Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

-Oliver-
"What... What do you mean? He lost his voice?" I spoke in fear, staring at Jaden, who was still trying to say something.
His eyes were scared when he looked at me...
"The gift was..." Fenrir began, but trailed off, clearly horrified by this turn. "It was in his voice, and the shadow took it... Ripped it off..."
"Allow me?"
I looked up at Ben, who kneeled next to Jaden with a harsh expression on his face. He placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder as we watched. Part of me wanted to push the peacekeeper away, but he was one of the good guys, right?
But he shot Jaden.
"His vocal cords are fine, but... dead."
"How can vocal cords be dead?" Aurora asked with a slightly panicky voice. "We're werewolves! We can heal immediately!"
"It's not about healing abilities," Ben sighed and stood up. "These artifacts, these gifts, are dangerous magic. This artifact took his voice when it got ripped off."
"What can we do?" I asked him, but Ben shook his head.
"We need that artifact back," he replied.
Jaden tapped my arm again and shook his head when I looked at him. He was... surprisingly calm now.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
He waved his hand angrily and stood up.
"Jaden wants us to get to safety," I informed the rest.
"We're not in immediate danger now," Ben said, but Jaden tried to say something, then got angry because he couldn't say what he wanted, and then just pointed at the peacekeeper in an angry manner.
"You don't get to decide that," I told Ben. "We need to go to Rayleigh."
I glanced at the rest of our group. Arch was making sure Jack was all right while Alastair was helping Ryder, who was pale, shaken, and weak. His spirits were damaged, but already healing now that he was free. Alastair asked him how long Cameron had been possessing him, and his reply, several days, froze my soul. The enemy had been right here among us, and I hadn't noticed it.
I turned to look at Cedric. He stood in silence close by, looking calm and composed, but I could feel his pain, fear, and anger.
"Cedric?" I murmured when everyone else started moving, but he didn't follow.
'I... I need a moment...' he muttered and vanished.
Cedric had called Cameron a good man... I could tell my guardian was deeply shaken. Shaken and confused. What on earth had they done to Cameron to turn him into a shadow? It was wrong, and now I understood even better why Fenrir didn't want me to kill the shadow. They needed to be helped, not destroyed.
But how?
I felt movement next to me and a second later, Jaden grabbed my hand and pulled me with him when he followed the rest.
"Are you hurt?" I asked.
Jaden sighed and shook his head as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Only his pride got hurt.
He glanced at Ben, who followed us in silence and kept an eye on our surroundings. Jaden noticed this and got annoyed right away. Then he glanced at me with raised eyebrows.
Even after everything that had just happened, I couldn't help my smile.
"Yes, you were right. He wasn't normal," I told him.
He let out a victorious snort.
"How are we going to get your voice back?" I asked, my smile fading, but he only waved his hand dismissively. "You're not worried at all?"
No, but he was annoyed. And pissed. But he wasn't worried. Goddamn gods making things worse even when they were trying to help...
When he looked at me, I smiled again. His refusal to let this scare him gave me strength as well.
"How did you know Cameron was coming?" I asked before I'd thought it through.
He pursed his lips into a tight line and glared at me like asking, really?
"Sorry..." I mumbled.
He snorted in amusement and looked away, then sighed and shrugged. He just knew.
"Your father is coming," I said when I felt the familiar tornado – an angry tornado – approaching us.
"What the hell is going on?!" We heard him shout as soon as we spotted him further down the main street.
"We were attacked," Aurora told him as soon as he was close enough. "We need to get inside. Ryder and Jaden are injured."
Rayleigh turned on his heels as we continued our way to the Hall. "Injured?" he repeated, glancing at Ryder, who was still in a bad shape, then at his son.
Jaden waved his hand again.
"I'm sorry, Alpha..." Ryder spoke with a hoarse voice. "I... They possessed me."
"What?" Rayleigh stopped and grabbed his arm. "Who, and how?"
"Cameron. His name was Cameron," Ryder murmured, clearly ashamed of himself.
"Son of Ra," I said quietly. "He was one of the champions."
"Egyptian god," Fenrir muttered. "Excuse me," he added, and vanished.
Rayleigh stared at his beta. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, sir..." Ryder mumbled.
"You cut that 'sir' shit right now. Are you hurt?"
"I'm not," Ryder said, straightening his posture a bit. "But he saw everything I saw. He knows everything I know."
"We'll deal with that later. You need to get checked and then rest," Rayleigh said harshly, but somehow softly at the same time, and then turned his attention to Jaden. "You all right, boy?"
Jaden nodded.
"He..." I began, but Jaden elbowed me to keep my mouth shut. "How are you supposed to keep that a secret?" I asked him with a frown.
"Secret?" Rayleigh repeated angrily.
"He lost his voice," I said before Jaden could stop me, and earned a heavy sigh from him. "The shadow took the Howl and his voice with it."
"What do you mean, he lost his voice?"
