by Lynn Landes
Emma takes pity on Heather and wraps an arm around her shoulder. “You have come to the right place, sweetie. I can have you dressed and out the door in no time! Don’t worry about a thing! Where are you getting married?” she asks her gently leading her to a chair. With a snap of her well-manicured fingers, another clerk hurries over with a tray of refreshments.
Heather looks at Elina and back at Emma and discovers kindness in her brown eyes. She takes a deep, calming breath and fills her in on all the details.
“It is a beach wedding at sunrise. With my Mother’s sudden death, we didn’t want to wait any longer,” she says wiping her eyes.
“Tell me about the lucky man,” she asks gently pulling Heather up out of the chair. They walk toward a rack of dresses as Emma looks her over carefully noting the young girl’s skin coloring, long curly hair color and body shape. She pauses when Heather smiles, lighting up.
“His name is Seth, he is amazing. He is gentle, kind, loving, and protective. I don’t know how I got so lucky, Emma? He saved my life, and I lost my heart.” She begins to feel a sense of peace as she talks about Seth. Her smile illuminates the room when she tells her, “I want to knock his socks off Emma! Can you help me?”
“Yes, I can! Let’s get started.” Emma responds confidently.
Three hours later, Heather has a beautiful dress and all the accessories to go with it. Elina has a turquoise sun dress, with simple beading and they are laughing as they find a quiet spot to port back to the house. They stash their purchases in the guest room and run outside to meet the family.
Chapter 20
The sun has set and Seth with his family are relaxing outside near a large fire pit, surrounded by chairs.
“Time to get to business,” Elina thinks. She hates to be the bearer of bad news, especially on Christmas Eve, but they need to be filled in. Just her presence alone is enough to put this family at risk. Seated around the pit, Elina listens to the laughter and love of those around her and she hopes they will forgive her.
Jake takes her hand as though reading her mind. He nods at her in encouragement.
“Seth, can I have a minute with you? I have a favor to ask of you?” Nervous, she speaks quickly knowing what she asks is too much.
“Elina, you may speak freely in front of my family. They know who and what you are,” he responds.
She takes a deep breath, looking at the expectant faces around her and begins.
“Good, then you all know I am the Keeper of the Light. I have been chosen to…”
Jake struggles not to laugh and he chuckles causing her to stutter.
“Jake! This is serious. My coming has put all of you at risk and I need your help.”
Jake looks ashamed. “Sorry, please continue, Elina,” he says smiling.
“The demons are drawn to the power of the Keepers, and I…” she is forced to stop again when Seth starts to laugh.
Leilani looks at her husband and speaks in Hawaiian and the boys all start to laugh. Heather struggles not to laugh as well. Scott pats Heather and leans overs to whisper.
“This old man needs some coffee. I’ll be back.” He says, slipping off to the house.
Smiling Heather nods at her father and turns back just as Elina’s anger begins to grow.
“What is so funny? You find it funny that your family is in danger?” She stands up, “I am asking you to fight demons and protect humanity and you think this is funny!”
Scott hurries up the path to the house, Elina’s raised voice fades into the sound of the waves pounding the sandy beach. His anger is boiling and writhing within his soul. He struggles with keeping it inside, hidden. He kicks his ways into the kitchen mumbling under his breath.
“How did you protect humanity, Keeper? By letting her die! Control it, Scott!” he snarls.
A familiar motion has him pulling open a kitchen drawer full of knives. His tool of choice is a sharp steak knife. Unconsciously, he tests the edge of the blade with his thumb.
A step over to the gas range and he flips on the burner, “Control it!” he tells himself as he passes the blade through the blue flame. His hand is trembling with the barely controlled hurricane of emotions inside and he smiles when the blade turns red hot.
He pulls open his button up shirt and drags the tip of the blade down his chest, not slicing, but branding a path over the healed scars that ripple across his body. The smell of burnt flesh rises and the fury consumes his mind as his whole body now shudders with the pain he is inflicting on himself.
“Focus!” he snarls pressing the desire to kill down. “Just wait!” he focuses on the white hot throbbing pain as his mind registers the intensity of the sensation.
Over and over he scorches his chest with ribbons of burnt flesh. Calmer now the pain in his chest soothes him for the moment. He flips the burner off and closes his shirt before carefully cleaning the knife and returning it to the drawer.
The flask of whiskey he carries is half full, so he takes a swig and moves over to the coffee pot. Working silently he flips the switch on and waits.
“Soon she will pay.” He promises the memory of his dead wife.
On the beach Makaio stands and everyone falls quiet. As the Chief of his family, he holds ultimate power. He takes pity on this young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“Peace, Elina. Jake has left you in the dark. We are Lua Warriors. You could call us spiritual warriors. We balance our power with harmony, and we have been fighting demons for centuries. Shall we show the Keeper who we are?”
One by one the men stand pulling their shirts off. Each of the muscular warriors has unique tattoos covering their bodies. They line up facing the ocean, father and sons. The chant begins and grows in power. They speak in a language unknown to Elina, but the effect is the same. Strength, power and spirituality. Leilani steps to Elina.
