by Holly Evans
They laughed and one of them slapped me on the back.
I took a sip of the drink and found it to taste like strawberries with a touch of lemon. It was amazingly refreshing. The food was rich, perfectly cooked, and wrapped in warm spices that had a pleasant burn to them. I felt stuffed, relaxed and entirely contented when I finished.
The bears were all settled around us, some in their bear forms. They lounged out on simple folding chairs or sprawled out on the sand. There were no disagreements or unpleasantness. Everyone knew their place, and everyone was happy to be there. It was the first time that I had a small taste of what pack felt like.
I rested my head on Alasdair’s shoulder and allowed the conversations and merriment to wash over me. The sun set and the stars rose overhead, and I was contented to remain there just listening and relaxing. That was the life I really craved. A large happy pack around me and adventures to be had. I wanted to make the world a better place and have my people around me as I did it.
18
To my dismay, we moved the camp at the very crack of dawn. Alasdair, Gray, and I helped pack up our tent and made ourselves as useful as we were able. The bears moved with practised efficiency, and the large camp of some thirty or so bears was all packed and on the move within half an hour.
Griff drove far more calmly, but the tyres were still verging on deafening. I knew I couldn’t have everything be perfect, but I was sure I could trade a few of those amazing sausages for quieter tyres.
We arrived at a small airport and were bundled onto a small private plane. Money changed hands, and our faces were kept hidden from anyone outside of the bears. I tried to get comfortable in the small plane seat, which was too narrow and had no room for my legs. I wasn’t ridiculously tall; I wasn’t asking for much.
Griff dropped a brown paper bag in my lap.
“Glamours - try them on for size,” he said before he took up the two seats across the aisle from us.
The plane started to taxi, and I waited for us to be in the air before I opened the bag. I’d never been able to afford a good glamour before, and there were six in that bag. Each one was a small silver disk with a symbol engraved on it. The symbols meant nothing to me, so I picked one at random.
I squeezed the disk between my thumb and forefinger. It crackled before I felt as though a thin layer of something silky had been draped over me.
“No. Absolutely not,” Alasdair said, taking the glamour from me.
I saw my reflection in the window before he could undo the glamour. A milk-white-skinned ginger guy with a spray of freckles across his nose and cheeks looked back at me. Alasdair was right. That was a definite no.
The next one was much more suitable. My skin took on a rich coppery tone, my hair became short and spiked, and my eyes became a striking golden-amber colour. Alasdair’s glamour widened his jaw and changed his eyes to a deep ocean blue. A thin stubble coated his new jaw. The changes weren’t huge, but he definitely wasn’t my Alasdair any more.
Gray became a scruffy dark-blond part-bred fae with stormy grey eyes and a slightly more muscular build than he had naturally. It took me the entire plane ride to adjust to the new faces, but the new names were worse.
“I am not calling Gray ‘Steele’, that is ridiculous, that isn’t even a name. Derek, really? You want Alasdair to be Derek?” I demanded of Griff.
“They’re perfectly fine names, Seth.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, Seth sounded wrong, but it was bearable. The other two names weren’t going to work. I planned on arguing the point, but an older woman handed us our new IDs, complete with Derek and Steele on Alasdair and Gray’s.
“It’s not forever. Just until we’ve dealt with the queen’s bounty,” Alasdair – Derek – said.
They were just names. Labels. It didn’t change who they were. I kept telling myself that as we got off the plane.
We were somewhere green. A heavy moisture hung in the air. I looked around and realised we were in Scotland.
“It all started here,” Griff said.
I looked at him, confused.
“The first ward stone was broken here. There’s a power here.”
“I thought were here for the necromancers?”
“We are. There have been sightings of them. Rory believes he’s found their camp.”
I could taste the sea on the air, and the frustrations at the glamours and everything else dulled. We made our way to a waiting group of large 4x4s, and I relaxed as we drove through green countryside. I wasn’t meant to be out in the desert. My wolf side gave a contented sigh as the highlands unfurled around us. The heather coating the sharp rocky rises had a softness to it, sitting in contrast to the bare exposed rock. The short grass was hardy and a pale washed-out green that seemed to be growing more grey as the sky clouded over and threatened rain.
I’d been away from Ireland for a few days, and I was already happy to see rain. It was ridiculous how such things came to be comforting without us even realising.
All but one of the 4x4s peeled away down a side road behind us.
“They’re settling us at the new house. We’re going to the necromancer camp. No need to scare them with the whole sleuth,” Griff said.
“A group of bears is called a sleuth?”
“That’s what I said.”
I guess you learn something every day.
The small rocky hills grew closer together, and the road was forced to wind between them. Heather grew denser and lost its purple sheen as the sky grew darker with heavy storm clouds. Griff turned down a narrow dirt track and drove through old crooked gateposts that had long since lost their gate.
A single-story farm building formed in front of us surrounded by cracked concrete and small scrubby shrubs. I pricked my ears and listened for any sign of life as we got out of the car. There were no lights. I couldn’t hear any movement outside of our own.
