Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 20:21:00 +0400
From: Nell Bas <helledon12@gmail.com>
Subject: the last feres/ the feri war 18

Happy reading!

					 The Feri War
       					  Chapter 18


My mate and I ended up cleaning the whole stable. It took us almost two
hours and I found the whole exercise therapeutic. The weight of Charlie's
disappearance hasn't dissipated, but the angst I felt had eased just a
bit. As for the high priest, I was tasked to keep an eye on him. And since
I couldn't use telepathy, I had to resort to astral projection. It wasn't
pleasant but I did my duty. He spent the whole time in his study hunched
over some parchments. He was a pretty busy guy it seemed.

When the astral projection timed out, I was back in Wren's arms. He was
hugging me from behind in one of the narrow beds of the dormitory we had
been assigned to. He kissed the top of my head and nuzzled my hair.

'Miss me?'

He mumbled his answer and frankly I couldn't make out a single word. But
the gist was clear. He did miss me.

'Hey, Silas!' I said startling him. 'When did you get back?' I knew he'd
been watching us from the doorway for a full-blown minute. I couldn't see
his face but I felt his embarrassment. It took me a few more seconds to
notice some cages on the floor beside him. 'Are those pigeons?'

He sheepishly smiled. 'Yeah! Eric bought them for me.'

He must have teleported because it took him three rounds to get all the
cages inside before he shut the door behind him.

I untangled myself from my bondmate and jumped off the bed. I squatted in
front of the cages and poked a finger through to touch one of the
birds. 'They're so adorable.'

'How come Eric bought you pigeons?' Wren said, before changing his mind,
'you know what, I don't want to know.' He winked at Silas.

The boy chuckled. He didn't have to explain anything to us because we both
knew why already. Silas was an animal trainer, specifically, he trains
familiars. Eric it seems, wants the birds to be trained. I could only guess
his reasons but Wren's thought he wants to send them ahead of us to Pixan
as scouts.

'I need help carrying them to the roof. Would you help me?' Silas was a
witch, he could technically teleport there in seconds. But like us, he has
never been on the monastery roof. Guided by the monks along the way we
managed to get Silas on the roof. Wren and I didn't stay to watch him work.
Not that we didn't want to, more like we didn't want the little spy who has
been tailing us since the stable to find out more about what we were up to.

'I'm feeling famished. Let go get something to eat.' Wren said to me.

We climbed down to an awaiting Dirk. 'Are you guys hungry? I'm going to the
soup kitchen if you want to tag along.'

Wren and I locked gaze with a knowing smile. 'Sure, lead the way,' I said.

We walked into the dining hall and was surprised at what we were seeing.
Both priests and acolytes alike were dining with the common folks.  'What
is going on here?' Wren asked.

Dirk smirked and led us to a long table. A priest sat with a woman and her
two children at one end of the table. The adults were engrossed in a lively
conversation while the children barely looked up from their servings. 'As
long as I could remember the monastery has always opened its doors to the
common folks. Sharing a meal with them has been a long-standing tradition
predating the foundation of the temple itself,' Dirk said. Dishes were
already on the table so we served ourselves to the mashed veggies and the
thick gravy that went with it. A meagre meal with no meat but it was tasty
enough.

'I heard the tradition started with a priest that went by the name Kan,'
Dirk said with a mouthful.

Kan. The name was familiar.

'Tell me more of this priest called Kan,' I said.

Dirk paused and tilted his head to the left a little. He was in thought.
'All I know is that he was the oldest member of our faith and died about a
hundred years ago.'

'More like fifty-five,' someone nearby said.

We turned to our right to see an older priest having dinner by himself.

'Brother Gaius, good evening. I didn't see you there,' Dirk said. Wren and
I also greeted the old man.

He politely returned our greetings.

'Have you met brother Kan?' I asked brother Gaius.

He nodded. 'Yes, I've had the chance of meeting him. He was a quiet man and
kept to himself mostly. Although, he was very involved in community work. I
would say he was our leading man in that respect. He had a heart of gold
that one.'

