The Fallen (Part Two)
Dalen stared across the trees to see the other kids, all forming a circle in the woods around him. They were trying to close in on him, trying to find him in their game of conqueror. The rest of his team had been found already but Dalen was watching as the boy beneath him moved past. He didn’t bother to look up to see Dalen’s hiding space. They never did even when they knew Dalen liked to climb to the high places.
He didn’t make a noise as the others closed their circle, coming to the center empty handed. He smiled, remembering a time when he’d been the first caught, always the slowest or most obvious. He’d learned though. In the seven months since he’d met Coltran in the Binding House, he’d done everything he could to be good enough for his bond mate.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, for a moment feeling a wind that didn’t rustle the trees, smelling the salty air of the ocean carried to the heights instead of the green forest around him. Behind his closed eyes, he could see the sparking vista of an ocean crashing into the shore beneath him, could feel the rush as air whipped around him as he dove off the rock face into the water below. The cold of it shocked him into opening his eyes and he was back in the forest with the others.
He took a few deep breaths, reveling in the connection while it still lingered, feeling the way the water washed away the dirt and grime that had clung to Coltran as he climbed the rock wall. It only lasted a moment longer and then Dalen was alone again on his side of the Veil.
He felt a wave of dizziness and held onto the branch tighter until it passed. When he looked down the others had moved away, still trying to find him. He climbed down, ignoring the pain that always came after thoughts of Coltran. He’d gotten better at hiding it over time. He didn’t want anyone to know about his time with Coltran, didn’t talk about the way he seemed to feel weaker after each or how he’d have to force himself to eat the next meal, knowing he’d heave it all up before the night was over. If it was the price he had to pay to feel Coltran for a few moments he was willing to pay it.
**
Dalen hated the cold, hated feeling the snow and the breath-stealing pressure on his chest as he made his way from the wood pile to the house. All’s Eve was held on the longest night of the year and it was one holiday he’d come to hate. It used to be his favorite but now it was a day of mourning in his house. No one said it, but where they used to celebrate the Shadow-Called and the Fallen and the alliance with the veil-men before, their entire village seemed to be waiting for something nasty to happen now.
He understood. After a year and a half of the village elders explaining the consequences of what he’d done, explaining the illness that waited for him because of the bond, he knew what they expected. They were hiding the truth from him though, especially his family. He wouldn’t have been the wiser except for Coltran’s warnings about being strong. It made him curious about why he would need to be stronger than any of the other Shadow-Called and it was why he’d begun to seek answers in the first place.
The libraries had lists of everyone that had been Shadow-Called and in that list lay their secret. No one had been called as early as Dalen. No one had survived who had been called before the age of maturity. And tonight, on the longest night of the year when the Veil was at its thinnest, they were all waiting for the call of the Veil to be too strong. They were waiting for him to fall to the illness.
His family stayed away from the celebrations at the main house and Dalen wanted to laugh at it all, but they had no way of knowing that removing him from the main house did nothing. As moody as he’d become over the past eighteen months he’d never told them what he saw, about the connection to Coltran that came and went from time to time, or the sickness that always came after. It wouldn’t be long before he couldn’t hide it though. His mother had come in last month and he’d faked falling asleep instead of admitting to blacking out when his vision of Coltran had ended with his bond mate getting knocked unconscious in a spar with a fellow fighter. He was just lucky his mother had come so much later, when he’d been able to wake.
He dumped the wood into the pile near the door and stacked it up with the rest. He knocked the snow off his shoes before he walked into his family home and then kicked them off inside the door. His mother looked up from the fire and smiled nervously at him while his father looked him up and down as if to see if there was any sign of oncoming illness.
Daeyana was reading a book and didn’t bother to look up. She was the only one that didn’t treat him differently and he was grateful for that at least. She didn’t understand and wouldn’t until he was old enough to return to the Binding House for training. If he lived that long.
Derek came into the room, glaring at him and Dalen let out a long sigh. “You were gone too long,” his brother accused.
“I was at the wood pile Derek, leave off.”
Worse than a year and a half of his parents continued grieving his eventual death was his brother’s obsession with Dalen’s whereabouts. He felt like his brother was constantly ticking away the days. Even worse was that Dalen wanted the days to be over. He loved his family, he truly did, but there was nothing that compared to the bond with Coltran and he’d only truly experienced it for a few moments over the year. He couldn’t imagine what would happen when he was able to expand on that bond, to feel the presence of his bond mate across the Veil at all times.
“Sarah told me about earlier.”
Dalen cursed under his breath as he closed his eyes, dragging his gloves off and dropping them with his jacket to the fire side where they could dry. He and Sarah had been friends a long time and she worried too much over him. Truth be told, he thought she was a little sweet on him but they all knew a wife and family weren’t in his future.
“What about earlier?” his mother asked.
“Nothing.”
“She said you were talking to her and just stopped mid-sentence. You turned pale and she said you were looking right through her. You turned around and left without saying anything else. What did you see?”
“Nothing. It was cold and I was trying to come home but she wouldn’t leave me alone. I was just short with her.”
He’d been nothing of the sort but he couldn’t admit that to his family. The truth was that he’d seen Coltran again, for the second time that day, and as soon as the vision was over he’d had to run or risk sicking up in front of her. He’d gone off to the other side of the village, hid in the corner of the library where no one would notice him, and then he’d come home to chop wood so no one would question if he shook a little or if he seemed paler than normal.
“Dalen.”
His father’s voice stopped him as he started to make his way out of the common room. He turned and looked back at his father, unsure of what to say. He’d never lied and he didn’t think he could now, not to him.
“Go rest. We’ll talk after dinner.”
He nodded and went to his room, glaring at his brother as he went. Derek wasn’t to blame for the situation but if he’d just kept it quiet his parents wouldn’t have to worry. It wasn’t like they could do anything about it anyway. It was like Coltran said. He just had to fight it, had to be stronger and smarter and better than everyone else. He was doing his best.
