Rise of the Elders: The Chronicles of Jaydür, #2

By L.F. Oake

The Voices of Jaydür are alive and well, but the Elders have assumed power—and they aren't willing to give it up just yet. For two years, Caia has been hidden away on Terra in an attempt to keep her safe from the ruthless sinstarians, who will stop at nothing to capture the next Voice of Apan. But when Caia's protective Sapient, Archai, tries to return her to her world, the unexpected happens, and an unfamiliar Sapient ushers her back to Jaydür instead. Where is Archai, the ascribed bodyguard Caia has come to trust? Could those who call themselves friends actually be plotting against her? Now, as the Voices enter the next terrifying phase, Caia must learn to cope with her newfound power or lose her sanity—and Jaydür.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lilian Oake
• Release date: Oct 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386487395

Book preview

Chapter One Another Beginning

WITH A HAND ON THE hilt of his sword, Archai looked out at the expanse of nothingness before him. Starlight glistened off the watery surface that covered the floors of the Chamber of Apan. Where purple and orange hues of dawn once brightened the skies of the place, all had grown dark with the absence of the Voice.

Though all was silent, Archai’s mind raced with thoughts. The voice of the oracle, Meilon, weaved through his memory, unsettling his nerves.

The all-seeing Voice will cease to be free.

Meilon was not a speaker of riddles, but neither was she a speaker of the whole truth; she simply imparted information crucial to the listener. Which brought on the largest concern—if he understood her correctly, Meilon’s warning was about Caia’s eventual imprisonment. Whether by Glim’Ruk or by those striving for her safety, Archai was uncertain. Considering Keiren was the one to notice the potential of the esgal’hehn in the new Voice, urging her toward the oracle in the first place, there might be more he was not sharing.

Something felt...wrong.

So, are we going to discuss what brings you here? Keiren asked from behind. You know, Archai, I do not think I have ever sensed you so anxious. The death-like calm usually accompanying your presence is rather...raucous this evening.

You saw something in Caia, Archai said curtly, his eyes frozen before him. He had no intention of making small talk. Otherwise, you would not have suggested a meeting with Meilon. Is there anything else you have sensed of late?

Keiren did not answer. Instead, he stopped at the edge beside Archai who looked down his nose at the giant ghost-white panther and furrowed his brow.

Well? Archai asked.

She is rather receptive, is she not? Keiren replied. Quick to understand. Quick to learn. Quick to apply.

Archai eyed the feline. Yes, she is.

I also find her to be very wise, Keiren went on. Maybe a bit overly concerned with meeting the expectations of others, but that can be overcome.

Why are you avoiding my question, Keiren? Archai asked, his hands now curled into fists beneath his crossed arms.

I am not avoiding anything. But the Elders made it very clear—

Do not insult me. The Elders are stupidly distracted by their own foolish blundering.

"The Elders have decreed you keep your distance from Caia. And as much as I may disagree with their decision, I am obligated to do as they say. As are you, Archai. If you intend on keeping your head, I would keep any defying thoughts to myself."

You’re worried about the Elders hearing me? The Elders who are clearly at fault for every problem we currently have? Turning, Archai gestured to the mirrors floating amid the darkness in the center of the Chamber of Apan. Until the Elders grow hearing within the Rehnedhen, I think I am fine to speak my mind.

Archai knew the Keeper was well aware of his feelings on the matter, as this was not the first time the Sapient spoke of it. But this time was different—two years had passed with nothing to show for it. There was no change with the Voices. All circumstances came to a solid halt when Caia returned to Terra, and Archai himself was sent to guard the Temple of Pandhea. With so much threat and uncertainty in the air, such a delay was not only dangerous, it was suspicious.

The longer the Elders hold the power of the Voices, the more of a threat they will become, Archai continued. We know this, and already we’ve seen the signs of the minds of Elders Sahë and Rondh weakening in favor of power. They had Caia sent to Terra under the guise of safety. How do we know it was not for the sake of delaying the reunion of the Voices?

