Boris turned to say something to him and when Tom moved a little slowly, Boris grabbed him and shoved him to the ground.
Selina sneered and then kicked him until he moved.
Mor stared in horror as her brother stumbled out of the room.
This time, when the dark surrounded her, Mor focused on the door to the Demon Realm and the missing Fae. It finally lifted to show a Fae Circle. But not just any circle. It was the one right outside this house. "Fuck."
"What makes you say that?"
Mor jumped, eyes wide as a woman stepped out of the trees. She was dressed in battle leathers and had a sword strapped to her side. Her long, black, hair swung past her knees. Her skin was glowing softly as if she was lit from within. "Who are you?"
"Let's just say I'm a guiding force." The woman winked at her as she swept her long hair out of her way before she sat on a - chair?
"What the fuck is happening?"
"You know, fuck is one of my favorite words. Noun, verb, or adjective." She smiled serenely. "As to what is happening, you are wearing my Seeing Stone and it has accepted you. Therefore, you are Seeing." The woman held her hands out.
"Did you send those visions?"
"I didn't send them, merely opened your mind to them."
"What were those creatures? And why am I here?"
"We'll start in order. Those creatures were your children - if Boris wins and takes you for his use. He will warp your power with his to make those things and use them to create the destruction you saw. As to why you are here..." The woman raised an eyebrow. "You did ask to See the entrance to the Demon Realm, did you not?
"Fuck." Mor felt her knees go weak and couldn't stop herself from sitting down. When her ass hit a cushion instead of the ground, she looked around, confused. "How - never mind. How is that circle the entrance? I've used it myself several times and it never even flickered to where it wasn't supposed to go!"
"You weren't wearing the Seeing Stone and pushing yourself toward the Demon Realm, now, were you?" She stood, shaking her head. "Fae. Your kind has cloudy sight."
"If we're being fair, I didn't even know I was a Fae until a few weeks ago. And I don't have anyone to really teach me how to use the Seeing Stone."
She tapped a finger on her chin. "All fair points. Well, perhaps your vision will be stronger than I think it will be. To get to the Demon Realm you must get into the Faery Circle and then visualize going there. Once there, follow the Seeing Stone to the missing Fae and Shifters. Now! It's time for you to head back. You have much to discuss with your mates and Morgana."
"How do you kn - "
"We do not have time for that discussion, Mor. But I will send you off with a little information. First, you are on the right track. Finding the missing Fae and others is crucial. Secondly, do not judge the Demon Realm by human standards. It is not what you think it is."
"Wait, I - "
"Child. You will always have more questions." She walked over to Mor and put a hand on her head. "Time to go. Remember what I said." She took two fingers and placed them in the middle of Mor's forehead, right where the Seeing Stone sat and pushed her back.
Mor gasped, eyes flying open. "Holy fuck. How long was I out?" She blinked, trying to clear her head. Everyone was staring at her.
"Mor...you put on the circlet, gasped, and then asked how long you were out." Morgana looked like Mor was crazy. "I really need you to focus this time. Focus on - "
"Morgana, stop. I had a vision. Well, several visions. The first and second were of the Human and Fae Realms. They were...destroyed. And there were these creatures that had enslaved the survivors." Mor felt sick at the memory. "The next one was of Boris, Selina, and Tom. Boris and Selina were beating Tom when he didn't move fast enough for them. The last one, though, was so strange. There was a woman who said she was a “guiding force” whatever that means. But - “
“What did she look like?” Morgana leaned forward, her face intense as she stared at Mor.
“Uh, tall, long black hair, glowing skin. Magically made chairs appear. That’s not what she looks like, but it was cool.”
“What was she wearing, my rose?” Arthur’s eyes were wide now.
“Leather armor and a sword, of all the weird things to be wearing.”
“Oh fuck.” Morgana and Arthur were staring at each other, shock on their faces.
“What are we missing?” Atreyu asked.