When he got to his room he changed out of his wet clothes and left them on the chair to dry, then threw himself onto his bed. He wasn’t tired but he knew his father wouldn’t be persuaded to let him come out until he thought he’d gotten some sleep.
Instead he cleared his mind and tried to mediate like the elders had shown him in the beginning. He’d never been very successful with it but it was always worth trying. The elders seemed to think the more time he spent in meditation the less the Veil would call to him. He didn’t know what they thought the Veil was like for him but it wasn’t something he could control. He had no chance of denying the Veil. When it came to him he had no warning, he was simply watching Coltran, or was a part of him.
He’d never had two visions so close together though. They might come every few weeks and even once he’d had two in a single week but nothing like this. These were stronger, more concrete than he was used to.
He didn’t know what to think about it so he didn’t worry about it anymore than he had to. He still had more than two years before he would reach the age of maturity and whatever happened in that time happened. He would do what he could but so far it amounted to keeping his family from worrying too much.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay there but eventually his father came to the door, calling him out for dinner. He got up after a few minutes, walking slowly as he tried to prepare himself for what his family would say to him about the earlier epidose. When he got to the main room he was surprised to find the village elder at the head of the table.
Nothing was said about it and Dalen took his seat beside his sister without commenting on the elder’s presence. The meal was quiet as everyone pointedly ignored the purpose of the unusual presence at the table with them. Dalen forced himself to eat even though he didn’t feel like it. He didn’t know what else the night had in store, but the elder being there on the longest night of the year surely meant something and from the way his brother was looking askance of him it didn’t bode well.
When it was all done they cleared the table and the elder took up a seat at the fire. His sister retired to her room to read and that seemed to be what they were waiting on.
“So Dalen, there seems to be some concern,” the elder said softly as he stared into the fire.
Dalen sighed. “I know my family is worried about me but they don’t need to be.”
“So this morning wasn’t a problem?” the elder asked. “You weren’t having a vision from across the Veil?”
Dalen stood up, unable to contain his anger. He didn’t like the way his family was talking to the elders behind his back any more than he liked the looks that people sometimes gave him when he did or said things they didn’t understand. Yes, sometimes he used a turn of phrase that wasn’t his own or he saw things that he knew didn’t exist in his world, but he wasn’t crazy and he wasn’t going to contaminate them with his illness.
“I’m fine,” the words came out more a growl than anything else and he heard his mother gasp from behind him.
“Derek!”
He turned to see his brother scrambling across the room to get away from the filmy wall that broke through the center of the room. He’d never seen the Veil open like this, not since the Seeing Room and he had no idea why it was happening like that now, only he was angry and it always seemed that the visions came the more worked up he or Coltran were. Especially if they both were.
The bond flared between them and he could feel how angry Coltran was, surrounded by his own elders.
“Dalen, how often has this happened?” The elder on his side asked.
His words were heard across the Veil and it was then the men on the other side saw them. The elders on the other side stopped talking to Coltran, and Dalen knew they were waiting for his answer. Dalen couldn’t be bothered to look at anyone else though because Coltran was turning to look at him then. Not even on the day they’d bonded had he ever seen Coltran so clearly before, the way his hazel eyes flashed in affection, the quirk of his lips as he waited for Dalen’s words.
“Since the Seeing Room?”
“Yes.”
“It never stopped,” he said softly. He couldn’t deny it with Coltran right there, watching him. He’d promised to be more than he was, to make his bond mate proud, and he wouldn’t lie about it. “It’s never been like this, but I feel him sometimes. I know what he’s doing or seeing. Sometimes I can see him, like I’m standing beside him and others it’s like I’m part of him.” He took a step closer to the Veil between them and Coltran was just on the other side. He wanted to walk across it, to close the distance between but he knew he couldn’t. It didn’t stop him from moving closer though.
“I’m stronger,” he said to Coltran.
Coltran nodded. “I can see that.”
“I’m going to make you proud.”
Coltran smiled then, wide and warm. “You already do, Dalen. Soon, we will have our time. Continue to be strong until then.”
Dalen nodded but frowned as the surface seemed to ripple. “Coltran?”
Coltran was frowning also but he gave Dalen a nod. “Be strong my little one,” the veil-man said. “Hold on a while longer.”
The image faded from view and there was nothing in its place but the ordinary room and its plain furnishings.
“Dalen, how could you keep this from us?” his mother asked.
“It wasn’t like that before Mama.” He wanted to say more, to explain that he didn’t want to worry them but it wouldn’t come out. His vision began to fade and he stumbled slightly, grabbing for the chair to hold himself up. It didn’t hold, couldn’t when his balance was taken from him by nausea and a blinding pain in the back of his head. It was the same as the other times but so much worse. He felt strong arms holding him up, felt nausea from the other side of the veil as well, and then he was falling, blackness taking it all from him.
**
He woke in a room that wasn’t familiar at all. He tried to sit up but slumped back onto the bed immediately because of the nausea that rose up. He took a deep breath to get it under control. When it was he wondered how long he’d been unconscious this time. A couple minutes like the last time? A couple hours? He had no idea. He just knew the pain before he’d blacked out had been worse than he’d ever experienced before.
He knew what had happened and the intensity of his body’s response made sense. With he and Coltran both worked up in front of their elders, and the Veil at its thinnest, the strength of the visions had opened the veil between them. He wasn’t sure how it was possible but he knew it was true. It was no wonder the illness had been so much worse this time.
He sat up slowly the second time, giving his body time to adjust to being upright. He realized then that the bed he sat on was barely raised from the ground. As he took in the stark furnishings of the room he realized where he was. They took him to the Binding House? He took a deep breath and got up slowly, standing to try to find the others. He couldn’t believe he’d been out long enough for them to take him to the Binding House, or that he’d slept through the journey but he didn’t know how else to interpret it. He stretched and realized that other than the initial nausea he felt better than he had in ages. Whatever else had happened he’d apparently needed some sleep.
