Forsaken (The Seer's Apprentice, The Pearl Dragon, and The Devoted Ghost) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 8) Read online

  A FATED FANTASY QUEST ADVENTURE

  Book 8, Forsaken:

  The Seer’s Apprentice, The Pearl Dragon, and The Devoted Ghost.

  Rachel Humphrey - D’aigle

  TABLE of CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  READ THE NEXT BOOK

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Final Edition of the Jackal Lantern... By Kalila and Kalida Jackal

  So, we’re dead now!

  We’ve gotten over it, and so should you.

  There’s too much at stake to mourn the lost lives of two old brandy drinkin’ fools! You learn so much after shedding your human life.

  So much truth.

  Truths we will now reveal to you.

  After dying, we did not move on, not right away. Kalida, bless her soul, waited for me after her death, knowing that mine was not far behind. You see, I was her unfinished business as we’d promised many long years before not to live apart, and if at all possible, to die together.

  After my death, I joined her and we found ourselves in Grimble. One of the afterlife waiting areas for us magical folk that still have unfinished business to attend to. Apparently, our dying and moving on together was not our last business. We had one final edition of the Jackal Lantern to complete.

  And imagine our shock upon arriving in Grimble to be met by a familiar face. Someone over sixteen years’ dead, with an infamous history some of you might not be familiar with. However, some of you may have pieced it together. Someone that was hiding right under our noses the entire time we visited Grimble (with the Svoda). Someone who was recognized, so we’re told, by one Ivan Crane. A secret he has kept to this day. And we agree, a wise choice to do so!

  And just who greeted us upon arrival into Grimble?

  Why none other than the ghost of Colin Edward Gillivray!

  Yes, the deceased fiancé of Juliska Nandalia Blackwell.

  In his apprenticeship as a record keeper and historian, he was known as C. Edward Gillivray, but often in daily life amongst those closest to him called Edward, or Eddy. Most recognizing the name Colin as his grandfather, who passed just a year before Edward (who was a young man just turned twenty-six when he died). And to two young people just starting out their lives in the world of magic, Meghan and Colin Jacoby, he was known as Uncle Eddy.

  Their uncle he is not! But a braver man there may never be.

  Now, some of you may be under the impression that C. Edward Gillivray moved on. That he finished his unfinished business and departed Grimble for good when he escorted the young ghost boy, Timothy, onward from this magical ghost town.

  But alas, you would be wrong in that assumption!

  Because you see, Mr. Gillivray cannot move on. Ever.

  He is bound to this magical in-between, forever.

  Why? Because he willingly and knowingly took his own life, an act that causes a ripple in the natural flow of life and death. A soul taken from its human life before its time. There is no place for a soul removed before its time, so it lingers in the in-between. Forever.

  And why take his own life? Knowingly sealing his fate to endlessly straddle the world of the living and the world of the dead, never to move on, never to rest in peace?

  This is the very subject of our final Jackal Lantern, for Mr. C. Edward Gillivray has graciously permitted us to tell his story. The true meaning behind his death.

  You may recall that the events surrounding Mr. Gillivray’s death were quite controversial. The morning of his impending betrothal to Juliska Blackwell, he was found in the arms of another woman. He insisted his innocence in the matter and swore he was tricked or put under a spell. That it was not his own doing. This act wasn’t something he could ever knowingly do to the woman he loved so dearly.

  Juliska’s heart broke. Shattered. We watched it crumble, wither and die right before our very eyes. She could not hear any truth in the words he spoke. Her trust in Eddy died that day.

  He tried to prove his innocence but to no avail. Some believed his story. Others did not, unable to see why anyone would want to ruin the lives of two so much in love. What would be the purpose of such a terrible act? Many could not fathom the answer and believed him guilty; lacking the capability to believe there could be another truth.

  Although we are happy to say that two certain reporters did lean on the side of belief in Mr. Gillivray!

  Sadly, though, when no proof surfaced to prove his claim, many who did believe him lost faith and chose to side with Juliska. A bride scorned for a reason they could not imagine, other than betrayal by the man who claimed to love her.

  We, however, did not lose faith in Mr. Gillivray. Why? Something in his eyes. His voice. His very being shouted to us that he spoke the truth. Something we are both mighty glad of having the sense to do now, seeing as we were right to think so.

  Why could Juliska not see this truth?

  We don’t have that answer other than to guess the hurt was too much. She had bravely stepped into the world of love and that love turned instantly into bitterness and hatred, flowing through her veins like fiery tendrils that would not allow her heart to heal.

  When Eddy could not prove he was telling the truth, and Juliska refused to believe or forgive him… well… we recall the tragic day that followed almost as if it was yesterday.

  The day we heard that C. Edward Gillivray had taken his own life.

