Chapter Ten

 

Declan rolled over and cursed when his knee cracked against the metal bed frame. As tall as he was the typical human rack beds were far too small for him to get comfortable. He groaned as he rearranged himself more comfortably on the miserable mattress.

He wasn’t sure when Isabel and Morgan had maneuvered him into giving up his pod to Nalini or how he’d ended up in the bunkhouse with Chris snoring not far from him. Declan did know that he was taking over one of his other sibling's pods tomorrow.

If we’re still here, Declan thought as he wondered when Tristan and Tiernan would do something about Mastema and the curse on Nalini.

After three nights he was already getting sick of the nightly battles with the daemons, even if they were winning. Declan couldn’t even begin to imagine how horrible it had to have been for Nalini to live it every night for thousands of years.

“If you’re going to make so much noise that sleep is impossible then why am I here?” Chris mumbled from a darkened corner of the room.

Declan couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping him at Chris’s words. Chris always knew the best times to interrupt his thoughts, and this was one of them. He needed another sounding board for his ideas, and Chris and Mikal had always been the best.

When they were boys, and even now, it wasn’t the advice his brothers would give him, which was sometimes ridiculously bad, it was being able to volley his ideas back and forth with them that had always helped to clear his head.

“You were snoring so loud I thought you were going to swallow your own tongue,” Declan replied as he listened to movement in the corner.

“I don’t snore.” Chris shuffled towards Declan and sat in the bunk beside him. “So what’s on your mind? The mate who really is as old as dirt, the teen in-laws, the daemons, the curse or all of the above bothering you?”

Declan chuckled again and swung his feet to the side of the bed and sat up facing Chris.

“Well, I think I’ll go with option E. All of the above,” Declan admitted as he ran his hands down his face.

“Good choice. That’s the one I’d have gone with too.” Chris chuckled then turned serious. “I know how much you already feel for Nalini. Her age doesn’t matter and it shouldn’t. Love matters. Just let it happen, and it’ll be fine. Now the in-laws. You got fucked buddy. I feel for you and have no idea how to help. He’s the Guardian of War. That’d be like taking on Alderic. Suicide. Make friends. Fast. Teach him how to shave or something.”

Declan snorted then chuckled at the advice because he’d already figured that out too. Though he wished there had been a lot more alone time between he and Nalini before the teens barged into the picture, Declan knew he needed to make it work.

“The daemons and the curse?” Declan asked with a raised brow, wondering why Chris had left those out.

“Yeah, those two are the big ones. We need the Queen, and I doubt she just tools around in our strongholds. If Tarona’s reaction to the daemons is any indication of Mastema’s welcome, we aren’t getting her here. I’m trying to figure out how Tristan will and what it’s going to cost him.” Chris’s voice held a concern that was echoed in Declan’s own energy over the situation.

“What else can we do? Mastema isn’t going to come if we ask her. Would you? It’d be suicide too.” Declan put his thoughts out there hoping the brothers could work something out between them before a dangerous situation was thrust on them.

Chris shook his head. “No way Mastema is that stupid. She’d have to be tricked in some way, but if the queen is so powerful, she’d feel the energy of the Talunaha long before she got here.”

“There’s got to be a more equal ground in which to meet and test the waters of breaking the curse,” Declan muttered as he considered the problem.

“You want no part of dealing with Mastema. You are to be there only as Dranovians, not the mate of the afflicted,” Dizarion’s voice echoed from the other side of the room.

“When the hell did you come in?” Chris snapped.

He was a little pissed off that he hadn’t known the Night Walker was in the room.

“Not long after the both of you. I do need sleep too. Food and showers. You know physical things like everyone else.” Dizarion’s sarcasm was thick in his voice.

“What does it matter if we’re there as Dranovians or not? It’s not like daemons are beast species, so they have nothing to fear from us,” Chris snapped back, still unnerved that he hadn’t known Dizarion was there.

The guy creeped him out. Chris was even more startled when the Night Walker appeared beside him at the foot of the bunk.

“Have you truly not figured it out?” Dizarion asked with a dramatic sigh as he sat on the bed.

Declan raised his brows at Chris wondering if he knew what the Night Walker was talking about. Chris just stared back blankly, apparently just as clueless.

