Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (21 page)

“Very well, then – I will contact you
soon.”

This was the last thing Xavier heard
before the call ended and the line was silent. Xavier suddenly
realized how alone he was, in the dark night. He sighed and shoved
the phone in his pocket. Then turned in the direction of his next
destination and began to walk pushing through a few muscle aches
due to a recent encounter with an adversary.

* * * * *

“
Okay, so ... where do we
start?” Cal began, hesitantly searching for words. He took a deep
breath, just before allowing words to escape his lips. “Coralie,
honey, you know that your mom and I ... we love you ... you do know
that, don't you?”

Unable to muster up the words, Coralie
just shook her head. Fear, questions, and confusion hovered in the
air.

“Let me just get this out in the open
... we never meant to hurt you or lie to you...” Cal continued. “We
were only trying to protect you...”

“By lying to me...” Coralie said,
quietly. Her chest felt heavy with hurt.

“Protecting you...” Cal reiterated,
with a calming tone of voice, hoping to comfort his daughter.
“There's just so much that you do not know ... and it's our fault
entirely. But it is time ... Both your mom and I know that it is
time to let you in on the real you ... to let you know who you
really are...”

“Who am I, Dad? I know that I am
different ... and I want the truth ... Please tell me ... who am I
really?” Coralie pleaded to her parents.

“Let's start with the family tree –”
Cal started, “Coralie, do you know how you got your
name?”

“My name?” Coralie questioned. “What
does that have to do with anything?”

Cal had made his way over to a set of
large bookshelves that lined the wall of the family room. He pulled
a book from one of the many shelves of the bookcase. It was tan and
tattered, like it had been passed down through centuries. “Yes, you
are right ... it is very old, passed down from our ancestors.” Cal
said, answering his daughter's unspoken question, without looking
her in the eyes, as if he’d just read her mind. “Coralie, you are
very special ... there are things, things about our heritage, that
you just don't know.”

“We were afraid that you wouldn't
understand...” Katelyn added.

“So, what's so different than what I
already know,” Coralie asked, “... what about us, about me, is so
dissimilar and special?”

“Coralie, a long time ago ...
generations and generations have passed ... There was once a man …
a very strong, loyal, and great man … his name was Corus. Corus
Collier.”

“And this is an ancestor of ours?”
Coralie questioned.

“Yes. He was so great, that he was
chosen by an Angel...”

“An Angel...” Coralie repeated, with
question in her voice.

“Yes, an Angel of Warriors – you see,
Corus was a Warrior. A great, strong, resilient, young Warrior. He
fought in many battles protecting those who are good, combating for
things that were pure and worthy. The Angel of Warriors,
Mikael,
chose Corus to lead
his
army, an Army of
Empyreal Warriors...”

“Empyreal Warriors?”

“Yes – Warriors of
Angels...”

“So, these
Warriors would j
ust
go around fighting bad guys because an Angel told him to do
so...”

“Not exactly...”

“Why this Corus guy? Why
him?”

“Corus was already a great Warrior –
but his heart, his heart was pure. He only sought out good. So,
Mikael
chose Corus in order for him to become an even
greater Warrior – to combat with evil for the outcome of good.
Mikael
blessed Corus with his own blood – the blood of an
Angel.”

“The blood of an Angel...” Coralie
repeated her father's words.

“Yes.
Mikael
blessed Corus with
his
blood so that Corus would have it running through his
veins. This was meant to strengthen him, to give him defeating
power against enemies, those who are of evil ways.”

“So, what about this Army you were
talking about - this Army of Empyreal Warriors? How did it come
together? Did this Angel hand pick them, too?”

“
Mikael. The Angel is
known as Mikael. So, along with
his
blessing upon him, Corus
was asked to choose an army to fight alongside of him. He was to
choose seven men...”

“Seven?” Coralie asked, shocked at the
small number in correlation to a typical army. “So, you're telling
me that this guy was given a blessing by an Angel to create a
Blessed Army and he only chose seven men to fight alongside
him?”

“Yes, that is all that he needed, with
the Blessing of the Angel, Corus chose his men. Oscar Tolie, Jude
Jemson, Johnas Corteis, Demetrius Norewood, Antoni Talmedge, Marcel
Cumberlin, and Alexander Dovelle...” Cal paused at the sight of her
eyebrows perking at the sound of familiarity.
The names ...
“
Do you recognize any of those names?”

“Yeah –” Coralie said, looking at her
parents, then at Court who was still sitting next to her. Court
shyly grinned at her, trying not to point out her sudden
awareness.

“So, this army began to fight in
battles. Defeating army after army. Consisting of hundreds,
sometimes thousands of men.” Cal sustained his story. “Coralie, you
were named after this Great Ancestor of ours ... between Corus
Collier and your mother's side of the family...”

“Tolie … Oscar Tolie,” Katelyn quickly
pointed out, “was the first First Appointed Empyreal Warrior by
Corus himself.”

Her parents stared at her through a
few moments of confused, awkward silence.

Court finally spoke, reading her
confusion. “Coralie, you still don't understand, do
you?”

Reluctantly, Coralie shook her head.
“Not exactly...”

Cal knelt down to her. “Coralie,
honey, you are a Direct Descendent ... a Direct Descendent from
Corus Collier. You are a Natural-born Empyreal Warrior.”

Coralie had questioning eyes. Cal
answered her questions without another hesitation. “I am also a
Direct Descendent. And your mom is a Descendent from a Warrior, as
well. An Appointed Warrior.”

“First Appointed, dear –” Katelyn
interjected quickly.

