by Plum Pascal
Ghostly purple light opens a portal. Revenant shivers and shakes his head.
“What is it?” I ask.
“If you think it feels unnatural to be here, in The Veil, just imagine how I feel being in the realms,” he replies.
“What are you going on about?”
“I’m not alive, Dragan. No matter what the Midnight Queen did to raise me from that grave,I don’t belong in your world any more than you belong in the spirit world.”
I study him for a moment, reading between the lines. “So, you plan to stay here when this is all over?”
“If Pyre permits it, yes.”
FIVE
Morrigan
The Veil
The others believe I am ignorant to the whispers that flutter through the pitiful little cottage nestled away in the forest of The Veil. This world feels like a physical thing more than a place. Power radiates from the very foundation—power that only the Guardian of The Veil can wield, sadly. I hear Cambion and that annoying little pest named Fluff talking somewhere inside.
I use a small amount of my power to project my soul into the realms, walking through the thin barrier between life and death until I find Variant. My ignorant lackey seems to be living quite comfortably as a fae woman bounces in his lap. I lean against the marble wall of his bedchamber and watch as his cock disappears into that lithe little body over and over again, feeling a stab of jealousy each time.
Variant’s beauty is not secret. And I want it for myself.
I allow what little power I still have remaining to reach Variant in my mind’s eye, creating a vision of myself to appear before him.
I walk beside the bed as he reaches his climax. The moment he finishes spilling his seed, he snarls for the fae woman to leave him.
“What are you doing here, Morrigan?” he demands. The arrogance of Variant never fails to amuse me.
“I bring word from the others.”
“And?”
“And I’ve awakened in a place known as The Veil.”
“Never heard of it,” he says with a frown. “The Lexicon speaks of no such place.”
“No. It does not. Neither do any books of arcane magic. It’s a world beyond our own, apparently. I hear the others talking, though. They say the necromancer who helped them free me is the guardian of this strange world, that there’s power here beyond our imagination.”
I watch the muscles of Variant’s body flex as he stands up from the bed. He leans over his bedside table with unabashed nudity. “Power beyond our imagination is something I’m interested in.”
“As am I, my King.” I lick my lips as he strikes a sulfur match to light the end of his hand-rolled blackroot. Fae and elves use the magic ingredient to give themselves a sense of calm, allowing them to think clearly in times of war when strategy outweighs might.
“What do you suggest?” I ask.
“We need this power for ourselves, obviously.”
“First we must find a way for you to cross over into this world,” I offer. “When they infiltrated the palace, Baron had with him a strange orb he called the Oluri. It opened a portal and the portal led here.”
“Baron,” Variant says as he shakes his head. “That is a name I didn’t imagine I would ever hear again.”
His surprise is to be expected as I only just informed Variant that Baron lives again. That was a long and tedious conversation in which I had to explain my reasons for breathing new life into the vampire once again. Especially after it was I who ordered Variant to murder Baron in the first place.
“I still am not fully convinced that your reasons for resurrecting the vampire were good ones,” he says as he faces me.
“The prophecy required it, my liege,” I answer quickly. I do not appreciate being questioned but I must go along with it. For now. “I only do as the prophecy requests.”
“And this Oluri?” he continues, as he looks up at me. “Do you think there could be more like it?”
I shake my head. “The way Baron protected the Oluri, leads me to believe it is very rare. We’ll need to find another way. Once we do, you can bring your army through the rift and take the power for yourself. Become the Guardian of The Veil, even.”
This seems like the perfect way for me to absorb the power of this realm. Perhaps it would be enough life energy for me to free my own powers which were stolen from me so long ago.
“I like the sound of that—Variant, King of All Worlds.”
My hips sway as I saunter over to my little pet. He tilts his head toward me, subconsciously seeking my approval even as he believes that I serve him. Though I may not be a succubus, I still know how to tease and beguile a man. “With that power, we can finally fulfill our destinies. The prophecy spoke of a great power rising to rule over all. That power must be you, my King.”