Keiren turned as well and flicked his tail, letting out a sigh. Believe me, I understand the fear and possibilities. The Elders are human, after all, and with the return of the Voices, they will forfeit their extended life. It is a natural fear. But we cannot assume this fear has the Elders on a path to corruption. And unfortunately, none of the Voices are so far into their development as to be able to discern the true intentions of the Elders. Should we not place the smallest bit of trust in them?

A dark chuckle came from Archai’s lips. How naive you are, Keeper. Luckily, I am of the mind of survival and can tell you that my senses are running rampant with suspicion. He paused and clamped his teeth on his inner cheeks—a habit he seemingly picked up from Caia after spending so much time with her. Am I correct in assuming you know the whereabouts of the other Sapient?

At that, Keiren’s ears perked toward Archai. Yes, I know where he is. But I cannot fathom why that would matter.

It’s just a precaution. I am not being glib when I tell you I am expecting the worst.

Keiren lowered his head and Archai noticed the subtle tightening of the feline’s shoulders.

You’re keeping something from me, Archai said. I knew you were.

With a lick of his nose, Keiren looked up to the Sapient, then over his own shoulder at the mirrors. Yes, Archai, I am. There is one thing I have been meaning to discuss, but among the several other reasons I have kept this to myself, I simply wanted to see some hard proof of your concerns. Hearing you speak of the other Sapient is alarming to me. Follow me, please. Keiren turned and started toward the center of the Chamber. "I have spent my existence in this Chamber, Archai, and I admit, things are changing, and not for the better. Not only is it dark here, but it has grown cold. The feline’s voice dropped an octave as he went on. The absence of the Voice has left the waters quiet and unstirred. Memories no longer distort the glass."

The Keeper was right; the mirrors floated in the center of the Chamber with little more than a ripple within them. But Archai was not surprised, as the Chamber was nothing without its host.

With a deep sigh, Keiren looked up at Archai with shadows in his eyes. It is worse than you know, though, he said, stopping before the largest mirror.

Archai furrowed his brow and followed the cat’s gaze.

Touch the glass, Keiren said.

Archai reached out with his right hand, but before he even touched the mirror, cracks quickly spread through the glass and Archai stepped back, immediately snatching his hand from it. By the Highest, he said. Do the Elders know about this?

Keiren nodded sagely. They knew of it since the very first fracture.

How long?

Two years ago.

Archai clenched his fists and grit his teeth. Two years? And you’ve said nothing to me?

With a sigh, Keiren narrowed his eyes. You have not stepped foot in this Chamber since the death of the Voices.

If neither Draì nor Caia is here, why should I? He knew his tone was short, but heat balled up in his chest and it took effort and focus not to burst with wrath. That does not mean I am not kept up to date on these types of situations. This, Keiren, this right here means we are running out of time. This is proof enough for me that the Elders are stepping up for their own gain, otherwise they would be acting to bring Caia and Naoni back. They are forcing my hand. If the Chamber itself is crumbling, Jaydür is next. And all the while, those hoary old men keep Caia far from reach yet close enough to that man with whom she connected two lives ago—the one man who can keep her emotional enough to delay her succession! His tongue moved quickly and words spilled past his lips beyond his own control of them. "If you cannot see the Elders are trying to keep the Voices at bay, then you are blind, Keiren!"

Keiren stepped away and paced back and forth, lowering his head to the ground as he stalked. "So, you have been watching her? he asked Archai. You were told to keep your sights off her. She hasn’t yet acted on anything with Solin. You must gain control of your hatred toward him."

At that, Archai froze, considering the words of the Keeper. But she struggles not to act.

Of course she struggles. They have the leg’et ínmi between them. That does not answer why or how you are able to see her.

Archai shook his head with a smirk on his face. The Keeper, as wise as he was, was easy to manipulate. I haven’t seen Caia for two years, Keiren. You know I do not have the means to. But if you say she struggles with the man in Terra, then she is at risk. That woman cannot contain her emotions.

The Keeper’s ears twitched and his brow wrinkled. "Sapient, have you gone mad? The fear was your effect on the Voice of Apan, but now I find myself wondering what effect she has had on you. You show no more self-control about your feelings than she."

