Copula Chronicles: The Complete Collection: Origin, Descend, Ascend, Legacy

by Venessa Kimball

  Xander and Nate slowly make their way to each guardian, inspecting their injuries and laying hands on them for healing. Ms. Olivia and Luke join them as well to help with the injuries.

  I think about my abilities. My ability to astral project, to jump, was strong in Tom’s compound. It should be stronger now that we are close to the mounds. I know my ability to divine visions has strengthened. I think about that for a second. I remember Ezra needing to pull me from one, saying that I was staring out the window. Then I blacked out again just before we crashed. What if I black out when we are under attack? I feel Tessa’s grip loosen around my neck as I rock her from side to side. I peek around her head of hair and see that her eyes have closed; she is sleeping.

  I watch the guardians rummage through the duffle bags of weapons that we brought in. They are putting on holsters, and bandoliers to hold their guns and ammunition. Luke carries over items from the kitchen cabinets, laying them out with the rest of our food and water, crackers, chips, more granola bars. Corinna grabs as much as her arms can carry and walks straight to Ira and Cale.

  “You need to eat,” she says motherly.

  Ira and Cale look at each other wearily, then hesitantly put their hands out to gather the food she has brought. The food that has filled her arms is easily taken in each of the two palms of these giants. As soon as she hands it off, she adds, “Come back for water after you have given Errol, Seth and Lathan food.”

  I feel my heart soften as I watch and listen to her. After everything she has been through, endured, her humanity survived.

  Ira and Cale both bow their heads, showing their appreciation. Corinna turns and walks back toward the table where Sam is sifting through the pile of food, handing it out to the other guardians.

  Xander is striding over to me with a canteen in his hand. He holds it out to me and says, “You haven’t had anything to drink today. Empty this.”

  After the insanity we have been through, he remembers the simplest thing that I haven’t had anything to drink today. It surprises me. I reach out to take the canteen and say, “Thank you.”

  He nods and walks back to the goods. He pulls the gun from the back of his pant waist and lays it on the table. He takes a holster from one of the bags and straps it around his waist. Picking up the gun, he places it in the holster, and then reaches for two clips of ammunition. He pulls another holster, gun and clip from the bags and walks back to me. Without saying a word, he wraps the holster around my waist the best he can with Tessa in my arms. I hiss, “What are you doing?”

  He pauses and looks at me. “Arming you.”

  He goes back to latching the buckle on the holster. When he is done, he stands in front of me, loads the clip into the gun, locks the safety, then pushes it into the holster.

  “Thank you,” I whisper again.

  His turquoise eyes meet mine tenderly as he nods before walking back to the duffle bags.

  “The road is gone. That road would have taken us straight into the Etowah Mound site. There is no other road to get us there,” Daniel growls angrily.

  Ezra walks over to the counter and comes face to face with Daniel. “There is another way. Beyond this row of houses, through the woods, there is an unpaved road that runs parallel to the main road, Etowah Drive.”

  Luke responds to his suggestion quickly, “The woods? Yeah, that is a bad idea.”

  A loud rumble of thunder makes itself known that the weather is about to change again.

  Elisabeth’s tone is urgent as she speaks aloud behind me. “Storm is coming.”

  I turn to see her looking through the glass of an unobstructed window. Her face reflects the strange copper dimness the sky reflects. I walk over to her, Tessa still resting in my arms, and peek out the window at the copper and blackened clouds that have shrouded the heavens.

  Nick scoffs at Elisabeth’s comment. “THAT, Grandma, is the understatement of the century.”

  I look sideways at Elisabeth, noticing her fixed gaze on the sky after mine has already released. As I turn and make my way back to the others in the kitchen, she calls out, “You had another vision.”

  Everyone looks up from what they are doing and focuses on me.

  She adds, “Just before we crashed.”

  She read me, just like I read her mind on the truck. I turn on her and ask pointedly, “How can you read my thoughts and I read yours, but I can’t reach anyone else with my Telepathy?”

