"So we . . . we made a mistake?"
"It would appear that way."
Nimiel groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "So Xair was telling the truth. And we . . . we killed him. We killed Sola's prophet. Now she's angry at everyone. How were we so blind to the truth? I thought seraphs were able to sense prophets."
"We used to be able to. Maybe it's because we are Fallen. Xair was the only one here who was following Sola's will. And what did we do about it?" Jeremiah asked. "We called him a heretic and killed him. I've failed. All I have ever wanted is to serve Sola. How could I have made this much of a mistake?"
A guard raced up to them from the king's tent. He was out of breath and his face was red. "Angels, we have a problem. King Jaylen is gone."
Jeremiah glared at him. "What? Where did he go? You were in charge of keeping him and Jaycob in the tent."
"The bard is still there, but he managed to break out of his ropes."
"Are you serious? Where do you think he went?"
Zeriel bit his lip as he began pacing in the mud. "I think I know. He went to stop the execution."
Nimiel's black feathers rustled as he shivered in the cold rain. "Well, he obviously did not succeed in that venture."
"That's what terrifies me. Perhaps I should to into town and find him."
Jeremiah placed his hand on Zeriel's shoulder. "Maybe he needs some time alone. Think like a human, Zeriel. I know it's difficult, but you have to try. He just lost his wife and his dear friend within four months of each other. Give him time to cope with it without you. After all, he is dying. You have to come to terms with that as well. I know you love him as if he was your own son, but coddling him and pretending that this mess will go away if you love him enough is foolish. My suggestion is to break your bond with him before that happens, or you will be dying alongside him."
"I won't let Jaylen die."
Nimiel whispered under his breath. "That's what Jaylen said about Xair."
"Then I will die at my master's side."
"Like you care enough about him to do that." The faerie flew out of a side tent and hovered in front of them. "I know who you are, Zeriel. I know that you are only wanting Jaylen's soul. The only reason you haven't killed that boy already is because his soul is not complete yet."
"You don't know anything, Shane. You're a demon."
"Are you saying that demons can't care about people?" Shane asked, ringing the water out of his long brown dreadlocks.
"Yes. Yes, I am. Angels are the ones who have been protecting humans for thousands of years. We are the ones who take up the burden of serving paladins and pledging our lives to them. Not demons. If you truly cannot see the love I have for Jaylen, then it just goes to show how little demons know about love. I'm done talking about this. I'm going to go find Jaylen and bring him back here. He will catch a cold being out in this rain for too long."
Before anyone could leave, one of Jeremiah's angels landed near them and held out a piece of parchment. "Sir, a note left behind in Amari's tent."
"Left behind?" Jeremiah asked. "What do you mean?"
"The Ka'taylin woman is gone. No one can find her. All that was left is this letter."
Zeriel crossed his arms impatiently. "Don't keep us waiting. What does it say?"
"I cannot read it. It is in Ka'taylin."
Jeremiah snatched it away from the angel. "Give me that."
"You can read Ka'taylin?"
"Come into the tent where we won't drown and have a bit of light." Jeremiah led them inside then scanned over the paper, but he sighed. "Not this dialect. I have no idea what it is."
"That's not Ka'taylin."
Everyone turned to look at the tall Ka'taylin man whose skin had been untouched by runes. He was holding hands with Liam, who was sobbing uncontrollably at his side. Zeriel eyed him curiously. "Who are you?"
"We have already met. I am Karixlesminatim. You killed my son this morning, but I do not blame you. I would have done the same thing in that situation. We are in dire times where we are not able to place value on a single man's life to outweigh the lives of millions. Jaylen was indeed at the execution. I tried to console him, to no avail. I left him there in order to get Liam out of the storm. My mate is the single most important thing to me and I will not let him get sick again. Isn't that right, Liam?"
Liam nodded his head as he buried his face into Karix's side.
"If you know this writing is not Ka'taylin, then do you perhaps know what it is?" Jeremiah asked.
"It's Draconic."
"Draconic?" Shane asked. "As in the language of dragons?"
