Cloak of Echoes: A Netherwalker Short Story

  “So a shepherd, huh?” Robert Kincaid looked down at his daughter as they walked into the moonlit Central Park to Emma’s gloaming bond ceremony. He’d been diligent in asking her that question for the past three months. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure, dad.” Emma beamed at her father’s protective nature. She’d never been so sure of anything in her life, except for Mattox.

  “Your new school seems nice.” Robert patted Emma’s hand. “How’s your friend Mel doing these days?”

  “Dad, are you nervous?” Emma giggled.

  Robert laughed too, “You tell me, honey.”

  Emma opened her senses and let her father’s emotions in. “Mmm, only just a little. And don’t worry, Mel’s fine. She actually has a boyfriend now. She’s bringing him to our ‘housewarming’ party later tonight.” Emma giggled when she made air quotes for her gloaming bond’s secret docile friendly title. Leading the life of a secret agent was going to take some getting used to. She missed seeing Mel every day, but enrolling into S.B. Devere and being around so many other neophyte’s, pre-gloamers, and guardians was making her transition much easier.

  Emma and her dad walked for what seemed like half an hour through brush and thick trees. Then off in the distance Emma spotted a quaint old stone bridge crossing a stream. Its shrubs and vines were overgrown and lush as they grew up and over the curves of the bridge. The full moon’s glow reflected off the natural beauty of the little alcove creating an almost fairy like environment. Emma figured the secluded spot had been chosen decades ago for its privacy in gloaming bond ceremonies.

  “Hiya, hon.” Bernie’s big booming voice found Emma and her dad as a crowd of guardians caught up to them.

  “Bernie!” Emma ran and gave the man a big hug. She couldn’t help it. The veteran shepherd felt like Christmas and Santa Claus with a Southern accent wrapped in a warm blanket.

  “Oh!” Emma was caught off guard as Ryan Kapoi and some serious looking muscle came towards them carrying an elaborately carved golden trunk. Kapoi nodded a formal greeting Emma’s way as they passed.

  “It’s okay, hon,” Bernie patted her hand. He joined Emma and Robert on their way down to the water’s edge just under the arch of the bridge. “That’s the Sword of Twelve. They don’t take any chances when they bring it out of the vault.” He smiled, “You know some say the twelve swords given to the Knights of the Rounds Table were forged from Excalibur itself after King Arthur fell?” Bernie shrugged, “But that’s just a rumor I heard when I was just knee high to a grasshopper.”

  “Wow,” Emma whispered. She was enjoying the King’s Court history classes she’d been immersed in at S.B. Devere Academy and gobbled up any new information she could get her hands on. “I still can’t believe all of this is real.”

  Bernie nodded. “Have you given any thought to what you’ll do after graduation?”

  “Well, college for sure, then after that,” Emma paused and looked at her dad who was beaming proudly at her. “I think I’d like to be an active guardian and complete my shepherd training. There’s gotta be some neophytes out there that feel as lost as I did.”

  “I think you’re right,” Bernie was somber probably thinking about some lost souls he had guided into the court. “We’d be lucky to have you in any capacity. Have a mentor in mind?” The old shepherd chuckled.

  “Well. He’s an apprentice right now, but knowing him, he’ll probably pass his last shepherd trial before I can even pack for college, so I’m thinking Mattox?”

  Bernie chuckled again, obviously not surprised by her choice. “I think that can be arranged.”

  Emma opened her senses a bit more and found Mattox. Gone was the intentional void he once was during her transition into the King’s Court, now only his warm yellow glow greeted her, like the warm sun kissing her skin.

  Mattox must have felt her reach out to him. He made his way past several guardians to join her and her father, “Mr. Kincaid sir,” Mattox said.

  “Please call me Robert, son, we’re practically neighbors in the Vaughn building. No, we’re more than that. We’re family.”

  Emma smiled hooking her arm with Mattox and then with her father as the four joined the large group of guardians near the old stone bridge hidden in the dense trees.

  Guardians lined up and created a half circle around Emma, her father, Bernie, and Mattox. Two hunters Emma recognized separated as Ryan Kapoi stepped forward carrying the ornate golden trunk and placed it on a large flat stone. The stone had been worn smooth. Emma wondered how many times the trunk had been placed there over the years. Hundreds? Thousands? Kapoi opened the box and the hum of power danced in the electrified air like the charged atmosphere on a storm’s edge. He pulled the Sword of Twelve from its sheath within the box and a ringing sound, almost metallic in nature, bounced off the ripples of fast moving water in the nearby stream. The Vaelosh a’Rue symbols etched into the blade emanated a soft lavender glow and began to pulse with anticipation as Kapoi neared Emma. The sword was magnificent and had Emma in awe. Mattox smiled warmly as Emma took a knee and bowed her head. As the hunter touched the blade’s tip to Emma’s shoulders they began to recite the gloaming vow together. Curling tendrils of violet and yellow light swirled around Emma emanating from the blade. The same blade her mother had taken her vow with. A gentle wind whipped around them and Emma grabbed her father’s hand just as she felt her mother’s warmth enter her. All of them, including her father, repeated the gloaming bond’s vow once more. Their words swirled under the arched bridge collecting there and then radiated back to them. Emma and her father wept as the energy they recognized as her mother’s smiled and touched Emma’s cheek and kissed Robert softly on the lips. Her mother’s memories pooled into her like soft sweet honey. They were warm and kind, courageous and brave, loving and strong, just like she had been. Robert Kincaid squeezed his daughter’s hand. Emma was glad she could share the moment with her father. Her mind became flooded with even more court and guardian knowledge and history in an instant, but it wasn’t painful, it was comforting. Lourdie, one of the hunters that had saved Emma from the netherwalker, described the gloaming bond all guardians shared to Emma weeks ago and now she understood. ‘The bond is like an invisible suit of armor. Forged from our ancestors’ knowledge, honor, and conviction. Strengthened by all guardians’ faith. It’s like a parent’s love for their child. It can’t be contained, it never falters, and it can never be broken.’

  As all the guardians spoke the last words of the gloaming vow, Emma became resolute in her chosen path as a shepherd. Through the bond, every guardian in the half circle felt the very moment they gained a sister. Tendrils of light and power moved in and out of her body enhancing her abilities. The residual energy along with her mother’s memories flowed back into the Sword of Twelve. Emma lifted her head and Mattox gave her a warm smile.

  The huge guards relinquished the sword to its gilded resting place and the park fell silent. Kapoi’s voice boomed over the hushed crowd, “Arise, Emma Kincaid, Apprentice Shepherd of the King’s Court!”