Of The Faye Box Set

by Mary Duke

  “I believe we have the two of you to thank for it, don’t we?” Itheus questioned.

  Zavery’s shoulders slouched as though he had let him down. “Itheus, I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”

  “Nonsense, my child,” he said reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “But I…” Zavery tried to say.

  “Ayana has chosen this time. What has happened tonight would have happened regardless of the circumstances,” Itheus assured him “Now why don’t we all go inside? This night is just unfolding.”

  In the center of his one-room cabin was a round wooden table large enough for seven chairs to fit around it.

  “Where’s Jethero?” Talin asked.

  “He will be here any moment, I believe,” Itheus said. “But we can start without him, I am sure he won’t mind.”

  Everyone began to pick a seat, leaving me with the chair between Kegan and Zavery, directly across the table from Itheus.

  “Jethero is coming?” I asked, turning to Kegan. “Jethero from Jadea’s camp?”

  “I believe so, I saw him here earlier,” Kegan said, his eyes never leaving Talin, who sat beside Itheus.

  “Sno,” Itheus said, his voice softer than when he stood on stage. “How much do you know of the prophecy which foretells Zavery and your future?”

  “After what I’ve heard tonight, I’m not sure what I know is the truth,” I said honestly.

  “Well, I would like to hear the stories you were told.”

  “Why would you want to hear my stories, when you know the words of the true prophecy first hand?” I questioned.

  “My child,” Itheus said resting his hands on the table in front of him. “Prophecies are finicky things. They are merely a few words strung together. Life…life is much more than that. What you have done in life, and what you will do is limitless. I only saw one fragment of your life, a single glimpse at a particular moment in time. That moment, that one little glimpse can be interpreted in endless ways, based on the eyes through which it is witnessed.”

  That makes sense, I thought. “My mother and father didn’t speak of the prophecy actually,” I said. “In fact, I didn’t learn that there was one until after they were taken from me. Now, that being said, I will also say I knew of a prophecy, one that stated two children would be born with the same marks as Ayana. One of them would destroy everything that our kind believed in, and the other would shine a new light, giving us hope for the future. I remember hiding beneath my family’s floor with my mother, when the King, Zavery’s father,” I said fighting the urge to look at him, “came to our home to warn my father that the Queen was going to put a price on my head.” I paused for a moment, as I remembered my mother’s expression and every word she had said to me. “I remember asking my mother that night if what he said was true. If I was truly filled with dark magic…if I would end our world.

  “My mother never hesitated, though tears welled in her eyes. ‘Sno,’ she said ‘dark magic is not born into this world. The path that leads to dark magic is a chosen path. If you do not choose to wander down that path, then your magic will remain pure.’

  “Being the difficult child I was, always full of questions, I remember asking her, ‘How do I avoid something when I don’t know what it is?’

  “That was when my father walked away from the window, where he had stood watching his friend walk down the path from our home, and joined my mother and I in front of the fire. ‘That is a good question, Sno,’ he said to me. ‘Ignorance leads only the lazy, as your grandfather would say. When you’re dealing with magic, both dark and light, knowledge is the key. The more you know, the easier your choices will become, and the better those choices will be.’”

  Jethero slowly opened the door, his large frame blocking the view of the outside.

  “And that was that,” I said as a chill ran down my spine. Reliving these moments were not one of my favorite things to do, and I have done so more times in the last two days than I had my whole life. “From that moment on, every minute of my life was spent learning about magic and the histories of our people and those around us. Anytime I would ask about what the prophecy said, or what they thought of it, they reminded me of that conversation, and that the only person that had any say in what my future held was me.” I shrugged my shoulders and looked around at all the faces in the room. “As I have said, my story is a simple one.”

  “Simple but wise,” Jethero said. “Your father was an excellent scholar, a man wise beyond his years, and from what I’ve seen and the stories that have been told, he did a fine job in teaching you.”

  I nodded, but before I could ask him how he knew my father, Itheus cleared his throat. “I couldn’t have said it any better, Jethero. Gregor will always be one of my favorite students.”

  “You knew my father?” I questioned, the hairs on my arms standing up.

  “I knew your father as a child, and taught him for many years, just as he taught me later in life,” Itheus said. “Those though, are stories for another time I’m afraid.”

  Zavery broke his silence. “Itheus we don’t have time for all of this. We need to leave, or we’re going to lose our advantage.”

  Itheus raised his hand to silence Zavery. “Our advantage means nothing if we are not prepared for the battle.”

  “I am ready,” Zavery tried to counter.

  “There you go again,” he said, his voice losing the soft tone it had carried.

  Zavery slammed his fists down on the table in frustration. “This is my job. I have trained my whole life for this moment. Our energies are connected, her part in this is finished.”

  “You fool,” Kegan said jumping to his feet beside me.

  Tork’s face wrinkled, as he slowly rose to his feet.

  “What lies have you told this child?” Kegan yelled at his brother, though they only stood three feet from each other.

  “I have told him no lies,” Tork answered calmly. “Nor is he a child.”

