Page 5 of Fates of Monsters

ChapterFour

Darkness explodes.

Emerson’s magic is the pure night, controlled by him, and I can’t see a thing within it. Emerson’s hand is tight within mine, and he leads us through the darkness, dragging some of it back to reveal two people holding up with their own magic against Emerson. The male has flames spinning fast, pushing the shadows back, and a female is right at his side. I stare at them, taking a shocked step forward. My heart feels like it leaps to life in my chest. They are my parents. “Emerson! Stop! They are my parents!”

Emerson immediately makes the darkness disappear, and the male drops the flames in confusion. Emerson doesn’t lower his sword. “Make one move towards us, and you die.”

“Emerson,” I mutter, tugging his hand. My parents turn to me, and I know they aren’t going to hurt us, not with the look they both give me. It’s the same look I must be giving them. It’s like seeing an old friend after a really long time and barely recognizing them. They look so much older than when I saw them in the vision, yet they still have unbelievable beauty about them. They are fully dressed in weathered brown leathers, and they both have silver blades in their hands. My mother looks at me with the same pink eyes that I have, but she has long white hair braided all the way down her back, and her blade falls to the dirt between us.

She’s running for me in a second, and Emerson lets me go, realizing we’re not in any danger. I run to her too, crashing into her as she holds me tight. Tears fall down my face and onto hers as she cries too. “Calliophe. My Calliophe.” She pulls back, cupping my face and pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. I’ve always wondered what my mother would be like, and until recently I could never imagine her at all. She smells sweet and earthy as she stares at me like I’m not real. She’s a little shorter than me, and in the corner of my eye, I see my father heading our way. He watches Emerson, and Emerson is doing exactly the same. He’s ridiculously tall, and I must have leveled off somewhere in the middle of them. My father looks at me, his blue eyes wide, both of them completely speechless.

“Calliophe,” he finally breathes out. “You’re… our daughter. Calliophe.”

“I know you are my parents,” I answer with a smile. “And yes, I know my name is Calliophe. My foster parents kept that name.”

“How?” my mother questions, touching my ears, searching my face. “How do you even know about us? We haven’t seen you since you were a baby. How are you here? Are you fae now? How is that possible?”

“That’s many questions for her, darling,” my father answers before I can. Emerson comes close to my side, his hand resting on my back, though he doesn’t say anything. His eyes say enough; he doesn’t trust them. I get why he doesn’t, but I do, and it’s more than just the fact they are my parents, but the fact that the goddess showed me them once. They loved me with everything they had, and I trust that vision, because I see the same love right now.

My mother looks between us before focusing on me again, like she can’t do anything else but look at me. “It doesn’t matter. You’re here now. You’re here and you’re alive. I’ve prayed to the goddess every single day of your life. I never thought I’d be blessed with a moment of time with you again.” Her voice breaks. “You’re here. My baby is here.”

Tears fall fast down my cheeks as my chest hurts. “I’ve wanted to find you for a long time… This doesn’t seem real.”

My father moves in front of me and cups my cheek. “Welcome home, Calliophe.” He pulls me into his arms, tucking me under his chin, and my mother soon joins until both of them hold me close for a minute, hugging me tightly. I’ve looked for them my entire lives. I’ve wanted to know who they were. I’ve wanted a family. I got to the point in my life where I didn’t let anyone close because I was so scared that I’d be rejected. I thought my parents left me, but I suspect they didn’t choose that fate for us all. They prayed for me, wished to see me again. I don’t know why I was not kept here with them, but they love me. I can tell from how they hold me, from the shock on their faces. All of it tells me enough. They love me and they are my family, too. I look at Emerson, and he smiles softly at me for a second. I found my chosen family with him and my birth family too.

My father leans back, looking over my head at the dirt plains. “Perhaps we best go inside. Who is your friend, and can he be trusted? We need to have a long discussion, and what will be told cannot be heard by anyone untrusted.”

“You must have questions,” my mother softly says, rubbing my back. “My name is Phillipe, and this is Griffyen. We’d love for you to call us mother and father.”

