Nephilim Quest Book 1: Shadowhunter

30. The Gatekeepers 1/3

Daniel was avoiding me, or so it seemed, after displaying his wings in the library. He no longer greeted me at the cafeteria. He turned the other way when he caught sight of me across the main hall, pretending he was occupied with something on a computer, or that he was deep in discussion with someone else. And once, when I said hi to him when we passed each other in the corridor, he didn't even answer. Instead he hurried past me with a quick nod, and I felt that he had even stepped aside to avoid coming into contact with me.

"What did I do?" I asked Diana, "I must have hurt his wings very badly for him to be so mad at me."

Diana shrugged.

"I don't know. I have never seen him like that, he is usually so in control of his emotions. But then again - I don't know of anyone else ever touching his wings before. He might behave like that towards anyone who did the same. Touchy subject for the Nephilim, the wings. Pun intended. His brother Elijah always avoids opening his wings if anyone is within touching distance."

"So he has a brother?" A statement of the obvious, but too late, I'd said it.

"Yes, as handsome as they come, but much more solemn than Daniel. He hardly ever smiles. There is some tragedy there but we don't talk about it."

I tried not to pay attention to Daniel's behaviour, but it was hard. I was suddenly left feeling like a worthless piece of garbage, not deserving the attention of a mighty Nephilim. This, of course, made me angry, and I decided I would not give him the satisfaction of showing I cared.

Because why should I have cared? We didn't know each other. He had no obligations towards me.

Instead I decided to concentrate on learning about the different groups in the Centre.

I had already met some members of the first group - the researchers with their noses in books in the library.

"They have frequent meetings where they share and cross-reference their findings. Hints in texts about the Book of Watchers, as well as probable happenings in history that seem to involve Nephilim intervention - that kind of thing. Decisions to send Time Walker groups to historical events are made according to their meetings," Diana told me when we were lying in bed waiting for sleep to take over. "They are the ones who didn't excel in the other skills needed in the buffer zone, or they aren't sufficiently advanced in their training, so they can't physically join the Time Walker groups. They make themselves useful while they learn. "

I had a feeling I'd be joining them soon.

Diana was my unofficial guide to the Center, and one morning she yanked me away from my breakfast so suddenly that I splashed coffee on my jeans.

"It's time for you to meet the teachers. We're starting with Mrs. Olanda. She should be available at the moment - and she hates anyone to be late."

Diana's explanation was flung over her shoulder as she hurried me along to one of the classrooms. Mrs Olanda was a round, short lady with deep dimples in her cheeks when she smiled.

"Olanda is my first name but everyone uses it. And you should too, young lady," she beamed at me, "if not for any other reason than the sheer difficulty of my last name... it's a tongue-twister!"

We were standing in her classroom. No one else was around, and I knew I was going to face some sort of a test.

"Now, I am the teacher of the Gatekeepers, as Diana here must have told you."

Diana nodded.

"Do you know what Gatekeepers do?"

"No idea... other than that they probably guard the gates?"

"Yes, it's as simple as that. When we create a gate with the Keys, the Key holder can't sit waiting until the Time Walkers come back. They can be gone for days, because once they enter their appointed place in history, time continues there at the same pace there as it does here. So if they stay for two days in another time, the Gatekeeper needs to stay in front of the gate for two days. The Key holders are important people, who have to be ready to go and handle emergencies. So, once they open the gate they can't sit and do the Gatekeeper's job. We only have one Key holder here and that is Lilith."

I waited, and Mrs. Olanda continued her explanation.

"Once the gate has been opened, it needs to be guarded. It's a highly responsible task. We need to make sure that no-one tries to use it - from either side - without permission. The Gatekeeper is the one who ensures that only the right people get through and that means the same group that left through the temporary gate in the first place. This may sound overprotective, but if you consider how much the Immortals would like to find an open gate in the lower levels, so that they could keep it open in order to move freely between our world and the buffer zone... "

xxxx

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