Primeval Prelude: Reverse Harem Siren Romance (Spellsinger Book 4)

by Amy Sumida

  These were not simple plants; these were sentient beings who had soaked the very magic of Tír na nÓg up through their roots. I felt their despair and pain, and then—with my touch—their hope and gratitude. They grabbed on tightly to my magic; taking the healing I freely offered.

  Then the trees showed me their world; far more than Amber was able to show me the night before. Primeval was a web of roots and branches, and the web was alive. It didn't stop at the edge of the forest either but extended through the soil and into the Jewel Kingdoms. This was how Reyne and his people had known about the Sapphire War and my part in it. The trees communicated with each other and with anyone patient enough to listen to them. Their knowledge was simple but profound and far-seeing. As I sang to them about emerging from the darkness to live again, they sang to me about what that life was. They showed me how age after age had its traumas and battles, but how similar they were when viewed from a lofty perspective. Everything ran in cycles; seasons, wars, love, and even death. Primeval had never feared death; not a natural death. But this evil that infected their roots and spread up to their branches was far from natural.

  And Primeval was scared.

  I gave the trees what comfort I could as I let the music carry my sympathy and solace to them. But the trees were so decayed, so stricken with this evil, that I began to tire, even with the extra energy the Trinity had given me. The infection was wicked; the kind of taint that coated your soul forever. It was far more than I had expected to deal with, and the confidence I had started with began to wane. The hands I held out to the forest trembled, and I laid my forearms on Torin and Declan's shoulders out of exhaustion. I thought I was going to collapse under the weight of the poison, but then the power of my consorts filled me, and I was able to forge on. Kyanite added his strength to theirs, and together, we brought the trees back to life.

  As the evil sizzled away, and fresh cells burst into life within the trees, my voice thrummed with power, echoing around the clearing. My words became a challenge to the forest; Fight with me! Heal yourself! Wake out of your dismal slumber! I felt life stirring beneath me; the heart of Primeval pumping faster as its sap/blood bubbled with joy and determination. Fresh streams burst out toward the healing trees and connected with their broken veins. The power of Primeval rushed into the purified trees and helped to revive them further as it drew the remnants of the poison into itself through the reconnected veins. In the massive heart of sap, the small doses of evil could be dealt with and was soon destroyed by the magic of Primeval. Physical proof of the healing began to show on the trees around us; bark pulled back together, leaves burst into life, and roots snaked into the fresh soil. The fairies around us started to weep and shout in joy, all at once.

  Primeval was whole again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  With the final chords of the song, I fell back into the arms of my lovers. I wasn't depleted; I was simply overcome. The world Primeval had shared with me had given me a priceless perspective. It had reminded me of how small I was, despite the magic inside me. That may sound like a bad thing, but being small when you know that you are part of a grand whole, is glorious. It gave all the little hurts less power over me, and allowed me to see the vast future that I could be a part of... or not. I may be a tiny piece of the puzzle, but I had absolute power over how I fit into the picture. It was a comforting thought, as was the truth that the puzzle would continue to grow with or without me.

  And what I had done today—what we had done—had helped the future grow. This was the message I took from the trees; the wisdom they shared with me. That what made our little lives significant was not how large we were able to grow, but how much we helped our world grow. Then, no matter when or how we died, we would live on forever. The trees had sacrificed themselves willingly, knowing that they would live on in the sap—in the blood of their world. What a profound knowledge that was.

  We are all connected to our world and each other; it's just not as obvious for people as it is for trees.

  “Thank you,” Eimhir said sincerely as she hugged me. “We cannot begin to express our gratitude.”

  “Thank you for those power boosts.” I smiled at the Trinity. “I couldn't have done it without them.”

  “It was the least we could do,” Ceanag said in a much softer tone than the one she'd used with me previously. “You have saved our world again, Spellsinger. We owe you a great debt.”

  The Trinity went still and exchanged somber and unsettled glances.

  “This is my world now too,” I said gently. “You owe me nothing.”

  Eimhir closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she was smiling. She nodded as she said, “Then we will accept your help graciously, and be humble enough to ask for more of it. Do you feel up to one more song, Queen Elaria?”

  “I think I can manage a little searching song,” I agreed. “It shouldn't be as draining as healing the trees.”

  “Excellent,” Eimhir said. “Then please proceed. We must still find Eileen.”

  “Be prepared to follow quickly,” I warned them. “The last time I did this, I was on horseback.”

  “How about a griffin's back this time?” Gage offered.

  “That would be appreciated,” I accepted with a grin.

  Gage stripped and tossed me his clothes with a smirk; he knew he was being ogled. I shook my head as I folded the clothes and tucked them into his pack. I might have spared a few glances for his amazing abs and ass too. They were hard to ignore in the blazing light of day. But Gage shifted quickly, and soon I was straddling a lion's back; clinging to him by handfuls of his thick fur.