"Precisely. That letter is addressed to Jaycob Colif Tamerlayn-Sequarius."
"Why does an albino Ka'taylin know Draconic?" Zeriel asked.
"That is a very good question, and one that I have no answer for."
Jeremiah shook his head and wiped the water from his eyes. "What does the letter say?"
Karix grimaced as he read some of it. "It is a letter from a dragon to his Dragon Knight, much like if I was to write a letter to Liam. It is of an extremely personal and intimate nature that I refuse to read more of. This was obviously not intended for my eyes. If you want to know what it says, perhaps the Dragon Knight it was written for can read it then let you know."
Zeriel tilted his head in curiosity. "You're not saying that Jaycob-"
"He's mated to a dragon, yes. So you people do know who this is? Don't tell me he's here in camp."
"He is."
Karix clutched Liam to his chest. "I will be leaving immediately."
"What's wrong?" Jeremiah asked. "What is it?"
"I refuse to be around lying scum like him. Come on, Liam. We are leaving."
"But Amari-"
"Is not my problem." Karix stepped out into the rain then held his hands to sky where a mass of black magic descended to envelop his human form. Moments later, the roaring of a dragon shook the ground as black velvety wings spread high over their heads. The dragon's claws dug into the mud as he motioned to the crying boy. "Come, Liam. We have work to do."
The boy backed away from his dragon and into the tent. He shook his head, sending rainwater from his messy drenched bangs. "No. I wanna find Amari."
Karix hissed. "Now, Liam."
"No. You don't give me orders!" Liam ran out of the tent into the storm.
Jeremiah flew after him. "Liam, where are you going? Come back!"
"Look what you angels have done." Karix growled. "You've upset my mate. Why can't you leave dragon business to dragons? I will not let Liam be corrupted by Jaycob's lies. You don't know what happened between him and Astrinalix. Only they do."
"Astrinalix?" The faerie asked.
"Jaycob's dragon. They haven't been together in over a thousand years. Forgive me for my harshness, but Liam means the world to me. Now I have to go hunt him down and get him dried off. Whatever you do, do not let Jaycob know that you have been told of Astrin. There is rumored to be bad blood between them. He does not like dragons, though I do not know why. That is dangerous water that I would prefer to keep Liam out of. Farewell, Zeriel. You should go hunt down your master as well."
"That is the plan. Good luck, Karix."
"You too. You're going to need it."
* * *
The rain continued to fall in soaking sheets being blown on the howling winds and covering everything in a slippery slick of water. The water slid down Jaylen's blond bangs and soaked into his black tunic and leather pants, but he barely noticed it. He was on his hand and knees in the thick mud near the edge of the cobblestones that made up the streets of Ilyan. He stayed there in the mixture of his own vomit, his dear friend's blood, and the filthy slime that had been washed away from the well-used roads. There was no way to tell where his tears ended and the ran began.
Two hours had passed since the execution. Most of the onlookers had retreated back into their homes to escape the torrential downpour and the cracking lighting that still flashed across the sky. Their homes were warm
and their shutters were closed tightly against the raging storm, but the occasional child would peek out to watch as Jaylen screamed and cursed Heaven for ever allowing something like that to happen. None of the guards remained to drag him away from that place or to ask him to leave. They wouldn't dare.
Jaylen looked up from the ground with mud and Xair's blood streaking down his face. His deep blue eyes flashed in the lightning that cracked nearby, but all he could do was scream again. By this time, his voice was breaking and hoarse. Even so, all he knew to do was scream. He had heard Sola's voice, but felt only hollowness in her words. If she had truly cared for Xair, why hadn't she saved him? Now Sola had no prophet and Jaylen had no friend. Everyone, including Zeriel, had betrayed him. They had betrayed Xair. Nothing that Sola said even made sense to him anymore. How could it? How could she claim to be all powerful, yet couldn't speak two hours earlier to defend her chosen prophet? Lies.