We approached the building with peeling green paint around the square windows and an old grey slate roof. No one came out to greet us. Griff knocked on the door, causing a few more flakes of paint to fall free. Alasdair and I circled around the back and peered into the dark windows. There was no sign of life. No dust covered the table in the kitchen, but there were no plates or anything, either.
I tried the back door, and the knob turned easily in my hand. We stepped inside with knives drawn. Nothing. The entire house was empty. It had clearly been cared for recently. The furniture was in good condition, and everything was clean. The beds were bare frames without mattresses, and a few hangers sat in the wardrobes. It had been cleared out rather than abandoned. If the necromancers had been there, they’d been warned with plenty of time that we were coming.
19
“Seth, Derek, I may have found something here,” a female voice shouted.
We went back down the stairs to the door beneath them. A weak yellow light shone over the wooden stairs down into the basement. I wrinkled my nose at the musty damp smell.
“A ritual was done down here,” she called up.
We walked down the stairs and stepped onto cool concrete. A ritual circle had been carved into the grey concrete. It meant nothing to me, but the bear looked very pleased with herself.
“You see the char marks here?”
She pointed at blackened points on the circle.
“Yea.”
“That means they were trying to burn the spirit out of the bones. Summoning circles don’t deal in fire, it’s too destructive. Fire is reserved for the eradication of a soul or whatever you want to call it.”
Alasdair and I looked at each other. It seemed that the necromancers were the good guys. That hardened my resolve to take down the elves, and I was looking forward to wiping the smug smile off Taen’s face.
We headed back up into the living room, where Griff wore a grave expression.
“Rumours are spreading like wild fire that you’ve all gone rogue and are no longer guardians.”
“It’s not unexpected,” Alasdair s
aid.
“Saoirse still hasn’t responded to my calls,” Gray said from the kitchen.
“I’m afraid we’re reasonably sure your Saoirse has gone dark side, as you say. There is a very reasonable chance that the moon goddess herself has turned against our chosen path,” Griff said.
I sighed.
I should have known. It was far too easy for me to become a guardian. Of course she would go and turn against us. I supposed it was nice for the few weeks it had lasted.
“We’ll deal with that once we have found the necromancers,” Alasdair said.
“We might not have that long. Other guardians are joining the ranks of those looking for you. You’ll need to clear your name and cut all ties with your goddess.”
“Is that even possible?” I asked.
“Yes. We have a witch who can do it.”
At least that was something, although the frown on Griff’s face told me it would probably be a difficult and painful process.
“Necromancers first,” Alasdair said.
“We will see how many hunters come baying for your blood,” Griff said.
Well that sounded like a barrel of laughs.
We were sitting around a large sturdy wooden table in the generously sized farmhouse kitchen. Griff and his second in command, a broad woman named Alison, sat opposite us.
“We’ve been digging into the priestesses, and a lot of the rogue ones are moon priestesses. It’s looking like the goddess herself has gone dark side. Have you felt anything from her?”
“No,” Alasdair said softly.
Griff nodded. “Our understanding is that when the gods go rogue, when they try to interfere too heavily in the Earth plane, they lose their ties here. The moon goddess had put a lot of work into building control on this plane. She was the only one with quite so many guardians and priestesses. I’m sure you noticed.”
Alasdair nodded, his eyes sad.
I felt like I’d been duped. I was some puppet for this goddess that I had looked up to and respected my entire life. She had created a story that she provided sanctuary to all shifters, made and born. She was a fair goddess of balance.
“There are a few sun priests, a shadow priest or three, and a number of love priestesses that have also gone rogue. The love priestesses were doing maenad impressions in Athens yesterday.”
I looked at him blankly.
“Maenads were followers of Dionysus. They got incredibly drunk and then went on murderous rampages,” Alasdair said.
“Well, fuck,” I said softly.
“What’s happened to them? The rogues?” I asked.
“They have been removed from their position of power. The love priestesses were killed. They slaughtered six people before they were caught. The shadow priests are withdrawn and verging on catatonic. The moon priestesses are the most lucid, but there is a ruthlessness to them. One tried to slit the throat of her guard last night.”
“And Saoirse?” Gray asked.
“She has disappeared. Allies are tracking her down. Her church was full of bloody graffiti in a language we haven’t identified yet. We believe it’s Nahuatl and related to the goddess’s plans.”
I slumped back in my chair. Just when I thought life was coming together really nicely.
“Don’t worry, wolf, you’ll find plenty of work as a mercenary,” Griff patted my hand.
“No. We’ll find Adam and work with him,” Alasdair said firmly.
“Adam?” I asked.
He smiled and draped his arm over my shoulders.
“He’s a balancer. He’s tied to the very essence of magic and works to keep everything in balance.”
Gray relaxed and smiled.
“Dad spoke of balancers sometimes. Only during the quiet times when he was lost in his memories. He said they’re beings of unparalled magic.”
Alasdair nodded.
“Yes. They’re hunted for that, but Adam is a good man. We can make the world better if we work with him.”
