Awakening: The Elder Chronicles, Volume 1 Read online

  "I think we have lost the ones following us," he said to her after a short while of silence.

  Elena did not respond to his comment.

  "Can you please explain to me what you meant by hearing their thoughts, again?" he asked.

  Again, she did not respond.

  "It baffles me," he said, "you could hear them. You should not have any of your abilities for another few decades. And besides, Daimones have always been able to shield their minds from others. Have you ever heard any of mine?"

  "Well, yeah," she said. "You have spoken to me in my mind, remember?"

  "Right," he replied. "But what I am asking about is whether or not you have ever heard my thoughts beyond what we've spoken. Can you hear what I am thinking now?"

  She tried to pick his brain but failed to hear anything. "No," she replied. "I can't."

  Alec sighed in relief. She almost didn't want to think about what he didn't want her to know.

  Alec pulled off the highway onto a main road. Several quick turns later, they were on a remote back road. "I am not certain this is the most prudent course of action," he told her, "but we need to lay low for a while."

  Nearly an hour and several other back roads later, the car pulled up in front of a small log cabin. Elena didn't recognize where they were, but it seemed like they had been driving down rough dirt roads for hours. She worried the shocks on her poor car would either give up, or mire down in some impassable terrain.

  "Where are we?" Elena asked.

  "We are with someone safe," Alec replied. "We should be able to hide out here for a while."

  "Are you sure you can trust them?"

  "I am positive," he responded with a wink. "After all, she is my mother."

  Alec climbed out of the car and walked toward the front door. Elena surveyed the place from the virtual safety of her car's passenger seat.

  The dense woods were dark as pitch. If it were not for the fact the headlights of the car painted the dwelling with light, it too would have been pitch black. The cabin had a basic form with a door centered on its front gable–wall, flanked on either side by small awning windows. From the appearance of the place, it had at best one bedroom and one main room. Her hopes for working heat, indoor plumbing, and a hot shower were fading.

  "Is she sleeping?" Elena asked.

  "No," Alec replied with a slight grin, "she is not asleep. Our kind requires very little sleep." Alec headed toward the cabin. "Come," he called to Elena, "she is waiting."

  Elena slipped out of the car and walked toward the place on shaky legs.

  Bring her in, a new male voice said in her head. I can feel her presence. The Power within her is awakening. She is crucial to our plans, to our survival. I need to meet with her. The strong, clear voice comforted her, though the sheer strength of it made her head hurt.

  Elena stopped dead in her tracks halfway to the door. The hackles on her neck stood at attention. "Alec," she said, "why did you bring me here?"

  He paused. He furrowed his brow and asked, "Why do you ask?"

  "Because," Elena replied, "I heard what he said to you."

  Alec stared at her with a mask of bewilderment. "What are you talking about," he asked.

  His tone suggested honesty. But how could he not hear the voice? He brought her here. Her ire began to percolate.

  "What do you mean?" she asked him. The anger building inside seeped through despite her best efforts to conceal it. "I heard what he said. What did he mean?"

  Alec's jaw hung open. "Elena," he said in a low voice, "I truly have no idea what you are talking about. What do you mean? Who?"

  "I distinctly heard a man tell you to bring me to him," Elena countered. She crossed her arms. "Seriously," she demanded, "tell me what's happening before I take another step forward."

  The man spoke to me, dear, said a clear, sweet female voice in her mind. Those words were not meant for Alec. Elena could see a woman standing in the open doorway of the small cabin. You already have very powerful talents, the woman continued. Not many of our eldest are capable of snooping on others' minds, let alone a newborn. There was a pause. Your talents aren't perfect, though. It's odd you were incapable of hearing my response to him.

  Elena glanced at Alec and then back at the small woman standing in the front doorway.

  The elfin woman stood barely five feet tall. Remarkably young, she possessed rare effortless beauty with short-cropped reddish-brown hair and almond-shaped chestnut-colored eyes. She had an intensity in her, however, suggesting immense power.

  "Come in, Elena," the woman said. "My name is Ori. You will be safe here from the ones who are hunting you. I have many sets of eyes and ears in the forest who will notify me before anyone can even come close to this place."

  Elena turned to Alec with a puzzled expression. In a hushed voice, she said, "I thought you told me there were no more females among the Daimones."

  "No, Elena," he replied. "I mentioned nearly the entire Daimon race had been rendered sterile by a terrible disease. Ori, too, is incapable of producing offspring. There are females, but none can produce any more offspring."

  Elena nodded, turning back to Ori. She gave the woman as warm a smile as she could muster given her feelings of unease about the encounter. After a short pause, Elena continued on her way toward the front door.

  "Hello Elena," Ori said. "It has been a long time since we last saw you. We have been expecting you."

  "What do you mean, we?" Elena asked.

  Ori laughed. It was a sound full of jubilance and mirth. "I mean the few of us who knew of your existence. We have been waiting a long time to see how you would develop. You have to understand it has been more than three thousand years since a Daimon was born. We have been very excited to see what abilities you would have." She turned to Alec, "So, does she have wings? Can she fly?"

  Alec shook his head. "Not yet," he responded. "It seems her abilities begin to awaken. It may take some time before we see what she can really do."

