The rest of the world, humanity, might not ever accept giants in their midst. Elves could blend in. All they’d have to do is hide their ears. Even the drow, with their purplish skin and white hair, looked human enough that they could pass. They’d managed to do exactly that for centuries in India. But the giants, I knew, would have a hard time.
They didn’t have many women amongst them—only three out of the whole bunch. A lot of male giants, without enough women for them to have families of their own, were bound to grow ill-content over time. At least, now, they’d have something to eat. A full stomach can go a long way.
Chapter Forty-One
We decided to take the Eclipse. I could have portaled us into the middle of the Pruitt-Igoe forest, but as far as I knew, Brightborn still didn’t have a clue that I had fairy powers. Best keep my cards held close to my chest.
So far, no tremors. No sign of the earthquake. Still, with every bump we hit on the road, my chest tightened, expecting the worst. We were almost three days on from the time the Furies told us the quake was coming. I was expecting it any minute.
The sun was setting on the horizon as we pulled up next to the forest. It was an odd place, several acres of forest in the middle of one of the most crime-ridden parts of the city—an old public housing project that failed back in the middle of the twentieth century. The project had been such a disaster that the forest had taken on an almost sacred significance to those who lived in the area. A few developers had proposed projects for the space over the years. Nothing had ever come to fruition.
Hardly anyone who didn’t have a death wish ever went into that forest. It was where Brightborn had forced me to kill Fred, but his blood wasn’t the first to be spilled on those grounds. I had a keen sense, particularly now that I was in tune with aether, that the whole place was haunted.
I locked the car after Aerin, Layla, and I got out. Aerin had her sword at her side. Layla had her bow and a full set of celestially charged arrows in her quiver. Brightborn had said to come alone. He said nothing about coming unarmed.
A gust of wind struck me in the face. It smelled of death. “I think he has the bodies here.”
Aerin nodded. “At least he stuck to his word.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Layla said. “I’m sure he has something up his sleeve. He didn’t demand this meeting out of the goodness of his heart.”
“Your dad has a heart?” I asked. “Could have fooled me.”
“It’s in question,” Layla said. “I’ve known the man my whole life. I certainly wouldn’t ever refer to him as Daddy Dearest.”
We entered the clearing where we’d met Brightborn in the forest before. He was waiting for us, holding the scroll of the drow prophecy in his hands. A pile of bodies was stacked, one on top of the other at the forest’s edge. Of course, Brightborn had his legionnaires gathered around him, two of them with spears standing at his side. Probably his bodyguards.
“We’re here,” I said. “As you requested.”
Brightborn nodded. “As I said, the bodies I left you before were meant to be a token of goodwill. I have no intention of any further bloodshed tonight.”
“Then why do you have your whole legion here armed?” Layla asked.
“Why did you bring your weapons?” Brightborn asked. “Presumably for the same reason I came prepared. Let's hope that we can behave cordially and avoid any unnecessary violence.”
“Cordially?” Aerin asked. “You’ve already slain half of my warriors. How can you expect this meeting to be cordial?”
Brightborn laughed. “Aerin, you’re still the firecracker I almost married. I like that about you.”
“Almost?” Aerin asked. “You never meant to marry me. It was a trick, like everything else you do.”
“There are no tricks in my agenda,” Brightborn said. “I imagine you already know my purpose here.”
“You want us to open the drow prophecy?” I asked.
Brightborn nodded. “I would have myself if I could. But we cannot do it without both your power and the drow princess’ blessing.”
“You’re hoping to use our dead, our warriors who never should have been killed to begin with, as some kind of even trade?”
“Aerin,” Brightborn said. “I didn’t say it was an even trade. The fact is that I have two things, here, you want. The bodies and the prophecy.”
“Which you stole!” Aerin shouted.
“All is fair in matters of war,” Brightborn said. “But there is no need for a war if we can set aside our differences.”
“You mean our difference of opinion about whether you should rule the world?” I asked.
Brightborn smiled, flashing his white teeth. “Precisely.”
“What about our prophecy?” Layla asked. “I presume you’ve seen it already.”
Brightborn nodded. “It only confirms what I’ve been trying to tell you, daughter. You, not this human, are the chosen one. Think of how much good we could do in this world if you’d only accept this fact.”
“Except it’s not the truth!” Layla protested, her hands on her hips.
“Truth?” Brightborn asked. “What is truth?”
I snorted. I doubted that the elven king realized he was quoting Pontius Pilate. “The truth will reveal itself, Brightborn. You can’t change what the prophet intended.”
“Who says I’m the one changing the truth?” Brightborn asked. “You’re the pretender, Mister Cruciger.”
“We’ll see about that,” I said.
I was going to say more about the prophecy when I noticed a slight rumble beneath my feet. Just a tremor. This wasn’t the one that would destroy the city. Something bigger was coming. Even the trees shook a little. I widened my stance, steadying myself on my feet.
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be, human?” Brightborn asked. “We could stay here and debate our interpretations of my prophecy, or you could do what I’ve asked you to do and be on your way to save your precious city.”
“Dammit, Brightborn!” I shouted.