'What happened to him?' Wren asked.

'Frankly, I have no idea what happened to him. Just one day he was there
and the next he vanished.'

That seemed to confuse me more. Why do I feel like I know this man?

'Very peculiar,' Wren said.

'Peculiar indeed,' brother Gaius said. 'Although he was a member of our
congregation, he was rarely seen. He would often disappear days at a time
without any explanation. Others questioned but the high priest at the time
never addressed the issue, only saying that brother Kan has other duties to
attend to. I must admit I'm curious to know where he went back then.'

Something the priest said clicked in my head. I remembered now. This
brother Kan was indeed the same person that I know.

I met Kan the night Helledon broke free from the seal of keepership. The
bastard was no longer the Keeper of Sandridon and because of that, the
power returned to me with Kan as the instruction manual. Thinking about it
gave me goosebumps. It paralysed me for the entire night and the only
consolation I had was Kan who kept me company.

He talked a lot about his life as a monk. I just can't understand why he
kept the truth from his fellow priests. I suppose me telling Gaius isn't
going to hurt anyone, besides, Kan was long gone from this world.

I know that telling Gaius would raise a lot of questions but I wanted him
to know the truth. He was kind and looked like someone who can keep a
secret. And from his memories, he was worried about the man for a while
there. He genuinely cared about his fellow monk.

But now, my only concern was Dirk. He was already suspicious of us,
therefore, I didn't want to add more fuel to the fire. I glanced at the
acolyte. For some reason, I couldn't get a read on him. It was like he shut
his brain off. I'm curious to know how he did that.

I glanced at Wren. He nodded his approval.  He was so in tune with my
thoughts that he didn't have to put them into words.

'I think I know why?' I said looking at brother Gaius.

He gave me a sceptical look. 'Do you really?' He regretted that the moment
he said it.  He pauses to compose himself.  He was afraid of offending me
by saying something foolish. The man was so thoughtful. 'Tell me, how can
you know anything about a priest that live decades before your years.'

'I can't tell you how I came to know what I'm about to tell you but you
just have to trust me.' We could be having this conversation telepathically
but I didn't want to freak him out.

Surprisingly, he chuckled. 'Enlighten me.'

'The reason your brother Kan was aloof all the time was because he had an
important duty to Targeten.' The old priest creased his brows again as if
saying "what?". 'He was the former keeper of Sandridon, the barrier between
realms. And the reason he disappeared is that he fell defending the border
from the northenders attack fifty years ago.'

Contrary to what I thought, brother Gaius didn't question my explanation.
He seemed to be agreeing with me. 'Just as I suspected. I've seen the man
several times throughout the years and he never appeared to be ageing.'

'Yes. Kan was incredibly old. He was the first keeper of Sandridon,' I
said. At the corner of my eye, I saw the perplexed expression on Dirk's
face but he didn't say anything.

As if a prayer has been answered, the old priest smiled and got up. 'Excuse
me, brothers. I have to attend to something. Thank you for sharing with
me.'

I nodded with a smile and watched him waddle away.

Minutes later, we were joined at the table by Rhett and the others. They
weren't in their priest's robes yet nobody paid them any mind, save for
Dirk. He was eying everyone suspiciously. I still can't understand how I
wasn't able to read him like before.

"He must have figured out you're a telepath, atsa."

Wren was right. But how is he concealing his thoughts from me? There isn't
a spell that can do that.  Must be some kind of inhibitor.

Later that night, it was decided that we would spend another day in
Helding. Not that we were abandoning Charlie, but more that we were being
detained, by the weather.

I woke up the next morning in Wren's arms. Save for Maya, the others were
gone.

'Good morning, Rye,' Maya said. I can barely hear her over the pounding
rain outside. I nodded my reply and came to sit next to her on the bed she
slept in with Connor.

Things were moving at a slow pace between them and it looked like Maya
would not have it any other way.

'It seems Silas pigeons have found the Lord of Helding in his keep and they
are trying to get to him now. I doubt they'll succeed. The guy is a
paranoid egomaniac. He has all sorts of ward protecting him.'

