The Wolf and the Maiden

Chapter 7

Rían growled at Esmond. “And what the hell did you put in me?” He tried to detect it, feel it. But he felt normal, as if something foreign wasn’t swimming in his body. Essence could mean many things. It could simply mean magic and he would be merely a container to hold it. But essence could also mean spirit or soul.

Do I have some other sentient being inside me?

And if he did, would that mean it could try to bully him for dominance. Already, he had his beast to control. And his father, with the legions of wraiths inside his mind, required many, many years of training to learn how to manage. The fear of what this thing – this essence– could do to him only incensed Rían more!

“We did what we needed to do!” the Socius grew uncharacteristically grim, his voice lowering. “The Karanlık were getting dangerously close to finding it, so we had to hide it! The best place would be in plain sight– in a human vessel.” Rían gripped his hands, trying to keep his rage in check. But a fire started to stoke deep in his gut and began seeping into his veins, threatening to consume him. His brother noticed his clenched jaw– knew it meant he was near exploding– so he quickly took over the conversation.

“What exactly is the it –the essence– you’re talking about?” Rory’s eyes silvered with his beast as his fury grew. “What is in my brother and how is it possible for it to be there?”

“I don’t know why it chose Prince Rían, but it did, so he must have had some sort of similar quality that your father has?” Esmond shrugged, looking just as confused. “But we needed to hide Dasianu, and now it is hidden,” his hands fanned over at Rían. “It is done and cannot be undone until we take it out of him at the appropriate time.”

“King Joel must have known that,” Isak said. “It wasn’t that he only feared the Lycan aura could be detected-- he must have suspected that one of the brothers had that Dasianu thingy in him, which is why he made sure Rían and Rory were shielded while we traveled.”

Chaz growled, “The king knew more than what he said.”

Esmond defended, “The king wished that I was the one who filled you in. Do not fault him for withholding information.”

“Then please fill me in!” Rían finally burst, his Aura flaring out like a supernova, shaking the items on the table. “What is this Dasianu shít inside me? And why does it need to be hidden?”

“Dasianu is not shít and I will not have you referring to it as such!” It was Esmond’s turn to explode, his own power radiating off of him in a humming pulse of translucent red. “You will speak of Dasianu with respect!” he warned, this power thickening the air as the skinny middle-aged man showed the princes exactly who he was. The energy riddled across Rían's skin, pricking at his nerves.

Biting his inner cheek as he dialed back his rage, tempering his beast, Rían managed to level his voice, “I apologize for disrespecting something important to you. But please,” he swallowed, pushing down the bile that settled in his throat, “enlighten me about what Dasianu actually is, why it is so important to you, and what the hell it has to do with any of this shít,” he grated.

Esmond and Rían locked in a feisty stare before the Socius’ shoulders finally eased, his scowl relaxing, though a smile was far from his features. “To answer your questions, I need to start at the beginning. And because of that…” he stood and ambled to a cabinet that hung high on the wall. Opening it with a key from his pocket, he pulled out a corked glass decanter filled with red liquid. “… we’ll need something a bit stronger than coffee.”

Rory and Chaz’s brows cöcked simultaneously as Esmond poured the crimson liquor, grabbing their mugs as soon as it was filled. Rían, on the other hand, sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest while he waited for the Socius to start unraveling the information they all had been seeking since they walked sopping wet across King Joel’s reception chamber. For once, Isak and he shared the same disposition as they both stared at the older man until he resettled into his own chair.

“A very long time ago, magic filled every corner of Vafaren and not everyone was human. This place was a bountiful brew of magnificent creatures. And there were six gods that any person could choose to worship, six different religions.” He gently swirled the wine in his cup before taking a small sip. “But then one of those gods, Akish —god of the land and animals--- was basically tired of sharing power and wanted it all.”

“Akish challenged the other gods?” Rían asked.

“Not at first, no.” Esmond muttered. “Akish needed power, and that only came from the people who worshiped him. Using deception, promises of wealth and supremacy, he rallied and seduced the masses into devoting their worship to him and only him. And when he could, he challenged the other five gods, and one by one they fell, with Akish growing more powerful each time. He managed to conquer four and shove their essences into Kiviä, special binding stones, to access their energy for himself.”

“And what of the fifth god?” Isak asked.

“The fifth,” he eyed Rían closely. “The great god Wa’ake; god of chaos and order. He knew, since Akish had the power of the other four gods, that he would soon fall like the rest. So, he had the Socius Naisi, my sect who worships him, making it so Akish could never find him and complete his ultimate plan.”

Chaz leaned forward, eyes squinting, “And what is his ultimate plan?”

Esmond’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead. “If Akish manages to absorb the energy of all five gods, it is known that he will evolve him into the malicious devil Maleckai. In that form, he will not only have the ability to terrorize our realm, but also have the capacity to rip through others as well.”

“So, where is this Wa’ake god hiding then? Is that what you want us to do? Find him and protect his ass from Akish?” Rory asked.

“Basically, yes.” He pointed at Rían. “By protecting him, definitely. Because a part of Wa’ake is in you now.”

Rían rasped, “That god is in me?” Shít! That’s even worse than what he had thought! How could he control a god inside him?!

“Part of him.”

“I have part of him in me? What does that even mean?” Rían leaned forward, his hands clutching the table’s edge. The wood whined under the pressure of his grip. “Ok, I’m going to need you to elaborate.”

“In order to ensure Akish didn’t find Wa’ake, his essence was split into two pieces. Since he was the god of chaos and order, the division between the two halves made for a simple task. And for centuries, Socius Naisi successfully hid Wa’ake as two pieces… Dasianu and Dayane... in two separate locations.”

