As I headed down the steps and through the basement to the bare wall against the west side of the room, I gave it a good examination, pressing my magic into it. Eventually, it morphed under my stare, slowly melting away its glamour to reveal the ancient wooden door beneath, the barrier to my family’s Pyren.
I touched the knob, and the magic fused with mine, welcoming me and humming happily to finally see someone from my bloodline returned. Did the magic get lonely? I couldn’t be sure, but it was very much alive, and I wouldn’t doubt it. Pushing the ancient door and entering, it was almost overwhelming to stand within the Pyren. It filled me up, like I’d been drained and hollowed out without realizing how amazing it could feel filling my reservoir right back up.
I exhaled, letting the power buzz through my veins, relishing it. I’d have to make sure James and Anna returned every now and then for the same fill up. It was too good to miss out on.
I closed the door behind me. I hadn’t thought much about what the others were doing upstairs. I was pretty sure they were setting up dinner in my mother’s kitchen. I was famished but could wait for a few more minutes. I was anxious to do some reading. If Braelynn’s spell worked, I’d be done with every grimoire in the room within a day and would be able to retain all the spells. It was time to get started.
***
January 10th, 1703
There is no way of telling who is in charge now that our leader, my father Bartholomew, has died. The sickness took him quickly, and my fears of it having come from enchantment poisoning become more real each day. My mother is devastated. She refuses to eat or sleep. As luck would have it, my sister Sarah is taking care of her but fears she’ll soon follow in my father’s steps.
How do I avenge them when I do not know who has done this to us? My hatred grows daily. This tragedy must be stopped. The creature in the woods is responsible. I know it. If only I could find a way to stop her, make her pay and finally avenge my family. If it is the last thing we do, we will discover the origins of this dark magic and turn it back to its source before it is too late for us all.
~Brendan
***
I closed the ancient pages of the grimoire. It was the most intriguing of them all. Even when I had finished the rest of them, it was this one which beckoned me the most. I found Brendan’s account so much more interesting, and it dwelled in my mind long after I’d read through the other grimoires. All that was left for me to read were the scrolls, but I was skeptical of my newfound ability to read them. I should have asked Braelynn more about the ancient language, but she’s faery, and my ancestors were elemental witches, so I doubted she would know much more than I did. I was sure the language was not shared with other magics, so my hope of finding someone else to truly understand how to use the lost language was close to hopeless.
Still, as I peered at the pile, they called to me as if urging me to unroll them and learn their secrets. If I wasn’t so tired out and worn out, I would’ve. Instead, I decided to call it a night.
I went up the steps, and the darkness outside told me it was late. I would have come up earlier for dinner, but I’d been engrossed in reading. Still, I wasn’t left disappointed because I found a grand feast still going on in my absence. It was late evening, so dinner wasn’t quite over yet. Nyol had produced meat, fruit, rolls and a variety of other foods. I was impressed. It was no small feat keeping it all fresh and shrunken into a pack. Braelynn most certainly had something to do with that, and it made me overwhelmingly grateful she had helped us out.
“Everything good?” Nautilus waved me over, and I grabbed a pear from a wavering tower of fruit and bit down into it before heading over. I made a bitter face as the juice ran over my lips and down my chin. Faeries loved their fruit so sweet. I felt a cavity blooming from it.
“Yeah. All’s well here. Did you find Oran’s camp yet?”
The merman Teleen faery pressed his lips together, looking disappointed. “No. We’ve searched a half mile perimeter without any luck. It must be farther out.”
I nodded. “I wonder where the heck it is if it’s not within a stone’s throw from this house? What if Lorell lied to us?”
Nautilus chewed thoughtfully on some dried jerky. Apparently, the Teleen enjoyed a more varied diet than Sary’s and Braelynn’s people did. His face was calm, as if nothing but an atomic explosion could upset him. I hardly knew the guy, but I wished he wasn’t a prospect for my sister Anna. Still, as long as I didn’t have to watch him follow her or Shade around like a lost puppy, he seemed like an all right kind of guy.