Archai frowned at Keiren’s response. Spare me your over-analyses. I am her guardian. I am meant to care about her well-being, and as long as she is not within my sight, she is in danger. You know this as well as I. Archai lowered his eyes before lifting them again with a shadow of a thought. The dragon general, Kynrik, is passing through with his sons and daughters. I am meeting with them just after dawn, before they move on to meet with Prince Leithen and his father. I think I have an idea that will bring Caia and Naoni back.

Archai, I beg of you—do not do anything stupid. Caia will need you more than you know. Don’t risk angering the Elders.

Archai shook his head and let out a wry chuckle. That right there is the problem. Since when were we supposed to fear them? Caia and Naoni are coming home. Until then, you may want to double-check the locations of the Voices of Mae’Ehr and D’Irdda and prepare a place for Naoni to keep her distance from Caia when she returns.

Archai, please! You cannot involve the dragons in a war we still are not certain will ever come! The Elders may not be acting maliciously.

Before Keiren had an opportunity to go on, Archai disappeared with a scheming smile on his face.

Chapter Two The Second Calling

Y es! Two days to ourselves , Caia said to Nahtaia as she dropped onto her bed. Now, what to do with them?

This past week was the longest she could remember. Caia looked forward to loitering in the mall or going on an early morning hike with Nahtaia, just for the sake of getting away from everything that stole time from her week. Tutoring her sister Brittany was especially painful, which was weird to think about, considering the other half of her free time was spent helping her mom remodel the kitchen. Who would have thought tutoring a stubborn learner would be worse than hard labor?

Nahtaia sat at the window, where she spent the freest hours of their day. She claimed feeling the sun was the closest she could feel to Jaydür. The moon faery was strong, but it was clear she was homesick, and Caia didn’t blame her. Terra was not the most accommodating world for beings of magic.

I’d like to go see a forest. Nahtaia closed her eyes as she no doubt imagined what she wanted to see. I miss the smell of moss and clay.

I would love to, Caia replied. We can make our way out there pretty early. We can camp out! The very idea of sleeping under the stars on nothing but grass and dirt brought flutters to Caia’s belly. Memories of camping with Naoni and even Archai made her belly flip between excitement and her own homesickness for Jaydür.

Caia’s phone rang and she looked to find her mother’s name flashing on the screen. Hey, Mom, she answered.

Hey, honey. I’m still at the doctor with Brittany. Apparently, her foot’s fractured, so she’ll be on crutches for a while. She left her books for her homework in her locker. Can you walk over and get them for her?

Caia looked to Nahtaia with a sigh. If she made the trip quickly enough, they could still manage a way out of town. Yeah, Mom. I’ll go. Text me her locker combination.

Thank you. I’ll see you soon.

Stephenie hung up and Caia turned to Nahtaia. I gotta go to the school and get some books for Brittany. It should be pretty quick.

Without a reply, Nahtaia fluttered to Caia and took her usual place beneath Caia’s red curls. There are clouds on the horizon, she said a bit morosely. At least we may have the smell of rain to sleep to tonight.

Caia nodded, though she lacked the words to respond. The first year with Nahtaia in Terra wasn’t too bad. They helped one another keep the stories straight when anyone asked about the two days Caia disappeared two years earlier.

It was hard at first not to speak about Jaydür when they were out and about, but after a while, discussing it before bed became routine. The last six months or so, though, Nahtaia really seemed to suffer. She would spend much of the night on the windowsill, absorbing the light of the moon, hoping to lift her spirits for another day in the magicless world of Terra.

What will you do when we go back? Caia asked as they walked along the side of the road toward her old high school.

Nahtaia’s wings fluttered against the nape of Caia’s neck as she shifted her position. I’ll go home and see everyone. And smell my home. By the Highest, I miss my home most of all. That thick mossy scent is all I want to breathe in now. What about you?