  What a devastating turn of events. Many assumed he could not live with the guilt. Or perhaps he couldn’t live with a broken heart when unable to prove himself innocent and win back his true love.

  More assumptions we have now learned are incorrect!

  While Mr. Gillivray most certainly suffered a broken heart, this was not the reason behind his sacrifice.

  Did he betray his beloved Juliska? Yes! But not on his own accord. Poor Mr. Gillivray was tricked into the arms of another woman. This is true.

  But the real question is why? Why ruin the lives of two young people in love? The answer: one of those two people was Juliska Blackwell… a descendent of the Shogharne, the same clan of Vampyre that became the Immortal Grosvenor.

  And Juliska made a terrible mistake... we could argue many more than one, but this was her first truly terrible miscalculation.

  If you recall, Juliska was a member of the Svoda scouting party, which set out on a quest to locate a possible new location for our people to live as we were outgrowing our precious island. And during this journey she was taken captive by Jurekai Fazendiin. Missing for six months. She learned of many things during this captivity. Mainly, who she was, where she w
as from and that she was not a true member of the Svoda.

  And where did she go wrong? Where did she make her mistake?

  She returned to the Svoda, and the man she loved, believing that Jurekai Fazendiin would let her return unscathed by all she had learned and he’d given her. She trusted him when he told her she was free to return to her old life.

  Only now, in death, do we see the truth depths of Jurekai Fazendiin’s schemes. Just how long he’s been planning. Just how far ahead in this game he really is.

  But alas, we digress…

  When Juliska returned home after her captivity, she and Eddy were completely in love. In her belief of this true love, she confided in him. She told him everything! All she had discovered while in Fazendiin’s grasp.

  She told him she was a vampyre.

  That she was descended from the clan who became the Grosvenor.

  That Fazendiin had returned her memories to her, something the Svoda could not do.

  And even though her bloodline and her life began in one world, she wanted her life to be with Edward and the Svoda. She was grateful to know her history, but that’s all it was to her. History... She told Edward that Fazendiin had freely allowed her to leave and return to her life.

  Eddy accepted all of this. If she was okay with it all, so was he.

  Seeing how he reacted to all this, she revealed the most important detail of it all. That Jurekai Fazendiin had made her like him. Immortal, like the Grosvenor.

  She hadn’t wanted it. She did not ask for it, and was terrified when he did it, but he explained that her bloodline was special and needed to be protected. Apparently, this is a simple explanation of the events that unfolded. However, at the request of Edward, this is how we’ll leave it. For now. He says the details are important, and will be revealed when the time is right.

  Juliska admitted she was afraid to tell Eddy, afraid this newfound information would scare him away. She feared this would frighten Edward so much that he’d break off their engagement. She feared how the Svoda would react if they discovered all of this. She considered them family, and they had taken her in and raised her as one of their own. But would that be enough if they found out the truth?

  Instead, Eddy swore he would never forsake her, no matter what. And that her secret was safe with him. She could trust him with all her heart.

  And though this was all truth, he was angry. And concerned; with the Grosvenor, mainly Fazendiin. He’d treated her well, he had not hurt her, but something nagged at him even then that there was more to this situation than either of them could see. And his true love was immortal… what did this mean for their future? For hers?

  Eddy did not believe for a moment that Fazendiin would freely allow Juliska to leave. He was the most feared of all the Grosvenor. Cunning. And definitely not trustworthy. If he let her go, there was a reason why. A reason she was blinded to, or didn’t want to believe. A reason he could not yet piece together.

  Regardless of these questions and concerns, he loved her unconditionally, and being young, it did not matter so much.

  As the wedding day grew closer, Edward worried deeply about why Fazendiin had done this thing to his soon to be wife. Could he even protect her from him? Being a mere mortal of a man compared to the mighty Fazendiin.

  Juliska knew what she’d confided to Edward was worrying him and she begged him to forget about it, regretting even telling him, unable to bear the anguish it was causing him. She tried to play it off as wedding day jitters and pleaded with him not to think about it any longer. Soon, they’d be married and all would be behind them. He promised he would try, but failed miserably, uncertainty nagging at him day and night.

  Juliska did the only thing she could think of to relieve his fears, revealing one final secret she had not yet shared. One meant only for Edward. One she intended on telling him after their wedding. She hoped, the perfect gift to start their new lives together. A secret that would forever change the life and death of C. Edward Gillivray.

  She told him this secret just a few days before the wedding. He was in disbelief, but happy beyond words. Nothing else mattered. His heart calmed, filled only with the promise of the future they would create together.

  Then, it happened. The wedding day. The trickery. The betrayal...

  For the immortal Fazendiin learned of Juliska’s secret as well. It was his trickery that put Edward into the arms of a stranger and spread distrust and hatred into the heart of Juliska Blackwell.