  “Go on, El,” Cerberus said. “We're ready.”

  And they were. The fairies and Witches were settling into stances; preparing to run. So, I began to sing. I decided to have some fun with it and use something upbeat. Oh, who am I kidding? I simply couldn't resist a song that was so perfect for this particular hunt. Kyanite supplied the magical music, and the happy horns cascaded up into a foot-tapping patter of drums. I began the drawling warbling of “Come On, Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners. So, it wasn't exactly a song about searching, but I didn't need it to be precise. I wanted to find an Eileen, and this was the perfect song to connect me with her.

  I heard Banning chuckle, along with some of the Witches, but most of our party was unfamiliar with the music. Their faces showed surprise at the name I sang, but that was all. I smiled to myself as a ball of white light formed in front of me. The ball went zipping into the forest, and Gage launched himself after it; his wings pulled in tight against his sides. His massive, griffin body barreled through every obstacle; forging a path for the others.

  It was a good thing too, because the orb seemed to be responding to the speed of the song, and it began to zip along even faster. Soon, Gage and I were ahead of the pack. I could still hear them behind us, but we had a significant lead. That lead grew steadily as the song stretched out until finally, I couldn't hear the others anymore.

  Then the orb exploded.

  I blinked in the dying light as Gage came to a sudden stop. We stood outside a thicket; its vines and intricate branches woven into a nearly impenetrable wall. I slid off of Gage's back and handed him his pack distractedly. As I investigated the thicket, he hurried into his clothing and then joined me.

  “I smell barghests and Blooders,” Gage whispered. “They're here, Elaria.”

  “Fuck,” I whispered. “Eileen really is behind this.”

  “And behind this.” He tapped the barricade. “Do you see a way in?”

  “There!” I pointed to a break in the wild wall.

  Gage followed me to the edge, and we peered around the barricade together. There was a clearing inside; dappled sunlight breaking through to it in streamers. There was enough light to make out a cage full of barghest children and a group of bound Blooders. Both Blooders and barghests were asleep—strange at that hour of the morning. But I was betting that they'd been drugged or enchanted. Because the other occupant
of the clearing was wide awake and looming over her captives gloating.

  I could only see the fall of Eileen's auburn hair, but I knew it was her. It had to be; my magic had led us straight there. Still, I was a little surprised to have caught the redhead red-handed. I couldn't understand why she'd want to add kidnapping to her list of crimes. But whatever her reasoning was, she had now either been abandoned or had sent her cohorts packing. There were no other fairies there; no redcaps to subdue the Blooders or carry the cage of children. So, she'd need her captives to be incapacitated.

  “Eileen,” I said as I strode into the clearing, “you've really fucked up this time.”

  Eileen swung around to face me with rounded eyes; her hand going to her throat. She frowned; looking from the captives to Gage and then to me. Then she started shaking her head.

  “I don't know what this is, but I'm not a part of it,” she declared.

  I stopped and glanced at Gage. He shrugged.

  “Are you seriously trying to play ignorant?” I asked her. “You're standing in front of your captives. There's no one else here, Eileen. Who am I supposed to believe did this?”

  “Captives?” Eileen whispered. “Why would I take prisoners when I'm trying to hide from you?”

  “Yeah; I was wondering that myself,” I said as I eased between her and the cage of children. “The best I can figure is that you wanted something to bargain with. But that's not happening now. The only chance you have for leniency is if you tell us where your accomplices are.”

  “Accomplices?” She hissed. “Are you listening to me, you dumb bitch? I didn't do this.”

  “Sure,” I huffed.

  “I didn't capture anyone,” Eileen reiterated.

  “So, you just happened to walk into this clearing—around a strong barricade—to stand over these Blooders, right when I was tracking you?” I asked her.

  “I didn't walk here,” she growled. “The last thing I remember, I was curling up in a cave for the night. Then I woke up here.”

  “You found her!” Torin declared as he strode into the meadow. “Well done, little bird.” He came up with the others and kissed my cheek before sending a dark glare Eileen's way. “You're going to pay for what you've done, Eileen.”

  “Fuck you, Torin,” Eileen snapped. “My husband was murdered, but where were you then? Oh, that's right, you were fucking his murderer.”

  Banning rushed past us to his Blooders and started shaking them. “They're not waking up,” he said to us over his shoulder.

  “They're enchanted,” Eimhir said as she looked them over. “A minor spell; I'll remove it.”

  “Thank you,” Banning said with relief.

  Banning watched carefully as Eimhir began to wake the Blooders. As she did so, the Witches came up to assist. Reyne and the other Strengths went to the caged children. Ceanag inspected the cage, then stood and looked back at us.

  “Where's the key?” Ceanag asked Eileen.

  “How the fuck would I know?” Eileen growled.

  “Because you're the one who put them in the cage,” Declan said slowly as if Eileen were an imbecile.

