Arric

As I stood next to my master, I could feel pride of accomplishment radiate from him. The plan he had set in motion so long ago had worked. It had taken centuries rather than years to come to fruition, but time was of no consequence to him.

It was to me.

Six centuries had passed since I’d served as Sindri’s apprentice. Ketill Feilan. Adopted son of a widowed thatcher. By the time he approached me, I’d already enjoyed the victory of many battles and my name was growing in favor among the clans. But Sindri recognized something more within me. Even as an apprentice himself, he could sense that I possessed the ability to become a powerful oracle in my own right and he set out to make it so.

He presented me to the council as a possible apprentice. He believed I should be considered as the next trainee as his time as an apprentice was drawing near the end. However, the council refused to give us an audience, throwing us out of the temple without explanation. I was confused by their actions but Sindri was enraged. Rather than humble himself and trust the wisdom of the council, however, he began to plot against them.

The council members were unaware of Sindri’s schemes or his growing powers as he possessed strong cloaking abilities. Much stronger than his brother, Haddi. This had always been Sindri’s chief weapon. The ability to hide his location, movements, and even thoughts. It was from him that I first learned to make private rooms inside my mind. This skill seeded the ideas I would eventually convey to Isla about creating our own inner sanctum together.

Sindri decided to complete his oracle training on his own and take me as his apprentice. All the while gaining knowledge in both the approved oracle texts as well as the forbidden volumes. He became especially adept at enchanting objects. A practice that had long been outlawed by our kind, in which earthly items are bound with Kalt Einn magic. These relics, most of which had been lost to the sands of time, possess great power, even in the hands of man.

One such enchanted object, a sword, was given to me by Sindri on the night enemy forces surrounded and captured hundreds of Kalt Einn. They were armed with red fang and mercenary-grade weaponry. A well-funded and well-organized militia sent by a coalition of men. Dukes and lairds from surrounding areas who were threatened by the growing number of Kalt Einn in Iceland who were now looking to move into territories beyond. With that sword I was able to free the imprisoned Kalt Einn which included Haddi and several of the oracles but was mortally wounded in the process.

Haddi and the oracles used their magic to bring me back from the brink of death and in doing so gave me the ability to empathically link with all the oracles. Past and present. A world walker among the oracles. Free to link with, and draw power from, any oracle or Kalt Einn. I returned to Sindri, who was still in hiding, unaware of what I’d become, but he knew. He also knew as long as he was still my master, he could command me to do his bidding. To use my power for his gain. So, he hid me away. Training me in secret, until it was time to sentence me to six hundred years of fog and mist.

The Kalt Einn thought I’d been lost in the battle and soon I became more of a legend than anything else. A symbol of hope. And why should I be known as anything more? I wasn’t yet twenty-five years of age and I had no family apart from my ailing adopted father. It was better for the people if they didn’t know the truth. And all the better for us if they thought I was dead. At least, that’s what Sindri told me. He convinced me to trust his guidance. Asserted power over me as my master and clouded my judgement with his dark magic. Soon I would pay for the sins of my ignorance.

Now I stood next to Sindri not only as Ketill Feilan, his apprentice, whom he had access to. But as the mate of Isla Gunnach. My true self hidden safely inside the inner sanctum I created with her. A place that I’d built again and again, lifetime after lifetime, since Sindri cast his spell over me centuries ago. With every life I lived, I kept the truest part of me hidden away from anyone to see until the day I met Isla. When she touched me, she jolted me awake from a long dream. Also inadvertently sending my exact location to Sindri.

“You may tend to your so-called king,” Erik said, and his brothers rushed to Kade’s side. He lay on the ground, unconscious from the pain of the punishment I’d just received.

“You’ll pay for this, Erik,” Connall said. “I swear it.”

“The Gunnach clan are no longer in control of my fate, or that of my people,” Erik yelled. “Once the new council is formed, I’ll be reinstated as rightful king and rightful ruler of all who have blood of my ancestors flowing through their veins.”

“This is my final invitation,” Sindri said, walking to Haddi. “Join me, brother. Take your rightful place on the council or be enslaved along with rest of these pathetic insurrectionists.”

“Clan Gunnach will never bend a knee to evil. And neither will I.”

“Your knees will not only bend, but break,” Erik spat. “In fact, I’d kill you all right now, if it wasn’t in my best interest to keep you alive.”

I knew exactly what Erik’s words meant even if the others didn’t. Since Sindri’s thoughts were once again linked with mine I was now fully aware of their masterplan. A plan that entailed using me to drain the Cauld Ane of their powers, one by one. Powers I would then use to restore his and Alice’s youth. Like all who crave world domination, Erik and Sindri understood the importance of a strong alliance between the head of state and the head of the church. Erik’s goal was to rule over all humankind and Sindri sought to control the elements themselves. Both saw themselves as righteous in their cause and both were mad with power lust.

“This is your last chance,” Sindri said, extending his hand to Haddi. “Join us or perish.”

Haddi took his brother’s hand and gently kissed it, before pressing it to his cheek. “I’ve wished for your return a thousand times, while also mourning your death. It breaks my heart to know it would have been better for you to have died than to ever return.”

“Indeed, brother,” he replied. “Certainly, better for you.” Sindri pulled Haddi in close, stabbing him in the chest with his red fang enchanted blade.

“You bastard!” Connall shouted.

“Don’t forget about your ladies,” Sindri warned as Alasdair and Brodie held Connall back from rushing him. “Haddi will live for now unless anyone other than an oracle removes the blade. Since Ketill and I are the only oracles outside the circle, my brother will just have to stay put right here on the ground for the moment.”

Dalton glared at Sindri.

“That’s right, Agent Moore. We know all about Andi and I, for one, am very much looking forward to getting to know your young wife.”

“Stay the hell away from her,” Dalton growled, but he was just as helpless as everyone else to defend the woman he loved.

“Perhaps it’s time I took a bride of my own,” Sindri continued. “Perhaps once my apprentice is done with you and Andi is a widow, she’ll see fit to consider me as a viable replacement.”

Although free from Sindri’s hold over me, I was still unable to make a move against him while Isla and the others were inside the binding circle. I had to figure out a way to break the spell and reach my sword.

“Now that I have you under my thumb, Kaspar is next,” Erik said.

“He’ll fight you with everything he has,” Kade rasped, his brothers getting him back to his feet.

“Without the captain of his royal guard or assistance from my brother, he’ll fall too easily,” Erik said. “Then there will be no one to stop us from building an army of Kalt Einn. With Sindri as head of a council of oracles and the power of Ketill Feilan at my disposal, nothing will stand in our way. Soon the Kalt Einn will no longer be forced to live in the shadows. The Vakningin Mikla is upon us!” he shouted. “It is time for the Great Awakening!”

“Bring Kade Gunnach to me,” Sindri ordered. “The time has come for him to abdicate the throne.”

I nodded and began to walk toward Kade.