“What do you mean?” Declan asked, hoping Dizarion wasn’t going to jerk their chains this late at night.

“Have you not wondered why you are under the command of the Guardian of War? The man who commands both the light and dark armies? Why the Dranovians are the only group beneath the Light Bringers and Night Walkers?” Dizarion huffed out as if he were bored.

“How about you just spit it out and stop playing with us?” Declan growled, too tired to put up with the Night Walker’s attitude issues.

“You can exorcize daemons the same way you do an anomalous or rogue beast. You are the bridge between the Light Bringers and Night Walkers. The balance between the beast, light, and dark. It is why Tristan fears losing any of you. The Dranovians are right now, the only guardians truly capable of fighting everyone until the conversion,” Dizarion explained, more than a little surprised that the ordinarily bright men hadn’t figured it out yet.

“Guardians? That was just a Freudian slip right?” Chris was wide-eyed and almost afraid of Dizarion’s answer.

“No, it wasn’t a slip. Dranovians are guardians as well. Not of the tier of Tristan and Tiernan, but not without your own powers and skills,” Dizarion explained with a grin.

The Night Walker was more fascinated with what the pair didn’t know than the irritation he’d felt earlier at being awakened by their chatter.

“I thought we’re only found on beast worlds? Because we handle their species?” Declan asked as he struggled to understand it all.

“No, Dranovians are found anywhere there is Daemon Kyn or beast. Which doesn’t just encompass the beast worlds. Many planets are infected by the evil the Daemon Kyn represent, and on those worlds, Dranovians are born. It’s why you’re called Warrior Priests on some worlds. You battle the evil in many forms throughout the beast and daemon infected planets and realms.” Dizarion was really starting to enjoy the retelling of the Dranovian history to the brothers.

“Guardians but not World Guardians? It makes no sense,” Chris muttered as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Of course it does,” Dizarion said with a chuckle. “A World Guardian is limited to the one planet they are tasked to protect. A Dranovian has authority and abilities on many worlds which is why you retain your powers on the other beast worlds and even non-beast ones infected by the Daemon Kyn.”

“Wait, wait,” Chris said with a grin. “You’re telling me that Dranovians are Space Guardians?”

Chris burst out laughing at the idea of it, and Dizarion didn’t look amused at all. It was the Night Walker’s expression that warned Declan this wasn’t a joke.

“Not exactly space guardians, but . . . you called us Warrior Priests. I’ve heard Alderic say that too. Does Alderic or any of the other Sotier’s know this?” Declan had to know if this was one of those secrets they wouldn’t be able to share.

“The Dawn Warriors are the guardian branch of the beast worlds. It is why the Maccs can be controlled by your power on many worlds and not just those with a Talunaha. I would imagine the other Sotier’s have figured it out already,” Dizarion suggested with a shrug.

“How the hell could Alderic have forgotten to tell us something that damn important?” Chris snapped as he stood and moved past Dizarion to pace the floor. “Yeah, nothing heavy there at all. I thought it was bad enough dealing with this world and the shit storm we’ve been putting up with, now you’re telling me we’re responsible for more than one shit hole world?”

Dizarion laughed, and when Chris looked ready to punch the Night Walker in the face, Declan knew he needed to intervene.

“So the Dawn Warriors, they travel to these other planets once in a while and do what?” Declan asked.

He needed to learn all he could to relay to Mikal. Declan knew damn well their Sotier didn’t know any of this or Mikal would have told them before now.

“The Dawn Warriors are the strongest and most powerful of each beast world. They are tasked with aiding the non-beast worlds. Once you are all proficient with your Maccs it will be up to Mikal to choose the Dawn Warriors for this world and the habitable ones within range of it,” Dizarion explained, appreciating the calm demeanor that Declan displayed versus Chris’s explosive one.

“So we’re all guardians, but the more powerful of us are shipped off our own worlds and chucked into the shit storm of another. One that we know nothing about! Oh, yeah that sounds like fun,” Chris huffed out as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Declan could feel the anger rising in the Night Walker’s energy and didn’t want to find out just how powerful Dizarion really was.