Jaylen knew it was all lies. He pounded his fist into the deepening mud with all his strength as his rage grew. His entire life had had one big lie, a taunting falsehood to trick him into believing that life itself could ever be worth living. With a muddy, shaking hand, Jaylen grabbed the emerald sun sigil pendant that held his wife's soul and ripped it from his neck. With another hoarse scream, he threw it as far as he could into the storm. He was finished.
How could he even begin to think that he could move on and forget about it all? He had just lost his wife, then before he could come to terms with that loss, he was forced to watch his friend be killed by a group of vengeful racists that dared to call him their friend. Even being king couldn't stop it. That amount of hatred and planning could have only been set in motion by something of a higher power. Sola. It was her fault for all of this. Jaylen cursed her, he cursed Heaven, and he cursed everything he ever loved. Caring and loving were not emotions he wanted to feel ever again. Every time he started to feel human, the things he loved were ripped from him. He was tired of having to bury friends, bury memories, and bury hopes. Nothing he did was ever going to be good enough. The scene in front of him was more than enough evidence of that.
His faith had been shaken before, but never to this breaking point. There was no way he could put the pieces back together after today. For so long, even after leaving the church and becoming an apostate, Jaylen had still clung to the hope that Sola was indeed good. However, the events of the day had led him to see the true face of so called righteousness in the world. That was not the kind of righteousness he wanted to believe in. The undeniable truth was that Jaylen could no longer serve any being that refused to save an innocent man's life. That was not what he stood for.
Years of struggling to do the right thing, the holy thing, the pure thing, had only led him down a road of pain and death. Looking down into the puddle of water next to him, Jaylen stared at his reflection that flashed across the surface in the lightning, but all he saw was a broken stranger staring back at him. He could not even recognize himself. Everything would have been better if he had died in The Cleansing so many years ago like he was supposed to. How had he been so selfish as to think that he deserved more out of life than what he was trained for? If he had died then, Xair would still be alive. Kato would still be alive. So much pain could have been completely avoided. But no. Jaylen had to strive for more. More life, more love, more hope. Hope was a lie. Hope was a story told to those who couldn't accept their fates. Jaylen was beyond clinging to hope like some kind of desperate thrall serving its master. It was far beyond time for him to realize the truth of it all. That truth was that he was defeated. There was nowhere to run. There was no place to hide. He was facing the consequences of his foolish pride and need for being right. He would trade it all to go back in time and sacrifice himself in The Cleansing. But he had no way of fulfilling that death wish. Then it hit him. There was a way to make this all right and to stop any future unnecessary deaths. He would surrender to the one who was constantly pressuring him to come back. It was time for Jaylen to go home.
Jaylen's heart pounded in his chest and his magic came to life as he spread out his glowing white wings from his back and shouted to the stormy sky. "Carvael!"
In a ground-shaking lightning strike, the elderly angel appeared as an apparition in the sheets of blowing rain. "You called?"
Jaylen held out his hand to the archangel whose golden wings shone in the lightning strikes. "I'm ready. Take me home. Take me home where I belong."
Carvael smiled as he reached out to gently take Jaylen's hand in his. "It's a shame it took this long for you to realize where you truly belong, Jaylen Corrifus. Don't you see? I have been the one constant force in your life, the only one who cared. I put you through all of the pain and the suffering so you would realize that the world is not a happy place. But there is only one person who can make it all better, one person who can take all of that pain away. You have always been destined to join me and Eternal Eclipse, my dear boy. Do you want your Ka'taylin friend back?"
Jaylen tears flowed from his eyes as he squeezed Carvael's hand. "Can you do that?"
"Of course I can, Jaybird. I can do anything, for I am the next Sola."
"I want this to stop. I want the pain to end. Help me. Take me home."
"My home has always been open to you. Stand, Finalis. We have much work to do." Carvael helped the boy to his feet then held him to his chest and surrounded him protectively in his golden wings. "Welcome to Eternal Eclipse."
Chapter 5
"Jaycob! Jaycob!"
The colorfully-dressed bard looked up from the table where he had been tinkering with his golem. He removed his large hat and set it on the table. "Can I help you, little man?"