  Kegan roared with laughter.

  “I had expected more from the two of you,” Itheus said coldly. “The two of you need to remember what is at stake. You,” he said pointing at Kegan. “You more than anyone should know the consequences of what will happen if this opportunity is lost.”

  Kegan returned to his seat, though the tension still remained in the air.

  “The prophecy I received,” Itheus started, ignoring the tension and bringing the focus back to what really mattered, “was not what it was made out to be. What I foresaw, the prophecy I had shared with the elders at the council was twisted and formed into their basis for proposing war. My message was simple, there will be two Fayen children born with the marks of Ayana. Two children born with the power of the Goddess herself. One of these children will be responsible for the downfall of the Faye, the other child will restore the realm’s faith in who the Faye truly are.” He paused, and though he could not see my or Zavery’s face, it was clear he was studying them in his own way. “At the time of my prophecy, the war wasn’t even an option on the table. The Queen and the Elders knew what cards they held in their hand, and they knew they didn’t have the key needed to convince their people that war was a viable option. It wasn’t until the birth of Zavery that the Queen gained the leverage that she needed.

  “The Queen inherited a kingdom that adored her along with an abundance of races that had pledged their allegiance to what her family had stood for. In her mind, and in their minds, there was no way that her son would be anything but the savior.”

  Zavery muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear him, “I am.”

  I snorted with disgust. “And that makes me the destroyer?”

  “I didn’t say that, did I?” Zavery shot back.

  “Two children,” I repeated sarcastically. “One savior, one destroyer.”

  “Narrow-minded interpretations will get you nowhere,” Itheus said raising his voice. “Over the many, many years I have lived, and the countless times I have re
played those words in my head, it has become obvious that there is more to the prophecy than those simple words.

  “The Queen foresaw that her son was the savior, portraying him in the light. In her mind, they had nothing to lose. War would bring back the power they had slowly lost over the years. If they failed, they had Zavery. Gregor and Lyra wanted a child more than anything. When they were blessed with Sno, they wouldn’t even entertain the thought of their daughter being anything but perfect.

  “Now when you have a well-known Queen who declares her son was born with the marks of Ayana on one side, and a simple family with a child bearing the same marks on the other, which side do you think the masses would side with… The side with power, the side that had the ability to instill fear in anyone who sided against them.

  “Before any of you say a word,” Itheus said holding his hands up in front of him, “please let me finish. Zavery, I have not before said what I am about to. I have saved these thoughts for this moment.

  “The downfall of the Faye has happened. Its cause can be seen in many ways. One of which, though I am sure you would not agree, Zavery, is your birth. Now before another word is said, I will clarify that it isn’t who you are now, but who your mother believed you would be, that caused the downfall. Your mother used your foreseen fate to her advantage and that is what set forth the downfall of our race.”

  Zavery began muttering about Itheus and his insanity. Itheus, however, raised his voice and continued.

  “As you’ve witnessed, Sno, the people have changed their opinions; they see you as the savior, as the light that will lead them out of this darkness.”

  I nodded, the pit in my stomach sank reminding me it was still there. The skin beneath my pendant began to burn. I wrapped the stone that Rowan had given me in my fingers, extinguishing the magic that pulsed through it.

  “I don’t believe in the original prophecy,” Itheus said simply. “I believe it was an in the moment prophecy that enabled what was to come. Since that one prophecy, there have been others similar. Visions of our future, tales of the heroes that would make our future possible…” He paused, extending one of his hands before each of us on the table. “Ayana aside, my heart tells me that it will take both of you to undo what has been done. Everything we need to make this happen is inside my vault in Mehkana.”

  “Yes, inside a vault that is likely bombarded in Demons right now,” Zavery spat sitting up straight in his chair.

  “Do you not have faith in those who have faith in you?” Itheus asked.

  Zavery hesitated before he answered under his breath. “They do not have faith in me, they have faith in what they believe I have the power to do.”

  “And there is a difference?” Itheus questioned.

  “Yes,” I said, knowing exactly how Zavery felt. “They gather around because they’ve been told we have great power… They know who we are defined as, not who we are.”

  “I see,” Itheus said as he pulled his hands back towards himself. “Well, tonight I will ask you to take me at my word when I say that there is a path being cleared as we speak. Those that believe in you, and believe in Ayana, are risking life and limb so that in the dawn's light you will be able to reach the vault.”

  “I should be there, fighting alongside my people, not sitting here like a coward.”

  “You are precisely where you need to be, Zavery. It will take both of you to unlock the vault… If one of you dies before the vault is opened, our chances of saving the few Faye that are left are slim.” Itheus’ voice grew solemn.

  “At dawn, we fly,” Zavery said pushing his chair from the table and standing up.

  “At first light,” Itheus concluded.

  I looked over to Kegan, his eyes remained locked on his brother. “Everything okay?”

  “Fine,” he replied, “I just have something to take care of.”

  I had never heard this tone of resentment come from his mouth, but I was too tired to press the matter. “Alright. I’ll find somewhere to set up; I don’t think we’ll be here long.”