  After his unwilling betrayal, Edward knew. Without a doubt he knew it was Jurekai Fazendiin that had done this to him, and to Juliska, to sway her back to his side, away from the Svoda. She may not know it yet, or believe it if he told her, but she belonged to Fazendiin now. She would never be free. He had poisoned her against him and nothing he could do would change that.

  Eddy did not know what lay in store for her future or the future of the Svoda, but he did know one thing: his short human life would never be long enough. Juliska had forever. He needed a way to be immortal with her, if he were to prove what Fazendiin had done and save her from the growing darkness in her heart.

  Edward did not have an Immortality Stone at his beck and call, so he did the only thing he could think of... he wrote Juliska a final goodbye.

  “I’ll always love you, even beyond my end.”

  And then he took his own life knowing he would forever wander this plane between life and death. The only way to gain immortality of his own, to remain and assist the one thing that could save the woman he loved. To possibly bring her back to the light and out of the darkness. You see, the secret Juliska revealed to him, the one thing that made him know without a doubt that he needed to exist in some form, forever, was that she was...

  “Oh that’s interesting,” said Kalila to her sister Kalida.

  “Yes, I quite agree. I literally cannot write the words. I suppose that means we’ve told the story we are meant to tell, Sister.”

  “Yes, sad though, we were just getting to the juicy bit.”

  They glanced up at the ghostly frame of C. Edward Gillivray.

  “Sorry, Ladies. I’m afraid that’s where I must stop the story. It’s too soon for the rest to be revealed. It’s a secret that must be explained properly, cautiously,” he added with a pause. “I may straddle both worlds, but really, I don’t belong to either. I am not permitted to enter the world of the living as I please. And there’s no entry for me into the afterlife. But the moment is coming. The time when I will be drawn from this place and reappear in the world of the living. I can feel it drawing closer. The moment when Juliska Blackwell will be ready to hear and believe what I must tell her. What I must show her. The moment I might be able to save her, and by saving her, save the rest of the world from a future of complete darkness and horror.”

  “Why not confront Juliska while she was here? Could that not have stopped all of this from happening?” asked Kalida curiously. “Saved countless lives?”

  “I wish beyond words that I could have. That I could have ended all this before it had a chance to start. But this middle ground, the in-between world in which I will forever reside, does have rules. If it’s not the right time for something to happen, it won’t allow it. After all, it’s not only my plight, my journey, at stake. It’s why Meghan and Colin Jacoby came to me here in Grimble, with the Svoda. This is where their journey was meant to begin. I could not tell them everything. No more than I can you. Only what was necessary for them to take the next steps on their journey.”

  Edward’s ghostly body drifted back and forth as if pacing while he spoke.

  “Sometimes, an unfortunate side effect of letting nature takes its course is that many will suffer, for true progress cannot happen without it. For some reason none of us fully understand, we must suffer before real change can happen. It’s part of being human. Magical blood coursing through our veins or not, we are still human. And as humans we are flawed. Something made so much clearer upon death.”

  “How true,
how true,” replied Kalila with an edge of sadness.

  “Will good win?” asked Kalida, daringly. “The outcome of all this is the one thing I cannot see.”

  “I do not know,” admitted Edward. “Outcomes can change depending on the wills of the living. Too long has the magical community sat back and ignored the signs in front of them, allowing evil to grow and spread. But if they can acknowledge this, and find the strength to overcome their fears, rather than run and hide from it, then yes, I think good can win this round.”

  “This round?” questioned Kalida.

  Edward smiled wearily. “The desire for power will always exist.”

  “Another unfortunate truth,” she conceded.

  “And once you have finished all that you sacrificed yourself to do, Edward, what then?” Kalila wanted to know.

  “I don’t really think about that. One cannot worry about a future destined to continue, forever, in some form or another. But don’t worry about me... my fate is sealed. I think there are two ladies whose business is now finished though.”

  “Well, I guess it’s time for us to be off,” said Kalida. “Are you ready?” she aimed at her sister.

  “I can hear the brandy sloshing into the teacups,” she squealed in delight, tossing her sister a mischievous wink.

  “Oh, how delightful. I can practically taste it.” She licked her lips and lifted her arm. “Will you escort us?” she asked Eddy.

  He sighed. “I might as well tag along.” He floated in the middle of them, wrapping an arm inside each of theirs, their ghostly frames rising higher and higher.

  The Jackal sisters shot him a courageous smile as he let go, his body dropping, leaving them to dematerialize and vanish into nothing. He let out an amused chuckle when the scent of warmed brandy wafted down to him.

  “They were the life of the party during life, and they’ll be the life of the party in the afterlife. Farewell Dear Ladies. Farewell.”

  C. Edward Gillivray returned to Grimble.

  Alone.

  Waiting.

  For the one moment he’d sacrificed his life for. The one moment he hoped would change the world, and save the ones he loved.