“Hi Cap, we have a problem. Lucas called. He is frantic and I can’t get to the mainland fast enough. Jake, you are closer to him. Can you drop what you are doing and go meet him at his place ASAP? He sounds bad.” A few minutes later, after working out the details with Seth, Jake goes to pack a bag and find Elsbeth to tell her what is going on. After hearing about Lucas, she decides to go with him. While watching as she packs her bag, a thought occurs to him, “Can all Keepers port like Elina?” With a determined look, he leaves Elsbeth to go find Ronnie. Outside he sees him cutting wood for the fireplace.
Jake jogs over and starts talking before he has even stopped moving, “Sir, I have a problem. I need to get to a friend of mine quickly. How do I port like Elina?”
Sinking the axe into the top of the log, Ronnie wipes his hands and says with a smile “Well now, you have come to the right place.”
Seventeen
Jerked awake with a hand over her mouth, Nameed speaks to Elina’s mind, “The Covenant is Broken. You must continue without me. I will distract them.”
He sends her the image of a map in her mind and tells her to go. “I will not leave you, so we stay together. Who is after us?” The question is answered for her when one by one four beautiful angels land, surrounding them. Moving to put her back to Nameed, Elina pulls her power to the surface preparing for a fight.
“You have forsaken the Covenant, brothers. Time to die,” Nameed, tells them while releasing his sword from its scabbard across his back.
“Indian, you always overestimate your abilities,” a smaller angel from the group laughingly taunts him.
“Our fight is not with you, Nameed. Step aside and give her to us!” Moving closer, they jump back when Elina snaps her power at them.
“No one asked if I wished to go with you,” she snarls at him.
“This will be more fun than I thought, brothers,” the largest angel with red wings and black hair to match his black soulless eyes sneers. Drawing a large sword, he swings it around readying for battle.
“You come to me in shadow! Why have you fallen?” Nameed asks, “We are closer than ever to being free! Join us brothers in our quest, and all will be forgiven,” Nameed tells them looking around the group.
Not taking her eyes off the two angels in front of her, Elina’s mind goes over their chances. She silently tells the angel at her back, “We can take them, Nameed I have had worse odds.”
Feeling his fear, she is confused until he tells her, “They are a distraction for the real army, Elina. More are coming. You must go when I tell you too!”
Elina agrees, she knows she must not fail in her quest to get the book.
“Free?” the angel facing Nameed says as he moves closer. “Do you feel free, Nameed? Watching your human grow old and longing for her? Is it freedom you feel when you are impotent to touch or feel her? Join us and she will be yours in her youth when your love was new!” In his mind, he sees Polly young and new holding out her hand calling to him.
Shaking his head, he whispers, “I grow weary of the wait. The years have been like centuries.” Lowering his sword he stutters, “I, I, I want to be free.”
Elina’s stomach falls, and in her mind, she remembers Malach’s warning “Trust no one!” In unison the four angels dive straight for them, only to yell in rage when Elina spins, grabs Nameed, and ports them out. Teleporting one person is tiring; two is exhausting. Unable to go very far, she drops into a group of woods and falls to the ground releasing him. Nameed rolls onto his knees, with his black hair shielding his face. In his shame, he will not look at her.
“I have failed you, go on without me!” he tells her.
“NO!” Elina snaps at him. “I will not fail Polly like that and neither will you! Rise up, angel, and help me! Tell me what is happening?” Elina demands.
Slowly he stands looking at her, his striped wings droop. “The heavens are corrupted, the Covenant is broken Elina.”
Growling in frustration she yells, “In English Angel!”
“Angels are falling. I can feel it. There is a division amongst them. Some want to stay true to the promises we made our father, others chose to fight no more. They are falling, Elina, and I am close.”
Alone once more she steps back from him, “You angels throw the word covenant around so lightly. Covenant, promise, oath, and bond whatever word you use to convey the meaning, if you do not feel it in your heart, it means nothing! Go back to your brothers and tell them to renew this promise to Our Father, God. I fight for all of us, brother. Your covenant is not just to him, but to all of humanity as well!” The stunned angel watches as she seeks the image in her mind and follows the thread leaving him behind.
She shifts to shadow, and moves once more through time seeking the image in her mind. Below her she notices the land has been shaped like a dragon. The tomb she seeks is the eye of the dragon. The image Nameed placed in her mind is of a white pyramid. Like a crystal shining, it winks at her reflecting the moonlight below. As she drops to the earth, she seeks a golden thread. It must be here. She feels pulled toward the pyramid. Elina moves stealthily through the fields, and pauses at the large stone guards placed to protect the resting place of one of the Emperors of China. Evidence of a battle that