“We need to plan ahead, Morrigan. No more recklessness.”
“You forget who I am,” I hiss.
“You mean who you were.” Variant pins me with a devastating glare, but I do not tremble in fear like all the rest. “My memory works fine, Morrigan. And I have not forgotten the fact that Abedon stole your power and locked it inside the Eclyp. Which, might I remind you, neither of us can reach.”
Abedon.
Just his name causes me unrest. He was once my lover. Now he’s my fiercest enemy. Yes, Variant believes I slit Abedon’s throat, but the truth is far more complicated. Abedon is an immortal being, so while it is true that I slit his throat, Abedon did not die. And Variant knows this. “Abedon’s power is ineffable, but it is not infinite.”
“I have figured it out, Morrigan,” Variant says with a shrug.
“And what have you figured out?”
He shrugs. “You need me to stay in power while you use the others to do your bidding. Without them, you can’t even hope to think you can beat Abedon.” Variant takes a long drag on his blackroot. He releases the smoke from his mouth and inhales it through his nose. “Now, on your knees. I want you to beg me for forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness?”
“Yes. It will be difficult for me to look past this little overstep in your authority.”
The words cause bile to crawl up my throat and burn the back of my tongue. I lean in to kiss Variant, but my corporeal form snaps back into my body like an elastic band. Thankfully, it saves me from having to grovel at the false king’s feet. But I cannot deny that I allowed his words to provoke me. It is true. I cannot beat Abedon on my own. The Eclyp must be located.
I grip the linens beneath me and exhale a pained breath. I can still recall with absolute vivid detail the day my power was ripped from my body and trapped within the enchanted mirror. Before I slit Abedon’s throat and he disappeared, he vowed to never allow me to rise to power again. It is him who I fear. No one else knows Abedon the way I do. I knew him before the darkness came, and I knew him after.
The gods once trembled in his presence, for he was the force that brought upon the singularity. Never before has there been a being so powerful he defied prophecies and laughed in the faces of the creators. Nothing in the Lexicon speaks of a power like Abedon’s, but neither does it speak of Pyre and his world. I must learn more.
If Pyre is the key to immense power and Eilish is... well, she is everything, then I will finally be able to unleash my full potential, to rise as the ultimate power the legends speak of. A smile curls my lips as I drift into a trance-like sleep.
###
Flumph
The Veil
I watch the Queen Mother Heifer or whatever the fucks her name is as she catch up on her beauty sleep. It remind me o’ the times when Pretty was asleep an’ my companions were actin’ all creepy lookin’ at her an’ stuff. ‘Specially Cambion. I like him less and less the more he get us into trouble. The whole point o’ him steppin’ up as our leader was ‘cause he say he’s better than Shadow King, but I ain’t seen it.
The Mother Heifer interrupt my thoughts as she starts talkin’ in her sleep again. I lean my ears rea
l close-like an’ try to hear what she sayin’.
“Ineffable... power…”
While I been good-lookin’ my entire life, I ain’t exactly a genius. I don’t know what the fuck “ineffable” mean, but I know “power.” An’ anyone dreamin’ about power so much that it come out their mouth? That can’t be good.
Now she sayin’ somethin’ ‘bout her ex-lover, Abby. No... that ain’t right. Abbydone? Maybe? I thinks that what she sayin’. If that fuckin’ house brownie were here, she be able to understands it, but I can’t.
“Abedon... Eclyp…”
Yep. She speakin’ in tongues now. I can’t hear shit right, but I don’t trust her, no how no way. Not after all I seen. Back in Variant’s palace, she didn’t seem too eager to comes with us when we thought we were rescuin’ her. As I see it, most folks who be imprisoned by a crazy fucker would jump at the oppo-tu-nity ta get they ass free. I know I would. An’ Variant a real scary fucker for someone who ‘spose to be the King o’ Angels, er some shit like that. He ain’t right in the heads, neither.
