Chapter Two

Aegeus drew closer to the flames of the fire raging in the center of the cavern floor. He held his hands against it, allowing the warmth to ease the stiffness that the chill had put into them. The two men sitting on either side of him did the same. There was a sense of heaviness in the air around them. He and Athan weren’t supposed to be there. Casimir wasn’t supposed to be alive. They could only hope that no one in the Kingdom knew what had happened and what they were doing.

“Are you absolutely sure of this, Aegeus?” Casimir asked.

“Of course, I am.”

“But he’s so young.”

“Not so young,” Athan pointed out. “Aegeus was younger than sixteen when he was inducted into the Order.”

“Ryan isn’t Mikana,” Casimir said. “It isn’t the same.”

“He’s part Valdician,” Aegeus said. “You know as well as I do what they are capable of.”

“What they were capable of,” Athan said. “They’ve been weakened to the point that they are barely recognizable as what they used to be.”

“But they are still there,” Aegeus said. “And Ryan is determined that he will bring them back to their full power, and beyond. This is what the Order has worried about for generations. If he isn’t stopped, Ryan could threaten the entire Universe. He is only at the beginning of his efforts now, but he’s going to get stronger. You’ve already seen what his family is capable of doing. You’ve seen what their early experiments were able to breed. His family has turned away from those plans, but Ryan is even more vehement than they ever were. He will get stronger and smarter. He will learn more and be able to produce more powerful creatures. He will produce them faster and more efficiently. The Klimnu have already begun the destruction of the Mikana and of Uoria. He is already breaking us down and weakening all that we are. If he is given the chance to raise up the army that he has already begun, the world will fall.”

“What do we do next?” Athan asked.

“I will need to go for more help.”

“Are you sure that they will help us?” Casimir asked.

“They are our only hope,” Aegeus said. “Athan, you need to continue building up the war room. Get as many weapons as you can, but make sure that no one sees you. It isn’t time yet to answer any questions.”

“What do I do?” Casimir asked.

Aegeus looked at his old friend and let out a sigh, wishing that there was more that he could tell him.

“You wait,” he said, meeting his eyes. “You stay here and you wait. We’ll be back.”

****

“Thank you for having me,” Aegeus said.

“You know that you’re always welcome here,” Vyker said. He looked to his wife, Galadriel, who sat at his side. “What can we do for you?”

“The corruption within the Order is getting worse,” Aegeus told them. “Something has to be done about it.”

Mhavrych walked into the room and Aegeus stood to greet him. He sat again and looked into the young man’s face. He hadn’t yet come into the official role of being the Protector, but he soon would and he was beginning to prepare for all that that brought with it. He would hold within him the responsibility of protecting not just his own kind, but all people. His stream was the hope of all existence and as Protector, he would ensure that the Universe continued on.

“We’ve heard that the corrupt members have been working closely with the Valdicians,” Mhavrych said, his voice heavy with the somber meaning that his message held.

“I know,” Aegeus said. “But how is that possible? They haven’t been heard from in so long. It seemed that they had disappeared completely before they arrived on Uoria and took the Denynso compound prisoner.”

“We don’t know,” Vyker said. “We don’t know why it has taken so long, but the Valdicians are most certainly back. They have been for more than 100 years and have come back together with the line that produced Ryan. Though his family before him turned away from the experiments, Ryan is only devoting himself more. Through his support, their strength is returning and they are only increasing their efforts.”

“What will happen if they find what they are looking for?” Aegeus asked.

“We can’t let that happen,” Vyker said.

“I don’t understand. Why hasn’t the Order handed it over yet? If they are working so closely with the Valdicians, why haven’t the corrupt members simply given it to them?”

“It’s been lost,” Galadriel said. “The Chosen must find it.”

“It must be found,” Vyker said. “It must remain safe until all of the pieces can be fully restored. If we allow the Valdicians to take hold of it, all will be lost.”

“I will not let that happen,” Aegeus said. “You have my promise. I will not fail you. I have been raising up an army and we have planned our mission. With your help we will be able to avenge the lost, restore the strength of the Universe, and return the Valdicians to exile. We will stop Ryan, end the corruption, and restore the Order. Together, we can protect all of existence.”

