“I know but perhaps you are forgetting what is at stake here. If we do this we have a real chance to capture Sainte-Pierre. And angering the council, no matter the reason, is not a good idea. They have pretty much made this an order, disguised as a choice.”
“Oh I don’t think there was any disguising it at all,” Tony grumbled.
“Elise, can you please talk some sense into him?” Jonathan pleaded.
Elise considered that for a moment. Aside from Ryan she was the only one that Ethan might listen too but on the subject of Anton Valentine. But even that was a long shot; Ethan was stubborn and could hold grudges for years before giving them up. It was likely that the wound left by the loss of Dominic was still too fresh from him to even consider going back to Sainte-Pierre for help.
“You know that he won’t talk to anyone when he is like this,” Elise cautioned. “But I can see what I can do.”
“Thank you,” Jonathan nodded.
Gabriel slowly pushed the door to the armory open, instantly he was hit by the smell of burning wood, an almost refreshing scent. Mingled among that was a hint of sage, probably from the incense that Imogene was always burning. The shop looked like it always did, dimly lit except for the glow coming from the forge and fireplace.
"You've killed your first demon."
Gabriel locked eyes with Imogene, she was sitting in a chair, fiddling with what appeared to be the hilt of a sword. She set it aside and stood up, her eyes twinkling in the light coming off the fire.
"I did," Gabriel nodded.
"You don't seem happy about it."
"I'm not entirely sure what I feel about it," Gabriel admitted.
Imogene walked over to a small table and grabbed a pot. She moved to the forge and gently set the pot on what looked like a burner before she gestured to the ledge surrounding the fireplace. Gabriel sat down as Imogene busied herself by the table.
He really didn't know what he was doing here; he had no idea what it was that he came here to find out. And he had no idea what he expected to hear from Imogene; after all he hadn't seen her since she had given him his blade three months before.
"And you aren't entirely sure what brought you to me?"
Gabriel should have been surprised by that comment but he guessed that Imogene had a great deal of practice studying the small nuisances of human behavior. And what she said as true, he really had no idea why he came to her.
"When you made my blade," Gabriel said. "You said something about me bearing a wound. What did you mean?"
"I believe that you know the answer to that yourself."
Gabriel resisted the urge to snap something back but held himself in check. He was starting to get frustrated; if there was one thing that he disliked about the Guardians it was how secretive and elusive they could be even when asked a direct question. His mind had been grappling with the wound thing for some time now, he was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about but that didn't make it any less annoying.
"You also told me never to let my heart turn dark."
"Sound advice," Imogene smiled. She poured the tea into two cups and offered one to Gabriel. She sat back down in her rocking chair. "I also told you that though it might seem like the right path, but that the ends would never justify the means."
"I don't even know what my heart turning dark would mean," Gabriel grunted.
"Ah," Imogene said, as she took another sip of her tea. "And you think that I can offer some insight into what that means?"
"Well you are the one that said it," Gabriel huffed.
Imogene just shrugged. "Why do you fight?"
"What do you mean?" Gabriel frowned.
"Why do you fight? Why did you so willingly risk your life for your fellow Guardians when combating the Azura demon?”
"Because it was the right thing to do," Gabriel shrugged. "I thought I could kill the demon so I took a chance on it."
"And there is your answer," Imogene shrugged again. "When you act to save others, to shield innocents from harm then you have nothing to fear."
"But," Gabriel prodded.
"When you act for your own gain, when you act on feelings of revenge and for the sole purpose of wounding another person then darkness creeps in. It is insidious and a slow taint that may take years to come to fruition. If you remember these things then you have nothing to fear."
Gabriel took a sip of the tea; it was surprisingly refreshing, with undertones of mint and the faintest hint of chocolate.
"I felt powerful," Gabriel finally said. "And calm, and confident, all those things that I haven't felt before in my life.”
"Then your training is going very well," Imogene nodded.
"I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. How did you feel the first time that you killed a demon?"
"It has been many, many, years since I faced a demon in combat," Imogene smiled. "There is more to you than meets the eye of that I am most certain. You will do great things young Phoenix."
"Care to let me in on what that is?" Gabriel asked.
“You will change our order forever.”
“Gee, no pressure there or anything,” Gabriel grunted. “Any idea how I am going to do that?”
"That is something that you will discover in your own time," Imogene nodded. "You must trust yourself and trust in those around you, they will be the ones to guide you to your destiny."
"Trust in my friends," Gabriel nodded. "Got it."
"And trust in your heart," Imogene reminded him.
Gabriel winced slightly at the comment. He would have to eventually tell someone about his feelings for Ethan.
"You must leave young Phoenix," Imogene said, as she rose from the chair. "The fight against evil does not rest and neither must I. You are truly a curious case, I do believe that fate choose wisely in sending you to us."
Gabriel thanked Imogene for the tea and headed out of the armory. He left with more questions than he did answers, although he suspected that was par for the course when talking to the weapons master. He shook his head and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. No messages from any members of his team, which meant that they were probably heavily involved in whatever discussion that they were having with the council.