“Our legends tell us that the Seeing Stone was given to one of our ancestors by the Morrigan.”
“Like, the Celtic goddess of war? That Morrigan?”
“Yes.” Arthur turned to stare at Mor, awe on his face. “It is said that she only comes in times of great need and to those who have her blessing.”
“Which would make sense if she gave the Seeing Stone and it doesn’t work for everyone…” Morgana still looked shocked. “I didn’t think any of that was real.”
“Aren’t you like the head of the religion or something?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her.
“Well, yes, but there was never any proof any of it being real, and it had more to do with formality than anything.”
“So Mor was visited by one of your deities to tell her how to do...what exactly?” Max looked back at Mor.
“She told me how to use the Seeing Stone to get to the Demon Realm. And she told me we are on the right track, wanting to rescue the missing Fae.”
“Soooo….how do you use the Seeing Stone?” Atreyu asked.
Nodding, Ben added, “The sooner we rescue the missing Fae the sooner we can end this.”
“Apparently I just go to a Faery Circle, put on the Seeing Stone and visualize going to the Demon Realm. She told me to follow the Seeing Stone once we got there to find the missing Fae and Shifters.” Mor shrugged, then frowned. “She also told me that I should not judge the Demon Realm based on my human knowledge.
“No. That cannot be accurate. I think you just hallucinated. The Seeing Stone cannot be used that way.” Morgana said.
“You think I hallucinated all of that in the space of five seconds? Because you said that I put it on, gasped, and then asked how long I’d been out.” Mor glared at Morgana.
“It doesn’t make sense.” Morgana was shaking her head. “There is no way the Morrigan came to you. There is no way the Seeing Stone could just be used to randomly take us to another realm. It’s too simple.” She got up and started pacing. “I mean, if the Seeing Stone had these powers then we would have known about it.”
“Not necessarily, sister. I’d imagine this is exactly the kind of power that they wouldn’t want everyone to know about. And before, it was directly passed down. There hadn’t been a break in the worthy.”
“Fine, say that Mor really did see the Morrigan. How do we know she’s on our side? We have no idea what her motive could possibly be.”
“Do we have any better ideas, Morgana?” Mor stood up. “I mean, really, any at all? We tried searching by magic, nothing. We know we won’t be able to search on foot. We tried the Seeing Stone - your idea - and we found a way. So. Tell me why we shouldn’t try this.”
Sighing, Morgana finally nodded. “Alright. We are going to have to really look into that - “ she pointed at the circlet still resting on Mor’s head “- after all of this is finished.”
“I can agree to that. I don’t particularly like something that potentially powerful just hanging out on my mate’s head,” Ben growled. “Now, who do we want to take with us when we go? Obviously, we all have to go. Mor is the only one who can get us there and back. The question is, how many people do we really want to take with us?”
“We don’t want to take too many. That could be considered an act of war.” Arthur looked thoughtful.
“We’re already at war with them, so who cares what they think?” Morgana snapped.
“Why do you think that?” Mor looked at her, confused at this sudden change in Morgana. She was normally so open, but the appearance of the Morrigan had really thrown her out of w
hack.
“Boris has spent centuries attacking my people and now is attacking yours.” She started pacing again. “He’s killed and enslaved countless others.”
Max paused, looking thoughtfully at Morgana before saying, “Today is the Summer Solstice, the day your mate was killed. Morgana, I know you lost your mate because of Boris, but that doesn’t make everyone in the Demon Realm evil. We don’t know what they’re really like.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Morgana said through clenched teeth.
“I know more than you think. Just because most of my family are sadistic pricks that doesn’t mean I am. You don’t judge me based off of my family, do you?” Max gave her a pointed look.
“I don’t know your family,” Morgana said, face growing troubled.
“Just like you don’t know them.”
Mor smiled softly at Max. He was so good at getting to the heart of a matter. “I know this will be very hard for you, Morgana. Maybe you shouldn’t go.”