“I can think of at least eight of our brothers who would die for the chance to do just that and you could too if you’d calm down. I know we’ve learned a lot in the last few months that we never knew before and you’re a new and sleepless father and that’s not helping. But we need to listen and learn, Mikal needs to know all of this. We need to know.” Declan did his best to send his brother calming energy as he spoke. The way he used to when they were children. He was glad when it worked, and Chris visibly relaxed.

Chris rolled his shoulders. “OK, I can understand this to a point. I need time to think about it all. So, for the here and now, let’s recap. We can exorcize the daemons from the hosts they are possessing? It’s why Mastema fears the Dranovians? Can we exorcize her?”

Dizarion smiled at Chris’s train of thought. It was an exciting prospect. One he hadn’t considered until now.

“Now that’s an appealing thought. To be honest, I have no idea if such a thing is possible or not with the Queen. The same way you kill a beast inside a host is how you kill a daemon inside a host. Some daemons don’t need a host to materialize and appear as real as you or I. Those can travel the realms in the same way as a Night Walker or a Light Bringer. Mastema is that powerful,” Dizarion muttered as if talking it out to himself.

Chris raised his eyebrows at Declan, surprised they might have stumbled on something.

“So only the powerful ones don’t need a host? But the core of the evil, physical form or not is still a daemon, right? Would the ritual words still work?” Chris asked, more curious than ever about this new twist.

He hated the thought of going off planet. Unlike many of his brothers who were more adventurous, Chris had always been more of a homebody. He’d liked exploring the world with his family, but had always appreciated coming home more than most of them.

Anything that helped Chris protect his own world from the nightmares facing it was something he wanted to learn a lot more about. If it helped Declan and Tristan, then all the better.

Dizarion turned to Chris with wide eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know. Tristan and Tiernan would, and I’ll ask them the next time we speak. What I do know is that you can exorcize those in material or shadow form. It is those that are very powerful, like Mastema that I am not sure of,” Dizarion explained, still wondering if the Dranovians could give them an advantage with the Daemon Kyn and their queen.

“What you’re saying is that you’ve never known of a Dranovian trying it,” Declan prodded, needing to know for sure.

Dizarion sighed and shook his head. “I’ve known of many who have done the lesser daemons, but never one as powerful as Mastema or one of her court.”

Chris snorted. “Figures the bitch has an entourage. Textbook narcissistic psychopath. Just once I’d like a bad guy to be something other than your everyday whack-o-doodle.”

Declan chuckled and nodded his agreement with Chris’s joke, but Dizarion had a far-away look in his eyes.

“It isn’t only to feed her ego. Only those who’ve acquired many souls and done the worst of deeds can achieve that kind of power and Mastema would want them to protect her. They are her bodyguards.” Dizarion spoke woodenly as his mind wandered through the possibilities.

“Have you ever seen what my brothers and I can do together?” Declan asked, unsure if the Night Walker knew the things they’d done while they learned their abilities.

Even Declan and his brothers sometimes shuddered when thinking of the things they’d done in the past as they grew up and tried to learn their abilities and the responsibilities associated with them.

“Yes, more than one of you, combining your abilities could be lethal,” Dizarion mused. “Have you any experience doing such a thing?”

The curious and hopeful look on the young Night Walker’s face and the question put Declan and Chris into fits of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Dizarion demanded, automatically assuming they were mocking him.

“Let’s get dressed and get some coffee going,” Chris suggested, feeling pretty confident the more they talked to the Night Walker. “Declan can pull up some of our body cam footage of when we took on Satalis the last time. That bastard has been licking his wounds in hiding for months now.”

Declan pulled on his tact boots and had them laced up in no time. He stood and grinned at the confused Night Walker.

“Come on, you’re going to love this stuff,” Declan suggested as he left the bunkhouse and headed towards the dining hall.

He didn’t think much about the light he saw on until he went inside, smelled the fresh coffee and saw a harried-looking Nalini sipping a cup of steaming brew. Declan forgot all about the coffee and made a beeline for her. He smiled back at her attempt at a welcoming grin and slid into the chair in front of her.

“Rough sleeping for you too?” Declan asked softly.

Nalini snorted delicately and shook her head as she set her cup down on the table and shifted nervously in her seat for a moment.

“My parents are reuniting in this realm,” Nalini whispered and blushed such a deep red, Declan was concerned for her.

“What do you mean? Is everything OK?” Declan asked.