“I suspect it’s nearby but well camouflaged. No doubt Oran felt the magic from your home and didn’t want to fool with it. A most wise decision. Faeries avoid the elementals like the plague.”
I lifted an eyebrow, intrigued.
“Really? I didn’t know that.” Thinking over what he’d said, it seemed reasonable. “I guess the wards are stronger than I thought. We were amateurs when Shade and I helped my mother lay down the barrier. Even then,” I scratched my head and finished my pear, tossing the core in the trash, “Corb was able to get through it. What keeps Oran out?”
“Corb is an Ancient. He didn’t get through it, he made Shade come through by telekinetically freezing your family unless she gave herself up. Oran isn’t that powerful. Not much bothers the Ancients.”
“True,” I agreed. “Still, I should reinforce the wards before we leave. I learned a lot from the grimoires downstairs and can apply some of the spells to strengthen the wards and keep the place safe forever.”
Nautilus nodded, engrossed in a raunchy show on the TV set past the kitchen in the living room. Focusing on it for a moment, I almost choked on my own spit. It was a reality show, one of those which had some famous family of women prancing about and talking with valley girl voices in the middle of L.A. They were rich, and the show was pretty much about their daily lives, bored with their luxurious surroundings. Yes, they were beautiful women, but I couldn’t relate to their lavish lifestyle and didn’t find them appealing enough for my liking. We’d been a middle class family—sometimes on the edge of poverty—when I was growing up. We weren’t dirt poor and managed to scrape by, but it hadn’t been easy. My parents always managed to have enough. Even after my father died, somehow my mother kept it all together.
There went my memory, rolling through the years again. Remembering never made me feel upbeat. I swatted the thoughts away before heading toward the fridge to grab a soda. Opening it and finding none, my heart sank. I’d have to make a run to the convenience store several blocks down the road. I’d forgotten that faeries never drank the stuff. It was one thing I cherished from the human world, and I was craving it like nothing else.
Well, shoot.
Peeking my head out of the kitchen, I found Nyol discussing some battle techniques with his underlings. I cleared my throat to interrupt, but they didn’t notice.
“Hey, guys!” The group quieted down and turned to face me. I waved and smirked. “I’m going for a soda run. Anyone want to join me?”
Nyol pressed his mouth tight while Paki took one look at me and turned to his leader. “I’ll go with him. He’ll need protection.”
“Excuse me?” I laughed. “I don’t need to be babysat. I was just asking if anyone else wanted to get something from the store.”
Nyol’s expression relaxed as he straightened. “Of course, we didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just … reinforcements would be nice to have in case you need them.” He nodded toward Paki, and the warrior immediately donned his external glamour to appear more human.
His rich brown skin stayed the same color, but his features were less sharp as the magic smoothed out his face, making him appear even younger. His dark eyes were now more humanlike, without the enlarged insect eyes of a faery. His clothes warped into something I would definitely wear: a hoodie, a grey T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. I gave him an approving nod. At least they’d done their homework on human attire.
“Let’s go.”
>
Chapter Eighteen Creatures of the Forest
Creatures of the Forest
“So … what’s your deal?” I asked, figuring it would be a good way to break the ice with Paki. The sidewalk was, for the most part, abandoned, and I had an eerie sense of dÉjÀ vu creeping along my skin. Keeping my eyes peeled, I scanned the surrounding woods.
He tilted his head toward me, looking confused. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean.”
I stifled a laugh and shook my head, grinning to myself. “Well … it’s Paki, right? I’ve heard of you. Your mother was queen before my sister. She didn’t want to give up the throne to her, the rightful heir. What did you think about all that?” I eyed him in my periphery and waited. If I had rubbed him the wrong way, oh well. I didn’t really care. If I hadn’t, it’d be interesting to hear what he had to say.
Paki didn’t look my way but kept his eyes trained ahead. The only emotion he let slip out was the slight tension in his jaw as he thought about how to answer me.
