The Peacekeeper
Table of Contents
Excerpt
The Peacekeeper
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
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“Will you heal Elspeth, please.”
He knew he begged, but felt he had no choice.
“No, Ian, I will not, but behold the beauty and fight of life.” The God of light swept his arm in front of him and disappeared. He was once again in his body. The stake was gone and he jumped up to fight Athdar and Drakkor. They too were gone.
He ran to Elspeth and grabbed her hand. Everyone was released from their frozen states and Eoghan was there.
His brothers were hugging and talking, but he could only see Elspeth. He pulled the knife from her chest. “Wake up dearling, please.” She didn’t move. He watched in slow motion as the blood seeped from her chest and drop by drop slid slowly down her side and off the table to hit the floor, each drop a splash he could swear resounded through his body. The whole slow-motion scene surreal. The ripples from each drop flowing through him, killing him as surely as someone slowly pushing a knife in his heart and twisting. He watched her life blood leaving.
Then in a sudden moment of clarity he pressed his hand to her wound to try and stop the bleeding. He fell to his knees and lay his head to her chest and listened to her heart beat slow.
In his anguish, he raised his head and gave a grief ridden howl that bellowed from deep in his soul, echoed loudly through the cave walls, shaking all around. All his brothers stopped and gathered around concern etching their worried faces.
Silence hung in the air as he buried his face in her neck and sobbed. She lay dying, still, silent, and pale.
The Peacekeeper
by
Cheryl Starr Munger
The McGregors Series
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
The Peacekeeper
COPYRIGHT © 2018 by Cheryl Starr Munger
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com
Cover Art by Debbie Taylor
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
PO Box 708
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708
Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com
Publishing History
First Black Rose Edition, 2018
Print ISBN 978-1-5092-2146-2
Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-2147-9
The McGregors Series
Published in the United States of America
Dedication
To my son and daughter
who I love with all my heart.
Thanks for being my best friends.
And to my grandchildren
who keep the one piece of my heart
that makes it beat.
Acknowledgements
“A Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever” was originally published in 1791 by Robert Burns and is now part of the Public Domain.
Prologue
Close to the top of a mountain near Mystic Kingdom, in the opening of a large dark cave, stood the God of Dark. His long raven hair damp and stuck to his face and neck from the humid heat of the day. The cave provided no shelter from the heat. It was damp and moldy, causing the air to hang thick and heavy. No matter to him, he lived and thrived in heat. He liked this place.
The bottom of his crimson and black robe hung over the opening’s edge as he leaned out and looked down. Two men slowly climbed toward him, one carrying a small bundle, the other a large bag. The God of Dark impatiently watched as they ascended.
He sighed at their slowness and raised his hands. The men were immediately transported to the cave, landing in front of him. He eyed King Rulm and Drakkor sharply.
“You brought the infant,” he rumbled.
“Yes,” said Drakkor. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. What about when he is returned? Will his mother sense he is no longer her son?
The God of Dark hated questions, but he answered non-the-less. “Her memory of what he was like is gone. I’ve replaced them with new ones. She will raise him as her own until which time he is returned to us.”
“Why now, after all these years. Why are you bringing this Seamus back, and why is he so important, who is he?” asked King Rulm.
The God of Dark turned toward the king, his eyes flashing flames. “Because,” he bellowed. “Merlin has been doing good, so much so that it was time the scales were balanced. It’s time his brother returned. And I will be the one to bring him back. With a spell from the Grimoire to the Dark he will once again be given life. The God of Light says he likes balance, as far as I’m concerned, this will be balance.” He turned toward the alter, the glow coming off from him bathing the cave and everything in it with an eerie red glow.
Drakkor took the sleeping baby and placed it upon the alter, removing the blanket and leaving the child naked upon the cold stone. The child awoke and began to wail. “Sileniseo Absoliteus!” The God of Dark raised his hand. The baby fell quiet.
“Let’s get on with it,” he said. “You two will perform the spell, I will put Seamus’ spirit in this body as the child’s spirit leaves. I cannot create a spirit. Only the One Great God can do that, but nowhere is it said, that I cannot manipulate one that already exists.” He laughed.
“Won’t the God of Light know what we are doing, or the very least, the One Great God?” asked King Rulm.
He turned toward the king with impatience. “He will only see the death of a child nothing more. He won’t know we’ve placed another soul in this body. This cave is warded; the child is warded, and here I can open a thin veil from hell to pull Seamus through. This is the only place where the God of Light and the One Great God will not know what we are doing.” He laughed. “It’s time for me! Do you understand? I’ve played by their rules long enough, today that stops!” He was out of patience and small sparks shot from the glow surrounding him. “Do you have the knife that Merlin made and used to kill his brother?”
