Chapter III – The seeds of yesterday
You hear them whispering
In the crowns of the trees
You're whirling around
But your eyes don't agree
Will `o' the wisps
Misguiding your path
You can't throw a curse
Without taking their wrath – Keeper of The Seven Keys
The Endless River
"Great, you were supposed to protect them from anything and now they
are gone. What kind of Keeper are you child?" Hunter, King of
Warlocks, cried out. Remy flinched at the harsh sound of his voice,
he was old enough to have heard the tales of Tarak's and what he has
done to his daughter. No one seemed to like talking about it, yet
everyone expected Ethiene to defend something she wasn't even
obliged to do so.
He had had enough of Hunter's attitude and he was about to chop him
off, when Jeff intervened "Hunter, would you calm down, it's not her
fault"
Everyone fell quiet when they heard Matt's roar "Fuck you all!!! My
best friend is dying and I'm trying to heal him, you think you could
shut up for at least one minute?? ONE minute???!!!" he yelled, his
voice so mixed with anger and pain. Ethiene got up and walked to
him "Relax child, it won't do any good if you're upset. Here, let me
help you"
The woman's hand took Matt's and together they focused on healing
Athor, once he started breathing Matt slumped on the ground,
completely spent "I'm sorry young man, it was never my intention for
any of you to get hurt"
She looked at her confident "Rem, take them to Jeffrey's castle,
they'll be safe there"
Logan jumped off "Why there? My King can protect them better than
anyone" a defeated sigh from the Keeper "Because Tarak is a sorcerer
and the only ones who can stop him are the Wizards, now shut up and
go to his Realm"
King Jeffrey laughed, he knew little from the Keeper and her father,
but what he did know was enough to frightened the old Barbarian
himself. "Then let's get going"
They followed the young King, Paul's hand on his shoulder for
comfort. Remy stayed behind, right next to his best friend "You
heard what I said?"
"Yes, I . . Remy, I don't know what to say. I love you too, as a
brother, but . . this is so hard, I've been seeing you in a
different light lately. Maybe we should wait once this is all over
and then see what happens" her pitch black eyes pierced his soul,
afraid of losing her he agreed. "Once this is over" he emphasized.
"You two lovebirds, get going" the Barbarian's heavy growl broke
their moment, which made Ethiene realized the old man's
feelings `Never knew he would feel that way towards a man'
"Relax . . old man" Remy sauntered next to him, wrapping an arm
around his shoulder "You could collapse from a nervous breakdown if
you keep growling like that" his tongue flicking with the words,
such an effect he had on people.
No matter how hard Logan tried, the young man was creeping through
his skin. The first time he saw him was when he took over the thrown
of his Realm, everyone from the Realms was invited, except the
humans, and he couldn't help but stare at the auburn hair man who
was now The Wise Men King.
He thought the new king was alluring, exceptional beautiful and very
athletic. For what he had heard, Remy was a romantic but had never
been in love. Looking at the couple of friend, he realized Remy was
in fact in love with Ethiene. But the fact that Remy had admitted
his love with the young Keeper, maybe it was hard for Logan to
actually confess to himself that he was jealous of that emotional
display.
Whether it was because of her or him, that would have to be seen.
Once they got to Jeff's Realm, he called his Council. "Prepare a
meeting, I must address to all of you" Paul dismissed himself and
contacted his people, as well as the others did the same.
"What am I supposed to do?" the human asked to no one in
particular "Maybe you should call your Council?" Jeff quietly
suggested "My Council? It's not mine and they won't care, I'm just
an expendable thing for them"
Since King Jeffrey was the only one who was on the chamber, he
decided to give some encouragement to the young man "I do not
believe those words, your life is just as valuable like the rest of
us"
Adam's dark blue eyes were filled with sadness "For you, we're
nothing but trash. Pathetic creatures who forged their own destiny
by selling their souls to the highest bidder, why would you care if
I live or die?"
The harsh words that come from his heart were enough to make the
young King reflex on his own opinion towards Humans "I don't know
very well the circumstances on which your King was to ever make such
an outrageous action, but if you can explain me . . maybe I can
understand what are you going through" Adam was startled by his
honesty, no one has ever wanted to hear their side of the story.
"It's very simple King Jeffrey, power corrupts people, no matter who
they are" the voice of Ethiene made both men jump in
surprise "Keeper, I was expecting for his answer not his
spokesperson's"
Both, Human and Keeper, laughed at the sight of a very upset
Wizard "Bad temper, no wonder why Rems always complained about you"
"Why do you call him like that? I was the only one allowed to do so"
Jeff felt a bit of jealousy at hearing his pet name for who was his
best friend "I do not need to explain myself to any one, specially
to a spoiled Wizard and for your information The Mortals are one of
the realms I'm the keeper from, it is my duty to speak for them when
wrongly accused"
The blonde Mortal appreciated being defended by such a beautiful
woman, but at the same time he felt less of a man for letting her
doing so "No, it's alright, he wants to know why my father went nuts
and decided it would be better to steal the Keys for himself, then
fine"
He settled down on of the chairs by the window "I was around five
years when my mother left to the Mount of Despair, I had no idea why
she had to go there but I never asked. Being the son of the King
brings a lot of perks just as many flaws" the sad tone on his voice
made the other two realize this was a very sensitive issue.
