Guardian (Book Two of the Spirits' War Trilogy) Read online

  GUARDIAN

  BOOK TWO

  OF THE

  SPIRITS’ WAR TRILOGY

  K.V. WILSON

  for my family

  gu mo teaghlach

  © 2018 by K.V. Wilson. All rights reserved.

  Cover © 2018 by K.V. Wilson; images used with permission from Pixabay.com & Pexels.com; inner artwork © 2017 by K.V. Wilson.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission from the author. This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual persons living or dead – apart from Saint Patrick, whose character is loosely based on historical records – are purely coincidental.

  No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

  CONTENTS

  Pronunciation

  Synopsis of Book One

  Prologue

  Part One: Kin

  1: SEJKA REINCARNATE

  2: RETURN OF THE GUARDIAN

  3: ACCUSATION

  4: SENTIMENTAL VALUE

  5: WILDFIRE

  6: CARVINGS

  7: INVERFARIGAIG

  8: INVITATION

  9: MAYDAY!

  10: FLIGHT SCHOOL

  11: ONE O’ THE THREE

  12: KOYAH

  13: BEAR NECESSITIES

  14: RAMSEY AND ELSPETH

  15: ADHAIR

  16: SHE LIVES IN YOU

  17: NWYFRE’S ARMY

  18: UNEXPECTED GUESTS

  Part Two: Discipline

  19: RUNT

  20: OUT OF THE LOOP

  21: THRICE-CURSED SAINT PATTY

  22: BUG-EYED

  23: CHARM

  24: LYCANS OF EDINBURGH

  25: CHANGE

  26: MILD TURBULENCE

  27: FAMILY

  28: GANGWAY

  29: PLAIN OL’ MAC TíRE

  30: CREATOR

  31: THE SAINT’S LEGACY

  32: THE HEART OF LONDON

  33: SNAKES

  34: GROUND DUTY

  35: WHERE’S THE BEEF?

  36: BULLSEYE

  37: FORGIVENESS

  38: BETRAYAL

  39: SEJKA’S VENGEANCE

  40: QUARREL

  Part Three: Convergence

  41: Y DDRAIG GOGH

  42: IMPULSE

  43: TO RIGHT PAST WRONGS

  44: TRAITORS

  45: BROTHER

  46: SEPARATE WAYS

  47: CONWY CASTLE

  48: OTTERS IN THE GROTTO

  49: MAIDEN OF THE LOCH

  50: PAWN OF PATERCIUS

  51: THE SECOND BATTLE OF CONWY

  52: FALL OF THE CHIEFTAIN

  53: SIXTEEN OATHS

  54: CONVERGENCE

  55: TYRONE

  56: FLIMSIEST OF ELEMENTS

  57: RIGHTEOUSNESS

  58: BALANCE

  59: REMORSE

  60: NEVER FORGET YOUR ROOTS

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  PRONUNCIATION

  You are welcome to say these words however you wish, but for those who’d like to learn some of the Celtic languages, here are a few pronunciations and translations:

  Lìog Airgid – LEEG aTAIR-gitch (Scottish Gaelic for ‘silver league’)

  Mac Tíre – MOKH CHEED-uh (Irish Gaelic for ‘wolf’; literally 'son of the land')

  Nwyfre – NOO-iv-ruh (Welsh for ‘sky’; a Druidic concept referring to a person's life and consciousness; 'life force'. Nwyfre's physical representation is the red dragon on the Welsh flag)

  teine – CHIH-nuh (Scottish Gaelic for ‘fire’)

  adhair – EYE-er (Scottish Gaelic for ‘air’; pronounced ‘ire’). Also the name of Aelshen’s sword.

  uisge – USH-ka (Scottish Gaelic for ‘water’)

  talamh – TAL-uv (Scottish Gaelic for ‘earth’)

  spiorad – SPID-ud (Scottish Gaelic for ‘spirit’)

  dealanaich – JA-lan-eekh (Scottish Gaelic for ‘lightning’)

  sguir – SKOOd (Scottish Gaelic for ‘stop’ or ‘cease’)

  sgrios – SKDISS (Scottish Gaelic for ‘destroy’)