  As they were speaking, Elena stepped into the cabin. Her hopes of a shower were dashed on the wide-plank floor. The whole cabin consisted of a single room heated by an old wood-burning cook stove. There were sparse small pieces of furniture scattered about, including rough wooden chairs, a small kitchen table, and a patchy area rug. She sighed.

  "What's the matter?" Ori asked. "Is there something wrong?" She had a warm, soothing voice.

  Elena's cheeks burned in embarrassment. "No, there's nothing wrong, I—"

  Ori chuckled. "Let me guess," she said. "You were expecting something a little more comfortable than this? Some creature comforts, like running hot water, a shower, a microwave, refrigeration."

  Elena blushed and nodded.

  A wide grin overcame Ori's face. "Follow me, dear." Ori walked over to the far end of the room and lifted a corner of the area rug there. Underneath, a wooden trap door had been cut into the floor. Ori lifted it and then stepped down through the opening onto a ladder.

  Halfway down, Ori stopped and glanced up. "Okay, the trap door is a little cliché," she smiled, "but it works." She continued down.

  Elena climbed down the dark shaft into an even darker cellar cut into the local bedrock. It took several minutes for her eyes to adjust to the lack of illumination. A narrow board-and-batten door had been inset into one of the walls.

  "Please excuse the darkness down here," Ori said. "Our eyes are much stronger than human eyes are." Ori opened the door and stepped inside.

  The brightness of the space beyond made Elena's eyes sting at the change in light from the cellar. She gasped as the room came into focus. It seemed like the foyer to a royal palace. The immense open-plan space occupied about the same space as her house back home. The walls were dressed in some kind of reflective white metallic cover magnifying the light from the fluorescent fixtures on the ceiling. Plush carpet covered the floor. Decorative white concrete columns splayed outward where they met the ceiling, forming an interconnected series of ribbed vaults. />
  Familiar works of art by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir adorned the walls. As she stepped farther into the room, she could see the art was actually not so familiar. These paintings were similar to but not the same as many of the more popular works she had seen.

  In response to Elena's fascination with the artwork, Ori spoke. "Those are all one-of-a kind originals. I had them all commissioned personally. They are my pride and joy." She had a sweet smile. "I love art."

  Elena kept surveying the room. The furnishings were modern in style and comprised several zones. A conversation pit consisted of a blocky white couch and chairs surrounding a black coffee table, while farther down the room, a similar setup at a smaller scale focused around a plasma-screen television hanging from the wall. This must have been a media center. Two doors were situated on the wall to her right, with another located on the far wall across the room.

  "Follow me," Ori said to Elena. "I will show you where you can take a shower." She gestured for Elena to follow. The doorway on the far side of the room led to the beginning of a long corridor. As they headed to the right, she noted how similar the walls were to the room they had left—stark white and covered with rare pieces of original artwork. Three doors were located along the right wall of the hallway.

  Ori gestured toward the first door. "You can have this first room here to the right. It has its own bathroom, and there should be a fully stocked linen closet. I may have some clothing available for you."

  Elena stepped into the room and plopped herself down on the bed. She didn't even stop to survey her surroundings. After a few minutes, she made her way over to the first door she could find and happened upon the bathroom. A small closet door did in fact have a full store of white linens behind it. She pulled some out, grabbed a bottle of shampoo and conditioner from the shelf, and started the shower. She waited a few minutes for the steam to build in the shower before disrobing and stepping into the warm cascade.

  Stepping out of the tub and onto the tile floor, she found a small pile of clothes left for her including a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and some clean underwear. A note on top said, "Leave your dirty clothes and towels in the bathroom. They will be cleaned later. O—"

  The fresh change of clothes smelled nice and felt great. It made her feel much more human. She chuckled at the irony. She was feeling more human, and could be no further from the truth.

  She looked at the bed and it called to her. Crawling from the footboard up to the pillows, she tucked herself under the covers. Gone from her mind was any danger or urgency. Tomorrow they would be on the run again. But in the meantime, she welcomed sleep's warm embrace.

  Part II

  The Search for the Elder

  Chapter Nine

  Elena woke and rubbed the crust of sleep from her eyes. The sound of soft footsteps coming down the hallway startled her. Her heart hammered in her chest. Have they found us? she wondered, moving herself to the edge of the bed. The memory of the two men from Alec's roadside fight sprang to mind. No, they couldn't have found us here. Her breathing quickened. The steps stopped in front of her door. She slid back toward the headboard and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her body tensed, ready to spring for cover at the first hint of trouble.

  The handle turned. As the door opened, soft light leaked into the room. She leaned herself forward, letting her feet touch the cold hard floor.

  "Hello?" Elena called out toward the doorway, her voice trembling.

  "Hello," called a soothing and familiar voice. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?" Elena could feel the tension in her body slipping away. Her heart still beat fast, but now for other reasons. Even in the dim light from the hallway outside, she had never been happier to see his gorgeous face appear before her. He greeted her as if they were best buds.

  "Yeah," she responded to him, her mumbled voice still heavy and garbled from slumber. "How long have I been asleep?"