He heard voices on the other side of the door so he decided to see if he could find his family or the elders. He reached out to slide the door open but it moved on its own. He took a step back and gaped at the man standing in front of him.
“Coltran?”
By the stars, he was taller than Dalen had realized. Tall, with broad shoulders and strong calloused hands that grabbed his forearms.
“Dalen, you’re awake?”
“What are you doing here? Veil-men can’t cross over,” he said, his voice cracking slightly in his panic. In the beginning, when the horde had first crossed the Veil they had tried to follow. Whatever allowed the horde to move between worlds didn’t work for the veil-men. Only the Fallen had been able to cross over the Veil and they had to bond before they could survive it. They were never able to cross back to their families.
Coltran gave a sad half laugh and pulled him close, strong arms wrapping around his body. “How do you feel Dalen?”
“Um… good. I mean, better than before. I was thinking I just needed some sleep but if you’re here…”
Coltran pulled back slightly, looking him over before he nodded. “Come with me,” he said softly, taking him by one hand and leading him out of the room.
He didn’t know what was happening but Coltran was there after all this time and he wasn’t going to fight with him over it. He was still trying to wrap his mind around his bond mate, the warmth of his eyes and the strength of his presence, even his height and build. He followed him, happy to be able to watch him for a few minutes, out the door and through the halls until they were entering a room that looked familiar to him. Coltran pulled him in, then stood behind him, his hands a steadying presence on Dalen’s shoulders. He saw the elders then, saw the veil-men that he’d seen twice in his life, and realized the importance of his position.
He took a step back, pressing his body into Coltran’s chest. Coltran whispered soothing noises into his ear but as he watched the wall opposite them opened until he could see the filmy reflection of the Seeing Room where his family stared back at him.
“Dalen?”
“Mama?”
She sobbed softly and Coltran pushed him slightly to get him moving towards the Veil. “He said you’d get better but we didn’t know,” his father said softly.
“Dad, what happened?”
His father looked up at Coltran and he could feel the sigh from his bond mate. “He was just waking when I went to check on him. I haven’t had time to speak to him yet. I knew the elders were opening the Veil for you now and that you would want to see him,” he said, bowing his head slightly in a way that Dalen knew was meant to show respect.
His dad nodded back and then the room was silent. No one spoke on either side and Dalen looked up at Coltran. He realized then that his bond mate, though older, couldn’t be more than three or four years his elder. “Coltran?”
“Yes Dalen?”
“I am one of the Fallen, aren’t I?”
Coltran seemed to find strength in his words because he nodded then. “Yes, we are Fallen but you are not like the others. You will gain your strength here. When it is time, the Veil will call you back across.”
There was a murmur among the others but Coltran was ignoring them and Dalen realized that it must be something he’d said to them before. He knew the original Fallen hadn’t been able to cross back over, but if Coltran said he was different Dalen believed.
Coltran’s gaze became more intense as he continued. “You will go back, but you belong to neither side, Dalen. Now, you belong to me.”
Dalen nodded. The Fallen weren’t able to cross the Veil again but if Coltran said he could Dalen knew he could. For some reason it felt right and as his bond mate’s words resounded in his heart he knew he would be able to make that crossing again.
“We were Fallen the day we met.” Dalen wasn’t sure why it felt so important to speak the words, but he believed it. He should never have walked away from the Seeing Room on the other side of the Veil. Since that moment he had been Coltran’s and Coltran had been his.
He heard his mother’s quiet sobs and the veil-men elders murmuring in the room but he ignored them for Coltran’s smile.
“Yes,” Coltran said as he looked up at the elders and then back to Dalen. “It just took the others a little time to figure that out.”
Dalen smiled then, feeling more himself than he had since he’d come to the Binding House a year and a half before. He looked across the Veil to where his family was and took another step closer. “Mama, it’s okay. I need to be here now. When I can, I’ll come home to you.”
She sobbed quietly, clutching his father’s arm as he pulled her closer.
“Take care of yourself son. We might have to lose you to the Veil. Don’t make us lose you for good.”
The elders spoke softly and as Dalen watched the opening across the Veil closed, leaving him on the other side. He looked up at Coltran, unsure of everything except his bond. “What now Coltran?” he asked.
Coltran shook his head. “You need some rest. In the morning we’ll work out everything else.”
“I’m not tired.”
Coltran laughed and Dalen could see the way the elders watched them closely. It was the same way the elders on the other side had watched him, waiting to see if he was going to do something unexpected at any moment.
“Of course not my little one. You just woke up, but trust me when I say when you lie down again your body will want to rest. Let me take you home and then we can talk.”
Dalen nodded and as Coltran offered him his hand, he took it, letting his bond mate lead him home.
**
Dalen wanted to stop and look at everything but Coltran didn’t let loose of his hand to let him. Even in the dark he could see the difference in the buildings. It reminded him of the Seeing Room and the gardens that were located in the middle of the City Center. “Coltran,” he tried to ask.
“In the morning Dalen,” his bond mate said with a tug of his hand.
They boarded a small carriage and Coltran settled against Dalen’s side but didn’t try to keep him from look out at everything. His eyes grew weary soon after they began moving though and the motions of the carriage lulled him to sleep. It wasn’t until they reached the village that Coltran woke him.
Dalen wanted to stop and look at everything, but after Coltran promised to let him explore in the morning Dalen let Coltran walk them through the main complex of Coltran’s village. It didn’t stop his questions though. “Coltran, where are we going?” he asked as they continued walking.
“Do you see the house on the ridge?”
“Yes.”
“That is our home.”
“Ours?”
“Yes. It was built by my forefathers and it will hold us well enough.”
“Do you have a wife?”
Coltran looked down at him with a shake of his head. “No Dalen. I do not have a wife, nor will I.”