“Oh no, I should definitely go. I’m by far the strongest magic user of all of you." She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, obviously struggling with herself. "Fine. I will keep myself in check when we go."
"Thank you, Morgana. I can't imagine how hard this will be for you." Mor went over to her and gave her a hug before turning to the others. "It's been a long day. I'm guessing we will want to go tomorrow, if possible? Who else should we bring?"
"I think we should ask Tristan to come with us." Ben looked over at Arthur.
"I think he should stay to run the army while we're gone." Arthur frowned.
Ben was shaking his head. "We need his expertise. Sam and Lancelot can run it while we're gone."
"I'd feel safer with another Dragon along with us, honestly." Sebastian said. "You all are quite big, and there is the whole breathing fire thing."
"Alright, it's settled then. Max, please notify Trisha that we will need food and drink for eight. Wait, how will we carry all of that?"
"Magic, of course," Atreyu waggled his eyebrows at Mor.
Giggling, Mor continued, "Arthur and Ben, go inform Tristan, Lancelot, Sam, and whoever else you pick of what's happening tomorrow. Sebastian and Atreyu, please inform your families that we will be going to find the missing Fae." She paused and then said, "I don't know that everyone needs to know where we are going, so use your best judgment. Otherwise, let's get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day."
Chapter 16
Ben
The next morning found Ben and Arthur awake before everyone else. Again. "One day, it'll be nice to sleep in. Or at least wake up with everyone else."
Arthur took a sip of coffee before replying, "Wishful thinking, my friend. It's the curse of being in charge of the military."
"Yeah, I know." He sighed and took a long drink of coffee. "At least we get the fresh coffee."
"What do you think we'll find over there?" Arthur looked at him out of the side of his eye as they checked the packs.
"I don't really know. The Morrigan said not to judge. In my head, all I see is black rock and lava, but I know that is from the human stories."
"That's mostly the Christians. I liked the Human Realm better before them. Their Jesus was nice, but the ones in charge now are a bunch of assholes."
Laughing, Ben nodded. "I met a lot of Christians that weren't bad, but you are right about most of the ones with power. They are really vivid in their imagery of demons and evil." He kept checking the packs, making sure there wasn't anything missing and that the Brownie spells were solid. "I always thought that strange, since there are so many evil people who are pretty."
"That's pretty fucking true. I think these are good to go."
"Agreed. Let's go make sure the others are getting up and ready. We need to get moving."
"Do you think Mor will like the present we left her?"
"Not sure, but she definitely needs to be wearing some sort of armor. And the leather armor will be the least uncomfortable for her."
They got up to the room and Ben went in. Thankfully, the others were up and mostly dressed. Mor was struggling to get into the leather cuirass. Walking over, Ben helped her finish lacing up and getting her arm guards on. She looked hot as fuck. He cleared his throat, adjusted himself, and tried to think of anything but getting her back out of that leather.
"What do you think of the armor?"
"I like it, but I'm not sure why I'm wearing it?"
"Because we're going into unknown territory, possibly hostile territory, love."
"We don't know they're hostile."
"We don't know they aren't." Morgana snapped from the door. "And the only one of their kind that we know is as hostile as you can get."
"Good morning, Morgana. Did you have coffee yet?" Arthur's voice was dripping sweetness.
"I'm heading down for breakfast. I'll see you there." She turned on her heel and left.
Ben frowned. "Are we really sure she's going to be safe to go? We can't risk her starting something. If the others in the Demon Realm are as powerful as Boris is..."
"She'll keep it together. Morgana knows what's at stake," Mor said confidently. "Come on, I'm hungry too. And coffee. Need coffee. I assume coffee was packed?"
Ben laughed as he walked down with Mor and the others to breakfast. She definitely was a coffee addict. "Yes, love, I wouldn't dream of depriving you of coffee."
