Hidden

Kalona

Being on the side of Light wasn't as interesting as he remembered. Truth be told, Kalona was bored. Yes, he understood why Thanatos had told him to stay in the background and not draw attention to himself until after Dragon's funeral. It was then that she was going to announce to the school that he was her new Warrior, and would take the position of Sword Master and Leader of the Sons of Erebus at the Tulsa House of Night. Until then his presence would be confusing, if not insulting to the other Warriors.

The problem was Kalona had never minded being insulting. He was a powerful immortal. Why should he be bothered by the inconsequential feelings of others?

Because those I find most inconsequential sometimes surprise me: Heath, Stark, Dragon, Aurox, Rephaim. The last name in his mental list startled him. Rephaim had seemed inconsequential to him at one time, but he'd been wrong. Kalona had realized he loved his son-needed his son.

What else had he been wrong about?

Probably quite a lot of things.

The thought depressed him.

He paced back and forth along the darkest, most shadowy side of Nyx's Temple. There he was within hearing distance of Dragon's pyre, so he could come when Thanatos called, but he was also out of sight.

Being told what to do annoyed him. It had always annoyed him.

And there was this fledgling who had an affinity for fire, Shaunee. She seemed to have the ability to prod him, to make him consider things he was unused to spending his time considering.

She'd done it before. He'd meant to manipulate her-to get information about Rephaim and the Red One. What had happened was that she had gifted him with something ridiculously mundane and simple: a cell phone. That small gift had saved his son's life.

Now she'd made him think about all those eons he'd spent apart from Nyx.

"No!" he spoke the word aloud, causing the little grove of redbuds that had been planted on the west side of Nyx's Temple to shake as if a storm threatened them. Kalona focused his thoughts and quieted his temper. "No," he repeated using a voice that was no longer filled with otherworldly power. "I will not think of the centuries I have spent apart from her. I will not think of her at all."

Laughter danced around him, causing the redbud grove to shimmer, shift, and then burst into full bloom as if the summer sun had suddenly beamed down upon them. Kalona clenched his fists and looked up.

He was sitting on the stone eaves of the temple. There was little light on that side of the building, which was why Thanatos had commanded he wait there, but Erebus was a light unto himself.

Erebus-his brother-Nyx's immortal Consort. The one being in this universe who was most like him, and the one being in this universe Kalona hated even more than he hated himself. Here! In the mortal realm after all these eons? Why?

Kalona hid his shock with disdain. "You are shorter than I remembered."

Erebus smiled. "Good to see you, too, brother."

"As usual, you put words in my mouth."

"I apologize. I do not need to. Not when your own words are so interesting. I will not think of her at all." Not only was Erebus almost a mirror image of Kalona, he also mimicked his brother's voice perfectly.

"I was speaking of Neferet." Kalona quickly collected his thoughts and lied easily. It had been eons, but he used to be good at lying to Erebus. Kalona found he still had the knack.

"I doubt you not, brother." Erebus leaned forward, spread his golden wings, and floated gracefully to the ground before Kalona. "You see, that is exactly why I made this little visit."

"You came to the earthly realm because I was Neferet's lover?" Kalona crossed his arms over his broad chest and met his brother's amber gaze.

"No, I came because you are a liar and a thief. The rape of the last of Neferet's goodness is just one of your many crimes," Erebus said. He, too, crossed his arms over his chest.

Kalona laughed. "You have not been spying well enough if you believe rape had anything to do with what Neferet and I shared. She was more than willing, more than ready for my body."

"I was not speaking of her body!" Erebus's voice had risen and Kalona could hear the sound of vampyres calling, questioning what was happening over by Nyx's Temple.

"As usual, brother, you have appeared to cause problems for me. I was supposed to remain in the shadows, unseen and waiting to be summoned. Though, as I consider more fully, it will be amusing to watch you deal with mortal discovery. A quick word of advice-even vampyres tend to overreact when meeting a god."

Erebus didn't hesitate. He lifted both hands and commanded, "Conceal us!"

There was a rush of wind and a feeling of lightness that Kalona found so familiar, so bittersweet, that only two responses came to his mind-anger or despair. He would not allow Erebus to see his despair.

"You defy Nyx? She has proclaimed that I may not enter the Otherworld. How dare you take me here!" Kalona's night-colored wings were fully extended and he tensed, ready to attack his brother.