Drakkor pulled it out from the bag he carried, removed it from the sheath, and lay it next to the baby on the alter.
“The Grimoire to the Dark?” he asked.
Drakkor smiled as he remove
d the book and placed it on the alter.
“Good let’s begin,” he rumbled. Drakkor placed a bowel of herbs mixed with Seamus’ ground bone near the child while the God of Dark drew blood from the motionless baby.
Holding the babe over the bowel he let a few drops of blood fall from the infant and they began to chant. The child didn’t cry, didn’t whimper, eyes closed as if asleep from the spell that he’d put him under.
“Reenta Oppresucto,” they chanted together. “Suprenta Elemi, Obliicum Pestempra,” and with a final flare, they shouted, “Extermiortis Noctius!”
The sky outside became dark and lightning flashed and arced from cloud to cloud. Inside the cave the torches flared high and static electricity shot through the air. A ball of white light rose from the child and hovered for a second before shooting through the roof.
The God of Dark grew in size, his hair flying in all directions, flames for eyes, his light bright. “Alterempra…Alteritus…Seretus…Vengerrgio Caneus!” Beside him hovered a dark, murky cloud. As the white light left the baby the dark cloud entered and he healed the wounds to the child.
The static electricity subsided, the snapping and popping stopped, the sun once again shown outside, the flames from the torches receded, and the baby opened his eyes.
“It is done,” he rumbled. “Return the child to its mother.”
Chapter 1
30 years later
The sky was dark and gloomy. No clouds, just gray, with swirling vapor wisps of fog over the loch. Ian McGregor sat atop the trunk of a lonely fallen oak, staring at the churning waves as the wind whipped his locks of black hair from its queue and across his stubbled chiseled face. Winds howled and whistled through the nearby pine branches, his ears numb from the cold early spring. He sat still and silent without feeling any of it.
Merlin was on his way, and that meant the peace he had known since his father and brother’s death, was at an end. For eight hundred years he had fought for peace. Fought for the ones who were wronged. Fought for the innocence of the humans of inner earth, and for those from his own outer earth. He was tired, but when Merlin called he could never refuse the wizard, who was also like a father to him. He wouldn’t refuse him now.
He was half fae, half vampire, but that is not what made his family so special. No, each of them had special and unique gifts that those of singular species did not possess. He chuckled. His family had always been unique.
At one time vampires couldn’t walk in the sun, now they all could. Thanks to the spirit witch Circe it was now possible. When she approached the vampires offering her gift so long ago, a kinship was born. Her offer didn’t come without payment. They were charged with protecting the witches that resided on inner earth in return for her working her magic.
Witches and vampires then became as thick as blood. It was a win, win situation for both sides. He shook his head at the complexity of her spell. How she mixed vampire blood with sunshine was beyond him. But then how could he question her abilities, when he, himself could tell a lie coming from a man’s mouth and know the truth at the same time. He learned long ago not to question others intangible gifts.
Each of his brothers and sisters, had their own. Together they were formidable. Also, thanks to Circe, they now only drank blood to stay young and healthy. Needing to only consume it every few days. They ate food like humans and they could enjoy the intricate flavors and textures of a variety of meals.
Ian gathered himself from his musings and stood, a strong gust grabbing his long coat, whipping it back. He turned toward his home and headed up the hill to meet Merlin.
Ian walked steadily up from the loch toward the castle. He was late. He could feel cold dread slip icily through his bones. “What does the old man have on his mind now?” Whatever it was it would not only involve him but his brothers as well.
Another mission he was sure of it. He knew that the long period of peace was too good to be true. His family was an old family, he himself eight-hundred years. His parents twice as old. His mother fae and his father vampire, like his father before him, born that way, he and his siblings as well. His father and twin brother dead. Both killed during their last mission.
He picked up his pace, quickly climbed the stairs onto the portico, and walked through the heavy double doors, just in time to see Merlin sit down at the long table with a tankard. He was alone. His mother must not have seen him arrive or she would have been sitting with him, laughing and talking.
“Merlin, you ol’ fool, now what brings you here?” he asked, slapping him on his back, as he passed him by, on his way to the side board.
“Well grab a seat, Ian, my boy. ’Tis good to see you.”
“You too, Merlin,” said Ian grabbing a tankard off the sideboard. He poured mead until it foamed over the top and sat down across from Merlin waiting for him to answer.
Merlin sighed, pulled his hand through his long white hair then down over his beard, looked at Ian across the table in the McGregor castle.
“Ian, Drakkor is poisoning the fae and vampire alike. His army is growing. He’s creating masses of beings there’s no precedent for. Flagitious creatures. You being half-fae and half-vampire, the oldest of all your brothers, with all the powers of both species, are why you are my first. But you are also my friend, my confidant, and my surrogate son.”