“Oh.” He thought of the girls back home but since he’d been Called he’d had no thoughts of anything but Coltran. The Veil-men were different though and he didn’t know what the bond meant to them. “Why not?”
He let out a sigh as he stopped walking, pulling his hand from Dalen’s to stand in front of him. “What do you know of the Shadow-Called and the Fallen, Dalen?”
Dalen shrugged. “The Shadow-Called are men bound to veil-men who go to the West to fight the horde. The Fallen are the men who initially bonded the veil-men and crossed over the Veil, only they could never return home. I’m not like them though. You said I’ll go home someday.”
“Yes you will. I think you are different because you were bound before crossing. The other Fallen bonded only after the fact, when the Veil sickness became too much for them to take. Because of the bond I think the journey across the Veil has not changed you as much as it would have otherwise. What do you know of the veil-men?”
“I know that you like to be in high places and you like to dive into the water from them. And you like really spicy foods that my people don’t eat. And that you speak a different language.”
“So you know nothing of the veil-men.”
Dalen shrugged. “They give lectures when we are about to reach the age of maturity to ensure that we know what we would need to. I asked about getting them too but the elders feared it would make the temptation to reach towards the Veil too much.”
Coltran shook his head. “So they sent you over ignorant instead. Why didn’t your family tell the elders you were getting so sick?”
He pulled Dalen close to his side, one arm on his shoulder though the top of Dalen’s head only came to the middle of Coltran’s chest. They started walking again towards the house and Dalen didn’t have a choice but to fall into step alongside him. “I didn’t tell them. At first it was just dizziness that passed quickly but it got worse over time. I figured out what they were afraid of and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with my family worried about me dying, so I hid it.” He looked up at Coltran to see him nodding. “Am I still going to die?”
“Die? No, not from this. Perhaps we will die in the war with the horde, but we will see what battle will bring us when it’s time.” He was quiet for a few minutes as they got closer to their home. “The elders have asked in the past, when one of the bond mates was too young. When they grew sick the elders have asked your elders to send them to us but the families would never allow it. They didn’t believe that someone so young could be the Fallen.”
“But my parents let me come?”
Coltran nodded. “You were unconscious for two days before they took you to the City Center, hoping that the elders there could help you. When they came to us we asked. They weren’t going to let you.” Coltran looked away sheepishly. “I admit that I grew rather aggressive with your father. The words that were spoken were not gentle and I will someday find a way to ask forgiveness for that, but I could feel you slipping away from me and I didn’t handle it so well.”
“I’m here though, so it must have worked.”
“Yes,” Coltran said with a small smile. “They agreed, but you were very sick by the time you came across the Veil. We weren’t sure it would save you at that point but you pulled through,” he said and Dalen could feel the pride across the bond. “I told them you were strong, that you would fight.”
“I want to make you proud.”
They stopped as they came to the porch and Dalen looked up at the building that reminded him so much of the Seeing Room. Everything was dark wood and dark colors and curled edges instead of the straight lines he was familiar with. The door was larger than he was used to and slid open instead of opening in and out as he was used to.
Coltran’s hand brushed his chin, forcing him to look up. “You did Dalen,” he said softly. “Welcome home.” Coltran rolled the door to one side then and motioned Dalen in. The room was large but mostly empty. A firepit sat at the center of the room and Dalen watched as Coltran moved forward, stoking the coals and placing a few smaller pieces of wood on it. Above his head a hook was tied up but Dalen had no idea what it was for. There was a small table in one corner and mats were set around it for anyone that wanted to sit there. It was next to another door and Dalen wondered where it went, but Coltran was moving away from the fire then.
“Your room is this way,” Coltran said as he walked down the hall on the other side of the room. There were four doorways down the hall and Coltran showed him to the last room on the right. When he opened the door there was a bed sitting close to the ground like the one he’d woken on. On the closest wall was a closet that had a few bundles folded up.
“Your mother sent your clothes for you. I can have someone make you more if you’d like, or you can wear something like we do.”
It was the first time he noticed the clothes and not the man, though he knew he should have been more observant. Coltran wore loose pants and a long tunic with a high neck that seemed to move gently with him whereas Dalen’s clothes were far more form fitting. “What would you like me to wear?”
Coltran shook his head. “Your own will do for now. As you move among us you can decide for yourself.”
“Coltran, I don’t… I mean… will I work for you now? I don’t have any money to pay for food or-“
“You are mine Dalen.” There was anger in his voice and Dalen looked at Coltran, surprised to see a red flush creeping up his cheeks. He looked younger than and it reminded him that his bond mate could only be a few years older than him. “We will educate you in our ways Dalen, but you must understand now that I am one of the Fallen as well. I cannot undo this bond nor would I. You are mine and I am yours and there is nothing else. I … I don’t need you to pay for your care. You are mine to care for, do you understand?”
He didn’t understand most of it, but he did understand the last part. “Yes,” he said softly, moving over to stand closer to Coltran. He wanted to reach a hand out, to comfort him or maybe take comfort from him, but something in the way Coltran held himself made it feel wrong to do so. “Where do you sleep?” he asked instead.
Coltran took a deep breath as he stepped into the hallway and opened the door across from Dalen’s room so he could see the other room. It was the same as Dalen’s only larger with a desk and a chest on the other side of the bed. “I will be right here.”
Dalen nodded as Coltran took him back into his room. “Sleep well tonight Dalen. In the morning we will talk and I will show you the rest of the village.”
“And after that?”
A small smile pulled at Coltran’s lips again and it was enough to make Dalen feel everything was alright again, the moment of discomfort gone between them. “In the morning Dalen.”
Dalen smiled back at him as he sat down on his bed. It was a soft mattress and as he pulled the blanket up over himself he realized it was warmer than it looked. He had a moment of guilt that he was going to sleep with a smile on his face when he knew his mother would be crying, but then he heard Coltran moving around and looked across the hallway and saw his bond mate getting ready for sleep as well.
“Good night Coltran,” he said softly across the way.