I was glad when Aurora stepped forward and explained everything to Rayleigh. By the time she was done, we were all inside the Hall, sitting in their biggest meeting room. We had guards and other people scurrying around, making sure we were all fine and bringing us everything we needed.
Silence fell in the room. Rayleigh glared at each of us one at a time, and lastly, his attention landed on Ben.
"So you are the peacekeeper," he finally said.
"It is nice to meet you, sir. I'm Benicio Fernández and–"
"You're a child," Rayleigh scoffed.
Ben laughed lightly, not losing an ounce of his confidence. "I am only seventeen, yes."
"And you're a peacekeeper," Rayleigh said slowly.
"An intern, yes."
"They're letting a child fight?" Aurora asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes," Ben said without a blink of an eye. "Well, not small children, obviously, but everyone above sixteen who has already lived once are allowed to join," he explained.
"And how many times have you lived?" Tilly asked, acting cool, but I could feel her excitement.
"This is my fifth life, Miss Ackley," Ben said, flashing a charming smile at her. "Though I still have no memories of my old lives, not until my internship is over."
"Fascinating," Tilly said with a smile.
Aurora cleared her throat at her daughter, who stopped eyeing the peacekeeper.
Rayleigh sighed and shook his head before straightening his posture. "You saved my son today. For that, I am grateful," he said.
"I wish the shadow had shown himself sooner," Ben said with a serious expression. "The artifact he was using made it impossible for us to find him on time."
"Us?"
"Our fortress, Arlona, has kept a close eye on this part of the world. My job is to defend this area with the help of my tutor."
"Tutor..." Aurora muttered. "He has a tutor..."
"Yes, my tutor, Aadhil," Ben said, gesturing at the air on his left, and suddenly, a black cloud of dust appeared, and a man stepped out of it.
"Hello," the man said. "It is nice to finally meet you."
No one was surprised anymore. We all were too used to people suddenly appearing out of thin air.
"So you've been watching us?" were Rayleigh's first words to the man.
"Yes. You have a very impressive army here," Aadhil said with a smile as he stepped forward. "I like the protections you have over here."
"They weren't enough," Rayleigh said. "Did you know about it?"
"No, and we are trying to find the hole in your barriers as we speak. It must be small, since no one has detected it yet," Aadhil said. "It needs to be found. The shadows are free to travel through it."
"Your intern here said we are not in immediate danger," Rayleigh said, frustrated, but trying to sound polite.
"The artifact hiding the shadows is now in their realm. It will take days before they are ready to summon the Son of Ra and get the artifacts from him."
"So I can see them now," I said, feeling relieved. "That means I can protect us."
Aadhil turned to look at me. He watched me closely for a moment before stepping closer to me.
"You have a powerful object," he spoke slowly. "I'm afraid I must ask you to hand it over to us."
"The Echo of Hades?" I asked, taken aback.
"Yes. It is far too dangerous in the hands of a mortal," Aadhil spoke, and the atmosphere in the Hall changed drastically.
"You're not getting it," I told him without hesitation. "I am the Harbinger of Hades. It belongs to me."
"Hmm," Aadhil breathed out. "I was afraid you'd say that."
I was ready to fight every single peacekeeper they'd send for me. I was not giving the Echo, especially to strangers! It was dangerous indeed, and I was able to control it, so there was no way I'd give it to them.
"Anyway," Aadhil suddenly said and turned his back on me. "We are now here to help. We know who the shadow is, and where he is. We have a way to–"
"Wait," I stopped him. "What about the Echo?"
"What about it?" Aadhil asked me.
"You're... not trying to take it from me?" I frowned.
"You refused to give it to us, so there's not much we can do," he spoke slowly. "We have no means to remove it from your soul by force. And we'd rather not waste our numbers to fight someone who isn't our enemy."
I just sat there for a moment. "That's it?"
"We will re-evaluate the situation in case you do become our enemy," Aadhil promised. "But now we must focus on the shadow. We only have a few days before they'll summon him again, and we need to be ready to capture him."
"How?" Rayleigh asked.
"We have an artifact. A container for souls. We understand the importance of sparing his life, so we'd rather not destroy him."
"How does it work?"
"With a simple spell, we can bind his soul to the container and keep him there until we find a way to purify his soul. Or, if we can't, we will take him to Arlona and keep him there," Aadhil explained.
"You'd keep him locked up for eternity?" I asked with a frown.
"Sounds like plenty of time to find a way to purify him, don't you think?" Aadhil said with a small smile.
"Better than killing him," I agreed.
I wondered if Cedric was close enough to hear this, but I couldn't feel his presence, so I figured he was somewhere far away. We had a way to help Cameron. Maybe that would ease my guardian's pain.
"Will it be strong enough to hold him?" Ryder asked. "Even Fenrir was too weak to fight him. He is strong. He knows how strong he is. And he is fearless. He won't stop until he gets what he wants."
"The container in question was built to hold their kind after the first champion was corrupted," Aadhil spoke. "I've had the pleasure to see a reincarnated champion in action, so trust me when I say I know how strong and unyielding they are."
Ryder didn't seem convinced.
