by JD Cole
“And I have told you the laws that are relevant to your current situation. Now think!”
Devon didn’t know why Zaiyensa seemed so upset all of a sudden, but Kelli needed his help. He began pacing, working out one idea after another.
“Okay, if we cannot lift the curse on Kelli —I still say that’s stupid, by the way— but how about instead, we just wake her up? Her horse, Orion, is running around in the pen without supervision. I need to ask her if she wants Orion put up in the stable, or brought here to the castle. That’s a legit request, right? Has nothing to do with the war.”
“That… is not remotely what I was thinking you’d come up with,” Zaiyensa said, then she grinned mischievously. “But it is still very reminiscent of Krin Ahgl.”
“What you was thinking I was going think?” Devon asked.
“You and your brothers grow heavy accents when you’re stressed, don’t you? Anyway, it doesn’t matter, the idea needs to be yours, not mine.”
“So we can do it, then? Wake her up?”
“Yes.”
“Why you got so mad at me, anyway?” he asked.
“I was not angry,” she rubbed her brow. “When you need kindness, I show you kindness. When you need a firm hand, however, that is what I will give you instead. Gentle support would not have motivated you to find a solution for your dilemma.”
“Why couldn’t you just come up with something, though? I know you have better ideas than me!”
“Because I care about you… lolo,” she smiled, calling him dummy in Hawaiian. “You won’t learn anything with me doing it all for you. Now, would you like to try breaking the queen’s Lifishi’un?”
“She’s waited long enough,” Devon shook his head. “If you don’t mind, I don’t wanna keep her waiting any more.”
“Very well,” Zaiyensa agreed, “I’ll pretend a bunch of sorcerers have broken the spell.” She snapped her fingers, and the Sprite Queen shot up from her pillow, gasping for breath.
“Kelli!” Devon pulled her into a bear hug. Kelli began coughing, and Devon pulled back, still holding her in his arms. “Kelli, you okay?”
“Devon?” her eyes were glazed over and dull, but quickly began clear until they were once again their natural emerald. “Devon!” she threw her arms around him. “He has my dad! You have to help him!”
“I want to,” Devon said. “I gotta be careful how, though.” He sat back, introducing Zaiyensa. “She’s another Dragon, she helped me get Christian back, and she’s been helping me learn all the Dragon stuff I need to know.”
Kelli nodded at Zaiyensa, then turned back to Devon. “Can you help my dad?”
“I dunno,” he said. “But I going do whatever I can, I promise. First, though, I gotta ask about Orion.”
“Orion? What about him? What happened?”
“I just needed to know if you wanted him brought here or not. I went to your house before I came back to the Faery Realm, he’s been in the pen ever since you brought Erica and Kim here.”
“Oh.” Kelli thought for a moment. “I hope he’s alright, he’s not usually left alone this long. I mean, if you’re asking, then yeah, I’d definitely want him here with me! But, I mean, if it’s already been almost a week since then… Kamaka and his crew should be feeding the other animals, but nobody’s handling my dad’s appointments, or—” she stopped at the thought of her dad. “I guess none of that is too important right now.”
Devon began explaining why he, a Dragon, had apparent limitations and couldn’t rescue her dad. Zaiyensa allowed it, as Kelli had never in her life revered Devon as a mythic, omnipotent being, and likely never would. The mystics would also coach her on the etiquette of keeping quiet on any matters of Dragons she became privy to.
If she survived.
“It’s okay, I get it,” Kelli assured Devon. She looked at Zaiyensa. “I know about Kraayek, I’m relieved that you have laws against what he did.”
Zaiyensa nodded as Devon looked at them both. “What is cry-ek?”
Zaiyensa pushed her glasses back higher on her nose. “Kraayek is a Dragon who tried to humiliate a kingdom into giving him what he wanted. He is now chained and helpless within a mortal host, and if that mortal dies before Kraayek is released, he will also perish.” Zaiyensa shook her head in disgust. “He’s spent every day for over twenty-thousand years terrified of his host dying. That is the punishment that awaits an Illeyark. Do you now understand why I’ve been so adamant with you?”
