Chapter Fourteen

 

Declan and his six brothers were still sitting in the dining hall hours later after everyone else had returned to bed. They’d each held and tested the Primordial blade and couldn’t wait to have one of their own to use after they’d seen what Morgan had done with it.

To show them the kind of power he was talking about, Morgan had taken the blade and led them all outside the dining hall. They’d followed him until the guardian stopped in front of a large boulder that had fallen from the side of the mountain when Haruki had been under attack a year earlier.

“You must speak to the blade as you would your beast. Its energy will learn to resonate with your own,” Morgan had explained then focused on the sword. “Cut through the rock.”

“Great, gonna ruin a beautiful blade,” Shane muttered under his breath.

Morgan ignored him and swung the blade with all of his might at the boulder. The second the sword hit the rock it began to glow a molten red as it sliced cleanly through the large stone. He quickly sidestepped as the upper half came crashing down to the floor.

“What the fuck,” Elias breathed out in shock.

“Let me see that,” Shane asked as he held his hand out for the sword.

Morgan had given him the blade and watched with a satisfied smirk as Shane inspected the sword for any damage.

“What you’re wondering is how. Primal energy is different from the energy you use. What you have is basically foreign to this planet because a part of you, the beast, doesn’t come from here. All energy travels the same paths, but Primal energy is indigenous only to its particular world,” Morgan explained as the Dranovians handed the blade around amongst them.

“So how can we use it then?” Luca asked as he studied the unique blade.

“You are half from here. Everyone but Mikal, who has the Sotier’s sword. Plus you’re all Dranovian and can access the Primal, on any planet, to do your job. Chris has been doing it for years, it’s why he appears more powerful than the rest of you,” Tristan said, surprising all of the brothers.

“How the hell have I been doing that?” Chris asked as he scratched his head in wonder.

“Luck,” Morgan replied with a snort as he took the sword back from Luca and handed it to Chris. “Think about your power and try to light up the blade.”

“Light it up?” Chris asked with a nervous chuckle. “OK.”

Chris concentrated on the beautiful sword in his hand and expelled a wave of power. Within seconds the blade began to glow red.

“Holy shit,” Chris whispered in awe at the sword.

“Why does Declan get the first one?” Siggy asked out of curiosity not jealousy.

“Because he’s now the protector of my daughter. Do you want to see what I will do to this world if anything happens to her?” Morgan growled, and the pupils of his eyes glowed red with Primal power.

“No man, just curious was all,” Siggy held up his hands not wanting to fight the teenaged guardian.

Isabel grinned happily at Morgan while Nalini blushed to her roots and turned away in embarrassment.

“That still doesn’t explain how it went through the rock,” Elias pointed at the boulder Morgan had cut in half.

Morgan shook his head as if frustrated that the Dranovians were so dense.

“Primal power controls all of the planet. The only thing that supersedes it is your own energy because of free will. But the Primal rules all matter on the planet. Water, earth, fire, wind, plants, rocks, all of it,” Morgan explained. “I asked it to go through something it can control, the rock, and the Primal power controlled the energy of the rock to make the sword go through it.”

“So it can go through a rock. Is that all or is there something special about this thing? I’m still not understanding why the hell Tristan had to be gone two days to get a pretty sword,” Grant said. He loved the sword but knew there had to be something they were missing in this story.

“Any penetration of the blade on a daemon will kill it immediately. The primal power imbued in the blade destroys daemons instantly. You don’t need to cut off their head or exorcize them if you have this,” Morgan answered with a huge grin.

Several of the brothers muttered under their breath at the news. It was a pretty heavy responsibility and quite a head rush to know they would be able to control that kind of power. It’s why they were still awake in the dining hall drinking.

“I still can’t believe you were doing it all along,” Siggy muttered to Chris.

Chris threw his hands up in the air and shook his head, still amazed that he wasn’t the freak brother, after all, only lucky to have stumbled upon the prime power at a young age.

“It scares the hell out of me to know that these blades can give us that kind of power. I don’t know if any of us are ready for something like that,” Elias said, his nervousness evident in his voice.