"You always play the impetuous fool, brother. I would never go against my Consort's proclamations. I did not bring you to the Otherworld. I only brought a piece of the Otherworld to you to shield us, if only for a few moments, from mortal eyes." Erebus smiled again. This time he did not dim the beauty of his expression. Sunlight glowed from his body. His wings glistened with feathers of gold. His skin was perfect as if he had been fashioned from the rays of the sun.

He had been, Kalona thought with disgust. He had been fashioned when the sky kissed the sun. Just as I had been fashioned when the sky kissed the moon. The sky, like most immortals, is a fickle bastard who took as he pleased and then paid no attention to the offspring he left behind.

"How does it feel? Better than when you snuck in, chasing after that little fledgling, Zoey Redbird. Then you were only spirit. You could not feel the magick of Nyx's realm against your skin. And you always were so impressed by anything you could touch, could physically claim as your own."

Good, Kalona thought, he becomes angry. That will cause his perfection to blur.

It was Kalona's turn to smile. The light he turned on his brother was not the hot, garish light of the sun. It was the cool, silver luminescence of the moon. "Still jealous that I touched her after all this time? You do remember Nyx is a goddess, do you not? She could not be touched had it not been her will, her desire, to be stroked, caressed, loved by-"

"I did not come here to speak of my Consort!" The words exploded in flashes of golden heat around Kalona.

"Such a display of godly temper!" Kalona chuckled sarcastically. "And they named you the good one. If only the lackeys that choose to remain in the Otherworld could see you now."

"It is not that they named me the good one. They named you the usurper!" Erebus hurled the words at his brother.

"Truly? Ask again. I believe, after eons of careful consideration, they would name me the one who refused to share her," Kalona said.

"She chose me." Erebus's voice was low; his fists were clenched at his sides.

"Did she? My memory differs."

"You betrayed her!" Erebus shouted.

Kalona ignored his brother's temper tantrum. He had witnessed them before. Instead he spoke with the coldness of the moon's surface. "Why did you come? Say what you have to say and then be gone. The mortal world is not much of a realm, but it is mine. I will not share it with you, just as I would not share her with you."

"I come to warn you. We heard your oath in the Otherworld. We know you have pledged to be Death's Warrior and to become Sword Master of this school."

"And Leader of the Sons of Erebus," Kalona added. "Do not forget the rest of my title."

"I could never forget that you intended to blaspheme my children."

"Children? Are you mating with humans now and producing males that grow up to be vampyre Warriors? That is fascinating, especially as I was judged so harshly for creating my sons."

"Walk away." Erebus's golden eyes began to glow. "Leave this place and stop meddling in the lives of Nyx's vampyres and in the lives of the honorable Warriors who have pledged themselves to my service."

"But are you not meddling by commanding me away? I am surprised Nyx allowed it."

"My Consort does not know I am here. I came only because you are, again, causing her turmoil. I live to keep turmoil from her. That is the only reason I am here," Erebus said.

"You live to lick her feet and you are, as always, jealous of me." Kalona couldn't help his surge of joy at what Erebus's words had revealed, I can still make Nyx feel! The Goddess watches me! The immortal reined in his emotions. He must hide his joy from Erebus. When he spoke again, his voice was emotionless. "Know this-I did not swear into your service. I am sworn into the service of a High Priestess who personifies Death through her Goddess-given affinity. All your visit has done is to give me cause to make a clear distinction between those Warriors who call themselves your sons, and those who do not. I will not burden your sons with my leadership."

"Then you will leave this House of Night," Erebus said.

"No. But you will. Bear this message to Nyx for me: Death does not differentiate between those who follow her and those who follow other gods. Death comes to all mortals. I do not need your permission, or the Goddess's, to serve Death. Now, begone, brother. I have a funeral to attend." Kalona brought his arms forward and slapped his palms together, causing a blast of frigid silver light to shockwave around him, shattering the small Otherworld bubble his brother had created and hurling Erebus up, away, and into the sky.

When the light around him faded, Kalona's feet once more touched the earth and he was, again, standing beside Nyx's Temple.

Aphrodite rushed around the corner. Stopped. And stared at him.