I heard tell he was fuckin’ Anona before he introduced her to his sword, but I can’t imagine someone like Variant fuckin’ someone as ugly as her. Anona that sorta ugly that make a man dream o’ bein’ celibate.
The door to the bedchamber open and I looks up at the elf. He don’t look too good. ‘Specially with that long-ass wound on him’s belly. “You look like shit,” I say, tryin’ to be polite about it, but he scowl at me anyway.
Dick.
“I still look better than you, fat flying rodent.”
“Keep tellin’ yerself that. I’d steal your girl, if you had one an’ if I weren’t asexual. Speakin’ o’ women, what goin’ on with you an’ the Unseelie woman?”
“Nothing,” he say.
“I thought she was your girlfriend or some shit?”
He shake his head. “No, she was not and is not,” he says, real smug like. Then he sigh real loud. “Regardless what Aima is to me, she and Kolvar need to be rescued.”
“Yep. I ain’t too fond o’ Assface Kolvar, but even I ain’t cruel enough to let him’s soul be burnt clean outta him’s body. That fuckin’ brownie say there ain’t no comin’ back from it. It scary to thinks o’ dyin’ without an afterlife waitin’ on the other side.”
The elf nod him head, real slow-like, an’ scratch his chin while he look at me. “They deserve better than that. My brother and Aima… It’s hard to think he would order her execution.”
“Well, Theren weren’t there exactly... not really.”
“What do you mean, ‘Theren wasn’t there’?” the elf demand, soundin’ real put-out like.
“Well, I ain’t seen him, but them dicks were workin’ on him’s orders. That what I hear when I was there. Unless there be another king I ain’t know ‘bout.”
“So, you didn’t actually see Theren give the order?”
“No. Not less he a woman. Look like most the Unseelie Court be ladies now,” I answer him question. “Just ‘cause Theren weren’t there, don’t mean he don’t know what they was doin’.”
“You don’t know my brother.”
“You don’t know your brother from a dog’s ass! Or else you’da known he was gonna betray you durin’ the war. Didn’t see that comin’ at all! Soze you can’t say you know what he’s gonna do next.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Didn’t say you did.” Why he gettin’ all pissy with me? “All I’m sayin’ is you shouldn’t be lyin’ to yourself when there’re plenty of fuckheads ‘round us willin’ to do it for you. We gots enough enemies, don’t make yerself one.”
“That may actually have been the wisest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
“Stick around, Elfie. I’m a fuckin’ fountain o’ knowledge. Might learn somethin’ hangin’ ‘round a brilliant sprite like me. Might even learn how to get Pretty battin’ them lashes at you again.”
SIX
Eilish
The Mountain Path
Dry, frigid air burns my lungs as we trek through the obsidian stones that lead to the mountain path. Pyre grows weaker with every step, and I struggle to hold both his weight and my own. My boots crush the snow and ash that accumulates across the mucky earth beneath my feet. Clumps of frozen water trickle from the sky, melting in my hair and slithering down the back of my tunic. The path slowly begins to curve around the mountain. It’s so much like the place from my dreams…
“Something troubling you?” Pyre asks with a hoarse cough.
“My memory is returning.”
He gives me a look of surprise. “Anything worth mentioning?”
“I think so.” I stare up at the dark sky above us and sigh. “The reason I asked about the incubus is because I’ve been having these dreams... memories maybe?”
“Like what?”
“Like a mountain similar to this one,” I say as I look up at the mountain in question, before I glance back at Pyre. “And a hovel beside a frozen pond. Inside the shack, it’s warm. I remember having a mother and a sister, but nothing more about them. My mother asked me if I’d gone to the city again and she seemed nervous about it,” I continued.
“Is that the only dream that visits you?”
I shake my head. “No. I’ve received what I thought were visions but now I wonder if they were really memories that visited me as dreams.”
