High Alpha's Risen Mate

Chapter 9: Her Tools

"I suspect the truth is that we are all waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us."

-Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed

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Chapter 9: Her Tools

Third-person point of view

Deep in the Mage Mountains lies what Sierra seeks, Caer Anfferrnol. It's there that she will gain the tools she needs for her quest.

The elementals who guard Caer Anffernol know someone approaches the hidden sacred place they protect.

Amelia, the air elemental, hears the whispers in the wind. Those whispers carry the message they have long waited for. Gabriel, the Earth elemental, feels the vibrations of footsteps miles away. Sierra and her friends, new and old, hike through the Mage Mountains, determined to get to their destination.

Isla, the water elemental, sees through the water flowing in the stream around the mountains. Water holds memories from everything it touches. Isla is able to see three men and two women traveling towards Caer Affernol. She recognizes two of the men as Archibald Fearson and Dagnimoir Draken. She wonders, could it be?

Luca, the fire elemental, has kept the flames burning in Caer Anffernol for millennia. The four elementals mentally communicate with one another about what they have sensed and seen. Luca throws fireballs from his hands, calling on the infernal riders.

The infernal riders are elemental spirits. They are pure fire. The spirits form the shape of three horses with a rider of black smoke and blue flames. The infernal riders gallop off towards Dagdimoir and Archibald.

The Elementals may not know who the three people are, Dagdimoir and Archibald bring, but they must trust The Order as they have since Merlin himself hid Caer Anffernol.

The riders gallop through the trails running through the mountains. Aspen, the first to see the riders come barreling to them, she bears her sword ready to fight. "Easy there, warrior princess. They are friend, not foes." Devon says and pushes her sword down so the tip touches the ground.

"What are they?" Sierra questions curiously. The flames intrigue her and somehow call to her. Pure elements of fire are naturally drawn to the phoenix as she is to them. "You can feel, can't you?" Archer asks, knowing the power Sierra feels from the riders.

Sierra nods her head, mesmerized by the infernal riders. She slowly reaches out her hand towards them as if in a trans, but before she can make contact with the riders, Devon grabs her wrist, pulling it back and bringing her back into reality.

"I warn you not to do that. Absorbing an element in its purest form is dangerous. It comes with a darkness. Even you are not without the temptation of the dark. If you absorb it, you will pay a great price." Devon warns. "Power like that always comes with a price. That kind of power is a last resort kind of thing." Archer adds.

Sierra, sensing the seriousness in Archer and Devon's tone she backs away from the riders. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was doing," Sierra says, coming to her senses. Her cheeks heat from embarrassment. Devon offers her an encouraging smile.

"Why are they here and what are they? I've never seen anything like it." Conrad asks. His curiosity is valid. As a fae, he has seen many elements in play, but nothing like the riders. Conrad's abilities as a garden fairy are similar to the Earth element.

"These are the infernal riders. Luca sent them to escort us to Caer Anffernol. The elemental guards the fortress and keeps it hidden. These mountains provide the perfect environment for them." Devon explains.

They travel alongside the infernal riders to Caer Anferrnol. The rest of the hike through the Mage Mountains takes fifteen minutes for them to arrive finally.

Upon their arrival at Caer Anffernol, they are greeted by the elementals and the three remaining members of the Order of the Flame. These three members were chosen to stay behind to protect the magical objects.

Sierra's eyes are too busy to notice anyone standing there. Her eyes wander around in disbelief. She has the memories from the phoenixes that came before, but the memories never did it any justice.

A castle stands tall in front of Sierra, with towers on each corner of the castle. Through the top windows of the towers, Sierra can see a dimly lit flame. She feels as if she needs to brighten the flame.

Disappointment shines on Sierra's face. She can feel the weakening power in this sacred place as the flames continue to dim further and further. Soon, not even Luca will be able to keep the flames burning.

Sierra is pulled back from the disbelief of this place when she hears the unfamiliar people speak. "Dagdimoir Draken, Archibald Fearson, welcome back." Ezekiel greets his old friends.

Sierra is curious about why they would call Devon and Archer by those names, so she gives them a questioning look. Devon chuckles at her expression. "My name in the dragon tongue is Dagdimoir Draken." Devon continues to explain why they were greeted by different names. He explains how Hellhounds are not given a name when they are born. Hellhounds take the name of the first soul they take. Until they take a soul, they are deemed nameless.

Sierra is shocked by the revelation that Archer has once taken a soul from someone. "Don't look at me like that. I'm a hellhound, and it's in my nature. We have all done bad things in the past. All we can do is try to evolve from them." Archer says with a shrug of his shoulders. He refuses to apologize for his past transgressions.

"Anyway, Ezekiel, Violet, Ronan, this is the phoenix, Sierra Grace Moonchild." Devon introduces. Each of them bows before Sierra as a form of respect and gratitude. The Phoenix is finally home.

