Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms 1)

“Power. It has always been a strong motivator for some. A quest for power—for ultimate power—is the reason behind most evils the world has witnessed. There were two Watchers in particular driven to take more power for themselves. But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

“I like the part about Eva and the hunter,” Sera said. “It’s my favorite.”

“My granddaughter is a romantic.” Eirene laughed and got up from the table to pour them all more wine. “While Eva was a powerful sorceress the other Watchers respected as their leader, she was also quite young compared to some of the elders. Some might say she was naive. She often ventured beyond the veil of the Sanctuary and into the mortal world. It wasn’t locked then as it is now. In the Sanctuary there is no wildlife, so her favorite thing to do was bird-watch. One day, she came across a hunter who had been mortally injured by a mountain lion. He’d traveled too far into the Forbidden Mountains and lost his way. As he lay dying, she appeared to him.

“Some say it was love at first sight. She then did what was not allowed—she used her powerful earth magic to heal the hunter’s wounds and save his life. Over the next few weeks, she left the Sanctuary to meet with him again and again. Their love only grew stronger. The hunter begged her to leave the Watchers and stay with him in the world of mortals, but she knew she couldn’t leave her responsibilities behind so easily. However, one day she found that she was pregnant, and she began to wonder if it could be different. If she could live two lives or if she’d have to sacrifice one forever—either the mortal man she loved or the other immortals who shared her magic.

“Eva had two older sisters, who learned of her secret, and it gave them more reason to be jealous of her. While they, as Watchers, were also powerful, it paled in comparison to their younger sister’s magic.

“When she gave birth to the hunter’s daughter, the sisters emerged from the Sanctuary and kidnapped the child. They threatened the baby’s life if Eva didn’t bring them the Kindred past the veil into the mortal world. Remember, within the Sanctuary, only Eva had the power to touch the Kindred.

“It was then that Eva made her choice. The thought of losing her baby was too much for her to bear. She took the Kindred from the four corners of the Sanctuary and brought them to the sisters in the mortal world. Each took two for themselves, and the moment they touched the stones, they were corrupted by the magic. It changed them forever.”

“It turned them into goddesses,” Cleo said, barely breathing. “The sisters were Valoria and Cleiona.”

Eirene nodded gravely. “The Kindred were absorbed into the sisters’ very skin. They became fire and air, earth and water. But now that the Kindred had been taken from the Sanctuary, the two were unable to return. They were trapped in the mortal world. And while they had the power of goddesses, they had the bodies of mortals.

“Eva knew this and hadn’t warned them. Their fury combined was enough to destroy her. The child was lost. Some say she died, others that she was left on a doorstep of a peasant’s cottage as a last act of kindness of the goddesses for their dead sister.

“The hunter found the body of his love in the forest but no sign of where his daughter was. He took the ring from Eva’s finger to remember her by . . . and to lie in wait for his moment.

“The goddesses remained apart until the final battle, when they wanted to take the other’s power—realizing after many years that possessing all four of the Kindred would give one ultimate power and immortality even in the mortal world. They destroyed each other.

“The hunter had been spying on them all this time. As the goddesses were destroyed, the Kindred reappeared in their crystal form. He had Eva’s ring, so he could touch the crystals without being corrupted. He hid the crystals where no one could see them or find them. And then, having achieved this last task in his life, he died.”

“Great. A story with a happy ending,” Nic said, stunned.

“Depends how you look at it, really.” Eirene smiled. “More wine?”

Nic pushed his glass forward. “Please.”

“So the Kindred were never found,” Cleo said.

“Not to this day. Although many believe that they’re only a myth. That the Watchers are merely legend—stories told through the years with no basis in fact.”

“You said you believe in magic. But do you believe in these stories?” she asked.

Eirene poured more wine for Nic and herself. “With all my heart.”

Cleo head swam from everything she’d been told. “The Watchers search for the Kindred. Isn’t it said that they see through the eyes of birds?”

“Hawks, to be precise.” Eirene nodded. “They can take the form of hawks. They seek to find the Kindred and return it to the Sanctuary. If they ever leave other than in bird form, in these spirit journeys, they cannot return. The Sanctuary is closed off from the rest of the world. It exists on a different plane from this one. And all except a trace of magic has stayed with them—but it’s said to be dying off. The longer they go without having the Kindred in their possession, the more their world fades. Just as this one does.”

“Do you think it’s related?” Nic asked.

Eirene’s expression was grim. “Most definitely.”

“I just like the love story part,” Sera said. “The rest is kind of hard to believe, if you ask me. Grandmother, I promised a couple friends that I would meet them at the tavern. Do you mind if I go out?”

“No, go ahead.”

After bidding them farewell, Sera grabbed a cloak and walked out of the cottage, leaving the three of them alone.

“I must admit, I’m surprised that you’re not more outraged at the suggestion that your beloved goddess Valoria from Limeros is a corrupted Watcher,” Eirene said.

Cleo and Nic exchanged a look.

“We have very open minds,” Nic replied. “Although it’s a surprise that she could be as evil as you say she was.”