Coltran smiled warmly. “Good night little one.”
Dalen shook his head because little one was an odd name when he knew Coltran could only be four or five years older than him, but he fell asleep with a smile on his face anyway.
He didn’t make a noise as the others closed their circle, coming to the center empty handed. He smiled, remembering a time when he’d been the first caught, always the slowest or most obvious. He’d learned though. In the seven months since he’d met Coltran in the Binding House, he’d done everything he could to be good enough for his bond mate.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, for a moment feeling a wind that didn’t rustle the trees, smelling the salty air of the ocean carried to the heights instead of the green forest around him. Behind his closed eyes, he could see the sparking vista of an ocean crashing into the shore beneath him, could feel the rush as air whipped around him as he dove off the rock face into the water below. The cold of it shocked him into opening his eyes and he was back in the forest with the others.
He took a few deep breaths, reveling in the connection while it still lingered, feeling the way the water washed away the dirt and grime that had clung to Coltran as he climbed the rock wall. It only lasted a moment longer and then Dalen was alone again on his side of the Veil.
He felt a wave of dizziness and held onto the branch tighter until it passed. When he looked down the others had moved away, still trying to find him. He climbed down, ignoring the pain that always came after thoughts of Coltran. He’d gotten better at hiding it over time. He didn’t want anyone to know about his time with Coltran, didn’t talk about the way he seemed to feel weaker after each or how he’d have to force himself to eat the next meal, knowing he’d heave it all up before the night was over. If it was the price he had to pay to feel Coltran for a few moments he was willing to pay it.
**
Dalen hated the cold, hated feeling the snow and the breath-stealing pressure on his chest as he made his way from the wood pile to the house. All’s Eve was held on the longest night of the year and it was one holiday he’d come to hate. It used to be his favorite but now it was a day of mourning in his house. No one said it, but where they used to celebrate the Shadow-Called and the Fallen and the alliance with the veil-men before, their entire village seemed to be waiting for something nasty to happen now.
He understood. After a year and a half of the village elders explaining the consequences of what he’d done, explaining the illness that waited for him because of the bond, he knew what they expected. They were hiding the truth from him though, especially his family. He wouldn’t have been the wiser except for Coltran’s warnings about being strong. It made him curious about why he would need to be stronger than any of the other Shadow-Called and it was why he’d begun to seek answers in the first place.
The libraries had lists of everyone that had been Shadow-Called and in that list lay their secret. No one had been called as early as Dalen. No one had survived who had been called before the age of maturity. And tonight, on the longest night of the year when the Veil was at its thinnest, they were all waiting for the call of the Veil to be too strong. They were waiting for him to fall to the illness.
His family stayed away from the celebrations at the main house and Dalen wanted to laugh at it all, but they had no way of knowing that removing him from the main house did nothing. As moody as he’d become over the past eighteen months he’d never told them what he saw, about the connection to Coltran that came and went from time to time, or the sickness that always came after. It wouldn’t be long before he couldn’t hide it though. His mother had come in last month and he’d faked falling asleep instead of admitting to blacking out when his vision of Coltran had ended with his bond mate getting knocked unconscious in a spar with a fellow fighter. He was just lucky his mother had come so much later, when he’d been able to wake.
He dumped the wood into the pile near the door and stacked it up with the rest. He knocked the snow off his shoes before he walked into his family home and then kicked them off inside the door. His mother looked up from the fire and smiled nervously at him while his father looked him up and down as if to see if there was any sign of oncoming illness.
Daeyana was reading a book and didn’t bother to look up. She was the only one that didn’t treat him differently and he was grateful for that at least. She didn’t understand and wouldn’t until he was old enough to return to the Binding House for training. If he lived that long.
Derek came into the room, glaring at him and Dalen let out a long sigh. “You were gone too long,” his brother accused.
“I was at the wood pile Derek, leave off.”
Worse than a year and a half of his parents continued grieving his eventual death was his brother’s obsession with Dalen’s whereabouts. He felt like his brother was constantly ticking away the days. Even worse was that Dalen wanted the days to be over. He loved his family, he truly did, but there was nothing that compared to the bond with Coltran and he’d only truly experienced it for a few moments over the year. He couldn’t imagine what would happen when he was able to expand on that bond, to feel the presence of his bond mate across the Veil at all times.
“Sarah told me about earlier.”
Dalen cursed under his breath as he closed his eyes, dragging his gloves off and dropping them with his jacket to the fire side where they could dry. He and Sarah had been friends a long time and she worried too much over him. Truth be told, he thought she was a little sweet on him but they all knew a wife and family weren’t in his future.
“What about earlier?” his mother asked.
“Nothing.”
“She said you were talking to her and just stopped mid-sentence. You turned pale and she said you were looking right through her. You turned around and left without saying anything else. What did you see?”
“Nothing. It was cold and I was trying to come home but she wouldn’t leave me alone. I was just short with her.”
He’d been nothing of the sort but he couldn’t admit that to his family. The truth was that he’d seen Coltran again, for the second time that day, and as soon as the vision was over he’d had to run or risk sicking up in front of her. He’d gone off to the other side of the village, hid in the corner of the library where no one would notice him, and then he’d come home to chop wood so no one would question if he shook a little or if he seemed paler than normal.
“Dalen.”
His father’s voice stopped him as he started to make his way out of the common room. He turned and looked back at his father, unsure of what to say. He’d never lied and he didn’t think he could now, not to him.
“Go rest. We’ll talk after dinner.”
He nodded and went to his room, glaring at his brother as he went. Derek wasn’t to blame for the situation but if he’d just kept it quiet his parents wouldn’t have to worry. It wasn’t like they could do anything about it anyway. It was like Coltran said. He just had to fight it, had to be stronger and smarter and better than everyone else. He was doing his best.
When he got to his room he changed out of his wet clothes and left them on the chair to dry, then threw himself onto his bed. He wasn’t tired but he knew his father wouldn’t be persuaded to let him come out until he thought he’d gotten some sleep.