Breakfast was quick, and as soon as they were done, Ben handed out the packs. They were all the same size, and light, but he had put the tent parts in specific packs so he wanted to make sure he remembered where they were. Without any fanfare, the eight of them left the house and made their way to the circle.
Once there, Ben watched as Mor took out the circlet and set it on her head."I think you all should get in before me. Maybe hold hands or touch each other's arms or something? I'll take Ben's hand as I step in, and we'll all be connected. I just don't want to accidentally only take some of us - or something."
"Sounds good, beautiful." Atreyu stepped into the circle. Ben was so grateful to have him back. He brought balance to them with his easy going nature.
When everyone was squeezed inside the circle, Ben reached out a hand to Mor and pulled her in. She closed her eyes and the Seeing Stone started to glow. The glow grew brighter and brighter until Ben had to close his eyes. They felt something pressing in on them until there was a pop. Ben opened his eyes before he could think about it and looked around. They were standing in a forest. That was unexpected. Ben pulled Mor behind and stepped out of the circle.
The forest was silent. That was normal for a forest when animals were startled. However, not even a breeze moved through the trees. Hopefully they were the ones who did the startling. Looking around, and up, Ben gestured everyone forward. He had no idea where to go from here.
Ben looked over to Mor. "Care to point the way, love?"
Mor closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and pointed. "That way."
"Any ideas on how far?" Tristan asked.
"Nope," she shrugged. "It didn't feel far, but I have no idea if I'm using this thing correctly."
"Come on, then. Nothing for it but to march forward." Arthur was grinning.
Ben suppressed a sigh. Arthur loved an "adventure" way too much. Or maybe he had been stagnant for so long that he was reveling in the change. Either way, Ben prayed to the gods that he would settle down. He didn't know how much he could take of this. Adjusting the straps of his pack, Ben settled in to follow the group. His shoulder blades itched as if someone was watching them, but he couldn't see anyone. With Mor in the lead, Ben was feeling extra vigilant. He hated that she wasn't in the middle of the group. She was too vulnerable.
They walked for the next several hours, still not hearing or seeing anything move. Mor occasionally stopped to check their direction. When they finally decided to stop and camp for the night, Ben still couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Which was the main reason Ben called
for them to break for camp when they found a clearing that would give them a nice clear perimeter so they could set a watch.
He set his pack down next to Tristan and Arthur. "I'm pretty sure we're being watched."
Grunting as he started pulling out tent pieces, Tristan said, "I'm pretty sure we are too."
"The question is, when will the watcher come out?" Arthur looked around.
"I'll stop and talk to everyone to make sure they stay alert. And we'll need to set a watch tonight."
"Every night we're here," Tristan snorted.
"Agreed," Ben said before he turned to walk over to each of the others. He kept his voice low as he talked to each of them. They had all felt eyes watching them throughout the day, too. It took them a little longer to set up camp than Ben had expected, and night was falling by the time they had dinner started.
It was completely dark when dinner finished cooking. They had just begun passing out food when a throat cleared just outside the light of their fire.
A deep voice rumbled through the clearing, "Hello, strangers. I'm coming in."
Ben and his brothers were up in a flash, surrounding Mor.
"Calm down. If I'd wanted to attack you I would have without announcing myself," the stranger declared.
Ben stared into the dark where the voice was coming from. A moment later, he saw a creature step into the light. Ben had no idea what to call it. It - he - had to be over seven feet tall with black leather wings extending from his back. His skin was dark with a reddish hue, his hair was a deep red that was almost black. As the man - Demon - stepped closer, Ben could see his eyes were solid black.
"Travelers, what brings you to this Realm?"
Ben growled along with the rest of his brothers as the creature stepped closer. "Who are you?"
The creature paused, hands on his hips. "Really? You come into my land and demand to know who I am? Young one, I suggest you take a moment to think about how you may want to approach me." His eyes lit with flames as he spoke and his wings spread behind him.
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