by Alex Temples
He paused, raking a hand through his hair. Brin was still standing there.
“Upon this, we both agree. The light court has rallied together. My mother has been working for years on our plan to mitigate the mortals’ environmental impact. Through Arcata and several other corporate fronts, fae are working in and with environmental groups, directing research projects with this goal. We’re trying to show mortals how to create drugs from rainforest plants. We’ve been leading them to undiscovered species, showing them the beauty of places never before seen. We hoped this work would make more of an impact…”
He sighed, shaking his head. “ Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to repair the damage as quickly as mortals are creating it.”
Brin was following him now. Her eyes were filled with fear and he saw her nearing the truth. This was it. Once she knew, he wouldn’t have a chance to explore their connection. He’d lose her for good.
“What has Gethin’s army done?”
Her voice was barely a whisper, but he heard the note of anger in it. He glanced down at the dirt, unable to meet her gaze and the look of betrayal that had crept into her eyes.
“Are they responsible for this sickness? This virus that’s killing my brother?” She hissed.
He nodded.
“Gethin interrupted a very important ceremony that keeps the wall between the worlds from falling. The Keepers must perform this ceremony each Summer Solstice to fortify the wall. This year, they were gathered at Stonehenge, ready to perform the ceremony, when Gethin and his men capturing them before it was completed.”
Aiden saw her slowly digesting the information, and waited patiently for the questions he knew would follow.
“What happens when they don’t complete the ceremony?” She asked hesitantly.
“Without protective magic to strengthen it, the wall weakens. That was Gethin’s plan. He’s given up his slow assault on mortal life. The dark army has been pulling mortals through the weaker portals for the past few years, kidnapping small groups here and there. Queen Aelwen leads the Crystal Court, and she believes someone may have pushed Gethin to take drastic measures. A formal fae royal called Evrei of Cibola. He was once of the light court, but a terrible series of events left him angry with mortals and with the Crystal Court. He disappeared for many years. He was recently seen with some of Gethin’s men. We weren’t certain of his involvement until the keepers were kidnapped. The Queen believe this is a message for her, indicating Gethin and Evrei have joined forces and we only have a short window of time to repair the wall before it’s too late.”
“I still don’t understand why people are getting sick.” Brin interjected.
Aiden nodded, taking reassurance from her calm tone.
“The reason so many are now ill, is that Eden air is leaking through the barrier and poisoning mortals. The air is toxic to non-magic people, in varying degrees. All mortals were at one time fae, but they’ve evolved differently over time, so we have no way of knowing how many will sicken, how many will…” Aiden trailed off, not wanting to speak the words.
Anguish filled Brin’s face as she saw the truth in his eyes.
“How many will die.” She finished, her voice bitter.
“Yes.” He said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. There is hope for those who are ill. There really is a plant that can create an elixir to cure them. None of that was a lie.”
Brin looked up at him, her anguish turning quickly to anger. She pulled her shoulder away from him and took a step back.
“That’s a relief.” She said sarcastically, giving him a look of disgust.
Aiden felt his stomach knot. She was never going to forgive him for his deception.
She took a deep breath, eying him critically. “So we need to find this plant and create the anti-viral, or anti-whatever it is.” She waved a hand in the air. “Are you sure there aren’t other keepers you can find to do this?”
He’d known this was coming. This was going to be the hardest part. How do you explain to someone that everything they’ve lived is a lie? That what they thought they were, who they thought they were wasn’t real at all?
Aelwen hadn’t told him how to tell her. He cursed his mother internally, wishing there were someone else to do this part.
Brin stared at him expectantly.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “You are a keeper.”
Brin nodded. “Yes, I understand that from our last conversation, but what good can I do, when I’m untrained and only recently aware of my abilities? Can’t you just get another keeper?”
Aiden held her eyes, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. He moved slowly, so as not to startle her.
She eyed him cautiously, but didn’t shake off his hand.
“I should have been more thorough when we talked before. We can’t just train someone to be a Keeper. To be a Keeper, we need someone who is half mortal and half fae. That person must be from one of the original bloodlines. It’s a hereditary ability, passed down from mother to daughter.”
Brin stiffened under his hand.
He squeezed her gently.
She turned her face to him. “Are you saying my mother was a Keeper?”
Aiden nodded. “Yes, your mother is a Keeper.”
“Is? What do you mean is?” She shook her head with confusion. “My mother died in a car accident when I was little.” Her brow furrowed and she frowned at him.
“No.” He shook his head.
“What do you mean, no?” She asked, her frown deepening. “My father told me about it. I’ve spent my entire life trying to replace her for him, for my brother. Losing her broke my father’s heart. He’s been a broken man for 24 years, Aiden – because he lost my mother.”
Brin’s voice was strained, her eyes wide.
It hurt him to cause her this pain. He pulled her to him for the last part.
“Brin, I hate that I have to be the one to tell you this. It isn’t fair to either of us, but it must be told.” He stroked her hair as he spoke. ‘Brinmar Yates, you are the child of Rosaina, daughter of fae and John, son of man. Your mother, when she...” He searched for the right word. “…left you, all those years ago. It was not death that took her away. It was duty.”