“The pod is just a little crowded,” Nalini whispered back as Dizarion and Chris came to the table.

“Hell, there’s more room in the pods than the bunkhouse. How can it be too crowded?” Chris asked as he handed a cup of coffee to Declan and sat beside his brother.

Nalini blushed again and stared down at her coffee cup as Declan replayed her words in his mind until it finally dawned on him what she meant. He uttered the first thing that popped into his head.

“Oh hell! Why do I feel like we should stop them and ground everyone?” Declan looked a little sick and horrified.

“What am I missing?” Dizarion asked anyone who could answer.

“The kids. They’re doing it,” Declan replied with a grimace while Nalini blushed a deeper pink.

Chris stood for a second as if he was going to leave then sat back down with a thud.

“I’m leaving that one alone.” Chris shook his head.

Dizarion chuckled, crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head as well. Everyone was silent for a few minutes until Nalini cleared her throat.

“What has you guys up this early? Or late. However you want to look at it,” she asked, wanting to talk or think about anything but her parents right now.

“We were just discussing whether or not we, the Dranovians can destroy Mastema or her court,” Declan replied.

He knew Nalini was trying to steer the conversation away from her parents and he agreed. The last thing he wanted to do now, or ever, was think about the two 18-year-old teens bumping uglies when his first inclination was to spank the kids.

“Wow. What brought that up?” Nalini’s interest was immediately peaked.

“Couldn’t sleep so we thought we’d brainstorm some things and came up with that.” Declan grinned as he shrugged. “Do you know anything about it?”
Nalini shook her head, seemingly surprised at the idea.

“I knew you could exorcize the lesser daemons, but I always thought only my father, a light bringer or a night walker could destroy those in the queen’s court,” Nalini admitted, turning to Dizarion to see if he knew.

“I don’t know either.” Dizarion shook his head and threw his hands up. “Your dad might know, though.”

Nalini groaned, and Chris made gagging sounds.

“How about we make breakfast while we wait for them to . . . wake up?” Nalini suggested as she stood and looked for volunteers.

“I suck at cooking, but I’ll clean up the mess you make,” Chris offered.

“I live off ramen noodles and hot dogs,” Dizarion stated.

Declan shook his head at the two and stood as he looked around.

“I’ll help. I’m not that great, but it’ll be edible. Where’s Asha?” Declan asked.

“She was called to Tristan not long after we went to bed,” Dizarion replied without looking up from the table.

Declan and Chris were instantly on alert.

“What’s going on? Are Tristan and our family OK?” Declan demanded.

He was more worried about his powerful brother than he cared to think about at the moment. He knew that Tristan was getting into some dangerous things and although a skilled warrior in his own right, Declan couldn’t stop worrying about his baby brother.

“I am honestly not privy to all conversations the light bringers have, nor are they allowed into ours,” Dizarion said with a sniff as if he weren’t happy about it either.

“You haven’t heard from Asha at all?” Chris asked, also worried about his baby brother and family.

“If I were needed, I would have been called.” Dizarion still didn’t look up at them.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Declan demanded as he put his hands on his hips and glared at the Night Walker.

Dizarion sighed and finally lifted his head up and looked at Declan. The Night Walker’s eyes were swirling with darkness and pinpoints of light. It was eerie, and something Declan still hadn’t gotten used to.

“I truly don’t know why Asha was called away. What I do know is she isn’t answering me when I try and communicate with her. Tiernan is also not responding and to be honest I am a little concerned that they may have gone to confront the queen and left me here to protect you,” Dizarion admitted, obviously not happy with his babysitting duties.

“What?” Declan snapped. “Why the hell would they do that? Are you sure that’s what they’re doing?”

Dizarion shook his head. “No, I’m not sure which is why I’m concerned but not in a panic. Like you.”

“It’s our brother! I don’t give a fuck if he’s a superhero, we’re still going to worry about him,” Declan growled at the Night Walker. “Don’t pretend like you aren’t worried about your woman either, it’s all over your energy and so thick you can’t even hide it.”

“What are you talking about?” Dizarion demanded as he stood to face Declan.

“Asha! We’re not stupid,” Chris said with a snort.

“They’re right, so stop with the distractions and tell us what you do know,” Nalini interjected, her own anger evident in her tone of voice.