The king laughed. “It’s your choice, Cruciger. You could be out of here in minutes. I won’t even try to stop you. All I need you and Aerin to do is open the prophecy and read it aloud.”
“I don’t think you were able to open our prophecy,” Layla said. “If you could, you wouldn’t need Caspar here. You have Aerin. You could just use your own sorcerers to cast the five elements onto the seal.”
“Think what you will, daughter. Would I lie to you?”
“Do you really want me to answer that question?” Layla asked. “The reason you can’t do it is because you don’t have a proper high priest.”
“Of course we do,” Brightborn said.
“You don’t!” Layla said. “Not a proper one. We’ve learned from the giants that a high priest must pass something along to the next on his deathbed. Your high priest, Echor, is still on New Albion.”
Brightborn laughed. “As always, I’m a step ahead of you, daughter.”
Brightborn gestured to his legions. One of the legionnaires stepped forward with another elf, with Echor, his hands tied and bound and a gag in his mouth.
“You’re diabolical!” Layla shouted. “He wanted to die alone on New Albion!”
Brightborn shrugged. “Like you said, he had something he needed to pass along to the next high priest at his death. Sadly, he never did this for his successor when we were still on New Albion. I think it’s high time we make it happen. Tell me, Layla, how would you like to be the chosen one and our next high priest?”
Chapter Forty-Two
Aerin stepped forward. “You already agreed if I opened this prophecy for you, you’d let me leave with the bodies.”
“I will,” Brightborn said. “You and your husband may leave. But my daughter will remain with me and assume the gifts at Echor’s passing.”
Layla shook her head. “You’re going to kill him just so he can pass his office to me?”
Brightborn shook his head. “He need n
ot be dead to do it. He only needs to be near his death, and based on his condition, he won’t last long. Like I said, daughter, there is no need for bloodshed today.”
“But what if I refuse?” Layla asked.
“I would like for you to open the prophecy,” Brightborn said, “and only if I keep you here can I be sure that Mister Cruciger will return to help us open it. If he doesn’t, well, I’d hate to put my own daughter on trial for her treasons.”
I shook my head. “How many times are you going to threaten your daughter to force us to do what you want?”
Brightborn shrugged. “As many times as it takes to get what I want.”
“But couldn’t your sorcerers use the elements to do it without Caspar?” Layla asked.
“I’d like for the pretender to be here when the prophecy reveals that you are, in fact, the chosen one, daughter.”
“And then what?” Layla asked.
“You’re going to arrest me,” I said. “Hold me as a prisoner.”
“I promise we’ll treat you well. Better than the human prisons would have. You’re welcome, by the way, for my assistance in securing your pardon.”
I shook my head. “Just another one of your manipulations.”
“Let us hear the drow prophecy,” Brightborn said. “Then, go and stop the earthquake. If you return, I can assure you, Layla will not be tried for her indiscretions. All will be forgiven.”
“One thing at a time, Naayak,” Aerin whispered to me before stepping forward. “Hand me the prophecy, Brightborn. We’ll do what you asked.”
“You realize, father,” Layla said. “You can’t keep me here. I have other powers I could use to escape.”
“As you did before,” Brightborn said. “But remember, I do still have Echor in custody. Do this willingly, and I’ll gladly return him to New Albion so he can live out his last days as he wishes on that forsaken planet. Make any move to flee and evade this responsibility, and, well, I’ll be forced to choose another high priest. When Echor dies, I’ll make sure it’s not as pleasant as he desires.”
Echor grunted through his gag. He didn’t need to speak. I was reasonably certain that he wanted to tell us to forget about it. To refuse to comply. But Layla wouldn’t put him through that. If I knew anything about Layla, she was kind. She wouldn’t allow anyone to suffer for her sake.
“Let's hear the drow prophecy,” Brightborn said as the earth rumbled again beneath our feet. “How many more of these tremors will there be before the full quake is unleashed?”
Aerin nodded, and extending her hands, Brightborn set the scroll in them.
“I’m ready, Naayak,” Aerin said.
I shook my head even as I focused my mind and channeled the elements into the seal, just as I had before with the giants. The colors swirled on the seal. A loud blare like the sound of a trumpet blasted before the seal shattered, and a fiery shower, like fireworks, blasted into the air and rained down over us.
Aerin opened the prophecy. She looked at it, her eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath.
“What does it say?” Brightborn asked.
“It has told me what I must do,” Aerin said.
“Read it out loud, or give it to me that I might do it!” Brightborn demanded.
Aerin handed me the scroll. “Give it to him.”
I cocked my head. “Are you sure?”
“I said, give it to him, Naayak.”
I nodded and approached Brightborn and gave him the scroll.
As he unrolled it, I looked back at Aerin. She’d unsheathed her sword, and with her jar of enchanted dust that she’d used for the drow funeral, she doused her blade.
“Trust me,” Aerin said.
Brightborn looked up from reading, his eyes wide in horror. “No, don’t do it!”
Aerin plunged her own blade into her gut. I ran over to her and caught her as she fell to her knees.