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Inside Caer Anffernol are walls made of stone, brick, and white marble floors. The inside is styled much like a museum and a library. Rooms are filled with objects set on podiums as if to display them. Several rooms contain walls of books.

Aspen and Conrad are led into a private office by Ezekiel. He grabs a scroll from the bookcase that sits along the back wall. He pulls a knife from his desk. Aspen and Conrad become nervous at the sight of the knife. They wonder what he is going to do. Aspen watches his every move, preparing herself for a fight.

"You do not belong here, but the phoenix has trusted you. By the Order's law, you will take a blood oath to never reveal the location of this sacred place..." Ezekiel pauses for dramatic effect. "Or you will be forbidden from ever leaving this place. You will be cut off from the outside world."

Aspen is the first to grab the knife from Ezekiel. "All I have to do is sign this scroll with my name written in blood?" She inquires. Ezekiel confirms with a single nod. Without hesitation, Aspen makes a small cut on her palm, drawing just enough blood. She soon signs her name using a nib pen dipped in her blood.

Conrad does the same as Aspen, but hesitates for a second. Conrad doesn't trust blood oaths. If the blood oath is ever broken, no matter the circumstances, you will pay the price in blood.

Meanwhile, Devon and Archer take Sierra to the armory, where a wall of weapons from nunchucks to guns is displayed on the wall. "Every Phoenix before you wielded a weapon of choice. Now it's your turn to choose your weapon." Devon says.

"Choose wisely. Consider your skills. Weigh on them. Once the weapon is chosen, there is no changing it." Archer advises.

Sierra looks at the weapons in awe. She does as Archer has advised her. Sierra considers her strengths and skills. She is reminded of Landon as her eyes land on the bow and arrows. Archery is her greatest skill. Landon taught her well in the art.

Carefully thinking her decision through, she takes the bow and arrows. "Landon would be proud." Devon encourages knowing the weight of how much that means to Sierra.

Violet joins them while she escorts Aspen and Conrad back with Sierra. They move down the hallways through the castle until they come to a room with nothing inside, or so it seems. The room is nothing but white walls and white floors. The only thing significant about the room is the flame-marked sigil marked into the floor.

An overwhelming instinct comes over Sierra at the sight of the sigil. She steps on a loose tile of marble outside the sigil. This causes the center of the sigil to rise, revealing a metal object of three interlocking spirals.

"The triskelion," Devon calls it. He explains the importance of the object. The triskelion will ground the stones' powers as they are found, so they don't upset the balance.

Each spiral stands for something: light/good, dark/bad, and life. You cannot have good without the bad. There is no light without darkness. Without any of these, life would cease to exist.

Without the triskelion, the stones ununited would wreak havoc on the world if their powers were not tamed.

"Now the codex." Archer encourages Sierra. Sierra somehow just knows what to do. She has allowed herself to accept things as they are. Just a couple of weeks ago, she would have questioned it all, including her sanity, but now she accepts it as it is.

Sierra stepped on the loose marble tile in one of the corners of the room.A panel in the wall shifts, sliding to the side to reveal a thick, worn brown leather book. An image of Helios' sun symbol is embossed into the leather.

"Now what?" Sierra looks to Devon and Archer for guidance. "You take the codex. You will need it later." Devon says.

Sierra hesitantly grabs the codex, unsure if she should take it. The book screams with an aura of danger. The codex holds many dangerous things inside it. Sierra is right to hesitate, for once it leaves Caer Anffernol, the Le Fae will be able to feel its presence.

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Later on, Sierra and her friends are sitting at a table eating dinner with the other order members.

They discuss many random topics but are rendered silent when Violet asks about Landon, Blake, and Heather's whereabouts.

"They didn't make it across." Devon hesitates to answer. The truth is, none of them actually knows if they are alive or not. Archer and Devon tell the story of what happened to them when they came through the barrier.

"So they could be alive, right?" Conrad queries. Lucian almost always would prefer to keep his victims alive until he's squeezed every bit of hope out of them or gets what he wants.

"It's possible, but there's no way to tell. They wouldn't have gone so easily," Archer says. Archer would know more about how Lucian operates, being a hellhound.

Hellhounds may be their own faction, having enough numbers in their ranks, however, they are still under Lucian's thrall.

"Can we find out?" Sierra asks. Devon and Archer exchange a look. "There is." They've discussed this for the past few days. "I'm leaving you for a week or two to find out. I can reestablish relations with old fellow hellhound allies. I can find out information about them this way and keep tabs on Lucian." Archer tells Sierra his plan.

"You're going? Since when?" Sierra is surprised he would leave. She can't remember a time when none of them weren't there, and now they will all be separated. A few weeks ago, Sierra thought that was what she wanted, but now she's not so sure anymore.

"It will be fine. I'm coming back, and you'll have Devon with you." Archer assures Sierra everything will be fine, though Sierra has a bad feeling about it. Nonetheless, she goes along with it. "I hope so."