The Immortal Defenses Series - Destined

Chapter Seven

"I don't think she's okay, Ellie," Cheri said with concern.

"She's fine. Ahaz said she was just shocked and that she should wake up right away."

"Don't you think it's a little weird that she just suddenly dropped to the ground? I would understand if she went into shock when she saw Demetri's eyes go from bright green to black, because I almost did. There is something not right about what happened to her, Ellie. I think she should go to the hospital. Look how pale she is."

After Alexia had passed out, Demetri had picked her up like a baby and took her inside. The house was huge with many bedrooms; he took her into a room with a huge bed and laid her down. Before leaving Cheri and Ellie alone with her, he instructed them to yell for them when she woke up. She had been out for almost an hour and Cheri was starting to panic, and Ellie was trying to keep her calm.

"I don't need to go to the hospital." Alexia opened her eyes to find herself in the unfamiliar room.

"You scared me half to death, Alexia!" Cheri said as she hugged her so tight it hurt. Then she turned and yelled, "Roman, Demetri, she's awake!"

It took a moment for Alexia to realize where she was. She looked around the huge bedroom, taking in as many details as she could. There was an old rocking chair sitting on the right side of the bed with a dingy quilt hanging off the back. A fire was going in the fireplace directly across from the bed, and to her left was a huge bookcase that looked like it couldn't bear the weight of one more book. The bed she was lying in was huge, just like the room was. The blanket she was covered with was light blue and extremely soft, and she was surprisingly comfortable. Demetri entered the room followed by Roman, Astropos, and Ahaz. As soon as Alexia laid her eyes on Ahaz, she started to sweat and felt dizzy.

"You're looking a little shaken, Alexia. Do you wish for me to remain outside the room?" His voice was calm yet scratchy. He was a short man with thick blonde locks of hair falling around his face. He was wearing all black like Astropos, and was sporting shiny dress shoes. His face had some kindness about it, but you had to look closely to see it, and she had the feeling this was a man in power.

"I'm fine, who are you?" Alexia was looking intently at Ahaz now, trying to figure out where she knew him from. "I know you from somewhere and I can't figure it out." Ellie moved closer to Cheri, who was nearly right on top of Alexia, to make room for others to sit on the huge bed, but they all remained standing.

"My name is Ahaz. I am now the leader of The Union. I used to be second in command to a man named Amarantos, and he is the reason we" – he gestured to himself and Astropos – "are here, to warn you, to warn all of you. If I continue without asking if you know what Astropos, Demetri, Roman, and I are, I'm afraid nothing will make any sense to you. Do you know what we are, Alexia?"

All she could do was shake her head.

Ahaz smiled and nodded before taking a seat in an old rocking chair that creaked under his weight. She felt like he was preparing to tell a long story. "In ancient times we were called 'Aionos', which is a Greek word that translates to forever or everlasting. We are Immortal. The first of our people lived for thousands of years, giving birth to more 'Aionos' so they could sustain our species. After the gods were satisfied with them, they allowed them to move on and join them in heaven.

"You would think that because we are Immortal it wouldn't be hard to keep our species alive, but not all of us become Immortal. If you are born as one of us, you can grow to be old and die. If you die when you're supposed to, you join the gods. If you die before your time, you turn Immortal and you stop growing, you remain the same age, and you will walk this earth until its last day."