“They are calling out the demons and praising our Creator. Now they ask the ancestors to walk with them because once a Lua Warrior, you never walk alone. They are bodyguards or protectors of the Light, Elina. You have come to the right place.”
Makaio reaches a hand to the moon and a sudden red flame ignites above his hand as Leilani explains.
“On the darkest of nights, each warrior must choose to face the darkest parts of his soul. It is a solitary journey full of the demons of fear, anger, and lies. They will face temptation and long to turn back, but before them the path continues.”
Makaio passes the flame to his son and the flame changes, flickering faster and hotter.
“No two journeys are the same, Elina and the warrior must walk it alone.”
He passes it to the next warrior and again the flame changes, growing larger and hotter. It takes two hands to hold it this time.
“He will long to turn back, pain is a constant companion now but he pushes on...” Passing the flame to the final son, it is enormous now and Seth struggles to contain it.
“The choice comes to all who choose this path, will he walk in the Light or fall to Shadow?”
The brothers link grasping shoulder to shoulder and the flame changes turning lighter and lighter until finally it is bright blue. Each warrior holds out a hand and now they all hold blue flames. They toss the fire into the air, combining once again and it glows white hot.
Elina stands and walks past the warriors on the sand. Stopping directly under the light she smiles at the look of shock on their faces as the white flame changes to blue. A flash and it descends downward completely engulfing her body.
The Ketuwah welcomes her home passing into her body, soothing her fractured soul until it burns out completely, leaving a haze in the air around Elina.
Sudden darkness fills the beach except for the flame of the bonfire.
Silence greets her and she turns away from the ocean to face the warriors, “I have walked this path brothers, it is an honor to meet you.”
They drop to their knees in reverence.
Elina smiles and looks to Jake, “Yo
u are so going to pay for not telling me.”
He laughs out loud walking over and pulls her into a hug.
Elina pushes Jake off in mock annoyance and walks to Makaio pulling him to his feet. The brothers stand and follow them back to the bonfire.
Heather waits until they return to their chairs and pull on their shirts to begin. She notices her father, Scott walking with a thermos of coffee and some paper cups. She waits for him to hand out the cups and then unrolls a black towel holding the Stones of War.
“I’m sure you remember these, Elina.” Heather inquires. “After you trusted me with them, I have spent a great deal of time translating them.”
“Tell me.” Elina says, looking at her.
“They speak of a war to end human existence as we know it. If we lose, then death will be a dream we would wish for. The Mocker will rule this planet and all Light will be extinguished. The scrolls speak of a war.”
Elina shakes her head, “Yes, I remember. The war between the Sons of the Light and the Sons of Darkness.”
“Yes, there will be five battles. Two will be won by the Sons of the Light, and two will be lost to the Sons of Darkness. The final battle must be won by the Sons of Light, or all is lost.”
Scott moves closer to listen and sits on a log with the others.
Elina touches the stone and they seem to vibrate beneath her hand. “Five battles…” she murmurs thinking that the number is equal to the parts of the book that must be found.
“The first battle was won with your family, Heather at the Crystal Caves.”
Elina touches Heather’s hand and shares with her the moment she returned the part to the Ketuwah.
“The death of your Mother and Grandfather will not be forgotten, Heather.” She turns to look at Scott, “They will be remembered as heroes.”
Scott looks at her and asks, “So would that be a loss or a win for you?” A flash of his wife, Sophia being pulled by her bloody arm across an open field by a demon. Her lifeless body being chewed on as the monsters fought over their prize.
Elina is shocked at the question. Jakes moves beside Elina to sit on the arm of her chair. “There is no victory in a life cut short, Scott.” She answers.
He drops his head and takes a deep breath to compose himself, forcing the images away.
Heather smiles, “Thank you, Elina. I think they would like to be remembered that way.”
Everyone falls silent for a few moments and Elina thinks about the other battles she has fought. Five battles, the first in the crystal caves, the second she fought with Raphaim in the grotto and won. The third piece of the book was lost to Raphaim.
“The fourth has yet to be found.” She murmurs reminding her of why she came here in the first place.
Heather breaks the thoughtful silence, “Elina, after their deaths, I was determined to be ready for the next battle that would come. That’s when I realized that to fight a spiritual battle we will need warriors capable of fighting. Since Seth’s family members are all spiritual warriors, it made sense to make them Keepers. I prayed about it and realized that ultimately it was not my choice to make. I am merely a conduit, my Father will choose his warriors and by bringing us together, he did just that. He made them Keepers and Jake has been helping to train us.”
“Ok, this makes more sense. I followed the golden threads around you, Heather. This is amazing! But the risk of being found, if you do not shield your thread they will attack you.” Elina reminds them.
“When you found us, Elina, It was only because we allowed it,” Jake replies.
“Okay then, I need to think for a minute. This is too much. I came to ask for the help of one Keeper, and you’re telling me I have four?”
“No, you have eight. Scott, Seth, Jake, Makaio, Kale, Loe, Keahi, and Kale” Heather explains.
Elina is shocked silent. “Eight?” she whispers.
