Gabriel's Hope (#1, Rhyn Eternal)

Chapter Eleven

“I heard a rumor,” Tamer said. He crossed his arms. “Wynn?”

“He is back,” Gabe confirmed.

“You brought our father from the dead-dead?”

“You can thank my predecessor for that one.”

Tamer appeared conflicted. Gabe suspected he knew why. While not privy to the Council’s business, he assessed the appearance of their father at a time when Rhyn was struggling for control did not bode well for any of them. The Council had been on the verge of splitting for years, severing the effectiveness of their ability to combat Darkyn’s demons.

The three eldest sons on the Council were dead. None of the remaining were old enough to remember how Wynn had run things, and no other Immortal in the human world had been around when Wynn was in control. Gabe distrusted the Ancient father of the Council as much as he did Darkyn.

What happened was outside of Gabe’s official purview. Personally, he wasn’t about to let Wynn hurt any of the people he cared about.

“Thanks,” he said and tucked the compass away. “Send all of these to me from now on.”

“Will do.” Tamer said, distracted. “Hey, you got time to see something?”

“Is it important?”

“No, I wanted to have a fucking tea party.” Tamer started towards the locked door on one side of the foyer, behind which were the historical treasures. “I figured out a few of the symbols on your compass. I’ve been working twenty hour days for you, Gabe.”

“You’re welcome for keeping Rhyn off your back.”

Tamer shot him a look. The Immortal led him down the hallway to a familiar library. A notebook lay on the table next to a few scrolls, an ancient manuscript and another block of stone with carvings too faint for Gabe to read.

“The symbols in the strictest interpretation are largely related to nature,” Tamer started. “Snow, rain, one is a tree stump, another a ravine. Of the twenty symbols, I’ve figured out five.”

He flipped the notebook open to show a neatly sketched diagram of the compass with the ones he’d interpreted highlighted. Gabe took it.

“It seems too easy that these are locations,” he said.

“I thought so, too,” Tamer said. He carefully opened the massive manuscript with a petrified wood cover. “Everything in my library that can be scanned is on a computer. The records I alone can read with my magic are in this hallway, which is a pain in the ass when it comes to searching for things. I have to look by hand.” He muttered. He turned a few of the crisp pages carefully.

“I don’t have much time, Tamer,” Gabe said. “Just summarize what you think it is.”

Tamer straightened. “Bear with me. This will sound crazy,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Measures of a soul’s goodness. I think the compass tells you what kind of soul it is.”

“Interesting. Unless they’re headed to Hell, I don’t need…” He drifted off, mind on the demons. He’d wondered how they were choosing which souls to take and assumed his dealers were beating the demons to some.

What if the demons were choosing which souls they wanted, based on the compass readings? Darkyn was old enough to read the compass.

“Quick notes on what I think I know,” Tamer said, scribbling on a piece of paper. “I’ll keep working on it.”

“Thanks.” Gabe tucked the note in his pocket. “I’ll check in later.”

Tamer gave a salute.