Of Prophecies and Promises

Chapter 4

4

Closing it quietly behind him, he glanced in both directions, then peered into the trees a short distance away. In his mind’s eye, the winter storm ten years ago was replayed. Looking at the steps where he stood, he remembered finding the infant, wrapped warmly in blankets and set gently against the wall of the Sanctuary, protected from the wind and falling snow.

Abruptly, Bosley looked away, and hurried down the steps and into the cover of the trees. He’d circle around to the side of the Monastery, where the roadway would take him to the village. By the time he emerged from the stand of trees, he could see only the bell tower. Turning in the direction Gage was taken, Bosley emptied his mind and allowed his feet to carry him away from safety and towards that which he thought to never return.

Three kilometers from the Monastery, another roadway, seldom used, crossed the dirt path the Anadas had cleared to take them from the Sanctuary to the village. So determined to reach Malhinda, he didn’t see the being until it spoke to him.

“Anada, where do you go in such a hurry?”

The voice in the dark startled Bosley. He stumbled, then came to a halt in the middle of the intersection of the roadway and the footpath. Peering into the space before him, he could barely make out a darker shadow. “It’s no concern of yours,” he said, and began walking again.

The being didn’t move out of the way, and in a few steps, Bosley bumped into it. “What? Why are you here? I have nothing worth stealing. Let me be on my way.”

The being had put out both hands to steady the Anada. “Anada Bosley, I believe we need to have a conversation. Please, let us sit here on these cut trees next to the roadway.” The being led a flustered Bosley to the tree trunks that remained buried in the dirt, most of the upper portions of them cut long ago for building material.

“How do you know who I am? Who are you? What are you?”

“My name is Jules Andante`. I am human, like yourself. And, like you, I have been called upon to protect the Prophecy,” he said, pausing in his explanation as he pressed the screen on his communicator that was strapped to his wrist, and a soft glow pushed back the darkness.

Bosley gaped. The human in front of him had skin the color of the night. As Bosley stared at Jules’s face, the man pushed back the hood on his cloak to reveal a shaved head. There was one earring in his left ear, one through the connecting tissue between his nostrils, another through his left eyebrow, and over his eyes, he wore a covering. Jules removed the shields and Bosley continued to stare at the beautiful pale blue of Jules’s irises. White teeth flashed as Jules smiled.

“My eyesight is fine. It just scares others, so I wear the shields,” he explained as he replaced the covering on his face.

“How do you know me? I surely would have remembered you, had we met before.”

“You’re correct in that we haven’t had the pleasure of a previous engagement. That was out of necessity. As is this meeting now.” Jules shifted slightly on the tree stump, then continued with his story. “You see, Anada Bosley, when Gage St. Veritas was left on your doorstep that winter night, I was eight years old. The old woman, who subsequently lost her life after performing that vital duty,” Jules paused, touching his left thumb to the space between his brows to send a blessing to that soul, “knew that if the Prophecy had any chance of being fulfilled, the child would need to be hidden.”

“But why? Hidden from whom?” Bosley grabbed at the first two questions swirling through his thoughts.

Jules sighed. “The circumstances surrounding his conception were not ideal. I myself don’t know the full story. But I do know that if his father were to raise him, certain events would come to pass quite differently. That night, the old woman who delivered Gage to the Monastery spoke the words that invoked the contract, written millennia ago, that charged me with Gage’s protection from any who wish to use him to their particular advantage. My… race of human beings enters into contracts with others, where protection is required. We are trained warriors, Anada Bosley. The moment those words were spoken, it once again sealed the agreement. You were charged with Gage’s upbringing. Now that he is no longer hidden behind these walls, it is my turn to continue his education. It is a tragedy that Gage was taken from the village. I am on my way to Malhinda to retrieve him. You would no longer recognize the city. The Underworld has taken control of vast amounts of property. I have been living in Malhinda—”

“But you are a child yourself. Why do think you can protect Gage?” Bosley interrupted.

“I have been raised to know my responsibility. Trained to use various weapons almost before I could walk. I’ve had ten years to prepare for this assignment.”

“So, you’ll find Gage and bring him back to the Monastery?”

Jules shook his head, reluctant to remove the hope the Anada expressed. “Gage will no longer be under your care. He needs training to expand his gifts and talents. There are many things he needs to learn that you, Anada Bosley, for all your love of the boy, cannot give him.”

“What is this Prophecy you speak of?”

Bosley knew from the moment he saw Gage, wrapped in blankets on the steps of the Monastery, that the boy was special. But a Prophecy? That was a thing of legends, of mystics and seers and saints. Had not Gage shown countless times his uniqueness? Would it be so impossible to believe that he, a common anada, had a hand in raising one of such significance? He thought Jules was correct, that Gage would need to know much more than he could learn behind the Sanctuary walls.

“It was written long ago, on Original Earth. Gage is half of the Prophecy. Part of fulfilling his destiny is to locate the other half. Though the Alliance has done much to bring peace to the known universe, there is more at work than even they, or myself, are aware of.”

“How do I know if I can trust you? That you will do as you say?”

Jules smiled. “What would I have to gain by telling you that I was after Gage for some nefarious means? I’m sharing this with you so you know he will be found, educated, and protected. It is my duty to do everything I can to prepare him for what awaits. Do not worry, Anada Bosley. I’ll send a sign that I have found him and will give him the choice to say his goodbyes before we leave Second Earth. And leave we must,” Jules continued at Bosley’s crestfallen expression, “for his future lies elsewhere.”