That had been our goal from the start. My heart ached to be torn away from the goddess and that dream, but this balancer seemed like he offered the perfect solution.
“It would be best if you cut ties with the goddess. If she regains her connection to this plane, her punishments could be severe,” Griff said.
Alasdair sighed.
“We’ll speak with your witch.”
20
We spent three hours looking over maps of Scotland looking at potent magical sites, spottings of potential necromancers, and places that were particularly good for crossing into the fae plane. I was ready to never look at a map again when a very excited teenager came into the room.
“We’ve found them! Ben’s talking to them right this second, they’re staying put.”
“Where!?”
“The outskirts of Aberdeen.”
“Alright, tell them we’re on our way. Get me an address,” Griff said.
I entwined my fingers with Alasdair’s, trying to remind him that he wasn’t alone. Cutting ties with the goddess was a huge move, and I could feel it weighing on him. We’d talk about it when we finally went to bed. I wasn’t going to let him dwell on it alone.
The drive to Aberdeen wasn’t too long, thankfully. The necromancers were hiding out in an old farm hidden within a small woodland. I felt the urge to run on four paws through the woods and shake off this two-legged form for a while. To feel the freedom of running without worries about the goddess and stupid glamours.
An older woman with waist-length dirty-blonde hair in neat waves greeted us.
“You can drop the glamours, boys, I’m aware of who you are. Your bear here tells us you’re allies. You’re safe enough.”
I squeezed the disk, felt the weird silk feeling slip away, and sighed with relief. It wasn’t painful, but it felt wrong.
“I’m Lydia, the witch I’m sure you’ve heard about.”
“Not often a witch can plane walk,” Griff said.
She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “We’re not sure who my father was, but he wasn’t from a good witch line.”
We followed her into the farmhouse, which was wonderfully cozy. The white walls were adorned with hand-painted landscapes, and the floors creaked every now and again. It felt lived in, like a real home. A group of people my age was gathered in the kitchen around the broad bear that was grinning at us.
“The guardians and the bear,” the oldest of the group said.
His raven-coloured hair shone copper and midnight blue under the white light. There was a paleness to him that wasn’t quite natural. Necromancers were an odd bunch. They sent a chill down my spine.
“You were there at the elf compound,” a younger blond said.
“We were sent by the moon goddess,” Alasdair said.
The blond gave a small nod of understanding.
“They tried to sacrifice you?” the leader asked.
“Yes.”
“They’re trying to raise the old god.” He held his hand out. “I’m Liam, by the way.”
We all shook his hand.
“We’re not entirely sure when the order went from guarding the bones to trying to raise them, but we felt the shift and have been trying to stop them for the last year. We managed to destroy a fragment of his spirit thanks to the finger bone we stole, but they can still raise him.”
“What is their plan here?” I asked.
“Power. Control. The usual villain motivations,” Liam said drily.
“We can handle the bones, but we need someone with more fighting experience to take care of the elves while we do it,” the witch said.
Gray grinned. “Sounds like fun to me.”
Everyone started to relax. A younger necromancer handed everyone coffee, which was better than it had any right to be. We started talking about music, and it turned out they were pretty normal people. Their taste in music left something to be desired, but no one was perfect. When Liam wasn’t raising the dead, he enjoyed hiking and finding new rums to try. Lydi
a the witch was the biggest superhero movie nerd I’d ever met. She and Gray got on like a house on fire.
The house was bursting with life and laughter as we playfully argued over which superhero would win in a fight.
Once we’d eaten our weight in pizza, we formulated a plan to get back to the elf compound and take the smug bastards out for once and for all. The necromancers were going to destroy the god spirit within the bones; it would take the entire coven. They weren’t the combat model and were going to need us to cover their backs and make sure the elves didn’t take them out.
“I can only keep the rift open for five minutes at a time. We’re going to have to time this. I can open it twice: once to get you there, once to get you back. After the second rift, I’ll need to rest for twenty-four hours. If you’re still at the compound, you’ll be on your own.”
“No pressure,” I said.
A tight tense laugh went through everyone.
“We meet at 10am tomorrow at the rift point. The elves are doing their ritual tomorrow night. If we don’t succeed tomorrow morning, then it’s all over,” Liam said.
Failure was not an option. If they managed to raise that god, the veil would be torn down and war would be waged between every plane, every species. Millions of beings would die.
21
Alasdair went to wrap his arms around me as he did every night. I pressed my hand against his chest and kissed him gently.
“Talk to me,” I whispered.
He lay down flat, and I ran my fingertips over the goddess markings below his collarbone.
“I devoted a lot of my life to her. I killed for her. What if I made things worse? What if I’m the bad guy, here?”
I ran my thumb over his cheekbone. Never before had I met someone with such a good heart.
“I don’t have any pretty answers for you. You fell into the propaganda the same as everyone else, and who knows when things started to change? It could have been last week. Don’t forget that we saved those teens thanks to her. They were going to be turned into magical dust.”