~ ~ ~ ~
Ercianodhon crashed to the floor, his claws almost pulling Tom off the sacrifice table before they ripped free of the human’s chest.
Such power! Ercianodhon was not overly familiar with casting shi’un spells, but it seemed to him that the sprites must have gathered every sorcerer in Windham to break his hold on Kelli’s dream world. He took a moment to regard Tom, and noticed the ghastly wound in his chest was starting to heal. He looked around for Kirama, but the sprite child was nowhere to be seen. “Kirama!” he roared.
Just as the elemental appeared however, Ercianodhon heard one of his necromancers calling to him from Matari using a powerfully enhanced method of mindspeak.
“Master, you have returned! We need your help, sire! The Paladins have allied with the sprites, they have nearly breached our walls!”
“That is impossible,” he growled.
“Please, sire, we need your goblins before we are overrun!”
Ercianodhon’s control of his goblins had broken during the time he’d spent in shi’un. The necromancers had their own stock of goblins, but they could not sustain reanimation of a fraction of the undead that he could.
He looked again at the human lying comatose on the table. His blood conduit to Kelli was still strong, and through it he knew that the curse was still very much in place. The Goblin King was confused as to why it was taking so long to kill her. He knew that humans were not susceptible to necromancy, but they were not immune to curses. Was human blood, even impure blood like the queen’s, really that powerful?
He took a moment to raise one of his goblins at Matari, staring with disbelief through its eyes. The sprite forces had practically forced their way inside the gates. Looking up, he did not see a single soldier atop the walls. “Where are my archers?” he raged. “Where are my sorcerers?”
“We had to retreat, your majesty, they killed Evius, Mido, Parka, and Battha all at once, then dispatched almost two full parties of our archers before we knew what was happening! The walls are not safe!”
The King immediately raised several hundred of the dormant goblins within Matari. They ran screaming toward the gates, carrying all of his hatred and anger directly into the sea of elves and dwarves attacking his city.
Ercianodhon pulled Incerra from the sheath on his wrist. Flipping it upside down, he stabbed Tom in the leg with it and glared at Kirama. “Hold this connection until the curse is complete and the queen and her father are dead.” With that, he spun and left the blood chamber, needing to kill some prisoners to restore his magic. There was no time to maximize their deaths with torture, he would go directly to the dungeons and feed.
Kirama quickly ran to Tom, staring in frustration at the dagger that she could not physically handle. Ercianodhon either did not know or care that she was now as connected to Kelli as he’d been. It was her power that held the blood connection, after all, which allowed him to save his strength for weaving the curse. “Your Highness,” she silently called. “I don’t know what is going on, but the King has left your father and I alone. I believe he is going to Matari to fight your armies.”
~
“Wait,” Kelli held up her hand as Sorvir was mid-sentence. Zaiyensa had lifted her sanctuary spell and allowed everyone back into the room, allowing them all to catch each other up on current events. Kelli was silent for several moments, nodding. “Kirama is still connected to me, through my dad. She said the Goblin King is headed to Matari.”
“Derek’s plan is working,” Sorvir said hopefully.
“Yeah, exactly what was that plan again?” Kelli asked. “You said he’s going into Gedaschen himself?”
“They departed yesterday at dusk,” Dufangen confirmed. “The other team with our new human allies traveled to Matari before sunrise this morning.”
“They camped out in the theater last night, allowing the Paladins time to organize themselves,” Sorvir added. “It appears they are living up to their reputation, catching Ercianodhon’s attention so quickly.”
“Is Derek at the castle already, then?”
“I believe they are in hiding,” Dufangen said, recalling the various parts of the plan she’d overheard. “They are waiting for the Goblin King to appear at Matari, so they can infiltrate the castle when he is not there.”
“I see,” her voice croaked and she began to cough.
“Highness, you need to rest, let us begin unraveling this curse-”
“No,” she shook her head. “I need to be awake for this. Can we talk to Derek? Kirama said she can sense if someone is using blood magic near her. She could reach out to them then and help them find her. And my dad.”