“If this Dasianu piece is in me, then where the hell is the Dayane piece?” Rían seethed. The only way to get this out of him was to have the other piece of the puzzle.

Chaz quipped, “I think that’s where we come in.”

Esmond nodded at the faerie, then said to Rían, “Unfortunately, we don’t currently know. You see, two decades ago, King Joel’s father led a rebellion against the prime temple of Akish in the kingdom city of Leicht. It was a successful siege and he managed to steal the Kiviä stones from the temple.”

“And let me guess… Akish wants the stones back.”

“Right. The stones and to finally possess Wa’ake, too. While keeping Dasianu with him, King Elton hid Dayane’s essence as well as the other Kiviä throughout Vafaren using only his most trusted knights to complete the task. But when the king was assassinated, those who knew the location of the stones were also jailed, tortured for information, and ultimately killed.”

“Did those knights talk?” Isak grumbled, grating his fingers through the tight curls on top of his head.

“I am not sure, but we do know Great Advisor Vandries, who is the head of the Akish church, is said to be in possession of one of the stones. The black diamond Kiviä that holds the essence of Jamjin, god of death.

“Wonderful,” Rory scoffed, rolling his eyes. “The bad guy has the essence of death. That is so encouraging.” He placed his elbows on the table, leaning his face into his hands – or so it appeared. From Rían’s angle, he could see Rory discreetly pull a section of Queen Marleina’s handkerchief from his sleeve, sniffing it gently. He had caught his brother doing this many times during their journey, knowing he did it whenever he appeared discouraged or depressed. And interestingly, it always seemed to renew Rory to some degree.

“We need to find the other three Kiviä before Vandries and the Karanlık do, find Dayane, and restore the gods, restore magic to the realm, and put Akish back in his place. This was King Elton’s vision.”

“Do we have any idea where to start looking?”

Esmond nodded, returning to the desk and opening a longer, rectangular drawer. From it, he pulled a rolled parchment which he spread across the main table. It was a similar map that King Joel had used, though this one had many more markings. His slender finger pointed, “We’ve gotten word of possibly one location,” he indicated a large red dot which was labeled Tereswin. “There’s been talk that a Kiviä is here due to some supernatural occurrences. Our hope is that one stone may lead to finding the next, or maybe even finding Dayane. Once we find the other half, we can remove Dasianu from you and restore Wa’ake.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rían eyed the map, tracing back over the path they had already taken to get here from Armendari. Then, tracking how the King’s Road trailed up north from Landreth for another long trek to Tereswin. Another week on the road to find some sort of rock that bore the soul of one of the gods. This is where their journey began to help Vafaren. “What does the Kiviä look like?”

“They're all different. You’ll be looking for a yellow, red, or blue gemstone. Those are the ones that remain.”

“And Dayane? Is the other half of Wa’ake in a stone, too?” Isak asked. "Or is it walking around like Rían?"

“From what I understand, yes, Dayane is in a white diamond-like crystal.” Esmond nodded. “They'll all be the size of your palm. And it's adamantly important that you get the stone to King Joel as soon as possible once you find it.”

Curious, Rían mused, “And what part of Wa'ake is in me? Dasianu– did I get order or chaos?”

Esmond eyed him, “Order.”

"Damn, too bad!" Chaz smirked, "Imagine what we could have done invoking Dasianu."

"There will be no invoking of Dasianu while he's in me!" Rían demanded.

Rory winked at Chaz, joining in the banter. "Come on, Ry. Let yourself go-- literally. We want to see if this Dasianu is more fun than you."

Rían's silver eyes glared at his brother while his blood rushed, his gums tingling before his bestial teeth slid out. "I'll show you fun!"

"It's ok, Prince. Please, there is no need to worry." Esmond batted the air gently, trying to calm him. "We don't think the god can be invoked while he's inside you because he is only partial."

"You don't think so?" Rían frowned, dialing back his teeth, though his eyes still burned with his beast. "You sound like you don't know for sure."

Esmond's coy expression wasn't at all encouraging. "We haven't ever done this before. Anything we've done has always been our best guess."

"Well, that's bullshít." he growled, while his long fingernails scratched into the table in front of him. "So Dasianu could, at any given time, just decide he wants to be in control?" It was exactly what he was afraid of.

"I am mostly positive that won't be the case."

Chaz rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Wow. So, we have a ticking time bomb? It may or may not go off?"

"Or, we hurry and get these itty bits of Dasianu outta Rían before the god decides to get all dominate-y. Yet, didn't you want to try that Dom-Sub shít anyway, Ry?" Rory chuffed. "It could get interesting for ya?" When Rían shot him a grating growl, bearing his thick canines again, Rory chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender. "Ok, I'm done... for a sec, anyway."

Rían's voice was low, laced with the deep tenor of his Lycan, “So, we need to get the Kiviäs, restore the gods, hook Dasianu and Dayane back up, help restore magic back to your realm, and this all ensure us getting back home again?”

With the solemn dip of Esmond’s shoulders, Rían held his breath for the answer. “The Socius Naisi used every resource we could to get our hands on to get you all here. For a power that great, it took a lot out of us. Especially since we also needed to cover our tracks from the Karanlık. If we helped the gods, we simply hoped that they would return the favor and help you all return back to your realm.”

“Why doesn’t that sound positive to me?” Rory’s nose buried inside his hand again.

“What does that even mean?” Isak’s eyes burned gold, his jaw ticking.

Esmond whispered, “I don’t know if you’ll be able to get back home.”