A host of emotions flash through my mind as I think of the foster mothers and fathers in my life, who sacrificed for me, like Louie’s parents. I clear my throat. “This is Emerson. He is my mate.” I leave out the fact he is a king, because they must already know he is powerful, and I don’t want them to fear him more than they might already do. “Orwill bemy mate? We have had a long few months, and there hasn’t been a right time.”

“Time does seem to be against us,” Emerson states, coming to my side. He takes my hand as I step closer to his side. “But I wish you no harm. It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I love your daughter and we have no secrets between us, including how she is a descendant of the goddess. What does that make you, and how much danger is my mate in?”

My father calmly looks Emerson in the eye. “Welcome to the family we didn’t know existed anymore, and she has been in danger since she was born because she is special. So special.” Emerson inclines his head, and my father does the same. “Come with us. There are creatures that roam these plains, and it isn’t safe for anyone to be out for long.”

I look over my shoulder, then my parents lead me inside, wondering how lucky we got to avoid those creatures. My mother looks back at Emerson for a moment. “Are you injured?”

Emerson grunts. “Somewhat. We fought a battle before getting to this world.”

“We got help from a healer,” I add.

“I’ll make you an herbal tea that is a family recipe. It always helps Griffyen when he has been fighting creatures and hunting for us,” my mother suggests. My father pulls a face at me when she talks about the tea, and I grin. “Anytime Griff goes in and fights some of the creatures here, I always make it.”

“That would be appreciated,” Emerson responds. I’m still smiling as they lead us down a stone path, the stones barely visible under the mud. We go under a stone archway and into a tunnel that soon leads to a room. It probably was once grand and beautiful, but now every wall is deeply cracked, barely held up, and everything looks like it needs fixing except for the fireplace and the blanket-covered seats around it. There’s a small kitchen at the back where my mother hurries to, and my father waves a hand towards the seats. As I sit down, I can’t help but look around at the room for anything that could have been mine. This place wasn’t in the vision, but I imagine I was born here. There are thick cobwebs in every corner, and one other door that has a hole in it that looks like a bug of some kind has spent time eating its way through. There are several heavy chests lining the walls and some weapons piled in a corner. Tapestries line one wall, and they are quite beautiful, all silver and white with flowers sewn into them. Sitting down next to Emerson, I soak in the heat of the fire as my father sits opposite us. Soon I can smell the spicy, quite horrid scent of whatever herbal tea my mother is making for Emerson. I internally wince.

“Was I born here?” I ask while we wait.

My father stokes the fire with a stick before adding more logs. “Yes. Your mother has lived here since she was a baby, and her mother before her. This is the home of your ancestors, but my family came from a lost city. I traveled most of my life before I met your mother and settled here. I didn’t have any family left at that point.”

My mother comes over with a green glass bottle full of something black that looks as disgusting as it smells. She looks so proud that I can’t help but smile at her as Emerson thanks her and takes the drink. She sits down and Emerson looks at me once before downing the lot. He just drank that to impress my mother. I lean in to his side and whisper, “I love you, but I’m not kissing you when you just drank that.”

He nips at my ear, making me giggle as I scoot away, before he puts the drink down and looks at my mother. “That was lovely, Phillipe. Thank you.”

A silence drifts on between us. Might as well get the hard question out of the way. “Why did you leave me in the other world alone? Why not raise me here with you? Why didn’t I stay with you rather than being abandoned as a baby?”

They look at each other before my mother decides to answer for them both. “You’re the child of the prophecy, one spoken by the goddess. We knew it. We sensed your power the moment you were born. You were so powerful even then… but we weren’t the only ones to sense your power.”

My father picks up my mother’s hand and explains, “The old god sensed your power, and he sent assassins to take you from us. I killed them and we ran… but we knew they were going to come for you. He was never going to stop until he had you, and there was no place in this world we could hide you from him. He is a god and as old as the goddess. They were born at the same time, but she had the power and he did not. He spent his life in her shadows, wanting her power, but never able to get it. He is immortal like she would have been, but she died saving everyone. I’m sure you know this story.”

---