'Why do they even bother, they know Charlie is no longer there,' I said.

Maya chuckled. 'You're dealing with Wolf shifters. They won't give up
without a try.'

I supposed she was right. Technically, we could launch a full-scale attack
on the keep and force the Lord out but the last thing we want is to end up
tipping Charlie's abductors. I don't want anything to happen to him because
of us. That was why I told Eric to forget it. He didn't listen of course.

Speaking of the devil, Eric walked into the dormitory followed by the
others.

'That asshole is well hidden behind his wards. It's impossible to get to
him without sounding the alarm,' Eric said kicking the chair next to the
entrance.

'Calm down, we just need to find another way in. There surely is a weak
point in the spells. If we had more time, I could borrow a tunnel
underneath the keep,' Malik said.

'I say lets go back there and forge our way inside with force,' Fiori
said. We needed cool level heads and smarter decisions, she was escalating
the situation further.

Connor hunched over Maya for a kiss and she stopped him with a palm to the
chest. 'Don't. You're dripping wet and filthy. Go clean up.'

'You should all do the same,' I said. 'We leave as soon as the weather is
clear. I will not waste my time knowing he's not here.'

Russell sighed. 'He is right. We all should rest for the journey ahead.' He
extended his hands to Ferard. 'Come babe. Let's go take a shower.'

Eric spent the whole afternoon staring at the keep through the dormitory
window. The rain gave us a little break and it would be enough for the guys
to get some supplies for the next leg of our journey.

I couldn't sense Dirk anymore but I had the gut feeling he was still
watching us.

I approached Eric.

'What is it, Rye? I can smell the uneasiness off of you.'

'The acolyte Dirk.' Eric turned to me abruptly. 'What about him?'

'I could be wrong but I don't think he is what he claims to be.' I have
been thinking about it all morning and his behaviour wasn't typically
monk-like. 'He is spying on us.'

I proceeded to tell him of everything about Dirk I found out. 'Yeah, you
might be on to something.  Although I don't think he is working for the
Lord of Helding.'

'How do you know?'

'You saw how the guards at the gate responded. If anyone working for him
thinks we're a threat to the Lord, guards would have broken in the door and
arrested us by now, no proof necessary.'

Huh! He raised a good point. 'What should we do about him then?'

'We do nothing. We let the truth reveals itself.'


Maya, Silas, Wren and Connor were playing some sort of board game Silas
found in a cupboard when Malik, Rhett, Fiori and Ferard entered. 'We got
the supplies and the wagon is already packed and ready,' Malik said.

'Good. We leave at first light tomorrow,' Eric said. Fiori opened her mouth
to speak but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Irritated, she threw
the door wide open.

Dirk stood there holding his hands behind his back. He had a weird smirk on
his face.

'What can we do for you young acolyte?' Fiori said.

Dirk walked past her and entered without an invitation. All attention was
on him.

'One of the gate guards recognised one of you and followed you to our
doorsteps. You must leave now before you bring down trouble on the
monastery. Gather your stuff and follow me, please.'

Everyone glanced at Eric expectedly. "Rye!"

"I can't get a read off of him. He's concealing his thoughts from me
somehow."

"He could be telling the truth though," Wren chipped in.

'Where are you taking us?' Russell asked.  Eric agreed to go with him. If
what Dirk said was true we couldn't stay there any longer.

'Getting you out of the city of course.'

'What about our wagon and horses?' Malik said.

'No need to worry. They are already outside the walls waiting for you.'

Eric locked gaze with Wren. He was asking his little brother to be ready
for anything. If this was a trap we weren't going down without a fight.

We followed Dirk through a series of corridors before entering a garden. It
was drizzling and I shivered to moment I stepped into the rain.

We stopped in front of a stone tablet with carvings on it. It was about
seven feet tall and wide enough to fit four men standing shoulder to
shoulder in front of it. It looked like a memorial stone.

Dirk placed a hand on the tablet and it rippled like water. 'It's a
portal. It will take you outside to the western end of the city walls.'

