“You mean to say that killing the male Fae magicians has… unbalanced Fythnar?”
Krepth shrugged. “I believe so.”
“What about the other Courts, what do you know of them and their leaders?”
“Not much,” Krepth admitted, his forest green eyes glimmering. “Hard to believe, I know, but the other Courts very much keep to themselves, it has been that way since King Herington’s death. As for my own Court, Freya Bloom still does not recognise the boy King as the true ruler of the Fythnar. My guess is that the others will be like-minded.”
“The boy flounders with the courtiers and passes on his duties to anyone who is willing to do them for him. He is naive and has no thoughts to rule the Kingdom properly, leaving the job to his father - who mind you hardly seems any better,” said Nem.
“The people of the North Court’s lands are starving, it’s true. They lock themselves up in their golden castle and invite only those with the right coin and status to enter, leaving everyone else in the dirt as feed for the Kryverns,” Krepth speared a hand through his hair, mussing the short locks and causing them to stand on end.
Arii kept her expression carefully neutral, but she knew there was more to Lorch Kruel than they realised. Over the weeks she had kept in his presence, she noticed more and more how his father took control of all royal matters. Lorch had become used to it, perhaps trusting his father was doing the right thing, but she believed if he knew the true extent of the land’s devastation he would be incredibly concerned, and perhaps do something about it.
Surely, he would.
Arii had never liked Valdis Kruel, felt a tremoring dark energy in his presence, and the uncomfortable feeling that something was off about him. It was not just that he was a stone-faced hard-arse who had probably only smiled a handful of times in his life, or the fact he beat the mother of his children. Arii felt as if the very air lingering about him was tainted and wrong.
“What if… the Fates were incorrect in deciphering the message from the Gods? What if… King Lorch is not my true target?” Arii said gently.
Both Krepth and Nem were staring at her now, open and unabashed.
“What the hell are you saying, Ariiaya?” hissed Nem, kicking back from her lean against the golden wall.
Arii could feel the rippling waves of disbelief from her friends as she folded her arms across her chest stubbornly, not allowing their glares to sway her as she asked, “Has it ever happened before?”
Krepth spoke then, his voice low and careful. “If it has, it has never come to light. I’m willing to hear your reasoning, Arii. I’ve known you for a long time and I know that you would not question fate lightly.”
Arii’s violet eyes met emerald, and her voice was stern yet gentle. “Lorch is not evil, nor cruel. I was waiting to see signs of why the Gods would want him ended, yet those things elude me. Which has me wonder if perhaps my target could be someone close to him.”
“You said the Sisters saw a crown and the throne covered in blood before they announced your assignment. To me, that signifies a royal death, or that of someone sitting upon the throne. The boy is upon the throne, is he not?”
Arii growled with frustration as her eyes lifted to the moon hanging in the night sky, the silver light bathing her face. Krepth’s hand rested on her shoulder and she gazed his way. His face was soft, the usual smirk replaced with a look of seriousness that took her back to their nights around the fire as children.
“If you think something more is at work here, Arii, I believe you.”
Arii felt her throat tighten with emotion that was so foreign to her, emotion she had been taught so long to suppress deep within.
“I’ll feed some reports to the Fates, distract them as much as possible before they begin to get impatient. But as soon as you see a flicker of something - you report it to me immediately, alright?”
Arii nodded and watched as Nem’s expression softened also. The silver haired Fury spoke, and Arii realised that she had never done anything to deserve friends like these, yet fate had handed them to her.
Suddenly the trio stiffened as something caused the air to ripple around them, all of their heads twisting to the castle behind them.
Arii spoke, her voice a breathy whisper. “Did you feel that?”
Nem’s eyes were wide and Krepth’s brows were drawn.
“Magic,” he barked, and the three friends lifted their hoods and headed for the castle.
~~~
The ripple of magic that disturbed the air would not have awoken anyone else in the castle, lest they were attuned to magic, and aside from the Furies and the Shifter there was not anyone else who would have felt the tremor.
Arii led Krepth and Nem into the castle halls as they followed the pull, leading them to a heavy locked door in the east wing of the castle that she had seen before. Krepth deftly picked the lock, and as the door opened, they found themselves at the top of stairs fading into darkness. Glaring down into the inky void, Krepth was first to speak.
“I vote for not going down there first.”
Nem shot him a sly sideways look. “Is the big bad wolf afraid of the dark?”
“Cut it out, you two,” Arii pressed forward first, brushing past them and entering the dark stairwell. It took a few moments, but her vision began to clear as her pupils drank in the darkness. She could hear her friends behind her as they slowly made their way down the stairs. The pull of the magic was much stronger now.
As they came to the bottom, the three paused, heads tilting up and eyes widening.
The cavern was colossal, the ceiling glittering with stalactites hanging like spiked crystals, moisture dripping to the polished stone floor below. Scattered pools of aqua water reflected the ceiling above as if they were seeing double and the ceiling sparkled as if encrusted with millions of tiny diamonds. The walls were rough and winking with the same texture.