“The Paladins at Matari said they have a method for communicating with the Paladins who traveled with Derek,” Dufangen said. “We will relay this message to Matari,” she nodded at Sorvir, who quickly left the room. “But we need to focus on your health, Highness. I fear if we do not dispel it soon…”
“Kel, you gotta let them heal you!” Devon said. “Don’t burn yourself out like at Boston! Let us take care of all this mess, you just get better!”
Kelli stared at Devon, bags evident under her eyes as she breathed with obvious discomfort. Finally she nodded. “Okay. I’ll rest, but I want to be kept informed of everything.” She looked at Dufangen. “Everything.”
“Of course, my queen,” Dufangen nodded, silently summoning a large team of wizards and sorcerers to aid in diagnosing the curse.
Kelli coughed once more, then laid down. Dufangen hopped up onto the bed beside her.
“I tried to reason with him,” the Queen said softly, “but he lied to me when I asked him to spare my dad. He’s going to kill my dad if we don’t stop him. I saw his birth, Dufangen. Before Ercianodhon broke in, I took control of the shi’un and saw Yizidia. That poor woman. I was horrified at what my family did.”
Dufangen closed her eyes. “I had hoped to wait before exposing you to the truth,” she said.
“It’s okay,” Kelli said. “I understand him now. But I don’t know if he’ll ever let go of his hatred.”
“He is evil-”
“No. He’s broken. He’s never once had anyone to depend on, and he spent his childhood surrounded by people who wanted to kill him. Can you imagine what that’s like?” Kelli closed her eyes as a tear dropped down to the pillow. “But I can’t let him kill dad.”
Devon looked at Zaiyensa, his eyes pleading. But she shook her head.
Just then, over a dozen sprites and vampyres entered the room, their robes similar in all but color. They quickly encircled the bed and began chanting, and Zaiyensa led Devon and Kim from the room.
“It is in the mortals’ hands now,” Zaiyensa said, softly closing the door.
“I cannot believe we have all this power,” Devon said, “and cannot just fix this.”
“It is the way of things,” Zaiyensa shrugged.
“I don’t even get why you would have laws,” Kim blurted.
“If we did not,” Zaiyensa said, “you and every other mortal would likely be a slave or plaything for one of us.”
“Oh. Well, I guess in that respect, it’s a good thing then, but still.”
« CHAPTER 26 »
The Rescue: Part One
“I really hate that you were right,” Nim said to Jezrimeli.
The Ripwinger hovered several hundred feet above the mountain slope, Mae’s camouflage spell concealing them even with the loading bay ramp extended. Everyone took turns stepping out just far enough to look down at the pair of minotaur who had set up camp near a small cave.
Samantha and Taryn were the last to get their look. Taryn kept near to the doorway as he cautiously looked down. Samantha walked right out to the edge of the ramp and squatted, elbows on knees as she studied the terrain and the fearsome cows standing in their way. She reached into one of the pouches on her shoulder and popped a capsule free. Half-turning, she offered it to Taryn, who joined her out on the ramp. He rested one hand on her shoulder and took the capsule with the other. Samantha watched as he closed his eyes and began murmuring something in a foreign language, rubbing the glass between his fingers.
When he finished his spell, he looked over at Lumina. “I have enacted an ether charm,” he said. With their Paladin-provided radios, there was no need to even speak above a whisper. “I’ll need to be able to see the ground if I’m to move it around effectively for Flashback. Will this Ripwinger hold steady?”
“Yes,” Lumina said, carrying a bundle of straps and cable. “But just case we get any wind gusts, let’s get this around you.” The Paladin helped the vampyre strap into the safety harness, which was latched to a heavy-duty support ring on the cargo bay ceiling.
“No, no, that’s all wrong,” Jezrimeli said. “You’re supposed to tie the both of them together in that harness, and they need to be naked!”
The elves barely managed to stifle their laughter, while the Paladins looked every which way except at Samantha and Taryn.
“I don’t get it,” Derek’s autotuned voice came over the channel.