“Shade is the rightful queen. She’s merciful and forgiving. I’m pleased that she allowed my mother to live.”
“That’s it?”
Paki turned his small beady eyes toward me. “Should there be more?”
The iciness in his voice told me all I needed to know. There was nothing left to do but give him a lopsided grin before I slapped him on the back, chuckling as I shook my head. “It’s all good.”
“What’s all good?”
He definitely needed to get out of the Land of Faerie more often.
“It’s just an expression, man. Just saying, no worries.”
Paki still looked baffled at my unfamiliar jargon, but I let it go, for we’d arrived at the convenience store at the end of my neighborhood. I motioned for him to follow, but he shook his head and pointed to the sidewalk out front. If he wanted to wait outside, it wouldn’t bother me any. I shrugged and pushed the glass door open, feeling the heavenly blast of frigid air cooling my skin. The guy really never relaxed, did he? How someone could be in guard mode every second of every single day, I couldn’t understand. It had to be exhausting. But soldiers of Faerie were different than the human kind. They were born and bred for the job.
A bell rung as I let the door whoosh open. I glanced about; the store looked deserted. I figured the clerk was out back and headed to grab a twelve pack of soda from the stacks near the rear of the store. I returned to the counter and found it still deserted.
“Hello?”
A rustling noise from the back made me hyperaware that the place was just too quiet. I could make out the clicking of the ice machine as it whirred back on and the rolling pins where the hotdogs rotated. The hotdogs looked old and shriveled. Even the bins of condiments looked stale.
I placed the pack onto the counter and readied myself. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t pin down exactly what it was.
“Anyone here?” I hollered toward the back of the store. The rustling finally stopped, and I heard hurried footsteps approaching from the rear storeroom. Finally, a tall lanky man hopped out, his long arms looking ridiculously oversized next to his skinny body. Thick, black-rimmed glasses and shaggy brown hair framed his face and bugged out his eyes through the lenses.
“Sorry about that … had to fix the ice machine, man. Hey, if you’re needing an Icee, it won’t be ready for at least … thirty minutes.” He shoved away at the mess of frizzy locks sticking to his pockmarked face as he barreled through the side entry of the counter and began to punch in his code on the register. He flicked his eyes to the case of soda. “Will that be all?”
I nodded and would’ve relaxed, but the guy kept flicking his eyes toward the back of the store and radiated nervous energy like he was tweaking or something. I tossed a real ten dollar bill before scooping up the twelve pack and held out a hand for the change. I had to get back to the house immediately; something was off. The air was vibrating with an unusual current that made my magical senses perk up.
Pocketing the change, I turned toward the doors and pushed them open with a shoulder. Paki wasn’t on the sidewalk anymore, which caught me off-guard. Where the hell had he gone? As I scanned the parking lot, I realized no one was around, an unusual occurrence since it was the only convenience store for miles.
Draping a thick curtain of glamour over myself, I summoned my Empyrean blade and held it out. I bet I looked bad ass with a box of soda under one arm and a fiery sword in the other hand. I spotted movement to my left and headed over, seeing Paki’s silhouette as the woods opened up. The convenience store sat in the middle of a small dug-out clearing at the side of a road. Usually it was pretty busy with business from the surrounding cabins and isolated houses, but this evening, it was deserted. The air around us was thick with something. It charged the wind, making it feel like there were voices traveling across the air. It had me sniffing as it stung my eyes and nose.
“Paki. See anything?”
He didn’t answer, and I turned to see what he was looking at. A subtle growl filled his throat, thrumming under the noise of the wind, which was now tossing debris across the parking lot like a mini tornado. The dust slung up into the air and got in my eyes, forcing me to place the box of soda on the asphalt so I could rub at them. I continued to scan the edge of the forest, filling with dread. Something was watching us. Its sinister aura filled my senses with malice and whispered in my ears.
