Chapter 17

I started to go home after I picked up the place; no telling when Celina would be back, though knowing the little that I did, it would be soon. I was about to leave when I saw the elder leaning against the door frame, “finally found out about Cloe, huh?” he said, a smirk on his face. “Good, maybe she’ll be less of a bitch in council chambers.”

“Shit! You mean she was that way with all of you?” I asked, shocked. “I thought to you guys she’d at least be a lot more civil.

Laughing the elder nodded his head then he got serious, “How many more levels have you gone up?” The elder asked him.

“As of today, I have raised seven and a half, and I might have enough to piss him off. That’s about it. I might even get him to feel it.” I told him with all seriousness.

“Seven and a half? Crap, son, I can only think of one, no two, that are of a higher power. I’m not about to go ask them to help.” The elder said, a faraway look in his eyes.

“You mean Johnathon and his father, Tom Timmings?” I told him.

Shocked for a moment, he could only nod. “They are older than you think the elder said.”

“I know I was there when Johnathon was training with his father. Though I think Johnathon is higher, I seem to remember something about them having a fight, though it was a few days before I came out of hiding. Oh yeah, that’s right, YOU were the one that found me, though I still don’t know how you did.” I said, looking at the elder suspiciously.

The elder’s mouth was hanging open, “You know them? Personally? Damn! I didn’t think anyone was allowed into their keep without an invitation.”

“Oh, they aren’t actually. No one is now, not for the last 50 years or so.” I told him, trying to remember everything that Johnathon had told me when I had stopped by to give him the second living talisman for their second baby. Laughing, I remember Johnathon groaning when I handed it to Lana, then growling when his mother gasped. Yeah, I knew about her grandfather. He was a good man, and he was the one who had taught me how to make them. Forty years shit! I had reduced it to almost twenty, and they were still as powerful. Shaking my head, this was one thing I’d take to the grave with me. I had made a promise to the old man. As a few had found out, I kept my promises, though he had left me a loophole, hell what a loophole!

I heard the elder clear his throat, “Oh sorry I was reminiscing about the last time I visited the Timmings keep, not too long before they closed it though, I think I am powerful enough to get through now.” Again I saw the elder’s mouth drop open.

“Just how in the hell do you know them?” he asked.

“Oh, you don’t know? Johnathon and I went to school together. Johnathon used to get his ass handed to him almost every day ‘til I stepped in. I got a few beatings, as did Johnathon, but we got through that first year. After I taught him to fight, we were almost unbeatable mid-way through the second year. We were actually feared a little.”

“No, none of this is in either of your files, though I don’t understand why.” The elder stated, a little confused.

“You know that Johnathon’s father, and then Johnathon are the sub-council members,” I said, the elder nodded.

“Though I am unsure of how you know,” the elder said.

“As I said, I know the entire family, including Lana. They have been good friends for well over 200 years, long before I became the council’s enforcer.” I told him.

“You just seemed to forget all of this?” the elder asked.

“No, when I showed up to help Johnathon before Lana and he had their first child, I was a mess. I was falling apart.”

Here I hung my head; so many memories had flooded back into my mind that Evelyn Timmings had hidden ‘til I was ready. Though I hadn’t at that time thought it would take so damn long or be so damn painful.

“Evelyn Timmings healed me. She was and, to me, is still the greatest healer. I thought at the time she performed it, I would be out of it in a few years, 50 at the most. I didn’t think it would be 200.” Laughing, I looked at the still-shocked Elder. “I know you know about all the missions I did as a bounty hunter for the council up to 200 years ago. I was considered the best ‘til I met up with Cedric, and then I was a shell. That battle drained me of myself, my abilities, hell, and almost all my emotions. Not many realized I almost died that day, and after losing Tyler, I really didn’t care. Johnathon was the only one left who cared, so I went to him to help him as I heard he was in trouble. He helped me instead; I can never fully repay him, though I have tried for centuries, maybe one day.”

Shaking my head I thought a moment, “Oh I think I found another part of the solution plus with the added power I might actually revert you.”

The elder looked at me suspiciously a moment then nodded and sat. I started to concentrate, remembering the part of the counter spell I had learned. It took about thirty minutes and almost everything I had but I could finally feel the elder start to change. Opening my eyes I saw he looked almost my age now.