Shine: The Knowing Ones (44 page)

Standing before them, a ways off, Ashbel’s spirit looked on, standing outside of himself watching as his own hands prepared to kill the innocent girl, which would release Chernobog into the world.

Anvil stared, unable to speak

“The child is mine,” Ashbel said, gazing at the scene before him. “The baby carries the blood of Gea, as do we, brother.”

Anvil’s eyes filled with tears.

“We are direct descendants. So is Samantha.” Ashbel turned to face them. “She is my granddaughter several generations over,” he said. “Natasha escaped. The Divinity made certain my lineage would not die with me. You and I were the first descendants born into the line of Keepers and Oracles. You were to stay on as Keeper of the tribe and I was to commence teaching the outside world to protect themselves. I failed.” Taking a step toward the frozen image of his own invaded body, he gazed upon the vicious attack. “Samantha has all my gifts,” he said. “She has all the attributes necessary to take my place and commence my work.”

Sam watched her Grandfather with indescribable sorrow. She now understood the feeling of loss that stung her every time she had looked upon him. He had been the one comforting her when she had been taken captive. It was he who lead her through the water to the sealed room and the kindjal, it was his genetic code in her DNA that allowed her to teleport and the very same that allowed the demon to block it while using his body.

Sam gazed upon him and wept.

Anvil finally found his voice beneath the shock. “Brother...” he begged.

Ashbel turned and looked upon him, his eyes burning with conviction and shame. “I did not kill Anavi,” he uttered. “Chernobog’s goal
was to kill the Oracle whose blood would grant him passage. He used me to kill her, thinking she was Samantha. When the seal remained, he realized she wasn’t the descendant and commenced searching for the true heir.”

The men stood in disbelief at the words of the lost warrior.

Ashbel’s eyes filled with remorse. “I failed you, Anvil. My pride left me vulnerable and open to him. Though I am bound to the demon, I have tried to contact you. Your grief and pain had put you beyond my reach. It was then I realized I needed Trinton.”

Both Trin and Anvil gazed in confusion. “I do not understand,” Anvil replied, his voice thick with emotion.

Ashbel lifted his eyes to Natasha and the gleaming guardian. “There is a way to stop this from happening,” he said. He looked back to Anvil. “I cannot rid myself of the demon,” Ashbel explained. “He is rooted in me.” He looked again at the young woman dying on the crimson pillar. “If this woman dies, Chernobog will be freed and Sam will never be born. This nightmare will continue as long as Chernobog has control of my body, and he will as long as I am living,” Ashbel said. He gazed fervently upon his brother. “I am guilty of one thing,” he declared. “I did not challenge the demon bringing Samantha here. Chernobog wanted Samantha because only she can break the seal,” he said. “I did not fight him because I knew if he succeeded, Trinton would follow.” His beautiful eyes gleamed in resignation. “No one can stand against me, Anvil,” he disclosed. “Our people are helpless here now. You would never have the strength to do it. That makes Trin the only Veduny capable of killing me.”

Anvil’s frame began to tremble as unspeakable pain washed through him. Trin stood speechless at his side.
“No,”
Anvil thundered, his agony breaking him. “This is wrong. There has to be another way.”

Trin looked on in anguish, wracked with the pain his mentor was feeling, stunned by the revelation of Ashbel’s innocence, and the devastation of the inevitable task he would have to carry out. He had no choice. Everything Ashbel had said was true. It was the only way to stop Chernobog. It was the only way to save Sam’s life.

Sam gripped Trin’s hand. Lifting her eyes to the still unmoving scene, the slightest hint of momentum could be felt. “It’s starting again,” she said, pulling herself up by Trin’s arm.

Trin and Anvil glanced at their surroundings as the slow shift accelerated.

Ashbel spun around. “Natasha is nearly gone. You’re out of time. I cannot hold him back any longer.” He turned to Trin. “Trinton, the kindjal,” he commanded. “It is in my right hand.”

Anvil launched forward.
“NO!
There has to be another way!” He looked upon his brother, desperation wracking his features. “There is no justice in this,” he pled. “You have not earned this punishment.”