"And how are we going to track him down?" Rayleigh asked. "He still can hide from us."
"We will use the first opportunity we can get. He will show himself again. Although we do believe we have an idea what he is after," Aadhil said. "His former lover."
Cedric.
"So you want to use him as bait?" I asked with a frown, but before anyone could say anything, Cedric appeared next to me.
'I'm fine with that,' my guardian spoke.
My poor Jaden was first confused, but then he connected the dots and stared at Cedric with wide eyes.
"Are you sure?" I asked my guardian, and he nodded.
'He is suffering. If... If there is a way to purify him... Of course I'll do it,' he spoke quietly.
I nodded slowly. I'd do the same for Jaden.
"We could use all the information you can give us," Aadhil said carefully.
'He was still alive and on our side the last time I laid my eyes on him,' Cedric said in quite a cold voice. 'There is nothing I can tell you.'
Aadhil nodded and left it at that.
"What can you tell us about our enemy?" Rayleigh asked him.
"It is vast. Their army is bigger than you think. We are fighting this war on every continent, but right now, their eyes are on this town. It is the Echo they are after, and they will come for it soon. And you will lose it."
"I'd like to see them try," I murmured before I could stop myself, and Aadhil turned his eyes on me.
"Perhaps I am wrong," he chuckled. "I sure hope I am."
"You don't know who's behind all of this?" Rayleigh asked, and Aadhil shook his head.
"What we do know is that whoever it is, they are old. They are strong, and they know more than we are brave enough to admit."
"A god?"
"God, champion, another being..." Aadhil trailed off with a sigh. "They are careful not to reveal themselves. We have tracked down their allies, but even they don't know the name."
"Cameron might know," I said, and we all turned to look at Ryder.
"He didn't let me hear his thoughts," Ryder said slowly. "But why do I have the feeling he actually might know?"
"That means capturing him is more important than we thought," Ben said. "Can we make him talk?"
Aadhil thought about his answer for a moment. "I'm not sure, but we have a big collection of artifacts."
I turned to look at Cedric. He was devastated, and still unable to understand why his lover had turned to darkness. Then I glanced at Jack, sitting right next to Arch. He looked tired, but the shadows in him were still silent.
"That bow," I spoke. "Could you get rid of the shadows in Jack with it?"
"I suppose I could try," Ben said.
"Hold up – you're going to shoot me with it?" Jack asked with wide eyes.
Jaden opened his mouth, but only air came out. He closed his eyes and sighed in frustration.
"It doesn't hurt," Ben said. "It only sends spirits to where they belong."
Jaden nodded.
Jack stared at Ben, then peered at Arch like seeking for comfort or strength. "I wouldn't mind getting rid of them," he finally mumbled.
"Jack's soul is extremely fragile," I spoke. "Are you sure it won't cause more damage?"
"Hades had the power to mend broken spirits, a power you carry now – at least a fraction of it," Aadhil spoke. "If we can get rid of the shadows, you can help his spirits."
I nodded and stood up to walk over to Jack. He gave me a spooked glance, but nodded to Ben once I was ready.
In a blink of an eye, Ben was holding the bow in his hands, and another second later, he shot at Jack with it. I could hear the shadows screaming as they got blasted out of him. I immediately focused on the cracks and dents in his fragile spirits, hoping my power would now work on him.
Silence fell in the room. Jack had a bewildered look on his face, much like most of the others, but after a moment, he looked at me.
"They're gone," I said and smiled widely. "Not a single shadow left."
"And my spirits?"
"There's no damage. Now they have room to heal," I told him reassuringly.
"Finally some great news," Arch said with a wide smile, touching Jack on his arm.
"Yeah," Jack said, letting out a deep breath. "I... can't feel them anymore."
"You are finally free," I said.
We didn't have more time to rejoice. The doors flung open and Ezra stormed in with a worried look on his scarred face.
"Ryder!" he immediately hurried to his partner. "I heard you were possessed!"
"Yeah, I'm..." Ryder muttered when Ezra sat down in front of him. "I'm fine now..."
"For how long?" Ezra asked.
"I... A few days... I lost track of time," Ryder muttered, looking away.
"A few days...?" Ezra repeated in shock. "But... I didn't... I was with you most of the time! I didn't notice anything! How?"
"I was too weak to fight back..."
Ezra stared at him for a moment, but then gathered his composure. "At least you're all right now. You are all right, right?"
"Yeah. I am now," Ryder replied quietly.
"And now we have a plan," Rayleigh spoke. "Arlona finally showed up, and these peacekeepers have a way to catch that shadow bastard."
I peered at Cedric, who hadn't moved an inch the entire time. I suppose he could sense my gaze on him, since his eyes met mine. A second later, he vanished inside me.
"Are you all right?" I asked quietly.
'No,' Cedric said with a weak voice.
I wished I could hug him. He sounded so sad, so devastated it hurt. "We will find a way to heal him. I promise."
'Ollie... I...' he whispered. 'I think it's my fault.'
"What is?"
'That Cameron became a shadow.'