  She shrugs. “Don’t know.” She looks back out the window and says, “The visions are controlling you now that we are here.”

  Nate interjects, “Before the accident, your eyes were open but you weren’t responsive at all, Jes. You were just sitting there with your eyes fixed on the window across from us. When we started to tilt, I grabbed a hold of you and didn’t let go.”

  I see the worry and concern in Nate’s blue eyes before he looks down at the floor. Ezra finding out about another vision that had paralyzed me takes his concern to a more physical level as he hits the kitchen counter top with his open hand. Ignoring Ezra’s rant, Sebastian steps away from the table and moves toward me. “What happened in the vision?”

  Ms. Olivia places her hand on my shoulder to get my attention. She puts her arms out for me to pass Tessa to her, but I shake my head and whisper, “I have her.”

  She nods.

  I hope she understands that I kind of need Tessa in my arms as much as she needs to be in my arms right now.

  Ira, Lathan, and Cale are stooped at the entrance of the hall and every guardian is silently waiting for me to disclose my vision. I rock from side to side as I hold Tessa and tell them what happened.

  “The shaman led me through the forest into the village,” I start.

  I tell them about the village, the smaller huts with thatched roofs, the taller structures with huts atop them.

  Ezra comments, “The mounds.” I know he is aware of the taller structures’ significance in the vision.

  Sebastian asks, “Did you see the largest of the three?”

  I nod. “Yes, but I woke from the vision before Onawah’s mother and the uniformed man took her to the mounds.”

  I tell them about the dark-haired gentleman stopping our advance, trying to protect me. I told them about the natives taking hold of him while the shaman pulled me along, the other gentleman, Onawah’s love, stopping the attack.

  Elicia asks, “Do you know who they are?”

  I look at her and see the curiosity of how these men connect with Onawah and in turn link to me now. Her question is not innocent.

  Nate and Xander both watch me, waiting for my answer also. The same curiosity as hers in their own eyes.

  I focus on Elicia as I mutter, “They are brothers.”

  Elicia doesn’t let me off easily. “How do you know for sure?”

  I don’t want to explain my mother’s visit just yet and correct myself, quickly covering my sureness. “I think they are brothers.”

  Nick picks up a handful of chips, tosses them into his mouth and speaks as he chews, “Sounds like they both love her and want to hook up.”

  Elicia admonished him, hitting him in the middle of his chest with her back of her hand. “Nick!” Elicia looks at me tenderly and shakes her head, appearing embarrassed for me.

  Nick mutters, “What? It’s true.”

  I don’t look at Xander and Nate’s reaction to Nick’s comment. I distract myself with the sound of the rummaging coming from the kitchen drawers. Ezra is looking for something.

  Ms. Olivia probes, keeping the focus on my vision and its meaning, “Where did the shaman take you?”

  “We went into a small hut. There was a woman, Onawah’s mother and an older man in uniform. He may have been a captain, I’m not sure. The uniform looked like the brothers’, with some small differences.”

  Nate suddenly coughs, choking on the wa
ter he has just drunk.

  “I’ve seen that,” he says urgently.

  Wait, he never told us he had a vision. Nate realizes his error and cowers a little as he leans against the wall. He runs his hand through his hair. “It was at Briggs’ compound when we were in the small room off the cargo hold.” He looks at Xander. “He had pulled me back from the vision, but I saw the man, the woman and the princess you are talking about.”

  Nick calls, “So Onawah’s a princess, huh?”

  Curiously, I ask, “What else did you see?”

  Nate meets my gaze. “I saw them leave the hut quickly. I turned to watch where they were going. I noticed a larger hut atop a clay-like mound. It rose above the rest of the village. They were heading in that direction.” Nate looks down, then back at me timidly. “The girl stopped and turned toward me. Her eyes, Jes, they looked just like yours.”

  His tender voice makes me realize how attached he is to this vision, just like I am.

  Which brother would he be in the ancient history that parallels my own life?

  Ezra asks Nate, “Were you a part of the vision?”

