Forsaken (Book #1)

What?

Someone was going to die. I was involved in a prophecy where someone would die. I had killed Demons a few days ago, but that was different. They were trying to kill me and they were evil.

“Who?” I managed to choke out.

“Me.” Grayson said with a bitter smile.

“What?” I gasped. “How?”

“Dunno,” Grayson said with a shrug appearing incredibly nonchalant. “It’s just been prophesied that I will die.”

“And Lucian and I are involved in that prophecy.” I murmured. Grayson nodded. “Is there any way to prevent it?”

“Of course there is, the future isn’t set in stone. But it will eventually happen if it is meant to happen.” Grayson answered. “I’ve been alive much longer than you have Calla, and I’ve lived a full life.”

I wanted to argue with him but I saw the look in his eyes. He wanted this conversation to be over. I guess I understood that. Discussing your prophesied death was bound to make one uncomfortable. Even though he had told me that the prophecy said that he was going to die I still had a hard time believing it.

Grayson had just said himself that he had been alive for a long, long time. In that time he had become a great and resourceful fighter, so there was no way that he’d die. He couldn’t die.

I followed Grayson through the city. In the streets I could see wolves running around, and the tall, statuesque forms of the Fae. The atmosphere in the city was peaceful and everyone in it was laughing and talking excitedly. They were untouched by the Afterdark and it seemed that they didn’t know what the Afterdark was planning.

“So, after this whole mess is over what will happen?” I asked Grayson as he led us to a car.

I found it odd that the city looked so old and out of time, yet they had modern amenities like cars.

“We’ll go the capital of Eripham,” Grayson continued, “and further your training.”

“But if I stop the Afterdark from summoning Darya, why do I even need to continue training?”

“They will try to come after you.” Grayson told me. “Even if you prevent them from summoning Darya you will still be involved in our world and they will still come after you.”

“Because I’m Ilya’s descendant.” I murmured.

Grayson nodded.

“So then there’s no way for me to suddenly leave this world. I’m always going to be involved.” I concluded.

Again, he nodded. I fell silent. I wasn’t sure how I felt about always being in danger and always being involved with New Haven. Even if there was some way for me to get out of this world I would still be a Valkyrie so I would still be in danger. But if I could leave this world and not be in any danger I would.

I think that after I stop the Afterdark from summoning Darya I am going to do my best to lead a normal life. Even if it seems almost impossible at times I’m going to try to stay as far away from New Haven and the Afterdark as I can. I know that Grayson wanted to take me to the capital to train me but after stopping the Afterdark my job would be done.

There wouldn’t be a need for me to continue training. We passed by a quaint little shop before coming to a stop in front of a large building with tall glass windows. Inside I could see people sparring – hand-to-hand and with weapons – and using punching bags. Grayson pushed open the glass door and we stepped inside.

“We’re going to be sparring,” Grayson commented. “You’re going to use Ilya’s swords, since that’s the only weapon that you seem to have an affinity for.”

“Okay.” I agreed with a nod.

We stepped into one of the glass rooms. Hanging on one of the walls were the swords and Grayson passed them to me. I took them eagerly, my body relaxing minutely when my hands wrapped around the hilt. I bounced on the balls of my feet, watching Grayson as he took out two blades. One was the dagger that he normally carried and the other was only slightly larger.

“Do you mind if we have an audience?” Grayson asked with a jerk of his head towards the door.

I followed his gaze my eyes widening when I saw that we had indeed gathered quite a crowd.

“Focus.” Grayson snapped.

I turned around to face him. No sooner had I done that, he was leaping at me. He swung the dagger towards me and I jumped back, bringing my blade up to parry the blow. With his other hand he took a stab at my side. I jumped to the left, and kicked at his hand. His grip loosened on the dagger and I quickly took my chance disarming him.

The next few minutes were a blur to me as we moved at insanely fast speeds trading blows. The battle ended when Grayson managed to get his dagger near the skin of my throat. My back was pressed against the mat on the ground and he was hovering over me, his eyes intense with some emotion that I couldn’t identify. I stared at him my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.