Directly ahead was a large cave opening, the stalactites seeming like teeth in the maw of a dragon as the crashing thunder of the waterfall boomed beyond. Sprinkles of water coated the walls with a seemingly permanent film of water. The space looked as if it could house a family of dragons. Perhaps hundreds of years ago it was used for that exact purpose.
That was when Arii realised that they were in a cave behind the waterfall, within the bowels of Viridya Castle.
“Nyx’s tits!” cried Krepth in awe as they gaped at the impressive, raggedly raw cave before them. None of them could have believed such a natural, untouched place could exist under such a perfectly built castle of gold.
A groan sounded, and their attention flew to a form slumped to the far right of the room. Hands clutching her skull, a woman curled into a ball as if in pain, a strangled groan sounding again, her back to the trio.
Arii glanced at Nem and then Krepth before stepping towards the woman.
Had she been the cause of the small ripple in magic?
Arii felt the hairs begin to rise on her arms and her hand hovered over the dagger on her hip as the girl moaned long and low.
“Hey.” said Arii, her voice stern but gentle. “What are you doing down here?”
The red-haired girl slowly turned, and Arii heard Nem’s sharp intake of breath and Krepth’s muttered curse.
The girl’s throat was sliced and gaping like a second mouth, the front of her servant’s uniform almost black with drenched blood, and her chest… her chest was ravaged, skin hanging like ribbons to reveal a black pit where her heart should have been.
Instead, the hole in her chest glowed with a faint blue light, pulsing as if a heart still lay within. Arii knew that what beat within was not a heart at all. No, the girl should be dead. Having assessed her wounds quickly, it was obvious.
The girl clutched her skull and groaned, low and long and keening, her cries laced with a despair so horrendo
us Arii wondered how she could even move.
Then the girl began to scream.
“Kiiiilll meeee!” she wailed, her hands clutching at her chest, eyes almost entirely consumed with black, only a hint of white still visible.
Arii felt another pulse of magic from the girl, and the feeling reminded her of the night with the Reaper as they used the power of the Nexus Crystal to dispel the creature.
“What happened to you?” Arii whispered, loud enough for the girl to hear as she inched closer, hand raised and placating. The girl dragged her hands down her cheeks, nails leaving bloody gashes in her skin.
“No… Nooo… Kill me!” she moaned in agony. “I’m not meant to be!”
“What in the Gods happened to her? I can feel… I can feel magic pulsing from within her. But she is human.” Nem’s eyes were fixed and narrowed on the girl. “She should not be… alive right now.”
Arii was not sure alive was the correct word for what they were witnessing in that moment.
As Arii inched closer, the girl’s head suddenly snapped up and her wholly black eyes widened. She jerked, her lips pulling back from bloody teeth. All signs of the pained girl begging for death moments ago were suddenly gone, and the thing began to rise to its feet.
Its movements were jerky, as if not in full control of the body. A guttural, inhuman growl ripped from its lips.
Whatever this thing was, it was no longer a human girl.
This was something wholly different, completely and utterly unnatural.
“Oh fu-”
With an animal scream, the thing launched itself with inhuman speed straight at Arii, colliding with the Fury and causing the trio to scatter.
Arii’s hand flew for her dagger, the other shoved against the thing’s neck as its teeth snapped mere inches away from her face like a rapid dog. Steel speared and embedded into its side as Arii stabbed at the thing, but it continued to attack as if unable to feel anything. Arii stabbed blindly as its hands - nails in jagged points as if filed crudely from clawing the cave walls - scraped her chest and neck.
Next thing Arii knew, Nem had the thing around its waist, lifting as it shrieked and clawed at the air in a blind fit of rage. The thing moved like lightning, twisting in Nem’s arms and slamming its head into the Fury’s nose. Nem stumbled back and let it go, blood spurting from her nose as the thing screamed and leaped upon her.
Arii was already running, colliding with the body before it could sink its teeth into Nem’s throat.
The thing skidded across the stone floor, before coming to a stop in a flailing heap.
It was then that a roar reverberated through the cavern, causing the stalactites to rattle above them.
Scales glittered with water as it climbed through the cave mouth and the side of the waterfall, the Kryvern’s glowing vermillion eyes were fixed on them as lips rippled over serrated iron fangs. The beast’s eyes swept the maid, now standing up jerkily, as if it were nothing, before passing onto the others. Iron nails clicked on the stone floor as it assessed the room, chest rumbling.
Nem swiped at her bleeding nose as Arii shot a look her way.
What was a Kryvern doing down here? More importantly, when had Kryvern learned to swim?
As far as she knew, the animals were far too dense to remain buoyant on the surface of the lake, and normally shied away from deep bodies of water. It seemed the castle fortifications were becoming so low on the royal family’s agenda that a beast as large as a Kryvern could slip through unnoticed.
Before Arii could ponder on the thought some more, the beast roared and started forward, before coming face to face with a massive black wolf.
Krepth stood his ground between the beast and his friends, his wolf fangs bared in a grimace of rage.
Arii stood and screamed, “Krepth, NO!”
