Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (15 page)

A long, wooden table sat in the middle of the library, with several, wooden chairs, pushed in all around it. Only two of them were currently occupied. In one, was a woman with light brown hair, wrapped into a French twist, and in the other, was a man with close-cropped black hair. It was either graying or expertly frosted with highlights. He didn’t look that old, maybe in his late forties, and he was handsome—for an older man.

They had been talking about something in a low whisper. Once I entered the library,
they halted their conversation, and the lean man scooted back and stood up from his chair. His tunic was a cream-colored tint, with gold threading along the bottom of his shirt hem. The woman studied me too. They both exchanged a brief glance between each other, much like the others had when they first met me yesterday.

I didn’t like the way
they were staring at me, but I’m guessing it was because they were surprised to see my aura for themselves.

“You must be Starling.
” the man spoke first. He had a slight British accent.

“It’s a plea
sure to meet you, welcome to the Northern branch of the Divine Hall. I’m Sean, one of the head advisors here.” he introduced himself and held out his hand to shake mine.

I picked up my pace
, meeting him halfway with my hand extended, and we shook. I eyed his brandings, the silver shapes and lines resembled double, hook-ended long swords.

“Nice to meet you too, Sean.” I replied.

He smiled, and small wrinkles formed at the corners of his dark grey eyes. I instantly regarded him as fatherly.

“And I’m D
iana, I’m an elder councilor.” The woman smiled, and stood up from her chair too.

She glide
d elegantly over to me, in her flowing, plain, pale pink dress, and reached out to shake my hand.

“Hi.
” I nodded, noticing that she didn’t have any brandings on her arms.

“I trust
that you’ve had a chance to eat breakfast already?” Sean asked.

“I wasn’t hungry.”

He cast a quick look at Jamie
, and then back at me. “How is everything going for you so far?” He asked.

I shrugged.
“Okay, I guess…for now.” I answered, looking over at Jamie too.

He smiled and nodded.
“Good to hear, come and have a seat.” He held out a courteous hand for me to sit in one of the wooden chairs, closest to where he had been sitting.

I did
, and Jamie rounded the table opposite from me.

“You can go Jamie. Thank
you for bringing Starling here. Close the door behind you on your way out.” Sean told her.

I suppressed a chuckle when
her mouth dropped in surprise and disappointment. She hadn’t been expecting him to dismiss her, apparently.

“
Uh…sure, you’re welcome.” She replied slowly, with a thin-lipped smile.

Sean and Diana both sat back down, Diana across from me
, and Sean at the head of the table. A tray with a steaming teapot, three cups, honey, cream, breads and pastries, sat on the table between the three of us.

“Watch her eyes. Her temper
might be linked to an essence and she angers easily.” Jamie made sure to inform them, just as she began pulling the door closed behind her.

Not expecting her comment, I had no idea what to say in my defense.
That wasn’t true; in fact, it takes a lot to get me angry— at least, it used to. My irritation came from not having a clue as to what she meant, or what anyone here was talking about half of the time.

“Tea?” Diana offered me as she began to pour some into a cup.

“No thanks.”

Sean inhaled and paused, thinking of his words.

“We wanted a chance to speak with you first, before integrating you with the rest of the newer chosen.” He began.

“What do you mean, integrating me? Why is everyone being so cryptic? Do you guys know something that I don’t?” I finally spewed, g
etting tired of the secrecy.

“We sim
ply want to get acquainted with you first, and understand a few things, that’s all.” Diana soothed.

Their scru
tiny was beginning to irk me. Her words sounded like underhanded accusations.

“Understand what?
” 

“I know that you don’t remember anything
past your name and a few remnants about yourself from your mortal life. That is to be expected. However, there are some concerns and safeguards that we must take because there are things that we are sure of.” Sean continued.

I eyed him.
“You are? Things like what? What do you mean by that?”

Sean’s face became serious, it was hard to read his eyes
, and I didn’t know what to make of his statement. What was going on here?

“She has no idea Sean, all of that has been erased. Whatever happened in her mortal
existence is over. She does not and will not remember, and we should leave it at that.” Diana said.

I looked at her curiously. What happe
ned in my mortal existence?

“Could you fill me in?” I asked her.

They both looked at me, but Diana spoke, “No. It would be breaking code. You don’t have any memories for a reason, and no one here should be speaking of, or giving you hint of them. We’ve had a talk with Jamie already.” She directed at Sean. Her naturally pleasant face appeared stern with her statement.

“Well, I want to know. If people are whispering about me because of something that I’ve done or may have done, then I have a right to know what that something is, especially if I’m going to be here for a while. Was it bad? I mean, how bad could it have been if I’m here now?” I said, looking between the both of them.

I was beginning to wonder if this was what Durien wanted to talk to me about before Lira showed up. I was going to get it out of him eventually. I didn’t like being the subject of a secret, especially one that apparently seemed to be —scandalous.

They both paused, looki
ng at each other once again.

Sean inhal
ed before speaking again. “What do you know about demons?” Sean then asked.

“Sean…” Diana cut in to stop him, but he ignored
her and kept his eyes focused on me.