She jerked against him, and his arms loosened. He released her from his grip and she stumbled back a few steps.
“What do you mean, Aiden?” Her words were a whisper, though she hadn’t spoken them out loud.
Her rich voice filled his head. He sucked in a breath as he felt her searching his consciousness. The suddenness of it startled him. She was looking for answers and she had the ability to dive right into his head. Maybe he’d underestimated her abilities. Just in case, he threw up a wall in his mind, afraid of what she might stumble upon. Then, he leveled his gaze at her and let the anvil fall.
“Your mother is alive, Brin.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brin
I spun away and did the only thing I could think of. I ran.
How dare he say such a thing? How could he play with my emotions like this? This was why I never let anyone get close. Why had I trusted him?
I needed to be alone, to be rid of him. To get away from the feelings he was creating. To get away from the smell of him. To escape the subconscious pull he seemed to have on me.
Most of all, I needed to escape his words. There was no way my mother was alive. The mere possibility of it being the truth, pierced my soul.
I ran faster.
The wind whipped at my hair. Trees flew by. I had always been a fast runner. I was quick. I had stamina. I ran through trees, leaping over logs and stones, sprinting until my lungs were burning.
I loved the feeling I got when I ran. I focused on the sensation of my shoes hitting the hard-packed earth. I glided over the ground. All of the messiness, the problems - Oren being sick, Sam being gone, my father, Aiden and his words – all of it dropped away, unable to keep up with me.
I ran for a
long time. Finally, I began to slow and slowly came to a halt, looking around to see where I’d ended up.
I was back at the edge of the village where we’d met the medicine man earlier. I looked around, suddenly realizing how stupid it had been for me to run off alone in the middle of the jungle.
It was pitch black. It was only by happenstance I’d ended up at the village, and not lost in the middle of the jungle somewhere.
Should I head back?
I didn’t think I’d be able to find my way. It had been hard enough in the daylight to get back to camp. Now, it was night, and there was a greater chance I’d find myself lost.
I glanced towards the village. The night air was surprisingly cool and I shivered in my thin hiking clothes. There was a fire lit in the center of the village. I wondered if the medicine man from earlier was there. Would they let me sit by the fire? It couldn’t hurt to see. Aiden would probably be after me shortly.
Deciding I didn’t have any other options, I picked my way through the bushes, heading towards the fire. There were lots of people gathered. Old men in white clothing and pointed hats milled about. The women wore similar clothing, their hair hanging long around their shoulders. Children gathered in clusters playing games. I wandered towards a group of old men. They were crowded around a crackling fire.
I felt it when they spotted me. A hush drew over the gathering and they all turned to stare as I approached.
Taking a deep breath, I gathered my courage and pulled myself up, tall and straight as I slowly walked towards the man in the center of the gathering.
Though he was young – perhaps in his early thirties, he radiated authority and stoicism, patiently assessing me as I approached him. His jet black was tied back, and he wore a simple white tunic over flowing pants. His hawk-like brown eyes swept over me as I stopped in front of him.
Not knowing what to say, I bent forward, nodding respectfully as I dipped into a shallow bow, the way I’d seen Aiden do earlier.
“Do you speak English?” I asked in Spanish, thinking there might be a better chance of them understanding me. I wished I’d had a chance to brush up on my language skills before we’d left New York.
The group began to laugh and my face grew hot with embarassment. The hawk-eyed man turned to the man on his left. They exchanged a few words in the language I’d heard the man speak earlier.
A small voice behind me spoke. “I speak Spanish.”
I spun around and saw that it was the little boy Aiden had saved earlier. A feeling of relief flooded through me.
“Well, hello again.” I knelt before him. “I walked too far into the woods and I got lost.” I explained. “I just need somewhere to sit by the fire until my friend comes to find me.
The little boy nodded. “You’re welcome to sit at our fire.”
He walked to the hawk-eyed man and greeted him, speaking rapidly in a foreign tongue. When he was finished the hawk-eyed man turned to me, a different expression on his face.
He gestured to a log near the fire, inviting me to sit.
“My father says that anyone who has saved one of his own from the serpent is welcome at his fire.”
Grateful, I took a seat, smiling at the hawk-eyed man and the boy. “Please tell your father I am very grateful.”
The boy relayed my words and the hawk-eyed man nodded, issuing an order to a woman nearby.
Moments later the old man Aiden and I had met earlier emerged from a hut on the edge of the village and made his way towards us. When he came to stand in front of me, I smiled and nodded in greeting.
Turning to the boy, I asked. “Can you tell him that I’m glad to see him again and that I hope I am not a bother. I’m lost and I just need somewhere to wait until someone comes for me.”
The boy nodded and turned to speak to the old man.
I watched as the old man’s face wrinkled. He spoke rapidly to the boy, who then turned to me with a look of awe on his small face.
“He says that you are a keeper and so you can never be lost. He wants you to know that we will offer you whatever you need.”