Liam ran inside the tent and smiled as he wiped the water from his face. "You were a Dragon Knight like me, weren't ya? I've never met another Dragon Knight before. Where is your dragon?"
"Oh, you must be Liam. Yes, I see the Hillmen facial characteristics. And those unnaturally green eyes . . . hello, my grandson."
Liam bounced on his toes and his mouth fell open. "Grandson? Are ya sayin' you're my grandad?"
"Aye. That would be correct."
"No way!" Liam squealed as he raced to Jaycob and wrapped his skinny arms around his waist. "I've been so lonely since my ma and pa died. They always told me 'bout you bein' dead, but I never believed 'em. No, I didn't. I told 'em I had a feelin' that you'd come back for me. Now here you are!"
Jaycob gave a short laugh. "You have quite the accent, don't you?"
"That's 'cause Ma and Pa were just peasants. We were farmers. I never went to school or nothin'."
"Anything. You never went to school or anything." He groaned. "Oh, this is going more of a chore than I first thought."
"Tell me about your dragon. Where is he?"
Jaycob's smile vanished as he pushed the boy away. "You should go back to Karix. It's not polite to ask people about personal things."
"But-"
"Go, Liam. I will speak more with you later. You need to get dried off and change into some warm clothes."
The boy tugged nervously on the sleeves of his dragonwing armor. "But I just-"
"Shut up and leave me alone. Maybe another brand on your face would have taught you a better lesson. Go!" Jaycob shouted. He clasped his hand over his mouth as soon as he realized how loud he had done it. He had never spoken to a child that way before, and he instantly regretted it as the tears swelled up in his grandson's emerald eyes. "Liam, I'm sorry."
The boy covered his brands on his cheeks with his hands then ran out of the tent.
Jaycob sighed and buried his face in his arms on the table. "Oh, Dusty . . . what is wrong with me lately?"
The golem reached out and patted Jaycob's arm with his clay hand.
"You're right. Getting frustrated at the boy will solve nothing. That doesn't mean that I'm ready to talk about Astrin. Now Karix is here and he will inevitably want to berate me about how I abandoned my dragon. To Hell with him and all dragons. They're not worth the
air they breathe."
A bearded man with broad shoulders and closely-cut brown hair stepped into the tent. "Jaycob."
"What do you want?"
"My name is Trevor Treylan. The angels sent me to deliver this because they feel I am an impartial party in this camp. They're correct in that. I couldn't care either way about feuding dragons and prissy angels. Amari left this note for you."
Jaycob reluctantly took the piece of parchment in his hand and held it up in the candlelight. "This is Draconic."
"You can read it, right?" Trevor asked, pulling up a wooden chair next to the table.
"Of course I can read it. It's my second language. It's from . . . Astrinalix."
"Your dragon."
Jaycob gritted his teeth. "Aye."
"You can talk to me. I'm not going to judge you. I have no love for dragons either."
"You're a warlock."
"Exactly. I use dragon parts for my spells, nothing more. How did you know?" Trevor asked. He quickly became engrossed in watching Dusty walking around the various pots of paint and chisels laid out on the table.
"You smell like burning blood and singed angel feathers."
"Well, I guess that would make it pretty obvious."
Jaycob looked down at the man's hands. "Your hands are rough, though. Not like most mages."
"I'm the blacksmith as well."
"That explains the burns."
"Yeah. Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts and slip up. But it's no big deal."
Jaycob smiled then spotted the tiny green feather hanging on a cord around Trevor's neck. "Is that an angel feather?"
"From my son. He's an ishim."
"Oh. So you and a female angel are together?" Jaycob asked.
"Yes. Brinx. She's our spymaster. My little man is certainly the most adorable angel I've ever seen. He's name is Cael."
"Cute name."
"It's fitting. Jeremiah, the bossy seraph out there with the diamonds in his ears? He adopted my son without my permission."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I suppose it's only fair if I share something with you. You've shared enough with me." Jaycob stood up and began unlacing his pink shirt. "If I show you something, will you promise to not tell anyone?"
Angel of Darkness Books 6-10 Page 43