“I know th
at they’re evil minions of Hell—originally fallen angels, and we’re training to fight them.” I replied. What else did he want me to say? If he wanted an entire history lesson on their origins, then he was out of luck.

He nodded slowly. “Evil. Would you say that was true about all of them?” He then asked.

“Sean this is not helpful.” Diana interjected once again.

Again, he ignored her.

I didn’t like where this was going. Why won’t they just tell me what was going on? I was becoming agitated, and feeling as if I were on trial or something.

“I’ve never heard of a good demon, if that’s what you mean.” I replied.

Sean raised a brow and watched me carefully for a moment, before leaning in close to me. “And I think...that you’re lying.” He stated accusingly. His dark grey eyes

hardened, attempting to probe into my psyche, as if he were trying to detect something else behind my expression and words

“Sean!” Diana interjected.

“Excuse me?” I glared at him
. How dare he call me a liar!

“I said
, that I know for a fact that you’re lying!” He raised his voice.

I tried my best to ignore him, but my hostility was building quickly.

“You’re the very epitome of weakness, and weakness is not becoming of a warrior. You’d be better suited to cooking duties, fetching materials for the herbalists, or gathering food in the fields!” he nearly shouted at me.

Where was this
sudden attack on me coming from and why?

I
flared with anger and shot up from my chair.

“You don’t know anything about me! I didn’t ask to be
here, let alone knew that I was chosen!” I finally exploded.

Heat began to coil
inside of me, my skin grew feverishly hot and I could literally feel anger swirling and burning within my brain, igniting…fire.

A small whoosh
erupted, shocking the hell out of me. I squealed and jumped up, my chair toppling over with a wooden thud.

“
What the…” I flinched, waving my hand around wildly, in an attempt to extinguish the fire. My actions were having the opposite effect.

Diana gasped
with wide eyes.

My entire
right hand was engulfed in pure, vibrantly white flames.

It took me a moment to re
alize that it wasn’t burning me and it didn’t hurt at all. In fact—it tickled.

A
smile spread across Sean’s face.  He stood up and began…clapping.

“Bravo! That i
s what I wanted to know and see.” He pointed at my fiery hand with elation.

What?

I stared hypnotically at the flames. It was mesmerizing, even more so, because it was coming from— me. Was this my essence? White fire?

Apparently, Sean
had intended to piss me off on purpose.

If I had any
weaknesses, it was obviously gullibility.

“It’s beautiful.
” Diana smiled, watching my fire in amazement.

I had to be angry to use m
y essence? I don’t think I like that. On the other hand, maybe it was necessary.

Sean moved closer and reached for my hand.

“Don’t!” I jumped back before he could touch me.

He ignored me
, clasping my flaming hand in between his anyway. The fire engulfed his hands instantly, but it didn’t appear to be burning him, nor did he give indication that it hurt.              

He continued smiling
, “Light cannot extinguish light. You cannot dominate your own likeness. One of the most important rules of battle.” He said.

I wasn’t sure what he meant
by that.

He let go of my hand
, still entranced by the now dying flames surrounding his hand.

“Hallowed flames
. White fire is one of the most deadly known weapons against darkness and the fallen. It has been written in the ancient texts, but no other chosen has ever possessed it, until now. This is remarkable.” Sean said excitedly. He then steepled his fingers together beneath his chin in thought.

“
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Diana said to Sean.

Sean nodded,
“For now, I don’t want anyone else to know about your essence. I need to do some research of my own. I don’t care who is inquiring. I’ll need to confer with the elder divine elementals, and the angels too. I have my reasons.” He told her.

He m
oved to pick up my fallen chair and repositioned it on its legs behind me.

Then he looked at me
with seriousness. “Starling, it is imperative that you keep this to yourself. Do not demonstrate or tell anyone what your essence is, no matter what or who asks. For this reason, I’m going to hold off on the duel part of your training. You obviously have no control over it, but I’m guessing it is linked to your emotions, or more so…your anger. Word to the wise, never let it get the best of you. That can be difficult at times but meditation helps.” Sean explained.

Well, rooming me with Jami
e won’t help.

“I’ll try.
I don’t understand why you want me to keep quiet about it.” I replied, still engrossed in the slowly dying white flames surrounding my hand.

I
slowly sat back down. In fascination, I wiggled my fingers, making a fist, and then splaying them out, just to see if the fire would follow my movements. It did.

“This is just until w
e can figure out how to help you control it. I’m not going to have you go the traditional training route either. We’re going to start backwards. This also piques my next curiosity, which weapon —will choose you. Not everyone has an essence; many have vital talents instead. Both work very well in conjunction with each other though.” He explained, still fixated on my fiery hand.

I
wondered what the differences between talents and essences were.

A
s soon as my anger subsided completely, the flames followed suit and finally winked out completely. I wouldn’t have believed what I was seeing now, if Lira hadn’t given me a demonstration of her essence yesterday.

The world as I knew it, was no longer
—at least not for me anymore. I ran my fingers over my flesh in examination. My skin was unmarred, with no indication that it had been an active torch just a moment ago.

“What do you mean, start backwards?” I asked
absently while rubbing my fingers and the palm of my right hand.