“What are you, a child?” Jezrimeli grinned. “Haven’t you ever seen two people itching to boink each other?”
“Oy!” Samantha frowned, her mouth agape in shock.
“Oh,” Derek said, nodding. “That’s what that tension was?” He looked at the pair on the ramp. “No hanky-panky while we’re on mission!”
Julian laughed into his hands, trying to keep from making noise.
Samantha covered her face, her almond skin failing to hide her embarrassment. She looked up at Taryn, shaking her head. “I am so sorry.”
Taryn grinned. “It is nothing to be embarrassed about. Shall we proceed?” He held up the capsule.
“What-yeah. Yeah, let’s proceed, ignore those immature children.”
Taryn chuckled and threw the capsule out.
“Wait, not that far!”
“We do not want to alert the minotaur, do we?” he asked, his eyes following the vial.
“Oh, no, not really.”
When the capsule shattered on the ground some distance from the guards, Taryn squinted his eyes in concentration. “There was no magic in that vial, at least nothing I can sense.”
“Um… it’s just my sweat. I mean, it’s not really sweat, it’s what I do instead of sweating. Sorry, that probably sounds gross, I’ll stop talking about it. Okay, I can see where- oh! You’re moving the pheromones already. Cool. Keep moving right at the cave… wait, what’s wrong?”
Taryn sighed in disappointment. “There are wards cast around the camp and the cave. I nearly triggered one just now.”
For almost twenty minutes, Samantha and Taryn coordinated with each other, investigating a huge swath of area around the cave. The ground where the minotaur had made camp was flat and green all the way to the mountain slope where the cave was. Several large boulders and an occasional tree dotted the landscape. About a quarter mile out was where the treeline became thick, leading to a dense forest. While the almost-couple completed their reconnaissance, the others quietly reviewed their plan and the numerous contingencies, while also sharing a little more about each other’s skills and experience to further refine everyone’s expectations.
Everyone looked up as Samantha and Taryn came in off the ramp. Samantha reached up to rest on one of the ceiling’s hand rails. “O’right, the good new then. It’s just the two minotaur. There’s a big circle thing inside the cave that matches what Jezrimeli described.”
“Perfect,” Derek said, with everyone e
lse nodding agreement.
“Unfortunately,” Taryn added, “there are seven detection wards planted around the camp and the cave. I almost set one off accidentally. I killed the ether enchantment after using it to blow Flashback’s essence into the cave.”
“Do you still have your, what did you call it? Awareness?” Jezrimeli asked.
“Yes,” Samantha confirmed. “The cave is unoccupied. There’s a large shelf on the wall near the waygate, lots o’ little jars and boxes of rags.”
“What are those wards for?” the Hood asked Taryn.
“Six of them are fairly small, but will trigger when any type of spell is cast near them. One of these is inside the cave, it was the first one I encountered and I nearly missed it when Flashback and I started to inspect the waygate. But the last one had significant effort put into it. It is located at the edge of the forest, in one of the most heavily wooded areas near the clearing, a spot that intruders like us would choose to hide in. I do not know the exact nature of the ward, but it is likely to trigger the moment someone steps into it, at the very least.”
“What do the wards trigger? Will they alert the minotaur?”
“Doubtful. Wards like these would be used to alert someone with authority. A sorcerer at Gedaschen, perhaps.”
“So much for doing this the easy way,” Julian groaned, looking at Lumina.
The former proctern nodded, explaining to the Hood, “Our ranged weapons could make short work of the minotaur, but they rely on magic.”
Derek thought for a moment, recalling his first discussions with Lumina in Krin Ahgl’s castle. “So, my power pack… ?”
“I’m afraid so,” Lumina said.
“Well, that sucks,” Derek sighed. Not only was Mae unable to help conceal them on the ground, he wouldn’t be able to use his armor at all, relying as it did on topafinez —the same magically charged crystals that energized the Paladin’s weapons. He looked up at the wizard. “What about Mae, would her presence trigger a ward?”
“Only if she was casting spells. Elementals are enchanted beings, but they themselves do not radiate magic any more than the natural state of the elements they command.”