The moment he said that Wren grabbed the boy by the neck. It startled him.

'No need to fret,' Eric told him, 'if what you said is true he'll release
you shortly.'

Starting with Wren and Dirk, one by one we entered the portal. When I
stepped through, I felt the pull like that of teleportation. I emerged from
the other side after Rhett.

We appeared to be in a gazebo-like structure protruding from the wall.
Beyond was a sheer cliff that I couldn't see that well because of the
mist. But I did notice the bulky man that greeted us. He was the commander
who granted us passage at the gate. He was alone.

'Thank you for trusting us. You can release the boy now. I'm unarmed and
outnumbered.'

Eric glanced at me. I nodded and Wren let go of Dirk. He didn't hurry off
but went to stand by his protector's side.

'I didn't get to introduce myself yesterday. I'm Commander Darius. You all
know brother Dirk.' He glanced at the young acolyte. Dirk had the same
exasperated expression he had when Commander Darius called him boy earlier.
I realized he didn't want to be seen as a boy, but as a man. As he should
be, he was only a year my junior. 'His true name, however, is Derek
Helding.'

'Any relations to Lord Harold Helding?' Malik said.

'Harold is my mother's uncle,' Dirk spat.

'With the backing of The Witch Council, Harold was placed as the acting
Lord of Helding when Derek's mother died. Derek should have had control
over his inheritance and status when he turned seventeen three years ago
but the rascal didn't want to give up his power.'

'What did he do to you?' Maya asked. I could see she was already
emotionally compromised. So was I.

'He tried to dispose of me.'

'I'll spare you the details but I rescued him and hid him at the
monastery.'

I stared at Dirk defiant gaze. He was proud and fierce. He didn't look like
someone who liked to be pitied.

A trick of the light, something glittered around his neck. I peered at it
closely. That explained why I couldn't seem to get a good read on them.
Well, I was able to hear Darius thoughts earlier but as soon as Dirk
reached him he went silent. It so happened that the necklace the young
acolyte had around his neck had three small stones hanging from it. The
purple stone was an inhibitor, the bluestone was for invisibility and the
orange stone was a glamour stone. I realized he must have activated them
the moment he discovered I was telepathic.

'An intriguing story you have there, but what does that has to do with us.'
That came from Fiori. She was never one to beat around the bush.

Commander Darius smiled. 'A few days ago, a man was being held hostage in
one of the rooms at the keep. I didn't know who he was until you showed
up.'

I gasped. Charlie!

'Harold was keeping it low key because even I didn't know until I saw his
bodyguards guarding the door.'

Eric was getting worked up and the others didn't want to interrupt the man
from speaking.

'Harold's bodyguards were loyal to him so even I couldn't get access to the
detainee. So, I got one of his cronies drunk and fished out the intel out
of him instead. He didn't know the details but it seemed your friend was
being detained at the behest of the Witch Council. Last night, he was
drugged and teleported to the capital. I knew that he was somebody
important and that his people would come for him. I just didn't know who.
Harold also knew you would come that's why the Keep has been warded to the
teeth. I kept tabs on you to be sure but Harold still has loyal followers
in the city. One of them recognised you and here you are.'

For a few seconds, only the sound of rain could be heard.

'Thank you, commander. I'm eternally grateful for what you've done for
us. I wish one day we could repay you in kind,' Eric said.

'Commander Darius, you've told us your story and I appreciate your
honesty. What are your plans for you and your bondmate, and the city?' I
said.

Dirk beamed. Darius went rigid for a second there. Composing himself he
replied, 'Don't worry about us. The plan to take back the city is already
in the making. Harold will get his comeuppance.'

'That's good to hear because it will save me a trip back here once our
mission is over,' I said.

Commander Darius nodded expectantly.

'What's the deal, can we leave now?' Fiori said impatiently.

'You can leave whenever you wish. Your horses are down there waiting for
you,' Commander Darius said pointing down.

We thanked them and took the flight of stairs that would lead us to our
steeds.

............................

End of chapter 18