Ashbel looked upon his brother, eyes shining with moisture. “This is no punishment,” he said. “I am a slave, Anvil. My foolishness has made me so. Trinton is not taking me from you tonight. He is giving me back to you.” He placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I am captive. So is Anavi. We all are. I experience everything the demon does as if I were committing it. I can bear this no longer. Please...set me free.”

The environment began to spin as the momentum increased. Ashbel pulled his shattered brother to him in a tight embrace, his lips above his ear. “When your time arrives, brother...come find me.” He glanced at Trin, nodded once and looked his brother in the eyes. “I will be waiting.”

A screeching whine accompanied the return of time, releasing the captive images of the chaos that had been frozen long enough for the only thing that would save them to be set in motion.

Ashbel released his brother, turning to Trin in urgency.
“Trinton—the kindjal.”

Time erupted into motion and everything was as it had been before the pause. Everything Trin had been taught, everything he had been trained for rested solidly in his broken heart as he lunged like lightening toward Ashbel’s right hand. The demon turned just in time to see the new Keeper of the Veduny tribe diving toward him and he felt the kindjal being ripped from his grasp. A howl of menacing fury erupted from deep inside Ashbel’s body. With his focus interrupted, the young woman, Natasha, dropped to the ground, no longer in the clutches of his powerful mind.

Trin turned to face the monster, looking him in the eyes. The black seething lenses did not belong to Ashbel and made it easier for him to raise the dagger. Solid conviction coursed through him, and with his unparalleled power, he lunged forward, burying the blade deep into the demon’s heart, pinning him against the lone crimson tower. Inhuman, braying screams shot to the skies as Ashbel’s blood soaked into the alexandrite behind him. The color of the pillar began to change.

CHAPTER FIFTY NINE

T
he seven giant crystalline pillars flickered—crimson lightning striking within their walls. Ashbel’s right hand shot out, grabbing Trinton’s jacket in his powerful grasp.

Trin’s eyes jerked to the sudden fist holding his coat. An unexpected rush filled his heart as he was met with the golden Keeper’s chain around Ashbel’s wrist. Electric light flickered beneath the gold plate where the Alexandrite stone responded to the realignment of Veduny power. Trin felt an undeniable shift in the warrior’s aura and he looked up into his face, no longer the face of a demon—the face of the man who had taught and trained him, resembling Anvil in every way. With his last breath he looked upon Trin with the purest sincerity.

His eyes flashed from bitter black to a blinding radiant jade, glowing with the light of redemption.
“Thank you.”

A glorious golden blue light lifted from Ashbel’s lifeless body, filling the winds, and escaping into the parting heavens above.

Anvil dropped to his knees and wept with Sam at his side, arms wrapped around his strong shoulders.

Tears stung Trin’s eyes as the warrior’s massive body fell into him. Trin supported Ashbel’s formidable frame, pulling the blade from his heart as Anvil’s men attended to Natasha, healing her wounds, ensuring her safety and that of the baby she carried; the sacred bloodline of the Veduny Goddess Gea.

Cresting the hill, an army of Veduny warriors rode across the flat snow-covered landscape toward them. The blast and shift in the moon had been an undeniable signal they were needed, even though they
knew there might not be anything they could do once they arrived. They didn’t expect to see what they found.

The new Keeper held the kindjal and the body of the fallen Keeper. Anvil, their captain, knelt not far from them, grieving with the Oracle at his side.

The pillars shone in brilliant green, the conduit realigned with the Divinity. The garnet moon blinked to bright white casting a radiant glow across the mystical plateau and the energy in the air was clean.

Trin lowered the powerful warrior’s body to the snowy earth—a flood of emotions crushing him. He gazed upon his lifeless body with tear-filled eyes, staring at the great warrior he had never known but who had given his life to restore his people’s security, the warrior who would live on through his twin brother and his great-great-great-granddaughter; Trin’s charge—and his reason for living.

He hadn’t failed Sam. He now realized his duty to protect her had only just begun.
She
was now the most powerful Veduny with all of Ashbel’s work ahead of her. Trin now knew all this time his job so far had been to get her
here
so her mission could truly begin.

The demon still lived. He would try again. But the Veduny tribe knew too much now and soon all of humanity would acknowledge their own power, weakening the Black God’s ability to try.