“It was one thing to know we had the beast species to babysit and the power to deal with them, but this? This is . . .” Luca paused and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m with Elias on this one, it scares the hell out of me to think we’ll have access to this kind of power. Or that we’re all Tristan has to help save the world right now. Us!”

“Can we even tell Dad?” Siggy asked. “Should we tell him with everything else he has going on?”

Those questions silenced all of the brothers as they thought about what to do and what they would soon be able to do. Declan was the first to sit forward and pour himself another shot of whiskey.

“I think we need to listen real damn carefully and do whatever the hell we have to do for Dad, Tristan, Nalini, and humanity,” Declan suggested as he looked around the tables at his brothers. “When have we ever been too damn scared to do our job? Just because the responsibilities have changed, doesn’t mean we have. We’ve never let anyone down before and we’re not going to start now.”

“Here, here!” Chris said as he raised his shot glass.

All of the brothers stood around the table and raised their glasses with Chris and Declan.

“To expanding job descriptions!” Siggy shouted with a grin.

“To killing evil shit with cool swords!” Elias added with his own smile.

The brothers all laughed, clinked their glasses together and downed them in one swallow. They sat back down, poured more and went back to being as silent as they were before.

“You know it’s hard to plan a pre-war strategy when all I sense is your doubt, fear, and excitement. It’s not really conducive to formulating winning strategies,” Tristan said as he strode into the dining hall.

The brothers muttered among themselves as Tristan grabbed a glass of water. Declan watched his winged brother casually turn the chair around beside him and sit down. He always thought of laughing when Tristan did that because it only made him appear tougher. The reality was it was easier to sit that way with his wings out.

“Let’s talk about this,” Tristan suggested as he took a sip of water.

Most of the brothers shrugged or remained silent, but no one spoke up and said anything. Declan shook his head at them. He could understand where they were coming from but knew they all needed to get over this particular shock pretty quickly.

“It’s a heavy responsibility,” Declan began. “There’s also confusion too. Why is it called Primordial ore? How the hell did you find it? Who’s this weaponsmith and can she make some knives and other things? Can we tell Dad? Should we?”

Tristan laughed when Declan stopped to take a breath.

“There’s responsibility whenever power of any kind is involved. The fact that you doubt your own ability to stay uncorrupted by it tells me that you are the perfect choice for the job. If you had jumped at the chance of the power, I would be worried right now,” Tristan admitted as he grinned at his surprised siblings.

“Answer the rest of the questions,” Grant said, preferring not to think about the primal power right now.

Tristan grinned and nodded, understanding that they needed answers to help them accept this new responsibility.

“There is no actual word in any known language for the ore. In our language, it translates as primordial because it was created by the primal energy at the inception of this planet. Every planet has a primal power and a primordial ore that it creates in the core of the planet,” Tristan explained, glad to feel the curiosity in his brother’s energy and a slight dissipation of their concern.

“What about the rest of it?” Shane asked, wanting the rest of Declan’s questions answered. Particularly the one about telling their Dad what was going on.

Tristan laughed heartily for a moment making his brothers look at him oddly.

“I can sense the ore deposits, and I asked the primal energy to give it to me. And yes, we have a weaponsmith for the guardians. As guardians yourselves, you can ask her to make you things. I must warn you though, do not let her size fool you, she’s more competent at a forge and with this ore than you will ever find elsewhere. It is her gift.” Tristan looked at Elias as he issued the warning.

“When do we meet her?” Elias asked wondering why Tristan had singled him out.

“I brought her with me and placed her in Deanna’s old pod. Tiernan and I will help her create a forge here, at the Talunaha.” Tristan made it clear he wasn’t asking them about it, and none of them would consider arguing with him.

Besides, they were curious about the girl who could create such an incredible weapon, at a forge no less.

“She got a name?” Elias asked.