As he entered the main courtyard, he took a look around, trying to remember where everything was. He really hadn't explored Veritas all that much, other than coming a few times for research. Seeing as how he had no idea how long the rest of the team was going to be with the council, he figured now as good a time as any to explore the place.
He started off looking around the library again. He wandered all three floors for several minutes, taking in the vast array of books, scrolls, parchments, and rows of computer terminals. For as large as the library was, Gabriel was surprised to find it fairly busy, with Guardians young and old rummaging through the contents of nearly every floor.
Gabriel wondered what it would have been like to grow up in this life, much like Ryan and Tony did. Would it have made a difference? Would it have made him more confident? Ryan and Tony went on how he was naturally athletically gifted, if he grew up in this life, might he have been as good as Ethan? Would he have been better?
He remembered Tony telling him that he was only eight years old the first time that he fired a weapon, something that would have surly landed Tony's parents in jail in the real world. Well, at least the world outside the Guardians. To the Guardians, this was the real world; monsters, demons, lycans, magic, vampires, and all manner of myths. And to him, especially after tonight, that was what the real world now embodied as well.
Ryan told him that he was twelve when he killed his first demon on a group training mission. When he was twelve he was reading comic books and was still afraid of Chuckie from Child's Play. Ryan and the rest of the team seemed perfectly comfortable in their roles as protectors of mankind and Gabriel wasn't sure when if he would ever feel that comfortable. He headed out the stairs and back down to the courtyard, following a path that would lead hi
m to the large meticulously maintained garden that resided behind the library.
The garden was huge and contained all manner of flora. He wasn't sure how they managed to get everything to grow so well here, although he was sure that magic had a hand in some of it.
That didn't make it all the less beautiful though. He came around a corner and caught site of two Guardians, probably about his age kissing...well making out would have been the more correct term. The girl gave a slight start when she saw him and then stood up, dragging the boy with her around the corner.
Gabriel finished his walk through the gardens, not really encountering anyone else. He emerged on the other side of the library, next to the large structure that he had noticed only a few times. It stood alone, away from any other buildings and unlike the other buildings appeared to be made out of marble. The roof of the building appeared to be supported by several large columns. As he walked closer he could make out the small inscription etched into the marble.
“Hall of Remembrance,” Gabriel read.
He didn’t remember hearing much about this place. Another check of his phone revealed that no one had contacted him yet. Figuring he didn’t have much else to lose and slightly curious, he stepped inside.
The most striking feature was the fact that spaced throughout room were translucent glowing statues, they almost looked like holograms. They were beautiful, shimmering in the relatively dark room and casting a comforting soft glow about the area.
He stepped forward, reading a small plaque attached to the base of one statue. It was a person’s name, their birth date, and the date they died. Movement and noise to his left caught his attention and he looked over to see Ethan sulk away from a statue a few feet down.
“Good work,” Ethan grumbled.
“Um...thanks.”
And then Ethan was gone, disappearing out the door. Gabriel knew that he should leave well enough alone but couldn’t help it. He walked over to statue that Ethan had been standing next to and looked down at the plaque. He hadn’t bothered to notice the Latin that was scrawled across the top of the plaque until that moment.
“Memoria in aeterna.”
“In everlasting remembrance,” Ryan answered.
Gabriel nearly jumped out of his skin. He wasn’t expecting Ryan to appear out of nowhere like that and cursed himself for not paying better attention to his surroundings.
“Memorials?” Gabriel asked.
“For our honored dead,” Ryan nodded.
“Who was he?”
“His name was Dominic,” Ryan answered. “He was one of our teammates and a friend.”
Gabriel couldn’t help but notice the sadness that accompanied Ryan’s statement; he could see it in his friend’s eyes. If there was one thing could betray the way that Ryan really felt, it was looking into his eyes; they could sometimes tell you more than any conversation. And right now, looking at them, he could see sadness and regret.
“I take it that he and Ethan were close?”
“They were best friends,” Ryan nodded. “Even closer than me and Ethan.”
He seemed to stare at the statue for a moment, lost in thought before he continued talking. “We got some bad intelligence from someone that there was a bit of a nut mage running around using magic and technology to create some pretty unpleasant things.”
“What happened?”
Ryan shrugged. “We were outnumbered and had no choice to blow the whole lab complex; Dominic got caught inside and didn’t make it out. Ethan blamed himself for that and also blamed Anton Valentine.”
“Was it really his fault?” Gabriel asked. “I mean Ethan’s? He seems to take it really personally.”
“Ethan made the call, so he took the blame for most of it but he really blames Valentine for giving us less than great information.”
“Is that why he was here?” Gabriel asked.
“Ethan keeps that part of himself pretty well hidden,” Ryan said. “What happened to Dominic really messed with his head for a while and certainly hasn’t made him any more of a fan of the vampires.”
