Ephemeral and Fleeting

by Patricia Reding

  Dixon meets Channer. He tells him about Mara’s condition. He shares that before setting off, she said she wanted to “go shoot something.” Channer thinks she went to The Meadow. The two arrive there just after dawn. They find entrails strewn on the ground. Dixon, thinking they are Mara’s remains, shrieks in agony, but Channer recognizes them for what they are. Then Dixon shouts for Mara. She hears him from where she is with the twins and magically returns to his side. When she awakens in his arms, she tells him she is just where she belongs. Then she loses consciousness for another three days.

  Jo argues with Dixon, telling him that she and Hedda know what is best for Mara. But Mara, upon awakening and recalling Jo’s true nature, demands that she leave. Then Mara apologizes to Dixon for having suggested that in his arms was where she belonged. He is confused, as he had thought her memory restored. Then she shares her recollection of when the two of them first confessed their love for one another. Mara remembered their agreement never to speak again of their feelings. Since she knows Dixon’s charge is dead, she surmises that he is married. Assuring him that she will abide by their former agreement, she falls into a depression. Later, Dixon convinces her that he should continue to accompany on her further, travels, for safety’s sake.

  Zarek and his entourage arrive in Chiran. Cark orders Jerrett to assist Zarek’s people. Jerrett and Marshall see Broden and notice Zarek wielding the great sword. They conclude that Broden may have joined the man voluntarily, so they keep their presence secret from him. Later, while on duty, a dog, Bane, befriends Jerrett. When Jerrett witnesses Broden and a young woman leave a tent, he questions those remaining in it. He learns that Broden calls the woman “Mouse.” Jerrett reports everything, magically, to Marshall, reminding him that “Mouse” was Broden’s name for Carlie (Nina and Jules’s daughter, missing from the compound).

  Zarek hosts a dinner. Jerrett hides in a room below, listening. He hears of Zarek’s plans for Oosa. Meanwhile, Marshall goes to Cark’s to guard Chaya so that Cark may attend the dinner. He finds Cark beating her. Cark accuses Marshall of being a traitor and tries to kill him. In defense, Marshall uses his channel on Cark. Marshall and Chaya dump Carks’s body into Cark’s hiding place. Then Marshall informs Jerrett, magically, that he must leave Chiran. Jerrett and Bane make their way to Cark’s home. When soldiers try to stop him, Jerrett discovers a magic connection to Bane—similar to one he had years ago, with his horse, Donagh. Jerrett and Bane kill the guards and then make their way to the secret tunnel. They meet up with Marshall and Chaya. The three set off for Oosa.

  Basha and Therese engage the help of others to find all the remaining Select and Oathtakers in Oosa for a census, then do some looking themselves. Along their way, they meet Trumble, Oathtaker to a simple girl, Felicity, whom he had saved from Lilith, although she was left damaged. As a consequence, Felicity has visions of events as they occur elsewhere—but her ability to explain them is limited. Trumble tells Basha and Therese that Felicity has been praying for two young woman who have “the same face.” Upon hearing Basha and Therese’s story, he surmises that she means the twins. Consequently, he agrees to go with them to the City of Light. Along the way, he and Basha discover a strange new alignment of the three moons and are reminded of a prophecy about them.

  Mara and Dixon arrive in the City of Light, after discovering that someone has been following them. They go to The Clandest Inn. Dixon informs Ezra of Mara’s condition. Ezra assigns them the quarters they stayed in when the twins were infants. There, memories implode on Mara consciousness. Believing even more will come to her if she visits other places she has been in the past, she wants to go to Polesk.

  The twins awaken after days seeking their way out of The Tearless, each now atop a tall narrow rock mountain. Two more similar ones stand in the distance. On one, is Malefique. He speaks to the twins. Although both can hear him, neither can hear the another. He tells them that their time for choosing nears.

  Mara prepares to leave for Polesk. She discovers magic crystals in Dixon’s pocket. They trigger yet another episode. She “awakens” atop a rocky spire. On each of two others are the twins. They cannot hear her. On the fourth, is Daeva. He tells her that the twins are running out of time to follow him. Hearing Dixon call for her, she magically transports back to his side. She looses consciousness—again, for three days. When she awakens, she insists they leave for Polesk, immediately.

  The city is in an uproar with many Oathtakers and Select arriving for the census. Basha and Therese find Jerrett, Marshall, Chaya, and Lucy. At Felicity’s demand that the girls “with the same face” need them, they all pray. Then, seeing the moons moving in an unusual manner, Lucy tells the others that the twins are undergoing a test.