“She was known by many names in the ancient past, but now she’s called Amber, and she had a hard time before she awakened so, please be your charming and kind selves with her while she acclimates. She is a guardian.” Again Tristan remained focused on Elias as he spoke and it caused a shiver to run up Elias’s spine.

“What about telling Dad?” Luca asked, uncaring about the weaponsmith at the moment.

“That’s the hard one isn’t it?” Tristan folded his arms across his chest as he looked at his brothers. “I will leave it up to you. Personally, I don’t think we need to add to what’s already on his mind. Or deal with his demands to let him stretch himself even thinner trying to protect us.” 

Many of the brothers snorted, and the others nodded their heads in agreement knowing that’s exactly what it would end up being. Grai would demand to know everything they did about the threat, and then he’d find ways to go behind their backs and kill everything to protect them.

“OK, so we don’t say anything to Dad right now. It can wait until all of us are back here at the Talunaha and we can put it to a vote,” Declan advised, hoping they’d all agree and leave the issue for later.

“Yeah, we need a vote on this one,” Shane agreed with a nod.

When everyone nodded in agreement with the decision, Tristan clapped his hands and grinned.

“Any other questions?” Tristan knew there were a few more and wanted to get them out of the way before they had to deal with their new weaponsmith.

“So, the blades kill the daemons instantly. Why can’t we just cut a swath through the bastards and call it a day? Do they gather somewhere in particular? How does this work?” Grant was still clueless how they were supposed to find something they didn’t know existed until recently.

Tristan chuckled and shook his head in sympathy.

“No, sadly it’s not that easy. The more powerful ones that no longer require a host, those of the court, will be difficult to find. The lesser ones will have to be expelled from the human or beast victim through your rituals. When the daemon is expelled, then you use the sword on the daemon,” Tristan explained, wishing it was more cut and dry.

“So we have to hunt them,” Declan stated, knowing it was true.

“Morgan will show you how to find them, but you’ve probably already met more than one in your travels. They’re the deeply narcissistic ones, those you brush off as just an evil human or those who believe the entirety of the planet owes them something because they exist,” Tristan said, knowing his brothers had encountered the daemon-possessed before.

“If we’ve met them before, then why wouldn’t we have tried to expel them automatically? Like we did with Harvey and Deidre? Why didn’t the words come to us?” Declan didn’t like knowing he could have helped others in the past if he’d known how or that it was his duty.

“You weren’t meant to be called upon for it yet. Tiernan and I awakened it in you before you faced them. We will do the same with our other brothers when you are rotated out to the Tri-Worlds.” Tristan looked a little guilty as he said that.

“So the conversion was supposed to awaken it in us so we could fix any remaining energy imbalance?” Declan asked in surprise.

“Yes. What’s occurred here is unprecedented. We’ve never seen this level of infestation on any previous world, and the foothold the daemons have gained here is unfathomable. The only way to fix it before it spirals out of our control is to awaken those who are immediately needed. Including my brothers.” Tristan felt terrible for laying it on them like this, but he needed them to accept it and get to work learning the primal power. Every second counted.

“I’m always game for a fight, but I gotta tell you, learning from a child is going to take some getting used to. Morgan can’t even shave yet!” Dante slapped a hand over his face and shot a look of sympathy at Declan.

Seconds later, Tristan was kicking his short legs back and forth as his fingers danced in the air.

“Point?” Tristan mumbled as he rocked back and forth in his true physical form of a little boy.

“I don’t have one bro, your point is well made,” Dante replied as he held his hands up in the air.

Tristan turned back into his winged form and looked at his brothers.

“I know this is hard for you. It killed me to have to awaken this in you so early, but I can’t think of anyone I trust more to fight beside me than all of you,” Tristan admitted as he allowed the truth to flow from his energy.

All of the brothers sat up straighter at Tristan’s words. He was their beloved baby brother, and there wasn’t anyone else they’d rather help or make proud.

“Anything for you, man. You know that,” Declan whispered as he squeezed Tristan’s shoulder.

He knew that whatever they were facing, he and his brothers would step up to the plate and give it their best shot or die trying. They weren’t cowards and didn’t run from a fight that would save a worthy soul. Declan was proud of his brothers when they all echoed his sentiments.