“Could be.”
I nod as I look up at him and admire his strong jaw and his Roman nose. “I believe I was there when Baron, Cambion, Dragan, and Variant had their coronations. I can see it as clearly now as if it were yesterday. At first I just thought I was channeling a vision of the past, but now I believe it was my vision of the past.”
“Tell me of the other visions you’ve seen?”
I nod. “I had a vision when Cambion touched me. And in the vision, we were…” My cheeks flush.
Pyre laughs gruffly. “I take it he remembered that bit as well?”
“No. He insisted it never happened, so I figure it was just a vision of the future. But, it felt so… real. It felt like something that had already happened. Something I… knew well.”
“And what are your feelings towards Cambion?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you lust for him?”
I feel my cheeks flush even further. I envy Pyre his ability to say whatever is on his mind. And without apology. “I wouldn’t deny him the pleasures of the flesh, if given the opportunity.”
“Then you do desire him?”
I nod, figuring it’s pointless to lie. “I can’t seem to shake these yearnings I have for him. But, they feel different to the ones I have with Dragan or Baron.”
“How so?”
I cock my head to the side as I consider it. “It’s like I need to satisfy him, to service him rather than just my hunger.”
“And what, if I may ask, did you feel for Variant?”
“Variant?”
“I know what happened in his bedchamber when he took advantage of you using compulsion, Eilish. And I also know part of you enjoyed what happened. But I need to understand what you felt when you were with him.” Pyre presses himself against the side of the mountain and creeps along the edge. I step into his footprints, not wanting to take a tumble over the cliff.
“I guess there’s no point in lying to you,” I answer with a little laugh. “Even if the subject isn’t exactly an easy one for me.”
“There’s rarely ever a point to lying to anyone,” he says with a smirk. “I already know you feel a certain way about Baron, because his affection comes without judgment. It’ll take a while to see his softer side, but don’t give up on my surly friend just yet. As for Dragan, he needs to come to terms with his history with succubae and angels and realize you are not one or the other, but both.”
“And Cambion?”
He shrugs. “You wish to impress him, to show him you’re different and earn his affection. You crave his praise and his sweet words, wh
ich is why you feel the urge to be obedient to him. Now, how does Variant make you feel?”
Well, I do want Cambion to be kind to me, to show me praise. Maybe, because he’s usually showing me just the opposite? Regardless, I need Cambion’s acceptance as much as I need to feed.
“I lust for Variant, I can’t deny that,” I reply as I glance down at my hands and feel shame flooding my entire body. “I want him to burn for what he’s done, but I also want to understand why he did the things he did. Why would someone so loved and respected turn against everything he’d worked hard to accomplish? Why would he kill Baron, and banish Dragan and Cambion?”
A strange tension comes over Pyre as I talk. Very subtle and easy to miss if one were not accustomed to observing him, but I’ve seen him long enough to know that something about my words bothers him. “Careful. There are restless spirits that dwell in the mountain. They’ll try to possess you if we are not quick.”
When we reach the other side of the mountain, the spire is within sight.
###
Cambion
The Veil
I walk through the forest with my head low and my mind soaring. There’s so much I seek to understand before the others return. My brother is no pawn on the board—he’s a king. And a cunning one, at that. Whatever deal he has in place with Variant is flimsy at best, if what Aima says is true.
Aima.
That’s a name I never thought I would hear again, but alas... the past seems eager to taunt me.
I know she will always think of me as a friend, her favorite playmate in our youth, but I loved her—long ago. And part of her loved me in return. We shared our first kiss, and I always thought of myself as her protector. In the past, she was sweet and fragile, innocent and beguiling. I loved her before I ever understood what love was.
But her love for me wasn’t strong enough to blind her to the affections of my brother. And Theren loved Aima. I thought he loved her still. Regardless, I know my brother would never have called for her execution. No matter what the rest of the realms choose to believe, my brother has honor.