"Am I summoned?" he asked.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes, as if she was having trouble clearing her vision. "Were you messing around with a flashlight over here?"

"I own no flashlight. Am I summoned?" he repeated.

"Almost. Some moron, meaning Kramisha because she was in charge of candle collection, forgot the spirit candle. I need to grab one from Nyx's Temple. You're supposed to follow me back to Dragon's pyre. Thanatos will finish the circle, say some nice stuff about Dragon, and then introduce you."

Feeling oddly uncomfortable under the gaze of the strange, abrasive human Nyx had, for reasons unfathomable to almost everyone, Chosen as her Prophetess, Kalona grunted a wordless response, and turned to open the side door to the temple.

It would not open.

Kalona tried again.

He strained, using all of his vast immortal strength.

It absolutely would not open.

It was then that he noticed the wooden door had disappeared. The handle protruded from thick, solid stone. There was no entryway. Nothing.

Suddenly Aphrodite was pushing him aside. She grabbed the handle, pulled it, and the stone faded, becoming a wooden door again, which opened easily for her. She glanced up at him before she stepped over the threshold of the Goddess's temple. "You are so fucking weird." She tossed her hair and went inside.

The door closed behind her. Kalona pressed his hand against it and, under his palm, it shivered and turned from welcoming wood to stone.

He backed away, feeling a horrible sinking within him.

It was only a few minutes later that Aphrodite emerged through a completely normal-looking door. She was holding a thick purple pillar candle and as she strode past him she said, "Well, come on. Thanatos wants you to stand at the edge of the circle and try not to look conspicuous. Though, you know, that would be a lot easier if you wore more clothes."

Kalona followed her, trying to ignore the empty place inside him. He was exactly what Erebus had named him, impetuous fool and usurper. If Nyx had been watching him, it was with nothing except disdain. She denied him everything-entrance to the Otherworld, entrance to her Temple, entrance to her heart ...

Centuries should have lessened his pain, but Kalona was beginning to understand that the opposite was true.

Aurox

Nyx, if you are, indeed, a forgiving goddess, please help me ... please ...

Aurox didn't flee from his earthen hiding place. Instead he repeated that one sentence, that one prayer, over and over. Perhaps Nyx rewarded diligence. At least he could offer the Goddess that.

It was during the litany of his silent prayer that the magick began to swirl around him. At first Aurox's spirit leapt. Nyx heard me! It only took moments to realize how wrong he'd been. The creatures that materialized, oozing from the cool, dank air around him, could not be in the service of a forgiving goddess.

Aurox cringed away from them. Their stench was almost unbearable. Their sightless faces horrible to gaze upon. His heartbeat increased. Fear shivered through him and the beast inside him stirred. Had these things been sent to him as judgment for the deeds he had committed in Neferet's service? Aurox used his own fear and began feeding the beast within him. He did not want it to awaken, but he would fight before he succumbed to the swirling mass of malevolence that threatened to envelop him.

Yet, Aurox was not enveloped. Slowly, the creatures climbed upward, riding in a magickal whirlpool. The higher they arose from the pit, the faster they moved. It seemed as if they had been summoned and were gradually awakening to a soundless call.

Aurox quieted his fear and the beast within him subsided. They did not want him. They paid him no attention whatsoever. The tail of the cylinder was trailing a black, fetid mist. Not sure what compelled him, Aurox reached out and brushed his hand through it.

His hand became the mist, like they were formed of the same substance. The whirlpool felt like nothing, yet it appeared to have dissolved Aurox's flesh. Wide-eyed, he tried to pull his hand free, but it was gone. He had no hand, and then a shudder went through him as the mist began to absorb his flesh. Helplessly, Aurox watched his forearm disappear, then his bicep, then his shoulder. He tried to awaken the beast-to tap into the power that slumbered within him, but the mist buffered his feelings. It numbed him as it drew him. When it absorbed his head Aurox became the mist. He felt nothing except a vast longing-an unfulfilled seeking-an unrelenting need. For what? Aurox could not tell. All he knew was that the Darkness had engulfed him and was carrying him on a tide of despair.

There must be more to me than this! he thought frantically. I have to be more than mist and longing, darkness and a beast! But it seemed he was no more than those things. Despair overwhelmed him as he realized the truth. He was all of those things and none of those things. Aurox was nothing ... nothing at all ...