Grayson’s eyes strayed to my lips before returning to my eyes. I felt myself flush and I bit my lip a little shyly. We were in our own little world until a throat clearing and then a cough broke into our little bubble. Grayson pulled away from me and got to his feet within the blink of an eye. I was a little slower getting up.

When I got to my feet, I carefully avoided looking at Grayson and directed my attention to the person who had broken into our moment. To my great surprise it wasn’t Anais like I had been dreading it would be, but instead it was one of the Exalts.

Liyana, I think her name was. Her eyes glittered with amusement as she stared at Grayson and I along with an undercurrent of sadness.

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything,” She said her voice a little cold and her posture stiff.

“You weren’t Liyana, we had just finished sparring.” Grayson answered. “We want her to stop the Afterdark from summoning Darya so she needs to be prepared. That is all.”

“Fighting Demons is different than fighting a Vampire.” Liyana pointed out.

“Not that different,” Grayson argued. “Demons and Vampires have similar abilities.” Liyana just stared at him nonplussed. He sighed, “What do you want Liyana?”

“To tell Calla how she can stop Darya from being summoned.” Liyana answered. In a scathing tone she added, “Which I’m sure you haven’t.”

Grayson rolled his eyes. As they had been talking I had taken the time to study Liyana. She carried herself with a lot of confidence, and she was insanely beautiful. Not as beautiful as Celeste and Ember – the Faerie Exalts – but nonetheless, Liyana was very pretty. Her hair was the color of a raven’s wing and her eyes were as blue as the sky.

Liyana directed her next words to me, “May we talk in private? Preferably somewhere else.”

“I am her guardian Liyana,” Grayson reminded her his tone hard.

“I am perfectly capable of protecting her.” Liyana reminded him sternly. “So Calla, may we talk in private?”

I was torn between the two. It was clear that Liyana didn’t want Grayson to hear the conversation but Grayson was my protector. On the other hand he hadn’t exactly been doing a great job, and Liyana had been alive when Ilya was a live and for probably much longer than that. If there was anyone more capable than Grayson it would probably be Liyana.

Finally I nodded my head. Liyana smiled and then we departed. Grayson followed us at a distance, only stopping when we arrived at a building and Liyana slammed the door in his face. The interior of the building was spacious and directed like the interior of a hotel lobby.

“You need to know how to stop Darya from being summoned. Killing the Witches and Warlocks will of course stop the summoning but there will be at least fifty of them, so that will take you some time.” Liyana told me, folding her hands primly in front of her. “I’d recommend disrupting the ingredients and the pentagram that they draw to summon her.”

“Is that all?” I questioned.

“That is all that I can think of at the moment,” Liyana said in return. “We are putting all of our hope in you Calla. Darya, she is unlike any other evil we have ever seen and her rising would bring about the apocalypse. Don’t give me that look Calla. Why is it that you can believe that you are a Valkyrie, but you have a hard time believing that Darya will bring about the end of the world?” She shook her head. “Never mind that. Just know that if Darya rises, we’re all doomed. At one point, Ilya would have been able to defeat her but Ilya is gone. And until you get stronger beating her isn’t an option.”

“Who is Darya?” I dared to ask, staring at Liyana.

“Pure, unadulterated evil. She’s the younger sister to Lucifer – I’m sure you’ve heard of him – and she’s just as powerful as he is.” Liyana told me. “That is all that I needed to tell you.”

“And Grayson couldn’t listen in?” I questioned.

“No.” Liyana answered. “I didn’t want him to hear what I was telling you because, I know him. He is your protector and he’ll do anything in his power to protect you even if it costs him his life. I don’t want him to endanger himself.”

“When I go to stop them, he’ll see what I’m doing so he’ll be in danger anyways.” I argued, confused by what she was saying.

“Maybe, maybe he won’t.” Liyana said with a smile. “Go. You need to continue sparring.”

So I headed outside, rejoining with Grayson. I wasn’t looking forward to continuing sparring but I needed as much experience I could get if I wanted any hope of stopping the Afterdark from summoning Darya.