  Mo chreach – MAW HD-akh (Scottish Gaelic exclamation meaning ‘goodness’ or ‘alas’; literally ‘my ruin’)

  Tha cuimhne agam – HA KOOEY-nuh AK-am (Scottish Gaelic for ‘I remember’)

  ddraig – THRA-eeg (Welsh for ‘dragon’). Plural ddreigiau (THRA-eeg-eeAI)

  eynaang – a Yeva’si swear word; roughly translates to ‘cursed’

  Synopsis of Spiritborne, Book One of the Spirits’ War Trilogy

  PART ONE: LYCAN

  Eighteen-year-old Skye Matthews returns to her family’s townhouse in Calgary, Alberta, to discover a strange woman visiting with her Aunt Margo and Uncle David. Eavesdropping, she hears about David’s intent to ‘free the captives’.

  Upon confronting her aunt and uncle about the meaning behind the stranger’s words, the two decide to let Skye experience it firsthand. They confiscate the pills she’d been taking to prevent her from fainting.

  Skye awakens to delirium and extreme pain. The ‘White Wolf’ visits her in her dreams, and it’s revealed that this is not the first time. Skye’s dog, Max, also enters her dreams. David tells her to ‘let the transformation run its course’. Skye awakens in the company of the stranger, Lauren, who tells her she’s a Lycan – a shapeshifter that transforms into a wolf. The pills she’d been taking had been preventing her from falling unconscious and therefore preventing her first transformation.

  Skye finds herself in the company of an entire clan of Lycans in rural Alberta. Lauren is the leader – the alpha. She introduces the clan’s beta, Mr. Adolphus, whom Skye recognizes to be Margo’s father, and therefore, Skye’s great uncle.

  Mr. Adolphus helps her and reveals that she is not an orphan: her father is alive. Skye had believed her parents died on an unsafe hiking trail seven years ago. But an ancient entity of Lycan hunters – the Earth’s Covenant – had confronted them, killing Skye’s human mother and seriously wounding her Lycan father. He faked his death and moved to London, England, to form an army to defeat the Covenant. This army is called the Lìog Airgid (Silver League).

  Lauren reveals a plan to rescue captives of the Covenant. David had been working closely with the Covenant ever since Skye’s father’s faked demise. The Covenant believes David is human and has grown to trust him, so he has been providing the Lycans with intelligence and will be able to free the captives.

  Lauren chooses four others to accompany David – Mr. Adolphus, Margo, Sejka (a dark-skinned elderly woman with an exotic beaded cloak) and Skye. David fights Lauren’s decision to bring Skye, but she believes Skye’s similarities in appearance to her uncle as well as her humanoid state of being make her the best candidate. However, David promises to have Skye wait in the truck.

  On the way, David informs Skye about Ferals – Lycans who have lost control due to intense feelings of hatred and fear. Ferals have been known to rampage and kill without remembering what they’ve done, thus causing the Covenant to believe they are demons. The Covenant is unaware that Lycans are capable of coherent thought or emotion.

  Upon arrival, a windowless van passes David’s pickup truck. Realizing Skye has likely been seen, he decides it’s better if she accompanies him inside so he can keep her safe. Mr. Adolphus, Margo, and Sejka are waiting at the rendezvous point – a large park. David hands Skye the keys and tell
s her to release the captives while he gathers important documents. She goes downstairs and finds an eight-year-old boy, Sean, as well as a young man around her age who goes by the name ‘Thirteen’ after his cell number.

  As they leave the building, they become aware they’re not alone. David tells the others to go on without him. Unaware of the danger, Sean calls out, drawing the attention of a Covenant soldier who’d been in the building. Skye goes back in to convince the soldier it was her voice he’d heard. Seeing through this, the soldier attacks and pursues them, shooting Sean in the process. David escorts Skye and the captives to the park, but Sean’s injury is fatal and he soon passes.

  David tells Skye and Thirteen to head for the clan. He tells them someone will meet them. He goes back into the city, not informing Skye of his intentions. Thirteen is furious with Skye for her role in Sean’s death and tells her to stay away from him.