“But the binding! If you die, Aerin…”
Aerin shook her head as she started coughing up blood. “We never consummated our marriage, Caspar. You need to take the blade once I die and swing it at them.”
“Aerin, don’t…please! I can heal you.”
“Don’t,” Aerin said, coughing again. “This is what the prophecy demands.”
I couldn’t allow it. Maybe our marriage wasn’t consummated. But we were bound in some sense. I needed her.
I tried to muster some magic. I know she said not to, but I couldn’t lose her. I just couldn’t.
But I was too late. Aerin’s head fell as she took her last breath.
“Don’t even think about it!” Brightborn screamed.
I grabbed the hilt of Aerin’s blade and pulled it, soaked in her blood, from her body. “It’s what the prophecy demands.”
I swung the blade through the air. A blast of golden aether shot from the blade striking Brightborn and all the legion.
When it hit them, green orbs shot out of the back of their necks.
The unseelie fairies.
“Seize the pretender!” Brightborn commanded.
The legionnaires were all clutching at their necks. The fairies didn’t leave them willingly, so they didn’t heal them on their way out.
Develin, the king of the unseelie court of fairies, released a shriek—what I imagined was supposed to be a battle cry, and the fairies all gathered on his position and charged after me.
I gathered the power of air. Maybe I could blow them away. They weren’t large.
Just as I was about to release it, more green orbs flew over my head. I recognized one of them.
It was Trixie.
They collided with the unseelie fairies, intercepting them before they could grab me. Or do whatever it was they were planning to do to hurt me.
“Get him!” Layla shouted. “Echor!”
I nodded. I ran over to Echor, who, while bound, had been released since the legionnaires were overwhelmed by pain, still clinging to their necks.
I quickly formed a portal over him and sent him back to the junkyard ranch.
“Now go!” Layla said. “Stop the earthquake!”
“Not yet!” I said. “The bodies! We can’t leave them here!”
“Hurry!”
I ran over to the pile of drow bodies and quickly formed a large fairy portal, then sent them back to the ranch. Aerin wasn’t in her body, but it didn’t feel right leaving her corpse there, either. So, I transported her back, too.
“Now go, Caspar!”
“But you…”
“I’ll get myself out of here,” Layla said. “You need to go, now!”
I nodded and, forming another fairy portal, transported myself to the stone circle. I wasn’t exactly sure where the epicenter of the quake was, but I knew that the faultline ran near there.
The three Furies were standing there as if waiting for me.
“Where’s the earthquake centered?” I asked.
“You seek to stop it?” the Furies asked. “We cannot allow it. Not until our seelie court has exacted justice.”
“Until what?” I asked.
“The fairies from the other world have pledged themselves to our service. We dispatched them to bind and arrest the unseelie.”
“They’re doing it now!” I said. “Come on. People are going to die!”
“We cannot permit it until we know they’ve succeeded,” the Furies responded in unison.
The earth shook again beneath my feet. Stronger than before. One of the five stones surrounding us cracked. “If these stones are destroyed, what will happen to you?”
“We’ll simply return to our realm,” the Furies replied. “It is of no concern to us.”
“Tisiphone,” I said. “You stand to thwart murder, do you not? If your fury is still unleashed, if the earthquake still happens, people will die.”
“It will remain the fault of the unseelie, who will soon be brought to justice.”
“You can’t secure justice for the dead,” I said. “Punishing a murderer doesn’t bring th
e dead back to life. You have to allow me to save them.”
The three Furies exchanged glances. “We’ve consulted amongst ourselves. You may stop the earthquake. But if the seelie do not succeed, and the unseelie go unpunished, we will unleash another quake with many times greater magnitude than the first.”
I nodded. “Thank you. Now, where do I have to go? Where’s the epicenter of this thing?”
“To the east of here,” Tisiphone said. “Approximately three of your miles.”
I turned around. I always sucked with my cardinal directions. “Where the hell is east?”
The three Furies pointed, at the same time, in one direction.
I nodded and, mustering the power of air and aether, took off into the skies and flew in that direction. I didn’t know how I’d figure out exactly how far three miles was, but I hoped I’d see some visual evidence of the quake.
I’d never experienced much in the way of earthquakes. We’d had a small one several years back, but nothing that caused any real destruction. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. I hoped I’d recognize it when I saw it.
It was hard to see in the dark, but the moon was up and gave me enough light that I could at least make out the tops of the trees.
I saw trees moving—two rows of them in opposite directions.
That had to be it.
I dove down to the spot, right in the middle of what I assumed was the New Madrid fault line.
I thrust my fists into the ground and unleashed every bit of earth magic I had into it. My body shook so much pressed against the earth that I thought my head was going to rattle right off of my shoulders.
The magic flowed out of me with a force that was almost as jarring as the earthquake itself.
It took everything I had. All my strength. All my focus. All my energy.
My vision blurred.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Forty-Three
Naayak…
Where in the world was I? Everything was dark—pitch black. I reached around my body and felt…sheets? How in the world did I get in bed? The last time I blacked out and didn’t know how I’d gotten back in bed… Well, that was back when I was still drinking. Happened all the time.
Junkyard Dogma (The Elven Prophecy Book 4) Page 23