Shelter of Sighs

by Bethan Johns

  Goddess of Chaos

  A Worlds Collide Novel

  Book Two

  Bethan Johns

  Copyright © 2017 Bethan Riehle-Johns.

  All rights reserved.

  Novels in the Worlds Collide series

  Legend of the Tundra

  Goddess of Chaos

  Shelter of Sighs

  ISBN9781983250040

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Authors Note:

  Book 1 – Legend of the Tundra takes place starting in year 10,800 A.C. and ending in year 10,801 A.C.

  Book 2 – Goddess of Chaos takes place starting in year 10,100 A.C. and ending in year 10,800 A.C.

  This book is dedicated to all those who have been there with me through my journey. The mountains we have climbed and the rivers we have forded have brought us to where we are today. Continue to be strong and crave the adventure that is life. Lust for it.

  Contents & Timeline Guide

  Chapter 1 – Changeling: Year 10,100 AC

  Chapter 2 – Nostalgia: Year 10,100 AC

  Chapter 3 – Meetings and Greetings: Year 10,158 AC

  Chapter 4 – Revenge: Year 10,202 AC

  Chapter 5 – First Impressions: Year 10,251 AC, Year 10,252 AC

  Chapter 6 – Loyalty and Coin: Year 10,252 AC, Year 10,275 AC

  Chapter 7 – Hello and Goodbye: Year 10,307 AC

  Chapter 8 – The Different Kinds of Battle: Year 10,326 AC

  Chapter 9 – Power Struck: 10,325 AC

  Chapter 10 – Witness: Year 10,332 A.C.

  Chapter 11 – Regret: 10,340 AC

  Chapter 12 – Exhaustion: Year 10,340 AC

  Chapter 13 – Heartfelt Request: Year 10,380, Year 10,391, Year 10,390

  Chapter 14 – Passion and Blood: Year 10,403AC

  Chapter 15 – Unlikely Lovers: Year 10,403 AC

  Chapter 16 – Breaking Boundaries: Year 10,425 AC, Year 10,440, Year 10,468

  Chapter 17 – The Death of Me: Year 10,480 AC, Year 10,490 AC

  Chapter 18 – Ultimatum: Year 10,499

  Chapter 19 – Forked Pathways: Year 10,657 AC, Year 10,799 AC

  Pronunciation Guide

  Chapter 1 – Changeling

  Year 10,100 AC

  Sierade

  The room was warm, we hadn’t been here long, a few hours at most. I looked over at Sylek’s sleeping form on the bed, running my eyes over his hard, lean body. He looked as though he could be made of pure white marble. His pale scars, only slightly lighter than his already pale skin, were like the veins running through the marble.

  He was all sharp angles and smooth planes. Tall, impossibly tall, his limbs long and incredibly graceful.

  I stood from where I was sitting at the small table in front of the hearth and walked over to the bed laying my hand on his chest to feel him breathing and smiled down at him. Running my fingers through his hair. Silver hair that flowed like mercury. When I picked it up to slide it through my fingers it hummed as though purring at my touch.

  He opened his eyes, not a whisper of sleep still in them. The molten crimson was clear as though he’d been awake already, though I knew he hadn’t.

  Reaching up he wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me down to him. His pale skin blanched against my tan. My chestnut hair dragging across his bare chest, we were a lesson in contrasts.

  He pulled me down to kiss him and I obliged, soaking in his warmth. He flipped me over running his hands along my body the way I had let my eyes run over his moments before.

  Kissing his way along my chest to the base of my throat, to the spot he knew I loved, I growled lightly at him and I felt his lips smile against my skin before he lightly dragged his tongue up the column of my throat, using his hand beneath my chin to stretch out the length. His lips again found my mouth and I wrapped my legs around his body pulling myself up to hang off him.

  He laughed lightly, pulling back and tucking his hair behind his ear on one side. “I love you Siera” he said.

  I kissed him hungrily before pulling away “I love you more Sy.” I whispered onto his lips.

  We made love. Tonight felt different. We both felt something intimate was in order. We had graduated from the army, we had both decided to try our hands in the brutal landscape of the mercenary fields.

  I wanted to work my way up the rankings as a physical fighter, he wanted to be a highly sought-after psychic.

  Our lives were laid out before us on a platter, it certainly wasn’t a silver one - you couldn’t find that in the Howelltie Mercenary Camps, especially not me, as a Fae and a female to boot - but a platter nonetheless.

  The Howelltie were first and foremost a fighting race, they are raised from very young childhood to deal with pain, to fight with fists, teeth, nails, strategy, and magic. The Howelltie have armies, it is mandatory for every graduate to serve in those armies for fifty years after graduating, so the race always has a massive standing army.