  Alone in the snow, Skye’s mind begins to slip and she worries she’s going feral. Sejka rescues her and accompanies her back to the clan’s campsite. Along the way, Skye notes that Sejka’s eyes have a mystical quality to them, which she believes to indicate blindness. Sejka denies this, however, stating, “I see in different ways.”

  Lauren is furious that the mission didn’t go as planned. In the middle of the night, Skye overhears that the others will depart for England. They’ll prevent the Covenant from undoing the ancient Ritual that brought Lycans to be. A reversal of the Ritual would sever the connection between man and wolf, causing all who have Lycan blood to perish. Skye resolves to awaken early so she can go with them to England, but later discovers that someone has placed a tarp over her tent, causing her to sleep in. Furious, Skye convinces Mr. Adolphus to go out searching for Thirteen. In the meantime, she sneaks off with the intention of booking a flight to England to reunite with her family and estranged father.

  On the way to her house, Skye runs into Thirteen, who’d had a change of heart and tracked her. The two are then attacked by a grizzly bear. As they fight it, a second bear – a white one – kills the first, saving them. Thirteen is the first to realize it is no bear, but Sejka.

  Sejka reveals there’s an entire tribe of shapeshifters like her – the Yeva’si – and that they’re planning on heading to London, England to meet with the Lycans. She agrees to take Skye and Thirteen with them and tells them to meet at the airport while she gathers her tribe.

  Upon reaching the house, Skye’s dog Max approaches, revealing himself to be her great-uncle, Mr. Adolphus – a Lycan with Yeva’si blood. They gather supplies and meet Sejka’s tribe at the airport, and then all fly out to England.

  PART TWO: LEAGUE OF SILVER

  The Lìog Airgid’s hideout is a large warehouse full of a few-hundred Lycans. Skye’s father welcomes them but is too busy to form a relationship with his daughter. Instead, David and Margo take Skye and Thirteen for a hunt and tell them about their history. They find out that Lauren was once human – she’d been bitten by a feral and had gone feral herself before David gave her some of his serum to enhance the human part of her mind and help her regain control of her transformations. He’d been developing the serum for years and had been testing it on feral Lycans – during his work with the Covenant, he’d been a ‘hunter’ charged with eliminating Lycans, but instead, he’d been rescuing them.

  Sejka also informs them that her brother had gone feral as well, and had been lost for fifty years in the forests of BC, Canada. Skye promises to help Sejka search for him someday. Sejka tells the others of her people and their guardian spirit, the legendary Ru-Yeva (Guardian of Nature), while David mentions the Lycans’ creator, Mac Tíre.

  Skye dreams about a mission to the Covenant’s London base through Sejka’s eyes. She learns that this was actually taking place while she dreamt it, but is unable to ask Sejka about it.

  Skye meets the twin sons of the Lìog Airgid’s arrogant beta, Duncan; Damian is a kind soul, while Ace is the complete opposite. Skye’s Yeva’si friend, Xera (niece of the shapeshifter chieftain, Xunnu), the twins and Thirteen, sneak out to run through the forest for a few hours. Upon their return, the door is locked and an intense rainstorm soaks them. Sejka finally opens the door and scolds them.

  Skye awakens to find Thirteen sneaking out of the warehouse to meet with Duncan, who’s gone against the clan’s orders to enact a secret mission to the Covenant’s base. Sejka sneaks up on Skye and tells her to follow Thirteen while she retrieves her med kit.

  Skye confronts Thirteen and finds out he’s planning to bomb the Covenant. Sejka catches up and they follow Thirteen as he enters the base. They manage to change his mind, and Thirteen and Skye leave while Sejka goes searching for information on where the Covenant plans to enact their reversal of the Lycan Ritual.

  The three are discovered and bombarded with arrows. Thirteen is injured and Sejka kills many soldiers to help them escape. She heals Thirteen with magic and then departs, telling Skye to find a man called Aelshen and that she will show Skye the way to him when it’s time.

  PART THREE: THE RITUAL

  Sejka’s memories lead Skye to a pub called Flint & Flockhart, where they run into Aelshen and the pub’s founder’s descendant, Greg Flint. Xunnu, Xera, and Margo join them and they all head for the London Airport to meet more Yeva’si.