  "Almost a whole day," Alec replied. "We were starting to get worried about you. It's actually not morning. It's about three o'clock in the afternoon."

  Elena's eyebrows snapped up in surprise. "Oh. Wow!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe how tired I still am."

  "I could imagine," Alec responded. "The stress of the past two days' events alone would be enough to wear on you. Then add to it the fact you are beginning to awaken..." He let his sentence trail off.

  Standing, a rumble escaped her stomach. She blushed and crossed her arms over her belly. "Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm a little bit hungry, too."

  Alec's face lit up with a smile. "I figured as much," he said. "What would you like to eat?"

  She smiled. "I guess. I mean, I don't want to impose on Ori or anything."

  "It's no imposition," Alec replied. "Ori has plenty of food available. She owns a pretty expansive farm. She has all the eggs, milk, beef, and cereal grains anyone could ever want." He gave her a wink and said, "Not to mention, she is a fantastic cook. She can whip something up for you in no time."

  Elena considered this a few moments. Her growling stomach refused to quiet down, but she didn't want to wear out her host's hospitality. "I guess tell her to surprise me."

  "Okay," he said with a laugh. "Are you sure?" he asked.

  No. She nodded to him without saying anything further.

  Alec pointed to the far corner of the room. "Ori also laid out some more clothes for you and washed the clothes you came here in," he said. "They're all on a chair over there." Alec turned to leave the room. "I'll leave you so you can have some privacy to get yourself together," he said over his shoulder.

  "Okay, thanks!" Elena exclaimed. As his foot crossed the threshold to the hallway, she called out, "Oh, one more thing. How do I turn on the light?" Alec reached his hand inside the doorway and flipped a switch next to the door.

  Elena scanned the room and took a few minutes to absorb it all again. She decided to wake herself up with another hot shower. After slipping on the fresh clothes, she answered a knock at her door. Alec waited in the hall, and together they headed back to the dining room.

  Ori had prepared two soft-boiled eggs, toast made from fresh-baked bread, bacon, and cantaloupe. It all tasted wonderful. A large coffee pot sat on the table, the taste of which she savored like nectar from the gods. Alec had already eaten, but didn't seem to mind sitting and watching her enjoy the fruits of Ori's labor.

  She hadn't had a chance to see the dining room the night before. The dining room table itself seemed to go on forever. Decorated much like the rest of Ori's place, it must have been large enough to seat two dozen people without bumping elbows. The chairs were white metal with molded glass seats. Despite the hard materials, the seats were quite comfortable.

  The plates were platinum trimmed with gold. Not the sort of thing for use in a microwave. She turned to Alec. She had been so focused on eating. Not a word had been spoken between them.

  "Alec," Elena asked, "why does Ori have a farm?"

  "Why don't you ask her?" he replied with a grin.

  "But she's not here," Elena responded noting she had not seen Ori at all since she awoke. "Where is she?"

  He tapped his finger to his head and said, "Ask her yourself."

  Elena projected: Ori, are you there?

  No answer.

  Elena tried again, this time while focusing on a mental image of Ori as she had seen her last night. Ori, are you there?

  Yes, dear, came the clear mental response. I am.

  Elena smiled, delighted to learn she could control her thoughts by focusing and directing them to a particular person.

  Why do you have a farm? Elena asked. I mean, you have been walking this earth for thousands of years...

  More years than you can imagine, interrupted Ori.

  Wow! She couldn't even imagine such longevity. To have walked the earth so long ago the limit of human civilization had focused itself in a handful of established cities. Why don't you live in a mansion somewhere, or on your own island? Why a farm?

&nb
sp; Because I like farming, came Ori's reply. I own all of the land in this area for more than five miles in every direction. I own mountains, forests, and streams, and provide a place for all of my friends to live without having to fear they will be killed by a hunter.

  What friends? Elena asked with mixed fear and excitement. You mean more Daimones? They are hunted?

  Elena could hear Ori chuckle in her head. No, dear, Ori replied, I mean my forest friends. You see, I have a special gift somewhat like yours. Like you can hear the minds of our kind at will, I can hear the minds of all manner of animals and fish. I can communicate with them. They can also hear me. Because of my abilities, I am called the Angel of the Forests in human myths, Orifiel.

  Elena found it bizarre to be sitting in Ori's immense dining room holding a conversation with her. And yet, no word had been truly spoken. She marveled at this ability she had developed and the amazing speed with which a conversation could be carried. Words didn't travel at the speed of sound, but at the speed of thought.

  As she reflected on the implications of such speedy communication, another voice, not Alec's, entered her mind. It sounded like the other voice she had heard last night. The powerful male voice. Orifiel, the voice commanded, you must bring the girl to me. She and I have much to discuss.

  To Ori, Elena asked: Who was speaking?

  The Elder.

  Who is the Elder? Elena continued.

  He is the first of our kind. He is our progenitor.

  Why does he want to see me?

  Because you represent the salvation of our kind.

  Elena felt numb. What do you mean? How could I represent salvation?

  Ori paused. I have already said too much, she said at last. Perhaps, this is something for the Elder to explain. And he most assuredly has other things to discuss with you as well.