Natasha had been sent on her way, laden with all the provisions they could give her. She had to complete her journey the same way she had planned in order to avoid altering the future and risking Sam’s place in it.

Llamar had gone to assure her safe departure. Trin, Sam, and Anvil stood in the grand sitting room where a fire had been built to warm their chilled bodies. The task at hand was to get Sam and Trin back to the time they had come from. They had work to do and every moment they remained in the past jeopardized that work. Sam and Trin had changed back into their own clothes and they were ready to go.

Anvil looked fondly at Trin. “What does one say in a situation like this?” he asked with lighthearted sorrow. “I will not see you for so many years and you are a brother to me already.”

Trin grinned. “I’ll probably see you in about five minutes, full of advice and a long list of rules to follow.”

Anvil laughed. “Am I really that bad?”

Trin’s playful smile faded to a look of undeniable humility and respect. “It is because of you that I am who I am,” he said. “I can’t imagine going through it all without you.”

Anvil nodded. “I truly look forward to the day you are born.”

The two massive men grabbed a hand and pulled each other into a hug. He turned to Sam, taking both her hands in his. He tilted his head to the side in adoration. “My niece, what an honor this has been.”

Sam smiled, her emotions right at the surface. She hugged him tightly. She had redone her hair as it was when she was taken, adorned with white floral clips. She pulled one of them out of her hair, took his hand, and placed it against his palm. “Thank you,” she whispered, “for everything.”

Anvil looked down at the dainty white lily, so much emotion swirling through him; so many significant events to process. Sam gave him another quick hug, unable to endure the moment any longer, and turned to Trin. “Where do I send us?” she asked him. She had full access to all of Ashbel’s gifts and time travel was no longer difficult for her.

Trin studied her for a moment. “Your performance, before I spoke to Anna.”

Sam gazed at him, thinking of her friend, and her heart filled simultaneously with joy and fear.

“You can do this,” he assured her.

Sam nodded, squeezing his powerful hands. She moved into his welcoming embrace and they both turned to Anvil for one last goodbye.

Trin smiled. “See you in a few,” he said.

Anvil smiled through his sorrow. “In a few...” he replied and lifted a hand. A rushing sound and a blinding white light sucked them into a brilliant flash, and they were gone.

Anvil stood in the silent, empty room by himself. He remained for a while, absorbing the magnitude of the many overwhelming occurrences that had taken place within a few short hours. History had been changed. His people had been saved and so had his brother. He lowered his head and smiled. The smile soon faded into the emptiness of the ever present cavern of sorrow that had been carved out of his chest when Anavi had been taken from him.

He stood motionless in the large, beautiful room experiencing the searing sting of it again for the first time since the arrival of his visitors. In the quiet, by himself, he was left with nothing else.

The environment shimmered. Anvil lifted his eyes, bewildered. A distinct energy charged the space around him. Squinting in confusion,
he tried to place the odd sensation. He glanced around the room, scanning, when his attention fell to the empty space across from him.

Luminescent wisps of golden blue light materialized, swirling in the air, growing, expanding, touching the floor, shimmering with Veduny essence. His breath caught in his throat, and her form fully manifested.

She stood in a halo of light, long dark tresses flowing past her shoulders, enchanting blue eyes radiant with angelic power. The massive warrior fell to his knees, head falling forward as his strong, masculine hands hit the floor. The fearless, rational facade his tribe relied upon fractured at its core, falling away to reveal months of pent-up agony and despair, and he began to weep.

Anavi moved, celestial gown billowing as she dropped down in front of him. Tears came to her eyes as she put a hand to his face. Her touch, which he hadn’t felt for so long, ripped the aching wound wider, erupting through him like an electrical surge, because he knew it could not last.
“Why?”
he whispered, pleading in anguish through silent sobs. “Why have they allowed you to come to me when I can barely stand living with even your memory?”

She brought her other hand to his face. “My love,” she whispered through her tears. “They have sent me to stay.”

With broken hope he did not dare to entertain he lifted his tear-filled gaze to hers, his eyes begging her to explain.

“I have been assigned to you for the remainder of your life,” she said. “Llamar is your guide, but
I
am your companion. I will remain with you until you crossover and join me here. You do not have to live your life without me,” she said, “and I no longer have to wait for you.”