“We will be glad to help you, Elina, but first we need to know more,” Kale says quietly.
“Okay,” Elina thinks, let’s see if this will rattle them.
“I have to go to China, five hundred years into the past and save a little girl and her family from the demons. Then return the final pieces of the book to the Ketuwah and save my family from being destroyed. I can’t promise all of you will survive, or any of you for that matter. I can only promise that it will be dangerous and possibly deadly.”
Silence falls over the crowd, as they look at her in awe. Scott, is the first to speak, “Why does this little girl need saving? How does that affect the future?”
“She holds a pen that has power over the Fallen. If the Fallen get to her first, then they will release hell on Earth.” Elina smiles as they all fall silent again.
“I will not need all of you, just a few. I need to find the pen and save the girl,” she explains.
“Why not simply go and move her now? What are you waiting for?” Seth questions.
“Moving through time is tricky and changing the past can vastly affect the future. So, I try not to change too much. Only the things I know for certain that must be changed. In two days I will leave and it will not be easy, but I am sure that with the combined power of the Keepers we can protect them.”
“I’m with you, Elina,” Jake replies.
Seth looks at Heather as she speaks, “We are going with you too,” she replies. “No argument, Seth. A chance to visit the past and see history in action, are you kidding me? I’m in!”
Makaio replies, “I will be joining you as well. Kale you will stay and protect our family with your brother Keahi.”
“I will join you, Elina.” Loe responds.
Elina looks around at the determined faces lit by the glowing fire light, “Thank you. Thank you all.”
“Tomorrow we will celebrate life, because it is the one thing we are sure of. We must balance the good in our lives with the bad or the evil will win,” Leilani replies.
Hours later when the fire has burned down and the family sleep, he sneaks away to share the news he has discovered. Scott knows that wherever Elina goes, death follows. He will not lose his daughter as well as his wife.
The light of insanity glows in his eyes and his hatred for Elina can’t be contained. If she had stayed and protected them, his beloved wife would still be alive. She will pay by losing her family, and feel the pain of true loss, then we will see how mighty her God is!
Chapter 21
Elina rises early and the excitement of the morning flows through the house. She helps Heather dress in the strapless chiffon wedding gown. Heather leaves her hair down in chestnut waves around her shoulders. The ivory wedding gown is a fitted floor length A-line style dress with a small train. The silver beaded sash gives it a sense of understated elegance.
Elina is dressed in a similar style turquoise sundress with a rhinestone sash.
Leilani knocks softly and enters, stopping when she sees Heather. Tears fill her dark eyes, “You look stunning. I would like to give you this to wear, if you wish. It was a gift from Makaio on our wedding day.” She takes Heather’s hand and slides a diamond bangle on her wrist.
Heather smiles through her tears and hugs her soon to be mother in law.
“No more tears, today is for joy. We will take the little moments and savor them.” Leilani tells her, “I will see you on the beach.”
She leaves and Scott knocks on the door. He is speechless when he sees his daughter.
“Your mother would be so proud of you. Are you ready?” At her nod, he takes her arm and Elina follows helping with her train.
They wait on the path leading to the beach and Elina hurries ahead shocked by all they have accomplished.
Jake waits for Elina and smiles at her beauty. The beach is decorated with a beautiful arch covered in tropical flowers. The chairs are covered in white and tied with sashes that hold tropical flowers. The Kahuna Pule or Holy man waits with Seth and he sings a chant as he escorts Seth down the aisle to the music of a ukulele.
Leilani is escorted
down the aisle by one of her sons to her husband’s side.
It is a small, intimate wedding and the sun is slowly rising, casting an amber glow on the sand. A soft breeze blows and Seth waits in a white suit for his bride. At his nod, the holy man blows the conch shell three times calling for her.
Heather comes escorted by her Father to the edge of the path. At her consent, he walks to his seat, leaving her to walk toward her future, alone.
The moment Seth sees her his smile fades and his eyes begin to glow with pride. He whispers her name and it floats on the breeze filling her soul. Barefooted she takes her time savoring the moment. All doubt, worry and fear fade, replaced by hope and love.
Elina is honored to share this moment and she watches the couple exchange leis. The holy man ties their hands together with a maile lei and all sounds fade. Elina thinks back over the last few weeks. It is odd that she has seen what will happen to humanity if she fails, yet life continues. Humanities strength is in their ability to never give up and always hope. Hope is what keeps them going no matter the odds.
They know life is not easy, but they hope that hand in hand they will find the ability to face whatever life throws at them. Seth slides the ring on her finger as they exchange vows and laughter and joy greets the sun as they kiss and start the new day, as husband and wife.
Chapter 22
Hatred is a funny thing. It grows in one’s soul like a tender seed planted and nurtured by fear, greed, envy, and lust.
She laughs and dances all night, enjoying the evening as though she had the right to life! Scott watches drinking and seething as Elina is passed from man to man like the whore she is.
Scott has become a master at disguising his feelings. He has gifted the newlyweds a night at a beautiful private cottage overlooking a waterfall.
Heather and Seth leave for their honeymoon night with the intention of returning in the morning.