Obliging, Cal confirmed, “Yes, honey,
First Appointed...”

Coralie turned to Court. “And you? Are
you -?”

Court nodded, sanctioning her
assumptions.

Coralie continued, knowing she would
never be able to get all the answers she wanted as hastily as she
desired. The only question she was able to stammer from her lips
was, “So, all of
this
– it's all real? How come I never knew
... I mean, how come I’ve never known this part of my life to
exist?”

This was the moment that her parents
had been dreading. Both Katelyn and Cal stared at each other.
Neither of them wanted to tell this part of her truth, rather this
part of
their truth.
Neither of them wanted to tell their
daughter the reason why she could not recall her own
reality.

But as long as confessions were being
made ... Cal took a deep breath and proceeded with the truth.
“Coralie, your mother and I have tried to protect you all of these
years. And it's not something that we are proud of...” He paused to
gather his thoughts, cautiously trying to choose his words wisely.
“We've been erasing your memories … an old family friend has been
aiding us for the majority, if not the entirety, of your
life.”

“To erase my memories … you guys have
been the ones doing this to me ... even after watching me, after
seeing how hard it has been for me, not being able to remember
anything ... I haven't been able to remember the bigger portion of
my life ... and it’s been you two all along...”

“But it was –”

“For my protection ... that's your
excuse? My life, for all practical purposes, doesn't even exist to
me...”

“But, you see, it wasn't until just
recently that we … we knew the time would come someday when we
would have to tell you, but we were hoping for –” Katelyn paused
from speaking in their defense.

“For what?”

“I don't know … we just weren't for
certain on how to deal with the situation at hand...”

“And what situation was that?” Coralie
asked defensively.

“You –” Cal spoke up.

Coralie looked at her father with
painful eyes.
How could he say such a thing?

“Because it's true ... there's more to
this story than just
what
you are ... there's also the
matter of
who
you are...” Cal paused, swallowing what seemed
like a ball of hurt, pain, and anger. “There are pieces to this
puzzle that we have been sliding around for years, trying to figure
it out … and it seems almost impossible, but here you
are.”

Coralie stood in confusion. The pain
of knowing the truth was now running a close second to not knowing
at all.

“Coralie, there are things that you
are completely unaware of, that you will learn in due time – rules,
expectations, consequences, Rogue Empyreal Warriors, even. But
this …
this is very important. You are a Direct Descendent
of Corus Collier, the Blood of the Angel courses through your
veins. You have more power than you realize. More than any of us
knew could even be possible. None of us knew that
you
were
possible ... much less, what you would be capable of...”

“I'm not following...” Coralie said,
with fear rising in her throat.

“We always knew you would be special
…. and you are special - you see, according to our
Laws
–”

“Laws?” Coralie questioned.

“Yes, Empyreal Warriors have their own
set of Laws, standards...” Cal answered, and then continued,
“According to the
Empyreal Laws,
Direct Descendants were all
aligned as boys...”

“Then I came along?”

“Yes, but it's not that simple ... you
see, Direct Descendants are supposed to be able to produced only
one offspring, supposedly a boy, per generation – this keeping the
direct descendant blood line pure.”

Cal looked at Katelyn, cueing her to
pick up where he left off. “We were expecting to only have one
child ... but surprising we were Blessed with …
two
...

“What? Two? You guys have another
child?” Coralie blurted out in astonishment. “I have a brother or
sister?”

“Technically, yes … We had the two of
you. You were part of a set of twins...”

“I have a brother or a sister ... You
mean, I have a sibling?”

“We are so sorry that we hid this from
you, but we did it especially because we thought it may be too
painful for you...”

“I can’t believe this...”

“Believe it - it's the truth. You have
a brother...”

“I have a brother!!!” Coralie
exclaimed. She didn't know if it was the excitement of the
invaluable information about her life or the anger of not knowing
for so long.

“Or rather …
had
a
brother...”

With tearful eyes, she searched for
answers. “So, what happened? Where is he? Where is my
brother?”

With sad eyes, Katelyn turned away,
leaving Cal to continue the explanation. “Coralie, this was a very
hard time for us, your mother and I. Your brother’s name was Cole.”
He paused, trying not to show the pain creasing his brow. “If you
recall, I had just mentioned some things that you will learn about
as you begin your life as an Empyreal Warrior … one of those being
a Rogue Warrior. Over the past generations, there have been a few
Warriors that have gotten a little ...
lost
... and they
decide to leave the Warrior-hood. This sometimes results in simply
the Warrior leaving the Warrior life to live a normal life, leaving
their Warrior responsibilities behind. Most often this is the case.
But there are also some very different situations that may
occasionally arise. There are some times when this, leaving of the
Warrior-hood, results in a Warrior turning against their
Brothers,”
Cal looked into his daughter's imploring eyes.
“So, this happens to be a result that your mother and I had the
unfortunate circumstance of being familiar with...”

“A Rogue Warrior?”

Cal nodded, continuing, “Yes – Xander
Dovelle. He was one my very best friends ... and a Descendant from
one of the First Appointed. I trusted him. But I had something that
he didn't –”

“What?” Coralie asked.

“Me...” Katelyn said, painfully
through tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Your mother and I were in love and
there was nothing that he could do to change her mind ... He was
jealous. There had been rumor amongst the Warriors that Legends
told of an empowered Empyreal Warrior. This Warrior was to be the
Great Warrior.” Cal explained, “All Xander saw was what power he
could have if the Great Warrior was
his.”

“His? What is that supposed to mean?”
Coralie wondered aloud, not realizing her words were
spoken.