Page 11 of When Death Called Life Home (When Deities Awaken #1)

Chapter 11

Premiers

ASCIAN

W aiting outside the large stone doors usually bored Ascian, to the point that even Maelo telling him her theories was entertaining. He enjoyed them – not that he’d ever tell her that, lest she force him to endure more of them constantly. So, he simply listened while gazing off into the forest like he didn’t. Today, however, he didn’t need to pretend. As much as he tried to focus on her theories and use them as a distraction, his mind continuously shifted back to ocean blue eyes staring back at him from the brush .

He’d truly seen her. No tricks played his mind against him after seeing her in the flesh, hearing her name spoken aloud. He forced himself not to turn around and go straight back to the clearing where he’d spotted her again amongst the brush. He almost slipped, until his head shifted in that direction and he found Maelo staring with a raised eyebrow.

Apparently he wasn’t as good at pretending to listen as he originally thought.

“Going somewhere?” Maelo hummed.

Ascian’s jaw clenched. “No,” he snapped.

“Are you sure?” She pried further, inching closer. “Because you’ve been off since returning home the day the portals opened.”

Before he could snap back a reply, the guards standing at the closed doors pulled them open and saved Maelo from his wrath. Ascian sent her a glare instead, pushing off the side of the building and heading into the foyer of the building. Maelo fell silent and entered directly behind him. Her footsteps echoed in the bare, marble room, drawing the Elders’ cautious attention from each other to his and Maelo’s approach.

They all sat behind the carved stone bench, intense embers harboured within fiery gazes. The entire structure was made from the same grey marble, at least every room he’d seen passed the entrance. Even the walls were lined with it. Nothing within the space had any sign of plant matter, no stray weed peeking through nonexistent cracks. A means of controlling who could wield their energy after they entered.

No Vitarce sat behind the second stone bench which only meant one thing, and Ascian didn’t look forward to the probable result of their — and Kallias’ — absence.

“Commander Ascian,” one said by way of greeting.

Ascian bowed his head in return, addressing the five of them as he spoke. “Premiers.”

Another of them straightened and adjusted his robe. “Kallias has failed to make an appearance in the last few days. I gather you delivered the command to him and the nymph he used?”

None of them addressed Maelo, not one of them even spared a glance in her direction. They’d never believed her of much accomplishment, let alone importance. Where there was neither of those, they didn’t bother to interact, claiming it was a waste of their time.

“Yes, sir. I delivered your command as well as an incentive for them to appear sooner rather than later.” Ascian paused, dropping his gaze to the eldest of the five. “However, they do still have four more days to go and with how Ranger Osiris likely treated the spoken nymph, they may need the first few days to recover.”

“Ranger Osiris was left to see the nymph off?” The head elder queried with the slightest narrowing of his eyes. “You thought this an intellectual decision?”

Ascian swore he heard Maelo swallow behind him. “With all due respect, Premier, I gave Ranger Osiris direct orders to only do what was necessary to get the message across and if he went further, then the consequences of that are on him to receive.”

The elder pursed his lips, with the other four copying shortly after. They wanted to push the matter, Ascian saw it in each of their expressions, but they wouldn’t. They knew exactly how Osiris went too far a lot of the time, hence why he didn’t stand before them now, only they never had the balls to punish him.

“And what of this human he spoke of when he informed us of the portals? How are you dealing with her?” The same elder asked instead.

Ascian forced himself not to look back at Maelo. If the Elders decided the human couldn’t stay, he couldn’t do anything to stop the human from returning to Earth. Not unless he wished to lose his position, and potentially his head. The latter was arguable considering his bloodline, but Maelo existed should they deem it necessary.

“She is currently being looked after, though I do question her lineage. Making it through the portal alive, let alone a portal crack, suggests she has some Elysian blood running through her veins.”

The Elders all shared cryptic glances between themselves before they focused their attention back on Ascian. “No Elysian has left this forest in centuries. It is possible for a human to make it through a crack. Rare, but possible.”

Liar. Ascian forced his expression to remain neutral. They just lied, right to his face without so much as a blink. If Kallias brought Alora through the portal only days ago, then the only explanation for her disappearance three years ago was going through it to Earth. Did the Elders not know of that instance? Or, were they holding back valuable information.

“However, she cannot stay here,” the elder continued. “Having an alive soul living amongst the dead and immortal will only cause havoc we do not currently need. There is a scholar at the Academy, Talullah, she is an extremely skilled Third with the preciseness you need if you truly wish to keep the human’s sanity intact. Have her memories warped and return her to Earth.”