  “She says that she didn't kidnap the children,” I told Declan.

  “What?” Declan asked with disbelief.

  “I didn't!” Eileen hissed.

  “We'll see about that,” Cerberus announced as he grabbed her from behind.

  Eileen shrieked and kicked her legs in the air as Cer held her pinned.

  “Just knock her out, Cer,” I said tiredly. “She's not going to tell us where her accomplices are.”

  “I don't have any—” Eileen started to protest again.

  Cerberus smacked his fist into the top of Eileen's head, and she went slack in his arms. He held her body out to Declan like an offering, and the Alexandrite King searched the pouches on Eileen's belt. It didn't take him long to find a set of keys. Declan held them up with a grimace.

  “I think any doubt over Eileen's guilt can be laid to rest,” Declan announced as he tossed the keys to Caorall.

  The redcap caught the keys and set them into the cage's lock. They fit perfectly, and the lock clicked open. Caorall sighed deeply and nodded to Declan.

  “If the key fits.” I shook my head.

  “As we said; the sidhe woman is the culprit,” Caorall announced. “I think we can stop worrying about Primeval now.”

  “Let's get these barghests back to their families,” I suggested. “After that, we'll take this poisoning bitch out of Primeval and then out of existence entirely.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  We left the barghest children with the Trinity—who promised to see them home—and then we headed out of Primeval with Eileen. All of the Shining Ones and my close friends had traveling stones: fairy-made charms that moved people through the Veil that separated the realms. They weren't made to travel from place to place in one realm, though; you had to cross through the Veil to get anywhere. But, with some maneuvering, you could use it to travel through a realm. You just had to travel to another realm first; then you could come back to the same realm. We hadn't used the stones to travel into Primeval because you needed to know where you were traveling to. You had to either have been there before, seen a picture of the place, or have the exact coordinates for the magic to latch onto. In short; the stones required direction to work.

  Now, that we were on our way out of Primeval, we could have used the stones to travel to the Human Realm, and then back to Kyanite Castle. But we still had most of our team heading toward the Amber Temple, and when we contacted them via contact charm, we discovered that they were nearby. We could have worked something out to get everyone home, but it was late afternoon, and Reyne had asked us to stay one more night in Primeval, to celebrate our victory.

  So, we met our party halfway; at a goblin village. It was a joyous reunion full of relief over the health and safety of the forest as well as that of the kidnapped children. The only black cloud was Eileen's refusal to give up her cohorts and tell us what happened to the other missing fairies. But, the Trinity of Strengths had vowed to keep up the search for both the missing fairies and Eileen's partners in crime. So, we felt satisfied enough with the victories we did achieve.

  The goblins were thrilled to hear our news as well and welcomed us with open—if rather warty—arms. Musicians began to play merry tunes, ale and wine began to flow, and a bonfire was lit in the middle of the village; both to roast a wild pig and to add some warmth to the party. The aroma of crackling pork mingled with wood-smoke and the crisp, resinous scent of the forest. It was perfect.

  My kyanite knights offered to guard Eileen so that the rest of us could enjoy the festivities. They felt as if they hadn't contributed anything and were happy to do so now. I promised them a month off duty when we returned to Kyanite—because I was pleased that they had volunteered to go into Primeval, in the first place, and even more pleased that they were stepping up now.

  Then I got sloppy drunk.

  It was fantastic. I hadn't let loose like that in years. With all the work I had done with Cerberus—fixing people's lives (and sometimes ending them), then the Witch Relic, then becoming Queen of Kyanite, my life seemed like a never-ending list of responsibilities. I had been so focused on securing my future that I hadn't stopped to celebrate my present.

  I listened to music without magic, danced without care, and kissed my lovers without worrying about being judged. It was fucking amazing. Laughter filled my head and heart, with the joy of Primeval itself buoying me. I even danced with goblins. Yep; I was that drunk. Hell, most of us were.

  Then I had to pee.

  I stumbled through the trees and nearly off a cliff. I mean, come on; what the hell was a cliff doing in the middle of Primeval? I thought it was a flat forest. In the dark, with barely any moonlight making its way through the thick canopy of leaves overhead, I didn't see the drop until I had burst from the bushes and was blinded by the light of the moon. That was what saved me; the moonlight. I bumbled through the
underbrush and had to stop to shield my eyes. After the darkness of Primeval at night—drunken me forgot to take a lantern—even moonlight became harsh. When I removed my arm, I saw that I was inches away from the edge. That sobered me up a little.

  The cliff I had literally stumbled upon was incredibly high; so high that the enormous trees growing at its base couldn't surpass it. It gave me an unimpeded view of an expanse of rippled forest; all silver and black in the moonlight. A few hundred yards ahead, Primeval flowed up again; creating a rectangular valley. It was beautiful, but my heart was still racing from the realization that I could have easily tumbled to my death without even knowing what had happened.