  They may then choose to continue in a career with the military; look into a career in the non-fighting fields, such as healing, or manufacturing, farming, retail, executive administration, trade, artistry, etc.; or they may choose to throw themselves into the mercenary camps.

  That is where Sylek and I had chosen to go. The mercenary camps were a massive infrastructure. Howelltie pit themselves against others who are strong in their particular skill set to work their way up the rankings. The higher up the rankings, the more likely you were to be chosen to work in a mercenary army or unit. Those mercenary armies and units are governed by the Howelltie who works their way up the rankings all the way to the top.

  The armies could then be rented to the highest bidder. There is also work for solitary mercenaries as well. Especially if, like Sylek, they have a particularly sought-after skill.

  Howelltie mercenary armies were a strange system, a system wholly Howelltie, no other race had anything like them. It meant that, during a time of war, one could hire the Howelltie mercenary armies to battle the Howelltie military. That was perfectly legal.

  If times were dire enough, the commander of Howelltie’s military legions reserved the right to call home all mercenary troops, but that had only happened once in the past twenty millennia.

  Sylek and I had decided to vacation for a short while before making our way to the first camps. We were staying in a small inn at the base of a valley floor near a glittering inland lake on the main Howelltie plane.

  I awoke early the next morning, stretching and moving to look out the window. It looked as though the sun had just risen. I looked around for food, seeing some left-over bread and cheese from the night before still on the table, I dug in. I waved my hand lightly, using my magic to set flames to the logs already piled in the hearth. It was autumn and there was a brisk quality to the air, even in our cozy room.

  I leaned back in my chair with my hand on my stomach and set my bare feet up on the table.

  Hearing Sylek moving around on the bed I turned to watch him rise, I could not help but to admire his form. He was graceful, his long fingers ran through his hair and deftly tied a leather thong around it, securing it in a tail. He reached down to pull on his black leather pants and turning raised an eyebrow at me. “Stop staring at me.”

  “No” I responded.

  He scoffed and walked away. I assumed to the bathing room.

  It still felt impossible that he was mine, I had known him forever, as long as I could remember, he had been my friend. We had only been together romantically about twenty-five years, but we had been separated in the army.
>
  We were never placed in the same unit, so we had communicated through our psychic channel and had met up whenever we could. Howelltie military didn’t exactly get a whole lot of time off, especially those serving their first fifty years.

  I was staring out the window when I felt him move up behind me and place his hand on my shoulder.

  “I have an idea.” He whispered in my ear, his warm breath on my neck causing me to shiver.

  He chuckled lightly at my reaction. I loved his soft laugh, Sylek was not one to guffaw loudly and probably very few creatures other than myself had ever heard him laugh.

  “What kind of idea?” I asked, turning around to see that he had put on a black, long-sleeved shirt.

  I pouted at him.

  He moved away to sit on the bed and pulled on his black shining leather boots.

  “Put on some clothes” He said lightly. He picked up my shirt from beside himself and threw it at me.

  I caught it throwing it on, it was a simple long sleeved white shirt. Loose fitting in a light material. I moved to the dresser and threw on my black trousers and my loafers.

  Sylek looked at them and smirked at me. I laughed. He made fun of my love of loafers, he told me that I looked like I was walking around in slippers.

  I stood in front of him as he sat on the bed gripping my hips.

  “What is your idea Sylek?” I asked him again.

  He tugged gently on the ends of my hair. “To go to Faery.” He looked up at me.

  My jaw dropped.

  He stood up, using his pointer finger to close my mouth by tapping on the bottom of my chin lightly.

  I was looking at his chest, I lifted my hands and ran them along the broad width of it, distracted - as always - with his body.

  His chest rumbled with laughter, he gripped my wrists. “Sierade!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Faery?” I asked skeptically.

  He started pacing. “You are a century old, you are pure-blooded Fae, you have graduated and have passed the military. You have proven yourself a Howelltie.”

  I nodded thoughtfully.

  “I’m listening, keep selling.” I said.

  He knew I was teasing him, but he went on anyway.

  “You can rift us in, you have the access. Why not? You have never been to Faery. Does that not bother you?”

  He finished, he stood still, staring at me expectantly.

  Faery was the land that any with Fae blood, like me, had access to. We could travel there and use it as a means of transportation between planes and worlds. Faery acted as a sort of highway.

  When a Fae had the ability to rift as well – the ability to use Telekinesis and Creation magic combined to instantly travel from one place to another – the travelling capabilities became nearly endless.

  I had never before left the main Howelltie plane. I had been born and raised here. I had never embraced my Fae roots.