“Hopefully she survives the trip,” one of the other elders whispered beneath their breath.

Ascian paused, lips parting while he tried to frame his next words carefully. “I wasn’t aware there was a safe way to warp memories, let alone a human's memories?”

The slightest shift to the elder’s expression and Ascian swallowed back any more questions or queries he had. They were thousands of years old. Their energy had been strengthened consistently over those years meaning they could kill him before he even realised what had happened.

“Take her to Tallulah at the Academy, is that understood?” The main elder growled lowly.

Ascian gave a sharp nod. “Completely, Premier.”

“Good,” the elder murmured, letting loose a breath. “As for Kallias Vaine and the forest nymph; have you discovered why they opened the portal in the first place?”

Ascian hesitated. Perhaps they weren’t aware of the portals being used three years ago, for surely they’d already have concluded who Kallias brought home. To give them that bit of information had a flicker of something unrecognisable jolting through him. Every muscle, vein and nerve threatened him with fire should he hand it over so freely after their lie. Would his body betray him like that, though? He couldn’t know for certain, and the Elders' stares grew heavy with each passing second that he didn’t speak.

“There was nothing to suggest their reasoning when we found the forest nymph.”

Never in his life had Ascian experienced the clash of relief and tension in one room. The relief that pooled out of him halted at the armoury of tension from the Elders. A vibration that suggested they were anything but truthful about the portals not being used for centuries, for why else would not knowing the reasoning cause such tension?

For the first time since they entered, the elder’s gaze slid to his second in command and assessed her appearance, her expression. He doubted it’d give them anything different than blatant boredom. Maelo had always been a master of masking her true emotions when the time called for it, and any time they entered this room, that mask was in full force. When their gazes returned to him, his suspicions were confirmed.

“In that case, we retract our previous lee-way of a week. You are to find them both and bring them here for their questioning and punishment.”

“I am at your disposal,” Ascian replied automatically.

A slight pause brewed between the elder’s parted lips before words left them. A breath hitched in anticipation. “A new Vitarce camp has been set up near the amorsa field. One of our spies informed us of Kallias’ arrival with an extremely weak forest nymph. Capture them and destroy the camp. I do not want to receive word of any survivors.”

His body tensed at the elder’s command. Destroy the entire camp? Every single Forest Nymph? He’d already questioned the Elders' decisions, to do so again while Maelo stood a mere few feet from him? He wouldn’t — couldn’t — risk her.

“The forest nymph was too weak to stand?” He asked instead, voice tight.

“Yes. It seems Osiris did not heed to your warning like you had hoped he would.” The elder assessed Ascian, and then Maelo one last time. “Get the mission done swiftly.”

“Yes, sir.” Ascian bowed his head, forcing himself to ease his clenched jaw. He lifted his chin and turned his back to the five elders, taking large but slow strides to the exit. Before he could fully leave, though, another elder’s voice reached his ears.

“Oh, and Ascian?”

Ascian turned his head to gesture he was listening.

“Kill anyone preventing your capture of Kallias. He has caused too much trouble to avoid punishment this time.”

No hesitation showed when Ascian gave a curt nod and finally exited the room, Maelo directly behind him. Her breath brushed against his shoulder and just the way it felt told him everything. She at least waited until they were beyond the trees to speak.

“You won’t do it.”

Ascian spun, his sister’s head slamming into a tree trunk as his grip tightened around her neck. “You really think that?”

Even with the pressure, Maelo nodded.

“I can choke you to the point your lips pale, yet you don’t believe I would sever the head of anyone who got between me and that white-haired prick?”

A smirk tugged at his sister’s lips. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed your attention span is anything less than a goldfish’s since finding out the portals were used. Only one person has ever done that to you.” When Ascian only stared at her, Maelo rolled her eyes. “You weren’t the only one to see a pair of blue eyes staring at us from the bush, Az.”

Ascian shoved against her throat with a growl, yanking himself back and whistling for his guardian. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You lied to them, Ascian,” Maelo warned in a low voice. “They’ll have you killed if they find out.”

Another glare flew her way, and he considered choking her again but this time to the point she truly lost consciousness. “Drop the topic or you don’t get to join me on this mission.”

“Didn’t realise I had the choice.” The lilt to her tone said otherwise.

Ascian stopped himself from shaking his head and mounted his guardian, giving her directions to their destination through those simple touches. “You always have a choice, Maelo.”