Instead he cleared his mind and tried to mediate like the elders had shown him in the beginning. He’d never been very successful with it but it was always worth trying. The elders seemed to think the more time he spent in meditation the less the Veil would call to him. He didn’t know what they thought the Veil was like for him but it wasn’t something he could control. He had no chance of denying the Veil. When it came to him he had no warning, he was simply watching Coltran, or was a part of him.
He’d never had two visions so close together though. They might come every few weeks and even once he’d had two in a single week but nothing like this. These were stronger, more concrete than he was used to.
He didn’t know what to think about it so he didn’t worry about it anymore than he had to. He still had more than two years before he would reach the age of maturity and whatever happened in that time happened. He would do what he could but so far it amounted to keeping his family from worrying too much.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay there but eventually his father came to the door, calling him out for dinner. He got up after a few minutes, walking slowly as he tried to prepare himself for what his family would say to him about the earlier epidose. When he got to the main room he was surprised to find the village elder at the head of the table.
Nothing was said about it and Dalen took his seat beside his sister without commenting on the elder’s presence. The meal was quiet as everyone pointedly ignored the purpose of the unusual presence at the table with them. Dalen forced himself to eat even though he didn’t feel like it. He didn’t know what else the night had in store, but the elder being there on the longest night of the year surely meant something and from the way his brother was looking askance of him it didn’t bode well.
When it was all done they cleared the table and the elder took up a seat at the fire. His sister retired to her room to read and that seemed to be what they were waiting on.
“So Dalen, there seems to be some concern,” the elder said softly as he stared into the fire.
Dalen sighed. “I know my family is worried about me but they don’t need to be.”
“So this morning wasn’t a problem?” the elder asked. “You weren’t having a vision from across the Veil?”
Dalen stood up, unable to contain his anger. He didn’t like the way his family was talking to the elders behind his back any more than he liked the looks that people sometimes gave him when he did or said things they didn’t understand. Yes, sometimes he used a turn of phrase that wasn’t his own or he saw things that he knew didn’t exist in his world, but he wasn’t crazy and he wasn’t going to contaminate them with his illness.
“I’m fine,” the words came out more a growl than anything else and he heard his mother gasp from behind him.
“Derek!”
He turned to see his brother scrambling across the room to get away from the filmy wall that broke through the center of the room. He’d never seen the Veil open like this, not since the Seeing Room and he had no idea why it was happening like that now, only he was angry and it always seemed that the visions came the more worked up he or Coltran were. Especially if they both were.
The bond flared between them and he could feel how angry Coltran was, surrounded by his own elders.
“Dalen, how often has this happened?” The elder on his side asked.
His words were heard across the Veil and it was then the men on the other side saw them. The elders on the other side stopped talking to Coltran, and Dalen knew they were waiting for his answer. Dalen couldn’t be bothered to look at anyone else though because Coltran was turning to look at him then. Not even on the day they’d bonded had he ever seen Coltran so clearly before, the way his hazel eyes flashed in affection, the quirk of his lips as he waited for Dalen’s words.
“Since the Seeing Room?”
“Yes.”
“It never stopped,” he said softly. He couldn’t deny it with Coltran right there, watching him. He’d promised to be more than he was, to make his bond mate proud, and he wouldn’t lie about it. “It’s never been like this, but I feel him sometimes. I know what he’s doing or seeing. Sometimes I can see him, like I’m standing beside him and others it’s like I’m part of him.” He took a step closer to the Veil between them and Coltran was just on the other side. He wanted to walk across it, to close the distance between but he knew he couldn’t. It didn’t stop him from moving closer though.
“I’m stronger,” he said to Coltran.
Coltran nodded. “I can see that.”
“I’m going to make you proud.”
Coltran smiled then, wide and warm. “You already do, Dalen. Soon, we will have our time. Continue to be strong until then.”
Dalen nodded but frowned as the surface seemed to ripple. “Coltran?”
Coltran was frowning also but he gave Dalen a nod. “Be strong my little one,” the veil-man said. “Hold on a while longer.”
The image faded from view and there was nothing in its place but the ordinary room and its plain furnishings.
“Dalen, how could you keep this from us?” his mother asked.
“It wasn’t like that before Mama.” He wanted to say more, to explain that he didn’t want to worry them but it wouldn’t come out. His vision began to fade and he stumbled slightly, grabbing for the chair to hold himself up. It didn’t hold, couldn’t when his balance was taken from him by nausea and a blinding pain in the back of his head. It was the same as the other times but so much worse. He felt strong arms holding him up, felt nausea from the other side of the veil as well, and then he was falling, blackness taking it all from him.
**
He woke in a room that wasn’t familiar at all. He tried to sit up but slumped back onto the bed immediately because of the nausea that rose up. He took a deep breath to get it under control. When it was he wondered how long he’d been unconscious this time. A couple minutes like the last time? A couple hours? He had no idea. He just knew the pain before he’d blacked out had been worse than he’d ever experienced before.
He knew what had happened and the intensity of his body’s response made sense. With he and Coltran both worked up in front of their elders, and the Veil at its thinnest, the strength of the visions had opened the veil between them. He wasn’t sure how it was possible but he knew it was true. It was no wonder the illness had been so much worse this time.
He sat up slowly the second time, giving his body time to adjust to being upright. He realized then that the bed he sat on was barely raised from the ground. As he took in the stark furnishings of the room he realized where he was. They took him to the Binding House? He took a deep breath and got up slowly, standing to try to find the others. He couldn’t believe he’d been out long enough for them to take him to the Binding House, or that he’d slept through the journey but he didn’t know how else to interpret it. He stretched and realized that other than the initial nausea he felt better than he had in ages. Whatever else had happened he’d apparently needed some sleep.
He heard voices on the other side of the door so he decided to see if he could find his family or the elders. He reached out to slide the door open but it moved on its own. He took a step back and gaped at the man standing in front of him.