  Thinking for a moment before I answered I nodded slowly. I could feel a smile creep onto my face.

  “Let’s go!”

  I gripped his hand taking a deep breath. He nodded at me reassuringly and I felt around, deep inside myself, I remembered one of my Fae trainers explaining that there would always be a thread of Faery inside myself, a tether I could follow home.

  I felt it now, like a silken thread, I just needed to follow it.

  So, I did.

  We were in a forest, I could feel the life around us. I gasped at the beauty. I had never seen a forest like this, never felt a place so ancient. I looked over at Sylek and his eyes were wide. I could taste magic on my tongue, it was home.

  Letting my head fall backwards to look at the bright sky I laughed out loud and listened to the sound of a bird calling in response.

  I spun in a quick circle and ran to Sylek, leaping into his arms.

  He wrapped himself around me and kissed me joyfully.

  I could feel his heartbeat thumping.

  I pulled back, that was not his heartbeat. I put my fingers to his lips, listening.

  I dropped to the ground batting his hand away. Moving along the earth, I could feel it, pulsing beneath me, whispering to me.

  Magic.

  My eyes widened. “Tundra” I whispered. “I hear you”

  Sylek walked up behind me. I turned to him, “I can feel the Tundra Sylek.”

  His brows drew together. “That’s impossible.”

  The Tundra was a myth among Fae.

  In the beginning was Tundra and Faery, intertwined. Connected to them was the first Faery bridge. That bridge led to the first Human plane. The only creatures alive had been the Fae, the Humans, and the Angels.

  The Fae were gifted with creation magic and the Tundra was the manifestation of that power and in charge of supplying the Fae with the energy to create thousands of new planets and creatures.

  Among those creatures were Howelltie – long lived, susceptible to mortal deaths, large uniform beings – Baewyrns – tiny humanoid beings that lived in almost any climate and appeared to camouflage well in almost every climate. Not much is known of Baewyrns – and many other creations.

  The Angels interbedded with the Fae, creating Nephilim. Fae interbedded with Humans to create the Elfin. Shorter-lived, graceful, magic-less beings. They were well-known for their creative agriculture techniques and their speedy technological advancement.

  All living creatures in this universe were known as the Sidhe. Some Nephilim and Fae tended to be biased and prejudiced against the Howelltie simply because they were creations rather than original Fae or bred from Fae.

  None alive had ever seen or felt the Tundra. Its story was like that of a god

  I shook my head and dropped to my hands and knees putting my fingers into the loose dirt and twigs covering the ground.

  I sent my power spiralling down into the earth, letting it search its own way through the layers of soil and rock. I felt the power getting stronger.

  There, I was almost touching it, just a little further.

  The forest stopped. All noise stopped, it felt as though everything had drawn in a breath and was holding it, waiting for me.

  I turned and looked at Sylek. His crimson eyes were wide, the colour seeming to swim behind the glassy surface.

  Reluctantly I withdrew, I whispered a silent apology to the earth and promised I would return.

  “What the hell was that?” He asked quietly when I stood in front of him.

  I grabbed his arms and rifted.

  We arrived back at the room.

  “What the hell was that Si?” he asked again.

  “Sylek. It was the Tundra, it sounds crazy, I know. The Tundra is a myth. Even if it were real, no one can connect to it. It is magic itself, but I’m telling you right now. It was the tundra.”

  He stared at me. “Your eyes were glowing”

  I stared back, I could feel a great pull, a longing. “I have to go back”

  He shook his head. “What? No. You cannot.”

  I swallowed. “Trust me. I don’t want to.”

  “Then do not go Siera.” He whispered.

  “I must.” I shivered, remembering the feeling of the power I had nearly touched.

  “Sylek. I must, I can feel it. It is not just a Fae thing. It is my destiny.” I didn’t know why I had said the words, but I knew they were true as soon as they left my lips.

  I could tell that he heard the truth ring through in my words as well. It was as though because I had spoken them I had cast a spell I could not undo.

  Staring at me for a moment he nodded. “I shall go with you.”

  “You can’t” I said quickly.

  He frowned.

  I swallowed. “Did you not feel it Sy? It would destroy you.”

  He sat down in the chair, his long body folding as he rested his head in his hands. I knelt down in front of him.

  He tugged his fingers through his hair looking at me. He looked calm. Sylek always looked calm. There had been very few times I had seen him angry, it ne
ver ended well when he got angry. He was the most relaxed and poised creature I had ever laid eyes on. I knew there was a complex war of emotions going on beneath the surface though.

  We stared at each other a long while, just absorbing one another. I think we both knew we were saying a goodbye of sorts.