Caia looked at her feet and smiled. That depends. I would like to spend time at Dy’Mün’s cottage by the lake. The one where I met you for the first time. I want to sit at the small wooden table in the kitchen and sip tea, listening to Archai mutter on about how much of a waste of time sending us to Terra was. She paused, thinking on her last moments with Archai before she stepped through the rift he created between worlds. Her ears turned warm at their final goodbye. She couldn’t bring herself to hug him. Not that it would have been a good idea in the first place. He was a Sapient. An immortal with no regard for emotion and connection. A hug would have just been awkward to him. Caia shook the thought from her mind. I wonder what everyone will be like.

Exactly how we left them, Nahtaia replied. People in Jaydür don’t change the way people of Terra do. Especially your circle of Jaydürian friends. They’re all ageless, immortal, or blessed with a god-given extension for helping the Voices.

Caia laughed, more at the truth of the response than the response itself. There was no real purpose in change for those who did not age. "I do miss them. I’m a little miffed, though, to be honest. All this time, and they haven’t given us even one sign of life."

They told us they weren’t going to, Nahtaia reminded.

I know. But, still. Even a little ringing in the mirror as a subtle hello would have been nice.

The two moved on in silent thought until they stood before the school, not five minutes later. Fortunately, the gates were still open, and Caia hurried to her sister’s locker. She pulled out her cell phone and checked for the message from her mom with the lock code.

Gathering the books, Caia heard voices from around the corner at her left. Being that she had not been a student there for two years, she wondered how she would explain herself on campus, or if the staff would even care. Maybe it was an old teacher of hers who would at least recognize her. She shut the locker door, then walked to her right, away from where the voices came and toward the courtyard that sat right in the center of the campus. The back gate was beyond the courtyard, which was the long way around, but Caia hadn’t been there for some time; a walk down memory lane could be fun.

Mr. Birmingham! a voice called from behind. You forgot your keys.

Caia’s heart leapt. She only knew one Birmingham. What were the chances he would be on campus in that moment? She slowed her steps and hesitated to look back.

Thanks, Savannah, another voice replied. Hey, make sure you spend some time on whole numbers and integers this weekend. I’ll see you Monday.

Caia glanced over her shoulder and felt blood rise into her cheeks. It was Eric, the guy who she crushed on all through middle school and high school. She hadn’t seen or heard anything about him for two years, since her return to Terra. He was one of the few witnesses to the attack of ash pixies in Scottsdale, Arizona—him and his then-girlfriend, Whitney. When Caia returned with apparent amnesia, she had to play dumb when they approached her about the event. When she had nothing to offer them, they avoided her for the remainder of their high school days. After graduating, they were out of her life—until now.

With her heart pumping double time, Caia hoped Eric didn’t see her as she hurried toward the gate. Oh God, she whispered to Nahtaia who, thankfully, remained hidden behind Caia’s mass of red curls. Caia turned to her left and tried to speed away when she heard Eric’s voice.

Ella? he called.

Caia walked faster.

Ella Wiles? Hey, wait!

Sorry, Eric. I’m in a hurry, she called over her shoulder. She skimmed the campus on the other side of the courtyard, hoping there was a quicker way to get to an exit. Her memory of the school’s floor plan was already starting to fade, pathetically enough.

An awkward laugh came from him as he called out again, I’m not going to stab you. Why are you running?

Caia froze and turned around to face the dark-haired, blue-eyed man unknowingly from her Jaydürian past. He still looked like Solin, but the spirit of the man she loved was no longer in that body or in those eyes. Whether it was slumbering within the magicless human shell of a body or truly nonexistent, Caia could never know. But that tugging, warm feeling in her chest when she met his eyes—the leg’et ínmi—made it hard for her to deny his desire for attention.

I’m not running, she replied, quieter than she meant to be.

He slowed down and stopped about a yard and a half away from her. He swallowed hard and pushed his hands deep into his pockets. What are you doing here?

Caia lifted her shoulders. "I came to grab some books for my sister. She got hurt and couldn’t come get them herself. Why are you here?"

Eric looked back toward the building he just came from. I came to tutor a few students. I’m getting my teaching degree and figured it couldn’t hurt to get some practice in.

That surprised Caia, but she tried not to react. He didn’t seem the teacher type of guy in all the years she’d known him.

