Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (75 page)

“Elder Sotomar was close
to her too. She came to us and asked that your Elder and your Chief
Enforcer be held captive until their tempers calmed… She didn’t
want this.”

“Yes, well she’s not here to change
her mind, is she?”

“She wouldn’t have.”

“I don’t have to justify
my actions to the Valle,” Chevalier said with a steady voice. The
Council looked at him, shocked that the rage was somewhat under
control.

“We’re just asking that
you step back for a moment and make sure that what you’re doing
won’t impact all of the heku in the future,” the Valle
said.

“There’s one Encala left
in our prison,” Chevalier told him. “What good would it do to let
him go?”

“He can rebuild.”

“From what?
Nothing?”

“He can at least try.”

The trial room doors flew open and
Kyle stepped in. It was obvious to the heku that he hadn’t calmed
since Emily’s death, “We found more.”

Chevalier stood up, “How
many?”

“36, hidden away in a
cave.”

“Let’s go,” he replied, and started
down the stairs.

“We beg you,” the Valle’s
Liaison Officer said. “Let them go.”

“Dad…” Alexis said from behind Kyle.
Kyle spun to face her, his body still crouched to fight.

Chevalier ignored her and passed
through the doors.

“No! You will listen to me,” she
screamed, and Chevalier turned to face her. “I’m not going to let
you do this.”

“Who’s going to stop me?” he asked,
taking a step towards her, careful not to look directly into her
eyes.

Alexis squared her shoulders, “I
am.”

“You’re too young to understand,”
Chevalier said, and turned to leave.

“No I’m not… You’re too
mad to see that Mom wouldn’t want this.”

He sighed, still facing away from her,
“We don’t know what she would want.”

“Yes we do. The Encala were her
friends.”

“They killed her,” he
hissed.

“No, Frederick killed her.”

Chevalier hesitated and
then swept out of the palace, followed by Kyle and the Cavalry.
Just as he left, he heard Alexis scream that she hated him and the
hole in his heart deepened.

Once in the helicopter,
Kyle gave a report to the others, “We found a cave in central
Illinois and an informant told us there are 36 Encala inside… What
we believe to be the last of them.”

“Who is the informant?” Kralen asked,
his eyes narrowing.

“Was… he’s dead,” Kyle
told him. “He gave us information in exchange for his life. From
what we can gather, this is the hideout Frederick was using. The
Encala stepped out to try to check on more members when we found
him.”

“Same as before,”
Chevalier said. “Kill everyone. I don’t want anyone left
alive.”

The Cavalry nodded and sat
back for the long ride to Illinois. The Blackhawk helicopter landed
just after midnight and the heku quickly ran the last 10 miles to
the entrance to the hideout. They watched for a few hours, but saw
no one come or go.

“Go,” Chevalier whispered,
then watched as Kralen and his team of 10 heku approached the
concealed door and lifted it silently. Kralen listened for a moment
and then nodded at Chevalier. He could smell Encala.

Kyle motioned for the rest
of the Cavalry to surround the door and Chevalier stood and moved
to it. The door was nothing but rotted planks hidden beneath dense
brush. He looked down the hole and saw stairs descending into the
depths of the earth. There was the strong scent of
Encala.

Chevalier’s hands
tightened into fists as he started down the archaic stairway. He
heard the others enter behind him and he made his way deeper into
the earth. The sounds of movement and voices started just as the
dark tunnel began to lighten. Anticipation grew within the Cavalry
as they neared what was to be the last of the Encala
faction.

They stepped down onto a
metal walkway that skirted around a massive cave room. Nothing
could be heard as the Equites breached the safe haven for the
Encala. The terrified faces of the Encala looked up at the enemy
and only the sound of water dripping from the cave walls broke the
sound of their boots.

The Equites were surprised
there was no screaming, no pleading or begging. It was obvious that
the Encala had given up. They resigned themselves to dying for the
actions of their Elder.

“
You’re protecting the
heku again.”

“
Ever consider it’s my job
on this planet to protect you?”

Chevalier froze as Emily’s words rang
out loud and clear from the dark recesses of the cave. He looked at
Kyle, but he gave no indication that he’d heard it also.

“I want a promise from the
Council that neither Chevalier, nor Kyle, will be allowed to go on
an enraged rampage if I die.”

“Elder?” Mark asked from behind
him.

Chevalier again looked out over the
Encala gathered. They were huddled together, shaking from terror
and their eyes locked on his.

“I hate you.”

He sighed when Alexis’
words came into his mind. He hadn’t before realized how much like
Emily she was in trying to save what was left of the dying
Encala.

“Elder, what do you want us to do?”
Mark said a little louder.

Chevalier met the eyes of
a dark haired heku woman who was clinging tightly to a man beside
her. He watched as she buried her face in his shoulder, crying
tearlessly as she said her good-byes.

Kyle turned to Chevalier,
“Elder?”

“What would Emily say?” Chevalier
whispered as he watched the Encala.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… is this what she would
want?”

“We can’t exactly ask her, now can
we?” Kyle snapped.

“No, we can’t… but we
know.”

“We have to kill them, they killed
her.”

“No, they didn’t.”

Kyle glared at Chevalier, “It’s our
job to avenge her.”

“Which I’ve already done.”

“That’s it then? We get this close to
complete annihilation of the Encala and we quit!?”

Chevalier looked over at his old
friend, “Yes, we do.”

“No, that’s not good enough for
Emily.”