“That’s good to know. Especially since you’re getting ready to meet your new weaponsmith.” Tristan only laughed when the brothers exchanged confused looks.

No one was surprised when they heard the door being pulled open and they waited to see who would enter. Only Luca reacted, everyone else just stared in shock. 

“Whoa! Kid, you can’t be here! How did you get in?” Luca demanded as he headed towards the emaciated girl.

Being a medic, Luca immediately took hold of the frail girl’s wrist to get her vitals while Grant, the other medic moved to her other side and pulled out his comm to run a scan.

The small girl with long dark hair and big doe-like eyes stared between the two brothers like a frightened animal who was ready to run for the door. Too concerned with the child’s health to notice her distress, Luca and Grant continued their exam.

“Leave her!” Elias roared.

It stopped his brother’s long enough for the girl to escape, and run right into Elias’s open arms. Everyone but Tristan looked on in shock as their brother consoled the shaking child.

“They won’t hurt you, I swear it on my life, little one. You’re sick, I can feel it in your energy, and you must let them help you,” Elias whispered to the terrified girl as he held her.

“Amber, I warned you that my brothers would seek to make you well. Let them,” Tristan said, shocking everyone but Elias and Declan who’d figured out who she was.

“You can’t be serious!” Shane sputtered as he stared at the incredibly frail-looking child. “She can’t pick up a fork much less forge a damn blade!”

“Watch your mouth!” Elias shot back at Shane.

Amber turned her sad, dark eyes to Shane and she clenched her fists for a moment as the pupils began to glow red with power. Only Tristan saw the blades flying through the air, and he spun around in dizzying movements to catch the throwing knives before they hit their target. He got the last one right before it penetrated Shane’s right eye and sighed at how poorly this meeting had begun.

“Holy shit she tried to kill me!” Shane whispered in shock as he stared at the array of dark metal throwing knives in Tristan’s hands.

Everyone stared at the defiant little girl in shock as she stuck her chin out and crossed her thin arms over her chest.

“I’m a recently awakened guardian who lived in a situation you can’t begin to understand, and you offended me,” Amber growled, unrepentant at her actions.

“What? I offended you, and you tried to kill me?” Shane asked in shock before he looked at his brothers to see if they noticed the craziness going on or if it was just him.

Elias got down on one knee and turned the girl to face him while he put on his fiercest look.

“We’re here to help, and you’re not going to kill any of the good guys. Go to the MedLab and let Luca and Grant get you feeling better, then come back and we’ll have some food made,” Elias chastised the girl, and everyone was shocked when she just lowered her head and didn’t try to kill him.

When she still didn’t move, Elias turned her back around by her thin shoulders and gave her a gentle push towards the door.

“Go, so we can eat. I’m starving,” Elias said softly, sending her waves of encouragement.

Amber turned to look sadly at Elias before she lowered her head and shuffled out of the door in her ill-fitting jeans and the T-shirt covered in metal dust and grime.

Luca and Grant looked at Tristan for a moment and waited for his nod before they ran out the door to follow the girl. Their weaponsmith.

“What the fuck was that?” Shane demanded when the door closed behind his medic brothers.

“I don’t think she’s even a teen! What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you awaken her now?” Elias stormed over to Tristan, his fists clenched in rage.

It was the first time he’d ever shown anger towards Tristan and everyone was surprised at the outburst. Chris slapped a hand on Elias’s chest, and his eyes flashed with power.

“Back off, bro. Tristan did what he had to do,” Chris warned.

Elias glared at Chris for a moment before he looked back at Tristan.

“Tell them what you did,” Elias growled.

“Amber is Elias’s mate,” Tristan admitted as the brothers cursed and looked away.

“Fuck,” Chris muttered as he tightened his hand on Elias’s chest. “What part of, there was no choice are you missing? By the looks of Amber, she wouldn’t have lasted much longer in the situation she was in. This isn’t just about you right now, bro.”