Jules was quiet for a moment. He was sure Bosley would have more questions, and though he didn’t know all the answers, he would do what he could to ease the Anada’s mind. The breeze began to blow, so he pulled the hood back up over his head to stay warm and waited patiently. He had a good idea where Gage had been taken, and part of him was already tracking down which site-renovated building he’d search first.

“The night I found him outside the wall, I knew he was not like the other children. As he grew and his talents became evident, I admit, I didn’t know what to do for him, how to help him understand. Even the High Holy One, who rarely has much interaction with the young children, knew Gage was special.” Bosley’s voice became quiet as he stared into the air just in front of him. “I will miss him terribly,” he began again, then a thought struck him, and he fumbled in the folds of his robe for his pocket of treasures. Holding the crystal in his hand, he looked into the eye shields. “When you find him, will you give him this? It led me here, to the Sanctuary. Perhaps it will lead Gage in the direction that will keep him safe.”

Jules looked at Bosley’s open hand. The crystal was beautiful, and maybe it did have some power, but he didn’t have the courage to tell Bosley of the danger that surrounded this half of the Prophecy. He took the crystal and nodded his agreement, then tucked the unusual stone into the pouch at his waist beneath the warmth of his coat.

“Let me escort you back to the Sanctuary. I would not want to give Gage the news that something had befallen you.” Jules stood and waited while Bosley got to his feet.

The Anada shared with Jules a few childhood stories of Gage while they walked back to the Monastery, their way lit by the wrist unit of the Dark Warrior.

At the bottom of the steps, Jules stopped. Touching his left thumb to his forehead, then to Bosley’s, he bowed slightly and turned off the light. Bosley felt, more than saw, the absence of Jules as the warrior disappeared.

“May the Source love you, protect you, and guide you always,” Bosley muttered.

He rang the bell to be let back inside the Sanctuary, fighting the emptiness of Gage’s absence with the hope that he would be found, his destiny as the Prophecy fulfilled.

The door opened, and Anada Jai poked his head around the edge, then raised his brow. “Anada Bosley, what are you doing outside the walls?”

“A long story, Jai. Accompany me to the High Holy One?” Bosley asked as he stepped inside the Sanctuary.

Jai replaced the lock, nodded, and the two Anadas made their way down the hall to tell a story the Holy One already had read.

Dulsar, Apollo Galaxy… “I can’t do it,” Skyler grumbled, dropping the cup, stick, and Kiersten’s com from the air in front of her to the floor at her feet.

“Well, maybe this isn’t her area of expertise,” Kiersten said from the doorway.

Since they had returned from the High Council Chambers, Skyler had been a voice command communicator stuck in the “on” position. She had told Aiden and Kiersten all about her life on Windmere.

Kiersten, Princess of Suma, was the rogue pilot that had been delivering the vaccine for the virus that was decimating colonies on the fringe of Alliance Space. Aiden, the Prince of Dulsar, and the one to whom Kiersten’s mother had arranged the marriage contract with when Kiersten was a child, found Kiersten at Happy Jack’s, an intergalactic tavern. He believed the wedding was postponed, indefinitely, if the Princess, whom he had never met, didn’t return to her home planet. With the unknown Princess having left him days before the ceremony, Aiden journeyed to find the pilot and any information he could about the vaccine. It still amazed those who heard the story, that in all the known universe, they had found each other.

A deal was struck between them, and then there was the delivery of the vaccine to Windmere, the next predicted colony to be infected by the virus. That was where they had met Skyler, and since the death of her parents, the Future Fae, and the destruction of the palace and portions of the Penlei Region due to the fighting between the Tamplians and the Vancurelians, they had brought Skyler home with them.

Being the last of the Future Fae—a race of beings with their beginnings on Original Earth, or at least that is when the archived records begin to record their existence—and traumatized by the violent deaths of the King and Queen, which Skyler had witnessed, Aiden had taken her under his protection. Dulsar was the strongest military force in the Alliance, and with the union of Aiden and Kiersten, they would have controlling votes in the High Council.

In between their State duties, and making time to visit with family, Charlotte, Empress of Suma, Kiersten’s mother, and Sid, Charlotte’s long-time friend and lover, and recent husband, Derek, Kiersten’s brother who she recently rescued from an F-4 prison on Nimstead, and King Levon and Queen Ceily, Aiden’s parents, there were education sessions. Once rebuilding began on Windmere, Aiden sent transpo to retrieve someone who had similar gifts as Skyler in order to tutor her in her abilities.

Kiersten had just returned from one of her many committee meetings to gather Skyler for the midday meal. With the pleasant weather, they had taken to having meals outdoors in the garden where Skyler could listen to the plants and the birds talk. She stood in the doorway as this extraordinary child, which shocked Kiersten when she thought about how much she loved the girl, couldn’t keep the three objects in the air.

Holding her hand out to Skyler, Kiersten said, “Are you hungry?”

Skyler nodded and without hesitation, placed her small hand in that of the redheaded Princess, and began chattering about the morning’s events.

Kiersten smiled over her shoulder at Bethy, Skyler’s tutor, as they left the Royal Family quarters.