Aurox thought the retching sound might be his own. Somewhere, somehow, his body must still be his and it was revolted by what was happening. Then he saw her.

Zoey was there. She held the white stone in front of her. Just like she had the night before, at the ritual where he had tried to make a choice-tried to do the right thing.

He felt the mist shift. It, too, saw Zoey.

It was going to absorb her.

No! His spirit cried deep within him. No! Aurox's mind echoed that cry. Instead of despair, he began to feel something else as he watched Zoey. He felt her fear and her strength. Her resolve and her weakness. And Aurox realized something that surprised him. Zoey felt just as unsure about herself and her place in the world around her as he did. She worried about not having the courage to do the right things. She questioned her decisions and was ashamed of her mistakes. Once in a while even Zoey Redbird, gifted fledgling touched by her Goddess, felt like a failure and considered giving up.

Just as he did.

Compassion and understanding flowed through Aurox, and as it did he felt a surge of white hot power. In a blinding flash, he dropped from the center of the disintegrating whirlpool, landing firmly in his reformed body, gasping for fresh air and trembling all over.

He did not rest there long. Still shaking and weak, Aurox found hand and footholds in the gnarled maze of broken roots. Slowly, he pulled himself up to the lip of the pit. It took a very long time. When he finally reached the top, he hesitated, listening hard.

He heard nothing but the wind.

Aurox lifted himself from the ground, using the broken trunk as concealment. Zoey was gone. He studied the area around him and his eyes were immediately drawn to a huge mound of timbers and planks, topped by a figure wrapped in a shroud. Even though it was encircled by what appeared to be the entire House of Night, Aurox had no trouble recognizing what he was seeing. It is Dragon Lankford's pyre, was his first thought. I killed him, was his second. Like the despair in the magickal mist, the funeral drew him.

It was not difficult to get close to the circle of fledglings and vampyres. Sons of Erebus Warriors were heavily and obviously armed, but everyone's attention was focused within the circle and on the pyre at its center.

Aurox moved stealthily, using the large old oaks and the shadows beneath them as cover until he was close enough to make out the words Thanatos was saying. Then he gathered himself and leaped. Grasping a low-hanging limb, Aurox climbed up and out, which was where he crouched, having an unimpeded view of the macabre spectacle.

Thanatos had just finished the casting of the circle. Aurox could see that four of the vampyre professors were holding candles and representing each of the elements. He expected to see Zoey in the center of the circle, near the pyre, and was surprised instead to see that Thanatos was holding the purple spirit candle in one hand, and a large torch in the other.

Where was Zoey? Had the creatures in the mist captured her? Was that what had caused their dissipation? Frantically, he searched the circle. When he found her standing beside Stark, surrounded by her circle friends she looked sad, but unwounded. She was watching Thanatos attentively. There appeared to be nothing wrong with her except that she mourned the loss of the Sword Master. Aurox became so weak with relief that he almost lost his perch in the tree.

Aurox stared at her. She had begun this internal conflict he felt. Why? He was almost as baffled by her as he was by the feelings she had awakened within him.

He shifted his attention to Thanatos. She was walking gracefully around the circumference of the circle, speaking in a voice that calmed even his frayed nerves.

"Our Sword Master died as he lived-a Warrior, true to his oath, true to his House of Night, and true to his Goddess. There is another truth here that must needs be told. Though we mourn his loss, we acknowledge that he was only a shell of himself without his mate, the gentle Anastasia." Aurox glanced at Rephaim. He knew that, as a Raven Mocker, he had killed Anastasia Lankford. What an irony it was that the Sword Master had died to protect him. Greater irony yet that the boy's face was awash in tears, and that he openly wept over Dragon's death.

"Death was kind to Dragon Lankford. Not only did she allow him to die a Warrior, but she was a conduit to the Goddess. Nyx has reunited Bryan Dragon Lankford and his beloved, as well as the bright, shining spirits of their two feline familiars, Shadowfax and Guinevere."

Their cats died, too? I do not remember any cats being at the ritual. Confused, Aurox studied the funeral pyre. Yes, now that he was paying closer attention, he could see two small bundles, shrouded with Dragon, nestled close to either side of the fallen Warrior.