  Upon their arrival, Thirteen is exiled from the clan for last night’s mission, while Duncan pretends he never knew about it. The teens retrieve Thirteen after dark, and they decide to plant the bomb on the Covenant’s side of the battlefield.

  Everyone goes out for one final practice of skills. Thirteen and Skye practice alone together. More memories are revealed to Skye. The first is of Lauren’s first transformation (she’d been bitten while she was pregnant. Sejka and Margo had found her and helped her give birth to a son. Thirteen, believed to be fully human, was given up for adoption and later ended up in the Covenant’s possession when he’d begun to shapeshift). The second memory is more recent – Sejka and Aelshen disabled the bomb, and Skye finds out the two of them can shapeshift to all forms and can use nature magic. They mention a third name which Skye assumes to be another being like them.

  Neither Aelshen nor Sejka are present at the campsite; the Covenant has captured Sejka.

  Skye and Xera are told they are not allowed to join the army on Skye’s father’s orders. They sneak out anyway, believing one body could be the difference between a win or loss. The two run into Sejka, who reveals she intended to be captured and she has everything under control. Skye realizes Sejka is causing the lightning storm overhead.

  Skye loses Xera but finds Thirteen, who’s furious she’d joined the fight. He confesses that losing her would break him. When she refuses to leave, he stays by her side and they find Lauren, who doesn’t know that Thirteen is her son.

  The Covenant calls for a ceasefire, demanding Skye’s father give himself up to them. Sejka is chained up. The Covenant knows Sejka is not Lycan and won’t die with the others (though they are unaware she can transform into an animal that can escape their bonds). They threaten to kill her and she agrees to read an ancient scroll to reverse the Ritual.

  The words of the scroll are a poem in an ancient dialect that only Skye and Aelshen can understand. Sejka is projecting the meaning of the words into Skye’s head so she can follow along. The poem tells of three nature spirits called Spiritborne, symbolized by a wolf, a raven, and a dragon. Skye realizes that Sejka and Aelshen are two of these three.

  When the poem is finished, the Covenant realizes Sejka had lied and they prepare to kill her. Lauren steps in, revealing herself to one of the soldiers as his long-lost wife. He’d thought she and her unborn child had been killed by Lycans. Really, she’d been bitten and had left the human world, knowing that if she stayed, her own husband may have to end her life. The soldier – Thirteen’s father – Richard, falters, and the Covenant shoots Lauren instead of Sejka.

  The world is thrown into chaos again and Sejka rushes to heal Lauren, but she’s too late and Laure
n dies. Thirteen is injured and Skye fights to keep the soldiers away from him but receives fatal wounds.

  As Skye lies dying, Sejka's voice enters her mind and reveals that Sejka was the Ru-Yeva. Sejka then passes on this role to Skye in order to save her life.

  Skye reawakens to find Sejka gone without a trace. She can now sense the spirits around her and control the lightning. She and Aelshen – who Skye realizes is the reincarnation of Mac Tíre, the first Lycan alpha – use their powers to injure and scare away the remaining soldiers. Skye is exhausted and falls unconscious.

  Skye wakes up in Aelshen’s pub, Flint & Flockhart, where she learns of the battle’s outcome. Skye can also sense in Thirteen a great love for her. She tells him that Sejka is gone for good and that she had saved Skye’s life by passing on her Ru-Yeva spirit. This had never been done before but Sejka had attempted it because she knew Skye’s spirit was very similar to her own.

  Thirteen – who now goes by the name Lauren had given him: Conall – is welcomed back into the clan. His father, Richard, had left the Covenant’s ranks and now takes refuge with the Lycans.

  The teens talk about the three Spiritborne. Greg Flint reveals that the third earth spirit, Nwyfre, helped found the pub Flint & Flockhart centuries ago, but has been missing ever since. Greg Flint is the descendant of Nwyfre Flint, and Greg reveals that he can shapeshift into a dragon.

  Skye and some of the others return to Canada, where Skye resolves to find Sejka’s long-lost brother and give him David’s serum to cure his feral nature. They also plan to find recruits for their army and Skye hopes to help locate the missing third member of the Spiritborne: Nwyfre.

  They were borne amidst the dew

  Of a foggy, balmy dawn