His voice became soft and full of
pain, “If she were here right now, she would be standing in front
of us, trying to block us from harming them.”

“He’s right,” Mark said, relaxing his
posture.

“We let them go with the knowledge
that we spared them out of compassion for Emily’s feelings,”
Chevalier told them.

“No!” Kyle yelled. “We kill them
slowly with the knowledge that they caused it.”

“Get back to the helicopter,”
Chevalier ordered.

Kyle crouched slightly, “I’m staying
to finish the job.”

“Bring him.”

It took Kralen, Silas, and
four members of the Cavalry to force Kyle out of the Encala cave.
He fought against them, trying in vain to avenge the death of his
friend. Once in the helicopter, he glared at the Elder and felt his
temper rising.

Chevalier sat back and watched out the
window as they were taken back to the palace. He was overtly aware
that Kyle was furious with him, but knew that when Kyle calmed
down, he would see that they did the right thing.

Just before landing, Chevalier finally
spoke, “It’s time you go back to normal duty. Four are to be on
Alexis at all times, the rest will resume your regular
jobs.”

Mark nodded, “Yes, Elder.”

Quinn and Zohn met the helicopter on
the roof. The palace again seemed quiet as the helicopter’s engines
died out and the heku got solemnly out of it.

“So, are they gone?” Quinn
asked.

“No,” Chevalier said, and he looked at
the other two Elders with a still calmness they hadn’t seen since
before Emily left for a year. “We let them go.”

Zohn stepped aside as Kyle stormed
past them and a crash was heard inside of the palace.

“You let them go?” Quinn asked,
shocked.

“I got my revenge on Frederick. It’s
time to leave them alone,” he said, and walked into the
palace.

“Do we let William go?”

“No”

Alexis met them on the stairs. She was
glaring at the heku, “Did you kill them?”

“No, I didn’t,” Chevalier said as he
walked past her without another word.

Four members of the
Cavalry fell in to stand behind Alexis and she glanced at them
before turning to Zohn, “What happened?”

“He let them go,” Zohn
explained.

“Devia!” Alexis yelled,
and then waited for the Border collie to return to the horses. When
he appeared, he was dragging a large stick along the
ground.

“Let’s go, Lexi,” Silas said, and
turned his horse toward the Council City.

“Just a little longer?” she asked, and
watched her four guards head out.

“Nope, come on.”

Alexis sighed and kicked her mare to
catch up with the others, “I don’t see why we have to do
this.”

“It’s your Birthday, how can you not
want to go?” Kralen asked her.

“Because I just don’t
care.”

“He’s trying to make-up with you. Let
him have this.”

“He can try all he wants.
I don’t like him.”

“He’s your Dad and he cares about
you,” Silas told her.

“Yeah, well Mom’s been
dead a year and I still don’t want anything to do with him. He can
throw any party he wants. It’s not going to change
anything.”

“Just do it and act like you like it,
ok?”

“No,” Alexis said, and climbed down
off of her horse. She led the mare into a stall and slipped off the
saddle. When she finished putting the mare away for the night, she
turned and saw her four guards waiting in the stable for
her.

“Well like it or not, you’re going,”
Kralen said, and then grinned when she stormed past
them.

“I didn’t see him making Mom do this
crap,” Alexis grumbled.

Silas chuckled, “He did.”

“Miss Alexis,” her tailor said,
running up to them when they entered the palace. “It’s finished,
purple, just as you asked.”

“No, it’s just as Dad asked… I said
I’m not going.”

One of the Cavalry took
the dressing bag from the tailor and then followed Alexis up the
stairs. She turned at her door and snatched it out of his hands,
then disappeared inside after slamming the door.

Allen, Miri, and Dain came
down the stairs a few minutes later, dressed and ready for the
party.

“Is she ready yet?” Allen asked,
adjusting his tie.

Silas grinned, “No, she’s still in
there griping about going.”

Dain sighed and knocked on
the door, “Come on, Alex.”

“Do you need help, Alex?” Miri asked,
moving to the door.

“No, I’m pretty sure I can get dressed
by myself,” Alexis yelled at her.

Miri smiled and stepped back by
Allen.

“What’s the hold up?” Kyle asked when
he appeared by the door.

“She’s having… issues,” Kralen said,
and grinned slightly.

Kyle knocked on the door, “Ten
minutes, Alex, and I haul you out of there, ready or
not.”

“Go away!”

Kyle grinned, “Fine… seven minutes
then.”

They all heard Alexis scream and then
start to get dressed.

Kyle chuckled as he headed down the
stairs.

Several minutes later, Alexis stepped
out and by the look on her face, they could tell she still wasn’t
happy.

“Come on,” Dain said, and
put out his arm. Alexis took his arm and then pulled at the
dress.

“This is stupid… When’s
the last time any of you had a birthday party?”

“Last time I had a birthday, Allen
almost killed Mom,” Dain said matter-of-factly.

“Shut up, Dain,” Alexis hissed, and
lifted the hem on her dress so she could walk down the
stairs.

“You know as well as any of us that
this party has nothing to do with your birthday,” Allen reminded
her.

“Again… not going to work.”

Alexis, Allen, and Dain
entered the party together and the loud talking of the heku fell
silent. They were still revered in the heku community and those
that hadn’t met them were desperate to catch a glimpse of the heku
children and a Winchester. Alexis sighed and hesitated in the door,
finally walking in when Dain took her arm and pulled her
inside.