It’s been a long time, he went on as he took a step closer. Have you been doing well?

Caia nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear. Yeah, I’ve been well. Helping out my mom and sister.

That’s cool. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but paused, and a stutter came from his lips before any real words did. I’ve, uh...I’ve spent a lot of the last few months wondering about you, he said in a tone of admission.

Caia felt her eyes widen in surprise and discomfort. This was not the conversation she needed right now. Two years of not seeing him had done her some good—or so she thought. The warm, rising desire to listen to him was terrifying. She couldn’t stop her body from all the reactions she remembered having toward him when they were in school. She could almost hear Archai’s irritated comments about how weak-willed she was.

Oh. That was all she could respond with, and it came out in such a way that it sounded like a question.

Eric ran a hand through his raven-black hair, which Caia noticed was shorter than he kept it in high school. She used to adore his long, wild skater-hair and how it fell before his bright blue eyes. I’m sorry, he blurted. That’s a weird thing to say. It’s just...for years I’ve been meaning to talk to you alone. Ever since that day with the pixies, I’ve been questioning everything. And for months, Whitney wouldn’t let me near you. Not after you told us you didn’t remember anything. In some indescribable way, Caia noticed the intensity in his gaze grow stronger suddenly as he continued talking. "But sometimes, in school, you would look at me like I was someone else. Or something else. When you were with that real tall guy that day, he said something that made me wonder. He said I was getting on his nerves just as much as my ‘elvish counterpart’ did."

Caia grit her teeth. She remembered the day she was trapped in a cold cellar with Eric, his girlfriend Whitney, and Archai while Scottsdale was overrun by ash pixies from Jaydür. She had admitted out loud that she was not Ella and that she was someone important from a faraway place. They knew she wasn’t human, yet they said nothing when she returned from her short stay in Jaydür. She often wondered why and was tempted to ask him now, but then she would be caught in her lie—the lie mutually agreed upon with Archai, Professor Dy’Mün, and everyone else involved.

Now, I don’t know what he meant by that, Eric went on, taking another step forward, but you did.

I don’t—

And when the Amber Alert went out for you, I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to ask you about it. I figured you went back to where you came from or where those pixies came from.

Before he could go on, a sudden wind blew across Caia’s face, then changed direction. Caia froze when the breeze stopped completely, and she turned her back to Eric. There was a haziness that settled in the school courtyard coming from about twenty feet away. The air was still and quiet—creepy. She felt like they were being watched. The hairs on her arms stood on end when a shrill, sharp shriek sounded in front of them, and they both jumped in surprise. Her eyes settled on a spot in the atmosphere that rippled like disturbed water.

Nahtaia? Caia said out loud. Is this what I think it is? Her chest swelled with anticipation as Nahtaia came out from under her hair and settled on her shoulder.

I see it, the moon faery replied.

Holy crap! What is that? Eric cried, though Caia didn’t even bother passing him a glance. His shock was from Nahtaia’s presence, no doubt.

Caia watched the air ripple, waiting for some opening to reveal Archai.

He’s finally coming for me, Caia whispered.

A shriek echoed all around once more, startling Caia, Nahtaia, and Eric. This time, Caia stepped back as fear crept up her body to her scalp. Something was wrong.

A giant, clawed reptilian foot burst through the rippling atmosphere. A snout pushed through next, revealing the head and long neck of the creature.

It’s a dragon! Nahtaia shrieked, her voice shaking with shock.

Caia threw her hands to her head. Dragons are on our side, aren’t they?

But Nahtaia didn’t seem convinced as she shouted, Run, Caia!

Without a second thought, Caia turned and ran toward a rooted Eric. She grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him along with her as she headed for the buildings. Reality quickly dawned on her, though, and Caia let go of Eric as she stopped. She couldn’t let a dragon cross into Terra.

Eric, keep running! she urged.

He looked over his shoulder and froze when he saw she was no longer running with him. What are you talking about? he cried. Ella, come on!

But instead, Caia turned and walked toward the creature, which opened its mouth and