  Nate shrugs. “Yeah, I was inside of one of the soldiers in uniform. I was standing next to natives with weapons when Onawah looked at me. Then, a roar drew my attention from her. Uniformed soldiers, just like me, were charging through the village headed straight for the human barricade the natives and I formed.”

  My eyes don’t leave Nate’s expressive face as Sebastian groans, “Sanderson and his men.”

  Nate takes his hand and touches the skin under his eyes as he remembers the vision. “Their eyes were pure onyx, like the Dwellers.”

  He shakes his head. “Voices were whispering as they charged me. I was unable to move because I wasn’t in control of this body. At the last moment though, the man I’m in turns and runs hard in the direction the girl had gone. I think he was chasing after her.”

  Xander’s voice draws my attention from Nate to him. His eyes meet Nate’s as he says, “I saw the entrance to the mound. Saw the girl with the shaman. I wasn’t an observer either. I was part of the vision too.”

  Hearing their remembrance of their visions, it is undeniable that they are the descendants of these brothers.

  Xander’s brow furrows with obvious frustration and confusion. He looks down at his canteen, uncaps it and takes a long draw.

  In that very moment, I remember my mother’s words from the vision. “The two uniformed brothers, one with a level head and stable love, the other with the volatile temper and passionate love; they love her.”

  I wonder if Xander was captive in the dark-haired soldier with the volatile temper and passionate love and Nate in the lighter-haired soldier with the level head and stable love in our different views of the same vision.

  Ms. Olivia asks again to take Tessa from my arms. Feeling the weight of her body becoming heavy now, wearily I relent and release her. I lay her head on Ms. Olivia’s shoulder. Tessa’s hair falls over her face and I brush it back behind her ear as her mouth opens slightly, releasing a sleepy breath. Ms. Olivia sways and hushes her as she walks deeper into the family room where Elisabeth still stares out the window.

  I turn back toward the kitchen and see Ezra approaching me. He has some kind of nutrition bar in his hand.

  I start to tell him that I don’t need it when he quibbles, “Don’t want to hear it.” He hands me the food and commands, “Eat.”

  “Thanks,” I mumble as I snag the bar from him and peel back the wrapper.

  Ezra says, “Did she speak to you?”

  I’m a little blindsided by his question. I uncap the canteen Xander handed me and take a long swig of water buying time to consider what I’m answering. Is he talking about my mother, Anna, or Onawah’s mother?

  “Who?” I ask.

  Ezra replies, “Onawah’s mother.”

  I admit that I’m a little relieved, but the urge to tell him that Anna had made contact creeps in.

  Daniel drinks water from a canteen and says to the other guardians. “We are about two miles out from the mounds. A mile from the Etowah Archeological Museum. With our speed we will get there in no time.”

  Unless there isn’t anything between us and the mounds.

  I quickly take inventory of my body. There is an absence of the obvious symptoms that precede the Dwellers. Where are they? If I were a Dweller, I’d be attacking right now. Heat rises in me suddenly as I think. What if I can’t detect them? What if they have figured out a way to work around my aversion? I keep my eyes trained on Ira and Cale standing by the hallway entrance as I answer Ezra’s question about Onawah’s mother.

  “She spoke, but I didn’t understand her.” I look sideways at Ezra as I continue, “Anna spoke to me through the vision.”

  He is watching the other guardians suit up, eat and drink with little reaction to my words. Had he expected her to reach out to me?

  He takes a long drink from his canteen before he asks evenly, “What did she say?”

  My eyes flick to the right sensing Ira and Cale both look down the hall toward the door at the same time. Did they hear something?

  Cale follows what he has seen on foot, with Ira following. I want to move, see what is going on, but instead I keep my eyes on the hallway, expecting to see them return any second.

  Distracted, my voice wanders as I tell Ezra, “She said that she thought it would have been her called to fulfill the legacy, just as Elisabeth did. She didn’t think it would be me.”

  Ira and Cale haven’t returned.