****

The Kingdom was dark and silent by the time that Aegeus walked back into his home. It was filled with the rich, spicy smells of his favorite meal and his heart swelled. He had taken only a few steps into the house when Ellora walked out of the kitchen and into the room.

“Hello, my love,” she said, coming toward him.

Aegeus reached out and took his wife into his arms, cradling her close to him and kissing her. He breathed in the scent of her. She was a combination of the sweet smell of her favorite soap, the salty warmth of her skin, and the lingering aroma of the food that she was cooking for him. He loved that smell and wanted to bring as much of it into him as he could so that he could hold onto the memory, keep it safe and close so that he could always reach inside of him to remember it when he needed to feel close to her.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

“I had Order duties to fulfill,” he told her.

It wasn’t a lie. What he was doing had everything to do with the Order. He was devoted to the group and what it truly represented, and just as he had told Vyker and Galadriel, he was determined to bring it back to what it was before the corruption took over. But he knew that he couldn’t tell her everything. Not yet. She didn’t even know about the war room that he was building up in the hidden lounge beneath their home. He had to protect her from everything that he could. Though he wished that he was able to open up to her and tell her everything that he was going through, he couldn’t risk her safety or the safety of their young sons by telling her. One day he would be able to. He would be able to tell her everything once it all fell into place.

“Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes,” she said, accepting without question that he wasn’t able to tell her where he was or what he had been doing.

“Where are the boys?”

“They are both asleep,” she said. “They had a hard day of playing.”

Aegeus laughed and kissed her again before heading toward the bedroom that his young sons shared. Both boys were lying in their beds, their positions mirroring each other. He crouched down at the side of Maxim’s bed and ran his hand over his older son’s thick hair. It was getting longer now, and the curve of his face was just starting to lose the full baby softness. He was still so young, yet Aegeus could already see the start of him growing up. It was a heart-wrenching realization, and yet he was also so proud of his son.

He leaned down to kiss Maxim and moved over to Kyven. His younger son was still so little. His long eyelashes rested against his cheeks and his little pink lips were slightly parted as he slept deeply, unaware of anything happening in the world around him that should make him feel threatened or afraid.

As he looked at the younger of his sons, Aegeus’ mind went to Icelyn. Casimir’s granddaughter was slightly younger than Kyven, and already she was so important. She represented so much. He thought of his friend and felt a wave of both sadness and energy, compelled to keep going even though he faced tremendous danger and uncertainty ahead of him. They had already been going for so long, so many years had passed and they still hadn’t been able to bring this to a close. It had only gotten worse, but they were getting close now. They had more of what they needed and more people willing to stand behind them. He knew that soon they would be truly ready to do what he had promised to do. Until then, he had to trust that Casimir would be safe where he was.

Aegeus shivered against the cold in the room around him. The chill of the metal around his wrists was so intense he felt as though it were burning his skin. He knew that Ryan was testing him, putting him through all this just to see what he could withstand. It only showed the extent of the man’s madness and how much more intense he was about the experiments than his family was before him. Even when they started so long ago they didn’t treat the creatures that they chose with this level of disregard and cruelty.

He felt like he was slipping away like he was disappearing into what Ryan was doing to him. But he was fighting back. Every moment he was fighting back. He couldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t allow Ryan to get that far into him. Aegeus focused in on the cold. He let it remind him of what Casimir was going through, to focus in on his friend’s daily suffering so that he would be able to withstand this. He knew that he had to be strong like Casimir, courageous enough to face this the way that his dear friend faced his exile. The thought of this hurt Aegeus as well. He knew that Casimir trusted him, he relied on him. He trusted that Aegeus was going to be there for him at the appointed time and he wasn’t, and now Aegeus didn’t know where he was or what might have happened to him.

Aegeus dragged himself out of the thoughts and forced himself back into concentrating purely on the feeling of what was around him. He couldn’t let himself get lost in those thoughts. He had to think back. He had to remind himself why.