“Ahhh, Drakkor the dark demon, my least favorite arse. Please Merlin, you ken what you are aboot. Doona bait me, get tae the point.” Ian drained his cup of mead and slammed his cup to the twenty-foot, highly polished table, silver eyes blazing.
“If your mother saw that she’d have your hide.” Merlin laughed and became straight-faced and serious again. “Ian McGregor there will come a time when you will die in pure heart, you will become ethereal, you will understand all that has been taught you, you will gain your freedom from your past. You will understand.”
“Ole man enough with your riddles. You’ve promised this gift of ethereal, and I still doona understand it. Either shut your geggie, or tell me what this is really aboot?”
Merlin frowned. “If any other man spoke to me in such a way he’d be a toad by now. Fine. I have amassed a group, combining a triad of species who will be working together. This army which I have named The Myriad Army consists of the Ocrul, the Crimson Keepers, and…you are not going to like this…the Crixior. I want you to lead them. I need you to lead them in this unknown deadly battle against these new creatures.
“My baws tae you! For one I work alone or with my brothers, two you can forget it! I’d maybe work with the Ocrul, or the Crimson Keepers, but you have me damned if I’ll step foot in the same room with even one Crixior. Let alone a bunch of them damn demons. Or yet tae lead the damn bastards. They killed my father and my brother; you canna ask me tae do such a thing! I doona care what anybody says. Not even for the so called “good Crixior.” A demon, is a demon, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re all bad!”
“Not all. These few demons have proven themselves worthy beyond measure in our fight against evil. There are some, by some fluke, that have light in them. They have been pardoned by The Plelin Courts, the Ayriris light angels. In fact, by Junius himself, and allowed to fight against the faction of demons called the…”
“Yes, I ken,” interrupted Ian, “the Asurads. The bad arse demons. Still I doona want tae work with any Crixior. Good or bad. Besides you retired me. Now you want me tae lead fae, vampires, and demons all rolled into one? That’s a war in itself. The Ocrul fae, doona enjoy working with Crimson Keeper vampires. Crimson Keeper vampires, doona enjoy working with Ocrul fae, and you want tae throw demons in the mix? You’re plum crazy Merlin, they’ll all be dead by nightfall, the first day, and you want me tae lead them? You’re oot of your head!”
“Yes, Ian, I do. Drakkor’s armies are growing. He’s kidnapping fae and vampires, and somehow turning them into Asurads, or Kearals, as I call the new demon, and they don’t lose their fae or vampire powers when they are turned.”
“T
hat’s nae possible, if they are turned Asurad they lose their fae and vampire powers. They just become Asurad, malevolent, all powers are gone, except the new ones they get as demon. Och my Goddesses! Their combined powers would make them almost impossible tae stop. Kearals? How can that be? Besides one has free will, they canna become demon unless they agree. Most fae and vampire wouldn’t do so.”
“Wrong and wrong. Drakkor is somehow taking them or tricking them. They do lose something, however, when turned.”
“What?”
“Their good hearts. They become completely evil. Without their knowledge or say so these men are losing their souls.” Merlin frowned and took a long, slow drink of mead.
“What?! Och! What have the angels tae say about it? Are the Ayriris Light Angels of the Plelin Courts involved and does the Akuphis Dark Angel’s Court ken?”
“The Ayriris know, the Akuphis are not talking about anything. But the Ayriris have no answers and are as confused as I am. Last I could find out was that Drakkor was collecting kings from various parts of the world. He was last seen in the valley of Mystic Mountain. Before you meet with your new group for training, I need you to leave this magical parallel earth plain, through the Lulara veil, to the human inner earth, and look for Drakkor there.
“Don’t interact yet. I know your history together, and your hatred for him killing your father and your twin. If you didn’t know him so well, and I didn’t need you so badly, I probably wouldn’t be putting you in this position, but you’re my best. I need you, the fae need you, the vampire’s need you, your mother, eight brothers, and four sisters need you.”
“Did I hear brothers?” Angus spoke up stomping into the gallery.
“That’d be me as weel!” yelled Cameron.
“He’s not going on a mission without us!” said Conall.
“Who’s going on a mission?” asked Moira. She swept in, lavender gown floating about her feet. “You retired my son, remember Merlin?”
Merlin stood, and instantly the huge three-story gallery felt small and confined. With a grumble, Merlin put up his hands, then tilted his head. “Greetings, Angus, Cameron, Conall, Dougal, Taryn, Finn, Connor, Lauren. Boys! So, good to see all of you again! And Moira, beautiful Moira, mother to my army.”