  Kegan nodded and turned to Jethero. “Would you mind escorting Sno back down the mountain? My brother and I have something to discuss,” he said, side-eyeing Tork.

  “Not a problem,” Jethero said, a grin visible from behind his beard.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  As we made our way out the door and began our trek down the mountain, I wrapped my fingers around the pendant, again silencing Rowan as he reached out to me.

  “So you knew my father?” I asked Jethero, pulling his attention from the aura in the sky.

  “I did for a time, back when you were just a little thing. Don’t you remember saving me?”

  “I don’t actually,” I said, surprised that I didn’t. “How did I save you again?”

  “Well, you see, I was young and, to be honest, stupid at the time,” Jethero said rubbing the back of his neck. “I had decided I was leaving the Dark Mountains, leaving behind my family and our legacy of mining. I felt like it was a fate that was given to me upon birth, not one I had chosen and not one I wanted.”

  I laughed under my breath, “There seems to be a lot of this unwanted fate stuff being handed out.”

  “Well,” Jethero said, his tone becoming more serious. “You see, I did feel that way. I felt like I didn’t have a choice, and I rebelled. I had never left the mountains, never been on my own. I was ill prepared, and I found myself lost and being hunted. That is when you found me; just a little girl, I would say you were seven, maybe eight.

  “I had a pack of rogue hellhounds that had been tracking me for days tailing me when I came to a clearing, and there you were standing in the middle. I remember hearing their yelps as they circled in closer, knowing they had won the hunt. Yet there you stood, all four feet of you, unfazed.

  “I ran to you, picked you up in my arms, and you smiled. ‘They can’t get in here,’ you said. ‘I won’t let them, they’re mean.’ I was frantic. I spun on my heels, looking to the edge of the small clearing as the hounds paced just within the tree-line, only their red eyes were visible.” Jethero shook his head as though he could still feel their eyes burning into him “That is when you placed your little hand on my big cheek, and you told me I was safe and that you would protect me,” he laughed. “I just couldn’t believe it. That was when your mother, Lyra I believe, came through the woods, looking for you. I spent the next couple weeks with you and your family, mainly your father. I helped him build a small hut for your animals, and he taught me about the world in which I was so fascinated. During one of our many late night talks he also told me that we are each born with a purpose, each given our own opportunity, though many of us are too blind to see it…” Jethero trailed off as we reached where the paths forked at the bottom of the mountain. “But that is a story for another time; there is far too much to do before dawn.”

  “You can’t just stop,” I said. “What happened, where did you go? Did you return to the Dark Mountains, or did you venture out into the world?”

  “Both” he replied. “With your father's help, I was able to embrace my family legacy and still see all there was to be seen in our realm.”

  “Oh, so you…” I started to ask, but he placed his hand on top of my shoulder.

  “There are many stories that have yet to be told. We will meet again in time, but as of now we need to prepare, and you need to sleep.”

  Without another word, Jethero headed across the path that led back to the fire, leaving me on my own. I turned down the path that led to the sea and ventured just off the path, in hopes that the sound of the crashing waves would help me sleep.

  My pendant yet again grew warm, and I smiled and thought, you never give up do you? I pulled the small pack that contained the tent from my bag and sat it on the ground. I took a few steps back as it began to unfold.

  Walking in, it looked just as I had left it. “Home,” I mumbled out loud, letting out a deep breath.

  The heat from the pendant began to intensify
with every step I took closer to the mirror.

  “Relax Rowan,” I said, knowing he could hear me from the other side. “I have so much to tell you, just give me a…” I started to say before I looked into the mirror.

  Rowan’s face was splattered with blood, his expression stone.

  “What’s going on?” I said, scanning what I could see of the room he was in.

  His eyes remained focused on something I couldn’t see.

  “ROWAN!” I yelled.

  “It’s Jadea, Sno. She’s lost it.”

  “Lost what? Who’s there? Whose blood is that?”

  “Her mind, she’s lost her mind. An aura appeared in the sky, and she began slaughtering everyone…anyone she could reach.” His eyes shifted from the mirror to something else.

  “Where are you?” I asked.

  “In a cave, to the East of camp…” he said his eyes remaining focused away from the mirror. “Where are you? I could really use your help right now.”

  My heart sank. I was, at the least, days away from camp. “I’m too far away to make it back,” I whispered.

  “What’s going on, Sno?” He asked, his focus returning to the mirror he held in his hand.

  “Zavery isn’t dead; he’s still alive,” I said.

  “The Prince?”

  “Yes, Zavery the Prince. He was here on the island when we got here.”

  “Island, what island, how did you get to an island?”

  “It’s called the Island of the Dragons,” I began to explain.

  “Did you cause the aura?” He asked, again distracted by something in the distance, “She believes you had something to do with it.”

  “Kind of,” I said. “Zavery and I were on the beach, and I…”

  Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “What were you doing on the beach with him?”

  “I had gone there to get away from everyone, I just needed to breathe… I didn’t expect to see him standing there.”

  “What, did he do follow you?”