“Coltran?”
By the stars, he was taller than Dalen had realized. Tall, with broad shoulders and strong calloused hands that grabbed his forearms.
“Dalen, you’re awake?”
“What are you doing here? Veil-men can’t cross over,” he said, his voice cracking slightly in his panic. In the beginning, when the horde had first crossed the Veil they had tried to follow. Whatever allowed the horde to move between worlds didn’t work for the veil-men. Only the Fallen had been able to cross over the Veil and they had to bond before they could survive it. They were never able to cross back to their families.
Coltran gave a sad half laugh and pulled him close, strong arms wrapping around his body. “How do you feel Dalen?”
“Um… good. I mean, better than before. I was thinking I just needed some sleep but if you’re here…”
Coltran pulled back slightly, looking him over before he nodded. “Come with me,” he said softly, taking him by one hand and leading him out of the room.
He didn’t know what was happening but Coltran was there after all this time and he wasn’t going to fight with him over it. He was still trying to wrap his mind around his bond mate, the warmth of his eyes and the strength of his presence, even his height and build. He followed him, happy to be able to watch him for a few minutes, out the door and through the halls until they were entering a room that looked familiar to him. Coltran pulled him in, then stood behind him, his hands a steadying presence on Dalen’s shoulders. He saw the elders then, saw the veil-men that he’d seen twice in his life, and realized the importance of his position.
He took a step back, pressing his body into Coltran’s chest. Coltran whispered soothing noises into his ear but as he watched the wall opposite them opened until he could see the filmy reflection of the Seeing Room where his family stared back at him.
“Dalen?”
“Mama?”
She sobbed softly and Coltran pushed him slightly to get him moving towards the Veil. “He said you’d get better but we didn’t know,” his father said softly.
“Dad, what happened?”
His father looked up at Coltran and he could feel the sigh from his bond mate. “He was just waking when I went to check on him. I haven’t had time to speak to him yet. I knew the elders were opening the Veil for you now and that you would want to see him,” he said, bowing his head slightly in a way that Dalen knew was meant to show respect.
His dad nodded back and then the room was silent. No one spoke on either side and Dalen looked up at Coltran. He realized then that his bond mate, though older, couldn’t be more than three or four years his elder. “Coltran?”
“Yes Dalen?”
“I am one of the Fallen, aren’t I?”
Coltran seemed to find strength in his words because he nodded then. “Yes, we are Fallen but you are not like the others. You will gain your strength here. When it is time, the Veil will call you back across.”
There was a murmur among the others but Coltran was ignoring them and Dalen realized that it must be something he’d said to them before. He knew the original Fallen hadn’t been able to cross back over, but if Coltran said he was different Dalen believed.
Coltran’s gaze became more intense as he continued. “You will go back, but you belong to neither side, Dalen. Now, you belong to me.”
Dalen nodded. The Fallen weren’t able to cross the Veil again but if Coltran said he could Dalen knew he could. For some reason it felt right and as his bond mate’s words resounded in his heart he knew he would be able to make that crossing again.
“We were Fallen the day we met.” Dalen wasn’t sure why it felt so important to speak the words, but he believed it. He should never have walked away from the Seeing Room on the other side of the Veil. Since that moment he had been Coltran’s and Coltran had been his.
He heard his mother’s quiet sobs and the veil-men elders murmuring in the room but he ignored them for Coltran’s smile.
“Yes,” Coltran said as he looked up at the elders and then back to Dalen. “It just took the others a little time to figure that out.”
Dalen smiled then, feeling more himself than he had since he’d come to the Binding House a year and a half before. He looked across the Veil to where his family was and took another step closer. “Mama, it’s okay. I need to be here now. When I can, I’ll come home to you.”
She sobbed quietly, clutching his father’s arm as he pulled her closer.
“Take care of yourself son. We might have to lose you to the Veil. Don’t make us lose you for good.”
The elders spoke softly and as Dalen watched the opening across the Veil closed, leaving him on the other side. He looked up at Coltran, unsure of everything except his bond. “What now Coltran?” he asked.
Coltran shook his head. “You need some rest. In the morning we’ll work out everything else.”
“I’m not tired.”
Coltran laughed and Dalen could see the way the elders watched them closely. It was the same way the elders on the other side had watched him, waiting to see if he was going to do something unexpected at any moment.
“Of course not my little one. You just woke up, but trust me when I say when you lie down again your body will want to rest. Let me take you home and then we can talk.”
Dalen nodded and as Coltran offered him his hand, he took it, letting his bond mate lead him home.
**
Dalen wanted to stop and look at everything but Coltran didn’t let loose of his hand to let him. Even in the dark he could see the difference in the buildings. It reminded him of the Seeing Room and the gardens that were located in the middle of the City Center. “Coltran,” he tried to ask.
“In the morning Dalen,” his bond mate said with a tug of his hand.
They boarded a small carriage and Coltran settled against Dalen’s side but didn’t try to keep him from look out at everything. His eyes grew weary soon after they began moving though and the motions of the carriage lulled him to sleep. It wasn’t until they reached the village that Coltran woke him.
Dalen wanted to stop and look at everything, but after Coltran promised to let him explore in the morning Dalen let Coltran walk them through the main complex of Coltran’s village. It didn’t stop his questions though. “Coltran, where are we going?” he asked as they continued walking.
“Do you see the house on the ridge?”
“Yes.”
“That is our home.”
“Ours?”
“Yes. It was built by my forefathers and it will hold us well enough.”
“Do you have a wife?”
Coltran looked down at him with a shake of his head. “No Dalen. I do not have a wife, nor will I.”
“Oh.” He thought of the girls back home but since he’d been Called he’d had no thoughts of anything but Coltran. The Veil-men were different though and he didn’t know what the bond meant to them. “Why not?”
