Awe tore through her as she realized they might just be the three most powerful beings in Elysia, the depth of their power even eclipsing Helena’s.
“You’re . . . you’re the ones responsible for the illusion hiding the citadel,” she said, a bit in shock.
Kael nodded.
“How?” she asked, wonder causing her voice to sound breathless.
“Once you can see the threads of life, it’s easy to tie them together. To create a portal requires the strands of two separate places to be joined. If the weaver wishes to obscure the presence of a portal, they can craft an illusion by willing the strands to appear as something new. It’s almost the same as outright transformation, except when tied to a portal, whatever they’ve created exists only on the surface. It’s a mirage, if you will. After that, it’s as simple as placing one foot in front of another.”
Effie shook her head, laughing a little at the absurdity of his comment. “Simple, right.”
Kael laughed at her and shrugged. “You asked.”
“And the immortality?”
“It’s part of the package. In order to receive the power, our essence is transformed. Although only the strongest of us have the ability to perform the transformation; it’s the most complex of our magic. It’s why we are the Guardians of the realms. With our power comes the responsibility of protecting those that cannot protect themselves. At least until we find our true purpose.”
“True purpose?” she asked.
Kael’s answer was interrupted by Ronan and Reyna walking toward them.
“Sleep well?” Ronan asked, his gaze raking over her.
Effie nodded. “You?”
Ronan grunted. “I learned a long time ago how to get a proper night’s sleep no matter where I am.”
Kael nodded in understanding. “The life of a warrior.”
“Aye.”
Reyna rolled her eyes. “His mattress was made of feathers. He slept like a babe.”
“And how do you know what his mattress was made of?” Effie teased.
“Because I was plucking feathers from his hair when we were walking down here,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“Mmhmm,” Effie said, not buying the story for a second.
Ronan shook his head as Reyna held out a hand filled with downy white feathers.
“Fair point, well made,” Effie said, impressed by either Reyna’s foresight or her self-control.
Kieran was the next to join them, his sage green eyes guarded and hair unkempt. It was unusual for the ex-prince to appear anything less than perfect. Right now, he looked like he spent the night trying to sleep on a bed of rocks. Even his clothes were mussed, like he’d slept in them.
He offered a nod in response to the other’s greetings, and then settled his gaze on her. Effie turned away before he could speak to her, not in the mood for another one of his misguided attempts to apologize. It was too early, and they had other things to worry about.
Zane and Xander wandered in.
“We wanted to make sure we saw you off,” Xander said, his voice husky with sleep.
Ronan clasped forearms with the other man. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
“We appreciate the Kiri sending her Shield in her absence, and the Keepers, of course,” Zane said, gesturing to Effie, Kael, and Kieran. “Lady Reyna, it was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to our people getting to know each other during better times.”
Reyna nodded. “The Night Stalkers will be begging to visit once they hear of Sylverlands’ beauty.”
Zane placed a hand over his chest and bowed low. “Let us hope we can restore her to her former glory.”
Murmurs of agreement met his words before the group fell silent.
“Leave it to our fearless leader to be late,” Kieran muttered snidely behind Effie.
“I was the first to arrive,” Lucian replied, strolling toward their group from a door to their left. “I used the extra time to check in with the Triumvirate.”
Kieran’s cheeks flamed scarlet, but he did not comment further.
“Word of an attack from another realm came in. We’re to head there before returning to the citadel,” Lucian continued.
A heavy silence settled over their group as they processed the news. While they’d anticipated there might be more evidence of Shadow attacks across the realm, Effie didn’t think any of them really expected to discover two separate occurrences in the span of as many days. Or maybe they were just trying to cling to the naïve hope that things weren’t nearly as bad as they seemed.
“Which realm?” Ronan asked, adjusting the straps of his weapon harness.
“Caederan. Khouman has already been notified of our arrival.”
Effie smiled slightly at the mention of the Caederan delegate. She’d met him only briefly, but Khouman and his partner Tinka were hard to forget. The Caederans were short in stature, smaller even than she was. They really would look like children beside Ronan and the two Guardians’ hulking height.
She found herself looking forward to seeing them again. If nothing else, it would be nice not to have to look up while talking with somebody.
“May the Mother bless your endeavors and keep you safe,” Zane said with a small bow.
“You as well,” Effie murmured.
Zane gave her a small smile in response, and with a final wave, he took his consort’s hand and the two men left the room.
“We ready to go?” Lucian asked.
They nodded.
Turning to Kael, he said, “We’ll have to travel in two groups. My stone has less charge than I thought.”
“Will you be able to make it to Caederan and then back to the citadel?” Kael asked.
Lucian nodded. “I can bring one other with me.”
Kieran snorted. “Convenient.”
Her Guardian ignored him, but Effie saw a muscle in his jaw twitch.
“Why don’t we all go with Kael?” Ronan asked, clearly not liking the thought of splitting up.
Kael pulled a Kaelpas stone the size of her smallest fingernail out from a pouch tied to his belt. “Lucian’s is bigger than mine,” he said with an exaggerated frown.
Effie laughed. “I was told once size didn’t matter.”
Kael winked at her. “Unfortunately, it does when it comes to Kaelpas stones. I only carry this one in case of emergencies. It’s big enough for a handful of short trips, or one long journey. Honestly, it’s never been an issue since there’s usually no more than three of us going out to scout. But with a larger group like this, we’ll want to be careful. More people means a stronger drain on the stone. More drain means less distance. And if Lucian’s is low on charge, splitting up instead of all going together ensures that we’ll have enough power to make it back to the citadel.”
“Uh,” Ronan murmured, looking mildly concerned, “we’re going to make it there in one piece, right?”
“I haven’t lost anyone yet,” Kael said with another grin. “You’ll be safe with me.”
Ronan gave the Guardian a look that said he didn’t feel remotely reassured.
Lucian cleared his throat, pulling their attention back to him.
Kael was still grinning when he rolled his eyes at Lucian. “Alright. Take Effie, the others will come with me.”