derision. "I'm not concerned. I killed more than thirteen sorcerers back in my day."

  "Are you really that naive? Do your really know nothing about the power of thirteen?" Alistair asked scornfully. "Do you think Nickolas chose to have a coven of thirteen because he likes the number? Do you think it was just chance? No, it was by design. Thirteen is the most powerful number. Nickolas has gathered the thirteen most powerful sorcerers and bound them together, multiplying their magic and making them a near unstoppable force. The things they are capable of when they stand together do not even bear thinking about. If you attempt to move against even one of them you will be brushed aside no more difficulty than if you were a troublesome fly."

  Henry clenched his fists and tried hard to fight back his anger at being spoken to so rudely. He was not a child and would not be treated as such. "I am no fly. I am Henry Montford, the most formidable sorcerer this town has ever seen," he said petulantly.

  "That may have been once. Since then, however, this town has seen far greater. Benjamin Larcen for one. And of course, all of the warlocks currently living with Nickolas Blackwood. Not to mention Nickolas himself. Even if you did have the power to fight them, you forget that Nickolas is a true immortal and you need to be able to kill him in order to claim his power."

  "There is always a way. No matter how powerful the immortal there is always a way to kill him. You taught me that," he said smugly.

  Alistair chuckled. "Well, it's good to see that not all of my lessons have gone to waste. Be that as it may, the way to kill Nickolas is a secret that he has guarded very closely."

  "So you won't tell me then because you mean to deter me from my goal," Henry said, pointing accusingly at Alistair. "Well it won't work, it won't I say!"

  "Don't be so dramatic."

  "I am going to kill Nickolas and take his power. You'll see how wrong you really are," Henry vowed, full of confidence.

  "Well if subtlety will not do the trick then perhaps I will have to be a touch blunter. I forbid you to try to kill Nickolas. You will cease your plotting and abandon any thought of even speaking to that man," Alistair said. He looked up from his cauldron and his eyes bore into Henry's menacingly. In that gaze, there was nothing of the old man that most people sa
w. Henry saw an ageless and limitless being that could smite the most powerful of warlocks down if he wished. Maybe even Nickolas.

  "You cannot tell me what to do. I am no longer you student!" Henry argued, trying to shake off the fear that Alistair's look had instilled in him.

  Alistair ground his teeth and spoke again. "Then let me be blunter still. If you even look at a single hair on Nickolas Blackwood's head I will tear you from that body and make sure that you can never inhabit another. Have I made myself clear?"

  Henry locked eyes with the old man, staring at him stubbornly and then with a final grunt he turned and marched out of the room. Storming up the ladder was difficult but he believed he'd pulled it off sufficiently. He stomped across the shop hoping that the sound irritated Alistair below. When he left he tried to slam the door shut but it was controlled by magic and was too heavy for him to swing, instead it closed very slowly doing nothing but adding to his rage.

  As he strode up the high street he saw Clara Winters and some young man come towards him. Usually, the sight of her would invoke all the ideas he had of how he was going to trap her and then sacrifice her for her power, but now he was in no mood. "Whatever you want I'm not interested," he snarled and continued walking.

  "I just need to ask you a few questions," Clara insisted, following him.

  "I said no."

  "Adam, remember the agreement we made last night," she said.

  He stopped and rounded on her. "What agreement?" he yelled. "The one where I agreed to give you two people for your poxy team. I've done that! Or the part where I agreed to work together with everybody else to stop the Thirteen? Working on that too! At no point did I agree to allow some jumped up little girl and her side-kick interrogate me on a whim in the middle of the street! Now will you please have the good grace to fuck off!" he screamed and then stormed off, leaving her standing open-mouthed in the street.