Thanatos had paused in her walk around the circle to stand directly in front of Zoey. The High Priestess smiled at the fledgling. "Tell us, Zoey Redbird, as you have actually entered the Otherworld and returned, what is the one constant there?"

"Love," Zoey said without hesitation. "Always love."

"And you, James Stark? What did you find in the Otherworld?" Thanatos asked the young Warrior, who stood with his arm around Zoey's shoulders.

"Love," Stark repeated in a strong, steady voice. "Always love."

"That is a truth." Thanatos continued walking around the circle. "I can also tell you that my closeness with Death has shown me glimpses of the Otherworld. What I have been allowed to see has taught me that though love remains with us when we pass from this realm to another, it cannot exist eternally without compassion, just as Light cannot exist without hope, and Darkness cannot exist without hatred. So with that truth spoken and acknowledged, I would ask you to open your hearts and welcome our new Sword Master and Leader of the Sons of Erebus Warriors, my Oath Bound Warrior, Kalona!"

Aurox mirrored the surprise he saw in many of the faces below him as Kalona, the winged immortal he knew had long sided with Darkness, strode into the circle and approached Thanatos. He fisted his hand over his heart and bowed respectfully. Then he lifted his head and his deep voice filled the air.

"I have sworn to be Death's Warrior, and that I will be. I have sworn to be the Sword Master of this House of Night, and that I will be. But I will not attempt to fill Dragon Lankford's place as Leader of the Sons of Erebus Warriors." Aurox saw that Thanatos was watching him carefully, though her expression seemed pleased. The Warriors that were spaced all around the circle shifted, as if they were unsure of what to think of the immortal's proclamation.

"I will serve as Death's Warrior," Kalona repeated. He was speaking to Thanatos, though his voice carried around the circle and through the crowd that had gathered for the funeral. "I will protect you and this school. But I will not take a title that links me with Erebus."

"I was part of the High Council when you claimed to be Erebus come to earth," Thanatos said. "What say you about that?"

"I claimed no such title. That was Neferet's doing. She strives to be a goddess, and that means she needs an immortal Consort, so she named me Erebus come to earth. I rejected that role when I rejected Neferet."

Whispers soughed through the circle like wind through trees. Thanatos lifted the torch she still held. "Silence!" Voices stilled, but shock and disbelief remained. "Kalona speaks the truth about Neferet. Dragon was killed by her creature, Aurox. He was not a gift from Nyx. Last night, during the reveal ritual at Sylvia Redbird's lavender farm, the earth showed us the terrible truth. Aurox was created by Darkness through the sacrifice of Zoey Redbird's mother. He is a Vessel under the thrall of Neferet. Darkness continues to control him through sacrifice most bloody." She pointed her torch at the three bodies atop the pyre. "I have evidence that Shadowfax's life was taken by Neferet so that Darkness maintained dominion over Aurox. For Anastasia's little Guinevere, that death was one too many. Grief stopped her heart and she willingly followed Shadowfax to the Otherworld to be reunited with those they both loved best."

Aurox's body went still. He could not even find his breath. He felt as if Thanatos had just disemboweled him. He wanted to shout: It is not true! IT IS NOT TRUE! but her words continued to bludgeon him.

"Zoey, Damien, Shaunee, Erin, Stevie Rae, Darius, Stark, Rephaim, and I!" she shouted each name. "We bore witness to Neferet's dark deeds. Dragon Lankford died so that our witness could be made public. Now we must take up the battle that felled our Sword Master. Kalona, I am pleased to hear your confession. You attempted to usurp Erebus, though it was only on earth. It is clear to the High Council that you were goaded by the machinations of Neferet. I do accept you as Death's Warrior and the school's protector, but you may not lead the Warriors who have been sworn as his sons. That would be disrespectful to the Goddess as well as her Consort." Aurox saw the immortal's eyes flash with momentary anger, but he bowed his head to Thanatos and fisted his hand over his heart before saying, "So mote it be, High Priestess." Then he backed to the edge of the circle, where anyone near him took small, but conspicuous half steps away.

Thanatos called for Shaunee to invoke fire and light the funeral pyre. As the pillar of fire engulfed Dragon Lankford's pyre, Aurox dropped from the tree and, unseen by anyone, stumbled back to the shattered oak and disappeared belowground where, alone, he sobbed his despair and self-hatred into the torn earth.