The wolf lunged just as the girl’s animated corpse flew at them again, and the room erupted into a flurry of roars, inhuman screams and vicious sounds of animal attack.
Arii dodged the flying body, dagger flashing and slicing through her tunic and across her stomach as she spun and sprinted for the Kryvern and the wolf. “Nem, deal with the girl!”
“Oh yeah, sure!” Screamed Nem as she flew at the corpse, grabbing its head and cracking it against her knee with a sickening crunch. The body began to crumple, before its hands shot out and pulled Nem’s boot from beneath her. The Fury fell, but not before kicking a foot out and slamming it into the thing’s gut. No blow Nemesis landed seemed to register as it attacked blindly, and no stab to its body seemed to slow the animated corpse down.
“And how the fuck do I do that?” Nem bellowed as the body gnashed its teeth and screamed with untamed rage.
Krepth’s teeth were latched on the soft skin of the Kryvern’s jugular as the beast threw its head back, flinging the wolf’s body from side to side as it tried to shake him loose. Krepth’s wolf was only a quarter the size of the Kryvern, and Arii knew that if she were not quick enough, the beast would have its claws in him at any moment. She snapped her hand out and shot a burst of magic at the cavern ceiling, causing some of the spiked stalactites to come loose.
It was at that moment that the Kryvern whipped its head to the side and dislodged the wolf, flinging the black form across the room as the glittering spikes on the ceiling broke free, falling and smashing into the beast’s thick scales, causing a momentary distraction.
That was Arii’s opening.
She launched herself upon the creature’s back, flipped her dagger and tried to lodge the steel in the beast’s cranium. The Kryvern jerked and her balance faltered, her dagger glancing off its thick scales and flying from her grip to clatter on the stone floor.
The beast twisted wildly and bellowed, its tail whipping past Krepth as he attempted to launch at it again, but the appendage caught him in the chest and sent him flying into the cavern wall.
Arii held on to the protruding spine from the beast’s back, hand wrapped around her second dagger as her eyes narrowed on the flailing animal’s neck again.
Nearby, Nem’s palm flashed out as she shot a burst of magic at the girl’s body, causing it to slam against the stone wall with a vicious crash, slumping to the floor. She spared a few precious moments to make sure it did not move, before turning and sprinting to Arii and the Kryvern.
The silver haired Fury threw a blast of magic at the beast’s face, causing its head to snap to the side and scales to clatter against the floor like stones as the magic tore through to flesh. It stopped and screeched at its new target.
Arii took that moment of distraction and shot forward, bringing the second dagger into the back of the beasts’ skull with a cry. It jerked beneath her as she leaped from its tumbling form, rolling across the floor before turning to watch as the Kryvern fell like a sack of bones.
Beside them, Krepth limped to their side with a low growl, remaining in his wolf form.
Arii felt a wave of gratitude that the two of them were alright.
“Well, I’m believing you more and more, there is definitely something amiss here,” panted Nem as she wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her cloak.
Krepth huffed beside them in agreeance.
Arii nodded and glanced to where the dead girl lay crumpled only a few moments ago, and she froze.
The slumped form was nowhere to be seen.
“Um, guys… Where did she go?”
The only passage was the one they had entered through, which lead back up to the castle.
Oh flaming hell…
Chapter Nineteen
Arii, Nem and Krepth flew up the stairs to the sounds of distant screaming. The animated corpse was loose in the castle, and they had no idea how to stop it. The thing was obviously already dead, only brought to life by the pulsing magic inside its chest, acting like a living heart, as well as
giving it incredible speed and taking away the feeling of physical pain.
How could you kill something that was already dead?
As they ran through the castle hall, Arii called to Krepth. “You need to go and notify Freya of what you have seen here. You cannot be found on the castle grounds.”
Krepth, now in his human form, had a look of anguish on his handsome face.
“We will send for you as soon as we know how to stop it. Who knows if there are more in existence” Arii’s face scrunched when her friend hesitated. “Something tells me this one isn’t the first and won’t be the last.”
So, this was what the body in the castle garden was supposed to become. An animated corpse. But for what cause, and who was doing this to innocent human servants?
Krepth shot Arii a look, passing them to flee the castle halls before the entire building awoke. Arii and Nem raced down the hall, following the pull of the magic and the sound of an inhuman scream.
Another, more human, scream followed and Arii knew it was Princess Sybell.
They burst into the Princess’ chambers to see her standing before the hearth, brandishing a poker. She pointed it at the jerking form of the red-haired girl, her face screwed up in pure agony.
“Ingrid? Oh Gods, Ingrid!” Tears streamed down her face as her eyes met Arii’s across the room.
“What happened to her?” she wailed as the corpse jerked its head to the side, seeming to hesitate before the Princess.
Ingrid’s once gentle eyes were large pools of dead black as she studied the girl brandishing the poker.
“Ingrid!” cried Sybell, eyes red and swimming with tears. “Ingrid, I looked for you everywhere. My Gods…” Her hand pressed against her mouth as her eyes took in the ravaged body.
Love, Blood & Fury Page 30