“They were just friends right?”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Ryan half smiled. “He’s all into the ladies trust me on that.”
“Oh,” Gabriel blushed. “I wasn’t...well, you know, never mind.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Ryan said, with a shake of his head. “He’s hot, even I can admit that but he’s not interested in guys.”
“Wouldn’t matter if he were,” Gabriel grunted.
“Why do you say that?” Ryan asked.
“Because he would be way out of my league.”
“Oh shut up,” Ryan grumbled. “There aren’t any such things as leagues. You’re good looking, kind, intelligent, and compassionate. Anyone would be lucky to have you. Don’t worry about Ethan, he misses Dominic but he won’t let that interfere with his job.”
“I don’t know whether or not that’s a good or a bad thing,” Gabriel answered.
“Ethan is very good at compartmentalizing,” Ryan went on. “It’s sort of what he does, if you ask me I think that was part of the problem with his relationship with Elise.”
There it was again, that slight twinkle in Ryan’s eye when he mentioned Elise.
“Um...this might be totally out of line here but what is up with you and her?” Gabriel asked.
“Me and Elise?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re just friends,” Ryan said. “That’s all.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Come on,” Ryan said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here and celebrate the fact that you totally saved our skins back there.”
There were very few places that Ethan felt completely calm. One of those was at Ryan’s, around the fire pit the other was a small hill overlooking the stream that ran around the outskirts of the academy. He would often come here with Dominic when they were younger to debate pretty much anything and everything. It gave a great view of not only the stream but at the castle over all.
Of course there were very few people that knew about this place, even less that knew that it meant something to Ethan. He wasn’t surprised that Jonathan had sent someone to talk to him.
“Does he think that you can woe me to his side with some sultry favors?”
“That boat sailed a long time ago,” Elise responded, as she leaned against a tree. “Please, let’s not do that to each other.”
“I’m guessing that he sent you to talk me out of being stubborn?”
“He’d like to,” Elise nodded. “And if you think about it, he is right.”
“No,” Ethan snapped. “He’s not, we can’t trust Valentine.”
Elise let out an exasperated sigh before walking over to stand next to Ethan. “You have to let things go, Dominic wouldn’t want you dwelling on the past. Plus, I think that the council made it pretty clear that this wasn’t really a request.”
“You don’t know what Dominic would want,” Ethan growled. “And I don’t care what the council says; I’m not going along with it.”
Elise hated the way that Ethan always assumed that he was the only one that was hurting, everyone else had lost a friend when Dominic died, not just Ethan. But she also knew that the bond that Dominic and Ethan shared was close and even, a year later was enough to leave a gaping wound in the young Guardian.
“He was my friend too,” Elise sighed. “I wish that you would remember that.”
“He was my best friend. I wish you all would remember that. Why is everyone so keen on forgetting about what Valentine did?”
“He didn’t do it though Ethan,” Elise countered, touching his arm.
“Someone in his organization did, it wasn’t Valentine.”
“Same difference,” Ethan grumbled.
“It isn’t and you know it,” Elise frowned. “Sainte-Pierre is dangerous; do you really want him to keep operating? Do you really want him to keep selling all kinds of weapons to idiots like the New Aryan Nation? And
have you thought about what the council will do to you if you refuse to talk to him?”
“The council won’t touch me,” Ethan snorted.
“Arrogance,” Elise said, with a shake of her head. “I forgot how well you can pull that off. Do you really want to leave Sainte-Pierre out there where he can cause all kinds of harm?”
“I said before that I don’t!” Ethan snapped. “But they haven’t even given us a chance to look at what we got from Daniel’s computer network. Who knows, Marissa and Everett might be able to figure out where he is without even needing Valetine’s help.”
“Ethan,” Elise said. “Think about it, that’s all I ask.”
“I will but I won’t promise anything.”
Elise nodded. “You ready to go back now?”
“I’ll be along shortly.”
Elise nodded and headed back toward the castle, leaving Ethan alone with his thoughts.
CHAPTER 10
Gabriel would have thought that all the nights’ activity would have allowed him to slip into a slumber without having to worry about dreams. However, that didn’t appear to be the case. He knew he was dreaming because he never once, in his life, had been to Egypt. A least he assumed that it was Egypt with the pyramids in the background. He took in his surroundings; he was standing on the top of a temple, the midday sun blazing down on him.
He wasn’t wearing his Guardian armor, at least not from the waist up. He did, however, have Aequitas with him, which even in this dream world did bring him a measure of comfort. A figure shimmered out of the heat, stalking toward him. Gabriel didn’t recognize the man and found himself automatically bringing his weapon up into a defensive stance.
The figure slowly started to take shape. He appeared dressed in black leather armor from head to toe, armor that appeared to contain a very robust body underneath it. He wore a mask, almost completely devoid of any features that covered his face. He had long stark blonde hair that flowed down to his shoulders. There was something vaguely familiar about the person, although he couldn’t put his finger on it.
The Guardian Chronicles 2: Dark Horizon Page 18