I sat, gaping at the old man. How could he know I was a keeper? Aiden must have said something to him, I reassured myself. Still, curiosity got the best of me and I turned back to my small translator.
“Ask him how he know I’m a Keeper.”
The boy relayed my question.
I waited patiently for the answer, enjoying the contrast of the cool night breeze on my face and the warmth of the crackling fire at my feet.
The boy turned to me after listening to the old man give his answer. His small eyes sparkled in the dark.
“He says the Kogi have always been the older brother, protecting nature where the younger brother has not. We’ve tried to warn the world about the dangers of continuing as they do now. The disharmony that exists in the world today is building to the point of no return. He says that you and the man who was with you earlier are the only hope we have left. He has a story to tell you and you must listen very closely, but we must wait until the man arrives. He will join us soon.”
My mouth gaped open at his word. I turned to the old man. “How can you know these things?”
A voice behind me answered. “The Kogi are descended from the Tairona, Brin. The Tairona were the first Keepers. The old man speaks the truth.”
I turned to Aiden. He looked like a conquering warrior as he marched into the camp. His blue eyes glittered dangerously.
He was chiseled from steel and there was anger in his movements. My stomach fluttered nervously when I realized his anger was directed at me. He was coming right for me. I tried to step out of the way but he was suddenly in front of me, gripping my chin in one hand.
“Brinmar, if you put yourself at risk like that again, I will bend you over and spank you. This isn’t New York City. We’re in the middle of the jungle and your rash actions are going to get you killed.”
My eyes widened and I tried to pull out of his grip, but his hands were like a steel vise, his eyes shining dangerously. He pressed his lips together as he studied me, waiting for a response.
“Okay. I’m sorry. I should never have run away.” I said grudgingly, knowing he spoke the truth.
He released me and stepped back.
“Do you have any idea what type of danger you could have encountered?” He said, his eyes burned into mine.
I gulped. “Yes, like I said, I’m sorry.”
Aiden’s eyes bored into me and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
There are things that would harm you without a second thought. Things you couldn’t begin to understand. His voice echoed in my skull.
I met his eyes, trying to look sincere. I really had screwed up. He was just trying to help me. To help Oren.
Will you teach me to understand?
Aiden smiled, the anger fading from his face.
“To learn, you must be willing to hear things you don’t like. You must hear the truth. If you do not accept the truth, you won’t be able to tell the difference between your enemies and your friends. You won’t be able to make good judgments.”
I stepped back and realized we were still standing in the middle of the Kogi. They were silent as they watched the interaction between me and Aiden, save the old man, who was smiling.
His thin lips stretched wide to show yellow teeth. He approached us, nodding to Aiden, who shocked me when he exchanged words with the Kogi man in his native language.
I stared up at Aiden, wondering how he could speak their language.
He turned to me and gestured to the log I’d been sitting on. “The mama invites us to sit. Kogi mamas are the priests of the Kogi village. They communicate with the great mother, who gives them guidance on how to protect the environment.”
I watched Aiden curiously, eying the log.
He let out an impatient sound.
“As I said before, the Kogi used to be the Keepers until a great tragedy occurred. He would like to tell us a story he b
elieves will help us on our journey.”
Finally, I nodded and sat down on the log. Aiden took a seat next to me.
I almost sighed at the sensation of his warm, hard, warm body pressed up against mine. Aiden seemed to sense my thoughts and flashed me a knowing grin before nodding to the Kogi mama who had taken a seat across from us.
I blushed.
Luckily, the old man began to speak, saving me from further embarrassment. Aiden translated as he spoke, whispering the words softly in my ear.
“Once, long ago, there were people, the ancestors of the Kogi, who lived in the great Sierra Nevada. They were called the Tairona. These people had a spiritual connection to the great mother, believing that nature was what birthed them and that she should be revered. The Tairona worshipped the great mother in all they did, ensuring they lived in a sustainable way, never taking too much from nature, always seeking to balance their impact on the earth. This is how it was, until one day, modern man finally made his way to this continent. He and his men invaded their highlands. These warriors were led by a man called Cristobal. They came to the natives’ village in search of gold.”
Aiden paused as the old man tucked more coca leaves into his cheek, coating the outside of the gourd he held with lime powder. He watched us carefully.
I leaned into Aiden. “Cristobal? He couldn’t mean…?”
Aiden nodded. “Yes, he’s talking about Christopher Columbus.”
My eyes widened at Aiden’s revelation. As the old man continued his story, I leaned in, fascinated.
“The men saw the Tairona had gold, so they looted villages, taking all the treasures they could find, raping and killing in the process. They searched for what they thought would be a vast treasure, but they searched in vain.”
Aiden coughed and continued.
“There were tales of a great gold treasure, one that filled an entire room from floor to ceiling with such riches as had never been seen before. They thought the Tairona were the keepers of this treasure, because of the stories they’d heard of how the tribe crowned a new leader. The stories told of a ceremony at a lake high in the mountains, during which a new king was crowned. He was sent on a raft onto the lake, surrounded by offerings of gold, emeralds and other precious stones. He threw these treasures into the lake as an offering to the great mother.”