Fire elemental, we’ve been waiting for you. A voice formed from nothing, and I jerked at its proximity. Paki must’ve heard it, too, because he immediately took off running toward it.
“Hey, where are you going? Really?” I yelled after him. Groaning, I crept near the edge of the forest where the thick briars and undergrowth snarled out beyond the forest and crawled across the parking lot, like the woods wanted to swallow up the clearing. All I’d wanted was a blasted soda and this was what I got? Whoever was lurking about sure had impeccable timing.
“Perfect,” I grunted, breathing in deeply to ready myself for an attack. I hopped over a parking divider and ran into the trees, keeping my eyes open for the intruders. Whoever was there didn’t show themselves, but continued to shove the air about me like a violent storm. I swung at saplings clogging up the way and slowing me down. The forest was thick, and the canopy swallowed up the light above as clouds rolled in, looking tumultuous and angry.
“Paki!” I yelled out, aware I might attract the wrong people by announcing my position. I didn’t care. I was aching for another fight anyway. The last one had ended suddenly, and I regretfully hadn’t gotten to hack that obnoxious night elf Cornelius into a gazillion little pieces before he got away. There was just so much I could do for that kind of pent up aggravation.
Paki didn’t answer. Nothing echoed my call in that lonely place.
The sword’s hilt felt warm against my grip, and I listened to the surrounding noises filling the forest. Tiny birds chirped distantly, but none announced themselves nearby. A toad croaked beyond, making me think there was water nearby. Every rustle had me jerking; I was so ready to kick ass. More than ready. I wanted to feel the heat of the fire within burning through the carcasses of the enemy as I laid havoc to this Unseelie army that had taken up residence in my neighborhood. I was made for this. Even from the beginning of time, according to what I’d read in the grimoires, our kind were perfect hunters of the supernatural. A perfect harmonious fusion of humanity and magic.
The wind died suddenly, along with everything else. An eerie silence joined the stillness of the trees, as if they’d frozen to watch a show. It was like someone had hit the pause button in the forest. The hairs on the back of my neck stood tall while I let my eyes wander across the trees, scanning the area over and over again, listening hard.
But there was nothing.
This left me with a twisted knot in my stomach. The quiet was less than comforting. It was as deafening as the sounds preceding it. Everything was too still, perfectly frozen. Only the fragrance of damp wood, rotting vegetati
on and a slight ozone scent from the thickening clouds above kept me company. Even so, the air smelled a little off, like there was a sour contaminant nearby, getting closer and closer with every passing moment.
The snap of a twig behind me made me turn in a blur of motion, holding my sword out with its flickering orange flames lighting up the area around me as the sky darkened and the glamour faded away, revealing cackling warriors pressing around me, laughing as they gathered closer together, holding out their crude weapons in their filthy grips.
They shoved Paki at me, and I barely caught him as he stumbled forward. He was missing his sword, and an Unseelie soldier mocked him while waving the flashing metal weapon at us, signaling that it was now his. Paki straightened with my help but still wobbled. A sticky trickle of blood marked the side of his face where they had hit him. I shook my head. Damn fool to run into the forest alone. Damn rooky mistake.
“We’ve been waiting for you, elemental,” a deep voice boomed, and the warriors fell silent. They continued to jeer and whisper when the voice didn’t sound again, snickering at our situation. I held out my sword, ready to release the weakened Paki if they came any closer.
“Why the hell would you be waiting for me? You made me miss out on a perfectly good box of soda. That’s totally not cool, dude.” I spun as the group behind me shifted, with some of them giving little coughs and snickers. I scowled at them. “So who’s in charge of this mess?”
The smiles fell into frowns, matching my own. My confidence swelled, seeing how easy it was to insult them. Damn Unseelie. I’d seen plenty of them at the Withering Palace. I had successfully snuck into it and pretended I wanted to join up with them. My sister’s faery magic had helped cover up my “vile” human scent. The thought made me chuckle, because humans didn’t generally stink as badly as Unseelie Sluagh warriors.