He let out a sigh as he stopped walking, pulling his hand from Dalen’s to stand in front of him. “What do you know of the Shadow-Called and the Fallen, Dalen?”
Dalen shrugged. “The Shadow-Called are men bound to veil-men who go to the West to fight the horde. The Fallen are the men who initially bonded the veil-men and crossed over the Veil, only they could never return home. I’m not like them though. You said I’ll go home someday.”
“Yes you will. I think you are different because you were bound before crossing. The other Fallen bonded only after the fact, when the Veil sickness became too much for them to take. Because of the bond I think the journey across the Veil has not changed you as much as it would have otherwise. What do you know of the veil-men?”
“I know that you like to be in high places and you like to dive into the water from them. And you like really spicy foods that my people don’t eat. And that you speak a different language.”
“So you know nothing of the veil-men.”
Dalen shrugged. “They give lectures when we are about to reach the age of maturity to ensure that we know what we would need to. I asked about getting them too but the elders feared it would make the temptation to reach towards the Veil too much.”
Coltran shook his head. “So they sent you over ignorant instead. Why didn’t your family tell the elders you were getting so sick?”
He pulled Dalen close to his side, one arm on his shoulder though the top of Dalen’s head only came to the middle of Coltran’s chest. They started walking again towards the house and Dalen didn’t have a choice but to fall into step alongside him. “I didn’t tell them. At first it was just dizziness that passed quickly but it got worse over time. I figured out what they were afraid of and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with my family worried about me dying, so I hid it.” He looked up at Coltran to see him nodding. “Am I still going to die?”
“Die? No, not from this. Perhaps we will die in the war with the horde, but we will see what battle will bring us when it’s time.” He was quiet for a few minutes as they got closer to their home. “The elders have asked in the past, when one of the bond mates was too young. When they grew sick the elders have asked your elders to send them to us but the families would never allow it. They didn’t believe that someone so young could be the Fallen.”
“But my parents let me come?”
Coltran nodded. “You were unconscious for two days before they took you to the City Center, hoping that the elders there could help you. When they came to us we asked. They weren’t going to let you.” Coltran looked away sheepishly. “I admit that I grew rather aggressive with your father. The words that were spoken were not gentle and I will someday find a way to ask forgiveness for that, but I could feel you slipping away from me and I didn’t handle it so well.”
“I’m here though, so it must have worked.”
“Yes,” Coltran said with a small smile. “They agreed, but you were very sick by the time you came across the Veil. We weren’t sure it would save you at that point but you pulled through,” he said and Dalen could feel the pride across the bond. “I told them you were strong, that you would fight.”
“I want to make you proud.”
They stopped as they came to the porch and Dalen looked up at the building that reminded him so much of the Seeing Room. Everything was dark wood and dark colors and curled edges instead of the straight lines he was familiar with. The door was larger than he was used to and slid open instead of opening in and out as he was used to.
Coltran’s hand brushed his chin, forcing him to look up. “You did Dalen,” he said softly. “Welcome home.” Coltran rolled the door to one side then and motioned Dalen in. The room was large but mostly empty. A firepit sat at the center of the room and Dalen watched as Coltran moved forward, stoking the coals and placing a few smaller pieces of wood on it. Above his head a hook was tied up but Dalen had no idea what it was for. There was a small table in one corner and mats were set around it for anyone that wanted to sit there. It was next to another door and Dalen wondered where it went, but Coltran was moving away from the fire then.
“Your room is this way,” Coltran said as he walked down the hall on the other side of the room. There were four doorways down the hall and Coltran showed him to the last room on the right. When he opened the door there was a bed sitting close to the ground like the one he’d woken on. On the closest wall was a closet that had a few bundles folded up.
“Your mother sent your clothes for you. I can have someone make you more if you’d like, or you can wear something like we do.”
It was the first time he noticed the clothes and not the man, though he knew he should have been more observant. Coltran wore loose pants and a long tunic with a high neck that seemed to move gently with him whereas Dalen’s clothes were far more form fitting. “What would you like me to wear?”
Coltran shook his head. “Your own will do for now. As you move among us you can decide for yourself.”
“Coltran, I don’t… I mean… will I work for you now? I don’t have any money to pay for food or-“
“You are mine Dalen.” There was anger in his voice and Dalen looked at Coltran, surprised to see a red flush creeping up his cheeks. He looked younger than and it reminded him that his bond mate could only be a few years older than him. “We will educate you in our ways Dalen, but you must understand now that I am one of the Fallen as well. I cannot undo this bond nor would I. You are mine and I am yours and there is nothing else. I … I don’t need you to pay for your care. You are mine to care for, do you understand?”
He didn’t understand most of it, but he did understand the last part. “Yes,” he said softly, moving over to stand closer to Coltran. He wanted to reach a hand out, to comfort him or maybe take comfort from him, but something in the way Coltran held himself made it feel wrong to do so. “Where do you sleep?” he asked instead.
Coltran took a deep breath as he stepped into the hallway and opened the door across from Dalen’s room so he could see the other room. It was the same as Dalen’s only larger with a desk and a chest on the other side of the bed. “I will be right here.”
Dalen nodded as Coltran took him back into his room. “Sleep well tonight Dalen. In the morning we will talk and I will show you the rest of the village.”
“And after that?”
A small smile pulled at Coltran’s lips again and it was enough to make Dalen feel everything was alright again, the moment of discomfort gone between them. “In the morning Dalen.”
Dalen smiled back at him as he sat down on his bed. It was a soft mattress and as he pulled the blanket up over himself he realized it was warmer than it looked. He had a moment of guilt that he was going to sleep with a smile on his face when he knew his mother would be crying, but then he heard Coltran moving around and looked across the hallway and saw his bond mate getting ready for sleep as well.
“Good night Coltran,” he said softly across the way.
Coltran smiled warmly. “Good night little one.”
Dalen shook his head because little one was an odd name when he knew Coltran could only be four or five years older than him, but he fell asleep with a smile on his face anyway.