Meridian Chronicles: Keepers & The Soul Key (#4)

Chapter 10 Pt.5

Meridian studied Aiden's shocked face and said, "Selena, what in the world would a demon want with a mortal? Possession?"

Talon jumped in, "Yes! Yes! Lahash mentioned it in the club the night we met, he said that if what the dark one perceives to be true; the tales of possession would turn into a reality."

"I do not think we have to worry too much about possessions, Warrick has now let the guides go and fulfill their duties, more so for a way of a distraction, but that should slow things a bit, for now." Selena stared off at her book and brushed her hands over the top of it as she held it in her lap. "I can't answer how to fix whatever they did to you. The only thing I can suggest is that you all go and get the quartz sword, return to the hall of souls and ask the angels what has come of Aiden and if there is anything that can be done to resolve this. I am sorry I do not have the answers you seek."

Aiden and Talon accompanied the fairy nymphs, and the spirit guides back to Earth where they started out on their journey to retrieve the quartz sword. They located the sword in a remote cave in the southern area of the country. The sprits moved effortlessly, and within moments, they stood at the grand opening of the cave where the angel said the sword would be.

"So is it that easy? We just go into a cave and take a sword? How do we know where to look?" Pramlee shouted out to the nymphs. Her eyes glistened from the half-moon light in their surroundings. They stood on a ledge up high on a mountainside where it would have been near impossible for any human to make the journey. Talon stood close to Aiden, watching his reaction to being at such a height. Aiden was fearful as he hugged the mountainside with his body.

"Aiden, you do not have to be afraid you know?" Talon brushed his fingers across his back, and he was careful not to touch his son with his razor-sharp nails. Aiden looked over her shoulder at Talon's hands and then cut his eyes up and said, "There is so much I have to get used too, and I don't know how. I was just telling Meridian how I wanted to tell my best friend everything. Now I can't talk to him anymore."

"Aiden, I know how you feel. Before I came to be a spirit guide, I was a human, and then, of course, the rest is history how I came to be. The hope is that Selena will turn us all back when the time is right." Talon said as the group moved closer within the dark cave.

"What do you mean? Turn back?"

"Meridian hasn't told you. Well long story short, Selena has the power to turn fallen back to guides. But she won't do it until we take Warrick out. It is against spirit guide bi-laws to hurt one another, or any being for that matter. We are supposed to operate in peace, offer the same to humans who are suffering. Guides were not meant to do and endure the things that now you are going to have to endure." Talon said.

Before they could continue their conversation, Kieren who had remained silent staring at Aiden, the one who in his mind stole Meridian from him shouted. "Hey, we need to be looking out for one another. We do not understand where this sword is and what to expect. Can't you catch up later?" Kieren snapped as he stomped past Aiden and Talon.

"What is his problem?" Aiden asked Meridian.

"Uh, that is Kieren," Meridian mumbled.

Aiden's eyebrows flashed upward. "Oh."

Talon pushed his son gently forward as they pushed into the dark cave. "He is a little sore at the loss of Meridian, and he is not handling it well. Just stay away from him the best you can."

Aiden went quiet as he watched Kieren up ahead who had taken the opportunity to lead in with Relic and Orion as they scouted through the cave. As dark as caves usually were, it was odd to find a dim light ahead as they walked. Karma had trailed closely behind the ones in the front, and she placed her hand inside the break in Orion's elbow.

"Why is there a light in a cave?"

Orion was slow to respond. "Selena told me that there is another 'keeper' so to speak here in the cave that keeps a watch on the sword, amongst other angel relics left here on Earth."

Karma appeared agitated in his response. "What? A keeper? Another Angel here on Earth?"

"No, I don't think what is in this cave is an angel by any means. I do believe that whoever this being is, does not exist to do anything else but keep watch on certain things. I suppose that Selena didn't share this with you?" Orion carried an amused look.

"Do not get me started. No, she didn't, and neither did the angel when I was in the hall of souls. Not even a hint of anything. I suppose I should expect Selena to maintain her cryptic self. I just hoped she would be more forthcoming to us, her own kind." Karma continued to walk next to the towering Ifrit.

"Well I am not technically your kind, you know. She took me in. You are closer to her than I. But Selena is a well-aged being and carries her own dark secrets. Those that I do not even believe I have had the privilege of knowing."

Karma watched her feet as she continued to walk in the cave. Much of the whispering amongst the group had settled when they overheard the conversation involving Selena. "What do you mean?"

Orion shrugged his broad shoulders, "Well she is so concerned over Luna. It is almost as though she hangs onto her for some darker reason, like a fear. An emotion that Selena does not handle well, one that she rarely exudes. But when it comes to Luna, there is something more to it than that. As though she fears a loss of her and I can't say for sure why. But it leads me to believe that before I came into the fairy realm, she must have had another life before me. Maybe she lost something close to her. No one even knows who Luna's father is, and I have never asked."

The chattering subsided as they reached the pinnacle point of where the light, which seemed to dim, was sitting right before their eyes. The light was a single crystal in its raw form, glowing as it sat perched on a granite ledge and behind the crystal light on the cave wall carried an inscription in a language that they were not accustomed to.

Talon pushed through the nymphs and the other guides to look at what Orion and Karma were reading on the wall. "What is this? I do not understand this language. Do you?"

Both shook their heads as they stared at the writing. It ran left to write and appeared nearly as symbols as much as it did writing. Confounded, everyone stood and stared at the barely lit wall with the foreign inscription. Suddenly, there was a shuffle in the distance as though something was slowly moving toward them. It was slow in pace, but the dragging steps were audible.

Talon put his arms up in front of Orion and Karma, who both looked at Talon and said, "Really?"

Talon quickly dropped his arms down in shame. "I get it, but it is just a habit. Fine, I will go stand in front of my son and Meridian and take care of them." Talon shook his head as he moved back toward Aiden, and he carried a smirk in amusement of himself. Relic of course, not shy of his commentary watched the fallen one quickly move past him and Pramlee.

"Shut up, Relic," Talon said without looking at Relic.

"I didn't even say anything, and I know you can't read my mind, not yet anyway." Relic flipped his long black hair back over his shoulders so he could turn and stare at Talon who now stood with Meridian and Aiden.

Talon just smiled at Relic, but the light-hearted moment was interrupted when strange footsteps stopped leaving a mystery standing before their eyes.