  I slowly walk over to the opening to the hallway and lean against the side wall. Ezra follows behind me and leans against the other. I glance down the hall toward the doorway and see Ira standing at the large opening at the front door. A small trail of lightning blazes across the sky, casting shadows along the jagged edges of erupted blacktop in the distance from the yard. The jagged edges appear to move. I think of the slithering beings. Dwellers?

  I bite my lower lip and take a quick inventory of my normal aversive reaction to them, no nausea, no knotted stomach, no vertigo. I take another long draw of water and see Ezra peering at the doorway.

  I recap the canteen. “Anna said that she is with me and that she forgives Elisabeth for leaving. Says she understands why Elisabeth left her with Sebastian. She also said that the brothers were trying to protect Onawah, keep her from the burden that the legacy would pass on to her descendants. Said that the girl did not know the depths of the sacrifice yet, just like I don’t. She said she feared I wouldn’t understand why the legacy had to be the way it is.”

  The air around me thickens as I contemplate how to ask my father my next question: what he thinks my sacrifice will be.

  Shiva comes to stand next to me, leaning her body in front of my legs. I let my hand trail over her silky silver coat and I feel the vibration of a growl deep within her. The growl quickly grows within her, slipping past her teeth. I look down at her eyes to see where they are fixed; they are on the front door.

  Ezra looks down the hall toward the doorway once more. Swiftly he draws his gun and makes his move toward the door. I look ahead of him and see that Ira is no longer standing guard. I panic and urgently walk behind Ezra, Shiva right at my side, continuing her humming growl. I pull the gun Monica gave me from my waistband and fix my eyes on the open doorway, ready for anything.

  Ezra hisses, “Do you feel the Dwellers?”

  “No.”

  Mutely, lightning strikes, highlighting the long grass blowing in the quickening breeze. A deep roll of thunder follows close behind as Ezra passes over the threshold to the porch first. Having his back, I pass over the threshold and stand next to him, searching for the Rephaim. Ira is standing in the yard with Cale a few feet ahead of him and Seth, Lathan, and Errol ahead of him. Ezra calls to them, “What is it?”

  The sound of the others join
ing us and Shiva’s cacophonous bark from the front doorway. Daniel calls out asking the Rephaim, “Dwellers?”

  The wind blowing the tall grass in the yard suddenly withdraws, deadening and falling to the earth. Strangely, Shiva’s barking stops. I look back at her and see her cowering to the ground, her yellow eyes raised to the sky.

  Another bolt of lightning strikes suddenly and the silhouette of the tallest of the mounds illuminates in the distance. The spider-like legs of lightning spreads over the sky, the copper clouds being set aglow as the electric waves flows toward us. The dark, jagged asphalt comes alive when the light hits the surface.

  Over the growling rumble of thunder that follows, I hear Ira mutter, “Oh my God.”

  I scan the immediate area; the ground, the nearby woods, but I see nothing. I look at him, then Lathan, Errol, Cale, and Seth.

  They are looking up into the stormy sky. I follow their gaze, but still see nothing.

  Equally confused Siobhan yells, “What is it? What do you see?”

  Ira and the other Rephaim start to back away, keeping their eyes to the heavens.

  Reflexively, we all draw our weapons and make our way off the porch into the tall grass in the front yard to see what the Rephaim are looking at.

  Ezra’s warning for me beats out the steady rumble of thunder, “Jes, stay close!”

  Another bolt of lightning blossoms along the heavy sky, tendrils of electric light reaching above us now, was igniting the sky with a series of flashes. That is when I see the flying black objects in the sky above. I remember Daniel saying that they had not seen any animals since the evolution struck. It can’t be birds. It has to be something else.

  I mutter, “What is that?”

  The wave of flashing lightning continues its flow toward us, revealing more of these soaring objects as they get closer, now above us circling.

  Nick says, “Looks like birds.”

  As the outstretched wings fold and stretch, it becomes obvious that their wingspan is too big for a bird, hawk or even a vulture for that matter.