"She left at dawn, and was supposed to return at dusk. Only she
didn't, my father never even told me why mommy didn't got home. The
years went by and it was only dad and I, when I was around eight I
found why my mother had disappeared" Adam stopped to look at his
audience, both Jeff and Ethiene were paying attention to every word
that come out of his mouth.
"I found the Key to our Realm in my father's chamber, which was
weird for the Keepers had to have them, not my father. I asked my
nana and she said `Your father has demons that you and me can never
understand', and understand them is something I never did. The day
after, he left for his usual round through our land, I asked him to
take him and he said no"
The story he was revealing was one that Ethiene knew by heart, but
it was completely and utterly strange for Jeff "you were young, I'm
sure he didn't want you to get hurt" his soft voice echoed in the
room , startling Adam "Yes, I'm aware I was young but that's not the
reason. The reason was simple, he was going to the Keepers Realm to
try and vanquish her" flushing he signaled at Ethiene, making her
chuckle.
"That wasn't your sin young Mortal, it was your father's and I've
long forgiven your race"
The smile on her face showed Adam she meant every word "Thanks"
Jeff cut them off "So, your father went crazy and tried to kill the
Keeper? I didn't know that, I thought . . well, doesn't matter what
I thought. Adam, you're welcome in this Realm if you wish to stay"
The offering sounded nice, but Adam knew he had to go back and
warned his kind "Thank you King Jeffrey, but I must return to my
lands and tell the Council was happening"
He excused himself and quickly left, leaving Keeper and Wizard
together "I know you don't trust me, nor any of my kind but I must
tell you one thing"
The dark hair woman nodded "Remy . . he's the most wonderful friend
I could ever have, but my people never liked him and no, he had
nothing to do with him being a Wise Men. It's cause of his attitude,
that `I don't care' pose he has that drives my advisers crazy" he
placed his left hand on Ethiene's right shoulder "Make him happy"
The road to The Mortals' Realm
"You shouldn't ride all by yourself, not after what happened" the
voice behind Adam's scared him, he wasn't expecting anyone to follow
him "And who are you to tell me what to do?"
"Sorry, my name's Matthew, but you can call me Matt" the stranger
introduced himself, waiting for the other man's reply "I know, one
of the Peace Makers, I saw you down the river. I'm Adam and I'm used
to being alone, so don't worry"
"oh, but I do"
Adam was surprised at Matt's reply "And why would you?"
Matt wasn't expecting to be questioned about his reasons, and he
couldn't tell the real ones so he thought of another "I don't like
to be alone and my best friend had to be taken to our Realm, truth
is I don't trust in any of the others .. except you"
Which was true, well part of it. He did trust Jeffrey and the
Keeper, but he wanted to be with Adam more than he'd ever let anyone
know "Whoa! Thanks, I never thought any of the other Realms' people
would ever trust me again. So, Matt .. what is going on between
Athor and you?"
The young Peace Maker almost fell off his stallion at the question,
he knew many women were after his best friend, so he had to be
somewhere near handsome. But, he was never interested in men, at
least not in Athor "He's my best friend"
Adam laughed, that beautiful smile would be engraved in Matt's
senses for the rest of eternity "So, your best friend? It's nice to
have a friend like that"
"Yeah, he's the best, always there by my side" the dark hair of the
young Peace Maker was on a pony tail that would swing with every
trot of the stallion. Adam was hypnotized by this motion, he never
thought liking a man this much was possible "Not him, I meant you"
Both men looked at each other and laughed, Matt from nervousness and
Adam trying to hide his increased blushing. Soon enough they were
close to the gates of the Mortals' Realm "Stay here, I'll be back in
a few" the blond man warned Matthew and quickly disappeared between
the enormous oak gates.
Feeling nervous, Matthew dismounted his horse, nothing that was
happening right now was making any sense. Loosing the keys was one
thing, then his best friend almost died, and now this.
He liked another man, that's for sure, but a Mortal?? His kind
would never agreed on that and he was having a hard time not falling
for Adam.
Why sins from the past have to hunt us even if we didn't commit them?
That was one of the hardest question to answer, and he was about to
find out. Wouldn't matter how hard the seven of them tried, the past
was going to get them and in the end their lives would never be the
same.
.... sorry for the delay (writer's block at the millionth power) but
hopefully the next chapters would come out easily (keep fingers
crossed) .. feedback would be highly appreciated ..
Nikki