  A couple days out of the city, Mara and Dixon stop for a rest. Dixon heads to the river to clean up. When Mara looks out, she sees a man headed Dixon’s way. Fearing for his safety, she empties her bag in search of a weapon, but finds nothing. Then she empties Dixon’s bag on the ground. There, is a blade that she immediately recognizes as her blade. The second she touches it, all her memories come back: she knows who the twins are and that they are her charges; she knows about Rowena’s death; and she knows that a magic exception allowed for her and Dixon to love one another and to marry. She wants to help him, but a memory of Lilith’s voice, mocks her, asking: “Aren’t you going to try to save him, Oathtaker?” So, since her first duty is to the twins, she travels magically back to where she last saw them.

  Mara arrives back atop the spire-mountain. The twins refuse Daeva, telling him that they will follow Ehyeh’s ways. With that, the three moons line up in the manner prophetically identified as showing that the twins chose the proper course. As they do, the earth shakes violently. Their friends, at sanctuary in the City of Light, experience the phenomenon.

  Some time later, Reigna awakens. She hears a small voice. When she opens her eyes, she discovers two tiny creatures—Ephemeral and Fleeting—the king and queen of the flits. She also finds her sister, and Mara, nearby. The twins discover that they have found Ehyeh’s favor, and that they have their birth signs and scents back.

  The flits encourage the twins and Mara to head to the City of Light where many await them, but Mara wants to find Dixon, who was in danger when she last saw him. The flits send one of their own, Flutter, to look for him. Then Mara transports magically with the twins to the city. Later Flutter reports to Mara that he found Dixon’s things, but not Dixon. Heavy hearted, Mara tells the twins they must get to business.

  They call a Council meeting. Lucy tells Mara that she knows what happened, and that someone needs to answer for having left the twins in such danger. The twins bring the Council up-to-date. Then Lucy informs them that Mara had lost her memory, and that Dixon may have committed treason when he covered up that fact. Then she calls her own secret witness. Mara looks up to discover that it is Dixon, whom Lucy had sent a man after, to track down, band, and deliver to her. The Council members argue over who is at fault, but the twins demand that the discussion go no further. They all need one another now more than ever. They add that their leaving the compound was necessary so that they could determine their callings and find Ehyeh’s favor. They order Dixon released. When he reaches Mara’s side, she assures him that she remembers everything, and that she knows that in his arms is exactly where she belongs.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Patricia Reding leads a double life. By day, she practices law. By night, she reads, reviews a wide variety of works, and writes fantasy. She lives on an island on the Mississippi with her husband and youngest daughter (her son and oldest daughter having already flown the nest), and Flynn Rider, an English Cream Golden Retriever. From there, she seeks to create a world in which she can be in two places at once. She took up writing Oathtaker as a challenge and re-discovered along the way, the joy of storytelling.

  Oathtaker is Volume One of The Oathtaker Series. Select is Volume Two of The Oathtaker Series. Ephemeral and Fleeting is Volume Three of Th
e Oathtaker Series.

  For more information, join the author at www.PatriciaReding.com. You may also like her at www.Facebook.com/PatriciaRedingAuthor, fan and follow her on www.Goodreads.com, and follow her at www.PatriciaReding.BookLikes.com. For added insight into the writing of The Oathtaker Series, follow her on Bublish at www.bublish.com/author/view/6479.

  AWARDS AND MORE

  Oathtaker: The Oathtaker Series, Volume One, earned the Literary Classics Seal of Approval and was named a Gold Medal winner in the Literary Classics International Book Award Contest; earned the Readers Favorite Five-Star seal and was an Honorary Award winner in the Readers Favorite International Book Award Contest; and was named a Finalist in the Beverly Hills Book Awards Contest. WindDancer Films also selected Oathtaker for review for possible future film or television.

  Select: The Oathtaker Series, Volume Two, earned the Literary Classics Seal of Approval and was named a Silver Medal winner in the Literary Classics International Book Award Contest; and earned the Readers Favorite Five-Star seal and was awarded a Finalist in the Readers Favorite International Book Award Contest.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thank you for your kind attention to The Oathtaker Series. I would be delighted if you would take a minute to leave a review with your favorite book vendor, on your blog, or elsewhere. Also, please take a minute to add your name to my mailing list at www.PatriciaReding.com. Thank you. Thank you!

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